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The Israeli military committee that carried out an internal investigation into three recent incidents, in which 12 Palestinian civilians were killed by Israeli military fire, said that the soldiers involved in all of the incidents “had followed correct procedure.” The Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer ordered an investigation into the circumstances in which more than 10 Palestinian civilians were killed in Gaza, Tubas and Hebron in the period 28 August – 1 September. The committee was formed of serior Israeli military officers and headed by Major General Yitzhak Harel.

The investigation committee presented its findings to Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer who welcomed them. The findings concluded that “Israeli soldiers followed correct procedure.” In the first two incidents, the committee claimed, “Israeli soldiers identified several suspects who had broken into a Jewish-owned plot of land.” With regard to the incident of 31 August 2002 in which two Palestinian children were killed by Israeli occupying forces, along with other 3 Palestinians, the committee claimed that “the missile that struck the children had gone astray due to a technical fault.”

These findings prove that Israeli occupying forces, completely backed by the Israeli political leadership, keep on pursuing their policy of committing war crimes against Palestinian civilians, unless the international community intervenes to stop such crimes. Field investigation and facts prove that Israeli occupying forces committed willful killing and resorted to excessive and disproportionate use of force when no threat was posed to their lives, killing in three days 13 Palestinian civilians, including 6 children and a woman. The first incident took place on 28 August 2002, when an Israeli tank fired fletchette shells at a number of Palestinian civilians who were on their agricultural land near “Netzarim” settlement, killing a woman, her two sons and their cousin from the family of Abu al-Hajin. This was not the first time that Israeli occupying forces used this lethal kind of shells, which contain thousands of dart-like objects which penetrate the body and cause large damage in the surroundings. During the past two years, PCHR documented a number of cases in which Palestinian civilians were killed by this kind of shells used by Israeli occupying forces. For instance, on 9 June 2001, three women from al-Malalha family were killed when an Israeli tank fired 4 fletchette shells at their house west of “Netzarim” settlement.

The second incident took place in Tubas, on 31 August 2002, when two Israeli combat helicopters fired three missiles at a civilian car in which 5 Palestinian civilians were traveling, in an attempt to assassinate two Palestinian activists. One of the activists and two boys were killed, while the other activist was able to escape after he was seriously wounded. In addition, two children, who were playing near their houses, were also killed. While extra-judicial killings are considered war crimes under the international humanitarian law, Israeli occupying forces do not pay any consideration to the lives of Palestinian civilians while carrying out such assassination attempts. In the past two years, dozens of Palestinian passers-by, including children, elderly and women, were killed in assassination attempts carried out by Israeli occupying forces. In one of the worst examples of such policy, Israeli occupying forces killed 16 Palestinian civilians, including 8 children, in an attempt to assassinate Salah Shehada and Zaher Nassar in Gaza last July.

The third incident took place on 1 September 2002, when Israeli occupying soldiers broke into a marble company in Bani Na’im village near Hebron, where five Palestinians were working, one of whom had shortly before went to the bathroom. Israeli soldiers arrested the other four workers, took them to a nearby space area and shot them dead.

In light of the misleading findings of the investigation carried out by Israeli occupying forces, PCHR asserts:

1. PCHR does not trust military investigation committees formed by Israeli occupying forces to investigate the killing of Palestinian civilians. In the few cases Israel conducted investigations into the war crimes its forces committed against Palestinian civilians, it freed its forces from responsibility and blamed the victims. Investigation committees are usually established upon an order by the Israeli Defense Minister and formed by senior Israeli military officers. Therefore, such committees cannot be trusted, since their role is limited to covering and justifying crimes committed by Israeli occupying forces and freeing those forces from criminal responsibility.

2. PCHR calls for the establishment of a neutral and impartial international investigation committee to investigate war crimes committed by Israeli occupying forces.

3. PCHR has always warned of continuous international silence towards war crimes and grave breaches perpetrated by Israeli occupying forces, which encourages Israeli to commit more crimes. The international community should intervene stating that there is no impunity for war criminals.

4. PCHR will continue to document war crimes committed by Israeli occupying forces and to sue their perpetrators before the international justice.