Ref: 101/2007
Date: 21 August 2007
Time: 11:00 GMT
IOF Extra-Judicially Execute 6 Palestinians in al-Boreij Refugee Camp in Central Gaza Strip
PCHR strongly condemns the latest extra-judicial execution committed by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) on Monday evening, 20 August 2007, which left dead 4 members of the ‘Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades (the military wing of Hamas) and 2 members of the Executive Force of the Palestinian Ministry of Interior. The vehicle, in which the 6 victims were traveling, was attacked by a surface-to-surface missile in the central Gaza Strip. PCHR calls upon the international community to effectively intervene to stop Israeli crimes in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and provide protection for Palestinian civilians.
At approximately 17:00 on Monday, 20 August 2007, IOF positioned along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, east of al-Boreij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, fired a surface-to-surface missile at a civilian vehicle (a white Peugeot), in which 4 members of the ‘Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades and 2 members of the Executive Force were traveling, nearly 400 meters away from the border. The missile hit the vehicle and killed the six Palestinians:
1) Mohammed Ibrahim al-Qrainawi, 22; 2) ‘Abed Rabbu Khaled Abu Hilu, 22; 3) Isma’il Mohammed Abu ‘Aabda, 22; 4) Ahmed ‘Ali al-Qrainawi, 23; 5) ‘Ali Sa’id Baroud, 34; and
6) Mohammed ‘Atiya Abu ‘Arab, 35.
Additionally, a civilian bystander, 22-year-old Mohammed Ramadan al-Shaimi, was wounded by shrapnel to the back. Israeli media reports claimed, according to the Israeli military, that the attack targeted a vehicle that was transporting suspects who were on their way to launch home-made rockets at IOF and Israeli towns.
Since the beginning of the current Palestinian Intifada, 651 Palestinians, including 221 civilian bystanders, have been extra-judicially executed by IOF. The victims have included 73 children.
PCHR strongly condemns crimes committed by IOF in the OPT, and:
1) Asserts that this latest crime is another one in a series of continuous crimes committed by IOF in the OPT in disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians.
2) Reiterates condemnation for the policy of extra-judicial executions adopted by IOF against Palestinian activists, and asserts that this policy serves to increase tension in the region and threatens the lives of Palestinian civilians. 3) Calls upon the international community to immediately intervene to stop such crimes, and calls upon the High Contracting Parties to the 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, and 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).
