GAZA CITY, 3 April 2003 — More than 100 Palestinians, including 26 children, were killed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in March by the Israeli Army, the Palestinian Health Ministry said in a report released yesterday.
“Some 101 people were killed, including 26 children, and 638 wounded during this period,” the report said.
The ministry said sanitary conditions were “deteriorating” in the Palestinian territories. The West Bank has been almost entirely reoccupied by Israeli troops for months.
The ministry also warned against the “exploitation by the Israeli government of the international situation to continue its aggression against the Palestinian people,” in an allusion to the US-led war on Iraq.
The statement also complained that Palestinian hospitals, medical centers and ambulances had been targeted by Israeli soldiers during Israeli operations in the occupied territories.
It called on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to pressure Israel to respect international conventions.
On March 31, the US State Department released its global review of human rights practices for 2002, where it noted that Israel’s human rights record in the territories was “poor” and that among its “serious” abuses were the killings of civilians during military operations aimed at Palestinian extremists.
Meanwhile, the Israeli troops rounded up at least 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank city of Tulkarm yesterday in a fresh sweep after a bomber from the region struck a nearby Israeli town.
Palestinian officials denounced the army swoop, accusing Israel of intensifying its clampdown on Palestinians seeking independence while the world’s attention was turned to war in Iraq. Israel said the sweep was justified by security concerns.
Soldiers in tanks and armored vehicles backed by helicopters imposed a curfew in Tulkarm and searched homes before telling males aged 14 to 40 to gather in the courtyard of a school or face punishment, residents said.
Palestinian witnesses said about 2,000 people were rounded up. The Israeli Army said it was about half that number.
At least 11 were identified as wanted fighters and taken into custody, military sources said. Most others were freed after identity checks and some were still being questioned. Troops were also searching houses for weapons.
