Press Release

  Armed settlers attack Palestinian civilians in Hebron: A child from Rafah dies from a previous wound; More shelling of neighborhoods and more sweeping of agricultural land  

Ref: 194/2000

Date: December 9, 2000 Time:  GMT 13:00             Palestine Time 15:00  

Today, at noon local time, the child Salim Mohammed El-Hamaydeh, 13 years old, from Rafah, was pronounced dead at Shifa’ hospital in Gaza City.  The child was wounded with a live bullet in the head on December 5, 2000, when the Israeli occupation forces shot at a number of Palestinian children who gathered in front of their houses near Salah El-Din Gate on the Palestinian-Egyptian border in Rafah.  PCHR’s field officer in Rafah reported that the area did not witness violent clashes then, but two or three boys threw stones at the Israeli occupation forces, which opened fire, wounding the child El-Hamaydeh with a live bullet in the head.  He was then evacuated to the intensive care unit at Shifa’ hospital, where he died today.

 Furthermore, the child Murad Abdullah Ahmed El-Masri, 15 years old, from Khan Yunis, is still in the intensive care unit at Shifa’ hospital in Gaza City.  The child was wounded with a live bullet in the head yesterday afternoon, when the Israeli occupation forces opened fire on a number of children who gathered near Salah El-Din Gate in Rafah.  PCHR’s field officer in Rafah reported that the child, who was visiting his relatives in Rafah, gathered with a number of children near their houses adjacent to Salah El-Din Gate.  They started to shout at Israeli occupation forces and to make provocative hand gestures.  These forces immediately opened fire, wounding the child El-Masri with a live bullet in the head.

 This morning, at about 11:00 local time, about 80 armed settlers made a provocative assault in Al-Baqa’a area in Hebron.  They attacked Palestinian civilians and their houses by firing their weapons and throwing stones.  A settler shot at the child Mansour Naji Jaber, 13 years old, wounding him from a distance of 50 meters with one bullet in the abdomen and another in the left hand.  The wounded child was evacuated to Hadasa hospital in Jerusalem in serious condition.

 Shelling of Rafah and Khan Yunis

 Yesterday evening, at about 19:00 local time, Israeli occupation forces positioned at the borderline in Rafah fired two artillery shells at Palestinian houses in the city.  One shell hit the house of Ziad Mohammed Suleiman Qeshta, a tin-roofed house, making a hole 10 centimeters in diameter.  In his testimony to PCHR, the owner of the house said that the artillery shell exploded inside the kitchen, causing severe damage.  He added that the eight members of his family miraculously survived, as they were all at a safe distance when the shell exploded.  The house is located in Qeshta neighborhood, which is about 700 meters away from the military post of the Israeli occupation forces at the borderline.  The second shell fell near the house without exploding and no injuries were reported.  PCHR’s field officer in Rafah reported that the city did not witness any clashes when the Israeli occupation forces fired shells.  

 Yesterday evening, the Israeli occupation forces fired artillery shells and heavy and medium bullets at the refugee camp of Khan Yunis.  The sources of shelling were military posts of the Israeli occupation forces at Al-Tuffah roadblock and in the vicinity of Neve Dekalim settlement.  The shelling continued intermittently from 20:00 to midnight local time.  PCHR’s field officer reported that a number of houses were severely damaged.  These were:

1)                     The house of Fuad Mahmoud Ahmed Honeideq, a 200-square-meter, asbestos-roofed house, in which eight people live: Bullets penetrated walls, windows and water storage tanks.  The house has been hit several times in the past few weeks, and its owner Fuad Honeideq was wounded with a live bullet in the leg.  He was evacuated to a hospital in Jordan.

2)                     The house of Mustafa Mahmoud Ahmed Honeideq, a 150-square-meter, asbestos-roofed house, in which nine people live: Heavy and medium bullets penetrated walls and windows.

3)                     The house of Nazhmi Mahmoud Ahmed Honeideq, a 200-square-meter, asbestos-roofed house, in which 10 people live: Heavy and medium bullets penetrated walls, windows and the roof.

4)                     The house of Ahmed Mahmoud Ahmed Honeideq, a 150-square-meter, two-story house, in which 22 people live: Shells penetrated external walls, making holes 20 centimeters in diameter.

5)                     The house of Jama’an Mahmoud Ahmed Honeideq, a 230-square-meter, two-story house, in which 10 people live: Heavy and medium bullets penetrated walls and windows and furniture was burned.

6)                     The house of Kamal Kamel Hassan Abu Rezeq, a 220-square-meter, one-story house, in which 12 people live: Heavy and medium bullets penetrated walls and windows.

7)                     The house of Khaled Mohammed Hassan Abu Rezeq, a 150-square-meter, two-story house, in which 10 people live: Shells hit external walls, making holes 20-25 centimeters in diameter.  Windows were broken.

8)                     The house of A’adel Abu Obeida, a 140-square-meter, two-story house, in which nine people live: A shell hit walls, making a hole 20 centimeters in diameter.  Windows were broken.

 More Sweeping and Demolition

 This morning, the Israeli occupation forces swept more areas of agricultural land in the middle area.  PCHR’s field officer in the area reported that the sweeping started at 2:00 local time and lasted for four hours.  It included areas of agricultural land 700 meters to the north of the Palestinian Al-Matahen company at the road branching off Salah El-Din Street (the main road between the north and south of the Gaza Strip) and leading to Gush Qatif settlement block in the west.  The sweeping included:

1)                     a four-donum area of agricultural land planted with olives and lemons, owned by Ahmed Mustafa El-Majayda.  In addition, an irrigation network, a 150-square-meter bird farm, an agricultural pool and a well were destroyed.  The house of El-Majayda, a 150-square-meter house, in which he lived with his seven-member family, was also demolished. 2)                     A three-donum area of agricultural land planted with vegetables, owned by A’dnan Mohammed Madhi.

  ***   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. 6.                              Use by the international community and relevant bodies, including ICRC, of necessary measures to ensure the access of medical supplies and equipment and other humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians. The Israeli occupation forces have continued to deny entry of this material through Rafah Border Crossing (into the Gaza Strip).    

“End”