PCHR
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
Press Release
|
Ref: 69/2015
Date: 21 October 2015
Time: 11:15
Orders to Kill
Israeli Forces Kill 5 Palestinians, Including 2 Children, in Less than 12 Hours
Number of Palestinian Victims Rises to 47 Killed, Including 12 Children and Woman, in oPt, Since Early October
Occupied East Jerusalem Isolated and Divided into Small Cantons
Bashar Nizam Jamil al-Ja'abari (15) and his cousin Hussam Isma'il Jamil al-Ja'abari (17)
With
the continuing international policy of silence over grave crimes and
violations committed by Israeli forces in the occupied Palestinian
territory (oPt), Israeli forces have continued to flagrantly commit more
crimes and violations against the Palestinian civilians. In less than
12 hours, Israeli forces killed four Palestinian civilians, including
two children, from Hebron and a fifth in the Gaza Strip. This escalation
coincides with the Israeli arbitrary and coercive measures in occupied
East Jerusalem and its suburbs to isolate the Arab neighborhoods in
application of a series of the Israeli Cabinet's decisions. The
Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns with the strongest
terms the Israeli forces' disregard for the lives of Palestinian
civilians, shooting-to-kill policy in suspicion of attempts to stab
Israeli soldiers and settlers, and the arbitrary policies applied in
occupied Jerusalem. Moreover, PCHR calls upon the international
community to take immediate action and fulfill its legal and moral
obligations to protect the Palestinian civilians in the oPt. PCHR also
believes that the silence of the international community towards these
crimes encourages the Israeli government to continue its policy that
violates the international humanitarian law.
According to investigations conducted by PCHR regarding the latest Israeli crimes:
· At approximately 08:00
on Tuesday, 20 October 2015, dozens of schoolboys from Beit Awwa
village, southwest of Doura, southwest of Hebron, organized a protest
heading to the annexation wall, west of the said village. Due to which,
Israeli forces moved into the area through the security iron gate at the
wall. The protestors threw stones at Israeli soldiers who chased them
and fired tear gas canisters until they reached the Palestinian houses.
At approximately 10:45,
while four Israeli soldiers were present between the Palestinian
houses, Oday Hesham Mohammed al-Masalma (24) was carrying a bag with
olives inside it and walking between the trees. Oday stabbed one of the
soldiers in his arm, but the 3 other soldiers opened fire at him, due to
which he fell to the ground and rolled in a dirt downhill. They went
after him and shot him dead. Israeli forces denied paramedics, who
arrived in the Palestine Red Crescent Society's (PRCS) ambulance, access
to the wounded for half an hour. Israeli forces then withdrew, while
the corpse was taken to Hebron Governmental Hospital. Following medical
examination, it was found out that Oday sustained several bullet wounds
to the left leg causing laceration in the blood vessels and a bullet
wound to the back left side of the head. According to PCHR's
investigations, Israeli forces could have arrested the aforementioned
person after wounding him.
· At approximately 15:00,
Israeli forces stationed on the main road, opposite to "Gosh Etzion"
settlement, south of Bethlehem, opened fire at a Palestinian civilian
vehicle. As a result, the driver Hamza Mousa al-'Amla (25), from Beit
Oula village, west of Hebron, was killed by several bullets. The corpse
was taken by an Israeli military ambulance to an unknown destination.
Israeli forces claimed that al-'Amla had run over 2 settlers on the side
of the road.
· In
new cold-blooded crime, Israeli forces killed in the evening two
children from al-Ja'bari family in the vicinity of "Kiryat Arba"
settlement, east of Hebron.
According to PCHR's investigations and statements of eyewitnesses, at approximately 21:30,
dozens of settlers organized a protest heading from "Kiryat Arba"
settlement to the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron. Meanwhile, Bashar Nizam
Jamil al-Ja'abari (15) and his cousin Hussam Isma'il Jamil al-Ja'abari
(17) were on their way back home in al-Ras area adjacent to the
aforementioned settlement. While watching the demonstration, the two
children stood beside an Israeli soldier, who was around the corner of
al-Rajabi building that the Israeli settlers are attempting to seize
control over. The soldier was leaning against the wall and normally
talking to the two children when the later asked the soldier to help
them to cross via the iron gate, which separates the aforementioned
building from where they live. When the two children heading towards
the gate were only two meters away from the soldier, other Israeli
soldiers fortified in a military watchtower in the area opened fire at
the children and killed them immediately. The Israeli forces detained
the children's corpses and denied the Palestinian civilians and
ambulances access to the area.
In the Gaza Strip, at approximately 16:00,
Israeli forces stationed along the border fence with Israel, east of
al-Bureij refugee camp, opened fire at a group of Palestinian civilians,
who were in an agricultural field that is around 350 meters away from
the aforementioned fence. As a result, Ahmed Sharif al-Sarahi (30) from
Deir al-Balah was killed after being hit with 3 bullets to the chest,
while two others were wounded. The Israeli Army Radio reported that the
Israeli forces killed a Palestinian sniper and wounded two others. It
should be mentioned that the Israeli warplanes had already targeted
al-Sarhi's house in summer 2014 during the Israeli offensive on the Gaza
Strip.
Thus,
the number of the killed Palestinian civilians since early October has
risen to 47 Palestinians, including 12 children and a woman, in the oPt.
The
escalation of committing such crimes coincides with the Israeli
arbitrary and coercive measures in occupied Jerusalem and its suburbs.
Following the Israeli Cabinet's decision to isolate the Arab
neighborhoods in response to the "attacks" in the city, the Israeli
forces started imposing a cordon on the villages and neighborhoods of
occupied East Jerusalem by closing its entrances with cement cubes and
establishing checkpoints in addition to erecting iron barriers in the
streets and main roads. All of this is part of the collective
punishment policy practiced by Israeli forces against Jerusalemites.
Since the aforementioned decision was issued, Israeli forces started to
apply the policy of isolating the neighborhoods of the city from each
other, and erecting iron barriers and checkpoints in the streets,
especially in the Old City and its markets. They tightly closed the
entrances and streets leading to al-Sawana, al-Jouz Valley, Sour Baher,
al-Mukaber Mountiain, al-Eisawiya, Silwan and Ras al-Amoud villages.
Thus, they deliberately disrupt life in the occupied city, obstruct
civilians' movement and increase their daily suffering.
East Jerusalem
PCHR
strongly condemns these crimes that prove the increasing number of
killings among Palestinian civilians in the oPt in general and occupied
East Jerusalem in particular. Moreover, PCHR stresses that in the
above-mentioned cases, Israeli forces could have used less force against
the victims or could have arrested and tied them if their allegations
were true. PCHR reiterates its call upon the international community to
take immediate and effective actions to put an end to such crimes and
reiterates its call for the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth
Geneva Convention of 1949 to fulfill their obligations under Article 1;
i.e., to respect and to ensure respect for the Convention in all
circumstances, and their obligation under Article 146 to prosecute
persons alleged to commit grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva
Convention. These grave breaches constitute war crimes under Article
147 of the same Convention and Protocol I Additional to the Geneva
Conventions.
Public Document
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For more information please call PCHR office in Gaza, Gaza Strip, on +972 8 2824776 - 2825893
PCHR, 29 Omer El Mukhtar St., El Remal, PO Box 1328 Gaza, Gaza Strip. E-mail: pchr@pchrgaza.org, Webpage http://www.pchrgaza.org
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