Annual Report - Palestinian Center for Human Rights

incursions into Palestinian communities, or under the pretext of unlicensed
construction, especially in East Jerusalem. 35
On 5 July 2005, IOF moved into Kherbat Tana area to the east of Beit Fourik village,
east of Nablus. They demolished 17 houses, rendering at least 200 Palestinian
civilians including 150 children, homeless. They also destroyed an elementary
school. The houses and the school were located nearly 6 kilometers away from
“Makhora” settlement. On 15 January 2005, IOF conducted a wide scale incursion
into the Gaza Strip. They razed 41 dunums 36 of agricultural land in al-Boreij refugee
camp in the central Gaza Strip, and demolished 3 houses in Khan Yunis town in the
southern Gaza Strip. On 14 and 16 January 2005, IOF destroyed two civilian
facilities in Deir al-Balah and Beit Lahia respectively. On 27 December 2005, IOF
demolished a 130-square-meter house belonging to Nabil Mohammed al-‘Emwasi, in
which 7 individuals lived, in Beit Hanina suburb, north of East Jerusalem. IOF did
not allow residents of the house to vacate their belongings. IOF claimed that the
house was built without a license.
In addition to destruction of Palestinian houses, PCHR has documented dozens of
cases in which civilian facilities and houses were damaged by the Israeli shelling. For
example, on 29 May 2005, IOF warplanes fired three missiles at Tal al-Za'tar area in
the northern Gaza Strip. The missile exploded near al-Bashir mosque, nearly 3500
meters away from the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel. The mosque was
damaged, but no casualties were reported. IOF claimed that this attack targeted a
number of members of Islamic Jihad who were attempting to launch rockets at Israeli
settlements but they survived the attack. At the same time, IOF warplanes launched a
missile at Jabalya refugee camp. The missile hit a room in Sameer Isma'il Killab's
house, where eight people live. No casualties among the 6 residents of the house
were reported.
35 IOF prevent Palestinians living in East Jerusalem from building houses without licenses from Israeli
authorities. IOF impose severe limitations on the issuing of such licenses, and Palestinians are
deprived of obtaining such licenses. IOF demolish Palestinian houses in East Jerusalem claiming that
they are built without licenses, in the context of a policy aimed at Judaizing the city.
36 1 dunum is equal to 1000 square meters.
46