Summary of israeli War Crimes

PCHR
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights

http://www.pchrgaza.org



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



No. 41/2005

13- 19 Oct. 2005





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



· One Palestinians was extra-judicially killed by IOF.



· 3 children were wounded by IOF.



· IOF conducted 20 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank.



· Houses were raided and 40 Palestinian civilians were arrested by IOF.



· Two houses were seized and transformed into military sites by IOF.



· Undercover units and dogs were employed in these incursions.



· IOF have continued to construct a border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel to the north of Beit Hanoun.



· IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT; IOF have continued to close Rafah International Crossing Point and Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing; a woman was run down by an Israeli military jeep; and IOF arrested 11Palestinian civilians, including a girl, a lawyer and a lecturer.



· IOF have continued to construct the Annexation Wall in the West Bank; the Israeli High Court approved the construction of the Wall around al-Ram village and Dahiat al-Barid area in Jerusalem; IOF razed areas of land in al-Sawahra al-Sahrqiya village; IOF razed 24 dunums[1] of agricultural land and uprooted at least 150 olive trees in 'Azzoun 'Atma village; and 3 Palestinian civilians were injured and 4 solidarity activists were arrested by IOF during a peaceful demonstration organized in protest to the construction of the Wall.



· Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property in the OPT; Israeli settlers attacked two houses in Beit Fourik village; and IOF razed areas of Palestinian land and confiscated 700 dunums of land in the northern Jordan Valley for the purpose of settlement expansion.



Summary



Israeli violations of international law continued in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) during the reporting period (13-19 October 2005):



Extra-Judicial Killing: On Sunday, 16 October 2005, IOF extra-judicially killed Nihad Khaled Abu Ghanem, 33, from Bourqin village west of Jenin. This attack came one week following a the publication of information that that IOF would decrease attempts to arrest most wanted Palestinians in the West Bank to avoid their resistance to arrest, which indicates that IOF may escalate the policy of extra-judicial killing officially adopted by the Israeli political and security establishments against Palestinian activists.



Incursions: IOF conducted at least 20 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. During these incursions, IOF raided houses and arrested 40 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children. They also seized two houses and transformed them into military sites. IOF employed undercover units and trained dogs during these incursions. In addition, a Palestinian woman was seriously injured when she was run down by an Israeli military jeep, and 3 children were wounded by the Israeli gunfire in Tarqoumia and Beit 'Awa villages near Hebron. Recently, IOF have conducted wide scale arrest campaigns in the West Bank, mainly targeting members of Hamas. Since the end of last September, IOF have arrested at least 500 Palestinians. PCHR is concerned that these arrests may constitute an indirect intervention into the Palestinian parliamentary elections that will be held in January 2006, as the Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minster expressed their opposition to Hamas' participation in these elections.



Restrictions on Movement: Even though IOF have been redeployed around the Gaza Strip, they have continued to impose a tightened siege, transforming the Gaza Strip into a large prison. Rafah International Crossing Point on the Egyptian border, the sole outlet for the Gaza Strip to the outside world, has remained closed for the fifth consecutive week, as no deal has been reached concerning transportation across it. IOF insist on maintaining control over the movement of persons and goods through the crossing point, and have actually moved equipment from the crossing point to the "Kerem Shalom" area on the Egyptian – Israeli border. In the meantime, IOF have continued to close Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing for Palestinian workers and patients for several weeks. With the closure of Rafah International Crossing Point and Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing, the Gaza Strip has been transformed into a big prison, as IOF maintain control over the airspace and other border crossing of the Gaza Strip. IOF have also imposed severe restrictions on fishing in the Gaza Strip.



In the West Bank, since Monday morning, 17 October 2005, IOF have imposed more restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians. These restrictions included the prohibition of movement of private cars on roads, and limiting transportation to taxis only. IOF have also erected dozens of military checkpoints on the main roads. According to Israeli sources, theses measures were decided by the Israeli Defense Minster, Shaul Mofaz, on Sunday evening, 16 October 2005, following two attacks against Israeli targets near "Gush Etzion" settlement, south of Bethlehem, and "Elli" settlement, south of Nablus. Mofaz ordered his troops to surround Palestinian towns in an attempt to create buffer zones. IOF declared that they would prevent Palestinian private vehicles from traveling on the main roads in the West Bank, including road (60) and road (90) which link various areas in the West Bank. IOF started to implement these measures on Monday morning, 17 October 2005. According to eyewitnesses, IOF re-erected checkpoints that had been dismantled and erected dozens of new ones. During the reported period, IOF positioned at various checkpoints arrested 11 Palestinian civilians, including a girl, a lawyer and a lecturer.



Annexation Wall: IOF have continued to construct the Annexation Wall inside the West Bank. During the reported period, IOF razed areas of Palestinian land in al-Sawahra al-Sharqiya village near Jerusalem. They also razed 24 dunums of agricultural land and uprooted at least 150 olive trees in 'Azzoun 'Atma village, south of Qalqilya. In another decision that violates the Advisory Opinion issued by the International Court of Justice, which considered the construction of the Wall in the West Bank illegal, the Israeli High Court decided to allow IOF to construct a section of the Wall near Dahiat al-Barid area and al-Ram village, north of occupied East Jerusalem. The construction of this section of the Wall will isolate the two areas. IOF attacked demonstrators who were protesting the construction of the Wall in Bal'ein village, west of Ramallah. Three demonstrators sustained injuries and bruises, and IOF arrested 4 international solidarity activists.



In the Gaza Strip, IOF have continued to construct a cement wall on the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel to the north of Beit Hanoun. IOF started to construct this wall on 12 October 2005, 15 meters inside the Gaza Strip territory and with a height of 6 meters. The construction of this wall is part of a more comprehensive plan to create a buffer zone along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel. IOF started preparations for the construction of a wall along the border even before the evacuation of Israeli settlements and the IOF redeployment in the Gaza Strip.



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 attacked two houses in Beit Fourik village, east of Nablus. IOF razed areas of Palestinian land and confiscated at least 700 dunums of land in the northern Jordan Valley for the purpose of settlement expansion.







The full report is available online at:

html format:

http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/W_report/English/2005/20-10-2005.htm

pdf format:

http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/W_report/English/2005/pdf/weekly%20report%2041.pdf





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[1] 1 dunum is equal to 1000 square meters.