Israel uses excessive force against Palestinians and harasses Palestinian prisoners, a US State Department report revealed yesterday.
In the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, which included information on a number of countries including Israel, Russia, Iran, China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the Palestinian Authority, the State Department noted that Israel uses force in an excessive manner against the Palestinians, including killings, and that the Palestinian prisoners are harassed, especially during interrogations. The report also mentioned the violent acts committed by the settlers against Palestinians.
According to the report, US Secretary of State John Kerry Israel uses inappropriate measures to arrest those deemed a “threat to security”. He also noted that Israel destroys and confiscates Palestinian property, restricts their freedom of expression, gathering, and organisation, and imposes restrictions on the Palestinians’ movement within Palestinian territories occupied in 1967 as well as outside these territories.
It also stated that settler violence against Palestinians is still a serious problem and that they are often not punished by the authorities.
In the case of the Gaza Strip, the report states that the Israeli army still imposes restrictions on the movement of civilians in and out of the Strip, which greatly limits the movement of even humanitarian cases and trade.
The report stated that human rights violations were committed were also committed by Hamas in the form of killings carried out by the security forces, as well as the torture of prisoners and arbitrary arrests.
It also noted that Hamas and other militant groups fired rockets and mortar shells on Israeli civilian targets inside residential areas.