16 nov 2012
Welcome to this Week in Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for November 10th to the 16th, 2012 Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 9 m 17s || 8.50 MB ||
At least 28 Palestinians, among them children were killed this week by Israeli attacks targeting the Gaza Strip this week While Egypt sends its Prime Minter to the coastal region to mediate a truce. These stories and more, coming up, stay tuned.
The Nonviolence Report
Let’s us begin our weekly report with nonviolent activities organized in West Bank. This week five civilians were injured, one critically, five others arrested as Israeli troops attacked on Friday anti wall protests organized at a number of west Bank communities. IMEMC’s Salam Qumsiyeh has the story:
Protests were organized on Friday at the villages of Bil’in Ni’lin and al Nabi Saleh in central West Bank, as well as Al Ma’ssara village in southern West Bank in addition to Kufer Kadum, in the north. This week people marched in solidarity with the Gaza Strip that are being bombarded heavily by the Israeli military.
One local youth was critically injured, many treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation, when Israeli troops attacked the weekly anti wall protest at the village of Kufer Kadum. Villagers and their supporters were attacked by Israeli soldiers before leaving the village.
Three Palestinian civilians were injured; many were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation when troops attacked the weekly anti wall and settlement protest in the village of Al Nabi Saleh.
Residents along with their international
supporters reached the entrance of the village when they were attacked by troop’s station there that fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets.
Later troops invaded the village and fired tear gas at residents’ homes. When resident tried to evacuate the homes soldiers attacked them and arrested two men and three internationals assisting the families to run away from tear gas.
In the nearby Bil’in and Ni’lin, villagers and their international supporter managed to reach the Israeli wall built on lands owned by local farmers. Soldiers stationed there fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. One local youth sustained moderate wounds in Bil’in. Many were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation at both villages.
Moreover, many were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation on Friday when soldiers attacked the weekly anti wall protest at the village of Al Ma’ssara, near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem. This week protest ended with clashes between local youth the invading troops. No injuries were reported.
For IMEMC News this is Salam Qumsiyeh
The Political Report
While Israeli attacks escalate against Gaza, Egypt sends its Prime Minter to the coastal region to mediate a truce and deliver medical supplies, in the meantime’s the US blames Hamas for the escalation and ask countries that have influence on Palestinian groups to use it to stop their rocket fire. IMEMC’s Ghassan Bannoura has more:
At least 28 Palestinians were killed and about 300 others injured in the ongoing Israeli attacks targeting the Gaza Strip. Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil visited the Gaza Strip on Friday, a visit said to show solidarity with the Palestinian people after two days of relentless attacks by Israeli warplanes targeting the coastal region. Kandil met with Ismael Haniyeh, Hamas Prime Minister in Gaza.
The two leaders visited local hospitals and meet with a number of the Palestinians wounded in the latest Israeli assault. Kandil told reporters that this visit indicates the strong ties between the Palestinian and the Egyptian people and government.
Hamas welcomed the Egyptian visit and asked Arab countries to intervene to stop the escalated attacks targeting the Gaza Strip.
Ahead of Kandil visited to Gaza, Egyptian President, Mohammad Morsi, warned Israel against attacking official Egyptian delegates adding that the delegates will carry medical supplies to the coastal region.
While the Egyptian delegation was visiting Gaza, Israeli war planes bombarded Gaza, although Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated that he will halt the strikes against Gaza during the visit of the Egyptian officials. The Egyptian government announced that Israel have promised a three-hour truce during the delegation visit.
Germany and the US called on Egypt and turkey to use its influence on Hamas and Palestinian groups to halt its attacks from Gaza adding that Israel had the right to protect its self.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Dr. Saeb Ereikat said that the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's efforts are focused on deescalating the violence and save lives in Gaza.
On the issue of Palestinian efforts to obtain an observer seat in the UN Ereikat said that the Palestinian Authority will not succumb to pressures to halt its efforts at the UN trying to grant a none-member state from the UN General Assembly.
For IMEMC News this is Ghassan Bannoura.
The West Bank & Gaza Report
At least 28 Palestinians, among them children were killed this week by Israeli attacks targeting the Gaza Strip this week. The Israeli military have conducted at least 200 air sticks in the coastal region, meanwhile in the West Bank Israeli troops attacked protests organized in solidarity with Gaza, injuring at least three civilians and arresting five others. IMEMC’s Rami Al Meghari reports From Gaza.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza reported that five residents were killed on Friday by ongoing Israeli aerial and ground bombardment which targeted residential areas, government building as well as farm lands all over the Strip.
Among those killed on Thursday was 3 year old Mohamed Sa’ed Allah. The boy was killed when Israeli fighter jets targeted his family home in Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza strip.
On Thursday seven Palestinian were killed in Gaza. An old man and a 2 years old child died on Thursday midday after succumbing to wounds they sustained on Wednesday. Meanwhile other two residents were killed when unmanned drowns fired a missile at a group of residents near a gas station in Beit Lahiya town, northern Gaza Strip. One Wednesday eight residents were killed by the Israeli shilling among them Ahmad Misharawi, 11 months old; Ranan Arafat, 7 years old.
The Israeli escalation started on Wednesday midday when the Israeli air force fighter jets assassinated Ahmad al-Ja’bari, 52, a leader of Al Qassam Brigades the armed wing of Hamas in Gaza. On Saturday and Sunday Israeli air raids left eight Palestinians killed among them two children.
Moreover at least 300 civilians were injured by Israeli attacks this week. Among those injured 30 are in critical conditions, 26 children and 18 women, doctors in Gaza reported.
From its part, Palestinian resistance groups fired rockets and home-made shells at Israeli targets near the Gaza Strip and reaching as far as Tal Aviv and settlements around Jerusalem. Israeli sources said that four Israeli were killed by the Palestinian fire and three soldiers were injured.
Elsewhere in the West Bank this week, protests were organized in solidarity with Gaza and against the Israeli attacks targeting the coastal region. Protests were organized in the cities of Jerusalem Ramallah, Nablus, Hebron and Bethlehem. At least five teenagers were wounded when Israeli troops attacked the protests near Bethlehem city, Ramallah and Jerusalem in addition five residents were arrested during a protest in the old city of Jerusalem on Friday.
For IMEMC News this is Rami Al Meghari in Gaza.
Conclusion
And that’s all for today from This Week in Palestine this was the Weekly report for November 3rd to 9th 2012 from the Occupied Palestinian Territories. For more news and updates please visit our website at www.imemc.org. Today’s report has been brought to you by Husam Qassis and me, George Rishmawi.
At least 28 Palestinians, among them children were killed this week by Israeli attacks targeting the Gaza Strip this week While Egypt sends its Prime Minter to the coastal region to mediate a truce. These stories and more, coming up, stay tuned.
The Nonviolence Report
Let’s us begin our weekly report with nonviolent activities organized in West Bank. This week five civilians were injured, one critically, five others arrested as Israeli troops attacked on Friday anti wall protests organized at a number of west Bank communities. IMEMC’s Salam Qumsiyeh has the story:
Protests were organized on Friday at the villages of Bil’in Ni’lin and al Nabi Saleh in central West Bank, as well as Al Ma’ssara village in southern West Bank in addition to Kufer Kadum, in the north. This week people marched in solidarity with the Gaza Strip that are being bombarded heavily by the Israeli military.
One local youth was critically injured, many treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation, when Israeli troops attacked the weekly anti wall protest at the village of Kufer Kadum. Villagers and their supporters were attacked by Israeli soldiers before leaving the village.
Three Palestinian civilians were injured; many were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation when troops attacked the weekly anti wall and settlement protest in the village of Al Nabi Saleh.
Residents along with their international
supporters reached the entrance of the village when they were attacked by troop’s station there that fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets.
Later troops invaded the village and fired tear gas at residents’ homes. When resident tried to evacuate the homes soldiers attacked them and arrested two men and three internationals assisting the families to run away from tear gas.
In the nearby Bil’in and Ni’lin, villagers and their international supporter managed to reach the Israeli wall built on lands owned by local farmers. Soldiers stationed there fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. One local youth sustained moderate wounds in Bil’in. Many were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation at both villages.
Moreover, many were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation on Friday when soldiers attacked the weekly anti wall protest at the village of Al Ma’ssara, near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem. This week protest ended with clashes between local youth the invading troops. No injuries were reported.
For IMEMC News this is Salam Qumsiyeh
The Political Report
While Israeli attacks escalate against Gaza, Egypt sends its Prime Minter to the coastal region to mediate a truce and deliver medical supplies, in the meantime’s the US blames Hamas for the escalation and ask countries that have influence on Palestinian groups to use it to stop their rocket fire. IMEMC’s Ghassan Bannoura has more:
At least 28 Palestinians were killed and about 300 others injured in the ongoing Israeli attacks targeting the Gaza Strip. Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil visited the Gaza Strip on Friday, a visit said to show solidarity with the Palestinian people after two days of relentless attacks by Israeli warplanes targeting the coastal region. Kandil met with Ismael Haniyeh, Hamas Prime Minister in Gaza.
The two leaders visited local hospitals and meet with a number of the Palestinians wounded in the latest Israeli assault. Kandil told reporters that this visit indicates the strong ties between the Palestinian and the Egyptian people and government.
Hamas welcomed the Egyptian visit and asked Arab countries to intervene to stop the escalated attacks targeting the Gaza Strip.
Ahead of Kandil visited to Gaza, Egyptian President, Mohammad Morsi, warned Israel against attacking official Egyptian delegates adding that the delegates will carry medical supplies to the coastal region.
While the Egyptian delegation was visiting Gaza, Israeli war planes bombarded Gaza, although Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated that he will halt the strikes against Gaza during the visit of the Egyptian officials. The Egyptian government announced that Israel have promised a three-hour truce during the delegation visit.
Germany and the US called on Egypt and turkey to use its influence on Hamas and Palestinian groups to halt its attacks from Gaza adding that Israel had the right to protect its self.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Dr. Saeb Ereikat said that the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's efforts are focused on deescalating the violence and save lives in Gaza.
On the issue of Palestinian efforts to obtain an observer seat in the UN Ereikat said that the Palestinian Authority will not succumb to pressures to halt its efforts at the UN trying to grant a none-member state from the UN General Assembly.
For IMEMC News this is Ghassan Bannoura.
The West Bank & Gaza Report
At least 28 Palestinians, among them children were killed this week by Israeli attacks targeting the Gaza Strip this week. The Israeli military have conducted at least 200 air sticks in the coastal region, meanwhile in the West Bank Israeli troops attacked protests organized in solidarity with Gaza, injuring at least three civilians and arresting five others. IMEMC’s Rami Al Meghari reports From Gaza.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza reported that five residents were killed on Friday by ongoing Israeli aerial and ground bombardment which targeted residential areas, government building as well as farm lands all over the Strip.
Among those killed on Thursday was 3 year old Mohamed Sa’ed Allah. The boy was killed when Israeli fighter jets targeted his family home in Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza strip.
On Thursday seven Palestinian were killed in Gaza. An old man and a 2 years old child died on Thursday midday after succumbing to wounds they sustained on Wednesday. Meanwhile other two residents were killed when unmanned drowns fired a missile at a group of residents near a gas station in Beit Lahiya town, northern Gaza Strip. One Wednesday eight residents were killed by the Israeli shilling among them Ahmad Misharawi, 11 months old; Ranan Arafat, 7 years old.
The Israeli escalation started on Wednesday midday when the Israeli air force fighter jets assassinated Ahmad al-Ja’bari, 52, a leader of Al Qassam Brigades the armed wing of Hamas in Gaza. On Saturday and Sunday Israeli air raids left eight Palestinians killed among them two children.
Moreover at least 300 civilians were injured by Israeli attacks this week. Among those injured 30 are in critical conditions, 26 children and 18 women, doctors in Gaza reported.
From its part, Palestinian resistance groups fired rockets and home-made shells at Israeli targets near the Gaza Strip and reaching as far as Tal Aviv and settlements around Jerusalem. Israeli sources said that four Israeli were killed by the Palestinian fire and three soldiers were injured.
Elsewhere in the West Bank this week, protests were organized in solidarity with Gaza and against the Israeli attacks targeting the coastal region. Protests were organized in the cities of Jerusalem Ramallah, Nablus, Hebron and Bethlehem. At least five teenagers were wounded when Israeli troops attacked the protests near Bethlehem city, Ramallah and Jerusalem in addition five residents were arrested during a protest in the old city of Jerusalem on Friday.
For IMEMC News this is Rami Al Meghari in Gaza.
Conclusion
And that’s all for today from This Week in Palestine this was the Weekly report for November 3rd to 9th 2012 from the Occupied Palestinian Territories. For more news and updates please visit our website at www.imemc.org. Today’s report has been brought to you by Husam Qassis and me, George Rishmawi.
Tahrir Suleiman 22
Palestinian medical sources in Gaza reported that a Palestinian woman died of serious injuries sustained on Friday morning, when the army bombarded Beit Lahia, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. 23 Palestinians have been killed, and more than 245 have been injured since Israel launched its aggression Wednesday.
The sources said that Tahrir Suleiman, 22, succumbed to her injuries at a local hospital in the area.
She was injured when the Israeli army bombarded a home that belongs to Salman family in Beit Lahia; medics and rescue teams managed to rescue five of her family members who were buried under the rubble.
Earlier on Friday, the army fired several missiles into Jabalia town, in northern Gaza, killing two Palestinians, including one child; at least seven Palestinians, including children, have been injured when a missile fired by the Israeli army hit a home in Beit Lahia.
Also on Friday, Medical sources in Gaza reported that four Palestinians were wounded when the army fired shells near a home close to the western junction in Beit Lahia, in northern Gaza; they were all moved to the Kamal Odwan Hospital.
On Thursday evening, Hanin Tafesh, 10 months, died of wounds suffered when the Israeli army bombarded her home.
The number of Palestinians killed by the Israeli army since Wednesday has arrived at 23, while the number of wounded residents totals approximatley 252, including children, infants and women. Those civilians killed include children, women and elderly.
Palestinian medical sources in Gaza reported that a Palestinian woman died of serious injuries sustained on Friday morning, when the army bombarded Beit Lahia, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. 23 Palestinians have been killed, and more than 245 have been injured since Israel launched its aggression Wednesday.
The sources said that Tahrir Suleiman, 22, succumbed to her injuries at a local hospital in the area.
She was injured when the Israeli army bombarded a home that belongs to Salman family in Beit Lahia; medics and rescue teams managed to rescue five of her family members who were buried under the rubble.
Earlier on Friday, the army fired several missiles into Jabalia town, in northern Gaza, killing two Palestinians, including one child; at least seven Palestinians, including children, have been injured when a missile fired by the Israeli army hit a home in Beit Lahia.
Also on Friday, Medical sources in Gaza reported that four Palestinians were wounded when the army fired shells near a home close to the western junction in Beit Lahia, in northern Gaza; they were all moved to the Kamal Odwan Hospital.
On Thursday evening, Hanin Tafesh, 10 months, died of wounds suffered when the Israeli army bombarded her home.
The number of Palestinians killed by the Israeli army since Wednesday has arrived at 23, while the number of wounded residents totals approximatley 252, including children, infants and women. Those civilians killed include children, women and elderly.
22 Killed, 245 Injured, Since Wednesday
The Israeli Air Force fired, Friday, several missiles into Jabalia town, in northern Gaza, killing two Palestinians, including one child, and wounded seven other residents, mainly children, after an Israeli missile hit a home in the town.
At least 22 Palestinians have been killed, and more than 245 have been injured by Israeli shells since Wednesday; the casualties include children and infants.
Medical sources in Gaza reported that four Palestinians were wounded when the army fired shells near a home close to the western junction in Beit Lahia, in northern Gaza; they were all moved to the Kamal Odwan Hospital.
The army also bombarded agricultural areas in the Bedouin Village, in northern Gaza; damage was reported, no injuries.
Soldiers bombarded an area close to the Al-Karama residential towers, in northern Gaza.
Israeli drones also fired missiles in Al-Qarm area, east of Jabalia, hitting a carpentry workshop completely damaging it. Several missiles were further fired into open areas in Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza.
The attacks were carried out despite the fact that Israel claimed it would stop the bombardment while Egypt’s Prime Minister, Hisham Qandeel, is visiting Gaza. Qandeel arrived in Gaza on Friday along with several Egyptian officials.
Qandeel visited several wounded residents, especially the children, at the Ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.
He also held a meeting with the head of the Hamas-led government in Gaza, Ismael Haniyya, at his office in Gaza.
In an interview with Israel’s Yedioth Aharonoth paper, Israeli Transportation Minister, Yisrael Katz, stated that Haniyya, and Hamas political leader Dr. Mahmoud Zahhar, “are legitimate targets for assassination”.
Katz added that the Israeli aggression, that started two days ago, will likely expand very soon, to include 16.000 reserve soldiers of the infantry brigade, and added that the military operations will not stop until “all threats are eliminated”.
Commenting on the visit of Qandeel to Gaza, Katz stated that this visit could be an opportunity for Egypt “to perform its duties in resolving the situation”, and added that former President, Hosni Mubarak, “did not consider Gaza an internal Egyptian situation, therefore, it is possible that the new Egyptian President, and the Muslim Brotherhood, will likely do the same”.
Katz also expressed satisfaction regarding the stance of the U.S. President, Barack Obama, supporting Israel in this war.
As the Israeli offensive continue to expand leading to more civilian casualties, including children and infants, Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza claimed responsibility for firing dozens of shells into Nativot, Asqalan, Ra’eem, Ashdod, Miftahim, Ofakim, Nir Yitzak, Megan, Nirim, the Western Negev, Bir Shiva, in addition to targeting military bases, including aerial bases, such as Milassim, Nahal Oz, Miftahim, Ofakim and the Orim Military Intelligence base, and many other areas.
Armed groups in Gaza stated that talking about a truce or a ceasefire cannot take place while Israel continues to target the civilians in Gaza, killing, maiming and injuring dozens of civilians, including infants, children, women and elderly.
On Thursday evening, three Palestinian children were killed when the army bombarded a home in As-Sikka Street, in Beit Hanoun.
Ashraf Al-Qorda, spokesperson of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, reported that the slain civilians were identified as Fares Al-Basyouni, 9, Odai Jamal Nasser, 16, and Tareq Jamal Nasser, 14; the mother of Odai and Jamal suffered serious injuries.
On Thursday evening, Hanin Tafesh, 10 months, died of wounds suffered when the Israeli army bombarded her home.
Medical sources in Gaza reported that at least 22 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire and shells wince Wednesday, and more than 245 Palestinians have been injured; dozens seriously.
Eight children are among the slain Palestinians, in addition to one pregnant woman and two elderly men.
The Israeli Air Force fired, Friday, several missiles into Jabalia town, in northern Gaza, killing two Palestinians, including one child, and wounded seven other residents, mainly children, after an Israeli missile hit a home in the town.
At least 22 Palestinians have been killed, and more than 245 have been injured by Israeli shells since Wednesday; the casualties include children and infants.
Medical sources in Gaza reported that four Palestinians were wounded when the army fired shells near a home close to the western junction in Beit Lahia, in northern Gaza; they were all moved to the Kamal Odwan Hospital.
The army also bombarded agricultural areas in the Bedouin Village, in northern Gaza; damage was reported, no injuries.
Soldiers bombarded an area close to the Al-Karama residential towers, in northern Gaza.
Israeli drones also fired missiles in Al-Qarm area, east of Jabalia, hitting a carpentry workshop completely damaging it. Several missiles were further fired into open areas in Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza.
The attacks were carried out despite the fact that Israel claimed it would stop the bombardment while Egypt’s Prime Minister, Hisham Qandeel, is visiting Gaza. Qandeel arrived in Gaza on Friday along with several Egyptian officials.
Qandeel visited several wounded residents, especially the children, at the Ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.
He also held a meeting with the head of the Hamas-led government in Gaza, Ismael Haniyya, at his office in Gaza.
In an interview with Israel’s Yedioth Aharonoth paper, Israeli Transportation Minister, Yisrael Katz, stated that Haniyya, and Hamas political leader Dr. Mahmoud Zahhar, “are legitimate targets for assassination”.
Katz added that the Israeli aggression, that started two days ago, will likely expand very soon, to include 16.000 reserve soldiers of the infantry brigade, and added that the military operations will not stop until “all threats are eliminated”.
Commenting on the visit of Qandeel to Gaza, Katz stated that this visit could be an opportunity for Egypt “to perform its duties in resolving the situation”, and added that former President, Hosni Mubarak, “did not consider Gaza an internal Egyptian situation, therefore, it is possible that the new Egyptian President, and the Muslim Brotherhood, will likely do the same”.
Katz also expressed satisfaction regarding the stance of the U.S. President, Barack Obama, supporting Israel in this war.
As the Israeli offensive continue to expand leading to more civilian casualties, including children and infants, Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza claimed responsibility for firing dozens of shells into Nativot, Asqalan, Ra’eem, Ashdod, Miftahim, Ofakim, Nir Yitzak, Megan, Nirim, the Western Negev, Bir Shiva, in addition to targeting military bases, including aerial bases, such as Milassim, Nahal Oz, Miftahim, Ofakim and the Orim Military Intelligence base, and many other areas.
Armed groups in Gaza stated that talking about a truce or a ceasefire cannot take place while Israel continues to target the civilians in Gaza, killing, maiming and injuring dozens of civilians, including infants, children, women and elderly.
On Thursday evening, three Palestinian children were killed when the army bombarded a home in As-Sikka Street, in Beit Hanoun.
Ashraf Al-Qorda, spokesperson of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, reported that the slain civilians were identified as Fares Al-Basyouni, 9, Odai Jamal Nasser, 16, and Tareq Jamal Nasser, 14; the mother of Odai and Jamal suffered serious injuries.
On Thursday evening, Hanin Tafesh, 10 months, died of wounds suffered when the Israeli army bombarded her home.
Medical sources in Gaza reported that at least 22 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire and shells wince Wednesday, and more than 245 Palestinians have been injured; dozens seriously.
Eight children are among the slain Palestinians, in addition to one pregnant woman and two elderly men.
Egyptian President, Mohammad Morsi, warned Israel against attacking official Egyptian delegates who will be visiting the Gaza strip, on Friday, adding that the delegates will be carrying medical supplies to the coastal region.
The Egyptian envoys are headed by Egyptian Prime Minister, Hisham Qandeel; he will be accompanied by four government ministers, including the Egyptian Minister of Health, and official representatives of the president.
Egyptian security sources told the Maan News Agency that Morsi is holding Israel responsible for the lives of his envoys to Gaza.
They will be delivering twelve ambulances and tons of medical supplies and medications to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.
The visit will take place amidst ongoing Israeli military escalation against the Palestinian people in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated that he will halt the strikes against Gaza during the visit of the Egyptian officials, the Maan News Agency reported.
It is worth noting that, on Friday morning, the Israeli military carried out more than 30 air strikes against different parts of the Gaza Strip in less than 30 minutes.
Israel has killed 23 Palestinians in the coastal region since Saturday, 19 of whom were killed in the last 24 hours. Among the casualties are 7 children, a pregnant women, and two elderly. More than 180 Palestinians have been injured; dozens are classified as in a serious condition.
The Egyptian envoys are headed by Egyptian Prime Minister, Hisham Qandeel; he will be accompanied by four government ministers, including the Egyptian Minister of Health, and official representatives of the president.
Egyptian security sources told the Maan News Agency that Morsi is holding Israel responsible for the lives of his envoys to Gaza.
They will be delivering twelve ambulances and tons of medical supplies and medications to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.
The visit will take place amidst ongoing Israeli military escalation against the Palestinian people in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated that he will halt the strikes against Gaza during the visit of the Egyptian officials, the Maan News Agency reported.
It is worth noting that, on Friday morning, the Israeli military carried out more than 30 air strikes against different parts of the Gaza Strip in less than 30 minutes.
Israel has killed 23 Palestinians in the coastal region since Saturday, 19 of whom were killed in the last 24 hours. Among the casualties are 7 children, a pregnant women, and two elderly. More than 180 Palestinians have been injured; dozens are classified as in a serious condition.
Child Ahmad Abu Sha'ar Injured By Israeli Shells
The Israeli Army continued to escalate the attacks carried out against the civilian population in the Gaza Strip, early on Friday morning, with more than 30 air strikes against different areas of Gaza in less than 30 minutes.
Media sources in Gaza reported that at approximately 6 a.m. Friday, Israeli war planes carried out 30 attacks, targeting civilian areas, resistance centers and buildings that belong to the Ministry of Interior leading to extensive damage; several injuries were reported.
One of the bombarded buildings is a school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza.
The army also bombarded several Palestinian security centers in addition to firing missiles into the Civilian Branch of the Ministry of Interior, west of Gaza City; extensive damage were also reported.
In Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, the army bombarded another UNRWA school also leading to extensive damage.
Furthermore, the Ahrar Center for Detainees’ Studies, reported that the Israeli army also bombarded an under construction church in Gaza City leading to excessive damage.
The latest Israeli military escalation claimed that lives of 19 Palestinians, including seven children, since Wednesday evening, while at least 180 were injured.
Children, infants, women and elderly are among the casualties, including children whose bodies were severely mutilated and burnt due to Israeli shells. A pregnant woman and her unborn fetus are among the killed.
Responding to the Israeli military escalation, Palestinian armed groups in Gaza claimed responsibility for firing dozens of shells into Israel, including shells that hit Tel Aviv, Ashdod, and several other areas.
The resistance said that it will continue to defend its people, living under constant Israeli attacks and violations, and as long as Israel continues to kill and injure civilians, including children. Three Israelis were killed by Palestinian shells, and several others were injured.
23 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli shells since last Saturday; most of the casualties are civilians, children and women. Among the casualties are 7 children, a pregnant woman, and two elderly. More than 180 Palestinians have been injured; dozens are in serious conditions.
The Israeli Army continued to escalate the attacks carried out against the civilian population in the Gaza Strip, early on Friday morning, with more than 30 air strikes against different areas of Gaza in less than 30 minutes.
Media sources in Gaza reported that at approximately 6 a.m. Friday, Israeli war planes carried out 30 attacks, targeting civilian areas, resistance centers and buildings that belong to the Ministry of Interior leading to extensive damage; several injuries were reported.
One of the bombarded buildings is a school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza.
The army also bombarded several Palestinian security centers in addition to firing missiles into the Civilian Branch of the Ministry of Interior, west of Gaza City; extensive damage were also reported.
In Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, the army bombarded another UNRWA school also leading to extensive damage.
Furthermore, the Ahrar Center for Detainees’ Studies, reported that the Israeli army also bombarded an under construction church in Gaza City leading to excessive damage.
The latest Israeli military escalation claimed that lives of 19 Palestinians, including seven children, since Wednesday evening, while at least 180 were injured.
Children, infants, women and elderly are among the casualties, including children whose bodies were severely mutilated and burnt due to Israeli shells. A pregnant woman and her unborn fetus are among the killed.
Responding to the Israeli military escalation, Palestinian armed groups in Gaza claimed responsibility for firing dozens of shells into Israel, including shells that hit Tel Aviv, Ashdod, and several other areas.
The resistance said that it will continue to defend its people, living under constant Israeli attacks and violations, and as long as Israel continues to kill and injure civilians, including children. Three Israelis were killed by Palestinian shells, and several others were injured.
23 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli shells since last Saturday; most of the casualties are civilians, children and women. Among the casualties are 7 children, a pregnant woman, and two elderly. More than 180 Palestinians have been injured; dozens are in serious conditions.
Haneen Tafesh - 10 Months Killed By Israeli Fire
The Israeli army continued it aggression and massive offensive against the civilians in the Gaza Strip, and bombarded on Thursday at night dozens of targets in the besieged coastal region killing three children and wounding several residents.
19 Palestinians have been killed since Wednesday evening, and at least 180 have been injured. 23 Palestinians have been killed since last Saturday; most of the casualties are civilians, children and women.
Ashraf al-Qodra, spokesperson of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, reported that Israeli war jets fired a missile at a civilian car in Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza, killing three children.
The slain children were identified as Fares al-Basyouni, 9, and brothers Odai Jamal Nasser & Tareq Jamal Nasser, 16 & 14 respectivley.
Earlier on Thursday evening, a 10-month-old infant, identified as Haneen Tafesh, died at the ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, after being seriously injured in an earlier Israeli attack.
The Israeli army is widening its assault against the civilians in Gaza, bombarding their homes and lands.
Israel killed 23 Palestinians in the coastal region since Saturday, 19 of whom were killed in the last 24 hours; among the casualties are 7 children, a pregnant women, and two elderly. More than 180 Palestinians have been injured; dozens are in serious conditions.
Thousands of Palestinians held protests in different parts of the occupied West Bank denouncing the ongoing Israeli military aggression against Gaza. The army fired rounds of live ammunition, gas bombs, concussion grenades and rubber-coated metal bullets at them leading to a number of injuries.
Clashes were reported in different parts of the Hebron district, in the southern part of the occupied West Bank, and the soldiers kidnapped three Palestinians.
Injuries were reported in Jenin and Nablus, in the northern part of the West Bank during clashes with the army, a number of residents were kidnapped.
The army also occupied a school in Jenin and turned it into a military base.
Soldiers also invaded Beit Sahour and Beit Jala, in the West Bank district of Bethlehem, and clashed with local residents who hurled stones at the invading forces.
The Israeli army continued it aggression and massive offensive against the civilians in the Gaza Strip, and bombarded on Thursday at night dozens of targets in the besieged coastal region killing three children and wounding several residents.
19 Palestinians have been killed since Wednesday evening, and at least 180 have been injured. 23 Palestinians have been killed since last Saturday; most of the casualties are civilians, children and women.
Ashraf al-Qodra, spokesperson of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, reported that Israeli war jets fired a missile at a civilian car in Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza, killing three children.
The slain children were identified as Fares al-Basyouni, 9, and brothers Odai Jamal Nasser & Tareq Jamal Nasser, 16 & 14 respectivley.
Earlier on Thursday evening, a 10-month-old infant, identified as Haneen Tafesh, died at the ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, after being seriously injured in an earlier Israeli attack.
The Israeli army is widening its assault against the civilians in Gaza, bombarding their homes and lands.
Israel killed 23 Palestinians in the coastal region since Saturday, 19 of whom were killed in the last 24 hours; among the casualties are 7 children, a pregnant women, and two elderly. More than 180 Palestinians have been injured; dozens are in serious conditions.
Thousands of Palestinians held protests in different parts of the occupied West Bank denouncing the ongoing Israeli military aggression against Gaza. The army fired rounds of live ammunition, gas bombs, concussion grenades and rubber-coated metal bullets at them leading to a number of injuries.
Clashes were reported in different parts of the Hebron district, in the southern part of the occupied West Bank, and the soldiers kidnapped three Palestinians.
Injuries were reported in Jenin and Nablus, in the northern part of the West Bank during clashes with the army, a number of residents were kidnapped.
The army also occupied a school in Jenin and turned it into a military base.
Soldiers also invaded Beit Sahour and Beit Jala, in the West Bank district of Bethlehem, and clashed with local residents who hurled stones at the invading forces.
An Israeli airstrike on Rafah has killed one Palestinian and seriously injured two others, bringing the death toll to 29 in the Gaza Strip.
The strike hit three men riding a motorcycle, killing Khalid Khalil al-Shayer, 28, and seriously injuring two others.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said al-Shayer was a militant involved in anti-tank operations.
Earlier, Israel bombed the al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip killing Hamas military leader Ahmad Abu Jalal, 43, his brother Majd Abu Jalal, 33, Ziad Farhan Abu Jalal, 23, and Hasan Salim al-Hulei, 27.
The attack followed airstrikes across the Gaza Strip that killed three Palestinians in the third day of bombardments.
Witnesses reported continuous raids throughout the Gaza Strip. Medical officials say 29 Palestinians have been killed since Wednesday.
Around 388 rockets have hit Israel and an additional 197 have been intercepted by the Iron Dome defense shield, the Israeli military says.
Rockets landed far north inside Israel and the occupied West Bank on Friday. One struck the Tel Aviv area and another in a bloc of illegal settlements near Bethlehem.
Israel's cabinet authorized on Friday mobilization of up to 75,000 reserve troops for a Gaza campaign, more than doubling the number of potential call-ups approved after the offensive began, political sources said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a four-hour strategy session with a clutch of senior ministers in Tel Aviv, while other cabinet members were polled by telephone on raising the mobilization level. The decision did not mean all 75,000 reservists would be called into action, but gave the military the go-ahead to enlist them if needed.
Israel's military has indicated it is gearing up for a prolonged operation in Gaza.
"The (Israeli army) is gathering forces ... according to pre-determined operational plans. The forces have been briefed and trained according to specific guidelines of the plan, and will operate until the mission has been completed," a military statement said.
Hamas, too, says it is not preparing to scale down its response to the assassination of Ahmad al-Jaabari on Wednesday. Al-Jaabari commanded Hamas' military wing.
"Things are different this time," Hamas leader Ahmad Yousef told Ma'an. "The rules of the game have changed."
The strike hit three men riding a motorcycle, killing Khalid Khalil al-Shayer, 28, and seriously injuring two others.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said al-Shayer was a militant involved in anti-tank operations.
Earlier, Israel bombed the al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip killing Hamas military leader Ahmad Abu Jalal, 43, his brother Majd Abu Jalal, 33, Ziad Farhan Abu Jalal, 23, and Hasan Salim al-Hulei, 27.
The attack followed airstrikes across the Gaza Strip that killed three Palestinians in the third day of bombardments.
Witnesses reported continuous raids throughout the Gaza Strip. Medical officials say 29 Palestinians have been killed since Wednesday.
Around 388 rockets have hit Israel and an additional 197 have been intercepted by the Iron Dome defense shield, the Israeli military says.
Rockets landed far north inside Israel and the occupied West Bank on Friday. One struck the Tel Aviv area and another in a bloc of illegal settlements near Bethlehem.
Israel's cabinet authorized on Friday mobilization of up to 75,000 reserve troops for a Gaza campaign, more than doubling the number of potential call-ups approved after the offensive began, political sources said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a four-hour strategy session with a clutch of senior ministers in Tel Aviv, while other cabinet members were polled by telephone on raising the mobilization level. The decision did not mean all 75,000 reservists would be called into action, but gave the military the go-ahead to enlist them if needed.
Israel's military has indicated it is gearing up for a prolonged operation in Gaza.
"The (Israeli army) is gathering forces ... according to pre-determined operational plans. The forces have been briefed and trained according to specific guidelines of the plan, and will operate until the mission has been completed," a military statement said.
Hamas, too, says it is not preparing to scale down its response to the assassination of Ahmad al-Jaabari on Wednesday. Al-Jaabari commanded Hamas' military wing.
"Things are different this time," Hamas leader Ahmad Yousef told Ma'an. "The rules of the game have changed."
Prime Minister Netanyahu convenes his top nine ministers for special discussion on third day of Gaza op. 'We're going to significantly aggravate the operation,' state official says. Four terrorists killed in IDF strike in Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his nine top ministers for a special discussion Friday evening, on the third day of Operation Pillar of Defense in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser conducted a telephone survey among the government ministers to approve the call up of 75,000 soldiers.
According to a state official, "We are going to significantly aggravate the operation."
At the same time, Air Force planes attacked a rocket-launching cell in the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinians, four terrorists were killed – one of the identified as Ahmed Abu Jalal, a district commander in Hamas' military wing.
Southern communities were bombarded with rockets throughout the day, and several rockets were also fired at Tel Aviv and the Jerusalem area.
Shortly after the surprising air raid siren in Jerusalem, security forces confirmed that one rocket had been located in the Gush Etzion area, closer to a Palestinian village than to the settlement's houses. There were no reports of injuries or damage.
This was the first air raid siren sounded in the area since the IDF launched Operation Pillar of Defense in the Gaza Strip. Air raid sirens were sounded in southern communities throughout the day and a barrage of missiles hit the area.
On Friday afternoon, an air raid siren sounded in Tel Aviv, followed by an explosion caused by a missile landing in an open area.
Meanwhile, thousands of reserve forces are flocking to southern Israel. Hundreds of military trucks carrying supplies, ammunition, water and fuel, as well as tanks, armored personnel carriers and jeeps filled the Gaza vicinity's roads.
Shortly after the air raid siren sounded in Jerusalem, Hamas' military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility for the rockets fired at the capital area. according to the organization, it fired a homemade rocket called Qassam M76. The rocket Hamas fired at Tel Aviv is nicknamed Qassam M75.
Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the 'Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, said: "We are conveying a short and simple message – not a single Zionist on Palestinian soil is safe, and we are planning additional surprises."
At the same time the rockets were fired at Jerusalem, a factory in the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council in southern Israel sustained a direct hit. Later, a rocket hit the backyard of a house in the Be'er Tuvia Regional Council. There were no reports of injuries in both incidents.
Since the start of the operation, the IDF attacked 613 terror targets in the Gaza Strip. The Iron Dome system intercepted 197 rockets, 99 of them on Friday.
Three people were killed in Israel on Thursday after a rocket hit a building in Kiryat Malachi. The Palestinian death toll, according to Hamas' health ministry, stands at 24 – including Hamas military chief Ahmed Jabari, who was assassinated on Wednesday. Some 270 people have been injured so far in Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his nine top ministers for a special discussion Friday evening, on the third day of Operation Pillar of Defense in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser conducted a telephone survey among the government ministers to approve the call up of 75,000 soldiers.
According to a state official, "We are going to significantly aggravate the operation."
At the same time, Air Force planes attacked a rocket-launching cell in the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinians, four terrorists were killed – one of the identified as Ahmed Abu Jalal, a district commander in Hamas' military wing.
Southern communities were bombarded with rockets throughout the day, and several rockets were also fired at Tel Aviv and the Jerusalem area.
Shortly after the surprising air raid siren in Jerusalem, security forces confirmed that one rocket had been located in the Gush Etzion area, closer to a Palestinian village than to the settlement's houses. There were no reports of injuries or damage.
This was the first air raid siren sounded in the area since the IDF launched Operation Pillar of Defense in the Gaza Strip. Air raid sirens were sounded in southern communities throughout the day and a barrage of missiles hit the area.
On Friday afternoon, an air raid siren sounded in Tel Aviv, followed by an explosion caused by a missile landing in an open area.
Meanwhile, thousands of reserve forces are flocking to southern Israel. Hundreds of military trucks carrying supplies, ammunition, water and fuel, as well as tanks, armored personnel carriers and jeeps filled the Gaza vicinity's roads.
Shortly after the air raid siren sounded in Jerusalem, Hamas' military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility for the rockets fired at the capital area. according to the organization, it fired a homemade rocket called Qassam M76. The rocket Hamas fired at Tel Aviv is nicknamed Qassam M75.
Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the 'Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, said: "We are conveying a short and simple message – not a single Zionist on Palestinian soil is safe, and we are planning additional surprises."
At the same time the rockets were fired at Jerusalem, a factory in the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council in southern Israel sustained a direct hit. Later, a rocket hit the backyard of a house in the Be'er Tuvia Regional Council. There were no reports of injuries in both incidents.
Since the start of the operation, the IDF attacked 613 terror targets in the Gaza Strip. The Iron Dome system intercepted 197 rockets, 99 of them on Friday.
Three people were killed in Israel on Thursday after a rocket hit a building in Kiryat Malachi. The Palestinian death toll, according to Hamas' health ministry, stands at 24 – including Hamas military chief Ahmed Jabari, who was assassinated on Wednesday. Some 270 people have been injured so far in Gaza.
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Palestinian holocaust
Gaza Under Attack - The Sequel During election times, candidates say they would kill for votes. In Israel’s case, this happens literally. In order to convince his voters that the problem is big, Prime Minister Netaniyahu has escalated the bombardment of Gaza in the past 72 hours. The entire Israeli war force is out there to convince voters and the rest of the world that Gaza, with its 1.8 million besieged population of which 50% is minor, is ready to destroy Israel. Therefore Israel has the right to defend itself. IDF carried until now over 520 air strikes in all Gaza overnight, saying it had "caused severe damage to terror infrastructures". |
This terror infrastructure in human terminology means 25 victims, including 8 children and a pregnant woman and over 290 injured of which 101 children so far.
Israel and its allies repeat that it did not initiate this escalation, nor did they target civilians. But anyone following the situation continuously and closely will tell you the opposite. We will surely not mention here that occupying a land for 65 years, ethnically cleansing its population, building settlements on confiscated land and sieging a population for over 6 years, are legitimate reasons for protest.
Let us therefore just say, in the case of the recent developments, Israeli occupation forces made an incursion on 8 November 2012, into the northeast of Khan Yunis and fatally injured a 13 year old child who was playing football. On 10 November, Palestinian resistance fighters attacked an Israeli army patrol near the Gaza borders, injuring 4 Israeli occupation soldiers. Following this, Israel attacked civilian neighborhoods and killed 4 civilians in Gaza. During the following 24 hours, Reuters reported that a truce was brokered by Egypt, which was shattered by Israel when they assassinated Ahmed Jabaari, the head of the military wing of Hamas. Committing extrajudicial assassinations from the air with utter impunity is exactly the kind of democracy the US and its allies encourage in the Middle-East.
As a result, rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel, and in the ensuing 72 hours, Israeli forces killed 23 Palestinians and injured over 250, with ongoing airstrikes and drones as we speak. Many children lost limbs for the rest of their lives, ambulances reach Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City every ten minutes, while it has difficulties coping with a lack in medication, equipment and staff.
Israel has the right to defend itself as President Obama stated 2 days ago, in the sense that a military occupation has to defend itself from the same people it is crushing. According to International Law and all the Geneva Conventions, the entire Gaza Strip is occupied by Israel, so how is Israel defending itself when it is occupying? Who would in his right mind call a 6 years long siege where Israel counts the calories of children in Gaza to avoid starvation, self-defense? How is depriving an entire population of building materials, food and medicines, electricity, water and fuel, self-defense? The real question is why is Israel obsessed with attacking people in Gaza? Denying us any opportunity to live a normal live? Why are bombs falling as I type? Because Gaza is a demographic threat and Israel thinks that bombs will condition us, just like Pavlo's experiment.
But most importantly at this point, it is election times. And for those with short-term memory loss, at this exact same time, 4 years ago, also around election time, Israel launched a devastating and brutal attack on Gaza, destroying it completely and killing 1,400 people. For Gazans, this memory is still vivid, as it is ongoing today and had never really stopped. Once again, the right-wing Israeli government is choosing the path of escalation instead of admitting that there is no military solution to this problem.
And with them all governments in the world that sell weapons to Israel and continue to condemn Palestinian resistance. It is an international community that refuses to admit that its own spoiled child is a bully and that its precious game, the Oslo-process, is falling apart after 19 years of fruitless pampering.
Just now, a mother lost her 3 boys. Who will comfort the mother of Ahmad, Amjad & Ziyad Abu-Jalala? Who will tell her that she'll never see her boys ever again? Who?
Palestinians have every legitimate right to resist, even though Gaza, in this case, has no Army, no Navy, no air Force. This is not a war. This is genocide.
Israel and its allies repeat that it did not initiate this escalation, nor did they target civilians. But anyone following the situation continuously and closely will tell you the opposite. We will surely not mention here that occupying a land for 65 years, ethnically cleansing its population, building settlements on confiscated land and sieging a population for over 6 years, are legitimate reasons for protest.
Let us therefore just say, in the case of the recent developments, Israeli occupation forces made an incursion on 8 November 2012, into the northeast of Khan Yunis and fatally injured a 13 year old child who was playing football. On 10 November, Palestinian resistance fighters attacked an Israeli army patrol near the Gaza borders, injuring 4 Israeli occupation soldiers. Following this, Israel attacked civilian neighborhoods and killed 4 civilians in Gaza. During the following 24 hours, Reuters reported that a truce was brokered by Egypt, which was shattered by Israel when they assassinated Ahmed Jabaari, the head of the military wing of Hamas. Committing extrajudicial assassinations from the air with utter impunity is exactly the kind of democracy the US and its allies encourage in the Middle-East.
As a result, rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel, and in the ensuing 72 hours, Israeli forces killed 23 Palestinians and injured over 250, with ongoing airstrikes and drones as we speak. Many children lost limbs for the rest of their lives, ambulances reach Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City every ten minutes, while it has difficulties coping with a lack in medication, equipment and staff.
Israel has the right to defend itself as President Obama stated 2 days ago, in the sense that a military occupation has to defend itself from the same people it is crushing. According to International Law and all the Geneva Conventions, the entire Gaza Strip is occupied by Israel, so how is Israel defending itself when it is occupying? Who would in his right mind call a 6 years long siege where Israel counts the calories of children in Gaza to avoid starvation, self-defense? How is depriving an entire population of building materials, food and medicines, electricity, water and fuel, self-defense? The real question is why is Israel obsessed with attacking people in Gaza? Denying us any opportunity to live a normal live? Why are bombs falling as I type? Because Gaza is a demographic threat and Israel thinks that bombs will condition us, just like Pavlo's experiment.
But most importantly at this point, it is election times. And for those with short-term memory loss, at this exact same time, 4 years ago, also around election time, Israel launched a devastating and brutal attack on Gaza, destroying it completely and killing 1,400 people. For Gazans, this memory is still vivid, as it is ongoing today and had never really stopped. Once again, the right-wing Israeli government is choosing the path of escalation instead of admitting that there is no military solution to this problem.
And with them all governments in the world that sell weapons to Israel and continue to condemn Palestinian resistance. It is an international community that refuses to admit that its own spoiled child is a bully and that its precious game, the Oslo-process, is falling apart after 19 years of fruitless pampering.
Just now, a mother lost her 3 boys. Who will comfort the mother of Ahmad, Amjad & Ziyad Abu-Jalala? Who will tell her that she'll never see her boys ever again? Who?
Palestinians have every legitimate right to resist, even though Gaza, in this case, has no Army, no Navy, no air Force. This is not a war. This is genocide.
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Matar Abu Al-Atta
Israel has held up medical supplies for the Gaza Strip at a checkpoint since Thursday morning, the Palestinian Authority said on Thursday night. PA Health Minister Hani Abdeen told Ma'an the Ramallah-based government had sent 15 trucks with 200 boxes of medicine and medical supplies to the Gaza Strip "We sent the first batch of medications this morning and it’s now waiting at Israeli checkpoints for permission to pass to Gaza," Abdeen said. The minister said international organizations had promised to help the PA get Israeli permission to deliver medicine to the Gaza Strip. |
A
Palestinian woman shouts in front of a house damaged in an Israeli
airstrike in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip Nov. 16, 2012
Israeli warplanes continued aerial attacks on the central Gaza Strip late Friday, killing four Palestinians including a Hamas military leader.
The attack on al-Maghazi refugee camp, which killed al-Qassam Brigades leader Ahmad Abu Jalal and three others, brought the death toll to 28 since Israel's assault on Gaza began Wednesday.
A Ma’an reporter in Gaza City identified the victims as Abu Jalal, 43, his brother Majd Abu Jalal, 33, Ziad Farhan Abu Jalal, 23, and Hasan Salim al-Hulei, 27.
The attack followed airstrikes across the Gaza Strip that killed three Palestinians in the third day of bombardments.
Witnesses reported continuous raids throughout the Gaza Strip. Medical officials say 28 Palestinians have been killed since Wednesday.
Around 388 rockets have hit Israel and an additional 197 have been intercepted by the Iron Dome defense shield, the Israeli military says.
Rockets landed far north inside Israel and the occupied West Bank on Friday. One struck the Tel Aviv area and another in a bloc of illegal settlements near Bethlehem.
Israel's military has indicated it is gearing up for a prolonged operation in Gaza.
"The (Israeli army) is gathering forces ... according to pre-determined operational plans. The forces have been briefed and trained according to specific guidelines of the plan, and will operate until the mission has been completed," a military statement said.
Hamas, too, says it is not preparing to scale down its response to the assassination of Ahmad al-Jaabari on Wednesday. Al-Jaabari commanded Hamas' military wing.
"Things are different this time," Hamas leader Ahmad Yousef told Ma'an. "The rules of the game have changed."
No Safe Haven: Civilians Under Attack in the Gaza Strip
Salem Waqef
By international eyewitnesses in Gaza
The Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip have entered their third day. We write this report amid the sounds of incessant bombings, which have continued all day yesterday and throughout the night.
The military escalation carried out by the Israeli Army continues all over the Gaza Strip. From Gaza City, we hear incessant noise of drones and F-16 fighter jets crashing through the sky above our heads. Bombs repeatedly fall in our surroundings, in densely populated civilians areas. At this point, Israeli air forces have conducted nearly 200 airstrikes, bringing the death toll to 19.
Mohammed abu Amsha
Among the casualties are ten civilians, including six children and one woman. More than 180 people have been injured by the attacks, the vast majority civilians. The areas targeted included Beit Hanoun, Jabalia refugee camp, Sheikh Radwan and al-Nasser neighbourhoods in Gaza City, Maghazi, Deir El Balah, Khan Younis, and the tunnel area in Rafah.
Yesterday we visited Al Shifa hospital, where most of the injured are brought to. There we spoke with doctors, patients, their relatives, and witnesses about what they are going through in the current escalation in the Gaza Strip. We wish to share some of the stories of the people we met.
Haneen Tafesh
Salem Waqef, a 40 year old man, was severely injured when his home was destroyed in an attack during the early morning of 15 November. His doctors say Salem suffered a brain injury when he was deprived of oxygen. He was brought into the International Care Unit of Al Shifa hospital at 5am where he was placed on a ventilator. He remains in a coma and the doctors said he was in a serious condition.
At approximately 1.10pm, as we were leaving the ICU, a 10 month old girl, Haneen Tafesh, was brought into the ward. She was unconscious and her tiny body was grey. She had suffered a skull fracture and brain haemorrhage, which resulted from an attack that took place at around 11am yesterday in Gaza's Sabra neighborhood. She was in a coma and on mechanical ventilation. Later in the afternoon, we checked how Haneen was doing and doctors said her condition had deteriorated. After returning home in the evening, we learned that she had died.
Basma Mahmoud el Tourouq
Ahmed Durghmush is in his early twenties and was brought to Al Shifa ICU at around 9pm Wednesday night, 14 November, after he was injured by an airstrike carried out on the Tel al Hawa neighbourhood in Gaza City. He had suffered a severe brain trauma, caused by shrapnel from an explosion. Dr Fauzi Nablusia, a doctor in the ICU, explained that, when Ahmed arrived, some of his brain matter was protruding from his head wound. He suffered a brain haemorrhage and was operated on. When we asked doctors about Ahmed's condition later today, they said it had deteriorated. A relative was standing over Ahmed's bed, expressing his feelings of powerlessness and fear for Ahmed's fate.
The emergency room was dealing with spikes in victim arrivals throughout the day. One of those brought in was 5 year old Basma Mahmoud el Tourouq from Rimal neighbourhood, Gaza City. She was injured in an airstrike near her home around 2.30pm today. The shockwave of the explosion threw her across her bedroom, causing her lower arm to be fractured as she fell on the floor.
We later listened to the stories of some of the injured children, women and men and their relatives who had been moved up to the different wards of Al Shifa hospital.
Mohammed Abu Amsha, a two and half year old boy, was injured while he was sitting in front of his grandfather's house in Beit Hanoun. An F16 fired a missile nearby, and scattering rubble struck him in the head. As we were about to leave, Mohammed's father mentioned that Mohammed's uncle had also been injured.
Duaa Hejazi
Zuhdiye Samour, a mother and grandmother from Beach refugee camp in western Gaza City, was still visibly shaken by what had happened when she shared her story: "We were sitting together in our house. It was around 8.30 in the evening and we were watching TV, playing films so that the children would be less afraid. Then, we heard the sound of 12 shells being fired from gunboats in the sea." Zuhdiye and three other civilians were injured as shells dropped in her neighbourhood, a residential area in the north of Gaza City.
Khalid Hamad, the Director of Public Information for the Ministry of Justice, was one of the other civilians injured in the indiscriminate attack of the residential area. He was at home with his family in Nabarat, Northern Gaza City, when they heard the sound of shelling, targeting a neighbour's home. A number of people in the neighbourhood rushed outside to help and were targeted by a series of six additional shells. Hamad's teenage nephew was lightly injured,and another man received shrapnel wounds. "They targeted civilians deliberately", he said. "The Israeli forces don't make mistakes."
Ahmed Durghmush
A 13 year old girl, Duaa Hejazi, was coming back to her home in Gaza's Sabra neighbourhood, after a walk with her mother and siblings, when an Israeli missile fired on the road in front of their home around 8 o'clock at night. "I was bleeding a lot. My brother was injured too, in his hand. The neighbours brought me to the hospital" Duaa sustained shrapnel injuries throughout her upper body, with some pieces still imbedded in her chest. She would like to pass on a message to other children, living outside of Gaza:
"I say, we are children. There is nothing that is our fault to have to face this. They are occupying us and I will say, as Abu Omar said, "If you're a mountain, the wind won't shake you". We're not afraid, we'll stay strong."
During our time al Shifa we also met with Dr Mithad Abbas, the Director General of the hospital. When we asked him about the ways in which Shifa hospital is coping with the incoming patients, he said, "When those cases arrive at our hospital, it is not under normal circumstances. They come on top of the siege, the blockade, which has resulted in a lack of vital medicines and required medical supplies." The hospital lacks essential basic medicines and supplies, such as antibiotics, IV fluid, anesthesia, gloves, catheters, external fixators, Heparin, sutures, detergents and spare parts for medical equipment.
Israeli warplanes continued aerial attacks on the central Gaza Strip late Friday, killing four Palestinians including a Hamas military leader.
The attack on al-Maghazi refugee camp, which killed al-Qassam Brigades leader Ahmad Abu Jalal and three others, brought the death toll to 28 since Israel's assault on Gaza began Wednesday.
A Ma’an reporter in Gaza City identified the victims as Abu Jalal, 43, his brother Majd Abu Jalal, 33, Ziad Farhan Abu Jalal, 23, and Hasan Salim al-Hulei, 27.
The attack followed airstrikes across the Gaza Strip that killed three Palestinians in the third day of bombardments.
Witnesses reported continuous raids throughout the Gaza Strip. Medical officials say 28 Palestinians have been killed since Wednesday.
Around 388 rockets have hit Israel and an additional 197 have been intercepted by the Iron Dome defense shield, the Israeli military says.
Rockets landed far north inside Israel and the occupied West Bank on Friday. One struck the Tel Aviv area and another in a bloc of illegal settlements near Bethlehem.
Israel's military has indicated it is gearing up for a prolonged operation in Gaza.
"The (Israeli army) is gathering forces ... according to pre-determined operational plans. The forces have been briefed and trained according to specific guidelines of the plan, and will operate until the mission has been completed," a military statement said.
Hamas, too, says it is not preparing to scale down its response to the assassination of Ahmad al-Jaabari on Wednesday. Al-Jaabari commanded Hamas' military wing.
"Things are different this time," Hamas leader Ahmad Yousef told Ma'an. "The rules of the game have changed."
No Safe Haven: Civilians Under Attack in the Gaza Strip
Salem Waqef
By international eyewitnesses in Gaza
The Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip have entered their third day. We write this report amid the sounds of incessant bombings, which have continued all day yesterday and throughout the night.
The military escalation carried out by the Israeli Army continues all over the Gaza Strip. From Gaza City, we hear incessant noise of drones and F-16 fighter jets crashing through the sky above our heads. Bombs repeatedly fall in our surroundings, in densely populated civilians areas. At this point, Israeli air forces have conducted nearly 200 airstrikes, bringing the death toll to 19.
Mohammed abu Amsha
Among the casualties are ten civilians, including six children and one woman. More than 180 people have been injured by the attacks, the vast majority civilians. The areas targeted included Beit Hanoun, Jabalia refugee camp, Sheikh Radwan and al-Nasser neighbourhoods in Gaza City, Maghazi, Deir El Balah, Khan Younis, and the tunnel area in Rafah.
Yesterday we visited Al Shifa hospital, where most of the injured are brought to. There we spoke with doctors, patients, their relatives, and witnesses about what they are going through in the current escalation in the Gaza Strip. We wish to share some of the stories of the people we met.
Haneen Tafesh
Salem Waqef, a 40 year old man, was severely injured when his home was destroyed in an attack during the early morning of 15 November. His doctors say Salem suffered a brain injury when he was deprived of oxygen. He was brought into the International Care Unit of Al Shifa hospital at 5am where he was placed on a ventilator. He remains in a coma and the doctors said he was in a serious condition.
At approximately 1.10pm, as we were leaving the ICU, a 10 month old girl, Haneen Tafesh, was brought into the ward. She was unconscious and her tiny body was grey. She had suffered a skull fracture and brain haemorrhage, which resulted from an attack that took place at around 11am yesterday in Gaza's Sabra neighborhood. She was in a coma and on mechanical ventilation. Later in the afternoon, we checked how Haneen was doing and doctors said her condition had deteriorated. After returning home in the evening, we learned that she had died.
Basma Mahmoud el Tourouq
Ahmed Durghmush is in his early twenties and was brought to Al Shifa ICU at around 9pm Wednesday night, 14 November, after he was injured by an airstrike carried out on the Tel al Hawa neighbourhood in Gaza City. He had suffered a severe brain trauma, caused by shrapnel from an explosion. Dr Fauzi Nablusia, a doctor in the ICU, explained that, when Ahmed arrived, some of his brain matter was protruding from his head wound. He suffered a brain haemorrhage and was operated on. When we asked doctors about Ahmed's condition later today, they said it had deteriorated. A relative was standing over Ahmed's bed, expressing his feelings of powerlessness and fear for Ahmed's fate.
The emergency room was dealing with spikes in victim arrivals throughout the day. One of those brought in was 5 year old Basma Mahmoud el Tourouq from Rimal neighbourhood, Gaza City. She was injured in an airstrike near her home around 2.30pm today. The shockwave of the explosion threw her across her bedroom, causing her lower arm to be fractured as she fell on the floor.
We later listened to the stories of some of the injured children, women and men and their relatives who had been moved up to the different wards of Al Shifa hospital.
Mohammed Abu Amsha, a two and half year old boy, was injured while he was sitting in front of his grandfather's house in Beit Hanoun. An F16 fired a missile nearby, and scattering rubble struck him in the head. As we were about to leave, Mohammed's father mentioned that Mohammed's uncle had also been injured.
Duaa Hejazi
Zuhdiye Samour, a mother and grandmother from Beach refugee camp in western Gaza City, was still visibly shaken by what had happened when she shared her story: "We were sitting together in our house. It was around 8.30 in the evening and we were watching TV, playing films so that the children would be less afraid. Then, we heard the sound of 12 shells being fired from gunboats in the sea." Zuhdiye and three other civilians were injured as shells dropped in her neighbourhood, a residential area in the north of Gaza City.
Khalid Hamad, the Director of Public Information for the Ministry of Justice, was one of the other civilians injured in the indiscriminate attack of the residential area. He was at home with his family in Nabarat, Northern Gaza City, when they heard the sound of shelling, targeting a neighbour's home. A number of people in the neighbourhood rushed outside to help and were targeted by a series of six additional shells. Hamad's teenage nephew was lightly injured,and another man received shrapnel wounds. "They targeted civilians deliberately", he said. "The Israeli forces don't make mistakes."
Ahmed Durghmush
A 13 year old girl, Duaa Hejazi, was coming back to her home in Gaza's Sabra neighbourhood, after a walk with her mother and siblings, when an Israeli missile fired on the road in front of their home around 8 o'clock at night. "I was bleeding a lot. My brother was injured too, in his hand. The neighbours brought me to the hospital" Duaa sustained shrapnel injuries throughout her upper body, with some pieces still imbedded in her chest. She would like to pass on a message to other children, living outside of Gaza:
"I say, we are children. There is nothing that is our fault to have to face this. They are occupying us and I will say, as Abu Omar said, "If you're a mountain, the wind won't shake you". We're not afraid, we'll stay strong."
During our time al Shifa we also met with Dr Mithad Abbas, the Director General of the hospital. When we asked him about the ways in which Shifa hospital is coping with the incoming patients, he said, "When those cases arrive at our hospital, it is not under normal circumstances. They come on top of the siege, the blockade, which has resulted in a lack of vital medicines and required medical supplies." The hospital lacks essential basic medicines and supplies, such as antibiotics, IV fluid, anesthesia, gloves, catheters, external fixators, Heparin, sutures, detergents and spare parts for medical equipment.
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The hospital also relies on a store of fuel, which provides power during the daily electricity cuts. If power cuts reach the level of more than 12 hours per day, Dr Abbas estimates that the hospital only has enough fuel in storage to run for approximately one week.
Hospital staff are encountering chaotic and emotional scenes, as hallways and rooms become overcrowded with people trying to ascertain whether their relatives or friends have been hurt. "People enter the emergency room in panic, looking for their relatives. It is very difficult to deal with," says Abbas. No one knows where the next missile will hit, no one knows where they can be safe. Parents are unable to keep their children safe, let alone provide them a sense of safety. |
These are the names of the martyrs killed in the attacks:
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Hanin Tafish, 10 months
Ahmed Al-Masharawi, 11 months Walid Abadlah, 2 1/2 Ranan Arafat, 3 Mahmoud Sadallah, 3 Oday Jamal Nasser, 14 Tareq Jamal Naser, 16 Hani Al-Kaseeh, 18 Hiba Al-Masharawi, 19, pregnant woman (twins) Essam Abu El-Mazzah, 20 Tahrir Suleiman, 22 Ziad Farhan Abu Jalal, 23 Ahmed Durghmush |
Majd Abu Jalal, 33
Abu Jalal, 43 Ismail Qandil, 24 Hasan Salim al-Hulei, 27 Habes Mesbeh, 30 Marwan Abu Al-Qumsan, 52 Ahmed Al-Jaabari, 52 Mahmud Sawaween, 65 Ramai Hamamd Khalid Abu Al-Nasser Fares al-Bassiouni Hisham Al-Ghalban Wael Al-Ghalban Mohammed Al-Hams |
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What's really going on in Gaza?
(FlotillaHyves: again nothing about nov 3th, nov 5th, nov 7th and nov 8th)
A familiar tragedy is unfolding in the Gaza Strip. Thursday night, Israel hit Gaza with 130 strikes. On Wednesday, militants in Gaza fired more rockets into Israel, including some long-range Iranian-built weapons that triggered air-raid sirens in Tel Aviv for the first time since the first Gulf war. In a desperate move, Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi sent his prime minister into the small, besieged territory this morning to petition for peace.
This outbreak of violence, the most recent episode in a long line of cross-border assaults, threatens to bring full-blown war back to the tired people of Gaza and southern Israel. A three-week invasion in the winter of 2008-09 destroyed much of Gaza and killed more than 1,200 Palestinians and 13 Israelis. This newest onslaught quickly revived memories of that war and the devastating policies, like collective punishment and targeted assassinations, that helped fuel it. On Wednesday Hamas's military chief Ahmed al-Jabari was killed in a targeted air strike. By the end of Thursday, 20 Palestinians and three Israelis had been killed, including at least five children.
The crisis has the potential to escalate fast. But no one seems to have good answers to the key questions: why is it happening now? And how might it all relate to upcoming elections in Israel, the leadership struggle within Hamas, and Palestine's historic bid for statehood at the UN?
So, what's going on here?
According to most news reports, the latest round of violence began on 10 November, when Gaza militants fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli army jeep, wounding four soldiers. The tit-for-tat reprisals that followed were predictable: Israel launched air and mortar strikes in Gaza, and Hamas and other militant groups fired rocket barrages into southern Israel. Israeli officials were quick to note that 750 rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel this year, and that country couldn't endlessly absorb attacks.
But it's difficult to assign start and stop dates to the violence that plagues the Israel-Gaza border. Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers have half-heartedly observed a rocky truce for years. When a new round of hostilities begins it can be difficult to know whether it is in fact new, or an extension of previous attacks. The same applies this time round: the upsurge in violence could be viewed as a new episode, or a response to an assault late last month.
Either way it seems clear that both sides were initially eager to avoid full-scale escalation. In fact, Egypt continues to quietly negotiate in public and behind the scenes to (re)achieve a truce – something Hamas had openly been asking for just the day before Israel assassinated Hamas leader Ahmed al-Jabari. But if a ceasefire is on the cards, why has the violence continued to increase?
The Christian Science Monitor's Dan Murphy suggests that the very real limits of Hamas's power in Gaza, often misunderstood to be "ironclad", helps explain the escalations. Militant factions in Gaza, like the group Islamic Jihad, which Hamas cannot fully control, might have been responsible for the recent upsurge in rocket attacks against Israel.
Others see it differently, speculating that the renewed vigour of the attacks on southern Israel signalled that Hamas had once again begun to coordinate with other militant factions, like Islamic Jihad. Either way, it's clear that Hamas is not the only Gaza player – and that smaller, more militant groups may have played a key role.
Why the Jabari assassination?
Israel's new offensive against Gaza – code-named Pillar of Defence – has been marked by the return to an old strategy: the assassination of high-level Hamas leaders. Hamas's Jabari was the most senior leader in Gaza to be killed in four years. This prompted a furious response from Hamas, and the first Israeli deaths in this episode from Gazan rocket attacks.
Israel says it targeted the extremely cautious Jabari – who has survived four previous Israeli assassination attempts – because he has a long history of terrorist activity. But an alternative narrative has also emerged: that Jabari was tasked with keeping Gaza's various militant groups under control, and when he failed, he was killed. Here's Israeli journalist Aluf Benn writing in Haaretz:
Now Israel is saying that its subcontractor [Jabari] did not do his part and did not maintain the promised quiet on the southern border. The repeated complaint against him was that Hamas did not succeed in controlling the other organizations, even though it is not interested in escalation. After Jabari was warned openly ... he was executed on Wednesday in a public assassination action, for which Israel hastened to take responsibility. The message was simple and clear: You failed – you're dead.
Will this affect Palestine's bid for statehood?
The Palestinian Authority plans to seek official recognition for Palestine from the UN general assembly later this month. After failing to achieve full member state status last year, thanks to US opposition, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is going back to request the lower-level non-member "observer state" status (similar to that granted to the Vatican).
This would be a vital, long overdue step for the Palestinians. Not only would it mean symbolic recognition of Palestine's nationhood, it's also probably the last chance for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is still the best chance for peace. It would also give Palestine access to major global institutions, such as the international criminal court, which would mean they could sue Israel for myriad injustices like land grabs, human rights abuses and war crimes.
Just as last year, the US and Israel strongly oppose this move, but unlike the security council where the last bid failed, the UN general assembly is not subject to vetoes. In the general assembly, Palestine will have the support of well over 100 nations.
How does the latest explosion of violence in Gaza fit into all this? While it's disastrous for its people and the region, it will have less of a direct bearing on Abbas's move at the UN. The Palestinian territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have been ruled separately since 2007, when Hamas took control of Gaza, and Fatah the West Bank. Despite talks aimed at reuniting the territories, there is often little connection between what Hamas does in Gaza and what the western-backed Palestinian Authority does in the West Bank. In fact, Hamas opposed the UN recognition plan last year, and is tepid again ahead of this month's effort.
That said, while the violence in Gaza may not directly effect the UN's decision, it does distract from the brave and historic push to win statehood for the Palestinian people. In all of this, that vital step must not be forgotten: if anything, it only further hits home why efforts to bring justice and peace to Palestine are so crucial right now.
Is this really about the upcoming Israeli elections?
Yes and no. Even when Israel and Gaza are observing the tenuous truce, hostilities are never far away. Add to that an endless supply of weapons, US diplomatic cover for Israel and persistent hopelessness for Gaza's young people, and the constant tension and regular violence become less surprising.
But the pace and fury with which this current outbreak hit is hard to separate both from upcoming elections in Israel, and from the power struggle for the leadership of Hamas between local and exiled leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Meshaal.
In Israel, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to win January's parliamentary polls, but the fighting in Gaza is an opportunity to reinforce his image (and that of his right-wing coalition) as the nation's protector. For his politically exposed defence minister, Ehud Barak, the campaign in Gaza may have more explicit electoral play. In Israel, as in most nations with highly revered armed forces, military action ahead of elections has a habit of taming opposition and scaring up votes. (Haaretz's Benn lists a series of precedents, from Ben Gurion's assault on Gaza in 1955 to Operation Cast Lead in 2008-09.)
To say the conflict was manufactured solely for elections is perhaps too cynical. But to say that it is permitted to continue only because of the inaction of the international community is dead on.
Sources: BBC, Telegraph, CBS News, Avaaz, BusinessWeek, New York Times, Electronic Intifada, CBC, Bloomberg, Christian Science Monitor, Al Ahram, AP, Huffington Post, Haaretz, New York Times, Egypt Independent, Los Angeles Times, Economist
A familiar tragedy is unfolding in the Gaza Strip. Thursday night, Israel hit Gaza with 130 strikes. On Wednesday, militants in Gaza fired more rockets into Israel, including some long-range Iranian-built weapons that triggered air-raid sirens in Tel Aviv for the first time since the first Gulf war. In a desperate move, Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi sent his prime minister into the small, besieged territory this morning to petition for peace.
This outbreak of violence, the most recent episode in a long line of cross-border assaults, threatens to bring full-blown war back to the tired people of Gaza and southern Israel. A three-week invasion in the winter of 2008-09 destroyed much of Gaza and killed more than 1,200 Palestinians and 13 Israelis. This newest onslaught quickly revived memories of that war and the devastating policies, like collective punishment and targeted assassinations, that helped fuel it. On Wednesday Hamas's military chief Ahmed al-Jabari was killed in a targeted air strike. By the end of Thursday, 20 Palestinians and three Israelis had been killed, including at least five children.
The crisis has the potential to escalate fast. But no one seems to have good answers to the key questions: why is it happening now? And how might it all relate to upcoming elections in Israel, the leadership struggle within Hamas, and Palestine's historic bid for statehood at the UN?
So, what's going on here?
According to most news reports, the latest round of violence began on 10 November, when Gaza militants fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli army jeep, wounding four soldiers. The tit-for-tat reprisals that followed were predictable: Israel launched air and mortar strikes in Gaza, and Hamas and other militant groups fired rocket barrages into southern Israel. Israeli officials were quick to note that 750 rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel this year, and that country couldn't endlessly absorb attacks.
But it's difficult to assign start and stop dates to the violence that plagues the Israel-Gaza border. Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers have half-heartedly observed a rocky truce for years. When a new round of hostilities begins it can be difficult to know whether it is in fact new, or an extension of previous attacks. The same applies this time round: the upsurge in violence could be viewed as a new episode, or a response to an assault late last month.
Either way it seems clear that both sides were initially eager to avoid full-scale escalation. In fact, Egypt continues to quietly negotiate in public and behind the scenes to (re)achieve a truce – something Hamas had openly been asking for just the day before Israel assassinated Hamas leader Ahmed al-Jabari. But if a ceasefire is on the cards, why has the violence continued to increase?
The Christian Science Monitor's Dan Murphy suggests that the very real limits of Hamas's power in Gaza, often misunderstood to be "ironclad", helps explain the escalations. Militant factions in Gaza, like the group Islamic Jihad, which Hamas cannot fully control, might have been responsible for the recent upsurge in rocket attacks against Israel.
Others see it differently, speculating that the renewed vigour of the attacks on southern Israel signalled that Hamas had once again begun to coordinate with other militant factions, like Islamic Jihad. Either way, it's clear that Hamas is not the only Gaza player – and that smaller, more militant groups may have played a key role.
Why the Jabari assassination?
Israel's new offensive against Gaza – code-named Pillar of Defence – has been marked by the return to an old strategy: the assassination of high-level Hamas leaders. Hamas's Jabari was the most senior leader in Gaza to be killed in four years. This prompted a furious response from Hamas, and the first Israeli deaths in this episode from Gazan rocket attacks.
Israel says it targeted the extremely cautious Jabari – who has survived four previous Israeli assassination attempts – because he has a long history of terrorist activity. But an alternative narrative has also emerged: that Jabari was tasked with keeping Gaza's various militant groups under control, and when he failed, he was killed. Here's Israeli journalist Aluf Benn writing in Haaretz:
Now Israel is saying that its subcontractor [Jabari] did not do his part and did not maintain the promised quiet on the southern border. The repeated complaint against him was that Hamas did not succeed in controlling the other organizations, even though it is not interested in escalation. After Jabari was warned openly ... he was executed on Wednesday in a public assassination action, for which Israel hastened to take responsibility. The message was simple and clear: You failed – you're dead.
Will this affect Palestine's bid for statehood?
The Palestinian Authority plans to seek official recognition for Palestine from the UN general assembly later this month. After failing to achieve full member state status last year, thanks to US opposition, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is going back to request the lower-level non-member "observer state" status (similar to that granted to the Vatican).
This would be a vital, long overdue step for the Palestinians. Not only would it mean symbolic recognition of Palestine's nationhood, it's also probably the last chance for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is still the best chance for peace. It would also give Palestine access to major global institutions, such as the international criminal court, which would mean they could sue Israel for myriad injustices like land grabs, human rights abuses and war crimes.
Just as last year, the US and Israel strongly oppose this move, but unlike the security council where the last bid failed, the UN general assembly is not subject to vetoes. In the general assembly, Palestine will have the support of well over 100 nations.
How does the latest explosion of violence in Gaza fit into all this? While it's disastrous for its people and the region, it will have less of a direct bearing on Abbas's move at the UN. The Palestinian territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have been ruled separately since 2007, when Hamas took control of Gaza, and Fatah the West Bank. Despite talks aimed at reuniting the territories, there is often little connection between what Hamas does in Gaza and what the western-backed Palestinian Authority does in the West Bank. In fact, Hamas opposed the UN recognition plan last year, and is tepid again ahead of this month's effort.
That said, while the violence in Gaza may not directly effect the UN's decision, it does distract from the brave and historic push to win statehood for the Palestinian people. In all of this, that vital step must not be forgotten: if anything, it only further hits home why efforts to bring justice and peace to Palestine are so crucial right now.
Is this really about the upcoming Israeli elections?
Yes and no. Even when Israel and Gaza are observing the tenuous truce, hostilities are never far away. Add to that an endless supply of weapons, US diplomatic cover for Israel and persistent hopelessness for Gaza's young people, and the constant tension and regular violence become less surprising.
But the pace and fury with which this current outbreak hit is hard to separate both from upcoming elections in Israel, and from the power struggle for the leadership of Hamas between local and exiled leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Meshaal.
In Israel, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to win January's parliamentary polls, but the fighting in Gaza is an opportunity to reinforce his image (and that of his right-wing coalition) as the nation's protector. For his politically exposed defence minister, Ehud Barak, the campaign in Gaza may have more explicit electoral play. In Israel, as in most nations with highly revered armed forces, military action ahead of elections has a habit of taming opposition and scaring up votes. (Haaretz's Benn lists a series of precedents, from Ben Gurion's assault on Gaza in 1955 to Operation Cast Lead in 2008-09.)
To say the conflict was manufactured solely for elections is perhaps too cynical. But to say that it is permitted to continue only because of the inaction of the international community is dead on.
Sources: BBC, Telegraph, CBS News, Avaaz, BusinessWeek, New York Times, Electronic Intifada, CBC, Bloomberg, Christian Science Monitor, Al Ahram, AP, Huffington Post, Haaretz, New York Times, Egypt Independent, Los Angeles Times, Economist
Israel renewed airstrikes on the Gaza Strip on Friday afternoon, with reports that a Hamas fighter and Palestinian woman were the latest casualties in the third day of bombardments.
Witnesses reported more than 20 raids throughout Gaza.
Ismail Qandil, 24, a fighter for Hamas' military wing, was killed in an Israeli airstrike near Khan Younis which wounded another person, a Ma'an correspondent said.
Palestinian woman Tahrir Suleiman, 22, died of injuries sustained earlier Friday during shelling in Beit Lahiya, the reporter said.
Gaza's ministry of health also identified one of the victims of an earlier explosion in northern Gaza. Mahmoud Sadallah, 3, was killed in a strike on Jabalia on Friday morning, along with another unidentified person, the ministry said.
Israel's military denied carrying strikes at the time the casualties were reported, during Egyptian premier Hisham Kandil's three-hour visit to Gaza.
The army had agreed to cease hostilities for the duration of the visit if Gaza militants also held fire, but rockets continued to land in Israeli cities Friday morning.
An Israeli military spokesman said forces renewed their aerial assault on Gaza after 2 p.m.
Rockets
Israel's army said more than 50 rockets landed in south Israel over two hours on Friday morning. Two Israeli soldiers were moderately injured, and another had light wounds after a rocket attack, an army spokesman said.
He said Israel's Iron Dome had intercepted 96 rockets on Friday. On Thursday, a rocket fired from Gaza killed three Israelis.
Explosions were heard in Tel Aviv on Friday afternoon after air raid sirens went off, and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip said they had fired a rocket at Israel's commercial center.
A police spokesman acknowledged an explosion had been heard but said there was no initial indication a rocket had struck the city nor any immediate reports of casualties or damage.
Militants in Gaza launched two rockets toward the city on Thursday. The location of the impacts was not disclosed.
Live Blog: Despite Visit of Egypt's Prime Minister, Israeli Airstrikes Continue on Gaza Strip
On Friday morning 16th November, Israeli airstrikes continue against Palestinians, despite the visit of Egypt's Prime Minister, Hisham Kandil to the Gaza Strip. Kandil paid a visit to al-Shifa Hospital along with Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyah.
Israeli aircrafts launched a rocket at a house belonging to Abu Warda family in Jabaliya, north of Gaza. Palestinian media reported that a Palestinian was killed this morning and several Palestinians were injured in the spot. While, another Palestinian was killed and several other civilians were injured and transferred to al-Shifa hospital after an Israeli strike landed at al-Shikh Radwan neighbourhood in Gaza.
Blasts were heard in several areas in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Army Forces, in third day of IOF operation in Gaza, "aggressively" targeted different parts in Gaza, raising the number of the Palestinian martyrs to 18, and 240 injuries.
Friday morning, a 23 year-old Palestinian was killed in a heart attack caused by the Israeli airstrike landed near his house in al-Tufah neighbourhood in Gaza.
Israeli media sources claimed that rockets were also fired this morning, from Gaza at Ashdod. According to Israeli media, a woman sustained light injuries and a few residents suffered an anxiety attack following the rocket fire.
Witnesses reported more than 20 raids throughout Gaza.
Ismail Qandil, 24, a fighter for Hamas' military wing, was killed in an Israeli airstrike near Khan Younis which wounded another person, a Ma'an correspondent said.
Palestinian woman Tahrir Suleiman, 22, died of injuries sustained earlier Friday during shelling in Beit Lahiya, the reporter said.
Gaza's ministry of health also identified one of the victims of an earlier explosion in northern Gaza. Mahmoud Sadallah, 3, was killed in a strike on Jabalia on Friday morning, along with another unidentified person, the ministry said.
Israel's military denied carrying strikes at the time the casualties were reported, during Egyptian premier Hisham Kandil's three-hour visit to Gaza.
The army had agreed to cease hostilities for the duration of the visit if Gaza militants also held fire, but rockets continued to land in Israeli cities Friday morning.
An Israeli military spokesman said forces renewed their aerial assault on Gaza after 2 p.m.
Rockets
Israel's army said more than 50 rockets landed in south Israel over two hours on Friday morning. Two Israeli soldiers were moderately injured, and another had light wounds after a rocket attack, an army spokesman said.
He said Israel's Iron Dome had intercepted 96 rockets on Friday. On Thursday, a rocket fired from Gaza killed three Israelis.
Explosions were heard in Tel Aviv on Friday afternoon after air raid sirens went off, and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip said they had fired a rocket at Israel's commercial center.
A police spokesman acknowledged an explosion had been heard but said there was no initial indication a rocket had struck the city nor any immediate reports of casualties or damage.
Militants in Gaza launched two rockets toward the city on Thursday. The location of the impacts was not disclosed.
Live Blog: Despite Visit of Egypt's Prime Minister, Israeli Airstrikes Continue on Gaza Strip
On Friday morning 16th November, Israeli airstrikes continue against Palestinians, despite the visit of Egypt's Prime Minister, Hisham Kandil to the Gaza Strip. Kandil paid a visit to al-Shifa Hospital along with Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyah.
Israeli aircrafts launched a rocket at a house belonging to Abu Warda family in Jabaliya, north of Gaza. Palestinian media reported that a Palestinian was killed this morning and several Palestinians were injured in the spot. While, another Palestinian was killed and several other civilians were injured and transferred to al-Shifa hospital after an Israeli strike landed at al-Shikh Radwan neighbourhood in Gaza.
Blasts were heard in several areas in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Army Forces, in third day of IOF operation in Gaza, "aggressively" targeted different parts in Gaza, raising the number of the Palestinian martyrs to 18, and 240 injuries.
Friday morning, a 23 year-old Palestinian was killed in a heart attack caused by the Israeli airstrike landed near his house in al-Tufah neighbourhood in Gaza.
Israeli media sources claimed that rockets were also fired this morning, from Gaza at Ashdod. According to Israeli media, a woman sustained light injuries and a few residents suffered an anxiety attack following the rocket fire.
Israeli tanks and troops massed outside Gaza and the military said on Friday it was calling up 16,000 reservists, signs of a possible imminent invasion of the Palestinian enclave after 48 hours of air strikes.
Israel's warplanes, drones and helicopters appeared to shift focus from suspected Palestinian rocket sites to the northern Gaza frontier, where their bombs created incursion corridors by clearing landmines or guerrilla gun nests.
The mobilization was anything but secret and details put on social media by the Israeli military appeared to be a clear warning to the Hamas Islamists that govern Gaza to push for a truce.
"It is not our intention to go to war, and we are hopeful that this operation will not take a minute more than required," Israeli President Shimon Peres said.
Since being fought to a standstill in its 2006 war against Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas, Israel has been honing the training of its regular troops and could mount a land invasion of Gaza at short notice.
Public statements by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggest such an escalation has preliminary cabinet approval.
Among units already garrisoned outside Gaza is Israel's paratrooper brigade whose commander, Colonel Amir Baram, said last month that in planning tactics he had studied World War One skirmishes in Gaza between British forces and the Ottoman Turks.
Should his troops be ordered in, Defence Minister Ehud Barak told Channel 2 television, "they will need to go house-to-house, and then we will need the lessons of the past".
RELIEF CRISIS RISK
Among those lessons learnt has been that Gaza's impoverished population of 1.7 million is vulnerable to humanitarian crises, which could spell international controversy for Israel.
Since the last Gaza war, of 2008-2009, the army says it has assigned some of its regiments with Arabic-fluent "relief officers" to direct Palestinian civilians away from danger.
To judge from the pace of the previous offensives in Lebanon and Gaza, it could take several more days for Israel to train and equip reservists for action.
The military declined to give details on where the reservists would serve, but Israeli media said they included personnel from homefront units that sound sirens during rocket attacks from Gaza and advise the public on where to shelter.
The reservists being called up on Friday were among a total of 30,000 whose draft was authorized by the Defence Ministry.
The scale of the potential mobilization prompted one commentator on Israel's Army Radio, who half-joked on air that so many troops would risk "falling over each other" in Gaza.
Interviewed by the station, Vice Premier Silvan Shalom was asked if Israel was preparing the military for possible flare-ups on other fronts, such as Lebanon, which the Jewish state has watched with concern given conflict in neighboring Syria and furor over the nuclear ambitions of Hezbollah's patron Iran.
"We are taking everything into consideration," Shalom said, without elaborating.
Veteran commanders say around 30,000 troops altogether took part in the 2006 Lebanon war and 20,000 in the 2009 Gaza invasion. The number of garrisoned troops always stationed outside Gaza is a state secret.
"QUIET FOR THE SOUTH"
Yossi Peled, a recently retired cabinet minister from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party and a former army general, said Israel did not seek to topple Hamas or even to crush its outgunned guerrillas in "victory" battles.
"Quiet for the south (of Israel), that is the objective of the operation, writ big," Peled told public television, referring to years of sporadic rocket and mortar salvoes by Hamas and other Gaza factions that surged in the last two weeks.
Though at least 340 of the missiles have been fired since Wednesday's flare-up, the Israelis say they have made strategic gains by destroying, on the ground, around 20 Fajr rockets with 75 km ranges - capable of hitting deep inside the Jewish state.
"They (Palestinians) may have a few left, but it is no longer the menace that it was," said one security official, even as Hamas and its allies managed to fire rockets at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Friday, causing no damage or casualties.
Both cities had previously been beyond the reach of Palestinian rocketry.
Israel's saturation air strikes - which peaked on Thursday, with a rate of one every five minutes, according to the chief military spokesman - have also razed a large number of suspected munitions factories and caches, the official said.
Another target has been fields where, the Israelis believe, Hamas and other Gaza factions positioned rocket "silos" - buried launch tubes, pointing across the border, that could be detonated remotely.
Those rockets that survived Israel's pre-emptive attacks and are fired have to get past Iron Dome, an air defense system that uses small radar-guided interceptor missiles.
Israel has four Iron Dome batteries deployed and its Defence Ministry said on Friday it had rushed forward production of a fifth so that it could be deployed as early as the weekend.
Israel's warplanes, drones and helicopters appeared to shift focus from suspected Palestinian rocket sites to the northern Gaza frontier, where their bombs created incursion corridors by clearing landmines or guerrilla gun nests.
The mobilization was anything but secret and details put on social media by the Israeli military appeared to be a clear warning to the Hamas Islamists that govern Gaza to push for a truce.
"It is not our intention to go to war, and we are hopeful that this operation will not take a minute more than required," Israeli President Shimon Peres said.
Since being fought to a standstill in its 2006 war against Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas, Israel has been honing the training of its regular troops and could mount a land invasion of Gaza at short notice.
Public statements by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggest such an escalation has preliminary cabinet approval.
Among units already garrisoned outside Gaza is Israel's paratrooper brigade whose commander, Colonel Amir Baram, said last month that in planning tactics he had studied World War One skirmishes in Gaza between British forces and the Ottoman Turks.
Should his troops be ordered in, Defence Minister Ehud Barak told Channel 2 television, "they will need to go house-to-house, and then we will need the lessons of the past".
RELIEF CRISIS RISK
Among those lessons learnt has been that Gaza's impoverished population of 1.7 million is vulnerable to humanitarian crises, which could spell international controversy for Israel.
Since the last Gaza war, of 2008-2009, the army says it has assigned some of its regiments with Arabic-fluent "relief officers" to direct Palestinian civilians away from danger.
To judge from the pace of the previous offensives in Lebanon and Gaza, it could take several more days for Israel to train and equip reservists for action.
The military declined to give details on where the reservists would serve, but Israeli media said they included personnel from homefront units that sound sirens during rocket attacks from Gaza and advise the public on where to shelter.
The reservists being called up on Friday were among a total of 30,000 whose draft was authorized by the Defence Ministry.
The scale of the potential mobilization prompted one commentator on Israel's Army Radio, who half-joked on air that so many troops would risk "falling over each other" in Gaza.
Interviewed by the station, Vice Premier Silvan Shalom was asked if Israel was preparing the military for possible flare-ups on other fronts, such as Lebanon, which the Jewish state has watched with concern given conflict in neighboring Syria and furor over the nuclear ambitions of Hezbollah's patron Iran.
"We are taking everything into consideration," Shalom said, without elaborating.
Veteran commanders say around 30,000 troops altogether took part in the 2006 Lebanon war and 20,000 in the 2009 Gaza invasion. The number of garrisoned troops always stationed outside Gaza is a state secret.
"QUIET FOR THE SOUTH"
Yossi Peled, a recently retired cabinet minister from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party and a former army general, said Israel did not seek to topple Hamas or even to crush its outgunned guerrillas in "victory" battles.
"Quiet for the south (of Israel), that is the objective of the operation, writ big," Peled told public television, referring to years of sporadic rocket and mortar salvoes by Hamas and other Gaza factions that surged in the last two weeks.
Though at least 340 of the missiles have been fired since Wednesday's flare-up, the Israelis say they have made strategic gains by destroying, on the ground, around 20 Fajr rockets with 75 km ranges - capable of hitting deep inside the Jewish state.
"They (Palestinians) may have a few left, but it is no longer the menace that it was," said one security official, even as Hamas and its allies managed to fire rockets at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Friday, causing no damage or casualties.
Both cities had previously been beyond the reach of Palestinian rocketry.
Israel's saturation air strikes - which peaked on Thursday, with a rate of one every five minutes, according to the chief military spokesman - have also razed a large number of suspected munitions factories and caches, the official said.
Another target has been fields where, the Israelis believe, Hamas and other Gaza factions positioned rocket "silos" - buried launch tubes, pointing across the border, that could be detonated remotely.
Those rockets that survived Israel's pre-emptive attacks and are fired have to get past Iron Dome, an air defense system that uses small radar-guided interceptor missiles.
Israel has four Iron Dome batteries deployed and its Defence Ministry said on Friday it had rushed forward production of a fifth so that it could be deployed as early as the weekend.
docjazzmusic: MASSIVE hacker attack by Hitcher from Team MLA : over 570 Israeli websites downed. AWESOME job !
"Mass Attack by Hitcher from Team MLA (Muslim Liberation Army) More then 570 Israeli sites hacked and Message Delivered The hack is done against the protest aginst Gaza attack by Israelis they are killing innocent children and womens"
"Mass Attack by Hitcher from Team MLA (Muslim Liberation Army) More then 570 Israeli sites hacked and Message Delivered The hack is done against the protest aginst Gaza attack by Israelis they are killing innocent children and womens"
An Israeli airstrike killed three Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday evening, the health ministry said, bringing the death toll to 19 on the second day of fighting.
Brothers Tareq Jamal Naser, 16, and Oday Jamal Nasser, 14, as well as Fares al-Bassiouni were killed when Israel bombed their home in Beit Hanoun, the ministry said.
The brothers' father and three children were among six injured in the explosion. Witnesses said a fire broke out affecting a nearby mosque after the bombing.
Israel's army said it had hit around 70 rocket-launching sites in the course of an hour on Thursday evening, as deadly violence continued since Israel assassinated a Hamas commander on Wednesday.
The aerial bombardment set off earth-shaking thuds and fireballs in the dark sky and were met with screeches of Palestinian rocket fire launched from the outskirts of Gaza City towards southern Israel.
One of the sites targeted by Israel was an electricity generator that supplied the house of Hamas's prime minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh. It was unclear whether he was at home at the time.
Witnesses told Ma'an violent explosions across Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan neighborhood set a high-rise building ablaze, with flames lighting Gaza's sky. Several injured, including women, were brought to Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital, a Ma'an correspondent said.
Airstrikes also hit an open area east of Gaza City, and four areas near Rafah in south Gaza.
Witnesses said Israeli planes hit the marine police headquarters in Deir al-Balah, which has been destroyed repeatedly in Israeli airstrikes. Sites in Khan Younis were also hit.
Brothers Tareq Jamal Naser, 16, and Oday Jamal Nasser, 14, as well as Fares al-Bassiouni were killed when Israel bombed their home in Beit Hanoun, the ministry said.
The brothers' father and three children were among six injured in the explosion. Witnesses said a fire broke out affecting a nearby mosque after the bombing.
Israel's army said it had hit around 70 rocket-launching sites in the course of an hour on Thursday evening, as deadly violence continued since Israel assassinated a Hamas commander on Wednesday.
The aerial bombardment set off earth-shaking thuds and fireballs in the dark sky and were met with screeches of Palestinian rocket fire launched from the outskirts of Gaza City towards southern Israel.
One of the sites targeted by Israel was an electricity generator that supplied the house of Hamas's prime minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh. It was unclear whether he was at home at the time.
Witnesses told Ma'an violent explosions across Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan neighborhood set a high-rise building ablaze, with flames lighting Gaza's sky. Several injured, including women, were brought to Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital, a Ma'an correspondent said.
Airstrikes also hit an open area east of Gaza City, and four areas near Rafah in south Gaza.
Witnesses said Israeli planes hit the marine police headquarters in Deir al-Balah, which has been destroyed repeatedly in Israeli airstrikes. Sites in Khan Younis were also hit.
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Israeli, U.S. Elections and Gaza Strikes - More Than Coincidence
"Israel is bombarding Gaza for a second day, with 13 Palestinians killed, including four children, and over 100 injured. The attack's timing is under question with a looming Israeli election, as is the precision of airstrikes which kill civilians. Israel's military operation started on Wednesday with a strike killing Hamas military leader Ahmed Jabari. Since then, reports say, the IDF has struck around 200 targets in Gaza. Furthermore, Israel is threatening to go as far as initiating a ground operation, sparking fears of a repetition of the Cast Lead scenario. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF), which has engaged in a Twitter showdown since the very beginning of the strikes, said it targets only "terror sites". However, this has been questioned by witnesses on social media who point out that only four people of the 13 so far killed by Israeli airstrikes were Hamas militants, while the rest were civilians, including women and children."* Cenk Uygur, Ben Mankiewicz (Host, Turner Classic Movies), and John Iadarola (Host, TYT University) discuss the timing of the killings on the Gaza Strip with U.S. and Israeli elections and the latest in this developing, complicated situation. What is the best way for leadership to react? 
Look at this, will they kill and commit massacres everytime they have elections? (clik to enlarge)
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Hameed Younis Abu Doqqa 11
This is the boy where Ahmed Shihab is talking about, this boy was the last drop after a lot of attacks from Israel. Hamas fired a rocket back.
Palestinian child killed in Gaza by Israeli gunfire
This is the boy where Ahmed Shihab is talking about, this boy was the last drop after a lot of attacks from Israel. Hamas fired a rocket back.
Palestinian child killed in Gaza by Israeli gunfire
