13 mar 2014
Israeli forces arrest Tha’er Nabil Ghannam (18) when he was on his way back from work in the centre of the old city in Hebron
Israeli forces continue systematic attacks against Palestinian civilians and property in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt)
Israeli forces killed a Palestinian judge at al-Karama border crossing with Jordan.
A Palestinian civilian was killed, northeast of Ramallah.
Israeli forces killed 3 members of Palestinian armed groups, south of the Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces launched 30 airstrikes on different areas in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces continued to use excessive force against peaceful protesters in the West Bank.
6 Palestinian civilians, including 3 brothers, were wounded.
7 Palestinian civilians were wounded at the entrance of al-Jalazoun refugee camp, north of Ramallah.
Israeli forces conducted 76 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and 2 limited ones in the Gaza Strip.
A Palestinian civilian was wounded during an Israeli incursion in Ya'bad village, southwest of Jenin.
34 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children, were arrested.
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 4 Palestinian civilians, including 2 children, were arrested at checkpoints in the West Bank.
7 Palestinian civilians, including 4 children, were arrested north of the Gaza Strip, when they attempted to enter Israel through the border fence.
Israeli navy forces continued targeting Palestinian fishermen in the sea.
2 fishermen were wounded, north of the Gaza Strip.
2 fishermen were arrested off Gaza City shore.
Israeli forces continued to support settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.
Israeli forces issued house demolition notices.
Settlers attacked Palestinian farmers north of Ramallah.
The windshield of a journalist's vehicle was smashed, due to which he sustained shrapnel wound.
Israeli forces continue systematic attacks against Palestinian civilians and property in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt)
Israeli forces killed a Palestinian judge at al-Karama border crossing with Jordan.
A Palestinian civilian was killed, northeast of Ramallah.
Israeli forces killed 3 members of Palestinian armed groups, south of the Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces launched 30 airstrikes on different areas in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces continued to use excessive force against peaceful protesters in the West Bank.
6 Palestinian civilians, including 3 brothers, were wounded.
7 Palestinian civilians were wounded at the entrance of al-Jalazoun refugee camp, north of Ramallah.
Israeli forces conducted 76 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and 2 limited ones in the Gaza Strip.
A Palestinian civilian was wounded during an Israeli incursion in Ya'bad village, southwest of Jenin.
34 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children, were arrested.
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 4 Palestinian civilians, including 2 children, were arrested at checkpoints in the West Bank.
7 Palestinian civilians, including 4 children, were arrested north of the Gaza Strip, when they attempted to enter Israel through the border fence.
Israeli navy forces continued targeting Palestinian fishermen in the sea.
2 fishermen were wounded, north of the Gaza Strip.
2 fishermen were arrested off Gaza City shore.
Israeli forces continued to support settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.
Israeli forces issued house demolition notices.
Settlers attacked Palestinian farmers north of Ramallah.
The windshield of a journalist's vehicle was smashed, due to which he sustained shrapnel wound.
A Palestinian child during a protest in front of the UNRWA headquarters in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on January 26, 2014
The European Union has warned of "serious consequences" for Middle East regional security if the Gaza Strip's dire economic and humanitarian situation is not addressed.
A report commissioned by EU consuls-general in East Jerusalem and Ramallah urged Israel to ease access restrictions to the blockaded Palestinian territory, especially in light of an unprecedented crackdown by the new Egyptian regime on Gaza's western border.
"Today, Gaza is facing a dangerous and pressing humanitarian and economic situation... (including) the cessation of imports of construction materials; rising unemployment, rising prices and increased food insecurity," the report said.
"If left unaddressed, the situation could have serious consequences for stability in Gaza, for security more widely in the region as well as for the peace process itself," it said, referring to ongoing US-backed Israeli-Palestinian talks.
"Israel bears the prime responsibility for the situation in Gaza," it said, adding that a seventh consecutive year of blockading the Strip had caused "further deterioration of the humanitarian situation and of the economic and social conditions."
The report highlighted the economic damage caused by both the blockade Israel imposed in 2006, and Egypt's destruction of hundreds of cross-border tunnels after the July ouster of president Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, an ally of the Hamas Islamist movement that governs Gaza.
"For several years, these tunnels kept Gaza's economy afloat... accounting for more than 80 percent of Gaza's supply of construction materials, medical supplies, food, and other goods," it said.
The resulting lack of fuel has led to up to 16 hours per day of power outages in the coastal enclave of some 1.7 million people.
Additionally, "the lack of construction activity is of great concern as the construction sector has been the primary employer in the Gaza Strip since 2008."
The report also called for reconciliation between Hamas and its West Bank-based rivals Fatah, who have failed to patch up their differences since Hamas took over the Strip after fierce in-fighting in 2007.
A uniting of Palestinian factions would help ensure human rights laws are respected by Hamas, and would help push forward the Israel-Palestinian talks, the report said.
Any peace agreement would go to a popular referendum, including in the Gaza Strip, which was an "integral" part of a future Palestinian state.
The European Union has warned of "serious consequences" for Middle East regional security if the Gaza Strip's dire economic and humanitarian situation is not addressed.
A report commissioned by EU consuls-general in East Jerusalem and Ramallah urged Israel to ease access restrictions to the blockaded Palestinian territory, especially in light of an unprecedented crackdown by the new Egyptian regime on Gaza's western border.
"Today, Gaza is facing a dangerous and pressing humanitarian and economic situation... (including) the cessation of imports of construction materials; rising unemployment, rising prices and increased food insecurity," the report said.
"If left unaddressed, the situation could have serious consequences for stability in Gaza, for security more widely in the region as well as for the peace process itself," it said, referring to ongoing US-backed Israeli-Palestinian talks.
"Israel bears the prime responsibility for the situation in Gaza," it said, adding that a seventh consecutive year of blockading the Strip had caused "further deterioration of the humanitarian situation and of the economic and social conditions."
The report highlighted the economic damage caused by both the blockade Israel imposed in 2006, and Egypt's destruction of hundreds of cross-border tunnels after the July ouster of president Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, an ally of the Hamas Islamist movement that governs Gaza.
"For several years, these tunnels kept Gaza's economy afloat... accounting for more than 80 percent of Gaza's supply of construction materials, medical supplies, food, and other goods," it said.
The resulting lack of fuel has led to up to 16 hours per day of power outages in the coastal enclave of some 1.7 million people.
Additionally, "the lack of construction activity is of great concern as the construction sector has been the primary employer in the Gaza Strip since 2008."
The report also called for reconciliation between Hamas and its West Bank-based rivals Fatah, who have failed to patch up their differences since Hamas took over the Strip after fierce in-fighting in 2007.
A uniting of Palestinian factions would help ensure human rights laws are respected by Hamas, and would help push forward the Israel-Palestinian talks, the report said.
Any peace agreement would go to a popular referendum, including in the Gaza Strip, which was an "integral" part of a future Palestinian state.
9 mar 2014
Women Journalists are exposed to right's violations in Palestine, and there are several attempts aimed to silence them and limit their ability to express, the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) said in press release on the occasion of the International Women Day (8th March).
MADA has monitored disturbing patterns of violations against women journalists, committed by the Israeli occupation forces and various Palestinian sides in the West Bank and Gaza.
Palestinian women journalists have suffered over the past years of Israeli occupation violations when they were covering different events. For example, Diala Jwehan- Al-Quds Net correspondent was exposed to many injuries and violations, the most recent was last week when she was covering clashes in the city of Jerusalem.
Jwehan says: "The occupation always targets anyone in the media field, but they see me as a weak woman, and they believe they can intimidate me by their repeated physically attacks on me. In fact, these violations gave me the motivation and determination to continue with quality and more comprehensive work in the media".
Among the Israeli violations, MADA also recalls the attack on Huda Alhodali – Associated Press photographer last year, while she was covering the evection of the "Al Nawater village" near Jerusalem, where she was pushed and treated harshly by Israeli occupation soldiers, and she fell on her back on a big stone.
Another incident, Linda Shalash Al-Quds TV correspondent was sprayed with wastewater by occupation soldiers during her coverage of the second batch of Palestinian prisoners release "Shalit Deal", after midnight on 30th October 2013. Shalash reported to MADA
"I fell on the ground from the power of water pressure, and I was fully soaked, despite of it I continued my work and I went to the presidential residence in the province to cover the entire activities of the Prisoners, where they held a welcoming reception for them".
Palestinian Violation against Women Journalists
On 6th March 2014, 48 hours prior to the International Women's Day, Faten Alwan- Alhura channel correspondent was pushed and threatened by a member of security forces while she was covering a women's protest in front of the Palestinian Authority Headquarters "Almoqata'a" in Ramallah, demanding amendments on the Penal code and the personal status for women law, especially in regard to the so-called "honor killings".
Alwan Reported to MADA:"A security personnel in his civil cloth started pushing us and all the journalists who were present on site, including my colleague, Yahya Habayeb- Alhura TV cameraman, and when I asked him why are you doing this? He commanded me to stay away or he will confiscate the camera, and when I asked him what his name was, he told me: "you journalists need discipline", and then he said: Thank your Lord that you are not a man". Alwan said she insisted on knowing his name so she can file a complaint against him, but he told her: "I'm a ghost no one can punish me".
Things did not stop there; the Ministry of Palestinian Women's Affairs withheld the honoring of Nahed Abu Taima "a journalist and Informative" because of her criticism of the government, parties and institutions for not protecting women in Palestine on her Facebook page. The Incident raised the ire of other women journalists like Amal Joma'a, Ruba Alnajjar, and Christine Alrinawe, which led to their refusal to be honored by the ministry at its honorary ceremony that is supposed to be held to mark the International Women's Day.
Abu Taima reported to MADA: "There is a heavy burden on Palestinian women, and for 20 years we have begged the successive governments to protect women by amending the legal penalties and personal status, but without a avail, and since all Palestinian laws guarantee citizens the right to freedom of expression, it is our right as journalists to express our opinions about the government's different policies especially those relating to women. The attempts to intimidate women journalists, offending and abusing them in any form, and imposing censorship on their writing are unacceptable and contrary to the spirit of the lows".
In Gaza, women journalists face numerous threats due to their profession. Samia Alzebidi "journalist" reported to MADA that she had received several threats and in different ways from an unidentified person for expressing her opinion, and that sometimes the threat is padded and alludes to the possibility of fabrication of a moral case against the journalist if she continues her criticism of the government.
Nofuth Albakri – Alhaya Aljadeda newspaper correspondent reported to MADA - who monitored numerous attacks on her in the past years – That there are many obstacles that limit the ability of journalists to practice journalism in Gaza, and she noted that the security forces and officials exercise hiden and evident violations on the right of journalists. One example of this is the difficulty of access to information by journalists, where officials could deal with journalists in the smoothest and fastest manners, and women journalists are harassed and forced sometimes to wear a veil before entering for some events.
Albakri added: "we also face the problems of access to some places; In general the police or security can stop a taxi and inquire about the reason for our presence in the car with the driver without a man, which hinders our work and our access to many of the events. In addition, when we go to cover in the field, they push young men to harass us by entering our personal space and stand very near to us".
On the International Women's Day, MADA express its pride of Palestinian women journalists for being role models in exercising their profession, their insistence on disseminating the suffering of their people under the Israeli occupation and siege captured in words and images, and their great efforts to showcase the reality of Palestinian women and other issues of concern to the Palestinian community despite of all the difficulties, obstacles, and repression they face.
MADA congratulates the women of Palestine and the world, especially women journalists, and it condemns all attacks on their rights, and demands all parties concerned and responsible to protect women journalists and empower them to do their work in complete freedom, and to hold accountable all those responsible for all the attacks of their rights, and we demand an end to discrimination against women journalists, and to enable them to reach leadership positions at media outlets.
MADA has monitored disturbing patterns of violations against women journalists, committed by the Israeli occupation forces and various Palestinian sides in the West Bank and Gaza.
Palestinian women journalists have suffered over the past years of Israeli occupation violations when they were covering different events. For example, Diala Jwehan- Al-Quds Net correspondent was exposed to many injuries and violations, the most recent was last week when she was covering clashes in the city of Jerusalem.
Jwehan says: "The occupation always targets anyone in the media field, but they see me as a weak woman, and they believe they can intimidate me by their repeated physically attacks on me. In fact, these violations gave me the motivation and determination to continue with quality and more comprehensive work in the media".
Among the Israeli violations, MADA also recalls the attack on Huda Alhodali – Associated Press photographer last year, while she was covering the evection of the "Al Nawater village" near Jerusalem, where she was pushed and treated harshly by Israeli occupation soldiers, and she fell on her back on a big stone.
Another incident, Linda Shalash Al-Quds TV correspondent was sprayed with wastewater by occupation soldiers during her coverage of the second batch of Palestinian prisoners release "Shalit Deal", after midnight on 30th October 2013. Shalash reported to MADA
"I fell on the ground from the power of water pressure, and I was fully soaked, despite of it I continued my work and I went to the presidential residence in the province to cover the entire activities of the Prisoners, where they held a welcoming reception for them".
Palestinian Violation against Women Journalists
On 6th March 2014, 48 hours prior to the International Women's Day, Faten Alwan- Alhura channel correspondent was pushed and threatened by a member of security forces while she was covering a women's protest in front of the Palestinian Authority Headquarters "Almoqata'a" in Ramallah, demanding amendments on the Penal code and the personal status for women law, especially in regard to the so-called "honor killings".
Alwan Reported to MADA:"A security personnel in his civil cloth started pushing us and all the journalists who were present on site, including my colleague, Yahya Habayeb- Alhura TV cameraman, and when I asked him why are you doing this? He commanded me to stay away or he will confiscate the camera, and when I asked him what his name was, he told me: "you journalists need discipline", and then he said: Thank your Lord that you are not a man". Alwan said she insisted on knowing his name so she can file a complaint against him, but he told her: "I'm a ghost no one can punish me".
Things did not stop there; the Ministry of Palestinian Women's Affairs withheld the honoring of Nahed Abu Taima "a journalist and Informative" because of her criticism of the government, parties and institutions for not protecting women in Palestine on her Facebook page. The Incident raised the ire of other women journalists like Amal Joma'a, Ruba Alnajjar, and Christine Alrinawe, which led to their refusal to be honored by the ministry at its honorary ceremony that is supposed to be held to mark the International Women's Day.
Abu Taima reported to MADA: "There is a heavy burden on Palestinian women, and for 20 years we have begged the successive governments to protect women by amending the legal penalties and personal status, but without a avail, and since all Palestinian laws guarantee citizens the right to freedom of expression, it is our right as journalists to express our opinions about the government's different policies especially those relating to women. The attempts to intimidate women journalists, offending and abusing them in any form, and imposing censorship on their writing are unacceptable and contrary to the spirit of the lows".
In Gaza, women journalists face numerous threats due to their profession. Samia Alzebidi "journalist" reported to MADA that she had received several threats and in different ways from an unidentified person for expressing her opinion, and that sometimes the threat is padded and alludes to the possibility of fabrication of a moral case against the journalist if she continues her criticism of the government.
Nofuth Albakri – Alhaya Aljadeda newspaper correspondent reported to MADA - who monitored numerous attacks on her in the past years – That there are many obstacles that limit the ability of journalists to practice journalism in Gaza, and she noted that the security forces and officials exercise hiden and evident violations on the right of journalists. One example of this is the difficulty of access to information by journalists, where officials could deal with journalists in the smoothest and fastest manners, and women journalists are harassed and forced sometimes to wear a veil before entering for some events.
Albakri added: "we also face the problems of access to some places; In general the police or security can stop a taxi and inquire about the reason for our presence in the car with the driver without a man, which hinders our work and our access to many of the events. In addition, when we go to cover in the field, they push young men to harass us by entering our personal space and stand very near to us".
On the International Women's Day, MADA express its pride of Palestinian women journalists for being role models in exercising their profession, their insistence on disseminating the suffering of their people under the Israeli occupation and siege captured in words and images, and their great efforts to showcase the reality of Palestinian women and other issues of concern to the Palestinian community despite of all the difficulties, obstacles, and repression they face.
MADA congratulates the women of Palestine and the world, especially women journalists, and it condemns all attacks on their rights, and demands all parties concerned and responsible to protect women journalists and empower them to do their work in complete freedom, and to hold accountable all those responsible for all the attacks of their rights, and we demand an end to discrimination against women journalists, and to enable them to reach leadership positions at media outlets.
Ministry of Culture, Youth, Sports
Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports in Gaza on Monday released its activity report for February. The ministry has issued a decision to establish an association for Palestinian Heritage Foundations, explaining that it is about to finish with building an exhibition hall for them and is already preparing for the inauguration.
It was agreed with the publishing houses in Gaza to organize a local book fair next April, the ministry added.
The report pointed out that a number of events were held including "A Child's Dreams" operetta at Al-Meshal Theatre and "Yarmouk Camp, We are with you" stand.
The ministry is done with the preparations to hold a one-day seminar on International Special Librarian's Day titled "Library Profession in Palestine.. Reality and Ambitions".
It has completed the second round "Gaza Poet" contest and is preparing for the third round, the report said.
Regarding sports, youth and children, the ministry has sponsored “Al-Hayah Youth Training Forum” which hosted 150 students from across the Gaza governorates.
Among the activities mentioned in the report is the planting of 100 ornamental trees in a number of kindergartens, opening of a handicraft avenue for children in Khan Younis, and preparing an analytical study of sport clubs of the Gaza Strip.
Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports in Gaza on Monday released its activity report for February. The ministry has issued a decision to establish an association for Palestinian Heritage Foundations, explaining that it is about to finish with building an exhibition hall for them and is already preparing for the inauguration.
It was agreed with the publishing houses in Gaza to organize a local book fair next April, the ministry added.
The report pointed out that a number of events were held including "A Child's Dreams" operetta at Al-Meshal Theatre and "Yarmouk Camp, We are with you" stand.
The ministry is done with the preparations to hold a one-day seminar on International Special Librarian's Day titled "Library Profession in Palestine.. Reality and Ambitions".
It has completed the second round "Gaza Poet" contest and is preparing for the third round, the report said.
Regarding sports, youth and children, the ministry has sponsored “Al-Hayah Youth Training Forum” which hosted 150 students from across the Gaza governorates.
Among the activities mentioned in the report is the planting of 100 ornamental trees in a number of kindergartens, opening of a handicraft avenue for children in Khan Younis, and preparing an analytical study of sport clubs of the Gaza Strip.
8 mar 2014
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Video: Amnesty documented the killing of Samir Awad, a 16-year-old boy from Budrus village, shot dead near his school with three bullets to the back of the head, leg, and shoulder.
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by Ben White
Israel famously prides itself on having, in the words of Ehud Barak, "the most moral army in the world". Some of Israel's apologists even claim that accusations the country's soldiers fire on civilians, including children, are nothing more than an anti-Semitic 'blood libel'. Contrast this rhetorical bluster, however, with the carefully documented accounts since the start of the year by several human rights groups of Israeli forces' targeting, and in many cases, killing unarmed Palestinian civilians. In January, Human Rights Watch published a shocking account of Israeli soldiers "hiding near schools, apparently to make arrests" having killed "children who posed no apparent threat". One example given was the case of Wajih al-Ramahi, a 15-year-old shot in the back in al-Jalazun refugee |
camp. The organisation noted a culture of impunity, with only 16 security officials indicted since September 2000 for unlawfully killing Palestinians, and just six convicted.
Now, Defence for Children International-Palestine Section (DCI-Palestine) has provided further evidence of what it calls "the use of live ammunition by soldiers to fire at unarmed Palestinian children" around al-Jalazun camp. On 3 March, the organisation published details of three teenagers shot by Israeli soldiers in recent weeks, including one shot in the neck with live ammunition, and another shot in the leg en route to a game of football.
These accounts fit with the detailed Amnesty International report published at the end of February, where the human rights group slammed "a callous disregard for human life" showed by Israeli forces in the West Bank. Documenting the killing of Palestinian civilians, "including children", Amnesty described Israeli soldiers as using "unnecessary, arbitrary and brutal force", including evidence of "wilful killings" that constitute "war crimes".
Meanwhile, in the Gaza Strip, Israel is also shooting Palestinians with impunity. According to Israeli NGO B'Tselem, five civilians have been killed by Israeli forces near the perimeter fence in the last three months. The most recent case was the shooting to death of Amneh Qdeih, a 57-year old mentally ill woman who had apparently wandered off from a nearby family wedding.
Other victims included 16-year-old 'Adnan Abu Khater, shot in the abdomen on 2 January by Israeli soldiers, dying the next day of his wounds. A B'Tselem field researcher documented 55 Palestinians injured by Israeli forces over a period of ten weeks - 43 from live fire, 10 from rubber-coated metal bullets, and 2 struck by teargas canisters.
DCI-Palestine has also reported on the targeting of Palestinians in Gaza, including 11-year-old Fadel Abu Odwan, shot by Israeli soldiers on 21 February, and left without medical attention for three hours. The doctor who treated Fadel said that the injury will cause "lifelong physical and psychological damage" and "will certainly affect his ability to marry and have children".
DCI-Palestine cites figures from the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) who documented Israeli forces killing 1 child and wounding 6 in the Gaza Strip thus far in 2014. PCHR co-published a report with the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) in February, detailing how Israeli forces killed 127 civilians in Gaza's 'no go areas' near the fence and at sea between June 2007 and July 2013.
The Israeli government's responses to such reports are almost comically desperate: Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yigal Palmor claimed that Amnesty's report itself "smacks of...racism". Daniel Taub, Israel's Ambassador to the UK, accused Amnesty of an "obsessive focus on Israel". In 2013, out of 846 'Reports' and 'Urgent Actions' listed on Amnesty's online library, only 14 - or 1.7% - are tagged 'Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories'.
Human Rights Watch, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Amnesty International, DCI-Palestine, Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, B'Tselem - these different human rights group agree on one, disturbing truth: Israeli soldiers are shooting Palestinian civilians.
Now, Defence for Children International-Palestine Section (DCI-Palestine) has provided further evidence of what it calls "the use of live ammunition by soldiers to fire at unarmed Palestinian children" around al-Jalazun camp. On 3 March, the organisation published details of three teenagers shot by Israeli soldiers in recent weeks, including one shot in the neck with live ammunition, and another shot in the leg en route to a game of football.
These accounts fit with the detailed Amnesty International report published at the end of February, where the human rights group slammed "a callous disregard for human life" showed by Israeli forces in the West Bank. Documenting the killing of Palestinian civilians, "including children", Amnesty described Israeli soldiers as using "unnecessary, arbitrary and brutal force", including evidence of "wilful killings" that constitute "war crimes".
Meanwhile, in the Gaza Strip, Israel is also shooting Palestinians with impunity. According to Israeli NGO B'Tselem, five civilians have been killed by Israeli forces near the perimeter fence in the last three months. The most recent case was the shooting to death of Amneh Qdeih, a 57-year old mentally ill woman who had apparently wandered off from a nearby family wedding.
Other victims included 16-year-old 'Adnan Abu Khater, shot in the abdomen on 2 January by Israeli soldiers, dying the next day of his wounds. A B'Tselem field researcher documented 55 Palestinians injured by Israeli forces over a period of ten weeks - 43 from live fire, 10 from rubber-coated metal bullets, and 2 struck by teargas canisters.
DCI-Palestine has also reported on the targeting of Palestinians in Gaza, including 11-year-old Fadel Abu Odwan, shot by Israeli soldiers on 21 February, and left without medical attention for three hours. The doctor who treated Fadel said that the injury will cause "lifelong physical and psychological damage" and "will certainly affect his ability to marry and have children".
DCI-Palestine cites figures from the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) who documented Israeli forces killing 1 child and wounding 6 in the Gaza Strip thus far in 2014. PCHR co-published a report with the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) in February, detailing how Israeli forces killed 127 civilians in Gaza's 'no go areas' near the fence and at sea between June 2007 and July 2013.
The Israeli government's responses to such reports are almost comically desperate: Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yigal Palmor claimed that Amnesty's report itself "smacks of...racism". Daniel Taub, Israel's Ambassador to the UK, accused Amnesty of an "obsessive focus on Israel". In 2013, out of 846 'Reports' and 'Urgent Actions' listed on Amnesty's online library, only 14 - or 1.7% - are tagged 'Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories'.
Human Rights Watch, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Amnesty International, DCI-Palestine, Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, B'Tselem - these different human rights group agree on one, disturbing truth: Israeli soldiers are shooting Palestinian civilians.
6 mar 2014
Israeli forces seized construction materials and detained construction workers in an under-construction building that will be used as kindergarten in Yatta village in Hebron.
Israeli forces continue systematic attacks against Palestinian civilians and property in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt)
Palestinian member of an armed group was killed in the West Bank.
2 members of armed groups were killed and 2 children were wounded in an airstrike.
Israeli forces continued to open fire at border areas in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces killed a woman with mental disorder, south of the Gaza Strip.
a Palestinian civilian was wounded in the northern Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces continued to use excessive force against peaceful protesters in the West Bank. 4 Palestinian civilians, including a child, were wounded in Bil'in protest. 12 civilians were wounded in other protests in the West Bank, including 4 children.
Israeli forces conducted 83 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank.
48 civilians, including 4 children were arrested.
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 a 10-year-old child, were arrested at checkpoints in the West Bank.
3 Palestinian civilians, including a child, were arrested, north of the Gaza Strip
Israeli navy forces continued targeting Palestinian fishermen in the sea.
Israeli forces continued to support settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.
Settlers cut off 400 olive seedlings, north of the West Bank.
Fire was set to a house in Selwad village, northeast of Ramallah.
Israeli forces continue systematic attacks against Palestinian civilians and property in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt)
Palestinian member of an armed group was killed in the West Bank.
2 members of armed groups were killed and 2 children were wounded in an airstrike.
Israeli forces continued to open fire at border areas in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces killed a woman with mental disorder, south of the Gaza Strip.
a Palestinian civilian was wounded in the northern Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces continued to use excessive force against peaceful protesters in the West Bank. 4 Palestinian civilians, including a child, were wounded in Bil'in protest. 12 civilians were wounded in other protests in the West Bank, including 4 children.
Israeli forces conducted 83 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank.
48 civilians, including 4 children were arrested.
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 a 10-year-old child, were arrested at checkpoints in the West Bank.
3 Palestinian civilians, including a child, were arrested, north of the Gaza Strip
Israeli navy forces continued targeting Palestinian fishermen in the sea.
Israeli forces continued to support settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.
Settlers cut off 400 olive seedlings, north of the West Bank.
Fire was set to a house in Selwad village, northeast of Ramallah.
The UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian lands released on Wednesday new information relating to the Palestinian populations affected by Israel's policies in Area C of the West Bank. According to OCHA, an estimated 300,000 Palestinians reside in hundreds of residential areas located in Area C under the nearly complete control of Israel.
"Residents of Area C are among the most vulnerable in the West Bank in terms of humanitarian needs, including access to basic services," said Ramesh Rajasingham, head of the OCHA office in occupied Palestine.
"Residents of Area C are among the most vulnerable in the West Bank in terms of humanitarian needs, including access to basic services," said Ramesh Rajasingham, head of the OCHA office in occupied Palestine.
Israeli border police officer near Burin village, near Nablus
Some 300,000 Palestinians live in Area C, the part of the West Bank under full Israeli control, according to new data published Tuesday by a UN body. That figure is considerably higher than 150,000 to 180,000 Palestinians said to live in the area, according to a 2008 estimate by the Israeli NGO, Bimkom, Planners for Planning Rights.
The new estimate, published by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in occupied Palestinian territory (OCHA), concludes that there are 297,000 residents living in 532 residential areas in Area C, which is under full Israeli civil and security control, and which comprises just over 60 percent of the West Bank. There are 67,016 Palestinians living in 241 communities and villages which are entirely in Area C. Of these 51 are villages and cities with most of their built-up area in Area C , with the rest in Areas A (under Palestinian control) and B (under shared Israeli-Palestinian control); 240 residential areas are cities and villages with less than half of their land in C.
The Palestinian population in Area C is considered to be especially vulnerable and in need of international assistance because of limited access to educational and health-care institutions, harassment by settlers, proximity to firing zones and insufficient connection to water and electricity infrastructure. The population was a special target of the 2014-2016 Strategic Response Plan of the humanitarian community in the occupied Palestinian territory, a group of international aid organizations, primarily European ones.
The OCHA figures are also included in an updated report on Area C by delegations of the European Union countries in East Jerusalem and Ramallah. It was sent about two weeks ago to EU decision makers in Brussels, an EU source told Haaretz. It is based on a report from two and a half years ago, in which the European representatives criticized the Israeli policy of discrimination in Area C, which allows the construction of settlements and forbids Palestinian construction in the most of the area. The report also described the trend of evicting Palestinian communities from their homes as forced uprooting, which is forbidden according to international law.
The source told Haaretz that for the EU the political importance of Area C has never been dependent on the number of residents, "but on guaranteeing the territorial contiguity of the Palestinian state, and the territory earmarked for it according to UN decisions. So that as far as we're concerned, it makes no difference whether the number of residents is 300,000 or half of that or less."
The artificial administrative division into Areas A, B and C was set in the 1995 interim agreement, part of the Oslo Accords, and was supposed to be terminated after about five years. Until 2000 the size of the areas has changed several times. Since 2000 there has been no change in the size of Area C, which comprises 61 percent of the area of the West Bank.
About 18 percent of the area of the West Bank is defined as a closed military area designated for military training, while the size of Area A, which is under Palestinian civilian and policing authority, comprises 17.7 percent of the West Bank. There are 38 communities (with about 6,200 residents) whose source of livelihood is herding and agriculture, who live within the firing zones. Many of them were there even before the area was defined as a firing zone. In addition to the danger to their lives, the residents are also subject to temporary evacuation orders from the Israel Defense Forces.
OCHA has mapped 183 residential areas that are communities of Bedouin and shepherds, with a population of slightly over 30,000. About 27 percent of the entire population in Area C are registered as refugees, whose families were expelled from their original homes after 1948.
Eighty seven percent of the area of the Jordan Valley is defined as Area C. The Jordan Valley itself takes up almost a third of the area of the West Bank. Israel's policy of limiting the number of Palestinian residents there began long before the Oslo Accords, when extensive firing zones and nature reserves were set aside there. Outside the city of Jericho, which is defined as Area A, there are 68 Palestinian residential communities in Area C in the Jordan Valley, with about 18,000 residents, 42 percent of them registered as refugees. In the Jordan Valley there are 37 Jewish settlements, with about 9,500 residents.
According to OCHA estimates, the Jerusalem district has the largest number of Palestinians living in Area C - about 74,000; another 67,000 Palestinians in Area C live in the Hebron area. According to OCHA, 18,000 of the 60,000 residents of El Bireh live in neighborhoods in Area C. When Haaretz expressed surprise at this large number and other large numbers of residents of cities and villages living in neighborhoods in Area C, OCHA replied that in all the places where the estimate was higher than 3,000 people in one residential area - they conducted another investigation to confirm the figure.
The data collection was carried out by OCHA teams between June and September 2013, in cooperation with the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics and with the Ministry of Local Government and its elected representatives in the communities. The work was based on the distribution of questionnaires, cross-referencing the figures with aerial photographs and figures for water and electricity consumption, as well as a comparison of the data with that of the Central Bureau of Statistics. One of the reasons for this investigation by OCHA is that Palestinian Authority population censuses failed to relate to the artificial administrative division of the interim agreement.
This article was originally published by Haaretz
Some 300,000 Palestinians live in Area C, the part of the West Bank under full Israeli control, according to new data published Tuesday by a UN body. That figure is considerably higher than 150,000 to 180,000 Palestinians said to live in the area, according to a 2008 estimate by the Israeli NGO, Bimkom, Planners for Planning Rights.
The new estimate, published by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in occupied Palestinian territory (OCHA), concludes that there are 297,000 residents living in 532 residential areas in Area C, which is under full Israeli civil and security control, and which comprises just over 60 percent of the West Bank. There are 67,016 Palestinians living in 241 communities and villages which are entirely in Area C. Of these 51 are villages and cities with most of their built-up area in Area C , with the rest in Areas A (under Palestinian control) and B (under shared Israeli-Palestinian control); 240 residential areas are cities and villages with less than half of their land in C.
The Palestinian population in Area C is considered to be especially vulnerable and in need of international assistance because of limited access to educational and health-care institutions, harassment by settlers, proximity to firing zones and insufficient connection to water and electricity infrastructure. The population was a special target of the 2014-2016 Strategic Response Plan of the humanitarian community in the occupied Palestinian territory, a group of international aid organizations, primarily European ones.
The OCHA figures are also included in an updated report on Area C by delegations of the European Union countries in East Jerusalem and Ramallah. It was sent about two weeks ago to EU decision makers in Brussels, an EU source told Haaretz. It is based on a report from two and a half years ago, in which the European representatives criticized the Israeli policy of discrimination in Area C, which allows the construction of settlements and forbids Palestinian construction in the most of the area. The report also described the trend of evicting Palestinian communities from their homes as forced uprooting, which is forbidden according to international law.
The source told Haaretz that for the EU the political importance of Area C has never been dependent on the number of residents, "but on guaranteeing the territorial contiguity of the Palestinian state, and the territory earmarked for it according to UN decisions. So that as far as we're concerned, it makes no difference whether the number of residents is 300,000 or half of that or less."
The artificial administrative division into Areas A, B and C was set in the 1995 interim agreement, part of the Oslo Accords, and was supposed to be terminated after about five years. Until 2000 the size of the areas has changed several times. Since 2000 there has been no change in the size of Area C, which comprises 61 percent of the area of the West Bank.
About 18 percent of the area of the West Bank is defined as a closed military area designated for military training, while the size of Area A, which is under Palestinian civilian and policing authority, comprises 17.7 percent of the West Bank. There are 38 communities (with about 6,200 residents) whose source of livelihood is herding and agriculture, who live within the firing zones. Many of them were there even before the area was defined as a firing zone. In addition to the danger to their lives, the residents are also subject to temporary evacuation orders from the Israel Defense Forces.
OCHA has mapped 183 residential areas that are communities of Bedouin and shepherds, with a population of slightly over 30,000. About 27 percent of the entire population in Area C are registered as refugees, whose families were expelled from their original homes after 1948.
Eighty seven percent of the area of the Jordan Valley is defined as Area C. The Jordan Valley itself takes up almost a third of the area of the West Bank. Israel's policy of limiting the number of Palestinian residents there began long before the Oslo Accords, when extensive firing zones and nature reserves were set aside there. Outside the city of Jericho, which is defined as Area A, there are 68 Palestinian residential communities in Area C in the Jordan Valley, with about 18,000 residents, 42 percent of them registered as refugees. In the Jordan Valley there are 37 Jewish settlements, with about 9,500 residents.
According to OCHA estimates, the Jerusalem district has the largest number of Palestinians living in Area C - about 74,000; another 67,000 Palestinians in Area C live in the Hebron area. According to OCHA, 18,000 of the 60,000 residents of El Bireh live in neighborhoods in Area C. When Haaretz expressed surprise at this large number and other large numbers of residents of cities and villages living in neighborhoods in Area C, OCHA replied that in all the places where the estimate was higher than 3,000 people in one residential area - they conducted another investigation to confirm the figure.
The data collection was carried out by OCHA teams between June and September 2013, in cooperation with the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics and with the Ministry of Local Government and its elected representatives in the communities. The work was based on the distribution of questionnaires, cross-referencing the figures with aerial photographs and figures for water and electricity consumption, as well as a comparison of the data with that of the Central Bureau of Statistics. One of the reasons for this investigation by OCHA is that Palestinian Authority population censuses failed to relate to the artificial administrative division of the interim agreement.
This article was originally published by Haaretz
The Bureau of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People expressed concern over the recent developments and increased tensions in Occupied East Jerusalem, especially the increasing incursions by Israeli extremists and political leaders, including Government officials, on the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, which provoke the Palestinians and other Muslim worshippers.
The committee said in a statement issued Wednesday that the most dangerous development is that the Knesset recently began a debate on a bill to impose "Israeli sovereignty" over Al-Haram Al-Sharif.
The committee stated that such actions with regard to this highly sensitive area provoke the Palestinians and may also be perceived as serious acts of incitement in the wider region. Moreover, these actions undermine the current negotiations process, threatening the prospects for peace.
The committee added, 'These recent actions are indicative of a strategy aimed at altering the legal, demographic, physical and cultural character of East Jerusalem. Such actions are clearly prohibited under international law. House demolitions, evictions, land expropriation and the revocation of residency rights of Palestinian Jerusalemites are also on the increase. In 2013, 565 structures were demolished in East Jerusalem, displacing 298 Palestinians, including many women and children.
Palestinians are permitted to build in only 14 per cent of East Jerusalem, and a third of Palestinian land in East Jerusalem has been expropriated since 1967. In the same period, the residency status of more than 14,000 Palestinians has been revoked by Israel. Moreover, the wall, a vast system of checkpoints and the imposition of a strict "entry permit" regime have effectively cut off East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank, restricting Palestinian movement, fragmenting the Palestinian Territory and exacerbating the already dire economic and social conditions of Palestinian residents.'
The committee said that Israel also continues to construct settlements in East Jerusalem, in violation of international law and in defiance of the international community's repeated calls for ending such illegal acts. Since the resumption of peace talks last July, Israel announced construction plans for more than 5,000 new settlement units in Palestinian neighborhoods in the city.
The committee stressed that the East Jerusalem remains an integral part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and is subject to the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention, as affirmed by numerous Security Council and General Assembly resolutions. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention clearly states: "The occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.'
The committee pointed out that the question of East Jerusalem is a crucial permanent status issue. A sovereign, contiguous and viable State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital and with arrangements for the holy sites acceptable to all, is a core requirement for the achievement of a just and lasting peace.
The Bureau of the Committee calls on the Security Council to act without delay to address these alarming developments, which are in defiance of the Council's resolutions, including 252 (1968), 267 (1969), 271 (1969), 298 (1971), 476 (1980), 478 (1980), 672 (1990) and 1073 (1996). The Bureau also calls on the Security Council to continue monitoring violations of the aforementioned resolutions and to act accordingly for their implementation.
The Committee confirmed that it will continue to carry out its mandated work until the question of Palestine is resolved in all its aspects. It calls on the international community to do its utmost to make 2014, the International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, a decisive year in achieving the freedom and national rights of the Palestinian people and a peaceful solution to the conflict in all its aspects.
The committee said in a statement issued Wednesday that the most dangerous development is that the Knesset recently began a debate on a bill to impose "Israeli sovereignty" over Al-Haram Al-Sharif.
The committee stated that such actions with regard to this highly sensitive area provoke the Palestinians and may also be perceived as serious acts of incitement in the wider region. Moreover, these actions undermine the current negotiations process, threatening the prospects for peace.
The committee added, 'These recent actions are indicative of a strategy aimed at altering the legal, demographic, physical and cultural character of East Jerusalem. Such actions are clearly prohibited under international law. House demolitions, evictions, land expropriation and the revocation of residency rights of Palestinian Jerusalemites are also on the increase. In 2013, 565 structures were demolished in East Jerusalem, displacing 298 Palestinians, including many women and children.
Palestinians are permitted to build in only 14 per cent of East Jerusalem, and a third of Palestinian land in East Jerusalem has been expropriated since 1967. In the same period, the residency status of more than 14,000 Palestinians has been revoked by Israel. Moreover, the wall, a vast system of checkpoints and the imposition of a strict "entry permit" regime have effectively cut off East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank, restricting Palestinian movement, fragmenting the Palestinian Territory and exacerbating the already dire economic and social conditions of Palestinian residents.'
The committee said that Israel also continues to construct settlements in East Jerusalem, in violation of international law and in defiance of the international community's repeated calls for ending such illegal acts. Since the resumption of peace talks last July, Israel announced construction plans for more than 5,000 new settlement units in Palestinian neighborhoods in the city.
The committee stressed that the East Jerusalem remains an integral part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and is subject to the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention, as affirmed by numerous Security Council and General Assembly resolutions. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention clearly states: "The occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.'
The committee pointed out that the question of East Jerusalem is a crucial permanent status issue. A sovereign, contiguous and viable State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital and with arrangements for the holy sites acceptable to all, is a core requirement for the achievement of a just and lasting peace.
The Bureau of the Committee calls on the Security Council to act without delay to address these alarming developments, which are in defiance of the Council's resolutions, including 252 (1968), 267 (1969), 271 (1969), 298 (1971), 476 (1980), 478 (1980), 672 (1990) and 1073 (1996). The Bureau also calls on the Security Council to continue monitoring violations of the aforementioned resolutions and to act accordingly for their implementation.
The Committee confirmed that it will continue to carry out its mandated work until the question of Palestine is resolved in all its aspects. It calls on the international community to do its utmost to make 2014, the International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, a decisive year in achieving the freedom and national rights of the Palestinian people and a peaceful solution to the conflict in all its aspects.
