This
report covers Israeli violations of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian
Territories during the period of May 10-16, 2001. This week witnessed a serious
escalation in the excessive use of forces by the Israeli occupation forces
against Palestinian civilians and security men. These forces also continued to shell Palestinian cities in the West Bank
and the Gaza Strip. During the same
periods, the Israeli occupation forces broke into areas under full control by
the Palestinian National Authority, razed areas of Palestinian agricultural
land and demolished houses.
During
the period covered by this report, 16 Palestinians were killed and more than
250 were wounded by the Israeli occupation forces.
On Friday
11, 2001, the Israeli occupation forces shot dead Hussam Fawaz Sha’ban Tafesh,
16, from Gaza City, with a live bullet that entered the right side and settled
in the chest, during clashes in the east of the city.
On
Saturday, May 12, 2001, the Israeli occupation forces committed a new
assassination when combat
helicopters of these forces fired rockets at a Palestinian civilian car in
Jenin. Mo’tassem Mohammed El-Sabbagh,
26, from Jenin refugee camp, an activist of Fatah Movement in the refugee camp,
who was in the first car, and Segent ‘Allam Nasri ‘Abdel-Razeq El-Jaloudi, 26,
from Faqou’a village near Jenin, who was in the police car, were killed.
On the same day, Salman Suleiman
El-‘Arrouqi, 45, was killed with shrapnel of an artillery shell in the head,
when the Israeli occupation forces shelled Palestinian houses in the refugee
camp indiscriminately.
On Monday,
May 14, 2001, at
approximately 2:00 local time, the Israeli occupation forces committed a new
crime of willful killing in Bitounia in the south of Ramallah, when there were
no clashes in the area. Five members of
the Palestinian National Security Forces – all of them are from the Gaza Strip
– were killed. They are:
1) Lieutenant Ahmed Mohammed Salman Zaqqout, 26, from
Nusseirat refugee camp;
2) Soldier Mohammed Mahmoud Ibrahim Daoud, 21, from
Al-Boreij refugee camp;
3) Soldier Mohammed ‘Ali Rajab El-Khaldi, 22, from
Al-Boreij refugee camp;
4) Staff Sergeant Salah Ahmed Abu ‘Amra, 32, from
Al-Shaboura refugee camp in Rafah; and
5) Soldier Ahmed
Yousef Abu Mustafa, 22, from Khan Yunis.
On the same day, after an armed
Palestinian attempted to attack a post of the Israeli occupation forces in the
north of Khan Yunis with a hand grenade, the Israeli forces opened fire
indiscriminately on him and on a number of Palestinian civilians and their cars
while waiting at a military roadblock of these forces. The armed Palestinian, ‘Arafat Talal Abu
Kweik, 28, from Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza, and a Palestinian civilian,
Yousef Mousa El-Qassas, 26, from Gaza, were killed, and another seven bystander
civilians were wounded.
On Tuesday, May 15, 2001, the 53rd
anniversary of Al-Nakba, the Israeli occupation forces opened fire on
Palestinian demonstrators and killed:
1) Mohammed Jihad ‘Abed Rabbu Abu Jasser, 17, from Jabalya
refugee camp, with a live bullet in the heart near Erez industrial zone in the
north of the Gaza Strip;
2) Burhan Fahim El-Shakhshir, 22, from Al-Ram village in the
north of Jerusalem, with a live bullet in the head at the northern entrance of
Al-Bireh; and
3) ‘Abdel-Jawad Khalil Qudeih Shehadeh, 18, from Gaza, with an
explosive bullet in the head also at the northern entrance of Al-Bireh.
Moreover,
more than 140 Palestinian civilians, mostly children, were wounded.
On the same day, Israeli occupation forces, positioned at
the border to the east of Jabalya, fired live bullets and artillery shells at a
Palestinian civilian car that was approximately 200m to the west of the
border. ‘Abdel-Hakim ‘Abdel-Jalil
El-Mana’meh, 35, from ‘Aamer housing project in Jabalya, was killed. The Israeli occupation forces claimed that
El-Mana’meh was firing mortars at Israeli targets.
On Wednesday, May 16, 2001, the child Mohammed Hassan Eslim,
14, from Al-Boreij refugee camp, was killed by the Israeli occupation forces
during clashes near Al-Shuhada’ junction to the south of Gaza City.
The Israeli occupation forces continued to impose a total
siege on the Occupied Palestinian Territories and to restrict movement of
Palestinian civilians. On May 10, 2001,
Kifah Khaled Zo’rob, 17, from Al-Mawasi area in Khan Yunis, died after Israeli
occupation soldiers obstructed his evacuation to hospital for more than two
hours, although they were warned that Z’orob was in critical condition. (For more details on the impacts of the
closure policy, see Closure Update on the impact of the total closure
imposed on the Gaza Strip.)
The full report is available PDF format.
