On the Agenda

On 27 Dec. '08, the Israeli army bombed a police building next to the central market of Deir al-Balah. Merchants and vendors were killed, as well as a seven-year-old child.

On 1 Jan. '09, the Israeli army killed four women and eleven children when it bombed the house of Nizar Rayan, a senior Hamas official, in the Jabalya refugee camp. Such extensive loss of civilian life constitutes a grave breach of international humanitarian law and cannot be justified on military grounds.

Statements by officials suggest that Israel is defining anything connected to Hamas as a military target. This approach violates the principle of distinction between civilian objects and military targets that is fundamental to international humanitarian law.

The owner of the truck bombed by the Israeli Air Force on Salah a-Din street in Gaza on Monday claims the truck was carrying oxygen canisters, not Grad rockets. The Israeli army published drone footage of the bombing.

Since 27 Dec., Israel has been bombing targets in Gaza that it claims are linked to Hamas. Since the assault began, the international media have reported 383 Palestinian casualties, more than 30 of whom are minors. 3 Israeli civilians have been killed by rockets fired from Gaza by Palestinian militant organizations.

In light of the recent escalation in violence around the Gaza Strip, and the firing of rockets towards Israeli communities, B'Tselem has repeated its demand that all parties to the hostilities prevent the harming of civilians. The rules of war obligate all parties to a conflict to do their utmost to defend the civilian population.

In April 2004, an indictment was filed against a soldier who shot and killed 'Omar Matar in the Qalandia refugee camp in March 2003. In June 2008, following repeated letters from B'Tselem, the IDF Spokesperson responded that, "no verdict has been given in the case, given that the matter is still being heard and the defendant left the country and is staying abroad."

The life of Yasser Sweisi, 11, depends on a respirator. The frequent blackouts resulting from the siege on Gaza forced his parents to buy a generator. When the fuel needed to operate the generator runs out, they use a manual respirator.

In a new report B'Tselem reveals that, based on the Sasson report criteria that the government adopted, Ofra is an illegal outpost. 58% of the settlement's built-up area is registered under the names of Palestinians in the Land Registrar. Also, no area of jurisdiction has ever been defined for the settlement, and no outline plan has ever been approved for it, making the hundreds of houses built there illegal.

In September 2007, the settler Ehud Gadot fired at Palestinian shepherds in 'Ein al-Beida, in the northeast West Bank, hitting Muhammad Abu Mutawe'a and paralyzing him. In a plea bargain, Gadot pleaded guilty. On 14 December 2008, the District Court sentenced him to prison for 16 months.

A year ago, Sonia Rasaras, a resident of the West Bank, took her children to visit her ailing father in the Gaza Strip. Since then, Israel has prevented her from returning home. As a result, her disabled 18-month-old daughter cannot receive medical treatment or the surgery she needs.

On 15 December 2008, in a rare decision, the Israeli High Court of Justice ruled that the second amended route of the barrier proposed by the State on the lands of Bil'in is also illegal. The court ruled that the proposed route violates the Court ruling from Sept. '07, and ordered the State to pay the residents of Bil'in legal expenses to the sum of 10,000 NIS.