sabr
28th April 2004, 05:43 PM
Israel faces human shield claim
Activists claim Mohammed was tied to the jeep by police.
Israeli human rights activists have accused border police of using a 13-year-old Palestinian as a human shield.
Rabbis for Human Rights say that Mohammed Badwan was tied by police to a jeep during a recent demonstration in the West Bank village of Bidou.
The police apparently hoped this would stop Palestinians from throwing stones during a protest against Israel's West Bank barrier.
Israel's Supreme Court banned the use of human shields in 2002.
Rabbis for Human Rights also say that the boy was beaten by Israeli police before being arrested.
Israeli police spokesman Gil Kleiman said: "It's unclear what happened, we do not expose civilians to physical damage willingly."
The case is to be investigated by the Israeli Justice Ministry.
'Scared'
Mohammed later told the Reuters news agency: "I was scared when they got me at first, I thought they would put me in prison. I was scared a stone would hit me."
Mohammed's father, Saeed, said: "When I saw him on the hood of the jeep, my whole mind went crazy - he was shivering from fear."
Rabbis for Human Rights director Rabbi Arik Ascherman was detained by police when he tried to intervene to help Mohammed.
"It is very sad to see that we have come to this position. There is disbelief," Rabbi Ascherman said.
'Excessive Force'
Palestinian activists in Bidou, a focal point of recent protests against the West Bank barrier, say that the Israeli authorities are increasingly using excessive force to disperse stone throwers.
Medics say four Palestinians have been shot dead this year during violent clashes at protests against the barrier.
Israeli officials say the barrier is necessary to prevent suicide bombings iniside Israel, while Palestinians say the barrier is in reality a land-grab intended to annex West Bank territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
Shot
The use of human shields was banned after an incident in which soldiers forced the neighbour of a suspected militant to knock on his door and deliver their demands. The militant shot and killed the man.
Marwan Dalal, of Israeli Arab rights organisation Adalah, said there was evidence that despite the Supreme Court ban, the use of human shields by Israeli security forces was continuing.
He it said it was more common for soldiers to use Palestinians as human shield during military operations rather than against stone throwers.
Two Palestinian girls aged four and 11 have been killed during an Israeli army incursion into the northern Gaza Strip.
A 16-year-old boy was also killed during a third day of clashes in Beit Lahiya, in which 16 Palestinians have died and at least 20 have been injured.
Military sources say troops, who have now withdrawn, launched the raid to stop rocket attacks into Israel.
In a separate incident, Israeli soldiers killed three Palestinian gunmen in Tulkarm in the West Bank.
The Israeli army said the three were members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a militant offshoot of Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction.
Buildings destroyed
The teenage boy and 11-year-old girl were both killed by Israeli fire, Palestinian medical sources said.
The four-year-old girl died of tear-gas inhalation, Dr Mahmoud al-Assali, the director of Jabalya hospital in Gaza, told the Reuters news agency.
"Her skin had turned blue as a result of her inability to breathe and she soon died," he said.
Israeli military sources said three Israeli soldiers were reported wounded.
Israeli bulldozers have destroyed several houses and buildings in Beit Lahiya in the past three days.
A centre for handicapped people was among the buildings that was blown up, AFP news agency reported.
An Israeli army spokesman said the building was unoccupied at the time.
Increased tensions
Violence in Gaza has surged since Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced unilateral plans to withdraw Jewish settlements from the coastal territory as part of his disengagement plan.
The recent killings of the Hamas leaders Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi have also led to increased tensions in Gaza.
Analysts say Israel has stepped up its attacks ahead of the planned pullout so as not to allow Hamas to claim it as a victory for the resistance.
At least 15 Qassam rockets have landed over the boundaries of Gaza in recent days, injuring five Israeli civilians.
Although the focus remains on Gaza, Thursday's violence in Tulkarm follows a pattern of raids targeting local militant cells in the West Bank, correspondents say.
'In the name of Allah the most beneficant, the most merciful'
And that I did not create Jinn and Mankind but only for my worship"
Soorah adh-Dhaariyiat, 51:56.
'The Paradise is surrounded by hardships and the Hell-Fire is surrounded by temptations' Sahih Muslim:Book 39, Number 6778.
Ghurabaa` do not bow the foreheads to anyone besides Allah
Ghurabaa` have chosen this to be the motto of life
If you ask about us, then we do not care about the tyrants
We are the regular soldiers of Allah, our path is a reserved path
We never care about the chains, rather we'll continue forever
Activists claim Mohammed was tied to the jeep by police.
Israeli human rights activists have accused border police of using a 13-year-old Palestinian as a human shield.
Rabbis for Human Rights say that Mohammed Badwan was tied by police to a jeep during a recent demonstration in the West Bank village of Bidou.
The police apparently hoped this would stop Palestinians from throwing stones during a protest against Israel's West Bank barrier.
Israel's Supreme Court banned the use of human shields in 2002.
Rabbis for Human Rights also say that the boy was beaten by Israeli police before being arrested.
Israeli police spokesman Gil Kleiman said: "It's unclear what happened, we do not expose civilians to physical damage willingly."
The case is to be investigated by the Israeli Justice Ministry.
'Scared'
Mohammed later told the Reuters news agency: "I was scared when they got me at first, I thought they would put me in prison. I was scared a stone would hit me."
Mohammed's father, Saeed, said: "When I saw him on the hood of the jeep, my whole mind went crazy - he was shivering from fear."
Rabbis for Human Rights director Rabbi Arik Ascherman was detained by police when he tried to intervene to help Mohammed.
"It is very sad to see that we have come to this position. There is disbelief," Rabbi Ascherman said.
'Excessive Force'
Palestinian activists in Bidou, a focal point of recent protests against the West Bank barrier, say that the Israeli authorities are increasingly using excessive force to disperse stone throwers.
Medics say four Palestinians have been shot dead this year during violent clashes at protests against the barrier.
Israeli officials say the barrier is necessary to prevent suicide bombings iniside Israel, while Palestinians say the barrier is in reality a land-grab intended to annex West Bank territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
Shot
The use of human shields was banned after an incident in which soldiers forced the neighbour of a suspected militant to knock on his door and deliver their demands. The militant shot and killed the man.
Marwan Dalal, of Israeli Arab rights organisation Adalah, said there was evidence that despite the Supreme Court ban, the use of human shields by Israeli security forces was continuing.
He it said it was more common for soldiers to use Palestinians as human shield during military operations rather than against stone throwers.
Two Palestinian girls aged four and 11 have been killed during an Israeli army incursion into the northern Gaza Strip.
A 16-year-old boy was also killed during a third day of clashes in Beit Lahiya, in which 16 Palestinians have died and at least 20 have been injured.
Military sources say troops, who have now withdrawn, launched the raid to stop rocket attacks into Israel.
In a separate incident, Israeli soldiers killed three Palestinian gunmen in Tulkarm in the West Bank.
The Israeli army said the three were members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a militant offshoot of Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction.
Buildings destroyed
The teenage boy and 11-year-old girl were both killed by Israeli fire, Palestinian medical sources said.
The four-year-old girl died of tear-gas inhalation, Dr Mahmoud al-Assali, the director of Jabalya hospital in Gaza, told the Reuters news agency.
"Her skin had turned blue as a result of her inability to breathe and she soon died," he said.
Israeli military sources said three Israeli soldiers were reported wounded.
Israeli bulldozers have destroyed several houses and buildings in Beit Lahiya in the past three days.
A centre for handicapped people was among the buildings that was blown up, AFP news agency reported.
An Israeli army spokesman said the building was unoccupied at the time.
Increased tensions
Violence in Gaza has surged since Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced unilateral plans to withdraw Jewish settlements from the coastal territory as part of his disengagement plan.
The recent killings of the Hamas leaders Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi have also led to increased tensions in Gaza.
Analysts say Israel has stepped up its attacks ahead of the planned pullout so as not to allow Hamas to claim it as a victory for the resistance.
At least 15 Qassam rockets have landed over the boundaries of Gaza in recent days, injuring five Israeli civilians.
Although the focus remains on Gaza, Thursday's violence in Tulkarm follows a pattern of raids targeting local militant cells in the West Bank, correspondents say.
'In the name of Allah the most beneficant, the most merciful'
And that I did not create Jinn and Mankind but only for my worship"
Soorah adh-Dhaariyiat, 51:56.
'The Paradise is surrounded by hardships and the Hell-Fire is surrounded by temptations' Sahih Muslim:Book 39, Number 6778.
Ghurabaa` do not bow the foreheads to anyone besides Allah
Ghurabaa` have chosen this to be the motto of life
If you ask about us, then we do not care about the tyrants
We are the regular soldiers of Allah, our path is a reserved path
We never care about the chains, rather we'll continue forever