PCHR Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
www.pchrgaza.org

No. 05/2008
24-30 January 2008
 
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)
  
• 6 Palestinians, including a child, were killed by IOF.
 
• 4 of the victims were extra-judicially executed by IOF in southern Gaza Strip.
 
• 13 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 4 international and Israeli human rights defenders, were wounded by the IOF gunfire.
 
• IOF conducted 26 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank.
 
• IOF arrested 42 Palestinian civilians, including 6 children, in the West Bank.
 
• IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT.
 
• Palestinian newspapers have not been allowed into the Gaza Strip for the 2nd consecutive week.
 
• IOF troops positioned at various checkpoints in the West Bank arrested at least 11 Palestinian civilians, including 4 children.
 
• IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers have continued to attacks Palestinian civilians and property.
 
• An Israeli settlement outpost to the north of Hebron was expanded.  

Summary
 
Israeli violations of international law and humanitarian law escalated in the OPT during the reporting period (24 – 30 January 2008):
 
Shooting: During the reporting period, IOF killed 6 Palestinians, including a child, and wounded 13 others, and 4 international and Israeli human rights defenders in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
 
In the Gaza Strip, IOF killed 4 Palestinians, and a 5th one.
 
On 25 January 2008, IOF extra-judicially executed 4 members of the ‘Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades (the armed wing of Hamas) in 2 separate attacks in a few hours in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah. a fifth member was seriously wounded.
 
In the West Bank, IOF killed 2 Palestinians and wounded 12 others and 4 international and Israeli human rights defenders.
 
On 24 January 2008, IOF killed a Palestinian civilian and wounded 3 others in Beit Ummar village, north of Hebron. IOF moved into the village to arrests the fathers of 2 Palestinians who were killed by Israeli settlers in the previous day allegedly because they attempted to launch an armed attack. IOF also wounded another 2 civilians during the funeral procession of the one who was killed earlier. On 28 January 2008, IOF killed a Palestinian child and wounded 5 civilians in Bethlehem. IOF moved into the town to arrest an activist of Islamic Jihad. They opened fired indiscriminately. Additionally, 3 Palestinian civilians and 4 international and Israeli human rights defenders were wounded when IOF used force to disperse a peaceful demonstration organized in protest to the construction of the Annexation Wall in Bal’ein village, west of Ramallah.
 
Incursions: During the reporting period, IOF conducted at least 26 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. IOF arrested 42 Palestinian civilians, including 6 children. Thus, the number of Palestinian civilians arrested by IOF in the West Bank since the beginning of 2008 has mounted to 253. IOF troops also transformed destroyed a house in Tulkarm.
 
Restrictions on Movement: IOF have continued to impose a tightened siege on the OPT and imposed severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem.
 
Gaza Strip
 
IOF have continued to close all border crossings of the Gaza Strip for nearly 18 months. The total siege imposed by IOF on the Gaza Strip has left disastrous impacts on the humanitarian situation and has violated the economic and social rights of the Palestinian civilian population, particularly the rights to appropriate living conditions, health and education. It has also paralyzed most economic sectors. Furthermore, severe restrictions have been imposed on the movement of the Palestinian civilian population. Moreover, the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip has severely impacted the flow of food, medical supplies and other necessities such as fuel, construction materials and raw materials for various economic sectors. During the reporting period, IOF cut off food and fuel supplies.

As a reaction of the policy of economic and humanitarian stranglehold practiced by IOF against the Gaza Strip, on 23 January 2008, hundreds of thousands of Gazans crossed the border into Egypt when Palestinian resistance activists blew up entire sections of the border fence in Rafah. In addition to residents of Gaza crossing into Egypt en masse, hundreds of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip who had been stranded in Egypt, due to the enforced closure of Rafah International Crossing Point, also returned home to Gaza.

The Egyptian authorities responded positively and with restraint, allowing Palestinian civilians to purchase foods, medicines, and other supplies which are not available in Gaza due to the escalating IOF siege and closure of the Gaza Strip. However, opening the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip did not meet all the basic needs of the civilian population of Gaza. Civilians across the Gaza Strip still suffer from severe shortages, or total unavailability, of many essential items, including domestic fuel and industrial fuel for Gaza’s single power plant. In addition, hundreds of students, patients and Gazans living abroad remain in effective limbo; many have been waiting for permission to leave the Gaza Strip legally since June 2007.

PCHR has learned that approximately 1,500 Gazans have gathered in the Egyptian town of al-Arish, and have asked the Egyptian authorities to allow them to travel via Cairo to third countries, where they can pursue their work, study or medical treatment. They are currently awaiting an official decision from the Egyptian authorities. PCHR reiterates its position that the chaos on the Rafah border during the past week is an inevitable consequence arising from the IOF siege and closure of the entire Gaza Strip.

The IOF have deliberately deprived the entire civilian population of the Gaza Strip of their human right to safe movement and unrestricted travel. In addition, the closure has prevented essential goods and medicines reaching the civilian population. PCHR notes that IOF have tightened the closure of the Gaza Strip since June, 2007. Since then, all border crossings into and out of Gaza have been effectively sealed, including the Rafah Crossing.
 
West Bank
 
IOF have continued to impose severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians. Thousands of Palestinian civilians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have been denied access to Jerusalem. IOF have established many checkpoints around and inside the city. Restrictions of the movement of Palestinian civilians often escalate on Fridays to prevent them from praying at the al-Aqsa Mosque. IOF often violently beat Palestinian civilians who attempt to bypass checkpoints and enter the city. IOF have also tightened the siege imposed on Palestinian communities in the West Bank. IOF positioned at various checkpoints in the West Bank have continued to impose severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians. IOF also erected more checkpoints on the main roads and intersections in the West Bank. During the reporting period, IOF troops positioned at various checkpoints in the West Bank arrested at least 11 Palestinian civilians, including a child.
 
Settlement Activities: IOF have continued settlement activities and Israeli settlers living in the OPT in violation of international humanitarian law have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property. During the reporting period, IOF troops, in cooperation with Israeli settlers, added 5 mobile homes to a settlement outpost located to the west of “Karmi Tsur” settlement, north of Hebron. The mobile homes were placed on a tract of land belonging to Palestinian civilians.  

Israeli Violations Documented during the Reporting Period (24 – 30 January 2008)
 
The full report is available online at:
html format:
www.pchrgaza.org/files/W_report/English/2008/31-01-2008.htm
pdf format:
www.pchrgaza.org/files/W_report/English/
2008/pdf/weekly%20report%2005.pdf

Public Document
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