arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)

Amnesty report: Israeli forces in West Bank guilty of committing war crimes

by Saddia Monday, Nov. 04, 2002 at 12:12 PM

Amnesty report: Israeli forces in West Bank guilty of committing war crimes

Zionist gunmen shot and killed three Palestinians near a stolen settlement in Gaza Strip, Israeli sources reported. According to media reports, the soldiers opened fire early Monday after spotting the men near the northern Gaza Strip settlement. Spotting the men near their rightful land was reason enough for murder apparently.

In another incident, Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah. The pretext they used this time was that they were "placing a bomb". No bomb was recovered and officials refused comment.

Meanwhile, according to an Amnesty International report, titled "Shielded from scrutiny: Israeli violations in Jenin and Nablus," which is to be published Monday, Israeli gunmen occupying Jenin and Nablus during the last invasion were guilty of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In the 76-page report, the human rights body concludes that even if the zionists had the right to attack Palestinians, but that the measures it employs to do so do not justify the violation of human rights as enshrined in international treaties and humanitarian law.

The report is based on interviews with local residents, Palestinian officials, Palestinian and foreign medical teams, journalists, members of humanitarian organizations operating in the territories, Israeli officers, reports by local physicians, High Court protocols regarding petitions submitted by Israeli human rights groups, and the results of field investigations carried out by Amnesty personnel.

The report documents cases in Jenin and Nablus in which people were killed or injured under circumstances which suggest the disproportionate use of force, or the failure by the army to protect those not involved in the fighting. The report points to cases in which Palestinians were killed when their houses were demolished while they were still inside.

The Amnesty report states that in the four months between February 27 and the end of June, when the Israeli army carried out its two largest operations in the West Bank since the start of the intifada, the army killed nearly 500 Palestinians.

"Although many Palestinians died during armed confrontations, many of these killings appeared to be unlawful and at least 16 percent of the victims, more than 70, were children," the report states.