Ref: 90/2011

In the early
morning of Thursday, 25 August 2011, two Palestinian civilians were killed and
25 others, including 11 children and 7 women, were wounded as Israeli warplanes
bombarded a sports club in a densely-populated area in the northern Gaza Strip
town of Beit Lahia. The attack resulted extensive
damages to dozens of neighboring houses and facilities. On Wednesday, 24 August 2011, an elderly
farmer and a worker were killed and four civilians were wounded, while three
other persons are missing inside a tunnel at the Egyptian border due to an
Israeli air strike against the tunnels. These crimes are part of the Israeli military escalation against the
Gaza Strip, which started on Thursday 18 August 2011. As a result of such escalation, 17
Palestinians were killed, including two children, and 14 others were wounded by
shrapnel and dozens were injured to glass fragments because of attacks. Besides, civilian properties were damaged as
a result. The Palestinian Center for
Human Rights (PCHR) is gravely concerned over increasing casualties resulting
from the Israeli excessive use of force and targeting civilian facilities that
are located in densely-populated areas, which reflects disregard for the lives
of Palestinian civilians and property.

According to
investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 00:05 on Thursday, 25 August
2011, Israeli warplanes launched a missile on al-Salama Sports Club near Beit
Lahia project’s market in the northern Gaza Strip. The attack resulted in the full destruction
of the 3-storey building; the first floor includes a gym, the second floor
includes the administration offices and a multi-use hall, while the third one
includes a football and volleyball field established on a 1,000-square-meter
area. Additionally, two Palestinian
civilians were killed due to the attack, as they were in the garden of an
adjacent house belonging to Abdul Rahman Mohammed al-Masri in the northwestern
side of the club. The victims are:
Salama Abdul Rahman al-Masri, 18, the son of the house’s owner, who died
immediately; and Alaa ‘Adnan Mohammed al-Jakhbeer, 22, from Jabalya, who was
accompanying al-Masri. Al-Jakhbeer
suffered from a hemorrhage in the pelvis because of shrapnel and was
transferred to the hospital, but he died two hours later. Additionally, 25 Palestinian civilians,
including 11 children and seven women, sustained wounds and bruises due to the falling
of smashed glass and stones at them. Moreover, extensive damages were caused to al-Huda Children Complex in
Beit Lahia to the north of the club. The
Complex established on an area of 1600 square meters consists of a kindergarten
and a primary school. Dozens of houses
surrounding the Club, three stores and three vehicles were damaged.

On Wednesday,
24 August, IOF killed an elderly famer, Isma’il Nemr Ammoum, 62, from al-Buriej
refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. His body was torn apart and had not been found until the evening. Ammoum’s body was transported to al-Aqsa
Martyrs’ Hospital in Deir al-Balah, where he was identified. According to investigations conducted by
PCHR, Ammoum was working in a farm belonging to al-Khaldi family in the
northeast of al-Buriej refugee camp when he was targeted by a missile from an
Israeli warplane.

In another
crime, at approximately 23:30, the Israeli warplanes launched a missile on
al-Brazil neighborhood in the south of the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah,
targeting a tunnel in the area. As a
result, a worker, Hisham ‘Adnan Abdul Razeq Abu Harb, 20, from al-Shaboura
refugee camp in Rafah, was killed. Besides, another four persons were wounded, three of whom are workers
and the fourth is a member of the National Security Forces. The wounded were transported to Martyr
Mohammed Yusef al-Najjar Hospital in the town, where their wounds were
described as moderate. The Palestinian Civil
Defense declared that three workers were missing in the atragted tunnel.

PCHR condemns
IOF’s crimes against the Palestinian civilians, and:

1- Stresses that targeting houses, densely-populated areas and
civilian targets reflects IOF’s disregard for the lives of Palestinian
civilians, and warns of more escalation of crimes against Palestinian civilians
and their property in light of statements and threats launched by Israeli
political and military leaders, which will bring about more victims in the Gaza
Strip;

2- Points out that crimes committed by IOF constitute acts of
reprisal and collective punishment in violation of Article 33 of the 1949
Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time
of War; and

3- Believes that the failure of the international community, particularly
the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, to effectively
act to stop crimes committed by IOF serves to encourage Israel and IOF to
commit more crimes against Palestinian civilians and their property. The
legal protection provided by the United States to Israel, and deliberate
obstruction of the application of international humanitarian law, in addition
to the conspiracy of silence practiced by European States towards crimes
committed against Palestinian civilians do not only place Israel above the
international humanitarian law, but also encourage it to unrestrictedly commit
more crimes against Palestinian civilians.