search... Friday, 22 August 2014 HOME ABOUT US OTHER PUBLICATIONS REPORTS PRESS RELEASES NEWS IN FOCUS Home REPORTS Weekly Reports Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (14– 20 August 2014) LINKS New Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (07– 13 August 2014) Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (14– 20 August 2014) Thursday, 21 August 2014 00:00 Israeli forces continue their offensive on the Gaza Strip and commit more crimes against Palestinian civilians and property in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) ·Israeli warplanes launched dozens of airstrikes on civilian targets in the Gaza Strip. 22 Palestinians, including 19 civilians, were killed. The civilian victims include 8 children and 3 women. 14 houses were completely destroyed and dozens of others were extensively damaged. ·6 Palestinian civilians, including 2 women, died of previous wounds in the Gaza Strip. ·Israeli forces continued to use force against peaceful protests in the West Bank. 13 Palestinian civilians, including 5 children, were wounded in protests against the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip. A Palestinian child was wounded in the weekly protest against the construction of the annexation wall in Nabi Saleh village, northwest of Ramallah. ·Israeli forces conducted 63 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. 90 Palestinians were arrested, including 48 ones, in East Jerusalem. Israeli forces issued a decision forcibly transferring MP Khalida Jarrar to Jericho for 6 months. ·Israel continued to impose a total closure on the oPt and has isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world. Israeli forces established dozens of checkpoints in the West Bank. At least 3 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children and a leader of Islamic Jihad, were arrested at military checkpoints in the West Bank. ·Israeli authorities continued efforts to create a Jewish majority in Jerusalem. Israeli forces demolished a house and a store in Jabal al-Tour neighbourhood. ·Israeli forces continued to support settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property. Israeli forces demolished 9 homes in Nablus and Ramallah, rendering 63 Palestinian civilians, including 33 children, homeless. Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian civilians in Jerusalem and Hebron. Summary Israeli violations of international law and international humanitarian law in the oPt continued during the reporting period (14 – 20 August 2014). Shooting and Killing: In the context of the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces killed 22 Palestinians, 19 of whom are civilians, including 8 children and a woman, and wounded 89 others, including 31 children and 19 women. Six Palestinian civilians, including 2 women, died of previous wound, and the body of a Palestinian was recovered from the debris. Israeli warplanes launched dozens of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, destroying 14 houses and damaging dozens of others. In the West Bank, Israeli forces wounded 14 Palestinian civilians, including 6 children, during peaceful demonstrations organized by Palestinian civilians in the West Bank in protest against the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip and the construction of the annexation wall in the West Bank. Incursions: During the reporting period, Israeli forces conducted at least 63 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. During these incursions, Israeli forces arrested at least 90 Palestinians, including 48 ones in Jerusalem. Israeli forces issued a decision forcibly transferring Ms. Khalida Jarrar, Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), to Jericho for 6 months. Israeli forces destroyed 2 houses and closed a third one belonging to 3 Palestinian accused of kidnapping and killing 3 Israeli settlers in Hebron. Restrictions on movement: Israel continued to impose a tight 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 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 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. As part of using military checkpoints and border crossings as traps to arrest Palestinian civilians under the pretext they are wanted, Israeli forces arrested 3 Palestinian in the West Bank. Efforts to Create a Jewish Demographic Majority in Jerusalem On 18 August 2014, Israeli forces demolished a house in al-Tour neighborhood in East Jerusalem, claiming that it was built without a license. During the reporting period, Israeli forces waged several house raids in Jerusalem, during which they arrests 48 Palestinians. On 15 August 2014, a number of Israeli settlers violently beat 2 Palestinian workers in a gas station in West Jerusalem. Settlement activities Israel has continued its settlement activities in the oPt, in a direct violation of international humanitarian law, and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property. Attacks Carried out by Israeli Forces On 20 August 2014, Israeli forces, accompanied by 3 bulldozers, moved into Kherbat al-Tawil area, southeast of Nablus. They demolished 3 houses for the third time since 19 April 2014, rending 27 civilians, including 19 children, homeless. On the same day, Israeli forces, accompanied by a bulldozer, moved into al-'Aqaba area in the northern Jordan Valley. They demolished 3 housing barracks, rendering 16 people, including 12 children, homeless. On the same day, Israeli forces, accompanied by 2 bulldozers, moved into the Bedouin community to the east of al-Taybeh village, northeast of Ramallah. The Israeli bulldozers demolished 3 housing barracks made of tin and wood and a barnyard. As a result, 20 civilians, became homeless. Attacks by Israeli Forces On 16 August 2014, a number of Israeli settlers from "Beit Hadasa" settlement in the old town in the center of Hebron, escorted by Israeli forces, threw stones at Palestinian houses in al-Shuhada Street. When Palestinian civilians attempted to defend themselves, Israeli forces raided a house belonging to Mahmoud Maher Abu Haya and arrested him. Israeli Violations Documented during the Reporting Period (14 -2 0 August 2014) 1. Incursions into Palestinian Areas, and Attacks on Palestinian Civilians and Property in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip Thursday, 14 August 2014 · At approximately 01:00, Israeli forces moved into al-'Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron. They raided and searched a house belonging to the family of Yasser Musallam Banat, 26, and arrested him. · At approximately 01:30, Israeli forces moved into Hebron. They took position in Abu Kataila neighborhood in the west of the city, where they raided and searched 2 houses and arrested Fareed Najib Zughayar, 24; and Ahmed Mohammed Zughayar, 26. At approximately 02:30, Israeli forces moved into the University area in the center of the city, where they raided and searched a house belonging to the family of Tariq Mohammed al-Qawasma and arrested him. In the meantime, Israeli forces raided and searched a house belonging to the family of Lu'ai 'Omran al-'Owaiwi, 29, in Be'r al-Mahjar neighborhood and arrested him. · At approximately 02:00, medical sources at an Egyptian hospital declared that Jihad 'Ali Abu Zaid, 61, from Jabalya refugee camp, died of a wound he had sustained when Israeli forces attacked a civilian car in al-Nasser neighborhood in Gaza City on 29 July 2014. · Also at approximately 02:00, Israeli forces moved into Beit Ummar town, north of Hebron. They raided and searched 2 houses and arrested 2 Palestinian civilians: Mohammed Radwan Ekhlil, 36; and Ahmed Khader Abu Maria, 47. · Also at approximately 02:00, Israeli forces moved into Beit Luqya village, southwest of Ramallah. They raided and searched a house belonging to the family of Rassem 'Abbas Dar 'Aassi, 30, and arrested him. · At approximately 02:30, an Israeli warplane launched a missile at the destroyed Gaza International Airport in the southeast of Rafah. No casualties were reported. · Also at approximately 02:30, an Israeli warplane launched a missile at an agricultural plot in Tabbet Zare' neighborhood in the east of Rafah. No casualties were reported. · At approximately 03:00, Israeli forces moved into Yatta village, south of Hebron. They raided and searched