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The practice of extrajudicial execution is illegal under international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Persons accused of a crime should be given fair trials in properly constituted courts of law not assassinated. The Israeli army has carried out hundreds of officially endorsed extrajudicial assassinations of Palestinians since September 2000. Children have frequently been killed during these attacks as a result of the disproportionate and indiscriminate nature of weapons employed by the Israelis in such attacks.
The testimonies below relate to the killing of seven children of the Abu Salmieh family during an Israeli extrajudicial execution attempt. The Abu Salmieh family home was bombed in the middle of the night on 12 July 2006. After the bombing, the Israeli army reported that they were targeting Mohammad Daif (not a member of the Abu Salmieh family)--a man wanted by the Israelis for alleged membership in Hamas.
After having been warned to tell the truth and nothing but the truth or else I shall be subjected to penal action, I the undersigned, Mohamad Abed al Ghafer Abas, holder of ID No. 901016139, born on 29 December 1975, an engineer, and a resident of Gaza City, Gaza Governorate, would like to declare the following:
On Wednesday 12 July 2006, at around 02:00, I woke up because I was feeling anxious. I stayed in my bed in the room. My wife, Zinat, 25 years old, and my three children, Malak 4 years old, Isra' 3 years old, and Nour, 5 months old, were with me. At around 02:45 I heard the sound of a big explosion which shook my house.
The window on the western side of my room shattered. This side [of my house] overlooks the house of Abu Salmieh. He is a lecturer at Islamic University. At that point I woke up my family and carried them outside. While I was leaving the room another explosion occurred. It was stronger than the first one, with lightening this time. My house was shaking. I carried my children, Isra' and Malak, and my wife carried Nour. She was following me. As a result of the second explosion my house filled with smoke which made it difficult to see anything. At that point I realized that the explosion had been in Abu Salmieh's house.
I went to the first floor of the building where my mother, Amneh, 60 years old, lives with my sister, Iman, 20 years old, and my brother Kayed, who is 25 years old. My nephew, Hussam, who is 6 years old, was visiting them.
When I went further into the building I realized the magnitude of the destruction. At that time I saw my mother trying to get out and she was bleeding from her left leg. My sister Iman was with her and she was bleeding from her head and her leg. My mother shouted at me and told me that they did not know where Hussam was. We started searching for him but searching was difficult because of the destruction. We finally found him under rubble and he was hardly breathing. I carried him in a hurry to the hospital where he was given first aid.
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Affidavit given to DCI/PS fieldworker on 18 July 2006
After having been warned to tell the truth and nothing but the truth or else I shall be subjected to penal action, I the undersigned, Mohamad Nabil Abu Salmieh, holder of ID No. [lost in the incident described], born on 7 January 1986, a University student, and a resident of Sheikh Radwan, Gaza City, Gaza Governorate, would like to declare the following:
On Wednesday 12 July 2006, at around 23:00, I was sitting in the first floor of our house, which has two floors. I was sitting with my father Nabil, 46 years old, my mother Selwah, 41 years old, my sister Sumaia, 17 years old, Basma, 15 years old, Huda, 13 years old, Iman, 11 years old, Yahya, 9 years old, Aya, 7 years old, and Nasrallah, 5 years old. They are my siblings. Awad, 19 years old, [was also there], he is also my brother. We were drinking tea and playing together.
My siblings felt tired and Awad and I decided that we would also go to sleep. I went up to the second floor of the house to sleep with Awad, and I could see my siblings trying to go to sleep. They usually all slept with my mother in the guest room, except Basma and Huda, but that night Huda wanted to sleep with the rest of the family so all the family members slept in the guest room except Awad and me. At that time it was around 23:30. The room where we slept faces the main street. I was sleeping on a mattress and Awad was sleeping about 3 metres away. In the early hours of the morning, around 03:00, I heard the sound of a huge explosion shaking me. I felt that the house was shaking and smoke was everywhere.
After that I felt nothing and I woke up in the hospital knowing nothing about what happened.
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Affidavit given to DCI/PS fieldworker on 29 July 2006
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