Ramallah, 14-06-06: The Palestinian National Initiative (PNI) strongly denounces the two Israeli air strikes on Gaza City yesterday which killed a total of 11 Palestinians, nine of whom were civilians, including two children, and wounded a further 20.
The Israeli military fired two missiles into the heart of Gaza City on Tuesday morning, June 13, 2006. The first missile struck a vehicle, killing all three of its passengers and four other innocent bystanders. The second missile was fired minutes later after a crowd of people had gathered around the scene of the first strike. Two more civilian Palestinians were killed by the second strike. Among the nine dead were an ambulance driver and two children.
Such attacks contravene Article 3 of the Forth Geneva Convention, ratified by Israel in 1951, under which extra-judicial killings constitute 'grave breaches' and are subject to international criminal prosecution.
As such, the PNI calls on the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to uphold their obligations under Article 1, to ensure the respect of international humanitarian law by holding Israel to its obligations under the Convention, under which Israel, as an occupying power, is responsible for the protection of the Palestinian population.
The latest air strikes bring the death toll in Gaza over the past six days to nearly 30 Palestinians, and the number of injured to 60. They come just six days after an Israeli gunboat attack on a Gaza beach killed seven Palestinians civilians, including five children, all of whom were members of the same family.