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 on the Gaza Strip
· A Palestinian civilian was killed by IOF during a peaceful
protest against the construction of the Annexation Wall in the West Bank.
· A Palestinian child died of wounds sustained during the
latest IOF offensive on the Gaza Strip (27 December 2008 – 18 January 2009).
· 13 Palestinian civilians, including four children and a paramedic,
were wounded by IOF gunfire.
· IOF conducted 24 incursions into Palestinian communities in
the West Bank.
· IOF arrested 24 Palestinian civilians, including six
children, in the West Bank.
· IOF have continued to attack Palestinian fishers in the Gaza
Strip; they detained six fishermen for several hours after confiscating their
boat.
· 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 a military checkpoint near
Jerusalem ill-treated a number of Palestinian civilians.
· IOF have continued measures aimed at establishing a Jewish
majority in occupied east Jerusalem.
· IOF demolished two structures in the old town of Jerusalem.
· 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 areas of Palestinian agricultural
land.
Summary
Israeli violations of
international law and humanitarian law in the OPT continued during the reporting
period (04 – 10 June 2009):
Shooting: During the reporting period, one
Palestinian was killed by IOF in the West Bank. Additionally, IOF wounded 13
Palestinian civilians, including four children and a paramedic, in the West
Bank and the Gaza Strip.
During the reporting period, a
Palestinian civilian was killed and 12 others, including four children and a
paramedic, were wounded when IOF used forced against peaceful demonstrations
organized by Palestinian civilians to protest the construction of the
Annexation Wall in Bal’ein and Ne;lin villages, west of Ramallah. According to
eyewitness, the victim was shot dead when he attempted to offer help to a
wounded child.
In the Gaza Strip, on 04 June 2009,
an 11-year-old child died of wounds he had sustained on 06 January 2009 when
IOF bombed his family’s house. The
attack killed the child’s father and grandmother.
On 06 June 2009, a Palestinian
civilian was wounded when IOF gunboats opened fire at Rafah beach.
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 Israel for medical treatment, trade or social visits.
· Poverty has mounted to
approximately 80% and unemployment has mounted to 60% 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 continue to rise.
· At least 900
Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have been denied family visitation
rights for more than 17 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, 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.
Efforts intended to
establish a Jewish majority in occupied East Jerusalem: IOF have escalated arbitrary
measures against Palestinian civilians in East Jerusalem intended to force them
to leave the city. During the reporting period, IOF forced two
Palestinians to demolish structures added to their houses in the old town of
Jerusalem, allegedly because they were unlicensed.
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. On 06 June 2009, a fire broke out in olive trees in al-Bayada and Wad
al-Rai areas to the east of ‘Awarta village, southeast of Nablus. According to local sources, the fire
destroyed at least 20 donums[1] of
agricultural land, located near “Eitamar” settlement. On the same
day, a number of Israeli settlers from “Bat Ain” settlement, north of
Hebron, set fire to agricultural land planted with olives and grapes in Kherbat
Safa area in Beit Ummar village, north of Hebron. They also prevented Palestinian farmers and
peace activists from reaching the land. Israeli settlers also uprooted several olive trees. On 08 June 2009, IOF
razed at least 40 donums of agricultural land and destroyed seven water tanks
and a number of greenhouses in al-Baq’a and al-Bwaira areas, east of
Hebron. When Palestinian farmers
attempted to stop the destruction of their land, IOF troops arrested two of
them, including a woman.
Israeli Violations Documented during the Reporting Period (04 -10 June 2009)
The full report is available PDF format.
