20 apr 2014
Egypt's Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip has only been open for 12 days so far this year, Gaza's Interior Ministry said Friday. In a statement, ministry spokesman Eyad al-Bazm said Egyptian authorities were keeping the crossing shut "without stating the reasons."
Due to an eight-year-long Israeli embargo on the Gaza Strip, the Rafah border crossing – which links the strip to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula – represents Gaza's only window to the outside world.
Al-Bazm also called on international legal and humanitarian agencies to pressure Egypt to reopen the crossing with a view to "ending the suffering of thousands of Palestinians in the enclave."
Egyptian authorities have tightened their grip on the border with the Hamas-run the Gaza Strip since last July, when the army ousted elected president Mohamed Morsi and cracked down on his Hamas-linked Muslim Brotherhood group.
Hamas has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007.
Due to an eight-year-long Israeli embargo on the Gaza Strip, the Rafah border crossing – which links the strip to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula – represents Gaza's only window to the outside world.
Al-Bazm also called on international legal and humanitarian agencies to pressure Egypt to reopen the crossing with a view to "ending the suffering of thousands of Palestinians in the enclave."
Egyptian authorities have tightened their grip on the border with the Hamas-run the Gaza Strip since last July, when the army ousted elected president Mohamed Morsi and cracked down on his Hamas-linked Muslim Brotherhood group.
Hamas has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007.
Israeli occupation has constructed 748 settlement units in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem since the beginning of 2014, Information Centre of Separation Wall and Settlement unveiled. The centre said in a statement that Netanyahu’s government issued plans of building 4640 settlement units in 2014.
In Jerusalem, the building will include settlements of Pisgat Zeev, Neve Yaakov, Reches Shuafat, Benjamin, Neveh Pratt, Givat Ze'ev, Harhoma, Gilo, and the Sheikh Jarrah area in Jerusalem, the centre added.
In the West Bank, the building will include settlements: Efrat and Betar Illit in Bethlehem, Beit El and Ofra in Ramallah, Ariel, Emmanuel and Elkana in Salfit, Alfe Menashe and Karni Shomron in Qalqilya, and al-Mawj settlement in Jericho.
The report said that the first third of this year has witnessed an escalation in the construction and expansion of settlements, despite the U.S brokered negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestine are the Jewish civilian communities built on lands occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War. Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and in the Golan Heights.
However, Israeli settlement expansion has continued unabated, despite being condemned by almost all other nations and the UN.
In Jerusalem, the building will include settlements of Pisgat Zeev, Neve Yaakov, Reches Shuafat, Benjamin, Neveh Pratt, Givat Ze'ev, Harhoma, Gilo, and the Sheikh Jarrah area in Jerusalem, the centre added.
In the West Bank, the building will include settlements: Efrat and Betar Illit in Bethlehem, Beit El and Ofra in Ramallah, Ariel, Emmanuel and Elkana in Salfit, Alfe Menashe and Karni Shomron in Qalqilya, and al-Mawj settlement in Jericho.
The report said that the first third of this year has witnessed an escalation in the construction and expansion of settlements, despite the U.S brokered negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestine are the Jewish civilian communities built on lands occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War. Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and in the Golan Heights.
However, Israeli settlement expansion has continued unabated, despite being condemned by almost all other nations and the UN.
19 apr 2014
Palestinian crowds during the funeral of Nuha Qatamesh killed by Israeli tear gas firing while at home in Ayda refugee camp near Bethlehem.
One Palestinian was killed and 101 injured in Israeli violence in the occupied Palestinian territories during the period from April 8 to 14, a UN report said. According to the report issued by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Israeli occupation displaceed 40 Palestinians, half of them women and children, and demolished 15 houses.
A woman aged 44 was killed by tear gas canister dropped by her home in the West Bank refugee camp of Ayda near Bethlehem, where 42, including 20 children, were injured during protests against the Annexation Wall.
As for the new forced displacements, the reported said the demolition of Palestinian homes in Hebron towns and in Jerusalem continues, pointing to 40 Palestinian householders having lost their homes and 34 others affected by the measure.
The office said at least the Israeli aggressions as of 2014 have left 21 Palestinians killed and 725 wounded in Gaza and the West Bank.
One Palestinian was killed and 101 injured in Israeli violence in the occupied Palestinian territories during the period from April 8 to 14, a UN report said. According to the report issued by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Israeli occupation displaceed 40 Palestinians, half of them women and children, and demolished 15 houses.
A woman aged 44 was killed by tear gas canister dropped by her home in the West Bank refugee camp of Ayda near Bethlehem, where 42, including 20 children, were injured during protests against the Annexation Wall.
As for the new forced displacements, the reported said the demolition of Palestinian homes in Hebron towns and in Jerusalem continues, pointing to 40 Palestinian householders having lost their homes and 34 others affected by the measure.
The office said at least the Israeli aggressions as of 2014 have left 21 Palestinians killed and 725 wounded in Gaza and the West Bank.
17 apr 2014
The Palestinian Ministry of Information on Thursday issued a new report entitled "Israeli Incitement and racism Against Palestinians 2014", as follows:
Israel through its relationships and its influence across a wide range of the global media as well as the possession of a number of satellite channels, newspapers and important international publications,exploits the aforementioned in justifying crimes and ongoing violations of Palestinian rights; this doesn't spare international laws and conventions, the violation of which continues unchecked and goes on without even a condemnation. Israel is the only country in the world that violates all international laws with impunity, without being challenged by an international instrument of law.
These international conditions emboldened Israel to continue violating Palestinian rights with ugly racist practices; this includes massacres, killing and detention of children, old and young innocents. The a forementioned Israeli crimes include assassinations, restrictions on the movement, media and access to basic services; such as access to medical services and education, in addition to the Israeli building of the apartheid separation wall and construction of Jews-onlyroads. The Israeli crimes continue viciously without being challenged by the international community and law, other than simply reporting these crimes.
In this context, Amnesty International released a newreport, published on 02.27.2014, clearly condemning Israel for its documented unpunished violations against thePalestinians. As stated in the introduction to the report, "that Israeli forces showed a clear disregard for human life by its killing of tens of Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, including children with total impunity."
The report also shows that the Palestinians who have been killed by Israeli soldiers - during the period covered by the report - did not pose an immediate threat and a direct bearing on the lives of others when they killed. In other cases the evidence proved they were the victims of murder fall under war crimes.
Click Here To Download The Full Report (DOCX
Israel through its relationships and its influence across a wide range of the global media as well as the possession of a number of satellite channels, newspapers and important international publications,exploits the aforementioned in justifying crimes and ongoing violations of Palestinian rights; this doesn't spare international laws and conventions, the violation of which continues unchecked and goes on without even a condemnation. Israel is the only country in the world that violates all international laws with impunity, without being challenged by an international instrument of law.
These international conditions emboldened Israel to continue violating Palestinian rights with ugly racist practices; this includes massacres, killing and detention of children, old and young innocents. The a forementioned Israeli crimes include assassinations, restrictions on the movement, media and access to basic services; such as access to medical services and education, in addition to the Israeli building of the apartheid separation wall and construction of Jews-onlyroads. The Israeli crimes continue viciously without being challenged by the international community and law, other than simply reporting these crimes.
In this context, Amnesty International released a newreport, published on 02.27.2014, clearly condemning Israel for its documented unpunished violations against thePalestinians. As stated in the introduction to the report, "that Israeli forces showed a clear disregard for human life by its killing of tens of Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, including children with total impunity."
The report also shows that the Palestinians who have been killed by Israeli soldiers - during the period covered by the report - did not pose an immediate threat and a direct bearing on the lives of others when they killed. In other cases the evidence proved they were the victims of murder fall under war crimes.
Click Here To Download The Full Report (DOCX
16 apr 2014
The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) condemns the threats and punitive measures taken against journalist Orouba Othman. Othman was working at Alray Press Agency which belongs to Hamas government, and she published a report in The Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper on how officers in the security services in the Gaza Strip deliver Friday prayers sermons while in their military uniforms.
Othman reported to MADA that on 3rd April 2014 "I published my report titled "Gaza's security officers are preachers in Gaza's mosques" in The Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper, then Iyad Albazam the Spokesman of the Hamas Ministry of Interior posted on his facebook that " the report is full of lies", then I was exposed to libel allegations against me as well as threatening letters sent to my facebook, and someone called "Raed Abu Jarad" from the Ministry of Interior who commented on a post I made on facebook saying that I "spit in the plate I eat from" because I work as part of a project in the Government media center, as well as other threats by anonymous people".
Othman added: "In response to the report, I was informed by the Legal Affairs that my contract at the government media center will not be renewed, which is considered punitive procedures against me, and the Ministry of Interior submitted a complaint against me and that there will be a law suit against me by the public prosecutor". She mentioned that The Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper had published a clarification that the introduction to the report which says (slowly fascism makes its way to Gaza, after a number of bizarre laws imposed by Hamas ......) was added by the editor of newspaper.
MADA confirms its rejection of the penalties or taken action against journalists and citizens for expressing their opinions, and demands an end to the proceedings against journalist Orouba Othman, especially that the Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper has already explained that the introduction to the report, which mentioned the "fascist" was added by the editor.
Othman reported to MADA that on 3rd April 2014 "I published my report titled "Gaza's security officers are preachers in Gaza's mosques" in The Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper, then Iyad Albazam the Spokesman of the Hamas Ministry of Interior posted on his facebook that " the report is full of lies", then I was exposed to libel allegations against me as well as threatening letters sent to my facebook, and someone called "Raed Abu Jarad" from the Ministry of Interior who commented on a post I made on facebook saying that I "spit in the plate I eat from" because I work as part of a project in the Government media center, as well as other threats by anonymous people".
Othman added: "In response to the report, I was informed by the Legal Affairs that my contract at the government media center will not be renewed, which is considered punitive procedures against me, and the Ministry of Interior submitted a complaint against me and that there will be a law suit against me by the public prosecutor". She mentioned that The Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper had published a clarification that the introduction to the report which says (slowly fascism makes its way to Gaza, after a number of bizarre laws imposed by Hamas ......) was added by the editor of newspaper.
MADA confirms its rejection of the penalties or taken action against journalists and citizens for expressing their opinions, and demands an end to the proceedings against journalist Orouba Othman, especially that the Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper has already explained that the introduction to the report, which mentioned the "fascist" was added by the editor.
Occupied East Jerusalem is the center of Palestinian celebrations, whether Easter or Ramadan. Freedom of religion and freedom of movement are basic human rights enshrined in international law. However, since 1967, successive Israeli governments have developed a number of policies aimed at directly and indirectly force the people from their land.
For billions of Christians worldwide, the holy week of Easter is an opportunity to celebrate, pray and remember Jerusalem. Easter is supposed to be a time of hope and joy. But for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Christians, the first Christian community, the reality today is one of oppression and discrimination. Of these Christians, who are the centuries-old inhabitants of this land, only a tiny minority are able to celebrate in Jerusalem.
Continue Reading the Fact Sheet [PDF]
For billions of Christians worldwide, the holy week of Easter is an opportunity to celebrate, pray and remember Jerusalem. Easter is supposed to be a time of hope and joy. But for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Christians, the first Christian community, the reality today is one of oppression and discrimination. Of these Christians, who are the centuries-old inhabitants of this land, only a tiny minority are able to celebrate in Jerusalem.
Continue Reading the Fact Sheet [PDF]
Official statistics, released on the occasion of Prisoner Day, on the number and state of affairs of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails revealed scandalous facts about the tragedy of Palestinian detainees.
The Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees’ affairs said, in a statement that has been recently released on the occasion, that 5000 Palestinian detainees are still held in Israeli prisons, including 476 sentenced to life.
The statement documented the incarceration of 19 Palestinian women and 200 children in addition to several Palestinian minors who have, ironically, grown to maturity inside Israeli prisons.
The prisoners’ list includes 185 cases of administrative detention along with 11 MPs and several political leaders distributed among 22 Israeli prisons.
Incredible data about the prisoners’ tragedy
Official statistics revealed that more than 800 thousand Palestinians, including 15,000 female detainees and tens of thousands of children have been subject to the ongoing Israeli detention campaigns since 1967 until end of 2013.
Such appalling figures leave little doubt, if any, that every single Palestinian family had been put through detention. According to the statistics, Israeli prisons and detention centers have been built in almost every Palestinian territory.
Ever since the eruption of the second intifada in September 2000, 80 thousand detention cases, including 10,000 children and more than 60 ex-lawmakers and ministers, were documented.
Over the past decades, the Palestinian socio-political scene in the occupied West Bank has been overwhelmed by such detention campaigns. The security pretext, endemic to Israeli alleged incarceration ruses, could no longer be maintained as a taken-for-granted excuse.
According to a plethora of Human Rights organizations, detentions executed by Israeli Occupation Authorities (IOA) have been explicit breaches to the international humanitarian law. Palestinians have been held in the most horrible detention circumstances ever, and have been subject to deadly torture procedures, as corroborated by official statistics.
Statistics show that Palestinian detainees have not only undergone physical or psychological torture but have also been publically humiliated and tortured, at times in the presence of their families and children.
Ill detainees’ misfortune:
According to the statistics, several Palestinian detainees have been suffering to death due to poor health care.
Health conditions of more than 1,400 prisoners are considered critical. 16 captives have been permanently residing in Ramla prison hospital due to their deteriorating physical condition and the deadly diseases affecting many of them.
Atrocious as it might sound, 25 Palestinian prisoners have been diagnosed with cancer.
Prisoners killed under torture:
The Ministry of Detainees’ affairs documented the death of 73 Palestinians killed under torture and 53 others due to poor health care since 1967. 72 Palestinians were deliberately killed after the arrest and 7 others died after being shot from a close range by Israeli soldiers and prison guards inside prisons.
Such shocking statistics raise alarm bells over the situation of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Serious reactions against Israeli brutal violations of international laws have become more urgent than ever. It is high time activists across the entire globe took practical measures to stand up to Palestinian prisoners’ rights and help them restore their freedom.
In an interview made by PIC with prisoner Hamed Ibrahim’s wife Asma Hamed, ex-Palestinian detainee, the latter praised her husband’s journey of struggle. According to her, imprisonment has never been and will never be a source of fear to her husband and to thousands of Palestinians who will keep on fighting till their last breath.
Mrs. Hamed reported that her husband suspended, but has not yet ended, his hunger strike following a decision declaring his near transfer from solitary confinement to a private cell for three months.
Ibrahim Hamed has been detained for 6 years under unconfirmed charges of being in command of the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing.
The Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees’ affairs said, in a statement that has been recently released on the occasion, that 5000 Palestinian detainees are still held in Israeli prisons, including 476 sentenced to life.
The statement documented the incarceration of 19 Palestinian women and 200 children in addition to several Palestinian minors who have, ironically, grown to maturity inside Israeli prisons.
The prisoners’ list includes 185 cases of administrative detention along with 11 MPs and several political leaders distributed among 22 Israeli prisons.
Incredible data about the prisoners’ tragedy
Official statistics revealed that more than 800 thousand Palestinians, including 15,000 female detainees and tens of thousands of children have been subject to the ongoing Israeli detention campaigns since 1967 until end of 2013.
Such appalling figures leave little doubt, if any, that every single Palestinian family had been put through detention. According to the statistics, Israeli prisons and detention centers have been built in almost every Palestinian territory.
Ever since the eruption of the second intifada in September 2000, 80 thousand detention cases, including 10,000 children and more than 60 ex-lawmakers and ministers, were documented.
Over the past decades, the Palestinian socio-political scene in the occupied West Bank has been overwhelmed by such detention campaigns. The security pretext, endemic to Israeli alleged incarceration ruses, could no longer be maintained as a taken-for-granted excuse.
According to a plethora of Human Rights organizations, detentions executed by Israeli Occupation Authorities (IOA) have been explicit breaches to the international humanitarian law. Palestinians have been held in the most horrible detention circumstances ever, and have been subject to deadly torture procedures, as corroborated by official statistics.
Statistics show that Palestinian detainees have not only undergone physical or psychological torture but have also been publically humiliated and tortured, at times in the presence of their families and children.
Ill detainees’ misfortune:
According to the statistics, several Palestinian detainees have been suffering to death due to poor health care.
Health conditions of more than 1,400 prisoners are considered critical. 16 captives have been permanently residing in Ramla prison hospital due to their deteriorating physical condition and the deadly diseases affecting many of them.
Atrocious as it might sound, 25 Palestinian prisoners have been diagnosed with cancer.
Prisoners killed under torture:
The Ministry of Detainees’ affairs documented the death of 73 Palestinians killed under torture and 53 others due to poor health care since 1967. 72 Palestinians were deliberately killed after the arrest and 7 others died after being shot from a close range by Israeli soldiers and prison guards inside prisons.
Such shocking statistics raise alarm bells over the situation of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Serious reactions against Israeli brutal violations of international laws have become more urgent than ever. It is high time activists across the entire globe took practical measures to stand up to Palestinian prisoners’ rights and help them restore their freedom.
In an interview made by PIC with prisoner Hamed Ibrahim’s wife Asma Hamed, ex-Palestinian detainee, the latter praised her husband’s journey of struggle. According to her, imprisonment has never been and will never be a source of fear to her husband and to thousands of Palestinians who will keep on fighting till their last breath.
Mrs. Hamed reported that her husband suspended, but has not yet ended, his hunger strike following a decision declaring his near transfer from solitary confinement to a private cell for three months.
Ibrahim Hamed has been detained for 6 years under unconfirmed charges of being in command of the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing.
As the Palestinian people mark Palestinian Prisoners’ Day on April 17, more than 800,000 Palestinians, including children, have been kidnapped and imprisoned by Israel since 1967, while at least 5,000 Palestinians are currently held by Israel, a report by the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees has revealed.
The Ministry said that Israel is ongoing with its daily invasions, assaults and arrests against the Palestinians in different parts of occupied Palestine, targeting both men and women, adults and minors of varying ages.
It said that since Israel, in 1967, occupied the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, until the end of 2013, the army had kidnapped more than 800,000 Palestinians, including 15,000 women and thousands of children, and that the arrests are still ongoing.
“There isn’t single family that did not experience arrest, some numerous times”, the report said. “Israel turned every corner in occupied Palestine into a prison, detention camp and interrogation facility.”
After the second Palestinian Intifada, the al-Aqsa Intifada, which began in late September of 2000, Israeli soldiers have kidnapped more than 80,000 Palestinians, including around 10,000 children and more than 60 elected legislators and ministers.
Israeli authorities also issued more than 24,000 arbitrary Administrative Detention orders, detaining thousands without charges or trial, and imprisoning more than a 1,000 Palestinian women since then.
Arrests And Brutality Targeting Everybody
The arrests did not target any certain demographic or age group; instead, they targeted all sectors of the Palestinian society, including children, seniors, women, men, officials, ministers, legislators, political leaders, union leaders, disabled Palestinians, students, intellectuals, poets and artists...
Arrests take place every day, and there has not been one in which the army has not kidnapped someone. Most of the individuals abducted had nothing to do with “security threats”, to use Israel's terminology, yet, imprisonment and torture became part of daily life for Palestinians.
According to the report, the real danger is that the vast majority of these arrests, and accompanying violations, are direct violations of International Humanitarian Law; “The detainees are extremely tortured and abused... face the most cruel methods of torture, physical and psychological. They are imprisoned under inhumane conditions, are humiliated, and even their families are humiliated and assaulted”.
Israel, its security devices and interrogators, continuously violate the rights of the detainees as it imprisons, intimidates and tortures children, women and even detainees with special needs.
Detainees In Numbers
5,000 Palestinians are still behind bars, imprisoned in different prisons and detention centers. Most of them are from the occupied West Bank. Around 576 of them have been sentenced to at least one life term.
There are 19 Palestinian women and 200 children who are still imprisoned by Israel, in addition to hundreds of children who grew up and became adults while in prison.
Israel is also still holding captive 185 Palestinians under arbitrary Administrative Detention orders without charge, eleven elected legislators and dozens of political officials.
The detainees are held in around 22 prisons, detention and interrogation camps, mainly in Ramon, Nafha, Asqalan, Be’er As-Sabe’, Hadarim, Galboa’, Shatta, Ramla, Damoun, HaSharon, Ofer, Majeddo, and the Negev Detention camp.
Female Detainees
Detained Palestinian women, including children, face humiliation, torture, degradation, and are also tortured and beaten, in addition to the threats and harsh treatment they receive while being transferred. They also face repeated threat of sexual abuse.
Their suffering continues in solitary confinement, while the army also denies them family visits, denies them access to education, and proper medical treatment. Many of the detained women have husbands who are also imprisoned.
Ailing Detainees
More than 1,400 Palestinians need medical attention but are, instead, denied the needed medical treatments, and are suffering from deteriorating medical conditions. Sixteen of them are continually living at Ramla Prison Clinic, which lacks basic supplies and specialized physicians.
Some of the detainees are paralyzed and/or amputees, with dozens struggling with major life-threatening conditions. They need special attention and surgeries, while only prison doctors are allowed to examine them.
80 of the ailing detainees suffer from chronic conditions, including 15 who have different types of cancer, while dozens of others suffer various other physical and/or mental conditions.
Most of the detainees who fall ill, or develop psychological conditions, were completely healthy before they were kidnapped and imprisoned.
Prisons lack appropriate sanitation, are filled with bugs and insects. Cells and rooms have high humidity and are overcrowded.
Dozens of Palestinians were taken prisoner after they were shot by the army, and were tortured and interrogated, beaten on their wounds and cuts.
Many detainees, while in prison, developed skin conditions, ulcer, tumors, kidney failure, eyesight deterioration, slipped discs, diabetes, oral conditions, tooth loss and various sorts of psychological conditions, are still abused, with their bodies being used for testing by pharmaceutical companies.
Administrative Detainees
Administrative Detention is the “unknown enemy” which the detainees face, as it is a punishment without a charge, without an indictment. Administrative detainees are held without trial. Neither they or their lawyers are allowed to defend themselves, simply because they face what Israel calls a “secret file” that no one is allowed to see.
Each arbitrary Administrative Detention order is usually 1 to 6 months, issued by military commanders in the occupied Palestinian territories. Such orders target both men and women of different ages, young and old, including physicians, engineers, professors, teachers, journalists and elected legislators and officials.
Such orders are repeatedly renewed and, in many cases, just as the detainees are about to step out of prison, they are informed of a new order, often spending months and years under such orders without even knowing when, or if, they will ever be freed.
Veteran Detainees
Following the resumption of direct Palestinian-Israeli talks in late July of 2013, and after years of stalemate, Israel was still holding captive 104 veteran detainees, held since before the First Oslo Agreement of 1993.
Under American mediation, Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank reached an agreement for the release of all 104 veteran detainees, in four stages.
In return, the Palestinian Authority vowed not to file any new application to join the different UN and other international institutions which, as a result, would allow them to gain international recognition, during the nine months of direct talks.
Israel implemented the first three stages of release, and backed down on the fourth, which supposed to be implemented by March 28, 2014. 30 veteran detainees were supposed to be freed, but Israel voided the deal.
The release was supposed to contribute to stability in the region, a part of the ongoing talks, free of violations and invasions, but Israel blatantly continued with its ongoing assaults, arrests, invasions and assassinations.
The United States, the mediator of these talks, along with the International Community, need to act, putting pressure on Israel to halt its violations, to respect its commitment and to release the detainees, if it is seriously willing to resume peace talks and reach a final status agreement.
Tragic Conditions
The living conditions which detainees face in Israeli occupation prisons are tough, extremely harsh, especially in the face of such a wide range of violations and abuses which include but are not limited to torture, medical neglect and solitary confinement – this all in addition to repeated denial of family visits, malnutrition and blackmail, most often by way of children.
This is happening in addition to repeated attacks against the detainees in their rooms, night raids and searches, high fines, all different sorts of violations. Simply put, Israel is violating all international conventions and is denying them the most basic of human and prisoner rights.
According to detailed and documented reports by the Ministry of Detainees and various human rights groups, 205 Palestinian detainees died after being arrested since the year 1967.
Seventy-three of them died due to extreme torture; the latest casualty was Arafat Jaradat from Sa’ir town, near Hebron, who died less than two weeks after being kidnapped and repeatedly tortured by Israeli interrogators.
Fifty-three Palestinian detainees died due to lack of medical attention; the latest casualty being one Hasan Toraby from the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
Seventy-two Palestinians were executed after the soldiers kidnapped them, and seven were shot and killed while in prison.
These violations, and the unacceptable conditions which detainees face in Israeli prisons, require every Palestinian in the country, and around the world, to act in highlighting the suffering of the detainees, and to engage in solidarity acts which expose the serious violations and crimes perpetrated on them by the Israeli government.
Activists around the world, including all international institutions, in defense of both human and prisoner rights, are also called upon to act, in order to oblige Israel to respect those human and civil rights, to respect International Law, the Fourth Geneva Convention and all related treaties.
The Ministry said that Israel is ongoing with its daily invasions, assaults and arrests against the Palestinians in different parts of occupied Palestine, targeting both men and women, adults and minors of varying ages.
It said that since Israel, in 1967, occupied the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, until the end of 2013, the army had kidnapped more than 800,000 Palestinians, including 15,000 women and thousands of children, and that the arrests are still ongoing.
“There isn’t single family that did not experience arrest, some numerous times”, the report said. “Israel turned every corner in occupied Palestine into a prison, detention camp and interrogation facility.”
After the second Palestinian Intifada, the al-Aqsa Intifada, which began in late September of 2000, Israeli soldiers have kidnapped more than 80,000 Palestinians, including around 10,000 children and more than 60 elected legislators and ministers.
Israeli authorities also issued more than 24,000 arbitrary Administrative Detention orders, detaining thousands without charges or trial, and imprisoning more than a 1,000 Palestinian women since then.
Arrests And Brutality Targeting Everybody
The arrests did not target any certain demographic or age group; instead, they targeted all sectors of the Palestinian society, including children, seniors, women, men, officials, ministers, legislators, political leaders, union leaders, disabled Palestinians, students, intellectuals, poets and artists...
Arrests take place every day, and there has not been one in which the army has not kidnapped someone. Most of the individuals abducted had nothing to do with “security threats”, to use Israel's terminology, yet, imprisonment and torture became part of daily life for Palestinians.
According to the report, the real danger is that the vast majority of these arrests, and accompanying violations, are direct violations of International Humanitarian Law; “The detainees are extremely tortured and abused... face the most cruel methods of torture, physical and psychological. They are imprisoned under inhumane conditions, are humiliated, and even their families are humiliated and assaulted”.
Israel, its security devices and interrogators, continuously violate the rights of the detainees as it imprisons, intimidates and tortures children, women and even detainees with special needs.
Detainees In Numbers
5,000 Palestinians are still behind bars, imprisoned in different prisons and detention centers. Most of them are from the occupied West Bank. Around 576 of them have been sentenced to at least one life term.
There are 19 Palestinian women and 200 children who are still imprisoned by Israel, in addition to hundreds of children who grew up and became adults while in prison.
Israel is also still holding captive 185 Palestinians under arbitrary Administrative Detention orders without charge, eleven elected legislators and dozens of political officials.
The detainees are held in around 22 prisons, detention and interrogation camps, mainly in Ramon, Nafha, Asqalan, Be’er As-Sabe’, Hadarim, Galboa’, Shatta, Ramla, Damoun, HaSharon, Ofer, Majeddo, and the Negev Detention camp.
Female Detainees
Detained Palestinian women, including children, face humiliation, torture, degradation, and are also tortured and beaten, in addition to the threats and harsh treatment they receive while being transferred. They also face repeated threat of sexual abuse.
Their suffering continues in solitary confinement, while the army also denies them family visits, denies them access to education, and proper medical treatment. Many of the detained women have husbands who are also imprisoned.
Ailing Detainees
More than 1,400 Palestinians need medical attention but are, instead, denied the needed medical treatments, and are suffering from deteriorating medical conditions. Sixteen of them are continually living at Ramla Prison Clinic, which lacks basic supplies and specialized physicians.
Some of the detainees are paralyzed and/or amputees, with dozens struggling with major life-threatening conditions. They need special attention and surgeries, while only prison doctors are allowed to examine them.
80 of the ailing detainees suffer from chronic conditions, including 15 who have different types of cancer, while dozens of others suffer various other physical and/or mental conditions.
Most of the detainees who fall ill, or develop psychological conditions, were completely healthy before they were kidnapped and imprisoned.
Prisons lack appropriate sanitation, are filled with bugs and insects. Cells and rooms have high humidity and are overcrowded.
Dozens of Palestinians were taken prisoner after they were shot by the army, and were tortured and interrogated, beaten on their wounds and cuts.
Many detainees, while in prison, developed skin conditions, ulcer, tumors, kidney failure, eyesight deterioration, slipped discs, diabetes, oral conditions, tooth loss and various sorts of psychological conditions, are still abused, with their bodies being used for testing by pharmaceutical companies.
Administrative Detainees
Administrative Detention is the “unknown enemy” which the detainees face, as it is a punishment without a charge, without an indictment. Administrative detainees are held without trial. Neither they or their lawyers are allowed to defend themselves, simply because they face what Israel calls a “secret file” that no one is allowed to see.
Each arbitrary Administrative Detention order is usually 1 to 6 months, issued by military commanders in the occupied Palestinian territories. Such orders target both men and women of different ages, young and old, including physicians, engineers, professors, teachers, journalists and elected legislators and officials.
Such orders are repeatedly renewed and, in many cases, just as the detainees are about to step out of prison, they are informed of a new order, often spending months and years under such orders without even knowing when, or if, they will ever be freed.
Veteran Detainees
Following the resumption of direct Palestinian-Israeli talks in late July of 2013, and after years of stalemate, Israel was still holding captive 104 veteran detainees, held since before the First Oslo Agreement of 1993.
Under American mediation, Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank reached an agreement for the release of all 104 veteran detainees, in four stages.
In return, the Palestinian Authority vowed not to file any new application to join the different UN and other international institutions which, as a result, would allow them to gain international recognition, during the nine months of direct talks.
Israel implemented the first three stages of release, and backed down on the fourth, which supposed to be implemented by March 28, 2014. 30 veteran detainees were supposed to be freed, but Israel voided the deal.
The release was supposed to contribute to stability in the region, a part of the ongoing talks, free of violations and invasions, but Israel blatantly continued with its ongoing assaults, arrests, invasions and assassinations.
The United States, the mediator of these talks, along with the International Community, need to act, putting pressure on Israel to halt its violations, to respect its commitment and to release the detainees, if it is seriously willing to resume peace talks and reach a final status agreement.
Tragic Conditions
The living conditions which detainees face in Israeli occupation prisons are tough, extremely harsh, especially in the face of such a wide range of violations and abuses which include but are not limited to torture, medical neglect and solitary confinement – this all in addition to repeated denial of family visits, malnutrition and blackmail, most often by way of children.
This is happening in addition to repeated attacks against the detainees in their rooms, night raids and searches, high fines, all different sorts of violations. Simply put, Israel is violating all international conventions and is denying them the most basic of human and prisoner rights.
According to detailed and documented reports by the Ministry of Detainees and various human rights groups, 205 Palestinian detainees died after being arrested since the year 1967.
Seventy-three of them died due to extreme torture; the latest casualty was Arafat Jaradat from Sa’ir town, near Hebron, who died less than two weeks after being kidnapped and repeatedly tortured by Israeli interrogators.
Fifty-three Palestinian detainees died due to lack of medical attention; the latest casualty being one Hasan Toraby from the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
Seventy-two Palestinians were executed after the soldiers kidnapped them, and seven were shot and killed while in prison.
These violations, and the unacceptable conditions which detainees face in Israeli prisons, require every Palestinian in the country, and around the world, to act in highlighting the suffering of the detainees, and to engage in solidarity acts which expose the serious violations and crimes perpetrated on them by the Israeli government.
Activists around the world, including all international institutions, in defense of both human and prisoner rights, are also called upon to act, in order to oblige Israel to respect those human and civil rights, to respect International Law, the Fourth Geneva Convention and all related treaties.
Even some basic necessities, such as clean drinking water and removal of solid waste is not widely available
By Dr. Cesar Chelala
As Israel continues its unlawful siege of the Gaza Strip, the health situation for the Palestinians continues to be critical. In a comprehensive report, B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, described the health situation in Gaza on January 1st, 2014.
According to B’Tselem, the siege that Israel has imposed on Gaza since Hamas took control of Gaza’s security apparatus in June 2007 has greatly damaged Gaza’s health system, which already had considerable shortcomings. Now, many services and life-saving treatments are not available to Palestinians inside Gaza, and treatment of cancer and heart patients is postponed, as medical supplies and equipment are delayed.
Even some basic necessities, such as clean drinking water and removal of solid waste is not widely available. It is estimated that 30 percent of Gaza Strip residents do not receive water on a regular basis. In addition, many diagnostic and emergency medical services cannot operate because of lack of generators. Statistics from the World Health Organization showed that 19 percent of necessary medicines were lacking, as well as replacement parts for critical equipment and several disposable but necessary items such as bandages, syringes and plaster for casts.
In the meantime, Israel severely limits the amounts of permits for hundreds of patients to enter Israel for advanced treatment unavailable in Gaza. Physicians for Human Rights Israel questioned the legality of the procedure whereby every exit permit from Gaza for medical treatment requires a check by the Israel Security Agency (ISA). According to that organization, in several cases the ISA abused this procedure to pressure patients to collaborate providing intelligence information in exchange for a permit.
Despite its so-called “disengagement” from the Gaza Strip in September of 2005, Israel continues to hold effective control of many aspects of Gazans’ lives, including check points and the entrance of basic supplies. This situation imposes on Israel responsibility for the safety and welfare of Gaza’s residents, according to precepts established in The Hague and Geneva Conventions. Because of its control of residents’ lives in Gaza and the curtailment of its movements, Israel seriously breaches Palestinians’ right to optimal medical care inside the Strip and access to medical care outside the area.
In 2009, writing for The Guardian, Avi Shlaim, Oxford professor of international relations, stated, “The Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the June 1967 war had very little to do with security and everything to do with territorial expansionism. The aim was to establish Greater Israel through permanent political, economic and military control over the Palestinian territories. And the result has been one of the most prolonged and brutal military occupation of modern times.”
Shlaim also stated, “Gaza, however, is not simply a case of economic under-development but a uniquely cruel case of deliberate de-development….Gaza is a classical case of colonial exploitation in the post-colonial era.” For Shlaim, settlements in Palestinian land have become an insurmountable obstacle to peace. He calls them “the instrument of exploitation and the symbol of the hated occupation.”
The Israeli government often contends that they gave freedom to the Gazans and rather than being thankful they continued throwing rockets into Israel. Shlaim, however, provides a different analysis. “Hamas, the Islamic resistance movement, conducted an effective campaign to drive the Israelis out of Gaza. The withdrawal was a humiliation for the Israeli Defense Forces. To the world, Sharon presented the withdrawal from Gaza as a contribution to peace based on a two-state solution. But in the year after, 12,000 Israelis settled on the West Bank, further reducing the scope for an independent Palestinian state. Land-grabbing and peace-making are simply incompatible. Israel had a choice and it chose land over peace,” wrote Shlaim.
In the meantime, as peace conversations ignore the needs of Gazans, the people in the Strip are deprived of basic health and human rights leading 1.5 million people to the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. The situation in Gaza is nothing but the fight of the oppressors against the oppressed, a conflict that corrodes Israel’s own soul.
By Dr. Cesar Chelala
As Israel continues its unlawful siege of the Gaza Strip, the health situation for the Palestinians continues to be critical. In a comprehensive report, B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, described the health situation in Gaza on January 1st, 2014.
According to B’Tselem, the siege that Israel has imposed on Gaza since Hamas took control of Gaza’s security apparatus in June 2007 has greatly damaged Gaza’s health system, which already had considerable shortcomings. Now, many services and life-saving treatments are not available to Palestinians inside Gaza, and treatment of cancer and heart patients is postponed, as medical supplies and equipment are delayed.
Even some basic necessities, such as clean drinking water and removal of solid waste is not widely available. It is estimated that 30 percent of Gaza Strip residents do not receive water on a regular basis. In addition, many diagnostic and emergency medical services cannot operate because of lack of generators. Statistics from the World Health Organization showed that 19 percent of necessary medicines were lacking, as well as replacement parts for critical equipment and several disposable but necessary items such as bandages, syringes and plaster for casts.
In the meantime, Israel severely limits the amounts of permits for hundreds of patients to enter Israel for advanced treatment unavailable in Gaza. Physicians for Human Rights Israel questioned the legality of the procedure whereby every exit permit from Gaza for medical treatment requires a check by the Israel Security Agency (ISA). According to that organization, in several cases the ISA abused this procedure to pressure patients to collaborate providing intelligence information in exchange for a permit.
Despite its so-called “disengagement” from the Gaza Strip in September of 2005, Israel continues to hold effective control of many aspects of Gazans’ lives, including check points and the entrance of basic supplies. This situation imposes on Israel responsibility for the safety and welfare of Gaza’s residents, according to precepts established in The Hague and Geneva Conventions. Because of its control of residents’ lives in Gaza and the curtailment of its movements, Israel seriously breaches Palestinians’ right to optimal medical care inside the Strip and access to medical care outside the area.
In 2009, writing for The Guardian, Avi Shlaim, Oxford professor of international relations, stated, “The Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the June 1967 war had very little to do with security and everything to do with territorial expansionism. The aim was to establish Greater Israel through permanent political, economic and military control over the Palestinian territories. And the result has been one of the most prolonged and brutal military occupation of modern times.”
Shlaim also stated, “Gaza, however, is not simply a case of economic under-development but a uniquely cruel case of deliberate de-development….Gaza is a classical case of colonial exploitation in the post-colonial era.” For Shlaim, settlements in Palestinian land have become an insurmountable obstacle to peace. He calls them “the instrument of exploitation and the symbol of the hated occupation.”
The Israeli government often contends that they gave freedom to the Gazans and rather than being thankful they continued throwing rockets into Israel. Shlaim, however, provides a different analysis. “Hamas, the Islamic resistance movement, conducted an effective campaign to drive the Israelis out of Gaza. The withdrawal was a humiliation for the Israeli Defense Forces. To the world, Sharon presented the withdrawal from Gaza as a contribution to peace based on a two-state solution. But in the year after, 12,000 Israelis settled on the West Bank, further reducing the scope for an independent Palestinian state. Land-grabbing and peace-making are simply incompatible. Israel had a choice and it chose land over peace,” wrote Shlaim.
In the meantime, as peace conversations ignore the needs of Gazans, the people in the Strip are deprived of basic health and human rights leading 1.5 million people to the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. The situation in Gaza is nothing but the fight of the oppressors against the oppressed, a conflict that corrodes Israel’s own soul.
Ministry of Health said Wednesday that 50 % of the Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip were shot in the upper body. It clearly proves that the occupation is still practicing a systematic murder against the Palestinian people despite the truce signed in 2012, the ministry said.
Death toll of the Palestinian killed in 2013 was 12 while the number of injuries reached 152 due to the ongoing violations by Israeli occupation.
41.7 % of the killed Palestinians were shot with live ammunition, most are workers and farmers who work near the border fence. 59.9 % were injured with ammunition, the ministry added.
On 21 November 2012, Israel and the Palestinian resistance came to a ceasefire agreement to end the eight days attack that had killed many and injured hundreds of innocent civilians.
The terms of the latest agreement include ending all hostilities by Israelis and Palestinians, facilitating the freedom of movement and transferring goods to Gaza. Yet, Israel has violated these simple truce points continuously since they were agreed upon. Not only are the crossings still very restricted, but the fire into Gaza continues, with the first one occurring the next day after the truce agreement.
Death toll of the Palestinian killed in 2013 was 12 while the number of injuries reached 152 due to the ongoing violations by Israeli occupation.
41.7 % of the killed Palestinians were shot with live ammunition, most are workers and farmers who work near the border fence. 59.9 % were injured with ammunition, the ministry added.
On 21 November 2012, Israel and the Palestinian resistance came to a ceasefire agreement to end the eight days attack that had killed many and injured hundreds of innocent civilians.
The terms of the latest agreement include ending all hostilities by Israelis and Palestinians, facilitating the freedom of movement and transferring goods to Gaza. Yet, Israel has violated these simple truce points continuously since they were agreed upon. Not only are the crossings still very restricted, but the fire into Gaza continues, with the first one occurring the next day after the truce agreement.