By Reihana Mohideen
The Israeli settler who massacred around 50 Palestinian worshippers on the morning of February 25 at the Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron, was a well-known leader of Kach, an extreme right-wing Zionist organisation. Wearing a military uniform, Barukh Goldstein entered the mosque and emptied two clips of a machine gun into Muslim worshippers, during the dawn prayer to open the fast in Ramadan, the Muslim holy month.
Suleiman Abu Saleh, a guard at the mosque who was an eyewitness to the shooting, described the incident to the Palestine Human Rights Centre in Jerusalem:
"At the Ishaqiyeh entrance to the mosque, a settler in army uniform with three stripes appeared. He said he wanted to enter the area of worship. I prevented him from entering. He said he was the officer in charge that night, but I still prevented him from entering because it's forbidden for soldiers to enter the mosque during prayer. He hit me on my chest with his rifle and he entered by force after I had fallen on the ground. He then opened fire with his automatic weapon — the weapon was smaller than an M16 or a Galili rifle. He fired indiscriminately and extensively.
"He went out and shot in the air, then he went back in and fired indiscriminately at the worshippers. He changed his ammunition clip another time and then went back in and shot the worshippers again indiscriminately.
"Usually, a large force of soldiers are present to guard the mosque during prayers, but last night there were only four soldiers in addition to the officer, Eilan ... the soldiers closed off the section between the worshippers and the settler, which meant that access to a telephone was cut off to the worshippers. The door leads to the administrative section where the telephone was, and so the ambulance was 50 minutes late. At this point there were seven people confirmed dead.
"The soldiers shot in the air upon orders of Eilan, the officer in charge. I asked him not to shoot but they continued, and the soldiers prevented any family members carrying out the wounded."
According to a preliminary report released by the PHRC on February 25, time delays in transporting the injured, who were locked up in the mosque by the Israeli soldiers for approximately 50 minutes, contributed to the high death rate among the casualties.
There were also reports that the soldiers used tear gas on the worshippers, which contributed to the difficulty of evacuating the dead and injured.
According to a taxi driver, Ashraf Mitzab, who transported some of the wounded, Palestinians were wounded by both the settler and soldiers. "People tried to run away but soldiers came into the mosque and used tear gas at the entrance and also opened fire at people. It was impossible to tell who was shot by the settler and who by the soldiers. It all happened at the same time.
"The army forbade anyone to come or leave. My car was shot at as I was leaving the area. Also an Israeli guard at the Dabboyya building at the centre of Hebron shot at us. When I left, helicopters were spraying gas over the whole city. My car and ambulance which was travelling behind me were stopped at the checkpoint Beit Ummar."
According to the PHRC, at least 48 people were killed in the initial shooting (received by hospital and confirmed by name), but estimates are that between 50 and 60 Palestinians were killed. More than 300 are injured.
Meanwhile Palestinian protesters are being shot at by the Israeli army. In the Gaza Strip, three were killed by 2pm on the day of the massacre, and around 30 residents were injured during demonstrations.
In al-Aqsa, tear gas and rubber bullets were used by Israeli police against demonstrators at Haram-al-Sharif. An estimated 100,000 Palestinians from other parts of the occupied territories travelled to Jerusalem on the same day for prayers at al-Aqsa.
Preliminary reports indicate that two Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army firing at protest demonstrations in Kalandia refugee camp in northern Jerusalem.
Hospital sources say that most of the injuries to protesters are from high-velocity bullets. Hospitals where the casualties from the mosque were taken were surrounded by Israeli soldiers, provoking clashes with residents.
Ali Kazak, the Palestine Liberation Organisation representative in Australia told Green left Weekly pointed out that these events were a direct result of Israel's illegal occupation. "Israel must disarm the settlers and prepare for their quick evacuation from the occupied Palestinian territories, just as Israel settled them there in the first place.
"Israel's military occupation of the 1967 Palestinian territories must end. The Israeli settlements and settlers are a major obstacle to peace."
The PLO has called for the international protection of Palestinians in the occupied territories and a meeting of the United Nations Security Council to take practical measures in this regard.