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IPCHR weekly report: “One killed, four injured, 33 kidnapped during the past week”

IMEMC

20 July, 2007

The Palestinian Center For Human Rights (PCHR), based in Gaza, published its weekly report on the Israeli violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories for the period between July 12 – July 18, 2007. During the reported period soldiers carried out 22 invasions, killed one resident, injured four and kidnapped 33.

West Bank attacks:

One resident was shot and killed by Israeli forces manning Ennab checkpoint, east of the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem.  

The resident was shot by several rounds of live ammunition and was left to bleed to death; the army claimed that the resident was carrying an explosive belt on his body.

The army carried out 20 invasions into Palestinian areas in the occupied West Bank and two invasions into the Gaza Strip.

Thirty residents were kidnapped by the army in the West Bank, and three others were kidnapped in the Gaza Strip.

Soldiers also invaded several areas in the Gaza Strip and bulldozed at least 118 dunams of agricultural lands.

Also, soldiers demolished five houses in the occupied West Bank during the reported period.

Troops broke into the Almsgiving Committee in Qalqilia, searched its premises, causing damage, and confiscated 3 computer sets. 

The Wall:

The army continued its illegal construction of the Annexation Wall in the West Bank.   Troops shot and injured four residents and one international peace activist in the West Bank. The activist carries French nationality; he was hit by a rubber-coated bullet in his leg. He and a Palestinian resident were injured during a nonviolent protest against the Annexation Wall in Bil’in village, west of Ramallah. As a result of military fire from the soldiers on the protesters, a fire was ignited and burned on dozens of dunams of agricultural land planted with olive trees.

In Bethlehem, scores of Palestinian civilians and international and Israeli human rights defenders demonstrated in Wad al-Nais village, south of Bethlehem, to protest the construction of the Wall in the village and neighboring areas.

Troops fired sound bombs and tear gas canisters at the demonstrators and fired into the air. Soldiers also violently beat a number of demonstrators; four resident sustained bruises, and one resident was kidnapped.

Jerusalem:

Jerusalem and its surrounding areas remain closed for all Palestinian residents living in the occupied territories, and soldiers demolished three Palestinian houses in the city.

The demolished house was 160-square-meters, in which seven people were living. The army claimed that the house had been built without a permit.

Settlers and settlement activities:

Illegal settlement activities in the West Bank continued, and settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.

The settlers also illegally annexed 30 dunams of land in Hebron, in the southern part of the West bank. The lands were annexed by settlers of the illegal Etaniel settlement outpost, south of Hebron.

Settlers also gathered near the evacuated settlement of Homesh, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, and damaged Palestinian property.

Gaza Strip attacks:

Three Palestinians, including two resistance fighters, were injured during clashes which took place when the army invaded Al Boreij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. One more resident was injured when the army invaded Al Shouka village, east of Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.

The Gaza Strip remained under strict siege as all crossings remained blocked. The Strip is lacking basic foods and medical supplies, and at least 6000 residents have been stranded at the Egyptian side of the Rafah terminal. The number of dead among the stranded residents, who were mainly receiving medical treatment or studying in Egypt, rose to 16. All commercial crossings in the Gaza Strip remained closed except for several hours when the army allowed the entry of some goods.

If this closure continues, a humanitarian crisis is likely to emerge in the Gaza Strip. Soldiers have also maintained the closure of the Erez crossing in the northern Gaza Strip.  The Gaza Strip remained under strict siege and continued to suffer from shortages of fuels, medicine and foods.