Reference: 31/2010

On Monday 26 April 2010, Israeli
occupation forces killed a Palestinian man, Ali Isma’el Ali Swaiti, 45, in Beit
‘Awwa in the West Bank district of Hebron, after demolishing a house while he
was inside. Israeli occupation forces claim that Ali Swaiti had been wanted for
several years. The Palestinian Centre
for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns this crime – which constitutes an
extrajudicial execution – and calls upon the international community to work
towards bringing to trial those Israeli politicians and commanders suspected of
committing war crimes.

According to investigations
conducted by PCHR and eyewitness testimony, Israeli occupation forces entered
Beit ‘Awwa town in the far south of Hebron at approximately 3:00 on Monday 26
April 2010, supported by military armored vehicles, a bulldozer and a Caterpillar
digging vehicle. Israeli forces
surrounded the house in which Ali Swaiti was located, using sound bombs. The home belongs to Mahmoud Abdul Aziz Swaiti
and is located in Khellet el-Foulah, in the north of the town. During the
operation, Israeli soldiers broke into numerous other houses in the area and turned
them into observation points and firing posts. 

After some minutes, Israeli
occupation forces evacuated at gunpoint the family living in the targeted
one-storey house as well as a family living in another two-storey house, which
belongs to the family of Ahmed Abdul Aziz Swaiti. The two families were detained outdoors for
some time before they were taken to an adjacent house belonging to Abdul Jalil
Swaiti. They were detained there with
other families, all of whom were interrogated regarding the whereabouts of the
targeted person. 

At approximately 5:40, an Israeli
bulldozer began to destroy the fences surrounding the targeted house. It progressed towards the house and started
to demolish it, but it retreated as it was fired at from inside the house. Israeli forces stationed in the neighboring
houses opened fire at the house for 15 minutes from all sides before an
explosion took place inside the house. Residents of the area reported that the explosion resulted from the
shelling of the house.

At approximately 6:00, the
Caterpillar vehicle began to drive into and destroy the fences of the targeted
house. After that, a digging vehicle
continued demolishing the house, and then retreated to allow the renewed
advance of the bulldozer and the search for the body of Swaiti.

At approximately 7:00, the bulldozer
lifted the body of Swaiti out of the rubble and dropped it onto a road close to
the demolished house before moving it another 10 m away. At approximately 7:30, an Israeli soldier
fired at least two shots at the body of Swaiti from a distance of three
meters. At approximately 8:00, Israeli
occupation forces left the homes in which they had taken position.

In the meantime, Palestinian
civilians had left their homes and many of them hurried towards the area of the
attack. They carried Swaiti’s body to
take it indoors. However, some people clashed with Israeli forces as they
withdrew. Israeli occupation forces fired
at those people using rubber-coated metal bullets, wounding five Palestinians
including a boy and a young woman. The
wounded are as follows:

1. Mohammed Mahmoud Masalmah, 23, wounded by a bullet to the
head;

2. Baha’ Mohammed ‘Akimi el-‘Amareen, 20, wounded by two
bullets to the legs;

3. Hussein Yusuf Swaiti, 18, wounded by a bullet to the leg;

4. Hammam Isma’el Masalmah, 17, wounded by two bullets to the
legs; and

5. Asma’ Murshed Swaiti, 19, wounded by a bullet to the right
shoulder. 

The IOF spokesperson said that
Swaiti had been wanted by the Israeli Security Service for eight years, as he
was held responsible for carrying out a number of shooting attacks against
Israeli targets near Hebron, including opening fire near the Ethna-Tarqumiya
intersection on 26 April 2004, i.e. exactly six years prior to yesterday’s
killing of Swaiti. The said attack
resulted in the death of an Israeli soldier and the injury of two others. 

PCHR reiterates its condemnation of
such acts and:

1. Confirms that this act constitutes part of a pattern of
Israeli war crimes perpetrated in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT),
which reflect Israeli occupation forces disregard for the lives of Palestinians
and for the requirements of international law.

2. Reiterates its condemnation of the illegal policy of
extrajudicial executions carried out by IOF against Palestinian activists. It also confirms that this policy raises
tension in the area and increases the likelihood of civilian victims among the
Palestinian population.

3. Calls upon the international community to immediately
intervene to stop these crimes which constitute violations of international
human rights and humanitarian law.

4. Calls upon the international community, particularly the
High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, to fulfill their
obligations 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 responsible for committing grave breaches of the
Convention. PCHR also calls on the High Contracting Parties to uphold their
responsibilities as signatories to the protocol Additional to the Convention,
such as breaches, which constitute war crimes according to Article 147 of the
convention.