Israel/Occupied Territories: Israel Shows Reckless Disregard For Human Life
1 August 2001
By killing eight Palestinians in Nablus, Israel showed once again an utter disregard for human life in the Occupied
Territories, Amnesty International said today.
The Israeli Air Force killed yesterday eight people, including two children and two journalists, and wounded 15 others,
including a human rights defender, as they shot two missiles from an Apache helicopter against the Nablus-based
Palestinian Centre for Information, run by a Hamas leader, Jamal Mansur.
Amnesty International reiterated its long-standing calls to Israel to end its policy of liquidations and other arbitrary
killings and urged the international community to send international observers with a human rights remit to the area.
AThe Israeli authorities must have known and totally disregarded the fact that the media centre targeted was likely to
be frequented by journalists and others, said Amnesty International. "In these state assassinations the Israeli
authorities offer no proof of guilt, no right to defence. Extrajudicial executions are absolutely prohibited by
international law.
The call for international observers has received worldwide support, including by the European Union foreign ministers
and US Secretary of State Colin Powell. Up to now it has been blocked by the Israeli Government.
AThe international community must no longer accept any excuses or any delay in sending independent observers with a
human rights mandate and sufficient expertise, resources and powers to monitor, investigate and make public reports,
Amnesty International stressed.
On 30 July six Fatah activists, reportedly Awanted by Israel, were killed by an explosion in a shack near the West Bank
village of Fara. The Palestinian Authority said they were targeted by Israel; Israel said they died when their own bomb
exploded.
AIndependent monitors with military expertise are vital to rule on the claims and counterclaims and clarify the
circumstances of each killing, said the human rights organization.
Amnesty International expressed grave concern at Hamas statements threatening that Israel would pay a heavy price for
the killings. Hamas attacks, including suicide bombs in public places in Israel, have killed many civilians, including
children.
AWhatever human rights violations are committed by a government, nothing can justify attacks targeting civilians, said
Amnesty International. ANor can any killings by opposition groups justify this shocking disregard for basic human rights
principles by a government.
Background The two Hamas leaders targeted, Jamal Mansur and Jamal Salim, had both been held in administrative detention
by Israel. Jamal Mansur's case had been taken up again by Amnesty International when he spent more than three years in
detention without charge or trial under the Palestinian Authority between 1997 and 2000. A leader of the political wing
of Hamas, he was a journalist and publicist.
Ahmad Abu Shallal, a human rights defender, critically injured and now in intensive care, works for the International
Solidarity organization, based in Washington. He works for political detainees, both in Israel and in the areas
administered by the Palestinian Authority. He was reportedly visiting the office of the Palestinian Centre for
Information in order to collect material for a report he was writing for the London-based journal The Return Review
(al->Awdeh).
Muhammad Beshawi and 'Uthman Qatanan were both journalists apparently interviewing Jamal Mansur at the time of the
attack.
Two children, Ashraf Khader, aged six, and Bilal Khader, aged 11, were killed as they played outside, while their mother
visited a clinic in the same building.
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