Submitted by crinadmin on
Summary: Despite the commitment of the Palestinian
resistance groups to the truce agreed
between Palestinians and Israelis at the
summit in Sharm al-Sheik in February, Israeli
occupation forces have continued their
aggression against civilians in the OPTs. This
was crowned by the killing on 9 April of three
children to the south of Rafah camp.
Despite the commitment of the Palestinian resistance groups to the truce
agreed between Palestinians and Israelis at the summit in Sharm al-Sheik
in February, Israeli occupation forces have continued their aggression
against civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This was crowned
by the killing on Saturday 9 April of three children to the south of Rafah
camp near the border separating Egypt from the Palestinian territories.
At around 4pm that day, Israeli forces on the Egyptian border opened fire
without warning on a group of children who were playing in the area.
These children did not constitute any danger to the Israeli soldiers.
As a result of the Israeli attack, three boys were killed:
Hassan Ahmad Khalil Abu Zeid – 16 years old
Khaled Fouad Shaker Ghanam – 16 years old
Ashraf Samir Ahmad Mousa – 15 years old
All three were fatally shot in the upper body or head, clearly indicating that
the Israeli soldiers were operating on a shoot-to-kill policy.
The death of the three boys brings to 27 the number of children killed since
the start of this year. A further 676 children were killed by Israeli troops
and settlers between the start of this intifada and the end of 2004.
Defence for Children International/ Palestine Section strongly condemns
this tragic incident and the continuous Israeli violations of the rights of
Palestinian children as enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the
Child (CRC), to which Israel is a state party.
We call upon the international community to take immediate action to end
such Israeli crimes, and to set in place measures to bring the perpetrators
to international courts. The international community has a responsibility to
uphold and protect the rights of children and enforce these standards
when states transgress. It is imperative that the world acts today to force
Israel to abide by its explicit responsibilities to all children in the Occupied
Territories as set down in the CRC and consequently, cease immediately
the deliberate violation of their rights.
We also urge the high contracting parties to the Fourth Geneva
Convention to bear their legal responsibilities to respect and ensure
respect of the convention in all circumstances and ensure the protection of
Palestinian civilians in general, and Palestinian children in particular.
Defence for Children International/ Palestine Section is dedicated to
promoting and protecting the rights of Palestinian children in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip - as articulated in the United Nations Convention on
the Rights of the Child as well as in other international human rights
instruments - and to facilitating the creation of an environment which is
aware of and respects children's rights.
For further information please go to www.dci-pal.org