In a serious escalation: More than 500 Palestinian civilians have become homeless after their houses were demolished or destroyed by the Israeli occupation forces; Two are killed and dozens are wounded during shelling of Khan Yunis; A minor from Gaza Ci

April 11, 2001

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Press Release

In a serious escalation:

More than 500 Palestinian civilians have become homeless after their houses were demolished or destroyed by the Israeli occupation forces;

Two are killed and dozens are wounded during shelling of Khan Yunis;

A minor from Gaza City and a young man from Jenin die this morning from previous wounds

Ref: 15/2001

Date: April 11, 2001

Tuesday, April 10, 2001, at approximately 23:20 local time, Israeli occupation forces, reinforced with dozens of tanks and three bulldozers burst into the western area of Khan Yunis refugee camp. These forces fired artillery shells, heavy caliber bullets, and medium caliber bullets at Palestinian houses. Using bulldozers, these forces also started to demolish Palestinian houses on a massive scale. Over the last six months, these houses had systematically shelled by the Israeli occupation forces forcing their residents to abandon the homes during shelling.

PCHR’s field officer in Khan Yunis reported that the Israeli occupation forces burst into the camp without prior warning. The residents were forced to flee, leaving behind their furniture and personal belongings. Thirty houses and their contents were demolished and a five-story apartment building was partially destroyed. This left more than 50 families (approximately 500 people) homeless.

The indiscriminate shelling of the area also killed a Palestinian civilian and an officer of the Palestinian Military Liaison Forces. The shelling also wounded 27 people, four of whom were of medical personnel. The wounded were evacuated to hospitals in Khan Yunis and Gaza City. Hani Mousa Abu Rezeq, 25, from Khan Yunis, was wounded with artillery shell shrapnel throughout the body and evacuated to Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis where he arrived in critical condition. Major Elias ‘Eid, 50, was critically wounded with a live bullet to the head and evacuated to Shifa’ hospital in Gaza City. This morning, the two were pronounced dead at Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis and Shifa’ hospital in Gaza City. Furthermore, four nurses of the Palestine Red Crescent Society and the Palestinian Military Medical Service were wounded while they were treating the wounded. They are:

1) Na’im Khaled Rashid Abu ‘Amer, 26, who was wounded with shrapnel in the right leg;

2) ‘Awad ‘Obeid Abu Hadayed, 27, who suffered from bruises in the right hand;

3) Mohammed Khalil El-Qadhi, 22, who suffered from bruises in the right ankle; and

4) Haitham Abu Mo’eileq, 29, who suffered from bruises.

The other wounded were:

1) Saber Hussein Abu ‘Obeid, 34, who was wounded with several live bullets in the abdomen and the right shoulders and evacuated to the intensive care unit at Shifa’ hospital in Gaza City;

2) Subhi Hassan Abu Namous, 30, who was wounded with a live bullet in the right eye, resulting in the loss of his eye, and was evacuated to the optical hospital in Gaza City;

3) Captain ‘Ayesh El-Majdalawi, 30, of the Palestinian Military Liaison Forces, who was wounded with a live bullet in the lower jaw;

4) Mohammed ‘Abdel-Latif Abu To’eima, 18, who was wounded with a live bullet in the right foot;

5) Ramzi Mohammed El-Jakhbir, 25, who was wounded with a live bullet in the right ear;

6) Mousa ‘Abdel-Karim ‘Awad, 30, who was wounded with shrapnel in the right hand;

7) Nasser Mohammed Mousa, 27, who was wounded with shrapnel in the face;

8) Zaki Madhi Abu Madhi, 37, who was wounded with shrapnel in the right hand;

9) Mohammed Zuhair Abu El-Nemer, 18, who was wounded with shrapnel in the head and the abdomen;

10) Khaled Hussein Abu ‘Obeida, 30, who was wounded with shrapnel in the left hand;

11) Ziad Mahmoud ‘Amer, 27, who was wounded with shrapnel in the right side;

12) ‘Abdel-Karim Mahmoud El-Farra, 21, who was wounded with shrapnel in the left hand;

13) Mohammed Subhi Shna’a, 20, who was wounded with shrapnel in the right hand;

14) Subhi Jom’a Abu Namous, 30, who suffered broken legs;

15) Ahmed Mohammed Barakat, 23, who was wounded with shrapnel in the head;

16) Ibrahim Mahmoud ‘Amer, 34, who was wounded with shrapnel in the pelvis and the foot;

17) ‘Ali Tafiq El-Sheikh Salameh, 30, who was wounded with shrapnel in the right leg;

18) Khaled Hassan Abu Namous, 31, who was wounded with shrapnel in the left foot;

19) ‘Atteya Hassan Abu Namous, 26, who was wounded with shrapnel in the hands and the head;

20) Nahla ‘Atta Abu ‘Awadh, 19, who was wounded with shrapnel in the nose;

21) Sa’dia Meqdad, 20, who was wounded with shrapnel in both feet;

22) Mo’in Ahmed Zayed, 21, who was wounded with shrapnel near the left eye; and

23) Ahmed ‘Atef Mahdi, who wa wounded with shrapnel in the right hand.

In the meanwhile, a 16-year-old minor from Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, Mahmoud Khalil Mohammed Barakat, was pronounced dead at Shifa’ hospital in Gaza City. The minor was wounded with a live bullet in the head when the Israeli occupation forces opened fire on a number of Palestinian children who were demonstrating in the afternoon of Friday, April 6, 2001, near Al-Mentar (Karni) Outlet, east of Gaza City. Since then, he has been in the intensive care unit at Shifa’ hospital. He was pronounced dead this morning.

Mo’taz Mohammed Sobeh, 19, from Brouqin village in Jenin, was also pronounced dead from a live bullet wound to the head received on April 5, 2001. At the time he was shot, Sobeh was traveling by car with another two Palestinian civilians when they were fired upon by Israeli occupation forces in Al-Almaneya neighborhood in Jenin, wounding all three.

The following houses and their contents were also destroyed:

1) a 190-square-meter house, in which four families consisting of 15 people used to live, owned by Salem ‘Ali Salem Abu ‘Obeida;

2) a 320-square-meter house, in which two families consisting of 14 people used to live, owned by Khalil Mohammed Salameh Abu Zarqa;

3) a 250-square-meter house, in which 7 people used to live, and a rented commercial store, owned by Hassan Suleiman Abu ‘Obeida;

4) a 200-square-meter house, in which 8 people used to live, owned by Amin Suleiman Mohammed Abu ‘Obeida;

5) a 300-square-meter house, in which 10 people used to live, owned by Safeya Mosallam Zayed Abu ‘Obeida;

6) a 240-square-meter house, in which 14 people used to live, owned by Suleiman Mousa Suleiman Abu Mousa;

7) a 250-square-meter house, in which four families consisting of 31 people used to live, owned by Hammoud Hamdan Radwan Abu Radwan;

8) a 300-square-meter house, in which five families consisting of 30 people used to live, owned by Jaber Mohammed Mahmoud Abu Radwan;

9) a 200-square-meter house, in which two families consisting of 25 people used to live, owned by Ahmed Hassan Mahmoud Abu Radwan;

10) a 100-square-meter house, in which one person used to live, owned by Mousa Hassan Abu Louz;

11) a 200-square-meter house, in which two families consisting of 20 people used to live, owned by Hussein Ahmed Abu Khoreis;

12) a 350-square-meter house, in which 19 people used to live, owned by Jehad and Ziad Hussein Abu Khoreis;

13) a 160-square-meter house, in which 20 people used to live, owned by Kefaya ‘Atteya Abu Namous and Hassan Mohammed Abu Namous;

14) a 100-square-meter house, in which 12 people used to live, owned by Shokolata Mohammed Abu Namous;

15) a 220-square-meter house, and a 230-square-meter house, in which 10 people used to live, owned by Jalal Khalil Abu Louz;

16) a 220-square-meter house, in which one person used to live, owned by Hajer Mohammed Salameh Abu Louz;

17) a 250-square-meter house, in which 11 people used to live, owned by Jehad Khalil Mohammed Abu Louz;

18) a 180-square-meter house, owned by Jehad Khalil Mohammed Abu Louz (partially demolished);

19) a 125-square-meter house, in which 4 people used to live, owned by Ibrahim Khader Shehadeh ‘Amer;

20) a 135-square-meter house, in which 6 people used to live, owned by Khader Shehadeh ‘Abdel-Qader ‘Amer;

21) a 150-square-meter house, in which 11 people used to live, owned by Hussein ‘Ali Mohammed Abu Louz;

22) a 100-square-meter house, in which 8 people used to live, owned by Amin Mohammed Sha’ban El-Tabesh;

23) a 100-square-meter house, in which 7 people used to live, owned by Akram and Anwar Mohammed Sha’ban El-Tabesh;

24) a 90-square-meter house, in which 10 people used to live, owned by ‘Abdel-Hafez Mahmoud Mohammed Abu Shoqeir;

25) a 90-square-meter house, in which two families consisting of 9 people used to live, owned by ‘Ali Mahmoud Mohammed Abu Shoqeir;

26) a 200-square-meter house, in which 10 people used to live, owned by Mohammed Ahmed ‘Ayesh Mohammed;

27) a 250-square-meter house, uninhibited, owned by Subhi Khalil Abu Louz;

28) a 140-square-meter house, in which 8 people used to live, owned by Mohammed Ibrahim Abu ‘Awadh;

29) a 400-square-meter house, in which 12 people used to live, owned by Kamel Mohammed Abu ‘Aker; and

30) a 250-square-meter, five-story house, in which 18 people used to live (partially demolished), owned by ‘Abdullah Shoreiqi Abu ‘Obeida.

Furthermore, PCHR’s field officer in Khan Yunis reported that a number of houses were severely damaged by Israeli occupation forces’ shelling. He added that the Israeli forces also demolished a site of the Palestinian National Security Forces in the west of Khan Yunis refugee camp.

PCHR reiterates its condemnation of Israeli human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, which included attacks against Palestinian civilians and their properties, and asserts that:

1) Israeli occupation forces have systematically and routinely burst into Palestinian National Authority controlled areas

2) Israeli occupation forces burst into the western part of Kahn Yunis refugee camp came after a similar attempt on December 13, 2001 was thwarted when Palestinian civilians and the Palestinian National Security Forces confronted them. That incident resulted in the death of four members of the Palestinian National Security Forces and the wounding of 28 civilians. Bulldozers of the Israeli occupation forces were then able to reach Palestinian houses and to partially demolish a number of them.

3) Israeli occupation forces demolished 30 Palestinian houses without prior warning, leaving approximately 500 Palestinian civilians homeless.

In light of continued escalation by the Israeli occupation forces, PCHR calls upon the international community and the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to immediately provide international protection for the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

PCHR expresses its profound dismay over the continued silence of the international community regarding the blatant violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention. As PCHR has stated in the past, the international community’s continued conspiracy of silence serves to encourage the continuation and escalation of Israeli violations against Palestinian civilians.