IOF Kill 5 Palestinians in Renewed Aggression
on Occupied TerritoryPalestine Media Center
29 April, 2003Five Palestinians were killed in the past twenty-four hours, including a 17-year-old boy who was shot dead by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) tank fire in the northern West Bank and a passerby who was killed in an Israeli air strike on a car on the Gaza Strip, which rendered an activist dead.
According to Palestinian security and medical sources, an Israeli Apache gunship fired two missiles at a civilian car in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis, killing the driver and a passerby.
The driver was identified as Nidal Salamah, 35, a leader of the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), medical sources said.
The other victim was identified as Awni Sarhan, 40, who was near the scene of the attack.
In another Israeli onslaught on Tuesday, IOF killed two Palestinian activists after bombarding and demolishing a house they were in, near Bethlehem, Palestinian security sources said.
The sources identified the slain men as Mahmoud Salah, 28, and Annan Jawarish, 26.
Israeli tanks surrounded Salah’s home in the village of al-Khader before shelling and completely destroying it, killing both of them.
Palestinian security sources described the attacks as a new extra Judicial killings committed by IOF against Palestinian activists.
Israel has assassinated dozens of Palestinian activists during the 31-month-old Intifada, many of whom were political leaders, using various methods such as assassination squads, bobby trapped bombs, and air-to-ground missiles.
Human rights groups describe the Israeli perpetrated assassinations as illegal and illegitimate acts, which contradict international law.
IOF Kill Teenager, Wound 2 Others in Jenin
Earlier on Monday, Israeli occupation troops raided the northern West Bank refugee camp of Jenin, killing a 17-year-old and detaining four Palestinian activists.
During the incursion, they shot dead Mos’ab Jaber, 17, and shot a 12-year-old boy named Samer Swaisse in the leg and another in the shoulder, Palestinian medical sources said.
They did also detained four members of Islamic Jihad movement.
IOF also blocked the entrance to the camp as seven members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) from the US, UK, Sweden, and South Africa tried to help children get home from a school, which was surrounded by Israeli armored vehicles and jeeps.
According the ISM, as the last children were coming across, the Israeli occupation soldiers began firing over the heads of the ISM activists.
Members of ISM phoned the DCO to let him know that there were many children still in the area of the shooting.
Five minutes later, an Israeli tank began firing at the Internationals.
The tank continued sporadic firing, hitting Samer, who was standing about two meters from one ISM activist at the time, they said.
Israeli Escalation Aims at Sabotaging Peace Efforts: Palestinians
The Israeli military escalation in the occupied territory comes as Palestinian prime minister-designate Abu Mazen is expected to present his cabinet before the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) for approval.
Cabinet Minister Sa’eb Erekat condemned the Israeli military strikes, adding that they attempt to sabotage efforts to introduce “roadmap” for peace.
The US-proposed “roadmap” for peace, backed by the “Quartet”, which includes the US the EU, UN, and Russia, calls for the creation of an independent Palestinian state by the year 2005.
The US-led peace plan is expected to be released as early as Wednesday if the new Palestinian cabinet gains the PLC’s vote of confidence on Tuesday.