Israeli Minister pushes for assassination campaign against Palestinians

Saturday September 13, 2008 05:52 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

Shaul Mofaz, the Israeli Transportation Minister, stated Friday that Israel should reinstate a policy of massive extrajudicial assassinations in the occupied Palestinian Territories, much like the policy under former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Shaul Mofaz

Mofaz made the statement in an interview with Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv.

While extrajudicial executions of Palestinians have not ended under the Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, there are not as many as there were under Ariel Sharon, who was Prime Minister from 2000 – 2006 until he fell into a coma.

Extrajudicial assassinations are a direct violation of international law and of signed agreements, as they target 'wanted' individuals without giving them a right to a trial.  They have also caused significant additional "collateral" civilian casualties in most instances. Israel carries out these assassinations through missile strikes from airplanes, usually targeting cars carrying 'wanted' individuals. Given that the Gaza Strip (one of the two Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories) is one of the most densely populated places on earth, this nearly always results in the killing of bystanders, often children.

In response to the statement by Mofaz, the spokesman for the Islamic Jihad, Ibrahim An-Najjar stated that this indicates a coming “wave of assassinations and aggression” against the Palestinian people. An-Najjar told the Palestinian news agency Ma'an News that "Israeli leaders are competing for our blood and all Palestinian parties should unite to prepare for the next wave of Israeli violence”.

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