The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have continued their aggression against Palestinian civilians and their property in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).
Yesterday, they invaded the refugee camp of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, killing 10 Palestinians and causing wide scale destruction of homes.
In addition, 39 Palestinians were injured, one of whom is a rescue team member and 12 of whom are children.
Moreover, the IOF launched air strikes on workshops and other properties in the towns of Gaza and Rafah.
About 30 minutes after midnight on Friday 17 December 2004, a line of IOF tanks and armored bulldozers penetrated the Namsawi neighborhood and the refugee camp in Khan Younis under the cover of helicopters.
Witnesses said the tanks moved from the nearby settlement of Neve Dkalim.
The IOF ordered the residents of the Namsawi neighborhood, through loudspeakers, to evacuate their homes immediately before they started to demolish these homes.
Initial fieldwork reports indicate that at least 30 homes have been demolished, and that about 300 people have been given shelter in an UNRWA school in Khan Younis.
IOF soldiers took positions in tall buildings in the invaded neighborhoods and opened fire at these areas.
Helicopter gun-ships also fired at the same areas.
Medical officer Hasan Abu Libdeh, aged 45, was injured as he was trying to help a wounded person get inside the Nasser Hospital, which is located near An Namsawi neighborhood.
At 4:30am, an Israeli drone launched a missile towards a crowd of Palestinians killing two and seriously injuring another two.
By the afternoon of today, 18 December 2004, 10 Palestinians had been killed; meanwhile, the incursion continues; they are: Rami Ghazi Abu Saada (27), Shadi Ad Dada (23), Saeed Arif Abu As Saeed (41), Islam An Nabrees (25), Khalid Abu Ubaid (23), Jihad Abu Amr (17), Izadin Hamdan (20), Hamid Al Rantisi (24), Ahmad Abu Ramadan (26), Ibrahim Al Farra (23).
Most of them were killed by injuries in the upper parts of their bodies and medical teams were not allowed to collect most of them.
In addition, the IOF destroyed parts of the Al Albani Mosque and the southern fence of the Nasser Hospital, which had to evacuate many patients from the building near the destruction.
In Gaza City, Israeli helicopters fired missiles towards two metal workshops at about one hour before midnight, destroying them both.
Al Mezan's fieldworker in Rafah reported that the IOF ordered the residents of the Salah Ad-Din neighborhood to evacuate their homes before they mined and exploded one café and damaged 15 commercial stores in the area.
This Israeli escalation comes at a time of severe restrictions on the movement of people and goods in The Gaza Strip, and corresponds to the collective punishment policies the IOF employ in the OPT according to the decisions of the Israeli Government.
The IOF's conduct, which includes the use of excessive, lethal and disproportionate force in civilian areas, home demolition, and restriction of movement, breach Israel's obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Times of War, especially article 33, which prohibits reprisals against civilians and their property under all circumstances.
Al Mezan Center condemns the IOF's escalation and asserts that such acts violate international law and human rights standards.
The Center calls upon the international community, especially the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, to intervene and stop these grave breaches to the Convention.
Not doing so will only, as had been proved over the past years, encourage the IOF to commit further crimes.
The international community is thus called on to fulfill its legal and moral obligations and protect Palestinian civilians.
END