ISRAEL-OPT: Gaza squeezed by steady decline in imports, closure threats

Photo: Mahmoud Daher/IRIN

Palestinian patients waiting at Erez Crossing in order to enter Israel for medical treatment. Due to tight Israeli restrictions, many patients are unable to pass or have great difficulties doing so, limiting their access to needed care

JERUSALEM, 3 October 2007 (IRIN) - The UN has expressed renewed concern over the state of the Gaza Strip's border crossings, saying that, if realised, the Israeli threat of increased restrictions would most likely lead to a humanitarian crisis in the impoverished enclave. "There is an immediate need for better efforts by all sides to increase the flow of supplies to at least basic humanitarian levels and to ensure that the crossings remain open so as many supplies as possible can get in," said Kirstie Campbell of the World Food Programme in the occupied Palestinian territories. "The one and half million people in Gaza need more than what's getting in right now."

"In the last three months, the arrival of 106 truckloads of supplies per working day has ensured that there has not been a humanitarian crisis among the Gazan population. This could not be guaranteed with increased restrictions on the border crossings," a recent statement by UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

These truckloads contained mostly food products and other basic supplies, like soap and nappies.

However, before the mid-June internecine violence which culminated in Hamas seizing full control over the Gaza Strip, some 238 lorries were allowed into Gaza each day. Many of those lorries carried basic supplies, but also raw materials which are now banned.

Overall, some 3,190 trucks made it across during July, which was the highest of the last three months, compared to 5,814 in April.

Furthermore, statistics show a worrying decline recently even in the amount of basic supplies.

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In the first week of July, for example, 774 commercial trucks and 61 trucks belonging to humanitarian organisations made it into Gaza. During the last week of the month 754 commercial and 138 humanitarian trucks got through.

However, the first week of September saw only 531 commercial and 33 humanitarian shipments, while in the last week, until 25 September, just 182 commercial trucks and five humanitarian loads arrived, UN figures showed.

Reasons for reduced flow of goods

Observers say the drop is related to a number of factors, including increased poverty in the Gaza Strip which has affected purchasing power, fewer working hours due to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, as well as increased closures of the main crossings.

The restrictions are Israeli-imposed either due to the recent and ongoing Jewish holidays or because of mortar attacks on the crossings by Palestinian militants from inside Gaza.

"We can do very little when the crossings are fired on daily," said one Israeli defence establishment official. The concern over mortar attacks was bolstered by specific threats Israeli intelligence gathered regarding planned militant action, he said.

"The noose is tightening around Gaza," a humanitarian aid worker in the enclave told IRIN.

Effect on students, patients

The border crossings also mean an effective ban on travel, except for a few hundred people allowed out. Hundreds of students who study abroad are unable to leave the enclave, for example.

The Israeli High Court recently refused to intervene in the case of Khaled Mudallal, who studies in the UK. He was represented by Gisha, an Israeli human rights group.

Patients who need to travel to Israel or Egypt for medical care, due to the limited capacity of Gaza's health system, are also affected and many have difficulties or cannot receive the care they need.

Photo: Shabtai Gold/IRIN

Cheese being brought into Gaza at the Kerem Shalom Crossing

Dwindling supplies

The decrease in the influx of foodstuffs is taking its toll: the Strip is running low on fresh meat and oil while wheat prices are steadily rising.

The ban on imports of non-essentials, and on exports, means Gaza's business sector is on the brink of collapse, but also affects needed humanitarian supplies, like filters for drinking water and pumps, as well as spare parts for vehicles.

"There is an immediate need for better efforts by all sides to increase the flow of supplies to at least basic humanitarian levels and to ensure that the crossings remain open so as many supplies as possible can get in," said Kirstie Campbell of the World Food Programme in the occupied Palestinian territories.

"The one and half million people in Gaza need more than what's getting in right now."

OPT: Few legal options for abused Palestinian women, say activists

Photo: Tom Spender/IRIN

Palestinian women can be murdered for having sex before or outside marriage under the guise of 'family honour'

RAMALLAH, 3 October 2007 (IRIN) - Palestinian female victims of domestic violence have little chance of escaping their situation or bringing the perpetrators to justice as they face a legal system stacked in favour of the accused and a prevailing attitude that places blame on the victim, women's rights experts said.

Moreover, many women who have been raped are then killed by family members in "honour killings" for having brought shame to their family.

"Very seldom are the killers arrested or charged," and when they are, the maximum sentence that can be imposed is six months, said Masshoor Basisy, general director of planning at the Palestinian Authority (PA) Ministry for Women's Affairs.

"Violence against women is regarded as a taboo subject in our patriarchal society and with the problems associated with the occupation… in the [Palestinian] territories it has not been addressed adequately," Dima Nashashibi, deputy director of the Women's Centre for Legal Advice and Counselling (WCLAC) in Ramallah, told IRIN.

Photo: UNICEF-oPt

Palestinian women in violent or life-threatening marriages have two legal options available to them: pressing charges for spousal abuse or initiating a divorce on the basis of physical harm - according to HRW

HRW report

A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released last year said: "Palestinian women in violent or life-threatening marriages have two legal options available to them: pressing charges for spousal abuse or initiating a divorce on the basis of physical harm."

The report, entitled A Question of Security: Violence against Palestinian Women and Girls, said that to pursue either of these two legal options, women required evidence of extreme violence, and a high evidentiary burden was placed on the victim.

Furthermore, "neither the Jordanian nor the Egyptian penal codes in force in the West Bank and Gaza respectively recognise sexual violence committed within marriage," HRW said.

Under existing family status laws in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt), the report added, Palestinian women need to provide two eye-witnesses, who are not relatives, if they wish to initiate a divorce on the grounds of spousal abuse.

Mandatory charges are only pressed if the victim is hospitalised for a period of between 10 and 20 days. A judge can dismiss the case as a "minor offence" at his discretion if the hospital stay is under that period, said HRW.

Compounding the problem is the lack of medical professionals or Health Ministry staff who have specialised training in dealing with female victims of violence, preserving evidence of abuse, and maintaining confidentiality.

"Legally the police are under no obligation to arrest or charge the perpetrators for less serious assaults," Basisy, from the Ministry for Women's Affairs, told IRIN

Domestic violence in OPT
	West Bank Domestic Violence • 24 percent of women were subjected to physical abuse • 12 percent of women were subjected to sexual abuse.
	Gaza Strip Domestic Violence • 23 percent of women were subjected to physical abuse • 10 percent of women were subjected to sexual abuse
	Overall oPt • Only 1.2 percent of women who had experienced domestic violence lodged a formal complaint against their husbands with the police • Less than 1 percent of abused women sought counselling and protection at the police station
Source: Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 2006 [Survey done between December 2005 and January 2006, in 2,772 households in the West Bank and 1,440 in the Gaza Strip]

"Honour killings"

"Furthermore, over the last three to four decades fewer than 12 men have been jailed for `honour killings'. Our ministry has proposed changes to the penal code on various occasions but these were rejected by the Supreme Judicial Council," said Basisy, referring to a Palestinian office which approves legislation before it is passed on to the Palestinian Legislative Council.

According to professional estimates, there have been 51 "honour killings" in the oPt in the last three years, with 12 killed so far in 2007. Some advocates say the true numbers are much higher as few women bother to report the attacks due to the difficulty of laying charges and the "shame" involved. (See box).

However, progress has been made at the education level through a number of domestic violence workshops held by the WCLAC for West Bank police, Nashashibi said.

While initially many policemen were not aware of the issue, she said, after completing the course some had intervened in cases and brought battered women to the refuge themselves.

Obstacles

However, women's status within society still affects their ability to break free from an abusive home.

"Obstacles include women being unable to support themselves should they leave their husbands, with only 12 percent of Palestinian women working outside of the home," said Nashashibi.

"They will probably also lose custody of their children and the support of their families as the courts tend to favour the fathers in custody battles," she added.

In a move to offer abused women safety, the PA's Ministry of Social Affairs and the Ministry of Women's Affairs, in conjunction with WCLAC, have established three shelters for battered women in Nablus, Jericho and Bethlehem in the West Bank. Together they accommodate 50 women for a month each.

"We provide legal advice and counselling to the women," Nashashibi explained. "Depending on the circumstances of each case, women either return home after their stay, if the threat has subsided through counselling or family intervention, or are found emergency shelter in another refuge if this is too dangerous."

Theme(s): (IRIN) Gender Issues, (IRIN) Human Rights

This material comes to you via IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

OPT: Dozens of Palestinians sift through rubbish tips to survive

Photo Shabtai Gold/IRIN
Palestinians looking for re-usable materials, especially metals, at the Psagot landfill near Ramallah

SAGOT, WEST BANK, 30 September 2007 (IRIN) - For some West Bank Palestinians rubbish has become not only a livelihood but the only method of survival they know. Many dozens of Palestinians across the territory, including children, work at landfill sites, trying to earn a meagre living.

"This is very hard work here. My hands are all cut up, it smells. But what can I do? There's no work in Ramallah," said Muhammad, from Al-Bireh, a nearby town.

Aged 43, he has worked for the last 30 years - apart from a stint in jail - in the Psagot landfill site, sifting through the rubbish in search of scrap metal.

Muhammed, like the other 40 or so workers, including 20 children, is not officially employed by anyone, but he sells what he can to dealers he knows.

Another man, Akram, aged 32, drives the tractor which takes the scrap away to the dealers. He, like the others, works at the site from early morning until dusk.

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"I was a regular truck driver. But then I lost my job. This was the only work I could find, working with the rubbish," he told IRIN as he revved his engine to cart away an industrial fan and leftover beams from a building project.

Child labour, illiteracy

Two children, happy with their luck, found the fan, which came on a newly arrived dump truck, and dragged it over to Akram.

"None of the children here can write. They can't read. They never spent any time at school," said Muhammad.

Shadi, who first claimed he was 16 and then said he was 12, became enraged at Muhammad's accusation.

"I can write," he screamed, and began to sketch his name, in Arabic, in the sand. However, it soon became clear this was the only word he knew and he could not recognise individual characters. The other children did not even try.

When asked why he did not attend school, Shadi said: "My father is sick. I have a big family and someone needs to support them. I left school after one year to work here."

Legal issues

None of the children here can write. They can't read. They never spent any time at school.

The Psagot site is named after the nearby Israeli settlement on the outskirts of Ramallah. Mostly, the landfill is used by Israeli trucks bringing in refuse from settlements or towns inside Israel.

"There is much more garbage from Israel than from the Palestinians. Much, much more," said Muhammad.

Health threats

Vultures glide overhead, waiting to grab whatever the workers do not.

In the summer, the heat bakes the garbage, sending a vile smell through the air, which sticks to the workers. While some have families, others realise their line of work may not help their personal lives.

"I don't think I will get married," said Ahmed, aged 20. He said the smell never comes off.

In the winter, the workers fight the cold, rain, wind and frost to carry out their work. This is particularly hard since the metals they collect get very cold. A few live in shacks on the site, as they have nowhere else to go.

Besides the elements, the workers face other dangers.

Photo: Shabtai Gold/IRIN

A Palestinian child carries metal scraps to a pile he has collected from sifting through garbage at the Psagot landfill. He also saves plastic chairs and used toys

"The children suffer greatly," said Ahmed Qunnam, a public health expert and medical doctor, who volunteers with the Palestine Red Crescent Society. "Psychologically speaking, they have no normal social system. Also, they don't eat right and they don't develop properly. They work all day, overexerting themselves. And the sites are extremely unhygienic."

At the Psagot site, for example, the workers found a can of olives. It was immediately opened and devoured, although the expiry date had long passed and the hands used to eat were the same ones used to sift the rubbish.

"This whole thing, it just ruins them for later in life. They are losing their childhood," said Qunnam. "It is easy for them to get into drugs."

The workers also face threats from other people's drug use. While sifting through the rubbish, it is not uncommon to find syringes. "They can get HIV or hepatitis," Qunnam said.

He thinks the Palestinian Authority (PA) must do more for the children, but said it is hard for the PA to exert control over Area C - where the sites are - which remained under Israeli security control, according to the Oslo accords.

Ibrahim Atieh, from the Palestinian Ministry of Health, said the number of children at the landfills was proportionately much smaller than in neighbouring countries. "But, this is a very difficult, painful issue. Who knows what diseases they can get," he told IRIN.

"There is no PA [Palestinian Authority] programme to stop this phenomenon right now, but maybe in the future," he said.

ISRAEL-OPT: Israeli incursion into West Bank [Abbas-Fayyad Israeli ricognised State of Palestine] refugee camp causes destruction, fear

Photo: Shabtai Gold/IRIN
A Palestinian apartment blown up during an Israeli military incursion


EIN BEIT ALMA, 26 September 2007 (IRIN) - Residents of the Ein Beit Alma refugee camp began to pick up the pieces after an intense Israeli military incursion last week left dozens homeless, and many very frightened, especially children. The fighting with Palestinian militants also caused damage to sewer systems, residents said.

Muhammed Msaimi, aged 26, hid for over a day with his wife and three children in the bathroom because of gunfights which took place outside their apartment. However, the bullets found their way into that room as well, and they crawled behind a thick wall, Msaimi, a registered refugee, said.

"Then the soldiers came and told us to leave. They said we should cover our ears. They blew up the floor above us. No one lives there," he told IRIN. The explosion knocked out the entire upper floor and caused structural damage to the rest of the building. Msaimi now lives with his in-laws.

The Israeli military said the purpose of the three-day operation was to "prevent the execution of terror attacks into the Israeli home front", and that information obtained from arrested alleged militants, 49 in all, had led them to an explosive belt which had been smuggled into Tel Aviv.

Fear

However, the effect on the civilian population was considerable, residents said.

My children are afraid to come back here," said Msaimi, adding that they were staying at a friend's home nearby.

Photo: Shabtai Gold/IRIN

A Palestinian girl attending a UNRWA school side-steps the rubble of a damaged home

"The effects of these military operations at such close quarters have an incalculable impact on the well-being of the young," said Christopher Gunness from UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

The agency runs psycho-social programmes and has counsellors at its two camp schools.

"The children are not studying now, they are frightened. They go to school and draw, colour and read stories," said Samia Abu Salah, whose children attend UNRWA schools and are taking part in a programme which tries to help the children express their feelings.

Her home was invaded by the military: "We heard noises from below our bedroom. It was the Jews underneath," she recounted, referring to the Israeli soldiers. "We all moved away, into the stairwell. Then we saw them coming out of the floor, from below," Abu Salah said. The soldiers had blown up the apartment below, knocking a hole in the ceiling and were climbing upwards.

Gunness said UNRWA can offer limited financial support for those who lost their homes or suffered damage.

“Through walls” tactic

According to the residents in other homes a similar tactic, known as "through walls", was used. Soldiers go through neighbours' homes, destroying joint walls, to reach targets without being exposed in the narrow streets.

The building next to Abu Salah, four stories high, was totally demolished by Israeli bulldozers, leaving dozens homeless. Personal belongings like furniture, video tapes and clothes stick out of the rubble. The soldiers, searching for and fighting militants, did not give the residents time to get their possessions out, residents said.

Photo: Shabtai Gold/IRIN

"The noises during the fighting hurt my ears so much. The windows are broken. I hope they fix it before winter. It's getting cold now at night."

Aisha, 74

Several people said the soldiers used three locals as human shields, a practice deemed illegal by Israel's High Court. The Israeli military said it was "not aware of any such incident".

In other areas, people were cordoned off while soldiers used their homes as observation points, residents said.

"My brother had 71 people in his house - the women in one room and the men in another - for two days," said Ghassan, a school teacher. "They used all their food in one day but received bread from the Palestinian Medical Relief on the second.”

"The noises during the fighting hurt my ears so much," said Aisha, aged 74, as she sat on the floor preparing soup from UNRWA food aid.

Sewage pipes damaged during the fighting overflow outside her small home, spreading a foul smell in the air.

"The windows are broken. I hope they fix it before winter. It's getting cold now at night," she said.

ISRAEL-OPT: Aid groups, UN protest Israeli sanctions move on Gaza

Ahmed, 14, and Amjad, 12, during a power cut in Tal Zaatar, Gaza. The Israeli cabinet decision would allow the state to cut fuel and electricity supplies to Gaza Strip.

JERUSALEM, 20 September 2007 (IRIN) - An Israeli cabinet decision on 19 September, which declared the Gaza Strip a "hostile entity" and which would allow the state to cut fuel and electricity supplies to the enclave, has been immediately condemned by aid and human rights organisations.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was concerned "such a step would be contrary to Israel's obligations towards the civilian population under international humanitarian and human rights law".

The people of Gaza are "already suffering from the impact of prolonged closure" and they should not be punished for the "unacceptable" actions of militants who fire rockets into Israel, Ban said.

The Israeli cabinet announced it would further restrict the passage of goods into Gaza and reduce power supplies. "Restrictions will also be placed on the movement of people to and from the Gaza Strip." However, there is "the intention to avoid a humanitarian crisis".

The decision, which has not yet been implemented, came a week after an Israeli military base was hit by Gazan rockets, leaving around 60 soldiers wounded.

...such a step would be contrary to Israel's obligations towards the civilian population under international humanitarian and human rights law.

The decision was harshly condemned by the Palestinian caretaker government of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and President Mahmoud Abbas, as well as by Hamas in Gaza, which described it as a "declaration of war".

Two rockets hit southern Israel shortly after the cabinet decision was announced.

What the decision could mean

Currently, only food and medical supplies are generally allowed in and all exports are banned. Construction materials are blocked, while it took several weeks and international pressure to allow paper for printing school books to arrive.

Movement of civilians is also already severely limited, and Gaza's Rafah Crossing to Egypt, has been closed since June. Further restrictions would likely ban even limited access to Israel.

Humanitarian concern

Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said the decision is in line with international law and "it's not going to affect the humanitarian needs of the population in the Gaza Strip."

However, Oxfam International disagreed.

Photo: Tom Spender/IRIN

Palestinians wait in a queue at Beit Iba checkpoint in Gaza

"Reducing the fuel supplies to a bare minimum [will] only increase the suffering of one and a half million people in Gaza, and constitutes collective punishment," said Jeremy Hobbs, the group's executive director, adding it would be "immoral and contrary to the Geneva Conventions".

Cutting power, legal experts said, would not distinguish between civilians and militants.

Israel maintains it has very limited responsibility for the Gaza Strip since its 2005 redeployment of troops and settlers from the territory. Amnesty International, however, believes the Jewish state, is "ultimately responsible for ensuring the welfare of the… Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip", since it "retains effective control" over the area.

The Israeli human rights group Gisha said the decision was "dangerous, because operating rooms, emergency services, sewage pumps and water wells cannot run without electricity".

OPT: UN moves to counter deteriorating Gaza education levels

JERUSALEM, 17 September 2007 (IRIN) - In an attempt to curb deteriorating standards of education in the Gaza Strip over the past year UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, has announced a plan to reverse the high failure rates of students. "Current failure rates of 80 percent in Arabic and 40 percent in mathematics, especially dire in the boys' preparatory schools, are largely due to the devastating situation in Gaza which has adversely impacted the lives of residents," John Ging, UNRWA's Gaza director, told IRIN. In Palestinian Authority (PA) schools in Gaza during 2005 and 2006 the failure rate remained fairly static at only 2.9 percent for students from grades 4-11. However, this is due to regulations that allow only 5 percent of children to fail. "Due to the chronic overcrowding of classes, the shortage of schools and the limited educational funds available, if a higher number of students were failed we would be unable to cope logistically as there would be no places left for new students," Haifa Fahmi El-Agha, the Education Ministry director-general of education in the Gaza Strip, told IRIN.

UNRWA is working to hire an additional 1,558 remedial teachers, Ging said, with one to be placed in every classroom in grades two, three and four to help improve learning.

During the second semester of 2007, UNRWA hired over 1,500 new teachers to assist students in grades 1-3.

A further 2,000 UNRWA teachers were mobilised to implement the "Summer Learning" programme to teach students who failed Arabic or mathematics.

However, due to the turmoil Gaza has undergone in the first half of 2007, it is too early to predict the success of the programmes, UNRWA said.

More on ecuation in OPT

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Poverty driving Palestinian children onto the streets

Gaza violence shuts schools

Teachers strike keeps children at home

"School attendance has been seriously disrupted due to inter-factional fighting, repeated military raids and unprecedented poverty, where children come to school hungry and unable to concentrate," said Ging.

"If the present situation continues, poverty among Palestinian refugees in Gaza will soon reach 'unconscionable levels'," Karen AbuZayd, UNRWA's commissioner-general, recently said in Cairo.

UNRWA's 213 schools in Gaza educate some 197,000 students, all registered refugees. However, overcrowding has become a problem.

Building project

The agency is now hoping to build 160 more schools in order to abolish a two-shift system designed to address the overcrowding, but says doing so will require an increase in funding for its education programmes.

School attendance has been seriously disrupted due to inter-factional fighting, repeated military raids and unprecedented poverty, where children come to school hungry and unable to concentrate.

The two or double shift system involves two different schools using the same facility on two different shifts, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

"The new programme will cost millions of dollars more than our current budget, which for education is US$90 million a year," Ging said.

However, money is not the only impediment. Since the June takeover of Gaza by the Islamic movement Hamas, crossings into the enclave remain sealed for raw materials and UNRWA cannot import cement and similar products for building projects.

For now, the agency will reduce the size of classes to at most 30 students in the preparatory boys' schools and introduce two additional classes per week in both Arabic and mathematics, as UNRWA considers them building block subjects.

UNRWA said it also plans to work with its current teachers to improve the levels of instruction.

Overcrowding

In Palestinian Authority (PA) schools in Gaza during 2005 and 2006 the failure rate remained fairly static at only 2.9 percent for students from grades 4-11. However, this is due to regulations that allow only 5 percent of children to fail.

"Due to the chronic overcrowding of classes, the shortage of schools and the limited educational funds available, if a higher number of students were failed we would be unable to cope logistically as there would be no places left for new students," Haifa Fahmi El-Agha, the Education Ministry director-general of education in the Gaza Strip, told IRIN.

New UN report highlights conflict over resources in West Bank

HEBRON HILLS, WEST BANK, 11 September 2007 (IRIN) - Israeli settlements in the West Bank are having a severe humanitarian impact on rural Palestinian areas, according to a report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on 30 August.

Photo: Shabtai Gold/IRIN

A Palestinian girl returns home to Um al Khir from school. Many students study by the light of the neighbouring settlement as they lack electricity. The Palestinians were not allowed to install the network which would allow the electricity to be distributed to their homes.

The settlements disconnect Palestinians from agricultural land and limit their movement, restricting access to markets and water resources, the report, entitled The Humanitarian Impact of Israeli Infrastructure in the West Bank, said.

In the southern Hebron Hills area a conflict between Israeli settlers and Palestinians over land and water resources is apparent. Palestinian residents in interviews with IRIN described the harsh impact the settlements have on their daily lives.

Water

In the small village of Um al Khir, near the Carmel settlement, the residents receive water through an old military above-ground network of thin pipes which, they say, does not meet their needs and which they cannot refurbish. They supplement this with expensive water brought in by tankers. The Israeli settlers are connected to the mains network. "The settlers' chicken huts have running water and electricity," Sheikh Khalil Hathallia, a resident, told IRIN.

According to the Oslo Accords between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel, the latter received nearly six times more aquifer water than was allocated for the Palestinians, OCHA said.

Furthermore, the report states, West Bank Palestinian water consumption per person is considerably lower than standards set by the World Health Organization.

Shlomo Dror, a spokesman for the Israeli Ministry of Defence, said that according to the Oslo Accords, Israel was required to increase the amount of water allocated to the Palestinians by three percent each year.

"In fact, in the last year, for example, we increased the allocation by eight percent," he said.

He also said the Palestinians needed to invest in water purification systems to maximize the use of the water they do have.

Slow shrinking of grazing areas

However, for the villagers in Um al Khir, the fight over resources has led to house demolitions and a slow shrinking of grazing and agricultural areas.
"Now it costs us much more. We need to buy fodder instead of grazing our animals," said Hathallia, noting the growing size of the Israeli settlement.

His neighbour and fellow tribesman, Sliman Hathallia, said his land had been taken in recent years by settlers. He pointed out their new homes. "By 2006, they had totally grabbed all the [my] land," he said.

He said there were also violent confrontations with the settlers as well as with soldiers.

"My wife was injured by the army while they demolished homes here last February," he said, producing medical documents appearing to indicate she now suffered from heart problems and had had a nervous breakdown due to the stress caused.

The homes were destroyed for not having permits from the Israeli Civil Administration.

Similarly, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) set up generators in the village, but the Palestinians were not allowed to install the network which would allow the electricity to be distributed to their homes.

"I won't leave here. If they want me to move, I'll do it, but only if I can go back to Tel Arad," Sliman said, referring to the village where he was born in what is now Israel.

All of the residents of Um al Khir are refugees from the 1948 war, registered with UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

Susya village

A similar situation exists in Susya, a small Palestinian village further south.

All the residents are internally displaced persons (IDPs). In 1985, the Israeli authorities declared their land an archaeological zone, and they had to move to nearby land. They now say settlers are trying to squeeze them out of their new village.

"We had to buy back our water from the [Israeli] settlement. We can't access our land near the settlements. Then the settlers come and work the land. They are trying to take it over and the army doesn't stop them." Muhammed Nawaja from Susya

In the new Susya they are not allowed to build houses, so they live in tents and other temporary structures.

Water here becomes a precious commodity between the months of July and October, when the cisterns, filled by rainwater, run low. Residents say settler security forces keep them from accessing many of their wells and then use the water for themselves.

"We had to buy back our water from the [Israeli] settlement," Muhammed Nawaja, a resident, said with a sigh.

"We can't access our land near the settlements. Then the settlers come and work the land. They are trying to take it over and the army doesn't stop them."

Dror, who admits there is an ongoing conflict over land, said Israel cracks down on illegal acts by settlers and does not distinguish between Jews and Palestinians. "And the Palestinians always have the option of going to the Israeli High Court to contest land claims," he said.

Recently, the court ordered the state to dismantle an 80cm-high wall in the area which had prevented Palestinians from accessing grazing land.

"That whole story, which we said was illegal, led to a waste of about US$20 million," said a UN aid worker who preferred anonymity, noting how that money could have helped poor Palestinians.

Israel, as opposed to the international community, does not view its settlements as a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention as it maintains the West Bank is not occupied land.

Israeli settlements in Hebron make life nearly impossible, Palestinians say

IRIN, 09/09/07. HEBRON, 9 September 2007 - Israeli policy in Hebron city centre has led thousands of Palestinians to leave their homes and some 1,829 businesses have been shut down since 1994, a report by the Israeli human rights organisations B'Tselem and the Association for Civil Rights has charged.

Entitled Ghost Town, reflecting the two groups' opinion of what has befallen the once vibrant centre of Hebron, the report surveys Palestinian life in the divided city.

"Israel's policy severely impacts thousands of Palestinians by violating the right to life, liberty, personal safety, freedom of movement, health, and property, among other rights," said the report.

"The limitations on movement and commerce in the city of Hebron are the 'necessary minimum' needed to provide protection to Israeli Defence Force soldiers and residents of the Jewish community in Hebron," the Israeli military said in response to Ghost Town.

Israel's policy severely impacts thousands of Palestinians by violating the right to life, liberty, personal safety, freedom of movement, health, and property, among other rights.

According to an agreement reached in 1997 between the Palestine Liberation Organisation and Israel, Hebron was divided into two sections. H1, about 80 percent of the city, fell under the control of the Palestinian Authority, while Israel maintained control over H2, which contained significant parts of the commercial centre as well as the Israeli settlements, considered illegal under international law.

Ghost Town cited one Palestinian woman as saying that violence and a feeling of isolation, as well as restrictions on movement, had forced her family, reluctantly, to leave for H1.

"We were frightened and felt we were in a dangerous situation. It was impossible for us to continue living in [our] apartment," Na'imah Ahmad said, adding that most of her neighbours had done the same.

OCHA report

The economy in H2, where 35,000 Palestinians and only 800 Israeli settlers live, is almost totally destroyed. A new report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), released on 30 August, said that eight out of 10 Palestinian adults in the old city of H2 are unemployed and an estimated 75 percent live below the poverty line.

The average monthly income per household in the area is about US$160 while the average for the West Bank is $405, the OCHA report, entitled The Humanitarian Impact of Israeli Infrastructure in the West Bank, said, quoting Palestinian Authority statistics.

The International Committee of the Red Cross distributes basic food parcels to some 1,750 families in H2, to help ease the dire situation.

Restrictions on Palestinians

Hebron is unique, with the exception of East Jerusalem which Israel illegally annexed in 1967, in that the settlements there are located in the heart of a Palestinian city (OCHA’s report refers to "the insertion of settlers into the heart of a densely populated Palestinian city”).

The security of 800 settlers has led the Israeli military to impose harsh restrictions on the 35,000 Palestinians living in H2. An additional 115,000 Palestinian live in H1, making Hebron the second largest city in the West Bank and arguably the most volatile.

Photo: Shabtai Gold/IRIN

An Israeli checkpoint between the H1 and H2 sectors of Hebron city in the West Bank

Many of the harshest restrictions began after an Israeli settler murdered 29 Palestinian worshippers in 1994. The Israeli military reacted by limiting Palestinian movement in H2. These restrictions were intensified after the start of the Palestinian uprising, or intifada, in September 2000. Militant Palestinian groups targeted Israeli soldiers and settlers in the city.

In large sections of H2 Palestinians are forbidden to drive cars. In other areas they cannot open shops. In some cases, like Shuhada Street, a main thoroughfare, and on nearby roads, Palestinian movement of any kind is essentially forbidden and the street's closed shop fronts are all that are left of a once vibrant area.

The restrictions on movement have a direct impact on health. Palestinians say the movement of ambulances must be coordinated in advance, which is not possible in emergency situations.

"At 2am my wife, who was pregnant, started to bleed a lot. We had to go by foot to the 'Aliyah government hospital, about half a kilometre away," Taysir Aby 'Ayeshe said. She lost the baby.

Violence

"The settler violence here is constant," said Hashem al-Azzeh, a registered Palestinian refugee, who lives in H2. He and his family have been repeatedly attacked, he said.

According to Ghost Town, Israeli soldiers and police seldom intervene to stop violence against Palestinians, and violent settlers are rarely brought to justice.

The military has set up posts inside about 20 Palestinian buildings, sometimes taking over the entire residence. Their camouflage netting is visible on top of many homes.

Furthermore, Israeli security officers are also occasionally involved in violence against Palestinians.

Photo: Shabtai Gold/IRIN

On Shuhada Street, a main thoroughfare in Hebron, Palestinian movement of any kind is essentially forbidden and the street's closed shop fronts are all that are left of a once vibrant area

"Last winter, a soldier on the roof broke out in hysterical laughter and threw sand and stones at me while I was standing outside the house," Bahija Sharabati told B'tselem in 2006. She also cited abuses by settlers.

"We have already filed dozens of complaints to the Israeli police, but nothing has changed," the mother of six said.

Other residents said settlers had shot at them.

The Abu 'Aisha family in H2, after repeated harassment by settlers, built a cage around their home. By living behind a tough metal web they at least do not have to worry about their windows being broken.

The Israeli police denied claims that it closes the majority of cases of violence without a proper investigation. It said many times the alleged victims do not file complaints making it difficult to follow through on those cases.

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This item comes via IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations or its Member States.