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Weekly Report on Human Rights Violations

29 June 2006


IOF have started to implement threats made by the Israeli prime minister, Knesset ministers and the chief of staff to launch a wide scale offensive on the Gaza Strip. The offensive, named “Operation Summer Rain”, has included incursions, air strikes and artillery shelling on civilian targets in the Gaza Strip. These attacks followed a military operation by Palestinian resistance members on 25 June 2006 in the Kerem Shalom area, southeast of Rafah, in which two IOF soldiers and two members of the Palestinian resistance were killed, and a third IOF soldier was captured by the Palestinian resistance. 

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Carry Out Reprisals against Palestinian Civilians in the West Bank

29 June 2006


PCHR strongly condemns the IOF detention of Palestinian Cabinet Ministers, including the Deputy Prime Minister, and legislative council members from the “Change and Reform” party, affiliated with Hamas. The Centre views these detentions as a form of reprisal against Palestinian civilians and a form of collective punishment prohibited by Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The Centre calls upon the international community, particularly the High Contracting Parties of the Fourth Geneva Convention, to force IOF to respect the convention. 

UN-sponsored meeting calls on Israel to pull out of Gaza, Palestinians to stop rockets

28 June 2006


As the United Nations International Meeting in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace entered its second day with events on the ground increasingly drawing world attention, participants considered the peace process and challenges ahead, hearing expert views about the “catastrophic” developments in the Gaza Strip, and the critical need to renew the peace negotiations and strictly uphold international law and United Nations resolutions. The two-day meeting brought together experts, UN member states, parliamentarians, NGO’s and the media to examine the state of the conflict. 

Annan calls on both Palestinians and Israelis to take measures to defuse crisis

29 June 2006


Voicing deep concern over developments in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on both sides to take measures to defuse the tension. In a statement issued by his spokesman, Mr. Annan cited the continued detention of an Israeli soldier by Palestinian militants; the killing by Palestinian militants of an Israeli civilian; further rocket attacks against Israel; and Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip which have resulted in a serious deterioration in humanitarian conditions. 

Secretary-General calls for ‘maximum restraint’ in Israeli-Palestinian flare-up

28 June 2006


Calling on all sides in the upsurge of violence in the Gaza Strip to exercise maximum restraint and ensure that civilians are not harmed, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today the first step towards a solution would be the release of the Israeli soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants. “I’ve been following with great concern developments in the Middle East,” Mr. Annan told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York, noting that he had been in touch with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Syrian President Bashar al Assad. 

A Race Against Time: An interview with Sam Bahour

Christopher Brown 28 June 2006


“During the last six months specifically, the Israelis basically in my opinion have been spinning out of control. They have unleashed, literally daily attacks on Palestinians. Unfortunately, the world only sees every once in a while what’s happening there, when there is a camera taking a picture such as the incident when the whole family of civilians was killed on the beach. For the last six years, there’s been a non-stop onslaught in terms of not only killing Palestinians, but also raids into Palestinian cities where they’re actually arresting people on a nightly basis.” Christopher Brown talks to Sam Bahour in Palestine. 

Photostory: Israel invades Gaza, 27 June 2006

30 June 2006


At 11:51PM* (Palestine time) on June 27th, Israel launched a large scale military assault on Gaza, as Israeli fighter planes carried out three airstrikes on Gazan bridges. Further strikes against Gazan power plants took place at 1:42AM, sending most of Gaza into darkness. At 2:24AM, Israeli forces began moving into Gaza to take control of the open areas east of Rafah. At 5:08AM Israeli fighter planes began flying low over Gaza, causing intentional sonic booms. Yet there has been massive destruction of the civilian infrastructure, leaving one million Gazans without power, a situation that some estimate will take as long as seven months to rectify. Meanwhile, Israeli shelling continues. 

Palestinian Killed and Five Injured, including Two Children, in an Explosion in Gaza City

27 June 2006


Hamza Ahmad Muharib, a 19-year-old resident of Khan Yunis, was killed and five others were injured, including two children, when an explosive device in Muharib’s car detonated prematurely. PCHR’s preliminary investigation indicates that at approximately 18:00 on Tuesday, 27 June 2006, an explosive device detonated prematurely in a vehicle in the Southern Rimal area of Gaza City. The driver of the car, Hamza Muharib, was killed in the explosion. In addition, five Palestinian bystanders were injured, including two children. 

When will Israel learn? (1/2)

Rifat Odeh Kassis Palestine 28 June 2006


When I first heard about the Israeli soldier who was “kidnapped” by Palestinians and heard the appeal of Abu Mazen to the Palestinian factions, followed by many other Arab and foreign leaders, calling for his release, I thought that the soldier was kidnapped from a coffee shop in Tel Aviv. This feeling was emphasised when I heard the Israeli army spokesman talking to Al-Jazeera, calling upon the kidnappers to save his life and send him back to his family and parents. The BBC called him “the missing man.” Calling him a “man” and not a “soldier”, however, confused me a bit. I learned that this soldier/man (not to upset the BBC) was kidnapped in a battle at a military checkpoint inside the green line. 

Bracing for the worst: Electricity cut off, bridges bombed, sonic boom attacks resume

Laila El-Haddad North Carolina 28 June 2006


Friends and family in Gaza have told me they are bracing themselves for the worst, while praying for the best. In Rafah, the refugee camp that has not been spared the wrath of the Israeli Army on so many occasions in the past, where 16, 000 Palestinians lost their homes to armoured bulldozers, families have holed themselves indoors, fearing for their lives. Israel has taken control of the border area, including Rafah Crossing, and the Airport. Journalist colleagues have told me that CNN and BBC crews from Jerusalem were also not allowed through the Erez Crossing into Gaza yesterday.