Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) continue their aggression against Palestinian civilians in the OPT.
Today, Saturday, 8 March, 2003, Israeli Apache helicopter gun-ships fired missiles directly into a car in Gaza City killing, Dr.
Ahmad al-Maqadmeh and three others.
According to the findings of Al-Mezan Center, at around 8:15 this morning four Israeli Apache helicopters fired four missiles directly into a civilian car on Palestine Street in Gaza City.
The car was completely destroyed and four people were murdered.
Ibrahim Ahmad al-Maqadmeh, a 52 year- old dentist, Abdul Rahman Zuheer al-Amudi, a 29 year old man from ash-Shati Refugee Camp, Khalid Jum’a, a 30 year-old man from Jabalia, and Ala’ Udeh al-Shukri, a 30 year-old man from Gaza City.
In addition, three people were wounded in the attack, one of whom is in critical condition in the hospital.
Another car and numerous homes in the area were also damaged.
Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights condemns this crime of extra-judicial execution and deliberate killing, which constitutes a severe breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention, as a war crime.
This act necessitates effective pursuit of, and bringing to justice, those who ordered and perpetrated it.
Substantial results of the fieldwork by Al-Mezan proves that the IOF systematically practices killings and destruction of property while displaying a flagrant disregard for civilian life.
The Center highlights the fact that Israel's escalation of its crimes is in part permitted by the international community's tendency to address the Israeli occupation and Palestinian rights from a political perspective, applying double standards to Israel’s acts and granting it the status of a state above law.
As such Al-Mezan calls upon the international community to end its silent complicity and fulfill its legal and moral obligations toward the civilian population of the OPT.
Those who ordered and perpetrated these crimes must be brought to justice under international law.
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