Amnesty International said in its annual report that Israeli forces unlawfully killed Palestinian civilians including children in both Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) over 2016.
Israeli forces also detained thousands of Palestinians from the OPT who opposed Israel’s continuing military occupation holding hundreds in administrative detention while torture and other ill-treatment of detainees remained rife and was committed with impunity the report added.
The Israeli authorities continued to promote illegal settlements in the West Bank including by attempting to retroactively “legalize” settlements built on private Palestinian land and severely restricted Palestinians’ freedom of movement.
According to the report Israeli forces continued to blockade the Gaza Strip subjecting its population of 1.9 million to collective punishment and to demolish homes of Palestinians in the West Bank and of Bedouin villagers in Israel’s Negev/Naqab region forcibly evicting residents.
Amnesty pointed out that Israeli authorities continued to arrest hundreds of Palestinian children in the West Bank including East Jerusalem. Many were subjected to abuse by Israeli forces including beatings and threats.
Israeli forces killed 110 Palestinians and two foreign nationals during the year. Some were killed unlawfully while posing no threat to life.
