Introduction

During the current Palestinian Intifada, Israeli occupying forces have adopted a policy of extra-judicial assassinations against Palestinians allegedly involved in resistance activities against Israeli targets. International complicity concerning this issue has only served to encourage Israeli authorities to escalate their policy of extra-judicial assassinations; and in so doing, commit further grave breaches of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, 1949 (Fourth Geneva Convention), against Palestinian civilians. 

Since the beginning of the current Intifada, PCHR has made efforts to accurately document assassination attempts carried out by Israeli forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs), highlight these actions, draw attention to their dangerous effects and urge the international community to intervene and pressure Israeli occupying forces to stop such actions. 

Israeli occupying forces have carried out assassination attempts against field activists of various Palestinian organizations, whom they accuse of carrying out or planning attacks against Israeli forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and/or inside Israel. Israeli forces have begun to target the political leaders of Palestinian organizations. All assassination attempts against Palestinians have been carried out in a summary fashion; with neither evidence being offered to link the targeted individual to attacks committed by Palestinian resistance fighters, nor efforts made to provide judicial review of the means and methods employed and the process by which individuals are chosen to be targeted for assassination. 

As part of its activities, PCHR has published a series of reports that document assassinations committed by Israeli occupying forces against Palestinians during the al-Aqsa Intifada. The reports highlight the methods employed by Israeli occupying forces in carrying out assassination attempts, and provide statistics on the amount and type of Palestinians killed or wounded in such attempts. 

This is the fifth in a series of reports published by PCHR on assassinations committed by Israeli occupying forces during the al-Aqsa Intifada.  This report documents assassinations in the period 29 September 2002 – 30 April 2003.[1]