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Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (15 – 21 March 2012) Thursday, 22 March 2012 10:59

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Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (15 – 21 March 2012) Thursday, 22 March 2012 10:59 Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (15 – 21 March 2012) Thursday, 22 March 2012 10:59 A dog accompanying Israeli soldiers attack a demonstrator during the weakly peaceful protest in Kufor Qaddoum village near Qalqilya, 16 March 2012 Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) IOF continued to fire at Palestinian civilians and property in border areas in the Gaza Strip. A Palestinian child was wounded when he was at home in Rafah. IOF opened fire at agricultural areas in Khuza’a village, east of Khan Yunis. IOF opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats. 1 / 64 Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (15 – 21 March 2012) Thursday, 22 March 2012 10:59 IOF have continued to use force against peaceful protests in the West Bank. Two Palestinian civilians were wounded. IOF arrested two Palestinian civilians, and a dog belonging to IOF violently attacked one of the detainees. IOF attacked a journalist and destroyed his camera in al-Ma’sara village, south of Bethlehem. Dozens of protesters suffered from tear gas inhalation. IOF conducted 56 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and a limited one into the Gaza Strip. IOF arrested 8 Palestinians, including 3 children and a woman. Israel has continued to impose a total closure on the OPT and has isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world. Israeli soldiers arrested 5 Palestinian civilians, including a child, at various checkpoints in the 2 / 64 Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (15 – 21 March 2012) Thursday, 22 March 2012 10:59 West Bank. IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property. IOF destroyed 30 dunums of agricultural land in Nablus and demolished a house and an animal farm in Qalqilya. Israeli settlers uprooted 220 olive trees in Nablus. Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian civilian in Hebron and injured him. Summary Israeli violations of international law and humanitarian law in the OPT continued during the reporting period (15 – 21 March 2012): 3 / 64 Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (15 – 21 March 2012) Thursday, 22 March 2012 10:59 Shooting: During the reporting period, IOF wounded 3 Palestinian civilians, including a child, in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. During the reporting period, IOF used excessive force to disperse peaceful demonstrations organized in protest to Israeli settlement activities and the construction of the annexation wall in the West Bank. As a result, two Palestinian civilian were wounded, and dozens of Palestinian civilians and international human rights defenders suffered from tear gas inhalation. IOF also arrested two Palestinian civilians. News agencies published a photo that showed a dog belonging to IOF violently attack a Palestinian civilian before IOF arrested him. Additionally, Israeli soldiers attacked a journalist and destroyed his camera. In the Gaza Strip, a 6-year-old Palestinian child was wounded by a bullet to the right thigh when he was at home as IOF positioned at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel to the east of Rafah opened fire at Palestinian communities. Incursions: 4 / 64 Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (15 – 21 March 2012) Thursday, 22 March 2012 10:59 During the reporting period, IOF conducted at least 56 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, during which they arrested 8 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children and a woman. In the Gaza Strip, IOF conducted one limited incursion into the northern Gaza Strip, during which they leveled areas of Palestinian land which they had already razed. Restrictions on Movement: Israel had continued to impose a tightened siege on the OPT and imposed 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. Measures declared recently to ease the blockade are vague, purely cosmetic and fail to deal with the root causes of the crisis, which 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 5 / 64 Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (15 – 21 March 2012) Thursday, 22 March 2012 10:59 may no longer suffer from the same shortage of goods, but they will remain economically dependent and unable to care for themselves, and socially, culturally and academically isolated from the rest of the world. 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 15 March 2012, IOF cut and uprooted almond and olive trees on a 30-dunum agricultural plot belonging to Canaan Jamal Canaan in the east of Beit Dajan village, northeast of Nablus. The land is located near “Alhamra” settlement. IOF claim that the land has been confiscated. 6 / 64 Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (15 – 21 March 2012) Thursday, 22 March 2012 10:59 On the same day, IOF moved into the east of Qalqilya. They demolished a house and an animal farm. They claimed that the house and the animal farm were established without licenses. On 16 March 2012, a number of Israeli settlers from “Kodesh” settlement, southeast of Nablus, damaged and uprooted 220 olive trees belonging to the Salawda and Dawabsha families in Douma village. On 18 March 2012, 3 Israeli settlers from “Ramat Yishai” settlement outpost in Tal Rumaida neighborhood in the center of Hebron stopped and attacked Mustafa ‘Adnan Abu Salima, 19, when he was on his way back home. They violently beat him and spayed a gas into his eyes. Israeli soldiers were present in the area, but did not intervene to stop the attack. Abu Salima sustained bruises throughout the body. The settlers also stole his glasses and mobile phone. 1. Incursions into Palestinian Areas and Attacks on Palestinian Civilians and Property in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip 7 / 64 Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (15 – 21 March 2012) Thursday, 22 March 2012 10:59 Thursday, 15 March 2012 At approximately 00:00, an Israeli warplane fired a missile at a space area in Khuza’a village, east of Khan Yunis. No casualties were reported. At approximately 08:00, IOF moved into Ertah suburb, south of Tulkarm. They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later. Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 09:30, IOF moved into Beit ‘Aur al-Tahta village, southwest of Ramallah. They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later. Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 09:40, IOF moved into Kufor Ne’ma village, southwest of Ramallah. They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later. Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. 8 / 64 Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (15 – 21 March 2012) Thursday, 22 March 2012 10:59 At approximately 11:45, IOF moved into ‘Azzoun village, east of Qalqilya. They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later. Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 21:00, IOF moved into Sinjel village, north of Ramallah. They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later. Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 23:30, IOF moved into Mailthaloun village, south of Jenin. They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later. Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. Also at approximately 23:30, IOF moved into Sirris village, south of Jenin. They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later. Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. Also at approximately 23:30, IOF moved into al-Judaida village, south of Jenin. They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later. Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. Friday, 16 March 2012 9 / 64 Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (15 – 21 March 2012) Thursday, 22 March 2012 10:59 At approximately 07:00, IOF moved into the area located between ‘Azzoun and ‘Assala villages, east of Qalqilya. They patrolled in the area for some time and withdrew later. Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 07:30, IOF moved into Kharabtha al-Misbah village, southwest of Ramallah. They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later. Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 09:00, IOF moved into Jafna village, northeast of Ramallah. They patrolled in the streets for some time and withdrew later. Neither house raids nor arrests were reported. At approximately 09:30, IOF moved into Nabi Saleh village, northwest of Ramallah.
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