arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)

Broken lives – a year of intifada
Israel/Occupied Territories/Palestinian Authority
Violence has become a part of daily life in Israel and the Occupied Territories since the latest intifada began on 29 September 2000. More than 570 Palestinians, including 150 children, have been killed by Israeli security forces. More than 150 Israelis, including 30 children, have been killed by Palestinian armed groups and individuals.

Israeli forces have killed Palestinians unlawfully by shooting them during demonstrations and at checkpoints although lives were not in danger. They have shelled residential areas and committed extrajudicial executions. Palestinian armed groups and individuals have deliberately killed Israeli civilians by placing bombs in crowded places and in drive-by shootings.

All Palestinians in the Occupied Territories — more than three million people — have been collectively punished. Almost every Palestinian town and village has been cut off by Israeli army checkpoints or physical barriers. Curfews on Palestinian areas have trapped residents in their homes for days, weeks or even months. In the name of security, hundreds of Palestinian homes have been demolished.

Amnesty International has repeatedly called on the Israeli authorities to abide by international human rights standards and urged the Palestinian Authority and armed groups to act in accordance with humanitarian law. It has also called for the international community to take the action necessary to ensure respect for human rights in the region.

A permanent and durable peace can only be built on a foundation of human rights. The time for the international community to act decisively to this end is long overdue. The past year has shown more clearly than ever that if human rights are sacrificed in the search for peace and security, there will be no peace and no security