OPT: Protection of civilians – OCHA Weekly report (2 – 8 July 2008)

OFFICE FOR THE COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS

P.O. Box 38712, East Jerusalem, Phone: (+972) 2-582 9962 / 582 5853, Fax: (+972) 2-582 5841 ochaopt@un.org, www.ochaopt.org

Protection of Civilians Weekly Report

2 – 8 July 2008

Of note this week

Gaza Strip: 

– The IDF injured one Palestinian civilian when IDF patrol boats opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats west of Beach Camp, forcing the fishermen to return to shore.

– Israeli authorities renewed entry permits for 197 Gazan businessmen. However, only a small number of these businessmen have successfully obtained coordination to enter Israel.

– A 16-year-old Palestinian boy was killed and a 13-year-old Palestinian girl was injured when an unknown object/device exploded in the destroyed Gaza International Airport (Rafah).

– Several thousand Palestinians attempted to break through the Rafah terminal to cross into Egypt. The Egyptian Security Forces responded with water canons and tear gas (Rafah).

– A total of one rudimentary rocket and five mortar shells were fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel by Palestinian militants. Three of these mortar shells landed in Gaza. No injured were reported.

West Bank: 

– The IDF injured 78 Palestinian civilians, including 13 children, 62 of them during the weekly Ni’lin demonstrations against the construction of the Barrier which will cut off approximately 2,500 dunams of Palestinian private agricultural land. Two Israeli demonstrators were also injured by the IDF during these demonstrations.

– A Palestinian man from East Jerusalem killed one male and two female Israeli civilians in an attack using a bulldozer which he drove from a construction site onto a busy street in West Jerusalem. Thirty other Israeli civilians were injured (West Jerusalem).

– According to Palestinian sources, a 30-year-old Palestinian man from the town of As-Samu' sustained multiple bodily injuries when a group of settlers beat him and dragged him to the nearby settlement outpost of Asael. The settlers then tied him to an electricity pole where the assault continued (Hebron).

– The IDF forcibly entered the Nablus Mall, as well as several Islamic charitable societies and mosques, and confiscated both computers and files. Ownership of several properties and assets were transferred to the IDF by military order. Nablus Mall has been closed (Nablus).

– The IDF started construction works aimed at ‘upgrading’ the Wadi Nar checkpoint – a staffed checkpoint controlling all Palestinian traffic on the only route that connects the southern West Bank to the central and northern areas. This checkpoint was slated for removal following a commitment made by the GoI to Mr. Tony Blair, the Quartet representative.

– 149 flying checkpoints (55% in the Hebron district), 93 IDF search operations and 8+ arrests/detentions of Palestinians were reported. This is the highest number of flying checkpoints reported since July 2007. The average number of flying checkpoints per week during the first half of 2008 was 78, while in 2007, the weekly average was 113.

Note: 

(1) Excluding Palestinian-Palestinian internal violence and other ‘indirect’ conflict related incidents.

Full report: