In the first two days of the new year, the IOF carried out incursions into different areas in the Gaza Strip.
In the early morning hours of Thursday, January 2, 2003, ten Israeli tanks and two army bulldozers entered Block L and Block J in the refugee camp of Rafah.
They destroyed 18 homes.
Al Mezan’s fieldworkers reported that these homes were occupied by 197 people.
At approximately 7am the same day, the IOF entered As-Saadneh area (east of Al Maghazi refugee camp in the middle of The Gaza Strip).
While there, they searched houses and ordered people to gather in one place.
Seventeen people were arrested before the IOF pulled out of the area in the afternoon.
In a separate incident, the IOF murdered three young Palestinians near the settlement of Ilai Sinai on Wednesday, January 1, 2003.
The IOF spokesman claimed that they were trying to attack the settlement; however, the source pointed out that they were unarmed.
The IOF handed over the bodies of the three children at midnight.
Their bodies contained wounds in several locations.
Later, Al Mezan discovered the identities of the three children: Muhammad Atiyeh Dawwas, age 14; Tariq Ziad Dawwas, age 16; and Jihad Jumaa Aabid, age 15; all from Jabalia refugee camp.
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights condemns these assaults, which constitute war crimes under humanitarian law.
The targeting of civilian property during the above incursions are breaches of Articles 53 and 147 of the 4th Geneva Convention.
The center calls the High Contracting Parties to the Convention to fulfill their obligations under Article 146 and protect the civilian population of the OPTs.
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