PCHR Weekly Report: Palestinian child killed; 19 people injured by Israeli forces
by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News
According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, during the week of 19 - 26 Feb. 2009, a Palestinian child died of wounds sustained during the recent Israeli invasion of Gaza. In addition, Israeli troops injured 19 Palestinians, 17 of whom were unarmed civilians, of whom eight were children, in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The injured include a radio reporter from the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Israeli forces carried out intensive air strikes along the border with Egypt, forcing residents from their homes. Two members of the Palestinian resistance were injured in an air strike.
Palestinian woman at the closed Rafah crossing (photo from PCHR)
Israeli attacks in the West Bank:
During the last week, Israeli forces carried out 35 incursions in the West Bank. Fifteen Palestinian civilians were injured by Israeli forces this week, including seven children, fourteen of whom were in the village of Naalin, west of Ramallah. One civilian was wounded in the town of Beit Umar, north of Hebron.
42 Palestinians were abducted during the raids, including 6 children. Israeli occupying forces continue to impose restrictions on the movement of the civilian population in the context of a policy of collective punishment, contrary to all international and humanitarian laws, and continue to swallow up more land for the benefit of expanding Israeli settlements, as well as continuing efforts to Judaize the city of Jerusalem.
In one invasion, in Nablus, the occupying forces blew up parts of a house in the old city of Nablus during an alleged search for weapons. They used a police dog, which bit a 98-year old Palestinian civilian in the shoulder.
Israeli Annexation Wall:
Israeli troops used excessive force and systematic attacks against a peaceful protest march organized by Palestinian civilians and Israeli and foreign human rights defenders, against the continued construction of the Annexation Wall. Occupation forces used force to disperse protesters in several Palestinian villages adjacent to the wall. This resulted in the injury of eleven Palestinians, half of them children, as well as dozens of injuries suffered from the inhalation of tear gas.
Israeli settlement activities:
Israeli settlers living in the occupied West Bank contrary to international humanitarian law committed several crimes against Palestinian civilians and their property this week. These crimes were again ignored by Israeli soldiers, whose mandate is to protect the settlers.
During the week covered by this report, a group of settlers, guarded by the Israeli occupation forces, invaded Joseph's Tomb, east of the city of Nablus, and set up their religion for several hours in it.
In Hebron, Israeli settlers took advantage of living illegally in outposts in the heart of the city of Hebron, interrupting electricity for all regions and districts of the city of Hebron, and launched a series of sporadic attacks on the homes of Palestinian citizens. The attacks were concentrated in the outlying neighborhood of Tel Rumeida.
Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip:
In the Gaza Strip, one child died this week, after battling his injuries for the last five weeks. Abdullah Nabil Shaban Asilym, 17, from Gaza City, died on 24 Feb at a hospital in Egypt. The child in question had been wounded on 15 Jan, during the bombing of a nearby house belonging to "Said Siam”, a Hamas leader. In that same air strike, four of Siam's relatives, and five members of the family next door, were killed.
On 19 Feb, local radio reporter from the town of Rafah, Ù�Adel Zo'rob, 35, was moderately wounded, when Israeli warplanes launched several raids on the border with Egypt. On 24 Feb, a Palestinian girl was hit in the town of Khuza'a, east of Khan Younis, when the occupation forces fired at a group of civilians who were standing near the rubble of their destroyed homes in Gaza.
In addition to the aggression by the occupation authorities in the Gaza Strip, the civilian population is experiencing the effects of the worst humanitarian crisis experienced by the Palestinian population since 1948. Israeli authorities continue the siege on the Gaza Strip, for the third consecutive year.
Recommendations to the international community:
Due to the number and severity of Israeli human rights violations this week, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights made a number of recommendations to the international community. Among these were a recommendation that the signatories to the Fourth Geneva Convention carry out their obligations under the Convention to hold Israel responsible for its violations of international law.
Fonte: IMEMC
