Continued Israeli Violations in the OPT and the International Community is Silent

Introduction

This report coincides with the second anniversary of the beginning of the al-Aqda Intifada, which broke out on 28 September 2000 after the visit by the current Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, to the Holy Sanctuary in occupied East Jerusalem, a visit which provoked feelings of Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims throughout the world. During this period, Israeli occupying forces committed war crimes against Palestinian civilians in an unprecedented manner since 1967. The second year of the Intifada witnessed a significant escalation of war crimes committed by Israeli occupying forces, while the international community has kept silent, which has encouraged Israel and its occupying forces to escalate its human rights violations against Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). Throughout the past 12 months, Israeli occupying forces launched a full-scale offensive throughout the OPT, using all kinds of weapons, including fighter jets, combat helicopters, tanks, and infantry and special units. Israeli war crimes in the second year of the Intifada included:

1. Invasion of Palestinian towns, villages and refugee camps, which are under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), and redeployment in these areas for long periods.

3. Destruction of Palestinian economic infrastructure and headquarters of the Palestinians National Authority, using warplanes.

4. Using Palestinian civilians as human shields during military operations carried out by Israeli occupying forces in the OPT, endangering their lives.

5. A series of collective punishment measures against families of Palestinians who carried out bombings inside the Green Line and Palestinians who carried out or planned military attacks against Israeli occupying forces and settlers in the OPT. Those measures included arresting members of those families, demolishing their houses and deporting a number of them from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip.

6. Shooting at Palestinian civilians unjustifiably, such as shooting at civilian cars, killing and wounding civilians while moving between Palestinian towns and villages through Israeli military checkpoints and roadblocks.

7. Indiscriminate and intense shelling of Palestinian residential areas, using F-16 fighter jets, combat helicopters, gunboats, tanks, heavy machine guns and the lethal fletchette shells.

8. A series of collective punishment measures against Palestinian civilians and denial of their basic human rights, such as the rights of free movement and right to education, food, medical care and work, through imposing a total siege on the OPT.

9. A series of extra-judicial assassinations against Palestinian political and field activists.

10. Arbitrary campaigns of arrest against Palestinians and placing hundreds under administrative detention.

According to PCHR's documentation, the outcome of war crimes committed by Israeli occupying forces from 28 September 2000 to 25 September 2002 is:

Category of Palestinians killed	The total number	The number in the first year of the Intifada	The number in the second year of the Intifada
Palestinians killed by Israeli occupying forces, police and settlers	1646[1]	603	1040
Palestinians killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem	1046	361	685
Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip	577	229	348
Palestinians killed inside the Green Line	23	15	9
Children	356	163	193
Children in the Gaza Strip	163	83	80
Children in the West Bank	193	80	113
Women	91	16	75
Women in the Gaza Strip	32	3	29
Women in the West Bank	59	13	46
Extra-judicial assassinations	164 (including 61 bystanders)	53	111
Medical personnel	15	9	6
Journalists	5, including an Italian
Palestinians killed by settlers	33	27	6
Palestinians who died due to the obstruction of their access to hospitals at Israeli military checkpoints	50	22	28

The following table shows destruction of agricultural land, houses and educational and industrial facilities in the Gaza Strip:

In this last week of the second year of the Intifada, Israeli occupying forces have perpetrated more human rights violations against Palestinian civilians and their property in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). They have been using all kinds of weapons and adopting a policy of collective punishment against all Palestinians. This week, Israeli occupying forces carried out a series of limited incursions into Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip, while continuing to invade Palestinian areas in the West Bank. The human rights violations against Palestinian civilians have included willful killings, shelling of, and incursion into Palestinian areas, house demolition, and agricultural land leveling. This week, 20 Palestinians, 19 civilians and a security man, including 6 children, a handicapped man and a journalist, were killed and dozens were wounded by Israeli occupying forces.

For the third consecutive week, Israeli occupying forces have carried out a series of incursions into Palestinian towns and refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, during which they destroyed houses and civilian facilities and killed a number of Palestinians. On 19 and 23 September 2002, Israeli occupying forces committed grave breaches (war crimes), when they invaded al-Tuffah, al-Zaytoun and al-Shojaeya neighborhoods in Gaza City. They shelled these areas using combat helicopters and tanks. They raided houses and transformed a number of them into military bases. They destroyed a number of workshops and took retaliatory measures against families of Palestinians who carried out military attacks against Israeli forces and settlers in the Gaza Strip. As a result of this invasion, 11 Palestinians, including a child and a handicapped man, were killed and dozens were wounded, and a number of workshops were destroyed. A number of houses were also damaged.

In Ramallah, on Thursday, 19 September 2002, Israeli occupying forces launched a military campaign against the Palestinian presidential compound. Israeli heavy military vehicles, supported by combat helicopters, moved towards the compound. They imposed a strict siege on the compound and opened fire at its building and guards. They destroyed a number of buildings surrounding the office of President Arafat. A Palestinian security man was killed by the Israeli gunfire.

On Sunday morning, 22 September, Israeli occupying soldiers on tanks that were patrolling in the streets of Palestinian towns, over which they had already seized complete control, opened fire at Palestinian civilians who marched in the streets expressing solidarity with the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat who had been under Israeli military siege in his compound in Ramallah since Thursday, 19 September 2002. Four Palestinian civilians, including a journalist, were killed by the Israeli gunfire.

This week, Israeli occupying forces continued to shell Palestinian residential areas, especially in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Two Palestinian civilians were killed by the Israeli shelling and more than 10 were wounded, while a number of houses were severely damaged. Also in the Gaza Strip, dozens of Palestinian civilians were wounded when Israeli occupying forces fired at peaceful demonstrations that were organized in solidarity with President Arafat.

For the second consecutive month, Israeli occupying forces have continued their campaigns of retaliation against families of wanted Palestinians and those who carried out military attacks against Israeli targets. This week, Israeli forces destroyed and demolished seven houses of those families in the West Bank.

Israeli occupying forces have maintained the total siege imposed on the OPT, collectively punishing Palestinian people. Israeli forces have partitioned Palestinian areas, transforming them into cantons, violating Palestinian civilians' economic, social and cultural rights. Thousands of Palestinians continue to be subjected to a tight military curfew imposed by Israeli occupying forces, especially in Nablus. In the Gaza Strip, Israeli occupying forces have closed Abu Houli and al-Matahen military checkpoints since 19 September, preventing the passage of thousands of students and employees to Gaza City. They also checked and interrogated Palestinians who were waiting at those checkpoints. On Monday morning, 23 September, a newly born infant died in Hebron, as Israeli occupying soldiers at military checkpoints obstructed her evacuation to hospital for long hours.

Israeli Offensive on the Palestinian Presidential Compound in Ramallah

At approximately 18:00 on Thursday, 19 September 2002, Israeli occupying forces launched a military campaign against the Palestinian presidential compound in Ramallah. Israeli heavy military vehicles, supported by combat helicopters, moved towards the compound. They imposed a strict siege on the compound and opened fire at its building and guards.

The following morning, Friday, 20 September 2002, Israeli occupying forces demolished and destroyed many buildings surrounding the compound. They also opened fire at the Palestinian presidential guards, wounding Mohammed Khalil Isma'il Hammouda, 26, from Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, a policeman who was guarding the compound, with a live bullet in the head. Israeli forces denied the access of ambulances to the compound, with the result that Hammouda bled to death. Hammouda was shot when he was moving from the third to the second floor in the compound. At approximately 15:30, Israeli forces allowed ambulances to evacuate his body to hospital.

Also in the morning, special units of Israeli occupying forces planted bombs in a four-story building that was under construction, of the Palestinian National Security Force and destroyed it. At approximately 11:20, Israeli occupying forces destroyed a building of the Palestinian Military Intelligence located at the western entrance of the compound. At approximately 22:20, Israeli armored military bulldozers started demolishing the bridge linking the office of the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and the meeting hall. Approximately two hours later, an Israeli tank fired a shell at the stairs of the compound, totally destroying it and separating the three floors from one another. Windows of the office of the Palestinian president were destroyed by shrapnel and concrete fragments.

On Saturday morning, 21 September 2002, Israeli armored military bulldozers demolished stores of supplies that belonged to the presidential compound. Israeli forces also set fire to the stores and denied access for fire engines to extinguish the fire. At approximately 11:00, Israeli bulldozers started demolishing the building of Ramallah Governorate adjacent to the Palestinian President's office.

Shelling of and Encroachment into Palestinian Areas

Thursday, 19 September 2002

At approximately 02:00, Israeli occupying forces at the Palestinian-Egyptian border, south of Rafah, shelled Palestinian residential areas in the vicinity of Salah al-Din Gate, adjacent to the border. As a result of the two-hour shelling, 40-year-old Yousef Ahmed Radwan was wounded by shrapnel in the right arm, and a number of houses were damaged.

In an apparent willful killing, Israeli occupying forces shot dead a Palestinian child in al-Bireh. According to information available for PCHR, at approximately 08:40, 'Abdul Salam Fawzi 'Abdul Rahman Samarin, 11, from al-Bireh, left his family house in al-Shurafa area at Ramallah-Jerusalem road. Ten minutes later, he met two of his friends. They alls stood approximately 10 meters from an Israeli tank. Samarin picked up a stone, and as soon as he raised his head, an Israeli soldier on the tank fired at him. He was wounded. Immediately, he was evacuated to hospital, but he succumbed to his wound. According to Palestinian medical sources, the child was hit by six live bullets in several parts of the body.

At approximately 16:00, Israeli occupying forces at the Palestinian-Egyptian border, south of Rafah, shelled Palestinian residential areas in the vicinity of Salah al-Din Gate, adjacent to the border. Four Palestinian civilians were wounded:

3. Yousef Hamed Bahloul, 65, wounded by shrapnel in the abdomen, while he was in his fuel station in the area; and

At the same time, Israeli occupying forces, reinforced with three heavy military vehicles and a bulldozer, moved approximately 400m into Palestinian areas north of "Kfar Darom" settlement in the east of Deir al-Balah. They raided a 200-square-meter, two-story house owned by Asa'ad Kamel Bashir. They searched the house and held its 10 residents in one room. Then, they mounted its roof and remained there until 07:00 on the following day. The Israeli bulldozer also razed areas of Palestinian agricultural land:

1. They razed a 3-donum area of agricultural land, on which three greenhouses planted with vegetables stood, and destroyed an irrigation network owned by 'Ali Mohammed Bashir.

2. They razed a 2-donum area of agricultural land, on which two greenhouses planted with vegetables stood, owned by 'Abdul 'Aziz Ibrahim Bashir.

3. They razed a 5-donum area of agricultural land planted with vegetables and palms owned by 'Abdul Qader Khalil Bashir.

4. They razed a 1-donum area of agricultural land planted with palms and destroyed an irrigation network owned by Suleiman Mohammed Bashir.

5. They razed a 2-donum area of agricultural land planted with olives and palms owned by Yousef Ibrahim Bashir.

6. They razed a 2-donum area of agricultural land planted with citrus owned by 'Adli 'Awad Abu Samra.

7. They razed a 4-donum area of agricultural land, on which four greenhouses stood, owned by 'Abdul Karim Khalil Bashir.

Late at night, Israeli occupying forces, reinforced by heavy military vehicles and supported by combat helicopters, invaded al-Tuffah neighborhood in the north of Gaza City. They intensely shelled the area, killing a handicapped man and a policewoman and wounding three other civilians. They also destroyed a number of workshops and damaged a number of houses and civilian facilities.

According to PCHR's investigation, at approximately 22:30, Israeli occupying forces surrounded al-Tuffah neighborhood. They seized control over the main roads leading to the neighborhood. Approximately an hour later, they moved into the neighborhood and raided a number of houses. They transformed a number of those houses into military bases. They indiscriminately shelled the area, killing Ahmed Mahmoud Lubbad, 49, mentally handicapped from al-Daraj neighborhood, who was walking near a workshop, when an Israeli heavy military vehicle fired at him. He received several medium caliber bullets in the left eye, the chest, the abdomen and the limbs. He bled to death. Ambulances could evacuate his body to hospital only at 03:30 on the following day. Samira Mohammed Khamis al-Dihdar, 33, a policewoman, was killed by a live bullet in the head, while she was in her family's house, trying to calm down children of the family. According to eyewitnesses, Israeli soldiers fired at her from the house of Khalil 'Aatef Khalil Sarsour, which was seized by Israeli forces, approximately 60m away from her family's house. No one knew about the presence of Israeli soldiers in that house as electricity was cut and the windows were closed. In addition three civilians were wounded:

1. Sa'id Daoud al-Rifi, 35, wounded by shrapnel from an artillery shell in the left foot;

1. A 300-square-meter, iron-roofed car maintenance workshop, in which three workers used to work, owned by Sakher Sa'di Madhi Hassanein.

2. A 300-square-meter car maintenance workshop on the first floor of a two-story building owned by Hatem Hamdi 'Ali al-Nakhala; the building was also damaged.

3. A 150-square-meter smithery in a one-story building, in which five workers used to work, owned by Talal al-'Abed Mohammed al-Jaru; the building was also severely damaged.

4. A 32-square-meter, iron-roofed turnery workshop, owned by Na'el Hashem 'Omar al-Qattaa' and rented by 'Omar Khalil Mustafa al-Ramlawi.

5. An 800-square-meter, iron-roofed turnery workshop, in which five workers used to work, owned by Sufian Sa'id Hasssan Abu Jahal.

6. A 700-square-meter, iron-roofed turnery workshop, in which six workers used to work, owned by Hashem Sa'id Hassan Abu Jahal.

In addition, a number of workshops and civilian facilities were severely damaged:

1. A 450-square-meter, iron-roofed car maintenance workshop owned by Anwar Mohammed 'Abdul Rahman al-Ramlawi and rented by 'Omar Khalil Mustafa al-Ramlawi: Two stores in the workshop were destroyed.

2. A 35-square-meter commercial store owned by Mahmoud Ramadan Mahmoud Shabet, located on the first floor of a 170-square-meter, two-story house. Fire broke out and 5 tons of nylon was burnt.

3. A 250-square-meter sewing factory, in which 8 workers work, owned by Hasan Hassan Abu Hamad. Israeli tanks destroyed doors and two sewing machines.

4. A 2000-square-meter brick factory, in which 10 workers work, owned by Ahmed Rajab Mahmoud al-Nabih. The southwestern fence, 1500 bricks and a water pump were destroyed and a machine was damaged.

5. A 470-square-meter brick factory, in which 5 workers work, owned by ‘Ammar Ahmed Mohammed Qweider. The eastern fence, a 16-square-meter store, 3500 bricks, 12 tons of cement and the electricity network were destroyed.

6. A small shop of popular food owned by Zuhair Jibril Hassana. The shop was totally destroyed by an artillery shell.

7. A 16-square-meter shop of popular food owned by Nahidh Sadiq Karim. The shop was totally destroyed by an artillery shell.

8. A 100-square-meter supermarket owned by No’man ‘Aatef Mohammed Karim. The doors were hit be artillery shells and heavy caliber bullets which damaged refrigerators and goods.

Friday, 20 September 2002

At approximately 16:00, Israeli occupying forces at the Palestinian-Egyptian border, south of Rafah, opened fire at Palestinian houses in the vicinity of Salah al-Din Gate adjacent to the border. Three Palestinian civilians were wounded:

1. Fatema Dhib Shaqfa, 60, seriously wounded by two live bullets in the abdomen and the left thigh;

3. Yousef Hamed Bahloul, 65, wounded by shrapnel in the right knee. He was also wounded on the previous day while he was in his fuel station in the area.

Half an hour later, four Israeli combat helicopters indiscriminately shelled Block K and J in Rafah refugee camp, adjacent to the Palestinian-Egyptian border, while Israeli heavy military vehicles at the border were also intensely shelling the area. The shelling continued sporadically for eight hours, during which two Palestinian children were killed:

2. 'Abdul Hadi Nayef al-Haj, 13, seriously wounded by a live bullet in the left thigh;

5. Mohammed No'man Abu Nada, 14, critically wounded by a live bullet in the back;

Saturday, 22 September 2002

At approximately 06:00, Israeli occupying forces moved into al-Fara’a refugee camp, east of Jenin. They erected a military roadblock at its entrance. Israeli soldiers stopped a civilian car and arrested two Palestinian men:

At approximately 11:00, an undercover unit of Israeli occupying forces stole into Qabatya village, southeast of Jenin. They raided an animal feed shop in the western part of the village, owned by Faisal Ibrahim ‘Abdul Rahman Saba’na, 39, and arrested him. Soon, three armored personnel carriers and a military jeep arrived at the area, and Saba’na was taken on an armored personnel carrier to an unknown destination.

At approximately 11:15, Israeli tanks positioned at the Palestinian-Egyptian border, south of Rafah, opened fire at Palestinian houses in the vicinity of Salah al-Din Gate, adjacent to the border. Tariq Ahmed al-Sharqawi, 12, was wounded by shrapnel in the left arm.

At approximately 17:00, Israeli tanks positioned west of Rafah opened fire at Palestinian houses in Tal al-Sultan neighborhood in the southwest of the town. Ibrahim Khalil Mousa, 20, was wounded by a live bullet in the left thigh.

Three hours later, Israeli tanks positioned at the Palestinian-Egyptian border, south of Rafah, opened fire at Palestinian houses in Block J in Rafah refugee camp. Two Palestinian children were wounded:

At approximately 21:00, Israeli occupying forces in military locations in the vicinity of “Gani Tal” settlement, northwest of Khan Yunis, opened fire for no apparent reason at Palestinian residential areas and agricultural land in al-Amal neighborhood and al-Rabwat area in the northwest of the town. A number of houses were damaged.

Sunday, 22 September 2002

Early in the morning, Israeli occupying soldiers on tanks that were patrolling in the streets of Palestinian towns, over which they had already seized complete control, opened fire at Palestinian civilians who marched in the streets expressing solidarity with the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat who had been under Israeli military siege in his compound in Ramallah since Thursday, 19 September 2002. At approximately 01:00, dozens of thousands of Palestinian civilians went out of their houses throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and walked in peaceful marches expressing their solidarity with President Arafat. Immediately, Israeli occupying forces opened fire at them, without resorting to less lethal means to disperse them. Four Palestinian civilians, including a journalist, were killed by the Israeli gunfire.

According to information available for PCHR, hundreds of Palestinian civilians went out of their houses in Ramallah and al-Bireh. They marched towards al-Manara square in the center of Ramallah. Immediately, Israeli occupying forces opened fire at them. A Palestinian civilian and a journalist of Sawt Falastin (Voice of Palestine) radio station, were killed and 16 others were wounded by live ammunition and rubber-coated metal bullets. Those killed were:

1. ‘Eissa ‘Abdul Hafez Isma’il Hureish, 28, from Bitounia, shot by a live bullet in the chest; and

2. ‘Essam Mithqal Hamza al-Talawi, 30, from Bitounia, a journalist of Voice of Palestine, shot by a live bullet in the head.

With al-Talawi’s death, the number of journalists killed by Israeli occupying forces since the beginning of the Intifada mounted to six, five Palestinian journalists and one Italian.

In Nablus and its refugee camps, hundreds of Palestinian civilians left their houses and walked in peaceful marches. Immediately, Israeli occupying forces opened fire at them, seriously wounding 19-year-old Riad Maher ‘Ayad al-Hashash, from Balata refugee camp, with a live bullet in the head. Al-Hashash bled to death as Israeli forces denied access of ambulances to the camp to evacuate him to hospital. In addition, Mahmoud Miqdad Mohammed al-Khatib, 17, also from Balata refugee camp, was seriously wounded by two live bullets in the neck and the shoulder. An ambulance of Palestine Red Crescent Society was able to evacuate him, but Israeli forces stopped the ambulance and arrested him. He was taken bleeding to an unknown destination.

In Tulkarm, Israeli occupying forces opened fire at Palestinian demonstrators who gathered in Jaffa Street in the center of the town. Ahmed Mahmoud Mohammed Radwan, 18, was seriously wounded by a live bullet in the head, which caused a fracture in the skull. He was evacuated to hospital where he was pronounced clinically dead. Few hours later, he was pronounced dead.

At approximately 03:00, Israeli occupying forces moved into Jenin. They raided the house of Rebhi Mohammed Mahmoud Abu Moweis, 48, a trader, in the center of the town. They searched the house and a shop owned by Abu Moweis. Then, they took him to al-Bassatin neighborhood, where he has a 360-square-meter, two-story house still under construction. The first floor served as a commercial store of agricultural fertilizers and animal feeds. They searched the house and the store, and forced Abu Moweis to give them his keys. Then, they ordered him to go back home. At approximately 06:00, Israeli soldiers planted bombs in the building and destroyed it completely.

At approximately 06:00, Israeli occupying forces, reinforced with heavy military vehicles, moved approximately 300m into Palestinian areas north of “Kfar Darom” settlement, east of Deir al-Balah. They razed areas of Palestinian agricultural land:

1. They razed a 2.5-donum area of agricultural land planted with olives owned by Hamdi al-‘Azab.

2. They razed a 2-donum area of agricultural land planted with vegetables, and destroyed an irrigation network owned by Suleiman Abu Jarir.

3. They razed a 2-donum area of agricultural land planted with olives owned by ‘Ali al’Azab.

4. They razed a 1-donum area of agricultural land planted with palms, and destroyed an irrigation network owned by Jamal Abu Salim.

5. They razed a 1-donum area of agricultural land planted with vegetables, and destroyed an irrigation network owned by Nawar al-Fallit.

6. They razed a 1-donum area of agricultural land planted with vegetables, and destroyed an irrigation network owned by Khalil al-Tawashi.

At approximately 09:00, Palestinian civilians and school children demonstrated in Dura village, west of Hebron. Israeli occupying soldiers on tanks and armored personnel carriers fired at the demonstrators, wounding 13-year-old Ahmed Yasser al-Sharha with a rubber-coated metal bullet. In addition, a number of demonstrators suffered from tear gas inhalation used against them by Israeli forces.

At approximately 10:00, Palestinian civilians in Nablus broke the curfew imposed on the city to organize a peaceful march in solidarity with President Arafat. As soon as they began to gather in Ras al-‘Ein neighborhood, Israeli occupying forces raided the area and opened fire at those civilians. Bahaa’ Sa’di al-Bahash, 13, was seriously wounded by a live bullet in the chest. He succumbed to his wound upon arrival at hospital.

Monday, 23 September 2002

At approximately 17:30, three Israeli military jeeps took position outside “Gani Tal” settlement, northwest of Khan Yunis. Soon, dozens of Palestinian children gathered in the adjacent al-Amal neighborhood and threw stones at Israeli soldiers. Immediately, Israeli soldiers fired at the stone throwers, wounding two:

1. ‘Abdul Rahman ‘Abdullah Mahmoud al-Faqa’awi, 16, wounded by a live bullet in the right foot; and

2. Ahmed Mahmoud Isma’il Sobeh, 17, wounded by a live bullet in the right foot.

At approximately 17:45, Israeli occupying forces, reinforced with heavy military vehicles, moved approximately 200m into al-Rabwat area in the northwest of Khan Yunis. Soon, Israeli soldiers searched greenhouses and a facility of Khan Yunis Municipality. They also arrested Moudsa Hammad al-Jallad, a handicapped farmer who works in one of the greenhouses. They took him to the nearby “Gani Tal” settlement. During this incursion, Israeli heavy military vehicles damaged a 2-donum area of agricultural land planted with vegetables and its irrigation network, owned by Ahmed Nabil al-Agha.

Late at night, 9 Palestinians, including a 14-year-old child, were killed and 20 civilians were wounded when Israeli occupying forces invaded the eastern residential areas in Gaza City. According to PCHR's investigation, at approximately 23:30 on Monday, 23 September 2002, more than 90 Israeli heavy military vehicles, covered by intense shelling and supported by combat helicopters, invaded al-Shojaeya neighborhood in the eastern part of Gaza City. They moved into the neighborhood up to the main road, Salah al-Din Street, and the edge of al-Zaytoun neighborhood in the south of the city. Besides killing 9 Palestinians, 7 of whom were civilians, and wounding 20 civilians by indiscriminate shelling, the Israeli forces also destroyed a number of workshops and houses.

During the incursion an Israeli heavy military vehicle fired two artillery shells at a 200-square-meter, two-story uninhabited house in al-Shojaeya neighborhood owned by Fathi Rabah Sa'id Farahat, father of Mohammed Faraht, who carried out an armed attack against "Etsmona" settlement in the southern Gaza Strip on 7 March 2002. Farahat and a number of settlers were killed in the attack. The house was partially destroyed. In a previous retaliatory operation following the armed attack carried out by Farahat, Israeli occupying forces invaded Khuza'a village, east of Khan Yunis, on 8 March 2002, killing 16 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and wounding dozens.

During this latest invasion, Israeli occupying forces destroyed a number of workshops, including a workshop for agricultural tools maintenance owned by Ahmed Hassan Maqat. An adjacent workshop was severely damaged. PCHR's field officers also reports that dozens of houses were severely damaged. Israeli heavy military vehicles destroyed walls of a number of houses while moving into narrow alleys in al-Shojaeya neighborhood. Electricity, water, telephone and sewage networks in the neighborhood were also destroyed.

1. Two artillery shells hit a 200-square-meter, two-story house, in which 11 persons live, owned by Fathi Rabah Sa'id Farahat, severely damaging it and destroying its western façade.

2. An artillery shell hit a 150-square-meter, two-story house, in which 14 persons live, owned by Nizar Hammad Dhib Farahat, severely damaging it.

3. An artillery shell hit a 250-square-meter, two-story house, the first floor of which serves as a store of clothes, owned by Salim Ahmed Hajjaj. The store was burnt.

4. An artillery shell hit a 170-square-meter, two-story house, the first floor of which serves as a kindergarten, owned by Jamal 'Abdullah Isma'il Shehada. The first floor was damaged and furniture of the kindergarten was destroyed. Israeli forces also raided and searched the house.

Category	Total number	The first year	The second year
Agricultural land (in donums)	17529	13576, including 2134 of wooded area	3953
Houses	613	316	297
Industrial facilities	133	36	97
Educational facilities	24	9	15