Friday 5 June 2015

Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (28 May- 03 June 2015)



28 May – 03 June 2015)

A Palestinian civilian died of wounds he sustained during the latest Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip

Israeli forces wounded 4 Palestinian civilians, including a child, in the West Bank.

Israeli forces continued to open fire at border areas in the Gaza Strip and chase fishers in the sea.
Israeli forces opened fire 4 times at Palestinian fishing boats, due to which 2 fishers were wounded, 9 others were arrested, including a child, and 2 fishing boats were seized.
Israeli forces opened fire 3 times at border areas in the south of the Gaza Strip, and a farmer was wounded.
 
Israeli forces conducted 64 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and a limited one in the southern Gaza Strip.
61 Palestinian civilians, including 14 children, were arrested.
21 of these civilians, including 3 children, were arrested in occupied Jerusalem.
 
Israel has continued to impose a total closure on the oPt and has isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.
Many checkpoints were established in the West Bank.
 
Israeli forces continued their effort to create Jewish majority in East Jerusalem.
3 houses, 2 of which are under-construction, were demolished.
2 women from al-Esawiya village, were obliged to take their clothes off in the taxi they were inside.
 
Israeli forces continued to support settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.
An artesian well and 2 agricultural rooms in Jenin were demolished.
Settlers attacked a Palestinian house in Tal al-Rumaida neighbourhood, in the central Hebron.
Settlers threw stones at a doctor's vehicle in Nablus, due to which the glass smashed.


Summary
 
Israeli violations of international law and international humanitarian law in the oPt continued during the reporting period (28 May – 03 June 2015).
 
Shooting:
During the reporting period, a Palestinian civilian died of wounds he sustained during the latest Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces continued to use force against Palestinian civilians participating in peaceful protests in the oPt and against fishers sailing within the allowed area. Moreover, they continued to open fire at farmers and agricultural lands in border areas along the Gaza Strip. During the reporting period, Israeli forces wounded 7 Palestinian civilians, including a child, 4 of whom were wounded in the West Bank and the other 3 ones, including 2 fishers and a farmer, were wounded in the Gaza strip.
 
In the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian medical source declared on 28 May 2015 Sa'id al-Nadi (55,) from Jabalia in the north of the Gaza Strip, died of wounds he sustained during the latest Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip.
 
On 01 June 2015, 2 Palestinian fishers were wounded when Israeli gunboats opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats sailing within 4 nautical miles off northern Gaza City. As a result, two fishers were wounded.
 
On 03 June 2015, a Palestinian farmer was wounded when Israeli forces stationed along the border fence opened fire at a group of farmers, who were reaping wheat in the east of Khuza'a village, east of Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip.
 
In the context of targeting fishers, in addition to the abovementioned attack on fishermen, Israeli navy forces opened fire thrice at fishermen sailing in the allowed area. They arrested 5 fishers, including a child, but released 4 of them later. Moreover, Israeli forces seized 2 fishing boats that were sailing off Deir al-Balah shore, in the central Gaza Strip.
 
In the context of targeting border areas, in addition to the abovementioned attack on farmers, Israeli forces stationed along the border fence opened sporadic fire twice at border areas, south of the Gaza Strip, but neither casualties nor material damage were reported.
 
In the West Bank, Israeli forces continued the use of excessive and systematic force against peaceful protests organized by Palestinian civilians and Israeli and international solidarity activists against the construction of the annexation wall and settlement activities in the West Bank. As a result, 4 protestors, including a child, were wounded.
 
Incursions:
 
During the reporting period, Israeli forces conducted at least 64 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and 7 ones in East Jerusalem. During these incursions, Israeli forces arrested at least 61 Palestinians, including 14 children.  Twenty-one of these Palestinians, including 3 children, were arrested in East Jerusalem.
 
Among the arrested was Ahmed Khdair (34), a journalist and activist at the International Solidarity Movement, who was arrested from his house in Nablus, and Khaled Saleh Hussein Abu Zaina (55), who was arrested from his house in Jenin refugee camp too. Furthermore, Israeli forces arrested 3 leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in Tulkram and Qalqilya.
 
In the Gaza Strip, on 03 June 2015, Israeli forces conducted a limited incursion in the east of al-Shouka village, east of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. They levelled lands along the border fence.
 
Restrictions on movement:
 
Israel continued to impose a tight closure of the oPt, imposing severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem.
 
The illegal closure of the Gaza Strip, which has been steadily tightened since June 2007 has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza Strip.  The Israeli authorities impose measures to undermine the freedom of trade, including the basic needs for the Gaza Strip population and the agricultural and industrial products to be exported. For 8 consecutive years, Israel has tightened the land and naval closure to isolate the Gaza Strip from the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, and other countries around the world. This resulted in grave violations of the economic, social and cultural rights and a deterioration of living conditions for 1.8 million people.  The Israeli authorities have established Karm Abu Salem (Kerem Shaloum) as the sole crossing for imports and exports in order to exercise its control over the Gaza Strip’s economy.  They also aim at imposing a complete ban on the Gaza Strip’s exports. The Israeli closure raised the rate of poverty to 38.8%, 21.1% of which suffer from extreme poverty. Moreover, the rate of unemployment increased up to 44%, which reflects the unprecedented economic deterioration in the Gaza Strip.

Efforts to create Jewish majority

On Tuesday, 02 June 2015, bulldozers of the Israeli municipality in East Jerusalem demolished 2 under-construction houses in Wadi Helwa neighbourhood in Silwan village, south of the old city, under the pretext of non-licensing.
 
On the same day, Israeli municipality demolished parts of a house belonging to the family of Rafiq Ahmed al-Salayma on Saladin Street in East Jerusalem, under the pretext of non-licensing.
 
On 29 May 2015, Israeli police officers beat and arrested 3 members of Moheisen family for no reason. The 3 civilians were attacked while being in a vehicle at the entrance of al-Esawiya village, north of East Jerusalem.

Settlement activities
 
Israel has continued its settlement activities in the oPt, a direct violation of international humanitarian law, and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.
 
On 28 May 2015, Israeli forces closed the entrance of a room on the underground floor of the Ibrahimi Mosque in the center of Hebron for "security reasons". They changed the door's lock and refused to give its key to mosque servants.
 
On Tuesday, 02 June 2015, Israeli forces moved into Rummana village, northwest of Jenin. They deployed in Palestinian farmlands and informed farmers they had an order to  bridge an artesian well and 2 agricultural rooms under the pretext they were not licensed. An Israeli bulldozer demolished the well and rooms and no more incidents were reported.

Settlers' attacks

On Sunday midnight, 31 May 2015, a number of settlers threw stones at a house in Tal al-Rumaida neighbourhood in Hebron. They also set fire around the house, as a result, some stuffs belonging to family were burnt, but no casualties were reported.

On Tuesday, 02 June 2015, a settler in a mini truck threw stones at a Palestinian civilian vehicle. As a result, the windshield was broken and the back of the car sustained damage.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
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