Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (08 -13 Nov. 2012)
IOF killed 6 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children, and two members of the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip.
52 Palestinian civilians, including 12 children and 6 women, were wounded by IOF in the Gaza Strip.
IOF launched a series of aerial and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip
A number of civilian facilities were destroyed and a number of houses were damaged.
The IOF used force to disperse peaceful protests organized by Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.
6 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children and a woman, and an Italian human rights defender were wounded.
Dozens of protestors sustained bruising and suffered from tear gas inhalation.
The IOF conducted 42 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and 2 limited ones into the Gaza Strip.
The IOF arrested 16 Palestinians, including two children and two women.
Israel has continued to impose a total closure on the oPt and has isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.
The IOF established dozens of checkpoints in the West Bank.
The IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank, and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.
IOF destroyed a rainwater pool in Hebron and an auto repair workshop in Bethlehem.
Israeli settlers launched a series of attacks against Palestinian civilians.
Summary
Israeli violations of international law and international humanitarian law in the oPt continued during the reporting period (08 – 13 November 2012):
Shooting:
During the reporting period, IOF killed 6 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children, and two members of the Palestinian resistance, and wounded 53 civilians, including 12 children and 6 women, in the Gaza Strip. They also wounded 6 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children and a woman, and an Italian human rights defender in the West Bank.
In the Gaza Strip, IOF escalated attacks against the Gaza Strip, killing a number of Palestinian civilians and members of the Palestinian resistance. They also destroyed a number of civilian facilities and damaged a number of houses.
On 08 November 2012, IOF killed a Palestinian child during an incursion into ‘Abassan village, east of Kahn Yunis.
On 10 November 2012, IOF killed 4 Palestinian civilians, including two children, when they fired a number of artillery shells at al-Shoja’iya neighborhood in the east of Gaza City. Additionally, 38 Palestinians, including 9 children, were wounded, the wounds of 10 of them was described as serious. On 13 November 2012, one of the wounded died of his wounds.
On the same day, 11 Palestinian civilians, including 5 women and two children, were wounded when IOF fired two artillery shells at Khuza’a village, east of Khan Yunis.
Also on the same day, an Israeli drone fired a missile at a number of members of the al-Quds Brigades (the armed wing of Islamic Jihad) in the northern Gaza Strip, killing one of them.
On 11 November 2012, another member of the Palestinian resistance was killed in a similar attack.
On the same day, a Palestinian civilian was wounded when IOF fired artillery shells at Gaza International Airport, southeast of Rafah.
During the reporting period, Israeli warplanes launched a series of airstrikes against civilian facilities and a number of training sites of the Palestinian resistance. As a result, a number of civilian facilities were destroyed and some houses were damaged.
In the West Bank, the IOF have continued the use of excessive force against peaceful demonstrations organized by Palestinian civilians and Israeli and international human right defenders against the construction of the annexation wall and settlement activities in the West Bank. As a result, 6 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children and a woman, were wounded, and dozens of protestors sustained bruises and suffered from tear gas inhalation.
Incursions:
During the reporting period, the IOF conducted at least 42 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. During these incursions, the IOF arrested at least 16 Palestinians, including two children and two women.
In the Gaza Strip, IOF conducted two limited incursions into the southern and northern Gaza Strip, during which they killed a Palestinian child and leveled areas of Palestinian land.
Restrictions on Movement:
Israel continued to impose a tightened 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 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. The illegal closure has caused not only a humanitarian crisis, but a crisis of human rights and human dignity for the population of the Gaza Strip. Recently-declared measures to ease the closure are vague, purely cosmetic and fail to deal with the root causes of the crisis; the root causes can only be addressed by an immediate and complete lifting of the closure, including lifting the travel ban into and out of the Gaza Strip and the ban on exports. Palestinians in Gaza may no longer suffer from the same shortage of goods but, as long as the closure is allowed to continue, they will remain economically dependent, unable to care for themselves, and socially, culturally and academically isolated from the rest of the world.
The 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
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 08 November 2012, IOF moved into ‘Ein Fares area in the southwest of Nahalin village, west of Bethlehem, adjacent to “Bitar Elite” settlement. A number of workers brought by IOF cut a number of olive and almond trees. Eyewitnesses from the village said that 25 olive and almond trees were cut.
On the same day, dozens of settlers from “Beit Hagai” settlement, which stands on civilians’ lands in Hebron, stole olives from Palestinian lands in al-Reihiya village, south of the town and adjacent to the security fence of the aforementioned settlement. An eyewitness told a PCHR fieldworker that a group of settlers attacked farmlands near the aforementioned settlement and stole olives while a number of them broke some tree branches before leaving the land.
On 09 November 2012, a Palestinian civilian from Hebron sustained injuries in his head as a result of stones thrown at him by settlers. He was injured while he was in al-Shallalah Street in the center of the town.
On the same day, a Palestinian civilian sustained injuries and bruises in the head and the foot as a result of being thrown with stones by an Israeli settler in Tal al-Rumidah area in the center of Hebron.
Also on the same day, a group of Israeli settlers from “Shilo” settlement, which stands on Palestinian land in the southeast of Qaryout village, southeast of Nablus, moved into the village and arrived to its center. They were accompanied by the security officer of the settlement. A number of Palestinian civilians gathered in the village and threw stones at the settlers, who were forced to leave the village. Half an hour later, Palestinian civilians were surprised to find another number of settlers in al-Sahlat area in the south of the village, so they went to the area to expel the settlers. A number of settlers started shooting fire at them. Soon, IOF moved into the area and started firing sound bombs at the civilians and chased them into the village. IOF arrested two young men from the village.
On 12 November 2012, IOF moved into the Beit ‘Aynon village, west of Hebron. They prevented civilians from moving. They destroyed a rainwater pool which is used to irrigate crops.
On the same day, Israeli settlers wrote racist slogans on walls of houses in al-Manshiya village, south of Bethlehem. They also attempted to set fire to a house, but Palestinian civilians were able to stop them by stone throwing.
On 13 November 2012, IOF moved into an area adjacent to al-‘Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron, near Hebron-Bethlehem road. They razed a 200-square-meter paved yard that used as a car park. The loss is estimated at 20,000 (approximately US$ 5,400).
On the same day, IOF moved into Housan village, west of Bethlehem. They demolished a garage and confiscated a container of car parts.
Also on the same day, IOF positioned near the annexation wall in the west of Beit Oula village, west of Hebron, dropped a notice on an agricultural plot ordering the evacuation of the plot in 45 days.
Israeli Violations Documented during the Reporting Period (08 – 13 November 2012)
1- Israeli Military Escalation in the Gaza Strip
Thursday, 08 November 2012
At approximately 08:00, IOF moved nearly 300 meters into the east of al-Qarara village, northeast of Khan Yunis. They leveled areas of Palestinian land amidst indiscriminate shooting. A few hours later, they moved southwards to‘Abassan village. They opened fire indiscriminately and leveled areas of Palestinian land. An Israeli helicopter gunship also opened fire at the area. At approximately 16:30, as a result of the indiscriminate shooting by IOF military vehicles, 13-year-old Ahmed Younis Khader Abu Daqqa was seriously wounded by a bullet to the abdomen. At the time he was shot, Ahmed had been playing football with his friends in front of his family’s house, located nearly 1,500 meters away from the area where the IOF were present. He was evacuated to the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Yunis, but he was pronounced dead 15 minutes later. IOF remained in the area until 00:30 on the following day. In his testimony to PCHR, Mohammed Tariq Abu Daqqa, 14, stated:
“On Thursday evening, 08 November 2012, my friend, Ahmed Abu Daqqa, invited me to play football, which he liked so much. We began to play football in front of his house together with Khaled ‘Ali Abu Daqqa, Shadi Akram Abu Daqqa and Fares Hassan Qudaih. Ahmed was wearing sports clothes and he played as a goalkeeper. We knew that there was an Israeli incursion in the area and we heard sporadic shooting. We thought that we were safe because we were relatively far from the affected area. However, at approximately 16:30, I saw a bullet hitting the door of Ahmed’s house. I soon saw Ahmed falling onto the ground. He then stood up putting his hands on his abdomen and screaming. He moved into his house. The children who were playing with us escaped. I called Ahmed’s brother and told him that Ahmed was wounded. Soon after, Ahmed’s brother carried him out of the house and asked me to call an ambulance. I immediately went to a nearly grocery shop and asked its owner to call an ambulance and he did. Ahmed was then transported by a civilian car to the hospital. I learnt later that he died. Before he was wounded, he had asked me to photograph him wearing the uniform of Real Madrid, of which he was a fan.”
At approximately 18:40, IOF moved nearly 200 meters into the east of the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahia. They searched the area and opened fire sporadically. They moved back to the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel at approximately 22:50.
Saturday, 10 November 2012
At approximately 15:30, Israeli military vehicles stationed at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel fired an artillery shell at a number of Palestinian children who were playing football at al-Mentar Hill east of al-Shoja’iya neighborhood, which is east of Gaza City and nearly 1,500 meters away from the border. As a result, 2 children were instantly
killed:
1- Mohammed Ussama Hassan Harara, 16; and
2- Ahmed Mustafa Khaled Harara, 17.
Following this attack, a number of Palestinian civilians, who were gathered to mourn a bereaved in the house of the Harara family, rushed to the area, where the IOF immediately fired another 3 shells. As a result, 2 Palestinian civilians were instantly killed:
1- Ahmed Kamel Al- Dirdissawi, 18; and
2- Matar ‘Emad ‘Abdul Rahman Abu al-‘Ata (19).
Additionally, 38 civilians, including 8 children, were wounded; the wounding of 10 of these civilians was described by medical crews as being serious.
At approximately 17:00, the IOF, positioned at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, east of Khan Yunis, fired 2 artillery shells at the water tank of the Khuza’a Municipality, nearly 800 meters away from the border. Shrapnel from the shells hit 11 Palestinian civilians, including 5 women and 2 children, while they were inside their houses or in nearby streets:
1- Rasmiya Khalil al-Najjar, 45, wounded by shrapnel to the left hand;
2- Ibtissam Mohammed al-Najjar, 40, wounded by shrapnel to the left hand;
3- Eline Mahmoud al-Najjar, 30, wounded by shrapnel to the left side;
4- Samar Khaled al-Najjar, 19, wounded by shrapnel to the left hand;
5- Dalal Fu’ad al-Najjar, 20, wounded by shrapnel to the hand;
6- Mo’tassem Fawzi al-Najjar, 10, wounded by shrapnel to the face;
7- Ibrahim Sameer al-Najjar, 17, wounded by shrapnel to the right hand;
8- Fathi ‘Abdul Rahman al-Najjar, 50, wounded by shrapnel to the face;
9- Sameer Mohammed al-Najjar, 50, wounded by shrapnel to the back;
10- Eyad Zaki al-Najjar, 28, wounded by shrapnel to the chest; and
11- Ramez Mohammed al-Najjar, 22, wounded by shrapnel to the chest.
At approximately 20:40, Israeli warplanes opened fire at Gaza International Airport, southeast of Rafah. No casualties were reported.
At approximately 21:50, Israeli warplanes opened fire at open areas in the east of Jabalya town in the northern Gaza Strip. No casualties were reported, but Palestinian civilians, especially women and children, were extremely terrified.
At the same time, the IOF, positioned at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, fired an artillery shell at the office of the Gaza Electricity Distribution Company in al-Sha’af neighborhood east of Gaza City. The office was heavily damaged, but no casualties were reported.
At approximately 22:45, an Israeli drone fired a missile at a number of members of the al-Quds Brigades (the armed wing of Islamic Jihad) near al-Khuzondar fuel station in the west of Jabalya town in the northern Gaza Strip. No casualties were reported.
At approximately 23:00, an Israeli drone fired a missile at a group of the al-Quds Brigades (the armed wing of Islamic Jihad) in the west of Jabalya town. As a result, a member of the group, Mohammed Sa’id Mohammed Eshkokani, 18, from the Beach camp west of Gaza City, was killed by shrapnel throughout the body.
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