Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (11- 17 April 2013) Thursday, 18 April 2013 00:00
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Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (11- 17 April 2013) Thursday, 18 April 2013 00:00 Israeli Forces raided Taqou' Municipality Building, east of Bethlehem Israeli forces continue systematic attacks against Palestinian civilians and property in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) 4 Palestinian civilians, including 2 children, were wounded during incursions in the West Bank. 1 / 86 Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (11- 17 April 2013) Thursday, 18 April 2013 00:00 A shepherd was wounded in the central Gaza Strip as Israeli forces opened fire at him. Israeli forces continued to use excessive force against peaceful protesters in the West Bank. 4 protestors, including a Spanish human rights activist, were wounded during peaceful protests against the annexation wall and settlement activities. 2 Palestinian civilians were wounded during protests in support of prisoners in the Israeli jails. Israeli forces conducted 71 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, and 1 limited incursion in the southern Gaza Strip. 40 Palestinian civilians, including 7 children, were arrested in the West Bank. 2 children were arrested while attempting to cross the borders into Israel. Israel has continued to impose a total closure on the oPt and has isolated the Gaza Strip 2 / 86 Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (11- 17 April 2013) Thursday, 18 April 2013 00:00 from the outside world. During the reporting period, the border crossings between the Gaza Strip and Israel were completely closed for 4 days. Israeli forces established dozens of checkpoints in the West Bank. 11 Palestinian civilians, including 2 brothers and a girl, were arrested at checkpoints. Israeli forces have continued to attack Palestinian fishermen at sea. Israeli forces continued to fire at Palestinian fishing boats, forcing them to sail within the 3 nautical mile limit. Israeli forces have continued to support settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property. The settlers uprooted dozens of trees throughout the West Bank, aiming to create space to further expand their settlements A child was wounded when a settler tried to deliberately run him over in Taqou' village, southeast of Bethlehem. 3 / 86 Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (11- 17 April 2013) Thursday, 18 April 2013 00:00 3 farmers sustained bruises due to the settlers' attack on them. Summary Israeli violations of international law and international humanitarian law in the oPt continued during the reporting period 11 – 17 April 2013: Shooting: During the reporting period, Israeli forces wounded 10 Palestinian civilians, including 2 children and a Palestinian and a Spanish human rights activist in the West Bank; 6 of whom were wounded during peaceful protests against the annexation wall, settlement activities and in support of Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli jails. The 4 others were wounded during incursions conducted in the West Bank. In the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces wounded a shepherd from al-Bureij refugee camp, in the centre of the Gaza Strip. They also continued to open fire at Palestinian fishing boats, restricting the permitted fishing area to 3 nautical miles instead of the 6 nautical mile limit which was agreed in the ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Palestinian armed groups in November 2012. 4 / 86 Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (11- 17 April 2013) Thursday, 18 April 2013 00:00 In the West Bank during incursions conducted by the Israeli forces 5 Palestinian civilians, including 2 children and a physically disabled former prisoner, were wounded. On 11 April 2013, Mo'taz Mohammed Faraj Ebeido, 32, from Hebron, who is a physically disabled former prisoner, was wounded and arrested when the Israeli forces raided Ebeido telecommunication store. On the same day, a 12-year-old child was wounded by 2 bullets when the Israeli forces moved into Selwad village, northeast of Ramallah. This happened after some settlers attacked Palestinian shepherds and the Palestinian civilians set fire to a tent established by settlers on Palestinian lands. On 12 April 2013, 2 Palestinian civilians, including an 11-year-old child, were wounded when Israeli forces moved into Beit Ummar village, north of Hebron. On the same day, a 22-year-old civilian was wounded by a bullet to the right leg when the Israeli forces moved into al-Aqaba village, south of Doura, southwest of Hebron. 5 / 86 Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (11- 17 April 2013) Thursday, 18 April 2013 00:00 In an example of the systematic use of excessive force against peaceful protests organised by Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists against the construction of the annexation wall and settlement activities in the West Bank, Israeli forces wounded 3 civilians and a Spanish human rights activist. 2 Palestinians were wounded during Bil'in weekly protest, while the 2 others, including the Spanish activist, were wounded during the al-Nabi Saleh weekly protest, northwest of Ramallah. Palestinian civilians organised many peaceful protests in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli jails, especially those on hunger strike. Israeli forces used excessive force against the protesters; as a result, an 18-year-old boy was wounded by a bullet to the abdomen while he was participating in a protest in Um Rokba area, south of Bethlehem, on 12 April 2013. Moreover, the Palestinian activist Yusef Abdul Hamid Abu Maria, 42, was wounded on the same day in a protest in al-Harayeq area, southeast of Hebron. In the Gaza Strip, on 15 April 2013, the Israeli forces stationed along the border fence opened fire at and wounded a Palestinian civilian while grazing the sheep, east of al-Bureij refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip. Israeli forces continued to chase fishermen at sea.On 13 April 2013, Israeli gunboats stationed off the coast of al-Waha resort, northwest of BeitLahia in the northern Gaza Strip, opened fire twice at Palestinian fishing boats. Furthermore, on 14 and 15 April 2013, similar incidents occurred. As a result, the fishermen returned to shore, fearing that they would be wounded or 6 / 86 Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (11- 17 April 2013) Thursday, 18 April 2013 00:00 arrested. No casualties or material damage were reported. It should be noted that, on Thursday, 21 March 2013, Israeli forces announced that the nautical mile limit would be reduced from 6 to 3 nautical miles. Israeli forces had permitted fishermen to sail up to 6 nautical miles offshore following the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Palestinian armed groups in November 2012. Incursions: During the reporting period, Israeli forces conducted at least 71 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. During these incursions, Israeli forces arrested at least 40 Palestinians, including 7 children. During peaceful protests in the West Bank, Israeli forces arrested 6 Palestinians, including 4 children and Abdul Hafeez al-Hashlamoun, a cameraman from the European News Agency. They were later released.. 7 / 86 Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (11- 17 April 2013) Thursday, 18 April 2013 00:00 In the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces conducted a 1 limited incursion on 11 April 2013 in the east of Khan Yunis, in the south of the Gaza Strip. On the same day, Israeli forces stationed along the border fence, east of al-Bureij refugee camp, in the centre of the Gaza Strip, arrested 2 children from Deir al-Balah when they attempted to cross the borders into Israel. 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 closure of the Gaza Strip, which has steadily tightened since June 2007, has had a 8 / 86 Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (11- 17 April 2013) Thursday, 18 April 2013 00:00 disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza Strip. The illegal closure has caused not only a humanitarian crisis, but also a human rights crisis and the erosion of human dignity for the people 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 on Israel, unable to care for themselves, and socially, culturally and academically isolated from the rest of the world. Israeli forces 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. During the reporting period, Israeli forces completely closed the commercial border crossings between the Gaza Strip and Israel. They closed Karm Abu Salem crossing for 4 consecutive days because of Jewish holidays. This closure negatively affected the entry of goods, construction materials and medical consignments in the Gaza Strip. It also has a detrimental impact on the living conditions of Palestinian civilians. Israeli forces also imposed comprehensive security restrictions due to the Jewish holiday of Passover .As a result, thousands of Palestinian workers were denied access to their work in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem.