Updates

On the morning of November 18, 2012, the Israeli Air Force struck two buildings in Gaza City in which both local and foreign news agencies maintain their offices. Seven employees of Al-Quds TV were injured, two of them seriously. The IDF Spokesman said in a statement that the attacks were directed against the communications infrastructure of Hamas, which it claims Hamas uses to communicate operational orders and disseminate propaganda. B’Tselem is not in a position to determine whether there is any basis for this claim. However, international humanitarian law holds that the media, including those outlets belonging directly to parties to the conflict, are not legitimate military targets.

A B’Tselem inquiry shows that on the morning of 17 November 2012, an Israeli attack targeted three armed men in Rafah. Two of them were killed on the spot and a third was wounded. Shortly afterwards, while 'Awad a-Nahal, age 31, a resident of a nearby house, was trying to evacuate the injured man, a second attack killed both the armed man and the civilian trying to evacuate him.

Testimony gathered by B’Tselem reveals that in the early morning hours of Sunday, 18 November 2012, an Israeli aircraft fired at the ground near the Sa’ifan family home in the Tel a-Za’tar neighborhood. The strength of the explosion collapsed the room on top of the sleeping Sa’ifan family: mother, father, and two children. Their son Tammer, age 4, and daughter Jomanah, age 2, were killed. B’Tselem is continuing to investigate the circumstances of the incident that caused the death of Tammer and Jomanah Sa’ifan.

"The children’s conversation is about the types of missiles and planes. It hurts me so much to hear them talking about these things, instead of games or things they are learning in kindergarten or that they did with their friends. What kind of life do they have with this situation looming over them? We try to keep them busy and distract them from the news and what is happening, but what is happening is stronger."

Initial B'Tselem investigations indicate that between the launch of the Israeli military’s “Pillar of Defense” operation and the night of 17 Nov., 43 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip from Israeli fire. At least 13 of them were civilians, including seven children (five of them toddlers under the age of 4), and two women. Three Israelis have been killed as a result of rocket fire from Gaza by Palestinian militant organizations.

Yesterday, 14.11.12, the Israeli military launched Operation Cloud of Defense in the Gaza Strip. Four years ago, Operation Cast Lead in Gaza caused unprecedented harm to the civilian population. B'Tselem calls on policymakers to implement the lessons learned from Operation Cast Lead in order to minimize harm to civilians during the current hostilities in Gaza.

B’Tselem recently learned of the decision by the Police Investigations Unit (PIU) to close the files on three cases dealing with complaints submitted to the unit. Acting on behalf of the complainants, B’Tselem obtained and examined copies of the case files and found investigative errors and omissions. In two of the cases, an appeal has been submitted to the State’s Attorney by Atty. Gabi Lasky on behalf of B’Tselem. The third case was passed on to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, which has also submitted an appeal.

The al-Samouni case only illustrates the broader problem regarding the military’s ability to examine itself. Shirking responsibility for the deaths of hundreds of civilians and the widespread devastation caused by Cast Lead demonstrates yet again the need for an Israeli investigation mechanism that is external to the army.

On the night of 27 March 2012, soldiers in civilian clothing entered Kafr Ramun near Ramallah. B’Tselem has learned that three brothers from the village, thinking they were being robbed, came outside armed with a club and two knives to defend their property and were shot by the soldiers. Uniformed soldiers who came to the scene during the incident, also shot two of the brothers, who were already wounded. One brother died of his wounds and the other two sustained injuries. B’Tselem demanded an investigation into this incident and was informed Today, 24 April 2012, that an investigation was ordered by the MAG corps