Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Launch
More Attacks in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)
· 8 Palestinians, 5 of whom were civilians, including 2 children
and an elderly woman, were killed by IOF.
· 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
· Construction of the “annexation wall” in the West Bank has
continued, and IOF plan to annex 4 villages in Bethlehem district to Israel.
· IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT; Rafah
Terminal on the Egyptian border has been closed for the 2nd consecutive
month, IOF positioned at checkpoints fired at Palestinian civilians and killed
one in Khan Yunis, and IOF imposed severe restrictions on the movement of
Palestinian civilians in the West Bank during the Palestinian presidential
election.
Introduction
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have
launched more attacks against Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory (OPT). This week, 8 Palestinians, 5 of whom were civilians,
including 2 children and an elderly woman, were killed and at least 20 others
were injured by the IOF. One of the children was mentally disabled. 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, 2 Palestinian
civilians were killed by IOF and a child died form an injury she had sustained
by IOF last month. One of these
civilians was killed when was walking on a road near “Gani Tal”
settlement near Khan Yunis on 8 January 2005, while the other was killed when
he was waiting near al-Matahen checkpoint, north of the town, to travel to his
work in the central Gaza Strip on 7 January 2005. This week, IOF conducted 2 incursions into the
northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahia and Gaza city on 6 and 12 January 2005,
during which they arrested 3 Palestinians. In addition, 4 Palestinian civilians, including a child, were injured by
the Israeli gunfire in various areas of the Gaza Strip.
In the
West Bank, IOF killed 4 Palestinians, including a child, while an elderly woman
died from a heart attack during an incursion by IOF into Balata refugee camp
near Nablus. The child was run down by
an Israeli military jeep in Hebron on 6 January 2005. A member of the Palestinian resistance was
killed in clashes with IOF in Tulkarm on 11 January 2005, while IOF killed 2
Palestinians in Qarawat Bani Zaid village near Ramallah after the surrounded
the house in which they hid on 12 January 2005. This week, IOF moved into various areas throughout the West Bank,
injured a number of Palestinian civilians and arrested dozens of others. .
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. These actions came in the context of changes
made to the route of the wall according to an Israeli High Court ruling.
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 close all border
crossings of the Gaza Strip either partially or completely. They have closed Rafah Terminal on the
Egyptian border for the 2nd consecutive week, creating a serious
humanitarian crisis and depriving Palestinians of their health, educational,
religious and political rights. They
have also continued to impose severe restrictions on internal movement. These measures violate the Palestinian
economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights.
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, contrary to official Israeli claims
regarding facilitation of movement of Palestinian civilians during the
Palestinian presidential election, especially in East Jerusalem.
The full report is available PDF format.
