22 july 2014
At least 46 Palestinians were killed in Gaza on Tuesday as Israel's military assault entered its 15th day, bringing the total death toll to over 600 people since July 8.
In the latest airstrikes, four members of the same family were killed in Gaza City. They were identified as Muhammad Shehadeh Hajjaj, 31, Fayzeh Saleh Hajjaj, 66, Rawan Ziad Hajjaj, 15, and Yousef Muhammed Hajjaj, 28.
Earlier, two elderly women were killed in Rafah, southern Gaza. Medics identified them as Hakema Nafe Abu Odwan, 75, and Najah Nafe Abu Odwan, 85.
Four Palestinians were killed in al-Bureij refugee camp and Hasan Shabaan Khamase, 28, was killed in al-Maghazi camp in central Gaza.
Ahmed Asad al-Badde, 24, was killed in Beit Lahiya and the bodies of Tarek Fayek Hajjaj, 22, and Ahmed Ziad Hajjaj, 21, and Mosaab Nafeth Ejla, 30, were pulled from rubble in the al-Shujaiyeh neighborhood, which suffered heavy bombing on Sunday.
Earlier, the bodies of 65-year-old Muhammad Khalil Ahel and Hamada Eleiwa were found in the Gaza City neighborhoods of Shajaiyeh and Zaytoun.
Another man was killed in an airstrike on Beit Lahiya, while three people died in shelling on the al-Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City.
Before that, al-Qidra said 22-year-old Mahmoud Salim Mustafa Daraj succumbed to his wounds in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip.
At least four Palestinians were killed in Gaza City overnight, Muna Rami, four, was killed in northern Gaza, and over a dozen civilians were killed in shelling on Rafah, Deir al-Balah, and Gaza City.
On Tuesday morning, civil defense crews with a crane parked outside the Salam building in Gaza City, which was hit in an Israeli air strike.
The tower block's top five floors had collapsed onto its bottom four floors. The leg of a person was visible from the street, lying on a piece of rubble caked with streams of dried blood.
Early Tuesday, the Israeli army said another two of its troops had been killed in clashes in Gaza a day earlier, raising Monday's toll to nine soldiers.
The army also said the remains of one of 13 soldiers killed in Gaza on Sunday had not been identified, indicating that all or part of the body was missing.
Overall, 27 soldiers have died in the past four days, with 13 killed on Sunday alone in what was the bloodiest single day for the Israeli military since the Lebanon war of 2006.
Since the offensive, more than 100,000 Gazans have fled their homes, seeking shelter in 69 schools run by the Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA.
In the latest airstrikes, four members of the same family were killed in Gaza City. They were identified as Muhammad Shehadeh Hajjaj, 31, Fayzeh Saleh Hajjaj, 66, Rawan Ziad Hajjaj, 15, and Yousef Muhammed Hajjaj, 28.
Earlier, two elderly women were killed in Rafah, southern Gaza. Medics identified them as Hakema Nafe Abu Odwan, 75, and Najah Nafe Abu Odwan, 85.
Four Palestinians were killed in al-Bureij refugee camp and Hasan Shabaan Khamase, 28, was killed in al-Maghazi camp in central Gaza.
Ahmed Asad al-Badde, 24, was killed in Beit Lahiya and the bodies of Tarek Fayek Hajjaj, 22, and Ahmed Ziad Hajjaj, 21, and Mosaab Nafeth Ejla, 30, were pulled from rubble in the al-Shujaiyeh neighborhood, which suffered heavy bombing on Sunday.
Earlier, the bodies of 65-year-old Muhammad Khalil Ahel and Hamada Eleiwa were found in the Gaza City neighborhoods of Shajaiyeh and Zaytoun.
Another man was killed in an airstrike on Beit Lahiya, while three people died in shelling on the al-Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City.
Before that, al-Qidra said 22-year-old Mahmoud Salim Mustafa Daraj succumbed to his wounds in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip.
At least four Palestinians were killed in Gaza City overnight, Muna Rami, four, was killed in northern Gaza, and over a dozen civilians were killed in shelling on Rafah, Deir al-Balah, and Gaza City.
On Tuesday morning, civil defense crews with a crane parked outside the Salam building in Gaza City, which was hit in an Israeli air strike.
The tower block's top five floors had collapsed onto its bottom four floors. The leg of a person was visible from the street, lying on a piece of rubble caked with streams of dried blood.
Early Tuesday, the Israeli army said another two of its troops had been killed in clashes in Gaza a day earlier, raising Monday's toll to nine soldiers.
The army also said the remains of one of 13 soldiers killed in Gaza on Sunday had not been identified, indicating that all or part of the body was missing.
Overall, 27 soldiers have died in the past four days, with 13 killed on Sunday alone in what was the bloodiest single day for the Israeli military since the Lebanon war of 2006.
Since the offensive, more than 100,000 Gazans have fled their homes, seeking shelter in 69 schools run by the Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA.
Head of Tunisia's al-Nahda party Rashid al-Ghannoushi revealed on Monday night that Egypt has refused to receive a Tunisian plane bound for Gaza loaded with medicines and medical supplies. Al-Ghannoushi told Al-Jazeera TV network that the Egyptian authorities had refused to allow the plane to land at the airport nearest to the Gaza Strip, pointing out that it was carrying medical supplies badly needed in the beleaguered Strip.
The plane was supposed to fly back injured people who sustained serious wounds during the ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza to receive treatment in Tunisia, he explained.
Tunisian president Moncef Marzouki had declared a week ago his country's intention to send a plane carrying medicines and medical supplies for Gaza Strip.
Along the same line, the Egyptian authorities continued to prevent a team of European specialized surgeons from having access to Gaza despite possessing the needed papers for that.
Dr. Mohammed Abu Nada, coordinator for the Forum of Palestinian Doctors in Europe, told Quds Press on Tuesday that they have been prevented by Egyptian army from entering into Gaza for the fifth day despite having official permits allowing their access.
The FPDE delegation includes a number of general surgeons in addition to surgeons specialized in vascular surgery and pediatric surgery.
583 Palestinians were killed and 3640 injured in 15 days of Israeli ferocious pounding of the besieged enclave. Hundreds of homes, hospitals, mosques, and schools were demolished during the Israeli airstrikes, navy shelling, and artillery bombardment.
The plane was supposed to fly back injured people who sustained serious wounds during the ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza to receive treatment in Tunisia, he explained.
Tunisian president Moncef Marzouki had declared a week ago his country's intention to send a plane carrying medicines and medical supplies for Gaza Strip.
Along the same line, the Egyptian authorities continued to prevent a team of European specialized surgeons from having access to Gaza despite possessing the needed papers for that.
Dr. Mohammed Abu Nada, coordinator for the Forum of Palestinian Doctors in Europe, told Quds Press on Tuesday that they have been prevented by Egyptian army from entering into Gaza for the fifth day despite having official permits allowing their access.
The FPDE delegation includes a number of general surgeons in addition to surgeons specialized in vascular surgery and pediatric surgery.
583 Palestinians were killed and 3640 injured in 15 days of Israeli ferocious pounding of the besieged enclave. Hundreds of homes, hospitals, mosques, and schools were demolished during the Israeli airstrikes, navy shelling, and artillery bombardment.
Israeli shelling kills 3 Palestinians in Tuffah area of Gaza City
At least three Palestinians died in the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City after Israeli artillery targeted the area on Tuesday, a Palestinian health ministry spokesman said.
Ashraf al-Qidra said the latest killings brought the number of Palestinians dead on Tuesday to 31.
At least three Palestinians died in the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City after Israeli artillery targeted the area on Tuesday, a Palestinian health ministry spokesman said.
Ashraf al-Qidra said the latest killings brought the number of Palestinians dead on Tuesday to 31.
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Many have accused Jon Stewart of being pro-Hamas for expressing sympathy for the residents of Gaza, where more than 500 people have been killed -- including at least 100 children -- in recent fighting with Israel.
So on Monday night's "Daily Show," just about the entire roster of correspondents popped up to scream at him any time he uttered the word "Israel." "Look, obviously there are many strong opinions on this," Stewart said when the shouting subsided. "But just merely mentioning Israel or questioning in any way the effectiveness or humanity of Israel's policies is not the same thing as being pro-Hamas." That of course led to a new round of shouts and insults, prompting Stewart to turn to a "lighter" topic: Ukraine. Watch the clip for more. Related video |
The Israeli army and police say they have seized weapons on board a boat which sailed from Jordan to Israel via the Dead Sea after midnight Tuesday.
They are questioning five young Palestinian men from East Jerusalem and Jericho, the Hebrew-language Walla news site reported.
According to the report, an observation unit of the Israeli army spotted a vessel coming from the Jordanian side in the northern Dead Sea at 1:20 a.m. Tuesday. The vessel anchored at the Israeli side and two young men stepped out carrying a bag. Three others who were waiting in bushes joined the two before Israeli officers stormed the area and detained them.
The report said seven hunting rifles were seized as well as six handguns and an amount of drugs.
They are questioning five young Palestinian men from East Jerusalem and Jericho, the Hebrew-language Walla news site reported.
According to the report, an observation unit of the Israeli army spotted a vessel coming from the Jordanian side in the northern Dead Sea at 1:20 a.m. Tuesday. The vessel anchored at the Israeli side and two young men stepped out carrying a bag. Three others who were waiting in bushes joined the two before Israeli officers stormed the area and detained them.
The report said seven hunting rifles were seized as well as six handguns and an amount of drugs.
Israeli riot police arrest an Arab Israeli man during clashes that followed a protest against Israel's military offensive on the Gaza Strip, in the northern city of Nazareth, on July 21, 2014
Palestinian citizens of Israel clashed with police in the northern city of Nazareth on Monday, police said, at the end of a protest against Israel's deadly military strikes in the Gaza Strip.
The clashes came as Nazareth and cities in the West Bank observed a general strike to mourn the victims of the Gaza conflict between Israel and Hamas -- the bloodiest since 2009 -- that has cost more than 500 Palestinian lives in two weeks.
Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said about 200 Palestinian citizens of Israel in Nazareth clashed with security forces, who responded with a water cannon and stun grenades, arresting 16 people after the 3,000-strong demonstration in Israel's largest Palestinian city.
Demonstrators held up placards reading "Israeli army commits genocide in Gaza."
The outburst of anger came after the bloodiest day of Israel's two-week Gaza operation, when at least 140 Palestinians and 13 Israeli soldiers were killed on Sunday.
Shops were shuttered across the West Bank and in Palestinian towns in Israel, as unions, nationalist, and Islamist groups called for a general strike, a call supported by the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday declared three days of mourning.
The PLO, which is dominated by Abbas' Fatah party, also called for protests in the occupied West Bank.
On Sunday night, around 4,000 demonstrators gathered in Ramallah and a large number in the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
Palestinian citizens of Israel number around 1.4 million, some 20 percent of Israel's population. They are the descendants of 160,000 Palestinians who managed to remain on their land when Israel was created in 1948.
Palestinian citizens of Israel clashed with police in the northern city of Nazareth on Monday, police said, at the end of a protest against Israel's deadly military strikes in the Gaza Strip.
The clashes came as Nazareth and cities in the West Bank observed a general strike to mourn the victims of the Gaza conflict between Israel and Hamas -- the bloodiest since 2009 -- that has cost more than 500 Palestinian lives in two weeks.
Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said about 200 Palestinian citizens of Israel in Nazareth clashed with security forces, who responded with a water cannon and stun grenades, arresting 16 people after the 3,000-strong demonstration in Israel's largest Palestinian city.
Demonstrators held up placards reading "Israeli army commits genocide in Gaza."
The outburst of anger came after the bloodiest day of Israel's two-week Gaza operation, when at least 140 Palestinians and 13 Israeli soldiers were killed on Sunday.
Shops were shuttered across the West Bank and in Palestinian towns in Israel, as unions, nationalist, and Islamist groups called for a general strike, a call supported by the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday declared three days of mourning.
The PLO, which is dominated by Abbas' Fatah party, also called for protests in the occupied West Bank.
On Sunday night, around 4,000 demonstrators gathered in Ramallah and a large number in the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
Palestinian citizens of Israel number around 1.4 million, some 20 percent of Israel's population. They are the descendants of 160,000 Palestinians who managed to remain on their land when Israel was created in 1948.
Just under 6,000 people have called on newly installed Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan to condemn Israel’s bombardment of the people of Gaza in the strongest possible terms and to take action to stop Israel’s "war crimes."
The petition, organised by Sadaka – the Ireland Palestine Alliance, and signed by 5,836, was presented to the Irish foreign minister in advance of his participation in the European Council Foreign Affairs meeting on Tuesday.
A representative from Sadaka commented: "It is time the Irish Government reflected the mood of the Irish people which is one of revulsion at Israel’s ethnic cleansing of the people of Gaza. The Irish people are shocked that our Government is standing idly by as we watch the incremental genocide of an imprisoned population."
The Irish Government and the international community must stop equating the rights and responsibilities of the powerful Israeli state and the people of Gaza, condemned to live in an open air prison, it said.
And the EU "must condemn the onslaught in Gaza in the strongest possible terms, negotiate and implement a settlement which ensures Israel observes the terms of the 2012 ceasefire and lifts the ongoing and prolonged blockade of the Gaza Strip."
"An international force with responsibility for monitoring the ceasefire, responding to alleged breaches of it and to oversee the opening of crossings and the movement of people and transfer of goods is essential," it urged.
"We have long passed the time when the people of Gaza should be abandoned to their fate by the international community."
The petition, organised by Sadaka – the Ireland Palestine Alliance, and signed by 5,836, was presented to the Irish foreign minister in advance of his participation in the European Council Foreign Affairs meeting on Tuesday.
A representative from Sadaka commented: "It is time the Irish Government reflected the mood of the Irish people which is one of revulsion at Israel’s ethnic cleansing of the people of Gaza. The Irish people are shocked that our Government is standing idly by as we watch the incremental genocide of an imprisoned population."
The Irish Government and the international community must stop equating the rights and responsibilities of the powerful Israeli state and the people of Gaza, condemned to live in an open air prison, it said.
And the EU "must condemn the onslaught in Gaza in the strongest possible terms, negotiate and implement a settlement which ensures Israel observes the terms of the 2012 ceasefire and lifts the ongoing and prolonged blockade of the Gaza Strip."
"An international force with responsibility for monitoring the ceasefire, responding to alleged breaches of it and to oversee the opening of crossings and the movement of people and transfer of goods is essential," it urged.
"We have long passed the time when the people of Gaza should be abandoned to their fate by the international community."
A Palestinian looks at copies of the Quran, Islam's holy book, as he inspects the rubble of a destroyed mosque following an overnight Israeli military strike, on July 22, 2014 in Gaza City
The death toll in Gaza rose above 600 on Tuesday as emergency teams pulled dead bodies from the rubble of homes destroyed by Israeli strikes on the 15th day of the assault.
Health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said the death toll had hit 604, and announced the most recent victim as four-year-old girl Muna Rami al-Kharawt in the northern Gaza Strip.
The bodies of two women were also removed from the debris of their homes in the Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza City, al-Qidra said.
He identified the two victims as 70-year-old Fatima Hasan Azzam and 50-year-old Maryam Hasan Azzam.
Additionally, emergency teams pulled the body of Muhammad al-Hindi from a destroyed building in Tal al-Hawa in southern Gaza.
The latest deaths brought the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks on Gaza on Tuesday to 25, al-Qidra said.
Earlier Tuesday, over a dozen Palestinians were killed after Israeli airstrikes and artillery hit their homes.
Israeli media had earlier quoted a Hamas official as saying there were negotiations for a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire to begin at 10 a.m.
Israeli officials rejected the proposal, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.
Since the start of the offensive, more than 100,000 Gazans have fled their homes, seeking shelter in 69 schools run by the Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA.
Overall, 27 soldiers have died in the past four days, with 13 killed on Sunday alone in what was the bloodiest single day for the Israeli military since the Lebanon war of 2006.
Two Israeli civilians have also been killed by rocket fire.
Hamas' main condition for halting its fire is a lifting of Israel's eight-year blockade on the enclave, but it also wants "the release of those recently detained" in the West Bank, Ismail Haniyeh, the movement's top Gaza-based official, said late on Monday.
Cross-border rocket fire has continued despite the operation, with 116 rockets hitting Israel on Monday, one striking the greater Tel Aviv area, and another 17 shot down.
The death toll in Gaza rose above 600 on Tuesday as emergency teams pulled dead bodies from the rubble of homes destroyed by Israeli strikes on the 15th day of the assault.
Health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said the death toll had hit 604, and announced the most recent victim as four-year-old girl Muna Rami al-Kharawt in the northern Gaza Strip.
The bodies of two women were also removed from the debris of their homes in the Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza City, al-Qidra said.
He identified the two victims as 70-year-old Fatima Hasan Azzam and 50-year-old Maryam Hasan Azzam.
Additionally, emergency teams pulled the body of Muhammad al-Hindi from a destroyed building in Tal al-Hawa in southern Gaza.
The latest deaths brought the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks on Gaza on Tuesday to 25, al-Qidra said.
Earlier Tuesday, over a dozen Palestinians were killed after Israeli airstrikes and artillery hit their homes.
Israeli media had earlier quoted a Hamas official as saying there were negotiations for a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire to begin at 10 a.m.
Israeli officials rejected the proposal, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.
Since the start of the offensive, more than 100,000 Gazans have fled their homes, seeking shelter in 69 schools run by the Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA.
Overall, 27 soldiers have died in the past four days, with 13 killed on Sunday alone in what was the bloodiest single day for the Israeli military since the Lebanon war of 2006.
Two Israeli civilians have also been killed by rocket fire.
Hamas' main condition for halting its fire is a lifting of Israel's eight-year blockade on the enclave, but it also wants "the release of those recently detained" in the West Bank, Ismail Haniyeh, the movement's top Gaza-based official, said late on Monday.
Cross-border rocket fire has continued despite the operation, with 116 rockets hitting Israel on Monday, one striking the greater Tel Aviv area, and another 17 shot down.
Ecuadora Ambassador to Israeli
The Ecuadoran Ambassador has been recalled from Israel, citing the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza which began nearly two weeks ago, and has killed over 550 Palestinians.
South Africa considered a similar move last week, but stopped short after meeting of ejecting the Israeli ambassadors after meeting with Israeli officials.
On Friday, legislators in South Africa’s Parliament urged the President to cut diplomatic ties with Israel, making comparisons between Israel’s policies and those of the white South African government under apartheid.
African National Congress member Stone Sizani, stated, “We echo the widespread condemnation of these senseless attacks on defenceless Palestinians and call on the government of Israel to immediately cease with this blatant act of criminality,” he said. “As the ANC in parliament, we stand unapologetically with the people of Palestine and pro-Palestinian campaigners … As one of the measures to put pressure on Israel, we are of a firm view that our government must recall our ambassador to Israel and also ask the Israel ambassador to South African to leave with immediate effect.”
The Electronic Initifada reports that Ronnie Kasrils, anti-apartheid and Palestine solidarity activist, said in a letter to a South African newspaper last week: “It is quite frankly hypocritical of the ruling ANC and its SACP [Communist Party] allies to merely protest against Israel’s actions while … continuing to do business with the Zionist regime.”
The Ecuadoran decision coincides with the announcement by the African Studies Association that it will join the academic boycott of Israel, and an open letter signed by over 500 academics worldwide urging an arms embargo against Israel.
The Ecuadoran government made clear that the reason for the withdrawal is the Israeli invasion of Gaza. The Ecuadoran Foreign Minister, Ricardo Patino, stated, "We condemn the Israeli military incursion into Palestinian territory, we require cessation of operations and indiscriminate attacks against civilians”.
Hamas officials praised the decision, and called on the UN Security Council to quickly pass a resolution ending the Israeli aggression and lifting the eight-year long Israeli siege that has devastated the economy of the coastal Strip.
Britain and France, which had previously threatened to recall the Israeli ambassador from their countries in 2007 due to Israeli settlement expansion, have been largely supportive of Israel during its ongoing invasion of Gaza, despite massive protests by people in both countries urging economic and political sanctions against Israel.
Turkey has been the most outspoken on the diplomatic front about the Israeli offensive, leading the Israeli government to recall most of its diplomatic staff from Turkey several days ago.
Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip has cost over 550 Palestinians their lives, including over 130 children, over the past 13 days. Over 3300 have been wounded, many of them severely.
The Ecuadoran Ambassador has been recalled from Israel, citing the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza which began nearly two weeks ago, and has killed over 550 Palestinians.
South Africa considered a similar move last week, but stopped short after meeting of ejecting the Israeli ambassadors after meeting with Israeli officials.
On Friday, legislators in South Africa’s Parliament urged the President to cut diplomatic ties with Israel, making comparisons between Israel’s policies and those of the white South African government under apartheid.
African National Congress member Stone Sizani, stated, “We echo the widespread condemnation of these senseless attacks on defenceless Palestinians and call on the government of Israel to immediately cease with this blatant act of criminality,” he said. “As the ANC in parliament, we stand unapologetically with the people of Palestine and pro-Palestinian campaigners … As one of the measures to put pressure on Israel, we are of a firm view that our government must recall our ambassador to Israel and also ask the Israel ambassador to South African to leave with immediate effect.”
The Electronic Initifada reports that Ronnie Kasrils, anti-apartheid and Palestine solidarity activist, said in a letter to a South African newspaper last week: “It is quite frankly hypocritical of the ruling ANC and its SACP [Communist Party] allies to merely protest against Israel’s actions while … continuing to do business with the Zionist regime.”
The Ecuadoran decision coincides with the announcement by the African Studies Association that it will join the academic boycott of Israel, and an open letter signed by over 500 academics worldwide urging an arms embargo against Israel.
The Ecuadoran government made clear that the reason for the withdrawal is the Israeli invasion of Gaza. The Ecuadoran Foreign Minister, Ricardo Patino, stated, "We condemn the Israeli military incursion into Palestinian territory, we require cessation of operations and indiscriminate attacks against civilians”.
Hamas officials praised the decision, and called on the UN Security Council to quickly pass a resolution ending the Israeli aggression and lifting the eight-year long Israeli siege that has devastated the economy of the coastal Strip.
Britain and France, which had previously threatened to recall the Israeli ambassador from their countries in 2007 due to Israeli settlement expansion, have been largely supportive of Israel during its ongoing invasion of Gaza, despite massive protests by people in both countries urging economic and political sanctions against Israel.
Turkey has been the most outspoken on the diplomatic front about the Israeli offensive, leading the Israeli government to recall most of its diplomatic staff from Turkey several days ago.
Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip has cost over 550 Palestinians their lives, including over 130 children, over the past 13 days. Over 3300 have been wounded, many of them severely.
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BBC journalist physically attacked by Israeli thugs while on air
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