Press Release

A child is killed in Gaza:

Ten cities shelled in less than 24 hours

 

Ref: 163/2000

Date: November 12, 2000

Time: 16:00 GMT

18:00 Palestine Time

 

During the past 24 hours, the Israeli occupation forces have escalated the shelling throughout the occupied Palestinian territories. This escalation is the most dangerous since October 12, 2000, when shelling started. At midday, the Israeli occupation forces opened fire on some Palestinian civilians demonstrating near Beit Hanoun (Erez) Checkpoint, killing a 15-year-old child with two live bullets in the chest. The occupied Palestinian territories witnessed new clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and the Israeli occupation forces in which these forces shot at Palestinian demonstrators, targeting the upper part of the body. The number of Palestinians killed by the Israeli occupation forces since September 29 has increased to 184, including 58 children.

 

1. Shooting at Civilian Demonstrators in the Area of Clashes

In the area of Beit Hanoun (Erez) Checkpoint, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupation forces opened fire on a number of Palestinian young men and children, who demonstrated more than 100 meters away from a military post of these forces in the area. PCHR’s field officer in the area reported that the Israeli occupation forces shot at a 15-year-old child, wounding him in the foot and at the child Mahmoud Nafedh Abu Naji, 15 years old, from Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza, wounding him with two bullets in the chest. Immediately, the wounded child was evacuated to Shifa’ hospital in Gaza, but succumbed to his injury at about 15:00 local time. PCHR’s field officer stated that the child was willfully fired upon as there was no threat posed to the Israeli occupation forces in the area. In the afternoon, another two Palestinian civilians were wounded with bullets shot by the Israeli occupation forces.

In Khan Yunis, in the aftermath of the funeral procession of the martyr Ayman Salah Wadi, 19 years old, who died yesterday from a wound in the head incurred on November 8, clashes broke out between Palestinian demonstrators and the Israeli occupation forces near Al-Tuffah roadblock between Khan Yunis city and Al-Mawasi (agricultural) area which is under the security control of the Israeli occupation forces. The Israeli occupation forces shot at Palestinian demonstrators, wounding five civilians with live ammunition and another one with a rubber-coated metal bullet. PCHR’s field officer in the area reported that the Israeli occupation forces willfully targeted the upper part of the body, seriously wounding three children in the chest and abdomen. They are:

1. A’dnan E’ssam Al-Jayeh, 15 years old, wounded with a live bullet in the abdomen;
2. Mahmoud Ibrahim Radwan, 15 years old, wounded with a live bullet in the chest; and
3. Murad Riadh El-Bardawil, 15 years old, wounded with a live bullet in the chest.

At 15:30 local time, dozens of Jewish settlers, under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces, closed Salah El-Din Street (the main road between the north and south of the Gaza Strip) in the area near Kfar Darom settlement. PCHR’s field officer in the area reported that the area did not witness any clashes, and that Jewish settlers closed the road with their cars, preventing the passage of Palestinian transportation in both directions of the road. The Israeli occupation forces had briefly reopened the road around midday after it had been closed since yesterday. A large presence of troops of the Israeli occupation forces, reinforced with tanks, were deployed on the sides of the road. Movement on the road lasted for about two hours before, as stated above, Jewish settlers closed the road again.

In the area near Al-Mentar (Karni) Outlet, to the east of Gaza City, clashes broke out this afternoon between Palestinian demonstrators and the Israeli occupation forces. These forces shot at Palestinian demonstrators from a distance of about 150 meters, wounding 13 with live ammunition. Among the wounded are:

1. Mousa Abdel-Qader Frahat, 18 years old, from Al-Shati refugee camp, seriously wounded with a live bullet in the chest,
2. Nahedh Shahin Shahin, 17 years old, from Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, seriously wounded with a live bullet in the chest;
3. Ammar Hesham Al-Najjar, 17 years old, from Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, seriously wounded with a live bullet in the abdomen;
4. Ahmed Jehad Zaghbar, 14 years old, from Al-Nasser neighborhood, wounded with a rubber-coated metal bullet in the head; and
5. Mahmoud Hamed Jendeya, 18 years old, from Shojaeya neighborhood, wounded with a live bullet in the back.

In Rafah, clashes broke out this afternoon between Palestinian demonstrators and the Israeli occupation forces near Salah El-Din Gate on the Palestinian-Egyptian border. PCHR’s field officer in Rafah reported that the Israeli occupation forces shot at Palestinian demonstrators, wounding five with live ammunition, including Yasser Omran Abu Sneima, 17 years old, who was seriously wounded in the chest and evacuated to Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis.

In addition, the Israeli occupation forces have continued to impose a siege on Al-Mawasi (agricultural) area in the west of Rafah town. They have prevented the entry of citizens under the age of 28 into the area. Since Friday, the Israeli occupation forces have imposed a naval siege on the coast of Rafah, preventing fishermen from entering the sea.

In the area of the borderline, to the east of Al-Maghazi refugee camp, the Israeli occupation forces shot at Palestinian demonstrators this afternoon from a distance of more than 100 meters, wounding a child and a young man with live bullets in the chest. The wounded are:

1. The child Ibrahim Mustafa Sa’da, 15 years old, seriously wounded with a live bullet in the chest; and
2. Hammad Salim Al-Musaddar, 23 years old, seriously wounded with a live bullet in the chest.

 

1. Firing Rockets and Heavy Bullets at Civilian Buildings and Facilities

At about 4:30 local time this morning, residents of Tal Al-Sultan neighborhood adjacent to the Palestinian-Egyptian border in Rafah, woke up hearing sounds of explosions and intense shooting at their houses. As a result, one Palestinian civilian was wounded while he was trying to move his children out of a room opposite to a military post of the Israeli occupation forces. Additionally, houses were severely damaged and electricity in the area was cut. In his testimony to PCHR, Ehmeid Ayyad Hajjaj El-Soufi, a 47-year-old father of a ten-member family who was wounded with a live bullet in the arm at the time of the shelling, said:

“At about 4:30 (local time) this morning, Sunday November 12, 2000, I woke up hearing sounds of explosions and continuous intense shooting. I left my bedroom and went toward the bedroom of my children to make sure they were safe. Then, I started to move them to a room in the northwest of my house, on the far side of the house from the post of the Israeli occupation forces, which is about 300 meters away to the south of my house. I could move two of my children. While I was carrying my third child, Hussam, five years, between my arms, I felt heat in my left shoulder and saw it bleeding. I could not walk with my child between my arms, so I gave him to my wife and left the house down to a branch road. There, my brother Mustafa was waiting for me. He took me by car to Tal-Al-Sultan clinic (in Rafah). Physicians provided first aid for me, and then I was moved to the hospital of Al-Joneina neighborhood, where I underwent a surgical operation.”

In another testimony to PCHR, Mustafa Ayyad Hajjaj El-Soufi, a 36-year-old father of eight children, and Ehmeid El-Soufi’s brother, said:

“ At about 4:30 (local time) this morning, I woke up hearing sounds of intense shooting and explosions. I went toward the bedroom of my children to make sure of their safety. I moved them to a more secure room that was also in my view. Then, I left the house to the branch road in front of my house, where some neighbors were wondering about what was going on. A few minutes later, my bother Ehmeid came and told me that he was wounded in the arm. I took him to the medical clinic of Tal Al-Sultan where he got first aid. Then, I took him to the hospital of Al-Joneina neighborhood…. At about 7:00 this morning, I came back home and found that bullets penetrated water reservoirs on the roof of my house. In regard to my brother, windows and walls of the southern side of his house were hit by more than 20 bullets. Some bullets made holes 2cm in diameter.”

A house in the same area, owned by Sa’di Musleh Zo’rob, 38 years old, was hit with shells from a military post of the Israeli occupation forces at the Palestinian-Egyptian border. In his testimony to PCHR, Zo’rob said:

“At about 4:30 (local time) this morning, my wife and I woke up upon hearing sounds of shooting and explosions. When I became aware of what was going on, I left my bedroom and went to the room of my children close to my bedroom. They were crying. Shooting and explosions lasted until 6:00 (local time) this morning. When the firing ceased, I checked my house, finding that it was hit with five shells that made five holes on the southern façade. I think that was a result of the shooting. Some windows and doors were damaged. The bathroom was also hit by a shell, which penetrated its door. Bullets hit internal walls as well.”

In a similar testimony, Wae’l Sae’id Mohammed Zo’rob, 34 years old, said that his house was hit with a shell that made a 40-cm hole into the southern façade, and another one that made a 10-cm hole into the eastern façade, in addition to small holes. Bullets also penetrated water reservoirs on the roof. They also damaged windows, internal walls and furniture.

In Khan Yunis, the Israeli occupation forces fired from their heavy machine guns at Eid El-Agha elementary school and nearby houses. As a result, windows and walls were severely damaged. The school and the houses are 100 meters away to the east of a military post of the Israeli occupation forces in Gush Qatif settlement.

In the West Bank, at about 11:45 local time today, the Israeli occupation forces fired heavy bullets and shells on residential neighborhoods in Beit Jala, Beit Sahour, A’ida refugee camp and Al-Khader area in Bethlehem. Nine Palestinian civilians were wounded, including:

1. the child Sami Emile Khamashta, 12 years old, from Beit Jala, seriously wounded with splinters of shells in several parts of the body; and
2. the child Nedal A’faneh, from A’ida refugee camp, wounded with splinters of a shell in the chest.

In addition, four cars were hit with shells, two of which were completely burned. Six houses were also partially damaged and a seventh one was completely burned. The Orthodox Club and an olive wringer (for making olive oil) were also hit.

Yesterday evening, the Israeli occupation forces shelled Al-Bireh from tanks stationed at Psagot settlement. Shelling targeted residential buildings. As a result, Ossama Khalil Al-Bawwab, 28 years old, and Majed Hussein Radwan, 32 years old, were killed and a number of civilians were wounded. The Israeli occupation forces also shelled residential neighborhoods in Tulkarm, wounding six civilians. In Nablus, four civilians were wounded by the shelling of residential neighborhoods in the Northern Mountain area. The refugee camp of Aqabat Jaber in Jericho was also hit with heavy and medium bullets.

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PCHR reiterates its call for the international community to immediately intervene to stop the killings and criminal acts perpetrated by the Israeli occupation forces against Palestinian civilians. PCHR calls in particular for:

1. Establishing without delay an independent commission of inquiry, in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 1322 (2000), to carry out a thorough and comprehensive investigation into the abuses and killings perpetrated by the Israeli occupation forces against Palestinian civilians.
2. Convening a conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 to ensure Israel’s compliance with its obligations under the Convention.
3. Immediately providing international protection for Palestinian civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories in the face of the killings and criminal acts perpetrated by the Israeli occupation forces and groups of Jewish settlers who move under the protection of these forces.
4. Use by the EU of effective political and economic measures with reference to Article 2 of the Euro-Israel Association Agreement which calls for the respect of human rights.
5. Providing humanitarian and medical assistance for the Palestinian people whose living conditions are increasingly deteriorating because of the continued total siege imposed by the Israeli occupation forces on the entire occupied Palestinian territories.

 

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“End”