The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights reported that Israeli soldiers killed seven residents of the Gaza Strip, five of whom were children. Of the five children who were killed this week, three were killed during an extra-judicial execution gone wrong. The Israeli military also wounded eighteen civilians, including eight children in the reported period.
The Israeli military continued to shell areas of the Gaza Strip, and conducted twenty-nine incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. Houses were raided and thirty-eight Palestinian civilians were arrested. At least one house was occupied by Israeli soldiers and turned into a military post.
The centre released its weekly report on Thursday and listed the military violations in the Occupied Territories during the week.
The report added that the Israeli military has continued to undertake a total siege of the Occupied Territories, especially in the West Bank. The Jordan Valley remains separated from the rest of the West Bank, and the occupied East Jerusalem continues to be isolated.
Palestinians under the age of forty-five have been denied access to the al-Aqsa mosque. Palestinian residents, including elected members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, have been prohibited from travelling from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank. The Israeli army arrested eight Palestinian civilians at checkpoints in the West Bank.
The Israeli military continued to construct the Separation Wall in the West Bank, and razed area of land in Hebron and Tulkarem. A house was demolished in Jerusalem, and dozens of families living in sixteen communities near Hebron were isolated by the wall. Force was used against Palestinian civilians demonstrating against the construction of the Wall.
Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property in the Occupied Territories. A Palestinian child was injured in an attack by Israeli settlers in Hebron, and the Israeli military demolished a house in Beit Eksa village.
The centre is calling on all signatories of the Fourth Geneva Convention (which includes the state of Israel) to protect the Palestinian people from these violations by Israel of the Convention, and asks those countries to take appropriate measures to ensure Israel’s compliance with the Convention.
The centre also calls on the International Red Cross to increase its presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories of the West Bank and Gaza, and to facilitate visitation of detainees by their parents. In addition, they have called on the international community to enforce the ruling of the International Court of Justice ruling declaring the Israeli Annexation Wall illegal.
The report concludes by saying that “any political settlement not based on international human rights law and humanitarian law cannot lead to a peaceful and just solution of the Palestinian question.”
