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Crisis in the PA: Events and the Challenge of Reform

7 September 2004


The occupied territories are witnessing a severe internal crises that effects all aspects of the life of Palestinians and threatens both their security and safety. It threatens the ongoing struggle for independence and for an the end to the belligerent Israeli occupation. While the roots of the crises may be traced back many years the crises reached a pinnacle in the middle of July 2004 in the shape of a series of attacks, kidnappings and other illegal activities perpetrated by individuals or militant groups. These actions reflect the total absence of the rule of law and the chaos which has resulted as a consequence of the proliferation of small arms and militarization of Palestinian society. 

Interview: What the IDF is doing in Nablus

Nablus 7 September 2004


Some of the claims herein are shocking. I honestly hope that the interview - originally conducted in Hebrew - will impel people to action and that the commanders responsible for such abuses will be held to account. It is worth remembering that the soldier’s unit was ‘exemplary’ in that it was considered to be one that had relatively good discipline compared to other fighting units in the IDF. The interview is thus testimony to the real nature of a military force that is often portrayed as ‘the most moral army in the world.’ After reading this interview, it is hard to understand how such a mythology can be sustained within the Israeli body-politic and in the mainstream of US public opinion. 

10-year old girl hit in UNRWA classroom by Israeli gunfire

7 September 2004


In the third such incident in 18 months, a child sitting in the classroom of a UN-flagged school has been struck in the head by gunfire from an Israeli position in the Gaza Strip. At 07:45 10-year old Raghda Adnan Al-Assar was struck in the head by Israeli fire while sitting at her desk in UNRWA’s Elementary C Girl’s School in Khan Younis camp. She is now in the European Gaza Hospital where she has undergone major surgery. On June 1 this year two ten-year old children in UNRWA’s Al-Umariye Elementary Boys’ School in Rafah were hit by a bullet and ricochets from a Israeli tank stationed on the sand dunes opposite the school. 

Israeli forces kill 14 Palestinians in Gaza

7 September 2004


This morning Israeli forces killed 14 Palestinians and wounded at least 12 others in Gaza. Israeli forces shelled a training center belonging to the Hamas movement in al-Tuffah neighborhood in the east of Gaza City. Israel claimed responsibility for this attack and claimed that it came in response to the suicide bombing in Ber al-Saba (Beersheva) last week. Medical sources in hospitals in Gaza City stated that the condition of a number of the injured are critical. PCHR is gravely concerned at this latest escalation and calls upon the international community to stop these attacks. 

World Bank: Gaza disengagement little impact on Palestinian economy

7 September 2004


The World Bank released a paper warning that were the disengagement accompanied by the sealing of Gaza’s borders to labor and trade or by terminating supplies of water and electricity to Gaza, it would create worse hardship than is seen today. “Under such circumstances, the Plan’s assertion that Israel is no longer responsible for the population of Gaza will not resonate,” the paper noted. “Nor would donors appreciate the implication that they must bear the humanitarian consequences of this style of disengagement.” The World Bank regarded the Israeli plan as having little impact on the Palestinian economy, as it will only ease internal movement restrictions. 

Hunger striking prisoners allowed to meet with their lawyers

2 September 2004


The Supreme Court issued a precedent-setting ruling yesterday (1/9/04) stating that the right of prisoners or detainees to meet with their attorneys must be ensured, also for those who are on a hunger strike. The Supreme Court also established that the refusal by the IPS to allow such meetings to take place, as the state legal counsel admitted, was illegal. The Supreme Court granted the status of a judicial ruling to the state undertaking to facilitate, from this point on, meetings between prisoners and detainees who are on a hunger strike and their attorneys. 

More than 1 million Palestinian children return to school

6 September 2004


Some 1.2 million children returned to school last week in the West Bank and Gaza Strip after a summer break. Students and teachers have begun the new school year with enthusiasm, but it will not be without challenges - classroom size, quality of teaching, and, amid school closures, checkpoints and day-long curfews. Almost 200,000 children lost school days last year due to curfews and closures. UNICEF is supporting the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Education by providing essential learning supplies, supporting teacher training, and advocating to ensure that students take final exams safely and on schedule. 

Israeli forces kill 4 Palestinians and injure 52 others in Deir al-Balah

3 September 2004


On Thursday, 2 September 2004, Israeli forces killed 4 Palestinians, including a child, and injured 52 others in the central Gaza Strip town of Deir al-Balah. They also destroyed one house, damaged 20 others and razed 12 donums of agricultural land. These attacks took place during a 25-hour Israeli military incursion into Deir al-Balah. Preliminary investigations conducted by PCHR strongly indicated that Israeli troops continuously used excessive force against Palestinian civilians during this incursion. PCHR believes that continued failure of the international community to take firm action against Israeli authorities encourages Israel to continue to act with impunity. 

Weekly report on human rights violations

2 September 2004


This week, Israeli forces killed four Palestinians, including one child, an old man and a woman. Israeli forces killed one Palestinian in a failed extra-judicial execution in Rafah. Israeli forces demolished 15 homes in Rafah and razed 360 donums of land in the Gaza Strip. In Khan Yunis, Israeli forces demolished two buildings with 36 apartments, in addition to 12 homes and a mosque. In Hebron, Israeli forces demolished two homes in an act of collective punishment. Israel continues the construction of the wall. Israeli forces wounded four Palestinians at Abu Houli and Matahen checkpoint. 

IPI criticises British journalist's treatment

2 September 2004


On 1 September, British freelance journalist Ewa Jasiewicz decided to return to the United Kingdom after discontinuing a legal action before the Israeli Supreme Court. Jasiewicz made the decision because, if the court had found against her, it would have created a binding legal precedent for other foreign journalists entering Israel. During the initial stages of the hearing, the court appeared in favour of allowing Jasiewicz to enter Israel but wanted to ban her from the occupied territories. The court then decided to hear evidence from the security forces ex parte, excluding both Jasiewicz and her legal team from the hearing and preventing them from understanding the true nature of the charges made against her.