In its Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories for the week of 19-25 June 2014, Israeli soldiers killed 6 Palestinian civilians, including a child and an old man, and wounded 14 others, including 4 children and a journalist.Israeli attacks in the West Bank:
Over the past week, Israeli troops carried out 127 incursions in the West Bank. Hundreds of houses were raided and ransacked, their residents were maltreated and a number of houses were turned into military barracks.
215 Palestinian civilians, including dozens of former prisoners and 10 children, were abducted. 21 of these civilians, including 3 children, were abducted in East Jerusalem.
18 Charitable associations were raided and a number of them were closed. 4 university campuses, 2 money exchange shops and a media centre were raided.
Dozens of surveillance cameras were confiscated from houses and shops.
On 20 June 2014, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian child in Dura village, southwest of Hebron.
On 21 June 2014, an old man died of a heart attack in Hares village, northwest of Salfit, as Israeli forces moved into the village and denied him access to medical treatment.
On the same day, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian civilian in the northern Jordan Valley.
On 22 June 2014, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian civilian in ‘Ein Beit al-Maa’ refugee camp, northwest of Nablus.
On the same day, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian civilian in Ramallah.
On 25 June 2014, a Palestinian civilian from Qalandia refugee camp, north of Jerusalem, died of wounds he sustained on 20 June during clashes with Israeli forces.
During the reporting period, 14 Palestinian civilians, including 4 children and a journalist, were wounded.
Israeli forces established dozens of checkpoints in the West Bank. At least 2 Palestinian civilians, including a child, were abducted at military checkpoints in the West Bank.
Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip:
Over the course of the last week, Israeli warplanes launched 18 airstrikes on civilian objects and military training sites in the Gaza Strip. 18 Palestinian civilians, including 7 women and 4 children, were wounded.
In the context of targeting Palestinian fishermen in the sea, on 19 June 2014, Israeli gunboats stationed off al-Waha Shore, northwest of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, opened fire in the vicinity of the Palestinian fishing boats sailing 2 nautical miles offshore. They also abducted 2 fishermen and confiscated a fishing boat.
Israel continued to impose a total closure and has isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world. 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 7 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 1.7 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.
Israeli settlement activity:
Israeli forces continued to support settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.
On 21 June 2014, a group of settlers from Kiryat Arba settlement which is established on confiscated lands east of Hebron attacked a house in the Old City, south of Hebron. The settlers attacked owner who was abducted later by Israeli forces. Israeli forces also abducted his two sons.
On 22 June 2014, four armed settlers from “Nahla’il” settlement which is established on the lands of Beitillu village, northwest of Ramallah, fired live ammunition at 9 Palestinian workers while working in a stone pit in Na’lan area in the northern side of the southern farm, northwest of the city. The workers ran way immediately towards the aforementioned village. The settlers withdrew later and no injuries were reported among Palestinian workers.
On 23 June 2014, Israeli settlers damaged tires of 35 cars belonging to 9 families in Beit Hanina village to the north of the old town of Jerusalem. They also wrote racist phrases on a tourist bus.
Recommendations to the international community:
Due to the number and severity of Israeli human rights violations this week, the PCHR made several recommendations to the international community. Among these were a recommendation that the UN General Assembly transfer the Goldstone Report to the UN Security Council in order to refer it to the International Criminal Court in accordance with Article 13(b) of the Rome Statute.
In addition, PCHR calls upon the United Nations to confirm that holding war criminals in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a precondition to achieve stability and peace in the region, and that peace cannot be built on the expense of human rights;
For the full text of the report, click on the link below:
