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Five children killed in a Khan Yunis explosion; Israeli occupation forces suspected of responsibility
Ref:72/2001
Date: 22 November 2001
This morning, five Palestinian children were killed in Khan Yunis when a suspicious object exploded while they were going to their schools on a road near an Israeli military installation. The nature of the suspicious object is not clear. According to Palestinian sources, the object was a piece of unexploded ordnance fired by Israeli occupation forces a few days ago, while other sources indicated that the object might have been a land mine.
According to initial information, at approximately 07:30, a heavy explosion occurred in Al-Satar Al-Gharbi area in the north of Khan Yunis. Palestinian citizens and medical personnel hurried towards the area of the explosion where they found the remaining body parts of five children. They were identified by their school bags. They were from one family. They were identified as:
1) Akram Na’im ‘Abdel-Karim El-Astal, 6;
2) Mohammed Na’im ‘Abdel-Karim El-Astal, 14;
3) ‘Omar Edris El-Astal, 13;
4) Anis Edris El-Astal, 11; and
5) Mohammed Salman El-Astal, 11.
In addition, a farmer, Ahmed Dhib Ahmed El-Astal, 22, was injured in the neck and the right thigh.
The five children were on their way from their houses in Al-Satar Al-Gharbi area to their preparatory school in Al-Amal neighborhood in the west of Khan Yunis. As they used to do every day, they walked into a branch road near “Gani Tal” settlement. When they were around 150m away from an Israeli military location in the area, a suspicious object exploded and killed them all.
PCHR is continuing its investigation into the incident. As the area has been repeatedly shelled by Israeli occupation forces, the object may have been an unexploded artillery shell fired by Israeli occupation forces. It might have exploded when a child kicked it. The idea that the object might have been a land mine cannot be excluded. In either event, there is strong evidence that Israeli occupation forces were in some way involved in the explosion, especially as they have been involved in similar explosions, particularly in Khan Yunis and Rafah in the past months.
