Human Rights

Listen to the children on Israel's Wall


Two years after the International Court of Justice advised that Israel’s separation Wall should be taken down, two members of the international Save the Children alliance, UK and Sweden, working in the occupied Palestinian territory report that Palestinian children still fear the Wall and talk forcefully about its negative impacts on their lives. The Israeli government began construction of the Wall five years ago. Built almost entirely on West Bank lands, the Wall is over twice as long as the 1967 border with Israel. 

Palestinian Family Members Killed and Injured in the Latest Israeli Military Escalation 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. 

PNGO statement of condemnation of Israeli attack on north Gaza and a call on the international community for intervention


The Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO) calls upon the United Nations, and the international community, to intervene and stop the Israeli Occupation forces’ attacks on the Palestinian people, which have been concentrated in the northern Gaza Strip since the night of 5 July 2006. The serious escalation of Israeli attacks against Palestinian citizens and property utilizing heavy arms, including tanks and air forces, caused outrageous impacts of civilian life and property. 

IOF Offensive Continues in the Gaza Strip: Eleven More Palestinians Killed; Civilian Property Destroyed; Medical and Media Crews Attacked


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. 

Bloody Day of Violence: 24 Palestinians killed by Israeli Occupation Forces in the Gaza Strip and 2 killed in the West Bank, 115 others injured


PCHR’s preliminary investigation indicates that the past day has witnessed an IOF escalation unprecedented since the implementation of the disengagement plan nearly ten months ago. A total of twenty-six Palestinians were killed over a period of twenty-six hours: twenty-four in the Gaza Strip and two in the West Bank. This brings the number of Palestinians killed to thirty-six, since the capturing of the Israeli soldier on 25 June 2006. In addition, one hundred and fifteen Palestinians have been injured, most of them civilians. 

Weekly Report on Human Rights Violations


Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Escalate Attacks on Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), and Isolate the Gaza Strip from the Outside World - 9 Palestinians killed by the IOF, 6 by the IOF shelling in the Gaza Strip; two were extra-judicially executed by the IOF in the West Bank. 91 Palestinians, including 18 children, were wounded by the IOF gunfire. IOF warplanes launched a series of air strikes and mock air raids on the Gaza Strip; offices of the Palestinian Prime Minister and the Minister of Interior and a number of civilian facilities were destroyed or damaged. IOF conducted 81 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, and reoccupied areas in the Gaza Strip. 

Israeli air strikes and incursions into Gaza kill at least nineteen Palestinians


Widespread Israeli incursions and air strikes in the Gaza Strip have killed at least nineteen Palestinians in less than 24 hours. The latest strike on Beit Lahiya in the north of the Gaza Strip on Thursday afternoon has killed at least 12 Palestinians and injured over forty. At least three of the injured are said to be in a critical condition. With this, the number of Palestinians killed in the Strip in the last 18 hours has increased to 19, and the number of injuries is currently in the fifties. Many of these are civilians, women and children. Medical sources said that the casualties were transported to various hospitals in the Strip in spite of the current disruption of electricity which makes the treatment of these casualties critical and difficult. 

Israeli Attacks on Educational Institutions in the Gaza Strip Violate International Law


At around 1:00 am on Tuesday, 4 July 2006, an Israeli Apache helicopter fired one missile at the Islamic University in Gaza City. As a result of the attack, the target, a student council office, caught fire and was completely destroyed. At approximately 1:50 am on Wednesday, 5 July 2006, an Israeli aircraft dropped a bomb on the Dar al-Arqam School in al-Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City, destroying a number of classrooms. These attacks came less than a week after the IAF fired a missile at the Islamic University, hitting a football field. 

UN expert: US, EU, Russia and other states ignore Israeli rights abuses


John Dugard, a UN Special Rapporteur on Wednesday criticized the United States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations for ignoring countless Israeli violations of human rights, international law and other standards. Dugard, who is responsible for investigating alleged human rights abuses by Israel in Palestinian areas, said the United States and other international powers who make up the so-called Quartet of Mideast mediators have done nothing to rein in Israel. Dugard was the keynote speaker at the first emergency session of the new UN Human Rights Council, called at the request Friday of Arab countries, who are seeking a resolution that would censure Israel for its behavior. 

Israeli Occupation Forces Destroy the Ministry of Interior Building and a School in Further Aerial Attacks on the Gaza Strip


The international community is required to fulfill its legal and moral obligations to immediately stop Israeli war crimes against Palestinian civilian property, and to enforce article 1 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. PCHR strongly condemns the targeting of the Palestinian Interior Ministry building by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) for the second time this week. In addition, the Centre condemns the military escalation against civilian property and installations, including educational and governmental institutions. 

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