On 27 July 2005, the Knesset amended the Nationality Law. The amendment restricts the family unification of Israeli citizens and residents, including residents of East Jerusalem, and Palestinians living in the occupied territories. The law does not apply to Israelis who apply for a legal status for their foreign spouse who does not live in the Occupied Territories. Couples who decide to reside together in Israel or in East Jerusalem in violation of the law, are unable to live a normal life and are in constant fear. If they decide to live in the occupied territories, the spouse holding an Israeli identity card violates the military commander’s order prohibiting Israelis to enter areas under Palestinian security control. Read more about Knesset Enacts Racist Law
Israel has said it will probably retain control of Gaza skies and territorial waters after the implementation of its withdrawal plan from the area. “I think it is very likely that we will continue to control the skies and territorial waters of Gaza,” Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said on Tuesday. Mofaz did not say if Israeli troops would completely leave the Rafah border crossing as the Egyptians had been demanding. The defence minister told the Israeli cabinet on Monday that Tel Aviv could not allow a free flow of goods and services between Gaza and the rest of the world, suggesting that “alternative border crossings” be created where Israel can control cross-border movements between Gaza and Egypt. Read more about Israel to keep control of Gaza access
Israeli human rights organizations have called on the Israeli government to take the necessary steps to protect Palestinians in case of an escalation in violence by Israeli civilians during and after disengagement. The organizations wrote last week to Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, demanding that law enforcement make advance preparations to protect Palestinians living near settlements known to contain violent individuals, and particularly in those areas where there has been rioting in the past. Some of the violence will be spontaneous, the letter states, “but there is concern that we will witness organized attacks intended to stop the disengagement process”. The organizations believe that the attacks may endanger dozens of Palestinian lives. Read more about Israeli Human Rights Groups Warn of Possible Wave of Settler Attacks
This week Israeli forces killed a Palestinian in an extra-judicial killing. Israeli forces wounded eight Palestinians, including five children and two women. Israeli forces conducted a number of incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and one incursion into the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces raided Palestinian homes and arrested 36 civilians. Israel continues to impose a total siege on the occupied Palestinian territories. Israel has prevented Palestinian civilians aged 16-35 from traveling through Rafah International Crossing Point. Israel continues to construct the Annexation Wall in the West Bank and confiscated at least 800 donums of Palestinian land in Hebron and Qalqilya for this purpose. Read more about Weekly report on human rights violations
An Israeli soldier has been stoned to death by an angry crowd after he killed four Israeli Arabs and injured 13 others on board a bus. The shooting on Thursday took place on bus 165, which shuttles between a Druze neighbourhood of the northern Israeli Arab town of Shafa Amr and nearby communities. Four people were killed, including the driver. Police said the four apparently were all Shafa Amr residents. Israel Radio said the gunman - who police said wore a skullcap, identifying him as an Orthodox Jew - was later bludgeoned to death by an angry crowd. Medical sources said three of the wounded were listed in critical condition. Two policemen were among the wounded. Read more about Israeli soldier kills four in bus attack
Eight Special Procedures mandate holders of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights issues an appeal shortly after the one-year anniversary of the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion (“Wall opinion”), concerning the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. In August 2004, the General Assembly called upon Israel and other parties to comply with their legal obligations as mentioned in the Opinion. Further to that resolution, the Secretary-General is taking steps to compile a register of the persons who have suffered as a result of the construction of the wall. However, neither the General Assembly nor the Security Council have considered the Opinion since. Read more about UN Experts mark anniversary of ICJ "Wall Opinion"
This week, Israeli forces killed four Palestinians, including a child who was run down by an Israeli settler vehicle. Israeli forces wounded 19 Palestinians among them a mother and child and seven other children. Israeli forces conducted various incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces raided Palestinian homes and arrested 33 Palestinian civilians. Israel imposed a total siege on the occupied Palestinian territories and isolated the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Israel prevents Palestinians aged 16-35 from traveling through the Rafah crossing. Israel arrested twelve Palestinians, including two women and a child at military checkpoints in the West Bank. Read more about Weekly report on human rights violations
After seven years of legal and bureaucratic struggle, on 30 June 2005, the Northern District Appellate Committee decided to accept Adalah’s appeal on behalf of Adel and Itaaf Sawaed and to grant a permit to the couple to build a family home on their privately-owned land in the Jewish community town of Kamoun, in the north of Israel. The NDAC acceptance of the appeal is subject to the fulfillment of a number of conditions, toward which the Sawaed family is currently working. Adel and Itaaf Sawaed, both of whom are Palestinian Bedouin citizens of Israel, are currently living with their children in a temporary home constructed on their land in Kamoun. Read more about After Seven Years, Arab Bedouin Family Allowed to Build Home on their Own Land in the Galilee
Defence for Children International recently published an analysis of human rights violations against Palestinian children during 2004. The report includes case studies, DCI field documentation and analysis of developments regarding the impact of the Wall on Palestinian children’s lives. In the year under review, Palestinian children’s rights were systematically violated on a daily basis by Israeli occupation forces. Often these abuses were perpetrated directly against individual children who were killed, injured, arrested or humiliated by military personnel. But just as frequently, these rights violations stemmed indirectly from general attacks or collective punishments imposed upon the wider Palestinian population. Read more about Palestinian Children: Surviving the Present, Facing the Future
The Knesset’s Law, Constitution and Justice Committee voted today (Monday) to approve the amendment to the Civil Wrongs Law. The amendment is intended to almost completely exempt Israel from paying compensation to Palestinians injured by the security forces. On Wednesday, the Knesset plenary will vote on it for the second and third readings, necessary to enact it into law. The amendment applies to ” residents of a conflict area” and “subjects of enemy states.” The Government has clearly stated its intention to apply the new law to Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. If the Knesset passes the new amendment, it will almost completely block the ability of Palestinians to file for compensation. Read more about Knesset to decide on Wednesday whether to block Palestinian compensation suits
