Press Release

A Palestinian civilians dies from a previous injury:

Snipers of the Israeli occupation forces shoot dead from guns provided with silencers two Palestinian civilians in Khan Yunis

Ref: 166/2000

Date: November 13, 2000

Time: 16:00 GMT

18:00 Palestine Time

In a significant escalation and despite the significant reduction of clashes, this afternoon, snipers of the Israeli occupation forces shot from guns provided with silencers from a distance of more than 100m at some Palestinian young men and children in Khan Yunis, killing two with bullets in the heart. In Khan Yunis also, this afternoon, an 18-year-old Palestinian died from an injury in the head by the Israeli occupation forces on November 11, 2000. The number of Palestinians killed by the Israeli occupation forces since September 29, 2000 has increased to 187 martyrs, including 61 under 18.

At about 15:30 local time, snipers of the Israeli occupation forces shot at some Palestinian demonstrators in Khan Yunis from a distance of more than 100m, killing two with live bullets in the heart. The two martyrs are:

1. Mohammed Nasser Tawfiq Al-Tawil, 18 years old; and
2. Yahia Nayef Abu Shammala, 17 years old.

PCHR’s field officer in Khan Yunis reported that there were no clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and the Israeli occupation forces in the morning. This afternoon, a number of Palestinian young men, 50-60, gathered more than 100m away from the Israeli occupation forces positioned at Al-Tuffah roadblock between Khan Yunis city and Al-Mawasi (agricultural) area which is under the security control of the Israeli occupation forces. PCHR’s field officer added that snipers of the Israeli occupation forces positioned at an observation tower on the border of Neve Dekalim shot at Palestinian young men from guns provided with silencers. They willfully shot at the upper part of the body in order to kill. They killed two with live bullets in the heart, and no other injuries were reported. Before shooting, the Israeli occupation forces did not resort to less dangerous means, which proves their intention in advance to kill.

It is worth mentioning that at 17:00 local time, Israeli mass media broadcast a statement by the spokesman of the Israeli occupation forces in which he claimed that his forces did not shoot in the area, asserting that the situation was quiet today. However, eyewitnesses, including PCHR’s in Khan Yunis, saw the shooting at Palestinians by snipers of the Israeli occupation forces, in which two Palestinian civilians were killed. PCHR warns of the frequent use of such Israeli narrative, as in the past days the Israeli occupation forces have shot at Palestinian civilians from guns provided with silencers. Immediately and unusually, the Israeli occupation forces denied the shooting. If the claim by the Israeli occupation forces contradicts certain narratives by eyewitnesses, then, PCHR fears an increase of similar actions against Palestinian civilians.

This afternoon, Ahmed Hassan Dahlan, 18 years old, from Khan Yunis, was pronounced dead at Ekhilov hospital in Israel. Dahlan was wounded with a live bullet in the head when the Israeli occupation forces shot at Palestinians on November 11, 2000 near the junction leading to Gush Qatif settlement block.

In the area near Al-Mentar (Karni) Outlet, to the east of Gaza City, clashes borke out this afternoon between Palestinian demonstrators and the Israeli occupation forces. These forces at Palestinian demonstrators from a distance of about 150 meters, wounding seven civilians with live ammunition. Four of the wounded received bullets in the upper part of the body. They are:

1. Refa’t Sae’id El-Khalili, 17 years old, from Al-Tuffah neighborhood, wounded with a live bullet in the chest;
2. Ahmed Salah Dhaban, 18 years old, from Al-Remal neighborhood, wounded with a live bullet in the back;
3. Majed Sae’id Ekhzeiq, 19 years old, from Tal El-Hawa, wounded with a live bullet in the head; and
4. E’mad Samir Basal, 13 years old, from Tal El-Hawa, wounded with a live bullet in the right side.

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. The Israeli occupation forces shot at Palestinian demonstrators, wounding three with live ammunition.

The Israeli occupation forces have continued to reinforce their presence throughout the occupied Palestinian territories. In the Gaza Strip, tanks and armored vehicles are still stationed along Salah El-Din Street (the main road between the north and south of the Gaza Strip) near the roads leading to Gush Qatif settlement block, Kfar darom and Morag settlements, and the branch road leading to Kissufim crossing in the east of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli occupation forces have continued to adopt measures of collective punishment, imposing a total siege on the occupied Palestinian territories. Gaza International Airport and Rafah Border Crossing are still closed.

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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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