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

· 8 Palestinians, including a child and a farmer, were killed
by IOF in the Gaza Strip.

· 5 of the victims, including a child and his uncle, were
killed in a series of attacks launched by IOF against the east of Gaza City in
less than 5 hours. 

· A Palestinian child was run down to death by an Israeli
settler.

· 25 Palestinian, including 5 children, were wounded by IOF in
the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.  

· IOF conducted 30 incursions into Palestinian communities in
the West Bank, and 7 ones into the Gaza Strip.

· IOF arrested 65 Palestinian civilians, including 7 children
and a girl, in the West Bank and 10 others, including 3 children, in the Gaza
Strip.

· IOF razed at least 125 donums[1]
of agricultural land.

· IOF damaged a number of civilian facilities in the northeast
of Gaza City.

· IOF raided a number of charities and NGOs in Ramallah and
al-Bireh.

· IOF raided and searched a number of charities, mosques and
shops in Qalqilya, and closed 4 charities.

· 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.

· 2 Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian family near Nablus.

Summary

Israeli violations of
international law and humanitarian law seriously escalated in the OPT,
especially in the Gaza Strip, during the reporting period (3 – 9 April 2008):

Shooting: During the reporting period, IOF
killed 8 Palestinians, including a child and a farmer, and wounded 24 others,
including 5 children, in the Gaza Strip. They also wounded 2 Palestinian
civilians, including a child, in the West Bank.

In the Gaza Strip, on 9
April 2008, IOF killed 4 Palestinian civilian and an activist of the Palestinian
resistance in less than 5 hours in a series of attacks against the east of Gaza
City, after activists of the Palestinian resistance had killed 2 Israelis near
Nahal Ouz crossing, east of Gaza City. Additionally, 11 Palestinians, including
2 children, were wounded. On 3 April 2008, 6 Palestinians, including 5
civilians, were wounded when IOF moved into al-Sraij area in al-Qarara village,
northeast of Khan Yunis. On 5 April 2008, 2 Palestinian children were wounded
in al-Qarara village when they played with a shell left by IOF. On the same
day, IOF killed a Palestinian farmer and wounded his nephew in Jabalya town. On
4 April 2008, a Palestinian child was wounded by IOF in al-Boreij refugee camp.
On 8 and 9 April 2008, IOF killed 2 activists of the Palestinian resistance and
wounded 2 others during incursions into al-Qarara village and Jabalya town.  

In the West Bank, on 3
April 2008, IOF wounded a Palestinian civilian in Hebron, claiming that he
wanted to seize a gun from an IOF soldier. On 9 April 2008, a Palestinian child
was wounded in Beit Reema village, northwest of Ramallah, when IOF fired at a
number of children who threw stones at military vehicles. Two Palestinian
children also sustained bruises and dozens of civilians suffered from tear gas
inhalation when IOF used force to disperse peaceful demonstration organized in
protest to the construction of the Annexation Wall in al-Ma’sara village, south
of Bethlehem, and Bal’ein village, west of Ramallah.

Incursions: During
the reporting period, IOF conducted at least 30 military incursions into
Palestinian communities in the West Bank. IOF arrested 65 Palestinian civilians.
Thus, the number of Palestinian civilians arrested by IOF in the West Bank
since the beginning of 2008 has mounted to 875.

In the Gaza Strip, IOF conducted 7 limited incursions into Palestinian
communities. During these incursions, IOF arrested 10, including 3 children,
razed at least 125 donums of agricultural land and destroyed some civilian
facilities.   

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 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 troops positioned at various checkpoints in the West
Bank arrested 6 Palestinian civilians.

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 Monday evening, 7 April 2008, an Israeli settler driving a bus
ran down to death a Palestinian child to the east of Nablus. The child was on a
donkey grazing animals crossing the bypass road to the east of Salam village.
An Israeli bus coming from the east ran him down to death. His donkey and 8
sheep were also killed. On 9 April 2008, 2 Israeli settlers attacked a
Palestinian vehicle near Nablus. As a result, 2 women were injured.

Israeli Violations Documented during
the Reporting Period (3 – 9 April 2008)

The full report is available PDF format.