IOF Continues Its Aggression on Gaza Strip; Number of Palestinians Killed Rises to 18 and Number Injured to 35; Al Mezan Reiterates Its Condemnation and Calls on International Community to Intervene

1:00 PM GMT     Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) are continuing their military escalation against the Gaza Strip.
 Israeli attacks on Gaza continue, and Israeli aircraft, particularly drones, are in the Gazan sky around the clock.
 The most recent attacks have raised the number of people killed to 18, including a child, and the number injured to 35, including two women and three children.
The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights continues its monitoring and documentation of these attacks.
 Al Mezan has documented the following incidents, presented chronologically.
At approximately 2:00 pm on Saturday 10 March 2012, the IOF opened fire at a group of young Palestinian men near the separation fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel in the east of the Islamic Shuhadaa Cemetery, east of Jabaliya.
 The men were holding last rites for a number of people killed by the IOF in Gaza City.
The shooting lasted for about one hour.
  As a result, five persons were injured.
 Medical sources at Kamal Odwan Hospital described the injuries of two of the victims as critical and referred them to Ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
 Al Mezan has identified the injured as follows:   ·         Rasem Mohammed Al Batsh, 21, who sustained shrapnel wounds in the face and body; ·         Ahmed Ibrahim Ad-Dahdouh, 19, who sustained bullet wounds in the left thigh and abdomen; ·         Mohammed Riyadh ‘Ashour, 23, who sustained a bullet wound in the left thigh; ·         Abdel Ra’ouf Salah Al Qerem, 19, who sustained a bullet wound in the right thigh; and ·         Ismail Abdel Mu’ti Al Ashqar, 19, who sustained a bullet wound in the right hand that caused a fracture.
  Medical sources described the injuries of the latter three persons as moderate.
At approximately 3:15 pm on the same day, Israeli aircraft attacked a military training site belonging to Palestinian resistance fighters to the west of Al Magousi towers, northwest of Gaza City.
 As a result, three persons were injured and adjacent houses were damaged.
At approximately 3:50 pm on the same day, an Israeli aircraft fired a missile targeting Mahdi Ahmed Abu Shaweesh, 26, who was riding a motorcycle near a fuel smuggling tunnel on the Gaza-Egypt border in the Al Sha’outh area south of Rafah.
 As a result, Abu Shaweesh was killed and five other persons were injured, including a child who was trying to buy fuel.
  Al Mezan has identified the injured as follows:   ·         Mohammed As’ad Abed Rabbo Al Ghouti, 24, who sustained shrapnel wounds in the body; ·         Mohammed Ahmed Al ‘Arqan, 54, who sustained abrasions to the face and limbs; ·         Abdel Hameed Emad Abdallah Wahba, 15, who had his leg twisted; ·         Ramzi Atef Mohammed Attallah, 36, who sustained shrapnel wounds in the limbs; and ·         Abdel Hammed Mohammed Al Khateeb, 48, who sustained shrapnel wounds to the head.
  The first three victims are residents of Rafah; the fourth, a taxi driver, is from Deir Al Balah, and the fifth is from An-Nuseirat refugee camp.
 All were admitted to Abu Yousif An-Najjar Hospital in Rafah, where their injuries were described as moderate.
At approximately 4:10 pm on the same day, Israeli aircraft fired an estimated three missiles at a training site of the Ezadin Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, in Rafah.
 No casualties or injuries were reported.
At approximately 6:30 pm on the same day, Israeli gunboats opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of An-Nuseirat refugee camp in Middle Gaza district.
 No casualties or injuries were reported, but the firing frightened the fishermen and they sailed to land immediately.
 The fishermen were only two kilometers from the coast when the IOF opened fire on them.
  At approximately 10:20 pm on the same day, Israeli aircraft fired at least two missiles at an agricultural field near the As-Sedeqeen mosque south of the Ash-Sheja’iya neighborhood of Gaza City.
 As a result, trees and a poultry farm were damaged.
 No casualties or injuries were reported.
At approximately 1:20 am on Sunday 11 March 2012, Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a group of young Palestinian men near Doula square in the Az-Zaitoun neighborhood of Gaza City.
  As a result, Ahmed Nafez Deeb Salim, 23, was killed, and two others were injured.
At approximately 8:25 am on the same day, an Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a group of young Palestinian men near a car market in the south of Az-Zaitoun neighborhood.
 As a result, two persons were injured.
At approximately 7:10 am on the same day, an Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a group of Palestinian children near an orchard at the end of ‘Asaliya street in Jabaliya in North Gaza district.
 As a result, Ayoub ‘Amer Mohamed ‘Asaliya, 12, was killed when he sustained bullet wounds in the abdomen and legs.
 Wafi Shawqi ‘Asaliya, 5, and Mohammed Nasser ‘Asaliya, 23, both sustained shrapnel wounds in their right legs.
 Medical sources described Wafi’s injury as moderate and Mohammed’s injury as light.
At approximately 11:45 am on the same day, Israeli aircraft attacked a group of young men near the Al Whedi family orchard on An-Nafaq street northeast of Gaza City.
 As a result, ‘Adel Saleh Fares Al Issi, 63, the orchard’s guard, was killed, and two others sustained moderate injury.
The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights strongly condemns the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.
 It asserts that this conduct amounts to a serious escalation on Israel’s part, which Israel has made public, threatening to escalate its attacks against the Gaza Strip.
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 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