B’Tselem has completed an initial investigation into the IDF operation in the northern Gaza Strip. The investigation reveals that from the beginning of the operation until this afternoon (Monday October 4):

* 75 Palestinians have been killed by IDF forces. This includes 31 civilians who took no part in the fighting. Among the dead are 19 children, ages 17 and under.

* The IDF has completely demolished some 55 houses in the eastern neighborhoods of the Jabaliya refugee camp.

* Some 50 additional houses have been severely damaged.

* Some 50,000 people living in seven Palestinian neighborhoods in Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahiya and the Jabaliya refugee camp, are under complete siege. The water and electricity supplies have been cut off and food stocks are running out.

Daud Asliya, a 33 year-old resident of the a-Sica neighborhood in the eastern part of the Jabaliya refugee camp, told B’Tselem: “Since the invasion began we have been under siege and cannot leave the house. A tank is positioned about 50 meters from my house and is intensively shelling all the time…. We have been surviving on the water that I had stored in barrels, but this has almost run out. Yesterday almost all of our food ran out, except for some bread and tea…. The children are panicked and cry around the clock.”

The Qassam rocket attacks on Sderot carried out by Palestinian militants are illegal and constitute a war crime. However, the grief for the death of Israeli civilians cannot justify such extensive harm to Palestinian civilians uninvolved in the hostilities.

B’Tselem calls on all sides involved in hostilities to respect the principles of international humanitarian law and to avoid all targeting of civilians. In addition, B’Tselem calls on the IDF to:

* Avoid firing upon combatants if such firing is liable to cause widespread civilian casualties; * Avoid destruction of houses that is not necessitated by urgent military needs; * Ensure the continuous supply of water, food and medicine, in accordance with the High Court ruling regarding the IDF operation in Rafah in May 2004