Tag: International law

Palestinian youth killed by Israeli military explosive

26 February 2009

On February 26th, one youth was killed and two seriously injured when a landmine, leftover from Israeli military training in the area, exploded near the town of Tubas in the northern West Bank.

The landmine exploded around 3pm, as the three boys were walking home from school in the fields east of Tubas. Fifteen-year-old Jamal Abdel Nasser Al-Fuqaha was killed in the blast, and 16-year-old Mohammed Khalil  Al-Fuqaha and his 17-year-old cousin Munir Khalil Al-Fuqaha,  were injured and taken to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus. Munir who received shrapnel wounds to his head, face, chest, right buttock and left leg, and Mohamed who suffered severe psychological damage  as a result of the blast, but no physical injuries.

The fields east of Tubas are often used by the Israeli military for training exercises. According to the Palestine News Network, dozens of Palestinians have been injured from landmines left behind by the army in the Tubas region.

Stop the bombing of Gaza! Prevent a humanitarian crisis!

UPDATE: Since this Action Alert was posted, the shelling of Gaza has continued almost non-stop.

Eight days [now 17 days] and thousands of shells later, the assault on Gaza continues. Israel has vowed that it will continue to intensify the attack. Eighteen people are dead, including at two children, and many more are injured.

Amnesty International is “calling on the Israeli army to end immediately its air bombardments and shelling of civilian residential areas in the Gaza Strip.” Amnesty says, “Israeli forces…must put an immediate end to the frequent, disproportionate and excessive use of force against Palestinians. Such attacks continue to cause death and injury to Palestinian children and other bystanders, and constitute violations of international law.”

John Ging, Director of UNRWA Operations in Gaza, stated that “from a humanitarian perspective the outlook here in Gaza is bleak at the moment. We are once again facing imminent food shortages, insecurity is making delivery of humanitarian services difficult and we are very concerned about the public health risks from the outbreak of avian influenza. All of this is likely to add up to more refugees falling below the poverty line and becoming dependent on humanitarian assistance.”

Please help stop these atrocities:

  1. Contact your local representatives and demand they raise the issue of the bombardment of Gaza and the closure of the Karni checkpoint (see information below).
  2. Contact your Ministry of Foreign Affairs and demand they put pressure on Israel to stop the bombardment of Gaza and open the Karni checkpoint (see information below).
  3. Hold a protest, vigil, or rally in front of your Israeli embassy or consulate and demand that Israel stops bombarding Gaza and opens the Karni checkpoint. To find the address of the Embassy or one of the Consulates, go to (http://www.embassiesabroad.com/embassies-of/Israel.cfm#171)

UK
Contact MPs
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/aristotle/

Fax your MP direct from this site
http://www.faxyourmp.com/

USA
Contact local representative
http://www.house.gov/writerep/

Contact your Senators
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

US (Department of State)
http://www.state.gov/

Websites for Ministries of Foreign Affairs
For all countries see http://www.usip.org/library/formin.html

Australia
http://www.dfat.gov.au/contacts.html

Denmark
http://www.um.dk/en/servicemenu/Contact/?wbc_purpose=basi

France
http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr

Greece
http://www2.mfa.gr/www.mfa.gr/en-US

Germany
http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/www/en/index_html

Japan
http://www.mofa.go.jp/feedback/index.html

Spain
http://www.mae.es/en/Home/