Israeli shoots Palestinian baby in mother's arms

Wilful killing of baby by Israeli army in Gaza house raid
June 09, 2008
http://www.dci-pal.org/english/display.cfm?DocId=772&CategoryId=1

On 4 March 2008, Israeli tanks under aerial helicopter coverage
besieged the home of Youssef S., a wanted Palestinian combatant,
near Khan Younis in southern Gaza1. For several hours, Israeli
soldiers directed gunfire towards the house and its occupants,
including 15 children, and subjected them to cruel, inhumane and
degrading treatment. During the raid, Israeli soldiers fired upon
unarmed civilians, including children, as they followed orders to
exit the house. This unlawful act claimed the life of 20-day-old
Amira, who was shot in the head while in her mother's arms. DCI/PS
strongly condemns the wilful killing of civilians, which constitutes
a war crime under international humanitarian law.
Description of incident

In the early evening hours of 4 March 2008, Khaled A. and his wife
Nadia arrived at the home of their friend, Youssef S., in Abu al-
Ageen near Khan Younis in southern Gaza. They had come to visit
Youssef's mother, Alia', who was suffering from renal failure and
had recently been hospitalised. With them, were their two daughters
Nadine (2), and Amira, just 20 days old.

Several members of Youssef's family were also in his house that
evening: his mother Alia' (76), his wife Aziza (43), and their
children, Mu'ath (17), Alia' (16), Omar (15), Iman (13), Shayma'
(12), Mohammed (11), Neveen (7), and twins Hassan and Hussein (5).
Youssef's brother, Mahmoud, was also there with his children Bilal
(15), Faten (14), Tariq (13), and Iyad (11). Altogether, there were
15 children inside the house that evening.

When Khaled and his family first arrived at Youssef's house, the
men, women and children sat together in the living room for
approximately half an hour. It was past 6:00 pm when Khaled,
Youssef, Mahmoud, and their sons moved to the diwan, a sitting area
for men, for dinner. The diwan was located outdoors, approximately
eight metres away from the house. The sun had set shortly before
6:00 pm and it was dark outside. When the siege began, the men and
boys were eating dinner in the diwan while the women and girls were
in the living room inside the house.

As they ate dinner inside, the women heard the sound of gunfire and
an approaching helicopter. The sound was coming towards the western
side of the house where the women and children were seated. The
women immediately gathered the children and ran into the kitchen on
the north side of the house for cover. Nadia was carrying baby Amira
in her arms. Youssef's mother remained alone in the living room
because she could not walk or easily move due to her failing health.

At about the same time, the men heard a strange sound and Youssef
asked his 11-year-old nephew Iyad to see what was happening. Iyad
looked out the door of the diwan and yelled out that he saw tanks.
Khaled ran to the door where he too saw tanks approaching the
western side of the house. He quickly exited the diwan and with Iyad
ran towards the house. Youssef fled in the opposite direction, away
from the house. Khaled reports he had run a distance of about eight
metres when heavy gunfire began. He dropped to the ground to avoid
being hit by live fire and crawled the remaining distance to the
house. When he entered the house, Khaled saw a tank through one of
the windows; it was stopped at the western side of the house. Afraid
that the soldiers might see him, he ran into the kitchen on the
north side of the house where he found the women and children
crouching on the floor in fear. When Khaled reached the kitchen, he
noticed Iyad had been shot in the arm and was bleeding heavily.
Khaled gripped Iyad's arm to stop the bleeding and with his other
hand held his daughter Nadine on his left.

Sustained and heavy gunfire from Israeli forces continued from all
directions and bullets were flying both outside and inside the
house. According to eyewitness statements gathered by DCI/PS, the
soldiers neither ordered the occupants to exit the house and
surrender nor gave prior warning before the gunfire began.
Eyewitnesses provided further testimony asserting that occupants
inside the house were unarmed and did not exchange fire with Israeli
forces. They were unaware of any clashes taking place in the area at
that time. To the best of DCI/PS' knowledge based on the evidence
gathered, there was no exchange of fire between Palestinian
combatants and Israeli forces prior to or during the raid.

After several more minutes of heavy gunfire, a voice called through
a megaphone in broken Arabic, "Everyone leave the house, young and
old, leave the house." The soldier repeated his order three times.
From inside the kitchen, Nadia could see the front door of the
house, which was open, and the soldiers standing outside. Youssef's
wife, Aziza, told Nadia, "You are carrying a baby so leave first as
they may take sympathy on us." Nadia stepped out of the kitchen
first with baby Amira in her arms. Amira was wrapped in a white
sheet, her head clearly visible. Directly behind Nadia was Aziza,
who was carrying her daughter Neveen, and then Youssef's 14-year-old
niece Faten. Khaled and the rest of the children stood just behind
them inside the kitchen. Before stepping out of the kitchen, the
women called out together, "We are coming out. We are coming out"
and the soldier answered through the megaphone, "Leave one by one."

As Nadia stepped out of the kitchen and into the living room she saw
the soldiers just beyond the entrance of the house. Some were lying
on the ground on their stomachs while others were kneeling on one
knee, all with their weapons directed at her. They were wearing
helmets equipped with night vision binoculars. One of the soldiers
pointed the red laser emanating from his weapon at baby Amira and
slowly moved it along her body. The soldier with the megaphone
asked, "What are you holding in your hands?" Faten, Youssef's niece
answered, "katen" meaning baby in Hebrew, repeating the word several
times. Another soldier directed a bright spotlight at Nadia and her
baby, switching it on and off several times. At the same time, Nadia
cautiously proceeded to exit the kitchen into the living room. She
was just one metre beyond the kitchen door when the soldiers, who
were approximately eight metres away, opened fire without warning or
provocation.

In the barrage of gunfire, Nadia was struck in her right upper arm.
She immediately secured Amira in her left arm and scrambled back
into the kitchen following the others. Khaled took Amira from his
wife's arms. He reports seeing at that moment that Amira's head was
covered in blood and that she appeared to be dead. He passed baby
Amira to Faten so he could tie his wife's arm to stem the bleeding
from her wound. Fearful for her baby, Nadia asked about Amira but
Faten told her not to worry, her daughter was fine. The scene in the
kitchen was one of chaos and commotion. Women and children screaming
in panic, crying in fear while gunfire continued to ring out both
inside and outside of the house. Several minutes later, the gunfire
ceased and the soldier once again commanded through the megaphone in
broken Arabic, "Leave the house or we will bomb it." Left with no
other choice, the group made their way out of the kitchen with Nadia
out in front once again. Faten followed directly behind her with
Amira still in her arms.

After they exited the house, the soldiers ordered the women and
children to sit on the ground. They handcuffed Khaled, Mu'ath (17),
Bilal (15), and Omar (15), and sat them down on the ground with
their backs facing the women and children. The soldiers then started
to beat them, hitting them with their guns and kicking them, as the
women and children looked on. Testimonies from two eyewitnesses
indicate the soldiers beat the two younger boys, Bilal and Omar,
more than the others. Khaled tried to reason with the soldiers in
Hebrew, telling them that his wife had been injured and needed
medical attention. They replied by insulting him and his wife. One
soldier, who was kneeling on the ground next to Nadia, laughed and
verbally insulted her honour as she cried in pain and fear. Nadia
reported that every few minutes a soldier would walk by and shoot
the ground around where the women and children were sitting then
laugh and walk away.

While Khaled and the three boys were beaten, one soldier ordered
them to remove their clothing. They removed their shirts and
trousers as they continued to be beaten. Another soldier then
ordered them to remove their undergarments but Khaled refused
because they were in the presence of women. The soldier once again
ordered them to remove their undergarments, threatening to kill them
if they did not comply. When they refused again, the soldier
proceeded to fire gunshots on the ground all around their legs to
further threaten and intimidate them. Khaled and the boys endured
more beatings for at least another half hour and Khaled recalled
hearing one of the soldiers say to another in Hebrew, "Let's kill
them all and be done with it."

At the same time, other soldiers continued to shoot in and around
Youssef's home. Nadia and Youssef's wife, Aziza, called out to them
repeatedly, telling them there was an elderly woman who cannot walk
still inside the house. One soldier answered, "Tell her to come
out". Nadia repeated, "She cannot walk." The gunfire ceased for a
moment and Nadia and Aziza called out to Alia', telling her to come
out of the house. After several minutes, Alia' appeared at the door,
dragging herself along the ground. The soldiers sat her on the
ground with the women and children. Nadia reported that Alia' was
panicked and terrified.

Mu'ath's statement reveals that the soldiers subjected him to
particularly harsh treatment when they learned he was Youssef's son
after he was asked to identify himself. The soldiers blindfolded
Mu'ath, still stripped of his shirt and trousers, and forced him to
go back inside the house as they searched its interior. One soldier
grabbed him by the hair and pushed him forward into the house. Once
inside, Mu'ath could hear the sound of several soldiers searching
through the house. A soldier asked him, "Where are the weapons?" and
pressed the barrel of his rifle against his neck. When Mu'ath
replied that there were no weapons in the house, the soldiers beat
him, kicking him in the abdomen. After their search, the soldiers
brought him back outside to where Omar, Bilal, and Khaled were being
held.

The siege lasted for at least another half hour before Israeli
military jeeps arrived at the scene. The soldiers ordered Khaled and
Mu'ath to put their clothes back on, blindfolded them, and put them
each in a separate jeep. The jeeps left first, taking Mu'ath and
Khaled, then the helicopter, tanks and remaining soldiers began to
withdraw. While inside the military jeep, Mu'ath recounts that the
soldiers held him at gunpoint and tormented him. One soldier said to
him while laughing, "Your father is dead. We killed him. He is over
there (pointing) on the ground."

After waiting several more minutes to make sure the soldiers did not
return, Nadia gathered the children then began walking to find help.
Youssef's wife remained behind with his mother Alia'. Faten walked
beside Nadia, with Amira still in her arms. In her statement to
DCI/PS, Faten says she realised Amira was dead as she held her
during the siege. She reported that Amira's body was lifeless and
she could feel the blood from the baby's gunshot wound seeping onto
her shirt. Faten however chose not to tell Nadia that her daughter
had died.

Nadia and the children walked for approximately 15 minutes before
they arrived at a house where they could summon medical help. An
ambulance arrived shortly after and immediately transferred the
injured to Shuhuda al-Aqsa Hospital where Amira was pronounced dead
on arrival. This is when Nadia learned her baby had been killed.
That same night, Nadia underwent surgery on her right arm and was
released from the hospital after several days.

According to the medical report obtained by DCI/PS, Nadia was still
undergoing medical treatment several weeks following the incident.
At the time eyewitness statements were first taken just days after
the attack, 11-year-old Iyad, still recovering in the hospital from
the gunshot wound to his arm, was suffering from severe post-
traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and was unable to recall events or
even speak about them. His 14-year-old sister Faten was also showing
clear symptoms of PTSD after carrying Amira's lifeless body for most
of the siege. The DCI/PS fieldworker who investigated this case was
only able to collect statements from Iyad and Faten on his third
visit to the area in early June. DCI/PS also learned that Youssef's
76-year-old mother, Alia', died several days after the siege. The
emotional and physical stress of the ordeal undoubtedly impacted her
already failing health. Following the raid, the surviving members of
Youssef's family moved into the nearby home of a relative since
their house suffered damage from the heavy gunfire. DCI/PS later
learned that several days after the raid, Israeli forces demolished
the nearby home of another one of Youssef's relatives. Youssef's
family has since returned to their home although exterior damage
remains.

Extra-judicial execution

According to a statement published by the Gaza-based Al-Mezan Centre
for Human Rights, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that
Youssef was the victim of an extra-judicial execution after he fled
his house that evening. Al-Mezan reports that neighbours discovered
Youssef's body in an open area, about 150 metres from his house at
approximately 10:00 am on the morning after the siege (5 March). He
had sustained a bullet wound to the chest and his skull was crushed.
An initial post-mortem examination indicated that he was killed when
his skull was crushed as a vehicle ran over him after he had already
been injured by a live bullet and was lying on the ground. Al-Mezan
condemns the assassination of Youssef and draws a parallel with a
2001 case in which two Palestinian naval force staff who were
injured and posed no immediate threat were deliberately struck and
killed by Israeli military vehicles.

DCI/PS strongly condemns the excessive use of force against unarmed
Palestinian civilians posing no threat to Israeli soldiers. In a non-
combat situation, the soldiers should have employed law enforcement
means to bring a wanted suspect to justice. If Israeli forces raided
Youssef's home on 4 March because he was in fact wanted by Israel at
the time, the military operation should have entailed his arrest and
prosecution; not the shooting of unarmed civilians and arbitrary
brutalisation of at least 20 people among his family and friends,
including 15 children.

Wilful killing of civilians

The soldiers acted recklessly in the way they dealt with Youssef's
family and friends, using lethal force unjustified by military
necessity according to the circumstances. They showed no intention
of taking precautions to avoid or minimise harm to civilians,
especially children. Eyewitness testimonies obtained by DCI/PS
fieldworkers reveal that the Israeli soldiers intentionally fired on
civilians, including children, even as they obeyed orders to exit
the house without resistance. DCI/PS field investigations also
indicate that despite her being wrapped in a sheet, Amira's head was
clearly visible for the soldiers to see. The soldiers were standing
approximately eight metres away from Nadia and her child, and
equipped with night vision binoculars and spotlights to enhance
their vision capabilities. When Nadia was asked what she was
carrying in her arms, one of the children explicitly and repeatedly
responded "baby" (katen) in Hebrew. Despite this, the soldiers
opened fire on the woman and child.

As a High Contracting Party to the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel
has a legal duty to protect civilians who are not actively taking
part in hostilities, particularly if they are wounded or infirm. Of
the family members and guests in Youssef's home on the evening of
the raid, 15 were children, who are granted special protection under
international law. As a State Party to the UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child (UNCRC), Israel is legally obligated to
recognise every child's "inherent right to life" and "ensure the
survival and development of the child to the maximum extent
possible." However, no consideration was given by the soldiers to
the status of the occupants of the house, and no precautionary
measures were taken before the start of the shooting to spare
civilians, and particularly children, who might be inside.

In international humanitarian law, civilian deaths that are
intentional and not justified by military necessity amount to war
crimes. "Wilful killings" of protected persons, or "wilfully causing
serious injury to body and health" of protected persons, also
constitute a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention (Article
147), for which individuals can be held criminally responsible. All
High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention are under a
legal obligation to search for persons alleged to have committed, or
ordered to be committed, such grave breaches, and to bring them in
front of their domestic courts or to exercise universal jurisdiction
and hand them over for trial to another High Contracting Party
(Article 146).

Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment

Once they were outside of the house, the soldiers deliberately
terrorised and threatened the women and children by shooting the
ground around them and laughing at their fear. Moreover, the
soldiers subjected Khaled, Youssef's 17 and 15-year-old sons, and
his 15-year-old nephew to humiliating and degrading treatment,
forcing them to strip their clothes and endure beatings in front of
the women and children. Mu'ath was particularly exposed to cruel
physical and psychological abuse for being related to a wanted
combatant. When the soldiers identified Mu'ath as Youssef's eldest
son, they forced him back inside the house and threatened and
physically abused him to gain information on weapons they alleged
were inside. Mu'ath was later detained at gunpoint in a military
jeep where soldiers further carried out acts of psychological abuse.

Article 3 of the Fourth Geneva Convention protects persons taking no
active part in hostilities from "violence to life and person and
outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and
degrading treatment." Further protection is afforded by Article 27
of the Convention that states, "protected persons shall at all times
be humanely treated, and shall be protected especially against all
acts of violence or threats thereof." The UN Convention Against
Torture (UNCAT), to which Israel is a signatory, defines torture as
acts perpetrated by persons acting in an official capacity which
intentionally inflict pain or suffering "for the purpose of
punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is
suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a
third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind"
(Article 1). As a State Party to the UNCRC, Israel also has a legal
obligation to protect children from "cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment."

House demolitions

Israeli forces frequently carry out house demolitions as part of its
military operations, including search and arrest operations. Article
53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention strictly prohibits the
destruction of personal property except in circumstances justified
by military necessity. In order to establish military necessity,
several conditions must be met: the house demolition must meet the
principle of proportionality, meaning the military advantage gained
must outweigh the damage caused to civilians and their property; the
house must be deemed essential to combat operations posing a
specific threat to occupation forces; and all other less harmful
options must be exhausted. House demolitions are also routinely
employed as a punitive measure against Palestinians, who have
carried out or are suspected of having carried out violent acts
against Israelis, or their extended family. Punitive house
demolitions do not meet the requirements of military necessity and
amounts to collective punishment, which is prohibited by the Fourth
Geneva Convention (Article 33).

House demolitions have devastating impacts on Palestinian families,
with children suffering disproportionately from its effects.
Children often experience psychological trauma and an acute sense of
insecurity after losing their homes and their belongings. As
families struggle to survive without access to basic necessities and
social services, the children often face gaps in their education.
According to a recent survey conducted by the Palestinian
Counselling Centre with support from Save the Children UK and the
Welfare Association, the emotional and behavioural impacts persist
well beyond the first six months following a demolition and include
increased aggression, depression, bedwetting, and poor academic
performance2.

On 4 March, an otherwise normal evening among family and friends in
the comfort and safety of their home was shattered by the brutal
violence of a military raid. The 14 children who survived this
ordeal have been psychologically scarred for life, but the full
impact of this incident, especially on its youngest victims, is
impossible to measure.

DCI/PS strongly condemns the excessive and unnecessary use of force
against unarmed Palestinian civilians who posed no threat to Israel
soldiers at the time of the incident. In light of the documented
facts surrounding the killing of Amira, DCI/PS calls on the High
Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to call on
Israel to prosecute those responsible for committing these grave
breaches, failing which, the High Contracting Parties should
themselves identify, search for and prosecute those responsible, in
accordance with their legal obligations under international
humanitarian law.

DCI/PS again calls on Israel to compel its army to respect its legal
obligations under international humanitarian law and respect the
lives of Palestinian children.
------------------
1. DCI/PS investigated this incident over a period of three months,
during which the Gaza fieldworker collected five statements from
victims and eyewitnesses in three separate visits and several follow
up phone calls with those directly involved in and affected by the
attack. The case study is built on information gathered from four of
the victims.
2. Long Term Implications of Israel's House Demolition Policy and
Practice on Palestinian Children and Their Families, forthcoming.

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