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

· 12 Palestinian civilians, including 6 children, were injured
by IOF.

· Construction of the “annexation wall” in the West Bank has
continued; more areas of Palestinian land were confiscated for this purpose and
Jerusalem has been isolated from the rest of the West Bank.

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

· Houses were raided and at least 20 Palestinian civilians
were arrested.

· A Palestinian civilian was used as a human shield by IOF
during a house raid in al-Mughraqa village in the central Gaza Strip.

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

· 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, IOF positioned at checkpoints arrested a number of Palestinian
civilians and IOF imposed curfews on the old town of Hebron.

Introduction

Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have
launched more attacks against Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory (OPT). 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. Contrary to Israeli official claims, IOF have continued to
impose severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians. 

IOF
conducted a series of incursions into Palestinian areas in the West Bank,
during which they raided and searched houses and arrested 24 Palestinian
civilian civilians, including 5 children. In addition, 6 Palestinian civilians,
including 2 children, were wounded by the Israeli gunfire. 

In the
first incursion since the Sharm al-Sheikh Summit, on 4 March 2005, IOF moved
into al-Mughraqa village in the central Gaza Strip. They raided a house, forced
their residents out and used one of them as a human shield while searching it.
On the same day, 4 Palestinian children, including 2 brothers, were injured in
Rafah when a shell that had been previously fired by IOF exploded. On 8 March
2005, 2 Palestinian civilians were wounded in Rafah, when IOF positioned in
military posts at the Egyptian border, south of the town, opened fire at
residential areas.   

IOF have continued to construct the
annexation wall inside the West Bank. They have confiscated more areas of
Palestinian land for this purpose. They resumed land leveling in Beit Sourik village,
northwest of Jerusalem, and Bal’ein village, west of Ramallah. This week, IOF issued military orders,
confiscating large areas of Palestinian land for the purpose of the
construction of the wall. IOF have also continued to impose severe restrictions
on the movement of Palestinian civilians living in communities located near the
wall. 

Israeli settlers living in the OPT
in violation of international humanitarian law have launched a series of
attacks against Palestinian civilians and property. IOF have continued to
confiscate areas of Palestinian land for settlement activities. 

IOF have continued to impose a tightened
siege on the OPT, including Jerusalem. In the Gaza Strip, 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. IOF have continued to impose severe restriction on the travel
of Palestinian civilians through Rafah International Crossing Point. They have
also continued to close a number of roads and crossings in the Gaza Strip since
the beginning of the current Intifada. IOF have continued to impose a strict
siege on Palestinian communities near Israeli settlements, causing more
suffering to Palestinian civilians. Furthermore, IOF have seize 2 Palestinian
houses to the north of Khan Yunis since the beginning of the current Intifada.

In
the West Bank, contrary to Israeli official claims, 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, they erected
a number of temporary military checkpoints. They stooped and checked
Palestinian civilians and arrested 14 of them. IOF also imposed curfews on a
number of Palestinian communities, especially the old town and the southern
part of Hebron, which have been under a curfew since Monday morning, 6 March
2005.  

The
full report is available PDF format.