Israeli Human Rights Organizations: End Killing of Civilians

Since the onset of the second Intifada through 15 June 2006, 3,448 Palestinians in the Occupied Territories have been killed by Israeli security forces. Of those, 700 were minors under the age of 18 years. At lease 1,651 of those killed were in no way taking part in the fighting at the time they were killed (and an additional 237 people were the targets of targeted killings).

On 10 June 2006, five Israeli human rights organizations demanded in an urgent appeal to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense that they take immediate action to end the killing of Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Territories, and to eradicate the factors contributing to these killings.

The organizations (B’Tselem, ACRI, PCATI, HaMoked and PHR-Israel) presented the horrifying statisti, claiming that these dismal figures result directly from a series of Israeli policies, including illegal expansion of Israel's open-fire regulations, deliberate vagueness and double messages regarding the use of force, violation of the principle of proportionality and the failure to conduct independent investigations into civilian deaths.

The organizations added that it is indeed Israel's obligation to take all legitimate steps at its disposal to defend the lives and security of its citizens from attacks by Palestinian organizations. These attacks by Palestinian groups, which deliberately target civilians, constitute a war crime for which there can be no justification. However, it is unconscionable that a sovereign state should use illegal means, some of which reach the level of war crimes. The organizations reiterated that one of Israel's central obligations under international humanitarian law is to minimize the impact of military action on the civilian population, and to ensure the life and security of Palestinian civilians, also during armed conflict.