IOF soldiers fire shells at central Gaza

[ 31/12/2013 - 07:22 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) fired two artillery shells at Juhr Al-Deek area in central Gaza Strip on Monday night. Local sources said that the two shells exploded in the amidst of citizens’ homes, but no casualties were inflicted.       The Hebrew radio had claimed earlier that a rocket was fired from Gaza Strip at the western Negev. The broadcast said that the rocket was fired Monday night and exploded in an open area in Sha’ar HaNegev without inflicting any casualties or damages.

Two citizens seriously wounded in IOF tank shelling

[ 30/12/2013 - 07:26 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Two Palestinian young men were seriously injured on Sunday night after Israeli occupation forces fired a tank shell at them in central Gaza Strip. Palestinian security sources told the PIC reporter that the two men, in their twenties, were wounded to the east of Maghazi refugee camp near the Gaza borders with 1948 occupied Palestine. The two young men were transferred to a hospital in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza but were later taken to Shifa hospital in Gaza in view of their critical condition. ------ Official: 2 Palestinians injured by Israeli artillery in Gaza Published Sunday 29/12/2013 (updated) 31/12/2013 10:37 (MaanImages/File) GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Two Palestinians were injured after Israeli artillery hit the central Gaza Strip on Sunday, a Palestinian official said. Israeli forces hit an area east of al-Maghazi refugee camp with an artillery shelling, Gaza's Ministry of Health spokesman said. Ashraf al-Qidra said two Palestinians suffered from burns as a result of the shelling, and were taken to Shuhada al-Aqsa hospital in moderate condition. An Israeli army spokesman said he was not familiar with the incident. The shelling comes days after an upheaval of violence in the Strip made international headlines. On Tuesday, Israeli airstrikes killed a 3-year-old Palestinian girl and injured several others after a Palestinian sniper killed an Israeli Civil Defense employee working at the border. On Thursday, two other Palestinians were injured in Israeli airstrikes, after two rockets fired from Gaza hit open Israeli areas, causing no injuries or damage. An Egyptian mediated ceasefire agreement was reached in November 2012 between Palestinian factions and Israel to end over a week of fighting which left over 170 Palestinians dead and thousands injured. Six Israelis were also killed during the fighting. Since the agreement, Israeli forces have shot dozens of Gazans in border areas, and have launched frequent incursions. The Gaza Strip has been under a severe economic blockade imposed by the Israel since 2006.

Why does Israel treat Gaza farmers sowing wheat by hand as military targets?

28th December 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Charlie Andreasson | Gaza, Occupied Palestine

(Photo by Charlie Andreasson)

December is the time for farmers in the Gaza Strip to sow. But for those with fields near the Israeli separation barrier, it is highly dangerous. Sure enough, we were met by news that an 18-year-old was shot an hour earlier when he was checking his bird nets here in Khuza’a in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. To sell small birds can earn a few bucks, but also makes the hunter the hunted. This one was lucky. For him, a day’s hospital visit was enough.
That our presence and our yellow vests are desirable cannot be mistaken. Without any directive, some of us get up on the tractors as protection for the drivers while the rest form a row between the field and the Israeli barrier. Here the open fields were once interspersed with olive and other fruit trees, trees devastated by Israeli bulldozers. Now they can only plant wheat, a crop that grows without daily care.

(Photo by Charlie Andreasson)

The fields to be plowed were not large, and after they been sowed, we came closer and closer to the fence. We saw the barbed wire rolled out in large circles before the fence, the towers with machine guns, the large mounds of dirt and tanks coming up behind them, the military Jeeps that stop for a moment before continuing. But we also saw the green fields behind all this, where irrigation is permitted. The contrast is great.
The work takes us closer and closer to the barrier. Activists with yellow vests still sit on tractors, but the rest of us are no longer in a row. We are now very close to the fence, so we walk directly beside those sowing by hand. It would look funny at any time, in any other part of the world, but here it is deadly serious. Maybe 70-80 meters from the fence, the ground is completely disturbed by bulldozers and tanks. Deep traces of crawlers are everywhere, some of them made earlier in the week, we are told. The tractors cannot plow there, and the farmers are not trying, either. And they can only hope that the Israeli soldiers will not tear up their fields and plow down the wheat before they reap. It has happened in the past and will most likely happen again.

(Photo by Charlie Andreasson)

Done for the day, we walk back. Not a a single bullet has been fired at us this time. But I find one in the ground, one that didn’t find its target, and show my Israeli souvenir for the others. But no one reacts significantly. Someone strikes out with his arm over the fields: there are plenty of different kinds of ammunition fired here.
I try to understand how the soldier who shot early that morning reasoned. What made him shoot? Did he feet that he did his duty, believe that he erased a potential threat to the state of Israel? Did he get a pat on the shoulder from his commander, or backslapping by his peers in the barracks? When he comes home, will his proud mother serve him his favorite dish, and will his father open the forbidden cabinet to invite his to taste something stronger now then he has become a man?

(Photo by Charlie Andreasson)

But above all, I wonder what makes them think that farmers who sow by hand are really a threat forcing the soldiers to shoot them. What makes them so afraid that they take shelter in bulletproof guard towers or tanks. How the State of Israel can be protected by bulldozing Palestinians’ fields and destroying their crops. And how to get an entire nation to believe that these farmers are a threat to their existence. I do not understand it. But I understand that our presence can mean the difference between life and death.

7 Palestinians injured in clashes with Israeli forces on Gaza border

Published yesterday (updated) 28/12/2013 11:18

 

(MaanImages/file)

GAZA (Ma'an) -- Seven people suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation in clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces east of Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday.

Witnesses told Ma'an reported that Israeli forces fired tear gas heavily at Palestinian youths, and the fumes reached residences in the Izbet Abed Rabbo area east of the camp.

Medics said that two women were among the injured, and that they were taken to Kamal Adwan hospital.

Tensions have been high along the border with Israel in the Gaza Strip recently, as Israeli forces have severely escalated attacks against Palestinian civilians in the area, killing two and injuring 14.

Palestinian militants inside the strip have launched increasing numbers of rockets into southern Israel, which have all landed in open areas.

On Thursday, Dec. 20, Israel forces shot dead a Palestinian man who was collecting plastic and metal scraps near the border, while his brother was injured.

On the same day, four other Palestinians were also shot near the borders of the Gaza Strip in separate incidents.

On Tuesday, when a Palestinian sniper shot an Israeli Defense Ministry employee working at the border fence, Israel responded with air strikes against the Gaza Strip, killing 3-year-old, Hala Abu Sbeikha while she was playing in the yard of her home in al-Maghazi refugee camp, and injuring her mother and brother.

Four other Gazans were also injured in a series of Israeli attacks on that day.

Since then, two more Palestinians have been injured in Israeli airstrikes.

An Egyptian mediated ceasefire agreement was reached in November 2012 between Palestinian factions and Israel to end over a week of fighting which left over 170 Palestinians dead and thousands injured. Six Israelis were also killed during the fighting.

Since the agreement, Israeli forces have shot dozens of Gazans in border areas, and have launched frequent incursions.

The Gaza Strip has been under a severe economic blockade imposed by the State of Israel since 2006.

Escalation of Israeli attacks on Gaza kills two, injures at least 14, over five days

27th December 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Rosa Schiano | Gaza, Occupied Palestine

An Israeli military vehicle by the separation barrier near Khuza’a. (Photo by Silvia Todeschini)

Early on the afternoon on Friday, 20th December, Israeli occupation forces killed a 27-year-old Palestinian, Odah Jihad Hamad, and wounded his brother Raddad, age 22, north of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights reports that Israeli forces fired directly at them, although it was clear that the two civilians were collecting steel and plastic from the landfill near the separation barrier. “According to the testimony given by Raddad Hamad to PCHR, at approximately 12:00 on Friday, 20 December 2013, Raddad went with his brother ‘Odah to the landfill near the border area, east of Beit Hanoun, in order to collect plastics and steels for livelihood. At approximately 15:30, when the area was very calm, Israeli forces stationed at the borderline opened fire at them without any prior warning. As a result, Odah was wounded by a bullet to the head and fell onto the ground while Raddad was hiding in a low area. Raddad tried to reach his brother to rescue him, but Israeli forces opened fire at him to wound him by a bullet to the right hand. He immediately fled and managed to call the Palestine Red Crescent Society to send him an ambulance. The ambulance was delayed by Israeli forces till at approximately 16:15 when it obtained coordination through the International Committee of the Red Cross. The ambulance staff searched for ‘Odah to find him wounded and then transferred him to the Beit Hanoun Governmental Hospital. He was entered into the Intensive Care Unit, but a few minutes later, he was pronounced dead.”
Raddad said the ambulance found the body of his brother in another place closer to barrier. Israeli soldiers probably took him, to check if he was alive, then left his body there.
“He was just trying to eke out a living,” his mother said in the morning tent. “He wanted to earn some money to buy wood for our house, because the cooking gas finished,” one of his brothers said. To find cooking gas in Gaza is almost impossible now due to restrictions on imports and the closure of the tunnels.
In addition, three Palestinians were injured by Israeli gunfire near the al-Shohada cemetery east of Jabaliya. Mohammad Ayoub Hammouda, age 23, Dya Ahmad Al Natour, age 17, and Ali Hasan Khalil,  age 20, were transported to Kamal Odwan hospital.
Hammouda works in a coal shop near the cemetery. He said he finished his shift and was walking away when he saw a group of men close to his shop. As he asked them to go away, Israeli soldiers started shooting. The shop is next to the barrier. Youth go there to throw stones at the soldiers, especially on Fridays. The Israeli forces begin to shoot without hesitation. Young Palestinians are injured so every week or two in this area. Hammounda worried that the youths near the store wanted to through stones, so he asked them to leave the area.
A bullet struck Hammouda in his right leg. The youths ran away. He lay on the ground 15 minutes before someone came to help him. An ambulance could not reach him, so a young man on a motorcycle carried him to one waiting near Abu Baker mosque. The shop where Hammouda works is 600 meters from the fence. He thinks that the shots came from one of the control towers placed along the border, in which there are automated machine guns.

An Israeli control tower by the separation barrier near Khuza’a. (Photo by Silvia Todeschini)

The bullet that the doctors extracted from Hammouda’s leg during surgery is a 250 mm projectile. The bullet caused a fracture. The doctors have placed an external fixator in his limb. He will keep it for six months.
Hammouda’s family, from the Jabaliya refugee camp, has eleven members. He is the only one with a stable job. His father works occasionally. He  earned 30 shekels, about six Euros or eight US dollars, a day. He said he would accept any salary because of unemployment.
The other two Palestinians suffered minor injuries in their lower limbs and were released from the hospital.
On the afternoon of the same day, two men were injured east of Khuza’a in the south of the Gaza Strip. Omar Sobh Qudaih, age 21, and Abdul Halim Alnaqa, age 23, were transported to the European hospital. Qudaih said that around 2:30 pm, they had been collecting beans about 500 meters from the fence. The bullet did not enter his limb. He suffered from superficial wound and needs antibiotics and dressing.
The following day, on Saturday, 21sr December, at about 7:30 am, Israeli soldiers fired at farmers and workers near the barrier Khuza’a. Ismael al-Najjar, a 21-year-old farmer, was wounded in his leg.
Al-Najjar thinks that the bullets were fired from control towers. He said he was with two other workers at about 600 meters from the barrier, and that he had been walking toward his chicken farm. He suffered from a superficial wound. A nurse said his condition is stable.
On Tuesday, 24th December, Israeli forces carried out a series of airstrikes hitting different locations in the Gaza Strip, and shelled different areas along the barrier.
Earlier afternoon, a contractor of the Israeli occupation forces had been killed by a Palestinian resistance group east of Gaza City. Israeli authorities declared that they would respond harshly against Gaza. Shortly afterward, a Palestinian civilian was wounded by Israeli army fire in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip. Government buildings were immediately evacuated.
Western media and others claiming the escalation began with the shooting of the military contractor should be reminded of the killing by Israeli forces of a young Palestinian collecting material from a landfill on Friday.
In the afternoon of 24th December, local sources reported two Palestinians had been killed, included a three-year-old child killed in a bombing of Maghazi in the center of the Gaza Strip. The number of injuries remains imprecise.
Shortly after the shooting of the contractor, Israeli forces reported they had killed a Palestinian along the northern barrier around the Gaza Strip, as Palestinian sources also did later. It later became clear the Israeli army had opened fire at a large tortoise moving slowly along the barrier. Its large size, and its bloodshed after an Israeli missile, led some to speak of a martyr. The occupation hits anything moving along the barrier, including a rare breed of giant tortoise.
The three-year-old girl killed in Maghazi was named Hala Ahmed Abu Sbeikha. Several members of her family were injured, included two children, Mohammed Abu Sbeikha, age six, and Belal Abu Sbeikha, age four.
In the morgue of al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where members of the Abu Sbeikha family were hospitalized, her face was stained with blood.
Members of her family in the hospital included Busaina Abu Sbeikha, 27 years old, and the two wounded children.
“I had gone to visit them and we were seated on the first floor of the house,” an aunt said. “Two bombs fell in few seconds. It was about 3:30 to 4:00 pm. After the second bomb, we climbed to the second floor, where there our children, about ten of them, were. Busaina, with her children, was also there, helping them to study. We found Hala dead. Then we left the house, and a third bomb struck the two-story building, almost completely destroying it. Even the houses nearby were damaged by the bombing. ”
Women from the family told us that it is the first time that their house, in which 30 people lived, had been hit. “Even during the two wars, they never struck us or asked us to evacuate,” they said. Their house is located about 700 meters from the separation barrier east of Maghazi, in an area called Beheiri in the central Gaza Strip. It is a very quiet area.
“The Israelis said they had hit a site of the Palestinian resistance, but it is not true.” No resistance activity had been present in the area, they said.
Busaina Abu Sbeikha has undergone surgery for a shrapnel injury. Her children Belal and Mohammed lay on a bed in the same hospital room. Mohammed was almost asleep because of the painkillers, while Belal’s eyes were wide. He had no reaction when his his face and hair were caressed. Both children were injured by shrapnel.
Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital received around nine injured civilians that evening, in addition to the dead child.

Video: Israeli troops fire on Palestinian farmers and international activists in Gaza

27th December 2013 | Resistenza Quotidiana, Silvia Todeschini | Gaza, Occupied Palestine

International activists have been accompanying Palestinian farmers to their lands near the separation barrier between the territories occupied in 1948 and the Gaza Strip. We have noticed, in recent days, an increase in the presence of the Zionist occupation forces. A few days ago, we felt more drones and F-16, then Jeeps and bulldozers began to move near the barrier more often. On Sunday, 22nd December, two Jeeps were stationed in front of the area where farmers were seeding and tractors plowing. They fired shots into the air and one the the ground. This video shows the last episode.



Olive,orange and lemon trees grew in these fields until the second Intifada. Then bulldozers and tanks of the occupying forces uprooted them. After “Operation Cast Lead,” the no-go zone was established at 300 meters, but aggression towards Palestinians was not limited to that area. According to UN reports, high-risk areas in some places reach two kilometers from the barrier, and included 35% of all arable land in Gaza. Following the truce concluded after the Zionist attack called “Operation Pillar of Defense,” farmers were able to reach their land up to 100 meters. Now, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, the situation is very similar to that seen before the last offensive: Zionist aggression reaches up to 1,500 meters from the border. The high-risk areas comprise 35% of arable land, and in the restricted areas, 95% is cultivable. Also according to PCHR data, the last farmer killed by the occupation forces while working, Mustafa Abdul Hakim Mustafa Abu Jarad, was 1,200 meters from the barrier. He was killed by a bullet in the head 14th January 2013, one of four people killed this year in the areas near the separation barrier.

(Photo by Silvia Todeschini)

Not only are Palestinian farmers attacked during their work, but the land they farm is itself  destroyed by the passage of bulldozers and tanks. They create deep grooves that make it difficult for a tractor to pass and plow. By doing so, they mix layers, making the land less fertile. In addition, the water tanks which are used for irrigation in this area are all destroyed by Zionist gunfire.
In the separation barrier are installed several instruments of repression. There are turrets with automatic weapons, others on which snipers can stand, tall iron columns with cameras installed and others with radar. There is barbed wire, gates where Zionist military vehicles can enter, balloons equipped with cameras, and more.
The violence of the Zionists towards Palestinian farmers and fishermen are an attack not only on their ability to work, but also on the food sovereignty of all the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip.

(Photo by Silvia Todeschini)

The presence of foreign activists sometimes manages to lightly calm the situation, because we are inconvenient witnesses for the Zionist occupation forces. But the heroes are the farmers, who continue to reach their land. Without regular watering, they can grow only wheat, although after it has been cultivated for several years, not much grows anymore. The heroes are the farmers who, generation after generation, continue to say “adha hardy” – “this is my land,” no matter how strong the Zionist repression with all its resources, weapons, armor and surveillance equipment may be.

In video: Brother of Gaza man killed by Israeli sniper speaks out

Published Thursday 26/12/2013 (updated) 28/12/2013 15:25

Raddad Hamad describes how he and his brother were shot.

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The brother of a Palestinian man shot dead by an Israeli sniper last Friday spoke out against the killing in a video released by the Institute for Middle East Understanding on Thursday.

Raddad Hamad, 22, and his brother Odeh, 27, were collecting scrap metal and plastic on Friday, December 20 when Odeh was shot in the head by Israeli forces, killing him.

In the video, Raddad explained that the two were around a kilometer away from the Israeli border fence when his brother was suddenly hit in the head by an Israeli bullet. Raddad was shot in the hand at the same time.

Raddad stressed that the area in which they were shot is regularly frequented by Palestinians looking for bits of metal and plastic to sell.

"We go everyday to collect plastic, to earn a living."

"What crime did he commit for them to shoot him?" he added.

Raddad said that after being shot he fell into a ditch nearby, and although he called out for his brother, Odeh did not respond.

He said that he then crawled for a half hour even as Israeli forces continued shooting in his direction.

He finally managed to crawl far enough and call an ambulance, but once the ambulance arrived Israeli forces would not allow it to cross to get his brother, Raddad said.

"I said we have to get to him, he's dying. My brother is dying inside there. Odeh is dying."

"They didn't let the ambulance enter."



The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said in a statement following the incident, "Israeli forces used excessive force and directly opened fire at them, although it was clear that the two civilians were collecting steels and plastics from the landfill near the border fence."

An Israeli army spokeswoman told Ma'an at the time that "Palestinians caused damage to the northern security fence" and "fired a mortar shell" into Israel, adding that they "rioted and hurled rocks at soldiers in the northern Gaza Strip, and neared the fence in an attempt to enter Israel."

On the same day, four other Palestinians were also shot near the borders of the Gaza Strip, in a major escalation of violence against Palestinian civilians.

On Tuesday, when a Palestinian sniper shot an Israeli Defense Ministry employee working at the border fence, Israel responded with air strikes against the Gaza Strip, killing 3-year-old, Hala Abu Sbeikha while she was playing in the yard of her home in al-Maghazi refugee camp, and injuring her mother and brother.

Four other Gazans were also injured in a series of Israeli attacks on that day.

Israeli forces frequently shoot at farmers and other civilians inside the Gaza Strip if they approach large swathes of land near the border that the Israeli military has deemed off-limits to Palestinians.

The "security buffer zone" extends between 500 meters and 1500 meters into the Strip, effectively turning local farms into no-go zones.

According to UNOCHA, 17% of Gaza's total land area and 35% of its agricultural land were within the buffer zone as of 2010, directly affecting the lives and livelihoods of more than 100,000 Gazans.

The Gaza Strip has been under a severe economic blockade imposed by the State of Israel since 2006.

Young man seriously injured by Israeli fire in northern Gaza Strip

Published Monday 23/12/2013 (updated) 25/12/2013 11:23

 

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces shot and seriously injured a young Palestinian man near Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip.

Palestinian medical sources confirmed that a young man in his twenties from Shujaiyya neighborhood of Gaza City was hit in the leg and abdomen.

He was evacuated first to Kamal Udwan hospital in Jabalia, then to al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.

An Israeli spokeswoman said in a statement that, "A suspect was identified approaching the security fence in the northern Gaza strip, in an attempt to conceal an explosive device against IDF soldiers."

"The soldiers at the scene called at the suspect to stop, fired warning shots to the air, and once he failed to comply, opened fire towards his lower extremities."

Israeli forces frequently shoot at farmers and other civilians inside the Gaza Strip if they approach large swathes of land near the border that the Israeli military has deemed off-limits to Palestinians.

The "security buffer zone" extends between 500 meters and 1500 meters into the Strip, effectively turning local farms into no-go zones.

The Gaza Strip has been under a severe economic blockade imposed by the State of Israel since 2006.

In Excessive Use of force, Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian Civilian and Wound 4 Others, Including Child, in 2 Separate Incidents in the Northern Gaza Strip

PCHR

Sunday, 22 December 2013 00:00

Ref: 126/2013   On Friday, 20 December 2013, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian civilian and wounded his brother while working near the borderline with Israel, north of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip.  According to PCHR’s investigations, Israeli forces used excessive force and directly opened fire at them although it was clear that the two civilians were collecting steels and plastics from the landfill near the border fence.  In another incident on the same day, Israeli forces wounded 3 other civilians, including a child, when they fired at civilians who threw stones at the military site on the borderline, east of Jabalia. Thus, during this year, the number of civilians killed by Israeli forces near the fence along the eastern and northern borders of the Gaza Strip has amounted to 4 while 55 others have been wounded, including 12 children. According to investigations conducted by PCHR, Israeli forces killed ‘Odah Jihad Hamad (27) and wounded his Brother, Raddad (22), while being near the border fence.  According to the testimony given by Raddad Hamad to PCHR, at approximately 12:00 on Friday, 20 December 2013, Raddad went with his brother ‘Odah to the landfill near the border area, east of Beit Hanoun, in order to collect plastics and steels for livelihood.  At approximately 15:30, when the area was very calm, Israeli forces stationed at the borderline opened fire at them without any prior warning.  As a result, ‘Odah was wounded by a bullet to the head and fell onto the ground while Raddad was hiding in a low area.  Raddad tried to reach his brother to rescue him, but Israeli forces opened fire at him to wound him by a bullet to the right hand.  He immediately fled and managed to call the Palestine Red Crescent Society to send him an ambulance.  The ambulance was delayed by Israeli forces till at approximately 16:15 when it obtained coordination through the International Committee of the Red Cross.  The ambulance staff searched for ‘Odah to find him wounded and then transferred him to the Beit Hanoun Governmental Hospital.  He was entered into the Intensive Care Unit, but a few minutes later, he was pronounced dead. According to investigations conducted by PCHR into the second incident, on Friday afternoon, following the Friday prayer, a group of civilians went to al-Shuhadaa’ cemetery, east of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, and approached around 50-70 meters to the border fence with Israel.  They threw stones at the Israeli forces stationed at the borderline.  Israeli forces in response opened fire at the stone throwers wounding 2 of them, including a child, and a coal-supplier standing in front of his shop around 70 meters away from the borderline.  The persons who were wounded were identified as: 1- Diaa’ Ahmed As’ad al-Natour (17) from Jabalia refugee camp, sustained a bullet wound to the left leg; 2- ‘Ali Hasan ‘Abdel Rahman Khalil (20) from Jabalia refugee camp, sustained a bullet wound to the left thigh; and 3- Mohammed Hamoudah Ayyoub (23) from Jabalia refugee camp, a coal-supplier, sustained a bullet wound to the right leg. PCHR is deeply concerned over these crimes, which further prove the use of excessive force by Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians in disregard for the civilians’ lives. Therefore, PCHR calls upon the international community to take immediate and effective actions and reiterates its call for the High Contracting Parties to the 1949Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfill their obligations under Article 1; i.e., to respect and to ensure respect for the Convention in all circumstances, and their obligation under Article 146 to prosecute persons alleged to commit grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention.  These grave breaches constitute war crimes under Article 147 of the same Convention and Protocol (I) Additional to the Geneva Conventions.

Last Updated on Monday, 23 December 2013 07:49

Thousands attend funeral of Gaza man killed by Israeli forces

Published Saturday 21/12/2013 (updated) 23/12/2013 16:31

(MaanImages/file)

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Thousands of Palestinians gathered in northern Gaza Saturday for the funeral of a man who was shot dead by Israeli forces the day before.

Various Palestinian political factions were present at the funeral of Odeh Jihad Hamad in Beit Hanoun, and some of the factions threatened to retaliate against Israel for killing the 29-year-old.

An Islamic Jihad leader urged all Palestinian factions to respond boldly to the "ongoing Israeli assaults" against Palestinians in Gaza.

Khalid al-Batsh said in a statement: "The Israeli occupation is responsible the escalation of killings in Gaza and we have to confront these violations."

Hamad's brother told Ma'an Saturday that Hamad was a kilometer away from the border when Israeli soldiers shot him in the head. He said Israeli forces did not allow ambulances to the scene for an hour and a half after the shooting.

The brother added that he himself was shot in the hand.

Hamad's family said he was struggling financially and looking for a job before he was shot.

An Israeli army statement said that "Palestinians caused damage to the northern security fence" and "fired a mortar shell" into Israel Friday, adding that they "rioted and hurled rocks at soldiers in the northern Gaza Strip, and neared the fence in an attempt to enter Israel."

Soldiers responded by shooting one of them to death and hitting several others with live bullets, the statement said.

In another incident Friday, two Palestinians were shot and injured east of Khan Younis, spokesman for the Gaza ministry of health Ashraf al-Qidra said. They were taken to the European hospital south of Khan Younis with moderate injuries, he added.

Israeli forces also shot and injured two Palestinian men east of Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip earlier on Friday.

One of them, 23-year-old Mohammad Ayoub, was shot near the eastern cemetery and transferred to Kamal Odwan hospital, medical officials said.

The other injured Palestinian was not immediately identified.

On Saturday Palestinian medical sources told Ma'an that 22-year-old Ismail Najjar was injured near Khan Younis when Israeli troops surprised farmers east of the refugee camp with gunshots.

An Israeli army spokeswoman after the shooting quoted Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner as saying the army was "required to defend the civilians of the state of Israel."

She said Najjar was a "terrorist" who tried to lay an explosive device near the border with Israel.

The Gaza Strip has been under a severe economic blockade imposed by the State of Israel since 2006.

Israeli forces frequently shoot at farmers and other civilians inside the Gaza Strip if they approach large swathes of land near the border that the Israeli military has deemed off-limits to Palestinians.

The "security buffer zone" extends between 500 meters and 1500 meters into the Strip, effectively turning local farms into no-go zones.

Israeli forces fire at Gaza farmers, injure young man

Published Saturday 21/12/2013 (updated) 22/12/2013 17:46

 

(MaanImages/file)

 

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces opened fire early Saturday at Palestinian farmers in their fields in the southern Gaza Strip, injuring a young man, medics told Ma'an.

Palestinian medical sources told Ma'an that 22-year-old Ismail Najjar was injured when Israeli troops surprised farmers east of Khan Younis refugee camp with gunshots.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said Palestinian "terrorists" tried to conceal an explosive devise near the border area with Israel.

"Soldiers called on the suspects to stop," she said. After firing shots into the air, she said the soldiers fired at a Palestinian's "lower extremities and identified a hit."

The spokeswoman quoted Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner as saying the army was "required to defend the civilians of the state of Israel."

Locals reported heavy deployment of Israeli military vehicles near the border area Friday after an explosive device thrown from the Gaza Strip hit a military patrol east of Khan Younis. Two young Palestinian men were injured by Israeli fire.

Separately, a young man was shot dead and three others were injured Friday in the northern Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces frequently shoot at farmers and other civilians inside the Gaza Strip if they approach large swathes of land near the border that the Israeli military has deemed off-limits to Palestinians.

The "security buffer zone" extends between 500 meters and 1500 meters into the Strip, effectively turning local farms into no-go zones.

Israeli forces kill 1 Palestinian, injure 5 across Gaza Strip

Published Friday 20/12/2013 (updated) 21/12/2013 22:17

 

(MaanImages/File)

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- A Palestinian man was shot dead and five others were injured in a number of incidents across the Gaza Strip on Friday.

Odeh Jihad Hamad, 24, was shot dead, and an unidentified man was injured after Israeli soldiers opened fire near Beit Hanoun crossing in the northern Gaza Strip.

Gaza government spokeswoman Isra Almodallal confirmed the shooting, adding that they had approached the fence but details were still unclear.

In another incident, two others were shot and injured east of Khan Yunis, spokesman for the Gaza ministry of health Ashraf al-Qidra said. They were taken to the European hospital south of Khan Yunis with moderate injuries, he added.

Israeli forces also shot and injured two Palestinian men east of Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip earlier on Friday.

One of them, 23-year-old Mohammad Ayoub, was shot near the eastern cemetery and transferred to Kamal Odwan hospital, medical officials said.

The other injured Palestinian was not immediately identified.

An Israeli forces' statement said that "Palestinians caused damage to the northern security fence" and "fired a mortar shell" into Israel, adding that they "rioted and hurled rocks at soldiers in the northern Gaza Strip, and neared the fence in an attempt to enter Israel."

After "calling out to the Palestinians" without success, they used live fire.

"Several hits were identified," the statement added.

The Gaza Strip has been under a severe economic blockade imposed by the State of Israel since 2006.

Israeli forces frequently shoot at farmers and other civilians inside the Gaza Strip if they approach large swathes of land near the border that the Israeli military has deemed off-limits to Palestinians.

The "security buffer zone" extends between 500 meters and 1500 meters into the Strip, effectively turning local farms into no-go zones.

Correction: A previous version of this story identified the man who was shot dead by Israeli forces as Jihad Hamad. In fact, the man's name is Odeh Jihad Hamad.

Palestinian child wounded by Israeli gunfire while harvesting potatoes in Gaza

17th December 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Rosa Schiano | Gaza, Occupied Palestine

(Photo by Rosa Schiano)

On Sunday, 15th December, a young Palestinian was injured by Israeli gunfire in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip.
Mohammed el-Shanbary, age 17, was harvesting potatoes. “I went to work at 9 am,” el-Shanbary said. “After about 30 minutes, the soldiers started shooting.”
He was working with the owner of the land and another person about 500 meters from the wall that separates the Gaza Strip from territory occupied by Israel in 1948.
El-Shanbary and his father Rafiq think the bullets were fired from control towers situated along the separation barrier, inside of which there are automatic machine guns.
A bullet wounded El-Shanbary in his left shinbone. After he fainted, the landowner called his father and asked him to summon an ambulance. The ambulance took him to Kamal Odwan hospital.
The bullet entered and exited, causing a fracture. El-Shanbary would have surgery 30 minutes after our visit. The doctor said they would insert a tibial fixation.
El-Shanbary started working in the area one month ago. The work depends on the harvest season.
His father does not have a stable job, leaving el-Shanbary and his 21-year-old brother to work to support a family of ten.
He can earn from 25 to 40 shekels per day, depending on how many crates of potatoes he collects. For each crate, he receives two shekels.
“Some time ago, they were shooting just to scare us, not directly at our bodies,” el-Shanbary said.
“We work just to buy bread for our family, and they hit us,” his father Rafiq added.
The ceasefire of 21st November 2012 established that Israeli occupation forces should “refrain from hitting residents in areas along the border” and “cease hostilities in the Gaza Strip by land, by sea and by air, including raids and targeted killings.”
However, Israeli military attacks by land and sea followed from the day after the ceasefire, and Israeli warplanes fly constantly over the Gaza Strip. Seven civilians have been killed by Israeli occupation forces since the end of their last major offensive, “Operation Pillar of Defense,” and more than 130 have been wounded.
These attacks on the Gaza Strip continue amid international silence.

Israeli forces shoot, injure Palestinian teenager in Gaza

 

 

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces opened fire on a Palestinian teenager in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday, injuring him moderately.

A spokesperson of the Gaza Ministry of Health Ashraf al-Qidra told Ma'an that a 16-year-old boy was shot in his left foot by Israeli soldiers east of Beit Lahiya.

He was evacuated to Kamal Udwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip.

According to AFP, eyewitnesses said Israeli tanks and one bulldozer were near the border at the time.

An Israeli forces spokeswoman told AFP that "a suspect approached the security fence in the southern Gaza Strip," and that they opened fire after he ignored requests that he stop.

The Gaza Strip has been under a severe economic blockade imposed by the State of Israel since 2006.

AFP contributed to this report

Gaza Strip: Attacks in the border areas and their consequences

 PCHR

Thursday, 12 December 2013 00:00

 

Following disengagement from the Gaza Strip in September 2005, Israel unilaterally and illegally established a so-called “buffer zone”, an area prohibited to Palestinians along the land and sea borders of the Gaza Strip. The precise area designated by Israel as a “buffer zone” is not clear and this Israeli policy is typically enforced with live fire. The establishment of the ‘buffer zone’ is illegal under both Israeli and international law.

Preventing Palestinians from accessing their lands and fishing areas violates numerous provisions of international human rights law, including the right to work, the right to an adequate standard of living, and the right to the highest attainable standard of health. Enforcing the “buffer zone” through the use of live fire often results in, inter alia, the direct targeting of civilians and/or indiscriminate attacks, both of which constitute war crimes.

Following the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip in November 2012, a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Palestinian armed groups was brokered by the Egyptian government, which included terms related to access to land and sea. In an online statement on 25 February 2013, the Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) declared that fishermen could now access the sea up to six nautical miles offshore, and that farmers could now access lands in the border area up to 100m from the border fence. However, both references have since been removed from the statement. Then, on 21 March 2013, the Israeli forces’ spokesperson announced re-reducing the fishing area allowed for Palestinian fishermen from 6 nautical miles to 3 nautical miles.  However, on 21 May 2013, Israeli authorities decided to allow fishermen to sail up to 6 nautical miles.

Dimensions

On land, inside Palestinian territory Distance from the border fence, up to which access is permitted: · Second Intifada (2000): 150 metres · According to Israel (2010) : 300 metres · 22 November 2012: unclear parameters · 25 February 2013: 100 metres · 21 March 2013: 300 metres In reality, attacks against civilians take place anywhere up to approximately 1.5 kilometres inside the border fence. This constitutes approximately 17% of the total territory of the Gaza Strip.

At sea, off the coast of the Gaza Strip Distance from the shore, up to which access is permitted: · Oslo Accords (1994): 20 nautical miles (nm) · Bertini Commitment (2002): 12 nm · October 2006: 6 nm · End of 2007 : 3 nm · 22 November 2012: 6 nm · 25 February 2013: unknown · 12 March 2013: 3 nm · 21 May 2013: 6 nm In addition, access is consistently denied in the following areas: · 1.5 nm in the north along the maritime boundary with Israel · 1 nm in the south along the maritime boundary with Egypt

Impact

On land · Approximately 27,000 dunums, 35% of the Gaza Strip's agricultural land, can only be accessed under high personal risk, as Israeli attacks may result in injury or death of civilians. · 95% of the restricted area is arable land. · After the evacuation of settlements (2005) and ‘Operation Cast Lead’ (2008-2009), the majority of Palestinian families living in the border areas abandoned their land and homes.

At sea · Palestinians are completely prevented from accessing 85% of the Palestinian maritime areas recognised in the 1994 Gaza Jericho Agreement. · Approximately 3,700 fishermen work under high personal risk every day at sea. · Approximately 8,200 persons work in the fishing industry. · Approximately 65,000 persons, including individuals who work in the fishing industry and their dependents, are affected by the “buffer zone” restrictions at sea. · The area near the coast is markedly over-fished.

* These numbers do not represent all the incursions into Palestinian waters by Israeli naval forces, only the reported incidents. More often, the reported incidents involve shooting, injury and/or killing.

Attacks

November 2013

Attacks	Total	“Buffer zone” on land	“Buffer zone” at sea
Shelling	3	3	0
Shooting	20	8	12
Incursions	3	3	0
Land levelling	0	0	0
Detention incidents	5	2	3
Total incidents	31	16	15

Consequences of attacks

a. Deaths and injuries

November 2013

Consequences	Total	“Buffer zone” on land	“Buffer zone” at sea
Death of persons	0	0	0
Minors	0	0	0
Women	0	0	0
Injury of persons	6	5	1
Minors	0	0	0
Women	0	0	0

b. Property related violations



November 2013

Consequences	Total	“Buffer zone” on land	“Buffer zone” at sea
Property damaged	1	0	1
Property confiscated	3	0	3
Dunums razed	0	0	0

c. Detention

November 2013

Consequences	Total	“Buffer zone” on land	“Buffer zone” at sea
Detention incidents	5	2	3
Total persons detained	10	4	6
Minors detained	5	3	2
Women detained	0	0	0

* Nine of the arrested persons were released

* One of the arrested persons is a patient, who was supposed to undergo surgery, but he was arrested at Erez Crossing and still under arrest so far.