[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA:
"However, the unlawful status of Israeli settlements does not affect the
civilian status of settlers, who only lose their protection from attack if
they take a direct part in hostilities."
So does this mean that its ok to murder Israeli settlers when they take
their turn guarding their communities? ]

Hamas must prevent further attacks on Israeli civilians
Press Release
3 September 2010
www.amnesty.ie/news/hamas-must-prevent-further-attacks-israeli-civilians

Amnesty International today strongly condemned this week's two attacks, one
of them fatal, against Israeli civilians in the occupied West Bank.

Amnesty International today strongly condemned this week's two attacks, one
of them fatal, against Israeli civilians in the occupied West Bank. The
organisation urged the 13 Palestinian armed groups who issued a statement
today threatening similar attacks to stop targeting civilians.

In a letter sent today to Isma'il Haniyeh, Prime Minister of the Hamas de
facto administration in the Gaza Strip, Amnesty International expressed its
serious concern about the attacks claimed by Hamas' military wing, the Izz
al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. The letter urges the Hamas authorities to take
immediate measures to prevent future attacks on civilians.

Amnesty International also voiced its grave concern about the statement
today (3 September) by 13 Palestinian armed groups, including the Izz al-Din
al-Qassam Brigades, that more attacks on civilians are planned in response
to the renewed negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority
which began yesterday.

Four killed

Four Israeli civilians, including a pregnant woman, who were traveling in a
car near the settlement of Kiryat Arba, were shot dead on the evening of 31
August 2010, while two Israeli civilians were wounded in a shooting attack
near the settlement of Kochav Hashachar on the evening of 1 September 2010.

In both cases the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades claimed "full
responsibility", according to their website and media reports. Hamas
political leaders such as Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar and spokesperson
Sami Abu Zuhri, while not directly claiming involvement, have made
statements during the past few days, which seem to condone such attacks.

Amnesty International condemns all attacks targeting civilians, wherever,
whenever and by whomever they are carried out and calls for those
responsible to be held to account. Such attacks are prohibited absolutely
under international law.

Amnesty International has repeatedly condemned the establishment of Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories as violations of the
Fourth Geneva Convention. However, the unlawful status of Israeli
settlements does not affect the civilian status of settlers, who only lose
their protection from attack if they take a direct part in hostilities.

Mass arrests

Amnesty International also notes with concern reports that many of the at
least 350 people apprehended by Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces
in the wake of the attacks have been arrested without a warrant. While the
PA has a duty to investigate and prosecute individuals who are alleged to
have carried out or ordered such attacks, they must do so in the framework
of respect for human rights.

Additional concerns are raised by widely documented reports in recent years
of torture and other ill-treatment of Hamas detainees in the custody of the
PA security forces.

Following the two attacks on Israeli civilians, attacks on Palestinian
civilians and their property have been carried out by Israeli civilians
reportedly living in illegal settlements in the Nablus, Hebron and Jericho
regions of the West Bank. Amnesty International condemns these attacks and
calls upon the Israeli authorities to prevent further such attacks against
Palestinian civilians.