[News] Palestine Center for Human Rights - Israeli forces escalate aggressions

[Anti-Imperialist News]

http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=388&Itemid=1

PCHR weekly report: Israeli forces escalate aggressions


(Gaza City) PCHR
Friday, 25 August 2006

Image
The photo comes courtesy of the Palestinian 
Centre for Human Rights with its weekly report 
for 17 through 23 August reprinted below.

The PCHR photo caption reads, "A house in Rafah 
belonging Mansour Abu Humaid, which was bombarded 
by Israeli warplanes on 22 August 2006, after 
Israeli Occupation Forces had telephoned the 
family ordering the evacuation of the house."

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


• 8 Palestinians were killed by IOF.
• A woman from Rafah died from a previous wound 
she has sustained when IOF attacked her and her 
two children, who were killed in the attack.
• Two of the victims were extra-judicially executed by IOF.
• 26 Palestinian civilians, including 8 children 
and a woman, were wounded by the IOF gunfire.
• IOF launched a series of air strikes on a 
number of houses in the Gaza Strip.
• Two houses were destroyed in Rafah and Jabalya.
• IOF conducted 44 incursions into Palestinian 
communities in the West Bank, and two others into the Gaza Strip.
• IOF arrested 64 Palestinian civilians in the 
West Bank, including 5 children and 4 women.
• IOF arrested the Deputy Prime Minister and the 
Secretary of the Palestinian Legislative Council.
• IOF raided offices of 3 charitable societies in Hebron.
• IOF razed at least 30 donums[1] of agricultural 
land and arrested 5 Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.
• IOF 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; and IOF positioned at a 
various checkpoints in the West Bank arrested 9 
Palestinian civilians, including two children.
• IOF have continued to construct the Annexation 
Wall in the West Bank; they confiscated more 
areas of land in Tulkarm; they resumed the 
construction of a section of the Wall near “Shavi 
Shomron” settlement in the northern West Bank; 
and they used force to disperse a peaceful 
demonstration protesting the construction of the 
Wall in Bal’ein village, west of Ramallah.


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 continued their attacks on Palestinian civilians and property.
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 lift the 
siege imposed on the Gaza Strip.

The outcome of crimes committed by IOF since 25 June 2006:
o     216 Palestinians, mostly civilians, 
including 45 children and 11 women, have been killed by IOF.
o     At least 842 Palestinian civilians, 
including 240 children and 28 women, have been wounded by the IOF gunfire.
o     At least 221 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 9 ministers and 30 members of the 
Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), including 
the Speaker, Deputy Speaker and Secretary, have 
been arrested. Minster of Prisoners’ Affairs, 
Minister of Labor and Second Deputy Speaker of the PLC were released.
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     27 houses belonging to activists of 
Palestinian factions were destroyed by IOF warplanes.
o     IOF have imposed a strict siege on the OPT, 
and have isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.

Israeli violations of international law continued 
in the OPT during the reported period (17 – 23 August 2006):

Killing: During the reported period, IOF killed 
two Palestinian civilians and 3 members of the 
al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the 
Islamic Jihad. On 17 August 2006, IOF shot dead a 
deaf Palestinian civilian near the border between 
the Gaza Strip and Israel, east of the al-Boreij 
refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, when he 
was cutting grass. On 18 August 2006, IOF shot 
dead a Palestinian civilian in Beit Lahia, when 
he was grazing animals near the border between 
the Gaza Strip and Israel. In the two crimes, IOF 
did not warn the victims. On 22 August 2006, IOF 
killed 3 members of the al-Quds Brigades, when 
they were in al-Qarara village, nearly 500 meters 
away from the border. The victims apparently bled 
to death. They were not armed. On 20 August 2006, 
a woman from Rfah died from a wound she had 
sustained on 5 August 2006, when an IOF drones 
fired a missile at her and her children. Two of 
her children were also killed in the attack. In 
addition, 11 Palestinian civilians, including a 
woman and two children, were wounded by the IOF gunfire.

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 
193, including 43 children and 11 women. In 
addition, 726 others, mostly civilians, including 
196 children, 27 women, 4 paramedics and 4 journalists, have been wounded.

IOF also launched at least two air strikes on two 
houses in the Gaza Strip 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.

During the reported, 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 houses were damaged.


The Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 863-9977
www.freedomarchives.org 
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