Rights group: Targeted killing a crime

The Euro-Mediterranean Observatory for Human Rights (EMOHR) Saturday stressed that the continued Israeli policy of what it called “assassination of wanted people” is a blatant violation of international law, describing it as a murder outside the law and without trial, said a press release issued by EMOHR. EMOHR said that the Israeli army claim of responsibility for the Friday killing of two Palestinian activists in Gaza confirms Israel’s insistence on killing without trail, where it has assassinated dozens of activists inside the Palestinian territory since the start of the current millennium. A Friday Israeli airstrike targeting a vehicle in Gaza City killed Zuhair al-Qaisy, secretary general of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) in Gaza, and his assistant, Mahmoud Hanani, from the West Bank city of Nablus who was expelled to the Gaza Strip following his release from Israeli jails in the recent prisoners swap. The center added that the Israeli killing of the two activists was similar to previous assassinations; where the victims were not in a situation of armed confrontation with the Israeli forces but were tracked down and pursued while they were exercising their ordinary life. It said that premeditated targeted killing outside the law violates the right to life and the right to a fair trial in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilians in Time of War. EMOHR held the Israel government accountable for violating civilian rights through its common pretext of “security reasons.” “The brutal murder of suspected individuals is a disgrace to a country that claims to be civilized and democratic, even in the case of armed confrontation,” said the center. It called on the Israeli government to stop such measures, affirming the right of Palestinians who were affected by these assassinations to demand compensation and prosecute Israel in accordance with the international law.