Oppressive Israeli measures cripple Palestinian Camps in Gaza Strip

March 31, 2004

Camp and Location

Khan Yunis camp is located west of Khan Yunis town, at the southern part of the Gaza Strip and about two kilometers from the Mediterranean Sea shore. The refugee camp was established in 1949 following the 1948 war between the Arabs and Jews. Today, Khan Yunis camp is inhabited by 60,662 Palestinian refugees originated from the Palestinian lands occupied in 1948. The camp is divided into 13 land blocks where most of the shelters are constructed out of bricks with asbestos roofs. Table 1:- Number of refugees officially registered in Khan Yunis Camp

Source: UNRWA

Since the outbreak of the second Intifada in September 28, 2000, Gaza Strip has been facing a series of violations committed by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) resulting in a huge campaign of house demolitions and confiscation of lands.  Many houses were bombed or bulldozed and hundreds of residents became homeless. Gunfire and shooting from the nearby settlements at the camp are heard every night; thus spreading fear and insecurity among inhabitants (Children, women and Elders)

Violation :-

On 25 March 2004, The Israeli bulldozers backed with military tanks and under heavy barrage of gunfire staged 200m into the western side of Khan Younis camp and started shelling on Palestinian residential areas causing the demolition of three houses and partially damaged ten others. As a result 23 families were displaced not having the chance to salvage any of their clothes, furniture's or belongings. See Photo 1 & Photo 2

The table below shows the number of houses demolished during the invasion into the camp .

Table 1: Demolition by name, area of houses and number of families lived.

Source: PCHRGAZA Database 2004. Database 2004.
(Palestinian center for Human Rights)

Map of Location

The Palestinians in Gaza Strip have been subjected to almost nightly attacks by the Israeli Occupation Forces including tanks and helicopters that intensively fire at Palestinian residential areas, destroying buildings, houses and killing their inhabitants.  Hundreds of Palestinian homes were damaged in this way. According to a report published by the United Nation Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) almost 1400 houses in Gaza and another 900 houses in Rafah governorate were demolished since the beginning of the current Intifada that started in September 2000, displacing 15000 Palestinian inhabitants.

There is a crucial need for International Community Intervention in order to stop the Israeli violations especially those related to international human rights and humanitarian law and to insure protection for the Palestinian people in the Occupied Territories from the Israeli serious escalation of war crimes and killings.

Prepared by:
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem