Israeli forces continue bulldozing works to construct the annexation wall and isolate al-Walaja village, northwest of Bethlehem
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)
IOF continued to use force against peaceful protests in the West Bank.
Dozens of Palestinian civilians and international human rights defenders suffered from tear gas inhalation.
IOF arrested an activist in the campaign against the construction of the annexation wall in Bil’ein village, west of Rammallah.
IOF fired at Palestinian workers collecting scraps of construction materials in the northern Gaza Strip.
IOF conducted 58 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank.
IOF arrested 8 Palestinians.
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 has continued to construct the annexation wall inside th West Bank territory.
IOF leveled large areas of Palestinian land in al-Walaja village near Bethlehem.
Israel has continued measures aimed at creating a Jewish majority in East Jerusalem.
A new settlement plan in East Jerusalem was unveiled.
The Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem decided to demolish the bridge of Bab al-Maghariba neighborhood.
IOF closed offices of a number of NGOs and arrested a staff member.
IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.
Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers while cropping olives in the West Bank.
Summary
Israeli violations of international law and humanitarian law in the OPT continued during the reporting period (20 – 26 October 2011):
Shooting:
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, dozens of Palestinian civilians and international human rights defenders suffered from tear gas inhalation. IOF also arrested an activist of peaceful protests against the construction of the wall in Bil’ein village, west of Ramallah.
In the Gaza Strip, IOF fired at Palestinian workers who were collecting scraps of construction materials in the northern Gaza Strip, but no casualties were reported.
Incursions:
During the reporting period, IOF conducted at least 58 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, during which they arrested 8 Palestinian civilians.
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 52 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.
Continued Construction of the Annexation Wall
For the fourth consecutive week, IOF have continued bulldozing activities and uprooting of dozens of fruitful trees in al-Walaja village, northwest of Bethlehem, to construct a new section of the annexation wall in preparation for the isolation of al-Walaja village from Bethlehem and the annexation of this village’s lands to the boundaries of Jerusalem Municipality.
According to field investigations conducted by PCHR, on 03 October 2011, IOF started bulldozing activities in farms and uprooting of trees in targeted lands in Ein al-Hadafa area, Khellet al-Samak area and Ein Jweiza area in al-Walaja village. These bulldozing activities are aimed at preparing infrastructures for the construction of a new section of the annexation wall and for the establishment of a road along the annexation wall in the west and northwest of al-Walaja village. More than 90 agricultural dunums[1] have been bulldozed since the beginning of the bulldozing activities. In addition, more than 230 olive trees, almond trees, grapevines, cypress trees and oak trees have been uprooted.
According to investigations conducted by PCHR, since 2009, the length of the parts of the annexation wall which have been constructed in the east, west and northeast of al-Walaja village has amounted to 4,500 meters, with widths ranging between 20 and 50 meters. As a result, 2,100 trees, including 1,000 olive, grape and almond trees, have been uprooted and 500 dunums of agricultural lands, forests and a part of a nature reserve have been destroyed. Besides, approximately 2,000 dunums in al-Walaja village have been isolated behind the wall.
The wall's design plan published by the Israeli Ministry of Defense on its website on 30 April 2007 shows that the construction of the annexation wall would isolate al-Walaja village by surrounding it from the northern, eastern and western sides by the wall. From the south, the village will be enclosed by a security road controlled by IOF and extending along bypass road no. 436, which is used by the residents of al-Walaja village to have access to services in Bethlehem. Once it is completed, the wall will isolate over 50% of the total area of the village.
Efforts to Create a Jewish Majority in Jerusalem:
The engineer of the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem claimed the woody bridge of Bab al-Maghariba in the old town of Jerusalem is a ramshackle structure and that must be torn down within 30 days, in order to construct a new one. This claim was cited in a letter sent by the engineer on Sunday, 23 October 2011 to the Western Wall Heritage Foundation. It should be noted that the Israeli government authorized the demolition of the bridge five month ago to construct a new one according to Israeli plans, but the Israeli police postponed the demolition out of concerns that Palestinian may organize protests. However, the Israeli Internal Security Service recommended, according to the Israeli media, demolishing the bridge.
On the same day, IOF stormed the head offices of al-Quds Development Association in Dahiat al-Barid area in the north of East Jerusalem. They searched the office and arrested Kifah Sarhan, Director of the Social Department in the Association. They then moved to Ras al-‘Aamoud neighborhood. They raided and searched Sarhan’s house and confiscated some documents and computer sets. According to Sarhan’s wife, IOF confiscated also 200,000 ILS.
On 25 October 2011, IOF closed 3 offices of al-Quds Development Association in Dahiat al-Barid area in the north of Jerusalem, and Shu’aa’ Women Association in Shu’fat neighborhood for a renewable one month. IOF stormed the offices and expelled the staff. IOF claimed that they closed two offices and an association affiliated to Hamas and a third one of an association affiliated to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Attorney Khaled Zabarqa, Director of al-Quds Development Association, stated that his organization, which is licensed by Israeli authorities, provides legal, humanitarian and social services to poor families.
On 24 October 2011, the website of the Israeli daily Yediot Aharanot unveiled an Israeli settlement plan in East Jerusalem. It reported that the Israeli government is preparing for establishing a new settlement neighborhood in the south of East Jerusalem near Beit Safafa village. The project will divided into 3 phases, which include the construction of 4,000 housing units. The Israeli Organization and Construction Committee has approved the first phase, which includes the construction of 2,610 housing units.
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 21 October 2011, a number of Israeli settlers, one of them was armed with a machine gun, from “Yish Kodesh” settlement, southeast of Nablus, attacked a number of Palestinian farmers and international solidarity activists who were cropping olives. The settlers used stones, sharp tools and sticks. As a result, two Palestinian civilians, including a child, were injured. IOF arrived at the area and fired tear gas canisters at the farmer and solidarity activists. Dozens of farmers and solidarity activists suffered from tear gas inhalation and they were forced to leave the area.
On the same day, a number of Israeli settlers, escorted by IOF, attacked Palestinian farmers and expelled them from their lands while they were cropping olives in Kufor Qaddoum village, northeast of Qalqilya, because of the weekly demonstration organized by villagers. Israeli soldiers stated to villagers through megaphones that they are banned from cropping olives until they stop the weekly demonstrations. IOF and settlers expelled the farmers from their lands.
On 22 October 2011, a number of Israeli settlers from “Rafafa” settlement attacked Palestinian agricultural lands in Qarawat Bani Hassan village, northwest of Salfit. They expelled a Palestinian family from their land while members of the family were cropping olives.
No comments:
Post a Comment