Amnesty International: “Israeli attacks on Gaza Strip are war crimes”

Amnesty International, 30th June: “Deliberate attacks by Israeli forces against civilian property and infrastructure in the Gaza Strip violate international humanitarian law and constitute war crimes, Amnesty International said this weekend.

“’Israel must now take urgent measures to remedy the long-term damage it has caused and immediately restore the supply — at its own cost – of electricity and water to the Palestinian population in the affected areas,’ urged the organization. ‘As the occupying power, Israel is bound under international law to protect and safeguard the basic human rights of the Palestinian population.’

“The deliberate destruction of the Gaza Strip’s only electricity power station, water networks, bridges, roads and other infrastructure is a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and has major and long-term humanitarian consequences for the 1.5 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip.

“Almost half of Gaza’s inhabitants are now without electricity and water supplies have also been cut in several areas both by the lack of electricity, necessary to operate the water pumps used to extract and deliver water, and by the destruction of water mains as a result of the bombings of bridges and roads.

“The extensive damage caused by Israeli artillery and air strikes against these facilities in recent days is estimated at several millions of US dollars and will require months of work to repair. Unless alternative emergency measures are promptly put in place to restore electricity and water supply the consequences could be dire for the health of the Palestinian population.

“In a statement the Israeli army said that it had, ‘carried out an aerial attack on an electricity transformer station south of Gaza city…’ and that ‘The IDF will continue to employ all means at its disposal against Palestinian terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip in order to ensure the quick and safe return home of Corporal Gilad Shalit.’

“The destruction by Israeli forces of bridges and roads is slowing down, but not preventing movement between different areas of the Gaza Strip. It is likely to cause severe restrictions on movement during the rainy season in a few months time. At present, it causes disruption to Palestinians civilians, who have to take long detours to reach their workplace, but it does not prevent the movements of armed groups – Israel’s stated objective.

“As the tension between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) and armed groups continues to mount, there is growing concern for the safety of the civilian population. High numbers of Palestinian bystanders, including women and children, have been killed and injured by Israeli artillery shelling and air strikes in recent weeks and months. This situation looks set to worsen in light of the end of the unilateral cease-fire which the armed wing of Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups had been observing since last year.

“According to the Fourth Geneva Convention, ‘collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited’(Article 33) as is the destruction of private or public property, ‘except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations (Article 53).’ The Convention requires all states party to it to search for and ensure the prosecution of perpetrators of the war crime of ‘causing extensive destruction … not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly.’

“‘Intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects’ is also a war crime under Article 8 (b) (ii) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.’”

A Letter From Gaza

They will never stop doing this as long as the US and Britain support them. They cut the electricity and soon there will be no water to drink. Sonic bombs are something that make you feel like you are going crazy! Please do something about them, at least! Hold demonstrations or whatever.

I don’t know what to say. They will destroy houses and do many nasty things, as usual. You can come here and work with us! It’s a job for many people. You must come here to evaluate the truth and the facts. Believe me, they are not doing this for the sake of the kidnapped soldier. Before that they killed families trying to have fun on the beach.

I know that you are happy watching the Mondiale. But thre are some people who hope that that you will support us. Children are more afraid now that they will loose their parents. They think that what happened to the girl on the beach will happen to them, anytime and any place. I can’t even reach Gaza because they destroyed the bridges between the north and south of the Gaza strip.

Please, at least, pray for us. I really know that you want to do something but you can’t. Still, I wanted to tell you about what is going on here. They may enter my village today or tonight and I’m trying not to imagine what could happen. I’m writing this email very quickly because the electricity may be cut before I finish it…

South Hebron Villages Persist to Resist


“We call on the international community to intervene and stop settler violence against us.”

by Zadie

Today, June 30th, the people of Qawawis accompanied by people from Tuwanwi and other neighboring villages as well as Israeli and international activists demonstrated against the settlements and the wall. About 50 people gathered and marched to the wall. The Israeli group Rabbis for Human Rights also donated ten bales of hay that will be used to feed the sheep to replace what was burned by the settlers earlier this week.

The settlers have a history of aggression towards people in Qawawis and neighboring villages. They have damaged villagers’ wells and harassed and attacked children and farmers.

One month ago an inner barrier was built along the road that passes Qawawis. This barrier separates farmers from their lands and makes it hard for tractors and sheep to pass.

There were very few army and Border Police present and no journalists representing any of the local or Arab media because of the attention on Gaza. Despite this fact, the people of Qawawis continued to demonstrate their resolve to resist the illegal settlements and the wall.

Israeli Press: Army May Ban Tourists From Holy Sites

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Israeli army says it will forbid entry foreign visitors access to all of the the occupied territories in the West Bank, according to a June 22nd article in the Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv. Although the apparent goal for this seemingly impossible task is to keep international visitors from entering the occupied territories in support of Palestinian non-violent resistance, if it is implimented it could also stop tourists and religious pilgrims from visiting Biblical sites.

“The [Israeli] army will issue a decree forbidding the entry of foreign citizens into Judea and Samaria” reads a Hebrew-only print article in Ma’ariv published on June 22nd 2006. “Judea and Samaria” is Biblical terminology for the occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank. Tourists including Christian pilgrims may find themselves banned from many important holy, Biblical and tourist sites, such as the Christian communities in Bethlehem, Aboud and Jericho, and the Samaritan community near Nablus. In Aboud, the shrine of St. Barbara is threatened by Israel’s wall.

According to the article, the purpose of the ban is to “prevent the ‘Summer of Peace’ [Freedom Summer] event which is planned by the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a pro-Palestinian organization which is active in the territories on behalf of the Palestinian population”. Through Freedom Summer, Palestinians in communities throughout the occupied territories invite internationals and Israelis to participate in non-violent demonstrations and direct actions against the annexation of Palestinian land.

A similar ban has been in effect in the Gaza strip since April 2003. Very few foreign visitors have been allowed to visit Gaza. Certain journalists and workers for select international organisations have been granted time-limited permits by Israel, but even these are not easy to obtain. This ban has remained in effect after Israel’s unilateral “disengagement” from the Gaza strip. Only Palestinians with Israeli-issued ID cards are permitted to access through the Rafah crossing, even though it was supposedly transferred to Palestinian control with European observers. All other entry and exit points to the Gaza strip remain under Israeli control.

The announcement of this ban comes at a time when foreign aid workers and foreign nationals of Palestinian origin and their families are experiencing increased Israeli restrictions on their right to reside in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. A number of individuals residing for long periods in the Occupied Territories for work or family reasons who had been renewing three month Israeli visas by periodically leaving the country and returning were recently denied entry by Israeli authorities or told they will not be allowed to return.

For more information call:
ISM media office: 02-297 1824

Updated 12:30pm, 1st of July

More Settler Vandalism in Hebron

by Harry, Tel Rumeida Project

June 27th: Settler youth continue to trash a internationally funded project intended to make it safer for Palestinian girls living in the Tel Rumeida section of Al-Khalil (Hebron) to reach their elementary school.

The project, funded by the international monitoring group Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), involves several improvements to a staircase and pathway the girls have to take to reach the Qurtuba School, which is located opposite the Beir Hadassah settlement. Workers have recently bricked in the path and built a low cement-block retaining wall alongside it to protect it from erosion of the hillside above it. Five days ago, on June 22, 2006, settler youth began vandalizing the wall, using bricks and boulders to smash the cement blocks. Israeli Police summoned to the scene refused even to get out of their jeep to assess the damage.

Human rights workers witnessed a second attack on the wall by the settler youth the next day, and there have apparently been at least two (probably more) subsequent attacks. As of today, June 27th, the top row of cement blocks has been completely destroyed along most of the length of the wall, and the bricked-in pathway is littered with fragments of broken cement.

Meanwhile, the workers on the job have not returned to the site since on June 22 when an Israeli military officer ordered them to stop work, on the grounds that they lacked a permit for the construction of the retaining wall. The officer issued this edit a few hours before the first attack by the settler youth. In fact, according to TIPH, the work is completely in line with the permit for the project issued by Israeli authorities.