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<a href="http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/human-rights/1068-iof-continued-offensive-on-gaza-for-4th-consecutive-day">
IOF Continued Offensive on Gaza for 4th Consecutive Day</a>
</b></h2><font size=3>Published on Tuesday, 13 March 2012 09:11<br>
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<a href="http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/human-rights/1068-iof-continued-offensive-on-gaza-for-4th-consecutive-day" eudora="autourl">
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/human-rights/1068-iof-continued-offensive-on-gaza-for-4th-consecutive-day</a>
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</font><font size=3><b>5 Palestinians, Including a Child and an Old Man
and His Daughter, Killed and 38 Others Wounded Since Yesterday Afternoon,
Raising Deaths to 23 and Injuries to 73.<br><br>
</b>Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have continued the military offensive
on the Gaza Strip, which they initiated on Friday evening, 09 March 2012.
Today, 3 Palestinian civilians (a child and an old man and his daughter)
have been killed and 36 others, including 19 children and 7 women, have
been wounded. Two members of resistance have been killed, and two others
have been also wounded by a series of Israeli air strikes. Thus, the
number of Palestinians killed since the beginning of this offensive has
risen to 23 and the number of those wounded has risen to 73, most of them
civilians.<br><br>
Investigations conducted by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights
(PCHR) into alleged crimes committed by IOF from Friday evening, 09 March
2012 until Monday noon, 12 March 2012, indicate as follows:<br><br>
At approximately 01:40 on Monday, 12 March 2012, an Israeli warplane
fired a missile at an agricultural plot on 'Oujan Street in the east of
al-Shuja'iya neighborhood in the east of Gaza City. A number of nearby
houses were damaged, and Ahlam 'Arraf Jundiya, 18, was injured in her
forehead by fragments of glass while she was at home.<br><br>
At approximately 02:00 also on Monday, an Israeli warplane fired a
missile at a house belonging to Bahjat Mohammed Hammad near Jabalya
Martyrs Elementary School in 'Izbat 'Abed Rabbu in the northern Gaza
Strip town of Jabalya. The missile hit the first floor of the
three-storey house, where 9 individuals, including 3 children live. As a
result, the house was completely destroyed and 7 members of the family,
including 3 children and 3 women, were wounded. Eighteen neighboring
houses were also affected by the missile, 3 of them sustained heavy
damages. Twelve members of the Abu al-'Eish family, including 3 children
and two women, and 7 members of the Sukkar family, including 5 children,
were also wounded. The houses of the two families are adjacent to the
targeted house. In addition, 350 windows, 7 wooden and 3 iron doors in
the above school were damaged. Two windows from the Palestine Red
Crescent Society premises were also destroyed.<br><br>
At approximately 02:30, an Israeli warplane fired a missile at a empty
area in 'Abassan village, east of the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan
Yunis. No casualties were reported.<br><br>
At approximately 05:40, an Israeli warplane fired a missile at Hamada
Salman Ahmed Abu Mutlaq, 20, from 'Abassan village east of Khan Yunis, a
member of the al-Quds Brigades (the armed wing of Islamic Jihad), when he
was near Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Mosque in 'Abassan village. Abu Mutlaq was
instantly killed by shrapnel throughout the body. Additionally, windows
of three nearby houses were destroyed, injuring the head of two-year-old
Muhannad Eyad Abu Hamad.<br><br>
At approximately 06:10, an Israeli warplane fired a missile at Sara Hill
in the east of al-Shuja'iya neighborhood in the east of Gaza City. No
casualties were reported.<br><br>
At approximately 06:40, an Israeli warplane fired a missile at a empty
area in al-Shuja'iya neighborhood in the east of Gaza City. No casualties
were reported.<br><br>
At approximately 07:00, an Israeli warplane fired a missile at 3 members
of the al-Quds Brigades (the armed wing of Islamic Jihad), who were
traveling on a 3-wheel motorcycle near al-Radwan Mosque in al-Qarara
village, northeast of Khan Yunis. One of the members of resistance,
Ra'fat Jawad Adeeb Abu 'Eid, 25, was killed by shrapnel throughout the
body, while the two other members of resistance were wounded, one of them
is in a serious condition as his legs were amputated.<br><br>
At approximately 09:25, an Israeli warplane fired a missile at a
gathering of Palestinian civilians, mostly children, near al-Khuzondar
fuel station in the west of the northern Gaza Strip town of Jabalya. As a
result, Nayef Sha'ban Nayef Qarmout, 14, was killed, and another 5
children were wounded by shrapnel.<br><br>
At approximately 13:30, an Israeli warplane fired a missile at Mohammed
Mustafa al-Hussoumi, 65, and his daughter Faiza, 30, when they were on
their agricultural plot near Tal al-Za'tar School in the northern Gaza
Strip town of Beit Lahia. The old man was instantly killed, and his
daughter died a few minutes after her admission in Kamal 'Edwan Hospital
in Beit Lahia.<br><br>
PCHR reiterates condemnation of these crimes and expresses utmost concern
over such escalation, especially in light to continuous Israeli threats,
and:<br><br>
1. Stresses that the IOF is committing grave breaches of international
humanitarian law for using excessive and disproportional force in
disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians.<br><br>
2. Calls upon the international community to immediately take an action
to stop such crimes and reiterates its call for the High Contracting
Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfill their obligations
under Article 1 which stipulates "the High Contracting Parties
undertake to respect and to ensure respect for the present Convention in
all circumstances," and their obligations under Article 146 which
requires that the Contracting Parties prosecute persons alleged to commit
grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention. These grave breaches
constitute war crimes under Article 147 and Protocol I Additional of the
Geneva Conventions.<br><br>
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