Ref: 28/2013
Date: 13 March 2013
Time: 11:00 GMT

On Tuesday evening, 12 March 2013, in an incident involving excessive use of force, the Israeli forces killed a Palestinian civilian and wounded 5 others, including 2 children, in al-Fawar refugee camp, in south of Hebron. On of the children injured in this incident was the brother of the victim.

According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 22:20 on Tuesday, 12 March 2013, an Israeli military jeep entered the al-Fawar refugee camp through its western entrance. As the jeep approached the center of the camp it broke down. Dozens of children and young men from the camp gathered around the jeep and started throwing stones at it. In response, the Israeli soldiers immediately stepped out of the jeep and opened fire at the crowd. As a result, Mahmoud ‘Aadel Fares al-Titi, 22, was seriously wounded by a bullet shot at his jaw. An ambulance of Palestine Red Crescent Society attempted to evacuate him immediately, but it was obstructed for 15 minutes by Israeli soldiers who were positioned at a checkpoint at the entrance of the camp. The ambulance then took al-Titi to Abu al-Hassan al-Qassem Hospital in Yatta village, south of Hebron, but he was declared dead before arrival at the hospital. According to medical sources, the bullet was apparently an explosive one, and it exploded in the victim’s head, causing severe hemorrhage. Additionally, 5 civilians, including 3 children were wounded in the incident. Their details are as follows:

1. Mahmoud Khalil al-Shalfan, 19, wounded by a bullet to the abdomen;
2. Fares Mahmoud al-Najjar, 16, wounded by a bullet to the right hand;
3. Rami Mohammed al-Krunz, 35, wounded by a bullet to the left foot;
4. Suhaib Tariq al-Hlaiqawi, 16, wounded by a bullet to the left thigh; and
5. Fares ‘Aadel al-Titi, 13, wounded by a bullet to the right hand.

PCHR is seriously concerned about such incidents, which reflects the continued use of excessive force by Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians in disregard of their lives.

PCHR calls upon the international community to take immediate and effective actions to put an end to such incidents and reiterates its call for the High Contracting Parties to the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfill their obligations under Article 1, i.e. to respect and to ensure respect for the Convention in all circumstances, and their obligation under Article 146 to prosecute persons who allegedly commit grave breaches enlisted under the convention. Such grave breaches constitute war crimes under Article 8 of the Rome Statute of International Criminal Court.