Date: 8 November 2006
Press Release
Palestinian Human Rights NGOs Condemn
Criminal Killings in Beit Hanoun
and Call for International Investigation
The Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) committed an
appalling act of mass murder in Beit Hanoun today, one day after their redeployment inside the
town. At dawn, the IOF fired 11 artillery shells on six homes in the town,
killing 18 civilians, including seven children and six women. 53 others were
wounded, including 25 children and 12 women. With this attack, the number of
Palestinians who have been killed since the beginning of the IOF operation in Beit Hanoun on 1
November 2006
has reached 77.
Initial first-hand information obtained by the
undersigned organizations indicates that at approximately 5:30 am today, Wednesday,
8 November 2006, the IOF fired 11 artillery shells, striking six houses while their
inhabitants were sleeping. The houses were identified as being owned by Mas'oud, Sa'ad, Akram, Hussein
and Ashraf Al Athamneh, all
five of whom are brothers; Abdul-Hadi and Jamal Al Kafarneh, also brothers; and Saqer
Udwan. All of the houses were located in Hamad Street in Beit Hanoun. It is notable that 16 of the victims come from one
family ? the Al Athamneh family.
As Palestinian human rights organizations, we
strongly condemn this outrageous crime and stress that it is but another
example of the ongoing excessive use of force and the targeting of civilians
and civilian objects by the IOF. Moreover, the human rights organizations
stress that this brutality occurs in the general context of Israel's lack of respect for the
principles of distinction, proportionality and military necessity. This crime
illustrates the extent to which the IOF ignores the prohibition in international
humanitarian law (IHL) on targeting civilians and civilian property, as well as
the obligation to provide them with full protection.
The undersigned organizations emphasize that the
silence of the international community, when such crimes have been committed in
the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) in the past, has only encouraged the
IOF to show even more disregard for its obligations under IHL and for civilian
life, as illustrated by this crime.
The undersigned organizations also emphasize that the
IOF's conduct in Beit Hanoun today constitutes a war crime under international
criminal law. We warn against Israeli attempts to mislead and distract the
international community and public in order to evade accountability. Hence, the
undersigned organizations call on:
- The
UN Security Council to convene an emergency session to examine the situation
in the OPT, and dispatch a mission to investigate crimes of the IOF since
the start of its military operations in Beit Hanoun;
- The
UN General Assembly to fulfill its legal and moral responsibilities and
take effective action to ensure protection for the Palestinian people in
OPT;
- The
UN Human Rights Council to dispatch a fact finding team to inspect this
outrageous crime and the breaches by the IOF of human rights law and IHL; to
dispatch the relevant special rapporteurs to the
OPT to investigate the recent human rights violations without delay.
- The
international community, particularly the High Contracting Parties to the
Fourth Geneva Convention, to condemn this crime and to undertake effective
action to end the IOF violations of the basic rights of Palestinian
civilians; to provide effective protection for them; and to call for an
emergency meeting of the High Contracting Parties to the Convention to
look into mechanisms for the full implementation of the Convention in the OPT;
- The
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to take
action towards ending the gross violations of human rights in the OPT, in
line with its mandate.
- International
human rights organizations to condemn this crime, investigate it fully, and
apply pressure to ensure that it is submitted to an objective and in-depth
international investigation.
END
BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency &
Refugee Rights
Jerusalem Legal Aid Center (JLAC)
Women's Center for Legal Aid and Counseling
Insan Center
Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies
Defense Children International-Palestine
Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens
Rights
Al Haq: Law in the Service of Man
Al Dameer
Association for Human Rights
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights