Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue
Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory (OPT)
· IOF killed 4 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
· 7 Palestinian civilians, including a child, and an international
human rights defender were wounded by the IOF gunfire.
· IOF conducted 31 incursions into Palestinian communities in
the West Bank, and 3 others into the Gaza Strip.
· IOF arrested 29 Palestinian civilians, including 2 children,
in the West Bank.
· IOF transformed a house in Nablus into a military site.
· IOF undercover unit arrested 3 Palestinians in the north of
the West Bank.
· IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT and
have isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.
· IOF have continued to close all commercial crossings and
Erez crossing in the Gaza Strip.
· IOF troops positioned at military checkpoints in the West
Bank arrested 5 Palestinian civilians.
· 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 (6 –
12 November 2008):
Shooting: During the reporting period, IOF
killed 4 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and wounded 7 others and an international
human rights defender in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
On 2 November 2008, 4 members of the
Palestinian resistance were killed when IOF aircrafts fired 3 missiles at the
east of al-Qarara village, east of Khan Yunis, as an IOF infantry unit moved
into the area and clashes with members of the Palestinian resistance. IOF did
not allow ambulances to enter the area while the incursion was still ongoing.
On 6 November 2008, a member of the
Palestinian resistance was wounded when an IOF aircraft fired a missile at a
resistance group that was about to launch home-made rockets at Israeli towns
from Jabalya town in the northern Gaza Strip.
In the West Bank, 6 Palestinian
civilians, including a child, and an international human rights defender, were
wounded by IOF gunfire.
On 9 November 2008, a Palestinian
child was wounded in ‘Anabta village, east of Tulkarm, when IOF moved into the
village and fired at a number of Palestinian civilians who threw stones at
military vehicles.
On 11 November 2008, 4 Palestinian
civilians were wounded in Hebron during clashes with IOF.
On Tuesday evening and Wednesday
morning, 4 and 5 November 2008, IOF killed 6 members of the ‘Izziddin al-Qassam
Brigades (the armed wing of Hamas), and wounded 5 others in the southern and
central Gaza Strip. All victims were hit by missiles fired by IOF aircrafts
during Israeli incursions into some areas in the Gaza Strip. IOF also arrested
a wounded woman. On Wednesday evening, IOF killed using missiles a member of
al-Quds Brigades (the armed wing of Islamic Jihad) and wounded 2 civilian
bystanders.
During the reporting period, a Palestinian
civilian and an international human rights defender 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 31 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the
West Bank. During these incursions, IOF arrested 29 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 2,140. IOF also
transformed a house in Nablus into a military site.
In the Gaza Strip, IOF conducted 3
incursions into Palestinian communities.
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 closed all border crossings
of the Gaza Strip.
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 5 Palestinian
civilians at al-Karama International Crossing Point on the Jordanian border.
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. On
Friday evening, 7 November 2008, Israeli settlers from “Kiryat Arab”
settlement, southeast of Hebron, destroyed an iron fence separating the
settlement from a tract of land belonging to Younis ‘Abdul Hafiz Da’na. They
also threw garbage on the land. On Saturday, 8 November 2008, Israeli settlers
from “Kiryat Arba” settlement, southeast of Hebron, attacked
6-year-old Bilal Fadel Da’naThe child was injured in the head.
Israeli Violations Documented during the Reporting Period (6
– 12 November 2008)
The full report is available PDF format.
