Israeli practices – SpCttee periodic 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 attached periodic report covering the period from 1 December 1991 to 29 February 1992, which was submitted to him, in accordance with paragraphs 21 and 22 of Assembly resolution 46/47 A of 9 December 1991, by the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories.

_____________

*A/47/50.

CONTENTS

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

I. INTRODUCTION

II. INFORMATION RECEIVED BY THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

10 May 1992

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 to you herewith, in accordance with paragraphs 21 and 22 of General Assembly resolution 46/47 A, a periodic report updating information contained in the periodic report it adopted and presented to you on 10 January 1992 (A/47/46).  The present periodic report has been prepared in order to bring to your attention, and to the attention of the General Assembly, updated information on the human rights situation in the occupied territories.

The present periodic report covers the period from 1 December 1991 to 21 February 1992.  It is based on written information gathered from various sources among which the Special Committee has selected relevant excerpts and summaries, which are reflected in the report.

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

I.   INTRODUCTION

1. By its resolution 46/47 A of 9 December 1991, the General Assembly:

2. The Special Committee continued its work under the rules of procedure contained in its first report to the Secretary-General (A/8089, annex III).

3. Section II of the present report describes the situation in the Arab territories occupied by Israel as it affects the human rights of the civilian population.  The information contained in the report reflects written information received by the Special Committee during the period from 1 December 1991 to 29 February 1992.  The Special Committee has also followed the situation in the occupied territories on a day-to-day basis through reports appearing in the Israeli and Palestinian press; it has also examined a number of communications and reports from Governments, organizations and individuals pertaining to the period covered by the present report.

4. The geographical names as well as the terminology employed in the present report reflect the usage in the original sources and do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Special Committee or the Secretariat of the United Nations.

II.  INFORMATION RECEIVED BY THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE

A.  General situation

1.  General developments and policy statements

5. On 9 December 1991, it was reported that, according to the biannual report of Betzelem (the Israeli Information Centre on Human Rights in the Occupied Territories), there has been a sharp decrease in many security-related violations of human rights in the territories during the past two years of the uprising.   The Betzelem spokesman said at a press conference that the decrease in violations may be attributed to fewer mass demonstrations by Palestinians and "greater scrupulousness by security forces in following rules of engagement".  However, the Israeli human rights organization noted a drastic increase in land appropriations over the past year.  It also noted that in enforcing the law, whether concerning tax collection, houses built without permits, trial for homicide or legal procedure, there was "no equality before the law" and the occurrence sometimes of "blatant discrimination".  The report stated that the number of Palestinians killed by the security forces was 806 for the four years of the uprising (95 in 1991, as compared with 127 in 1990, and 584 in 1988 and 1989).  No breakdown of injuries was given.  The Israel Defence Forces (IDF), in their response to the report, put their own figures at 709 for the four years (75 dead in 1991 and 93 in 1990).  Betzelem estimated that, while the fatalities were down, the proportion of those killed by special units increased by one third.  In other security-related matters, the Betzelem report put the number of deportations during the past four years at 66 (32 in 1988, 26 in 1989, none in 1990 and 8 in 1991).  They reported that demolition of security offenders' homes had decreased to 49 last year from 90 the year before and 286 in the two previous years (a total of 425 for the four-year period).   The number of houses sealed dropped to 46 this year, from 100 in 1990 and 133 in 1988 and 1989 (279 altogether).  By contrast, the number of houses built without permits that were demolished had increased.  The report estimated that 90,000 arrests had been made since the uprising began, of which 17,261 took place during the previous 10 months.   There were currently about 450 administrative detainees, as compared with 1,590 detained during the previous 10 months.  Some 15,000 persons had been placed in administrative detention during the four years of the uprising.  According to the report, there had also been a drop of approximately 50 per cent in the number of curfew days imposed in the past two years.  The 1991/92 school year had so far seen a marked improvement over previous years, when schools were often closed for more than one third of the year.  For the first time, Betzelem pointed to the killing of Palestinians by other Palestinians.  These killings were estimated by the organization at 471 (154 in 1991, 162 in 1990, 134 in 1989 and 21 in 1988) and at 513 by the IDF.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 9 December 1991)   (This information was also referred to in Al-Fajr, 16 December 1991.)

6. On 16 December 1991, it was reported that in the past few months security forces had uncovered 100 "terrorist" cells in Jerusalem and in the West Bank.  Some 500 arrested cell members belonged to "terror" organizations in the territories, including the Fatah and Hamas movements.  In addition to the cell members, during the past year, 1,500 stone throwers, 2,500 curfew-breakers and 650 fugitives wanted by the Civil Administration, the police or the General Security Services (GSS), were also arrested.   The following figures were given regarding casualties resulting from "terror" activities.  In 1991, 6 Jewish residents (including tourists) and 1 soldier were killed, while 550 soldiers and Jewish residents were injured.  One hundred and eighty-seven Arab residents were killed, among them 134 by Arab hands, while 500 Arabs were injured by the IDF, as compared with 1,400 the previous year.  A senior IDF officer noted that there had been an increase in the use of firearms in the past year and that acts of violence had been much more numerous since the Madrid Conference had begun.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 17 December 1991)   (These incidents were also referred to Al-Tali'ah, 19 December 1991; Al-Fajr, 23 December 1991.)

7. On 30 December 1991, it was reported that the Israeli Defence Ministry had issued a directive the preceding week stating that Palestinians would not be allowed to use their roofs except to hang their laundry two hours a day.

However, when the directive was found almost impossible to implement, it was changed a few days later to the effect that Palestinians would be required to build a 2-metre-high brick wall on their roofs with a fence on top.  This, the IDF believed, would prevent stone-throwing from rooftops.  The measures were seen by some as an attempt by the Government of Israel to appease settlers in the West Bank.  (Al-Tali'ah, 19 December 1991; Al-Fajr, 23 and 30 December 1991)

8. On 27 December 1991, it was reported that a high-ranking military official in the territories had said that the Military Prosecutor's decision to reduce, from one year to six month., the maximum term of administrative detention without renewal was a "legal-technical motion" with no political importance.  The official said that the High Court of Justice might have asked for change in regulations on the grounds that sentencing a person to one year in prison without a review of their sentence was not warranted.  It was further reported that the number of administrative detainees had been steadily declining, to 450 from more than 1,000 in the previous year.   (Jerusalem Post, 27 December 1991)

9. On 30 December 1991, it was reported that the Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, Defence Minister Moshe Arens and Attorney-General Yosef Harish had decided to allow Jewish settlers in the occupied territories to establish their own armed police units in the settlements.   The units, called "civil guards" would be allowed to perform police activities and monitor security in the Jewish settlements, according to Israeli Defence Ministry sources quoted in the press.  The decision to allow these units was taken on 25 December 1991.  Defence Ministry sources said that the units would be formed first in the Maaleh Adumim, Ariel, and Kiryat Arba settlements.   These civil guards, however, would not be allowed to handle security on the main roads or in areas controlled by the army.  In a separate development, Member of the Knesset (MK) Dedi Zucker, from the Citizens' Rights Movement, made public last week a military order declaring more than 225,000 acres of West Bank land a closed military zone.   The area in question, estimated at one fifth of the area of the West Bank, contains more than 30 Palestinian villages.  It stretches from the south of the Hebron mountains to the north, to the Bisan valley on the Jordan River, and eastward to the eastern mountains of the West Bank.   The order, number C 91-2, signed by the Israeli Commander of the Central Region, does not change land ownership but stipulates that residents must receive official permits from the authorities to cultivate their land or graze livestock on it.  (Al-Fajr, 30 December 1991)

10. On 7 January 1992, the Chief of Staff spoke before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee about the possibility of expelling Palestinians from the territories for limited periods of time.  The Chief of Staff later said he mentioned that possibility only as "food for thought".  Over the past four years, 20 Palestinians had been expelled, with their own accord, for limited periods.  During a debate on the subject held by senior IDF officers recently, the Judge Advocate-General and other legal experts expressed opposition to the suggestion.  (Ha'aretz, 8 January 1992)   (This information was also referred to in Al-Ta1i'ah, 9 January 1992, Al-Fajr, 13 January 1992.)

11. On 13 January 1992, it was reported that the President of the Southern Region Military Court, Lt.-Col. Emanuel Gross, had strongly criticized the practice of administrative detention.  He made his remarks in an interview given to the IDF magazine Bamahaneh, but the article was banned from publication.  According to Lt.-Col. Gross, even after many months of the Palestinian uprising, the military legal establishment was not in a position to deal with suspects in a routine manner and it therefore resorted to a massive use of administrative detention of hundreds of persons.  He added that in 30 per cent of the appeals filed by detainees military judges granted the appeal and either ordered their immediate release or a reduction of the detention period.  (Ha'aretz, 13 January 1992)   (This information was also referred to in Al-Fajr, 20 January 1992.)   Lt.-Col. Gross also expressed the belief that persons were held in administrative detention owing to insufficient personnel to handle the situation in a regular manner.  (Al-Fajr, 20 January 1992)

12. On 15 January 1992, it was reported that, as the peace talks that started with the Madrid Conference got under way, coordinating councils began to be set up in the territories in fields such as culture and information, housing and economy.  The councils were to coordinate all the activities in their specific fields, in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, without any links with the Israeli Civil Administration.  According to Palestinian sources, the objective of these councils was to lay down a "ministerial" infrastructure for a future Palestinian State.  (Ha'aretz, 15 January 1992)

13. On 23 January 1992, it was reported that 78 Palestinians, 7 Israeli civilians and 1 soldier were killed during 1991 in the occupied territories.  According to the Israeli military spokesperson, 685 soldiers and 237 Israeli civilians were also injured during that period.  Figures also show that 55 Palestinian houses were either demolished or sealed for security reasons.  (Al-Tali'ah, 23 January 1992)

14. On 29 January 1992, it was reported that special settlers' units had been set up recently, upon instruction from the Central Region Commander Brig.-Gen. Danny Yatom, in order to help the IDF in case of "terrorist" attacks.  On 28 January 1992, Brig.-Gen. Yatom also signed an order approving the setting up of civil defence units in West Bank settlements. IDF sources indicated that, from the moment the settlers were to be mobilized, they would, for all intents and purposes, act as reserve soldiers and would be subordinated to military law, discipline and command.  (Ha'aretz, 29 January 1992)   (This information was also referred to in Al-Tali'ah, 30 January 1992.)

15. On 2 February 1992, it was reported that Lt.-Gen. Ehud Barak adopted the recommendations of Central Command Maj.-Gen. Danny Yatom, to broaden the procedures for opening fire in the West Bank, with a view to improving the IDF soldiers' ability to hit "terror" activists.  Some of these recommendations were already enforced, but those concerning specific cases in the operational field were still being checked out by the General Staff and within the legal system.  Military sources said that the aim of the new procedures was to reduce as much as possible the risk for the soldiers.  (Ha'aretz, 2 February 1992)   (This information was also referred to in Al-Fajr, 10 February 1992.)  Soldiers would be allowed to shoot to kill, without warning, any Palestinian seen carrying any type of weapon, ranging from firearms to knives.  (Al-Fajr, 10 February 1992)

16. On 15 February 1992, Police Minister Ronni Milo told the Knesset that acts of disorder on the part of Arabs in East Jerusalem had dropped by 40 per cent in 1991, as compared with 1990.  He attributed this significant drop to the establishment of a Jerusalem police district and the training of special units to deal with the unrest.  Milo said that there had been 3,500 violations of public order of all kinds in 1991, compared with 5,580 in 1990.   The actions included flying the Palestinian flag, illegal marches and gatherings, stone-throwing and the setting up of roadblocks.  The Police Minister said that "terrorist" actions in 1991 had included:  4 killings, 12 attempted killing., the deployment of 14 explosive devices, 136 fire-bombs, 1,808 stone-throwing incidents and 305 acts of arson or attempted arson against cars.  (Jerusalem Post, 20 February 1992)

17. On 20 February 1992, it was reported that the IDF approved the establishment of 72 new Arab-owned manufacturing projects in the territories during 1991, compared to only 7 in the period from 1986 to 1990.  It also issued retroactive licences to 337 ongoing projects.  Brig.-Gen. Freddy Zach, IDF deputy coordinator of operation. in the territories, stated that the tenfold increase in the issuing of new licences reflected a new policy of encouraging the local Arab economy, in order to create jobs and bring about a normalization of the situation.  In addition, Brig.-Gen. Gabi Zobar, head of the Northern and Southern West Bank Civil Administration, revealed that the Israel Standards Institution and the Civil Administration were currently elaborating a system of granting approval of standards to products manufactured in the territories and marking them with an official zeal.  (Jerusalem Post, 20 February 1992)

18. On 25 February 1992, it was reported that, according to a decision taken by the Cabinet Subcommittee on Economics, companies in the territories, including firms that did not enjoy the "approved enterprise" status, would be eligible for government loan guarantees of up to 30 per cent of the value of their fixed property.  So far, only companies in the territories with "approved enterprise" status were able to receive such guarantees, and only on a one-time basis.  The guarantee would now be renewed once the original loan had been repaid, and the company would then be able to apply for a new loan with the backing of that guarantee.  Companies that did not enjoy the "approved enterprise" status would also be eligible for the government guarantee.  The proposal, presented by Industry and Trade Minister Moshe Nissim, was tabled with a view to placing firms in the territories on an equal footing with Israeli companies. (Jerusalem Post, 25 February 1992)

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

19. The following tables provide details concerning Palestinians killed between 1 December 1991 and 29 February 1992 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:

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

(c) Other incidents linked with the uprising

20. On 1 December 1991, a resident of the Ofra settlement, Zvi Klein, 44, was seriously wounded and a passenger in his car was slightly hurt when gunmen fired several shots at their vehicle on the outskirts of El-Bireh.  Police briefly detained several men and women.  Three petrol bombs were thrown at IDF patrols in Jenin but did not cause any damage.  Stone-throwing incidents occurred in Ramallah and Nablus but no injuries were reported.  A soldier was slightly wounded in another stone-throwing incident in the West Bank.  According to Palestinian sources, four residents were injured during clashes with the army in the Gaza Strip (Khan Younis: two; Jabalia refugee camp: two).  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 2 December 1991)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 9 December 1991.)

21. On 2 December 1991, following the death of an Ofra resident shot in El-Bireh on 1 December 1991, hundreds of settlers tried to establish a new settlement in the northern part of the West Bank, just south of Tapuach junction.  A scuffle broke out between IDF soldiers and settlers, but the settlers eventually left the area without causing any incidents.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 3 December 1991)

22. On 2 December 1991, in Nablus, a resident was wounded in the leg after he failed to heed orders.  Three home-made bombs were thrown at IDF soldiers in the market area of Bethlehem.  The bombs exploded but no injuries or damage were reported.  A fourth bomb was discovered and neutralized near Ein Yabrud village, in the Ramallah area.  Two petrol bombs were thrown at a bus in Bethlehem belonging to the Egged bus company, shattering the rear windows.  They did not cause any injuries. Stone-throwing incidents were reported in several localities in the West Bank.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 3 December 1991)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 9 December 1991.)

23. On 5 December 1991, Gaza military sources reported that a man was shot dead by two masked men in a camp in the Gaza Strip (see list).  At the casbah in Nablus, a resident was injured by shots fired by the IDF when he attempted to throw a petrol bomb at an IDF patrol.  Two soldiers were slightly injured when their vehicle was stoned in the Nablus area.  A hand-grenade was thrown at a patrol in Bani Suheila.  The grenade exploded at a distance of 50 metres from the patrol but did not cause any injuries.  The IDF arrested a young woman who made an unsuccessful attempt to stab a soldier at a gas station in Beit El, north of Ramallah.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 6 December 1991)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 9 December 1991.)

24. On 6 and 7 December 1991, police used rubber bullets to disperse Arab rioters in East Jerusalem and closed down the main road near the Damascus Gate for an hour while disturbances were being quelled.  A TV cameraman was slightly injured in the hand by a rubber bullet during the riot, in which three persons were arrested.  The demonstrations and other incidents in Jerusalem over the weekend were linked to calls by the Hamas movement and the United Leadership Front for an escalation in violence aimed at marking the fourth anniversary of the uprising.  Pupils joined in the rioting as rocks and bottles were thrown at passing vehicles.  Earlier, a bus passing through East Jerusalem was stoned and the driver slightly injured by fragments of glass.  Stones were also thrown from the Arab neighborhood of Jebel Mukaber at a Border Police jeep and at apartments in East Talpiot.  No injuries were reported.  On 6 December, about 700 marchers demonstrated in the centre of Gaza to mark the twenty-fourth anniversary of the founding of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) on 11 December 1967.  Troops dispersed the demonstrators with tear-gas and closed schools, arresting some 15 persons.  Military sources reported that three people were slightly injured in the clashes.  During other disturbances, three Gaza residents were slightly wounded the same day by plastic bullets fired at them by soldiers.  Gaza military sources reported that, on 7 December, the army dispersed demonstrators who threw stones at military vehicles.  Thirty-six persons were arrested.  Five fire-bombs were thrown at hothouses belonging to the Kfar Darom settlement, in the Gaza District, and a sixth was thrown at an IDF lookout post in Nablus.  In both cases, the fire-bombs ignited but caused no injuries or damage.  (Jerusalem Post, 8 December 1991) (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 16 December 1991.)

25. On 7 and 8 December 1991, eight Palestinians were wounded during confrontations with IDF soldiers in Kabatiya.  In the village of Burkin, an Israeli soldier was reportedly injured by empty bottles thrown at him.  Three fire-bombs were also thrown at a military target in Jenin.  (Al-Fajr, 16 December 1991)

26. On 8 December 1991, during clashes with the army, three residents of the territories were injured by IDF shooting (Shati' camp, Gaza and Nablus).  A bus carrying Arab workers across the Green Line was hijacked by masked men at the Tapuach junction (northern West Bank).  The passengers were ordered out and the bus was torched.  A tourist bus was stoned in East Jerusalem and a tourist was slightly injured by broken glass.  Six fire-bombs were thrown at military patrols in Hebron.  Four of them exploded but caused no damage.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 9 December 1991)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 16 December 1991.)

27. On 9 December 1991, a general strike marking the fourth anniversary of the uprising kept most residents of the territories at home.  A group of settlers entered Ramallah and posted leaflets containing threats on shop windows and buildings.  According to Palestinian sources, they broke windows and burned the tyres of vehicles.  Police prevented Palestinians from entering Jerusalem.  Aharon Domb, head of the settlers' Ovda information service, told the police that he had opened fire at a group of schoolchildren in Hebron where they stoned his car.  Military sources reported no injuries, but MK Dedi Zucker and MK Yossi Sarid demanded an investigation.  Military sources reported that soldiers shot and wounded a youth in the leg while he was throwing stones at a military patrol in Bethlehem.  In Bureij camp, soldiers shot a masked youth in the chest after he fired at a military patrol.  A petrol bomb was thrown at an IDF patrol in Gaza City.  The bomb did not cause injury or damage.  Two masked men were arrested in Nuseirat refugee camp.  Palestinian sources reported that five residents were injured during clashes with the army (three in Bureij, one in Ramallah and one in Gaza). (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 10 December 1991)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 16 December 1991.)

28. On 10 December 1991, soldiers killed a Palestinian in a village near Jenin (see list) during a pre-emptive action and arrested several others.  In Jenin Border Police shot a youth in the leg when he tried to escape arrest and arrested a second man.  In Gaza, three youths were slightly wounded during demonstrations; five masked men were also arrested during the disturbances.  Palestinian sources reported that four residents were injured in the Gaza Strip (Gaza City: two; Rafah: two), but the IDF spokesman for the Southern Region said that there were no reports of injuries or particular incidents.  Two fire-bombs were thrown at the car of a Shiloh settlement resident.  The fire-bombs ignited on the road but caused no damage or injuries. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 11 December 1991)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 16 December 1991.)

29. On 11 December 1991, gunmen fired at an Israeli car on the road to Elon Moreh settlement, slightly wounding one woman passenger.  Suspects were arrested.  Three masked men stopped a bus south of Nablus and ordered Arab workers to get off.  They forced the Israeli Arab driver to drive the bus to the nearby village of Udala, where they set the bus on fire.  The driver escaped with minor burns and troops searched for the masked men.  A second bus was torched in Hebron during the night.  Soldiers responded by firing rubber bullets after stones were thrown at a military patrol in Beit Furik.  The driver of the jeep was wounded and two local people were injured in the leg by bullets.  In East Jerusalem, masked youths who were setting up stone barriers and burning tyres were dispersed by Border Police who fired plastic bullets.  No casualties were reported.  Two fire-bombs were thrown in the Jewish quarter of Hebron and another one at an IDF post in the Gaza Strip.  They did not cause any injuries or damage.  In a village near Bethlehem, a home-made bomb exploded near a military patrol without causing any harm.  Palestinian sources reported that four residents were injured in the Gaza Strip (Gaza City: three; Shati' refugee camp: one).  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 12 December 1991)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 16 December 1991.)

30. On 12 December 1991, military sources reported that a soldier was slightly injured in Salim when stones were thrown at a patrol.  (Jerusalem Post, 13 December 1991)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 16 December 1991)

31. On 13 and 14 December 1991, according to Palestinian sources, Ayed Hatatbi, 20, of Beit Furik, was shot in the head and critically wounded in a clash with soldiers.  Military sources said there had been no clashes and that they only knew that someone had been seriously beaten in the village.  In the Gaza Strip, residents reported clashes between soldiers and Palestinians demonstrating to mark the fourth anniversary of the founding of the Hamas movement.  According to a Palestinian, at least five residents were shot and wounded in Gaza City and in the Shati' refugee camp.  In Rafah, a soldier was slightly injured while chasing stone-throwers.  About 20 persons were arrested during an operation of the security forces in the Askar refugee camp, near Ramallah.  The throwing of fire-bombs at a military patrol was reported in Ramallah. Two fire-bombs were thrown at cars on the Patt-Gilo Road; fire-bombs were also thrown at an army patrol in Hebron and at an IDF lookout post in Rafah; they did not cause any injuries.  Two charges exploded in the Bureij refugee camp over the weekend and a third one was discovered and neutralized.  A hand-grenade was found near the New Gate in East Jerusalem and was defused by police sappers.  An Israeli car was torched near the Old City walls in Jerusalem.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 15 December 1991)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 23 December 1991.)

32. On 15 December 1991, dozens of settlers threw stones and smashed more than 20 Arab cars and windows on buildings in the West Bank (Hebron, Halhoul, Ramallah, El-Bireh), apparently in response to shots fired at an Israeli car on 14 December.  IDF soldiers arrested eight settlers, who were taken to the Ramallah police station.  A grenade was found at the gate of one of the Kalkiliya military bases but was neutralized.  Three soldiers were slightly wounded when their bus was stoned near Ramallah.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 16 December 1991)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 23 December 1991.)

33. On 16 December 1991, a general strike called by the Unified National Leadership of the Uprising was observed in the occupied territories.  A fire-bomb was thrown at a military post in Jenin, causing no casualties.  A home-made explosive device was found on the road near the village of Shu'fat in the Tulkarm area.  The device was neutralized and the area combed.  (Al-Fajr, 23 December 1991)

34. On 17 December 1991, a wanted youth was shot and seriously wounded in Jenin after he had pointed a pistol at a Border Police patrol.  A home-made bomb was discovered near Kabatiya.  It was safely defused.  Three petrol bombs were thrown at an IDF patrol in Jenin, and two others at the Health Department building in the same town.  No damage was reported.  In the Gaza Strip, four people were shot and injured in clashes with troops, including a Bani Suheila youth who was hit in the eye by a rubber bullet.  (Ha'aretz, 18 December 1991)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 23 December 1991.)

35. On 18 December 1991, a Jenin resident who tried to drive through an IDF checkpoint near Fahma village was shot and lightly injured.  The driver received medical treatment and was subsequently arrested.  An IDF officer was shot and lightly wounded by a masked gunman in Rafah.  Patrol men opened fire to disperse demonstrators, wounding 10 people, 3 of whom remained in hospital; 1 had to undergo an operation.  Palestinian sources reported that 15 people were injured in the incident.  There were many incidents of stone- and bottle-throwing at troops in the Rafah area.  Three residents of Jabalia and Khan Younis were injured in the clashes.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 19 December 1991)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 23 December 1991.)

36. On 19 December 1991, masked men seized control of two buses in Nablus, ordered the passengers to leave and set the buses on fire.  A petrol bomb was thrown at the Ramallah police station; no one was hurt.  Four residents of the Gaza Strip were injured in clashes.  (Ha'aretz, 20 September 1991)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 23 December 1991.)  In Nablus Old City, a youth was arrested and accused of attempting to grab an Israeli soldier's gun.  A pistol was allegedly found in his possession.  An explosive device was thrown at a military patrol in Khan Younis.  The device exploded on the road, causing no injuries or damage.  (Al-Fajr, 23 December 1991)

37. On 20 and 21 December 1991, clashes continued in Rafah for the third consecutive day.  Five people were shot and injured.  It was reported that troops surrounded Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, arrested four activists wounded during the clashes in Rafah and transferred them to a hospital in Israel.  In East Jerusalem, troops arrested 30 participants in a meeting organized by the Hamas movement.  Six cars were set on fire in Jerusalem over the weekend.  (Jerusalem Post, 22 December 1991)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 30 December 1991.)

38. On 22 December 1991, a bus belonging to the Egged bus company was set on fire in the village of Beit Dajan, near Nablus.  (Ha'aretz, 23 December 1991)  (This incident was also referred to in Al-Fajr, 30 December 1991.)

39. On 23 December 1991, troops shot and seriously wounded a wanted youth, Faiz Khalil Mahmud Odeh, 23, after he failed to obey an order to stop.  The incident occurred in Bidya, near the Trans-Samaria road.  Odeh was reportedly suspected of planting bombs and murdering other Palestinians.  In clashes in the Gaza Strip, four residents of Jabalia, Khan Younis and Gaza were shot and injured.  Several petrol bombs were thrown at IDF targets in Jenin and Bidya.

No one was hurt.  Three cars were set on fire in East Jerusalem.  An Israeli woman passenger was slightly injured when a taxi was stoned in East Jerusalem.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 24 December 1991)  In Rafah, Gaza Strip, three Palestinians were shot and injured by IDF soldiers who tried to disperse stone-throwers.  Three others were shot and injured in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza City.  A number of youths were also arrested in the same city. (Al-Fajr, 30 December 1991)

40. On 24 December 1991, a resident of Ramallah sustained moderate injuries when a home-made bomb he was trying to throw at a passing Israeli car exploded in his hands.  Another Ramallah resident was highly injured by a rubber bullet fired by a soldier when troops dispersed rioters in Beit Likya.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 25 December 1991)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 30 December 1991.)

41. On 25 December 1991, clashes were reported in the Rafah, Gaza and Jabalia camps, where five people were injured.  One man was injured in Ramallah.  It was reported that the bodies that had been discovered two weeks earlier on the Gaza beach belonged to two "terrorists", Imad Bakhir, 30, and Ziad Malban, 30, belonging to the Rafah Salami cell, and believed to be responsible for dozens of murders of other Palestinians. The two men had been wanted for a long period and succeeded in escaping to Egypt.  They apparently died when the boat they had taken from El-Arish to the Gaza Strip in order to carry out an act of sabotage, sank into the sea.  (Ha'aretz, 26 December 1991)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 30 December 1991.)

42. On 26 December 1991, in Jenin, two petrol bombs were thrown at an IDF patrol, while another was thrown at the local jail.  No damage was reported.  In Beit Lahiya, a Border Policeman was lightly injured in a stone-throwing incident.  More details were given regarding the incident on 10 December 1991 in which Mohammed (or Mohamad) Turkeman, 26, was shot dead (see list).  After the incident, it was reported that the man was killed when he made "a suspicious movement" and refused to halt.  However, Faway Said Sawafta, 45, a taxi driver in whose car the man was killed, told police and Betzelem that when his car was stopped by a soldier outside the village of Zabalsdeh, near Jenin, one of the soldiers, whom he described as an "undercover agent" approached the car, leaned over and fired a pistol at point-blank range at Turkeman, who was sitting in the back seat.  The IDF announced at the time that Turkeman had placed a hand inside a pocket when ordered to stop and tried to avoid arrest. Later, the IDF said that the car "tried to flee when ordered to stop".  The driver was not arrested.  The military police were reportedly investigating the incident.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 27 December 1991)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 30 December 1991.)

43. On 27 and 28 December 1991, in a series of clashes over the weekend, one youth was killed in the village of Ramin (see list) and five others were injured; four were captured by troops.  In the Gaza Strip, clashes and incidents were reported in Gaza and in the Khan Younis, Jabalia and Rafah camps.  A youth was shot and seriously injured by a rubber bullet in Khan Younis.  Four persons were injured in Rafah.  Masked youths set a bus belonging to the Egged bus company on fire in Gaza, after evacuating its passengers.  Masked youths in Kabatiya fired several shots at an unknown target.  Troops returned fire at the source of shooting.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 29 December 1991)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 6 January 1992.)

44. On 29 December 1991, two people were shot and injured in Jabalia and two in Shati' in several clashes and stone-throwing incidents.  In East Jerusalem, a youth was shot and injured while trying to set fire to an Israeli car.  In Ramallah, a petrol bomb was thrown at an IDF patrol, causing no damage.  In Anabta, settlers opened fire into the air after their convoy of 20 vehicles had been stoned.  (Ha'aretz, 30 December 1991)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 6 January 1992.)

45. On 30 December 1991, four people were injured in incidents in the Gaza Strip.  Two masked youths were captured in the Bureij camp.  Shots were fired at a military vehicle transporting detainees in the centre of Nablus.

No one was hurt.  (Ha'aretz, 31 December 1991)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 6 January 1992.)

46. On 31 December 1991, three people were shot and injured in clashes in the Gaza Strip.  A petrol bomb was thrown at an Israeli vehicle in Ramallah, causing no damage.  Three people were injured in clashes between members of the Hamas and Fatah movements following the murder of a Hamas activist in Tulkarm (see list).  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 1 January 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 6 January 1992.)

47. On 1 January 1992, an incendiary bottle was thrown at a military post located on a rooftop in Jenin.  Carbonic bottles were also thrown on civil administration headquarters in Yabud and Kabatiya.  (Al-Tali'ah, 2 January 1992)  A settler from Kfar Darom in the Gaza Strip, Doron Shorshan, 35, was shot and killed in his car by a group of "terrorists" at the Deir el-Balah junction.  (Ha'aretz, 2 January 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Tali'ah, 2 and 9 January 1992.)

48. On 3 January 1992, a member of the Black Panther group was killed (see list) while two soldiers were injured in a serious clash in Um a-Tut village, near Jenin.  Seven persons were injured in other incidents in the territories. (Ha'aretz, 5 January 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Tali'ah, 9 January 1992, Al-Fajr, 13 January 1992.)

49. On 4 January 1992, three youths from the Sheikh Radwan quarter of Gaza City were injured during clashes with soldiers and were admitted to Ahli hospital for treatment.  Four fire-bombs were thrown at IDF patrols, two in Nablus and two in the Askar refugee camp.  No injuries or damage were reported.  (Al-Tali'ah, 11 January 1992)

50. On 5 January 1992, in Hebron, a settler shot and wounded Aref Al Haymouni, 17, in the abdomen.  He was reported to be in stable condition after undergoing surgery.  The settler had opened fire when his car was pelted with stones near Hebron University.  Six youths were injured in the Jabalia refugee camp during clashes with the IDF.  (Al-Tali'ah, 2 and 9 January 1992)  An explosive charge went off in a supermarket in Gilo, East Jerusalem.  The explosion only caused material damage.  Residents clashed with troops in the Gaza Strip camp.  Two were injured.  (Ha'aretz, 6 January 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 13 January 1992.)

51. On 6 January 1992, a general strike, called by the Islamic Jihad, was observed in the territories.  A petrol bomb was thrown at an Israeli car near Tulkarm.  No one was hurt.  Two were injured in clashes in the Gaza Strip.

(Ha'aretz, 7 January 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 13 January 1992.)  A fire-bomb was thrown at an Israeli settler's car near the Gush Katif settlement in the Gaza Strip, causing no damage or injuries.  Four people were injured when IDF soldiers dispersed Palestinian protesters in the Sheikh Radwan quarter of Gaza City.  (Al-Tali'ah, 2 January 1992)

52. On 8 January 1992, a petrol bomb was thrown at the military government building in Jenin.  No one was hurt.  In clashes in the Gaza Strip two people were injured.  (Ha'aretz, 9 January 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 13 January 1992.)

53. On 9 January 1992, four petrol bombs were thrown at an IDF unit in Arrabeh.  No one was hurt.  Four people were injured in clashes in the Gaza Strip.  (Ha'aretz, 10 January 1992)

54. On 11 January 1992, four people were injured in clashes in the territories.  In a serious clash in the Gaza Strip, a resident, Fadl Abed Abu Halib, 22, from Deir el-Balah, was seriously injured and was hospitalized in Israel.  A petrol bomb was thrown at a Border Police patrol near the Jenin refugee camp.  No one was hurt.  (Ha'aretz, 12 January 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 20 January 1992.)

55. On 12 January 1992, three petrol bombs were thrown at a tractor driver in the Maaleh Gilboa settlement.  He was not hurt. Another bomb was thrown at a bus belonging to the Egged bus company in East Jerusalem.  The bus was damaged but no one was hurt.  Border Policemen arrested two masked youths while they were painting anti-IDF graffiti in Khan Younis.  (Ha'aretz, 13 January 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 20 January 1992.)

56. On 14 January 1992, seven Israelis were injured, two seriously, when shots were fired at a bus belonging to the Egged bus company and a private car on the road from Jerusalem to Shiloh.  (Ha'aretz, 15 January 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 20 January 1992.)  A Molotov cocktail was thrown at an army post in the Jabalia refugee camp.  It exploded but caused no damage.  Clashes with the IDF were reported in Rafah and the Gaza Strip.  Two Palestinian youths were shot and injured.  An Israeli soldier was also injured when his patrol was stoned in Gaza City.  (Al-Fajr, 20 January 1992)

57. On 15 January 1992, a "Druze resident of northern Israel", Mufid Kanaan, 45, was killed by "terrorists" near Jenin (see list).  Two masked youths set fire to two buses in the Gaza Strip.  Two persons were injured in clashes in the Gaza Strip.  Shots were fired at an Israeli ambulance near Elon Moreh.  No one was hurt.  (Ha'aretz, 16 January 1992) (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 20 January 1992.)

58. On 16 January 1992, a woman settler from Ariel was injured when her car was stoned near El-Bireh.  Four people were injured in clashes in the Gaza Strip.  (Ha'aretz, 17 January 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 20 January 1992.)

59. On 18 January 1992, three Arabs were killed and three injured in clashes over the weekend (see list).  Three petrol bombs were thrown at IDF troops in the Gaza Strip.  A resident of Issawiya, north of Jerusalem, was arrested after he had stabbed and injured a Border Policeman.  (Ha'aretz, 19 January 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 20 January 1992.)

60. On 19 January 1992, Dr. Albert Gluck, a United States citizen and head of the Archeology Department at Bir Zeit University, was shot and killed by a masked man.  Four persons were injured in clashes in the Gaza Strip.  A home-made bomb was thrown from a car at an IDF post in the Bureij camp.  No one was hurt.  (Ha'aretz, 20 January 1992)

61. On 20 and 21 January 1992, three persons were injured in clashes in the Gaza Strip.  (Ha'aretz, 22 January 1992)  Israeli buses were set on fire in two separate incidents in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip.  No one was hurt.  A Molotov cocktail was thrown at an IDF patrol in Rafah and another at an army prison vehicle at the Nur Shams refugee camp near Tulkarm.  They exploded without causing damage or injury.  The IDF announced plans to intensify its presence in the occupied territories.  (Al-Fajr, 27 January 1992)

62. On 22 January 1992, shots were fired at an Israeli car on the Ramallah detour road.  Two persons were shot and injured in Gaza and Jabalia.  (Ha'aretz, 23 January 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 27 January 1992.)  The IDF conducted an intensive search in the West Bank, particularly in Ramallah and Nablus.  Over 200 persons are reported to have been arrested.  In the Gaza Strip, an IDF patrol shot and injured nine students during clashes.  Two fire-bombs were thrown at an IDF patrol near Arrabeh village, in the area of Jenin.  The bombs exploded causing no damage.  No one was injured.  (Al-Tali'ah, 23 January 1992)

63. On 23 January 1992, IDF soldiers shot and wounded a Palestinian in Kabatiya.  Israeli Radio stated that the youth had been wanted by the IDF for a long time.  Two Molotov cocktails were thrown at IDF patrols, one in the heart of Hebron and the other in the Jabalia refugee camp, in the Gaza Strip.  No one was hurt.  (Al-Fajr, 27 January 1992)

64. On 24 January 1992, three incidents were reported in which Molotov cocktails were thrown at an army post in Jabalia refugee camp, at an IDF patrol in Gaza City and at the main road to Gilo settlement, near Beit Safafa.  No one was hurt.  (Al-Fajr, 3 February 1992)

65. On 25 January 1992, four residents of Hebron were injured when settlers opened fire in the Kharal al-Sheikh neighbourhood after stones had been thrown at them.  A petrol bomb was thrown at a car on the Patt-Gilo road in south Jerusalem.  Three petrol bombs were thrown at Border Police troops in Ramallah, and two others at IDF patrols in Gaza and Jabalia.  No one was hurt.  Three persons were injured in clashes in the Gaza Strip.  A petrol bomb was thrown at an IDF lookout post in the Tulkarm camp, causing no damage or injuries.  Troops raided Hebron University and confiscated publications in order to check whether they contained inciting language.  (Ha'aretz, 27 January 1992)

66. On 27 January 1992, three petrol bombs were thrown near the Nur Shams camp at a gas tanker and a car with security guards who were protecting it.  No one was injured.  Two home-made charges were discovered at the Patriarchs' Cave in Hebron, after a violent explosion had been heard.  The charges were defused.  Troops later discovered in hospital an 18-year-old man whose hand had just been blown off.  He was detained for questioning after receiving medical treatment.  (Ha'aretz, 28 January 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 3 February 1992.)  Israeli Radio reported that 16 Palestinians were arrested in East Jerusalem for throwing Molotov cocktails at Israeli buses and burning Israeli cars in the Jerusalem area.  (Al-Fajr, 3 February 1992)

67. On 28 January 1992, shots were fired at the home of Elias Freij, Mayor of Bethlehem.  A right-wing Jewish group claimed responsibility.  A petrol bomb was thrown at the Ramallah police station.  No one was hurt.  Shots were fired at an IDF lookout post in Jenin.  No one was hurt.  (Ha'aretz, 29 January 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 3 February 1992.)

68. On 29 January 1992, two persons were injured in Gaza, in a small number of incidents.  The GSS and the IDF have recently uncovered eight "terrorist" cells that operated in the West Bank.  A large quantity of weapons was discovered.  The members of the cells are believed to have been responsible for many "terrorist" attacks against the IDF as well as against civilians.  Many of the members had been wanted for a long time.  The cells were affiliated to the Fatah, the PFLP, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) movements and to Abmad Jibril's organization.  (Ha'aretz, 30 January 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Tali'ah, 30 January 1992; Al-Fajr, 3 February 1992.)

69. On 30 January 1992, strikes were observed in parts of the Gaza Strip.  Three persons were injured in Khan Younis and Shati' in a small number of incidents.  (Ha'aretz, 31 January 1992).  A border guard shot and injured Yasser Mohammed Abdel Fatah in Kalkiliya who was hit in the neck when he apparently refused to obey orders to halt. According to Radio Israel, he was sought for months by the IDF.  Two Israeli buses were set ablaze in the Gaza Strip.  No one was hurt. (Al-Fajr, 3 February 1992)

70. On 31 January and 1 February 1992, two residents were injured in Jenin (West Bank) when soldiers shot at them.  They had been ordered to stop but did not heed the orders and tried to flee.  A Swedish United Nations worker was lightly wounded when her United Nations vehicle was stoned at Ras el-Amud in East Jerusalem.  In Gaza City and in the Khan Younis refugee camp, two residents were injured in IDF shooting although military sources reported that no resident had been hurt in the Gaza Strip.  A Molotov cocktail was thrown at an IDF patrol in Deir el-Balah and empty-bottle-throwing incidents were also reported in the Gaza Strip.  A pistol shot was fired from an Arab car at the car of a Beit El resident.  Nobody was injured.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 2 February 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 10 February 1992.)  The IDF arrested a 19-year-old Palestinian who was treated for injuries at Al-Ittihad Hospital in Nablus.  The Palestinian, whose name was not given but who is said to be from Jenin, was taken to an Israeli hospital.  (Al-Fajr, 10 February 1992)

71. On 2 February 1992, a man from Khan Younis who tried to attack a soldier with an iron bar at an IDF observation post in Rafah, Gaza Strip, was captured after a brief chase.  (Jerusalem Post, 3 February 1992)  (This incident was also referred to in Al-Fajr, 10 February 1992.)

72. On 3 February 1992, a bus passenger was killed by soldiers when the bus swerved off the road in an apparent attempt to avoid a roadblock near the Gush Katif junction in the Gaza Strip (see list).  Military sources stated that the incident was being investigated by the military police.  In the Gaza Strip, two residents were reported injured by IDF shooting. Three fire-bombs were thrown at buses belonging to the Egged bus company near Solomon's Pools, south of Bethlehem, and in Nablus.  No one was injured but the windshield of one of the buses was smashed.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 4 February 1992; Jerusalem Post, 5 February 1992; Ha'aretz, 6 February 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 10 February 1992.)

73. On 4 February 1992, two Deir el-Balah residents were murdered (see list) in the Gaza Strip.  Mustafa Akawi, 33, a resident of Jerusalem, died in the custody of the GSS in Hebron prison (see list).  An army reserve soldier shot and wounded a resident in the leg when the man tried to hit him on the head with a hammer, after having offered him a lift in a car bearing Israeli licence plates.  The incident occurred near Jammain junction, south of Nablus.  The soldier was slightly wounded in the head.  A petrol bomb was tossed at OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Danny Yatom's car while he was touring the Nablus region, near the Balata refugee camp.  The bomb ignited but caused no injuries or damage.  Palestinian sources reported that three residents of the Gaza Strip were injured in clashes with the IDF (Jabalia, Bureij and Gaza Strip).  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 5 February 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 10 February 1992.)

74. On 5 February 1992, a Khan Younis resident was shot to death by three masked men in the local market (see list).  After a clash with troops in the Beit Ein Elma refugee camp, the body of a 12-year-old boy (see list) and two persons aged 12 and 23, with light injuries, were brought to the Al-Ittihad Hospital in Nablus.  The army was investigating if the death and injuries were connected to the clash.  A fire-bomb was thrown at an IDF strong point in the village of Azoun, near Tulkarm.  It exploded on the road but did not cause any injuries or damage.  Palestinian sources reported that two residents were injured by IDF shooting in the Gaza Strip.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 6 February 1992; Ha'aretz, 7 February 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 10 February 1992.)

75. On 6 February 1992, following the death of Mustafa Akawi on 4 February (see list), 7 Arab demonstrators – among approximately 50 were detained during a protest march.  Official military sources reported that military posts came under fire in Jenin and in the south of Hebron.  Following the attack in Jenin, troops found axes, leaflets and Palestinian flags in a refugee camp mosque.  Palestinian sources said that three residents were injured in the Gaza Strip (two in Gaza City and one in Jabalia) and that stone-throwing incidents had occurred in the West Bank.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 7 February 1992)

76. On 7 and 8 February 1992, about 1,500 demonstrators chanting nationalist slogans accompanied Mustafa Akawi's casket to the Muslim Cemetery in East Jerusalem.  The funeral march was used as a nationalistic demonstration.  The police did not intervene and no clashes, injuries or arrests were reported.  Over the weekend, two residents were killed in the Gaza Strip (see list) and four were injured in Rafah.  Soldiers fired rubber bullets at a car that broke through a roadblock in the village of Irtas, near Bethlehem, and discovered that the daughter and son of a dying woman were rushing her to hospital.  The soldiers permitted the car to continue to the hospital but the woman died of a heart attack before she arrived at the hospital.  Naamah Salem (the daughter) was struck in the chest, while Khaled Salem (the son) suffered scratches.  A Border Policeman was injured when stones were thrown at him in the Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.  A petrol bomb was thrown at an Israeli vehicle at the Yakir junction in the West Bank.  Security forces arrested 10 persons accused of disrupting the peace in Gaza.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 9 February 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 17 February 1992.)

77. On 9 February 1992, two Gaza Strip residents were shot to death and a third one was found stabbed (see list) in Tulkarm, in the West Bank.  An Israeli woman aged 22 was seriously wounded in a pipe-bomb explosion in the Netzarim Kibbutz in the Gaza Strip.  Four hours later, two soldiers were injured in a second pipe-bomb explosion, as they combed the area of the first blast.  An Israeli aged 31, from Brosh, in Negev Moshav, went to pick up a labourer in Dahiriya village, near Hebron, and was stabbed and locked up in the back of his own van.  He managed to escape and reach a military compound the following day.  Five vehicles were set on fire in the Talpiot neighbourhood of East Jerusalem.  An attempt to set fire to the Labour Exchange Office in Hebron failed.  The damage was minimal.  Two residents were injured in Gaza City.  Shops and offices in the West Bank and Gaza Strip were closed during a general strike marking the beginning of the fifty-first month of the uprising.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 10 and 11 February 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 17 February 1992.)  Three Molotov cocktails were thrown at a border guard patrol in Bethlehem and another at an Israeli car near Kufl Haris, in the northern West Bank.  No injuries or damage were reported.  (Al-Fajr, 17 February 1992)

78. On 10 February 1992, the body of a woman from Nuseirat refugee camp was brought to Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip (see list).  A Rafah resident who was stabbed during the weekend (7-8 February) died in hospital (see list).  Shots were reported to have been fired at a settler's vehicle near Bidiya village, on the trans-northern West Bank highway.  An IDF jeep was shot at in the new Askar refugee camp, east of Nablus.  In the Gaza Strip, an Israeli bus driven by a resident of Rafah was set on fire in Bani Suheila.  The driver escaped unharmed.  Several incidents were reported in the West Bank.  In the Jenin district, a petrol bomb was thrown at an army outpost in Jaber village.  In Halhul, north of Hebron, an Israeli commercial vehicle was set on fire; four youths were arrested.  An IDF soldier was slightly injured during routine activity in the Tulkarm refugee camp.  The army arrested three youths.  Although the IDF spokesman for the Central and Southern Command did not report any injuries occurring in the territories, Palestinian sources stated that three Jabalia refugee camp residents were wounded.  (Ha'aretz, 11 and 12 February 1992; Jerusalem Post, 11 February 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 17 February 1992.)

79. On 11 February 1992, a man was killed in Tulkarm when the passengers of a car dropped him by the side of the road and shot him within eyesight of a police patrol (see list).  The body of a Deir el-Balah resident was found in an orange grove (see list).  A 75-year-old man from Tulkarm was slightly wounded in the head while sitting in a car, when a fuel truck security guard opened fire at stone-throwers.  Three or four people were injured during clashes with the IDF in the Gaza Strip.  (Ha'aretz, 12 and 14 February 1992; Jerusalem Post, 13 February 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Tali'ah, 13 February 1992.)  A group of masked people hijacked an Israeli bus in the village of Bani Suheila and set it on fire.  (Al-Fajr, 17 February 1992)

80. On 13 February 1992, a Kalkiliya man was shot dead outside his home (see list).  His son, who had come to his aid, was also shot at and lightly wounded.  Official military sources said that troops shot and slightly wounded a youth while breaking up a demonstration in the Shati' refugee camp, outside Gaza.  According to Palestinian sources, four residents were injured (two in Gaza and two in Rafah) during incidents with the armed forces.  Seven fire-bombs were thrown at military and civilian targets in Jenin, Tulkarm, Hebron, Rafah and near Bethlehem.  None of them caused any damage.  Local sources reported that there had been a commercial strike in Gaza to protest recent tax raids.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 14 February 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 17 February 1992.)

81. On 14 and 15 February 1992, the bodies of two Palestinians slain by masked Arab militants were found in Gaza (see list).  Palestinians thought to be from the territories infiltrated an unfenced IDF tent camp in Israel 16 kilometres north-west of Jenin during the night of 14 February.  They killed three soldiers, wounded a fourth and stole four automatic weapons.  Searches were conducted in a number of Arab villages, including the Israeli Arab village of Muwiya, and in the Umm al-Fahm and Jenin areas.  Three or four residents were injured when troops opened fire in Gaza.  A hand-grenade was thrown at an IDF patrol in the Jenin market but did not explode.  A petrol bomb was thrown at an army patrol in Rafah.  The bomb did not cause any injury or damage.  In both cases, the IDF conducted searches.  A 19-year-old Arab was arrested in Jerusalem when he tried to attack with a knife Jewish youths playing in a field.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 16 February 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 24 February 1992.)  In Hebron, Ayed Sa'di Abu Hammad, 18, was shot and wounded after an IDF patrol opened fire at youths in the area where an Israeli fuel tanker driver was stoned.  An Israeli bus transporting workers was hijacked by masked people in Khan Younis and set ablaze after all the passengers had been evacuated.  (Al-Fajr, 24 February 1992.)

82. On 15 February 1992, three Palestinians were reported injured in the Sheikh Radwan quarter of Gaza City following confrontations during which youths stoned IDF patrols.  Another Palestinian was shot and injured in Rafah.  He was allegedly carrying a Molotov cocktail in his hand and was preparing to throw it at an army patrol.  The person was taken to hospital in Israel and held under arrest.  In Hawwara, near Nablus, a youth was also shot and injured in a car when he allegedly failed to stop at an army checkpoint.  He was held under arrest.  In the Jenin area, two Molotov cocktails were thrown at an army post in Yabad and an explosive device went off on the road between the Tubaz and Akaba villages.  No one was hurt.  (Al-Fajr, 24 February 1992)

83. On 16 February 1992, the body of a 24-year-old man was brought to the Gaza Hospital (see list).  Four residents were slightly injured by rubber bullets when demonstrations were scattered in Rafah and Gaza City.  Five petrol bombs were thrown at IDF patrols in Rafah and during the breaking up of a demonstration.  Two additional petrol bombs were thrown at an army patrol and at an Israeli bus in the Tulkarm district.  No one was injured but the bus was damaged.  Following the killing of three Israeli soldiers on 14 February, searches continued in the territories, especially in the Jenin area.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 17 February 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 24 February 1992.)

84. On 17 February 1992, four Israeli border guards were injured by stones in clashes in the Jabalia refugee camp. In the Gaza Strip, an Israeli bus was stopped and set on fire after all the passengers had been evacuated.  (Al-Fajr, 24 February 1992)

85. On 18 February 1992, the dead body of a man from Tulkarm district who was allegedly killed by masked men was found and brought to the Legal Institute in Abu Kebir (see list).  An Italian woman tourist was slightly injured in Tel Jericho by pieces of glass when her bus was stoned and two of its windows were shattered.  Several incidents were reported in the territories during which two residents were injured in Gaza City and four petrol bombs were thrown in the Gaza Strip.  An additional petrol bomb was discovered in Rafah.  In all of the above cases, no one was hurt and no damage was reported.  Clashes with soldiers occurred in the Jabalia, Khan Younis and Shati' refugee camps in the Gaza Strip and stone-throwing incidents were reported in the West Bank.  (Ha'aretz, 19 February 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 24 February 1992.)

86. On 19 February 1992, two Gaza Strip residents were murdered (see list).  An IDF soldier was slightly injured when a stone was thrown at him during the scattering of a demonstration in the Jabalia refugee camp.  A Border Policeman was lightly wounded when stones were thrown at his patrol in Silwan, East Jerusalem.  A bus belonging to the Egged bus company was stoned and its driver injured on Shuafat road north of Jerusalem.  Two masted men were arrested in Kalkiliya by the Border Police.  An automatic pistol and knives were found in their possession.  A hearse was completely burnt near the Mount of Olives Cemetery in Jerusalem.  A full commercial strike was observed in Gaza to mark the anniversary of the establishment of the Palestine National Council.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 20 February 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Tali'ah, 20 February 1992; Al-Fajr, 24 February 1992.)  A 14-year-old boy was reportedly shot and injured in the leg during clashes with the IDF in Ramallah.  In Askar refugee camp, in the Nablus area, soldiers shot and wounded Khalil Ahmad Abu Daoud, 25, alleging that he broke the curfew and refused orders to halt.  An incendiary bottle was thrown at a military patrol in Nablus and two Molotov cocktails were thrown at an Israeli truck near the Kiryat Arba settlement in Hebron.  No one was hurt.  Shooting incidents were also reported in the city of Hebron.  (Al-Tali'ah, 20 February 1992; Al-Fajr, 24 February 1992)

87. On 20 February 1992, a resident standing by the roadside in Kalkiliya was killed, when an Arab man opened fire on masked youths who had thrown stones at him (see list).  In Khan Younis, soldiers shot dead a man armed with two pistols after he had tried to fire at them (see list).  According to official military sources, six residents of Gaza refugee camps (Shati', Jabalia) were injured during demonstrations.  Palestinian sources put the number at 16.  Three Kalkiliya residents drove through a police roadblock in a stolen car on the Tulkarm-Kalkiliya road and collided with another vehicle.  The driver, shouting "Allahu Akbar", tried to run over two policemen who managed to jump to the side.  Between 8 and 14 residents who were in the other vehicle were slightly to moderately injured.  The three suspects were arrested and four long knives and an axe were discovered in the stolen car.  Five masked men were arrested in the Gaza Strip while writing slogans.  Also in Gaza, an Israeli bus was set on fire.  A commercial strike was observed partially in the West Bank and totally in the Gaza Strip; nevertheless, many workers still went to their jobs in Israel.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 21 February 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 24 February 1992.)

88. On 21 and 22 February 1992, three Palestinians were killed by masked men (see list), and troops shot two men dead (see list) in separate incidents during a weekend that was marked by an upsurge in violence.  Troops also injured more than a dozen persons during armed parades marking the anniversary of the creation of the DFLP.  Vengeance was vowed for the killing of Hezbollah leader Abbas Musawi in Lebanon.  A recent immigrant from the former Soviet Union, Genia Friedmann, 42, was killed and three other people were injured on 21 February, when Yussuf Abd el-Rahman Haddar, 20, of Kalkiliya went on a rampage in Kfar Saba and stabbed them with a long kitchen knife.  Two masked men shot and wounded a man as he drove his van in Gaza. The man was able to drive himself to a hospital for treatment.  According to Palestinian sources, two residents were injured in Ramallah (West Bank) but military sources claimed they received no reports of injuries.  In the Gaza Strip, many clashes with the IDF were reported during which 15 residents were injured according to the IDF, 20 according to Palestinian sources.  A soldier was slightly injured when a stone was thrown at him in the Bureij refugee camp.  Three petrol bombs were thrown at an Israeli vehicle in the Tulkarm district.  Two of them exploded on the road.  They did not cause any injuries or damage.  A hand-grenade was thrown in the Bethlehem market but did not explode.  (Ha'aretz, 23 and 24 February 1992; Jerusalem Post, 23 February 1992)   (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 2 March 1992.)

89. On 23 February 1992, a pipe-bomb exploded in a crowded bus shelter in Jerusalem's Gilo neighbourhood, slightly injuring one person.  According to Palestinian sources, four residents were injured in incidents (Jabalia: two; Khan Younis: two) but official military sources stated they had no reports of persons being injured in the Gaza Strip.  A petrol bomb was thrown at Israeli forces in Rafah and stone-throwing incidents were reported in the West Bank.   (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 24 February 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 2 March 1992.)

90. On 24 February 1992, a manhunt was conducted by the security services for a masked gunman who shot and killed Lior Sorklert 23, a fuel truck security guard at a Jenin gas station.  The assailant stole Sorkler's UZI submachine-gun. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 25 February 1992)  (This incident was also referred to in Al-Tali'ah, 28 February 1992.)

91. On 25 February 1992, arsonist torched the Health Ministry offices in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Ras el-Amud. (Jerusalem Post, 26 February 1992)

92. On 26 February 1992, a 28-year-old man was shot in Gaza (see list).  A fire-bomb was thrown at an IDF position in the Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza district.  The fire-bomb ignited but did not cause any damages.  A tour bus was stoned in the A-Tur neighbourhood of East Jerusalem.  Several of its windows were smashed and two women tourists were slightly injured by the broken glass.  (Jerusalem Post, 27 February 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 9 March 1992.)

93. On 27 February 1992, following the shooting heard in the Tulkarm market, a soldier patrol shot a suspect in the leg.  The man did not heed orders to halt and was slightly injured.  He was subsequently arrested.  A petrol bomb was thrown at an IDF patrol in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.  No one was hurt and no damage was reported.  A home-made bomb was discovered in the Bethlehem district.  The bomb was neutralized without causing harm and the IDF conducted searches in the area.  According to Palestinian sources, incidents occurred in Gaza refugee camps and two residents were injured in shooting by the IDF (one in Gaza City and one in Jabalia).  (Ha'aretz, 28 February 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 9 March 1992.)

94. On 28 and 29 February 1992, IDF soldiers shot and killed a masked man carrying a pistol in Rafah, in the Gaza Strip (see list).  Three Gaza residents were injured in clashes with the army (Nuseirat, Khan Younis and Jabalia refugee camps).  A Palestinian was shot and injured while three Border Policemen were also wounded by stones thrown at them when they broke up a demonstration in Nuseirat.  A Swedish tourist was slightly injured by a stone thrown at her car in Nablus.  Two petrol bombs were thrown at an Israeli vehicle near Tulkarm in the West Bank and a third one was found on the side of the road.  A hand-grenade was thrown at a government building in Jenin and exploded, causing no harm.  A partial commercial strike was observed in the cities of the Gaza Strip.  (Ha'aretz, 1 March 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 9 March 1992.)  Shots were reportedly fired at an IDF patrol in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus, but no one was hurt.  Later, a Palestinian from the same camp was admitted to Al-Ittihad Hospital in Nablus suffering from gun wounds in his leg.  The IDF is investigating the incident.  A resident of Rafah refugee camp, Musallam Mustafa Al Houli, 35, was shot dead, but the circumstances behind his killing were unclear (see list).  A Molotov cocktail vas thrown at the residence of Israeli Housing Minister, Ariel Sharon, in the Old City of Jerusalem.  The bomb exploded but did not cause any damage.  A second one prepared for use was allegedly found on the location.  (Al-Fajr, 9 March 1992)

B.  Administration of justice, including the right to a fair trial

1.  Palestinian population

95. On 1 December 1991, the Gaza Military Court sentenced Shaban Hanaf, 28, to five terms of life imprisonment for the murder of five residents, among them a woman suspected of collaboration. (Ha'aretz, 2 December 1991)  The Hebron Military Court sentenced Imad Mohammad Abu Al Riyoush, 22, to 10 years in prison and a 3-year suspended term for placing Molotov cocktails in a stone-mill and for belonging to illegal organizations.  (Al-Fajr, 9 December 1991)

96. On 3 December 1991, Iyad Khizran, 20, and Jemal Abu Muhsan, 20, residents of the occupied territories, were sentenced to life imprisonment by the Tel Aviv District Court for the premeditated murder of Shlomo Yehieh, 76, on 26 September 1991.  Ratab Ajrab, 25, of Kafr Kibiyeh, was charged with murder by the Tel Aviv District Court.  Ajrab was arrested on charges of carrying out an attack on 11 October 1991 in which 2 soldiers died and 11 were injured.  He was to be jailed until the end of the judicial proceedings.  (Jerusalem Post, 4 December 1991)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 9 December 1991.)

97. On 4 December 1991, the Lod Military Court sentenced Khaled Abu Lihye, 39, and Rajis Bni Fadel, 34, from Kafr Akraba, to 22 years of imprisonment for planting bombs in Brei Brat in 1990.  (Jerusalem Post, 5 December 1991)

98. On 8 December 1991, it was reported that Khider Halas, 23, of Gaza, was given a two-year suspended sentence and a fine of US$ 200 for attempting to hoist a Palestinian flag in Or Yehuda.  Five Arab men from Jerusalem were sentenced by the Nazareth District Court to life terms in prison for the premeditated murder of a fellow Shatta prison inmate on 18 October 1990.  They were Nasser Abd Rabu, 24, Muhammad Abu Saleh, 25, Abdel Nasser Jih, 21, Ihab Abu Sabitan, 29, and Maher Muna, 20.  (Jerusalem Post, 8 and 9 December 1991)  (This incident was also referred to in Al-Fajr, 9 December 1991.)  The Gaza Military Court sentenced Rafah resident Ahmad Khader, 22, to a life term in prison plus five years on charges of killing alleged collaborators.  (Al-Fajr, 16 December 1991)

99. On 9 December 1991, an Israeli Appeals Connittee decided that 6,000 dunums of land confiscated in the Hebron area should be returned to their rightful Palestinian owners.  The land was confiscated in 1981 on the pretext that it belonged to the State.  (Al-Fajr, 16 December 1991)

100. On 10 December 1991, a teenager, Samir Ibrahim Al Sili, was sentenced to seven years in prison.  The 14-year-old youth was charged with membership in the PFLP. (Al-Fajr, 16 December 1991)

101. On 16 December 1991, the Israeli District Court sentenced Yussef Mussa Al Khaas, 18, of Jerusalem's Old City, to life imprisonment for killing an Israeli settler several months earlier.  Another Old City resident, Mazin Yussef Alwi, 19, had been convicted earlier on the same charges.  (Al-Fajr, 23 December 1991)

102. On 17 December 1991, the Haifa Magistrates Court convicted Khaled Sha'aban Shandaqli, 20, for holding a cassette that contained inciting material, calling to "burn the Zionists and kill the settlers with knives and sticks".  The defendant expressed regret.  He was fined NIS 1,000 (US$ 400) and sentenced to 30 days in prison with four months suspended.  (Ha'aretz, 18 December 1991)

103. On 18 December 1991, the Gaza Military Court sentenced Ramadan Abu Sa'ad to life imprisonment plus 50 years.  He was accused of belonging to the Fatah movement, for throwing hand-grenades and for killing other Palestinians.  (Al-Fajr, 23 December 1991 from Al Quds)

104. On 22 December 1991, the Hebron Military Court sentenced Jauduh Hassan, from Bheisheh, to 17 years' imprisonment and a 5-year suspended term for attempting to murder an IDF officer, for cooperating with Fatah, including organizing military training, for recruitinq members and planning "terrorist" attacks inside Israel.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 23 December 1991)

105. On 23 December 1991, the Military Court in Nablus sentenced Samils Ismail Amar, 33, of Mah'ha, to four years' imprisonment for destroying an electricity pylon on the Trans-Samaria road.  (Jerusalem Post, 25 December 1991)

106. On 25 December 1991, it was reported that the Gaza Military Court had sentenced Nagi Riad Khahil at-Nagar, from Bani Suheila, to four life sentence terms for several murders of persons alleged to be collaborators and other attacks.  (Ha'aretz, 25 December 1991).  This incident was also referred to in Al-Fajr, 30 December 1991.)

107. On 30 December 1991, a judge of the Beersheba District Court ruled that Muhammad Ramdan Aluh, a Gaza Strip resident who lost his eyesight as a result of a grenade thrown at him by an IDF officer, would receive the sum of NIS 526,416 ($210,000) as compensation.  The judge ruled that the Defence Ministry should pay the entire sum claimed by the victim, plus the trial and lawyers' expenses.  The incident occurred on 21 May 1990, when the Gaza Strip was placed under curfew following the Temple Mount incidents.  Aluh was sleeping in an orchard near his home when an IDF patrol passed by and a patrol officer threw a grenade at him, causing him to lose his eyesight.  (Ha'aretz, 31 December 1991).  The Tel Aviv District Court sentenced Ratel Zeidan Al Ajail to two life terms and an additional 20 years in prison.  He had allegedly run over a group of Israeli soldiers with a vehicle two months earlier, killing two and injuring nine others.  (Al-Fajr, 6 January 1992)

108. On 2 January 1992, it was reported that the Ramallah Military Court sentenced Mahmud Mohammed Al Hayek, 15, from Ein el-Sultan refugee camp to 18 months in prison, and 18 months' suspended sentence. He was also ordered to pay a fine of NIS 3,000 for participating in the intifadah.  The Gaza Military Court sentenced Hisham Yussef Abu Lihyeh, 23, from Bani Suheila village to seven life terms plus two years after convicting him of a number of political charges.  (Al-Tali'ah, 2 January 1992; Al-Fajr, 13 January 1992)

109. On 8 January 1992, the Nablus Military Court sentenced Yasser Mohamed Bulbul, 20, to two life terms for killing alleged collaborators and for membership in the Fatah's "Revolutionary" Security Guards.  A Beit Lahiya resident, Khalil Hamdouneh, was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment by the Beersheeba Military Court for allegedly hitting two Israelis with a hammer.  (Al-Fajr, 13 January 1992)

110. On 9 January 1992, the Israeli authorities placed Mohammed Abdel Fattah Al Hurani, 29, from Hebron, under administrative detention for the third time since the beginning of the intifadah.  Al Hurani was due to leave for Washington on the day of his arrest as a member of the Palestinian delegation to the peace talks.  (Al-Tali'ah, 16 January 1992; Al-Fajr, 20 January 1992)

111. On 14 January 1992, the Jenin Military Court sentenced Mohammed Ali Eid Turkman, 22, from Wadi Burkin, to life imprisonment.  The same court sentenced Hassen Mohammed Turkman, 24, to life imprisonment for alleged membership of the Black Panther group and the killing of alleged collaborators.  The Lydda Military Court also sentenced Ghassan Al Jabri, 22, a resident of Baqa'a refugee camp near Amman, to 18 years' imprisonment.  He was arrested after crossing the Jordanian border into the occupied West Bank.  (Al-Fajr, 20 January 1992)

112. On 19 January 1992, the Gaza Military Court sentenced four Khan Younis refugee camp youths, Izzidin Za'rab, 23, Muss Shahin, 25, Iyad Abed, 23, and Omar Tayeh, 24, to two life sentences plus 10 years (5 suspended).  All four have been in prison since mid-June 1990 awaiting trial on various security charges.  (Al-Fajr, 27 January 1992)

13. On 27 January 1992, the Jenin Military Court sentenced Khader Said, 18, from Jenin to six months' imprisonment and a fine of NIS 1,000 ($400) for throwing stones at a convoy of vehicles in which Defence Minister Arens and Chief of Staff Ehud Barak were travelling.  The Nablus Military Court sentenced Ahmed Mahmud Haja from Nablus to 15 years' imprisonment and 15 years suspended for several attempts to throw hand-grenades at ODF patrol.  In one case, he and other Fatah movement members threw a grenade at a settlers' bus near Jat.  The grenade exploded and caused damage to the vehicle.  (Ha'aretz, 28 January 1992)

114. On 3 February 1992, it was reported that the Tel Aviv District sentenced Nihad Atalla, 29, from Balata near Nablus, to six years' imprisonment for the murder of a security guard in a bank in Taybe on 1 July 1991.  (Ha'aretz, 3 February 1992)

115. On 6 February 1992, Adel Ismail Jabari, 24 of Rafah, Gaza Strip, was sentenced to 12 life prison terms plus 50 years for leading a gang that killed a dozen Arabs accused of collaborating with Israel.  (Ha'aretz, 7 February 1992)  (This incident was also referred to in Al-Fajr, 10 February 1992.)

116. On 9 February 1992, the Tel Aviv District Court found guilty Munir Shehade, 32, from Deir el-Balah, of intending to murder his Jewish employer, attempting to stab policemen and attempting to steal a policeman's pistol on 29 January 1992 in Ramat-Gan.  (Ha'aretz, 10 February 1992)

117. On 12 February 1992, the Jerusalem District Court sentenced Walid al-'Asin, 20, from Beituniya, near Ramallah, to life imprisonment plus 12 years for killing her cellmate, Shifa al-Makusi, 16, whom she suspected of collaboration, as well as for attempting to kill a Jerusalem yeshiva student in September 1991.  (Ha'aretz, 13 February 1992)

118. On 19 February 1992, the Nablus Military Court sentenced Muhammad Habras of Nablus, a senior activist of the Black Panther gang, to 20 years' imprisonment of which 11 of active imprisonment.  Habras was convicted of destructive activities against the IDF and the security forces and of murdering suspected collaborators.  (Ha'aretz, 20 February 1992)

119. On 22 February 1992, a Gaza taxi driver, Hilmi Nur Salim Nofel, 52, in whose vehicle traces of explosives were discovered, was remanded for 10 days by the Beersheba Magistrates Court.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 24 February 1992)

120. On 25 February 1992, a man from Gaza, Mohammad Bornu, 46, who was caught in Tel Aviv without a permit allowing him to enter Israel, was sentenced to 11 months in prison by the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court.  (Jerusalem Post, 26 February 1992)

121. On 21 February 1992, Jenin Military Court sentenced Mohammed Salim Akel, 20, to life imprisonment plus 20 years for membership in the Black Panther organization and for killing alleged collaborators.  (Al-Fajr, 9 March 1992)

122. On 28 February 1992, it was reported that the Jenin Military Court had sentenced Moin Raghab Hamdan Al Barghuthi, 16, of the village of Kubar, to 16 months in prison for participating in the intifadah.  He was also ordered to pay an NIS 1,000 fine or spend an additional two months in prison.  (Al-Tali'ah, 28 February 1992)

2.  Israelis

123. On 11 December 1991, it was reported that the sergeant who forced 20 Palestinians from Beit Iksa to stand half naked and handcuffed for 40 minutes in the cold on 9 December 1991 was brought to court.  Unofficial military sources reported he was sentenced to a fine.  (Ha'aretz, 11 December 1991)

124. On 15 December 1991, four students of the Nablus Od Yosef Hai Yeshiva were sentenced to jail terms by the Tel Aviv District Court for taking part in a riot in the village of Kifl Haris on 29 May 1989.  Gad Ben-Zimra, 29, Yehoshua Shapira, 28, and Rafi Solomon, 25, were sentenced to 8 months in prison and 18 months suspended while Yoel Elidan, 40, was sentenced to 18 months suspended for rioting, arson, firing a gun in a populated area, aggravated injury and damage to property and livestock in the village.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 16 December 1991)

125. On 8 January 1992, the Central Region Military Court sentenced Sgt. (res.) Ilan Arev to one and a half year's imprisonment and another year suspended, for causing death with negligence.  In May 1988 he killed two residents of Bani Naim, near Hebron.  (Ha'aretz, 9 January 1992)

126. On 9 January 1992, the Southern Region Military Court acquitted an IDF captain of charges of attacking an Arab lawyer during a trial in the Gaza Military Court.  The captain was accused of beating Adv. Mahamid Ghassal, kicking him and hitting him with his rifle butt.  The court ruled that the lawyer had exaggerated the gravity of the blows and that the officer had acted in conformity with his authority under the existing regulations, as the person in charge for preventing disorder.  (Ha'aretz, 10 January 1992)  (This incident was also referred to in Al-Fajr, 20 January 1992.)

127. On 22 January 1992, the Supreme Court reduced by one year the prison sentence imposed on Rabbi Meir Kuzriel from Kiryat Arba, who had been sentenced to two and a half years' imprisonment for storing a large quantity of weapons in his home.  The judges accepted the defence's plea that no wrongful aim had been proven on the basis of the possession of weapons.  (Ha'aretz, 22 January 1992)

128. On 3 February 1992, it was reported that OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Danny Yatom had decided not to take legal steps against IDF officers following the accidental killing of a Kabatiya resident, Yussuf Nasser Kamal, 45, by IDF forces several days earlier.  (Ha'aretz, 3 February 1992)

129. On 1 February 1992, it was reported that the Haifa District Court convicted Israel Menashe, 28, from Kiriat Bialik, of causing the death by negligence of Umar Yussef Abu Jaber on 11 May 1989 by opening fire while the fuel tank he was guarding in Jenin was stoned.  (Ha'aretz, 1 February 1992)

130. On 16 February 1992, Yitzhak Ben Avraham, 41, from Jerusalem was convicted in the Tel Aviv District Court for firing shots at a herd of goats and sheep, for setting fire to a generator, to a storage for straw and to an occupied house, which was burned to the ground, and for shooting an Arab resident in the stomach.  All of the offences had taken place in the villages of Al-Matan and Beit Furik in the Tulkarm district in July and October 1991.  (Ha'aretz, 17 February 1992)

C.  Treatment of civilians

1.  General developments

(a) Harassment and physical ill-treatment

131. On 20 December 1991, at least 34 persons were arrested during the curfew imposed on the Old and New Askar refugee camps in the Nablus area.   Five youths from Old Askar camp were admitted two days earlier to the Al-Ittihad Hospital in Nablus, suffering from injuries as a result of beating by IDF soldiers.  (Al-Ittihad, 27 and 30 December 1991; Al-Fajr, 30 December 1991)

132. On 25 December 1991, soldiers and security agents entered the home of the former Chairman of the Gaza Strip Bar Association, Adv. Faiz Abu-Rahma, in order to conduct a search.  The soldiers beat his son, Naid, and then left the house.  Adv. Abu-Rahma filed a complaint.  An IDF spokesman said that, after an inquiry into the incident, it appeared that Raid Abu-Rahma had attacked a Border Police officer who was conducting the search of his house in which a youth with a petrol bomb had taken shelter.  (Ha'aretz, 26 and 27 December 1991)

133. On 18 January 1992, four soldiers broke into the home of Sami Ali Ankawi, from Beit Sira, and beat him on the head, abdomen and legs.  One soldier allegedly trampled Ankawi's one-and-a-half-year-old son.  A second IDF patrol that arrived in the village later called a physician and an ambulance from Ramallah.  Ankawi was admitted to hospital with medium injuries.  An IDF spokesman later stated that the soldiers had carried out searches in the village, and had broken into the house when Ankawi refused to open the door.  Disciplinary measures were to be taken against the soldier who beat Ankawi.  (Ha'aretz, 20 January 1992)

134. On 14 February 1992, it was reported that Jihad Jarar Khaled Abu Latifa, 19, was abducted by three masked men from his sister's home in the Kalandia (West Bank) refugee camp in the evening of 1 February.  He was released the following day, and his body was covered with marks of heavy blows and cigarette burns.  He had to be hospitalized for a week at the Jerusalem Al-Makassed Hospital.  According to Abu Latifa, his kidnappers were IDF soldiers.  They were dressed in street clothes and did not speak fluent Arabic.  They took him to a military post in the former Smirmis Hotel, near the Jerusalem-Ramallah road, where he was interrogated about nationalist activists in Kalandia and badly mistreated.  He was also left naked in bitter cold.  The spokesman for the police headquarters of the southern West Bank indicated that they checked the allegations concerning the incident but that no arrest had been carried out by police officials in Kalandia that day.  Abu Latifa's family complained to the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel and the Committee's lawyer sent a complaint on behalf of Abu Latifa on 13 February to the Attorney-General, to the Inspector-General of Police and to the IDF Commander of the West Bank. (Ha'aretz, 14 February 1992)

(b) Collective punishment

135. On 1 December 1991, a curfew was imposed on the area of El-Bireh.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 2 December 1991)

136. On 2 December 1991, the IDF spokesman reported that dozens of villages had been placed under curfew in the West Bank (among them, El-Bireh, Kabatia, Bin Yabrud and Ramallah) following an escalation in "terror" attacks .

(Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 3 December 1991)

137. On 4 December 1991, the IDF declared a large section of Amman Street in Nablus a "closed military zone", closing about 50 shops and blocking them off with barbed wire.  The reason for the closure was not clear. (Al-Fajr, 9 and 16 December 1991)

138. On 5 December 1991, according to military sources, more than 70,000 people were under the curfew imposed in the area where an Ofra resident was killed on 1 December.  It was widened to include all of Ramallah, El-Bireh and the villages and camps as far north and west as 10 kilometres from the site of the attack.  Security forces brought 150 people in for interrogation during the first four days of the curfew. Dozens more were arrested for breaking curfew and being in the area without permits. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 6 December 1991).  A curfew was imposed on the Bureij refugee camp during an army campaign in the camp. According to Israeli reports, the aim of the campaign was to find out whether the families whose homes were demolished by the military authorities the year before had rebuilt them.

(Al-Fajr, 9 December 1991)

139. On 8 December 1991, the Shati' refugee camp and the neighbourhood of Sheikh Radwan in the Gaza Strip were placed under curfew. Military sources reported that the market and other areas of Gaza City were closed off following disturbances over the weekend. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 9 December 1991)

140. On 9 December 1991, apart from two four-hour breaks for shopping, the 70,000 residents of the Ramallah area were under round-the-clock curfew since 1 December.  Several villages and camps were placed or remained under curfew, among them were Shati' , Bureij, Nablus and Jabalia refugee camps where a grenade was thrown at a patrol.  Police also prevented Palestinians from entering Jerusalem. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 10 December 1991)

141. On 11 December 1991, the IDF sealed off the area near the Elon Moreh settlement when gunmen fired at an Israeli car, slightly wounding one passenger.  A village near Bethlehem was placed under curfew after the explosion of a home-made bomb.  The curfew remained in force in the Ramallah and El-Bireh areas.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 12 December 1991)

142. On 12 December 1991, Deir al-Khatab was placed under curfew. Several other villages near the scene of a shooting attack that took place on 11 December were placed under night curfew.  (Jerusalem Post, 13 December 1991)

143. On 13 and 14 December 1991, an IDF spokesman announced that the curfew in Ramallah and El-Bireh was to be lifted from 4 a.m. to 5 p.m. on 15 December, but that a night curfew from 5 p.m. to 4 a.m. would remain in force until further notice.  Curfew was imposed in Hebron.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 15 December 1991)

144. On 15 December 1991, following several shots fired in the direction of the Border Police base at Kalkiliya, wide areas of the city were placed under curfew.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 16 December 1991)

145. On 19 December 1991, the Balata camp was placed under curfew.  (Ha'aretz, 20 December 1991)

146. On 20 December 1991, a curfew was imposed on the Old and New Askar refugee camps in the Nablus area. Al Shuyukh and Sa'ir villages in the Hebron area were declared closed military zones following raids by Kiryat Arba settlers.  (Al-Tali'ah, 29 and 30 December 1991; Al-Fajr, 30 December 1991)

147. On 22 December 1991, the village of Beit Dajan near Nablus was placed under curfew.  (Ha'aretz, 23 December 1991)

148. On 23 December 1991, night curfews remained in force in Ramallah and El-Bireh.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 24 December 1901)

149. On 24 December 1991, the IDF imposed a curfew on Deir Abu Mashal.  The curfews imposed on Ramallah and El-Bireh were lifted for one evening to allow Christian residents to go to Bethlehem in order to celebrate Christmas mass.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 25 December 1991)

150. On 28 December 1991, the Central Region Commander, Briq.-Gen. Danny Yatom, informed the High Court of Justice that the partial curfew imposed in Ramallah, El-Bireh and Ein-Yabrud had been motivated solely by security considerations.  In an a affidavit presented to the Court, the officer said he was willing to show confidential evidence only to the judges, which indicated that the objective of the curfew was to thwart "terrorist activity", make it difficult for perpetrators of "terrorist acts" to flee the area and enable the IDF to carry out operational activities.  The affidavit was submitted to the High Court in response to a petition by several Christian, Muslim and Jewish religious leaders who asked for the lifting of the curfew, which had been imposed daily from 5 pm to 4 am.  Brig.-Gen.Yatom firmly denied the petitioners' allegations that the real objective of the curfew was to impose collective punishment on the population. (Ha'aretz, 29 December 1991)

151. On 30 December 1991, the area in the centre of Nablus was placed under curfew.  (Ha'aretz, 31 December 1991)

152. On 31 December 1991, curfews were imposed in Shati', Jabalia, Sheikh Radwan as well as Dheisheh, where the measure was described as preventive.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 1 January 1992)

153. On 1 January 1992, a curfew was maintained for the fourth consecutive day in Dheisheh refugee camp.  (Al-Tali'ah, 2 January 1992)

154. On 6 January 1992, the area near Tulkarm was placed under curfew.  (Ha'aretz, 7 January 1992)

155. On 9 January 1992, the village of Arrabeh was placed under curfew.  Curfews remained in force in Shati', Sheikh Radwan, Nasser, Jabalia and Beit Lahiya.  (Ha'aretz, 10 January 1992)

156. On 14 January 1992, the IDF sealed off the area from Jerusalem to Shiloh and imposed a curfew on nearby villages.  (Ha'aretz, 15 January 1992)

157. On 15 January 1992, IDF forces sealed off the area near Jenin and imposed curfews.  IDF soldiers imposed a curfew and conducted intensive searches in the Ein Seyneya and neighbouring villages following the attack on an Israeli bus and car.  Dozens of Palestinians were arrested.  (Ha'aretz, Al-Tali'ah, 16 January 1992)

158. On 19 January 1992, the area where Dr. Albert Gluck, a United States citizen and head of the Archaeology Department at Bir Zeit University, was shot and killed by a masked man, was placed under curfew. (Ha'aretz, 20 January 1992)

159. On 25 January 1992, the Tulkarm camp was placed under curfew when a petrol bomb was thrown at an IDF lookout post.  (Ha'aretz, 27 January 1992)

160. On 27 January 1992, the Nur Shams camp was placed under curfew.  (Ha'aretz, 28 January 1992)

161. On 28 January 1992, the High Court of Justice created a precedent by intervening, for the first time, in the security establishment's discretion, by ordering the IDF to reduce the period of curfews imposed on Ramallah and El-Bireh, and on the nearby village of Ein Yabrud.  The three localities had been under curfew since the murder of Ofra settler Zvi Klein at the beginning of December 1991.  The court ruled that the curfew should be lifted on 11 February 1992, instead of 27 February 1992, as was ordered by the IDF Regional Commander.  The decision was taken following a petition to the High Court by several Christian and Muslim clergymen, and a group of Rabbis for Human Rights.  The judges of the High Court accepted the petition and asked the IDF authorities to enable the Muslim population to hold prayers on the occasion of the Al-Asra holiday, on 1 February 1992.  (Ha'aretz, 29 January 1992)

162. On 31 January and 1 February 1992, a curfew remained in effect in the town of Ramallah for two days.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 2 February 1992)

163. On 4 February 1992, the area in the Nablus region near the Balata refugee camp was closed and searches were conducted after a petrol bomb was tossed at OC Central Command Brig.-Gen. Danny Yatom's car while he was touring the region. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 5 February 1992)  (This incident was also referred to in Al-Fajr, 10 February 1992.)

164. On 6 February 1992, the camp in Jenin was placed under curfew.  Beni Naim, south of Hebron, was also placed under curfew along with two neighbouring villages after shots had been fired.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 7 February 1992)

165. On 9 February 1992, the night curfew imposed on the Ramallah and El-Bireh areas and on Nablus was lifted. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 10 and 11 February 1992)  (This information was also referred to in Al-Fajr, 17 February 1992.)

166. On 10 February 1992, Bidiya village and the New Askar refugee camp were placed under curfew after shots were reported to have been fired at a settler's vehicle near the village on the trans-northern West Bank highway and after an IDF jeep was shot at near the camp.  The army placed the Tulkarm refugee camp under curfew after an IDF soldier was slightly injured during routine activity.  (Ha'aretz, 11 and 12 February 1992; Jerusalem Post, 11 February 1992)

167. On 11 February 1992, the army placed the Am'ari refugee camp, on the outskirts of Ramallah, under curfew and closed the Jerusalem-Ramallah road to traffic.  (Ha'aretz, 12 and 14 February 1992; Jerusalem Post, 13 February 1992)  (This information was also referred to in Al-Fajr, 17 February 1992.)

168. On 14 and 15 February 1992, the market area in Jenin was placed under curfew after a hand-grenade, which did not explode, was thrown at an IDF patrol.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 16 February 1992)

169. On 16 February 1992, the area in the Tulkarm district was placed under curfew and searches were conducted after two petrol bomb were thrown at an army patrol and at an Israeli bus.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 17 February 1992)

170. On 24 February 1992, a tight curfew was imposed on the city of Jenin and nearby villages after a masked gunman shot and killed Lior Sorkler, 23, a fuel truck security guard at a Jenin gas station.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 25 February 1992)

171. On 27 February 1992, the IDF lifted the general curfew they had imposed on Jenin following the murder of an Israeli security guard on 24 February.  Nevertheless, night curfew (from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m.) was introduced in Jenin and its neighbourhoods. (Ha'aretz, 28 February 1992)

172. On 28 and 29 February 1992, the village of Deir Istia was placed under curfew and searches were launched when two petrol bombs were thrown at an Israeli vehicle near Tulkarm in the West Bank and a third one was found on the side of the road.  The Jenin refugee camp was placed under curfew after a hand-grenade was thrown at a government building in Jenin and exploded causing no harm.  A curfew was imposed on the Balata refugee camp in Nablus.  (Ha'aretz, 1 March 1992)  (This information was also referred to in Al-Fajr, 9 March 1992.)

173. On 16 December 1991, a report published in Al-Fajr weekly revealed that more than 2,000 houses had been demolished since 1967 in Jiftlik, a village near Jericho, and that more than 400 had been razed in the last five years.

 The residents, numbering approximately 5,000, lived in houses built of clay, wood or corrugated steel as no building permits had been issued by the Israeli authorities for the village since 1967.  Moreover, villagers were obliged to herd their flocks around the numerous closed military areas of confiscated land, which they had used until recently to graze their sheep.  According to resident Abu Haniab, the villagers rejected a government proposal to allow them to build houses within a limited geographic area.  (Al-Fajr, 16 December 1991)

174. On 2 January 1992, it was reported that some residents of Jiftlik had received a second warning to demolish their houses within two days, on the pretext that they had been built without a permit.  The notification mentioned that the owners had to demolish their homes by themselves or pay the expenses of an Israeli bulldozer that would carry out the demolition.  (Al-Tali'ah, 2 January 1992)

175. On 7 January 1992, the Israeli daily Hadashot reported that thousands of olive trees were to be uprooted in the Gaza Strip for the construction of a road that would allegedly guarantee the safety of traffic for Gush Katif settlers.  The Israeli Civil Administration decided to build the road after the death of a settler near Deir el-Balah.  (Al-Fajr, 13 January 1992)

176. On 16 January 1992, Israeli authorities were reported to have ordered the demolition of a house in Khan Younis belonging to detainee Osama Mohammad Al Najar, who was detained on security charges.  In the village of Sair, near Hebron, two rooms were sealed in two separate houses belonging to Ibrahim Ahmed (Rashid) Al Tor and Shehada Abdel Rahman (Umrain) Mussa.  Both were in detention on charges of shooting at Israeli military vehicles.  A house belonging to the family of wanted youth Marwan Faraj Al Zayeqh was sealed in the Al Darj quarter of Gaza City.  (Al-Tali'ah, 16 January 1992; Al-Fajr, 20 January 1992)

(c) Expulsions

177. On 30 December 1991, it was reported that Antoine Shamali, 40, from Beit Sahur, who had been charged by the Ramallah Military Court with membership of the Fatah and possession of weapons, was expelled to Jordan on 23 December 1991 following an agreement signed between the IDF and his lawyers.  In the agreement, it was decided not to put him on trial while he agreed to leave the West Bank for a five-year period.  (Ha'aretz, 30 December 1991)

178. On 2 January 1992, Prime Minister Shamir and Defence Minister Arens decided to expel 12 prominent activists of the Hamas, the PFLP (George Habash) and the DFLP (Nayef Hawatma) movements, as well as some affiliated to the Fatah. The  decision was taken following the killing of Kfar Darom settler Doron Shorshan.  Seven of the 12 activists were from the Gaza Strip and 5 from the West Bank.  The 12 activists were named as follows:  Iyad al Hamy Abd el Rauf Judeh, 28, from El-Bireh; Ghassan Muhammad Sliman Jarar, 32, from Ramallah; Hassan Abdallah Hassan Sha'aban, 33, from Rafat, near Ramallah; Ali Fares Hassan Khatib, 30, from Ramallah; Omar Nimer Abd al-Rahman Safi, 42, from Ramalleh; Rifat Othmen Ali al-Najar, 36, from Khan Younis; Ahmed Hassen Abdalla Abu Sif, 35, from Deir el-Balah; Ihab Muhammad Ali al-Ashqar, 33, from Gaza; Marwan Hassan Muhammad Afana, 33, from Gaza; Sami Attiya Abu Samahadna, 29, from Rafah; Ahmed Nimer Hamdan, 53, from Khan Younis; and Khader Attiya Mahqaz, 39, from Jabalia. (Ha'aretz, 3 and 5 January 1992)  (This information was also referred to in Al-Fajr, 6 January 1992.)

179. On 6 January 1992, two boards sitting in the Gaza Strip and one in Dhahiriya prison heard the appeals lodged by the 12 activists mentioned above.  The judges rejected the lawyers' requests that the hearings be public.  (Ha'aretz, 7 January 1992)

180. On 12 January 1992, the High Court of Justice ruled that the Advisory Appeal Boards, which had been hearing the appeals of the 12 activists, should hold public hearings.  The High Court granted two petitions, one by the lawyers of the 12 activists and another by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.  (Ha'aretz, 12 January 1992)

181. On 20 January 1992, the two advisory appeal boards, having heard the appeals of seven Gaza Strip activists against the decision to expel them, informed the Southern Region Commander, Matan Vilna'i, of their decision to reject the appeals.  On 23 January 1992, the advisory board hearing the appeals of five West Bank residents against their expulsion recommended to the Central Region Commander that he expel four among the five.  As regards Iyad Judeh, the board recommended not to expel him, since, contrary to the others, no administrative measures had been taken against him in the past.  The Region Commander accepted the recommendations.  (Ha'aretz, 21 and 24 January 1992)

182. On 26 January 1992, Judge Yaacov Meltz of the High Court of Justice issued an interim injunction banning the expulsion of the four West Bank activists pending the hearing by the High Court of Justice of their applications against the expulsion.  It was also reported that the High Court would hear the applications by the seven Gaza Strip activists against their expulsion on 9 February 1992.  (Ha'aretz, 27 January 1992)  (This information was also referred to in Al-Fajr, 27 January 1992.)

183. On 27 January 1992, it was reported that Iyad Judeh was placed under administrative detention for six months.  The decision was taken after the Hebron Military Court had recommended that Iyad should not be expelled.  (Al-Fajr, 27 January 1992)

184. On 9 February 1992, the High Court of Justice began hearing the petitions of seven Palestinians (Sami Attiya Abu Samahadma; Ahmed Nimer Hamdan, Ihab Muhammad Ali al-Ashqar; Marwan Afana; Ahmed Hassan Abdalla Abu Sif; Rifat Othmen Ali al-Najar; last name not reported) who were ordered expelled from the Gaza Strip for having fomented anti-Israeli activities.  Defence attorneys told the three-judge panel in an open hearing that they could not build a proper defence case because most of the evidence had been declared confidential.  The prosecutors insisted that secrecy was necessary in order to protect the informers.  Some of the evidence was later disclosed to the justices in a closed session.  Four residents of the northern West Bank were also expected to petition the High Court on 18 February in order to prevent their expulsion.  Earlier, a military appeals board dropped the case against a fifth West Bank resident.  The Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Ehud Barak had proposed limiting deportations to a period of 18 months, rather than for life as is the current practice, with a view to appeasing international criticism.  (Ha'aretz, 9 and 10 February 1992; Jerusalem Post, 10 February 1992)

185. On 18 February 1992, the High Court of Justice began hearing a petition against an expulsion order concerning four Palestinians whose lawyers argued that the men should be allowed to see confidential evidence against them. An army official said after the hearing that secrecy was necessary to protect informers, and noted that the judges of the High Court had access to all the evidence.  The Court reserved its decision on the defence's request. The bench asked both sides to consider a proposal that an independent lawyer or judge, who would be acceptable to both sides, review the confidential material.  The 4 residents of the territories were among the 12 Palestinians who received expulsion orders on 2 January 1992, following the slaying of 4 Israelis in the territories.  The 12 were not accused of these murders but of unspecified incitement against Israel.  A High Court decision was pending on the petitions of seven other Palestinians, all Gaza Strip residents, against deportation. (Jerusalem Post, 19 February 1992)

186. On 23 February 1992, it was reported that the GSS had categorically rejected the request by the lawyers of the residents of the territories slated for deportation to allow one of their lawyers to participate in a review of classified material before the High Court of Justice.  GSS officials said the material was classified, highly sensitive intelligence material and could only be seen by persons with a special security clearance.  They stated that if the material were disclosed, it would hurt GSS operations and could jeopardize state security.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 23 February 1992)  (This information was also referred to in Al-Tali'ah, 2 March 1992.)

(d) Economic and social situation

187. On 4 December 1991, the Jerusalem Chamber of Commerce filed a complaint with the Israeli authorities concerning tax raids on merchants in the Damascus area of the Old City.  Israeli tax and national insurance employees entered shops and confiscated goods.  Many shops were forced to close following the raid.  The Chamber advised tax officials to adhere to the Geneva Convention, which prohibits actions by occupiers.  Two days later, Israeli tax collectors in Hebron raided a large number of stores with an armed escort, arrested shopkeepers and fined those who were not taken to prison.  Another heavily armed tax campaign was carried out on shops in Rafah, in the Gaza Strip.  (Al-Fajr, 9 and 16 December 1991)

188. On 8 December 1991, Palestinian sources in Gaza reported that troops caught a youth, Sabri Abu Amra, who was carrying $1,000, and confiscated the money.  (Ha'aretz, 8 December 1991)

189. On 19 December 1991, it was reported that 16 Members of the Knesset from the coalition and opposition factions had written to Deputy Defence Minister Ovadia Bli about the plight of gravely ill Arabs from the territories who could not be treated there for lack of suitable facilities, but were not allowed into Israeli hospitals. The MKs wrote that the Civil Administration in the territories has "abandoned its obligations from the human as well as the administrative points of view".  Persons being denied treatment despite their critical condition reportedly included patients with cancer, kidney ailments, cardiac disease and neurological disorders.  (Jerusalem Post, 19 December 1991)  (This information was also referred to in Al-Fajr, 23 December 1991.)

190. On 11 February 1992, the Supreme Court of Justice ordered the Government to explain why it had charged Palestinians up to double the income tax paid by Israelis and why it did not indicate how this money was spent. The unusual ruling was the result of a petition filed on 6 February by 100 independent and salaried residents from the towns of Beit Sahur, Bethlehem and Hebron.  According to the residents' Israeli attorney, Avigdor Feldmen, some Palestinians paid up to 50 per cent in income taxes, while Israelis in the same income bracket paid only 25 per cent.  (Ha'aretz, 7 February 1992; Jerusalem Post, 12 February 1992)  (This information was also referred to in Al-Fajr, 17 February 1992.)   The Supreme Court of Justice issued a temporary order forbidding the IDF to confiscate goods from stores or to arrest Palestinians on charges of non-payment of taxes until the Military Commander submitted his reports.  The ruling was on a petition by 92 Palestinian businessmen from the occupied territories.  (Al-Fajr, 17 February 1992)

191. On 19 February 1992, Yasin Al Shuweiki was released from custody in Bethlehem after being forced to sign a cheque for NIS 10,000 that he supposedly owed in taxes.  Shuweiki does not have a bank account.  The cheques he signed were the first payment that he had had to make for taxes that he supposedly had not paid for the past four years.  (Al-Fajr, 24 February 1992)

192. On 23 February 1992, it was reported that the Jerusalem municipality had approved an unprecedented building plan for the Arab residents of the capital, which included some 7,500 new apartments, several new schools and massive road improvements.  The plan, 3000 B, was to be submitted to the Regional Building and Planning Committee for final approval.  It covered several hundred dunams in the Beit Hanina and Shuafat neighbourhoods.  According to city councilman Moshe Amirav (Ratz-Shinui), the plan only gave the Arabs a legal framework within which to build the two neighbourhoods, where, as in other Arab sectors of the capital, there had been a serious housing shortage.  He also indicated that over 80,000 new homes had been built in the Jewish sectors of Jerusalem over the past 25 years with state funding, while there had been no publicly funded housing construction for the city's Arabs. Senior city hall officials confirmed that plan 3,000 B did not include public funding and that its success would depend entirely on private initiative.  (Jerusalem Post, 23 February 1992)

(e) Other developments

193. On 7 February 1992, 16 refugee families, who had returned back from Egypt to Israel following the peace agreement, petitioned the High Court of Justice asking to be allocated by the State of Israel some land in Rafah, Gaza Strip, in order to build houses. (Ha'aretz, 9 February 1992)

194. On 13 February 1992, it was reported that an Arab village that had been demolished immediately after the War of Independence was slowly being rebuilt.  Interior Ministry inspectors discovered the newly built Kafr Wallejiya during an inspection of illegal construction in Arab sectors of Jerusalem.  They claimed 50 homes had already been built illegally there and demanded that the city take action.  However, the legal situation was complicated concerning the Kafr Wallejiya village, because part of it was on the other side of the Green Line and also because some of the residents had building permits from Bethlehem and Beit Jala.  According to a recent Interior Ministry survey, over 1,500 illegally constructed homes were discovered in the rural parts of north, east and south Jerusalem, and thousands more homes had been built in Arab neighbourhoods and villages without the necessary permits.  The illegal construction had brought with it a massive upswing in the number of Arabs coming from territories – with a rough estimate of 50,000 (or even up to 100,000) given by the Ministry –  in addition to those who were living illegally in Jerusalem.  Nevertheless, on 20 February, the Interior Ministry and the Jerusalem municipality were reported to have finalized a plan to crack down on illegal construction in East Jerusalem and Arabs residing in the capital without the proper permits.  (Jerusalem Post, 13 and 20 February 1992)

2.  Measures affecting certain fundamental freedoms

(a) Freedom of movement

195. On 15 December 1991, official military sources stated that as at 14 December the IDF would ban Palestinians from the sides of the main roads in the West Bank during the night.  In an attempt to reduce armed attacks on Israeli vehicles, the movement of Arab residents would be restricted on the roadsides to a distance of up to 150 metres away from the road on each side during the night hours from 5 p.m. to 6 a.m. The roadsides would be declared closed military areas, except for constructed area and the ban would be enforced indefinitely in open areas.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 15 December 1991)  (This information was also referred to in Al-Fajr, 23 December 1991.)

196. On 17 December 1991, it was reported that, according to orders of Central Region Commander Brig.-Gen. Danny Yatom, the general curfew on the roadsides in the West Bank during the night would be reduced in order to accommodate Arab farmers who got up early to work in their fields.  From 16 December, the curfew was to be lifted at 4 a.m. instead of 6 a.m.  (Ha'aretz, 17 December 1991)  (This information was also referred to in Al-Fajr, 23 December 1991.)

197. On 21 January 1992, it was reported that Talal Al Safi, a Palestinian lawyer, would not be permitted to cross the Allenby Bridge to Amman on a personal trip.  No reason was given for the measure.  Safi, who had been placed under administrative detention for six months, travelled last November with the Palestinian delegation participating in the Madrid Peace Conference.  (Al-Fajr, 27 January 1992)

198. On 10 February 1992, it was reported that the general nighttime ban on walking within 150 metres of the size of a road in the West Bank remained in force.  (Jerusalem Post, 10 February 1992)

199. On 12 February 1992, the Israeli authorities informed the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) that Gaza students needed permits to stay in its vocational centre in Ramallah.  When the Gaza students went to the Gaza Civil Administration in order to obtain the permits, they were told that no such permits existed.  The measure affects more than 200 students.  It had been reported that some students were arrested by soldiers in the West Bank because they did not possess permits to stay there.  (Al-Tali'ah, 13 February 19921 Al-Fajr, 17 February 1992)

200. On 18 February 1992, Gaza sources stated that Dr. Ahmed Yaziji, a surgeon and adviser to the Palestinian negotiating team, was banned from leaving Gaza in the afternoon.  (Jerusalem Post, 19 February 1992)  (This incident was also referred to in Al-Tali'ah, 20 February 1992.)

201. On 19 February 1992, it was reported that the Palestinian leader Faisal Husseini had stated at a press conference that the arrests of the two administrative assistants to the Palestinian delegation were "a direct challenge to the peace process and the credibility of the Palestinian team".  According to Husseini, one of the persons arrested, Jamal Shobaki, 41, of Beit Jalla, had been apprehended on 16 February, only two hours after his name had been given to the United States Consul-General in Jerusalem as a delegation member.  Shobaki had been nominated for the previous round of talks but was turned back by Israeli soldiers at the Allenby Bridge, while the rest of the delegation proceeded to Washington.  Security sources stated that Shobaki had been in prison from 1980 to 1983 for placing a bomb in Beit Guvrin, and had been arrested on suspicion of encouraging Fatah activists to commit acts of violence.  Husseini stated that the second delegate arrested was Mohammed Hurani, 32, of Hebron, who had been apprehended on 9 January and placed in administrative detention for six months.  Hurani had already spent 18 months in administrative detention in connection with political activities during the uprising and was suspected of inciting activists to commit acts of violence. (Jerusalem Post, 19 February 1992)

(b) Freedom of education

202. On 2 December 1991, it was reported that when Bir Zeit, the most prominent Palestinian university in the territories and the only one to remain closed for four years after the uprising had begun, was ready to reopen, university administrators received a further three-month closure order on 29 November.  The government coordinator's office stated that the decision was the result of violent incidents occurring during political meetings at the recently reopened Al-Najah University in Nablus.  The closure order, the government coordinator's office noted, could be cancelled at any time.  (Ha'aretz, 2 December 1991; Jerusalem Post, 3 December 1991)

203. On 6 December 1991, troops closed schools in the centre of Gaza when about 700 marchers demonstrated to mark the twenty-fourth anniversary of the founding of the PFLP.  (Jerusalem Post, 26 December 1991)

204. On 19 December 1991, the Israeli authorities ordered the closure until further notice of six schools in Rafah as well as UNRWA schools.  The decision was taken following clashes with the IDF in the schools a week earlier.  (Al-Tali'ah, 26 December 1991)

205. On 25 December 1991, Israeli authorities closed Tubas High School for one month following clashes between students and IDF soldiers.  (Al-Fajr, 30 December 1991)

206. On 7 January 1992, Bir Zeit University marked the fourth anniversary of its closure.  (Al-Fajr, 13 January 1992)

207. On 10 January 1992, the Civil Administration ordered the Deir el-Balah school closed for the remainder of the school year.  The school is located near a settlement where a settler had been killed earlier.  (Al-Fajr, 20 January 1992)

208. On 17 January 1992, Israeli authorities ordered the indefinite closure of two schools in the Rimal quarter of Gaza City, alleging that students were involved in intifadah activities.  (Al-Fajr, 27 January 1992)

209. On 22 January 1992, Israeli authorities ordered the indefinite closure of the Polytechnic College in Hebron.  The decision was made when the army arrested seven people who were participating in a march in the College area.  The College was allowed to reopen two days later.  (Al-Fajr, 27 January end 3 February 1992)

210. On 25 January 1992, troops raided Hebron University and confiscated publication material to check whether it contained inciting language.  (Ha'aretz, 27 January 1992)

211. On 30 January 1992, it was reported that the IDF recommended to the Defence Minister to reclose Hebron University, following a raid on the University earlier in the week during which inciting material had been discovered.  On 29 January 1992, army officers summoned the members of the Board of Trustees of Al-Najah University in Nablus to warn them that the IDF would not hesitate to close the University if inciting activity there were to continue.  (Ha'aretz, 30 January 1992)

212. On 14 February 1992, it was reported that the head of the Northern and Southern West Bank Civil Administration, Brig.-Gen. Zohar, warned the administration of Hebron University that if disruptions of peace were to continue on the campus, the University would be closed. He summoned the administration of the University in connection with the nationalist slogans that were heard more than two weeks earlier during the election of the student board.  The IDF conducted a search in the campus and found provocative material.  The Chairman of the University, Dr. Nabil Jabri, replied that there were no disruptions of peace by students at the University.  According to him, it was the IDF who disrupted the peace when they broke into the campus and conducted a destructive search, breaking doors and burning books, including religious publications.  (Ha'aretz, 14 February 1992)

213. On 20 February 1992, Israeli authorities were reported to have ordered the closure of the Ratah B School for refugees until further notice when two incendiary bottles were thrown at an IDF patrol near the school.  (Al-Tali'ah, 20 February 1992)

3.  Settlers' activities affecting the civilian population

214. On 9 December 1991, it was reported that following the Ofra incident on 1 December 1991, Jewish settlers, including members of the Kach movement, broke into Palestinian homes in El-Bireh and destroyed furniture after having terrorized the population.  The head of the Kiryat Arba settlement in Hebron, Tsvi Katsover, was also quoted as accusing the Government of Israel of not protecting the settlers and as stating that settlers would set up their own guard patrols in Palestinian villages and towns beginning 3 December.  (Al-Fajr, 16 December 1901)

215. On 16 December 1991, it was reported that the Citizens' Rights Movement (CRM) MK Dedi Zucker stated that the violence by settlers was meant to be "a challenge to the army.  They are dictating the standards".  Yossi Sarid (CRM) challenged Defence Minister Moshe Arens at Elon Moreh to see to it that the settlers identified on TV as illegally uprooting olive trees on 12 December would be arrested.  Zucker, Sarid and Haim Oron, of Mapam, planted 25 olive saplings to replace the up to 60 uprooted olive trees along the roadside that belong to the neighbouring village of Deir el-Hatab.  The saplings were subsequently uprooted by Elon Moreh Council Head Benny Katzover, who said he would replant them in the settlement.  (Jerusalem Post, 13 and 16 December 1991)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Tali'ah, 19 December 1991; Al-Fajr, 23 December 1991.)

216. On 17 December 1991, settlers uprooted olive trees from a Palestinian-owned field in the West Bank, fighting off an attempt by peace activists to replace the trees destroyed by settlers the previous week. In another development, settlers marked over 100 Arab houses on the road from Jerusalem to Beit-El in order to be able to inform the IDF of any stone-throwing incidents.  The Binyamin Regional Council informed the settlers living in the district that all stone-throwinq should from now on be considered as "an act preceding shooting".  This was explained by the fact that the shooting at settler Zvi Klein was preceded by stone-throwinq intended to slow down his car.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 18 December 1991)

217. During the night of 17 to 18 December 1991, settlers' bulldozers forced open the blocked road between Ofra and Shiloh, near Mazra'at a-Sharkiya.  (Ha'aretz, 19 December 1991)

218. On 19 December 1991, Jewish settlers were reported to have carried out "acts of revenge" against Palestinian property, by breaking house windows, smashing cars and uprooting trees.  These acts took place during curfew hours. At the same time, members of Israeli peace movements were banned from entering these villages and towns, which were declared closed military zones.  An IDF officer reportedly told the daily Ha'aretz:  The army is losing control of settlers and it will be difficult to stop acts of revenge such as those carried out against Arab cars and shops in different localities".  Israeli settlers uprooted more than 400 olive trees from Palestinian fields.  (Al-Tali'ah, 19 December 1991; Al-Fair, 23 December 1991)

219. On 20 December 1991, settlers fired at solar energy systems on rooftops, at parked cars and house windows.  (Al-Tali'ah, 19 and 30 December 1991; Al-Fajr, 30 December 1991)

220. On 26 December 1991, six Kiryat Arba settlers were questioned at the Hebron police station in relation to an incident on 20 December 1991 in which shots were fired and property damaged in the Si'ir and Shuyukh villages, near Hebron.  The six refused to cooperate with the police, arguing that it was a "political interrogation".  It was reported that the Action Committee of Kiryat Arba Residents and the Kach-affiliated Committee for Safety on the Roads announced that they would increase the number of patrols in Arab villages in the Hebron and Nablus areas.  (Ha'aretz, 27 December 1991)

221. On 27 December 1991, 12 Arab inhabitants of Hebron filed complaints with the police concerning damage caused by Jewish settlers.  According to settlers' sources, two convoys left Kiryat Arba to patrol the Beit Kahil and Samu'a villages.  After their cars had been stoned, the settlers reacted by stoning cars and houses themselves.  Several settlers were detained for questioning.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 29 December 1991)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 6 January 1992.)

222. On 28 December 1991, settlers again threw stones at Arab cars, breaking windows.  In another development, settlers in the Ramallah region carried out patrols near Jalazone camp.  In the East Jerusalem village of A-Ram, several hundred settlers demonstrated, shouting anti-government slogans and warning that they would continue to take action in Arab villages.  Most of the settlers were from Beit El, Ofra and Shiloh.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 29 December 1991) (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 6 January 1992.)

223. On 29 December 1991, some 20 settlers opened fire into the air after stones were thrown at a convoy of 20 Israeli cars in Anabta.  An IDF force asked them to leave the area and they complied. Later, dozens of settlers from Mikhmash and Elon Moreh drove through the village of Burka to "warn the Arabs not to continue their violent acts". (Ha'aretz, 30 December 1991)

224. On 30 December 1991, some 200 settlers blocked roads south of Khan Younis. They were evacuated by troops.  Earlier on some 30 settlers broke into the Al-Hakawati Theatre in East Jerusalem and disrupted a meeting.

(Ha'aretz, 31 December 1991)

225. On 2 January 1992, a large number of troops carried out an operation that lasted several hours in order to evacuate six caravans and some 200 settlers from the Katif Bloc in the Gaza Strip. The settlers had placed the caravans near the site of the killing of Doron Shorshen, a settler from Kfar Darom.  (Ha'aretz, 3 January 1992)  (This incident was also referred to in Al-Tali'ah, 9 January 1992.)

226. On 3 January 1992, six settlers from Yitzhar and two residents of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem were charged in the Tel Aviv District Court with arson, shooting in a built area, assault, deliberately causing material damage and trespassing.  The incident on which the charges were based occurred on 26 June 1991 in the village of Beit Imrin in the Nablus district, when the settlers, together with two other Israelis, entered the village, opened fire, physically attacked several residents and broke windows and furniture.  (Ha'aretz, 5 January 1992)

227. On 4 January 1992, settlers blocked 13 major junctions and crossroads in the territories in protest over the "deteriorating security conditions and the relative passivity" shown by the Government and the IDF in dealing with the uprising. Over 1,000 settlers in several hundred vehicles took part in the operation.  The settlers vacated most of the junctions without clashing with the IDP. The police detained 15 settlers only at the Tapuach junction where Kach members demonstrated.  At all the junctions the settlers authorized Israeli cars to pass and only blocked the passage of Arab cars. (Ha'aretz, 6 January 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Tali'ah, 9 January 1992; Al-Fajr, 13 January 1992.)

228. On 16 January 1992, settlers set up five settlements in Yad Yair, Har Shmuel, Tel Rumeida, Nahal Ginat and Deir el-Balah, following several shooting incidents involving settlers' cars and buses, in which six settlers had been injured.  The settlements were evacuated by the IDP. In the Gaza Strip, the IDP reinforced its patrols to prevent new attempts by settlers to set up settlements. (Ha'aretz, 17 January 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Tali'ah, 23 January 1992; Al-Fajr, 20 January 1992.)

229. On 11 February 1992, some 60 settlers from various settlements in the West Bank took control during the evening of an abandoned Arab house near the Am'ari refugee camp, in the Ramallah area. The settlers' act was a response to the shooting incident that occurred in the afternoon and involved a Beit El resident.  The resident was not hurt. A large number of army forces came to the spot and asked the settlers to leave the house. They finally agreed to do so when the Military Commander of the area promised to bring their claim to the attention of the security authorities. (Ha'aretz, 12 February 1992)

D.  Treatment of detainees

230. On 4 December 1991, it was reported that the IDF denied allegations voiced by the Palestinian Human Rights Information Centre to the effect that interrogators at the Hebron Military Headquarters used electric shock treatment to extract confessions from persons linked with the uprising. The Centre stated its charges were based on sworn affidavits by eight prisoners who had been released from prison recently. The cases they had documented pointed to the systematic use of electric shocks. The IDF spokesman said that, although no formal complaints had so far been received from any detainee concerning the alleged use of electric shock torture, all such complaints would be duly investigated. (Jerusalem Post, 4 December 1991)

231. On 16 December 1991, the Israeli Police Minister Ronni Milo cancelled an earlier decision by Police Inspector-General Ya'acov Terner to examine the behaviour of the 10 police officers. Terner had proposed the establishment of a committee to examine the behaviour of these officers who tortured Palestinian detainees in Jerusalem. Milo considered Terner's decision "hasty". Some of the accusations on the charge sheet were: beating detainee Ismael Al Ghoul's legs with a stick, pouring freezing water on him, and forcing him to confess that he killed a man he did not kill.  Ghoul's brother, Ali, was kicked and beaten with sticks. The officers tied one of his hands to the leg of a cupboard and dropped it on his face.  The same actions were repeated the following day and he was beaten on the back and legs until they bled. (Al-Fajr, 23 December 1991)

232. On 19 December 1991, it was reported that detainee Sami Khedr was suffering from severe detention conditions and was not receiving proper medical care. His brother, Suheil Khedr, appealed to Western consulates, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations to intervene so that Sami could be treated by a private physician or any other doctor.  Sami Khedr had been arrested on 1 October 1991 and was at that time held in Bitah Tekfa prison in a room filled with sewage water, wearing light clothing that had not been changed since his arrest. (Al-Tali'ah, 19 December 1991)

233. On 9 January 1992, it was reported that 10 security prisoners in Ashkelon prison who had organized and led rioting over the past few weeks had been dispersed to several prisons throughout the country. Two serious riots broke out in Ashkelon prison in recent weeks. The background of the rioting was the prisoners' refusal to admit new prisoners into their cells following the transfer of the latter from other prisons owing to overcrowding. In the most recent rioting, a week earlier, prisoners broke furniture and destroyed mattresses and blankets. The rioting was stopped when the warders used tear-gas. (Ha'aretz, 9 January 1992) (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 13 January 1992.)

234. On 4 February 1992, a military spokesman confirmed that 10 IDF soldiers and an officer were being investigated by the military police concerning allegations of brutality against Palestinian security prisoners in the territories. The spokesman stated that eight investigations had already been completed and turned over to military prosecutors in the Central and Southern Commands. (Jerusalem Post, 5 February 1992) (This information was also referred to in Al-Tali'ah, 6 February 1902.)

235. On 4 February 1992, Mustafa al-Akawi, 33, a resident of East Jerusalem, died in the GSS ward at Hebron Prison, reportedly because of a chronic heart ailment. He was arrested on 22 January as a suspected member of the PFLP. An autopsy was performed on 7 February at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute by Chief Coroner Dr. Yehuda Hiss and an American pathologist, Dr. Michael Baden, Director of Forensic Sciences with the New York State Police, who had been hired as an independent expert by Akawi's family. A joint statement was issued on 9 February, indicating that "the late Mustafa Akawi had suffered from cardiac arteriosclerosis and that his heart arteries were almost 90 per cent blocked.  Akawi died owing to cardiac insufficiency brought on by this condition". The pathologists added that bruises inflicted with a blunt object had been discovered on Akawi's chest and upper limbs, specifying that "the bruises were inflicted more than a week before the death and did not contribute to his death". Akawi had been brought before Hebron Military Court Judge Knobler on 3 February and was remanded for eight days. When he complained that he had been beaten during interrogation and showed the judge bruises and blue marks on the upper part of his body, the judge ordered the police to take Akawi for a medical check-up and that a complaint to that effect be filed with the police. Akawi's lawyers, Leah Tsemel and Ahlam Hadad, who had petitioned the High Court on 3 February, asking that their client be questioned in Jerusalem as the area of legal jurisdiction in which the alleged offence was committed, also wrote that they had not been permitted to see their client since his arrest. The National Serious Crimes Investigation Unit carried out an inquiry in order to establish whether the GSS interrogators and the prison doctors and paramedics had acted in accordance with the standing orders and regulations. On 11 February, the head of the GSS told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee that there was no record of any problems during Akawi's routine medical examination and that he was considered a physically fit prisoner.  He stated, nevertheless, that some hours before his death, Akawi had complained of having been struck and not feeling well and was examined by a doctor twice. The second time, the doctor tried to reanimate him without success. The head of the GSS stated that standard procedures concerning arrest and medical check-ups had been followed. On 5 February, 19 Members of the Knesset sent a letter to Prime Minister Shamir demanding that he appoint an independent inquiry team to probe Atawi's death. On 11 February, the New York pathologist who toot part in the autopsy, Dr. Baden, disputed official Israeli accounts by stating that autopsy results indicated that Atawi had "died of a heart attack precipitated by the emotional pressure, physical exertion and freezing temperature he was forced to withstand, along with a lack of proper medical care". On 14 February, the National Serious Crimes Investigation Unit reportedly recommended that the investigation into the death of Atawi be stopped and that no legal action be taken against the GSS interrogators. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel believed there was reason to suspect that Atawi's beating, hooding and detention in a small, cold cell constituted more than the "moderate pressure" according "to need" permitted by the Landau Commission report issued in 1987. According to the human rights group Betzelem, since the uprising began in December 1987, five Palestinians had died as a result of torture during interrogation, while two had committed suicide shortly after interrogation. (Ha'aretz, 5-7, and 9-13 February 1992; Jerusalem Post, 6, 9, 12-14 and 18 February 1992) (This incident was also referred to in Al-Fajr, 10 February 1992.) (Also see letter dated 11 February 1992 from the Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People addressed to the Secretary-General (A/46/875-S/23570).)

236. On 6 February 1992, it was reported that Amnesty International had revealed that scores of Palestinian women were sexually harassed during their detention in Israeli jails.  The report published by Amnesty International described two cases, one in which a Palestinian woman had been threatened with rape, and a second when a woman arriving from the Allenby Bridge had been forced to strip.  (Al-Fajr, 17 February 1992, from Al-Nahar)

237. On 23, 24 and 25 February 1992, it was reported that Amin Muhammad Amin was released from confinement at the Hebron GSS facility a few hours after he had made a petition to the High Court of Justice asking to be released because of serious health problems.  Amin Muhammad Amin's petition also claimed that he had been "tortured" during interrogation. The prisoner 's lawyer, Jawad Boulous, charged that his client was severely tortured throughout the period of interrogation and had been left in an extremely small and cold cell, with his head covered by a sack and his hands tied. Boulous stated that no explanations were given concerning his client's release and that it was unclear whether it was related to his client's health or the petition.  Military Court Judge Major Moshe Knobler ordered an Investigations Division Officer from the Southern West Bank District Police to look into Boulous' complaint, concerning Amin's torture while he was imprisoned.  He also strongly criticized the police for not indicating in the original warrant the charges against Amin and the reasons for his arrest. Amin had been arrested in his Ramallah home on 9 February, on suspicion of acting on behalf of the PFLP.  (Ha'aretz, 23 and 24 February 1992; Jerusalem Post, 25 February 1992)

238. On 26 February 1992, a high-ranking military source stated that the number of security prisoners from the territories at the IDF's Ketziot centre in the Negev had lately dropped significantly. Some 4,992 prisoners were currently detained at the Ketziot centre, compared with 7,000 a few months earlier. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 27 February 1992)

E.  Annexation and settlement

239. On 3 December 1991, Defence Minister Moshe Arens stated that a Nahal military outpost had been established at Tapuach junction, where two Israelis had been killed six weeks earlier.  The Minister made clear that the decision had been taken before the El-Bireh shooting attack on 1 December 1991, in which an Ofra settlement resident was killed. Nahal soldiers had already moved into the three prefabricated buildings that had been transported to the site a day earlier. The outpost would eventually become a civilian settlement to be called Rachelim. In addition, it was also reported that the IDF would establish supplementary outposts along the main roads in order to secure these roads and the vehicles of the settlers.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 4 and 12 December 1991)  (This information was also referred to in Al-Fajr, 9 December 1991.)

240. On 6 December 1991, it was reported that over 4,500 dunums of land might be confiscated by the Israeli military authorities from Juba village near Bethlehem. The IDF claimed in its order that the land was unused, but residents have appealed the order with the Military Governor. The villagers said that the Israeli authorities have prevented them from planting and cultivating their land for the past four years because they wanted to annex it to the neighbouring settlement of Kfar Arsoun.  (Al-Fajr, 16 December 1991, from Al-Nahar)

241. On 8 December 1991, it was reported that the Housing Ministry had announced to the Jewish Council of the Territories that, because of disagreement with the Ministry of Finance concerning building budgets, the construction of 5,300 housing units – currently at various stages of construction – and of apartments that was to be started this year would be frozen at the 1991 budget. Concerning the 1992 budget, the heads of the Council were told that if the Government stood by its financial position, the construction of 5,000 additional units that was planned in the 1992 budget would be frozen.  The Council's Secretary-General, Uri Ariel, reported that the building of 1,500 units in Ariel, 500 in Ofarim and 500 in Avnei Khefetz had been frozen for the present year.  The cabinet decided to permit settlers to move into the East Jerusalem village of Silwan (Shiloh), where Jewish squatters had been holding out for over two months. Nevertheless, acting on instructions from Attorney-General Yosef Harish, the Inspector-General of Police, Ya'acov Terner, ordered the settlers not to move in until the legality of their claim to houses in Silwan had been investigated. (Ha'aretz, 8 and 9 December 1991; Jerusalem Post, 9 December 1991)

242. On 10 December 1991, it was reported that Faisal Husseini, the Palestinian leader, took part in a demonstration in Beit Iksa, north of Jerusalem, to protest against the expropriation of 2,500 dunams of the village's land. According to the residents, 12,000 dunams had already been expropriated for the construction of Israeli neighbourhoods such as Ramot. Members of the Knesset and Palestinian activists also participated in the demonstration and planted olive trees on confiscated land. At the end of the demonstration, soldiers arrested 40 Palestinians at the entrance of the village and stripped 20 of them to the waist, forcing them to stand for 40 minutes in the cold while they searched them. A military spokesman stated that the incident "was a deviant act and clearly against orders". He added that the main culprit in the incident was a sergeant who would be tried in a military court.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 11 and 12 December 1991)

243. On 12 December 1991, Jewish families were allowed to move into the East Jerusalem village of Silwan (Shiloh), two months after the police had evicted them from it and despite the opposition of the village's Arab inhabitants.

About 30 settlers entered the village under heavy police protection, just before daybreak, and took possession of six buildings. Two Arab families were evicted from their homes during the operation. The victory for the settlement movement was made possible by the report presented on 11 December 1991 by Attorney-General Yosef Harish to Inspector-General of Police Ya'acov Terner, backing the claim by El Ad (the housing association that had led the campaign to move Jews into Silwan) to legal title to homes in Silwan. The police, complying with a recent cabinet decision, fully cooperated with the settlers.  (Jerusalem Post, 12 and 13 December 1991; Ha'aretz, 13 December 1991) (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 16 December 1991.)

244. On 13 December 1991, after a court hearing of two Arab families who claimed that the moving of settlers into two of the six houses in the village of Silwan was illegal, the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court issued a temporary order asking the settlers to leave one house and allowing a maximum of 10 persons to remain in the other until a final decision had been reached.  Members of the El Ad Housing Association had maintained that the two houses in question were owned by families who had left the country before 1967.  According to Jerusalem police spokesman Schmuel Ben-Ruby, the settlers complied with the order and left the house they had moved into the day before peacefully. Dozens of riot police were deployed in the village to protect the remaining settlers.  Over the weekend a group of left-wing activists headed by Yael Dayan visited the village of Silwan, stating that their presence was a show of support for Palestinians who were trying to evict Jewish settlers who had claimed that they had occupied their homes. They were accompanied by the Palestinian leader Faisal Husseini.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 15 December 1991)

245. On 13 December 1991, it was reported that the Housing Ministry and the Jewish companies purchasing buildings and land in the Old City and East Jerusalem acted in accordance with a programme prepared by the architect Gideon Harlaf for the Ateret Cohanim Yeshiva people. This document established 22 locations of "land suitable for Jewish construction" in Jerusalem where the building of 4,000 housing units was planned. It was reported that the officials of companies purchasing land and buildings in East Jerusalem had purchased, in addition to Silwan, properties in two other localities: Jebel Mukaber and the Arab Abu Tor.  The aim of these companies was to create, in the long term, a continuity between Ir David, Silwan (Shiloh), Abu Tor, Yar Hashalom and Jebel Mukaber, to be inhabited by Jews.

(Ha'aretz, 13 December 1991)

246. On 16 December 1991, an Arab family was permitted to return to its Silwan home in East Jerusalem from which it had been evicted by police a week earlier, when a last-minute attempt by settlers to drive them out again had failed. Over 200 villagers held a demonstration throwing stones at Border Policemen and voicing their opposition to the Jewish settlement in the East Jerusalem village.  The police commander finally convinced the Palestinian leader Feisal Husseini to ask the demonstrators to go home. The villagers complied and the police spokesman stated that there were no arrests or injuries. (Jerusalem Post, 17 December 1991)

247. On 17 December 1991, it was reported that the Government had defined the legal status of the settlements in the territories as "provisional", according to a brief it had submitted to the High Court of Justice a week earlier. The brief, which also defined the occupation as "provisional", was submitted in reply to a suit by the Peace Now movement and two other appellants challenging the legality of the settlements. The principal respondent, Attorney-General Yosef Harish, argued that, in line with article 55 of the Hague Convention respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, Israel regarded itself as the administrator and usufructuary of public properties and lands, whose capital it had to safeguard. According to the High Court brief, Israel could not sell or transfer the ownership of properties and lands in the territories, but could rent or lease property and cultivate the lands.  Harish stated that the settlement operations were not in themselves irreversible, since the use of the properties and lands did not entail any changes in perpetuity.

(Jerusalem Post, 17 December 1991)  (This information was also referred to in Al-Fajr, 30 December 1991.)

248. On 2 January 1992, it was reported that the Israeli Housing Ministry had allocated $80 million out of the 1992 state budget for the construction of settlements in the occupied territories. The Israeli daily Davar reported that the Ministry planned to build 5,000 additional housing units in 1992 as a result of the pressure exercised by the Tehiya and Moledet right-wing parties, which were part of the government coalition. The information was said to have been confirmed by an unidentified Finance Ministry official who added that most of the construction was to take place in the Hebron area. (Al-Tali'ah, 2 January 1992; Al-Fajr, 6 January 1992)

249. On 7 January 1992, Members of the Knesset Haim Oron and Dedi Zucker produced an internal document of the Housing Ministry showing that during the term in office of Minister Ariel Sharon, 18,273 housing units had been built in the West Bank. These figures also include construction that had begun and had not yet been completed. The figures did not include 5,000 mobile homes that had been placed in the various settlements over the period concerned, starting in December 1990. Other constructions, which were not mentioned in the document, were those in the Gaza Strip (1,540), the Golan Heights (1,200) and in the West Bank settlements of Efrat (250) and Beitar (500).  (Ha'aretz, 8 January 1992) (This information was also referred to in Al-Fajr, 13 January 1992.)

250. On 8 January 1992, it was reported that the Israeli authorities had confiscated 30 dunums of land from the Deir el-Balah refugee camp. Israeli soldiers are said to have placed a number of mobile homes on the confiscated land that borders the Kfar Darom settlement. (Al-Fajr, 13 January 1992)

251. On 13 January 1992, it was reported that the Planning Committee of Maaleh Adumim, the largest settlement in the territories, had recently approved the construction of 2,000 new housing units, due to start in the next fiscal year. At present, some 15,500 people lived in Maaleh Adumim, in 3,500 housing units. A new neighbourhood consisting of 1,000 housing units was currently under construction. The 2,000 new units were to be completed in two years.  Once they were occupied, the population of the settlement would be approximately 30,000. (Ha'aretz, 13 January 1992)

252. On 21 January 1992, it was reported that, according to official figures of the Finance Ministry, construction in the territories had increased massively in 1991, in comparison with the two previous years. The number of construction starts over the first nine months of 1991 reached 6,435, against 1,820 during the entire year 1990 and 1,410 in 1989, Over the same period, there were 3,700 construction starts in Tel Aviv, and 3,700 in Jerusalem. The rate of investment in construction in the territories over that period was 10.33 per cent of: the entire construction in Israel and the territories, as compared with 4 per cent in 1990. The number of housing units whose construction had been completed in the first nine months of 1991 was 1,490, while 12,985 were still under construction during that period. (Ha'aretz, 21 January 1992) The Israeli Peace Now movement revealed during a press conference that the Israeli Housing Ministry estimated the settler population in the West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, at about 120,000, while Peace Now found it to number approximately 98,000. The settler population in East Jerusalem was estimated at over 130,000. A Peace Now report showed that 105 out of Israel's 144 official settlements housed less than 100 families. The tactic, according to Peace Now, was for the settlers and the Government of Israel to inflate population figures in order to increase the influence of settlers in Israeli political circles. (Al-Fajr, 27 January 1992)

253. On 22 January 1992, a report published in The Jerusalem Post revealed that-the Government of Israel had spent NIS 7 million on its programme of expanding Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem in 1991 alone through the Organization for the Development of the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem. The chairman of that Organization, Robin Shalom, stated that Arab houses were being purchased in Jerusalem's Old Town, Silwan and Jebel Al Zeitun, but refused to divulge the number of houses purchased by his Organization in 1991.  (Al-Tali'ah, 23 January 1992)

254. On 24 January 1992, it was reported that the Israeli military authorities had announced the seizure of thousands of dunums of cultivated land belonging to the village of Turmus Ayya, between Ramallah and Nablus. The land was located in the vicinity of the Shiloh settlement. (Al-Fajr, 3 February 1992)

255. On 5 February 1992, Finance Ministry officials announced that, starting in February, home-buyers purchasing new apartments in selected areas of the country would be eligible to receive government grants. The grants would range from $4,000 to $17,000, depending on the location of the apartment. The towns on the list that qualified for the maximum aid of $17,000 included most areas in the West Bank, all areas of Gaza, rural settlements in the Golan, Kiryat Shmona, Shlomi, Yeroham, Mizpeh Ramon and Beit She'an. The grants were part of the Government's Special Areas Loans Programme, designed to encourage home-buyers to purchase apartment in development towns and in the territories, built under the Government's construction programme.  Only home-buyers who had housing rights under the Housing Ministry's regulations would be eligible for the grants. (Jerusalem Post, 6 February 1992)

256. On 8 February 1992, Member of the Knesset Yossi Sarid (Citizens' Rights Movement) called for the creation of an authentic and recognized instrument of control, which would ensure that no additional building over the 9,000 housing units already under construction would be carried out in the territories. He stated that in the absence of such supervision, official and unofficial Israeli authorities would try to build thousands of new units. (Ha'aretz, 9 February 1992)

257. On 9 February 1992, Ateret Cohanim Yeshiva students moved into a building, the Lion's House, along the Via Dolorosa in the Old City of Jerusalem, hours after the Jerusalem Magistrates Court upheld the group's claim to the building. The two-storey building had been abandoned in past years. The Ateret Cohanim Yeshiva people had already entered the house on 2 October 1991 but had had to vacate the building following the appeals of two Arab defendants who claimed to be the owners.  (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 10 February 1992)  (These incidents were also referred to in Al-Fajr, 17 February 1992.)

258. On 10 February 1992, it was reported that the Council of Jewish Communities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip had decided to press the Government to extend Israeli law to all Jewish local councils in the territories. Most settlers already came under the jurisdiction of Israeli law, but the purpose of the request was to dispense their communities from the obligation to request government permission through the Defence Ministry and the military administration to build on their allotted land.  Such a measure would place all relevant decisions in the hands of the 21 existing regional and municipal councils. The Council had also renewed its standing request for permission to take over homes and land in Arab towns and villages whose ownership before 1948 could be traced to Jews. (Jerusalem Post, 10 February 1992)

259. On 12 February 1992, it was reported that Haim Oron (Mapam) had asked Attorney-General Yosef Harish to investigate the alleged transfer of funds and leasing rights to the Ateret Cohanim Yeshiva by the Israel Lands Administration. He asked that all transfers of funds and contracts between the Yeshiva and the Administration, Amidar and the Custodian of Absentee Property be frozen. Oron was referring to the transfer of 200 dunums of land in East Jerusalem for the construction of 200 housing units. He charged that the land had been transferred without a tender or objective criteria.  (Jerusalem Post, 12 February 1992)

260. On 13 February 1992, the Jerusalem District Court ordered an Arab family from Silwan, East Jerusalem, to transfer the ownership of their house to the Jewish National Fund. It was proven in Court that the land had been purchased in 1923 by the company for the Jewish settlement in the land of Israel, which transferred the ownership to the Fund in 1975. The Fund accepted to pay to the Al-Abasi family the sum of $75,000 in exchange for the house built on the land. (Ha'aretz, 14 February 1992)

261. On 17 February 1992, it was reported that the Jerusalem District Court ruled that the Jewish National Fund had the right to take over an additional Palestinian home in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan. The 23 residents of the house were given 45 days to evacuate the property.  (Al-Fajr, 17 February 1992)

262. On 18 February 1992, it was reported that four months after Maaleh Adumim was proclaimed the first Jewish city in the territories, the change in status was finally to be celebrated. The city, located in the Judean desert several kilometres east of Jerusalem, had slightly more than 15,000 residents.  However, massive building was taking place in the location, with over 1,000 homes under construction and ground-breakinq ready for an additional 600. The city's municipal boundaries-had lately been extended to include all the territories separating it from Jerusalem. (Jerusalem Post, 18 February 1992) (This information was also referred to in Al-Fajr, 24 February 1992.)

263. On 21 February 1992, it was reported that nearly a year after work had started in Givat Hamatos, located between the Gilo neighbourhood and the Hebron road, the Housing Ministry's controversial Jerusalem Mobile Home Project had remained a ghost town, months away from being ready to house immigrant families. Some 300 mobile homes had been placed at the site, but difficulties in clearing the mine fields and the harsh winter weather had prevented work from being completed and the remaining 300 homes earmarked for the neighbourhood from being installed. (Jerusalem Post, 21 February 1992)

264. On 24 February 1992, it was reported that, according to figures released by Housing Minister Ariel Sharon, nearly twice as many houses were under construction in the territories as Israel had officially reported to the United States Administration. Sharon said that about 22,000 homes were in various stages of construction in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, while construction of another 1,000 was to begin soon.  He said that the 22,000 figures included a small number of homes started in 1990, while the bulk was started over the past 15 months. Sharon added that settlement activity was continuing at unprecedented levels. (Jerusalem Post, 25 February 1992)

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