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Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)

 

·               Two activists of the Palestinian resistance and eight civilians, including five children and a woman, were wounded by shrapnel of flechette shells fired by IOF in the Gaza Strip.

 

·               IOF continued to use force against peaceful protests in the West Bank.

-          Ten Palestinian civilians, including two children and three journalists, were injured West Bank.

-          IOF arrested a journalist and four international human rights defenders.

 

·               IOF continued to fire at Palestinian farmers and workers in the border areas of the Gaza Strip.

 

·               IOF conducted twenty-three incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and five limited incursions into the Gaza Strip.

-          IOF arrested twenty-seven Palestinian civilians, including seven children, three women and a journalist, and four international human rights defenders in the West Bank.

 

·               Israel has continued to impose a total siege on the OPT and has isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.

-          Israeli troops stationed at military checkpoints and border crossings in the West Bank arrested three Palestinian civilians.

 

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

-IOF demolished seventy-four Palestinian civilian facilities in Area "C."[1]

-One Palestinian civilian was injured by Israeli settlers.

 

 

Summary

 

Israeli violations of international law and humanitarian law in the OPT continued during the reporting period (15 – 21 July 2010):

 

Shooting: During the reporting period, IOF killed two activists of the Palestinian resistance and wounded eight civilians, including five children and a woman, in the Gaza Strip. 

 

In the Gaza Strip, on 21 July 2010, IOF killed two activists of the Palestinian resistance and wounded eight civilians, including five children and a woman, when they fired flechette shells at the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun. 

 

In the West Bank, IOF used excessive force to disperse peaceful demonstrations organized by Palestinian civilians in protest to the construction of the Annexation Wall and settlement activities in the West Bank.  As a result, ten Palestinian civilians, including two children and three journalists, were injured.  IOF also violently beat a number of demonstrators. 

 

Incursions: During the reporting period, IOF conducted at least twenty-three military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, during which they arrested twenty-two Palestinian civilians, including seven children and three women.

 

In the Gaza Strip, IOF conducted five limited incursions into Palestinian areas, during which they searched the areas.

 

Restrictions on Movement: Israel had continued to impose a tightened siege on the OPT and imposed severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem.

 

Gaza Strip

 

Israel has continuously closed all border crossings to the Gaza Strip for approximately three years. The illegal Israeli-imposed 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.   

 

·       On Friday, 01 January 2010, Israeli forces decided to close Nahal Ouz crossing permanently and to divert the entry of fuels through Karm Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing, southeast of Rafah, citing security reasons.     

 

·       1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights, including freedom of movement and the right to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education.

 

·       The principle concern of the population of the Gaza Strip is to obtain basic necessities: food, medicine, water and electricity supplies.

 

·       Israel has continued to prevent the entry of raw construction materials into the Gaza Strip for more than two and a half years.

 

·       Israel has not allowed fuel supplies into the Gaza Strip since 10 December 2008, excluding limited amounts of cooking gas and energy fuel for Gaza Power Plant.

 

·       The Rafah International Crossing Point has been opened on only a few days for a number of patients who received medical treatment abroad and needed to return home to the Gaza Strip.

 

·       Israel had continued to close Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing to Palestinian civilians wishing to travel to the West Bank and Israeli for medical treatment, trade or social visits.

 

·       Israel has imposed additional restrictions on access of international diplomats, journalists and humanitarian workers to the Gaza Strip. Israel has prevented representatives of several international humanitarian organizations from entering the Gaza Strip.

 

·       Living conditions of the Palestinian civilian population have seriously deteriorated as levels of poverty and unemployment have mounted sharply.

 

·       At least 800 Palestinian prisoners from Gaza in Israeli jails have been deprived of family visitation for more than two and a half years. 

 

·       Israeli forces have continued to attack Palestinian fishermen along the coast of the Gaza Strip.

 

West Bank

 

Israel has 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.

 

· Israeli forces have established checkpoints in and around Jerusalem, severely restricting Palestinian access to the city. Civilians are frequently prevented from praying at al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

 

· There are approximately 630 permanent 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 Israeli forces 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 have 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 eighteen Palestinian communities in the West Bank are closed or fully controlled by Israeli forces (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 Israeli forces; these permits are extremely difficult to obtain.

 

· Israeli forces continue to harass and assault demonstrators who hold peaceful protests against the construction of the Annexation Wall.

 

· Palestinian civilians continue to be harassed by Israeli forces in Jerusalem and across the West Bank, including being regularly stopped and searched in the streets by Israeli forces.

 

Settlement Activities: Israel has continued its settlement activities in the OPT in violation of international humanitarian law, and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.

 

During the reporting period, IOF demolished two inhabited houses, a mobile home, two houses currently under construction, sixty-four barnyards, five shops and an agricultural pool in Area "C" in the West Bank.  It should be noted that the Israeli government instructed the Israeli military and Civil Administration to intensify demolitions of Palestinian houses and facilities in Area "C," claiming that they are unlicensed and "pose a security threat to Israel."  According to the Israeli daily "Haaretz," such measures target six areas in the West Bank.  

 

During the reporting period, one Palestinian civilian was injured when Israeli settlers attacked him in Hebron. 

 

 

Israeli Violations Documented during the Reporting Period (15 – 21 July 2010)

 

The full report is available online at:

http://www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/?option=com_content&view=article&id=6849:weekly-report-on-israeli-human-rights-violations-in-the-occupied-palestinian-territory-15-21-july-2010-&catid=84:weekly-2009&Itemid=183

 

 

 

Public Document

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