Ref:
108/2003 

On
Friday morning, 5 September 2003, Israeli occupying forces destroyed a 7-storey
apartment building in Nablus in which 8 families lived.  The destruction took place following an
exchange of fire between Israeli forces and a Palestinian gunman.  The gunman was killed during the fire-fight
after sustaining several gunshot wounds. 

The
destruction of the apartment building appears to have been an act of collective
punishment and retaliation against Palestinian civilians,  an act prohibited under international
humanitarian law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949.  According to an investigation carried out by
PCHR fieldworkers, Israeli occupying forces destroyed the building after the
military operation had ended, and without having given the inhabitants the
opportunity to evacuate their belongings. 

At
approximately 22:30 on Thursday, 4 September 2003, an undercover unit of
Israeli occupying forces moved into al-Makhfiya neighborhood in the southwest
of Nablus, using 4 Palestinian taxis and a Ford minibus.  Israeli soldiers surrounded a 600-square-meter,
7-storey apartment building owned by Ja’far Rezeq al-Masri.  Soon, about 30 Israeli military vehicles
moved into the area, accompanied by a helicopter gun ship.  Israeli soldiers used megaphones to order the
residents of the building and neighboring houses to get out.  The residents were gathered together and
taken to the nearby Sa’id Ben ‘Aamer elementary school, where they were
detained for several hours.   Israeli
soldiers then broke into the building, and, after coming under fire from the
Palestinian gunman, evacuated the building. 

At
approximately 03:00 on Friday, 5 September 2003, Israeli forces attacked the
fourth floor of the building with anti-tank missiles and broke into the
building once again.  A few hours later,
Israeli soldiers were seen taking the gunman’s body out of the building.  Later, he was identified as “Mohammed Yousef”
‘Abdul Rahim al-Hanbali, 28, an engineer from Nablus.  Israeli occupying forces claimed that
al-Hanbali was wanted for being the northern West Bank leader of ‘Ezziddin
al-Qassam, the military wing of the Hamas movement.  At approximately 09:00, as the Israeli
military operation came to a close, occupying soldiers planted explosives on
the first floor of the building.  The building
was completely leveled by the explosion. 
As a result, 48 Palestinians (8 families), including 30 children, have
become homeless.    

PCHR
strongly condemns the destruction of this apartment, and asserts that such
policies of collective punishment and attacks on civilian property constitute
war crimes under international humanitarian law..  Over the last several weeks Israeli occupying
forces have increasingly perpetrated war crimes against Palestinian civilians
and property.  PCHR calls upon the international
community to end its silence and immediately intervene to stop these attacks,
especially the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention of
1949, who are legally obligated to ensure respect for the Convention and take
crucial steps to stop violations of the Convention perpetrated by Israeli
occupying forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.