Ref:
105/2003

PCHR
condemns the most recent escalation in military attacks perpetrated by Israeli
occupying forces, leaving 4 Palestinians, including a 9 year-old child, dead
and 12 others wounded, including 3 seriously. 
PCHR is concerned that these attacks may be a prelude to a larger-scale
military attack on the Palestinian civilian population.  PCHR calls upon the international community
to immediately intervene to halt further deterioration in the humanitarian and
human rights situation in the OPTs. 

In
an assassination conducted by the Israeli occupying forces in Khan Younis, a
Palestinian activist was killed and 3 passing Palestinian civilians were
wounded, including a 5 year-old child who sustained serious injuries.  According to PCHR’s preliminary
investigations, at approximately 21:30 on Thursday, 28 August 2003, Israeli
fighter jets were seen flying over Khan Younis. 
Approximately 20 minutes later, an Israeli helicopter launched a missile
at a branch road linking Zo’rob neighborhood and the cemeteries area and
al-Nimsawi neighborhood.  The missile hit
a man driving an animal cart along the road, killing him instantly. Three
Palestinian civilians – a man, his child and his brother – who were sitting
near their house, located on the street, were wounded.  Palestinian ambulances and civil defense
personnel arrived to the area and evacuated the dead and wounded to Nasser
Hospital in Khan Younis.  The man killed
was later identified as Hamdi Hassan ‘Abdul Rahman Kalakh, 35, from al-Amal
neighborhood, an activist. 

In
a second assassination by aerial attack just two days later, 2 Palestinian
activists were killed and 4 passing Palestinian civilians were wounded at the
entrance of Nusseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.  According to PCHR’s preliminary
investigation, at approximately 15:50 on Saturday, 30 August 2003, 2 Israeli
combat helicopters launched 3 missiles at a civilian car, a Peugeot Thunder,
that was traveling along Salah al-Din Street, approximately 230 metres south of
the entrance to Nusseirat refugee camp. 
One missile hit the front of the car, killing its driver, Farid Yousef
Mustafa Mait, 40, from al-Boreij refugee camp. 
A second person who was traveling in the car managed to get out through
a window but was hit by another missile fired from the Israeli helicopter and
was killed instantly.  He was identified
as Mahmoud ‘Ali Ibrahim ‘Aqel, 36, also from al-Boreij refugee camp.  In addition, 4 passing Palestinian civilians
were wounded.  Israeli sources stated
that the two men killed were wanted by the Israeli military.

In
a third incident, a 9-year-old Palestinian child was killed and 5 other
civilians were wounded when Israeli occupying forces apparently opened fire
indiscriminately into a Palestinian residential area.  According to PCHR’s preliminary
investigation, at approximately 18:30 on Saturday, 30 August 2003, an Israeli
tank positioned in the vicinity of “Neve Dekalim” settlement, west of Khan
Younis, fired 3 shells at al-Nimsawi neighborhood, east of the aforementioned
settlement.  The shells hit the third and
fourth floors of Building #1 of the apartment complex, located approximately
200m away from the source of fire. 
9-year-old Aaya Mahmoud No’man Fayadh, who was riding a bicycle in the
yard between Buildings #1 and #3, was killed by shrapnel which hit her in the
chest.  5 other civilians, including 2
children, were also wounded in the incident. 
Two of the wounded remain in a serious condition.

PCHR
is gravely concerned at this latest escalation in attacks by the Israeli
government and its occupying forces, on Palestinian civilian areas.  PCHR is particularly concerned at the new
escalation in assassinations by aerial attack. 
These latest incidents further demonstrate Israel’s ongoing disregard
for international human rights and humanitarian law.  Willful killings of civilians constitute
grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention, namely war crimes as further
clarified in the Additional Protocols. 
In light of continuing war crimes perpetrated by the Israeli occupying
forces in the OPTs, PCHR calls upon the international community to fulfill its
legal and moral obligations, including as High Contracting Parties to the
Geneva Conventions, to ensure protection for Palestinian civilians in the
Occupied Palestinian Territories.