The IOF perpetrated a new massacre in Beit Hanoun, killing another seven Palestinians and injuring six more.
They have continued to impose a tight siege on the town for the 10th consecutive day, preventing movement of its population and access in an out of the town.
The movement of ambulances is also restricted.
Bulldozers have razed hundreds of dunams of agricultural land in the area.
Meanwhile, the IOF demolished 33 houses during their incursion into the refugee camp of Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip.
At approximately 1:00 am on Thursday July 8, 2004, an Israeli infantry unit moved into An Na’aima Street in eastern Beit Hanoun and surrounded the house of Nahed Abdul Rahman Abu Udeh, aged 44, who is alleged ‘wanted’ by the IOF.
Abu Udeh was shot dead by IOF.
At the same time, IOF helicopters randomly opened fire on the area.
Eyewitnesses reported to Al Mezan that on the same morning, IOF moved into As Sikka and Al Wad roads and took positions near a Palestinian police post and on the roofs of the Al Basyuni, Az Za’anin, and Misleh families.
At approximately, 5:30 am they killed three Palestinians who were trying to leave the town: Zahir Rajih Abu Harbid, aged 30; Naser ad-Din Muhammad Abu Harbid, aged 39; Na'im Musbah Al Kafarneh, aged 40.
In the same area, 3 additional persons were killed by the intensive firing, while 5 personas were injured: Yousif Ahmad Mousa Al Za'anin, aged 52, was shot dead by IOF as he was trying to help the wounded.
Jamila Al Mzayin-Hamad , age 45, was shot and her 13-year-old daughter Wafaa Hamad was hit severely wounded after being hit by a bullet in the chest.
Ahmad Abdul Aziz Abu Udeh, aged 28.
The area of agricultural land demolished by IOF bulldozers has increased to about 1,500 dunams of the town’s land, according to the Center’s fieldworks.
Furthermore, medical teams reported that they were not able to collect many wounded people, or to reach women who were giving birth at their homes.
In Khan Younis, 18 Israeli armored vehicles and 4 bulldozers stormed the refugee camp under the cover of helicopters.
They destroyed 30 houses completely and 3 partially, leaving 379 people homeless.
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights condemns the escalation of IOF aggression and emphasizes that the targeting Palestinian civilians and their property, the tightening siege, house demolitions and bulldozing of agricultural land constitute measures of collective punishment, and are considered as war crimes according to the international humanitarian law.
The Center also warns about the deterioration of living conditions of Palestinian civilians due to this escalation.
The Center calls upon the international community, particularly the High Contracting Parties to the 4th Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Times of War, of 1949, to immediately intervene and provide effective protection for the Palestinian population in the OPT, and to bring to justice the Israelis who perpetrated and ordered the perpetration of such crimes.
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