27 dec 2008
Aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Strip, Saturday
Three days of mourning were declared separately in the West Bank and Gaza Strip Saturday afternoon, as Palestinians grieve for the more than 200, pray for the almost 400 injured as the result of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.
The caretaker government in the West Bank called for a halt on Israeli attacks during the weekly cabinet meeting in Ramallah. Political leaders requested the three days of mourning to show solidarity with the people in Gaza.
Ramallah government spokesman Riyad Al-Maliki said in a statement that the government strongly denounces the attacks and demands the International community urgently intervene to halt the violence and life the siege.
Al- Maliki promised that the government would follow up on all political avenues.
In Gaza City the de facto government also declared three days of morning and a general strike across the Strip. Government officials said they held Israel totally responsible for the deaths of hundreds of civilians.
They also asserted their right to defend civilians with all available means and warned Israel of the consequences of its actions.
Three days of mourning were declared separately in the West Bank and Gaza Strip Saturday afternoon, as Palestinians grieve for the more than 200, pray for the almost 400 injured as the result of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.
The caretaker government in the West Bank called for a halt on Israeli attacks during the weekly cabinet meeting in Ramallah. Political leaders requested the three days of mourning to show solidarity with the people in Gaza.
Ramallah government spokesman Riyad Al-Maliki said in a statement that the government strongly denounces the attacks and demands the International community urgently intervene to halt the violence and life the siege.
Al- Maliki promised that the government would follow up on all political avenues.
In Gaza City the de facto government also declared three days of morning and a general strike across the Strip. Government officials said they held Israel totally responsible for the deaths of hundreds of civilians.
They also asserted their right to defend civilians with all available means and warned Israel of the consequences of its actions.
Egypt and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas went to great efforts to avert the Gaza attack, said a statement from the Palestinian embassy in Egypt on Saturday.
The statement denounced the Israeli air strikes on Gaza saying "despite the huge efforts made by President Mahmoud Abbas and [Egyptian President] Hosni Mubarak to stop Israel from carrying out this grotesque crime, Israel insisted on going on with its offensive after putting the siege to its maximum limits."
The embassy called for an active response to stop the Israeli leadership from continuing its attacks on the Palestinians. It urged US elect President Barack Obama and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and all world leaders to act urgently and stop the massacre.
The statement denounced the Israeli air strikes on Gaza saying "despite the huge efforts made by President Mahmoud Abbas and [Egyptian President] Hosni Mubarak to stop Israel from carrying out this grotesque crime, Israel insisted on going on with its offensive after putting the siege to its maximum limits."
The embassy called for an active response to stop the Israeli leadership from continuing its attacks on the Palestinians. It urged US elect President Barack Obama and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and all world leaders to act urgently and stop the massacre.
From Gush Shalom
Bloodshed and suffering on both sides of the border could have been avoided.
It is possible to return immediately to the ceasefire, make it stronger and firmer.
The war in Gaza, the bloodshed, killing, destruction and suffering on both sides of the border are the vicious folly of a bankrupt government. A government which let itself be dragged by adventurous officers and cheap nationalist demagoguery, dragged into a destructive and unnecessary war which will bring no solution to any problem - neither to the communities of southern Israel under the rain of missiles nor to the terrible poverty and suffering of besieged Gaza.
On the day after the war the same problems will remain; with the addition of many bereaved families, wounded people crippled for life, and piles of rubble and destruction.
The escalation towards war could and should have been avoided. It was the State of Israel which broke the truce, in the 'ticking tunnel' raid on the night of the US elections two months ago. Since then the army went on stoking the fires of escalation with calculated raids and killings, whenever the shooting of missiles on Israel decreased.
The cycle of bloodshed could and should be broken. The ceasefire can be restored immediately, and on firmer foundations. It is the right of Israel to demand a complete end to shooting on its territory and citizens - but it must stop all attacks from its side, end completely the siege and starvation of Gaza's million and half inhabitants, and stop interfering with the Palestinians' right to choose their own leaders.
Ehud Barak's declaration that he is stopping the elections campaign in order to concentrate on the Gaza offensive is a joke. The war in Gaza is itself Barak's elections campaign, a cynical attempt to buy votes with the blood and suffering in Netivot and Sderot, Gaza and Beit Hanun. Also so-called peace seekers such as Amos Oz s who give this offensive their support and encouragement could not afterwards shrug off responsibility.
***Gush Shalom is an Israeli peace movement headed by Uri Averny
Bloodshed and suffering on both sides of the border could have been avoided.
It is possible to return immediately to the ceasefire, make it stronger and firmer.
The war in Gaza, the bloodshed, killing, destruction and suffering on both sides of the border are the vicious folly of a bankrupt government. A government which let itself be dragged by adventurous officers and cheap nationalist demagoguery, dragged into a destructive and unnecessary war which will bring no solution to any problem - neither to the communities of southern Israel under the rain of missiles nor to the terrible poverty and suffering of besieged Gaza.
On the day after the war the same problems will remain; with the addition of many bereaved families, wounded people crippled for life, and piles of rubble and destruction.
The escalation towards war could and should have been avoided. It was the State of Israel which broke the truce, in the 'ticking tunnel' raid on the night of the US elections two months ago. Since then the army went on stoking the fires of escalation with calculated raids and killings, whenever the shooting of missiles on Israel decreased.
The cycle of bloodshed could and should be broken. The ceasefire can be restored immediately, and on firmer foundations. It is the right of Israel to demand a complete end to shooting on its territory and citizens - but it must stop all attacks from its side, end completely the siege and starvation of Gaza's million and half inhabitants, and stop interfering with the Palestinians' right to choose their own leaders.
Ehud Barak's declaration that he is stopping the elections campaign in order to concentrate on the Gaza offensive is a joke. The war in Gaza is itself Barak's elections campaign, a cynical attempt to buy votes with the blood and suffering in Netivot and Sderot, Gaza and Beit Hanun. Also so-called peace seekers such as Amos Oz s who give this offensive their support and encouragement could not afterwards shrug off responsibility.
***Gush Shalom is an Israeli peace movement headed by Uri Averny
Palestinian Ambassador to Austria Zuheir Al-Wazir appealed to the Austrian government to immediately intervene to stop the Israeli massacres committed against the Palestinians in Gaza.
Al-Wazir said Austria could urge the EU countries to play an important role in the Palestinian crisis and stop the Israeli attacks on Gaza.
Senior officials in the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed deep concern over developments in the region and said the Minister is working on a statement on the issue.
Al-Wazir said Austria could urge the EU countries to play an important role in the Palestinian crisis and stop the Israeli attacks on Gaza.
Senior officials in the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed deep concern over developments in the region and said the Minister is working on a statement on the issue.
The blame for Saturday's catastrophic loss of life rests with Hamas, according to a statement from the White House.
Bush administration officials did not call on Israel to end an operation that killed over 200 Palestinians in a matter of minutes.
The United States did call on Israel to "avoid civilian casualties," according to news accounts, but it did not join the increasing calls for an end to the deadly operation, which has killed hundreds and left hundreds more injured.
If Palestinians want the violence to end in Gaza, Hamas must stop firing projectiles into southern Israel, the US maintains. A projectile killed one Israeli and injured five others on Saturday.
"Hamas' continued rocket attacks into Israel must cease if the violence is to stop," White House assistant Gordon Johndroe said on Saturday. The spokesperson was speaking from the US state of Texas, where outgoing President George W. Bush is vacationing at his ranch.
"Hamas must end its terrorist activities if it wishes to play a role in the future of the Palestinian people," Johndroe said.
"The United States urges Israel to avoid civilian casualties as it targets Hamas in Gaza," he added.
Bush administration officials did not call on Israel to end an operation that killed over 200 Palestinians in a matter of minutes.
The United States did call on Israel to "avoid civilian casualties," according to news accounts, but it did not join the increasing calls for an end to the deadly operation, which has killed hundreds and left hundreds more injured.
If Palestinians want the violence to end in Gaza, Hamas must stop firing projectiles into southern Israel, the US maintains. A projectile killed one Israeli and injured five others on Saturday.
"Hamas' continued rocket attacks into Israel must cease if the violence is to stop," White House assistant Gordon Johndroe said on Saturday. The spokesperson was speaking from the US state of Texas, where outgoing President George W. Bush is vacationing at his ranch.
"Hamas must end its terrorist activities if it wishes to play a role in the future of the Palestinian people," Johndroe said.
"The United States urges Israel to avoid civilian casualties as it targets Hamas in Gaza," he added.
Gaza Strip
Armed groups in Gaza claimed 11 projectile launches at Israeli targets Saturday, after the area was pounded by Israeli airstrikes that killed hundreds.
The following Brigades claimed projectile launches:
The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said they fired three projectiles at Sderot and two at Ashkelon.
The Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, said they fired two homemade projectiles at the Israeli military post of Sufa in eastern Rafah and two homemade shells on Ashkelon. Another armed wing affiliated with Fatah claimed responsibility for firing two additional shells on Sderot.
All of the brigades said that the attacks came in retaliation for Saturday's airstrikes.
Armed groups in Gaza claimed 11 projectile launches at Israeli targets Saturday, after the area was pounded by Israeli airstrikes that killed hundreds.
The following Brigades claimed projectile launches:
The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said they fired three projectiles at Sderot and two at Ashkelon.
The Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, said they fired two homemade projectiles at the Israeli military post of Sufa in eastern Rafah and two homemade shells on Ashkelon. Another armed wing affiliated with Fatah claimed responsibility for firing two additional shells on Sderot.
All of the brigades said that the attacks came in retaliation for Saturday's airstrikes.
Human rights workers stationed in the Gaza Strip documented Palestinian and international reactions to the aftermath of afternoon Israeli airstrikes that left over 200 Palestinians dead on Saturday.
Due to Israel's policy of denying access to international media, human rights workers and aid agencies to the Gaza Strip, many international representatives arrived with the Free Gaza Movement's boats, which have broken the Israeli siege five times in the past.
"The morgue at the Ash-Shifa Hospital has no more room for dead bodies, so bodies and body parts are strewn all over the hospital."
- Dr. Haidar Eid, professor, Al-Aqsa University
"This is incredibly sad. This massacre is not going to bring security for the state of Israel or allow it to be part of the Middle East. Now calls of revenge are everywhere."
- Dr. Eyad Sarraj, president, Gaza Community Mental Health Centre
"The bombs began to fall just as the children were on the streets walking back from school. I went out onto the stairs and a terrified five-year-old girl ran sobbing into my arms."
- Sharon Lock, Australia
"As I speak they have just hit a building 200 meters away. There is smoke everywhere. This morning I went to the building close to where I live in Rafah that had been hit. Two bulldozers were immediately attempting to clear the rubble. They thought they had found all the bodies. As we arrived one more was found."
- Jenny Linnel, United Kingdom
"At the time of the attacks I was on Omar Mukhtar street and witnessed a rocket hit the street 150 meters away, where crowds had already gathered to try to extract the dead bodies. Ambulances, trucks, cars-anything that can move is taking the injured to hospitals. Hospitals have had to evacuate sick patients to make room for the injured. I have been told that there is not enough room in the morgues for the bodies and that there is a great lack of blood in the blood banks. I have just learned that among the civilians killed today was the mother of my good friend from Jabalya Refugee Camp."
- Eva Bartlett, Canada
"Israeli missiles tore through a children's playground and busy market in Diere Balah. We saw the aftermath-many were injured and some reportedly killed. Every hospital in the Gaza Strip is already overwhelmed with injured people and does not have the medicine or the capacity to treat them. Israel is committing crimes against humanity; it is violating international and human rights law, ignoring the United Nations and planning even bigger attacks. The world must act now and intensify the calls for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel; governments need to move beyond words of condemnation into an active and immediate restraint of Israel and a lifting of the siege of Gaza."
- Ewa Jasiewicz, dual citizen of Poland and the United Kingdom
"The home I am staying in is across from the Preventive Security compound. All the glass of the house shattered. The home has been severely damaged. Due to the siege there is no glass or building materials to repair this damage. One little boy in our house fainted. An eight-year-old little boy was trembling on the ground for an hour. In front of our house we found the bodies of two little girls under a car, completely burnt. They were coming home from school. This is more than just collective punishment. We are being treated like laboratory animals. I have lived through the Israeli bombardment of Beirut and Israel's message is the same in Gaza as it was in Beirut-the killing of civilians. [loud blast] There was just another explosion outside!"
- Natalie Abu Eid, Lebanon
Due to Israel's policy of denying access to international media, human rights workers and aid agencies to the Gaza Strip, many international representatives arrived with the Free Gaza Movement's boats, which have broken the Israeli siege five times in the past.
"The morgue at the Ash-Shifa Hospital has no more room for dead bodies, so bodies and body parts are strewn all over the hospital."
- Dr. Haidar Eid, professor, Al-Aqsa University
"This is incredibly sad. This massacre is not going to bring security for the state of Israel or allow it to be part of the Middle East. Now calls of revenge are everywhere."
- Dr. Eyad Sarraj, president, Gaza Community Mental Health Centre
"The bombs began to fall just as the children were on the streets walking back from school. I went out onto the stairs and a terrified five-year-old girl ran sobbing into my arms."
- Sharon Lock, Australia
"As I speak they have just hit a building 200 meters away. There is smoke everywhere. This morning I went to the building close to where I live in Rafah that had been hit. Two bulldozers were immediately attempting to clear the rubble. They thought they had found all the bodies. As we arrived one more was found."
- Jenny Linnel, United Kingdom
"At the time of the attacks I was on Omar Mukhtar street and witnessed a rocket hit the street 150 meters away, where crowds had already gathered to try to extract the dead bodies. Ambulances, trucks, cars-anything that can move is taking the injured to hospitals. Hospitals have had to evacuate sick patients to make room for the injured. I have been told that there is not enough room in the morgues for the bodies and that there is a great lack of blood in the blood banks. I have just learned that among the civilians killed today was the mother of my good friend from Jabalya Refugee Camp."
- Eva Bartlett, Canada
"Israeli missiles tore through a children's playground and busy market in Diere Balah. We saw the aftermath-many were injured and some reportedly killed. Every hospital in the Gaza Strip is already overwhelmed with injured people and does not have the medicine or the capacity to treat them. Israel is committing crimes against humanity; it is violating international and human rights law, ignoring the United Nations and planning even bigger attacks. The world must act now and intensify the calls for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel; governments need to move beyond words of condemnation into an active and immediate restraint of Israel and a lifting of the siege of Gaza."
- Ewa Jasiewicz, dual citizen of Poland and the United Kingdom
"The home I am staying in is across from the Preventive Security compound. All the glass of the house shattered. The home has been severely damaged. Due to the siege there is no glass or building materials to repair this damage. One little boy in our house fainted. An eight-year-old little boy was trembling on the ground for an hour. In front of our house we found the bodies of two little girls under a car, completely burnt. They were coming home from school. This is more than just collective punishment. We are being treated like laboratory animals. I have lived through the Israeli bombardment of Beirut and Israel's message is the same in Gaza as it was in Beirut-the killing of civilians. [loud blast] There was just another explosion outside!"
- Natalie Abu Eid, Lebanon
Two fresh Israeli airstrikes killed three and injured four in the Az-Zaitoun and Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip.
Head of Emergency and ambulance services in the Ministry of Health Muawiya Hassanain confirmed the dead.
Head of Emergency and ambulance services in the Ministry of Health Muawiya Hassanain confirmed the dead.
Members of the National Resistance Brigades (NRB), the armed wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), were targeted by Israeli warplanes in eastern Gaza Saturday night.
The group was east of Gaza City on a mission to launch shells at Israeli targets when they were spotted by Israeli aircraft flying low over the area. The Israeli plane released shells on the area but all activists escaped the attack unharmed.
The NRB affirmed that they will continue their resistance activities.
The group was east of Gaza City on a mission to launch shells at Israeli targets when they were spotted by Israeli aircraft flying low over the area. The Israeli plane released shells on the area but all activists escaped the attack unharmed.
The NRB affirmed that they will continue their resistance activities.
Fourteen Palestinian human rights originations banded together to warn the world of the consequences of Israel's current attacks on Gaza, stressing Israel's violation of human and internationally recognized rights.
The group called on the international community to work urgently and seriously to protect Palestinians from Israeli airstrikes and siege, and to ensure civilian safety in Gaza.
In a Saturday press conference the group called the day's violence in Gaza a "dangerous and unjustified escalation," that targeted "Palestinian security department buildings in the residential areas in Gaza." They warned that casualties would be high because Gaza hospitals have few medical supplies.
The group slammed the Israeli decision to target de facto government police during their 11:30 graduation ceremony since it is also the time when Palestinian school children head home for the day.
The Human Rights organizations said the decision represented a "criminal intention of deliberately causing mass casualties and destruction in addition to intimidating civilians."
They urged the signatory countries on the Geneva Fourth Convention to hold an urgent meeting to discuss ways and procedures that might make Israel to respect this convention and implement it in the Palestinian territories. Moreover, they said, a tribunal should be convened to charge Israel with war crimes.
The fourteen organizations were:
Al-Haq
Al-Damir
Ad-Dair for Prisoners and Human Rights
Al-Mizan for Human Rights
Defense for Children International
Insan Center for Democracy and Human Rights
The Independent Organization for Human Rights
The Al-Quds Center for Legal Assistance
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR)
The Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Judicial System
Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies
Women's Center for Legal Assistance and Guidance
Women Studies Center
PNGO
The group called on the international community to work urgently and seriously to protect Palestinians from Israeli airstrikes and siege, and to ensure civilian safety in Gaza.
In a Saturday press conference the group called the day's violence in Gaza a "dangerous and unjustified escalation," that targeted "Palestinian security department buildings in the residential areas in Gaza." They warned that casualties would be high because Gaza hospitals have few medical supplies.
The group slammed the Israeli decision to target de facto government police during their 11:30 graduation ceremony since it is also the time when Palestinian school children head home for the day.
The Human Rights organizations said the decision represented a "criminal intention of deliberately causing mass casualties and destruction in addition to intimidating civilians."
They urged the signatory countries on the Geneva Fourth Convention to hold an urgent meeting to discuss ways and procedures that might make Israel to respect this convention and implement it in the Palestinian territories. Moreover, they said, a tribunal should be convened to charge Israel with war crimes.
The fourteen organizations were:
Al-Haq
Al-Damir
Ad-Dair for Prisoners and Human Rights
Al-Mizan for Human Rights
Defense for Children International
Insan Center for Democracy and Human Rights
The Independent Organization for Human Rights
The Al-Quds Center for Legal Assistance
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR)
The Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Judicial System
Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies
Women's Center for Legal Assistance and Guidance
Women Studies Center
PNGO
Not a single Gazan turned up at Rafah crossing Saturday despite an Egyptian promise to open the crossing and accept wounded Palestinians for treatment in Egyptian Hospitals.
Between three and six hundred Palestinians were injured in Israeli airstrikes throughout the day, and Palestinian hospitals have almost entirely run out of medical supplies. The dead were carried home in cardboard boxes because Gaza City hospitals ran out of sheets.
Palestinian medical sources said mild to moderate cases were turned away for lack of doctors and supplies, and reported bodies in hallways after morgues filled up. Despite Egypt's offer to accept wounded Gazans medical sources said the condition of most of the injured was too fragile to make the trip to Rafah.
Only if Egypt sent helicopters would the majority of serious cases be able to accept the offer, said Head of Emergency and Ambulance Services in the Ministry of Health Muawiya Hassanain.
Hassanain appealed to Arab states to send medical supplies so cases could be treated without being moved, and Saturday night Egypt made a second promise to send four loads of medical supplies to Gaza hospitals.
The caretaker Ministry of Health praised the Egyptian stance and Minister of Health Fathi Abu Moghli called on the international community to continue supplying Gaza with medical equipment to ensure civilians get treatment and the number of casualties is reduced.
Between three and six hundred Palestinians were injured in Israeli airstrikes throughout the day, and Palestinian hospitals have almost entirely run out of medical supplies. The dead were carried home in cardboard boxes because Gaza City hospitals ran out of sheets.
Palestinian medical sources said mild to moderate cases were turned away for lack of doctors and supplies, and reported bodies in hallways after morgues filled up. Despite Egypt's offer to accept wounded Gazans medical sources said the condition of most of the injured was too fragile to make the trip to Rafah.
Only if Egypt sent helicopters would the majority of serious cases be able to accept the offer, said Head of Emergency and Ambulance Services in the Ministry of Health Muawiya Hassanain.
Hassanain appealed to Arab states to send medical supplies so cases could be treated without being moved, and Saturday night Egypt made a second promise to send four loads of medical supplies to Gaza hospitals.
The caretaker Ministry of Health praised the Egyptian stance and Minister of Health Fathi Abu Moghli called on the international community to continue supplying Gaza with medical equipment to ensure civilians get treatment and the number of casualties is reduced.
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