UNITED NATIONS: As the situation in the occupied territories continues to deteriorate, Israeli forces battling Palestinians are deploying heavier and more sophisticated weapons, the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said on Friday.

The arms include tanks, combat helicopters, air-to-surface missiles and fighter jets, says a new 11-page report, which will be studied during the current four-week session of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

The UNRWA, established to aid Palestinian refugees, also accuses the Israelis of extra-judicial killings and collective punishment of the civilian population.

“There have been 58 extra-judicial killings, or targeted assassinations, of Palestinians by Israel since Sept 2000. In some cases, other Palestinians have been killed by helicopter fire, tank fire and gunfire in the course of the assassinations,” the report says.

“Currently, most Palestinian deaths result from Israeli missile attacks directed at selected individuals suspected of terrorism, but which, inevitably, have also killed innocent bystanders,” it notes.

Palestinians have also been killed by shootings carried out by Israeli soldiers and settlers, sometimes after an exchange of gunfire.

The attacks have wide repercussions, says the UNRWA.

“The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have resorted to excessive use of force, house demolitions, increasingly severe mobility restrictions and closure policies, negatively affecting the Palestinian economy and living conditions,” says the report.

Since the Palestinian uprising began in Sept 2000, Israel’s policy of barring free access to the occupied territories has also “seriously impeded the ability of aid agencies to deliver humanitarian assistance,” according to the UN agency.

Today, more than 130 Israeli checkpoints operate in villages and towns in the occupied territories — all manned by soldiers who are accused of “humiliating” and “abusing” Palestinians, including aid workers, adds the report.

On Thursday, a coalition of 32 international humanitarian organizations — including Oxfam, Care International, Save the Children and Doctors Without Borders — criticized Israel’s continued siege of Palestinian towns.

The relief agencies complain of severe restrictions on the movement of their local staff, mostly Palestinians, and continued harassment by Israeli troops.

Peter Hansen, Commissioner-General of the UNRWA, told a UN news conference on Tuesday, that humanitarian conditions in the West Bank and Gaza had fallen “to levels unprecedented in 35 years” of UN presence in the region.

Israeli incursions into Palestinian refugee camps, he said, had resulted in widespread destruction and injuries.

“Military activities were continuing, and (the) UNRWA was facing the challenge of responding to the increased health, shelter and education needs under conditions of closure and curfews,” he added.

Hansen also said that the conditions in the West Bank and Gaza had deteriorated dramatically, with about half of the 1.5 million people living in absolute poverty.

The UNRWA’s assistance extends to over 3.9 million refugees, including those living in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

The agency has a staff of about 14,000, mostly local recruits. But Hansen said that only about 25 to 30 per cent had been able to gain access to the West Bank and Gaza.

Last week, the UNRWA made an emergency appeal for some $56 million in aid to cover the cost of immediate humanitarian assistance and the longer-term needs of the Palestinians. This was in addition to $117 million requested in January.

Hansen said that the United States has been “a good donor” to the UNRWA, contributing up to 20 per cent of the total requested in previous appeals.

It pledged $80 million to the UNRWA in 2002, of a total budget of $300 million.

US President George W. Bush warned last month that he will cut off all aid to the Palestinians if they do not change their leadership.

“I can assure you, we won’t be putting money into a society which is not transparent and is corrupt,” said Bush, who specifically called for the ouster of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

The US president said he wants the Palestinians to establish a transparent democratic system based on separation of powers, a constitution, and an effective judiciary.

But Palestinian leaders have warned that any cuts in aid would only escalate violence in the occupied territories.—Dawn/The InterPress News Services.