PCHR
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights

Weekly Report: On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

No. 28/2003

10-23 July, 2003

Israeli Forces Continue Violations of Human Rights in the OPT between 10-23 July

Despite the sharp decrease in armed clashes, Israeli occupying forces have continued to perpetrate human rights violations against Palestinian civilians, including collective punishment, shelling of and incursions into Palestinian areas, and arrests.

In the Gaza Strip, Israeli occupying forces opened fire at Palestinian residential areas for no apparent reason, wounding 5 Palestinian civilians. A number of Palestinian houses and two security sites were also damaged.

In a step aimed at the annexation of more Palestinian land to Israeli settlements, which are established illegally on Palestinian lands, Israeli occupying forces effectively annexed an area of 283 donums[1] of Palestinian land to "Morag" settlement in southern Gaza.

Israeli occupying forces have continued to deny access for Palestinian farmers to their agricultural lands to replant them, including lands leveled by the Israeli occupying forces. On 19 July 2003, Israeli occupying forces opened fire at a Palestinian farmer who attempted to replant his agricultural land in Beit Hanoun.

Israeli occupying forces have maintained a strict siege on large parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Although Israeli forces redeployed on the main roads in the Gaza Strip, they continued to obstruct movement of Palestinians on these main roads and stopped vehicles to conduct searches. In addition, Israeli occupying forces have continued to restrict movement at border crossings and maintained the siege imposed on al-Mawasi area in the southern Gaza Strip and the al-Sayafa area in the northern Gaza Strip. Palestinian workers continue to face humiliating measures at “Erez” (Beit Hanoun) crossing in the northern Gaza Strip on their way to their work places in Israel. Israeli occupying forces have continued to restrict passage of goods through commercial crossings of the Gaza Strip. In the West Bank, Israeli occupying forces have maintained a strict siege on Palestinian communities, isolating them from one another.

In a violation of international humanitarian law, Israeli forces continued its policy of collective punishment against families of Palestinians who are alleged to be responsible for attacks against Israeli. In this context, they destroyed 2 houses in Beit Reema village near Ramallah.

Following are details of violations of human rights perpetrated by Israeli occupying forces against Palestinian civilians and property in the period 10-23 July 2003:

Excessive Use of Force against Palestinian Civilians and Attacks on Civilian Property

Over the period covered by this report, Israeli occupying forces opened fire at Palestinian civilians, shelled Palestinian civilian residential areas and conducted military incursions into Palestinian Authority controlled areas. Following are details of these human rights violations:

At approximately 09:00 on Thursday, 10 July 2003, Israeli occupying forces positioned in a military location near Sofa crossing, southeast of Khan Yunis, opened fire at a Palestinian National Security Force position near the crossing. The post was damaged, but no casualties were reported. At approximately 11:00 on the following day, Israeli occupying forces opened fire at the same post.

Also on Thursday 10 July, at approximately 12:30 Israeli occupying forces, reinforced with 4 heavy military vehicles, including a bulldozer, moved approximately 100m into Block J in Rafah refugee camp, adjacent to the Egyptian border. The bulldozer demolished a 230-square-meter house owned by Tala’at Hamed Abu Hamra and his brothers, in which 25 people (4 families) lived. The families had been forced to leave the house at the beginning of the current Intifada as it was constantly subjected to Israeli shelling. In his testimony to PCHR, Abu Hamra said that when he and his brothers went to the area to take whatever remained of their belongings, an Israeli tank, which was positioned approximately 80m away from the house, moved towards them and knocked over a remaining pillar of the house. Rubble fell on his brother, ‘Ali Hamed Abu Hamra, 42. He was moderately injured.

At approximately 00:00 on Friday, 11 July 2003, Israeli occupying forces in military locations in the vicinity of “Tal Qatif” settlement, southwest of Deir al-Balah, fired a number of flare bombs at al-Birka area in the south of the town, approximately 600m north. One of the bombs fell into the kitchen of a house owned by ‘Ali Suleiman Kuraishan. The kitchen was badly damaged by fire.

At approximately 19:10 on Saturday, 12 July 2003, Israeli occupying forces in military locations in the vicinity of “Neteser Hazani” settlement, northwest of Khan Yunis, opened fire at Palestinian houses in al-Qarara village, north of the town. A Palestinian woman, Fawzia Suleiman Abu Mosa’ed, 20, was wounded by a live bullet in the right leg, while she was inside her house, approximately 300m away from the source of fire. According to medical sources, the live bullet caused an acute hemorrhage.

At approximately 14:35 on Sunday, 13 July 2003, Israeli occupying forces in military locations in the vicinity of “Neve Dekalim” settlement, west of Khan Yunis, opened fire at Palestinian houses in al-Niimsawi neighborhood. A Palestinian woman, Rihab Suleiman Abu Sitta, 32, was wounded by a live bullet in the right leg, while she was inside her house, approximately 500m away from the source of fire.

At approximately 10:00 on Monday, 14 July 2003, Israeli occupying forces in military locations in the vicinity of Sofa crossing, southeast of Khan Yunis, opened fire at a Palestinian National Security Force post, located approximately 150m north. A number of live bullets hit the post, but no casualties were reported.

At approximately 11:00 on the same day, an Israeli military bulldozer that was working on a settler road north of “Morag” settlement, south of Khan Yunis, also demolished two 80-square-meter, iron-roofed rooms owned by Sami ‘Ataya al-Bahabsa. The rooms were evacuated on 18 February 2002 after Israeli occupying forces had fired fletchette tank shells at them, killing 3 Palestinian civilians. In the same area also, Israeli occupying forces demolished a tent and a bird farm owned by Salma Hamdan al-Bahabsa.

At approximately 01:15 on Tuesday, 15 July 2003, Israeli occupying forces in military locations in the vicinity of “Neve Dekalim” settlement, west of Khan Yunis, opened fire at Palestinian houses in al-Niimsawi neighborhood. A Palestinian civilian, Ahmed Hamed al-Sinwar, 17, was wounded by a live bullet in the right hand.

At approximately 14:50 on the same day, Israeli occupying forces in a military location at al-Matahen crossing, north of Khan Yunis, opened fire without warning at Palestinian civilians and cars traveling along Salah al-Din Street (the main road between the north and south of the Gaza Strip), apparently in an attempt to stop Palestinian traffic on the road to allow the passage of a settler car towards the “Gush Qatif” settlement block, west of the road.

At approximately 21:10 on Wednesday, 16 July 2003, Israeli occupying forces in military locations in the vicinity of “Neve Dekalim” settlement, west of Khan Yunis, opened fire at Palestinian houses in Khan Yunins refugee camp. A Palestinian civilian, Zakria ‘Abdul Qader ‘Abdul Rahman al-Faqa’awi, 42, was wounded by a live bullet in the left hand, while he was near his house, approximately 1km away from the source of fire.

At approximately 23:00 on the same day, Israeli soldiers on a tank that was patrolling along the Egyptian border opened fire at streets in al-Jonaina neighborhood. A Palestinian woman, Firial Ahmed Qeshta, 53, was wounded by a live bullet in the right thigh.

At approximately 15:00 on Sunday, 18 July 2003, an Israeli heavy military vehicle moved approximately 250m into al-Brazil neighborhood in the south of Rafah, adjacent to the Egyptian border. It stopped near the house of Ahmed al-Sha’er, which is located near the Public Services Society (PSS). An Israeli soldier told al-Sha’er to inform the administration of the PSS that there was an Israeli military order to stop construction of the PSS building. The PSS had begun construction of a 750-square-meter building on 12 July 2003. Construction was expected to be finished by October 2003, and was intended to include a library, a research center and sports facilities.

At approximately 10:00 on Saturday, 19 July 2003, Sa’di Fahmi Salah, from the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun, went to his agricultural land located at the eastern side of Beit Hanoun, near the border with Israel. Salah's land had previously been razed by Israeli occupying forces. He took an agricultural bulldozer with him to level the land flat so that he could replant it with crops. When he got 600m away from the border, Israeli soldiers opened fire at him. A live bullet hit the bulldozer, so Salah was forced to withdraw from the area.

In a step aimed at the annexation of more Palestinian land to illegal Israeli settlements, which are illegally established on Palestinian lands, on Sunday, 20 July 2003, Israeli occupying forces completed an operation to surround a settler road they had established on Palestinian land north and west of “Morag” settlement, southeast of Khan Yunis, with barbwire. An area of 283 donums[2] of Palestinian was thus effectively annexed to the settlement.

Israeli occupying forces began construction of the settler road on 29 June 2003. The road begins in the vicinity of Israeli military locations on Palestinian lands in Gizan al-Najjar area, south of Khan Yunis, that had previously been razed by Israeli forces. It then surrounds the settlement from the north and west. The distance between the road and the settlement ranges between 5m to 200m. The road is 1800m long and 10m wide. Israeli occupying forces linked the road with another settler road established by Israeli forces to the west of the settlement. This road, established in January 2003, was constructed on a 74-donum area of Palestinian land confiscated from Darwish al-Masri and Mohammed al-Saqqa.

Following are details of the tracts of Palestinian land that were confiscated and annexed for the sake of establishing the new road:

5. A 50-donum area of land administered by Hamad and Mas’oud Shaker al-Najjar.

Israeli occupying forces have maintained a strict siege on most of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, especially in the West Bank. While Israeli forces redeployed on the main roads in the Gaza Strip, they have continued to restrict movement at border crossings and maintained the siege imposed on al-Mawasi area in the southern Gaza Strip, and the al-Sayafa area in the northern Gaza Strip. Israeli forces have also maintained the closure of the Rafah-Khan Yunis western road and the part of Salah al-Din Street (the main road between the north and south of the Gaza Strip), near “Kfar Darom” settlement in the central Gaza Strip.

Israeli occupying forces have maintained a strict siege on al-Mawasi area in the southern Gaza Strip, in spite of the recent Israeli-Palestinian security understandings, under which Israeli forces redeployed in parts of the Gaza Strip and partially eased restrictions on the movement of Palestinians. Al-Mawasi area extends from the north of Khan Yunis to the south of Rafah, a distance of approximately 12km. The siege has continued to have dire humanitarian consequences for the 8000 Mawasi residents and the wider community in Khan Younis and Rafah. Mawasi residents are also denied free movement inside the area and are subject to attacks and harassment by Israeli soldiers and settlers in the area and stationed at the main checkpoint into the area.

Most recently, according to Mawasi residents, an Israeli settler has been stealing water from a Palestinian well in the north of the area. He has also surrounded a 25-donum area of land owned by the family of Hafez Rajab Fares with barbwire. He has prevented Palestinian farmers from reaching this tract of land. The same has happened to a 6-donum area of land owned by ‘Abdul Rahman ‘Ali al-‘Abadla.

Israeli occupying forces often impose curfews on the area for periods of days. In the latest example, at approximately 22:30 on Monday, 21 July 2003, Israeli occupying forces imposed a curfew on residents of the Rafah Mawasi. Israeli soldiers raided Palestinian homes and conducted searches. Residents reported that Israeli soldiers fired flare bombs into properties during the operations. These operations continued until 03:00 on the following day and the curfew was lifted at approximately 09:00.

The al-Tuffah and Tel al Sultan checkpoints which allow entry to the Mawasi area continue to be subject to arbitrary closures and changing conditions of entry. On Tuesday, 22 July 2003, Israeli occupying forces closed al-Tuffah checkpoint, and informed the Palestinian liaison that passage would be allowed only for people who are over 30.

Since the beginning of the current Intifada, Israeli occupying authorities have denied access of Palestinian workers to their work places in Israel. This measure has caused an economic crisis for workers and unemployment rates have escalated.

Between 16 April and 30 June 2003, 12000 Palestinian workers, out of 30000, were permitted access to their work places in Israel through the Erez crossing. However, crossing was subject to arbitrary conditions and restrictions and the crossing was closed on several occasions. On 30 June 2003, the crossing was reopened following an Israeli-Palestinian security understanding, and 3982 workers were allowed access to their work places in Israel. In total, since 30 June 2003, 13004 Palestinian workers from the Gaza Strip have been allowed to cross into Israel for work. These workers have met the conditions set by Israeli occupying authorities, which include that a worker must be over 28, married with children, have a magnetic card issued by Israeli occupying authorities and have registered work with an identified Israeli employer.

Workers passing through Erez crossing continue to be subject to measures and procedures which may collectively amount to ill treatment, including prolonged and arbitrary delays, humiliation, and arbitrary confiscation of work permits. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Labor, last week, Israeli occupying forces arbitrarily confiscated 300 work permits from Palestinian workers.

A humanitarian crisis is developing at the Rafah terminal. Hundreds of Palestinian travelers are forced to spend days at the Egyptian side of the crossing, waiting to be allowed by Israeli occupying forces to enter the Gaza Strip. There are no facilities at the Egyptian side of the terminal and travelers are forced to spend long hours in the sun and sleep on the floor outside. The lack of basic sanitation facilities in particular poses a serious health concern. The Rafah terminal is the only exit and entry point for Palestinians traveling abroad. The Israeli authorities have increased opening hours at the terminal to 12 hours a day, but completion of security procedures is extremely slow. In addition, a number of Palestinian travelers were summoned to Israeli security offices at the terminal for interrogation, and two travelers were arrested.

At approximately 16:00 on Thursday, 10 July 2003, Israeli occupying forces closed al-Matahen and Abu Houli military checkpoints on Salah al-Din Street. An Israeli military jeep stopped in the middle of the road, and Israeli forces searched a number of cars, but no arrests were reported. The closure of the road continued for more than 3 hours.

On 14 July 2003, Israeli occupying forces reopened the Abu al-Ajin road junction which crosses the “Kissufim” settler road, for Palestinians. The Abu al-Ajin road links al-Qarara and Wadi al-Salqa villages in the central Gaza Strip. The two villages had previously been one geographical unit, but in the 1990s, Israeli occupying forces established the “Kissufim” settler road which separated the two villages. This road junction had been closed for Palestinians since the beginning of the Intifada by the establishment of cement blocks and an iron gate. The Israeli occupying forces removed the cement blocks and opened the iron gate. Two hours after it had been opened, two cars were able to cross the junction but then Israeli settlers gathered in the area, closed the junction and set up a tent, to protest the reopening of the road to Palestinians. Israeli settlers threw stones at Palestinian cars and nearby homes, and shouted racist slogans against Arabs.

At approximately 16:00 on the following day, Tuesday, 15 July 2003, Israeli occupying forces reopened the junction and allowed a limited number of Palestinian cars to use it. On Wednesday, 16 July 2003, Israeli occupying forces closed the iron gate although the road was still officially open. Palestinians do not use the road junction because they are afraid of attacks by settlers. At approximately 18:00 on Monday, 21 July 2003, Israeli settlers who were traveling in buses on the “Kissufim” settler road, opened fire at Palestinian cars waiting at the Abu al-‘Ajin junction.

At approximately 20:45 on Wednesday, 23 July 2003, Israeli occupying forces closed al-Matahen and Abu Houli military checkpoints, denying movement of Palestinians and their vehicles along Salah al-Din Street. The checkpoints were reopened at approximately 22:20.

Collective Punishment against Families of Wanted Palestinians and Those Who Have Carried out Armed Attacks against Israeli Targets

In violation of international humanitarian law, which prohibits collective punishment, Israeli forces took retaliatory measures against the families of Palestinians Israel alleges have ordered, facilitated, or carried out attacks against Israeli targets.

At approximately 01:00 on Friday, 18 July 2003, Israeli occupying forces, reinforced with heavy military vehicles, moved into the Palestinian Authority controlled Beit Reema village, northwest of Ramallah. They imposed a curfew on the village. Then, they raided the house of Turki ‘Obaid al-Reemawi, and informed him that his house would be demolished in 20 minutes. Exactly 20 minutes later, Israeli soldiers planted explosives inside the 120-square-meter house, in which 8 people lived, and destroyed it. Israeli occupying forces accused the owner’s son, Amjad, of having kidnapped an Israeli taxi driver 2 weeks ago. The driver was found in a deserted house in the village.

Approximately half an hour later, Israeli occupying forces moved to the western part of the village. They raided the house of Bajes Ahmed Daoud al-Haj, and informed him that his house would be demolished in 10 minutes. Then, Israeli soldiers planted explosives inside the 164-square-meter house, in which 10 people lived, and destroyed it. As a result, 17 neighboring houses were severely damaged, and a bird farm and an animal farm were destroyed. Israeli occupying forces accused the owner’s son, Ahmed, of having participated in the same kidnapping incident.

At approximately 21:00 on Thursday, 10 July 2003, Israeli occupying forces arrested 3 Palestinians, including a 17 year-old, near the border with Israel, east of Jabalya, while they were trying to infiltrate through the border to find jobs in Israel. Israeli soldiers had opened fire at the three without warning, wounding one of them with a live bullet in the abdomen. One of the three was released the following day. The wounded youth was evacuated to an Israeli hospital and was released on Wednesday, 15 July 2003. The third youth remains in custody. The three were:

1. Midhat Khalil Mahmoud Zhaher, 18, from Jabalya refugee camp, seriously wounded by a live bullet in the abdomen;

2. Tariq Haidar Mohammed al-Da’our, 17, from Jabalya refugee camp, released on the following day; and

3. Mohammed Jamal Mohammed ‘Obaid, 18, from Jabalya refugee camp, who remains in custody.

At Saturday, 12 July 2003, Israeli occupying forces arrested 3 Palestinian boys near the border with Israel, southeast of Gaza city, while they were trying to travel to Israel to find work:

At Sunday night, 13 July 2003, Israeli occupying forces arrested another 3 Palestinian boys near the border with Israel, southeast of Beit Hanoun, while they were trying to cross the border to find work:

1. Upon the international community to provide immediate and independent international protection for the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

2. Upon the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 to reconvene to take effective measures to protect Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in accordance with their obligations under article 1 and article 146, to ensure respect for the Convention.

3. Upon the international community to investigate and prosecute before international courts those believed to have committed, or to have ordered to be committed, war crimes in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

4. Upon the ICRC to enhance its presence, expand its activities, and intensify its field operations throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

5. Upon the European Union to activate Article 2 of the Euro-Israeli Association Agreement, which provides that Israel must respect human rights.

6. Upon the international community to provide humanitarian and medical assistance for the Palestinian people, whose living conditions are continuing to deteriorate as a result of the continued siege imposed by Israeli occupation forces on the entire Occupied Palestinian Territories.

[1] 1 donum equals 1000 square meters.

[2] 1 donum equals 1000 square meters.

For more information please call PCHR office in Gaza, Gaza Strip, on +972 8 2824776 - 2825893