15 Martyred and 34 Wounded in Gaza

A Palestinian man passes the remains of houses after the OF bombardment

· 15 Palestinians, including 4 children and two women, were killed.

· 34 Palestinian civilians, including 12 children and two women, were wounded.

· 8 houses were destroyed after their residents were warned that the houses would be attacked.

· ZOF have continued to shell the northern Gaza Strip and al-Shouka village near Rafah, and many families were forced to leave their homes.

· ZOF razed at least 100 donums of agricultural land in Khan Yunis, and destroyed 24 houses and large areas of agricultural land in al-Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City.

· ZOF arrested 25 Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and two others in the Gaza Strip.

Summary

As the international community has remained silent, IOF have continued to wage a full scale offensive on the Palestinian people, especially in the Gaza Strip. During the reported period, ZOF have waged a media war against Palestinian civilians. They have dropped leaflets in streets and on roofs of houses, phoned civilians threatening to destroy their houses if they helped Palestinian resistance activist, and ordered a number of Palestinian resistance activists through phone calls on their mobile phones to evacuate their houses, which would be destroyed. IOF have further continued to attack journalists in an attempt to prevent them from reporting on Israeli practices in the OPT. They have also penetrated the broadcasting waves of a number of local radio, and broadcast warnings and threats to Palestinian civilians. Israel seeks to legitimize collective punishment against Palestinian civilians by claiming in its media that it does not target unarmed civilians and that it warns them before attacking any building belonging to them or located near them.

Israeli violations of international law continued in the Palestinian lands during the reported period (27 July – 2 August 2006):

Killing: During the reported period, ZOF killed 8 Palestinians, including 7 civilians, in the Gaza Strip. The victims included two children and two women. In addition, a child and a young man died from previous wounds. An old woman was killed by OF shelling on Jabalya town on 27 July 2006. Two children and a woman were killed in two separate attacked on al-Nada tower buildings near Beit Hanoun on 31 July and 1 August 2006. A Palestinian civilian was also killed by an OF air strike on Beit Lahia. The remaining victims were killed by OF during the offensive on al-Sha’af neighborhood in the east of Gaza City.

In addition, 23 Palestinian civilians, including 7 children and two women, were wounded by OF shelling. Thus, the number of Palestinians killed by OF in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the “Operation Summer Rains” on 25 June 2006 has increased to 159, including 86 civilians. These civilians have included 35 children and 10 women. In addition, 650 others, mostly civilians, including 170 children, 23 women, 4 paramedics and 4 journalists, have been wounded.

ZOF also launched at least 12 air strikes on a number of targets in the Gaza Strip, including 8 houses belonging to Palestinian resistance activists. These houses were destroyed, and a number of neighboring houses and civilian facilities were severely damaged. ZOF intelligence officers ordered owners of these houses by phone to evacuate their houses. The targeted houses were not located in confrontation areas, or in areas used to fire rockets. They were distributed in different parts of the Gaza Strip. In addition, they were multi-story apartment structures. The destruction caused fear among the civilian population. The destruction of houses is based on intelligence reports, which can be inaccurate or out of date and often do not justify attacks on civilians and their property.

In a further escalation, ZOF fired dozens of artillery shells at Palestinian residential areas and agricultural land in the Gaza Strip. A number of Palestinian civilians were killed or wounded and a number of flats were damaged. Hundreds of families have been forced to leave their homes due to the ZOF shelling. In Rafah, OF have repeatedly shelled the electricity network, cutting electricity off from the whole town.

Incursions: During the reported period, OF conducted 4 incursions into areas in the Gaza Strip. They destroyed civilian property and shelled residential areas. ZOF razed at least 100 donums in al-Fukhari area, east of Khan Yunis, and damaged dozens of houses. On 28 July 2006, the occupation forces withdrew from al-Tuffah neighborhood in the east of Gaza City, following a two-day incursion. During this incursion, ZOF killed 20 Palestinians, including a 3-year-old child, and wounded at least 70 others. They also destroyed dozens of donums of agricultural land, 24 houses and a number of civilian facilities.

In the West Bank, ZOF conducted at least 18 military incursions into Palestinian communities, during which they raided dozens of houses, buildings and civil institutions. ZOF raided houses and arrested 23 Palestinian civilians, including a woman and 5 children.

Restrictions on Movement: ZOF have continued to impose a tightened siege on the OPT and imposed severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Occupied East Jerusalem.