ReliefWeb

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)

· An activist of the Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades died of Wounds that he had sustained earlier in the Gaza Strip.

· IOF continued to fire at Palestinian civilians in border areas in the Gaza Strip -IOF opened fire at a peaceful demonstration in the northern Gaza Strip, but no casualties were reported.

· IOF continued to target Palestinian fishermen in Gaza sea.

-IOF fired at Palestinian fishing boats, but no casualties were reported.

· IOF continued to use force against peaceful protests in the West Bank.

• Three demonstrators, including a child, a woman and an international human rights defender, were wounded in Nabi Saleh and Bil'ein peaceful protests in Ramallah.

• IOF arrested a child in Bil'ein’s weekly protest.

· IOF conducted 45 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank.

• IOF arrested 18 Palestinian civilians, including 5 children.

• The arrested Palestinians include four leaders of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad in Jenin.

• IOF destroyed the furniture and the windows in 2 houses in Azzoun village, east of Qalqilya.

· IOF continued settlement activities and Israeli settlers continued their attacks in the West Bank.

• IOF bulldozed four brick and tin houses and 12 tents in Kherbet Um Nir, south of Hebron.

· Israel has continued to impose a total siege on the Gaza Strip and tightened the siege on the West Bank.

• IOF arrested at least 12 Palestinians at military checkpoints in the West Bank.

• IOF imposed total closure on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Summary

Israeli violations of international law and humanitarian law in the OPT continued during the reporting period (05 – 11 May 2011):

Shooting:

During the reporting period, a Palestinian activist died of wounds that he had sustained earlier. In addition, IOF wounded a Palestinian woman, a child and an international human rights defender in peaceful demonstrations against settlement activities and the construction of the annexation wall.

Late on Wednesday, 04 May 2011, medical sources at Naser Institute Hospital in Cairo announced the death of Shadi Mahmoud al-Zatma, 29, and activist of the Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades from Tal al-Sultan neighborhood in Rafah. Al-Zatma sustained serious wounds when an Israeli drone fired two missiles at him as he was with another two activists of the Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades. The three activists were near Kamal Odwan Boys' Secondary School Tal al-Sultan neighborhood, west of Rafah. The bombardment which took place at approximately 00:50 on 09 April 2011 resulted in the immediate deaths of the other two activists, while al-Zatma's legs were amputated and he sustained shrapnel wounds throughout the body.

In the West Bank, IOF used excessive force to disperse peaceful demonstrations organized in protest to Israeli settlement activities and the construction of the annexation wall in the West Bank. As a result, a Palestinian woman, a child and an international human rights defender were wounded. The child was wounded on 06 May 2001 in Bil'ein’s peaceful protest, west of Ramallah, while the woman and the international human rights defender were wounded in Nabi Saleh’s protest, northwest of Ramallah, also on 06 May 2011.

In addition, dozens of Palestinian civilians and international human rights defenders participating in peaceful protests in the West Bank suffered from tear gas inhalation and bruises as they were beaten by IOF. Further, on 07 May 2011, IOF intentioanllyattacked and severely beat activists from the Public Wall Against the Wall and Settlement in Beit Ummar town, north of Hebron. Some of these activists sustained fractures as a result.

In the Gaza Strip, on 10 and 11 May 2011, IOF gunboats positioning at sea off al-Waha resort, wet of Beit Lahia in the north of the Gaza Strip, intensively fired shells and bullets at Palestinian fishing boats. Palestinian fishermen fled the area in fear of being wounded or arrested. No casualties or damages to fishing boats were reported.

On 10 May 2011, IOF positioning on observation towers near Beit Hanoun "Erez" crossing in the north of Beit Hanountown in the northern Gaza Strip, opened intensive fire at a group of demonstrators and Palestinian and international solidarity activists who were near the landfill in the north of Beit Hanoun Agricultural School of al-Azhar University in Gaza in the north of Beit Hanoun town. This demonstration was organized in protest against the imposition of the buffer zone in Palestinians' lands.