Ref: 128/2007
Date: 27 September 2007
Time: 10:00 GMT
Israeli Occupation Forces Escalate Crimes in the Gaza Strip:
11 Palestinians Killed and 33 Injured in 9 Hours
PCHR Calls the International Community to Act Immediately to Stop Israeli Threats to Attack the Gaza Strip
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) committed several car crimes in the Gaza Strip over the past few hours, which left 11 Palestinians dead, including a child, and injured 33 others, five of them seriously. Some of the injured suffered amputation of limbs. Five of the victims were killed in an extra-judicial execution in Gaza City. The remaining 6 victims fell in Beit Hanoun by aerial and land bombardment during an incursion into the town.
PCHR strongly condemns these crimes, and is concerned that they are a prelude to additional crimes against the Gaza Strip. It is noted that these crimes were perpetrated several hours after the announcement by the Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, that his forces are close to carrying out a wide scale military operation in the Strip. In addition, these crimes came several days after the Israeli government declared that the Gaza Strip is a “hostile entity,” and decided to deprive the Strip’s population of a series of civil, political, and economic rights. The declaration did not bring new substance since Israel has been dealing with the Gaza Strip as such for many years. However, the declaration forewarns of a new campaign of collective punishment against the civilian population. The Centre calls upon the international community to move immediately to stop the Israeli threats that will result in additional suffering for the civilian population.
The Center’s preliminary investigation into the extra-judicial execution indicates that at approximately 16:45 on Wednesday, 26 September 2007, an IOF plane fired 2 rockets at a jeep traveling in Salah El-Deen Road near Dola intersection in Zaitoon Quarter in Gaza City. The rockets hit the vehicle directly, killings it 5 occupants and burning it. The victims were members of “Army of Islam,” all of them from Gaza City:
– Sami Samir El-Za’im (25).
– Fawzi Faris El-Ashram (27).
– Ayman Mohammad Daloul (26).
– Osama Salem El-Rifi (35).
– Hussein Deeb Ahel (27).
In a second crime, IOF killed 6 Palestinians, including 3 unarmed civilians, in the town of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip. One of the victims was a child. Thirty-three others, including 6 children were injured. Five of the injuries were serious.
PCHR’s preliminary investigation indicates that at approximately 12:30 on Wednesday, 26 September, IOF moved into the town of Beit Hanoun with approximately 60 armored vehicles under aerial cover from military aircraft. Several armored vehicles took positions near the Beit Hanoun municipality. At about 17:00, IOF fired tank shells and machine gun fire at a gathering of civilians and resistance activists in Zaitoon quarter in the town. Three people, including 2 civilians, were killed. One of the victims was a child and a second was a resistance activist. Thirty people were injured, including 6 children. Five of the injuries were listed as serious; and some of the injured suffered amputation of limbs. One of the injured civilians died of his wounds later during the day. The victims are:
– Yusef Talal El-Basyouni (17).
– Khayri Mousa Hamdan (26), a resistance activist.
– Ahmad Osama Odwan (18).
– Tha’er Abd El-Wahhab El-Basyouni (22).
At approximately 1:00 on Thursday, 27 September, an IOF plane fired a rocket at a group of resistance activists at the southern entrance to the town. Two of them were killed and 3 others injured, one of them seriously. The two killed are:
– Raji Nabil Hamdan (23) from Beit Hanoun.
– Mohammad Sha’ban Abu Rokba (21) from Jabalia.
The IOF incursion ended in the predawn hours. During the incursion, IOF cut off the electricity of the whole northern Gaza Strip. In addition, IOF razed agricultural land in the town.
PCHR is concerned over the continuation of IOF war crimes, and:
– Renews its condemnation of these acts that are part of the ongoing Israeli war crimes in the OPT that reflect disregard for civilian lives. The Centre considers these actions to be acts of reprisal and collective punishment in violation of article 33 of the 4th Geneva Convention (1949).
– Points that IOF does not respect the principles of necessity and proportionality when using its war machine against Palestinian resistance activists in populated areas, which causes additional victims among the civilian population.
– Calls upon the international community to act immediately to stop these crimes; and renews the call to the High Contracting Party of the 4th Geneva Convention to fulfill their responsibility under article 1 to ensure that the Convention is respected, and under article 146 to pursue parties suspected of committing serious violations of the Convention, noting that these serious violations are considered war crimes in article 147 in the Convention and its First Protocol Additional.
