OCHA: Israel imposes collective punishment against Palestinians

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the Israeli occupation forces are imposing a collective punishment against Palestinians, after four Israelis have been killed in a shooting in Tel Aviv.

In its Protection of Civilians Weekly Report, covering the period from June 7-13, Israeli forces destroyed the family home of a 15 year-old Palestinian boy, currently being prosecuted for the stabbing and killing of an Israeli woman. Six people, including a child, were displaced as a result.

Since the resumption of this practice in July 2014, the Israeli authorities demolished or sealed 48 homes on punitive grounds, displacing 288 people, including 133 children.

OCHA said the Israeli forces, following the attack, closed-off all entrances to Yatta for three days, preventing all movement to and from the town, except for humanitarian cases coordinated in advance.

In the same context, the Israeli authorities suspended over 83,000 permits issued to West Bank Palestinians and to a few hundreds of Gaza residents on the occasion of the month of Ramadan, the report said.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern that the cancellation of the permits may amount to collective punishment.

Additionally, from June 10 to 12, on the occasion of a Jewish holiday (Shavuot), the Israeli authorities imposed a closure on the West Bank and Gaza preventing permit holders from entering Israel and East Al Quds, except for humanitarian workers, staff of international organizations and holders of family unification permits, it added.

In a search operation in Qalqiliya city, Israeli forces shot flares that set on fire and damaged at least 50 olive trees, the report elaborated.

In total, Israeli forces conducted 87 search and arrest operations and arrested 128 Palestinians in the West Bank including East Al Quds; approximately 30 percent of the detainees were from Al Khalil.

Source : MENA