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oPt

Weekly report on Israeli human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territory 20 - 26 Nov 2008

Attachments

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and a Serious Humanitarian Crisis in the Gaza Strip Due to the Closure of Its Border Crossings

- 7 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children, were wounded by the IOF gunfire in the West Bank.

- IOF conducted 32 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank.

- IOF arrested 9 Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.

- IOF transformed 4 houses in Hebron into military sites.

- IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT and have isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.

- The Gaza Strip is suffering from a serious humanitarian crisis due to the closure of border crossings.

- IOF troops positioned at military checkpoints in the West Bank arrested a Palestinian civilian.

- IOF have continued to take measures aiming at the Judaization of Jerusalem.

- A Palestinian civilian who was expelled from his house died from a heart attack.

- IOF demolished a house in 'Eizariya village near Jerusalem.

- IOF banned a Palestinian student assembly in Jerusalem.

- Another house was seized in the Old Town.

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

- A Palestinian woman was injured and Israeli settlers wrote racist words on the body of a Palestinian ambulance.

Summary

Israeli violations of international law and humanitarian law escalated in the OPT during the reporting period (20 - 26 November 2008):

Shooting: During the reporting period, IOF wounded 7 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children, in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

On 21 November 2008, 5 Palestinian civilians, including 2 children, were wounded when IOF troops opened fire at dozens of civilians who organized a peaceful demonstration in protest to attempts of settlers to re-establish their presence in the evacuated "Homesh" settlement, northwest of Nablus.

On 26 November 2008, a Palestinian child was seriously wounded during clashes between dozens of Palestinian civilians and IOF at the entrance of Qalandya refugee camp, south of Ramallah.

During the reporting period, a Palestinian civilian was wounded when IOF used force against peaceful demonstrations organized in protest to the construction of the Annexation Wall west of Ramallah.

Incursions: During the reporting period, IOF conducted at least 17 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. During these incursions, IOF arrested 32 Palestinian civilians, including 2 children. Thus, the number of Palestinian civilians arrested by IOF in the West Bank since the beginning of 2008 has mounted to 2,216. IOF also handed military orders to the owners of four houses in Hebron seizing the houses for 4 days for "military purposes." IOF held the families on the first floor of each house and turned the roofs into military sites. According to eyewitnesses, the military orders restrict the movement of Palestinian civilians living in 50 houses located neat "Kiryat Arba" settlement, east of Hebron. IOF took this measure allegedly to allow Israeli settlers to celebrate the Jewish Ms. Sarah Day.

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. During the reporting period, IOF imposed a comprehensive closure on the OPT for the the Jewish Sukkot.

Gaza Strip

IOF have continued to close all border crossings to the Gaza Strip for more than two years. The IOF 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.

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

- The Egypt-brokered 'Tahdiya' or truce between Palestinian resistance groups and Israel began on 19 June; however, there have been no major changes regarding the movements of civilians and goods through the six Gaza Strip border crossings.

- Rafah International Crossing Point, the only border crossing from the Gaza Strip to the outside world via a country other than Israel, remains closed.

Impacts of Tightening the Siege Imposed on the Gaza Strip over the Past Three Weeks

- The Gaza Power plant completely stopped operation due to the lack of energy fuel. Over the past three weeks, IOF have allowed only 1,721,610 liters of energy fuel into the Gaza Strip, an amount which can operate the power plant for only 5 days.

- The main concern of 1.5 million people living in the Gaza Strip is to obtain their basic needs of food, medicines, water and electricity supplies.

- The majority of the civilian population lack access to drinking water.

- Electricity is cut off for 100,000s of civilians from 8-12 hours daily, which has impacted at least 500,000 students or various stages of education who are currently having exams.

- UNRWA had been forced to suspend it humanitarian aids program for at least 750,000 Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip for 5 days.

- Thousands of Palestinian civilians have been forced to wait in long queues to buy bread.

- At least 45 bakeries in the Gaza Strip (75%) have been closed due to the black of electricity supplies and cooking gas, whereas the remaining 18 bakeries have been forced to work in a lower capacity.

- The Rafah International Crossing Point has been opened for 3 days only to allow 2,100 Palestinian civilians, mostly patients and students, to travel abroad, and 780 others to travel back to the Gaza Strip.

- IOF have continued to close Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing in the face of Palestinian civilians wishing to travel to the West Bank and Israeli for medical treatment, trade or social visits.

- IOF have imposed additional restrictions on access of international diplomats, journalists and humanitarian workers to the Gaza Strip. They have prevented representatives of several international humanitarian organizations from entering the Gaza Strip.

- IOF have decreased the number of patients allowed to travel through Erez crossing to receive medical treatment in hospitals in the West Bank and Israel to an average of 17 patients daily, which marks a decrease by 15% in comparison with the first quarter of 2008.

- Health conditions in the Gaza Strip have deteriorated and all medical facilities have been impacted as scores of medical sets are operated by electricity. At least 94 medicines have been lacking.

- The lives of at least 30 newly born babies, whose development has not been completed, is endangered as they need medical equipments that are operated by electricity.

- A Palestinian patient died when Israeli security forces attempted to practice extortion on him to cooperate with them to be able to received medical treatment outside the Gaza Strip. Thus, the number of Palestinian patients who died because IOF did not allow them to receive medical treatment outside the Gaza Strip or due to the lack of medicines in the Gaza Strip has mounted to 47, including 16 women and 10 children.

- Fuel supplies allowed into the Gaza Strip through the Nahal Ouz crossing have sharply dropped to amounts that could hardly satisfy the minimum needs of the population; the Gaza Strip has received only 19.6% of its daily needs of energy fuel required for the operation of the power plant; 4.1% of the daily needs of benzene; 2.9% of the daily needs of diesel; and 4.8% of the daily needs of cooking gas.

- IOF have closed all commercial crossings of the Gaza Strip have been closed; al-Mentar (Karni) crossing have been partially reopened for 3 days and Karm Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing has been partially reopened for 6 days only to allow the entry of limited amounts of humanitarian aids.

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

- At least 900 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have been deprived for family visitation for more than 15 months.

West Bank

IOF have 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.

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

- There are approximately permanent 630 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 IOF 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 has 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 leads to 18 Palestinian communities in the West Bank are closed or fully controlled by IOF (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 the IOF. These permits are extremely difficult to obtain.

- IOF continue to harass, and assault demonstrators who hold peaceful protests against the construction of the Annexation Wall.

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

- During the reporting period, IOF arrested 4 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children, at various checkpoints in the West Bank.