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

· 29 Palestinians, including 10 children and a journalist, were
killed by IOF in the Gaza Strip.

· 13 of the victims, including 8 children, 2 brothers and a
journalist, were killed by IOF in Juhor al-Dik village in the central Gaza
Strip. 

· 2 of the victims were extra-judicially executed by IOF.

· 81 Palestinians, mostly civilians, including 41 children, 3
women and a journalist, were wounded by IOF in IOF in the Gaza Strip.

· 8 Palestinian civilians and an Israeli journalists were
wounded by IOF in the West Bank.   

· IOF conducted 48 incursions into Palestinian communities in
the West Bank, and 6 ones into the Gaza Strip.

· IOF arrested 52 Palestinian civilians, including 14
children, in the West Bank, and held and arrested 56 others in the Gaza Strip.

· IOF destroyed 11 houses and razed at least 320 donums[1] of
agricultural land in the Gaza Strip.

· IOF used Palestinian civilians as human shields during
incursions into Palestinian communities in the Gaza.

· IOF confiscated machines of a bakery and 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.

· Israeli settlers threw stones at Palestinian civilian
vehicles on the main roads.

· Israeli settlers uprooted 30 trees in Til village, southwest
of nablus.

Summary

Israeli violations of
international law and humanitarian law seriously escalated in the OPT,
especially in the Gaza Strip, during the reporting period (10 – 16 April 2008):

Shooting: During the reporting period, IOF
killed 29 Palestinians, including 10 children and a journalist, and wounded 81
others, including 41 children, 3 women and a journalist in the Gaza Strip.

On 11 April 2008, IOF
killed 2 activists of the Palestinian resistance in Khuza’a village, east of
Khan Yunis. On the same day, IOF killed an activist of the Palestinian
resistance and 6 civilians, including 2 children, and wounded 27 others, including
12 children, in al-Boreij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. On 14 and 15
April 2008, IOF extra-judicially executed 2 members of the Palestinian
resistance and wounded a third one and 5 civilians bystanders, including a
child, in the northern Gaza Strip. On 15 April 2008, 4 activists of the
Palestinian resistance were killed and 4 others were wounded during armed
clashes with IOF troops that moved into al-Shoja’eya neighborhood in the east
of Gaza City. On 16 April 2008, IOF killed 13 Palestinian civilians, including
8 children and a journalist, and wounded 32 others, including 17 children, a
journalist and a woman, during an incursion into Juhor al-Dik village in the
central Gaza Strip. On the same day, IOF killed a Palestinian farmer and
wounded 2 others in the northern Gaza Strip. Additionally, 12 Palestinians, including a child and 2 women, were
wounded by IOF in separate attacks throughout the Gaza Strip.

In the West Bank, 8
Palestinian civilians, including 4 children, were wounded by IOF in Taffouh
village, west of Hebron, and ‘Azzoun ‘Atama village, south of Qalqilya.
Additionally, an Israeli journalist was wounded when IOF used force to disperse
a peaceful demonstration organized in protest to the construction of the
Annexation Wall in Bal’ein village, west of Ramallah.

Incursions: During
the reporting period, IOF conducted at least 48 military incursions into
Palestinian communities in the West Bank. IOF arrested 52 Palestinian civilians,
including 14 children. Thus, the number of Palestinian civilians arrested by
IOF in the West Bank since the beginning of 2008 has mounted to 927. During the
reporting period, IOF raided confiscated machines of a bakery and raided a mosque in Hebron.

In the Gaza Strip, IOF conducted 6 incursions into Palestinian
communities. During these incursions, IOF razed at least 320 donums of
agricultural land, destroyed 11 houses and damaged civilian properties,
including a mosque.   

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. On 12 April 2008, IOF handed notifications to 3 Palestinians from
Nazlat ‘Eissa village, north of Tulkarm, that their shops would be demolished,
claiming that they were built without licenses and are located near the Annexation
Wall. These shops provide sources of income for more than 20 families counting
more than 100 individuals. On 13 April 2008, dozens of Israeli settlers from
“Gilad” settlement, east of Qalaqila, gathered near the road leading to the
town and threw stones at Palestinian civilian vehicles. A number of vehicles
were damaged. On 14 April 2008, dozens of Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian
civilian vehicles traveling on Nablus-Ramallah road, south of Nablus. The
settlers gathered near Hawara checkpoint and threw stones at civilian vehicles.
On the same day, at least 40 Israeli settlers from “Gilad” settlement,
southwest of Nablus, uprooted at least 30 almond trees in Til village.

Israeli Violations Documented during
the Reporting Period (10 – 16 April 2008)

The full report is available PDF format.