The Israeli High Court is set to rule this week on the forced expulsion of all residents of the village of Khirbat Zanuta, southwest of Hebron in the West Bank. Israel Civil Administration ordered the demolition of Zanuta in 2007, on the absurd grounds that structures in the village were built without permits, but the High Court ruled that year that authorities must "find a solution" for the villagers before any eviction. But last year the Zionist organization Regavim, with a base of support among local Israeli settlers, succeeded in reviving the case by filing a new request for demolition. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, which represents the Zanuta residents, says that in a High Court hearing last year, "the justices delivered harsh criticism of the State for its intent to demolish the village without suggesting a solution for its residents." But the demolition request was not dismissed, and villagers fear imminent eviction.

A Palestinian group in Syria said Oct. 13 that over 200 Palestinians were aboard a boat which capsized off Malta's coast two days earlier. The Action Group for Palestinians in Syria said that at least 200 Palestinian refugees fleeing conflict in the country were aboard the boat, which left the Libyan port of Zwara on Oct. 10. Some 70 Palestinian refugees survived the shipwreck and are now in Malta, with the rest unaccounted for, the action group said. The boat was carrying up to 400 migrants, mostly Syrians. At least 33 people perished after the boat sank, a week after another shipwreck off Italy left at least 359 dead, prompting Malta to warn that the Mediterranean is becoming "a cemetery."

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sept. 22 ordered the civil administration to allow settlers back into a stolen Palestinian property in Hebron, Israeli media reported. The move was in response to the killing of an Israeli soldier in Hebron earlier in the day, and Netanyahu announced Israel would "continue to fight terrorism…with one hand, while strengthening the settlement with the other," according to Haaretz.

Israeli forces fired tear-gas cannisters and rubber-coated steel bullets at al-Quds university students in Abu Dis on Sept. 8, witnesses said. An Israeli border police patrol stopped and searched several students at the main gate of the university in Abu Dis, inspecting identity cards and detaining several students for over an hour. Clashes broke out after university staff prevented Israeli forces from entering the campus. Over 30 students suffered from gas inhalation. Eight students were injured by rubber bullets and transferred to Abu Dis emergency center. Two university security guards were also hospitalized.

Palestinian refugees fleeing the violence in Syria have been refused entry into Lebanon for three weeks now. Since Aug. 6, according to Human Rights Watch, the Lebanese government has turned back Palestinians, who had originally sought refuge in Syria when they were forced from their homes in 1948 and 1967, and are now fleeing once more with their descendants, this time from the conflict in Syria. A source at the Lebanese General Security confirmed to IRIN news agency that the government is no longer letting Palestinians from Syria into Lebanon. Makram Malaeb, program manager for the Syrian response at the Ministry of Social Affairs, said exceptions would be made for "humanitarian cases."

Israeli forces razed several structures in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of al-Tur and Eisawiya Aug. 27, under the pretext that they were built without a license. Locals told Ma'an News Agency that a large number of Israeli forces—including special forces troops, police horsemen, and border guard officers—raided Khallat al-Ein neighborhood in al-Tur district. The invading forces denied residents and journalists access to the area before they forced two families to quickly evacuate their houses for demolition. The families were given only minutes to pull out some of their belongings.

A man was killed and two others injured in clashes early Aug. 20 between locals and Israeli forces in Jenin refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank. Majd Mohammad Anis Lahlouh, 22, was shot directly in the heart by Israeli soldiers, witnesses said. Karim Sbeih and Alah Abu Khalifa, both in their twenties, were critically wounded.  One was shot in the bladder and the other was hit by a dumdum bullet in the chest. Israeli forces raided the Jenin camp at 3 AM and broke into the home of Islamic Jihad leader Bassam al-Saedi. Clashes broke out with camp residents, who threw empty bottles and stones at Israeli soldiers, who responded with live fire, tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. The body of Majd Mohammad Anis Lahlouh was transferred to Jenin hospital. Israeli forces deployed in large numbers around the camp following the shootings, locals said.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Aug. 20 called on Hamas authorities in the Gaza Strip to halt all executions, especially those of child offenders. HRW is especially concerned with the specific case of Hani Abu Aliyan, an adult prisoner sentenced to death for the murder of a peer while he was a minor. Aliyan was convicted using a confession he alleges was produced under torture. Joe Stork, acting Middle East director at HRW, reflected on the precedent that such an execution would establish. "Imposing the death penalty for a crime committed by a child makes the executions under Gaza's abusive justice system especially atrocious," he said. "If the authorities want to deter criminals, they should make sure people are convicted for what they did, not what they are tortured to confess." Israel Jaber, the prosecutor general for Hamas in the Gaza Strip, has defended the court system, insisting that torture does not occur and that all convictions are the result of due process.