Palestinians suffering from "Israeli" occupation: HRW

Source: AFP, 11-1-2007
NEW YORK - Palestinians continue to suffer from "Israeli" military operations while the Palestinian Authority has failed to rein in militant groups firing rockets into "Israel", Human Rights Watch has said in its annual report.
At the same time the Palestinian territories are suffering under an international aid freeze, coupled with "Israel" withholding PA`s customs duties, that has effectively wiped out 75 percent of the PA budget, the US-based rights group said Thursday.
The freeze was imposed after Islamist Hamas formed a cabinet in March.
After an "Israeli" soldier was captured in a clash with the resistance, a military offensive launched by "Israel" inside Gaza in late June killed 449 people by October alone, "at least half of whom were not participating in hostilities at the time of their deaths, raising serious concerns for civilian protection," HRW said.
"The `Israeli` army`s continued failure to conduct investigations into most killings of civilians reinforced a culture of impunity in the army and robbed victims of an effective remedy," it added.
Although "Israel" withdrew troops and settlers from Gaza in September 2005, after a 38-year-occupation, it still had the responsibilities of an occupying power under international law, the report said.
"Because `Israel` retained effective day-to-day control over most key aspects of life in Gaza, including ingress and egress and thus the economy, it retained the responsibility of an occupying power under the Fourth Geneva Convention to ensure that the occupied population has access to food and medicine, and that basic health, security, and education needs are met."
Meanwhile "restrictive, often arbitrary" restrictions on freedom of movement in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem were expanded. Some 540 physical closure obstacles were in place as of August 1, compared with 376 at the same time the previous year.
HRW said 85 percent of the route of "Israel`s" controversial security barrier being constructed in the West Bank currently extends inside the Green Line, or "Israel`s" borders prior to the 1967 Six Day War.
"If the wall were to become a permanent border, it would mean `Israel`s` annexation of approximately 10 percent of the West Bank," including all major settlements and "some of the most productive Palestinian farmlands and key water resources."
"Israel" also continued to expand settlements in the West Bank and failed, as promised, to dismantle illegal outposts not recognized by the government, HRW said. All settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law.
"`Israel` continued to apply a host of laws and policies that discriminate on the basis of ethnic or national origin," it said.
These included legislation prohibiting Palestinians in the territories from joining their "Israeli" spouses in "Israel"; banning Palestinian students from studying in "Israeli" schools and universities; and denying visas to foreign citizens who have been living in the occupied territories for years.
Meanwhile on the Palestinian side, armed groups managed to maintain some level of resistance through firing homemade rockets from Gaza into settlers` areas in "Israel" "causing several serious injuries among settlers and, at this writing, two deaths."