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 was killed by IOF in the Gaza Strip.
· 6 Palestinian civilians, a resistance activist and an Israeli
journalist were wounded by IOF gunfire.
· IOF used force against peaceful demonstrations organized to
protest the construction of the Annexation Wall in the West Bank.
· IOF conducted 38 incursions into Palestinian communities in
the West Bank and 5 into the Gaza Strip.
· IOF arrested 22 Palestinian civilians, including two
children, in the West Bank, and 5 children in the Gaza Strip.
· Israeli naval troops continued to attack Palestinian fishers
and fishing boats in the Gaza Strip.
· 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 two
women.
· IOF have continued measures aimed at establishing a Jewish
majority in occupied east Jerusalem.
· IOF extended the closure of a Palestinian development center
for one year.
· IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank
and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and
property.
· Israel laid the foundation for a new settlement between
“Ma’ale Adomim” settlement and East Jerusalem.
· Israel approved the construction of hundreds of housing
units in Israeli settlements.
· IOF destroyed 4 water tanks in Hebron.
Summary
Israeli violations of
international law and humanitarian law in the OPT continued during the reporting
period (03 – 09 September 2009):
Shooting: During the reporting period, IOF
killed a Palestinian child and wounded 6 Palestinian civilian, a resistance
activist and an Israeli journalist.
On 04 September 2009, IOF shot dead
a Palestinian child in Beit Hanoun town in the northern Gaza Strip, as he was
walking with his family towards their farm in the border area.
On 03 September 2009, a Palestinian
resistance activist was wounded in fighting during an Israeli military
incursion into the east of Gaza City.
On 09 September 2009, a Palestinian
civilian was wounded in Beit Hanoun town, when Israeli troops positioned at the
border between the Gaza Strip and Israel fired at him.
On 03 September 2009, an IOF
warplane bombarded a tract of land in ‘Abassan village, east of Khan
Yunis. The bombardment made a large
crater in the area, but no casualties were reported.
In the West Bank, on 03 September
2009, a Palestinian child was injured when a sound bomb left by IOF in Ne’lin
village, west of Ramallah, exploded.
IOF used force against peaceful
demonstrations organized by Palestinian civilians and international and Israeli
human rights defenders to protest the construction of the Annexation Wall in
the West Bank; 4 Palestinian civilians, including a journalist and a child, and
an Israeli journalist were wounded.
Incursions: During the reporting period, IOF
conducted at least 38 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the
West Bank. IOF arrested 22 Palestinian civilians, including two children.
In the Gaza Strip, IOF conducted 5
limited incursions into Palestinian communities, during which they leveled
areas of previously razed Palestinian land. They also arrested 5 Palestinian children who
were grazing animals.
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 illegal IOF closure of the Gaza Strip, 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 restrictions on access of international diplomats, journalists and
humanitarian workers to 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.
Efforts intended to
establish a Jewish majority in occupied Jerusalem: IOF have escalated arbitrary
measures against Palestinian civilians in East Jerusalem in an attempt to force
them to leave the city. On 07 September 2009, the Israeli police summoned Hazem
Abu Sair, Director of Nidal Center for Community Development in the old town of
Jerusalem, and handed to him a decision signed by the chief of Israeli police
extending the closure of the center until 11 September 2010. It is worth noting that the Israeli police
had closed the center for one month starting from 15 July 2007. On 06 September 2009, a number of Israeli
settlers attacked a number of clergymen near the Armenian Monastery. They violently beat the clergymen and broke
their crosses. Soon, the Israeli police arrived at the area. The clergymen complained to the police, but
the police instead arrested two clergymen. The police detained them for 3 days and wanted to expel them to Armenia,
but retreated under media and political pressure.
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 Thursday morning, 03 September 2009, IOF
moved into al-Baq’a area, east of Hebron. Bulldozers destroyed 4 cement-made water tanks, which are used for
irrigation. During this incursion, a number of Palestinian farmers attempted to
stop the destruction of the tanks. IOF
troops violently beat them. As a result,
3 farmers sustained bruises. On 06
September 2009, Murad Mohammed Abu Haikal, 19, and Labib Mohammed Abu Haikal,
16, from Hebron, were attacked by Israeli settlers living in “Ramat
Yishai” settlement outpost in the Tal Rumaida neighborhood, central Hebron. Murad sustained a fracture to the nose and
bruises throughout the body.
On 06 September 2009,
the Israeli Minister of Defense, Ehud Barak, approved new settlement
construction plans. The cabinet (the six-fold Council of ministers) met to
discuss the distribution of 450-500 housing units that had been approved by the
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on 6 September 2009. The establishment of the approved units was
decided to be distributed accross different settlements, including “Har Gilo”
south of Jerusalem, “Mode’in Elite” west of Ramallah and “Ariel” north of
Salfit. On 07 September 2009, a ceremony
was organized to lay the foundation of a new settlement neighborhood called
“Mafsirit Adomim” in the “E1” zone between “Ma’ale Adomim” settlement and the
eastern city of occupied Jerusalem. It is reported that there are plans to
establish 3,000 housing units. According to statements by the head of the
municipality of “Ma’ale Adomim” settlement, there are 37,000 settlers in
“Ma’ale Adomim” settlement and that the settlement needs 600 new housing units
every year. Israeli Peace Now reported
that a few days ago, the Israeli government had finished the preparations to construct
dozens of housing units in the northern Jordan Valley in the east of the West
Bank. Peace Now stated that there were 100 housing units being constructed.
These units had been approved by former Israeli Minister of Defense, Amir Peretz,
in 2006 and by Minister of Defense, Ihoud Barak, in 2008. The Israeli
government continues to approve the establishment of new housing units in
settlements.
Israeli Violations
Documented during the Reporting Period (03 – 09 September 2009)
The full report is available PDF format.
