Gaza Theatre

Amnesty International has reported on Wednesday that the situation in Gaza "is the gravest humanitarian crisis to date".


Amnesty's 60th annual report said that over 370 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army, of which half were civilians and 50 were children. Thousands were injured during the attacks.


Israeli forces threaten to demolish several houses in Bethlehem and Hebron

"in June, the Israeli government imposed an unprecedented blockade on the Gaza Strip, virtually imprisoning its entire 1.5 million people population, subjecting them to collective punishment and causing the gravest humanitarian crisis to date." the report stated.

The report added that "more than 550 Israeli military checkpoints and blockades restricted or prevented the movement of Palestinians between towns and villages in the West Bank," and that " dozens of Palestinians died after being refused passage out of Gaza for urgent medical treatment not available in local hospitals."

The report also talked about the illegal settlements construction, as well as the construction of the separation wall, which separate many Palestinians from their lands and families.

Israeli forces on Wednesday handed warrants to several Palestinian residents in Hebron and Bethlehem in the southern, West Bank telling them that their houses will be demolished by 19 June 2008.

The authorities claim the houses were built without proper building permits. Some of the warrants are also threatening that recently planted agricultural land will be razed. The authorities are claiming this land is located in Area C according to the classification under the Oslo Accords.

Khalid Al-Azza, head of the Popular Committee for Defending Lands and Countering Occupation and the Separation Wall, said in a statement that the demolition of houses and the digging up of fields are crimes against humanity.

He affirmed that such procedures violate the Fourth Geneva Convention and other international resolutions related to the Palestinian question. He called on the Secretary General of the UN, the African Unity Organization, the Islamic Conference Organization, the non-partisan countries and the whole international community to exert efforts to stop such "criminal acts committed by Olmert's government against the Palestinian people."

He also called on the Palestinian Authority to halt negotiations with Israel.

Al-Azza named the villages and towns where houses are threatened to be demolished as Al-Khadir, Beit Jala, Husan, Khirbat Zakariyya in the Bethlehem district, and Beit Ummar in the Hebron district.

In Al-Khadir, five houses and a water reservoir measuring 100 square meters are threatened with demolition. The houses are a four-storey house measuring 880 square meters, belonging to Ahmad Mousa; a one-storey house measuring 100 square meters belonging to Muhammad Salah; a two-storey house measuring 400 square meters belonging toAhmad Abu Hatab; a one-storey house measuring 120 square meters belonging to Ahmad Mousa and a one-storey house measuring 75 square meters belonging to Ali Mousa.

In Khirbat Zakariyya, three houses are threatened with demolition, belonging to Muhammad Sa'd, Ayman Sa'd and Mahmoud Sa'd.

In Husan, a container, a cement floor, an arbor and a car wash are threatened with demolition. They belong to Muhammad Issa. Furthermore, Khalil Hamamra received a warrant that two stores measuring 120 square meters will be demolished.

In Beit Jala, a house belonging to Yousif Musallam, measuring 100 square meters is threatened with demolition.

In Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, Muhammad Kawamla received a warrant telling him that 3.5 donums of his land will be dug up and that he could not use the land for agriculture or building purposes.