7 Feb. 05

Earlier this month, eight human rights organizations called on Israel's Attorney General Menachem Mazuz to declare the IDF's plans to demolish houses along the Philadelphi route illegal and order their cancellation.

The media recently reported that the IDF requested Mazuz's opinion on a plan to dig a channel and fill it with water as a way to cope with the tunnels being built to smuggle weapons. According to the reports, the IDF presented three alternative plans for digging the channel. The most extensive plan calls for the destruction of some 3,000 homes, another plan requires the destruction of about 700 homes, and 200 homes will be destroyed according to the “limited” plan.

The IDF has demolished more than 1,700 homes in Rafah since the beginning of the intifada. The new plans continue a policy intended at creating a “sterile zone” in the middle of a densely populated refugee camp. About 17,300 people have already lost their homes in Rafah as a result of that policy.

The demolition of the homes of Palestinian civilians in the Rafah refugee camp to widen the Phildephi route flagrantly violates international humanitarian law. The IDF is obligated to respect the rights of the Palestinian population in the Occupied Territories and ensure their welfare to the greatest extent possible.

In a recent report, Human Rights Watch described a number of possible ways to cope with the digging of tunnels of the kind used for smuggling weapons in Rafah. These methods have proven successful in other parts of the world, and would prevent the destruction of houses and assist in combating the smuggling of weapons.

We are pleased to announce the launch of B'Tselem's new website. The site provides a comprehensive overview of virtually all aspects of human rights in the Occupied Territories in Hebrew, Arabic, and English.

The home page features timely information and analysis on the human rights situation. New pages written for the site present a historical overview and legal analysis of some twenty of the primary issues relating to human rights in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip including the illegal use of force, detentions, restrictions on movement, the Separation Barrier.

The site includes several new features. The statistics pages have been expanded. Visitors to the site now have access to B'Tselem's database of all casualties since the outbreak of the current intifada, and can compile statistics according to the various criteria in the database. The site also includes statistics on house demolitions and detainees and prisoners, and details on the distribution of checkpoints and roadblocks in the West Bank.

Another new feature on the site is an extensive photo gallery, which will be updated regularly. The site also contains an extensive section devoted to first-person testimonies, as well as B'Tselem's maps of land use by settlements, restrictions on West Bank roadways and the route of the Separation Barrier. In addition, the site contains an archive of all B'Tselem's publications, press releases, and email updates.