Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF)
Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and Continue to Impose a Total Closure on
the Gaza Strip
· A Palestinian child and an Israeli human rights defender
were wounded by IOF gunfire in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank respectively.
· IOF used force against peaceful demonstrations organized to
protest the construction of the Annexation Wall in the West Bank.
· IOF conducted 23 incursions into Palestinian communities in
the West Bank and one into the Gaza Strip.
· IOF arrested 46 Palestinian civilians, including 5 children,
in the West Bank.
· Israeli naval troops continued to attack Palestinian fishers
and boats in the Gaza Strip.
· IOF have continued air strikes against civilian targets in
the Gaza Strip.
· A marble factory and an iron warehouse in Gaza City were
destroyed.
· IOF have continued to impose a total closure on the OPT and
have isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.
· IOF troops positioned at military checkpoints and border
crossings in the West Bank arrested 6 Palestinian civilians, including 4 children.
· IOF have continued measures aimed at establishing a Jewish
majority in occupied east Jerusalem.
· IOF have maintained a tightened siege on the al-Aqsa Mosque,
threatening to storm it.
· IOF arrested dozens of Palestinian civilians in the city.
· IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank
and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and
property.
· IOF started to construct new housing units for Israeli
settlers in the Jabal al-Mukabber area in Jerusalem.
· Israeli settlers uprooted at least 50 olive trees in the
west of Ramallah.
Summary
Israeli violations of international
law and humanitarian law in the OPT continued during the reporting period (01 –
07 October 2009):
Shooting: During the reporting period, a
Palestinian child and an Israeli human rights defender were wounded by IOF
gunfire in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank respectively.
In the Gaza Strip, on 04 October
2009, IOF troops positioned at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel to
the northwest of Beit Lahia town in the northern Gaza Strip fired at a
Palestinian child wounding his seriously with a bullet to the neck.
In the West Bank, IOF used force
against peaceful demonstrations organized by Palestinian civilians and
international and Israeli human rights defenders in protest to the construction
of the Annexation Wall in the West Bank. As a result, an Israeli human rights defender was wounded.
IOF continued air strikes against
civilian targets in the Gaza Strip. On
03 October 2009, they bombarded a marble factory and an iron warehouse in the
east of Gaza City, destroying them.
Incursions: During the reporting period, IOF
conducted at least 23 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the
West Bank. IOF arrested 46 Palestinian
civilians, including 5 children.
In the Gaza Strip, IOF conducted one
incursion into the east of Gaza City, during which they leveled areas of
Palestinian land. They also arrested 5
Palestinian fishers and detained them for several hours.
Restrictions on Movement: IOF have continued to impose a tightened closure 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 continued to close all border crossings to the Gaza
Strip for more than two years. The IOF siege of Gaza, which has steadily
tightened since June 2007, has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and
economic situation in the Gaza Strip.
· 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights,
including freedom of movement, and their rights to appropriate living
conditions, work, health and education.
· The main concern of
1.5 million people living in the Gaza Strip is to obtain their basic needs of
food, medicines, water and electricity supplies.
· IOF have continued to
prevent the entry of raw construction materials into the Gaza Strip for more
than two years.
· IOF have not allowed
fuel supplies into the Gaza Strip, excluding limited amounts of cooking gas,
since 10 December 2008.
· The Rafah
International Crossing Point has been opened for a few days for a number of
patients who received medical treatment abroad and needed to return home to the
Gaza Strip.
· IOF have continued to
close Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing to Palestinian civilians wishing to travel to
the West Bank and Israeli for medical treatment, trade or social visits.
· Poverty and
unemployment rates stand at approximately 80% and 60% respectively in the Gaza
Strip.
· IOF have continued to
prevent the entry of spare parts form water networks and sewage systems. Losses
incurred to this sector are estimated at US$ 6 million.
· IOF have imposed
additional access restrictions on international diplomats, journalists and
humanitarian workers seeking to enter the Gaza Strip. They have prevented
representatives of several international humanitarian organizations from
entering the Gaza Strip.
· Living conditions of
the Palestinian civilian population have seriously deteriorated; levels of
poverty and unemployment have sharply mounted.
· At least 900
Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have been denied family visitation rights
for more than two years.
· IOF have continued to
attack Palestinian fishers along the Gaza Strip coast.
West Bank
IOF have continued to impose severe restrictions on the
movement of Palestinian civilians throughout the West Bank, including occupied
East Jerusalem. Thousands of Palestinian civilians from the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip continue to be denied access to Jerusalem.
· IOF have established checkpoints in and around Jerusalem,
severely restricting Palestinian access to the city. Civilians are frequently prevented
from praying at the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
· There are approximately permanent 630 roadblocks, and manned
and unmanned checkpoints across the West Bank. In addition, there are some
60-80 ‘flying’ or temporary checkpoints erected across the West Bank by IOF
every week.
· When complete, the illegal Annexation Wall will stretch for
724 kilometers around the West Bank, further isolating the entire population.
350 kilometers of the Wall has already been constructed. Approximately 99% of
the Wall has been constructed inside the West Bank itself, further confiscating
Palestinian land.
· At least 65% of the main roads that leads to 18 Palestinian
communities in the West Bank are closed or fully controlled by IOF (47 out of
72 roads).
· There are around 500 kilometers of restricted roads across
the West Bank. In addition, approximately one third of the West Bank, including
occupied East Jerusalem, is inaccessible to Palestinians without a permit
issued by the IOF. These permits are extremely difficult to obtain.
· IOF continue to harass, and assault demonstrators who hold
peaceful protests against the construction of the Annexation Wall.
· Palestinian civilians continue to be harassed by IOF in
Jerusalem, and across the West Bank, including being regularly stopped and
searched in the streets by IOF.
Establishing a Jewish Majority in occupied east
Jerusalem: IOF have
escalated arbitrary measures against Palestinian civilians in East Jerusalem to
force them to leave the city. IOF have
continued to impose a tightened siege on the al-Aqsa Mosque, preventing men
aged below 50 from entering the Mosque. They have closed the gates of the al-Aqsa Mosque and prevented
Palestinian civilians from entering it to pray. On 04 October 2009, hundreds of Israeli settlers gathered near al-Buraq
Wall and attempted to break into the yards of the Mosque, but Palestinian
civilians were able to stop them. IOF
also attacked and violently beat those civilians. Dozens of civilians sustained bruises. IOF also arrested 10 civilians, including
Sheikh Kamal al-Khatib and Mr. Hatem ‘Abdul Qader. IOF also used force to disperse a gathering
of Palestinian civilians in Ras al-‘Aamoud neighborhood in Jerusalem using tear
gas canisters. A number of civilians
suffered from tear gas inhalation and IOF arrested at least 4 boys. At the same
time, IOF used force, including tear gas, to disperse a gathering of
Palestinian civilians in al-Tour neighborhood. A number of civilians suffered from tear gas inhalation. On 06 October 2009, IOF stormed a sit-in tent on
the roof of a house in Wad al-Jouz neighborhood in Jerusalem. The tent was set
up two years ago by the Islamic Movement in Israel. The raid followed an Israeli court ruling
that ordered the expulsion of Sheikh Ra’ed Salah, Head of the Islamic Movement,
150 meters away from the old town of Jerusalem.
Settlement Activities: IOF have continued settlement
activities in the OPT in violation of international humanitarian law and Israeli
settlers living have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and
property. On Tuesday, 06 October 2009,
two Israeli settlers violently beat a Palestinian child in Hebron. They claimed that he threw stones at their
vehicle. The child sustained bruises
throughout the body. During the
reporting period, a number of Israeli settlers from “Nahna’il”
settlement to the south of Deir ‘Ammar village, west of Ramallah, uprooted at
least 50 olive trees belonging to the ‘Ouda family. On 07 October 2009, an inauguration ceremony
for a new settlement neighborhood was conducted in “Nov Tzion”
settlement in Jabal al-Mukabber, southeast of East Jerusalem. The plan includes the construction of 104 new
housing units. The second stage includes
another 104 units, and upon completion, the neighborhood would include 400 housing
units. The settlement was established on
Palestinian-owned land.
Israeli Violations Documented during the Reporting
Period (01 – 07 October 2009)
The full report is available PDF format.
