Israeli
Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue to Commit War Crimes in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory (OPT)
Summary
Israeli violations of international
law and humanitarian law continued in the OPT during the reporting period (22 –
28 March 2007):
Shooting: On 27 March 2007, IOF killed two
Palestinian resistance activists in Nablus when they attempted to resist an
incursion into the city. IOF prevented an ambulance from reaching one of them
who was moderately injured. As a result, he bled to death. And on Wednesday, 28
March 2007, IOF killed another resistance activist in Jenin refugee camp when he
tried to resist an incursion.
IOF injured 10 Palestinians in the
OPT. On 22 March 2007, IOF injured a civilian scavenging for scrap metal in the
northern Gaza Strip. On 23 March 2007 IOF used excessive force against
demonstrators in the village of Bal’ein, west of Ramallah, and injured four by
rubber-coated metal bullets. In addition, IOF injured a child scavenging for
scrap metal in the northern Gaza Strip. On 28 March 2007, three children were
injured by shrapnel, one of them seriously, in the Gaza Strip when IOF fired a
missile that landed near civilians in the beach in the north of the Gaza Strip.
Incursions: During the reporting period, IOF
conducted at least 21 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the OPT.
During those incursions, IOF arrested 37 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza
Strip. Thus, the number of Palestinians arrested by IOF in the West Bank since
the beginning of this year has mounted to 831. It is noted that IOF raids and
searches systematically include destruction of property and ransacking houses.
In addition, police dogs are occasionally used. The residents of targeted
houses are also systematically abused.
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 since 25 June 2006, even though they do not directly control it.
During the reporting period, the crossing point was reopened for two days (26,
27 March 2007). . It was also supposed to be open on 20 March 2007, but IOF
prevented EU observers from reaching the crossing point.
IOF have
partially reopened commercial crossings, especially al-Mentar (Karni) crossing,
but many goods and medical supplies have been lacked in markets in the Gaza
Strip. During the reporting period, IOF closed al-Mentar crossing on 21 March
2007 most of the day.
IOF have
also continued to close Erez crossing in the northern Gaza Strip. Hundreds of thousands of
Palestinians from the Gaza Strip have been prevented from traveling through
this crossing. IOF have allowed international workers to pass through the
crossing. With this closure, only few Palestinian patients have been able
to travel to hospitals in Israel and the West Bank. On Friday, 16
February 2007, IOF opened the new Erez International Crossing Point under new
procedures. Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank have to obtain
permits from the IOF Civil Administration as it was the case before. However,
Palestinians living in East Jerusalem have to hand their identity cards the
Israeli Ministry of Interior to get travel documents. In the past, they had to
hand identity cards to IOF at Erez crossing. This includes 800-1000 women from
East Jerusalem married to men in the Gaza Strip. According to Palestinians who
traveled through the new crossing point, IOF imposed the same restrictions on
their movement as in the past. In addition, IOF have continued to
prevent Palestinian fishermen from fishing freely for more than 9 months.
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. Contrary to Israeli claims, IOF
positioned at various checkpoints in the West Bank have continued to impose
severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians. During the
reporting period, IOF detained 8 Palestinians, including a teenage girl, at
various checkpoints in the West Bank.
In his visit to the OPT, UN
Secretary-General Pan Ki Mon expressed his shock at the living conditions of
Palestinians. He promised to work towards the implementation of international
decisions regarding settlement activity and the Annexation Wall. He also
criticized the policy of checkpoints, nearly 550 of them, in the West Bank, and
the isolation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The UN Secretary-General also
criticized the humiliating treatment of UN staff by IOF on roadblocks and
checkpoints.
Construction of the Annexation
Wall: On 25 March
2007, IOF issued a military order confiscating 79.6 dunums of land in the
villages of Azzoun and Jayyous, near Qalqilya. And on 27 March 2007, IOF
bulldozers started leveling 10 dunums of land in Wadi Rahal village, south of
Bethlehem, to prepare for the construction of new sections of the Wall in the
area.
Settlement Activities: During the reporting period, the
body of a Palestinian sheep herder was found near the settlement of Itamar,
near Nablus. The herder was stabbed to death in an area inaccessible by
Palestinians due to IOF and settlement guard action. In addition, IOF
demolished two Palestinian houses in Khirbit Beit Eskarya near Bethlehem. IOF
also confiscated 10 dunums of land in the town of Bal’a to the northeast of
Tulkarm. And on 26 March 2007, hundreds of settlers under IOF guard returned to
the evacuated settlement of “Homesh” and set up tents there. IOF continues to
close off the area and provide protection for the settlers. Two Palestinian
boys were severely beaten by settlers in Hebron. The incidents took place under
IOF guardianship.
Israeli Violations
Documented during the Reporting Period (22 – 28 March 2007)
The
full report is available PDF format.
