RSS Feeds
The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil,
but because of the people who don't do anything about it
Occupation magazine - Documents & Data
Home page
  
back
 
Print
  
Send To friend
Amnesty International Report 2010: Israel and the OT
Amnesty International Report 2010
Israel and the OT
Jan-Dec, 2009
http://thereport.amnesty.org/sites/default/files/AIR2010_AZ_EN.pdf#page=129
Israeli forces committed war crimes and other
serious breaches of international law in the Gaza
Strip during a 22-day military offensive code-named
Operation “Cast Lead” that ended on 18 January.
Among other things, they carried out indiscriminate
and disproportionate attacks against civilians,
targeted and killed medical staff, used Palestinian
civilians as “human shields”, and indiscriminately
fired white phosphorus over densely populated
residential areas. More than 1,380 Palestinians,
including over 330 children and hundreds of other
civilians, were killed. Much of Gaza was razed to the
ground, leaving vital infrastructure destroyed, the
economy in ruins and thousands of Palestinians
homeless.
Israeli forces continued to impose severe
restrictions on the movement of Palestinians in the
Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) throughout
2009, hampering access to essential services and
land. The restrictions included a military blockade of
the Gaza Strip, which effectively imprisoned the
1.5 million residents and resulted in a humanitarian
crisis. Despite this, Israel often stopped
international aid and humanitarian assistance from
entering Gaza. Permission to leave Gaza to receive
medical treatment was denied or delayed for
hundreds of seriously ill Palestinians and at least
28 individuals died while waiting for permission to
travel. Israeli forces continued to forcibly evict
Palestinians, demolish their homes and expropriate
their land in the occupied West Bank, including East
Jerusalem, while allowing Israeli settlements to
expand on illegally confiscated Palestinian land.
Throughout the year, Israeli forces used excessive
and, at times, lethal force against Palestinian
civilians. Allegations of ill-treatment against
Palestinian detainees continued and were rarely
investigated. Hundreds were administratively
detained without charge; others were serving
sentences imposed after unfair military trials. Israeli
soldiers and settlers who committed serious human
rights abuses against Palestinians enjoyed virtual
impunity.
Background
Israeli parliamentary elections in February saw a
growth in support for right-wing parties and the
formation of a coalition government that included the
Labour party, the right-wing Likud party and the ultraright
Yisrael Beitenu.
The US government increased calls for Israel to
stop settlement building as an initial step in reviving
the peace process, but its calls were not heeded.
Operation ‘Cast Lead’
The 22-day Israeli military offensive on Gaza, launched
without warning, had the stated aim of ending rocket
attacks into Israel by armed factions affiliated to
Hamas and other Palestinian groups. The offensive
killed more than 1,380 Palestinians and injured
around 5,000, many of them seriously. More than
1,800 of the injured were children. Thousands of
civilian homes, businesses and public buildings were
destroyed. Entire neighbourhoods were flattened. The
electricity, water and sewage systems were severely
damaged, as was other vital infrastructure. Large
swathes of agricultural land and many industrial and
commercial properties were destroyed. Much of the
destruction was wanton and deliberate, and could not
be justified on grounds of military necessity. Thirteen
Israelis were killed during the fighting, including three
civilians killed by rockets and mortars fired by
Palestinian armed groups into southern Israel (see
Palestinian Authority entry).
Before and during Operation “Cast Lead” the Israeli
army refused to allow into Gaza independent
observers, journalists, human rights monitors and
humanitarian workers, effectively cutting off Gaza
182 Amnesty International Report 2010
Itheir home in the al-Zaytoun neighbourhood of Gaza
City because the Israeli army did not allow ambulances
or anyone else to rescue them. Children lay for three
days without food or water next to the bodies of their
dead relatives. In all, 29 members of the al-Sammouni
family perished.
Gaza blockade – humanitarian crisis
The continuing Israeli military blockade of Gaza,
in force since June 2007, deepened the ongoing
humanitarian crisis. Mass unemployment, extreme
poverty, food insecurity and food price rises caused
by shortages left four in five Gazans dependent on
humanitarian aid. The scope of the blockade and
statements made by Israeli officials about its purpose
showed that it was being imposed as a form of
collective punishment of Gazans, a flagrant violation
of international law.
Operation “Cast Lead” pushed the crisis to
catastrophic levels. After it concluded, the blockade
hampered or prevented reconstruction efforts. As a
result, there was a further deterioration of water and
sanitation services; more power cuts, causing severe
problems in the summer heat and for public and
health institutions; greater overcrowding in schools;
more challenges for an already overstretched health
system struggling with damaged facilities and higher
demand; and little or no chance of economic
recovery. Israel continued to deny farmers access to
their land within 500m of the Gaza-Israel border, and
to ban fishing further than three nautical miles from
the shore.
Among those trapped in Gaza were people with
serious illnesses who needed medical care outside
Gaza, and students and workers needing to travel to
take up university places or jobs in the West Bank or
abroad.
Samir al-Nadim died on 1 November after his exit
from Gaza for a heart operation was delayed by 22
days. By the time the Israeli authorities allowed him to
leave on 29 October, he was unconscious and on a
respirator. He died of heart failure in a hospital in
Nablus in theWest Bank.
Restrictions in the West Bank
Israel’s 700km fence/wall in the West Bank, which
separates many Palestinians from their land, jobs and
relatives, combined with long curfews, around 600
Israeli checkpoints, roadblocks and other closure
obstacles, continued to disrupt the ability of
Palestinians to access basic services, including
educational and health facilities.
Right to water
Israel continued to deny Palestinians in the OPT fair
access to adequate, safe water supplies, hindering
social and economic development and posing threats
to health, in violation of its responsibilities as the
occupying power. Palestinian water consumption
barely reached 70 litres a day per person – well below
the WHO’s recommended daily minimum of 100
litres. Israeli daily per capita consumption was four
times higher. The Israeli army repeatedly destroyed
rainwater harvesting cisterns used by Palestinians in
the West Bank on the grounds that they had been
built without permission.
Forced evictions
Israeli forces forcibly evicted Palestinians and
demolished their homes, particularly in East
Jerusalem, on the grounds that the buildings lacked
permits. Such permits are systematically denied to
Palestinians. Simultaneously, Israeli settlements were
allowed to expand on illegally confiscated Palestinian
land. The Bedouin population of the Negev was also
targeted for forced evictions.
Excessive use of force
Israeli forces used excessive force against Palestinian
civilians, causing many injuries and some deaths.
The security forces used tear gas, rubber-coated
metal bullets and live ammunition, often when there
was no serious threat to themselves or to others.
On 17 April, Bassem Abu Rahmeh was hit by a
high-velocity Israeli tear gas canister, causing internal
bleeding that quickly killed him. He was taking part
in the weekly protest in Bil’in village against the
security fence/wall that cuts off Bil’in from much of
its agricultural land. Video footage showed that Bassem
Abu Rahmeh was unarmed and posing no threat. The
Israeli military said it was investigating his death.
Military justice system
Detentions without trial
The number of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons
without charge or trial decreased from 564 in January
to 278 in December.
Hamdi al-Ta’mari, a Palestinian student arrested on
18 December 2008 when he was 16 years old,
continued to be administratively detained without
charge in Ofer Prison near Ramallah in theWest Bank
until his release on 14 December. He was arrested by
Israeli soldiers at gunpoint at his home in Bethlehem
and, according to his family, was kicked, beaten and
otherwise abused during arrest.
Unfair trials
Palestinians from the OPT, including juveniles,
continued to be interrogated without a lawyer present
and to be tried in military rather than civil courts,
where they suffered other violations to their right to
fair trial.
Prison conditions – denial of family visits
Around 900 Palestinian prisoners continued to be
denied family visits, some for a third year, because
Gazans have not been allowed to travel into Israel
since the blockade was imposed.
Torture and other ill-treatment
Torture and other ill-treatment of Palestinians by
the General Security Service (GSS) continued to be
reported. Methods allegedly used included beatings,
sleep deprivation and prolonged periods in stress
positions. Israeli domestic law retains “necessity” as
a possible justification for torture.
Impunity
Impunity remained the norm for Israeli soldiers, police
and other security forces, as well as Israeli settlers,
who committed serious human rights abuses against
Palestinians, including unlawful killings. Violence by
settlers against Palestinians included beatings, stone
throwing and damaging their crops and homes. In
rare cases where Israeli security personnel were
convicted, the punishments were extremely lenient.
In June, the State Attorney’s Office withdrew an
indictment against Ze’ev Braude, a resident of Kiryat
Arba settlement in Hebron, even though he had been
filmed shooting and seriously wounding two
Palestinians, Hosni Matriya and his 67-year-old father
Abed al-Hai, on 4 December 2008.
Prisoners of conscience – Israeli
conscientious objectors
At least six Israeli conscientious objectors were
imprisoned during 2009 for refusing to serve in the
Israeli army because they opposed the military
occupation of the Palestinian Territories or the actions
of the army in Gaza. There was increasing
harassment of Israeli NGOs supporting conscientious
objectors.
On 29 October, Or Ben David was given her first
prison sentence of 20 days after she refused to serve in
the army. She was back in prison at the end of the year
after receiving two further sentences.
Amnesty International visits/reports
Amnesty International delegates visited Israel and the OPT in January,
February, June, July, October and November.
Israel/OPT: The conflict in Gaza: A briefing on applicable law,
investigations and accountability (MDE 15/007/2009)
Israel/OPT: Fuelling conflict – foreign arms supplies to Israel/Gaza
(MDE 15/012/2009)
Israel/Gaza: Operation “Cast Lead”: 22 days of death and destruction
(MDE 15/015/2009)
Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories: Urgent steps needed to address
UN Committee against Torture’s concerns (MDE 15/019/2009)
Troubled waters: Palestinians denied fair access to water
(MDE 15/027/2009)
ca
Links to the latest articles in this section
The world isn’t buying what Israel’s selling in the West Bank
Report: Hezbollah commander, IRGC senior official killed in Israeli strikes
Netanyahu: Israel will do all it can to counter Iran, even at expense of U.S. ties