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April 6, 2005
April 12, 2005

Monday April 25, 2005 A Palestinian walks his sheep next to the Israeli-constructed separation barrier that divides in two the West Bank town of Abu Dis. Amnesty International accused Israel of failing to prosecute Jewish settlers for attacking Palestinian locals and poisoning their livestock, the international rights group said. AFP/Gali Tibbon

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April 25, 2005

Amnesty calls on Israel to halt poisoning of Palestinian livestock

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Amnesty International accused Israel of failing to prosecute Jewish settlers for attacking Palestinian locals and poisoning their livestock, the international rights group said.

Condemning the "increasingly frequent attacks" against Palestinian villagers, Amnesty urged the Israeli government to investigate all violent incidents, and in particular, the recent spate of cases of poisoning fields that has affected scores of Palestinian livestock.

"In recent weeks, toxic chemicals have repeatedly been spread on fields located near the villages of Tuwani, Umm Faggara and Kharruba in the southern Hebron region," the group said in a statement, referring to areas in the southern West Bank.

"Scores of sheep as well as gazelles and other animals have been contaminated by the toxins and several have died. Palestinian farmers have been forced to quarantine their flocks and stop using the milk, cheese and meat from them, effectively depriving them of their livelihood."

Since the first instance of poisoning was discovered in late March, other fields had also been contaminated, all of them in areas under Israeli security control, known as area C, the rights group said.

Until now, however, the Israeli authorities had not decontaminated the fields, nor had they investigated the perpetrators, who were enjoying "impunity", the group said.

Contacted by AFP for a response, West Bank police spokesman Shlomi Sagi confirmed that despite a month-long investigation into the initial instance of poisoning, no arrests had yet been made.

"The investigation is ongoing and we are gathering intelligence," he said.

Earlier this month, Mohammed Qanam, head of the Palestinian agriculture ministry in Hebron, said 82 cattle had been poisoned, 20 of which had died after eating poisoned fodder in pastures in the southern West Bank.

Tests carried out by the environmental health centre at Beir Zeit university in the central West Bank showed the poison was a highly toxic substance called fluoroacetamide.

Fluoroacetamide, which was first used as a form of rat poison and has no known antidote, is classified as a dangerous pesticide.