Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue
Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory (OPT)

· 9 Palestinians, including 5 children and a woman, were killed
by IOF in the Gaza Strip.

· The victims include a woman and her 4 children who were
killed when IOF shelled their house in Beit Hanoun town.

· 29 Palestinians, mostly civilians, including 6 children and
a woman, were wounded by IOF.

· A Palestinian civilian was wounded by Israeli settlers in
the West Bank.

· IOF conducted 36 incursions into Palestinian communities in
the West Bank, and 4 ones into the Gaza Strip.

· IOF razed 140 donums[1] of
agricultural land in the southern Gaza Strip.

· IOF demolished a house and damaged agricultural areas in
Beit Hanoun.

· IOF arrested 37 Palestinian civilians and held at least 50
others for some time in the Gaza Strip.

· IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT.

· The fuel crisis in the Gaza Strip has escalated.

· 6 Palestinian civilian were arrested by IOF at military
checkpoints in the West Bank.

· IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank
and Israeli settlers have continued to attacks Palestinian civilians and
property.

· The Israeli High Court legitimize the demolition of at least
60% of the houses in al-‘Aqaba village in the Jordan Valley.

· Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian civilians and their
property in Hebron.

Summary

Israeli violations of
international law and humanitarian law seriously escalated in the OPT,
especially in the Gaza Strip, during the reporting period (24 – 29 April 2008):

Shooting: During the reporting period, IOF
killed 9 Palestinians, including 5 children and a woman, and wounded 29 others,
including 6 children and a woman in the Gaza Strip. The victims include a woman
and her 4 children who were killed when IOF shelled their house.

On 24 April 2008, IOF
killed a Palestinian civilian and wounded 5 others in the northern Gaza Strip
town of Beit Hanoun. On the same day, IOF wounded 2 activists of the Palestinian
resistance and 2 civilians in ‘Abassan village, east of Khan Yunis. On 26 April
2008, IOF killed a Palestinian child and wounded her mother seriously in Beit
Hanoun. IOF opened fire at the house and arrested the father. Three civilians
were also wounded in the same attack. On 28 April 2008, IOF killed a woman and
her 4 children and wounded 10 civilians, including 4 children in Beit Hanoun
town. They also killed an activist of the Palestinian resistance and wounded
another one. The woman and her children were killed when an IOF aircraft fired
missiles at activists of the Palestinian resistance near the house. On the same
day, IOF shelled Palestinian areas in the northern Gaza Strip. An activist of the Palestinian resistance was killed and
9 Palestinians, including a child, were wounded.

In the West Bank, a
Palestinian civilian was wounded in Yassouf village, east of Salfit, on 25
April 2008, when Israeli settlers fired a number of Palestinian civilians in
the village.

Incursions: During
the reporting period, IOF conducted at least 36 military incursions into
Palestinian communities in the West Bank. IOF arrested 37 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 1,051.

In the Gaza Strip, IOF conducted 4 incursions into Palestinian
communities. During these incursions, IOF razed at least 140 donums of
agricultural land, demolished a house, arrested a Palestinian civilian, and
damaged some civilian property.    

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.

Gaza Strip

IOF have continued to close all
border crossings of the Gaza Strip for more than one year and a half. The total
siege imposed by IOF on the Gaza Strip has left disastrous impacts on the
humanitarian situation and has violated the economic and social rights of the
nearly 1.5 million Palestinian civilian population, particularly the rights to
appropriate living conditions, health and education. It has also paralyzed most
economic sectors. Furthermore, severe restrictions have been imposed on the
movement of the Palestinian civilian population. The siege imposed on the Gaza
Strip has severely impacted the flow of food, medical supplies and other
necessities such as fuel, construction materials and raw materials for various
economic sectors. IOF have further tightened the siege imposed on the Gaza
Strip since Hamas’ takeover of the Gaza Strip, and the living and economic
conditions of Palestinian civilians have further deteriorated. In September
2007, the Israeli government declared the Gaza Strip as “a hostile entity,”
which implies imposing more restrictions and measures of collective punishment
against the Palestinian civilian population. Since then, IOF have sharply
decreased food and fuel supplies allowed into the Gaza Strip. IOF have continued to prevent the entry of
raw materials into the Gaza Strip, and subsequently many factories have stopped
their industrial activities. Concerning the movement of persons, IOF allow a
few Palestinian civilians to pass through Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing to travel
to the West Bank. Rafah International Crossing Point on the Egyptian border is the
sole outlet for the Gaza Strip to the outside world. IOF have closed Rafah
International Crossing Point, even though they do not directly control it. They
have prevented European observers working at the crossing point form reaching
it. 

The continued Israeli ban on fuel
supplies required for civilian life in the Gaza Strip has led to paralyzing 50%
of the educational sector as half the students in all educational levels have
been unable to reach their schools and universities. In addition, educational
sector employees have been unable to reach their work. Furthermore, the
transportation sector has nearly stopped functioning throughout the Gaza Strip.
As a result, all basic functions of civilian life have come to a near
standstill, including drinking water delivery, sewage water disposal, and
garbage collection. In addition, healthcare facilities registered a 25% drop in
clients due to the transportation crisis, and hundreds of healthcare
professionals have been unable to reach their work places.

The closure of border crossings deprives the
Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza Strip of their right to freedom of
movement, education and health. IOF have continued to impose severe
restrictions on fishing in the Gaza Strip. Fishermen have been subjected to
intensive monitoring by IOF, which use helicopter gunships and gunboats to
monitor the fishermen. The Oslo Accords allow Palestinian fishermen to go
fishing up to 20 nautical miles away from the Gaza seashore.

West Bank

Contrary to Israeli
claims of easing restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians, IOF
have continued to impose severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian
civilians throughout the West Bank. Thousands of Palestinian civilians from the
West Bank and the Gaza Strip have been denied access to Jerusalem. IOF have
established many checkpoints around and inside the city. Restrictions of the
movement of Palestinian civilians often escalate on Fridays to prevent them
from praying at the al-Aqsa Mosque. IOF often violently beat Palestinian
civilians who attempt to bypass checkpoints and enter the city. IOF have also tightened
the siege imposed on Palestinian communities in the West Bank. IOF positioned
at various checkpoints in the West Bank have continued to impose severe
restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians. IOF also erected more
checkpoints on the main roads and intersections in the West Bank. During the
reporting period, IOF dismantled the 17 checkpoint near Nablus, but maintained
their presence in the area and continued to search Palestinian civilian
vehicles. During the reporting period, IOF troops positioned at various
checkpoints in the West Bank arrested 6 Palestinian civilians, including 3
children.

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, the local council of al-‘Aqaba
village, northeast of Tubas, received a copy of a decision issued by the
Israeli High Court, which rejected a petition submitted against the demolition
of at least 60% of the houses in the village, and the decrease of the area of
land on which the village stands from 3,000 to 100 donums only. Israeli
settlers also continued to attack Palestinian civilians and their property.
During the reporting period, a Palestinian civilian was wounded in Yassouf
village, east of Salfit, when Israeli settlers fired a number of Palestinian
civilians in the village. In Hebron,
dozens of Israeli settlers from “Kiryat Arba” settlement, southeast of the
town, attacked Palestinian houses and cars in Wadi al-Nassara, al-Hussain and
al-Ras neighborhoods using stones and iron bars.

Israeli Violations Documented during
the Reporting Period (24 – 29 April 2008)

The full report is available PDF format.