30 july 2014
Journalists Sameh Al-Aryan (left) and Ramu Rayan, who were killed in the Israeli shelling of Shojayah market. Photo release by IFJ Two Palestinian journalists were killed in Gaza, taking the journalistic toll to eight since the Israeli bombardment began a month ago.
According to an affiliate of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate (PJS), the two journalists were killed in the artillery shelling of Shojayah market. A third journalist was seriously injured.
The two who died were Sameh Al-Aryan, 26, of Al-Aqsa TV, and photojournalist Rami Rayan, 25, who worked for the Palestinian Media Network. Photojournalist Hamed Shobaky, of Manara Media, was severely wounded in the same incident.
Ahed Zaqout, 49, a presenter on Palestine TV sport programmes, was killed in his apartment during an attack on the Italian tower in Gaza City.
Jim Boumelha, the IFJ president, said: "We express our anger and condemnation at the killing of these journalists, the latest victims in this ongoing cycle of intimidation, violence and murder against media workers in Palestine.
"We send our heartfelt sympathies to their family and friends and we offer our continued support and solidarity to our colleagues in the PJS and all media workers in Gaza as they continue to suffer through this appalling Israeli barrage.
"Enough is enough: the killing must end now and Israeli must be held accountable for these atrocities."
The IFJ is writing to Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations' secretary-general, to remind the organisation of its international obligation to protect journalists.
Source: IFJ
According to an affiliate of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate (PJS), the two journalists were killed in the artillery shelling of Shojayah market. A third journalist was seriously injured.
The two who died were Sameh Al-Aryan, 26, of Al-Aqsa TV, and photojournalist Rami Rayan, 25, who worked for the Palestinian Media Network. Photojournalist Hamed Shobaky, of Manara Media, was severely wounded in the same incident.
Ahed Zaqout, 49, a presenter on Palestine TV sport programmes, was killed in his apartment during an attack on the Italian tower in Gaza City.
Jim Boumelha, the IFJ president, said: "We express our anger and condemnation at the killing of these journalists, the latest victims in this ongoing cycle of intimidation, violence and murder against media workers in Palestine.
"We send our heartfelt sympathies to their family and friends and we offer our continued support and solidarity to our colleagues in the PJS and all media workers in Gaza as they continue to suffer through this appalling Israeli barrage.
"Enough is enough: the killing must end now and Israeli must be held accountable for these atrocities."
The IFJ is writing to Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations' secretary-general, to remind the organisation of its international obligation to protect journalists.
Source: IFJ
The following is a statement by UNRWA Commissioner General Pierre Krahenbuh.
"Last night, children were killed as they slept next to their parents on the floor of a classroom in a UN designated shelter in Gaza. Children killed in their sleep; this is an affront to all of us, a source of universal shame. Today the world stands disgraced.
We have visited the site and gathered evidence. We have analysed fragments, examined craters and other damage. Our initial assessment is that it was Israeli artillery that hit our school, in which 3,300 people had sought refuge. We believe there were at least three impacts. It is too early to give a confirmed official death toll. But we know that there were multiple civilian deaths and injuries including of women and children and the UNRWA guard who was trying to protect the site. These are people who were instructed to leave their homes by the Israeli army.
The precise location of the Jabalia Elementary Girls School and the fact that it was housing thousands of internally displaced people was communicated to the Israeli army seventeen times, to ensure its protection; the last being at ten to nine last night, just hours before the fatal shelling.
I condemn in the strongest possible terms this serious violation of international law by Israeli forces.
This is the sixth time that one of our schools has been struck. Our staff, the very people leading the humanitarian response are being killed. Our shelters are overflowing. Tens of thousands may soon be stranded in the streets of Gaza, without food, water and shelter if attacks on these areas continue.
We have moved beyond the realm of humanitarian action alone. We are in the realm of accountability. I call on the international community to take deliberate international political action to put an immediate end to the continuing carnage."
See also: In First Major Attacks After End of Ceasefire, Israeli Bombs Hit Hospital & Playground, Killing 10
"Last night, children were killed as they slept next to their parents on the floor of a classroom in a UN designated shelter in Gaza. Children killed in their sleep; this is an affront to all of us, a source of universal shame. Today the world stands disgraced.
We have visited the site and gathered evidence. We have analysed fragments, examined craters and other damage. Our initial assessment is that it was Israeli artillery that hit our school, in which 3,300 people had sought refuge. We believe there were at least three impacts. It is too early to give a confirmed official death toll. But we know that there were multiple civilian deaths and injuries including of women and children and the UNRWA guard who was trying to protect the site. These are people who were instructed to leave their homes by the Israeli army.
The precise location of the Jabalia Elementary Girls School and the fact that it was housing thousands of internally displaced people was communicated to the Israeli army seventeen times, to ensure its protection; the last being at ten to nine last night, just hours before the fatal shelling.
I condemn in the strongest possible terms this serious violation of international law by Israeli forces.
This is the sixth time that one of our schools has been struck. Our staff, the very people leading the humanitarian response are being killed. Our shelters are overflowing. Tens of thousands may soon be stranded in the streets of Gaza, without food, water and shelter if attacks on these areas continue.
We have moved beyond the realm of humanitarian action alone. We are in the realm of accountability. I call on the international community to take deliberate international political action to put an immediate end to the continuing carnage."
See also: In First Major Attacks After End of Ceasefire, Israeli Bombs Hit Hospital & Playground, Killing 10
Ministry of Health Gaza is outraged at the Israeli massacre perpetrated during the so-called humanitarian ceasefire, when F-16s fired missiles into the crowded Shujeiyah market as hundreds took advantage of the lull to buy food and supplies.
At least 17 people have been killed and 200 injured.
“This atrocity is barbarity personified,” said Director General, Ministry of Health Dr Medhat Abbas. Not satisfied with exterminating entire families in their own homes, not satisfied with killing people praying in mosques, not satisfied with killing patients, staff and visitors in hospitals, not satisfied with killing ambulance drivers as they retrieve the dead and injured, not satisfied with killing women and children sheltering in UNRWA school, the Israeli death machine now blatantly attacks a crowded public market DURING a humanitarian ceasefire, in an unrivaled cruel and cynical exercise of savagery and barbarism.
The Ministry of Health Gaza condemns this latest atrocity in the strongest possible terms, and considers that any further prevarication by the international community can only be seen as complicity in the increasingly barbaric and clearly genocidal war crimes being visited on the citizenry of Gaza.
The Ministry demands immediate international intervention to bring the rogue ‘state’ of Israel under control, and an immediate end to its carnage in Gaza.
At least 17 people have been killed and 200 injured.
“This atrocity is barbarity personified,” said Director General, Ministry of Health Dr Medhat Abbas. Not satisfied with exterminating entire families in their own homes, not satisfied with killing people praying in mosques, not satisfied with killing patients, staff and visitors in hospitals, not satisfied with killing ambulance drivers as they retrieve the dead and injured, not satisfied with killing women and children sheltering in UNRWA school, the Israeli death machine now blatantly attacks a crowded public market DURING a humanitarian ceasefire, in an unrivaled cruel and cynical exercise of savagery and barbarism.
The Ministry of Health Gaza condemns this latest atrocity in the strongest possible terms, and considers that any further prevarication by the international community can only be seen as complicity in the increasingly barbaric and clearly genocidal war crimes being visited on the citizenry of Gaza.
The Ministry demands immediate international intervention to bring the rogue ‘state’ of Israel under control, and an immediate end to its carnage in Gaza.
Two Palestinians injured in Israeli air strikes wait outside the Khan Younis hospital in the southern Gaza Strip on July 29, 2014
The Swiss foreign ministry said Wednesday it is in talks about holding an international conference sought by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas focusing on protecting civilians in Gaza.
"Switzerland has begun consultations with state parties to the Geneva Conventions, following an official Palestinian request that a conference be held by the end of the year," said a ministry statement.
It underlined that for a conference to take place, a broad consensus was required among the Geneva Conventions' 195 signatory states.
Although Abbas' request was prompted by the latest eruption of hostilities in Gaza -- which has so far killed more than 1,300 in 23 days of bloodshed -- longer-running concerns about the fate of Palestinians in areas under Israeli control are likely to be on the table.
The Geneva Conventions govern the conduct of belligerents during warfare and the treatment of civilians in occupied territories.
As the formal guardian of the accords, which originated in the 19th century and were revised after World War II, Switzerland received a request from Abbas on July 9.
Swiss President Didier Burkhalter, who is also the neutral nation's foreign minister, responded formally to Abbas on July 25, the statement said.
The Palestinian leadership was able to make the request to Switzerland because it adopted the Conventions in April.
The move, which was followed by its formal accession to a handful of United Nations treaties, was part of a diplomatic drive to win recognition as a state.
The Palestinians gained non-member observer status at the United Nations in November 2012, despite fierce opposition from Israel and the United States.
Switzerland said it urged Israel and Hamas to reach a genuine ceasefire agreement, to ensure the protection of civilians and aid the thousands of Gazans wounded or displaced in the embattled territory.
The Swiss foreign ministry said Wednesday it is in talks about holding an international conference sought by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas focusing on protecting civilians in Gaza.
"Switzerland has begun consultations with state parties to the Geneva Conventions, following an official Palestinian request that a conference be held by the end of the year," said a ministry statement.
It underlined that for a conference to take place, a broad consensus was required among the Geneva Conventions' 195 signatory states.
Although Abbas' request was prompted by the latest eruption of hostilities in Gaza -- which has so far killed more than 1,300 in 23 days of bloodshed -- longer-running concerns about the fate of Palestinians in areas under Israeli control are likely to be on the table.
The Geneva Conventions govern the conduct of belligerents during warfare and the treatment of civilians in occupied territories.
As the formal guardian of the accords, which originated in the 19th century and were revised after World War II, Switzerland received a request from Abbas on July 9.
Swiss President Didier Burkhalter, who is also the neutral nation's foreign minister, responded formally to Abbas on July 25, the statement said.
The Palestinian leadership was able to make the request to Switzerland because it adopted the Conventions in April.
The move, which was followed by its formal accession to a handful of United Nations treaties, was part of a diplomatic drive to win recognition as a state.
The Palestinians gained non-member observer status at the United Nations in November 2012, despite fierce opposition from Israel and the United States.
Switzerland said it urged Israel and Hamas to reach a genuine ceasefire agreement, to ensure the protection of civilians and aid the thousands of Gazans wounded or displaced in the embattled territory.
The Palestinian al-Aqsa television station said Wednesday night that six Egyptian soldiers were killed in an Israeli airstrike at the Gaza border.
The Hamas-affiliated station cited witnesses saying that six Egyptian soldiers were killed after Israeli airstrikes hit the border area.
An Israeli media spokeswoman said she did not have information on the incident.
The Hamas-affiliated station cited witnesses saying that six Egyptian soldiers were killed after Israeli airstrikes hit the border area.
An Israeli media spokeswoman said she did not have information on the incident.
Bolivia on Wednesday renounced a visa exemption agreement with Israel in protest over its offensive in Gaza, and declared it a terrorist state.
President Evo Morales announced the move during a talk with a group of educators in the city of Cochabamba.
It "means, in other words, we are declaring (Israel) a terrorist state," he said.
The treaty has allowed Israelis to travel freely to Bolivia without a visa since 1972.
Morales said the Gaza offensive shows "that Israel is not a guarantor of the principles of respect for life and the elementary precepts of rights that govern the peaceful and harmonious coexistence of our international community."
More than two weeks of fighting in Gaza have left 1,300 dead and 6,000 wounded amid an intense Israeli air and ground campaign.
In the latest development, 16 people were killed after two Israeli shells slammed into a United Nations school, drawing international protests.
Bolivia broke off diplomatic relations with Israel in 2009 over a previous military operation in Gaza.
In mid-July, Morales filed a request with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to prosecute Israel for "crimes against humanity."
President Evo Morales announced the move during a talk with a group of educators in the city of Cochabamba.
It "means, in other words, we are declaring (Israel) a terrorist state," he said.
The treaty has allowed Israelis to travel freely to Bolivia without a visa since 1972.
Morales said the Gaza offensive shows "that Israel is not a guarantor of the principles of respect for life and the elementary precepts of rights that govern the peaceful and harmonious coexistence of our international community."
More than two weeks of fighting in Gaza have left 1,300 dead and 6,000 wounded amid an intense Israeli air and ground campaign.
In the latest development, 16 people were killed after two Israeli shells slammed into a United Nations school, drawing international protests.
Bolivia broke off diplomatic relations with Israel in 2009 over a previous military operation in Gaza.
In mid-July, Morales filed a request with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to prosecute Israel for "crimes against humanity."
An Israeli delegation arrived in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss with Egyptian officials a possible ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, airport officials said.
Cairo, a key mediator in truce negotiations between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers, was also expected to host a Palestinian delegation later this week.
Israel has said it is intent on destroying tunnels used by militants to conduct attacks on its territory, while Hamas has insisted that any ceasefire include an end to the eight-year blockade of the Gaza Strip.
The Cairo airport officials did not identify the two-member Israeli delegation, but said they were scheduled to depart after a visit of several hours, in which they would discuss proposals for a truce.
Cairo, a key mediator in truce negotiations between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers, was also expected to host a Palestinian delegation later this week.
Israel has said it is intent on destroying tunnels used by militants to conduct attacks on its territory, while Hamas has insisted that any ceasefire include an end to the eight-year blockade of the Gaza Strip.
The Cairo airport officials did not identify the two-member Israeli delegation, but said they were scheduled to depart after a visit of several hours, in which they would discuss proposals for a truce.
You find the photo's/video's disturbing? Remember, this is what Palestinian children see almost every day
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