Amos Harel; 1/1/08
The state has been filing indictments over the past two months against right-wing activists and settlers for occupying an illegal outpost, following orders from Defense Minister Ehud Barak to security forces to file police complaints against the activists. So far some 70 complaints have been filed, which have led to about 20 indictments against young people and teenagers who moved in batches to the outpost Shvut Ami, near the Kedumim settlement in the West Bank. Shvut Ami has in recent months become a new symbol of the fight over the outposts and, in the eyes of the security forces, an extreme example of the settlers’ ability to harass them.
See: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/940357.html
IDF: Palestinian pilgrim killed at Erez crossing shot by our troops
1/12/07
Egyptian anti-riot soldiers surround Palestinian pilgrims in the Sinai on Monday.
The Israel Defense Forces said on Monday that a Palestinian woman killed the day before while crossing into the Gaza Strip after completing the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca was shot by IDF troops. Hamdia Ahmad Hamdan was killed by gunfire while entering Gaza via the Erez Crossing on Sunday. Four other Palestinians were wounded in the incident, Earlier on Monday, Palestinian medical workers said Hamdan as well as the four wounded Palestinians had been hit by IDF gunfire, but the army’s response came only later in the day. The IDF said that a crowd of some 700 returning pilgrims approached a nearby army post, posing a danger to the soldiers positioned there.
See: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/940172.html
Stranded pilgrims riot in Egypt
31/12/07
Hundreds of Palestinian pilgrims have rioted in temporary camps set up to house them until a dispute over their return to the Gaza Strip has been resolved. Israel has insisted that the pilgrims returning from Hajj must all pass through Israeli crossing points from Egypt, saying that some may be carrying arms or money for Hamas. The pilgrims have refused to comply, saying Israel could arrest some of them. They are insisting they be allowed to return to Gaza through the Rafah border crossing.
See: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/8EDE4CF3-F8C8-40E5-8604-8896CA84B83D.htm
B’Tselem’s end-of-year report: Number of Palestinians killed by IDF dropped sharply in ‘07
Avi Issacharof; 1/12/07
The number of Palestinians killed by the Israel Defense Forces in 2007 decreased by 43 percent since last year, to 373, but the total number of Palestinians killed this year reached a record high because of the 344 Palestinians killed in the internecine conflict, the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem said in its year-end report. The report also found a significant drop in the proportion of civilians killed, which decreased from 54 percent of the 657 Palestinians killed by IDF fire in 2006 to 35 percent of the 373 Palestinians killed between January 1 and December 29 of this year. Fifty-three of the Palestinians were minors and the vast majority - 270 - were killed in the Gaza Strip. In addition, seven Israeli civilians were killed by Palestinian fire in 2007 - the lowest number since the second intifada began.
See: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/940526.html
Israeli war tactics criticised
Jonathan Cook; 31/12/07
The Arab Association for Human Rights (HRA) has accused the Israeli military of committing a war crime by placing military hardware, including artillery positions, inside Arab towns and villages during the war with Lebanon in July 2006. The Nazareth-based association last week published a report claiming Arab communities were used as “human shields” by the Israeli military. The association argues that the danger this posed to the Arab population was far from “theoretical”: Arab communities hit by Hezbollah’s retaliatory rockets were overwhelmingly those in which the Israeli army maintained a presence. A total of 21 Arab Israeli citizens were killed in these strikes
See: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/70FCE1D5-00D3-4111-8B7D-55E6C0113EAF.htm
