Israeli Forces Kill Four Palestinians
From: "Law Society" law@lawsociety.org
August 22, 2001

Israeli forces committed another war crime against Palestinian civilians late Tuesday and early Wednesday morning when they killed four Palestinians and wounded three.

According to LAW's documentation, at 11.00 p.m., Tuesday, 23-year-old Ahed Haniyi from Balata refugee camp went to the bypass road that takes Israeli forces take to their outpost on Mount Ibal in Nablus and connects it with the Shafe Shamiron settlement, to plant an explosive device on the road. Israeli tanks patrolling the road opened fire on him. When people in nearby Palestinian village of Beit Iba heard the shooting, they contacted a Red Crescent ambulance, but the ambulance was prevented from reaching the shooting site.

A number of people from Beit Iba went looking for injured people when the ambulance was prevented from getting there, and at 2.00 a.m. machinegun shots were heard. When the shooting stopped, people went to see what happened. They found three Palestinian men from the village dead. Later they discovered that Ahed was killed and his body was held by the Israeli forces, after which they released it and handed it over to Rafidia hospital at 10.00 a.m. today.

The names of the killed people:

1. Ahed Haniyi, 23, shot six times in the face, chest, and legs
2. Zahir Ismail, 30, from Beit Iba, shot twice in the chest and left leg
3. Fadi Sama'na, 25, from Beit Iba. He was shot pointblank in the neck and chest
4. Hakam Kibala, 22, from Beit Iba, shot in the chest

The injured are:

1. Asad Sama'na, from Beit Iba, shot in the legs
2. Khaled Al Asmar, 21, from Balata, shot in the right leg
3. Mohammad Yadak, 20, from Kosain, bruised while running from the shooting

Five more people from Beit Iba were admitted to Rafidia hospital for shock treatment.

LAW Society condemns the cruel attacks by the Israeli occupation forces on Palestinian civilians. LAW also condemns the Israeli policy of collective punishment and the unjustifiable shooting of Palestinians. LAW Society urgently calls for the following:

1. The Israeli Government to:
   • Halt its non-stop aggression against Palestinians, their public organisations and private property, and put an end to the policy of killing Palestinian civilians.
   • Return its military forces to their pre-28 September 2000 positions.
   • Openly investigate the conditions of the killing the four Palestinians and the other killings committed by Israeli soldiers against Palestinian civilians in conformity with Article 146 of the 1949 IV Geneva Convention, which stipulates "the high contracting parties undertake to enact any legislation necessary to provide effective penal sanctions for persons committing, or ordering to be committed, any of the grave breaches, and shall bring such persons, regardless of their nationality, before its courts."
2. The United States of America to:
   • Impose restrictions on the export of American weapons to Israel since it uses them in the commission of grave human rights violations in the Occupied Territories.
   • Halt its advocacy of aggressive Israeli policies in the Occupied Territories.
   • Fulfil its legal and moral responsibilities in the region.
3. The International Security Council to:
   • Hold an urgent meeting to discuss Israel's violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories in general and in Jerusalem in particular.
   • Form an international investigation committee in conformity with International Security Council resolution #1322 of 7/10/2000 so as to investigate the crimes committed by the Israeli authorities within the Occupied Territories.
   • Form an international criminal court to bring Israeli war criminals to justice.
   • Place Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Territories under international protection.
   • Force Israel to implement all the resolutions issued by the International Security Council on the Palestinian issue.
4. The European Union to:
   • Take effective steps in conformity with Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association agreement that stipulates Israel's adherence to human rights.
   • The International Community to:
   • Hold a meeting for the High Contracting Parties to the IV Geneva Convention to take practical measures to ensure Israel's compliance with and implementation of the Convention.
   • Immediately work on ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian Territories and implement the relevant international resolutions.

LAW publications and press releases since 1994 are available on our website at www.lawsociety.org

LAW - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to preserving human rights through legal advocacy. LAW is affiliate to the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Fédération Internationale des Ligues de Droits de l'Homme (FIDH), World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and Member of the Euro- Mediterranean Human Rights Network

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