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On
the second Friday of the Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan, the Israeli Forces
continued with their escalation of violence and blockade of the West Bank
and the Gaza Strip, which denies tens of thousands of Muslims their right to
pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City. The Israeli Forces
reinforced their presence in and around Jerusalem by erecting additional
military checkpoints and police roadblocks at the entrances to the Holy City
and immediately outside of the Haram al-Sharif. An estimated 45,000
Palestinians were allowed access to pray at the al-Aqsa as compared to the
250,000 worshippers normally in attendance at Friday Prayers in the Mosque
during Ramadan. The increased presence of Israeli Forces contributed
to a tense atmosphere that led to violent clashes after the prayers in which
one Palestinian, 16 year-old Ammar Samir Abd il-Hamid al-Mashni from the
village of Beit ‘Our near Ramallah, was shot and killed by a live bullet
to the head. During the clashes many Palestinians were wounded by
rubber-coated bullets and live ammunition. In clashes in Bethlehem, an
explosive bullet to the head killed 17 year-old Mu’taz Azmi Ismael Tielakh
from Dhiesheh Refugee Camp.
In a flagrant display of excessive force, the Israeli Occupying Forces
launched a mortar attack on a Palestinian National Security outpost in the
Sabah al-Khair neighbourhood of Jenin killing five Palestinians, 4 from the
Palestinian National Security Forces and one civilian. The following
individuals were killed and dismembered as a result of the attack: Mohammad
Abu Shadouf, 31 years old and a member of the Palestinian National Security
Forces from the village of Burqin; Mohammad Abdullah Yahia, 17 years old and
a member of the Palestinian National Security Forces from the village of
Kufr Rae’e; Mohammad Yusuf Abu Sbieh, 34 years old and a member of the
Palestinian National Security Forces from the village of Kufr Rae’e; Ala
Abdulla Abu Jabir, 17 years from the Palestinian National Security Forces
and Mohammad Rateb Qasim, a 31 year-old civilian from the Sabah al-Khair
neighbourhood in Jenin.
According to reports gathered by al-Haq from eyewitnesses, at approximately
3:30 pm on Friday afternoon three Israeli tanks situated at the northern
entrance of Jenin launched three shells at a temporary site of the
Palestinian National Security Forces. The site is located in a residential
area just 300m away from the Headquarters of the Palestinian National
Security Forces in a Palestinian controlled area (Area A) and 700 m away
from the Israeli Forces. Although the eyewitness reports are conflicting in
detail, all witnesses interviewed by al-Haq agreed that there was no
shooting in the area of the attack prior to the Israeli shelling.
There were also no reports of Israeli injuries or casualties in the area
prior to or after the mortar attack.
After yesterday’s incidents the Israeli Occupying Forces imposed stricter
collective punishment measures against Palestinians in the West Bank, as
most acutely evidenced in the besieged area of Hebron. Additionally,
Salim Mohammed El-Hamaydeh, age 13, from Rafah died today as the result of
being shot in the head with live ammunition by Israeli Forces on 5 December
2000. According to Al-Haq documentation his death brings the total
number of Palestinians killed since September 29 to 285, and over 10,000
have been injured.
Al-Haq would like to draw the international communities attention to the
deteriorating situation in the Occupied Territories and specifically
demands:
1. Immediate intervention by the United Nations Security Council to provide
international protection for Palestinian civilians living in the Occupied
Palestinian Territories (OPT).
2. Immediate action by the States Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to
bear responsibility towards atrocities committed against Palestinians in the
OPT.
3. United Nations Special Rapporteurs including the Special Rapporteur on
the Commission of Human Rights on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary
Executions, the Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, the Special
Rapporteur on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, the Special Rapporteur
on Internally Displaced Persons, the Special Rapporteur on Racial
Discrimination, the Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance, the Special
Rapporteur on Torture, and the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women
to come to the area to investigate human rights violations carried out by
the Israeli Occupying Forces in order to put into practice UN Resolution E/CN
4/S-5/l.2/Rev.1 of 19 October 2000, which at this time has not been
implemented. |