According to Human Rights Watch; Israel Excessively Restricts Movement of Palestinians

Friday January 12, 2007 23:03

by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC&Agencies

The Washington-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated that Israel has and continues to restrict the movement of Palestinians.

Human Rights Watch

In its annual report, the HRW explained that Israel has imposed ‘excessive’ restrictions on movement, particularly in the West Bank and East Jerusalem during 2006. The report maintained that in August 2006 Israel increased the number of roadblocks to 540, compared with 376 in 2005. HRW also pointed out that the Israeli government has withheld customs money due to the Palestinian Authority. However, only after the installation of the democratically elected Hamas-led government in January 2006.

In another human rights abuse, the report referred to the Israeli army's insufficient probes into the killings of civilians, with reference to the June 2006 Israeli army massive attacks on the Gaza Strip for the alleged release of corporal Gil'ad Shalit, who has been held by resistance groups in Gaza. Half of 449 Palestinians, killed by the Israeli army in Gaza, have not been involved in fighting, the report confirmed.

With respect to the Israeli separation barrier (Apartheid Wall), the HRW revealed that 85% of such a wall, which is delving deep into Palestinian-owned lands in the West Bank, has crossed the Israel-West Bank border line, known as the ‘Green Line.' The organization also warned that such a wall will likely be marked as permanent borders of Israel, which means 10% of the West Bank territories would be annexed to Israel.

Since June 2006, the Israeli army has been waging massive military actions on the Gaza Strip under the pretext of releasing Gil’ad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held by Palestinian resistance groups after a resistance attack on a military base. These military actions have caused destruction of many main infrastructures like ministerial buildings, bridges and the Gaza main power plant.