“Persons regularly and solely engaged in the operation and administration of civilian hospitals, including the personnel engaged in the search for, removal and transporting of and caring for wounded and sick civilians, the infirm and maternity cases, shall be respected and protected.” – Article 20 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, Adopted on Aug. 12, 1949.

When the member states of the United Nations drafted the Geneva Convention of War in the late 1940s, they meant it. In the above article of the convention they explicitly state that medical personnel attending to the wounded in armed conflict are to be “respected and protected.” Tell that to the family of Dr. Khalil Sulieman. A situation happened last week when Israeli soldiers opened fire on his ambulance in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, killing a Palestinian medical doctor and injuring five paramedics. The Israeli response was that the ambulance approached too quickly and posed a threat to the soldiers.

Three days later, Ibrahim Assad, a Palestinian paramedic, was killed under similar circumstances in Tulkarem. Remarkably, in a separate incident in Tulkarem on the very same night, Kamal Salem, a United Nations employee, was shot and killed by the Israel Defense Forces; he was en route to the wounded as well.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said Saturday, “Medical personnel have informed Human Rights Watch that Ibrahim Assad had received permission to move forward from the Israeli authorities. He drove some 750 meters, and was shot in the hand from the machine gun of an Israeli tank. He exited the ambulance, and was then shot in the head.”

Ironically, in all four cases this week, the International Committee of the Red Cross reports that the ambulances were clearly marked and the medical teams had official clearance from the Israeli authorities.

The International Red Cross released an unusually scathing report last week saying, “The ICRC condemns these attacks and calls on the Israeli authorities to take immediate steps to protect medical personnel and to conduct a full inquiry into the latest events.”

According to the International Red Cross/Crescent, 70 percent of all Palestine Red Crescent ambulances (about 250 in the West Bank and Gaza) have been “shot at, destroyed or damaged” since the uprising began in September 2000. In addition, more than 130 medical personnel have been injured.

The BBC reported that an Israeli tank was captured on video running over an ambulance and swerving into another in the West Bank town of Tulkarem.

Paramedics and doctors are not alone. Italian photographer Raffaele Ciriello, 42, was killed by Israeli tank fire in Ramallah Wednesday. The International Press Institute condemned the killing, saying it seemed to be “part of a concerted strategy by the Israeli army to control reports on the recent surge in armed hostilities in the region.”

France-based Reporters without Borders said the death was “a result of Israeli gunfire in Ramallah today and demands an immediate enquiry into exactly how he was killed and, if necessary, the trial of those responsible.” The organization also said at least 40 foreign journalists have been shot by Israeli bullets during the uprising in 2000.

The Israeli invasion of the West Bank town of Ramallah with thousands of troops and more than 150 tanks was the largest military operation since the invasion of Lebanon in 1982. That offensive came on the heels of the invasion of the Jabalya refugee camp in Gaza early Monday.

Thursday’s Guardian of London reported that “the tanks rumbled freely through their city, grinding over cars, tearing up roads and puncturing water lines. They sealed off the approach to Ramallah’s main hospital, and key junctions throughout the city.”

The attacks on Israeli civilians by Palestinian extremists are disgusting acts of crime. Those are the actions of fanatics and persons responsible for the crime and aiding and funding the organizations should be brought to justice.

However, the targeting of medical workers and journalists, as well as civilians, is committed by what is often considered one of the best-equipped, best-trained military forces in the world. Supported, by the way, in large part by our tax dollars.

Please ask these questions of your congressional representatives: How is sealing off the approach to the main hospital in Ramallah part of the security strategy? How is running over an ambulance beneficial to combating extremist groups? How is the killing of medics and journalists going to provide security for Israeli citizens?

Does it not spark interest when internationally-recognized organizations like the International Committee of the Red Cross, Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders, Physicians for Human Rights and The International Press Institute release angry reports following the attacks on medical staff and journalists? Indeed, the attacks on civilians by both sides are appalling and should be addressed. However, nowhere in international law are armies given free license to obstruct, harass or attack medical staff and journalists.

The Geneva Convention was written and adopted as the formal rules of war, explicitly protecting medical staff and civilians – including journalists – from assault.

The recent attacks of the Israeli military simply cannot be ignored. These actions have been condemned by nearly every international organization associated.

The Israeli military must be held to the same strict regulations set into international law 52 years ago and it must happen immediately.

Omar Tesdell is a sophomore in journalism and mass communication and technical communication. He is online editor of the Daily.