Annual Report - Palestinian Center for Human Rights

Killing of Palestinian Children
Children are granted a range of special protections under international human rights
instruments and the Fourth Geneva Convention, particularly article 147. In 2005, 46
Palestinian children (26 in the Gaza Strip and 20 in the West Bank) were killed by
IOF. This figure constitutes 24.5% of the total number of Palestinian civilians killed
by IOF in 2005. Thus, the number of Palestinian children killed by IOF between 29
September 2000 and 31 December 2005 increased to 651, approximately 22% of the
total number of Palestinian civilians killed by IOF in the same period. These children
were killed as a result of the excessive use of force by IOF. According to PCHR's
documentation, many of these children were willfully killed by IOF when they did not
pose any threat to the lives of Israeli soldiers. For instance, in October 2005, an
Israeli soldier shot dead 'Udai Tantawi, 13, from 'Askar refugee camp near Nablus.
Investigations conducted by IOF proved that the child did not pose any threat to the
lives of Israeli soldiers and that the Israeli soldier used excessive force against him. 16
This crime is one in a series of similar ones committed by IOF against Palestinian
children in 2005. On 31 January 2005, IOF opened fire at an UNRWA elementary
school in Rafah. Two Palestinian schoolchildren were wounded while they were
about to enter their classrooms: 11-year-old Nouran Eyad Deeb was seriously
wounded by a live bullet to the head and 8-year-old 'Aaesha 'Essam al-Khatib, was
wounded by a live bullet to the right hand. The two children were evacuated to Abu
Yousef al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah, but the first child died a few minutes later. This
crime was not the first of its kind as on 12 October 2004, IOF killed Ghadeer Jaber
Mukhaimer, 11, from Khan Yunis, while she was in her classroom.
On 4 January 2005, IOF killed 7 Palestinian children, including 2 brothers, by a tank
shell in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahia. Six of the children are from the
Ghaben family. This attack is further evidence of the disregard for the lives of
Palestinian civilians and the excessive and indiscriminate use of force by IOF.
According to investigations conducted by PCHR, IOF positioned in military posts
between "Elli Sinai" and "Nissanit" settlements to the north of Beit Lahia fired a tank
shell at Palestinian agricultural areas located to the south of the fence separating the
two settlements from Beit Lahia. The shell directly hit a number of Palestinian
children who were farming their land. Seven children, including 2 brothers, were
killed:
1. Hani Mohammed Kamel Ghaben, 17;
2. Mohammed Hassan Mousa Ghaben, 17;
3. Rajeh Ghassan Kamel Ghaben, 10;
4. Jaber 'Abdullah Ghaben, 16;
5. Bassam Kamel Mohammed Ghaben, 17;
6. Mahmoud Kamel Mohammed Ghaben, 12; and
7. Jibril 'Abdul Fattah al-Kaseeh, 16.
In addition, 7 civilians, including 5 children, were injured. The children who were
wounded were:
1. Islam Hassan al-Da'bala, 17, wounded by shrapnel throughout the body;
16 See http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=631358.
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