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

· 26 Palestinians, mostly civilians, including 5 children and two
women, were killed by IOF.

· At
least 200 Palestinians, including 55 children and 5 women, were wounded by the
IOF gunfire.

· IOF
conducted 27 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, and
reoccupied areas in the Gaza Strip.

· IOF
moved into Nablus, destroyed a number of governmental and scurrility buildings
and detained at least 100 security personnel.

· At
least 70 houses were partially destroyed and a number of civilian facilities
were severely damaged in the Gaza Strip.

· IOF
arrested 31 Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, and 5 others in the Gaza
Strip.

· A
number of Palestinian civilians were used by IOF as human shields during
military operations in the Gaza Strip.

· A
number of houses were transformed by IOF into military sites.

· IOF
warplanes launched a series of air strikes on the Gaza Strip; a number of
governmental buildings were destroyed; dozens of families in Beit Hanoun and
al-Shouka villages were forced to vacate their houses; and electricity networks
and transmitters were attacked.

· IOF
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 was partially reopened to allow Palestinians stuck at Egyptian side of
the crossing point to travel back to the Gaza Strip; and IOF positioned at
various checkpoints in the West Bank arrested 6 Palestinian civilians.

· IOF
have continued to construct the Annexation Wall in the West Bank.

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.  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 Agency, 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.  

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

o 115
Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed by IOF.

o At
least 550 Palestinian civilians, including 134 children and 19 women, have been
wounded by the IOF gunfire.

o 124
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. 

Israeli
violations of international law continued in the OPT during the reported period
(13 – 19 July 2006):

Killing: During
the reported period, IOF killed 24 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West
Bank, including 4 children and two women. Two children also died from previous wounds.

In the Gaza Strip, 20 Palestinians were killed by
IOF, including 16 ones who were killed during IOF offensives on Beit Hanoun
town and al-Maghazi refugee camp in the northern and central Gaza Strip
respectively. It was noticed that IOF
willfully fired at Palestinian civilians. A child from Beit lahia also died
from a previous wound. In addition, 135 civilians, including 50 children, 5
women, a translator, a Japanese journalist and 3 medical personnel, 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 108,
including 54 civilians. These civilians
have included 23 children and 5 women. In addition, 480 others, mostly
civilians, have been wounded. 

In the West Bank, IOF killed 4 Palestinians during an
incursion into Nablus on 19 June 2006. Three of the victims, who were allegedly wanted by IOF, were killed by
IOF that besieged a Palestinian security compound. IOF held their bodies for
one day. The fourth victim was a civilian who was killed when he was witnessing
the IOF operation. In addition, 33 Palestinian civilians, including 16 children
and two journalists, were wounded by IOF gunfire. A Palestinian child from Jenin refugee camp
also died from a wound he had sustained nearly two weeks ago.

In the Gaza Strip, IOF launched a series of air strikes
on Palestinian governmental buildings and civilian facilities. During the reported period, they attacked 5
governmental compounds, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the
Ministry of National Economy. IOF also
destroyed two bridges in the central Gaza Strip and a site of the Palestinian
National Security Forces in Jabalya. In
addition, IOF have continued to shell Palestinian residential areas. As a
result, dozens of families have been forced to vacate their houses. 

Incursions:
During the reported period, IOF
reoccupied some areas in the Gaza Strip. They killed a number of Palestinians,
arrested a number of others, seized a number of houses and transformed them
into military sites, razed at least 270 donums[1] of
agricultural land and partially destroyed 130 houses. The most extensive destruction was in Beit
Hanoun, as IOF destroyed at least 120 houses, razed 100 donums of agricultural
land and extensively destroyed the infrastructure of the town. They also damaged a number of schools. 

In the West
Bank, IOF conducted at least 27 military incursions into Palestinian communities,
the widest of which was into Nablus on 19 July 2006, when IOF killed 4
Palestinians, demolished some governmental buildings and arrested many security
personnel. During other incursions, IOF raided
houses and arrested 31 Palestinian civilians. IOF also raided at a number of civil
institutions.  

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 Friday, 14 July 2006, dozens of Palestinian militants, accompanied by
hundreds of young men, destroyed a part of the border fence with Egypt near
Rafah International Crossing Point. They
made a large gap, through which hundreds of Palestinian civilians stuck at the
Egyptian side of the crossing point were able to come back to the Gaza Strip.
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. According to Palestinian sources,
nearly 6000 Palestinians were able to travel back to the Gaza Strip. It is
worth noting that thousands of Palestinians had been stuck in Egypt under
severe conditions. Five Palestinian
patients died at Egyptian hospitals and IOF refused to allow their families to
bring their bodies into 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. During the reported period, the crossing was not
opened, contrary to Israeli statements that the crossing would be partially
opened to allow the flow of foodstuffs into the Gaza Strip, whereas Nahal Ouz
crossing was opened for a few hours to bring fuel into the Gaza Strip.

IOF have continued to impose a tightened siege on
Palestinian communities in 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 at checkpoints
in the West Bank arrested 6 Palestinian civilians, and violently beat 5 others.

Annexation Wall: IOF have continued to construct the Annexation Wall
inside the West Bank.  During the reported period, IOF continued to
construct a section of the Wall near “Kermi Tsur” settlement, which stands
between the villages of Beit Ummar and Halhoul, north of Hebron. Also during
the reported period, an Israeli technical crew, escorted by IOF, started to
place signs determining the route of the Wall to the northwest of Arab
al-Ramnadin village, southwest of Hebron. In addition, IOF soldiers positioned
along the Wall, west of Beit Jala, uprooted at least 50 trees belonging to
Palestinian civilians from Beer ‘Ouna area, allegedly for “security
considerations.” IOF positioned at the Wall, northwest of Hebron, prevented a
number of Palestinian farmers from Sourif and Beit Ummar villages, northwest of
Hebron, from reaching their agricultural land behind the Wall. 

Israeli Violations
Documented during the Reporting Period (13 – 19 July 2006)

Download the full
report here.