Author
Intifada Al Ard
This is a weekly summary of israeli war crimes committed in Palestine for the week ending 12 July 2006, 2mins, english
PCHR
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
Weekly Report: On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
No. 27/2006
06– 12 July 2006
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Commit Additional War Crimes against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT); Isolate the Gaza Strip from the Outside World; and Signs of a Looming Humanitarian and Environmental Crisis
· IOF kill 79 Palestinians, 76 of them in the Gaza Strip.
· 19 children, 2 women, and 3 handicapped are among the dead.
· University lecturer, his wife, and 7 of their children among the dead; a woman and 2 of her children among the dead.
· 266 Palestinians, including 63 children and 14 females, were wounded by the IOF.
· IOF conducted 47 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, and reoccupied areas in the Gaza Strip.
· 67 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children and a female, were arrested by IOF.
· IOF use Palestinian human shields during operations in the Gaza Strip, and takes over several civilian houses.
· 5 houses transformed by IOF into military sites.
· 6 charitable societies in the West Bank were raided by IOF.
· 250 families totaling nearly 2000 people flee their houses in Rafah and Beit Hanoun. UNRWA provides alternative shelters in its schools.
· IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT; IOF have imposed a tightened siege on the Gaza Strip; dozens of patients are stuck at Rafah International Crossing Point on the Egyptian border; IOF positioned at various checkpoints in the West Bank arrested 12 Palestinian civilians; IOF detained the Second Deputy Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council as he was attempting to travel through El-Karama Border Crossing with Jordan.
· IOF have continued to construct the Annexation Wall in the West Bank; IOF started confiscated 45 dunums of agricultural land in southern Hebron.
· In settler-related violence and crimes, a Palestinian house is set on fire in southern Hebron; and a settler road is renovated in the old city of Hebron.
Summary
As the international community has remained silent, IOF have continued to wage a full scale offensive on the Palestinian people, especially in the Gaza Strip, with total disregard for the principles of necessity and proportionality in the use of military power against Palestinians and resistance activists. The lack of accountability and legal action against Israeli war criminals and their political leaders who publicly order the perpetration of these crimes are in fact a “license to kill” given to IOF. This situation is exacerbated by the impotence of the international community, especially the High Contracting Parties of the Fourth Geneva Convention, to enforce the convention in the OPT.
Furthermore, equating the killer with the killed in the positions of the international community is another form of the “license to kill.” PCHR reminds that the number of dead during this report’s period is higher than some of the figures that were registered during operation Defensive Shield by IOF in 2002 in the West Bank, especially in Jenin and Nablus.
IOF have targeted journalists and media crews covering the events. The Centre believes that the direct targeting of journalists and injuring many of them comes is an attempt to prevent them from conducting their professional duty or portraying the events to the outside world, which will embarrass the Israeli government and influence international public opinion.
In light of the continue Israeli offensive for the third consecutive week and subsequent war crimes, the Gaza Strip is experiencing a very serious humanitarian situation that threatens the lives of the civilian populations. PCHR calls upon the international community, particularly the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and United Nations Agency, to immediately intervene to force IOF to stop this offensive and allow the passage of foodstuffs, medical supplies and fuels into the Gaza Strip. PCHR warns the international community of the policies of collective punishment and reprisals practiced by IOF against the Palestinian civilian population, especially the destruction of electricity sources and the denial of passage of foodstuffs and fuels into the Gaza Strip, which will lead to a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
The outcome of crimes committed by IOF since 25 June 2006:
o 88 Palestinians, half of them civilians, have been killed by IOF.
o 345 Palestinian civilians, including 79 children and 14 females, have been wounded by IOF.
o 110 air-to-surface missiles, mostly from fighter jets, and hundreds of artillery shells have been fired at Palestinian civilians and military targets in the Gaza Strip.
o Two buildings of the Palestinian Ministry of Interior, the office of the Palestinian Prime Minister and a number of educational institutions have been destroyed.
o Destruction of the Gaza Power Plant, providing 45% of electricity to the Gaza Strip. Half the Strip’s population are without electricity..
o 3 bridges linking Gaza City with the southern Gaza Strip and 3 roads in Khan Yunis and al-Nusairat have been destroyed.
o Hundreds of donums of agricultural land and destruction of tens of houses.
o Hundreds of Palestinians, including 8 ministers and more than 20 PLC members have been arrested.
o Hundreds of families evacuate their houses in Rafah; and UNRWA provides alternative shelters in schools.
Israeli violations of international law continued in the OPT during the reported period (6-12 July 2006):
Killing: During the reported period, IOF killed 79 Palestinians, including 19 children and 2 women. In the Gaza Strip, 76 Palestinians were killed by IOF operations. Thirty-four of the victims were resistance activists targeted in non-combat situations, categorizing these killings as “extra-judicial assassinations.” Forty-two civilians were killed. They included 17 children, 2 women, and 3 handicapped Palestinians. It is noted that during the reported periond, IOF purposely targeted civilians and did not take into account the civilian population when targeting resistance activists. The most notable war crime in this regard is the killing of a man, his wife, and 7 of their children on 12 July 2006. The incident took place when an IOF fighter jet dropped 2 bombs on their house in Sheikh Radway Quarter, north of Gaza City. And in another war crime, a mother and 2 of her children were killed when an IOF fighter jet dropped a bomb on Gaza City on 8 July 2006.
In the West Bank, IOF killed 3 Palestinians, including 2 children. One of the victims was a Palestinian activist who resisted an IOF incursion into Askar refugee camp in Nablus. The other two victims fell in a failed extra-judicial assassination attempt by IOF in Jenin refugee camp.
The number of Palestinians killed since the imprisonment of the Israeli soldier on 25 June 2006 increased to 78.
In addition, 266 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were wounded by the IOF gunfire in the OPT. In the Gaza Strip, 241 Palestinians were injured, including 58 children and 14 females. And in the West Bank, 25 civilians were injured, including 5 children. Thus, the number of Palestinians wounded since 25 June 2006 increased to 345, including 79 children. Two journalists and a paramedic were among the injured.
Incursions: During the reported period, IOF invaded and reoccupied areas in the northern Gaza Strip, while they have continued to occupy Gaza International Airport in the southern Gaza Strip. In addition, IOF conducted a number of limited incursions into Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip, during which they detained Palestinians, used civilians as human shields, and took over houses and used them for military purposes. IOF also razed large areas of agricultural land in the Gaza Strip. Many areas in the Gaza Strip lack electricity supplies as the electricity network of the town was destroyed, an IOF have denied access of maintenance crews, firing at them on a number of occasions. Furthermore, IOF prevented Palestinian ambulances from transporting patients to hospitals, including pregnant women.
In the West Bank, IOF conducted at least 47 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. During these incursions, IOF raided houses and arrested 67 civilians, including 3 children and a woman. Thus, the number of Palestinians arrested by IOF since the beginning of 2006 has increased to nearly 2000 prisoners. IOF also raided at least 6 civilian institutions, claiming that they are run by Hamas. In addition, IOF took over 5 Palestinian houses, and converted them to military outposts.
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.
Following an attack launched by Palestinian militants on 25 June 2006 near the Israeli-Egyptian border, southeast of Rafah, which left two IOF soldiers and two of the attackers dead and a third IOF soldier missing, IOF have closed all border crossings of the Gaza Strip.
IOF have closed Rafah International Crossing Point, even though they do not directly control it. They have prevented European observers working at the crossing point form reaching it. According to information gathered by PCHR, the number of Palestinians stuck in Egypt is more than 3,000. Most of them have been forced to stay in different cities including Cairo, al-Arish and Egyptian Rafah. These Palestinians had traveled to Egypt or through Egypt to other destinations for the purposes of medical treatment, education, visiting relatives or work. In addition, scores of expatriate Palestinian families living in the Gulf States, who had traveled to Rafah International Crossing Point to spend the summer in Gaza, were forced to return to the Gulf. Furthermore, more than 400 Palestinians, mostly patients, are stuck in the waiting hall at the Egyptian side of Rafah Crossing. They are enduring extremely difficult conditions due to the hot weather and lack of adequate services and facilities, especially for patients. These patients were returning to Gaza after undergoing medical treatment abroad, including surgery. Some of the patients have undergone heart, ophthalmic or orthopedic surgeries. Such patients require special facilities that are not available at the border. Travelers are deprived of services required to meet their basic needs, especially for women, children and the elderly. Furthermore, they are being forcibly separated from their families in the Gaza Strip. During the reported period, IOF refused to allow the transfer of the bodies of 3 Palestinian patients who died at an Egyptian hospital into the Gaza Strip. The families were forced to keep the bodies in mortuaries in Egypt.
IOF have closed commercial crossings of the Gaza Strip. As a consequence, the economic situation inside the Gaza Strip has further deteriorated and many goods have been lacked in markets. IOF have prevented the free flow of fuel, food and medical supplies since. The Gaza Strip was suffering from a lack gas and fuel even before the latest tightening of the closure. According to information gathered by PCHR, fuel has run out to run sewage disposal facilities in many communities. In addition, healthcare facilities lack fuel to run their ambulances and transportation vehicles. And on 12 July 2006, IOF divided the Gaza Strip into 2 parts after controlling the main road in the Strip, Salah El-Deen Road, to the north of Khan Yunis. Civilians were barred from using the road.
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, IOF have re-established their presence at ‘Attara checkpoint, north of Ramallah. The checkpoint is used to restrict the movement of civilians in and out of Ramallah. During the reported period, IOF positioned at various checkpoints around Nablus imposed severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians. They have also continued to impose severe restrictions on the movement on Palestinian civilians to and from Tulkarm. 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 13 Palestinian civilians, including the Second Deputy Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council.
Annexation Wall: IOF have continued to construct the Annexation Wall inside the West Bank. During the reported period, IOF issued a military order seizing at least 45 donums of land adjacent to settler road “60” east of the town of Yatta, south of Hebron. The land was allocated for a military checkpoint surrounding a gate in the Wall in the area. During the reported period, IOF used forced to disperse peaceful demonstrations organized in protest to the construction of the Wall in Bal’ein village, west of Ramallah. Four demonstrators sustained bruises. In addition, IOF restricted the movement of farmers and denied them access their land behind the was near the town of Beit Ola, west of Hebron.
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, especially in Hebron. During the reported period, settlers from the settlement of Suisia, southeast of Yatta, burned the house belonging to a Palestinian in the area of El-Rakhim Valley to the east of the settlement. And settlers from Kiryat Arba’ resumed constructing a settler road near the settlement.
The full report is available online at:
html format:
http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/W_report/English/2006/13-07-2006.htm
pdf format:
http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/W_report/English/2006/pdf/weekly%20report…
E-mail