Crimes against Humanity in Gaza Strip

In cooperation with PCHRGAZA

Ethnic Cleansing is the term that describes Israel's practices in Gaza northern districts. The policy of demolition of civilian houses in the northern districts of the Gaza Strip was carried out unlawfully and is an act of collective punishment, breaching UN laws and Geneva conventions specifically article 53 of 1949 to which Israel is a High Contracting Party states: 'Any destruction by the occupying power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private person, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or co-operative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.'

Photo 1 & Photo 2

The Israeli forces constantly stressed out the significance of the Israeli military operations in Gaza Strip as to protect Israeli civilians living in settlements of the strip. Brining to a stand-still situation, the Israeli Occupying Forces have continually engaged into wide-scale military operations and caused damaged to many Palestinian buildings and rendered families in a state of disorder.

Photo 3 & Photo 4

According to ARIJ Database, during the period of August 2004-October 11th, an unprecedented number of houses were demolished as the Israeli Forces committed the worst of crimes against humans and land. A total of 346 Palestinian houses were completely demolished, in addition to 909 dunums of agricultural lands planted with 13700 fruitful trees were razed. Table one below illustrates the Israeli violations in the last three months.

Table 1: The Israeli violations in Gaza Strip since August 2004 until the 11th of October 2004:

Date	No. of Houses Demolished	No. of dunums confiscated /razed	No. of trees uprooted
August	118	441	850
September	167	235	9645
October	61	233	3235
Total	346	909	13730

Source: ARIJ Database 2004

Chart one below is an illustration of the Israeli violations in the northern districts listed in Table 1.

Source: ARIJ Database 2004

Photo 5 & Photo 6 &

The Israeli forces, stepped up its violations in Gaza Strip as it incurred on September 30, 2004, into areas of the northern Gaza Strip and took up positions around Beit Hanoun, Jabalya, Beit Lahya cities and Jabalya refugee camp, destroying the infrastructure of the cities to clear the path for the military operation to take place in the area. Gaza Northern areas constitute a total population of 400.000+, about 40% of Gaza Strip total population. See Table 2 below.

Table 2: Area of violation and number of population.

Area of Violation	Population 2003
Jabalya	159,003
Beit Lahya	53,689
Beit Hanoun	29,024
Jabalya Including Camp	159,003

Photo 7 & Photo 8: Destruction of Infrastructure

The massive Israeli operation was executed under the pretext of providing security to the neighboring Israeli settlements of Elei Sinai, Dugit and Nisanit. The operation resulted in the death of 100+ Palestinian citizens, among of which, 30 children were killed; more than 400 were injured, and a total of 61 homes were demolished.

The military operation did not stop at that limit as the Israeli forces escalated their violations to include medical personnel and ambulance cars. Ambulances were prevented from reaching places of incidents to provide medical treatment for injured Palestinians.

Schools were also a target of the Israeli missiles. The IOF have demolished schools and kinder gardens in the northern Gaza Strip, forfeiting students of their right to education, breaching all international laws and resolution 2200A (XXI) of 16 December 1966 which stresses that: ''The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to education. They agree that education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and the sense of its dignity, and shall strengthen the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. They further agree that education shall enable all persons to participate effectively in a free society, promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations and all racial, ethnic or religious groups, and further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace .''

Photo 9 & Photo 10: Targeting Schools in Gaza Northern Districts

According to ARIJ Database, during the period of Israeli incursion to Gaza Northern areas, a total of 233 dunums of Palestinian lands were razed, 61 houses were demolished and 3235 fruitful trees were uprooted.Table 3, Table 4, Table 5 and Table 6 below detail the Israeli violations during the period of the Israeli incursion into Gaza northern districts.

Table 3: Total Israeli violations in the northern districts during the last Israeli incursion to the areas

October	No.	Chart 2: Illustration of Table 3
Houses demolished	61
Land razed in dunums	233
Trees uprooted	3235

Source: ARIJ Database 2004

Map 1: Location map of Gaza northern districts

Table 4: The Israeli violations (House Demolition) Gaza northern districts Strip during the last Israeli incursion to the areas

Date	Location	Owner	Type of Violation
30_ Sep_ 2004	Tel Al Za'tar neighborhood to the north of Jabalya camp	Al Kat and Dayf families	D_ Demolishing 2 houses
30_ Sep_ 2004	Jabalya refugee camp to the north of Gaza Strip	Dr. Muhammad Al Sharafi	O_ Partially demolishing one house
30_ Sep_ 2004	Southeast of Jabalya refugee camp	Mahmoud Yunis Al Najar	O_ One house threatened of demolition
30_ Sep_ 2004	Jabalya refugee camp to the north of the Gaza Strip	NA	D_ Demolishing 3 houses
1_Oct_2004	Beit Hanun passage to the north of Gaza Strip	NA	O_ partially demolishing the president palace
2_Oct_2004	Al Sika Street to the west of Beit Hanun	Wael Al Basyoni	O_ partially demolishing one house
2_Oct_2004	East of Jabalya refugee camp to the north of the Strip	'Ali Salem Al Manay'a, 'Abed El Hadi Dhaher and Omar Salem Abu Jarad	D_ Demolishing three houses two of them are composed of two floors
2_Oct_2004	East of Jabalya refugee camp to the north of the Strip		D_ demolishing Al Bukhary Mosque
3_Oct_2004	Al Sika Street to the west of Beit Hanun city	'Aref Al Za'anin	D_ Demolishing a house
3_Oct_2004	Tel Al Za'tar area north of Jabalya cam	Abu El Jedyan, Al Kahlout and Abu Kas families	D_ Demolishing several numbers of houses
3_Oct_2004	Near Beit Hanun passage north of the Strip		D_ Demolishing 30 commercial stores
3_Oct_2004	Near Al Bashir Mosque in Tel Al Za'tar	Jaber Abu 'Okal	D_ Demolishing a kinder garden
3_Oct_2004	'Ireba village facing Morag settlement		D_ Partially demolishing five houses with more than 10 sheep farms
5_Oct_2004	East of Beit Hanun city to the north of the Gaza Strip	Khaled Yousef Al Za'anin	D_ Demolishing of one house
5_Oct_2004	East of Beit Lahya	Muhammad and Ahmad Mtayr	D_ Demolishing two houses
5_Oct_2004	Tel El Za'tar area near Jabalya camp	families of 'Abed Rabou, Al Bayari, Al Jamal and Stayh	D_ Demolishing 4 houses
5_Oct_2004	Al Sika Street to the east of Jabalya camp	Abu Rukba family	D_ Demolishing of 1 house
5_Oct_2004	Close to Gane Tal settlement	Al Astal and Hijazy families	O_ Threatened houses
5_Oct_2004	Al Shaga'iya neighborhood to the east of Gaza city	Marshoud family	O_ Threatened houses
5_Oct_2004	East of El Sheikh Zaied city in Tel Al Za'tar neighborhood	Al Zawar'a and Abu Hashesh families	D_ Demolishing of houses
6_Oct_2004	Al Rabawat Al Gharbiya area in Khan Yunis district	Ibrahim Hijazy	D_ Demolishing thethree-storey house
6_Oct_2004	Beit Hanun city	Ahmad Hussein Odeh	O_ Partially demolishing a house
6_Oct_2004	Beit Hanun city	Fuad Al Shobaky	D_ Demolishing thetwo-storey house
6_Oct_2004	Near Erez checkpoint		D_ Demolishing a building
6_Oct_2004	Al Satr El Gharby area to the northwest of Khan Yunis city	Al Astal family	D_ Demolishing 4 houses
6_Oct_2004	Jabalya town	Hasoneh family	D_ Demolishing industrial workshop
7_Oct_2004	South of Deir El Balah	Nasar Al Flit	D_ Demolishing a house
7_Oct_2004	Al Mahata area in the middle of the Gaza Strip		O_ Threatened houses
7_Oct_2004	Qlabu area	'Aref and 'Atef Al Dahnun	D_ Demolishing 2 houses
7_Oct_2004	Jabalya camp	Saber Abu Frah	O_ Partially demolishing a house
7_Oct_2004	Tel El Za'tar area		D_ Demolishing Jabalya youth club
7_Oct_2004	Beit Hanun town	Bashir Sa'adat, Deeb Na'im and Sha'ban Qarmut	D_ Demolition of houses
7_Oct_2004	Al Rabawat Al Gharbiya area to the north of Khan Yunis	Qasem Al Bihary, Bilal 'Bayed, Samer Abu T'ameh, Khaled Al 'Azazy, Isma'il Al Astal, Hussein Al 'Adeny and Maher Saqer	D_ Demolishing 7 houses
8_Oct_2004	Near Salah El Din Street west of Beit Hanun city	Riyad Sa'adat	D_ Demolishing two-storey house
9_Oct_2004	Beit Hanun town	Fadi Al Za'anin	D_ Demolishing a house
9_Oct_2004	She'sha'a area in Tel El Za'tar neighborhood	Diab Al D'afy	D_ Demolishing a house
10_Oct_2004	'Ireba area to the northwest of Rafah district	Ahmad Al Tarabin sons, 'Eid Al 'Arjany sons, Salameh El Tarabin sons, Salimeh 'Eiyada Abu Samhadana, 'Ayad 'Atta Allah Al 'Arjany, Ghanema 'Abed al Tarabin, Walid Wasfi Abu Samhadana, Farhana Farid Abu Samhadana and Deeb Odeh Abu Samhadana	D_ Demolition of houses
10_Oct_2004	Beit Hanun town	'Atta Kamal Al Shenbary	O_ Burning a house
10_Oct_2004	Al Khulafa El Rashidin area to the east of Jabalya camp	Al 'Ajramy family	D_ Demolition of a house
10_Oct_2004	Rafah city to the south of the Strip on the Palestinian- Egyptian borders		O_ partially demolishing a house

Table 5: The Israeli violations (land razing and uprooting of trees) in Gaza northern districts during the last Israeli Incursion to the areas.

Date	location	Owner	Violation
1_Oct_2004	The middle of Gaza	Al Laham and Bashir families	U_ Uprooting hundreds of Olives and Citrus trees
1_Oct_2004	Around Beit Hanun passage to the north of the Strip	Abu Jarad family	S_ Razing several numbers of dunums cultivated with Olives
2_Oct_2004	West of Salah Al Din Street to the north of Gaza Strip	'Ali Al Ranand Issa Hamuda	S_ Razing agricultural lands cultivated with Olives and Fruit
2_Oct_2004	West of Salah Al Din Street to the north of Gaza Strip	Al 'Aklouk family	S_ Razing 10 dunums of agricultural lands cultivated with Citrus
3_Oct_2004	Near Al Bashir Mosque in Tel Al Za'tar	Mas'oud family	S_ Razing a green house cultivated with Citrus and Olives
3_Oct_2004	North of Gaza International Airport	Abu Isnaneh and Al Deyari families	S_ Razing 30 dunums of lands planted with Almonds
5_Oct_2004	East of Beit Hanun city to the north of the Gaza Strip	Khaled Yousef Al Za'anin	S_ Razing 3 dunums cultivated with Olives
5_Oct_2004	Northeast of Jabalya camp north of the Strip		S_ Razing Talet Qlabu
6_Oct_2004	Beit Lahya town to the north of the Strip	Felfel family	S_ Razing of lands
6_Oct_2004	Beit Hanun city	Ahmad Hussein Odeh	S_ Razing20 dunums of lands cultivated with Citrus
6_Oct_2004	Al Satr El Gharby area to the northwest of Khan Yunis city	Al Astal and Agha families	S_ Razing 50 dunums of lands cultivated with Olives and Palms
7_Oct_2004	Beit Lahya	Rajab and Al Masri	S_ Razing of lands cultivated with Citrus
7_Oct_2004	Beit Hanun town	Na'im, Abu Odeh and Sa'adat families	S_ Razing tens of dunums of lands
7_Oct_2004	Al Rabawat Al Gharbiya area to the north of Khan Yunis		S_ Razing 15 plastic houses and 100 dunums of agricultural lands
9_Oct_2004	Al Mugraqa area to the south of Gaza city	Al Ris family	S_ Razing tens of dunums of agricultural lands cultivated with Citrus
9_Oct_2004	She'sha'a area in Tel El Za'tar neighborhood	Abed Rabou family	S_ Razing tens of dunums of agricultural lands
10_Oct_2004	'Ireba area to the northwest of Rafah district	Abu Khetla, Abu 'Ajala, Fugu and Dahlez families	S_ Razing vast areas of agricultural lands
10_Oct_2004	Beit Hanun city	Al Basuny, Hamad Al Za'anin and Rushdy	S_ Razing 20 dunums

Table 6: The Israeli violations (Construction of new military bases and watch points) in Gaza northern districts during the last Israeli incursion to the areas.

Date	location	Owner	Violation
1_Oct_2004	Tel Al Za'tar area to the north of Jabalya camp	NA	C_ constructing new military base
2_Oct_2004	Talet Qlabu to the east of Beit Lahya north of the Strip	NA	C_ constructing new military watch point
3_Oct_2004	Al Sika and Al Sultan 'Abed El Hamid Streets west of Beit Hanun city	NA	C_ constructing new military base
3_Oct_2004	North of the Strip	NA	C_ Erecting 6-9 Km width security zone
6_Oct_2004	South of Beit Hanun town north of the Strip	NA	C_ constructing new military base
7_Oct_2004	Al Anwar neighborhood	Abu Shubak family	O_ Burning a farm
11_Oct_2004	Jabalya camp	Al Khulafa El Rashidin Mosque	O_ Put fire intoa library

Source: ARIJ Database 2004

D= Demolition, C= Construction, U= Uprooting, S= Razing, O= Others

At the time Sharon is talking about 'Disengaging from Gaza' which includes withdrawal from certain military installations and all settlements from Gaza Strip in addition to certain Israeli military installations and settlements in the West Bank, the Israeli bulldozers are razing lands, uprooting trees and demolishing Palestinian houses to implement its geographical plans. Furthermore the IO bulldozers started erecting a new security zone of 6-9 KM width north of the Strip on the expense of Palestinian agricultural lands. The security zone contradicts Sharon's declarations of evacuating from Gaza Strip Settlements as this security zone will isolate Gaza northern districts from its southern ones, making room for future plans.

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