Israeli
Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian
Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)
· 10 Palestinians, including a school teacher and 3 brothers, were
killed by IOF and an 11th one died from a previous wound in the Gaza
Strip.
· 40 Palestinians, mostly civilians, including 9 women and 8
children, were wounded by the IOF gunfire in the Gaza Strip and 2 others in the
West Bank.
· IOF conducted 31 incursions into Palestinian communities in
the West Bank and 6 into the Gaza Strip.
· IOF arrested 77 Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, and 5
others in the Gaza Strip.
· IOF waged a harsh campaign against money exchange shops;
they confiscated at least 3 million NIS (approximately US$ 830,000) and closed
a number of shops.
· IOF razed 20 donums[1]
of agricultural land in Wadi al-Salqa village in the central Gaza Strip.
· IOF continued to shell Palestinian civilian facilities.
· IOF destroyed a refrigerator, a factory and 2 workshops.
· IOF damaged dozens of houses.
· IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT.
· IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank
and Israeli settlers have continued to attacks Palestinian civilians and
property.
· IOF demolished a house in Jerusalem.
Summary
Israeli violations of
international law and humanitarian law escalated in the OPT during the reporting
period (7 – 13 February 2008):
Shooting: During the reporting period, IOF
killed 10 Palestinians, including 3 brothers and a school teacher, and an 11th
one died from a previous wound in the Gaza Strip. IOF also wounded 40
Palestinians, mostly civilians, in the Gaza Strip, and 2 civilians in the West
Bank.
On 7 February 2008, IOF
killed 6 activists of the Palestinian resistance, including 2 brothers, and
wounded 4 others in Jabalya town in the northern Gaza Strip. One of the
wounded, who is a third brother to the two brother already killed, died from
his wound later. On the same day, IOF killed a school teacher and wounded 3
students in Beit Hanoun town in the northern Gaza Strip. A missile fired hit
the school when IOF were pursuing activists of the Palestinian resistance. On 9
February 2008, IOF extra-judicially executed an activist of the ‘Izziddin
al-Qassam Brigades (the armed wing of Hamas) in Rafah town in the southern Gaza
Strip. An IOF aircraft fired 2 missiles at him when he was walking in the
street. On 10 February 2008, IOF killed an activist of the Palestinian
resistance and wounded another one during an incursion into al-Shojaeya neighborhood
in the east of Gaza City. On 7 February 2008, Palestinian medical sources
declared that an activist of the Palestinian resistance died from a wound he
had sustained on the preceding day, when an IOF aircraft fired a missile at
him. Additionally, 33 Palestinians, mostly civilians, including 5 children and
9 women, and were wounded by the IOF gunfire in other attacks.
In the same context,
IOF continued to bombard civilian facilities in the Gaza Strip. On 10 February
2008, IOF aircrafts fired 4 missiles at a refrigerator and a factory in Rafah.
The refrigerator, the factory and a neighboring house were destroyed, and 10
other houses were damaged. On the same day, an IOF fighter jet dropped a bomb
on 2 workshops in al-Zaytoun neighborhood in the east of Gaza City. The two
shops were destroyed and a number of houses were damaged.
In the West Bank, 2
Palestinian civilians were wounded by the IOF gunfire.
Incursions: During the reporting period, IOF
conducted at least 31 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the
West Bank. IOF arrested 77 Palestinian civilians, including 9 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 384. During the reporting period,
IOF waged a harsh campaign against money exchange shops in the West Bank. They
arrested a number of money changers and confiscated at least 3 million NIS
(approximately US$ 830,000).
In the Gaza Strip, IOF
conducted 5 incursions into Palestinian communities. On 7 February 2008, IOF
moved into the east of Jabalya town in the northern Gaza Strip. During this
incursion, they killed 7 Palestinians and wounded 2 others (see above). On 10
February 2008, IOF moved into al-Shaojaeya neighborhood in the east of Gaza
City. On 11 February 2008, IOF moved into al-Shouka village, southeast of
Rafah, and arrested 4 Palestinian farmers. On 12 February 2008, IOF moved into
the east of Gaza City. On the same day, IOF moved into Wadi al-Salqa village.
They razed at least 20 donums of agricultural land and arrested a Palestinian
civilian. On 13 February 2008, IOF moved into Erez industrial zone in the
northern Gaza Strip. They leveled debris of building they had already
destroyed.
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 fule 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.
Israeli Violations Documented during
the Reporting Period (7 – 13 February 2008)
The full report is available PDF format.
