Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF)
Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and Continue to Impose Illegal Blockade on
the Gaza Strip
· A Palestinian child died from wounds inflicted by IOF in
Beit Ummar village, north of Hebron.
· IOF wounded 4 Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and
one in the West Bank.
· IOF used force against peaceful demonstrations organized to
protest the construction of the Annexation Wall in the West Bank.
· IOF denied Palestinian farmers access to their lands, which
are isolated by the Wall, to cultivate olives.
· IOF conducted 21 incursions into Palestinian communities in
the West Bank.
· IOF arrested 18 Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.
· Israeli naval troops continued to attack Palestinian fishers
and boats in the Gaza Strip.
· IOF have continued to impose a total closure on the OPT and
have isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.
· IOF troops positioned at military checkpoints and border
crossings in the West Bank arrested 9 Palestinian civilians, including 7 children.
· IOF have continued measures aimed at the established a
Jewish majority in east Jerusalem.
· IOF have maintained a tightened siege on the al-Aqsa Mosque for
the second consecutive week.
· IOF undercover unit disguised as press teams attacked
Palestinian demonstrators.
· IOF demolished a house in Beit Hanina village.
· IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank
and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and
property.
· Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers and prevented
them from cultivating olives.
· Israeli settlers burnt at least 100 olive trees in Kufor
Qaddoum village, east of Qalqilya.
Summary
Israeli violations of international
law and humanitarian law in the OPT continued during the reporting period (08 –
14 October 2009):
Shooting: During the reporting period, a
Palestinian child of wounds inflicted by IOF earlier this year, and 5
Palestinian civilians, including a child, were wounded by IOF gunfire in the
Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
On 12 October 2009, medical sources
at al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron declared that Tha’er Sa’id Mohammed Abu ‘Ayash,
17, from Beit Ummar village north of Hebron, died of wounds he had sustained on
04 March 2009. According to PCHR’s
documentation, on 04 March 2009, IOF moved into Beit Ummar village, north of
Hebron. They raided a house belonging to Yousef ‘Awadh Badran and transformed
its upper floor and rooftop into a military post. Soon, a number of Palestinian
children gathered and threw stones at IOF troops. Immediately, IOF troops fired
at the children. As a result, ‘Ayash was seriously wounded by a gunshot to the
head. He was evacuated to al-Ahli Hospital
in Hebron, where he had received medical treatment until he died of his
wound.
On 12 October, a Palestinian child
was wounded in Yatta village, south of Hebron, when IOF fired at a number of
children who demonstrated in protest at the seizure of a Palestinian house in
the area.
IOF used force against peaceful
demonstrations organized by Palestinian civilians and international and Israeli
human rights defenders to protest the construction of the Annexation Wall in
the West Bank. As a result, dozens of
demonstrators suffered from tear gas inhalation.
In the Gaza Strip, on 14 October
2009, 4 Palestinian civilians were wounded when IOF warplanes bombarded area
located near the border with Egypt, south of Rafah, allegedly to destroy
tunnels.
Incursions: During the reporting period, IOF
conducted at least 21 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the
West Bank. IOF arrested 18 Palestinian
civilians.
Restrictions on Movement: IOF have continued to impose a tightened closure 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 to the Gaza
Strip for more than two years. The illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip, 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.
· IOF have continued to
prevent the entry of raw construction materials into the Gaza Strip for more
than three years.
· IOF have 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 home to the
Gaza Strip.
· IOF have 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.
· Poverty and
unemployment rates stand at approximately 80% and 60% respectively in the Gaza
Strip.
· IOF have 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.
· IOF have imposed
additional access restrictions on international diplomats, journalists and
humanitarian workers seeking to enter the Gaza Strip. They have prevented
representatives of several international humanitarian organizations from
entering the Gaza Strip.
· Living conditions of
the Palestinian civilian population have seriously deteriorated; levels of
poverty and unemployment have sharply mounted.
· At least 900
Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have been denied family visitation rights
for more than three years.
· IOF have continued to
attack Palestinian fishers along the Gaza Strip coast.
West Bank
IOF 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.
· IOF 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 permanent 630 roadblocks, and 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 IOF
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 has 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 leads to 18 Palestinian
communities in the West Bank are closed or fully controlled by IOF (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 IOF. These permits are extremely difficult to obtain.
· IOF continue to harass, and assault demonstrators who hold
peaceful protests against the construction of the Annexation Wall.
· Palestinian civilians continue to be harassed by IOF in
Jerusalem, and across the West Bank, including being regularly stopped and
searched in the streets by IOF.
Annexation Wall: During the
reporting period, IOF denied Palestinian farmers access to their agricultural
lands, which are isolated by the Wall, to cultivate olives, claiming that the
farmers do not have permits to cross the Wall to their lands. In Jenin, IOF prevented at least 300
Palestinian civilians from al-Taybeh village from reaching their lands, which
are isolated by the Wall. According to
the mayor of the village, IOF issued permits for only 160 of 450 farmers. In Beit Jala, IOF prevented Palestinian
farmers from reaching their lands in Wadi Ahmed area in the west of the town to
cultivate olives and arrested one of them. They also attempted to confiscate cameras belonging to a number of
international human rights defenders who accompanied the Palestinian farmers.
Efforts Intended to Establish Jewish majority in East
Jerusalem: IOF have
escalated arbitrary measures against Palestinian civilians in East Jerusalem to
force them to leave the city. IOF have continued to impose a tightened siege on
East Jerusalem and the al-Aqsa Mosque since Friday, 09 October 2009. They have erected a number of checkpoints at the
entrances of the old town and nearby villages and suburbs. Thousands of Israeli soldiers and police
officers have been deployed in the streets as IOF have declared a state of high
alert under the pretext of preventing any clashes that may erupt between
Palestinian civilians and Israeli settlers who declared that they would break
into the al-Aqsa Mosque. IOF have also
denied men aged below 50 access to the al-Aqsa Mosque. At approximately 13:00 on Friday, IOF fired
rubber-coated metal bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters at Palestinian
civilians in Ras al-‘Aamoud neighborhood. IOF undercover units disguised as press teams also arrested 3
Palestinian civilians. They violently
beat those civilians in front of television cameras. Additionally, at least 10 civilians suffered
from tear gas inhalation. On 12
October 2009, IOF, demolished a 50-square-meter house belonging to Amjad Khamis
al-Tiryaqi, in which 5 people, including 3 children live, in Beit Hanina
village, north of Jerusalem.
Settlement Activities: IOF have continued settlement activities
in the OPT in violation of international humanitarian law and Israeli
settlers living have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and
property. On 12 October 2009, a number
of Israeli settlers living in a new settlement outpost in al-Barassin area in
the southeast of Kufor Qaddoum village, east of Qalqilya, launched an arson
attack against olive s in the area. At
least 100 olive trees belonging to Sadiq Hamed Eshtaiwi and ‘Omar Yousef
Eshtaiwi were burnt. On the same day, a
few hours after beginning the olive harvest in Wadi al-Hussain neighborhood to
the west of “Kiryat Arba” settlement, southeast of Hebron, at least
15 Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers with stones. They also robbed buckets and sacks where the
farmers put cultivated olives.
On 14 October 2009, an Israeli settler from “Elli”
settlement, south of Nablus, attacked a number of Palestinian farmers who were
cultivating olives in al-Qlayla area in the west of Qaryout village, and
prevented them from working in the area.
Israeli Violations
Documented during the Reporting Period (08 – 14 October 2009)
The full report is available PDF format.
