Al Mezan Center For Human Rights

Death of PA detainee raises suspicions of torture


On 22 February 2008, the death of 44-year-old Majd Abdul-Aziz al-Barghouti was announced. He was a resident of Kobar village, located near the town of Ramallah, West Bank. Al-Barghouti was arrested on 14 February 2008, at the hands of the Palestinian General Intelligence in the West Bank. According to the information retrieved by Al Mezan, al-Barghouti was arrested for political reasons and without observance of the legal process. 

Seven Gazans killed in day of Israeli air, shelling attacks


On 7 February 2008, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed seven Palestinians, raising the number of victims from its military attacks to seventeen persons since the beginning of this month, and 96 persons since the beginning of 2008 in the Gaza Strip. The IOF launched seven attacks in different parts of the Gaza Strip since last night, of which the most affected areas were Khan Younis, al-Nuseirat, and other areas in northern Gaza. 

Gaza suffering severe fuel shortages


The Gaza Strip continues to witness a dramatic decline in the fuel and power supplies since 16 October 2007. The Israeli high court upheld the decision of Israeli authorities to reduce the amount of fuel, including industrial fuel that is used for electricity generation, into the Strip on 13 November 2007. Under this decision, the Israeli Occupation Forces reduced the amount of fuel necessary for operating the power station to 250,000 liters per day. 

Eight Gazans killed, 17 injured in ongoing Israeli attacks


Israeli occupation forces (IOF) escalated their offensive against the Gaza Strip, killing eight Palestinians and injuring 17 others in various attacks throughout the Strip. The IOF carried out air strikes in different areas. It carried out an artillery attack on a house belonging to the Fayad family in Khan Younis, killing three brothers, their mother, and a fifth family member. Two civilian cars in northern and middle Gaza Strip were also bombarded, but no injuries were reported. 

Israeli forces kill 20 in Gaza during Eid attacks


Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have escalated their aggression on the Gaza Strip since the Eid al-Adha eve, killing twenty Palestinians and injuring 27 others, including four critically. The casualties resulted from acts of assassination and bombardment, and an incursion in central Gaza during which eight were killed on 20 December 2007. IOF also leveled sixty dunums (one dunam equals 1,000 square meters) of agricultural land and partially destroyed twelve homes in the area. 

Hamas forces kill six during Fatah demonstration in Gaza


Six Palestinian citizens were killed and over eighty injured in Gaza yesterday, Monday 12 November 2007, as confrontations erupted in a festival organized by Fatah Movement to commemorate of the third anniversary of the passing of former President Yasser Arafat. According Al Mezan’s fieldworkers, in the early morning hours yesterday, the police deployed thousands of its members and erected checkpoints at the entrances of all towns and camps in the Gaza Strip. Policemen stopped and searched vehicles transporting Fatah supporters to the festival. 

Israel kills four in Gaza attacks


The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have escalated their military operations in the Gaza Strip. IOF have killed four Palestinians, including a father and his son, and injured four others, including a child, since Sunday 4 November 2007. In addition, IOF have also launched an incursion in the eastern part of the mid-Gaza town of Deir al-Balah, carried out several missile attacks, arrested fishermen and razed agricultural land. IOF also bombarded a factory in north Gaza twice, killing three of its workers. 

Rights group: Impartial investigation for 2000 killing of Muhammad al-Dura


The Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) claimed yesterday that the video of the murder of Muhammad Jamal al-Dura on 30 September 2000 was staged by a cameraman in Gaza. The scene of the killing of the 11-year-old boy was one of the most moving ones ever broadcast during the second intifada that had started three days before the incident. Information and evidence collected by Al Mezan from the field rebut the GPO’s allegations.