The Israelian crimes against Palestinian children are condemned. The Israeli occupation authorities continue their violations against Palestinian children represented in arresting and abusing them during the arrest process without respecting the child’s protection treaties and the Convention on the Rights of the Child . These crimes are carried out under displacement, murder and intimidation. the highest percentage was after April/October (119), and at the end of October there are 160 children distributed in Megiddo Ofer Damon prison of them About (4) children in administrative detention and (12) children under (12) years old are also detained . According to the testimonies provided by the prisoners and the reports issued by the prisoners’ institutions, they are subjected to the cruelty to which adult prisoners are subjected to torture, unfair trials and inhumane treatment that violates their basic rights and threatens their future is lost. This is against the terms of the Child Agreement ،especially Article 16, which states:

No arbitrary or unlawful interference with a child's private life, family, home, or correspondence, or any lawful prejudice to his honor or reputation.

Which also states:

“The child has the right to be protected by law from this exposure and prejudice.” The occupation does not take into account the young age of children when they are brought to court, and a special court is not formed for them, and the age of the child is set for less than (16) years based on Military Order No. (132). this is a clear violation of Article No. (1) of the Child Convention, which defines a child as “every human being under the age of eighteen.”

The Israeli occupation authorities deprive the child prisoners of the most basic rights granted to them by international conventions that they are entitled to regardless of their religion, nationality. These include the right not to be subjected to arbitrary arrest .it includes:

• The right to know the reason for the arrest.
• The right to obtain a lawyer.
• The family’s right to know the reason for the arrest, and the location of the arrest.
• The right to appear before a judge.
• The right to object and challenge the accusation.
• The right to communicate with the outside world.
• The right to humane treatment that preserves the dignity of the detained child.

Child prisoners in Israeli prisons suffer from harsh and inhumane conditions of detention that lack international standards for children's rights. The prisoners suffer from lack of food and poor quality, lack of hygiene, and the spread of insects Child prisoners are deprived of health care and appropriate medical treatment, and painkillers are usually the treatment for various types of diseases. According to the testimonies of child prisoners, the prison administration refuses to transfer patients from them to prison clinics, and if they transfer them, they are subjected to beatings, insults, and harassment, even from doctors and nurses. Likewise, there is no permanent doctor available in the prison clinic. The occupation is still procrastinating and sometimes refusing to perform surgeries on children who need immediate operations, and this is contrary to international laws that explicitly stipulate the need for medical care for prisoners. Articles (91-92) of the Fourth Geneva Convention stated: “Every prisoner must have a clinic". An event supervised by a qualified doctor, and that the detainees receive the medical care they need, as well as the installation of any medical devices necessary to maintain their health in good condition, free of charge. Free medical examinations must be conducted for the detainees at least once a month, and their purpose is to monitor the health and psychological condition, general nutrition, and hygiene, as well as the detection of infectious diseases. Israeli prisons do not comply with this.

And if we examine the sentences issued unjustly and aggressively, we find that they are high, as one child was sentenced to life imprisonment, three children were sentenced to 15 years in prison, and four other children were sentenced between 5 and 9 years, and often the verdict is accompanied by financial fines (1000-6000 shekels).

The Israeli occupation state is the only country in the world that tries children before military courts. Based on the foregoing, we, the undersigned organizations, demand:

First: The international community to put pressure on the Israeli occupation state and oblige it to implement international agreements on prisoners and detainees, especially child prisoners, and to work for their release.

Second: All international human rights organizations, especially those working in the field of children, such as UNICEF & Dcl, to launch an international campaign to shed light on the suffering of child prisoners in Israeli prisons, and to work for their release.

The signatories to the statement

1. Tunisian General Labor Union
2. Coordination for Maghreb Human Rights Organizations (include 26 HR organizations from Morocco, Mauretania, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya)
3. The Moroccan Coalition for Human Rights Bodies (includes 23 Moroccan human rights organizations)
4. Sudanese Women's Union
5. The Jordan Federation of the independent Trade Unions
6. Union of Palestinian Working Women's Committees
7. Tunisian Coalition Against the Death Penalty
8. The Human Rights Coalition to Stop the Aggression, Lift the Siege, and Build Peace in Yemen (includes 10 organizations from ten Arab countries)
9. Egyptian Coalition for Child Rights (includes 100 institutions)
10. The National Coalition of Civil Society Organizations in Yemen
11. The Coalition for Integrity and Accountability (AMAN)/Palestine
12. The Palestinian Doctors Association in Europe
13. The Academic Assembly for the support of Palestine-Lebanon
14. Women’s Cultural Assembly for Democracy / Iraq
15. Cultural Rally for Democracy / Iraq
16. NGOs Platform (Tajamoh)(includes 50 organizations)/Lebanon
17. Syrian Coalition Against the Death Penalty (SCODP)
18. Iraqi Coalition Against the Death Penalty
19. The Iraqi Alliance for Human Rights Organizations (includes 55 organizations)
20. The Arab Coalition against the Death Penalty (includes 9 coalitions in 8 countries)
21. Syrian Feminist Alliance to activate Security Council Resolution 1325
22. Yemeni Coalition Against the Death Penalty
23. Acting for change and democracy in Algeria (ACDA)
24. The Moroccan Front in Support of Palestine and Against Normalization(18 organizations(
25. Ibn Rushd Association for Development and Democracy / Iraq
26. The Jordan Society for Human Rights
27. Bahrain Human Rights Society
28. Baraem Association for Social Work/Lebanon
29. The Palestinian National Heritage Society in Lebanon
30. Civil Solidarity Association / Tunis
31. Lebanese Palestinian Communication Association
32. Tunisian Association for the Defense of Individual Liberties
33. Tunisian Association of Democratic Women
34. l'Association des tunisiens en France
35. Alrowwad Cultural and Arts Society- Aida refugee camp-Bethlehem -Palestine
36. Oak Society/Jordan
37. Working Women's Association/Jordan
38. Association of the International Cultural Network for Palestine
39. Palestinian Diaspora Association / Sweden
40. Palestinian Martyr Association / Lebanon
41. Palestinian Society for Social Communication Ajyal/Lebanon
42. Al-Quds Cultural and Social Association / Lebanon
43. Lebanese Association for Boycott Support
44. Lebanese Association of Democratic Jurists
45. Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development PWWSD”
46. Women’s Association for Women’s Development and Development/ Yemen
47. Association for the Development Center for Palestinian Women / Palestine
48. Moroccan Association in France
49. Moroccan Association for Human Rights
50. The Moroccan Association for Women Progressive
51. Moroccan Association for the Elimination of Violence against Women
52. University Cultural Forum Association / Lebanon
53. Association of the Economic and Social Forum for Women / Jordan
54. Mauritanian Association for the Promotion of Rights
55. Mauritanian Association for Human Rights
56. Arab Women Organization-Jordan
57. I am a Human Soceity for Rights of Persons with Disability
58. Rural Women Development Association / Palestine
59. Jothor Society for Human Rights-Jordan
60. Citizenship Bridges Association/Tunisia
61. Rasid Association for Human Rights/ Lebanon
62. Roaa Women Association-Jordan
63. Women's Network Society for Women Support/ Jordan
64. Chamoua Association for Equality/Morocco
65. Association of the Jordanian Women's Solidarity Institute
66. Orient Forum Association for Freedom and Peace
67. Amman Forum for Human Rights Association/Jordan
68. Women's Association for Jerusalem / Lebanon
69. Protecting human rights defenders around the Arab world/ France
70. The International Campaign to End the Siege on Yemen
71. Boycott campaign / Palestine
72. Tunisian League for Tolerance
73. The Algerian League for Defense Human Rights
74. Association of Women Heads of Families from Mauritania
75. Iraqi League for Human Rights Trainers
76. Freedom Pioneers for Integrity and Human Rights Training / Jordan
77. The Jordanian Network for Human Rights (includes 11 human rights organizations)
78. The Moroccan Democratic Network for Solidarity with the Peoples(includes 38 Commission)
79. The Arab Human Rights Trainers Network
80. Women’s Peace and Security Network (Yemen)
81. Volunteers Network for Development and Human Rights/Egypt
82. The Syrian National Network for Civil Peace and Community Safety.
83. Moroccan space for human rights
84. Filastiniyat / Palestine
85. Federation of Tunisians for citizenship between the two banks
86. The Syrian Federation of Human Rights Organizations and Bodies
87. Moroccan Federation for Human Rights
88. Committees for the Defense of Democratic Freedoms and Human Rights in Syria (LDH)
89. Work committees in the camps / Lebanon
90. Committee on Public Liberties and Human Rights / Palestinian Bar Association
91. Syrian Medical Committee/Paris
92. Arab Commission for Human Rights
93. The Kurdish Committee for Human Rights in Syria (Al Rased).
94. The Committee for the Respect of Freedoms and Human Rights in Tunisia
95. European initiative for the rights of Palestinian prisoners / the Netherlands
96. Palestinian Initiative to Deepen Global Dialogue and Democracy-MIFTAH
97. Egyptian Women Lawyers Initiative
98. World Council for Rights and Freedoms
99. Council on International Relations / Palestine
100. Lawyers for Justice /Yemen
101. Lawyers Without Borders/Yemen
102. Democratic School/Yemen
103. International Observatory for Documentation of Human Rights Violations/ Argentina
104. The Arab Observatory for Human Rights and Citizenship/ Lebanon
105. French Observatory for Human Rights/Paris
106. Human Rights & Democracy Media Center “SHAMS"/Palestine
107. Africa Center for Studies and Media Services / Mauritania
108. Bahrain Center Against Torture / Bahrain
109. Al-Badeel Center for Studies and Research/Jordan
110. Arab House Center for Research and Studies/Egypt
111. Women’s Studies Center/ Palestine
112. Center for the Defense of Freedoms and Civil Rights "Hurriyat" / Palestine
113. The Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and Advocates "Musawa"
114. Palestinian Centre for Peace and Democracy PCPD
115. Phenix Center for Economics & Informatics Studies/Jordan
116. Center for International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights/Yemen
117. Jerusalem Center for Legal Aid and Human Rights/Palestine
118. Strategic Initiative Center Palestine/Malaysia
119. Women's Center for Legal Aid and Counselling/Palestine
120. The Dutch Yemeni Center for the Defense of Rights and Freedoms
121. Jothor Center for Human Rights/Jordan
122. Human Rights Center for Memory and Archives/Morocco
123. Center for the Protection and Freedom of Journalists/ Jordan
124. Damascus Center for Theoretical and Civil Studies
125. Adalah Center for Human Rights Studies/Jordan
126. Amman Center for Human Rights Studies (ACHRS)
127. Eye of Humanity Center for Rights and Development / Yemen
128. Metro Center for Defending the Rights of Journalists/ Iraq
129. Scandinavian Institute of Human Rights/Geneva
130. International Institute for Peace, Justice and Human Rights/Geneva
131. Dialogue Forum for Development and Human Rights / Egypt
132. The Palestinian Democratic Forum in Europe
133. The Cultural and Legal Youth Forum at the Arab Observatory / Lebanon
134. Houran Forum for Citizenship/Syria
135. Economic and Social Forum for Women/Jordan
136. Bahrain Forum for Human Rights
137. Renewal Forum for Citizen and Democratic Thought / Tunisia
138. Sisters Arab Forum for Human Rights (Yemen)
139. Sudanese National Civil Forum(includes 54 civil society organizations) / Sudan
140. Moroccan Forum for Truth and Equity
141. Organization of Persons with Dual Disabilities/Yemen
142. African Organization for Human Rights Monitoring/Morocco
143. Libyan Academic Organization
144. The Tunisian Organization against Torture
145. Gender Studies and Information Organization / Iraq
146. Organization for the Defense of Prisoners of Conscience in Syria -Rawanga
147. International Organization for Human Rights and International Law / Norway
148. The Arab Organization for Human Rights in Syria
149. The Kurdish Organization for Human Rights in Syria (DAD)
150. Egyptian Organization for Human Rights
151. National Organization for Human Rights in Syria
152. Yemeni Organization for Dialogue of Religions and Cultures
153. Yemeni Organization for Humanitarian Action / Yemen
154. Freedom House Organization to defend human rights and combat slavery and its remnants/ Mauritania
155. ORGANIZATION FOR FREEDOM OF MEDIAS AND EXPRESSION OFME- HATIM / MOROCCO
156. Human Rights Organization in Syria- Maf
157. Desert Youth Organization for Development and Human Rights / Libya
158. Freedom Martyr Nabil Barakati Organization: Memory and Wafa/ Tunisia
159. Yemeni Organization for Defense Rights and Democratic Freedoms/Yemen
160. Al-Haq Foundation for Freedom of Opinion and Expression and Human Rights/Egypt
161. The Middle East Foundation for Development and Human Rights (Yemen)
162. Addameer Foundation for Human Rights/ Palestine
163. Addameer Foundation for Prisoners Care and Human Rights /Palestine
164. The Arab Foundation to support Civil Society and Human Rights/Egypt
165. The Egyptian Foundation for the Advancement of Childhood Conditions/Egypt
166. National Foundation to Combat Human Trafficking/Yemen
167. Youth Foundation for Community Development / Yemen
168. Future Partners Foundation for Development and Human Rights - Yemen
169. Mada Foundation for Human Rights / Iraq
170. The Coordination Committee for Yemeni NGOs for Children's Rights / Yemen
171. Moroccan Commission for Human Rights
172. The Moroccan Commission for the Support of the Nation's Issue

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In light of the escalating rate of femicide in the Arab world, which recently claimed the lives of university student Naira Ashraf and TV broadcaster Shaima Gamal in Egypt, Iman Arsheed from Jordan, Palestinian engineer in the UAE Lubna Mansour, among many others, the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy "MIFTAH" announces its unwavering support for all feminist movements, coalitions and activities calling for a general strike by women across the Arab world on 6/7/2022 and calls on Palestinian women to participate and express their opinion in rejecting violence committed against women.

For decades, Palestinian women have been subjected to the most heinous types of crimes and violations under Israel’s regime of settler-colonialism, occupation and apartheid. They continue to be exposed to various risks due to the ongoing Israeli policies of demolishing their homes and displacing their families, nightly home raids that terrorize them and their children, and willful killings of women at Israeli military checkpoints.

Despite this large-scale injustice inflicted daily, Palestinian women are not exempted from the patriarchal culture and its violent and oppressive manifestations that are prevalent in our society and across the world. It treats them as second-class citizens, de-prioritizes their needs and legitimizes various forms of discrimination and violence against them.

Since the beginning of 2022, six Palestinian women have been murdered inside Israel, followed by the killing of two Palestinian girls in Nablus and Tubas. The perpetrator often evades accountability, as the local society provides cover and legitimizes such crimes. Every year, Palestinian women renew their call on decision-makers to put an end to the horrific series of killings against them. However, many laws that guarantee the protection of the dignity and rights of Palestinian women and their families are still shelved by the government under the pretext of the public mood rejecting them.

Here we are today, joining our voices to all feminist voices, along with all the oppressed groups in our Arab societies, to say enough is enough. It is time for us to stand united against this great injustice, and to combat all practices that rob Arab women of the right to life, devalue them, or justify their oppression. We reject all inherited cultural traits that perpetuate patriarchal authority to control the fate and decisions of Arab women and limit their independence and permit forms of violence and discrimination.

We call upon the authorities throughout the Arab world to stop disregarding women’s issues and to take the necessary measures to protect women from violence, by enacting a system of laws that guarantees safety for women and preserves their dignity and their right to equal participation in various political, economic and social fields, and by underpinning the principles of democracy and equality, the fight against all forms of discrimination as well as the criminalization of its practices.

We also call on Palestinian women to express their rejection of all forms of crimes and violence perpetrated against them, in the manner they find appropriate, whether through demonstrations and vigils in the streets and public spaces, on social media platforms, or a strike on paid or house work, in order to demonstrate the extent of societal rejection of all discriminatory and violent practices against women and to highlight the role of women in building societies and states.

The undersigned human rights organizations strongly condemn the assassination of the journalist, Al-Jazeera correspondent, Shireen Abu Aqleh, after she was targeted by the forces of the occupation and apartheid state with a bullet in the head, and the journalist Ali Al-Samoudi was shot in the back, while covering the storming of the Jenin refugee camp Wednesday morning, 11 5/2022, thus increasing the number of Palestinian journalists and media professionals who were killed by the occupation bullets to (83) journalists since the beginning of 1972.

The signatories affirm that the crime of the occupation that targeted the journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh is a deliberate and premeditated act and a full-fledged assassination operation. The martyr Shireen Abu Aqleh is a direct victim of organized state terrorism, which behaves with the mentality of criminal gangs. This crime came as a result of the systematic incitement against Palestinian journalists by the occupying state against them for their professional role in revealing the truth and exposing its crimes. This is in addition to the international society's silence on the crimes of the occupation committed against the Palestinian people because of their double standards.

The signatories stress that the Israeli occupation forces, by their heinous act, want to obscure the truth and cover up their heinous crimes against the Palestinian people. In addition, the occupation, by its heinous act, wants to scare and intimidate journalists to prevent the transmission of the truth to the world.

The signatories call for the opening of a neutral, independent, and transparent international investigation under the supervision of the International Criminal Court to find out the crime of targeting journalist Abu Aqleh by the occupation forces, and the need to launch an international campaign by the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, the International Federation of Journalists, international non-governmental organizations and Palestinian human rights institutions to hold Israeli war criminals accountable, to prevent impunity for perpetrators, and to bring a legal human rights case regarding this crime before the International Criminal Court, to prosecute Israeli leaders and politicians who publicly incite the killing of Palestinian civilians, including journalists. They are calling on the United Nations and the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to provide the necessary protection for journalists and media crews working in the occupied territories. Likewise, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights considers targeting journalists while covering armed conflicts and wars a war crime, similar to targeting ambulance crews.

The signatories recall that journalists and media workers enjoy special protection under the provisions of international humanitarian law, just like civilians in times of armed conflict, especially Articles (51 and 79) of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, where Article (51) paragraph (2) provides for the protection of the civilian population (the civilian population as such and the civilian population shall not be the object of attack). Article (79) of the same states that “Journalists who undertake dangerous professional missions in areas of armed conflict are civilians... and they must be protected in this capacity in accordance with the provisions of the conventions.” The crime committed by the occupation forces against journalist Abu Aqleh is a flagrant violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2222 on the protection of journalists, which the Council issued in May 2015.

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London, June 15, 2007- Amid unprecedented political violence in the Gaza Strip, both Fatah and Hamas security forces and armed groups have shown utter disregard for fundamental principles of international law and have committed grave human rights abuses, Amnesty International said in a statement.

“The indiscriminate attacks and reckless gun battles in residential neighborhoods have left a beleaguered civilian population, already suffering from a year of international sanctions and continuing Israeli military blockades, virtual prisoners in their own homes. Both parties have killed captured rivals, and have abducted scores of members of rival groups and held them hostage, to be exchanged for friends and relatives held by their rivals, Killing captured fighters and hostage-taking are war crimes”.

“Rival security forces loyal to the Fatah party of PA President Mahmoud Abbas and the Hamas party of Prime Minister Isma'il Haniyeh, have signally betrayed their responsibility to uphold and enforce the law and to protect the population. Instead, acting in concert with the armed groups which serve as their proxy militias, they have engaged persistently in armed clashes, killing and injuring civilians not involved in the clashes with complete impunity”.

“Now that Hamas has gained control of Fatah' security forces installations in Gaza and repudiated President Abbas' decision to dissolve the coalition government and impose a state of emergency in the OPT, fears are growing that the fighting will spill over into the West Bank. In recent days Fatah's gunmen have been abducting Hamas members and holding them as hostages and ransacking Hamas offices in Nablus, Ramallah and elsewhere in the West Bank, deepening concern that abuses will increase if the fighting escalates there”.

Palestinians calling for an end to the violence risk being killed. On 13 June gunmen in Gaza City and Khan Younes fired on unarmed demonstrators who were calling for an end to the armed clashes, killing one protester and injuring several others.

On the same day two Palestinian employees of the United Nation Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the main relief agency in the Gaza Strip, were killed and two others were injured in the course of their work by reckless shooting during Fatah-Hamas armed clashes. UNRWA also reported that gun battles took place inside two of its facilities.

Gunmen from both sides mounted attacks in and around hospitals, directly targeting and launching attacks from hospital buildings. On 12 June Gaza City's Shifa Hospital, the main hospital in the Gaza Strip, was attacked with heavy weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades and home-made mortars. Other hospitals from Rafah in the south to Beit Hanoun in the north also came under fire, as did several ambulances, putting patients and staff in danger, impeding the work of the medical staff and hindering access to healthcare for those in need.

The fighting has hampered the UN's ability to deliver emergency food aid and healthcare services. Such attacks constitute a gross violation of international law, which prohibits the targeting of civilians and indiscriminate attacks, and affords special protection to medical and humanitarian facilities, which must never be targeted or used for attacks or other activities which compromise their neutrality.

Educational institutions have also been damaged as a result of reckless gun battles and indiscriminate attacks and all aspects of life in the Gaza Strip have been virtually paralyzed.

Amnesty International called on Fatah and Hamas leaders to take immediate action to ensure that their forces and the armed groups acting as their proxy militias cease endangering civilians and violating international law through their reckless, disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force in Gaza, and to prevent further abuses in the West Bank - notably:

1. to assert control over the security forces and ensure that they uphold the law and respect human rights, including international standards relating to the use of force and treatment of prisoners, and ensure that members of their security forces who abuse human rights or fail to carry out their duty are held to account;
2. end impunity, by establishing effective mechanisms to bring to justice those responsible for human rights abuses, irrespective of their political affiliation;
3. instruct their security forces that the armed groups who commit human rights abuses or crimes must be apprehended and brought to justice, irrespective of their political affiliations, in accordance with international human rights law and standards;
4. put in place a mechanism to ensure independent, impartial and non-partisan oversight of the security forces and ensure that all killings, abductions and other attacks on civilians are investigated and that those responsible are brought to justice.

On the eve of the 40th anniversary of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Amnesty International today called on the Israeli authorities to end the land-grabbing, blockades and other violations of international law carried out under the occupation. These have resulted in widespread human rights abuses and have also failed to bring security to the Israeli and Palestinian civilian populations.

A 45-page report published today, Enduring Occupation: Palestinian under siege in the West Bank, illustrates the devastating impact of four decades of Israeli military occupation. The report documents the relentless expansion of unlawful settlements on occupied land that deprives the Palestinian population of crucial resources and documents a plethora of measures that confine Palestinians to fragmented enclaves and hinder their access to work, health and education facilities. These measures include a 700km fence/wall, more than 500 checkpoints and blockades, and a complicated system of permits.

"Palestinians living in the West Bank are blocked at every turn. This is not simply an inconvenience -- it can be a matter of life or death. It is unacceptable that women in labour, sick children, or victims of accidents on their way to hospital should be forced to take long detours and face delays which can cost them their lives," said Malcolm Smart, Director for Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme.

"International action is urgently needed to address the widespread human rights abuses being committed under the occupation, and which are fuelling resentment and despair among a predominantly young and increasingly radicalized Palestinian population," said Malcolm Smart. "For forty years, the international community has failed adequately to address the Israeli-Palestinian problem; it cannot, must not, wait another forty years to do so."

Amnesty International is calling for the urgent deployment of an effective international human rights monitoring mechanism to monitor compliance by both parties, Israeli and Palestinian, with their obligations under international law. This must be backed up with a commitment to investigate and prosecute, through the exercise of universal jurisdiction, those who commit war crimes or other crimes under international law.

"We do not underestimate the difficulties of establishing such an independent monitoring system, whether by the UN or another appropriate body, but it is vital that the international community should become more engaged in finding a solution, and in holding the parties to their obligations under international law," said Malcolm Smart.

In its report, Amnesty International acknowledges Israel’s legitimate security concerns and the government’s obligation to protect the population within its borders, but says this does not justify blatant violations of international law, such as construction of much of the fence/wall inside the West Bank on Palestinian land.

"If the intention was simply to prevent Palestinian suicide bombers from entering Israel, the barrier would be located on the Green Line, the border between Israel and the West Bank," said Malcolm Smart. "Yet, the reality is that most of it is being built on Palestinian land, in defiance of the International Court of Justice, and is separating Palestinian towns and villages in the West Bank."

In addition to the fence/wall, the movement of Palestinians is several constrained by a host of other restrictions, including over 500 checkpoints and blockades, and a network of roads for Israeli settlers to use and off-limits to Palestinians. The barrier, together with these roads and roadblocks, benefit continuously expanding but unlawful Israeli settlements and make them territorially contiguous with Israel.

"Harsh Israeli restrictions have caused the virtual collapse of the Palestinian economy and are exacerbating the increasingly fragile conditions in which Palestinians live and work -- resulting in levels of despair, poverty and food insecurity never before seen in the Occupied Palestinian Territories," said Malcolm Smart.

"Most Palestinians are now relying on aid for subsistence, with families reducing the quality and quantity of the food they consume and selling assets essential for their livelihoods."

Amnesty International is calling on the Israeli authorities to:

• lift the regime of blockades and restrictions on Palestinians in the OPT, which constitute collective punishment, and ensure that restrictions imposed in response to specific security threats only target the individuals concerned -- not entire communities.
• halt the construction of the fence/wall inside the West Bank, and remove the sections already built there;
• cease the construction or expansion of Israeli settlements and related infrastructure in the OPT as a first step towards removing Israeli settlements and "outposts";
• cancel all demolition orders on homes in the OPT, and provide reparation to Palestinians whose homes and properties have already been destroyed.

The organization is also reiterating its call on Palestinian armed groups to end immediately attacks on civilians and on the Palestinian Authority (PA) to take effective action to stop and prevent such attacks and bring to justice those responsible.

To View the Full Report as PDF (224 KB)

During 2005 some of the world’s most powerful governments were successfully challenged, their hypocrisy exposed by the media, their arguments rejected by courts of law, their repressive tactics resisted by human rights activists. After five years of backlash against human rights in the “war on terror”, the tide appeared to be turning.

Nevertheless, the lives of millions of people worldwide were devastated by the denial of fundamental rights. Human security was threatened by war and attacks by armed groups as well as by hunger, disease and natural disasters. Freedoms were curtailed by repression, discrimination and social exclusion.

This Amnesty International Report documents human rights abuses in 150 countries around the world. It highlights the need for governments, the international community, armed groups and others in positions of power or influence to take responsibility. It also reflects the vitality of human rights activists globally, whether in local initiatives, international summits or mass demonstrations.

Outraged by continuing human rights abuses and inspired by hope, Amnesty International members and supporters around the world campaign for justice and freedom for all.

Realted Reports:

• Israel and the Occupied Territories Report.
• Palestinian Authority Report.

The decision by the Israeli High Court of Justice on 14 May to uphold a law which explicitly denies family rights on the basis of ethnicity or national origins is a step further in the institutionalization of racial discrimination in Israel.

The “Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law” bars family reunification for Israelis married to Palestinians from the Occupied Territories. It specifically targets Israeli Arabs (Palestinian citizens of Israel), who make up a fifth of Israel’s population, and Palestinian Jerusalemites,(1) for it is they who marry Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Thousands of couples are affected by this discriminatory law, which forces Israeli Arabs married to Palestinians to leave their country or to be separated from their spouses and children. Israeli military law forbids Israelis from entering the main population centres in the Occupied Territories and Israeli citizens cannot join their Palestinian spouses there, and at the same time Palestinian spouses staying in Israel without a permit are constantly at risk of being deported and separated from their families. Thus, Israeli-Palestinian couples would ultimately be forced to move to another country in order to live together – an option which is neither feasible nor desirable for those concerned. In addition, Palestinian Jerusalemites would lose their residency and their right to ever live in Jerusalem again if they move out of the city.

Five of the 11 High Court of Justice’s judges who ruled on this law on 14 May, including the Court’s President, voted against upholding the law, recognizing that it infringes human rights. The Court’s President, Aharon Barak, stated that the law violates the right of Israeli Arabs to equality.

Indeed, the law violates the absolute prohibition on discrimination contained in international human rights law, notably several treaties which Israel has ratified and is obliged to uphold, including the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

The provision in the law which allows for the discretionary granting of temporary residence permits for Palestinian male spouses over 35 and female spouses over 25 is arbitrary in nature and does not alter the discriminatory character of the law. It will also not benefit the majority of Israeli-Palestinian couples, who marry at a younger age. Moreover, the permit applications of spouses who meet the age criteria can be rejected on the grounds that a member of his/her extended family is considered a “security risk” by Israeli security services. Thousands of Palestinians seeking family reunification prior to the passing of this law were rejected on unspecified “security” grounds in circumstances where the failure to provide detailed reasons for each rejection made it impossible for those rejected to mount an effective legal challenge to the decision.

The Israeli authorities have sought to justify the law on security grounds but have brought no convincing evidence to substantiate such claims. Even claims that some 25 people, some of whom were born to Israeli parents and were not in Israel as a result of family reunification, have been involved in attacks in security-related offences, cannot justify denying family reunification to every Palestinian. Doing so is discriminatory and disproportionate and would constitute a form of collective punishment, prohibited under international law. Moreover, statements by Israeli officials and legislators who support the new law indicate that it is primarily motivated by demographic, rather than security, considerations - that is, a determination to reduce the percentage of Israeli Arabs among the country's population.

The ban on family unification for Israeli-Palestinian couples, initially introduced by an administrative decision of the Interior Minister in 2002 and subsequently passed into law by the Israeli Knesset in July 2003, is due to be reviewed by the Israeli Knesset next July. Amnesty International reiterates its call on the Israeli government and on Members of the Knesset to repeal this law and to ensure that any steps taken to address security concerns, including any amendments to the citizenship law, comply with international human rights law – notably the principle of non-discrimination.

(1) Palestinians who remained in Israel after the establishment of the state in 1948 became Israeli citizens, whereas the Palestinian inhabitants of Jerusalem received a special status as permanent residents after Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967 and its subsequent annexation. Today, there are about 230,000 Palestinian permanent residents of Jerusalem.