PCHR weekly report: “Army kills one Palestinian, wounds 11 and kidnaps 29”

The Palestinian Center For Human Rights (PCHR) published its weekly report on the Israeli violations in the Palestinians territories in the period between September 4 and September 10, 2008. During the reported period, Israeli soldiers carried out 55 invasions, killed one Palestinian,wounded 11 -- including five children -- and kidnapped 29 residents including seven children.

 

 Israeli Attacks in the West Bank:

During the reported period, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian resident in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, and wounded eleven other residents including two international peace activists.

 The army invaded Nablus on September 10; soldiers shot dead one civilian and kidnapped two others including one of the wounded residents. The slain resident was initially shot by two live rounds in his legs, but the army left him bleeding for nearly an hour and he died of his wounds.

The PCHR reported that the Israeli army carried out 55 invasions into several Palestinian areas in the occupied West Bank during the reported period and kidnapped 43 Palestinian, including five children.

Among the kidnapped residents were four members of a charity organization in a village near the southern West Bank city of Hebron, and one local council member.

The number of Palestinian civilians who were kidnapped by the army since the beginning of this year reached 1909.

 Attacks Against nonviolent protests against the Annexation Wall:

The PCHR reported that on September 9, Israeli soldiers attacked a peaceful protest in Na’lin village, west of Ramallah and wounded seven civilians including four children.  

Israeli soldiers invaded the village and fire tear gas canisters as a secondary school for girls; dozens of teachers suffered from tear gas inhalation.

The village is one of the Palestinian villages that are actively involved in nonviolent protests against the Annexation Wall and settlement, and has become the target of frequent Israeli military invasions.

During the reported period, soldiers fired rubber-coated bullet at the peaceful protestors and wounded 17 protestors in Bil’in and Na’lin villages, near Ramallah, dozens of residents suffered from tear gas inhalation.

During the same week, three civilians, including one child, were wounded after the army attacked a peaceful protest against the Wall in Na’lin and Bil’in villages, near Ramallah. Soldiers also fired tear gas that has a disgusting smell at the protestors.

The Israeli Authorities also decided to annex hundreds of Donums of Palestinian lands which belong to residents of Jayyous and Falamia villages, near the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia, as Israel decided to change the route of the Annexation Wall

“In Jayous village, for example, Israeli Occupying Forces propose to change the western section of the wall, which would give back to the village 2,408 out of 8,600 donums of land isolated behind the wall. Thus, 49 out of 450 farmers would restore their lands. The change would also destroy 472 donums of land. According to Qaddoumi, these lands are planted with vegetables and fruits and some areas of them include greenhouses. The new route of the wall would annex at least 200 donums of land to “Tsufin” settlement”, the PCHR reported.

 Restrictions on Movement:

The Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, remained under severe restrictions imposed by Israel. The siege was tightened in Gaza and more restrictions on movement were enforced in the occupied territories.

Border crossings in Gaza remained closed and hundreds of patients and students who needed to travel remained stranded in the coastal region.

The Gaza Strip continued to suffer from sharp shortages in medicine, cooking gas, fuel, cement and iron for constructions.

Water supply stations and water treatment stations stopped functioning due to the sharp shortages of fuel and now 50-60 million liters of untreated sewer water are being pumped into the sea on daily basis which is causing further danger to to public health and increases pollution.

Nearly 1200 students remain stranded in the Gaza Strip and are unable to attend their universities and collages abroad.

Settlements and settler attacks:

Israeli forces continued uprooting Palestinian farmland and orchards in order to construct and expand illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The PCHR reported that on September 5, Israeli settlers attacked and seized the house of a Palestinian civilian southeast of Hebron. The settlers also attacked several civilians in the area and hurled empty bottles at them and at their homes; damage was reported.

On the same day, Israeli settlers of an illegal settlement outpost east of Hebron attacked several homes in Al Ras and Wadi Al Hsein, south east of Hebron and hurled stones and empty bottles at the residents and their homes.

On September 9, Israeli Army technical personnel resumed the establishment of an electricity network with a very high voltage on Palestinian land in Hebron to serve Israeli settlements in the area. The establishment of this network would deprive Palestinian civilians of making use of their lands in the area, the PCHR added.  

The Gaza Strip:

The Israeli siege continued to imprison 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as border crossings have been closed or more than two years. As a result, the territory is unable to secure its basic needs of food, medicine, and other supplies, pushing the poverty rate above 80%.

“The continued Israeli ban on fuel supplies required for civilian life in the Gaza Strip has led to the paralysis of the educational sector. In addition, the health sector is on the verge of collapse due to the stoppage of many ambulances from operating for lack of fuel, the PCHR reported.

The PCHR added that all healthcare facilities in Gaza have registered a significant drop in clients due to the fact that most residents are unable to reach these facilities due to the lack of fuel which led to transport crisis.

Hundreds of employees, including healthcare workers, became unable to reach their work places, as the transportation sector in Gaza totally collapsed. This collapse also led to the massive reduction of essential services such as the delivery of drinking water, the disposal of sewage water and the delivery of basic good and food supplies, and municipalities and local councils became unable to collect the garbage in the Gaza Strip.

 The tightened siege has led to the collapse of the Gaza Strip economic sectors. Most production facilities have ceased to operate due to the siege and restriction on movement of goods and individuals, the PCHR added.

On Sunday September 8, Israel partially reopened the Karni commercial crossing allowing the entry of 10.570 Tons of aggregate and 442 Tons of cement.

On Monday September 9, Israel allowed the entry of 520 Tons of cement, 34 containers of food, 40 containers of wheat, and 6 containers of seeds.

The Rafah Border Terminal was opened by the Egyptian Authorities for a limited period only to allow some patients through.

For Full PCHR Report, click on the link below.