Al Mezan Center for Human Rights condemns the recent killing of a Palestinian child by Israeli occupation forces in the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces should immediately cease targeting Palestinian civilians especially children in access restricted areas in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli occupation forces fatally shot one Palestinian child and injured two others in the Gaza Strip, raising the number of Palestinian victims to 154 in 2013 for the access-restricted areas along the fence between Gaza and Israel. Of those, 11 were killed, including 2 children; 70 others were injured, including 13 children and 4 women; 73 others were arrested, of whom 35 others were children.
According to Al Mezan’s field research, on Thursday, 2 January 2014, at around 13:00, Israeli forces opened fire on a group of children who happened to be near the perimeter fence, east of Al Shuhada’ Islamic Cemetery, east of Jabaliya in northern Gaza. One child, Adnan Abu Khater, 16, was hit in the pelvis by the live ammunition, and medical sources described his injury as “extremely serious”.
Abu Khater was picnicking with a group of his friends at a distance of 250 meters from the separation fence when he was shot, eyewitnesses said. There were no activities deemed suspicious at the time or any presence of militants when the shooting took place. Abu Khater’s critical state required him to be transferred from Kamal Odwan Hospital, where he was first admitted, to Al-Shifaa Hospital, and then on to a hospital in Israel. Abu Khater succumbed to his injuries en route from the Gaza Strip, just after entry procedures at Erez Crossing were finalized at around 5:00 am on Friday, 3 January 2014.
Further, three other civilians, Thaer Rabea, 25, Khaled Ouda, 21, and Nahez Abdul Dayem, 29, were injured by Israeli gunfire on Thursday and Friday. They all sustained leg injuries.
The practices of the Israeli forces in the access restricted area, including the use of lethal gunfire and targeting of civilians with live ammunition, constitute a grave violation of the rules of international humanitarian law, particularly the principles of distinction, military necessity, and protection of civilians. The latest shootings are also in contravention of articles (3) and (32) of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits attacks against life and bodily integrity, especially acts of killing.
Al Mezan calls on states parties to abide by their obligations as per article (146) of the Fourth Geneva Convention and to exert pressure on Israel in order to cease its attacks against civilians in the Gaza Strip and ensure enforcement of international law and respect for the Fourth Geneva Convention.