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

· 8 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children and 2 mentally
handicapped persons, were killed by IOF.

· One of the victim was killed when the tent where he was detained
in an Israeli prison burnt.

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

· Houses were raided and dozens of Palestinian civilians were
arrested.

· Continued shelling of residential areas, and a child was
killed when she was at school.

· Construction of the “annexation wall” in the West Bank has
continued.

· IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT; IOF
have continued to close al-Mentar (Karni) commercial crossing to the
east of Gaza for the 3^rd consecutive week, Rafah International Crossing Point on the
Egyptian border was reopened but Palestinians aged 16-35 have been prevented
from traveling; and IOF positioned at checkpoints arrested a number of Palestinian
civilians. 

Introduction

Despite ongoing understandings
between the Israeli and Palestinian sides on a ceasefire and the Palestinian
commitment to these understandings, Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have
launched more attacks against Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory (OPT). This week, 8 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children and 2
mentally handicapped persons, were killed by IOF. Human rights violations
perpetrated by IOF included incursions into Palestinian areas, willful killing,
indiscriminate shelling, land leveling and total closure imposed on Palestinian
communities. IOF have also continued to construct the annexation wall inside
the West Bank territory.

In the Gaza Strip, 4 Palestinian
civilians, including a child, were killed by IOF, and a child died from a
previous injury. On 27 and 28 January 2005, IOF killed 2 mentally handicapped
Palestinian civilians near Israeli military checkpoints in Khan Yunis and Gaza.
On 29 January 2005, a Palestinian child from Khan Yunis died from a previous
injury he had sustained when IOF shelled residential areas in the town. On 30 January 2005, an old man was killed by
IOF near the Egyptian border, south of Rafah. On 31 January 2005, an 11-year-old Palestinian schoolchild was killed
when IOF opened fire at her school in Rafah. Palestinian educational
institutions have been frequently attacked by IOF, and PCHR has documented
dozens of such attacks, which injured dozens of schoolchildren while they were
at school. In two of such attacks in September and October 2004, 2
schoolchildren were killed by IOF in Khan Yunis refugee camp, when the two were
sitting on their desks.

This week, IOF moved twice into
al-Mawasi area in Khan Yunis, which has been under a strict siege since the
beginning of the current Intifada. They raided houses and arrested 5
Palestinian civilians. 

In the West Bank, on Thursday, 27
January 2005, IOF killed 2 Palestinian civilians, including a child, and a
third Palestinian was killed when the tent where he was detained in Mageddo
Prison inside Israel burnt. The two civilians were killed by the explosion of 2
mysterious objects believed to be have been left there by the IOF.  Furthermore, IOF also moved into various areas
throughout the West Bank, injured a number of Palestinian civilians and
arrested dozens of others. 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 construct the
annexation wall inside the West Bank Territory. For this purpose, they expropriated 2362 donums[1] of
Palestinian agricultural land in al-Jeeb village, northwest of Jerusalem. They also resumed land leveling in the east
of al-Ram village, northeast of Jerusalem, and at the main road between al-Ram
village and Dahiat al-Barid area, north of Jerusalem.

Contrary to Israeli claims, IOF have continued to impose a
tightened siege on the OPT and have imposed severe restrictions on the movement
of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, 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 prevent Palestinians
aged 16-35 from traveling through Rafah International Crossing Point on the
Egyptian border, even though the crossing point was re-opened on 1 February
2005.  

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. They also
arrested a number of Palestinian civilians while traveling through military
checkpoints. Furthermore, IOF have
continued to impose a strict siege on Saida village, north of Tulkarm. 

The full report is available PDF format.