Description

by Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)

Israeli Violations of Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

27 August – 02 September 2020

6 Palestinian civilians wounded, including a child, in IOF excessive use of force;

A Palestinian detainee dies in Israeli prison;
Sound bomb falls inside Alia Hospital in Hebron causing horror and suffocation among patients;

3 shootings reported at agricultural lands eastern Gaza Strip;

In 70 IOF incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem: 38 civilians arrested, including 6 children and a journalist;

3 houses self-demolished in occupied East Jerusalem; 2 tin-plated houses in Hebron and a bakery in Bethlehem demolished;

IOF established 36 temporary military checkpoints in the West Bank and arrested 4 Palestinian children on said checkpoints


Summary

Israeli occupation forces (IOF) continued to commit crimes and multi-layered violations against Palestinian civilians and their properties, including raids into Palestinian cities that are characterized with excessive use of force, assault, abuse and attacks on civilians. This week, IOF wounded 6 Palestinian civilians, including a child in excessive use of force during raids into Palestinian cities and suppression of peaceful protests in the West Bank. IOF also continued its policy of demolishing and destroying Palestinian houses and facilities for its settlement expansion schemes.

End of this week, Dawoud Tal’at al-Khatib (48) died inside Ofer Prison due to a heart attack, only four months before his release date. Al-Khatib, from Bethlehem, had been imprisoned by Israel for the past 18 years, and had suffered extremely difficult health conditions during his years in prison, the latest of which was a heart attack in 2017. The determination to continue his detention aggravated his critical health condition, finally dying of a heart attack on 02 September 2020.

The curfew continues in the Gaza Strip for the second week in a raw to limit the spread of coronavirus after cases were discovered outside quarantine centers. PCHR fears a catastrophic deterioration in living conditions if the curfew is maintained for a lengthy period without a protection mechanism for the poor, unemployed and limited-income families, as well as daily workers who have lost their sources of income due to the state of emergency and curfew. PCHR warns of the catastrophic implications of coronavirus spread in the Gaza Strip, especially with its already-exhausted health care system due to 14 years of illegal and inhuman closure and collective punishment policies imposed by IOF on the Gaza Strip.

This week, PCHR documented 151 violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law (IHL) by IOF and settlers in the oPt. It should be noted that the limitations due to the corona virus pandemic, has limited PCHR’s fieldworkers mobility and ability to conduct field documentation; therefore, the information contained in this report are only part of the continued IOF violations.

IOF shooting and violation of right to bodily integrity: IOF wounded 6 civilians, including a child in IOF excessive use of force in the West Bank: 2 civilians, including a child, wounded in Jenin; 1 injury during clashes in Hebron; 2 in IOF suppression of Kafr Qaddum protest in Qalqilya; and an injury in Bethlehem. IOF assaulted an elderly Palestinian in Tulkarm, dragged on the ground and severely beaten and humiliated in an incident that was documented by media and journalists.

In the Gaza Strip, IOF opened fire 5 times at agricultural lands eastern Khan Younis and Rafah, southern Gaza Strip.

IOF incursions and arrests of Palestinian civilians: IOF carried out 70 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, 38 Palestinians were arrested, including 6 children and a journalist. In Gaza, IOF conducted a limited incursion into eastern Rafah, southern Gaza Strip.

Settlement expansion activities and settlers’ attacks: IOF continued its settlement expansion operations in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, PCHR documented 7 violations, including:

Jenin: bakery demolished, and demolition notice served to a carpenter shop;
East Jerusalem: 3 houses self-demolished;
Bethlehem; Palestinian banned from continuing construction of his house and construction materials confiscated;
Hebron: 2 tin-plated homes and a barracks demolished, 1 room (bricks and tin plated) demolished;
Ramallah: 3 residential tents uprooted and confiscated.

Settler-attacks: PCHR documented arson attack on a vehicle and anti-Arab vandalization in Nablus.

Israeli closure policy and restrictions on freedom of movement:

On Monday, 31 August 2020, Israeli authorities declared the re-opening of Karem Abu Salem Crossing, allowing the re-entry of fuel and construction material into the Gaza Strip.

Israeli authorities also decided to re-expand the fishing area as it was before the recent punitive measures imposed on the Gaza Strip. This came after an understanding had been reached to contain the Israeli escalation in the Gaza Strip, which began on 10 August. During which, Israel imposed punitive measures on Gaza, in alleged response to the launch of incendiary balloons towards Israeli settlements adjacent to the Gaza Strip.

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.


For the second consecutive week, curfew is still imposed on the Gaza Strip to contain the outbreak of coronavirus, especially after coronavirus cases were confirmed outside the quarantine centers in the Gaza Strip. As a result, the suffering of Gaza Strip population has increased, PCHR fears a catastrophic deterioration in living conditions if the curfew is maintained for a lengthy period without a protection mechanism for the poor, unemployed and limited-income families, as well as daily workers who have lost their sources of income due to the state of emergency and curfew.



Meanwhile, IOF continued to divide the West Bank 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.


I. Violation of the right to life and to bodily integrity


Shooting and other violations of the right to life and bodily integrity

At approximately 02:00 on Thursday, 27 August 2020, IOF reinforced with several military vehicles stormed al-Fawar refugee camp, south of Hebron. They patrolled the camp streets and stationed in the southern area while soldiers deployed between civilians’ houses in the center of the camp. A number of soldiers raided and searched a 3-storey house that includes 5 apartments for Abu Hashhash family. The soldiers Iyad Mahmoud Ahmed Abu Hashhash (40)’s apartment and attacked him by severely beating him and arrested him. The soldiers also attacked Iyad’s brother Yaqoub (35) and heavily beaten hit his nose, causing its fracture, after they raided his apartment. The soldiers handcuffed Yaqoub and took him to his brother’s apartment and began beating both brothers with their hands, feet and their rifles’ butts. As a result, Iyad and Yaqoub fainted. After IOF’s withdrawal of the house, taking Iyad with them, Yaqoub was transferred to al-Ahli Hospital where received medical treatments as doctors selected an appointment for his nose surgery. When Yaqoub returned home, he found out that Israeli soldiers stole NIS 5,800 that were in his bedroom. It should be noted that Israeli soldiers raided the house a month ago and attacked Yaqoub and broke his nose as he previously underwent a surgery for his nose.

See complete report here

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