Ref: 171/2003

Israeli occupying
forces committed 1 willful killing and used excessive force in the slaying 3
other Palestinians, during a wide-scale incursion into Nablus on Thursday, 18
December 2003. These excessive military measures by the Israeli occupying
forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territories represent a continuous
escalation of the conflict. PCHR is gravely concerned by this escalation and
calls upon the international community to fulfill its legal obligations to stop
Israeli war crimes. 

 According to
investigations conducted by PCHR fieldworkers, at approximately 01:30 on
Thursday around 50 Israeli military vehicles, supported by helicopter gunships,
moved into Nablus through the southern and eastern entrances. The military
vehicles and gunships opened fire at houses and streets in the city. The
Israeli forces invaded Balata refugee camp and took up positions in the
streets.  They then moved towards al-Shuhada square in the center of the
city and surrounded Nablus’ old town, before moving into the town at
approximately 03:00.

 At approximately
03:30, Israeli soldiers fired at 25-year-old ‘Alaa al-Din Dawaia, wounding him
with a live bullet in the chest.  No ambulances were permitted access to
the area and Dawaia remained on the ground bleeding until 04:00.  At that
time, a number of Israeli soldiers moved towards him and shot him dead with 8
live bullets.  Israeli occupying forces said that Dawaia was attempting to
plant an explosive device in the path of Israeli military vehicles. However,
according to eyewitnesses, the victim was on his way from his home to his work
at a bakery when he was killed.

 In a separate
incident during the incursion, a number of Israeli occupying soldiers broke
into a 3-storey house owned by Tayseer al-Bustami. The soldiers held the
residents in one room and mounted the roof of the house.  Residents
reported that at approximately 06:00, the soldiers on the roof of the house
began to fire intensely.  The Israeli forces withdrew from the city at
approximately 08:10. Afterwards, residents of the area found the bodies of 3
Palestinians on the roof of a deserted house near al-Bustami’s home. According
to eyewitnesses, the bodies were found approximately 15m away from the place
where Israeli soldiers had been positioned. 

 The 3 victims
were reportedly members of the Palestinian resistance who had attempted to
confront the Israeli military incursion. However, the bodies’ proximity to the
soldiers’ position suggests that perhaps the soldiers could have used less
lethal means in apprehending the men. The victims were later identified as:

1.      Jibril Salim Hassan ‘Awad,
24, from ‘Awarta village, southeast of Nablus, hit by several live bullets
throughout the body;

2.      Majdi Mohammed Fakhri
al-Bahash, 25, from Nablus, hit by several live bullets throughout the body;
and

3.      Fadi Tawfiq Sulayeh Hanani,
from Beit Dajan village, east of Nablus, hit by several live bullets throughout
the body. 

PCHR strongly condemns
the willful killing of ‘Alaa’ al-Din Dawaia and the use of excessive force in
the deaths of the 3 other Palestinians. These crimes are a further example of
the Israeli occupying forces’ systemic use of excessive force against the
Palestinian civilian population.  Such events serve to escalate the
tension in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and represent a blatant
disregard for the lives of civilians.  In light of these most recent
crimes committed by Israeli occupying forces, PCHR renews its call to the
international community, particularly the High Contracting Parties to the
Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, to immediately intervene to protect
Palestinian civilians and property.