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Israeli practices – SpCttee annual report

REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE ISRAELI PRACTICES AFFECTING THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE AND OTHER ARABS OF THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Note by the Secretary-General
The Secretary-General has the honour to transmit to the members of the General Assembly the twenty-second report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories, which was submitted to him in accordance with paragraphs 20 and 21 of Assembly resolution 44/48 A of 8 December 1989.  This report should be considered together with the Special Committee's periodic reports (A/45/84 and A/45/306), which were transmitted to the members of the General Assembly on 26 January and 12 June 1990.


CONTENTS

Paragraphs

Page

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

4

I.

INTRODUCTION

1 – 6

7

II.

ORGANIZATION OF WORK

7 – 22

8

III.

MANDATE

23 – 27

10

IV.

INFORMATION AND EVIDENCE RECEIVED BY THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE

28 – 461

13

A.

General situation

37 – 185

15

1.

General developments and policy statements

37 – 53

15

2.

Incidents linked with the uprising of the Palestinian population against the occupation

54 – 186

19

(a)

List of Palestinians killed by troops or Israeli civilians

20

(b)

List of other Palestinians killed as a result of the occupation

28

(c)

Other incidents linked with the uprising

55 – 186

36

B.

Administration of justice, including the right to a fair trial

187 – 255

61

1.

Palestinian population

187 – 235

61

2.

Israelis

236 – 255

70

C.

Treatment of civilians

256 – 430

75

1.

General developments

256 – 361

75

(a)

Harassment and physical ill-treatment

256 – 280

75

(b)

Collective punishment

281 – 345

81

(c)

Expulsions

346 – 353

95

(d)

Economic and social situation

354 – 361

98

2.

Measures affecting certain fundamental freedoms

362 – 403

101

(a)

Freedom of movement

362 – 373

101

(b)

Freedom of religion

374 – 375

103

(c)

Freedom of expression

376 – 384

104

(d)

Freedom of education

385 – 403

106

3.

Information on settlers' activities affecting the civilian population

404 – 420

112

D.

Treatment of detainees

421 – 436

116

E.

Annexation and settlements

437 – 452

121

F.

Information concerning the occupied Syrian Arab Golan

453 – 461

126

V.

CONCLUSIONS

462 – 487

130

VI.

ADOPTION OF THE REPORT

488

139

Annex.

MAP SHOWING ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS ESTABLISHED, PLANNED OR UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN THE TERRITORIES OCCUPIED SINCE 1967

141

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

13 September 1990

Sir,

The Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories has the honour to transmit herewith its twenty-second report, prepared in accordance with General Assembly resolutions concerning the Special Committee and, in particular, resolution 2443 (XXIII) of 19 December 1968, by which the Special Committee was established, and resolution 44/48 A of 8 December 1989, the latest resolution by which the General Assembly renewed its mandate.

This report covers the period from 25 August 1989, the date of the adoption of the twenty-first report of the Special Committee, to 31 August 1990. The report is based on oral information received by the Special Committee through testimonies of persons having first-hand experience of the human rights situation in the occupied territories, as well as written information gathered from various sources. Written information concerning the period from 25 August to 30 November 1989 is reflected in the periodic report which the Special Committee presented to you on 10 January 1990 (A/45/84) in accordance with paragraphs 20 and 21 of General Assembly resolution 44/48 A; oral evidence received through testimonies and written information concerning the period from 1 December 1989 to 31 March 1990 are reflected in the periodic report presented to you by the Special Committee on 22 May 1990 (A/45/306).

The Special Committee has selected, from among these oral and written sources of information, relevant excerpts and summaries which are reflected in the reports. For the purpose of collecting oral testimonies the Special Committee again organised hearings that were held at Geneva, Damascus, Amman and Cairo. The Special Committee continued to monitor statements by members of the Government of Israel reflecting the policy of that Government in the occupied territories and reports on measures taken to implement that policy. The Special Committee further took note of the letters addressed to you and to the President of the Security Council during the period of this report relating to the mandate of the Special Committee, circulated as documents of the General Assembly and the Security Council, and received information from organizations and individuals on various aspects of the situation in the occupied territories.

In carrying out its mandate, the Special Committee benefited from the co-operation of the Governments of Egypt, Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic and from the co-operation of Palestinian representatives. The Government of Israel has continued to ignore requests for co-operation addressed to it.

In preparing its report the Special Committee has attempted to put before you a composite picture of the reality in the occupied territories as it affects the human rights of the civilian population. By this letter the Special Committee wishes to draw your attention to a number of aspects that deserve particular mention.

The information contained in the twenty-second report of the Special Committee reflects the dramatic level of tension and violence reached in the occupied territories as a result of increasingly repressive measures used against the Arab civilians and their struggle. This extremely tense situation results from the persistent policy of annexation and colonization pursued by the Government of Israel since 1967, and the resistance it has provoked among the civilian population determined to oppose this policy which violates fundamental human rights. It should be kept in mind that occupation in itself constitutes a violation of basic human rights.

Once again, the period under consideration has witnessed a heavy toll of casualties among all categories of civilians, caused by an indiscriminate use of violence that has not even spared infants or old people.  Some thousand Palestinians have lost their lives since the start of the uprising, and tens of thousands have been wounded.  Shooting, beating, tear-gas released in confined areas – even in clinics or school yards – and various other means of repression have been used, often at random, to quell demonstrations and strikes and to dissuade stone-throwers, or merely in a show of fares against innocent passers-by. Collective punishment has been systematically resorted to, with a noticeable increase in the demolition of houses, a repeated use of curfews, and a deliberate policy of economic pressure marked by tax raids, property seizure, the uprooting of tress, disconnection of electricity supplies and telephone lines, and cuts in water services.

In addition to the physical hardship due to the deterioration of the economic, social and health conditions, the day-to-day life in the occupied territories has also been marked by psychological harassment and humiliation. The constant feeling of fear and frustration resulting from aggressive or provocative acts by Israeli soldiers or settlers have left a long-term trauma, in particular among the more vulnerable young generation. This generation also suffers from what some to be a deliberate attempt at bringing down the level of academic and cultural achievement through prolonged and repeated closures of educational institutions. Further to the problems in the area of freedom of education, severe limitations are also restricting the exercise of other fundamental rights such as the rights of freedom of movement, freedom of expression and freedom of religion.

The policy of expelling Palestinians from the occupied territories for alleged security reasons has continued to be implemented, in violation of relevant provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention. In addition, hundreds of Palestinian on and children without valid residence permits have been expelled during the period under review. However, this arbitrary policy, which was implemented on a large scale during several months in a very harsh and humiliating way and which provoked a wave of protest in the international community, has been put to a halt and, in June 1990, a new military government policy was announced with a view to allowing such persons to reside in the occupied territories. In spite of a mounting wave of criticism by the international community, Israel continued, during the period under review, to settle new immigrants in the occupied territories.

The further deterioration of the human rights standards in the occupied territories has also been noticeable in the field of the administration of justice.  Tens of thousands of Palestinians, including a high proportion of minors and women, have been or continue to be detained (as of mid-June 1990 there were 10,416 Palestinian prisoners including 1,031 administrative detainees), often as a measure of preventive or administrative detention, without the benefit of adequate legal guarantees, whereas Israelis charged with killing or ill-treating Arab civilians have usually been treated with leniency quite disproportionate with the gravity of the offence. The already critical conditions of detention have continued to deteriorate, with increasing allegations of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners, including minors, held in various prisons and detention camps, sometimes inside Israel itself.

The Special Committee has endeavoured, within the constraints imposed by the lack of co-operation from Israel, to provide in its periodic reports (A/45/84 and A/45/306) and the present twenty-second report an objective picture of the situation of human rights in the occupied territories. The dramatic developments during the period under review have resulted in a further deterioration of the situation, which represents a serious threat for peace and stability in the area. This calls for renewed efforts an the part of the international community to convince Israel that it should put an end to its practices affecting the human rights situation in the occupied territories.

The Special Committee reiterates the hope that the present report may serve to further sensitive the international community to the plight at the civilian population, while encouraging meaningful efforts at the improvement of the human rights conditions prevailing in the occupied territories.

Accept, Sir, an behalf of my colleagues and on my own behalf, the assurances of our highest consideration.

Daya R. PERERA

Chairman of the Special Committee to

Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the

Human Rights of the Palestinian People and

Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories

INTRODUCTION
1. The Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories was established by the General Assembly in resolution 2443 (XXIII) of 19 December 1968. By that resolution, the Assembly decided to establish the Special Committee, composed of three Member States; requested the President of the Assembly to appoint the members of the Special Committee; requested the Government of Israel to receive the Special Committee, to co-operate with it and to facilitate its work; requested the Special Committee to report to the Secretary-general as soon on possible and whenever the need arose thereafter; and requested the Secretary-General to provide the Special Committee with all the necessary facilities for the performance of its task.

2. The Special Committee is composed as follows: Mr. Daya R. Perera, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, Chairman; Mr. Alioune Sene, Ambassador of Senegal In Bern and Permanent Representative of Senegal to the United Nations Office at Geneva; and Mr. Dragon Jovanic, Yugoslavia.

3. At the meetings of the Special Committee held from 21 May to 4 June 1990, Mr. Alioune Sene attended as the representative of Senegal from 21 to 22 May, and Mr. Chams Eddine N'Doye, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Senegal to Egypt, from 24 May to 4 June. At the meetings of the Special Committee held from 10 to 23 September 1990, Mr. Mamadou Mansour Diop, Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Senegal to the United Nations Office at Geneva, attended on behalf of Mr. Alioune Sene.

4. Since October 1970, the Special Committee has submitted 21 reports. 1/ These reports were discussed in the Special Political Committee, which then reported to the General Assembly. 2/ On the recommendation of the Special Political Committee, the Assembly adopted resolutions 2727 (XXV) of 15 December 1970, 2851 (XXVI) of 20 December 2971, 3005 (XXVII) of 15 December 1972, 3092 A and B (XXVIII) of 7 December 1973, 3240 A to C (XXIX) of 22 November 1974, 3525 A to D (XXX) of 15 December 1975, 31/106 A to D of 16 December 1976, 32/91 A to C of 13 December 1977, 33/113 A to C of 18 December 1978, 34/90 A to C of 12 December 1979, 35/122 A to F of 11 December 1980, 36/147 A to G of 16 December 1981, 37/88 A to G of 10 December 1982, 38/79 A to H of 15 December 1983, 39/95 A to H of 14 December 1984, 40/161 A to G of 16 December 1985, 41/63 A to G of 3 December 1986, 42/160 A to G of 8 December 1987, 43/58 A to G of 6 December 1988 and 44/48 A to G of 8 December 1989.

5. In its resolution 44/48 A, the General Assembly decided to change the name of the Special Committee to "Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories".

6. The present report has been prepared in accordance with General Assembly resolutions 2443 (XXIII), 2546 (XXIV), 2727 (XXV), 2851 (XXVI), 3005 (XXVII), 3092 B (XXVIII), 3240 A and C (XXIX), 3525 A and C (XXX), 31/106 C and D, 32/91 B and C, 33/113 C, 34/90 A to C, 35/122 C, 36/147 C, 37/88 C, 38/79 D, 39/95 D, 40/161 D, 41/63 D, 42/160 D, 43/58 A and 44/48 A.
II. ORGANIZATION OF WORK
7. The Special Committee continued its work under the rules of procedure contained in its first report to the Secretary-General. 3/  Mr. Daya Perera continued to be Chairman.

8. On 6 November 1989, the Chairman of the Special Committee addressed a cable to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Israel in which he conveyed the deep concern of the Special Committee about repressive measures taken by the Israeli authorities against civilian Palestinians in the town of Beit Sahour, as well as its concern about the incident during which clergymen accompanying the Patriarchs of the Armenian, Greek Orthodox and Catholic Churches of Jerusalem were prevented by the Israeli Defence Forces from entering Beit Sahour.

9. The Special Committee held the first of its series of meetings from 8 to 10 January 1990 at Geneva. At those meetings the Special Committee reviewed its mandate consequent upon the adoption by the General Assembly of resolution 44/48 A. By that resolution, the General Assembly requested the Special Committee, pending early termination of Israeli occupation, to continue to investigate Israeli policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and other Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967, to consult, as appropriate, with the International Committee of the Red Cross in order to ensure the safeguarding of the welfare and human rights of the peoples of those occupied territories and to report to the Secretary-General an soon as possible and whenever the need arose thereafter, and to submit regularly periodic reports to the Secretary-General on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory.

10. The Special Committee decided to continue its system of monitoring information on the occupied territories and, in reference to paragraph 22 of resolution 44/48 A, to pay special attention to information on treatment of civilians in detention. The Special Committee examined information on the situation in the occupied territories. It also had before it a number of communications addressed to it by Governments, organizations and individuals in connection with its mandate. The Special Committee took note of several letters addressed to it by the Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations Office at Geneva and by the Permanent Observer for Palestine on matters related to its report.

11. The Special Committee heard the testimony of persons who had been expelled from the occupied territories and who provided information on their own experiences and on the human rights situation in those territories. The Special Committee also examined and completed a periodic report (A/45/84) covering the period from 25 August to 30 November 1989. The Special Committee also decided upon the organisation of its work for the year.  It agreed to address itself to the Governments of Egypt, Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic with a view to seeking their co-operation in the implementation of its mandate. The Special Committee also agreed to address itself to the Observer for Palestine and to the International Committee of the Red Cross.  Finally, the Special Committee decided that at its next series of meetings it would undertake hearings in the area for the purpose of recording relevant information or evidence.

12. On 10 January 1990, the Special Committee addressed a letter to the Secretary-General seeking his intervention in an effort to secure the co-operation of the Government of Israel.

13. Also an 10 January, the Special Committee addressed a letter to the Permanent Representatives of Egypt, Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations Office at Geneva, in which it requested their co-operation and informed them of the intention of the Special Committee to conduct hearings in their respective countries.

14. Similar letters wore addressed to the Observer for Palestine and to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

15. The Governments of Egypt, Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic subsequently responded to the Special Committee, reconfirming their readiness to continue co-operating with the Special Committee.

16. The Special Committee hold a series of meetings at Geneva (21-22 Way 1990), Damascus (24-26 May 1990), Amman (27-31 May 1990) and Cairo (2-4 June 1990). At these meetings, the Special Committee examined information on developments occurring in the occupied territories between December 1989 and March 1990. It had before it a number of communications addressed to it by Governments, organizations and individuals in connection with its mandate. The Special Committee took note of several letters addressed to it by the Permanent Representatives of Jordan and of the Syrian Arab Republic on matters related to its mandate. On 22 May 1990, the Chairman of the Special Committee addressed a cable to the Secretary-General conveying to him the deep concern of the Special Committee over the mass slaying of Palestinians on 20 May 1990 by an Israeli civilian loading to the death of seven persons and about the ensuing violence in which numerous Palestinians were killed and several hundred wounded. At Geneva, Damascus, Amman and Cairo the Special Committee heard testimonies of persons just returned from or living in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the occupied Syrian Arab Golan concerning the situation in those territories.

17. At Damascus the Special Committee was received by the Deputy Minister, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Dia El-Fattal. It also conducted consultations with Mr. Najdi El-Jazzar, Director, International Organizations Department, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and was presented with a report concerning the human rights situation in the occupied Syrian Arab Golan. During its stay in the Syrian Arab Republic, the Special Committee visited the town of Quneitra, where it met with the Governor of Quneitra Province, Mr. Abdul Menem Hammoyah, who presented information on Israeli practices against the Syrian Arab citizens in the occupied Golan.

18. At Amman the Special Committee was received by the Director, Department of Occupied Territories Affairs of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ahmed Qatanani, and presented with a report an the situation in the occupied territories prepared by that Department. During its stay at Amman the Special Committee met with members of the Executive Committee of the Palestinian National Council. From the Departments of Occupied Territories Affairs, of Economic Affairs and of Education and Higher Studies of the Palestine Liberation Organisation the Special Committee received a series of reports and statistics on the situation in the occupied territories. The Special Committee also visited the Islamic Hospital and the Palestinian Army Hospital.

19. At Cairo the Special Committee was received by the Vice-Prime-Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Esmat Abdel Meguid. It also met with Mr. Monir Zahran, Director, Department of International Organizations Affairs, and Mr. Ibrahim Mostafa, Director, Department of Palestine Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Special Committee also met Major-General Salama, Governor-General of Gaza, who presented information on the situation in the Gaza Strip, and Mr. Saïd Kamal, the Palestinian Representative in Cairo. It also visited the Palestinian Red Crescent Hospital where it met Dr. Fathi Arafat, Chairman of the Palestinian Red Crescent.

20. The Special Committee also examined and completed a periodic report (A/45/306) updating information contained in its previous periodic report (A/45/84). It decided that any further information and evidence relevant to its mandate would be reflected, together with its conclusions, in the present report of the Special Committee.

21. On 22 May 1990, the Chairman of the Special Committee transmitted to the Secretary-General its periodic report (A/45/306) covering the period from 1 December 1989 to 31 March 1990. This report was based on written information gathered from various sources among which the Special Committee had selected relevant excerpts and summaries which were reflected in the report, as well as oral evidence received in January 1990 during its previous series of meetings.

22. The Special Committee met again at Geneva from 10 to 13 September 1990. At theme meetings, the Special Committee examined information on developments occurring in the occupied territories from April to August 1990. It had before it a number of communications addressed to it by Governments, organizations and individuals in connection with its mandate, as well as records of testimonies collected during its previous series of meetings. The Special Committee took note of several letters addressed to it by the Permanent Representative of Jordan on matters related to its mandate. It examined and completed on 13 September 1990 the present report.
III. MANDATE
23. The General Assembly, in its resolution 2443 (XXIII) entitled "Respect for and implementation of human rights in occupied territories", decided to establish a Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories, composed of three Member States.

24. The mandate Of the Special Committee, an set out in the above resolution and subsequent resolutions, was "to investigate Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the population of the occupied territories".

25. In interpreting its mandate, the Special Committee determined that:

(a) The territories to be considered as occupied territories referred to the areas under Israeli occupation, namely, the occupied Syrian Arab Golan, the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula. Following the implementation of the Egyptian-Israeli Agreement on Disengagement of Forces of 18 January 1974 and the Agreement on Disengagement between Israeli and Syrian Forces of 31 May 1974, the demarcation of the areas under occupation was altered as indicated in the maps attached to those agreements. The areas of Egyptian territory under Israeli military occupation were further modified in accordance with the Treaty of Peace between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the State of Israel, which was signed on 26 March 1979 and which came into force on 25 April 1979. On 25 April 2982, the Egyptian territory remaining under Israeli military occupation was restituted to the Government of Egypt in accordance with the provisions of the aforementioned agreement. Thus, for the purposes of the present report, the territories to be considered as occupied territories are those remaining under Israeli occupation, namely, the occupied Syrian Arab Golan, the Went Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip;

(b) The persons covered by General Assembly resolution 2443 (XXIII) and therefore the subject of the investigation of the Special Committee were the civilian population residing in the areas occupied as a result of the hostilities of June 1267 and those persons normally resident in the areas that were under occupation but who had left those areas because of the hostilities. However, the Committee noted that in its resolution 2443 (XXIII) the Assembly referred to the "population" without any qualification as to any segment of the inhabitants of the occupied territories;

(c) The "human rights" of the population of the occupied territories consisted of two elements, namely, those rights which the Security Council referred to as "essential and inalienable human rights" in its resolution 237 (1967) of 14 June 1967 and, secondly, those rights which found their basis in the protection afforded by international law in particular circumstances such as military occupation and, in the case of prisoners of war, capture. In accordance with General Assembly resolution 3005 (XXVII), the Special Committee was also required to investigate allegations concerning the exploitation and the looting of the resources of the occupied territories, the pillaging of the archaeological and cultural heritage of the occupied territories, and interference in the freedom of worship in the Holy Places of the occupied territories;

(d) The "policies" and "practices" affecting human rights that came within the scope of investigation by the Special Committee referred, to the case of "policies", to any course of action consciously adopted and pursued by the Government of Israel as part of its declared or undeclared intent; while "practices" referred to those actions which, irrespective of whether or not they were in implementation of a policy, reflected a pattern of behaviour on the part Of the Israeli authorities towards the civilian population in the occupied areas.

The geographical names employed in the present report reflect the usage in the original source and do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations.

26. Since its inception the Special Committee has relied on the following international instruments in interpreting and carrying out its mandate:

(a) The Charter of the United Nations;

(b) The Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

(c) The Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949; 4/

(d) The Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, of 22 August 1949; 5/

(e) The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, of 14 May 1954; 6/

(f) The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land; 7/

(g) The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 8/

27. The Special Committee has also relied on those resolutions relevant to the situation of civilians in the occupied territories adopted by United Nations organs, the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council and the Commission on Human Rights, as well as the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the World Health Organization and the International Labour Organisation.
IV.  INFORMATION AND EVIDENCE RECEIVED BY THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE
28. In the course of carrying out its mandate, the Special Committee has relied on the following sources:

(a) The testimony of persons with first-hand knowledge of the situation of the population in the occupied territories;

(b) Reports in the Israeli press of pronouncements by responsible persons in the Government of Israel;

(c) Reports appearing in other news media, including the Arab language press published in the occupied territories in Israel and the international press.

The Special Committee also received written statements from the Governments of Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic and from the Observer for Palestine.

29. The Government of Jordan provided the Special Committee with various monthly reports on Israeli settlement operations, land confiscation and attacks on Arab citizens and their property. It also submitted a report on Israeli practices against human rights in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip prepared by the Department of Palestinian Affairs of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and covering the period from May 1969 until the end of April 1990. This report contains data on land confiscation, the creation of new settlements, incidents involving settlers, the administration of justice, the deportation of women and children, the shooting of Arab residents, and the closures affecting educational institutions.

30. The Government of the Syrian Arab Republic provided the Special Committee with a report prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the population of the occupied Arab territories. This report deals in particular with Israeli practices in the Syrian Arab Golan. It refers to the continuing Israeli policy of Judaisation and annexation of the Golan and to the severance of its historical links with the Syrian Arab people, which has led to the continued establishment and expansion of settlements and the arrival of new immigrants from various parts of the world. The report provides information on recent settlements inaugurated in the Golan as well an the attempt to increase the number of settlers in the Golan in the next few years; it further refers to land confiscated from Syrian Arab citizens in the occupied Golan; it also contains information and data on the seizure of water resources in the occupied Syrian Arab Golan. The report contains a few chapters on socio-economic changes which have affected the area and have led to a decline in agriculture, including the pastoral activities, industry and education, as well as unfair working and employment conditions for Arab workers, and a serious deterioration of the health situation. The report further deals with various human rights violations in the occupied Syrian Arab Golan, including torture, murder and cruel and inhuman treatment. Finally, the report contains a list of the names of 22 detainees from the occupied Golan incarcerated in Israeli prisons since 1986.

31. The Special Committee also received a great number of documents submitted by various departments of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Among these documents, mention can be made of the report submitted by the Department of Occupied Territories Affairs containing relevant date on Palestinians killed, injured and arrested since the beginning of the uprising until 20 Way 1990. The report further provided information an various human rights violations affecting the civilian population, such as curfews, travel bans, telephone and electricity cuts, house raids, expulsions, demolition and sealing of houses, measures affecting the agriculture and land confiscations. Information provided by the Department of Occupied Territories Affairs of the Palestine Liberation Organization also included an analysis of the economic repercussions of the uprising on the economic, social, political and religious structures of the Palestinian society in the occupied territories. The Special Committee was also presented with various documents concerning the situation of education in the occupied territories, including a report submitted by the Department of Education and Higher Studies of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, which contained a list of schools closed from 1 February 2990 to 1 May 1990 and a description of other measures affecting freedom of education, such as school raids, the beating of students, the harassment of teachers, and the use of school buildings as military barracks. Another report submitted by the Department of Economic Affairs of the Palestine Liberation Organisation dealt with the situation in the industrial sector in the occupied territories. Several other documents presented by the Palestine Liberation Organisation described various aspects of the human rights situation of the civilians in the occupied territories, such as the status of Palestinian children during the uprising, the problem of drugs, the impact of the Israeli occupation on Palestinian cultural Institutions, technical and vocational education in the occupied territories, and the health and social conditions in occupied Palestine.

32. In addition, the Special Committee received written information from intergovernmental organisations such as relevant specialized agencies and regional organizations, as well an non-governmental organizations, individuals, and Governments on the situation in the occupied territories. At its meetings, the Committee had before it several communications addressed to it directly or referred to it by the Secretary-General from sources inside the occupied territories and from several parts of the world. Where necessary, the Committee has followed up information contained in these communications.

33. The Special Committee undertook a series of hearings at Geneva, Damascus, Amen and Cairo during its meetings from 21 May to 4 June 1990. At these meetings, the Special Committee heard the testimony of 54 persons having a first-hand knowledge of the human rights situation existing in the occupied territories. These testimonies are contained in documents A/AC.145/RT.530, 532 to 545, and are reflected below.

34. The Special Committee has taken particular care to rely on information appearing in the Israeli press that has not been contradicted by the Government of Israel or that is commonly considered as reliable by the Government.

35. The following paragraphs contain a summary of the information examined by the Special Committee divided as follows:

(a) General situation;

(b) Administration of justice, including the right to fair trial;

(c) Treatment of civilians;

(d) Treatment of detainees;

(e) Annexation and settlements;

(f) Information concerning the occupied Syrian Arab Golan.

36. This information has been divided into oral evidence and written information. In order to comply with restrictions on the volume of documentation now enjoined upon United Nations reports, the Special Committee has endeavored to present this information under the most compact and concise form possible. Oral evidence, for which a full record of testimonies is available in documents A/AC.145/RT.530, 532 to 545, has been condensed to a general indication of the contents of such records. The report also attempts to summaries written information. This information is reflected in more detail in documents of the Special Committee which are available on file at the Secretariat.
A.  General situation
1.  General developments and policy statements
37. On 2 April 1990, figures were reported on the number of people killed in the territories since the beginning of the uprising. It was reported that 317 Palestinians were killed by troops. During the same period 10 Israeli Defense forces (IDF) soldiers and nine Israeli civilians were killed by Palestinians. Inside Israel 23 Israeli civilians and four soldiers were killed by Palestinians from the territories, and at least five Palestinians from the territories were killed by Israeli civilians. (Ha'aretz, 2 April 1990)

38. On 3 April, it was reported that the IDF had decided to hand over command of detention facilities in which detainees from the territories were hold to military police officers. The facilities affected by that measure were Ketziot (which was already put under the command of a military police officer), Dahiriya, Far'a and Ansar 2 (in Gaza) (which would be put under military police command within one mouth).  All these facilities hold over 6,000 detainees and prisoners. (Ha'aretz, 3 April 1990)

39. On 9 April, it was reported that 783 Palestinians were killed since the beginning of the uprising. In another development, it was reported that a reserve unit composed of West bank settlers had recently been called for operative service in the southern Mt. Hebron area. The decision to send a settlers' unit for service in the West Bank was reportedly made by the Central Region Commander, Yitzhak Mordekhai, and was approved by the Chief of Staff and by former Defence Minister Rabin. This was reportedly the first time in the past two years that a "regional defence unit" composed of settlers was sent for active reserve service in the territories. (Al Fajr, Ha'aretz, 9 April 1990)

40. On 2 May, an IDF officer serving in the Gaza Strip reported that "the beatings policy has returned in the past few days to the Gaza Strip, following the incidents in Jabaliya". The officer said that in two days of unprecedented clashes in the camp some 90 residents were injured from beatings by IDF troops who used truncheons. Palestinian sources reported of dozens of persons hospitalized in Gaza hospitals with broken arms and legs or head injuries. (Ha'aretz, 1 May 1990)

41. On 15 May, it was reported that a Swedish-United States report had recently been published on injuries and casualties among Palestinian children, under 26, during the first two years of the uprising. According to the report 159 children were killed during that period and some 50,000 were injured. Fifty-two per cent of the children who were killed had reportedly not taken part in any violent actions and were not near the scene of protest actions when they were killed. Twenty-eight per cent were killed while watching or passing by a demonstration, or while they were hanging flags, placing road-blocks, etc. Only 19 per cent of the children were killed while throwing stones. Five thousand children reportedly remained homeless after their homes were demolished. According to Israeli sources the data collected by the researchers had not been compared with those hold by the IDF and had not been submitted to the Israeli authorities prior to their publication. Israeli human rights activists have also criticized the report, alleging that it was tendentious and that it aimed at creating the impression that killing of children was an IDF policy. (Ha'aretz, 18 May 1990; Al Fajr, 21 May 1990)

42. On 6 June, Member of Knesset (MK) Dedi Zucker wrote to Prime Minister and Acting Defence Minister Shamir claiming that the rubber-coated metal marbles used by the IDF in the territories had caused, over the past three months, the death of six youths. He asked that their use be stopped. According to MK Zucker the metal marbles, fired from rifle-barrels, have a higher velocity than rubber bullets fired from canisters. This, as well as possible violations of firing regulations, could explain the recent fatalities resulting from the use of such projectiles, he wrote. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 7 June 1990)

43. On 19 June, it was reported that Betselem (Israeli Centre on Human Rights in the Occupied Territories) had written to the Defence Minister demanding an inquiry into the deaths of 17 Palestinians who were allegedly shot at close range during clashes in the territories between 20 and 31 May 1990, following the Rishon-Lezion killings. According to testimonies, including medical reports and relatives' accounts, many of the victims were shot in the head and neck. One account cited by Betselem described the case of Shifa al-Hamas, a 19-year-old mother who was killed – hit by three bullets – when she left her home in Rafah camp to look for an ambulance in which to evacuate a wounded youth. In another testimony, Jamil Mosbah of Gaza said he was beaten and shot by a border police officer who later shot and killed his son, firing at him from a distance of 25 metres after he protested at the way the officer was handling his father. Military sources said the circumstances of each incident were still under investigation. (Jerusalem Post, 19 June 1990)

44. On 24 June, it was reported that Defence Minister Moshe Arens has ordered the IDF to increase the number of observation posts and patrols along key West Bank roads, including the Jerusalem-Hebron, Jerusalem-Maaleh Adumin and the Trans-Samaria roads. Areas also announced plans for building roads by-passing Dheisheh and Al-Arub camps, and Tulkarem and its neighbouring camp of Bur Shams. All these measures were reportedly being taken in order to increase settlers' safety on West Back roads. (Jerusalem Post, 24 June 1990)

45. On 28 June, it was reported that the IDF had begun implementing the new guidelines issued by Defence Minister Moshe Arens to increase safety of four major roads in the West Bank, and reinforce the IDF presence in the region. The roads concerned are the Trans-Samaria, Beit-El-Hebron, Maaleh-Adumin-Jerusalem and Beit-Horon-Givat Ze'ev. At the same time the Judge Advocate General has begun looking into the legal aspects of the Minister's guideline to set up a civil defence in the Jewish settlements, similar to the one existing inside Israel. (Ha'aretz, 28 June 1990)

46. On 1 and 2 July, it was reported that the Defence authorities had instructed the Judge Advocate General to examine the legal aspects of the new punitive measure against leading activists of the uprising. The measure was described as "conditional banishment". Under it activists would be banished from their region of residence to another region in the territories, for a fixed period, without their families. Throughout the banishment period the person would be under close surveillances; if he no longer acts for the uprising he would be allowed to return home at the and of the fixed period; but if he continues his activity he would be again banished to another region. According to security sources, the Defence Minister, Moshe Arens, approved the new measure, which was reportedly intended to replace the expulsion of leading activists outside the country, a measure which "has lost its effectiveness" due to the interference by the High Court of Justice in the Defence authorities' decisions. In another development it was reported that the office of the Judge Advocate General was also examining the legal aspects of a new order the IDF intended to issues to oblige every house-owner in the territories from whose house stones are thrown, to erect a fence of 2.5 metres height on the roof of his house. The owner would have to lock the entrance of the root and would be held responsible if stones were thrown from his roof. (Ha'aretz, 1, 2 July 1990)

47. On 5 July, it was reported that the civil administration in the West Bank has recently been trying to improve the atmosphere in the region through a aeries of facilities. The head of the civil administration, T/A (Brigadier-General) Y. Erez, announced on 4 July, during a visit to Jenin, that persons over 60 would no longer need to obtain a stamped form showing payment of taxes, duties and other levies in order to got a permission to go abroad or to receive any other permits and licences from the military government. Such forms would from now on be valid for two months instead of one. T/A Erez said in a meeting with the mayor of Jenin that several requests for family reunification have been granted recently as a special goodwill gesture on the occasion of the Id al-Adha Moslem holiday. He added that troops had been instructed not to impose curfews during the holiday and to reduce frictions with the population. A similar instruction was issued by the Southern Region Commander, Matan Vilnai, regarding the population of the Gaza Strip. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 5 July 1990)

48. On 11 July, it was reported that, following the release of Amnesty International's 1990 report, which charged that over 260 unarmed Palestinian civilians, including children, were shot dead by Israeli forces, "often in circumstances suggesting excessive use of force or deliberate killings", the Ministry of Justice said, in an official reply, that Amnesty International had "taken advantage of Israel's uniqueness in the region as an open democracy to document what it considers to be governmental abuses". It added that the portrayal of the uprising in the territories was "incomplete and misleading", because it failed to name the PLO and Hamas organizations as the bodies that gave orders for the killing of over 130 Palestinians, as well as the abductions and torture of others. The Ministry of Justice flatly rejected the allegations that Israel encouraged deliberate killings and that it failed to investigate cases of opening fire (by troops or Israeli civilians) resulting in death, and put on trial those responsible. The Ministry of Justice also rejected the use of the term "prisoners of conscience" for convicted prisoners. "No one in Israel is imprisoned or hold in administrative detention for merely having expressed non-violent political opinions", the Ministry stated. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 11 July 1990)

49. On 15 July, the Israeli human rights group Betselem issued a report entitled "Firing by the Security Forces in the Territories". According to the report, "more than 600 Palestinians have been shot to death by IDF soldiers according to orders that only permit firing at the legs, except in cases of armed attack. Even if some were shot in circumstances justifying the firing, there would still remain hundreds of dead whose killing could have been avoided". Referring to IDF statistics on shooting Palestinian children to death, the report stated that in almost 50 per cent of the cases the IDF found that soldiers had violated open-fire orders. The report cited statistics showing that soldiers were indicted for 12 incidents of killing by the end of December 1989, at a time when 574 Palestinians had been killed by troops. The report said army investigations of killings were almost all based exclusively on accounts by soldiers, even though such accounts were often false. As regards the army's open-fire regulations, according to the report they contained ambiguities and contradictions. Briefings to troops and statements by officers further blurred the orders, leaving no clear definition between what is allowed or prohibited. The open-fire policy has been extended to permit firing at marked youths and persons setting up road-blocks; this contradicted military orders stipulating that shots can only be fired while trying to apprehend someone suspected of a serious crime. The report cited eyewitness accounts according to which Palestinian fugitives had been shot after being identified as wanted men. Plastic bullets, which were announced as non-lethal, proved to be lethal in many cases. By March 1990, 128 out of 375 Palestinians shot to death by the security forces were hit by plastic bullets. And yet, the orders governing their use were more lenient than those regarding use of live ammunition.  An IDF spokesman reacted to the Betselem report by categorically rejecting its findings, and describing it as "riddled with inaccuracies". But since the High Court of Justice was currently hearing a petition challenging the legality of the army's open-fire orders, the whole matter was sub judice and the spokesman could therefore not elaborate any further. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 16 July 1990)

50. On 2 August, updated figures were released by Betselem regarding the number of victims of the uprising. According to these figures 676 Palestinians were shot and killed by security forces since the beginning of the uprising until the end of July 2990. They included 156 children up to 16. Thirty-one Palestinians were killed by Israeli civilians and eight were shot and killed by Palestinian collaborators. During the same period 10 soldiers and nine Israeli civilians, including three babies, were killed in the territories. According to the Associated Press agency, during the same period 243 Palestinians were killed by other Palestinians for suspected collaboration with the Israeli authorities. According to data published by Betselem there has been a considerable drop in the number of persons killed by security forces in the territories since January 1200. At the same time, there has been an increase in the number of Palestinians killed by other Palestinians. According to Palestinian sources the Defence Minister's instructions to remove IDF units from refugee camps, and the summer visits" (to the territories by relative coming from Arab States) have greatly contributed to the decrease in tension and in the number of demonstrations resulting in casualties. (Ha'aretz, 2 August 1990)

51. On 14 August, it was reported that the IDF forces in the territories were instructed to disperse any demonstration of support for the Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. (Ha'aretz, 14 August 2990)

52. On 23 August, Defence Minister Moshe Arens announced a series of measures lifting restrictions which were imposed on the inhabitants of the territories. These measures include the permission to bring into the territories an amount equivalent to 500 Jordanian dinars without having to declare such import (hitherto the authorised sum was 300 dinars). Each person will be able to ask for permission to bring in an additional 1,000 dinars. The validity of forms proving that inhabitants do not owe any taxes (in order to be granted permits) will be extended from two to four months. Defence Minister Arens told Arab businessmen that a new bank would be authorised to open in the territories. (Ha'aretz, 24 August 1990)

53. On 24 August, it was reported that, according to a report by Betselem the number of construction permits for West bank inhabitants had dropped, over the past decade, from 2,000 to 400 per year, and that, as a result, some 13,000 houses had been built without a permit and were at risk of being demolished. Defence sources responded by saying that a decision had been taken recently to increase the number of building permits substantially and to increase the area an which building was permitted. As regards demolition of illegally built houses (115 houses were demolished in the first six months of 1990), the sources said each case would be treated according to new, lose stringent regulations. (Jerusalem Post, 24 August 1220)
2.  Incidents linked with the uprising of the Palestinian population against the occupation
54. The following tables: provide details concerning Palestinians killed between 1 April 1990 and 31 August 1990 in the occupied territories and the circumstances of their death as reported in various newspapers. The following abbreviations of the names of newspapers are used in the tables:

AF Al Fajr

H Ha'aretz

JP Jerusalem Post
(a) List of Palestinians killed by troops or Israeli civilians

Date

Name and age

Place of residence

Remarks and source

5 April 1990

Nayef Salah Bassin al-Araja (23)

Rafah

Killed by troops during clashes. (H, JP, 6 April 1990; AF, 9 April 1990)

5 April 1990

Mustafa al-Jaru (15)

Jalazun camp

Killed by troops who fired a rubber-coated steel marble during a clash with stone-throwers. The Palestinian human right organization "Al-Haq" later alleged that the youth (whom they named as Mustafa Shrakeh) had been shot by a sniper deliberately and without provocation, without warning or an order to halt, after being spotted by General Security Service (GSS) men in civilian clothes. (H, JP, 6 April 1990; AF, 9 April 1990; JP, 12 April 1990)

18 April 1990

Ghazi Abu Mustafa (20)

Khan Yunis camp

Killed by troops during a stone-throwing incident.Was known as a Muslim activist. (H, JP, 19 April 1990; AF, 23 April 1990)

23 April 1990

Yussef Attia al-Kishawi (13)

Shati camp

Died in hospital of wounds sustained earlier during clashes with troops. (H, JP, 24 April 1990; AF, 30 April 1990)

23 April 1990

Mussa Muhammad al-Alami (14)

Beit Umar, near Hebron

Died in hospital of wounds sustained the previous day during clashes with troops.

(H, JP, 24 April 1990; AF, 30 April 1990)

26 April 1990

Abdullah Ibrahim Abdullah (25), Khaled el-Aswad (35) and Muhammad Ibrahim Ali Sama'an (24)

Jabaliya camp

Killed during violent clashes when a religious procession returned from Jabaliya cemetery. (H, JP, 24 April 1990)

26 April 1990

Maher Shalabi Suleiman (17)

Kabatiya

Died in hospital of wounds sustained earlier. (H, JP, 27 April 1990; AF, 30 April 1990)

2 May 1990

Abdel Latif Mustafa (or Sakka) (23)

Khan Yunis

Killed by troops when he failed to obey an order to stop and tried to flee. An IDF spokesman said that open-fire procedures were fully adhered to. (H, JP, 3 May 1990)

5 May 1990

Muhamed al-Masri (25)

Tulkarem camp

Killed by troops during a clash. Had been wanted by security forces since the beginning of the uprising. (H, JP, 6 May 1990, AF, 14 May 1990)

6 May 1990

Mahmud Khaled Hamzi Mussa (18)

Rafah

Killed by troops after they were stoned. (H, JP, 7 May 1990)

10 May 1990

Said Mahmud Hamed (24)

Beit Hanun

Killed by troops during clashes. (H, JP, 11 May 1990; AF, 14 May 1990)

10 May 1990

Ziad Hijazi Al Rajabi (14)

Hebron

Died at Hadasseh hospital of wounds sustained the previous day, when soldiers shot him in the head with several bullets. (AF, 14 May 1990)

11 May 1990

Wafa' Abdel Hadi Ajjaj (5)

Dair Jarir, near Ramallah

It was reported that an IDF jeep ran over and killed him. (AF, 24 May 1990)

14 May 1990

Hamis Abdel Rahman (19)

Shati

Killed by troops after they were attacked by masked youths. (H, 15 May 1990)

15 May 1990

Samih Awed Abu Sheikh (14)

Kalkilya

Died in hospital of wounds sustained on 13 May 1990 when a settler opened fire after his car was stoned. (H, JP, 16 May 1990; AF, 21 May 1990)

17 May 1990

Muhammad Abu Zaineh (46)

Hebron

Died after inhaling tear-gas. According to military sources the cause of death was a heart attack. (H, JP, 18 May 1990; AF, 21 May 1990)

18 May 1990

Issam al-Bughrabi (13)

Balata camp

Killed by troops during a clash. Military sources said the victim was 18 years old. (H, JP, 20 May 1990; AF, 21 May 1990)

20 May 1990

Suleiman Abu-Anza (22), Imad Ahmed Dahaliz, Ziad Zeidan Amor (35), Ziad Mussa Sawayed (22), Imad Muhammad Salem Barakat (43) and two other unidentified perons

Gaza

Rafah

Khan Yunis

Rafah

Gaza

The seven workers were murdered by an Israeli civilian, later named as Ami Popper (21), a discharged soldier who was later arrested. The victims were among a group of 50-100 workers from the Gaza Strip who were waiting to be picked up by Israeli employers in a junction outside the town of Rishon Le-Zion, south of Tel Aviv. (H, JP, 21 May 1990)

20 May 1990

Shifa Haim al-Hamas (20), Ismail Abdallah Saker (17), Wahil Dadra (15), Musa Hussan (28), Khaled Hamadouna (20), Hussan Nazaal (14), Mahmud Ali al-Zamari(21)

Rafah

Rafah

Shati

Shati

Sheikh Radwan

Kabatiya

Halhul

Killed by troops during violent clashes that broke out following the killing of seven Arab workers in Rishon Le-Zion. (AF, H, JP, 21 May 1990)

21 May 1990

Safia Jargul (or Jarjun) (55), Menal Alderi (16), Imad al-Ata'amna (22), Rusmiya Ali a-Tullah (55)

Khan Yunis

Sabra

Rafah

Gaza

Killed by troops during clashes. (H, JP, 22 May 1990)

22 May 1990

Ata Ali Abu Sha'aban (20)

Bani Suheila

Killed by an IDF patrol. (H, JP, 23 May 1990; AF, 28 May 1990)

22 May 1990

Nija Mussa Abu Sabaleh (21)

Rafah

Died in hospital of wounds sustained two days earlier, apparently during a clash with Israeli civilians. (H, JP, 23 May 1990; AF, 28 May 1990)

22 May 1990

Ahmed Mail Masabeh (18)

Zeitun (Gaza)

Killed by troops during a clash. (H, JP, 23 May 1990; AF, 28 May 1990)

22 May 1990

Raled Zaloun (44)

Hebron

Died of a heart attack after being beaten by soldiers. According to another source the cause of death was tear-gas inhalation. (H, JP, 23 May 1990)

24 May 1990

Muhammad Halhuli (15)

Kibiya, near

Ramallah

Killed by troops during an operation in the village. (H, JP, 25 May 1990; AF, 28 May 1990)

27 May 1990

Iyad Mahmud Abu Diab (18)

Deir el Balah

Killed by troops during violent clashes. (H, JP, 28 May 19901 AF, 4 June 1990)

28 May 1990

Budur Karadeh (42)

Nablus

A woman, killed by troops while she was standing in the front of her home. The troops were shooting at stone-throwers. (H, JP, 31 May 1990; AF, 4 June 1990)

31 May 1990

Taleb Saruji (14)

Tulkarem camp

Killed by troops during a clash. (H, JP, 1 June 1990; AF, 4 June 1990)

1 June 1990

Ahmed A-Tanib (16)

Irtah, south of Tulkarem

Killed by troops during clash with stone-throwers. (H, JP, 3 June 1990)

5 June 1990

Ahmed Salama (10)

Askar camp

Killed by troops firing a rubber-coated metal marble, during a stone-throwing incident.

(H, JP, 6 June 1990)

5 June 1990

Rami Kamhiya (14)

Nablus

Killed by troops firing at masked youths. (H, JP, 5 June 1990)

11 June 1990

Jamal al-Aklik (19)

Nablus

Killed by troops during a raid on a group of wanted youths. (H, JP, 12 June 1990)

20 June 1990

Mohammad Fatafta (23)

Silwan, East Jerusalem

Killed during a clash with border police. (JP, 21 June 1990)

22 June 1990

Zuhri Mohammed Shuweiki (17)

Silwan

Killed during clashes with border police. (JP, 24 June 1990)

22 June 1990

Rushdi Abu Ammus (57)

Silwan

Died in hospital after inhaling tear-gas. A canister had been thrown near his house during rioting. (JP, 24 June 1990)

25 June 1990

Zahiya al-Musaimi (9)

Tulkarem camp

Died in hospital of wounds sustained on 23 June 1990, when troops opened fire at stone-throwers. (H, JP, 26 June 1990)

25 June 1990

Hiyam Khalil (25)

Tulkarem camp

Killed by troops during a clash which followed reports of Zahiya's death. (H, JP, 26 June 1990)

5 July 1990

Rafa'ah Alyam (17)

Shati camp

Died in a Cairo hospital during brain surgery. She was shot on 15 June 1990 during clashes with troops in her school in Gaza. (JP, 6 July 1990)

7 July 1990

Sabri Abed Rabo (18)

Al-Jib village

A detainee in the Ofer detention camp near Ramallah. Was shot in the head and killed by troops when he was spotted climbing over the fence of his tent compound. The troops reportedly shouted warnings and fired in the air before firing at the prisoner. The Incident is under investigation. (H, JP, 8 July 1990)

10 July 1990

Munzir Zuhdi Al-Dabat (16)

Shufat camp

Killed by border policemen during a clash. A police spokesman said on 12 July 1990 that the youth may have been killed as a result of the explosion of a gas grenade he was holding. But doctors at the Makassad hospital, where the youth was taken after the incident, said there were five round bullet holes in the upper part of the body. (H, JP, 11, 13 July 1990)

23 July 1990

Muhammed Talal Salamah (18)

Beit Lid, near Nablus

Died in hospital of injuries sustained on 14 July 1990 during clashes with troops. The incident was still under investigation. (H, JP, 25 July 1990)

30 July 1990

Sahir Saba' Ba'ara (15)

Nablus

Died in hospital of wounds sustained on 28 July 1990 when an IDF officer opened fire at a group of stone-throwing youths. (H, JP, 31 July 1990)

6 Aug. 1990

Asisa Saleh Jaber (25)

Hebron

Shot and killed by settlers, probably in retaliation for the murder in East Jerusalem of two Israeli youths. (H, JP, 8 Aug. 1990)

9 Aug. 1990

Issat Muhammad Halahla (42)

Silwan

Died in hospital of wounds sustained two days earlier, when Jewish rioters stoned his car, dragged him out of his car and beat him. (H, JP, 10 Aug. 1990)

10 Aug. 1990

Basel Hamarsheh (22)

Ya'abad

Shot to the hand and killed by a soldier. Had been wanted for two years. An IDF spokesman said he was shot when troops fired at stone-throwers. (H, JP, 12 Aug. 1990)

(b)  List of other Palestinians killed as a result of the occupation

1 April 1990

Imad Mahmud Sha'aban Sakali (24)

Gaza

An inmate in the Ketziot detention centre. Was killed by another inmate. (H, 2 April 1990)

4 April 1990

Mahmud Suleiman Rabi'a (17)

Khan Yunis

Killed when he fell through a hole in a roof while fleeing soldiers after he hung a Palestinian flag from a minaret of the town's main mosque. (H, JP, 8 April 1990; AF, 9 April 1990)

7 April 1990

Nabil Mayassa (35)

Ramallah

Stabbed to death by masked assailants. (H, JP, 8 April 1990)

7 April 1990

Abdallah Makatt (44)

Jabaliya camp

An inmate in the "Ansar 2" detention camp in Gaza. Was killed by another inmate. (H, JP, 8 April 1990)

11 April 1990

Amer Amro (16)

Dura, near Hebron

Killed by someone identified as Idris Akil who fired at masked youths. (H, JP, 12 April 1990; AF, 4 April 1990)

11 April 1990

Mustafa Khalil Mas'ud (30)

Jabaliya camp

Stabbed to death. (H, JP, 12 April 1990)

14 April 1990

Fuad Timras (30)

Nuseirat camp

Died in hospital of stabbing wounds he received six days earlier from masked assailants. (JP, 15 April 1990)

16 April 1990

Yussuf al-Mardwi (23)

Habla

Killed in the explosion of a charge he was preparing. (H, 19 April 1990; AF, 23 April 1990)

22 April 1990

Saik Ali Karaira (62)

Faudakumiya, near Jenin

Killed by unidentified people. (H, 24 April 1990)

22 April 1990

Nabil Alush

Jabaliya

(JP, 25 April 1990)

24 April 1990

Ghalib Abdel Karim Alawneh (25)

Village of Masliyeh, near Jenin

Died in Nablus hospital of wounds sustained three months earlier. (AF, 30 April 1990)

1 May 1990

Zuheir al-Ajal (46)

Al-Amari camp

Died in hospital of wounds sustained earlier, when he was shot in Ramallah by masked youths.  He was the former mukhtar of Al-Amari camp. (H, JP, 2 May 1990)

4 May 1990

An unnamed woman aged 37

Gaza

Strangled to death by three unidentified assailants. (H, JP, 6 May 1990)

8 May 1990

Abdel Rahman Khader (25)

Jabaliya

Axed to death by 15 masked persons. (H, JP, 9 May 1990)

11 May 1990

Hamed Abu Samra (18)

Yatta

Killed by an armed Palestinian, Mohammad Alan, after the youth tried to set fire to his house. (H, JP, 13 May 1990)

15 May 1990

Farid Salah Abu Yasin (65)

Bal'a, near Tulkarem

The village mukhtar. His stabbed body was discovered near the village. (H, JP, 15 May 1990)

15 May 1990

Ziad Ahmed Yasin (25)

Asira a-Shamaliya

His body was discovered near Taluza. (H, JP, 16 May 1990)

15 May 1990

Ibrahim al-Kaisi (35)

Kadura, near Ramallah

His body was discovered in Rafah neighbourhood, in Ramallah. (H, JP, 16 May 1990)

15 May 1990

Ahmad Abu Nijman (30)

Jenin

His body was discovered after being beaten to death. (H, JP, 17 May 1990)

23 May 1990

Mustafa Awad al-Fajem (8)

Bani Suheila

Shot in the head from a passing vehicle. According to Arab sources he was shot from a police car, but the police denied any involvement. The IDF and the police were investigating the incident. (H, JP, 24 May 1990)

24 May 1990

Mohammed Mash'al (47)

Village of Jebel Mukabar, Jerusalem area

Died as a result of tear-gas inhalation after soldiers fired tear-gas extensively near his home. (AF, 28 May 1990)

25 May 1990

Taher Sahmi Jaber Attiya (52)

Silat al-Harithiya

Stoned to death by masked people. Was a member of the village council. (H, JP, 27 May 1990)

31 May 1990

Imad Ibrahim (17)

A-shuhada, near Kabatiya

Killed by an armed Palestinian whose car was sonted by a group of local youths. (H, JP, 1 June 1990)

4 June 1990

Mohammed A-Dirbani (52)

Ta'amra

His body was discovered in Beit Sahour. (H, JP, 5 June 1990)

5 June 1990

Mamun Subhi Dali (16)

Nablus

Killed in unclear circumstances. According to Palestinian sources he was shot by troops. According to military sources he died of natural causes. The family claimed he had been beaten by soldiers with wooden truncheons. (H, JP, 6 June 1990)

8 June 1990

Ismat Salem (25)

Zibad, near Tulkarem

Stabbed to death by masked people. (H, JP, 10 June 1990)

8 June 1990

Hamdan Jadrawi (72)

Shu'fat

Killed by masked youths. (H, JP, 10 June 1990)

9 June 1990

Jamal Abu Dahaishe (27)

Rafah

Killed by masked youths. (H, JP, 10 June 1990)

14 June 1990

Ibrahim Fahmawi (37)

Jenin refugee camp

Stabbed and axed to death. His decapitated body was discovered a few days after he was abducted by masked people. (H, JP, 15 June 1990)

16 June 1990

Salha Abu Taha (45)

Rafah camp

Stabbed to death by three youths. (JP, 17 June 1990)

17 June 1990

Lutfi Khalaf (58*

Burkin, near Jenin

Killed by masked people. Was the village mukhtar. (H, JP, 19 June 1990)

19 June 1990

Ahmed Abu Hatif (36)

Tel Sultan camp, Rafah

Killed by masked youths. (H, JP, 20 June 1990)

21 June 1990

Tamim al-Haimira (27)

Rafah

Stabbed to death. (H, JP, 22 June 1990)

23 June 1990

Hiam Raji (42)

Nur Shams camp near Tulkarem

A woman. Stabbed to death by masked people. (H, JP, 24 June 1990)

27 June 1990

Nadwa Shreim (30)

Kalkilya

Killed by masked people. (H, JP, 29 June 1990)

30 June 1990

Ibrahim Bubu (30)

Bureij camp

A detainee in Ketziot. Killed by another inmate, Mahmud Najar, who confessed to the killing. (H, 1 July 1990)

3 July 1990

Mohammad Farajallah (35)

Hazem Tamaizi (13)

Mahmud Nimer (9)

Idna, near Hebron

The three boys were killed in a grenade explosion during a fierce battle between rival Palestinian factions, involving hundreds of villagers using rocks, petrol bombs and guns. Nine people were injured. The two factions were described as Fatah supporters, and partisans of the Popular Front of the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Palestine Communist Party. (H, JP, 4 July 1990)

4 July 1990

Firas Hasuneh (20)

Amari camp

Stabbed to death by masked youths while he was in prison. (JP, 6 July 1990)

5 July 1990

Fahdi Abu Aziz (22)

Rafah

His body was discovered after he had disappeared. A group calling itself the "Eagles of the intifadah" claimed responsibility for the killing and said the victim was a collaborator. (JP, 6 July 1990)

8 July 1990

Abd el-Kader Hania (40)

Kafr Jamal, near Tulkarem

His mutilated body was discovered after he had been kidnapped by masked men over a month earlier. (JP, 9 July 1990)

9 July 1990

Amin Shamasneh (22)

Katana, near Ramallah

Stabbed to death in a dispute between two families. (H, JP, 10 July 1990)

9 July 1990

Samir Ghurayeb (25)

Beit Ijza

Killed by accident when Shamasneh's father opened fire at his son's suspected assailant. (H, JP, 10 July 1990)

10 July 1990

Salah al-Huli (25)

Danaba, near Tulkarem

Stabbed and hacked to death after being kidnapped by masked youths. (H, JP, 11 July 1990)

13 July 1990

Najeh Zu'ubi (34)

Nablus

A detainee in Nablus jail. Was killed by a cell-mate. (JP, 15 July 1990)

13 July 1990

Ahmed Abu Muammar

Khan Yunis

Killed by masked men. (JP, 15 July 1990)

15 July 1990

Fawaz Dweikat (50)

Balata camp

Stabbed and choked to death after being kidnapped by masked men. (H, JP, 16, 18 July 1990)

18 July 1990

Fahmi Salam Musa Azam (22), Arafat Sa'id Sha'aban Abu Thuriya (24), Bassam Zohodi Ahmed Fakr (30)

Zeitun neighbourhood in Gaza

All three were inmates in the Ketziot detention camp. An inmate, Waid Muin Abdallah Abu-Fanuna, 24, from Gaza, said he had killed the three. He said he was a member of the Islamic Jihad. (JP, 19 July 1990)

22 July 1990

Yassin Skafi (20)

Silwan, East Jerusalem

Stabbed to death by 12 masked youths. (H, JP, 23 July 1990)

23 July 1990

Fadel Anturi (26)

Kalkilya

Killed by masked men. (H, JP, 24 July 1990)

23 July 1990

Issam Nawajha

Rafah

Hanged by masked men. (H, JP, 24 July 1990)

24 July 1990

Rizek Daraghme (28)

Luban Sharkiya

Shot and stabbed to death by masked men. (H, JP, 25 July 1990)

3 Aug. 1990

Mahmoud Bekhri (38)

Jenin

A policeman. Stabbed to death after being kidnapped by masked people. (H, JP, 5 Aug. 1990)

5 Aug. 1990

Ribhi Far'a (or Sarrah (41)

Nablus

Beaten to death. (H, JP, 6 Aug. 1990)

5 Aug. 1990

Marwan Barakat (29)

Ein Beit al-Ma camp, near Nablus

Stabbed to death as he was abot to go to his work in Israel. (H, JP, 6 Aug. 1990)

7 Aug. 1990

Hamdan Darwish Farah (25)

Far'un village, near Tulkarem

Stabbed to death. (H, JP, 8 Aug. 1990)

20 Aug. 1990

Faisal Lafi (32)

Tulkarem camp

His body was discovered near Danaba after he was kidnapped by masked people. (H, 22 Aug. 1990)

23 Aug. 1990

Jamil Mussa Manasra (23)

Jenin

An inmate in Jenin prison. Was strangled to death by other inmates. (H, 22 Aug. 1990)

24 Aug. 1990

Akram Saker (22)

Beituniya

Shot and killed by local residents. (H, JP, 26 Aug. 1990)

24 Aug. 1990

Samar Badawi (24)

Assirat a-Shamaliya village, near Nablus

His body was discovered in Nablus. Had been kidnapped and stabbed by masked people. (H, JP, 26 Aug. 1990)

24 Aug. 1990

Ashraf al-Gharabli (23)

Dahaniya, near Rafah

Beaten to death by a crowd of 300-400 people. (H, JP, 26 Aug. 1990)

24 Aug. 1990

Rabah a-Sayed (27)

Na'ama village, near Ramallah

His body was discovered after he was kidnapped by masked people. (H, JP, 26 Aug. 1990)

25 Aug. 1990

Ahmed Abdul

Halhul

Killed by unidentified people, apparently for drug related reasons. (H, JP, 26 Aug. 1990)

25 Aug. 1990

Yusuf Mohammed

Jilabun, near Jenin

His body was discovered in a well. The death circumstances were unclear. (H, JP, 27 Aug. 1990)

26 Aug. 1990

Yusef Najib (24)

Silar a-Hartiya, near Jenin

Stabbed to death by masked people. (H, JP, 27 Aug. 1990)

28 Aug. 1990

Yasser Kareb (23)

Beituniya

Stabbed to death. His body was discovered one month after he had been kidnapped by masked people. (H, 29 Aug. 1990)

(c)  Other incidents linked with the uprising

Oral evidence

55. Several witnesses referred in their testimony to the violent incidents and clashes that occurred regularly in the occupied territories since the start of the uprising. Most of them evoked their personal experience often involving wounding by bullet shots or beatings.

56. The climate of fear and anxiety prevailing in the occupied territories was depicted in the following terms by an anonymous witness:

"… I shall speak as a doctor practising in the Gaza sector and also as a citizen living through all the events, one day after the other. I shall start, giving you a description of any of my days in the Gaza sector. When I wake up early to go to work and before I leave my house, I bid goodbye to my wife and to my children, because I am never sure whether I shall be returning again or not. This is the situation in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank. I may be killed by an Israeli soldier or I may be detained, or they might break my bones, or I might be one of the 'lost' people. So, my wife and I have started to plan how she would take care of herself and of the children, whatever the circumstances may be. Going to work, I do not feel like a doctor going to hospital, but rather like a soldier proceeding to battle." (A/AC.145/RT.545)

57. An anonymous witness referred to the indiscriminate nature of the violence, which did not even spare the children:

"I can recall seeing children who had been on the streets, sitting on the porches of their houses and who had been shot, one shot in the head and one shot in the leg. Basically, I came to the conclusion that the violence was indiscriminate, that children were legitimate target like any of the young men masked, unmasked, anybody." (A/AC.145/RT.534)

58. This random use of violence was also mentioned by other witnesses:

"On several occasions, I witnessed soldiers who would stand between our house and the beginning of the camp. There was an empty lot, about 50 by 100 metres in size. I witnessed soldiers who would stand in this empty lot and using what would be plastic ammunition or live ammunition, but definitively not rubber bullets, because rubber bullets are fired from a clearly identifiable kind of canister, they would simply take potshots at people in the camp, people standing by their houses, when there were no demonstrations at all. They would simply come, usually it would happen in the evening for some reason, and they would train their guns kneeling on one knee and take random potshots at people in the camp. This is something that I witnessed on several occasions. What I also witnessed, because of the proximity of my house, was that jeeps would ride by, on the edge of the camp, and completely gratuitously fire tear-gas canisters into people's houses. Again I witnessed this on several occasions. They would speed their jeeps along the edge of the camp and randomly fire tear-gas at the houses facing them. The effect of tear-gas in closed areas is incredible, as you probably know. In essence, what I witnessed was random violence against an unarmed population." (Anonymous witness, A/AC.145/RT.534)

"I was standing an the street, a patrol came by and they fired bullets at me. I wasn't doing anything, I was not participating in a demonstration. There was no demonstration. They fired at me and they fired at six others. We were a group of six young men." (Mr. Marwan Mahmoud Hamadah, (A/AC.145/RT.536/Add.1)

"We lived in a distant village, removed from current events, like the intifadah. But life is difficult. We are terrorized. The Israelis come in the middle of the night, or at dawn, they hit and shoot at the youngsters. They break down the water tanks, and that is when people are still in their beds, before meeting anybody in the street.

"Mr. JOVANIC (Yugoslavia): Have you seen such things happen?

"The WITNESS (interpretation from Arabic): Yes, I have seen those things. They pressed lit cigarettes on the hands of my husband, in front of his father, in front of his mother, in front of us all. That was at the beginning of the intifadah, on the very first days. They came to the village for no reason, in the morning. They collected about 15 young men from the village, for no reason at all. They put them in prison. Some of them, for instance my husband, stayed for 18 days, others stayed for six months and others for different periods. There were no accusations, it was an administrative detention." (Anonymous witness, A/AC.145/RT.541)

"… A year ago, my son, aged nine, was walking next to his mother, going to hospital for treatment. The army passed by, the child was a bit frightened and he ran to the side. The army people ran after him and grabbed him. They beat the child. His mother started screaming and crying, saying 'my son has done nothing'. They did not take any notice of her and took my son to the army barracks. Then I found out that my son had been taken to the detention camp, so I went to the international peace keeping force and asked them to help me bring my son out of the detention camp. They helped me. They went to find out what had happened to my son and to bring him out. They found out that he had been unconscious because of the beating. The international official told the Israeli police that this was just a child, ignorant and also in a bad shape, and he asked to have him back to bring him to his parents. They took no notice of him and beat him, a United Nations official, and they bashed his car. They refused to give the child to the UN official and said that they wanted the identity card of the father. The UN official told them that the father was not there, could the mother come and see them. They said 'no'. I could not do anything. Then, at night, the army brought back my child. He had several bones broken and blood dripping all over his face." (Anonymous witness, A/AC.145/RT.544)

59. Testimonies relating to the incidents linked with the uprising of the Palestinian population against the occupation may be found in documents A/AC.145/RT.530 (Miss Terry Boullata); A/AC.145/RT.534 (an anonymous witness); A/AC.145/RT.536 (an anonymous witness); A/AC.145/RT.536/Add.1 (Mr. Khaled Fahmi Mardawi, Mr. Marwan Mahmoud Hamadeh, and Mr. Riad Mahmoud Saleh Kassem); A/AC.145/RT.537 (Mr. Jibed Abu Sammur, Mr. Iyad Abu Zein, and Mr. Ali Fannoun); A/AC.145/RT.541 (an anonymous witness); A/AC.145/RT.543 (Mrs. Anita Vitullo); A/AC.145/RT.544 (an anonymous witness); A/AC.145/RT.544/Add.1 (Mr. Maim Hamdan); A/AC.145/RT.545 (an anonymous witness); and A/AC.145/RT.545/Add.1 (Mr. Ata Mohamed Hussein Abu Koreh).

Written information

60. On 1 April, in clashes in the territories 13 people were injured – six in the Gaza Strip and seven in the West Bank. They included a 13-year-old boy, Anwar Garifi from Tulkarem camp, shot by troops when he failed to obey an order to stop, Nabil Hijawi, aged 28, from Nablus, who was hospitalized in a serious condition and a 55-year old woman, Naima al-Baifa, who was seriously injured when a military jeep hit her, near Hawara. (Ha'aretz, 2 April 1990)

61. On 2 April, in the Gaza Strip three people were injured and nine people were treated for beating injuries. Two girls were hurt by rubber bullets in Nur Shams camp, near Tulkarem. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 3 April 1990; 9 April 1990)

62. On 3 April, eight persons were injured in the Gaza Strip in clashes. At the UNRWA clinic in Jabaliya camp, a doctor was allegedly beaten by soldiers when he refused an order to evacuate all patients and staff, after youths fled into the clinic. The IDF carried out a raid in Rujeib village, near Nablus, and arrested 30 people, following an incident in which a petrol bomb was thrown at the military government house in Tulkarem. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 4 April 1990; Al Fajr, 9 April 1990)

63. On 4 April, 14 people were shot and injured in clashes in the territories, including three children aged 8 to 10 years from Tulkarem camp who were hit by rubber bullets. In Awarta, south of Nablus, PFLP supporters set fire to six homes of Fatah activists. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 5 April 1990; Al Fajr, 9 April 1990)

64. On 5 April, two persons were killed (see table) and 10 were shot and injured in clashes with troops, including a 2-year-old baby in Tulkarem camp, hit by a rubber bullet. Serious incidents were reported in Khan Yunis, Rafah, Gaza and Jabaliya. An IDF officer was seriously injured when a local truck hit him near Askar camp. The driver tried to escape but soldiers who were present opened fire and injured him. He and three other people who were with him in the truck were detained. Following the incident riots broke out in the camp and troops imposed a curfew. An IDF unit captured six wanted men during an operation near Nablus. In Belt Jala, a student was shot in the neck and chest when IDF soldiers raided a boy's school in the town. Several students were also beaten. At least 18 Palestinians were reported injured during fierce clashes in refugee camps in the Gaza Strip. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 6 April 1990; Al Fajr, 9 April 1990)

65. On 6 and 7 April, serious rioting was reported in the Gaza Strip over the weekend. The worst clashes occurred in Khan Tunis, where a youth was killed (see table) and 29 others were shot and injured. Two boys, aged seven and 13, from Jabaliya and Khan Tunis, were hit by rubber bullets and seriously injured. A soldier and a border guard were lightly injured by stones. In Jalazun camp, seven people were injured in clashes. An explosive charge went off near Deir el-Hatab, in Nablus district, as a military vehicle was passing by. No one was hurt. A Jewish settler from the Moslem Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem was stabbed and hospitalized with medium wounds. He was named as Daniel Robbins, aged 31, a law student. One hundred and fifty suspects were detained but were later released. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 8 April 1990; Al Fajr, 9 April 1990)

66. On 8 April, 12 people were shot and injured in clashes seven in the Gaza Strip and five in the West Bank. In Nablus masked youths paraded two hooded and handcuffed Palestinian through the alleys of the Casbah, and led them to an unknown destination. In Hebron an Israeli security guard opened fire, after a fuel truck which he was guarding was stoned. He wounded Guareb al-Wawi, aged 23. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 9 April 1990; Al Fajr, 14 April 1990)

67. On 9 and 10 April, 12 people were injured in the West Bank and eight in the Gaza Strip over the Jewish passover holiday. A curfew was imposed in the Tulkarem camp after youths set fire to a military watch tower and damaged a rooftop lookout post. The youths reportedly threw two IDF tear-gas grenades, driving the soldiers off the rooftop. They also demolished a wall on the roof that was allegedly used by soldiers for beating suspects. Reinforcements were sent to the camp and extensive clashes broke out in which four local residents were shot by rubber and plastic bullets. A general strike called by the Unified National Leadership of the Uprising was observed throughout the occupied territories to mark the start of the 29th month of the intifadah. In the Gaza Strip, IDF soldiers ordered 200 shops to close in down town Gaza City. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 11 April 1990; Al Fajr, 15 April 1990)

68. On 11 April, in continuing clashes in the territories nine Gaza Strip residents were shot and injured, as a general strike, called by the Islamic Jihad, was strictly observed. The worst clashes occurred in the Khan Yunis area. A youth was shot and injured in Beit Sahur, and a woman was shot in the hand in East Jerusalem. Clashes were also reported in the Temple Mount area when groups of Jewish "Temple Mount Faithful" members, protected by police, entered the Temple Mount area. A child was shot and injured in the leg in the Sabre neighbourhood of Gaza City. In Beit Hanun, various acts of protest took place following two incidents in which military vehicles ran into a women in her eighth month of pregnancy and 3-year-old child. A 5-year-old girl sustained a broken hand during protests. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 22 April 1990; Al Fajr, 16 April 1990)

69. On 12 April, in scattered clashes in the territories 10 people were injured in Gaza and two youths were shot and wounded in Balata and in Hebron. A 15-year-old boy was shot and seriously injured in Awaita, near Nablus. In the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City police used tear-gas to disperse a demonstration by Greek Orthodox clergymen and other Palestinians following the settling of 150 Jews in a building near the Holy Sepulchre Church (see annexation and settlement). Several people, including the 70-year-old Greek Orthodox Patriarch, were slightly injured. Several demonstrators were arrested. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 13 April 1990; Al Fajr, 14 April 1990)

70. On 13 and 14 April, serious clashes were reported over the weekend in Gaza and Khan Yunis. Mine people were shot and injured, and several schoolgirls were injured from tear-gas. Four soldiers including a colonel, were injured by stones. In the old Askar camp near Nablus a wanted man was shot and seriously injured as he was trying to escape an IDF unit. He was named as Yussuf Aslahi, aged 20. In Nablus unidentified people opened fire at an IDF rooftop lookout post. Following the shooting troops carried out searches, emptying some shape and beating several people. Demonstrations in memory of Khalil al-Wazir (Abu-Jihad) were held in several places in the territories. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 15 April 1990; Al Fajr, 23 April 1990)

71. On 15 and 16 April, serious clashes were reported on the second anniversary of Abu-Jihad's assassination. 19 people were injured – most of them in Nablus and the Balata and Askar camps. They included an 8-year-old boy and a 18-year-old youth, Bashir Kadri, who was seriously injured. Two petrol bombs were thrown at an Israeli car in the West Bank. No one was hurt. The Gaza Strip was placed under curfew, but unrest and demonstrations were reported. Five people were shot and injured. A clash was reported in Ramallah between a group of left-wing Israeli demonstrators and a border guards unit. According to the IDF the group demonstrated illegally. The group, called the "Green Line", filed a complaint with the Attorney General and the Central Region Commander. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 17 April 1990) Al Fajr, 23 April 1990)

72. On 17 April, in clashes in the Game Strip, described as the most violent in recent months, 40 people were shot and injured, most of them in Rafah (23 wounded) and in Gaza and the nearby camps. The clashes broke out after a two-day curfew imposed in the region to prevent rioting on the Abu-Jihad commemoration day, was lifted. In the West Bank a 14-year-old boy was injured in Nablus. A 28-year-old women from Beat Jerusalem, Fatmah Mugrabi, was seriously injured when unidentified youths attacked her with an axe. She was hospitalized. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 18 April 1990)

73. On 18 April, clashes were reported mainly in the Gaza Strip where one person was shot and killed (see table) and 10 were injured – most of them in the Khan Yunis camp. In a clash in Nur Shame camp, near Tulkarem, a 60-year-old resident was stabbed and injured by an IDF soldier, apparently when he tried to prevent the soldier from arresting a stone-thrower. In Nablus, a shot was fired at an IDF lookout post. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 19 April 1990; Al Fajr, 23 April 1990)

74. On 19 April, 14 people were injured in clashes with troops; nine in the Shati camp alone, including a 45-year-old women who lost an eye after being hit by a rubber bullet. Three Palestinians were reported injured in clashes with soldiers in Rafah. Clashes also occurred in Ramallah, where a Palestinian youth was seriously injured when soldiers stationed on the roof of a building hit him in the head with a stone. (Ha'aretz, 20 April 1990; Al Fajr, 30 April 1990)

75. On 20 and 21 April, 10 people were injured in clashes over the weekend – seven in the Gaza Strip, including a boy aged 13 from Khan Yunis who was hit in the heart and was hospitalized in a serious condition. In Nablus, a shot was fired at an IDF lookout post. It was the third time that a similar incident occurred in recent days. Troops closed off the area and carried out searches. In Janiya, near Ramallah, a local youth was injured when a settler opened fire after his car was stoned. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 22 April 1990; Al Fajr, 30 April 1990)

76. On 22 April, 11 people were shot and injured in clashes in the Gaza Strip, including a boy aged 13 from Khan Yunis, Mahmud Abu Khutab, who lost an eye, a Shati resident who was seriously injured, and a 4-year-old boy was also hit by a military jeep in the Shajaia neighbourhood of Gaza City. Two petrol bombs were thrown at a border guard jeep in Bani Maim, near Hebron. Two soldiers were slightly injured. Shots were fired at an Egged bus travelling from Jerusalem to Hebron. An Israeli passenger was slightly wounded. A curfew was imposed on the area and troops carried out searches. In Nablus, a makeshift bomb exploded near an IDF patrol. No one was hurt. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 23 April 1990; Al Fajr, 30 April 1990)

77. On 23 April, 14 people were injured in clashes with troops, as the general strike called by the "Unified Command of the Uprising" was only partially observed. Most of the injuries occurred in clashes in the Gaza Strip. Two were injured seriously. Ismail Asab, aged 27, from Gaza, was shot and seriously injured after he tried to seize a soldier's weapon while resisting arrest. Beit Umar and Halhul were placed under curfew after a youth from Bait Umar died of wounds sustained the previous day (see table). Shati camp was also placed under curfew following the death of a local youth (see table). (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 24 April 1990; Al Fajr, 30 April 1990)

78. On 24 April, Ghalib Abdel Kurim Alawneh, aged 25, of the village of Masliyeh, near Jenin, died in Nablus hospital of wounds sustained three months earlier (see list). In Ramallah, soldiers stationed on rooftops fired tear-gas canisters randomly in various areas. Settlers' cars were stoned in the city. A 3-year-old girl was hit by a settler's car in Ras Karkar village. The girl was admitted to Ramallah hospital. In continuing violent clashes in the Gaza Strip five people were injured. In Jenin an Israeli taxi driver was stabbed and lightly injured by a local passenger. In the centre of Hebron Rabbi Moshe Levinger was injured in the head from stone-throwing. The previous night dozens of Arab cars were damaged by settlers whose cars had been stoned. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 25 April 1990; Al Fajr, 30 April 1990)

79. On 25 April, four people were injured in clashes in the Gaza Strip. A woman official of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was slightly injured when a soldier threw a percussion grenade at her. The incident occurred near Amari camp. The women, together with a United Nations official, was monitoring clashes in the camp. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 26 April 1990)

80. On 26 April, in a very violent clash in the Jabaliya camp three Arabs were killed (see table) and 155 were injured. The riot broke out when soldiers fired tear-gas at a large crowd of people returning from the local cemetery. The incident sparked riots elsewhere in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank, where a youth from Kabatiya was shot and killed (see table). The troops reportedly used a large quantity of live bullets, plastic and rubber bullets and tear-gas. Many people were injured from beatings. The army used a helicopter to disperse the crowd with tear-gas. According to the IDF spokesman the soldiers involved in the incident were soldiers of the standing army who arrived in the area the previous day. Following the incidents a curfew was imposed. Palestinian sources described the incidents as "a real war". The director of the Ahli hospital in Gaza said that the hospital had treated 79 wounded, two thirds were hit by live ammunition and the rest were beaten. Shifa hospital treated 51 wounded. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 27 April 1990)

81. On 27 and 28 April, following widespread arrest at Jabaliya camp, at the beginning of Id al-Fitr holiday, a general curfew was imposed on the Gaza Strip, until 30 April 1990. In Tulkarem, Ahmed Shanin, aged 39, was stabbed and seriously injured. 26 people were injured in clashes over the weekend – most of them in the Gaza Strip. (Jerusalem Post, 29 April 1990; Al Fajr, 7 May 1990)

82. On 1 May, despite widespread curfews in the Gaza Strip 10 people were shot and injured and several others suffered beating injuries. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 2 May 1990; Al Fajr, 7 May 1990)

83. On 2 May, in clashes in the Gaza Strip one youth was killed (see table) and 11 were injured. Four people were injured in the West Bank, including a 10-year-old boy from Far'a camp, Sa'ad Milhem. A female soldier was slightly injured from a stone in Khan Yunis. According to Palestinian sources a 14-year-old boy, Samer Omar, from Beituniya, was picked up by settlers who allegedly took him to Shilo, broke his arms and abandoned him. He was later taken to hospital. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 3 May 1990; Al Fajr, 7 May 1990)

84. On 3 May, heavy clashes were reported in Ramallah. Three persons were wounded. In Nablus some 120,000 people were under curfew as a Jewish religious ceremony was hold at the Joseph's Tomb Yeshiva, with the participation of the Knesset speaker and several Knesset members. Heavy security ensured that the ceremony passed without incident. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 4 May 1990; Al Fajr, 7 May 1990)

85. On 4 and 5 May, in clashes over the weekend 30 persons were injured. Serious clashes were reported in the Tulkarem camp, where a youth was killed (see table) and 12 were injured from rubber bullets. In Al-Amari camp, Yasser Abu Homed, aged 29, was shot and seriously injured after he opened fire at troops. It was later reported that he had been wanted for a long time on suspicion of killing six Palestinians. In Bethlehem Muhammad a-Sa'adan, aged 22, was shot and seriously injured. Another youth, Walid Mahmud, aged 19, from Askar camp, was shot and injured. in Gaza troops fought for four hours with stone-throwing youths. Soldiers later entered the Ahli hospital three times while chasing stone-throwers, and warned the director of the hospital against providing refuge to stone-throwers. The IDF threatened to set up a base inside the hospital grounds if the order was not followed. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 5 May 1990; Al Fajr, 7 and 14 May 1990)

86. On 6 May, one youth was killed in Rafah (see table) and several people were shot and injured in widespread clashes. In Tulkarem camp, Sana a-Zeid, aged 17, Samer Matar, aged 16, and Muhammad Nimer, aged 18, were injured when troops dispersed a crowd of stone-throwers. Muhammad Faad, aged 24, from Ilar, near Tulkarem, was shot and injured and an 8-year-old boy from Askar camp, Read Katlani, was hit by a rubber bullet and was hospitalized. In the village of Jalama a joint force of police, border police and IDF soldiers carried out a raid following attacks on Israeli traffic and agricultural equipment. Several persons were detained. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 7 May 1990; Al Fajr, 14 May 1990)

87. On 7 May, 15 persons were shot and injured in clashes, most of them in the Gaza Strip. Two soldiers were slightly wounded by stones in Gaza. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 6 May 1990; Al Fajr, 14 May 1990)

88. On 8 May, 11 persons were injured in clashes: in Askar camp two residents were shot and injured, including Ahmed Banat, aged 45. In Jenin, a petrol bomb was thrown at an IDF patrol. In Rafah camp many clashes were reported despite the continuing curfew. In Jabaliya a drug dealer was killed by 15 masked men (see table) and his brother was seriously injured. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 9 May 1990; Al Fajr, 14 May 1990)

89. On 9 May, a general strike was observed to mark the beginning of the 30th month of the uprising. In Hebron, troops opened fire at masked stone-throwers and seriously injured Ziad a-Rajabi, aged 15. Four people were injured in Beni Suheila, in the Gaza Strip. Clashes were reported in the Nablus region. Three people were shot and injured in Askar camp, including Ashraf Hadid, aged 10, and five others suffered from tear-gas injuries. In East Jerusalem two Israeli cars were set on fire. Stone-throwing incidents were reported in the Jerusalem area. In one incident settlers from Maaleh Adunim attacked homes in Bisariya after their cars were stoned. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 20 May 1990; Al Fajr, 14 May 1990)

90. On 10 May, in serious clashes in Beit Hanun, in the Gaza Strip, one person was killed (see table) and four others were injured. In other clashes in the Gaza Strip 10 people were injured, one seriously. Clashes were reported in Nablus after the IDF refused protesters to hold a march against the Joseph's Tomb Yeshiva which they fear may be converted into a full-fledged settlement. An Arab taxi driver was shot and injured in Bethlehem after he failed to obey an order to stop. Ziad Hijazi Al Rajabi, aged 14, of Hebron died at Hadasseh Hospital of wounds sustained the previous day, when soldiers shot him in the head with several bullets (see list). The Jabal Johar neighbourhood of Hebron was placed under curfew after clashes in which soldiers arrested and beat several Palestinian youths. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 11 May 1990; Al Fajr, 14 May 1990)

91. On 11 and 12 May, in clashes over the weekend seven persons were injured to the Gaza Strip and three others in the West bank. The IDF carried out raids in Ilar, Beit Lid and A-Til villages. According to Palestinian sources 32 residents of Beit Hanun were injured, two seriously, in violent clashes which took place in the town on 10 May 1990. Two Israelis were slightly injured in East Jerusalem from stone-throwing. The IDF closed stores in Bethlehem – a measure that has reportedly been going on for a week. It was reported that an IDF jeep ran over and killed 5-year-old Wafa' Abdel Nadi Ajjaj in the village of Deir Jarir, near Ramallah (see list). The IDF raided the village of Masra'a a-Sharqiya and arrested 20 people. In the village of Husan, a youth was beaten by Israeli soldiers and sustained serious injuries, including fractures. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 13 May 1990; Al Fajr, 14 and 21 May 1990)

92. On 13 May, in a relatively small number of incidents eight people were injured in the Gaza Strip. In one incident an Israeli settler shot and seriously injured a 14-year-old boy in Kalkilya, named as Samir Awad Abu Sheikh. Police and the IDF were trying to find the settler. The boy, hit in the head, was hospitalized in a critical condition. Six hundred residents of Shufa, near Tulkarem, staged a sit-down protest after settlers from nearby Avney-Hefetz had uprooted 12 olive tress. According to Palestinian sources two 15-year-old pupils were stopped by soldiers in Jiftlik village, on their way from school to the UNRWA clinic. They were ordered to remove obstacles, and when they refused they were beaten and taken to an area near Jerusalem. They were released after 7 hours. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 14 May 1990; Al Fajr, 21 May 1990)

93. On 14 May, a general strike was held in the Gaza Strip. Eight people were injured. Serious clashes were reported in Kalkilya following rumours that a boy who had been seriously injured by an Israeli civilian the previous day, had died. Schools in the town held a strike. In the clashes five people were injured by rubber bullets. The boy's father, Wahid Abu Sheikh, was summoned to the civil administration and was told that the shooting incident would be thoroughly investigated. In Jenin, Nasser Shalabi was injured by live ammunition and seven others were injured by rubber bullets. In East Jerusalem an Israeli was wounded when his car was hit by a petrol bomb. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 15 May 1990; Al Fajr, 21 May 1990)

94. On 25 May, a general strike was observed in the territories. Six people were injured in a small number of clashes. Rioting broke out in Kalkilya following news of the death of Samih Abu Sheikh, aged 14, (see table). The bodies of three Arabs were discovered in West Bank villages (see table). Curfews were in force in Dheisheh, Beit Hanun, Rafah and several camps in the Gaza Strip. A curfew was also imposed on Shati camp after a local resident, Hamis Abdul Rahman, aged 19, was killed when he and a group of masked youths attacked a border police patrol (no date was reported). (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 16 May 1990; Al Fajr, 21 May 1990)

95. On 16 May, 15 people were injured in clashes – eight in the Gaza Strip and seven in Tubas. It was also reported that violent clashes had broken out late in the evening of 15 May 1990 in the now Askar camp, near Nablus. Eight youths, including two children aged 8 and 9, were injured. A 30-year-old woman from Kalkilya, Iam Nazel, was shot and injured in the shoulder as she was standing in front of her home during a clash between troops and stone-throwers. Strikes were held in Kalkilya and in Habla following the death of Samih Abu Sheikh. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 17 May 1990; Al Fajr, 21 May 1990)

96. On 17 May, violent clashes were reported in the Gaza Strip. Nine people were injured. In Gaza a petrol bomb was thrown at a jeep. No one was hurt. Soldiers reportedly entered the Ahli hospital and arrested three alleged demonstrators in clashes in the West Bank. Three persons were injured, including a boy aged 14, Ahmed al-Asiss, who was hospitalized in Jenin in a serious condition, and Adnan Dasuki, aged 35. An Israeli soldier was slightly injured when an automatic fire was fired at him in Kiryat-Arba. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 18 May 1990)

97. On 18 and 19 May, in clashes over the weekend seven persons were injured in the Gaza Strip and four in the West Bank. One youth was killed in Balata camp (see table). Many areas in the Gaza Strip were placed under curfew, but on 19 May 1990 most of the curfews were lifted. 60 Betselem of wheat plantations belonging to two residents of Yamun were set on fire. The security forces carried out a raid on the village of Barta'a after several attacks on Israeli property. Twenty wanted people were arrested. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 20 May 1990; Al Fajr, 21 and 28 May 1990)

98. On 20 May, at 6.15 a.m. a young Israeli civilian, later named an Ami Popper, armed with the IDF-rifle belonging to his soldier-brother, reached an area in Rishon Le-Zion where Palestinian workers gather to be picked up by Israeli employers. Between 50 and 100 workers were present in the area. He ordered the workers to produce their ID cards. He then stopped a car with a Gaza licence-plate and ordered the driver to step out, leaving the car engine running, and opened automatic fire at the workers, killing seven (see table) and injuring several others. They included Rarwan Amor, aged 21, from Rafah; Faes Zayud, aged 36, from Gaza; Omar Tabassi, aged 26, from Rafah; Ziad Tabassi, aged 23, from Rafah; Jamal a-Daka, aged 28, from Bani Suheila; Khalil Abu Anza, aged 21, from Abassan Kabiri; Jazgi Yasser, aged 20, from Rafah; Ahmed Zu'rub, aged 17, from Rafah; and Kawara Taysir. Popper then fled in the Gaza car. He was later arrested. News of the murder sparked off riots and clashes all over the territories and in the Gaza Strip in particular. At least six persons were killed (see table) and 700 wounded. Twelve IDF soldiers were slightly wounded in the clashes. According to reports Gaza residents flooded into the streets in defiance of a preventive curfew, attacking army outposts. At one point the IDF was described as having lost control of the situation. Hundreds were admitted to hospitals with medium to serious injuries. Preventive curfews were also imposed in Nablus, Hebron and many villages and refugee camps. The Gaza Strip was closed to the media. General strikes were called for the next two days. In the Gaza Strip three mourning days were announced. Details were later reported about those injured in the Gaza Strip: 112 were injured from live bullets, six seriously; 200 were injured by plastic and rubber bullets and over 300 people had tear-gas injuries. Serious disorders were also reported in East Jerusalem. There were many stone-throwing incidents and arson attempts. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 21 May 1990)

99. On 21 May, in continuing violent clashes in the Gaza Strip four people more killed (see table) and some 150 were injured. Fifteen people were injured in West Bank. The IDF reportedly did not succeed in imposing the curfew and crowds clashed with troops all over the region. The IDF sent reinforcements and set up two provisional commands in the Gaza Strip, headed by colonels. The curfews in the Gaza Strip remained in force. In the West Bank clashes were reported despite the curfews. In Tulkarem camp six people were injured, including a 14-year-old boy hit in the head by a rubber bullet and hospitalized in a serious condition. A resident of Nur Shams camp was also seriously injured. In Issawiya, East Jerusalem, 50 masked youths attacked a police force. Police and border police used a helicopter to disperse them. Six were arrested. Scores of petrol bombs were thrown throughout the territories at IDF and border police patrols. Three soldiers were wounded in stone-throwing incidents in Gaza. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 22 May 1990; Al Fajr, 23 May 1990)

100. On 22 May, in continuing violent clashes in the Gaza Strip three people were killed (see table) and 41 were injured. It was nevertheless reported that a relative calm was restored. In the West Bank 15 to 20 people were injured in Beit Sahour when a unit of soldiers disguised as masked Palestinians entered the town in local vehicles, mixed with local youths and even helped them erect barricades and then opened fire aiming at the logs of the local youths. Military sources said four youths were injured in the area and five were detained. In East Jerusalem police used force to disperse an illegal demonstration outside the United States Consulate. Several girls were detained. Some participants suffered from gas inhaling injuries. Many stone-throwing incidents and throwing of petrol bombs were reported in the town. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 23 May 1990; Al Fajr, 28 May 1990)

101. On 23 May, the situation in the territories was reported to be relatively calm. Ten people were injured, including Riad Asir, aged 18, from Salfit. In Gaza riots broke out after the death of an 8-year-old boy who was shot from a police car (see table). In another incident, soldiers were attacked at the Beit Romano complex in Hebron and a violent incident was reported on the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem, when members of the "Temple Mount Faithful" Jewish group tried to enter the area and were confronted by hundreds of Moslems. Police separated the two groups. Police used tear-gas to disperse demonstrators in the Moslem Quarter of the city. Israeli soldiers raided the village of Budrus, near Ramallah, and opened fire at random. Local sources said 15 people sustained various injuries including one reported in critical condition. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 24 May 1990; Al-Fajr, 26 May 1990)

102. On 24 May, clashes were reporter in several Gaza Strip camps as the IDF lifted curfews there. Eight people were injured. Clashes also broke out in the West Bank as curfews were being lifted in Ramallah and Tulkarem. Six people were injured. The IDF carried out an extensive raid on the villages of Kibiya and Budrus in the Ramallah region. A 15-year-old boy was killed (see table) and 15 were injured. Violent clashes were reported in Beit Fajar, near Bethlehem, where five residents were injured from live ammunition – including two boys aged 9 and a youth, Salah Takata, aged 16, who was seriously injured. A six-and-a-half-month-old Israeli baby, Ahikam Siman-Tov, from the settlement of Ofra was seriously injured when his parents' car was stoned in Ein Yabrud. A curfew was imposed. Twenty-six settlers' cars had their windscreens smashed on their way to Kiryat-Arba. Settlers later blocked the road junction where the stone-throwing took place. They were evicted by troops who declared the area a closed military zone. A border police patrol detained in the centre of Jerusalem a young woman from Gaza, Wasfiya Abu-Nadiba, aged 21, who allegedly planned to stab Jews in retaliation for the murder of seven workers earlier in the week. A long knife was found in her possession. A Jerusalem magistrates' court remanded her for 15 days. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 25 May 1990; Al Fajr, 28 May 1990)

103. On 25 and 26 May, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank remained relatively calm over the weekend. In a small number of incidents two children were injured: Daoud a-Saroukh, aged 8, from al-Khader, was injured when settlers threw stones, apparently after they had earlier been victims of stone-throwing. A settler, Zvi Elbas, aged 45, from the Jordan Valley settlement of Hamra, was stabbed by four assailants and was hospitalized in a serious condition. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 27 May 1990; Al Fajr, 28 May 1990 and 4 June 1990)

104. On 27 May, while the West Bank was reported calm clashes broke out in several Gaza Strip areas, and in particular in Deir el-Balah, where one youth was killed (see table) and 10 were injured. The army reimposed a curfew in the area. A boy aged 15, Basan Abu Ziad, from Shabura camp near Rafah was injured and hospitalised in a serious condition. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 29 May 1990; Al Fajr, 4 June 1990)

105. On 28 May, 13 people were injured in a small number of clashes, 10 of them in the Gaza Strip. In the West Bank a 5-year-old child, Ali Salah from Nur Shams camp was injured by a rubber bullet; Muhammad Shehadeh, aged 10, from Ein Beit al-Ma camp and Muhammad Ahmed, aged 19, from Jenin, were also shot and injured. In the Mahane-Yehuda, market in West Jerusalem a bomb went off, killing an Israeli civilian, Shimon Cohen, aged 72, and injuring nine others. An organization calling itself the "Islamic Jihad in Palestine" claimed responsibility. Eighty-seven Arabs were detained for questioning. Angry crowds attacked Arabs and journalists. (Ha'aretz, 29 May 1990; Al Fajr, 4 June 1990)

106. On 29 and 30 May, in widespread clashes over the Jewish holiday of Shavuot a woman was killed (see table) and several people, including children and old people were injured. They included Fatima a-Nadi, aged 4; Mohamed Ratrut, aged 13, and Torek Shahshir, aged 17, all from Askar camp, near Nablus. Four children were injured in Tulkarem: Ghaniya Awada, aged two and a half, Hayat Mardawit, aged 5, Ghassan Abu Diab, aged 9, and Eiman Dama, aged 10. In Jenin, Wajdi Abu Ali, aged 18, was injured. Three persons were injured in clashes in the Gaza Strip. A 9-year-old child was shot in the head in the village of Dhahiriyeh, near Hebron. The IDF was reported to have raided the village of Ni'leen, near Ramallah, and uprooted 50 olive trees on the grounds of clearing a road to serve nearby Israeli settlements. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 31 May 1990; Al Fajr, 4 June 1990)

107. On 31 May, three youths were shot and seriously injured in the Nablus area: Dilal Ijan, aged 10, Ibrahim a-Shati, aged 12, from Far'a camp, and Muhammad Asaf, aged 22, from Kabatiya. Two other people were injured in Nablus. A boy was killed in a clash in the Tulkarem camp (see table). Another youth was injured and the camp was placed under curfew. The West Bank was paralysed by a general strike. In clashes in the Gaza Strip, 10 people were injured, seven by live ammunition and three by rubber bullets. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 1 June 1990; Al Fajr, 4 June 1990)

108. On 1 and 2 June, 11 Palestinians were injured in clashes over the weekend. In East Jerusalem there were several cases of setting fire to cars. An explosive charge was discovered and defused. An IDF soldier was slightly injured in Gaza.
(Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 3 June 1990)

109. On 3 June, five people were injured in clashes in the Gaza Strip. Several others suffered beating injuries. An explosive charge went off in southern Gaza Strip as a vehicle belonging to settlers from Rafiah-Yan drove by. No one was hurt. An 83-year-old man from Jenin, Ali Abu el-Hassan, was hospitalized with a broken leg after allegedly being beaten during an altercation with troops who tried to arrest his grandson. Clashes were reported in Tulkarem camp, despite a curfew that has been in force for four days. Several cars were set on fire in East Jerusalem. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 4 June 1290)

110. On 4 June, eight people were injured in clashes in the Gaza Strip where the situation was described in relatively calm but tense. A group of masked youths armed with cold weapons attacked a border police patrol in Gaza. The patrol opened fire at the attackers, injuring one. In clashes in the West Bank two were seriously injured, Aid al-Rajindar from Nablus, who was shot in the abdomen, and Fares Mustafa, from Akaba near Jenin. An empty bus used for transportation of Arab workers was set an fire in Rumaneh, near Jenin. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 5 June 1990)

111. On 5 June, a general strike was observed in the territories to mark the twenty-third anniversary of the outbreak of the June 1967 war. Two youths were killed in violent clashes in Nablus and nearby Askar camp (see table), and 16 people were injured, including Mustafa Washahi, aged 16, and a 20-year-old woman both were injured during a raid by the IDF on the village of Jansur, near Jenin. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 6 June 1990)

112. On 6 June, a partial strike, called by the Islamic Jihad, was observed in the territories. A small number of clashes was reported. Five people were injured, including two in Nablus: Munser Hijazi, aged 22, and Jamal Washahi, aged 17. The IDF carried out operations in several villages, including Rumaneh, Naslat Issa and Labed, where a helicopter was used. Several wanted people were arrested and villagers were ordered to remove Palestinian flags and paint over graffiti. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 7 June 1990)

113. On 7 June, a general strike was observed in the Gaza Strip. Three people were
injured in a small number of incidents in the region. In the West Bank clashes
were reported in Tulkarem camp. Three girls were injured. Ahmed Khader, aged 18,
from Kalkilya was hospitalized in serious condition after being beaten for two
hours by five border policemen. Several stone-throwing incidents were reported in
Jerusalem. Several passengers of a bus and a tourist car were slightly injured.
(Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 8 June 1990)

114. On 8 and 9 June, six people were injured, including a girl, aged 8, from Ya'bad and a boy, aged 14. Odeh Kataneh from Nazlat al-Gharbiya. There were several reports of arsons. A wheat field was set on fire in Arabeh, near Jenin, and three cars were set on fire in Jerusalem. In the Old City of Jerusalem a tourist was stabbed and injured. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 10 June 1990)

115. On 10 June, in Gaza the 67-year-old imam of Al-Kenz mosque, Muhammad Abu Zinada, collapsed and died after troops entered his home during a raid. He reportedly died of a heart attack. Soldiers also allegedly beat his handicapped son Hussein, aged 30, and other family members. The incident gave rise to clashes in which four people were injured. In Hebron Ishak al-Natshe, aged 20, was injured when an Israeli motorist woman opened fire after her car was stoned. A woman settler from Kiryat Arba was injured when her car was stoned in Halhul. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 21 June 1990)

116. On 11 June, violent clashes broke out in Nablus after an IDF unit, disguised as Arabs, carried out an operation in the town's Casbah area, killed 1 cell-member (see table), injured 3 and arrested 17 others – all of them wanted. In the ensuing clashes two women, aged 55 and 20, and a boy, aged 15, were injured. A two-month-old infant was hospitalized with tear-gas injuries. In another incident in the territories five people were injured. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 12 June 1990)

117. On 12 June, an IDF officer, a captain, fired two tear-gas grenades into the courtyard of an UNRWA clinic in Gaza, injuring 66 infants and nursing mothers packed in a waiting room. Six of the infants were hospitalized for further treatments. The incident occurred after a patrol was stoned. The officer was tried and sentenced to 20 days in a lock-up. Thirty pupils in the El-Bireb girls' school were injured from tear-gas inhalation when troops tried to disperse demonstrators. An Israeli student, Yosef Edri, aged 17 and a half, from Dimona, was stabbed in the Old City of Jerusalem and was hospitalized with medium wounds. One hundred suspects were detained but most were later released. There were several stone throwing incidents in East Jerusalem. Seven people were injured in clashes with troops in Gaza. A petrol bomb was thrown at an IDF patrol in the town but no one was hurt. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 13 June 1990)

118. On 13 June, eight people were injured in clashes. In Tulkarem masked youths carrying axes clashed with troops who opened fire, injuring Walid Abu-Safka, aged 24. In Deir Ghusun, near Tulkarem, a wanted youth, Muhamed Zeidan, aged 26, was injured in violent clashes between troops and villagers. A petrol bomb was thrown from a school in Nablus at an IDF patrol. No one was hurt. An IDF officer was injured when a bomb went off near a patrol in Khan Yunis. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 14 June 1990)

119. On 14 June, a 12-year-old boy from East Talpiot, Jerusalem, was stabbed in the back by a woman who later disappeared in neighbouring Sur Babir. The boy was hospitalised. Several hundred residents of East Talpiot attempted to storm Sur Bahir but were stopped by police. The village was placed under curfew and searches went under way. In clashes in the West Bank and Gaza six people were injured, including a 5-year-old boy from Ya'bad, Majed Muhamed Ibrahim who was hit by a rubber bullet. The IDF carried out an operation in Anabta, arresting wanted persons. One person was injured when he tried to seize a soldier's weapon. Troops in Nablus reportedly entered the home of Ibrahim Aklik, who was killed earlier in the week, and beat family members. Muhammad Abu Zahra was injured near the eye by a splinter. IDF sources denied the report. According to Palestinian sources Ashwaf Bayed, aged 6, was injured and hospitalized. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 15 June 1990)

120. On 15 and 16 June, seven people were injured in clashes with troops in the Gaza Strip. An IDF officer was seriously injured when he was hit in the eye by a stone near Sheikh Ajlia, in Gaza. In clashes in the West Bank five were injured, including Asad al Manasra, aged 22, from Bani Naim who was seriously injured. Serious clashes were reported in Far'a camp. Troops used a large quantity of tear-gas and several homes were affected. A 45-year-old woman, Falmiya Fahmawi, had to be hospitalized. According to Palestinian sources a shoe-vendor in the Nablus Casbah, Hashen Juma'a, was severely beaten by soldiers and had to be hospitalized after he refused to hand them a list of all his clients during that day. The report was denied by IDF sources. Four members of Kibbutz Eyal, in Israel, captured a group of five Palestinians from Azun who crossed the line from the West Bank into Israel, armed with knives and axes. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 17 June 1990)

121. On 17 June, a small number of incidents was reported, as a general strike was observed in the Gaza Strip. Seven people were injured. A petrol bomb was thrown at an IDF patrol in Khan Yunis. No one was hurt. Serious clashes were reported in Tulkarem camp. IDF operations were carried out in Arabeh, Khan Yunis, Azzun and Shweika. A strike called by "Hamas" was observed in the West Bank. (Ha'aretz, 18 June 1990)

122. On 18 June, three people were injured in a clash in Jabaliya camp. Burkin was placed under curfew after the mukhtar was killed. His body was found hanged. In Hebron a pipe-bomb exploded in a building under construction where the IDF placed a lookout post. No one was hurt. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 19 June 1990)

123. On 29 June, a serious clash occurred in Nablus between Fatah and Hamas supporters. Two persons were injured, one seriously. They were named as Jihad Hamami and Faisal Aba al-Hayat, both aged 20. Six people were injured in clashes with troops in the Gaza Strip, as IDF reinforcements were sent to the region to stave off possible rioting on the thirtieth day after the Rishon-Lesion killing. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 20 June 1990)

124. On 20 June, a general strike was widely observed in the territories. Violent clashes were reported in the old and new Askar camps near Nablus. Troops fired 70 tear-gas grenades and carried out searches, in the course of which furniture and sun-heated boilers were broken. Six persons were detained. Bassam Ashur, aged 21, from Askar, was injured when a bomb he was handling exploded. He was hospitalized and was later arrested by soldiers who entered the hospital. Three people were injured in a small number of clashes in the Gaza Strip. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 21 June 1990)

125. On 21 June, heavy clashes took place in the East Jerusalem village of Silwan between villagers and border policemen. Several villagers were injured. The rioting broke out following the killing of a villager earlier in the week. Clashes were also reported in other Arab neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem. In other incidents, a road-side bomb went off near an IDF patrol in Mughazi, Gaza Strip. The soldiers opened fire. No one was hurt. In Far'a camp, Yahya Subah, aged 17, was seriously injured in the abdomen. A boy, aged 10, was also injured. In a clash near Nablus an UNRWA representative was allegedly beaten by an IDF officer. The incident occurred after soldiers captured a youth who had stoned them and took him to the civil administration. The UNRWA official arrived on the spot and in the ensuing dispute the officer beat him. The officer denied the allegation. The UNRWA official lodged a complaint with the West Bank civil administration. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 22 June 1990)

126. On 22 and 23 June, violent clashes were reported over the weekend in several Arab neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem. Clashes were also reported between Arab youths and residents of Neve Yaacov neighbourhood. The heaviest riots were reported in Silwan. Police used tear-gas and rubber bullets to contain hundreds of rioters. Thirty people were arrested. Twenty-five people were injured by live and rubber or plastic bullets. In clashes in the West Bank a 9-year-old girl from Tulkarem camp, Zahiya Rusaimi, was seriously injured when hit in the head by a plastic bullet. There were several attacks on alleged collaborators and their property. Two Israeli civilians and two German tourists were injured when a bomb went off in Ein-Gedi, on the Dead Sea. In the Gaza Strip two soldiers were injured from stone throwing. In Nablus soldiers smashed windows of local vehicles after a petrol bomb was thrown at an army jeep. No one was hurt. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 24 June 1990)

127. On 24 June, seven people were injured in clashes with troops, including three Tubas residents: Anwar Abu Muhsen, aged 21, Omar Dararme, aged 41, and Iyad Subah. The village of Beit Iba, near Nablus, was placed under curfew after villagers attacked a local policeman, Ibrahim Sema'na. The curfew was later lifted. In East Jerusalem a petrol bomb was thrown at a house in the Jewish neighbourhood of Pisgat-Ze'ev, causing heavy material damage. Curfews on Arab neighbourhoods were lifted. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 25 June 1990)

128. On 25 June, 10 people were injured in clashes. Heavy clashes were reported in Tulkarem camp after news about the death of a local girl who was injured earlier spread in the camp. A woman was killed during the rioting (see table). Muhammad Jaber, aged 18, from Far'a camp, was shot in the chest and seriously injured during heavy clashes between troops and stone throwers. An 3-year-old boy, Majdi Shakir, from Nablus, was injured. Clashes were reported between residents of a Jewish and an Arab neighbourhood in East Jerusalem: Neve Yaacov and Dahyat al-Barid. Police dispersed stone throwers from both sides. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 26 June 1990)

129. On 26 June, four people were injured in clashes in the Gaza Strip. Soldiers allegedly raided the home of Dr. Said Beraket of the Shifa hospital and beat him severely. He was hospitalised and the IDF was investigating the allegation. A 13-year-old boy, Ashraf Omar, from Baka a-Sharkiya, was shot and seriously injured in a clash between troops and stone throwers. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 27 June 1990)

130. On 27 June, clashes were reported in Ramallah. One person was injured. Masked people reportedly imposed a curfew on the village of Hija, in the northern West Bank, gathered all men above 15 years of age and warned them not to go to work in Israel. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 28 June 1990)

131. On 28 June, a general strike was observed in the territories to mark the anniversary of the annexation of East Jerusalem by Israel. Six people were injured in clashes, including a 13-year-old boy, Iyad al-Haf, from Nablus. Five people were injured in a small number of incidents in the Gaza Strip. Soldiers reportedly wrote obscene graffiti on a mosque in Nablus. The IDF was investigating. A military police inquiry was opened into the beating of Dr. Said Barakat. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 29 June 1990)

132. On 29 and 30 June, a 13-year-old boy from Khan Yunis was electrocuted as he tried to hang a Palestinian flag on a power line. IDF operations were carried out in Beit Lakiya and in Shweika. Some 20 people were arrested. No major incidents were reported over the weekend. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 1 July 1990)

133. On 1 July, no major incidents were reported in the territories. Two residents of Jenin, Mahmud Marwan, aged 60, and Jihad Nasser, aged 42, were attacked and injured by masked youths. A 4-year-old Israeli girl was injured in the explosion of a bomb in the centre of West Jerusalem. (Ha'aretz, 2 July 1990)

134. On 2 July, there were strikes and processions marking the first day of the Id al-Adha Moslem holiday. Mahmud Abu-Hajaj, aged 16, from Khan Yunis camp died of electrocution when he tried to hang a Palestinian flag from a power line. In clashes with troops four were injured in Gaza. In Nur Shams camp, Masser Jawabra, aged 17, was injured. A 14-year-old boy, Khaled a-Sayeh, was hospitalized in Nablus after being hit by a rubber bullet. Three others were hospitalised with injuries caused by beatings. In Tulkarem camp, Guareb Asruji, aged 17, was hit by a rubber bullet. In Hebron, soldiers pursuing a masked youth entered a mosque and found a cache of petrol bombs and other material used by activists, as well as Hamas pamphlets. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 3 July 1990)

135. On 3 July, three boys were killed (see table) and nine wounded in a fierce battle between Palestinian factions in Idna, near Hebron. The incident was described as the bloodiest in the inter-faction violence since the beginning of the uprising. A curfew was imposed after the clash and police started an investigation. In other incidents security forces carried out an arrest-operation in Khan Yunis, detaining some 30 suspected members of the PFLP believed to be responsible for the killing of two local residents and attacks on other suspected collaborators. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 4 July 1990)

136. On 4 July, in a small number of clashes in the Khan Yunis and Rafah camp five people were injured, according to Palestinian sources. (Ha'aretz, 5 July 1990)

137. On 5 July, in a small number of incidents three were injured in the Gaza Strip and three in the West Bank. A petrol bomb was thrown at a lorry in Tulkarem; no one was hurt. The names of the youths injured in the West Bank were reported as Taysir Bilal, aged 20, from Atil, near Tulkarem; Ahmed Shalabi, aged 15, from Jenin who was hit in the chest and was hospitalized, and a 13-year-old boy from Kafr Labad, near Tulkarem. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 6 July 1990)

138. On 6 and 7 July, in incidents over the weekend five people were injured in the Gaza Strip. An IDF soldier was slightly injured by a stone while patrolling in Gaza. There were two incidents involving the throwing of a grenade or a makeshift charge: one in Nablus, at an IDF patrol, and another in the Old City of Jerusalem, at a police patrol. No one was hurt. In Nuseirat camp in the Gaza Strip there was an attack on a 45-year-old woman and her 21-year-old daughter. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 8 July 1990)

139. On 8 July, a Jerusalem policeman, Moshe Tadji, aged 24, was injured when an Arab assailant stabbed him in the back as he was patrolling in the Old City of Jerusalem. His life was not in danger. A small number of incidents were reported. Four were injured in the Gaza Strip. Jamil Abu Arkub, the deputy-mayor of Dura, was stabbed and injured by masked youths. At Kafr Thulth, near Kalkilya, masked people threw a petrol bomb at the home of Yusuf Arar, head of the local council. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 9 July 1990)

140. On 9 July, a general strike was observed in the territories to mark the thirty-second month of the uprising. Six people were injured in the Gaza Strip in a small number of incidents. A clash was reported in Halat al-Amud neighbourhood in Nablus. Troops entered into at least 40 homes and used a large quantity of tear-gas. A petrol bomb was thrown at an IDF patrol in Gaza. No one was hurt. Five masked youths were arrested in Gaza. One of them was shot and injured when he failed to obey an order to stop. (Ha'aretz, 10 July 1990)

141. On 10 July, a serious clash was reported in Shufat camp, north of Jerusalem. One youth was killed (see table) and several others were injured. In clashes with troops 14 people were injured, 5 in the Gaza Strip and 9 in the West Bank. The latter included Nashad Harun, aged 18, from Nablus, Muhammad Hamdan, from Kafr Ruman, near Tulkarem, and six residents of Kabatiya, near Jenin: Nader Zakharne, aged 13, Jamil Zakharne, aged 13, Nasser Zakharne, aged 16, Ghassem Zakharne, aged 18, Muhammad Akhmil, aged 16, and a woman of the same family who was hit in the head by a rubber-coated metal marble. Several people were injured as a result of beatings. Three wanted youths were arrested in Jenin. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 11 July 1990)

142. On 11 July, serious clashes continued in Shufat camp after the killing of a local youth the previous day. A policeman was slightly injured. Five people were injured in the Gaza Strip and three in Nablus and Sanur, near Jenin. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 12 July 1990)

143. On 12 July, in Kabatiya, following a tax raid and arrests, clashes broke out and one youth was injured. In clashes in the Gaza Strip five youths were injured. A soldier was hit by a atone. Two petrol bombs were thrown at a police patrol in East Jerusalem. No one was hurt. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 13 July 1990)

144. On 13 and 14 July, serious clashes were reported over the weekend in Bureij camp and elsewhere in the Gaza Strip. Eight people were injured. In clashes in the West Bank two youths were shot and injured in Kabatiya and two others in the Tulkarem region, during search-and arrest raids. A Nablus resident, Sheikh Naba Birek, aged 28, was injured by soldiers as he was returning to his home, holding his 8-mouth-old daughter in his arms. He alleged that soldiers stopped him near his home and ordered him to raise his arms. He raised one arm and the soldiers beat him with rifle-butts and then shot a rubber bullet in his leg. The case was under investigation. In East Jerusalem three cars and a grocery shop were set an fire. An IDF reserve officer was shot and wounded by soldiers in Ramallah when he drove through road-blocks and ignored an order to stop. The body of Adnan Mohsen, aged 26, from Khan Yunis, was discovered in the Israeli city of Bat Yam, hearing stab wounds. Police said he had died in a fall from a roof. His body was sent to the Forensic Medicine Institute. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 15 July 1990)

145. On 15 July, clashes with troops were reported in the Gaza Strip. Five people were injured. The IDF carried out operations in Beit Lid, Shufa and Safarin, in the Tulkarem area. Three were injured in Beit Lid, including a 12-year-old boy, Kikhri Zabadeh, who was hospitalized, suffering from paralysis of his legs. The two other injured were named as Muhammad Talal, aged 18, and Issam Hamadeh, aged 22. Both were hospitalised. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 16 July 1990)

146. On 16 July, it was reported that incidents and clashes in the Gaza Strip were increasing. Five people were injured in clashes in Jabaliya, Rafah and Bureij camps. In the West Bank a border police patrol caught two masked Hamas activists painting slogans in Kalkilya. One of them, Yasser Abed, aged 17, was shot in the legs allegedly after he tried to attack a soldier. In Tulkarem camp, Muhammad Saba, aged 40, who had been wanted for two years, was captured. Arrests were also carried out in the Ramallah and Bethlehem areas. In Nablus, soldiers beat Sufian Khirzallah, aged 22, of Zeita, and Khalil Haman, aged 22, of Balata camp. The two were later found, bleeding from the head, by Red Cross representatives who were called to the scene. The incident occurred in the covered market in the Casbah. Both youths were taken to hospital and later released. The IDF was investigating the case. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 17 July 1990)

147. On 17 July, the IDF carried out search and arrest operations in the West Bank, in order to capture suspected activists. Dozens were arrested. In Jenin one wanted man was injured and hospitalised. In continuing clashes in the Gaza Strip three were injured. In Ramallah soldiers stopped Ribhi Aruri, a journalist, and ordered him to pick up a auspicious object. He refused and later filed a complaint. In Tulkarem a petrol bomb was thrown at an army jeep, injuring a soldier. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, le July 1990)

148. On 28 July, four people were injured in clashes in Shati and Bureij camps, and in Rifah and Khan Yunis. Search and arrest operations were reported in the villages of Anabta, Mazraat Sharkiya, Atil, Rumaneh and Beit Anan. At Raz Atiya, Ata Mura'abeh, aged 26, was beaten and stabbed by masked youths. In Kalkilya, Mustafa Asbeitan, aged 24, was abducted. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 19 July 1990)

149. On 19 July, four persons were injured in clashes in the Gaza Strip. In Nablus Omar Musalah, aged 15, and Munib Samahneh, aged 40, were shot and injured after hundreds participated in a march through the Casbah. Troops raided Kafr Kadum, near Nablus, and ordered residents to take down Palestinian flags and erase hostile slogans. Masked youths abducted Raked Kuran, aged 44, of Kalkilya. Mustafa Asbeitan, who had been abducted earlier, was found seriously injured. An IDF officer, a lieutenant-colonel, was seriously injured when he was hit with a stone in the head. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 20 July 1990)

150. On 20 and 21 July, IDF and border police units shot and wounded 37 people in Rafah on 20 July 1990 in the most serious clashes in the territories since the aftermath of the Rishon Lezion massacre at the end of May. The clashes started when youths stoned an army jeep. The clashes lasted until late in the evening. Four were seriously injured. Clashes were also reported elsewhere in the Gaza Strip; six people were injured, including a 9-year-old girl from Sajai'ya who was shot in the hand. According to Palestinian sources a 7-year-old boy from Bureij camp underwent surgery to remove his right eye after he was hit in the face and burned by a tear-gas canister. In clashes in the West Bank six were injured. (Jerusalem Post, 22 July 1990)

151. On 22 July, clashes continued in Rafah. Five people were injured. In clashes in the West Bank the following people were injured: Muhammad Ali, aged 21, from Kalkilya, shot by border policemen; Muhammad Sharkawi, aged 14, and Amjad Abd el-Kader, aged 19, both from Zababdeh, near Jenin. An Israeli Arab, Mizar Mahmud Daka, aged 26, from Yama, was abducted by masked youths as he drove near Atil village. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 23 July 1990)

152. On 23 July, five people were injured in clashes in the Gaza Strip, principally in Rafah and Jabaliya camps. A woman, Naval Awabda, aged 24, from Deir Dibwan, was severely beaten and was hospitalized. In Nablus, a shot was fired at an IDF lookout post. No one was hurt. Several wanted activists were arrested in Awarta, Nur Shams, Tulkarem, Arura and Deir Dibwan. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 24 July 1990)

153. On 24 July, a general strike, called by Hamas, was observed in the territories. In clashes in the West Bank the following persons, all from Kabatiya, were injured: Ahmed Zakharne, aged 16, Ibrahim Sadek, aged 33, Khaled Khmeil, aged 24, and Ziad Khameil, aged 14. In Labad, east of Tulkarem, Khaled Ahmed, aged 20, was shot in the hand. The head of the Etzion bloc regional council reported that 100 cherry and peach trees had been uprooted by Arabs in the settlement of Neve Daniel. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 25 July 1990)

154. On 25 July, the body of the Israeli Arab, Nizar Duka, abducted on 22 July 1990, was discovered. An 18-year-old women, Ikbal Jamal, was abducted from her home in Assun, near Kalkilya. In clashes in the West bank two were shot and injured: Shafik Abd el-Ani, aged 23, from Sida, near Tulkarem, and a resident of Kabatiya. A soldier was slightly injured when he was hit in the hand by a stone in Khan Yunis. Three Gaza Strip residents were injured in clashes. In East Jerusalem three cars were set on fire and a border police patrol was attacked with stones and bottles in Abu-tor. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 26 July 1990)

155. On 26 July, five people were injured in clashes in the Gaza Strip. The body of Mustafah Fakih, aged 40, from Katana, was discovered near the settlement of Nataf. His family claimed he was killed by collaborators. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 27 July 1990)

156. On 27 and 28 July, clashes were reported during the weekend, with six injured in the West Bank and seven in the Gaza Strip. A serious clash occurred in Nablus. A 15-year-old boy, Sahir Ba'ara, was shot in the head by an army sniper and seriously injured. Other persons injured in Nablus were Muhammad Atallah, aged 20, Ziad Ashur, aged 16, Mohamed Zayed, aged 18, and Salah Abu Za'arur, aged 17. Imad Jafer, aged 18, from Jenin was injured and later arrested. Mustafa Tambura, aged 40, of Bait Lahiya, was beaten by masked youths. A 17-year-old Canadian tourist, Marnie Kimmelman, was killed when a bomb went off on a Tel Aviv beach. Eighteen others were injured. The area was sealed off by police and 12 Arabs were detained for questioning. Six Israelis who tried to attack Arab passers-by were also detained for questioning. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 29 July 1990)

157. On 29 July, troops backed by a helicopter raided two villages in the Tulkarem area, Sida and Ilar. Fifteen wanted men were arrested. In clashes in the Gaza Strip five people were injured. A 7-year-old boy, Maez Kuzah, from Tulkarem, was hit in the face by a rubber bullet. In Jenin, masked youths attacked and injured Hamis Shahnur, aged 22. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 30 July 1990)

158. On 30 July, 10 people, including two boys aged 6 and 14, were injured in clashes in the territories. Serious clashes were reported in the Casbah of Nablus after it was learned that a local boy died of wounds sustained earlier (see list). Troops used large quantities of tear-gas to disperse demonstrators. Clashes were also reported in Kabatiya (five injured) and in several localities in the Gaza Strip. An Israeli civilian, Yitzhak Perets, aged 27, from Tel Aviv, was attacked and injured when he drove through the village of Arraba, near Jenin. Dozens of villagers allegedly stopped his car, stoned it, and later hit and stabbed him. His car was set on fire. He was later taken to hospital by two Arab truck drivers. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 31 July 1990)

159. on 31 July, several people were seriously injured in a series of clashes and incidents. An Israeli boy, Evyatar Cohen, aged 7, from Efrat settlement, was injured when he was hit in the head by a stone thrown at his parents' car. Two residents of the Golan were injured when a petrol bomb was thrown at their car near Akabat Jaber camp in Jericho. Troops later imposed a curfew in the area, and arrested several suspects. Osama Turkman, a boy aged 10 or 12 from Jenin camp, was shot in the head by a plastic bullet and was hospitalized in a serious condition. Another 10-year-old boy, Muhamad Arafat from Nablus, was shot and injured when passengers of an Israeli bus opened fire after the bus was stoned. In Tulkarem camp, Yusuf Abu-Ghazala, aged 23, who was wanted since the beginning of the uprising, was shot and injured by soldiers in disguise who later arrested him. Abdallah Shehadeh, aged 15, from Jamain, near Nablus, was shot in the leg in a clash with stone throwers. Nidal Abu Ghanem, aged 21, from Akaba, near Tubas, and three Kabatiya residents, aged 13, 14 and 40, were also injured. Three people were injured in clashes in the Gaza Strip. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 1 August 1990)

160. On 1 August, six Palestinians were shot and injured in clashes: one, Amir al-Ziah, aged 45, from Al-Khader, was shot in the head by a rubber bullet. The other five were injured in Rafah. Troops carried out raids in several villages, including Bidiya and Jilaban. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 2 August 1990)

161. On 2 August, three people were slightly injured in clashes in Jenin, Kabatiya and Nablus. Another eight were injured in Rafah. A patrol bomb was thrown at the police commander in Ramallah. (Jerusalem Post, 3 August 1990)

162. On 3 and 4 August, five people were injured in clashes in the West Bank over the weekend and seven in Rafah and Khan Yunis. A 14-year-old boy, Sari Laoud, was found dead in Kalkilya. The death circumstances were unclear but it was believed that the motive was criminal and not political. Several wanted people were arrested during an operation in Hebron and 22 wanted people were arrested in Sajai'ya and Zeitun neighbourhoods in Gaza. According to Palestinian sources troops had recently raided hospitals in the south of the Gaza Strip to obtain records of injured people's names. They then allegedly went to their houses and imposed fines on them. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 5 August 1990)

163. On 5 August, one person, Ibrahim Salman, aged 25, was shot and seriously injured by a rubber bullet in Tulkarem, and another five were injured in the Gaza Strip. Unknown persons opened fire on an army patrol in the village of Beit Kahil, west of Hebron. No one was injured. According to Palestinian sources a 48-year-old woman, Emna al-Kilari, from Yabed, died in hospital after being hit by an army truck the previous week. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 6 August 1990)

164. On 6 August, two Israeli youths, Lior Tubol, aged 17, and Rouen Karamani, aged 16, who had been missing since 4 August were found dead near East Jerusalem area of Beit Hanina. They had been gagged, handcuffed and stabbed in the back. The discovery of the bodies was followed by attacks by Jewish youths on Arabs. Eleven Arabs were injured and eight Jews participated in the rioting in various areas in Jerusalem. Kach activists incited the crowds and there were many incidents in which Arab drivers were forced out of their cars and severely beaten. Several Arab cars were burned and many cars and houses were damaged by stones. In other developments in the territories, three people were injured in clashes in the Gaza Strip. Strikes were held in many towns. In Gaza the strike was general. A soldier was slightly injured in a stone-throwing incident in Beit-Hanun. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 7 August 1990)

165. On 7 August, rioting by Jews and attacks on Arabs continued throughout the day in Jerusalem. For the first time there were masked people and Jewish orthodox youths among the rioters. Twelve Arabs were injured. Police used force to disperse Jewish rioters and 22 were arrested. A women passenger was killed when a bullet shattered the back window of an Arab car near Kiryat Arba (see list). In Abud, near Ramallah, a 45-year-old woman, Radia Ali, was shot and injured by troops during a stone-throwing at Arab cars by settlers. Muhammad Hassan from Beit Ummar was injured by stone-throwing. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 9 August 1990)

166. On 8 August, only a few anti-Arab incidents were reported in Jerusalem. Kach activists cut electricity and telephone lines in the villages of Bait Safafa, Sur Daher and Eizariya. Several people, Arabs and Jews, were slightly injured in stone-throwing incidents. Serious clashes were reported in Rafah. Five people were injured. Walid Abu-Leil, aged 32, was seriously injured in the head in clashes in Balata camp near Nablus. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 9 August 1990)

167. On 9 August, a general strike was observed in the territories to mark the beginning of the thirty-third month of the uprising. A few clashes were reported in Askar and Far'a camps. Tension in Jerusalem continued to decrease. However, anti-Arab incidents occurred in one junction, where Arab cars were stoned. Police intervened on several occasions and arrested three Jewish suspects. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 10 August 1990)

168. On 10 and 11 August, one youth was shot dead (see table) and three others were injured. They were named as Alwan Akmeil, aged 11, Nasser Mansour, aged 15, both from Kabatiya, and Bassam Muhammad, aged 17, from Akaba near Tubas. Another three people were injured in Rafah and Gaza. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 12 August 1990)

169. On 12 August, pro-Iraqi demonstrations were held in the territories. Three people were injured in the Gaza Strip and three in the West Bank. They were named as Usmah Yamuni, aged 17, Muhammad Awad, aged 19, and Hamdan Hamed, aged 14, all from Jenin. (Ha'aretz, 13 August 1990)

170. On 13 August, three people were injured in clashes in the Gaza Strip. Two were injured in Kabatiya. Clashes were also reported in the Casbah of Nablus, Ramallah and Askar. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 14 August 1990)

171. On 14 August, Adel Zikawi, aged 45, was injured in the head when cars were stoned near the Damiya bridge. No other casualties were reported, as pro-Iraqi and anti-Egyptian demonstrations and marches continued in many West Bank and Gaza Strip towns and camps. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 15 August 1990)

172. On 15 August, a general strike, called by the Hamas Islamic movement, was fully observed in the territories. Troops forcibly dispersed pro-Iraqi demonstrators, injuring four, including Yusuf Zamal, aged 17, from the Tulkarem camp. Marches and clashes with troops were also reported in Beit-Wazan, Zawata, near Nablus, and the camps of Ein Beit al-Ma and Askar. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 16 August 1990)

173. On 16 August, widespread demonstrations in support of Iraq continued in the West Bank. In Kabatiya, Jamil Zakharna, aged 14, was shot and injured by troops. In Khan Yunis seven demonstrators were beaten and injured by troops. A 14-year-old boy, Hamis Rifai, from Bureij camp, was severely beaten. Another 20-year-old youth was severely beaten by a Givati patrol and had to be hospitalized, after he refused to remove a Palestinian flag. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 17 August 1990)

174. On 17 and 18 August, pro-Iraqi demonstrations and marches continued over the weekend. Shots were fired at an IDF patrol in Hebron. No one was hurt. Parts of the town were placed under curfew. Troops dispersed mass demonstrations with thousands of participants; no casualties were reported. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 19 August 1990)

175. On 19 August, three people were injured in clashes in the Gaza Strip. A soldier, Eran Glazer, aged 20, was injured in the head by a stone in Jabaliya camp. (Ha'aretz, 20 August 1990)

176. On 20 August, a serious clash was reported in the Ketziot detention camp, when inmates attacked soldiers, who replied by firing tear-gas grenades and shooting in the air. Fifteen inmates were injured from inhaling gas and several others from beatings. Six soldiers, including one officer, were injured. In other developments, a petrol bomb was thrown at a military jeep in Nablus, leading to arrests. Clashes were reported in Sheikh Radwan, north of Gaza. Three people were injured by plastic-coated metal bullets. Muhammad Ali Siam, aged 37, from Shati camp, was seriously injured by masked youths. Faisal Mansuri, aged 35, disappeared and a pro-Fatah group claimed responsibility for his abduction. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 21 August 1990)

177. On 21 August, a general strike was observed in the territories. In serious clashes in the Gaza Strip 13 people were shot and injured, including six youths aged 23 to 21. In Hebron, a masked man was shot and injured by troops. A tourist from South Africa was stabbed and slightly injured in Jerusalem. An Israeli driver was attacked by two young Palestinians in the north of Ramla, in Israel. In Zawiya, Issat Ashkir, aged 10, was kidnapped by masked youths. Clashes were reported in Tulkarem camp. Three people were injured: Iyad Jawar, aged 17, Nasser Baria, aged 19, and Mahmud Issa, aged 30. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 22 August 1990)

178. On 22 August, in scattered clashes in the territories five people were injured in the Gaza Strip and five in the West Bank. They included a boy aged 13, Heitam al-Arej from Nur Shams camp, and Jaber Amur, aged 18, who was shot in the head in Ansah, near Jenin. Two petrol bombs were thrown at a military car near Jaba. Troops opened fire and injured Shaher Abu-Aun, aged 18. Other people were injured in Anabta and Nablus. They were named as Ahmed Ghalib, aged 18, and Fadi Zaghlul. Palestinian sources alleged that troops in Nablus fired tear-gas into the Casbah without provocation. A tax raid was carried out in Beit Fajar, south of Bethlehem. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 23 August 1990)

179. On 23 August, in Nablus two boys aged 15 were hospitalised with wounds caused by rubber bullets. An Israeli driver shot and slightly injured a girl aged 8 in Sajai'ya, Gaza. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 24 August 1990)

180. On 24 and 25 August, six Palestinians were killed over the weekend (see list). There were several pro-Iraqi demonstrations, principally in Nablus. Three people were injured in clashes in the Gaza Strip. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 26 August 1990)

181. On 26 August, clashes were reported in three West Bank villages: Silat a-Hartiya, Kasrah and Madama. In Silat a-Hartiya troops carried out searches and arrests after two petrol bombs were thrown at the homes of people suspected of collaboration and one villager was killed. In Kasrah the son of the local mukhtar, Kaber Jibally, aged 23, was kidnapped by masked men. A petrol bomb was thrown at an IDF patrol in Gaza. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 27 August 1990)

182. On 27 August, in a small number of incidents five people were injured in the Gaza Strip and several pro-Iraqi demonstrations were reported in the West Bank. Troops reportedly fired tear-gas into a shop in the Casbah of Nablus, for no apparent reason. Troops also raided several shops in the area and carried out arrests of wanted men. Two petrol bombs were thrown at IDF patrols in Gaza. Raed Asad, aged 19, from Beita, was shot in the leg and hospitalized. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 28 August 1990)

183. On 28 August, in scattered clashes four people were injured in Tulkarem and two in the Gaza Strip. The Tulkarem injured youths were named as Ali Abu Ishab, aged 15, Hamdullah Asa, aged 16, Ahmed Abdullah, aged 15, and Rayed Abu Zahra, aged 18, who was treated in hospital and then arrested. Issa Hamdan, aged 30, from Al-Arub camp, was injured when his car was stoned by settlers in Hebron. Two road-side bombs went off near Beit Sahur as an Israeli bus drove by. There was material damage but no one was hurt. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 29 August 1990)

184. On 29 August, serious clashes were reported in Hebron and four petrol bombs were thrown at troops. Three people were injured in clashes in the Gaza Strip. Clashes and stone-throwing incidents were reported in Rafah, Khan Yunis, Bureij and Shati camps. In Nablus, a local inhabitant, Muhammad Salah al-Arub, aged 55, known as a collaborator, entered the local detention house, located near the military government house, and tried to open fire at several detainees held on suspicion of killing his son Nasser, aged 12, on 12 January 1989. Soldiers overpowered him before he could shoot. Three persons were injured in clashes in the West Bank: Husam Salfiti from Jenin, Muhammad Shawish, aged 21, from Far'a and Khaled Mahmud, aged 19, from Balata. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 30 August 1990)

185. On 30 August, a general strike was observed in the territories. In a small number of incidents four were injured in the Gaza Strip. A soldier was burned in the hand in Jabaliya camp when a petrol bomb was thrown at an IDF patrol. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 31 August 1990)

186. On 31 August and 1 September, in clashes over the weekend five people were injured in the West Bank, two in the Gaza Strip and two in an incident with settlers. (Ha'aretz, 2 September 1990)
B.  Administration of justice, including the right to a fair trial
1.  Palestinian population
Oral evidence

187. A number of witnesses described their personal experience with regard to the administration of justice. Reference was made to the brutal conditions under which the arrest of Palestinians usually took place:

"On 4 November 1987, at 10.30 p.m., tens of soldiers surrounded my house while tens of others raided it to arrest me. Without any official arrest order, I was dragged into a military jeep which took me to the Moscobiya, the Russian Compound Detention Center in Jerusalem. There, the Shin Bet wrote down the arrest order." (Miss Terry Boullata, A/AC.145/RT.530)

"I was taken at 3 a.m. in the morning. When the soldiers came, they broke into my parents' house, where I lived. They woke me up, I was asleep. Their cars were standing at about 500 meters away from the house. I remember that they made me go out in my underwear. My mother tried to give me my pajamas and they used these pajamas to cover my eyes. After I had walked out of the house a bit, they started beating me, until we reached the car. They threw me to the ground and through the way from the Shata camp to the central prison of Gaza, which is a distance of about three kilometers, the soldiers surrounding me in the car were beating me with the ends of their guns and with their feet and insulting me. When we arrived at the Gaza prison that night I remember that it was a cold night – they made me stand almost naked next to a pillar, in order to complete the preliminary formalities for my admission into prison." (Mr. Helmi Moussa Ghaben, A/AC.145/RT.534/Add.1)

188. It was also pointed out that many trials were a pretence of justice rather than fair trials, and Mr. Jamal Ibrahim Farraj, a deported journalist, stated in this connection:

"We were a group of 25 detainees and we were all threatened with expulsion. We were all placed in a detention camp, pending the trial. And though I claimed that this trial we were presented to was a legal one, we were surprised to find that it was a mock trial. We were placed before three military judges who did not allow us to speak and did not allow us to defend ourselves against the charges addressed at us." (A/AC.145/RT.535)

189. Mr. Helmi Mousse Ghaben, a former detainee, recalled his experience in that regard:

"I remember that my lawyer had asked to see me, that was on the eleventh day after my arrest. His request was rejected, so he applied to the highest authorities, to the legal counsellor of the Israeli army. He presented a request to see me, without talking to me, just to see me, and he also presented a request for my release on bail. After enormous efforts, they allowed him to see me. The following happened: an interrogation officer came to me and told me 'don't tell anything, you are not allowed to talk'. I did not know where I was going. Anyway, they put a bag on my head and I was not properly dressed, I had just an overall over me, without underwear. They took me to a room where they were holding sittings to decide on bail requests. The first thing was that the legal colonel, who was by the way the chairman of the military court in Gaza, asked me not to say anything, just to sit and listen. He told me 'that is your lawyer and he has presented a request for release on bail and this request has been rejected, good bye'. That was it. I told him that it was my right to speak in front of him, since this was a court. He hesitated and then asked the lawyer to go out of the room. The lawyer went out and the colonel asked me what I wanted to say. I told him that I first wanted to know why I had been arrested. He told me 'don't you know why you have been arrested?' 'Certainly not, I do not know anything.' He looked than at the representative of the police, who is also an intelligence officer and he asked him if this was possible, if this was true. The officer answered him back in Hebrew that I was an experienced prisoner, that I wanted to play a card. I understood what was said, so I answered back in Hebrew 'I do not want to play games with you, I just want to know the truth'. So, the chairman of the court answered me, saying 'I cannot tell you the charges against you'. So I said 'how can I defend myself if I don't know the accusations against me?' He said then in Hebrew 'you have contacted the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine'. I told him that this was a general charge that could be made towards anybody in the street. Afterwards he told me that there was also a secret file. I said that this term secret, confidential, could make you sign for persons who had died long ago. He said then 'This in not politics, I don't allow you to speak about politics'. I told him 'I don't want to dwell on politics if this is so, but I just wanted to register in the minutes of this court that I have been exposed to torture, that for 11 days I was not given one minute to sleep, that I am exhausted, but still fully aware of what's going on.' He told me that he was not going to register what I had said, that I could speak about it with the judge concerned with the extension of my period of detention. I told him then that he was going to see me and to know that this word secret file does not mean anything at all. Then I went out." (A/AC.145/RT.534/Add.1)

190. Mr. Balal Ezzedine Hussein Shakhshir, a deported pedagogue, also referred to the denial of access to charges:

"…there was no sentence, it was always administrative detention and charges used to be addressed as part of the secret file procedure, that is to say this is a person who is a threat to security and that's it. But there were no specific charges. The military judges read this to you and it is given to them by the intelligence people, but the detainee himself does not have the right to defend himself or to find out what the charges against him are." (A/AC.145/RT.538)

191. Mrs. Anita Vitullo, a human rights researcher, denounced the lack of adequate judicial remedies:

"The system of military trials completely collapsed in 1989. There were long delays experienced, speedy trials where groups of Palestinians would be brought for immediate conviction, without witnesses. There were two strikes by the West Bank and Gaza lawyers during the year to protest the terrible conditions inside the military courts, which sometimes involved the beating of lawyers by soldiers." (A/AC.145/RT.543)

192. The practice of extracting confessions under duress was also mentioned in several testimonies, Mr. Mohamed Ahmed Saleh Nazal, a student, stated in this regard:

"There were two interrogators. One wrote down what was said and the other one had a stick. He stood behind me and he beat me repeatedly. If I did not answer what they wanted me to, he used to hit me. After the interrogation, in the cell, I was prevented from sleeping. If the interrogator went for a rest period, the supervisor or the soldier responsible for the cell were told to prevent me from sleeping and if they felt that I was going to sleep, they used to pretend that they were repairing something in the cell, the window for instance. They would also tie me, hands and feet, and spray me with water." (A/AC.145/RT.534/Add.1)

193. An anonymous witness referred to the psychological pressure exerted during interrogation in order to induce detainees to confess:

"There was an interrogation, during which we were exposed to beating. There is a specific way of dealing with detainees, especially the young ones. They try to attract them or to frighten them. There would be a person coming to you and treating you very gently and respectfully and another person who would try to deal with you very violently, very cruelly, so those who do not have sufficient experience or preliminary education are persons who can easily fall into the hands of the intelligence authorities, because normally when a person comes to you gently and tries to talk to you gently, you would rather try to deal with him than with the person who acts cruelly towards you. So, this is one of the methods they are pursuing, especially towards the young people." (A/AC.145/RT.536)

194. Accounts of the administration of justice in the occupied territories may be found in documents A/AC.145/RT.530 (Miss Terry Boullata); A/AC.145/RT.534 (an anonymous witness); A/AC.145/RT.534/Add.1 (Mr. Helmi Moussa Ghaben); A/AC.145/RT.535 (Mr. Jamal Ibrahim Farraj); A/AC.145/RT.538 (Mr. Balal Ezzedine Hussein Shakhahir); A/AC.145/RT.543 (Mrs. Anita Vitullo; Mrs. Raja'a Hannor); and A/AC.145/RT.545 (an anonymous witness).

Written Information

195. On 1 April 1990, the Arab Lawyers Committee (ALC) protested the treatment of Palestinian lawyers in Israeli courts at a press conference. Ali Ghuslan, head of the Went Bank-based ALC, charged that Israeli authorities consistently interfered with the duties of Palestinian lawyers and violated the rights of both lawyers and their clients. He said lawyers were regularly denied information pertaining to their cases and were forced to wait long hours to see Israeli officials or detained prisoners. The ALC was especially concerned with access to Ansar 3 detention camp. He added that five Palestinian lawyers had been assaulted by Israeli soldiers and border guards and another six detained since the beginning of the intifadah. (Al Fajr, 9 April 1990)

196. On 3 April, the Gaza military court sentenced Mohamed Hamdan Abu Ghararah, aged 73, of Rafah to eight months in prison, 52 months suspended sentence and an NIS 5,000 fine for possessing a gun. (Al Fajr, 9 April 1990 from Ashaab)

197. On 4 April, the Hebron military court sentenced Rahmeh Khalil Al Seekh, aged 53, to a six-month suspended prison term and a fine of NIS 650 on a political charge. Seekh has three sons in detention (Al Fajr, 9 April 1990)

198. On 5 April, it was reported that the military court in Gaza had sentenced Dalal Saruk, aged 20, and Mahmud Mustafa, aged 22, both from Jabaliya, to eight years in prison each for throwing explosive charges at an IDF post in the camp, in 1987. (Ha'aretz, 5 April 1990)

199. On 8 April, the Jerusalem District Court sentenced Intisar Atta Al Kak of Silwan village, in the Jerusalem area, to four years in prison after convicting her of carrying a Molotov cocktail. Kak is seven months pregnant. Another woman, Ghalya Ayub Abu Samra, aged 38, of Deir El Balah refugee camp, was also sentenced by the Gaza military court. She received a five-and-a-half months prison sentence and a fine of NIS 3,000 for possession of weapons. (Al Fajr, 16 April 1990)

200. On 16 April, it was reported that a Palestinian youth had spent more than four years in an Israeli prison waiting for a trial. Umai Abu Aisheh, aged 19, of Balata refugee camp was arrested on 16 February 1986 on suspicion of throwing Molotov cocktails at Israeli patrols and manufacturing pipe grenades. The military court in Nablus reviewed the youth's case at least six times but failed to issue formal charges against him on the grounds that his file had been lost. Ali Ghuzlan, his lawyer, has been unable to defend Abu Aisheh since no charges have been filed against him and he has not been placed in administrative detention. Each time the court met it postponed Abu Aisheh's trial. (Al Fajr, 16 April 1990)

201. On 19 April, the military court in Lod sentenced Izzat Azzawi, aged 39, a writer and lecturer at Bir Zeit University to 27 months in prison and 23 months suspended, for drafting pamphlets related to the uprising. Radi Jara'i, aged 39, was sentenced to two years in prison and two years suspended for drafting pamphlets and distributing $220,000 he had received from Dr. Sari Nusseibeh for activities related to the uprising. (Jerusalem Post, 20 April 1990)

202. On 29 April, the military court in Nablus sentenced Zaher Ahmed Naji Abdel Khalek, aged 25, of Kfar Ra'i village, near Jenin, to 17 years in prison on charges of leading popular committees, possessing weapons, organizing a demonstration that resulted in the killing of a collaborator, and preparing and throwing bombs at collaborators and army patrol vehicles. (Al Fajr, 30 April 1990)

203. On 3 May, the military court in Lod sentenced Jaber Jawad Salameh Yussuf, aged 33, from Zawiya, to life imprisonment. Yussuf was convicted of 24 counts, including membership of a hostile organization, military training, possession of weapons, opening fire (also at civilian buses) and dozens of cases of preparation and placing of explosive charges. He lost his hand and one of his eyes when a charge exploded in his hands. A second defendant in the same case, Hassin Asfur Shaker, aged 26, also from Zawiya, was sentenced to 26 years imprisonment. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 4 May 1990)

204. On 6 May, the High Court of Justice ruled, in a majority of votes, to annul a demolition order issued by the IDF commander in the Gaza Strip for the home of Rahim Obeid, who was accused of membership in a striking committee in Gaza and of violent activity. Obeid had confessed to being a member in the committee and to attacking suspected collaborators and drug-dealers. But his lawyer, Lea Tsemel, argued that in his statement to the interrogators Obeid did not confess to attacking suspected collaborators, nor did he confess to setting fire to the Income Tax Offices in the Gaza Strip. Two of the judges accepted the argument. Justice Yaacov Or pointed out that the charge sheet against Obeid did not include the charge of setting fire to the Income Tax Offices, and that he did not confess to it. He confessed that the striking committee to which he belonged acted against suspected collaborators and drug-dealers, but did not confess to having personally taken part in such an activity. The explanation given by the IDF commander for his decision to demolish Obeid's home was not based, in part, on true facts. For that reason the court ruled that the order should be annulled, the case should be reconsidered by the IDF commander, and the expenses of the hearing (NIS 2,000 or $1,000) should be borne by the IDF. On 30 July 1990 it was reported that the IDF announced it intended to seal the house of Abd el Rahim Abid, even though the High Court of Justice had earlier accepted the man's petition against the sealing. The army authorities now announced that the house would be sealed after the charge sheet against the man was corrected to include the offence of arson, which did not figure in the original charge sheet. (Ha'aretz, 7 May 1990, 30 July 1990)

205. On 15 May, it was reported that Abdallah Jubrin, an employee of Al-Haqq, the West Bank human rights group, had petitioned the High Court of Justice against the IDF commander in the West Bank following a one-year administrative detention order issued against him. The petition will be heard by a three-justice court. Jubrin argued in his petition that the administrative detention order was illegal and unfounded. (Ha'aretz, 15 May 1990)

206. On 16 May, it was reported the Betselem human rights group had carried out monitoring activity in three military courts in the territories over the past six months. It appeared that, during that period, the army made the judicial system in the territories more efficient by opening two new courts – in Jenin and Hebron and by resorting to "accelerated trials", which led to shortening the period of pre-trial detention. The first report published by Betselem on the subject in November 1969 pointed at serious violations of detainees' rights, long delays, humiliation of detainees and lawyers and disrespect for detainees' families. An IDF spokesman said that in January 1990 97.7 per cent of defendants who were put on trial under the "accelerated procedure" had not been subjected to any of the obstacles and hindrances which had characterized the judicial system in the past. But according to Betselem, basing its arguments on observing the situation in the military court in Hebron, a considerable number of defendants who are to be tried under the accelerated procedure do not have enough time to appoint a lawyer, and sometimes even to inform their families about their detention. In addition, the prosecutors do not have enough time to study the evidence before the trial starts, and the result is that during the trial, the judge himself interrogates the defendants. (Ha'aretz, 16 May 1990; Al Fajr, 4 June 1990)

207. On 20 May, it was reported that Sheikh Ahmed Nimer, the Imam of the A-Rahma mosque in Khan Yunis, was placed in administrative detention for one year: Sheikh Nimer, aged 47, was a leading member of the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip. He had served in the past a six-month administrative detention term and has recently been detained for 15 days. (Ha'aretz, 20 May 1990)

208. On 24 May, it was reported that the High Court of Justice had, in a precedent-creating ruling, intervened in the discretion of a military commander by ordering the immediate release of an administrative detainee who has been held in the Ketziot jail for almost a year. Taysir Mustafa Shehadeh Zayed, aged 26, from Jalazun camp, was placed under administrative detention for six months for activity in the framework of the Popular Army in the Jalazun camp. At the and of the six-months term his detention was extended by six more months, this time for being "a senior activist in inciting disturbances of the peace, who continues his activity even inside the prison". He appealed the extension to a military judge, but the latter rejected the appeal. He then petitioned the High Court of Justice, through his lawyer Shelomo Lecker. The High Court, after considering the petition, the State's reply and the confidential evidence, reached the conclusion that the six-months extension was unjustified. The detainee was released immediately (10 days before his second term expired). (Ha'aretz, 24 May 1990)

209. On 24 May, it was reported that the administration of Ansar 3 detention camp in the Negev Desert prevented a group of Palestinian lawyers from visiting their clients in the camp. The lawyers said Israeli military police searched them before denying them entry to the camp. In a separate development, the Jerusalem Central Court sentenced Amal Al Shouli, aged 14, of Kalandiya refugee camp to five months in prison, 10 months suspended sentence and a fine of NIS 5,000 ($2,500) after convicting her of being an activist of the uprising in the camp. (Al Fajr, 4 June 1990)

210. On 5 June, it was reported that since 20 May 1990, following the killing of seven Gaza workers in Rishon Lezion and the outbreak of widespread riots, the IDS had greatly increased the number of arrests of demonstrators in the Gaza Strip. According to Palestinian sources between 700 and 1,000 people were arrested over the past fortnight. But according to an IDF spokesperson the figures for the period 1 January 1990-19 May 1990 were 594 arrested, and for the period 20 May 1990-4 June 1990 only 68 people. (Jerusalem Post, 5 June 1990)

211. On 6 June, the military court in Ramallah sentenced Ibrahim Salama, aged 16, of Khader, to two years imprisonment, and two years suspended term. He was convicted of throwing stones at an Egged bus on the Jerusalem-Hebron road. There were no casualties in the incident. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 7 June 1990)

212. On 7 June, a charge sheet was filed with the military court in Rafah against Abdel Rahman Fadel al-Kik, aged 27, who is serving a life sentence in Ashkelon jail for having killed two Israelis in Gaza in 1987. According to the charge sheet al-Kik was trying to organize, from the prison, a cell of the Islamic Jihad organisation in the Gaza Strip. He allegedly issued orders in writing to set up killing gangs in order to kidnap and murder Israeli civilians and soldiers, and to claim responsibility on behalf of the Islamic Jihad. (Ha'aretz, 8 June 1990)

213. On 11 June, Sami Abu Samhadana, aged 28, a journalist from Rafah, was put in administrative detention for one year. He had already served a one-year administrative detention term in the past. (Jerusalem Post, 12 June 1990)

214. On 12 June, the military court in Gaza imposed prison sentences an several persons convicted of terrorist activity. Atef Farawi. was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for planting an explosive charge near an IDF post in Gaza, injuring five soldiers. Mahmud Anajuha, aged 23, and Ramzi al-Bares, aged 18, both from Khan Yunis, were sentenced to life imprisonment for killing two persons whom they suspected of collaboration. (Ha'aretz, 13 June 1990)

215. On 14 June, the Tel Aviv district court sentenced Jamal Hanizi from Gaza to life imprisonment. He was convicted of killing, inside the Abu-Kabir detention facility, Ala Shurab – another detainee – for alleged collaboration. The incident occurred on 31 May 1989 while 25 residents of the territories were held in one cell. Another detainee, Awida Kulab, also took part in the killing. (Ha'aretz, 15 June 1990)

216. On 17 June, Brig. Gen. Uri Shoham, head of the military court of appeals in the territories, rejected allegations that neglect and inefficiency in the courts have led to a miscarriage of justice in trials of Palestinians during the uprising. He revealed that the acquittal rate of the military courts was 5 per cent: in the year 1989-1990, 759 defendants were acquitted out of 14,845 tried. He said that due to improved monitoring and location of prisoners in IDF jails, 87 per cent of defendants were now being brought to hearings. Provision of transportation and enforcement of court summonses had led to a rise in attendance of witnesses (from 10 to 60 per cent). Shoham denied an allegation by Betselem that under the "quick trial" system many defendants were pressured by judges to plead guilty in order to speed up proceedings. He added that by April 1990 46 per cent of all Palestinian prisoners had been sentenced. Currently there were 20,416 Palestinian prisoners in 23 army detention facilities, of whom 1,031 were administrative detainees. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 10 June 1990)

217. On 19 June, the military court in Nablus convicted three Jenin residents of stabbing and axing to death two alleged collaborators, and attempting to kill two others. The three were named as Ali Abu Abid, aged 18, Yahya Subhi, aged 22, and Nabil Jibrin, aged 20. All were sentenced to life imprisonment plus a 20 years jail term. The court also imposed a prison sentence of three and a half years and a fine of NIS 25,000 ($12,500) on Khalil Barham, aged 18, from Kalkilya for membership of the Palestine Popular Army and several attacks on Israeli targets and on suspected collaborators. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 20 June 1990)

218. On 20 June, it was reported that the military court in Lod had sentenced Sama'un Khuri, aged 41, the representative of Agence France Presse in Jerusalem, for three years and nine months in jail and a suspended term of a similar duration. He was convicted of planning the distribution of funds coming from Jordan for the uprising and of membership of an illegal organization. (Jerusalem Post, 20 June 1990)

219. On 24 June, it was reported that Kifah Badran, an administrative detainee from Deir al-Ghussun, had his jail term extended by six months for the fifth consecutive time, bringing his total term in detention without trial to two and a half years. (Jerusalem Post, 24 June 1990)

220. On 9 July, the military court in Lod sentenced Marwan Tiro, aged 19, and Wadef Ali, aged 20, from East Jerusalem, to 17 years imprisonment for their part in two bombing incidents in Jerusalem in October 1988. (Jerusalem Post, 10 July 1990)

221. On 10 July, the Ramallah military court sentenced Salah Hussein Mansur, aged 21, from Beit Jala, to 30 months imprisonment for having thrown stones at an Israeli bus. No one was hurt in the incident and the defendant had denied having thrown stones. Justice Yitzhak Isaacson also fined him NIS 4,000 ($2,000) and gave him a suspended term of 30 months. (Ha'aretz, 11 July 1990)

222. On 10 July, the military court in Gaza sentenced four members of a cell that operated in the Rafah area to heavy prison sentences. Selman Ashawi, aged 20, was given a 13 years prison term and 12 years suspended sentence; Khaled Hamadi, aged 22, was given 17 years in jail and 13 years suspended sentence; Jamal Ashawi, aged 19, was given 13 years in jail and 12 years suspended sentence and Mahmud Ashawi, aged 20, was given 10 years in jail and 10 years suspended sentence. The four were convicted of several petrol bomb attacks and planting of bombs, but no one was hurt in the attacks. They had been detained in Ketziot for over a year, and had confessed to the offences attributed to them. (Ha'aretz, 11 July 1990)

223. On 12 July, it was reported that the Supreme Court had imposed a four year jail sentence on Muhammad Jaradat, aged 26, from the village of Zabuba, in the Jenin area, for several cases of arson. The district court in Nazareth had earlier sentenced him to one and a half years in prison and fined him NIS 1,500 ($750) but the State Attorney's office appealed the "lenient sentence", and the Supreme Court admitted the appeal. (Ha'aretz, 12 July 1990)

224. On 16 July, it was reported that the Ramallah military court had sentenced Hassam Gada, aged 18, and Samer Abu Diab, aged 17, both from Ramallah, and Mahmud Nafa, aged 17, from Na'alin, to 25 months imprisonment. They were convicted of throwing stones and petrol bombs. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 16 July 1990)

225. On 18 July, the Nablus military court sentenced Jamal Odeh to eight years imprisonment for shooting and injuring, in 1986, a woman from Tulkarem he suspected of collaboration. The court also sentenced Saleh Zakrallah, or Kabatiya, to 12 years imprisonment for throwing a petrol bomb and a grenade at an Israeli bug, in 1986, and for planting bombs. (Jerusalem Post, 19 July 1990)

226. On 23 July, the Gaza military court sentenced Abdel Rahman Gharbali, aged 23, from Sheikh Radwan, to 19 years imprisonment and 11 years suspended sentence. He was convicted of throwing 40 petrol bombs at IDF patrols and leading hundreds of rioters who clashed with troops and seized control of the Shifa hospital in Gaza. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 24 July 1990)

227. On 24 July, it was reported that Hisham Abu Sha'aban, a student from Gaza who studies in Greece and who was arrested two weeks earlier upon his return to the country, had petitioned the High Court of Justice asking it to order the IDF commander in the Gaza Strip and the General Security Services (GSS) to allow him to meet with his lawyers. The petition would be considered by a three-justice bench. His lawyer, Advocate Dan Yakir of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), said that his client was arrested when he returned to attend his father's funeral and that the police officer who detained him said that it was done at the request of the GSS, but the lawyer was not informed of the reasons for the detention or for the refusal to allow him to meet with his client. In a related development it was reported on 1 August 1990 that the State Attorney's office had informed the High Court of Justice, in response to the three petitions, that Palestinian detainees would be allowed to meet with their lawyers. But it was not clear whether Abu Sha'aban was one of the three cases. One of the cases was that of Bashir Fares a-Rul, from Gaza, who was arrested when he returned to the country after staying in Sweden for one year. He has been detained in the Gaza jail and was not allowed to meet with his lawyer. One day after a petition was filed on his behalf, his lawyer Adv. Yakir, was informed that he had been released. (Ha'aretz, 24 July 1920, 1 August 1990)

228. On 24 July, the Gaza military court sentenced Sheikh Hamdi Abdallah Khalil, aged 43, one of the leading figures of the uprising, to seven life terms and another 30 years. He was convicted of setting up a cell in Gaza which killed suspected collaborators and those suspected of involvement in drug dealing and prostitution. Three people were killed and four were injured as a result of the cell's activities. (Ha'aretz, 25 July 1990)

229. On 6 August, it was reported that a woman detainee from Beit Safafa, Iman Jadallah, who was detained on 24 July 2990, petitioned the High Court of Justice after being prevented from meeting her lawyer. The High Court of Justice ruled that every detainee had the right to meet with his lawyer. Immediately afterwards her lawyer was authorized to see her. (Ha'aretz, 6 August 1990)

230. Also on 6 August, the military court in Gaza sentenced Ibrahim Shehadeh al-Kurd, aged 40, from Khan Yunis, to 25 years imprisonment for membership of the Fatah, throwing hand grenades and other offences. Five IDF soldiers were injured as a result of his acts. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 7 August 1990)

231. On 7 August, Muhammad and Yusuf Ankawi, from Beit Sira, near Ramallah, appealed to the military appeal court in Ramallah after being convicted of several security offences and sentenced to seven and nine years imprisonment, respectively. Their convictions and sentencing took place two years and two months after their arrest. During their detention period the court did not hold even one hearing in their case, and scheduled hearings were postponed 20 times due to the absence of witnesses, or for other reasons. At the court's last hearing the lawyers and the prosecutors agreed that the evidence gathered and the defendants' statements to the police would be handed to the court and the court would make a decision on the basis of that material, without hearing witnesses. Advocate Fellman argued in his appeal against the conviction that the military court was mistaken by admitting the agreement between the parties to renounce the normal procedure of hearing witnesses, and that by doing so, the defendants' basic rights were violated, despite their agreement to do so. (Ha'aretz, 8 August 1990)

232. On 9 August, the military court in Gaza sentenced three Khan Yunis residents, Suleiman Jama Ayesh Salim, Khaled Ayesh Salim and Hassan Suleiman Abu Adra, to life imprisonment for killing a suspected drug-dealer, Hamid Barabah, in August 1989. The three were members of a Fatah "popular committee". (Ha'aretz, 10 August 1990)

233. On 24 August, the military court in Gaza sentenced Mahmud Abu Samra, aged 37, from Gaza, to life imprisonment. He was convicted of Fatah membership, setting up a cell to attack a leading Israeli personality and ordering the murder of alleged collaborators and drug-dealers. All the offences were committed while Abu Samra was serving a life sentence for other offences. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 15 August 1990)

234. On 28 August, it was reported that Wail Abu Fanuna, aged 24, from Sajai'ya, Gaza, was charged in Beersheba district court with killing three inmates of Ketziot on 18 July 1990, while he was an inmate in the facility. He admitted killing the three Islamic Jihad activists whom he suspected of being informers. In another development Gaza Strip lawyers were summoned to a meeting with the head of the civil administration, Aryeh Shiffman, who told them that all prisoners under the age of 16 would be released from detention centres in the region. (Jerusalem Post, 28 August 1990)

235. On 29 August, it was reported that several 12-year-old children in the West Bank, suspected of repeatedly throwing stones, had been held in detention for up to 14 days despite the IDF's officially stated policy not to detain children under 13. The IDF has denied that children were imprisoned, unless their parents refused to pay bail for them, and even then they were usually released within 24 hours. In one recent case Talaat al-Khatib, aged 44, from Bethlehem, was ordered to pay NIS 4,000 ($2,000) on 7 August 1990 to bail out his two sons, Ashraf, aged 13, and Hamad, aged 12, after both spent 14 days in detention. (Jerusalem Post, 29 August 1990)
2.  Israelis
236. On 5 April, it was reported that two settlers, Gad Ben Zimra, aged 28, and Yehoshua Shapira, aged 27, from Ma'aleh Levone had pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter, at the opening of their trial in the Tel Aviv district court. The two, together with two others who were not present at the trial, were facing several charges stemming from a shooting incident that occurred in 1989 in Kifl Haris. The two men told the court they had fired in the air in self-defence when they were attacked by a stone-throwing crowd. (Ha'aretz, 5 April 1990)

237. On 17 April, the central command military court sentenced Second Lt. Benyamin Yunis to a five-month suspended term for hitting a 24-year-old boy in the face, in Nablus, in August 1989. (Jerusalem Post, 18 April 1990)

238. On 19 April, the Jerusalem Post reported that an Israeli army officer was suspended and two soldiers jailed after the mayor of Anabta was harassed by Israeli troops. Numerous complaints from Anabta residents had been made concerning the behaviour and abuses of the Golani Brigade troops in the area during the previous two weeks. The Tulkarem area military commander said he is still investigating the complaints. (Al Fajr, 23 April 1990)

239. On 1 May, the Jerusalem district court sentenced Rabbi Moshe Levinger to five months imprisonment and seven months suspended term. He was convicted, after a plea-bargaining agreement, of causing the death by negligence of Kayed Salah, aged 42. Levinger pleaded guilty to the charge and the prosecution withdrew the charges of manslaughter, which carry a maximum 20 years sentence. Levinger was also convicted of causing grievous bodily harm to Ibrahim Bali, a customer of the victim, and of deliberately causing material damage. The incident occurred on 30 September 1988, in the centre of Hebron, after Levinger's car was stoned and the windscreen was smashed. Levinger drove to an IDF road-block, reported about the incident, and then when two groups of youths started to throw stones again, he took out his pistol and opened fire, killing Salah and wounding Bali. He also overturned stalls in the market. Presiding Judge Shalom Brenner said in the verdict that Levinger had been under stress and was justified in feeling threatened at the time of the shooting. But Levinger took the law into his own hands, and the punishment must give expression "to the value of human life, no matter whose. Otherwise It could be interpreted as accepting intolerable norms of behaviour". On 14 August, Levinger was released from jail after serving three and a half months. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 2 May 1990, 15 August 1990; Al Fajr, 7 May 1990)

240. On 3 May, it was reported that following a recommendation by the judge advocate of the Central Region Command a soldier who shot and killed a wanted Palestinian youth, Yasser Muhammad Abu-Ghosh, aged 17, from Beituniya, on 10 July 1989, was put on disciplinary trial. This followed an inquiry by the Investigating Military Police. The judge advocate said the soldier was tried for "disregarding opening fire rules", but emphasized that there was no link between Yasser Abu-Ghosh's death and the soldier's putting on trial. There were so reports about the disciplinary sanction, if any, given to the soldier. (Ha'aretz, 3 may 1990)

241. On 10 May, it was reported that two soldiers had recently been tried for illegal shooting, in two separate incidents which occurred in the West Bank a year and a half earlier, resulting in the death of three Palestinians. One incident occurred on 9 October 1988, when two wanted youths, Ramal Sari', aged 23, and Fadel Najar, aged 25, both from Yatta, were shot and killed by soldiers who had entered the village in a civilian car. The second incident occurred on 19 November 1988, when a soldier shot and killed a 12-year-old boy, Muheid Abd el-Rahman Hmayeh, from Beita. The soldier was tried for illegal use of a firearm and was reprimanded. (Ha'aretz, 10 May 1990)

242. On 1 June, it was reported that the Jerusalem district court had issued an order banning the publishing of any information related to the trial of two General Security Services (GSS) interrogators charged with the killing of a detainee, Kamal Sheikh Ali, during his interrogation in the Gaza jail, several months earlier. The only detail authorized for publication was the fact that the two were being charged with manslaughter. The two have been suspended from their jobs until the end of legal proceedings. (Ha'aretz, 1 June 1990)

243. On 7 June, the Central Command military court convicted Samal (sergeant) Yosef Eliahu of causing death through negligence during a raid to arrest wanted activists in Siwad an 22 June 1989, when he fired a live bullet at fleeing youths, killing Abdel Rauf Hamed, aged 22. His file has been transferred to a military police officer who would examine the possibility of imposing service works, instead of a prison sentence. In another development, it was reported that a charge sheet had been filed with the southern command military court against an IDF captain of the Givati brigade charged with causing death through negligence. On 24 October 1989, he had fired a plastic bullet at an Arab youth in the West Bank, killing him. In his questioning the officer argued that he did not intend to open fire, and that the bullet was fired accidentally, when he stumbled. (Ha'aretz, 8 June 1990)

244. On 13 June, the IDF commander in the Gaza Strip T/A (Brig. Gen.) Shmuel Zucker, annulled the 10-days lock-up penalty that was imposed on an IDF lieutenant responsible for throwing a tear gas grenade into the UNRWA clinic in Gaza. Sixty-six infants and their mothers were injured in the incident. T/A Zucker decided to impose on the officer a suspended lock-up term of 21 days. The officer reportedly continued to serve in his unit. (Ha'aretz, 14 June 1990).

245. On 17 June, it was reported that the military court of appeals had rejected an appeal by the military prosecution against the acquittal of an IDF officer from the charge of causing the death of a Rafah citizen by firing a plastic bullet at him. The appeals court endorsed the verdict of the Southern Command military court, which had acquitted the defendant, and ruled that firing at the legs of a person who violated a curfew and was about to throw a stone, was a justified act. The appeals court ruled that any officer could justly presume that the throwing of a stone at a soldier could constitute a danger. The defendant was named as S/M (Second Lieutenant) Wilf, of the Givati brigade, and the victim was Taher Atallah Abu-Samadna. (Ha'aretz, 17 June 1990)

246. On 17 June, the Southern Command military court sentenced S/R (staff-sergeant) Yosef Bechar to three months imprisonment and four months suspended sentence after convicting him of brutality and conduct unbecoming a soldier. He was also demoted to the rank of private. Bachar was found guilty of beating Sha'awan Abdallah Ja'aborin, employee of Al-Haqq, after his arrest at Si'ir near Hebron on 10 October 1989. In an affidavit filed after his arrest Ja'aborin said he was punched at the Hebron police station, burned with a cigarette butt, and taken handcuffed to a bathroom where a soldier stepped on his head and chest, and jumped on him for 10 minutes. Ja'aborin is currently under an administrative detention order of one year. (Ha'aretz, 18 June 1990, Jerusalem Post, 19 June 1990)

247. On 18 June, Ami Popper, aged 21, of Rishon Lezion was charged at the Tel Aviv district court with the murder of seven Gaza Strip workers and attempted murder of 10 others. He was remanded until the end of legal proceedings. (Ha'aretz, 19 June 1990, Jerusalem Post, 20 June 1990)

248. On 27 June, a soldier was sentenced to 28 days lock-up and two others were, reprimanded for parading naked on a rooftop lookout post and exposing themselves to women in Abu Dis, east of Jerusalem. (Jerusalem Post, 28 June 1990)

249. On 29 June, it was reported that a soldier was sentenced to 14 days in jail for hurling a bottle of urine at Fatma al-Najar, a lawyer, who had gone to the IDF post in Shati camp to plead for the release of her 7-year-old son. The woman was beaten and cursed at and then a soldier hurled at her a bottle with a yellow liquid, which she claimed was urine. She left the post and lodged a complaint. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 29 June 1990)

250. On 1 July, it was reported that an IDF soldier who confessed to painting offensive graffiti on the wall of a Nablus mosque was put on disciplinary trial and was sentenced by his unit commander to 21 days in jail. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 1 July 1990)

251. On 15 July, it was reported that the Southern Region military court sentenced Samal (Sergeant) Eli Marziano to nine months imprisonment and nine months suspended sentence, and demoted him to the rank of private after he was convicted of forcing an Arab car-owner, at gunpoint, to drive him to his destination. (Ha'aretz, 15 July 1990)

252. On 19 July, the Southern Region military court sentenced an IDF officer, Seren (Captain) Sagi, aged 26, to one month's imprisonment which would be served by carrying out service works. Captain Sagi, a platoon commander in the Givati brigade, was convicted of causing death by negligence of a 16-year-old boy from Ramallah. The incident occurred on 24 October 1989, in the village of Kirbat Abu-Falah, near Ramallah. The region commander and other senior officials were visiting the area and a group of local youths started throwing stones at them. Captain Sagi started chasing them, ordered one of them to stop and opened fire in the air. When the boy kept running the officer shot at him, from a distance of 60 metres, hit him in the back and killed him. The prosecutor argued that the officer violated open-fire regulations, which prohibit shooting live or plastic bullets at persons running away and at persons who do not endanger the life of IDF soldiers. The officer pleaded guilty and said he had a guilty conscience because of the killing of the boy. (Ha'aretz, 20 July 1990)

253. On 10 August, it was reported that the police was preparing charges of unlawful assembly against 28 Jews arrested since the anti-Arab riots in Jerusalem. The decision to charge the rioters came after the announcement of the death of an Arab, Izzat Halahla, attacked earlier (see list). On 14 August, an Israeli women, Rahal Kahalon, aged 23, was remanded in custody for 10 days. She is suspected of throwing the stone that led to the death of Mr. Halahla. On 23 August, the Jerusalem district attorney filed a charge sheet against Rahel Kahalon, accusing her of stone-throwing and of deliberately endangering human life on a traffic route. When she was first detained she had been accused of manslaughter, but the police later retracted the charge, fearing that it would be impossible to prove that she was the person who threw the stone causing Halahla's death. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 10, 25 and 24 August 1990)

254. On 15 August, it was reported that the Investigating Military Police had detained a soldier who, on 10 August 1990, shot and killed Kamal Hamarsha (see list). The decision to arrest the soldier was made after it was established that the group of soldiers involved in the shooting had acted contrary to the rules. It was reported that five soldiers arrived in the house while Hamarsha was on the roof. Three stayed downstairs while the other two went up and shot him from a distance of 10 metres, without going through the rules for arresting a suspected person. Hamarsha was shot in the head and the two soldiers left without giving him first aid. He died in the vehicle which transported him to hospital. The incident is under investigation. (Ha'aretz, 15 August 1990)

255. On 16 August, two Israelis, a soldier named Yoram Yosef and a minor, aged 16, were detained by order of the Jerusalem magistrates' court, an suspicion of throwing stones at Arab cars in Jerusalem. A third man, Ronen Tayali, aged 20, was also arrested and admitted having stoned Arab cars. He was released on bail of NIS 2,000 ($1,000). The other two denied any participation in the stone-throwing, and were remanded in custody for eight and five days, respectively. (Ha'aretz, 17 August 1990)
C.  Treatment or civilians
1.  General developments
(a) Harassment and physical ill-treatment

Oral evidence

256. A number of witnesses referred to the physical and psychological assaults faced by the civilian population in the atmosphere of violence and daily confrontation in which they were living. Witnesses injured during clashes testified about the violence used against them even after they had been wounded. Mr. Wadah Khaled Sofan, a student shot in the course of a confrontation with the occupation forces, stated in this regards:

"There were confrontations, very violent confrontations with the occupation forces. We were surrounded from the front and from the back. I received a wound from the back. They could catch me, because I was not able to run. They hit me, pulled me in the street and then took me to the Israeli military hospital.

"THE CHAIRMAN:  What time of the day did it happen?

"The WITNESS: (interpretation from Arabic):  Six o'clock in the afternoon.

"The CHAIRMAN:  What were you doing?

"The WITNESS: (interpretation from Arabic):  We were throwing rocks on the Israeli army.

"The CHAIRMAN:  Where were you hit?

"The WITNESS: (interpretation from Arabic): In the lumbar region.

"The CHAIRMAN:  What happened after the shot?

"The WITNESS: (Interpretation from Arabic):  I fell on the ground.

"The CHAIRMAN:  When you were on the ground, are you saying that the soldiers beat you?

"The WITNESS: (interpretation from Arabic): Yes, when I was on the ground, they hit me and pulled me up some stairs, down some stairs, and then they took me to hospital." (A/AC.145/RT.536/Add.1

257. The denial of medical care to people wounded during the incidents, and the storming of hospitals, was also mentioned. An anonymous witness said in this connection:

"When Incidents take place in one of the camps, or the villages or the towns, special ambulances proceed, because the government ambulances do not carry out any service and we do not have any first aid unit from the government, so some private society has volunteered to provide the care and transport the patients to hospital as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, sometimes, the Israeli soldiers have prevented these ambulances and private cars from reaching the places where there have been incidents and they have attacked the ambulances and 4 the people in the ambulances. If an ambulance succeeds in going through the blockade and has been able to get some of the wounded, the soldiers would stop the car, take the patients out of the ambulances, hit these wounded people although they may be bleeding and in a very sad state indeed. They force the driver to proceed without giving any first aid assistance to the patients. … They storm the hospitals and there are many reports of such events in Dar Al Shifa Hospital. Is it possible to understand that they throw tear-gas bombs in the operating hall?" (A/AC.145/RT.545)

258. Mr. Abdul Jawad Saleh, the expelled mayor of El-Bireh, referred to the harsh treatment inflicted upon children and cited some of the conclusions of a recent report by the Swedish organisation Save the Children:

"Nearly a third of the children killed by gunfire were not in the vicinity of protest activities when shot dead and another two fifths of the children were shot dead in other circumstances. These children were helping injured demonstrators, fleeing from soldiers, dispersing from or passing by a demonstration, trying to stop a neighbours' arrest or participating in a silent march. Nearly a fifth of the children were shot dead while at home or within 10 metres of their homes. Slightly more than a quarter of the children killed by gunfire were participating in a stone-throwing demonstration when shot dead. Most of the children killed by gunfire had been shot in the head or neck. Nearly a fifth of the children suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Twelve persons were shot from behind. Almost all children shot dead were hit by directed, not random or ricochet gunfire. … Records were collected for 7,107 beaten children and this report estimates that 23,600 to 29,900 children required medical treatment for their beating injuries in the first two years of the intifadah. According to a sample of the 3,460 records studied in the first year, nearly a third of the beaten children were aged 10 years and under. One fifth of these young children were aged five and under. Over four fifths of the children requiring treatment had been beaten on their head and upper body and at multiple locations. Hospital records show that children suffered a disproportionate number of the total number of serious head/neck beating injuries treated. Nearly a third of the children sustained broken bones, including multiple fractures." (A/AC.145/RT.542)

259. Another witness stated in his testimony:

"I personally witnessed with my own eyes a case where a number of Israeli soldiers had followed a group of children, the children were trying to run away and one child fell down. More than 10 Israeli soldiers started beating him. This was such a horrifying scene, 10 Israeli soldiers with their batons, beating up a child who cannot be older than 10 years of age. After the child was beaten, I tried to save the child and found out that he was incapable of moving. I carried him to the hospital. The doctor found out that he had several bones broken, in the skull, the body and the limbs. This was an extremely sad sight, a terrifying one and a moving one as well." (Anonymous witness, A/AC.145/RT.544)

260. Another violent incident involving a child was related by a witness:

"My child was playing outside the house and he was running. Then the army came, they opened fire and they shot him in his leg. He started running towards the house. My wife heard the screaming and ran out of the house, I could see this happening. My wife wanted to pull back her son, because he was hurt. So, with their batons they hit her on her hands until they had broken her bones … ". (Anonymous witness, A/AC.145/RT.544)

261. The harassment of civilians through the use of Palestinians collaborating with the authorities was also evoked. Mrs. Anita Vitullo referred to this phenomenon in her testimony:

"They operate, let's say, in the Gaza Strip, in a refugee camp, with electronic devices. They are given a list of people wanted by the authorities, people whom they themselves have identified to the authorities as activists and whenever one of these people is sighted, they press the button which signals to the security forces to come and arrest these people. Now, most of the executions that our centre has identified, 12 executions that according to our criteria have been executions, have been people whom we believe were identified by collaborators." (A/AC.145/RT.534)

262. An anonymous witness made a specific reference to the physical and sexual harassment suffered by Palestinian women:

"… [An] alarming trend that I noticed in Gaza, and it happened in this village twice, that is in this same village Abasaan, was the attempts by Israeli soldiers to rape Palestinian women. In the two cases that I took testimony from, because of the forced intervention of third parties, the soldiers did not succeed in raping these women, but it was obvious that that was what they intended. … A group of women were going to a biscuit factory in this village to work one day. An Israeli patrol came by, they started beating those women without provocation, beat then severely, I saw the bruises that Tahani had on her body. It was the result of severe and savage beating. When the women tried to escape, one of them ran into Tahani's house, which is near the biscuit factory. A soldier pursued her into the house, grabbed her, took her into a room, locked the door, started pulling up her skirt and unbuttoning his pants. At this point, other people saw what was going on, were trying breaking down the door, were screaming hysterically, doing whatever they could. One of them, an old woman, went to an Israeli officer, someone she identified as an officer in this patrol, begged him to interfere. Eventually, he went into the room and took the soldier out." (A/AC.145/RT.534)

263. The traumatic effect of the climate of violence and confrontation on school children was also described by the same anonymous witness:

"… The fear and nervousness in them, I could see it. Our school was next to a police station. Whenever they would hear a loud noise or a siren or any kind of unexpected noise, the whole class would become almost out of control. They would say 'the army is coming, the army is coming, what are we going to do.'. The fear that gripped these students at the slightest provocation, at the slightest noise, was incredible." (A/AC.145/RT.534)

264. Testimonies referring to the harassment and physical ill-treatment of civilians in the occupied territories may be found in documents A/AC.145/RT.534 (an anonymous witness); A/AC.145/RT.536/Add.1 (Mr. Wadah Khaled Sofan, Mr. Marwan Mahmoud Hamadeh, and Mr. Riad Mahmoud Saleh Kassem); A/AC.145/RT.537 (Mr. Jihad Abu Sammur, Mr. Iyad Abu Zein, and Mr. Ali Fannoun); A/AC.145/RT.542 (Mr. Abdul Jawad Saleh); A/AC.145/RT.543 (Mrs. Anita Vitullo, Mrs. Raja'a Hannour); A/AC.145/RT.544 (two anonymous witnesses); and A/AC.145/RT.545 (an anonymous witness).

Written information

265. On 3 April 1990 it was reported that residents of Beit Furik, near Nablus, complained that soldiers had ordered 21 families out of their homes, in pouring rain, to clear roadblocks. The families, including women and babies, were allegedly kept outside for two hours. Military sources denied that women and children were ordered out of their homes. The villagers' complaints were being investigated. (Jerusalem Post, 3 April 1990)

266. On 9 and 11 April, it was reported that two mothers from the Ein Bet al-Ma camp near Nablus charged in affidavits (taken by a lawyer and a field worker for the "Betselem" human rights group) that a civil administration officer verbally abused them when they refused to pay NIS 5,000 ($2,500) bail for the release of their arrested children. Inshirakh Jadallah said that her son Majdi, aged 12, was arrested on 21 March 1990, but released on condition that she takes him several days later to the office of Captain Zaki. There, the captain told the mother to sign a bail form. When she said she did not have the money Captain Zaki allegedly told her "Sign, you whore", and "work as a prostitute and get the money". He finally let her and her son go, but kept her ID card, and failed to give her any certificate to replace it. The other woman, Fawsia Ghasawi, whose son was arrested the same day, reported that the same Captain Zaki told her that all the people of Ein Bet al-Ma camp where "maniacs and whores". The captain flatly rejected the allegations. (Ha'aretz, 9 April 1990; Jerusalem Post, 11 April 1990)

267. On 17 April, Walid Abu Srur, aged 28, from the Aida camp, near Bethlehem, alleged that a group of soldiers arrived in his home at 1 a.m. and warned him against continuing his activities with a mixed Arab-Jewish peace group called "Runners for Peace". The soldiers allegedly kicked him in the groin and beat him with rifle butts and fists on the head and stomach. They also threatened to kill him. (Jerusalem Post, 18 April 1990)

268. On 19 April, it was reported that residents of Anabta had complained to the Tulkarem area military governor that soldiers of the Golani brigade posted in Anabta had been abusing their powers over the past two weeks. Troops allegedly forced schoolboys to clean their boots, tore up residents' ID cards, and one soldier had exposed himself to a woman. Troops have also allegedly beaten residents, hurled obscenities, and forced residents to curse the prophet Muhammad and Yasser Arafat. The area commander, Col. Betsalel Treiber, said he was still investigating the allegations, but two soldiers had already been sentenced to jail for "improper behaviour", including the use of abusive language, and another soldier was facing disciplinary proceedings. An officer was suspended from his post following an altercation between soldiers and the mayor of Anabta, Taher Hijasi, in which the latter's ID card was confiscated. (Jerusalem Post, 19 April 1990)

269. On 20 April, it was reported that the investigating Military Police were looking into allegations by residents or Abud, near Ramallah, that on 11 March 1990 troops severely beat and ill-treated a group of 15 youths. The allegations were corroborated by one of the soldiers who was at the scene. According to his testimony, and to that of one of the victims – Ismail Abd el-Majid, paratroopers took 15 youths to the centre of the village, asked each one whether they spoke Hebrew, and at the same time beat them and punched then on the head, back and neck. They allegedly forced el-Majid and another youth, Raji, to find black paint and paint over graffiti, then they forced them to paint their own faces, sing songs, etc. They threatened to shoot them unless they obeyed the orders. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 20 April 1990)

270. On 20 April, it was reported that the West Bank commander had ordered to open a path through a wall of cement-filled barrels that had fenced in a Palestinian woman, Ansaf Haj Ali, aged 50, and her partially paralysed daughter, Afar, aged 27, in their home in El Bireh. The barrier was erected two days earlier following an incident, when a petrol bomb was thrown in the area. The decision to open a path in the barrier followed visits to the site by reporters and intervention by the Betselem and Al-Haqq human rights groups. On 23 April, it was reported that despite the fact that a path was opened, the two woman were still trapped inside their home, since the roundabout route from the back of the house, where the path was opened, to the front door, was full of sewage manholes and steps, which the paralysed woman, who needs a crutch, could not overcome without help. It was promised that an additional access route would be opened shortly. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 20 and 23 April 1990)

271. On 22 April, it was reported that, according to an inquiry by Betselem, the army seized houses in the territories in order to set up lookout posts, without showing the owners any order and without paying compensations. In many cases troops stayed all day long in the posts, disrupting the inhabitants' normal life. There were accounts of soldiers relieving themselves on the roof or in the staircase, and soldiers burning residents' furniture for heating. (Ha'aretz, 22 April 1990; Al Fajr, 7 May 1990)

272. On 15 May, it was reported that two members of Knesset, Yossi Sarid and Dedi Zucker, threatened to petition the High Court of Justice if the authorities did not reveal details of alleged IDF brutality against Palestinians that was hidden from the public until raised by the defence at the trial of Col. Yehuda Meir several days earlier. The alleged incidents, which were said to have occurred within areas of the IDF central command, were the following: residents of A-Dik were taken from their homes, in accordance with prepared lists, and beaten with iron bars; Meir's attorney described injuries from these beatings as "fatal"; residents of Halhul were taken by truck to a nearby area where they were beaten till their limbs were broken, and 15 of them were left lying near the Halhul rubbish dump; soldiers of the Golani Brigade took Ramallah residents to a wall on an empty lot and broke their limbs; Kalkilya residents were taken to a nearby grave, where soldiers broke their arms and legs. No dates were given for the alleged brutality cases. (Jerusalem Post, 15 May 1990)

273. On 24 May, it was reported that the Central Region Commander, Yitshak Mordekhai, ordered that complaints by members of Knesset Dedi Zucker and Avraham Poras on irregularities committed by an IDF reserve lieutenant, be investigated. According to the two members of Knesset on Saturday 12 May 1990 the officer entered the village of Beit-Ur, in the Ramallah region, following stone-throwing incidents, and shot at 37 water tanks of villages, in an act of "private reprisals". Three days later the same officer went to the village of Beit Sira, which was under curfew, and for no obvious reason shot at 25 water tanks. According to evidence gathered by the two members of Knesset the officer also smashed windows and carried out other acts of vandalism in the region for two weeks. (Ha'aretz, 24 May 1990)

274. On 15 June, it was reported that a group of rabbis, members of a group called Rabbinic Human Rights Watch, had recently visited Nablus and the Ein Beit al-Ma camp. Residents of the camp told the members of the group that three soldiers and an officer had entered the home of Salah Hamidan on 12 June 1990, apparently as they were chasing after stone-throwers, and had caused serious material damage to furniture and to sun-heated boilers. Residents further alleged that troops were forcing children and youths to go on to the street, in the middle of the night, and to sing and dance. (Ha'aretz, 15 June 1990)

275. On 29 June, it was reported that a surgical team at Ittihad a-Nisai hospital in Nablus had walked out of an operating theatre on 20 June when armed soldiers looking for a wounded youth forced their way into the room and refused to leave while doctors treated the youth. Dr. Afif Barabra, an anesthesiologist responsible for the operating room, said he was threatened by a civil administration officer who pointed his gun at him and who also manhandled an UNRWA official who tried to intervene. A source in the civil administration confirmed that soldiers had entered the hospital but denied any improper behaviour by the officer. The wounded youth, Eiman Kulab, aged 14, was later arrested and transferred to a hospital in Israel. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 29 June 1990)

276. On 29 June, it was reported that the families of the seven Gaza Strip workers who were killed in Rishon-Lezon had recently received from the Defence authorities a grant of NIS 40,000 ($20,000) par family. It was decided not to pay regular compensations to the families, so as not to create a precedent by which the State of Israel paid compensations to victims of terrorist acts carried out by Israelis. The workers injured in the incident would not receive a grant, but their medical expenses and hospitalization would be paid by the State, and their families would also receive assistance. (Ha'aretz, 29 June 1990)

277. On 20 July, it was reported that several Golani brigade soldiers had been disciplined for ordering a group of Nablus residents to chant slogans and sing Golani songs, after ordering them out of their homes at 1 a.m. Some 50 people were affected by the order. They included children and elderly persons. They were also ordered to sweep streets and clear away garbage and stones. (Jerusalem Post, 20 July 1920)

278. On 26 July, it was reported that the Jerusalem municipality had compensated villagers from Jebel Mukabar for damage caused by Israeli rioters following the stabbing of an Israeli child, in neighbourinq East-Talpiot, in June 1990. According to a municipal official the villagers received the sum of NIS $55 ($425) because they "behaved well", and because "Jebel Mukabar was a model of Jewish-Arab coexistence". (Jerusalem Post, 26 July 1990)

279. On 5 August, it was reported that villagers from Barta'a, were complaining that troops, searching for wanted people, had attacked participants in a marriage, beat and insulted some of them, including some Israeli Arabs, checked the identity of all the participants and finally left. An IDF spokesman denied that the troops had behaved in an improper way. (Ha'aretz, 5 August 1990)

280. On 26 August, it was reported that troops who had been stoned in the Ramallah area, on 25 July 1990, forced two Palestinians to climb on a rooftop and keep watch in order to prevent further stone-throwing. One of the men, Omar Abu-Farha, refused to obey, but had to do so after the soldiers took away his ID card. He was harassed for several hours before his card was returned to him. Official IDF sources said that army rules prohibited such practices and promised to check the matter.(Ha'aretz, 28 August 1990)

(b) Collective punishment

(i) Demolition of houses

Oral evidence

281. Some witnesses gave an account of the illegal practice of imposing collective punishment by way of demolishing houses. Mr. Moussa Ezzedine Shakhshir, a deported trade unionist, referred to the demolition of his parents' house:

"I heard that the occupation forces had blown up my house, the house of my parents, before any accusation was brought against me, before putting me in front of a court. My mother, my sisters, my brothers, all became homeless, they were in the street and none of the neighbours or relatives were able to give then a roof over their heads, because they feared reprisals from the Israeli occupation forces." (A/AC.145/RT.538)

282. Mr. Abdul Jawad Saleh stated in the same connection:

"The destruction of houses is now taking a dimension that did not take place before. For instance, a thousand-year-old house was destroyed in Nablus, because somebody had thrown a stone from that building, and the person was not from the house, and the house was not inhabited. The whole house was destroyed." (A/AC.145/RT.542)

283. Mrs. Anita Vitullo, a human rights researcher, also referred to this issue in her testimony:

"… the reasons for security demolitions were very much loosened in 1989. So, we had landlords losing their houses because they had rented to someone who was arrested on a security violation, people who were never arrested found that their houses were demolished because they were wanted by the authorities. We had cases of mentally disturbed people, people who would actually need medical attention in a mental hospital, having their house destroyed. We also have cases of distant relatives of a suspect having their house destroyed. In one case, in the Kalkilya area, not only the person's house was destroyed, he was arrested, but also his brother's house and his sister's house, as well as a co-operatively owned olive press, were destroyed. There is a case in Bethlehem of a son who was arrested for attacking a collaborator. The army went to his house, prepared it for explosion and then discovered that the father's house was much larger and simply moved the explosive material to the father's house and demolished it." (A/AC.145/RT.543)

284. Accounts of the demolition of houses may be found in documents A/AC.145/RT.538 (Mr. Moussa Ezzedine Shakhshir); A/AC.145/RT.542 (Mr. Abdul Jawad Saleh); and A/AC.145/RT.543 (Mrs. Anita Vitullo, Mrs. Reja'a Hannour).

Written information

List of houses or rooms that were demolished or sealed

285. The following table provides details concerning houses or rooms that were demolished or sealed between 1 April and 31 August 1990 in the occupied territories and the circumstances of their demolition or sealing as reported in various newspapers. The following abbreviations of the names of newspapers are used in the tables:

AF

Al Fajr

H

Ha'aretz

JP

Jerusalem Post

Date

Place

Remarks and source

3 May 1990

Al Amari refugee camp

The IDF demolished a house and sealed another in the refugee camp on the grounds that their owners are suspected of throwing Molotov cocktails at collaborators' houses.  In Beitunia, a house inhabited by 12 people was also demolished and another was sealed. (AF, 7 May 1990)

4 May 1990

Al Amari refugee camp

The home of the family Obeidi was demolished after their son, Ramzi, aged 19, was charged with throwing Molotov cocktails and attacking collaborators. The Israeli authorities decided to seal another house, belonging to the Saedi family, instead of demolishing it, since a full demolition would destroy three other houses nearby. Mohammed Saedi, 19, was also charged with throwing Molotov cocktails. (AF, 21 May 1990)

10 May 1990

Jericho

Three homes were sealed. They belonged to the families of Abdallah Sardikh, Ali Sardikh and Shaker A-Sheikh, suspected of attacking, on 4 May 1990, the house of a Jericho municipal councillor with petrol bombs filled with a chemical substance. They had petitioned the High Court of Justice against the sealing but their petition was rejected. (H, 11 May 1990; AF, 21 May 1990)

13 May 1990

Nablus

Three homes of suspected members of the Black Panther group were sealed. One of the homes belonged to Omar Arafat who was killed in a clash with troops on 1 December 1989. The other homes belonged to Amjad Abu-Rabia, aged 18, and Marwan Haras, aged 20. (H, JP, 15 May 1990; AF, 21 May 1990)

14 May 1990

Nablus

The house of Muntasar Jamud (or Jamus) was demolished. Jamud was arrested in August 1989 on suspicion of having carried out, as member of the Fatah, a long series of attacks and sabotage acts. The IDF was reported to have sealed five houses in the Old City of Nablus. The house of the family of detainee Muntaser Jamouse, aged 18, was demolished after a curfew was imposed on the area. (H, JP, 15 May 1990; AF, 21 May 1990)

16 May 1990

Hebron

The house of Riad Abu-Zina was demolished. He is suspected of having stabbed a female school principal in Hebron on 11 January 1990, for alleged collaboration. His home was at first sealed, pending a petition to the High Court of Justice. But the petition was rejected and the house was demolished. (H, 17 May 1990)

16 May 1990

Nablus

The home of Muhein Kasas, aged 20, in the Nablus Kasbah, was sealed. He is a suspected member of the Red Eagle group, and of the murder of an alleged collaborator in June 1989. In addition, one room was sealed in the home of Ramzi Salha, aged 19, suspected of throwing a petrol bomb at an Israeli car and of attacking suspected collaborators. In both cases the sealing took place after petitions filed by the families to the High Court of Justice were rejected. (H, 18 May 1990; AF, 21 May 1990)

7 June 1990

Kafr Jamal, Shufa and Kadum

Three houses were demolished by the civil administration on grounds that they had been built without a permit. (JP, 8 June 1990)

8 June 1990

Gaza

The home of Maghan Mahmud Baker was sealed. He was suspected of attacks on alleged collaborators, but managed to escape from the region. (H, JP, 10 June 1990)

11 June 1990

Yatta, near Hebron

The home of Ibrahim Jardun, aged 20, was demolished. He was suspected of membership of the Fatah striking force and killing a suspected collaborator in July 1989. (H, JP, 12 June 1990)

11 June 1990

Illar, near Tulkarem

The home of Muhammad Jamil Amar was sealed. He was suspected of attacks on alleged collaborators. (H, JP, 13 June 1990)

11 June 1990

Khan Yunis

The home of Abdul Hakim a-Shammar, aged 25, was demolished. He was suspected of having murdered alleged collaborators and of being the head of a local strike force. Twelve people lived in the demolished house. (JP, 12 June 1990)

12 June 1990

Jalazun camp

The home of Iyad Nahleh was demolished. He was suspected of membership of the Fatah and throwing petrol bombs at an Israeli bus. (H, 13 June 1990)

12 June 1990

Ramallah and El-Bireh

Two houses were sealed; they belonged to persons suspected of membership of the Fatah and throwing petrol bombs. (H, 13 June 1990)

13 June 1990

Jericho

The homes of Khalil a-Shish and Imad Jarus were sealed. They were suspected of throwing petrol bombs at IDF cars. (JP, 15 June 1990)

14 June 1990

Gaza

The home of Salim al-Amudi was demolished. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of an alleged collaborator. 26 people lived in the 10-room building. (JP, 15 June 1990)

15 June 1990

Sara, in Samaria

The home of Yusuf Ghanem, aged 23, was demolished. He was suspected of attacks against IDF soldiers and alleged collaborators. (H, JP, 17 June 1990)

15 June 1990

Nablus

The home of Malifuz Arabasi, aged 31, was sealed. He was suspected of attacks against alleged collaborators. (H, JP, 17 June 1990)

21 June 1990

Talusa, near Nablus

The home of Ahmed Hindi, aged 85, was demolished by the civil administration on grounds that it had been built without a permit. (JP, 22 June 1990)

9 July 1990

Sheikh Ajlin, Gaza

The homes of Khalif Issa Shamaleh and Abd el-Basad Adel Shamaleh were sealed. The two were suspected of stone throwing at IDF vehicles, as a result of which an IDF officer lost an eye. (H, 10 July 1990)

11 July 1990

Hebron

The home of Salmin Ja'abari was demolished. He was a member of a Fatah striking force responsible for stabbing and injuring a Hebron schoolmaster (a woman) whom they suspected of collaboration. The house had been sealed on 8 February 1990 and was demolished after the family's petition to the High Court of Justice was rejected. (H, 12 July 1990)

11 July 1990

Nuseirat camp, Gaza

The home of the family of Naim Atawna was demolished. He was suspected of firing at an IDF patrol. (JP, 12 July 1990)

11 July 1990

Batir, near Bethlehem

The house of Na'aman Katush was demolished because it was built without a permit. Katush, aged 34, a waiter in an Israeli hotel, said he was told that the house would not be demolished, and that if it was decided to demolish it, he would receive such notice. On 20 July, it was reported that the West Bank civil administration issued Katush a permit to build a new house. (H, 12, 20 July 1990)

20 July 1990

Khan Yunis camp

One room in the house of Khaled Khdeed, aged 24, was demolished. 16 family members reported live in the room. (JP, 22 July 1990)

23 July 1990

Halhul

The homes of Hatem and Muhammed Wilhem were sealed. They are suspected of attacking an Israeli car on 10 June 1990. (H, JP, 24 July 1990)

4 Aug. 1990

Deir el-Balah

A room was sealed in the house of Mahmud Tina, suspected of throwing stones at soldiers and military cars. (JP, 5 Aug. 1990)

5 Aug. 1990

Nablus and Balata camp

The houses of the families of Muhammad Majdalawi and Khaled Harb, in Balata, were sealed. They are members of a local committee responsible for attacks on alleged collaborators. In Nablus, the house of the Nabulsi family, in Halat al-Amud neighbourhood, was sealed following the discovery of a Fatah cache under it. (H, 7 Aug. 1990)

7 Aug. 1990

Deir Balut, near Nablus

Three houses were sealed. They belonged to members of a Fatah cell responsible for throwing petrol bombs at Israeli cars and placing homemade bombs in the road. The persons involved were named as Raffik and Jaffer Abdullah – two brothers, Ahmed Abdullah and Bassam Mash'al. (JP, 8 Aug. 1990)

8 Aug. 1990

Kafr Rai, south of Jenin

Part of the house of Zaher Jabah was demolished. He was arrested in January 1989 on suspicion of having attacked suspected collaborators. The family house itself was not demolished after an agreement between the family and the State Attorney office according to which the family would refrain from petitioning the High Court of Justice. (H, 9 Aug. 1990)

8 Aug. 1990

Sajni'ya, Gaza

The top floor of the house belonging to the family of Muhammad Batiji was demolished. He was arrested on suspicion of PFLP membership and throwing a grenade at the local police station. (JP, 9 Aug. 1990)

8 Aug. 1990

Dhahiriya

The house of Issa Sleiman A-Tal, aged 17, was sealed. He was convicted of throwing a stone at a border police officer, hitting him in the head. (H, 10 Aug. 1990)

9 Aug. 1990

Jenin

The house of Muhammed Mazouk, aged 17, was sealed. He had escaped from military prison four months earlier. (JP, 10 Aug. 1990)

10 Aug. 1990

Deir el Balah, Gaza

A room in the house of Nader Abd al Sami', accused of stone-throwing, was sealed. (H, JP, 12 Aug. 1990)

11 Aug. 1990

Beit Hanun

The house of Mohammed Ali Khreiwat was demolished. Two of his sons had opened fire on four IDF patrol four months earlier. (JP, 12 Aug. 1990)

22 Aug. 1990

Gaza

The houses of Jihad Hasuna and Tahsin Zaharna were sealed. They are suspected of having killed an alleged collaborator. A part of the house of Abd el Nasser Farwana was also sealed. He is suspected of membership of a striking committee of the PFLP. (H, JP, 23 Aug. 1990)

23 Aug. 1990

Tuffah, Gaza

The house of Kufah Hamda was sealed. He is suspected of membership of a popular committee of the PFLP believed to be responsible for attacks on alleged collaborators. (JP, 24 Aug. 1990)

25 Aug. 1990

Khan Yunis

A part of the house of Ahmed Rashmani was demolished. He is suspected of membership of a Fatah striking committee. (JP, 26 Aug. 1990)

25 Aug. 1990

Nablus

The house of As'ad Hamame was sealed. He has been charged with membership of a Fatah cell and throwing petrol bombs. (H, JP, 29 Aug. 1990)

28 Aug. 1990

Ramallah

The house of Ashraf Shanin was sealed. He has been charged with membership of a Fatah cell and throwing petrol bombs. (H, JP, 29 Aug. 1990)
(ii) Other measures

286. On 1 and 2 April, it was reported that Ali al-Masri, a resident of Balata camp whose hose had been accidentally destroyed by the IDF on 15 May 1989, received NIS 20,000 ($10,000) in compensation from the civil administration, after intervention by several human rights groups in Israel and several parliamentary questions. The house was demolished when the IDF blew up the adjacent house of a man suspected of a security offence. On 2 August, the consecration ceremony was held in the house of Ali al-Masri in the Balata camp near Nablus. With the NIS 20,000 and with a contribution from UNRWA, the family of Ali al-Masri built its new house.  (Ha'aretz, 3 August 1990) (Ha'aretz, 2 April 1990; Jerusalem Post, 1 April 1990)

(iii) Imposition of curfews, sealing off or closing areas

Oral evidence

287. An anonymous witness referred to the practice of imposing curfews and its repercussions on the civilian population:

"… In many cases this serves as means of harassment and intimidation. Curfews have often been imposed on all parts of the Gaza Strip, including the eight overpopulated refugee camps, which means that three quarter of a million people, most of them living in hardship conditions, are deprived of freedom and in addition victims of the sufferings they face during curfew hours." (A/AC.145/RT.545)

Written information

288. On 6 and 7 April, curfews were imposed on the village of Deir-el-Hatab and on Ein Yabrud. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 8 April 1990; Al-Fajr, 9 April 1990)

299. On 8 April, curfews were imposed in Khader and al-Arub camp. The curfew in Ein Yabrud remained in fares. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 9 April 1990; Al Fajr, 14 April 1990)

290. On 9 and 10 April, a curfew was imposed in the Tulkarem camp after youths set fire to a military watch tower and vandalized a rooftop lookout post. Curfews remained in force in Khan Yunis and its refugee camp, Ein Yabrud and in Arub refugee camp, in the Hebron area. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 11 April 1990; Al Fajr, 24 April 1990)

291. On 15 and 16 April, the Gaza Strip was placed under curfew on the second anniversary of Abu-Jihad's assassination. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 17 April 1990; Al Fajr, 23 April 1990)

292. On 18 April, Dheisheh camp was placed under curfew following stone throwing. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 19 April 1990; Al Fajr, 23 April 1990)

293. On 12 April, the Khan Yunis camp was placed under curfew. Curfews remained in force in Anabta and Awarta (for the sixth day), and in Habla and Beit Surik. (Ha'aretz, 20 April 1990; Al Fajr, 30 April 1990)

294. On 20 and 21 April, curfews remained in force in Dheisheh, Hablu, Anabta, Khan Yunis camp and parts of Gaza. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 22 April 1990; Al Fajr, 30 April 1990)

295. On 23 April, Beit Umar and Halhul were placed under curfew after a youth from Beit Umar died of wounds sustained the previous day (see table). Shati camp was also placed under curfew following the death of a local youth (see table). (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 24 April 1990; Al Fajr, 30 April 1990)

296. On 24 April, in the Gaza Strip a curfew was imposed along the coast following the escape of two prisoners from the Ansar 2 prison. The curfew in Beit Umar remained in force for the third day. The village at Jayus was also placed under curfew. Shati camp in Gaza also remained under curfew. (Ha'aretz, 25 April 1990; Al Fajr, 30 April 1990)

297. On 25 April, the curfew on the Gaza coast was lifted. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 26 April 1990)

298. On 27 and 28 April, following widespread arrest at Jabaliya camp, at the beginning of Id al-Fitr holiday, a general curfew was imposed on the Gaza Strip, until 30 April. (Jerusalem Post, 29 April 1990; Al Fajr, 7 May 1990)

299. On 1 May, a curfew was imposed on Al Masra'a a-Sharkiya, near Ramallah, as troops conducted tax raids and arrested several people. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 2 May 1990; Al Fajr, 7 May 1990)

300. On 3 May, in Nablus some 120,000 people were under curfew. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 4 May 1990; Al Fajr, 7 May 1990)

301. On 4 and 5 May, curfews were imposed over the weekend in Bethlehem, Ramallah, Tulkarem and Al-Amari camps and several West Bank villages. A coastal curfew was imposed in the Gaza Strip and curfews remained in force in Jabaliya and Beit Lahiya. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 6 May 1990; Al Fajr, 7 and 14 May 1990)

302. On 7 May, curfews were in force in Rafah, Tulkarem camp, Mas'ha village near Nablus and Jaba', near Jenin. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 1 May 1990; Al Fajr, 24 May 1990)

303. On 2 May, curfews remained in force in Rafah and in several West Bank villages. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 10 May 1990; Al Fajr, 14 May 1990)

304. On 10 May, the town of Beit Hanun was placed under curfew. (Ha'aretz, 11 May 1990; Al Fajr, 14 May 1990)

305. On 11 and 12 May, Ramallah was declared a closed military zone to prevent a mixed Israeli-Palestinian demonstration against the closure of West Bank universities. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 13 May 1990; Al Fajr, 14 May 1900)

306. On 13 May, curfews were in force in Gaza and in the West Bank localities of Harbata and Beit Ur a-Tahta. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 14 May 1990; Al Fajr, 21 May 1990)

307. On 15 May, curfews were in force in Dheisheh, Beet Hanun, Rafah and several camps in the Gaza Strip. A curfew was also imposed on Shati camp after a local resident was killed when he and a group of masked youths attacked a border police patrol (no date was reported). (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 16 May 1990; Al Fajr, 21 May 1990)

308. On 16 May, curfews were in force in Dheisheh, Eisariya and Beit Ur a-Tahta. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 17 May 1990; Al Fajr, 21 May 1990)

309. On 18 and 19 May, curfews remained in force in Dheisheh and Tabas. Curfews were also imposed temporarily on Ramallah and El-Bireh, and on nearby villages Ein Arik and Taibe, following clashes with pupils. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 20 May 1990; Al Fajr, 21 and 28 May 1990)

310. On 20 May, preventive curfews were imposed in Nablus, Hebron and many village and refugee camps. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 21 May 1990; Al Fajr, 28 May 1990)

311. On 21 May, the curfews in the Gaza Strip remained in force, (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 22 May 1990; Al Fajr, 26 May 1990)

312. On 23 May, in many places curfews were totally or partially lifted, to enable residents to buy food or go to work. It remained in force in Nablus and nearby camps, Janis, Tulkarem sad nearby camps, Kabatiya and Samara. The entire Gaza Strip remained under curfew. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 24 May 1990; Al Fajr, 28 May 1990)

313 On 25 and 26 May, a general curfew remained in force in the Gaza Strip. In all major West Bank towns, except Hebron, curfews were lifted. Nablus and Tulkarem were declared closed military zones. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 27 May 1990; Al Fajr, 28 May and 4 June 1990)

314. On 27 May, curfews were lifted in Beit Hanun, Beit Lahiya, Mughazi camp, Zuweida, Abasan, Khan Yunis, Rafah and the nearby camps, but Gaza itself remained under curfew, and the entire region remained closed to the media. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 28 May 1990; Al Fajr, 4 June 1990)

315. On 29 and 30 May, curfews were imposed in Jericho, Awarta, Batir and the centre of El-Bireh. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 31 May 1990; Al Fajr, 4 June 1990)

316. On 31 May, the centre of Gaza remained under curfew. In Deir el-Balah the curfew, which was imposed on 20 May, was lifted. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 1 June 1990; Al Fajr, 4 June 1990)

317. On 3 June, Kabatiya, near Jenin, remained under curfew for the fifteenth consecutive day. Tulkarem camp was under curfew since 4 days. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 4 June 1990)

318. On 4 June, curfews were in force in Shweika, and the Tulkarem and Arub camps. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 5 June 1990)

319. On 5 June, curfews were imposed in Nablus and nearby camps. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 6 June 1990)

320. On 6 June, Nablus and nearby camps remained under curfew. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 7 June 1990)

321. On 8 and 9 June, in Nablus and nearby camps 120,000 people remained under curfew for the fifth consecutive day. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 10 June 1990)

322. On 10 June, a curfew was imposed in Kiryat Arba. The curfew on Nablus and nearby camps was lifted. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 11 June 1990)

323. On 11 June, a curfew was imposed in Nablus and the nearby camps. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 12 June 1990)

324. On 14 June, parts of Gaza were under curfew, for the twenty-sixth consecutive day. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 15 June 1990)

325. On 27 June, Azzun and Sheikh Ajlia remained under curfew. (Ha'aretz, 18 June 1990)

326. On 18 June, the curfew on Sheikh Ajlia was lifted. Azzun remained under curfew. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 19 June 1990)

327. On 22 and 23 June, curfews were imposed in Silwan, Abu Tor and Ras el-Amud. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 24 June 1990)

328. On 26 June, a large area in and around Tulkarem was placed under curfew following the heavy clashes there earlier in the week. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 27 June 1990)

329. On 27 June, the curfews in Tulkarem and Khader, near Bethlehem, were lifted. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 28 June 1990)

330. On 27 and 28 July, clashes were reported in Bureij camp, which was placed under curfew. Atil also remained under curfew. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 29 July 1990)

331. On 29 July, night curfews were imposed in Beitin and Ein Yabrud. The curfews an Atil and Bureij were lifted. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 30 July 1990)

332. On 3 August, the main road of Hebron was under curfew. (Jerusalem Post, 3 August 1990)

333. On 3 and 4 August, the curfew in Hebron was expanded to include the Casbah, and a curfew was also imposed in Dahiriya, where several wanted people were arrested during an operation. Curfews were also imposed in Sajai'ya and Zeitun neighbourhoods in Gaza. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 5 August 1990)

334. On 7 August, the village of Beit Hanina, near which the bodies of two Israeli youths were discovered an 6 August 1990, remained under curfew for the second day, (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 8 August 1990)

335. On 15 August, Yabad was placed under curfew after a settler, Asaf Mamrayob, aged 35, from Hinanit, had been severely beaten in the village by masked people. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 17 August 1990)

336. On 19 August, the High Court of Justice rejected a petition by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel against the imposition of night curfews in the Gaza Strip, for over two years. The judges explained they could not find anything wrong with the curfew since it was imposed for operative military reasons. They nevertheless added that the Southern Region commander should regularly check the necessity of the curfew and, if it was possible, lift it. (Ha'aretz, 20 August 1990)

337. A curfew in Jamain village near Kalkilya continued for the fifth day. (Ha'aretz, 20 August 1990)

338. On 30 August, Rafah camp remained under curfew for the sixth day. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 31 August 1990)
(iv) Imposition or economic sanctions

Oral evidence

339. Some witnesses referred in the course of their testimony to the recourse of the occupying authorities to economic sanctions as a form of collective punishment.

340. Mrs. Raja'a Hannour said in this regard:

"…The authorities are pursuing a carefully planned and programmed policy of economic pressure and harassment against the population. To this end, tax officials, supported by Israeli soldiers, raid the village almost every day in order to seize property by force. Residents are arrested at check-points on the charge of travelling without an identity card or if their names appear on a list of persona who have not paid their taxes.

"…The owners of private vehicles who transport residents of the village to and from neighbouring towns have been placed under pressure with a view to forcing them to pay tax. Fines have been imposed on them on the ground that their vehicles are not licensed. Since most of these persons categorically refuse to work in Israel, increased pressure is brought to bear on them by the army and the tax officials." (A/AC.145/RT.543)

341. Mr. Ata Mohamed Hussein Abu Kersh also referred to this issue:

"…Due to the operations during the Palestinian resistance and the practices carried out by the military authorities, 80,000 citrus trees have been destroyed, as well as large areas of cultivated land, which are no longer fit for agriculture." (A/AC.145/RT.545/Add.1)

342. Accounts of the imposition of economic sanctions can be found in documents A/AC.145/RT.543 (Mrs. Raja'a Hannour) and A/AC.145/RT.545/Add.1 (Mrs. Ata Mohamed Hussein Abu Kersh).
(v) Other forms of collective punishment

Oral evidence

343. Mrs. Raja'a Hannour mentioned in the course of her testimony some specific forms of collective punishment to which the inhabitants of the village of Azzun (which is representative of the violations taking place in other areas) are subjected:

"As far as services are concerned, the authorities have pursued a policy of collective punishment, in various forms, against this village. For example, they deprived the village of its water supply in July, August and September 1989 by preventing the persons responsible from repairing the water pump which supplies the village. The electricity supply was also cut off for five successive days in December of the same year on the pretext that the electricity bills had not been paid.

"Other acts of harassment by the authorities include the disconnection of the telephone lines to the village on the occasion of every Palestinian national festival, as happened recently during the Id al-Fitr from 25 April to 5 May 1990." (A/AC.145/RT.543)

Written information

344. On 23 July, it was reported that the water supply of Eizariya near East Jerusalem, had been reduced by 75 per cent because residents failed to pay their water bills to the Jerusalem municipality. (Jerusalem Post, 23 July 1900)

345. A spokesperson for the civil administration said that residents of the territories whose electricity was being siphoned off by nearby army camps would be compensated by the civil administration if they made an application for payments and brought estimates of the amount used. (Jerusalem Post, 3-7 August 1990)
(c) Expulsions

Oral evidence

346. The Special Committee heard several statements on the practice of expelling Palestinians from the occupied territories. The illegal nature of the deportation procedure, which was in violation of article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, was stressed in the course of the hearings on the subject, and reference was made to the fact that the intended deportees or their lawyers were not given the opportunity to see the charges brought against them. Mr. Jamal Ibrahim Farraj, a deported journalist, stated in this connection:

"When I asked about the charges against me, I was answered by the judges that this is a secret article and that the law does not allow me to find out what the provisions are, because it relates to State security. I was only charged with having already been detained for a year and a half in 1981 and that I worked in a newspaper called 'The Charter', which had been shut down in 1986 by the occupation authorities and that this journal publishes instigation against the occupation. That was the nature of the charge addressed against me." (A/AC.145/RT.535)

347. The difficult physical and psychological conditions of the expulsion process were also described in some testimonies:

"The administration of the prison had promised that there would be special visits before the expulsion, in order that we can say good-bye to our families. But we were surprised at 7 o'clock in the morning by the soldiers, who rounded us up and took us in a helicopter to the security belt, after they had stripped us of all the papers concerning us. When we reached the security belt, we were handed over to the South Lebanon army, a so-called South Lebanon army, which is even more cruel than the occupation army. This was in the month of January. It was in 1969, it was extremely cold at the time, but we were forced to take our clothes off and to sit in a car which was full of water. In special cars, we were taken to the border region between the South Lebanon army and the legitimate Lebanese army. There, the Lebanese army and the Palestinian resistance received us." (A/AC.145/RT.535)

348. The attention of the Special Committee was also drawn in the course of the hearings on this subject to new deportation measures implemented by the Israeli occupation authorities and affecting women without valid residence permits and their children. In most cases, women born in the occupied territories, who had married Palestinians, had lived there for several years and given birth to children in the occupied territories, had been denied the right to reside and had been deported without prior warning.

349. The humiliating and harsh conditions of such deportation were described by several witnesses:

"I was asleep with the children. At 5.30 a.m., they came and the children were running in their pajamas, all of them, barefooted. They didn't give me time to dress the children. I was in the room of the children and I tried to get them dressed, but they wouldn't let me and they asked us out. They would not let me leave the children with their father. I was pregnant. They didn't even let me stay to have my baby in the occupied territories.

"The CHAIRMAN: They came to your house, you said at 5.30 in the morning, and what did they tell you?

"The WITNESS (interpretation from Arabic): They asked me my name. They said 'come with me, you can't stay here anymore, you have to leave this place, you have to leave the West Bank, you don't have the permit to reside here'. Then they took me out, with three others, they put us in five army vehicles, there was also another car. They made us pay 60 dinars for hiring the car and they took us out." (A/AC.145/RT.539)

"In the morning, at 6.50 a.m., a lady captain came to our house and asked me to prepare my passport to leave. She did not give me a chance to arrange my luggage. My father-in-law and my mother-in-law were with me and they tried to appeal to her to let me stay, because I was about to give birth, but she refused. My father-in-law cried, but the Jewish soldier aimed his weapon at him and told him that if he went on talking and appealing, he would shoot him. So, I prepared my luggage and I went with them, in an Israeli jeep. They took me along with eight other girls." (Anonymous witness, A/AC.145/RT.541)

"When they started expelling people, the occupation forces came at 2 o'clock in the morning. They told me that I had to go to Amman. I said 'would you wait until the morning, because I have small children' and it was also very cold. They said no, that I had to go right away, to the extent that I went out in my nightdress. I was not even able to get decently dressed. They took us to the school of the village, put us in an army truck and brought us to Ramallah at 5 o'clock in the morning. We stayed in front of the office of the military commander from 5 o'clock in the morning until 1 o'clock in the afternoon, then they put us in another car and took us to the bridge. They took us to the bridge and expelled us from the occupied territories. That is what happened." (Anonymous witness, A/AC.145/RT.541)

350. It was also pointed out that some of these women and the children of such marriages born in the occupied territories had often been denied registration by the Israeli authorities. An anonymous witness, asked whether her name was included in her husband's identity card after her marriage stated the following:

"We applied and that was rejected. Every year they would not accept.

"The CHAIRMAN: After you got married, did you apply to have your name included in your husband's identity card, as being the lawful wife?

"The WITNESS (interpretation from Arabic): Yes, we applied.

"The CHAIRMAN: To whom did you apply?

"The WITNESS (interpretation from Arabic): To the military governor of Ramallah.

"The CHAIRMAN: Soon after you got married and went to the occupied territories with your husband, did you make such an application?

"The WITNESS (interpretation from Arabic): Yes.

"The CHAIRMAN: And you said that this was rejected?

"The WITNESS (interpretation from Arabic): Yes, the application was rejected.

"The CHAIRMAN: Did you apply again?

"The WITNESS (interpretation from Arabic): Yes, we kept on applying.

"The CHAIRMAN: But, as they were born, the children's names were included in your husband's identity card?

"The WITNESS (interpretation from Arabic): Yes, but since the intifadah started, they stopped doing that. They stopped registering the names of  children in the identity cards, because I have a daughter who was born when the intifadah had already started, and they said that she was not to be put on her father's identity card. She was born in the West Bank, in Ramallah, she has her birth certificate, an Israeli birth certificate, but they would not have her registered on her father's identity card." (A/AC.145/RT.539)

351. Another anonymous witness referred to the same issue:

"Were both your children born in the occupied territories?

"The WITNESS (interpretation from Arabic).  Yes, my two children were born in the occupied territories.

"The CHAIRMAN: Was their birth registered there?

"The WITNESS (interpretation from Arabic): The boy is registered in the occupied territories and he has got a number on his father's identity card, but as for the girl, they did not accept to give her a registration number. She is not registered." (A/AC.145/RT.541)

352. Testimonies referring to the problem of expulsions from the occupied territories may be found in documents A/AC.145/RT.535 (Mr. Jamal Ibrahim Farraj); A/AC.145/RT.538 (Mr. Balal Ezzedine Hussein Shakhshir, Mr. Radwan Ahmed Mohamed Ziyadeh); A/AC.145/RT.539 (four anonymous witnesses); A/AC.145/RT.541 (five anonymous witnesses); A/AC.145/RT.543 (Mrs. Anita Vitullo); and A/AC.145/RT.545/Add.1 (Mr. Ata Mohamed Hussein Abu Kersh).

Written information

353. On 5 June, a new military government policy was announced under which women and children who were not residents of the West Bank, but were related to such residents, would be permitted to live in the region without the previous requirement to leave for Jordan every three months and stay there for several months before being allowed to return for another visit. It was reported that some 250 women and children who were forced to leave the West Bank in 1969 for lack of resident status would be permitted to return and join their husbands and fathers in the West Bank. The new policy was announced in a statement to the High Court of justice in response to a petition filed by ACRI, 15 Palestinian fathers and their children from the Ramallah area, and the National Council for the Welfare of the Child. Non-resident women and children would receive all government services provided to residents, including education and health-care. Following the military government's statement the High Court of Justice rejected the petition. On 20 June, the first group of women expelled were allowed to return with their children. They were Aida Awed and Nahla Ismail from Arura, Mariam Musahem of Abwein and Hairiya Zibu of Mazraa-a-Sharkiya. But Jamil At'ut of El-Bireh, married to a non-resident woman, was told that his wife could not enter the West Bank. A civil administration spokesman said that the Ramallah military government was willing to meet with the man in order to resolve the matter. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post 6, 22 June 1990)
(d) Economic and social situation

Oral evidence

354. A number of witnesses referred to the deteriorating living conditions of the civilian population. Mr. Riad Mahmoud Saleh Kassem stated in this regards:

"When the intifadah started and when strikes broke out – and everybody has got to observe the strikes called by the unified leadership – of course the conditions of the people in the camp deteriorated, because the education and the health centres were affected. And the soldiers forbade people to go to work, they round then up and they arrest them. For example, if somebody has got one of his children to help him with his business, they arrest him. The unified leadership had declared that the closing of the shops should be at eleven. So, it you have a shop open for only four hours, you can't sell anything. And when there is a strike or an escalation, every one has to find himself in the main yard of the camp, to leave his work to answer the call of the unified leadership of the intifadah. This results in the deterioration of the living conditions. That is to say in very clear terms that everybody got practically bankrupt." (A/AC.145/RT.536/Add.1)

355. Mr. Youssef Ibrahim Abdelhak, from the Economic Department of the Palestine Liberation Organization, referred in his statement to various difficulties faced by the Palestinian population in the area of agriculture:

"…It should be noted that the occupation has based itself mainly on three aspects of agriculture: it has tried to subjugate this agriculture with a view to absorbing the Palestinian economy. The first way is that of confiscation of land. The second element is the controlling of the agricultural production, in other words specifying certain areas for each agricultural product, according to the requirement of the Israeli economy. The third point relates to the attempt to make workers leave the land." (A/AC.145/RT.542)

356. Mr. Ata Mohamed Hussein Abu Kersh, a teacher, specifically referred to the problems relating to agriculture in the Gaza Strip:

"…The EEC has concluded some agreements with us for the import of vegetables. But we are facing terrible problems in this process of exportation, in our attempt to export some commodities and to be able to make a living this way. Israel is trying to take our products and export them itself through export companies. … In addition to all this, Israel is trying by all means to exercise pressure on us to prevent us from planting new citrus or orange trees. Some of the trees are old and we try to renew them, but Israel refuses to allow us to do so. Also, we have a limited amount of water in the Gaza Strip. Israel is trying to dig wells around the Gaza Strip in order to draw the underground water available. Even the percentage of salinity in water has increased tremendously now in the Gaza Strip, so that it has become impossible for human beings to drink this water and we depend on artesian wells to get our potable water. Nowadays the water that we can draw from the wells has a high degree of salinity, because of infiltrations from the wells that Israel is digging around in the Gaza Strip. It is digging these wells in order to draw water from Gaza, for it is all new. Israel has also put some meters on these wells and we have to pay taxes for getting this water. So, if a region has a specific amount of water, whatever exceeds this amount has to be subjected to taxes, to be paid to Israel." (A/AC.145/RT.545/Add.1)

357. Several witnesses referred to the very high taxes imposed on the civilians in the occupied territories. An anonymous witness stated in this connections:

"The economic situation in Gaza has deteriorated very much during the past two years, especially regarding the imposition of value added tax and the very high income taxes. Many commercial places have closed, because the people cannot pay what is asked from them, either income taxes or custom taxes. I have personally noticed that, when persons are unable to pay, their houses are being attacked and their belongings, or part of them, taken away. Also the identity card, without which one cannot make a step, has been taken away from those who fail to pay taxes." (A/AC.145/RT.545)

358. Another anonymous witness enumerated the several taxes imposed by the Israeli authorities and said:

"Now the taxes that the citizens have to pay swallow almost all of their income. There are so many people who no longer can pay the taxes, because the taxes are so heavy. The daily income is not enough to pay the taxes and then the customs will have to storm the houses or storm the shops in order to seize the furniture or any goods that are there. All the goods and equipment that were in my workshop have been taken and that under the arbitrary tax. If you cannot pay, they take everything and leave you without any means." (A/AC.145/RT.545)

359. Reference was also made to the deterioration of the health system in the occupied territories since the start of the uprisings:

"The Federation of doctors has tried to open new medical centres at its own expense, but the authorities have refused. And when they know that a new clinic has been opened, they close it down. The Dar Al Shifa Hospital and the Ahli Arab Hospital have been stormed by troops. … In Gaza and in the West Bank, we do not have radio or television, we lack blood or plasma. Very often, we do not have enough to make a blood transfusion. We need large amounts of it. Medicines are not available in sufficient quantities. You might find some the second day of the month, and than the stocks run out. We have decided that what we call 'endemic cases' are not allowed to stay long in the hospitals, because we need the beds for the wounded people. There has been an increase in psychological disturbances, as a result of the beatings, the gas bombs, the terror and insecurity. So, in the Gaza Strip, the medical and health situation is lamentable. There aren't enough doctors, nurses, males and females, administrative staff. There aren't enough cars and ambulances." (An anonymous witness, A/AC.145/RT.545)

360. Mrs. Synne Holan, a Norwegian midwife, referred to the closure of schools for nurses and midwives:

"All the nursing schools in the West Bank are closed, I do not know exactly when they were closed, but during the intifadah, they have been closed. … This is of course the big problem, because, if for three or four years you do not have new nurses coming out of the nursing schools, there is then a lack of trained staff. And there was anyway beforehand an important lack of nurses and health professionals in occupied Palestine." (A/AC.145/RT.544/Add.1)

361. Accounts on the economic and social situation in the occupied territories may be found in documents A/AC.145/RT.536/Add.1 (Mr. Marwan Mahmoud Hamadeh and Mr. Riad Mahmoud Saleh Kassem); A/AC.145/RT.542 (Mr. Youssef Ibrahim Abdelhak; Mr. Jawad Magi); A/AC.145/RT.544 (an anonymous witness); A/AC.145/RT.544/Add.1 (Mrs. Synne Holan); A/AC.145/RT.545 (three anonymous witnesses); and A/AC.145/RT.545/Add.1 (Mr. Ata Mohamed Hussein Abu Kersh).
2.  Measures affecting certain fundamental freedoms

(a) Freedom of movement

Oral evidence

362. Measures restricting the right to freedom of movement were mentioned in some testimonies. Mr. Fahmi Moustafa Mahmoud, a professor, referred to the difficulties faced in this connection:

"During my stay in the West Bank, and like three other lecturers, I was only given a visa for one month and the rest of the year we were without visa, which means that, at any time if you were caught somewhere, you could be immediately thrown to the other side. For example, I spent once 17 days inside the house, because there was such a control point and I couldn't move anywhere. There had been some demonstrations in Nablus, I lived just outside Nablus and the checkpoint was about a hundred yards from my house, between my place and the city. So, I had to stay in, because if they would check, ask for my visa, and I had none, I was out. Once, they got one of the lecturers, put him in a jeep, took him to the military authorities in Nablus and told him that he had to go straight to Jordan. He started fighting and shouting, because nobody knew where he was. Finally they said he would have to leave the next day. Life was too difficult. I stayed 27 months, had twice a visa for one month and the rest of the time no visa at all. So, during that time, whenever I wanted to buy what I needed daily, food, etc. …, I had to make sure that there was no checkpoint, no possibility of any trouble here and there, I had to go quick and come back, I would buy I don't know how, in half an hour, buy for the whole week. If I am caught, I don't know what the consequences are." (A/AC.145/RT.540/Add.1)

"The students graduate and they cannot find a job. So, they have to leave the territories and go abroad, but, if the students were below 26, and now it is below 36 years of age, they cannot come back before nine months, although they are residents of the occupied territories. So if somebody goes out, he has to stay out for nine months. This is a big problem, because, if a student leaves and cannot find a job, he cannot come back, he does not have money. Therefore he has to stay here. Sometimes, it also happens that if somebody leaves, he would have in his travel documents or his passport the mention that he cannot come back for a period of three years. He has got a West Bank travel document and he is not allowed to come back. In principle, he should be able to come whenever he likes. But they used to make the condition and some of the students found themselves quite surprised that this condition would be written on their documents, they wouldn't know and, when they come back, they cannot enter and are told to go to wherever they come from."

363. Mrs. Raja'a Hannour, a human rights field worker, cited as an example the situation in the village of Azzun near Kalkiliya:

"The inhabitants of the village were placed under a travel ban for a period of six months during 1989 and for a further period of four months at the end of the same year." (A/AC.145/RT.543)

364. An anonymous witness referred to the issuing of magnetic cards by the Israeli authorities as an additional means of control over the civilian population:

"Without the magnetic card, you cannot travel within Israel or in the Gaza Strip. To issue the magnetic card, they check whether you owe any taxes. If you do owe taxes, you are asked to pay. If you don't pay the taxes, you can't have this magnetic card. Than even if I have a patient in Israel, I cannot visit him." (A/AC.145/RT.545)

365. Testimonies referring to the restrictions of the right to freedom of movement may be found in documents A/AC.145/RT.540/Add.1 (Mr. Fahmi Moustafa Mahmoud); A/AC.145/RT.543 (Mrs. Raja'a Hannour); and A/AC.145/RT.545 (an anonymous witness).

Written information

366. On 15 April, Al Quds newspaper reported that residents of Beit Furik, in the Nablus area were still banned from traveling to Jordan. The travel ban had been in force for 26 consecutive months. (Al Fajr, 16 April 1990)

367. On 5 May, five Palestinian families (consisting of 15 children and fathers) petitioned the High Court of Justice to allow them to reunite in the West Bank with the mothers of the families, Jordanian citizens who were currently residing in Jordan or lived illegally with their husbands. The petition was also signed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI). According to ACRI 100 Jordanian wives and their 150 children currently resided in Jordan or lived in the West Bank illegally. One case was that of Jihad Oashra from Sinjil, whose wife Najah was forced to return to Jordan even though she was pregnant. Military officials allegedly confiscated documents proving that two of her children were born in the West Bank. The army rejected several appeals from Oashra for family reunion and, in 1989, barred his wife from entering the West Bank even though she had been issued visiting permits. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 7 May 1990; Al Fajr, 14 May 1990)

368. On 5 June, it was reported that the IDF had lifted all collective bans on travel to Jordan which it had imposed on towns and villages in the West Bank. The bans were lifted after ACRI and residents of two villages petitioned the High Court of Justice against that form of collective punishment. The announcement in the lifting of the bans was made by the State Attorney's Office, in reply to the petition to the High Court. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 17 June 1990)

369. On 7 June, several entrances to the Askar refugee camp ware sealed off with cement-filled barrels to block stone-throwing on the adjacent Nablus-Jordan valley road. (Jerusalem Post, 8 June 1990)

370. On 1 July, it was reported that the Chairman of the Gaza Bar Association, Freih Abu Meydan, was prevented by the civil administration from leaving on a tour to the United States of America, where he was invited for meetings with Jewish congressmen. A senior IDF source said the cause of the ban was "security reasons". (Jerusalem Post, 1 July 1990)

371. On 8 July, the High Court of Justice issued an order nisi requiring the IDF commander in the West Back to show cause within 60 days why two Palestinians may not appeal to a military advisory board to allow them to return to the West Bank. The petition was lodged by Adv. Lea Tzemel on behalf of Dr. Alfred Tubassi of Ramallah and Majed Salameh of Tulkarem, who were expelled in 1974 and 1970, respectively, for activities and membership of hostile organisations. Each of then visited the Went Bank once since their expulsion after obtaining visiting permits. According to the State Attorney's office Tubassi continued his activity for the PLO. As for Salameh, the Office confirmed that he visited his family in 1987, but argued that he had entered the region under a false identity and was expelled 6 weeks later. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 9 July 1990)

372. On 20 August, three Palestinian activists, Faisal Husseini, Zuheira Kamal and Ata Khalil Kimri, were presented with orders barring them from leaving the country. The order against Kimri, a former prisoner who was sentenced to life imprisonment, was for six months. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 21 August 1990)

373. On 30 August, it was reported that two Palestinian activists, Ghassan al-Khatib, a lecturer in Al-Najah University, and Baruda al-Bassir, a leader of women's organizations, were also barred from leaving the country. It was reported that the Palestinian activists intended to participate in a meeting of non-governmental organizations on Palestine, held in Geneva. It was further reported that about 10 Palestinians had been prevented from travelling abroad in the past two weeks. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 30 August 1990)
(b) Freedom of religion

374. On 25 June – It was reported that a group of rabbis, members of a group called Rabbinic Human Rights watch, had recently visited Nablus and the Ein Beit al-Ma camp, where they noted that the local mosque bad been damaged by IDF soldiers. The group's Chairman, Rabbi David Forman, sent a letter to the Religious Affairs Minister, reporting that he had seen some 15 to 20 bullet holes in the mosque's windows and loudspeakers, as well as traces of tear-gas grenades thrown into the mosque. An IDF spokeswoman said that no reports had been received from the camp of damage to the local mosque, but that any such complaints would be investigated. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 15 June 1990)

375. On 21 August, according to Palestinian sources troops fired five tear-gas grenades into a Nablus mosque. Several people had to receive medical treatment. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 22 August 1990)
(a) Freedom of expression

Oral evidence

376. A number of witnesses testified on the several ways in which the right to freedom of expression was curtailed by the occupying authorities. Among such infringements reference was made to the closure of newspapers, the censorship and obstacles to the distribution of newspapers, the storming of newspaper offices and the harassment of journalists. Mr. Ali Ya'ish, a journalist, stated in his testimony:

"Taking myself as a journalist, an incident could take place five metres away from my office, I cannot give the news coverage of the incident as I saw it. I have to wait until an official statement has been issued on the incident and I have to adopt the official line and that, according to the report of the military spokesman, if a martyr falls during a demonstration or clashes between the people on one hand and the army on the other, and where I can see the martyr falling and the wounded people, I am still compelled to publish only the statement made by the Israeli military spokesman. A number of incidents have taken place. I know that some people have been killed and there has been no recognition by the military spokesman that these people have been killed, or the military spokesman does not know. The only way is that I gather all the newsmen who are interested in this issue, whether they are the local ones or the foreigners, or the Israeli ones, I contact them by phone and I tell them that such and such an event has taken place. Then, they contact the military spokesman, so he is completely besieged when he finds out that a lot of people know about the incident, and he will have to acknowledge that the incident has taken place. Now, the definition of incident. To the Israelis, it comes to 'has a journalist witnessed the event?' If a journalist has witnessed the event, then in this case in the information sense, this incident has taken place. But if journalists have not seen, then it did not happen. It is as simple as that.

…

"According to the emergency law under which the newspapers in Israel are published, any material being published by the newspapers has got to be first reviewed by the censor. But it is impossible for us to give every thing that we are going to publish to the censor, because of technicalities. The Israeli newspaper does not find itself subjected to that system, but we are under pressure and we are trying to fight back as much as we can.

…

"In the past, we used to distribute our issues in the West Bank and our distribution in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip constituted about 90 per cent of our market. In an attempt to put pressure on journalists, they tried to discriminate between the West Bank and Gaza on the one hand and Jerusalem on the other and that in term of the distribution of the newspapers. That means that the Arab newspapers have got to receive a permit for distribution from the military administration in the West Bank. It also means that, whenever they like, if they give us a permit, they can also withdraw the permit and they use such tactics repeatedly." (A/AC.145/RT.540/Add.1)

377. An anonymous witness who is also a journalist referred to the harassment he had experienced in the fulfilment of his profession:

"Being a Palestinian, I am more concerned than other journalists with the coverage of the news, regardless of whether such news involve violence or not. This sort of coverage is considered a provocation to the Israeli soldiers. The Israeli soldier feels insulted when there is a Palestinian photographer taking photographs. They regard us as second class citizens. The actual incident took place at 2 p.m. At that time, I was not working, I was at home. A military patrol consisting of eight persons stopped right in front of my house, they got out of their cars. One of them had long hair, he jumped out of his car. I had with me my wife and my two-year-old child. He said that he was going to kill me if I continue to carry out my job." (A/AC.145/RT.535)

378. Mr. Jamal Ibrahim Farraj, a deported journalist, stated in the same connection:

"I tried to open a private journalist office to Bethlehem. The occupation stormed my office a number of times. At the beginning of the intifadah for six months, renewed for another three months, the office was closed. The name of the office was 'Bethlehem journalistic house'. There was another pretext again, that this office was publishing material instigating against the occupation. The facts that take place against journalists constitute a very lengthy list, arrests, house arrests, in certain cases there has been killing." (A/AC.145/RT.535)

379. Testimonies relating to restrictions of the right to freedom of expression may be found in documents A/AC.145/RT.535 (Mr. Jamal Ibrahim Farraj); A/AC.145/RT.536 (an anonymous witness); A/AC.145/RT.540/Add.1 (Mr. Ali Ya'ish).

Written information

380. On 11 June, Sami Abu Samhadana, aged 28, a journalist from Rafah, was put in administrative detention for one year. He had already served a one-year administrative detention term in the past. (Jerusalem Post, 12 June 1990)

381. On 20 June, it was reported that the military court in Lod had sentenced Sama'un Khuri, aged 41, the representative of Agence France Presse in Jerusalem, for three years and nine months in jail and a suspended term of a similar duration. He was convicted of planning the distribution of funds coming from Jordan for the uprising, and of membership of an illegal organisation. (Jerusalem Post, 20 June 1990)

382. On 15 July, the Jerusalem district court rejected an appeal by the editor of Al-Fajr, Hana Seniora, against his conviction, four and a half years ago, by a Jerusalem magistrates court, of failing to submit to censorship an interview with Yasser Arafat. He was fined NIS 3,000 ($1,500), plus NIS 3,000 ($1,500) as a guarantee that he would not violate censorship rules for three years. (Ha'aretz, l6 July 1990)

383. On 29 July, the police, acting on orders of Central Region Commander Yitzhak Mordekhai, closed down two of Faisal Husseini's Arab Studies Centre offices in East Jerusalem, and extended the closure order against a third office. The police statement said the offices were closed for the "public welfare and the public good". The main office has been closed since July 1988. The order had now been extended for a third consecutive year – the longest closure order against any East Jerusalem institution. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 30 July 1990)

384. On 16 August, it was reported that the General Security Service had closed the office of Muhammad al-Mashwakhi, a journalist from Gaza, for one year, on the grounds that he had a fax machine in his office and was using it illegally. (Jerusalem Post, 16 August 1990)
(d) Freedom of education

Oral evidence

385. Several witnesses provided the Special Committee with information on problems affecting the right to freedom of education in the occupied territories. Concern was expressed regarding the long-term effects of the prolonged closure of educational institutions. The resulting deterioration of academic standards and psychological negative effects of such closure on students were stressed in a number of testimonies:

"The level of education is very rapidly deteriorating, because of those measures. The small children, as well as the college and university students, are subjected to circumstances that have led to a deterioration of the academic standard in general. For instance, students of the first primary grade are promoted to the second grade without any examination, without any testing of their ability. This concerns all levels of education. Also, it is very well known that, if the student disrupts studying for more than two months, he forgets what he has been taught before. And today, there are children of the fourth or fifth grade of primary school who so far know nothing of the alphabet. We are not allowed to teach them at home. I have three students at home, whom I am trying to teach the alphabet to. If this is found out, I can be taken to the police. Actually, a war is being waged, because the intention is to bring down the level of academic achievements." (Anonymous witness, A/AC.145/RT.540)

"When the schools were closed and then for a short period of time, in the spring of 1988, they were opened again for approximately two months, I was astonished and quite saddened to see the changes in my students, both in regard to behaviour and also the weakness in their intellectual development. I start first with the academic aspect. I think for any of us, if all of a sudden we were taken out of a context like these children, with no intellectual stimulation and of course the discipline that goes along with that, to have that cut off from you for a period of about six months, then to be asked once again to read, to write and to conduct oneself as a student, is very difficult. Even to write a letter after a break where you have no intellectual stimulation or no venue to write or read, becomes virtually impossible. For children who are in the most important stage of their intellectual development, it was a disaster. I saw students who for sure had some difficulties when I was teaching them, but I could see their progress, I could see their development. After that six-month period, I would not call them illiterate, but many of them could not write a complete sentence in English, and these were students who had been brought up primarily in America. The consequences were disastrous and quite alarming to me as an educator. Basically they had gone back two grades in that six-month period.

"I noticed that they developed a violent behaviour, in general aggressiveness and lack of discipline in the classroom. And I am talking about academic discipline, I mean behavioural characteristics. I could tell that these students were suffering from the combination of fear and also the response that children would have realizing that they are not protected. The kind of aggressiveness that, in my opinion, is born out of this fear and lack of protection." (Anonymous witness, A/AC.145/RT.534)

"I feel terrible that this generation, what we call the generation of the Israeli occupation, is facing a disaster, because illiteracy, this kind of illiteracy by force, is terribly affecting this young Palestinian generation. Not just that. It is as if they are becoming humans of the forest.

…

"They don't want to go to school, they want to be stone-throwers, as if they were not children, suddenly they are men and warriors. They would say 'we don't want to go to school until the Israelis are gone, we don't want to go to schools surrounded by the Israelis or by soldiers.'

…

"There is a very cruel change in the psychological make-up of these young ones. It has been going on for a long time and began in 1967. At that time, they were five years old, now they are 28 and suffering from complexes, psychological anguish. Studying their behaviour, you find many wrong things with them, a strong feeling of injustice, all those psychological hang-ups resulting from growing up under the circumstances of the occupation, and they might have become very dangerous people, had they not entrenched in them ideals like building up their homes. If you listen to their conversation, between themselves or with people who were not raised in the occupied territories, you would be astonished at the violence, the fierceness with which they present their ideas. It is as if their heads were void of anything but the soldiers, the occupation, the feeling of injustice, of oppression. This leads to many complexes in them." (Mr. Abdellatif Ataaqal, A/AC.145/RT.540/Add.1)

386. Some testimonies outlined the various ways to which the Israeli authorities were interfering in the academic and research activities. Mr. Abdellatif Ataaqal, a university professor, referred in his testimony to the practice of banning books:

"Every year, we used to receive a list of the banned books. The last one contained, I mean two years ago, between 3,000 and 3,200 titles and a letter from the military governor saying that these were the books that students should not see, that should not be kept in the library of the research centre and that, if one representative of the authorities came to the university and found just one of those books, the library would be closed. But they never came. I could not deprive the students of their right of seeing this or that book and some of these titles have no connection in my opinion with politics, occupation or Israel. (A/AC.145/RT.540/Add.1)

387. An anonymous witness referred to the same issue:

"As far as books are concerned, there is a series of books which are totally banned from the curriculum, many books and many Jordanian books, because we are actually following the Jordanian curriculum. All the set books are subject to modifications and omissions, especially regarding subjects like history. We are not allowed to teach anything concerning the Palestinian question. There is no such thing called Palestine or anything relating to it in our curriculum." (A/AC.145/RT.540)

388. Mr. Mohamed Taysseer, the director of a research centre mentioned various obstacles hindering research projects in the occupied territories:

"Among the problems we are facing in my research centre is that of obtaining information, in the first place. We have issued a research on education and we found great difficulties in getting statistics about education in the occupied territories or in the Hebron governorate. We used to exert enormous efforts in order to obtain some information and such material.

…

"The second problem we are facing in our scientific research is the degree of accuracy of the information we obtain from the Israeli statistics. The third problem to how to gather this information, how to compile this information. If we went to obtain some information from the field, we face numerous difficulties, when we try to collect such material. It is known that in all countries of the world, there is a certain margin of lack of cooperation between the research worker and the subject of his research, but in the occupied territories this margin is greatly increased for numerous reasons, like lack of confidence, fear of taxes, harassment by the authorities.

…

"The fourth problem is that of writing. The research worker might find that while he is trying to analyse come variables, he is supposed to say certain things which are punishable by law. Therefore he has to make a choice, whether he is going to say the truth or to keep silent, because he is afraid of being harassed by the authorities or of being accused of instigating the population or publishing secret information.

…

"Another problem is how to got such research published. The research costs us a lot of money, for gathering information, also some of the research workers receive remuneration, as well as the assistants making the analysis, and when we want to publish our book, we find that we are prohibited from doing so. Some publishing houses refuse to have the book published at all, because the publishing house or the printing house has received a military order to the effect that it is forbidden for any publishing house to publish any material before obtaining prior approval from the military censor. The military censor might not approve of the material." (A/AC.145/RT.540/Add.1)

389. The material and financial constraints and taxes imposed on educational institutions were also denounced in some testimonies. Mr. Abdellatif Ataaqal stated in this connection:

"We purchased land outside the ancient campus in a place called Jneid. Jneid used to be a hospital, in the days of the Jordanians, but it was then changed to a prison. We bought the place of land close to that prison to build a school of engineering and we applied to the authorities for a building permit. We have been denied one and they prevented the registration of the land as a property of the university. After three years, we had not received any positive answer regarding the registration of the land or a permit to start building the school of engineering. Then, suddenly the military authorities sent us a letter saying that half of the land was being confiscated and that we could not build, we could not expand the university and also that they did not believe that Al Najah University should be expanded at all, it owns enough buildings. I went there and I talked to them, saying that each student at the university has less than one square metre of space, because we have 4,500 students and the space available is less than 1,200 square metres. We do not have space, we do not have yards, we need labs. They answered 'don't worry, the university is closed and will continue to be closed, so you do not need to expand and to build.' Until now, the university is not allowed to build or to purchase another piece of land." (A/AC.145/RT.540/Add.1)

390. Mr. Fahmi Moustafa Mahmoud, a university professor, stressed the lack of adequate equipment:

"…There was a lot of interference with the equipment we needed for our students. For instance, there is some equipment as necessary for biology as tubes for chemistry. We asked for this equipment, we waited for a long time and finally we could not manage to get it, because everything has to be brought to the West Bank through the Israeli ports, is thoroughly examined, the taxes are very high, the instruments are taken to pieces for control and then it's finished, you cannot put them together any more." (A/AC.145/RT.540/Add.1)

391. Mr. Tarek Zaki, a school principal, referred to the financial problems faced by educational institutions citing as an example his own school:

"The taxation amounts to 15 per cent. This taxation was not imposed before, except after two years after the beginning of the operation of the society and we were exempted for those two years. Other institutions like ours, which carry out such volunteer work, were exempted from the taxation. But now, they have added the value added tax. They are also imposing taxes on the salaries of the teachers, although in accordance with the Jordanian law, we were exempted from paying these taxes on our salaries. We bring in money from the Arab countries, confirm the sources, providing the necessary authentication and saying that these funds are given to us by individuals, but still, when this money arrives in the bank here in Jordan, we are not allowed to move it to the West Bank, although we need it badly for our expenditures.

…

"I have three cars in the institute and I have to get licence cards for these cars. I need the cars to bring food to the school for the children. What does an Israeli citizen pay for his licence, and what do I pay for my car? I have a car registered in Jerusalem and one registered in the West Bank. On one I pay 200 shekels and on the other, 1,250 shekels, in other words, it is four times what the Israeli citizen pays. Why am I paying so much, it is the same car, the same licence, the same tax, a government tax?  They tell me 'because you are paying the intifadah tax'." (A/AC.145/RT.540/Add.1)

392. Several witnesses mentioned the harassment and ill-treatment of teachers and students:

"I went and found out that all the teachers and children of the elementary village school had been gathered in the school and were interrogated, because the Israelis had been informed that the Palestinian flag was on the school and they wanted to know who had raised it. … I stayed in the village two nights, until they had finished the interrogation. I did not see them beating the elementary school children, but I met two of my relatives' children and although they did not say anything, I could see that they had been severely beaten." (Mr. Abdellatif Ataaqal, A/AC.145/RT.540/Add.1)

"Among the 15 research workers, nine of them have been detained and some of them were detained for a whole year, have been administratively detained for six months renewed for another six months. Others were detained for a year and a half, some for six months." (Mr. Mohamed Tayseer, A/AC.145/RT.540/Add.1)

"The students are met by armed forces, in the streets leading to the university, they are arrested, summoned against the walls with their hands up, on one foot, facing the wall, their backs to the soldiers, the guns pointed at them. And the students would be kept in this position for hours." (Anonymous witness, A/AC.145/RT.544)

393. Mr. Osama El Sayeh from the Department of Education and Higher Studies of the Palestine Liberation Organization, referred in his statement to the motives behind the various obstacles hindering the freedom of education:

"What does the occupation want of our people? They want them to be uneducated, because they know that the Palestinian people need education like water and air, that from the very beginning they always did, that the level of education among the Palestinian people has been very high over centuries, they know that the Palestinian people have positively participated in the development of the educational institutions of some Arab countries. So, they want to cut off the Palestinians from their traditions, from the heritage and culture of their nation and, as a result, from its future, from technology and progress. They want this people to be ignorant, in order to be easily manoeuvred and dominated. That to why they close schools, under the pretext of security." (A/AC.145/RT.542)

394. Accounts of the restrictions to the right to freedom of education may be found in documents A/AC.145/RT.534 (an anonymous witness); A/AC.145/RT.536/Add.1 (Mr. Wadah Khaled Sofan); A/AC.145/RT.538 (Mr. Balal Ezzedine Hussein Shakhshir); A/AC.145/RT.540 (an anonymous witness); A/AC.145/RT.540/Add.1 (Mr. Abdellatif Ataaqal, Mr. Fahmi Moustafa Mahmoud, Mr. Mohamed Tayseer, and Mr. Tarek Zaki); A/AC.145/RT.542 (Mr. Osama El Sayeh); and A/AC.145/RT.544 (an anonymous witness).

Written Information

395. On 11 April, the Rashidiya high school in East Jerusalem was closed for three weeks following stone throwing and clashes with police. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 12 April 1990; Al Fajr, 14 April 1990)

396. On 24 May, Mr. Avi Pazner, the Prime Minister's communications adviser, announced plane to reopen shortly the "West Bank universities. On 15 May, it was reported that high echelons in the IDF and the security establishment were opposed to the reopening of the universities and that the decision to reopen was made by Prime Minister Shamir and the Co-ordinator of activities in the territories Shmuel Goren. It was reported that the universities would be reopened gradually, and the first university could be reopened in a few weeks' time, on condition that order was maintained and there were no disturbances. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 15 May 1990; Al Fajr, 21 May 1990)

397. On 18 and 19 May, several schools were ordered closed in Tubas and Ramallah, (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 20 May 1990; Al Fajr, 21 and 28 May 1990)

398. On 21 May, the civil administration authorized the reopening of one department in the Al-Quds University in El-Bireh despite the high tension prevailing in the territories and the fact that a large part of the population was under curfew. The department concerned was the Arab College of Medical Professions, and it was explained that there had been very few cases of incitement and violence there. The decision to reopen was taken before the murder of seven Arab workers in Israel, and it was decided to go ahead with the reopening despite the high tension. (Ha'aretz, 23 May 1990)

399. On 31 May, the military order closing down West Bank universities was renewed for three months, despite the announced plans to lift the ban and allow universities to reopen gradually. It was announced that the Arab College of Medical Professions would reopen on 10 or 11 June 1990, (Jerusalem Post, 1 June 1990)

400. On 16 June, the Arab College of Health Professions in El-Bireh was reopened. It was the first higher education institute to reopen since the closure of all the universities at the beginning of the uprising. (Ha'aretz, 17 June 1990)

401. On 27 June, the civil administration informed the head of the College of Science at Abu Dis, affiliated to the Al-Quds University, that the college could reopen for studies. According to one report Al-Najah University in Nablus was also authorised to reopen. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 28 June 1990)

402. On 11 July, it was reported that UNRWA had issued a statement protesting the civil administration's refusal to allow it to reopen five of its schools in Tulkarem camp. A civil administration spokesman said the schools had to abide by the general closure of all West Bank schools during the summer vacations. (Jerusalem Post, 11 July 1990)

403. On 21 July, the Al-Najah community college resumed classes, after it was allowed by the IDF to reopen. It was the last of 16 West Bank community colleges allowed to reopen since the beginning of the uprising. (Jerusalem Post, 22 July 1990)
3.  Information on settlers' activities affecting the civilian population

Oral evidence

404. Mrs. Raja'a Hannour referred in the course of her testimony to acts of violence and aggression perpetrated by settlers in the village of Azzun:

"As far an the practices of the settlers are concerned, they engage in a wide variety of characteristic acts of provocation, such as the cutting down of trees, the burning of crops and the firing of shots at water tanks an roots.

…

"The settlers take advantage of curfews to increase their harassment on the villagers. During the latest curfew on 21 May 1990, settlers burnt two dunums of wheat belonging to Abdullah Muhammad Said Abdullah Ridwan. They also burnt eight olive trees belonging to Abdul Latif Said Hassan Khirman. The residents of the village were forced to break the curfew, at great risk to their lives, in order to put out the fires and prevent then from spreading to adjacent fields. Settlers, accompanied by military forces, also uprooted or destroyed numerous fruit-bearing trees by burning them or spraying them with toxic substances, as a result of which the farmers incurred a financial loss estimated at millions of dollars." (A/AC.145/RT.543)

Written information

405. On 1 April, Jewish settlers forced a number of merchants in Hebron to close their shops. A settler's car hit a Palestinian resident of the city, injuring him. Another settler's car hit and injured a Palestinian in Ein Beit Alma, in the Nablus area. (Al-Fajr, 9 April 1990)

406. On 23 April, the Kiryat-Arba branch of the Committee for Safety on Roads organized a retaliation operation against Arab car-owners in Hebron. Many cars were damaged and windows of cars and homes were smashed in the operation, in which some 80 settlers in 25 vehicles took part. The operation was in reprisal for the wounding of an Egged bus driver, resident of Kiryat Arba, in a shooting incident the previous day. In another incident, passengers of a bus on its way to Kiryat Arba descended from the bus after it was stoned and damaged parked cars as well as passing cars. The incident took place near Beit Umar. (Ha'aretz, 24 April 1990)

407. On 27 April, it was reported that the Hebron police was investigating an incident in which an Arab truck was set on fire, allegedly by settlers. The truck was parked near Beit Umar. It was totally burnt. Three residents of Tubas who were inside were able to leave unharmed. (Ha'aretz, 27 April 1990)

408. On 9 May, clashes were reported between Palestinian youths and Israeli settlers near Bani Na'im village when the settlers tried to abduct a small child after their bus was stoned. Israeli soldiers intervened, firing tear-gas canisters at the youths. (Al Fajr, 14 May 1990)

409. On 15 May, dozens of Maaleh Adumin settlers attacked Arab workers driving near Isawiya village and broke windows of one home, in retaliation for a petrol bomb attack and stone-throwing. Settlers forced one Arab vehicle to stop and beat up workers as they tried to flee. The workers suffered minor injuries. In another development hundreds of Maaleh Adumin settlers blocked the road outside the town after an Egged bus was hit by a petrol bomb and two cars were stoned, injuring one of the drivers.  (Jerusalem Post, 16 May 1990; Al Fajr, 21 May 1990)

410. On 25 May, it was reported that dozens of dunums of wheat fields belonging to villagers in Tarkumiya, in southern Mt. Hebron, have recently been set on fire by members of the Kiryat Arba based "Committee for Safety on the Roads". This was in retaliation, for the setting on fire of Jewish fields nearby. (Ha'aretz, 25 May 1990)

411. On 25 May, six armed students of a Yeshiva in Kiryat Arba entered a military area near the Bedouin village of Hirbet Abdallah Ibrahim, beat several villagers and fired in the air. Troops arrived on the scene and detained four students. After questioning by the police they were released. (Ha'aretz, 1 June 1990)

412. On 5 June, it was reported that according to villagers from Tukua, near Bethlehem, settlers had entered the village on the night of 3 June and killed 26 sheep. The following morning settlers returned to the village, entered the local school and injured eight pupils by gunfire, beatings and stones. The police was investigating the incident. In another incident, settlers from the Joseph's Tomb Yeshiva in Nablus allegedly abducted and detained a local boy aged 15 for one hour after a stone-throwing incident. Palestinian sources further alleged that settlers had attacked a house in Beit Jalla and shot and injured Ahmed al-Kurbi, aged 26. They also damaged local cars. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 5 June 1990)

413. On 6 June, settlers whose cars were stoned in villages in the Ramallah area retaliated by stoning homes and cars. Trees were uprooted in Abud while the village was under curfew. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 7 June 1990)

414. On 6 June, it was reported that according to villagers from Rujib, near Nablus, a settler who arrived in a jeep set fire to a field, destroying 15 dunums of wheat. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 8 June 1990)

415. On 17 June, it was reported that according to villagers from Deir al-Hatab, near Nablus, about 1,000 olive trees near the village were burned in a fire set by settlers from Eilon Moreh. (Jerusalem Post, 17 June 1990)

416. On 24 June, it was reported that villagers in Burin and Urif, south of Nablus, alleged that settlers from neighbouring Yitshar had smashed car windows, fired at residents and shot at cars, apparently in retaliation for stone throwing.
(Ha'aretz, 24 June 1990)

417. On 8 July, it was reported that settlers had set fire to a truck belonging to a Kalkiliya resident, Tahsin a-Shanati, and to 50 olive trees belonging to Shukri Kassem, head of the local council of Far'a near Nablus. (Ha'aretz, 8 July 1990)

418. On 20 July, settlers whose cars were stoned set fire to a plantation of 50 date trees belonging to Muhammad Awed, aged 65, the prayer leader at the mosque of Awarta, near Nablus. (Jerusalem Post, 22 July 1990)

419. On 22 July, IDF troops forcibly evicted 35 members of a settlers' nucleus who had occupied an old synagogue in Jericho. Twenty of them were detained and complaints were filed against them. They were later released on bail. The settlers, affiliated to Gush Emunim, have been trying for over two years to settle in or near Jericho, which they consider "holy town". (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 23 July 1990)

420. On 1 August, a group of settlers, composed of members and sympathizers of the Kach movement, attempted to settle in a site near Jericho. The IDF declared the area a closed military zone and evacuated the settlers. (Ha'aretz, 2 August 1990)
D.  Treatment of detainees

Oral evidence

421. In the course of its hearings the Special Committee heard extensive evidence on the harsh conditions of detention. Most witnesses related their personal experience and described various forms of ill-treatment they had been confronted to such as physical torture, beatings, deprivation of sleep, psychological stress and humiliation, sexual assault, and isolation in solitary confinement. It was stressed that detainees were generally subjected to the worst conditions during the interrogation period. The overcrowding of cells, the lack of sanitary facilities and adequate food and clothing, the resort of the authorities to collective punishment measures such as the denial of the right to receive visits or cultural material, the restrictions to visits by Red Cross representatives were also among the problems referred to in the course of these testimonies. Reference was also made to specific problems faced by woman prisoners, as well as to the harassment of prisoners by collaborators. It was mentioned that several hunger strikes aimed at ameliorating the treatment of detainees had taken place.

422. The following are a few relevant excerpts from such testimonies:

"At the beginning I was put in Sarafand prison for 35 days and subjected to all sorts of torture. I was hung from the ceiling, I was crucified, I was tortured with electricity, with cigarettes, I was buried under the ground, put under cold water, beaten and all other forms of torture. I was whipped with a whip made of electricity wires. I was hung by my hands, underneath my feet, there was a wooden box. When I was hanging, they would remove the box. Another method of torture is crucifixion.

"The punishment was collective. Anything we did merited a punishment. For instance, I was playing chess with my colleague, this game is prohibited in the prison and we used to make the game with pieces of soap. When the officer saw us playing, he took me to a cell where I had to stay for two weeks, just because I had played a game of chess. Sometimes, because of hiding a pencil, we were given collective punishment. A cell containing 25 prisoners, they would send to solitary confinement and allow only bread and water. Playing sport or walking in the room, or sleeping during the day, merited a punishment. If they found a piece of paper in the hands of any of the prisoners, they would take us all to these cells, to solitary confinement. Anything that we did to amuse ourselves led them to take us and inflict on us these collective punishments." (Mr. Khaled Rashid Alzebda, A/AC.145/RT.535)

"I was arrested again in September 1987, on a very general charge also. I spent 14 days on interrogation. Here I can point out to a different kind of interrogation. This time the method of torture was different, it depended on intensive psychological pressure, although there was beating as well. The first time, for instance, you were asked to choose the stick you were going to be beaten with, you had to stand all the time, sometimes you were even asked to stand on one foot. The second time, you were asked to sit in a long corridor, with your hands fettered behind you and with a bag covering your head, sitting all the time and being prevented to sleep. There was a guard who would prevent us from closing our eyes for even one second, he would beat us on our shoulders, on our head, on our legs, on our abdomen, in order to prevent us from sleeping. I remember that on the fourth day, I became almost hysterical. I was so longer aware where I was. I imagined that I was standing outside or I was seeing with my own eyes a place where there was water and I tried to get up to reach that place, then I would notice that I was being beaten once again and I would not realise that it was a soldier beating me. Or you would talk to some colleague next to you and your voice would become higher and all of a sudden your voice would be cut, and you received a blow. You do not know from where it comes and you stop talking. I reached a state where I did not know any more where I was, except on very rare moments, the moments of interrogation, when you were summoned to the interrogator and you realised that you are interrogated. The prisoner was not given any chance to sleep, sometimes he was tied to the water pipe all night to prevent him from sleeping. All these were methods of torture, in preparation for the interrogation. By the time you reached the interrogator, you were already exhausted." (Mr. Helmi Moussa Ghaben, A/AC.145/RT.534/Add.1)

"The tension between prisoners and the prison administration increased in late May 1989 inside the Talmond Hasharon prison. The administration accused us, the prisoners, of trying to kill a collaborator, which we never did or even thought of. Under the pretext of punishing us, the soldiers raided our rooms, confiscated all the canteen food, all the embroidery, books, pencils, papers end even radios and locked us up all day in our cells. They tore out all the books in the library brought by the Red Cross. The dining room was closed and every prisoner had to take her food to eat alone in her cell. No family visits were allowed for more than two months. Singing was also always forbidden. Any girl caught singing was punished with solitary confinement for at least one week." (Miss Terry Boullata, A/AC.145/RT.530)

"In prison, we were put in a cell large enough for 10 people, but we were 25 occupants. We had four blankets only, one pillow and one thin mattress. We were not allowed to speak outside the room. We were not allowed to sleep. We were not allowed to sit, except on the floor and without the blanket. We were not allowed to speak when we were out for recreation on the yard. And this was an area of five by seven meters where there wasn't any sun. We were not allow to stand, we were not allowed to sit, we were not allowed to talk to other prisoners outside the room. The windows were closed by shatters. Very often, we were not allowed to take baths. For years, we had skin diseases as a result of the unhygienic conditions. Some of them were even contagious. The water was not always clean, and also not enough. Some of us would come out without enough water to wash off the soap." (Mr. Mohamad Ahmad Saleh Nasal, A/AC.145/RT.534/Add.1)

"I remember that if somebody tried to complain to the Red Cross that he was beaten for instance, afterwards he would be beaten again. So, the people of the Red Cross would come and not hear any complaints, because the prisoners were afraid.

…

"I was also put with my clothes under cold water and afterwards taken to an interior court of this wing. All of this was taking place towards the end of November and the beginning of December, … it was extremely cold." (Mr. Helmi Moussa Ghaben, A/AC.145/RT.534/Add.1)

"There were two woman who were released while I was working there whom I interviewed.  One of them, from a village near Khan Yunis, was placed into administrative detention. She was pregnant when she was arrested and started having complications in prison. She was denied medical attention and, as a result, lost her baby. She had been first encouraged to have an abortion. When she refused, she was actually told by a medical personnel in the prison that she was going to lose the baby, whether she agreed or not. And in fact she did lose it, by being denied medical attention." (Anonymous witness, A/AC.145/RT.534)

"There was a new prison policy in 1989 and that is that activists were being punished within the prison system, by being kept in isolation, being held in special punishment blocks. Now in Ramla prison, there is an underground prison chamber where prisoners are kept shackled at every moment outside of their cells, even during family visits and lawyers' visits. There  are no exercise periods, no books, no radio, no television and they are under electronic monitoring at all times. There are about 40 prisoners in this section. At Ansar 3, there is the punishment block, that is known as the cages. This was something just instituted about one month to six weeks ago. These are actually tents wrapped in wire, in barbed wire, so it resembles cages. This is to isolate prisoners who are known for activism within the prison, for example organizing a hunger strike for better conditions. Palestinians also reported to us a much more intensive use by the authorities of collaborators within the prison system." (Mrs. Anita Vitullo, A/AC.145/RT.543)

423. Testimonies relating to the treatment of detainees may be found in documents A/AC.145/RT.530 (Miss Terry Boullata); A/AC.145/RT.534 (an anonymous witness); A/AC.145/RT.534/Add.1 (Mr. Helmi Moussa Ghaben, Mr. Mohamad Ahmad Saleh Nasal); A/AC.145/RT.535 (Mr. Khaled Rashid Alzebda); A/AC.145/RT.536 (an anonymous witness); A/AC.145/RT.536/Add.1 (Mr. Khaled Fahmi Merdawi); A/AC.145/RT.538 (Mr. Moussa Ezzedine Shakhshir, Mr. Radwan Ahmed Mohamed Ziyadeh); A/AC.145/RT.543 (Mrs. Anita Vitullo); A/AC.145/RT.544 (an anonymous witness); and A/AC.145/RT.545/Add.1 (Mrs. Ata Mohamed Hussein Abu Kersh, Mr. Freij Ahmed Khalil Al Khairy).

Written information

424. On 4 April, members of a new body called "Public Committee Against Torture in Israel" charged at a press conference that the police, security services and military police were using torture during interrogations of prisoners. Torture methods allegedly used included beatings, sleep deprivation, dousing with cold water, binding prisoners' hands and feet in a "banana position", and forcing them to stand hooded for many hours with their hands manacled behind them to a metal bar. A Palestinian, Ismail al-Ghul, aged 22, of Ras el-Amud, East Jerusalem, said in the press conference that he was arrested on 16 December 1989 on suspicion of killing an alleged collaborator. He confessed under interrogation and re-enacted the killing, but was released in March 1990 after a man believed to be the real killer was apprehended. Al-Ghul said he confessed after he was beaten, doused with cold water, held in an isolation cell and made to stand for many hours with his hands manacled to a metal bar behind him. A police spokesman reacted to the allegations by saying that any complaint of maltreatment submitted to the police ombudsman would be investigated. (Jerusalem Post, 5 April 1990; Al-Fajr, 9 April 1990)

425. On 6 April, it was reported that the attorney of a Ramallah resident, Majid Zola, aged 21, who confessed under duress to an offence he bad not committed, appealed to the Prime Minister to investigate the interrogators' methods. Zola was arrested in mid-August 1989 on suspicion of throwing a petrol bomb at custom workers, killing one and wounding several others. He was at first interrogated at the Ramallah police and then at the GSS Interrogation centre, in the Russian compound in Jerusalem. Seven days after his arrest he confessed to the offence. Zola later alleged that his interrogators had beaten him severely and deprived him of sleep. He was allowed to sleep during two nights out of the 13 during which he was interrogated. Following his confession his father was informed that the family house would be demolished. After 13 days at detention the interrogators discovered that he was not linked to the throwing of the petrol bomb. A charge sheet was filed against him for disturbing the peace. Copies of the attorney's letter to the Prime Minister were also sent to the State Comptroller, the legal adviser at the civil administration, the Association for Civil lights in Israel, and member of Knesset Shevah Weiss who recently visited the detention facility at the Russian Compound. (Ha'aretz, 6 April 1990)

426. On 9 April, it was reported that two lawyers of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel petitioned the High Court of Justice against the Chief of Staff Dan Shomron, on the grounds that their rights to represent persons detained at the Ketziot detention camp were constantly harmed. Advocates Ilan Saban and Tamer Peleg said that detainees could meet with their lawyers once every several weeks, for only 15 minutes. During the meetings detainees were separated from their lawyers by double bars, so that they were prevented from handing them documents. The petitioners argued that the detainees had a right to be represented by lawyers and meet with them in conditions guaranteeing the secrecy of their exchanges. (Ha'aretz, 9 April 1990)

427. On 6 May, it was reported that the local branch of Defence for Children International has criticized the conditions in which minors were being held in the Russian compound prison in Jerusalem. Most of the prisoners held there were Palestinians between the ages of 14 and 16, held for security offences. After visiting the facility in March 1990 the organization prepared a report with the following findings:  83 detainees and convicted offenders were being kept in four cells containing only 34 beds; one cell housing 39 inmates had only 12 beds, one shower and one toilet; two Jewish inmates were allotted one cell, leaving all the other inmates in three cells; there have been cases of excessive use of force by police officers (two have already been suspended for using excessive force); visits by family members were being denied to some of the detainees; the ventilation arrangements were totally inadequate and it was difficult to breathe or bear the stench inside the prison. In a reply dated 13 April 1990 the police wrote to the organization that action would be taken in accordance with the spirit of the recommendations as far as the police were in a position to do so. (Jerusalem Post, 6 May 1990; Al Fajr, 14 May 1990)

428. On 7 May, it was reported that Palestinian prisoners in Megiddo prison complained the previous week of brutal harassment at the hands of the Israeli prison administration. In a letter to member of Knesset Hashem Mahameed, the prisoners said that some 90 youths under the age of 16 were being incarcerated in a room that normally holds 18 people. The youths had been beaten and tear-gassed before being placed in the room, the letter said. (Al-Fajr, 7 May 1990)

429. On 26 June, a report by the Betselem human rights group, entitled "Violence Against Minors in Police Detention", was published. It reviewed conditions in the lock-ups at the Russian Compound and at the police station in the Old City of Jerusalem, known as the "Kishle". According to the report, almost every minor interviewed testified that he had been beaten, including by clubs and iron bars, and pushed to the floor. Others testified that they had been covered with large sacks and beaten, sometimes by several people. There were reports of detainees having their hands tied behind their back, chained to a pipe in an open courtyard where they were left in an "awkward position" for hours in the sun and rain, and during the night. Some said they were held for hours in what they called "the closet", a very narrow cell, one metre long, in which the innate can only stand but cannot move. Other testimonies described the "grave", a sunken box-like cell covered by an iron door, in which hand cuffed inmates can only sit beat over. There were also allegations of severe overcrowding, poor sanitary conditions and threats to demolish the inmates' homes and expel or arrest their family members unless they confessed. During the period under consideration, in the years 1989 and 1990, 1,814 minors aged 13 to 17, were held in the two police facilities. A police spokesman reacted to the report by saying that six complaints of violence were still under investigation. The files on two other cases have been submitted to the State Attorney's Office for a decision on whether to prosecute the policemen involved. The police denied the existence of the "closet" and the "grave", as well as the pipe to which prisoners were allegedly chained. It conceded there was a problem of overcrowding, due to the "large increase in the number of detainees, as compared with previous years". But it added the facilities were visited regularly by the Red Cross and by Israeli parliamentarians and officials. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 26 June 1990)

430. On 1 July, 416 prisoners, including 323 from the West Bank and 93 from the Gaza Strip, were released from IDF jails in what was described as a "gesture of good will" by Defence Minister Moshe Arens. All the prisoners concerned had been sentenced to short terms for stone throwing and other activities in their places of residence. (Ha'aretz, 2 July 1990)

431. On 10 July, 200 detainees who were held in Ketziot were transferred to the Ansar 2 facility in Gaza so that they could be put on trial. The detainees, all from the Gaza Strip, had been detained for over a year for offences such as throwing petrol bombs and planting explosive charges. The initiative for the transfer came from the president of the Gaza military court, S/A (Lt. Col.) Eli Zicherman, after he found out that the detainees were being held in Ketziot without trial and without family visits. (Ha'aretz, 11 July 1990)

432. On 29 July, it was reported that the Association of Israeli and Palestinian Physicians for Human Rights had called for the release of prisoner Yusuf al-Jubeh from Ketziot, saying he was seriously ill and that his life was in jeopardy. He was arrested in February 1990 and put in administrative detention for 10 months. Attorney Tamar Peleg wrote to the IDF citing the recommendation of a military judge that the prisoner be transferred to a jail where he could receive appropriate medical care. (Ha'aretz, 19 July 1990)

433. On 23 July, it was reported that the Association of Israeli and Palestinian Physicians for Human Rights issued a statement demanding immediate hospitalisation and surgery for Abdel Rahman Salibi, an administrative detainee held at Ketziot, who is suffering from deteriorating eye-eight. A doctor who examined him in prison said that only a retinal transplant could improve the vision in his right eye (Salibi is blind in his left eye). (Jerusalem Post, 23 July 1990)

434. On 26 July, it was reported that, according to Amnesty International, an East Jerusalem merchant, Riad Shehabi, was severely beaten by Jerusalem police after being arrested on 17 July 1990, on stone throwing and other charges. He was allegedly badly beaten with sticks all over the body and taken to hospital for treatment. He was later transferred to the Russian Compound detention centre. He formally complained and was interviewed by an officer of the Police Complaints Department. (Jerusalem Post, 26 July 2990)

435. On 26 July, guards at Ketziot accidentally injured a prisoner suspected by other inmates of collaboration, when they opened fire at detainees who were chasing him. According to an army report, the guards opened fire when it was obvious that two of the inmates intended to kill the man they were chasing. The man was slightly wounded and was hospitalised. (Jerusalem Post, 27 July 1990)

436. On 8 August, some 150 women demonstrated outside the UNRWA offices in Ramallah calling for the immediate release of Yusuf al-Juaba from the Ketziot detention camp. Al-Juaba had only one kidney and his condition was allegedly rapidly deteriorating. (Jerusalem Post, 9 August 1990)
E.  Annexation and settlements

437. A number of witnesses mentioned the annexation policy practised by the Israelis. Mr. Youssef Ibrahim Abdelhak referred in the course of his testimony to the arbitrary seizure of land by the occupying authorities:

"… One of the most important practices that I have witnessed in the field of land confiscation is what is called the attempt to mislead the simple farmer. He is being told by the Israeli official that he has to sign such and such a document, because it would enable him to avoid taxes, or to be exempted from taxes, or it would make it possible to solve a specific problem in the village. After a while, the farmer might discover that the document he has signed means giving up his land. So this land is taken from him and they build settlements. What I have noticed also, as far as confiscation is concerned, is that villages sometimes have the surprise to see that some buildings have been constructed for settlements on land owned by Palestinians. When they try to go and check with the occupation authorities, they are told to prove their ownership of the land, although originally, a person having a claim on a piece of land would prove the ownership, and not the actual owner. It is not the actual owner who has to prove the ownership, because the actual owner has owned this land for years and years, since the era of the Ottomans and the British mandate. But the settlers came, they lay their hands on the land and they ask the actual owner to prove his ownership." (A/AC.145/RT.542)

438. Mrs. Raja'a Hannour, a human rights field worker, referred specifically to the case of the village of Azzun near Kalkiliya:

"In view of the strategic location of this village at an important crossroads, the occupation authorities surrounded it with a ring of settlements after confiscating much of its land. These settlements, which have been established on land taken from the village, are linked by a main road. Accordingly, this small village is subjected to intolerable provocation and pressure from a number of settlements consisting of Emmanuel, Shomron, Ginot Shomron and Maaleh Shomron to the east, Alfei Menasheh and Tsofim to the west and Ariel to the south.

…

"Like other Palestinian villages, Azzun has been deprived of extensive areas of land through confiscation. on 29 December 1989, the authorities confiscated 2,000 dunums of its lead, comprising both hilly and flat arable areas. On 27 January 1990, the Israeli authorities informed the villagers of the confiscation of 850 dunums of their land. The villagers' complaint to the Supreme Court went unheeded. In this connection, the villagers quote the popular proverbs 'If your adversary is the judge, to whom can you complain?'. They have lost all hope of obtaining redress from the Israeli courts.

…

"It we consider the fact that the total area of land belonging to the village amounts to 23,600 dunums, including 11,500 dunums planted with olive trees, and of which 5,000 dunums were confiscated before and 3,074 dunums during the uprising, how such is left for the population and, of this remaining area, how such is suitable for agriculture?" (A/AC.145/RT.543)

439. Accounts of the annexation and settlement policy pursued by the Israeli authorities in the occupied territories may be found in documents A/AC.145/RT.542 (Mr. Youssef Ibrahim Abdelhak); A/AC.145/RT.543 (Mrs. Raja'a Hannour); and A/AC.145/RT.545 (as anonymous witness).

Written information

440. On 11 April, a group of 150 Jews moved into buildings in the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City over which the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate claimed ownership. The settlers, calling themselves Meot David, were said to be affiliated with the Ateret Cohanim Yeshiva in the Moslem Quarter. According to the settlers the buildings had been owned by Jews until the 1929 riots, but a Greek Orthodox official said the buildings, knows as St. John's Hospice, were the property of the church. On 12 April 1990, the settlers were visited by several right-wing members of Knesset, as criticism over the settlement was mounting among Palestinian – both Christian and Moslem – circles and Israeli peace movements. The Greek Orthodox Church appealed to the Jerusalem District court against the settlements. On 17 April, it was reported that the settlement became possible after the Ateret Cohanim association had paid an estimated sum of $5 million to take over the lease from the former holder who had since disappeared. On 28 April, it was reported that Jerusalem District court justice Ruth Or had ruled that the settlers must evacuate the premises, but the settlers' lawyer requested a 72-hour delay so that the settlers could bring their case before the Supreme Court. On 23 April, it was reported that government funds had been used to finance the purchase of the sublease on the St. John's Hospice. The settlers earlier claimed that only private funds wore used. A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Housing and Construction admitted the Ministry had transferred the sum of NIS 3.6 ($1.8) million in State funds to finance the purchase of the sublease. She added that the Ministry had "participated for years in the redemption, of buildings in the Old City" – principally through the Haimanuta company which was a subsidiary of the Jewish National Fund. On 26 April, the High Court of Justice ordered the eviction by noon 1 May 1990 of the 150 Jewish settlers from the St. John's Hospice, but it did not rule on the claim of the Panamanian company which subleased the property, and said the company would leave 20 maintenance men and guards inside until the legal status of the building was resolved. (Ha'aretz,  Jerusalem Post, 12, 13, 17, 18, 23 and 27 April 1990; Al Fajr, 16 and 23 April 1290)

441. On 15 April, Al-Quds newspaper indicated that 1,000 dunums had been confiscated in the Ramallah-area villages of Ras Karkar, Kfar Neemah and Karbathat Bani Hareth. According to the confiscation order, the land belonged to the Israeli Government. Palestinian residents charged that the confiscation was intended to obtain land for a new road leading to neighbouring Israeli settlements. (Al Fajr, 23 April 1990)

442. On 17 April, the ground levelling works got under way near Beit-Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, to prepare the site for the new settlement of Dugit. It will be the sixteenth Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip. At present the Jewish population of the settlements in the Gaza Strip – known as the Gaza Coast Regional Council, or the Katif bloc – stands at 5,000. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 18 April 1990)

443. On 19 April, it was reported that the Government was planning to establish a new settlement, Alon, about one kilometre east at Kfar Adumin. The new settlement was not approved by the Government, and it was therefore intended to describe it as a mere extension or a "new neighbourhood" of Kfar Adumin. It was also reported that settlement officials were planning to establish another new settlement in the Gaza Strip – Peat Sadeh, situated one kilometre north of the Egyptian border. Another group, called Eitan, was reportedly pressing to settle at a Nahal settlement near Jericho. On 25 April 1990, the first mobile homes were placed in Alon, where 10 families were expected to settle shortly. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 12 and 26 April 1990; Al Fajr, 30 April 1990)

444. On 22 April, it was reported that the Heimanuta company had participated in the purchase of several properties in the Old City of Jerusalem, in addition to the St. John's Hospice. A non-built area of two dunums, situated in the Moslem Quarter near Herod's Gate, was bought from the White Russian Church, and it was reported that Jewish bodies intended to settle that area. (Ha'aretz, 22 April 1990)

445. On 22 April, it was reported that Michael Dekel, the Prime Minister's co-ordinator on settlement activity at the Defence Ministry, had asked the Justice Ministry to prepare the necessary legal work that would enable the caretaker Government to increase the Jewish presence in the heart of Nablus and Hebron. According to officials, once the legal work went through the Tomb of Joseph Yeshiva in Nablus would become a settlement. (Until now several dozen students living in nearby settlements attended classes during the day but had to leave the place during the night.) It was also intended to increase Jewish presence in Hebron by adding a few mobile homes in Tel-Rameida, and additional storeys to the Hadassa building, is the town centre. Officials in the Prime Minister's Office defended the establishment of the new settlements as being consistent with the national unity accord of 1948, which allowed for eight new settlements. (Jerusalem Post, 22 April 1990; Al Fajr, 30 April 1990)

446. On 23 April, the first five mobile homes were placed in the site of Dugit, in the northern Gaza Strip. Ten more would be brought in shortly. The temporary site spread over 10 dunums. The IDF decided to set up a temporary army post in order to protect the settlers. (Ha'aretz, 24 April 1990).

447. On 1 May, the settlers who occupied the St. John's Hospice in Jerusalem's Christian Quarter, some 100 people, left the building in keeping with the High Court of Justice ruling. Only 30 people remained inside to keep security and maintenance, pending a decision by the Jerusalem magistrates court on the legality of the sublease. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 2 May 1990)

448. On 21 May, the Knesset Finance Committee earmarked NIS 41 million ($21 million) for roads and settlements in the territories. Two labour members of Knesset voted in favour of the decision. NIS 5 million ($2.5 million) would be allocated for increasing existing settlements, and NIS 6 million ($3 million) for developing settlements in the Jordan Valley and the Syrian Arab Golan. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 22 May 1990)

449. On 13 June, it was reported that settlements in the Etzion bloc, south of Bethlehem, would have a considerable increase of population shortly, and that new neighbourhood would be built in existing settlements. A new neighbourhood would be built in Efrat, where, in addition to the 420 existing flats, 200 others are under construction. The new neighbourhood, called Givat Hazait (Olive Hill) had already 420 families registered. But the ownership of some of the land earmarked was still disputed. The "Religious Kibbutz" movement has recently approved a plan to set up a new kibbutz in the Etzion block. It would be called Gevaot (Hills) and would be located between Kfar-Etzion and Rosh-Tsurim. At present there is a paramilitary nucleus in the site. In the orthodox settlement of Beitar the first 200 families would move in shortly.  Five hundred more flats were under construction and would be completed in two years. (Ha'aretz, 13 June 1990)

450. On 24 June, the new Housing Minister and head of the Immigration Cabinet, Ariel Sharon, announced that immigrants would not be settled beyond the Green Line. He told the Jewish Agency's Board of Governors that Israel had a policy of settling immigrants in several areas inside Israel, "but not in Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria, despite their strategic importance".  (Jerusalem Post, 25 June 1990)

451. On 3 July, it was reported that the first 10 families were expected to move to the new settlement of Dugit, in northern Gaza Strip, within a fortnight.  In the southern tip of the Gaza Strip, near the Egyptian border, the construction of 26 villas was about to be completed, and in five other villages in the Strip workers were building some 100 houses "to strengthen Israel's presence" in the region.  The names of the new settlements were Rafiah-Yam, Atzmona, Peat-Sadeh, Neveh Dekalim, Eloi Sinai, Gadid, and Ghanei Tal.  (Jerusalem Post, 3 July 1990)

452. On 3 August it was reported that the civil administration as about to open a new office in a private house in Beit Sahur. The house belongs to Mrs. Azisa Rishmawi, aged 64.  The civil administration has reportedly sequestered the house and seven dunums of adjacent land for prefabricated offices, a car park and a tent camp. The house was taken over by the army in 1989 for a month.  According to the report, this was the first time that the civil administration had taken over a private building rather than a rooftop or a public building, like a school or an old army camp.  Mrs. Rishmawi said she had been told in the beginning that the seizure would be just for one month, so she did not complain, but now she was not even allowed in, and she planned to sue for the return of her property.  On 6 August, the civil administration confirmed it intended to open an office in Beit Sahur, but denied that the purpose was to intimidate the population; it was, on the contrary, in order to same them inconvenience in their daily dealings with the administration.  A spokesman for the civil administration said that since the building was originally seized by the IDF, compensation should be demanded from the army.  (Jerusalem Post, 3-7 August 1990)
F.  Information concerning the occupied Syrian Arab Golan

Oral evidence

453. In a statement delivered before the Special Committee at Damascus on 24 May 1990, Mr. Mohammed Najdi El-Jazar, Director, Department of International Organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Syrian Arab Republic, referred to the situation in the occupied Syrian Arab Golan and stated in this connection:

"…The practices carried out by the Israeli occupation authorities in the occupied Syrian Arab Golan continue to reflect increasing violations of the rules of international law, particularly the Charter of the United Nations, The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination of 1966 and the relevant resolutions of the Security Council and General Assembly. Indeed, the Israeli occupation authorities, which have already announced their annexation of the occupied Syrian Golan territories, are pursuing their sustained efforts to change the demographic features of the population. According to the figures that were announced, the number of settlements in these territories has increased to about 43, and the authorities are proceeding with the implementation of plans to change the historical, cultural, social and economic features of this occupied region and subject it to their rule and laws, ultimately with a view to obliterating the Syrian Arab identity of the occupied Golan and severing it from its Syrian motherland, in flagrant violation of Security Council resolution 497 of 17 December 1981 and resolution ES-9/1 adopted by the General Assembly at its special session on 5 February 1982, which has been reaffirmed by the General sessions. In this connection, we will be submitting a detailed report containing a comprehensive survey of Israel's inhuman practices in the occupied Syrian Golan territories and its violations of the rules of international law and international instruments relating to various matters such as health, education services, the economy, social affairs, personal freedoms and settlement.

"Also in this connection, it is interesting to note that, despite the harsh measures adopted by the Israeli occupation authorities to stifle and suppress the aspirations of our people in the occupied Syrian Golan, the latter have continued, strongly and repeatedly, to express their patriotic attachment to Syria, their motherland, and to Hafez Al-Assad, its valiant leader. For example, on 5 December 1989 the Syrian Arab citizens of the occupied village of Baqa'ata flew Syrian flags to celebrate the second anniversary of the uprising, whereupon the Israeli authorities immediately set out to quell the demonstration and arrested five citizens. On 14 December 1989 troops of the occupation authorities raided a place where people had gathered on the cease-fire line, using sticks and gas to dispense the crowd and arresting four citizens, namely, Sulayman Hanna, Azzeddin Madah, Jamal Ash-Sha'ar and Saleh As-Saleh. On 14 February 1990, our people in the occupied Golan territory again demonstrated against the application of Israeli law introduced by Israel on the same date in 1981 by announcing a general strike, which spread to all parts of the occupied Syrian Golan, a large crowd gathered in the village of Baqa'ata and the nationalist pamphlet that had been circulated in 1982 by citizens of the occupied Syrian Golan, categorically rejecting the Israeli annexation and occupation laws, was distributed. On the morning of 17 April 1990, on the occasion of the celebration of Syria's national day, the people of the occupied Syrian Golan held a large demonstration, at which they carried Syrian flags and banners inscribed with nationalist slogans condemning the Israeli occupation, but the occupation forces confronted them, using various forms of violence to disperse them.

"On another subject, the increasing rate of Jewish immigration from the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries has prompted the Israeli occupation authorities to stop up their plans for the establishment of new settlements in the occupied Golan territory. In the second half of 1989, the Israeli Minister for Integration, in the course of a visit to the occupied Golan, approved the establishment of three new integration centres, namely, Katzrin, Khisfin and Madkhal Al-Hamma. Furthermore, preparations have been under way since the beginning of August 1989 with a view to increasing the number of Jewish settlers in the occupied Syrian Golan territories from 6,000 to 12,000 over the next five years. A new settlement called Ahad Sinin, established in the occupied Golan by the Betar movement, was inaugurated on 31 October 1989, initially with a population of 12 families." (A/AC.145/RT.532)

454. An anonymous witness provided the Special Committee with evidence on various problems faced by civilians in the occupied Syrian Arab Golan. She referred in her testimony to daily incidents occurring in the areas:

"Young people are being beaten up, and also older people, religious people, the ulemas, are beaten up from time to time. Mothers, when they come to defend their children who are beaten up by the soldiers, are also beaten up. My family suffered last year, especially last year. One of my brothers was playing outside the house and then he joined the demonstration of the youth in the area. Eventually, the soldiers caught up with him at home and he was beaten up. My father, who was also in the house, was also beaten up and he is 70 years old.

"The tear-gas is practically a daily occurrence, and the beating is also a daily occurrence, whenever there are demonstrations. When they cannot catch somebody right away, he is usually bombarded with the tear-gas bomb and then he is arrested and taken to jail." (A/AC.145/RT.533)

455. She mentioned the difficult living conditions in the occupied Syrian Arab Golan:

"Things are extremely difficult there, because nobody can find work, unless you accept having an Israeli Identity card. They have been imposing the Israeli Identity card on practically everybody. Now, the few people who have accepted the Israeli Identity card have found work. For those who do not accept taking the Israeli Identity card, conditions of life are very difficult." (A/AC.145/RT.533)

456. She referred to problems in the field of education:

"The CHAIRMAN: Were there any restrictions on the syllabus?

"The WITNESS: (interpretation from Arabic): There was a special reason behind my leaving school, as they were imposing the Hebrew language an us. Many students left school." (A/AC.145/RT.533)

457. She also mentioned problems faced in the agricultural sector:

"We are not allowed to cultivate anything anymore. All agricultural goods are imported and we have to pay the prices set by the occupation authorities.

"The CHAIRMAN: Is there no farming going on anymore in your village?

"The WITNESS: (interpretation from Arabic): Hardly anything, just some fruit, apples."  (A/AC.145/RT.533)

458. The health situation in the occupied Syrian Arab Golan was also referred in this testimony:

"We do not have free health service. We are considered as Arab inhabitants of the Golan Heights, therefore we are not eligible for free health service, as the Israelis themselves."  (A/AC.145/RT.533)

459. The annexation policy pursued by the Israeli authorities was also evoked:

"Generally, there are very strong pressures from the occupation authorities in order to buy the land from the people at prices imposed by the occupation authorities, and that in order to set this land apart for the Israeli settlements.

…

"Last year and until to-day, I know of three settlements that have been built.

"Mr. JOVANIC (Yugoslavia):  How far from your village?

"The WITNESS: (interpretation from Arabic):  Very close to the land belonging to the inhabitants of Majdal Shams, they have set up the three settlements.

"Mr. JOVANIC (Yugoslavia): Who are the settlers?

"The WITNESS (interpretation from Arabic): Jewish people, who live In the settlements. It is very clear that those settlements have been set to host Israeli people." (A/AC.145/RT.533)

460. Account on the situation to the occupied Syrian Arab Golan may be found in documents A/AC.145/RT.532 (Mr. Mohammed Najdi El-Jazar) and A/AC.145/RT.533 (an anonymous witness).

461. On 16 August, hundreds of villagers from Majdal Shams participated in a pro-Iraqi demonstration.  Police dispersed the demonstration and carried out arrests.  (Ha'aretz, 17 August 1990)
V.  CONCLUSION

462. The following conclusions have been drawn from information reflected in the two periodic reports (A/45/84 and A/45/306) and in the present report of the Special Committee.  The conclusions thus cover the period since 25 August 1989, date of the adoption of its twenty-first report.

463. The periodic reports and the present report have been prepared in accordance with the mandate of the Special Committee as renewed by the General Assembly by its resolution 44/48 A of I December 1289.

464. Since its establishment in 1966, and in spite of repeated attempts to secure the co-operation, of the Government of Israel, the Special Committee has consistently been denied such co-operation because of the extremely negative position of the Israeli authorities with regard to the Special Committee. During the period relevant to this report, the Government of Israel continued to withhold its co-operation from the Special Committee. However, the Special Committee benefited from the co-operation of the Governments of Egypt, Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic, and of various Palestinian representatives.  The Special Committee, having been precluded from visiting the occupied territories, conducted a series of meetings at Geneva, Damascus, Amman and Cairo in May and June of this year. At Geneva, Damascus, Amman, and Cairo, it heard the evidence of persons who had first-hand knowledge and personal experience of the human rights situation in the occupied territories. In addition, the Special Committee followed the situation in the occupied territories on a day-to-day basis through reports appearing in the Israeli and Palestinian press. The Special Committee examined a number of valuable communications and reports from Governments, organisations and individuals concerning the occupied territories that reached it during the period under review.

465. The conclusions contained in the present report are formulated on the basis of information reflected in the two periodic reports covering the period from 25 August to 30 November 1989 (A/45/84, sect. II) and from 1 December 1989 to 31 March 1990 (A/45/306, sect. II), as well as in section IV of the present report. It must be borne in mind, however, that the frequency and intensity of incidents which occurred during the period under consideration and the impressive amount of information on the human rights situation received and examined by the Special Committee did not permit its total reflection in these reports; the Special Committee has endeavoured within the constraints imposed by the specific regulations with regard to the length of United Nations documents to include in its reports, as faithfully as possible, samples of the information it has received in order to illustrate the total reality of the situation of human rights in the occupied territories during the period covered by these reports.

466. The overall picture drawn from the information and evidence available to the Special Committee indicates an alarming trend towards the hardening of repression and the worsening of the already precarious human rights conditions of the Palestinian and other Arab civilian population in the occupied territories. Having noted the scope of this dramatic escalation, one may wonder to which extremes such violence may lead and which degree it would finally reach.

467. These tragic developments derive from the basic reality, denounced by the Special Committee since the outset of its activities, that occupation in itself constitutes a violation of human rights. The Government of Israel, however, has not contented itself with consistently denying this fact. It has even gone beyond this and implemented the principle that some of the territories occupied by Israel in 1967 constitute a part of the State of Israel, thus annexing Jerusalem and the occupied Syrian Arab Golan and imposing Israeli law over these territories. The policy of Israel has also led to various measures of annexation and establishment of settlements in the occupied territories, expropriation of property, transfer of Israeli citizens to the occupied territories, and inducing the Palestinian population, through various means, to leave their homeland. Such policy constitutes a flagrant violation of the international obligations of Israel as a State Party to the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, which stipulates that military occupation is to be considered as a temporary, de facto situation, giving no right whatsoever to the occupying Power over the territorial integrity of the occupied territories. Various illustrations of this Israeli attitude are to be found in the reports of the Special Committee, such as the declaration made on 16 October 1989 by the Industry Minister on the occasion of a ceremony held in Kfar Daroun settlement, to the effect that "Israel was telling the whole world that it intended to stay there for ever and to continue and develop the region by building more settlements and expanding the existing ones" (Ha'aretz, 17 October 1989; see A/45/84, para. 289). Another example reported in Ha'aretz and Jerusalem Post on 22 May 1990 is the earmarking of NIS 41 million ($21 million) for roads and settlements in the territories by the Knesset Finance Committee on 21 May 1990, and the allocation of NIS 5 million ($2.5 million) for increasing existing settlements and NIS 6 million ($3 million) for developing settlements in the Jordan Valley and the Golan (see para. 448 above). Mention can also be made of the new trend to settle new immigrants arriving in Israel in the occupied territories, as exemplified by the information reflected in Ha'aretz, on 20 February 1990 according to which 52 families of immigrants from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics had recently arrived in Ariel, and 70 families of immigrants from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics were to settle shortly in Maaleh Adrernim (see A/45/306, para. 354). Both of these settlements are in the occupied territories (see annex).

468. The Israeli authorities have persisted and became even more determined in their will to quell the Palestinian uprising, described in September 1989 by the Justice Minister as "a war that Israel has to win" (see A/45/84, para. 12), through all available means. To this end, they have resorted to increasingly harsh measures. For instance, it was reported on 14 September 1989 by the Jerusalem Post that the IDF had issued new open-fire orders to soldiers serving in the territories. Under the new order, masked individuals were considered as suspects who could be shot at with live ammunition even if they were unarmed (see A/45/84, para. 10). This hardening of the Israeli policy was also conveyed through a wide range of other measures. In this connection, the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq stated in a report published on 20 February 1990 that in the second year of the uprising "there was an increase in torture in detention …. and significant increase in collective punishment". According to this report, there was "lawlessness at every level; soldiers on the street daily disregard instructions and regulations … the military continues to legislate laws that are in violation of the most basic international legal standards and norms of justice, the High Court of Justice continues to sanction fundamentally illegal legislation and practice" (see A/45/306, para. 20).  These increasingly repressive measures also included stricter procedures for dealing with Palestinian minors, such as the sealing of houses or rooms belonging to parents of stone-throwing minors caught more than once, or the possibility to put on trial or to confiscate the property of parents refusing to pay fines imposed on them due to their children's stone-throwing (see A/45/306, para. 11).

469. One of the consequences of the occupying authorities resorting to such harsh means of repression has been the heavy toll of casualties among the civilians. The indiscriminate use of violence to counter the uprising has caused the deaths of hundreds of civilians of all ages (see tables contained in para. 20 of A/45/84, para 22 of A/45/306, and para. 54 above). Several thousand Palestinians have suffered injuries. Particularly preoccupying has been the increasing amount of casualties among children. According to a Swedish-American report on injuries and casualties among Palestinian children under 16 during the first two years of the uprising, quoted in Ha'aretz on 18 May 1990, 159 children were killed during that period and some 50,000 were injured. Fifty-two per cent of the children killed had reportedly not taken part in any violent action and were not near the scene of protest actions when they were killed. Twenty-eight per cent were killed while watching or passing a demonstration, or while they were hanging flags, placing road-blocks, etc. (see para. 41 above).

470. Several witnesses testifying before the Special Committee referred to the climate of fear and anxiety resulting from this random use of violence. One witness, a medical doctor, stated in this regard "… I shall speak as a doctor practising in the Gaza sector and also as a citizen living through all the events, one day after the other. I shall start, giving you a description of any of my days in the Gaza sector. When I wake up early to go to work and before I leave my house, I bid goodbye to my wife and to my children, because I am never sure whether I shall be returning again or not. This is the situation in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank. I may be killed by an Israeli soldier or I may be detained, or they might break my bones, or I might be one of the 'lost' people. So, my wife and I have started to plan how she would take care of herself and of the children, whatever the circumstances may be. Going to work, I do not feel like a doctor going to hospital, but rather like a soldier proceeding to battle." (See para. 56 above.) Another witness said in the same connection:  "I can recall seeing children who had been on the streets, sitting on the porches of their houses and who had been shot, one shot in the head and one shot in the leg. Basically, I came to the conclusion that the violence was indiscriminate, that children were legitimate targets like any of the young men masked, unmasked, anybody" (see para. 57 above).

471. The mass slaying of Palestinian workers on 20 May 1990 in Rishon-Le-Zion, leading to the death of seven persons, and the resulting violence in which numerous Palestinians were killed and several hundred wounded, as referred to in paragraph 98 above, was another illustration of the level of violence and arbitrariness reached in the occupied territories. Another example was the firing of two tear-gas grenades, by an IDF officer, into the courtyard of an UNRWA clinic in Gaza on 12 June 1990.  In this incident, reported on 13 June in Ha'aretz and Jerusalem Post, 66 infants and nursing mothers packed in a waiting room were injured (see para. 117 above). In this context it is ironical to note that this officer after trial was sentenced to 10 days' lock-up penalty and that even this punishment was varied to a suspended lock-up term of 21 days by the IDF commander in the Gaza Strip (see para. 244 above).

472. In addition to the physical hardship caused by this indiscriminate resort to violence and characterized, as mentioned above, by numerous losses of life, severe beating often resulting in broken bones, casualties caused by tear-gas thrown into confined areas, the denial of adequate medical care to the injured, and various other forms of harassment, the period under consideration also witnessed very serious psychological damage which affect a civilian population daily confronted with fear and humiliation. Children have been particularly traumatized by this situation, as stressed by a witness who referred in her testimony to the sufferings of schoolchildren:  "… the fear and nervousness in them, I could see it. Our school was next to a police station. Whenever they would hear a loud noise or a siren or any kind of unexpected noise, the whole class would become almost out of control. They would say 'the army is coming, the army is coming, what are we going to do.'  The fear that gripped these students at the slightest provocation, at the slightest noise, was incredible … " (see para. 263 above).

473. During the period under consideration, serious shortcomings were also noticeable in the area of the administration of justice. Flagrant violations of the fundamental right of all persons to equality before the courts and tribunals have been observed. A clear illustration can be found in the contrast between the sentencing, reported by Ha'aretz and Jerusalem Post on 28 December 1989, of two Palestinians aged 19 and 22 to eight-and-a-half years' imprisonment and eight years' suspended term each for stoning a car in which the Defence Minister was travelling (see A/45/306, para. 137), as opposed to the verdict of five months imprisonment and seven months suspended sentence imposed on 1 May 1990 on Rabbi Moshe Levinger who, during an incident on 30 September 1988, had opened fire after his car bad been stoned, killing Kayed Salah causing grevious bodily harm to another Palestinian, Ibrahim Bali, and deliberately causing material damage. In this connection, it should be noted that Rabbi Levinger was released from jail on 14 August 1990 after serving three and a half months only (see para. 239 above). Numerous violations of the right to a fair trial were also observed during that period; reference can be made in this regard to the report on the military justice system in the territories prepared by the human rights organization Betselem, which, according to the Jerusalem Post of 12 December 1989 claimed that Palestinians arrested during the uprising were kept in prison for months until their trials were completed due to bureaucratic delays in West Bank military courts. Few defendants were released on bail and imprisonment for the duration of legal proceedings had become an accepted form of punishment.  The report listed several other IDF practices which were alleged to be illegal, such as the failure to notify families of the arrest and place of incarceration of their relatives; the transfer of prisoners from one detention centre to another without documentation or notification to their lawyers or families; the prohibition of lawyers from meeting clients at temporary detention facilities inside military bases and the holding of most remand hearings without the presence of a defence lawyer (see A/45/306, para. 137). Among other shortcomings in the administration of justice mention must be made of the practice of arrest without charges for preventive or administrative detention; the practice of extracting confessions under duress; the denial of the right of lawyers to represent detainees, in particular in Ketziot detention camp; the denial of access of the accused or his lawyers to "secret" charges brought against him; as well as the arbitrary detention of family members of detained persons as a means of exerting psychological pressure upon them.  One clear illustration of the shortcomings in the administration of justice in the occupied territories to the case of Muhammad and Yusuf Ankawi who, on 7 August 1990, appealed to the military court in Ramallah after being convicted of several security offences and sentenced to seven and nine years imprisonment, respectively. Their convictions and sentencing had taken place two years and two months after their arrest. During their detention period the court did not hold even one hearing in their case, and scheduled hearings were postponed 20 times due to the absence of witnesses, or for other reasons (see para. 231 above).

474. The Special Committee has also noted cases in which dual punishment has been imposed on Palestinians who, in addition to receiving harsh sentences, have had their house demolished by the Israeli authorities. An illustration can be found in the punishment imposed on Salim al-Amudi, sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of an alleged collaborator, and whose house in Gaza was demolished on 14 June 1990, as reported in Jerusalem Post on 15 June 1990 (see para. 285 above).  On various occasions the houses of mere suspects have been demolished, as in the case of Abdul Hakim a-Shammar, suspected of having murdered alleged collaborators, and whose house in Khan Yunis was demolished in 11 June 1990 (see paras. 285 above). It should be noted that in both instances this measure also affects innocent people living in these houses and constitutes collective punishment, which is prohibited by the Fourth Geneva Convention. For example, 12 people used to live in Abdul Hakim a-Shammar's demolished house, and 26 people in that of Salim al-Amudi.

475. The large number of Palestinians detained as a result of the uprising has contributed to a further aggravation of the situation and has adversely affected the treatment of prisoners. According to the head of the military court of appeals in the territories, and as reported in Ha'aretz and Jerusalem Post on 18 June 1990, there were at that time 10,416 Palestinian prisoners in 23 army detention facilities, of whom 1,031 were administrative detainees (see para. 216 above). Palestinian detainees have continued to be held in prisons and detention camps inside Israel itself, in violation of relevant provisions of article 76 of the Fourth Geneva convention. Detainees have been submitted to various forms of torture or ill-treatment such as beatings, deprivation of sleep, psychological stress and humiliation, isolation in solitary confinement, soaking in cold water in rigourous weather conditions and in some instances even sexual assault. Among problems frequently referred to were the overcrowding of cells, the lack of sanitary facilities, inadequate food or clothing, collective punishment measures, harassment of prisoners by collaborators. Several hunger strikes aimed at ameliorating the treatment of detainees had been organised in order to protest against such conditions. The specific problems faced by women prisoners and the conditions of detention of minors are also a subject of deep concern. As regards child detainees, reference can be made to the report by Betselem published on 26 June 1990 entitled "Violence against Minors in Police Detention", which reviewed conditions in the lock-ups at the Russian Compound and at the police station in the Old City of Jerusalem. According to the report, almost every minor interviewed testified that he had been beaten; some minors had been held for hours in what they called "the closet", a very narrow cell one metre long; other testimonies described "the grave", a sunken box-like cell covered by an iron door, in which handcuffed inmates could only sit bent out. During the period under consideration in the year 1989-1990, 1,814 minors aged 13-17 had been held in those two police facilities (see para. 429 above).

476. Various measures of harassment have continued to be implemented against the civilian population during the period under review, including the extension and intensification of practices of collective punishment, in violation of the relevant provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The demolition of houses for alleged security reasons or lack of building permit continued to be practiced on a very large scale. It was pointed out in one of the testimonies that "… the reasons for security demolitions were very much loosened in 1989. So, we had landlords losing their house because they had rented to someone who was arrested on a security violation, people who were never arrested found that their houses were demolished because they were wanted by the authorities. We had cases of mentally disturbed people, people who would actually need medical attention in a mental hospital, having their house destroyed. We also have cases of distant relatives of a suspect having their house destroyed …" (see para. 283 above). As regards the demolition of houses for lack of building permit, it was reported by the Jerusalem Post on 24 August 1990 that, according to a report by Betselem, the number of construction permits for West Bank inhabitants had dropped, over the past decade, from 2,000 to 400 per year, and that, as a result, some 13,000 houses had been built without a permit and were at risk of being demolished (see para. 53 above).

477. Prolonged curfews continued to be imposed in several areas in the occupied territories. Economic sanctions were also often used, bringing an additional burden to a population already living under very harsh economic and social conditions. One well-known example of such sanctions, which provoked an international protest campaign, was the operation against the tax revolt in Beit Sahour, in the course of which over NIS 3 million ($1.5 million) worth of property was seized from residents refusing to pay taxes, and about 60 local merchants were arrested, some of whom were convicted and fined for failing to file tax reports. During the operation, which lasted for six weeks, the town was closed to outsiders, placed under intermittent curfew and had all telephone line cut off (see A/45/84, para. 217-229). A witness referred in her testimony to this deliberate policy of economic pressure and harassment against the civilian populations: "… tax officials, supported by Israeli soldiers, raid the village almost every day in order to seize property by force. Residents are arrested at check-points on the charge of travelling without an identity card or if their names appear on a list of persons who have not paid their taxes." (See para. 340 above.)

478. Another measure implemented during that period by the occupying authorities in contradiction with the provision of article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention is the expulsion of Palestinians from the occupied territories, for alleged security reasons. On 27 August 1989, five more West Bank residents were deported after the High Court of Justice rejected petitions against the deportation (see A/45/84, para. 237). The wave of protests and the pressure of international public opinion has succeeded in bringing the expulsion of Palestinians for alleged security reasons to a temporary halt during the recent months. However, the period under consideration has witnessed new measures implemented by the Israeli occupation authorities and affecting women without valid residence permit and their children. In most cases, women born in the occupied territories, who had lived abroad for a certain period of time, but had later married Palestinians in the occupied territories and had lived there for several years and given birth to children in the occupied territories, had been denied the right to reside and were deported without prior warning, usually under humiliating and harsh conditions. This was described in the following terms by one of the witnesses heard by the Special Committee:  "When they started expelling people, the occupation forces came at 2 o'clock in the morning. They told me that I had to go to Amman. I said 'would you wait until the morning, because I have small children' and it was also very cold. They said no, that I had to go right away, to the extent that I went out in my nightdress. I was not even able to get decently dressed. They took us to the school of the village, put us in an army truck and brought us to Ramallah at 5 o'clock in the morning. We stayed in front of the office of the military commander from 6 o'clock in the morning until 1 o'clock in the afternoon, then they put us in another car and took us to the bridge. They took us to the bridge and expelled us from the occupied territories." (See para. 349 above.) On 5 June 1990 a new military government policy was announced under which some 250 women and children who were forced to leave the West bank in 1999 for lack of residence status would be permitted to return. However, up to 20 June 1990, only one group of four expelled women and their children had been allowed to return (see para. 353 above).

479. Another new punitive measure recently approved by the Israeli Defence authorities is the "conditional banishment" of persons alleged to be leading activists of the uprising. Under this measure, such persons would be banished from their region of residence to another region in the occupied territories for a fixed period, without their families. The person would be under close surveillance throughout the banishment period, and would only be allowed to return home at the end of the fixed period if the authorities were satisfied that he was not an activist. If not he would again be banished to another region (see para. 46 above). The legal aspects of this measure are reportedly being examined by the Israeli Judge Advocate General. If implemented, this punitive measure would constitute a serious human rights violation, as reprehensible as the arbitrary expulsion of Palestinians from the occupied territories.

480. The reports of the Special Committee covering the period under review also contain information on measures affecting the enjoyment of various other fundamental freedoms. In this context, reference has already been made to the systematic recourse to curfews. Additionally the Israeli authorities also use magnetic cards in order to control and restrict the freedom of movement of the civilian population.  A doctor who appeared before the Special Committee stated in this regard:  "Without the magnetic card, you cannot travel within Israel or in the Gaza Strip. To Issue the magnetic card, they check whether you owe any taxes. If you do owe taxes, you are asked to pay. If you don't pay the taxes, you can't have this magnetic cards. Then even if I have a patient in Israel, I cannot visit him." (See para. 364 above.)  Individual arbitrary measures have also restricted the exercise of the right to freedom of movement, and various personalities have been prohibited from travelling abroad.

481. The right to freedom of religion has also been affected by several incidents, such as the one reported on 6 March 1990 by the Jerusalem Post concerning the charge by residents of Kifl Harith that settlers who visited "Joshua's Tomb" in the village had vandalised an adjacent Moslem shrine after having been attacked by stone-throwers. The settlers had allegedly torn Koran volume and cloth curtains beating Koran verses (see A/45/306, para. 310).

482. The right to freedom of express was also curtailed by various measures such as the closure of newspapers, the censorship and obstacles to the distribution of newspapers, the storming of newspaper offices and the harassment of journalists.

483. Freedom of education in particular has been severely restricted as a result of prolonged closures of academic institutions. The long-term effects of this situation are particularly disturbing, and the consequential deterioration of academic standards end psychological stress in the educational process have been emphasized by several witnesses. One of them stated the following in this regard: "The small children, as well as the college and university students, are subjected to circumstances that have led to a deterioration of the academic standard in general. … Actually, a war is being waged, because the intention is to bring down the level of academic achievements …" (see para. 385 above). Another stressed the negative effects of a six-month school closure on the students: "after that six month period, I would not call them illiterate, but … the consequences were disastrous and quite alarming to me as an educator. Basically they had gone back two grades in that six month period." (See para. 385.)  Another witness said in the same connection "I feel terrible that this generation, that we call the generation of the Israeli occupation, is facing a disaster, because illiteracy, this kind of illiteracy by force, is terribly affecting this young Palestinian generation … There is a very cruel change in the psychological make up of these young ones … Studying their behaviour, you find many wrong things with then, a strong feeling of injustice, all those psychological hang-ups resulting from growing up under the circumstances of the occupation … It is as if their heads were void of anything but the soldiers, the occupation, the feeling of injustice, of oppression" (see para. 385 above).

484. During the period under consideration, acts of violence and aggression by Israeli settlers against the civilian population continued to occur on a wide scale. Illustrative of this behaviour is the incident which took place an 25 May 1990, during which six armed students of a Yeshiva in Kiryat Arba entered a military area, beat several villagers and fired in the air. Four students were detained but later released after a questioning by the police (see para. 411 above). The decision, reported on 9 April 1990 by Ha'aretz made by the Central Region Commander and approved by the Chief of Staff, to send a settlers' reserve unit for operative service into the West Bank (see para. 39 above) is another disturbing development, taking into account the aggressive behaviour of most settlers towards the civilians in the occupied territories. Another clear sample of the aggressive behaviour of Israeli civilians against Palestinians is the mass slaying of Palestinian workers in Rishon-Le-Zion (see also para. 471 above). This mass slaying occurred on 20 May 1990, when a young Israeli civilian, Ami Popper, armed with the IDF rifle belonging to his brother, came to an area where Palestinian workers gather to be picked up by Israeli employers. He ordered the workers to produce their ID cards. He then stopped a car with a Gaza licence-plate and ordered the driver to step out, leaving the car engine running, and opened automatic fire at the workers, killing seven. He then fled in the car he had stopped but was later apprehended.

485. Finally, the reports of the Special Committee also contain information on the situation in the occupied Syrian Arab Golan, where serious incidents continue to occur. Reports mentioned several arrests, the use of tear-gas to disperse demonstrators, beatings, breaking into houses, as well as the establishment of a new settlement (see A/45/84, para. 295, and A/45/306, pares. 357-359). A witness who came from the occupied Syrian Arab Golan referred to these difficult conditions in her testimony: "Young people are being beaten up, and also older people, religious people, the ulemas, are beaten up from time to time. Mothers, when they come to defend their children who are beaten up by the soldiers, are also beaten up. My family suffered last year, especially last year. One of my brothers was playing outside the house and then he joined the demonstration of the youth in the area. Eventually, the soldiers caught up with him at home and he was beaten up. My father, who was also in the house, was also beaten up and he is 70 years old. … The tear-gas is practically a daily occurrence, and the beating is also a daily occurrence, whenever there are demonstrations. When they cannot catch somebody right away, he is usually bombarded with the tear-gas bomb and then he is arrested and taken to jail. … We are not allowed to cultivate anything anymore. All agricultural goods are imported and we have to pay the prices set by the occupation authorities. …  We do not have free health service. … Generally, there are very strong pressures from the occupation authorities in order to buy the land from the people at prices imposed by the occupation authorities, and that in order to set this land apart for the Israeli settlements." (See paras 454, 457, 458 and 4S9 above.)

486. Such developments lead the Special Committee to conclude that the period under consideration, from 25 August 1989 to 31 August 1990, had been marked by a further escalation of the tension in the occupied territories, which has now reached a very dangerous level and could result, if urgent measures are not taken in order to remedy the grave human rights violations and ensure an effective protection of basic rights and freedom, to a major explosion in the area. In view of the extreme gravity of the situation, and the dangerous threat it represents to international peace and security, the Special Committee once again stresses the need to arrive through negotiations at a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict which would take into account the rights of all peoples in the area, including the national rights of the Palestinian people.

487. In the mean time the tragic conditions in the occupied territories can bear no further delay. The Special Committee therefore wishes to recommend once more the implementation of urgent measures which would safeguard the basic human rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs in the occupied territories. Such measures could include the following:

(a) The full application, by Israel, of the relevant provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which remains the main international instrument in humanitarian law that applies to the occupied territories, and whose applicability to those territories has repeatedly been reaffirmed by the Security Council, the General Assembly, and other relevant organs of the United Nations)

(b) The full compliance with all resolutions pertinent to the question of Palestine as adopted by the Security Council and the General Assembly as well as other relevant resolutions adopted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the World Health Organization and the International Labour Organisation;

(c) The convening of an international conference under United Nations auspices with the participation of all the parties concerned;

(d) The full co-operation of the Israeli authorities with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in order to protect detained persons, in particular by ensuring full access of ICRC representatives to such persons;

(e) The full support, by Member States, of the activities of the ICRC in the occupied territories, and positive response by Member States to eventual appeals for additional assistance including funds to finance the extra activities required by the unprecedented increase in the number of detained persons;

(f) The full support, by Member States, of UNRWA activities in the occupied territories in order to enable UNRWA to improve the general assistance provided to the refugee population;

(g) The total co-operation of the Israeli authorities with UNRWA representatives and full respect by the Israeli authorities of the privileges and immunities which this Agency enjoys as an international body providing humanitarian services to Palestinian refugees in the occupied territories.
VI.  ADOPTION OF THE REPORT
488. The present report was approved and signed by the Special Committee on 13 September 1990 in accordance with rule 20 of its rules of procedure.
Notes

1/ Documents A/8089; A/8389 and Corr.1 and 2; A/8389/Add.1 and Add.1/Corr.1 and 2; A/8828; A/9148 and Add.1; A/9817; A/10272; A/31/218; A/32/284; A/33/356; A/34/631; A/35/425; A/36/579, A/37/485; A/38/409; A/39/591; A/40/702; A/41/680; A/42/650; A/43/494 and A/44/599.

2/ Official Records of the General Assembly, Twenth-fifth Session, Annexes, agenda item 101, document A/8237; ibid., Twenty-sixth Session, Annexes, agenda item 40, document A/8630; ibid., Twenty-seventh Session, Annexes, agenda item 42, document A/8950; ibid., Twenty-eighth Session, Annexes, agenda item 45, document A/9374; ibid., Twenty-ninth Session, Annexes, agenda item 40, document A/9872; ibid., Thirtieth Session, Annexes, agenda item 52, document A/10461; ibid, Thirty-first Session, Annexes, agenda item 55, document A/31/399; ibid, Thirty-second Session, Annexes, agenda item 57, document A/32/407; ibid, Thirty-third Session, Annexes, agenda item 55, document A/33/439; ibid, Thirty-fourth Session, Annexes, agenda item 51, document A/34/691; ibid, Thirty-fifth Session, Annexes, agenda item 57, document A/35/674; ibid, Thirty-sixth Session, Annexes, agenda item 64, document A/36/632; ibid, Thirty-seventh Session, Annexes, agenda item 61, document A/37/698; ibid, Thirty-eighth Session, Annexes, agenda item 69, document A/38/718; ibid, Thirty-ninth Session, Annexes, agenda item 71, document A/39/712; ibid, Fortieth Session, Annexes, agenda item 75, document A/40/890; ibid, Forty-first Session, Annexes, agenda item 71, document A/41/750; ibid, Forty-second Session, Annexes, agenda item 75, document A/42/811; ibid, Forty-third Session, Annexes, agenda item 77, document A/43/904; ibid, Forty-fourth Session, Annexes, agenda item 77, document A/44/816.

3/ Official Records of the General Assembly, Twenty-fifth Session, Annexes, agenda item 101, document A/8089, annex III.

4/ United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, No. 973, p. 287.

5/ Ibid., No. 972, p. 135.

6/ Ibid., vol. 249, No. 3511, p. 215.

7/ Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, The Hague Conventions and Declarations of 1899 and 1907, (New York, Oxford University Press, 1915).

8/ General Assembly resolution 2200 A (XXI).

ANNEX
MAP SHOWING ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS ESTABLISHED, PLANNED OR UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN THE TERRITORIES OCCUPIED SINCE 1967


Document symbol: A/45/576
Document Type: Annual report, Note, Report
Document Sources: General Assembly
Subject: Agenda Item, Children, Economic issues, Human rights and international humanitarian law, Intifadah I
Publication Date: 19/10/1990
2019-03-11T20:50:54-04:00

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