Maandelijks archief: april 2022

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”Israeli police on Thursday entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem to facilitate the arrival of Jewish visitors to the flashpoint holy site, sparking new clashes, according to local media.”
THE STATESMANCLASHES AGAIN ERUPT IN JERUSALEM’S Al-AQSA MOSQUE COMPOUND21 APRIL 2022
https://www.thestatesman.com/world/clashes-erupt-jerusalems-al-aqsa-mosque-compound-1503062860.html

Israeli police on Thursday entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem to facilitate the arrival of Jewish visitors to the flashpoint holy site, sparking new clashes, according to local media.

Israel’s state-owned Kan Reshet Bet Radio reported that “hundreds” of Jewish visitors escorted by police forces arrived in the early morning hours at the site, which is holy to both Muslims and Jews, reports Xinhua news agency.

The police said in a statement that Palestinians barricaded themselves inside the mosque and hurled firecrackers and stones at the Jewish officers.

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AL AQSA MOSQUE

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‘On Wednesday, 19 January, Israeli authorities demolished a family home in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem. The possibility of further evictions of Palestinian families from homes they have lived in for decades in the Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem poses the risk of fuelling tensions on the ground and contributes to the worrying trend of increasing numbers of demolitions and evictions in the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem.”

  ” On Wednesday, 19 January, Israeli authorities demolished a family home in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem.”

ISRAEL/PALESTINE: STATEMENT BY THE SPOKESPERSON ONDEVELOPMENTS IN OCCUPIED EAST JERUSALEM

19 JANUARI 2022

Statements by the Spokesperson

On Wednesday, 19 January, Israeli authorities demolished a family home in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem. The possibility of further evictions of Palestinian families from homes they have lived in for decades in the Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem poses the risk of fuelling tensions on the ground and contributes to the worrying trend of increasing numbers of demolitions and evictions in the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem.

On Monday, 17 January the Jerusalem District Committee for Planning and Building decided to advance a plan for the construction of more than 1,450 settlement-housing units between Har Homa and Givat Hamatos for the “Lower Aqueduct Plan”, which includes lands in occupied East Jerusalem.  The EU urges Israel not to proceed with this plan that would further undermine the possibility of Jerusalem serving as the future capital of both States and to halt all settlement activities.

Settlement expansion, demolitions and evictions are illegal under international law. They exacerbate tensions, threaten the viability of the two-state solution and diminish prospects for a lasting peace. The EU stands ready to give the parties full support in opening the path towards the relaunch of the peace process as soon as possible.Peter STANO(link sends e-mail)Lead Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy+32 (0)460 75 45 53Lauranne DEVILLE(link sends e-mail)Press Officer for Foreign Affairs and Security+32 (0)2 29 92256+32 (0) 460 758 775

OVER DE ILLEGALITEIT VAN DE ISRAELISCHE NEDERZETTINGEN,VOLGENS HET INTERNATIONAAL RECHT
HET RODE KRUIS:

”It is unlawful under the Fourth Geneva Convention for an occupying power to transfer parts of its own population into the territory it occupies. This means that international humanitarian law prohibits the establishment of settlements, as these are a form of population transfer into occupied territory”

ICRC.ORG [INTERNATIONALE RODE KRUIS]

WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY ABOUT THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SETTLEMENTS

05-10-2010 FAQ

When a territory is placed under the authority of a hostile army, the rules of international humanitarian law dealing with occupation apply. Occupation confers certain rights and obligations on the occupying power.

• International Review of the Red Cross, No 885, special issue on Occupation
• Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 49.  

Prohibited actions include forcibly transferring protected persons from the occupied territories to the territory of the occupying power. 
It is unlawful under the Fourth Geneva Convention for an occupying power to transfer parts of its own population into the territory it occupies. This means that international humanitarian law prohibits the establishment of settlements, as these are a form of population transfer into occupied territory. Any measure designed to expand or consolidate settlements is also illegal. Confiscation of land to build or expand settlements is similarly prohibited. 

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”The establishment of the settlements contravenes international humanitarian law (IHL), which states that an occupying power may not relocate its own citizens to the occupied territory or make permanent changes to that territory, unless these are needed for imperative military needs, in the narrow sense of the term, or undertaken for the benefit of the local population.”

BTSELEM.ORG

SETTLEMENTS

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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCHLETTER TO OLMERT:STOP THE BLOCKADE OF GAZA20 NOVEMBER 2008
https://www.hrw.org/news/2008/11/20/letter-olmert-stop-blockade-gaza

November 20, 2008
Dear Prime Minister Olmert,
We are writing to express our deep concern about Israel’s continuing blockade of the Gaza Strip, a measure that is depriving its population of food, fuel, and basic services, and constitutes a form of collective punishment.

The latest measures, a complete closure of all Gaza border crossings since November 5, are part of an ongoing policy by your government that has prevented the normal flow of goods and people in and out of Gaza since January 2006. It has contributed to a humanitarian crisis, deepened poverty and ruined the economy. We urge your government to abandon this policy.

Your government states that this latest blockade was in response to Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, in which two Israel civilians were injured (on November 14 and 16), and over a dozen others treated for shock. Human Rights Watch has repeatedly condemned deliberate and indiscriminate Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli communities as violations of the laws of war. We recently sent a letter to Hamas leaders calling on them to renounce such attacks, and arrest and prosecute those who carry out or encourage attacks on civilians.

However, violations of the laws of war by one party to a conflict do not justify violations by the other. As such, illegal attacks by Palestinian armed groups do not justify an illegal Israeli response. Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip, an occupied territory under the Fourth Geneva Convention, constitutes collective punishment in violation of the laws of war.
While your government has eased the restrictions for one day on November 17 the humanitarian situation in Gaza is now critical as the borders remain closed. Food distribution by the United Nations to 750,000 people—half of Gaza’s population—was forced to a halt last week, and remains severely disrupted.

Israel permitted 30 trucks to enter Gaza on November 17, delivering just eight trucks of food aid for the United Nations relief agency distribution centers, enough to feed 20,000 people. Those supplies are now almost gone, according to UN officials. The agency has to import at least 15 truckloads of food daily to meet the territory’s needs. Food stocks in three UN warehouses have also been emptied.

Gaza’s main power station needs over 21 million liters of industrial diesel before it can restart power production, according to the relief agency. Gaza is currently suffering widespread power shortages with power cuts of up to 16 hours a day. On average 650,000 people–over a third of the population—are without power at any one time amid rolling power cuts throughout the territory.

The fuel and power shortages have disrupted the pumping of water from 80 percent of Gaza water wells according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Twenty percent of the population has access to water for six hours five times a week. Forty percent have access to water four days a week, and the remaining 40 percent have water for just three days a week.

No wheat grain has entered Gaza for 16 days, prompting Gaza’s largest flour mill al-Philistiniya to close, according to OCHA. A lack of cooking gas has closed 28 out of 47 pita-bread bakeries in Gaza, and bread is being rationed. There are no bakeries in production in Rafah in the south of Gaza.

The latest closures have compounded the already severe effects of a longer term blockade your government implemented when Hamas took full control of Gaza in June 2007. Other restrictions have been in place since December 2005, when Hamas won legislative elections in the West Bank and Gaza. Over the last year, this policy has deepened poverty in Gaza and cut its industrial production by over 90 percent, according to the World Bank. The Palestinian Federation of Industries estimates that as a result of import restrictions and the inability to export, only 23 of the 3,900 industries in Gaza are operating, six of which produce wheat flour, one clothing, and the remainder food processing.

These restrictions are impacting a population that is already among the poorest in the world. Close to 70 percent of the population lives in deep poverty, according the UN relief agency, UNRWA. (The agency defines deep poverty as a family of six persons or more living on income of less than US$467 per month.) Egypt has been complicit in the blockade by keeping its borders with Gaza closed for much of the past year, in cooperation with your government.

Israel made a commitment in June to ease some of these restrictions – but the movement of goods into Gaza and people in and out the territory remains a fraction of what it was when borders were last opened for free trade. October’s imports represented only 21 percent of the December 2005 level (13,430 truckloads), that is prior to the Palestinian Legislative Council elections, and 26 percent of the May 2007 level, immediately before the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip, according to OCHA. Exports from Gaza are not allowed by your government.

In September and October, Egypt and Israel allowed around 6000 pilgrims, hospital patients and some businessmen to pass through the Rafah and Erez border crossings. However, the Israeli and Egyptian governments have prevented over 800 students from leaving the territory to study abroad. Restrictions on freedom of movement for the large majority of the population remain in place, preventing their access to work, healthcare, and family outside of Gaza.

Even though Israel withdrew its permanent military forces and settlers in 2005, it remains an occupying power in Gaza under international law because it continues to exercise effective day-to-day control over key aspects of life in Gaza. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel is obliged to ensure the provision of food and medical supplies to the civilian population to the fullest extent possible.

We urge your government to immediately lift restrictions on the flow into Gaza of food, medicines, and other supplies essential for the well-being of the civilian population and to cease all measures that amount to collective punishment of the civilian population, including disruptions to the electricity supply and fuel cuts. We also urge your government to respect the right to freedom of movement, especially for those who need to travel for reasons of health or education.

We look forward to your response to this matter.

Yours sincerely,

SarahLeah Whitson
Executive Director
Middle East and North Africa Division
Human Rights Watch

EINDE BERICHT HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

AMNESTY INTERNATIONALLOOMING HUMANITARIAN CATASTROPHE HIGHLIGHTSNEED TO LIFT ISRAEL’S 10 YEARS ILLEGAL BLOCKADE14 JUNE 2017
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/06/gaza-looming-humanitarian-catastrophe-highlights-need-to-lift-israels-10-year-illegal-blockade/

The Israeli authorities’ latest decision to slash the electricity supply to the Gaza Strip could have catastrophic humanitarian consequences for residents who have already endured a decade of suffering under Israel’s brutal blockade, Amnesty International has warned.

The latest round of power cuts announced by Israel on 11 June restricting the electricity supply to between two and three hours a day, will have a disastrous impact on Gaza’s battered infrastructure and cause a public health disaster. The move will also endanger thousands of lives including those of hospital patients with chronic conditions or in intensive care, including babies on life support.

“For 10 years the siege has unlawfully deprived Palestinians in Gaza of their most basic rights and necessities. Under the burden of the illegal blockade and three armed conflicts, the economy has sharply declined and humanitarian conditions have deteriorated severely. The latest power cuts risk turning an already dire situation into a full-blown humanitarian catastrophe,” said Magdalena Mughrabi, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

The power cuts will have a severe impact on essential services such as healthcare, wastewater management and access to clean water for Gaza’s entire population.

“As the occupying power, Israel has obligations to ensure the basic needs of the civilian population are met. At the very least, Israel must not continue to cut off access to essential supplies. The Israeli authorities must immediately lift the illegal blockade and end their collective punishment of Gaza’s population,” said Magdalena Mughrabi.

“Ten years on, the international community can no longer turn a blind eye to the devastating suffering caused by Israel’s cruel and inhuman isolation of Gaza.”

This month marks 10 years since Israel began its land, sea and air blockade of Gaza. The blockade, combined with restrictions by Egypt has cut off virtually all access to the outside world for more than two million residents. Since then, unemployment rates have skyrocketed and many families have been forced into extreme poverty leaving approximately 80% of the population dependent on humanitarian aid.

Electricity cuts

For more than a decade Gaza has suffered a chronic electricity deficit. In 2013, Gaza’s sole power plant began to buy fuel exclusively from Israel after cheap Egyptian fuel was no longer available. The higher price of fuel forced the power plant to reduce capacity by half. The power plant has had to shut down repeatedly because it was unable to afford the fuel needed to keep it running.  

Even before the latest power crisis this week, electricity supply was rationed to around eight hours a day. In the past two months, it was further slashed to four hours a day as a result of a dispute between Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and Hamas before the latest cuts announced this week.

Residents told Amnesty International the power cuts have affected all aspects of their daily lives. With many people in Gaza living in high rise apartment buildings, the lack of electricity means clean water cannot be pumped to their homes, leaving them reliant on expensive bottled water to cook, clean and shower. Residents are also unable to use the lifts to get in and out of their homes, causing particular hardship for the elderly and those with disabilities.

Mohammad Abu Rahma, a Gaza City resident, described how the power cuts have affected him and his wife and three children. The lack of electricity means they have no water and cannot do simple things like use a fridge to store food and in the evening there is no light for the children to study or read.

“Ever since the [blockade] on Gaza 10 years ago our life has been in crisis. This is not new. But what is happening now…it is a catastrophe… It is immoral that they make us live like this. Everyone in Gaza has been harmed by what is happening. There is no one that is spared,” he said.

“This has meant having to live in this intolerable heat without fans, let alone air conditioners, and that’s for those of us who luckily still have our homes after the last war. It’s like we’re suffocating.”

Nour al-Sweiki, from Gaza City, told Amnesty International that families are struggling to squeeze all their domestic tasks into the three- hour window when the electricity comes on each day.

“People here live without rights… Everything is backwards. Nothing here progresses except for time. Poverty, unemployment, lack of water – everything is deteriorating,” she said.

Another Gaza resident, Sami Abd al-Rahman, also said he and his family, like most Gazans, have reorganized their lives around the few hours of electricity –getting up in the middle of the night to do simple things such as use the washing machine or take showers. He fears for the mental and emotional effects the continuing crisis is having on his children.

“The Israeli authorities must ensure the level of electricity is restored to meet and sustain basic humanitarian needs, including health, water and sanitation,” said Magdalena Mughrabi.

“The Palestinian authorities in the West Bank, Hamas and Israel must all ensure that their political disputes are not dealt with in a manner that tramples on the basic rights of Gazans.”

Wider impact of blockade

The situation in the Gaza Strip has become so untenable that in 2015 the UN warned it would become “uninhabitable” by 2020.

Under Israel’s illegal blockade, movement of people and goods is severely restricted and the majority of exports and imports, raw materials have been banned. Meanwhile, Egypt has imposed tight restrictions on the Rafah crossing, keeping it closed most of this time.

The destruction wrought by three armed conflicts between Israel and Palestinian armed groups in the Gaza Strip in the 10 years since the blockade was imposed has also had devastating consequences on essential infrastructure and the deterioration of Gaza’s economy. All sides have committed violations of international humanitarian law, including war crimes during these conflicts.

In each of these wars, Israel targeted civilian infrastructure, including electricity, water, sewage and sanitation plants as well as destroying tens of thousands of civilian properties, including homes, shops and factories. Israel has subsequently refused to allow into Gaza much of the construction materials needed to rebuild the civilian infrastructure.

“The wanton destruction of Gaza’s residential homes and infrastructure coupled with the economic deprivation means that daily existence for many Palestinians there is a living nightmare with no end in sight,” said Magdalena Mughrabi.

“There can be no justification for denying humanitarian supplies, adequate water and electricity to an entire population for 10 years. Israel must lift this blockade immediately.” 

EINDE BERICHT AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

BTSELEM.ORG

GAZA STRIP

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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCHISRAEL/GAZA: BLOCKADE UNLAW RESPONSE TO ROCKETATTACKS22 JANUARY 2008
https://www.hrw.org/news/2008/01/22/israel/gaza-blockade-unlawful-response-rocket-attacks

Human Rights Council Should Also Address Palestinian Attacks

The United Nations Human Rights Council should use today’s special session on the Occupied Palestinian Territories to help end serious international law violations by all parties to the conflict, Human Rights Watch said today. Of particular concern is Israel’s economic blockade of Gaza, which under the current occupation amounts to collective punishment against civilians.

Human Rights Watch also expressed strong concern about indiscriminate Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza that have wounded at least 82 Israeli civilians over the last 6 months. The Hamas authorities have done nothing to stop these attacks.

“Civilians in Gaza are paying a heavy price as both Israel and Palestinian armed groups flout the laws of war,” said Juliette de Rivero, Geneva director at Human Rights Watch. “Palestinian rocket fire into civilian areas can’t justify the Israeli blockade against Gaza’s civilians.”

In response to rocket attacks on Israel from Palestinian armed groups in Gaza, Israel has sharply restricted the flow of people and goods into and out of the territory. Basic goods and fuel are in short supply and the prices of many items have dramatically increased. The local economy is suffering considerable damage from an export ban, and 80 percent of Gaza’s families now rely on humanitarian aid. Israel has also threatened to reduce the supply of electricity.

On January 23, 2008 thousands of Palestinians in Gaza broke through the Rafah crossing into Egypt. Egypt had previously said it could not open the border, without providing any reasons. Today, President Hosni Mubarak told reporters border guards were ordered to let unarmed Palestinians enter to buy food.

Israel is also arbitrarily blocking and delaying people with emergency medical problems who need to leave Gaza for urgent care, and some patients have died, Human Rights Watch said. Approximately 6,000 people with foreign citizenship, permanent residency, work permits, student visas or university admissions abroad, have been denied exit permits for unspecified “security reasons.”

On October 28, 2007, Israel began limiting supplies of fuel into Gaza, decreasing the amounts of diesel, industrial diesel, and benzene. In November, the Israeli Supreme Court approved the fuel cuts but ordered the state to halt proposed electricity cuts until it could prove that such cuts would not harm services essential to the civilian population.

Intended to pressure Hamas to suppress the rocket fire, the fuel cuts are having a direct impact on the well-being of the civilian population, impairing the provision of essential services, such as drinking water, sewage pumps and hospitals.

Human Rights Watch also expressed concern about civilian casualties during military operations involving the Israel Defense Forces and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza

“The situation in Gaza won’t improve unless both the Israelis and the Palestinians take steps to change the reality on the ground,” de Rivero said. “The Human Rights Council should stop its one-sided condemnations of Israel and adopt an approach aimed at alleviating the suffering of all affected civilians.”

In a statement to the Human Rights Council, Human Rights Watch called on the Council to:

• Urge Palestinian armed groups to end their unlawful rocket attacks on civilians in Israel;
• Urge Hamas to exert its authority to end these attacks;
• Urge Israel to immediately lift its restrictions on the flow into Gaza of medicines, food and other supplies essential for the well-being of the civilian population and to cease all measures that amount to collective punishment of the civilian population, including disruptions to the electricity supply and fuel cuts;
• Urge Israel to respect the right to freedom of movement, especially for those who need to travel for reasons of health or education;
• Request the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health to undertake an urgent mission to Gaza to assess the current state of the health system and the impact of the Gaza closures on the health of the civilian population;
• Urge Egypt to keep open the Rafah crossing for humanitarian purposes, ensuring that arms and other military material that Palestinian armed groups might use against civilians are not allowed to pass.

Even though Israel withdrew its permanent military forces and settlers in 2005, it remains an occupying power in Gaza under international law because it continues to exercise effective day-to-day control over key aspects of life in Gaza. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel is obliged to ensure the provision of food and medical supplies to the civilian population to the fullest extent possible.

Human Rights Watch said that Egypt has also contributed to the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Gaza by closing its border with Gaza at Rafah. In December 2007, Egypt allowed up to 3,000 pilgrims out of Gaza through Rafah for the Hajj in Saudi Arabia. Two weeks later, after some delay, Egypt allowed the pilgrims to pass through Rafah back into Gaza. Egypt has not permitted the exit of emergency medical cases or students attempting to resume their studies abroad.

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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCHGAZA: ISRAELI RESTRICTIONS HARM PEOPLEWITH DISABILITIES3 DECEMBER 2020
https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/12/03/gaza-israeli-restrictions-harm-people-disabilities

(Gaza) – Israel’s 13-year closure of the Gaza Strip along with neglect by Hamas authorities, significantly encumber the day-to-day life of tens of thousands of Palestinians with disabilities, Human Rights Watch said today on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Episodes of armed conflict have compounded the barriers that people with disabilities face, which include lack of accessibility of public spaces and widespread stigma.

Sweeping Israeli restrictions on the movement of people and goods, at times exacerbated by restrictive policies by Palestinian authorities, curb access to assistive devices, health care, and electricity essential to many people with disabilities. Chronic power outages in particular jeopardize the rights of many people with disabilities who need light to communicate using sign language, or need equipment powered by electricity to move, including elevators and electric mobility scooters.

“More than a decade of Israeli restrictions have robbed people with disabilities in Gaza of their freedom of movement, and often access to the devices, electricity, and technology they need to communicate or leave their homes,” said Emina Ćerimović, senior researcher in the disability rights division at Human Rights Watch. “These policies, alongside the failure of Hamas authorities to address the lack of accessibility across Gaza and widespread stigma, contribute to making life in Gaza extraordinarily difficult for many people with disabilities.”

Between August 2018 and October 2020, Human Rights Watch interviewed 37 Gaza residents with physical, visual, and hearing disabilities, and family members of six children and one 18-year-old with disabilities. Human Rights Watch also interviewed representatives of 31 international and local organizations operating in Gaza, a representative of a company that imports assistive devices, and local government officials.

Since 2007, Israeli authorities have imposed a generalized travel ban that deprives the two million Palestinians in Gaza of their freedom to leave the 365-square-kilometer strip, outside of narrow exceptions. Israeli authorities have also sharply restricted the entry and exit of goods from Gaza. Israel’s closure of Gaza, exacerbated by Egyptian restrictions on its border with Gaza, limits access to health care, clean water, and electricity, as well as educational, economic, and other opportunities.

Israeli policies, including attacks on Gaza’s sole power plant, restrictions on the entry of parts to repair the plant, and limits on the amount of electricity it sells for Gaza; as well as squabbles between Palestinian authorities over payment for the plant’s fuel, leave Gaza residents on most days with between five and 15 hours of electricity.

These restrictions affect the entire population but have particularly severe consequences for people with disabilities. Doa Qashlan, who uses a mobility scooter, said that the frequent lack of electricity often leaves her trapped at home. “Electricity outages are my biggest fear,” she said. “I need to charge my scooter. Otherwise, I will remain at home, where I feel life stopped.”

According to official statistics from the Palestinian Census Bureau, about 48,000 people in Gaza, or about 2.4 percent of the population, have a disability, more than one-fifth of whom are children. A United Nations Children’s’ Fund (UNICEF) official estimates that the actual figure is much higher. The World Health Organization estimates that about 15 percent of the world’s population has a disability. Some people acquired a disability following injuries stemming from the Israeli authorities’ use of force.

People with disabilities in Gaza also said they faced difficulties accessing assistive devices, such as wheelchairs and hearing aids, due largely to Israeli import restrictions, shortfalls in local authorities’ and aid groups’ provision of necessary devices, and a lack of expertise in Gaza to repair damaged devices. Israel restricts the entry of spare parts and batteries for assistive devices, according to the Israeli rights group Gisha.

Many Gaza residents said that even if their devices, especially wheelchairs, are working, they cannot access many buildings because they lack ramps or elevators. Gaza’s Local Government Ministry in January 2020 for the first time mandated including ramps and elevators in new construction of public buildings, but the regulations do not address the needs of those with visual or other disabilities. 

A Gaza City municipal official said that its accessibility strategy prioritizes paving roads but placed little emphasis on infrastructure specifically geared to addressing the needs of people with disabilities.

Discrimination and neglect by Palestinian authorities extend beyond physical accessibility. Three women with hearing disabilities, for example, said that public hospitals do not provide sign language services. “Whenever I go to a hospital without someone to interpret for me, they write on a piece of paper that I should come back and bring someone with me,” one of the women said. “This experience made me feel less of a person.”

People with disabilities also described widespread discrimination and social stigma. Alongside the severe restrictions they face as Gaza residents and as people with disabilities, they confront a particularly “suffocating” reality, as Qashlan put it, with even fewer economic opportunities or outlets than the general population to release the serious “psychological pressure” they face.

A December 2019 report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) notes that 498,776 Gaza residents, or nearly 25 percent of Gaza’s population, experience psychosocial distress and have a mental health condition.

By virtue of the significant control that Israel exercises over the lives and welfare of Palestinians in Gaza, Israeli authorities are obliged under the law of occupation and international human rights law, to ensure the welfare of the population there. Palestinians also have the right to freedom of movement, including to and from the West Bank – the other part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory – and the right to leave and return to Gaza. Israel can lawfully restrict those rights only in response to concrete and specific security assessments.

Hamas authorities exercise internal control in Gaza, and therefore also have a direct responsibility to protect people’s rights, including those with disabilities.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ratified by Israel in 2012 and Palestine in 2014, obligates Israeli and Palestinian authorities to respect, protect, and fulfill the rights of people with disabilities in Gaza. Those obligations include the right to life, non-discrimination, health, inclusive education, protection and safety in situations of risk, and personal mobility.

Israeli authorities should end the 13-year closure of Gaza. They should also ensure the entry of assistive devices and sufficient electricity to meet the needs of people with disabilities, as well as others, Human Rights Watch said. Hamas authorities should prioritize improving accessibility throughout Gaza, and combat discrimination and stigma, so people with disabilities can participate in their communities on an equal basis with others.

“Both Israeli and Palestinian authorities have systematically overlooked people with disabilities in Gaza,” Ćerimović said. “The Israeli-imposed electricity crisis, shortages of assistive devices, and an inaccessible physical environment, block people with disabilities from living independently and fully participating in their communities.”

Israeli Closure of Gaza

For 25 years, Israel has sharply restricted the movement of Gaza residents. Since 2007, Israel has imposed a generalized travel ban on movement in and out of the territory with narrow exceptions, such as for people needing vital medical treatment outside Gaza and their companions, as well as some prominent businesspeople. Israel restricts movement even for those seeking to travel under these narrow exceptions, including for medical treatment.

Israel’s policy to presumptively deny free movement to the West Bank and beyond, based on generalized security threats and irrespective of any individualized assessment of a person’s security risk, fails the international law requirement reasonably to balance security concerns against the human right to freedom of movement.

Since 2013, Egypt has at times shut its border crossing with Gaza, the area’s only other outlet to the outside world, contributing to the closure. Egyptian authorities beginning in May 2018 opened the crossing more regularly, but have largely shut it since March 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Israeli authorities also sharply restrict the entry into and exit of goods from Gaza, in particular “dual-use” materials or items that could be used for military purposes, which has contributed to devastating Gaza’s economy.

Eighty percent of Gaza’s population relies on humanitarian aid, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which provides direct services to Palestinian refugees. More than half the population lives below the poverty line of US $4.60 per day, and unemployment rates hover around 50 percent.

As a result of the sweeping restrictions on movement, people with disabilities in Gaza, as well as others, face difficulties accessing health care, including services needed specifically because of their disabilities, such as early intervention and services designed to minimize and prevent further disabilities.

Armed Conflict in Gaza and People with Disabilities

A United Nations Commission of Inquiry found that nearly 10 percent of the more than 11,000 Palestinians wounded during 2014 hostilities between Israel and Palestinian armed groups, acquired a physical disability as a result. Physicians for Human Rights Israel said that they include about 100 people who have had a limb amputated. In 2018 and 2019, according to UN OCHA, 156 Palestinians had limbs amputated after being wounded by Israeli fire during demonstrations along the fences separating Gaza and Israel. According to UNICEF, 14 of them were children.

According to the UK-based Medical Aid for Palestinians, 15 people lost their vision and 24 people “were paralysed due to spinal cord injuries” after being shot by Israeli forces during the demonstrations. In addition, the group estimated that at least 1,200 people required “expensive limb reconstruction treatment.”

A March 2019 UN Commission of Inquiry report found that Israeli forces fired on people with disabilities, among other identifiable groups, “knowing who they are,” although protesters did not pose an imminent threat in the vast majority of cases they investigated, making those killings unlawful. The Gaza-based Nusierat Rehabilitation and Social Training Association told Human Rights Watch that the fence protest casualties have “exhausted the consumption of assistive devices.”

Electricity Shortages

Israeli policies sharply limit Gaza’s access to electricity. Gaza’s sole electric power plant has operated at only partial capacity since 2006, in part as a result of Israeli aerial attacks. Israel’s restrictions on the entry of goods, including spare parts and equipment deemed “dual-use,” have hampered efforts to repair the plant

Israeli authorities have also restricted, sometimes punitively and other times as a result of disputes over payments, the amount of industrial fuel it allows to be purchased for the plant. Fuel restrictions further reduce the already-limited supply of electricity, at times for weeks, by more than 50 percent, according to Gisha, the Israeli rights group. Israeli restrictions on the entry of solar panels and batteries also hamper the development of alternate energy sources.

These restrictions force Palestinians in Gaza to rely primarily on buying electricity from Israel. The state-owned Israel Electric Corporation, though, sells only a limited quantity of electricity to Gaza, 120 Megawatts (MW) annually in recent years, outside of a six-month period in 2017 when it cut supply to 70 MW following a request from the Palestinian Authority, linked to the factional rivalry between Fatah and Hamas. The 120 MW is insufficient to meet the demand, which the World Bank said in November 2017 was 450 MW.

According to UN OCHA, the monthly average of electricity available per household per day since 2017 has fluctuated between five and 15 hours, depending on a range of factors, including demand and availability of fuel for Gaza’s power plant. Those who can afford it use alternate energy sources, including generators and solar energy, to supply electricity during power outages.

The extremely limited availability of electricity over long periods affects nearly all aspects of everyday life for Gaza residents, but particularly jeopardizes the rights of people with disabilities. Fadwa Salha, the mother of an 11-year-old girl with cerebral palsy and an intellectual disability, said that her daughter uses a nebulizer when she has trouble breathing, which she cannot operate without electricity, putting her child’s health at risk.

When the power cuts out while her daughter is using the ventilator, Salha said, her daughter’s “chest starts going up and down, she breathes quickly, her heart beats quickly and her eyes move really fast and she has phlegm. Sometimes I cry when electricity is cut off, wishing I could do anything not to see her in that condition.”

Many people with disabilities also need a regular electricity supply to move or communicate. For those with physical disabilities living in a heavily urban context, the electricity schedule dictates when elevators work, and therefore, when they can leave their apartments.

A 25-year-old woman with a physical disability who lives on the eighth floor of a high-rise building, said that she is able to leave her home only when electricity is available to use the elevator. Electricity sometimes comes only at odd hours, she said, and is often unavailable when she needs to go out, including for appointments or to run errands, sometimes for days or weeks at a time. She said she missed a friend’s wedding in March because of a power outage that evening. “I don’t know how to describe my feeling,” she said. “I felt so sad.”

A 26-year-old woman with a physical disability described having to cancel outings due to her inability to charge her mobility scooter. “Electricity shortages control my life,” she said. “It makes me feel more aware of my disability.”

Ahmed Abu Salama, 27, who acquired a disability after being wounded during a 2008 Israeli airstrike, also said electricity outages make it difficult to charge his mobility scooter. Mobility scooters require daily charging, which can take up to 14 hours, more than Gaza residents get most days.

He said the electricity sometimes comes on in the middle of the night, but since residents often avoid leaving devices plugged in overnight for fear that the change in voltage would damage them, he would miss that narrow window to charge it. “Because of this, my scooter sometimes suddenly runs out of charge while I am out, forcing me to call my father to take me home,” he said.

Light in the evenings is crucial for people with disabilities who use visual communication, such as sign language. Human Rights Watch interviewed five women with hearing disabilities who said that they cannot use sign language with family and friends during electrical blackouts.

Lack of Assistive Devices

People in Gaza with disabilities face difficulties getting assistive devices, such as wheelchairs and hearing aids, in part as a result of the Israeli closure. Israeli authorities do not restrict the import of assistive devices, but policies regarding “dual-use” items have restricted the entry of spare parts and batteries for hearing aids and other devices, Gisha said. Medical Aid for Palestinians has documented that Israel has restricted as “dual-use” items, carbon fiber components used to stabilize and treat limb injuries, and carbon fiber and epoxy resins used to produce artificial limbs, resulting in patients being fitted with heavier, more uncomfortable alternatives.

Alaa al-Ayadi, 43, said that his leg was amputated in 2018 after Israeli forces shot him as he protested along the fences with Israel. He said he received a prosthetic leg that did not fit him well and causes him significant pain. According to UNICEF, children whose limbs have been amputated have difficulty getting prosthetic and assistive devices as they grow and require replacements.

Hamas authorities in Gaza and humanitarian organizations have sought to provide assistive devices, but their efforts often fall short. Gaza’s Social Development Ministry reported on its website in September 2017, that it had allocated US $500,000 in its 2018-2020 plan for assistive devices, but it is unclear what devices it secured and distributed, and what standards it relies on to assess need.

Several people with disabilities interviewed in Gaza highlighted difficulties in obtaining free or subsidized assistive devices from local authorities, including long waits. Others said the devices they received were low quality or ill-fitting.

No single system exists in Gaza to compile information about community needs or to coordinate efforts among non-government organizations and local authorities, making some necessary items, such as mobility scooters, unavailable for long periods, while other items were available in excess.

Several people described a lack of expertise in Gaza to repair damaged devices, in part due to Israeli movement restrictions.

The restrictions prevent people from getting training and prevent outside experts from entering Gaza, said the Italian aid organization EducAid, which has an office in Gaza.

Dr. Hassan Ramadan, from the Gaza-based Atfalona Society for Deaf Children, said that Israeli authorities did not respond to requests for permits for him and another staff member to attend a workshop in Jordan in 2019 for treating children who undergo Cochlear Implant Surgery, a procedure to implant electronic devices to stimulate hearing. The Israeli authorities denied permits to four staff members to attend a similar workshop in the West Bank in 2018.

He felt the group had lost the opportunity for hands-on training on the latest methods of evaluation, maintenance of devices, and rehabilitation; and that this diminished the services they can provide to children with hearing disabilities.

Two women with hearing disabilities said that their hearing aids started buzzing in 2017, about two years after they acquired them. They said that the noise gives them severe headaches, but they cannot afford to have them repaired or replaced. “Despite the hearing aids causing me a severe headache, I have to keep it in my ear, so I can hear, for example, the sound of a car horn and avoid any accident,” one of them said.

Other people expressed concern about the possibility of damage to their assistive devices and the inability to have it repaired. “My scooter is as precious as a family member or part of my body,” said Zahra al-Mahoun. “I feel imprisoned without it.”

Inaccessible Environment

Many public institutions and other buildings across Gaza are inaccessible to people with disabilities. Palestinian law applicable in Gaza forbids discrimination based on disability, and guarantees people with disabilities the rights to health care, work, inclusive education, and access to public institutions, but Hamas authorities in Gaza have failed to adequately ensure accessibility. This failure leaves many people with disabilities unable to live independently, or participate in society on an equal basis with others, and at a possible serious risk of injury.

Many parts of Gaza, in particular the overcrowded refugee camps, have poor infrastructure, including narrow, bumpy, and uneven roads. Several people with physical disabilities said they felt the poor condition of roads put them at risk, and that they avoid leaving their homes in rainy weather for fear of accidents on muddy streets.

Doa Qashlan and her sister Abeer, 24, both said they fell off their mobility scooters several times, with Doa once injuring her face and Abeer bruising her body, as a result of the poor condition of the streets where they live in the Nuseirat refugee camp. Mohammad Qanona, 37, said he fell several times, once injuring his head while using his mobility scooter near his home in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.

In 2012, Gaza’s Local Government ministry set regulations requiring public buildings to guarantee accessibility, but the regulations did not specifically mandate providing ramps or elevators, or address other accessibility requirements. They also lacked clear standards for enforcement and did not address the needs of people with visual or other disabilities. Building regulations is issued by the ministry in January 2020 include more robust physical accessibility requirements, including mandating ramps and elevators for new public buildings, but do not address the accessibility needs of those with visual and other disabilities.  A ministry official said that the regulations apply to government facilities, gas stations, and other public institutions, but not private businesses, malls, and mosques.

The Gaza City municipality also has no separate plans for people with disabilities, and instead has prioritized initiatives such as paving roads that serve the entire population, a municipal official said.

Abdelkareem al-Qernawi, 30, said that the Social Development Ministry office in al-Nuseirat refugee camp where he often needs to go has no elevator. He either needs to bring someone with him to help, or waits downstairs until a staff person can come down to see him, which usually takes about an hour. A 30-year-old woman had similar experiences at two Labor Ministry offices in central Gaza Strip.

Gaza residents said that several organizations providing services to people with disabilities in Gaza had themselves not made accommodations for people with disabilities. Siham Abu Oweida, 37, said she attended a training session by a Gaza-based organization that provides services to people with disabilities on the third floor of a private university that had no elevator. She had to crawl up six flights of stairs to participate.

Human Rights Watch observed several organizations that work with people with disabilities that did not provide signs in Braille for those with visual disabilities.

Discrimination and Social Stigma

People with disabilities also face discrimination and social stigma, and are perceived as being helpless, unable to care for themselves, or to make their own decisions. Women with disabilities face discrimination both as women and as people with disabilities. A 26-year-old woman who has a physical disability said: “I hope people see me the same way they see other people. They consider us patients who need treatment, look at us with pity, they don’t think of us as humans.”

She said her family often tells her that no one will want to marry her on account of her physical disability. She described how they often act like she does not exist, not mentioning her even when others ask about the number of people in their family. “I don’t show that I am affected by this, I smile in front of them and hide inside my room to cry,” she added.

Three other women with disabilities also spoke of a widespread perception in Gaza that women with disabilities are unsuitable for marriage, while a man with a physical disability said the family of the woman he hoped to marry told him that they refused to consider him on account of his disability.

The mother of a girl with a physical disability said that her former husband regarded the child as “something that should not have happened,” would not allow her to leave the house so she would not be seen in public, and ultimately left her and the family because he could not accept that his child had a disability.

A 33-year-old woman with a hearing disability said, “When we are in the street using sign language, people look at us and make faces. My friends ask me to stop using sign language. It’s my language, I am proud of it [and] the society should accept it.”

The mother of an 18-year-old woman said when her daughter started displaying signs of a mental health condition as a child, the family despaired and felt they had no access to quality mental health care and psychosocial support for her. She said they decided, when she was 5 years old, to chain her hands and one of her feet during the day to prevent her from smashing things or fleeing the house, only unchaining her at night when she slept with her mother inside a locked room.

The woman’s elder sister said that they feel their only option, given scarce mental health services, is to chain the young woman. Human Rights Watch has documented shackling in 60 countries and found that proper mental health care and support can change such cruel practices.

The authorities have made little effort to combat stigma, such as through initiatives to raise awareness about the rights of people with disabilities, including mental health conditions. One woman with a hearing disability said: “People don’t understand the meaning of disability, they think that we have no ability to do anything. I have a disability and I am proud of my disability.”

Mental Health and Armed Conflict in Gaza

UN OCHA wrote in October of what it called a “mental health crisis in Gaza.” Many people with disabilities described feeling psychological distress as a result of Israel’s closure, as well as the other barriers they face. In particular, many pointed to traumatic experiences during armed hostilities and their difficulty or inability to flee danger in the event of a future attack.

Five people with disabilities described their severe difficulties fleeing civilian buildings that came under attack during Israeli offensives between 2009-2014, and their need for help to reach safety. Israeli forces sometimes provided warnings only minutes before striking–not enough time for people with disabilities to flee. The Geneva Academy in a 2019 report documented a 2014 airstrike that killed two people with disabilities, who could not evacuate a civilian building in the two minutes between receiving a “roof-knock warning” and the strike itself.

The 26-year-old woman with a physical disability said that, when a missile struck her house during the 2014 war, she tried to flee with the rest of her family but was wounded by shrapnel in her leg and remained stuck in the house for another 15 minutes, until a relative helped her out. She said the attack damaged her mobility scooter, which she said felt like “losing a member of a family.” Six years later, she said, she still hears the “sound of explosions in my head,” gets frightened whenever she hears ambulances, and avoids “looking at the sky.”

Ahmed Abu Salama, 27, said that, during the 2014 hostilities, an Israeli drone struck a mosque while he was praying there. Everyone fled but he froze, unsure if he could flee in his wheelchair. He waited a few minutes until some people returned and carried him out. In the 2008-2009 hostilities, he said, a bullet struck the wall above his head in the hospital room where he laid, and he managed to escape only with another person’s help. Abu Salama said that the incidents stayed with him and to this day he is startled every time he hears a loud sound.

EINDE BERICHT HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

[1]

GAZA IS NOG STEEDS BEZET GEBIEDZIE WAT MENSENRECHTENORGANISATIE HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH HIEROVER ZEGT, GEBASEERD OP HET INTERNATIONAAL RECHT
”“The removal of settlers and most military forces will not end Israel’s control over Gaza,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa Division. “Israel plans to reconfigure its occupation of the territory, but it will remain an occupying power with responsibility for the welfare of the civilian population.”

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCHISRAEL: ”DISENGAGEMENT” WILL NOT ENDGAZA OCCUPATION

Israeli Government Still Holds Responsibility for Welfare of Civilians

The Israeli government’s plan to remove troops and Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip would not end Israel’s occupation of the territory. As an occupying power, Israel will retain responsibility for the welfare of Gaza’s civilian population.

Under the “disengagement” plan endorsed Tuesday by the Knesset, Israeli forces will keep control over Gaza’s borders, coastline and airspace, and will reserve the right to launch incursions at will. Israel will continue to wield overwhelming power over the territory’s economy and its access to trade.

“The removal of settlers and most military forces will not end Israel’s control over Gaza,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa Division. “Israel plans to reconfigure its occupation of the territory, but it will remain an occupying power with responsibility for the welfare of the civilian population.”

Under the plan, Israel is scheduled to remove settlers and military bases protecting the settlers from the Gaza Strip and four isolated West Bank Jewish settlements by the end of 2005. The Israeli military will remain deployed on Gaza’s southern border, and will reposition its forces to other areas just outside the territory.

In addition to controlling the borders, coastline and airspace, Israel will continue to control Gaza’s telecommunications, water, electricity and sewage networks, as well as the flow of people and goods into and out of the territory. Gaza will also continue to use Israeli currency.

A World Bank study on the economic effects of the plan determined that “disengagement” would ease restrictions on mobility inside Gaza. But the study also warned that the removal of troops and settlers would have little positive effect unless accompanied by an opening of Gaza’s borders. If the borders are sealed to labor and trade, the plan “would create worse hardship than is seen today.”

The plan also explicitly envisions continued home demolitions by the Israeli military to expand the “buffer zone” along the Gaza-Egypt border. According to a report released last week by Human Rights Watch, the Israeli military has illegally razed nearly 1,600 homes since 2000 to create this buffer zone, displacing some 16,000 Palestinians. Israeli officials have called for the buffer zone to be doubled, which would result in the destruction of one-third of the Rafah refugee camp.

In addition, the plan states that disengagement “will serve to dispel the claims regarding Israel’s responsibility for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.” A report by legal experts from the Israeli Justice Ministry, Foreign Ministry and the military made public on Sunday, however, reportedly acknowledges that disengagement “does not necessarily exempt Israel from responsibility in the evacuated territories.”

If Israel removes its troops from Gaza, the Palestinian National Authority will maintain responsibility for security within the territory—to the extent that Israel allows Palestinian police the authority and capacity. Palestinian security forces will still have a duty to protect civilians within Gaza and to prevent indiscriminate attacks on Israeli civilians.

“Under international law, the test for determining whether an occupation exists is effective control by a hostile army, not the positioning of troops,” Whitson said. “Whether the Israeli army is inside Gaza or redeployed around its periphery and restricting entrance and exit, it remains in control.”

Under international law, the duties of an occupying power are detailed in the Fourth Geneva Convention and The Hague Regulations. According to The Hague Regulations, a “territory is considered occupied when it is actually placed under the authority of the hostile army. The occupation extends only to the territory where such authority has been established and can be exercised.”

The “disengagement plan,” as adopted by the Israeli Cabinet on June 6, 2004, and endorsed by the Knesset on October 26, is available at:
http://www.pmo.gov.il/nr/exeres/C5E1ACE3-9834-414E-9512-8E5F509E9A4D.htm.

[2]

ARTIKEL 33, 4E CONVENTIE VAN GENEVE
INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY, COLLECTIVE PENALTIES, PILLAGE, REPRISALSARTICLE 33 [ Link ]

No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.
Pillage is prohibited.
Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited.

[6]

”Israeli police on Thursday entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem to facilitate the arrival of Jewish visitors to the flashpoint holy site, sparking new clashes, according to local media.”
THE STATESMANCLASHES AGAIN ERUPT IN JERUSALEM’S Al-AQSA MOSQUE COMPOUND21 APRIL 2022
https://www.thestatesman.com/world/clashes-erupt-jerusalems-al-aqsa-mosque-compound-1503062860.html

Israeli police on Thursday entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem to facilitate the arrival of Jewish visitors to the flashpoint holy site, sparking new clashes, according to local media.

Israel’s state-owned Kan Reshet Bet Radio reported that “hundreds” of Jewish visitors escorted by police forces arrived in the early morning hours at the site, which is holy to both Muslims and Jews, reports Xinhua news agency.

The police said in a statement that Palestinians barricaded themselves inside the mosque and hurled firecrackers and stones at the Jewish officers.

EINDE BERICHT

WIKIPEDIA

AL AQSA MOSQUE

[7]

‘On Wednesday, 19 January, Israeli authorities demolished a family home in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem. The possibility of further evictions of Palestinian families from homes they have lived in for decades in the Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem poses the risk of fuelling tensions on the ground and contributes to the worrying trend of increasing numbers of demolitions and evictions in the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem.”

  ” On Wednesday, 19 January, Israeli authorities demolished a family home in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem.”

ISRAEL/PALESTINE: STATEMENT BY THE SPOKESPERSON ONDEVELOPMENTS IN OCCUPIED EAST JERUSALEM

19 JANUARI 2022

Statements by the Spokesperson

On Wednesday, 19 January, Israeli authorities demolished a family home in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem. The possibility of further evictions of Palestinian families from homes they have lived in for decades in the Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem poses the risk of fuelling tensions on the ground and contributes to the worrying trend of increasing numbers of demolitions and evictions in the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem.

On Monday, 17 January the Jerusalem District Committee for Planning and Building decided to advance a plan for the construction of more than 1,450 settlement-housing units between Har Homa and Givat Hamatos for the “Lower Aqueduct Plan”, which includes lands in occupied East Jerusalem.  The EU urges Israel not to proceed with this plan that would further undermine the possibility of Jerusalem serving as the future capital of both States and to halt all settlement activities.

Settlement expansion, demolitions and evictions are illegal under international law. They exacerbate tensions, threaten the viability of the two-state solution and diminish prospects for a lasting peace. The EU stands ready to give the parties full support in opening the path towards the relaunch of the peace process as soon as possible.Peter STANO(link sends e-mail)Lead Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy+32 (0)460 75 45 53Lauranne DEVILLE(link sends e-mail)Press Officer for Foreign Affairs and Security+32 (0)2 29 92256+32 (0) 460 758 775

OVER DE ILLEGALITEIT VAN DE ISRAELISCHE NEDERZETTINGEN,VOLGENS HET INTERNATIONAAL RECHT
HET RODE KRUIS:

”It is unlawful under the Fourth Geneva Convention for an occupying power to transfer parts of its own population into the territory it occupies. This means that international humanitarian law prohibits the establishment of settlements, as these are a form of population transfer into occupied territory”

ICRC.ORG [INTERNATIONALE RODE KRUIS]

WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY ABOUT THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SETTLEMENTS

05-10-2010 FAQ

When a territory is placed under the authority of a hostile army, the rules of international humanitarian law dealing with occupation apply. Occupation confers certain rights and obligations on the occupying power.

• International Review of the Red Cross, No 885, special issue on Occupation
• Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 49.  

Prohibited actions include forcibly transferring protected persons from the occupied territories to the territory of the occupying power. 
It is unlawful under the Fourth Geneva Convention for an occupying power to transfer parts of its own population into the territory it occupies. This means that international humanitarian law prohibits the establishment of settlements, as these are a form of population transfer into occupied territory. Any measure designed to expand or consolidate settlements is also illegal. Confiscation of land to build or expand settlements is similarly prohibited. 

EINDE BERICHT

”The establishment of the settlements contravenes international humanitarian law (IHL), which states that an occupying power may not relocate its own citizens to the occupied territory or make permanent changes to that territory, unless these are needed for imperative military needs, in the narrow sense of the term, or undertaken for the benefit of the local population.”

BTSELEM.ORG

SETTLEMENTS

[1]
”Ik hoop dat u hieruit lering trekt en dat dit uw berichtgeving

in de toekomst ten goede mag komen.

Anders vindt u mij weer op uw Pad”

ISRAELISCH POLITIEGEWELD BIJ AL-AQSA MOSKEE/

ASTRID ESSED VERSUS NOS/KRITIEK EN VOORZICHTIGE

COMPLIMENTEN

ASTRID ESSED

21 APRIL 2022

ZIE VOOR GEHELE MAIL, HELEMAAL ONDERAAN

[2]

ZIE NOOT 1

[3]

ASTRID ESSED VERSUS NOS TELETEKSTREDACTIE

[4]

Bij de Al-Aqsamoskee op de Tempelberg vielen vrijdag meer dan 150 Palestijnse gewonden toen clashes uitbraken tussen Israëlische ordetroepen en Palestijnse jongeren. Meer dan 400 Palestijnen werden gearresteerd. Daarbij betrad de Israëlische politie ook de Al-Aqsamoskee, in de ogen van veel moslims een provocatie.

….

….

”Maar er circuleren ook video’s van Israëlische agenten die met wapenstokken op het oog vreedzame moskeegangers slaan, onder wie vrouwen en een journalist”

NOS

ISRAEL ONDERSCHEPT RAKET EN VOERT BOMBARDEMENTUIT OP GAZA

Te midden van hoog oplopende spanningen is gisteravond vanuit de Palestijnse Gazastrook een raket afgeschoten op Israël. De Israëlische krijgsmacht onderschepte het projectiel met het zogeheten Iron Dome-luchtafweersysteem.

De verantwoordelijkheid voor de lancering van de raket werd niet opgeëist door Hamas of een van de andere Palestijnse militante groeperingen in de Gazastrook. Hoe dan ook houdt Israël Hamas ervoor verantwoordelijk, de beweging die in de Palestijnse enclave de dienst uitmaakt. De bombardementen die Israël vannacht uitvoerde, waren gericht op wat het omschrijft als een wapenfabriek van Hamas. Daarbij vielen geen gewonden.

De beschietingen volgen op een reeks gewelddadige confrontaties in Jeruzalem de afgelopen dagen. Bij de Al-Aqsamoskee op de Tempelberg vielen vrijdag meer dan 150 Palestijnse gewonden toen clashes uitbraken tussen Israëlische ordetroepen en Palestijnse jongeren. Meer dan 400 Palestijnen werden gearresteerd. Daarbij betrad de Israëlische politie ook de Al-Aqsamoskee, in de ogen van veel moslims een provocatie.

Een deel van het politiegeweld was gericht tegen Palestijnse jongeren die met stenen en vuurwerk gooiden. Zo raakten joodse gelovigen zondag gewond toen hun bus op weg naar de Klaagmuur bekogeld werd met stenen. Maar er circuleren ook video’s van Israëlische agenten die met wapenstokken op het oog vreedzame moskeegangers slaan, onder wie vrouwen en een journalist. De filmpjes leidden tot veel Palestijnse verontwaardiging.

Ook in andere landen in het Midden-Oosten is fel gereageerd op het Israëlische politieoptreden. Jordanië, het buurland waarmee Israël in 1994 vrede sloot, riep een hoge Israëlische diplomaat op het matje. Verder bespraken de Jordaanse koning Abdullah en president Sisi van Egypte de kwestie. Ze waren het erover eens dat “alle illegale en provocatieve Israëlische maatregelen” gestopt moesten worden. Ook zou Jordanië de ontwikkelingen met andere Arabische landen willen bespreken.

VN-Veiligheidsraad

Ook in de Veiligheidsraad van de Verenigde Naties komen de oplaaiende spanningen vandaag aan de orde. De Verenigde Staten en de Europese Unie riepen de afgelopen dagen zowel Israëliërs als Palestijnen op tot terughoudendheid en kalmte.

Binnen Israël leidt de kwestie ook tot problemen voor de regeringscoalitie van premier Bennett, die sowieso al onder druk staat. De conservatief-islamitische partij Ra’am heeft haar steun aan de regering opgeschort. Hoewel het lijkt te gaan om een symbolische stap, is het een verdere verzwakking van de fragiele meerpartijencoalitie.

Ongewapende vrouw gedood

Het Palestijns-Israëlische conflict laaide de afgelopen weken weer in alle hevigheid op. Bij Palestijnse aanslagen in Israël vielen veertien doden. Ook werden bij Israëlische invallen op de bezette Westelijke Jordaanoever tientallen Palestijnen doodgeschoten. Sommigen waren betrokken bij aanslagen of vuurgevechten met militairen, maar ook een ongewapende vrouw en een advocaat werden gedood.

Een brandpunt van het geweld is de stad Jenin op de Westelijke Jordaanoever, waar twee aanslagplegers vandaan kwamen. Ook gisteren voerde Israël weer invallen uit in de buurt van Jenin en op andere plekken in bezet Palestijns gebied. Daarbij raakten twee Palestijnen ernstig gewond. Israël meldde elf verdachten te hebben aangehouden.

250 doden

De escalatie van het geweld doet sommigen terugdenken aan vorig jaar. Toen leidden spanningen in Jeruzalem en confrontaties bij de Al-Aqsamoskee uiteindelijk tot een kortdurende oorlog tussen Israël en Hamas, waarbij meer dan 250 doden vielen.

Net als vorig jaar lopen de spanningen op ten tijde van de islamitische vastenmaand ramadan. Omdat die dit jaar bovendien samenvalt met het joodse Pesach en het christelijke Pasen, staat iedereen extra op scherp. Dat geldt zeker voor Jeruzalem, voor alle drie de religies een heilige stad, waar tienduizenden gelovigen samenkomen om de feestdagen te vieren.

Ondanks de raketbeschieting van gisteravond en het Israëlische bombardement is van een escalatie zoals vorig jaar op dit moment nog geen sprake. Zowel Israël als Hamas lijkt vooralsnog geen interesse te hebben in een totale opflakkering van het geweld die tot een oorlog zou leiden. Toch blijven de spanningen onverminderd hoog en is een volgende geweldsuitbarsting verre van uitgesloten.

EINDE BERICHT

”Israeli forces have attacked Palestinian worshippers inside al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem during an early morning raid on Friday, wounding and arresting dozens of people. ”MIDDLEASTEYEISRAELI FORCES ATTACK PALESTINIAN WORSHIPPERS INAL-AQSA MOSQUE RAID
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-jerusalem-aqsa-mosque-storm-attack-worshipper

At least 152 Palestinians wounded as Israeli forces fire rubber-coated steel bullets, teargas and stun grenades during dawn assault

Israeli forces have attacked Palestinian worshippers inside al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem during an early morning raid on Friday, wounding and arresting dozens of people. 

Scores of worshippers were wounded as Israeli forces fired rubber-coated steel bullets, teargas and stun grenades inside the courtyards and prayer halls of the mosque.

The Palestine Red Crescent said 152 people were evacuated from the mosque and transferred to nearby hospitals, including many with upper body wounds. Al-Makassed hospital in East Jerusalem said they had received 40 wounded people from Al-Aqsa, two of them with critical injuries. 

At least 400 people were arrested.

Shiekh Ekrima Sabri, the imam of Al-Aqsa, said the raid was intended to pave the way for Israeli settlers to storm the mosque during the Jewish Passover holiday, which starts later this evening. 

“What happened today was a premeditated and orchestrated attack after the mobilisation of occupation forces to suppress the defenceless worshipers,” Sabri told Middle East Eye. 

“They want to deter Muslims from coming to the mosque and allow Jewish intruders to storm Al-Aqsa,” the 82-year-old said, referring to plans by far-right Israeli activists to storm the mosque during Passover and slaughter animals on the premises as part of a religious sacrifice. 

Such sacrifices inside al-Aqsa are unprecedented and will likely provoke the feelings of Muslims worldwide, who revere the Jerusalem site as the third holiest site in Islam. 

“The [Passover] holiday will last for a week and therefore it is likely that they will try to storm again. Muslims must be wary and vigilant from any surprise raids and any treachery carried out by the occupation against us,” Sabri said. 

How the raid unfolded 

Overnight, Israeli forces sent large reinforcements to al-Aqsa, eyewitnesses told MEE. Shortly after the dawn prayer was concluded at around 5.30am local time, Israeli forces immediately started their assaults. 

At the time, around 30,000 worshippers had arrived from Jerusalem and Palestinian communities inside Israel to join the prayer. 

Police stormed the courtyards of the mosque from several gates, climbed the roof of the Qibli prayer hall – the main building on the site from where congregational prayers are led – and proceeded to fire at worshippers, preventing medics from accessing the wounded.

After one hour of continued attacks, Israeli forces surrounded hundreds of worshippers inside the silver-domed prayer hall before firing teargas and stun grenades inside the building. 

“They beat everyone. Journalists, medics, elderly women – everyone that was in their way. They didn’t spare anyone,” eyewitness Fakhri Abu Diab told MEE.  

After four hours, Israeli forces cleared all the mosque’s courtyards of almost all worshippers. They then moved in on worshippers inside the Qibli hall who refused to be forced out and locked the doors.

Dozens of Israeli officers infiltrated the hall from the back entrance next to the mosque’s clinic, which they also stormed, according to Abu Diab. They then fired directly at worshippers, who took cover behind the pillars, before police arrested over 400 of them.

Though Israel has repeatedly raided al-Aqsa and shot stun grenades and teargas into the Qibli hall, it is very rare for its forces to enter the 1,000-year-old domed building, particularly in great numbers.

EINDE BERICHT

[5]

BESTORMING AL-AQSA MOSKEE IN 2021
https://twitter.com/_Goldwasser_/status/1391005116996726787

Richard Goldwasser@_Goldwasser_The ever present question is where do Palestinians go to vindicate their rights, to seek protection, or now even to worship?Quote Tweet

Arwa Ibrahim@arwaib · May 8, 2021Absolutely horrendous scenes from inside Al-Aqsa Mosque compound where Israeli forces attacked peaceful worshippers holding night prayers

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BRON BOVENSTAAND YOUTUBE FILMPJE 
THE RIGHTS FORUM
”Vrijdag bestormden Israëlische troepen zelfs de voor moslims heilige Al-Aqsa-moskee.”
THE RIGHTS FORUMESCALATIE IN OOST-JERUZALEM HOUDTGROTE RISICO’S IN10 MEI 2021
https://rightsforum.org/escalatie-in-oost-jeruzalem-houdt-grote-risicos-in/

De verdrijving van Palestijnse inwoners, het permanente Israëlisch geweld en andere factoren hebben in Oost-Jeruzalem geleid tot een explosieve situatie, die zich inmiddels tot ver buiten de stad uitstrekt. Decennia van kolonisering hebben een rampzalige situatie opgeleverd.

De afgelopen dagen is in Oost-Jeruzalem de spanning geëscaleerd die zich afgelopen weken heeft opgebouwd tussen de Israëlische autoriteiten, politie, groepen rechtse nationalisten en kolonisten enerzijds, en de lokale Palestijnse bevolking anderzijds. Vrijdag-, zaterdag- en zondagavond, en ook al daarvoor, vonden harde botsingen plaats in de wijk Sheikh Jarrah, bij de Damascuspoort en in andere delen van de Oude Stad.

Op media zoals Middle East Eye, dat eigen verslaggevers ter plaatse heeft, is een aaneenschakeling te zien van video’s waarin zwaar bewapende Israëlische troepen grof geweld gebruiken tegen Palestijnen, die vanwege het einde van de vastenmaand Ramadan juist massaal bijeenkomen. Vrijdag bestormden Israëlische troepen zelfs de voor moslims heilige Al-Aqsa-moskee. Aan Palestijnse zijde werden circa 290 gewonden gemeld, van wie er ruim honderd in ziekenhuizen moesten worden opgenomen. Ook 18 Israëlische politieagenten raakten gewond. Die aantallen liepen zondagavond verder op.

Sheikh Jarrah

De belangrijkste aanleiding tot de onlusten ligt in de wijk Sheikh Jarrah, even ten noorden van de Oude Stad, waar vier Palestijnse families acuut op straat dreigen te worden gezet ten gunste van Israëlische kolonisten. In de wijk wacht in totaal 78 families dit lot. Simultaan vindt hetzelfde proces van huisuitzettingen plaats in andere wijken van Oost-Jeruzalem, waaronder Silwan. In een eerder artikel beschreven wij een aantal concrete voorbeelden, onder meer in Sheikh Jarrah.

De Palestijnse families in Sheikh Jarrah maken deel uit van (nazaten van) de circa 750 duizend Palestijnen die in 1947-48 door Joodse milities op de vlucht werden gejaagd of verdreven uit hun woonplaatsen binnen het huidige Israël. Nadat Israël hen het recht van terugkeer naar hun woonplaatsen en bezittingen ontzegde, werden 28 families in 1956 gehuisvest in het onder Jordaans gezag staande Palestijnse Oost-Jeruzalem, waar de VN-organisatie UNRWA de bouw van woningen faciliteerde op door Jordanië beschikbaar gesteld land. Het is deze, sindsdien toegenomen, gemeenschap die nu in Sheikh Jarrah uit haar huizen dreigt te worden gezet.

Joodse meerderheid

Cruciaal hierin was de bezetting van Oost-Jeruzalem, samen met de Westoever en Gaza, door Israël in 1967. Die vormde het startschot van de Israëlische politiek om in Oost-Jeruzalem een ‘Joodse meerderheid’ tot stand te brengen. Sindsdien wordt het stadsdeel agressief gekoloniseerd. Israël heeft intussen ruim 225 duizend burgers naar Oost-Jeruzalem overgebracht (cijfers 2019).

Daarnaast worden Palestijnse inwoners door Israël op alle denkbare manieren de stad uitgedreven: door het intrekken van vergunningen, landconfiscatie, huisuitzettingen, afbraak van woningen, en de aanleg van parken en archeologische zones op Palestijns land of tussen Palestijnse gemeenschappen, die zich daardoor niet kunnen uitbreiden. Per 2017 was ruim 14 duizend Palestijnen het inwonerschap van Oost-Jeruzalem ontnomen, en waren ruim tweeduizend Palestijnse woningen gesloopt. Het huidige aantal Palestijnse inwoners van Oost-Jeruzalem bedraagt circa 350 duizend.

De huisuitzettingen in Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan en andere wijken passen in deze praktijk van etnische zuivering, die tot doel heeft het Palestijnse deel van de bevolking van Jeruzalem te vervangen door Joods-Israëlische kolonisten. Daarover wordt niet geheimzinnig gedaan: in een video legt een woordvoerder van de Israëlische kolonisten in Sheikh Jarrah uit hoe dat proces in zijn werk gaat, en erkent hij volmondig dat dit neerkomt op verdrijving van de Palestijnen. Een andere video toont een kolonist die het stelen van een Palestijns huis legitimeert met de opmerking dat anders een ander dat wel zal doen.

Israëlisch ‘recht’

Daartoe wordt gebruik gemaakt van Israëlische wetgeving, die buiten de eigen grenzen wordt toegepast op bezet Palestijns gebied. Zaterdag werd Israël door de Hoge VN-Commissaris voor de Mensenrechten gewezen op de ondeugdelijkheid van die constructie, en gewaarschuwd dat op Oost-Jeruzalem het internationaal recht van toepassing is, waarbinnen de Israëlische kolonisering als mogelijke oorlogsmisdaad geldt, en acties als huisuitzettingen strikt verboden zijn. Als bezettingsmacht is Israël verantwoordelijk voor het welzijn van de lokale bevolking.

De door Israël gebruikte wetgeving is een amendement op de zogenoemde Absentee Property Law, waarmee Israël in 1950 al het land en de bezittingen confisqueerde van de ‘absente’ Palestijnse eigenaren – de 750 duizend verdreven en gevluchte Palestijnen die tegelijkertijd het recht van terugkeer werd onthouden. Dit nadat de bezittingen van 600 duizend Palestijnen al in 1948 in een nationale plundertocht door Joden geroofd waren, zoals verleden jaar na Israëlisch onderzoek kwam vast te staan.

Nadat Israël in 1967 Oost-Jeruzalem en de overige Palestijnse gebieden bezette, werd de Israëlische wet in 1970 uitgebreid met een amendement dat (uitsluitend) Joden het recht geeft om in bezet Oost-Jeruzalem land en onroerend goed op te eisen dat voor 1948 Joods bezit was. De wet wordt vervolgens afgedwongen door het Israëlische juridische systeem van toepassing te verklaren op bezet gebied, wat de Palestijnen kansloos maakt, zelfs al kunnen die hun eigendomsrecht aantonen.

Kapot geprocedeerd

Met toepassing van het amendement kende Israël het eigendom van het land waarop de bedreigde families in Sheikh Jarrah wonen in 1972 toe aan twee Joodse organisaties, die het in de jaren negentig doorverkochten aan de private kolonistenorganisatie Nahalat Shimon International, een in de VS geregistreerd bedrijf met onbekende geldschieters. Het bedrijf diende al in 2009 een plan in bij het Israëlische gemeentebestuur van Jeruzalem voor de vestiging van een nieuwe Joodse kolonie van tweehonderd woningen in Sheikh Jarrah, waarvoor tenminste vijfhonderd Palestijnen het veld dienen te ruimen.

De door de kolonisten van Nahalat Shimon gevolgde strategie loopt via de Israëlische rechter. De Palestijnse eigenaren worden jaren achtereen letterlijk kapot geprocedeerd, tot aan het Israëlische Hooggerechtshof toe. Dat gaf de vier bedreigde Palestijnse families op 2 mei jl. vier dagen de tijd om met de kolonisten tot een vergelijk te komen, wat door de Palestijnen rigoreus werd afgewezen. Daarop wees het hof vandaag aan voor een besluit, waarop het echter zondag terugkwam: de zaak is voorlopig uitgesteld.

Wereldwijde protesten

Reden voor het uitstel is dat de woede en frustratie onder de Palestijnen zich heeft verspreid over de Westoever, Gaza en steden binnen Israël zelf. In Haifa werd zondagavond massaal gedemonstreerd, waarbij door de politie geweld werd gebruikt en 18 arrestaties werden verricht. Ook in onder meer Nazareth en Ramallah werd gedemonstreerd.

Maar ook internationaal is de maat vol. Wereldwijd werden zondag protestacties gehouden, waaronder in Amsterdam, Londen, Berlijn en Chicago. Talloze landen, waaronder de VS en Israëls nieuwe Arabische vrienden Bahrein en de VAE, hebben Israël aangesproken op zijn politiek in Oost-Jeruzalem en de dreigende gevolgen. Deze maandag komt de VN-Veiligheidsraad bijeen op verzoek van onder meer Frankrijk, Ierland en Noorwegen.

Grote risico’s

Intussen neemt het risico op complete ontsporing toe. Juist deze maandag viert Israël ‘Jeruzalemdag’, ter ere van de ‘hereniging’ van West- en Oost-Jeruzalem in 1967. Het is gebruikelijk dat ‘s avonds een vlaggenparade plaatsvindt, waarbij duizenden nationalistische Israëli’s provocatief door het bezette Oost-Jeruzalem marcheren. Gezien de explosieve situatie, die bovendien samenvalt met het einde van de vastenmaand Ramadan, ligt een verbod van de parade voor de hand.

Van Israëlische politici en bestuurders valt zo’n verbod echter niet te verwachten, vervlochten als de meesten zijn met de kolonistenbeweging. Symbool van die cultuur is locoburgemeester Aryeh King van Jerusalem, die vrijdag aan de New York Times in alle openheid uitlegde dat de huisuitzettingen deel uitmaken van de strategie om ‘de vijand’ (de Palestijnen en andere niet-Joden) te vervangen door ‘Joden’.

De Israëlische regering heeft elke verantwoordelijkheid voor de huidige escalatie van de hand gewezen met de bizarre redenering dat rond de huisuitzettingen sprake is van een ‘privaat geschil’, dat door de Palestijnen wordt gebruikt om herrie te schoppen. Zondag paaide premier Netanyahu zijn rechtse bondgenoten met de belofte dat Israël zal doorgaan met het koloniseren van Oost-Jeruzalem.

‘Pogrom’ als voorproefje

Diezelfde houding leidde minder dan drie weken geleden tot een voorproefje van wat de Palestijnen vanavond mogelijk te wachten staat, toen de ultra rechts-nationalistische organisatie Lehava toestemming kreeg voor een massale demonstratie in Oost-Jeruzalem onder het motto ‘herstel van Joodse waardigheid’. Locoburgemeester King zette de toon met de oproep aan de politie om Palestijnse demonstranten die ‘s nachts op straat waren dood te schieten.

Aldus zette zich op 22 april een horde aan extremistische Israëli’s in beweging onder uitroepen als ‘Dood aan de Arabieren’ en ‘We branden je dorp af’. Ondanks pogingen van de Israëlische politie om hen tegen te houden, werden op talloze plaatsen Palestijnen aangevallen, huizen binnengedrongen, en keerde ook de politie zich met grof geweld tegen de Palestijnen. Gevolg: 105 gewonde Palestijnen, van wie er 22 moesten worden opgenomen, en twee gewonde Israëli’s. Vijftig personen werden gearresteerd, de meesten Palestijn. Diverse media berichtten over de Lehava-actie als een ‘pogrom’.

In de avonden daaraan voorafgaand liepen groepen Israëlische Joden ook al door het stadscentrum, ‘Dood aan de Arabieren’ scanderend, en Palestijnse voorbijgangers bekogelend met stenen en traangas. Een getuige zag een groep van zestig Joden die ‘op zoek waren naar Arabieren’ en willekeurige Palestijnen aanvielen. Binnen de groep werd met trots verteld dat ‘ze acht Arabieren hebben gegrepen’ en er ‘één bijna hebben vermoord’.

In deze traditie zal deze maandag dus een Israëlische vlaggenparade plaatsvinden door de Oude Stad, waarbij ook een bezoek aan de Al-Haram al-Sharif (Tempelberg) op het programma staat – de locatie van de Al-Aqsa-moskee, waar tienduizenden Palestijnen deze week de rituelen rond het einde van de Ramadan volbrengen. Vijf dagen later gedenken de Palestijnen de Nakba, de ‘Catastrofe’ waarbij in 1947-48 circa 750 duizend Palestijnen werden verdreven. Voor veel Palestijnen in Oost-Jeruzalem, waaronder in Sheikh Jarrah, gebeurt dat in het vooruitzicht van een nieuwe verdrijving. In alle opzichten reden om het ergste te vrezen.

EINDE BERICHT