Ref: 24/2014
Date: 04 March 2014
Time: 11:00 GMT
Two Palestinian children were wounded, one of whom sustained a serious wound, when an Israeli drone targeted two members of armed groups and killed them, north of the Gaza Strip.
According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 19:50 on Monday, 03 March 2014, an Israeli drone fired a missile at two members of Palestinian armed groups while they were present on Sultan Abdul Hamid street, in Beit Hanoun village, north of the Gaza Strip. As a result, one of whom, Mos’ab Mousa Saber Hassan “al-Za’aneen, (21), was immediately killed as he sustained shrapnel wounds throughout his body. The other person Sharif Yusef Ahmed Nasser (21) sustained similar wounds but was pronounced dead at Shifa hospital in Gaza City after midnight.
As a result of the attack also, Mohammed Ibrahim Diab al-Basyouni (15) sustained a shrapnel wound to the belly and ruptures in the intestine. Al-Basyouni was going home which is located in the vicinity of the targeted area. Rania Wafiq Hassan Ouda (13) sustained a bullet wound to the right hand while she was in a vehicle with her family on al-Wad street around the area. The two children were taken to Martyr Kamal Odwan hospital in Beit Lahia to receive the necessary medical treatment. Al-Basyouni’s wound is serious and he has been in the intensive care unit.
PCHR severely condemns these crimes, which further prove the use of excessive force by Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians.
Therefore, PCHR calls upon the international community to take immediate and effective actions and reiterates its call for the High Contracting Parties to the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfill their obligations under Article 1; to respect and to ensure respect for the Convention in all circumstances. PCHR also calls upon the international community to fulfill their obligation under Article 146 to prosecute persons alleged to commit grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention. These grave breaches constitute war crimes under Article 147 of the same Convention and Protocol (I) Additional to the Geneva Conventions.
