Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Escalate
Attacks on Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory (OPT)

 

 

· 3
Palestinians were killed by IOF in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

 

· One
of the victims was extra-judicially executed by IOF in the West Bank.

 

· A
child died from a previous wound she had sustained when IOF killed her father
and brother.

 

· 10
Palestinian civilians, including 7 children and a woman, were wounded by the
IOF gunfire.

 

· IOF
have continued to launch air strikes on houses in the Gaza Strip; 4 houses were
destroyed in Rafah.

 

· IOF
conducted 42 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, and 4 others
into the Gaza Strip.

 

· IOF
arrested 52 Palestinian civilians, including a child and a woman, in the West
Bank, and two civilians in the Gaza Strip.

 

· IOF
raided the Jordanian National Bank in Nablus, and 11 money exchange shops in 4
West Bank towns.

 

· IOF
have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT; IOF have imposed a tightened
siege on the Gaza Strip; and IOF positioned at a various checkpoints in the
West Bank arrested 7 Palestinian civilians.

 

· IOF
have continued to construct the Annexation Wall in the West Bank; they issued a
military order to construct a new section of the Wall near ‘Azzoun ‘Atma village,
south of Qalqilya; and they violently beat 8 demonstrators protesting the
construction of the Wall in Bal’ein village near Ramallah.

 

· Israeli
settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property in the OPT;
Israeli settlers attacked a family in Hebron.

 

Summary

 

As the international community has remained silent,
IOF have continued to wage a full scale offensive on the Palestinian people,
especially in the Gaza Strip.  During the reported period, IOF have
continued their attacks on Palestinian civilians and property.

 

PCHR, monitoring with utmost concern the developments
of this offensive, calls upon the international community, particularly the
High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and United Nations,
to immediately intervene to force IOF to stop this offensive and lift the siege
imposed on the Gaza Strip.  PCHR also warns the international community of
the consequences of the policy of collective punishment and reprisals practiced
by IOF against the Palestinian civilian population, especially the destruction
of energy resources and the denial of the flow of fuels needed for providing
basic services.

 

Israeli violations of international law continued in
the OPT during the reported period (14 – 20 September 2006):

 

Killing: During
the reported period, IOF killed 3 Palestinians. A Palestinian child also died
from a previous wound.

 

In the Gaza Strip, an IOF special unit shot dead a
Palestinian civilian in Rafah on Thursday morning, 14 September 2006. IOF moved
into the area to arrest two Palestinians, and shot this civilian dead when he
was sitting in front of his house. On 20 September 2006, an IOF drone fired a
missile at a Palestinian civilian in Jabalya, when he was in an area from which
locally made rockets are fired at Israel. The victim was a resident of the
area. On the same day, a 16-year-old child died from a previous wound she had
sustained on 2 September 2006, when IOF shot dead her father and brother. In
addition, a Palestinian woman was wounded by the IOF shelling in Beit Lahia.

 

Thus, the number of Palestinians killed by IOF in the
Gaza Strip since 25 June 2006 has increased to 231, including 49 children and
12 women. In addition, 814 others, mostly civilians, including 216 children, 31
women, 4 paramedics and 6 journalists, have been wounded. 

 

IOF also launched 3 air strikes on 4 houses Rafah,
claming that there were tunnels under these houses. Those houses were totally
destroyed and a number of neighboring houses and civilian facilities were
severely damaged. 

 

In the west Bank, on Friday morning, IOF
extra-judicially killed a member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a military
wing of Fatah movement, in Sanour village, southeast of Jenin. IOF claimed that
the victim, who was a resident of Beit Fourik village near Nablus, fired at
them when they came to arrest him, but investigations conducted by PCHR refute
this claim. In addition, 9 Palestinian civilians, including 7 children, were
wounded by IOF gunfire throughout the West Bank.

 

Incursions:
During the reported period, IOF
conducted at least 42 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the
West Bank, during which they raided dozens of houses and arrested 52 Palestinian
civilians, including a child, a woman, a member of the municipal council of
Bethlehem, the Mufti of Bethlehem and a university lecturer. IOF also
transformed a house into a military site. In an act of piracy, IOF broke into
the Jordanian National Bank and 11 money exchange shops in the West Bank. They
arrested 7 money exchangers and confiscated big amounts of money. Israeli
sources estimated the confiscated money at 6 million NIS (US$ 1.3 million), and
claimed that these money exchange shop transferred amounts of money that were
used to finance attacks on Israeli targets. In the Gaza Strip, IOF conducted 4
incursions in the southern Gaza Strip villages of ‘Abasan and al-Shouka, and
into Erez industrial zone in the north. During these incursions IOF arrested 5
Palestinians and demolished at least 30 factories and workshops. 

 

Restrictions
on Movement: IOF have 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

 

IOF have imposed a strict
siege on the Gaza Strip. They have closed its border crossings as a form of
collective punishment against Palestinian civilians.

 

IOF have closed Rafah
International Crossing Point, even though they do not directly control it. They have prevented European observers
working at the crossing point form reaching it. IOF have closed commercial
crossings of the Gaza Strip, especially al-Mentar (Karni) crossing. As a
consequence, the economic situation inside the Gaza Strip has further
deteriorated and many goods have been lacked in markets. During the reported
period, IOF partially reopened al-Mentar (Karni) crossing, east of Gaza City,
and Sofa and Kerem Shalom crossings near Rafah. IOF have also continued to
close Erez crossing in the northern Gaza Strip. Hundreds of thousands of
Palestinians from the Gaza Strip had been prevented from traveling through this
crossing.  IOF have allowed international workers to pass through the
crossing.  With this closure, few Palestinian patients have been able to
travel to hospitals in Israel and the West Bank. On Sunday, 17 September
2006, IOF suddenly closed the crossing for alleged security reasons. In addition, IOF
have prevented Palestinian fishermen from fishing for 3 months.

 

West Bank

 

IOF have tightened the siege imposed on Palestinian
communities in the West Bank. They have isolated Jerusalem from the rest
of the West Bank. IOF positioned at various checkpoints in the West Bank have
continued to impose severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians.
 IOF have continued to separate between the north and south of the West
Bank. During the reported period, IOF positioned at various checkpoints around
imposed severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians. During
the reported period, IOF positioned at various checkpoints in the West Bank
arrested 7 Palestinian civilians.

 

Annexation Wall: IOF have continued to construct the Annexation Wall inside the West Bank. During
the reported period, IOF issued a military order to construct a new section of
the Wall around ‘Azzoun ‘Atma village, south of Qalqilya. According to the
order, a 4500-meter-long section of the Wall will be constructed, extending
from “Sha’ari Tikva” settlement to “Uranit” settlement. According to local
sources, upon its construction, this section of the Wall will isolate at least
2000 donums[1]
of agricultural land belonging to Palestinian civilians. IOF also used force to
disperse a peaceful demonstration organized by Palestinian civilians and
international and Israeli peace activists in protest to the construction of the
Wall in Bal’ein village, west of Ramallah. As a result, 5 Palestinian civilians
and 3 Israeli solidarity activists sustained bruises.

 

Illegal Settler Activities: Israeli settlers in breach of international
humanitarian law continue to reside in the OPT and have launched a series of
attacks against Palestinian civilians and property. Israeli settlers raided a
house in Hebron and violently beat the owner and his son. Other Israeli
settlers damaged the fence of a house in Hebron. In addition, Israeli settlers
violently beat an old Palestinian civilian in Yatta village, south of Hebron.
In Qalqilya, Israeli settlers seized a house in Kufor Qddoum village for some
time. In the context of settlement expansion activities, IOF razed large areas
in the south of al-Zahiriya village, southwest of Hebron, to establish a new
settlers road.

 

The
outcome of crimes committed by IOF since 25 June 2006:

 

o 267
Palestinians, mostly civilians, including 52 children and 12 women, have been
killed by IOF.

o At
least 993 Palestinian civilians, including 284 children and 37 women, have been
wounded by the IOF gunfire.

o At
least 259 air-to-surface missiles and hundreds of artillery shells have been
fired at Palestinian civilian and military targets in the Gaza Strip.

o Buildings
of the Palestinian Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
the Ministry of National economy, the office of the Palestinian Prime Minister
and a number of educational institutions have been destroyed. 

o The
electricity generation plant, providing 45% of the electricity of the Gaza
Strip, was destroyed, and electricity networks and transmitters have been
repeatedly attacked.

o 6
bridges linking Gaza City with the central Gaza Strip and a number of roads
have been destroyed. 

o Hundreds
of donums of agricultural land and dozens of houses have been destroyed. 

o Hundreds
of Palestinian civilians, including 9 ministers and 31 members of the Palestinian
Legislative Council (PLC), including the Speaker, Deputy Speaker and Secretary,
have been arrested. Minster of Prisoners’ Affairs, Minister of Labor and Second
Deputy Speaker of the PLC were released.

o The
Palestinian governmental compound in Nablus has been destroyed.

o Many
families in Rafah, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia have been forced to leave their
houses.

o IOF
intelligence has warned some Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip by phone
to evacuate their houses, which would be attacked.

o 43
houses belonging to activists of Palestinian factions were destroyed by IOF
warplanes.

o IOF
have imposed a strict siege on the OPT, and have isolated the Gaza Strip from
the outside world.

 

 

Israeli Violations
Documented during the Reporting Period (14 – 20 September 2006)

 

 

Download the full report
here.