T his is a weekly summary of israeli war crimes committed in Palestine for the week ending 2 Aug 2006, 2mins, english

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PCHR

Palestinian Centre for Human Rights

http://www.pchrgaza.org





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





No. 30/2006

27 July – 02 Aug. 2006



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



· 14 Palestinians, including 4 children and two women, were killed by IOF.



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



· 34 Palestinian civilians, including 12 children and two women, were wounded by the IOF gunfire.



· IOF launched a series of air strikes on a number of houses in the Gaza Strip.



· 8 houses were destroyed after their residents were warned that the houses would be attacked.



· IOF have continued to shell the northern Gaza Strip and al-Shouka village near Rafah, and many families were forced to leave their homes.



· IOF conducted 21 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, and 4 incursions into the Gaza Strip.



· IOF razed at least 100 donums[1] of agricultural land in Khan Yunis, and destroyed 24 houses and large areas of agricultural land in al-Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City.



· IOF raided and searched a number of civil institutions in Tulkarm.



· IOF arrested 25 Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and two others in the Gaza Strip.



· OF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT; IOF have imposed a tightened siege on the Gaza Strip and there have been shortages of foodstuffs and fuels; IOF positioned at various checkpoints in the West Bank arrested 5 Palestinian civilians.



· IOF have continued to construct the Annexation Wall in the West Bank.









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. During the reported period, IOF have waged a media war against Palestinian civilians. They have dropped leaflets in streets and on roofs of houses, phoned civilians threatening to destroy their houses if they helped Palestinian resistance activist, and ordered a number of Palestinian resistance activists through phone calls on their mobile phones to evacuate their houses, which would be destroyed. IOF have further continued to attack journalists in an attempt to prevent them from reporting on Israeli practices in the OPT. They have also penetrated the broadcasting waves of a number of local radio, and broadcast warnings and threats to Palestinian civilians. Israel seeks to legitimize collective punishment against Palestinian civilians by claiming in its media that it does not target unarmed civilians and that it warns them before attacking any building belonging to them or located near them.



PCHR, monitoring with utmost concern the developments of this offensive, calls upon the international community, particularly the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and United Nations, 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. Attacks in the OPT are not merely violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention, rather they constitute a war waged by Israel against Palestinian civilians. This war has included the destruction of the civilian infrastructure, including an electricity generation plant and a number of bridges, and imposing a strict siege on the Gaza Strip – all border crossings have been closed the movement of persons and goods to and from the Gaza Strip has been prohibited. This war waged by Israel is a war against civilians, in disregard for international humanitarian law. Israel has been encouraged by the US support and the European silence to launch more attacks against Palestinian civilians and then against Lebanon.



The outcome of crimes committed by IOF since 25 June 2006:



o 174 Palestinians, mostly civilians, including 37 children and 10 women, have been killed by IOF.

o At least 720 Palestinian civilians, including 192 children and 23 women, have been wounded by the IOF gunfire.

o At least 190 air-to-surface missiles and hundreds of artillery shells have been fired at Palestinian civilian and military targets in the Gaza Strip.

o Buildings of the Palestinian Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National economy, the office of the Palestinian Prime Minister and a number of educational institutions have been destroyed.

o The electricity generation plant, providing 45% of the electricity of the Gaza Strip, was destroyed, and electricity networks and transmitters have been repeatedly attacked.

o 6 bridges linking Gaza City with the central Gaza Strip and a number of roads have been destroyed.

o Hundreds of donums of agricultural land and dozens of houses have been destroyed.

o Hundreds of Palestinian civilians, including 8 ministers and 26 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council have been arrested.

o The Palestinian governmental compound in Nablus has been destroyed.

o Many families in Rafah, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia have been forced to leave their houses.

o IOF intelligence has warned some Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip by phone to evacuate their houses, which would be attacked.

o 15 houses belonging to activists of Palestinian factions were destroyed by IOF warplanes.



Israeli violations of international law continued in the OPT during the reported period (27 July – 2 August 2006):



Killing: During the reported period, IOF killed 8 Palestinians, including 7 civilians, in the Gaza Strip. The victims included two children and two women. In addition, a child and a young man died from previous wounds. An old woman was killed by IOF shelling on Jabalya town on 27 July 2006. Two children and a woman were killed in two separate attacked on al-Nada tower buildings near Beit Hanoun on 31 July and 1 August 2006. A Palestinian civilian was also killed by an IOF air strike on Beit Lahia. The remaining victims were killed by IOF during the offensive on al-Sha’af neighborhood in the east of Gaza City.



In addition, 23 Palestinian civilians, including 7 children and two women, were wounded by IOF shelling. Thus, the number of Palestinians killed by IOF in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of “Operation Summer Rains” on 25 June 2006 has increased to 159, including 86 civilians. These civilians have included 35 children and 10 women. In addition, 650 others, mostly civilians, including 170 children, 23 women, 4 paramedics and 4 journalists, have been wounded.



IOF also launched at least 12 air strikes on a number of targets in the Gaza Strip, including 8 houses belonging to Palestinian resistance activists. These houses were destroyed, and a number of neighboring houses and civilian facilities were severely damaged. IOF intelligence officers ordered owners of these houses by phone to evacuate their houses. The targeted houses were not located in confrontation areas, or in areas used to fire rockets. They were distributed in different parts of the Gaza Strip. In addition, they were multi-story apartment structures. The destruction caused fear among the civilian population. The destruction of houses is based on intelligence reports, which can be inaccurate or out of date and often do not justify attacks on civilians and their property. Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits the destruction of real or personal property, “except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.” The legal interpretation of this article implies that the destruction of houses or any other civilian facility can only take place during military operations or clashes, only if such houses or facilities pose direct threats to the occupying power’s troops and there is no means to prevent a security threat other than attacking such houses or civilian facilities. These conditions are not met with regard to houses located away from areas of clashes, and additionally, these houses never threat the security of Israel and its troops.





In a further escalation, IOF fired dozens of artillery shells at Palestinian residential areas and agricultural land in the Gaza Strip. A number of Palestinian civilians were killed or wounded and a number of flats were damaged. Hundreds of families have been forced to leave their homes due to the IOF shelling. In Rafah, IOF have repeatedly shelled the electricity network, cutting electricity off from the whole town.



In the West Bank, an IOF undercover unit extra-judicially killed a member of the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad, and a civilian who accompanied him. In addition, two Palestinian civilians, including a child, died from previous wounds they had sustained by IOF. Ten civilians, including 5 children and two journalists, were also wounded by IOF gunfire.



Incursions: During the reported period, IOF conducted 4 incursions into areas in the Gaza Strip. They destroyed civilian property and shelled residential areas. IOF razed at least 100 donums in al-Fukhari area, east of Khan Yunis, and damaged dozens of houses. On 28 July 2006, IOF withdrew from al-Tuffah neighborhood in the east of Gaza City, following a two-day incursion. During this incursion, IOF killed 20 Palestinians, including a 3-year-old child, and wounded at least 70 others. They also destroyed dozens of donums of agricultural land, 24 houses and a number of civilian facilities.



In the West Bank, IOF conducted at least 18 military incursions into Palestinian communities, during which they raided dozens of houses, buildings and civil institutions. IOF raided houses and arrested 23 Palestinian civilians, including a woman and 5 children.



Restrictions on Movement: IOF have 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



IOF have imposed a strict siege on the Gaza Strip. They have closed its border crossings as a form of collective punishment against Palestinian civilians.



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. On 18 and 19 July 2006, IOF permitted reopening the crossing point partially, with the presence of EU observers and in agreement with the Egyptian side, for travelers wishing to come back to the Gaza Strip. IOF have closed commercial crossings of the Gaza Strip, especially al-Mentar (Karni) crossing. As a consequence, the economic situation inside the Gaza Strip has further deteriorated and many goods have been lacked in markets. IOF have also continued to close Erez crossing in the northern Gaza Strip. In addition, IOF have prevented Palestinian fishermen from fishing.



West Bank



IOF have tightened the siege imposed on Palestinian communities in the West Bank. They have cancelled permits offered to Palestinians from the West Bank to enter Jerusalem. 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 between the north and south of the West Bank. During the reported period, IOF positioned at various checkpoints around imposed severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians. During the reported period, IOF at checkpoints in the West Bank arrested 5 Palestinian civilians, and violently beat 5 others.



Annexation Wall: IOF have continued to construct the Annexation Wall inside the West Bank. During the reported period, IOF started to construct a new section of the Wall on Palestinian land in the west and northwest of Beit Jala town and al-Khader village in Bethlehem district. This section will isolate the villages located to west of Bethlehem. IOF prevented Palestinian civilians from organizing a peaceful march in protest to the construction a section of the Wall in the north and west of al-Khader village, southwest of Bethlehem. IOF fired rubber-coated metal bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters at these civilians. As a result, 5 civilians, including a child, suffered from tear gas inhalation. Moreover, IOF soldiers positioned neat the Wall, east of Jerusalem, chased some Palestinian civilians, including a number of women, children, workers and employees, from Hebron and Bethlehem, who were on their way to Ramallah. They also fired rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters at these civilians. As result, 4 Palestinian civilians were wounded, and two others were arrested.





The full report is available online at:

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http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/W_report/English/2006/30-08-2006.htm

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http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/W_report/English/2006/pdf/weekly%20report%2030.pdf







Public Document

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http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article1211295.ece