Palestinian bodies following Beit Hanoun shelling (archive photo)
Photo: AFP
Report: Israel killed 660 Palestinians in 2006
B'Tselem says 205 of those killed did not participate in fighting, 405 Palestinians killed by IDF in Gaza alone since capture of Cpl. Gilad Shalit
B'Tselem - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories – published a report Thursday according to which 405 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip alone since the capture of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, including 88 minors. Of these, the report said, 205 did not participate in the fighting when killed.
According to B'Tselem's research, from January to December 27, 2006, Israeli security forces killed a total of 660 Palestinians in the West Bank and in Israel.
Spokesperson Sarit Michaeli told Ynet that the organization investigates each Palestinian death by IDF fire. “On November 22 a 42-year-old Palestinian woman was killed, and the investigation we conducted found that she was in no way involved in the fighting,” she said.
“She was struck just 15 minutes after a Qassam rocket was fired toward Israel. The launching apparently took place near her home; she just stood by the window and was killed by a missile.”
'Hundreds of physical obstacles'
The report said Palestinians killed 17 Israeli civilians in 2006, down from 41 in 2005. In addition, Palestinians killed 6 members of the Israeli security forces.
The B’Tselem report said that in 2006 Israel demolished 292 houses during military operations in Palestinian territory, 279 of them in the Gaza Strip. These were home to 1,769 people, the report said, adding that some 80 of these demolitions were conducted after the home-owners received advance warning to the demolition. In addition, Israel demolished 42 homes in East Jerusalem that were built without a permit. These were home to about 80 people, B’tselem said.
According to the data published by B’Tselem, Israel currently maintains 54 permanent checkpoints ‘deep in the West Bank,’ staffed most of the time. Twelve other checkpoints are within the city of Hebron, the report said.
B’Tselem further stated that “In addition to the checkpoints, the Israeli military has erected hundreds of physical obstacles such as concrete blocks, dirt piles and trenches to restrict access to Palestinian communities.”
