Israeli onslaught intensifies; at least 20 Palestinians killed overnight in Gaza strip, dozens injured

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Press release

Israeli onslaught intensifies; at least 20 Palestinians killed overnight in Gaza strip, dozens injured

Date:    8 March 2002

Ref:      33/2002

In the aftermath of an attack by a Palestinian gunman on a pre-military training academy in Atzmona settlement[1] in the Gaza strip on 7 March, Israeli occupying forces have carried out a number of revenge attacks throughout the Gaza strip overnight, killing at least 20 Palestinians.

PCHR is gravely concerned over the rapid and dramatic escalation of attacks by Israeli forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) in recent days and fears that without effective international action, the current policies of the Israeli government will continue to claim more lives and lead to disastrous consequences.

Early this morning, Israeli occupation forces attacked Ikhza’a village, east of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza strip, killing 16 Palestinians, including Brigadier Ahmad Hasan Mufaraj, a senior Palestinian security official.  At approximately the same time, Israeli helicopters and gunboats bombarded a Palestinian naval police installation in the northern part of the Gaza strip, killing four people, including a paramedic.

According to PCHR’s investigations, an Israeli force attacked Ikhza’a village at approximately 0200 this morning from the east and northeast.  After assuming complete control over the village, Israeli soldiers converted a number of houses into military outposts, confining the inhabitants and firing indiscriminately from rooftops.  Over the course of several hours, Israeli forces killed 16 Palestinians in the village, 11 of them civilians.

Brigadier Ahmad Hasan Mufaraj, commander of the Palestinian National Security Forces for the southern Gaza strip, soon arrived at the scene to assess the situation.  He was shot in the thigh by Israeli forces and bled to death.  The commander of the Israeli Givati infantry brigade claimed that the soldiers did not recognise Mufaraj when he was shot, indicating that Israeli forces used force indiscriminately during the attack.

According to PCHR’s findings, ambulances attempting to reach the area were fired upon by Israeli forces, preventing them from treating or evacuating the wounded.  PCHR notes that in November 2001, Mufaraj rescued several Israelis who had accidentally found their way into a Palestinian-controlled area.  A PCHR fieldworker found that other Palestinians in the village also bled to death due to Israeli attacks on Palestinian ambulances.  Those killed overnight in Ikhza’a were:

1. Khalid Ibrahim Iqdeh, 35, run over by a tank after being wounded by Israeli forces

2. Khalil Zirai Iqdeh, 33, shot in the stomach and left to bleed to death

3. Mahmoud Shehdeh Iqdeh, 52, shot in the head and left to bleed to death

4. Moussa Mohammed al-Najjar, 47, shot in the head

5. Baker Hussein al-Najjar, 18, shot in the chest and stomach

6. Riyad Mohammed Abu Reda, 30, shot in the head

7. Ayman Ibrahim Abu Tayer, 27, shot in the chest

8. Marwan Salman Abu Mutluq, 22, shot in the chest

9. Husam Shehdeh Abu Tayer, 22, shot in the head

10. Ibrahim Yehiyeh Abu Daqa, 23, shot in the back

11. Hamad Tawfiq Abu Reda, 27, shot throughout the body

12. Brigadier Ahmad Hasan Mufaraj, commander of the Palestinian National Security Forces for the southern Gaza strip, shot in the leg and left to bleed to death

13. Ashraf Salman al-Najjar, 33, hit by a bullet in the stomach; a member of the National Security Force

14. Arif Ramadan Hezallah, 36, hit by a bullet in the chest; a member of the National Security Force

15. Riyad al-Qasaas, 43, killed by shrapnel throughout the body; a member of the National Security Force and a bodyguard of Mufaraj

16. Ehab Abdul Karim al-Talatini, 26, killed by shrapnel throughout the body; a member of the National Security Force

At approximately 0100, Israeli gunboats and combat helicopters bombarded an outpost used by the Palestinian Marine Police in al-Sudaniyeh, near Gaza city.  The shelling lasted until 0300, killing four people and wounding four critically.  Those killed were:

1. Said Yusef Shalayil, 26, a paramedic from Jabalya, injured by shrapnel throughout the body, killed while attempting to treat the wounded

2. Abdul Ra’uf Hassan Hussein Abu Obeida, 33, from Jabalya, injured by shrapnel throughout the body (a bystander to the attack)

3. Samer Wajih Yunis Judeh, 23, injured by shrapnel throughout the body; a member of the Palestinian Marine Police

4. Hani Radwan ‘Ashour, 28, from al-Zaytoun in Gaza city, shot in the neck; a member of the Palestinian Marine Police

At approximately 1030 today, a pair of Israeli Apache helicopter gunships fired two missiles at offices of the Palestinian National Security Force and the civil police in Khan Yunis, seriously damaging the two buildings, which had been bombarded on previous occasions.  General Abdel Razeq al-Mujaidi, head of the Palestinian National Security Force, was at the site during the attack, receiving condolences for the killing of Mufraj.  He and others present were not hurt.

Also, at 1900 on 7 March, Israeli Apache helicopter gunships fired several missiles at a police station in Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza strip, seriously damaging it and injuring 6 civilian bystanders, three of them children.

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 70 Palestinians in the past week, the majority of them civilians, and injured hundreds more.  Escalating Israeli military tactics, such as massive ground invasions of PNA-controlled areas 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.