Palestinian rockets killed civilians in Israel and Gaza in May

(Jerusalem) - Shooting rockets and mortar shells carried out by Palestinian armed groups during the clashes of May 2021 in the Gaza Strip, which killed and injured civilians in Israel and Gaza, violated the laws ofThe war and constitute war crimes, said Human Rights Watch today.The Palestinian and Israeli authorities have long displayed an assessment marked by the absence of investigations on alleged war crimes, which highlights the importance of the investigation opened by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the actions carried outby Israeli and Palestinian forces.

The armed wing of Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups have pulled rockets and mortar shells to Israeli population centers, causing the deaths of 12 civilians in Israel and wounding dozens of others.Projectiles, apparently directed to Israel but which missed their target and fell inside the Gaza Strip, killed and injured an indefinite number of Palestinians.Human Rights Watch investigated several of these attacks which caused the death of Israeli civilians, as well as a Palestinian attack on the arugula that long caught up over the city of Jabalya in the Gaza Strip, killing 7 civiliansPalestinians and wounding 15.

"During the fights in May, the Palestinian armed groups violated the laws of war which prohibit attacks without discernment, by pulling thousands of unsupported rockets towards Israeli cities," said Eric Goldstein, directorAssistant to the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch."The failure of the authorities of Hamas and the Israeli government to their obligation to account for those responsible for alleged war crimes committed by their forces highlights the essential role that the International Criminal Court must play.»»

At the end of July, Human Rights Watch documented Israeli strikes in Gaza made in May, which caused 62 people, almost half of some 129 Palestinian civilians listed by the United Nations as having been killed by Israeli strikes.Human Rights Watch concluded that these attacks have constituted violations of the laws of war and equivalent to war crimes.Human Rights Watch will soon publish a report on Israeli air strikes, during which four residential buildings of several floors of Gaza have been destroyed or seriously damaged.

The Israeli authorities have announced that Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups had drawn more than 4,360 rockets and unused mortar shells to Israeli population centers, between May 10 and 21.They said that these arugula attacks had killed 10 civilians in Israel, that mortar shots had killed 2 others, and that "several hundred" of people had been injured.Nine of these civilians were Israelis, including 2 children and 2 Palestinians citizens of Israel, and the other 3 were foreigners.

Hamas authorities are expected to end illegal rockets on Israeli population centers, Human Rights Watch said.

In July, Human Rights Watch spoke with 12 people in Israel and Gaza who witnessed a Palestinian attack at La Roquette or who are close to civilians who were killed.Human Rights Watch examined two arugula shots in Israel who caused three civilians: Leah Yom Tov, 63, killed by metal shards of a Palestinian rocket in his house in Rishon Lezion, south of Tel Aviv, in the evening of May 11;And Nadine Awad, 16, and Khalil Awad, 52, killed in front of their house in the Palestinian village of Dahmash in the center of Israel, about 20 kilometers from Tel Aviv, in the morning of May 12.

The rocket fire that killed Yom Tov and the Awad took place after the Al-Qassam brigades, the armed arm of Hamas, had warned, in a statement made on the evening of May 11, that they had "directed the mostImportant shooting of rockets towards Tel Aviv and its surroundings, with 130 projectiles, in response to the targeting of civil buildings by the enemy.On May 21, a coalition of Palestinian armed groups published a statement in which she sought to justify their rocket fire on Israeli cities and towns: "We opened fire on Tel Aviv, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Beersheva and alloccupied cities, usurped places and sites, response to the barbaric aggression committed against our people.»»

Human Rights Watch also determined that a Palestinian Roquette that long caused seven people to Jabalya, in the Gaza Strip on May 10.Human Rights Watch based this conclusion on interviews with witnesses, site visits, an inspection of rocket debris and the video sequences exam.

Under the terms of international humanitarian law, or the laws of war, the parties in conflict are required to limit their attacks to military objectives. They must take all possible precautions to minimize the damage inflicted on civilians. The deliberate attacks of civilians and civilian goods are prohibited - the assertions of Hamas and other armed groups according to which their rocket fire against such Aviv and other population centers were a response to illegal Israeli attacks suggest that these Shots were deliberate attacks on civilian objectives. The laws of war also prohibit the attacks carried out without discernment, which includes attacks which do not aim for a particular military objective, or which use means or methods that do not allow shots to be effectively directed on a specific military target . The belligerents must also, as far as possible, avoid shots from or near densely populated areas and, failing that, take the necessary precautions to protect civilians who are under their control against attacks in return .

An individual who commits a serious violation of the laws of war with a criminal intention-that is to say deliberately or in an irresponsible manner-is responsible for war crimes.The rockets and mortar shells pulled by the Palestinian armed groups are not equipped with guidance systems and tend to last long, which makes them extremely imprecise and, therefore, intrinsically blind when they are drawn in the direction ofCivil zones.Pulling such rockets to attack areas populated by civilians is a war crime.

On May 12, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said that he was monitoring the situation in Gaza.He should include in his investigation of the situation in Palestine the illegal shots of Palestinian rockets against Israel, as well as the illegal Israeli attacks in Gaza.

Palestinian armed groups also fired numerous non -guided rockets in previous phases of the conflict, notably in 2008, 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2019. Hostilities of May 2021 occurred while Israel required a general closure of the band de Gaza, which began in 2007, and tried discriminatoryly to dislodge Palestinians living in East Jerusalem, politicians and practices which constitute crimes against Humanity of apartheid and persecution committed by the Israeli government , as Human Rights Watch documented it. May 27, the UN Human Rights Council created a commission of inquiry to examine the violations and abuses committed in the Palestinian Territory (TPO) and EN EN Israel, including by advancing the principle of responsibility for the authors of abuse and justice for the victims. This commission is expected to examine the illegal attacks committed by Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups during May clashes and analyze the general context of these clashes, including the discriminatory treatment of Palestinians by the Israeli government. Commission’s conclusions should be sent to the CPI prosecutor and other credible judicial authorities who observe the situation, Human Rights Watch said.

Judicial authorities in other countries should also investigate and pursue the people who, in a credible manner, have been involved in serious crimes committed in TPO and Israel, according to the principle of universal competence.Governments should also support a strong political declaration which deals with damage caused to civilian populations by explosive weapons and commits states to avoid using these types of large -range weapons in populated areas.

"Hamas authorities should stop trying to justify shots of illegal rockets that kill and injure civilians without discernment by denouncing the violations committed by Israel," said Eric Goldstein.“The laws of war are intended to protect all civilians against any damage.»»

Informations complémentaires

May hostilities

The clashes of May 2021 were consecutive to efforts made by Jewish settlers to expel from East Jerusalem of Palestinians who were long-standing residents and confiscate their properties.The Palestinians then organized demonstrations in this part of the city and the Israeli security forces fired from the processions of tear gas cartridges, deafening grenades and rubber bullets, injuring hundreds of Palestinians.

On May 10, Palestinian armed groups in Gaza began to shoot rockets from Israeli population centers.The Israeli army has conducted attacks in the Gaza Strip, whose population density is very high, using missiles, rockets and artillery fire.In many of these attacks, the Israeli army and the Palestinian armed groups have used explosive weapons with large radius of impact in populated areas.A ceasefire between the two parties entered into force on May 21.

Rock shots and Palestinian mortar shells who killed and injured civilians in Israel

Of the more than 4,360 attacks on the arugula or the mortar carried out by the Palestinian armed groups, 3,573 "penetrated Israeli airspace", according to the Israeli authorities.These said that their anti-aircraft defense system, known as Iron Dome (Iron Dome), had intercepted around 90% of the rockets drawn.

The attacks caused the death of 13 people in Israel, including 12 were civilians, including 2 children, and injured several hundred others, according to Israeli authorities.These same authorities affirmed that the attacks had directly caused the death of 9 civilians, 3 others having died due to accidents or cardiac arrests occurring while they were running to protect themselves as the rocket approaches.The 12 civilians killed included 9 Israelis, including 2 Palestinians of Israeli nationality, and 3 foreigners - 2 from Thailand and 1 from India.

Leah Yom Tov, killed in Rishhon Lezion on May 11

Leah Yom Tov, 63, was killed on May 11 around 8:00 p.m. in Rishhon Lezion, south of Tel Aviv, when a rocket fell on his house.His son, Kfir Yom Tov, said:

He said she was alone at home when the arugula fell and was killed instantly by bursts:

Awad family members killed in Dahmash, May 12

Khalil Awad, 52, and his daughter Nadine, 16, were killed in a rocket attack in front of their house in the Palestinian village of Dahmash, in the center of Israel, on May 12 around 3:00 am.Suzan Awad, the wife and mother of the victims, described the rocket shooting:

Suzan Awad described her husband as "a loving, generous and modest man":

He was a metallurgist and he worked very hard to provide for the needs of the family.For him, ensuring our children a good education was the first priority.My daughter’s dream was to become a doctor to help others and contribute to the well-being of the community.She had a lot of talents.At school, she was known as a brilliant student and took part in many school projects and activities.She studied very seriously and was very involved in obtaining good grades, in order to be able to study medicine in Israel.She really liked the arts and music and [recently] she learned on the internet to play the guitar.She liked it very much, even if she was better on the piano.

I am always in shock and traumatized, I cannot believe that they are dead and are no longer here with me.It's hard for me to go back to my routine, to resume my job.Before this tragedy, I worked in a clothing store, and I can no longer continue.No one should suffer like this.I pray for peace for all, for the Palestinians and the Israelis, and I hope that this tragedy will draw more attention to Dahmash and that the living conditions here will improve.ido Abigail, killed in Sderot on May 12

A Palestinian rocket shooting caused the death of a 5 -year -old child, Ido Abigail, in Sderot, near Gaza on May 12.La Roquette fell into the secure room of Ido's family apartment and also injured seven other family members, including her 7 -year -old mother and sister.The Jerusalem Post said that Ido's father, Assaf Abigail, who was not at home at the time of the attack, said in the funeral praise of his son: "I am sorry that the brilliance t'Has struck, rather than me "and" I will have a broken heart for eternity."He added:" I hope you are the last sacrifice and that this is the last time that a parent has buried his child.»»

The Israeli authorities have identified the other civilians killed in Israel due to the Palestinian rocket fire and mortar shells as: Soumya Santosh, 32, an Indian national who worked in Ashkelon;Nella Gurevitz, 52, from Ashkelon;Orly Liron, 52, from Netaim, a moshav or cooperative village, south of Tel Aviv;Miriam Arie, 82, of Shtulim, a Moshav near Ashdod in southern Israel;Gershon Franko, 55, from Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv;Hava Vaknin, 73, from Holon, near Tel Aviv;Sikharin Sangamram, 24, a Thais who worked in Ohad, a moshav near Gaza;And Weerawat Krunboorirak, 44, another Thai also employed in Ohad.

Failed shots of Palestinian rockets falling back on Gaza

Certain Palestinian rockets - 680 according to the Israeli army - have long fired and fell not far from their place of launch, in the Gaza Strip, sometimes killing and injured.Hamas authorities have provided no information on the number of rockets that long caught up or on the number of people who have died in Gaza, and there are no specific estimates of independent sources.

Death of 7 civilians in Jabalya (Gaza Strip), May 10

Human Rights Watch determined, on the basis of witness stories during visits to the site, the examination of ammunition debris and the study of video sequences, that a Palestinian rocket has long fired and fell into theCity of Jabalya, in the north of the Gaza Strip, in the evening of May 10, killing seven civilians, including two children.

Human Rights Watch visited this place on July 14 and 26 and spoke with 10 witnesses to the attack and its consequences.We are not revealing their names, for their safety.

La Roquette, drawn on May 10 around 6:00 p.m., fell back into the rue du Martyr Saleh Dardona, about twenty meters from the Omari mosque, in Jabayla.Three adults and a child, who were on the street at that time, said they saw a rocket rising in the sky above them, then falling back into the street.Two of the adults said they had seen the arugula arriving from the northwest.A fourth person heard the sound of a rocket that was drawn and saw him fall in front of his store.

The woman of one of the people killed said:

A local store owner said:

A family member of another person killed said:

He said that among the people killed and injured in this attack, there were a father and a child who washed a car, a man circulating on a motorbike, a child who came to seek a plate of food, a woman who came out of aHairdressing salon and a child playing in front of a bicycle store.He added that he had met later with a person who had learned what had happened and told him that "six rockets had been drawn from the Sheikh Radwan sector" of Jabalya, a districtCommercial and residential located one kilometer from the drop -down point of the Roquette, and that all had struck various close zones.

Their relatives and the Ministry of Health of Gaza identified the victims as Bara al-Gharabli, 6 years old;Mustafa Mohammad Obied, 14 years old;Mousa Khamees Junied al-Zain, 20 years old;Raed Abu Warda, 33 years old;Nabeel Noman Dardona, 24 years old;Ismat al-Zain, 50 years old;And Bachir Allush, 54 years old.The arugula also injured 15 people, including 5 children, according to family members of the injured and other people who know them.

The owners of stores located near the fall point showed Human Rights Watch of the debris of ammunition, specifying that they had recovered them in the street or in neighborhood shops on the day of the incident.These debris indicate that the weapons used were similar rockets, in size and useful load, to unused artillery shells of the GRAD type.The size and extent of the explosion and the fragmentation damage suffered by the walls located near the fall point frame with the detonation of this type of ammunition.

-------------------

Articles

Francetvinfo

Tweets