The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned what it called the latest “Israeli war crimes of the day” after a UNICEF official said he witnessed the execution of two Palestinian fishermen by Israeli forces.
Those two men were reportedly killed while fishing off the coast of Gaza Wednesday by Israeli troops firing at them with automatic weapons. UNCEF global spokesperson James Elder told CBS News that while he was attempting to deliver food and medical supplies to children in northern Gaza, he saw Israeli forces shoot the men who were fishing with a net in knee-deep water. When asked if the men killed had shown any signs of hostility toward Israeli forces, he said: “They were fishermen. They were fishing.”
Elder told Al Jazeera that he and doctors witnessed the two fishermen flee on foot only to be shot down on the beach. When the medical personnel contacted the Israeli army for permission to provide medical attention to the fishermen, “That help was denied,” Elder said.
SEE: U.N. official says he saw Israeli troops kill 2 Palestinians fishing off Gaza coast
CAIR also condemned the apparent systematic destruction of housing, health facilities and water wells in Gaza by Israeli forces. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says less than on-third of health facilities are operational. The Palestine Red Crescent Society says 498 medical personnel have been killed by Israel. Video shows Israeli bulldozers demolishing homes west of Rafah that were already partially damaged by Israeli attacks.
WATCH: Israeli forces destroy all water wells in North Gaza
In a statement, CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper said:
“The far-right Israeli government – with the full backing of the Biden administration – imposes forced starvation on the people of Gaza, and when they seek to feed themselves by fishing, they are shot and then denied medical treatment. These daily war crimes can only continue because of the support of the Biden administration for Israel’s genocide. This support, and the genocide, ethnic cleansing and forced-starvation it enables must stop.”
Yesterday, CAIR condemned the malicious destruction by an Israeli soldier of a Gaza home shown in a video posted online.
CAIR also condemned the starvation death of Mustafa Hijazi, who reportedly died today as a result of the US-backed Israeli campaign of forced starvation, ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza. He was one of thousands of Gaza children starving because of the US-back Israeli genocide in Gaza. Israel has slaughtered more than 37,000 Gazans, mostly women and children.
Also yesterday, CAIR today welcomed US sanctions on an Israeli extremist group that blocked humanitarian aid from being sent to Gaza and urged the Biden administration to go further and sanction the Israeli government for its forced starvation of Palestinians in Gaza and its campaign of genocide.
SEE: Palestinian children battle a deadly foe in Gaza — starvation – NBC
CAIR also called on the Biden administration to stop enabling and backing the starvation of children in Gaza by the far-right Israeli government.
SEE: CAIR Calls on Biden Admin to End Support for Starvation of Children in Gaza
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com