On Thursday, 21 August, 2003, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) fired five missiles on the car of Ismail Abu Shanab, a senior Hamas political leader, near the UNRWA Headquarters in Gaza City.
Abu Shanab, age 53, and two others, 24-year-old Mumin Muhammad Baroud and 23-year-old Hani Abu Al Umreen, were killed in the attack.
This attack comes in the context of Israel’s continued practice of extra-judicial killings against Palestinian activists.
It should be noted that the IOF assassinated 28 Palestinians in similar attacks between 10 and 24 June 2003.
Since the Palestinian factions announced a truce on 29 June, 2003, Israel assassinated 22 Palestinians and wounded hundreds of others.
According to the figures collected by the Center’s fieldwork unit, the IOF arrested 186 people, destroyed 16 homes, leveled 133 dunams of land and confiscated 14,000 dunams to build the Separation Wall in the West Bank.
In addition, the IOF carried out 10 incursions in the OPT during the same period and continued to impose tight restrictions on civilian and goods movement and to expand settlements.
Al Mezan believes that Israel aims to undermine the international efforts to end criminal actions and the occupation of the OPT.
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights gravely condemns the assassinations perpetrated by Israel, which constitute war crimes and a serious escalation of human rights violations in the OPT.
In the light of Israel’s announced intention to continue carrying out extra judicial killings, to impose further restrictions on movement and to reoccupy Palestinian towns in the OPT, Al Mezan is making an urgent appeal to the international community to monitor the human rights situation in the OPT more carefully, and to intervene immediately to protect the civilian population and ensure the respect by Israel of its obligations under human rights law and the Fourth Geneva Convention.
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