Israeli violations of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory
13 -19 February 2020
·8 Palestinian civilians injured, including 2 children, in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem
-A child lost his left eye after IOF shot him in al-‘Issawiyah village in occupied East Jerusalem.
·Nine shootings reported against agricultural lands and one at Palestinian fishing boats in eastern and western Gaza Strip
·During 78 IOF incursions into the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem: 75 civilians arrested, including 17 children
·3 houses demolished; one self-demolished by its owner, caravans used as classrooms vacated and confiscated, and agricultural rooms and barracks demolished in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem
·50 dunums razed in Salfit and shepherds attacked in Hebron by Israeli settlers
·Fishing area decreased and restrictions tightened on the movement of businessmen and goods as part of the IOF collective punishment policy on the Gaza Strip
·IOF established 56 temporary military checkpoints in the West Bank, where 17 Palestinian civilians were arrested
Summary
This week, PCHR documented 170 violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law (IHL) by Israeli occupation forces (IOF) and settlers in the occupied Palestinian territory. This was reflected in dealing with the peaceful protests organized against Trump’s Peace Plan for the Middle East known as the “Deal of Century” that violates the rights of the Palestinian people and is in conflict with the United Nation (UN) resolutions and international law. They were as follows:
IOF shooting and violation of right to bodily integrity: IOF injured 8 Palestinian civilians, including two children in the West Bank including occupied East Jerusalem, one of the children Malek ‘Issa (9) was shot with a rubber bullet in the head that caused him permanent loss of vision in his left eye while walking home from school. Video footage as well as PCHR investigations show that the area was completely calm with no confrontations as claimed by IOF when ‘Issa was shot. Additionally, dozens of civilians suffocated due to teargas inhalation during IOF’s suppression of 10 peaceful protests organized against Trump’s peace plan.
In the Gaza Strip, 8 IOF shootings were reported against the agricultural lands in the eastern Gaza Strip while one shooting was reported against the Palestinian fishing boats off the northern Gaza Strip shore.
IOF incursions and arrests of Palestinian civilians: IOF carried out 78 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Those incursions included raids of civilian houses and shootings, enticing fear among civilians, and attacking many of them. During this week’s incursions, 75 Palestinians were arrested, including 17 children. The incursions included confiscation of money belonging to prisoners under various pretexts.
Settlement expansion activities and settlers’ attacks: PCHR documented 9 IOF operations, including demolitions, land razing and demolition notices. A settlement road was built; a digger was confiscated and ploughing was denied in agricultural lands in Nablus. Meanwhile, in Hebron, a dwelling and an agricultural room were demolished; and 5 dunums were levelled in addition to confiscating and vacating mobile classes. Moreover, a house was demolished in Jericho; land reclamation project for Deir Istayah village, north of Salfit, was stopped. A civilian was forced to self-demolish his house while a barrack used as horse stables and a pit were demolished in occupied East Jerusalem.
PCHR also documented 2 settler-attacks, including levelling 50 dunums in al-Serb area in Yasouf village, east of Salfit, and attacking Palestinian shepherds in their lands in Hebron.
Israeli closure policy and Restrictions on Movement: on Saturday, 15 February 2020, 15 February 2020, the Israeli authorities retightened the restrictions on the fishing area, the cement imports into the Strip and exit permits for businesspersons only 24 hours after declaring the facilitations. These Israeli measures are part of the Israeli collective punishment policy practiced against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip that aims at harass fishermen and prevent them from sailing and fishing freely in areas where fish breed. On 19 February 2020, the Israeli authorities returned the fishing area to 15 nautical miles and issued new 2000 entry permits to businesspersons.
This comes in a time when the Gaza Strip still suffers the worst closure in the History of the Israeli occupation of the oPt as it has entered the 14th consecutive year, without any improvement to the movement of persons and goods, humanitarian conditions and bearing catastrophic consequences on all aspects of life. Furthermore, IOF uses Erez Crossing that is designated for movement of individuals as an ambush to arrest Palestinians who obtain permits to exit via Israel.
Meanwhile, the West Bank is divided into separate cantons with key roads blocked by the Israeli occupation since the Second Intifada and with temporary and permanent checkpoints, where civilian movement is restricted and they are subject to arrest. This week, IOF arrested 17 Palestinians at temporary military checkpoints.
The full report is available online at:
https://www.pchrgaza.org/en/?p=14206
