Rights groups demand investigation into Gaza border protest death

Published June 29, 2010

Bethlehem - Ma'an -

Human rights groups demanded a criminal investigation into the killing of a Gaza man by Israeli occupation forces during a peaceful protest near Gaza’s border, a statement said Wednesday.

Israeli occupation forces shot 21-year-old Ahmad Deib on 28 April at a demonstration against Israel’s unilateral enforcement of a no-go zone along the Gaza-Israel border, which swallows up an estimated 20 percent of the Strip’s arable land.

Dieb suffered a fatal shot to his right groin area as he marched toward the border. He died at the Aash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

Rights groups Adalah and Al-Mezan said they have video evidence to show soldiers fired live ammunition indiscriminately at demonstrators, who were some distance away from the border, and were clearly demonstrators and not militants.

The human rights organizations said testimonies clearly indicate that Israeli forces “violated Israeli criminal law as well as international law,” and called for the responsible individuals to be prosecuted and punished.

Israeli occupation forces have killed 22 Palestinians in the no-go zone this year and injured many more, including farmers, bird hunters, and armed fighters. Israel considers the area a combat zone entirely closed to Palestinians.

An Oxfam update Wednesday said there have been four reports of Israeli military fire in the area so far this week. In three separate incidents, Israeli occupation forces opened fire on people collecting scrap metal in the area. In the fourth incident, soldiers shot towards farmers working their land. Two Palestinian children were reported injured.