Israeli
Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian
Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)
· 15 Palestinians were killed by IOF in the Gaza Strip and the
West Bank.
· 12 of the victims were killed by IOF in the Gaza Strip.
· 3 of the victims were extra-judicially executed by IOF.
· 2 Palestinian children died from previous wounds in the Gaza
Strip.
· 36 Palestinians, mostly civilians, including 4 children and
a journalist, were wounded by IOF.
· IOF conducted 39 incursions into Palestinian communities in
the West Bank, and 3 ones into the Gaza Strip.
· IOF arrested 72 Palestinian civilians, including 13 children,
a girl and an author, in the West Bank, and held and arrested 29 others in the
Gaza Strip.
· IOF razed 33 donums[1]
of agricultural land in the southern Gaza Strip.
· raided a mosque in Hebron.
· IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT.
· The fuel crisis in the Gaza Strip has escalated.
· 5 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 government invited bids for the construction of
100 housing units in “Ariel” and “AlKanah” settlements in the northern West
Bank.
Summary
Israeli violations of
international law and humanitarian law seriously escalated in the OPT,
especially in the Gaza Strip, during the reporting period (17 – 23 April 2008):
Shooting: During the reporting period, IOF
killed 15 Palestinians and wounded 32 others, including 4 children and a
journalist, in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Two children also died from
previous wounds in the Gaza Strip.
In the Gaza Strip, IOF
killed 12 Palestinians and wounded 21 others, including a child.
On 19 April 2008, IOF
killed 6 Palestinians, including a civilian, and wounded 9 others, including 4
civilians, in separate attacks throughout the Gaza Strip. On 20 April 2008, IOF
killed an activist of the Palestinian resistance and wounded 3 others in the
east of Gaza City. On the same day, IOF carried out an extra-judicial execution
attempt in Rafah. The targeted person survived the attack, but a civilian was
killed and 3 others were wounded. On 21 April 2008, IOF killed 4 activists of
the Palestinian resistance in the northern Gaza Strip. On 22 April 2008, 6
Palestinian civilians were wounded when IOF aircrafts attempted to
extra-judicially execute a number of activists of the Palestinian resistance in
Khan Yunis. On 19 and 20 April 2008, Palestinian medical sources declared that
2 Palestinian children died from wounded they had sustained on 16 April 2008,
when IOF moved into Juhor al-Dik village in the central Gaza Strip. During this
incursion, IOF killed 13 Palestinian civilians, including 8 children, and a
journalist. The two children were wounded by shrapnel from the same tank shell
that killed the journalist. On 23 April 2008, IOF fired a missile at a number
of activists of the Palestinian resistance, but the missile went astray and
hits a house, but no casualties were reported.
In the West Bank, IOF
killed 3 Palestinians and wounded 11 others, including 3 children and a
journalist. On 17 April 2008, IOF extra-judicially executed 2 activists of the
al-Quds Brigades (the armed wing of Islamic Jihad) in Qabatya village,
southeast of Jenin. On 18 April 2008, IOF killed an activist of the Palestinian
resistance in Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus. Four Palestinian civilians,
including a journalist and a child, were wounded when IOF used force to
disperse peaceful demonstrations organized in protest to the construction of
the Annexation Wall in Bal’ein village, west of Ramallah, and al-Ma’sara
village, south of Bethlehem. Additionally, 7 Palestinian civilians were wounded
by IOF in separate attacks throughout the West Bank.
Incursions: During
the reporting period, IOF conducted at least 39 military incursions into
Palestinian communities in the West Bank. IOF arrested 72 Palestinian civilians,
including 13 children and a girl. Thus, the number of Palestinian civilians
arrested by IOF in the West Bank since the beginning of 2008 has mounted to 1,014.
In the Gaza Strip, IOF conducted 3 incursions into Palestinian
communities. During these incursions, IOF razed at least 33 donums of
agricultural land and arrested 29 Palestinian civilians, who were released
later excluding 3.
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. In a
report submitted to the Quartet Envoy, OCHA asserted that Israel dismantled 44
sand barriers out of 61 it committed to the United Sates to dismantle. Only 5
of those barriers are major ones. In some cases, according to the report, IOF
troops re-established some sand barriers in order to remove them before the
media. During the reporting period, IOF troops positioned at various
checkpoints in the West Bank arrested 5 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 Israeli Ministry of Housing
invited bids for the construction of 100 housing units in Israeli settlements
in the West Bank: 52 units in “Alakanah” settlement west of Salfit; and 48
units in “Ariel” settlement north of the town. The two settlements are part of
settlement block, which IOF plan to keep under their control in the context of
a permanent agreement with Palestinians.
Israeli Violations Documented during
the Reporting Period (17 – 23 April 2008)
The full report is available PDF format.
