Wide Scale Israeli Military
Operations against the Gaza Strip Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue
Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory (OPT
· 110 Palestinians, including 51 civilians, were killed by IOF
in the Gaza Strip.
· The victims include 27 children (including 2 babies) and 6
women and a paramedic.
· 69 of the victims were killed by IOF in Jabalya and its
vicinity.
· 77 Palestinians, including 28 civilians (this figure
includes 15 children and 3 women), were killed by air strikes.
· 236 Palestinians, including 154 civilians (this figure
includes 56 children and 11 women) were wound by IOF.
· 4 Palestinians, including 2 civilians, were killed by IOF in
the West Bank.
· One of the victims was killed by an Israeli settler.
· 29 Palestinians, including 11 children, were wounded by IOF
in the West Bank.
· IOF escalated air strikes against civilian targets in the
Gaza Strip
· At least 80 missiles were fired in 52 air strikes against
targets in the Gaza Strip.
· 12 civilian facilities, including the office of the
dismissed Palestinian Prime Minister, the headquarters of the General
Federation of Palestinian Trade Unions and the office of Members of the
Palestinian Legislative Council representing Hamas, were destroyed.
· 7 houses were destroyed and a mosque was heavily damaged.
· IOF conducted 45 incursions into Palestinian communities in
the West Bank and 3 into the Gaza Strip.
· IOF arrested 65 Palestinian civilians and transformed 2
houses into military sites in the West Bank.
· IOF destroyed 3 houses completely and 70 others partially
and razed at least 90 donums[1]
of agricultural land in Jabalya town in the Gaza Strip.
· IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT.
· 3 Palestinian civilians were arrested by IOF at various
checkpoints in the 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 (28 February – 5
March 2008):
Shooting: During the reporting period, IOF
seriously escalated attacks in the Gaza Strip. They killed 110 Palestinians,
including 51 civilians (this figures includes 58 children and 11 women). 69 of
the victims, including 20 children and 3 women, were killed in a 2-day military
operation waged by IOF against the northern Gaza Strip. The operation was
preceded by intense air strikes against targets in the northern Gaza Strip. IOF
employed their full-fledged arsenal and used excessive force without any
consideration of the lives of Palestinian civilians. IOF aircrafts pursued
activists of the Palestinian resistance using missiles in the middle of densely
populated areas. IOF aircrafts launched 24 air strikes against the northern
Gaza Strip, during which they fired 36 missiles. As a result, 44 Palestinians,
including 14 children and a woman, were killed. IOF obstructed the work of
medical crews and even fired at them, killing a paramedic and wounding another
one seriously. A number of ambulances were also damaged by the gunfire. A
number of the wounded bled to death. During the military operation in the
northern Gaza Strip, 175 Palestinians, including 44 children and 5 women, were
wound.
The following facts
highlights a number of horrible crimes committed by IOF during the military
operation in the northern Gaza Strip:
· 4 Palestinian
children, including 3 ones from one same family, were killed by an IOF air
strikes when they were playing football near their homes. On the same day, a 5th
child was killed by IOF while grazing animals in Beit Lahia.
· 7 children were killed
by an IOF air strike when they gathered near a car that had been targeted by
IOF aircrafts.
· 2 civilians, including
a child, were killed when a missile fired by IOF hits their house.
· A 2-year-old child was
killed when a missile fired by IOF hit her family’s house.
· 3 children were killed
by an IOF artillery shell.
· 2 children were killed
when IOF troops opened fire at their house.
· A child and his father
were killed by IOF when they were on their way to work.
· A child was killed and
his father was seriously wounded when IOF troops fired at their house.
· A woman was killed
when IOF fired at her house.
· A child was wounded by
IOF and she bled to death as medical crews were denied access to her house.
· A boy was wounded by
IOF and he bled to death as medical crews were denied access to his house.
In other areas of the
Gaza Strip, IOF launched 28 air strikes, during which they fired 44 missiles,
against various targets. As a result, 33 Palestinian, including 3 women and a
child, were killed, and 57 others, including 12 children and 6 women, were
wounded. In one of these attacks, IOF bombarded a house in Gaza City, killing 6
civilians from one same family, including 3 women, and wounding 8 others,
including 4 children.
On 28 February 2008,
IOF killed 2 Palestinian civilians who were traveling in the vehicle of Gaza
Electricity Distribution Company in Khan Yunis. On 4 March 2008, IOF killed a
20-year-old baby, and wounded her mother and another 4 civilians, when they
were pursuing an allegedly wanted Palestinian.
Additionally, IOF
bombarded a number of civilian facilities and house. They destroyed 12 civilian
facilities, including the office of the dismissed Palestinian Prime Minister,
the headquarters of the General Federation of Palestinian Trade Unions, the
office of Members of the Palestinian Legislative Council representing Change
and Reform Bloc of Hamas, and a number of workshops. They also heavily damaged
7 houses and a mosque.
In the West Bank, 3
Palestinians, including a child, were killed by IOF and a 4th one
was killed by an Israeli settler.
On 28 February 2008,
IOF killed 2 members of the Palestinian resistance and wounded 2 others during
an incursion into Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus. On 2 March 2008, IOF
killed a Palestinian child and wounded another 2 civilians in Beit ‘Aawa
village, southwest of Hebron, when they fired at hundreds of Palestinian
civilians who were demonstrating in protest to attacks by IOF against the Gaza
Strip. On 3 March 2008, an Israeli
settler shot dead a Palestinian civilian in al-Mazra’a village, northwest of
Ramallah. Dozens of school students who were demonstrating in protest to
attacks by IOF against the Gaza Strip headed towards an Israeli settlement near
the village. Additionally, 25 Palestinian civilians were wounded when IOF used
force to disperse peaceful demonstration organized in protest to attacks by IOF
against the Gaza Strip.
Incursions: During the reporting period, IOF
conducted at least 45 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 564. IOF also transformed 2 houses into military sites.
In the Gaza Strip, IOF conducted 3 incursions into Palestinian
communities, the widest of which was into Jabalya town and its vicinity. During
these incursion, IOF destroyed 3 houses and damaged at least 70 others. They
also razed 90 donums of agricultural land.
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
IOF have continued to
impose severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians. 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 3 Palestinian
civilians.
Israeli Violations Documented during
the Reporting Period (28 February – 5 March 2008)
The full report is available PDF format.
