Dozens killed in ground invasion; Israel continues to reject a ceasefire

04Jan09

As the destruction of Palestinian society in Gaza continues, with Israeli forces bisecting the territory and encircling Gaza City and Ehud Barak promising that the invasion will “not be easy or short”, little remains to be said. All of Israel’s justifications for the attack have long since collapsed – Adam Sheets and Chris McGreal provide fairly comprehensive demolitions, and the facts are by now well established (though not, perhaps, well known). Having reluctantly agreed to a ceasefire in June, Israel never adhered to its terms despite remarkable discipline shown by Hamas (one fact reported by McGreal that seems to have been consigned to the memory hole: during the truce, 22 Palestinians were killed by Israel, while no Israelis were killed by Palestinians). It then violated not one but two ceasefires and rejected numerous Hamas offers for a third, instead slaughtering, at last count, at least 514 people, most of them civilians, and injuring more than 2,200. The Guardian reports:

“Among the targets so far have been the Gaza Interior Ministry, police stations, television stations, prisons and a five-storey building in the women’s wing of the Islamic University. Humanitarian organisations have criticised the Israelis for bombing a number of schools and a hospital.”

Today Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal again offered a reciprocal ceasefire on the condition that Israel ends the illegal blockade. Another Hamas leader in Gaza similarly declared that “[i]f there is a ceasefire, if the gates are opened, we would deal with this kind of initiative [i.e. a truce].” The response from Israel was the standard one, namely flat rejection.

Palestinian medical sources report that at least 40 people have been killed since the the ground invasion was launched, including many civilians. Yesterday Israel shelled a mosque during prayer time, killing at least 12 people, six of whom were children. One ambulance worker (Israel has repeatedly attacked ambulances and medical workers) commented:

“They were civilians, and some were children. Some neighbours of the mosque were helping the casualties, with blankets and bringing them to the hospital, some neighbouring houses were also damaged by the rockets. No one expected that Israel would fire here – it is very crowded and so close to the hospital.”

Today a mother and her four children were killed when their home was bombed by Israeli jets. Two of the children were aged one and two, respectively. In total, more than 80 children have been killed in the past week and thousands have been displaced.

I’ll keep updating with humanitarian and other information as it is released, but really, as I say, all the relevant facts have long been clear. We’re witnessing an aggression, a massacre of civilians and children. All that remains is to do what we can to oppose it. Israel has engaged in “intensive diplomatic activity” in recent days aimed at, quoting Tzipi Livni, “deflecting the pressure for a cease-fire to allow enough time for the operation to achieve its goals”. This “intensive” activity is necessary because virtually the entire world has recoiled in horror from what Israel is doing. Even the British government has been forced to call for an immediate ceasefire and to become increasingly critical of Israel’s actions (a reversal of its earlier stance).

We can help to bring this to an end. There are protests planned all week in Britain, with a national demonstration called in London next Saturday. On which note, lenin has pictures and footage from today’s emergency demonstration outside the Israeli embassy.

Filed under: Israeli / Palestinian   |  5 Comments
Tags: Cast Lead, collective punishment, Gaza, Hamas, war crimes