On 7 July 2006, Gulf News reported a claim by Dr. Al Saqqa, Head of the Emergency Unit of El Shifa Hospital, Gaza that the Israeli Occupation Force was using a new ‘chemical’ weapon. He has worked at El Shifa for ten years. He had noted that two hundred and more casualties of Operation Summer Rain (sic) had unusual wounds. These numbers included about fifty children. Later evidence from Dr. Al Saqqa described surface wounds as having the general appearance of those due to ‘shrapnel’ - fragments from shell, missile or bomb casings - but no fragments were to be seen on x-ray. Read more about Are New Weapons Being Used in Gaza and Lebanon?
PCHR condemns the re-closure of Rafah International Crossing Point when the EU observers withdrew from it after it had been opened for less than seven hours in two days for departing travelers. PCHR believes that such repeated behavior is consistent with collective punishment measures taken by IOF against the Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza Strip. PCHR is concerned that this suspicious role may lead to an escalation in violations of Palestinians’ human rights in the Gaza Strip, especially the right to freedom of movement. Read more about Rafah crossing closed after being open less than 7 hours in 2 days
Twenty-five Palestinians, including six children and an old man, were killed by IOF. Three of the victims were extra-judicially executed by IOF in the West Bank. Fifty-nine Palestinian civilians, including 26 children and women, were wounded by the IOF gunfire. IOF launched a series of air strikes on a number of houses in the Gaza Strip. Rhree houses were destroyed after their residents were warned that the houses would be attacked. IOF have continued to shell the northern Gaza Strip and al-Shouka village near Rafah, and many families were forced to leave their homes. Read more about Weekly Report on Human Rights Violations: 26 Palestinians killed, including 6 children
The situation in the Gaza Strip remains extremely volatile, with the ongoing closure of the territory (including Rafah terminal), continued military operations and violent confrontations keeping the level of tension high. In this bleak and unpredictable environment, the ICRC is still widely viewed as a neutral humanitarian agency by beneficiaries and contacts and, often, as the only glimmer of hope. In the early hours of 3 August, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a new incursion into the Shoka area (south-east of Rafah), which lasted for three days. Heavy shooting and shelling reportedly led to 17 deaths and injured 43 persons in this period. Read more about The situation in the Gaza Strip remains "extremely volatile" - Red Cross
Cautioning that the media’s focus on Lebanon should not detract attention from the need to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today spoke out against the killing of civilians on both sides, noting that Israeli attacks have caused hundreds of deaths, and called for the parties to resume dialogue. “The Secretary-General is greatly concerned that the tragic events in Lebanon and northern Israel should not distract from the urgent need to work towards a solution to the current crisis in the occupied Palestinian territory,” a spokesman for Mr. Annan said in a statement. Read more about Decrying civilian deaths in Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Annan urges parties to talk
Since 25 June 2006, the Gaza Strip has been witnessing unprecedented deterioration in the humanitarian situation, the harshest such development since the unilateral disengagement plan in September 2005. The whole Gaza Strip is the subject of a wide scale IOF military operation. The IOF operation comes after the paramilitary operation conducted by three Palestinian resistance factions, including the armed wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). The Palestinian operation was conducted on 25 June 2006 against an IOF outpost in the Karm Abu Salem area, southeast of Rafah. Read more about Reprisals against Civilians: Israeli violations in Gaza 25 June-31 July
PCHR strongly condemns the detention of Dr. Aziz Dweik, the Speaker of the PLC, by Israeli Occupation Forces. This detention is a continuation of Israel’s targeting of Palestinian Ministers and PLC members from the “Change and Reform List” supported by Hamas. The Centre views the detention of the PLC Speaker as a form of reprisal and collective punishment against Palestinian civilians, which are prohibited in Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The Centre views this detention as another step in the attempts to undermine the results of the free and democratic elections held in the Occupied Palestinian Territory on 25 January 2006. Read more about PCHR Condemns the Detention of the Speaker of the PLC
PCHR strongly condemns the gruesome crime committed by gunmen inside Jericho Central Prison on the evening of Friday, 4 August 2006. The crime resulted in the death of six inmates, two of them by mistake, and the injury of three others. PCHR also condemns the failure of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and law-enforcement bodies to fulfill their duty to protect prisoners. The Centre views this crime as an indicator that many insist on maintaining a state of security chaos, undermining the rule of law, and practicing vigilante justice. Read more about Six Killed in Vigilante Attack on Jericho Central Prison
In July, the Israeli military killed 163 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, 78 of whom (48 percent) were not taking part in the hostilities when they were killed. Thirty-six of the fatalities were minors, and 20 were women. In the West Bank, 15 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in July. The number of Palestinian fatalities in July was the highest in any month since April 2002. Of the incidents B’Tselem investigated in Gaza over the past month, the organization has identified four cases in which Israel may have committed grave breaches of the laws of war. A total of 15 Palestinian civilians were killed in these incidents, including 7 minors. Read more about Almost half the fatalities in Gaza in July were civilians
The victims of war crimes perpetrated by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) for the third consecutive day in Rafah has increased to 16 killed, including 10 civilians (four of them children). One of the victims was a three-day-old infant girl who fell her mother’s arm as the latter was fleeing from IOF. Two other children victims were brothers. They were killed and their mother and brother were seriously injured when they were trying to flee their house. The number of injured is up to 39, including 13 children and one woman. All were injured by shrapnel and burns, many of them were injured seriously. Read more about More children killed in Rafah
