URGENT APPEAL: Ref: UA 04/ 09.

War Crimes Against Children: new report on the 313 children killed during Gaza offensive

A new report by The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR  reveals the true extent of child killings by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip during its 23 day offensive on Gaza between 27 December 2008 and 18 January 2009.

“We are calling for an independent full-scale investigation into all documented attacks on civilians during the offensive,” said Raji Sourani, director of PCHR. “Israel must be held fully accountable for the crimes it has perpetrated against Gaza’s civilian population, including alleged war crimes against children. We cannot allow the lives of these children to just be statistics in the history books of the Middle East.” 

‘Operation Cast Lead’ was the biggest Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip in nearly 42 years of occupation. 1,414 Palestinians were killed, and PCHR investigations have found the overwhelming majority, 83 per cent, were civilians. One of the cases in the report is that of 18 month old Farah al-Helu, who was killed on 4 January. The al-Helu family had been told to evacuate their house in Zaytoun, eastern Gaza, but while they were attempting to flee, Israeli soldiers opened fire on them. Farah was shot in the stomach and bled to death two hours later.

Read the report in English. http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/Reports/English/pdf_spec/War%20Crimes%20Against%20Children%20Book.pdf

Please press TAKE ACTION to send letter of appeal to H.E. GABRIELA SHALEV, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations and Cc Mrs RADHIKA COOMARSASWAMY Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, and  H.E.Nasser Al-Kidwa, Ambassador,  Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine and please send this appeal to your mailing lists.

H.E. GABRIELA SHALEV,

Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations

NY. USA

Your Excellency,

A  report, War Crimes Against Children,  by The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR  reveals the true extent of child killings by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip during its 23 day offensive on Gaza between 27 December 2008 and 18 January 2009. War Crimes Against Children exposes the abject failure of Israeli authorities to uphold international humanitarian law, which provides protection for children in armed conflict and the lack of adequate precautions taken to distinguish between civilians and military targets. The report also details indiscriminate shelling of homes and schools where internally displaced people were sheltering, the psychological impact of the offensive, and the alarming scale of physical injuries inflicted on young people.

I call on you to urge the Government of the State of Israel to

·         immediately establish and Independent Investigative Committee to investigate all IOF killings of Palestinian civilians including children. The Committee must meet the international standads of independence and transparency and publish its findings publicly in order to to address the impunity with which Israeli forces kill Palestinian civilians and their children.

·         uphold the rights accorded to children under the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) which brings together the human rights of chldren articulated in other international human rights instruments. Israel must abide by these universally agreed set of non-negotiable standards and obligations that provides protection and support for the  rights of children.

Israel must be held fully accountable for the crimes it has perpetrated against Gaza’s civilian population, including alleged war crimes against children. The lives of these children be just  statistics in the history books of the Middle East. 

Sincerely