PCHR weekly report 13/5 - 19/5/2010: 1 elderly Palestinian civilian killed, 1 injured

extract from PCHR weekly report 13/5 - 19/5/2010

 IOF continued to fire at Palestinian farmers and workers in border areas of the Gaza Strip.

Friday, 14 May 2010

In the morning, Israeli troops stationed at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel to the east of Jabalya town shot dead an elderly Palestinian man when he approached the border.
According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 10:00, Fu'ad Ahmed Yousef Abu Matar, 76, from Beit Lahia town, left his house. By 19:00, he had not returned back home, so his family began looking for him. On Saturday morning, 15 May 2010, his family was informed that his body had been found near the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel to the east of Jabalya town. At approximately 12:25, his body was transported to Kamal 'Edwan Hospital in Beit Lahia. According to medical sources, the victim was hit by several heavy gunshots to the back, the shoulders and the limbs. The time of his death was estimated to have been at least 12 hours before the arrival of his body at the hospital. According to the victim's son, his father did not suffer from any mental or psychological disorder. He assumed that his father had gone to the eastern cemetery, 500 meters from the border, to visit his grandfather's grave. He could did not know why exactly his father got close so close to the border. 

Saturday, 15 May 2010 

At approximately 08:00, Israeli troops stationed at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, to the east of the Bedouin Village, opened fire at a number of Palestinian workers who were gathering bricks and construction aggregate from the site, on which the Israeli settlements "Elli Sinai" and "Nissanit" stood before their evacuation in 2005. As a result, Mohammed Mahmoud Abu Warda, 23, from al-Twam area in the northern Gaza Strip, was wounded by a gunshot to the right foot and shrapnel to the left foot.

Monday, 17 May 2010 

At approximately 09:00, IOF moved approximately 300 meters into the east of al-Qarara village, east of Khan Yunis. They leveled areas of Palestinian land and withdrew from the area at approximately 16:00. 

Tuesday, 18 May 2010 

 At approximately 10:30, IOF moved approximately 300 meters into the east of al-Qarara village, east of Khan Yunis. They leveled areas of Palestinian land and withdrew from the area at approximately 17:30. 

At approximately 11:15, at least 170 Palestinian civilians and international solidarity activists, including a number of journalists, gathered near al-Shaimaa' School in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahia. They traveled in 3 buses towards a site where "Elli Sinai" settlement was located before the evacuation of Israeli settlements from the Gaza Strip. The site is approximately 700 meters from Gaza's border with Israel. The group then moved forward until they arrived in an area approximately 30 meters from the border, protesting against the establishment of a buffer zone along the border. They attempted to raise the Palestinian flag at the border. Immediately, Israeli troops fired at them. No casualties were reported.