28 Feb. 05

 
   Tel Aviv blast kills Israeli civilians  

B'Tselem strongly condemns yesterday's attack in the Tel Aviv promenade, in which many civilians were killed and injured.

Attacks aimed at civilians undermine all rules of morality and law. Specifically, the intentional killing of civilians is considered a “grave breach” of international humanitarian law and a war crime. Whatever the circumstances, such acts are unjustifiable.

B'Tselem demands that the Palestinian Authority do everything within its power to prevent future attacks and to prosecute the individuals involved in the attack, as well as in past attacks.

   
The intentional killing of civilians is a war crime

 

   
   
 
   Israel changes Separation Barrier's route  


On 20 February, the cabinet approved a new route for the Separation Barrier. The barrier will now run along the Green Line (Israel's 1967 border) in more areas than previously, thus reducing the harm to the Palestinians.

For example, in the area of South Mount Hebron, where the original barrier was far from the Green Line and left tens of thousands of dunams of West Bank land on the Israeli side of the barrier, the route will now run close to Israel's border. Also, the new route eliminates the enclave that would have imprisoned Palestinians who live close to the Gush Etzion settlements. However, these villages will continue to be situated west of the barrier.

The planners of the new route left the two “fingers” of the barrier that encircle the Ariel and Qedumim settlements, and added a new section that will encircle the Ma'ale Adumim settlement and settlements near Ma'ale Adumim. Regarding these areas, the cabinet approved the route in principle, and it will review the detailed plans before giving further approval. The barrier in these areas will insert a wedge in the center of the West Bank that will severely restrict the freedom of movement of West Bank Palestinians.

 
Palestinian family waiting for the gate in the Separation Barrier to open
Palestinian family waiting for the gate in the Separation Barrier to open. Photo: B'Tselem

Background
Testimonies
 
   B'Tselem to Abu Mazen: Revoke death sentences  

On 17 February 2005, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), the president of the Palestinian Authority, approved the death sentences given to a number of Palestinians who had been convicted of collaboration with Israel and of other criminal offenses. B'Tselem sent a letter to the president requesting that he revoke the death sentences and put an end to capital punishment in the Palestinian Authority.

Capital punishment is a violation of the most fundamental human right - the right to life - and has no place in an enlightened society, regardless of the nature of the offense committed. For this reason, B'Tselem flatly opposes capital punishment.

In its letter, B'Tselem also pointed out that many of the prisoners given the death penalty were denied due process in the course of their trials.

   
Capital punishment is a violation of the most fundamental human right - the right to life

 

   
   
 
   Defense Minister orders punitive house demolitions stopped  

On 17 February 2005, Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz adopted an IDF committee's recommendation to cease demolition of the houses of Palestinians suspected of carrying out attacks against Israelis. Mofaz noted that the policy will not be reinstated even if the conflict worsens. The decision does not apply to houses that the army demolishes on grounds of military necessity or because they were built unlawfully.

During the intifada, the IDF demolished 675 homes, which were home to 4,239 persons. Since 1967, the IDF has demolished or sealed more than 2,700 homes as punishment.

In its report Through No Fault of Their Own, published in November 2004, B'Tselem pointed out that, regarding one-half of the houses that were demolished as punishment, Israel did not contend that assailants lived there. For every person who took part in, or was suspected of taking part in, attacks against Israeli civilians or armed forces, twelve innocent Palestinians lost their home.

Furthermore, contrary to the state's contention that it gave prior notification of demolition except in exceptional cases, in ninety-seven percent of the cases, the occupants of the house were not given any prior notification that the army intended to demolish their home.

The committee, which was appointed by Chief-of-Staff Moshe Ya'alon, did not relate to the human rights violations inherent in punitive house demolitions. Rather, it sufficed with its finding that the action does not deter potential attackers, but harms Israel's interests. In fact, the long-standing policy of punitive house demolitions severely breaches international law, and Israel should never have adopted it, even if the practice is effective as a deterrent. In any event, the findings of the committee undermine the argument, constantly raised by Israel over the years, that punitive house demolitions have a deterrent effect.

B'Tselem welcomes the decision to stop the demolition of houses as punishment, and urges the Defense Minister to arrange the payment of compensation to Palestinians whose homes were demolished.

   
The findings of the committee undermine the argument, constantly raised by Israel over the years, that punitive house demolitions have a deterrent effect

 

   
B'Tselem's report "Through No Fault of Their Own"
Statistics
Video clip
 
   IDF demolishes apartment building  

On 18 January 2005, while they were eating dinner at their home in Nablus, the Qababji family heard the sound of gunfire and explosions. IDF soldiers called on the building's residents to go outside. The mother, Randa Qababji, told B'Tselem what happened when she went into the street with the rest of their family: “There were lots of people who lived in the buildings in the area, and some people whom the soldiers had arrested… They were in shackles, and some were blindfolded. There were more than fifteen men and many more women and infants…. I was really scared. We had never undergone anything like that.”

About an hour later, the soldiers gathered the local residents at a nearby school, where they separated the men from the women and the children. “The room I was in had around forty-five women and infants,” Qababji said. “My little daughter asked me, ‘When will we go home? I want to go to sleep.' Two soldiers stood at the door… We asked them when we could leave. They said, ‘in ten minutes'… We stayed there all night.”

Around 5:00 A.M., the soldiers ordered the residents to cover their ears. “We understood that they were going to blow up something,” Qababji continued. “It was a gigantic explosion, which shook the room. We did not know what they blew up. I hoped it was all over, and that my family and I could return home… When the soldiers left, we went outside right away… One of the men said that the soldiers had blown up our building. I was shocked and lost consciousness.”

   
“It was a gigantic explosion, which shook the room.”
Randa Qababji, Nablus

 

   
   
 
   Soldier kills 14 year-old boy who was playing with his friends  


From the testimony of Tawfiq Abu Muhsan, 14:

"Around 8:30 A.M. [on 20 January 2005], my friend Salah a-Din came over to play with me on the street near my house, where most kids our age play. We played the role of Arabs and our friends pretended to be the Israeli army.

"Two army jeeps were parked around 150 meters away... I saw one of the soldiers stick his head out through the roof of the first jeep and aim his weapon at us. I heard one shot and then another two or three shots. I saw Salah a-Din fall to the ground without making a sound. His chest was bleeding. I tried to pick him up, but I couldn't...

"My father told me later that Salah a-Din was taken to hospital in Jenin. An hour and a half later, I heard on the loudspeaker that he was dead... I felt terrible. He was my friend, and we studied together. We were playing together, and we were far away from the soldiers. Nothing happened to cause the soldiers to fire. At night, my father came home and broke the pistol that I bought that morning. He told me that that was the reason that Salah a-Din had died, because he, too, played with a plastic rifle."

In the past four and a half years, Israeli security forces have killed at least 1,705 Palestinians who did not take part in the fighting, including 551 minors. The number of indictments filed against soldiers for gunfire-related offenses stands at only twenty-eight, according to the Judge Advocate General's office. Only two soldiers have been convicted of “causing the death” of Palestinians.

 
Salah a-Din Abu Muhsan
Salah a-Din Abu Muhsan

The complete testimony
Testimony of a neighbor
Other testimonies relating to shootings by soldiers
Background on gunfire by soldiers
Photos
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