December 15, 2009
Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

Israeli Occupation Forces Continue Systematic
Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory (OPT) and Continue to Impose a Total Siege on the Gaza Strip

 

· A Palestinian civilian was killed by Israeli forces in the
Gaza Strip.

 

· 3 Palestinian civilians were wounded by Israeli forces in
the West Bank.

 

· Israeli forces conducted 16 incursions into Palestinian
communities in the West Bank, and one into the Gaza Strip.

 

· Israeli forces arrested 17 Palestinian civilians, including 3
children, in the West Bank and two children in the Gaza Strip.

 

· Israeli forces arrested an old Palestinian woman to
pressurize her five sons who are detained in Israeli jails.

 

· Israeli naval troops have continued to attack Palestinian
fishermen in the Gaza Strip.

 

· Israeli forces detained 5 Palestinian fishermen for several
hours. 

 

· Israel has continued to impose a total siege on the OPT and
have isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.

 

· Israeli troops positioned at military checkpoints in the
West Bank arrested 9 Palestinian civilians, including 4 children and a
university professor.

 

· Israeli forces have continued measures aimed at creating a
Jewish majority in Jerusalem.

 

· Israeli forces conducted excavations to the south of the
al-Aqsa Mosque.

 

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

 

· Israeli settlers set fire to a mosque in Yasouf village near
Salfit.

 

· Israeli settlers attacked two Palestinian children in Salfit
and Hebron.  

 

 

Summary

 

Israeli violations of
international law and humanitarian law in the OPT continued during the reporting
period (10 – 15 December 2009):

 

Shooting: During the reporting period, Israeli
forces killed a Palestinian civilian in the Gaza Strip and wounded 3 others in
the West Bank.

 

In the Gaza Strip, on 12 December
2009, Israeli troops positioned at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel
to the east of al-Boreij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip opened fire at
Palestinian houses located almost 700 meters away from the border. As a result, Sami Shihda Abu Khousa, 48, was
seriously wounded by several gunshots to the thighs. He was evacuated to the hospital, but medical
efforts to save his life failed and he was pronounced dead two hours
later. 

 

In the West Bank, 3 Palestinian
civilians were wounded when Israeli forces used force to disperse peaceful demonstration
organized by Palestinian civilians and international and Israeli human rights
defenders to protest the construction of the Annexation Wall in the West Bank.  

 

Incursions: During the reporting period, Israeli
forces conducted at least 16 military incursions into Palestinian communities
in the West Bank.  Israeli forces arrested
17, including 3 children and one woman.  The detainees included ‘Abdullah Abu Rahma,
39, Coordinator of the Public Committee against the Wall and Settlement in
Bal’ein village. During these
incursions, Israeli forces confiscated 4 tractors in Kherbat Tana area,
southeast of Nablus.

 

In the Gaza Strip, on 10 December
2009, Israeli forces moved into al-Sikka Street in the north of Beit Hanoun
town in the northern Gaza Strip. They
arrested two Palestinian children, when they were collecting stones and iron from
destroyed buildings, nearly 500 meters away from the border between the Gaza
Strip and Israel. Israeli forces violently
beat and interrogated the two children, then released them at approximately
21:30 on the same day.

 

Restrictions on Movement: IOF Israeli forces continued to impose a tightened siege on
the OPT and imposed severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian
civilians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including occupied East
Jerusalem.

 

Gaza Strip

 

Israeli forces have continued to
close all border crossings to the Gaza Strip for more than two years. The illegal
Israeli-imposed closure of the Gaza Strip, which has steadily tightened since
June 2007, has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic
situation in the Gaza Strip.

 

· 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights,
including freedom of movement, and their rights to appropriate living
conditions, work, health and education.

 

· The main concern of
1.5 million people living in the Gaza Strip is to obtain their basic needs of
food, medicines, water and electricity supplies.

 

· Israel has prevented
the entry of raw construction materials into the Gaza Strip for more than two
years.

 

· Israel has not allowed
fuel supplies into the Gaza Strip, excluding limited amounts of cooking gas,
since 10 December 2008.

 

· The Rafah
International Crossing Point has been opened for a few days for a number of
patients who received medical treatment abroad and needed to return home to the
Gaza Strip.

 

· Israel has continued
to close Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing in the face of Palestinian civilians
wishing to travel to the West Bank and Israeli for medical treatment, trade or
social visits.

 

· Poverty and
unemployment rates in the Gaza Strip stand at approximately 80% and 60%
respectively.

 

· Israel has continued
to prevent the entry of spare parts form water networks and sewage systems. Losses
incurred to this sector are estimated at US$ 6 million.

 

· Israel has imposed access
restrictions on international diplomats, journalists and humanitarian workers seeking
to enter the Gaza Strip. They have prevented representatives of several
international humanitarian organizations from entering the Gaza Strip.

 

· Living conditions of
the Palestinian civilian population have seriously deteriorated; levels of
poverty and unemployment are amongst the highest in the world.

 

· At least 900
Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have been denied family visitation rights
for more than two years. 

 

· Israeli forces have
continued to attack Palestinian fishermen along the Gaza Strip coast.

 

West Bank

 

Israeli forces have continued to
impose severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians throughout
the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Thousands of Palestinian
civilians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip continue to be denied access to
Jerusalem.

 

· Israeli forces have established checkpoints in and around
Jerusalem, severely restricting Palestinian access to the city. Civilians are
frequently prevented from praying at the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

 

· There are approximately permanent 630 roadblocks, and manned
and unmanned checkpoints across the West Bank. In addition, there are some
60-80 ‘flying’ or temporary checkpoints erected across the West Bank by Israeli
forces every week.

 

· When complete, the illegal Annexation Wall will stretch for
724 kilometers around the West Bank, further isolating the entire population.
350 kilometers of the Wall has already been constructed. Approximately 99% of
the Wall has been constructed inside the West Bank itself, further confiscating
Palestinian land.

 

· At least 65% of the main roads that leads to 18 Palestinian
communities in the West Bank are closed or fully controlled by Israeli forces (47
out of 72 roads).

 

· There are around 500 kilometers of restricted roads across
the West Bank. In addition, approximately one third of the West Bank, including
occupied East Jerusalem, is inaccessible to Palestinians without a permit
issued by the Israeli forces. These permits are extremely difficult to obtain.

 

· Israeli forces continue to harass, and assault demonstrators
who hold peaceful protests against the construction of the Annexation Wall.

 

· Palestinian civilians continue to be harassed by Israeli
forces in Jerusalem, and across the West Bank, including being regularly
stopped and searched in the streets by Israeli forces.

 

Measures Aimed at Creating a Jewish
Majority in Jerusalem:
During the reporting period, Israeli forces carried out more
excavations in Wadi Hilwa area in Silwan village to the south of the al-Aqsa
Mosque. Many Israeli workers and
archaeologists were seen in the area conducting excavations using hand tool and
heavy machines. According to Israeli
sources, the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem approved the establishment of a
Jewish center for education and archaeology in the area. 

 

On 13 December 2009, two Israeli
policemen stationed on the yards of the al-Aqsa Mosque in the old town of East
Jerusalem violated the sanctity of the site and entered it with their shoes
on. When a guard, Samer Siam, attempted
to stop them, they insulted and violently beat him. He sustained bruises throughout the body.

 

On 15 December 2009, extremist
Jewish groups organized celebrations throughout East Jerusalem for the Jewish
Hanukah. According to eyewitnesses, at
least 70 Israeli settlers carrying a candlestick, which is a symbol of the
Jewish Hanukah, broke into the yards of the al-Aqsa Mosque and attempted to
conduct Jewish rituals. The
administration of the al-Aqsa Mosque intervened and requested the Israeli
police to take the settlers out. During
their celebrations, the settlers attacked a number of Palestinian civilians and
shops in the old town. 

 

Settlement Activities: in the area have continued
settlement activities in the OPT in violation of international humanitarian law
and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and
property.

 

On 10 December 2009, Israeli
settlers attacked a Palestinian child from Qarawat Bani Hassan village
northwest of Salfit. The child sustained
bruises and cuts and he was evacuated to an Israeli hospital.

 

On 11 December 2009, a number of
Israeli settlers launched an arson attack against a mosque in Yasouf village,
east of Salfit. As a result, the walls
and some contents of the mosque were burnt.  While dozens of worshippers were performing
the Dawn Prayer in Hassan Khader Mosque in the center of Yasouf village, they
smelled fire. When they finished the
Prayer, they searched for the source of fire, and they found that it was in the
mosque’s library. A large part of the
library, walls and some carpets of the mosque were burnt. The library included at least 100 copies of
the Holy Qur’an and books on Prophet Mohammed. 

 

On 13 December 2009, a number of
Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian child in the center of Hebron. He was injured in the left eye, the nose and
the right knee, and he was evacuated to Hebron Hospital. Israeli troops were present in the area, but
did not intervene to stop the attack.

 

 

Israeli
Violations Documented during the Reporting Period (10 – 15 December 2009)

The
full report is available PDF format.