20 In realizing the complications of the Palestinian crisis, exemplified by the political and geographical divide which ensued due to disregard of the constitutional and legal dimensions, ICHR reiterates that it is not responsible for legitimizing either party, and that its basic mission is to guarantee and maintain respect for human rights. It refuses to allow itself to become mired in arguments of legitimacy and illegitimacy, and so the purpose of the description and terms stated in this report is to identify the party responsible for the violations and infringements monitored by ICHR, and to hold each Government accountable for any violations of human rights and freedoms it committed during 2010. To that end, the terms of Government/West Bank and Government/Gaza Strip will be used in this report. The political factors monitored by ICHR in 2010 which had an adverse impact on rights and freedoms in the were: 1)the escalation of Israeli occupation measures; 2) the ongoing political divide between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and 3) legislative policies and their impact on human rights. They are discussed subsequently. I. Escalation of Israeli occupation measures The violations committed by the Israeli occupation forces during 2010 constitute continuing violations of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law. During 2010, the Israeli occupation forces stepped up their policies of extrajudicial executions, killing of civilians, detainment of civilians, erecting checkpoints, building and expanding settlements, expropriating land and building the annexation wall. Besides the siege that the Israeli occupation forces have been imposing on the Gaza Strip since 2007, they have carried out hundreds of air strikes against Gaza’s civilians and infrastructure under the pretext of targeting smuggling tunnels. Israeli raids into Palestinian cities and villages and ransacking citizens’ homes continued throughout 2010. Furthermore, the number of Israeli military blocks amounted to 500 during the same year, constituting an increase of 36% compared to August 20051. The Israeli occupation forces detained about 4000 citizens either by storming into their homes at night or arresting them at checkpoints and crossings. They also detained MPs and attempted to expel them from Jerusalem in an intensification of the policy of violating citizens’ rights and judaizing East Jerusalem. 1 For more details, see Arij Institute for Applied Research: www.arij.org