Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue
Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory (OPT)
· IOF killed 2 Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.
· 13 Palestinian civilians, including 2 children, were wounded
by the IOF gunfire.
· 11 of the wounded were wounded during peaceful
demonstrations against the construction of the Annexation Wall.
· IOF conducted 15 incursions into Palestinian communities in
the West Bank.
· IOF arrested 29 Palestinian civilians, including 8 children.
· IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT and
have isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.
· IOF imposed a comprehensive closure on the OPT for the
Jewish Sukkot.
· IOF troops positioned at various checkpoints in the West
Bank wounded 2 Palestinian civilians and arrested 3 others.
· IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank
and Israeli settlers have continued to attacks Palestinian civilians and
property.
· IOF established a Jewish synagogue on Arab land in East
Jerusalem.
Summary
Israeli violations of
international law and humanitarian law escalated in the OPT during the reporting
period (9 – 15 October 2008):
Shooting: During the reporting period, IOF
killed 2 Palestinian civilians in less than 24 hours in the West Bank.
On Tuesday evening, 14
October 2008, IOF troops positioned on an observation tower in the vicinity of
“Beit Eil” settlement, north of Ramallah, shot dead ‘Abdul Qader Mohammed
Badawi Dar Zayed, 18, from al-Jalazoun refugee camp, when he was in his way
back home.
On Wednesday evening,
15 October 2008, IOF opened fire at Palestinian civilians who demonstrated at
the entrance of al-Jalazoun refugee camp. A Palestinian civilian. 20-year-old
Mohammed Jamal al-Ramahi, was killed, raising the number of civilians killed in
the camp to 2 in less than 24 hours.
During the reporting
period, 11 Palestinian civilians, including 2 children, were wounded when IOF
used force against peaceful demonstrations organized in protest to the
construction of the Annexation Wall in N’elin and Bal’ein villages, west of
Ramallah.
Two Palestinian
civilians, including a child, were also wounded by IOF troops positioned at
checkpoints near Nablus and Bethlehem. The child was violently beaten by IOF
troops.
Incursions: During the reporting period, IOF
conducted at least 15 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the
West Bank. During these incursions, IOF arrested 29 Palestinian civilians,
including 13 children and a woman. Thus, the number of Palestinian civilians
arrested by IOF in the West Bank since the beginning of 2008 has mounted to 2,062.
IOF also partially demolished a house and transformed 3 others into military
sites.
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.
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 kilometres 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 troops positioned at various checkpoints arrested 3 Palestinian
civilians and wounded 2 others.
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, Israeli occupation authorities
declared the completion of the construction of synagogue, which was built on
the debris of demolished Arab property in al-Wad area in the old town of
Jerusalem. They opened the synagogue under strict security measures and
arbitrary acts against Palestinian civilians. According to Palestinian sources,
the synagogue is connected to the network of tunnels established under and near
the al-Aqsa Mosque.
Israeli Violations Documented during
the Reporting Period (9 – 15 October 2008)
The
full report is available PDF format.
