Weekly Summary of israeli War Crimes

This is a weekly summary of israeli war crimes committed in Palestine for the week ending 7 June 2006, 2mins, english

PCHR
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
http://www.pchrgaza.org

Weekly Report: On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

No. 22/2006
01- 07 June 2006

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Escalate Attacks on Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)
· 5 Palestinians were killed by IOF in the Gaza Strip.

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

· 29 Palestinian civilians, including 9 children and a woman, were wounded by IOF gunfire.

· IOF have continued to shell Palestinian areas in the northern Gaza Strip, wounding a number of civilians and damaging civilian property.

· IOF conducted 42 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, particularly Nablus, and one incursion into the Gaza Strip.

· 55 Palestinian civilians, including a child, were arrested by IOF.

· A house was transformed by IOF into a military site.

· IOF raided a hospital in Nablus and arrested a patient from the intensive care unit.

· IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT; IOF have continued to close border crossings of the Gaza Strip; the north of the West Bank has been separated from its south; and IOF arrested two Palestinian civilians, including a child, at checkpoints in the West Bank.

· IOF have continued to construct the Annexation Wall in the West Bank; IOF razed areas of agricultural land near “Shavi Shomron” settlement in the north of the West Bank; and IOF confiscated 1495 dunums[1] of land in Qalqilya and Tulkarm.

· Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property in the OPT; 7 civilian facilities were demolished by IOF; and 4 Palestinian civilians, including a child and a woman, were injured by attacks launched by Israeli settlers.

Summary

Israeli violations of international law continued in the OPT during the reported period (1–7 June 2006):

Killing: During the reported period, IOF killed five Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. On Monday evening, 5 June 2006, IOF extra-judicially executed two members of the Palestinian Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) and wounded two other members, as well as two civilian bystanders, in Jabalya town in the northern Gaza Strip, when an IOF aircraft launched two missiles at a civilian car. According to PCHR’s documentation, IOF have committed eighteen extra-judicial executions since the beginning of 2006, which have killed fifty-four Palestinians, including fifteen non-targeted persons. This number includes six children. On Wednesday, 7 June 2006, IOF fired an artillery shell at two Palestinians, who were attempting to infiltrate into Israel, to the east of Gaza Strip. The two men and a member of the Palestinian National Security Forces, who was on-duty at the time, were killed.

During the reported period, IOF continued to shell Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip. As a result, eleven Palestinian civilians, including six children and a woman, were wounded. IOF aircrafts also conducted a series of mock air raids over the Gaza Strip, and shelled a civilian facility in Gaza City and uninhabited areas in the northern Gaza Strip. In the West bank, twelve civilians, including an Israeli solidarity activist, were wounded by IOF gunfire.

Incursions: During the reported period, IOF also conducted at least 42 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, especially Nablus. During these incursions, IOF raided houses and arrested 55 Palestinian civilians, including a child. This raises the number of Palestinians arrested by IOF since the beginning of 2006 to 1,685. In one of the incursions into Nablus, IOF raided the Arab Biblical Hospital in the city and arrested a Palestinian, who was receiving medical treatment in the intensive care unit. In another incursion into al-‘Aqaba village, southeast of Jenin, IOF raided a mosque and an IOF soldier opened fire inside. In the Gaza Strip, IOF moved into al-Boreij refugee camp and leveled areas of land they had already razed previously.

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.

IOF have continued to impose a tightened siege on the Gaza Strip, transforming it into a large prison. IOF have continued to monitor the movement of Palestinian civilians through Rafah International Crossing Point on the Egyptian border. Although IOF have allowed the transportation of food aid from Egypt into the Gaza Strip through Kerem Shalom commercial crossing, southeast of Rafah, the crossing has not yet been officially opened. IOF have prevented the passage of trucks carrying medical supplies from Egypt into the Gaza Strip. IOF have also continued to prevent Palestinian workers from the Gaza Strip from reaching their work places in Israel through Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing. They have continued to prevent hundreds of thousands of Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip from traveling to the West Bank. IOF have partially operated al-Mentar (Karni) commercial crossing, east of Gaza City. As a result of the repeated closures of the crossing, the economic conditions in the Gaza Strip have deteriorated.

IOF have continued to impose a tightened siege on Palestinian communities in the West Bank. IOF positioned at various checkpoints in the West Bank have continued to impose severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians. IOF have continued to separate the north and south of the West Bank. For this purpose, they have closed Za’tara checkpoint, south of Nablus, and re-established their presence at ‘Attara checkpoint, north of Ramallah. They have also erected two new checkpoints near Ramallah. During the reported period, IOF positioned at various checkpoints around Nablus imposed severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians. IOF positioned at various checkpoints in the West Bank abused a number of Palestinian civilians. During the reported period, IOF at checkpoints in the West Bank arrested two Palestinian civilians, including a child.

Annexation Wall: IOF have continued to construct the Annexation Wall inside the West Bank. After the Israeli High Court had approved the construction of a section of the Wall around “Shavi Shomron” settlement, northwest of Nablus, on 30 May 2006, IOF started to raze areas of Palestinian land near the settlement. It is worth noting that IOF have completed the construction of a section of the Wall to the east of the settlement, near the Nablus-Jenin road, which they have kept closed since 15 August 2006. During the reported period, IOF issued a number of military orders confiscating 1,495 dunums of land in Qalqilya and Tulkarm for the purpose of the construction of the Wall. On 2 June 2006, IOF used force to disperse a peaceful demonstration organized in protest to the construction of the Wall in Bal’ein village, west of the Wall in Ramallah. IOF fired rubber-coated metal bullets, tear gas canisters and sound bombs at the demonstrators. As a result, 7 Palestinians civilians and an Israeli solidarity activist were wounded.

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, IOF demolished 7 civilian facilities in the West Bank, in preparation for the implementation of the Israeli Convergence Plan. In addition, Israeli settlers launched 3 attacks on Palestinian civilians and property in Hebron, which injured 4 civilians, including a child and a woman.

The full report is available online at:
html format:
http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/W_report/English/2006/08-06-2006.htm
pdf format:
http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/W_report/English/2006/pdf/weekly%20report…

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