[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: The folks at Physicians for Human Rights-Israel
aren't happy at the measures Israel has taken in its attempt to gain the
release of Cpl Shalit and put an end to the ongoing Qassam attacks without
re-occupying the Gaza Strip (they ignore the efforts of Israel to insure the
ongoing supply of food, fuel, etc. while seriously exaggerating the
situation on the ground - but that isn't the point of this note).

Without occupation: Israel relies on haphazard shelling of launching areas
and targeted killing of rocket teams from the air using devices that, by
their nature, can cause peripheral casualties. Instead of blocking passage
on a main north-south road with a series of IDF roadblocks bridges are
bombed out from the air. In addition some targets are hit for their
declarative value.

With occupation - after the completion of a version of "Defensive Shield" in
the Gaza Strip: Small IDF teams can go into any place at any time. With
rare exception the only casualties other than terrorists(who opted to fight
rather than surrender) are the friends and family of terrorists who
incorrectly assume that Israeli ground forces are willing to sacrifice their
lives out of some immoral respect for human shields. It is not necessary to
hit targets for their declarative value as the ongoing war against terror is
carried out directly against the terrorists.

Re-occupation with a Defensive Shield operation would bring relative quiet
to the Gaza Strip and neighboring Israeli communities.

Re-occupation. The humanitarian choice.]

Stop Collective Punishment in Gaza

Physicians for Human Rights-Israel
3 July 2006
Stop Collective Punishment in Gaza

Physicians for Human Rights-Israel decries the collective punishment that
Israel is inflicting on the civilian punishment in the Gaza Strip - this
kind of punishment is forbidden by International Law and by all reasonable
moral standards.

Over the past week, since the solider Gilad Shalit was captured by
Palestinian organizations, Israel has been attacking the civilian population
of the Gaza Strip, using means that are in direct violation of international
conventions that call to avoid indiscriminate harm to civilians. Moreover,
Israel is committed to actively protecting residents of the Gaza Strip from
implications of the war while clearly separating civilians and those
involved in the fighting.

In the Gaza Strip there is an intermittent food shortage which is used to
exert forbidden pressure on the Palestinian civilian population. The Geneva
Conventions clearly state that ".in no event shall actions against these
objects be taken which may be expected to leave the civilian population with
such inadequate food or water as to cause its starvation or force its
movement."(art.54(3)(b)).

Additionally, the power stations in Gaza were harmed by Israeli attacks
resulting in an acute shortage in electricity. One of the consequences of
this action is that the water pumps, which use electricity, are only
partially operational, creating a shortage of drinkable water.

Israel continues to carry out fly-bys with resulting super-sonic booms over
the Gaza Strip. These actions lead to psychological torture which causes
damage in children whose lives have turned into a continual nightmare
consisting of panic attacks, sleep disturbances, bedwetting and other
detrimental effects.

Today, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel is filing an appeal with the
Israeli High Court for a temporary order to stop the fly-bys over the strip
due to the fact that they are in violation of the Convention on the Rights
of the Child, of which Israel is a signatory. The Conventions states "In
accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law to
protect the civilian population in armed conflicts, States Parties shall
take all feasible measures to ensure protection and care of children who are
affected by an armed conflict" (article 38).

The attacks on the Gaza Strip are redolent of revenge and an instilment of
fear in the civilian population, both of which are clearly forbidden.

Section 50 of the Hague Convention forbids collective punishment of a
civilian population in response to actions perpetrated by individual members
of that population.

"Civilian objects shall not be the object of attack or of reprisals" (Geneva
Conventions, Protocol 1, art.52(1)).

Physicians for Human Rights calls on Israel to stop these actions
immediately and allowed he return of normal life for the civilian population
of the Gaza Strip.

For more information:

Maskit Bendel, Director: Occupied Territories Project, +972-54-7700477
Shabtai Gold, Public Outreach, +972-54-4860630

www.phr.org.il