Israeli Occupation Forces Continue Systematic Attacks against
Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)

 

 

· Israeli occupation forces killed a Palestinian resistance
activist in the Gaza Strip.

 

· 6 Palestinians, including a child, were wounded by Israeli gunfire
in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

 

· Israeli warplanes bombarded areas in the Gaza Strip.

 

· Israeli occupation forces conducted 17 incursions into
Palestinian communities in the West Bank and 3 limited incursions into the Gaza
Strip.

 

· Israeli occupation forces arrested 23 Palestinian civilians,
including 6 children, in the West Bank

.

· Israeli naval troops have continued to attack Palestinian
fishermen in the Gaza Strip.

 

· Israel has continued to impose a total siege on the OPT and has
isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.

 

· Israeli troops positioned at military checkpoints in the
West Bank arrested 5 Palestinian civilians, including two children.

 

· Israel has continued settlement activities in the West Bank
and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and
property.

 

· Israeli occupation forces demolished two agricultural
barracks in Hebron, claiming that they were built without licenses.  

 

· The Israeli government approved the first stage of the
construction of a new settlement neighborhood in East Jerusalem.

 

 

Summary

 

Israeli violations of international
law and humanitarian law continued in the OPT during the reporting period (30 December
2009 – 05 January 2010):

 

Shooting: During the reporting period, Israeli occupation forces
killed one Palestinian resistance activist and wounded 3 others in the Gaza
Strip and wounded 3 civilians, including one child in the West Bank. 

 

In the Gaza Strip, on 05 January 2010, Israeli warplanes fired
two missiles at a number of Palestinian resistance activists, killing one of
them and wounding another 3.

 

During the reporting period, Israeli warplanes bombarded several
areas in the Gaza Strip, and Israeli naval troops fired at Palestinian fishermen
and fishing boats.

 

In the West Bank, 3 Palestinian civilians, including a
child, were wounded when Israeli occupation forces used force to disperse
peaceful demonstrations organized by Palestinian civilians and international
and Israeli human rights defenders in protest of the construction of the
Annexation Wall in the West Bank.  

 

Incursions: During the reporting period, Israeli
occupation forces conducted at least 17 military incursions into Palestinian
communities in the West Bank.  Israeli
occupation forces arrested 23 Palestinians, including 6 children.  

 

In the Gaza Strip, Israeli
occupation forces conducted 3 limited incursions into the Gaza Strip, during
which they leveled areas of Palestinian land that they had previously razed.  

 

Restrictions on Movement: Israel has 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

 

Israel has continuously closed all border crossings to the
Gaza Strip over two and a half years. The illegal Israeli-imposed siege of
Gaza, which has steadily tightened since June 2007, has had a disastrous impact
on the humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza Strip.

 

· 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights,
including freedom of movement, and their rights to appropriate living
conditions, work, health and education.

· The main concern of
1.5 million people living in the Gaza Strip is to obtain their basic needs of
food, medicines, water and electricity supplies.

· Israel has continued
to prevent the entry of raw construction materials into the Gaza Strip for the
past two and a half years.

· Israel has not allowed
fuel supplies into the Gaza Strip, excluding limited amounts of cooking gas,
since 10 December 2008.

· The Rafah
International Crossing Point has been opened for a few days for a number of
patients who received medical treatment abroad and needed to return to the Gaza
Strip.

· Israel has continued
to close Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing to Palestinian civilians wishing to travel
to the West Bank and Israeli for medical treatment, trade or social visits.

· Living conditions of
the Palestinian civilian population have seriously deteriorated; levels of
poverty and unemployment are among the highest in the world, at approximately
80% and 60% respectively in the Gaza Strip.

· Israel has continued
to prevent the entry of spare parts form water networks and sewage systems.
Losses incurred to this sector are estimated at US$ 6 million.

· Israel has imposed
additional restrictions on access of international diplomats, journalists and
humanitarian workers to the Gaza Strip. They have prevented representatives of
several international humanitarian organizations from entering the Gaza Strip.

· At least 900
Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have been deprived for family visitation
for more than two and a half years. 

· Israeli occupation
forces have continued to attack Palestinian fishermen along the Gaza Strip
coast.

 

 

West Bank

 

Israeli occupation forces have continued to impose severe
restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians throughout the West Bank,
including occupied East Jerusalem. Thousands of Palestinian civilians from the
West Bank and the Gaza Strip continue to be denied access to Jerusalem.

 

· Israeli occupation forces have established checkpoints in
and around Jerusalem, severely restricting Palestinian access to the city.
Civilians are frequently prevented from praying at the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

· There are approximately 630 permanent roadblocks, manned and
unmanned checkpoints across the West Bank. In addition, there are some 60-80
‘flying’ or temporary checkpoints erected across the West Bank by Israeli
occupation forces every week.

· When complete, the illegal Annexation Wall will stretch for 724 kilometers
around the West Bank, further isolating the entire population. 350 kilometers of
the Wall have already been constructed. Approximately 99% of the Wall has been
constructed inside the West Bank itself, further confiscating Palestinian land.

· At least 65% of the main roads that lead to 18 Palestinian
communities in the West Bank are closed or fully controlled by Israeli
occupation forces (47 out of 72 roads).

· There are around 500 kilometers of
restricted roads across the West Bank. In addition, approximately one third of
the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, is inaccessible to
Palestinians without a permit issued by the Israeli occupation forces. These
permits are extremely difficult to obtain.

· Israeli occupation forces continue to harass and assault
demonstrators who hold peaceful protests against the construction of the
Annexation Wall.

· Palestinian civilians continue to be harassed by Israeli
occupation forces in Jerusalem, and across the West Bank, including being
regularly stopped and searched in the streets by Israeli occupation forces.

 

Settlement Activities: Israel has continued settlement
activities and Israeli settlers living in the OPT in violation of
international humanitarian law have continued to attack Palestinian civilians
and property.

 

On 31 December 2009, Israeli occupation forces demolished
two barracks for sheep and horses in al-Bwaira area, northeast of Hebron. They Israeli occupation forces claimed that
the two barracks, located nearly 30 meters from an Israeli settlement outpost,
were established without a permit. On
the same day, a number of Israeli settlers from “Nouvim” and
“Yakir” settlements razed areas of Palestinian land near
“Ya’ir” settlement outpost in Qarawat Bani Hassan village, northwest
of Salfit. 

 

On 01 January 2010, Israeli occupation forces troops
stationed in the vicinity of “Kharsina” settlement, northeast of
Hebron, prevented dozens of activists and volunteers from planting trees in areas
of land threatened by confiscation through Israeli occupation forces. The area was declared a closed military zone
and Israeli forces confiscated trees and fired tear gas canisters and sound
bombs at the activists and volunteers. No casualties or arrests were reported. On the same day, a number of Israeli settlers from “Yakir”
settlement, northwest of Salfit, attacked a car in which two Palestinian
civilians were traveling. The front
window of the car was smashed and the two civilians were injured.

 

On 04 January 2010, Israeli occupation forces ordered the
demolition of 3 barracks and two agricultural stores in al-Khader village,
southwest of Bethlehem. On the same day, the committee of organization and
construction in the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem approved the first stage
of a new settlement neighborhood near a Jewish school in the Mount of Olives
area. The first stage includes the
construction of 4 buildings that would include 24 housing units. This settlement project aims at creating a settlement
contiguity between Mount Scopus and the Mount of Olives. It would result in the old city of Jerusalem being
completely surrounded by Israeli settlements. It is worth noting that when the Jewish school was established 20 years
ago, the then Israeli Prime Minister Isaac Shamir promised to turn the area
into a settlement neighborhood. 

 

 

Israeli Violations
Documented during the Reporting Period (30 December 2009 – 05 January 2010)

 

The full report is available PDF format.