Press Release

29 August 1998
Press Release Index
AL-HAQ DEMANDS THAT ISRAEL IMMEDIATELY END THE MILITARY SIEGE AND CURFEW OF HEBRON.
Following the death of a Tel Rumeida settler in the city of Hebron, the Israeli occupying forces initiated, on 21 August 1998, an intense military siege of the city and imposed a curfew effective in the areas of the city that fall under Israeli administration (area H2 according to the Hebron redeployment agreement). Approximately 40,000 Palestinian residents, constituting around one-third of the population of Hebron, live in the H2 area, which is under curfew.
According to al-Haq's documentation, the residents of Hebron are suffering from harsh living and health conditions. There is a serious shortage of food, medical supplies, and water. The lack of water is especially serious as, earlier this summer, the Israeli occupying authority decided to decrease the water quota allotted to the city from 25,000 cubic meters to 3000 cubic meters per day.
Due to the military siege, many residents, either from within the city itself or from the surrounding area, have been unable to seek urgent medical assistance from health centers in the city. On 22 August 1998, three-year-old Qusai Hani Sultan Al Tamimi died at one of the Israeli military checkpoints in the city. In addition, a pregnant woman, who was refused entry into the city, was forced to deliver the baby in a car. As a result, the infant died.
Further, the Israeli occupying forces arbitrarily arrested hundreds of Palestinian residents and forced them to line up on the side of the road and wait for hours. They were then fined for breaking the curfew. In addition, the occupying forces accompanied groups of settlers who invaded Palestinian residential neighborhoods in Hebron and vandalized and burned Palestinian property.
Al-Haq views with grave concern the military siege and curfew of Hebron. Al-Haq believes these measures represent clear and direct violations of international humanitarian law, especially Article 50 of the Hague Convention of 1907,and Articles 23 and 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949.
In addition, the Israeli measures clearly constitute acts that fall under Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which defines genocide as "...acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious, as such: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring its physical destruction in whole or in part..."
Al-Haq condemns the actions of the Israeli occupying authority and demands the following:
  • That Israel immediately lifts the military siege on Hebron and refrain from its illegal actions against the residents of Hebron.
  • That the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention undertake their responsibility under Article 1 to ensure respect for the Convention and to act immediately to ensure that Israel cease its violations against the residents of the city of Hebron, especially as those actions constitute grave violations of Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
  • That the High Contracting Parties take appropriate measures to ensure that Israel cease its illegal building of settlements on Palestinian territories.
  • That all international NGOs urge their governments to act to ensure that Israel cease its human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

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