Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF)
Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT): Total siege on the Gaza Strip continues
· Two members of the Palestinian resistance were killed by IOF
in the Gaza Strip.
· A Palestinian woman died of injuries sustained during the recent
IOF offensive on the Gaza Strip.
· 8 Palestinian civilians, a PCHR field worker, were injured by
the IOF gunfire in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
· IOF conducted 20 incursions into Palestinian communities in
the West Bank and two into the Gaza Strip.
· IOF arrested 27 Palestinian civilians, including 10 children
and two women, 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 in the West
Bank arrested two Palestinian civilians.
· IOF have continued measures aimed at creating a Jewish
demographic majority in east Jerusalem.
· IOF informed a school in Jerusalem that 3 classrooms would
be demolished.
· An Israeli court ordered 3 families to evacuate their homes
in Silwan village.
· IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank
and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and
property.
Summary
Israeli violations of
international law and humanitarian law escalated in the OPT during the reporting
period (26 March – 01 April 2009):
Shooting: During the reporting period, IOF killed
two members of the Palestinian resistance and injured two others in the Gaza
Strip. A Palestinian woman also died of injuries she had sustained during the
IOF offensive on the Gaza Strip.
In the West Bank, during
the reporting period, 6 Palestinian civilians, including two human rights defenders,
were injured when IOF used force against peaceful demonstrations organized in
protest of the construction of Israel’s annexation wall in the West Bank.
Incursions: During the reporting period, IOF
conducted at least 20 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the
West Bank and two into the Gaza Strip. IOF arrested 27 Palestinian civilians,
including 10 children and two women. The two women work at the Prisoners
Studies Center.
In the Gaza Strip, IOF
conducted two limited incursions into Palestinian areas. On 26 March 2009, IOF
moved into ‘Abassan village, east of Khan Yunis, and arrested a Palestinian
civilian. On 31 March 2009, IOF moved into al-Mussaddar village in the central
Gaza Strip. During this incursion, IOF killed two activists of the Palestinian
resistance and injured two others.
Restrictions on Movement: IOF have continued to impose a tightened siege on the OPT
and 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 to the Gaza Strip for over 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, except
very limited amounts of cooking gas, since 10 December 2008.
· The Rafah International Crossing Point opened for a few days
for a number of patients to receive medical treatment abroad and for some 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 family visits. In the past two months, five patients, including two
children, died due to the denial of their access to medical treatment outside
the Gaza Strip.
· IOF have imposed additional restrictions on access of
international diplomats, journalists and humanitarian workers to the Gaza
Strip. They have prevented representatives of several international humanitarian
organizations from entering the Gaza Strip.
· Living conditions for Palestinian civilians have seriously
deteriorated and poverty and unemployment levels continue to mount sharply.
· At least 900 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have
been deprived of family visitation for more than 17 months.
· At least 10% of the population of the Gaza Strip is deprived
of electricity supplies.
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.
· 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 lead 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.
· During the reporting period, IOF troops positioned at
military checkpoints in the West Bank arrested two Palestinian civilians.
Creating a
demographic Jewish majority in Jerusalem: IOF have escalated arbitrary measures against
Palestinian civilians in East Jerusalem to force them to leave the city. During
the reporting period, IOF handed a demolition notice to al-Huda School that
belongs to the al-Aqsa Islamic Charity in the old town in East Jerusalem,
claiming that structures were added to the school without obtaining necessary
licenses. The elementary school includes five classrooms, in which 130 students
attend classes. Also during the reporting period, the IOF police issued an order
from the Israeli District Court on 19 March 2009 to the al-Silwadi family in the
Yemen quarter of Silwan village, south of Jerusalem’s Old City. The court’s
decision orders the family to evacuate their three houses and confiscates a
tract of land belonging to the family, claiming that the land on which the
houses stand belongs to the department of protecting property of people in
absentia. It is worth noting that Ibrahim Ahmed al-Silwadi purchased the land
from a Jewish rabbi in 1942, and the family submitted supporting documents to
the court, but the court ordered the evacuation of the houses and the land.
Thirteen people, including 8 children, live in these houses.
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 26 March 2009, IOF issued military
orders stopping construction in three houses and a small factory in Bet ‘Einoun
area to the west of Sa’ir village, northeast of Hebron, claiming that the
construction was not licensed. On 28
March 2009, at least 15 Israeli settlers from “Yits’har” settlement,
south of Nablus, attacked a number of Palestinian shepherds and forced them to
leave the area where there were grazing their animals. On 29 March 2009, at
least eight Israeli settlers violently beat Tamer ‘Eissa Qara’in, 22, from
Silwan village to the south of the old city of Jerusalem, while he was near his
house. He was injured in the head and the right hand. On 30 March 2009, Israeli
settlers living in “Kiryat Arba” settlement, southeast of Hebron,
attacked Palestinian houses located near the settlement. At least 14
Palestinian houses were attacked by Israeli settlers with stones, while IOF
troops were present in the area. A number of houses were damaged.
Israeli Violations Documented between
26 March – 01 April 2009
The full report is available PDF format.
