THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF BENJAMIN MERHAV, PART THREE

2009-01-11T02:24:00.003+11:00

HR organisations letter to the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights

Sun, Jan 11, 2009 at 1:10 AM

Gaza

9 January 2009

Dear High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention,

As local, regional and international human rights organisations concerned with respect for international humanitarian law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), and in all situations of armed conflict, it is in both desperation and hope that we write to call for the urgent reconvening of the Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention. The past two weeks have witnessed the heaviest aerial bombardment of the Gaza Strip since 1967, and the situation of the protected civilian population there is more critical than ever before.

At approximately 11:30 am on 27 December 2008 Israel launched “Operation Cast Lead,” a large-scale aerial offensive in the Gaza Strip. The continuing air strikes have been followed by Israeli ground troops, which invaded the Gaza Strip on the night of 3 January 2009. To date, these attacks have resulted in the death of at least 729 Palestinians, 603 of whom were civilians, including 173 children, and the further wounding of over 3,200 more. In addition, the Israeli military attacks have resulted in the widespread destruction of civilian property such as homes, schools and mosques.

While Palestinian armed groups have acted in violation of international humanitarian law in launching indiscriminate weapons towards Israel, these unlawful attacks do not justify equally unlawful attacks by the Israeli occupying forces. Israeli Foreign Minister Livni’s comments that such groups “don’t make a distinction, and neither should we,” show disregard for the law and reveal a criminal intent to target civilians. In keeping with this statement, “Operation Case Lead” has displayed a disproportionate and often indiscriminate use of force against densely populated civilian areas throughout the Gaza Strip. A full analysis of Israel’s violations of the international humanitarian law principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions in attack, and of grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention committed, can be found in the attached Al-Haq legal brief.

In December 2001, the Conference of High Contracting Parties convened and called upon Israel, “to fully and effectively respect the Fourth Geneva Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.” Such political dialogue, however, void of any concrete measures of action by the High Contracting Parties to ensure respect for the Convention, inevitably failed to induce Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law. In August 2004, the UN General Assembly invited Switzerland, in its capacity as the depository of the Geneva Conventions, “to conduct consultations and to report to the General Assembly […] with regard to the possibility of resuming the Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention.” Having done so, Switzerland reported back to the General Assembly in June 2005, explaining that informal consultations with the High Contracting Parties had resulted in the opinion that reconvening the Conference was “not the course to be pursued” at that moment. Hopes raised by “encouraging political developments” such as Israel’s so-called ‘disengagement’ from the Gaza Strip, and the need to place faith in an apparently nascent ‘peace process’ were cited as the basis for that opinion. In the three and a half years that have since passed, the peace process has been shown to be a mere façade, while Israel’s intensification of attacks and collective punishment against the occupied civilian population of the Gaza Strip has precipitated a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented proportions.

The failure of the High Contracting Parties to effectively engage their own clearly defined legal obligations to ensure respect for the Fourth Geneva Convention amounts to tacit acquiescence to Israel’s calculated and systematic disregard for international humanitarian law. Further inaction at this time would not only betray any hope that the civilians of the Gaza Strip have left in the ability of international humanitarian law to provide protection and alleviate their suffering, but would leave broader question marks as to the basic commitment of the High Contracting Parties to invest in the future relevance of international humanitarian law.

There is no longer any possible justification for the Conference of the High Contracting Parties not to be resumed. Thus, in the interests of respect for both international humanitarian law and the notion that informs and underpins it—basic humanity—we urge the High Contracting Parties to reconvene with a view to establishing consensus on immediate and concrete collective measures that can be taken under the framework of the UN, in order to ensure Israel’s compliance with its legal obligations and to bring to an end the violations of international humanitarian law currently being committed with impunity in the Gaza Strip. We further urge individual initiatives by High Contracting Parties aimed at ensuring respect for the Fourth Geneva Convention under Article 1, and at holding perpetrators of grave breaches responsible under Article 146.

We look forward to receiving your response and remain at your disposal for any questions, comments or requests for further information that you might have.

Sincerely,

Al-Haq

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)

The Arab Association for Human Rights

Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel

Addameer, Priosners’ Support and Human Rights Association

Ad-Dameer Association for Human Rights

Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights

Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies

Defence for Children International/Palestine Section (DCI/PS)

Democracy and Workers’ Rights Center (DWRC)

Ensan Center for Democracy & Human Rights

Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR)

Jerusalem Legal Aid & Human Rights Center (JLAC)

Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession, Musawa

Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)

Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies (RCHRS)

The Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations‘ Network - PNGO

Women‘s Center for Legal Aid and Counseling (WCLAC)

2009-01-11T02:15:00.001+11:00

http://www.imemc.org/article/58397

Gaza officials: Massive sewage flood imminent

Saturday January 10, 2009 10:41
by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

Due to the ongoing Israeli invasion of Gaza, nearly 700,000 Palestinians have gone without water for days, and sewage pumping systems have stopped. In many places, raw sewage is running through the streets, and officials have warned that a massive sewage flood, like the one in 2007 that killed 5 people, could occur at any time.

2007 sewage flood in Um Al-Nasser village

One million people in Gaza remain without electricity for nearly two full weeks. The Deputy Director of the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility, Maher Najjar, told Israeli reporter Amira Hass that between 40 and 50 % of the Gazan population are now without access to water.

There are 37 sewage pumping stations in Gaza. Due to the lack of electricity, 5 of them are completely out of operation, and the remaining 32 are only partially operational.

In March 2007, Um Al Nasser village in northern Gaza was completely flooded with sewage when a 6.5 acre septic cesspool containing 20,0000 cubic meters of sewage water collapsed, killing five people and causing hundreds to be made homeless.

Now, a similar disaster may be about to occur, on top of the military assault that has left nearly 800 people dead in the last two weeks. Local officials report that both fresh-water pumping systems that provide water to the residents of Gaza, and sewage pumping systems, pumping out human wastewater, are on the verge of collapse in many areas. The biggest wastewater treatment plant, in northern Gaza, was supposed to have been emptied a month ago due to the potential for flooding. Now, the risk of breakage and flooding has reached a crisis, with 10,000 people at risk if a flood does occur.

According to Maher Najjar of the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility, a major water pipe providing clean water to 30,000 residents in central Gaza was damaged by an Israeli air strike, and a sewage pumping station in Beit Lahiya stopped working after its generator was destroyed by an Israeli missile, causing sewage to flood the street.

In Beit Hanoun, sewage has been flowing through the street for a full week, after an intake pipe to the sewage treatment plant was hit by an Israeli missile.

And in Gaza City, four out of seven sewage pumping stations have run out of diesel fuel for their generators, and are pumping sewage directly into the sea. The remaining three are dumping raw sewage onto farmland near Gaza City. Soon this sewage will be on the streets of Gaza City, unless pumping is restored.

2009-01-10T11:08:00.003+11:00

FW: The United States Promotes Israeli Genocide Against the Palestinians‏

From:	Boyle, Francis (FBOYLE@LAW.UIUC.EDU)
Sent:	Saturday, 10 January 2009 10:05:49 AM
To:	Benjamin Merhav (benjaminmerhav@hotmail.com)

Francis A. Boyle

Law Building

504 E. Pennsylvania Ave.

Champaign, IL 61820 USA

217-333-7954 (Voice)

217-244-1478 (Fax)

(personal comments only)

The United States Promotes Israeli Genocide Against the Palestinians

Professor Francis A. Boyle

(from “Tackling America’s Toughest Questions,” now at Amazon.com)

As long ago as October 19, 2000, the then United Nations Human Rights Commission (now Council) condemned Israel for inflicting “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” upon the Palestinian people, most of whom are Muslims. The reader has a general idea of what a war crime is, so I am not going to elaborate upon that term here. But there are different degrees of heinousness for war crimes. In particular are the more serious war crimes denominated “grave breaches” of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Since the outbreak of the first Intifada in 1987, the world has seen those heinous war crimes inflicted every day by Israel against the Palestinian people living in occupied Palestine: e.g., willful killing of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli army and by Israel’s illegal paramilitary settlers. These Israeli “grave breaches” of the Fourth Geneva Convention mandate universal prosecution for the perpetrators and their commanders, whether military or civilian, including and especially Israel’s political leaders.

But I want to focus for a moment on Israel’s “crimes against humanity” against the Palestinian people—as determined by the U.N. Human Rights Commission itself, set up pursuant to the requirements of the United Nations Charter. What are “crimes against humanity”? This concept goes all the way back to the Nuremberg Charter of 1945 for the trial of the major Nazi war criminals in Europe. In the Nuremberg Charter of 1945, drafted by the United States Government, there was created and inserted a new type of international crime specifically intended to deal with the Nazi persecution of the Jewish people:

Crimes against humanity: namely, murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, and other inhumane acts committed against any civilian population, before or during the war, or persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds in execution of or in connection with any crime within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal, whether or not in violation of the domestic law of the country where perpetrated.

The paradigmatic example of “crimes against humanity” is what Hitler and the Nazis did to the Jewish people. This is where the concept of “crimes against humanity” came from. And this is what the U.N. Human Rights Commission determined that Israel is currently doing to the Palestinian people: crimes against humanity. Expressed in legal terms, this is just like what Hitler and the Nazis did to the Jews. That is the significance of the formal determination by the U.N. Human Rights Commission that Israel has inflicted “crimes against humanity” upon the Palestinian people. The Commission chose this well-known and long-standing legal term of art quite carefully and deliberately based upon the evidence it had compiled.

Furthermore, the Nuremberg “crimes against humanity” are the historical and legal precursor to the international crime of genocide as defined by the 1948 Genocide Convention. The theory here was that what Hitler and the Nazis did to the Jewish people was so horrific that it required a special international treaty that would codify and universalize the Nuremberg concept of “crimes against humanity.” And that treaty ultimately became the 1948 Genocide Convention.

Article II of the Genocide Convention defines the international crime of genocide in relevant part as follows:

In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group as such:

(a) Killing members of the group;

(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

….

As documented by Israeli historian Ilan Pappe in his seminal book The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (2006), Israel’s genocidal policy against the Palestinians has been unremitting, extending from before the very foundation of the State of Israel in 1948, and is ongoing and even intensifying against the 1.5 million Palestinians living in Gaza. Zionism’s “final solution” to Israel’s much touted “demographic threat” allegedly posed by the very existence of the Palestinians has always been genocide.

Certainly, Israel and its predecessors-in-law—the Zionist agencies, forces, and terrorist gangs—have committed genocide against the Palestinian people that actually started on or about 1948 and has continued apace until today in violation of Genocide Convention Articles II(a), (b), and (c). For at least the past six decades, the Israeli government and its predecessors-in-law—the Zionist agencies, forces, and terrorist gangs—have ruthlessly implemented a systematic and comprehensive military, political, and economic campaign with the intent to destroy in substantial part the national, ethnical, racial, and different religious (Jews versus Muslims and Christians) group constituting the Palestinian people. This Zionist/Israeli campaign has consisted of killing members of the Palestinian people in violation of Genocide Convention Article II(a). This Zionist/Israeli campaign has also caused serious bodily and mental harm to the Palestinian people in violation of Genocide Convention Article II(b). This Zionist/Israeli campaign has also deliberately inflicted on the Palestinian people conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction in substantial part in violation of Article II(c) of the Genocide Convention.

Article I of the Genocide Convention requires all contracting parties such as the United States “to prevent and to punish” genocide. Yet to the contrary, historically the “Jewish” state’s criminal conduct against the Palestinians has been financed, armed, equipped, supplied and politically supported by the “Christian” United States. Although the United States is a founding sponsor of, and a contracting party to, both the Nuremberg Charter and the Genocide Convention, as well as the United Nations Charter, these legal facts have never made any difference to the United States when it comes to its blank-check support for Israel and their joint and severable criminal mistreatment of the Palestinians—truly the wretched of the earth!

The world has not yet heard even one word uttered by the United States and its NATO allies in favor of “humanitarian intervention” against Israel in order to protect the Palestinian people, let alone a “responsibility to protect” the Palestinians from Zionist/Israeli genocide. The United States, its NATO allies, and the Great Powers on the U.N. Security Council would not even dispatch a U.N. Charter Chapter 6 monitoring force to help protect the Palestinians, let alone even contemplate any type of U.N. Charter Chapter 7 enforcement actions against Israel – shudder the thought!. The doctrine of “humanitarian intervention” so readily espoused elsewhere when U.S. foreign policy goals are allegedly at stake has been clearly proved to be a joke and a fraud when it comes to stopping the ongoing and accelerating Israeli campaign of genocide against the Palestinian people.

Rather than rein in the Israelis—which would be possible just by turning off the funding pipeline—the United States government, the U.S. Congress, and U.S. taxpayers instead support the “Jewish” state to the tune of about 4 billion dollars per year, without whose munificence this instance of genocide – and indeed conceivably the State of Israel itself – would not be possible. What the world witnesses here is (yet another) case of “dishumanitarian intervention” or “humanitarian extermination” by the United States and Israel against the Palestinians and Palestine. In today’s world genocide pays so long as it is done at the behest of the United States and its de jure or de facto allies such as Israel.

Of course miracles can always happen. But I anticipate no fundamental change in America’s support for the Israeli campaign of genocide against the Palestinians during the tenure of the Obama/Clinton administration.

(Emphasis added - B.M.)

2009-01-10T07:04:00.001+11:00

IOF Continue Targeting Civilians and Houses in Gaza: Death Toll Rises to 771; Including 189 Children and 58 Women

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights

Reference: 10/2009

Date: 9 January 2009

1:30PM GMT Gaza Time (+2hrs GMT)

Press Release
IOF Continue Targeting Civilians and Houses in Gaza: Death Toll Rises to 771; Including 189 Children and 58 Women

The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) continued its war crimes in the Gaza Strip by targeting civilians and civilian premises deliberately. The IOF escalated its destruction of houses, mosques and other premises with civilian character. Attacks also targeted United Nations personnel and property. The IOF's ground invasion continues under artillery and machinegun shelling of neighborhoods, particularly in the south and east parts of Gaza City, North Gaza as well as all the border areas along border between Gaza and Israel. Under continued failure of the international community to uphold its obligations, the Israeli operations in Gaza have killed 771 people, most of whom civilian non-combatants. Al Mezan Center has so far verified the killing of 189 children and 58 women; however, it believes their number is higher. The bodies of civilians continue to be found under the rubble of their bombard houses.

Since 1pm yesterday, Al Mezan Center's field workers have confirmed that 55 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip. Of whom, 18 were children and 5 women. The IOF destroyed 52 houses, a few of which were bulldozed within areas that IOF had invaded. The rest were destroyed in air raids.

Owing to increasing difficulties, Al Mezan could not finalize its daily detailed update. This release reports on the overall consequences of the IOF's operations. The daily update will be issued tomorrow morning.

Al Mezan has also received information regarding the deteriorated humanitarian situation around the Gaza Strip. The IOF's operations continue to prevent civilians' access to water, food and other necessities. The conditions of tens of thousands of displaced civilians has particularly grown dire under inability of the UN to provide for them due to Israeli attacks and operations, in which many UN staff members and properties were targeted.

Al Mezan warns from the continued failure, which is the result of unwilling, of the international community to bring the Israeli serious breaches of international law to an end. According to the information collected and reproduced by Al Mezan, the civilian population of the Gaza Strip has borne the brunt of the Israeli attacks. The number of casualties and damages, coupled with the humanitarian crisis, call for effective intervention, which must go beyond a non-binding Security Council resolution; itself has taken thirteen days to be adopted. The international community is under an obligation to stop the killing of civilians; including women and children, and to ensure their access to essential goods, especially water, food and other life necessities.

Al Mezan reiterates it calls upon the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to uphold their obligations under article 1 of the Convention and ensure respect of its provisions. Civilians must be protected and those who deliberately target them must be held accountable in accord with international law.

END

2009-01-09T06:04:00.001+11:00

Civilians Found On the Verge of Death; Children Stay by Their Dead Mother for Days Starving at Sight of IOF Soldiers

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights ,Gaza

Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 4:25 AM

Reference: 8/2009

Date: 8 January 2009

Press Release

Civilians Found On the Verge of Death; Children Stay by Their Dead Mother for Days Starving at Sight of IOF Soldiers

Israeli War on Gaza Continues Raising the Death Toll to 716, Including 139 Children and 53 Women

The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) continued its destruction of the Gaza Strip, systematically targeting civilians and civilian objects. Air raids and artillery attacks targeted homes, schools and medical teams. A unilateral ceasefire lasted for three hours yesterday; however, IOF's attacks were resumed more fiercely after 4pm. Tens of thousands of civilians whose areas had been threatened of bombardment left their homes seeking safety. Civilians also left their homes seeking food and other essentials. Nevertheless, IOF carried out four attacks during the ceasefire, including an attack on a car in Jabalia refugee camp, and shelling with heavy machineguns of a group of women carrying food to their homes in Ezbet Abed-Rabu eastern Jabalia, injuring three of them. IOF also threw leaflets warning the residents of Rafah who live along the border from heavy bombardment and ordering them to leave the area. Between 30,000 and 40,000 people left their homes, as a result. Civilians are made to stay in open areas and schools in Rafah, all of which are not prepared for sheltering civilians.

Four days after submitting a request to the IOF, teams from the International Committee of the Red Cross and ambulances from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society were allowed yesterday to enter the eastern Gaza City of Az-Zeitoun. In one of the houses they entered, they found four children next to their dead mother and a young man, too weak to stand up. Twelve corpses were lying on mattresses in the house. They also found 15 survivors from the IOF attack, including injured people. In another house, the rescue team found 3 corpses. IOF were positioned only 80 meters from these people; however, has left them to stay with the unburied corpses of their family members and to reach the brink of starving to death. The ambulances were not permitted to reach the wounded people, who had been left for four days without help. The rescue team had to evacuate them on donkey cart. As the ICRC and human rights organizations continue to receive reports about similar cases in this neighborhood, ICRC has not yet received information from the IOF concerning its request to search for the dead and survivors. See ICRC's press release at http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/palestine-news-080109?opendocument.

Despite the global plight protesting Israel's campaign against the Gaza Strip, the IOF has continued perpetrating war crimes under a failure by the UN Security Council and the international community to live up to their legal and moral responsibilities and bring such outrageous acts to an end. Al Mezan Center has continued its monitoring activities of the consequences of IFO's attacks on the humanitarian and human rights situation in Gaza. The following sections provide accounts of the developments in the Gaza Strip's five districts between 1pm yesterday and 1pm today.

1. North Gaza District:

At approximately 11:45am yesterday, Wednesday, 7 January 2009, IOF fired artillery shells at the Ezbet Abed-Rabu eastern Jabalia, destroying the house and killing three child sisters. They were identified as:

- 3-year-old Amal Khalid Abed-Rabu;

- 4-year-old Samar Khalid Abed-Rabu; and

- 7-year-old Su'ad Khalid Abed-Rabu.

At the same time, IOF troops opened fire at an ambulance in the same neighborhood when its crew was trying to collect the body of a civilian; 42-year-old Samir Rashid Mohammed. Yesterday, medical sources announced the death of six people who had been injured previously in North Gaza, including two children, an old man and two women. They were identified as:

- 15-year-old Adham Ismail Matar;

- 16-year-old Islam Abdul-Dayim;

- 20-year-old Ahmad Ijneed;

- 21-year-old Ibrahim Salman;

- 23-year-old Wafa' Abu Jarad; and

- 87-year-old Mohammed Abu Rukba.

Moreover, medical teams found the dead bodies of twommen and a woman:

- 31-year-old Wojoud Rajab Abu Darabee;

- 55-year-old Mohammed Ali Al-Sultan; and

- Musbah Ayioub, whose age has not yet been verified.

At approximately 4:40pm on Wednesday, Israeli aircrafts raided the house of Jasser Al-Batsh in Jabalia, destroying it and injuring one person.

At approximately 6pm yesterday, also Wednesday, Israeli aircrafts fired a missile at a civilian car, killing five people: the driver, his three children and a relative. They were identified as:

- 44-year-old Khalid Ismail Al-Kahlout;

- 15-year-old Mohammed Khalid Al-Kahlout;

- 12-year-old Habeeb Khalid Al-Kahlout (who was handicapped);

- 10-year-old Tawfeek Khalid Al-Kahlout; and

- 20-year-old Hassan Khalil Al-Kahlout.

Two other passersby were injured in this attack. Al Mezan's investigations indicated that Al-Kahlout was going to buy bread for his family.

Later, at approximately 7:40pm on Wednesday, IOF stopped an ambulance that belongs to Al-Falah Charity in Ezbet Abed-Rabu and confiscated it. IOF also shelled the Sheikh Zayid apartment compound at 9:15pm, causing damage to numerous apartments and forced its residents to evacuate their homes.

At approximately 8pm yesterday, also Wednesday, Israeli aircrafts fired missiles at the house of 42-year-old Taysir Mohammed Zomlut, killing him, his 10-year-old son, Mohammed, and his mother, 88-year-old Khadeeja. The house was destroyed completely and two neighboring houses were damaged.

At approximately 12:05am today, Thursday 8 January 2009, Israeli aircrafts raided the house of Mahmoud Rwishid, which is located in the middle of Jabalia refugee camp. The house and five neighboring houses were completely destroyed.

Israeli aircrafts also raided six houses in Jabalia and Beit Lahia between 12:05am and 12:50pm today. As a result, the six houses and 11 other houses were completely destroyed. Another 26 houses were severely damaged. IOF also raided the Anan Mosque in Jabalia and destroyed it. 18 people were injured as a result of the bombardment of these houses.

At approximately 9:30pm today, the IOF fired missiles into a crowd near the Kamal Udwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, killing three passersby and injuring two. The victims were identified as:

- 25-year-old Mohammed Al-Hindi;

- 24-year-old Anwar Jaber Abu Salem; and

- 27-year-old Abdul-Nasser Odeh.

At 10:50am today, medical teams found the body of 30-year-old Bassam Shaban Kouta in the vicinity of Erez Crossing. The victim was a driver at UNRWA and was killed from IOF fire as he was on his way to lift humanitarian aid. Two hours later, IOF artillery shelling of the Sheikh Zayid apartment compound killed a 5-year-old girl, Basma Yasser Al-Jilawi.

2. Gaza City District:

The Shifa Hospital has continued to receive the bodies of people killed as a result of the ongoing Israeli attacks. Some of those were collected a few days after they were killed. Others died of their injuries some days later.

At approximately 1.20pm, on 7 January 2009, the bodies of 12-year-old Radwan Mohammed Ashour, and his 11-year-old brother Abdul-Rahman were admitted at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. The two brothers were killed while in their house at approximately 8am on the same day as a result of IOF artillery shelling close to their house in Az Zeitoun neighborhood, in eastern Gaza City. The bodies of following people were also received at the hospital on the same day:

- 21-year-old Ahmed Hasan Abu Zour;

- 20-year-old Ahmed Salah Mousa;

- 20-year-old Azmi Diab;

- 21-year-old Majed Sobhi Moshtaha; and

- 20-year-old ALaa Mas'oud Arafat.

At approximately 11.50pm, on the same day, medical sources at Al-Quds Hospital announced the death of 16-year-old Mohammed Samir Hajji as a result of injuries he had sustained on 12 December 2008.

In the late hours of the same day, IOF aircrafts raided and completely destroyed the At-Taqwa and the An-Nour Al-Mohammadi mosques which are located in Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City.

At approximately 2am, on 8 January 2008, IOF aircrafts bombarded the two-story house of 52-year-old Mohmoud Mohammed Al-Huwwari, in Az-Zeitoun neighborhood. The attack destroyed the targeted house and the house of Khader Rajab completely, and caused damages to four nearby houses. The attack also killed 22-year-old Omar Khader Rajab, and injured six others.

At approximately 2am, on the same day, the corpse of a 50-year-old woman, Fadwa Khalil Kheil, was admitted at the Shifa Hospital. She was blown to pieces as a result of the IOF artillery shelling that targeted her house in Az-Zeitoun neighborhood on 5 January 2009.

At approximately 3am that same day, medial sources at Shifa Hospital announced the death of 7-year-old Ahmed Jaber Huweij from wounds he had sustained on 27 December 2008 following IOF shelling that targeted the house of Hmeid's family. Jaber's father and two of his brothers were killed in the same attack.

At the same time, the body of 42-year-old Hatem Waleed Ghazal was also admitted at Shifa hospital. He was killed by a live bullet fired by IOF sniper in Yafa Street in At-Tuffah neighborhood, in eastern Gaza City.

At approximately 6am, on the same day, medical sources at Al-Quds Hospital announced the death of a 30-year-old woman; Rawia Rajan Awad, as a result of injuries she had sustained earlier. Moreover, medical sources announced the death of 14-year-old A'ed Ammar Kheira from wounds he had sustained on 4 January 2009.

3. Middle Gaza District:

At approximately 7pm yesterday Wednesday, 7 January 2009, Israeli aircrafts raided a blacksmith workshop owned by Mahmoud At-Taweel in the Al-Bureij refugee camp. The workshop was completely destroyed.

30 minutes later, Israeli aircrafts raided a house and a blacksmith workshop owned by Abdul-Hamid Fadil, also in Al-Bureij refugee camp. The four-story house, the workshop and three neighboring houses were completely destroyed. Another 10 houses were damaged. Moreover, two men were killed in the attack. They were identified as:

- 27-year-old Hammam Mohammed Issa; and

- 22-year-old Ahmed Yousef Hussein.

At approximately 8pm also Wednesday, Israeli aircrafts raided the house of Abdul-Raziq Al-Nadi. Three heavy missiles destroyed the two-story house, which was inhabited by 20 people.

At approximately 8:55pm Wednesday, Israeli aircrafts raided the police station and the neighboring municipality building, destroying them and three other houses completely. Several other houses and an NGO office were also damaged.

4. Khan Younis District:

At approximately 11pm, on 7 January 2009, IOF aircrafts targeted a group of youths who were close to At-Tatouri factory in Al-Amal neighborhood, west of Khan Younis, killing 22-year-old Salem Hmeid Abu Mousa, 22-year-old Hassan Rateb Sam'an, and injuring other bystanders.

At approximately 11.50pm, on the same day, IOF aircrafts bombarded the police station which is located on Salah Ad-Din Street in Ma'an area, east of Khan Younis, destroying it completely. At approximately 4.30pm that same day, IOF aircraft bombarded the police station in Bani Suhaila destroying it completely.

At approximately 1.15, on 8 January 2009, the IOF penetrated the vicinity of Abu Al-Alaa Al-Ma'ary School in northeast Al Qarara town, northeast of Khan Younis, and opened gunfire and missiles at agricultural and open areas. The shelling resulted in the killing of 60-year-old Atwi Awwad Abu Nazeef.

At approximately 12pm, on the same day, IOF aircraft raided a group of women, killing 22-year-old Ma'ather Mohammed Hmeid, and 32-year-old Faten Sneid. The death toll in Khan Younis district between 1pm yesterday and 1o today reached has reached 5, including two women.

5. Rafah District:

At approximately 9.50pm, on 7 January 2009, IOF aircraft fired two missiles at the three-story house of Ahmed Mohsen Hasan Fuju, which is located in Al-Jnina neighborhood in Rafah, destroying it completely. The house was inhabited by four families, a total of 20 persons. The attack also destroyed totally the adjacent two-story house of Hmeid Mohammed Mohsen Fuju, which was inhabited by 3 families, a total of 11 persons.

The number of people killed in Rafah since the beginning of the Israeli operation till 7 January 2009 has reached 39, including 13 children and a woman, while the number of people injured has reached 320, including 203 men, 61 women, and 65 children.

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights condemns the conducts of the IOF in Gaza, many of which represent war crimes and crimes against humanity by intentionally targeting civilians by killing and starvation. The Center also deplores the IOF's targeting of civilians during a unilaterally declared ceasefire yesterday.

Al Mezan strongly condemns IOF's escalation of its use of excessive force, which the IOF has been allowed to employ against the Gaza Strip since 27 December 2008, under continuous failure to take urgent action by the international community. The Center is particularly outraged by the inaction of the UN Security Council, which has allowed for the killing of hundreds of civilians and for a severe humanitarian crisis in defiance of the rules of international law and the UN Charter. The Council is called on to set aside political differences and provide immediate protection for uninvolved civilians.

Al Mezan also calls on the Un Secretary General to show clearer commitment to the UN purposes and values and intensify the efforts to ensure the protection of civilians in the Gaza Strip from the Israeli disproportionate, indiscriminate attacks, which have also targeted UN personnel and property.

Al Mezan Center calls the Human Rights Council to initiate prompt, objective investigation in the violations of human rights and IHL by the Israeli army since the start of the current operations in Gaza. The Council is also called to take all the necessary measures to ensure the due respect and protection of human rights, and to set up mechanisms to pursue and bring to justice all those who have ordered or committed gross human rights violations and war crimes.

Under continued occurrence of grave breaches of IHL, Al Mezan Center calls on the UN General Assembly to request the convention of the conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Times of War, of 1949. States Parties to the Convention are under an obligation, under Common Article 1, to ensure respect of the Convection. Under the ongoing military campaign, acting in accordance with this obligation is extremely urgent.

END

2009-01-09T05:53:00.001+11:00

ICRC Press Release - Gaza

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights
Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 12:44 AM

Following is the ICRC press release.

MEDIA RELATIONS UNIT
International Committee of the Red Cross
19, avenue de la Paix
1202 Geneva
Switzerland
Phone: +41 22 730 3443
Fax: +41 22 734 8280
press.gva@icrc.org
http://www.icrc.org

ICRC News Release No. 09/04
8 January 2009

Gaza: ICRC demands urgent access to wounded as Israeli army fails to assist wounded Palestinians
Geneva/Jerusalem/Tel Aviv (ICRC) -

On the afternoon of 7 January, four Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulances and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) managed to obtain access for the first time to several houses in the Zaytun neighbourhood of Gaza City that had been affected by Israeli shelling. The ICRC had requested safe passage for ambulances to access this neighbourhood since 3 January but it only received permission to do so from the Israeli Defence Forces during the afternoon of 7 January.

The ICRC/PRCS team found four small children next to their dead mothers in one of the houses. They were too weak to stand up on their own. One man was also found alive, too weak to stand up. In all there were at least 12 corpses lying on mattresses.
In another house, the ICRC/PRCS rescue team found 15 other survivors of this attack including several wounded. In yet another house, they found an additional three corpses. Israeli soldiers posted at a military position some 80 meters away from this house ordered the rescue team to leave the area which they refused to do. There were several other positions of the Israeli Defence Forces nearby as well as two tanks.

"This is a shocking incident," said Pierre Wettach, the ICRC's Head of Delegation for Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. "The Israeli military must have been aware of the situation but did not assist the wounded. Neither did they make it possible for us or the Palestine Red Crescent to assist the wounded."

Large earth walls erected by the Israeli army had made it impossible to bring ambulances into the neighbourhood. Therefore, the children and the wounded had to be taken to the ambulances on a donkey cart. In total, the ICRC/PRCS rescue team evacuated 18 wounded and 12 others who were extremely exhausted. Two corpses were also evacuated. The ICRC/PRCS will recover the remaining corpses on Thursday.

The ICRC was informed that there are more wounded sheltering in other destroyed houses in this neighbourhood. It demands that the Israeli military grant it and PRCS ambulances safe passage and access immediately to search for any other wounded. Until now, the ICRC has still not received confirmation from the Israeli authorities that this will be allowed.

The ICRC believes that in this instance the Israeli military failed to meet its obligation under international humanitarian law to care for and evacuate the wounded. It considers the delay in allowing rescue services access unacceptable.

For further information, please contact:
Florian Westphal, ICRC Geneva, tel.: +41 22 730 22 82 or +41 79 217 32 80
Anne-Sophie Bonefeld, ICRC Jerusalem, tel +972 2 582 88 45 or +972 52 601 91 50
Iyad Nasr, ICRC Gaza, tel: +972 8 282 8884 (Arabic)
Yael Segev-Eytan, ICRC Tel Aviv, tel: +972 3 524 52 86 or +972 52 275 75 17 (Hebrew)
Nadia Dibsy, ICRC Jerusalem, tel: +972 5917900 or +972 52 601 91 48 (Arabic)
or visit our website at www.icrc.org

2009-01-08T16:30:00.005+11:00

http://www.imemc.org/article/58356

12th day under attack: death toll in Gaza reaches 700

Wednesday January 07, 2009 18:33
by Gaza office - IMEMC News

Palestinian local sources in Gaza reported that the Israeli army killed five Palestinian civilians on Wednesday evening.

children injured by the Israeli shelling on Gaza this week-photo by PCHR

The five, from the same family which includes a father and his three children, were killed when Israeli tanks invading the Gaza strip shelled homes located in Beit Lahyia town in the northern part of the Gaza strip.

With those five killed this evening medical sources in Gaza said that the death toll now has reached 700, at least half of them children and women. Additionally more than 2,900 have been injured and 200 are in critical condition.

The Israeli army embarked on its military offensive on Saturday December 27, 2008. Israeli warplanes started by shelling all the Palestinian security posts there. In the following days the shelling was expanded.

Hospitals, homes, blacksmith workshops, schools, and mosques where targeted. Day and night all the Palestinian coastal region was under attack. On Saturday January 3, 2009 Israeli ground forces entered the Gaza strip and divided it into two sections.

The latest civilian target was hit on Tuesday January 3, 2009, the Israeli troops launched an attack on a school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency UNRWA in the northern Gaza town of Jabaliya. The attack left 43 Palestinians dead and around 100 wounded.

Doctors said all the dead were either people seeking shelter in the school or residents of the nearby Jabaliya refugee camp.

2009-01-08T07:13:00.004+11:00

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, Gaza	Thu, Jan 8, 2009 at 2:07 AM


Reference: 7/2009 Date: 7 January 2009 Press Release IOF Shelling of a UN Shelter in Gaza Kills 42 Civilians Death Toll in the Gaza Strip Rises to 668; Including 123 Children and 44 Women The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) escalated its crimes on the 11^th day of its military offensive against the Gaza Strip. IOF's attacks have killed hundreds of civilians and wiped out entire families under unprecedented, disproportionate bombardment of civilians targets. Tens of thousands have had to escape their homes and take shelter in UN schools or houses of relatives and friends. The hundreds of missile and artillery attacks daily have caused severe suffering for civilians; particularly children. Gaza has witnessed, and still witnesses, the largest forced displacement crisis since Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip in June 1967. Al Mezan Center, which has maintained its monitoring activities throughout the current crisis, has collected evidence that the IOF deliberately targeted civilian structures and medical teams. In its attacks, the IOF used missiles and shells that are laser-guided, which indicates that civilian targets were hit intentionally, and not collaterally as Israel alleges. Yesterday, an IOF attack targeted UNRWA's Al-Fakhoura School, where civilians were sheltering. In a minute, 42 were killed; including 13 children. According to information verified by Al Mezan Center, at approximately 3:35pm yesterday, Tuesday 6 January 2009, the IOF fired four artillery shells in the vicinity of Al-Fakhoura School, which UNRWA had opened as a shelter for displaced civilians who escaped the fighting in north Gaza. Three shells landed and exploded in an open area opposite to the southwestern schoolyard. The fourth landed 50 meters west to the school, directly hitting two houses, which are inhabited by the families two brothers; Mu'in and Samir Deeb. Most of the members of these two families were killed. In all, the shelling killed 39 civilians immediately, and three others died at hospital from their wounds, raising the number of casualties to 42; including 13 children and 6 women. Another 50 civilians were also injured in this attack. Of whom, 15 were children and 10 women. The IOF also killed another 9 people in the North Gaza district, raising the death toll in the district to 51 between 2:30pm yesterday and 1pm today. The IOF bombarded and destroyed 8 houses in the same district, causing damage to another 14 houses. One mosque and a vehicle were also destroyed. In Gaza City, IOF's attacks killed 24 people, including 8 children. In Middle Gaza district, at approximately 1:50pm on Tuesday 6 January 2009, the IOF bombarded two houses and three other structures, including a sports club. An air raid that targeted an evacuated house in the refugee camp of An-Nuseirat killed a 5-year-old child; Yihya At-Taweel, and completely destroyed the house. Medical sources in the district's hospital reported that a woman, 24-year-old Nisreen Abu Swirih, died from wounds she had sustained in an IOF attack on 3 January 2009. In Khan Younis disctrict, 4 people were killed by the IOF, including two children who died from wounds they had sustained in the previous days. The IOF, which continued its incursion into Az-Zana neighborhood east of the towns of Abassan and Bani Suhaila, destroyed 35 houses; 20 of which were completely destroyed. The IOF left this area at approximately 11am today. In south Gaza's district of Rafah, the IOF raided and destroyed 8 houses, destroying them and causing damage to dozens of houses. The bodies of two men entered from Rafah Crossing, coming from Egypt where they were transferred for hospital care. One of them was identified as 22-year-old Basil Faraj, who is a cameraman working for the Algerian TV. The second was identified as 18-year-old Ihab Al-Harazeen. Al Mezan Center expects that the number of casualties could rise in the Gaza Strip. Many civilians are still under the rubble of houses which the IOF had bombarded houses; particularly the houses of the As-Sammoni and Ad-Daya families in Gaza City. Al Mezan continues to report the cases it has been able to verify. Al Mezan Center for Human Rights strongly condemns the continuous, criminal Israeli aggression against civilians in the Gaza Strip. The Center expresses its indignation with the failure of the international community to prevent the flagrant war crimes that have continued to be committed in Gaza by the IOF for 11 days; a failure only indicative of the continuous inability of the international community to live up to its legal and moral responsibilities vis-à-vis the civilian population of the OPT. As mentioned above, and in several other reports by Al Mezan Center, the IOF has shown overt disregard to civilians life and to the obligations Israel owes to the international community; especially by intentionally targeting civilians at their homes and mosques, and even in shelters, in a serious disrespect of the basic principles of international Humanitarian Law (IHL) and human rights law. Al Mezan therefore renews its calls upon the international community to end its failure to protect civilians by taking effective measures to end the Israeli military campaign in Gaza. It calls: The United Nations Secretary General to condemn the Israeli disproportionate use of force and the targeting of civilians and civilian objects in defiance of peremptory rules of international law, and to ensure that the UNSC and GA take appropriate steps to address the situation in the Gaza Strip; The United Nations Agencies to provide urgent humanitarian aid and safe shelters for Gazans who have been displaced and those living in threatened areas, and to ensure the protection of these shelters; The ICRC to double its efforts to ensure humanitarian access for civilians and ensure tending to the urgent needs for medicines, power and water; The Human Rights Council to request the UN general Assembly to request the convening in Switzerland of a conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilians in Times of war, of 1949, to consider the breaches by Israel of its nonderogable obligations under the Convention in the course of its ongoing military actions in Gaza, and to consider the necessary measures to ensure respect of the rules set out in the Convention and its relevant protocols. Civil societies around the world to exert pressure on their governments so that they act in conformity with the relevant human rights and humanitarian obligations as prescribed in relevant international law. Failure to take effective action to halt the continuous Israeli violations has only allowed for a grave situation to grow worse. Action must be taken immediately to ensure the protection of the civilian population in the occupied Gaza Strip. END

2009-01-07T09:12:00.009+11:00

IOF Attacks Cause More Civilian Casualties in Gaza; Shells Homes and an UNRWA Shelter, Death Toll Rises to 585, Including 101 Children and 37 Women

2009-01-06T15:29:00.004+11:00

http://www.imemc.org/article/58348

Israeli offensive continues, over 550 killed and 2700 wounded

Tuesday January 06, 2009 02:30
by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

A Palestinian woman, her four children, were killed in a recent Israeli air strike in Gaza, and more Palestinian civilians are being killed by the hour as the Israeli army continues its air strikes and ground offensive against the residents of Gaza. At least 550 Palestinians, including women and children, have been killed and more than 2700 were wounded.

Medical sources in Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, reported that an Israeli missile struck a Palestinian home in Al Zeitoun neighborhood east of Gaza City killing a woman and her children.

The sources said that seven members of Al Sammouni family, including four children, were killed when the army shelled their home while invading the area. Other members of the family said that the army also shelled a nearby home inflicting more casualties among the civilians as the shelled house was overcrowded.

An Eyewitness reported that at least twenty residents were in the shelled home. The eyewitness added that on Sunday, the army ordered the residents to gather in the house of Arafat Al Sammouni, and on Monday the soldiers shelled the crowded property.

Also, the army shelled a mourning house filled with civilians and killed four. Several similar attacks were reported in Gaza.

Furthermore, paramedics said on Monday that they located three bodies in Al Atatra area, west of Beit Lahia, and that several residents are believed to be under the rubble of shelled homes.

Sources at Al Shifa hospital in Gaza reported that the bodies of seven members of Abu Aisha family were severely mutilated after the army shelled their home in Al Mashtal area, west of Al Shaty’ refugee camp, in Gaza.

The sources added that the casualties are father, mother and five of their children. They were killed on Sunday at night after the Israeli Navy fired missiles at their home and a number of nearby homes.

The army also shelled dozens of homes in Al Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City killing a five-year old child and her grandfather. Her mother was seriously wounded.

On Sunday night after midnight, the army shelled five homes that belong to Hamas political leaders, and one home that belong to Jamil Mzhir, a political leader of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

The army also shelled a college in Al Shaty’s refugee camp causing two injuries.

Hasan Khalaf of the Palestinian Ministry of Health, said that the number of Palestinians killed due to the ongoing Israeli offensive is now over 577 residents, including 70 who were killed in the ground offensive. Among the casualties were 107 children and 36 women; at least 2,530 residents were wounded.

The ground offensive was launched on Sunday evening, so far over 70 residents, including 21 children and 11 women were killed and over 371 were wounded.

2009-01-06T09:42:00.004+11:00

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights , Gaza

Tue, Jan 6, 2009 at 3:57 AM

Reference: 5/2009

Date: 5 January 2009

2:30PM Gaza Time (=2hrs GMT)

Press Release

10^th Day of IOF Crimes in Gaza

Death Toll Rises 489; Including 89 Children and 30 Women; Humanitarian Conditions Continue to Deteriorate

On the tenth day of its aggression on the Gaza Strip, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) has seriously escalated its military operations, targeting mostly civilian targets; particularly homes. Airstrikes and artillery shells hit tens of homes. IOF also targeted medical facilities and ambulances. A Civil Defence team was hit as it tried to fight a fire following bombardment of a clinic.

IOF's ground invasion into the Gaza Strip has expanded as troops and tanks were landed from the sea south to Gaza City. 77 people have been killed in IOF's attacks between 1pm yesterday and 2:30pm today. This includes 21 children and 9 women. In addition f medical rescue crewmen were killed during the same time. Dozens have also been injured, most of whom were civilians. Targeting protected objects and persons represent flagrant disregard to the rules of international law relevant to armed conflict; particularly as Israeli military and government spokespersons continue to assert that IOF targets fighter and military infrastructure.

Israeli aircrafts fired 15 missiles around the Omar Ibn Al-Khattab School in Beit Lahia, not far from the Israeli ground troops. No reports have been recieved as to the presence of casualties, yet.

At approximately 5:50pm yesterday, Sunday 4 January 2009, Israeli aircrafts fired missiles at the Mos'ab Ibn Omair Mosque in Beit Lahia, north of the Gaza Strip, killing three men. They were identified as:

- 19-year-old Mohammed Khader Hamouda;

- 28-year-old Ala' Zaqout;

- 30-year-old Mohammed Hassan Baba.

Four other people were injured critically in this attack.

At approximately 7:20 also Sunday, an IOF drone fired a missile at the house of Al-Shrafi family in the middle of Jabalia refugee camp, killing the house's owner, 47-year-old Samir Al-Shrafi. The house sustained severe damages and a fire started in it.

At approximately 8pm, IOF shelled with heavy machineguns the An-Nada and Al-Awda Towers, north of the Gaza Strip, killing 17-year-old Iyad Nabil Saleh indie his home. Several other inhabitants were also injured; however, Al Mezan has not been able to retrieve verified information about their number of ID's. residents of these two neighborhoods have had to vacate their homes and seek refuge with relatives in Jabalia camp, or in an UNRWA school nearby.

Five minutes later, the IOF fired artillery shells at the house of Zyad Al-Kafarneh, east of the north-Gaza town of Beit Hanoun. Four children and their father were injured as they were inside their house.

IOF armored vehicles advanced into the Customs Junction in Beit Hanoun and opened intensive fire in the nearby neighborhoods at 6am Monday, 5 January 2009. Tens of households were forced to evacuate their homes and take refuge in schools which UNRWA has opened to shelter them.

At 8am also today, the IOF opened artillery fire at the neighborhood of Tal Az-Za'tar, north of Jabalia. Shells hit homes and caused severe damage to the houses of Mousa Abu Jasser, Ashraf Salha, Abdul-Ra'uf Al-Mabhoh, Zaki Al-Kahlout, Ahmed Awad, Nasser Shamyieh and Issam Filfil.

At 8:45am, an IOF artillery shell fell close to a wake-tent south of Beit Hanoun, killing three people. They were identified as:

- 10-year-old Arafat Mohammed Abdul-Dayim;

- 25-year-old Mohammed Jamal Abdul-Dayim; and

- 30-year-old Nail Yousef Abdul-Dayim.

Ten other civilians were also injured in this attack; three of whom critically.

At approximately 11:30am, IOF fired ten artillery shells that fell onto Blocks 4 and 5 in the Jabalia refugee camp. No injuries were reported. IOF also fired artillery shells at the Al-Atatra neighborhood, southeastern Beit Lahia. 100 civilians escaped the area and remained in a nearby street. Following contacts between Al Mezan Center's field worker and UNRWA, they were absorbed in an UNRWA refuge in the Jabalia Sports Club. Last night, a family residing near the American School in Beit Lahia was evacuated after its 30 members ran out of food and water. They were absorbed in an UNRWA shelter in north Gaza. They reported that five corpses were spread close to their house in the area.

At 10pm Sunday, medical sources announced the death of 18-year-old Mohammed Akram Abu Harbid, who was injured in an IOF air raid earlier in Beit Hanoun.

At approximately 11:30pm Sunday, Israeli aircrafts raided the house of Zyad Al-Nimir in Az-Zeitoun neighborhood in the east of Gaza City, killing four of its residents and of a related family who were visiting them. Two of the victims were children. The victims were identified as:

- 8-year-old Ayah Zyad Al-Nimir;

- 18-year-old Akram Zyad Al-Nimir;

- 12-year-old Asmaa Afana;

- 25-year-old Ayman Afana.

At approximately 11:45pm, also Sunday, IOF fired an artillery shell onto the house al-Abed Al-Habbash, which is located in the At-Tuffa neighborhood northeast of Gaza City, killing two children:

- 13-year-old Israa Nasser Al-Habbash; and

- 10-year-old Shaza al-Abed Al-Habbash.

In yet a new attack on ambulance teams, an Israeli aircraft fired a guided missile at an ambulance in the Az-Zeitoun neighborhood, east of Gaza City. The three crewmen were killed, as a result. Of the attack which occurred at approximately 4pm Sunday 4 January 2009. They were identified as:

- 25-year-old Anas Fadel Naeem;

- 25-year-old Ra'fat Abdul-Al;

- 24-year-old Yasser Kamal Sa'id.

The rescue men were on their way to collect injured people in the area after they had received a phone call reporting injuries from an IOF attack.

At approximately 5:30am on the same day, Israeli aircrafts raided the house of Fuad Al-Helo, 50, in the same neighborhood of Az-Zeitoun, killing the man and a child from his family. The child was identified as 2-year-old Farah Emad Al-Helo.

At 12:40am today, Monday 5 January 2009, Israeli aircrafts bombarded with three heavy missiles a clinic run by the Union of Healthcare Committees. The clinic, which is located east to the Shifa Tower in the west of Gaza City, was destroyed.

Later, at 1:30am, Israeli aircrafts bombarded the house of Ameer Abu Aisheh, 40, in the Beach refugee camp, west of Gaza City. The man and his wife, 39-year-old Sabah, and their son, 5-year-old Ahmed, were killed immediately. Al Mezan also received reports that five of the same family members have been under the rubble of the three-story house. Those were identified as:

- 30-year-old Naheel Abu Aisheh;

- 5-year-old Ahmed Ameer Abu Aisheh;

- 12-year-old Hussein Ameer Abu Aisheh;

- 8-year-old Mohammed Ameer Abu Aisheh;

- 6-year-old Ghaydaa Ameer Abu Aisheh.

At 7am, also today, Israeli aircrafts raided the house of Talal Al-Sammouni, which is located in the Az-Zeitoun neighborhood in the east of Gaza City. Three children were killed in the attack. They were identified as:

- 4-year-old Ahmed Atyieh Al-Sammouni;

- 8-month-old Mohammed Hilmi Al-Sammouni; and

- 5-year-old Ameer Atyieh Al-Sammouni.

Al Mezan reported that at least seven civilians; including 5 women, have still been under the rubble of building. They were identified as:

- 48-year-old Atyieh Hilmi Al-Sammouni;

- 55-year-old Talal Hilmi Al-Sammouni;

- 18-year-old Rahma Mohammed Al-Sammouni;

- 60-year-old Latifa Abdul-Rahman Al-Sammouni;

- 20-year-old Maha Al-Sammouni;

- 30-year-old Hanan Al-Sammouni;

- 23-year-old Safaa Al-Sammouni.

They could not be rescued owing to the IOF's attacks on the locations where they are and to the lack of equipment needed for taking out the rubble. Moreover, the continued targeting by IOF of ambulance teams has be threatening the rescue efforts.

In middle Gaza district, Israeli aircrafts launched several attacks that targeted houses. At approximately 2.10am, on Monday 5 January 2009, IOF aircrafts raided the two-story house of Farid Mohammed Al-Hindy, which is located in Block (D) in the Al-Bureij refugee camp, destroying it completely and causing severe damages to ten neighboring houses.

At approximately 5.30am, on the same day, IOF aircrafts bombarded the two-story house of Jamil Saleh Abdullah Mezher, which is inhabited by 30 individuals. As a result, the house was completely destroyed, and ten nearby houses and Al-Karmel Cultural Association were severely damaged.

In yet another attack on the same day, at approximately 10am, IOF aircrafts hit the two-story house of So'ad Othman, which is home to four families with a total of 20 persons. The house is located in southern An-Nuseirat refugee camp. The attack destroyed the house completely and damaged seven adjacent houses.

At approximately 10.30 that same day, IOF aircrafts attacked the house of Fayiz Mohammed Baroud, in An-Nuseirat camp. The house was totally destroyed, and six nearby houses were damaged as a result.

Al Mezan's field worker in Middle Gaza district reported that the corpse of a man and eight injured people were admitted at the Shuhadaa Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al Balah. The man was identified as 22-year-old Mohammed Abu Kmeel. He was killed in a missile attack in his village, Al Mughraqa, south to Gaza City.

The IOF, which stationed themselves in the northern area of Az-Zahra town south to Gaza City, has continued to open fire at residential blocks in the town and the nearby villages of Al-Mughraqa and Wadi Gaza. The shooting resulted in several causalities and injuries. At approximately 3:20pm on 4 January 2009, the body of 40-year-old 'Aid Abdul-Hadi Abu Nada was admitted to the Shuhadaa Al Aqsa hospital. He died from a live bullet that hit him as he was riding his bike along the beach road, north to Az-Zahraa town. At approximately 8pm on the same day, the body of Ahmed Salem Abu Meddin, 54, was also admitted to the hospital after he was injured from a live bullet to his head while he drove on the beach, in west Az-Zahra town.

In addition, at approximately 12.40pm, the body of an 8-year-old girl, Nour Wail Thabit, was admitted to the hospital. She was killed by a live bullet to her head while she was in her house in the same Az-Zahra town.

The IOF has also escalated its attacks on the southern Gaza Strip District of Khan Younis. At approximately 3am, on 5 January 2008, IOF aircrafts bombarded the house of Yasser Nazmi Hamdan, which is compromised of two floors. The house was inhabited by 12 families, a total of 78 persons, and is located in Al-Amal neighborhood, southwest of Khan Younis City. The attack caused total destruction to Hamdan's house and an adjacent house.

At approximately 3.30am that same day, IOF aircrafts shelled the house of Khalil Mousa, which is located in a densely populated area in the middle of the refugee camp of Khan Younis. The shelling caused total destruction to t he house and severe damages to a high number of nearby houses.

At approximately 4am on the same day, IOF aircrafts bombarded the house of Amir Kollab in Al-Amal neighborhood, causing severe damages to the house. Later, at approximately 10.10am, aircrafts targeted the offices of An Nour Islamic Charity, which hosts a clinic. The building, located in Bani Suhaila town, was completely destroyed.

Earlier, at approximately 4.40pm, on 4 January 2009, IOF aircrafts bombarded the house of Ismail Jarghoun, which is located in the vicinity of Sufa crossing, southeast of Khan Younis, and the house of Marzouq Abu Jami', which is located in Az-Zana area in Bani Suhaila village, in eastern Khan Younis. The two houses were completely destroyed. At approximately, 5.10pm, on the same day, the IOF shelled the courtyard of UNRWA's Mustafa Hafez School in Khan Younis.

In the southern district of Rafah, the IOF launched a series of air raids yesterday evening and today. At 5:05pm on Sunday 4 January 2009, Israeli aircrafts raided the house of Mohammed Fahajan in the Al-Jnena neighborhood in Rafah town. At 11:40am, Monday 5 January 2009, aircrafts raided the houses of Mohammed Abu Shamaleh and Raed Al-Attar. An hour later, aircrafts raided the house of Ibrahim Abu An-Najja in the Al-Shabora refugee camp of Rafah. All of these houses were completely destroyed. Dozens of houses neighboring them were also destroyed and damaged.

IOF also fired artillery shells at the village of Ash-Shoka, east of rafah district, killing a child. He was identified as 12-year-old Ismail Abdullah Abu Snaymeh. Five other people were injured in the village.

At approximately 3:50pm on Sunday 4 January 2009, an Israeli aircraft fired a missle at a motorcycle in the village of Kherbet Al-Adas in Rafah, killing 25-year-old Mohammed Ibrahim Abu Sha'ar.

Today, at approximately 1:20pm, IOF fired several missiles on the Omar Ibn Al-Khattab Street in Rafah. The bombardment, which lasted for an hour, killed a child, 12-year-old Mohammed Silmi Abu Snaymeh, and a man, 40-year-old Sulaiman Abu Khamash.

As the Israeli aggression continues, the humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip have deteriorated to an unprecedented level. This is the third day with the entire Gaza City without electricity, and the seventh with two thirds of it without electricity, which has been cut-off after IOF's bombardment of all of the electric transformers around it. IOF also bombarded electricity lines in Rafah and other districts, including the line that supplies Rafah with electricity from Egypt. In Gaza City, long queues of civilians have been seen waiting to get some bread. Citizens reported that they wait for five to seven hours to get bread that suffices for one day. Owing to power cuts, most of Gaza City's homes do not receive water in their tabs. Civilians are also facing difficulty in cooking and heating after the cooking gas depleted.

The under-developed health system has also been burdened with loads of casualties and injuries, as it lacks supplies and personnel. Patients are being sent home as soon as possible to make room for newcomers.

Meanwhile, Al Mezan Center has received reports, and his staff members witnessed, that the IOF has used a new kind of ammunition not seen before in the Gaza Strip. Shells have been fired and exploded in the air some 30 meters before they reach the ground, spreading numerous smaller bombs. This ammunition has been reportedly used in the south east of Gaza City, an area made of farms mainly, and in Jabalia camp, which is a dense populated area. Al Mezan calls for investigation into the likelihood of using cluster bombs by the IOF in these two areas. If it proves correct, civilians need help to clear unexploded bombs from their neighborhoods.

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights renews its strongest condemnation of the Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip, which have continued to cause unprecedented losses in civilian life and property. Al Mezan remained alarmed by the international community's failure to address the grave situation in Gaza, by bringing the Israeli military actions to an end and aiding civilians. Therefore, Al Mezan Center reiterates its calls upon the international community to take effective action to bring to an end these operations without delay. Al Mezan calls:

· The United Nations Secretary General to condemn the Israeli disproportionate use of force and the targeting of civilians and civilian objects in defiance of peremptory rules of international law, and to ensure that the UNSC and GA take appropriate steps to address the situation in the Gaza Strip;

· The United Nations Agencies to provide urgent humanitarian aid and safe shelters for Gazans who have been displaced and those living in threatened areas;

· The ICRC to double its efforts to ensure humanitarian access for civilians and ensure tending to the urgent needs for medicines and water, and to investigate the likelihood of the use of cluster bombs in north Gaza;

· The Human Rights Council to request the UN general Assembly to request the convening in Switzerland of a conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilians in Times of war, of 1949, to consider the breaches by Israel of its nonderogable obligations under the Convention in the course of its ongoing military actions in Gaza, and to consider the necessary measures to ensure respect of the rules set out in the Convention and its relevant protocols.

· Civil societies around the world to exert pressure on their governments so that they act in conformity with the relevant human rights and humanitarian obligations as prescribed in relevant international law.

Failure to take effective action to halt the continuous Israeli violations has only allowed for a grave situation to grow worse. Action must be taken immediately to ensure the protection of the civilian population in the occupied Gaza Strip.

END

2009-01-04T16:22:00.000+11:00

Gaza protesters gather near Obama's home 03 Jan 2009

CLG News

Sun, Jan 4, 2009 at 3:25 PM

Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens For Legitimate Government

03 Jan 2009

http://www.legitgov.org/

All items are here:

http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news

Gaza protesters gather near Obama's home --As the death toll climbs, Palestinian supporters have criticized the president-elect for remaining silent. 03 Jan 2009 (IL) Joining a growing number of demonstrations worldwide, protesters marched today in President-elect Barack Obama's South Side neighborhood to voice their opposition to Israel's strikes against Gaza. Nearly three dozen demonstrators walked in front of police barricades a few blocks from Obama's Kenwood home, waving a Palestinian flag and chanting anti-war slogans that chastised the United States for manufacturing the bombs and warplanes used by Israel. "We won't be silent, we won't be tame," they chanted. "No more mass murder in our name." [Odd, Barack Obama condemned the Mumbai attacks... but not the Israeli invasion. He's (now) playing the 'there can only be one president at a time' card. --LRP]

Gaza telecommunication systems offline 04 Jan 2009 Palestinian communications networks are barely functioning in the Gaza Strip due to cables damaged by several Israeli airstrikes on network infrastructure on Saturday. Palestinian mobile provider Jawwal’s phone may stop working "at any minute" as shelling severely damaged the provider’s telecommunications network in Gaza. PalTel, Jawwal’s parent company based in the West Bank, told Ma’an, "The Israeli shelling damaged the electric grid and caused continuous cuts."

Gaza's main hospital struggles to stay functioning 03 Jan 2009 The sudden and violent beginning of Israel's aerial onslaught into Gaza Strip was bigger that the emergency plans drawn up earlier by the Palestinian health care system, Gaza doctors say. The crisis emerged widely in al-Shifa hospital, the only main sanatorium for Gaza's 1.5 million population. The hospital's floors were colored in red, and also the grass in its yard, as doctors and volunteers offered first aid to hundreds of wounded people on the floor.

Hamas leader: Israel killing Gaza civilians, not our fighters 04 Jan 2009 A Hamas leader early on Sunday morning denied reports that armed groups affiliated with the Islamic movement had been killed by invading Israeli forces. Appearing on Al-Jazeera just after midnight on Sunday, Mousa Mohammad Abu Marzook claimed that "there are casualties, but they are of the people of the Gaza Strip, not us."

Israel okays call-up of tens of thousands of IDF reservists 04 Jan 2009 Israel's government has approved the call-up of tens of thousands of reservist soldiers, it was announced Saturday, almost simultaneously with the launch of a Gaza ground incursion aimed at halting rocket fire on Israel's southern communities. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said in a statement that, in accordance with a secret cabinet discussion Friday, the government ordered the armed forces "to draft the necessary reservists, on a scale of tens of thousands of troops."

Explosions shake Gaza as Israeli troops roll in 03 Jan 2009 Explosions shook the Gaza Strip and fires lit up the night skies as Israeli ground forces moved on Saturday into the battered Palestinian enclave after a week of air and naval raids. Hours after Israeli infantry troops armed with night-vision equipment trotted alongside tank columns through the border and into the Hamas stronghold, battles raged in open areas east and north of Jabaliya and east of Gaza City.

Israeli tanks roll into Gaza Strip 04 Jan 2009 Israeli troops clashed with Hamas fighters as they advanced into Gaza Strip on Saturday in the first ground combat of an eight-day offensive on the Palestinian enclave, witnesses and the Israeli army said. Columns of tanks backed by helicopters crossed the boundary fence from four directions into the northern Gaza Strip under the cover of darkness, a Palestinian witness said.

Palestine: Invasion of Gaza begins (The Muslim News) 03 Jan 2009 Israeli ground troops and armoured vehicles are invading Gaza strip and have intensified missile attacks. Israel wants to destroy Hamas and destroy Gaza infrastructure to allow President Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority to take over. Israel has the support of the West on this issue as the West considers the Hamas, who won the last Palestinian elections, as a terrorist organisation. The invasion was preceded by artillery attacks.

White House gives Israel green light to invade Gaza 02 Jan 2009 A ground invasion by the Israeli army of the blockaded Gaza Strip is imminent. Mass troop build-ups on the border, accompanied by tanks, and armoured personnel carriers, are awaiting the signal to enter Gaza. The White House says any ground invasion is a matter for Israel.

Three more children slain by Israeli warplanes --56% of the Gaza Strip population of 1.5 million consists of children. 02 Jan 2009 Three boys aged from 7 to ten have been killed by the Israel Air Force in its continual bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Israeli media say the boys were killed in their home in a targeted air strike, while Reuters news agency say they were playing in the street. The boys were brothers. One of them was decapitated in the attack. "These injuries are not survivable injuries," Madth Gilbert, a Norwegian doctor at Gaza's Shifa hospital who could not save another boy who had both feet blown off. "This is a murder. This is a child," he told Reuters.

Spy for Israel: Jets drop recruitment leaflets over Gaza Strip 02 Jan 2009 Israeli airplanes dropped leaflets calling for Gazans to inform their military of the whereabouts of projectile launchers in return for aid and assistance. The papers were found by the thousands all over Gaza on Friday morning and bear the signature of the Israeli military... 'Your anonymity is guaranteed. Call us at the following number: 02-5839749 Or you can e-mail us at: helpgaza2008@gmail.com to provide us with any information on the terrorist factions. Note: To protect your safety, we ask you to be secretive when you call us. Head of the Israeli Defense Forces'

2009-01-04T10:53:00.002+11:00

http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/1809.shtml
StopTheWall.org

Across the West Bank, popular calls for unity and an end to the massacre in Gaza
Latest News,
Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign,
January 3rd, 2009

As the bombing continued in Gaza for the seventh straight day, massive demonstrations took place all across the West Bank yesterday, with tens of thousands of people condemning the massacres that are being carried out by Occupation forces. From Hebron to Jenin, people took to the streets to demonstrate their solidarity with the people in Gaza, and to call for unity amongst all Palestinians, urging the people to come together in this time of crisis.

In Qalqilya district, one youth from the village of Jayyous was hit in the leg by a live bullet, while five others were wounded by rubber bullets in different parts of their bodies. The people of Jayyous began their demonstration after the Friday prayer, as members of the different segments of the community came together in a show of unity and collective action. The demonstrators marched from the mosque in the centre of the village, to the south gate of the Apartheid Wall. They shouted slogans condemning the Occupation, and several youth managed to burn the gate and destroy part of the Wall. As they arrived at the south gate, Occupation forces immediately began firing a barrage of sound bombs, tear gas, rubber bullets and live bullets at the protestors. Clashes continued throughout the night and into the morning, with forces coming into the village and continuing their onslaught of tear gas and bullets.

In Hebron district, similar events occurred, as seven Palestinians, including two journalists, were injured by bullets and tear gas during demonstrations in Hebron city. Several people in different areas of the Hebron district were also beaten by Occupation forces during the confrontations.

Five more Palestinians were injured in the village of Bani Na’im, which is in the east of Hebron district. Medical sources in both al Mizan and al Ahli hospitals said that Mohammad Abed Rabo Manasrah, Mustafa Mohammad Manasrah and Mohammad Tala Manasrah were all injured by live bullets fired by Occupation forces. Doctors were forced to perform emergency surgery on each of the three victims. Additionally, two other youth from Bani Na’im, Ibrahim Mohanad Barakat, 12 years old, and Ayman Viab al Hajouj, 11 years old, were taken to a local hospital for treatment of injuries from rubber bullets.

Also in Hebron district, in the village of Beit Omar, Salah Saleh al Alama, 24 years old, was wounded in the foot by shrapnel from a live bullet. Saleh Mohammad Khalil, Mohammad Bahjat Abu Sara and Ahmad Mohammad Khalil were also injured, and were taken to the district hospital for medical treatment. Even after the demonstration in Beit Omar ended, Occupation forces continued to fire tear gas and sound bombs at people’s houses, and launched raids on the several homes. As was the case in Jayyous, the village endured clashes with Occupation forces into the early hours of the morning.

Meanwhile, in Nablus district, thousands of Palestinians engaged in demonstrations inside Nablus city, as well as its surrounding villages, with representatives from political parties leading some of the protests. Participants called on the political parties to work for national unity amongst all spectrums of Palestinian society. Five people in Nablus district suffered from breathing difficulties as a result of the tear gas that was fired at demonstrators, while one settler also tried to run over a Palestinian from the village of Huwwara, south of the city. Furthermore, in the village of Azira Shamalya, north of Nablus city, Occupation forces attacked villagers around dawn, as they stormed the village and opened fire with tear gas and sound bombs.

In Jenin district, hundreds of people participated in demonstrations with protestors shouting for the immediate end to all aggression on Gaza, and asking for our people in Palestine to unite in the face of this violence. They called for the Arab countries to move immediately to put pressure on the Security Council to adopt a resolution to unconditionally condemn all forms of aggression against our people in the Gaza Strip, without any conditions.

A similar initiative took place in Jericho, where another mass demonstration occurred condemning the continuous aggression on the Gaza Strip. The demonstration included the participation of representatives of all factions and forces of the PLO, as well as Kamil Hamid, the Governor of Jericho and the Jordan Valley, lawyer Hassan Saleh, the head of the Jericho municipality, and religious representatives from both the Muslim and Christian communities.

In Ramallah, meanwhile, protestors took to the streets once again, as thousands of Palestinian flags were carried throughout the city from al Manara towards Qalandiya checkpoint. The participants called for national unity and national dialogue. Halfway to Qalandiya, PNA 'security' forces broke down the march to stop the protestors from clashing with the Occupation forces.

In the village of Ni’lin, Occupation forces fired a barrage of rubber and live bullets, as well as tear gas and sound bombs against protestors who were participating in the village’s weekly demonstration against the Wall. The demonstrators responded by throwing stones at the Occupation forces, but no injuries were reported.

In Bil’in village, demonstrators shouted national slogans that expressed their solidarity with our people in Gaza. Some witnesses reported that Occupation forces used a new weapon against them, called the “shouting weapon.” This weapon makes a very high-pitched sound that harms the ears and makes those who hear it lose their balance. Witnesses also reported that some people suffered from difficulty breathing due to the tear gas. Five youth, Mohammad Yassin, Abdullah Ahmad Yassin, Abdullah Mohammad Yassin, Mohammad Ahmad Hamad and Hamza Suleiman Yassin, were injured by rubber bullets, and received medical attention in al Sheikh Zayid hospital in Ramallah city.

Finally, in Bethlehem district, worshippers said prayers for the souls of the martyrs who have fallen in the Occupation’s aggression against Gaza. After the prayers ended, the people walked in several marches, with the biggest one being in Omar bin Al Khattab mosque, toward the Nativity Church. All of them condemned the massacres against our people in Gaza, and called for the international community to uphold its responsibility to protect the rights of the Palestinian people.

In their attempts to quell the mass uprisings across the West Bank, Occupation forces imposed closures on several towns and villages. For instance, Bethlehem district was placed under siege, with several checkpoints being established in the early hours of the morning at the main entrances of many towns and villages.

A comprehensive closure was also placed on Jerusalem since Thursday morning, as Occupation forces took the extreme measure of deploying thousands of members of the so-called “border police” to virtually shut down the old city and to patrol the Al Aqsa mosque. They prevented anyone under the age of fifty from entering the old city and praying at Al Aqsa. Additional checkpoints were also established along the main roads leading to Jerusalem.

In the face of this mounting repression, however, the Palestinian people refuse to back down. The mass mobilization all across the West Bank, and the growing unity amongst the people is only leading to stronger collective action and a sustained resistance movement. Palestinians will not stand idle as the massacres continue in Gaza, and their acts of solidarity will not be suppressed.

2009-01-04T10:26:00.001+11:00

Breaking: Israeli ground troops enter Gaza

CLG News

Sun, Jan 4, 2009 at 6:17 AM

News Updates from Citizens For Legitimate Government

03 Jan 2009

http://www.legitgov.org/

All items are here:

http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news

Breaking: Israeli ground troops enter Gaza --Israel begins using ground artillery, firing shells from tanks 03 Jan 2009 Israeli troops began moving into Gaza on Saturday night, Israel Defense Forces said. "We have just a short while ago launched the second stage of the operation against Hamas infrastructure," IDF spokeswoman Maj. Avital Leibovich told CNN. Earlier, the Israelis used ground artillery for the first time in the eight-day-old conflict when Israeli tanks fired shells into Gaza from the northern and eastern borders.

Israeli Ground Forces Push Into Gaza 03 Jan 2009 Israeli troops backed by helicopters advanced into Gaza on Saturday, a Palestinian witness and the Israeli army said, in the first ground action of an eight-day offensive against Hamas in the Palestinian enclave. The small column of military vehicles crossed the boundary fence into the northern Gaza Strip under darkness, said the witness, a resident of Beit Lahiya.

Thousands protest in Europe at Gaza offensive 03 Jan 2009 Thousands of chanting, banner-waving demonstrators marched in cities across Europe on Saturday to demand a halt to Israeli bombing in the Gaza Strip. Protests were held or scheduled in Britain, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain as the Israeli offensive entered its second week. Kuwaitis also took to the streets, a day after bigger Middle East rallies.

2009-01-03T18:40:00.000+11:00

http://www.imemc.org/article/58281

Two fighters killed on Friday evening, 434 killed and 2280 wounded in the ongoing offensive in Gaza

Saturday January 03, 2009 00:48
by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

The number of Palestinians who were killed in the ongoing Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip arrived to 434 and at least 2280 Palestinians were wounded. On Friday, seven Palestinians, including five children, were killed in Al Qarara town, east of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, the Palestine News Netwrok reported.

Palestinian homes in Gaza shelled by the Israeli forces on Friday � Photo by WAFA

Three of the slain children are members of the same family and were playing near their home when the Israeli army shelled the area.

Two more children were killed in an Israeli shelling in Jabalia, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip after the army fired missiles at the house of Imad Aqel, one of the leaders of the AL Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.

On Friday evening, a Palestinian man and a woman were killed and five residents were wounded in Al Boreij refugee camp.

The Israeli army shelled at least 20 targets in the Gaza Strip on Friday; one of the targets was a mosque in Jabalia town as the army claimed that “the mosque was used to store grad missiles and Qassam homemade shells”.

The Gaza Strip remains off limits to foreign reporters although the Israeli High Court of Justice allowed their entry.

Meanwhile, Israeli military analysts said that Israel is about to launch a large ground offensive which aims at eliminating the resistance and their shells before any cease fire deal is reached.

Furthermore, Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, decided on Friday to seal the West Bank for 48 hours starting on Thursday night after midnight.

The Jerusalem Post reported that the decision came after Israel received intelligence information that Palestinians might carry attacks in Israel in retaliation to the ongoing Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Gaza enters day seven of Israeli air raids: Death toll reaches 428

Friday January 02, 2009 09:38 IMEMC Staff - IMEMC News

For the seventh day, the Israeli Air Force continues to attack the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian sources reported that Israeli jetfighters targeted several Palestinian homes in several parts of the Gaza Strip. Targets included blacksmith workshops, local schools and civilian vehicles.

Medical sources stated that during Friday morning raids, three Palestinians were killed, and at least 20 others were injured. Among those killed was Fo'ad al Mutawak, who was killed when his home, located in Jabalyia refugee camp, in the northern part of the Coastal Region, was attacked by the Israeli Air Force.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that by Friday morning, the death toll in Gaza, due to the Israeli Air Force bombardments, now stands at 428. The ministry added that there are an additional 2,220 injured, among them at least 300 are in critical condition.

Israel embarked on its military operation on Saturday December 27th, coming only days after the sixth-month Egyptian-mediated cease fire between Hamas, that controls Gaza, and Israel finished on December 16th, 2008.

gaza strip | israeli attacks | news report

Image republished from Palestine News Network

2009-01-03T06:19:00.000+11:00

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, Gaza

Reference: 2/2009

Date: 2 January 2009

4:40PM Gaza Time (+2 GMT)

Reference: 2/2009

Date: 2 January 2009

4:40PM Gaza Time (+2 GMT)

Press Release

Israeli Attacks on Gaza Continue for the 7^th Day

Number of Victims of Air Raid on Rayyan House Rises to 16; 11 Children

Death Toll in Gaza Rises to 353 People, Including 59 Children and 14 Women

The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) has continued its military operation - codenamed 'Cast Lead' - against the Gaza Strip for seventh consecutive day. Air raids and attacks from ground forces and naval vessels have continued to target civilian objects. There has been an increase in the air raids targeting houses of resistance members. The number of people who have been killed in IOF's attacks has reached 353, including 59 children and 14 women. This figure reflects only the cases which Al Mezan Center has been able to verify, and is expected to rise as many casualties were buried by their families without being registered at hospitals and other remain under the rubble of destroyed buildings. Many attacks targeted open fields, though not far from urban areas. IOF also targeted another rescue team in Deir Al Balah.

At approximately 2.40pm yesterday, Thursday 1 January 2008, Israeli aircrafts fired heavy missiles at the house of Nizar Rayyan, a leader in Hamas Movement, in the refugee camp of Jabalia, causing massive destruction in the camp and killing 16 of its residents; 11 of whom were children. The victims were identified as:

- 49-year-old Nizar Abdul-Qadir Rayyan;

- 40-year-old Nawal Ismail Rayyan;

- 46-year-old Hyiam Abdul-Rahman Rayyan;

- 45-year-old Iman Khalil Rayyan;

- 25-year-old Shirin Said Rayyan;

- 2-year-old As'ad Nizar Rayyan;

- 3-year-old Usama Nizar Rayyan;

- 3-year-old Aiysha Nizar Rayyan;

- 4-year-old Reem Nizar Rayyan;

- 5-year-old Halima Nizar Rayyan;

- 5-year-old Meryam Nizar Rayyan;

- 6-year-old Abdul-Rahman Nizar Rayyan;

- 12-year-old Abdul-Qadir Nizar Rayyan;

- 12-year-old Ayia Nizar Rayyan;

- 15-year-old Zainab Nizar Rayyan;

- 16-year-old Ghassan Nizar Rayyan;

The victims are from the same family. The body of Ghassan has still been under the rubble of the house by the time this release was drafted. Moreover, 12 people; including 5 children and one women, were injured this raid. It also destroyed ten houses completely and caused damage to another dozens of other houses.

At approximately 11:35pm on the same day, Israeli aircrafts raided the Al-Khulafa Mosque, which is located near Rayyan's house, destroying the mosque completely and damaging tens of houses in the area, some for the second time on the same day.

Also in North Gaza district, Israeli aircrafts raided the Al-Hawouz Hill at approximately 3:30pm yesterday. They fired three heavy missiles at the area killing two children. They were identified as 6-year-old girl Oyoun Jihad An-Naslah and her brother Al-Muo'iz. Forty other people were injured in this raid; including 27 children and 5 women. Yesterday, Al Mezan Center's press release mentioned this case and included initial information about it, including that a woman was killed in it; however, the number and identity of the casualties have been verified as above.

At approximately 3:10pm, also Thursday, Israeli aircrafts fired a missile into a crowd in the Al Amal neighborhood in Beit Hanoun, north of the Gaza Strip. This raid coincided with the presence of many prayers who were leaving a nearby mosque. 17 people were injured; including 9 children and a woman. Medical sources reported that three of the victims sustained critical injuries. Today, Friday, medical sources announced the death of 24-year-old Fadi Nasser Shabat, who was injured in this attack. In addition, medical sources reported the death of 19-year-old Bilal Ghabayin, who was injured in an Israeli raid on a truck near Sammor Blacksmith's on Monday 29 December 2008.

More Palestinians were killed in Israeli raids since yesterday evening as Israeli air attacks targeted more mosques, houses and open fields near residential areas across the Gaza Strip. At 4:30am today, Israeli aircrafts bombarded open fields in the An-Nazzaz area eastern Beit Hanoun, injuring 6 people; of whom two children and one woman. An elderly passerby was also killed when an air raid targeted the house of Ibrahim Al-Mutawaq in the town of Jabalia, north of the Gaza Strip. The man was identified as 50-year-old Nafith Al-Mutawaq.

In Gaza City, IOF targeted the car of Jamal Ali Ad-Dardasawi with a missile at approximately 1.30pm yesterday, killing him immediately.

Medical sources announced the death of 6-year-old girl Kristin At-Turk, who was injured at 10am yesterday in an Israeli air raid at a poultry farm near Palestine Stadium in the middle of Gaza City. Medical sources also announced the death of a 10-year-old child, Hamada Ibrahim Msabbeh, who was injured in an Israeli air raid on eastern Gaza City's neighborhoods of Az-Zeitoun and At-Tuffah at approximately 8:35am on today, Friday 2 January 2009. 20 other people were injured in Gaza City since yesterday midnight. Of them 3 were children and 3 women.

IOF's attacks continued to threaten and injure the life of rescue crews and medical crews. Yesterday, Israeli aircrafts bombarded a car parked at the entrance of the Sheikh Radwan's clinic. At approximately 9:40am today, aircrafts bombarded the house of Nazmi Mhanna in the town of Deir Al-Balah of Middle Gaza district. They fired missiles at the same house for the second time after a rescue team from the PRCS had arrived at the scene, thus injuring two rescue workers; 26-year-old Mazin Subhi Abu Mesbih and 40-year-old Awni Khattab. Their ambulance was also damaged.

18 people were also injured in the Middle Gaza district; including 3 children, one of whose wounds were described as severe.

While drafting this press release, initial reports indicated that Israeli aircrafts bombarded the house of a member of Hamas Movement in An-Nuseirat refugee camp. At the same time, aircrafts raided an open field in the Al-Qarara town, north to Khan Younis town, killing three children who were playing there. They were identified as:

- 8-year-old Abdul-Sattar Al Astal;

- 9-year-old Iyad Abed-Rabu Al Astal; and his brother

- 12-year-old Mohammed Abed-Rabu Al Astal.

Some 20 minutes later, Israeli aircrafts bombarded a house in Khan Younis refugee camp, injuring 5 people, including two women.

According to the monitoring of Al Mezan Center's field workers, more civilians have been evacuating their homes all over the Gaza Strip, either because they were destroyed by IOF or out of fear of destruction. In particular, people residing near the borders with Egypt and with Israel left their homes following Israeli bombardment and shelling of their areas. Moreover, people whose homes have been destroyed and damaged as a result of Israeli bombardment sought shelter elsewhere; mostly with relatives. Moreover, hundreds of families have left their homes following telephone calls from the Israeli army informing their neighbors that their homes would be bombarded from the air. Al Mezan estimates that at least 2,210 families have been displaced as a result to Israeli attacks or threatened attacks on civilian areas across the Gaza Strip. In Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, 200-300 people have sheltered in an UNRWA school where they have receive aid from UNRWA. Another 100 people have taken shelter in another school in the town. Moreover, following an air raid that killed two children in North Gaza's An-Nada Towers, some 600 people left their homes and sheltered in the Khalil Uwaida School.

In the meantime, the humanitarian conditions have continued to deteriorate in the beleaguered Gaza Strip as food, medical and fuel supplies continue to be disrupted by Israel. There is a serious lack of water in houses and the cooking gas has already depleted. Foodstuffs, especially bread, have been particularly lacking. Gaza has also been experiencing increasing hours of electricity outage; in Gaza City reaching as long as four days now.

Reports also indicate that the health system is close to collapse as hospitals and clinics suffer a very high case load under shortages in medical supplies and personnel. The high numbers of casualties resulting from Israeli attacks has added enormous pressure on the health system.

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights expresses its outrage about the continued inaction of the international community in the face of IOF's continued violations of the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and human rights in the Gaza Strip. The failure to take any action continues despite the enormous amount of information about the consequences of Israel's conducts on human life and wellbeing in the Strip, which have been heavily reported by the media and human rights organizations in the Strip. Al Mezan Center asserts, according to its continuous monitoring of the situation in Gaza, that Israel has been perpetrating grave breaches of IHL, amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity, by deliberately targeting civilian premises in highly dense areas without observing the principles of proportionality, distinction and military necessity. In doing so, the Israel is showing despicable disregard to civilian life.

Therefore, the Center reiterates its calls for an urgent intervention by the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilians in Times of war, of 1949, including by convening their conference, to consider the breaches by Israel of its nonderogable obligations under the Convention, and to take the necessary measures to ensure respect of its rules with regard to the Israeli military actions in Gaza. Civil society organizations are also called upon to exert pressure on their governments so that they act in conformity with their human rights and humanitarian obligations.

END

2009-01-02T07:37:00.000+11:00

http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_29210.shtml

Antiwar Movement
Solidarity with Heroic Gaza: Statement from the International Action Center - in English and Spanish (Includes information for demonstrations across the U.S.)
By Call to Action
Dec 30, 2008, 15:28

Solidarity with heroic Gaza: Statement from the International Action Center
December 27, 2008 / also en Español

The International Action Center condemns the criminal U.S.-backed Israeli bombing massacre on Gaza, and the mass murder of 200 and serious wounding of another 300 Palestinians. We call upon the progressive, anti-war and workers' movement in the United States to join the angry, growing worldwide protests of these latest Israeli war crimes with U.S. complicity. We refuse impunity to the Israeli state and its backers.

The rightist Zionist regime had the arrogance to announce in advance its intention to strike Gaza's embattled civilians. Like every serious Israeli move, this latest assault was done with a U.S. green light using U.S. weapons and spy services.

Compounding this arrogance, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has already said, "The operation will go on and be intensified as long as necessary," (AFP, Dec. 27) exposing his genocidal intent. The Israeli attacks, targeting civilian population centers and coinciding with the end of the school day, reveal a malicious intent to inflict as many casualties as possible, including on children.

Under Israeli siege for over a year, the people of Gaza had been struggling to survive with insufficient food, power and a damaged and depleted medical-care system. The world has condemned this siege as an Israeli crime against humanity. The Israelis have carried out this murderous siege without protest from their powerful allies in Western Europe and the United States. And the Palestinian people in Gaza have faced down the siege over 18 months, providing once again an example for the world’s people that the criminal U.S.-Israeli alliance has grown desperate to tear down.

Like the bombing, the siege itself is a U.S.-Israeli war crime, with the billions in yearly U.S. aid used to bomb the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza, cut off their electricity, and kick them out of their homes. Meanwhile, back home, the same U.S. government lets banks foreclose on workers’ homes and bosses lay off millions of workers and let tens of millions live in fear of an illness that will wipe out their savings—if the crisis hasn’t already.

We have no interest in allowing the U.S.-Israeli genocidal attacks on the Palestinian people of Gaza. We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people against U.S. imperialism and Israel, Washington's outpost in the Middle East.

We demand that U.S. aid to Israel be cut to zero, and that this money be used instead for reparations for the Palestinian people, to ensure their right to return, and for homes, jobs, health care and education for working people in the U.S.

Protest demonstrations have taken place already in Amman, Damascus, Cairo, in the cities of the West Bank and in mostly Arab towns within Israel's 1967 boundaries. Organizations in Brussels, Madrid and other European centers have also called for protests. In the United States, the first action has been called for New York's Rockefeller Center, at 50th Street and Fifth Avenues, for 2 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 28.

There demonstrators will say:

Defend Palestine!

Solidarity with heroic Gaza!

Stand in solidarity with Palestine!

Declaración del Centro de Acción Internacional: Solidaridad con Gaza heroica

El Centro de Acción Internacional condena la criminal masacre por bombardeo en Gaza perpetrada por Israel con el apoyo de los EEUU que hasta la fecha ha causado la muerte de más de 200 palestinos/as dejando a más de 300 personas gravemente heridas. Hacemos un llamado al movimiento progresista, contra la guerra y de los/as trabajadores/as en Estados Unidos para que se unan a las crecientes protestas mundiales contra éste último crimen de guerra israelí cometido con la complicidad de los EEUU. Rechazamos la impunidad para el estado israelí y sus patrocinadores.

El derechista régimen sionista tuvo la arrogancia de anunciar por adelantado su intención de atacar a los/as civiles asediados/as de Gaza. Como cada movimiento grave israelí, este último asalto fue hecho con la luz verde de los EEUU usando armas y servicios de espionaje estadounidense.

Complicando esta arrogancia, el ministro de defensa israelí Ehud Barak ha dicho ya que “la operación se continuará y será intensificada mientras sea necesario,” (AFP, 27 de diciembre) exponiendo así su intento genocida. Los ataques israelíes, apuntando contra centros civiles de la población y coincidiendo con el final del día escolar, revelan un intento perverso para ocasionar tantas muertes como sea posible, incluyendo la de niños/as.

Bajo un estado de sitio israelí por más de un año, el pueblo de Gaza había estado luchando para sobrevivir con escasos alimentos y energía eléctrica y con un sistema de servicios de salud deshecho y agotado. El mundo ha condenado este bloqueo como un crimen israelí de lesa humanidad. Los israelíes han realizado este criminal bloqueo sin la protesta de sus aliados en Europa occidental y los Estados Unidos. Y el pueblo palestino en Gaza le ha dado frente a este bloqueo por más de 18 meses, proporcionando de nuevo un ejemplo para los pueblos del mundo, algo que la criminal alianza EEUU - Israel ha querido desesperadamente destrozar.

Como el bombardeo, el estado de sitio en sí es un crimen de guerra de EEUU e Israel, con los miles de millones de dólares anuales procedentes de los EEUU en ayuda utilizados para bombardear a los 1.5 millones de palestinos/as en Gaza, cortar su electricidad, y quitarles de sus hogares. Mientras tanto, acá en el mismo EEUU, el gobierno deja a los bancos desahuciar los hogares de los/as trabajadores/as y las empresas despiden a millones de trabajadores/as y dejan a decenas de millones vivir con el miedo de que por una enfermedad se agoten sus ahorros-si acaso la crisis no los ha agotado.

No está en nuestros intereses el permitir los ataques genocidas de EEUU-Israel contra el pueblo palestino de Gaza. Estamos en solidaridad con el pueblo palestino y en contra del imperialismo estadounidense y su asentamiento militar en el Oriente Medio, Israel.

Exigimos que la ayuda estadounidense para Israel se recorte a cero, y que ése dinero se utilice para pagar reparaciones al pueblo palestino, para asegurar su derecho a volver, y para viviendas, trabajos, cuidado médico y educación para el pueblo trabajador en los EEUU.

Demostraciones de protesta ya han ocurrido en Amman, Damasco, El Cairo, en las ciudades de la Franja Occidental y en ciudades árabes dentro de los límites de la frontera del 1967 de Israel. Organizaciones en Bruselas, Madrid y otros centros europeos también han llamado a protestas. En Estados Unidos, la primera acción se ha llamado para el Centro Rockefeller de Nueva York, el domingo 28 de diciembre.

¡Defendamos Palestina!

¡Solidaridad con Gaza heroica!

¡Solidaridad con Palestina!

¡TODOS/AS A PROTESTAR LAS MASACRES EN GAZA!

IACenter.org

En español: IAC-CAI@action-mail.org

2009-01-02T06:36:00.000+11:00

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights. Gaza

Fri, Jan 2, 2009 at 3:56 AM

Reference: 1/2009

Date: 1 January 2009

3:40PM Gaza Time (+2 GMT)

Press Release

Israel Conducts New War Crimes in Gaza: Air Raid Targets Dense Block in Jabalia Killing Nizar Rayyan and 7 People

Number of Casualties in Gaza Rises to 337 People, Including 43 Children and 15 Women

The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) has continued its military operations in the Gaza Strip for sixth consecutive day. Airstrikes and attacks from ground forces and naval vessels have continued around the clock. The vast majority of their targets have been civilian objects, and most of the casualties have been civilians. Attacks have particularly targeted houses of individuals Israel claims connected with resistance groups. Other attacks hit the parliament and other government facilities.

The most significant attacks by IOF today was an air raid that targeted the houses of Abu Al-Jabin family and Nizzar Rayyan, who is a leader in Hamas movement. At approximately 2:40pm today, Israeli aircrafts fired five heavy missiles at the two houses, which are located in the middle of Jabalia refugee camp – one of the densest places in the world – killing at least eight people; including 49-year-old Rayyan, his wife Nawal Rayyan, his 6-year-old son Abdul-Rahman Rayyan, and another woman related to him, 49-year-old Sabah Abdul-Rahman Rayyan. Ten houses were destroyed completely and dozens others were damaged. The number of casualties in this attack is expected to rise.

Other heavy air raids targeted populated areas throughout the Gaza Strip last night and today. At approximately 11:30pm yesterday, 31 December 2008, Israeli aircrafts fired missiles at a park in the Al-Shabora refugee camp killing many civilians and destroying dozens of homes. During the drafting of this press release, the IOF launched an air raid at the Hawouz Hill, opposite to the An-Nada Towers in Beit Hanoun, killing a woman and a girl child.

According to the monitoring of Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, 337 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by the IOF since the start of the ongoing Operation Cast Lead. Of those were 43 and 15. The number people who have been injured is over 1,100, including 105 children and 52 women. Today at dawn, the corpses of two brothers were found under the rubble of Wa'id Society, which was hit on 27 December 2008. Hundred of houses have been destroyed and thousands damaged, causing thousands of people to be forcefully displaced in the Gaza Strip.

According to its monitoring, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights asserts that the IOF has perpetrated grave breaches of the International Humanitarian Law (IHL), amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity, in the course of its ongoing military operation in the Gaza Strip. The IOF has focused, and continues to focus, its attacks on civilian objects, particularly houses, police stations, public facilities and mosques. It has also attacked medical crews. In doing so, the IOF has shown despicable disregard to civilian life.

Al Mezan, therefore, deplores the inaction on the part of the international community, which only has only allowed for, and perhaps encouraged, such violations of IHL and human rights standards; including the perpetration of war crimes in Gaza. Al Mezan Center renews its calls upon the international community to uphold its legal and ethical obligations by taking concrete, effective measures to ensure Israel's compliance with the applicable rules of international law, and to ensure the protection of civilians and civilian objects in Gaza. Al Mezan finds it ironic that international community continues to call for such compliance while it must act to ensure it, to protect and aid civilians, and to prevent the perpetration of grave breaches of IHL.

As a first step, the Center calls for an urgent convention of the conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilians in Times of war, of 1949, to consider the continuous breaches by Israel of its obligations under the Convention and take the necessary measures to ensure respect of its rules with regard to the Israeli military actions in Gaza. Civil society organizations are also called upon to exert pressure on their governments so that they act in conformity with their human rights and humanitarian obligations.

END

2009-01-01T06:47:00.000+11:00

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights

Thu, Jan 1, 2009 at 12:27 AM

Reference: 117/2008

Date: 31 December 2008

12:30pm Gaza Time (+2hrs GMT)

Press Release

IOF Continues to Perpetrate War Crimes in Gaza; Targets an Ambulance Crew and Other Civilian Objects

Number of Palestinian Casualties Rises to 315 (41 Children) & the Injured 939 (85 Children)

The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) has continued its military operation in the Gaza Strip for the fifth day. Today, it targeted an ambulance and its medical crew with a missile, killing a doctor and an orderly and critically injuring its driver. According to Al Mezan Center's monitoring, the number of Palestinian casualties since the start of Israel's Operation Cast Lead at 11:30am on 27 December 2008 has risen to 315, of whom 41 were children and 9 women. At least 939 people have been injured, including 85 children and 52 women. The number of civilian objects that have been destroyed is as follows:

- 112 houses have been destroyed completely and approximately 3,500 houses damaged;

- 7 mosques have been completely destroyed from direct air strikes;

- 38 private industrial and agricultural enterprises have been completely destroyed;

- 16 schools have been damaged;

- 9 CBO offices were completely destroyed;

- 8 private vehicles were destroyed;

- 16 governmental facilities were destroyed.

Moreover, 20 security installations were targeted and destroyed. All of these targets were struck from the air. Hundreds of heavy missiles have been fired on the Gaza Strip, some of which on open fields.

Today, at approximately 1:50am, an Israeli aircraft fired a missile at an ambulance that arrived in the Jabal Al-Rayis neighborhood in northeast of Gaza City after a call to rescue injured people. The crew, a doctor, driver and orderly, were targeted just after they stepped out of the ambulance. As a result, the orderly, 30-year-old Mohammed Sa'eed Abu Hasira, was killed immediately. The doctor, 33-year-old Ihab Al-Madhoun, died from the wounds he sustained in this attack later in the morning. The driver, 30-year-old Hishmat Ajour, sustained critical wounds and is still at hospital.

Meanwhile, the health sector in Gaza has continued to suffer from the very high number of casualties and injuries it has been forced to deal with under severe shortages in medical necessities, which is the result of the Israeli prolonged siege on the Gaza Strip. Many health facilities have little materials and dozens of wounded people face greater threats on their life as a result.

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights asserts, according to its monitoring of the situation on the ground, that the IOF has perpetrated grave breaches of the International Humanitarian Law (IHL), amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity, in the course of its military actions in Gaza. The Center also asserts that the vast majority of IOF's targets in Gaza are civilian targets that must not be deliberately targeted. This includes houses, mosques, police stations and at least one ambulance. Most of the casualties are not combatants and were not involved in any hostilities when they were targeted by IOF. This behavior reflects a blatant disregard of civilian life and of the international law that is supposed to protect it.

Al Mezan Center condemns the IOF's violations of international law rules applicable in times of belligerent occupation and armed conflict. In particular, the violations by IOF of the Fourth Geneva Convention and its Protocol I have caused extreme suffering as well as loss of civilian life. Articles 15-19 of the Convention prohibit the disruption of the working of health facilities during times of conflict. Article 20 requires respect and protection of the persons who are involved in the search for civilians, the sick, the wounded, the elderly and mothers and care for them. IOF violates IHL by imposing a strangulating blockade that disrupts, and sometimes prevents, the provision of humanitarian aid to the population of the Gaza Strip.

As such, and as the silence of international community continues to allow for such violations of IHL and human rights standards; including the perpetration of war crimes in Gaza, Al Mezan Center calls upon the international community to uphold its legal and ethical obligations by taking effective measures to ensure Israel's compliance with the applicable rules of international law, and to ensure the protection of civilians and civilian objects in Gaza. Al Mezan finds it ironic that international community continues to call for such compliance while it must act to ensure it, to protect and aid civilians, and to prevent the perpetration of grave breaches of IHL.

Al Mezan Center welcomes the popular protests against the Israeli violations of human rights and IHL in Gaza, and the worldwide solidarity with its people. The Center calls on civil societies to double their efforts to exert pressure of their governments so that they act in conformity with their human rights and humanitarian obligations.

END

2009-01-01T00:45:00.001+11:00

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights

Wed, Dec 31, 2008 at 11:30 PM

30 December 2008

Re: Gross Human Rights Violations and War Crimes in the Gaza Strip – The UN Human Rights Council must urge the

General Assembly to act under Resolution 377

Dear Member State of the UN Human Rights Council,

Representing the Palestinian human rights community, we write to you with an urgent request for intervention by the UN Human Rights Council to put an end to the war crimes and crimes against humanity being committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) as a result of the Israeli occupying forces' ongoing attacks on the Gaza Strip. At least 310 persons, including 37 children, have been killed and over 1000 Palestinians have been injured. The civilian population of the occupied Gaza Strip will inevitably continue to suffer heavy losses without the external intervention of the international community; this is confirmed by Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak’s assertion that this is a “war to the bitter end.”

Grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention amounting to war crimes, have been committed, including, wilful killing and the extensive destruction of property not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly. Furthermore, the continuing collective punishment of the Gaza strip has left medical services unable to deal with the increasing number of victims.

As member States of the UN Human Rights Council, you were fully apprised of the human rights situation in the OPT, during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Israel earlier this month. The dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip was a dominant concern raised by States during the review. Despite recommendations to Israel concerning its obligation to improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, the capacity of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure to respond to the humanitarian needs of the population after days of bombardment has now reached breaking point. You have further been notified by Special Rapporteur Richard Falk of Israel’s failure to cooperate with his mandate and his call on "all Member States, as well as officials and every relevant organ of the United Nations system, to move on an emergency basis not only to condemn Israel’s serious violations, but to develop new approaches to providing real protection for the Palestinian people."

We note that the Security Council has thus far failed to take concrete steps despite the gravity of the situation. However, General Assembly President Miguel D’Escoto’s statement that “the time has come to take firm action if the UN does not want to be rightly accused of complicity by omission” offers a platform for concrete action that should be supported by the Human Rights Council.

It is our considered judgement that the only effective measure the UN Human Rights Council can take under these specific circumstances is to issue a resolution requesting the General Assembly to convene under GA Resolution 377, “Uniting for Peace,” with a view towards the imposition of collective measures against the Israeli Government. We urge this approach having duly considered the implications for the Human Rights Council as well as the human rights of the Palestinian people should Israel again impede or ignore the Council’s interventions. We believe that such a step would halt the escalation of civilian deaths, offer hope to civilians in despair over the political deadlock and ultimately serve the long-term interests of peace.

Sincere regards,

Palestinian Human Rights Community

Al-Haq

Adalah

Arab Association for Human Rights-HRA
Addameer Prisoners‘ Support & Human Rights Association
Ad-Dameer Association for Human Rights
Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights

BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency & Refugee Rights
Defence for Children International
Ensan Center for Democracy & Human Rights
Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR)
Jerusalem Legal Aid & Human Rights Center (JLAC)
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)
Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession, Musawa
Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies (RCHRS)
Women‘s Center for Legal Aid and Counseling (WCLAC)
Women‘s Studies Center
The Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations‘ Network – PNGO

2009-01-01T00:27:00.000+11:00

COMMUNIQUE/ بيان/ Release

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights

Wed, Dec 31, 2008 at 11:22 PM

COMMUNIQUE

L'agression qui s'abat sur la bande de Gaza et qui a entraîné la mort de nombreux palestiniens y compris civils est considérée selon les normes internationales et humanitaires comme un crime de guerre perpétré par les autorités israéliennes. Une pratique qui s'inscrit dans la logique d'occupation que les gouvernements israéliens successifs perpétuent depuis des décennies.

Tout en rappelant sa condamnation absolue de toute atteinte aux populations civiles, quel qu'elles soient, la plateforme des ONG EUROMED réaffirme que la paix dans cette région du monde dépend de la fin de l'occupation Israélienne et de la reconnaissance d'un Etat Palestinien conformément à l'ensemble des résolutions des Nations-Unies.

C'est la poursuite du siège de Gaza, comme l'enfermement derrière le mur de sécurité de la Cisjordanie et la poursuite de la colonisation qui sont les raisons essentielles de la violence qui vient de se produire.

La Plateforme des ONG EUROMED appelle l'Union Européenne à prendre ses responsabilités vis-à-vis d'Israël pour un arrêt immédiat de l'gression que subit le peuple palestinien. L'Union Européenne doit appliquer pleinement l'accord qui la lie avec Israël et conditionner ses relations au respect des droits de l'Homme et au droit du peuple palestinien à disposer de son propre Etat.

بيان

إن العدوان الذي يتعرَض لع قطاع غزة والذي تسبَب في قتل العديد من أبناء الشعب الفلسطيني، بما فيهم المدنيين، يُعدٌ بكل المقاييس الدولية والإنسانية جريمة حرب يرتكبها الاحتلال الإسرائيلي، المر الذي دأبت الحكومات الإسرائيلية المتعاقبة على ممارسته منذ عقود.

بالتذكير دائما إدانته المطلقة لكافة الانتهاكات ضد المدنيين، مهما كانوا، فإن منبر المنظمات غير الحكومية الأورومتوسطي يؤكد أن السلام في هذه المنطقة في العالم، يتوقف على إنهاء الاحتلال الإسرائيلي والاعتراف بدولة فلسطينية وفقا لمجموع قرارات الأمم المتحدة.

إن استمرار الحصار على قطاع غزة وعزل السكان في الضفة الغربية خلف الجدار الأمني واستمرار الاستيطان، يشكل أسبابا جوهرية للعنف الذي حدث.

يدعو منبر المنظمات غير الحكومية الاورومتوسطية الاتحاد الأوروبي بان يتحمل مسئوليته الدولية ويطالب إسرائيل بالوقف الفوري للعدوان علي الشعب الفلسطيني في غزة ، كما يدعوه إلى تطبيق المرجعيات المتعلقة بالاتفاقية التي تربطه مع إسرائيل وإنشاء علاقة مشروطة معها مبنية لمدى احترامها لحقوق الإنسان وحق الشعب الفلسطيني في إقامة دولته.

Release

The aggression which falls down on the Gaza Strip and which resulted in the death of many Palestinians including civil is considered according to international and humanitarian standards as a war crime perpetrated by the Israeli authorities. A practice which falls under the logic of occupation that successive Israeli governments perpetuate since of the decades.

While recalling its absolute condemnation of targeting the civil populations, whatever they are, the Euromed Platform reaffirms that peace in this area of the world depends on the end of the Israeli occupation and the recognition of a Palestinian State in accordance with the whole of the of the United Nations resolutions.

It is the continuation of the siege of Gaza, as confinement populations behind the Security wall in the West Bank and the continuation of the colonization are the essential reasons of the violence which has just occurred.

The Euromed Platform invites the European Union to take its responsibilities towards Israel for an immediate stop of the aggression which undergo the Palestinian people. The European Union must fully apply the agreement which binds it with Israel and condition its relations with the respect of the human rights and the right of the Palestinian People to have his own State.

Le bureau/The executive Committee/ اللجنة التنفيذية

Plateforme Euromed/Euromed Platform/ منبر المنظمات غير الحكومية الأورومتوسطي

2008-12-31T13:27:00.000+11:00

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=29449

2008-12-30
Israel’s Lie Machine is Working Flat Out
The core issue in this struggle is the illegality of Israel’s brutal occupation. Israel goes to great lengths to avoid and suppress all mention of it and play-acts the pathetic victim, notes Stuart Littlewood.

While the murderous assault on Gaza continues, I notice there's a briefing document on the website of the Israeli Embassy in London which has a lie in every line. The West's mainstream media repeat them, and even the most senior TV and radio interviewers don’t bother to challenge them.

The document is a transcript of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's statement to the Israeli press dated 27 December 2008 – a day that will live in infamy. It is a perfect example of the falsehoods used to dupe not only us westerners but Israel’s own people. The statement shows how the regime's view of itself is constructed on a web of dishonesty and self-delusion.

For example:

• "Israeli citizens have been under the threat of daily attack from Gaza for years."

Palestinians have been under harsh Israeli occupation for 60 years.

• "Only this week hundreds of missiles and mortars shells were fired at Israeli civilian communities."

Only one in 500 Qassam rockets causes a fatality. How many thousands of Israeli bombs, missiles, rockets, grenades and tank-shells have been blasted into the crowded city and towns of the Gaza Strip by Israel’s high-tech weaponry?

• "Until now we have shown restraint. But today there is no other option than a military operation."

The only legitimate option for Israel is to end the occupation and withdraw behind its 1967 border, as required under international law and UN resolution. Israel has been killing Palestinians at the rate of 8 to 1 since 2000, and children at the rate of nearly 12 to 1 (B’Tselem figures). This is somebody’s idea of restraint?

• "We need to protect our citizens from attack through a military response against the terror infrastructure in Gaza."

Self defence is not a right exclusive to Israel. Palestinians have an equal right to protect their citizens from the terror tactics of Israel.

• "Israel left Gaza in order to create an opportunity for peace."

Israel never left Gaza. It still occupies Gaza's airspace and coastal waters and controls all entrances and exits.

• "In return, the Hamas terror organization took control of Gaza and is using its citizens as cover while it deliberately targets Israeli communities and denies any chance for peace."

Hamas was voted into power as the legitimate government of Palestine. Israel chose not to accept the people's choice, which amounted to a denial of their human rights, and immediately set about obliterating it.

• "We have tried everything to reach calm without using force. We agreed to a truce through Egypt that was violated by Hamas, which continued to target Israel, hold Gilad Shalit and build up its arms."

Try talking. The Israelis' ongoing siege and economic blockade, begun shortly after Hamas was elected early in 2006, was never going to generate calm. And why is Shalit considered more important than the 9,000 Palestinians abducted and held prisoner by Israel? As soon as a Hamas government was formed Israeli troops arrested 8 Hamas ministers and 20 other parliamentarians, making the work of government impossible.

• "Israel continues to act to prevent humanitarian crisis and to minimize harm to Palestinian civilians."

Every agency operating in Gaza has warned of the deepening humanitarian crisis and protested about the starvation and suffering, especially of children many of whom show evidence of stunted growth.

• "The responsibility for harm to civilians lies with Hamas."

Not according to the Fourth Geneva Convention.

• "Hamas is a terrorist organization, supported by Iran, that does not represent the legitimate national interests of the Palestinian people but a radical Islamist agenda that seeks to deny peace for the peoples of this region."

Hamas was the popular choice of Palestinians at the last election. It is entitled under international law to take up arms against an illegal occupier and invader. If it is supported by Iran, so what? Israel receives mega-support from the US. When it comes to terror, it is Israel's conduct which fits the US definition of terrorism so perfectly - see Bush's Executive Order 13224, Section 3 - http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/programs/terror/terror.pdf

• "While confronting Hamas, Israel continues to believe in the two State solution and remains committed to negotiations with the legitimate Palestinian Authority in the context of the peace process, launched at Annapolis."

Israel is busy establishing irreversible facts on the ground that make a viable Palestinian state impossible. As everyone knows, the regime has reneged on the peace process and carries on building illegal settlements and the illegal Wall, and demolishing Palestinian homes. Months ago Hamas accepted a Palestinian state based on internationally recognized (pre-1967) borders, in accordance with UN resolutions, with full sovereignty and its capital in Jerusalem, but this has been ignored. Hamas also offered a 10-year truce, also ignored. Earlier, Arafat and the PLO recognized the State of Israel in the Oslo agreement but what good did it do? Today’s US-backed, Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority is not representative of the Palestinian people.

• "Israel expects the support and understanding of the international community, as it confronts terror, and advances the interest of all those who wish the forces of peace and co existence to determine the agenda of this region."

Israel, next to the US, the biggest purveyor of terror in the region and only advances its own interests. It may get the support of Israel lobby stooges in other western governments but is rapidly earning the contempt of everybody else.

From a statement dated 22 December 2008:

• "Hamas, backed by Iran, has regularly stated its desire to see the complete destruction of Israel."

Israel is itself a leading destroyer and currently engaged in trying to wipe out Hamas and the Gazans. Iran’s Ahmadinajad quoted the late Ayatollah Khomeini as saying that "this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time" - fair comment considering Jerusalem, with Bethlehem, was designated an 'international city' under the UN Partition Plan. Israeli propaganda twisted the Iranian’s words to read “Israel must be wiped off the map”. Zionist sources and the manifestos of Israeli political parties have made it clear for a long time that Israel plans to wipe Palestine off the map, and every act and lie is directed towards that end.

• "Our fight is not with the people of Gaza; it is with the extremists of Hamas."

Then why does the Israeli navy harass and fire on peaceable Gazan fishermen who are well within their own territorial waters? Why does Israel prevent Palestinian students from taking up places at foreign universities and block hospital spares, medicines, foodstuffs and foreign medics from entering Gaza? Why has the Israeli navy just rammed a mercy vessel in international waters taking doctors and medicines to Gaza? Latest air-strikes have hit the Islamic University and the ministry of education. These are direct attacks on Gazan civil society and its infrastructure.

• "Hamas started this conflict, and it bears responsibility for any harm to civilians on either side."

The conflict, started by Jewish terrorists, has been going on for 60 years, decades before Hamas came into being.

• "Israel’s only responsibility is to protect Israeli citizens."

As the occupying power Israel has a duty to see that the people of the occupied territories come to no harm.

• "Just as Israel seeks to defend its civilian population, Hamas seeks to kill them."

This reads far better the other way round: “Just as Hamas seeks to defend its civilian population, Israel seeks to kill them.”

• "Rocket attacks have continued for years and are now a daily occurrence. How long does the international community expect Israel will wait before defending itself against them?"

The rocket attacks will end when Israel ends the occupation and stops terrorizing its neighbours.

• "In the south of Israel, Israeli citizens live with air raid sirens sounding every day - sometimes every hour. Their situation is intolerable."

Not half as intolerable as it is for the Gazans, who live in constant fear of air raids and re-invasion and are constantly under surveillance by armed drones which can fire missiles under computer control from an armchair in Israeli headquarters.

• "For years, the international community has turned a blind eye to this onslaught. Only when Israel seeks to stop the rockets do they take notice."

For years the international community has turned a blind eye to Israel's violations of international law and human rights, which is why the problem remains unsolved.

• "Hamas is not only the enemy of Israel - it is the enemy of every Palestinian who believes in peace."

Israelis just can’t come to terms with the Palestinians' democratic choice and are bent on obliterating it.

• "It is Hamas' attacks - not Israel's reactions - that destroy every opportunity we have for peace."

The world has managed to work out by now that Israel doesn't want peace until it has stolen all the land and water it needs to expand its racist state into a ‘Greater Israel’. It is well on the way to achieving this and won’t be thwarted.

• "Palestinian militants targeted by Israel are not just the enemies of the Israeli people; they are criminals under international law, and enemies of peace."

Israel is in no position to preach international law.

• "What is collective punishment? 'Collective punishment' is a city - schools, hospitals, homes - civilians being bombarded every single day by rockets and mortars."

Collective punishment is keeping a whole population bottled up under siege and blocking supplies and exports, smashing their infrastructure, wrecking their economy and starving their children. Trying to equate Sderot with what’s happening in the Gaza Strip is idiotic.

• "Today's Middle East is divided between extremists and pragmatists. Hamas, backed by Iran, belongs to the extremists, who must be defeated for the sake of the future of the Middle East.... Israel’s primary goal is peace."

Israel's primary goal is the expansion of Israel by making the occupation of the West Bank permanent and bringing the Gazans to their knees.

The core issue in this struggle is the illegality of Israel’s brutal occupation. Israel goes to great lengths to avoid and suppress all mention of it and play-acts the pathetic victim. As the official statements (above) show, the strategy is to frame and define the situation in Israel’s own terms regardless of the truth. It uses advanced propaganda skills, and the elaborate Israel lobby network, to persuade western politicians and media to accept Israel’s version of events (and even use Israel’s biased language) and not question its motives.

In political PR terms it works wonderfully well. The loony leaders of my own government happily spread the poison and don’t seem interested in halting Israeli aggression and the vaporizing, dismembering and crushing of Gaza’s population. In human PR terms it is a disaster.

I have been listening to the BBC’s senior interviewers these last few days. None has had the gumption to ask Israeli spokesmen the only question that matters – the ‘killer’ question on which hangs the key to peace: WHEN IS ISRAEL GOING TO END ITS OCCUPATION AND RETURN TO THE PALESTINIANS THEIR LANDS AND FREEDOM?

Stuart Littlewood is author of the book Radio Free Palestine, which tells the plight of the Palestinians under occupation.

2008-12-31T11:47:00.000+11:00

urgent action alert: save Gaza!

Kevin Barrett

Wed, Dec 31, 2008 at 3:19 AM

Hello all,

I'm writing with an urgent action alert regarding the accelerating genocide in Gaza. Please join the demonstrations that are taking place worldwide. If there is anything or anyone remotely Israeli or pro-Zionist in your community, please let them know how you feel in the strongest possible terms. Given the near-complete Zionist monopoly on major media and politicians in the USA, it shouldn't be hard to find an individual, group, or entity to protest.

The genocide won't stop until the perpetrators realize they're digging their own graves -- which they obviously are. The actions taken by the current Israeli government will backfire, because tens of millions of people around the world who would have otherwise simply gone about their ordinary lives, are now going to be dedicating the rest of their lives to ending Zionism. (Just as the outrage of the 9/11 inside job made activists out of thousands of people like me who would otherwise have chosen an easier path.)

In the face of the Gaza genocide, we must rededicate ourselves to ending Zionism peacefully, by ending the massacre, ending Israeli apartheid, and making Palestine a state for all its citizens, including the the millions of ethnic cleansing victims who have been driven from their country.

Since Palestine has been one of the three Muslim-administered holy sites of Islam for more than 1200 years, and since Islam prescribes armed struggle against those who "drive you from your homes," there is absolutely no question but that every one of the world's 1.5 billion Muslims is obliged to support the struggle against the genocidal invaders and occupiers of Palestine. And since all just war theorists agree that only defensive wars are justified, and since it is absolutely clear that the Palestinian people are defending their land against a genocidal aggressor who invaded from across the seas, all people of good will, regardless of nationality, religion, race, gender or ethnicity are obliged to support the Palestinian struggle.

Onward to a free Palestine!

Kevin Barrett

www.truthjihad.com

PS I'm working on my new website--it's under construction at http://www.barrettforcongress.us/truthjihadnewsite.htm If you are one of my radio guests linked in the right column, please let me know if you want me to change or update the current link.

Stop the Massacre of Palestinians!

Tuesday, December 30: National Day of Action : http://answer.pephost.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ANS_homepage

Cynthia McKinney, doctors, journalists, human rights workers under attack by Israeli navy

http://www.freegaza.org/index.php?module=latest_news&id=cb7d7e4821d2af8b57fa5e4b82d19097&offset

The passengers on this Free Gaza emergency delegation include:

* International humanitarian and human rights workers from Cyprus,

Australia, Ireland, Great Britain, Tunisia, and the United States.

* Doctors going to Gaza to volunteer in local hospitals, including Dr.

Elena Theoharous, surgeon and Member of Parliament from Cyprus.

* Journalists going to Gaza to report on the massacre, including

Al-Jazeera reporter Sami al-Haj, a former detainee at Guantanamo Bay.

* The Hon. Cynthia McKinney, former U.S. Congresswoman and Green Party

presidential candidate.

URGENT! Israeli Navy Attacking Civilian Mercy Ship! TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY!

Date : 12-30-2008

http://www.freegaza.org/index.php?module=latest_news&id=cb7d7e4821d2af8b57fa5e4b82d19097&offset

The Dignity, a Free Gaza boat on a mission of mercy to besieged Gaza, is being attacked by the Israeli Navy in international waters. The Dignity has been surrounded by at least half-a-dozen Israeli warships. They are firing live ammunition around the Dignity, and one of the warships has rammed the civilian craft...

2008-12-31T07:30:00.000+11:00

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, Gaza

Wed, Dec 31, 2008 at 1:25 AM

Reference: 116/2008

Date: 30 December 2008

Press Release

IOF's Criminal Attacks on Gaza Continue for the Fourth Day

Bombardment Kills 306 Including 39 Children; Injure 901 Including 82 Children

Tens of Thousands Displaced as Humanitarian Crisis Worsens

The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) has continued its fierce bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Aircrafts continued to target civilian objects including schools, houses, CBO offices and worship places. Thousands of homes have been destroyed or damaged. The number of casualties has continued to rise, especially among civilians, while the international community's failure to uphold international law continues.

According to the monitoring of Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, the IOF has killed 22 Palestinians, including 7 children, since yesterday noon. Another 145 people, including 22 children and 21 women, have been injured during the same period. IOF attacks destroyed 57 houses beyond repair and over 1,000 others were damaged. Moreover, these attacks destroyed one mosque, 4 workshops and commercial stores, 4 security installations, 13 government buildings, 7 CBO offices, 2 private vehicles and caused damage to three schools. IOF's aerial attacks continue to occur around the clock.

This brings the number of casualties to 306 (39 children) and the injured to 901 (82) children since the start of Operation Cast Lead at approximately 11:30am on 27 December 2008.

One of the particularly serious attacks occurred in Jabalia, north of the Gaza Strip, at 4:30pm yesterday, 29 December 2008, when an aircraft fired missiles at a small truck and killed eight people and injured six. The victims were identified as:

- 32-year-old Emad Sammour,

- 30-year-old Ashraf Al-Dabbagh,

- 15-year-old Mahmoud Nabil Ghabayin,

- 23-year-old Rami Saad Ghabayin,

- 19-year-old Ahmad Khilla,

- 17-year-old Mohammed Basil Madi,

- 14-year-old Wisam Akram Eid,

- 20-year-old Mohammed Ka'bar.

Noteworthy is that the truck was carrying a group of men who were trying to remove the contents of a metal workshop that was damaged after a store near it was bombarded by the IOF. The victims, the owner of the workshop and workers who were helping him remove the contents of the workshop, were hit when they carried canisters of Oxygen used for welding metal joints.

Airstrikes also targeted several locations around Gaza City through the night yesterday and today. At 1.30am, F16 fighters started a series of bombardments of the Ministries Compound in southwestern Gaza City, which continued at intervals until 3:25am. The ministries buildings, which were empty, were completely destroyed. Dozens of homes in the area were damaged, and 15 civilians were injured.

At 2am, also on today, Tuesday 30 December 2008, Israeli aircrafts fired a missile at the Al-Farouk Mosque in Block 9 in Al-Buriej refugee camp in middle Gaza district. The four-story mosque was completely destroyed along with several homes, a kindergarten and part of the government clinic in the camp, whose medicine store was completely destroyed with the clinic's doors and windows. Additionally, the UNRWA's Al Bureij Boys D School was damaged.

Earlier on Monday, at approximately 2:30am, Israeli gunships fired missiles towards a group of resistance fighters who were near the house of Yasser Abu Tair in Abassan town, east to Khan Younis southern the Gaza Strip. Five people were killed in the attack, including one child and four fighters. They were identified as:

- 6-year-old Mu'ath Yasser Abu Tair,

- 22-year-old Mohammed Al Qarra,

- 32-year-old Yasser Abu Tair

- 28-year-old Zyad Abu Tair,

- 19-year-old Mohammed Abu Tair,

Five other people were injured, including a girl child, in this attack.

At approximately 4:15 today, Tuesday 30 December 2008, Israeli aircrafts bombarded the house of Adnan Yousef Rayyan; a two-story house inhabited by 12 persons. The family left the house ten minutes before it was bombarded after they received a telephone call from the Israeli military informing them of the planned bombardment. The house was completely destroyed and 15 homes were severely damaged. Moreover, 8 civilians were injured.

On the same day in Rafah, Israeli aircrafts fired three missiles at the house of Abdul-Karim Al-Sha'ir in the Al-Jnina neighborhood. The two-story house was completely destroyed and another 15 homes were severely damaged.

Al Mezan's field worker reported that thousands of people who live close to the Gaza-Egypt border have continued to evacuate their homes fearing threatened Israeli bombardment of the borderline.

At approximately 3:05am today, IOF aircrafts bombarded the building of Bani Suhaila Municipality, east to Khan Younis, destroying the building and causing damage to many houses around it.

Later at 9:05am, an IOF drone fired a missile into a crowd near the police station in the Al-Qarara town, east to Khan Younis. Three civilians were injured in this attack; two of whom critically.

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights renews its strong condemnation of Israel's criminal aggression against civilian targets in the Gaza Strip. The Center asserts that, according to its first-hand monitoring, the IOF have perpetrated grave breaches of the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity in the course of its military actions in Gaza.

Al Mezan condemns the attempts by the IOF to portray targeting civilian objects as legitimate military targets, as in the case of the above mentioned bombardment of a group of civilians on the pretext that they were transporting rockets. Israel bears full responsibility for the loss of life and property that emanate from its attacks, especially as it employs the most advanced surveillance equipment in its military operation in Gaza. Al Mezan has investigated this case and has evidence that the target was a civilian one.

As the international community remains silent in the face of these violations of international law, Al Mezan reiterates its calls for the convening of the conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Human Rights Council, and calls on all states to uphold their responsibilities vis-à-vis the civilian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The Israeli disproportionate, indiscriminate attacks on Gaza must stop without any delay.

END

2008-12-30T06:33:00.000+11:00

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights

Tue, Dec 30, 2008 at 12:18 AM

Reference: 114/2008
Date: 29 December 2008

Press Release

Israeli Massacres in Gaza Continue: 284 Killed; Including 32 Children, and 755 Injured Gaza's Service Systems Paralyzed under Severe Lack of Medicine, Food and Power

The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) has continued its airstrikes on Gaza. For the third day in a raw, Israeli aircrafts, helicopter gunships and surveillance drones have continued to roam Gaza's skies, spreading death around the impoverished coastal strip. Attacks targeted dozens of houses and other civilian premises, such as mosques and education facilities that are located in urban areas causing dozens of civilian casualties. These attacks continue as the international community failure to uphold applicable international law seems to encourage more Israeli attacks, despite their clear disregard of civilian life and international law.

Al Mezan Center's monitoring indicates that at least 30 Palestinians (12 children and one woman) have been killed since yesterday, whereas the number of people who have been injured reached 158 (25 children and 14 women). 38 houses were targeted directly by the IOF and approximately 3,000 homes have sustained varied degrees of damage. Additionally, the IOF airstrikes targeted and destroyed 4 mosques, 34 workshops, 16 security installations, 3 CBO offices, 3 fishing boats and 6 vehicles. This is besides the bombardment of a building in the Islamic University. The UNSCO office and a building hosting international UN staff and a number of their cars were also damaged.

As IOF's attacks continue, more casualties and damages are expected to occur in Gaza.

Two of the most tragic events took place in Jabalia refugee camp, north of the Gaza Strip, and Rafah refugee camp in the south of the Strip. In Jabalia refugee camp an Israeli airstrike targeted the Emad Aqel Mosque in Block 4 of the camp. The Mosque was destroyed. But so were tens of the refugee camp's humble homes, which asbestos roofs and weak walls fell down. Two homes adjacent to the Mosque were completely destroyed, one of which on their inhabitants, killing five girl children and injuring six, including an infant, a toddler and two girl children as well as their parents. Al Mezan's field worker reported that the victims were identified as:
- 4-year-old Jawahir Anwar Ba'lousha,
- 8-year-old Dina Anwar Ba'lousha,
- 12-year-old Sahar Anwar Ba'lousha,
- 14-year-old Ikram Anwar Ba'lousha,
- 17-year-old Tahrir Anwar Ba'lousha.
Those who were injured are:
- Two-week-old Bara' Anwar Ba'lousha,
- 2-year-old Mohammed Anwar Ba'lousha,
- 11-year-old Samah Anwar Ba'lousha,
- 16-year-old Iman Anwar Ba'lousha,
The parents of the children were also injured in this attack, which destroyed tens of homes and caused various injuries to another 24 civilians.

In the southern Gaza camp of Rafah, Israeli aircraft destroyed tens of homes in a series of airstrikes. The bombardment of the Al-Attar family and the Al-Absi family were particularly severe. According to Al Mezan's field investigations, at approximately 1am today, 29 December 2008, Israeli aircrafts launched two airstrikes which simultaneously hit the houses of Al-Attar family and the Al-Absi family in the camp. The latter house was completely destroyed and many of its inhabitants were buried under its rubble. Three of the family's children were killed and five other persons were injured. Medical sources in Rafah reported to Al Mezan that the children's mother sustained serious wounds. Those who were killed in this house were identified as:
- 3-year-old Sedki Ziad Al-Absi,
- 12-year-old Ahmad Ziad Al-Absi,
- 14-year-old Mohammed Ziad Al-Absi.

Three other people from Al-Kurd family, who reside a neighboring house, were also injured in this attack, which caused damage to another four houses.

Aircrafts also bombarded and destroyed the Al-Attars house in Rafah. Four other neighboring homes were severely damaged and four people residing an adjacent home were injured, including 12-year-old Mahmoud Abu Hashim. The Al-Attar family had evacuated their house shortly before the shelling.

IOF's airstrikes also targeted civilian premises in Rafah, including the buildings of Rafah Municipality and Governorate, and metal workshops, a medicine stores, and police stations.

The IOF also intensified its attacks on the borderline between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, forcing thousands of civilians to evacuate their homes starting approximately 40 minutes after midnight today. Families sheltered in UNRWA schools, which are not equipped to receive refugees, especially in the cold winters.

In Gaza City, IOF's attacks have continued to target civilian premises. One attack targeted a two-story house owned by the Kishku family in Az-Zeytoun neighborhood in the city, at approximately 7pm yesterday. Israeli aircrafts hit the house with missiles while its 13 inhabitants were inside it, killing one woman and a girl child and injuring another six. Those who were killed were:
- 8-year-old Ibtihal Abdullah Kishku,
- 22-year-old Maisa Muneer Kishku.

At approximately 1:20pm yesterday, 28 December 2008, Israeli aircrafts fired missiles into two uninhabited apartments in the Al Azhar and the Education apartment compounds in Tel Al Hawa area in Gaza City. Numerous apartments were damaged. Later at night, Israeli aircrafts fired five heavy missiles at a building hosting classrooms and the labs of the Science and Engineering colleges at the Islamic University in Gaza City. The building was completely destroyed and other buildings at the university were damaged.

Al Mezan's field workers reported that the IOF launched numerous attacks on police and security buildings in Gaza City, including the presidential guesthouse in Ansar security compound. Israeli aircrafts and naval vessels took part in these attacks, which also struck the fishermen's haven and destroyed three fishing boats.

Also in Gaza City, at approximately 2:30am today 29 December 2008, Israeli helicopter gunships fired missiles at the house of Ala' I'kilan in the Beach refugee camp, destroying it and causing damages to tens of houses in the camp.

In Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, Israeli aircrafts bombarded various targets. At approximately 9:15pm on 28 December 2008 fired a missile into a crowd of people in Al Qarara town, east to Khan Younis, killing 22-year-old Ahmad Fayyad and moderately injuring another man.

At 10:20pm on the same day IOF bombarded the Ezadin Al Qassam Mosque in the town of Abassan, east to Khan Younis, destroying the mosque and causing severe damage to many houses around it. About an hour later, Israeli aircrafts bombarded the Abu T''emeh family's house in Bani Suheial town, also east to Khan Younis. The house was destroyed and many other houses damaged.

In the Middle Gaza district, IOF fired missiles at an empty car in the An-Nuseirat refugee camp. Three bystanders were killed, including a child. They were identified as:
- 15-year-old Diya Abu Khubizeh,
- 20-year-old Mohammed Abu Khubizeh,
- 21-year-old Younis Abu Khubizeh.

At approximately 11:30pm on Sunday 28 December 2008, Israeli aircrafts bombarded the house of Talal Hassan Issa in the Al-Bureij refugee camp. The house was completely destroyed and tens of other houses were damaged. However, no casualties were reported. Eyewitnesses reported to Al Mezan that the inhabitants had evacuated following a telephone call informing them that their house would be attacked.

This Israeli bloody escalation comes while the tight siege of Gaza which has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis for Gaza's 1.5 million people, who have had to live under severe shortages of food, water, medicine and power. These conditions impact seriously on the services sectors, especially as some of their facilities are being bombarded.

According to the monitoring of Al Mezan Center for Human Rights there is evidence that the IOF has perpetrated grave breaches of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in Gaza during the past few days. Many of the IOF's conducts qualify as war crimes and/or crimes against humanity. The Israeli aggression also represents a multiple violation of human rights standards.

It has been observed that the IOF target civilian premises directly and wantonly, while showing blatant disregard to civilian life and property. Israel's attempts to prescribe its recent actions as self-defence against Hamas and rocket launchers is distorted and misleading. When a state chooses to resort to the use of force, it is bound by rules that prevent it from the abuse of this force, for its actions must observe the basic principles of IHL and human rights, both of which absolutely prohibit the disproportionate use of force and place an obligation on it to distinguish between military and civilian targets. In pursuing political gains in Gaza, Israel must show respect for human rights.

Therefore, and as the international community continuous failure to uphold its own legal and moral obligations, by turning a blind eye to the recent developments in Gaza and refraining from taking any effective actions to restrain Israel's violations or providing aid and protection for innocent civilians, Al Mezan calls for an urgent convention of the conference of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilians in Times of war, of 1949, to consider the continuous, and scandalous, disregard of its obligations under the Convention and taking the necessary measures to ensure respect of its rules with regard to the Israeli action in Gaza.

Al Mezan Center, while welcomes the worldwide popular reactions in solidarity with the Gaza Strip, calls for more pressure by civil societies on their governments to ensure that they take actions in compliance with their international obligations, which require them to act to stop and punish war crimes.

END

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF BENJAMIN MERHAV, PART THREE

http://www.imemc.org/article/58397

Gaza officials: Massive sewage flood imminent

http://www.imemc.org/article/58356

12th day under attack: death toll in Gaza reaches 700

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, Gaza

IOF Attacks Cause More Civilian Casualties in Gaza; Shells Homes and an UNRWA Shelter, Death Toll Rises to 585, Including 101 Children and 37 Women

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, Gaza

http://www.imemc.org/article/58348

Israeli offensive continues, over 550 killed and 2700 wounded

http://www.imemc.org/article/58281

Two fighters killed on Friday evening, 434 killed and 2280 wounded in the ongoing offensive in Gaza

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, Gaza

Solidarity with heroic Gaza: Statement from the International Action CenterDecember 27, 2008 / also en Español

Solidarity with heroic Gaza: Statement from the International Action Center
December 27, 2008 / also en Español