Israeli soldiers attack Palestinian civilians who organized a peaceful demonstration in Beit Ummar town near Hebron in protest to settlement activities
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Escalate Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Gaza Strip
IOF have continued to use force against peaceful protests in the West Bank.
Two Palestinian civilian were wounded.
Israeli war planes launched a number of air strikes against targets in the Gaza Strip.
A greenhouse and a training site were bombarded.
The Israeli Navy has continued to attack Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli naval troops arrested 14 Palestinian fishermen and confiscated a number of fishing boats.
IOF conducted 40 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and two limited ones into the Gaza Strip.
IOF arrested 5 Palestinians, including 3 children.
IOF raided offices of a car rental company in Nablus and confiscated money and documents.
Israel has continued to impose a total closure on the OPT and has isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.
Israeli soldiers arrested 4 Palestinian civilians, including a child, at various checkpoints in the West Bank.
Israeli soldiers arrested a Palestinian patient at Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing in the northern Gaza Strip.
IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.
IOF demolished 4 houses, 4 agricultural rooms, a mosque, 3 water wells and two animal farms.
IOF arrested two girls who protested the demolition of their home.
Israeli settlers threw stones at Palestinian civilian vehicles travelining on Nablus –Qalqilya road.
Summary
Israeli violations of international law and humanitarian law in the OPT continued during the reporting period (24 - 30 November 2011):
Shooting:
In the West Bank, during the reporting period, IOF used excessive force to disperse peaceful demonstrations organized in protest to Israeli settlement activities and the construction of the annexation wall in the West Bank. As a result, a Palestinian civilian was wounded and dozens of Palestinian civilians and international human rights defenders suffered from tear gas inhalation.
In the Gaza Strip, on 24 November 2011, Israeli soldiers positioned at Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing in the northern Gaza Strip fired at a number of members of Future Nights Association who joined Palestinian farmers in Swailem area in the northern Gaza Strip. No casualties were reported.
On 27 November 2011, Israeli warplanes bombarded a training site of the Palestinian resistance in Nussairat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. The site and the fence of a nearby plot were damaged.
On the same day, Israeli warplanes bombarded a greenhouse in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis, damaging it.
During the reporting period, Israeli gunboats attacked Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Strip. They also arrested 14 fishermen and confiscated two fishing boats. Thirteen fishermen were released later.
Incursions:
During the reporting period, IOF conducted at least 40 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, during which they arrested 5 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children.
On 30 November 2011, IOF raided offices of a car rental company in Nablus and confiscated some money and documents.
In the Gaza Strip, IOF conducted two limited incursion into the northern and central Gaza Strip, during which they leveled areas of Palestinian land.
Restrictions on Movement:
Israel had 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
Israel has continuously closed all border crossings to the Gaza Strip for over three years. The illegal Israeli-imposed closure of the Gaza Strip, which has steadily tightened since June 2007, has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza Strip.
IOF have tightened the closure of the Gaza Strip and practically made Karm Abu Salem crossing as the sole commercial crossing of the Gaza Strip although it is not proper for commercial purposes in terms of its distance and operational capacity.
IOF have continued to apply their policy aimed at tightening the strangulation of the commercial movement in the Gaza Strip, including imposing total control over the flow of imports and exports.
The total closure of al-Mentar "Karni" crossing on 02 March 2011 has created a bitter situation that has seriously affected the Gaza Strip. Following this closure, all the economic and commercial establishments in Gaza Commercial Zone were shut off. It should be noted that al-Mentar crossing is the biggest crossing in the Gaza Strip in terms of its operational capacity to absorb the flow of imports and exports. The decision of al-Mentar crossing was the culmination of a series of decisions to totally close Sofa crossing, east of the Gaza Strip, in the beginning of 2009, and Nahal Oz crossing, east of Gaza City, which was dedicated for the delivery of fuel and cooking gas to the Gaza Strip, in the beginning of 2010.
These statistics which were made available to PCHR by the Border and Crossings Department indicate a continued drop in the number of truckloads of Gaza imports and exports.
IOF have continued to impose total ban on the delivery of raw materials to the Gaza Stri, except for very limited items and quantities. The limited quantities of raw materials allowed into Gaza do not meet the minimal needs of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.
The cooking gas crisis which has erupted last November has continued to affect the Gaza Strip. This crisis was created when the Israeli occupation authorities totally closed, on 04 January 2010, Nahal Oz crossing, which used to be dedicated for the delivery of fuel and cooking gas supplies to Gaza, and shifted fuel and cooking gas supplies to Karm Abu Salem crossing which is not technically equipped to receive Gaza's needs of fuel. Karm Abu Salem crossing, with its maximum absorptive capacity, can receive only 200 tons of cooking gas per day.
Approximately 80% of Gaza civilians have continued to depend on alimentary aid provided by UNRWA and other relief agencies, rates of families who are living below poverty line have continued to be on the rise and approximately 40% of Gaza's manpower has continued to suffer from permanent unemployment as a result of shutting down the majority of Gaza's economic establishments.
IOF have continued to impose a total ban on the exportation of Gaza's products, especially industrial products, leading to undermining any real chances to rerun economic establishments. The situation has been aggravated especially after making Karm Abu Salem crossing as Gaza sole commercial crossing and the repeated closure of this crossing which negatively affected the quantity of Gazan products which were allowed to be exported during last April.
IOF have continued to prolong the implementation of their decision to allow 60 cars into Gaza weekly although more than 11 months have passed since they announced this decision after three years of ban imposed on the delivery of cars to Gaza. As a result, the prices of cars in Gaza have been on the rise and local markets experience serious shortage in spare parts.
For approximately four consecutive years, IOF have continued to ban the delivery of construction materials to Gaza. During the reporting period, IOF approved the delivery of limited quantities of construction materials for a number of international organizations.
Israel has continued to close Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing for Palestinian civilians from the Gaza Strip. IOF only allow the movement of limited groups amidst severe restrictions, including long hours of waiting in the majority of cases. IOF have also continued to adopt a policy aimed at reducing the number of Palestinian patients allowed to move via Beit Hanoun crossing to receive medical treatment in hospitals in Israel or in the West Bank and Jerusalem. IOF denied new categories of Gazan patient permission to have access to hospitals via the crossing.
Israel has imposed additional access restrictions on international diplomats, journalists and humanitarian workers seeking to enter the Gaza Strip.
For approximately 53 months, IOF have continued to deny approximately 700 Palestinian prisoners from Gaza detained in Israeli jails their visitation rights without providing any justification to this measure, which violates the rules of the international humanitarian law.
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 in the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
There are approximately 585 permanent roadblocks, and manned and unmanned checkpoints across the West Bank.
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 have already been constructed. Approximately 99% of the wall has been constructed inside the West Bank itself, confiscating more Palestinian land.
At least 65% of the main roads that lead to 18 Palestinian communities in the West Bank are closed or fully controlled by IOF.
There are approximately 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 permits issued by IOF. Such 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.
Settlement Activities:
Israel has continued its settlement activities in the OPT in violation of international humanitarian law, and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.
On 24 November 2011, IOF, accompanied by a bulldozer, moved into Wadi al-Bas area in Ethna village, west of Hebron. They demolished 3 water wells and 3 agricultural rooms, claiming that they were established without licenses. The demolished facilities were located 450-500 meters away from the annexation wall. IOF then demolished a 70-square-meter, under-construction house, nearly 700 meters away from the annexation wall.
On the same day, IOF moved into Khirbat al-Mafqara area to the southeast of Yatta village, south of Hebron. They surrounded a mosque in the area and a subordinate room, which includes an electricity generator. They took out the contents of the mosque and demolished it. They also destroyed the electricity generator. IOF then demolished a house belonging to Mahmoud Hussein Hamamda, in which 21 individuals live, after vacating it. They also demolished a part of a nearby cave used by the family as a store. During the evacuation of the house, the owner’s daughter protested the evacuation of the family’s furniture, so an Israeli soldier beat her and another one sprayed gas on her face. When her mother intervened to protect her, Israeli soldiers pushed her down. She sustained a fracture to the left foot. IOF arrested two girls, claiming that “they obstructed the work of security officers and threw stones at them.”
At the same time, IOF demolished a house belonging to the widow of Maher Khalil Hamamda, in which she and her three children live. IOF demolished also a 30-square-meter rabbit farm belonging to Hatem Mohammed Hamamda.
IOF then moved to the nearby Khirbat Sousia area and demolished a tent and an animal farm.
On 26 November 2011, a number of Israeli settlers from “Karni Shomron” settlement near Qalqilya-Nablus road threw stones at Palestinian civilian vehicles traveling on the road. As a result, a car was damaged.
Also on 26 November 2011, IOF moved into ‘Azzoun ‘Atma village, southeast of Qaqlilya. They demolished a room and a water tank belonging to Fahima ‘Abdul Karim al-Sheikh, for the purpose of the construction of a part of the annexation wall.
On 29 November 2011, IOF handed a notice to a Palestinian civilians in Sourif village, north of Hebron, ordering seizure of a 12-dunum area of agricultural land, located nearly 5 kilometers away from the annexation wall. IOF gave the owners 45 days to destroy the water well and uproot the trees on the land; otherwise, IOF would destroy the land themselves.
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