Haaretz
Tevet 7, 5767
According to an annual
B'Tselem report, from the beginning of 2006 to December 27, Israeli
security forces have killed 660 Palestinians, a figure more than three
times the number of Palestinians killed in 2005, which was 197.
The
data compiled by the human rights organization also indicated a
significant decrease in Israeli casualties. Palestinians killed 23
Israelis in 2006 - 17 civilians, among them one minor, and six Israel
Defense Forces soldiers. The figure constitutes less than half of the 50
Israelis killed in 2005.
B'Tselem also listed the overall figures
for casualties since the beginning of the intifada, with Palestinian
casualties at 4005 and Israeli casualties at 1017, 701 of which were
civilians.
The report states that 2006 saw an improvement in the
realization on Israeli civilians' right to life, while, on the other hand,
also seeing "a deterioration in the human rights situation in the occupied
territories, particularly in the increase in civilians killed and the
destruction of houses and infrastructure in the Gaza
Strip."
According to the report, about half of the Palestinians
killed, 322, did not take part in the hostilities at the time they were
killed. 22 of those killed were targets of assassinations, and 141 were
minors.
The report says the majority of Palestinian casualties were
killed in the Gaza Strip in the second half of 2006, following the capture
of IDF Corporal Gilad Shalit. During this period, 405 Palestinians were
killed in the Gaza Strip alone, of them 88 were minors and 205 did not
take part in the hostilities at the time they were
killed.
According to the report, the IDF demolished 292 Palestinian
houses, 95 percent of them in the Gaza Strip. These were home to 1,769
people.
B'Tselem's report says the owners of 80 of the homes
received advance warning to the demolition. Israel demolished 42
additional homes in East Jerusalem that were built without a permit. These
were home to about 80 people, according to the report.
The report
indicates that movement restrictions in the West Bank became more severe
in 2006. Israel currently maintains 54 permanent checkpoints in the West
Bank that are usually staffed, and 12 other checkpoints within the city of
Hebron.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs, there is an average of 160 flying checkpoints
throughout the West Bank every week.
In addition to the
checkpoints, the report says IDF has erected hundreds of physical
obstacles such as concrete blocks, dirt piles and trenches to restrict
access to and from Palestinian communities. Palestinians have restricted
access to 41 roadways in the West Bank, to which Israelis have unlimited
access.
According to the report, as of November, Israel held 9,075
Palestinians in custody, including 345 minors. Of these, 738, including 22
minors, were held in administrative detention without trial and with no
knowledge of the charges against them.