1 May 2006: Apologies aren't enough – the IDF must investigate those responsible for the death in Tulkarm.
The circumstances under which 'Itaf Zalat, a 44-year old woman, was killed in Tulkarem last night, raise the grave suspicion that Israeli security forces acted as if they were conducting an assassination rather than an arrest operation. Such behavior constitutes a blatant violation of the principles of International Humanitarian Law.
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B'Tselem has yet to complete its investigation into the incident. However, its initial findings indicate a clear similarity between the security forces' behavior in this incident and those in past arrest operations in which innocent civilians were killed.
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Between January 2004 and May 1, 2006, 157 Palestinians were killed in what the IDF terms arrest operations in the West Bank . Of these, at least 35 were civilians, whom the military admits were mere bystanders to the operation. An additional 54 of those killed were defined as wanted by the military.
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http://www.btselem.org/English/Press_Releases/20060501.aspIs BTselem for real? Are these facts? If so isn't this wrong?
Btselem also posted this press release: (I wanted to get both of these press releases in the same post sorry if that is confusing)
Firing Qassam rockets at a civilian population is a war crime
From June 2004 to the end of March 2006, thirteen civilians, five of them minors, were killed by Qassam rockets that Palestinians fired into Israel and at Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip. Eight of the victims were Israeli, four were Palestinian, and one a Chinese national. The rocket attacks also caused substantial property damage.
The Palestinian organizations responsible for the rocket-fire state openly that one of their aims is to kill Israeli civilians. Deliberate attacks on civilians are both immoral and illegal. The willful killing of civilians is classified as a grave breach in the Fourth Geneva Convention and as a war crime that is unjustifiable under any circumstances.
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http://www.btselem.org/English/Israeli_Civilians/20060417_Qassam_missiles.aspAre these facts? If so isn't this wrong?
Can we agree that both sides in this need to act differently. I never hear it that way on the evening news!