· In the largest incursion into the Gaza Strip during
the al-Aqsa Intifada, Israeli forces demolish 55 houses in Rafah, leaving
hundreds of families homeless;
· Incursion into Tel village near Nablus, Palestinian
dies in willful killing by Israeli forces;
· An unprecedented, strict siege on the OPT;
· Palestinian man dies from injury due to obstructed
passage through Rafah Border Crossing by Israeli forces;
· Dozens of Palestinians arrested;
· Continued shelling of Palestinian residential areas,
injuring dozens of civilians; and
· A wounded Palestinian kidnapped by the Israeli
forces.
1. Shooting at
Palestinian Civilians
At
approximately 20:00, Israeli occupation soldiers in a military jeep positioned
in Al-Ersal Street in the north of Ramallah fired at a Palestinian civilian car
driven by ‘Omran Hussein ‘Abdullah, 26, from ‘Aaroura village. ‘Abdullah was injured by three live bullets
in the left leg. There was no apparent
reason for the shooting.
Friday, 4 January 2002
At
approximately 13:30, Palestinian civilians organized a demonstration near
Israeli positions on Al-Ersal Street in Ramallah. Soon, Israeli forces fired tear gas and
rubber-coated metal bullets at the demonstrators. Three civilians, including two journalists,
were wounded:
1) Ussama Hamdallah ‘Arar, 23, wounded by a rubber-coated metal
bullet in the left leg;
2) Rebhi El-Kubari, 33, a reporter for Al-Sharq television,
wounded by a rubber-coated metal bullet in the right leg; and
3) Jamal El-‘Aarouri, a cameraman, wounded by a rubber-coated
metal bullet in the left leg.
2. Shelling of, and Incursions into Palestinian
Residential and Controlled Areas
At approximately 01:00, approximately 100 Israeli
soldiers, supported by two helicopters, moved into Ras Wadi El-Karm
neighborhood, under the full control of the Palestinian National Authority
(PNA), in the northwest of Hebron. They
raided a Palestinian house owned by Mohammed Yusri Jamil Shwieki, 49. They attacked Shwieki and his sons. The soldiers handcuffed and blindfolded five
of them and took them on foot to “Teilem” settlement west of the city. On the way to the settlement, they were
beaten by Israeli soldiers. They were
detained and interrogated for hours. Four were released while the fifth, Tayseer, was taken to Ashkelon
Prison inside Israel.
At approximately 21:20, Israeli occupation forces in
the vicinity of Israeli settlements in Al-Mawasi area, west of Rafah, opened
fired on Palestinian houses in Tal Al-Sultan neighborhood without any apparent
provocation. A number of houses were
severely damaged.
In the morning, Israeli occupation forces moved into
Tel village, south of Nablus, and searched and fired at Palestinian
houses. During the incursion, a
Palestinian policeman, Na’el Tahsin El-Seifi, 22, died in willful killing by
the Israeli forces.
According to investigations carried out by LAW – the
Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment – at
approximately 03:00, an undercover Israeli unit moved into the village in a
civilian car. When the car was close to
the house of Yasser ‘Assida, who was previously killed by the Israeli forces,
his brother noticed it and escaped from the house, thinking that the Israeli
forces had come to arrest them. While
they were running, they met Na’el El-Seifi who ran with them. The Israeli forces fired at them, wounding
El-Seifi with a live bullet in the left leg. El-Seifi was able to crawl towards a house in the north of the
village. He asked residents of the house
to offer him help and a woman did. Then,
ten tanks and two armored personnel carriers moved into the village through its
northern entrance. Israeli soldiers
fired at El-Seifi. He received ten live
bullets throughout the body. When the
Israeli soldiers were certain that he was dead, they tied his body with an
electric wire and pulled him along the ground. They kept the body until noon.
At the same time, other Israeli units moved into the
village through its western entrance. They imposed a curfew and raided the house of ‘Aamer ‘Assida and
severely damaged it. They also raided
the house of Yasser ‘Assida, who had been killed earlier by Israeli forces,
severely damaging it and destroying its entrance. Before they withdrew from the village, the
Israeli forces arrested four Palestinians:
1) Ayyoub Ahmed ‘Assida, 22;
2) Samih Mohammed ‘Assida, 55;
3) Hazem Samih Mohammed ‘Assida, 23; and
4) ‘Aamer Mahmoud ‘Assida, 35.
At approximately 21:00, Israeli occupation forces,
positioned 500m west of Rafah Border Crossing, opened fired on nearby
Palestinian houses. A number of houses
were damaged.
At approximately 04:00, Israeli occupation forces
moved from “Morag” settlement, northeast of Rafah, into the north of
Rafah. They razed areas of Palestinian
agricultural land:
1) They razed a 10-donum area of agricultural land
planted with olives, owned by Amin Ibrahim Dhuheir.
2) They razed a 7-donum area of agricultural land
planted with olives, owned by Suleiman Mohammed Dhuheir.
At approximately 21:00, Israeli occupation forces in
the vicinity of “Neve Dekalim” settlement, west of Khan Yunis, shelled
Al-Nemsawi neighborhood in the southwest of the city. A number of houses were severely damaged and
Palestinian civilians were extremely terrified.
At approximately 16:00, an Israeli tank and two
armored personnel carriers thrust approximately 900m into the north of Beit
Lahia, in the northern Gaza strip. Half
an hour later, they withdrew and no casualties were reported. This area is subjected to Israeli incursions
on an almost daily basis.
At approximately 11:00, an Israeli tank at the border
between the Gaza Strip and Israel fired an artillery shell at a site of the
Palestinian Border Forces in Al-Shouka area in the east of Rafah. The site was severely damaged, but no
casualties were reported.
At approximately 14:50, Israeli occupation forces
raided a site of the Palestinian Marine Police near the fishing harbor in
Al-Mawasi area in Rafah. They searched
the site and confiscated four pistols. They also ordered Palestinian policemen to leave the site and closed
it. Al-Mawasi area has been under a
strict Israeli siege since the outbreak of Al-Aqsa Intifada.
In the afternoon, Shadi Ahmed Lafi Musallam, 25, from
Jabalya refugee camp, died at Rafah Border Crossing while on his was back to
the Gaza Strip from Egypt. The Israeli
forces at the crossing obstructed his evacuation to Shifa’ Hospital in Gaza for
several hours. Musallam, a member of the
Palestinian Military Intelligence, was injured by two live bullets in the head
and the neck, when he confronted an Israeli incursion into Beit Hanoun on 15
December 2001.
At approximately 19:00, Israeli occupation forces
thrust approximately 200m into Al-Shouka area in Rafah. They demolished a site of the Palestinian
Border Forces.
At approximately 21:00, Israeli occupation forces,
positioned in a military location in Tal Zo’rob area in the southwest of Rafah,
shelled Palestinian houses in Tal Al-Sultan neighborhood. A number of houses were severely damaged, but
no casualties were reported.
At the same time, Israeli occupation forces,
positioned in a military location near Salah El-Din Gate at the Egyptian
border, south of Rafah, shelled Palestinian houses in Rafah refugee camp. A number of houses were severely
damaged.
Arrests
This week, Israeli occupation forces arrested
many Palestinians. The arrests took
place in the following circumstances:
1. At international border crossings, under the control
of Israeli occupation forces.
2. At Israeli military roadblocks on main and branch
roads at the entrances to Palestinian cities and villages.
3. In Palestinian towns and villages, often during house
raids.
4. During incursions into Palestinian controlled areas.
The following are significant arrests that took place
this week:
At approximately 02:00, Israeli occupation forces
moved into Kufor Rumman village near Tulkarm. They arrested Harb Ahmed Abu ‘Assal, 25, and took him to an unknown
destination. According to eyewitnesses,
the Israeli forces raided some Palestinian houses and detained Hani Fawzi
Barham, 23, for two hours.
At approximately 01:00, Israeli occupation forces
moved into Al-Ras village, south of Tulkarm. They raided and searched a number of houses and beat some
civilians.
At approximately 02:00, Israeli occupation forces
moved into Shweika neighborhood in Tulkarm and raided a number of Palestinian
houses. They arrested two Palestinians:
1) Khaled Mohammed Mughrabi, 24; and
2) Rami Wasfi Abu ‘Aaisha, 19.
At approximately 01:00, Israeli occupation forces
raided the house of Khaled ‘Abdel-Latif Musameh, 50, in Shweika neighborhood in
Tulkarm. They arrested him and three of
his sons and took them to a camp in “Ariel” settlement near Salfit. They attempted to arrest one of Musameh sons
who escaped from them on the previous night. During the raid, the Israeli forces severely beaten members of the
family, including a mentally handicapped man and a pregnant woman.
On Saturday morning, Israeli occupation forces
kidnapped a wounded Palestinian while being moved from Jenin to Ramallah. According to investigation carried out by LAW
– the Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the
Environment – Majed Mohammed Sa’id El-Sa’di, 25, was seriously wounded by four
live bullets in the legs when Palestinian security services were attempting a
number of the Islamic Jihad activists on 4 January. El-Sa’di was not among those activists. Because he was in serious condition,
physicians at Jenin Hospital decided to transfer him to Ramallah Hospital. Since it was difficult to transfer him
directly to Ramallah, he was moved in an ambulance of the Palestine Red
Crescent Society to Nablus. When the
ambulance returned to Jenin, Israeli occupation forces detained its crew for
three hours and asked where El-Sa’di was. Then, Israeli forces pursued an ambulance that evacuated El-Sa’di from
Nablus to Ramallah. They detained its
crew and took El-Sa’di in an Israeli ambulance to an unknown destination.
*****
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