Kim Bullimore
Since June 25, when the Israeli assault on Gaza began, at least 263 Palestinians have been killed, including 51 children and 12 women. In the past three months nearly 1000 Palestinians have been injured by Israel military attacks, including 277 children.
According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), Israel has carried out at least 253 air-to-surface missile attacks on Gaza and has fired hundreds of artillery shells into the densely populated territory.
Israel, which "disengaged" from Gaza last year, has once again taken control of the Rafah and Karni border crossings, preventing not only European observers from entering Gaza but also ensuring that much needed food and other vital supplies are not able to pass through Karni from Israel. Israel has also continued to bulldoze house and agricultural land, and restrict fishing.
According to the PCHR, 35,000 people in and around Gaza's coastal communities rely on the fishing industry. In contravention of the 1993 Oslo Accords, which allow for fishing out to 20 nautical miles of the Gaza coastline, Israel has imposed a 9nm limit and has fired on Palestinian fishing boats to enforce this limit.
In the week after September 7, Israeli forces carried out 35 raids into Gaza and the West Bank, arresting 55 civilians, including two children and three women.
On September 20, Israel forces conducted raids on Palestinian banks and financial institutes in Ramallah, Nablus, Tulkarem and Jenin confiscating more than US$1.3 millions (6 million shekels). In Nablus, money was taken from the National Jordanian Bank and three money exchanges, while in Tulkarem, cash was confiscated from three money exchanges.
According to Israel's Haaretz daily, Israeli occupation forces justified the raids as targeting "funds that serve terrorism and the terrorist infrastructure".
The PCHR ridiculed this claim, noting that all financial transactions in to the West Bank from abroad are supervised by the Israeli occupiers. The PCHR described the confiscations as Israeli military "piracy" and "a form of collective punishment" of the Palestinian people.