Ref: 43/2006

Date:  15 May 2006

Time: 07:30 GMT 

6 Palestinians Killed and 16 Others Wounded by IOF in Qabatya and Jenin

On Sunday, 14 May 2006, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed six Palestinians and wounded sixteen others, including seven children and a journalist, in Qabatya village and Jenin town in the north of the West Bank.  According to Israeli media sources, the new Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz praised the attack.  The Israeli defense minister’s office said, “Peretz personally approved the operation last week, and closely followed its execution.”  

According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 14:30 on Sunday, 14 May 2006, IOF, IOF reinforced by two helicopters, moved into Qabatya village, southeast of Jenin.  They besieged a 150-square-meter, two–storey house belonging to Mustafa ‘Aaref Hamdan Ekmayel, where twenty individuals (four families) live, in the east of the village.  They ordered, through megaphones, all those who were inside the house to surrender, threatening to demolish the house over them if they did not comply.  A number of Palestinian gunmen exchanged fire with IOF.  One of the gunmen, 23-year-old Tha’er Subhi Sadiq Hanaisha, was killed by several bullets to the chest and the head.  His brother, 21-year-old Mujahed, hurried towards him and attempted to pull him away from the area, but IOF shot at him also.  He was killed by several bullets to the chest.  According to eyewitnesses, the younger brother was unarmed.  When residents of the house went outside, IOF shelled the house and a bulldozer began to demolish it.  At approximately 20:30, IOF withdrew from the area.  Palestinian civilians and medical and civil defense crews moved to the area and started to remove the debris.  They found the bodies of two Palestinians under the debris and evacuated them to Dr. Khalil Suleiman Hospital in Jenin.  The two victims were identified as:

1.      Elias Khairi Mohammed al-Ashqar, 28, from Baqa al-Sharqia village, hit by shrapnel throughout the body; and

2.      Mo’tassem ‘Ali Baheej Ja’ar, 24, from ‘Allar village north of Tulkarm, hit by shrapnel throughout the body. 

The two were members of the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad. 

During this attack, dozens of Palestinian children and young men gathered near Ekmayel’s house and threw stones at IOF vehicles.  Immediately, IOF fired at the stone throwers, killing 20-year-old Jihad ‘Abdul Rahman ‘Omar ‘Assaf, with a live bullet to the head, and wounding 16 other civilians, including seven children and a journalist.  IOF also arrested 17-year-old Mohye al-Din Mustafa Ekmayel. 

Also, at approximately 14:30, an IOF undercover unit moved into al-Jabriyat neighborhood in the south of Jenin, traveling in a civilian car with a Palestinian registration plate.  Soon after, at least fifteen IOF vehicles moved into the town to support the undercover unit.  Members of the IOF undercover unit opened fire at ‘Ali ‘Omar Mohammed Jabbarin, 21, from al-Taiba village west of Jenin, killing him with several live bullets to the head, the neck, the chest and the hands.  IOF left him bleeding and did not allow anyone to attend to him for 30 minutes.  According to eyewitnesses, IOF willfully shot Jabbarin, while he was on duty guarding the headquarters of the Palestinian General Intelligence Services.  Later, IOF besieged a house near the headquarters.  They opened fire at the house and ordered its residents, through megaphones, to get out.  When the residents got out, IOF checked their identity cards and searched the house.  Before their withdrawal from the area at approximately 17:00, IOF arrested ‘Essam, ‘Allam and Akram Hassan Samoudi.    

PCHR strongly condemns these appalling attacks and is gravely concerned over the escalation of IOF attacks in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).  PCHR asserts that such crimes serve to perpetuate the cycle of mutual violence in the area.  PCHR calls upon the international community to immediately intervene to stop such crimes, and reiterates its calls for the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 to meet their obligations to ensure protection for Palestinian civilians in the OPT.

-End-