A/HRC/22/35
were sitting on the sand dune when the first two blasts occurred, while others were hit by
the third and fourth blasts as they were trying to climb up the sand dune to see what was
happening.
8.
Local human rights groups documented further cases of attacks that resulted in
civilian casualties. On 20 June 2012, a Palestinian child and his blind father were killed and
three other children were injured by an Israeli air strike in Tal al-Hawa in Gaza City.6 On
23 June 2012, one civilian was killed and seven others were injured in an Israeli air strike
targeting two alleged members of armed groups travelling on a motorbike in Al-Nasser in
Gaza City.7
(b)
Access-restricted areas
9.
Israel continued to use live ammunition to enforce the access-restricted areas near
the Israeli fence between Gaza and Israel, as well as at sea. 8 Though the number of such
incidents decreased in comparison to previous years, the life and security of civilians
continued to be at risk. According to information obtained from the Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), during the reporting period 12 civilians,
including 1 woman and 2 children, were killed, and a further 123, including 11 women and
25 children, were injured in the access-restricted areas. These figures do not include figures
relating to the crisis in November, as these were not verified at the time of writing. With
respect to the recommendation of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza
Conflict in paragraph 1968 (d) of its report (A/HRC/12/48), as stated in the first progress
report of the Secretary-General on the status of implementation of the recommendations of
the Mission (A/HRC/13/55, paras. 9-10), the Human Rights Council, in resolution S-12/1,
recommended that the General Assembly should consider the report during its sixty-fourth
session. In its resolution 16/32, the Council recommended that the General Assembly
reconsider the report at its sixty-sixth session. The Secretary-General observed that the
Human Rights Council has implemented the recommendation in paragraph 1968 (d) of the
report of the Mission.
10.
On 30 March 2012, Israeli soldiers stationed at the Erez crossing between Gaza and
Israel used live ammunition against civilians assembled to mark “Land Day”. Dozens of
civilians approached the fence at Erez and threw stones at the Israeli soldiers. While the
soldiers initially responded with aerial shootings, they later resorted to live ammunition in
response to continued stone throwing. As a result, a 19-year-old Palestinian civilian was
killed and 35 others were injured, including 17 children.
6
7
8
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), weekly report, 14-20 June, 2012,
www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8557:weekly-reporton-israeli-human-rights-violations-in-the-occupied-palestinian-territory-14-20-june2012&catid=84:weekly-2009&Itemid=183.
PCHR, weekly report, 21-27 June 2012,
www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8582:weekly-reporton-israeli-human-rights-violations-in-the-occupied-palestinian-territory-21-27-june2012&catid=84:weekly-2009&Itemid=183.
On a positive note, and as part of the ceasefire of 21 November 2012, the Government of Israel
expanded the fishing zone from 3 to 6 nautical miles. (See Israel, Ministry of Defense, Coordinator of
Government Activities in Territories, “Humanitarian & civilian activities towards the Gaza Strip –
monthly report for November 2012”, www.cogat.idf.il/Sip_Storage/FILES/8/3688.pdf). OHCHR
received unconfirmed information indicating that the Government of Israel has allowed farmers to
access land up to 100 metres from the fence on foot, and up to 300 metres from the fence with tractors
and equipment.
5
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