LAW press release 18 February 2001

*Seven Palestinians have died in 48 hours. 84 Palestinians in the northern districts suffered injuries caused by live ammunition, shrapnel and teargas inhalation. *35 year-old Anwar Mar’ee, a member of the Palestinian intelligence services from Karawat Bani Hasan in Salfeet, died when a mob attacked him and stabbed him to death. Mar’ee’s brother, Jalal, 32, stated to LAW that he was killed at 4am on Friday 16 February 2001, when a mob of masked men attacked him with sharp tools at his home near the main road between Karawat Bani Hasan and Bedia, Salfeet. Mar’ee, a father of 2, was a Fatah activist. PNA sources reported that collaborators working for Israel forces killed Mar’ee. *29 year-old Isam Al Taweel, a father of 3 from Hebron, was killed on the same day when he was shot in the chest. According to eyewitness statements to LAW, Isam was on the way to his home in Al Karantina opposite the Jewish Avraham Avino enclave in Hebron when he got caught in Israeli bombing of Al Karantina. He bled for some time before anyone could reach him. According to LAW’s information, five other Palestinians were wounded in the attack. *Shakir Al Manasra, 23, from Bani Na’eem, Hebron, also died on Friday 16 February, when Israeli forces bombed the cow farm where he worked. Eyewitness Jalal Faraj, 26, told LAW that he and three of his colleagues were sitting in a room in the farm at 8:30pm when Israeli forces started bombing. Ahmad Faraj Allah, 33, who was shot in the stomach during the attack, died on Sunday 18 February. Ahmad had a brother named Faraj who was killed in the first Intifada, and Ahmad had married his dead brother’s wife. Also injured in the attack was Manasra’s brother Yusif Mawas, 30, who was shot in the right shoulder and left arm. *With the death of Faraj Allah, the number of victims claimed by the Israeli bombing of Palestinian residential areas since 6 October 2000 has reached 42 and the number of injured has reached 11,000. *76 year-old Abdul Rahman Jum’a from Beit Leid in Tulkarem died when Israeli soldiers delayed the car taking him to hospital for one hour. Eyewitness Muhanad Jum’a told LAW: “At 10am on Friday, we took Jum’a in a car to hospital in Tulkarem after he felt a severe chest pain. When we arrived at the checkpoint at the entrance of Tulkarem, we told the Israeli soldiers there that we had with us a very ill man who needed to be hospitalised. They refused to let us pass, but held us at the checkpoint for an hour. Finally, when we arrived at the hospital an hour and a half later, the doctor told us that Jum’a had passed away half an hour ago. The road to the hospital normally takes half an hour.” *Mohammad Al Hawamda, 25, from Al Samou’a, Hebron, and Omar Abu Tarash, 20, from Al Kiya in Bir Al Sabia’a, died when Israeli police chased Al Hawamda’s car, which hit that of Abu Tarash. Ismail Al Hawamda, 25, was injured in the incident. Al Hawamda’a was on his way home after a working day in Bir Al Sabia’a (within the Israeli borders). *84 Palestinians were injured when Israeli forces attacked Palestinian protesters in Hebron, Al Bireh and Deir Nitham and in the bombing of Al Bireh. 6 of the injured were shot, 33 hit by steel bullets, 14 by shrapnel and the rest suffered teargas inhalation. *LAW demands: 1. The Israeli Government to immediately stop the use of excessive and indiscriminate force and collective punishments against Palestinian civilians. 2. The establishment of an international investigation committee based on United Nations Security Council resolutions 1322 of Oct 7, 2000, to investigate the violations of international humanitarian law committed by the Israeli forces inside the occupied Palestinian territories. 3. The international community must hold a conference for the High Contracting Parties of the Fourth Geneva Convention in order to take practical measures to ensure Israel's adherence to the convention. 4. The international community must pressurize Israel to immediately put an end to the occupation of the Palestinian territories and effectively support the implementation of the Palestinian right to self-determination.

LAW – The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to preserving human rights through legal advocacy. LAW is affiliate to the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Fédération Internationale des Ligues de Droits de l’Homme (FIDH), World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and Member of the Euro- Mediterranean Human Rights Network