Sunday, January 29, 2012

IOF Arrests Two Young Men in Rafah

Al Mezan

29-1-2012

At approximately 8:30 pm on Sunday 29 January 2012, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested two young Palestinian men while they were east of Gaza International Airport, east of Rafah, and took them to unknown location.  Al Mezan has identified the two arrested men as:

·         Hajjaj Yousif As-Swofi, 21; and
·         Ahmed Hussein Abu ‘Azra, 20.

Both are from Ash-Shoka village, east of Rafah. Relatives of As-Swofi informed Al Mezan that at approximately 8:00 am on Monday 30 January 2012, Ahmed As-Swofi, Hajjaj’s cousin, received a call on his cell phone informing him that Hajaj and Ahmed were being held by Israeli intelligence at Ashkelon prison.

Friday, January 27, 2012

IOF Attacks House in Gaza City

Al Mezan

27-1-2012

At approximately 9:00 pm on Friday 27 January 2012, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) fired an artillery shell at the house of Abdel Ra’ouf Hamed Hajaj, 37, which is located in the Ash-Shawa family orchard east of Ash-Sheja’iya neighborhood in eastern Gaza City.  The shell left a hole in the roof of the house, a two-story building with an area of 180 square meters.


Thursday, January 26, 2012

IOF Opens Heavy Fire at Palestinian Farmers East of Khan Younis

Al Mezan

26-1-2012

At approximately 9:20 am on Thursday 26 January 2012, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) opened heavy fire at Palestinian farmers in the Al Faraheen and As-Senati areas east of Khan Younis.  No casualties or injuries were reported, but the residents were terrified and abandoned their farming activities.

PCHR weekly report 19/1 - 25/1/2012: shellings and airstrikes, greenhouses destroyed, 2 animals killed

extract from PCHR weekly report 19/1 - 25/1/2012

Israeli warplanes fired 9 missiles at a Palestinian resistance group and civilian targets, but no injuries were reported.

Two camels died and a greenhouse was destroyed


Saturday, 21 January 2012 

Also at approximately 07:10, the Israeli warplanes fired two missiles at a Palestinian resistance group.  The missiles landed in a farm hired and planted by Khairi 'Atwa al-Dbari, which is located near al-Shouka UNRWA school in al-Shouka village, east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.  The group survived, but two camels died in the said farm. 

Monday, 23 January 2012




At approximately 08:30, IOF positioned at watchtowers to the west of Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing in the northwest of Beit Hanoun, north of the Gaza Strip, heavily fired at open areas in the industrial zone, ex-settlement of "Nissanit".  They also launched an artillery shell at the same area, but no injuries were reported.

At approximately 12:05, on the same day, IOF launched 4 artillery shells at Abu Samra farmland in the north of Hamdoush area, north of Beit Lahia.  The last one was launched at approximately 12:30 on the same day, but no injuries were reported.

Tuesday, 24 January 2012

At approximately 00:40, the Israeli warplanes fired 3 missiles at a greenhouse inside a land belonging to Mohammed Shehda Hamdouna, 45.  The land, whose area is 2,000 square meters, is located to the  northeast of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip.  The attack resulted in completely destroying the greenhouse and a 3-meter hole.  However, no injuries were reported.

At approximately 00:45, Israeli warplanes fired a missile at an empty land belonging to Sa'eed Mohammed Salem al-Da'our, 55.  The land whose area is 70 dunums[1] is located in al-Sayafa area, northwest of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip.  No injuries were reported.
The attack resulted in heavy explosions that rocked the northern area, due to which, women and children were terrorized.

At approximately 01:10, Israeli warplanes fired two missiles at greenhouses in ex-settlements, northwest of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.  As a result, damage was caused to the place, but no injuries were reported.  It should be noted that the same area had been bombarded several times.

At approximately 01:26, Israeli warplanes fired a missile at the farmland in al-Zanna area, east of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.  No injuries were reported.

At approximately 11:30 on Tuesday, 24 January 2012, IOF positioned along the border fence in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip opened fire and tear gas canisters at a group of Palestinian and international demonstrators, who were walking along the border area from Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing to the landfill.  They protested the imposition of the buffer zone along the borders.  There were approximately 60 demonstrators, including 5 international activists and 10 journalists.  After they were approximately 200 meters far from the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, they suffered from gas inhalation.
In his testimony, the Beit Hanoun Local Initiative coordinator, Saber al-Za'aneen, said that at approximately 10:30 on that day, demonstrators gathered in front of the Agriculture School of al-Azhar University, north of the Beit Hanoun and headed to the border area.  When they were approximately 200 meters to the southeast of Beit Hanoun crossing, they started walking along the border fence until they reached the landfill, north of Beit Hanoun.  IOF fired tear gas canisters at the demonstrators, but they kept walking.  IOF then heavily fired at the demonstrators.  As a result, a number of demonstrators suffered from tear gas inhalation.  However, they kept moving until they reached the memorial area, southeast of Beit Hanoun.  IOF fireed at them, as a result, they were obliged to get out of there.
It should be noted that the demonstration started at approximately 11:30 and finished at approximately 13:40 on the same day.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Beit Hanoun demonstration under fire

by Nathan Stuckey
25 January 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza Strip

Gaza was treated to a strange new sight today, not really new, but something that has not been seen in Gaza in a long time: tear gas.  In Gaza protests are not smashed with tear gas and clubs like in the West Bank, they are met with live ammunition.  In a continuation of Israel’s policy to separate the West Bank from Gaza, nothing is overlooked.  The sub-human status they wish to cement in the world’s mind when it comes to the people of Gaza is adhered to brutally.  On May 15th 2011, when over a hundred demonstrators were shot near Erez, only one canister of tear gas was fired. Before that the protesters faced live ammunition and tank fire.  In the three years that regular demonstrations have been carried out near Erez by the Beit Hanoun Local Initiative, regulars tell me that this was the first time they had seen tear gas.

 

The demonstration started like all the others.  We gathered near the half destroyed Beit Hanoun Agricultural College and marched towards the no go zone.  There were about forty of us, men and women together.  As always, the demonstrators were armed only with a megaphone and our voices.  Today, we planned to hike from Erez to the east of Beit Hanoun, near the site where two young men were murdered last week while catching birds and collecting rubble near the no go zone.  The no go zone, which used to be an area of flourishing orchards has been reduced to yielding rubble to recycle into concrete.
Israel bans the import of concrete into Gaza.  Only humans would need concrete to rebuild the thousands of houses Israel destroyed in the 2008-2009 massacres they carried out in Gaza.  In Israeli eyes, Gazans aren’t really full people; they are half people to be murdered at will for even thinking of coming close to the no go zone.
This is why we march, we deny the no go zone, and we deny the occupation.  The refugees of Gaza, thrown from their homes during the Nakba, want to return to their homes.


We walked down the muddy road that leads to the no go zone.  As we got close to the no go zone, the shooting began.  Shooting is not unexpected; bullets are the language of the occupation, at least the language that you hear.  Ethnic cleansing, oppression, and torture are also languages the occupation speaks, but the loudest voices of the occupation are the bullets and the bombs.  The bullets passed over our heads; they slammed into the dirt in front of us.  Then, the unexpected happened; the tear gas began to fall.  The clouds of tear gas were smaller than I remember from protests in the West Bank. Perhaps the shells are old, they are used so seldom in Gaza that maybe the inventory is old.
This isn’t an issue in the West Bank, there the protests are coated in tear gas, men are killed or severely injured by tear gas canisters shot at them like Mustafa Tamimi and Bassem Abu Rahma who both passed away, or Tristan Anderson, who survived. Women are suffocated by it, woman like Jawaher Abu Rahma.  It is fired into houses, schools, fields, villages; tear gas is omnipresent.  In Gaza, tear gas is a blast from the past, here the occupation has discarded that language, in Gaza, it only speaks with bullets and bombs.
At first it wasn’t clear if the protest would continue. People were shocked by the use of the new weapon.  Quickly though, a decision was reached: We would continue.  We walked east along the edge of the buffer zone.  Soldiers in concrete towers hundreds of meters away fired live ammunition at unarmed protesters walking on their own land–soldiers in concrete towers built on the land these protesters were ethnically cleansed from.
The black flag that flies over the occupation did not come down after the massacre of Kfar Kassem, it is still there, it is just that it has been flying for so long that no one remembers anything else. the black flag is like the sun, people do not remember a day before it was in the sky.
Walking in the no go zone isn’t easy.  The ground is uneven from the constant destruction of the bulldozers which Israel uses to make sure that nothing takes root there.  The ground is littered with the past: irrigation pipes, metal rods and concrete rubble from the destroyed houses.  Slowly all of this is ground up under the blades of bulldozers and treads of tanks.  We walked east, the shooting stopped for a bit.  Two soldiers appeared on a hill to the north, they raised their guns.  They lost sight of us behind a hill.  We emerged from behind a hill: we saw a tank on another hill.  Jeeps sped along the border.  The shooting began again.  Bullets flew over our heads.

Beit Hanoun demonstration under fire - Click here for more images
We reached the eastern edge of our prison and turned south.  Soldiers appeared again on a new hill.  Shooting resumed, tear gas canisters from 500 meters arced over our heads.  We stopped and reminded the soldiers that this was a nonviolent demonstration by people on their land.
They continued to shoot, then the soldiers on the hill began to yell at us with a megaphone, “Gazans are donkeys.”  Gazans are not donkeys, they are people, but perhaps if you repeat a lie often enough, people will start to believe, people like these soldiers.  We passed the carcass of a horse, rotting.  A donkey grazed to the east of the dead horse.  At least the donkey was still alive.
The soldiers continued to shoot at us, bullets and tear gas. Just as Gaza did not kneel after the 23 day massacre three years ago, we will not be stopped by bullets and tear gas.  We will continue to protest until the occupation disappears.  We will continue to protest until we achieve justice.  Without the end of the occupation and true justice, peace is impossible.  We will not accept the peace of silent oppression.  We will never accept the occupation.  Gaza will not kneel.

Nathan Stuckey is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement.
Updated on January 25, 2012

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Live ammunition fired at peaceful demonstrators in Gaza No Go Zone

24 January 2012 | International Solidarity Movement

Image from Poica.org - Click here for more information
 
In a peaceful demonstration into the Gaza no go zone that began around 10:30am today, January 24 2012, demonstrators report that at least 50 rounds of live ammunition were fired directly at Palestinian and international solidarity activists.
Contact:
Nathan Stuckey, International Solidarity Movement activist
Phone Number: 00970597650864
Email: GazaISM@gmail.com

At least two Israeli soldiers have been visible on the ground, while a large military tank also took position approximately 15 minutes following the initial shooting of live ammunition.  With a momentary pause in gunfire that lasted for approximately 15 minutes, shooting of live ammunition has resumed in Gaza’s No Go Zone. At least 50 bullets have been shot thus far.
Every Tuesday Palestinians and supporters march from Beit Hanoun into the buffer zone , where the fertile land has been made inaccessible to Palestinians due to the imminent danger of violence by the guarding Israeli military, who also bulldoze land that has been an agricultural resource for many locals in the northern Gaza Strip.
 
Updated on January 25, 2012

Israeli Aircraft Attack Agricultural Field East of Khan Younis

Al Mezan

24-1-2012

At approximately 2:25 am on Tuesday 24 January 2012, Israeli aircraft attacked an agricultural field in the Az-Zanna area in eastern Khan Younis district.  No casualties or injuries were reported.

Monday, January 23, 2012

IOF Opens Fire, Launches Artillery Shell in Vicinity of Erez Crossing

Al Mezan

23-1-2012

At approximately 8:30 am on Monday 23 January 2012, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) opened heave fire on the Elei Sinai evacuated settlement area west of Erez crossing.  The IOF also fired an artillery shell at the same area.  No casualties or injuries were reported, but people were terrified, particularly women and children.

IOF Attacks Agricultural Area North of Beit Lahiya

Al Mezan

23-1-2012

At approximately 12:05 pm on Monday 23 January 2012, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) fired four artillery shells at the Burat Abu Samra area north of Beit Lahiya in North Gaza district.  No casualties were reported, but people in the area were terrified and panicked.
  


Saturday, January 21, 2012

Further into the No Go Zone

ISM website

by Nathan Stuckey
19 January 2012

Every Tuesday we gather next to the half destroyed Beit Hanoun Agricultural College.  At eleven o’clock, we set out into the no go zone.  This week there were about thirty of us, members of the Beit Hanoun Local Initiative, the International Solidarity Movement, and other activists from Gaza.  At eleven o’clock the megaphone starts to play Bella Ciao and the flags are hoisted in the air, soon we start to march down the road into the no go zone.  Today feels strange, something is different, there is only one body in the sky, the Israeli blimp that constantly hangs over Beit Hanoun watching our every move is missing, today only the sun is over us in the sky, the sun and some Israeli F16’s.
Entering the no go zone is always a strange experience.  First, you always remember the danger, Israel claims the right to shoot anyone who enters the no go zone, every week, someone is shot for doing what we are doing.  They are shot for going to their land, sometimes to gather cement to rebuild the houses shattered during the massacre the Israeli’s call Cast Lead, sometimes searching for metal to recycle and sell for a few shekels, sometimes shepherds with their sheep.  The no go zone is like a dystopian future, the people who used to live there have all been expelled, they live as internal refugees in the prison that is Gaza.  When you walk in the no go zone you are sometimes reminded that people used to live here, you find shredded irrigation pipes, wells, the foundations of houses, and today, for the first time, I saw an old quarry that used to provide rocks for building.  The orchards and fields that used to cover the no go zone have been thoroughly erased, there is no more evidence that they even existed.  In 1948 the Zionists plant forests to hide the ethnically cleansed Palestine villages, in Gaza, they do not bother, they just grind the evidence up under the treads of bulldozers.  The orchards have already disappeared, there is no trace of them, most of the houses have disappeared, with time even the wells and the remaining foundations will slowly be ground to nothing.  Only the quarry will remain.  The land here is not like the rest of Gaza, walking is difficult, the bulldozers have left it completely scarred, jagged mini hills and ridges are everywhere.
Today, we walk deep into the no go zone.  Deeper than we have ever gone before, to land no Palestinian has been on since 2000.  Sometimes it feels like a nature walk, instead of watching out for tigers or lions we watch out for jeeps or tanks.  We finally reach the barbed wire that lays about 20 meters in front of the wall, there is no way through it.  A smaller balloon than the usual one begins to rise over the wall.  Sabur Zaaneen from the Beit Hanoun Local Initiative speaks, “We would like to welcome all of the activists who have to come to Gaza with the Miles of Smiles Convoy, I hope that many more activists come to Palestine to work in the towns and refugee camps of Palestine where they can confront the state terrorism of Israel directly.”  We climb a nearby hill and plant a flag.  We spot a jeep; it drives up to the concrete tower embedded in the wall.  The soldiers climb the stairs and begin to shoot at us.  We begin to walk back to Beit Hanoun.  The soldiers climb down from the tower, get in their jeep and drive to higher hill overlooking the no go zone.  They get out, and aim their guns at us again.  It does not matter that they are under no threat, that we are a completely nonviolent demonstration of civilians on their own land.  In Gaza, the occupation is reduced to its most basic, the tracks of bulldozers and the crack of rifles.  The bulldozers erase all evidence that anybody ever lived there, the rifles erase the people that live here.  We will not be erased.  The olive trees that we plant in the no go zone will feed the children of Gaza.  The martyrs will live on in our hearts.  The popular resistance will outlast the occupation.

Updated on January 21, 2012

Thursday, January 19, 2012

PCHR weekly report 12/1 - 18/1/2012: 3 incursions, 1 Palestinian abducted

extract from PCHR weekly report 12/1 - 18/1/2012

Incursions: 

In the Gaza Strip, IOF conducted 3 limited incursions on 18 January 2008.  The first incursion was conducted at around 02:00 into al-Shoka village, in the southeast of Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, and arrested two Palestinians.

The second incursion took place at around 11:55 after IOF killed two Palestinian resistance activists in the southeast of Beit Hanoun in the north of the Gaza Strip.  IOF conducted scanning works and then withdrew over the border.

IOF conducted the third incursion at around 12:30; they moved around 400 meters into the north of Beit Lahia, in the north of the Gaza Strip, while conducting intensive shooting at Palestinian farms located around 700 meters form the borders, following which they conducted scanning works.  At around 14:00, IOF drove to the east along the border and positioned themselves at the Bedouin Village.  They continued firing and conducting scanning works.  Later, they drove to the site of the ex-settlement of Nisanit, northwest of Beit Hanoun.  IOF withdrew at around 16:00 and neither casualties nor damages to civilian property were reported.

 Wednesday, 18 January 2012 

at approximately 02:00, IOF moved dozens of meters in al-Shoka village, southeast of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip.  Before withdrawing, they arrested Akram Hussein Mohammed al-Sufi, 24, from the Bedouin village, in the north of the Gaza Strip. The father of Akram al-Sufi stated that Akram is a member of the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad, and that he may be arrested while on mission. 

At approximately 11:05, IOF positioned at the border in the southeast of Beit Hanoun, in the north of the Gaza Strip, fired 8 consecutive artillery shells at two Palestinian resistance activists while on mission near the border area. Israeli aircrafts also flew in the sky and opened heavy fire at the two activists. One of them, Mohammed Shaker Ahmed Abu Oda, 22, from Beit Hanoun, was killed immediately as he sustained shrapnel wounds in the lower part of his body and in the abdomen and the chest.  The other activist, Ahmed Khaled Mohammed al-Zaanin, 18, from Beit Hanoun, sustained wounds in the head and shrapnel wounds throughout the body.  The firing continued for around 45 minutes. At around 11:55, IOF moved into the targeted area and conducting scanning works till 12:20.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported that at approximately 11:20, two PRCS ambulances drove to the targeted area. The ambulances arrived at the targeted area at around 11:40 and stopped around 150 meters far from the borders.  They two resistance activists were only 50 meters from the two ambulances and one of the ambulances tried to drive towards them but IOF fired two artillery shells at the proximity of the ambulances. At around 12:25, PRCS managed to evacuate the body of Abu Oda and al-Zaanin who was still alive and transferred them to Beit Hanoun Public Hospital. Al-Zaanin was referred to al-Shifa Hospital at around 13:15 for treatment but he was pronounced dead at around 14:15.

None of the Palestinian resistance groups has announced its responsibility for sending the two resistance activists.

IOF declared that they targeted a group of Palestinians who were trying to plant explosive near the border.

At approximately 12:30, IOF moved around 400 meters into the north of Beit Lahia, in the north of the Gaza Stripamid intensive firing at Palestinian farms located around 700 meters form the border, IOF conducted scanning works. Palestinian farmers were forced to flee the area in fear for sake of their safety.  At around 14:00, IOF drove to the east along the border and they stationed off the Bedouin Village.  They continued firing and their scanning works.  Later, they drove to the site of the ex-settlement  Nisanit, northwest of Beit Hanoun.  IOF withdrew at around 16:00 and neither casualties nor damages to civilian property were reported.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

IOF Arrests Two Young Palestinian Men in Rafah

Al Mezan


At approximately 10:00 pm on Tuesday 17 January 2012, Israeli Special Forces arrested two young men, identified by Al Mezan as:

·         Akram Hussein As-Soufi, 24, from Ash-Shawka village; and
·         Isma’il Mahmoud As-Soufi, 22, from the Bedouin village in the north of the Gaza Strip.

They were arrested in the area east of the non-operational Gaza International Airport, east of Rafah.  The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) took them to an unknown location.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Resistance continues, demonstration in the No Go Zone

by Nathan Stuckey
11 January 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza

The No Go Zone - Click here for more images

Every Tuesday we gather in front of the Beit Hanoun Agricultural College, members of the Beit Hanoun Local Initiative, the International Solidarity Movement and other activists from all over Gaza.  We gather, and we march into the no go zone.  Sometimes we are shot at, sometimes there is no response.  We accept both of these.  We cannot control when the Israeli’s will shoot at us, at unarmed civilian demonstrators on their own land.  We are not discouraged by the appearance that nothing changes, you never know when change will happen, but you can be sure that if you do nothing, nothing will change.  So every Tuesday, we march into the no go zone, the rest of the week, everyone struggles against the occupation in their own way.  Teachers teach, farmers farm, fisherman fish, but under occupation all of these things can become revolutionary things, life itself can become a revolutionary act.
The megaphone announces the start of the demonstration; Bella Ciao is our marching song.  We set off down the road into the no go zone.  There about thirty of us, men, women and children, somehow, it feels like more this week.  We do not take the usual path into the no go zone, once inside the no zone we turn to the left.  We walk toward the road that leads to Erez, one of the few gates into and out of the prison that is Gaza, few Gazans are permitted to use it, it is mostly for NGO workers.  We stop about twenty meters from it; we plant a flag in the ground.  This flag joins the others we have planted in the no go zone, unlike wheat which requires months to go grow and is inevitably destroyed by the periodic assaults of Israeli bulldozers in the no go zone flags can be planted fully grown.  Eventually Israeli bulldozers will come and grind them beneath their wheels and we will have to plant new flags to replace them, but until then you can see our flags wave over the no zone.  The wall that surrounds Gaza is studded with Israeli flags, in case anyone should forget who it is that imprisons Gaza.
We planted our flag, then, Sabur Zaaneen from the Local Initiative spoke, he denounced “encounters with the leaders of the occupation and negotiations with the occupation, instead we must work toward the prosecution of the leaders of the occupation in international forums.”  He also said that “resistance to the occupation must continue, it will continue until the end of the occupation, the resistance must unite to confront the occupation.”  As we walked back to Beit Hanoun it was impossible not to admire our flags floating in the wind, three of them lining the no go zone, and the wheat that we had planted last month, growing.  Israel can destroy, but things will always grow again.  Oppression inevitably breeds resistance, a resistance that will continue to grow until the oppression is removed.
Updated on January 13, 2012

Thursday, January 12, 2012

PCHR weekly report 5/1 - 11/1/2012: 1 female shepherd wounded, 1 woman shocked and hospitalized, 1 incursion

extract from PCHR weekly report 5/1 - 11/1/2012

Friday, 06 January 2012

At approximately 08:30, Israeli soldiers positioned the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel to the east of al-Boreij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip fired at Hiba Mousa Abu Sa’id, 19, while she was grazing animals.  She was wounded by a bullet to the right foot. 

At approximately 19:15, the Israeli artillery stationed at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel fired two shells at Palestinian agricultural areas in the east of the northern Gaza Strip town of Jabalya.  Palestinian civilians, especially women and children, were extremely terrified.  ‘Aaisha Isma’il Abu Hmaidan, 47, was shocked.  She was evacuated to the hospital.  

Tuesday, 10 January 2012




At approximately 08:00, IOF moved nearly 300 meters into the east of the northern Gaza Strip town of Jabalya.  They leveled areas of Palestinian land which they had already razed.  At approximately 10:00, IOF moved northwards.  At approximately 16:30, IOF moved back to the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel.  

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Limited IOF Incursion East of Rafah

Al Mezan

10-1-2012

At approximately 12:40 am on Tuesday 10 January 2012, three Israeli tanks moved about 300 meters into the east part of Ash-Shoka village on the outskirts of Rafah.  At approximately 2:30 am on the same day, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) withdrew from the area.  No casualties or injuries were reported.

Witnesses: Israel military vehicles enter Gaza

Israeli tanks patrol the border of northern Gaza. (MaanImages/Moti Milrod, File)
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli military vehicles entered the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday morning, with witnesses reporting heavy gunfire in the area.

Forces accompanied bulldozers around 300 meters inside the border near Jabalia to raze lands in the area, witnesses told Ma'an. No casualties were reported.

An Israeli army spokesman said the incident was "routine activity."

Gunfire was also heard in the southern Gaza Strip early Tuesday, with locals saying Palestinian militants exchanged fire with an Israeli military post near the Kerem Shalom crossing.

The military spokesman said he was not familiar with the incident.

-----------

Al Mezan

10-1-2012

Limited IOF Incursion East of Jabaliya


At approximately 8:05 am on Tuesday 10 January 2012, three Israeli tanks and three armored bulldozers moved about 300 meters into the eastern parts of Ash-Shuhadaa Islamic Cemetery east of Jabaliya, in North Gaza district.  Bulldozers leveled lands that had been razed before.  The Israeli tanks then moved to the north and opened heavy fire on the area.  Farmers were terrified and fled without completing their work.  The Israeli occupation forces were still in the area as this news was being published at 1:12 pm on 10 January 2012.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Gaza teen injured

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- A teenage girl was injured Friday when an ordnance left by the Israeli army exploded east of al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, medics said.

Medical officials told Ma'an the 19-year-old was taken to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and treated for moderate injuries.

-----------

Al Mezan

6-1-2012

Palestinian Injured East of Al Bureij Refugee Camp


At approximately 9:00 am on Friday 6 January 2012, Heba Musa Abu Sa’eed, 19, sustained a bullet wound in her right leg.  She was admitted to Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah for treatment.
In an affidavit to Al Mezan, Heba’s brother Adel Musa Abu Sa’eed, 30, stated that his sister was injured while grazing sheep east of her house, which is located east of the Maqboula area, southeast of Al Bureij refugee camp.  Heba was about 70 meters away from the separation fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel when she was injured.  She reports that the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) regularly positioned at the separation fence opened fire on her.

Friday, January 6, 2012

IOF Shelling East of Jabaliya

Al Mezan

6-1-2012

At approximately 7:15 pm on Friday 6 January 2012, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) fired two artillery shells, one of which fell in Abu Safiya and the other in the vicinity of Jabal Al Kashef, both agricultural areas east of Jabaliya in North Gaza district.  As a result, ‘Aisha Ismail Abu Hmedan, 47, suffered psychological shock.  Women and children in the area were also terrified.  No casualties or injuries were reported.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

PCHR weekly report 29/12/11 - 4/1/12: 1 civilian wounded and abducted, 2 incursions, airstrike

extract from PCHR weekly report 29/12/11 - 4/1/12


 On 29 December 2012, Israeli warplanes bombarded a plot in the northern Gaza Strip, but no casualties were reported.

Thursday, 29 December 2011  

At approximately 03:00, Israeli warplanes fired 3 missiles at a plot belonging to Sa’id Mohammed al-Da’our, 55.  No casualties were reported. 

Saturday, 31 December 2011

At approximately 18:30, Isma’il Mohammed Abu Doun, 33, from Tal al-Hawa neighborhood in Gaza City, was admitted into Kamal ‘Edwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, as he was wounded by a bullet to the left thigh.  According to investigations conducted by PCHR, Abu Doun left his house on a motorcycle, and at approximately 16:30, he arrived at the north of the Bedouin Village in the northern Gaza Strip.  He stepped down and walked up to 100 meters from the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel.  Immediately, Israeli soldiers fired at him and he was wounded.  Soon after, IOF moved into the area and arrested him.  At approximately 18:00, IOF handed Abu Doun to the Palestinian side.  According to local sources, Abu Doun suffers from a psychological disorder. 

Tuesday, 03 January 2012




At approximately 11:30, Israeli soldiers stationed on observation towers near Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing in the northern Gaza Strip opened fire at a number of Palestinian workers who were collecting scraps of construction materials from the industrial zone to the southwest of the crossing.  The workers were forced to flee and no casualties were reported. 

Wednesday, 04 January 2012  

At approximately 02:30, IOF moved nearly 300 meters into al-Farrahin area in ‘Abassan village, east of the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis.  They leveled areas of Palestinian land.  They then moved southward to Khuza’a village and leveled areas of land amidst indiscriminate shooting.  IOF moved back to the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel and no casualties were reported.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

IOF Uses Live Fire and Tear Gas Canisters against Peaceful Weekly Demonstration in Beit Hanoun

Al Mezan

4-1-2012

At approximately 11:30 am on Tuesday 24 January 2012, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) opened heavy fire with live ammunition and launched tens of tear gas canisters at a peaceful demonstration organized by the Local Initiative in Beit Hanoun.  The demonstrations are organized weekly to protest the imposition of the so-called “security buffer zone.”  Demonstrators were between 100 to 300 meters from the separation fence when the IOF opened fire on them.  No casualties or injuries were reported, but the demonstrators were choked by the tear gas.  This is not the first time that the IOF has attacked the peaceful weekly demonstration.
In his affidavit to Al Mezan, Saber Az-Zaneen, 33, one of the demonstration’s organizers, stated: “At around 10:30 am on Tuesday, 60 Palestinians, five international solidarity activists, 10 journalists, and members of the Local Initiative walked in a march from the Agricultural Secondary School to a point near the border about 100 meters away from the separation fence.  Israeli snipers who were in concrete watchtowers fired tear gas canisters at the protestors, so they headed to the south.  The situation was chaotic.  Demonstrators started to carry away others who were choking from inhaling tear gas.
 “The protestors moved alongside the separation fence about 150 meters to the east, to a spot near the old solid waste dump.  They stopped there and chanted against the security buffer zone, waving Palestinian and international flags.  Meanwhile, several Israeli soldiers descended from the watchtowers and opened fire directly at the demonstrators.  I could see bullets hitting the sand.  The demonstrators moved back.
 “The demonstrators continued to walk east, towards the Israeli military transmission tower, and stopped again at a point about 200 meters away from the separation fence.  I saw several military jeeps stop and a number of IOF soldiers got out and again opened fire directly at the demonstrators.  All of us left the area and then moved to the southeast.  We stopped at the Ash-Sha’fa area, about 250 meters away from the eastern separation fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel.  The demonstrators continued to chant against the buffer zone.
A number of Israeli military jeeps stopped before us.  Some soldiers got out of the jeeps and opened heavy fire with bullets and tear gas canisters directly at the demonstrators.  Many of the protesters were choking on the gas, so then we headed in groups to the south.
We approached the monument located southeast of Beit Hanoun.  The IOF, who we could see with our naked eyes, opened fire towards us again.  We went to the south and reached a point about 200 meters away from the eastern separation fence.  We had reached the outskirts of the Abu Safiya area, east of Jabaliya and southeast of Beit Hanoun.  The IOF continued its firing at us.  We had moved about 8,000 meters along the length of the separation fence.  We decided to leave the area at around 1:40 pm on the same day.”
This is the first time that the IOF has fired tear gas canisters at this demonstration, and the second time that the demonstrators have been forced to walk this great a distance retreating from IOF fire

Limited IOF Incursion East of Khan Younis

Al Mezan

4-1-2012

At approximately 2:30 am on Wednesday 4 January 2011, Israeli tanks accompanied by armored bulldozers moved under sporadic fire about 300 meters into the Al Faraheen neighborhood in eastern ‘Abasan, east of Khan Younis.  Bulldozers leveled lands that have frequently been razed before.  The Israeli tanks then moved south towards Khuza’a village.  At approximately 10:00 am on the same day, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) withdrew from the area.  No casualties or injuries were reported. 


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[Israeli incursion from Kisufim gate]

extract from Ma'an article

Meanwhile, Israeli tanks entered the Gaza Strip through the Kisufim gate near Khan Younis and opened fire as bulldozers razed farmland in the area, onlookers told Ma'an.

An military spokeswoman said soldiers identified an explosive device near the border fence and safely detonated it. She said soldiers fired tank shells during the procedure as a "method of deterrence."

The Israeli army holds Hamas fully responsible for maintaining calm in the coastal enclave, she added.


Sunday, January 1, 2012

Palestinian man wounded in IOF shooting on last day of 2011




GAZA, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) shot at and wounded a Palestinian man in northern Gaza Strip on Saturday night in the dying hours of 2011, local sources said.
They said that IOF troops stationed north of Beit Hanun town opened fire at its residents wounding the 33-year-old man, who was carried to hospital in moderate condition.

Palestinian Injured By Army Fire In Northern Gaza

Sunday January 01, 2012 01:54 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies
Palestinian medical sources reported Saturday that a Palestinian man was shot and wounded by Israeli military fire, north of Beit Hanoun, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, the Arabs48 news website reported.
Image By Arabs48
Image By Arabs48
The sources stated that medics transferred the wounded 32-year-old man to Kamal Odwan Hospital after he was shot in the leg.

Israel imposes an illegal buffer-zone along the border, preventing the Palestinians from entering their own lands that are close to the border fence. Dozens of casualties, including several fatalities were reported in similar attacks.

Despite the fact that when Israel declared this “buffer zone” it stated that it extends to 300 meters along the border with northern Gaza, on the ground, the zone extends to more than 1 kilometer, preventing the residents from planting their own lands, or even entering them.