Zionist Israeli violations of international law (29 March – 04 April 2012)

Shooting:

During the reporting period, IOF killed 3 Palestinians, including a civilian and a child, in the Gaza Strip. A 4th civilian died of a previous wound in the West Bank. Additionally, 73 civilians, including 18 children were wounded by IOF in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

In the Gaza Strip, IOF killed a Palestinian civilian and wounded 40 others, including 16 children, during the dispersion of peaceful demonstrations organized in commemoration of the 36th anniversary of the Palestinian Land Day.

On 31 March 2012, IOF killed a Palestinian in the central Gaza Strip. The claimed that he was armed and was digging near the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel.

On 03 April 2012, IOF killed a Palestinian child near the border between the Gaza Strip and Zionist Israel.

On 02 April 2012, , Israeli aircrafts dropped leaflets in the border areas in the north of Beit Lahia town in the northern Gaza Strip, warning the Palestinian population of getting close to the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel. The leaflets included a threat that IOF would violently respond to an attempt to get as close as to 300 meters from the border, and that “whoever attempts to get close to the border would be driven away by all means, including shooting.” The leaflets were concluded by the phrase “he who warns is executed.” The leaflets included also maps of the Gaza Strip, and warnings related to firing home-made rockets by Palestinian resistance groups.

In the West Bank, IOF wounded 33 civilians, including two children, during the dispersion of peaceful demonstrations organized in commemoration of the 36th anniversary of the Palestinian Land Day and in protest to the construction of the annexation wall and settlement activities.

On 02 April 2012, a Palestinian civilian dies of a previous wound he had sustained on 27 March 2012 during an Israeli incursion into Rammoun village, northeast of Ramallah.

Incursions:

During the reporting period, IOF conducted at least 77 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, during which they arrested 28 Palestinian civilians, including 5 children and a journalist.

On 01 April 2012, a Palestinian detainee, Hana Shalabi, 30, was deported by IOF) to the Gaza Strip under a deal whose details have not been unveiled. According to reports about the deal, Shalabi would stay in Gaza for three years, and then return to her home in Jenin, in exchange for ending her hunger strike which had lasted for 44 consecutive days.

In the Gaza Strip, IOF conducted 3 limited incursions into Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip, during which they leveled areas of Palestinian land which they had already razed.

Restrictions on Movement:

Israel had continued to impose a tightened siege on the OPT and imposed severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem.

The illegal Israeli-imposed closure of the Gaza Strip, which has steadily tightened since June 2007, has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza Strip. The illegal closure has caused not only a humanitarian crisis but a crisis of human rights and human dignity for the population of the Gaza Strip. Measures declared recently to ease the blockade are vague, purely cosmetic and fail to deal with the root causes of the crisis, which can only be addressed by an immediate and complete lifting of the closure, including lifting the travel ban into and out of the Gaza Strip and the ban on exports. Palestinians in Gaza may no longer suffer from the same shortage of goods, but they will remain economically dependent and unable to care for themselves, and socially, culturally and academically isolated from the rest of the world.

IOF have continued to impose severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians throughout the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Thousands of Palestinian civilians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip continue to be denied access to Jerusalem.

Settlement Activities:

Israel has continued its settlement activities in the OPT in violation of international humanitarian law, and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.

On 31 March 2012, a number of Israeli settlers attacked 4 Palestinian civilians who were traveling near Mikhmas intersection, east of Ramallah. These civilians were on their way to an agricultural area in Deir Dibwan village, east of Ramallah. The settlers attacked them with iron tubes and bars and sprinkled a spicy material at them. As a result, Rajaa’ Sabri ‘Aridh, 57, sustained fractures to her left hand and bruises throughout the body, and Ahmed Muharram al-Zeer, 50, sustained bruises.

On the same day, a number of masked Israeli settlers from “Beit Ain” settlement attached a Palestinian farmer, Mohammed ‘Abdul Hamid al-Sulaibi, 67, and his family in Beit Ummar town, north of Hebron, while they were working on their land. Al-Suliabi’s children were extremely terrified.

On 02 April 2012, IOF, accompanied by a bulldozer, moved into al-Ja’wana area in the east of Beit Fourik village, east of Nablus. Without warning, they immediately dismantled and confiscated 6 tents and two water tanks. This attack had been the second of its kind in the area since 14 February 2012.