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<font size=3>Human rights weekly report on Israeli abuses against
Palestinians <br>
(Gaza City) PCHR <br>
<a href="http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=618&Itemid=1" eudora="autourl">
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=618&Itemid=1<br>
<br>
</a>Friday, 22 September 2006 <br><br>
<img src="cid:6.2.5.6.2.20060922124902.04480b90@freedomarchives.org.0" width=170 height=127 alt="Image">
<br>
Gaza City's Palestinian Centre for Human Rights issued its report for 14
through 20 September. <br><br>
With the report came the photo with the caption reading, "Khaled
Hamdan Qeshta’s in Rafah, which was bombarded by Israeli warplanes on 15
September 2006 after he had been warned by Israeli Occupation Forces
through a phone call." <br><br>
The full PCHR report is reprinted below. <br><br>
"Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Escalate Attacks on Palestinian
Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)
<br><br>
3 Palestinians were killed by IOF in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
<br><br>
One of the victims was extra-judicially executed by IOF in the West Bank.
<br><br>
A child died from a previous wound she had sustained when IOF killed her
father and brother. <br><br>
10 Palestinian civilians, including 7 children and a woman, were wounded
by the IOF gunfire. <br><br>
IOF have continued to launch air strikes on houses in the Gaza Strip; 4
houses were destroyed in Rafah. <br><br>
IOF conducted 42 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West
Bank, and 4 others into the Gaza Strip. <br><br>
IOF arrested 52 Palestinian civilians, including a child and a woman, in
the West Bank, and two civilians in the Gaza Strip. <br><br>
IOF raided the Jordanian National Bank in Nablus, and 11 money exchange
shops in 4 West Bank towns. <br><br>
IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT; IOF have imposed a
tightened siege on the Gaza Strip; and IOF positioned at a various
checkpoints in the West Bank arrested 7 Palestinian civilians. <br><br>
IOF have continued to construct the Annexation Wall in the West Bank;
they issued a military order to construct a new section of the Wall near
‘Azzoun ‘Atma village, south of Qalqilya; and they violently beat 8
demonstrators protesting the construction of the Wall in Bal’ein village
near Ramallah. <br><br>
Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and
property in the OPT; Israeli settlers attacked a family in Hebron.
<br><br>
<br><br>
<br>
Summary <br><br>
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. <br><br>
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. PCHR also warns the international
community of the consequences of the policy of collective punishment and
reprisals practiced by IOF against the Palestinian civilian population,
especially the destruction of energy resources and the denial of the flow
of fuels needed for providing basic services. <br><br>
Israeli violations of international law continued in the OPT during the
reported period (14 – 20 September 2006): <br><br>
Killing: During the reported period, IOF killed 3 Palestinians. A
Palestinian child also died from a previous wound. <br><br>
In the Gaza Strip, an IOF special unit shot dead a Palestinian civilian
in Rafah on Thursday morning, 14 September 2006. IOF moved into the area
to arrest two Palestinians, and shot this civilian dead when he was
sitting in front of his house. On 20 September 2006, an IOF drone fired a
missile at a Palestinian civilian in Jabalya, when he was in an area from
which locally made rockets are fired at Israel. The victim was a resident
of the area. On the same day, a 16-year-old child died from a previous
wound she had sustained on 2 September 2006, when IOF shot dead her
father and brother. In addition, a Palestinian woman was wounded by the
IOF shelling in Beit Lahia. <br><br>
Thus, the number of Palestinians killed by IOF in the Gaza Strip since 25
June 2006 has increased to 231, including 49 children and 12 women. In
addition, 814 others, mostly civilians, including 216 children, 31 women,
4 paramedics and 6 journalists, have been wounded. <br><br>
IOF also launched 3 air strikes on 4 houses Rafah, claiming that there
were tunnels under these houses. Those houses were totally destroyed and
a number of neighboring houses and civilian facilities were severely
damaged. <br><br>
In the west Bank, on Friday morning, IOF extra-judicially killed a member
of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a military wing of Fatah movement, in
Sanour village, southeast of Jenin. IOF claimed that the victim, who was
a resident of Beit Fourik village near Nablus, fired at them when they
came to arrest him, but investigations conducted by PCHR refute this
claim. In addition, 9 Palestinian civilians, including 7 children, were
wounded by IOF gunfire throughout the West Bank. <br><br>
Incursions: During the reported period, IOF conducted at least 42
military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, during
which they raided dozens of houses and arrested 52 Palestinian civilians,
including a child, a woman, a member of the municipal council of
Bethlehem, the Mufti of Bethlehem and a university lecturer. IOF also
transformed a house into a military site. In an act of piracy, IOF broke
into the Jordanian National Bank and 11 money exchange shops in the West
Bank. They arrested 7 money exchangers and confiscated big amounts of
money. Israeli sources estimated the confiscated money at 6 million NIS
(US$ 1.3 million), and claimed that these money exchange shop transferred
amounts of money that were used to finance attacks on Israeli targets. In
the Gaza Strip, IOF conducted 4 incursions in the southern Gaza Strip
villages of ‘Abasan and al-Shouka, and into Erez industrial zone in the
north. During these incursions IOF arrested 5 Palestinians and demolished
at least 30 factories and workshops. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
<br><br>
Gaza Strip <br><br>
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. <br><br>
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. 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.
During the reported period, IOF partially reopened al-Mentar (Karni)
crossing, east of Gaza City, and Sofa and Kerem Shalom crossings near
Rafah. IOF have also continued to close Erez crossing in the northern
Gaza Strip. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from the Gaza
Strip had been prevented from traveling through this crossing. IOF
have allowed international workers to pass through the crossing.
With this closure, few Palestinian patients have been able to travel to
hospitals in Israel and the West Bank. On Sunday, 17 September 2006, IOF
suddenly closed the crossing for alleged security reasons. In addition,
IOF have prevented Palestinian fishermen from fishing for 3 months.
<br><br>
<br><br>
West Bank <br><br>
IOF have tightened the siege imposed on Palestinian communities in the
West Bank. They have isolated Jerusalem from the rest of 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 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 positioned at
various checkpoints in the West Bank arrested 7 Palestinian civilians.
<br><br>
<br><br>
Annexation Wall: IOF have continued to construct the Annexation Wall
inside the West Bank. During the reported period, IOF issued a military
order to construct a new section of the Wall around ‘Azzoun ‘Atma
village, south of Qalqilya. According to the order, a 4500-meter-long
section of the Wall will be constructed, extending from “Sha’ari Tikva”
settlement to “Uranit” settlement. According to local sources, upon its
construction, this section of the Wall will isolate at least 2000
donums[1] of agricultural land belonging to Palestinian civilians. IOF
also used force to disperse a peaceful demonstration organized by
Palestinian civilians and international and Israeli peace activists in
protest to the construction of the Wall in Bal’ein village, west of
Ramallah. As a result, 5 Palestinian civilians and 3 Israeli solidarity
activists sustained bruises. <br><br>
<br><br>
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. Israeli settlers
raided a house in Hebron and violently beat the owner and his son. Other
Israeli settlers damaged the fence of a house in Hebron. In addition,
Israeli settlers violently beat an old Palestinian civilian in Yatta
village, south of Hebron. In Qalqilya, Israeli settlers seized a house in
Kufor Qddoum village for some time. In the context of settlement
expansion activities, IOF razed large areas in the south of al-Zahiriya
village, southwest of Hebron, to establish a new settlers road. <br><br>
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(415) 863-9977<br>
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