Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Escalate
Attacks on Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory (OPT)
· 6 Palestinians, including two children and an old man, were
killed by IOF.
· A
Palestinian civilian from Jenin died from a previous wound.
· 36
Palestinian civilians, including 4 children and 3 women, were wounded by the
IOF gunfire.
· IOF
launched a series of air strikes on a number of houses in the Gaza Strip.
· 6
houses were destroyed and a 7th one was burnt in the Gaza Strip.
· IOF
conducted 40 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, and 4
others into the Gaza Strip.
· IOF
arrested 48 Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and 5 others in the Gaza
Strip.
· 4
houses were demolished in the West Bank.
· IOF
raided 3 hospitals in Hebron.
· IOF
have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT; IOF have imposed a tightened
siege on the Gaza Strip and there have been shortages of foodstuffs and fuels; IOF
positioned at a various checkpoints in the West Bank arrested 8 Palestinian
civilians, including two girls.
· IOF
have continued to construct the Annexation Wall in the West Bank; they razed
more areas of agricultural land in Qalqilya and used force to disperse a
peaceful demonstration protesting the construction of the Wall in Bal’ein
village, west of Ramallah.
· Israeli
settlers have continued attacks against Palestinian civilians and property in
the OPT; settlers celebrated a Jewish wedding inside the Ibrahimi Mosque 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 Operation Grasshopper, under which they move in a certain area,
commit crimes there and then redeploy outside it. They then move into another
area and do the same. Hundreds of Palestinian families have been forced to
leave their houses due to the IOF shelling.
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 allow the flow
of foodstuffs, medical supplies and fuels into the Gaza Strip.
The
outcome of crimes committed by IOF since 25 June 2006:
o 207
Palestinians, mostly civilians, including 46 children and 10 women, have been
killed by IOF.
o At
least 815 Palestinian civilians, including 232 children and 27 women, have been
wounded by the IOF gunfire.
o At
least 217 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[1] of
agricultural land and dozens of houses have been destroyed.
o Hundreds
of Palestinian civilians, including 8 ministers and 27 members of the
Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), including the Speaker and Deputy Speaker
have been arrested. Minster of Prisoners’ Affairs, Minister of Labor and 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 25
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 of international law continued in the OPT during the reported period
(10 – 16 August 2006):
Killing: During
the reported period, IOF killed 5 Palestinian civilians and a member of the
Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip, while a Palestinian civilian died
from a wound he had sustained in Jenin refugee camp on 6 July 2006. On 14
August 2006, IOF killed 3 Palestinian civilians including a child, and wounded
3 others, including two children, when they fired a missile at a crowd of
Palestinian civilians in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun. On 16
August 2006, IOF killed an elderly Palestinian and his son in Khan Yunis, when
an IOF fighter jet leveled their house with a bomb. IOF did not give them
sufficient time to evacuate the house, and they were killed during the
evacuation. In addition, a second son and two neighbors were moderately wounded
by shrapnel. On 17 August 2006, IOF killed a Palestinian militant during an
incursion into al-Farrahin area in ‘Abasan village, east of Khan Yunis.
Thus, the number of Palestinians killed by IOF in the
Gaza Strip since the beginning of “Operation Summer Rains” on 25 June 2006 has
increased to 187, including 43 children and 10 women. In addition, 715 others,
mostly civilians, including 194 children, 26 women, 4 paramedics and 4
journalists, have been wounded.
IOF also launched at least 9
air strikes on 7 houses and a store in the Gaza Strip belonging to Palestinian
resistance activists. These houses were
destroyed, and a number of neighboring houses and civilian facilities were
severely damaged. IOF intelligence
officers ordered owners of these houses by phone to evacuate their houses. The targeted houses were not located in
confrontation areas, or in areas used to fire rockets. They were distributed in
different parts of the Gaza Strip. In addition, they were multi-story apartment
structures. The destruction caused fear among the civilian population. The
destruction of houses is based on intelligence reports, which can be inaccurate
or out of date and often do not justify attacks on civilians and their
property. Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits the destruction
of real or personal property, “except where such destruction is rendered
absolutely necessary by military operations.”
During the reported, IOF fired dozens of artillery
shells at Palestinian residential areas and agricultural land in the Gaza Strip.
A number of Palestinian civilians were killed or wounded and a number of houses
were damaged. Hundreds of families have been forced to leave their homes due to
the IOF shelling.
In the West Bank, Ussama al-Tubasi, 27, from Jenin
refugee camp, died from a wound he had sustained in 6 July 2006, when an IOF
attempted to extrajudicial execute two activists of the Palestinian resistance.
Al-Tubasi was one of 18 Palestinians who were wounded in the attack.
In addition, 13 Palestinian civilians, including 8
children and a woman, and an Israeli solidarity activist were wounded by IOF
gunfire.
Incursions:
During the reported period, IOF
conducted at least 40 military incursions into Palestinian communities, during which
they raided dozens of houses and arrested 48 Palestinian civilians, including 5
children and two women. IOF also
demolished 4 houses belonging to 4 brothers from the al-Nadi family in ‘Askar
refugee camp, northeast of Nablus, claiming that their brother is allegedly
wanted by IOF. This is an indication of the resumption of collective punishment
measures by IOF against families of activists of the Palestinian resistance. In
Hebron, IOF raided and searched 3 hospitals, claiming that they were looking
for wounded wanted Palestinians. In the Gaza Strip, IOF conducted 4 incursions
into Palestinian communities. They arrested 5 Palestinians and razed areas of
agricultural land.
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. IOF have also
continued to close Erez crossing in the northern Gaza Strip. In addition, IOF have prevented Palestinian
fishermen from fishing.
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. On
Friday, 11 August 2006, IOF prevented Palestinian aged below 40 from going to
the al-Aqsa Mosque for the Friday prayer. During the reported period, IOF
positioned at various checkpoints in the West Bank arrested 8 Palestinian
civilians, including two girls. One of the girls was released later.
Annexation Wall: IOF have continued to construct the Annexation Wall inside the West Bank.
During the reported period, IOF started to raze large areas of Palestinian
agricultural land in ‘Azzoun and Kufor Laqef villages, east of Qalqilya, to
construct a new section of the Wall in the areas. According to local sources in
‘Azzoun village, at least 250 donums of agricultural land are expected to be
razed, and hundreds of donums will be isolated. On Thursday, 10 August 2006,
the local council of Kufor Laqef village received a military order seizing 8
donums of land for “military purposes” until 31 December 2009. The land is
located near “Kerni Shomron” settlement. IOF had already prevented Palestinian
civilians from reaching the seized land. In addition, two Palestinian civilians
and an Israeli solidarity activist were wounded, when IOF used force against a
peaceful demonstration organized in protest to the construction of the Wall.
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. On
Friday, 11 August 2006, IOF allowed a number of Israeli settlers to enter the
Ibrahimi Mosque with musical instruments to celebrate a Jewish wedding, in
disregard for the feelings of Palestinians. On Saturday and Sunday, 12 and 13
August 2006, Israeli settlers living in “Kiryat Arba” settlement, southeast of
Hebron, attacked Palestinian civilians and property in Hebron. During the
reported period, Israeli settlers living in “Nogohot” and “Metsvi Lakhish”
settlement, southwest of Hebron, razed areas of Palestinian agricultural land
to annex them to the settlements.
Israeli Violations Documented during the Reporting Period (10 – 16 August
2006)
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report here.
