During the reporting period, 7 Palestinian civilians, including two children and a journalist, were wounded by IOF in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

In the West Bank, IOF used force against peaceful demonstrations organized by Palestinian civilians and international and Israeli human rights defenders in protest of the construction of the Wall and settlement activities. At least 6 Palestinian civilians, including two children and a journalist, were wounded, and others sustained bruises or suffered from tear gas inhalation. 

In the Gaza Strip, on 02 May 2010, a Palestinian civilian was wounded when IOF moved into the northern Gaza Strip and fired at a number of Palestinian workers who were collecting bricks and construction aggregate. 

During the reporting period, Israeli gunboats fired at Palestinian fishing boats in the northern Gaza Strip. No casualties were reported.

On 04 May 2010, Israeli troops stationed in the vicinity of Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing in the northern Gaza Strip fired sporadically for two hours at Ahmed 'Ouda Abu Shallouf, 42, and Fareed Mohammed Sha'ban, who were stranded at the crossing and protesting their deportation to the Gaza Strip. The two Palestinians demanded that IOF allow them to return to the Israeli town of Be'r al-Saba' in order to join their families there.

During the reporting period, IOF conducted at least 23 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank.  IOF arrested 31 Palestinian civilians, including 4 children. They also arrested 3 journalists, one of them an Irish citizen, and two human rights defenders.  In the Gaza Strip, IOF conducted one limited incursion into the northern Gaza Strip and fired at a number of Palestinian workers who were collecting bricks and construction aggregate. 

IOF have continued to impose a tightened siege on the OPT and imposed severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem.

Gaza Strip

Israel has continuously closed all border crossings to the Gaza Strip for over two and a half years. The illegal Israeli-imposed siege of Gaza, which has steadily tightened since June 2007, has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza Strip.

• On Friday, 01 January 2010, IOF decided to close Nahal Ouz crossing permanently, and to allow the entry of fuels through Karm Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing, southeast of Rafah, claiming security reasons. 

• 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights, including freedom of movement, and their rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education.

• The main concern of the population of the Gaza Strip is to obtain their basic needs of food, medicines, water and electricity supplies.

• Israel has continued to prevent the entry of raw construction materials into the Gaza Strip for more than two and a half years.

• Israel has not allowed fuel supplies into the Gaza Strip, excluding limited amounts of cooking gas and energy fuel for Gaza Power Plant, since 10 December 2008.

• The Rafah International Crossing Point has been opened for a few days for a number of patients who received medical treatment abroad and needed to return home to the Gaza Strip.

• Israel had continued to close Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing to Palestinian civilians wishing to travel to the West Bank and Israeli for medical treatment, trade or social visits.

• Israel has imposed additional restrictions on access of international diplomats, journalists and humanitarian workers to the Gaza Strip. They have prevented representatives of several international humanitarian organizations from entering the Gaza Strip.

• Living conditions of the Palestinian civilian population have seriously deteriorated; levels of poverty and unemployment have mounted sharply.

• At least 800 Gazan prisoners in Israeli jails have been deprived of family visitation for more than two and a half years. 

• IOF have continued to attack Palestinian fishermen along the coast of the Gaza Strip.

West Bank

IOF have continued to impose severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians throughout the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Thousands of Palestinian civilians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip continue to be denied access to Jerusalem.

• IOF have established checkpoints in and around Jerusalem, severely restricting Palestinian access to the city. Civilians are frequently prevented from praying at al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

• There are approximately 630 permanent roadblocks, manned and unmanned checkpoints across the West Bank. In addition, there are some 60 - 80 ‘flying’ or temporary checkpoints erected across the West Bank by IOF every week.

• When complete, the illegal Annexation Wall will stretch for 724 kilometers around the West Bank, further isolating the entire population. 350 kilometers of the Wall have already been constructed. Approximately 99% of the Wall has been constructed inside the West Bank itself, further confiscating Palestinian land.

• At least 65% of the main roads that lead to 18 Palestinian communities in the West Bank are closed or fully controlled by IOF (47 out of 72 roads).

• There are around 500 kilometers of restricted roads across the West Bank. In addition, approximately one third of the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, is inaccessible to Palestinians without a permit issued by the IOF. These permits are extremely difficult to obtain.

• IOF continue to harass, and assault demonstrators who hold peaceful protests against the construction of the Annexation Wall.

• Palestinian civilians continue to be harassed by IOF in Jerusalem, and across the West Bank, including being regularly stopped and searched in the streets by IOF.

• During the reporting period, Israeli troop stationed at military checkpoints in the West Bank arrested 8 Palestinian civilians, including a child and a woman.

IOF have continued to construct the annexation wall inside West Bank territory. For this purpose, they demolished a house in al-Khader village, southwest of Bethlehem, and ordered the demolition of a number of civilian facilities in Ethna village, west of Hebron.

Measures Aimed at Creating a Jewish Demographic Majority in Jerusalem: IOF have continued to take measures aiming at creating a Jewish demographic majority in Jerusalem. In this context, on 02 May 2010, dozens of Israeli settlers, escorted by IOF, took over a house belonging to 'Ali Ibrahim Salah in Beit Safafa village, south of Jerusalem. They also engaged in disruptive behavior in the area until 21:00. Israeli troops were deployed to the area in order to protect the settlers. It is worth noting that Salah's family had been forced to evacuate their home to make room for Israeli settlers the previous week, following an Israeli court ruling issued on 15 December 2009 which ruled the house would have to be within 120 days. The Israeli High Court claimed that the house and the land on which it is built belong to a number of Israeli settlers, headed by Yitzhak Hershkowitz who lives in "Kiryat Arba" settlement and orchestrates a campaign to expel Palestinians from the area to establish a new settlement outpost.

Settlement Activities: Israel has continued its settlement activities and Israeli settlers living in the OPT in violation of international humanitarian law have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.  

On 29 April 2010, at least 40 Israeli settlers from "Yits'har" settlement, south of Nablus, stormed the western part of Hawara village, south of the city. They threw stones at the municipal park and at 3 uninhabited houses, damaging them. In the meantime, IOF were patrolling in the streets of the village, providing protection for settlers.  On 30 April 2010, a number of Israeli settlers from "Givat Gilad" settlement, which was constructed on lands belonging to Kufor Qaddoum village, east of Qalqilya, uprooted at least 30 olive trees. On 04 May 2010, at least 40 Israeli settlers from "Yits'har" settlement, south of Nablus, stormed al-Naqar area in the west of Hawara village. They set fire to a tract of agricultural land belonging to Mohammed Taha Dmaidi. As a result, 20 olive trees were burnt.