Ref: 94/2010
In the dawn of Friday, 08 October
2010, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed two Palestinian activists
affiliated to the Izziddin al-Qassam
Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), in
Hebron. The two activists were killed in
an wide-scale military operation that IOF implemented in a residential
neighborhood in the south of Hebron. During this operation, IOF shelled a number of houses claiming that the
two activists were hiding inside them.
According to investigations
conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately
23:00 on Thursday evening, 07 October 2010, an IOF drone flew over the south of
Hebron. In the meanwhile, IOF military
patrols extensively deployed in Jabal Johar, Abu Esneina and al-Salaymeh areas
and near Tariq Bin Zeyad, al-Mukhtar and al-Diq crossroads. At approximately 23:50, Israeli troops stormed
al-Okhwa quarter in the center of Jabal Johar area and closed the area from the
different directions. Amid firing, IOF
surrounded many houses opposite to al-Shuhada Mosque. They particularly targeted a 3-storey
residential building, which belongs to Sa’di Mousa Yousef Barqan and his
brother Radwan. The first and second
floors of the building include residential apartments where more than 30
people, mostly women and children, live. The ground floor includes a number of stores.
IOF called for backups and Israeli
soldiers used megaphones to call on residents of the mentioned house. They forced them to leave their house amid
firing of bullets and sound bombs, and to gather in front of the building with
their hands up. Israeli soldiers took
positions atop of neighboring houses and used them as bases to fire at the
aforementioned building. According to
testimonies given by eyewitnesses, crossfire was heard in the area for a few
minutes, and IOF then continued to fire at the building from various directions. They fired bullets from machineguns, medium
caliber bullets and M-16 gun grenades,
causing damages to different parts of the targeted building.
At approximately 01:40 on Friday, 08
October 2010, IOF brought a bulldozer and a digging machine that drove to the
building. The bulldozer demolished the
external walls and gate of the building and the corridor, and a part of the
garden of a neighboring building. The
digging machine then moved to assist the bulldozer and demolished parts of the
building from the east and the south. At
approximately 02:30, eyewitnesses saw two bodies on the ground near a fig tree
behind the targeted building. IOF
continued to demolish and destroy large parts of the building over its
contents. They also continued to search
the debris, the demolished parts of the building, the surroundings and inside
the building. They fired bullets and
used tracker dogs during their search.
At approximately 10:00 on Friday, 08
October 2010, a
number of locals managed to arrive at the spot where the two bodies were left,
and managed to remove them from the area. The two bodies were transferred through alleys to Mohammed Ali
al-Muhtaseb Hospital in the south of Hebron. Later, the two activists were recognized as:
1. Nashat Na’im al-Karmi, 33, from Toulkarem, who was hit by
two heavy bullets to the upper jaw and the head.
2. Ma’moun Taysir Yasin Natsheh, 25, from Hebron, who was hit
by two bullets to the upper jaw and in the right shoulder.
The Israeli military operation also
resulted in the demolition of three residential apartments, the area of each is
120 m2,
including two inhabited ones. In
addition, four houses, whose areas range between 100 and 120
m2, including two
inhabited ones, were heavily damaged, a store was completely destroyed and
another two stores were partially damaged. A 1983 Subaru private car was also destroyed and electrical nd water
networks in the area were damaged.
PCHR repeats its condemnation of
this crime and expresses grave concern over it, and:
1. Condemns this crime, which is part of a series of continuous
crimes committed by IOF in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) with total
disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians.
2. Calls upon the international community to immediately
intervene to stop such crimes, and calls upon the High Contracting Parties to
the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in
Time of War, to fulfill their obligation under article 1 of the Convention to
ensure respect for the Convention in all circumstances, as well as their
obligation under article 146 to search for and prosecute those who are
responsible for perpetrating grave breaches of the Convention, as such breaches
constitute war crimes according to article 147 of the Convention and the
Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating
to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol
I).
