Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF)
Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and Continue to Impose a Total Siege of
the Gaza Strip
· Five Palestinian civilians, including a journalist, and an
international human rights defender were wounded.
· IOF conducted 19 incursions into Palestinian communities in
the West Bank.
· IOF arrested 22 Palestinian civilians, including two children,
in the West Bank.
· IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT and
have isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.
· IOF troops positioned at military checkpoints have continued
to harass Palestinian civilians.
· IOF have continued measures aimed at establishing a Jewish
majority in occupied east Jerusalem.
· IOF forced two Palestinian civilians to demolish their homes,
and issued demolition orders against several homes.
· IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank
and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and
property.
· Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian farmers tents,
injuring three of them.
· Israeli settlers uprooted at least 150 trees and razed
dozens of donums[1]
of agricultural land.
Summary
Israeli violations of
international law and humanitarian law escalated in the OPT during the reporting
period (18 – 24 June 2009):
Shooting: During the reporting period, five
Palestinian civilians, including a journalist, and an international human
rights defender were wounded when IOF used force against peaceful
demonstrations organized by Palestinian civilians to protest the construction
of the Annexation Wall in the West Bank.
Incursions: During the reporting period, IOF
conducted at least 19 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the
West Bank. IOF arrested 22 Palestinian civilians, including two children.
In the Gaza Strip, IOF naval troops
continued to chase and fire at Palestinian fishers. During the reporting period, they detained
two fishers for several hours.
Gaza Strip
IOF have continued to close all border crossings to the Gaza
Strip for more than two years. The IOF siege of Gaza, which has steadily
tightened since June 2007, has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and
economic situation in the Gaza Strip.
· 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights,
including freedom of movement, and their rights to appropriate living
conditions, work, health and education.
· The main concern of
1.5 million people living in the Gaza Strip is to obtain their basic needs of
food, medicines, water and electricity supplies.
· IOF have continued to
prevent the entry of raw construction materials into the Gaza Strip for more
than two years.
· IOF have not allowed
fuel supplies into the Gaza Strip, excluding limited amounts of cooking gas,
since 10 December 2008.
· The Rafah
International Crossing Point has been opened for a few days for a number of
patients who received medical treatment abroad and needed to return home to the
Gaza Strip.
· IOF have continued to
close Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing to Palestinian civilians wishing to travel to
the West Bank and Israeli for medical treatment, trade or social visits.
· Poverty and
unemployment levels are currently at approximately 80% and 60% respectively in
the Gaza Strip.
· IOF have continued to
prevent the entry of spare parts form water networks and sewage systems. Losses
incurred to this sector are estimated at US$ 6 million.
· IOF have imposed
additional access restrictions on international diplomats, journalists and
humanitarian workers seeking to enter the Gaza Strip. They have prevented
representatives of several international humanitarian organizations from
entering the Gaza Strip.
· Living conditions of
the Palestinian civilian population have seriously deteriorated; levels of
poverty and unemployment have sharply mounted.
· At least 900
Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have been denied family visitation rights
for more than 24 months.
· IOF have continued to
attack Palestinian fishers along the Gaza Strip coast.
West Bank
IOF have continued to impose severe restrictions on the
movement of Palestinian civilians throughout the West Bank, including occupied
East Jerusalem. Thousands of Palestinian civilians from the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip continue to be denied access to Jerusalem.
· IOF have established checkpoints in and around Jerusalem,
severely restricting Palestinian access to the city. Civilians are frequently
prevented from praying at the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
· There are approximately permanent 630 roadblocks, and manned
and unmanned checkpoints across the West Bank. In addition, there are some
60-80 ‘flying’ or temporary checkpoints erected across the West Bank by IOF
every week.
· When complete, the illegal Annexation Wall will stretch for
724 kilometers around the West Bank, further isolating the entire population.
350 kilometers of the Wall has already been constructed. Approximately 99% of
the Wall has been constructed inside the West Bank itself, further confiscating
Palestinian land.
· At least 65% of the main roads that leads to 18 Palestinian
communities in the West Bank are closed or fully controlled by IOF (47 out of
72 roads).
· There are around 500 kilometers of restricted roads across
the West Bank. In addition, approximately one third of the West Bank, including
occupied East Jerusalem, is inaccessible to Palestinians without a permit
issued by the IOF. These permits are extremely difficult to obtain.
· IOF continue to harass, and assault demonstrators who hold
peaceful protests against the construction of the Annexation Wall.
· Palestinian civilians continue to be harassed by IOF in
Jerusalem, and across the West Bank, including being regularly stopped and
searched in the streets by IOF.
Settlement Activities: IOF have continued settlement
activities in violation of international humanitarian law and Israeli
settlers living in the OPT have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and
property. During the reporting period, IOF
uprooted at least 150 trees and razed donums of agricultural land. Three Palestinian farmers were injured when
Israeli settlers set fire to their tent.
Israeli Violations Documented during the Reporting Period (18 – 24 June 2009)
The full report is available PDF format.
