iOF killed 7407 Palestinians, including 1859 children since September 2000

NABLUS, (PIC)-- The United Nations Commission on Human Rights describes the right to life as the "ultimate human right," and it is in turn considered the most important and basic human right. In spite of that, the Zionist occupation forces persist in violating the Palestinian civilians' right to life through the use of fatal and excessive force and killing in all forms in clear contravention of the provisions of Article III of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the provisions of the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the Fourth Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.

The Zionist occupation is one of the entities the legislations of which do not include death penalty, but it depends, while violating the right to life, on a set of provisions and instructions to fire at Palestinian civilians. This essentially contravenes international standards that allow the use of proportional force according to necessity. These standards govern the degree of force allowed to arrest "suspected" people or people who act contrary to law and public order (according to the Zionist point of view).

Moreover, the Zionist entity breaches the methods of firing at Palestinian civilians which are included in the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, article III of which provides that "The use of firearms is considered an extreme measure. In general, firearms should not be used except when a suspected offender offers armed resistance or otherwise jeopardizes the lives of others and less extreme measures are not sufficient to restrain or apprehend the suspected offender."

According to statistics available to the International Solidarity Foundation for Human Rights, it is clear that the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli occupation forces since the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada on September 28, 2000 until the end of September 2010 is about 7407 martyrs, including 1859 children under the age of 18, while the number of women martyrs is (476).

The foundation said that the number of martyrs in 2008 and 2009 amounted to about 2112 including 548 children and 159 women. The last war waged against Gaza by the Zionist occupation resulted in a very high number of martyrs where more than 1460 citizens, including 437 children and 116 women were killed.

Zionist policy of assassinations and extrajudicial executions
The same foundation indicated that Amnesty International defines extrajudicial executions as: "An extrajudicial execution is an unlawful and deliberate killing carried out by order of a government or with its acquiescence. Extrajudicial killings are killings which can reasonably be assumed to be the result of a policy at any level of government to eliminate specific individuals as an alternative to arresting them and bringing them to justice. These killings take place outside any judicial framework."

Since the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada, the Zionist entity started using all old methods that have been used previously in suppression of the Palestinian uprisings, adding new tools and instruments that are only used to face armies. Thus, the Zionist entity returned to the policy of extrajudicial killings and political assassinations of Palestinians that the Zionist entity claimed are behind operations against the occupation without providing evidence of conviction and without arresting them. The occupation forces were able to arrest and bring to trial those people.

The Zionist occupation is the only entity in the world which legitimizes extrajudicial executions. It also did not hesitate to announce this policy in the international community. The Zionist Supreme Court of Justice, the highest judicial body in the entity, has rejected a petition submitted by Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) and LAW, a Palestinian group on (07/08/2003) on the issuance of a precautionary injunction to prevent the Zionist army from continuing with assassinations against Palestinian leaders and activists in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Position of international law towards extrajudicial executions
As all international and local conventions, treaties and laws endorsed the illegitimacy of extrajudicial executions, article III of the Fourth Geneva Convention for the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War states:

"The following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons: violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture."

United Nations Principles on the Effective Prevention of Extra-legal Executions under any circumstances in time of war also prohibit extra-legal executions according to the first principle which states: "Governments shall prohibit by law all extra-legal, arbitrary and summary executions and shall ensure that any such executions are recognized as offences under their criminal laws, and are punishable by appropriate penalties which take into account the seriousness of such offences. Exceptional circumstances including internal political instability or any other public emergency may not be invoked as a justification of such executions."

As the report of February 2001 by Amnesty International, entitled: "Israel and the Occupied Territories: State assassinations and other unlawful killings", stated: "An extrajudicial execution is an unlawful and deliberate killing carried out by order of a government or with its acquiescence. Extrajudicial killings are killings which can reasonably be assumed to be the result of a policy at any level of government to eliminate specific individuals as an alternative to arresting them and bringing them to justice. These killings take place outside any judicial framework."

The total number of martyrs assassinated by the Zionist forces since the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada until 28 September 2010 is (1269) martyrs of Palestinian cadres and leaders.

Gaza war .. Wholesale killings
The last war against the Gaza Strip in late 2009 formed a grave turning point in terms of violations committed by Zionists against the Palestinian citizens. The Gaza Strip has been bombarded heavily and continuously over (22) days during which combat aircrafts were used. As pointed out by some Israeli military sources, more than one-third of the Israeli Air Force, large columns of tanks, personnel carriers and warships were used.

Dozens of witness statements that described the killings and executions carried out before their eyes by the occupation soldiers without any excuse or justification were recorded during this war. More than 1460 civilians including 437 children and 116 women were killed. Moreover, tens of thousands of citizens were wounded.

Many of human rights institutions recorded many cases of using citizens as human shields by the Zionist army, not to mention the holocaust experienced by whole families due to the Zionist bombing of crowded neighborhoods full of civilians. The same human rights institutions underlined the use of many internationally banned weapons such as white phosphorus bombs and others by the Zionist forces.

During this war as well, thousands of houses, schools, universities, government centers, security headquarters, houses of worship and the headquarters of the United Nations were destroyed. In addition, The Zionist forces targeted the infrastructure of networks of roads, electricity, water, telephone lines, electricity stations and sewage stations which resulted in contamination of drinking water.

During the Zionist aggression on the Gaza Strip, 115 elderly, 5 journalists, 12 paramedics, 11 members of civil defense corps, 9 members of the military medical services staff (3 of whom are doctors, 2 nurses) and 230 Palestinian policemen were martyred.

The International Solidarity Foundation for Human Rights views with concern the Zionist continuing and escalating violations against the Palestinian citizens without deterring or holding the Zionist entity accountable for exercising the worst methods of direct killings against unarmed Palestinian people. All that is clearly evident from the foregoing figures and through the last war against the Gaza Strip.

The foundation demanded all international parties and human rights organizations to exert pressure on the occupation for the enforcement of international law on the protection of civilians in time of war, protecting and ensuring safety for them and put an end to occupation.