Human Rights Watch strongly condemned Palestinian bombings and sniper attacks on Israeli civilians that have claimed the lives of three children since Monday. The international monitoring organization called on Palestinian President Yasir Arafat to take immediate steps to bring to justice those responsible and to prevent future attacks.
Palestinian suicide bombers struck three times in this week, killing two Israeli children in Kfar Saba and seriously injuring others there and in Jerusalem. The bombings were claimed by the Hamas and Islamic Jihad organizations. Palestinian sniper fire on Monday killed an Israeli infant in the Avraham Avino settlement in Hebron and injured her father.
"Civilians must never be targets of attack, even in wartime," said Hanny Megally, executive director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch. "President Arafat should condemn such attacks unequivocally, and order the Palestinian police and judicial authorities to investigate and bring those responsible for planning and carrying them out to justice."
Human Rights Watch stressed that any actions taken in response by the Israeli government must respect fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, including the prohibition on the indiscriminate or disproportionate use of force, direct or reprisal attacks on civilians, and collective punishments. The organization pointed out that Israeli security forces must also act to prevent attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians and their homes and shops, such as the rampages that occurred throughout this week in Hebron.
"At its core, the crisis in the West Bank and Gaza Strip is a crisis of disregard for fundamental human rights and international humanitarian law," Megally said. "It will not be resolved until the Palestinian Authority, as well as the government of Israel, commit themselves to respect these principles in practice."
