Armed Attacks on Palestinian Civilians Condemned
February 21, 2001
Human Rights Watch today accused the
Israeli military of using indiscriminate force in response to Palestinian
gunfire, causing excessive civilian casualties. Research conducted by Human
Rights Watch in the West Bank city of Hebron has documented nine civilian deaths
and many serious injuries caused by Israeli fire in that city. The international
monitoring organization called on the Israeli military to observe increased
safeguards to limit civilian casualties, and to prosecute or discipline soldiers
responsible for firing indiscriminately at civilians.
"Israeli forces are causing civilian deaths by firing indiscriminately into
Hebron's Palestinian neighborhoods," said Joe Stork, Washington Director of
the Middle East and North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch. "The
Israeli military is obligated to protect Palestinian civilians from heavy fire,
and should take the necessary steps to halt this pattern of indiscriminate and
excessive fire."
The IDF has been firing from medium-caliber machine guns and rockets directed into Palestinian neighborhoods, causing deaths, serious injuries and
extensive damage.
On the night of February 17, 2001, the IDF targeted the Abu Snainah neighborhood of Hebron and a Palestinian collective
farm located on the outskirts of Hebron, causing three Palestinian civilian
deaths and wounding at least five. The IDF fire killed twenty-nine year old
Issam al-Tawil as he was driving home with his parents, his brother and his
sister-in-law. IDF fire on the al-Rayyan collective farm hit three of the four
workers present at the facility, killing Shaker al-Manasra and gravely injuring
Yusuf al-Manasra and Ahmad Farajullah. Ahmad Farajullah later died of his
wounds. The surviving workers and the manager of al-Rayyan collective farm
denied that there had been any gunfire from the farm. Also hit during the IDF
response was the luxury al-Mezan hotel, which was hosting two wedding parties
with more than a thousand guests at the time. On February 18, 2001, IDF soldiers
fired shots at the car of Rajik al-Qamari as he was driving nearby an IDF
checkpoint, hitting his windshield with three bullets. Al-Qamari narrowly
escaped injury.
The following partial list of incidents recently documented by Human Rights
Watch in Hebron in which Palestinian civilians were killed or severely injured
indicates a serious and persistent indiscriminate use of deadly force by the IDF.
On January 5, IDF fire from the Beit Haggai settlement hit eighteen-year-old
Ahlam al-Jabali and her eighteen-year-old sister-in-law, Arij al-Jabali,
as the two were seeking shelter in the stairwell of their home. A single bullet
penetrated the body of Arij al-Jabali, who was killed in the incident, and
lodged in the body of Ahlam al-Jabali, who recovered. According to the family,
the IDF was responding to fireworks fired at Beit Haggai from the family's
neighborhood. Arij al-Jabali was expecting to get engaged on the day of her
death.
On January 2, IDF gunfire wounded thirty-year-old Samir Abu Shakhdam as he was
walking home from work in a Palestinian area bordering on the Israeli-controlled
Tel Rumeida settlement. Earlier in the day, two IDF soldiers guarding the Tel
Rumeida settlement had been wounded by Palestinian gunfire. An ambulance which
came to evacuate Abu Shakhdam evacuated another seven wounded civilians from the
same neighborhood.
On January 1, IDF soldiers shot and severely injured Jadallah al-Jabiri in the
center of Hebron, nearly severing his foot. The IDF has admitted that its
soldiers acted wrongly in the incident which was filmed by an Associated Press
cameraman, and has apologized for the incident.
On December 31, IDF fire into the Haret al-Sheikh neighborhood of Hebron injured
eighteen-year-old Arit al-Qawasma in her bedroom, injuring her in the right
shoulder and face. As she was being evacuated from the house, renewed IDF fire
killed eleven-year-old Muath Abu Hadwan, who had come to watch the evacuation,
and wounded another boy. During the same
period, IDF fire injured thirteen-year-old Abir Salameh as she went to feed her
chickens on the roof of her house, injuring her in the stomach.
On November 16, IDF soldiers fatally shot thirty-one-year-old Yusuf Abu Awad
near a checkpoint in Beit Umar. According to eyewitnesses, soldiers asked Abu
Awad to stop at the checkpoint, and then began throwing stones at his car. When
Abu Awad protested the stone throwing, a soldier came up to him and pointed his
gun at his chest. Abu Awad attempted to push the gun away from his chest, and
was shot in the face by the soldier. The IDF is reportedly investigating the
killing.
At about 4 p.m. on November 11, IDF fire from the Shalala street position fired
on Munib Abu Munshar as he was unloading building
materials from his truck, killing him instantly. There were no clashes taking
place at the time, although Palestinian youth had clashed with IDF soldiers at
the position earlier in the day.
On October 23, 2000, IDF fire killed fifty-seven-year-old Abdul Aziz Abu Snainah
as he went to his front room to answer a phone call during a period of heavy IDF
fire. The IDF shot at Abu Snainah's brother in the street as he tried to come to
the assistance of his brother. Human Rights Watch researchers counted more than
sixty medium caliber bullet scars on the home, as well as dozens of impact
craters on nearby homes and the street.
On October 18, IDF soldiers positioned in the Beit Haggai settlement shot
thirty-eight-year-old Ibrahim Abu Turki as he rode his donkey from his home
village of Kilkas past the settlement. Abu Turki remains in critical condition
and was paralyzed by the gunshot wound.
At about 10 p.m. on October 13, IDF soldiers shot twenty-two-year-old Shadi al-Wawi,
a university student, as he was sitting on the roof of his relative's home in
the al-Fawar refugee camp. Palestinian youth were clashing with IDF soldiers
located about 150 meters away from the home, but al-Wawi and his family did not
participate in the violence. IDF soldiers fired several shots at the family as
they tried to rescue al-Wawi, and threatened a medical team which tried to reach
al-Wawi. An ambulance was forced to take an alternative route, taking over one
hour to reach the hospital. Al-Wawi died on route to the hospital.
On October 9, 2000, IDF fire severely injured twenty-eight-year-old Shihab
Sharif as he was walking home in the Bab al-Zawiah neighborhood after
visiting a cousin at about 10:15 p.m. Sherif was hit by bullets in his left
side, his back, and his right elbow. On the same day, IDF fire on the Haret
al-Sheikh neighborhood injured twenty-eight year old Fatina Fakhoury, a
mother of four, in the face, and a bullet fragment also hit her seven-day-old
baby in her arms.
Palestine Affairs Council