In response to the Qassam rockets fired from the northern Gaza Strip at Israeli communities and army bases in Israel , the army announced it was beginning Operation Blue Skies. As part of the operation, the army called on Palestinians living or present in the area to leave by 6:00 P.M. Wednesday. According to media reports, the army intends to open fire at any person who enters the area, regardless of the person’s identity or reason for being there. An order to open fire at any person present in a particular area in the northern Gaza Strip, would constitute a flagrant breach of International Humanitarian Law. Indiscriminate gunfire at every person who enters a particular area is patently illegal, and can lead to the commission of war crimes. Read more about Creation of "Death Zone" in northern Gaza Strip is illegal
On Sunday morning, 1 January 2006, unknown armed persons blew up UNRWA Beach Club in Gaza City. The club and a nearby site of the Palestinian Civil Defense were severely damaged. A few hours later, another armed group kidnapped a member of a European Parliament delegation visiting Khan Yunis. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights is concerned that the ultimate goal of such crimes is to convulse the internal security and security to cancel or interrupt the upcoming elections or hold them under unfair conditions. The UN club, which was established in the 1950s, servers UNRWA international and local staff. International staff no longer visited the club at night due to the current security situation. Read more about Unidentified armed men target UN club in Gaza
One day has passed since Kate Burton was kidnapped and at the time the PNA [Palestinian National Authority] is still unable to identify the place of kidnappers. Kate Burton is British of 24 years old; she has been working as International Coordinator at Al Mezan Center for Human Rights for the last three months. Ms. Burton has also taken part with the UNDP [United Nations Development Programme] in the Gaza Strip where she maintains excellent relationships with Palestinians. She actively supported the Palestinian cause, and worked hard on backing up Palestinians and exposing Israeli violations against Palestinian civilians. Read more about Al Mezan calls for immediate relase of kidnapped worker and family in Gaza
On Thursday morning, 22 December 2005, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) extra-judicially executed three Palestinians in Nablus. This attack was the second of its kind in less than 24 hours, as IOF extra-judicially executed a Palestinian in Jenin on Wednesday afternoon. According to preliminary investigations conducted by PCHR Israeli troops moved into Rafidya neighborhood in Nablus. They besieged a 4-storey, under-construction building. The gunfire continued until six. A Palestinian ambulance arrived in the area, but Israeli troops did not allow the crew to enter the building until 8.30. The crew then found three bodies and moved them to Rafifya Hospital. Read more about Israeli troops assassinate three Palestinians in Nablus
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have continued air strikes on the Gaza Strip, especially on its north. They have attacked a number of civilian facilities and agricultural areas. This escalation has come in the context of a plan made by the Israeli Ministry of Defense to respond to launching locally made rockets at Israeli towns located to the east of the Gaza Strip. PCHR is concerned that such attacks may endanger the lives of Palestinian civilians and destroy their property. On Sunday morning, 18 December 2005, IOF war planes launched 6 mock air raids on the same areas. They also attacked agricultural areas to the east of the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis. Read more about Israeli warplanes strike on northern Gaza Strip
On December 15, 2005, in New York, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) served process papers on Lt. Gen. (ret.) Moshe Ya’alon, former Head of the Intelligence Branch and former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), for war crimes and other human rights violations. The class action lawsuit is in connection with the hundreds of civilian deaths and injuries in the 1996 shelling of a United Nations compound in Qana, in the south of Lebanon. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and process was served on the defendant this afternoon in Washington DC. The charges include war crimes, extrajudicial killing, crimes against humanity, and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Read more about Lawsuit filed against Israeli General in U.S. Court for war crimes
During this year’s olive harvest, B’Tselem has once again documented attacks by settlers against Palestinian farmers and their property. In light of past experience, the Israeli security forces should have taken action in advance to protect the Palestinian harvesters. Instead, in many cases, IDF and police personnel have stood by and left the farmers to the mercy of their attackers, who sometimes even received assistance from security personnel. For example, on 9 November 2005, several female settlers arrived at an olive grove in the area of Ramallah and attempted to steal two bags of olives that had been harvested the same day. Read more about Olive harvest once again marred by settler violence
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) brought a class action lawsuit today against Avi Dichter, the former Director of Israel�s General Security Service (GSS), on behalf of the Palestinians who were killed or injured in a 2002 air strike in Gaza. The attack occurred just before midnight on July 22, 2002, when the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) dropped a one-ton bomb on al-Daraj, a residential neighborhood in Gaza City in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The attack killed seven adults and eight children, including plaintiff Ra�ed Matar�s wife and their three young children and plaintiff Mahmoud Al Huweiti�s wife and two of their young sons. It injured over 150 others, including plaintiff Marwan Zeino, whose spinal vertebrae were crushed. Read more about Former director of Israel's General Security Service sued in New York for death and injury of over 165 in Gaza
Mordechai Vanunu, often dubbed the “Israeli nuclear whistle-blower,” was arrested on Friday 18th November for traveling to the East Jerusalem suburb al-Ram. Vanunu, 51, was released on the following day and returned to his de facto house arrest at St. George’s Cathedral in Jerusalem, where he has sought refuge since being released from his 18-year detention and torture under Israeli authorities. In addition to his anti-nuclear campaigning, Vanunu has repeatedly called for the dismantlement of Israel’s racist policies, and the fundamental right of return for Palestinian refugees. Read more about Vanunu speaks about his November 18th arrest
On 17 November 2005, the Attorney General (AG) submitted a motion to the Supreme Court of Israel on behalf of the Defense Minister, Shaul Mofaz, and the Chief of the Israeli Army, Dan Halutz, requesting a second hearing before the Supreme Court in the “human shields” case. The AG argued that the Supreme Court’s recent decision created a new legal precedent, which will have a negative and harmful effect on the military’s operations in the 1967 Occupied Palestinian Territories, that it is legally flawed, and that a second hearing before an expanded panel of the Court to re-consider the decision is justified under these circumstances. Read more about Israeli army asks Supreme Court to reconsider ban on human shields
