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

· 22 Palestinian civilians, including 8 children and a woman,
were wounded by IOF gunfire.

· 15 of these civilians were wounded in Bal’ein village, west
of Ramallah.

· IOF conducted 35 incursions into Palestinian communities in
the West Bank.

· IOF arrested 107 Palestinians, including 70 ones arrested
from the headquarters of the Palestinian Military Intelligence in Ramallah.

· IOF closed offices of the Almsgiving Committee in Beit
Fajjar village, offices of the Qura’an Association in al-Khader village and two
subordinate kindergartens near Bethlehem.

· IOF stormed offices of the Israeli Charitable Association
in al-Shyoukh village near Hebron.

· IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT.

· IOF have operated Erez crossing as an international
crossing point.

· IOF positioned at various checkpoints in the West Bank
arrested 13 Palestinian civilians, including 12 children.

· The Gaza Strip has suffered from shortages in fuels and
basic goods.

Summary

Israeli violations of
international law and humanitarian law continued in the OPT during the reporting
period (1 – 7 March 2007):

Shooting: During the reporting period, 22
Palestinian civilians, including 8 children and a woman, were wounded by IOF in
the West Bank.

On 1 March 2007, 3
Palestinian civilians, including two children, were wounded by IOF during an
incursion into al-Fara’a refugee camp, southeast of Jenin. On 2 March 2007, 3
Palestinian civilians, including two children, were wounded by IOF during an
incursion into Nablus. Also on 2 March, 15 Palestinian civilians, including 4
children, were wounded when IOF used force against a peaceful demonstration organized
in protest to the construction of the Annexation Wall in Bal’ein village, west
of Ramallah. On 4 March 2007,
a Palestinian woman was wounded by IOF gunfire during an
incursion into Qarawat Bani Hassan village, west of Salfit.

Incursions: During the reporting period, IOF
conducted at least 30 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the
West Bank, the widest of which was into Ramallah on 7 March 2007. During those incursions,
IOF arrested 107 Palestinians, including 70 ones from the headquarters of the
Palestinian Military Intelligence in Ramallah. Thus, the number of Palestinians
arrested by IOF in the West Bank since the beginning of this year has mounted
to 671. IOF further stormed offices of the Islamic Charitable Association and a
subordinate kindergarten in al-Shyoukh village, northeast of Hebron. They
confiscated a number of documents and books. IOF also raided and searched
offices of the Almsgiving Committee and a subordinate kindergarten in Beit
Fajjar village, south of Bethlehem. They confiscated a number of computer sets
and documents and ordered closure of the offices and the kindergarten.
Moreover, IOF raided and searched the Qura’an Association in al-Khader village,
southwest of Bethlehem, and ordered their closure.  

In the Gaza Strip, IOF
conducted two limited military incursions into Beit Hanoun town on 6 and 7
March 2007. During those incursions, IOF leveled areas of land, which had been
already razed.

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, IOF partially reopened
the crossing point for two hours on 2 March 2007 and for 6 hours on 6 March
2007. 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. 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 for more
than 8 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. As IOF have
continued to conduct excavations in the vicinity of the al-Aqsa Mosque in
Jerusalem. During the reporting period, IOF imposed a total closure on the OPT
from 2 to 6 March 2007 for the Jewish Purim.

Israeli Violations
Documented during the Reporting Period (1 – 7 March 2007)

The
full report is available PDF format.