From the predawn hours till the publication of this press release, IOF have killed nine Palestinians and injured 81 others, including 14 children and a paramedic. Six of the dead, including two children, fell in El-Maghazi refugee camp, and the others fell in Nablus. IOF had attacked Nablus and besieged governmental buildings, claiming that there were wanted people inside them. IOF continue to detain the bodies of the fallen in Nablus after taking them from an ambulance. PCHR is concerned over the continued Israeli aggression in El-Maghazi and Nablus, which could lead to additional casualties among Palestinians and to additional destruction of their property. Read more about IOF Attack El-Maghazi Refugee Camp in Gaza and Raid Nablus
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) continued the aggression on the Gaza Strip for the 4th consecutive week, inflicting additional casualties among Palestinian civilians and destruction of civilian property. IOF continue to systematically target infrastructure and governmental institutions, to undermine the Palestinian political system. Further, IOF continue to hold nearly 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip hostages after closing all its borders, and prevent food and supplies from entering the Strip freely. The situation is the worst in years, and could escalate into a humanitarian and environmental catastrophe. Read more about IOF Occupy & Isolate Beit Hanoun, and Destroy the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Today, 16 July 2006, IOF carried out a pre-dawn raid on the town of Beit Hanoun in the north of the Gaza Strip. The raid comes after IOF had conducted an incursion into the northern Gaza Strip, and then redeployed its forces outside the targeted areas. During last week’s incursion, IOF committed war crimes in contravention of International Law and customs. Today’s raid has thus far resulted in the death of three Palestinian resistance activists by aerial bombardment. In addition, 10 civilians were injured. The raid on Beit Hanoun is part of a campaign against Palestinians that was announced by IOF two weeks ago. Read more about Israeli War Crimes Continue in Gaza: 4 Palestinians killed and 10 injured
PCHR strongly condemns the continued killing of Palestinian civilians and destruction of civilian facilities in the Gaza Strip by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), which have been exercising disproportionate and lethal force. In the past 48 hours, three Palestinians have been killed and 10 others, including a woman and a baby, have been wounded in three separate attacks by IOF in Gaza City and the central Gaza Strip. Read more about IOF Offensive Continues in Gaza: 3 Palestinians Killed and 10 Wounded, Infrastructure Destroyed
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have committed a new war crime against Palestinian civilians, flagrantly breaching the Fourth Geneva Convention. IOF fighter jets dropped two bombs at a two-storey house in a crowded neighborhood in the town of Jabalia. The house belonged to a Hamas leader. The house owner was killed, and so were his wife and seven of their children. The house was completely destroyed. In addition, 34 civilians were injured, including five children and six women. Extensive damage was inflicted on 15 houses surrounding the targeted house. Read more about IOF Bomb a House in Gaza City, Killing Two Parents and Their 7 Children; 34 Civilians Injured
The Israeli High Court decided in a session held 10 July 2006 to give the State of Israel a deadline of 48 hours to come up with a mechanism to allow patients, in the least, who are stuck on the Egyptian side of the Rafah International Crossing Point, to return to their homes in the Gaza Strip. The Court decision came in reply to a petition filed by Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, Mezan Centre for Human Rights, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights on 7 July 2006. Read more about Response to petition to Israeli high court: 48 hours for Rafah crisis solution
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed 3 Palestinian children and seriously injured a fourth one yesterday evening (10 July 2006) in Beit Hanoun, when an IOF plane fired a rocket at them. This crime comes within the context of the open war against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip since the capture of the Israeli soldier on 25 June 2006. It is part of the chain of collective punishment, targeting civilians, and destroying civilian property and infrastructure. Read more about IOF Continue to Target Civilians in the Gaza Strip: 3 Children Killed and another Seriously Injured in an Air Raid on Beit Hanoun
Yesterday, Bara’ Jamal Abu Jarbou’ (11) and Nema Abdel Rahman Hamad (45) from Nuseirat refugee camp were killed and 7 others were injured in a clan clash. And today, 3 other Palestinians were injured in a clan clash in the town of Bani Suheila, east of Khan Yunis. PCHR’s preliminary investigation indicates that at approximately 14:20 on Sunday, 9 July 2006, an intra-clan clash erupted between members of the Hamad clan in Nuseirat refugee camp. The clash escalated and firearms were used. Nine people were injured during the clash; and 2 died of their wounds later. Read more about Woman and Child Killed and 10 Injured in Armed Clan Clashes in the Gaza Strip
On the evening of Saturday, 8 July 2006, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed a Palestinian woman and two of her children, and injured another five members of the same family, when an IOF plane dropped a bomb close to their house located to the east of the Sheja’iya area of Gaza City. This crime is a continuation of a series of war crimes that have been perpetrated by IOF in the Gaza Strip over the past two weeks. Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip are paying the price of the war launched by IOF, which has led to the killing and injury of a large number of civilians. Read more about Palestinian Family Members Killed and Injured in the Latest Israeli Military Escalation in the Gaza Strip
According to investigations conducted by PCHR, on Friday, 7 July 2006, IOF continued their wide scale incursion into the northern Gaza Strip for the second consecutive day. They moved into the north east of Beit Hanoun and razed large areas of Palestinian agricultural land. They also moved into the north of Beit Lahia, occupying the al-Salateen, al-‘Atatra and al-Israa’ neighborhoods. Moreover, IOF continued to shell civilian populated areas and seized control of dozens of houses, forcing hundreds of Palestinian civilians to leave their homes. PCHR’s field worker in the northern Gaza Strip reported that IOF detained at least 5000 people and endangered their lives by using them as human shields. Read more about IOF Offensive Continues in the Gaza Strip: Eleven More Palestinians Killed; Civilian Property Destroyed; Medical and Media Crews Attacked