Seven Palestinians killed; five in one attack on National Security
Force outpost (http://www.lawsociety.org/Press/Preleases/2001/May/May14.html
)
At 5:45 on Monday afternoon, Israeli soldiers
stationed at a checkpoint at Salah Al Deen Street, on the junction
between North and South Gaza, opened random fire with automatic weapons
on a queue of Palestinian civilian cars, killing two Palestinians.
According to LAWís information gathered from Gaza, at the junction
were a lorry, a Peugeot pickup truck and a Mercedes service taxi.
The driver of the Peugeot threw an unidentified object at the soldiers
stationed on the military tower by the junction, to which the soldiers
responded with indiscriminate fire, killing the driver of the Peugeot
(unidentified at time of this release) and the driver of the service
taxi behind him (24-year-old Mohammed Yousef Al Qasab from Khan Younis),
whose body was peppered with bullets. At least 6 other Palestinians
were injured, including passengers in the service taxi. Al Qasabís
body was taken to the nearby Palestinian DCO, while the other body
is still being held by the Israeli army. The wounded were taken to
Al Nasser hospital in Khan Younis. In the early hours of this morning,
Israeli soldiers killed five members of the Palestinian National Security
Forces (NSF) in southern Beitunya, near Ramallah. According to LAWís
documentation, soldiers stationed on the roof of an under-construction
Palestinian building that was occupied forty days ago by the Israeli
army, along with soldiers in another Israeli outpost on a hilltop
200 metres from the NSF barrier, opened fire on 6 NSF members guarding
the southern entrance to Beitunya, killing five, four of whom had
been preparing a meal inside their tin makeshift room. (100 metres
from the barrier) at the time of the assault. The five Palestinians
killed were: 1. 26-year-old Ahmad Zakut from Al Nsirat refugee camp
in the Gaza Strip 2. 31-year-old Salah Abu Amra from Rafah in the
Gaza Strip 3. 21-year-old Mohammad Dawood from Al Braij refugee camp
in the Gaza Strip 4. 22-year-old Ahmad Abu Mustafa from Khan Younis
in the Gaza Strip 5. 18-year-old Mohammad Al Khaldi from Al Braij
refugee camp in the Gaza Strip An eyewitness who lives nearby told
LAW that he saw three of the six policemen dead inside their tin shelter
after he heard shooting at 2:00 am. They were covered with the food
they had been preparing before they were killed. The body of another
policeman was outside the room, a fifth was wounded but still alive
and the sixth was unharmed. The eyewitness called an ambulance and
collected the weapons of the Palestinian policemen, which he stated
were not prepared for shooting. Another NSF officer, quoting the policeman
who escaped the Israeli assault, stated that they had been taken by
surprise when Israeli soldiers fired at them from the nearby rooftop
and hill. He added that the shooting went on for three minutes, and
that he had only escaped death because he fell in a trench while trying
to save his colleague. Palestinian medical sources at Ramallah hospital
stated that the five policemen had been shot several times by M16s
in the upper parts of their bodies. In a separate incident, Israeli
commandos attacked Shwaika, a Palestinian village in Tulkarem (Area
B: Palestinian civil control and Israeli security control) and placed
it under curfew. They besieged the police station, confiscated its
rifles and then blew away the 120 m¾ police station, causing severe
damage to surrounding Palestinian buildings in the process: 1. The
house of Abdullah Yusif; a room was completely destroyed, cracks appeared
in the other walls and the windows were smashed. 2. The house of Mousa
Samara, walls cracked and windows smashed 3. The Abu Salih mosque,
windows destroyed 4. Rustum Jaroomís store - windows and doors smashed.
Also on Monday morning, Israeli bulldozers and tanks knocked down
a cowshed belonging to the faculty of agriculture at Al Najah University
in Al Khaduri, west of Tulkarem, in an area under Palestinian control.
According to LAW documentation, Israeli forces first attacked the
area with heavy shooting from automatic firearms and then sent bulldozers
to knock down: 1. A newly-established cow milking equipment and facilities
2. The cowshed and coolers for storing dairy products 3. The laboratories
and dairy product packaging facilities In the attack they attackers
killed 8 bulls, 3 goats and injured the rest of the cattle. At midnight
Israeli gunships and battleships launched an attack on NSF posts in
the Gaza Strip. According to information LAW received from Gaza, the
attack took place in an area known as Zamu east of Jabalia refugee
camp, destroying two armoured vehicles and severely damaging Salama
Abu Fraijís 2-storey 220m¾ house, which accommodated 16 people. NSF
posts at Al Karara and Khan Younis were also attacked. In the Palestinian
village of Bani Suhaila two rockets landed next to two houses belonging
to Mohammad and Abed Rabu Al Kara. The first house is 200 m¾, accommodated
17 people and was severely damaged. Amna Al Kara, 47, was wounded
in the attack, as were her four children: 1. Raja Al Kara, 13, shrapnel
wound in the right hand 2. Safa Al Kara, 19, had a nervous attack
3. Ibrahim Al Kara, 5‡, shrapnel wound in the face and hands 4. Fatima
Al Kara, 16, shrapnel wound in the face and legs The other house,
lived in by 8 people, was three floors and built on an area of 200
m¾. 30-year-old Tahani Al Kara received facial injuries from the shrapnel
and her 22-year-old son Munther was injured by shrapnel in the legs
and the face. Three rockets landed on the NSF post in Al Karara, damaging
eight houses and wounding two Palestinian policemen: 1. Ziyad Abu
Hayi, 26, shrapnel in the forehead and the left arm 2. Ashraf Abu
Sultan, 25, shrapnel in the forehead Three other Palestinians - civilians
ñ were also injured: 1. Mohammad Al Kudra, received shrapnel wound
in the left foot and hand while sitting at home 2. Mahmoud Hijazi,
2‡, shrapnel in the face 3. Hikmat Al Kudra, 35, 5 months pregnant,
suffered a nervous breakdown and convulsions. A rocket also landed
on an NSF post in Khan Younis destroying an armoured personnel carrier
and injuring: 1. 22-year-old Akram Abu Suleiman, shrapnel in the right
arm 2. 22-year-old Ismail Khalaf Allah, shrapnel in the right arm
An Israeli battleship launched an offensive on a navy post west of
Al Nsirat, causing damage to the 200 m¾ building. LAW Society strongly
condemns the Israeli shelling of Palestinian civilians and reiterates
the following: 1. Israeli forces are committing increased crimes and
using the Israeli war arsenal against unarmed Palestinian civilians.
2. They continue to shell Palestinian residential areas. 3. They continue
to use collective punishment against Palestinians and deprive them
of their basic human rights. 4. Israeli forces use settlements as
bases from which to bomb Palestinian areas 5. Israeli settlers, aided
by Israeli forces, continue to assault Palestinian civilians 6. The
international community, its organisations, and the High Contracting
Parties of the 4th Geneva Convention have so far failed to take action
to ensure Israelís compliance with the international resolutions and
the Convention LAW demands: 1. The Israeli government to immediately
stop its crimes and collective punishment against Palestinians. 2.
An international investigation committee to be set up, working according
to UN Resolution 1322. 3. The Contracting Parties to the 4th Geneva
Convention to ensure Israelís compliance with the Convention. 4. Palestinians
to be placed under international protection. 5. The international
community to put an end to these crimes and the Israeli occupation.
6. The international community to investigate the killing of Palestinians
by Israeli soldiers. The investigation shall be in compliance with
Article 146 of the 4th Geneva Convention, which stipulates ìThe High
Contracting Parties undertake to enact any legislation necessary to
provide effective penal sanctions for persons committing, or ordering
to be committed, any of the grave breaches of the present ConventionÖî
7. The Security Council to set up an international war crime tribunal
to bring the Israeli war criminals and those in charge of them to
justice.