The vast majority of these demolitions took place at night without any warning to residents, some of whom were forced to flee their homes when bulldozers were already "at their doorstep," according to the 40-page report, which charged that the policy behind the operations amounted to "collective punishment" forbidden under international law.

"The houses demolished and the orchards destroyed by the soldiers belonged to Palestinians whom even Israel does not contend were involved in any way in attacks on Israeli civilians or security forces," the report found.

Moreover, Israel's insistence that the demolitions are justified by a "pressing military necessity" so urgent that time cannot be given to warn residents to remove their property, or give them a chance to appeal before an official body, is contradicted by the fact that they are planned weeks in advance but then delayed until a suitable moment, usually immediately after a Palestinian attack on Israelis, the report said.

"Gunfire in the middle of the night at houses in which civilians, including small children, are living, cannot be deemed an acceptable way to remove people from their homes," the report declared, noting that Israel also routinely refuses to compensate Palestinians for their losses.

As the occupying power in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, Israel is obliged under international law to protect the safety and well-being of the Palestinian population and their property. The 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention provides that "[a]ny destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property...is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations."

The Israel Defense Force (IDF) has destroyed entire residential neighborhoods, claiming that tunnels had been dug under some of the houses and were being used to smuggle weapons. It has also destroyed thousands of acres farmland, including tomato and squash fields, which it insists could be used by gunmen as cover to fire at Israeli targets.

According to B'Tselem, these operations are carried out as part of a larger strategy in Gaza to create "security strips" where Israeli civilians or security forces are based. They are not necessarily tied to any use by Palestinian attackers of the buildings or fields destroyed by Israeli bulldozers and tanks.

The most recent example included the demolition of 64 houses, home to 112 families and a total of 614 people, by the IDF in Rafah on January 10, shortly after a Palestinian attack several miles away on an Israeli barracks in which four soldiers and two Palestinian assailants were killed. It was the biggest demolition since the current intifada began in September, 2000.

The IDF said the neighborhood had "served as cover to gunmen firing on army forces operating in the area" and that it hid a suspected tunnel through which weapons were smuggled from Egypt, which lies adjacent to Rafah. It also claimed that most of the houses had been abandoned due to fighting.

But residents insisted that most of the houses were occupied and that there had been no firing from the area since Palestine Authority President Yasser Arafat had declared a unilateral ceasefire December 16.

A B'Tselem investigation of the incident released January 13 found that 475 people were in the houses when the demolitions began and accused the IDF of violating international humanitarian law forbidding the destruction of property, collective punishment, and reprisals.

"The IDF and the Ministry of Defense continue to distribute misleading and inaccurate information as to the scope of the demolitions and the fact that the houses were inhabited," said B'Tselem's report. "These statements are an attempt to evade responsibility for the suffering Israel has caused in this action."

In its latest report, the rights group noted that press coverage of the incident "gave the impression...it was a one-time act that was executed in response to the killing of four soldiers the day before. However, since the beginning of the al-Aqsa intifada, Israel has demolished hundreds of houses and destroyed thousands of acres of agricultural land in the Gaza Strip."

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