Web pages about "Palestinian Authority"

Trapped – collective punishment in Gaza

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:52:48 +0100

"The Israeli siege has turned Gaza into a big prison. We cannot leave, not even for medical care or to study abroad, and most of what we need is not available in Gaza. We are not living really; we are barely surviving and the outlook for the future is bleak." – Fathi, a Gaza resident.

With Gaza locked down and cut off from the outside world by a stifling Israeli blockade, 46 peace activists from the world over set sail for Gaza on 22 August to, in their words, “break the siege that Israel has imposed on the civilian population of Gaza…, to express our solidarity with the suffering people of Gaza, and to create a free and regular channel between Gaza and the outside world”.

An Israeli peace activist on board the Free Gaza boats, Professor Jeff Halper, said: “The mission is to break the Israeli siege, an absolutely illegal siege which has plunged a million and a half Palestinians into wretched conditions: imprisoned in their own homes, exposed to extreme military violence, deprived of the basic necessities of life, stripped of their most fundamental human rights and dignity. The siege violates the most fundamental principle of international law: the inadmissibility of harming civilian populations… I cannot stand idly aside… To do so would violate my commitment to human rights”.

The blockade imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip over a year ago has left the entire population of 1.5 million Palestinians trapped with dwindling resources and an economy in ruins. Some 80 per cent of the population now depend on the trickle of international aid that the Israeli army allows in. This humanitarian crisis is man-made and entirely avoidable.

Even patients in dire need of medical treatment not available in Gaza are often prevented from leaving and scores of them have died. Students who have scholarships in universities abroad are likewise trapped in Gaza, denied the opportunity to build a future.

The Israeli authorities argue that the blockade on Gaza is in response to Palestinian attacks, especially the indiscriminate rockets fired from Gaza at the nearby Israeli town of Sderot. These and other Palestinian attacks killed 25 Israelis in the first half of this year; in the same period Israeli forces killed 400 Palestinians.

However, the Israeli blockade does not target the Palestinian armed groups responsible for attacks – it collectively punishes the entire population of Gaza.

In April 2008, Robert Serry, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Personal Representative of the UN Secretary General, called on Israel to restore fuel supplies to Gaza and allow the passage of humanitarian assistance and commercial supplies.

"The collective punishment of the population of Gaza, which has been instituted for months now, has failed," he said.

Though a ceasefire between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups has held in Gaza since 19 June 2008, the Israeli blockade remains in place.

Economic collapse and poverty

Israel has banned exports from Gaza altogether and has reduced entry of fuel and goods to a trickle – mostly humanitarian aid, foodstuff and medical supplies. Basic necessities are in short supply or not available at all in Gaza. The shortages have pushed up food prices at a time when people can least afford to pay more. A growing number of Gazans have been pushed into extreme poverty and suffer from malnutrition.

Some 80 per cent of the population now depends on international aid, compared to 10 per cent a decade ago. The restrictions imposed by Israel have resulted in higher operational costs for UN aid agencies and humanitarian organizations. Food assistance costs the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) US$20 per person per day compared to less than US$8 in 2004.

Gaza’s fragile economy, already battered by years of restrictions and destruction, has collapsed. Unable to import raw materials and to export produce and without fuel to operate machinery and electricity generators, some 90 per cent of industry has shut down.

Essential services jeopardized

The fuel shortage has affected every aspect of life in Gaza. Patients’ hospital attendance has dropped because of lack of transport and universities were forced to shut down before the end of the school year as students and teachers could not continue to travel to them. Fuel-powered pumps for wells and water distribution networks are often not working.

Medical facilities in Gaza lack the specialized staff and equipment to treat a range of conditions, such as cancer and cardiovascular disease. In addition, hospitals are now under ever greater pressure, as they face shortages of equipment, spare parts and other necessary supplies as a result of the blockade.

With the ceasefire holding, the suffering in Gaza has fallen off the international news agenda. However, Amnesty International members continue to campaign, calling:

on the Israeli authorities to immediately lift the blockade, allow unhindered passage into Gaza of sufficient quantities of fuel, electricity and other necessities; and allow those who want to leave Gaza to do so, notably patients in need of medical treatment not available in Gaza and students enrolled in universities abroad, and also to allow them later to return;

on Palestinian armed groups not to resume rocket and other attacks on Israeli civilians.

Army’s so-called inquiry into cameraman's killing in Gaza a scandal

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:31:53 +0100

Amnesty International has described as scandalous the Israeli army's account of firing a tank shell that killed Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana as a "sound" decision. The army reached the conclusion as part of a so-called investigation into the killing of the journalist and three other unarmed civilians, including 2 children, on 16 April 2008.

The army’s so-called investigation lacked any semblance of impartiality and Amnesty International called for an independent and impartial investigation into the killing. The organization said that the army's conclusion can only reinforce the culture of impunity that has led to so many reckless and disproportionate killings of children and other unarmed civilians by Israeli forces in Gaza.

Fadel Shana worked for Reuters press agency and was in a car clearly marked as Press. He and his colleague left the car, wearing visible Press flak-jackets and he was killed by an Israeli tank he was filming. The tank fired a shell at Shana, which also hit the civilians, including children, and injured his colleague and others around him.

Shana and two children, Ahmad Farajallah and Ghassan Khaled Abu ‘Ataiwi, were killed by flechettes. Amnesty International has said that that flechette shells, which are notoriously imprecise and filled with up to 5,000 5cm-long steel darts or flechettes that spread over an area as big as a football pitch and are lethal, should never be used in or around populated areas.

The letter sent to Reuters by the Israeli Military Advocate General says that the tank crew did not spot any markings on the car and thought Fadel Shana was a militant aiming a rocket.

"Given the sophisticated optical systems in the two Israeli tanks less than a mile away, and the fact that the area is open and visibility was very good in full day light, it is extremely difficult to believe that the soldiers would not have seen the clear TV-Press marking on both Fadel Shana’s blue flak-jacket and the Reuter Mitsubishi Truck nearby " said Donatella Rovera of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme.

Independent investigations into killings of unarmed civilians by Israeli forces are virtually never carried out. Even in cases where international outcry forces the Military Advocate General’s office to look into the cases, the process is limited and lacks any independence and impartiality. In this case, as in virtually all such cases, witnesses were not interviewed.

No proper investigation was carried out into the cases of the 13 other unarmed civilians, including eight children, killed that day after Palestinians had ambushed and killed three Israeli soldiers.

The failure to investigate and to hold accountable those responsible for unlawful killings denies justice to victims and encourages further abuses. It ultimately also impedes prospects for a peaceful solution to the conflict, as it gives a message to Palestinians that there is no justice for them. .

“The need for a fully independent and impartial investigation into this killing is beyond question.” said Donatella Rovera

Amnesty International has repeatedly condemned and called for an end to rocket and other attacks on Israeli civilians by Palestinian armed groups, and for those who commit such attacks to be brought to justice. However, the organization has pointed out that these attacks by armed groups cannot justify the culture of impunity towards the killing of Palestinian civilians in the Israeli army.

In the first six months of 2008, some 400 Palestinians, including more than 50 children, were killed by Israeli forces. Most were killed in Gaza and at least half of them were unarmed civilians.

In the same period, 25 Israelis, including 17 civilians, were killed in attacks by Palestinian armed groups.

Unlawful homes for Israeli settlers, demolitions for Palestinians

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:42:53 +0100

Mobile homes for an illegal Israeli settlement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) got the go-ahead within a week of Israeli bulldozers demolishing Palestinian homes and property in the area. It emerged last Wednesday (26 March) that Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has approved the transfer of five mobile homes to the Israeli settlement of Teneh Omarim in the region.

Only the week before, Israeli army bulldozers demolished nine homes and two livestock enclosures in several Palestinian villages in the southern occupied West Bank. The demolitions were carried out on 19 March in the hamlets of Qawawis, Imneizil, al-Dairat and Umm Lasafa in the South Hebron Hills.

Those whose homes were demolished included families with children. In the villages of al-Dairat and Umm Lasafa, the Israeli army destroyed the homes of brothers Yasser and Jihad Mohammed al-'Adra, and Ismail al-'Adra. As a result, Yasser al-'Adra, his wife and six children, Jihad al-'Adra, his wife and their five children, and Ismail al-'Adra, his wife and their three children, were left homeless.

Expansion of Teneh Omarim and other illegal settlements in the OPT continues, in violation of international law that forbids an occupying power from transferring its civilian population into the territory that it occupies.

The Israeli settlements include neat, modern houses with electricity and water distribution systems. Palestinians have lived in the area for generations but none of their hamlets in the area are "recognized" by the Israeli authorities. This means they do not receive any services – light, water, sewage, education or health – and the homes and other structures may be demolished at any time.

Palestinian villagers are also prohibited for the most part from building new homes or building rain water harvesting cisterns to cater for a growing population or to assist development. No new structures can be built unless permits have first been obtained from the Israeli army, but such permits are invariably refused.

The South Hebron Hills, or Masafer Yatta as it is known to Palestinians, is an area in the southernmost area of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Apart from small stone-built villages in the west of the area, many of the people live in tents and large caves.

Most of the Palestinians in the area are shepherds, but, in recent years, the scarcity of rain water has reduced the availability of grazing land for their flocks and their ability to cultivate their land. In addition, the frequent attacks by Israeli settlers and the increased restrictions imposed by the Israeli army on their movements have further reduced their access to grazing land and their ability to cultivate their land.

Israeli settlers, in contrast, have been allowed to appropriate more and more land. Palestinians have lived in the area since long before the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, though some Palestinians moved to the area when they were forced to leave their lands further south in 1948.

When Palestinian homes are demolished, other means of livelihood such as animal pens are also destroyed. Currently, the mosque in the village of al-Tuwani is under a demolition order, as is a schoolroom in the remote village of Dqaiqa.

Palestinian villagers are frequently harassed by Israeli settlers and Palestinian shepherds fear to graze their flocks near Israeli settlements.

International volunteers from the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) and Operation Dove have had a presence in al-Tuwani, the largest village in the area, since 2004 in order to help protect the villagers and to record acts of violence and harassment against them. Israeli peace activists also visit frequently.

During March 2008, at least six attacks on Palestinian shepherds by Israeli settlers or police were reported, with violence and threats of arrest being used against the shepherds to force them to move them away from what they were told was a "closed military zone".

Following many settler attacks on Palestinian children going to school and their international escorts, the Israeli army now sends a military jeep to escort the schoolchildren. Sometimes, however, this escort arrives too late or fails to deter attacks.

On 19 March 2008, for example, two international observers were attacked by Israeli settlers while they were attempting to monitor the military escort of Palestinian schoolchildren. On 29 March, settlers were reported to have thrown stones at children making their way to school but the military escort failed to intervene.

Amnesty International is urging the Israeli authorities to cease demolishing Palestinian homes in the occupied Palestinian territories, cancel all demolition orders and take steps to prevent and punish settler attacks on Palestinians and on international observers seeking to protect them. The organisation is calling also for an immediate end to the construction or expansion of Israeli settlements in breach of international humanitarian law.

Children and civilian bystanders in Gaza death toll

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:06:57 +0000

Israeli military air strikes and artillery attacks on the Gaza Strip during the last few days have killed over 100 Palestinians, including dozens of children and other civilian bystanders. Three Israelis – a civilian killed by a rocket fired by a Palestinian armed group on 27 February and two soldiers – were also killed.

Many of the Palestinians killed were militants involved in attacks on Israel, but others were unarmed civilians taking no part in the hostilities, including some 25 children. The precise number of civilians killed is unclear and difficult to establish.

The Israeli chief of staff is reported to have claimed that 90 percent of those killed were militants, but the UN and other sources, including those in Gaza, suggest that as many as half of the dead were civilians. More than 250 other people, including scores of unarmed civilians, have been injured.

Israeli forces also destroyed houses and property across the Gaza Strip, including at least two medical facilities, before withdrawing on 3 March.

Amnesty International said on Sunday that the Israeli military air strikes and artillery attacks on the Gaza Strip were being carried out with reckless disregard for civilian life, and called on Israel to put an immediate end to such disproportionate and reckless attacks.

"Israel has a legal obligation to protect the civilian population of Gaza,” said Malcolm Smart, director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme. “These attacks are disproportionate and go beyond lawful measures which Israeli forces may take in response to rocket attacks by Palestinian armed groups."

This latest cycle of killings and destruction comes at a time when the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza are confronting a humanitarian crisis as a result of the increasingly stringent blockade imposed by Israel on Gaza.

Hospitals and medical facilities, already facing severe difficulties in coping with shortages of electricity, fuel, equipment and spare parts due to the Israeli blockade, are struggling to cope with the new influx of casualties caused by Israeli attacks in the last few days.

With Gaza's borders sealed, many patients in dire need of medical care that is not available in Gaza cannot be transferred to hospitals abroad and risk losing their lives.

In the past two months, Israeli forces have killed more than 230 Palestinians in Gaza, including scores of unarmed civilians, and wounded and maimed many others. During the same period, Palestinian armed groups have continued to fire qassam and other rockets indiscriminately at Israel from the Gaza Strip, mostly towards the town of Sderot but also, last week, the more distant town of Ashkelon.

One Israeli civilian has been killed and several injured by such rockets fired from Gaza into Sderot and other areas by Palestinian armed groups.

Amnesty International has again called on Hamas and the Palestinian Authority to ensure that Palestinian armed groups cease immediately from carrying out indiscriminate attacks against Israel, and for those responsible to be held to account.

"It is high time that the leaders of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA) took effective steps to prevent and punish attacks on civilians in Israel," said Malcolm Smart, "but their failure to do so does not make it legitimate for the Israeli authorities to launch reckless air and artillery strikes which wreak such death and destruction among Palestinian civilians.

"At the same time, the Palestinian armed groups who launch frequent rocket attacks from Gaza into nearby Israeli towns not only show a callous disregard for the lives of Israeli civilians but also expose the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip to the danger of Israeli attacks."

Malcolm Smart said that Amnesty International condemned all attacks on civilians, but that "unlawful attacks by one side cannot justify violations by the other."

Israeli army destroys Palestinian homes

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:24:12 +0000

Every single home in the West Bank villages of Humsa and Hadidiya is slated for destruction. The Israeli army has declared most of the Jordan Valley, where the villages are situated, as a "closed military area" from which the local Palestinian population is barred.

The local Palestinian population – which has been there since long before Israeli forces occupied the area four decades ago – is being put under increasing pressure to leave the area. On the morning of 6 February, Israeli army bulldozers destroyed the homes and livelihoods of four Palestinian families in Hadidiya, in the Jordan Valley area of the occupied West Bank.

More than 30 people and their animals were left without shelter. The families of Mohammed Ali Sheikh Bani Odeh, Ali Sheikh Musleh Bani Odeh, Omar ‘Arif Mohammad Bisharat and Mohammed Sahad Bani Odeh included some 20 children.

In the past year, several other Palestinian families in the area have suffered the same fate. The Israeli army served demolition orders on all the residents of Hadidiya in April 2007, giving them 10 days to leave their homes. Most of the villagers moved to nearby Humsa, about a kilometre away.

Four months later, in August, Israeli army bulldozers razed several tents and animal pens in Humsa, leaving some 40 villagers homeless, and, on 3 January 2008, Israeli forces destroyed 12 homes and as many animal shelters in Fasayl, further south in the Jordan Valley.

The Palestinian villagers have to travel miles to get water for their basic needs, but even this is made difficult. Israeli military checkpoints and blockades restrict their movements on main roads and, last August, their tractors and water tanks were confiscated by Israeli soldiers. The villagers could only retrieve these vital items after paying a large fine.

In contrast, Israeli settlements – established in blatant violation of international law – continue to be expanded in the area and Israeli settlers are allowed to move freely and use vast quantities of water.

In recent visits to the area, Amnesty International delegates witnessed the extremely difficult conditions in which the residents of Hadidiya and Humsa are forced to live, with no running water or electricity. Because they are not allowed to build houses they live in tents or shacks, but even these have not been spared by the Israeli bulldozers.

The villagers rebuild their homes each time and have shown their determination to remain in the area. However, they are no longer able to cultivate their land and are finding it increasingly difficult to survive.

Egypt blocks Gazans' access to the outside world

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 17:05:55 +0000

More than 1,000 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip have become stuck in the northern Sinai region of Egypt as the Egyptian authorities try to force them back into Gaza. The authorities have prevented the Gazans from travelling abroad to receive medical treatment that is not available in Gaza or to reach their places of work and study in different countries.

In the last week, the Egyptian authorities have been stepping up efforts to reseal the border wall, which had been blown open by Palestinian militants on 23 January. The breach allowed hundreds of thousands of Gazans to cross into Egypt to buy food, medicines, fuel and other basic necessities that have been sorely lacking in Gaza due to the stringent blockade imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip.

Many of the people now stuck in Sinai became trapped in Gaza in June 2007, despite having legitimate reasons to travel to other countries. Some had already been travelling abroad for medical treatment, or had appointments for treatment, while others have jobs or are students studying at universities and other educational institutions abroad.

The Gaza-Egypt border was sealed in June, virtually imprisoning the 1.5 million Palestinians who live in Gaza. Most live in abject poverty as a result of stringent Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza, which has destroyed the Palestinian economy.

The food and other supplies available in the small towns in Sinai, which borders the Gaza Strip, ran out within days. The Egyptian authorities have, since 26 January, been preventing the local stores and markets from receiving new supplies – an attempt to discourage Gazans from crossing into Egypt to buy supplies and to force Gazans who had already crossed to return to Gaza.

"Egypt has the right to secure its border with Gaza, but a return to the situation whereby the Gaza-Egypt border – Gazans' only means of passage to the outside world – is completely sealed, as it has been for the past seven months, is not acceptable," said Malcolm Smart, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme.

"Whatever agreement about the management of the border is reached between the governments of Israel and Egypt, the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas de-facto administration in Gaza, it must respect fully the fundamental rights of the population of Gaza."

The wall was breached following the Israeli authorities' tightening of their already stifling blockade on Gaza, preventing the passage of essential goods, such as fuel and humanitarian assistance.

On 30 January, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected a petition by 10 Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations seeking to stop the Israeli government from cutting supplies of fuel and electricity to the Gaza Strip. The petitioners contended that it was a punitive measure, which constitutes collective punishment and violates international humanitarian law.

United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, B. Lynn Pascoe, has said that only 32 truckloads of goods entered Gaza between 18 and 29 January due to Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip, causing a backlog of some 224 trucks belonging to various UN agencies to build up.

Prior to the tightening of the Israeli blockade on Gaza imposed last June, an average of 250 trucks of goods entered Gaza daily. UN agencies and humanitarian organizations have been complaining for months that the Israeli blockade prevents them from delivering the necessary quantities of aid to satisfy the needs of the population of Gaza.

The situation remains dire even though the Israeli authorities are now allowing limited quantities of fuel and other basic necessities to enter Gaza, but rolling power cuts continue to severely affect hospitals and health clinics and their treatment of the sick.

Medical facilities in Gaza also lack the specialized staff and equipment to treat a range of conditions, such as cancer and cardiovascular illnesses. Amnesty International is urging the Egyptian authorities to facilitate access to medical care for patients from Gaza who are now in Egypt and renews its call on the Israeli authorities to expedite access to medical care for patients in need of urgent medical treatment not available in Gaza.

The organization is also calling on the Palestinian Authority and the Jordanian government to help facilitate access to healthcare for these patients.

Palestinians must not be re-imprisoned within the Gaza Strip

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:00:52 +0000

Amnesty International today called on the parties involved in the future management of the Rafah crossing at the Gaza-Egypt border to ensure the fundamental rights of the people of Gaza. The governments of Israel and Egypt, the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas de-facto administration in Gaza must guarantee the local population's rights to health and an adequate standard of living, and their right not to be subjected to collective punishment, including arbitrary restrictions on movement.

"The 1.5 million Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip have been virtually imprisoned there since June, most of them in abject poverty as fuel, food and medicinal supplies run out as a result of the Israeli blockade," said Malcolm Smart, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme. "They must not be left to live in the same conditions after the re-closure of the border."

"More than 40 deaths have occurred in recent months because patients in need of urgent medical treatment not available inside Gaza, were refused passage out," said Malcolm Smart. "Hospitals in Gaza lack specialised staff and equipment, power cuts mean they're having to rely on generators, and the blockade has made it difficult or impossible to get parts to repair them when they break down. In the meantime Gazans continue to die and this is unacceptable."

Amnesty International called on the Israeli authorities to allow prompt access to medical care by Gazans in need of urgent treatment not available locally. The organization also called on the Palestinian Authority and the governments of Egypt and Jordan to help these patients access healthcare.

Earlier this week as fuel ran out, Gaza’s only electricity plant was forced to close down. Despite the Israeli authorities then allowing fuel supplies to Gaza on Tuesday, the situation remains dire and power cuts are expected to continue.

"Egypt has the right to secure its border but Gazans should be allowed to leave by normal means, not have to rely on such an extraordinary measure as the breach in the border wall to provide their only possible means of exit," said Malcolm Smart.

Amnesty International urged the Egyptian authorities to ensure that security forces deployed at the border do not use excessive force against inhabitants of the Gaza Strip passing or attempting to pass through the border.

Israel cuts electricity and food supplies to Gaza

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 16:05:35 +0000

Israel has cut off the supply of electricity, fuel and humanitarian assistance to the population of Gaza, a move Amnesty International has condemned as collective punishment.

With the blockade likely to lead to a public health emergency, Amnesty International called for an immediate lifting of the blockade on fuel, humanitarian aid and basic necessities, as well as other restrictions that have effectively prevented entry or exit of people and goods from the Gaza Strip since Hamas seized control in the territory in June 2007.

"More than 40 seriously ill patients have died since the Israeli authorities closed Gaza's borders last June, denying them access to hospital treatment abroad," said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa programme director. "Now the entire Gaza population is being out at risk as electricity, fuel and other supplies run out."

Amnesty International acknowledged Israel's right to take measures to protect its population from rocket and other attacks by Palestinian armed groups in Gaza, but condemned the Israeli authorities' decision to cut off essential supplies to Gaza's 1.5 million inhabitants.

"This action appears calculated to make an already dire humanitarian situation worse, one in which the most vulnerable -- the sick, the elderly, women and children -- will bear the brunt, not those responsible for the attacks against Israel," said Malcolm Smart.

Electricity and fuel, which have already been in short supply in Gaza for some time due to the Israeli blockades, are used to pump water. Shortages in these supplies have disastrous consequences for the health and well-being of a population already facing insufficient supplies of clean water for drinking and personal hygiene, as well as inadequate sewage treatment and waste disposal.

Without power, the population is unable to refrigerate already scarce food and medicines, which are getting spoilt. Critically ill patients in urgent need of medical treatment that is not available in Gaza are prohibited from leaving Gaza and some 40 have died in recent months as a result.

The Israeli authorities cite unspecified "security" reasons, but have proposed no alternative, proportionate means of addressing security concerns. The closure by Israel of Gaza's border with Egypt since early June, Gaza's only border crossing, has left the population effectively trapped and cut off from the outside world.

Patients are prevented from travelling to other countries for medical care and traders and students are denied the possibility to leave Gaza to take advantage of employment and education opportunities elsewhere.

The already stringent Israeli blockade imposed on the passage of goods into and out of Gaza has forced most of Gaza's population to live below the poverty line and depend on international aid. Amnesty International says that further tightening of the blockade will only prolong and worsen the paralysis of Gaza's economy.

"Now, even crucial aid is not allowed to reach those that need it most in Gaza. These measures must be stopped and the passage of aid, fuel and electricity and other basic necessities must be allowed to resume immediately," said Malcolm Smart.

Hundreds killed in Gaza Strip violence

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:48:11 +0000

Hundreds of Palestinians lost their lives as a result of the inter-factional political violence that engulfed the Gaza Strip in the past year. Fighting between security forces and armed groups loyal to the two main Palestinian political parties caused the deaths of many unarmed bystanders not involved in the confrontations, including children.

Both sides -- Fatah, headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and Hamas of then Prime Minister Isma’il Haniyeh -- committed grave human rights abuses. They showed a flagrant disregard for the human rights of a civilian population already worn down by decades of Israeli occupation, military campaigns and blockades. These have caused a sharp deterioration in the humanitarian situation of the 1.5 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip.

As armed clashes became more frequent and intensified, Fatah and Hamas gunmen unlawfully killed and maimed captured rivals and hostages. They used indiscriminate and reckless fire in and around residential neighbourhoods.

Neither medical nor educational facilities were immune as they and residential buildings were both attacked and used as firing positions from which to mount attacks. Homes and public properties were damaged and beleaguered residents were virtually imprisoned in their own homes for days by the fighting.

After Hamas’ violent takeover in the Gaza Strip in June, President Abbas’ decision to suspend operations of PA security forces and judicial institutions in the Gaza Strip created a legal and institutional vacuum there. This opened the way for Hamas to establish a parallel security and law enforcement apparatus, but one which lacks appropriately trained personnel, accountability mechanisms or safeguards.

Unsurprisingly, arbitrary detentions and torture or other ill-treatment of detainees by Hamas forces are now widespread and the initial improvements in the security situation that followed Hamas' takeover are fast being eroded.

In the West Bank, there has also been a marked deterioration in the human rights situation under the emergency government set up by President Abbas in June. Arbitrary detention of suspected Hamas supporters by Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces has become routine. Detainees are often subject to torture or other ill-treatment and Fatah gunmen have launched revenge attacks against Hamas supporters and their properties with impunity.

Amnesty International is calling on both the PA and Hamas to take swift and decisive measures to stop and prevent the increasingly widespread human rights abuses committed by those acting under their authority and to put an end to the impunity enjoyed by security forces and armed groups.

The organization is also calling on the international community to hold all the Palestinian parties accountable to the same human rights standards and to ensure that the population of the Gaza Strip is not punished for the positions and actions of the Hamas de-facto administration and that emergency assistance essential to fulfilling fundamental human rights is never used as a bargaining tool to further political goals.

Palestinian villagers' homes under threat

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 12:58:16 +0000

The Israeli army is threatening to destroy the homes of Palestinian villagers in the Jordan Valley region of the West Bank. The villagers are facing increasing pressures as the army restricts their movement and their access to water.

In Humsa and Hadidiya, two hamlets in the north-east of the West Bank, the Israeli army is increasing its efforts to force more than 100 villagers, most of them children, out of the area.

The inhabitants of Hadidiya were forced to move from Hadidiya to Humsa, about one kilometre away, last April, after the Israeli army threatened to destroy their homes and animal pens. They are now, once again, being threatened with the destruction of their homes and further displacement, as on 29 May 2007 the Israeli army issued another order for them to leave the area "with immediate effect".

Since then, they live in fear that the army's bulldozers may come at any time and destroy their tents, shacks and animal pens. In the meantime they continue to be harassed by Israeli forces. They are denied access to water and their movements are increasingly restricted by military checkpoints and blockades that prevent them from using the main roads in the area.

The Israeli army has declared most of the Jordan Valley a "closed military area" from which the local Palestinian population is barred. However, Israeli settlements -- established in violation of international law -- continue to expand and Israeli settlers are allowed to move freely and use vast quantities of water.

While in Humsa and Hadidiya every single home is slated for destruction and the Palestinian villagers have to bring water for their basic needs from 20 kilometres away, Israeli settlements only a few hundreds of meters away, have well-watered gardens and swimming pools.

In a visit to the area in July 2007, an Amnesty International researcher witnessed the extremely difficult conditions in which the Palestinian villagers are forced to live, with no running water or electricity and no longer able to cultivate their land because they have no water to irrigate their crops. By contrast, in the Israeli settlements nearby sprinklers were wastefully watering the fields in the afternoon sun.