At around midnight on Sunday, January 5, 2003, Israeli helicopters shelled a metal shop with guided missiles in Gaza City destroying it completely.
Eight civilians were injured in the attack while three homes and three stores were damaged in the area.
A missile struck the house of Mandu Al-Qishawi severely damaging it and injuring him.
Fortunately, his wife and children were not home at the time of the attack.
In Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, the IOF entered Tel As-Sultan area using heavy fire.
They mined the home of the Abu Armana family and destroyed it.
The nineteen family members were not allowed to empty their three-story house.
One person, Yusif Al-Akhras, was injured while thirteen homes were damaged from the explosion.
Additionally, the IOF arrested seven people from the Abu Armana family.
Israeli sources said that the IOF targeted Hasan Abu Armana, who was kept in detention with four of his nephews.
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights condemns these assaults, which constitute war crimes under humanitarian law.
The targeting of civilians and civilian property during the above incursions are breaches of Articles 33, 53 and 147 of the 4th Geneva Convention.
The IOF procedures also breach the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which Israel is a contracting party.
The Center calls the High Contracting Parties to the Convention to fulfill their obligations under Article 146 and protect the civilian population of the OPTs.
The absence of effective international intervention, and the double standard regarding human rights issues, threaten the credibility of the international community and the United Nations.
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