Press Release

Serious escalation of shooting by the Israeli occupation forces:

Six Palestinian civilians, including five children, are killed in the Gaza Strip

Ref: 159/2000

Date: November 8, 2000

Time: 16:30 GMT

18:30 Palestine Time

The past 24 hours have witnessed a serious escalation of shooting by the Israeli occupation forces at Palestinian civilians. Six Palestinians have been killed. Five of those killed were in the Gaza Strip (including four children) and a child was killed in Salfit in the West Bank. Since the morning, all points of friction between Palestinian civilians and the Israeli occupation forces have been witnessing bloody clashes. The Israeli occupation forces continued to shoot at Palestinian demonstrators. They have also continued to reinforce their presence throughout the occupied Palestinian territories with more tanks and armored vehicles. In an additional form of restricting free movement, the Israeli occupation forces re-closed Gaza International Airport and Rafah Border Crossing. These forces have continued to close all branch outlets between the north and south of the Gaza Strip.

In the area near Al-Mentar (Karni) Outlet, to the east of Gaza City, the child Fares Fae’q Oudeh, 14 years old, from Al-Zaytoon neighborhood in Gaza, was killed with a live bullet in the neck shot by the Israeli occupation forces. At 17:00 local time, the Israeli occupation forces shot dead Khalil Yousef Abu Sa’d, 18 years old, from Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza. The Israeli occupation forces have shot at Palestinian demonstrators from a distance of about 150 meters, wounding another seven civilians with live ammunition, and four with rubber-coated metal bullets. This morning, Mohammed Nemer Mahani, 24 years old, from Al-Shojae’ya neighborhood in Gaza, was pronounced dead at Shifa’ hospital in Gaza. The martyr Mahani was wounded yesterday with a live bullet in the abdomen shot by the Israeli occupation forces in the area near Al-Mentar (Karni) Outlet.

In Khan Yunis, bloody clashes broke out between Palestinian demonstrators and the Israeli occupation forces near Al-Tuffah roadblock between Khan Yunis city and Al-Mawasi (agricultural) area, under the security control of the Israeli occupation forces. The Israeli occupation forces opened fire on Palestinian demonstrators from a distance of about 100 meters using silencers. At about 13:00 local time, Mohammed Mesbah Abu Ghali was shot dead with a live bullet shot by the Israeli occupation forces. A silencer was used. In addition, 24 civilians were wounded with live ammunition and another 12 were wounded with rubber-coated metal bullets. PCHR’s field officer in the area reported that the Israeli occupation forces intentionally shot at the upper part of the body. This represents yet another escalation on the part of the Israeli occupation forces. Among the wounded are:

1. Mohammed Mufid Hammad, 17 years old, wounded with a live bullet in the chest;
2. Saber Jaber Barbakh, 13 years old, wounded with a live bullet in the back;
3. Rabee’ Ahmed Saqer, 20 years old, wounded with a live bullet in the chest;
4. Abdel-Qader Ahmed El-Astal, 24 years old, wounded with a live bullet in the abdomen;
5. Mahmoud Mohammed Moa’mmar, 16 years old, wounded with a live bullet in the back penetrating the chest;
6. Khaled Musleh El-Hennawi, 26 years old, wounded with a rubber-coated metal bullet in the eye;
7. Seif Mahmoud Sadeq, 16 years old, wounded with a live bullet in the chest;
8. A’adel Mohammed Shurrab, 16 years old, wounded with a live bullet in the neck;
9. Ayman Salah Wadi, 19 years old, wounded with a live bullet in the head;
10. A’ashour Zayed A’ashour, 16 years old, wounded with a live bullet in the abdomen; and
11. Yahia Zuheir El-Qeisi, 10 years old, wounded with a rubber-coated metal bullet in the back.

In an area that has never witnessed clashes, Israeli soldiers in an Israeli military post inside Gdid settlement in the southwest of Khan Yunis, shot at Amal Husni Dhorgham, 18 years old, and wounded her with two bullets in the foot. PCHR’s field officer in Khan Yunis stated that the girl was at the door of her family house, which is 150 meters away from the mentioned Israeli military post, when she was shot. He added that shooting started suddenly in an area that has not witnessed any clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and the Israeli occupation forces during the past 40 days.

Last night, the child Ibrahim Fuad El-Qassas, 13 years old, from Khan Yunis was pronounced dead at Shifa’ hospital in Gaza. The child was wounded with a live bullet in the head on November 4, 2000, when the Israeli occupation forces shot at Palestinian demonstrators near Al-Tuffah roadblock in Khan Yunis.

In the vicinity of Beit Hanoun (Erez) Checkpoint, clashes have broken out between Palestinian demonstrators and the Israeli occupation forces since the morning. The Israeli occupation forces shot at Palestinian demonstrators, wounding three with live ammunition and another three with rubber-coated metal bullets. Additionally, dozens of civilians suffered from suffocation due to inhaling tear gas.

Palestinians demonstrators gathered 300 meters to the southwest of an Israeli military post at Al-Shuhada’ junction (the junction leading to Netzarim settlement), where tanks and jeeps of the Israeli occupation forces were stationed on the branch road of the junction leading to Netzarim settlement to the west. PCHR’s field officer in the area reported that the Israeli occupation forces shot at Palestinian demonstrators from a distance of about 150 meters, wounding three with live ammunition and another three with rubber-coated metal bullets.

In the vicinity of Kfar Darom settlement near Deir El-Balah, clashes have broken out since the morning between Palestinian demonstrators and the Israeli occupation forces. These forces shot at Palestinian demonstrators from a distance of about 150 meters wounding three with rubber-coated metal bullets. At 13:00 local time, the Israeli occupation forces closed Salah El-Din Street (the main road between the north and south of the Gaza Strip), near Kfar Darom settlement, and reopened it this evening. The area has also witnessed the deployment of a large number of troops and a number of tanks and jeeps of the Israeli occupation forces on the road near Kfar Darom settlement.

This afternoon, in the area near the borderline to the east of Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the middle of the Gaza Strip, clashes broke out between Palestinian demonstrators and the Israeli occupation forces. These forces shot at Palestinian demonstrators from a distance of about 150-200 meters and wounded two with live ammunition.

In Rafah, clashes have broken out since the morning between Palestinian demonstrators and the Israeli occupation forces near Salah El-Din Gate on the Palestinian-Egyptian border. The Israeli occupation forces shot at Palestinian demonstrators, wounding one with live ammunition. The Israeli occupation forces have reinforced their presence in Al-Mawasi (agricultural) area in Rafah, especially at Tal Al-Sultan roadblock, where Palestinian civilians have undergone strict and slow checking which can take hours. PCHR’s field officer in Rafah reported that the Israeli occupation forces prevented Palestinians who are under age 28, including residents of the area, from reaching the area. They also prevented the access into the area of gas pipes for domestic use.

This afternoon, in the village of Hares in the Governorate of Salfit, the Israeli occupation forces shot at Palestinian demonstrators and killed the child Rae’d Abdel-Majid Daoud, 14 years old, with a dumdum bullet in his side.

1. There is a significant escalation of shooting at Palestinian demonstrators by the Israeli occupation forces targeting the upper part of the body. During the past 24 hours, five Palestinian civilians, including four children, have been killed in the Gaza Strip. In addition, a child was killed in the West Bank.
2. Forty-five Palestinian civilians were wounded with live ammunition and eight wounded with rubber-coated metal bullets.
3. The Israeli occupation forces resorted to snipers, whose guns were provided with silencers, to shoot at Palestinian demonstrators from long-range distances extending to as much as 200 meters.
4. The Israeli occupation forces have continued to close Gaza International Airport and to restrict the movement inside and outside the Gaza Strip.

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1. Establishing without delay an independent commission of inquiry, in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 1322 (2000), to carry out a thorough and comprehensive investigation into the abuses and killings perpetrated by the Israeli occupation forces against Palestinian civilians.
2. Convening a conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 to ensure Israel’s compliance with its obligations under the Convention.
3. Immediately providing international protection for Palestinian civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories in the face of the killings and criminal acts perpetrated by the Israeli occupation forces and groups of Jewish settlers who move under the protection of these forces.
4. Use by the EU of effective political and economic measures with reference to Article 2 of the Euro-Israel Association Agreement which calls for the respect of human rights.
5. Providing humanitarian and medical assistance for the Palestinian people whose living conditions are increasingly deteriorating because of the continued total siege imposed by the Israeli occupation forces on the entire occupied Palestinian territories.

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