Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue
Attacks in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)

· Three Palestinians, including two children were killed by
IOF.

· 18 Palestinian civilians, including 4 children and a
journalist, were injured by IOF.

· IOF fired at Palestinian civilians demonstrating in protest
to the construction of the “Annexation Wall” in the West Bank and wounded 10
civilians.

· IOF conducted incursions into Palestinian areas.

· Houses were raided and 10 Palestinian civilians were
arrested by IOF. 

· Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian
civilians and property in the West Bank.

· IOF have continued expansion of settlements. 

· IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT; IOF positioned
at checkpoints and border crossings arrested eight Palestinian civilians and
IOF have continued to use a special checking machine at Rafah International
Crossing Point.

  

Introduction

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) continued to launch attacks
on Palestinian civilians and property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
(OPT). This week, human rights
violations perpetrated by IOF included shooting at Palestinian civilians, incursions
into Palestinian areas, house raids and arbitrary arrests. In violation of
international law and specifically international humanitarian law, IOF have
also continued to construct the “Annexation Wall” inside the West Bank
territory.  They have also continued to
impose severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians.  

This week, IOF used three Palestinian
civilians as human shields in military operations in the OPT.  

This week,
IOF killed three Palestinians in the West Bank, including two children. On Monday morning, IOF killed killed Shafiq
‘Abdul Ghani, 34, in Saida village near Tulkarm. On 4 May 2005, IOF shot dead two Palestinian
children from the ‘Aassi family in Beit Liqia village near Ramallah. The children were with a number of
Palestinian civilians who were throwing stones at the IOF. 

This week,
IOF conducted at least 16 military incursions into Palestinian areas in the
West Bank, including the Palestinian controlled town of Tulkarm. The widest of these incursions was into Saida
village near Tulkarm (resulting in the death of a Palestinian civilian) and
into al-Fawar refugee camp near Hebron (resulting in the injury to seven Palestinian
civilians). During other incursions, IOF
injured 8 Palestinian civilians, including four children, and arrested 10
others.

An Israeli
Military Court issued a ruling on Tuesday, 3 May 2005, ordering an Israeli
officer who was responsible for killing a Palestinian child, 3-year-old
Mohammed Jaradat, to serve the army four of ‘disciplinary works’. The child was killed on 25 July 2003, when an
Israeli tank fired at him near Barta’a village, southwest of Jenin, before the
eyes of his mother and grandmother. The
punishment once again demonstrates the impunity granted to the IOF by the
Israeli judiciary.

Construction of the Annexation Wall
in the West Bank was suspended this week due to the religious holidays in
Israel. However, violations relating to
the construction of the Wall continued. The IOF used force to disperse peaceful demonstrations organized by
Palestinian civilians in protest to the construction of the Wall.  On Sunday evening, 1 May 2005, IOF fired upon
demonstrators in Bal’ein village, west of Ramallah, and wounded 10 persons,
including a journalist. According to
local sources, IOF used new rubber-coated metal bullets in the incident, which are
round and penetrate flesh.   

Israeli settlers living in the OPT
in violation of international humanitarian law continued to attack Palestinian
civilians and property.  On Thursday morning, 28 April 2005, IOF
started to raze areas of Palestinian land, which were confiscated on 11 March
2005, in Deir al-Hatab village. IOF
claimed that this land was confiscated for military purposes but in fact the
land was confiscated to expand the neighboring “Allon Moreh”
settlement. On Tuesday morning, 3 May
2005, IOF ordered residents of pastoral areas to the east of Tammoun village,
southeast of Jenin, to vacate their homes and animal farms and demolished
them. Israeli settlers also launched a
series of attacks against Palestinian civilians and property in Hebron.

IOF have continued to impose a tightened
siege on the OPT, including Jerusalem.  On Tuesday, 3 May 2005, IOF lifted
the comprehensive closure imposed on the West Bank since Thursday morning, 21
April 2005, excluding the northern area. Despite this the IOF continued to impose severe restrictions on the
movement of Palestinian civilians throughout the reporting period including the
following restrictions: 

· They have continued to close Za’tara checkpoint near Nablus
for the second consecutive week. 

· They also erected a number of sudden military checkpoints
where they stopped and checked Palestinian civilians and arrested seven persons. 

In the Gaza Strip, IOF have continued to completely or
partially close all border crossings of the Gaza Strip, and impose severe
restrictions on the internal movement of Palestinian civilians: 

· They have continued to close Erez crossing in the northern
Gaza Strip for the second consecutive week. 

· They have continued to impose severe restriction at
checkpoints on the main road in the Gaza Strip. 

· IOF have continued to use a special checking machine at
Rafah International Crossing Points, despite warnings from the Palestinian
National Authority and human rights organizations of its dangers. 

The full report is available PDF format.