Gaza Watch #1

Note: From now until the seige of Gaza ends (whatever that means), I will be posting articles about the ongoing crisis. As the humaitarian crisis worsens for Palestinians living not only in Gaza but in The West Bank and Israel as well, it is important to continually shed light on the crimes being committed by the Israeli Occupation Forces.


IOF Continue to Target Civilians in the Gaza Strip: 3 Children Killed and another Seriously Injured in an Air-Raid on Beit Hanoun Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 11 July 2006

http://pchrgaza.org/files/PressR/English/2006/74-2006.htm

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed 3 Palestinian children and seriously injured a fourth one yesterdayevening (10 July 2006) in Beit Hanoun, when an IOF plane fired a rocket at them. This crime comes within the context of the open war against Palestinian civilians inthe Gaza Strip since the capture of the Israeli soldier on25 June 2006.

It is part of the chain of collective punishment, targeting civilians, and destroying civilian property and infrastructure. With the death of these children, the number of Palestinian casualties in the GazaStrip since the start of the Israeli military operation rises to 51 dead, including 26 civilians, and 140 injured.There are 7 children and a woman among the dead; and the majority of the injured are civilians.

PCHR's preliminary investigation indicates that at approximately 19:15 on Monday, 10 July 2006, and IOF plane fired a rocket at 4 children who were near Hayel Abdel Hamid Secondary School in northern part of Beit Hanoun.They were in an area previously used as soccer field near their homes. The rocket fell amidst the children. Three were killed instantly; and their bodies were torn by the blast. The fourth child suffered serious injures. The dead children are: Mahfouth Farid Nuseir (16), Ahmad Ghalib AbuAmsha (16), and Ahmad Fathi Shabat (16).
The injured child is Raji Omar Deifallah (16).

PCHR condemns the killing of Palestinian civilians by IOF, endangering their lives, and destroying their property through disproportionate use of lethal force. These actions are considered reprisals and forms of collective punishment under article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The Centre calls upon the High ContractingParties of the convention to act immediately to ensureprotection for the lives of civilians, and to ensure IOFrespect for the convention. The Centre calls upon the HighContracting Parties to enforce article 1 on the convention regarding the respect of the convention under all circumstances, and to take the necessary punitive steps against the perpetrators of serious violations.