Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Escalate
Attacks on Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory (OPT)
· A
Palestinian child killed by IOF in Beit Lahia and a Palestinian activist died
from a previous wound.
· 41
Palestinians, including 19 children, were wounded by the IOF gunfire.
· IOF
continued to shell Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip, especially the northern
area, putting Palestinian homes at risk.
· IOF
conducted 35 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank,
particularly Nablus.
· 74
Palestinian civilians, including 11 children, were arrested by IOF.
· Wives
and mothers of allegedly wanted Palestinians were arrested by IOF and one has
remained in custody.
· 10
houses were transformed by IOF into military sites.
· IOF
have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT; IOF have closed border
crossings of the Gaza Strip; the north of the West Bank has been separated from
the south; and IOF arrested 8 Palestinian civilians, including two children, at
checkpoints in the West Bank.
· IOF
have continued to construct the Annexation Wall in the West Bank; IOF have
closed outlets on the section of the Wall between Qalandya checkpoint and the Dahiat
al-Barid area.
· Israeli
settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property in the OPT;
the settlers violently beat a Palestinian civilian and his child in Hebron.
Summary
Following a bombing in Tel Aviv on
17 April 2006, the Israeli government decided on a series of retaliatory
measures against Palestinian civilians, including separating the north and
south of the West Bank; denial of access of Palestinian workers to their work
places inside Israel; and increasing extra-judicial executions. PCHR reminds the High Contracting Parties to
the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in
Time of War of 1949 that “No protected person may be punished for an offence he
or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all
measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited. Pillage is prohibited.
Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited.”
(Article 33).
Israeli
violations of international law continued in the OPT during the reporting
period (13–19 April 2006):
Killing: On
Monday evening, 17 April 2006,
a Palestinian child, 15-year-old Mamdouh ‘Obaid, was
killed and two other were wounded, when IOF fired a number of artillery shells
at Sheikh Zayed town, to the east of Beit Lahia. One of the shells hit a playground, where at
least 20 children were playing football. On 15 April 2006, ‘Ayada Suleiman ‘Abdullah al-Tarabin, 28, from
Rafah, died from a wound he had sustained on 7 April 2006. Al-Tarabin was wounded by shrapnel throughout
the body when IOF aircrafts launched missiles at a number of Palestinians in
Rafah. The attack left 5 Palestinians,
including a child, dead and wounded 6 others.
During the
reported period, IOF continued to shell Palestinian areas in the Gaza
Strip. They fired artillery shells at
houses. A number of houses and civilian
facilities were damaged and 10 civilians, including 4 children, were wounded.
During the
reported period, 31 Palestinian civilians, including 25 in Nablus, were wounded
by IOF gunfire in the West Bank.
Incursions:
During the reported period, IOF carried
out repeated incursions into Nablus. IOF
also conducted 35 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West
Bank. During these incursions, IOF raided
houses and arrested 73 Palestinian civilians, including 10 children. In addition, IOF transformed 10 houses into
military sites. IOF used undercover
units and trained dogs during these incursions. In an attempt to exert pressure on allegedly wanted Palestinians to
surrender, IOF arrested 7 of their wives and mothers. Later, 6 of these women were released, while
the seventh has remained in custody.
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 closed al-Mentar (Karni) commercial crossing, east of Gaza City. During the reported period, the crossing was
reopened for a few hours. As a result,
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. Following the bombing that occurred in Tel
Aviv on 17 April 2006, IOF decided to separate the north and south of the West
Bank. On Tuesday morning, 18 April 2006,
IOF closed Za’tara checkpoint, south of Nablus. IOF also reinforced their presence at various checkpoints in the West
Bank. During the reported period, IOF positioned
at various checkpoints in the West Bank arrested 8 Palestinian civilians,
including two children.
Annexation Wall: IOF have continued to construct the Annexation Wall
inside the West Bank. During the reported period, IOF closed all outlets
of the Wall along the main road between Dahiat al-Bardi checkpoint, north of
Jerusalem, and Qalandya crossing, south of Ramallah. According to eyewitnesses, IOF erected a
checkpoint on the road in the morning and started to close all outlets. IOF have therefore separated the Dahiat
al-Barid area and al-Ram village from the city. Before the closure of these outlets, Palestinian civilians used to
travel to the city directly through the Arab Post intersection towards al-Dahia
checkpoint, but following the closure, they are forced to pass through Qalandya
checkpoint in the north and then must travel back to the south. At least 70,000 Palestinians living in the Dahiat
al-Barid area, al-Ram village, the Sameeramis area and Kufor ‘Aqab village,
north of Jerusalem, who have Israeli identity cards, are now threatened with
separation from Jerusalem and are therefore being deprived of their political,
civil, economic, social and cultural rights. IOF also closed iron gates in the Wall in some areas of the West Bank
and prevented Palestinian civilians from reaching their agricultural
lands.
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, Israeli settlers and
IOF violently beat a Palestinian civilian and his child in Hebron. In addition, Israeli settlers from “Routam”
settlement, in the Wadi al-Maleh area of the northern Jordan Valley, positioned
a mobile home surrounded by barbed wire in the area.
Israeli Violations Documented during the Reporting Period (13–19 April 2006)
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