• Al Haq Israeli Shelling of Palestinian Residential Areas Escalates: Al-haq Calls For Immediate International Intervention to Protect Palestinian Civilians

Al Haq

For the second successive day the Israeli occupying forces continued its heavy shelling of Palestinian civilian areas in cities of the West Bank and Gaza.On 8 February 2001, the al- Jinan neighborhood and Satih Marhaba in El Bira were shelled for six continuous hours. Yesterday night the same areas were shelled for four hours. Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinian houses located opposite the Pisgat Zve settlement using heavy machine guns. One house caught fire and was completely destroyed and another ten houses were damaged. The offices of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society were hit by several shells and caught fire causing extensive damage to the upper floors of the building. A PRCS vehicle used to transport disabled students was also damaged. Emergency telephone lines were damaged, preventing PRCS from receiving calls for aid. The al-Haya al-Jadida newspaper’s building was also shelled. Windows were broken and internal walls, computers, and other office equipment was damaged.

Al-Haq views with grave concern the Israeli Occupying Forces continued use of excessive force as demonstrated by their use of tanks and heavy machine guns against civilian homes and property.Twenty-four Palestinians have been killed since the outbreak of the present Intifada as a result of these actions.

1. Al-Haq demands that States Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 move to intervene by pressuring Israel to force it to abide by the convention and implement the convention as it applies to the Occupied Territories. The international Community must demand that Israel stop its shelling of civilian areas, which violate provisions of International Humanitarian Law, specifically Articles 32, 33, and 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilians During Times of Conflict. Israeli actions also violate Articles 22, 23, and 25 of the 1907 Hague Convention.

2. The Security Council should take immediate action to provide a protection force for Palestine that can act to stop Israeli aggression and prevent further human rights violations, including the shelling of civilian areas. Such actions constitute a direct threat to the civilian Palestinian population.

Women's Affairs Technical Committee (WATC)

The oppressive and terrorizing practices that the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) are perpetrating against Palestinian prisoners are escalating. Since the beginning of the current Palestinian uprising (Intifada), the IOF has placed five Palestinian women political prisoners under solitary confinement, humiliating "security" measures and degrading imprisonment conditions. Furthermore, the women's families are forbidden from visiting them, which adds to their torture, sense of isolation and deteriorating psychological situations.

We, in the Women's Affairs Technical Committee in Palestine, assert our solidarity with these women political prisoners. We appeal to the international community, all human rights institutions and defenders of justice around the world to intervene for the immediate release of the five Palestinian women political prisoners. Moreover, we call upon our Palestinian people and the Arab masses worldwide to join us in our demand for the immediate release by the IOF of the five Palestinian women Political prisoners. We will not rest until these women's voices are heard around the world, and until justice prevails. The five Palestinian women political prisoners are:

Suna Mahmoud Ar-Ra'I from Qalqilya who was arrested at her return from Jordan on Aril 12, 1997

Suad Hilmi Ghazal, 17 years old from Sabastia in the suburbs of Nablus who was arrested on December 13, 1998 and sentenced six years

Nisreen Ya'coub Taha from the village in Bidya, Salfeet, who was arrested on March 25, 1998

Maha Ibrahim Al'ikk from Bethlehem arrested on August 2, 2000

Amneh Jawad Muna from Bir-nabala in the suburbs of Jerusalem arrested on January 24,2001