The effects of Israeli violations during the second uprising "intifada" on Palestinian health conditions.

• Date: 22 September 2002
• Author: Dr. Jamjoum, Lama
• Published date: 22 September 2002
• Author: Dr. Jamjoum, Lama

Introduction

THIS ARTICLE DOCUMENTS ISRAELI VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS and humanitarian law during the second intifada, and their effects on the health situation of more than three million Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The document covers a 19-month period starting with the eruption of the intifada on September 28, 2000, through April2002. The article is based on reports of such violations documented by numerous international, Israeli, and Palestinian health and human rights organizations operating in the field. The ultimate goal of this report is to present the facts, in the hope that the international community will work toward implementing international legitimacy and preventing such violations in the future.

Background

With the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 on 78% of historic Palestine, 385 Palestinian villages were destroyed and over 700,000 Palestinians were expelled to neighboring states. Following that, the West Bank and East Jerusalem came under Jordanian administration, and the Gaza Strip came under Egyptian administration. In 1967, Israel began a military occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. Figure 1 (located at the end of the article) depicts territories occupied by Israel since June 1967 (U.N. Cartographic Unit, 1991). Twenty years later, the first intifada -- the Palestinian grassroots movement to resist Israeli occupation -- erupted.

International efforts aiming to resolve the conflict brought an end to the intfada with the signing of the Interim Oslo Agreements and the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority in 1994. According to the Oslo Agreements, the final status talks between Palestinians and Israelis should have started no later than May 1996 and reached an end to the conflict based on U.N. resolutions 242 and 338 no later than May 1999. As Figure 2 shows, the Oslo Agreements have resulted in the division of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to three kinds of areas: area A (under Palestinian security and civilian authority), area B (under Israeli security authority and Palestinian civilian authority), and area C (under Israeli security and civilian authority). Although a high percentage of the population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip lives in areas A and B, it is noteworthy that there is no territorial integrity between these areas. A Palestinian who resides in a city or village in areas A or B would need to pass through a rea C to commute to another village or city in areas A or B. The West Bank is completely cut off from East Jerusalem, which remains under complete Israeli control. Additionally, Israel still controls all the borders with the outside world, including borders with Jordan and Egypt (B'Tselem, 2001a).

The second intifada started on September 28, 2000, two months following a deadlock in the Camp David negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis on final status issues including refugees, Jerusalem, borders, and settlements. Israeli violations intensified dramatically during the Israeli reoccupation of the Palestinian-controlled refugee camps and towns in the West Bank, which started early in March 2002 and lasted for several weeks. Over 20,000 Israeli soldiers, accompanied by tanks, Apache helicopters, and F-16 warplanes, have attacked the most populous residential areas of the West Bank. The Israeli army pronounced their areas of operation to be closed military zones and ordered foreign and local media to evacuate these areas. Those who chose to stay did so under their personal responsibility. Members of humanitarian agencies were not allowed inside the areas of operation. Preliminary reports from international humanitarian organizations indicate that severe violations of humanitarian laws were committed during this period, resulting in a humanitarian crisis for Palestinian civilians. Israel's reoccupation of Palestinian-controlled areas continued in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolutions 1402, 1403, and 1405, which called for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian cities recently reoccupied (U.N., 2002). According to David Holley, an independent military expert, and one of Amnesty International's (2002) delegates:

The military operations we have investigated appear to be carried out not for military purposes but instead to harass, humiliate, intimidate, and harm the Palestinian population. Either the Israeli army is extremely ill-disciplined or it has been ordered to carry out acts which violate the laws of war.

International efforts to send a U.N. fact-finding mission into the West Bank Jenin refugee camp have failed due to Israel's refusal to allow such a mission. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson (2002), stated in a press conference on May 7, 2002: "I think it's very regrettable that Israel doesn't accept a fact-finding mission which was supported by the U.N. Security Council." She added, "If there is no accountability, this will undermine the integrity of the human rights system and will reinforce a sense of double standards."

It is important to note that Israeli violations of human rights and humanitarian law documented during the second intifada are taking place over and above the Israeli defiance of several U.N. resolutions regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, some of which are more than 50 years old. The following is a partial list of these resolutions (U.N., 2002):

* U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194 (December 11, 1948): "...Resolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible...."

* U.N. General Assembly Resolution 303 (December 9, 1949): "...the City of Jerusalem shall be established as a corpus separatum under a special international regime and shall be administered by the United Nations...."

* U.N. Security Council Resolution 242 (November 22, 1967) called for: "...withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict...."

* U.N. General Assembly Resolution 2649 (November 30, 1970): "...Affirms the legitimacy of the struggle of peoples under colonial and alien domination recognized as being entitled to the right of self-determination to restore to themselves that right by any means at their disposal..." and "...condemns those Governments that deny the right to self-determination of peoples recognized as being entitled to it, especially of the peoples of southern Africa and Palestine...."

* U.N. Security Council Resolution 338 (October 22, 1973): called for the implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242.

* U.N. Security Council Resolution 452 (July 20, 1979): "...Calls upon the Government and people of Israel to cease, on an urgent basis, the establishment, construction, and planning of settlements in the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem...."

Israeli Violations of International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law

Israeli violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the second intifada that have an impact on Palestinian health conditions are grouped in three main categories: (1) disrespect for the principle of medical neutrality; (2) the use of collective punishment measures against Palestinian civilians; and (3) Israel's use of excessive, disproportionate, and indiscriminate force to combat the Palestinian intifada. For each of these categories, the report presents the international human right or humanitarian law being violated, the Israeli measures violating the law, and the effects on the health conditions of Palestinians. This report provides only a few examples of human rights violations and is not intended to document all such violations.

1. Disrespect for the Principle of Medical Neutrality

   Although Israel has ratified and is bound by the Geneva Conventions, no respect is shown on Israel's side for the principle of medical neutrality recognized in these conventions. Documented cases of Israeli attacks on Palestinian healthcare providers while on duty, and on Palestinian medical facilities, which occur in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention Articles 20 and 18 (see Table 1 at the end of the article), are presented below:

   1. ATTACES ON EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES AND MEDICAL PERSONNEL (FOURTH GENEVA CONVENTION, ARTICLE 20)

      The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) is the main provider of emergency medical care in the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967. PRCS operates 100 ambulances (66 in the West Bank and 34 in the Gaza Strip) from 30 stations and substations (24 in the West Bank and six in Gaza). PRCS also deploys minifield hospitals near clash points as needed to treat and stabilize patients before discharge or transfer to hospital emergency rooms.

      PRCS reported 174 documented attacks on their ambulances by Israeli soldiers and settlers between September 29, 2000, and March 15, 2002, resulting in the damage of 78 ambulances. There have also been 166 attacks on their emergency medical technicians (EMT), resulting in three deaths and 134 injuries among PRCS EMTs. Additionally, the PRCS headquarters in Al-Bireh was hit on several occasions by heavy machine gun fire from Israeli soldiers located at the nearby illegal Israeli settlement, Psagot.

      Moreover, an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) press release of April 5, 2002, announced that it has been obliged to strictly limit its movements in the West Bank following attacks by the Israeli army on Red Cross staff, its vehicles, and premises. Incidents in the two days leading up to their decision included threats on ICRC staff in Bethlehem at gunpoint, warning shots fired at ICRC...