On Tuesday, June 13, 2006, the Israeli military launched a first missile at a car in the area of Al Tuffah, northeast of gaza city, killing two members of the Islamic Jihad military branch, then a second missile was launched after a crowd has gathered around the car and killed 9 civilian bystanders including two children.
This air strike comes after a series of attacks perpetrated by the Israeli army in the Gaza strip since last Thursday, including the killing of a family at the Gaza seashore on Friday 9 of June.
As stated by its member organizations in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, (Btselem, ACRI, PCATI and PCHR), the FIDH recalls that this results 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 in the military response.
The persistent launching by Palestinian armed groups, from the Occupied territory, of rockets onto the Israeli territory are condemned by FIDH. They in no case justify serious violations of international humanitarian law by the State of Israel.
Furthermore, the FIDH is deeply concerned at the fact that the Israeli army may fail in investigating independently into the civilian deaths of the Gaza seashore as the investigation is being performed by an IDF committee.
The FIDH considers that, according to contemporary international criminal law, such acts constitute war crimes.
The FIDH condemns these attacks and urges the international community to take up its responsibilities in denouncing those crimes and acting immediately to stop them;
The FIDH calls upon the High contracting parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfill their obligations to guarantee the protection of the Palestinian civilian population in the OPT.
At the exact time of the official visit in France of Ehud Olmert, the FIDH calls upon the French authorities to urge the Israeli Prime Minister to take immediate action to end the killing of Palestinian civilians in the OPT.