Ref: 40/2006

Date:  27 April 2006

Time: 11:30 GMT 

One Palestinian Extra-Judicially Killed and another One Wounded by IOF in the Central Gaza Strip

On Thursday morning, 27 April 2006, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) extra-judicially killed a member of the Islamic Jihad and wounded another one in al-Zawaida village in the central Gaza Strip.  This attack came less than an hour following a failed attack by IOF that targeted a civilian car, in which 5 members of the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad, in the same area.  This latest attack was the second by IOF in 5 days. 

According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 08:15 on Thursday, 27 April 2006, an IOF aircraft launched a missile at a civilian car (a grey Mercedes) that was traveling on the coastal road opposite to the al-Zawaida village in the central Gaza Strip.  Five members of the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad, were traveling in the car.  The missile fell on the road behind the car and damaged it.  The passengers were able to get out of the car and escape.  In the meantime, Ahmed Ibrahim Abu Nejem, 29, another member of the al-Quds brigades, was driving another car in the same area.  He stopped it and escaped when he noticed IOF aircrafts.  At approximately 09:15, Abu Nejem, accompanied by another member of the Islamic Jihad, 27-year-old Wa’el Ibrahim Mutair al-Qara’an, came back to the area to take his car.  When they got close to the car, an IOF aircraft fired a missile at them.  The two were seriously wounded by shrapnel.  They were evacuated to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, but al-Qara’an died from his wound at noon.  Ten minutes following the attack, an IOF aircraft fired a missile at the car, destroying it. 

PCHR strongly condemns this latest attack.  PCHR is gravely concerned over the Israeli escalation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).  PCHR asserts that such crimes serve to escalate tension in the region and threaten the lives of Palestinians.  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.

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