Ref: 16/2008

Date: 01 March 2008

Time: 12:00 GMT   

Bloody Day in Gaza…..

30 Palestinians Killed, including 14 Civilians, and 80 Injured

IOF continue open war on the Gaza Strip for the fourth consecutive day

The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have continued to escalate an open war against the entire Gaza Strip population for the fourth consecutive day, indiscriminately killing civilians, including children in the process. PCHR condemns this brutal military escalation against Palestinian civilians and property in the strongest possible terms. Today 30 Palestinians, including 14 unarmed civilians, have been killed, and the death toll is expected to continue to rise.

Eight of the victims killed today were children, including a brother and sister. These children were all killed by IOF in Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip. Since 27 February, a total of 62 Palestinians have been killed, including 28 unarmed civilians, eighteen of whom were children. In addition, another 160 Palestinians, most of them unarmed civilians, have been injured, many seriously. PCHR demands an immediate response from the international community in order to end these war crimes, and to protect the lives of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.  

At approximately 00:30 on 1 March, IOF armored vehicles and troops, accompanied by heavy aerial support, moved approximately 1.5 kilometers into Ezbet Abd Rabbo, east of Jabaliya, and Rayees Hill northeast of Gaza City. IOF troops fired indiscriminately as they advanced. At approximately 4:00, IOF moved 3 kilometers into the Gaza Strip, reaching Kashef Hill east of Jabaliya refugee camp. Members of the Palestinian resistance confronted the IOF troops, who were raiding houses and transforming them into military outposts, from where they indiscriminately shot at any moving object. 15 Palestinians, including 9 unarmed civilians, were killed in the confrontation. The victims included 5 children, including a young brother and sister. A third child was killed alongside his father. All the civilian victims were killed whilst inside their own homes: they have been identified as:

1-     Jacqueline Mohammad Abu Shbak (16-year old girl)

2-  Eyad Mohammad Abu Shbak (14-year boy, Jacqueline’s brother)

3-  Ghada El-Abed Saleh (16-year old girl)

4-  Mahmoud Bassam Obeid (15-year boy)

5-  Bassam Mohammad Obeid (Mahmoud Obeid's 45-year old father)

6-  Abdallah Abd El-Karim Abu Shueira (16-year old boy)

7-  Mohammad Hani El-Mabhouh (18-year old, whose father was also seriously injured)

8-  Hamza Mohammad El-Jamal (40)

9-  Hasan Rashad Safi (25)

The resistance members who were killed have been identified as:  

1.      Mesleh Mohammad Saleh (25)

2.      Abdallah Nabil Abed Rabbou (28)

3.      Mustafa Sa’id Abu Jalala (22)

4.      Mustafa Saleh Zaghloul (32)

5.      Ali Jaber El-Ketnani (20)

6.      Abd El-Rahman Mohammad Shehab (25)

In addition to the ground incursion, IOF war planes carried out at least 20 air-strikes during the first 10 hours of this ongoing military operation, killing ten members of the Palestinian resistance, who have been idenitified as:

1.      Eyad Abd El-Karim El-Ashram (23)

2.      Abd El-Hamid Hamed Hamada (23)

3.      Ibrahim Shaban El-Zein (25)

4.      Sa’id Ahmad El-Hashim (21)

5.      Ahmad El-Batsh (22-years old)

6.      Mutasem Abed Rabbou (20-years old)

7.      Mahmoud Salim (22)

8.      Hussein El-Batsh (22)

9.      Tal’at Dardouna (21)

10.  The tenth victim remains unidentified.

At approximately 10am an IOF plane fired a rocket at El-Sikka Street east of Jabalia. It struck the house of Zeyad Asaleya. His two daughters Samah (16) and Sana (22) were killed instantly.  twenty-one year old Mahmoud Faraj Asaleya, a family relative, was also killed by the blast.  

At approximately 12:15, an IOF plane fired another rocket at the same street, targeting a gathering of children. Two children were killed and dismembered. Seven other children were injured. The identity of the two dead children remains unknown as they were dismembered beyond recognition.  

PCHR notes with grave concern that IOF also continue to target civilian installations. IOF warplanes have bombed two workshops in Khan Yunis and Gaza city, completely destroying both.

PCHR reiterates its condemnation of these serious crimes, and:

-            Affirms that these crimes are a continuation of Israeli war crimes in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) in general and the Gaza Strip in particular. These crimes are indicative of IOF disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians:  

-            Reiterates that any further escalation, as threatened by Israel's political and military leaders, will inflict further deaths and injuries on Palestinian civilians.  

-            Therefore the Centre calls upon the High Contracting Parties (HCP) of the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949) to fulfill their legal obligation under Article 1 of the Convention and ensure that it is respected by all parties under any circumstances. The Centre calls upon the HCP to fulfill their obligations under Article 146 of the Convention to pursue persons suspected of perpetrating grave violations of the Convention, which are defined as war crimes under Article 147 of the Convention.