Corporate report

Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) - in-year update December 2015

Published 21 April 2016

0.1 West Bank including East Jerusalem

From 1 October, an upsurge of violence gripped Israel and the OPTs. This led to a series of security and legislative actions by the Israeli authorities, some of which had a wider negative impact on human rights.

Between 1 October and 18 December 2015, there were 126 Palestinian deaths (including those accused of attacks) and over 14,740 injuries (Palestinian Ministry of Health stated that 1,887 Palestinians were injured with live ammunition and 3,104 were injured with rubber-coated metal bullets). 21 Israelis and two foreign nationals were killed in the same period, with at least 241 Israeli injuries. Hebron and East Jerusalem were particular focal points for violence. We registered our concern with the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) over the use of live fire against Palestinians.

In an effort to quell the violence, Israeli security forces introduced additional restrictions on movement of Palestinians in the West Bank. Most of the restrictions in East Jerusalem were lifted by the end of 2015, but Hebron continued to experience additional closures. There were already 109 checkpoints and barriers in Hebron before 1 October. Israeli authorities subsequently imposed 53 new access restrictions, including a Closed Military Zone in the city centre. These additional obstacles to movement across West Bank roads impeded access to services and undermined economic activity, directly affecting at least 850,000 Palestinians.

The Israeli authorities also withheld the dead bodies of Palestinians, claiming that the funerals provoked further violence. As of 31 December, Israel was withholding the bodies of 10 Palestinians (all of them from Jerusalem). Israel also renewed the policy of punitive house demolitions. According to the Israeli human rights organisation Hamoked, between July and December the Israeli army demolished 12 homes belonging to families of Palestinians involved in attacks against Israelis. On 31 July, Israeli settlers burned a Palestinian house in the village of Duma, killing 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh. Both his parents later died from their injuries. The attack was condemned by Israeli and Palestinian officials. FCO Minister for the Middle East, Tobias Ellwood, issued a statement strongly condemning the attack. On 4 August, Her Majesty’s Consul-General at Jerusalem, along with other EU Heads of Mission, visited the village of Duma to express condolence to the relatives of the Dawabsheh family and the local community.

Amid the ongoing violence, there were many arrests. According to Amnesty International, Israel held over 580 Palestinians in administrative detention at the end of December 2015. According to UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Israel held an average of 180 minors in military detention at any given time in 2015. 35% were held inside detention facilities within Israel, in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The remaining 65% were held in the OPTs. These figures included six children held under administrative detention orders. Throughout the reporting period, the British Embassy in Tel Aviv lobbied senior Israeli government officials extensively on administrative detainees and minors in detention.

As well as the escalation in violence, the occupation continued to have human rights implications. Israeli demolition of Palestinian structures continued during the reporting period, with 450 structures demolished in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, displacing 514 Palestinians. Between January and October 2015, the Israeli authorities issued demolition and “stop work” orders against 161 international donor-funded buildings intended to provide humanitarian assistance to vulnerable communities in Area C.

The UK was deeply concerned by the advancement of existing settlement plans, new constructions, and “legalisation” of existing settlement units. In September, the Israeli government said that it would retroactively legalise Adei Ad outpost and examine legalisation of further outposts north east of Ramallah in the West Bank. In November, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Unit’s (COGAT) planning committee for construction in the West Bank approved approximately 2,200 new housing units within the existing settlements of Ma’aleh Michmash, Rimonim, Kochav Hashahar, Tel Zion and Psagot. The committee also planned to legalise Mitzpeh Danny and Neveh Erez outposts, east of Ramallah. The number of new constructions in 2015 – 1,800 housing units – was higher than construction in previous years (excluding 2014 which was an exceptional year in terms of construction). We remained deeply concerned about the long-term consequences of all settlement activity for a contiguous Palestinian state.

There were a number of attacks on religious sites. On 2 September, the Mount of Olives cemetery was vandalised and gravestones were desecrated. On 1 August, an attempt was made to burn down Joseph’s Tomb. We continued to have concerns about reports of mistreatment towards detainees by the Palestinian Security Forces in the West Bank, and arbitrary detentions on political grounds carried out against political and social media activists.

0.2 Gaza

There were 19 rocket attacks and mortars from militants in Gaza into southern Israel across the reporting period, with retaliatory airstrikes by Israeli forces. Israeli residents were evacuated to shelters. We remained deeply concerned that Hamas and other militants were re-arming, re-building tunnels, and conducting training camps. Between July and December 2015, there were sporadic demonstrations and breaches of the security fence between Israel and Gaza. According to Al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights, 19 Palestinians were killed and 1,190 wounded in clashes with the IDF. The IDF also carried out 22 incursions into boundary areas in Gaza and 48 firing incidents on Palestinian fishermen, wounding six people.

According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Gazan police used force to disperse a demonstration against power cuts in Rafah on 12 September. The police beat the protesters, arrested others, and prevented journalists from operating. On 5 October, police in Gaza arrested nine journalists while they were covering an event to commemorate Egyptian soldiers who were killed in the Six-Day War in 1967, claiming that the event was not licensed. During the reporting period, courts in Gaza issued five death sentences for criminal acts. The UK continued to oppose use of the death penalty in all circumstances.

Egypt has closed the Rafah Crossing since October 2014, restricting the movement of people to and from Gaza. During the reporting period, Egypt opened the crossing for a total of 14 days, to allow humanitarian cases to pass into Egypt. We continued to press Egypt to show the utmost flexibility to ease these restrictions. According to UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, between January and November 2015, there was a five-fold increase in exports from Gaza compared with 2014, although this was just less than 10% of the exports on the eve of the closure in 2007. The limited progress can be attributed to a range of factors that undermined Gaza’s productive capacity: previous and current Israeli restrictions on imports and exports, and their cumulative effect; the destruction of productive assets during multiple rounds of hostilities; the inadequate and unreliable electricity supply; and disputes between Hamas and Fatah.

The UK-supported Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM) between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), brokered by the UN, has enabled more than 96,000 people to purchase construction material to repair their homes, and a further 5,800 people to apply for materials to rebuild destroyed homes. Whilst we welcomed these positive steps and Israel’s cooperation, we remained concerned that larger-scale reconstruction was slow. While the UK disbursed its entire £20m pledge by the end of the reporting period, other donors had not delivered, with only 35% of pledges materialising. We pushed for full delivery of donor aid pledges, and progress on reconciliation so the PA could return to Gaza and restore effective and accountable governance.

0.3 Israel

Freedom of expression and worship were largely observed and respected in Green Line Israel. However, the wave of violence increased general social tensions, with some examples of racism directed towards Israeli Arabs on social media. Right-wing organisations called for boycotts of Arab businesses, and there was a string of protests by far-right groups calling for “death to Arabs”. We also continued to be concerned about the desecration of places of religious worship. Attackers set fire to a Pitchei Olam synagogue on 23 July, and Sharon Prison’s synagogue on 1 August.

On 30 July, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man stabbed six marchers in the Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem. One of the victims, 16-year-old Shira Banki, died from her injuries and another victim sustained serious injuries. Israeli police arrested the assailant, Yishai Schlissel, on the day of the incident. On 5 August, the British Ambassador visited the Jerusalem Open House where he met with LGB&T teenagers and their parents.

On 27 December, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a bill to increase transparency requirements for NGOs that receive more than 50% of their funding from foreign governments. This predominantly applies to human rights organisations. The NGO bill does not preclude NGOs from continuing to access funds, or prevent them from operating.