Human rights groups urge Israeli army to stop the killing

Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups on Tuesday urged the Israeli occupation army to immediately end its practice of targeting Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, calling the practice a "war crime."

Five rights groups, including the Physicians for Human Rights, B'tselem, Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Al-Mizan and Gaza Community Mental Health Program argued that the often indiscriminate bombardment of Palestinian homes constituted a blatant violation of the basic rules governing armed conflict requiring civilians and civilian property to be distinguished from military objectives.

The groups pointed out that the firing onto Israeli settlements of home-made missiles did not justify the killing by the Israeli army of Palestinian civilians including children.

Earlier, Palestinian children held a demonstration in downtown Gaza during which they appealed to the international community to "stop the slow-motion holocaust against our people."

"Yes, there are no gas chambers, but Israel is exterminating us in slow motion," read one sign carried aloft by children.

On Monday, an Israeli tank fired an artillery shell at at home in northern Gaza, killing a 10-year-old girl and maiming and wounding her entire family, including 10 children.

Since the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising against Israel's occupation of Palestine nearly six years ago, the Israeli army and paramilitary Jewish terrorists, also known as settlers, have killed over 1400 Palestinian children and minors.

Israel claims that most of the killings were done by mistake.