Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Escalate
Attacks on Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory (OPT) and Launch an Unprecedented Media Campaign in the Gaza Strip
· 41
Palestinians, 23 of whom are civilians, including 9 children, 3 women and two
disabled persons, were killed by IOF in the Gaza Strip.
· 9
of these civilians from 3 families were killed in 3 separate attacks.
· 151
Palestinians, mostly civilians, including 24 children, two women, two
journalists and two paramedics, 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 dozens of others were severely damaged.
· IOF
threatened and warned Palestinian civilians by phone to destroy their houses if
they helped Palestinian resistance activists.
· IOF
conducted 28 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, and invaded
al-Shojaeya neighborhood in Gaza City.
· IOF
razed 207 donums[1]
of agricultural land in al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.
· IOF
razed areas of land in al-Shojaeya neighborhood in Gaza City.
· IOF
destroyed a house in Kufor Qaddoum village near Qalqilya.
· IOF
arrested 78 Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.
· IOF
destroyed the governmental compounds in Nablus.
· OF
have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT; IOF have imposed a tightened
siege on the Gaza Strip; Rafah International Crossing Point on the Egyptian
border has been closed; IOF positioned at various checkpoints in the West Bank arrested
two Palestinian civilians.
· IOF
have continued to construct the Annexation Wall in the West Bank.
· Israeli
settlers have continued attacks Palestinian civilians and property in the OPT;
two Palestinian civilians were wounded.
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 waged
a media war against Palestinian civilians. They have dropped leaflets in
streets and on roofs of houses, phoned civilians threatening to destroy their
houses if they helped Palestinian resistance activist, and ordered a number of
Palestinian resistance activists through phone calls on their mobile phones to
evacuate their houses, which would be destroyed. IOF have further continued to
attack journalists in an attempt to prevent them from reporting on Israeli
practices in the OPT. They have also
penetrated the broadcasting waves of a number of local radio, and broadcast
warnings and threats to Palestinian civilians. Israel seeks to legitimize
collective punishment against Palestinian civilians by claiming in its media
that it does not target unarmed civilians and that it warns them before
attacking any building belonging to them or located near them.
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
passage of foodstuffs, medical supplies and fuels into the Gaza Strip.
PCHR warns the international community of the policies of collective punishment
and reprisals practiced by IOF against the Palestinian civilian population,
especially the destruction of electricity sources and the denial of passage of
foodstuffs and fuels into the Gaza Strip, which will lead to a humanitarian
crisis in the Gaza Strip. Attacks in the OPT are not merely
violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention, rather they constitute a war waged
by Israel against Palestinian civilians. This war has included the
destruction of the civilian infrastructure, including an electricity generation
plant and a number of bridges, and imposing a strict siege on the Gaza Strip –
all border crossings have been closed the movement of persons and goods to and
from the Gaza Strip has been prohibited. This war waged by Israel is a war
against civilians, in disregard for international humanitarian law.
Israel has been encouraged by the US support and the European silence to
launch more attacks against Palestinian civilians and then against Lebanon.
The
outcome of crimes committed by IOF since 25 June 2006:
o 157
Palestinians, mostly civilians, including 33 children and 8 women, have been
killed by IOF.
o At
least 700 Palestinian civilians, including 158 children and 21 women, have been
wounded by the IOF gunfire.
o At
least 170 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 8 ministers and 26 members of the
Palestinian Legislative Council have been arrested.
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 have warned some Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip by phone
to evacuate their houses, which would be attacked.
Israeli
violations of international law continued in the OPT during the reported period
(20-26 July 2006):
Killing: During
the reported period, IOF killed 38 Palestinians, including 21 civilians, in the
Gaza Strip. The victims included a mentally disabled person, 8 children and 3
women. In addition, a child, a dumb person and a resistance activist died from
previous wounds. Nine of the victims are from 3 families and were killed in 3
separate attacks: a woman, her two children and their uncle were killed in
al-Shojaeya neighborhood in Gaza City on 21 July 2006, when IOF shelled their
house; an old woman and her grandchild were killed in Beit Lahia on 24 July
2006, when an IOF aircraft fired a missile at their animal cart; and a woman
and her two children were killed in Jabalya on 26 July 2006, when IOF shelled
their house. Four Palestinian civilians, including a child, were killed, when
IOF shelled al-Nada tower buildings, west of Beit Hanoun. A child was also
killed, when IOF shelled al-Qarara village, east of Khan Yunis. Another child was killed in al-Maghazi
refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. IOF have moved into al-Shojaeya
neighborhood in Gaza City, killing 17 Palestinians.
In addition, 146 Palestinians, mostly civilians,
including 33 children, two women, two paramedics and two journalists, were wounded
by IOF gunfire. Thus, the number of Palestinians killed by IOF since the
beginning of “Operation Summer Rains” on 25 June 2006 has increased to 149,
including 77 civilians. These civilians
have included 32 children and 8 women. In addition, 626 others, mostly
civilians, including 163 children, 21 women, 4 paramedics and 4 journalists, have
been wounded.
IOF also launched at least 30 air strikes on a number
of targets in the Gaza Strip, including 5 houses 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. These
bombardments are a flagrant violation of article 53 of the Fourth Geneva
Convention, which prescribes that “it is prohibited for the occupying power to
destroy private property of individuals, groups, state, public authority, or
social and cooperative organizations except if military operations deem it an
unavoidable necessity.” The legal interpretation of this article sets the
following criteria for targeting a civilian installation:
– The destruction during military
operations;
– The installation poses a direct danger
to soldiers of the occupying power; and
– Destruction is the only remaining
option to avoid the security threat.
These criteria do not fit the cases in which IOF
bombed civilian houses.
In a further escalation, IOF fired dozens of
artillery shells at al-Nada tower buildings, west of Beit Hanoun. A number of Palestinian civilians were killed
or wounded and a number of flats were damaged. Residents of the building were
forced to leave their flats due to the IOF shelling. It is worth noting that
the number of towers buildings in the area is 26, each of which consists of 18
flats. At least 2300 Palestinians (468) families live in these buildings.
In the West Bank, a Palestinian civilian was killed
by shrapnel when IOF destroyed the Palestinian governmental compound in Nablus.
In addition, 5 civilians, including two children, were wounded by the Israeli
gunfire.
Incursions:
During the reported period, IOF
reoccupied some areas in the Gaza Strip. The widest of such operations was in
al-Shojaeya neighborhood in Gaza City, which started on 26 July 2006. On 21
July 2006, IOF withdrew from al-Maghazi refugee camp, following a two-day
incursion into the camp. During this
incursion, IOF killed 17 Palestinians and wounded 125 others. They also
destroyed 207 donums of land, 13 houses and the civilian infrastructure of the
camp.
In the West
Bank, IOF conducted at least 28 military incursions into Palestinian communities,
during which they raided dozens of houses, buildings and civil institutions. IOF
raided houses and arrested 78 Palestinian civilians, including 14 children and
5 brothers.
On Friday
evening, 21, July 2006, IOF withdrew from Nablus following a 3-day incursion
into the city. During this incursion, IOF killed 5 Palestinians, including two
civilians, and wounded 68 civilians, including 27 children and 3
journalists. They also destroyed the
Palestinian governmental compound in the city.
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
Following an
attack launched by Palestinian militants on 25 June 2006 near the
Israeli-Egyptian border, southeast of Rafah, which left two IOF soldiers and
two of the attackers dead and a third IOF soldier missing, IOF have closed all
border crossings of the Gaza Strip:
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. PCHR has always warned following the
agreement reached between the Palestinian and Israeli sides, which was brokered
by the United States and the European Union, that IOF have complete, even
though indirect, control over the crossing point. On 18 and 19 July 2006, IOF
permitted reopening the crossing point partially, with the presence of EU
observers and in agreement with the Egyptian side, for travelers wishing to
come back to the Gaza Strip. 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.
IOF have tightened the siege imposed on Palestinian
communities in the West Bank since Thursday morning, 20 July 2006. They
have cancelled permits offered to Palestinians from the West Bank to enter
JerusalemIOF 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 at checkpoints in the West Bank
arrested two Palestinian civilians, and violently beat a third one. On 26 July 2006, a Palestinian patient
at an IOF checkpoint near Qalqilya, as IOF prevented his evacuation to the
hospital to be treated from an acute heart attack.
Annexation Wall: IOF have continued to construct the Annexation Wall
inside the West Bank. During the reported period, IOF razed areas of
Palestinian land in al-Sawhra al-Gharbiya village, east of occupied Jerusalem,
to complete the construction of a section of the Wall in the area. IOF also razed
dozens of donums of agricultural land in Jourat al-Shama’a village, south of
Bethlehem, to construct a section of the Wall to the southeast of “Efrat”
settlement.
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.
During the reported period, two Palestinian civilians were wounded when
settlers fired at them in two separate attacks in Housan village, west of
Bethlehem, and al-Zahiriya village, south of Hebron. IOF also burnt trees in
Abu Ghunaim Forest to expand “Har Homa” settlement, south of Jerusalem.
Israeli Violations
Documented during the Reporting Period (20 – 26 July 2006)
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report here.
