Press Release

18 July 1998
Press Release Index
500 HEAD OF SHEEP CONFISCATED AND MORE THAN 4O PALESTINIAN RESIDENTS INJURED, INCLUDING 15 WOMEN, AS A RESULT OF AN ISRAELI MILITARY ATTACK ON RASHAIDEH VILLAGE.
In a wide-scale military operation at 8 AM, on Wednesday, July 15, 1998, the Committee on Planning and Building in Beit El, under the protection of heavy Israeli army and border patrol presence, raided Rashaideh village, 20 km Southeast of Bethlehem. More than 40 Palestinians were injured as a result of the confrontation that broke out. Fifteen women, some of whom were pregnant, were taken to the Beit Jala hospital to receive medical treatment. The army used rubber bullets and tear gas against the villagers as well as physically attacked the residents. After closing the main road with boulders, the Israeli forces declared the area a closed military zone. This prevented a number of the injured from reaching area hospitals to receive treatment for their injuries.
The occupation army also confiscated more than 500 head of sheep, which were transported in military vehicles to the village of Fasael, in the Jiftlik area.
The raid was headed by the Director of the District Coordination Office of the Bethlehem Area and the Military Commander. Heavy clashes, lasting from 9 AM to 4 PM, erupted between the residents and the Israeli army. The Israeli army justified its raid on the pretext that residents of the village were grazing their sheep in a military area. Al-Haq regards this justification as unfounded based on affidavits taken from the residents of the village, which state that the land is a grazing property for the village and that the residents of the village possess the title to the land. The livestock holdings of the village are estimated to be approximately 20,000 heads of sheep and 500 camels.
Under the Oslo Agreements, the village is located in Area B and, therefore, falls under the civil administration of the Palestinian National Authority, whereas, the grazing area is in Area C, which is under complete Israeli control.
This raid comes as part of a settlement policy that harasses Palestinians and confiscates their land. This is not the first attack. Less than two weeks ago, the Israeli army demolished five Palestinian homes in the village.
Al-Haq considers this operation to be a violation of Palestinian rights. This attack is representative of Israeli settlement policy which employs any means to expel residents from their land and denies them the right to build, expand, and graze their livestock on their own land.
Al-Haq condemns the attack on the Palestinian right to freedom of movement and the right to earn a living, and demands from the Israeli government the following:
  1. To return the confiscated livestock immediately and to compensate the residents of Rashaideh village for all losses incurred in the raid.
  2. To remove the land mines positioned around the borders of the village, which have caused the death of six children, since the area was declared a military zone.
  3. To remove the wild animals which were placed in the area by the Department of Environmental Protection after a portion of the area was declared a protected area. These animals have posed a danger to the livelihood of the villagers and their livestock since 1987.
  4. To stop confiscating Palestinian lands for military and settlement purposes and to abide by international agreements, especially the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (1949) which prohibits attacks on civilians (Article 3); prohibits confiscation of private property (Article 33); guarantees the right of civilians to seek medical care (Article 38); guarantees their right to access to food (Article 55); and prohibits the confiscation of land for the purposes of settlement (Article 49).

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