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Press Release
Israeli forces invade Jabalya refugee camp; at least 23 Palestinians killed and dozens wounded in the Gaza strip in past 24 hours
Date: 12 March 2002
Ref: 25/20002
As part of an all-out offensive against Palestinian refugee camps, Israeli occupying forces last night mounted a major invasion of the Jabalya refugee camp[1] in the northern Gaza strip with tanks and helicopter gunships, killing at least 18 Palestinians. Later this morning, Israel air attacks throughout the Gaza strip killed at least 5 Palestinians.
PCHR notes with alarm the unprecedented and dramatic deterioration in the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) in recent weeks, including a sharp increase in Palestinians killed by Israeli occupying forces since 1 March, most of them civilians.
Invasion of Jabalya Kills at Least 18
According to PCHR’s investigations, at approximately 2210 last night, at least 50 Israeli military vehicles and helicopters attacked Jabalya refugee camp from three directions. Israeli forces entered the camp from the from the Erez industrial zone, Salah al-Din road, and from the eastern border of the Gaza strip. Israeli forces moved 3km into Jabalya and killed at least 18 Palestinians, including a deaf man, two brothers, and a man and his son. Israeli troops also destroyed several workshops, factories, and houses. The operation lasted until 0300 this morning, when Israeli forces redeployed their forces to the main entrance of the camp on Salah al-Din Street. At 0500, Israeli forces withdrew from the area after a second attempt to enter the camp was repelled by local resistance. They then took over an outpost used by the Palestinian National Security Forces to the east of Jabalya and destroyed it.
According to eyewitnesses, Israeli occupying forces mounted the roof of a house owned by Ismail Salim and fired at houses 100m away. Abdul Rahman Mohammed Izz al-Din, 55, was hit by several bullets fired by Israeli forces while standing in his house. When his son, Walid, went to help him, he too, was killed by Israeli fire. According to eyewitnesses, a deaf man, Samir Sadi Sababa, 45, was also killed by Israeli occupying forces at the entrance of Jabalya.
Among those killed were:
Walid Abdul Rahman Izz al-Din, 35, hit by several bullets throughout the body
Abdul Rahman Mohammed Izz al-Din, 55, father of Walid, hit by several bullets throughout the body
Mohammed Salim Abu Sakhela, 21, shot in the chest
Hani Samer Abu Sakhela, 23, brother of Mohammed Salim, shot throughout the body
Eyad Ahmad Rajeb ‘Eissa, 25, shot in the right eye
Yusef Mohammed Abu al-Qumsan, 25, shot in the chest
Fawzi Sabri Omar Abu Shammas, 20, shot in the neck
Sa’id Ahmad Hasuneh, 22, hit by shrapnel throughout the body
Yaqub Abdul Fatah ‘Oudeh, 25, shot in the chest
Nabil Abu al-Qarei, 22, shot in the chest
Majdi Abdul Mawthi al-Talouli, 25, shot in the head
Ramy Bahjat Aziz, 20, hit by shrapnel throughout the body
Hamoudeh Nijim, 22, hit by shrapnel throughout the body
Samir Sadi Sababa, 45, hit by shrapnel throughout the body
Hamad Rushdie ‘Aqeilan, 25, shot in the head
Ahmad Ismail Kafineh, 19, shot in the chest
Husam Hassan al-Barawi, 22, shot in the chest
Samir Sadi Sababa, 45, deaf, shot at the entrance of the city
According to a PCHR fieldworker, Israeli occupying forces destroyed a two-storey apartment building using explosives. On the ground floor was a 300 square meter metal workshop owned by Nabil Mahmoud Tanira. The entire building was completely destroyed and those nearby were damaged. Israeli occupying forces claim that such factories and workshops are used to produce mortars and rockets.
Israeli forces also destroyed a 160 square meter aluminum workshop owned by Yassin al-Madhoun (previously bombarded by Israeli helicopters in January 2002), located on the ground floor of a three-storey apartment building owned by Musleh Musbah al-Sultan. A store with machinery for repairing tyres owned Khalil Huseyn Halawin was also destroyed.
Israeli Forces Continue Aerial Bombardment Throughout Gaza Strip, Killing 5
Israeli occupying forces also maintained aerial bombardment against civil institutions in the Gaza strip. At approximately 2100 last night, an Israeli Apache helicopter gunship fired three missiles at an air conditioning shop owned by Mohsin Salim Ashour located on the ground floor of the Deir Latin elementary and preparatory school in the centre of al-Zaytoun neighbourhood in Gaza city. The workshop was completely destroyed, and one of the missiles destroyed a classroom in the school. Nearby houses and apartment buildings were damaged.
At approximately 0030 this morning, Israeli military gunboats and helicopters bombarded an outpost of the Palestinian Marine Police in Deir al-Balah, in the centre of the Gaza strip. The sporadic shelling, which lasted over two hours, killed one of the personnel at the outpost, Ahmed Hilal Ahmed, 25, after he was wounded by shrapnel throughout the body. Four civilians living near the outpost were also wounded.
At approximately 1130 this morning, two Israeli Apache helicopter gunships fired four missiles at a metal factory owned by the Bashiti family in Ma’en village, east of Khan Yunis, in the south of Khan Yunis. A fire broke out due to the shelling, killing four people inside, three from the same family:
Ahmad Juma’a al-Bashiti, 28, burned to death
Mohammed Juma’a al-Bashiti, 25, brother of Ahmad burned to death
Rafat Mahmoud al-Bashiti, 25, cousin of the Ahmad and Mohammed, burned to death
Zuheir Hussein Kawara, 25, burned to death
PCHR cannot stress enough its concern over the rapid and dramatic deterioration in the human rights and humanitarian situation in the OPT. Israeli forces have killed over 110 Palestinians so far this month, the majority of them civilians, and injured hundreds more. Escalating Israeli military tactics, such as massive ground invasions of densely populated Palestinian refugee camps and the use of combat aircraft against civilian residential areas, have become routine. Israeli forces are intensifying their systematic and widespread violations of international humanitarian law, including grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention (war crimes), against Palestinian civilians in the OPT.
PCHR is deeply concerned that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, whose long record of human rights violations includes his role in the massacre of Palestinian refugees at Sabra and Shatila, will continue to escalate attacks against Palestinian civilians unless compelled by governments to respect international humanitarian law.
PCHR reiterates its call for the international community to take immediate and effective steps to provide international protection to Palestinian civilians in the OPT. In particular, it demands that the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention fulfill their legal and moral obligations to ensure that Israel respects the Convention. Without concerted international efforts, the human rights situation in the OPT will continue to deteriorate, with disastrous consequences.
[1] Jabalya is the largest Palestinian refugee camp anywhere and is one of the most densely populated places in the world, housing approximately 90,000 refugees in two square kilometers. Hundreds of homes were demolished in the camp in the 1970s by Israeli forces when Ariel Sharon was head of the Israeli army southern command. Jabalya was also the birthplace of the first Intifada, in 1987.
