Document - Israel and the Occupied Territories and the Palestinian Authority: Killing the future: Children in the line of fire - Appeals cases

Universal children’s

day 2002

Israel and the

Occupied Territories and the Palestinian Authority

Killing the Future: Children in the Line of Fire

In the two years since the

beginning of the intifada, the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation

of the West Bank and Gaza Strip which broke out in September 2000, more than

250 Palestinian and 72 Israeli children have been killed.

Palestinian children have

been killed by Israeli soldiers using excessive and disproportionate lethal

force in response to protests, or as a result of shelling and bombardments of

residential areas. Others were killed during Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) assassinations

of Palestinian activists, or when their homes were demolished. Some died because

they were denied access to medical care by the IDF. At least three were killed

by armed Israeli settlers.

Israeli children have been

killed by Palestinian armed groups, many in suicide bombings. Some have been

shot dead by members of Palestinian armed groups or by individual Palestinians

inside Israel, and in settlements and on roads in the Occupied Territories.

No judicial investigation

is known to have been carried out into any of the killings of children by Israeli

soldiers, even in cases where Israeli government officials have stated publicly

that investigations would be carried out. The Palestinian Authority, for its

part, has failed to take the necessary measures to prevent attacks on Israeli

civilians by Palestinian armed groups and to bring to justice those responsible

for unlawful killings. All the parties involved in the conflict are disregarding

the right to life of the most vulnerable members of the Israeli and Palestinian

civilian population.

<ul>

<li><a href="#1">Suicide

attack carried out in the Sbarro Pizzeria, West Jerusalem</a></li>

<li> <a href="#2">Riham al-Ward

- killed when her school in Jenin was shelled</a> </li>

<li><a href="#3">Khalil Ibrahim

al-Mughrabi - killed by a high-velocity bullet in the head</a></li>

<li><a href="#4">Muhammad

Ibrahim Hajaj, Ahmed Suleiman Abu Tayah and Ibrahim Reziq Omar - shot dead

by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in the Gaza Strip</a></li>

<li><a href="#5">Nine children

killed when the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) dropped a one-ton bomb on a densely

populated neighbourhood of Gaza city</a></li>

<li><a href="#6">Suicide

attack on "Dolphinarium" night club in Tel Aviv</a></li>

<li><a href="#7">Danielle

Shefi - killed by armed attackers</a></li>

<li><a href="#8">Avia Malka

- killed by two Palestinians who shot and threw grenades at cars and pedestrians

in Netanya</a>

</li>

</ul>

<a href="#action">Take

action: </a><a href="#action">Respect

for human life must be urgently restored</a>

<hr />

<a name="1" id="1"></a>Suicide

attack carried out in the Sbarro Pizzeria, West Jerusalem

On 9 August 2001, a suicide

attack was carried out in the Sbarro Pizzeria, at a busy intersection

in the heart of West Jerusalem. A man walked into the pizzeria during a crowded

lunch hour and detonated a powerful bomb packed with nails, killing 14 civilians,

including seven children, and injuring more than 100. Both the groups Islamic

Jihad and Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack killed: 16-year-old Michal Raziel and her 15-year-old

long-term friend Malka Roth; the two girls had stopped for

lunch at the pizzeria on their way to Talpiot, to take part in activities of

the youth movement of which they were both members. Five members of the Schijveschuurder

family, from Neria, were killed in the attack and two others were injured: Tzira

and Mordechai Schijveschuurder were killed along with their daughters Ra'aya

and Hemda (ages 14 and two), and their four-year-old son Avraham Yitzhak;

two other daughters were injured. The family had come to spend the day in Jerusalem,

to relax from the tension of the frequent shootings near their home in Neria

settlement in the West Bank. Eight-year-old Tamara Shimashvili

from Jerusalem was killed with her mother, Lily. Yocheved Shoshan,

aged 10, had gone with her mother and her sisters, Rachel and Michal, to have

lunch at the pizzeria. They were seated on the second floor, but Yocheved and

Michal had gone back downstairs, where the explosion occurred, to order another

slice of pizza. Yocheved was killed instantly in the explosion and Michal was

seriously wounded.

Riham al-Ward - killed when her school in Jenin was shelled

Riham al-Ward,

a 10-year-old schoolgirl, was killed on 18 October 2001 when her school, the

al-Ibrahimiya school in Jenin (a city in the West Bank) was shelled during an

Israeli attack and incursion into the city. The tanks started shelling just

as children were arriving at the school; the director gathered the children

in the yard into a ground-floor classroom. One girl was hit in the doorway of

the room and Riham, who turned to help her, was hit in the heart and died before

reaching hospital. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) were initially reported

as claiming that there were armed Palestinians operating from the area and were

later reported as admitting that they had made a mistake in shelling the school.

<a name="3" id="3"></a>Khalil

Ibrahim al-Mughrabi - killed by a high-velocity bullet in the head

Khalil Ibrahim al-Mughrabi

was playing soccer and flying kites with his friends in a large open space near

the border fence at Rafah, on 7 July 2001, when he was killed by a high-velocity

bullet in the head. He was just 11 years old. His two friends, Ibrahim Kamel

Abu Sussain, age 10, and 13-year-old Suleiman Turki Abu Rijal, were also shot

and both sustained serious injuries.The shots came from an Israeli Defense Forces

(IDF) post about 800 metres away and according to witnesses there were no disturbances

or clashes in the area at that time. The IDF claimed that there had been rioting

and throwing of fragmentation grenades in the area, but confidential IDF records

showed that this was untrue.

<a name="4" id="4"></a>Muhammad

Ibrahim Hajaj, Ahmed Suleiman Abu Tayah and Ibrahim Reziq Omar - shot dead by

the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in the Gaza Strip

Muhammad Ibrahim Hajaj,

Ahmed Suleiman Abu Tayah and Ibrahim Reziq Omar,

all 14 years of age, were shot dead and several other children were wounded on

1 November 2000 by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in the Gaza Strip, in a place

which over the past two years has been a regular demonstration site for children

who gather to throw stones at IDF tanks and/or at the IDF tower. Muhammad Ibrahim

Hajaj was shot in the neck and Ahmed Suleiman Abu Tayah and Ibrahim Reziq Omar

were shot in the head and chest. All three died immediately. Several other children

were wounded, including two 10-year-olds who were shot in the abdomen and in the

right shoulder. According to eyewitnesses and to medical records, the children

were fired on with live ammunition from a distance of about 150 metres.

<a name="5" id="5"></a>Nine

children killed when the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) dropped a one-ton bomb

on a densely populated neighbourhood of Gaza city

Just before midnight on

22 July 2002, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) dropped a one-ton bomb on a densely

populated neighbourhood of Gaza city. Nine children, most of them under the

age of 10, were amongst the 17 killed. Dina Matar was just

two months old and Ayman Matar 18 months. Muhammad

Raed Matar was three, Diana Raed Matar five, Subhi

Mahmud al-Hweiti four, Muhammad Mahmud al-Hweiti six,

Ala Muhammad Matar 10, Iman Salah Shehada

15 years old. Maryam Matar, 17 years old, was seriously injured

in the attack and died on 15 August.

More than 70 other people

were wounded. Leading Hamas activist Salah Shehada, who was among those killed,

was accused by the Israeli authorities of organizing attacks against Israelis.

Given the location of the target, in a densely populated residential area, and

the method of attack chosen, the authorities must have known that civilians,

including children, would be killed. The following day Israel's Prime Minister,

Ariel Sharon, called the attack "one of the most successful operations".

<a name="6" id="6"></a>Suicide

attack on "Dolphinarium" night club in Tel Aviv

On 1 June 2001 a suicide

bomber blew himself up among a group of young people waiting to enter the "Dolphinarium"

night club in Tel Aviv, killing 21 people, 20 of them civilians, where 12 were

aged under 18. About 120 others were wounded.

The ‘Izz al-Din al-Qassam

Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, claimed responsibility

for the attack. By choosing to target such a place, the entrance to a discothèque

on a Friday night, the attacker meant to kill and harm as many civilians as

possible and must have anticipated that many children would be among the victims.

Most of the victims who

were killed in the attack had immigrated to Israel in recent years from the

former Soviet Union. They were: Raisa Namirovsky (15), from

Netanya and her neighbour and friend Maria Tagilchev (14 years),

outside whose school a car bomb had exploded two days earlier; Yevgenia

Keren Dorfman, (15 years), who sustained serious brain damage in the

explosion and died after 18 days; Katherine Kastanada Talker

(15 years) a student from Ramat Gan; 16-year-old Yulia Nelimov,

whose 18-year-old sister Yelena was also killed; Irina Nepomneschi,

a 16-year-old business administration student from Bat Yam; Anya Kazachkov

and her friend Mariana Medvedenko, both aged 16; Marina

Berkovski from Tel Aviv, who went to the nightclub to celebrate her

17th birthday; and 16-year-old Aleksei Lupalu, who had immigrated

from Ukraine just six months earlier.

<a name="7" id="7"></a>Danielle

Shefi - killed by armed attackers

On 27 April 2002, three

armed men attacked residents of Adora, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank.

In the bedroom of one house a gunman killed five-year old Danielle Shefi

as she hid under a bed, and wounded her mother Shiri, her brothers Uriel, aged

four and Eliad, aged two. Elsewhere in the settlement, they also killed three

adults. The Izz-al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (the military wing of Hamas) claimed

responsibility for what it described as an "heroic and daring operation".

<a name="8" id="8"></a>Avia

Malka - killed by two Palestinians who shot and threw grenades at cars and pedestrians

in Netanya

Avia Malka,

a nine-month-old baby, was killed by two Palestinians who shot and threw grenades

at cars and pedestrians in Netanya, Israel, on 9 March 2002. One other person

was killed and about 50 people were injured, several of them seriously. The

al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claimed responsibility for the attack.

Two teenagers, 16-year-old

Shoshana Ben-Yishai and 14-year-old Menashe Regev

were both killed on 4 November 2001 when a gunman belonging to Islamic Jihad

fired at a commuter bus at the French Hill junction in northern Jerusalem. Forty

five people were injured in the attack.

<a name="action" id="action"></a>Take

action

Respect for human

life must be urgently restored.

Please write appeals, calling

on the Israeli and Palestinian Authorities to...

<ul>

<li> act in the best interests

of all children, in particular to respect childrens right to life</li>

<li>ensure that thorough

and impartial investigations are promptly carried out into the killing of

every child, that the findings of these investigations are made public and

that those responsible for such unlawful attacks are brought to justice in

fair trials</li>

<li>instruct all those under

their command or influence not to attack children or other civilians under

any circumstances and make clear that such attacks will not be tolerated</li>

</ul>

Addresses

Yasser Arafat

President, Minister of the Interior, of Waqfs and

Religious Affairs, of Education and of Youth and Sport

Palestinian National Authority

Ramallah, West Bank

Palestinian Authority

Ariel Sharon

Prime Minister

Office of the Prime Minister

3 Kaplan Street

P O Box 187

Kiryat Ben-Gurion, Jerusalem 91919

Israel

Brigadier-General Zuheir Manasra

Head of West Bank Preventive Security

Ramallah, West Bank

Palestinian Authority

Benjamin Ben-Eliezer

Minister of Defence

Ministry of Defence

Kaplan Street

Hakirya, Tel Aviv 67659

Israel

For further information

see Amnesty International’s report: <a href="http://web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/Index/MDE020052002?OpenDocument&of=COUNTRIES\ISRAEL/OCCUPIED+TERRITORIES">Israel

and the Occupied Territories and the Palestinian Authority: Killing the future:

Children in the line of fire</a> (October 2002, AI Index: MDE 02/005/2002).

amnesty international - universal children’s day

Israel and the Occupied Territories and the Palestinian Authority

Killing the Future:

Children in the Line of Fire

On 9 August 2001, a suicide attack was carried out in theSbarro Pizzeria, at a busy intersection in the heart of West Jerusalem. A man walked into the pizzeria during a crowded lunch hour and detonated a powerful bomb packed with nails, killing 14 civilians, including seven children, and injuring more than 100. Both the groups Islamic Jihadand Hamasclaimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack killed: 16-year-old Michal Razieland her 15-year-old long-term friend Malka Roth; the two girls had stopped for lunch at the pizzeria on their way to Talpiot, to take part in activities of the youth movement of which they were both members. Five members of the Schijveschuurder family, from Neria, were killed in the attack and two others were injured: Tzira and Mordechai Schijveschuurder were killed along with their daughters Ra'aya and Hemda(ages 14 and two), and their four-year-old son Avraham Yitzhak; two other daughters were injured. The family had come to spend the day in Jerusalem, to relax from the tension of the frequent shootings near their home in Neria settlement in the West Bank. Eight-year-old Tamara Shimashvilifrom Jerusalem was killed with her mother, Lily. Yocheved Shoshan, aged 10, had gone with her mother and her sisters, Rachel and Michal, to have lunch at the pizzeria. They were seated on the second floor, but Yocheved and Michal had gone back downstairs, where the explosion occurred, to order another slice of pizza. Yocheved was killed instantly in the explosion and Michal was seriously wounded.

In the two years since the beginning of the intifada, the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip which broke out in September 2000, more than 250 Palestinian and 72 Israeli children have been killed.

Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli soldiers using excessive and disproportionate lethal force in response to protests, or as a result of shelling and bombardments of residential areas. Others were killed during Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) assassinations of Palestinian activists, or when their homes were demolished. Some died because they were denied access to medical care by the IDF. At least three were killed by armed Israeli settlers.

Israeli children have been killed by Palestinian armed groups, many in suicide bombings. Some have been shot dead by members of Palestinian armed groups or by individual Palestinians inside Israel, and in settlements and on roads in the Occupied Territories.

No judicial investigation is known to have been carried out into any of the killings of children by Israeli soldiers, even in cases where Israeli government officials have stated publicly that investigations would be carried out. The Palestinian Authority, for its part, has failed to take the necessary measures to prevent attacks on Israeli civilians by Palestinian armed groups and to bring to justice those responsible for unlawful killings. All the parties involved in the conflict are disregarding the right to life of the most vulnerable members of the Israeli and Palestinian civilian population.

Respect for human life must be urgently restored.

Please write appeals, calling on the Israeli and Palestinian Authorities to...

act in the best interests of all children, in particular to respect childrens right to life
ensure that thorough and impartial investigations are promptly carried out into the killing of every child, that the findings of these investigations are made public and that those responsible for such unlawful attacks are brought to justice in fair trials
instruct all those under their command or influence not to attack children or other civilians under any circumstances and make clear that such attacks will not be tolerated

Addresses

Yasser Arafat

President, Minister of the Interior, of Waqfs and

Religious Affairs, of Education and of Youth and Sport

Palestinian National Authority

Ramallah, West Bank

Palestinian AuthorityAriel Sharon

Prime Minister

Office of the Prime Minister

3 Kaplan Street

P O Box 187

Kiryat Ben-Gurion, Jerusalem 91919

Israel

Brigadier-General Zuheir Manasra

Head of West Bank Preventive Security

Ramallah, West Bank

Palestinian Authority

Benjamin Ben-Eliezer

Minister of Defence

Ministry of Defence

Kaplan Street

Hakirya, Tel Aviv 67659

Israel

For further information see Amnesty International’s report: Israel and the Occupied Territories and the Palestinian Authority: Killing the future: Children in the line of fire(October 2002, AI Index: MDE 02/005/2002).

amnesty international - universal children’s day

Israel and the Occupied Territories and the Palestinian Authority

Killing the Future:

Children in the Line of Fire

Riham al-Ward, a 10-year-old schoolgirl, was killed on 18 October 2001 when her school, the al-Ibrahimiya school in Jenin (a city in the West Bank) was shelled during an Israeli attack and incursion into the city. The tanks started shelling just as children were arriving at the school; the director gathered the children in the yard into a ground-floor classroom. One girl was hit in the doorway of the room and Riham, who turned to help her, was hit in the heart and died before reaching hospital. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) were initially reported as claiming that there were armed Palestinians operating from the area and were later reported as admitting that they had made a mistake in shelling the school.

In the two years since the beginning of the intifada, the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip which broke out in September 2000, more than 250 Palestinian and 72 Israeli children have been killed.

Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli soldiers using excessive and disproportionate lethal force in response to protests, or as a result of shelling and bombardments of residential areas. Others were killed during IDF assassinations of Palestinian activists, or when their homes were demolished. Some died because they were denied access to medical care by the IDF. At least three were killed by armed Israeli settlers.

Israeli children have been killed by Palestinian armed groups, many in suicide bombings. Some have been shot dead by members of Palestinian armed groups or by individual Palestinians inside Israel, and in settlements and on roads in the Occupied Territories.

No judicial investigation is known to have been carried out into any of the killings of children by Israeli soldiers, even in cases where Israeli government officials have stated publicly that investigations would be carried out. The Palestinian Authority, for its part, has failed to take the necessary measures to prevent attacks on Israeli civilians by Palestinian armed groups and to bring to justice those responsible for unlawful killings. All the parties involved in the conflict are disregarding the right to life of the most vulnerable members of the Israeli and Palestinian civilian population.

Respect for human life must be urgently restored.

Please write appeals, calling on the Israeli and Palestinian Authorities to...

act in the best interests of all children, in particular to respect childrens right to life
ensure that thorough and impartial investigations are promptly carried out into the killing of every child, that the findings of these investigations are made public and that those responsible for such unlawful attacks are brought to justice in fair trials
instruct all those under their command or influence not to attack children or other civilians under any circumstances and make clear that such attacks will not be tolerated

Addresses

Yasser Arafat

President, Minister of the Interior, of Waqfs and Religious Affairs, of Education and of Youth and Sport

Palestinian National Authority

Ramallah, West Bank

Palestinian Authority

Ariel Sharon

Prime Minister

Office of the Prime Minister

3 Kaplan Street

P O Box 187

Kiryat Ben-Gurion, Jerusalem 91919

Israel

Brigadier-General Zuheir Manasra

Head of West Bank Preventive Security

Ramallah, West Bank

Palestinian Authority

Benjamin Ben-Eliezer

Minister of Defence

Ministry of Defence

Kaplan Street

Hakirya, Tel Aviv 67659

Israel

For further information see Amnesty International’s report: Israel and the Occupied Territories and the Palestinian Authority: Killing the future: Children in the line of fire(October 2002, AI Index: MDE 02/005/2002).

amnesty international - universal children’s day

Israel and the Occupied Territories and the Palestinian Authority

Killing the Future:

Children in the Line of Fire

Khalil Ibrahim al-Mughrabiwas playing soccer and flying kites with his friends in a large open space near the border fence at Rafah, on 7 July 2001, when he was killed by a high-velocity bullet in the head. He was just 11 years old. His two friends, Ibrahim Kamel Abu Sussain, age 10, and 13-year-old Suleiman Turki Abu Rijal, were also shot and both sustained serious injuries.The shots came from an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) post about 800 metres away and according to witnesses there were no disturbances or clashes in the area at that time. The IDF claimed that there had been rioting and throwing of fragmentation grenades in the area, but confidential IDF records showed that this was untrue.

In the two years since the beginning of the intifada, the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip which broke out in September 2000, more than 250 Palestinian and 72 Israeli children have been killed.

Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli soldiers using excessive and disproportionate lethal force in response to protests, or as a result of shelling and bombardments of residential areas. Others were killed during IDF assassinations of Palestinian activists, or when their homes were demolished. Some died because they were denied access to medical care by the IDF. At least three were killed by armed Israeli settlers.

Israeli children have been killed by Palestinian armed groups, many in suicide bombings. Some have been shot dead by members of Palestinian armed groups or by individual Palestinians inside Israel, and in settlements and on roads in the Occupied Territories.

No judicial investigation is known to have been carried out into any of the killings of children by Israeli soldiers, even in cases where Israeli government officials have stated publicly that investigations would be carried out. The Palestinian Authority, for its part, has failed to take the necessary measures to prevent attacks on Israeli civilians by Palestinian armed groups and to bring to justice those responsible for unlawful killings. All the parties involved in the conflict are disregarding the right to life of the most vulnerable members of the Israeli and Palestinian civilian population.

Respect for human life must be urgently restored.

Please write appeals, calling on the Israeli and Palestinian Authorities to...

act in the best interests of all children, in particular to respect childrens right to life
ensure that thorough and impartial investigations are promptly carried out into the killing of every child, that the findings of these investigations are made public and that those responsible for such unlawful attacks are brought to justice in fair trials
instruct all those under their command or influence not to attack children or other civilians under any circumstances and make clear that such attacks will not be tolerated

Addresses

Yasser Arafat

President, Minister of the Interior, of Waqfs and Religious Affairs, of Education and of Youth and Sport

Palestinian National Authority

Ramallah, West Bank

Palestinian Authority

Ariel Sharon

Prime Minister

Office of the Prime Minister

3 Kaplan Street

P O Box 187

Kiryat Ben-Gurion, Jerusalem 91919

Israel

Brigadier-General Zuheir Manasra

Head of West Bank Preventive Security

Ramallah, West Bank

Palestinian Authority

Benjamin Ben-Eliezer

Minister of Defence

Ministry of Defence

Kaplan Street

Hakirya, Tel Aviv 67659

Israel

For further information see Amnesty International’s report: Israel and the Occupied Territories and the Palestinian Authority: Killing the future: Children in the line of fire(October 2002, AI Index: MDE 02/005/2002).

amnesty international – universal children’s day

Israel and the Occupied Territories and the Palestinian Authority

Killing the Future:

Children in the Line of Fire

Muhammad Ibrahim Hajaj, Ahmed Suleiman Abu Tayahand Ibrahim Reziq Omar,all 14 years of age, were shot dead and several other children were wounded on 1 November 2000 by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in the Gaza Strip, in a place which over the past two years has been a regular demonstration site for children who gather to throw stones at IDF tanks and/or at the IDF tower. Muhammad Ibrahim Hajaj was shot in the neck and Ahmed Suleiman Abu Tayah and Ibrahim Reziq Omar were shot in the head and chest. All three died immediately. Several other children were wounded, including two 10-year-olds who were shot in the abdomen and in the right shoulder. According to eyewitnesses and to medical records, the children were fired on with live ammunition from a distance of about 150 metres.

In the two years since the beginning of the intifada, the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip which broke out in September 2000, more than 250 Palestinian and 72 Israeli children have been killed.

Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli soldiers using excessive and disproportionate lethal force in response to protests, or as a result of shelling and bombardments of residential areas. Others were killed during IDF assassinations of Palestinian activists, or when their homes were demolished. Some died because they were denied access to medical care by the IDF. At least three were killed by armed Israeli settlers.

Israeli children have been killed by Palestinian armed groups, many in suicide bombings. Some have been shot dead by members of Palestinian armed groups or by individual Palestinians inside Israel, and in settlements and on roads in the Occupied Territories.

No judicial investigation is known to have been carried out into any of the killings of children by Israeli soldiers, even in cases where Israeli government officials have stated publicly that investigations would be carried out. The Palestinian Authority, for its part, has failed to take the necessary measures to prevent attacks on Israeli civilians by Palestinian armed groups and to bring to justice those responsible for unlawful killings. All the parties involved in the conflict are disregarding the right to life of the most vulnerable members of the Israeli and Palestinian civilian population.

Respect for human life must be urgently restored.

Please write appeals, calling on the Israeli and Palestinian Authorities to...

act in the best interests of all children, in particular to respect childrens right to life
ensure that thorough and impartial investigations are promptly carried out into the killing of every child, that the findings of these investigations are made public and that those responsible for such unlawful attacks are brought to justice in fair trials
instruct all those under their command or influence not to attack children or other civilians under any circumstances and make clear that such attacks will not be tolerated

Addresses

Yasser Arafat

President, Minister of the Interior, of Waqfs and Religious Affairs, of Education and of Youth and Sport

Palestinian National Authority

Ramallah, West Bank

Palestinian Authority

Ariel Sharon

Prime Minister

Office of the Prime Minister

3 Kaplan Street

P O Box 187

Kiryat Ben-Gurion, Jerusalem 91919

Israel

Brigadier-General Zuheir Manasra

Head of West Bank Preventive Security

Ramallah, West Bank

Palestinian Authority

Benjamin Ben-Eliezer

Minister of Defence

Ministry of Defence

Kaplan Street

Hakirya, Tel Aviv 67659

Israel

For further information see Amnesty International’s report: Israel and the Occupied Territories and the Palestinian Authority: Killing the future: Children in the line of fire(October 2002, AI Index: MDE 02/005/2002).

amnesty international – universal children’s day

Israel and the Occupied Territories and the Palestinian Authority

Killing the Future:

Children in the Line of Fire

Just before midnight on 22 July 2002, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) dropped a one-ton bomb on a densely populated neighbourhood of Gaza city. Nine children, most of them under the age of 10, were amongst the 17 killed. Dina Matar was just two months old and Ayman Matar 18 months. Muhammad Raed Matar was three, Diana Raed Matar five, Subhi Mahmud al-Hweiti four, Muhammad Mahmud al-Hweiti six,

Ala Muhammad Matar 10, Iman Salah Shehada 15 years old. Maryam Matar, 17 years old, was seriously injured in the attack and died on 15 August.

More than 70 other people were wounded. Leading Hamas activist Salah Shehada, who was among those killed, was accused by the Israeli authorities of organizing attacks against Israelis. Given the location of the target, in a densely populated residential area, and the method of attack chosen, the authorities must have known that civilians, including children, would be killed. The following day Israel's Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, called the attack "one of the most successful operations".

In the two years since the beginning of the intifada, the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip which broke out in September 2000, more than 250 Palestinian and 72 Israeli children have been killed.

Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli soldiers using excessive and disproportionate lethal force in response to protests, or as a result of shelling and bombardments of residential areas. Others were killed during IDF assassinations of Palestinian activists, or when their homes were demolished. Some died because they were denied access to medical care by the IDF. At least three were killed by armed Israeli settlers.

Israeli children have been killed by Palestinian armed groups, many in suicide bombings. Some have been shot dead by members of Palestinian armed groups or by individual Palestinians inside Israel, and in settlements and on roads in the Occupied Territories.

No judicial investigation is known to have been carried out into any of the killings of children by Israeli soldiers, even in cases where Israeli government officials have stated publicly that investigations would be carried out. The Palestinian Authority, for its part, has failed to take the necessary measures to prevent attacks on Israeli civilians by Palestinian armed groups and to bring to justice those responsible for unlawful killings. All the parties involved in the conflict are disregarding the right to life of the most vulnerable members of the Israeli and Palestinian civilian population.

Respect for human life must be urgently restored.

Please write appeals, calling on the Israeli and Palestinian Authorities to...

act in the best interests of all children, in particular to respect childrens right to life
ensure that thorough and impartial investigations are promptly carried out into the killing of every child, that the findings of these investigations are made public and that those responsible for such unlawful attacks are brought to justice in fair trials
instruct all those under their command or influence not to attack children or other civilians under any circumstances and make clear that such attacks will not be tolerated

Addresses

Yasser Arafat President, Minister of the Interior, of Waqfs and Religious Affairs, of Education and of Youth and Sport Palestinian National Authority Ramallah, West Bank Palestinian Authority	Ariel Sharon Prime Minister Office of the Prime Minister 3 Kaplan Street P O Box 187 Kiryat Ben-Gurion, Jerusalem 91919 Israel

Brigadier-General Zuheir Manasra Head of West Bank Preventive Security Ramallah, West Bank Palestinian Authority	Benjamin Ben-Eliezer Minister of Defence Ministry of Defence Kaplan Street Hakirya, Tel Aviv 67659 Israel

For further information see Amnesty International’s report: Israel and the Occupied Territories and the Palestinian Authority: Killing the future: Children in the line of fire(October 2002, AI Index: MDE 02/005/2002).

amnesty international - universal children’s day

Israel and the Occupied Territories and the Palestinian Authority

Killing the Future:

Children in the Line of Fire

On 1 June 2001 a suicide bomber blew himself up among a group of young people waiting to enter the "Dolphinarium" night club in Tel Aviv, killing 21 people, 20 of them civilians, where 12 were aged under 18. About 120 others were wounded.

The ‘Izz al-Din al-QassamBrigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, claimed responsibility for the attack. By choosing to target such a place, the entrance to a discothèque on a Friday night, the attacker meant to kill and harm as many civilians as possible and must have anticipated that many children would be among the victims.

Most of the victims who were killed in the attack had immigrated to Israel in recent years from the former Soviet Union. They were: Raisa Namirovsky(15), from Netanya and her neighbour and friend Maria Tagilchev(14 years), outside whose school a car bomb had exploded two days earlier; Yevgenia KerenDorfman, (15 years), who sustained serious brain damage in the explosion and died after 18 days; Katherine Kastanada Talker (15 years) a student from Ramat Gan; 16-year-oldYulia Nelimov, whose 18-year-old sister Yelena was also killed; Irina Nepomneschi, a 16-year-old business administration student from Bat Yam; Anya Kazachkovand her friend Mariana Medvedenko, both aged 16; Marina Berkovskifrom Tel Aviv, who went to the nightclub to celebrate her 17th birthday; and 16-year-old Aleksei Lupalu, who had immigrated from Ukraine just six months earlier.

In the two years since the beginning of the intifada, the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip which broke out in September 2000, more than 250 Palestinian and 72 Israeli children have been killed.

Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli soldiers using excessive and disproportionate lethal force in response to protests, or as a result of shelling and bombardments of residential areas. Others were killed during Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) assassinations of Palestinian activists, or when their homes were demolished. Some died because they were denied access to medical care by the IDF. At least three were killed by armed Israeli settlers.

Israeli children have been killed by Palestinian armed groups, many in suicide bombings. Some have been shot dead by members of Palestinian armed groups or by individual Palestinians inside Israel, and in settlements and on roads in the Occupied Territories.

No judicial investigation is known to have been carried out into any of the killings of children by Israeli soldiers, even in cases where Israeli government officials have stated publicly that investigations would be carried out. The Palestinian Authority, for its part, has failed to take the necessary measures to prevent attacks on Israeli civilians by Palestinian armed groups and to bring to justice those responsible for unlawful killings. All the parties involved in the conflict are disregarding the right to life of the most vulnerable members of the Israeli and Palestinian civilian population.

Respect for human life must be urgently restored.

Please write appeals, calling on the Israeli and Palestinian Authorities to...

act in the best interests of all children, in particular to respect childrens right to life
ensure that thorough and impartial investigations are promptly carried out into the killing of every child, that the findings of these investigations are made public and that those responsible for such unlawful attacks are brought to justice in fair trials
instruct all those under their command or influence not to attack children or other civilians under any circumstances and make clear that such attacks will not be tolerated

Addresses

Yasser Arafat President, Minister of the Interior, of Waqfs and Religious Affairs, of Education and of Youth and Sport Palestinian National Authority Ramallah, West Bank Palestinian Authority	Ariel Sharon Prime Minister Office of the Prime Minister 3 Kaplan Street P O Box 187 Kiryat Ben-Gurion, Jerusalem 91919 Israel

Brigadier-General Zuheir Manasra Head of West Bank Preventive Security Ramallah, West Bank Palestinian Authority	ard Benjamin Ben-Eliezer Minister of Defence Ministry of Defence Kaplan Street Hakirya, Tel Aviv 67659 Israel

For further information see Amnesty International’s report: Israel and the Occupied Territories and the Palestinian Authority: Killing the future: Children in the line of fire(October 2002, AI Index: MDE 02/005/2002).

amnesty international - universal children’s day

Israel and the Occupied Territories and the Palestinian Authority

Killing the Future:

Children in the Line of Fire

On 27 April 2002, three armed men attacked residents of Adora, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank. In the bedroom of one house a gunman killed five-year old Danielle Shefias she hid under a bed, and wounded her mother Shiri, her brothers Uriel, aged four and Eliad, aged two. Elsewhere in the settlement, they also killed three adults. The Izz-al-Din al-QassamBrigades (the military wing of Hamas) claimed responsibility for what it described as an "heroic and daring operation".

In the two years since the beginning of the intifada, the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip which broke out in September 2000, more than 250 Palestinian and 72 Israeli children have been killed.

Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli soldiers using excessive and disproportionate lethal force in response to protests, or as a result of shelling and bombardments of residential areas. Others were killed during Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) assassinations of Palestinian activists, or when their homes were demolished. Some died because they were denied access to medical care by the IDF. At least three were killed by armed Israeli settlers.

Israeli children have been killed by Palestinian armed groups, many in suicide bombings. Some have been shot dead by members of Palestinian armed groups or by individual Palestinians inside Israel, and in settlements and on roads in the Occupied Territories.

No judicial investigation is known to have been carried out into any of the killings of children by Israeli soldiers, even in cases where Israeli government officials have stated publicly that investigations would be carried out. The Palestinian Authority, for its part, has failed to take the necessary measures to prevent attacks on Israeli civilians by Palestinian armed groups and to bring to justice those responsible for unlawful killings. All the parties involved in the conflict are disregarding the right to life of the most vulnerable members of the Israeli and Palestinian civilian population.

Respect for human life must be urgently restored.

Please write appeals, calling on the Israeli and Palestinian Authorities to...

act in the best interests of all children, in particular to respect childrens right to life
ensure that thorough and impartial investigations are promptly carried out into the killing of every child, that the findings of these investigations are made public and that those responsible for such unlawful attacks are brought to justice in fair trials
instruct all those under their command or influence not to attack children or other civilians under any circumstances and make clear that such attacks will not be tolerated

Addresses

Yasser Arafat

President, Minister of the Interior, of Waqfs and Religious Affairs, of Education and of Youth and Sport

Palestinian National Authority

Ramallah, West Bank

Palestinian Authority

Ariel Sharon

Prime Minister

Office of the Prime Minister

3 Kaplan Street

P O Box 187

Kiryat Ben-Gurion, Jerusalem 91919

Israel

Brigadier-General Zuheir Manasra

Head of West Bank Preventive Security

Ramallah, West Bank

Palestinian Authority

Benjamin Ben-Eliezer

Minister of Defence

Ministry of Defence

Kaplan Street

Hakirya, Tel Aviv 67659

Israel

For further information see Amnesty International’s report: Israel and the Occupied Territories and the Palestinian Authority: Killing the future: Children in the line of fire(October 2002, AI Index: MDE 02/005/2002).

amnesty international - universal children’s day

Israel and the Occupied Territories and the Palestinian Authority

Killing the Future:

Children in the Line of Fire

Avia Malka, anine-month-old baby, was killed by two Palestinians who shot and threw grenades at cars and pedestrians in Netanya, Israel, on 9 March 2002. One other person was killed and about 50 people were injured, several of them seriously. The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claimed responsibility for the attack.

Two teenagers, 16-year-old Shoshana Ben-Yishai and 14-year-old Menashe Regev were both killed on 4 November 2001 when a gunman belonging to Islamic Jihadfired at a commuter bus at the French Hill junction in northern Jerusalem. Forty five people were injured in the attack.

In the two years since the beginning of the intifada, the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip which broke out in September 2000, more than 250 Palestinian and 72 Israeli children have been killed.

Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli soldiers using excessive and disproportionate lethal force in response to protests, or as a result of shelling and bombardments of residential areas. Others were killed during Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) assassinations of Palestinian activists, or when their homes were demolished. Some died because they were denied access to medical care by the IDF. At least three were killed by armed Israeli settlers.

Israeli children have been killed by Palestinian armed groups, many in suicide bombings. Some have been shot dead by members of Palestinian armed groups or by individual Palestinians inside Israel, and in settlements and on roads in the Occupied Territories.

No judicial investigation is known to have been carried out into any of the killings of children by Israeli soldiers, even in cases where Israeli government officials have stated publicly that investigations would be carried out. The Palestinian Authority, for its part, has failed to take the necessary measures to prevent attacks on Israeli civilians by Palestinian armed groups and to bring to justice those responsible for unlawful killings. All the parties involved in the conflict are disregarding the right to life of the most vulnerable members of the Israeli and Palestinian civilian population.

Respect for human life must be urgently restored.

Please write appeals, calling on the Israeli and Palestinian Authorities to...

act in the best interests of all children, in particular to respect childrens right to life
ensure that thorough and impartial investigations are promptly carried out into the killing of every child, that the findings of these investigations are made public and that those responsible for such unlawful attacks are brought to justice in fair trials
instruct all those under their command or influence not to attack children or other civilians under any circumstances and make clear that such attacks will not be tolerated

Addresses

Yasser Arafat

President, Minister of the Interior, of Waqfs and

Religious Affairs, of Education and of Youth and Sport

Palestinian National Authority Ramallah, West Bank

Palestinian Authority

Ariel Sharon

Prime Minister

Office of the Prime Minister

3 Kaplan Street

P O Box 187

Kiryat Ben-Gurion, Jerusalem 91919

Israel

Brigadier-General Zuheir Manasra

Head of West Bank Preventive Security

Ramallah, West Bank

Palestinian Authority

Benjamin Ben-Eliezer

Minister of Defence

Ministry of Defence

Kaplan Street

Hakirya, Tel Aviv 67659

Israel

For further information see Amnesty International’s report: Israel and the Occupied Territories and the Palestinian Authority: Killing the future: Children in the line of fire(October 2002, AI Index: MDE 02/005/2002).

Document - Israel and the Occupied Territories and the Palestinian Authority: Killing the future: Children in the line of fire - Appeals cases

View the overview page for this document

Amnesty International Report 2009