A Special Issue Covering Two Weeks Due to

Eid al-Adha

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

· 20 Palestinians, 14 of whom were civilians, including 5
children and one woman, were killed by IOF.

· 2 of the children were killed on the first day of Eid
al-Adha.

· One of the victims was extra-judicially killed by IOF.

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

· 3 houses were destroyed in Khan Yunis and at least 120
donums[1]
of agricultural land were razed throughout the Gaza Strip.

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

· A house and an apartment building were destroyed in the
context of retaliatory measures against Palestinian civilians. 

· 2 Palestinian civilians were used as human shields during
IOF’s operations in the Gaza Strip.

· Continued shelling of residential areas

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

· IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT; Rafah
International Crossing Point on the Egyptian border was reopened for
Palestinians wishing to travel back to the Gaza Strip; IOF have continued to
close al-Mentar (Karni) commercial crossing to the east of Gaza; and IOF
positioned at checkpoints fired at Palestinian civilians and injured 8,
including a woman and her child. 

Introduction

Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have
launched more attacks against Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory (OPT), in disregard for the feeling of Moslems during Eid al-Adha. 
During the period covered by this report, 20 Palestinians, 14 of whom were
civilians, including 5 children and one woman, were killed by IOF. Two of the
children were killed on the first day of the Eid.  Human rights
violations perpetrated by IOF included incursions into Palestinian areas,
willful and extra-judicial 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.

In the Gaza Strip, 16 Palestinians,
11 of whom were civilians, including a woman and her son and 4 children, were
killed by IOF. On 13 January 2005, IOF killed a child and a member of the
Palestinian resistance during an incursion into al-Boreij refugee camp in the
central Gaza Strip. They also shot dead a Palestinian civilian in the northern
Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahia when he was trying to evacuate a woman in labor
to the hospital. On 14 January 2005, IOF
killed a Palestinian civilian in Khan Yunis, and another civilian from Beit
Lahia died from a previous injury. On 15 January 2005, IOF killed 5
Palestinians during an incursion into al-Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City.
They also killed 2 Palestinian civilians, including a child, in Rafah. On 16 January 2005, IOF killed a woman and
her son in Khan Yunis. On 20 January
2005, the first day of the Eid, IOF killed a child in Rafah when he was
visiting his uncle. On 26 January 2005, IOF killed a 3-year-old child in Deir
al-Balah when they shelled her family home. 

IOF conducted 9 incursions into
Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip, the largest of which was into al-Zaytoun
neighborhood in Gaza City on 15 January 2005, during which IOF razed large
areas of agricultural land and killed 5 Palestinians. In the other incursions, IOF razed 41 donums
of agricultural land in al-Boreij refugee camp, destroyed 3 houses in Khan
Yunis, and raided and searched a number of houses and used 2 Palestinian
civilians as human shields in Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun. On 14 and 16 January 2005, the Israeli air
force destroyed 2 civilian facilities in Deir al-Balah and Beit Lahia. IOF also continued to shell Palestinian
residential areas.

In the
West Bank, IOF killed 3 Palestinians, including a child, and one Palestinian
civilian died from a previous injury. On
20 January 2005, IOF killed a child in Tubas village near Jenin. On 22 January
2005, IOF killed a Palestinian civilian near the annexation wall near Qalqilya.
On 24 January 2005, a Palestinian civilian from Hebron died at an Israeli
hospital from a previous injury. On 26 January 2005, IOF extra-judicially
killed one Palestinians and injured and arrested two others in Qalqilya. IOF
also moved into various areas throughout the West Bank, injured a number of
Palestinian civilians and arrested dozens of others. They also destroyed a
house and an apartment building in the context of retaliatory measures against
Palestinian civilians. 

IOF have continued to construct the
annexation wall inside the West Bank Territory. For this purpose, they issued military orders confiscating more areas of
Palestinian land in villages located to the northwest of Jerusalem. They also
confiscated at least 400 donums of agricultural land in Ethna village near
Hebron. This week, IOF resumed the construction of a section of the wall in
Salfit area, south of Nablus. They plan to construct this section 23 kilometers
inside the West Bank Territory.

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, on 14 January
2005, IOF closed al-Mentar (Karni) commercial crossing to the east of
Gaza City, completing the cycle of economic stranglehold of the Gaza
Strip. IOF imposed severe restrictions
on the movement of Palestinian civilians at Abu Houli and al-Matahen
checkpoints on Salah al-Din Street (the main road between the north and south
of the Gaza Strip), especially during the Eid. They fired at Palestinian
civilians waiting at the two checkpoints, injuring 8, including a woman and her
child. They also arrested a number of Palestinian civilians. IOF have continued
to close Rafah International Crossing Point on the Egyptian border for
departing travelers, but reopened it for arriving travelers on 21 January
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, even
during the Eid. They also
arrested a number of Palestinian civilians while traveling through military
checkpoints. 

The
full report is available PDF format.