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

· 9
Palestinians killed by IOF. 

· IOF
committed another extra-judicial execution in Gaza.

· IOF
killed 4 Palestinians and wounded 35 others during an incursion into Ramallah.

· 26
Palestinian civilians, including 10 children, were wounded by IOF gunfire.

· IOF
continued to shell Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip, especially the northern
area.

· IOF
conducted 50 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, particularly
Nablus, and two incursions into the Gaza Strip.

· 78
Palestinian civilians, including two children and two women, were arrested by
IOF.

· Two
houses were transformed by IOF into military sites.

· IOF
have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT; IOF have continued to close
border crossings of the Gaza Strip; the north of the West Bank has been
separated from the south; and IOF arrested two Palestinian civilians at
checkpoints in the West Bank.

· IOF
have continued to construct the Annexation Wall in the West Bank; IOF razed
areas of agricultural land in the western countryside of Bethlehem; and the
Israeli High Court issued two decisions allowing IOF to resume the construction
of the Wall in al-‘Eizariya and ‘Aaboud villages.

Summary

Israeli
violations of international law continued in the OPT during the reported period
(18–24 May 2006):

Killing: During the reported period, IOF killed 9 Palestinians
in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. 

On Saturday,
20 May 2006, IOF extra-judicially executed a member of the al-Quds Brigades,
the military wing of Islamic Jihad, in Gaza City.  This attack also killed
three Palestinian civilians and wounded four others, all from the same
family.  PCHR’s accountant was passing by the area at the time of the
attack but escaped injury.  IOF admitted responsibility for this attack. On Sunday morning, 21 May 2006, IOF shot dead
a Palestinian woman, while she was looking through her window in Balata refugee
camp, east of Nablus. The area was
completely quiet, when IOF shot at her. On Wednesday afternoon, 24 May 2006, IOF shot dead 4 Palestinians,
including 3 civilians, and wounded 35 others, including 8 children, in a two
hour period during an incursion into Ramallah to arrest an allegedly wanted
Palestinian. 

Incursions:
During the reported period, IOF carried
out repeated incursions into Nablus. IOF
conducted at least 50 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the
West Bank. During these incursions, IOF raided
houses and arrested 78 Palestinian civilians, including two children and two
women. In addition, IOF transformed two houses
into military sites.  IOF used undercover
units and trained dogs during these incursions.  During the reported period, IOF moved twice
into Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip, and leveled areas of land near the
border between the Gaza Strip and Israel.  

Restrictions on
Movement: IOF have continued to
impose a comprehensive siege on the OPT, in violation of civil, political,
economic, social and cultural rights of Palestinian civilians. 

IOF have continued to impose a tightened siege on the
Gaza Strip, transforming it into a large prison.  IOF have continued to
monitor the movement of Palestinian civilians through Rafah International
Crossing Point on the Egyptian border.  Although IOF have allowed the
transportation of food aid from Egypt into the Gaza Strip through Kerem Shalom
commercial crossing, southeast of Rafah, the crossing has not yet been
officially opened.  IOF have also continued to prevent Palestinian workers
from the Gaza Strip from reaching their work places in Israel through Beit
Hanoun (Erez) crossing.  They have continued to prevent hundreds of
thousands of Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip from traveling to the West
Bank.  IOF have partially operated al-Mentar (Karni)
commercial crossing, east of Gaza City.  As a result of the repeated
closures of the crossing, the economic conditions in the Gaza Strip have
deteriorated.

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 the
north and south of the West Bank. For
this purpose, they have closed Za’tara checkpoint, south of Nablus, and
re-established their presence at ‘Attara checkpoint, north of Ramallah. They
have also erected two new checkpoints near Ramallah.  During the reported period,
IOF positioned at various checkpoints around Nablus imposed severe restrictions
on the movement of Palestinian civilians.  IOF positioned at various
checkpoints in the West Bank abused a number of Palestinian civilians. 
During the reported period, IOF at checkpoints in the West Bank arrested two
Palestinian civilians.

Annexation Wall: IOF have continued to construct the Annexation Wall
inside the West Bank. On Sunday morning, 21 May 2006, IOF bulldozers
started to dig a tunnel between al-Khader village and the western countryside,
south of Bethlehem, in preparation for the construction of a section of the
Wall in the area.  According to a report
published by the Agriculture Department in Hebron, IOF have confiscated 6,191
dunums[1] of
land in Hebron – excluding Dura villages and subordinate villages – for the
purpose of the construction of the Wall. In addition, thousands of dunums have been isolated behind the Wall.  In addition, IOF have seized 16 wells. According to the same report, IOF have uprooted
or sized 23,354 trees. The Israeli High
Court issued two new decisions on Monday and Tuesday, 22 and 23 May 2006,
allowing IOF to resume the construction of sections of the Wall in ‘Aaboud
village, northwest of Ramallah, and between Jerusalem and “Ma’ale Adumim”
settlement. These decisions came two
weeks following statements made by the Israeli Minster of Justice Haim Ramon
before Israeli security officials on 9 May 2006, in which he vowed to
make efforts with the judiciary to accelerate legal procedures to construct the
remaining sections of the Wall. On Friday,
19 May 2006, IOF used forced to disperse a peaceful demonstration organized in
protest to the construction of the Wall in Bal’ein village, west of
Ramallah.  IOF fired rubber-coated metal bullets, tear gas canisters and
sound bombs at the demonstrators.  As a result, 12 Palestinians civilians,
two international solidarity activists and 3 journalists were wounded. IOF also
arrested 15 demonstrators, including 7 international and Israeli solidarity
activists. 

 

Israeli Violations Documented during the Reporting Period (18–24 May 2006)

Download the full
report here.