Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue
Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory (OPT) and Serious Humanitarian Crisis Emerges in the Gaza
Strip Due to the Closure of Its Border Crossings
· IOF killed 4 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
· 6 Palestinians, including a child, were wounded by the IOF
gunfire in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
· IOF launched mock air raids against the Gaza Strip.
· IOF conducted 30 incursions into Palestinian communities in
the West Bank, and one into the Gaza Strip.
· IOF arrested 44 Palestinian civilians, including 2 children,
in the West Bank.
· IOF arrested 15 Palestinian fishermen and 3 international
solidarity activist while sailing opposite to the Gaza Strip.
· IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT and
have isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.
· The Gaza Strip is suffering from a serious humanitarian
crisis.
· IOF troops positioned at military checkpoints in the West
Bank arrested 4 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children.
· IOF have continued to construct the Annexation Wall inside
the West Bank.
· IOF confiscated 22 donums[1]
of agricultural land in the south of Hebron.
· IOF have continued to take measures aiming at the
Judaization of Jerusalem.
· IOF demolished 2 houses and confiscated a mobile home in
Jerusalem.
· IOF have continued to Judaize Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood for
the sake of extremist Jewish groups.
· IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank
and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and
property.
Summary
Israeli violations of
international law and humanitarian law escalated in the OPT during the reporting
period (13 – 19 November 2008):
Shooting: During the reporting period, IOF killed
4 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and wounded 6 others, including a child, in
the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
In the Gaza Strip, on 16
November 2008, 4 members of the Palestinian resistance were killed when an IOF
aircraft fired a missile at them in al-Shojaeya neighborhood in the east of
Gaza City.
On 17 November 2008, 2
members of the Palestinian resistance were wounded when IOF aircraft fired a
missile at them in the west of Beit Lahia town in the northern Gaza Strip.
In the West Bank, 4 Palestinian
civilians were wounded by the IOF gunfire. On 6 November 2008, a Palestinian
civilian was wounded when IOF troops fired at dozens of Palestinian civilians
and international human rights defenders, who demonstrated in protest to
attempts by Israeli settlers to rebuild the evacuated “Homseh”
settlement between Nablus and Jenin.
During the reporting
period, 3 Palestinian civilians, including a child, were wounded when IOF used
force against peaceful demonstrations organized in protest to the construction
of the Annexation Wall west of Ramallah.
Incursions: During the reporting period, IOF
conducted at least 30 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the
West Bank. During these incursions, IOF arrested 44 Palestinian civilians,
including 2 children. Thus, the number of Palestinian civilians arrested by IOF
in the West Bank since the beginning of 2008 has mounted to 2,184..
In the Gaza Strip, IOF
conducted a limited incursion into the east of Rafah town in the southern Gaza
Strip. IOF also launched a series of mock air raids against the Gaza Strip.
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. During the
reporting period, IOF imposed a comprehensive closure on the OPT for the the
Jewish Sukkot.
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 Egypt-brokered ‘Tahdiya’
or truce between Palestinian resistance groups and Israel began on 19 June;
however, there have been no major changes regarding the movements of civilians
and goods through the six Gaza Strip border crossings.
· Rafah International Crossing Point, the only border crossing
from the Gaza Strip to the outside world via a country other than Israel,
remains closed.
· Health services continue to be severely affected by the
siege, with healthcare facilities also registering a 25% drop in clients due to
continuing chronic fuel shortages. Critically ill patients are still being
denied permits to access vital health services in the West Bank, Israel and
abroad. .
· Water facilities, including access to clean drinking water,
and the treatment of raw sewage continue to be severely disrupted by fuel
shortages. 50-60 million liters of untreated and partially treated sewage are
being dumped into the Gaza Strip Mediterranean Sea daily, posing a public
health risk.
· Hundreds of Gazan students are currently unable to resume
their university studies abroad as they cannot exit the Gaza Strip. In
addition, up to 1,200 school leavers are in the process of applying to study at
foreign universities, and are dependent on being issued exit permits by the
IOF.
· There are at least 900 Palestinian prisoners incarcerated in
jails in Israel who have been denied all visitation rights since 6 June 2007.
· Continuing chronic shortages of construction materials,
including cement, aggregate and iron, have led to the collapse of the Gaza
construction industry. Thousands of construction workers have been laid off,
and vital infrastructure projects have been forcibly suspended.
· IOF have repeatedly closed border crossings of the Gaza
Strip claiming that home-made rockets were launched at Israeli towns.
· During the reporting period, IOF have continued to close all
border crossings of the Gaza Strip for more than two weeks.
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, 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.
· During the reporting period, IOF arrested 4 Palestinian
civilians, including 3 children, at various checkpoints in the West Bank.
Annexation Wall: During the reporting period, IOF
issued a military order confiscating 22 donums of agricultural land planted
with olives and vegetables belonging to Mohammed Khalil Abu Qbaita in the south
of Yatta village, south of Hebron, for the purpose of the construction of a
section of the Wall. The confiscated land includes a well and tents, where the
owner and his family live.
Judaization of
Jerusalem: IOF has
recently escalated arbitrary measures against Palestinian civilians in East
Jerusalem to force them to leave the city. For the purpose of reporting about
violations of human rights perpetrated by IOF against Palestinian civilians in
East Jerusalem, PCHR has decided to add a new section to the Weekly Report. In
the past two weeks, IOF threatened to demolish more house in East Jerusalem.
They also continued to expel Palestinian civilians from their houses in Sheikh
Jarrah neighborhood, claiming that they were owned by Jews before 1948.
Settlement Activities: IOF have continued settlement
activities and Israeli settlers living in the OPT in violation of
international humanitarian law have continued to attack Palestinian civilians
and property. During the reporting period, dozens of Israeli settlers who had
already seized al-Rajabi building in Hebron attacked Palestinian house located
near the building and near “Kiryat Arba” settlement. The settlers has
seized al-Rajabi building since 11 April 2008. On 18 November 2008, dozens of
Israeli settlers from “Yits’har” settlement, south of Nablus, closed
the bypass road located to the south of the city and threw stones at
Palestinian civilian vehicles. On 19 November 2008, dozens of Israeli settlers
closed the main road near Nabi Saleh village, northwest of Ramallah, and threw
stones at Palestinian civilian vehicles.
Israeli Violations Documented during
the Reporting Period (13 – 19 November 2008)
The full report is available PDF format.
