NCJ Number
189864
Date Published
April 2001
Length
155 pages
Annotation
This report explained both the obligations of human rights and international humanitarian law and documentation of human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law between the Palestinians and Israelis in the city of Hebron since late 2000.
Abstract
The West Bank city of Hebron has been a long time area of conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis and also, a scene of widespread human rights abuses with the renewal of violent clashes in September 2000. Hebron is the only major Palestinian city in the West Bank that remains under the direct control of the Israel Defense Force (IDF). Hebron is a Palestinian city home to about 120,000 Palestinians with a substantial presence of Israeli settlers. This report set out to describe the human rights obligations for both the Palestinians and Israelis and documented human rights violations, as well as violations of international humanitarian law committed since violent clashes resumed in late 2000. To obtain information for this report, more than 180 in-depth interviews were conducted with victims and witnesses to human rights abuses, Israeli and Palestinian officials, ambulance drivers, teachers, journalists, international observers, Israeli settler representatives, and representatives from local Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups. Human Rights Watch researchers visited the scene of many of the violations documented in this report, supplementing eyewitness testimonies with physical observations to the extent possible. The report was broken down into five sections. The first, described the obligations of Israel and Palestinian authority under international law. The following four described Israeli and Palestinian human rights violations that included: (1) excessive IDF force at clashes, unlawful killings and shootings, and assassinations; (2) Palestinian attacks on settlers and settlements and disproportionate IDF response; (3) settler attacks and the lack of an IDF response; and (4) the impact of curfews, closures, and blockades. Several recommendations were provided for both the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the prevention of further human rights violations. Appendix A and B