IOF Continue Their Offensive on the Gaza Strip ; 6 Palestinians Killed and 9 Others Wounded

=============================================

Tweet

Follow @PalestinePlus

Press Release
Ref : 87/2011
Date : 20 August 2011
Time : 12:20 GMT

IOF Continue Their Offensive on the Gaza Strip ; 6 Palestinians Killed and 9 Others Wounded

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have continued their offensive on the Gaza Strip for the third consecutive day. They have escalated attacks against civilian targets and have targeted a number of activists of the Palestinian resistance. As a result of attacks by IOF in the past 24 hours, 6 Palestinians, including a physician and a child, have been killed, and 8 civilians, including two children and a woman, and a resistance activist have been wounded.

Thus, the number of Palestinians who have been killed by IOF since Thursday evening, 18 August 2011, have mounted to 12, while 32 others, including 8 women, 9 children and 3 police officers, have been wounded. Some civilian property and facilities have been also heavily damaged.

According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) :

At approximately 12:35 on Friday, 19 August 2011, an Israeli helicopter gunship fired two missiles at a training site of the ’Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades (the armed wing of Hamas), known as Bader site, in the northwest of Gaza City. No casualties were reported. It fired a third missile at the beach. It then fired a fourth missile at a car in al-Shamali area in al-Shati refugee camp in the west of Gaza City, but it went astray and the passenger were able to flee out of the car. No casualties were reported.

At approximately 15:50 on the same day, an Israeli drone attacked two activists of Nasser Saladin Brigades (the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committee), who were traveling on a 3-wheel motorcycle near Malaka intersection in the east of al-Zaytoun neighborhood in the east of Gaza City. One of the activists, Mohammed Fayez Mahmoud ’Enaya, 22, from Gaza City, was killed by shrapnel throughout the body, while the other one was seriously wounded.

At approximately 17:30, an Israeli drone fired a missile at a number of activists of the Palestinian resistance near al-Wafa Hospital in the east of Gaza City. As a result, two children living in the area were seriously wounded by shrapnel throughout their bodies : Ibrahim ’Adnan al-Zaza, 14 ; and Mohammed ’Aatef al- Zaza.

Also at approximately 17:30, an Israeli warplane fired a missile at a space area near Hassanain brick factory in al-Sourani Mount area in al-Tuffah neighborhood in the east of Gaza City. No casualties were reported.

At approximately 18:00, an Israeli drone fired a missile at an activist of the Palestinian resistance who was riding a motorcycle in Quliabo Hill area to the east of Sheikh Zayed town in the northern Gaza Strip. The activists was instantly killed by shrapnel throughout the body. He was identified as Samed ’Abdul Mo’ti ’Aabed, 25, from the northern Gaza Strip town of Jabalya.

At approximately 19:00, an Israeli drone attacked a number of Palestinians near Dr. ’Abdul ’Aziz al-Rantissi Hospital in al-Zaytoun neighborhood in the east of Gaza City. No casualties were reported.

At approximately 19:10, IOF positioned at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel to the east of Gaza City fired an artillery shell at a number of Palestinians in al-Mansoura Street in al-Shoja’iya neighborhood in the east of Gaza City. No casualties were reported.

At approximately 20:30, an Israeli drone fired a missile at a number of activists of the Palestinian resistance in the east of ’Abassan village, east of Khan Yunis. No casualties were reported.

At approximately 20:45, an Israeli warplane fired two missiles at two activists of the Palestinian resistance who were traveling on a motorcycle on the road linking between al-Boreij and al-Maghazi refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip. The two activists were instantly killed. They were identified as : Anwar Hassan Saleem, 23 ; and ’Emad Fareed Abu ’Aabda, 23, both from al-Boreij refugee camp.

At approximately 21:55, Israeli tanks positioned at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, east of Khan Yunis, fired 4 shells at ’Abassan village. The shells landed on agricultural areas, but no casualties were reported.

At approximately 22:45, an Israeli warplane bombarded a training site of the ’Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades (the armed wing of Hamas) in al-Zaytoun neighborhood in the east of Gaza City. No casualties were reported.

At approximately 22:50, an Israeli drone attacked 3 Palestinians, including a child, who were traveling on a motorcycle in Jamal Abdul Nasser Street in the west of Gaza City. The three Palestinians were killed : Munther Bassem Hamdan Quraiqe’, 32, a physician ; Mo’taz Bassem Quraiqe’, 29, a leader of al-Quds Brigades (the armed wing of Islamic Jihad) ; and Islam, 2, the latter’s child. The victims are all from al-Shoja’iya neighborhood in the east of Gaza City. They were on their way back home when they were attacked. Additionally, 5 bystanders, including a woman, were wounded, and a car was damaged.

At approximately 23:00, Israeli warplanes bombarded a 150-square-meter barrack belonging to Najia Mohammed Abu Zarifa at ’Abassan road in the east of Khan Yunis. The barrack was destroyed and a nearby carwash shop belonging to ’Ammar ’Ali Abu Daqqa and a house were damaged,

At approximately 00:00 on Saturday, 20 August 2011, Hussein Mahmoud al-Najjar received a phone call from the Israeli intelligence, in which he was ordered to vacate his 130-square-meter, two-storey house in the east of Khuza’a village, east of Khan Yunis. Al-Najjar and his family immediately vacated the house. Five minutes later, Israeli warplanes fired a missile at the house. The missile hit the western part of the basement, but did not explode. Ten minutes later, Israeli warplanes fired another missile, which hit a nearby sheep farm belonging to Suleiman Mohammed Shnainu and damaged a nearby house. It is worth noting that al-Najjar’s house was attacked by an Israeli drone on 24 March 2011.

At approximately 00:20, an Israeli warplane fired a missile at a space area in al-Shouka village, east of Rafah. As a result, Anwas Younis al-Sheikh ’Eid, 26, was wounded by shrapnel throughout the body.

At approximately 03:35, an Israeli drone fired a missile at a number of activists of the Palestinian resistance in al-Qarara village, northeast of Khan Yunis. No casualties were reported.

PCHR strongly condemns these crimes, and :

1) Stresses that targeting houses, densely-populated areas and civilian targets reflects IOF’s disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians, and warns of more escalation of crimes against Palestinian civilians and their property in light of statements and threats launched by Israeli political and military leaders, which will bring about more victims in the Gaza Strip ;

2) Points out that crimes committed by IOF constitutes acts or reprisal and collective punishment in violation of Article 33 of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War ; and

3) Believes that the failure of the international community, particularly the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, to effectively act to stop crimes committed by IOF serves to encourage Israel and IOF to commit more crimes against Palestinian civilians and their property. The legal protection provided by the United States to Israel, and deliberate obstruction of the application of international humanitarian law, in addition to the conspiracy of silence practiced by European States towards crimes committed against Palestinian civilians do not only place Israel above the international humanitarian law, but also encourage it to unrestrictedly commit more crimes against Palestinian civilians.

Public Document