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Israel: Stop Shooting at Gaza Civilians | Human Rights Watch
Palestinians carry the body of 16-year-old Adnan Abu Khater, who, according to Palestinian medics, was shot by Israeli troops near the border with Israel, during his funeral in the Gaza Strip on January 3, 2014.
(Jerusalem) – The Israeli military should immediately stop shooting at Palestinian civilians inside Gaza. Israeli military forces have killed 4 and wounded more than 60 civilians near the perimeter fence with Gaza since the beginning of 2014, according to UN figures. There have been no reports of armed Palestinian fighters shot in the same areas this year.
Human Rights Watch investigated seven incidents between January 2 and March 1, in which Israeli forces shot civilians in the vicinity of the fence. Four were killed, including a high school student on a picnic and a woman with an intellectual disability who was lost. Five others were wounded, including two journalists and two demonstrators planting olive trees, none of whom posed a threat to the soldiers or others. The Israeli military has not claimed that any of the victims in the seven cases were engaged in military operations or that armed groups were in the area when the shooting occurred.
“Month after month, Israeli forces have wounded and killed unarmed Palestinians who did nothing but cross an invisible, shifting line that Israel has drawn inside Gaza’s perimeter,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “It’s appalling that soldiers have shot men, women, and children apparently for simply crossing a line.”
Bilal Oweidah, 19, was taking photographs of deer with friends when he was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers near the perimeter fence in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military has issued directives prohibiting any Palestinian presence on land within Gaza abutting the territory’s perimeter fence, currently up to 300 meters from the fence, but Israeli forces have frequently shot at Palestinians beyond that distance. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that Israeli forces’ use of live ammunition has placed up to 35 percent of Gaza’s agricultural land off-limits to farmers. Palestinians living in the densely inhabited Gaza Strip use land near the fence with Israel for agriculture, collecting rubble, scrap metal, and other reusable materials, and recreation.
In areas near the Gaza perimeter, Israeli forceskilled 5 Palestinian civilians and wounded 60 others in 2013, according to the UN Office of the HighCommissioner for Human Rights. So far in 2014, Israeli forces have killed 4 civilians and wounded more than 60 in those areas, mostly protesters demonstrating against Israel’s restrictions on access to farmland near the perimeter fence.
Amina Qdeih, a 58-year-old woman with an intellectual disability, was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers on February 28, 2014, after getting lost walking home from a wedding party near the perimeter fence in the Gaza Strip.
In situations in which military forces are playing a policing or law-enforcement role, international human rights law applies; in such circumstances, lethal force may only be used when strictly necessary to prevent an imminent threat to life. Israeli soldiers do not face an imminent lethal threat from unarmed Palestinian civilians in areas of Gaza near the perimeter fence.
In violation of international humanitarian law (or the laws of war) which prohibits attacks on civilians, Israeli soldiers have repeatedly shot at civilians near the fence on the Palestinian side.
Under the laws of war, attacks may only be directed at military objectives, such as enemy combatants. Forces must do everything feasible to verify that targets are military objectives, and if there is doubt, must cancel the attack. While civilians who take a direct part in hostilities are subject to attack, merely entering a prohibited area does not meet that requirement. Military personnel who willfully kill civilians are committing a war crime.
Ibrahim Mansour, 35, was shot in the head and killed by Israeli soldiers on February 13, 2014, while he and others collected rubble for building materials near the perimeter fence in the Gaza Strip.
On February 28, Israeli soldiers shot Amina Qdeih, a 58-year-old woman with an intellectual disability, who got lost while walking home from a wedding party. Her relatives heard shooting near the perimeter fence late at night, but because of fears of attack by Israeli drones overhead, they did not find her body until 6 a.m. the next morning. A hospital report said she had a gunshot wound to her abdomen and died of blood loss.
On February 13, Israeli forces fatally shot 35-year-old Ibrahim Mansour in the head while he and others collected rubble for building material several hundred meters from the perimeter fence. A witness told Human Rights Watch that an Israeli military vehicle fired teargas at four apparently unarmed men, who then fled. When Mansour and others who had taken cover resumed working, Israeli forces fired at them with live ammunition, killing Mansour and wounding another worker as they tried to run away.
Israeli forces shot and killed Bilal Oweidah, 19, on January 24, near the perimeter fence when he was taking photographs of deer while on an outing with friends. On January 2, Israeli forces shot and killed Adnan Abu Khater, 16, while he was picnicking about 600 meters from the fence with a group of high school friends to celebrate finishing their exams. Witnesses in both cases told Human Rights Watch that all the men and students were unarmed.
In other cases, Israeli forces shot and wounded Palestinian civilians taking part in protests inside Gaza against Israeli restrictions on Palestinian access to farmland near the perimeter, and journalists covering the protests. On February 25, Israeli forces wounded Nasser Rahman, a 24-year-old journalist covering a demonstration, hitting him in the kneecap. On January 17, Israeli forces shot and wounded two Palestinian men attempting to plant olive trees, and a journalist, during a protest near the fence. The three men told Human Rights Watch that some young people at the demonstration threw stones toward Israeli forces but that they were not near the stone throwers at the time.
After a truce in November 2012, the Israeli military stated that it would allow Palestinians to approach up to 100 meters of the perimeter. But in April 2013, an Israeli military spokesperson responded to a freedom of information request from Gisha, an Israeli rights group, saying that the no-go area extended to 300 meters from the fence. In the past several years, Israeli forces have often fired at Palestinians at greater distances.
From 2005 through 2013, the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), a nongovernmental group, submitted about two dozen complaints to the Israeli military asking officials to conduct criminal investigations into alleged killings and injuries in areas near Gaza’s land perimeter. The Israeli navy also imposes a blockade and limits Gazan boats to traveling no more than six nautical miles from shore.
The military has not opened any criminal investigations into their complaints, PCHR reported. As of December 31, “responses received from the [military] stated that the cases were closed because the victim had violated the access restrictions, or because the use of lethal force by the Israeli military was within its rules of engagement,” the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reported.
Palestinian armed groups in Gaza have frequently launched rockets into Israel from areas near the perimeter fence – when directed at Israeli population centers, such attacks violate the laws of war prohibition against indiscriminate attacks. Israeli forces say they have discovered tunnels that armed Palestinian groups constructed from Gaza into Israel.
In February 2014, an Israeli military spokesperson told Ma’an News, a Palestinian news website, that Palestinian armed groups had detonated three explosive devices near Israeli soldiers patrolling the security fence since the beginning of the year; no one was injured. In December, members of a Palestinian armed group shot and killed an Israeli civilian contractor with the Israeli military while he was repairing the perimeter fence.
The Israeli security rationale of using lethal force to prevent Palestinian armed groups from engaging in military operations near the perimeter does not justify shooting civilians who are not taking active part in the hostilities, Human Rights Watch said. Many have been farmers on their land. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that in December 2013 Israeli forces opened fire 20 times from a watchtower on farmers from Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, as they tried to reach their agricultural lands. In the second half of 2013, Israeli forces shot and wounded six farmers while they were working at distances further than 300 meters from the perimeter fence, the UN office said.
The economy of the Gaza Strip has been severely harmed by Israel’s and Egypt’s border closures, with unemployment at almost 40 percent and more than 70 percent of the population receiving humanitarian assistance. Apart from the deaths and injuries, the practice of firing shots, including warning shots, at Gaza residents who approach the perimeter has deprived farmers of access to their agricultural lands, harming livelihoods.
Israeli military spokespeople and Palestinian witnesses both say that Israeli forces often fire warning shots in the air and then fire at the legs of people in Gaza near the perimeter fence before shooting to kill. While firing warning shots may reduce the likelihood of shooting a civilian, a failure to heed warning shots does not turn a civilian into a lawful military target. Civilians may not be targeted, even by shooting to wound. While law enforcement rules encourage warning shots and non-lethal use of force, it must be in proportion to the imminent risk faced.
“Shooting at civilians is not a lawful policy near Gaza’s perimeter fence or anywhere else,” Whitson said. “Israeli commanders need to change their policies and practices to abide by international law, not flaunt it.”
Palestinians carry the body of 16-year-old Adnan Abu Khater, who, according to Palestinian medics, was shot by Israeli troops near the border with Israel, during his funeral in the Gaza Strip on January 3, 2014.
(Jerusalem) – The Israeli military should immediately stop shooting at Palestinian civilians inside Gaza. Israeli military forces have killed 4 and wounded more than 60 civilians near the perimeter fence with Gaza since the beginning of 2014, according to UN figures. There have been no reports of armed Palestinian fighters shot in the same areas this year.
Human Rights Watch investigated seven incidents between January 2 and March 1, in which Israeli forces shot civilians in the vicinity of the fence. Four were killed, including a high school student on a picnic and a woman with an intellectual disability who was lost. Five others were wounded, including two journalists and two demonstrators planting olive trees, none of whom posed a threat to the soldiers or others. The Israeli military has not claimed that any of the victims in the seven cases were engaged in military operations or that armed groups were in the area when the shooting occurred.
“Month after month, Israeli forces have wounded and killed unarmed Palestinians who did nothing but cross an invisible, shifting line that Israel has drawn inside Gaza’s perimeter,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “It’s appalling that soldiers have shot men, women, and children apparently for simply crossing a line.”
Bilal Oweidah, 19, was taking photographs of deer with friends when he was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers near the perimeter fence in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military has issued directives prohibiting any Palestinian presence on land within Gaza abutting the territory’s perimeter fence, currently up to 300 meters from the fence, but Israeli forces have frequently shot at Palestinians beyond that distance. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that Israeli forces’ use of live ammunition has placed up to 35 percent of Gaza’s agricultural land off-limits to farmers. Palestinians living in the densely inhabited Gaza Strip use land near the fence with Israel for agriculture, collecting rubble, scrap metal, and other reusable materials, and recreation.
In areas near the Gaza perimeter, Israeli forceskilled 5 Palestinian civilians and wounded 60 others in 2013, according to the UN Office of the HighCommissioner for Human Rights. So far in 2014, Israeli forces have killed 4 civilians and wounded more than 60 in those areas, mostly protesters demonstrating against Israel’s restrictions on access to farmland near the perimeter fence.
Amina Qdeih, a 58-year-old woman with an intellectual disability, was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers on February 28, 2014, after getting lost walking home from a wedding party near the perimeter fence in the Gaza Strip.
In situations in which military forces are playing a policing or law-enforcement role, international human rights law applies; in such circumstances, lethal force may only be used when strictly necessary to prevent an imminent threat to life. Israeli soldiers do not face an imminent lethal threat from unarmed Palestinian civilians in areas of Gaza near the perimeter fence.
In violation of international humanitarian law (or the laws of war) which prohibits attacks on civilians, Israeli soldiers have repeatedly shot at civilians near the fence on the Palestinian side.
Under the laws of war, attacks may only be directed at military objectives, such as enemy combatants. Forces must do everything feasible to verify that targets are military objectives, and if there is doubt, must cancel the attack. While civilians who take a direct part in hostilities are subject to attack, merely entering a prohibited area does not meet that requirement. Military personnel who willfully kill civilians are committing a war crime.
Ibrahim Mansour, 35, was shot in the head and killed by Israeli soldiers on February 13, 2014, while he and others collected rubble for building materials near the perimeter fence in the Gaza Strip.
On February 28, Israeli soldiers shot Amina Qdeih, a 58-year-old woman with an intellectual disability, who got lost while walking home from a wedding party. Her relatives heard shooting near the perimeter fence late at night, but because of fears of attack by Israeli drones overhead, they did not find her body until 6 a.m. the next morning. A hospital report said she had a gunshot wound to her abdomen and died of blood loss.
On February 13, Israeli forces fatally shot 35-year-old Ibrahim Mansour in the head while he and others collected rubble for building material several hundred meters from the perimeter fence. A witness told Human Rights Watch that an Israeli military vehicle fired teargas at four apparently unarmed men, who then fled. When Mansour and others who had taken cover resumed working, Israeli forces fired at them with live ammunition, killing Mansour and wounding another worker as they tried to run away.
Israeli forces shot and killed Bilal Oweidah, 19, on January 24, near the perimeter fence when he was taking photographs of deer while on an outing with friends. On January 2, Israeli forces shot and killed Adnan Abu Khater, 16, while he was picnicking about 600 meters from the fence with a group of high school friends to celebrate finishing their exams. Witnesses in both cases told Human Rights Watch that all the men and students were unarmed.
In other cases, Israeli forces shot and wounded Palestinian civilians taking part in protests inside Gaza against Israeli restrictions on Palestinian access to farmland near the perimeter, and journalists covering the protests. On February 25, Israeli forces wounded Nasser Rahman, a 24-year-old journalist covering a demonstration, hitting him in the kneecap. On January 17, Israeli forces shot and wounded two Palestinian men attempting to plant olive trees, and a journalist, during a protest near the fence. The three men told Human Rights Watch that some young people at the demonstration threw stones toward Israeli forces but that they were not near the stone throwers at the time.
After a truce in November 2012, the Israeli military stated that it would allow Palestinians to approach up to 100 meters of the perimeter. But in April 2013, an Israeli military spokesperson responded to a freedom of information request from Gisha, an Israeli rights group, saying that the no-go area extended to 300 meters from the fence. In the past several years, Israeli forces have often fired at Palestinians at greater distances.
From 2005 through 2013, the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), a nongovernmental group, submitted about two dozen complaints to the Israeli military asking officials to conduct criminal investigations into alleged killings and injuries in areas near Gaza’s land perimeter. The Israeli navy also imposes a blockade and limits Gazan boats to traveling no more than six nautical miles from shore.
The military has not opened any criminal investigations into their complaints, PCHR reported. As of December 31, “responses received from the [military] stated that the cases were closed because the victim had violated the access restrictions, or because the use of lethal force by the Israeli military was within its rules of engagement,” the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reported.
Palestinian armed groups in Gaza have frequently launched rockets into Israel from areas near the perimeter fence – when directed at Israeli population centers, such attacks violate the laws of war prohibition against indiscriminate attacks. Israeli forces say they have discovered tunnels that armed Palestinian groups constructed from Gaza into Israel.
In February 2014, an Israeli military spokesperson told Ma’an News, a Palestinian news website, that Palestinian armed groups had detonated three explosive devices near Israeli soldiers patrolling the security fence since the beginning of the year; no one was injured. In December, members of a Palestinian armed group shot and killed an Israeli civilian contractor with the Israeli military while he was repairing the perimeter fence.
The Israeli security rationale of using lethal force to prevent Palestinian armed groups from engaging in military operations near the perimeter does not justify shooting civilians who are not taking active part in the hostilities, Human Rights Watch said. Many have been farmers on their land. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that in December 2013 Israeli forces opened fire 20 times from a watchtower on farmers from Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, as they tried to reach their agricultural lands. In the second half of 2013, Israeli forces shot and wounded six farmers while they were working at distances further than 300 meters from the perimeter fence, the UN office said.
The economy of the Gaza Strip has been severely harmed by Israel’s and Egypt’s border closures, with unemployment at almost 40 percent and more than 70 percent of the population receiving humanitarian assistance. Apart from the deaths and injuries, the practice of firing shots, including warning shots, at Gaza residents who approach the perimeter has deprived farmers of access to their agricultural lands, harming livelihoods.
Israeli military spokespeople and Palestinian witnesses both say that Israeli forces often fire warning shots in the air and then fire at the legs of people in Gaza near the perimeter fence before shooting to kill. While firing warning shots may reduce the likelihood of shooting a civilian, a failure to heed warning shots does not turn a civilian into a lawful military target. Civilians may not be targeted, even by shooting to wound. While law enforcement rules encourage warning shots and non-lethal use of force, it must be in proportion to the imminent risk faced.
“Shooting at civilians is not a lawful policy near Gaza’s perimeter fence or anywhere else,” Whitson said. “Israeli commanders need to change their policies and practices to abide by international law, not flaunt it.”
