The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) carried out an incursion in the village of Abasan, south to the southern town of Khan Younis on Sunday 21 March, 2004, killing five Palestinians and demolishing six homes.
Several others were wounded and arrested.
Eyewitnesses reported to Al Mezan that approximately 35 Israeli tanks and armored vehicles entered the village under helicopters cover at 2:20 am and opened fire.
Five Palestinians were killed from bullets and missile shrapnel during this incursion: • Thana'y Iqdeeh, aged 22 • Basim Salim Iqdeeh, aged 37 • Sana' Iqdeeh, aged 34; Basim's wife, • Rafat Salih Abu T'imeh, aged 25 • Abdul Rahman Al Dardisy, aged 22 Eleven persons were also wounded from IOF fire, and five people were arrested during the incursion.
Iman Zaki Iqdeeh, lost her unborn baby as the IOF arrested her husband Na'il Iqdeeh.
In addition, six homes, a wheat mill and two motor-vehicles were destroyed by the IOF, and severe damage was inflicted on the village infrastructure.
27-year-old, Ibrahim Al Haw, from Jabalia, northern the Gaza Strip, died on 22 March from injuries sustained the previous day.
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights gravely condemns IOF's escalation of their aggression against Palestinian civilians and their property in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) emphasizing that such practices clearly violate International Law and, particularly, the Fourth Geneva Convention.
The Center, as such, reasserts the necessity of effective intervention by the International Community to put an end to IOF's brutal violations of legally guaranteed human rights of Palestinians and to ensure its compliance by the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Al Mezan appeals for the International Community to provide effective protection for Palestinian civilians in the OPT.