Terrorismo di stato. Un comunicato stampa del Palestinian Centre for Human Rights.

In the Latest Example of State Terrorism:
IOF Bomb a House in the Sheikh Radwan Quarter,
Killing a Palestinian, his Wife, and 7 Children; 34
Civilians were Injured

“My name is Jihad Mohammad El-Saloul. I’m 49 years
old, and work as a teachers. I’m a neighbor of Dr.
Nabil Abu Salmeya.

Tonight at approximately 2:45 in the morning, I
heard a small explosion. My wife, our children, and I
woke up. I thought it was a sound bomb. My children
were standing near the window. After about 10 minutes
I heard a second explosion. The glass fell over our
heads. I got out of the house to see what happened.
One of our neighbors is Ahmad Bahar “Abu Akram,” a
political leader in Hamas. I thought the explosion was
in his home. As I walked, I was surprised that the
explosion was in Dr. Nabil Abu Salmeya’s house. I went
towards the bombed house. Smoke and thick dust was
issuing from the house. I saw an injured, bearded man
among the rubble (El-Ja’bari). We put him in a blue
Fiat with 3 young men from among the neighbors. After
that, I went to help save others.

We found Abu Salmeya’s son Ahmad, who studies
engineering at university. He was injured in the face.
He was in pain, and was standing on the balcony of the
bombed house. He was calling us. We took him to an
ambulance.

After that I saw a girl, Abu Salmeya’s daughter,
who was about 17. She was handicapped. Her body was
thrown on the ground, between the trees in the garden.

Then we found the body of his son, Yehya, who is
in fourth grade. It was a headless body. We found the
head in the hallway of a neighbor’s house, from Abass
family. I knew Yehya and the girl well.

Then I found another son. He was dead and on the
ground.

Then we found the body of the mother. He leg was
torn off.

Then we found two arms of a man among the trees.

As to the house next to Abu Salmeya’s house, it
belongs to my neighbor Rajih Abbas. Most of the
household was injured by glass and brick shrapnel. We
took out an elderly woman (65) who is Rajih’s mother. She injured in the leg, which was broken. We took out a child from the same room, from
under the rubble and dust. The child was still breathing. I couldn’t believe that the child was still alive.

The Civil Defense Corps started to search the
rubble immediately after the bombardment. At
approximately 7:00 in the morning, they found Awad
Nabil Abu Salmeya (19), who studies engineering. He
was suffering from moderate injuries. He survived by a
miracle.

Dr. Abu Salmeya’s family consisted of 11 members:
himself, his wife, 5 girls, and 4 boys.

We only saw his sons Mohammad and Awad. Till now,
we don’t know anything about 3 of his girls, who are
still under the debris.

This is a residential area. Even if there were one
or two wanted (activists), how can a whole
neighborhood be targeted and bombed by planes, causing
all this death and destruction to us, them and
neighbors who are civilians. They do not want to kill
the wanted, but to destroy civilians, kill them, and
terrorize them.

The house is built on an area of 200 square
meters. It is two parts. The southern part is old, and
consists of a ground floor and a second floor. The
second part is an open area with two rooms and a salon
for the children.

The southern part was targeted. The deaths were
there.

This are is called “Shanti neighborhood, Amer
Project, Sheikh Radwan Quarter.

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have committed a
new war crime against Palestinian civilians,
flagrantly breaching the Fourth Geneva Convention. IOF
fighter jets dropped 2 bombs at a 2-story house in a
crowded neighborhood in the town of Jabalia. The house
belonged to a Hamas leader. The house owner was
killed, and so were his wife and 7 of their children.
The house was completely destroyed. In addition, 34
civilians were injured, including 5 children and 6
women. Extensive damage was inflicted on 15 houses
surrounding the targeted house.

After committing the crime, IOF declared that the
bombardment targeted Mohammad El-Deif, the commander
of the Hamas military wing, and others with him,
claiming that they were in the house. For their part,
Hamas confirmed that El-Deif is safe.

This crime is a reminder of the war crime
perpetrated on 23 July 2003 to assassinate Salah
Shehada, a Hamas leader. In that incident, IOF
targeted a residential building in the densely-

populated El-Daraj neighborhood. More than 20
people were killed, including women and children, and
dozens were injured.

The latest war crime comes within Israel’s policy
of extra-judicial assassinations against Palestinian
activists. This policy is criticized by the
international community as it leads to casualties
among innocent civilians.

With this crime, the number of Palestinians killed
since the start of Israeli military operations in the
Gaza Strip rises to 68, including 33 innocent
civilians. Two women and 14 children are among the
dead.

PCHR’s preliminary investigation indicates that at
approximately 2:45 on Wednesday, 12 July 2006, an IOF
fighter jet dropped 2 bombs at the house belonging to
Nabil Abdel Latif Abu Salmeya (46), a leader in Hamas
who works as a lecturer in the Islamic University. The
2 bombs hit the 2-story house built on 200 square
meters in the Shanti lands are in the town of Jabalia.
The house was destroyed on top of the occupants. The
owner was killed, and so were his wife Salwa Ismail
Abu Salmeya (42) and 7 of their children: Basma (16),
Somaya (17, handicapped), Aya (9), Yehya (10), Nasr
(7), Huda (13), and Eman (12). The son Awad (19) was
rescued, and is suffering from serious injuries.
Eyewitnesses indicate that the bodies of the dead were
torn and scattered. Work continues to clear the rubble
and search for bodies and survivors.

PCHR is greatly concerned over the IOF crimes
against Palestinian civilians that have become a
trend. The Centre stresses that an arbitrary attack
that endangers the lives of civilians and their
properties, especially if prior knowledge indicates
that civilians could be killed, injured, or have
property damaged, is a war crime in the first protocol
additional to the Fourth Geneva Convention.

In the Center’s view, the complacency of the
international community and the High Contracting
Parties of the 4th Geneva Convention and their failure
tot take effective steps to stop Israeli war crimes
has been a supporting and encouraging element for
Israel to continue perpetrating additional war crimes
against Palestinian civilians. The legal cover
provided to Israel by the US, which purposely hinders
International Humanitarian Law, and the conspiracy of
silence by Europe encourage Israeli to continue to
perpetrate war crimes unchecked, placing it above
international law.

The Centre reminds the High Contracting Parties
of:
– Their obligations under article 1 of the
convention to ensure respect of the convention under
all circumstances;
– Their obligations in article 146 of the
convention to pursue suspects of committing serious
violations of the convention, noting that these
violations are war crimes according to article 147, as
specified in the first protocol additional to the
convention

The Centre calls upon the Swiss Government to:
– to take a leading role in highlighting
and acting to stop the grave breaches of international
law that are currently taking place in the Gaza Strip,
as is its obligation as the depository of the Fourth
Geneva Convention.
– to make efforts to mobilise the High
Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to
intervene in this situation and meet their obligations
to protect the rights of the civilian population of
the Gaza Strip under International Humanitarian Law.
– to call on the Security Council to send
an international protection force for the Palestinian
civilian population of the Gaza Strip.

The Centre calls upon the UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights to:
– to issue a statement strongly condemning
Israel’s grave breaches of international law in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).
– to make a visit to the OPT in order to
see for yourself the long term damage that has already
been and is currently being inflicted on the civilian
population – a population who should be enjoying
protection under International Humanitarian Law.
– to call a meeting of the High
Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention in
order to ensure that these states fulfil their
obligation under international law to protect the
civilian population of the Occupied Palestinian
Territory.