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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Children's deaths in 1996
Children whose death was caused directly by the Israeli
occupation troops, mainly through live ammunition
Children whose death was caused by oppressive Israeli measures
Children whose death was caused by Israeli settlers
Children killed as a result of explosions of land mines
Children's injuries during 1996
Children whose injuries were caused by the Israeli occupation
troops
Children whose injuries were caused by settler's attacks
Other attacks
The destruction of the office of DCI/-PS in Hebron (Rehabilitation
and Counselling of Children Ex-prisoners' Programme)
The destruction of property and the closure of Al-Nahda Islamic
school.
The destruction of property and the closure of Al-iman
kindergarten
The suffering of Qurtuba girls elementary school
The attack on 'Omar Bin Abd Al-Azeez school
The suffering of Da'na family
Attacks on Palestinian farmers
The opening of the Western Wall Tunnel and its aftermath
Children in detention
Separation of children political prisoners from adult prisoners
Major problems of Palestinian children in Israeli prisons
The impact of the closure on Palestinian children during 1996
On the health level
On the educational level
On the economic level
Conclusions
Introduction
This report, prepared by Defence for Children International -
Palestine Section (DCI-PS), deals with the violations of the rights
of Palestinian children by Israel during 1996. By issuing this
report, DC I-PS aims at shedding light on the political and other
conditions under which Palestinian children live. It is hoped that
this report will be a contribution by DCI-PS to create a better
understanding of the violations of human rights committed by the
Israeli occupation authorities against Palestinian children during
1996. It is also hoped that this report will facilitate local and
international efforts to bring the Israeli violations of the rights
Palestinian children to an end, so that they may have the chance
to live a normal life, free from violence and fears, and to establish
the necessary conditions for their healthy growth and
development.
Despite the positive expectations and hopes which accompanied
the peace process, that the difficult situation of Palestinian
children might change, data and evidence available point to
exactly the opposite. It is well known that Palestinian children
have been living under harsh conditions since the 1967
occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (including
Jerusalem), especially during the Intifada. The year 1996
witnessed a continuation of the incidents and violent
development that took place during 1995. The case is so due to
the fact that Israel has not respected its commitment to peace,
nor has it implemented the provisions of the Israel-PLO
agreements signed during 1995 and prior to that. Examples of
such provisions include the re-deployment in Area B, the release
of prisoners, the halting of the settlement policy and land
confiscation, the re-deployment in Hebron on time', the opening
of the safe passage between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip
and others.
In addition, the Israeli forces are still in control of not less than
90% of the area of the West Bank (including Jerusalem). Despite
the handing over to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) of
powers and responsibilities in civil spheres in main West Bank
towns and villages, yet, the Israeli right-wing government, which
came to power in the 1996 elections, brought the peace process
to a de facto halt by the taking of actions which contradict the
signed agreements and the spirit of peace. Such actions include
the expansion of settlements, the building of new ones, the
irritating action of opening a tunnel below the Western Wall, an
act which Was followed by a wave violence, and the repeated
and extended closures of the occupied territories. All this shows
the hidden intentions of the Israeli government and its lack of
commitment to achieve a just peace.
As far as Palestinian children are concerned, the Israeli
government continued its repression against them and violated
their very basic Political, legal and other human rights. During
1996, especially during the second half after the right-wing
government took Power in Israel, 27 Palestinian children were
killed and 135 others suffered a wide range of injuries. This
number of deaths and injuries resulted either from confrontations
with Israeli occupation troops or
attacks perpetuated against Palestinian children by the Israeli
Soldiers or settlers. In addition, Israel has also refrained from
implementing Provisions of the 1995 Interim Agreement related
to the release of all Political prisoners. The released Prisoners
included those who were about to complete their Periods of
imprisonment. Furthermore, throughout 1996, the Israeli
authorities carried several arrest campaigns It is estimated that
by the end of 1996, about 250 Palestinian children are being
detained by Israel.
At the end of this introduction, DCI-PS would like to Point out that
the difficulties encountered by its staff while documenting the
violations dealt with in this report were tremendous. In addition
to cases which DCI/PS followed directly this report is based on,
inter ailia, information Published in local press or available to
other organisation Therefore, this report does not necessarily
represent an account of all violations of Palestinian children's
rights committed by Israeli occupation troops or Israeli settlers,
rather it tries to bring to the reader's attention Palestinian
examples of serious violations of the basic human rights of
children which were committed by Israel during 1996.