42 Palestinians held without trial for over two yearsB'Tselem's annual report, published today (5 Feb.), surveys a wide range of Israeli human rights violations in the OPT in 2008, until Operation "Cast Lead". As house demolition and lack of law enforcement on violent settlers continued, Israel largely refrained from holding members of the security forces accountable for their actions.

Prisoners from Gaza were held in appalling conditionsSeven Israeli Human Rights organizations appealed to the Military Judge Advocate General and to the Attorney General concerning the appalling conditions in which Palestinians arrested during the fighting in Gaza were held, and the humiliating and inhuman treatment to which they were subjected.

Extra-judicial execution of alleged collaborators by HamasAccording to several media reports, since the start of the Israeli attack in Gaza, Hamas has executed an unknown number of residents of Gaza that it considered to be collaborators with Israel. These acts are grave breaches of international law.

Testimony: Soldier beats young man and fractures his skullOn 20 Jan., Mahmoud 'Awwad reached Huwara checkpoint on his way to work and saw soldiers beating his brother. Testimonies indicate that when he addressed the soldiers, a soldier hit him on the head with a rifle butt. 'Awwad collapsed, his head bleeding. He has undergone surgery for his fractured skull and according to doctors, may have suffered brain damage.

Sealing of East JM home - collective punishmentYesterday, 19 Jan. '09, the Israeli army sealed the family home of the perpetrator of the Merkaz HaRav yeshiva terror attack, after the High Court rejected the famil's petition. Sealing homes is forbidden collective punishment of innocents who have not been charged with any offense.