February 29, 2008

 

The PHRMG Summary Report for February 2008

 

(78)      Palestinians were killed by Israeli Security Forces. 41 of the ( 78) deaths were assassinations carried out by the Israeli Security Forces,10   of  the ( 78) were children.

(8)        Unclear Palestinian deaths (The source of the explosions or other accidents is unknown)

(3)        Palestinians killed by Palestinians in gunfire.

(3)        Palestinian honor killings.

(1)        Israeli soldiers killed by Palestinians.

(2)        Israeli civilian killed by Palestinians.

 

 

Israel Sanctions Continue on Gaza Strip

 

Wed., February 6^th, 2008:  Israel reduced the supply of electricity sold to Gaza, as part of broader punitive measures taken against Gaza's civilian population with the approval of Israel's Supreme Court. The cuts to electricity were permitted after Israel's Supreme Court rejected a petition by ten Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations challenging Israel's planned reductions on the amount of electricity and fuel it allowed Gaza residents to purchase. The groups claimed that the cuts violate international law because they deliberately harm civilians, depriving them of the energy they need to run vital services in Gaza. Israel controls Gaza's borders and does not permit supplies to enter Gaza except via Israeli controlled crossings.

 

 

3 Patients Die and Ambulances Stopped Due to Lack of Fuel

 

On February 16^th, 2008, Reem Fu’ad Mahmoud al-Batash, 34, from Jabalya, a mother of six children, died as IOF delayed her access to medical treatment at Ekhilov Hospital in Israel for 5 days. Al-Batah suffered from a brain clot on February 11^th, 2008. She was evacuated to Kamal ‘Edwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, and from there, she was transferred to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City due to severity of her condition. As a result of inappropriate medical equipment and a medicine shortage, doctors decided to transfer her to Ekhilov Hospital in Israel. According to sources of the Palestinian Ministry of Health, on February 11^th, 2008, an application to obtain permission for her to travel to Israel through Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing was submitted. IOF delayed their approval for five days. On Friday morning, February 15^th, 2008, her health condition seriously deteriorated and she was pronounced clinically dead, before the Palestinian Ministry of Health received admission from IOF to allow her to travel to Ekhilov Hospital. Because she was in very critical condition, it was not possible to transfer her to the Israeli hospital, and she died on Saturday, February 16^th, 2008.

 

On February 18^th, 2008, ‘Abdul ‘Azim ‘Ouda ‘Abed Rabbu Khader, 59, from Jabalya refugee camp, died. Khader had suffered from a blockage of arteries for nearly two months, during which he had been admitted into the intensive care unit at Kamal ‘Edwan Hospital in Beit Lahia. He was also suffering from diabetes and hypertension. He was desperately in need of cardio surgery, which is not available in the Gaza Strip. He was not able to travel abroad due to the closure of Rafah International Crossing Point on the Egyptian border. Khader did not have an ID card. He came back to the Gaza Strip at the end of 2005 following 23 years of deportation, which had been preceded by 13 years of imprisonment in Israeli jails.

 

On February 19^th, 2008, Sa’id Mohammed Sa’id al-‘Aaidi, 1.5, from al-Junaina neighborhood in Rafah, died as his health condition deteriorated. He had not been able to travel to an Egyptian hospital to continue medical treatment. The child had received medical treatment in December 2006 at Nasser Institute Hospital and Abu al-Reesh Hospital in Egypt. He was suffering from an inborn failure in his liver, and a lack of testicles in the scrotum, inflation in the abdomen and delayed growth. He came back to the Gaza Strip at the end of the first stage of medical treatment, and he was supposed to start the second stage in 6 months. However, he had not been able to travel to Egypt due to the closure of Rafah International Crossing Point. His health condition had deteriorated since July 7^th, 2007.

 

 

Lawyer Kidnapped in Ramallah

On Wednesday, February 6^th, unknown assailants kidnapped the lawyer Amani Taha Abu Arqoub (28) from the town of Durra, southwest of Hebron. The kidnapping took place in Ramallah.  The victim’s family indicated that Abu Arqoub left her house on Wednesday morning and headed to the appeals court in El-Bireh for a case against the Palestinian Development Fund.  She later called her colleague, Suheil Ashour, to inform him that she had won the case and that she was on her way to the office of the Palestinian Development Fund in the Masyoun area in Ramallah to collect a check. Three of the lawyer’s brothers and sisters received a telephone message from the kidnappers stating that “Amani will be away for 7 days. We will let you speak to her after that.” The message was sent from a mobile phone working on the Israel Cellcom network. The following day, Amani’s brother received a message stating that she is well.

 

 

Three Palestinians on a Picnic Killed by Israeli Bombardment in Beit Hanoun

On Saturday, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) fired a surface-to-surface missile from one of its bases along the Gaza Strip border. The rocket targeted three friends in a bamboo-hut in a field belonging to the family of one of the victims in the Nazaz area East of Beit Hanoun. The target area was approximately 1.2 kilometers away from the border with Israel. The rocket landed on the three civilians who were preparing food for their picnic in the field. They were instantly killed. Their remains were taken to the Beit Hanoun Hospital. They were identified as:

-      Mohammad Talal El-Za’anin (20), university student from Beit Hanoun.

-      Ibrahim Ahmad Abu Jarad (20), driver from Beit Hanoun.

-      Mohammad Hasan Hussein (22), an employee from Jabalia.

After the incident, an IOF spokesperson was quoted on the Yediot Aharonot website claiming that the army targeted armed Palestinian rocket launchers. However, investigations affirm that they were civilians on a picnic in an open field.

Unidentified Militants Attack YMCA Headquarters in Gaza City

According to preliminary investigations, at approximately midnight on Friday, February 14^th, a group of more than ten unidentified militants, some masked, broke into the YMCA, in the centre of Gaza city. The militants overpowered two security guards, Abdel Maarti Abu Khussah (52) and Reziq Abu Ajami (25), handcuffed both men at gunpoint, and confiscated their mobile phones as well as the keys to the YMCA. The militants broke into and damaged the YMCA administration office, before breaking into the library. One of the explosive devices planted by the militants went off later that night and destroyed the YMCA library. A second unexploded device was discovered at the entrance to the YMCA auditorium, and was later dismantled by the police.

 

The YMCA library contained 8,000 books, many of which had been donated by children, and has served as a popular cultural facility. It was later discovered that the militants had also stolen a computer and a television from the administration office. In addition, they stole a car, in which they abducted two security guards, belonging to the Gaza City Kanan Pedagogical Centre.