Israeli Occupation Forces Continue to Shell and Tighten Siege on Gaza Strip Al Mezan Center Calls on International Community to Take Immediate and Effective Action

The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have resumed shelling the residents of Gaza.
Attacks carried out on the evening of 4 March 2009 and the morning of 5 March 2009 killed four Palestinians, injured four others and caused material damage to eight homes.
The IOF also continues to tighten its siege on the Gaza Strip which prevents the movement of people and goods to and from the Gaza Strip.
    According to field investigations conducted by Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, the Israeli Occupation Forces shelled a group of young men located at a playground south east of Al Maghazi camp, at around 7.
15 am, Thursday 5 March 2009.
The shelling killed Mahmoud al Abed Hammad (aged 27) and Wasim Hasan Mansour (aged 21) - both of whom were from Al Maghazi Camp - and injured two others.
One of these - Ibrahim Hasan Bamba (aged 22) –was injured seriously and died approximately four hours later.
  At approximately 19.
40 on Wednesday 4 March 2009, an Israeli reconnaissance drone fired one missile at Khaled Harb Sha’lan (aged 24) - a leader of Saraya al-Quds, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement in Palestine – while he was walking with another person near the Tawba Mosque in block 8 of the camp.
He was pronounced dead after arriving at the hospital.
Medical sources at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City described the situation of the person he was with as serious.
Two bystanders were also injured in different parts of the body – Shadi Atallah Imad (aged 23) and Ismail Matar Abu Naji (aged 51).
Medical sources at Kamal Edwan hospital described their injuries as moderate.
In addition, the shelling caused partial damage to eight residential homes and one stationary vehicle in the area was damaged.
It should be noted that the attack took place in a densely populated neighborhood in the Jabaliya Camp.
  This military escalation comes amid the continuing tightening of the Israeli imposed siege on the Gaza Strip which prevents the movement of people and goods to and from the Gaza Strip – except for extremely limited quantities of humanitarian aid and fuel.
This policy is pursued in order to maintain their continued absence from markets in the Gaza Strip which exacerbates the suffering of residents.
  Despite the desperate needs of the residents of the Gaza Strip following the major destruction to tens of thousands of homes, and water and sanitation networks caused by the Israeli military attacks, Israel continues to prevent the entry of all kinds of reconstruction materials into the Strip.
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights stresses that the pressing humanitarian needs of the population of Gaza has greatly exceeded those prior to the recent Israeli invasion.
These attacks destroyed tens of thousands of premises including residential homes and their contents, commercial and industrial premises, and vehicles.
The siege on the Gaza Strip greatly undermines human dignity and the fulfillment of urgent humanitarian needs.
  Al Mezan Center for Human Rights strongly condemns the killings perpetrated by the Israeli Occupation Forces as well as the continued imposition of collective punishment on the population of the Gaza Strip through the blockade.
Al Mezan stresses that these practices amount to war crimes against the population of Gaza.
  Al Mezan calls on the international community to take immediate and effective action to: Stop renewed Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip Lift the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip to pave the way for reconstruction Bring to justice Israelis that are proven to have perpetrated crimes – including crimes against humanity - in the Gaza Strip.
  Ends