Negotiations Affairs Department
Palestine Liberation Organization
Ramallah, Occupied Palestinian Territory
August 10, 2006
Of the 170 Palestinians killed in the occupied Gaza Strip between June 27, 2006, when Israel began its massive military offensive, and August 8, 2006, 151 individuals were killed during the month of July alone. This is the single largest monthly death toll in the occupied Gaza Strip since October 2004, when 166 Palestinians were killed.
The statistics were revealed in a new report by the Palestinian Monitoring Group titled “Israel’s Ongoing Attack on the Gaza Strip,” released last night. The report also finds that 138 of the 170 Palestinians killed were civilians, and 25 per cent of civilian fatalities were children. An additional 506 Palestinians were injured during the reporting period.
Commenting on the new data, Dr. Saeb Erekat, Palestinian Chief Negotiator, said, “As in Lebanon, Israel is attempting to solve political problems with military might, which will again prove counterproductive. The spiraling civilian casualties caused by Israeli actions throughout the region serve to strengthen extremists, weaken peace advocates and exacerbate the conflict. We demand that the international community bring an immediate end to the Israeli escalation in Palestine and Lebanon.”
The report details evidence of Israel’s indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks on the occupied Gaza Strip, citing 40 reported instances in which Israel has ordered the evacuation of Palestinian civilians prior to attacks on their homes; the destruction of Palestinian public and private property; and the worsening water crisis in the occupied Gaza Strip, caused by Israeli military attacks on water and wastewater infrastructure. Such forms of collective punishment constitute clear violations of international humanitarian law.
As the bar chart below indicates, the total number of Palestinians killed in Israeli military operations in the occupied Gaza Strip since June 27, 2006 is roughly equivalent to the total number of Palestinians killed in Gaza in the 11 month period between August 1, 2005 and June 27, 2006.
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