We’re hearing a lot about Israel’s supposed assault on “Hamas targets”, or what Israel – together with the more vulgar of its apologists – likes to term “terrorist infrastructure”. Let’s have a quick – and by no means exhaustive – look at what that phrase in fact refers to. (The following should be read in conjunction with this).
Hospitals, ambulances and aid workers
The Guardian (5 January):
“…half of Gaza’s ambulances have already been destroyed…”
Ma’an news (15 January):
“Israeli snipers opened fire on families running to take shelter in a Red Crescent hospital in the Tel Al-Hawa area of Gaza on Thursday afternoon, witnesses said.
Sharon Locke, an Australian volunteer at Al-Quds Hospital said that when one family approached the hospital, Israeli snipers started firing at the family.
“They shot a young girl in the face and abdomen. She is now being operated on. The father of the family was shot in the leg and fell to the ground,” Locke said…
On Thursday morning parts of the hospital went up in flames when Israeli artillery shells struck the buildings. At the time of writing, the operations building of the hospital was still burning.
“The hospital suffered at least one direct hit this morning, and all the patients had to be moved in panic to the ground floor,” said Bashar Morad, director of Palestine Red Crescent emergency medical services. The second floor of the building immediately caught fire. The hospital’s pharmacy was also partly damaged. Fire brigade trucks, escorted by ICRC teams, rushed to the scene and managed to put out the fire.” [my emph.]
Ma’an news (15 January):
“Dr Bashar Murad, the head of emergency services at Al-Quds Hospital, told Ma’an that three Israeli missiles hit the hospital, two of them containing white phosphorus. Shrapnel from the bombs was scattered in the hospital but no one was injured. Fire has engulfed the hospital’s administration building, a storehouse, and a pharmacy.” [my emph.]
Amnesty International (19 January):
“Among the places worst affected by the use of white phosphorus was the UNRWA compound in Gaza City, where Israeli forces fired three white phosphorus shells on 15 January. The white phosphorus landed next to some fuel trucks and caused a large fire which destroyed tons of humanitarian aid. Prior to this strike the compound had already been hit an hour earlier and the Israeli authorities had been informed by UNRWA officials and had given assurance that no further strikes would be launched on the compound.
In another incident on the same day a white phosphorus shell landed in the al-Quds hospital in Gaza City also causing a fire which forced hospital staff to evacuate the patients.” [my emph.]
The Times (15 January):
“The main UN compound in Gaza was left in flames today [see above] after being struck by Israeli artillery fire, and a spokesman said that the building had been hit by shells containing the incendiary agent white phosphorus.
The attack on the headquarters of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) came as Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary-General, arrived in Israel on a peace mission…
UNWRA, which looks after around four million Palestinian refugees in the region, suspended its operations in Gaza after the attack, in which three of its employees were injured.
Chris Gunness, a UNRWA spokesman, said that the building had been used to shelter hundreds of people fleeing Israel’s 20-day offensive in Gaza. He said that pallets with supplies desperately needed by Palestinians in Gaza were on fire.
“What more stark symbolism do you need?” he said. “You can’t put out white phosphorus with traditional methods such as fire extinguishers. You need sand, we don’t have sand.”
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (15 January):
“The IFRC describes the situation as completely and utterly unacceptable based on every known standard of international humanitarian law and universal humanitarian principles and values, and condemns the fact that PRCS facilities have been so severely damaged and its staff prevented from sufficiently carrying out their humanitarian mission.
In particular, it condemns the destruction caused to the PRCS Al Quds hospital and administrative buildings that has resulted in widespread fire damage. At the same time, the second floor of the hospital suffered a direct hit causing fires in the pharmacy and severe damage in many parts of the hospital…
Furthermore, this morning the PRCS [Palestine Red Crescent Society] warehouse was enveloped in fire after an attack by the IDF. PRCS volunteers who rushed to the scene in an effort to put out the fire were prevented from doing so by the IDF, who fired at them.” [my emph.]
World Health Organisation (19 January):
“The following PHC clinics are reported to have been damaged by direct or indirect shelling during the last few days. Information on these incidents has been obtained from the MoH following the implementation of the cease-fire at 2 a.m. local time on 18 January. These facilities included the:
- Atatra clinic (north Gaza), which was destroyed and is not functioning.
- Shuahada Al Shate’ clinic (Gaza), which was severely damaged.
- Shuahada clinica (Khan Younis).
- Khuza’a clinic (Khan Younis).
- Fukhari clinic (Rafah).
At least 21 incidents of direct and indirect damage to health facilities have been recorded since 27 December, and at least 16 ambulances have been damaged or destroyed. Several facilities, including Dora Paediatrics Hospital, have been hit more than once, and a count is underway to confirm the exact number of facilities that have been damaged during the recent violence.” [my emph.]
Medical Aid for Palestinians (15 January):
“Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) have just had confirmation from our hospital emergency aid coordinators that both Al Wafa Hospital, in the eastern part of Gaza City, and Al Fata (also known as Al Wia’m) Hospital, in Tal El Hawa, west of Gaza City, have both been bombed by the Israeli military.
Al Wafa hospital is the only rehabilitation hospital in all of Gaza.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that Al Quds Hospital has suffered a direct hit. Both Al Quds hospital and the European Hospital have been surrounded by Israeli troops and are reportedly being hit with white phosphorus.
The UN has warned that security for medical personnel and access to medical facilities continues to be of major concern. Attacks on medical personnel and ambulances have hampered the ability to assist the injured. According to the Ministry of Health (MoH), since 27 December 2008, 13 medical personnel have been killed and 22 medical personnel have been injured while on duty; 15 ambulances have been damaged and seven ambulances have been destroyed; and twelve health facilities have been damaged through direct or indirect shelling.” [my emph.]
Ma’an news (15 January):
“Israeli jets fired a controversial chemical weapon on a United Nations facility in Gaza City on Thursday, UN officials are now claiming.
The building was struck by as many as three shells containing white phosphorus, an incendiary compound banned by the Geneva Convention for use against civilians, according to the UN.
Three Palestinians were injured at the compound, which was marked with UN flags before Israeli forces opened fire. The UN had provided its GPS coordinates to Israeli military personnel, as well. About 700 displaced Palestinians were inside the building when it was targeted by Israel’s air force…
“We know it was white phosphorus because of the way the fires burned, as well as the color of some of the charred vehicles and other damage,” said UN spokesperson Adnan Abu-Hasna.
Chris Gunness, an official with the UN Relief and Works Agency in Gaza, confirmed Abu-Hasna’s claims on the weapon, saying shells contained the dangerous chemical compound.
“It looks like phosphorus, it smells like phosphorus and it burns like phosphorus,” he said.”[my emph.]
Associated Press (15 January):
“Israel shelled the United Nations headquarters in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, engulfing the compound and a warehouse in fire and destroying thousands of pounds of food and humanitarian supplies intended for Palestinian refugees.
UN workers and Palestinian firefighters, some wearing bulletproof jackets, struggled to douse the flames and pull bags of food aid from the debris.
Israeli officials say their forces were fired on from the compound by Hamas guerrillas.
UN officials at the scene dismissed the Israeli claim as “nonsense.” [my emph.]
International Committee of the Red Cross (8 January):
“In another house, the ICRC/PRCS rescue team found 15 other survivors of this attack including several wounded. In yet another house, they found an additional three corpses. Israeli soldiers posted at a military position some 80 meters away from this house ordered the rescue team to leave the area which they refused to do. There were several other positions of the Israeli Defence Forces nearby as well as two tanks.
“This is a shocking incident,” said Pierre Wettach, the ICRC’s head of delegation for Israel and the OccupiedPalestinianTerritories. “The Israeli military must have been aware of the situation but did not assist the wounded. Neither did they make it possible for us or the Palestine Red Crescent to assist the wounded.”
Large earth walls erected by the Israeli army had made it impossible to bring ambulances into the neighbourhood. Therefore, the children and the wounded had to be taken to the ambulances on a donkey cart…
The ICRC believes that in this instance the Israeli military failed to meet its obligation under international humanitarian law to care for and evacuate the wounded. It considers the delay in allowing rescue services access unacceptable.” [my emph.]
UN OCHA (12 January):
“According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) (as at 1600 hrs local time, 1400 hrs GMT), the number of Palestinian casualties had increased to 910 fatalities, including a high number of civilians (at least 75 women, 292 children and twelve medical personnel).” [my emph.]
International Committee of the Red Cross (10 January):
“As military operations in Gaza enter their third week, the situation of civilians is becoming increasingly precarious. People trapped in zones where military operations are taking place are particularly affected…
The number of those who cannot be reached and assisted remains high and aid workers are under growing pressure from Gazans, who urge them to do more to help those in need. “We are doing our best, sparing no effort to come rescue people when we can,” said a Palestine Red Crescent Society paramedic. “We are ourselves frustrated that we cannot do more. Rescue operations are often aborted because of the lack of access. They are also becoming more and more dangerous, and we are getting more and more scared.”
“To hear such words from Palestine Red Crescent paramedics, who are among the bravest – and who have been working under fire, in extremely difficult conditions – makes our call for safe access and security ever more pressing,” echoes Antoine Grand, head of the ICRC office in Gaza.”
UN OCHA (12 January):
“The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) suspended activities in the Al Zeitoun and Al Atatra regions as of 11 January, after their ambulances were exposed to gunfire in those regions on 9 and 10 January. Two ambulance personnel were injured and one ambulance was damaged in these incidents. The PRCS further noted that only five of 135 recent attempts to coordinate access to affected areas were successful; however, “in the five cases [the PRCS was] not able to complete [the] humanitarian tasks because of the obstacles and the gunfire…” [my emph.]
Daily Telegraph [8 January]:
“Humanitarian shipments into Gaza were halted immediately after two [United Nations] forklift drivers died when the convoy of aid was targeted [during the supposed three-hour 'humanitarian ceasefire']…
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said it would not organise further deliveries while Israeli forces threatened the life of its contracted workers. The trucking company involved in the incident also said it was too dangerous to participate in the deliveries.
Richard Miron, a UN spokesman, said that the convoy was clearly displaying UN flags and livery. The Israeli army had been notified of the route of the convoy beforehand.
“Three hour lulls are not sufficient and become impossible if the environment even then is not safe,” he said. “All convoys will remain suspended until Israel can give us assurances that the orders are not academic.” [my emph.]
Daily Telegraph (9 January):
“The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced it had restricted aid operations to Gaza City after one of its convoys came under Israeli fire at the Netzarim crossing during the three-hour lull in fighting on Thursday. One driver was lightly injured. The UN has also suspended operations after four of its relief workers were killed, Agency local staff have been killed in the conflict.” [my emph.]
Christian Aid (8 January):
“The [AlAeidi] family, including six injured persons, is trapped in an isolated area outside Gaza city, for the fourth consecutive day. Despite involvement of PHR-Israel, the Red Crescent, the Red Cross, Israeli journalists and members of parliament, there is no progress…
The Israeli military authorities, however, have still not sent any evacuation team nor permitted the access of Palestinian or international evacuation teams to the six injured persons. Gunfire still prevented the exit of the family from their homes. During the pause of fire, ambulances were still not able to reach the house, which was surrounded by Israeli forces…
PHR-Israel knows of 16 severe medical cases whose requests to exit Gaza for medical care unavailable in Gazawas sent to the Israeli authorities but never answered. The Palestinian Medical Referrals Coordinator Rif’at Muhaisan, working from home, spoke of 12 such cases, and an additional four applied directly to PHR-Israel – three cancer patients, one of them a one-year old girl, and one urgent neurosurgical case.” [for more on the Al-Aeidi family see Amira Hass, 'Wounded Gaza family lay bleeding for 20 hours' (5 January); and Amira Hass, '86 hours after Gaza home shelled, family still lacks medical aid' (7 January)
UNRWA (9 January):
"The United Nations Relief and Works Agency has put into effect a temporary suspension of movements of staff throughout the Gaza Strip, with serious consequences for its principal operations. This decision, taken after careful consideration of its humanitarian implications, was compelled by incidents in which UNRWA staff, convoys and installations have come under attack...
On numerous occasions in recent days, humanitarian convoys have come under Israeli fire even though their safe passage through clearly designated routes at specifically agreed times, had been confirmed by the Israeli liaison office."
Physicians for Human Rights - Israel (11 January):
"Since the beginning of the military attack PRCS has attempted to coordinate passage of an ambulance to a specific neighborhood in Zeitun, where it is known that there are still many injured people waiting for evacuation. Until the 9th the army refused to enable access of ambulances to the region. On the 9th permission was given and ambulance passage was coordinated. Since the roads had been destroyed the ambulance couldn't reach the areas where the injured people were. The team had to walk 2 km on foot. Israeli forces opened fire on the ambulance. Fortunately no one was injured but the ambulance was badly damaged. Following the incident the team went back to Gaza without having been able to evacuate the injured people." [my emph.]
Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (11 January):
“In AlAtatra is another region badly damaged by Israeli bombardments but so far all attempts by PRCS and ICRC to coordinate an ambulance to rescue injured people have failed.
Yesterday after permission was finally given, five PRCS ambulances reached the neighborhood with an ICRC jeep. When they arrived they were fired on by tanks. A driver, Marwan Hamouda, 35, was injured, as was a medic, Hassan AlAtal, 32. Once again the ambulances returned without evacuating.
PRCS says due to the incidents described, they will not be sending ambulances to these regions again, for fear of shooting at the teams.” [my emph.]
Ma’an news (9 January):
“In a split second Red Crescent Medic Hasan Al-A’tal became one of the injured being rushed to hospital.
Hasan had rushed to the Zimu Square during the Israeli-declared three-hour ceasefire Wednesday so aid could be delivered to the hardest-hit areas of Gaza. His team had been sent out to pull bodies from the rubble shortly after the ceasefire was said to be in effect.
The medic is now in the Al-Quds hospital in Tel Al-Hawa south of Gaza City. “I rushed to Zemu Square north of Gaza along with another volunteer with the Red Crescent,” recalled Hasan.
“We stepped out of the ambulance because the roads were such that the ambulance could not pass.” When Hasan and his partner reached the scene, along with a stretcher and medical supplies they began pulling the dead and injured from the bombed building.
“Just after w had gotten the first body on the stretcher,” he recalled, “we came under heavy fire.” Hasan was hit in his left leg and was evacuated by his colleague quickly back to the ambulance. They drove straight to the hospital, leaving the dead for another day…
The ambulance had been okayed for humanitarian travel in the area, and was clearly marked with the ICRC insignia.” [my emph.]
Action by Churches Together International (11 January):
“Israeli missiles struck an ACT-supported clinic in Shaja’ih in Gaza city, run by the Middle East Council of Churches. The clinic was totally destroyed, but no one was injured, since the building had been previously evacuated.
“The clinic is completely destroyed with all its equipment and medical supplies,” reports Zack Sabella from the council’s Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees.
“Minutes before the missile hit the building, which hosts the clinic, the Israeli Air Force fired a warning missile next to it, forcing all residents of the building and the adjacent buildings to flee the area. A short while after, the army directly hit the building and razed it completely.” [for more info see here]
Caritas (12 January):
“…one of Caritas Jerusalem’s medical points in Gaza was destroyed by an Israel F-16 fighter jet on Friday.
The clinic, in the Al Maghazi district of Central Gaza, was completely destroyed in the bombing that also razed four homes. At least another twenty homes sustained heavy damage in the blast.
As all of the families had already fled the area and were staying in various schools of the district, nobody was hurt in the bombing. Five Caritas medical points remain in Gaza.
The Parish Priest of Gaza has referred to the deepening crisis there as “inhumane and criminal.”
Christian Aid (12 January):
“MOTHER AND BABY CLINIC TARGETTED AND DESTROYED BY ISRAELI F16 MISSILE FIRE.
A primary health care clinic in Gazacity, funded by Christian Aid has been destroyed by Israeli missile fire. The clinic, which provided free care to Gazans was run by the Near East Council of Churches, a Christian Aid partner organisation.
The owners of the two-storey building received a telephone warning to evacuate the building on Saturday evening 10th January within 15 minutes. The building was evacuated quickly, just before a warning shot was fired.
That was followed by a direct hit from missiles fired by an F-16 Israeli air-force jet. This completely destroyed the building and its contents, including hundreds of thousands of pounds of medical equipment.
There were no injuries in the attack. Nor was any reason for the attack given…
The clinic provided essential free primary health care to the Gazan community, including mother and child clinics, neo-natal care, family planning, and includes a laboratory which conducted tests by doctors related to primary health care, along with a small dispensary.” [emph. in original]
World Health Organisation (10 January):
“- Gaza European hospital and El Nasser Paediatrics hospital sustained damage due to nearby shelling.
- Dorah Paediatrics hospital closed for third day after sustaining damage, except for emergency services.
- WHO concerned about public health situation: PHC [primary health care] services severely restricted and vaccinations interrupted since 27 Dec.
- 10 PHC centres functioning as emergency centres.
- All hospitals have 4-5 hours partial power supply…
The Shifa hospital ICU remains overwhelmed with all 30 beds occupied mainly due to the low evacuation rate of patients through the Rafah crossing.”
UN OCHA (8 January):
“Humanitarian aid workers continued to face insecurity and humanitarian operations were hit in three separate incidents during the day. A clearly marked UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) convoy was hit at 1400 hrs (1200 hrs GMT) on 8 January by three rounds of small arms, which hit one of the armoured vehicles. This occurred during the unilateral suspension of military activities by Israel. An ICRC-escorted convoy of 14 ambulances driving towards Rafah was hit by small arms fire, resulting in the injury of one person. Furthermore, during the morning of 8 January, a convoy came under fire at the Erez Crossing Point. One UNRWA contractor was shot and two were injured. The contractors worked for the only company cleared by Israel to transfer goods from crossings into Gaza, including cargo for WFP and UNRWA. The company decided to suspend all activities due to the current insecurity, which will effectively suspend all convoys within Gaza even if crossings are open, raising serious concerns for the delivery of essential goods in the coming days.” [my emph.]
Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (5 January):
“Israeli army firing on first response units in Gaza; Ambulances unable to reach injured persons nor evacuate them from the scene of attacks to Gaza hospitals. Several ambulances have sustained direct artillery or helicopter fire, medical personnel have been killed, others critically injured. There is no possibility for the rapid evacuation of patients; those whose lives could have been saved are left to bleed to death.”
Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (5 January):
“The PRCS [Palestine Red Crescent Society] reported to PHR-Israel that they have no way of dispatching ambulances without prior coordination since ambulances that set out for evacuation duties at AlAtatra were fired at by apache helicopters. They appealed to PHR-Israel after attempts to coordinate passage via the ICRC have failed since yesterday. AlAwda hospital in Beit Lahiya also asked for our assistance since they must send out ambulances to AlAtatra and Tel Zaatar but cannot dispatch ambulances without being shot at. The hospital is urgently requesting coordination to enable evacuation…
According to our information, between 2 hours and 8-10 hours pass between a request by the ICRC for coordination until the Israeli authorities actually coordinate passage. In some cases teams waited for 24 hours for coordination”. [my emph.]
AFP (7 January):
“The international Red Cross revealed on Wednesday that a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulanceman was killed and two others were wounded after being hit during an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip last weekend.
Three other Red Crescent medical teams and at least four ambulances have been caught in crossfire since then, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said in a statement.
One ambulance had been called out by the Israeli military on Monday under an established coordination mechanism with the Red Crescent, yet was subsequently hit by gunfire from Israeli soldiers, IFRC spokesman Paul Conneally told AFP.
In the first incident on Sunday, the ambulanceman, Arafa Abdul Dayem, was killed by mortar fire during an uncoordinated medical evacuation mission in Jabaliya, after retreating from the same location earlier due to heavy fighting, Conneally said.”
Christian Aid (19 January):
“The PARC [Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees] headquarters in Zeitun took a direct hit and was then used as an Israeli military post. All its computers and furniture were destroyed. In addition, all the PARC greenhouses, trees, plants, water sources and agricultural facilities were bulldozed. It is now working from a rented apartment in Gaza City…
The NECC clinic in Sujaya has been completely destroyed.”
Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (5 January):
• December 31, 2008: Helicopter fires on medical crew evacuating wounded: in Jabal Kashif in northeast Gaza a crew set out to offer assistance. While approaching the bleeding victim on foot, they were hit by helicopter fire. Dr. Ihab Madhun, medic Muhammad Abu Hasireh, as well as the injured victim, were killed.
• January 3, 2009: Second attack on a house after medical crews enter to evacuate the wounded: The house of the Dabbabish family in Sheikh Radwan had already been bombarded. As a crew of medics dressed in medical vests arrived on the scene to tend to the wounded the house was bombarded for a second time. One person was critically wounded: Ayyad Ahmad.
• January 4, 2009: Ambulance belonging to the Al Awda Hospital in Beit Lahiya was hit by helicopter fire. Arfa Abd al Daim, a senior volunteer medic was killed and two other medical personnel were critically injured.
• January 4, 2009: Tank fires on ambulance during attempts to evacuate a family in Tel Alhawa. Inass Fadil Naim, Yassir Shabir and Rifaat Abdel Al were killed.”
Ynet (7 January):
“Eight different human rights organizations filed an urgent petition with the High Court of Justice Wednesday, demanding that the IDF be prevented from attacking medical teams and ambulances operating in Gaza…
The petition claims that since the military operation in Gaza was launched, many cases have been recorded where the army fired medical staff assisting Palestinians wounded in the IDF offensive.
The petitioners claim that the numerous cases reported indicate that attacks on medical teams are not accidental. In addition, they are claiming that the IDF procedure for approving the ambulances’ movement is inefficient, time-consuming, and usually results in failure to get through to casualties.” [my emph.]
IPS (6 January):
“Meanwhile the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which has declared a “full-blown humanitarian crisis” in Gaza, said it is investigating reports that a Palestinian Red Crescent (PRC) ambulance station in Jabaliya refugee camp was targeted Monday night.
In an earlier attack last Friday, the ICRC reported that two clearly marked ambulance medics from the PRC, evacuating the dead and wounded from an earlier Israeli attack, were targeted by Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) fire.
The paramedics were wearing fluorescent jackets and their ambulances had flashing lights visible from a considerable distance.
“I have no doubt that one missile was aimed at us. I do not know for certain whether it was meant to kill us or warn us to keep away, but it was definitely aimed in our direction,” said Palestinian ambulance driver Khaled Abu Saada.
Sammy Hassan, a spokesman from Shifa Hospital said in the last week that four ambulance personnel had been killed in Israeli strikes. “One was a doctor and the other three were medics. We are very worried about our ambulance staff,” Hassan told IPS.” [my emph.]
Palestine Red Crescent Society (12 January):
“The health and environmental situation in Gaza Strip is alarming. Many wounded people are dying as a result of not accessing urgent medical attention. Many dead bodies are still scattered in the streets and under the rubbles of the destroyed houses in most of the affected areas. The inability of the medical teams to evacuate the dead led to the decomposition of bodies due to the fact that the medical teams are not able to enter these areas, despite of all the ICRC coordination efforts.”
World Health Organization (5 January):
“- Two shells hit 15 metres from Al Awda hospital’s emergency room. A nurse sustained severe head injuries.
- Three mobile clinics were destroyed 5 January. All vehicles are now unusable.
- One paramedic was killed and two injured en route to evacuating a patient and their ambulance destroyed by munitions. This raises total of medical staff killed since 27 December t0 six and ambulances hit t0 three.
- All Gaza hospitals continue working on back-up generators for the third consecutive day. International Humanitarian Law requires all medical personnel and facilities be protected at all times, even during armed conflict. Attacks on them are grave violations of International Humanitarian and Human Rights laws…
Hospitals warn that the generators are close to collapse and they have four more days of fuel, even with services limited t0 the mere essentials. At the Shifa hospital alone, collapse would have immediate consequences for 70 intensive care unit patients including 30 in the neonatal care. Twelve operating rooms would als0 be immediately affected, in addition t0 shutting down the oxygen extractors, refrigerators for blood units and machines for emergency laboratory services. Also, all hospitals would be without heating and lighting.”
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (4 January):
“IOF [Israeli Occupation Forces] also continued to target ambulance teams who attempt to collect the injured. At approximately 10:20am today, an Israeli plane fired a missile at an ambulance in the west of Beit Lahia, destroying it and injuring the three of its crew. Two of them sustained critical wounds.”
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (5 January):
“[Today, Israeli forces] targeted medical facilities and ambulances. A Civil Defense team was hit as it tried to fight a fire following the bombardment of a clinic…
In yet another attack on an ambulance crew, an Israeli aircraft fired a guided missile at an ambulance in the al-Zeitoun neighborhood, east of Gaza City. The three crewmen were killed as a result.”
B’Tselem (4 January):
“[Testimony of an ambulance driver:]
Today, 4.1.09, at 10:47 A.M., we were notified about wounded people near the Beit Lahiya square. I quickly drove there with ‘Arafa Hani ‘Abd a-Daim and ‘Alaa Osama Sirhan. We got there in two minutes.
There were four wounded people lying on the ground. ‘Alaa and ‘Arafa brought one of them to the ambulance and then went back to get another one. As they were approaching the ambulance with the second one, we were fired at. I think it was a tank shell, because I didn’t see any planes in the sky. ‘Alaa, ‘Arafa and the man they were carrying were hit. I received a small piece of shrapnel to the head. The wounded man died on the spot. A help team arrived on the scene and took all the wounded people to hospital.
‘Arafa went through surgery at the al-Awda hospital and died of his injuries. ‘Alaa was taken to a-Shifa’a hospital and I was told that his leg might be amputated. I don’t know what happened to the others who were injured.
The ambulance was hit too and can’t be used . Now we have only one ambulance at al-Awda hospital.”
Ma’an news (5 January):
“Israeli forces fired in the immediate vicinity of three hospitals in the Gaza Strip on Monday, witnesses and medical personnel told Ma’an.
The Al-Wafa Hospital eastern Gaza Strip received warning that they would be shelled, but the hosptial administration and staff refused to evacuate on account of the number of injured people being treated there. Some of the wounded have been injured so severely that they cannot be safely transferred.
At Ash-Shifa Hospital, the largest in the Gaza Strip, Israeli warplanes bombed the offices of the Health Committees, about 400 meters from Ash-Shifa hospital. Last week warplanes bombed the Ash-Shifa Mosque, which is part of the medical compound.
Israeli forces also shelled the parking lot of Al-Awda hospital in Jabaliya in northern Gaza.
Spanish human rights worker at the hospital Alberto Arce reported, “Two consecutive shells just landed in the busy car park 15 meters from the entrance to the emergency room of the Al Awda hospital. The entrance of the emrgency rooml was damaged. At the time of the shelling Ambulances were bringing in the wounded that keep pouring in. Medical teams and facilities are being targeted. Nowhere is safe.” …
The international aid agency Oxfam has also reported that personnel working for its affiliates in Gaza have been killed, their ambulances coming under attack.”
Xinhua (4 January):
“Mo’aweya Hassanein, chief of emergency and ambulance services in the Palestinian Health Ministry, said that three more Palestinian paramedics were killed by Israeli airstrike on Sunday evening.
Hassanein said the three were rescuing the injured inside a house, which was damaged in southern Gaza City, where another airstrike took place, killing the paramedics.
Al Haq [.pdf] (7 January):
“The attacks during “Operation Cast Lead” have had a disturbing impact on the already dire health conditions in the Gaza Strip…
Hospitals are attempting to function on only 6 – 8 hours of electricity per day and are severely overcrowded. Moreover, due to lack of space and medical personnel, hospitals have been forced to turn away the sick, pregnant and lightly wounded in order to attend to those who are critically injured. Regular rooms are being turned into unsanitary operation rooms and yards into morgues. As a result, the whole medical system in the Gaza Strip is on the verge of a complete break down.”
World Health Organization (7 January):
“The health services in Gaza, already depleted and fragile, are on the point of collapse if steps to support and protect them are not taken immediately…
To date more than 680 deaths (including about 218 women and children) have been recorded and over 2850 people are reported injured. The dead include 21 medical personnel. Thirty more were injured and 11 ambulances were hit in the violence and military activities in Gaza, according to reports from the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The numbers continue to rise and include many civilians.”
Also on Sunday, another Palestinian paramedic was killed while Israeli warplane targeted an ambulance in west Gaza City.” [my emph.]
CBS news (5 January):
“[Norwegian doctor] Mads Gilbert came to Gaza last week to help out, he says, in a hospital [i.e. Al-Shifa hospital] that’s short of everything but misery.
“They have no spare parts, they have no monitors. They have not enough blood pressure machines, they don’t have enough trolleys. They lack everything. And on top of this you have this huge disaster…
“More people will die who could have been saved,” he said. “We have to be even harder to select who we can treat and we have to put aside people who could otherwise die. That is the gruesome fact of the situation and we are not talking about the 17th century, we are talking about 2009.”
Amnesty International (29 December):
“The health sector in Gaza lacks equipment, medicine and expertise at the best of times and has been further depleted due to the prolonged Israeli blockade. It is now completely overwhelmed and unable to cope with the large number of casualties”.
IRIN news (31 December):
“One hundred and fifty patients were brought in at once,” said Khaled Abu-Najar, a staff nurse in Al-Shifa’s emergency room. “We lack beds, sterile gloves, sheets, scissors and gauze to treat patients.”
International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (6 January):
“Since its premises were destroyed by Israeli bombs on 30 December the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP) – a member of the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) – has been unable to provide care to an ever increasing number of traumatised civilians. Another IRCT member centre in Gaza, the Jesoor Organization, is also unable to operate due to the security situation…
From the headquarters of the IRCT in Copenhagen, Denmark, Secretary-General Brita Sydhoff says: “I am absolutely appalled by Israel’s targeting of densely populated urban areas. Attacks on civilian areas by both sides are deplorable, but Israel’s attacks are grossly disproportionate and are disrupting vital health services.”
“I am extremely alarmed that our two member centres in Gaza, the GCMHP and the Jesoor Organization, are unable to operate during a time when their services are desperately needed” she adds and concludes:
“Israel’s reckless attacks and blockade are endangering the lives and health of the entire population of Gaza in blatant breach of international law and fundamental human rights. I urge the government of Israel to cease its offensive and immediately take all necessary measures to ensure the access of Gaza’s civilian population to vital health services and other fundamental humanitarian needs.”
Gisha (4 January):
“Hospitals, including Gaza’s main Shifa Hospital, are struggling to function under 24-hour per day power outages…
According to Shifa Hospital, fuel reserves for back-up generators will run out by the end of the week. The generators are insufficient to heat the wards or properly operate oxygen machines. The hospital has had no electricity for the past 48 hours.”
UN OCHA (2 January):
“The health system is overwhelmed, having already been weakened by the 18- month blockade.”
Oxfam (4 January):
“A paramedic working for an Oxfam funded organisation was killed when an Israeli shell struck a civilian ambulance in Gaza today according to international agency Oxfam. The tragedy illustrates the deadly dangers faced by Palestinian civilians and aid worker said the agency.
Another paramedic lost his foot and a driver was injured in the same incident, which occurred when an ambulance belonging to Oxfam’s partner organisation, Union of Health Work Committees, was hit while trying to evacuate an injured person in the Beit Lahiya area, Oxfam said.”
Reuters (5 January):
“Bombs on Monday hit a hospital morgue where a family were mourning a paramedic killed in an airstrike on Sunday. Three people were killed and 17 wounded, medical workers said.
“We were sitting in the mourning tent when suddenly they bombed us, we ran to rush the casualties to hospitals but they bombed again,” Abdel-Dayem told Reuters.”
Ma’an news (7 January):
“Medical services at the Gaza Strip’s largest hospital will collapse if the facility does not receive fuel to power its generators, the hospital’s director warned on Wednesday.
The Director of Ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Hussein Aashour said the hospital has for days been using four generators to power all wards, including the intensive care and dialysis units.
He explained that the hospital has 25 premature babies, 25 patients in intensive care unit and 300 people using kidney dialysis. The lives of all these people will be endangered if the hospital runs out of fuel.
Aashour also highlighted that supplies cooking gas in the hospital will last just two days which means patients will be left without food, and sheets will not be washed and sterilized.”
The Mirror (2 January):
“A children’s hospital was also damaged in yesterday’s blitz and a mosque and secondary school destroyed.”
John Ging, head of UNRWA (6 January):
“John Ging, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said he was “shocked” by “the brutality of the injuries” he had seen during a visit to the Shifa hospital in Gaza.
He said: “There are very real shortages of medicine. This hospital has not had electricity for four days. If the generators go down, those in intensive care will die. This is a horrific tragedy here, and it is getting worse by the moment.”
Mosques
The Guardian (4 January):
“The shells could not have fallen at a worse time. Yesterday’s afternoon prayers in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya were unusually busy because worshippers had abandoned their evening prayers in the belief that if the Israelis planned to strike, they would do so at night.
But as the townspeople left the mosque at dusk, the explosions began, killing at least 12 people, six of whom were children.”
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (31 December):
“7 mosques have been destroyed”
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (2 January):
“…In addition, IOF bombarded al-Khulafa’a al-Rashedin Mosque, al-Salam Mosque…”
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (30 December):
“[Israeli forces] have increasingly bombarded civilian facilities, mosques and houses, without paying attention to the lives and safety of Palestinian civilians. Israel claims that such civilian facilities, mosques and houses were related to Hamas, but investigations conducted by PCHR indicate that IOF have used excessive lethal force and that the majority of the facilities that have been targeted are public and private property located in densely populated areas, making Palestinian civilians pay a heavy price from their lives and property.”
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (11 January):
“At approximately 12:30 on Saturday, 10 January, 2009, IOF warplanes bombarded al-Safa Mosque in al-Boreij refugee camp. The mosque was partially destroyed. Shrapnel hit a neighboring house belonging to Mohammed al-’Askari, wounding his wife, Hiba, 28, and two of his children, 6-year-old Ayman and 8-year-old Mos’ab.”
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (29 December):
“[O]n Sunday, 28 December 2008, IOF warplanes bombarded ‘Emad ‘Aqel Mosque in Block 4 in the densely populated Jabalya refugee camp. The mosque and a neighboring house belonging to Anwar Khalil Ba’lousha were destroyed. The house was destroyed over the family, killing 5 of Ba’lousha’s female children: Jawaher, 4; Dunia, 8; Samar, 12; Ikram, 14; and Tahreer, 17. Ba’lousha, his wife and another three of their children were also wounded. Additionally, 17 civilians in neighboring houses, including 5 children, were wounded.”
President Jimmy Carter (9 January):
“Seventeen mosques, the American International School, many private homes and much of the basic infrastructure of the small but heavily populated area have been destroyed. This includes the systems that provide water, electricity and sanitation.”
Schools
UNICEF (16 January):
“In addition to the destruction of homes, schools and health facilities, a UNICEF partner advises that as of 14 January, 59 schools have been damaged in the fighting. The start of the school year has been postponed until February and UNICEF is preparing to re-furnish schools hit by missile strikes.” [my emph.]
AFP (18 January):
“UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Saturday condemned as “outrageous” an Israeli strike on a UN-run school in Gaza…
At least four UN-run schools have been hit in Israeli strikes, including one on Saturday in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya in which some 1,600 people were sheltering.
Two brothers, five and seven years old, were killed and a dozen people wounded in the attack, including the mother of the boys [who "lost both her legs"], Gaza medics and UN officials said.
“I condemn in the strongest terms this outrageous attack,” Ban said, adding that this was not the first time a UN-run establishment was hit by Israeli fire since the offensive was launched.”
Associated Press (4 January):
“An Israeli airstrike flattened one of Gaza’s best private educational institutions, the American International School, which had been attacked a year ago by Islamic militants.
The Israeli Army said the campus on a northern Gaza hilltop overlooking the Mediterranean Sea had been used as a launching base for rockets and was a legitimate target.
Most of the school’s buildings, which offered American-style curriculum in English for kindergarten through 12th grade, were destroyed by the strikes, which also killed the night watchman.”
UN OCHA (3 January):
“The American School north of Gaza was directly hit and almost completely destroyed, with one school guard killed. In addition, at least three to five schools were damaged by Israeli shelling of nearby targets.”
Ma’an news (6 January):
“Three Palestinians were killed overnight in an Israeli attack on a United Nations school that was housing people displaced by the violence in Gaza, the UN’s relief agency for Palestinian refugees said on Tuesday.
In a statement circulated on Tuesday, UNRWA said that Israeli forces attacked the Asma Elementary School in Gaza City, which is currently sheltering 400 people who fled their homes in the town of Beit Lahiy.
The school was clearly marked as a United Nations installation. The three men, 24-year-old Hussein Mahmoud Abed Al Malek Al Sultan, 19-year-old Abed Samir Ali Al Sultan, and 25-year-old Rawhi Jamal Ramadan Al Sultan, were killed at 11:30 last night. The three men, all from the same family, were killed as they left the school toilet at eleven thirty last night when the school compound took a direct hit.
The director of the UN general commissioner’s office in Gaza Adnan Abu Hasanah said that another UN facility, the Ash-Shouka School in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, was also bombarded. At this time there were no details available about the civilians who had taken shelter in the school…
Well before the current fighting, UNRWA said it had given to the Israeli authorities the GPS co-ordinates of all its installations in Gaza, including Asma Elementary School.”
Reuters (6 January):
“Israeli tank fire killed up to 40 Palestinians at a United Nations school in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, medical sources at two Gaza hospitals said.
Two tank shells exploded outside the school, residents said, spraying shrapnel on people inside and outside the building, where hundreds of Palestinians had sought refuge from fighting between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants.
Reuters journalists filmed bodies scattered on the ground amid pools of blood and torn shoes and clothes. A donkey also lay on the ground in its own blood.
In addition to the dead, several dozen people were wounded, the hospital officials said…
A separate Israeli air strike near another U.N. school earlier on Tuesday killed three Palestinians, medics and witnesses said.” [my emph.]
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (5 January):
“At approximately, 5:10pm [on 4 January] … the IOF shelled the courtyard of UNRWA’s Mustafa Hafez School in Khan Younis.”
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (30 Dec):
“…IOF have bombarded the campus of Islamic University, two schools…”
Associated Press (29 December):
“One strike destroyed a five-story building in the women’s wing at Islamic University, one of the most prominent Hamas symbols in Gaza.”
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (2 January):
“IOF have continued to target civilian facilities, mosques, schools and houses, with disregard to the lives of the Palestinian civilians.”
California Scholars for Academic Freedom (4 January):
“…[A]s educators in California institutions of higher learning, we are especially appalled at the destruction of educational institutions and student casualties.
On 27 December, Human Rights Watch reported that an Israeli air-to-ground missile struck a group of students leaving the Gaza Training College, adjacent to the headquarters of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in downtown Gaza City, killing eight students and wounding 19 others. Two days later, on 29 December 2008, Israel bombed the Islamic University of Gaza, destroying the science laboratory block and destroying or damaging other blocks of buildings, including the library. Although Israel has claimed that the science laboratory facilities were used as “a research and development center for Hamas weapons,” this claim has been denied by officials of the Islamic University, and according to the New York Times of 1 January 2009 Israel has not produced any evidence for its claim.”
Government buildings and civil policemen
Al Haq [.pdf] (7 January):
“Among the thousands Palestinian civilians killed and injured are members of the Civil Police and representatives of the political wing of the de facto Hamas government. International humanitarian law holds that members of the Civil Police who are engaged in regular police duties such as ordinary internal law enforcement or traffic regulation are civilians. Separate from both the Hamas Internal Security Forces and the National Security Forces, the Civil Police is comprised of civilian police officers whose primary task, similar to any civilian police force, is the maintenance of civic order within the Gaza Strip. They serve no military function and are therefore not combatants…
An example of an attack on the Civil Police is the 27 December 2008 aerial bombardment of the Civil Police compound in Gaza City, which killed 65 out of 70 police officers who were involved in a training course…
Under international humanitarian law, representatives of the political wing of the de facto Hamas government who play no part in commanding or controlling the military wing of Hamas and who do not take direct part in hostilities are civilians and not a legitimate military target. An example of an attack on political representatives of the de facto Hamas government is the 1 January 2008 aerial bombardment of the Jabaliya refugee camp home of Nizar Rayyan, which killed him and 15 members of his family (including 11 of his children), injured other family members and neighbours and destroyed ten adjacent houses…
Attacks on civilians not taking direct part in hostilities that result in deaths constitute wilful killing, a war crime amounting to a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention. This entails the individual criminal responsibility of those Israeli officials who planned, ordered or executed such attacks. The widespread and systematic nature of such attacks during “Operation Cast Lead” may constitute the crime against humanity of murder.” [my emph.]
UN OCHA (2 January):
“The estimate on the total number of Hamas leaders’ houses targeted so far is 45.”
Ha’aretz (15 January):
“An Israel Air Force strike in the center of Gaza City on Thursday killed Hamas Interior Minister Said Siam. Palestinian sources said that the head of Islamist militant group’s security apparatus, Salah Abu Shreh, and its military commander in Gaza City, Mahmoud Watfah, were also killed in the attack.”
Palestinian Center for Human Rights (31 December):
“25 buildings of public buildings have been destroyed, including those of ministries, governorates, municipalities, the Palestinian Legislative Council, and 3 educational institutions…
IOF warplanes have destroyed most buildings of the Palestinian government in the Gaza Strip, including those of ministries and security services…
The public institutions that have been bombarded are: the compound of ministries, the building of the Palestinian Legislative Council, the building of the cabinet in Gaza City; the buildings of the agricultural control department and the Municipality of Bani Suhaila in Khan Yunis; the buildings of Rafah Municipality and Governorate.”
B’Tselem (31 December):
“Another example [“of what appear to be clear civilian objects attacked by the army”] is yesterday’s bombing of the government offices. These offices included the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Labor, Construction and Housing…
[A]s the entity effectively governing the Gaza Strip, it [i.e. Hamas] is also responsible for maintaining daily life. As such, it supervises the activity of all civilian frameworks in Gaza – among them the welfare, health, housing, and legal systems. Hamas must also ensure public order and safety by means of a police force. Therefore, even if Hamas is a “hostile entity” whose principle objective is to undermine the existence of the State of Israel, this does not lead to the conclusion that every act it carries out is intended to harm Israel and that every government ministry is a legitimate target…
An intentional attack on a civilian target is a war crime.”
The Guardian (6 January):
“The head of the Shin Bet internal security service, Yuval Diskin, told the Israeli cabinet that Hamas was finding it increasingly difficult to govern with its leadership in hiding from Israeli rockets and much of its infrastructure blown to pieces.
He was backed by the chief of the general staff, Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi, who said “not much” remained of the Hamas government, and by the head of military intelligence, Major General Amos Yadlin. “Hamas has absorbed a very hard blow …
Its ability to govern has been harmed, its leaders have completely abandoned the population and are only worrying about themselves,” Yadlin told the cabinet.” [my emph.]
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (5 January):
“[On 2 January] IOF warplanes bombarded a police station at Bani Suhila intersection in the east of Khan Yunis. A passing Palestinian civilian was wounded and a secondary school in the area was damaged.”
UN (29 December):
“[On 27 December] an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) missile targeted a group of policemen standing in the street near the building of the Gaza governorate, immediately across the street from the UNRWA Gaza Training Center, which is located within the compound housing the main UNRWA office in the Gaza Strip.
Eight UNRWA Gaza Training Center students between the ages of 18 and 20, who were standing nearby waiting for the UN buses to bring them home, were killed and 19 injured from the blast. Eight of the injured remain in hospital in critical conditions today. One of these critically injured students is unconscious with intracranial shrapnel and requires immediate transfer to an Israeli hospital for advanced central nervous system surgery.”
UN OCHA (28 December):
“Air-strike targets included civil police stations, military training bases and government buildings and installations. In one incident, at least 40 people were killed when an IAF plane fired an air-to-ground missile at the police headquarters in Gaza City during preparations for a graduation ceremony for regular civilian and traffic police. Other civilian casualties occurred among those living in residences within the vicinity of targeted buildings.”
UN OCHA (2 January):
“There has been significant destruction in the Gaza Strip, over 600 targets hit, including roads, infrastructure, the Islamic university, government buildings, mosques and civil police stations”
UN OCHA (31 December):
“Air-strikes targeted a variety of public buildings, including mosques, civil police stations, universities and sports centres in addition to government buildings and military training bases.”
Associated Press (28 December):
“In all, more than 290 people — most of them Hamas [civil] policemen, but also 20 children — were killed in some 300 Israeli air attacks over two days.” [my emph.]
Human Rights Watch (30 December):
“Israel should not target individuals and institutions in Gaza solely because they are part of the Hamas-run political authority, including ordinary police…
Human Rights Watch noted that many of Israel’s airstrikes, especially during the first day, targeted police stations as well as security and militia installations controlled by Hamas. According to the Jerusalem Post, an attack on the police academy in Gaza City on December 27 killed at least 40, including dozens of cadets at their graduation ceremony as well as the chief of police, making it the single deadliest air attack of the campaign to date. Another attack, on a traffic police station in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah, killed a by-stander, 12-year-old Camilia Ra`fat al-Burdini.
Under the laws of war, police and police stations are presumptively civilian unless the police are Hamas fighters or taking a direct part in the hostilities, or police stations are being used for military purposes.” [my emph.]
B’Tselem (31 December):
“…the military bombed the main police building in Gaza and killed, according to reports, forty-two Palestinians who were in a training course and were standing in formation at the time of the bombing. Participants in the course study first-aid, handling of public disturbances, human rights, public-safety exercises, and so forth. Following the course, the police officers are assigned to various arms of the police force in Gaza responsible for maintaining public order…
[This is just one example] of what appear to be clear civilian objects attacked by the army…
An intentional attack on a civilian target is a war crime.”
Media
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (4 January):
“Israeli aircrafts also launched a series of air raids at civilian targets in Gaza City; including a print-house, the Al-Risala Newspaper’s office and the Al-Karama Charity, which cares for the orphans whose parents have been killed by the IOF.”
Associated Press (28 December):
“Palestinian sources reported early Sunday morning that IAF aircraft had targeted the Al Aqsa TV station used by Hamas.”
Reuters (15 January):
“Two journalists were wounded in an apparent Israeli rocket strike on a Gaza tower block on Thursday that forced Reuters and other media to evacuate their bureau, disrupting coverage on a day of heavy fighting in the city.
Gulf-based Abu Dhabi Television said it believed its two journalists were targeted by an Israeli aircraft as they filmed from their 14th-storey office in the downtown Al-Shurouq Tower…
Israeli army spokesmen, who had been in touch with Reuters shortly before the blast to confirm the location of the bureau in Gaza, said they were looking into what had happened. Six hours later, the army had still to offer an explanation.
“Ayman al-Razzi … and cameraman Mohammed al-Sousi were filming the Israeli strikes … when an Israeli aircraft fired a rocket directly at them, resulting in an explosion inside the office and shrapnel wounds,” Abu Dhabi TV said in a statement.”
UNESCO (12 January):
“The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, deplored attacks on media installations in Gaza and condemned the killing of Palestinian journalist Basel Faraj who died on the line of duty on 6 January…
Condemning the killing of journalist Basel Faraj, the Director-General stated: “Basel Faraj has paid for his dedication to his profession with his life.” He further highlighted the importance of respecting the right of journalists to exercise their professional duties and keep the world informed about what is taking place in Gaza.
Basel Faraj worked as a cameraman for the Algerian TV network ENTV and for the Palestine Broadcast Production Company. He died on 6 January from wounds sustained during an Israeli air strike on 27 December.”
Committee to Protect Journalists (6 January):
“The Israeli military must put an end to targeting Palestinian media in the Gaza Strip and allow international journalists to enter Gaza to cover the conflict, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On Monday, the eighth day of its military campaign, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) fired two missiles into the offices of the Hamas-affiliated Al-Risala newsweekly … The attack destroyed all of the paper’s equipment and nearly all the furniture in the headquarters of the newspaper, which is located in a residential building in a densely populated area of Gaza City, Editor-in-Chief Wissam Afifa told CPJ…
Within minutes of that bombing, the IDF also bombed al-Rantisi printers, the commercial printing press that publishes Al-Risala, according to local news reports…
The IDF also continued to sporadically take over the frequencies of Gaza-based Sawt al-Sha`b radio and Al-Aqsa television, with Israeli military propaganda calling on Palestinians to abandon Hamas, according to Agence France-Press and local news reports.
According to the English-language service of al-Jazeera, one of its crews was detained for hours on January 3 in Kissufim, a border-crossing area between Israel and Gaza, and its footage was confiscated because they were “filming in a closed military zone,” al-Jazeera reported…
On December 27, Israel declared large swaths of Gaza as well as a 2-mile (3.2-kilometer) strip along all of Gaza’s boundaries to be closed military zones. This decision came after a September 2008 Ministry of Defense order banning foreign reporters from entering Gaza. The ban, enforced sporadically in the last two months, as well as an existing two-year-old ban by the government on Israeli journalists reporting from Gaza, effectively prevents journalists from reporting on the continuing military operations in the area. Despite a January 2 decision by the Israeli Supreme Court calling for eight foreign journalists to be granted entry into the Gaza Strip, the Defense Ministry continues to prevent them from entering the territory.
“To grant permission to merely eight journalists out of a 400-plus-strong media corps in Israel to enter Gaza is inadequate,” said Simon. “There is serious news being made in Gaza, and only a small number of local journalists to cover it.”
On December 29, the IDF shelled the headquarters of Al-Aqsa television, destroying it entirely. The station continues to broadcast from a remote location.”
Ma’an news (9 January):
“A journalist working for the Palestinian Authority’s official television station was killed the Israeli onslaught in Gaza, Palestinian medical officials announced on Friday.
Palestine TV cameraman Ihab Al-Wahidi was killed along with his mother and his wife and mother when Israeli tanks shelled his house in the Tal Al-Hawa neighborhood south of Gaza City on Thursday night. His wife, Rukaya Abu Al-l-Naja, is of Moroccan origin.”
Ma’an news (9 January):
“Photojournalist for Ma’an Khalil Ryash was injured Friday as he documented a protest march in the village of Jayyous east of Qalqiliya.
Ryash was shot with a new brand of Israeli ammunition and sustained moderate injuries along with seven others participating in the weekly march.
Ryash was transferred to the Dr Darwish Nazzal hospital in Qalqiliya where his condition was described as stable.
According to the International Solidarity Movement the new bullets are small and silent when fired. They enter the body when shot from close range, and have been shown to cause serious internal bleeding.”
Press TV (9 January):
“Israeli forces have targeted the office of Press TV and the Iranian Arab-language satellite channel al-Alam in the Gaza Strip.
There were two people wounded in the Israeli attack, a Press TV correspondent said Friday, adding that Press TV’s sister channel, Al-Alam, which was also based in the building has been affected by the attack.
According to our correspondent Hamoudi Gharib, the building was targeted even though the staff had kept light projectors working on the roof of the building 24 hours a day to mark the building.
The journalists working in the building had been given safety assurances that the building would not be targeted by mistake, after its coordinates were handed to organizations responsible for the journalist safety, including the UN.” [emph. in original]
General civilian infrastructure
IRIN news (19 January):
“It is now estimated – by the Israeli army in conjunction with some Palestinian sources on the ground – that the Israeli army destroyed some 15 percent of buildings in Gaza and severely damaged infrastructural facilities.” [my emph.]
Al Haq [.pdf] (7 January):
“Israel’s extensive and wanton destruction of civilian property not justified by military necessity is a war crime amounting to a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention.” [my emph.]
UN OCHA (12 January):
“Continued air strikes are causing extensive damage to homes and public infrastructure while jeopardizing water, sanitation and medical services.”
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (11 January):
“During the IOF’s military operations, it directly targeted 142 houses with guided missiles and shells. However, the number of houses that have been completely destroyed in these attacks is at least 470 houses. Another 3,000 to 4,000 houses have been partially destroyed. The IOF also destroyed 38 mosques; 13 of which were directly and wantonly targeted. 39 schools were damaged, of which 5 (and one university) were directly targeted. IOF attacks also destroyed 42 civilian facilities; including CBO offices and quasi-governmental institutions. Furthermore, it destroyed 107 privately owned workshops and small industrial and commercial plants. IOF also destroyed 90 police and security installations and 25 sites that were used for military purposes by armed groups”.
International Committee of the Red Cross (18 January):
“[A] number of areas, including parts of Beit Lahiya, looked like the aftermath of a strong earthquake – entire neighbourhoods were beyond recognition. Some houses had been completely levelled; others were still standing but were so badly damaged by shelling that it would be too dangerous to move back in. Roads were completely destroyed, making it almost impossible for vehicles to move through them.”
Reuters (20 January):
“Palestinian families returned to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday but many found there was nothing recognisable left standing.
Women and children gazed around in dismay as they came in sight of Salatin, trundling slowly along on overloaded donkey carts or packed into decrepit cars, over roads ripped up by Israeli tanks and explosions…
Houses left and right were blasted by tank and heavy machine-gun fire. Some, like Sultan’s, were pancaked by bombs from the F-16s of the Israeli airforce.
A dazed man wrapped in a blanket against the early morning chill said he simply could not find his house.”
Amnesty International (19 January);
“Throughout the day, wherever we went in Gaza City and surrounding areas, we found more and more destroyed and damaged homes, mosques, schools and government buildings; some completely flattened, by bombs dropped by F16 fighter jets, others rendered uninhabitable by the artillery and missile strikes.”
Oxfam (28 December):
“The bombing has caused severe damage to the civilian infrastructure in Gaza with many areas being left without water or electricity.”
World Bank [.pdf] (7 January):
“- Nearly all sewage and water pumps are now out of operation due to lack of electricity and diminished fuel supplies to operate backup power generators. The water utility has extremely limited fuel reserves (just 10,000 liters as of today) which it is unable to distribute but which would enable only about one day of pumping if distributed. Stocks of spare parts and other maintenance supplies, already depleted before the military operations, are in urgent need of replenishment.
- Resulting shortage of potable water and sewage overflows in urban areas is becoming an imminent public health danger. As of today, nearly the entire population of Gaza is without running water and is dependent on their own stored water supplies and limited sales by private water distributors. Sewage has already flooded in some residential areas, particularly in Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya, where sewage pumps have been damaged…
- Lake structure requires constant and vigilant maintenance under normal conditions. Pumps transferring sewage from the lake to infiltration basins, critical to the relief of pressure on structure, are not in operation due to lack of electricity and fuel. The integrity of the lake structure is endangered by the potential impact of nearby explosions and sonic booms and possible heavy rain.
- Failure of the lake structure would put about the 10,000 residents of the surrounding area in danger of drowning and spark a wider environmental and public health disaster.” [my emph.]
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (20 January):
“Following twenty two consecutive days of Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, water and sanitation services and facilities are on the brink of collapse. The water and sanitation sector was already in a dire state following the 18 month blockade on Gaza, which had prevented the entry of material necessary for construction and repair of water and sanitation facilities as well as the fuel and electricity necessary to operate essential services such as sewage pumping stations and water wells. Israel’s aerial bombardment of the Gaza Strip beginning on the 27 December 2008 and the ground invasion beginning on the 3 January 2009 have turned an already desperate humanitarian situation into a catastrophe.
Currently more than half a million residents of the Gaza Strip (a third of the population) have no access to clean water. Some have been without water for over ten days…
Israeli military attacks have caused extensive damage to water and sanitation infrastructure…
Sewage is currently overflowing into residential areas posing an extreme threat to people’s health and the environment. The main sewerage line in Beit Hanoun has been destroyed and the main power generator at Beit Lahia waste water treatment plant has been attacked…
Israel has directly targeted water and sanitation infrastructure and the CMWU reports that all basic water and sanitation infrastructure has been destroyed in areas that were subject to Israeli military attack. This includes a direct hit on the Gaza City Waste Water Treatment Plant on 10 January. On 18 January a water well was destroyed in the Abu Ghazala area of Beit Hanoun causing the death of a one and a half year old child whose family’s house was located near to the well…
Israeli attacks have reduced access to water and sanitation and Israel has taken no steps to remedy such access. Denying the civilian population the means necessary for their survival in this manner or hindering the provision of humanitarian aid, is a war crime…” [my emph.]
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (10 January):
“[On Friday 9 January] IOF fired six artillery shells that exploded close to the Beit Lahia Treatment Plant. Two shells hit the rubble embankment that keeps sewage water from people’s homes in Beit Lahia. If these walls collapse, the entire town of Beit Lahia could be drawned by over 60 million cubic meters of sewage.”
Daily Mail (15 January):
“An Israeli bomb struck a graveyard – the crammed Sheikh Radwan cemetery in Gaza City – sending body parts flying and blasting craters in the ground.”
AFP (7 January):
“Ten thousand people risk drowning in septic waste as Gaza’s sewage system is threatened by Israeli bombardment and the inability to operate pumps, the World Bank said on Wednesday.
Pumps transferring sewage from large cesspools to filtration basins in northern Gaza are not operating because of a lack of electricity and fuel, the bank said.
These pumps are critical to relieve pressure on the Beit Lahya sewage lake structure. The lake’s walls are also threatened “by the potential impact of nearby explosions and sonic booms and possibly heavy rain.”
“Failure of the lake structure would put the about 10,000 residents of the surrounding area in danger of drowning and spark a larger environmental and public health disaster,” the World Bank said…
The World Bank said there were also severe shortages of drinking water, adding that the water utility had only enough fuel to enable one day of pumping, but is unable to distribute it as the Israeli offensive continues.”
John Ging, head of UNRWA (4 January):
“We have a catastrophe unfolding in Gaza for the civilian population … The people of Gaza City and the north now have no water. That comes on top of having no electricity. They’re trapped, they’re traumatised, they’re terrorised by this situation … The inhumanity of this situation, the lack of action to bring this to an end, is bewildering to them…
“The whole infrastructure of the future state of Palestine is being destroyed … Blowing up the Parliament building. That’s the Parliament of Palestine. That’s not a Hamas building. The President’s compound is for the President of Palestine.” (via Ben White)
UN OCHA (2 January):
“There has been extensive damage caused to thousands of houses all over the Gaza Strip.”
Ma’an news (9 January):
“Gaza’s International Football Stadium was bombed Friday, destroying the facility, located in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.
The facility was the headquarters of the Palestinian Football Association, build partially with funds from the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)’s Goal project, as well as contributions from the French and Saudi Arabian government.
The 2.5 million US dollar facility, built in 2002 and opened in 2005, housed the men’s and women’s football teams. It also housed the technical and administrative center of the Palestinian Football Association (PFA).
Along with the International stadium, Israeli air and artillery strikes have damaged several sports clubs and youth organization headquarters.”
The Independent (5 January):
“The phone call came at around 4.20pm on Saturday. A bomb had been dropped on the house at our small farm in northern Gaza. My father was walking from the gate to the farmhouse at the time. It was our beloved place, that farm and its two-storey white house with a red roof. Nestled in a flat fertile agricultural plain north-west of Beit Lahiya, it had lemon groves, orange and apricot trees and we had recently acquired 60 dairy cows…
But shortly before sunset on Saturday, as Israeli ground troops and tanks invaded Gaza in the name of shutting down Hamas rocket sites, the peace of that place was shattered and my father’s life extinguished at the age of 48. Warplanes and helicopters had swept in, bombing and firing to open up the space for the tanks and ground forces that would follow in the darkness. It was one of those F16 airstrikes that killed my father.”
Ma’an news (6 January):
“More than 26 residential buildings and schools were targeted by Israeli fire on Tuesday, causing more casualties amongst women and children, witnesses in Gaza said.
Sources at Ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said five dead bodies arrived at the medical center in a civilian car after their homes were shelled. The sources asserted that several homes were bombarded in eastern Gaza City, and that ambulances could not access the area to evacuate victims because Israeli forces are shooting at ambulances.
Separately, A 15-year-old boy was killed when an Israeli drone fired a missile at him while he was walking in the street in the center of Gaza City. An eyewitness called Ra’fat Al-Khudari said the boy was walking a bike when the drone targeted him killing him immediately.
A home was also shelled near Al-Quds Open University in Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, and another at Al-Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip. Reports say there were casualties.”
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (5 January):
“At approximately 13:40 [on Friday 2 January] … IOF warplanes bombarded a civil defense station at the beach. The station was destroyed, but no casualties were reported…
At approximately 16:20 also on Friday IOF warplanes started to bombard the remainders of Gaza International Airport in the east of Rafah. The bombardment continued sporadically until 00:45 on Saturday, 3 January 2009.”
Reuters (4 January):
“At least 42 Palestinians, most of them civilians, were killed on Sunday as Israeli shells slammed into houses and Gaza’s main shopping district, medical sources said.”
The Times (5 January):
“Nobody knows what kind of shell it was that hit Gaza City’s main vegetable market yesterday morning: the explosives were falling so thick and fast that it could have come from an Israeli naval vessel, an F16 fighter-bomber, an Apache helicopter gunship, an unmanned drone, an artillery cannon or a tank.
The results, however, were unmistakable. With Gaza’s ambulance service stretched far beyond its normal capacity, the first mangled bodies arrived in private cars as locals scrambled to save the lives of the shoppers caught up in the carnage. The first to be carried in was a boy, his face masked in blood from a head wound, as medics hurried him into the overcrowded emergency rooms. The next car delivered a girl, perhaps 12 or 13 years old, her entrails blown out through a hole in her back by shrapnel.”
Ma’an news (6 January):
“Israeli artillery shelling killed four people and wounded 16 others in a market in Al-Bureij Refugee Camp in the Gaza Strip late on Monday, witnesses told Al-Jazeera.
The killings bring the total number of Palestinians killed on Monday to 46.
Israeli tanks reportedly fired three shells into the market.”
Ma’an news (6 January):
“The main telephone and internet company in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip says their system is on the verge of collapse following Israel’s assault on Gaza.
According to PalTel Chief Executive Officer Dr Abdel Malek Jaber, without access to fuel the telephone system in Gaza will shut down “within 24 hours.”
The telecommunications system in Gaza will go offline within a day as a significant portion of the company is working with generators to supply their electricity.”
The Guardian (4 January):
“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.”
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (2 January):
“Since the beginning of the ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip, Israel has claimed that it does not target civilian facilities. However, PCHR’s investigations refute these allegations, and prove that IOF, by explicit orders from their political and military leaders, have used excessive lethal force and that the majority of targets have been civilian and public facilities and private property that are located in the middle of overpopulated residential neighborhoods, endangering the lives and possessions of the civilian population. Moreover, PCHR’s investigations affirm that all the casualties that have been caused during the last hours of IOF successive and intensive raids have been civilians.”
Children
UNICEF (16 January):
“After three weeks of fighting, the Office of the UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator (OCHA) reports that nearly one-third of those killed in the Gaza Strip – some 340 – were children, and that 1600 more children have been moderately to severely injured. Yesterday was the worst day for fatalities, according to OCHA, with 24 children killed.”
The Guardian (9 January):
“More than 750 Palestinians have died since the start of the Israeli military operation. More than half of Gaza’s population are children, and the Palestinian ministry of health said about 42% of the casualties have been children.
Unicef said at least 100 children and minors were killed in the first 10 days of fighting. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, which posts staff at hospitals to track casualties, put this number at more than 160.” [my emph.]
AFP (6 January):
“More than a quarter of the hundreds of dead from the Gaza conflict are children and aid groups say the survivors will suffer physical and psychological scars for the rest of their lives.
The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated, impoverished corners of the Earth and children make up 56 percent of the 1.5 million population.
Even before the Israeli offensive on the Hamas territory started on December 27, malnourishment and the winter cold had taken a heavy toll.
Aid workers believe just about every Gaza child has been traumatised by the incessant bombardment…
At least 159 children are among the more than 580 Palestinians killed in Operation Cast Lead, according to the latest toll from Gaza emergency services. Whole families have been killed in their shelled homes or in cars trying to get away from the fighting, according to medics…
“Before this began, there were already 50,000 malnourished children in Gaza. There is no way of knowing how many there are now, but we are very concerned the number is going to rise,” said [Save the Children's Benedict] Dempsey.” [my emph.]
Save the Children (2 January):
“At least 13,000 Palestinians have been forced to flee their homes in Gaza as the bombardment continues into its seventh day, Save the Children said today.
More than half of those displaced people are children.”
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (10 January):
“At approximately 3:30am on Friday (9 January), Israeli aircrafts raided the house of Fayiz Salha with a heavy missile. An IOF drone had fired a warning missile two minutes earlier. The inhabitants did not manage to leave the house before the major bombardment; therefore, killing six of its residents; including 4 children and two women. They were identified as:
- 1-year-old girl Rola Fayiz Salha;
- 4.5-year-old boy Baha’ Fayiz Salha;
- 12-year-old girl Rana Fayiz Salha; and
- 14-year-old boy Dyia’ Fayiz Salha;
- 22-year-old Fatima Al-Haw;
- 33-year-old Randa Fayiz Salha.
22-year-old Fatima had come to her sister’s house seeking safety after IOF bombardment of her neighborhood. The house was completely destroyed and four neighboring homes were damaged in this attack.”
Save the Children (9 January):
“Save the Children fears that babies are dying after reports from Gaza’s biggest paediatric hospital that parents have been unable, or too afraid, to bring their babies to hospital until it is too late.
Newborns may also be dying because women are unable to get to hospital to give birth.
There are also concerns that the lives of children in the intensive care unit are at risk as there are only two days of fuel left to keep the unit running.
A senior physician at Naser Hospital in Gaza City, who preferred not to be named, told us that babies had already died. He said: “People are bringing their babies to us only when they are seriously ill. Four days ago an 11 month old baby was brought in suffering from meningococcal septicaemia. He was already very sick and died three hours later.”
Another doctor working at Al Shifa Hospital, the largest hospital in Gaza, who also did not want to be named, said: “Pregnant women are not able to get to hospital. Newborns may die, it is very simple.” [emph. in original]
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (5 January):
“Seventy-seven people have been killed in IOF’s attacks between 1pm yesterday and 2:30pm today. This includes 21 children and nine women.”
Sydney Morning Herald (6 January):
“On Monday [5 January], 20 children between the age of two and 15 were killed, he [i.e. Dr Moaiya Hassanein of the Gaza Health Ministry] said.”
Human Rights Watch (13 January):
“In one case documented by Haaretz, two children, Ahmed Sabih, 10, and Mohammed al-Mashharawi, 14, went to the roof of their home in Gaza City on January 4 to heat water over an open fire. An Israeli missile was fired at the boys, killing Ahmed instantly and seriously wounding Mohammed.”
Ma’an news (7 January):
“Israeli warplanes killed three Palestinian civilians on Wednesday afternoon during what Israel had earlier declared to be a unilateral three hour halt in its attacks on Gaza.
Israel had announced that it would halt attacks between 1:00pm and 4:00pm on Wednesday afternoon to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Medics at Kamal Udwan Hospital confirmed that three sisters were killed by Israeli fire in the east of Jabaliya Refugee Camp. The sisters were identified as two-year-old Amal, four-year-old Su’ad and six-year-old Samar. Others were injured, medics said.”
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (5 January):
“The Number of Palestinians Killed Rises to 372, Mostly Civilians, Including 75 Children and 16 Women … IOF have continued their offensive on the Gaza Strip for the 8th consecutive day, causing more deaths and casualties among Palestinian civilians, especially children.”
UN OCHA [.pdf] (31 December):
“At least 32 children were killed in the first 48 hours of airstrikes”.
Chris Hedges (16 December):
“A recent study reports that 46 percent of all Gazan children suffer from acute anemia. There are reports that the sonic booms associated with Israeli overflights have caused widespread deafness, especially among children. Gazan children need thousands of hearing aids. Malnutrition is extremely high in a number of different dimensions and affects 75 percent of Gazans. There are widespread mental disorders, especially among young people without the will to live. Over 50 percent of Gazan children under the age of 12 have been found to have no will to live…
The statistics gathered on children – half of Gaza’s population is under the age of 17 – are increasingly grim. About 45 percent of children in Gaza have iron deficiency from a lack of fruit and vegetables, and 18 percent have stunted growth.”
IRIN news (8 January):
“Gaza’s children – some 56 percent of Gaza’s 1.5 million people – are struggling to survive the Israeli offensive which began on 27 December…
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 660 Palestinians have been killed since 27 December, including 176 children and 86 women; 2,950 have been injured, of whom 40 percent are children and 18 percent women…
Children are vulnerable for other reasons: 50,000 of them were malnourished in Gaza before the offensive, and half of those under two had anaemia, according to Save the Children.
Furthermore, all primary healthcare services for the population, including vaccination services, have stopped, according to the WHO, placing children at risk of diseases such as hepatitis and measles.
An estimated one million people, including 560,000 children, are living without water or electricity, said Save the Children. Lack of electricity for heating at night presents a hypothermia risk for children, particularly babies and newborns, it added.”
The Guardian (7 January):
“Gaza’s leading child psychiatrist, Dr Abdel Aziz Mousa Thabet, who has studied the effects of violence and trauma on children for 20 years, said about 65% of young people in the enclave suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
“There are many other traumatic symptoms, like headaches and abdominal pain and vomiting. There’s an inability to concentrate, panic, anxiety, irritability,” he said. “I’ve observed much change in the children. They are more anxious, more fearful. Children are panicky because of the explosions. Children want to leave. You hear it. They feel there is no hope, that the world can’t do anything for them and they can’t do anything for themselves.”
Thabet says the impact of trauma on older children combines with other experiences to push them to extremes.” [my emph.]
World Vision (7 January):
“We must see an immediate cessation of hostilities in order to prevent any more tragic deaths or further trauma inflicted on the children of Gaza,” said a senior World Vision spokesperson.
A recent study by the aid agency, released just before this wave of unprecedented violence, illustrated the high rates of trauma among children in North Gaza, largely induced by fear…
More than 16 per cent of children aged 5-15 in North Gaza suffer from nightmares, the majority of which (76.7 per cent) are caused by fear. Psychological problems, health issues and trauma were also contributing causes, the study showed…
“The reality is that this current violence is already compounding high levels of trauma in children, and one can only guess at the long-term effects of this.
“There’s the initial impact on children, which we’re already seeing – frequent nightmares, and a heartbreaking loss of hope – but there’s also the long-term trauma that will devastate for years to come.”
UNICEF (6 January):
“Ten days of aerial bombing on Gaza has caused extensive devastation throughout the territory and is threatening the health and welfare of many children. Most of Gaza is without electricity, and the situation is turning into a massive humanitarian crisis…
The hospitals in Gaza are overwhelmed by casualties and are running low on medicines. More than half the population of Gaza is made up of children.”
Dominic Nutt of Save the Children (6 January):
“They don’t have any water most of the day, there is no electricity, they are freezing cold, the windows have to be left open to stop them smashing when the bombs fall.
“Children are at risk from hypothermia, they are malnourished, there is not enough food, the situation is getting desperate.”
Reuters (5 January):
“The situation has reached a critical level for children who are exposed to and experiencing violence, fear and uncertainty,” Save the Children emergency team leader Annie Foster said.
Some families fear to leave their houses while others are being forced to flee them. The winter cold was also a danger to children as electricity cuts have mean many homes lack heating.
“Families must leave windows open at night so that they will not be broken by percussive shocks or flying debris from the ongoing bombardment. This means that children, the majority of them poor and malnourished, are essentially spending the night exposed to the elements”, Foster said.”
UNICEF (5 January):
“The humanitarian crisis caused by the current violence in Gaza is hitting children and women the most. Children form over half of Gaza’s population of nearly 1.5 million and are bearing the brunt of the conflict. Being the most vulnerable part of the population, children are the first to be psychologically distressed, the most in need of medical support and the most exposed to injuries among civilians in times of conflict…
As of 3 January 2009, 70 Palestinian children were killed and at least 650 injured, out of a tally of 550 deaths and 2800 injuries, according to data provided by the Palestinian Ministry of Health…
The children in Gaza are currently deprived not only of the basic human rights any human being should enjoy but are also denied the fundamental rights specific to children, to which the signatories of the Convention of the Right of the Child are duty bound. These include the right of children to be protected from all forms of physical or mental violence and injury, and the right to education, development and access to healthcare services…
The intensity of the current violence renders impossible any action to relieve their plight.”
International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (6 January):
“Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza is causing widespread mental trauma, especially among children. In parallel, delivery of desperately needed emergency mental health services has ceased…
Children are particularly vulnerable to the traumatising effect of the bombs and shells raining down on densely populated civilian areas…
“When yet another building is hit”, he added, “children of 4-5 years of age ask questions like ‘how many dead?’ and ‘are they going to shell our house?’”
“The situation is horrific right now, but it does not stop when the bombings are over.” He [i.e. a psychiatrist from the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme] concluded: “I cannot even begin to imagine the scale of trauma that is building up as this goes on; it will take enormous effort to deal with the mental trauma of our children afterwards.”
Norwegian volunteer doctor at Al-Shifa hospital, Dr. Erik Fosse (5 January):
“The injured patients are mainly civilians, a lot of children with dreadful injuries,” Dr. Erik Fosse told CNN on Monday, estimating that 20 percent of the more than 500 people dead were children…
Fosse said that he estimated that about 30 percent of the casualties at Shifa Hospital on Sunday were children, both among the dead and wounded…
“We were operating in the corridors, patients were lying everywhere, and people were dying before they got treatment,” he said.”
Civilian population
Palestinian Center for Human Rights (27 December):
“The air strikes started at 11:25 local time, almost at the same time throughout the Gaza Strip. This timing indicates that an Israeli decision was taken to cause maximum casualties in the climax of daily activities. It also explains the high number of victims killed or wounded in a few minutes on the bloodiest day during the 41 years of Israeli occupation. The timing of air strikes coincided with the end of the morning period and the beginning of the afternoon period at schools, many of which are located near police stations that were attacked. PCHR learnt that a number of children were killed or wounded while on their way to or back from schools, and hundreds of school children and civilians were treated from shocks. PCHR learnt also that dozens of the victims are unarmed civilians who were near the places that were attacked, the majority of which are located in civilian-populated areas.” [my emph.]
Amos Harel, Ha’aretz (27 December):
“This was a massive attack much along the lines of what the Americans termed “shock and awe” during their invasion of Iraq in March 2003 … little to no weight was apparently devoted to the question of harming innocent civilians.” [my emph.]
Reuven Pedatzur, Ha’aretz (8 January):
“It appears the senior command decided to shock the Palestinians by killing as many people connected to Hamas as possible. The assumption was, apparently, that killing several hundred people would make the Hamas leaders surrender or plead for a cease-fire. This is one of the reasons the air attack was carried out as a surprise. The IDF, which planned to attack buildings and sites populated by hundreds of people, did not warn them in advance to leave, but intended to kill a great many of them, and succeeded.” [my emph. - Dr. Pedatzur is a senior lecturer at the Strategic Studies Program, Tel Aviv University and Director of the Galili Center for Strategy and National Security.]
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (19 January):
“- The Total Number of Victims Mounts to 1,251 Including 904 Civilians and 168 civil police officers
- This Number Includes 292 Children and 97 Women
- The Number Included Also 7 Medical Personnel and 3 Journalists”
Amnesty International (7 January):
“Civilians in Gaza are trapped in an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe, and need immediate respite,” said Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.
“It is abundantly clear that the parties to this conflict are failing to respect international humanitarian law, and that the civilian population of Gaza is paying a very heavy price.” …
However, civilians – particularly the 1.5 million Palestinians trapped in Gaza – continue to both be targeted and suffer disproportionately in this conflict.”
Palestine Red Crescent Society (11 January):
“PRCS condemns the Israeli army’s continuous targeting of civilians and their properties and hampering the access of medical personnel and ambulances to casualties. This delay by the Israeli army led to the dying of many wounded people as a result of not accessing urgent medical attention.
The health and environmental situation in Gaza Strip is alarming. Many dead bodies are still scattered in the streets and under the rubbles of the destroyed houses in most of the affected areas, mainly Al Siefeh, Al Atatra, Al Samoneh, Al Zaytoon, Al Megraqa, Al Rayyes, Al Kashef, Izbet Abed Rabbo and the Bedouins area near Beit Hanoun. The inability of the medical teams to evacuate the dead led to the decomposition of bodies due to the fact that the medical teams are not able to enter these areas, despite of all the ICRC coordination efforts…
PRCS remains extremely concerned over the Israeli army excessive use of force which flagrantly violates the principle of proportionality. A large number of civilians wounded and killed as a result of the heavy Israeli air strikes and indiscriminate bombardments all over the Gaza strip.” [my emph.]
BBC (14 January):
“[Munir Shafik al-Najar] told the BBC that some 75 members of his extended family had ended up huddled in a house, surrounded by Israeli forces, after troops shelled the area and destroyed his brother’s home on Sunday night.
On Monday morning, he said the family heard an announcement over a loudspeaker.
“The Israeli army was saying: ‘This is the Israeli Defence Forces, we are asking all the people to leave their homes and go to the school. Ladies first, then men.’
“We decided to send the women first, two by two,” he said.
First to step outside was the wife of his cousin, Rawhiya al-Najar, 48.
“The army was about 15 metres (50 feet) away from the house or less. They shot her in the head,” he said.
The woman’s daughter was shot in the thigh but crawled back inside the house, he said…
We decided that’s it, we’re going to die, we are [going] to run and all die at once,” he said.
“When we did that they started shooting with heavy ammunition from a machine gun on top of a tank,” he said.
All the adults carried white flags, he said, adding that he was still grasping a piece of white cloth as he spoke over the telephone a day later.
Three of his relatives, Muhammad Salman al-Najar, 54, Ahmad Jum’a al-Najar, 27, and Khalil Hamdan al-Najar, 80, were killed, he said.”[my emph.]
BBC (14 January):
“[Yusef Abu Hajaj] told B’tselem his mother and sister were shot as they tried to flee their home bearing a white banner, in a group of people including small children.
He said an Israeli tank had fired at their house, and they had heard the Israeli military was urging civilians to leave their homes, so had tried to flee.” [my emph.]
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (11 January):
“According to Al Mezan’s careful monitoring, the IOF has killed at least 842 Palestinian[s] in the Gaza Strip since the start of its Operation Cast Lead on 27 December 2009. This number includes at least 175 children and 58 women. This number is restricted to those whom Al Mezan has verified and double-checked. The Center estimates that between 200 and 230 children have been killed. Many of those have still been under the rubble of houses under areas under IOF’s invasion. Moreover, tens of children who were killed on the first day of the attacks have not yet been verified; therefore, the Center prefers to wait until they are accounted for properly. Six of those who were killed by IOF were ambulance crewmen, who were killed while trying to reach victims of IOF’s attacks. The number also includes 3 journalists and dozens of elderly people. Al Mezan estimates that at least 85% of the casualties were civilian non-combatants.
Moreover, at least 2,960 people have been injured and/or maimed during the same period. This number includes at least 600 children and 385 women…
UNRWA has reported today that well over 20,000 civilians have been admitted into its 32 shelters throughout the Gaza Strip. Nevertheless, Al Mezan believes that this number represents only 10% of the number of people who have been forcefully displaced from their homes”. [my emph.]
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (12 January):
“IOF have employed their full-fledged arsenal to bombard Palestinian residential areas. Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip have been subjected [to] the most aggressive attacks and more Palestinian civilians have been killed. The killing of children has become a basic characteristic of the war in these areas. The increasing number of civilian victims, especially children and women, and the excessive use of force indicate that IOF aim at causing maximum losses to Palestinian civilians and their property”.
World Health Organisation (19 January):
“OCHA estimates up to 100 000 people may have been displaced. UNRWA has established at least 50 emergency shelters for 49 693 displaced people. The exact number of people who have fled their homes in Gaza remains unclear.”
UN OCHA [.pdf] (11 January):
“The Israeli offensive has resulted in the largest number of forcibly displaced Palestinians since … [1967]; over 21,000 displaced persons [update: now over 35,000 as many as 100,000] are currently taking shelter in UNRWA facilities across the Gaza Strip…
Bombings have affected thousands of civilians including refugees, who represent over 70% of the population in Gaza. The bombing campaign has already wrought extensive damage to public infrastructure and hundreds of civilian homes and businesses. Coming in the wake of a year and a half of severe blockade that has brought the Gaza economy to the brink of collapse, the ongoing operation is dealing another severe blow to an already impoverished population whose coping mechanisms are nearly exhausted…
Civilians, notably children who form 56 per cent of Gaza’s population, are bearing the brunt of the violence.”
27 legal scholars and practitioners, in a letter to the Times (11 January):
“For 18 months Israel had imposed an unlawful blockade on the coastal strip that brought Gazan society to the brink of collapse …
Israel’s actions amount to aggression, not self-defence, not least because its assault on Gaza was unnecessary. Israel could have agreed to renew the truce with Hamas. Instead it killed 225 Palestinians on the first day of its attack. As things stand, its invasion and bombardment of Gaza amounts to collective punishment of Gaza’s 1.5m inhabitants contrary to international humanitarian and human rights law. In addition, the blockade of humanitarian relief, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and preventing access to basic necessities such as food and fuel, are prima facie war crimes.” [my emph.]
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (11 January):
“As the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) continue their indiscriminate attacks in the Gaza Strip for the sixteenth consecutive day, the number of Palestinian civilian deaths continues to rise amidst massive destruction of buildings and property. IOF are relentlessly bombarding residential areas, and have expanded their ground operation within the last twenty four hours, moving towards more Palestinian towns, villages and residential areas.
IOF are also using incinerating bombs against civilians, who are reporting being shelled by flaming objects that explode into potentially lethal shrapnel whilst also releasing suffocating white smoke. During the reporting period, at least one hundred civilians in the Khan Yunis area suffered skin burns, spasms and serious breathing difficulties as a result of having being attacked by these bombs.” [my emph.]
Ma’an news (15 January):
“Up to 800,000 people, more than half the population of the Gaza Strip now have no running water, a Palestinian water official told Ma’an on Wednesday.
The official, Munther Shablaq, said that some of these people have had no running water for two weeks.” [my emph.]
Human Rights Watch (13 January):
“Gaza’s 1.5 million people are enduring a serious humanitarian crisis brought on by more than two weeks of major military operations that have magnified the impact of 19 months of a highly restrictive Israeli blockade, reinforced by Egypt.
The Israeli government has repeatedly denied that a humanitarian crisis exists. Information from international humanitarian organizations, United Nations agencies and Gaza’s residents themselves starkly refute that claim. Hundreds of civilians have been killed in the fighting, a large percentage of them children. Many wounded and sick have been trapped in their homes, unable to get medical care. Corpses have been left among rubble and in destroyed homes because Israeli forces have at times denied access to medical crews. Increasing numbers are displaced or are trapped in their homes. They have nowhere to flee, caught in a warzone where no place is truly safe.
Gaza’s civilians are facing dire shortages of food, water, cooking gas, fuel and medical care due to insecurity, the enforced closure of all of Gaza’s borders, and alleged serious violations of international humanitarian law. Electricity is sharply down, and in some places open sewage is spilling into the streets. Children, who make up 56 percent of Gaza’s residents, are especially vulnerable.”
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (10 January):
“The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) continued its destruction of the Gaza Strip, systematically targeting civilians and civilian objects. Air raids and artillery attacks particularly targeted homes. Several families were killed under the rubble of their homes across the Gaza Strip…
Tens of thousands of civilians whose areas had been threatened of bombardment have left their homes seeking safety; however, little can be offered to them by the UN and other international humanitarian agencies, as a result of the tight closure and the IOF’s attacks on humanitarian workers…
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights condemns the conducts of the IOF in Gaza, many of which represent war crimes and crimes against humanity by intentionally targeting civilians by killing and starvation. The Center strongly condemns IOF’s escalation of its use of excessive force, which the IOF has been allowed to employ against the Gaza Strip since 27 December 2008, under continuous failure to take urgent action by the international community.” [my emph.]
UNICEF (10 January):
“According to Sajy [a UNICEF Reporting Officer in Gaza], the current situation is the worst in memory – either his own or that of much older Gazans.
“It has never been worse,” he said. “Today witnessed a huge escalation on the ground. The last two days, the bombing was only on the outskirts of Gaza City. But now, as I speak to you, about 10 targets have been hit in Gaza City in the last 30 minutes. Gaza City by itself has 400,000 people, and half of it is children…
“The whole of the Gaza Strip right now is witnessing this bombardment,” he said. “Nowhere is safe, because everybody in Gaza happens to live next to Hamas headquarters, or next to a police station, or next to a mosque, or next to somebody who belongs to Hamas…
“The grocery stores are all empty,” said Sajy. “You cannot buy bread, you can’t buy milk, you can’t buy cheese. I know of many people who do not have food. Bread is like gold.”
Al Haq [.pdf] (7 January):
“Israel’s wilful misinterpretation of international law has led it to conclude that “anything affiliated with Hamas is a legitimate target,” resulting not only in the aforementioned civilian deaths and injuries, but in the destruction of a wide range of civilian objects, terrorising the civilian population and leaving them with the feeling that there is no safe haven from attack. Simultaneously, Israeli authorities have claimed that the potential harm to civilians is taken into account during the planning and execution of military operations. However, the choice of targeted areas, methods of attack and the number of civilians killed and injured clearly indicate a reckless disregard for civilian life synonymous with intent…
More than 80% of the 671 Palestinians already killed were civilians (many of whom were killed in direct attacks). Israel has directly targeted and completely or partially destroyed 13 mosques, two schools, one university, numerous government buildings, including different ministries and 40 civil police compounds, a medical storage centre, three money exchange facilities and three chicken farms, all of which Israel alleges were used by Hamas for military purposes. Israel’s air strikes and ground incursions have to date resulted in the total destruction of at least 300 houses and damage to 3,800 more.” [my emph.]
UN OCHA (8 January):
“As at 1400 hrs GMT, the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) reported 758 Palestinian fatalities due to the fighting, including a high number of civilians (of whom 257 (34%) are children and 56 (7.4%) are women) [that is, 42% of the casualties thus far are women and children]. At least 3,100 Palestinians had also been injured since 27 December, including a high number of civilians (of whom 1,080 (34.8%) are children and 452 (14.6%) are women). Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF) characterised the death toll as reaching “alarming proportions” and indicative of “extreme violence indiscriminately affecting civilians.”
CARE (9 January):
“Gaza’s people are facing the destruction of their lives, families, society, and community. They are cut off from water and electricity, and food is in short supply. Health care is inaccessible to all but the injured and even they are not guaranteed care. The people of the Gaza Strip are caged and cannot move away from the violence all around them.”
UN special rapporteur Richard Falk (9 January):
“Beyond the immediate crisis some underlying features should be noted: about 75% of the population lacks access to sanitary water and has no electric power. Such conditions are superimposed on the circumstances of Gazans resulting from the prolonged blockade that had deteriorated the physical and mental health, and the nutritional status, of the population of Gaza as a whole, leaving some 45% of children suffering from acute anemia. Interference in the supply of medicines and health equipment, and border closures, had made it impossible for many Gazans to receive or continue treatment for life-threatening conditions. It was also reliably concluded that up to 80% of Gaza was living under the poverty line, that unemployment totals approached 75%, and that the health system was near collapse from the effects of the blockade. This set of conditions certainly led impartial international observers and civil servants to an uncontested conclusion that the population of Gaza was already experiencing a humanitarian crisis of grave magnitude prior to 27 December.”
Palestine Centre for Human Rights (7 January):
“Overnight, and in the early hours of this morning, Israeli forces extended their ground incursion deep inside the Gaza Strip. Intense fighting in densely populated residential areas has drawn the civilian population deeper into the conflict; whole families have been killed in attacks, many while they were still in their own homes. These attacks occur in the context of the ongoing siege of Gaza: civilians are suffering from acute shortages of even the most basic of foodstuffs, including milk, bread and water. Essential medications are in increasingly short supply, if available at all. Electricity blackouts are widespread, water is increasingly unavailable. The Gaza Strip is the scene of a humanitarian disaster.” [my emph.]
The Palestine Monitor (7 January):
“For the 12th consecutive day, Israel continued its attacks on the Gaza Strip. By air, by land and by sea the Gazans are attacked and besieged.
At least 660 people have been reportedly killed (including more than 215 children and 89 women), and more than 2,750 have sustained heavy injuries (including more than 650 children and 270 women). At least 17 families were reportedly struck, killing fathers, mothers and children.
The number is expected to rise within the upcoming days as attacks continue- both from the air, the sea and the land.
There are 220 dead since the ground invasion began. Within the past 24 hours, at least 80 Palestinians were killed.
Despite the Israeli recurrent discourse, facts are clear and Israel’s war has mainly been conducted against civilians: Universities, shopping markets, schools, Mosques and private houses have been struck.” [my emph.]
Amnesty International (19 January):
“Amnesty International delegates visiting the Gaza Strip found indisputable evidence of widespread use of white phosphorus in densely populated residential areas in Gaza City and in the north. “Yesterday, we saw streets and alleyways littered with evidence of the use of white phosphorus, including still burning wedges and the remnants of the shells and canisters fired by the Israeli army,” said Christopher Cobb-Smith, a weapons expert who is in Gaza as part of a four-person Amnesty International fact-finding team…
“Such extensive use of this weapon in Gaza’s densely populated residential neighbourhoods is inherently indiscriminate. Its repeated use in this manner, despite evidence of its indiscriminate effects and its toll on civilians, is a war crime,” said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty’s researcher on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.” [my emph.]
The Times (8 January):
“Photographic evidence has emerged that proves that Israel has been using controversial white phosphorus shells during its offensive in Gaza, despite official denials by the Israel Defence Forces.
There is also evidence that the rounds have injured Palestinian civilians, causing severe burns. The use of white phosphorus against civilians is prohibited under international law.” [my emph.]
Human Rights Watch (10 January):
“Israel should stop using white phosphorus in military operations in densely populated areas of Gaza, Human Rights Watch said today. On January 9 and 10, 2009, Human Rights Watch researchers in Israel observed multiple air-bursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over what appeared to be the Gaza City/Jabaliya area…
Human Rights Watch believes that the use of white phosphorus in densely populated areas of Gaza violates the requirement under international humanitarian law to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian injury and loss of life.”
Al Haq [.pdf] (7 January):
“The extent of civilian causalities and the systematic and extensive destruction of civilian objects, coupled with the declared intention of Brigadier-General Dan Harel to destroy every single Hamas-affiliated building, reveals a clear intention to disregard the principle of proportionality. As the number of civilian casualties continues to rise dramatically, Israeli justifications for the casualties become legally indefensible.”
AFP (11 January):
“At least 857 Palestinians have been killed, including 270 children, 93 women, and 12 paramedics, and more than 3,500 wounded since the start of the Israeli offensive, Palestinian emergency services say. “
World Health Organisation (5 January):
“As of 5 January, the Palestinian MoH had reported 548 deaths since 27 December, of which at least 120 were children and 44 women (30% of all deaths). At least 2550 Palestinians have been injured, of which 1134 are children and women. The MoH reported that since Israel began its ground operation on 3 January, 109 persons have been killed.”
International Committee of the Red Cross (6 January):
“Increasing numbers of civilians are dying or injured in the escalating crisis in Gaza. At a press conference in Geneva on 6 January, the ICRC’s director of operations, Pierre Krähenbühl, described the situation of civilians in Gaza as intolerable…
“There is no doubt in my mind that we are dealing with a full blown and major crisis in humanitarian terms. The situation for the people in Gaza is extreme and traumatic as a result of ten days of uninterrupted fighting. In that sense, their situation has clearly become intolerable.”
“The main message coming out of Gaza this morning is one of fear and frustration. People are scared; parents for the safety of their children, and the population at large of being caught up in the fighting. This past night was described to us as the most frightening of all to date.” …
He emphasized that the conditions in Gaza were extremely harsh even prior to the recent escalation…
“Many people in Gaza don’t get the emergency medical care they need. Some are even dying because ambulances can’t reach them in time, which is frankly appalling.” [my emph.]
The Guardian (6 January):
“[A]t least 12 members of an extended family, including seven young children, were killed in an air strike on their house in Gaza City [on 6 January]. The bodies of the Daya family were pulled from the rubble of a house in Gaza city’s Zeitoun district after it was hit by two Israeli missiles. The dead included seven children aged from one to 12 years, three women and two men. Nine other people were believed to be trapped in the rubble.” [my emph.]
New York Times (January 5):
“The Samouni family knew they were in danger. They had been calling the Red Cross for two days, they said, begging to be taken out of Zeitoun, a poor area in eastern Gaza City that is considered a stronghold of Hamas.
No rescuers came. Instead, Israeli soldiers entered their building late Sunday night and told them to evacuate to another building. They did. But at 6 a.m. on Monday, when a missile fired by an Israeli warplane struck the relatives’ house in which they had taken shelter, there was nowhere to run.”
The Daily Telegraph (7 January):
“In what the United Nations fears could be the bloodiest single attack of the Israeli assault, as many as 60 members of the extended Samouni family were killed near their homes in the Gazan town of Zeitoun while nine more died in hospital.
Dozens of bodies are believed to remain under the rubble of a large house hit repeatedly by Israeli shelling in the incident.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has formally requested permission from the Israeli army to visit the scene of the attack to establish the exact scale of the slaughter.
Israel has so far not granted permission to the ICRC due to ongoing fighting.” [my emph.]
Daily Telegraph (7 January):
“Mohammed Shaheen, a volunteer with Palestinian Red Crescent, was in the first convoy of ambulances to reach the site of the blast in Zeitoun [see Telegraph link above] since it was first occupied then shelled by the Israeli army.
His testimony confirmed accounts, first reported in The Telegraph, from survivors of the extended al Samouni clan who said they feared between 60 and 70 family members had been killed.
“Inside the Samouni house I saw about ten bodies and outside another sixty,” Mr Shaheen said.
“I was not able to count them accurately because there was not much time and we were looking for wounded people.
“We found fifteen people still alive but injured so we took them in the ambulances.
“I could see an Israeli army bulldozer knocking down houses nearby but we ran out of time and the Israeli soldiers started shooting at us.
“We had to leave about eight injured people behind because we could not get to them and it was no longer safe for us to stay.” Mr Shaheen was in a convoy led by a jeep from the International Committee of the Red Cross that made its way down war-damaged tracks past demolished houses to the town of Zeitoun…
[Surviving members of the Samouni clan] said that after the Israeli army first took the town on Saturday night soldiers had ordered about 100 members of the clan to gather in a single house owned by Wael Samouni around dawn on Sunday.
At 6.35am on Monday the house was repeatedly shelled with appalling loss of civilian life.
A handful of survivors, some wounded, others carrying dead or dying infants, made it on foot to Gaza’s main north-south road before they were given lifts to hospital. Three small children were buried in Gaza City that afternoon.
According to the survivors between 60 and 70 family members had been killed by shrapnel and falling masonry.
Convoys of ambulances twice headed to the area to look for wounded but they were driven back by Israeli shooting.” [my emph.]
Daily Telegraph (9 January):
“[The UN] said that “according to several testimonies, on 4 January Israeli foot soldiers evacuated approximately the people into a single-residence house in Zeitun, half of whom were children, warning them to stay indoors.
But 24-hours later, Israeli forces shelled the home repeatedly, killing between 30 and 60 people.
The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) called it “one of the gravest incidents since the beginning of operations” by Israeli forces in Gaza on December 27.
“Those who survived and were able walked two kilometres to Salah Ed Din road before being transported to hospital in civilian vehicles. Three children, the youngest of whom was five months old, died upon arrival at the hospital,” OCHA said in a report on the situation in the battered Gaza Strip.” [my emph.]
The Guardian (9 January):
“Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner for human rights, singled out the killing this week of up to 30 Palestinians in Zeitoun, south-east of Gaza City, when Israel shelled a house where its troops had told about 110 civilians to take shelter.
Pillay, a former international criminal court judge from South Africa, told the BBC the incident “appears to have all the elements of war crimes”. She called for “credible, independent and transparent” investigations into possible violations of humanitarian law.” [my emph.]
Amnesty International (8 January):
“Our sources in Gaza report that Israeli soldiers have entered and taken up positions in a number of Palestinian homes, forcing families to stay in a ground floor room while they use the rest of their house as a military base and sniper position,” said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme. “This clearly increases the risk to the Palestinian families concerned and means they are effectively being used as human shields…
“The Israeli army is well-aware that Palestinian gunmen usually leave the area after having fired and that any reprisal attack against these homes will in most cases cause harm to civilians — not gunmen.”
“Fighters on both sides must not carry out attacks from civilian areas but when they do take cover behind a civilian house or building to fire it does not make that building and its civilian inhabitants a legitimate military target. Any such attacks are unlawful,” said Malcolm Smart.” [my emph.]
IRIN news (11 January):
“While most Gazans are already refugees from previous wars, they cannot cross a border now, as the perimeter of the territory is sealed off from all sides. They can only find a relatively safer place within the Gaza Strip, one of the most densely populated areas on the planet.
The latest leaflet said the Israeli military “will continue to target tunnels, weapons storage facilities and terror operatives with growing intensity throughout the Gaza Strip. For your safety and that of your families, stay away from these.”
An Israeli military spokesman could not explain how a civilian in Gaza was supposed to know where a weapons storage facility was and how the person could then avoid it, particularly as the army itself has said militants were hiding in civilian areas.
Furthermore, places where Palestinians have sought refuge, including UN facilities, have been attacked, and civilians have been killed while fleeing, according to testimonies gathered by Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups.”
New York Times (January 4):
“In recent days, most of those arriving at Shifa [hospital] appeared to be civilians. On Sunday, there was no trace here of the dozens of Hamas fighters that the Israeli military said its ground forces had hit in the past few hours in exchanges of fire … at Shifa, most of the men who were wounded or killed seemed to have been hit along with relatives near their homes or on the road. Two young cousins and a 5-year-old boy from another family were killed by shrapnel as they played on the flat roofs of their apartment buildings.”
Scotsman (3 January):
“CIVILIANS make up about a quarter of the 400-plus people who have died in Israeli bombardments in the Gaza Strip, UN officials said yesterday as the Israel-Hamas war entered its second week.
“Our best estimate is that 25 per cent (of the fatalities] were civilians, of whom a not insignificant number were women and children” [CORRECTION: should be "at least 25 percent" - as we now know, children alone make up at least 25% of the casualties thus far].
Ha’aretz (5 January):
“At least 517 Palestinians have been killed at least a quarter of them civilians, a UN agency said. Forty-two, mostly civilians were killed on Sunday, a medical source said.” [my emph]
Reuters (6 January):
“Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip killed more than 30 Palestinian civilians on Tuesday, medical officials said…
Palestinian medical officials said 35 Palestinian civilians were killed on Tuesday, including 11 in a house that was bombed from the air, 10 on a beach hit by naval shells and three people who had taken refuge in a U.N.-run school.”
UN Humanitarian Coordinator Maxwell Gaylard (5 January):
“Large numbers of people including many children are hungry, they are cold, they are without ready access to medical facilities, they are without access to electricity and running water, above all they are terrified. That by any measure is a humanitarian crisis…
There is an overall atmosphere of fear. More than half of the population are children. The spectre of internal displacement is emerging with growing numbers seeking shelter and already there are several thousand civilians in UNRWA’s seven shelters…
Electricity and communications are down over much of the Strip both on account of lack of fuel and damage to critical infrastructure. Over a million people are currently without power, and over a quarter million without running water, some for up to six days”.
UN humanitarian chief John Holmes (5 January):
“The UN has said that there is an “a worsening and an increasingly alarming” humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. John Holmes, the UN humanitarian chief, told reporters on Monday that officials believed as many as 25 per cent of the 548 people killed in the fighting were civilians and that Gaza’s health system, overwhelmed by the more than 2,500 injured, was “increasingly precarious”.
“This is, in our view, a humanitarian crisis,” Holmes said. “It’s very hard for me to see any other way you could describe it, given the conditions in which the population are living.”
Holmes added that “cluster munitions are being used”, and that it was “a fair presumption” that most of the civilians killed were women and children.”
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (31 December):
“Thousands of civilians, mainly those who reside in areas close to the Palestinian- Egyptian border, have fled from their houses in the wake of several raids launched by IOF on the southern Gaza Strip. A state of compulsory mass displacement of civilians has prevailed in the area…
According to what PCHR field workers have been able to document the IOF offensive has resulted in the following deaths and casualties:
334 Palestinians, including 121 civilians, have been killed throughout the Gaza Strip … The number of civilian deaths does not include at least 165 civil police officers who were killed on the first day of the IOF offensive, when they were not engaged in any hostilities.” [see B’Tselem, Al Haq and HRW reports linked above: civil policemen are not legitimate military targets]
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (2 January):
“…the number of Palestinians killed since the beginning of the IOF offensive on the Gaza Strip has mounted to 375, mostly unarmed civilians, including 51 children and 14 women.”
CBS news (5 January):
“[Al-Shifa hospital’s] general manager, Hassan Khalaf, insists the majority of patients by far are civilians…
“The latest figure is, the total killed people is 543 at the moment, and well, about 30 percent of them are woman and children,” he said. “As regards injured there are 2,600 and 42 percent of them are women and children.”
Refugees’ International (6 January):
“The current conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas is having a devastating impact on civilians. An immediate ceasefire is essential.”
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (5 January):
“The heavy casualties suffered by innocent civilians, including many children, are heartbreaking … As a humanitarian agency which must deal with the repercussions of violence and persecution worldwide, UNHCR expresses its profound shock and sadness at the suffering and loss of life we are now seeing. I join Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in calling for an immediate cessation of all violence.”
IRIN news (7 January):
“Civilians are finding it increasingly difficult to find food in Gaza. Markets opened briefly in Gaza City on 5 January, but they had little to offer, according to residents.
Queues for bread formed, with buyers limited to five shekels worth per person – about 35 flat breads – not enough for families with an average of six children.
The World Food Programme (WFP) managed to send into Gaza 11 truckloads of food on 5 January. Its warehouses are stocked with some 3,700 metric tonnes of food – about half the normal level, WFP said.”
UN human rights experts (2 January):
“The use of disproportionate force by Israel and the lack of regard for the life of civilians on both sides cannot be justified by the actions of the other party. They constitute clear violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law.
We are particularly concerned at the impact of the current violence and destruction of vital infrastructure on the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.” [my emph.]
Norwegian volunteer doctor at the Al-Shifa hospital, Dr. Mads Gilbert (5 January):
“…the large majority of the injured, the victims, are women, men and children civilians. Among the killed, 25% of the killed are children and women, and among the children, today it was, this morning it was 801 children either killed or injured”.
Gisha (4 January):
“- 7 of 12 power lines damaged – 75% of Gaza’s electricity cut off.
- Gaza City, including Shifa Hospital, entirely without electricity.
- Over half a million residents cut off from water supply.
- Sewage spilling into streets, risk of more flooding.
- No fuel permitted into Gaza since start of military operation.
Gaza’s water and sewage system is on the verge of collapse following bombardments that have destroyed electricity lines and months of preventing fuel supplies needed to produce electricity, utility officials in Gaza warned today. 75% of Gaza’s electricity has been cut off, just as hospitals, water wells, and other humanitarian institutions most need electricity to treat casualties of the fighting and provide basic necessities to civilians.”
Gisha (7 January):
“- Sewage has begun spilling into the streets; risk of more as sewage pools fill to maximum.
- No fuel in water and sewage pumps
- 800,000 people cut off from water supply.
- deliberately drained Gaza of the industrial diesel needed to make electricity – and still won’t permit sufficient supply.
- Growing danger of spread of infectious diseases among civilians already suffering from the terrible effects of the military operation.
Israel, as the power exercising control on the ground and over Gaza’s crossings, owes a heightened duty to ensure the needs of the civilian population. Nine human rights organizations petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court today demanding that Israel stop the collapse of Gaza’s sewage and water system, a collapse caused by the military operation and by a 14-month policy of systematically blocking fuel supplies necessary to generate electricity…
For the last two months, Israel deliberately drained Gaza of fuel, crippling the ability to generate electricity and wreaking massive damage on the functioning of vital humanitarian institutions. Israel has also prevented supply of spare parts necessary for repairs.” [emph. in original]
International Committee of the Red Cross (5 January):
“The situation in regard to the water supply is alarming. Because of the disruption of four power lines that normally bring electricity from Israel to Gaza City, 10 of the 45 wells in the city are no longer functioning. Two wells have been damaged by air strikes and the remaining wells are set to shut down in the coming two to three days, when their support generators will run out of fuel.
“If the power supply is not restored immediately, half a million residents of Gaza City will be completely deprived of water,” warned Javier Cordoba, the ICRC’s water and sanitation coordinator. “Ensuring safe access for technicians to repair the power lines is now an urgent priority,” he said.”
UN OCHA (2 January):
“The humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip is significant and cannot be understated. It follows what the UN had described as an 18 month long “human dignity crisis” in the Gaza Strip, entailing a massive destruction of livelihoods and a significant deterioration of infrastructure and basic services…
People are living in a state of fear and panic…
80% of the population cannot support themselves and are dependant on humanitarian assistance. This figure is increasing…
The utilities are barely functioning: the only electric power plant has shut down. Some 250,000 people in central and northern Gaza do not have electricity at all due to the damage to fifteen electricity transformers during the air strikes. The water system provides running water once every 5-7 days and the sanitation system cannot treat the sewage and is dumping 40 million litres of raw sewage into the sea daily. Fuel for heating, needed due to the cold weather, and cooking gas, are no longer available in the market.”
Amnesty International (5 December):
“The Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip is having ever more serious consequences on its population. In the past month the supply of humanitarian aid and basic necessities to Gaza has been reduced from a trickle to an intermittent drip…
As supplies are being further withheld, most mills have shut down because they have little or no grain. People who have long been deprived of many food items now cannot even find bread at times.
Reserves of food have long been depleted and the meagre quantities allowed into Gaza are not even enough to meet the immediate needs. Families never know if they will have food for their children the following day.
When people do have food, they generally have no cooking gas or electricity with which to cook it. Last week, less than 10 per cent of the weekly requirement of cooking gas was allowed into Gaza…
Shortages of fuel, electricity and spare parts are causing water and sanitation infrastructure and other crucial services to deteriorate a bit more every day. Eighty per cent of the wells are now only functioning at reduced capacity and water supply is only available for a few hours every few days…
Routine blackouts disrupt every aspect of life for everyone. Hospitals are struggling to power life-saving machinery and it is ever more difficult to maintain laundry and other essential services.”
UNRWA spokesperson Christopher Gunness (5 January):
“It’s absolutely horrifying. The people of Gaza are terrorized. They’re traumatized. And they are trapped.”
UN OCHA (6 January):
“Thousands of people have fled their homes in search of security and essential infrastructure has been destroyed, or lacks the necessary fuel to operate at the required capacity. More than one million Gazans are without electricity or water…
Gaza’s water and sewage system is on the verge of collapse due to a lack of power and fuel…
Over 530,000 people (approximately 400,000 people in Gaza and North Gaza, 100,000 people in Rafah, and 30,000 people in the Middle Area) are entirely cut off from running water, and the rest are receiving water only intermittently (every few days)…
The sewage situation is becoming very dangerous, posing a serious risk of the spread of water-borne disease. Five of Gaza’s 37 waste water pumping stations were shut down due to a lack of electricity and sewage is now flooding into populated areas, farmland, and the sea. The remaining 32 stations are operating only partially and will shut down within three-to-four days without additional fuel supplies…
Seventy-five percent of Gaza’s electricity has been cut off. Since the ground operation, all of Gaza Governorate and most of North Gaza and the Middle Area are without electricity.”
IRIN news (5 January):
“The UN has warned that power networks were down in large parts of the Gaza Strip on 4 January, with hospitals relying on generators. Without power for pumps, 70 percent of Gazans are estimated to be without tap water…
“The water and sewage system in Gaza is collapsing, cutting people off from the water supply and causing sewage to flood the streets,” said Maher al-Najjar, deputy director of Gaza’s water utility (CMWU). He also said 48 of Gaza’s 130 wells were not working at all due to lack of electricity and damage to pipes. “At least 45 other wells are operating only partially and will shut down within days without additional supplies of fuel and electricity,” al-Najjar said.”
Norwegian volunteer doctor, Dr. Mads Gilbert (6 January):
“We are wading in death, blood, and amputees. Many children. A pregnant woman. I have never experienced anything so terrible. Now we hear tanks. Pass it on, send it around, shout it out. Anything. DO SOMETHING! DO MORE! We are living in a history book now, all of us”,
and Dr. Gilbert again (5 January):
“We have been doing surgery around the clock. I just spoke to one of my colleagues … who had not been sleeping for three days and the hospital is completely overcrowded, we’re running six/seven ORs and there are injuries you just don’t want to see in this world. Children coming in with open abdomens and legs cut off. We just had a child who … we had to amputate both legs and the arm, and the only crime they have done is being civilians, Palestinians living in Gaza.
The relief now is not more doctors and more drugs, the relief now is to stop the bombing immediately. This cannot go on. It’s a disaster…
We came on New Year’s Eve in the morning – I’ve seen one military person among the … hundreds that we have seen and treated. So anybody who tries to portray this as sort of a ‘clean’ war against another army are lying. This is an all-out war against the civilian Palestinian population in Gaza.”
As you can see, “Hamas targets” appears to be a technical term referring to the entire Gaza Strip and everything and everyone located within it. That Israel employs this special definition is not particularly surprising. It has long since behaved as if, in Yaron London’s approving words, “the Palestinians in Gaza are all Khaled Mashaal, the Lebanese are all Nasrallah, and the Iranians are all Ahmadinejad.” Thus, for example, earlier this year Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin claimed that Israeli forces had killed roughly 1,000 “terrorists” in Gaza over the past two years, thereby branding every Palestinian killed by the IDF in Gaza throughout 2006 and 2007 a “terrorist”, including, as B’Tselem pointed out, 152 minors, including 48 children under the age of 14, as well as “many men and women [who] were killed in Gaza who took no part in the hostilities”. Similarly, in December 2006 Ehud Olmert boasted that the IDF had killed “more than 400 members of terrorist organisations” in six months, a designation that included 206 civilian non-combatants.
So, as I say, it isn’t at all surprising to find Israel referring to hospitals, mosques, schools, residential homes, apartment blocks, shops, markets, women, children and civilians as “Hamas targets” and “terrorist infrastructure”. What’s appalling is that – despite recognising Israel’s intensive propaganda drive – so many Western journalists and commentators have gone along with it.
(I should just stress again, in case it isn’t obvious, that the list of crimes and atrocities above is not even close to being comprehensive. Also, a hat tip to lenin for several of the links).
Filed under: Israeli / Palestinian, Media | 62 Comments
Tags: air-strikes, Cast Lead, Gaza, Hamas, Human Rights, propaganda, war crimes
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i might add to this later to include today’s updates.
B’Tselem:
Excellent post, very useful to have all this up on the web somewhere as a reference. Please keep updating it!
Wow, very useful, thanks
Dear brainwashed Americans,
You’ve never been taught that during WW II, England sent the children, who where in London out of town so as not to suffer in the Blitz. You’d think England would remember. Arabs like to use them as shields! Good P.R. for them, as the preceeding articles show.
Now lets look at reality. In the world of the 21st century “terrorists”, in the arab world, they would, and have, followed them and use them as a shields. Look back at the Iran-Iraq war for proof!–Ah!, remember?
Any of you idiots remember when the American wossies went to the war sites a few years ago,they where asked to be “human shields” at weapons depots and other terrorist areas? They where shocked–that’s becuase their “stupid”. That’s the kind of game the arabs play, and the ill-educated wet-behind-the-ears American “children” fell for. They may have fancy degrees from the liberal holes we call universities, but their still children without a lick of real life experience!
Remember, the only reason that Israel is there is because of thousands of rockets sent their way by Hamas. Ever consider that fact? Whats even better, they, hamas, was one of the first groups to say “HI” to “YOUR” new president, along with North Korea, and Iran. These are not freedom fighters, they are terrorists, and “OUR” enemies. It’s what they’ll do to us one day if left unchecked. That’s allot for the wossies to take in, and they most likly won’t be able to, but it’s “fact”!.
Try looking farther then the left baised news jerks and take in all the facts for a change!
Hello,
What Israel is doing is in response to the rockets and is self defense. What would you do if someone bomb your family? And promised to keep doing it. Try and stop it with a phone call (to whom).
Keep hearing about what Israel is doing. Don’t hear anyone condemning the Hamas rockets into Israel. The Hamas
are a cancer on the life of humanity. Needs to be completely eliminated. Kill everyone in Gaza! Stop the spread of cancer you cut it out.
the people of Gaza deserve what they’re getting. I hope they starve to death. The world will be a much safer/better place without Palestine people.
cheers bat – will do!
Great post…Coincidentally, today I have a piece up on the New Statesman website looking at Israel’s “targets”
http://www.newstatesman.com/middle-east/2009/01/israel-targets-gaza-hamas
Heathlander,
This is a great diary you put together. I can’t imagine how long it took.
Regarding media, I thought you should add “Editor & Publisher’s” take on the American media coverage, especially the NYT. Editor & Publisher is a quasi-industry news & info site/newspaper and often spot on. Check it out.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003926518
Thanks Ben, excellent article. This bit is particularly important:
After a week of depressing online ‘debate’ about Israel’s assault, virtually the only argument I’ve seen offered in defense of it is that ‘Hamas is genocidal, look at the Charter, blah blah’.
CAvard: cheers. Thanks for the link – Greg Mitchell of E&P has done some good diaries on DKos about US media coverage of the attacks – but in this post I’m going to stick to Israel’s attacks on media in Gaza. Of course, Israel has to a large extent avoided the need to attack foreign journalists because it has simply prevented them from entering Gaza for weeks, in violation of the High Court.
I agree with T. Albrecht. Most of these so called civilians are families who despise Isreal. They give support to these terrorist and expect there to be no punishment. Isreal has shown great personal restraint in their dealings with both the Hamas and Iran in order to keep the world community happy.
If my neighbor were to start launching rockets into the major city beside our city, there is a high probability that I am going to leave immediately or figure out a way to take him out myself.
I feel sad for the children. However, If I were their parent, I would do everything in my power to kill as many Hamas ( the people actually responsible) as possible.
In my personal opinion, I feel that Isreal should not stop until they have reached the other side of Iran.
In closing, I am unable to figure out why the liberal community is in support of countries who are bent on the destruction of anything good. While at the same time they are on television begging us to save a whale or stop cutting trees. **Ridiculous**
Brilliant stuff and great to get all this info in the same place.My only criticism is the responses from the apologists for these obvious war crimes,who have seen your site and choose to ignore everything you have worked so hard on.Don,t let them ruin your great site.They really are not worth responding to so i won,t.
If they keep coming I’ll start deleting them. As it is, I think it’s useful to have a few examples of the kind of barbarism Israel’s apologists will sink to in order to defend the indefensible (e.g. “Most of these so called civilians are families who despise Isreal”).
Rob B no intention to ruin great site. Statement definitely shows you look at the world as a victim.
JamieSW I believe you have pointed out the truth (one side). Innocent people are being killed. However, you make no mention of how Isreal is being attacked for no reason. It seems that their children are unimportant and not worth defending.
In order to move from blogging to journalism you must look at both sides. Unless, you subscribe the New York times.
“If they keep coming I’ll start deleting them”. Spoken like a true lib. Good day.
Note:I assume I will be deleted.
BBC reports:
Even Israel isn’t taking its propaganda seriously anymore.
The sick a-holes defending Israhell never mention it was Israhell that broke the cease fire. They don’t seem to know the Palestinians are locked in a big cage and can’t send their children/civilians to a safe haven.
One thing we all can do is boycott Israhell. Google and you’ll find many helpful sites.
Sickeningly, it seems your ‘Schools’ category now has to be updated…
http://maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=34678
Another “Hamas” Target.
The civilian death toll in Gaza increased dramatically today, with reports of more than 40 Palestinians killed after missiles exploded outside a UN school where hundreds of people were sheltering from the continuing Israeli offensive.
Two Israeli tank shells struck the school in Jabaliya refugee camp, spraying shrapnel on people inside and outside the building, according to news agency reports.
Israeli shelling kills dozens at UN school in Gaza
It’s worth noting that all UN facilities within Gaza are clearly marked by UN flags and that the IDF have their GPS coordinates.
To all humanitarian who cares about palestinian human rights.
What about Israeli children and civilians killed by Hamas attacks? Even stupid politician like Mike Bloomberg have to ask what does proportional responce means when they actually see what is really going on there.
My opinion for proportional responce is:
1 hamas rocket fired to Israel territory = 10 Israeli rocket to location from where that rocket launched.
1 suicide bomber sent by hamas = 40 air bombs droped over region where this bomber born and grow up. Even if it is not in Gasa strip but somewhere in Egipt or Siria or Iran.
That would increase chances to achive peace in middle East once and forever.
To all Zionists who posted here: FUCK you, apologists for massacres and war crimes. Your increasingly desperate and pathetic attempts at propaganda are fooling no one: the same as the Israeli government. Today, they were trying to convince us that they killed “130 Hamas terrorists” when the entire death toll for the day was not even that high at that point! And they dare accuse Palestinians of exaggerating death tolls!
Zionism’s days are numbered, and one day we will only speak of it in the past tense.
This is one of your all-time best posts Jamie.
Hamas leader in Damascus Khaled Mish’al on the Guardian Comment site today ***STILL*** offering Israel a ceasefire:
“When this broken truce neared its end, we expressed our readiness for a new comprehensive truce in return for lifting the blockade and opening all Gaza border crossings, including Rafah. Our calls fell on deaf ears. Yet still we would be willing to begin a new truce on these terms following the complete withdrawal of the invading forces from Gaza.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/06/gaza-israel-hamas
Thanks, Asa. See also this article:
(for more, see for example ‘Hamas: We accepted an Egyptian invitation for talks in Cairo‘).
Israel continues to reject a truce because, as Livni explains,
I’ve updated with the school massacre and some other stuff. (I’m just slotting them in under the appropriate sub-headings, not an ‘Update’ section).
Both sides are wrong on this one…
Hamas will never make Peace with Israel regardless of what Israel does – the Hamas stance is “We must kill you all.” Hamas uses non-combatants as human shields by intentionally launching attacks from areas that will result in civilian deaths when Israel counter attacks while Hamas intentionally targets civilians.
So what should Israel do? They can’t make Peace – you can’t make Peace with someone that insists it is their moral right and Religious Obligation to kill you. All Israel can do is try to kill the people that want them dead first. Unfortunately, just as with America in Iraq, from every civilian death, a new enemy fighter is created – kill the father and the children swear vengeance… kill the children and dad picks up a gun and mom straps on an explosive vest.
It may be that there really IS no other action for Israel to take than the one they are taking right now, but what I want to see is proof of Israel’s assertions. They claim the Mosques they destroyed were being used to house explosives and other arms? Prove it! Roll the TV cameras while you pull the guns and explosives out of the basement and line them up in the street. Shoot a tank shell into a house and kill a “civilian” family? Roll the cameras and show the Rockets that were being stored there. If the father lets a Hamas fighter launch a rocket from the man’s home, or store explosives or guns in that house, then that house is, in my mind, a legitimate military target. It is horrible and unconscionable that the father would do that, just as it is horrible that the family is likely to be blown to bits when Israel drops a bomb, but what else is Israel to do?
Golda Meir said something to the effect of, “We will have Peace when the Arabs love their children more than they hate ours.” It may be more costly in money, material and Israeli lives, but the Israelis need to start to love the Arab children as much as their own. Using a bomb or tank shell is fast, easy, and comparatively cheap, but the cost in civilian casualties will ultimately turn much of the world against them and contrary to what they believe, they can not afford that.
I don’t know what the answer is. I don’t see how Israel can make peace and I don’t see how Israel can win militarily without inflicting grievous and damning injury to a co-mingled civilian population. But I do know that Israel need to either make a lasting peace, or kill all of her enemies and she needs to do one of those two things right quick. Think forward 5 – 10 years… when America no longer needs to rely on Arab oil (and that day is fast approaching!) On the day that America no longer NEEDS Israel as an ally – and that day is the day it is economically feasible for the USA to walk away from the Middle East – it will walk away. And on that day Israel is likely to face a harsh judgment at the hands of it’s neighbors.
ok, i deleted most of the nuts.
thank you soo much, this is invaluable!
Israel’s motivation is clearly reflected in David Ben-Gurion’s own words from 1938:
“In our political argument abroad we minimize Arab opposition to us. But let us not ignore the truth among ourselves. [...] A people which fights against the usurpation of its land will not tire so easily.”
Simha Flapan, ‘Zionism and the Palestinians’, 1979, ISBN 0-85664-499-4, p. 141
Here’s a blurb for ya: Hamas has 7400 american made m-16’s and 800000 rounds to use against Israel, curtesy of our resident genius leader, George Bush.
That idiot also wanted to give Mexico over a billion to fight their drug war and his admin’s policies have created an 8 year holiday for Chinese access to America’s technology.
Great work to compile this post!!! I will be directing people to this post!
Well done!
This was very informative and thorough. This really is going to be a terrible year.
One last thing I have to say. The governments of countries, no matter what country it is, should be held accountable for their words and their actions or inactions. After making certain claims about “terrorism” or anything else, and then acting violently in response, governments should submit proof to the public that they were justified in their decision to act aggressively. If their judgment was unwarranted and unjustified the people should hold government officials accountable for their actions or inactions. Government transparency is the only way to verify that governments are telling us the truth and not continuing some type of hidden agenda.
Obviously this is not something easily done.
Some old news from Worldnet, in support of facts that Hamas human shields aren’t a myth:
“A prominent member of Hamas, a recognized terrorist group, has been captured on video boasting of using women, children and the elderly as human shields in its firefights with Israeli soldiers.” (http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=58837)
It might not make sense some of to us, but it is what it is.
AAAnnnnd one more thing. Look up Hamas on wikipedia and google “Hamas war crimes”. You’re in for a treat if you decide to look seriously and without prior bias.
In my honest opinion, it seems like the media today will always side with the little guy (opposed to the big guy), even if the little guy wears suicide vests, uses human shields, executes POWs, and purposely kills innocent people. But hey, it makes a great story right?
Israel’s American missiles are more destructive than any suicide vest and are also purposely killing innocent people. Lets face it, 2 sides are fighting for the same land, but it’s a slightly uneven fight.
Yes . That is very true. Israel is overwhelmingly stronger than their opponents. Just like Russia’s revenge attack on Georgia. But I’d like to point out that the stated purpose for Israel’s attack on Hamas is to protect their own. Hamas was attacking Israel civilians for the sake of.
Um…I was reading everyone’s posts, and I guess I’m the bad guy here. Oops! Just be sure to read up on Hamas and Israel’s histories before getting too mad at me. Like I said, wikipedia is ok.
Ugh, I hate to jump into these things, but I couldn’t resist for this:
“But I’d like to point out that the stated purpose for Israel’s attack on Hamas is to protect their own. Hamas was attacking Israel civilians for the sake of.”
1) The stated purpose is of some importance, but in reviewing real aims of conflict, it’s limited. I challenge you to find an act of colonialism or barbarity that wasn’t done for stated ‘just’ reasons – humanitarian or self-defence. There are a few, but very very few. Britain’s imperialism was ’stated’ to be for the good of natives (including it’s ventures in the Middle East)
2) If they wanted to protect ‘their own’, they would not escalate conflict against a movement which prizes martyrdom and sacrifice (a point made well by Avi Shlaim in yesterday’s Guardian). There is no military solution to this conflict, the increase in civilian death will only further exacerbate radicalism. After Bloody Sunday in Ireland, kids who had seen their friends die flocked to join the IRA. Expect to see a similar, tragic situation. Read Fisk’s article in today’s Independent, where he foresees the inevitable hand wringing from the West, wondering why ‘they’ hate us. My friends with family in Gaza tell me that Israel’s threatening phone calls, and the bombs overhead, and the crippling blockade, are driving people into the hands of the militants. The bombing is no way to protect Israelis from rocket fire. Only a negotiated settlement, and the ability to live a life worth living, can pacify Gaza. See more in the Avi Shlaim article for Hamas’s moves to accept such a settlement, it has been very well documented and if you don’t know about it then that’s concerning.
3) Hamas attacks civilians ‘for the sake of’. Incredible. Do you think they think it’s fun? The sad fact is that suicide bombing has been shown to be an effective tool of terror (see the excellent work Dying to Win: The Strategic logic of Suicide Bombing, by Robert Pape, for discussion on this). It is also one of the few tools that many Palestinians feel they have. I have no time for the suicide bombing, and see it as one of the many regrettable consequences of a crippling political and economic occupation, but the notion that it is done for no reason is an empty claim with little evidence to support it.
4) If you jump up and down on someone’s stomach, and tell them that you’ll stop as soon as they stop screaming, then we may say that it would be prudent for them to stop screaming. This does not create a case of moral equivalence between you and your victim. Hamas’s rocket fire against civilians is a war crime, although insignificant compared to Israel’s bombing. They are both, however, a consequence of the occupation which subjects Palestinians to misery, impotence, loss and death. Trying to deal with these symptoms without dealing with the major causes is an exercise in futility, a murderous one at that.
Israel is losing prestige over their latest right-wing authoritarian hawk-tantrum leading to further failure. Hawks didnt like Yasser Arafat, Hawks didnt like Yitzhak Rabin, Hawks wanted to support Saddam Hussein against Iran – Osama Bin Laden against Russia – Hawks wanted the Lebannon war – the Iraq war and now this – each and every single time Liberals warned them and they greeted our wisdom with insults.
Predictable failure, that is – and I didnt mention the brilliant hawk strategem of getting rid of Mossadegh – great move. Also, 70 percent of American Jews are wonderful patriotic Americans who voted for Barack Obama.
Israeli hawks are so patriotic, they murdered their own Prime Minister – Yitzhak Rabin.
This situation could be to referred to as, “Overkill”
Yup… I lose. I think I understand now the differences between us. I mean I’m sure many of of you are educated individuals. Myself, I’m probably not so smart, just experienced. But I think it comes down to our penchant for violence. I’ve become numb to it and probably more “agreeable” with its conditions, now that I understand it. And many here believe otherwise, as in everyone’s unalienable right to exist. I don’t think I can argue against that. It’s noble, so I’ll just leave it at that.
However, let me just leave you all with these two things:
(1) Most news/media will NOT give you a good overview of a given situation. In other words, don’t put all of your credibility on it. They’re biased by business or by propaganda. Research, research (or go to the specfied country, hm…) and see both sides of the story.
(2) Most of the tim, the big guy isn’t always the bad guy (in reference to all life aspects). He might have more power, but he’s not always the bad guy (police for example).
Well, good luck on your endeavors. And I mean that sincerely.
http://www.blackpower.com/politics/burying-our-heads-in-the-sand-kenyan-style-the-arab-israeli-conflict/