イスラエル／パレスチナ和平

Israel¨s murderous rampage continues
despite Arafat¨s cease-fire
Occupied Jerusalem Б Special to PT

Despite Yasser Arafat¨s unequivocal order to stop firing from the Palestinian self-rule areas, the Israeli army and settlers continued their murderous rampage against Palestinian civilians throughout the West Bank.

Israeli occupation soldiers, acting on clear instructions from the highest political echelons, continued to adopt a shoot-to-kill approach against Palestinian protesters, even though the unarmed protesters posed virtually no risk to the safety of the occupation solders.

So far, the total number of Palestinian victims of Israel¨s bloody repression of the intifada has risen to 267, among them are as many as 60 children below the age of sixteen.

Many of the victims were actually murdered rather than killed, which indicates that the Israeli army is bluntly disregarding even the most elementary humanitarian norms in dealing with the civilian population.

＾They seem to think that every Palestinian man, woman and child is a legitimate target for their bullets and they don¨t just think so, they act on it,￣ said Fatahi Baradieh of the village of Surif near Hebron, whose relative Muhammed was killed by Israeli soldiers on 15 October at an Israeli army roadblock near Jerusalem while on his way to work.

＾They (Israeli soldiers) stopped him, handcuffed and blindfolded him, and then claimed that a bullet was accidentally fired from a soldier¨s rifle killing him,￣ said Bardieh, alluding to an official statement by an Israeli army spokesperson claiming that the victim was killed by mistake.

＾God will avenge his death. He was his family¨s sole breadwinner.￣

Another example of this sadistic rampage is the murder by the occupation soldiers of 18-year-old Muhammed Khudur of the Fawwar refugee camp, 5 miles southwest of Hebron.