Terrorist Army Continues Enforcing Security Buffer Zone inside Gaza, Bulldozes Agricultural lands, Destroys Palestinian Houses

IOF Continues Enforcing Security Buffer Zone inside Gaza,
Bulldozes Agricultural lands, Destroys Palestinian Houses

The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) has increased its attacks on
Palestinians near the Gaza Strip's eastern and northern borders with Israel;
an area inside Gaza that the IOF has declared as a security 'buffer zone'.
Al Mezan's investigations indicate that the IOF always fires at any
Palestinians near the eastern and northern borders. The IOF's attacks do not
follow a specific pattern. The IOF claims that its soldiers fire at
Palestinians only when they are 300 meters from border fence. However, while
some attacks have occurred close to the border fence, many other attacks
occurred when civilians were more than a kilometer from the borderline.

According to Al Mezan's continuous monitoring, at approximately 6am on
Thursday 18 February 2010, Israeli tanks and four armored bulldozers moved
under the cover of reconnaissance drones nearly 650 meter inside the Al
Msadar village in the Al Maghazi refugee camp. The IOF stationed itself
there while the bulldozers leveled about 18 dunoum of agricultural lands and
destroyed three rural houses. At approximately 4:30pm on the same day the
IOF withdrew from the area.

According to field investigations conducted by Al Mezan, the IOF destroyed
the house of Moaen Ali Salman Abu Said,28. The IOF used loud speakers and
ordered the residents of that house to leave the house before destroying it.
The Abu Said family did not manage to collect their furniture from  the
house. The house is 175 square metre and five persons live there. The IOF
also destroyed the house of Salim Salman Awad Ibn Said,67, two-storey and
120 square meter. Eight persons live there, four of them are children. The
IOF also leveled 10 dunoms planted with fruitful olive trees. An irrigation
network and water well were destroyed as a result. In addition, the IOF
destroyed a 80 square meter rural house. The IOF also fired
indiscriminately in that area. Several houses were partially damaged.

Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights strongly condemns the continued, systematic
attacks by the IOF against the Palestinian civilians, particularly farmers
who work in their fields near the borders. Al Mezan warns of the human
rights implications for Palestinian civilians which emanate from Israel's
attempts to enforce the security 'buffer zone' inside the Gaza Strip. Al
Mezan's monitoring indicates that the IOF attacks linked to the 'buffer
zone' occur within an area that extends well beyond one kilometer from
Gaza's eastern and northern borders.

Al Mezan asserts that the IOF's conduct in this area flagrantly violates the
rules of international humanitarian law and human rights law. They violate
the rights to life, liberty and personal integrity. They also violate a wide
range of economic and social rights and cause displacement to civilians.

Al Mezan Centre calls on the international community to take prompt actions
to ensure due protection of Palestinian civilians in the occupied
Palestinian territory (oPt). The Centre asserts that IOF's continued acts
necessitate urgent actions by international community to enforce the
mechanisms of accountability against those who violate international law in
OPT

Ends


Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights
5/102-1 Al Mena, Omar El-Mukhtar Street,
Western Rimal, Gaza City, The Gaza Strip,
P.O. Box. 5270,
Telefax: 2820447, 2820442