Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF)
Launch More Attacks in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)

· 12 Palestinian civilians, including 4 children and 2
brothers, were wounded by IOF.

· Construction of the “Annexation Wall” in the West Bank has
continued; more areas of Palestinian land were confiscated for this purpose in
Jerusalem, Qalqilya and Bethlehem.

· Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian
civilians and property in the West Bank; 10 Palestinian civilians were severely
beaten by Israeli settlers in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. 

· IOF conducted a series of incursions into Palestinian areas
in the West Bank.

· Houses were raided and at least 30 Palestinian civilians
were arrested.

· A number of houses were transformed by IOF into military
sites.

· IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT; IOF have
continued to close a number of roads since the beginning of the current
Intifada and IOF positioned at checkpoints arrested a number of Palestinian
civilians.

Introduction

Despite the fact that there has been
no loss of life, the IOF have continued to expand settlements, construct the
Annexation Wall, continue incursions into Palestinian areas resulting in
arbitrary arrests and injuries to Palestinian civilians and maintain a situation
of closures and check points across the OPT. Despite the image that Israel wishes to portray of IOF withdrawal from a
number of towns in the West Bank including Tulkarm and Jericho, Israel still
exert control over these areas and the daily lives of the Palestinians within
them and remain the Occupying Power

This week, human rights violations
perpetrated by IOF included shooting at Palestinian civilians, incursions into
Palestinian areas, house raids and arbitrary arrests. In violation of
international law and humanitarian law, IOF have also continued to construct
the Annexation Wall inside the West Bank territory and confiscated more areas
of Palestinian land for this purpose. They have continued to expand existing settlements at the expense of
Palestinian land, in violations of Palestinian civil, political, economic,
social and cultural rights. Contrary to
Israeli official claims, the IOF have continued to impose severe restrictions
on the movement of Palestinian civilians. 

This week,
IOF conducted 24 military incursions into Palestinian areas in the West Bank,
during which they opened fire at residential areas and raided and searched
houses. The widest incursion was into
Jenin on 28 March 2005, during which the IOF arrested 12 Palestinian civilians. In addition, eight Palestinian civilians,
including four children and two brothers, were wounded and some others suffered
from tear gas inhalation. IOF arrested
during the reporting period 29 Palestinian civilians, including 2 children and
3 police members. They also seized three
houses and transformed them into military sites. 

IOF have continued to construct the
Annexation Wall inside the West Bank territory, especially in Ramallah and
Hebron. For the purpose of the
construction of the Wall they confiscated 224 donums[1] of
land in the villages of ‘Azzoun and Kufor Thuluth near Qalqilya, and 170 donums
in the villages of al-Jeeb and Nabi Samuel near Jerusalem. They also ordered the vacation of 4000 donums
of land in Nahalin village near Bethlehem. This week, IOF used force to disperse peaceful demonstrations organized
by Palestinian civilians in protest to the construction of the Wall. Four Palestinian civilians were wounded and a
number of others suffered from tear gas inhalation.

Israeli settlers living in the OPT
in violation of international humanitarian law have launched a series of
attacks against Palestinian civilians and property. This week, they severely beat 10 Palestinian
civilians, including 6 children, in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Contrary to Israeli claims, the IOF have continued to impose
a tightened siege on the OPT, including Jerusalem.  On Wednesday morning,
23 March 2005, the IOF imposed a comprehensive closure on the OPT from the
Jewish Purim. This closure continued
until Monday morning, 28 March 2005. 

In the Gaza Strip, the
IOF have continued to completely or partially close all border crossings of the
Gaza Strip, and impose severe restrictions on the internal movement of
Palestinian civilians.  They have also continued to close a number of
roads and crossings in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the current
Intifada. The IOF have continued to
impose a strict siege on Palestinian communities near Israeli settlements, causing
more suffering to Palestinian civilians. Since the beginning of this month, the IOF has used a special checking
set, which causes health problems. This
week, IOF continued to impose severe restrictions on travel through Rafah
International Crossing Point on the Egyptian border. They also arrested a man and his son.

In
the West Bank, IOF have
continued to impose a strict siege on Palestinian communities. They have also imposed severe restrictions on
the movement of Palestinian civilians. This week, the IOF erected a number of sudden military checkpoints. They stopped and checked Palestinian
civilians and arrested five Palestinian civilians. They also severely beat five civilians. Thousands of Palestinian Christians were
denied access to the holy sites in East Jerusalem.

The full report is available PDF format.