Amnesty International: Israel frequently uses excessive force against Palestinians
Annual report for 2012 says Israel killed 55 civilians in the West Bank and Gaza, including 11 children.
The report is highly critical of Israeli policies toward the Palestinians, charging that the Israel Defense Forces frequently uses excessive, sometimes lethal, force against demonstrators in the West Bank and civilians in Gaza. The IDF this year has killed 55 civilians in the West Bank and Gaza, including 11 children, the report said.
The report charges that Israeli authorities were prolonging the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip with the continued implementation of blockade. The report also criticizes Israel for restricting the movement of Palestinians in the West Bank.
The construction of the security barrier is also mentioned as a source of grievance as it is mostly constructed on Palestinian land and in many cases serves to annex land to settlements in breach of international law.
The report states that Israel has engaged in the demolition of Palestinian homes and other facilities in the West Bank, as well is inside Israel itself, where homes of Palestinian citizens are destroyed in "unrecognized” villages in the Negev desert.
According to the report, Israel often fails to bring those that attack Palestinians to justice. Amnesty says three Palestinians were killed by settlers during the past year.
The report goes on to criticize Israel's policy regarding the imprisonment of Palestinians. Thousands of Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons, with more than 307 being administrative detainees held without charge or trial; others received prison terms following military trials. Israel held more than 4,200 Palestinian prisoners at the end of 2011. The report cites reports of torture and other ill-treatment of detainees.
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http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-d ... s-1.432273
Cheers,
Shafique
