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Israeli forces kill four in Gaza; major expansion of operations is feared

18 October 2006


In the midst of increasing assertions by Israeli government officials over the smuggling of arms in the Gaza Strip and impending military operations inside it, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) escalated its attacks on Gaza and killed four Palestinians during new incursions last night and today. According to field reports, at approximately 6pm yesterday, 17 October 2006, about 15 IOF tanks and armored vehicles entered the Ezbet Abedrabu neighborhood in the east of Jabalia, some 2km from the borderline. They leveled land and streets in the area under heavy firing. 

West Bank patients grow increasingly desperate for medical treatment

18 October 2006


According to international aid organisations, a five week health workers’ strike in the West Bank has prompted some Palestinians to threaten medical staff into treating them. “The strike has had a huge impact on health services. People are knocking on the doors of doctors who are at home and offering to pay for treatment,” said David, Shearer, head of the United Nation’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Jerusalem. “People are also threatening medical staff to try to get themselves treated - and it’s going to get worse. We don’t have any numbers on how many people may actually have died, or how many babies may have died in childbirth, as they are not being registered.” 

Child dies and seven injured as a result of family clashes in Gaza

17 October 2006


At approximately 10:45 on Tuesday, 17 October 2006, armed clashes were resumed between the families of al-Masri and Abu Taha near the desalination plant in Khan Yunis. As a result, a child and a woman passing by the area were wounded. At approximately 13:30 on Sunday, 15 October 2006, members of the al-Masri family burnt to a house and four shops belonging to the Abu Taha family during the funeral procession of Eyad Maher al-Masri, 13, who died from a wound he had sustained on 8 October 2006 during clashes between the two families. Soon after, armed clashes erupted between the two families in Jourat al-Lout area. 

Denial of Entry: Rice's Probe and the Israeli Administration

Rima Merriman 17 October 2006


The good news that Condoleezza Rice “wants the Israeli government to explain restrictions on Palestinian-Americans traveling on U.S. passports in Israel and the Palestinian territories” spread like wildfire in the occupied Palestinian territories. Rice has apparently listened to something from the Palestinian side! Maybe she saw the ads that the Palestinian grassroots Campaign for the Right of Entry/Re-Entry into the oPt had placed in all the local papers during her most recent visit - a photograph of her and Abbas with the caption “Wish we could be there to help you!”, meaning that Americans, and Palestinian-Americans especially, are being denied entry to the oPt, and so are also denied the opportunity to play a role in the peacemaking she was seeking. 

Ten Palestinians Killed in Gaza Past Two Days

15 October 2006


In the past two days, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed 10 Palestinians and wounded 11 others, including a child, in the Gaza Strip. Six of the victims, including two civilians, were killed during an incursion conducted by IOF into the northern Gaza Strip town of Jabalya. The remaining victims were extra-judicially executed by IOF in Beit Lahia and Gaza City. According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 09:20 on Friday, 13 October 2006, an IOF drone fired a missile at a civilian car that was traveling in the center of the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahia. 

ADC documenting Americans denied entry to Israel and OPT

13 October 2006


The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination (ADC) has noted increased reports which indicate Israel is discriminating against US citizens and other foreign nationals by denying them entry or re-entry into the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel. In late September, the US Consul General in Jerusalem also acknowledged a noticeable change in the number of Israeli refusals or denial of entry cases. More than 120,000 Arab Americans are believed to be impacted by this latest Israeli policy and the Consulate is urging people to document this information. Additionally, on October 11, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, “I will continue to do everything in my power … to ensure that all American travelers receive fair and equal treatment.” 

Police officers who shot Arab motorists not indicted

13 October 2006


On 6 October 2006, the Israeli Attorney General rejected an appeal filed by Adalah against the decision of the Ministry of Justice’s Police Investigations Unit to close the investigation file against Border Police officers who opened fire on and killed 28-year-old Mr. Moursi Jabali, and shot and injured his companion, Mr. Shihab Jaber. Adalah included in the appeal numerous testimonies from eyewitnesses, who indicated that the Border Police officers began to open fire on the car without issuing any prior warning, either by calling out to the two men, or by firing shots into the air as a sign for the car to stop, as they are obliged to under the internal police guidelines for opening fire. 

Israeli obstacles to free movement in Palestinian territories mount, UN reports

13 October 2006


Not only has there not been any significant improvement in Palestinian movement in recent months but the number of Israeli checkpoints and other obstacles has actually increased, hindering access to essential services, according to the latest United Nations update published today. “The closure system is a primary cause of the humanitarian crisis in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned. “It restricts Palestinian access not only to basic services such as health and education, but divides communities from their land and one another, places of work and sites of religious worship.” 

The BBC and Israel's plan for a military strike on Iran

Jonathan Cook 12 October 2006


The Middle East, and possibly the world, stands on the brink of a terrible conflagration as Israel and the United States prepare to deal with Iran’s alleged ambition to acquire nuclear weapons. Israel, it becomes clearer by the day, wants to use its air force to deliver a knock-out blow against Tehran. It is not known whether it will use conventional weapons or a nuclear warhead in such a strike. At this potentially cataclysmic moment in global politics, it is good to see that one of the world’s leading broadcasters, the BBC, decided this week to air a documentary entitled “Will Israel bomb Iran?”. It is the question on everyone’s lips and doubtless, with the imprimatur of the BBC, the programme will sell around the world. 

UN officials fear unexploded ordnance problem could worsen with winter

11 October 2006


United Nations de-mining officials, already worried by up to 1 million pieces of unexploded ordnance in southern Lebanon left over from Israel’s 34-day war with Hizbollah, voiced concern today that the problem could worsen as winter weather embeds the munitions deeper into the ground. “This will make the job more dangerous since it becomes difficult to detect and clear the suspected contaminated areas,” UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Spokesman Alexander Ivanko said of the unexploded ordnance (UXOs) and cluster bomb units (CBUs) still remaining from this summer’s conflict.