Ma'an – Caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad announced Sunday that he would visit the village of Awarta, after Israeli forces entered the village to carry out the fifth arrest campaign, detaining nine, including a mother, father and daughter.
The Sunday morning raids followed close on the heels of a mass round up on Friday, which saw more than 100 women forcibly taken from their homes, along with tens of men, and subjected to DNA testing and finger printing.
Mayor of Awarta Qays Awwad said Israeli forces raided the village shortly after midnight Sunday morning, and identified those detained as Muhammad Fawzi Awwad, his sons Amjad, Hakam, and Majdi in addition to Ayman Mahmoud, Fawzi Awwad, Mazin Niyaz Awwad, his wife and daughter.
It is the fifth arrest raid on the village, in the wake of an 11 March murder of five members of a settler family, including two children and an infant, in the nearby settlement of Itamar. Following the killings, which were called a "terrorist attack" by Israeli leaders, though no faction claimed the grisly crime, Israeli forces shut down the village under a military closure that lasted five days, trapping residents.
Door-to-door searches were carried out, and several were said to have been beaten or suffer from dog bites from sniffer animals used in the searches. Dozens were detained and taken for questioning.
A second closure was imposed a week later, when several more were detained. In early April another 40 men were taken and submitted to DNA testing at the Huwwara military base.
The Palestinian Authority's media center condemned the arrests, calling them "incessant abuse campaigns held by the Israeli occupation army, against the people of Awarta village."
Details of the case remain under an Israeli gag-order, and no suspects have been publicly identified. Investigations appear to have focused on the village of Awarta, but early in the investigation workers at the settlement were questioned.
Fayyad is scheduled to visit Awarta later on Sunday and hold a general meeting with the residents at the local council to learn about the arrest campaigns, questioning and events since the murders.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Gaza government declares emergency amid lethal Israeli strikes, worst violence since 2009
AFP-Ma'an – The Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers have declared a state of emergency in the wake of confrontations with Israel that have left 18 people dead in the deadliest clashes since a devastating war more than two years ago.
A truce declared by Palestinian armed groups in the enclave unravelled even before it could take hold, when Israeli air strikes hit several locations across the Strip, prompting militants to fire dozens of projectiles into southern Israel, in a new wave of back and forth violence.
"The interior ministry has decreed a state of emergency. All security forces must work 24 hours a day along with the civil defence and medical services to protect and save inhabitants taken as targets by the Zionist occupier," ministry spokesman Ihab al-Ghussein declared.
The violence, the worst since 2009, has cost the lives of 18 Palestinians since Thursday in the Gaza Strip. They included Tayssir Abu Sneneh, a head of Hamas's armed wing the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades, and at least six civilians.
The Israeli army said in a statement that Sneneh was implicated "directly and physically" in the abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and had recently been told to carry out "a terrorist attack from the Sinai Desert, using rockets, against the Israeli city of Eilat."
Shalit, 24, who has French nationality, was captured in Israel in June 2006 by three armed Palestinian groups, one coming under Hamas. [Before and since Shalit was captured Israeli forces had abducted thousands of Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank. It currently holds approximately 6,000.]
The violence continued Saturday with Palestinians firing some 50 salvos of projectiles at Israel, and Israelis responding with air raids that killed four.
An Israeli raid in eastern Gaza City on Saturday evening killed a member of the An-Nasser Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, and wounded two other Palestinians, a medic said.
Israeli tanks wounded another Palestinian in the strip's north. The man has not been identified as a combatant.
On Saturday morning, an Israeli tank round killed a Palestinian and wounded a second in an eastern neighbourhood of Gaza City. Again, it remained unclear whether the casualties were civilian.
The deaths took to 18 the number of Palestinians killed, including at least six militants and a 10-year-old boy, since an anti-tank round was fired at an Israeli school bus near kibbutz Nahal Oz, close to Gaza, on Thursday.
At least 57 Palestinians were wounded, 12 seriously, medics said.
But a senior Israeli security official said the Islamist group ruling the Gaza Strip had asked for a ceasefire.
"The political branch of Hamas has sent a message asking for an Israeli ceasefire" in exchange for a halt to Palestinian attacks, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
He said Israeli operations would continue for as long as Israel felt "its people cannot lead normal lives" because of the threat of Palestinian attack.
He also indicated that Defence Minister Ehud Barak had indefinitely postponed a trip to Washington because of the gravity of the situation.
Thursday's attack on the school bus critically wounded a teenager and injured the driver. Israeli media Saturday cited Hamas sources as saying they were unaware that children were traveling in the bus, saying that the road was targeted because it is often used by Israeli military vehicles.
A truce declared by Palestinian armed groups in the enclave unravelled even before it could take hold, when Israeli air strikes hit several locations across the Strip, prompting militants to fire dozens of projectiles into southern Israel, in a new wave of back and forth violence.
"The interior ministry has decreed a state of emergency. All security forces must work 24 hours a day along with the civil defence and medical services to protect and save inhabitants taken as targets by the Zionist occupier," ministry spokesman Ihab al-Ghussein declared.
The violence, the worst since 2009, has cost the lives of 18 Palestinians since Thursday in the Gaza Strip. They included Tayssir Abu Sneneh, a head of Hamas's armed wing the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades, and at least six civilians.
The Israeli army said in a statement that Sneneh was implicated "directly and physically" in the abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and had recently been told to carry out "a terrorist attack from the Sinai Desert, using rockets, against the Israeli city of Eilat."
Shalit, 24, who has French nationality, was captured in Israel in June 2006 by three armed Palestinian groups, one coming under Hamas. [Before and since Shalit was captured Israeli forces had abducted thousands of Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank. It currently holds approximately 6,000.]
The violence continued Saturday with Palestinians firing some 50 salvos of projectiles at Israel, and Israelis responding with air raids that killed four.
An Israeli raid in eastern Gaza City on Saturday evening killed a member of the An-Nasser Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, and wounded two other Palestinians, a medic said.
Israeli tanks wounded another Palestinian in the strip's north. The man has not been identified as a combatant.
On Saturday morning, an Israeli tank round killed a Palestinian and wounded a second in an eastern neighbourhood of Gaza City. Again, it remained unclear whether the casualties were civilian.
The deaths took to 18 the number of Palestinians killed, including at least six militants and a 10-year-old boy, since an anti-tank round was fired at an Israeli school bus near kibbutz Nahal Oz, close to Gaza, on Thursday.
At least 57 Palestinians were wounded, 12 seriously, medics said.
But a senior Israeli security official said the Islamist group ruling the Gaza Strip had asked for a ceasefire.
"The political branch of Hamas has sent a message asking for an Israeli ceasefire" in exchange for a halt to Palestinian attacks, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
He said Israeli operations would continue for as long as Israel felt "its people cannot lead normal lives" because of the threat of Palestinian attack.
He also indicated that Defence Minister Ehud Barak had indefinitely postponed a trip to Washington because of the gravity of the situation.
Thursday's attack on the school bus critically wounded a teenager and injured the driver. Israeli media Saturday cited Hamas sources as saying they were unaware that children were traveling in the bus, saying that the road was targeted because it is often used by Israeli military vehicles.
U.S. authorities arrest reputed Israeli mobster in Mexico
Ha'aretz – U.S. authorities arrested reputed Israeli mobster Asi Vaknin in Mexico yesterday, and put him on a flight to the United States, where he is wanted. According to the indictment against Israeli mobsters Meir and Yitzhak Abergil, Vaknin had been threatened and blackmailed.
Asi Vaknin is the brother of Hai Vaknin, who reached a plea bargain with American authorities to testify in court against the Abergils. The Abergil brothers are due to be tried in the United States in six months.
American authorities informed the Israeli police about Vaknin's arrest yesterday. Law enforcement sources in Israel believe U.S. prosecutors are now trying to pressure Asi Vaknin into testifying against the Abergil brothers and their co-defendants.
In the case against the Abergils and their partners, U.S. prosecutors have charged them with loaning money to American businessmen and then subjecting them to extortion.
Other charges against the brothers include the contract killing of Israeli drug kingpin Sami Atias in Los Angeles, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Asi Vaknin's arrest comes two months after the surprising arrest of Gabi Ben Harosh, who headed the so-called Jerusalem Gang. He was convicted of minor crimes in a plea bargain, and sentenced to community service.
Ben Harosh was arrested in Los Angeles with his wife Sima, suspected of violating immigration regulations. In this case too, it is believed that the U.S. authorities are trying to pressure Ben Harosh into testifying against his former associates, the Abergil brothers.
It is also believed that the Abergils and Ben Harosh tried to use the Vaknin brothers to launder money embezzled from Commerce Bank.
Asi Vaknin is the brother of Hai Vaknin, who reached a plea bargain with American authorities to testify in court against the Abergils. The Abergil brothers are due to be tried in the United States in six months.
American authorities informed the Israeli police about Vaknin's arrest yesterday. Law enforcement sources in Israel believe U.S. prosecutors are now trying to pressure Asi Vaknin into testifying against the Abergil brothers and their co-defendants.
In the case against the Abergils and their partners, U.S. prosecutors have charged them with loaning money to American businessmen and then subjecting them to extortion.
Other charges against the brothers include the contract killing of Israeli drug kingpin Sami Atias in Los Angeles, money laundering and drug trafficking.
Asi Vaknin's arrest comes two months after the surprising arrest of Gabi Ben Harosh, who headed the so-called Jerusalem Gang. He was convicted of minor crimes in a plea bargain, and sentenced to community service.
Ben Harosh was arrested in Los Angeles with his wife Sima, suspected of violating immigration regulations. In this case too, it is believed that the U.S. authorities are trying to pressure Ben Harosh into testifying against his former associates, the Abergil brothers.
It is also believed that the Abergils and Ben Harosh tried to use the Vaknin brothers to launder money embezzled from Commerce Bank.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Eighteen Palestinians killed by Israeli shells since Thursday, 70 injured
IMEMC – The Israeli Air Force bombarded on Saturday evening the Al Zeitoun neighborhood, south of Gaza City, killing one member of the Salah Ed Deen Brigades. Eighteen Palestinians were killed and nearly 70 were injured by Israeli fire and shells since Thursday.
Medical sources reported on Saturday evening that Raed Zuheir Al Bir, 30, of the Salah Ed Deen Brigades of the Popular Resistance Committees, died of wounds sustained after the army bombarded an area in Al Zeitoun neighborhood; several residents were injured.
Three residents were wounded when the army fired at least one missile at an area near the Cars market in Al Zeitoun neighborhood. One of the wounded residents died of his wounds later on, medical sources reported.
Also on Saturday, the army bombarded an area west of Jabalia, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip; two residents were wounded, one seriously.
On Saturday morning, the army killed one fighter and seriously wounded another in a renewed wave of Air Strikes targeting northern Gaza. The slain fighter was identified as Ahmad Al Zeitouna.
Furthermore, Israeli sources reported that resistance groups in Gaza fired dozens of shells into the Western Negev.
An Israeli army spokesperson reported on Saturday evening that the Air Force targeted a group of fighters who fired shells at the Eshkol Regional Council in the Negev, and wounded some of them.
The Al Qassam Brigades of Hamas stated in a press conference on Saturday evening that “talks about calm or a truce “with the enemy while it continues its crimes against the Palestinian people, are unacceptable”.
Abu Obeida, spokesperson of the Brigades in Gaza, said that the resistance has the right and the moral responsibility to retaliate and defend the Palestinian people.
Medical sources in Gaza provided this list of Palestinians killed by the army since Thursday (Until Saturday evening)
Medical sources reported on Saturday evening that Raed Zuheir Al Bir, 30, of the Salah Ed Deen Brigades of the Popular Resistance Committees, died of wounds sustained after the army bombarded an area in Al Zeitoun neighborhood; several residents were injured.
Three residents were wounded when the army fired at least one missile at an area near the Cars market in Al Zeitoun neighborhood. One of the wounded residents died of his wounds later on, medical sources reported.
Also on Saturday, the army bombarded an area west of Jabalia, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip; two residents were wounded, one seriously.
On Saturday morning, the army killed one fighter and seriously wounded another in a renewed wave of Air Strikes targeting northern Gaza. The slain fighter was identified as Ahmad Al Zeitouna.
Furthermore, Israeli sources reported that resistance groups in Gaza fired dozens of shells into the Western Negev.
An Israeli army spokesperson reported on Saturday evening that the Air Force targeted a group of fighters who fired shells at the Eshkol Regional Council in the Negev, and wounded some of them.
The Al Qassam Brigades of Hamas stated in a press conference on Saturday evening that “talks about calm or a truce “with the enemy while it continues its crimes against the Palestinian people, are unacceptable”.
Abu Obeida, spokesperson of the Brigades in Gaza, said that the resistance has the right and the moral responsibility to retaliate and defend the Palestinian people.
Medical sources in Gaza provided this list of Palestinians killed by the army since Thursday (Until Saturday evening)
Palestinian factions resume firing homemade shells into Israel, causing no injuries
IMEMC – After Palestinian factions declared a ceasefire Thursday, saying they would stop firing homemade shells if Israeli forces ceased its airstrikes, Israeli forces killed ten Palestinians in airstrikes, including a young child. The Palestinian resistance groups declared Saturday that since Israeli forces refused the ceasefire, they would begin firing shells toward Israel again.
Israeli authorities say that 40 shells were fired into Israel on Saturday, causing no injuries, although the head of the Eshkol Regional Council, Haim Yalin, told the Jerusalem Post that his town is in an 'emergency situation', and that the shelling is making residents very nervous. Three people in Ashkelon were brought to the hospital complaining of 'shock'.
Inside Gaza, local hospital officials have reported that dozens of injured Palestinians, over half of whom are children, have been brought in with injuries from the Israeli airstrikes that continued through Saturday.
The 'Iron Dome' anti-rocket defense system has been deployed for the first time over the last few days. Israeli officials say that it has intercepted eight shells fired from Gaza.
The homemade shells fired by the Palestinian resistance are metal tubes with dynamite or C4 explosive stuffed inside. It is impossible to aim these shells, and they have no exploding tips or pulsion system. They do not explode when they land, so the damage they cause is usually from the impact of the metal rod on the spot where it lands.
One such shell, fired early Thursday prior to the ceasefire, hit an Israeli school bus, landing one teenager in the hospital with critical injuries and also injuring the schoolbus driver. Since Wednesday, 18 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes, and over 50 have been wounded.
Israeli authorities say that 40 shells were fired into Israel on Saturday, causing no injuries, although the head of the Eshkol Regional Council, Haim Yalin, told the Jerusalem Post that his town is in an 'emergency situation', and that the shelling is making residents very nervous. Three people in Ashkelon were brought to the hospital complaining of 'shock'.
Inside Gaza, local hospital officials have reported that dozens of injured Palestinians, over half of whom are children, have been brought in with injuries from the Israeli airstrikes that continued through Saturday.
The 'Iron Dome' anti-rocket defense system has been deployed for the first time over the last few days. Israeli officials say that it has intercepted eight shells fired from Gaza.
The homemade shells fired by the Palestinian resistance are metal tubes with dynamite or C4 explosive stuffed inside. It is impossible to aim these shells, and they have no exploding tips or pulsion system. They do not explode when they land, so the damage they cause is usually from the impact of the metal rod on the spot where it lands.
One such shell, fired early Thursday prior to the ceasefire, hit an Israeli school bus, landing one teenager in the hospital with critical injuries and also injuring the schoolbus driver. Since Wednesday, 18 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes, and over 50 have been wounded.
Life in Gaza under Israeli air strikes
Ma'an – Schools remain open and families remain in their homes, with little other choice as strikes continued in Gaza for the third consecutive day on Saturday.
On Friday afternoon, the sounds of ambulance sirens mixed with horns of cars taking newly married couples to wedding halls. On Saturday morning, students headed to schools as usual after they spent the night listening to Israeli drones fly overhead.
With no bomb shelters in Gaza, its residents, mostly refugees, had nowhere to flee and slept in their homes, some with missing roofs and walls, as they had done every night since the end of Israel's assault on Gaza in January 2009.
Gaza psychologist Samir Quta said he and colleagues could offer only coping mechanisms for children and families living in the coastal enclave, saying common advice was to encourage families to continue life as normal as much as possible, to avoid having children feel that their lives were constantly at risk.
"The people of Gaza have been through shocking experiences, they have dealt with a great deal of violence practiced against them. To survive, they have managed to construct a new normalcy, where the violence is incorporated into life around them," Quta said.
Police in Gaza issued a statement, encouraging residents to "continue life as usual," and warning would-be criminals not to "take advantage of the Israeli violence," causing a rise in tensions and concern as families begin the week.
Spokesman of the Gaza police Ayman Batniji said police would continue to operate normally despite the ongoing attacks, adding that officers were being extra-vigilante searching for anyone "spreading rumors or scaring residents."
Online, Gaza residents launched a twitter campaign, attaching thoughts and observations to the tag YouKnowYouAreInGaza, with millions of tweets cataloging the situation with anger, wry sarcasm and fear.
Following the post from bloggers at SleeplessinGaza, on Thursday, by Friday tweets from Gaza bloggers commented, "when the electricity is off most of the day!," "when you find little kids with great experience about weapons, warplanes, and sounds of explosions," "when you hear the ambulance alarms louder than the mosques call for praying . just like right now," and finally, Saturday morning, one woman commented, YouKnowYouAreInGaza "When it's quiet, no bombing, no shooting, no drones and no news you'll be afraid as you think it's not normal!"
On Friday afternoon, the sounds of ambulance sirens mixed with horns of cars taking newly married couples to wedding halls. On Saturday morning, students headed to schools as usual after they spent the night listening to Israeli drones fly overhead.
With no bomb shelters in Gaza, its residents, mostly refugees, had nowhere to flee and slept in their homes, some with missing roofs and walls, as they had done every night since the end of Israel's assault on Gaza in January 2009.
Gaza psychologist Samir Quta said he and colleagues could offer only coping mechanisms for children and families living in the coastal enclave, saying common advice was to encourage families to continue life as normal as much as possible, to avoid having children feel that their lives were constantly at risk.
"The people of Gaza have been through shocking experiences, they have dealt with a great deal of violence practiced against them. To survive, they have managed to construct a new normalcy, where the violence is incorporated into life around them," Quta said.
Police in Gaza issued a statement, encouraging residents to "continue life as usual," and warning would-be criminals not to "take advantage of the Israeli violence," causing a rise in tensions and concern as families begin the week.
Spokesman of the Gaza police Ayman Batniji said police would continue to operate normally despite the ongoing attacks, adding that officers were being extra-vigilante searching for anyone "spreading rumors or scaring residents."
Online, Gaza residents launched a twitter campaign, attaching thoughts and observations to the tag YouKnowYouAreInGaza, with millions of tweets cataloging the situation with anger, wry sarcasm and fear.
Following the post from bloggers at SleeplessinGaza, on Thursday, by Friday tweets from Gaza bloggers commented, "when the electricity is off most of the day!," "when you find little kids with great experience about weapons, warplanes, and sounds of explosions," "when you hear the ambulance alarms louder than the mosques call for praying . just like right now," and finally, Saturday morning, one woman commented, YouKnowYouAreInGaza "When it's quiet, no bombing, no shooting, no drones and no news you'll be afraid as you think it's not normal!"
Diverse analyses on Libya
Following are commentaries for and against intervention by people highly knowledgeable on Libya and the issues involved:
Paul Findley: Obama’s fateful abuse of war powers violates Constitution & 1973 law
CNI – The acts of war ordered by President Barack Obama against the government of Libya violated provisions of the U.S. Constitution and the War Powers Resolution of 1973. He also exceeded his authority by pledging U.S. combat support to the United Nations Security Council and to NATO for military measures against Libya. The United States may soon find itself entrapped in a costly civil war in that North African nation.
Congress is complicit in creating this mess, because it failed to demand presidential compliance with the Constitution and public law and neglected its own explicit constitutional duty in the exercise of war powers.
The War Powers Resolution was enacted in the wake of the Vietnam ordeal by Members of Congress, myself included, who considered that war unauthorized by Congress and a gross abuse of Constitutional war powers. Our goal was to prevent future unauthorized presidential wars. I joined other Members of Congress in overriding President Richard Nixon’s veto, and during my remaining years on Capitol Hill I maintained close vigilance on presidential compliance. Compliance was satisfactory by Presidents Ford and Carter, as well as both Presidents Bush. In recent years I find no sign of vigilance or compliance. It is a sad, dangerous state of affairs.
Congress is complicit in creating this mess, because it failed to demand presidential compliance with the Constitution and public law and neglected its own explicit constitutional duty in the exercise of war powers.
The War Powers Resolution was enacted in the wake of the Vietnam ordeal by Members of Congress, myself included, who considered that war unauthorized by Congress and a gross abuse of Constitutional war powers. Our goal was to prevent future unauthorized presidential wars. I joined other Members of Congress in overriding President Richard Nixon’s veto, and during my remaining years on Capitol Hill I maintained close vigilance on presidential compliance. Compliance was satisfactory by Presidents Ford and Carter, as well as both Presidents Bush. In recent years I find no sign of vigilance or compliance. It is a sad, dangerous state of affairs.
GOP Senate freshmen pledge support for Israel
JTA – The vast majority of Republican freshmen in the U.S. Senate have signed on to a letter committing to current levels of defense assistance to Israel.
Among the 13 freshmen, 11 have signed the letter initiated by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).....
A similar letter from U.S. House of Representatives' GOP freshmen in February garnered 65 signatures in a class of 87.....
Rubio, a Tea Party favorite, visited Israel within weeks of his election in November. [While there he met with "billionaire businessman/Jewish community leader/political pot-stirrer Norman Braman"]
The two freshmen who did not sign also are favorites of the Tea Party. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has called openly for cutting aid to Israel and for the bulk of foreign aid funding. The other freshman not to sign is Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).
The letter is a sign that President Obama's proposal to maintain levels of funding for Israel, currently at about $3 billion annually, will be untouched. Read more
Hamas has requested a cease fire, Israel officials say
Ha'aretz – The political arm of Hamas passed Israel a message on Saturday afternoon requesting a ceasefire, Israeli security sources said. [17 Gazans have been killed in recent Israeli strikes.] Read more
Deaths from Israeli air strikes include 4 children
Palsolidarity – The latest round of Israeli massacres committed against the people of Gaza has resulted in the brutal killings since Thursday afternoon of sixteen, including a mother and daughter, 4 children and an elderly man. Over the last 5 days, Gaza City has been bombed by Apache helicopters and F16 and E15 fighter planes. These terrible massacres come only one day after a statement issued by the disgraced Ehud Batak, the Israeli Minster of War, in which he calls upon his generals to intensify the attack against Gaza.
The slow motion genocide itself has killed more than 600 patients so far. Read more
The slow motion genocide itself has killed more than 600 patients so far. Read more
Hamas: We didn't realize we were shooting at a school bus
Reuters – Hamas on Saturday said that its operatives did not intend to target Israeli schoolchildren when they fired a rocket at a bus two days ago, critically wounding a teenager and sparking the latest round of border fighting.
"It was not known that the bus targeted on the outskirts of Gaza carried schoolchildren," spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters, adding that the road where the bus was travelling was often used by IDF vehicles.
"It was not known that the bus targeted on the outskirts of Gaza carried schoolchildren," spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters, adding that the road where the bus was travelling was often used by IDF vehicles.
150 kinds of medicines have run out in Gaza due to Israeli closure; hospitals flooded with patients from deadly Israeli strikes
Ma'an – De facto minister of health Basem Na’im announced Saturday, after four consecutive days of crossings closure, that more than 150 kinds of medicines have run out at the ministry's warehouses.
Beyond medicines, he said from a news conference at Gaza City's Ash-Shifa Hospital, spare parts for medical equipment are sparse, with some machines inoperable due to lack of available maintenance.
Na'im called Israel's recent strikes on Gaza "planned in advance," noting the strikes which killed civilians on Thursday and Friday, and a shelling that damaged an ambulance and injured crew members.
The official called on Egypt to open the Rafah crossing so patients could exit for treatment, and medical supplies be brought in.
News outlets called Friday the deadliest day since Israel launched its Operation Cast Lead in the winter of 2008-9. Since Thursday afternoon, 17 have been killed and another 60 injured, 12 critically, flooding Gaza hospitals with patients.
The flood prompted the General Director of Maintenance and Engineering at the ministry Suheil Sakik to request that the Gaza power station up its electricity provision to the hospitals, saying it was the only way to improve health services for the time being.
Sakik said in a statement that the power plant had responded to his concern, saying it would carry out a feasibility study, and look at the option of providing hospitals with more than one source of power.
Beyond medicines, he said from a news conference at Gaza City's Ash-Shifa Hospital, spare parts for medical equipment are sparse, with some machines inoperable due to lack of available maintenance.
Na'im called Israel's recent strikes on Gaza "planned in advance," noting the strikes which killed civilians on Thursday and Friday, and a shelling that damaged an ambulance and injured crew members.
The official called on Egypt to open the Rafah crossing so patients could exit for treatment, and medical supplies be brought in.
News outlets called Friday the deadliest day since Israel launched its Operation Cast Lead in the winter of 2008-9. Since Thursday afternoon, 17 have been killed and another 60 injured, 12 critically, flooding Gaza hospitals with patients.
The flood prompted the General Director of Maintenance and Engineering at the ministry Suheil Sakik to request that the Gaza power station up its electricity provision to the hospitals, saying it was the only way to improve health services for the time being.
Sakik said in a statement that the power plant had responded to his concern, saying it would carry out a feasibility study, and look at the option of providing hospitals with more than one source of power.
Israeli settlers torch car, assault villagers; Seven Palestinians stabbed, beaten, etc in April & March
Ma'an – Two incidents of Israeli settler violence were reported Saturday morning, with Urif residents waking to find a torched car and Asira villagers saying settlers entered the area and provoked a clash.
Fatah official charged with monitoring settlement activity in the northern West Bank Ghassan Doughlas told Ma'an that locals believed residents of the illegal Yitzhar settlement were behind a provocation near the village.
Locals said settlers entered the area, approaching and verbally harassing shepherds on the outskirts of the village. Locals came to the aid of the shepherds, clashing with the group of settlers.
In the village of Urif, Doughlas said local resident Ali Issa awoke to a burned out car, which witnesses said was torched by settlers.
Doughlas demanded the quartet and the international community intervene to stop settler attacks against Palestinians.
Progressively overwhelming waves of settler attacks have subsided in recent weeks, falling back to average levels of vandalism and harassment, which remain a constant threat to Palestinians, particularly in the northern West Bank region of Nablus, and in the Hebron region.
Between the end of February and the third week of March, seven Palestinians were injured by settler gunfire, two were stabbed, two were beaten, seven were injured by stones, at least six cars were torched, and dozens of acts of vandalism and harassment reported.
An escalation in violent attacks began after the Israeli government dismantled an illegal settlement outpost on February 28. Under a professed "price tag" policy, settlers make Palestinians "pay" for each evacuation of outposts. In the past, the "price" has included arson, shootings, beatings, burning fields, uprooting trees and poisoning water wells belonging to Palestinians.
Harassment and vandalism escalated further following the murder of five residents of Itamar settlement by unknown attackers on March 11. But many of the incidents causing hospitalization occurred before.
Settlement security prevents farmers from accessing lands
Farmers from Deir Istiya west of Salfit said a guard at the Nofim settlement prevented them from reaching agricultural lands in Khirbet Shuhada on Saturday morning, adding that they feared new construction in the settlement would mean their lands would be confiscated for the expansion.
Samih Salman, 45, told Ma'an that while he was on his way to the lands, an Israeli jeep marked "security" approached him, took down his identity card number and turned him away from the area, saying access was prohibited.
Mayor of Deir Istiya, Nathmi Salman, said the incident was worrying, following Israel's announcement of another 942 settlement units set for construction in the West Bank.
Salman explained that much of the village's land had already been confiscated when the Hava Ba'er outpost was built, adding that the outpost also saw the closure of the main road to farming land belonging to the villagers, forcing farmers to take a long bypass route.
Fatah official charged with monitoring settlement activity in the northern West Bank Ghassan Doughlas told Ma'an that locals believed residents of the illegal Yitzhar settlement were behind a provocation near the village.
Locals said settlers entered the area, approaching and verbally harassing shepherds on the outskirts of the village. Locals came to the aid of the shepherds, clashing with the group of settlers.
In the village of Urif, Doughlas said local resident Ali Issa awoke to a burned out car, which witnesses said was torched by settlers.
Doughlas demanded the quartet and the international community intervene to stop settler attacks against Palestinians.
Progressively overwhelming waves of settler attacks have subsided in recent weeks, falling back to average levels of vandalism and harassment, which remain a constant threat to Palestinians, particularly in the northern West Bank region of Nablus, and in the Hebron region.
Between the end of February and the third week of March, seven Palestinians were injured by settler gunfire, two were stabbed, two were beaten, seven were injured by stones, at least six cars were torched, and dozens of acts of vandalism and harassment reported.
An escalation in violent attacks began after the Israeli government dismantled an illegal settlement outpost on February 28. Under a professed "price tag" policy, settlers make Palestinians "pay" for each evacuation of outposts. In the past, the "price" has included arson, shootings, beatings, burning fields, uprooting trees and poisoning water wells belonging to Palestinians.
Harassment and vandalism escalated further following the murder of five residents of Itamar settlement by unknown attackers on March 11. But many of the incidents causing hospitalization occurred before.
Settlement security prevents farmers from accessing lands
Farmers from Deir Istiya west of Salfit said a guard at the Nofim settlement prevented them from reaching agricultural lands in Khirbet Shuhada on Saturday morning, adding that they feared new construction in the settlement would mean their lands would be confiscated for the expansion.
Samih Salman, 45, told Ma'an that while he was on his way to the lands, an Israeli jeep marked "security" approached him, took down his identity card number and turned him away from the area, saying access was prohibited.
Mayor of Deir Istiya, Nathmi Salman, said the incident was worrying, following Israel's announcement of another 942 settlement units set for construction in the West Bank.
Salman explained that much of the village's land had already been confiscated when the Hava Ba'er outpost was built, adding that the outpost also saw the closure of the main road to farming land belonging to the villagers, forcing farmers to take a long bypass route.
Palestinian leader Erekat condemns 'systematic Israeli escalation', calls for resistance not to give "pretext" for continued Israeli attacks
Ma'an – Member of the PLO Executive Committee and caretaker negotiations chief Saeb Erakat issued a statement Friday, saying he "emphatically condemns the systematic Israeli escalation and brutal military attacks against the civilian Palestinian population in the besieged Gaza Strip."
In the statement, Erekat called on Palestinian factions to "deny the occupying Power any pretext for launching more attacks," and announced his support for the earlier agreed on ceasefire in an effort to maintain calm in the border region.
"It is now time for the international community to intervene and prevent another round of merciless and illegitimate military escalation against Palestinian civilians," Erekat said, as the death toll reached 17 since Thursday afternoon, and Friday was declared the most violent day since Israel launched its Operation Cast Lead in the winter of 2008-9.
"The Gaza Strip is an integral part of the occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. Israel, as an occupying Power, remains obliged by the responsibilities outlined in international law to safeguard the lives and safety of the Palestinian population. We call on the international community to assume its responsibilities in ensuring that Israel respects those responsibilities by ending the illegal siege and ceasing all military attacks."
In the statement, Erekat called on Palestinian factions to "deny the occupying Power any pretext for launching more attacks," and announced his support for the earlier agreed on ceasefire in an effort to maintain calm in the border region.
"It is now time for the international community to intervene and prevent another round of merciless and illegitimate military escalation against Palestinian civilians," Erekat said, as the death toll reached 17 since Thursday afternoon, and Friday was declared the most violent day since Israel launched its Operation Cast Lead in the winter of 2008-9.
"The Gaza Strip is an integral part of the occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. Israel, as an occupying Power, remains obliged by the responsibilities outlined in international law to safeguard the lives and safety of the Palestinian population. We call on the international community to assume its responsibilities in ensuring that Israel respects those responsibilities by ending the illegal siege and ceasing all military attacks."
Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza issue statements about resuming rocket fire in response to deadly Israeli attacks
Ma'an – Israeli military officials have reported that more than 70 rockets and mortars have been launched from Gaza since Thursday, with militant groups claiming 22 incidents of fire since midnight Friday morning.
A ceasefire was announced by Hamas at 11 p.m. on Thursday, but overnight Israeli forces bombed several locations, killing five militants, and sparking a new wave of projectile fire.
"Groups in Gaza committed themselves to respecting the Palestinian consensus and halting rocket attacks, but the Zionist aggressor has ruined everything by attacking and killing civilians -- women, children and old people," Hamas interior ministry spokesman Ihab al-Ghussein said.
Overnight and early in the morning, six separate militant groups issued statements claiming fire on Israeli military posts and civilian areas claiming fighters would stick to the option of resistance, and condemning what was generally described as an Israeli escalation on the Gaza Strip.
A ceasefire was announced by Hamas at 11 p.m. on Thursday, but overnight Israeli forces bombed several locations, killing five militants, and sparking a new wave of projectile fire.
"Groups in Gaza committed themselves to respecting the Palestinian consensus and halting rocket attacks, but the Zionist aggressor has ruined everything by attacking and killing civilians -- women, children and old people," Hamas interior ministry spokesman Ihab al-Ghussein said.
Overnight and early in the morning, six separate militant groups issued statements claiming fire on Israeli military posts and civilian areas claiming fighters would stick to the option of resistance, and condemning what was generally described as an Israeli escalation on the Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces resume air strikes on Gaza, toll since Thurs afternoon: 17 killed (6 civilians), 60 injured
Ma'an – Israeli forces resumed air strikes on the Gaza Strip overnight and again in the early morning hours of Saturday, killing three and injuring several others.
The deadliest strike hit the car of Hamas leaders overnight, killing Al-Qassam Brigades leader Taysir Abu Sneima and his assistant Muhammad Awaja and injuring critically a militant identified as Shadi Az-Zatmah, medical officials said.
Spokesman of the Gaza Strip’s higher committee of ambulance and emergency service Adham Abu Salmiya confirmed that two dead bodies and a critically injured man were transferred to the Abu Yousif An-Najjar Hospital in Rafah on Saturday morning.
Medics said the dead body of a third Hamas militant, identified as Ahmad Nabil Zaytouniyya, was evacuated to the Kamal Udwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya along with another man seriously injured in an 8:30 a.m. strike.
The early morning victims brought the death toll in the coastal enclave to 17 since Thursday afternoon, with more than 60 injuries, 12 of them serious. Six of the dead have been identified as civilians.
The eleven killed on Friday alone made that day the deadliest since Israel waged its winter offensive in 2008-9. The 22-day bombardment killed more than 1,400 Gazans, most of them non-combatants. Thirteen Israelis, including 10 soldiers were also killed [four by "friendly fire.].
Overnight strikes
The deadliest strike hit the car of Hamas leaders overnight, killing Al-Qassam Brigades leader Taysir Abu Sneima and his assistant Muhammad Awaja and injuring critically a militant identified as Shadi Az-Zatmah, medical officials said.
Spokesman of the Gaza Strip’s higher committee of ambulance and emergency service Adham Abu Salmiya confirmed that two dead bodies and a critically injured man were transferred to the Abu Yousif An-Najjar Hospital in Rafah on Saturday morning.
Medics said the dead body of a third Hamas militant, identified as Ahmad Nabil Zaytouniyya, was evacuated to the Kamal Udwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya along with another man seriously injured in an 8:30 a.m. strike.
The early morning victims brought the death toll in the coastal enclave to 17 since Thursday afternoon, with more than 60 injuries, 12 of them serious. Six of the dead have been identified as civilians.
The eleven killed on Friday alone made that day the deadliest since Israel waged its winter offensive in 2008-9. The 22-day bombardment killed more than 1,400 Gazans, most of them non-combatants. Thirteen Israelis, including 10 soldiers were also killed [four by "friendly fire.].
Overnight strikes
Hamas to find new 'formula' to stop Israeli attacks after truce offer failed to stop strikes that targeted ambulance crews and a hospital
Ma'an – The Gaza government said it would work to "find a formula" that would stop the recent waves of Israeli air strikes that have pummeled Gaza over the past day after a truce offer went unacknowledged.
"Israel has insisted on resuming its crimes against the Palestinians, it is a bid to control" the resistance and the people of Gaza, a statement said, calling on rights organizations to "document crimes" so charges could be laid, and asking Arab states to intervene.
Slamming the recent targeting of ambulance crews, a hospital and the death of at least three civilians in air strikes on Friday, the Gaza government said it was set to host an urgent meeting with the Arab League's council to discuss "appropriate mechanisms" to face the recent escalation.
Since Thursday afternoon, 11 have been killed, including civilians, and dozens others injured. Israel's military said bombings were in response to "heavy rocket and mortar fire," emanating from Gaza Friday afternoon. A later statement said a total of five mortars and eight projectiles had been fired from Gaza on Friday.
On Thursday night, Hamas announced that most armed Palestinian factions in Gaza had signed on to a ceasefire pledge, in a bid to halt a further escalation of violence with Israel. Israeli media said the announcement came at 11 p.m. Air strikes began around midnight.
On Friday afternoon, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees said Friday they could not commit to a ceasefire deal with Israel. The statement was followed by another from the National Resistance Brigades, the armed wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which announced that its fighters had launched two projectiles toward Israel.
Spokesman of the group's An-Nasser brigades, Abu Mujahed, told Ma'an that they would "never agree to a ceasefire while Palestinians are being killed by Israel in Gaza."
"Israel has insisted on resuming its crimes against the Palestinians, it is a bid to control" the resistance and the people of Gaza, a statement said, calling on rights organizations to "document crimes" so charges could be laid, and asking Arab states to intervene.
Slamming the recent targeting of ambulance crews, a hospital and the death of at least three civilians in air strikes on Friday, the Gaza government said it was set to host an urgent meeting with the Arab League's council to discuss "appropriate mechanisms" to face the recent escalation.
Since Thursday afternoon, 11 have been killed, including civilians, and dozens others injured. Israel's military said bombings were in response to "heavy rocket and mortar fire," emanating from Gaza Friday afternoon. A later statement said a total of five mortars and eight projectiles had been fired from Gaza on Friday.
On Thursday night, Hamas announced that most armed Palestinian factions in Gaza had signed on to a ceasefire pledge, in a bid to halt a further escalation of violence with Israel. Israeli media said the announcement came at 11 p.m. Air strikes began around midnight.
On Friday afternoon, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees said Friday they could not commit to a ceasefire deal with Israel. The statement was followed by another from the National Resistance Brigades, the armed wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which announced that its fighters had launched two projectiles toward Israel.
Spokesman of the group's An-Nasser brigades, Abu Mujahed, told Ma'an that they would "never agree to a ceasefire while Palestinians are being killed by Israel in Gaza."
Israeli forces demolish the homes of two Palestinian shepherds in West Bank
Ma'an – The homes of two shepherds were demolished on Thursday morning, in the herding hamlet of Khirbet Samra in the northern Jordan Valley.
Shortly before the demolitions, shepherds were handed orders saying the lands were zoned for military use, and that they did not have a license to be present.
The residents were forcibly evacuated before the demolitions, and told Ma'an that they had no notice of the event before it happened.
Shortly before the demolitions, shepherds were handed orders saying the lands were zoned for military use, and that they did not have a license to be present.
The residents were forcibly evacuated before the demolitions, and told Ma'an that they had no notice of the event before it happened.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Israeli Troops Suppress Anti-Wall Protests in the West Bank; Two Injured, Six Arrested
PNN – The Israeli army used tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets on Friday to suppress the weekly anti-wall protests in a number of West Bank villages.
Two were injured and six arrested when Israeli troops attacked the weekly anti-wall and settlements protest in the village of al-Nabi Saleh, in central West Bank. After the midday prayers villagers along with Israeli and international supporters marched to lands owned by local farmers Israel wants to take for the wall and settlements.
Soldiers fired rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas at civilians injuring two local youth. Later troops stormed the village and arrested three local men and three Israeli activists.
In Bil’in village also in central West Bank, villagers along with their international and Israeli supporters marched towards the wall built on their lands after the midday prayers.
As soon as protesters reached the gate of the wall separating local farmers form their lands troops stationed their attacked them using tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets.
Many were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation. On Tuesday of this week the army invaded the village of Bil’in and searched homes. Villagers of Bil’in have been protesting the wall for the past six years.
The nearby village of Ni'lin held a similar protest on Friday. Villagers and their supporters marched up to the gate of the wall separating local farmers from their land. Israeli troops used tear gas and sound bombs to force people back. Many were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation.
Also on Friday the villagers of al-Ma’sara, in southern West Bank, and their international and Israeli protesters conducted their weekly anti wall protests. Troops stopped the protest from leaving the village using rifle buts and batons.
Two were injured and six arrested when Israeli troops attacked the weekly anti-wall and settlements protest in the village of al-Nabi Saleh, in central West Bank. After the midday prayers villagers along with Israeli and international supporters marched to lands owned by local farmers Israel wants to take for the wall and settlements.
Soldiers fired rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas at civilians injuring two local youth. Later troops stormed the village and arrested three local men and three Israeli activists.
In Bil’in village also in central West Bank, villagers along with their international and Israeli supporters marched towards the wall built on their lands after the midday prayers.
As soon as protesters reached the gate of the wall separating local farmers form their lands troops stationed their attacked them using tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets.
Many were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation. On Tuesday of this week the army invaded the village of Bil’in and searched homes. Villagers of Bil’in have been protesting the wall for the past six years.
The nearby village of Ni'lin held a similar protest on Friday. Villagers and their supporters marched up to the gate of the wall separating local farmers from their land. Israeli troops used tear gas and sound bombs to force people back. Many were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation.
Also on Friday the villagers of al-Ma’sara, in southern West Bank, and their international and Israeli protesters conducted their weekly anti wall protests. Troops stopped the protest from leaving the village using rifle buts and batons.
Israeli Soldiers Stop Farmers From Reaching Their Lands in Beit Omer
PNN – On Friday Israeli troops stopped a group of farmers from reaching their land; they came from the village of Beit Omer near the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
A group of farmers along with international supporters were planning to plant olive tree one land owned by local farmers from Beit Omer near the Israeli settlement of Beit Ein.
Israeli soldiers arrived on location and detained the group and did not allow them to reach the land to plant the olive trees. Soldiers also threatened to arrest the Palestinians if they did not leave the area.
Witnesses on location told PNN that the group still insists on reaching the land and refuses to leave.
[On January 28th, a 17-year-old Palestinian boy from the village who participated in non-violent activities was shot in the head by settlers, dying the next day.]
A group of farmers along with international supporters were planning to plant olive tree one land owned by local farmers from Beit Omer near the Israeli settlement of Beit Ein.
Israeli soldiers arrived on location and detained the group and did not allow them to reach the land to plant the olive trees. Soldiers also threatened to arrest the Palestinians if they did not leave the area.
Witnesses on location told PNN that the group still insists on reaching the land and refuses to leave.
[On January 28th, a 17-year-old Palestinian boy from the village who participated in non-violent activities was shot in the head by settlers, dying the next day.]
Corrie lawsuit challenges Israeli impunity
Electronic Intifada, Nora Barrows-Friedman – Several Israeli soldiers testified at the witness stand in the Haifa district court earlier this week, as trial hearings continued in the case of Corrie vs. the State of Israel. As the trial drags on, years after Rachel Corrie's killing, Israel's impunity is being challenged and carefully cross-examined.
Red Cross: Record number of Palestinians made homeless by Israeli demolitions
IRIN – The number of Palestinian homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem demolished by Israeli authorities increased for the third consecutive month in March, according to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
Since January, Israeli authorities have demolished 176 Palestinian buildings, displacing 333 people, including 154 children. “The West Bank is where the future Palestinian state is meant to be situated, and its viability is being reduced with each demolition,” UNRWA spokesperson in Jerusalem Chris Gunness said.
In March, 77 buildings were demolished compared with 29 in January and 70 in February.
Half of the demolished structures were houses, while the rest included stables, which can be just as valuable to a herding community as a house, Gunness said.
The number of Palestinians made homeless by these demolitions also hit a record monthly high, according to UNRWA, with 158 affected in March (including 64 children) compared to 70 in January and 105 in February.
But Capt Amir Koren, spokesperson for the Israeli Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria (West Bank), told IRIN the structures were illegal.
"The Civil Administration is responsible for enforcing laws regarding planning and building in Judea and Samaria… As such, illegal structures built by both Israelis and Palestinians are dismantled as a matter of course, according to a set of priorities which have been brought before the High Court of Justice dozens of times in the past.
“During the first two months of 2011, the Civil Administration carried out 69 orders to dismantle illegal structures built in Area C by Palestinian residents."
Since January, Israeli authorities have demolished 176 Palestinian buildings, displacing 333 people, including 154 children. “The West Bank is where the future Palestinian state is meant to be situated, and its viability is being reduced with each demolition,” UNRWA spokesperson in Jerusalem Chris Gunness said.
In March, 77 buildings were demolished compared with 29 in January and 70 in February.
Half of the demolished structures were houses, while the rest included stables, which can be just as valuable to a herding community as a house, Gunness said.
The number of Palestinians made homeless by these demolitions also hit a record monthly high, according to UNRWA, with 158 affected in March (including 64 children) compared to 70 in January and 105 in February.
But Capt Amir Koren, spokesperson for the Israeli Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria (West Bank), told IRIN the structures were illegal.
"The Civil Administration is responsible for enforcing laws regarding planning and building in Judea and Samaria… As such, illegal structures built by both Israelis and Palestinians are dismantled as a matter of course, according to a set of priorities which have been brought before the High Court of Justice dozens of times in the past.
“During the first two months of 2011, the Civil Administration carried out 69 orders to dismantle illegal structures built in Area C by Palestinian residents."
Gaza gov't files complaint to UN over strikes, reports that Israel may be using phosphorous
Ma'an – Spokesman of the Gaza government Taher An-Nunu said Friday that he had sent an official letter of complaint to the UN "and other involved parties" following the death of five civilians in Gaza during the day.
Israeli air and artillery fire hit the coastal enclave ten times during the day. An Israeli military statement acknowledged the deaths, saying it "regrets that the Hamas terrorist organization chooses to operate from within its civilian population, using it as a 'human shield'."
An-Nunu said Israel was taking the opportunity while the world was "preoccupied with other events," in the near and far east, and said that by "carrying out a series of escalations of attacks."
He added, that Israel had shown that Israel had shown that it does "not respect the state of calm on which all factions had agreed on," referring to a proposed ceasefire deal announced by Hamas officials at 11 p.m. on Thursday night.
After a series of overnight air strikes killed four, Hamas fighters resumed launching projectiles, saying in a statement that six projectiles and three mortars had been launched Friday afternoon toward Israeli military targets near Rafah.
"We will not stand silent," he said of the escalation.
Earlier in the day a Hamas official accused Israel of using white phosphorus weapons during the day, a claim that was later denied by an Israeli military spokesman.
White phosphorus weapons were used on civilian areas by Israeli forces during their 2008-9 offensive, Operation Cast Lead. International conventions say the weapons are prohibited for use in civilian areas. In open-area combat, the phosphorus is used to light up targets.
In Gaza, doctors who noted abnormal burns on patients being admitted during the war alerted officials, prompting an investigation.
Israeli air and artillery fire hit the coastal enclave ten times during the day. An Israeli military statement acknowledged the deaths, saying it "regrets that the Hamas terrorist organization chooses to operate from within its civilian population, using it as a 'human shield'."
An-Nunu said Israel was taking the opportunity while the world was "preoccupied with other events," in the near and far east, and said that by "carrying out a series of escalations of attacks."
He added, that Israel had shown that Israel had shown that it does "not respect the state of calm on which all factions had agreed on," referring to a proposed ceasefire deal announced by Hamas officials at 11 p.m. on Thursday night.
After a series of overnight air strikes killed four, Hamas fighters resumed launching projectiles, saying in a statement that six projectiles and three mortars had been launched Friday afternoon toward Israeli military targets near Rafah.
"We will not stand silent," he said of the escalation.
Earlier in the day a Hamas official accused Israel of using white phosphorus weapons during the day, a claim that was later denied by an Israeli military spokesman.
White phosphorus weapons were used on civilian areas by Israeli forces during their 2008-9 offensive, Operation Cast Lead. International conventions say the weapons are prohibited for use in civilian areas. In open-area combat, the phosphorus is used to light up targets.
In Gaza, doctors who noted abnormal burns on patients being admitted during the war alerted officials, prompting an investigation.
Israeli-centric AP report on Gaza distorts reality
Associated Press Deconstructed –
First, let’s look at what has happened in Gaza in the past week:
- On Friday, April 1, Israeli forces assassinated a 24-year-old member of a Palestinian resistance group in Gaza.
- On Saturday, April 2, the Israeli air force assassinated three members of the group.
- On Tuesday, April 5, Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian in northern Gaza, reportedly unarmed and not part of any resistance groups.
- On Wednesday, April 6, at dawn Israeli forces bombarded Gaza in three air strikes, injuring four people, including two women (one of them pregnant) and a child.
- On Wednesday afternoon hundreds of children in Gaza participated in a march asking the international community to protect them against ongoing Israeli raids and attacks.
- On Wednesday night the Israeli Air Force bombarded several areas of Gaza, causing extensive damage; at least one resident was injured.
- On Thursday morning, April 7, the resistance group that had suffered four assassinations fired mortars at a nearby Israeli town, which injured two people on an almost empty school bus, the bus driver and the one student (16) who hadn’t already been dropped off.
- Thursday at noon Israeli forces bombarded Gaza, killing five people and injuring over 40.
- Thusday evening Palestinian resistance forces all agreed to a ceasefire to try to prevent the violence from increasing.
- Israel ignored this and continued its air strikes against Gaza, killing still more Gazans.
- In all, Israeli forces killed 14 people within 24 hours and injured dozens.
- Among those killed were a mother, her young daughter, and an elderly man.... Read more
J Street lauds Goldstone for retracting claims of Israel's Gaza war crimes
Ha'aretz – The Jewish American lobby never took sides regarding the Goldstone report, says it shared South African judge's belief that Israel deserves credit for launching internal probes. Read more
Powerful Israeli rabbi's aide tied to illegal porn sales
Ha'aretz – In early 2005, porn producer and actor Ashley Gasper realized that someone was bootlegging his films. Counterfeit copies of “Jules Jordan’s Flesh Hunter 6” and “Jules Jordan: Feeding Frenzy 2,” among other titles, were showing up among the DVDs being returned to his distributor.
According to a recent decision issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Gasper soon learned that a Montreal firm was making illicit copies of the movies and selling them to wholesalers. The primary client of the Montreal bootlegger was a New York-based company called Direct Distributors, Inc., run by a young Israeli named Ben Zion Suky.
Suky, now a real estate developer, isn’t just another businessman involved in two litigious industries. He’s also the right-hand man to a powerful Sephardic kabbalist Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto with growing influence among Israel’s political and business elite and in the American Jewish community.
According to a recent decision issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Gasper soon learned that a Montreal firm was making illicit copies of the movies and selling them to wholesalers. The primary client of the Montreal bootlegger was a New York-based company called Direct Distributors, Inc., run by a young Israeli named Ben Zion Suky.
Suky, now a real estate developer, isn’t just another businessman involved in two litigious industries. He’s also the right-hand man to a powerful Sephardic kabbalist Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto with growing influence among Israel’s political and business elite and in the American Jewish community.
Gideon Levy: Goldstone has paved the path for a second Gaza war
Haaretz, Gideon Levy – Anyone who honored the first Goldstone has to ask him: What exactly do you know today that you didn't know then? Do you know today that criticizing Israel leads to a pressure-and-slander campaign that you can't withstand, you 'self-hating Jew'?
All at once the last doubts have disappeared and the question marks have become exclamation points. Dr. Ezzeldeen Abu Al-Aish wrote a short book in which he invented the killing of his three daughters. The 29 dead from the Al-Simoni family are now vacationing in the Caribbean. The white phosphorus was only the pyrotechnics of a war film. The white-flag wavers who were shot were a mirage in the desert, as were the reports about the killing of hundreds of civilians, including women and children. "Cast lead" has returned to being a phrase in a Hanukkah children's song.
A surprising and unexplained article in The Washington Post by Richard Goldstone caused rejoicing here, a Goldstone party, the likes of which we haven't seen for a long time. In fact, Israeli PR reaped a victory, and for that congratulations are in order. But the questions remain as oppressive as ever, and Goldstone's article didn't answer them - if only it had erased all the fears and suspicions.
Anyone who honored the first Goldstone has to honor him now as well, but still has to ask him: What happened? What exactly do you know today that you didn't know then? Do you know today that criticizing Israel leads to a pressure-and-slander campaign that you can't withstand, you "self-hating Jew"? This you could have known before.
Was it the two reports by Judge Mary McGowan Davis that led to your change of heart? If so, you should read them carefully. In her second report, which was published about a month ago and for some reason received no mention in Israel, the New York judge wrote that nothing indicates that Israel launched an investigation into the people who designed, planned, commanded and supervised Operation Cast Lead. So how do you know which policy lay behind the cases you investigated? And what's this enthusiasm that seized you in light of the investigations by the Israel Defense Forces after your report?
You have to be a particularly sworn lover of Israel, as you say you are, to believe that the IDF, like any other organization, can investigate itself. You have to be a blind lover of Zion to be satisfied with investigations for the sake of investigations that produced no acceptance of responsibility and virtually no trials. Just one soldier is being tried for killing.
But let's put aside the torments and indecision of the no-longer-young Goldstone. Let's also put aside the reports by the human rights organizations. Let's make do with the findings of the IDF itself. According to Military Intelligence, 1,166 Palestinians were killed in the operation, 709 of them terrorists, 162 who may or may not have been armed, 295 bystanders, 80 under the age of 16 and 46 women.
All the other findings described a more serious picture, but let's believe the IDF. Isn't the killing of about 300 civilians, including dozens of women and children, a reason for penetrating national soul-searching? Were all of them killed by mistake? If so, don't 300 different mistakes require conclusions? Is this the behavior of the most moral army in the world? If not, who takes responsibility?
Operation Cast Lead was not a war. The differences in power between the two sides, the science-fiction army versus the barefoot Qassam launchers, doesn't justify things when the blow was so disproportionate. It was a harsh attack against a crowded and helpless civilian population, among which terrorists hid. We can believe that the IDF didn't deliberately kill civilians, we don't have murdering soldiers as in other armies, but neither did the IDF do enough to prevent them from being killed. The fact is, they were killed, and so many of them. Our doctrine of zero casualties has a price.
Goldstone has won again. First he forced the IDF to begin investigating itself and to put together a new ethics code; now he unwittingly has given a green light for Operation Cast Lead 2. Leave him alone. We're talking about our image, not his. Are we pleased with what happened? Are we really proud of Operation Cast Lead?
All at once the last doubts have disappeared and the question marks have become exclamation points. Dr. Ezzeldeen Abu Al-Aish wrote a short book in which he invented the killing of his three daughters. The 29 dead from the Al-Simoni family are now vacationing in the Caribbean. The white phosphorus was only the pyrotechnics of a war film. The white-flag wavers who were shot were a mirage in the desert, as were the reports about the killing of hundreds of civilians, including women and children. "Cast lead" has returned to being a phrase in a Hanukkah children's song.
A surprising and unexplained article in The Washington Post by Richard Goldstone caused rejoicing here, a Goldstone party, the likes of which we haven't seen for a long time. In fact, Israeli PR reaped a victory, and for that congratulations are in order. But the questions remain as oppressive as ever, and Goldstone's article didn't answer them - if only it had erased all the fears and suspicions.
Anyone who honored the first Goldstone has to honor him now as well, but still has to ask him: What happened? What exactly do you know today that you didn't know then? Do you know today that criticizing Israel leads to a pressure-and-slander campaign that you can't withstand, you "self-hating Jew"? This you could have known before.
Was it the two reports by Judge Mary McGowan Davis that led to your change of heart? If so, you should read them carefully. In her second report, which was published about a month ago and for some reason received no mention in Israel, the New York judge wrote that nothing indicates that Israel launched an investigation into the people who designed, planned, commanded and supervised Operation Cast Lead. So how do you know which policy lay behind the cases you investigated? And what's this enthusiasm that seized you in light of the investigations by the Israel Defense Forces after your report?
You have to be a particularly sworn lover of Israel, as you say you are, to believe that the IDF, like any other organization, can investigate itself. You have to be a blind lover of Zion to be satisfied with investigations for the sake of investigations that produced no acceptance of responsibility and virtually no trials. Just one soldier is being tried for killing.
But let's put aside the torments and indecision of the no-longer-young Goldstone. Let's also put aside the reports by the human rights organizations. Let's make do with the findings of the IDF itself. According to Military Intelligence, 1,166 Palestinians were killed in the operation, 709 of them terrorists, 162 who may or may not have been armed, 295 bystanders, 80 under the age of 16 and 46 women.
All the other findings described a more serious picture, but let's believe the IDF. Isn't the killing of about 300 civilians, including dozens of women and children, a reason for penetrating national soul-searching? Were all of them killed by mistake? If so, don't 300 different mistakes require conclusions? Is this the behavior of the most moral army in the world? If not, who takes responsibility?
Operation Cast Lead was not a war. The differences in power between the two sides, the science-fiction army versus the barefoot Qassam launchers, doesn't justify things when the blow was so disproportionate. It was a harsh attack against a crowded and helpless civilian population, among which terrorists hid. We can believe that the IDF didn't deliberately kill civilians, we don't have murdering soldiers as in other armies, but neither did the IDF do enough to prevent them from being killed. The fact is, they were killed, and so many of them. Our doctrine of zero casualties has a price.
Goldstone has won again. First he forced the IDF to begin investigating itself and to put together a new ethics code; now he unwittingly has given a green light for Operation Cast Lead 2. Leave him alone. We're talking about our image, not his. Are we pleased with what happened? Are we really proud of Operation Cast Lead?
Israeli forces kill mother and child and an elderly man, kill 10 total in past 24 hours, injure dozens
Ma'an – For the fourth and fifth times on Friday, Israeli forces hit the Gaza Strip, killing a mother and child, and an elderly man in two separate strikes near Khan Younis. Ten have been killed since Thursday afternoon.
The most recent strike, shortly after 2:00 p.m. hit the Faraheen area east of Khan Younis, killing a mother, her daughter and injuring a third child. A strike half an hour earlier killed an elderly man in the Manara area of the city, medics said.
The bombings were said to have been in retaliation for the launching of a projectile from the Gaza Strip, which hit a school bus in southern Israel, injuring two people on Thursday. The strike was claimed by Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades [which said its strike was in retaliation for Israel's assassination of 3 resistance fighters earlier].
Israel has reported the landing of five more projectiles near Ashkelon since Friday morning. None of the strikes have been claimed.
Thursday afternoon strikes hit a home east of Gaza City, killing one, and late at night four others were killed in strikes across the Strip.
A Thursday move from Hamas to prevent further Israeli strikes appears to have gone unaccepted, after the party said it had gotten most armed Palestinian factions in Gaza to sign on to a ceasefire pledge.
Friday attacks have been reported as follows:
1:45 p.m. Israeli artillery fire hits the Al-Farahin area east of Khan Younis. WAFA reported a mother killed and her two children injured.
Israeli media reported shortly before the strike that five projectiles launched from Gaza landed near Ashkelon, with no injuries.
Medics later confirmed that Najah Kudeih, 45, and her daughter Nidal, 21, were killed, while a second daughter, Nida, 18, was seriously injured.
1:30 p.m. A 55-year-old man was killed by an Israeli air strike which hit in the Manara area east of the city. Medics identified the man as Talal Abu Taha, 55.
9:45 a.m. An airstrike combined with artillery hit the town of Khuza'a, east of Khan Younis, killing two.
Israel's military said in a statement that "forces identified two terrorist squads from the Hamas terrorist organization," adding that air and artillery fire were used and the military "identified hits."
Hamas' military wing, the Izz Ad-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, named those killed as Abdallah Al-Qarra and Muataz Abu Jamea.
8:00 a.m. An Israeli strike hit in an open area east of Rafah, no injuries were reported.
7:00 a.m. Israeli shelling on Rafah airport in southern Gaza injured three, witnesses reported.
Thursday strikes kill five
Air strikes hit what was described by the Israeli military as positions in and around Gaza City where projectiles had been fired from on Thursday, and other raids hit targets in the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis.
The strikes killed four, identified as resistance fighters affiliated with Hamas. A statement from the Al-Qassam Brigades identified those killed as leader Salah Tarabin, 38, Musab al-Sufi, 18, Muhammad Almanmom, 25, and Khaled Aldbari, 23.
Thursday afternoon, Artillery fire also hit the southern Gaza Strip, with witnesses saying artillery fire injured five people, including a small child, and killed Mahmoud Al-Manasra, 50, who died after shells landed near his home in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City.
In total, more than 40 people were wounded across the Gaza Strip overnight.
The most recent strike, shortly after 2:00 p.m. hit the Faraheen area east of Khan Younis, killing a mother, her daughter and injuring a third child. A strike half an hour earlier killed an elderly man in the Manara area of the city, medics said.
The bombings were said to have been in retaliation for the launching of a projectile from the Gaza Strip, which hit a school bus in southern Israel, injuring two people on Thursday. The strike was claimed by Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades [which said its strike was in retaliation for Israel's assassination of 3 resistance fighters earlier].
Israel has reported the landing of five more projectiles near Ashkelon since Friday morning. None of the strikes have been claimed.
Thursday afternoon strikes hit a home east of Gaza City, killing one, and late at night four others were killed in strikes across the Strip.
A Thursday move from Hamas to prevent further Israeli strikes appears to have gone unaccepted, after the party said it had gotten most armed Palestinian factions in Gaza to sign on to a ceasefire pledge.
Friday attacks have been reported as follows:
1:45 p.m. Israeli artillery fire hits the Al-Farahin area east of Khan Younis. WAFA reported a mother killed and her two children injured.
Israeli media reported shortly before the strike that five projectiles launched from Gaza landed near Ashkelon, with no injuries.
Medics later confirmed that Najah Kudeih, 45, and her daughter Nidal, 21, were killed, while a second daughter, Nida, 18, was seriously injured.
1:30 p.m. A 55-year-old man was killed by an Israeli air strike which hit in the Manara area east of the city. Medics identified the man as Talal Abu Taha, 55.
9:45 a.m. An airstrike combined with artillery hit the town of Khuza'a, east of Khan Younis, killing two.
Israel's military said in a statement that "forces identified two terrorist squads from the Hamas terrorist organization," adding that air and artillery fire were used and the military "identified hits."
Hamas' military wing, the Izz Ad-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, named those killed as Abdallah Al-Qarra and Muataz Abu Jamea.
8:00 a.m. An Israeli strike hit in an open area east of Rafah, no injuries were reported.
7:00 a.m. Israeli shelling on Rafah airport in southern Gaza injured three, witnesses reported.
Thursday strikes kill five
Air strikes hit what was described by the Israeli military as positions in and around Gaza City where projectiles had been fired from on Thursday, and other raids hit targets in the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis.
The strikes killed four, identified as resistance fighters affiliated with Hamas. A statement from the Al-Qassam Brigades identified those killed as leader Salah Tarabin, 38, Musab al-Sufi, 18, Muhammad Almanmom, 25, and Khaled Aldbari, 23.
Thursday afternoon, Artillery fire also hit the southern Gaza Strip, with witnesses saying artillery fire injured five people, including a small child, and killed Mahmoud Al-Manasra, 50, who died after shells landed near his home in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City.
In total, more than 40 people were wounded across the Gaza Strip overnight.
EU leader Morgantini calls Goldstone statements misleading, says report valid
Ma'an – The former vice president of the European Parliament said Thursday portrayals of Goldstone's recent op-ed as a retraction of his UN report into the war on Gaza were misleading and regrettable.
Luisa Morgantini, who is also spokesperson of the Italian Peace Association, said in a statement: "On the contrary, despite Goldstone´s apparent reconsideration of specific aspects of the report, the overall validity of the document cannot be put in question."
Richard Goldstone, the South African jurist who led the UN investigation into Israel's Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, printed an opinion article in the Washington Post on April 2, questioning some of the report's findings in light of subsequent Israeli investigations.
The Israeli government and some media outlets were trying to undermine the report, Morgantini said.
The recommendation of the report that Israeli and Palestinian authorities conduct credible, independent, prompt and effective investigations into alleged war crimes and possible crimes against humanity, had yet to be fulfilled, the statement said.
These recommendations were accepted by the UN Human Rights Council and the General Assembly, it noted.
On Wednesday, international rights group Amnesty International said in a statement "Recent Israeli government calls for the UN to retract the 2009 report (....) are a cynical attempt to avoid accountability for war crimes and deny both Palestinian and Israeli victims of the 2008-2009 conflict the justice and reparation they deserve."
More than two years after the conflict, "thousands of victims of the conflict have not received any form of justice; not even have they received any reparation for the damages suffered as a consequence of ‘negligent mistakes’, recognized as such by the same Israeli army," Morgantini said.
In a letter to London daily The Guardian Thursday, Palestinian human rights organizations questioned Goldstone's revision based on evidence provided by investigations by the Israeli military, considering that the UN Independent Committee of Experts concluded that Israel had failed to conduct effective investigations into serious allegations of international crimes.
Luisa Morgantini, who is also spokesperson of the Italian Peace Association, said in a statement: "On the contrary, despite Goldstone´s apparent reconsideration of specific aspects of the report, the overall validity of the document cannot be put in question."
Richard Goldstone, the South African jurist who led the UN investigation into Israel's Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, printed an opinion article in the Washington Post on April 2, questioning some of the report's findings in light of subsequent Israeli investigations.
The Israeli government and some media outlets were trying to undermine the report, Morgantini said.
The recommendation of the report that Israeli and Palestinian authorities conduct credible, independent, prompt and effective investigations into alleged war crimes and possible crimes against humanity, had yet to be fulfilled, the statement said.
These recommendations were accepted by the UN Human Rights Council and the General Assembly, it noted.
On Wednesday, international rights group Amnesty International said in a statement "Recent Israeli government calls for the UN to retract the 2009 report (....) are a cynical attempt to avoid accountability for war crimes and deny both Palestinian and Israeli victims of the 2008-2009 conflict the justice and reparation they deserve."
More than two years after the conflict, "thousands of victims of the conflict have not received any form of justice; not even have they received any reparation for the damages suffered as a consequence of ‘negligent mistakes’, recognized as such by the same Israeli army," Morgantini said.
In a letter to London daily The Guardian Thursday, Palestinian human rights organizations questioned Goldstone's revision based on evidence provided by investigations by the Israeli military, considering that the UN Independent Committee of Experts concluded that Israel had failed to conduct effective investigations into serious allegations of international crimes.
Netanyahu: Israel will use all necessary force in Gaza
Ma'an – Israel will use "all necessary force" to stop Gaza fire and harm to Israeli civilians, the country's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Voice of Israel radio station Thursday evening. Read more
Palestinian prisoners go on hunger strike to support cancer sufferer
Ma'an – Seven Palestinian detainees in Israeli jail will go on hunger strike on Wednesday in support of imprisoned cancer sufferer Akram Mansour, a detainee center said Friday. [Israel is imprisoning approximately 6,000 Palestinians; Palestinians are imprisoning 1 Israeli.] Read more
Dr. Mustafa Barghouti says Israel escalating Gaza violence to thwart reconciliation efforts and is using Goldstone's "retreat" for new assault
Ma'an – Palestinian MP Dr. Mustafa Barghouti said Thursday that Israel was attempting to escalate violence in Gaza to thwart efforts toward reconciliation and to destroy infrastructure in Gaza.
After Israeli forces killed five Palestinians in Gaza [and injured 40], he condemned "the occupation's crime, which left many dead and wounded including children and women, journalists and medics."
Barghouti added that Israel was using jurist Richard Goldstone's "humiliating retreat" from what he wrote in the report of UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict to prepare the ground for a new war.
After Israeli forces killed five Palestinians in Gaza [and injured 40], he condemned "the occupation's crime, which left many dead and wounded including children and women, journalists and medics."
Barghouti added that Israel was using jurist Richard Goldstone's "humiliating retreat" from what he wrote in the report of UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict to prepare the ground for a new war.
Israeli army claims it will now investigate killing of civilians, but not in Gaza
Ma'an – A statement from Israel's military said Wednesday that a new protocol had been put in place, that would see all Palestinian civilian deaths perpetrated by Israeli forces investigated.
Earlier protocol required a preliminary investigation by field staff, which would be handed over to a higher body when ground staff determined necessary.
In a 2008 position paper, Israeli rights group B'Tselem noted that Israel had "increasingly avoided accountability" for rights violations in part though its "policy not to open criminal investigations in cases of killing or wounding of Palestinians who were not taking part in the hostilities, except in exceptional cases, and in its enactment of legislation denying, almost completely, the right of Palestinians who were harmed as a result of illegal acts by Israeli security forces to sue for compensation for the damages they suffered."
While the organization Thursday welcomed the change in policy, but warned that investigations must be carried out consistently and transparently, and not be "contingent on the security situation."
The new regulations only apply to incidents when non-combatants are killed or injured in the West Bank, and not in the Gaza Strip.
Earlier protocol required a preliminary investigation by field staff, which would be handed over to a higher body when ground staff determined necessary.
In a 2008 position paper, Israeli rights group B'Tselem noted that Israel had "increasingly avoided accountability" for rights violations in part though its "policy not to open criminal investigations in cases of killing or wounding of Palestinians who were not taking part in the hostilities, except in exceptional cases, and in its enactment of legislation denying, almost completely, the right of Palestinians who were harmed as a result of illegal acts by Israeli security forces to sue for compensation for the damages they suffered."
While the organization Thursday welcomed the change in policy, but warned that investigations must be carried out consistently and transparently, and not be "contingent on the security situation."
The new regulations only apply to incidents when non-combatants are killed or injured in the West Bank, and not in the Gaza Strip.
Israel bombards Gaza even after Gaza's resistance forces declare a ceasefire
IMEMC – Despite the fact that the Palestinian factions, including the Hamas movement, in Gaza declared a ceasefire with Israel starting Thursday midnight, the Israeli army bombarded several areas, and carried out a number of aerial attacks in Gaza.
The decision was made following talks between different Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip, and talks held by the Hamas-led government in Gaza with a number of Arab and international parties.
The ministry of interior in Gaza said that the decision was made to curb any future Israeli assaults against Gaza.
The Israeli strikes were resumed on Thursday afternoon after a Palestinian shell hit a bus in southern Israel seriously wounding one student.
The Al Qassam Brigades of Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack and stated that it came in retaliation to the assassination of three Qassam leaders identified as Ismail Lubbad, Abdullah Lubbad, and Mohammad Al Dahya.
The three were killed in an Israeli Air Strike in Khan Younis in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
On Thursday, the army killed three Palestinians in Gaza and wounded more than 40 others, including children.
Nabil Abu Rodeina, spokesperson of President Mahmoud Abbas, said that the escalation against Gaza is unjustified and that Abbas contacted several world leaders urging them to intervene. Read more
The decision was made following talks between different Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip, and talks held by the Hamas-led government in Gaza with a number of Arab and international parties.
The ministry of interior in Gaza said that the decision was made to curb any future Israeli assaults against Gaza.
The Israeli strikes were resumed on Thursday afternoon after a Palestinian shell hit a bus in southern Israel seriously wounding one student.
The Al Qassam Brigades of Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack and stated that it came in retaliation to the assassination of three Qassam leaders identified as Ismail Lubbad, Abdullah Lubbad, and Mohammad Al Dahya.
The three were killed in an Israeli Air Strike in Khan Younis in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
On Thursday, the army killed three Palestinians in Gaza and wounded more than 40 others, including children.
Nabil Abu Rodeina, spokesperson of President Mahmoud Abbas, said that the escalation against Gaza is unjustified and that Abbas contacted several world leaders urging them to intervene. Read more
Christians demand freedom of access to holy sites during Easter from Israel, which usually restricts this
Ma'an – As Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza await news on permits from Israel to visit holy sites in Jerusalem, local Christians issued a call for the respect of freedom of worship.
"For Christians, Holy Week in Jerusalem has a special spiritual connection," said a statement from the Kairos Palestine group on Wednesday. Holy sites "are equally important to the Palestinian Christians of Gaza and the West bank, who want to join their Jerusalemite Christian brethren in the liturgical events leading to the resurrection, the holiest celebration in Christianity."
Kairos Palestine called for unfettered access to holy sites and an overhaul of Israel's permit system, which the group called an "obvious violation of the [International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights], Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international covenants and treaties to which Israel is a signatory."
Each year church leaders submit requests to Israel's Coordination Office for Government Activities in the Territories, with only a fraction of the faithful being granted access.
Since 1991 Gaza residents who want to visit, work, or study in the West Bank or Israel have to apply for a permit from the Israeli military. Since the imposition of a blockade in 2007, only a tiny number of permits have been issued.
In 2010, 300 permits were issued for the estimated 5,000-strong Christian community in Gaza. Many could not go, however, as spouses and children from the same family were denied access.
Passover results in restrictions for Christians
The overlap of the Jewish passover holiday with the Easter celebrations for the Catholic and Orthodox Christian communities has also meant that those who do receive permits cannot use them for all of Easter.
For the past several years, Israel has declared a military closure of the West Bank during Passover, which this year falls from April 19-25, while Easter will extend from April 20-25.
Kairos condemned the privileging of Jewish access to Jerusalem over Christians, adding that "Actions taken against Palestinian Christians, the first and oldest Christian community in the world, attack not only the Palestinian people and their rights in the occupied city of Jerusalem, but in reality, the whole Christianity."
"For Christians, Holy Week in Jerusalem has a special spiritual connection," said a statement from the Kairos Palestine group on Wednesday. Holy sites "are equally important to the Palestinian Christians of Gaza and the West bank, who want to join their Jerusalemite Christian brethren in the liturgical events leading to the resurrection, the holiest celebration in Christianity."
Kairos Palestine called for unfettered access to holy sites and an overhaul of Israel's permit system, which the group called an "obvious violation of the [International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights], Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international covenants and treaties to which Israel is a signatory."
Each year church leaders submit requests to Israel's Coordination Office for Government Activities in the Territories, with only a fraction of the faithful being granted access.
Since 1991 Gaza residents who want to visit, work, or study in the West Bank or Israel have to apply for a permit from the Israeli military. Since the imposition of a blockade in 2007, only a tiny number of permits have been issued.
In 2010, 300 permits were issued for the estimated 5,000-strong Christian community in Gaza. Many could not go, however, as spouses and children from the same family were denied access.
Passover results in restrictions for Christians
The overlap of the Jewish passover holiday with the Easter celebrations for the Catholic and Orthodox Christian communities has also meant that those who do receive permits cannot use them for all of Easter.
For the past several years, Israel has declared a military closure of the West Bank during Passover, which this year falls from April 19-25, while Easter will extend from April 20-25.
Kairos condemned the privileging of Jewish access to Jerusalem over Christians, adding that "Actions taken against Palestinian Christians, the first and oldest Christian community in the world, attack not only the Palestinian people and their rights in the occupied city of Jerusalem, but in reality, the whole Christianity."
Israeli forces take 5 Palestinians, including 2 minors, in raid on Bethlehem
Ma'an – Israeli forces arrested four Palestinians from Deheisheh refugee camp south of Bethlehem overnight Thursday.
Soldiers entered the camp and searched the homes of Mohammad Mahmoud Al-Afandi, 17, Tareq Shahin, 18, Mahmoud Abu Hadeed, 17, and Hamza El-Saffi, age unknown.
An Israeli military statement said that overnight two were detained during raids. They were "wanted for terrorist activity" and were taken for questioning, the army said.
A fifth was said to have been detained overnight, local sources said, after Israeli forces entered Husan village west of Bethlehem.
Mohammad Zu’ul said four Israeli military jeeps entered the village at 2:30 a.m., broke into his home, ransacked its contents during a search, and took his son Baha to an unknown destination.
Soldiers entered the camp and searched the homes of Mohammad Mahmoud Al-Afandi, 17, Tareq Shahin, 18, Mahmoud Abu Hadeed, 17, and Hamza El-Saffi, age unknown.
An Israeli military statement said that overnight two were detained during raids. They were "wanted for terrorist activity" and were taken for questioning, the army said.
A fifth was said to have been detained overnight, local sources said, after Israeli forces entered Husan village west of Bethlehem.
Mohammad Zu’ul said four Israeli military jeeps entered the village at 2:30 a.m., broke into his home, ransacked its contents during a search, and took his son Baha to an unknown destination.
Lawrence Davidson: Goldstone's confidence in Israeli "investigation" misplaced
Ma'an, Lawrence Davidson – .....In a Washington Post op-ed, "Reconsidering the Goldstone Report on Israel and War Crimes," published on Friday, Judge Goldstone declared that new information coming from Israeli investigations, allegedly conducted "transparently and in good faith," now indicates (at least to him) that "civilians were not intentionally targeted as a matter of policy." (For an analysis of the Israeli inve
Since there was no policy of targeting civilians, all of the non-combatant victims (the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem tells us that of the 1,387 Palestinians killed in the invasion, 773 were civilians, while the Palestinian Center for Human Rights gave the figures at 1,419 dead, of which 1,167 were non-combatants) become mere "collateral damage." ...
But hold on a moment. In a thorough analysis of Judge Goldstone’s new position, Adam Horowitz, writing in Mondoweiss, turns things around once more. Horowitz points out that since the Goldstone report, which was admittedly a preliminary document, there have been other investigations by the UN Human Rights Council and the UN Committee of Independent Experts. These inquires suggest that Goldstone's faith in Israel's investigations is seriously misplaced.
For instance, in his op-ed Goldstone cites a major case where Israeli forces killed 29 members of the Samouni family. This was an important piece of preliminary evidence of a possible war crime cited in the original Goldstone Report. He now tells us that an Israeli investigation has shown that it was all a mistake, "an erroneous interpretation of a drone image."
Further, Goldstone is now "confident that if the officer [who misread the drone image] is found to have been negligent, Israel will respond accordingly." There are, of course, several problems with this position.
1. Israel’s so-called investigations into the Gaza invasion were episodes of the Israeli army investigating the Israeli army. Exactly the same so-called investigative procedure Israel used after its illegal attack on the Mavi Marmara. These "investigations" were not "transparent" because they were not public. Nor did the Israelis share the nature of their evidence with outsiders.
As Horowitz points out this way of conducting business is not episodic, but rather official standard operating procedure. It is a reflection of structural problems, mostly related to obvious conflict of interest issues, that make Israel presently incapable of carrying out an objective investigation of its own actions.
It must be noted that the original Goldstone Report had pointed to these problems. In paragraph 1756 the report stated "The Mission found major structural flaws that in its view make the [Israeli investigatory] system inconsistent with international standards....there is the absence of any effective and impartial investigation mechanism and victims of such alleged violations are deprived of any effective or prompt remedy."
Nothing has changed on this account since the issuance of Goldstone's report except that Judge Goldstone has ceased to see the situation as a problem. This leaves Horowitz, and no doubt many others, puzzled. "Why Judge Goldstone is now ignoring this issue is unclear."
2. The Israeli findings in the specific case mentioned above are contradicted by the investigation of the UN committee. That finding indicates that there is suggestive evidence that a senior Israeli military commander purposely targeted an area in which he knew civilians had congregated. He knew it because he had been informed by his own ground units that they had ordered a number of civilians to that location.
Using the drone photos as justification he went ahead and called in an air attack on the site anyway and then kept ambulances from approaching the scene. Was this just the action of a rogue officer operating in contravention of policy? Almost certainly not. According to Israeli media reports, an Israeli army "special command" investigation of the incident carried out ten months later found that the air attack happened after a "legitimate interpretation of drone photographs" and "there had been nothing out of the ordinary in the strike."
The key words in the Israeli "special command" report is "nothing out of the ordinary." The behavior of the Israeli military during the January 2009 invasion of Gaza cannot be abstracted from the entire history of Israeli aggression against Palestine, its inhabitants and surrounding Arab lands as well. Indeed, that behavior has been remarkably consistent–so consistent that it is virtually impossible to see any particular manifestation of it as accidental.
Was Dair Yasin (1948) an accident? Was Sabra and Shatila (1982) an accident? Was the shelling of west Beirut (1982) an accident? Was Qana (1996) an accident? Is the on-going inhumane and illegal blockade of Gaza an accident? The answer to all these questions is no. They were all done under officially rendered orders. Indeed, a short list of Israeli massacres runs to 57, and those are just the major ones. Almost all of them were neither accidental nor rogue operations. Given such a consistent pathological pattern, what are the odds that the estimated 773 civilians who died in the invasion of Gaza were killed accidentally, just collateral damage?
Shifting the focus to Hamas
While Judge Goldstone praises Israel for its "investigations," he chastises Hamas for its lack of inquiry. Goldstone tells us that "Hamas has done nothing." Well, at least we can say that Hamas has thereby refrained from insulting our intelligence with mock investigations leading to predictable if dubious self-exoneration.
Goldstone approaches the acts of Hamas and those of Israel as if they are on a par. He tells us that "The laws of armed conflict apply no less to non-state actors such as Hamas than they do to national armies." At least in the case of Israel, such an approach denies context. Historically, the violence of the oppressed tends to rise over time to the level of the violence of the oppressor.
That is what has happened in Israel-Palestine. It is not the Palestinians who have set the standards for violence in this conflict. That role has been played by the Israelis. As the list of major massacres cited above suggests, long before their was ever a suicide bombing or an attack with small rockets lacking guidance systems, the Israelis were massacring Palestinians, stealing their land and generally evicting them from their country. In some ideal moral world, Richard Goldstone’s conclusion that the violence of the oppressed must be judged by the same criteria as the violence of the oppressor might make sense. Unfortunately, it does not do so in the real world we have created for ourselves.
Richard Goldstone has always had a deep attachment to Israel. Thus it stands in his favor that throughout most of the time he led the UN investigation into the 2009 Israeli invasion of Gaza he maintained a level of objectivity which made possible a glimpse of just how brutal the Zionist state is.
It is no secret that since the Report’s release Goldstone has come under much pressure to alter his views. He has been accused of everything from "perpetuating a blood libel against Israel" to singlehandedly supplying Israel’s enemies with their most influential document. As suggested at the beginning of this analysis, some of this reaction led to his being ostracized by friends and family.
Now 75 years of age and at the end of his career, it would seem that Judge Goldstone has made the decision that he does not want to be remembered as a important critic of Israel. He wants to come in from the cold and so he has begun to make amends. I am afraid he will find this a difficult task. People in Goldstone’s position, who change directions in this way, tend never to be trusted again–by either side of the struggle at issue. This is so even if the change is justified, which in this case it is not. So Richard Goldstone has dug himself a deep hole at the bottom of which he is likely to dwell alone.
Lawrence Davidson is a professor at West Chester University and the author of several books, including Foreign Policy, Inc: Privatizing America's Foreign Policy, which locates the source of U.S. foreign policy formulation in the activity of powerful lobbies rather than in the White House or State Department.
Related Story on Israeli Investigations: The New York Times and the Flotilla Inquiry
Since there was no policy of targeting civilians, all of the non-combatant victims (the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem tells us that of the 1,387 Palestinians killed in the invasion, 773 were civilians, while the Palestinian Center for Human Rights gave the figures at 1,419 dead, of which 1,167 were non-combatants) become mere "collateral damage." ...
But hold on a moment. In a thorough analysis of Judge Goldstone’s new position, Adam Horowitz, writing in Mondoweiss, turns things around once more. Horowitz points out that since the Goldstone report, which was admittedly a preliminary document, there have been other investigations by the UN Human Rights Council and the UN Committee of Independent Experts. These inquires suggest that Goldstone's faith in Israel's investigations is seriously misplaced.
For instance, in his op-ed Goldstone cites a major case where Israeli forces killed 29 members of the Samouni family. This was an important piece of preliminary evidence of a possible war crime cited in the original Goldstone Report. He now tells us that an Israeli investigation has shown that it was all a mistake, "an erroneous interpretation of a drone image."
Further, Goldstone is now "confident that if the officer [who misread the drone image] is found to have been negligent, Israel will respond accordingly." There are, of course, several problems with this position.
1. Israel’s so-called investigations into the Gaza invasion were episodes of the Israeli army investigating the Israeli army. Exactly the same so-called investigative procedure Israel used after its illegal attack on the Mavi Marmara. These "investigations" were not "transparent" because they were not public. Nor did the Israelis share the nature of their evidence with outsiders.
As Horowitz points out this way of conducting business is not episodic, but rather official standard operating procedure. It is a reflection of structural problems, mostly related to obvious conflict of interest issues, that make Israel presently incapable of carrying out an objective investigation of its own actions.
It must be noted that the original Goldstone Report had pointed to these problems. In paragraph 1756 the report stated "The Mission found major structural flaws that in its view make the [Israeli investigatory] system inconsistent with international standards....there is the absence of any effective and impartial investigation mechanism and victims of such alleged violations are deprived of any effective or prompt remedy."
Nothing has changed on this account since the issuance of Goldstone's report except that Judge Goldstone has ceased to see the situation as a problem. This leaves Horowitz, and no doubt many others, puzzled. "Why Judge Goldstone is now ignoring this issue is unclear."
2. The Israeli findings in the specific case mentioned above are contradicted by the investigation of the UN committee. That finding indicates that there is suggestive evidence that a senior Israeli military commander purposely targeted an area in which he knew civilians had congregated. He knew it because he had been informed by his own ground units that they had ordered a number of civilians to that location.
Using the drone photos as justification he went ahead and called in an air attack on the site anyway and then kept ambulances from approaching the scene. Was this just the action of a rogue officer operating in contravention of policy? Almost certainly not. According to Israeli media reports, an Israeli army "special command" investigation of the incident carried out ten months later found that the air attack happened after a "legitimate interpretation of drone photographs" and "there had been nothing out of the ordinary in the strike."
The key words in the Israeli "special command" report is "nothing out of the ordinary." The behavior of the Israeli military during the January 2009 invasion of Gaza cannot be abstracted from the entire history of Israeli aggression against Palestine, its inhabitants and surrounding Arab lands as well. Indeed, that behavior has been remarkably consistent–so consistent that it is virtually impossible to see any particular manifestation of it as accidental.
Was Dair Yasin (1948) an accident? Was Sabra and Shatila (1982) an accident? Was the shelling of west Beirut (1982) an accident? Was Qana (1996) an accident? Is the on-going inhumane and illegal blockade of Gaza an accident? The answer to all these questions is no. They were all done under officially rendered orders. Indeed, a short list of Israeli massacres runs to 57, and those are just the major ones. Almost all of them were neither accidental nor rogue operations. Given such a consistent pathological pattern, what are the odds that the estimated 773 civilians who died in the invasion of Gaza were killed accidentally, just collateral damage?
Shifting the focus to Hamas
While Judge Goldstone praises Israel for its "investigations," he chastises Hamas for its lack of inquiry. Goldstone tells us that "Hamas has done nothing." Well, at least we can say that Hamas has thereby refrained from insulting our intelligence with mock investigations leading to predictable if dubious self-exoneration.
Goldstone approaches the acts of Hamas and those of Israel as if they are on a par. He tells us that "The laws of armed conflict apply no less to non-state actors such as Hamas than they do to national armies." At least in the case of Israel, such an approach denies context. Historically, the violence of the oppressed tends to rise over time to the level of the violence of the oppressor.
That is what has happened in Israel-Palestine. It is not the Palestinians who have set the standards for violence in this conflict. That role has been played by the Israelis. As the list of major massacres cited above suggests, long before their was ever a suicide bombing or an attack with small rockets lacking guidance systems, the Israelis were massacring Palestinians, stealing their land and generally evicting them from their country. In some ideal moral world, Richard Goldstone’s conclusion that the violence of the oppressed must be judged by the same criteria as the violence of the oppressor might make sense. Unfortunately, it does not do so in the real world we have created for ourselves.
Richard Goldstone has always had a deep attachment to Israel. Thus it stands in his favor that throughout most of the time he led the UN investigation into the 2009 Israeli invasion of Gaza he maintained a level of objectivity which made possible a glimpse of just how brutal the Zionist state is.
It is no secret that since the Report’s release Goldstone has come under much pressure to alter his views. He has been accused of everything from "perpetuating a blood libel against Israel" to singlehandedly supplying Israel’s enemies with their most influential document. As suggested at the beginning of this analysis, some of this reaction led to his being ostracized by friends and family.
Now 75 years of age and at the end of his career, it would seem that Judge Goldstone has made the decision that he does not want to be remembered as a important critic of Israel. He wants to come in from the cold and so he has begun to make amends. I am afraid he will find this a difficult task. People in Goldstone’s position, who change directions in this way, tend never to be trusted again–by either side of the struggle at issue. This is so even if the change is justified, which in this case it is not. So Richard Goldstone has dug himself a deep hole at the bottom of which he is likely to dwell alone.
Lawrence Davidson is a professor at West Chester University and the author of several books, including Foreign Policy, Inc: Privatizing America's Foreign Policy, which locates the source of U.S. foreign policy formulation in the activity of powerful lobbies rather than in the White House or State Department.
Related Story on Israeli Investigations: The New York Times and the Flotilla Inquiry
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Palestinian factions in Gaza declare ceasefire
IMEMC - Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip declared a ceasefire starting at 11 P.M on Thursday. The declaration came following a day of escalation that led to the death of five Palestinians while dozens of residents, including children, were wounded. One student was seriously injured when a Palestinian shell hit a bus in southern Israel.
The Ministry of Interior in Gaza, run by the Hamas-led government, stated that the ceasefire was declared in an attempt to stop the Israeli escalation against the Gaza Strip.
A Hamas official in Gaza stated that the one-sided ceasefire was declared following meetings with different factions and armed groups in Gaza.
On Thursday, five Palestinians were killed as the army carried a number of air strikes and fired artillery shells into several areas in the coastal region.
Meanwhile, the Al Qassam Brigades of Hamas claimed responsibility for firing
the shell that struck the Israeli bus in southern Israel seriously wounding a student.
Official sources in Gaza that the ceasefire was declared after holding talks with several Arab and international officials in an attempt to stop the Israeli military escalation.
On Thursday, president Mahmoud Abbas urged the international community to halt the Israeli violations and escalation against the Gaza Strip.
Presidency spokesperson, Nabil Abu Rodeina, denounced the Israeli escalation and said that President Abbas contacted officials in a number of Arab and European countries urging them to intervene to ensure calm.
Abu Rodeina called on the Palestinian factions in Gaza not to give Israel the opportunity to attack Gaza, and to ensure calm. He said that the Israeli occupation does not want the Palestinians to unite and is acting to ensure internal Palestinian divisions remain in place.
Also on Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister stated that the army is acting against the attacks and will do whatever it can to ensure they stop.
Israeli army chief of Staff, Benny Gantz, visited the Sufa military base that was hit by Palestinian shells, and toured areas in southern Israel speaking to locals urging them to remain calm.
Gantz added that “the army will do whatever it can to ensure their security, even if this means a military operation against Gaza”.
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The Ministry of Interior in Gaza, run by the Hamas-led government, stated that the ceasefire was declared in an attempt to stop the Israeli escalation against the Gaza Strip.
A Hamas official in Gaza stated that the one-sided ceasefire was declared following meetings with different factions and armed groups in Gaza.
On Thursday, five Palestinians were killed as the army carried a number of air strikes and fired artillery shells into several areas in the coastal region.
Meanwhile, the Al Qassam Brigades of Hamas claimed responsibility for firing
the shell that struck the Israeli bus in southern Israel seriously wounding a student.
Official sources in Gaza that the ceasefire was declared after holding talks with several Arab and international officials in an attempt to stop the Israeli military escalation.
On Thursday, president Mahmoud Abbas urged the international community to halt the Israeli violations and escalation against the Gaza Strip.
Presidency spokesperson, Nabil Abu Rodeina, denounced the Israeli escalation and said that President Abbas contacted officials in a number of Arab and European countries urging them to intervene to ensure calm.
Abu Rodeina called on the Palestinian factions in Gaza not to give Israel the opportunity to attack Gaza, and to ensure calm. He said that the Israeli occupation does not want the Palestinians to unite and is acting to ensure internal Palestinian divisions remain in place.
Also on Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister stated that the army is acting against the attacks and will do whatever it can to ensure they stop.
Israeli army chief of Staff, Benny Gantz, visited the Sufa military base that was hit by Palestinian shells, and toured areas in southern Israel speaking to locals urging them to remain calm.
Gantz added that “the army will do whatever it can to ensure their security, even if this means a military operation against Gaza”.
Read More
Israeli fire killed five Palestinians and injured dozens more
Maan News Agency - Israeli fire killed five Palestinians and injured dozens more after a projectile from the Gaza Strip hit a school bus in southern Israel, injuring two people, medical and security officials said.
Late Thursday, in a bid to prevent further Israeli strikes, Hamas said it had got most armed Palestinian factions in Gaza to sign on to a ceasefire.
Four of those killed in the strikes were identified as leader of the Al-Qassam Brigades Salah Tarabin, 38, Musab al-Sufi, 18, Muhammad Almanmom, 25, and Khaled Aldbari, 23.
Witnesses said artillery fire injured five people, including a small child, and killed Mahmoud Al-Manasra, 50, who died after shells landed near his home in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City.
Air strikes hit two Hamas positions in and around Gaza City, and other raids hit targets in the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Yunis, killing another two people and wounding dozens more, eight of whom were injured when shell fragments hit an ambulance, Palestinian medical sources said.
In total, more than 40 people were wounded across the Gaza Strip.
A spokeswoman for the military confirmed troops had launched multiple attacks on targets in Gaza, saying it "fired at places from which mortars are fired at Israel."
The shelling came after militants fired an anti-tank missile which hit a bus in southern Israel, critically wounding a teenager, as well as wounding one other person who was only lightly hurt, Israeli medics said...
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Late Thursday, in a bid to prevent further Israeli strikes, Hamas said it had got most armed Palestinian factions in Gaza to sign on to a ceasefire.
Four of those killed in the strikes were identified as leader of the Al-Qassam Brigades Salah Tarabin, 38, Musab al-Sufi, 18, Muhammad Almanmom, 25, and Khaled Aldbari, 23.
Witnesses said artillery fire injured five people, including a small child, and killed Mahmoud Al-Manasra, 50, who died after shells landed near his home in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City.
Air strikes hit two Hamas positions in and around Gaza City, and other raids hit targets in the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Yunis, killing another two people and wounding dozens more, eight of whom were injured when shell fragments hit an ambulance, Palestinian medical sources said.
In total, more than 40 people were wounded across the Gaza Strip.
A spokeswoman for the military confirmed troops had launched multiple attacks on targets in Gaza, saying it "fired at places from which mortars are fired at Israel."
The shelling came after militants fired an anti-tank missile which hit a bus in southern Israel, critically wounding a teenager, as well as wounding one other person who was only lightly hurt, Israeli medics said...
Read More
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