Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 16:34:51 +0200
From: "Mario Profaca"
Subject: FW: LAW: Israeli forces invade Ramallah, obstruct medical treatment

From: "Lawsociety"

Israeli forces invade Ramallah, obstruct medical treatment
10 June 2002

This morning at 2.30 am Israeli forces invaded Ramallah and El-Bireh from
different directions. A total of one hundred military vehicles, including
tanks, armored personnel carriers, and military jeeps, backed by two
Apache attack helicopters, firing heavy machine gunfire, occupied the
entire area and raided the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority for
the second time in five days. During the invasion the helicopters shelled
Um as-Sharayet neighborhood and 'Amari refugee camp. At 3.00 am Israeli
forces occupied the entire area of Ramallah and El-Bireh. During the raid
Israeli forces wounded a number of Palestinians and killed 26 years old
Yasser Sawalha, who was a member of the Palestinian security forces.

Israeli forces surrounded Ramallah Hospital, the Sheikh Zeid Hospital,
and the headquarters of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and
prevented ambulances from gaining access to the wounded. According to Dr.
Wa'el Qadaan only two ambulances are operating, which happened to be
outside the surrounded area.

Israeli forces occupied the building of the Palestinian Agricultural
Relief Committees (PARC) which hosts several press agencies, such as
Reuters, al-Watan TV, ABC News, Link, and Abu Dhabi TV and evacuated the
journalists. The building is one of the largest buildings in Ramallah and
strategically overlooks 'Amari refugee camp.

During the previous Israeli invasion of Ramallah on March 29, which
lasted more than a month, Israeli forces also surrounded the same
hospitals and occupied the building of the Palestinian Agricultural
Relief Committees.

Six staff members of the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee are
currently held hostage in the yard of the building. Also, Palestinian
journalist Ali al-Jayousi is also held by Israeli forces. Israeli forces
imposed a curfew on a number of neighborhoods, including Um as-Sharayet
and 'Amari refugee camp and arrested a number of residents. Last night
Israeli forces also raided Tulkarem, Qalqiliya and several areas in
Hebron.

LAW has repeatedly condemned Israel's obstruction of attempts by medical
personnel and others to aid the injured. Pursuant to Article 16 of the
Fourth Geneva Convention, the Israeli military has an obligation to
accord to the wounded and sick 'particular protection and respect.'
Violations of these well-established norms of international humanitarian
law have occurred on a significant scale in the Occupied Territories.

Violations of the right of medical personnel and health facilities to be
free from attack, commonly known as the right of medical neutrality, have
been pervasis during the course of the past twenty months. Medical
personnel 'of all categories' must be allowed to carry on their on their
duties and should be 'respected and protected' at all times.

Violations of the medical human rights by the Israeli military in the
Occupied Palestinian Territories are international offenses for which the
international community has legal standing to intervene. Such action is
required to protect the fundamental rights of the wounded civilians and
medical personnel in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

LAW, therefore, urgently calls on the international community to take
effective measures in order to protect the rights and lives of
Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and specifically to
immediately send an independent, effective protection force to the area.

LAW calls on the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention
to comply with their obligations to ensure respect for the Convention, by
taking urgent action to prosecute Israel's grave breaches of the Fourth
Geneva Convention (war crimes).

LAW also calls upon the European Union, a vital trading partner for
Israel, to suspend its Association Agreement with Israel and renew its
arms embargo against Israel as a means to pressure Israel into compliance
with basic norms of human rights and international humanitarian law.
_____________________________

LAW - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the
Environment is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to preserving
human rights through legal advocacy. LAW is affiliate to the
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), the International Federation
for Human Rights (FIDH), and the World Organisation Organisation Against
Torture (OMCT).

LAW - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the
Environment, PO Box 20873, Jerusalem, tel. +972-2-5833530, fax. +972-2-
5833317, email: law@lawsociety.org, web: www.lawsociety.org