16 April 2006
Press Release
Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations petition the High Court:
Reducing "Safety Zone" in Shelling of Gaza Strip is Manifestly Illegal Order
The order given to Israeli forces to aim shells only 100 meters from houses of residents injures civilians and subjects
Israeli army officers and soldiers to war crimes charges
Today, six Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations petitioned the High Court, demanding that Defense Minister
Shaul Mofaz and Chief of Staff Dan Halutz revoke the order recently given to soldiers that reduces the safety zone of
shells fired into the Gaza Strip to only 100 meters from civilians, civilians' houses, or any other civilian object.
Previously, the safety zone had been 300 meters. Last week, the order resulted in the loss of life. In light of the
substantial risk of further civilian casualties that may occur before the order is revoked, an urgent hearing on the
petition is requested, if possible, as early as tomorrow (Monday, 17 April). The petitioners, Physicians for Human
Rights-Israel, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights in Gaza, Btselem, Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, Association
for Civil Rights in Israel, and the Public Committee against Torture in Israel, are represented by attorney Micha'el
Sfard.
The order given to reduce the safety zone was revealed last week by Ha'aretz's military correspondent, Amos Harel, and
was not denied by the Israeli Army. The article quoted a "senior official" who expressly confirmed that the Israeli Army
was aware that the reduction endangers civilian lives. The organizations argue that, given that the shell fragmentation
range is 100 meters in any case, and that the weaponry is not precise and shells can land dozens of meters from the
target, reduction of the safety zone substantially endangers civilian lives, buildings, and other civilian objects
located near the target. Last week, shelling into the reduced range caused the death of 7-year-old Hadeel Ghaban from
Beit Lahiya, when a shell landed inside her house. The blast wounded 12 members of her family, among them her pregnant
mother and her small brothers. Dozens of shells landed dozens of meters, and in some cases only a few meters, from
houses. The organizations emphasize that the shelling is not a defensive measure, directed at the source of Qassam
rocket fire at the time the rockets are launched at Israel, but shelling into "the Qassam launching spaces," broad areas
from which – it is estimated – Qassam rockets had previously been fired. Thus, the attack is Israeli army initiated,
intending to punish and/or deter, and not as self-defense.
The organizations argue that reducing the safety zone gravely breaches fundamental principles of the laws of war, and
that the order is manifestly illegal to the point that Israeli soldiers should not obey them. In carrying out the order,
Israeli army officers and soldiers risk being charged with war crimes and with legal measures that may be taken against
them by international judicial bodies. The order flagrantly breaches at least three fundamental principles of
international humanitarian law: the requirement to distinguish between combatants and civilians, the principle of
proportionality in the use of force, and the requirement to use caution in carrying out attacks. Attorney Sfard argues
that, in reducing the safety zone, the Israeli Army is playing Russian roulette with the lives of Gaza's civilians, by
knowingly placing civilian homes within the area in which the shells will fall, and whether civilians, including whole
families, will be injured depends on variables over which the army has no control.
ENDS