In an attack by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) last night, an Israeli airstrike hit a house in the Al Zeitoun neighborhood, southeast Gaza City. The airstrike killed a pregnant woman and her little daughter as they slept in their house. Earlier on Saturday, the IOF opened fire at demonstrators and killed two in the south of the Gaza Strip, one of whom was a child. This raises the toll of fatalities in Gaza to eleven civilians since the start of the protests in the Gaza Strip on Friday, 9 October 2015. Nine of the victims were killed when the IOF opened fire at demonstrations near the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel; the IOF fired live bullets, plastic coated bullets, and tear gas at demonstrators and arrested and abused a number of young men and minors. Al Mezan Center for Human Rights condemns the IOF escalation and calls on the international community to promptly intervene and bring to an end such serious violations of international law, and to provide protection for civilians. In the wake of the developments in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) in the past two weeks, the international community is also called upon to condemn and act against the continuous violations of human rights, including the Palestinian peoples’ right to self-determination.

According to Al Mezan’s monitoring, at approximately 2:10 am on Sunday, 11 October 2015, Israeli warplanes attacked the house of Yehiya Sa’di Hassan, 26, which is located in the Al Zeitoun neighborhood, south Gaza City. As a result, the ground floor home, which is about 160 square meters in area, was completely destroyed. The wife of the house owner, Nour Rasmi Hassan, 26, who was five months pregnant, and her daughter, Rahaf Yehiya Hassan, 3, were killed in the attack. The owner of the house and his son, Mohammed, 4, as well as three neighbors sustained minor injuries.

Earlier, at approximately 2:30 pm on Saturday, 10 October 2015, the IOF fired live and plastic coated bullets and tear gas at groups of young men and boys who gathered near the border fence east of Jabalia in north Beit Hanoun, east of Al Bureij refugee camp and Al Faraheen area in Abassan, in east Khan Younis. The demonstrators threw stones towards IOF positions on the Israeli side. At approximately 3:45 pm, the IOF opened fire and killed two Palestinians, one of whom was a child, and injured three others. Al Mezan identifies the people killed and cause of death as follows:

• Marwan Hisham Barbakh, 10, from Khan Younis - bullet in the left shoulder, and
• Khalil Omar Othman, 18, from Khan Younis - bullet in the chest.

The IOF also beat seven people, including a boy, and arrested several others in the east of Al Bureij refugee camp. Al Mezan’s lawyer is representing two of the detained; both are children: Ramadan Al 'Azazi, 14, and Abdel Rahman Al ‘Aidi, 16.

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights strongly condemns the Israeli violations against civilians in the oPt. Al Mezan asserts that many of the IOF practices represent serious and systematic violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. These violations, which come as Israel's closure/blockade of Gaza continues, and land grab, separation, willful killing, and repression practices continue in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, testify to Israel's intention to maintain its unlawful occupation of the oPt. The IOF repression of the Palestinian people under its occupation is the main tool used to deny them their inalienable right to self-determination; the repression continues without any meaningful intervention by the international community.

Therefore, Al Mezan calls on the international community to uphold its legal obligations under international law to take actions towards providing the due protection for civilians on the one hand, and to enable the Palestinian people to achieve their right to self-determination on the other. Al Mezan asserts that the failure to act and the silence of the international community towards the Israeli violations has encouraged Israel to commit more violations of international law; it  must stop.

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