UN: Israel imposes collective punishment against Palestinians

The Israeli occupation forces are imposing a collective punishment against Palestinians, after four Israelis have been killed in a shooting in Tel Aviv, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Friday.

In its Protection of Civilians Weekly Report, covering the period from June 7-13, OCHA said the Israeli forces, following the attack, closed-off all entrances to Yatta for three days, preventing all movement to and from the town, except for humanitarian cases coordinated in advance.

Additionally, some 350 permit holders with the same family name of the suspected perpetrator of a stabbing attempt were prevented from entering Israel or the closed area behind the Barrier (the “Seam Zone”) for the entire week.

In the same context, the Israeli authorities suspended over 83,000 permits issued to West Bank Palestinians and to a few hundreds of Gaza residents on the occasion of the month of Ramadan, the report said.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern that the cancellation of the permits may amount to collective punishment.

In November 2015, the Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory Robert Piper called upon the Israeli authorities to halt this practice, which is a form of collective punishment, illegal under international law.

Additionally, from June 10 to 12, on the occasion of a Jewish holiday (Shavuot), the Israeli authorities imposed a closure on the West Bank and Gaza preventing permit holders from entering Israel and East Al Quds, except for humanitarian workers, staff of international organizations and holders of family unification permits, it added.

On 11 June, in Beit ‘Amra in Hebron, the Israeli forces destroyed the family home of a 15 year-old Palestinian boy, currently being prosecuted for the stabbing and killing of an Israeli woman. Six people, including a child, were displaced as a result.

Since the resumption of this practice in July 2014, the Israeli authorities demolished or sealed 48 homes on punitive grounds, displacing 288 people, including 133 children.

In a search operation in Qalqiliya city, Israeli forces shot flares that set on fire and damaged at least 50 olive trees, the report elaborated.

In total, Israeli forces conducted 87 search and arrest operations and arrested 128 Palestinians in the West Bank including East Al Quds; approximately 30 percent of the detainees were from the Hebron governorate.

Source : MENA