Appendix

Brig.-Gen. Avi Benayahu

IDF Spokesperson Unit

International Organization Desk

Phone: 03 569 1842

Fax: 03 608 0312

February 10, 2009

Dear General Benayahu,

We would very much appreciate it if your office could provide us with responses to the questions listed below, which relate to allegations that IDF forces deliberately attacked civilians attempting to convey their civilian status, including by displaying white flags, during “Operation Cast Lead.” We would appreciate it if you could provide us with a reply by February 24, 2009.

General questions:

1. Please provide us with information as to how the IDF is documenting and analyzing civilian deaths in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead.
2. Has the IDF initiated any investigations into allegations of unlawful killings by Israeli soldiers in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead?  If so, could you please let us know which incidents, what type of investigation, and by whom.  Can you also tell us if the investigations’ findings will be made public.  
3. Has the IDF initiated any investigations into allegations of the killing or wounding of persons seeking to convey their civilian status or to surrender, during Operation Cast Lead? If so, which incidents, what type of investigation, and by whom? Will the investigations’ findings be made public?  

Incident questions:

1. On January 13, around 7:30 a.m., IDF soldiers in tanks and D9 bulldozers allegedly ordered residents of the al-Najjar neighborhood of Khuza’a village to walk to the center of the village. The village had seen fighting over the previous days, in which at least two Palestinian fighters died, but residents said there was no fighting in the area on the morning of January 13, and IDF ground forces were deployed in the village.

A group of about 15 women and children led the way to the center. Four eyewitnesses say an Israeli soldier opened fire from 120 meters away, fatally shooting one of the women, Rawhiya al-Najjar, in the head as she walked holding a white flag.  The responsible soldier apparently stepped out of a house occupied by the IDF [GPS 31°18'41.60"N/34°21'55.37"E] and killed her on the corner of a small street [GPS 31°18'38.64"N/34°21'58.26"E].  A few minutes later, another shot hit Jasmin al-Najjar as the group of women tried to pull Rawhiya from the line of fire. About one hour later, Israeli forces allegedly shot and killed Mahmoud al-Najjar as he stepped into an open street [GPS 31°18'33.29"N/ 34°21'52.76"E] in an attempt to retrieve Rawhiya’s body.  IDF forces were based down the street, to the southeast, witnesses said. 

Did IDF soldiers order the residents of al-Najjar district of Khuza’a into the center of the village on the morning of January 13 and, if so, why?  Did IDF soldiers open fire on Rawhiya al-Najjar and Mahmoud al-Najjar,and, if so, why? 

1. In the early afternoon of January 7, an Israeli tank allegedly pulled up to within meters of the front door of a house at the eastern end of al-Quds Street in Jabaliya’s Abid Rabo neighborhood [GPS  31°31'6.48"N/ 34°30'10.80"E], which belonged to Khaled Abid Rabo. According to three members of the family, a soldier using a megaphone called out for the residents of the house to come out. Two adult women and three young female children emerged from the house, one of the women holding a white flag, and stood outside for more than five minutes.  Without warning, witnesses said, a soldier emerged from a tank and opened fire on them with an automatic weapons, striking two of the girls and their grandmother.  In front of the house Human Rights Watch saw tank marks and an empty ammunition box for 7.62mm bullets.  The family said it could not reach an ambulance because the mobile phone network was down; after about two hours, two of the girls died.  The family left their home later that afternoon, during the three-hour humanitarian pause, carrying the wounded and dead.  Near the intersection of al-Quds Street and Salah al-Din street [GPS approximately 31°31'19.89"N/34°29'44.77"E] they say a man and son with a horse cart stopped to help them get to the hospital.  IDF soldiers allegedly shot and killed the white horse and wounded the son, Adham Kamiz Nasir.  The son reportedly made it out to Egypt for medical care but subsequently died.  When Khaled Abid Rabo and his family returned to their home they found it destroyed.

Did the IDF deploy tanks outside the house of Khalid Abid Rabo on January 7?  Did IDF soldiers open fire at residents of the house and, if so, why?  Did the IDF destroy the house and, if so, why?

1. Multiple witnesses said that at around 12:30 p.m. on January 4, in the Johr al-Dik area near the Israeli border south of Gaza City, an Israeli soldier in a  tank fired an automatic weapon at a group of unarmed Palestinians who had been ordered to leave the area by an IDF radio broadcast, killing two women, one of whom was holding a white flag.  Just prior to this, at around noon, members of the Abu Hajjaj and al-Safadi families heard an Israeli announcement on FM radio instructing residents to leave their homes. The group, including 17 children, left the house where they were sheltering and walked 100 meters west along a small road, towards a stationary IDF tank.  Members of the group say a second tank drove towards them from the north, and a soldier standing from its turret began shooting at them without warning; they asserted that there was no fighting in the immediate area at the time. The gunfire killed a 35-year-old woman, Majida Abu Hajjaj, and 65-year-old woman, Rayya Abu Hajjaj, at least one of whom was allegedly holding a white flag. A relative of the women says he found their bodies in the yard of his home when he returned two weeks later. 

Did IDF soldiers fire upon and kill Majida Abu Hajjaj and Rayya Abu Hajjaj in Johr al-Dik on January 4, and, if so, why?

1. At around 11:30 a.m. on January 4, two women were allegedly shot by IDF soldiers while holding white flags as they emerged from their home in Beit Lahiya, southeast of al-’Atatra [GPS 31°33'22.59"N/34°29'19.34"E]. One of the women was killed. Residents said that a D9 bulldozer had struck one of the support pillars of a house where the women were sheltering with 40 other people. The two women exited the house, which belonged to the al-Qanou`a family, at around 11 a.m., when a bulldozer hit the house a second time, leading them to fear it might collapse. When the women walked outside, holding white flags, they were fired at, apparently from a sniper in a house about 50 meters to the north, opposite two buildings of the Sakhnin school. One of the women, Ibtessam al-Qanou`a , was killed; the other, Zakiyya al-Qanou`a, dragged her back inside.  At 1:30 p.m., IDF soldiers entered the house and allegedly forced all those inside into one room where, witnesses said, they handcuffed and blindfolded the men and forced them to strip down to their underwear. At 2:30 p.m., the soldiers took the group to a nearby elementary school but did not allow them to retrieve the dead woman’s body until later that night. 

Did IDF soldiers destroy the al-Qanou’a home on January 4 and, if so, why?  Did an IDF soldier fire on the two women and, if so, why? Did IDF forces prevent relatives from retrieving the body of the woman who had been killed at the time the house was evacuated and, if so, why?

1. In two separate incidents on January 4, IDF soldiers allegedly shot at members of a family who were trying to leave the Siyafa area, northwest of Beit Lahiya.  The series of incidents began when a white phosphorous shell landed in the Abu Halima family house [GPS 31°33'47.08"N/34°29'22.14"E], killing five members of the family, one of them a baby, and wounding four.  Family members loaded the four wounded people and the body of the baby onto two tractors to get them medical care.  Multiple witnesses said that IDF soldiers fired on one of the tractors in front of the Ma’owiya school [GPS 31°33'26.39"N/34°29'23.23"E], killing two unarmed young men, Muhammad and Mattar Abu Halima, and wounding a third.  Soldiers allowed the survivors to leave but refused to allow them to retrieve the bodies of the young men or of the baby. Witnesses said the tractor had stopped moving and those on the tractor were raising their hands when they came under fire.  Later that same evening, relatives attempted to leave the area with the other bodies of those killed in the white phosphorous attack.  They were joined by about 150 other neighborhood residents who allegedly had instructions from the IDF to leave the area. Despite this and their waving of white flags, several trucks and those  on foot came under small arms fire near  al-’Atatra junction; several were injured. They were later allowed to leave the area without the bodies or the trucks. 

Did IDF soldiers open fire on the group on the tractor, and on the larger group at the al-’Atatra junction on January 4, and, if so, why? Did the IDF block the evacuation of the wounded and the dead in either case, and if so, for what reason?

1. According to multiple witnesses, an IDF tank fired a shell that hit the second-floor stairwell of the al-Marrdi family home in Beit Lahiya [GPS 31°33'36.78"N/ 34°29'23.58"E] on the night of January 3.  IDF soldiers allegedly occupied the building on January 4, moved the family next door and confined them to a central room. At around 10 a.m. on January 5, the soldiers told them they could leave the area.  Around 19 members of the family left the house together, including children who were allegedly holding white flags. Witnesses said soldiers fired over their heads and at the ground around them repeatedly as they walked down the road.  Witnesses identified the location [GPS 31°33'5.64"N/ 34°29'44.04"E] where a six year-old girl, Nada al-Marrdi,  was killed by a bullet to the back of the head as she was walking with her father and two young brothers, who were holding white flags, eastwards along a road towards the Beit Lahiya junction. 

Did IDF soldiers fire a tank shell at the al-Marrdi family house on January 3, and if so, why?  Did the IDF fire at the al-Marrdi family as it walked on January 5 and, if so, why? 

1. On January 4, members of the Jouha family allegedly came under small arms fire from IDF forces as they attempted to leave the Zeitoun area around Salah al-Din St., walking south while holding white flags.  The previous day, IDF soldiers had allegedly occupied the family’s home and told the residents to “go to Rafah.”  The group came under fire in the early afternoon on January 3 and sought shelter for the night in a garage. They attempted the journey again on January 4, when Ibrahim Jouha, age 17 or 18, was seriously injured by gunfire.  He died approximately 13 hours later after being unable to obtain medical care. 

Did IDF soldiers fire at the Jouha family on January 4, and, if so, why?

Thank you for your attention to this request. We would appreciate a response to these questions, and any other relevant information you wish to provide, by February 24, 2009.  

Sincerely,

Joe Stork

Deputy Director

Middle East and North Africa division