He visited hospitals and private homes in Ramallah, Nazareth and Jerusalem and met with the wounded. Many of the wounded sustained injuries in their chest, neck and eyes- i.e. well above the waistline. This appears consistent with a policy of shooting with the intention to kill. Mr Chairman, The ICJ is deeply concerned at the torture and murder of Israeli personnel in Ramallah on 12 October and calls on the Palestinian Authority to investigate this crime and bring the perpetrators to justice. The ICJ also calls on all parties to release all personnel taken as hostages.
Hostage taking constitutes a gross violation of human rights and humanitarian law.
The ICJ is similarly concerned at attacks on and killing of medical personnel of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and the Magen David Adom in grave breach of the Geneva Conventions. The ICJ mission notes that the indiscriminate and excessive use of force by the Israeli armed forces against largely unarmed Palestinian civilians and the use of collective punishment through the bombing of Palestinian towns are in breach of international humanitarian law - and, in particular, the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilians Persons in Time of War. Mr. Chairman, The ICJ views the establishment of an International Commission of Inquiry as essential to ending the current hostilities. Continued impunity for violations of human rights and humanitarian law will only perpetuate a sustained cycle of violence. The credibility of the Commission of the Inquiry will rest on its independence.