Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Launch
More Attacks on Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory (OPT)

· 3 Palestinians were killed by IOF.

· 2 of the victims were extra-judicially executed by IOF.

· IOF conducted 29 incursions into Palestinian communities in
the West Bank.

· Houses were raided and 45 Palestinian civilians, including 10
children, were arrested by IOF. 

· 2 houses were transformed by IOF into military sites. 

· IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT; they have
closed all border crossings of the Gaza Strip; and they arrested 9 Palestinian
civilians, including two children, at various checkpoints in the West Bank.

· IOF have continued to construct the Annexation Wall in the
West Bank; IOF have started to raze areas of Palestinian land to the east of
Jerusalem and at least 2500 dunums[1]
of land are threatened to be confiscated; IOF decided the route of the Wall to
the south of Hebron which will run two kilometers inside West Bank territory;
IOF razed 30 dunums of agricultural land in Jayous village; and IOF confiscated
two dunums of land in al-Zawia village.

· Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian
civilians and property in the OPT; a Palestinian child was seriously injured; a
new settlement post was established in Yatta village; and at least 200 dunums
of land were seized in Sa’ir village.  

Summary

Israeli
violations of international law continued in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
(OPT) during the reporting period (10 – 16 November 2005):

Killings: During the reported period, IOF
killed 3 Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Two of the victims were extra-judicially
executed by IOF in the north of the West Bank. 

On 13
November 2005, IOF extra-judicially executed Shojaa’ Bala’awi, 21, from
Jenin. They killed him after he had been
wounded by a live bullet to the foot. Bala’awi was a member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing
of the Fatah movement. Approximately 24
hours later, IOF extra-judicially executed Amjad al-Hinnawi, 33, from
Nablus. He was the leader of the
‘Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. 

In the
Gaza Strip, on 12 November 2005, IOF shot dead Bilal al-Sha’er, 22, when he
attempted to enter Israel to search for a job. 

PCHR has
always asserted that the failure to hold Israeli soldiers accountable for
killing Palestinian civilians serves to encourage Israeli soldiers to commit
more crimes against these civilians. On
Tuesday, 15 November 2005, an Israeli military court acquitted an Israeli
officer of all charges relating to the killing of a Palestinian child, Iman
al-Hams. 

During the
reported period, 4 Palestinian civilians, including two children, were wounded
by the Israeli gunfire. 

Incursions: IOF
conducted 29 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. During these incursions, IOF raided houses
and arrested 45 Palestinian civilians, including 6 children and a girl. Since the beginning of the last month, IOF
have waged a wide-scale wave of arrests against Palestinian civilians in the
West Bank. IOF employed undercover units
and trained dogs in these incursions. IOF
also transformed two houses into military sites.   

Restrictions on Movement: IOF have continued to impose a
comprehensive siege on the OPT, in violation of civil, political, economic,
social and cultural rights of Palestinian civilians. 

Rafah
International Crossing Point on the Egyptian border, the sole outlet for the
Gaza Strip to the outside world, has remained closed for nearly two months. 
During the reported period, an agreement was concluded regarding the operation
of the crossing point. According to
media reports, the crossing point will be operated by the Egyptians and
Palestinians with the presence of a European force as a third party, whose
responsibilities have not been determined. Goods and foreigners will not be able to travel through the crossing
point, rather they will travel through Kerem Shalom crossing point to the
southeast of Rafah. Israel insists on
having some authority at Rafah International Crossing, including fixing cameras
to monitor the movement at the crossing and handing over lists to the Europeans
of Palestinians banned from travelling due to security reasons claimed by
Israel. In the past weeks, IOF allowed
Palestinians to operate the crossing point for several hours to solve the
problem of those who had been trapped on both sides of the crossing point. The continued closure of the crossing point
has deprived hundreds of Palestinian civilians of their rights to education,
health, work and social communication. On 13 November 2005, IOF allowed only 1000 workers to reach their wok
places inside Israel through Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing. They also allowed a few patients with serious
medical conditions to travel to Israeli hospitals through the crossing. IOF have continued to impose severe
restrictions at commercial border crossings and have also imposed severe
restrictions on fishing in the Gaza Strip. 

In the
West Bank, IOF have imposed more restrictions on the movement of Palestinian
civilians. In the context of
restrictions on the movement, IOF have continued to prevent Palestinian
civilians from Jenin from crossing Za’tara checkpoint, south of Nablus. IOF have also continued to close Jenin–Nablus
road. During the reported period, IOF
positioned at various checkpoints arrested 9 Palestinian civilians, including 4
children. 

Annexation
Wall: IOF have
continued to construct the Annexation Wall inside the West Bank. On Thursday morning, 10 November 2005, IOF
started to raze areas of Palestinian land near Abu Subaitan crossing on the
Mount of Olives to the east of Jerusalem, opposite al-‘Eizariya village. At least 2500 dunums of land are planned to
be razed. IOF also surveyed areas of
land in Yatta village to the south of Hebron to construct a new section of the
Wall, nearly two kilometers inside West Bank territory. Thousands of dunums of agricultural land may
be confiscated for this purpose. Moreover, IOF razed at least 30 dunums of agricultural land in Jayous
village behind the Wall, north of Qalqilya. They also confiscated two dunums of land in al-Zawia village, southwest
of Nablus.

Illegal
Settler Activities:
Israeli settlers in breach of international humanitarian law continue to reside
in the OPT and have launched a series of attacks against Palestinian civilians
and property. During the reported period, Israeli settlers from “Kiryat
Arba” settlement, east of Hebron, attacked Palestinian houses in the
town. A Palestinian child was seriously
injured and two houses were damaged. A
number of Israeli settlers established a new settlement post on Palestinian
land to the south of “Karme’el” settlement, south of Hebron. A number of Israeli settlers fenced at least
200 dunums of land in Sa’ir village, east of Hebron. IOF also razed areas of land in Kufol Hares
village, east of Hebron, to establish an observation tower.

Israeli Violations
Documented during the Reporting Period (10–16 November 2005)

The full report is available PDF format.