Around midnight yesterday, Saturday 11 January 2003, Israeli Occupation Forces invaded the towns of Khan Younis and Beit Hanun in the Gaza strip.
At around 10:45 pm Saturday 11 January 2003 about 50 Israeli tanks and army vehicles entered Khan Younis under the cover of helicopters.
They reached the town center where they bulldozed and destroyed 30 homes and 39 workshops and stores, three private motor vehicles and a police vehicle.
28-year-old Abdul-Hadi Sulaiman Wadi was killed, and sixteen other civilians were injured.
In addition, the Israeli Occupying Forces arrested two people, Faraj and Ghasa an-Nafar.
At about 1 am Sunday 12 January 2003 the IOF invaded Beit Hanun, in the northern part of the Gaza strip, under intensive gunfire.
About 40 Israeli tanks, again covered by helicopters, entered the town and completely destroyed with explosives a house owned by the family of Muhammad Sameeh al-Masri, who was killed by IOF on 24 November 2002.
Seven neighboring homes were damaged.
At around 4 am the IOF shelled a Palestinian security post to the east of the town, killing Ali Dhahir Nassar, aged 45, and wounding Imad Muhammad I’laian, aged 23.
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights condemns these assaults, which constitute war crimes under humanitarian law.
The targeting of civilians and civilian property during the above incursions are breaches of Articles 33 , 53 and 147 of the 4th Geneva Convention.
These crimes are outrageous infringements of human rights.
The IOF is continuously killing and wounding Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, as well as destroying homes and enterprises belonging to civilians.
Under the 4th Geneva Convention, the international community has an obligation to intervene urgently to protect civilians and civilian property in the OPT.
Al Mezan calls upon the High Contracting Parties to the 4th Geneva Convention to reconvene their conference on the OPTs and to stop Israel’s violations of Palestinians’ human rights.
This is an essential first step towards ending the Israeli occupation of the OPTs, and bringing those responsible for perpetrating and ordering such crimes to justice.
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