May 20, 2009

Israeli naval vessels fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the Rafah coast, detaining 2 fishermen. IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire on Palestinian farmers working their fields nr. Bayt Hanun, wounding 1. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches in and around Nablus and neighboring Balata r.c., nr. Bethlehem and Jenin. Palestinians report that over the previous wk., the IDF has bulldozed Palestinian land in Abu Dis, Azariyya, and al-Sawahara to expand the Container checkpoint southeast of Jerusalem, which obstructs travel btwn. the n. and s. West Bank; has confiscated 300 dunams (d.; 4 d. = 1 acre) of land southwest of Jenin, giving residents 45 days to evacuate. (PCHR 5/21; OCHA, PCHR 5/28)