11 dec 2005
Israeli online daily Haaretz reported on Sunday that the Israeli Chief Justice Aharon Barak said on Sunday that he intends to rule soon in two petitions filed against the Israeli army’s policy of targeted killings. Barak said that he is “ready to issue a ruling” after three years of deliberations in the case.
The two petitions were filed by The Public Committee Against Torture and Yesh Gvul Israeli organizations.
Mishael Cheshin, the Israeli Deputy Chief Justice expressed impatience with the two appeals and said that a distinction is required between what he described as “the legal status” of assassinations in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Haaretz stated that ahead of the deliberation, State Prosecutor for Special Issues Shai Nitzan submitted a document to the court arguing that assassination policy of Palestinian fighters by the army “is not in violation of the law”.
He added that that after Israeli withdrew from the Gaza Strip, and ended its military control there, Gaza became subject to the “law of war” which permits targeted killings, , rather than the "laws of occupation" or the "laws of belligerent occupation" that governed the area previously, according to Cheshin. The Public Committee against Torture is petitioning against the state's "assassinations policy," while Yesh Gvul is demanding a criminal investigation against current Israeli army Chief of Staff Dan Halutz, and former chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon for their part in the killing of 14 innocent Palestinians when the army assassinated a Hamas activist identified as Saleh Shehadeh in July 2002.
Also, Nitzan wrote in his document that the Israeli army left the Gaza Strip on September 12, 2005, and ended the military regime that existed there since the end of 1967 war.
“This means that starting from that dare, the laws of belligerent occupation no longer apply to the Gaza Strip”, he said, “The state's position was and still is that the laws applying to targeted killings in a situation of armed conflict are those of war and not those of belligerent occupation”.
It is worth mentioning that the petition was first submitted in 2002, but it was frozen after Israel suspended the targeted killing. September 2005, Israeli High Court Justices decided to combine the two petitions, and after Israeli renewed the assassination policy recently.
The two petitions were filed by The Public Committee Against Torture and Yesh Gvul Israeli organizations.
Mishael Cheshin, the Israeli Deputy Chief Justice expressed impatience with the two appeals and said that a distinction is required between what he described as “the legal status” of assassinations in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Haaretz stated that ahead of the deliberation, State Prosecutor for Special Issues Shai Nitzan submitted a document to the court arguing that assassination policy of Palestinian fighters by the army “is not in violation of the law”.
He added that that after Israeli withdrew from the Gaza Strip, and ended its military control there, Gaza became subject to the “law of war” which permits targeted killings, , rather than the "laws of occupation" or the "laws of belligerent occupation" that governed the area previously, according to Cheshin. The Public Committee against Torture is petitioning against the state's "assassinations policy," while Yesh Gvul is demanding a criminal investigation against current Israeli army Chief of Staff Dan Halutz, and former chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon for their part in the killing of 14 innocent Palestinians when the army assassinated a Hamas activist identified as Saleh Shehadeh in July 2002.
Also, Nitzan wrote in his document that the Israeli army left the Gaza Strip on September 12, 2005, and ended the military regime that existed there since the end of 1967 war.
“This means that starting from that dare, the laws of belligerent occupation no longer apply to the Gaza Strip”, he said, “The state's position was and still is that the laws applying to targeted killings in a situation of armed conflict are those of war and not those of belligerent occupation”.
It is worth mentioning that the petition was first submitted in 2002, but it was frozen after Israel suspended the targeted killing. September 2005, Israeli High Court Justices decided to combine the two petitions, and after Israeli renewed the assassination policy recently.
22 juli 2002
12 dead in attack on Hamas
Sheikh Salah Shehadeh
Israeli F-16 warplanes bombed the house of the military commander of Hamas in Gaza City last night, burying him and at least 11 other Palestinians, including seven children, beneath the rubble of a four-storey block of flats, and wounding 120 others.
Last night's assassination of Sheikh Salah Shehadeh is the most serious blow to the military wing of Hamas since the start of the Palestinian uprising nearly two years ago. Shehadeh was among the founders of Hamas's Izzedine al-Qassem Brigades, and spent a decade in Israeli jails.
His killing may also prove to be one of the most lethal acts of assassination by the Israeli army since it embarked on a strategy of killing Palestinian militants.
"We have confirmation that the leader of the military wing of Hamas, Sheikh Salah Shehadeh, was killed in this attack," Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas official, told reporters.
Announcements on loudspeakers in Gaza, however, contradicted him, saying that Shehadeh was wounded but still alive.
Mr Haniyeh added: "Not only will Hamas take revenge for the martyrs, but all the Palestinian people will take revenge for the blood of the martyrs."
In a statement, the Israeli military confirmed that Shehadeh was the target, saying that he was behind "hundreds of terror attacks in the last two years against Israeli soldiers and civilians".
In Gaza City, doctors at Shifa hospital said 12 people were killed in the missile strike, including Shehadeh's wife and three sons. At least four of the other dead were also children.
Israeli F-16 warplanes bombed the house of the military commander of Hamas in Gaza City last night, burying him and at least 11 other Palestinians, including seven children, beneath the rubble of a four-storey block of flats, and wounding 120 others.
Last night's assassination of Sheikh Salah Shehadeh is the most serious blow to the military wing of Hamas since the start of the Palestinian uprising nearly two years ago. Shehadeh was among the founders of Hamas's Izzedine al-Qassem Brigades, and spent a decade in Israeli jails.
His killing may also prove to be one of the most lethal acts of assassination by the Israeli army since it embarked on a strategy of killing Palestinian militants.
"We have confirmation that the leader of the military wing of Hamas, Sheikh Salah Shehadeh, was killed in this attack," Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas official, told reporters.
Announcements on loudspeakers in Gaza, however, contradicted him, saying that Shehadeh was wounded but still alive.
Mr Haniyeh added: "Not only will Hamas take revenge for the martyrs, but all the Palestinian people will take revenge for the blood of the martyrs."
In a statement, the Israeli military confirmed that Shehadeh was the target, saying that he was behind "hundreds of terror attacks in the last two years against Israeli soldiers and civilians".
In Gaza City, doctors at Shifa hospital said 12 people were killed in the missile strike, including Shehadeh's wife and three sons. At least four of the other dead were also children.
The high death toll - and Shehadeh's importance to Hamas - makes an act of revenge almost inevitable. The Islamist organisation has been the major purveyor of suicide bombings inside Israel.
Witnesses said a single missile streaked across the sky from the two F-16 jet fighters overhead, flattening a building in the Karkash neighbourhood in a huge explosion. At least five other houses were destroyed.
"I fell out of my bed and found myself a minute later covered in dust and stones, and the sounds of my children screaming and crying," said Jamal Halaby, a police officer who lives nearby.
Shehadeh, who was from the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, had moved to the Karkash neighbourhood as a safety precaution. Since May, Israel has signalled that it intends to step up its attacks against Palestinian militants in Gaza.
Witnesses said a single missile streaked across the sky from the two F-16 jet fighters overhead, flattening a building in the Karkash neighbourhood in a huge explosion. At least five other houses were destroyed.
"I fell out of my bed and found myself a minute later covered in dust and stones, and the sounds of my children screaming and crying," said Jamal Halaby, a police officer who lives nearby.
Shehadeh, who was from the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, had moved to the Karkash neighbourhood as a safety precaution. Since May, Israel has signalled that it intends to step up its attacks against Palestinian militants in Gaza.
Last night's air raid was the second Israeli strike on Gaza in recent days. Earlier this month, the Israeli army bombed what it said were workshops used to produce the home-made mortars fired on the illegal Jewish settlements in the territory.
Although the electrified fence that surrounds the crowded territory has ensured that none of the suicide bombers who has struck at Israel has come from Gaza, Israel views the area as a breeding ground for militants.
After last night's assassination, however, there are certain to be many more Palestinians joining the ranks of the suicide bombers, killing off the slim hopes of consolidating a relative lull in violence during the past month.
"There will be no peace initiative after today," Abdel Aziz Rantissi, a senior Hamas leader, told al-Jazeera television. "We will chase them in their houses and in their apartments, the same way they have destroyed our houses and our apartments."
The assassination of Shehadeh was carried out on a day when Israeli officials were talking about a staged withdrawal from the West Bank.
Although the electrified fence that surrounds the crowded territory has ensured that none of the suicide bombers who has struck at Israel has come from Gaza, Israel views the area as a breeding ground for militants.
After last night's assassination, however, there are certain to be many more Palestinians joining the ranks of the suicide bombers, killing off the slim hopes of consolidating a relative lull in violence during the past month.
"There will be no peace initiative after today," Abdel Aziz Rantissi, a senior Hamas leader, told al-Jazeera television. "We will chase them in their houses and in their apartments, the same way they have destroyed our houses and our apartments."
The assassination of Shehadeh was carried out on a day when Israeli officials were talking about a staged withdrawal from the West Bank.