UNITED NATIONS A General Assembly Distr. GENERAL A/50/170 2 May 1995 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH Fiftieth session Item 85 of the preliminary list* REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE ISRAELI PRACTICES AFFECTING THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE AND OTHER ARABS OF THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES Note by the Secretary-General The Secretary-General has the honour to transmit to the members of the General Assembly the attached periodic report covering the period from 27 August to 31 December 1994, which was submitted to him, in accordance with paragraphs 5, 6 and 7 of Assembly resolution 49/36 A of 9 December 1994, by the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories. ________________________ * A/50/50/Rev.1. 95-13307 (E) 210795 /... A/50/170 English Page 2 CONTENTS Paragraphs LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL .................................................. I. II. INTRODUCTION ......................................... INFORMATION RECEIVED BY THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ........ A. General situation ................................ 1. 2. General developments and policy statements ... Incidents resulting from the occupation ...... (a) List of Palestinians killed by troops or Israeli civilians ....................... List of other Palestinians killed as a result of the occupation ................ Other incidents ......................... 1-7 8 - 503 8 - 182 8 - 86 87 - 182 Page 4 5 6 6 6 18 87 19 (b) 87 88 - 182 23 23 (c) B. Administration of justice, including the right to a fair trial .................................. 1. 2. Palestinian population ....................... Israelis ..................................... 183 - 257 183 - 213 214 - 257 258 - 406 258 - 340 258 - 264 265 - 300 40 40 44 50 50 50 52 C. Treatment of civilians ........................... 1. General developments ......................... (a) (b) Harassment and physical ill-treatment ... Collective punishment ................... (i) Houses or rooms that were demolished or sealed .......................... Imposition of curfews, sealing off or closing of areas ................ Other forms of collective punishment 265 - 279 52 (ii) 280 - 299 300 54 55 56 56 63 /... (iii) (c) (d) (e) Expulsions .......................................... Economic and social situation ........... Other developments ...................... 301 - 339 340 A/50/170 English Page 3 CONTENTS (continued) Paragraphs 2. Measures affecting certain fundamental freedoms...................................... (a) (b) (c) (d) 3. Freedom of movement ..................... Freedom of education .................... Freedom of religion ..................... Freedom of expression ................... Page 341 - 378 341 - 353 354 - 364 365 - 376 377 - 378 63 63 65 66 68 Information on settlers' activities affecting the civilian population ...................... 379 - 406 407 - 432 407 - 410 411 - 432 433 - 488 69 72 72 73 76 D. Treatment of detainees ........................... 1. 2. Measures concerning the release of detainees . Other information concerning detainees ....... E. F. Annexation and settlement ........................ Information concerning the occupied Syrian Arab Golan ............................................ 489 - 503 87 /... A/50/170 English Page 4 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL 24 March 1995 Sir, The Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories has the honour to transmit to you herewith, in accordance with paragraphs 5, 6 and 7 of General Assembly resolution 49/36 A of 9 December 1994, a periodic report updating information contained in the twenty-sixth report, which it adopted and presented to you on 26 August 1994 (A/49/511). The present periodic report has been prepared in order to bring to your attention, and to the attention of the General Assembly, updated information on the human rights situation in the occupied territories. The present periodic report covers the period from 27 August to 31 December 1994. It is based on written information gathered from various sources among which the Special Committee has selected relevant excerpts and summaries, which are reflected in the report. Accept, Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration. (Signed) Herman Leonard de SILVA Chairman of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories His Excellency Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali Secretary-General of the United Nations New York /... A/50/170 English Page 5 I. INTRODUCTION 1. In its resolution 49/36 A of 9 December 1994, the General Assembly: "5. Requests the Special Committee, pending complete termination of the Israeli occupation to continue to investigate Israeli policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and other Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967, to consult, as appropriate, with the International Committee of the Red Cross according to its regulations in order to ensure that the welfare and human rights of the peoples of the occupied territories are safeguarded and to report to the Secretary-General as soon as possible and whenever the need arises thereafter; "6. Also requests the Special Committee to submit regularly to the Secretary-General periodic reports on the current situation in the occupied Palestinian territory; "7. Further requests the Special Committee to continue to investigate the treatment of prisoners in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and other Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967." 2. The Special Committee continued its work under the rules of procedure contained in its first report to the Secretary-General and held the first of its series of meetings from 22 to 24 March 1995 at Geneva. On 9 February 1995, the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations informed the Secretariat of the United Nations (Centre for Human Rights) that the Government of Sri Lanka had appointed Mr. Herman Leonard de Silva, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, as its representative to serve on the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories, with immediate effect, in place of Mr. Stanley Kalpagé. The first series of meetings was, therefore, attended by Mr. Herman Leonard de Silva (Sri Lanka) who acted as Chairman, Mr. Ibra Deguène Ka (Senegal), and Dato' Abdul Majid Mohamed (Malaysia). 3. The Special Committee decided to continue its system of monitoring information on the occupied territories and, in accordance with paragraph 7 of resolution 49/36 A, to pay special attention to information on the treatment of prisoners. The Special Committee examined information appearing in the Israeli press and in the Arab-language newspapers published in the occupied territories, on developments that had occurred in the occupied territories between 27 August and 31 December 1994. Other materials related to its mandate were also made available. 4. The Special Committee also decided upon the organization of its work for the year. It agreed to address itself to the Governments of Egypt, Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic with a view to seeking their cooperation in the implementation of its mandate. The Special Committee also agreed to address itself to the Observer for Palestine and to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Finally, the Special Committee decided that at its next /... A/50/170 English Page 6 series of meetings it would undertake hearings in the area for the purpose of recording relevant information or evidence. 5. On 24 March 1995, the Special Committee addressed a letter to the Secretary-General seeking his intervention in an effort to secure the cooperation of the Government of Israel. 6. The Special Committee also examined the present report, which was adopted on 24 March 1995. 7. The geographical names and the terminology employed in the present report reflect the usage in the original sources and do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Special Committee or the Secretariat of the United Nations. II. INFORMATION RECEIVED BY THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE A. General situation 1. General developments and policy statements 8. On 28 August 1994, army sources confirmed that the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) had a week earlier captured a group of six armed Palestinians who were apparently on their way to carry out an attack on Kibbutz Be'eri, in the northwestern Negev. (Jerusalem Post, 29 August 1994) 9. On 28 August 1994, the Cabinet approved the early empowerment agreement with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) under which the authority over five spheres of civilian life (education, tourism, taxation, health care and social services) would be transferred to the Palestinians in the territories outside Gaza and Jericho. The agreement does not apply to East Jerusalem or the Jewish settlements. (Jerusalem Post, 29 August 1994) 10. On 29 August 1994, an elderly woman from Ramallah, identified as Watfi Hadin, was arrested on arrival at the Allenby Bridge after soldiers who were examining her luggage found three pistols, five ammunition clips and 200 bullets wrapped in aluminium foil. (Jerusalem Post, 31 August 1994) 11. On 30 August 1994, Chief of Staff Ehud Barak told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee that the IDF was "working on the assumption" that some of the recently released Palestinian prisoners would revert to "terrorism". Barak stated that he did not know if any of the released prisoners had yet been involved in "terrorist" attacks against the IDF or Israelis. According to him, the number of attacks in the West Bank had dropped from 75 incidents in July 1994 to 55 in August 1994. Included in the statistics were gas bombings and shooting incidents, but not stone-throwing attacks. In Gaza, the number of attacks had dropped from 33 in July 1994 to 25 in August 1994. (Jerusalem Post, 31 August 1994) 12. On 30 August 1994, Israeli sources reported there had been an increase in the number of settlers in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, whose total number /... A/50/170 English Page 7 was estimated at 140,000. The Israeli daily Ha'aretz revealed that the Housing Ministry intended to build 450 new housing units in Bitar, near Bethlehem. (The Jerusalem Times, 2 September 1994) 13. On 1 September 1994, the last 4 of some 30 Hamas activists who had been arrested in connection with the two attacks on Israelis at the Kissufim junction 19 days earlier were released. (Jerusalem Post, 2 September 1994) 14. On 8 September 1994, it was reported that the General Security Service (GSS) and the IDF had lately uncovered a gang of Hamas members who had helped "terrorists" to carry out several attacks, including shooting incidents in the Hebron region in which three Israelis had been killed. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 8 September 1994) 15. On 9 September 1994, Mayor Ghassan Shaka'a stated that a Palestinian police force would be established in Nablus. The force would be composed of 150 policemen who were currently being trained in Jericho. (The Jerusalem Times, 9 September 1994) 16. On 12 September 1994, Col. Jibril Rajoub, the head of the Palestinian Protective Security, charged that the Israeli army and police had begun a crackdown against his forces operating in the West Bank and Jerusalem. He stated that eight or nine of his men (from Tulkarm, Bethlehem and Hebron) had been detained between 11 and 12 September, in addition to his three bodyguards arrested in Jerusalem on 10 September. The apparent crackdown followed media reports stating that Rajoub's agents were working throughout the administered areas, even though government officials were insisting that this was forbidden. Security forces indicated that the arrests were triggered by Rajoub's excessive use of violence and intimidation against both alleged "collaborators" and political opponents in the territories. (Jerusalem Post, 13 and 18 September 1994; also referred to in The Jerusalem Times, 23 September 1994) 17. On 13 September 1994, it was reported that in a report to be released the same day, marking one year since the signing of the Oslo Agreement, the human rights organization, B'tselem, had accused the Israeli authorities of abusing Israelis and Palestinians in the territories. The report also noted some "extremely disturbing incidents" indicating a dangerous disregard for human rights by the new Palestinian Authority. The report noted a 30 per cent decline in the number of Palestinians killed by security forces, from 170 between 14 September 1993, to 119 during the past year. At the same time, 45 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli civilians, including 29 during the Hebron massacre. During the same period, Palestinians had killed 21 Israeli civilians and 8 members of the security forces in the territories, and killed 24 civilians and 4 members of the security forces inside the Green Line (including 12 persons who died in the Afula and Hadera bus bombings). The total of 57 approximates the 65 Israelis who were killed from 9 September 1993 to 9 September 1994, according to Peace Watch, an organization that monitors adherence to the terms of the peace agreement. This represents a 30 per cent increase over the previous year. B'tselem indicated that the main abuses committed by the Israeli security forces consisted of unnecessary use of lethal gunfire, house demolitions, abuse during interrogation, limitations imposed on the freedom of movement, bureaucratic harassment and discrimination in the way /... A/50/170 English Page 8 requests and complaints were handled. B'tselem was also investigating government abuse of Israeli settlers. It denied the Government's right to use systematic administrative detention or prevent prisoners from having access to lawyers. In its response to the report, the IDF spokesman's office stressed the precautions that the army took to prevent loss of life. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 13 September 1994) 18. On 13 September 1994, it was reported that, according to two separate reports released a day earlier, there had been a dramatic increase in the number of Israelis killed in "terrorist" actions during the year since the signing of the Oslo Agreement. According to a report issued by Peace Watch, a non-partisan organization monitoring the implementation of the peace accords, 65 Israelis were killed between 9 September 1993 and 8 September 1994, as compared with 49 during the same period the year before, and 37 in 1991-1992. The majority of the killings in the last two years were reportedly the work of Hamas. Regarding non-lethal uprising-related violence, the Peace Watch report found that the use of petrol bombs and road bombs had increased in the year since the signing of the agreement, while the number of shooting incidents had declined. The total number of Israelis wounded decreased from 633 in 1992-1993 to 463 in 1993-1994. According to the report, the number of Palestinians killed by other Palestinians last year had dropped from 166 in 1992-1993 to 108 in 1993-1994. The report found that while 7 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli civilians in 1991-1992 and none in 1992-1993, 38 Palestinians were killed by Israeli civilians in 1993-1994, with the Machpelah Cave massacre in Hebron accounting for three quarters of that number. While the Peace Watch report was presented without any accompanying polemics, another report, presented at a press conference by the Council of Jewish Communities in the West Bank and Gaza, used the numbers to show what they claimed was the bankruptcy of the Oslo Agreement. Uri Elizur, Information Director for the Council, said that 1993-1994 had been the worst year of violence since the beginning of the uprising. (Jerusalem Post, 13 September 1994) 19. On 20 September 1994, the IDF denied as "baseless" published reports that the army was establishing special units to disperse and evacuate settlers in the Golan Heights, the West Bank and Gaza. However, the army did confirm that the Central Command had established a military police company whose members were specially trained to disperse both Jewish and Arab disturbances. (Jerusalem Post, 21 September 1994) 20. On 21 September 1994, Israel was charged with violating the spirit and letter of the Oslo accord and leaving in doubt its intention to implement it in full. At a news conference presenting a Palestinian perspective of the Oslo accord one year later, Gush Shalom, the far left-wing Israeli peace movement, and Jiser, a Palestinian information centre, indicated that 8 out of 16 articles of the Declaration of Principles had not been implemented "in full or in part". The main grievance involved the Israeli attitude towards Palestinian elections, which had originally been scheduled for mid-July. (Jerusalem Post, 22 September 1994) 21. On 4 October 1994, the IDF and the GSS arrested 30 residents of Fitunia, in the Ramallah District, following the discovery of an ammunition and weapons cache in the village. The activists were rounded up after the discovery of the /... A/50/170 English Page 9 weapons and inciteful material. 9 October 1994) (Ha'aretz, 5 October 1994; Jerusalem Post, 22. On 6 October 1994, 75 Palestinian recruits completed their police training for a local police force of the Nablus municipality. A group of 70 recruits from Hebron would also be sent to Jericho to receive training in order to become traffic controllers. (The Jerusalem Times, 7 October 1994) 23. On 20 October 1994, it was reported that following the Tel Aviv suicide bus bombing, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin had stated that he would introduce legislation to empower the GSS to be much tougher during the interrogation of suspected "terrorists", to increase the number of administrative detentions and the demolition of "terrorists'" homes. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 20 October 1994) 24. On 21 October 1994, municipal sources indicated that Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert had ordered the closure of the municipality's Office for Arab Advisor's Affairs, which had served as the go-between for Jerusalem Arabs and the State authorities since 1967. Instead, Olmert wanted municipal departments to deal directly with the city's Arabs as they did with other residents. During a 1995 budget meeting earlier in the week, Olmert stated the Arab Affairs Office would be closed officially by 1 January 1995. (Jerusalem Post, 21 October 1994) 25. On 23 October 1994, Israeli officials dismissed as false a Hamas claim that Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin had ordered the assassination of its leaders, but confirmed that Israel had launched a large-scale crackdown against the organization (also referred to in The Jerusalem Times, 28 October 1994). Some Hamas activists had been arrested since the Tel Aviv bombing on 19 October. However, they were not considered as being very high in the movement's hierarchy by the GSS and the army, although some were central figures in their villages. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 24 October 1994) 26. On 24 October 1994, a new link between Jordan and Israel literally fell into place with the completion of the Sheikh Hussein Bridge over the Jordan River, opposite Kibbutz Maoz Haim. It replaced the former Sheikh Hussein Bridge that was blown up by the Hagana (voluntary Jewish self-defence organization established in Palestine, especially against Arab attacks, during the British Mandate) on the "Night of the Bridges" in June 1947. The bridge will be used primarily for pedestrian and tourist traffic. (Jerusalem Post, 24 October 1994) 27. On 26 October 1994, Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty at the Arava border crossing. The historic accord was signed at 2.10 p.m. by Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Abdul Salam Majali, as President Bill Clinton, King Hussein and President Ezer Weizman looked on. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 27 October 1994) 28. On 30 October 1994, security sources reported that, since the Tel Aviv bus bombing of 19 October, some 150 Hamas activists had been arrested, mostly in the West Bank, in Ramallah, Nablus, Bir Naballah as well as in other localities outside the Palestinian autonomous areas. Some 40 activists were placed under administrative detention. (Ha'aretz, 30 October 1994; Jerusalem Post, 31 October 1994) /... A/50/170 English Page 10 29. On 31 October 1994, during a Labour Party meeting, Police Minister Moshe Shahal presented statistics showing a 12 per cent decline in the number of "terror"-related incidents over the past year. However, he stressed that Palestinian "terrorists" were using more sophisticated and lethal tactics, including the use of suicide bombers. According to figures presented by Shahal, a total of 2,707 "terrorist" acts of all types were committed during the 12 months beginning on 13 September 1993, as compared with 3,083 in the previous 12 months. Shahal's figures did not include the recent Tel Aviv bus bombing or the shoot-out in downtown Jerusalem. They also did not include the number of dead and wounded. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 1 November 1994) 30. On 1 November 1994, the Knesset passed in the first reading a bill that would sharply increase penalties for employers of illegal workers. The proposed amendment would raise the fine for employing illegal foreign labourers from NIS 18,000 to 28,000. The bill gave rise to strong protests by Arab parties who claimed that the new legislation would restrict Palestinian job opportunities. (Jerusalem Post, 2 November 1994; also referred to in The Jerusalem Times, 4 November 1994) 31. On 1 November 1994, Maj.-Gen. Gabi Ophir assumed his new command as Officer Commanding (OC) Judea and Samaria. Ophir replaced Maj.-Gen. Shaul Mofaz who was appointed the week before as the new OC Southern Command. (Jerusalem Post, 2 November 1994) 32. On 2 November 1994, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin told a group of United Jewish Appeal leaders that Kiryat Arba was one of the Government's "priority" settlements, putting it in the same category as Greater Jerusalem, the Golan and the Jordan valley settlements. This was the first time Mr. Rabin had publicly classified Kiryat Arba with other "security" settlements. On the other hand, Mr. Rabin severely criticized the settlement in Hebron saying that three battalions were needed there to protect 415 Israelis amid a population of between 80,000 and 100,000 Palestinians. (Jerusalem Post, 3 November 1994) 33. On 2 November 1994, B'tselem, the Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, issued a report on the total number of Israeli and Palestinian fatalities from the beginning of the intifadah through 31 October 1994. During that period, 1,202 Palestinian residents of the occupied territories had been killed, including 257 children, of whom 68 were 12 years old or younger, and 189 children aged 13 to 16. An additional 100 Palestinians were killed by Israeli civilians while 27 were killed by other Palestinians. Fifty-three members of the Israeli security forces and 69 Israeli civilians, including 3 infants, were killed in the occupied territories by Palestinians. (The Jerusalem Times, 11 November 1994) 34. On 3 November 1994, the existence of a Border Police undercover unit whose members disguised themselves as Arabs and operated in the heart of Palestinian villages and towns was officially admitted for the first time. President Ezer Weizman stated that such units must continue to operate in order to ensure that Israel remained strong. Since its establishment, the unit is reported to have killed 50 "terrorists" and captured 70 "serious terrorists" and dozens of other activists. (Jerusalem Post, 4 November 1994) /... A/50/170 English Page 11 35. On 3 November 1994, it was reported that a High Committee for the Defence of Confiscated Land had been formed in the southern part of the West Bank by Palestinian landowners and lawyers. The Committee's aim is to fight the increasing settlement activity. Similar committees are planned to be set up in villages in the Bethlehem and Hebron areas. (Al-Tali'ah, 3 November 1994) 36. On 4 November 1994, it was reported that seven Hamas activists had been arrested in the West Bank as part of a clampdown on Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists. This raised the number of activists arrested since the Tel Aviv bomb attack to 150. (Ha'aretz, 4 November 1994) 37. On 4 November 1994, Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas leader from Gaza, announced that the movement was ready to negotiate with Israel in order to protect civilians from the adversities of war and violence. Zahar was responding to a call by Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Yossi Beilin to initiate a dialogue with the moderates in Hamas. (The Jerusalem Times, 4 November 1994) 38. On 7 November 1994, it was reported in a survey conducted by Peace Watch that Fatah involvement in attacks on Israelis had virtually stopped since the signing of the Cairo Agreement. On the other hand, the report indicated that Hamas had been responsible for almost all Israeli deaths since May. (Jerusalem Post, 7 November 1994) 39. On 8 November 1994, a senior West Bank official stated that there had been an increase in the order of hundreds of percentage points in the number of disturbances in the territories. This was especially true of stone-throwing incidents and rallies by hundreds of Palestinians from all organizations, even those in favour of the peace process. He noted that this had led to an increase in the number of arrests and complaints lodged with military courts. (Ha'aretz, 9 November 1994) 40. On 8 November 1994, a senior police officer publicly admitted that Palestinians were setting up their own police force in Judea and Samaria (West Bank). He indicated that Palestinians were already acting as traffic police and intervening when clashes broke out between clans. He added, however, that his officers would limit the interference by Palestinians in police work pending the Government's approval of the establishment of a Palestinian police force outside the Jericho and Gaza area. Police Minister Moshe Shahal stated that the issue was currently under investigation, adding that close cooperation would be needed between the IDF and the Palestinian Police Force (PPF). (Jerusalem Post, 9 November 1994) 41. On 9 November 1994, the IDF denied that open-fire regulations in the territories had been updated and liberalized since the reopening of the Machpelah Cave. The refutation followed a report stating that new guidelines had been introduced by the Central Command, according to which soldiers were allowed to shoot immediately without ascertaining the circumstances of the event, if they saw a settler or any other Israeli shooting at Palestinians in the territories. It was reported, however, that the army had told officers and soldiers to react swiftly and to stop and detain, if necessary, any Jew using his weapon against Palestinians when not coming under attack by firearms. (Jerusalem Post, 10 November 1994) /... A/50/170 English Page 12 42. On 10 November 1994, leaders of the Arab community in Israel, including members of Arab local authorities, ministers, Arab Members of the Knesset, as well as chairmen of political movements active in the Arab sector, issued a statement warning Israel of the adverse consequences that might arise from the settling of "collaborators" in Israeli Arab towns. A total boycott of "collaborators" was called for and residents who sold or were renting homes to them were urged to evict them from the premises. Israeli Arabs claimed that "collaborators" were a threat to their communities as they were often involved in drugs and prostitution. The Arab leaders argued that the number of informants settled by the Israeli authorities in Arab localities and mixed population cities had substantially increased in recent years. The Deputy Health Minister stated that he believed that some 20,000 to 50,000 "collaborators" and their families would be transferred to Israel as it pulled out of the territories. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 11 November 1994) 43. On 11 November 1994, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin stated on Israeli Radio that pursuing the next phase of the peace agreement with the PLO would be complicated because of Jewish settlements. Mr. Rabin said that the settlements in heavily populated areas of Judea and Samaria were "a tremendous security burden on the army", adding that twice as many soldiers were deployed to protect the 120,000 Israelis living in the territories than were in Southern Lebanon. (Jerusalem Post, 13 November 1994) 44. On 11 November 1994, it was reported that two bills calling for the closure of Palestinian institutions in East Jerusalem had passed the first reading in the Knesset that week. Twenty-seven institutions could be affected by the bills, including the PLO headquarters in Jerusalem, Orient House, and Al-Quds University. (The Jerusalem Times, 11 November 1994) 45. On 13 November 1993, it was reported that the High Council of Fatah in the territories had decided to postpone its elections in Judea and Samaria pending the implementation of the autonomy there and the redeployment of IDF troops. (Jerusalem Post, 13 November 1994) 46. On 14 November 1994, Dr. Awni Habash became the first Arab judge to be appointed to the Jerusalem District Court by the Committee for the Appointment of Judges. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 15 November 1994) 47. On 16 November 1994, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin stated before Israeli reporters accompanying him on a flight to the United States that he would not agree to Palestinian elections until the PLO amended the clauses in its charter calling for Israel's destruction. Mr. Rabin also indicated that progress in the talks on the Interim Agreement would depend on the Palestinian Authority's ability to cope with terror in the autonomous areas of Gaza and Jericho. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 17 November 1994) 48. On 17 November 1994, senior Central Command officers submitted to Deputy Defence Minister Mordechai Gur the IDF's official 400 kilometre road construction and strategic deployment plan for the West Bank. The NIS 1.1 billion plan recommended the building of 167 kilometres of by-pass roads and 231 kilometres of "strategic" roads in view of IDF's redeployment away from population centres in the West Bank. According to the plan, Palestinian /... A/50/170 English Page 13 vehicles would be prevented from driving on the "strategic" roads. A senior officer in the IDF Planning Division announced that the army was preparing another withdrawal plan, which included new bases, equipment and a new plan for operational deployment. (Ha'aretz, 22 November 1994) 49. On 18 November 1994, Israel voted against the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination in the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly. Israel claimed that it did not vote against the principle of self-determination itself but because the resolution ran contrary to the Declaration of Principles. (Ha'aretz, 20 November 1994) 50. On 20 November 1994, it was reported that Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin had issued an order to the security forces to arrest and put to death leaders of extremist Muslim "terror" organizations who mounted attacks against Israelis and tried to derail the peace process. This was the first time that Mr. Rabin had publicly admitted that the security forces had been instructed to kill "terrorist" leaders. (Ha'aretz, 21 November 1994) 51. On 22 November 1994, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres stated at a parliamentary session that Israel would not bow down to any pressure from Hamas or the PLO to uproot any settlement, including Netzarim. On the other hand, Mr. Peres reminded the Knesset that during the period from 1957 to 1968 when Israel did not have control over the Gaza Strip and had not imposed closures on the area, there were no "terrorist" attacks originating in Gaza. (Ha'aretz, 23 November 1994) 52. On 24 November 1994, the United States and Israeli Governments agreed not to include an amount of US$ 95 million earmarked for settlement projects in the occupied territories in the $2 billion American loan guarantee allocated annually to Israel. The amount was considered a "peace investment" since it has been used to protect and reinforce settlements during the period of transition. (Al-Tali'ah, 24 November 1994) 53. On 27 November 1994, it was reported that the monitoring committee set up by Israeli Arabs had decided to step up its struggle against the Government's policy of settling Palestinian collaborators from the territories in Arab localities in Israel. Several protest marches were scheduled to be held over the following weeks. (Ha'aretz, 27 November 1994) 54. On 28 November 1994, military sources warned of an imminent increase in the number of attempts to perpetrate "terror" attacks inside the Green Line, especially by Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists. At a Cabinet meeting, the Chief of Staff, Maj.-Gen. Ehud Barak, reportedly called upon the Government to suspend all talks on evacuation or resettlement of Israelis from the territories that could be interpreted by "terrorist" organizations as a sign of Israel's weakness. (Ha'aretz, 28 November 1994) 55. On 29 November 1994, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin told settlement leaders in Hebron that IDF redeployment away from city centres in the West Bank, which was envisaged to take place during the second phase of the implementation of the peace accord, was not mandatory. Mr. Rabin stated that if acceptable security arrangements for both settlers and other Israelis were not found, the IDF would /... A/50/170 English Page 14 not pull out in the near future. Mr. Rabin also reiterated that no settlement, including the one in Hebron, would be uprooted during the interim phase of the peace accord. (Ha'aretz, 30 November 1994) 56. On 30 November 1994, it was reported that the GSS had arrested 43 Palestinians from Samaria (northern West Bank) who were suspected of belonging to Izz Al-din al-Qassam, the military wing of Hamas. Among the Palestinians arrested were activists allegedly involved in preparing the Tel Aviv bus bombing attempt as well as a "terrorist" suspected of trying to carry out a suicide bombing in Petah Tikva. In recent weeks, some 400 Hamas activists are reported to have been arrested in the West Bank. (Ha'aretz, 30 November 1994) 57. On 30 November 1994, Israel voted in the Special Political and Decolonization Committee of the United Nations General Assembly against the right of the 1967 Palestinian refugees to return to their homes. (Ha'aretz, 30 November 1994) 58. On 1 December 1994, it was reported that the siege imposed on East Jerusalem and the restrictions in the building sector since 1967 through a policy called the "silent transfer" had incited about 40 per cent of Arab residents to leave the city. Palestinian circles estimated the shortage in housing units for Arab residents to be at 110,000. (Al-Tali'ah, 2 December 1994) 59. On 2 December 1994, it was reported that the Government would speed up the preparation of a bill aimed at preventing the PLO or the Palestinian Authority from carrying out political activity in East Jerusalem. The bill is to be submitted to the Knesset for final approval by the end of December. (Ha'aretz, 2 December 1994) 60. On 2 December 1994, Maj.-Gen. Amiram Levine assumed his duties as new OC Northern Command, replacing Maj.-Gen. Yitzhak Mordechai. (Jerusalem Post, 2 and 4 December 1994) 61. On 2 December 1994, Al-Haq, the legal and human rights organization affiliated with the International Commission of Jurists in Geneva, issued a statement condemning the decision of the Supreme Court to demolish the family home of Saleh Souwi, the suicide bomber responsible for the 19 October 1994 Tel Aviv bombing. Al-Haq pointed out that there were inconsistencies in the decisions of the Supreme Court. In justifying the decision not to demolish the house of Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein, who killed 29 Muslims in Hebron, the Court referred to arguments stating that the authorities should not have recourse to emergency regulations in cases where the accused gets killed. However, Al-Haq had documented nearly 30 cases of house demolition and sealing where the Palestinian perpetrator in question was already dead. (The Jerusalem Times, 2 December 1994) 62. On 4 December 1994, OC Intelligence, Maj.-Gen. Uri Saguy, reportedly told the Cabinet that there were clear signs of "Lebanonization" in the Gaza Strip, manifested through the formation of armed militias that were already or potentially fighting each other. "Lebanonization" meant an absence of effective central authority, political fragmentation caused by divisiveness and a lack of /... A/50/170 English Page 15 legitimacy, a proliferation of armed militias and the consequent and inevitable failure to regulate economic life. All these, said Saguy, were present in Gaza. OC Southern Command informed the Cabinet that weapons were being smuggled into Gaza by underground passages from the Egyptian border as well as by sea. He also indicated that some wanted men on the IDF list had returned to Gaza. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 5 December 1994) 63. On 5 and 6 December 1994, it was reported that the Ministry of Construction and Housing, in collaboration with the IDF, would soon begin the construction of by-pass roads around the cities of Ramallah, Hebron and Tulkarm, in anticipation of the IDF withdrawal from West Bank city centres. Mr. Rabin indicated, however, that such roads would not solve the problem of outlying Jewish settlements, which he defined as a catastrophe from a security standpoint. Senior officers of the Central Command expressed doubts concerning a possible pull-out in the near future, in view of the current situation in the West Bank. (Ha'aretz, 5 December 1994; Jerusalem Post, 6 December 1994) 64. On 6 December 1994, Police Minister Moshe Shahal stated during a tour of Green Line communities in the Sharon area that he would recommend the construction of an electronic fence along the Green Line and would reinforce police there to prevent Arabs from the territories from entering Israel illegally. Aside from the danger of terrorism, Shahal noted that the differences between the two populations' economic situations and standards of living would only cause an escalation in property and other crimes as long as they lived side by side. Shahal also recommended that police use their authority to fine Israeli employers hiring illegal Arab labourers from the territories, adding that because of their greed and wish to save money, these employers were partners in "terrorist" attacks carried out by their illegal labourers. (Jerusalem Post, 7 December 1994) 65. On 7 December 1994, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel obtained an injunction from the High Court of Justice giving the Government 60 days to explain why the GSS should be allowed to operate in the absence of any legal basis for its existence, since it had been set up by an administrative decision rather than by legislation. The Court rejected, however, the Committee's other petition concerning the permission given to the GSS to use moderate physical and psychological pressure in its investigations. The Committee also requested that the Landau report, which had established the cited guidelines, be made public. It also protested the conditions under which prisoners were kept in GSS facilities. In their ruling, the Justices indicated that the allegations regarding the conditions at GSS facilities had no factual basis while the other issues would probably be addressed by planned government legislation on the GSS. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 8 December 1994) 66. On 8 December 1994, talks on the next stage of self-rule in the territories resumed in Cairo as Palestinian and Israeli negotiators sought to resolve the issue of IDF redeployment and Palestinian elections. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 9 December 1994) 67. On 8 December 1994, the eighth anniversary of the intifadah, the Hamas movement announced that it intended to continue its holy war against the Israeli occupation. In a message broadcast in the Gaza Strip, the movement vowed to /... A/50/170 English Page 16 continue to deal the devastating terror forces of zionism painful blows. The Damascus-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) declared that they, too, would continue their armed struggle against Israel. The PFLP also called for the creation of a public political movement whose objective would be to work for the establishment of a democratic society and against the Oslo Agreement. (Ha'aretz, 9 December 1994) 68. On 9 December 1994, Israeli authorities started to photograph the streets and the neighbourhoods of Nablus. Similar procedures were reported in other cities of the West Bank. Israeli soldiers in Gaza were also seen taking pictures of the area before they withdrew in May 1994. Further indications of an imminent evacuation included the closure of Jneid prison and Nablus Central Prison. Prisoners were being transferred to jails inside the Green Line. However, Israeli authorities have denied the veracity of reports of army redeployment in the northern West Bank area. (The Jerusalem Times, 9 December 1994) 69. On 10 December 1994, Israeli Arabs staged a mass demonstration in Tira against the settling of collaborators from the territories in Israeli Arab towns and villages. (Ha'aretz, 11 December 1994) 70. On 11 December 1994, several dozen Israelis and Palestinians staged a demonstration near an army checkpoint at the north-eastern entrance to Jerusalem against the closure of the territories and for the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of two States. (Ha'aretz, 12 December 1994) 71. On 14 December 1994, the PLO rejected an offer of partial withdrawal and joint patrols during talks in Cairo on redeploying IDF forces before elections. The Fatah High Committee stressed that redeployment and elections were inseparable and that no elections would be held before the IDF redeployed away from Arab population centres. Palestinian Authority Planning Minister Nabil Shaath stated that the PLO rejected all proposals that deviated from Israel's commitment to withdraw from Arab population centres. The Fatah Higher Council in Ramallah warned that elections without redeployment would be self-defeating for Israel since they would cost Fatah support and could go to those who oppose the peace process. (Ha'aretz, 14 December 1994; Jerusalem Post, 14 and 15 December 1994) 72. On 15 December 1994, it was reported that some 1,000 Hamas activists and their collaborators had been arrested by the GSS since the Tel Aviv bus bombing on 19 October 1994. (Ha'aretz, 15 December 1994) 73. On 15 December 1994, the Bethlehem Magistrates' Court was inaugurated. It was reported that the Court would handle criminal and civil cases in coordination with the Civil Administration and the Israel Police until the Palestinian Authority took charge of legal matters outside Gaza and Jericho. (Jerusalem Post, 16 December 1994) 74. On 16 December 1994, Israel voted in the United Nations General Assembly in favour of a resolution on the peace process. (Ha'aretz, 16 December 1994; Jerusalem Post, 19 December 1994) /... A/50/170 English Page 17 75. On 16 December 1994, it was reported that Israel had announced that it would abandon its opposition to the participation of most members of the Hamas in elections for the Palestinian self-rule council. Israel indicated, however, that it would confine its objection to the participation of the Hamas "terror" wing, Izz Al-din al-Qassam and of other extremists such as extremist imams who incited people to "terror". So far, Israel had insisted that Hamas rewrite its charter, deleting its call for the destruction of Israel, before members would be allowed to participate in the election. (Jerusalem Post, 16 December 1994) 76. On 18 December 1994, Member of the Knesset (MK) Ariel Sharon stated that a Likud-led government would not respect any agreement involving the withdrawal and evacuation of settlements from the Golan Heights the current Government would sign with the Syrian Arab Republic at the approach of the 1996 elections. (Ha'aretz, 19 December 1994) 77. On 18 December 1994, it was reported that Arabs in Haifa were organizing a campaign against the settling of collaborators in that city. (Ha'aretz, 18 and 20 December 1994) 78. On 19 December 1994, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin accused opposition MKs of trying to sabotage the peace process by proposing legislation requiring a majority of 80 MKs to change the status of Jerusalem established under the Basic Law: Jerusalem, which annexed the eastern part of the city to Israel. The bill was approved by the plenum in a preliminary reading in 1993. Legislation for the first reading by the Law Committee was reported to be under way. Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert (Likud) stated that the question of the city's future status had changed dramatically as a result of the Oslo accord, which formally committed Israel to negotiate the issue with the PLO. He added that it was absolutely clear that the Government's decision to include Jerusalem as a formal item in the negotiations indicated that Israel was open to concessions. (Ha'aretz, 19 December 1994; Jerusalem Post, 20 December 1994) 79. On 19 December 1994, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee that Palestinians were demanding that the interim self-governing authority number 80 representatives, while Israel was insisting on 30-40. The Government had reportedly agreed to allow the Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem to vote for the council, but had insisted that they cross into the autonomous area to cast their votes. Palestinians reportedly wanted to hold the elections in East Jerusalem, insisting that its residents be allowed to stand as candidates for the council. (Jerusalem Post, 20 December 1994) 80. On 19 December 1994, it was reported that the Southern Command had stated that "terrorism" in the Gaza Strip would most likely continue and might increase. It indicated that since the Cairo agreements were implemented in May 1993, the number of shooting incidents had increased, as had the number of suicide attacks and roadside bombings. On the other hand, the Command indicated that the level of cooperation between the IDF and the Palestinian Police was satisfactory and businesslike. (Jerusalem Post, 19 December 1994) 81. On 21 December 1994, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and the Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat agreed to conduct separate but parallel talks /... A/50/170 English Page 18 on redeployment and elections. Israeli sources reportedly indicated that the highly sensitive issue of where the IDF would actually pull back from in the territories would be decided between Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat. They would also deal with the issue of redeployment and the transfer of more civilian authority to Palestinian control. Mr. Peres reiterated Israel's commitment to the Declaration of Principles. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 22 December 1994) 82. On 22 December 1994, it was reported that the Knesset had approved the Gaza/Jericho Implementation Law (Economic Arrangements and Judicial Arrangements). (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 22 December 1994) 83. On 23 December 1994, it was reported that the GSS had arrested more than 1,000 Hamas activists since the Tel Aviv bus bombing, which had left 22 Israelis dead. (Ha'aretz, 23 December 1994) 84. On 26 December 1994, the Government passed a law outlawing PLO political activity in Israel. The law is aimed at putting a stop to heightened activity at Orient House and to the establishment of institutions belonging to the Palestinian Authority in East Jerusalem, thus restricting its activity to Gaza and Jericho. The new law would enable the Government to take action against the establishment of an office at Orient House headed by the Palestinian Authority Minister responsible for organizing elections for the Palestinian interim self-governing authority. The Minister stated that with such policies the peace process would be in jeopardy. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 27 December 1994) 85. On 26 December 1994, Police Minister Moshe Shahal told settlement leaders that he personally thought that Israel should maintain its police presence in Arab population centres. Mr. Shahal also indicated that he intended to widen the sphere of activity of the civil guards in the territories and to increase the police force there from the current 1,200 to 2,500 and eventually to 5,000 at a later stage. (Ha'aretz, 28 December 1994) 86. On 28 December 1994, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin firmly rejected a call by the heads of the Christian churches in Jerusalem for a special status for the holy city, guaranteed by the international community. He stated that Jerusalem would remain a united city under Israeli rule. Rabin added that the principle of freedom of access to the Holy Places did not necessitate a special political status for the city. (Jerusalem Post, 29 December 1994) 2. Incidents resulting from the occupation 87. The following abbreviations of the names of newspapers are used in the tables: AT H JP JT Al-Tali'ah Ha'aretz Jerusalem Post The Jerusalem Times /... A/50/170 English Page 19 (a) List of Palestinians killed by troops or Israeli civilians Date Name and age Place of residence Remarks and source 7 September 1994 " Salah Mahadawi, 20 Sakr Kapani (or Katani), 24 Shweikeh (West Bank) Nazaleh Sharkiyeh (West Bank) Suspected car thieves. Police shot them in Pardess Hanna, after one tried to run over a policeman while the second drew out a gun. (H, JP, 8 September 1994) Died in hospital five days after being shot by settlers who claimed that they had been stoned while driving through the village. (JP, 16 September 1994; also referred to in JT, 16 September 1994) Shot. (JT, 17 September 1994) Was driving a stolen van with Israeli licence plates. Shot dead by soldiers when he tried to force his way through a roadblock at the Rimonim checkpoint, on a road leading to Jericho. (H, 19 September 1994; JP, 19, 21 September 1994; also referred to in JT, 7 October 1994) Shot and killed by soldiers near the A-Ram roadblock just outside Jerusalem after he fled when ordered to halt. (H, JP, 21 September 1994; also referred to in JT, 23 September 1994) Hit by a settler's car. (JT, 8 October 1994) Penetrated the perimeter fence of the nearby Neveh Dekalim settlement and stabbed an Israeli youth. Soldiers spotted the assailant as he was running towards the outer gate and opened fire. (H, JP, 26 September 1994; also referred to in JT, 4 October 1994) 14 September 1994 Hatem Abu Rayan, 30 Halhoul (West Bank) 17 September 1994 18 September 1994 Hassan Wilweil Akram Bani Fadel, 18 Kalkiliya Akrabe (West Bank) 20 September 1994 Ziad Adali (or Jahed Dali), 25 Bidu (East Jerusalem) 23 September 1994 25 September 1994 Nidal Tumeizi Mustafa (al) Hila, 17 Ithna Khan Younis (Gaza Strip) /... A/50/170 English Page 20 Date Name and age Place of residence Remarks and source 30 September 1994 Nader Abu Shkedem, 20 Hebron Hamas supporter who stabbed and wounded a soldier guarding settlers outside the Machpelah Cave in Hebron before being shot. (H, JP, 2 October 1994; also referred to in JT, 7 October 1994) Reportedly shot after he had tried to stab a soldier in Hebron. Local residents stated that he was shot during a clash between stonethrowers and soldiers. (H, 6 October 1994; also referred to in AT, 13 October 1994) Shot by Border Policemen guarding the entrance to the Machpelah Cave after he tried to stab a soldier (or threw acid into their faces); Hamas activist. (H, JP, 9 October 1994; also referred to in JT, 14 October 1994) Both were killed after they had opened fire in a crowded area of Jerusalem, killing two people. Hassan Abbas was reportedly released from prison three months earlier under the terms of the Cairo Accord, after having signed an undertaking not to engage in violent activity. (H, 10, 11, October 1994; JP, 10, 11 and 12 October 1994; also referred to in JT, 4 November 1994) The three were killed during a raid by a special commando unit trying to rescue an Israeli hostage whom they had killed. (H, JP, 16 October 1994) 5 October 1994 Ziad Khalil Amarin, 21 Halhoul (West Bank) 7 October 1994 Razi Haymouni, 23 Hebron (West Bank) 9 October 1994 Hassan Abbas (Hisham), 19 Issam Jawhari, 24 Gaza (Gaza Strip) " Egyptian (entered Gaza with a tourist visa) 14 October 1994 Salah (Hassan) Jadalla, 24 (Hassan) Taisir Natshe, 22 Abdel Karim Bader, 23 Imad al-Adarba, 23 Khan Younis (Gaza Strip) Ras el-Amud (East Jerusalem) A-Ram (East Jerusalem) Halhoul (West Bank) " " 16 October 1994 Shot dead by soldiers when he refused to obey an order to halt. According to Palestinian witnesses, was shot deliberately. (H, JP, 17 October 1994; also referred to in AT, 20 October 1994; JT, 21 October 1994) (JT, 4 November 1994) 19 October 1994 Saleh Nazzal, 27 Kalkiliya /... A/50/170 English Page 21 Date Name and age Place of residence Remarks and source 23 October 1994 Nidal Said al-Tamimi, 22 Hebron (West Bank) Shot dead after he reportedly tried to stab a soldier. Was a Hamas activist released from jail several weeks earlier. (H, JP, 24 October 1994; also referred to in JT, 28 October 1994; AT, 3 November 1994) Shot and killed at a roadblock when he refused to stop for identification. (JP, 25 October 1994; H, 26 October 1994; also referred to in JT, 28 October 1994) Died in hospital after a powerful bomb thought to have been planted under his car exploded either as he opened the door or when he turned on the ignition. Abed was a well-known activist of the Islamic Jihad movement and editor of its weekly publication Istiqlal. He was suspected of ordering attacks on Israelis. Israeli security forces were suspected of being behind the assassination. (H, 4 November 1994; JP, 3, 4 and 6 November 1994) Killed during a shoot-out near Ramallah. (H, 9 November 1994) Succumbed to a gunshot wound after youths threw stones at a Border Police patrol in Ramallah. (JP, 9 November 1994 Burned to death when a flare landed on his house while IDF soldiers were looking for the persons who threw an incendiary bottle at a foot patrol near the village. (H, JP, 20 November 1994) Israeli Arab, shot in the head as he was trying to drive away from an area of disturbances in Tulkarm. Died in hospital several hours later. (H, JP, 20 November 1994) 24 October 1994 Abd el-Aziz Mustafa, 44 Karawat Bani Hassan (West Bank) 2 November 1994 Hani Abed, 32 Khan Younis (Gaza Strip) 8 November 1994 Mahmoud Raud Hamail, 33 Mahmoud Haniye, 30 Geve (Israel) 8 November 1994 Ramallah (West Bank) 18 November 1994 Mahmud Yudhi (according to JP) Razi el Kab (according to H), 30 Dir el Ruson, near Tulkarm (West Bank) 18 November 1994 Ahmed Muhamad Watad, 40 Giat, near Tulkarm (West Bank) /... A/50/170 English Page 22 Date Name and age Place of residence Remarks and source 18 November 1994 Muhamed Lufti Kahla, 19 Atil Seriously wounded in the head during clashes with the IDF in Tulkarm. Died in hospital several hours later. (H, 20 November 1994) Shot by soldiers during a raid by Hamas supporters on the Netzarim checkpoint in Gaza. (H, JP, 20 November 1994) Killed by Border Policemen in Jenin. The man and his accomplice who were armed with Kalashnikov rifles shot at the Border Police patrol, which returned fire, killing one of the gunmen. (H, JP, 24 November 1994) Shot by the IDF as he was trying to break through the border into Israel near Nahal Oz. He collapsed, wounded, into a large puddle and may have died from drowning. (H, JP, 13 December 1994) Corpse was found near Givon. (H, 15 December 1994) Hamas leader, active in the movement's military wing. Murdered by unidentified gunmen from a speeding car as he was on his way to work as a teacher in a high school. Israeli security forces denied any involvement in the killing. (H, 23 December 1994) Died in hospital of wounds received when he detonated an explosive device on the road connecting Kiryat Arba to Hebron. (H, 23 December 1994) Killed when he detonated a bomb whose target was a bus transporting soldiers. Palestinians police sources said that Radi was a traffic policeman whom neighbours knew as a Hamas supporter. (H, JP, 26 December 1994) 19 November 1994 Yassir al Zayyan (according to JP) Biaser Mustafa (according to H), 17 Name not reported Unknown 23 November 1994 Unknown 12 December 1994 Abdel Matawa, 22 Gaza 14 December 1994 22 December 1994 Name not reported Ibrahim Yati, 34 Unknown Aqabat Jabr (refugee camp near Jericho, West Bank) 22 December 1994 Eid Azrayer, 19 Hebron (West Bank) 25 December 1994 Eyman Radi, 21 Gaza /... A/50/170 English Page 23 (b) List of other Palestinians killed as a result of the occupation Date Name and age Place of residence Remarks and source 1 September 1994 Amjad (Nasser) Kmeil, 22 Ahmed Abu Rab, 21 Kabatiya (West Bank) " " Hamas fugitives. Killed while trying to plant a car bomb near Akrabe. (H, JP, 4 September 1994; also referred to in JT, 9 September 1994) 18 September 1994 Hussein Abu Ura (or Hussein Issa), 50 Salah Abd el-Rahim Nazal Soowi, 27 (al) Heider (West Bank) Alleged collaborator. Stabbed and tortured. (H, JP, 21 September 1994) Kalkiliya (West Bank) Wanted Hamas activist. Died in a suicide bus bombing in the centre of Tel Aviv, which killed 22 persons. (H, JP, 21 and 24 October 1994) Killed in a suicide attack when he detonated an estimated 10 kg of explosives strapped to his body as he passed an IDF checkpoint near the Netzarim settlement on a bicycle. (H, JP, 13 November 1994) Found dead in his village by the Israeli security forces. Probably assassinated for collaboration with Israeli security forces. (H, 24 November 1994) Shot in the head by unidentified gunmen, apparently as revenge by relatives collaborators in whose killing her husband was involved. (H, 13 December 1994) Eyewitnesses reported that unidentified men had knocked on his door, identifying themselves as policemen. When he appeared at the door, they shot him dead. The man was suspected by Gazans of being a collaborator. (H, 25 December 1994) 19 October 1994 11 November 1994 Hisham (Ismail) Hamad, 21 Sheikh Radwan, Gaza City (Gaza Strip) 23 November 1994 Majiad Nasser, 34 Atil 11 December 1994 Rasmia Amar (female) Jericho (West Bank) 19 December 1994 Abdala Kfarna Beit Hanoun (Gaza Strip) (c) Other incidents 88. On 29 August 1994, a truck carrying drinks was hijacked by a group of gun-wielding Arab youths near the Oranit settlement, in the northern West Bank. The driver and his partner, both Israeli Arabs, told IDF investigators that they had escaped certain death only because they convinced the youths that they were /... A/50/170 English Page 24 not Jews. Armed gunmen fired several shots at a car belonging to a member of Kibbutz Netzarim at the junction near the kibbutz in the northern Gaza Strip. No injuries or damage were reported. (Jerusalem Post, 30 August 1994) 89. On 1 September 1994, two Hamas fugitives were killed (see list) near Akrabe, while trying to plant a car bomb (also referred to in The Jerusalem Times, 9 September 1994). Another accident during preparations for an attack occurred in the Askar refugee camp, near Nablus. Seven people were wounded in the incident when a gas canister exploded. An Arab youth was moderately wounded by bullets fired from an Israeli car near Al-Funduk (or Ain Faduk), a village close to general Jewish settlements in the area of Nablus (or Tulkarm). Initial reports indicated that the youth had been throwing stones at Israeli vehicles. The Israeli driver was later detained. In Ramallah, two Palestinians were injured by IDF shooting. In Hebron and Nablus, stones were reportedly thrown at army vehicles. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 2 and 4 September 1994) 90. On 2 and 3 September 1994, two Israeli soldiers were slightly injured by stones thrown at them in the area of Ramallah. Additional stone-throwing incidents were reported in the West Bank (Ramallah, Nablus, Bethlehem and locations near Jewish settlements) and in the Gaza Strip (Gush Katif). There were no injuries or damage. (Ha'aretz, 4 September 1994) 91. On 4 September 1994, Sgt. Victor Shichman, 24, was fatally wounded while two other soldiers suffered light to moderate wounds when gunmen fired at an IDF foot patrol near the Morag junction in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. The soldiers were reportedly injured by the shooting of Palestinian Police Forces. The assailants' car fled to Khan Younis. An Arab man stabbed two Jewish men when they entered Jerusalem's Old City, on their way to the Western Wall. (Ha'aretz, 8 September 1994; Jerusalem Post, 5 and 8 September 1994) 92. On 6 (New Year) and 7 September 1994, police shot and killed two suspected car thieves from the territories (see list) in Pardess Hanna, after one of them had tried to run over a policeman while the second drew out a gun. A civil guard officer was slightly injured in one of the incidents. In Ramallah, an IDF soldier was injured by a stone. Two Arab residents were wounded by army shooting. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 8 September 1994) 93. On 8 September 1994, two Border Policemen were slightly wounded by stones in Ramallah. Additional stone-throwing incidents were reported in Hebron and Bethlehem. (Ha'aretz, 9 September 1994) 94. On 9 and 10 September 1994, three residents of Kiryat Arba fired at Palestinians who threw stones and a petrol bomb at them in Hebron. Two Palestinians were reportedly wounded by the shots, one of them seriously (also referred to in The Jerusalem Times, 16 September 1994). Shots were fired at an IDF outpost in the area of Khan Younis. There were no injuries or damage. Two petrol bombs were thrown at a police station in the centre of Ramallah. In this case as well, there were no injuries or damages. Stone-throwing incidents were reported in Ramallah, Nablus and Hebron. Two residents were injured in the Ramallah area. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 11 September 1994) /... A/50/170 English Page 25 95. On 11 September 1994, several incidents were reported in the territories, during which two Palestinian residents were injured in Ramallah while one was injured in Hebron. Israeli vehicles were also attacked with stones in the Gaza Strip. (Ha'aretz, 12 September 1994) 96. On 13 September 1994, Palestinian sources reported several stone-throwing incidents in the areas of Ramallah and Hebron. In Hebron, a Border Policeman was slightly injured by a stone. (Ha'aretz, 14 September 1994) 97. On 14 September 1994, the IDF raided the Kfar Ra'i village near Jenin and arrested a wanted fugitive, Burhan Sbeih, 25. In another incident, Israeli soldiers raided the Marah neighbourhood in Jenin, looking for recently released prisoners, but they did not find anyone. (The Jerusalem Times, 16 September 1994) 98. On 14 and 15 September (Yom Kippur) 1994, a Palestinian man from Halhoul died in hospital (see list), five days after being shot by settlers. In Hebron, a Palestinian was taken to hospital after Israeli settlers had reportedly surrounded and attacked him, using martial arts techniques until the man collapsed. Five Arab residents were wounded by IDF shooting during disturbances in the West Bank (Nablus (two); Hebron; Ramallah; Bethlehem). In the areas of Hebron and Bethlehem, stone-throwing incidents involving army vehicles were reported. A woman settler was reportedly arrested after she had attacked a young Palestinian near the Machpelah Cave in Hebron. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 16 September 1994) 99. On 18 September 1994, soldiers manning the Rimonim checkpoint in the Ramallah district opened fire at a stolen van heading towards Jericho, killing one passenger (see list) and injuring an additional one or two. The passengers were from Akrabe village near Nablus. An alleged person from Al Heider was murdered (see list). Two Arabs stabbed a 55-year-old Israeli greengrocer in a greenhouse in the village of Kafr Ibtan. The Israeli, who had gone to the area to buy vegetables, had picked up his assailants at the junction south of Baka al-Gharbiya. In another incident, a soldier was stabbed at the Geha interchange in the Petah Tikva area by a resident of Nablus. The assailant was caught. The two Israelis were moderately wounded. In Ramallah, a resident was injured by IDF shooting, after Palestinian youths threw stones at soldiers who responded by opening fire. Stone-throwing incidents were also reported in Hebron and Bethlehem, where a resident was wounded by army shooting. (Ha'aretz, 19 September 1994; Jerusalem Post, 19 and 21 September 1994) 100. On 19 and 20 September 1994 (the Feast of the Tabernacles), soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian near a roadblock outside Jerusalem after he had fled when ordered to halt (see list). Another Palestinian who was with him managed to escape (also referred to in The Jerusalem Times, 23 September 1994). In Jenin, a petrol bomb was thrown at an IDF patrol. The bomb exploded without causing any injuries. Stone-throwing incidents were reported in Ramallah, Bethlehem and Hebron. Palestinian sources reported that two residents were injured in Ramallah. Two Israelis were wounded by stones thrown at their car in Kalkiliya. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 21 September 1994) /... A/50/170 English Page 26 101. On 21 September 1994, police shot and badly injured a Palestinian car thief after he had swerved in order to hit a policeman at the Erez crossing into the Gaza Strip. Two IDF soldiers were wounded by stones thrown at them in Ramallah. Stones were thrown at military and civilian Israeli vehicles in Hebron and Bethlehem. Palestinian sources reported one injury in Hebron. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 22 September 1994) 102. On 22 September 1994, four Israelis (civilians and soldiers) were wounded in the territories during different incidents (in Halhoul, Ramallah and Shu'fat). A Palestinian from the West Bank was slightly injured in the area of the Adam junction when a settler threw a stone at the car he was in. Palestinian sources reported that two residents were injured in a shooting incident in Ramallah. (Ha'aretz, 23 September 1994) 103. On 23 and 24 September 1994, the body of Natasha Ivanov, 30, was found in her apartment in Ashdod. She had apparently been strangled two days earlier and the murderer had reportedly escaped to Gaza. She worked as a prostitute and received clients at home. In Gaza, an attack was avoided at the Erez checkpoint when a soldier spotted an Arab wielding a steel rod as he approached another soldier. The would-be assailant threw down the rod and put his hands up after being summoned to do so. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 25 September 1994) 104. On 25 September 1994, an Arab youth from Khan Younis penetrated the perimeter fence of the nearby Neveh Dekalim settlement, and then waylaid and stabbed a 17-year-old Israeli who was on his way out of the settlement. Soldiers spotted the assailant, opened fire and killed him (see list). The Israeli youth was moderately wounded. An Israeli car was stoned in the village of Bidu, in the Ramallah district. The windshield was smashed and the driver was slightly injured by glass fragments. The driver then came out of his car and smashed several windshields on Palestinian vehicles. An explosive device went off in the vicinity of a Border Police patrol in the Ramallah area. Another bomb exploded near the Civil Administration building in the village of Yatta, in the Hebron area. There were no injuries or damage in either case. Stone-throwing incidents were reported in the Ramallah district, in Hebron and in Bethlehem. A Border Policeman was slightly injured by a stone in the Bethlehem area. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 26 September 1994) 105. On 27 September 1994, soldiers slightly wounded two Arabs in Bidu, north-west of Jerusalem, when they opened fire after stones were thrown at them. (Jerusalem Post, 28 September 1994) 106. On 28 September 1994, the Islamic Jihad organization announced that its members had thrown two petrol bombs at IDF patrols in the territories. There were no injuries in either case. (Ha'aretz, 30 September 1994) 107. On 29 September 1994, an Arab assailant jumped into the car of the spokeswoman for the Gaza Coast Regional Council and tried to stab her with a sharp object. She managed to escape injury. The attack took place on the outskirts of Khan Younis. The assailant fled. In Hebron, a soldier was slightly wounded in the head by a stone thrown at a military patrol. Their jeep was slightly damaged by a fire-bomb. Palestinian sources announced that two Palestinians were slightly wounded when soldiers returned fire. Two residents /... A/50/170 English Page 27 were reportedly injured during clashes with the army in the Ramallah area. Stone-throwing incidents took place in Hebron, Ramallah and Nablus. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 30 September 1994) 108. On 30 September and 1 October 1994, a Hamas supporter stabbed and wounded a soldier guarding settlers outside the Machpelah Cave in Hebron (30 September), before being shot (see list) (also referred to in The Jerusalem Times, 7 October 1994). Earlier in the day, two fire-bombs were thrown at soldiers outside Beit Hadassah, in the centre of Hebron. A soldier suffered slight head injuries when stones were thrown at an Israeli bus in Jenin. Soldiers shot at a car from the territories that failed to stop at a roadblock near Hebron. The driver was unhurt and managed to escape from the area. An Arab driver was shot and slightly injured by police in northern Jerusalem after he had refused to obey police calls to halt and fled at high speed. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 2 October 1994) 109. On 1 October 1994, two shooting incidents were reported in the Gaza Strip, one in the Kissufim area and one in the Gush Katif area. No injuries were reported among the IDF forces in either case. (Ha'aretz, 3 October 1994) 110. On 2 October 1994, an Arab driving a car with Israeli licence plates was stoned and slightly injured by Palestinian youths in the village of Bidu, in the Ramallah area. Several incidents of stone-throwing at military vehicles were reported in Ramallah. One soldier was injured. (Ha'aretz, 3 October 1994) 111. On 3 October 1994, a car containing five gas canisters exploded at the Shabura refugee camp in Rafiah. There were no injuries or damage. Palestinian sources claimed that the car was to be used in an attack against Israelis and had been exploded by a Palestinian security officer. In separate incidents, local sources reported that two residents of Ramallah and two residents of Nablus were wounded during clashes with the Israeli army. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 4 October 1994) 112. On 4 October 1994, a resident of the Gaza Strip tried to stab a soldier at the Erez checkpoint. The man was arrested. A reserve soldier was slightly injured during a stone-throwing incident in Ramallah. (Ha'aretz, 5 October 1994) 113. On 5 October 1994, a young Palestinian from Halhoul was shot dead by soldiers in Hebron (see list) (also referred to in Al-Tali'ah, 13 October 1994). Another Palestinian is reported to have been slightly wounded during the clash. Following the death of the man from Halhoul, disturbances erupted and soldiers used tear-gas to quell them. Four tourists were slightly injured by a hand grenade or by a makeshift bomb which was thrown at them in the village of Azaria. A petrol bomb was thrown at a bus on its way to the Takuah settlement. (Ha'aretz, 6 October 1994) 114. On 6 October 1994, an Arab from Abu Ghosh who was involved in a minor traffic accident in Jerusalem was shot and wounded by another person also involved in the accident who thought that the man was a "terrorist". (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 7 October 1994) /... A/50/170 English Page 28 115. On 7 and 8 October 1994, Border Policemen guarding the entrance to the Machpelah Cave shot and killed a Palestinian after he threw acid in their faces and tried to stab them (see list). The Policemen sustained slight injuries during the incident. Additional clashes were reported in Hebron between Palestinian youths and the army. A petrol bomb was thrown at a foot patrol in the centre of the city. There were no injuries, however. Palestinian sources reported that four residents were injured by IDF shooting in Hebron and in the Ramallah area. An Israeli soldier was slightly wounded by a stone thrown at IDF soldiers patrolling between Gush Katif and Khan Younis. Additional stone-throwing incidents were reported in the West Bank and in Gush Katif, but caused no injuries. A bomb exploded in the old part of Beersheba, slightly wounding one person. Another explosive device was found in the same area and safely deactivated. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 9 October 1994) 116. On 9 October 1994, Arab gunmen killed two Israelis, Ma'ayan Levy, 19, of Moshav Beit Zayit, and Samir (or Ziad) Mugrabi, 35, from Kafr Akab, in East Jerusalem, and wounded 13 other people in the centre of Jerusalem when they opened fire indiscriminately with automatic weapons and threw grenades in an area crowded with cafés and pubs. Two of the assailants were killed (see list), while a third managed to escape. One of the "terrorists" was in possession of an Egyptian passport and had entered Gaza on a tourist visa. In a separate development, Izz Al-din al-Qassam, the armed wing of Hamas, kidnapped an Israeli soldier near Tel Aviv and demanded the freeing of more than 200 prisoners by 14 October in return for his release. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 10, 11 and 12 October 1994; Jerusalem Post, 13 October 1994; also referred to in The Jerusalem Times, 14 October 1994) 117. On 10 October 1994, an Israeli was shot and critically wounded by undercover soldiers in the Hebron area. Military sources indicated that the victim, who was driving a car, was shot by a soldier who thought that he was about to run him over. An Arab man was shot and wounded by IDF troops near Dahariya. The man was apparently driving a car that approached an army checkpoint, arousing the soldiers' suspicion. They ordered him to stop and fired at the car when he did not respond. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 11 October 1994) 118. On 10 October 1994, the IDF used rubber bullets and tear-gas to disperse students demonstrating in Ramallah in solidarity with political prisoners held in Israeli prisons. The number of wounded during the incident was unknown. (The Jerusalem Times, 14 October 1994) 119. On 11 October 1994, Arye Houri, 34, from Netivot, succumbed to his wounds in hospital, after being shot by mistake by undercover troops on 10 October. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 12 October 1994) 120. On 13 October 1994, a pipe bomb was discovered by the Border Police in the fields of Kibbutz Maaleh Gilboa. A leaflet signed by the armed wing of Hamas was found in the vicinity of the device. (Jerusalem Post, 16 October 1994) 121. On 14 and 15 October 1994, Cpl. Nahshon Wachsman, 19, from Ramot, who had been kidnapped on 9 October, was killed by his Hamas captors during an unsuccessful IDF rescue attempt on 14 October. Capt. Nir Poraz, 23, from Ramat /... A/50/170 English Page 29 Hasharon, who led the charge into the house in Bir Nabala north of Jerusalem where Wachsman was being held, was killed during the raid. Three Hamas "terrorists" were killed (see list) while two accomplices were arrested. Twelve soldiers belonging to a special commando unit were wounded during the attack. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 16 October 1994) 122. On 16 October 1994, troops shot dead in Hebron a young Palestinian who had refused to obey orders to halt (see list) (also referred to in Al-Tali'ah, 20 October 1994; The Jerusalem Times, 21 October 1994). Hundreds of Hamas activists converged on the junction near Netzarim, a settlement inhabited by 35 families, setting tyres on fire and throwing stones at the soldiers. The troops fired in the air and then withdrew to a defence line at the settlement. The IDF brought in three armoured personnel carriers and called the Palestinian Police to deal with the mob, which began marching in the direction of the settlement. The Palestinian Police dispersed the crowd. Serious incidents were reported in the Shu'fat refugee camp where youths burned tyres and threw stones and bottles at Border Police patrols for the second consecutive day. Police responded by firing rubber bullets and throwing tear-gas. Stores were shut in East Jerusalem, as owners complied with a three-day strike order issued by Hamas to protest and mourn the deaths of the three kidnappers of soldier Wachsman who had been killed on 14 October. (Ha'aretz, 17 October 1994; Jerusalem Post, 17 and 18 October 1994) 123. On 17 October 1994, Hamas supporters blocked the Morag junction and threw stones at soldiers and at an Israeli bus. They were finally dispersed by Palestinian policemen who fired in the air. (Jerusalem Post, 18 October 1994) 124. On 19 October 1994, a suicide bus bombing in the centre of Tel Aviv killed 21 persons and injured dozens of others. The attack was described as one of the worst terrorist carnages in Israeli history. The bus exploded around 8.45 a.m., as it passed another bus, in one of the most popular and crowded streets of Tel Aviv, Dizengoff Street. The explosion tore through the floor of the vehicle, peeled the metal sides and roof off the chassis and hurled bodies up to 50 metres into the air (also referred to in Al-Tali'ah, 20 October 1994; The Jerusalem Times, 21 October 1994). Izz Al-din al-Qassam, the armed wing of Hamas, claimed responsibility for the bombing. The names of the 21 people who were killed on the No. 5 bus were released: Haviv Tishbi, 57; Moshe Gardinger, 83; Pnina Rapaport, 74; Galit Rozen, 23; Ariel Zippora (or Zippora Ariel), 64; David Lida, 74; Pua Yedgar, 56; Dalia Ashkenazi, 62; Esther Sharon, 21; Ofra Ben-Naim, 32; Tamar Sapir (or Karlibeh), 24; Shira Meroz(-Kut), 20/21; Miriam Adaf, 44; Anat Rozen, 20/21; Salah Ovadia, 52; Eliahu Wasserman, 66; Alexandra Sharfstein, 55; Pierre Atlas, 56; Ella Volkov, 21; Ayelet Langer-Alkobi, 22/26; and Rinier Yurest (or Rainer Warbist), 23/25 (a Dutch national). The remains of the terrorist who carried out the suicide attack were also identified (see list). (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 20, 21 and 24 October 1994) 125. On 20 October 1994, following rumours that the home of the terrorist suspected of being responsible for the Tel Aviv bus attack was to be demolished by the army, disturbances erupted in the main street of Kalkiliya. Youths burned tyres while soldiers threw stun grenades and tear-gas. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 21 October 1994) /... A/50/170 English Page 30 126. On 21 and 22 October 1994, disturbances broke out in Kalkiliya near the home of the Soowi family after an IDF closure that had been imposed on the town was lifted. Troops dispersed the rioters with tear-gas and rubber bullets. Three residents were slightly hurt by gas inhalation. Five Palestinians were injured over the weekend during disturbances in the West Bank. Dozens of Palestinians threw stones at soldiers in the centre of Nablus. The army dispersed the demonstrators with tear-gas. Four stone-throwers were wounded. Another Arab resident was slightly wounded by IDF shooting during the breaking up of disturbances in the centre of Ramallah. A petrol bomb was thrown in the village of Abu Dis, south of Jerusalem. There were no injuries or damage. Jews and Palestinians threw stones at each other in the Old City of Jerusalem. A 13-year-old Palestinian girl was slightly injured. Stones were also thrown in the Hebron area. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 23 October 1994) 127. On 23 October 1994, Kochava Biton, 59, died of wounds she had suffered in the bus bombing of 19 October in Tel Aviv, thus becoming the twenty-second fatality. Troops shot and killed a man who tried to stab a soldier in central Hebron (see list). Four other residents were also injured during the incident. A settler from Neveh Dekalim, in the Gush Katif area, sustained very serious injuries when stones were thrown at his car on the Kissufim road. An explosive device was thrown at an Israeli car near Kiryat Arba. There were no casualties (also referred to in The Jerusalem Times, 28 October 1994). Several stone-throwing incidents were reported in the Hebron area, where Palestinian sources reported that two local residents suffered from tear-gas inhalation. Stones were thrown in Nablus, Al-Bireh, Kalkiliya and the Ramallah area. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 24 October 1994) 128. On 24 October 1994, security forces shot and killed at a roadblock near Kalkiliya a man who had refused to stop for identification (see list). (Jerusalem Post, 25 October 1994; also referred to in The Jerusalem Times, 28 October 1994; Al-Tali'ah, 3 November 1994) 129. On 24 October 1994, the police opened fire at a 22-year-old Palestinian villager from Beit Ula in the Hebron area when he failed to obey an order to halt. The youth was seriously wounded. In a separate incident, Hassan Jibril, 20, from Kalkiliya, was badly injured and his legs were broken after he was beaten up by an Israeli patrol in the Kufr Saba neighbourhood of the city. (The Jerusalem Times, 28 October 1994) 130. On 25 October 1994, two residents of Ramallah and one soldier were reportedly wounded by stones in the Hebron area. Additional stone-throwing incidents took place in the West Bank, especially on the main roads. (Ha'aretz, 26 October 1994) 131. On 26 October 1994, a general strike in protest against the Israel-Jordan treaty called by Fatah and Hamas in the territories outside Gaza and Jericho closed shops and public schools, and interfered with traffic, threatening to become violent. Some 500 Fatah supporters marched for an hour through Hebron. Some of them burned pictures of King Hussein. There were also reports that Israeli and Jordanian flags were burned. In Ramallah, which is considered a PLO stronghold, pro-Hamas demonstrators shouting "Allahu Akbar" marched through the centre of the town and subsequently dispersed. In Nablus, troops dispersed /... A/50/170 English Page 31 demonstrators when they began throwing stones. In Jerusalem, Border Policemen cordoned off Salah a-Din Street after disturbances took place there in the morning. There were no strikes in Gaza and Jericho. (Jerusalem Post, 27 October 1994) 132. On 27 October 1994, three Palestinians were slightly wounded in Nablus when soldiers fired rubber bullets at stone-throwing youths. The protesters were continuing the protest begun the day before against the Israel-Jordan treaty. There were no reports of clashes elsewhere in the territories. (Jerusalem Post, 28 October 1994) 133. On 28 and 29 October 1994, some 2,000 Palestinians rallied in Jenin against Jordan, burning a picture of King Hussein and chanting "Jerusalem is ours". A rally was also held in East Jerusalem against King Hussein and in support of PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat. A soldier was slightly injured by a stone thrown at his car in Nablus. A Border Policeman was slightly wounded in Ramallah. Two residents of Nablus were slightly injured by IDF gunfire. According to military sources, the two were throwing stones at soldiers. Another Palestinian was injured by army shooting in Ramallah. According to Palestinian sources, an additional resident was injured in the area of the Machpelah Cave in Hebron. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 30 October 1994) 134. On 30 October 1994, Ahmed Mahmoud Shadeed, 20, a Palestinian who had tried to throw a grenade at a military outpost near Beit Hadassah in central Hebron, was wounded when the device exploded in his hand. Sources in Dura indicated that troops later came to the small town near Hebron and arrested two brothers of the wounded attacker (also referred to in The Jerusalem Times, 4 November 1994). Youths burned tyres and threw stones at soldiers, who fired rubber bullets, slightly wounding one youth in the neck. Demonstrations involving Hamas activists from out of town erupted in Nablus for the third time since the signing of the peace treaty between Israel and Jordan. (Jerusalem Post, 31 October 1994) 135. On 2 November 1994, Hani Abed, a prominent Islamic Jihad activist who was suspected of ordering attacks on Israelis, notably the 20 May attack on an army checkpoint near Erez during which two soldiers were killed, was killed by the explosion of a powerful car bomb in Khan Younis (see list) (also referred to in The Jerusalem Times, 4 November 1994). Local sources indicated that the car either exploded when Abed opened the door or when he turned on the ignition. Some 300 Islamic Jihad supporters crowded into his house when the body was brought there. Some of them fired shots in the air. A joint leaflet issued by all six PLO and Islamic groups in Gaza accused Israel of planting the bomb as part of a move to eliminate the organizers of "terrorist" attacks. Israeli security officials dismissed accusations of complicity in the killing. Security was tightened in Gaza and the West Bank to head off possible attempts at revenge. (Ha'aretz, 4 November 1994; Jerusalem Post, 3 November 1994; also referred to in The Jerusalem Times, 11 November 1994) 136. On 3 November 1994, thousands of Islamic Jihad supporters swore revenge against Israel and cursed Yasser Arafat as they followed the funeral procession of the assassinated Islamic Jihad activist Hani Abed who was killed on /... A/50/170 English Page 32 2 November (see list) in Khan Younis. Young activists pulled off Arafat's keffiyeh and forced him to leave the funeral. (Jerusalem Post, 4 November 1994) 137. On 3 November 1994, Palestinian sources reported that five men had been shot and wounded by IDF fire in Ramallah, Hebron and Nablus. Dozens of others were reportedly arrested after a protest march in support of Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons turned into a stone-throwing incident. (Ha'aretz, 4 November 1994) 138. On 4 November 1994, thousands of Islamic activists took to the streets in Gaza to protest the killing of Hani Abed, a prominent Islamic Jihad activist who was killed in a car bomb blast on 2 November (see list). A leaflet announcing additional attacks on Israelis and the targeting of suspected informants was distributed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists. Hamas leaders blamed the Palestinian Authority and Mr. Arafat in part for Abed's death and for appearing powerless in the face of Israeli pressure to crack down on Islamic groups. Meanwhile, security forces arrested seven members of Izz Al-din al-Qassam, the military wing of Hamas. They are reported to have been placed in administrative detention for at least six months. (Jerusalem Post, 6 November 1994) 139. On 4 November 1994, three Border Policemen were injured near the Machpelah Cave in Hebron when a large crowd of Arab residents started throwing stones at them. The crowd was subsequently dispersed and two persons were arrested. (Jerusalem Post, 6 November 1994) 140. On 8 November 1994, a 30- (or 32-) year-old man was killed by gunshots in Ramallah following stone-throwing incidents (see list). Palestinian sources said the accident occurred after Palestinian youths threw stones at a Border Police patrol, which fired back. Another man was seriously wounded by gunshots in Nablus. A 55-year-old Palestinian was seriously wounded in the head by rubber bullets fired by Border Policemen during a clash with stone-throwers in the centre of Nablus (also referred to in The Jerusalem Times, 11 November 1994). Palestinian sources also reported stone-throwing incidents in Hebron, in protest against security arrangements in the Machpelah Cave. In addition, it was reported that Border Policemen opened fire at the wheels of a car they mistakenly believed to be driven by "terrorists" near Beit Hanina. No injuries were reported. (Ha'aretz, 8 and 9 November 1994; Jerusalem Post, 9 November 1994) 141. On 9 November 1994, it was reported that a 33-year-old Palestinian from Geva had been shot dead by security forces during a clash in the vicinity of the Ramallah district police station (see list). Military sources reported that dozens of Palestinians had protested in the area, throwing stones and bottles at soldiers who subsequently responded with rubber bullets and real gunfire. Eyewitnesses were reported as saying that the soldiers had shot indiscriminately in order to disperse the crowd. (Ha'aretz, 9 November 1994) 142. On 9 November 1994, five men were injured in stone-throwing incidents in Hebron, Ramallah and Nablus. A local resident was shot and wounded by troops in Tulkarm during a clash with stone-throwers. In another incident, a driver whose car bore the territories' licence plates was arrested near Beit Hahil after ignoring an order by the army to stop. (Ha'aretz, 10 November 1994) /... A/50/170 English Page 33 143. On 10 November 1994, IDF patrols reportedly raided several Palestinian houses in different neighbourhoods of Nablus. No reasons were given for the raids. (Al-Tali'ah, 10 November 1994) 144. On 11 November 1994, a suicide bomber riding a bicycle detonated explosives strapped to his body as he passed an IDF checkpoint near the Netzarim settlement, killing himself (see list) and three reserve officers (Capt. Yehezkel Sapir, 36; Lt. Yoram Rahat, 31, and Capt. Elad Dror, 24). Six Palestinians and six security personnel were also wounded during the incident, two of whom were said to be in critical condition. The IDF declared the area a closed military zone. The Islamic Jihad movement announced that it had carried out the attack in order to avenge the car bombing that killed one of its leaders, Hani Abed, on 2 November 1994 and vowed to carry out four additional attacks to avenge his death. The attack took place during a rally staged by the Islamic Jihad in a square in the centre of Gaza City in which thousands of persons participated. Security forces reported that numerous masked Islamic Jihad activists were shooting in the air and burning Israeli and American flags. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 13 November 1994) 145. On 11 November 1994, three IDF soldiers were killed and two were seriously wounded in a suicide bomb attack by a Palestinian cyclist (see list) at the Netzarim checkpoint south of Gaza City. Four Palestinian policemen and four other Israelis were also wounded during the incident. Two Islamic Jihad activists in Gaza declared their group's responsibility for the attack as a revenge for the assassination of Hani Abed who was killed by a booby-trap bomb installed in his car on 2 November 1994. Following the attack, Israeli soldiers started shooting at Palestinians near the site of the attack, injuring nine persons. (The Jerusalem Times, 18 November 1994) 146. On 13 November 1994, a Border Policeman was wounded during a stone-throwing incident in Hebron. Other such incidents were reported in Ramallah and on roads near settlements. Several shots were fired at three Israeli vehicles near Kibbutz Be'eri. The cars belonged to contractors erecting a security fence along the Green Line. No casualties were reported. (Ha'aretz, 14 November 1994) 147. On 16 November 1994, Palestinian sources reported that two masked men belonging to Israeli undercover troops shot and seriously wounded a prominent Hamas activist, Haled Abdel el Karim, in his shop in Tulkarm. Security forces denied that Israeli forces were involved in the attack, claiming that the shooting was the result of a local conflict over control of the area. In Ramallah, stones were thrown at army vehicles; no damage or injuries were reported. Other stone-throwing incidents took place in Hebron, near the Cave of the Patriarchs, and along roads leading to settlements in the West Bank. A Border Policeman was slightly injured in the hand when a stone hit him in Nablus. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 17 November 1994) 148. On 17 November 1994, an Israeli was moderately wounded in the face by glass shards when his car was stoned near El Jib, north of Jerusalem. Three youths were injured by tear-gas inhalation when an IDF foot patrol dispersed a riot in the centre of Tulkarm. An army vehicle was stoned in the centre of Nablus. The /... A/50/170 English Page 34 driver returned fire; no damage or injuries were reported. Post, 18 November 1994) (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem 149. On 19 November 1994, the violent clashes between the Palestinian police and Islamic activists that occurred in Gaza the previous day turned into riots against Israeli troops with demonstrations and disturbances at the Netzarim Junction, in Hebron, Tulkarm, Jenin, Nablus, Kalkiliya, Ramallah and East Jerusalem. The clashes with Israeli troops left four Palestinians dead (see list) and nine wounded. Soldiers manning the army post at Netzarim had to vacate it temporarily when they were confronted by 2,000 demonstrators. A Palestinian flag was hung and anti-Israeli slogans painted on the post when the soldiers retreated. Later in the day, an IDF soldier was seriously wounded when a person from a speeding car with Gaza licence plates opened fire at the army post at the Netzarim junction. The soldier later succumbed to his wounds in hospital. Hamas declared a general strike in Gaza and Jericho for the first time since those territories had come under Palestinian rule. Minor incidents and the sounds of gunshots were reported in Nusseirat, Sheikh Radwan and Shati'. Most of the schools in large population centres in the West Bank remained closed. In East Jerusalem, the police used tear-gas and rubber bullets to disperse demonstrators protesting the killings of 18 November. Thirty-three Palestinians were reported to have been arrested. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 20 November 1994) 150. On 20 November 1994, several clashes with IDF soldiers were reported in the cities of the West Bank, although they were less violent than those which had occurred the previous day. A soldier and a Border Policeman were slightly injured in two separate stone-throwing incidents in Ramallah. Stone-throwing incidents also took place in Nablus and near the Cave of the Patriarchs. In Nablus, Hamas staged a demonstration against Israel and Yasser Arafat. A general strike declared on 19 November continued in Nablus and Hebron. In addition, it was reported that MKs Eli Dayan (Labour) and Alex Goldfarb (Yi'ud) had been threatened by eight Palestinian policemen near the Elei Sinai settlement while on a tour of the settlements located in northern Gaza. The policemen armed their Kalashnikovs and released the safety catch, asking why the MKs were in the area, which was part of the autonomous area. After much discussion the MKs were allowed to continue their tour. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 21 November 1994) 151. On 22 November 1994, two Palestinians and a Border Policeman were injured during stone-throwing incidents in Ramallah and Hebron. An incendiary bottle was thrown at an Israeli vehicle in Nablus. It exploded on the road without causing any damage. The windows of a Jewish house were shattered in Hebron by stone-throwers who managed to escape when a soldier fired warning shots. A detonated charge was found near the Morag settlement by an IDF patrol; no damage was reported. Shots were fired at an outpost near the Netzer Hazani settlement; no injuries were reported. Unidentified gunmen in the Khan Younis refugee camp opened fire on an army outpost near the Neveh Dekalim settlement; no injuries were reported. An explosive charge was discovered and deactivated in the vicinity of the Morag settlement. In two other shooting incidents, gunshots were fired at two army outposts in the Gush Katif area. No injuries were reported. (Ha'aretz, 23 and 24 November 1994) /... A/50/170 English Page 35 152. On 23 November 1994, an armed Palestinian was killed by Border Policemen in Jenin (see list). The policemen, who were on patrol, encountered the man and his accomplice who were armed with Kalashnikov rifles. The two gunmen shot at the Border Policemen who returned fire, killing one of the gunmen while the other managed to escape. A Palestinian from the Atil village was found dead in his village by security forces (see list). Villagers stated that the man had "collaborated" with the Israeli authorities. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 24 November 1994) 153. On 24 November 1994, a remote-controlled roadside bomb exploded and several shots were fired as an IDF patrol was passing near the Tel Sultan neighbourhood in Rafah. The soldiers returned fire. No injuries were reported. Another explosive charge was later found in the area and dismantled by explosives experts. Izz Al-din al-Qassam, the military wing of Hamas, claimed responsibility for the incidents. In addition, it was reported that unidentified gunmen shot at and wounded two Israeli merchants when they were trying to smuggle agricultural produce from Gaza to Israel. (Ha'aretz, 24 November 1994) 154. On 25 November 1994, a soldier was slightly injured by stones thrown at an army patrol in Ramallah. Two incendiary bottles were thrown at a Civil Administration vehicle in Nablus. No damage was reported. Two Palestinians in possession of a revolver were arrested for investigation during a routine check at an army roadblock in Nablus. (Ha'aretz, 27 November 1994) 155. On 26 November 1994, two Palestinians were wounded by IDF fire. Two Israelis were slightly injured during clashes in the West Bank. Stone-throwing incidents were reported in Hebron and Nablus. A soldier was slightly injured in Hebron and several settlers reported that stones were thrown at their vehicles. Two incendiary bottles were thrown at an Israeli vehicle in Salah el din Street in East Jerusalem; no injuries or damage were reported. The police arrested two youths suspected of throwing the bottles. Later on, a youth set a tyre on fire in the middle of the street. The fire was immediately extinguished. The youth managed to escape. (Ha'aretz, 27 November 1994) 156. On 27 November 1994, Rabbi Amiram Olani, a resident of Ontiel, was killed when his car came under fire near the Beit Haggai settlement located 10 kilometres south of Hebron. A passenger in the car was slightly injured. Israeli Radio reported that an anonymous telephone caller speaking in Hebrew stated that the attack had been carried out by Hamas. Seven Palestinians were arrested for investigation. Some 100 people protested in front of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's residence, demanding that the IDF remain in the cities of the West Bank. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 28 November 1994) 157. On 29 November 1994, the police arrested in Gilo a Palestinian youth from Beit Jala who had intended to stab a Jew. (Ha'aretz, 30 November 1994) 158. On 30 November 1994, a woman soldier, Sgt. Liat Gabai, 19, was hacked to death by an axe-wielding Palestinian "terrorist" in the heart of Afula. Sgt. Gabai fell to the ground with the axe embedded in her head and later died in the hospital. The "terrorist", Wahib Abu Roub, 25, of Kabatiya, near Jenin, was caught by two passers-by and taken to the nearby police station. The police /... A/50/170 English Page 36 sealed off the area. All residents of the territories who were working in the town as well as many Israeli Arabs either left the area or were evacuated by the police in order to prevent reprisals. The Mayor of Afula, Tzadok Nawi, complained after the killing that the town had become a centre for "terrorist" attacks because of its proximity to the territories. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 1 December 1994) 159. On 2 December 1994, it was reported that the Israeli security forces had raided several Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem at the beginning of the week on the pretext of looking for their permits. In fact, the raids turned into genuine investigations concerning the sources of financing of the institutions and on the staff working there. (Al-Tali'ah, 2 December 1994) 160. On 1 December 1994, a soldier was slightly to moderately wounded by a riot grenade thrown at an IDF patrol in Am'ari refugee camp in the West Bank. Palestinian sources reported that two men were shot and wounded by IDF fire in bottle- and stone-throwing incidents in Ramallah. Disturbances not resulting in injuries were also reported in the area of Hebron as well as in Kalkiliya, Nablus and Jenin. Border Police and IDF troops arrested two brothers from the Jibaloun village in northern Samaria on suspicion of planting a fake bomb along a patrol road on Mount Gilboa. One of the suspects reportedly admitted to the offence. Two Arabs from Kalkiliya were arrested after they allegedly tried to run down police and ram through roadblocks set up to catch them. One of the men was shot by the police after he tried to escape. Police indicated that the two were driving a stolen car from Tulkarm whose licence plates had been changed. This was reportedly the second time in the week that the Tel Aviv area police had shot at Palestinians from the territories trying to escape arrest in stolen vehicles. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 2 December 1994) 161. On 2 December 1994, six Palestinians were arrested for investigation at an army checkpoint near Am'ari refugee camp in the Ramallah district after a loaded pistol was found in their vehicle. (Ha'aretz, 4 December 1994) 162. On 3 December 1994, Border Police arrested for investigation two Palestinians who had aroused their suspicion in the vicinity of Orient House. The two reportedly claimed that they were Faisal Husseini's personal guards. The police confiscated their guard identification papers and released them promptly. Police patrolling in Umm el Fahm arrested a Palestinian armed with a loaded pistol who had crossed the Green Line illegally. Another Palestinian who was with him managed to escape. Police sources indicated that the man, who had been sentenced and jailed in the past for two life terms for killing collaborators in the territories, had been released under the peace agreement with the PLO, on condition that he remain in Jericho. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 4 December 1994) 163. On 4 December 1994, two IDF reservists foiled a suicide attack at the Erez checkpoint when they managed to overpower a "terrorist" carrying a backpack, which turned out to contain a home-made bomb. The man was later identified as an Islamic Jihad activist from the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza City. Several shots were reportedly fired at an army checkpoint in Khan Younis. The soldiers returned fire. No injuries or damage were reported. Two Israelis were /... A/50/170 English Page 37 slightly injured by stones thrown at them near Beitar, in the Bethlehem area. (Ha'aretz, 5 and 6 December 1994; Jerusalem Post, 5 December 1994) 164. On 5 December 1994, a grenade was deactivated near Kfar Darom without causing any harm. An improvised charge was detonated near Ganei Tal in the Gaza Strip. No damage or injuries were reported. During a search of the area, another charge was discovered and deactivated without causing harm. A Palestinian from Irta village in the West Bank was wounded when trying to break through an IDF checkpoint in Tulkarm with stolen goods in his car. Two Palestinians were slightly injured by gas inhalation when soldiers dispersed a demonstration in Hebron. An Israeli Arab armed with a knife was arrested at the entrance to the Cave of the Patriarchs. A 22-year old Palestinian woman was arrested at the gate of the Civil Administration in Ramallah after she was found to be carrying a knife. During her investigation, the woman allegedly admitted that she had intended to stab a soldier. A soldier was slightly wounded by fragments of broken glass when stones were thrown at his vehicle. (Ha'aretz, 6 December 1994) 165. On 6 December 1994, a powerful demolition charge planted at the entrance to the Morag settlement was deactivated by an explosives expert. No injuries or damage were reported. (Ha'aretz, 7 December 1994) 166. On 7 December 1994, IDF soldiers and several Palestinian policemen got into a brawl after an out-of-uniform Palestinian policeman was apprehended by an IDF patrol in the Gaza Strip. The brawl lasted until Border Policemen, aided by other Palestinian policemen, intervened. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 8 December 1994) 167. On 10 December 1994, some 2,500 Gazans rallied against the peace process for which Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat had received the Nobel Peace Prize. They burned Israeli flags and shouted slogans against Arafat's peacemaking. Protests were reported also in Ramallah and Hebron, where hundreds of Palestinians blocked thoroughfares with burning tyres. No arrests or injuries were reported. (Jerusalem Post, 11 December 1994) 168. On 11 December 1994, unidentified gunmen shot and wounded Ibrahim Mussa Amar, an ex-prisoner and a Fatah activist from Dura, and assassinated his wife in Jericho (see list) apparently in revenge for his involvement in the killing of collaborators. (Ha'aretz, 13 December 1994) 169. On 12 December 1994, IDF Gaza who were trying to break Israel. One infiltrator died others managed to escape back 13 December 1994) soldiers opened fire on seven Palestinians from through the Nahal Oz border fence and enter after being badly wounded (see list) while the to Gaza. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 170. On 13 December 1994, a Palestinian trying to break through the Erez checkpoint in a stolen vehicle was moderately wounded by IDF gunfire after ignoring an order to halt. (Ha'aretz, 14 December 1994) 171. On 14 December 1994, the corpse of a Palestinian was found near Givon (see list). The man had been reported missing for one month. A soldier was stabbed /... A/50/170 English Page 38 near the Ganei Tal settlement in the Gaza Strip by a Hamas sympathizer from Khan Younis. His assailant was shot in the legs by other soldiers. In Ramallah, an IDF reservist was attacked by a crowd after he mistakenly drove his car into the town centre and was caught in traffic. His car was hit with bricks, bottles and iron bars. The soldier pleaded for mercy but did not use his weapon. A Border Police patrol rescued the bleeding soldier and transferred him to a hospital. Some 30 residents of Ramallah were arrested on suspicion of participating in the attack. In a separate incident, two soldiers were reportedly slightly injured when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Nabi Ilias. A fire-bomb was thrown at a police car in Nablus; no injuries were reported. Isolated stone-throwing incidents occurred in the Hebron area. A Border Policeman was slightly injured in the head in one of the incidents. Several shots were fired at a Border Police vehicle on the road connecting Jerusalem to Nablus. The vehicle was slightly damaged but no injuries were reported. The upsurge in incidents coincided with the seventh anniversary of the founding of Hamas. (Jerusalem Post, 15 December 1994; Ha'aretz, 16 December 1994) 172. On 15 December 1994, a number of incidents were reported in the territories: an incendiary bottle and stones were thrown at Border Police in Kfar Dura; no damage or injuries were reported. Two incendiary bottles were thrown in the direction of the Nablus employment office. Soldiers returned fire; no damage or injuries were reported. Three incendiary bottles were thrown at an Israeli vehicle driving from the Ateret settlement to Pesagot in the Ramallah area. The vehicle was slightly damaged but no injuries were reported. Isolated stone-throwing incidents took place in Hebron, Nablus and Ramallah. Palestinian sources indicated that a Palestinian was wounded in Hebron by IDF fire during one of the clashes. (Ha'aretz, 16 December 1994) 173. On 16 December 1994, tens of thousands of Palestinians (some 50,000 according to Ha'aretz, some 12,000 according to the Jerusalem Post) participated in a three-hour rally at the Yarmuk soccer stadium in central Gaza City to mark the seventh anniversary of Hamas. Participants burned Israeli and United States flags as well as an effigy of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. A banner at the entrance to the stadium showed a member of the Izz Al-din al-Qassam, the armed wing of Hamas, emerging from an exploding grenade with the words "We count the gates of paradise with the skulls of Jews". Celebrations also took place in Jericho and Nablus, with several hundred and several dozen participants, respectively. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 18 December 1994) 174. On 16 December 1994, a gunman shot and slightly to moderately wounded a reserve officer in the area of Ramallah. Dozens of settlers demonstrated at the site of the shooting and in the centre of Ramallah to protest against the incident. The windows of one local car were smashed. Soldiers removed the settlers from the centre of Ramallah, declaring it a closed military zone. Six settlers were arrested and released the same evening. In a statement issued in Damascus, the Damascus-based PFLP claimed responsibility for the attack. A 20-year-old woman from Ramallah tried to stab a Border Policeman who was stationed near Orient House. The kitchen knife was deflected by the policeman's protective vest. Palestinian sources reported that two Palestinians were injured in clashes with IDF troops in Hebron. A Palestinian youth was slightly burnt by a grenade thrown at a group of Palestinians gathered at an army checkpoint near the Oranit settlement in the Tulkarm area. A Palestinian youth /... A/50/170 English Page 39 was wounded in Ramallah by IDF gunfire. Palestinian sources reported that a 14-year-old youth was moderately wounded by a rubber bullet in one of several clashes with the IDF in the Tulkarm area. A Jewish settler from Netzer Hazani was slightly injured by stones thrown at Israeli vehicles by Hamas sympathizers on their way to celebrate the movement's seventh anniversary. Two Palestinians were slightly wounded by IDF gunfire when a group of several dozen youths started to throw stones at an army patrol in Nablus. Five Palestinians were arrested for investigation near an army checkpoint at the entrance to Jericho after a pair of Palestinian Authority uniforms, a knife, army shoes and an army coat were found in their car. A Jewish settler from Gush Etzion reported that he had been attacked by residents of Bethlehem when his car broke down near the northern entrance to the city. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 18 December 1994) 175. On 17 December 1994, several shots were fired at an IDF patrol in the Hebron area. Soldiers returned fire but the gunmen managed to escape. A soldier was attacked and injured by an Israeli Arab during a routine check at an army checkpoint in the Hebron area. A 15-year-old youth tried to stab a Border Policeman sitting in a jeep in Salah el Din Street in East Jerusalem. (Jerusalem Post, 18 December 1994; Ha'aretz, 19 December 1994) 176. On 18 December 1994, two Palestinians were wounded in stone-throwing incidents in Ramallah. Stones were also thrown at Israeli vehicles near Beit Hagai and at the exits from Ramallah. (Ha'aretz, 19 December 1994) 177. On 19 December 1994, unidentified gunmen shot dead a Palestinian from Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip (see list). The man was reportedly a "collaborator" of the Israeli Security Service. No Palestinian organization claimed responsibility for the killing. (Ha'aretz, 25 December 1994) 178. On 22 December 1994, it was reported that a prominent Hamas activist in Jericho had been shot dead by unidentified gunmen from a speeding car (see list). Hamas activists in Jericho accused the Israeli security forces of the murder and vowed revenge. The security forces denied being involved in the killing. A Palestinian from Hebron died in hospital of wounds sustained when he detonated an explosive device on the road between Kiryat Arba and Hebron (see list). No other injuries or fatalities were reported. A general strike was declared in Hebron. In a separate incident, it was reported that five Palestinians had been wounded by rubber bullets fired by the IDF during disturbances in Ramallah, Hebron and Nablus. (Ha'aretz, 23 December 1994) 179. On 25 December 1994, a suicide bomber detonated a bomb, killing himself (see list) and wounding 12 persons (13 according to Ha'aretz) opposite the Jerusalem International Convention Centre. The bomber's likely target was a bus transporting soldiers, which had moved from the bus stop in order not to block it and parked only several metres away shortly before the explosion. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. By the evening, only two of the persons wounded during the incident remained hospitalized. Police Inspector-General Assaf Hefez stated that either the bomb had exploded prematurely or the "terrorist" had panicked and detonated it early. The result resulted in far less damage than could have been expected under the circumstances. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 26 December 1994) /... A/50/170 English Page 40 180. On 26 December 1994, a masked Hamas activist declared in Khan Younis that five car-bomb attacks were imminent, with the aim of killing more than 150 Israeli soldiers. In addition, it was reported that two incendiary bottles had been thrown at IDF forces in the West Bank. No injuries or damage were reported. (Ha'aretz, 27 December 1994) 181. On 27 December 1994, an IDF soldier shot and slightly to moderately wounded a Palestinian who had tried to strangle him at an army checkpoint located to the south of the Rafia roadblock. A shot was fired at an Israeli bus in the vicinity of the A-Ram junction; a window was shattered but no injuries were reported. Palestinian sources stated that two Palestinians had been wounded by IDF gunfire during stone-throwing incidents on roads in the Ramallah area. Other incidents reportedly took place in the Hebron area and near the Cave of the Patriarchs. The army tightened security in the West Bank after Hamas declared it would carry out a car-bomb attack against IDF soldiers. (Ha'aretz, 28 December 1994) 182. On 27 December 1994, Palestinian sources reported that four Hamas activists from Kabatia had been arrested by the security forces. Hundreds of Hamas men were reported to have been arrested recently in an attempt to track down Yahiya Ayash, the mastermind of a series of murderous attacks in Israel. (Ha'aretz, 27 December 1994) B. Administration of justice, including the right to a fair trial 1. Palestinian population 183. On 31 August 1994, the Ramallah Military Court sentenced a Hamas activist, Ali Amudi, 19, from Khan Younis, to three consecutive life terms in prison after convicting him of killing three Israelis (Eliyahu Levin and Meir Mendelovich from Bnei Brak in December 1993, and GSS agent Noam Cohen in February 1994). (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 1 September 1994) 184. On 1 September 1994, it was reported that the Jenin Military Court had sentenced Ahmed Awad Kamil, the founder of the Black Panthers, to 16 life terms plus 20 years in prison. Kamil was convicted of killing a soldier, Yoram Cohen, and 15 Palestinians he had suspected of acting as informants. He was also responsible for torturing other suspected collaborators. (Jerusalem Post, 2 September 1994) 185. On 8 September 1994, Sa'adi Algrabli, 48, from Gaza was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Tel Aviv District Court for the brutal murder of David Mishali, 30, on 25 June 1994. Algrabli had committed the murder to clear his name with terrorist organizations after having collaborated with the security forces for many years. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 9 September 1994) 186. On 8 September 1994, the Beersheba District Court sentenced a 17-year-old boy from Gaza to 15 years of imprisonment for the attempted murder of a new immigrant on 15 February 1994. (Ha'aretz, 9 September 1994) /... A/50/170 English Page 41 187. On 11 September 1994, Mahmud Salman, 36, and Jilal Lukh, 20, both from the Gaza Strip and members of the PFLP, were sentenced to life imprisonment by the Tel Aviv District Court for the murder of Shai Shuker, 23, in February 1994. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 12 September 1994) 188. On 21 September 1994, the Jenin Military Court sentenced Fatah activist Said Imad Omar Lahem to life imprisonment for the murder of land dealer Ahmed Oudeh on 30 October 1993 in Kalkiliya. (Ha'aretz, 23 September 1994) 189. On 23 September 1994, the Israeli military court near the Erez checkpoint in Gaza postponed for the third time the hearing of Abdul Aziz Rantisi, one of the leaders of the Islamic movement Hamas who had been in detention since December 1993. According to Rantisi's lawyer, the hearing was postponed owing to the difficulty of bringing witnesses who reside in the autonomous areas to court. (The Jerusalem Times, 30 September 1994) 190. On 29 September 1994, the Supreme Court overturned for lack of sufficient evidence the conviction of Mahmoud Ata, from Dir Abu-Mishal, who had been charged with committing a "terrorist" murder in 1986. (Jerusalem Post, 30 September 1994) 191. On 2 October 1994, Ibrahim Abu Ali, 22, from the Gaza Strip, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Tel Aviv District Court for the murder of Tel Aviv taxi driver Ronni Levy in December 1990. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 3 October 1994) 192. On 20 October 1994, Yahia Abu Jabber, from the Gaza Strip, was fined in the amount of some $330 for working illegally in Israel. (Ha'aretz, 21 October 1994) 193. On 31 October 1994, the High Court of Justice issued an interim injunction preventing the army from destroying the house belonging to the father of the perpetrator of the Tel Aviv bus bombing. The injunction was issued in response to a petition filed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) on behalf of the father, Abed Nazel, of Kalkiliya. (Jerusalem Post, 1 November 1994) 194. On 4 November 1994, it was reported that a petition filed with the High Court of Justice by Protagoras, a human rights organization assisting Palestinians, demanded that numerous soldiers, Border Policemen and GSS agents be investigated and tried for the mistreatment of Palestinians and other violations of human rights in the territories. The petition claimed that 129 complaints filed by the organization over the previous four years had been completely ignored, despite the fact that the law either prescribes the opening of an investigation into such complaints or a response to the complaints within three months. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 4 November 1994) 195. On 7 November 1994, the High Court of Justice adjourned taking a decision regarding the petition filed by the ACRI against the demolition of the house belonging to the parents of the perpetrator of the Tel Aviv bus bombing, Sallah Nazel. Supreme Court President Meir Shamgar stated, however, that it was very hard to accept that no sanctions could be taken against a man who killed /... A/50/170 English Page 42 21 people just because he was dead, adding that this would have a negative effect on the deterrence of such acts. Government Attorney Nili Arad stated that demolitions were the most effective sanction the security forces had regarding suicide "terrorists". (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 8 November 1994) 196. On 9 November 1994, the Supreme Court issued an order temporarily preventing the IDF from sealing the homes of the parents of "terrorists" Abdel Karim Bader and Hassan Natshe who had kidnapped and murdered Cpl. Nahshon Wachsman. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 10 November 1994) 197. On 9 November 1994, the High Court of Justice issued an injunction prohibiting the IDF from sealing or destroying the home in Beit Hanina of Mrs. Yusra Yahumur, whose son, Jahad Yahumur, was suspected of assisting the Hamas "terrorists" who murdered IDF soldier Nahshon Wachsman. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 11 November 1994) 198. On 17 November 1994, the High Court of Justice rejected a petition filed by ACRI on behalf of Abed Nazel from Kalkiliya, the father of the suicide "terrorist" Sallah Nazel who perpetrated the Tel Aviv bus bombing, against the army's decision to destroy all of the house except 2.5 rooms, in which Sallah's brother and his family will be allowed to continue living. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 18 November 1994) 199. On 20 November 1994, the Gaza Military Court sentenced Fatah activist Salah Ziyad Meklad, 21, from Khan Younis, to life imprisonment plus 15 years for murdering a farmer from Gush Katif in March 1993. (Jerusalem Post, 21 November 1994) 200. On 20 November 1994, the High Court of Justice issued an interim injunction forbidding the State to expel Mohammed Abu Grara, a Palestinian fearing for his life because he was suspected of being a "collaborator" by the Fatah movement in Gaza. Although the State admitted that Abu Grara would be in genuine danger if he returned to Gaza, it said he was not owed residency in Israel because he was not really a collaborator. The Court ordered that his case should be heard as quickly as possible. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 21 November 1994) 201. On 23 November 1994, the High Court of Justice authorized the army to seal off the sections of the houses used by the immediate families of the three "terrorists" involved in the kidnapping and killing of the Cpl. Nahshon Wachsman (see "Houses and rooms that were demolished or sealed", para. 276). In their ruling, the Justices stated that the recent wave of suicide terror by the Hamas and Islamic Jihad had made it necessary for the State to take more stringent deterrent measures. The justices rejected the families' claims that sealing their homes was discriminatory since the home of Baruch Goldstein who had perpetrated the Hebron massacre had not been sealed. The Justices explained that the Shamgar Commission had found no evidence to indicate that, unlike the three men who belonged to Hamas, Goldstein was a member of a "terrorist" organization and concluded that there was no need for deterrence in that case. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 24 November 1994) 202. On 24 November 1994, the Jenin Military Court sentenced to death Sa'id Badarna, 24, for his participation in the April bus bombing in Hadera /... A/50/170 English Page 43 in which 5 were killed and 30 wounded (also referred to in Al-Tali'ah, 1 December 1994). Badarna, from Yabed village in Samaria, headed the Hamas cell that carried out the 13 April attack in which a "terrorist" blew himself up after boarding a bus at the Hadera central bus station. It was reported, however, that the death penalty was not likely to be carried out and would probably be reduced to multiple life terms on appeal. In addition, it was reported that Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres had voiced their opposition to the death sentence. The death penalty, although legal in Israel, has only been carried out once - the execution of Adolf Eichmann in 1962. (Ha'aretz, 25 November 1994; Jerusalem Post, 25 and 27 November 1994) 203. On 24 November 1994, it was reported that a 17-year-old "terrorist" had been sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment in Jerusalem after being convicted of attempting to murder passengers on an Egged company bus in Jerusalem in April. (Jerusalem Post, 25 November 1994) 204. On 27 November 1994, it was reported that the Ramallah and Nablus Military Courts responded positively to a request by the military prosecutor not to return to life imprisonment six former Palestinian prisoners who had left Jericho in breach of their terms of release. Judicial sources indicated that the fate of the six persons would be discussed at the political level. (Ha'aretz, 27 November 1994) 205. On 30 November 1994, the Nablus Military Court sentenced a Fatah activist, Mahmad Mahmoud el Bada, 21, to nine life terms in prison for killing an Israeli Arab who worked in the Israeli Police as well as for killing nine other Arabs who were suspected by Fatah of collaborating with Israel. (Ha'aretz, 1 December 1994) 206. On 1 December 1994, it was reported that the Jenin Military sentenced Samer Zohair Al Suss, 21, and Shadi Mahmoud Diab Amer, Kalkiliya, to 4 1/2 and 3 years of imprisonment respectively and suspended sentences on various security charges. (Al-Tali'ah, 1 Court had 18, from 7 and 4 years December 1994) 207. On 8 December 1994, the Beersheba District Court sentenced Rami Judat Barbach, 19, from Khan Younis, to life imprisonment for the premeditated murder of Yosef Zandani, from Benei Ayish. (Ha'aretz, 9 December 1994) 208. On 20 December 1994, the Hebron Military Court sentenced Lutafi Darbia, 22, charged with attempted murder, to 25 years' imprisonment for fatally wounding an IDF worker in February who died of his wounds shortly afterwards. (Jerusalem Post, 21 December 1994) 209. On 21 December 1994, it was reported that a Palestinian from Nablus who had thrown stones at a soldier, wounding him in the hand, was sentenced by the Nablus Military Court to 10 months' imprisonment plus an 18-month suspended sentence. In addition, the defendant was ordered to pay a NIS 1,500 fine and NIS 250 in compensation to the soldier. (Ha'aretz, 21 December 1994) 210. On 25 December 1994, the Tel Aviv District Court sentenced Sa'ad Hatatba, 19, from Nablus, to 20 years of imprisonment for stabbing a soldier who had /... A/50/170 English Page 44 suffered moderate wounds as a result of the attack. 26 December 1994) (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 211. On 25 December 1994, the justice on duty at the High Court of Justice issued an interim injunction prohibiting the GSS from keeping a Hamas activist awaiting trial in Hebron prison on a small chair, with his hands tied behind his back and a sack pulled over his head, while subjecting him to sleep deprivation. The justice ruled that the detainee should not be kept under such conditions until his appeal was heard. (Ha'aretz, 26 December 1994) 212. On 28 December 1994, the Tel Aviv District Court sentenced Zahar Hatatba, 19, from Nablus, to 20 years' imprisonment for assisting Sa'ad Hatatba who had tried to kill an Israeli soldier by stabbing on 18 September. The justices ruled that the defendant had enabled his friend, who was also sentenced to 20 years in jail, to stab the soldier by holding his bag so that his hands could be free. (Ha'aretz, 29 December 1994) 213. On 29 December 1994, the Hebron Military Court released on bail 32 villagers from El Khader who had been arrested on 27 December after they had refused to leave the disputed hill. (Ha'aretz, 30 December 1994) 2. Israelis 214. On 30 August 1994, Noam Federman, the second-ranking person in the hierarchy of the Kach movement, was released from Sharon Prison in Tel Mond after six months of administrative detention. He vowed to continue with the same type of activities he was involved in before his arrest. (Jerusalem Post, 31 August 1994) 215. On 2 September 1994, it was reported that according to an order issued by OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Ilan Biran, Noam Federman, the Kach activist released after six months of administrative detention three days earlier. He was to remain under house arrest in his Hebron home during the night, from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. According to the same order, he was also forbidden to go to the Machpelah Cave in Hebron, to the Tomb of Joseph in Nablus, and to the places that are holy for both Jews and Muslims. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 2 September 1994) 216. On 4 September 1994, it was reported that Supreme Court Justice Dov Levine had reduced the administrative detention of Kach activist Baruch Ben-Yosef from six months to three, sharply criticizing the State for taking unnecessarily harsh measures against him. (Jerusalem Post, 4 September 1994) 217. On 4 September 1994, Shmuel Ben-Ya'acov, a Kahane Hai activist who was arrested soon after the Hebron massacre on 25 February, was released after six months of administrative detention at the Sharon Prison in Tel Mond. (Jerusalem Post, 5 September 1994) 218. On 4 September 1994, an IDF officer, Lt. Oren Edri, 23, and two other residents of Kiryat Arba, Eitan and Yehoyada Kahalani, were remanded on suspicion of selling stolen army weapons to a Jewish extremist group for use in /... A/50/170 English Page 45 attacks against Arabs. A fourth resident of Kiryat Arba was detained for questioning in connection with the same case and was later released by police investigators and GSS agents. (Jerusalem Post, 5 September 1994) 219. On 9 September 1994, the Haifa Magistrates' Court ordered the prolongation of detention of Eliashiv Keller and Ido Elba, from Kiryat Arba, for 10 and 9 days respectively. (Ha'aretz, 11 September 1994) 220. On 11 September 1994, Baruch Ben-Yosef, who was placed in administrative detention soon after the Hebron massacre, was released from Sharon Prison but was ordered to remain in Haifa for the next three months. The IDF also forbade Ben-Yosef, a resident of Jerusalem and director of the Temple Mount Yeshiva, to have any contact with former Kach or Kahane Hai members the same period, and required him to report to police three times a day. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 12 September 1994) 221. On 11 September 1994, Kiryat Arba resident Kessar Mendes, who had been sentenced to 11 months in prison for unlawful possession of a gun and striking an IDF officer in December 1993, was released from Sharon Prison. Mendes was arrested after the killing of a Palestinian taxi driver in Hebron on 4 December 1993. He was also convicted of wilfully endangering life by shooting at the car. However, the Supreme Court overturned the conviction on this count, stating that there was insufficient evidence, and reduced his original 21-month sentence to 11 months of imprisonment. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 12 September 1994) 222. On 11 September 1994, settlers Alex Kogan, 23, and his aunt, Ilana Podolsky, 36, were brought before the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court and released on bail after the judge had accepted their plea of self-defence. The Palestinian man whom they had shot in Halhoul several days earlier died on 14 September. (Jerusalem Post, 16 September 1994) 223. On 12 September 1994, the High Court of Justice turned down a petition filed by the lawyers representing four suspects of alleged involvement in a new Jewish underground movement, Eitan and Yehoyada Kahalani, Rabbi Ido Elba, and Eliashiv Keller, in which they asked to meet with their clients. The Justices ruled that state security could be endangered by allowing the suspects to meet their lawyers at that time. At the same time, in an apparent reference to the outcry over the alleged torture of Edri, the judges stated that any suspect who requests it would be examined by a doctor. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 12 and 13 September 1994) 224. On 12 September 1994, the remands of the Kahalani brothers were extended by 10 days by the Haifa Magistrates Court, while Edri's remand was extended by three days. The three were accused of unlawful organization for the purpose of attacking Arabs, stockpiling weapons and stealing arms from the IDF. Both hearings were closed to the public. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 13 September 1994) 225. On 12 September 1994, the High Court dismissed an appeal by Baruch Ben-Yosef, who was released from administrative detention, against his /... A/50/170 English Page 46 being barred from leaving Haifa for three months. 13 September 1994; Ha'aretz, 13 September 1994) (Jerusalem Post, 12 and 226. On 13 September 1994, Yosef Mor (or Michael Mor-Yosef), a suspected member of an underground movement that allegedly conspired to murder Arabs, was remanded for seven days by the Petah Tikva Magistrates Court. Another suspect, Ya'acov Ben-David, a Muslim who had converted to Judaism, was released. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 14 September 1994) 227. On 14 September 1994, Lt. Oren Edri, who was suspected of involvement in a new Jewish underground "terrorist" group, was formally charged in Jaffa Military Court with, among other things, illegally holding and transferring arms, revealing classified information and of conduct unbecoming an officer. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 16 September 1994) 228. On 16 September 1994, the Haifa District Court rejected the appeal of brothers Eitan and Yehoyada Kahalani, from Kiryat Arba, against the extension of their remand and against the conditions of their detention, including allegations of mistreatment by the GSS. Eitan Kahalani, 29, who had been barred from meeting with his lawyers since the two brothers were arrested on 26 August, saw his lawyers for the first time in the courtroom, without being allowed to speak to them. This followed an order signed by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin after consultations with GSS officials and his military aide, extending the GSS ban. Yehoyada Kahalani, 24, met with his attorneys on 16 September, after the expiration of the GSS ban. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 18 September 1994) 229. On 18 September 1994, a petition demanding that the GSS not be allowed at all to conduct investigations, that it not be allowed to use "moderate physical" or "non-violent psychological" pressure, was filed with the High Court of Justice by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel. A similar petition filed by the Committee in 1991 was rejected in 1993. (Jerusalem Post, 19 September 1994) 230. On 18 September 1994, Eliashiv Keller and Michael Mor-Yosef, who were arrested on suspicion of involvement in an extremist right-wing organization that was preparing attacks against Arabs, were released. (Ha'aretz, 19 September 1994; also reported in Al-Tali'ah, 22 September 1994) 231. On 19 September 1994, Rabbi Ido Elba from Kiryat Arba, who was suspected of planning attacks on Arabs and illegally obtaining military equipment, was remanded for 12 days by the Haifa Magistrates' Court. The court also forbade him to meet with his lawyer for three days, the maximum delay allowed by law. The entire hearing was conducted behind closed doors. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 21 September 1994) 232. On 21 September 1994, Lt. Ya'acov Pinto, who was suspected for giving explosives to Lt. Oren Edri, was released from custody after 10 days in jail, after no basis was found for continuing to hold him in custody. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 22 September 1994) 233. On 21 September 1994, brothers Eitan and Yehoyada Kahalani, who were suspected of attempting to murder an Arab and of membership in a "terrorist" /... A/50/170 English Page 47 organization that targeted Arabs, were remanded for an additional eight days by the Haifa Magistrates' Court. (Jerusalem Post, 22 September 1994) 234. On 22 September 1994, it was reported that, according to a compromise reached at the initiative of the police and approved by the High Court of Justice, the Temple Mount Faithful movement would be able to visit the Temple Mount on 25 September but not on 22 September, as originally requested. On 16 September 1994, the Temple Mount Faithful had petitioned the High Court of Justice against the refusal of the police to allow them (or any other Jews) to visit the Temple Mount during Succoth (the Feast of Tabernacles). (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 18 and 22 September 1994) 235. On 22 September 1994, the Military Appeals Court decided that Lt. Oren Edri, a suspected member of a Jewish "terrorist" cell, would remain in custody until the end of the legal proceedings against him. Edri's lawyer, Zion Amir, had appealed the decision of the Central Command Court president to remand him until the end of his trial. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 21 and 23 September 1994) 236. On 24 September 1994, Rabbi Meir Koren from Kiryat Arba was released from custody, thus bringing to four the number of persons who were still detained on suspicion of involvement in a new Jewish underground "terrorist" group (Eitan and Yehoyada Kahalani, Rabbi Ido Elba, and Lt. Oren Edri). Koren was arrested for his alleged involvement in the slaying of an Arab taxi driver in Jerusalem. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 25 September 1994) 237. On 26 September 1994, Baruch Marzel, the last Jewish prisoner held in administrative detention and the head of the outlawed Kach movement, was released from Hasharon Prison. The IDF ordered Marzel to remain under house arrest in his home in the Tel Rumeida enclave in Hebron for six months, starting on 27 September. During that period, Marzel would also be barred from meeting other members of Kach. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 28 September 1994) 238. On 29 September 1994, Eitan and Yehoyada Kahalani, who were suspected of attempting to murder an Arab youth and of involvement in a new Jewish underground movement, were remanded for six days by the Haifa Magistrates' Court. The two have been detained since 2 September. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 30 September 1994) 239. On 30 September 1994, the Haifa Magistrates' Court extended for an additional six days the remand of Rabbi Ido Elba, the suspected "spiritual leader" of an alleged Jewish "terrorist" cell. Elba has been in custody since 7 September. (Jerusalem Post, 2 October 1994) 240. On 30 September 1994, the Jerusalem Magistrates' Court remanded for a week another suspected cell member, Uri Baruch of Kiryat Arba. Baruch was arrested on 29 September. (Jerusalem Post, 2 October 1994) 241. On 4 October 1994, Uri Baruch, who was suspected of involvement in a new underground Jewish "terrorist" group and was arrested on 29 September, was released. Police sources indicated that charges would be filed against him. Since the arrests began in early September, 13 people, 11 of whom were from /... A/50/170 English Page 48 Kiryat Arba, one from Hebron, and one from Jerusalem, have been arrested. Six remained in custody. So far, charges have been pressed against Lt. Oren Edri, who is still in custody, and Michael Mor-Yosef, who was released. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 5 October 1994) 242. On 10 October 1994, the Jerusalem Court decided to release on bail of approximately 3,300 dollars Rabbi Ido Elba, who was widely described by the media as the "spiritual leader" of an alleged "terrorist" underground group based in Kiryat Arba. The conditions of the release were that Elba would stay with his brother in Dimona and would not have any contacts with either the persons who appear on the list of witnesses to be called during his trial or with residents of Kiryat Arba who are not family members. Elba was charged with incitement to racism, illegal possession and manufacture of weapons, attempting to obtain classified information and the obstruction of justice. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 7 and 11 October 1994) 243. On 12 October 1994, the brothers Eitan and Yehoyada Kahalani, who were accused of attempting to murder an Arab near Jerusalem in early September 1994, were remanded in custody until the end of the legal proceedings against them. (Jerusalem Post, 13 October 1994) 244. On 12 October 1994, David Shervit, 32, from Har Bracha, was sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison by the Tel Aviv District Court for shooting at a 12-year-old Arab boy and for throwing stones at a car in Nablus in September 1993. Shervit was also given a 30-month suspended sentence. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 13 October 1994) 245. On 12 October 1994, former Kach activist Tiran Pollack was sentenced to 11 months in prison (or one year plus one year suspended) after pleading guilty on 18 separate counts of aggravated assault, disorderly conduct, illegal assembly, interfering in the work of a civil servant and threatening a civil servant. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 13 October 1994) 246. On 18 October 1994, it was reported that a charge sheet against a lieutenant colonel who had been accused of causing the death by negligence of a 14-year-old Palestinian girl in Bani Suheila (Gaza Strip) in April 1993 had been ordered filed. (Ha'aretz, 18 October 1994) 247. On 20 October 1994, Paul Itzkovith, the director of a banquet hall in Ashdod, was sentenced by the Ashdod Magistrates' Court to pay a fine of about $3,300 for employing without licence a resident of the Gaza Strip, Yahia Abu Jabber. (Ha'aretz, 21 October 1994) 248. On 2 November 1994, two Kach activists who had been arrested in Hebron on 29 October 1994 on charges of carrying out attacks on Arabs and resisting arrest were released from jail. An appeal by the Judea District Police to extend the arrest of one of the activists, who had been arrested four times in October on charges of assault and damage to Palestinian-owned property, was rejected by the justice of the peace, who released him on NIS 5,000 bail. The other activist was released after signing a paper stating that he would not enter Hebron during the following three months. (Ha'aretz, 3 November 1994) /... A/50/170 English Page 49 249. On 6 November 1994, it was reported that a demolition order issued by the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria against a plaza and a tombstone under construction around the grave of Baruch Goldstein in Kiryat Arba had been changed to an order to stop construction. Local leaders expressed satisfaction at the change. Baruch Goldstein killed 29 Muslim worshippers in the Cave of the Patriarchs in February. (Ha'aretz, 3 November 1994; Jerusalem Post, 3 and 6 November 1994) 250. On 30 November 1994, nine members of the Kach movement who were arrested the day before for trying to pray on the Temple Mount were released after questioning by the police. According to a long-standing policy upheld on several occasions by the High Court and which right-wing activists and Kach members were trying to challenge, only Muslims are allowed to the Temple Mount. (Jerusalem Post, 1 December 1994) 251. On 1 December 1994, the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court ruled that 10 Jews who had tried to force their way onto the Temple Mount on 29 December in order to pray were not to come within three metres of the area for the remainder of Hanukkah, or during the upcoming Purim or Easter holidays. (Jerusalem Post, 1 and 2 December 1994; Ha'aretz, 2 December 1994) 252. On 5 December 1994, it was reported that the Military Advocate-General, Ilan Shiff, had issued an order to close the investigation file against the former OC Northern Command, Maj.-Gen. Yitzhak Mordechai and the former OC Southern Command, Brig.-Gen. Ya'achov Or, who are alleged to have authorized illegal use of force in the Gaza Strip. Allegations against the two were raised during the trial of four officers and soldiers from the Givati Regiment who were accused of beating to death a Palestinian from Gaza in 1988. Officers and soldiers testified that Maj.-Gen. Mordechai and Brig.-Gen. Or had authorized the unlawful use of force to suppress demonstrations in the Gaza Strip. The then-president of the Military Court, Colonel Tzalchovnik, had ordered the testimonies to be submitted to the Military Advocate-General for further investigation. Ilan Shiff examined the claims and concluded he could not determine whether illegal orders had in effect been issued. He therefore ordered the file to be closed. The only senior officer to have ever been tried in connection with the case was Brig.-Gen. Effi Fine, OC Givati Regiment at the time. Fine was reprimanded in a disciplinary trial and his military promotion was delayed for approximately five years. (Ha'aretz, 5 December 1994) 253. On 7 December 1994, the High Court of Justice rejected two petitions which had been filed by settlers from Amana, Gush Emunim's settlement wing, and from Kiryat Arba, claiming that the Government's decision to freeze construction in the territories was discriminatory against Jews. The Justices ruled that the freeze was not discriminatory because Jewish residents of the territories had a different legal status from both their Arab neighbours or Jews living in Israel. The Justices stated that settlers were not legally equivalent to Jews living in Israel because they were under military law rather than under Israeli law, and were not equivalent to the Arab residents of the territories because a host of special laws had been applied to them. It was further reported that the High Court of Justice rejected a petition by MK Shaul Yahalom against the prayer arrangements at the Cave of the Patriarchs, stating that it could not substitute /... A/50/170 English Page 50 itself for the army on security questions. 8 December 1994) (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 254. On 12 December 1994, the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court released on bail a Jewish settler from Shvut Rachel who had allegedly damaged a parked Arab-owned car by accident as he was firing warning shots to deter stone-throwing youths at the El Bira junction. (Ha'aretz, 13 December 1994) 255. On 20 December 1994, the Jerusalem District Court convicted four young men of murder, planning a murder and conspiracy in the throwing of a grenade in the Butchers' Market in the Old City on 16 November 1992 in which Abed Razak Adkaidek, 62, was killed and some eight other persons were wounded. The youths, who had been active in the Kach movement, had formed a group called the Revenge Commandos, whose aim was to avenge the murder of Rabbi Meir Kahane. As the four were minors at the time of the offence, the justices left the question of their punishment open, pending the deposition of a report by their probation officer. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 21 December 1994) 256. On 26 December 1994, the Jerusalem District Court overturned the sentence of former Kach activist Tiran Pollack who had been sentenced earlier in the year to a year in prison after being convicted on 18 counts of assault, disorderly conduct, illegal assembly and interfering with a civil servant. The justices reduced Pollack's sentence to 180 hours of public service. (Jerusalem Post, 27 December 1994) 257. On 30 December 1994, the High Court of Justice issued a show-case order to OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Ilan Biran, giving him two weeks to explain his position on the issue of demonstrations in Judea and Samaria. The order was issued at the request of the Peace Now movement, which had petitioned the High Court after Biran had refused to let the group bring some 300 demonstrators to the disputed hill near the village of El Khader. (Jerusalem Post, 1 January 1995) C. 1. (a) Treatment of civilians General developments Harassment and physical ill-treatment 258. On 20 October 1994, Israeli soldiers reportedly arrested and severely beat up two Palestinian workers, Mohammed Tim and his son, Raed, who were both trying to enter Beersheba in order to go to work. (Al-Tali'ah, 20 October 1994) 259. On 14 November 1994, seven members of the Jahalin Bedouin tribe were arrested and detained for six hours by the Maaleh Adumim police. The Society of St. Yves Centre, a Jerusalem-based human rights organization, reported that the bedouins had been detained for investigation on charges of trespassing on state land. Those arrested included 70-year-old Turfa Abu Ghalia, who was beaten during her arrest. According to the Society of St. Yves, 24 family heads received summons to appear for questioning and were informed on 8 November 1994 that the Civil Administration intended to charge them with criminal trespassing /... A/50/170 English Page 51 on state land. This would supersede the pending appeal against their eviction notices, which were scheduled to take effect on 19 December 1994. Lawyer Linda Brayer indicated that this was a violation of the fundamental principle of sub judice. (The Jerusalem Times, 18 November 1994) 260. On 27 November 1994, Rasmi Rashid, 26, from Yatta, reported that during a fight with Israeli security forces following a shooting incident involving the vehicle of a Rabbi near the Haja'i settlement, a soldier incited him to flee the site of the incident so as to be able to shoot at him, pretending he had not obeyed orders to halt. When Rashid, realizing the danger he would find himself in, refused to run away, the soldier shot at his feet at point-blank range. Three Palestinians were killed in Hebron by Israeli soldiers in similar incidents over the past few months. (Al-Tali'ah, 2 December 1994) 261. On 4 December 1994, Ha'aretz published the results of an IDF survey conducted among 780 soldiers on regular service in the West Bank. According to the survey's findings, which were submitted to the Defence and Foreign Affairs Committee, 46 per cent of soldiers had witnessed during their service situations of immoral behaviour of soldiers towards Palestinians. Soldiers related cases of excessive/unnecessary use of physical violence, humiliation, lack of consideration and vandalism. Fifty per cent of the soldiers interviewed believed that the IDF was too lenient with the local population. Most of the soldiers thought that the open-fire regulations, the instructions regarding the rules of conduct at checkpoints and on the treatment of Palestinians were clear. However, 66 per cent defined stone-throwing incidents as situations of behavioural uncertainty. Hence, some soldiers indicated that certain stone-throwing incidents that were not life-threatening according to regulations, could only be dealt with by shooting, although such practice runs contrary to orders. (Ha'aretz, 4 December 1994) 262. On 9 December 1994, Bedouin residents of Arab Rashaydeh village near Bethlehem complained about the imposition of harsh measures by the Israeli army, which constantly raided their houses and forced them to demolish their own homes. All 1,500 residents were banned from 7,500 acres of their land, which stretches down to the shores of the Dead Sea. They were also forbidden to leave Arab Rashaydeh. A villager warned that if the restrictions continued, many of the village's 20,000 sheep would die. The land surrounding the village is used by the occupation forces for military training and manoeuvres. The Israeli army has refused to allow the installation of electricity and telephone lines in the village. The original Rashaydeh village had been demolished completely by the Israeli authorities in 1992, forcing residents to move to what is now called Arab Rashaydeh, and is located some 10 kilometres away from the old village. (The Jerusalem Times, 9 December 1994) 263. On 21 December 1994, PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat's special adviser, Dr. Ahmed Tibi, was subjected to verbal abuse by an IDF soldier at an army checkpoint near the A-Ram junction north of Jerusalem when he was on his way to Arafat's meeting with Foreign Minister Shimon Peres in the Gaza Strip. The soldier asked Dr. Tibi, an Israeli citizen, whether he "was going to meet the murderer" and spat on his car before allowing him to leave. Eyewitnesses indicated that two settlers who had arrived on the scene heckled Dr. Tibi and spat on his wife and daughter. Dr. Tibi said that he was held for an hour at /... A/50/170 English Page 52 the roadblock. The soldier in question was tried by a senior officer and sentenced to 21 days in jail, suspended. It was further reported this was not the first time that Dr. Tibi had been held at IDF roadblocks. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 22 December 1994) 264. On 31 December 1994, five members of the Kach movement fired at Arab houses in the Hebron region, damaging the houses, solar heaters and cars after they were stoned while guarding a group of 30 orthodox Jews who were on a tour. Police were reportedly searching for the five. (Jerusalem Post, 1 January 1995) (b) Collective punishment (i) Houses or rooms that were demolished or sealed 265. On 9 September 1994, it was reported that the Israeli authorities had issued demolition orders concerning dozens of Palestinian houses in Za'im A Tur, a part of East Jerusalem. Fifteen houses were already demolished and forty additional ones were to be demolished within a month. In a separate development, Palestinian landowners in Far'a, Suba and Ein Faris in the Dura area prevented Israeli bulldozers from paving new roads through their land. The roads were to provide access to Israeli-controlled quarries. (The Jerusalem Times, 9 September 1994) 266. On 13 October 1994, according to Arab sources, the Israeli Archaeology Authority requested the Mayor of Jerusalem, Ehud Olmert, to issue an order for demolition of all Arab houses in the neighbourhood. The archaeology department claimed that the houses were illegal and that they had been built in the Jewish City of David. (Al-Tali'ah, 13 October 1994; The Jerusalem Times, 14 October 1994) 267. On 18 October 1994, the IDF sealed the house in Bir Nabala where the soldier Nahshon Wachsman had been held hostage and murdered. The house belonged to a Palestinian family living in the United States whose members apparently did not know to what use their tenants would put it. (Jerusalem Post, 19 October 1994) 268. On 21 October 1994, the father of the "terrorist" responsible for the bus attack in Tel Aviv received an official note from the Civil Administration advising him that his home in Kalkiliya would be demolished and informing him that he had the right to lodge an appeal. The Itim press agency reported that several rooms in the house believed to be those slated for demolition had been sealed by the security forces. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 23 October 1994) 269. On 23 October 1994, the Cabinet decided to authorize the demolition of houses of "terrorists" who had been killed, but disagreed on the legality and effectiveness of destroying the houses of their families. (Jerusalem Post, 24 October 1994) 270. On 23 October 1994, the Jerusalem Municipality ordered the demolition of a house in Wadi Kaddum, near Jerusalem, on the pretext that it had been built illegally. (The Jerusalem Times, 28 October 1994) /... A/50/170 English Page 53 271. On 2 November 1994, the IDF demolished a house in East Jerusalem belonging to a Palestinian resident, Abu Al Hawa, on the pretext that it had been built without a permit. (The Jerusalem Times, 11 November 1994) 272. On 4 November 1994, residents of the Jenin area are reported to have urged the United Nations Secretary-General to put an end to Israel's systematic destruction of Arab homes. Some 80 families were ordered to evacuate their homes, leaving 600 people homeless. (The Jerusalem Times, 4 November 1994) 273. On 10 November 1994, Palestinian Jerusalemites condemned the statements made by Ehud Olmert, the Mayor of Jerusalem, during his visit to the Sawahera neighbourhood concerning the demolition of additional houses in East Jerusalem. According to statistics, 212 houses had been demolished in East Jerusalem since 1987. (Al-Tali'ah, 10 November 1994) 274. On 13 November 1994, the IDF together with Jewish settlers demolished two houses situated on the beach in Khan Younis. Both houses belonged to Khalil and Sufian Kan'aan. A number of trees were also uprooted and damaged on the same occasion. (The Jerusalem Times, 18 November 1994) 275. On 21 November 1994, the army demolished the home of the Tel Aviv bus bomber Salah Nazal in Kalkiliya, several days after the High Court of Justice had rejected an appeal by his family. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 22 November 1994; also referred to in Al-Tali'ah, 1 December 1994) 276. On 29 November 1994, the houses of three members of Hamas who were involved in the kidnapping and murder of soldier Nahshon Wachsman were sealed in East Jerusalem. Two of the houses were in Beit Hanina and one belonged to Abed Karim Bader, who was killed by IDF gunfire during the failed attempt to rescue Wachsman. The other belonged to Hassan Jihad Yagmur, his alleged accomplice. The third home, located in the Ras el Amud neighbourhood, belonged to the family of Tasir Natche, who was also killed during the rescue attempt. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 30 November 1994) 277. On 4 December 1994, under heavy police guard soldiers, sealed the family home in Kabatiya of Wahib Abu Roube who had hacked to death a woman soldier, Sgt. Liat Gabai, on 30 November. (Ha'aretz, 6 December 1994) 278. On 5 December 1994, the Israeli authorities sealed the third floor of the house in Kabatiya, near Jenin, belonging to Wahib Abu Rab. Abu Rab was arrested in connection with the murder of Israeli female soldier Liat Gabai in Afula, inside the Green Line, on 30 November. (The Jerusalem Times, 9 December 1994) 279. On 9 December 1994, Jamil Tarifi, the head of the Palestinian negotiating team on civil affairs, indicated that Israel had agreed to reopen the houses of Palestinian prisoners who had been released early from serving life sentences and would allow others to rebuild their homes. Mr. Tarifi added, however, that it was agreed that each case would have to be fully coordinated with the army. The IDF stated that it was checking with the Civil Administration and the Defence Ministry whether there had been a change in policy since no houses were reported to have been unsealed. (Jerusalem Post, 12 December 1994) /... A/50/170 English Page 54 (ii) Imposition of curfews, sealing off or closing of areas 280. On 16 September 1994, it was reported that the IDF had lifted the closure placed on the territories on the eve of Kippur (on 14 and 15 September 1994). (Ha'aretz, 16 September 1994) 281. On 16 September 1994, the IDF sealed off Jericho in the evening until the following morning, after youths had blocked Route 90, which passes through the town, in order to protest against the arrest of Palestinian police agents. (Jerusalem Post, 18 September 1994) 282. On 22 September 1994, the Machpelah Cave area was declared a closed military zone on the grounds that an Arab carrying a grenade had been seen there. An extensive search was carried out to locate him. However, the closure was declared after several Jews from the entire country had already gathered there. (Jerusalem Post, 23 September 1994) 283. On 21 September 1994, the IDF imposed a curfew on the village of Bidu after villagers rioted to protest the death of Ziad Adali who was shot after evading a roadblock at the A-Ram junction and ignoring orders to halt. (Jerusalem Post, 22 September 1994) 284. On 26 September 1994, the Yatta village in the Hebron district was placed under curfew following the explosion of a bomb near the Civil Administration building. (Ha'aretz, 26 September 1994) 285. On 30 September and 1 October 1994, a curfew was imposed on the centre of Hebron after a Hamas supporter had stabbed and wounded a soldier who was guarding settlers outside the Machpelah Cave. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 2 October 1994) 286. On 5 October 1994, following the killing of a Palestinian youth by the Israeli army in Hebron, a curfew was imposed on the centre of the city. Following the explosion of a hand grenade or makeshift bomb, which injured four tourists, a curfew was imposed on the village of Azaria, the site of the attack, and the area was declared a closed military zone. (Ha'aretz, 6 October 1994) 287. On 7 and 8 October 1994, the army imposed a curfew on the area of the Machpelah Cave in Hebron following the death by shooting of a Palestinian there, after he had tried to stab soldiers. The curfew was lifted several hours later. In Ramallah and Al-Bireh, soldiers imposed a 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. curfew for an indefinite period following disturbances protesting the arrest of some 20 activists from nearby Bitunia a week earlier. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 9 October 1994) 288. On 10 October 1994, a curfew was imposed on the centre of Ramallah following confrontations of its residents with the IDF. (The Jerusalem Times, 14 October 1994) 289. On 12 October 1994, it was reported that following the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier by the armed wing of Hamas, Rabin had informed Arafat that he /... A/50/170 English Page 55 was sealing off the Gaza Strip until further notice, on the assumption that the soldier was being held there. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 12 October 1994) 290. On 16 October 1994, the Cabinet decided at its weekly session that the closure of the Gaza Strip was to be lifted the following day. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 17 October 1994) 291. On 19 October 1994, the West Bank and Gaza Strip were closed following the suicide bus bombing in Tel Aviv, which killed 22 people and injured dozens of other civilians. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 20 October 1994; Jerusalem Post, 21 October 1994; also referred to in Al-Tali'ah, 20 October 1994; The Jerusalem Times, 21 October 1994) 292. On 20 October 1994, the IDF placed Kalkiliya under curfew following disturbances prompted by the announcement that the army was going to demolish the house of the suspected Hamas activist who had carried out the suicide bus attack in Tel Aviv a day earlier. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 21 October 1994) 293. On 22 October 1994, the curfew imposed on Kalkiliya was lifted. 23 October 1994) (Ha'aretz, 294. On 23 October 1994, a curfew was imposed on the centre of Hebron after a man tried to stab a soldier and was subsequently shot dead. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 24 October 1994) 295. On 27 October 1994, the Civil Administration in the West Bank announced that, as an easing of the curfew imposed on the territories after the Tel Aviv bus bombing, medical team workers, Civil Administration workers and Palestinian journalists as well as witnesses who needed to attend trials would be allowed to cross the checkpoints into Israel. (Ha'aretz, 31 October 1994) 296. On 13 November 1994, 30 shops in the Bab Al Zewaya area of Hebron owned by Palestinians were ordered closed after the area was declared a closed military zone. (Al-Tali'ah, 17 November 1994) 297. On 22 November 1994, the IDF partially lifted the curfew imposed on Kalkiliya following the demolition of the house of the Tel Aviv bus bomber (see "Houses and rooms that were demolished and sealed"). (Ha'aretz, 23 November 1994) 298. On 17 December 1994, the IDF imposed a curfew on Ramallah following a shooting incident in which a reserve officer was wounded. (Ha'aretz, 18 December 1994) 299. On 31 December 1994, the IDF lifted a curfew imposed on 30 December on El Khader village following a violent clash between IDF soldiers and the villagers. (Ha'aretz, 1 January 1995) (iii) Other forms of collective punishment 300. On 13 October 1994, it was reported that during clashes with the IDF the previous week in the Shu'fat refugee camp, gas bombs were used extensively /... A/50/170 English Page 56 against the camp's school and the UNRWA medical clinic, causing several cases of suffocation among the students and children. (Al-Tali'ah, 13 October 1994) (c) (d) Expulsions (No information available.) Economic and social situation 301. On 27 August 1994, the police launched a nationwide crackdown on illegal Palestinian workers and their employers, in response to the 26 August double murder perpetrated by "terrorists" in Ramle. The police rounded up 50 to 60 residents of the territories in the Central District. Police Inspector-General Assaf Hefetz blamed building contractors who employed Palestinians without permits for the murders. He also urged contractors to carefully examine labourers' credentials before hiring them. Police sources estimated the number of illegal Palestinian workers in Israel at several thousand. Over the past several months, between 600 and 800 illegal Palestinian workers were detained weekly, fined and returned to the territories. In addition, some 50 Israeli employers were found weekly to have hired Palestinians without proper documentation to work within the Green Line. Police sources added that during most weeks, patrols throughout the country visited some 2,000 to 2,500 locations in search of illegal workers. Three weeks earlier, the Government raised the number of entry permits issued to Palestinian workers to 55,000. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 28 August 1994) 302. On 28 August 1994, Cmdr. Danny Brinker, the head of the Police Operations Department, stated that some 400 illegal workers had been detained during the recent crackdown. Some 30 fines were imposed on their employers. In Jerusalem, 58 illegal workers were reportedly detained and 19 employers fined during an examination sweep of several hundred construction sites and work places. Brinker stated that hundreds of police, Border Police officers and Civil Guard volunteers had been assigned to take part in the operation to discover illegal workers and their employers. The Tel Aviv Special Operations chief, Dep. Cmdr. Ya'acov Shoval, stated that 6,140 residents of Judea, Samaria and Gaza had been apprehended since January in and around the city. During those seven months, 220 employers were prosecuted for hiring workers without authorization. Since the Ramle murders, the Tel Aviv police had arrested 98 Arabs without work permits and had opened criminal files against 9 employers. Since the murders, a total of 380 arrests were made in the Central District, including Ramle. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 29 August 1994) 303. On 29 August 1994, after its meeting with PLO leader Yasser Arafat in Gaza, Histadrut (the Israeli labour union) Trade Union Section Chairman Amir Peretz announced that the Histadrut would transfer approximately $990,000 to the Palestinian trade unions as part of the reimbursement of tax deductions from the wages of Palestinian workers. (Jerusalem Post, 30 August 1994) 304. On 29 August 1994, more than 50 Palestinian workers without permits were caught by inspectors in Israel, in a police crackdown prompted by the fact that the five labourers who were suspected of having perpetrated the 26 August killings were illegal. (Jerusalem Post, 30 August 1994) /... A/50/170 English Page 57 305. On 5 of Money) confirmed open that September 1994, the establishment of the Beit Al Mal Bank (The House was announced in Ramallah. In a separate development, the Arab Bank that the first of its three branches in the occupied territories would month. (The Jerusalem Times, 9 September 1994) 306. On 14 September 1994, it was reported that during the past week more than 50 Palestinians were arrested in Israel without valid work permits. (Ha'aretz, 14 September 1994) 307. On 16 September 1994, it was reported that the Jerusalem Water Authority had assigned an attorney to pursue a legal case against the Israeli Civil Administration in Ramallah for overcharging the Palestinian population. The Civil Administration had been selling a cubic metre of water at $0.5 to Palestinians and at $0.1 to Israeli settlers. (The Jerusalem Times, 16 September 1994) 308. On 18 September 1994, district police chief Cmdr. Shlomo Aharonishky stated that some 4,500 Arabs from the territories had been arrested over the past eight months in the Central District for entering Israel illegally. (Jerusalem Post, 19 September 1994) 309. On 22 September 1994, a farmer from Beit Amr complained that the Israeli authorities had prevented him from cultivating his land after the evacuation of the military camp that had been located on his property for four years. (Al-Tali'ah, 22 September 1994) 310. On 5 October 1994, it was reported that the Civil Administration had closed the maternity wards at Hebron's Alya Hospital after at least six out of eight babies who were kept in the Premature Infant Unit died over a 10-day period in September. Health was one of the Civil Administration's competences that was to have been transferred to Palestinian self-rule on 29 August. The transfer was delayed due to lack of sufficient Palestinian funding. (Jerusalem Post, 5 October 1994; also referred to in Al-Tali'ah, 6 October 1994) 311. On 13 October 1994, the Government of Israel is reported to have cancelled the duty-free and tax-free status of non-governmental Palestinian organizations based in Jerusalem, which used to receive commodities as part of aid programmes. The organizations were informed that they would be treated as ordinary importers of commodities. (Al-Tali'ah, 13 October 1994) 312. On 14 October 1994, it was reported that the Israeli authorities had used horses and helicopters to apprehend Palestinian workers who were trying to cross into Israel without passing through the checkpoint located near Kufr Kassem. Palestinian workers indicated that dozens of them were arrested daily by the Israeli police. (Al-Tali'ah, 14 October 1994) 313. On 18 October 1994, it was reported that Nayela Mugrabi, 30, the Arab woman whose husband was fatally shot on 9 October in the Jerusalem "terrorist" attack, was to be granted Israeli citizenship at her request. Without Israeli citizenship, Mugrabi would probably have been compelled to leave her home in Kafr Akab in northern Jerusalem and would not be entitled to claim the full /... A/50/170 English Page 58 state-funded compensation granted to Israeli families of victims of terrorism. (Jerusalem Post, 18 October 1994) 314. On 23 October 1994, the Cabinet approved the bringing to Israel of an additional 19,000 foreign workers to compensate for the labour shortages caused by the closure of the territories following the Tel Aviv bus bombing on 19 October. The measure was aimed at avoiding a slowdown in construction and damage to agriculture. However, the support concerning the bringing in of the workers was conditional upon being valid for a limited period. As agreed between Housing Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer and Labour and Social Affairs Minister Ora Namir, 15,000 of the workers would be employed in construction. Despite Namir's opposition, the Cabinet agreed to the request of Agriculture Minister Ya'acov Tsur to permit an additional 4,000 foreign agricultural workers to come to Israel. The Government approved the arrival of 1,000 part-time workers from Romania to pick citrus fruits and of 3,000 workers from Thailand to pick flowers, vegetables and fruit. The Cabinet also decided to extend the stay in Israel of 26,000 foreign construction workers who had previously been allowed to enter the country. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 23 and 24 October 1994) 315. On 1 November 1994, it was reported that 8,000 work permits would be issued to construction workers who would be given access to Israel during the following days (4,000 from Gaza and 4,000 from the West Bank). Permits would only be issued to workers over 30 years of age who were married and could prove that they had previously worked on a construction site and had a job. The distribution of an additional 5,000 permits (3,000 for industrial workers and 2,000 for construction workers) began on 4 November. Sources in the Civil Administration indicated that employment agencies were ordered to give preference to workers over the age of 40. (Ha'aretz, 2 and 3 November 1994; Jerusalem Post, 3 and 4 November 1994) 316. On 3 November 1994, it was reported that the closure of the West Bank had adversely affected academic life in East Jerusalem. Out of 1,200 teachers working in educational institutions, 700 live in the West Bank and were prevented from reaching their places of work. The closure has also affected the health sector. In the case of the Makassed Hospital, 70 per cent of the staff are residents of the West Bank who are not allowed into East Jerusalem. (Al-Tali'ah, 3 November 1994) 317. On 4 November 1994, the Doctors' Union in Jerusalem reported that Israel had refused to renew the annual permit for the 50-year-old Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem. The hospital, which provides health services to Palestinians from all over the West Bank, is run by the Lutheran World Federation and is supported by UNRWA. The Union indicated that the Israeli Health Ministry would not renew the permit until the head of the hospital resigned. The Union considered the condition set by the Ministry interference in the internal affairs of the hospital. (The Jerusalem Times, 4 November 1994) 318. On 11 November 1994, it was reported that a state of emergency had been declared in Gaza, where the Palestinian Health Ministry reported 35 cases of cholera on 10 November. The Health Ministry sent a shipment of antibiotics and other medical equipment to help fight the disease. Awn Shawa, the Mayor of Gaza, indicated that special precautionary measures had been taken. He added, /... A/50/170 English Page 59 however, that lack of funds had delayed the replacement of the existing sewage system Israel had left behind after 27 years of occupation and taxation. Daily losses for the agricultural sector resulting from the ban on the import of any type of food from the territories into Israel declared on 8 November stood at NIS 1,000,000. (Ha'aretz, 9 and 11 November 1994; Jerusalem Post, 11 November 1994; also referred to in Al-Tali'ah, 12 November 1994; The Jerusalem Times, 11 November 1994) 319. On 13 November 1994, the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria handed control over the social welfare and tourism sectors to the Palestinian Authority as part of the implementation of "early empowerment" envisaged under the Oslo Agreement. Some 200 workers are employed in the welfare system, dealing with 42,000 Palestinian welfare recipients in 16 offices with a monthly budget of NIS 32,000. Six workers are employed in two tourism offices in Jericho and Bethlehem with an annual budget of NIS 500,000. However, under the agreement, the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism would have very limited authority. It will be able to issue work permits to tourist guides and Palestinian travel agencies and supervise the tourism industry and the level of services, but will have no control whatsoever over the tourist sites themselves, which will remain under the jurisdiction of the Civil Administration. (Ha'aretz, 14, 15 and 16 November 1994; Jerusalem Post, 15 November 1994) 320. On 13 November 1994, the Histadrut (the Israeli General Federation of Labour) signed an agreement with the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions under the terms of which the Histadrut undertook to transfer between NIS 6 and 7 million to Palestinian trade unions in the territories over the next two years. The agreement stipulated that a committee would be charged with transferring to Arab unions 50 per cent of the funds the Histadrut had deducted from the wages of Palestinians since September 1993. The two sides also decided to set up joint committees that would deal with problems faced by Palestinian workers in Israel, vocational training, social matters and fund raising for joint schemes such as job creation projects in the territories. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 14 November 1994) 321. On 15 November 1994, Israel lifted the ban on the import of flowers and citrus fruit from Gaza imposed after the cholera outbreak there. At that time, 66 cases of cholera were reported to have been confirmed while another 1,000 people with symptoms, mostly from extended families living in the Sajaiya and Za'atoun neighbourhoods, were being tested. Deputy Health Minister Nawaf Masalha stated, however, that the epidemic appeared to be declining and that Palestinian public health officials had indicated that they had no need for additional medicines and other supplies from Israel. Masalha also pointed out that while the Israeli national health budget for 1995 was around NIS 14.4 billion, only NIS 100 million was spent on health for the Palestinians of Judea, Samaria and Gaza. (Ha'aretz, 14 November 1994; Jerusalem Post, 14 and 16 November 1994) 322. On 16 November 1994, the Israeli-Palestinian Joint Economic Committee agreed on procedures that would enable the Palestinian Authority to issue import permits, including for car and medicines included in Israel's authorized list of imports to Gaza and Jericho. The two sides decided to establish an agricultural subcommittee that would clarify Palestinian import policy. Israel agreed to /... A/50/170 English Page 60 link the West Bank to its tax computer data service when the Palestinians assumed responsibility for collecting income taxes there. Israel also offered to re-establish the link with Gaza, which had been cut in June. It was also reported that the sides would review VAT receipts held by Palestinians and pay refunds on transactions such as payments of electricity, telephone, cement, steel, gasoline, meat, cigarettes and electronics and on purchases made by the Palestinian Authority. (Jerusalem Post, 17 November 1994) 323. On 17 November 1994, it was reported that several Palestinian vegetable wholesalers in Hebron had been informed by the Civil Administration that they could henceforth pursue their activities only as retailers. According to the merchants, the aim of the Administration was to eliminate the vegetable market since access to it was difficult for the public. (Al-Tali'ah, 17 November 1994) 324. On 20 November 1994, it was reported that senior security officials in Israel, prominent Palestinian personalities and international aid bodies had warned of a further worsening of the economic and political situation in the territories unless economic aid reached the area quickly. Finance Minister Avraham Shohat described the economic situation in Gaza as very difficult owing to its dependence on Israel and indicated that the economic situation in Gaza was not only a Palestinian matter but was also of importance to Israelis seeking peace. He also indicated that vegetable imports from Gaza, which stood at 250,000 tons annually before the autonomy agreement, currently stood at nearly zero. He added that donor nations had not met their commitments for financial aid to the Palestinian Authority. (Ha'aretz, 20 November 1994; Jerusalem Post, 21 November 1994) 325. On 21 November 1994, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin met with President Bill Clinton at the White House where they discussed, among other things, the importance of improving both the serious economic situation in the territories and the image of the Palestinian Authority as the only legal body in the autonomous regions. Mr. Clinton indicated that the donor countries intended to transfer 125 million dollars to the Palestinian Authority during the following week in order to help stabilize the situation. The sum is part of the $250 million aid package to be allocated to the Palestinian Authority by the end of the year. (Ha'aretz, 22 November 1994) 326. On 21 November 1994, the United Nations Special Coordinator in the occupied territories, Mr. Terje Rod Larsen, stated that the standard of living of Palestinians living in the autonomous region of Gaza had declined by 50 per cent since the signing of the Oslo Agreement. Mr. Larsen underlined that the situation had never been as serious and urged the donor countries to transfer immediately the aid they had pledged. (Ha'aretz, 22 November 1994) 327. On 24 November 1994, Israel lifted the ban on the import of agricultural products from Gaza. The ban was imposed on 8 November following a cholera outbreak in the area. (Ha'aretz, 23 November 1994) 328. On 30 November 1994, during a meeting in Brussels, the donor States committed themselves to giving $125 million to the Palestinian Authority by March 1995. $102 million would cover most of the Palestinian Authority's budget deficit for 1994, which amounted to some $123 million. The donor countries /... A/50/170 English Page 61 pledged to grant $23 million for job-creation projects in the Gaza Strip, which are expected to provide several thousand jobs in a few weeks. The donors also agreed to set up a local donors' coordination system, with representatives from the World Bank and the donor countries meeting periodically with the Palestinian Authority in Gaza to supervise and facilitate the transfer of funds. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 1 December 1994) 329. On 1 December 1994, the Civil Administration transferred the departments of Health and Taxation to the Palestinian Authority, thus completing the implementation of early empowerment for Palestinians in five spheres of administration outside the self-rule areas of Gaza and Jericho: education, welfare, tourism, taxation and health services. Palestinian Authority officials indicated, however, that the money raised through taxation would not be sufficient and that large-scale foreign donations would also be needed to fund various development projects. Large advertisements were reported to have been placed in the Arabic dailies, seeking recruits for training in income tax and value added tax collection and calling for cooperation of the public with the tax authorities. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 1 and 2 December 1994) 330. On 4 December 1994, it was reported that the United States would immediately make available $4 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority and expedite the disbursement of an additional $12 millions. Meanwhile, in Budapest, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres appealed to Western countries to back the Middle East peace process with cash for Palestinians trying to build autonomy. (Jerusalem Post, 4 December 1994) 331. On 9 and 10 December 1994, it was reported that according to the figures provided by the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics, the Palestinian population in Gaza, Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem stood at 2,238 million. The Central Bureau of Statistics dismissed the figure as being inflated, saying that the Palestinian population in the territories stood at 1.85 million at the end of 1993. The new findings, if proven correct, would mean that 600,000 Palestinians were previously unaccounted for. According to a statistician, documenting deaths was a major challenge facing population surveys in the territories, especially in refugee camps, since reporting a death meant losing a valuable UNRWA ration card. (Jerusalem Post, 9 December 1994; Ha'aretz, 10 December 1994) 332. On 10 December 1994, two Palestinian human rights organizations launched a joint one-week campaign under the auspices of Amnesty International with a view to increasing awareness of human rights issues among Palestinians. At the heart of the campaign was, for the first time, the issue of human rights under the Palestinian Authority. The campaign included a series of lectures by experts and the distribution of a booklet on human rights in all the educational institutions in the territories. (Ha'aretz, 11 December 1994) 333. On 11 December 1994, Police Inspector-General Assaf Hefetz informed the Cabinet at its weekly meeting about an escalation in violence and crime in the territories, which he ascribed to the increased economic hardships of the Palestinian population, especially in the Gaza Strip. (Ha'aretz, 12 December 1994) /... A/50/170 English Page 62 334. On 14 December 1994, the Knesset gave its final approval to a law stiffening punishment for employers and manpower agents who employed unlicensed foreign workers. According to the amendment, employers would be liable to six months' imprisonment for employing unlicensed workers, whether Palestinians or overseas labourers. The law also increased penalties for employers of illegal workers up to NIS 28,000 as well as the fine for each extra day of illegal employment from NIS 2,000 to NIS 2,800. (Jerusalem Post, 15 December 1994) 335. On 18 and 22 December it was reported that for the first time a Palestinian minister of tourism would be in charge of Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem and that the Palestinian flag would be flown over the municipality. The Deputy Mayor of Bethlehem, Hana Nasser, stated, however, that apart from these two symbolic changes, nothing had really changed. Israel was still in charge of the security arrangements. The Tourism Ministry had almost no budget and although the number of tourists visiting the city was stable, they were swiftly taken out of the city by the Israeli tourist guides so that they could spend their money in Israel rather than in the West Bank. Unemployment was running at 60 per cent for men and 80 per cent for women, mainly because of the closure. (Ha'aretz, 18 December 1994, Jerusalem Post, 22 December 1994) 336. On 19 December 1994, it was reported that the Military Governor of Ramallah had refused to accede to the request of Ramallah's merchants to allow the reopening of 20 shops in the centre of the city that had been closed following an attack on an Israeli soldier driving through the city on 14 December. The Chairman of the Ramallah Chamber of Commerce, As'ad Hassouneh, stated that the closure of the shops had affected innocent merchants during the busy Christmas season. (Ha'aretz, 20 December 1994) 337. On 21 December 1994, the General Federation of Labour presented a report on public health services in the territories at an international conference it held on the subject of health policies. Listed below are its principal findings: life expectancy in the territories was 65 to 66 years. The infant mortality rate was 44 per 1,000 births in the West bank against 52 per 1,000 in the Gaza Strip. Some 35 to 40 per cent of births in the Gaza Strip took place at home. The average birth rate per woman in the territories was seven. Respiratory and intestinal disorders as well as infectious diseases were much more frequent in the Gaza Strip. Overall health conditions were better in the West Bank than in Gaza. Population and housing density were lower in the West Bank. Nine per cent of Palestinians in the West Bank lived in refugee camps. Only 20 per cent of Palestinians in the territories were covered by a health insurance policy. Annual health spending per capita in the territories declined from $30 to $22 in the 1980s. During the same period, it increased in Israel from $380 to $500. (Ha'aretz, 22 December 1994) 338. On 21 December 994, it was reported that the Chief of General Staff, Lt.-Gen. Ehud Barak, had removed security restrictions on 13,000 dunums (3,250 acres) of fertile land near Gaon Hayarden, which could henceforth be cultivated by Jordan Valley farmers. (Jerusalem Post, 21 December 1994) 339. On 21 December 1994, the Prime Minister's Office ordered police not to allow a conference of the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and /... A/50/170 English Page 63 Construction (PECDAR) to take place in the Ambassador Hotel in Jerusalem. The Government banned the conference, saying it was a function of the Palestinian Authority, which, under the Cairo accord, could only be held in Gaza or Jericho. The director of the PECDAR liaison bureau expressed regret over the Government's decision, saying that the conference had nothing to do with the Palestinian Authority's activity in Jerusalem since its subject concerned relations between international organizations and Palestinian non-governmental organizations dealing with reconstruction and development in the territories. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 22 December 1994) (e) Other developments 340. On 4 November 1994, it was reported that the younger generation of former prisoners who belonged to the fighting forces of Fatah and who had served long prison terms in Israel had taken control of the executive council in Ramallah in the first internal Fatah elections. It was also reported that most of the Fatah leaders who had been appointed by Arafat had not been elected. (Jerusalem Post, 7 November 1994) 2. (a) Measures affecting certain fundamental freedoms Freedom of movement 341. On 31 August 1994, it was reported that Israeli soldiers had prevented Palestinian National Authority Planning Minister, Nabil Shaath, from entering the Ibrahimi Mosque. According to Palestinian sources, a group of German Jews had been allowed to enter the compound the previous day. (The Jerusalem Times, 2 September 1994) 342. On 2 September 1994, it was reported that Israel had agreed to accept 15 Palestinian investors and their families within the framework of the reunification programme. The investors had already started implementing their projects in the Gaza Strip. (The Jerusalem Times, 2 September 1994) 343. On 16 September 1994, the Israeli daily Ha'aretz reportedly stated that 75 Palestinians were still waiting at the Rafah crossing point on the Egyptian border as a result of being refused entrance into the Gaza Strip by the Israeli authorities. The newspaper added that some of the persons were policemen while others were civilians working for the Palestinian National Authority. (The Jerusalem Times, 16 September 1994) 344. On 16 September 1994, it was reported that Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin had denied Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish access to Nazareth to participate in the cultural festival that was soon to be held there. A former resident of Nazareth, Darwish left Israel in 1970. (The Jerusalem Times, 16 September 1994) 345. On 29 September 1994, it was reported that the IDF had already completed 23 kilometres of the 54-kilometre fence that was to surround the Gaza Strip, despite interference and theft of construction material by Palestinians. The fence was due to be completed by 1 February, while the fence around the Gush /... A/50/170 English Page 64 Katif settlements was to be completed by May 1995. 29 September 1994) (Jerusalem Post, 346. On 22 October 1994, the Israeli authorities imposed a security cordon around Jericho after a gun was allegedly fired at an Israeli vehicle. (The Jerusalem Times, 28 October 1994) 347. On 8 November 1994, hundreds of Palestinian merchants and truck drivers staged an angry protest at the Erez checkpoint against the continued closure of the territories. They demanded that the opening of the border be a condition for the resumption of the autonomy talks. (Jerusalem Post, 9 November 1994) 348. On 10 November 1994, it was reported that IDF soldiers had prevented a Palestinian physician, Dr. Isaac Shahin, from entering his clinic in Hebron on the pretext that the building was located in a closed military area. Dr. Shahin was asked to produce a permit in order to enter his own house. Similar cases were reported in the previous two weeks in Hebron, where unattended Palestinian houses had been raided by soldiers who destroyed their contents before setting up military outposts on their roofs. (Al-Tali'ah, 10 November 1994) 349. On 30 November 1994, it was reported that the number of Gazans working in Israel had declined from 100,000 to 80,000 (or 70,000) since September 1993 (also referred to in The Jerusalem Times, 4 November 1994). According to Palestinian and Israeli sources who observed the freedom of movement of Palestinians in Gaza, the decrease was due to the repeated closures of the territories and the greater bureaucratic difficulties involved in obtaining a permit to work in Israel. Palestinian sources added that they believed that there had also been an increase in the number of applications that had been rejected since the signing of the Oslo Agreement. (Ha'aretz, 30 November 1994) 350. On 2 December 1994, the Israeli authorities reportedly refused to issue permits allowing public vehicles from the Hebron area to cross the Green Line, thus paralysing the regional transportation industry. (The Jerusalem Times, 2 December 1994) 351. On 5 December 1994, Border Police arrested near the Shu'fat refugee camp two Palestinian policemen who did not have permits to enter Israel. During their questioning, the two stated that they were on their way to the Gaza Strip. (Ha'aretz, 6 December 1994) 352. On 17 December 1994, the Jerusalem police stopped Jibril Rajoub, the chief of the Palestinian protective security service in Jericho, and forced him to return to Jericho since he did not have a permit to be in Jerusalem. Rajoub indicated that he needed to go to Gaza and had decided to go through Jerusalem, as in the past. (Jerusalem Post, 19 December 1994) 353. On 24 December 1994, Palestinian journalists in Gaza held a warning strike in protest against Israel's restrictions on the free travel of Gazan journalists. They demanded that the Palestinian Authority penalize Israeli journalists until Israel gave Gazan journalists the right to travel freely outside Gaza. Two weeks before, 25 journalists had been refused permission to enter Israel or the West Bank. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 25 December 1994) /... A/50/170 English Page 65 (b) Freedom of education 354. On 29 August 1994, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators signed into effect the early empowerment agreement, extending Palestinian authority beyond Gaza and Jericho for the first time. The implementation of the agreement began with education, only one of the five spheres of empowerment. The Palestinian Authority Planning Minister and chief negotiator Nabil Shaath called the agreement proof that the peace process continued, that it would not stop at Gaza and Jericho, that it would go through the West Bank. (Jerusalem Post, 30 August 1994; Ha'aretz, 31 August 1994) 355. On 29 August 1994, nine residents of East Jerusalem petitioned the High Court of Justice against the city's refusal to enrol their children in state schools. In two of the cases, the children had Israeli identity cards but the city refused to accept them, stating that it had no places left in the schools concerned. In the other cases, the city stated that it had no obligation to accept the children because legally they were not Israeli residents although they were living with a parent who was a legal resident of the city. The petition argued that the Compulsory Education Law required the city to provide free education to the children of all legal resident parents, even if the children themselves were not Israeli residents. The High Court had previously ruled that even children of illegal residents must be given access to education. (Jerusalem Post, 30 August 1994) 356. On 2 September 1994, it was reported that the Israeli authorities had been empowered to intervene in schools in the territories if hostility towards Israel was taught, or if pupils engaged in disturbances that spread beyond the school grounds. (Jerusalem Post, 2 September 1994) 357. On 1 October 1994, Palestinian education officials protested against an IDF order to close a school in Al-Bireh. An army spokeswoman stated that the school had been ordered closed for three days after students repeatedly threw stones at military personnel. The spokeswoman indicated that another school in Hebron had been ordered closed for a week after students threw a fire-bomb and stones at a military patrol. (Jerusalem Post, 2 October 1994) 358. On 9 October 1994, the Education Minister of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Amr, stated that the Civil Administration and the Palestinian Authority would hold weekly meetings to coordinate the ways to avoid the closure of schools for security reasons. Amr stated that one school in Hebron, one in Ramallah and one in the Jenin area had been closed for three days after the army claimed that there had been disturbances. (Jerusalem Post, 10 October 1994; also referred to in The Jerusalem Times, 14 October 1994) 359. On 20 October 1994, it was reported that for the second time in 10 days, IDF soldiers had raided the Al Hussein Ben Ali Secondary School and fired tear-gas canisters under the pretext that the students had pelted their patrols with stones. (Al-Tali'ah, 20 October 1994) 360. On 2 November 1994, it was reported that 1,300 students from Gaza had been prevented from reaching their universities in the West Bank as a result of the closure of the territories following the Tel Aviv bus bombing on 19 October. /... A/50/170 English Page 66 (Ha'aretz, 2 November 1994; also referred to in The Jerusalem Times, 4 November 1994) 361. On 3 November 1994, the Ibrahimeya School in Hebron was reportedly ordered closed for one week on the pretext an incendiary bottle had been thrown at an Israeli patrol near the school. (Al-Tali'ah, 3 November 1994) 362. On 14 November 1994, it was reported that following a petition to the High Court of Justice, the city of Jerusalem had found places in its schools for nine Arab children from East Jerusalem. In two cases, the children had Israeli identity cards, but the city had simply announced that it had no space for them in its educational institutions. In the other cases, the city indicated that it had no obligation to accept the children because they were not legal residents, even though they were living with a parent who was a legal resident of the city. The Center for the Defence of the Individual indicated that the ruling would set an important precedent for the approximately 600 children who had been denied places in the city's schools in 1994. (Jerusalem Post, 14 November 1994) 363. On 18 November 1994, the Israeli authorities are reported to have raided a bus station in the centre of Nablus in search of students without permits. In a separate development, it was reported that a Gazan student who had recently been arrested had been sentenced to six days in jail and two months' probation. He also had to pay a $115 fine. (The Jerusalem Times, 18 November 1994) 364. On 30 November 1994, it was reported that none of the 1,300 students from Gaza who studied in higher education institutes in the West Bank had been allowed to leave Gaza since 19 October despite the fact that exit permits had been issued in the meantime to construction and industrial workers, drivers and merchants from the territories. (Ha'aretz, 2 December 1994) (c) Freedom of religion 365. On 8 September 1994, the Palestinian Dajani family protested against the desecration of the family tomb near the Nabi Daoud mosque and called for the immediate seizure of the drilling equipment used in the area. The Jerusalem municipality had decided in 1988 to establish a yeshiva in an area near the tomb in Nabi Daoud, but the Dajanis had succeeded in stopping the project. The project was reactivated last month after the municipality had received funds from American donors. Dajani also indicated that nearby houses were also owned by his family and were now occupied by Jewish settlers. (The Jerusalem Times, 16 September 1994) 366. On 17 October 1994, Palestinian sources reported that Israeli settlers from Kiryat Araba had been allowed into the compound of the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron. They were granted special permission by the Israeli military authorities, which allowed them to conduct prayers within the mosque. This was the first time that the settlers had been allowed into the mosque since the Hebron massacre in February 1994. To date, no Muslims had been allowed to enter the mosque. (The Jerusalem Times, 21 October 1994) 367. On 23 October 1994, it was reported that the Israeli army had ordered the closure of a mosque in Hebron whose walls had been covered with graffiti /... A/50/170 English Page 67 supporting extremist Islamic organizations. The imam of the mosque had reportedly been arrested. (Ha'aretz, 23 October 1994; also referred to in Al-Tali'ah, 3 November 1994) 368. On 7 November 1994, the Cave of the Patriarchs reopened for worship under the supervision of hundreds of soldiers and with new security and prayer arrangements, after being closed for more than eight months following the killing of 29 Muslim worshippers by Baruch Goldstein. The Cave was to open for two days and then be closed for an additional two days in order to allow the new security arrangements to be tested. Under the new arrangements, the Cave would be physically divided between Muslims and Jews who would be praying in completely separate halls and entering from separate entrances. In addition, 16 closed-circuit cameras and smoke-detectors have been installed. Special provisions had been made for worship during holidays. Security and prayer arrangements were criticized by both Jews and Arabs alike. In addition, the IDF issued a list with an order prohibiting some 30 right-wing activists from entering Hebron or the Cave of the Patriarchs. It was reported, however, that one Kach activist whose name appeared on the list had managed to pass the security controls and enter the Cave. (Ha'aretz, 7, 8 and 10 November 1994; Jerusalem Post, 7 and 8 November 1994; also referred to in Al-Tali'ah, 10 November 1994; The Jerusalem Times, 11 November 1994) 369. On 7 November 1994, the day that the Ibrahimi Mosque was reopened after eight months of closure, the imam of the Mosque, Sheikh Mohamed Miswadeh, was denied access to the mosque on the pretext of new security regulations. According to the new procedures imposed by the Israeli authorities, each congregation had the right to use the Ibrahimi Mosque separately only 10 days a year. Sheikh Salah El Natsche complained that the new division favoured Jews. El Natsche indicated that Muslim worshippers were allowed to pray in only 30 per cent of the mosque's area. (Al-Tali'ah, 10 November 1994; The Jerusalem Times, 11 November 1994) 370. On 10 November 1994, a visit by Committee to Al-Quds Mosque provoked considered the visit an interference violation of the mosque's sanctity. the members of the Knesset Home Affairs indignation among Palestinians, who in Islamic religious affairs and a (Al-Tali'ah, 10 November 1994) 371. On 10 November 1994, IDF soldiers closed the three-month-old Al Da'wa Mosque in Yatta, alleging that no building permit had been issued. (Al-Tali'ah, 10 November 1994) 372. On 11 November 1994, the Machpelah Cave, including the Ibrahimi Mosque, reopened again for two days under heavy security guard. Nevertheless, 2,000 Muslims had to pray outside because only 300 were allowed inside the mosque. Senior Palestinian officials in Hebron complained that the security forces had allowed an equal number of Jewish and Muslim worshippers (300 for each religion) to pray in the Cave although Muslims in the Hebron area were far more numerous than Jewish settlers. Hebron Mayor Mustafa Natshe, who was among the worshippers obliged to pray outside, told reporters at the end of the prayer that Israel was violating the Geneva Convention and its commitments to allow freedom of religion in the territories. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 13 November 1994) /... A/50/170 English Page 68 373. On 15 November 1994, the grave of Izz Al-din al-Qassam, the role model for the military wing of Hamas, was found desecrated in a Muslim cemetery near Haifa, for which Jewish extremists claimed responsibility. According to the Kach spokesman who indicated that the group was not responsible, it was thought possible that individual Jewish extremist members of the Kach group may have desecrated Kassam's grave. Israeli journalists received a message saying that the desecration came in retaliation for the desecration of Jewish graves on the Mount of Olives. Police officials in Haifa indicated that they had no suspects. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 16 November 1994) 374. On 2 December 1994, Islamic Waqf officials reported that a group of religious settlers had attempted four times the past 10 days to break into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem. The settlers were members of the settler community of Beit Orot, a yeshiva located on the Mount of Olives. One of the settlers involved, Yehuda Etzion, was a Jewish "terrorist" sentenced in 1984 to seven years in prison for membership in an extremist Jewish group that had planned to blow up the Dome of the Rock, the other mosque in the compound. (The Jerusalem Times, 2 December 1994) 375. On 21 December 1994, it was reported that the Palestinian Authority had demanded that Israel recognize documents, such as marriage certificates, which were issued and stamped by the Shariah Courts in the West Bank. Sheik Ahmad el Bitawi, officer in charge of the Shariah Courts in the Palestinian Authority, stated that Israel's refusal to recognize such documents had an adverse effect on Palestinians and interfered with the religious affairs of Muslims living in the West Bank. A Civil Administration spokeswoman stated that Israel could not recognize the documents since the Palestinian Authority had taken responsibility for the Waqf unilaterally, without any coordination with the Israeli authorities. (Ha'aretz, 21 December 1994) 376. On 29 December 1994, Muslims were allowed exclusive access to the Cave of the Patriarchs in the Hebron in order to mark the Day of Prophet Mohammed's Ascension to Jerusalem from Mecca. The army permitted 900 worshippers to enter the building instead of the usual 45O. Jews and Muslims are each allowed 10 days annually on which they have exclusive access to the entire building that tops the cave. On regular days, each religious group is restricted to specified halls in the building. (Jerusalem Post, 29 December 1994) (d) Freedom of expression 377. On 21 September 1994, security forces broke into two offices with ties to Islamic groups, the Al-Quds Press and the Center for Koran Studies in Nablus and took away material. They were acting on a tip-off that the offices were disseminating "inciteful Hamas material". (Jerusalem Post, 22 September 1994) 378. On 23 September 1994, the sale of the first Palestinian newspaper to be published in the self-ruled Gaza Strip began in the territories. More than 6,000 copies of the 16-page newspaper were printed for distribution. The Arabic-language weekly tabloid Filistin was published by Reuters' Gaza correspondent, Taher Shriteh, and focused on domestic Palestinian affairs. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 25 September 1994) /... A/50/170 English Page 69 3. Information on settlers' activities affecting the civilian population 379. On 5 September 1994, a very high-ranking army source stated that a new Jewish underground movement may have been in the making. He was referring to evidence gathered following the arrest of Lt. Oren Edri on 4 September along with two other residents of Kiryat Arba (Eitan and Yehoyada Kahalani) on suspicion of selling stolen army weapons to a Jewish extremist group for use in attacks against Arabs. (Jerusalem Post, 5 and 8 September 1994) 380. On 8 September 1994, three additional Jewish residents of Kiryat Arba in Hebron were detained (Rabbi Ido Elba, 30; Yves/Avraham Tibi, 40; and Elyashiv Keller, 23); in addition to the three others who had been detained previously in connection with a Jewish underground movement responsible for homicidal attacks on Arabs. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 9 September 1994) 381. On 8 September 1994, it was reported that five Palestinian families living in the northern part of Hebron had been subjected for several years to repeated assaults and acts of harassment by neighbouring Israeli settlers. These acts included stone-throwing, severe beating and throwing of incendiary bottles. Members of the families stated that although the Israeli police had promised to look into their complaints, no action had been taken to put an end to the situation. (Al-Tali'ah, 8 September 1994) 382. On 9 and 10 September 1994, two residents of Kiryat Arba were arrested for firing at Palestinians who they claimed threw stones and a petrol bomb at them. Abu Rian Uthman Mohammed, 25, from Halhoul, in the Hebron district, was seriously injured and died on 14 September. The two persons arrested were Alex Kogan, 23, and his aunt, Ilana Podolsky, 36. (Ha'aretz, 11 and 12 September 1994; Jerusalem Post, 11 and 16 September 1994) 383. On 11 September 1994, the police and members of the GSS arrested two additional persons, Yosef Mor (or Michael), 42, from Kiryat Arba, and Ya'acov Ben-David, 32, from Jerusalem, suspected of belonging to a new Jewish underground "terrorist" group. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 14 September 1994) 384. On 12 September 1994, Kiryat Arba resident Koby Pinto, a lieutenant in an elite unit, was arrested at his army base for alleged involvement in a new Jewish underground group. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 13 September 1994) 385. On 14 and 15 September 1994, a woman settler attacked a Palestinian youth near the Machpelah Cave in Hebron. She was subsequently arrested. In another incident, Israeli settlers reportedly surrounded and attacked a Palestinian man in Hebron, applying martial arts techniques until the man collapsed. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 16 September 1994) 386. On 17 September 1994, the police arrested Rabbi Meir Koren, 28, from Kiryat Arba, on suspicion of involvement in a new Jewish "terrorist" underground group. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 18 September 1994) 387. On 22 September 1994, four protesters were slightly injured and some 20 detained as thousands of settlers and their supporters stormed the Machpelah /... A/50/170 English Page 70 Cave in Hebron to protest an attempt by the army to prevent them from holding a Succoth gathering there. Two Border Policemen were also wounded during the incident. Soldiers were unable to keep the crowd from approaching the holy site but managed to prevent anyone from entering. During another incident, a Palestinian from the West Bank was lightly injured near the Adam junction when a settler threw a stone at the car he was in. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 23 September 1994) 388. On 22 September 1994, Israeli settlers are reported to have assaulted a resident of Yata, Abdallah Ahmed Al Sha'abin, and forced him, together with his family, to leave the land he uses to graze his herds. (Al-Tali'ah, 22 September 1994) 389. On 26 September 1994, within minutes of the release of Baruch Marzel, the head of the outlawed Kach movement, supporters threatened the family of a Palestinian detainee at gunpoint. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 28 September 1994) 390. On 29 September 1994, Uri Baruch, 42, a jeweller from Kiryat Arba, was arrested by the police and General Security Service on suspicion of involvement in an alleged new Jewish underground "terrorist" group. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 30 September 1994) 391. On 2 or 3 October 1994, two additional residents of Kiryat Arba, Yisrael Ben-Aharon and Yehiel (or Michael) Hatzroni, 43, were arrested, bringing to 14 the number of arrested persons for suspected involvement in an alleged new Jewish underground group. Seven persons have since been released. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 4 October 1994) 392. On 6 October 1994, MK Ron Nahman, the Mayor of Ariel, stated that he was cutting off ties with OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Ilan Biran except with regard to security matters because Biran had asked the police and the Attorney-General's Office to speed up 88 pending criminal cases against settlers. (Jerusalem Post, 7 October 1994) 393. On 6 October 1994, Israeli settlers beat up a 10-year-old boy in the centre of Ramallah, before handing him over to the Israeli army. The Ramallah-based human rights organization, the Mandela Institute for Political Prisoners, later discovered that the youth had been handed over to an army unit, which arrested and transferred him to Ramallah prison. The youth was released several hours later the same day, after being beaten while in custody. (The Jerusalem Times, 14 October 1994) 394. On 23 October 1994, tyres were slashed on 17 Arab-owned vehicles parked near Jerusalem's Old City. The Kach organization claimed responsibility for the act of vandalism. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 24 October 1994) 395. On 23 October 1994, Israeli settlers broke into three schools in the Nablus area at dawn and ransacked a number of classrooms. Teachers reported that two additional schools were raided in Sawiya. (The Jerusalem Times, 28 October 1994) /... A/50/170 English Page 71 396. On 24 October 1994, Israeli settlers planted a bomb beside an Arab house across from the Israeli settlement of Givat Harshina in Hebron. The explosive went off, causing extensive damage to the house. (The Jerusalem Times, 28 October 1994; Al-Tali'ah, 3 November 1994) 397. On 28 October 1994, settlers from Kiryat Arba attacked the Khaled Ibn Al Walid mosque in the Hebron area, throwing stones and firing shots at the building. (Al-Tali'ah, 3 November 1994) 398. On 28 and 29 October 1994, two Kach activists were arrested in Hebron for allegedly breaking windows on Arab homes, as an estimated 5,000 Jews went to the city to read the passage in the Torah that speaks of how Abraham bought the Machpelah Cave to bury his wife, Sara. The Itim news agency reported that at one point, a group of Kach activists walked around the Tel Rumeida area, near the ancient Jewish cemetery in Hebron, and began throwing stones at Arab homes, damaging a number of windows. An Arab resident got into a fight with the Kach activists and later needed medical treatment. Reuters quoted witnesses as saying that some 50 Jews went on a rampage in the centre of Hebron, attacking Palestinians and their shops with sticks and stones. According to a witness, two Palestinians were slightly injured while five shops were damaged. The two arrests were made after this incident. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 30 October 1994) 399. On 12 November 1994, members of the extremist Jewish group Kach kidnapped 32-year-old Sultana Najib and her 2-year-old son in Jerusalem in order to force her to take a course in Jewish studies. According to Najib's relatives, Kach claimed Najib's mother was Jewish. (The Jerusalem Times, 18 November 1994) 400. On 14 November 1994, Jewish settlers started to bulldoze part of the street near Sheikh Yusef's Tomb in Nablus. An estimated area of 100 square metres was damaged. The Israeli authorities had erected 4-meter-high cement blocks around the street following the Hebron massacre on 25 February 1994. (The Jerusalem Times, 18 November 1994) 401. On 21 November 1994, it was reported that the head of the Gaza Coast Regional Council stated that the problem concerning the IDF post at the Netzarim Junction was not the IDF but the Government, which had ordered the soldiers to leave their post in the face of a mob and let the Palestinian Police deal with the matter. "If a soldier sees a terrorist, he needs to shoot him, not run away. Nothing else works", the head of the Council was quoted as saying. (Jerusalem Post, 21 November 1994) 402. On 21 November 1994, the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza called for "active resistance" if a decision was made to uproot the Netzarim settlement, without defining what "active resistance" meant. The settlement leaders vowed to settle another 12 families in Netzarim in the near future and to speed up the construction of 300 homes there. The Council also called upon settlement leaders and the supporters of the movement to go and live for various periods in the settlement. The Council spokesman stated that the uprooting of Netzarim would be a symbol of surrender in the face of terror. At present, 150 people live in Netzarim. (Ha'aretz, 23 November 1994; Jerusalem Post, 22 and 23 November 1994) /... A/50/170 English Page 72 403. On 6 December 1994, a Muslim guard at the Cave of the Patriarchs complained that he had been beaten on 5 December by three settlers armed with pistols and Uzi submachine guns. Mr. Rarev Jabar, 55, stated that the three settlers had come out of their car and beat him with the butts of their guns, accusing him of being responsible for the murder of Baruch Goldstein. Mr. Jabar was transferred unconscious to a hospital. (Ha'aretz, 7 December 1994) 404. On 26 December 1994, some 1,000 orthodox Jews from upstate New York belonging to the Skver Hassidim sect visited the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron at the invitation of Hebron settlement leaders. The reported intention of the settlement leaders was to try to strengthen ties between orthodox Jews and the Cave in order to make it more difficult for the Government to consider withdrawing from the city. (Jerusalem Post, 27 December 1994) 405. On 28 December 1994, settlers temporarily took over two abandoned IDF positions in the Bethlehem and Jenin areas, vowing to man them permanently if the army were to pull out. Nissan Shlomiansky, the head of the operations for the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria and Gaza, stated that the two points had been chosen because they were located along important roads used by Jewish commuters. He added that the Council was carrying out patrols in order to locate other such points along the roads. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 29 December 1994) 406. On 30 December 1994, settlers from Mehola in the Jordan Valley destroyed the infrastructure of a Palestinian-owned petrol station near their settlement. The settlers claimed that the station, which was being built without any coordination with them, would damage the quality of their lives. (Ha'aretz, 1 January 1995) D. 1. Treatment of detainees Measures concerning the release of detainees 407. On 30 August 1994, the man whom the police had suspected of murdering Jerusalem lawyer Shmuel Levinson was released from detention because of insufficient evidence. Kamal Siyam, 25, from A-Ram, had been held by the police since 5 August 1994, three days after Levinson was shot dead in his Rehavia neighbourhood apartment. (Jerusalem Post, 31 August 1994) 408. On 25 November 1994, the Israeli authorities were reported to have agreed to allow 120 former prisoners to return to their homes in the West Bank. The prisoners were transferred to Jericho in order to serve the remainder of their sentences there. (The Jerusalem Times, 25 November 1994) 409. On 17 December 1994, it was reported that Hamas had offered to hand over the body of Ilan Sa'adon, who was kidnapped and killed in 1989, in exchange for the release of several prisoners held in Israeli prisons. (Ha'aretz, 18 December 1994; Jerusalem Post, 18 and 19 December 1994) 410. On 28 December 1994, it was reported that Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin revealed that 10,343 security prisoners had been released since the signing of /... A/50/170 English Page 73 the Oslo Agreements in September 1993. Mr. Rabin stated that 5,077 of the prisoners who were released had completed their sentences, while 5,266 were released before the end of their sentences. (Ha'aretz, 28 December 1994) 2. Other information concerning detainees 411. On 6 September 1994, the (Israeli) security authorities allowed 41 out of some 550 prisoners staying in Jericho to go beyond the limits of the autonomous area. (Ha'aretz, 8 September 1994) 412. On 9 September 1994, it was reported that, according to the annual report released by the Prison Services for 1993, 10,148 prisoners were detained in Israel and in the territories at the beginning of the year. Amongst them, 4,000 were security prisoners from the territories. (Ha'aretz, 9 September 1994) 413. On 12 September 1994, officials stated that the Government of the Netherlands had donated 32 mobile homes to house the released Palestinian prisoners in Jericho. Saeb Erekat, a member of the Palestinian National Authority, announced that UNRWA had donated land and offered the services of its experts to set up the homes. (Jerusalem Post, 13 September 1994; also referred to in The Jerusalem Times, 16 September 1994) 414. On 14 September 1994, it was reported that since 12 September, more than 100 Palestinian prisoners staying in the area of Jericho had been allowed to return to their homes in West Bank. The measure concerned prisoners who had served their sentences completely or had served at least two thirds of their sentences. The prisoners who were sentenced for direct involvement in homicide were not allowed to go home. (Ha'aretz, 14 September 1994) 415. On 15 September 1994, according to well-informed sources, the Israeli authorities had refrained, in general, from releasing Arab detainees from Jerusalem, in keeping with their agreement with the PLO to examine the question of Jerusalem during the final stage of negotiations. (Al-Tali'ah, 15 September 1994) 416. On 26 September 1994, it was reported that some 5,000 Palestinian prisoners still remained in jail. (Jerusalem Post, 26 September 1994) 417. On 28 September 1994, it was reported that some 300 released Palestinian prisoners, who had been living in Jericho for the last two months under the terms of their release, had reportedly fled the city fearing for their lives. They were believed to be hiding in the West Bank from possible acts of vengeance by families of "collaborators" with Israel whom they had reportedly murdered. Defence sources stated that the 300 persons were part of a group of 550 Palestinians who had been released over the past two to three months, most of whom were convicted of killing alleged "collaborators". (Jerusalem Post, 28 September 1994) 418. On 7 October 1994, a report by the Mandela Institute for Political Prisoners revealed that 20 Palestinian political prisoners had been transferred from Fara' prison in the Nablus area to Nablus Central Prison. An additional /... A/50/170 English Page 74 20 prisoners from Nafha prison located in the Negev desert were also transferred to Nablus Central Prison. The report indicated that many prisoners detained in Nafha prison were seriously ill and that some urgently needed to undergo surgery, but that the prison authorities have been slow in arranging this. (The Jerusalem Times, 7 October 1994) 419. On 14 October 1994, it was reported that according to the Mandela Institute for Political Prisoners, some 5,300 prisoners were still detained in jails controlled by the Prison Authority or by the IDF. According to the Palestinian human rights organization, some 2,800 of these prisoners have already been sentenced. According to B'tselem, the Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, there was currently no precise information about the number of prisoners, because the IDF authorities were no longer carrying out a daily follow-up concerning their number as was the case before. Since the signing of the peace agreement, Israel had freed some 5,500 Palestinian detainees and prisoners. In paragraph 20 of the Cairo Agreement, Israel undertook to free some 5,000 prisoners during the five weeks following its signing. In effect, Israel had so far fulfilled its part of the agreement and further releases of detainees and prisoners would depend on the coming negotiations between the Israeli and Palestinian authorities. Almost all of the released prisoners were from Fatah, an organization that supports the peace process. (Ha'aretz, 14 October 1994) 420. On 16 October 1994, Palestinian prisoners in Tel Mond prison - 56 male and 32 female - went on a hunger strike and decided not to receive any visits by relatives in order to protest against the continued detention of thousands of Palestinian detainees and prisoners in Israeli detention centres. (Ha'aretz, 17 October 1994; also referred to in The Jerusalem Times, 21 October 1994) 421. On 21 October 1994, it was reported that the security prisoners in Juneid prison, the principal prison in the West Bank, had joined the hunger strikers in Hasharon prison (Tel Mond). The prisoners demanded the liberation of 5,000 Palestinian security prisoners detained in Israeli detention centres. In Hasharon prison, 91 prisoners were already on a hunger strike for five days. (Ha'aretz, 21 October 1994) 422. On 1 November 1994, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin reportedly told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee that the interrogation of the 150 Hamas activists detained since the Tel Aviv bus bombing was very harsh, adding that it was within the guidelines of the Landau Commission. He indicated that some of the detainees would be placed under administrative detention. (Jerusalem Post, 2 November 1994) 423. On 7 November 1994, the Hebron prison authorities prevented lawyer Mohamed Muslim from meeting with his client who is detained in Hebron prison. No reasons were given for the decision. (Al-Tali'ah, 10 November 1994) 424. On 14 November 1994, it was reported that the Ministerial Committee that oversees the GSS and is headed by the Prime Minister had decided to strengthen the Service's ability to cope with the Hamas and Islamic Jihad "terror" wave by easing for a three-month period the restrictions on the use of physical force during interrogation. Security sources indicated that it had been decided that /... A/50/170 English Page 75 exceptions to the restrictive rules recommended by the 1987 Landau Commission could be made when a "terror" attack was thought imminent. It was also reported, however, that excessive violence would not be authorized during routine GSS operations and interrogations. The decision came after reports that interrogations of detainees suspected of carrying out "terror" attacks ran into difficulties owing to the fear of the interrogators of being prosecuted should they deviate from instructions. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 14 November 1994) 425. On 16 November 1994, the B'tselem human rights organization argued at a press conference in Jerusalem that GSS interrogators must not be allowed to use more force to combat growing "terror" attacks since torture was already routinely employed during such questioning. B'tselem presented a report based on recent interviews with nine prisoners and testimonies by several GSS agents, including seven recently released prisoners who were interrogated but never charged. It showed that interrogators tried to wear down prisoners by using insults, threats and sleep and food deprivation. Other common punishments described in the report were putting sacks over prisoners' heads, tying them up in painful positions, giving severe blows, forcing them to exercise, exposing them to extreme cold and heat, beating them on their genital organs, shaking them (in one case resulting in one of the prisoners fainting), slapping them with a ruler and exerting pressure on sensitive parts of their body. One prisoner, Fauzi Mujahad, 21, from Jerusalem, stated at the press conference that in August 1994, he had been placed in custody at the Russian Compound and in the Dahariya detention centre where he was tied to a chair for a week before his interrogation began. He was subjected to blows and threats (mainly that the GSS would declare he was a collaborator) and was tied in painful positions. After 50 days of questioning he confessed to writing anti-Israeli graffiti and flying a Palestinian flag. B'tselem invited the Prime Minister's office, which is in charge of the GSS, to react to the report but received no answer. The army indicated that the interrogations conducted in IDF installations by army interrogators abided by strict and meticulous rules and regulations and complied with legal restrictions that forbid violence. The IDF spokesperson stated that in IDF detention centres it was absolutely prohibited to use violence, exert physical pressure, threaten the use of violence, or mistreat and humiliate persons. The GSS denied that detainees were subjected to beatings. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 17 November 1994) 426. On 21 November 1994, it was reported that the European Union had pledged to transfer $12 million to the Palestinian Authority for the rehabilitation of former Palestinian prisoners. Switzerland also pledged $2 million. To date, 6,000 Palestinians had been released from Israeli prisons and another 7,000 were due to be released shortly under the self-rule agreement. (Ha'aretz, 21 November 1994) 427. On 1 December 1994, Dr. Abed el Aziz Rantisi started a hunger strike to protest against his conditions of detention. Dr. Rantisi complained that his cell was very dirty and that his basic needs were not fulfilled. Dr. Rantisi, a deportee to southern Lebanon in 1992, had been detained since he returned to his home without permission in December 1993. (Ha'aretz, 2 December 1994) 428. On 9 December 1994, it was reported that the imprisoned Hamas leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yaseen, had announced his refusal to be released in exchange for /... A/50/170 English Page 76 any Israeli soldier, dead or alive, killed or kidnapped. Sheikh Yaseen was referring to efforts to have him released in exchange for the body of border guard Ilan Sa'don who had been killed and buried in secret by Hamas many years before. (The Jerusalem Times, 9 December 1994) 429. On 9 December 1994, Amnesty International reportedly wrote to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin expressing its concern over reports that harsher interrogation methods were to be used against Palestinian detainees, particularly those suspected of affiliation with Islamic opposition groups. (The Jerusalem Times, 9 December 1994) 430. On 11 December 1994, it was reported that the Nazareth-based Association of Friends of Prisoners had appealed to the representatives of the ICRC in Israel, to Arab MKs, to the Lawyers' Association as well as the International League for Human Rights that they press the Israeli authorities to allow human rights representatives to visit the Hezbollah leaders Sheikh Abed Elkarim and Mustafa Dir'ani who were detained in Israel and were reportedly very ill. (Ha'aretz, 11 December 1994) 431. On 28 December 1994, Chief Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath urged the Israeli authorities to release the 32 female security prisoners detained in Hasharon prison following a two-hour visit to the detention facility. Mr. Shaath also indicated that 500 prisoners out of the 5,000 who were to be released under the peace accord continued to be incarcerated. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 29 December 1994) 432. On 29 December 1994, it was reported that 20 Palestinian prisoners held in IDF's Ketziot detention centre had gone on a hunger strike in protest against their worsened conditions of detention and their treatment by the prison authorities. (Ha'aretz, 29 December 1994) E. Annexation and settlement 433. On 31 August 1994, it was reported that a group of religious Jews in Jerusalem was planning to move Jewish families into several homes in an Arab neighbourhood of the City during the upcoming holiday season. Declining to give the exact location of the homes, which had recently been purchased by the "Elad" group, they stated only that they were located near the neighbourhood of Silwan, on the south-eastern side of the Old City. (Jerusalem Post, 31 August 1994) 434. On 31 August 1994, the evacuation of 13 families who had squatted in government-built housing in the settlement of Revava in the northern West Bank was halted after settler representatives and the construction company that built the homes had agreed to negotiate the future of the housing units. The families were allowed to stay until 30 September. On 26 August, 13 to 15 families who had been living in mobile homes in the settlement for up to three years occupied the homes. They claimed that the homes had been completed but that the Housing Ministry was not letting the Ashdar construction company put them up for sale for political reasons. (Ha'aretz, 28 and 31 August 1994; Jerusalem Post, 1 September 1994) /... A/50/170 English Page 77 435. On 2 September 1994, Israeli media sources indicated that the IDF had evacuated some of its posts located in residential areas in the West Bank and was working on redeploying its troops. An important official in the Israeli Central Command was quoted in the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot as saying that the army intended to evacuate the centres of cities and some of the villages in the northern West Bank very soon. (The Jerusalem Times, 2 September 1994) 436. On 9 September 1994, according to the Jerusalem municipality's yearly report of projects, the plans to build more housing units in East Jerusalem would increase the number of Jewish inhabitants to 130,000 and the number of so-called non-Jews to 83,000. New Jewish housing units would be established in the following areas: Location Pigshat Zeev, outside the Green Line Abu Ghneim hill (Har Homeh), outside the Green Line Shuafat, outside the Green Line Ramat Beit Hakarem Givat Shuad Gilo, outside the Green Line Givat Hamatos, outside the Green Line Ramat Rahel, on the way to Hebron (The Jerusalem Times, 9 September 1994) 437. On 26 September 1994, it was reported that Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin had confirmed the renewal of construction of some 1,000 housing units in Alfei Menashe, a settlement located east of the Green Line. The construction concerned a new neighbourhood consisting of 844 housing units to be called Givat Tal, at a site located south-east of the current settlement, and of 150 housing units in the centre of the settlement. The sources noted that the Housing Ministry would not undertake the construction itself, but would merely release land to be used only for private building and not for public construction, which was still "frozen" in the territories. (Ha'aretz, 26 September 1994; Jerusalem Post, 28 September 1994; also referred to in The Jerusalem Times, 30 September 1994) 438. On 28 September 1994, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin told the Cabinet that he favoured freeing public land in the Alfei Menashe area so that an estimated 700 new housing units could be built, assuming that it was legal and not in violation of the two-year-old settlement freeze. (Jerusalem Post, 29 September 1994) Number of units 4 000 8 000 2 200 2 300 1 100 1 000 800 1 200 /... A/50/170 English Page 78 439. On 2 October 1994, it was reported that the United States would deduct $216 million from the $2 billion annual allotment in loan guarantees provided to Israel for expenditures beyond the Green Line. (Jerusalem Post, 2 October 1994) 440. On 6 October 1994, it was reported that the West Jerusalem Municipality planned to seize a large plot of Arab-owned land situated between Sur Baher and Beit Sahour in order to build a Jewish cemetery there. (Al-Tali'ah, 6 October 1994) 441. On 13 October 1994, it was reported that Palestinian legal sources had confirmed that cases related to property located in Jerusalem owned by Palestinians residing in the West Bank would not have a positive legal outcome. The sources stated that Israeli courts had received administrative instructions to reject such cases. The owners had the right to lease or sell their property until 1986, when they were notified that their property was hereafter placed under the control of the Absentee Property Administrator, under the pretext that they did not hold Jerusalem identity cards. (Al-Tali'ah, 13 October 1994) 442. On 13 October 1994, a petition filed with the High Court of Justice stated that the (Israeli) State had no right to confiscate Palestinian land in the Har Homa region near Jerusalem in order to build yet another Jewish neighbourhood. The petition, filed by 18 Palestinian landowners from the villages of Um-tuba and Beit Tsahor, as well as by the Ir-Shalem organization, asked the court to overturn the expropriation order. Alternatively, it requested that the Court order the expropriated land be used instead for the building of an Arab neighbourhood. The petition indicated that since 1967 more than a third of the land in East Jerusalem had been expropriated. The petition stated that most of the land was owned by Palestinians but was used to build housing units only for Jews. (Jerusalem Post, 14 October 1994) 443. On 16 October 1994, it was reported that the Israeli authorities had turned over the Allenby Bridge to the Civil Ports Authority, a part of Israel's Ministry of the Interior. According to Abdullah Abu Eid, a professor of international law at the Al-Najah University, by taking this measure, Israel was, in fact annexing the bridge to Israeli territory. (Al-Tali'ah, 20 October 1994; The Jerusalem Times, 21 October 1994) 444. On 20 October 1994, it was reported that new confiscation orders concerning Arab-owned land in the Anata and Al Zaim areas near Jerusalem had been issued the previous week. The confiscation was requested by the inhabitants of the Ma'aleh Adumim settlement who wanted to link the land to the French Hill in Jerusalem. (Al-Tali'ah, 2O October 1994) 445. On 21 October 1994, the Israeli authorities are reported to have traced a new settler road to be built in the Bethlehem area, which would go past the Palestinian village of Husan. According to the villagers, this meant that hundreds of dunums of the village's land as well as houses built in the area would be confiscated. (The Jerusalem Times, 21 October 1994) 446. On 28 October 1994, it was reported that Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, had approved the construction of a 10-kilometres-long road /... A/50/170 English Page 79 bypassing Ramallah. The road would start at the Ma'aleh Mikhmas settlement and end near the Ofra settlement. (The Jerusalem Times, 28 October 1994) 447. On 31 October 1994, the Israeli authorities seized 50 dunums of land in Hebron, allegedly in order to build a military camp on the site. A housing project for Palestinian agricultural workers employees was to be built on the seized land. (Al-Tali'ah, 3 November 1994) 448. On 31 October 1994, it was reported that according to a municipality report obtained by the Jerusalem Post, the Arab population of Jerusalem had continued to grow faster than the Jewish one. The report stated that non-Jews, mainly Arabs, accounted for some 28.3 per cent of Jerusalem's residents at the end of 1993. In 1992, the figure for non-Jews was 27.9 per cent. The report did not address specific reasons the Arab population was growing faster than the Jewish population. It noted, however, that the last decade had been characterized by a negative migration of the (Jewish) population. In 1993, the city had lost more than 6,000 (Jewish) residents (as compared with 5,368 in 1992) to other communities in the country, the report stated. According to the same report, the city's population at the end of 1993 was 567,147, some 32 per cent higher than in 1990. (Jerusalem Post, 1 November 1994) 449. On 2 November 1994, a spokesperson for the Katzrin local authority announced that nearly 350 people had moved there over the past three months and that more were expected to move in following the Housing Ministry's decision to sell the remaining 120 homes in a new housing complex. The influx of newcomers had helped push the population of Katzrin to around 5,000 people. (Jerusalem Post, 2 November 1994) 450. On 3 November 1994, it was reported that NIS 20 million had been allocated for the development of the Maaleh Adumim settlement. (Al-Tali'ah, 3 November 1994) 451. On 14 November 1994, it was reported that during the previous months the Ministry of Housing and Construction had issued tenders for the construction of 1,050 housing units in the orthodox town of Beitar. Construction work was reported to have already commenced, with 250 housing units completed and sold. Some 1,200 families currently live in Beitar, where the population is expected to double to 12,000 within one-and-a-half to two years. The head of the local council, Moshe Libovitch, stated that the Ministry of Housing intended to issue tenders for the establishment of an additional 600 housing units in the town in January. On the other hand, it was reported that the Government had decided to withhold its authorization for the establishment of the settlement Ramat Kidron, which was to be built south of Bethlehem. (Ha'aretz, 14 November 1994) 452. On 14 November 1994, Environment Minister Yossi Sarid stated that the growth and development taking place in Maaleh Adumim, the largest settlement in the occupied territories with a population of some 20,000 people, did not break his heart. Mr. Sarid indicated that he envisioned three types of settlements after a final agreement was reached with the Palestinians: settlements that would have to be uprooted, settlements whose residents will be removed to blocks of settlements and those which would remain where they were, like Maaleh Adumim. Responding to Sarid's statement about uprooting settlements, the Council of /... A/50/170 English Page 80 Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza issued a statement saying that an attempt to pave the way to the transfer of Jews might lead to the possibility of the transfer of Arabs. (Jerusalem Post, 15 November 1994) 453. On 15 November 1994, it was reported that the number of Jews in the occupied territories had grown by 10 per cent to 116,000 in 1993, despite a shift away from government support for settlements. The figure, released by the Central Bureau of Statistics, included both births and migration, but excluded East Jerusalem. Within Israel, the number of Muslims continued to grow at a faster pace than that of Jews, 3.6 per cent, as opposed to 2.2 per cent. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 15 November 1994) 454. On 18 November 1994, a report by the Land Research Centre of the Arab Studies Society in Jerusalem revealed that an average 1,500 acres of land had been confiscated each month since the signing of the Oslo Agreement. An average 900 acres of land were confiscated each month before September 1993. The report also showed that increased settlement activity was a policy of the Government. Furthermore, the road network being developed in the occupied territories would limit any possible expansion of Arab villages. As for Jerusalem, the report indicated that Israel was encouraging the construction of settlements while forbidding construction by the Arab residents of Jerusalem. (The Jerusalem Times, 25 November 1994) 455. On 20 November 1994, the head of the Gaza Coastal Regional Council, Zvi Hendel, stated that contrary to media reports that many of the families living in Rafia Yam settlement in the Gush Katif area wanted to leave the settlement, only 4 out of the 22 families living there had expressed the desire to leave. Housing Ministry sources indicated that it had received no inquiries from any family wishing to leave Rafiah Yam. (Jerusalem Post, 21 November 1994) 456. On 20 November 1994, it was reported that a debate on the future of the Netzarim settlement had been the subject of the weekly Cabinet meetings for the second consecutive week, with some ministers saying that the settlement should be moved. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin stated the week before that no settlements, including Netzarim, would be moved during the interim period of the agreement with the PLO. (Jerusalem Post, 21 November 1994) 457. On 24 November 1994, the Israeli authorities are reported to have seized about 60 dunums of land in Kalandia with the aim of creating an industrial zone. (Al-Tali'ah, 24 November 1994) 458. On 29 November 1994, it was reported that a new four-lane road would be opened at the Netzarim junction in the following days. The new four-lane road would be divided by a concrete wall - one side for Israel traffic and the other for Palestinians. The decision to construct the road came after four IDF soldiers had been killed at an army position at the Netzarim junction earlier in the month. Army sources stated that the future of the army outpost was to be decided once the road was opened. (Jerusalem Post, 27 and 29 November 1994) 459. On 2 December 1994, the IDF was reported to have demolished two houses in the village of Husan near Bethlehem in order to pave a road linking the Betar settlement with settler road No. 60. Palestinian sources indicated that the new /... A/50/170 English Page 81 road would cause damage to more than 125 acres of agricultural land. (The Jerusalem Times, 2 December 1994; Al-Tali'ah, 8 December 1994) 460. On 5 December 1994, Ir Shalem ("One City"), a newly formed non-partisan group believed to be closely linked with the Peace Now movement, released a report according to which more than 30 per cent of land annexed to Jerusalem after 1967 had been expropriated for use in Jewish housing development only. The report showed that the Palestinian population in Jerusalem was included in the public from which lands were expropriated, but was not included in the public the expropriations were meant to serve. The report listed a series of expropriations carried out from 1968, when 3,345 dunums of East Jerusalem land were taken for the construction of the French Hill and Ramat Eshkol, through 1991, when 1,850 dunums were expropriated for construction at Har Homa of a new Jewish neighbourhood. According to the report, some 35,000 housing units had been built on the 23,378 dunums of confiscated land since 1967 while another 13,300 were planned to be built. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 6 December 1994) 461. On 7 December 1994, thousands of persons converged on the Jerusalem International Convention Centre to attend an assembly on behalf of the Jewish Community in Hebron. The crowd was addressed by Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert, Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu and former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir. "We are in Hebron by right, but also by force of possession and inheritance. We will not forfeit our rights, nor the force to defend our rights", Netanyahu is reported to have stated on the occasion. (Jerusalem Post, 9 December 1994) 462. On 8 December 1994, it was reported that the Custodian for Absentees' Properties had informed the mukhtars of the village of Yassouf, near Salfit, about the confiscation of five dunums of land in the village for military purposes. The land in question was located near the Tafuh Israeli settlement. (Al-Tali'ah, 8 December 1994) 463. On 9 December 1994, it was reported that Palestinian officials had accused Israel of being behind a theft of computer diskettes and documents from the Palestinian Land Research Centre in East Jerusalem. Shukri Radida, a senior Centre official, stated that on 8 December thieves had broken down the door and ransacked the second floor office, but left behind expensive electronic equipment. They reportedly went through all the drawers and filing cabinets and took material that included studies on housing development in East Jerusalem and the administered territories as well as complaints by Palestinians against the expropriation of their land. The Jerusalem Police stated that it was too early in the investigation to point to any specific motives or suspects concerning the break-in. (Jerusalem Post, 9 December 1994) 464. On 9 December 1994, it was reported that the Mordechai Shechter Construction Company had sold 100 apartments in the Ariel settlement (West Bank) in only two weeks during the month of November, mostly to new immigrants. Dina Shalit, a spokeswoman for the Ariel settlement, noted that the demand for apartments was significant as it showed that there was confidence in the future of the community, adding that the settlement had grown by approximately 6 per cent over the past year. (Jerusalem Post, 9 December 1994) /... A/50/170 English Page 82 465. On 12 December 1994, it was reported that Khalil Tufakji, a senior official of the Palestinian Geographic Society, had charged Israel with recently expropriating 2.5 square kilometres of land from residents and the Islamic Waqf in Beit Safafa for the construction of new roads. Mr. Tufakji stated that the roads would take up the little remaining land in the neighbourhood that was left for Arab housing development. A municipal official confirmed that land from the Arab neighbourhood in south-east Jerusalem had recently been expropriated, mostly for the construction of Road No. 4, a new east-west highway. He noted, however, that the Waqf and the landowners had received compensation for the land. Palestinian officials argued that their agreeing to postpone talks on the future of Jerusalem was conditional on Israel not expropriating land for development in the city's Arab neighbourhoods. (Jerusalem Post, 12 December 1994) 466. On 13 December 1994, it was reported that the Jerusalem municipality had formulated plans for massive Jewish housing construction on land annexed in 1967 located between the new Shuafat Ridge neighbourhood and the Atarot industrial zone in northern Jerusalem. Municipal sources indicated that the plan had not yet been adopted by the City Hall, although its placement in the city records meant that it was being taken seriously. Beit Hanina Community Council Chairman, Mohamad Masri, was quoted as saying that he was not taken by surprise by the disclosure of the plan since everyone expected this to happen when Israel not only barred 6,000 dunums of land for development by the residents of Shuafat and Beit Hanina but also removed it from their jurisdiction. Mr. Masri added that the inhabitants of the two neighbourhoods were already choked on the west by Pisgat Ze'ev and that now they were going to be choked from the other side. (Jerusalem Post, 13 December 1994) 467. On 13 December 1994, the Al-Bireh municipality received a military order concerning the confiscation of hundreds of dunums of land in the eastern part of the city for military purposes. The map attached to the order indicated that a road linking two Israeli settlements was to be built on the confiscated land. The military order would only remain in effect for five years. (Al-Tali'ah, 15 December 1994) 468. On 14 December 1994, it was reported that Palestinian planning experts in East Jerusalem had vowed to push their political leaders to halt the plan of the Jerusalem Municipality for new Jewish development on lands annexed to the city after 1967. Khalil Tufakji, a member of the Palestinian Geographic Society, stated that the disclosure of the new plan again revealed Israel's true intentions. An unnamed Israeli official is reported to have told the Washington Post that according to a 1993 government master plan, 8,000 housing units were to be built in East Jerusalem and 9,000 around the city's municipal boundaries by 1997 in order to tighten Israel's grip on the City. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 14 December 1994) 469. On 14 December 1994, it was reported that the United States Administration had cut $6.2 million from its 1995 loan guarantees to Israel amounting to $216.5 million because of construction in East Jerusalem. Israeli officials stated that construction plans in Jerusalem did not violate the 1992 loan guarantee agreement concluded with the Bush Administration under which Israel undertook to limit the number of settlements. Officials claimed Israel's /... A/50/170 English Page 83 commitment did not concern the Jerusalem district, other areas indispensable for the country's security or private construction work. (Ha'aretz, 14 December 1994) 470. On 18 December 1994, it was reported that settlement leaders in the Gush Etzion area and the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza had decided to prepare a contingency plan in the event of an IDF withdrawal from Beit Lehem. The leaders indicated that if the IDF pulled out, they would move in. (Ha'aretz, 18 December 1994) 471. On 19 December 1994, Deputy Defence Minister Mordechai Gur called for increased housing construction around the Maaleh Adumim settlement in order to strengthen Israel's hold on territories just east of Jerusalem. According to Maaleh Adumim Mayor Benny Kashriel, the settlement's municipal boundaries had been increased by some 20 per cent over the previous four years as efforts had been made to expand it. The population of the settlement, which now stands at some 20,000, is expected to triple in the coming years if the Government fulfils its building plans. Currently, the Ministry of Construction and Housing was building 2,000 housing units in Maaleh Adumim while an additional neighbourhood was in the final planning stages. Mr. Kashriel asked the Prime Minister on 20 December to instruct the Ministry of Housing and Construction to prepare plans for thousands of additional housing units that would link the settlement to Jerusalem. The request referred to an area of 6,000 dunums located west of Maaleh Adumim which were annexed to it several weeks ago by OC Central Command Ilan Biran. In addition, the settlement is currently elaborating a plan which would link it administratively to Jerusalem. (Jerusalem Post, 20 December 1994, Ha'aretz, 21 December 1994) 472. On 22 December 1994, dozens of men, women and children from the village of El Khader, south of Bethlehem, physically tried to halt ground work on a new neighbourhood in the Efrat settlement. The demonstrators, who claimed that they were in possession of documentation showing that the land was theirs, sat down in front of the bulldozers. They said that the Government had decided to expropriate 500 dunums of land without informing them, thus preventing them from lodging an appeal against the decision. The Arab machine operators refused to continue working. The army was called in and some demonstrators and journalists were forcefully evacuated from the site, which was declared a closed military zone. Settlers replaced the Arab machine workers and the digging resumed in the afternoon. Some 500 housing units are planned to be built in the new neighbourhood, which is to be known as Givat Hatamar, and Civil Administration officials indicated that they had already been sold. Yinon Ahiman, the head of the Efrat Local Council, stated that additional housing units would be built to link the new neighbourhood to the rest of Efrat. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 23 December 1994) 473. On 23 December 1994, several hundred Palestinians from El Khader village (several dozen according to Ha'aretz) went to the site north of Efrat and tried to keep bulldozers from clearing the land for a new neighbourhood in the settlement in which some 500 housing units were to be constructed. IDF troops were called in and two persons were arrested. Villagers reported that some demonstrators were beaten by the soldiers and that one person needed medical treatment. The villagers reiterated that they had owned the land for several /... A/50/170 English Page 84 hundred years. The head of the Efrat Local Council, Yinon Ahiman, dismissed the claim, saying that the land had been purchased from the Israel Land Administration for the sum of NIS 2.5 million and that work on the neighbourhood would continue. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 25 December 1994) 474. On 24 December 1994, the Palestinian Authority called for the Security Council to convene an emergency session to discuss the expansion of settlements and the expropriation of Arab-owned land in the occupied territories. The Authority also urged the United States and the Russia Federation to pressure Israel into halting its policy of settlement expansion and land confiscation. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 25 December 1994) 475. On 25 December 1994, the Palestinian Authority Information Minister, Yasser Abed Rabbo, declared that the Palestinians would halt the peace process if Israel went ahead with the building of the new neighbourhood in the Efrat settlement or with any other development plans in the administered territories and East Jerusalem. Mr. Rabbo was speaking at a protest march in Beit Sahur against the project at Har Homa where work was scheduled to begin soon, following a rejection by the High Court of Justice of a petition claiming that the land had been confiscated illegally. (Jerusalem Post, 26 December 1994) 476. On 25 December 1994, villagers from El Khader planted olive saplings on the hillside opposite the Efrat settlement and waved ownership papers in front of soldiers who flashed their own papers declaring the area was a closed military zone. Residents explained that in 1967 Jordanians began registering the disputed hill in the names of individual families but that, unfortunately, there was insufficient time to complete the registration owing to the outbreak of the war in June. Later on, the Civil Administration declared most of the area unregistered state land, although it had issued certificates of ownership to some individuals. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 26 December 1994) 477. On 26 December 1994, the Civil Administration issued an eviction order against the residents of El Khader who had encamped at the site of a planned neighbourhood to be added to the Efrat settlement. Dozens of villagers (300 according to Ha'aretz) went to the site in the evening and vowed to resist bodily any attempt for the land to be bulldozed. The El Khader Committee representing the villagers is reported to have issued a statement saying that they had all the legal documents, which showed their ownership of the area before the establishment of the State of Israel. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 27 December 1994) 478. On 27 December 1994, 54 people were arrested during confrontations between security forces and protesters who gathered on the hill midway between El Khader and Efrat. Among those arrested were 13 left-wing Israeli activists (15 according to Ha'aretz). Eight women who were arrested were released from custody in the evening. Four persons were slightly injured according to police spokesmen. The confrontation began at 9 a.m., when dozens of soldiers and policemen were given the order to remove several hundred persons from the hill, many of whom had slept there the previous night. Within 10 minutes, the security forces, including women soldiers who were charged with dragging away the female demonstrators, had cleared the hill, declaring it a closed military zone. The demonstrators, who offered passive resistance, were beaten, dragged /... A/50/170 English Page 85 and pulled away screaming. Demonstrators who were not arrested were pushed down the slope of the hill facing El Khader. About an hour after the hill was cleared, two bulldozers began clearing the land. A second round of confrontations was triggered off when Civil Administration workers began driving away trailers filled with olive-tree saplings, which the villagers had planted at the site on 25 December. Among those involved in the scuffle was Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian Authority Minister for Local Government. Mr. Erekat stated that he had been hit and thrown to the ground by Israeli soldiers. Cmdr. Alec Ron, head of the Judea and Samaria police district, indicated that Erekat had kicked a police officer. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 28 December 1994) 479. On 27 December 1994, a government source stated that Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres had agreed in the evening to reevaluate the expansion of Efrat following a day of confrontation between security forces and the residents of El Khader and their supporters. (Jerusalem Post, 28 December 1994) 480. On 27 December 1994, it was reported that Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert had continued to push the Government to approve the construction of a beltway around the eastern part of the capital in order to ease Jerusalem's traffic problems and strengthen Israel's control of the City. Mr. Olmert had vowed to push the Government to fund the construction of the eastern beltway and had lobbied several ministers on the matter although the project involved lands in East Jerusalem and in the territories. (Jerusalem Post, 27 December 1994) 481. On 28 December 1994, five bulldozers continued land clearing work on Baaten al Maasi/Givat Tamar, the hill disputed between the inhabitants of El Khader village and the Efrat settlement. Hundreds of villagers and their supporters staged a demonstration aiming to stop the construction of a new neighbourhood of Efrat and dozens remained to sleep there. Settlement leaders said work would continue around the clock on the initial groundwork for the new neighbourhood, Givat Tamar, in an effort to put facts on the ground that the Government would find difficult to reverse. In a bid to decrease the tension, it was reported that Foreign Minister Shimon Peres spoke twice with the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat, reportedly stating that building the neighbourhood was neither pressing nor useful. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 29 December 1994) 482. On 28 December 1994, it was reported that the IDF had spent a total of NIS 120 million to protect settlements in the territories (NIS 100 million in the West Bank and NIS 20 million in Gaza). Settlements were equipped with fences, electrical gates, armories, army vehicles, beepers, central public address systems and sophisticated communication systems. It was also reported that Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin had rejected the Central Command's NIS 1.1 billion road construction scheme but that he had partially accepted another plan that would cost NIS 300 million, which envisaged the construction of only four by-pass roads. (Ha'aretz, 28 December 1994) 483. On 29 December 1994, it was reported that Civil Administration workers had uprooted 1,000 olive tree saplings in the vicinity of the Al Lavad village located south of Tulkarm. The Civil Administration indicated that the uprooting /... A/50/170 English Page 86 was carried out within the framework of the prevention of appropriation of state-owned lands. The villagers claimed, however, that the saplings had been planted on a patch of privately owned land whose surface was 250 dunums. (Ha'aretz, 29 December 1994) 484. On 29 December 1994, the High Court of Justice rejected a petition by residents of El Khader for an immediate injunction to halt building work on the disputed hill between their village and Efrat. Justice Dov Levin postponed the hearing for the following week, saying that it should be heard by three justices and include the response of the settlers. It was further reported that OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Ilan Biran had prohibited any demonstrations on the hill in the name of public order and security considerations. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 30 December 1994) 485. On 30 December 1994, 6 soldiers, a policeman and 12 Palestinians (10 according to the Jerusalem Post) were slightly wounded in a violent clash between the villagers of El Khader and the IDF. Twenty-two Israelis and four Palestinians were arrested. They were all released on NIS 5,000 bail by the evening. Soldiers are reported to have pushed and occasionally hit and kicked the protesters. Dr. Ahmad Tibi, an adviser to Yasser Arafat, described the behaviour of some of the policemen as brutal and shameful. He accused the heads of the security forces at the site of heating the atmosphere. MK A-Sa'ana said that he had filed a complaint against a military policeman who was seen beating villagers, including women, with great force. Cmdr. Alec Ron, head of the Judea and Samaria police district, stated, however, that the security forces exercised extreme self-restraint. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 1 January 1995) 486. On 31 December 1994, dozens of Efrat settlement residents took a "Shabbat stroll" towards El Khader, about 1.5 kilometres from the northernmost point of the settlement, but were stopped by IDF soldiers from proceeding to the hill itself. Dozens of Peace Now supporters blocked traffic at the army roadblock near Gilo, after the High Court of Justice had rejected their petition against an IDF ban on demonstrations at the disputed hill. It was further reported that members of the Palestinian Authority threatened to cut off peace talks with Israel over the construction of the settlement. (Jerusalem Post, 1 January 1995) 487. On 31 December 1994, villagers from El Labad near Tulkarm staged a demonstration in protest against the confiscation of 200 dunums of land from their village for the extension of the nearby Avne Hefetz settlement. In addition, it was reported that villagers from Husan and Rashaida located southwest of Bethlehem had reported that bulldozers were ploughing up confiscated land for a new road and had uprooted more than 2,000 fruit trees on the expropriated land. (Ha'aretz, 1 January 1995) 488. On 31 December 1994, the Palestinian Authority instructed its ambassador to the United Nations to call for an emergency meeting of the Security Council to discuss Israel's settlement and expropriation policy in the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority also decided to launch a campaign to plant tens of thousands of trees in lands Israel designated for confiscation in the West Bank. (Ha'aretz, 1 January 1995) /... A/50/170 English Page 87 F. Information concerning the occupied Syrian Arab Golan 489. On 3 September 1994, a survey revealed that 64 per cent of Israelis supported at least a partial withdrawal from the Golan Heights in exchange for peace with the Syrian Arab Republic. The survey, commissioned by Israel Radio and conducted by researchers from Haifa University, polled 853 Israelis. (Jerusalem Post, 4 September 1994) 490. On 8 September 1994, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin outlined for the first time to the Cabinet a plan for a limited pullout from the Golan Heights. The pullout, which was to last three years, would test the prospects for peace with the Syrian Arab Republic. (Jerusalem Post, 9 September 1994) 491. On 11 September 1994, nine Golan Heights activists began an indefinite hunger strike to save the Golan. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 12 September 1994) 492. On 18 September 1994, it was reported that 13 persons were on a hunger strike at a protest tent site overlooking Gamla on the Golan Heights. (Jerusalem Post, 18 September 1994) 493. On 21 September 1994, tens of thousands of visitors continued to visit the hunger strikers at Gamla, with a long convoy of buses and cars seen on the Golan Heights roads on their way there. To date, some 50,000 people have visited the 15 hunger strikers. (Jerusalem Post, 22 September 1994) 494. On 28 September 1994, more than 700 people took part in a 24-hour fast at the Gamla protest tent site in solidarity with the Golan activists who had been on a hunger strike for nearly three weeks. (Jerusalem Post, 29 September 1994) 495. On 29 September 1994, Golan activists who were on a hunger strike ended their fast at the Gamla protest tent site on their nineteenth day without food. More than 6,000 people attended a mass meeting at the Gamla site to hear about the next stages in the campaign, known as "Oz 94", the aim of which is to keep the Golan under Israeli rule. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 30 September 1994) 496. On 7 October 1994, according to a Gallup poll conducted this week for the Jerusalem Post, 57 per cent of Israelis would oppose a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights in exchange for full peace with the Syrian Arab Republic. The poll, conducted by phone, encompassed a larger-than-usual sample of 607 Israelis. (Jerusalem Post, 7 October 1994) 497. On 2 November 1994, it was reported that 40 Druze dignitaries from villages on the Golan Heights had crossed the border into Lebanon. This was the third group of sheikhs to visit the Syrian Arab Republic on pilgrimage to the tomb of the Druze prophet Naveh Habil near Damascus. Agreements concerning visits by the Golan Heights Druze for religious purposes were worked out several months ago by the Israeli and Syrian authorities, under the auspices of ICRC and the United Nations forces in the region. (Jerusalem Post, 2 November 1994) 498. On 11 November 1994, it was reported that Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin had expressed his opposition to the deployment of a United States combat force on the Golan Heights since he believed that such a force would limit Israel's /... A/50/170 English Page 88 ability to respond in the event of an attack by the Syrian Arab Republic. Mr. Rabin reportedly favoured the deployment of non-combat monitors, as was the case in the Sinai. On the other hand, opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu stated that no other force than the IDF could or should be asked to assume the task of defending Israel. (Jerusalem Post, 11 November 1994) 499. On 17 November 1994, it was reported that a three-member delegation from the Golan Residents Committee went on a tour of Jewish communities in the United States with the objective of obtaining moral and financial support for a campaign to keep the Golan under Israeli sovereignty. In the meantime, more than 200 mostly Soviet immigrants living in Katzrin signed a petition calling on Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin not to take away their homeland. (Jerusalem Post, 17 November 1994) 500. On 18 December 1994, it was reported that American Jewish communities were helping to finance a public relations campaign of the Golan Heights Residents Committee during which the residents of the Golan Heights would visit cities, towns and villages throughout the United States in order to gain public support for keeping the region under Israeli rule. (Jerusalem Post, 18 December 1994) 501. On 22 December 1994, Golan leaders toured settlements in Judea and Samaria in what was widely viewed as an indication that the two groups were coming closer to forming a joint front against the Government. The Golan leaders said they had to learn a lot from the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza on how to fight the Government's plans to cede the land on which they live. (Jerusalem Post, 23 December 1994) 502. On 24 December 1994, a senior diplomatic source reported that the Chief of General Staff, Lt.-Gen. Ehud Barak and his Syrian counterpart, Gen. Hikmat Shihabi, had discussed in Washington the main principles of a possible security arrangement between the two countries, including the mutual demilitarization of areas on the Golan Heights. The Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Itamar Rabinovich, and Syrian Ambassador Walid Mualem, also attended parts of the meeting. (Jerusalem Post, 25 December 1994) 503. On 25 December 1994, it was reported that a number of unidentified senior IDF reserve officers had vowed to help settlers in the Golan Heights to protect their homes and resist any evacuation attempt that might take place under a future peace agreement with the Syrian Arab Republic. (Ha'aretz, 25 December 1994) -----