Ref: 80/2010

In a new crime and that included
excessive use of lethal force, on Sunday, 12 September 2010, the Israeli
Occupation Forces (IOF) killed three Palestinian civilians in the northern Gaza
Strip: an old man; his grandchild and another child. The victims were killed when IOF fired five
shells towards a group of Palestinian farmers and shepherds in Abu ‘Eida land
in the northeast of Beit Hanoun town in the northern Gaza Strip. The attack resulted into killing about 30
sheep as well.

According to investigations conduced
by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 16:45 on
Sunday, 12 September 2010 (the third day of Eid al-Fitr), IOF stationed at the
border between the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast of Beit Hanoun town
in the northern Gaza Strip fired five shells towards a group of Palestinian
farmers and shepherds, who were on Abu ‘Eida land, 600 meters away from the
border, in the northeast of Beit Hanoun. As a result, three persons were killed in the area; an old man and two
children, including his grandson. They are:

1) Ibrahim Abdullah Mosa
Abu Sa’id,
91, from
Block 7 in Jabalya
refugee camp, hit by shrapnel to different parts of his body;

2) Hosam Khaled Ibrahim
Abu S’aid, 16, from block 7
in Jabalya refugee camp, hit by shrapnel to different
parts of his body; and

3) Isma’il Waleed
Mohammed Abu ‘Oda, 17, from al-Amal neighborhood in Beit Hanoun, beheaded by
shrapnel.

According to PCHR’s investigations,
the old man, Abu S’aid, daily heads to the area where the crime took place to
graze sheep and farm that land, which was abandoned years ago and was bulldozed
by IOF several times during al-Aqsa Intifada. The said old man took his grandson, Hosam, to
assist him in grazing. Hosam met his
friend, Abu ‘Oda, on a land belonging to the latter’s uncle, Mohammed Abu
‘Oda. At approximately 16:45, five
shells were fired at the farmers and shepherds. Following the sound of shelling, Palestinian ambulances headed to the
area and found two bodies belonging to the old man Abu S’aid and Abu ‘Oda,
whose head has not been found so far. The two bodies were transported to Beit Hanoun Hospital. At approximately 17:15 of the same day, some
persons informed medical crews about a body in the area close to the crime’s
scene. The ambulances headed to area and
found the body of the child Abu Es’ayed, and then transported the victim to
Beit Hanoun Hospital.

In addition, 30 sheep were killed,
as Abu S’aid and his grandson were going to graze them in the area. 

PCHR reiterates its condemnation of
such crimes, and:

1. Confirms that these
crimes are part of a series of the Israeli crimes committed in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory (OPT), which reflect IOF’s disregard for the lives of
Palestinians; and

2. Therefore, calls upon
the international community to promptly act to stop such crimes and reiterates
it call upon the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfill
their obligations under Article 1 of the Convention to respect and ensure
respect for the Convention in all circumstances; in addition to their
obligations under Article 146 to search for and prosecute those who are
responsible for perpetrating grave breaches of the Convention, which are
considered as war crimes under Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and
the Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, to ensure the right to
protection of Palestinian civilians in the OPT.