The Israeli forces continued their escalation of aggression in the past two days in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The occupation forces performance was marked by an increase in the use of intentionally excessive and lethal force, especially after the Israeli government's declarations that they intended to escalate their attacks in the occupied territories.
They attacked various security sites in populated Palestinian areas Palestinians killing 17 persons and injuring many others.
Given proscribed Israeli methodology of attack, the propensity for further loss of innocent life is extremely high.
At the same time, these forces continue their siege around the Occupied Palestinian Territories, which was tightened recently, isolating towns and villages from each other and curtailing the freedom of movement.
At about 10:10am Tuesday 5/3/2002 Israeli helicopter gunships shelled the Palestinian National Security site and the Palestinian Police station in Khan Yunis with missiles.
Three Palestinian civilians were wounded as a result.
Two hours later, four Israeli tanks and a military bulldozer entered the Palestinian controlled area east of Jabalia refugee camp.
They fired on the area in an indiscriminate fashion, wounding one person.
It is worth mentioning that the residents have expressed an intense fear of an imminent all out invasion of the refugee camp.
In separate attacks, the Israeli forces bombarded the West Bank town of Bethlehem and invaded the town of Dura, near Hebron, Tuesday 5/3/2002 in the morning where they killed a Palestinian policeman.
Moreover, the Israeli occupation forces have killed sixteen Palestinians Monday 4/3/2002 in numerous attacks, including incursions in refugee camps and assassination operations inside the Palestinian territories.
Israeli tanks shelled Khalid Abu Kwik's car Monday 4/3/2002 killing his wife and three children and another two children who were in an adjacent civilian car in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
Although all acts of assassination constitute grave breaches to the international humanitarian law as extrajudicial murder, innocent civilians have disproportionately been the victims of these attacks.
The Israeli forces have perpetrated such crimes with impunity since the start of the Intifada due to the lack of international response.
Seven other Palestinians were killed; six of them during the Israeli incursion in Jenin refugee camp and Ayman Hassan Ghanim, a 19-year old student from Amatin village in Qalqilia who was returning from school on Monday 4/3/2002.
The Israeli military open fired on a clearly marked Red Crescent ambulance in Jenin killing Dr.
Khalil Mahmud Sulaiman, 60-years-old and the local director of the Red Crescent/Red Cross Society in Jenin, and injuring another rescue worker.
They were trying to rescue Palestinians who were injured by these forces when their ambulance was attacked in a flagrant breech of international laws and norms.
Again, a lack of international response to Israeli attacks upon and blockades of medical and emergency vehicles has allowed the Israeli military to commit such crimes without fear of condemnation from abroad.
Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights is highly concerned with the frequent Israeli crimes perpetrated against Palestinian civilians and the Israeli forces’ escalation of their aggression against Palestinian civilians and property.
The Center is also concerned with the perpetual Israeli siege imposed on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, which constitutes part of the collective punishment procedures utilized against an occupied territory.
Al-Mezan condemns the international community’s silence in the face of such grave breaches to the Fourth Geneva Convention and the 1977 Geneva Protocols.
Such inaction serves only to encourage illegal and immoral actions perpetrated by the Israeli army as official policy and procedure.
Innocent Palestinian civilians and their property continue to suffer dearly because of this.
The Center warns the international community the dangerous consequences of more Israeli war crimes and calls on the international community to provide Palestinian civilians and their property with immediate international protection.
END