IOF Kills 14 Palestinians and Injures 11 in Gaza in Less Than 48 Hours;
Secretary-General of Popular Resistance Committees Extrajudicially Killed and IOF Aerial and Artillery Attacks on Gaza Continue, Al Mezan Condemns IOF Escalation, Calls Internation

On Friday 9 March 2012, Israeli aircraft extrajudicially killed the Secretary-General of the Palestinian Popular Resistance Committees, Abu Ibrahim Al Qaisi, as he was travelling in a car in the Tal Al Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City.
 The situation was calm in the Gaza Strip.
 No military clashes or resistance operations had taken place recently, with the exception of the IOF’s continuous attacks on Palestinian farmers and fishermen in the Israeli-imposed restricted access areas on land and in the sea.
 The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights is concerned about the extrajudicial killing of Al Qaisi and subsequent Israeli shelling and bombing, which has resulted in the killing of 14 persons and the injury of 11.
 Al Mezan is also concerned about Israel’s declared intent to further escalate the attacks on the Gaza Strip.
According to Al Mezan’s field investigations and documentation, at approximately 4:15 pm on Friday 9 March 2012, Israeli aircraft fired at least one missile at a blue Opel car travelling near the former Ministry of Finance building at the crossroads that leads into Tal Al Hawa neighborhood, in the west of Gaza City.
  As a result, two persons were killed and one passerby was injured.
 Al Mezan has identified those killed as follows: Zuhair Mousa Al Qaisi, 49, who was Secretary-General of the Popular Resistance Committees; and Mahmoud Mohammed Hanani, 44, an ex-detainee from Nablus who was transferred to Gaza in a prisoner release deal.
  Yihya Zakariya Ad-Dahshan, 27, a passerby, was injured in the attack; medical sources at Ash-Shifa Hospital described his wounds as critical.
 Windowpanes of several adjacent apartments and car windows were shattered by the explosion.
After the extrajudicial killing, the IOF escalated its attacks on the Gaza Strip.
 Al Mezan has documented the following attacks, presented chronologically.
At approximately 7:00 pm on Friday 9 March 2012, the IOF fired an artillery shell that fell in an agricultural field west of Wadi Gaza village.
 No casualties or injuries were reported.
At approximately 7:30 pm on Friday 9 March 2012, Israeli aircraft attacked a group of Palestinian men near the Al Muntar crossing, to the southeast of the Ash-Sheja’iya neighborhood of eastern Gaza City.
 As a result, three persons were killed.
 Al Mezan has identified those killed as: Mohammed Khalid Harara, 24; Obeid Fadel Al Gharabli, 22; and Hazem ‘Awad Suliman Qreqe’, 22.
At approximately 7:40 pm on the same day, an Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a group of Palestinian men east of Az-Zaitoun neighborhood in Gaza City.
 No casualties or injuries were reported.
At approximately 8:00 pm on the same day, Israeli aircraft fired about three missiles at a group of Palestinian men setting in an orchard southeast of Ash-Sheja’iya neighborhood in Gaza City.
 No casualties or injuries were reported.
At approximately 10:20 pm on the same day, an explosion occurred when a rocket struck near a small residential street near Al Joulani mosque in the At-Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City.
 It was not clear whether it was an Israeli missile or a local rocket that had exploded.
 As a result, two persons were injured and the adjacent houses were damaged.
 Al Mezan has identified those injured as: Mu’men Mahmoud Ash-Shrafi, 28, who sustained shrapnel in the back; and his wife Iftikhar Mohammed Halawa, 26, who sustained light injuries.
  The houses damaged belong to Rafeq Ahmed As-Swerki, 50, and Mu’men Mahmoud Ash-Shrafi, 28, who is a correspondent with the MIX television channel.
 People in the area, particularly women and children, were terrified.
At approximately 10:30 pm on the same day, the IOF fired several artillery shells at an agricultural area east of Gaza City.
 The shelling continued for about one hour.
At approximately 11:10 pm on the same day, an Israeli aircraft attacked a group of Palestinian men near the Jabal Ar-Rayes area east of At-Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City.
 As a result, Shadi Riyadh As-Seqali, 26, was killed.
At approximately 11:55 pm on the same day, an Israeli aircraft attacked a military training site for Palestinian resistance fighters in the area of the evacuated Netzarim settlement southwest of Gaza City.
 An hour and a half later, the IOF attacked the same site for a second time.
 No casualties or injuries were reported.
At approximately 00:15 am on Saturday 10 March 2012, Israeli aircraft fired about three missiles at the Abu ‘Attaya military training site of the Popular Resistance Committees, located west of the Tal As-Sultan neighborhood in Rafah.
 Ten minutes later, Israeli aircraft fired two more missiles at the same site.
 No casualties or injuries were reported.
At approximately 00:20 am on the same day, Israeli aircraft attacked a group of Palestinian men in a vacant lot south of the Palestinian Legislative Council in Gaza City.
 As a result, two persons were killed immediately, and a third person was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital after succumbing to his injuries.
 Al Mezan has identified them as: Faeiq Samer Sa’ad, 28; Mu’tasem Diyab Hajaj, 22; and Ahmed Abdel Fattah Hajaj, 24.
 Islamic Jihad claimed those killed as members.
At approximately 00:45 am on the same day, an Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a greenhouse in the Al ‘Attattra area of Beit Lahiya in North Gaza district.
 Window panes of adjacent houses were shattered, but no casualties or injuries were reported.
  The greenhouse belongs to Azam Salama Abu Halima, 55.
At approximately 1:05 am on the same day, an Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a store beneath the house of the Al Yamani family near the Abdel ‘Al crossroads west of Al Jalaa street in Gaza City.
 As a result, three persons, including a child, sustained light injuries.
At approximately 1:25 am on the same day, an Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a group of Palestinian men near Hamouda Gas Station, east of Beit Lahiya in North Gaza district.
 As a result, Mohammed Yihya Al Mghari, 25, was killed, and two other persons were injured.
  One of those injured, Mahmoud Ismail Nejem, 21, sustained critical injuries and was pronounced dead a few hours later.
At approximately 1:25 am on the same day, an Israeli aircraft attacked a group of Palestinian men near Al Hattabia street in Beit Lahiya.
 As a result, one person sustained moderate injuries.
At approximately 4:28 am on the same day, an Israeli aircraft attacked a red Kia car travelling near the eastern part of Deir Al Balah.
 As a result, Mohammed Ibrahim Al Ghamri, 26, was killed, and three other persons were injured.
At approximately 12:45 pm on the same day, Israeli aircraft attacked a motorcycle travelling on a road leading to Bani Suhaila, near the Bani Suhaila police station east of Khan Younis.
 As a result, two persons were killed.
 Al Mezan has identified them as: Hussein Saleem Burhum, 51; and Mansour Kamal Mohammed Abu Inseira, 21.
  Abu Inseira was pronounced dead on arrival at Gaza European Hospital.
The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights condemns Israel’s extrajudicial killings.
 Extrajudicial killing is prohibited under international law.
 Moreover, it should be noted that this conduct amounts to a serious escalation on Israel’s part, which has led to a major increase in violence and multiple attacks, many of which violate international law.
  Israel has officially adopted responsibility for the recent extrajudicial killing and has followed it with mounting threats to conduct further such violations and to expand its ongoing aggression against the Gaza Strip.
Al Mezan views this extrajudicial killing and other attacks, and Israel’s proclamation of its responsibility and threats to continue its attacks, as a demonstration of Israel’s disregard for its moral and legal obligations.
 The failure of the international community to uphold its legal obligation under international humanitarian law has encouraged Israel to continue its crimes in violation of international law.
The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights asserts that Israel’s action is a new instance of grave breach of international humanitarian law, and is part of a pattern of Israeli violations that have long caused damage to civilians and civilian property.
 Extrajudicial attacks and killings violate international law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
 International law bans extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary execution under all circumstances.
 Attacks of this sort have frequently been carried out in the occupied Palestinian territories, killing and injuring civilians and damaging civilian objects, in breach of the basic principles of international humanitarian law.
Al Mezan therefore reiterates its calls on the international community, particularly the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions, who are obligated under the Conventions to respect and to ensure that they are respected in all cases, to promptly intervene to end these grave Israeli breaches of international law and to secure effective international protection for civilians under Israel’s occupation in the Gaza Strip.
 Al Mezan views the intervention of the international community as a legal and moral obligation, as well as an urgent necessity, particularly under current circumstances.
 Without such intervention the IOF will simply abuse the silence of the international community in order to expand its ongoing aggression.
  End