Massacre in Ramallah
The Palestine Monitor, 2 Apr 2002remark: remember the Racak-massacre in Kosovo
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The Palestine Monitor,
A PNGO Information Clearinghouse
URGENT APPEAL
Massacre in Ramallah
02nd April 2002 -8 am þ
The Israeli army is attacking the site of the Preventive Security Forces
in Ramallah with tanks and helicopter gunships in what has been a continuous
assault of bombardment and shelling since last night. There are children
inside the building, which is on fire, and ambulances and fire brigades
are not allowed to reach the scene.
At 1 am this morning the Preventive Security Compound
was completely surrounded by Israeli army tanks, helicopter gunships and
snipers. The Israeli army used more than 50 Palestinian detainees as human
shields to walk in front of the tanks as they advances and surrounded the
compound. People inside were asked to surrender and leave the building
but whenever people tried to move they were shot.
The Preventive Security is a branch of the Palestinian
police and the compound holds a mixture of civilian and security facilities
– there is a hospital inside, a nursery, a hotel, and other civilian facilities.
Most of the people trapped inside the burning building are female employees
who work in the civilian services and live inside the compound with their
children and families. We have been called by desperate women trapped inside
the building along with their children pleading for help and assistance.
At this moment (8 am) the bombardment is ongoing
and helicopter gunships are circulating over Ramallah. There seems to be
a large number of killed and injured people inside the compound but up
until this release no one has been able to provide medical and humanitarian
assistance. Five ambulances from the Medical Relief Teams and the Red Crescent
that tried to reach the site were stopped and held stuck. The medical staff
was forced out of the ambulances, stripped of their clothes and put on
the ground outside the Ramallah Municipality.
This is a massacre in every sense of the word. Attacking
a civilian facility, using innocent people as human shields and not allowing
humanitarian assistance is an atrocity and must be stopped immediately.
In other parts of Ramallah people have been without
food and water for days and we are receiving desperate calls from families
who have been without drinking water for two days. The Ministry of Health
has warned that due to the high numbers of unburied corpses all over there
is a serious threat of diseases spreading. We would also like to remind
you that the Israeli army is attacking and destroying civilian institutions
– Yesterday the Israeli army destroyed a Medical Relief Clinic in Qalqiliya
and used it as an interrogation center; a Medical Relief Youth Centre in
Ramallah was bombed and the offices of the Health , Development, Information
and Policy Institute (HDIP) was occupied and is now been used as a military
station. The Palestinian Human Rights Organization – Al-Haq – has also
been taken over and its facilities and documentation destroyed.
THIS IS AN URGENT CALL FOR ALL HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATIONS WORLDWIDE TO INTERVENE IMMEDIATELY.
For more information contact Juliana at
The Palestine Monitor – +972 (0)2 583 3510
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