Ref:
124/2012
Since
Wednesday evening, 14 November 2012, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have
escalated military attacks on the Gaza Strip.
They first extra-judicially executed the leader of the Izziddin
al-Qassam Brigades (the armed wing of Hamas) and his bodyguard. This attack was followed by a series of
aerial, ground and sea attacks on civilian and paramilitary targets throughout
the Gaza Strip. As a result of these
attacks, 11 Palestinians, including 4 civilians (two children, a woman and an
old man) have been killed and 115 others, including 26 children and 25 women,
have been wounded. IOF have escalated
the situation in spite of the quiet atmosphere that followed a previous wave of
escalation. The Palestinian Centre for
Human Rights (PCHR) is following up developments of this new offensive on the
Gaza Strip.
According
to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 15:45 on Wednesday, 14
November 2012, an Israeli fighter jet fired a missile at a civilian car, a grey
Kia, which was traveling near the Public Service Hospital in Gaza City. The leader of the Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades
(the armed wing of Hamas), Ahmed Saeed Khalil al-Jaabari, 52, and his
bodyguard, Mohammed Hamed Subhi al-Hams, 28, were traveling in the area. The car was completely destroyed and
al-Jaabari and his bodyguard were killed.
A number of nearby houses were also damaged.
Half
an hour later, an Israeli warplane fired 3 missiles at a house belonging to
Salah Jalal Arafat in al-Zaytoun neighborhood in the east of Gaza City. The house and a neighboring one belonging to
Arafat’s brother were destroyed. One of
Arafat’s children, 5-year-old Ranana, was killed and another two children and
two women were wounded.
At
the same time, an Israeli warplane fired a missile at a house belonging to Ali
Nemer al-Masharawi in al-Zaytoun neighborhood in the east of Gaza City. Two members of the family (a woman and a
toddler) were killed: Hiba Aadel Fadel al-Masharawi, 19, and Omar Jihad
al-Masharawi, 11 months. Additionally, a
child from the same family was wounded.
At
approximately 19:30, an Israeli warplane fired a missile at a house belonging
to Rasheed Abu Shibak in Tal al-Hawa neighborhood in the south of Gaza City. The house and nearby houses were heavily
damaged and 18 Palestinian civilians were wounded.
Later,
IOF launched a series of airstrikes at various areas in Gaza City, wounding 31
Palestinian civilians, including 8 women and 16 children.
In
the northern Gaza Strip, IOF have launched 42 airstrikes, most of which have
targeted space areas, training sites, populated areas and members of the
Palestinian resistance. As a result of
these attacks, two members of the Palestinian resistance have been killed while
they were traveling on a motorcycle: Essam Mahmoud Ahmed Abu al-Meiza, 19; and
Mohammed Ibrahim Hani al-Kaseeh, 18. At
the time of writing this press release, at approximately 11:40, an Israeli
warplane fired a missile at a group of the Palestinian resistance in the
southeast of Beit Lahia, killing two members of the group: Rani Mahmoud Hammad,
33; and Khaled Abdul Rahman Abu al-Nasser, 27.
A third member was also wounded. Additionally, 49 Palestinian civilians,
including 13 children and 11 women, have been wounded, one of them is in a
serious condition. Seven of the wounded,
including 4 women and a child, were wounded while they were inside their house
which was destroyed when a missile landed near it in Beit Lahia. Dozens of houses have been also damaged.
In
the central Gaza Strip, IOF launched 12 airstrikes targeting agricultural areas
and training sites. As a result of these
attacks, an old man, Mahmoud Hamad Mahmoud Abu Sawawin, 61, was killed by
shrapnel throughout the body, and his two sons were wounded while they were on
their agricultural plot adjacent to a country house that was bombarded by IOF
in al-Nussairat refugee camp.
Additionally, 3 civilians, including a woman, were injured. In other attacks, 3 civilians, including a
woman and her child, were wounded in the east of al-Boreij refugee camp.
In
Khan Yunis, IOF have launched 11 airstrikes and two artillery shelling attacks
targeting space areas and sites of the Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades. As a result of these attacks, 3 members of
the Palestinian resistance were killed in al-Manara neighborhood in the south
of the town: Habes Hassan Awadh Mismeh, 29; Wael Haidar Saeed al-Ghalban, 26;
and Hisham Mohammed Ahmed al-Ghalban, 26.
Additionally, 3 Palestinian civilians, including a woman and two
children, were wounded while they were near their houses in al-Qarara village,
northeast of Khan Yunis.
In
Rafah, IOF have launched 10 airstrikes targeting space areas located near
houses. They have also shelled Gaza
International Airport, southeast of the town.
As a result of these attacks, a woman and a child were wounded while
they were inside their houses in the south of the town.
PCHR
reiterates condemnation and expresses utmost concern for these crimes, and
1- Warn of deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza
Strip in light of this new Israeli military escalation and the tightened
closure.
2- Calls upon the international community to act immediately to
stop these crimes, and renews the call to the High Contracting Parties of the
Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfill their obligation under Article 1 of the
Convention to ensure that it is respected at all times, and their
responsibilities under Article 146 to pursue perpetrators of serious violations
of the Convention, which are determined in Article 147, which lists violations
of the Convention amounting to war crimes.
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