Human rights situation in the OPT – LAS note verbale

QUESTION OF THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE

OCCUPIED ARAB TERRITORIES, INCLUDING PALESTINE

Note verbale dated 13 January 1993 from the Permanent Mission of the

League of Arab States to the United Nations Office at Geneva

addressed to the Under-Secretary-General for Human

1. The Permanent Mission of the League of Arab States to the United Nations Office at Geneva presents its compliments to the United Nations Centre for Human Rights and wishes to express its grave concern at the deterioration in the situation of Arab civilians in the Palestinian and Arab territories occupied by Israel, as detailed in the two attached documents (monthly reports for October and November 1992).

2. The Permanent Mission of the League of Arab States requests the United Nations Centre for Human Rights to regard this note as an official document and to circulate it to the members of the Commission on Human Rights at its forty-ninth session.

REPORT ON ISRAELI SETTLEMENT OPERATIONS AND

ATTACKS ON ARAB CITIZENS AND THEIR RIGHTS

AND PROPERTY IN OCTOBER 1992

The hunger strike by Palestinian detainees in Israeli occupation prison lasted for more than 15 days. It started on 27 September and ended on 15 October when their state of health had begun to deteriorate as a result of anaemia and other ailments that were endangering their lives. The Israeli police forced their way into a number of prisons where they used gas grenades and truncheons in an endeavour to persuade the detainees to abandon their hunger strike. Hussein Ubeidat, one of the detainees, died during the hunger strike due to the occupation authorities' failure to provide him with treatment.

The strike was accompanied by an active mass mobilization similar to that during the early days of the Palestinian intifada. Palestinians demonstrated in the streets in solidarity with their detained fellow countrymen and organized large-scale marches, sit-ins and strikes. The military occupation forces responded by opening fire with live ammunition and rubber bullets, wounding hundreds of demonstrators and arresting scores of others. Large numbers of troops were deployed during these military operations in which specific areas were invested and besieged, such as the town of Hebron which was blockaded by a force of about 3,000 soldiers and placed under full siege for a period of five days.

In the face of this veritable revolution, the Israeli occupation authorities were forced to revoke their earlier decision to reduce their military presence in the densely populated areas of the occupied territories.  Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli Prime Minister, gave the Minister of Defence the green light to instruct the occupation forces to take harsher measures to quell the escalating intifada and to carry out what he called "essential operations to put an end to the Palestinian intifada".

The Israelis themselves admitted that the flame of the intifada had been rekindled. In an article that appeared in the newspaper Ha'aretz, the journalist Ran Kaslav noted that: "The Palestinian intifada is continuing, albeit in different forms, alternating between street demonstrations and acts of violence. In essence, however, it remains the popular uprising with which we have been living for the last five years".

Shaike Erez, the former head of the civil administration in the West Bank, wrote an article in the newspaper Yediot Aharonot in which he said that: "The intifada has not resumed because of the detainees' strike; far from having ended or subsided, it merely changes form from time to time",

According to Ronnie Sheked, a correspondent for the Yediot Aharonot newspaper: "The hunger strike by the security prisoners achieved its objectives in so far as its repercussions transcended the prison walls; it succeeded in rekindling Palestinian emotions and led to a resumption of the popular demonstrations that took place in the early days of the intifada". (Al-Bayadir al-Siyasi magazine, 17/10/1992)

In a desperate attempt to suppress the intifada, the Israeli authorities announced that a new weapon capable of firing six projectiles at a time within a 30-metre range would be used against the Arab population. These projectiles, made of compressed salt, inflame and burn the skin. It is well known that the Israeli authorities have used a full arsenal of weapons in an attempt to repress the Palestinian intifada since its outbreak. For example, they have used plastic bullets, which have killed 152 persons, as well as rubber bullets, consisting of steel balls covered with a thin layer of rubber which can cause fatal head wounds, and canons which can fire a hail of stones at demonstrators.

During the month, the Red Cross closed its offices in the Gaza Strip until further notice in protest at the manner in which occupation forces were treating its staff and visitors.  In fact, its offices had been subjected to a series of acts of harassment and measures designed to hamper its humanitarian activities, including restrictions on the travel and freedom of movement of Red Cross officials, who had been prevented from providing the population with the requisite services. On two occasions, gas grenades had been thrown at the Red Cross office at Gaza. (Al-Fair, 14/10/1992)

The Israeli authorities also continued their daily encroachments on Arab land and their acts of aggression against the Arab population. From the beginning of the occupation to the end of October 1992 the Israeli authorities

have confiscated about 3,077,364 dunums of land in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.  They have also proceeded with their desperate attempt to promote settlement and have prepared plans to encourage Jews, and particularly new immigrants, to settle in the 186 settlements in the West Bank and the 20 settlements in the Gaza Strip.

With regard to violations of the freedoms and human rights of the population, the Israeli authorities continued to implement their inhuman policies and imposed individual and collective punishments, as illustrated by the sentences passed on 155 residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip who appeared before the military courts. The sentences ranged from imprisonment for a few months to several years, with heavy fines. The authorities placed 14 persons in administrative detention for periods ranging from 5 to 6 months and demolished 4 houses. Twenty Palestinian were killed and hundreds were injured.

The following details concerning acts of aggression were reported in the Arabic and Hebrew press and information media.

I.  Confiscation of land and settlement

Occupation forces established a military training centre on an area of 10 dunums of land belonging to an Arab resident of the village of Tubas.  (Al-Ittihad, 22/10/1992)

The Israeli military authorities prevented the population of the village of Asira al-Qibliya, Tell and Immatein from entering their lands, covering an area of about 2,000 dunums planted with olive trees, in the centre of which an army camp had been established. (Al-Fajr, 26/10/1992)

The Israeli authorities decided to expropriate a plot of land covering an area of 300 dunums in the Zeitun district of Gaza for the purpose of building a new road to link Salah ed-Din Street to the industrial zone in the Sheikh Ajlein district. (Al-Sha'ab, 31/10/1992)

Plans and projects for the establishment and expansion of settlements

Plans are being made for the large-scale construction of private dwellings at a number of settlements in the occupied territories.

The official. supervising these operations declared that they would not comply with the Government's decision to freeze further construction. They affirmed that 300 housing units had already been built for settlers since the Labour Party came to power in Israel. (Al-Sha'ab, 3/10/1992)

At the settlement of "Avnei Hefetz",  which was established on land belonging to the village of Shufa, the occupation authorities continued their construction operations and laid the foundations for new apartments.

Settlement roads

The first phase of a plan to construct a settlement road along Wadi al-Qilt to the east of Anata has been completed. This road, which joins Highway No.9 linking the city of Jerusalem to the settlement of "Maaleh Adumim", will pass under the villages of Eizariya and Abu Dis through a tunnel more than 1,300 m in length which emerges near the Ras al-Amoud area.  (Al-Quds, 3/10/1992)

Construction work continued on a settlement road passing through land belonging to the village of Shufa to the east of Tulkarm with a view to linking the "Green line" to the West Bank. (Al-Sha'ab, 31/10/1992)

II.  Attacks on Arab citizens and their property

During the month, Israeli acts of aggression against the property of Arab citizen were intensified. These acts were committed primarily by groups of settlers who were mobilized to launch attacks on Palestinian villages in which they damaged or destroyed many vehicles, houses and items of furniture and opened fire on Arab citizen., as a result of which many of the latter were wounded. The acts of aggression by the occupation authorities took numerous forms, including daily raids on houses, the arrest of young Arabs, raids by tax-collectors on commercial establishments and the imposition of exorbitant taxes.

These acts of aggression against Arab citizens and their property and lands are detailed below:

(a)  Encroachments on land

Israeli bulldozers continued their land-levelling operations, uprooting fruit-bearing trees in the occupied territories. Hundreds of dunums of land were levelled in order to facilitate their expropriation and expand the settlements. These encroachments are illustrated by the following:

(b)  Acts of aggression against Arab citizens and their property

Occupation troops and groups of Jewish settlers carried out savage attacks on Arab citizens during the month under review, causing damage to their property and flagrantly violating their freedoms. Hundreds of citizens were injured  during the raids that were launched on villages, towns and camps in the occupied territories. The principal acts of aggression were as follows:

The Israeli authorities closed the Asil press agency in East Jerusalem for a whole year. (Al-Quds, 3/10/1992)

A military patrol opened heavy fire on a civilian vehicle carrying five Palestinians on the road to Sinjil, as a result of which three of them were wounded. (Al-Fajr, 3/10/1992)

Occupation forces invested the village of Idna in the district of Hebron, where they raided dozens of houses, ransacked their contents and beat up their occupants. (Al-Ittihad, 4/10/1992)

Occupation forces opened random fire on women, children and elderly persons demonstrating in favour of the detainees on hunger strike.  More than 200 of the demonstrators were wounded. (Al-Ittihad, 8/10/1992)

A group of settlers assaulted the driver of a vehicle belonging to the Jerusalem newspaper Al-Sha'ab. The driver was beaten up and stones were thrown at his vehicle. (Al-Sha'ab, 8/10/1992)

Several Jewish settlers carried out a series of attacks on Arab citizens and their property in the suburbs of Jerusalem, damaging cars and shops belonging to Arab residents. (Al-Sha'ab, 8/10/1992)

In an act of desecration designed to provoke the Arab population, occupation troops exhumed the body of a young martyr, Musa Shawish from the village of Aqaba, and transported it to the police station. (Al-Ittihad, 9/10/1992)

In the city of Jerusalem, an Israeli soldier opened fire, from a distance of only 30 cm, on a young Palestinian whom he had just arrested. The young man, who suffered several mortal wounds, died less than one week later.

According to the official Israeli version of the incident, the young man had attempted to snatch the soldier's weapon, but film shot by a foreign television network at the time of the incident showed that the young man had not resisted arrest and the soldier had indeed opened fire, with intent to kill, after throwing him to the ground. (Al-Ittihad, 11/10/1992; and Al-Fajr and Al-Quds, 11/10/1992)

A group of settlers attacked and broke the windows of a number of buses in the village of Abud. (Al-Quds, 12/10/1992)

A detachment of Border police raided the village of Isawiya, beat up the population, forced their way into houses, handcuffed the women and confiscated their gold jewelry. (Al-Nahar, 14/10/1992)

Settlers from the settlement of "Kedumim" burnt 200 olive trees on land belonging to the village of Kafr Qaddum. (Al-Quds, 14/10/1992)

In the district of Jenin, settlers beat up the  passengers of an Arab vehicle and broke its windows. (Al-Ittihad, 16/10/1992)

Occupation forces raided the Baraka Mosque at Tulkarm on the pretext of a search for prohibited material. (Al-Ittihad, 16/10/1992)

In the town of Hebron, dozens of Israeli settlers attacked Arab residents end damaged vehicles in which they were travelling (Al-Quds, 17/10/1992)

Israeli settlers opened fire on an Arab vehicle, wounding its occupants while it was travelling on the Megiddo road. (Al-Quds, 17/10/1992)

Five residents of the village of Isawiya were wounded during an operation, carried out with police support, to collect the "Arnona" tax village. The injured persons included a pregnant women from whose neck tax-collectors snatched a gold chain. (Al-Nahar, 17/10/1992)

A group of armed settlers raided the town of Bira, blocked the main road and broke the windows and slashed the tyres of three Arab vehicles. (Al-Sha'ab, 19/10/1992)

Settlers forced their way into the Ibrahimi Shrine in the town of Hebron, assaulting its guardian and one of the residents of the town. (Al-Ittihad, 20/10/1992)

Members of the Border Police raided the club in Jenin camp, assaulted the young men whom they found there and detained one of them, whom they beat up.  (Al-Ittihad, 20/10/1992)

Settlers from the settlement of "Tanakhim" raided the village of Jalama in the occupied territories, where they smashed the fruit and vegetable stalls, destroying their contents.  They also destroyed the premises of poultry sellers and set fire to a number of shops, (Al-Ittihad, 20/10/1992)

Armed settlers besieged the village of Lubban al-Sharqiya for a whole night and broke the windows of dozens of houses in the village. (Al-Ittihad, 21/10/1992)

Occupation troops forced their way into the boy's preparatory school in the village of Jalqamus and beat up the pupils. (Al-Ittihad, 21/10/1992)

One hundred and twenty settlers from the settlement of "Beitar" attacked property belonging to residents of the village of Husan, where they also damaged a number of vehicles and houses. (Al-Quds, 24/10/1992)

Police officers working at Maskubeya prison savagely assaulted three female Palestinian detainees. (Al-Sha'ab, 24/10/1992)

Military forces escorting tax-collectors raided the homes of residents of the village of Kafr Ra'i in the district of Jenin and imposed exorbitant fines on them. (Al-Fajr, 24/10/1992)

Settlers from the settlement of "Kedumim" blocked the Qalqiliya-Nablus road and prevented Arab vehicles from using it. (Al-Ittihad, 29/10/1992)

Settlers carried out a savage attack on the houses and vehicles of residents of the town of Jenin while it was under curfew. They fired shots, threw stones and caused severe damage to the property of its Arab residents. (Al-Ittihad, 29/10/1992)

III.  Israeli practices in violation of human rights

in the occupied Palestinian territories

1.  Arrests

(a)  Mass arrests

Occupation forces carried out mass arrests of Palestinian. in a number of towns, villages and camps in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Dozens of young men were arrested on the pretext that they had participated in intifada-related activities.

These mass arrests in October 1992 are illustrated by the following:

20 young men arrested in the village of Silat al-Harithiya. (Al-Ittihad, 9/10/1992)

3 young men arrested in the village of Tammun.  (Al-Ittihad, 11/10/1992)

17 young men arrested in the village of Beit Dajan.  (Al-Ittihad, 11/10/1992)

Several young men arrested during a raid on Jenin camp.  (Al-Sha'ab, 12/10/1992)

4 Palestinians arrested in the town of Bir Zeit.  (A1-Ittihad, 15/10/1992)

17 young men arrested in the village of Isawiya.  (Al-Quds, 15/10/1992)

Mass arrests in the village of Bil'in/Ramallah.  (Al-Fajr, 20/10/1992)

18 Palestinians arrested in the village of Kafr Ni'ma/Ramallah.  (Al-Fajr, 21/10/1992)

3 young men arrested in the village of Beit Dajan.  (Al-Fajr, 25/10/1992)

500 Palestinians arrested in the town of Hebron.  (Al-Ittihad, 30/10/1992)

A report by Betzelem, the Israeli Information Centre on Human Rights the occupied territories, revealed serious violations in connection with the treatment of administrative detainees held in occupation prisons. According to the report, since the outbreak of the intifada at the end of 1987, the occupation authorities had issued more than 14,000 administrative detention orders against Palestinians and most of those detention orders  concerned persons who had already been actually detained for several weeks.  (Al-Ittihad, 29/10/1992)

(b)  Administrative detention

It is noteworthy that Israeli military law permits the detention of any Palestinian in the occupied territories for 14 days, during which the detainee, is not allowed to receive visitors. It is during that period that the worst ill-treatment is inflicted on the detainee when he is placed in solitary confinement, interrogated and tortured.

In October 1992, the Israeli authorities issued 14 administrative detention orders against Palestinian residents of the occupied territories (reported in editions of Al-Quds newspaper from 2 October to 1 November 1992).

The periods of administrative detention involved ranged from one month to a whole year, subject to extension.

(c)  Sentences passed on Arab citizens

In October 1992, 155 Palestinians appeared before Israeli military courts in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.  The prison sentences handed down ranged from 7 to 12 months without probation (with suspended sentences of double that period), to many years. (Source: editions of Al-Quds newspaper from 2 October to 1 November 1992.) Those courts also passed sentences of life imprisonment on two Palestinians. In addition to the prison sentences, an average fine of 1,000 Israeli shekels was imposed on each convicted person.  The total of these fines was estimated at about 118,200 shekels, i.e. about US$ 59,000.

(d)  The hunger strike by Palestinian security detainees began on 27 September, continued until 6 October and resumed on 8 October 1992.  The detainees agreed to suspend their strike on 7 and 8 October. However, strike continued until 15 October at Nafha prison, where the detainees the last to abandon their hunger strike.

The detainees' demands focused mainly on an improvement in their living conditions in the detention centres through:

An improvement in the quantity and quality of their food;

Performance of the requisite surgical operations and an improvement in the quality of the medical treatment provided for detainees;

Abolition of solitary confinement, in view of its adverse mental and psychological effects on the detainees;

Provision of more blankets and winter clothing;

Longer visiting hours for families and the provision of appropriate rooms in which families can await the arrival of their detained relatives in more humane conditions;

Provision of facilities for further education and the supply of the books, newspapers and periodicals, etc. required for that purpose;

A longer daily recreation period;

A solution to the problem of chronic overcrowding in the cells and tents;

Removal of the asbestos sheeting from the windows;

Transfer of all detainees to detention centres near to their places of residence;

Release of elderly detainees.

2.  Restrictions on freedom of movement and travel

The Israeli occupation authorities imposed curfews on a number of towns, villages and camps in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. When a curfew is imposed on a particular area, the soldiers order the men between 14 and 45 years of age to assemble at a specified location for purpose. of verification of their identity. Houses are searched one after another and considerable damage is caused to property.

In October, the district of Rafah was placed under an extremely strict curfew for seven days during which the town suffered a shortage of basic necessities such as flour and milk for infants.

The town of Gaza and Shati', Bureij, Jabalia, Nuseirat and Maghazi camps were also placed under curfew for a period of four days.

Curfews remained in force at the following 12 Arab villages in the district of Ramallah: Kharbata, Bani Harith, Janiya, Ras Karkar, Beit Ur al-Tahta and Beit Ur al-Fawqa, Deir Ammar, Deir Ibzi', Bil'in, Ni'lin, Dindis and Beit Liqya. Military units made mass arrests and conducted large-scale searches in the homes of residents of these villages.

In the town of Hebron, more than 200,000 Palestinians were placed under curfew for seven consecutive days, during which at least 3,000 soldiers blockaded the town's residential areas, searched the fields for weapons and arrested at least 500 persons on whom exorbitant fines were imposed for breaking the curfew.

3.  Demolition of houses

The Israeli authorities demolished houses and other buildings belonging to Palestinians in the occupied territories as a collective punishment for security and administrative reasons.  This policy is applied against the families of persons suspected of committing security offences or who have been detained for the commission of such offences.  It is also applied against the owners of houses who have not obtained building permits from the Israeli authorities.  In this way, entire houses or rooms are sealed off with iron bars and cement blocks which render them uninhabitable.

The following list gives the names of the persons whose houses were demolished in October 1992, as well as the location of the house and the reason for its demolition.

Occupation forces sealed up the house of the detainee Salih al-Huraimi at Bethlehem and the house of Ahmad Sammuri in the village of Yamun/Jenin.  (Al-Quds, 15/10/1992; and Al-Ittihad, 1/11/1992)

4.  Martyrs

The detainee Husein Nimr Ubeidat died in an Israeli occupation prison.  Although he had complained of severe pains at 3 a.m., the authorities waited six hours before transferring him to a hospital, causing his death.

In front of scores of eyewitnesses in the city of Jerusalem, an Israeli policeman opened fire on an Arab demonstrator, Mustafa Ubeidat, from a distance of no more than half a metre after throwing him to the ground.  The victim subsequently died of his wounds.

The number of martyrs shot and killed by occupation forces rose during the month.  Twenty persons from 4 to 60 years of age were killed.  Fifteen of these were shot, one 4-year-old boy was run down by a military vehicle and the others were killed in different ways.  The following list gives the names of the martyrs who died in October 1992.

5.  Violations against educational institutions

The occupation authorities closed more schools in October 1992 on the pretext that their pupils had engaged in demonstrations and sit-ins in solidarity with the detainees on hunger strike.  The following list gives the names of the schools which were closed.

REPORT ON ISRAELI SETTLEMENT OPERATIONS AND ATTACKS ON

ARAB CITIZENS AND THEIR PROPERTY IN NOVEMBER 1992

The Israeli occupation authorities conducted an unprecedented operation in the Gaza Strip, consisting of pounding a group of houses for six hours with canons and rocket propelled grenades.  The attack, which was accompanied by

shooting and the throwing of grenades, caused considerable damage to the houses and their surroundings.  Five hundred soldiers are estimated to have taken part in this operation.

A communiqué published by the Gaza Bar Association stated that these barbaric practices, whose purpose was devastation and mass murder, constituted a dangerous violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and urged the Israeli Government to discontinue a policy of wanton destruction.

A Jewish settler threw a grenade which killed one person and injured twelve others – all Palestinians – as well as causing considerable material damage in a crowded Palestinian market in the occupied city of Jerusalem.  Commenting on this, the Israeli press spoke of a return of organized Jewish terrorism and of a senseless slide into violence on the part of the settlers in the form of armed raids on houses and businesses, particularly during the curfew. The settlers are training Jewish units to attack Arab citizens, to set up armed ambushes and to engage in intimidation, murder and kidnapping.

Further, the exorbitant taxes which Palestinians are required to pay to Israeli authorities were a very heavy burden which caused the bankruptcy and failure of most Palestinian economic projects.

During the 25 years of the occupation, the authorities have used this fiscal policy for financial, economic and political ends. In this way, they have succeeded in obstructing economic activity and in causing a recession which totally paralysed the Palestinian economy in order to force the inhabitants of the occupied territories to emigrate and to replace them by Jewish settlers.

Residents of Jerusalem suffer particularly on account of the exorbitant Israeli municipal tax called the "arnona" which is beyond their means. In case of inability to pay, they incur the risk of daytime and nighttime raids, beatings, humiliations, arrest and confiscation.

This humanitarian problem confronting Palestinians is one of the main questions before the Commission on Human Rights. It also has a legal aspect in the sense that it is linked to a flagrant infringement of the international covenants and instruments.

The Israeli authorities also continued their daily encroachments on Arab land and their acts of aggression against the Arab population. From the beginning of the occupation to the end of November 1992, they confiscated 3,077,364 dunums of land in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. They also continued to promote settlement and prepare plans to encourage Jews, and particularly new immigrants, to settle in the 186 settlements in the West Bank and the 20 settlements in the Gaza Strip.

With regard to violations of the freedoms and human rights of the population, the Israeli authorities continued to implement their inhuman policies and to impose individual and collective punishments. For instance, the military courts thus sentenced 318 residents of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to imprisonment ranging from a few months to several years, in conjunction with fines. The authorities also placed 33 persons in administrative detention for periods ranging from five to six months and demolished 17 houses. During the same period, 17 Palestinians were shot and hundreds of others were injured.

The following details concerning acts of aggression were reported in the Arabic and Hebrew press and information media:

I.  Confiscation of land and settlement

One of the major objectives of successive Israeli Governments, the settlement of Jewish immigrants in the occupied Arab territories, is intended to bring about what is called a "Jewish balance in the region", to frustrate any attempt to exercise pressure for withdrawal from these territories and to rule out any idea of a withdrawal.  The spokesman for the Jewish Settlement Council in the occupied territories stated that nearly 125,000 Jewish settlers were living in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, and he pointed out that this figure did not include the residents of the outlying districts of Jerusalem annexed by Israel in 1967, of whom there are some 153,000 in seven districts.

Despite the propaganda reporting a freeze on the construction of settlements in the occupied territories, Israeli officials are doing their utmost to increase the number of settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to 200,000 by 1994.

Strong proof of these settlement activities is provided by the article printed in the Jaffa newspaper Al-Ittihad of 11 November 1992, which speaks of earthworks carried out by bulldozer on dozens of dunums of land belonging to the villages of Hizma and Shu'fat, north of Jerusalem. The aim of this operation was to expand the settlements of "Pisgat Zeev" and "Rekhes Suafat" by the construction of new dwellings. The Israeli Ministry of the Environment completed the construction of hundreds of housing units in the two settlements.

Work on building a 270-metre tunnel linking south Jerusalem to the settlements of "Gosh Etzion", in the West Bank, has just been completed.  This project, which cost over three million dollars is the first phase of an integrated project which includes the construction of a 350-metre long suspension bridge and another tunnel 900 metres long. (Al-Quds, 24/11/1992)

It was reported in the Yediot Aharonot that the Ministry of Housing and Construction has proposed setting up a national company which would be responsible for planning and building Highway No. 6 crossing Israel from the north to the south over a distance of 225 km. (Al-Quds, 12/11/1992)

The Israeli authorities have also stated their intention of building a new road, No.455, linking the settlement of "Kiryat Safir" to the main road.  This road would pass through the villages of Deir Qiddis, Kharbata and Bani Haris. (Al-Quds, 9/11/1992)

II.  Attacks on Arab citizens and their property

Israeli occupation authorities continue to engage in the most hideous forms of aggression in confronting Palestinian demonstrators. The special units, which have instructions to use live ammunition, can thus use their weapons without restriction and in any circumstances. Thus, what in fact are manhunts take place which seek primarily to kill or to inflict serious injuries with lasting physical after-effects on Palestinians. The authorities also engage in savage beatings, night raids on the homes of "wanted" person. and the destruction of items of furniture belonging to them. If the wanted person is arrested or surrenders voluntarily, he runs the risk of being shot down in cold blood.  Such occurrences are by no means rare, although neither newspapers nor correspondents report them.

These acts of aggression against Arab citizens and their property are detailed below.

Israeli soldiers who had taken part in a raid against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip stole jewels and money from residents. (Al-Quds, 18/11/1992)

Occupation authorities sealed off a main road in the Deir al-Balah market (Al-Quds, 18/11/1992)

Israeli tax-collectors carried out a raid on a large number of merchants in Tulkarm and seized ledgers and identity cards. (Al-Fajr, 18/11/1992)

Settlers set fire to vehicles, businesses and houses belonging to Palestinians in the City of Jerusalem, causing considerable damage. (Al-Sha'ab, 19/11/1992)

Settlers forced an entry into the homes of a number of citizens in the village of Husan/Nablus. They smashed window panes and handled the possessions of residents in an offensive manner. (Al-Fajr, 20/11/1992)

During a raid in the villages of Ibwein and Lubban Gharbiya/Ramallah, Israeli soldiers rounded up residents and forced them to take down the Palestinian flags hanging from electric wires. (Al-Nahar, 19/11/1992)

Soldiers of the occupation forces opened fire on a group of Palestinians in the village of Kafr Ain/Ramallah, injuring several persons who had to be hospitalized. (Al-Nahar, 19/11/1992)

Jewish settlers smashed the windows of several cars at Hebron and damaged the portal of the town's orthodox church. (Al-Quds, 22/11/1992)

Occupation troops opened fire and wounded scores of Palestinians at the funeral of a martyr in Gaza. (Al-Ittihad, 23/11/1992)

Israeli soldiers opened fire on Palestinians in Bani Suhila and in the Shati camp in the Gaza Strip, wounding 12 persons, some of them seriously.  (Al-Quds, 24/11/1992)

Israeli officials set up a military roadblock at the intersection of the Jalazone and Ramallah roads. They carried out identity checks and fined Palestinian motorists. (Al-Fajr, 20/11/1992)

Forcing his way into the Ya'bad Secondary School for Boys, a Jewish settler opened fire in the school yard, which at the time was full of pupils and teachers. (Al-Ittihad, 29/11/1992)

Jewish settlers raided a workshop in Hebron and beat up the workers.  (Al-Fajr, 30/11/1992)

Encroachments on land

Palestinian farmers whose land lies close to Jewish settlements are subjected to assaults by the settlers, who attack olive plantations and persist in trying to cut down the trees. At harvest time, settlers prevent Arab farmers from approaching their land, threatening them with weapons, in order to inflict material losses on them and to force them to leave their land. Some of these acts of aggression are outlined below:

50 olive plants were uprooted in the region of Tayasir (Al-Ittihad, 11/11/1992)

600 olive trees were cut down in the village of Mukhmas/Ramallah.  (Al-Quds, 21/11/1992)

Plastic greenhouses were vandalized in  the village of Nazlat Isa/Tulkarm.  (Al-Quds, 24/11/1992)

III.  Israeli practices in violation of human rights

in the occupied Palestinian territories

1.   Arrests

(a)   Mass arrests

Occupation forces carried out mass arrests of Palestinians in a number of towns, villages and camps in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.  Dozens of young men were arrested on the pretext that they had participated in intifada-related activities.

These mass arrests in November 1992 are illustrated by the following:

(b)   Administrative Detention

Following the wave of demonstrations against the Israeli occupation and the rekindled flame of the intifada in the occupied territories, administrative detention orders were issued against 33 Palestinians in November 1992 (reported in editions of the Al-Quds newspaper from 2 November to 1 December 1992.  The periods of administrative detention decreed by the military authorities ranged from one month to one year, subject to extension.

 (c)   Sentences passed on Arab citizens

In November 1992, 318 Palestinians appeared before Israeli military courts in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The prison sentences handed down ranged from seven to twelve months without probation (with suspended sentences of double that period), to many years. (Source: editions of Al-Quds newspaper from 2 November to 1 December 1992.)  These courts also passed sentences of life imprisonment on four Palestinians. In addition to the prison sentences, an average fine of 1,000 Israeli shekels was imposed on each convicted person. The total of these fines was estimated at 251,350 shekels, i.e. about $US 93,438.

(d)   Conditions of detention and ill-treatment of detainees

According to the weekly Kol ha-Ir, a former director of Maskubeya camp acknowledged that the General Security Service (Shabak) had had recourse in recent years to torture during questioning. He also stated that detainees

were generally placed in a small yard, mostly handcuffed, with their head and face covered, and forced to stand for hours. Further, the cells are 80 cramped that it is difficult to lie down or even to sit down in them, and there are urine and pungent smells at all times.

This former director states that conditions of detention – handcuffing of prisoners and overcrowded cells in particular – are set by senior police officials.

Moreover, dozens of seriously ill detainees have appealed to public opinion, through the media, for action to secure their release and their treatment in hospital.

According to the organization, Law in the Service of Man, Israeli authorities use delaying tactics. Thus, they subjected a Palestinian detainee to torture of such intensity that he suffered a serious mental disorder, lost his memory and the use of speech and, on leaving the detention centre, was unable to recognize his wife and children. (Al-Ittihad, 3/11/1992)

2.   Restrictions on freedom of movement and travel

As the Israeli authorities decided to extend the length of the curfew, on the pretext that night falls early, the curfew now begins at 7 o'clock instead of 9 o'clock in the evening and ends at 4 o'clock in the morning throughout the Gaza Strip, apart from the town of Gaza itself.

During the month, a curfew was imposed in the town of Hebron for three days and the districts of Khan Yunis and Rafah were declared closed military areas. A curfew was also imposed in the villages of Bani Suhila, Mi'n and Al-Dhaheriya, as well as in the camps of Khan Yunis, Askar and Jabalia, where it lasted several days.

3.   Demolition of houses

As a result of the demolition operation conducted by the occupation authorities in the Gaza Strip which had targeted a number of houses, seven were totally destroyed, together with their furnishings, by shells and grenades.  These houses belonged to the following persons:

Further, this attack caused damage to the neighbouring houses and rendered them uninhabitable.

The following list gives the names of the persons whose houses were demolished in November 1992, as well as the location of the house and the reason for its demolition:

The Israeli authorities thus demolished a total of 17 houses during the month of November 1992.

They also sealed off the houses of the following three Palestinians:

4.   Martyrs

The Israeli army committed unspeakable crimes indicative of odious racism against Palestinians.  For example, soldiers of the special units arrested two young men in the village of Arraba and, after suspending them from a wall with their arms stretched, coldly riddled their bodies with bullets in an extreme and bloodthirsty act of brutality.

In one of its publications, the organization Law in the Service of Man described a number of cases of premeditated murder of Palestinians who posed no danger to the lives of Israeli soldiers.  For example, the young Anwa Shafiq al-Matur, aged 15, who was playing with his friends in the village of Sa'ir/Hebron, was killed by three soldiers who had jumped from a military vehicle to open fire on the group of children.  The victim was hit in the back by three bullets fired from a distance of 30 metres.  For 15 minutes the soldiers refused to allow the relatives of the victim to assist him allowing the child to bleed to death  (Al-Quds, 29/11/1992).

The following list gives the names of the 17 Palestinians killed by the Israeli army and special units in November 1992:

The above information brings the number of martyrs, male and female, of the intifada since its inception until the end of November 1992 to 1,317.

5.   Violations against educational institutions

The Israeli authorities are continuing their policy of the systematic closure of schools and universities in the occupied territories.  The following list gives the names of the institutions which were closed:

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