In her first visit after suspension of the hunger strike, advocate Buthaina Duqmaq paid a visit to Nafha Prison on 7 September 2004. Ms. Duqmaq met the prisoners’ representative Tawfic Abu-Na’im along with Omar Barghouthi, Issa Shabanah and Tareq Zaydan. Abu-Na’im affirmed negotiations with the prison administration are still on. Conditions began to normalize as the administration returned the electrical equipment it had confiscated earlier, extended the exercise period to one and a half hour and returned TV reception but restricted Al-Jazeera, Palestine Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) and al-Manar networks. The administration brought several inmates from solitary confinement back to common holding cells. Read more about Conditions in Israeli prisons begin to normalize after strike
An Israeli attack helicopter fired a missile at a grey Mazda on a road near the municipality of Jenin. The missile struck the car and destroyed it completely. Medical aid arrived at the car and three bodies were pulled from the car. The bodies were transferred to Dr. Khalil Suleiman Hospital in Jenin where the bodies were identified as Mahmoud As’ad Abu Khalifa, Yamen Jamil Abu al-Haija and Amjad Husni Mahmoud al-Hajja. The three victims had survived an assassination attempt in August. Then a Palestinian child was injured when a missile hit her family home. PCHR strongly condemns this attack and remains concerned. Read more about Jenin: Israeli forces kill three Palestinians in extra-judicial execution
If East Jerusalem had an unofficial mayor, it would be nuclear whistle blower Mordechai Vanunu. When the church bell rings at noon at the Anglican cathedral of St. George’s in East Jerusalem not far from Damascus Gate in the Old City, chances are it’s Mordechai Vanunu ringing the bell. From that vantage point, he looks down on the Jerusalem court house where he was originally sentenced to eighteen years in prison for divulging Israel’s nuclear secrets. Am Johal reports on Vanunu’s experience since prison. Read more about The Vanunu Epilogue
This week Israeli forces killed 22 Palestinians, including three children. 14 of the victims were killed in an Israeli missile attack in Gaza City. One of the victims was killed in another extra-judicial execution. Israeli forces conducted a series of incursions into Palestinian areas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israeli troops moved into the northern Gaza Strip. Israeli forces demolished four homes and razed 32 donums of agricultural land in the southern Gaza Strip. Israeli forces demolished two homes in the West Bank. Israeli continued the siege on the occupied Palestinian territories and continued construction of the wall. Read more about Weekly report on human rights violations
For the second day, Israeli forces continued their offensive on large areas of the northern Gaza Strip, perpetrating what may amount to grave breaches of international humanitarian law. Israeli forces killed four Palestinians, including a 10-year-old child. Israeli gunfire and shelling wounded 50 others. Israeli forces used excessive lethal foce against unarmed civilians. PCHR’s investigations strongly indicate that Israeli troops used excessive lethal force against unarmed Palestinian civilians, without adhering to the principles of proportionality and distinction. PCHR is concerned that this offensive could be similar to that of an earlier offensive on Beit Hanoun. Read more about Israeli forces kill 4 Palestinians in Gaza
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. Read more about 10-year old girl hit in UNRWA classroom by Israeli gunfire
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. Read more about Israeli forces kill 14 Palestinians in Gaza
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. Read more about Hunger striking prisoners allowed to meet with their lawyers
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. Read more about Israeli forces kill 4 Palestinians and injure 52 others in Deir al-Balah
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. Read more about Weekly report on human rights violations
