The Israeli crimes reaped the lives of 52 Palestinian demonstrators,

Ref: 52/2018

Date: May 14, 2018

Timing: 20:00 local time

Press Release

The Israeli crimes reaped the lives of 52 Palestinian demonstrators,

The International Commission to Support Palestinians’ Rights (ICSPR) strongly condemns the Israeli occupation escalation in targeting the civilians participating in the million demonstrators return marches by committing more killings against them, while the occupation military and political leaders incite to kill and target the peaceful demonstrators.

According to data published by the Palestinian Ministry of Health, since the early hours of today (Monday, May 14, 2018), until 20:00 local time, 52 Palestinian civilians were killed, including 5 boys, one girl and one with special needs and  2410 others were injured including 122 children and 44 women.

 40 of injuries are seriously critical, 945 are moderate and 1351 are minor injuries. The Ministry of Health also reported that: 79 shots were in the head and neck, 161 in the upper limbs, 62 in the back and chest, 52 in the abdomen and pelvis, 837 in the lower limbs and 1055 cases of gas suffocation.

At the same time, the Israeli occupation forces have escalated their repression of several peaceful demonstrations in various cities and villages in the West Bank, which reinforce the fact that the Israeli occupation forces are acting in accordance with a systematic plan supported by a political and military decision of the highest Israeli levels.

A plan that became clear through the use of lethal and excessive force by the occupation forces since the first moments of the return marches on 30-03-2018. This has been reinforced by successive Israeli measures over the past two days, in addition to the Israeli threatening of demonstrators, the border area witnessed additional Israeli military buildup, accompanied by military bulldozers, tanks and other equipment and water pumps, and erected the area (50-70 meters from the border) with a barbed-wire fence, in front of the demonstration yards which the Supreme National Commission for Return Marches and Siege Breaking has established, in addition to the Israeli occupation forces also have pumped wastewater towards the areas surrounding the return camps, which witness on daily basis peaceful demonstrations. The Israeli occupation warplanes launched incendiary bombs at the tents in the return camps and threw thousands of warning leaflets to intimidate civilians.

The Israeli occupation forces deliberately killed the Palestinian civilians and demonstrators, despite of them not posing any threat to the lives of the occupation soldiers, which is likely to raise with the number of victims of the demonstrators, who declared their determination to continue their peaceful protest and march, especially in light of the international role weakness to force the state of occupation to stop the killing policy of peaceful protesters.

The International Commission affirms that the way the Israeli occupation forces deal with Palestinian demonstrators falls within the framework of implementing a systematic plan and a political decision from the highest levels in the Israeli occupation state, and indicates that the results of the monitoring and documentation carried out since the beginning of the march to date have shown that there is no danger to the lives of the occupation soldiers. Therefore:

• ICSPR demands urgent and effective actions to protect the peaceful marches and stop the excessive use of lethal force by the occupation army.
• ICSPR warns again the Israeli occupation against the policy of deliberate targeting and killing of peaceful demonstrators, and wars the international community against the continued silence on the Israeli crimes committed against the demonstrators and hold it accountable, considering this silence a green light for the occupation forces to continue to shed the blood of the defenseless demonstrators.
• ICSPR warns of the continued inability of the international community to act to stop the Israeli crimes committed against the demonstrators, especially in Gaza Strip, and considers this deficit as a green light for the occupation forces to continue to shed the blood of unarmed demonstrators.
• ICSPR calls on all international bodies, especially the World Health Organization, to intervene immediately in order to provide the necessary medical supplies for the injured.
• ICSPR calls upon the Palestinian leadership and diplomacy to activate their role by referring files of grave violations and Israeli war crimes under Article 14 of the Rome Charter, which will ensure ending impunity for the Israeli criminals and invite the Human Rights Council to an extraordinary session to discuss and condemn these grave violations against the peaceful demonstrators and lead to the establishment of a fact-finding committee to investigate the facts of the grave violations by the occupation forces against the demonstrators, and to take all measures to ensure the steadfastness of the citizens.

Regards,