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The situation
After an 18 month blockade of Gaza and three weeks of heavy shelling the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is now completely overwhelming.


Donate online to the DEC's Gaza Crisis now
Thousands of people are struggling to survive with many having lost their homes and most down to their last supplies of food and only limited amounts of fresh drinking water.
Just £25 can buy warm blankets for 8 children
Just £50 can provide a Food parcel for a family for one month
Electricity - supplies to Gaza are erratic at best with 75% of the area cut off completely. There is a significant public health risk arising out of the almost collapse of Gaza’s water and sewage system, the running of which is dependent on electricity.

Water - Around 500,000 people are without running water with 37% of Gaza’s water wells not working effectively and fuel reserves depleted due to restrictions on access and damage to pipes.

At least 412 Children have been killed and 1,855 injured

60% of the population is living in poverty

1.1 million people are dependent upon aid to survive.

Health - The capacity of the health system has been significantly reduced due to the damage of at least 21 clinics. Ten primary health care clinics are functioning as emergency clinics and hospitals and intensive care units continue to treat the mass casualties.
http://www.dec.org.uk/item/200

Sky News, BBC won't broadcast Gaza charity appeal

Sky News, BBC won't broadcast Gaza charity appeal



CTV.ca News Staff

Updated: Mon. Jan. 26 2009 10:35 AM ET



The British Broadcasting Corporation is standing firm in its decision not to air a desperate plea for donations to help those living in the bombed-out remains of the Gaza Strip.


On Monday, another British channel, Sky News, joined the BBC by announcing that it was also refusing to broadcast the appeal.


The ad was submitted for broadcast by the Disaster Emergency Committee, which includes the Red Cross, Oxfam and Save the Children.


The BBC decided not to air the ad following deliberations held over the weekend, said CTV's London Bureau Chief Tom Kennedy.


"It is saying if it does broadcast this film appealing for aid for the victims of the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza strip, it will in a sense be compromising its journalistic impartiality, not only it's journalistic impartiality but the appearance of it," Kennedy told CTV Newsnet.


The decision has triggered a powerful emotional response in the U.K. Roughly 60 MPs, including some cabinet ministers, have criticized the decision.


Several high profile religious leaders, including the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, have also opposed the decision.


More than 11,000 complaints have been filed to the BBC, and a number of protests have been held in opposition to the decision, Kennedy said.


Those who oppose the BBC's decision say the humanitarian appeal must be aired in order to generate much-needed funds to help Palestinians recover from the heavy fighting.


More than 1,200 Palestinians were killed in the bombardment, and hundreds of homes and businesses were destroyed.


Israel launched the three-week offensive in order to halt Hamas rocket fire into southern Israel.


Other British broadcasters, including Channel 4, ITV and Five, have said they intend to broadcast the ad.



http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090126/Gaza_BBC_090126/20090126?hub=TopStories

Israel accused of war crimes over 12-hour assault on Gaza village

Israel accused of war crimes over 12-hour assault on Gaza village
White flags ignored and houses bulldozed with families inside, claim residents
Fida Qishta in Khuza'a and Peter Beaumont in London
The Observer, Sunday 18 January 2009

Israel stands accused of perpetrating a series of war crimes during a sustained 12-hour assault on a village in southern Gaza last week in which 14 people died.

In testimony collected from residents of the village of Khuza'a by the Observer, it is claimed that Israeli soldiers entering the village:

• attempted to bulldoze houses with civilians inside;

• killed civilians trying to escape under the protection of white flags;

• opened fire on an ambulance attempting to reach the wounded;

• used indiscriminate force in a civilian area and fired white phosphorus shells.

If the allegations are upheld, all the incidents would constitute breaches of the Geneva conventions.

The denunciations over what happened in Khuza'a follow repeated claims of possible human rights violations from the Red Cross, the UN and human rights organisations.

The Israeli army announced yesterday that it was investigating "at the highest level" five other attacks against civilians in Gaza, involving two UN facilities and a hospital. It added that in all cases initial investigations suggested soldiers were responding to fire. "These claims of war crimes are not supported by the slightest piece of evidence," said Yigal Palmor, an Israeli foreign ministry spokesman.

Concern over what occurred in the village of Khuza'a in the early hours of Tuesday was first raised by the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem. Although an Israeli military spokesman said he had "no information that this alleged incident took place", witness statements collected by the Observer are consistent and match testimony gathered by B'Tselem.

There is also strong visible evidence that Khuza'a came under a sustained attack from tanks and bulldozers that smashed some buildings to pieces.

Pictures taken by photographer Bruno Stevens in the aftermath show heavy damage - and still burning phosphorus. "What I can tell you is that many, many houses were shelled and that they used white phosphorus," said Stevens yesterday, one of the first western journalists to get into Gaza. "It appears to have been indiscriminate." Stevens added that homes near the village that had not been hit by shell fire had been set on fire.

The village of Khuza'a is around 500 metres from the border with Israel. According to B'Tselem, its field researcher in Gaza was contacted last Tuesday by resident Munir Shafik al-Najar, who said that Israeli bulldozers had begun destroying homes at 2.30am.

When Rawhiya al-Najar, aged 50, stepped out of her house waving a white flag, so that the rest of the family could leave the house, she was allegedly shot by Israeli soldiers nearby.

The second alleged incident was on Tuesday afternoon, when Israeli troops ordered 30 residents to leave their homes and walk to a school in the village centre. After travelling 20 metres, troops fired on the group, allegedly killing three.

Further detailed accounts of what occurred were supplied in interviews given to a Palestinian researcher who has been working for the Observer, following the decision by Israel to ban foreign media from the Gaza Strip. Iman al-Najar, 29, said she watched as bulldozers started to destroy neighbours' homes and saw terrified villagers flee from their houses as masonry collapsed.

"By 6am the tanks and bulldozers had reached our house," Iman recalled. "We went on the roofs and tried to show we were civilians with white flags. Everyone was carrying a white flag. We told them we are civilians. We don't have any weapons. The soldiers started to destroy the houses even if the people were in them." Describing the death of Rawhiya, Iman says they were ordered by Israeli soldiers to move to the centre of the town. As they did, Israeli troops opened fire. Rawhiya was at the front of the group, says Iman.

Marwan Abu Raeda, 40, a paramedic working for the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, said: "At 8am we received a phone call from Khuza'a. They told us about the injured woman. I went immediately. I was 60 or 70 metres away from the injured woman when the Israeli forces started to shoot at me." As he drove into another street, he came under fire again. Twelve hours later, when Rawhiya was finally reached, she was dead.

Iman said she ended up in an area of rubble where a large group of people had sought cover in a deep hole among the debris of demolished houses. It is then, she says, that bulldozers began to push the rubble from each side. "They wanted to bury us alive," she said.



http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/18/israel-war-crimes-gaza-conflict

Vulnerability of Children in Gaza Increases

Vulnerability of Children in Gaza Increases

WESTPORT, Conn. (Jan. 9, 2009) — Save the Children is reiterating its call for free and effective access for humanitarian assistance in Gaza so that aid agencies may provide much-needed relief to increasingly vulnerable children and so that their families can access essential services.

Yesterday the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) demanded immediate access to the wounded in Gaza, and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) announced that it was suspending activities there, highlighting the dangerous operating environment for humanitarian work.

"With every passing day of this conflict, the vulnerability of children in and around Gaza increases," said Annie Foster, Save the Children's team leader for the emergency. "Humanitarian agencies must be able to reach children and families in need. Two weeks have passed with children living under extreme duress."

Save the Children is striving to meet the needs of an increasingly vulnerable population in north and southern Gaza. Over the last six days, the agency has delivered life-saving food supplies to some 9,500 people, including 4,700 children, despite a worsening security situation.

Save the Children is calling for a peaceful solution to the current crisis that endangers the lives of nearly every child in Gaza, and the lives of Israeli children in areas subject to attacks. Save the Children is calling for a cessation of hostilities by all parties including air and ground assaults from Israel and rocket attacks from Gaza.

DONATE NOW

Save the Children needs your support to help us meet the most critical needs of children and families in Gaza. Your donation will help us provide drinking water, improved sanitation, food distribution and other necessities.

Learn more

Save the Children (www.savethechildren.org) is the leading, independent organization creating lasting change for children in need in the United States and around the world. For more than 75 years, Save the Children has worked to improve the lives of children and their families through programs in health, education and economic opportunities, and during times of crisis and conflict. Save the Children USA is a member of the International Save the Children Alliance, a global network of 27 independent Save the Children organizations working to ensure the well-being and protection of children in more than 100 countries.



http://www.savethechildren.org/newsroom/2009/vulnerability-gaza-children.html

Israelis and the Israeli War on Gaza

Israelis and the Israeli War on Gaza
Written by Sergio Yahni, Alternative Information Center (AIC)
Tuesday, 13 January 2009


Israeli students in Sderot during a Qassam rocket attack. "Under a rain of rockets, Sderot was transformed from a marginal town, where third-generation immigrants struggle to survive, into a symbol of the fate of the Jewish nation." The absolute majority of Israeli Jews support the current Israeli offensive in Gaza. They also supported the offensive against Lebanon in 2006 and the successive offensives carried out in the West Bank since 2000.
We could explain this position as an expression of the colonial ideology that feeds Zionism. However, this explanation represents Israeli society as being homogenous and devoid of contradictions, and would thus misrepresent reality. Israeli society is highly unstable and trapped within its own contradictions. It is precisely here that we should seek the reasons underlying militarism in Israel.

Mass immigration following the creation of Israel in 1948, not the successive wars with neighboring Arab states, was the greatest challenge facing the Zionist project and its class structure.

In its early years, Israel was forced to absorb a population twice as big as the number of people of European origin who founded the state. The primary intention for absorbing the immigrants was to supplant the Palestinian cheap labor force which had been deported just after WWII. Yet the immigrants, who in the majority came from the urban or rural middle-classes, resisted this process of impoverishment and proletarianization.

A series of popular uprisings in 1955 led the establishment to perceive the social ferment in the immigration camps as a threat to the Zionist project. Several Zionist leaders of the time wrote in their memoirs that they feared the Israeli Communist Party was planning a revolution.

The war of 1956, and the nationalist wave it aroused in Israel, created a space in which to ideologically include the immigrants. All Israelis, immigrants or not, shared the hardship of war and social discontent was relegated. Similarly, eleven years later, the 1967 war and the nationalist wave it unleashed following Israel’s victory served as a tool to discipline the independent trade union movement that had begun to develop.

Wars did not unify the diverse communities in Israel, but served to establish discipline within a fractured society. The wars, and particularly the military victory of 1967, served to establish the ethnic fundamentalism that characterizes the hegemonic discourse in Israel. This allowed the ruling classes to overcome the social rifts and thus suggest a Jewish national identity.

For this reason, the discourse of peace, which does not propose solutions to the social upheavals of Israeli society, subverts the promises of ethnic fundamentalism. With peace disappears the common danger that holds together the unemployed in Sderot and the systems engineer in Tel Aviv. At the same time, peace makes evident the social and ethnic rifts of Israel breaking its current façade of social stability.

For that reason, the most volatile period in Israel’s history were the years of the Oslo process. During this period Israel faced previously unknown and startling political violence, and no government managed to complete its full term. In this period, Israel had major general strikes and witnessed the renaissance of ethnic identities and growing criticism of Zionist history.

The reemergence of neoconservative thinking, which reached its peak during the two terms of George W. Bush, enabled the Israeli bourgeoisie to regenerate, becoming the department of research and development of the global arms industry.

The neoconservative politics in Israel were put in place by Ehud Barak. Their first appearance in the Israeli political scene was through a new offensive against the Palestinian people, both in the territories Israel occupied in 1967 and inside the green line, which ended the peace process in all practical terms. Only later, during the government of Ariel Sharon, were neoliberal economic and social policies implemented. As the combined consequence of the Israeli offensive and the neoliberal policies, impoverished Israelis can access the system through the military or private security agents. For those who cannot access the system, there is always nationalist radicalization.

According to this logic, the suicide attacks at the beginning of the decade and later Hamas’ homemade rockets allowed Israel to rebuild a Jewish identity based on common security interests. With these rockets, an impoverished and marginalized population, such as the population of Sderot, returned to the center of the national consensus. Under a rain of rockets, Sderot was transformed from a marginal town, where third-generation immigrants struggle to survive, into a symbol of the fate of the Jewish nation.

Obviously, this process also requires the exclusion of the non-Jewish population in Israel and the marginalization of its Palestinian citizens in public life. Otherwise, there would be a return to the harsh social relations that began to be realized during the peace process. Cleansed of ethnic privileges, an unemployed person in Sderot is a victim of the system.

The real Israeli is therefore built on an exclusive ethno-nationalism and the desire for peace must lose it actual meaning and become a meaningless rhetoric ritual. Obviously this also requires the exclusion of political forces that translate the desire for peace into a plan of action.

Therefore, it is not surprising that organizations and intellectuals well recognized abroad for their pacifist rhetoric, supported the offensive against the Palestinian people at the end of September 2000, the offensive against Lebanon in 2006 and the current offensive against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

But while the Zionist RIght justifies the war in terms of national security, the Zionist Left and its intellectuals joined the consensus on the theme of national sovereignty.

For intellectuals like Amos Oz and Ari Shavit, and politicians like Haim Oron of Meretz, all of whom recognize the ineffectiveness of the Palestinian rockets, the military offensive against Gaza is justified because those missiles violated national sovereignty.

For these spokesmen of the Zionist Left, the massive bombing of the early days of the offensive would be sufficient to restore Israel’s sovereignty. But the Zionist Right demands a final and notable victory, such as the one in 1967.

Obviously, when the Jewish population has to choose between a symbolic victory as proposed by the Zionist Left and a final one as the proposed by the Right, most would choose the final victory.

http://www.alternativenews.org/content/view/1534/381/

930 people killed in Gaza and more 4,280 wounded

930 people killed in Gaza and more 4,280 wounded. New bombs violate international law
Palestinian National Initiative
13 January 2009
Ramallah, 13-01-09: For the 18th consecutive day, Israel continued its attacks on the Gaza Strip. By air, by land and by sea Gazans are besieged.

Since the beginning of the raids, at least 9300 people have reportedly been killed (including more than 231 children and 98 women), and more than 4,280 have sustained heavy injuries, including 411 seriously wounded. The majority of the casualties are civilians and 48% are children and women. At least 22 families were reportedly struck, killing fathers, mothers and children.

To Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi MP, the Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative, "despite international pressure including a binding UN Security Council Resolution, Israel has decided to continue its campaign of death and destruction, violating various international law and first, by imposing collective punishment."

1. The Use of prohibited weapons. Such as the use of Phosphoric bombs, in contravention to the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons of 1980, which bans the use of incendiary devices against personnel in densely inhabited civilian areas. The use of weaponized white phosphorous was reported yesterday in the northern border-town of Beit Lahiya, which set hit homes ablaze.

2. The Targeting of civilians. As of today casualties, the majority of the casualties are civilians and 48% are children and women. 1/3 of the dead and injured in Gaza are children. It is a fact now that Israel is mainly targeting the civilian unarmed population of Gaza. UN schools converted into shelters for refugees were targeted, along with many civilian zones such as universities, residential buildings, markets and Mosques.

3. The Targeting of the Press. In contravention of the Article 79 of the first additional protocol supplement to the Geneva conventions of 1949 states that targeting a member of the press is a crime under international law. On Friday, a Israeli air strikes slammed into the Jawhara building, home to over 20 local and international media outlets and offices. Furthermore, 3 media officers were reported killed in strikes on their homes, such was the radio journalist Ala Mortaji who was killed by an Israeli tank attack upon the home of and his mother. She is suffering severe injuries resulting in the amputation of both of her arms.

4. The Targeting of Humanitarians. The United Nations pulled out its entire foreign national staff after they bore the brunt of repeated Israeli attacks on their permanent positions and their rescue attempts. Saturday in the Northern Gaza Strip, the Norwegian aid agency (NPA) reported that an Israelis fired a missile at the car of its aid workers, although the car was "clearly marked with the NPA logo". Officials said it would have been "impossible to miss that this was a humanitarian vehicle." Furthermore, the area was reported without military targets.

Dr. Mustafa Bargouthi also expressed his deepest concerns regarding the imminent risk of water sewage in the Gaza Strip. "Due to the lack of fuel, water pumps have been out of order for months. Now, Gazans are unable to be provided with sane water as a result of the ongoing Israeli destruction in the area."

"Gazans are sinking further into the humanitarian crisis. The Israeli aggression on our civilians and civilians infrastructure should be ended now", he said.


Contacts:
+972 (0) 599 94 00 73
bahiaamra@gmail.com

For more information on the use of White Phosphorus Bombs, Please visit: http://palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article764



http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article783

IOF War on the Gaza Strip Enters Its 3rd Week

Ref: 09/2009

Date: 10 January 2009

Time: 12:45 GMT



IOF War on the Gaza Strip Enters Its 3rd Week;

34 Palestinians Killed, Including 4 Children and 3 Women, and the Total Number of Victims Now Mounts to 799, Including 193 Children, 53 women, 6 Medical Personnel, One Palestinian Journalist and 165 Civil Police Officers

As the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip has entered its third week, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have continued to kill Palestinian civilians, especially children. Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip have been a scene of intense aerial, ground and sea attacks. Investigations conducted by PCHR indicate that IOF have continued to bombard Palestinian houses and civilian facilities persistently day and night, while the Palestinian civilian population suffer a humanitarian crisis as they lack electricity, water and food supplies. IOF have continued their war on the Gaza Strip with total disregard for international humanitarian standards and humanitarian law and in violation of the resolution issued by the United Nations Security Council yesterday morning calling for a ceasefire. Israel has stressed that it would continue its offensive and has even threatened to escalate it. PCHR is concerned that IOF may commit more war crimes against the Palestinian civilian population. Additionally, IOF have continued to attack and obstruct the work of medical, civil defense crews and humanitarian relief crews. Last night, IOF bombarded al-Jawhara building, in which a number of journalists were present. As a result, one journalist was wounded. The high number of civilian victims and the extensive destruction to public and private property are clear evidence that IOF, instructed by the Israeli political and military establishments, intend to cause maximum deaths and casualties among Palestinian civilians and maximum destruction to their property.

This is a summary of the crimes committed by IOF in the Gaza Strip during the last 24 hours.



Northern Gaza Strip

· On Friday morning, 9 January 2009, Bassam Qouta, 32, was killed by IOF near Hammouda fuel station at Salah al-Din Street in Jabalya town. Qouta is a driver of a truck belonging to Shuhaiber Company, which has a contract with UNRWA to transport food aids for UNRWA through Karm Abu Sale (Kerem Shalom) crossing. The truck driven by Qouta was traveling in a convoy of trucks that were raising UNRWA flags. IOF deliberately fired at the convoy.

· At approximately 12:00 on Friday, IOF warplanes a 2-storey house belonging to Hussein al-Za'anin in Khalil al-Wazeer Street in Beit Hanoun. The house was destroyed. At the same time, IOF shelled a 2-storey house belonging to 'Emad al-Za'anin in the same area.

· At approximately 12:40 on Friday, IOF fired artillery shells at Palestinian houses near the building of the Education Department in Beit Lahia town. As a result, a man and his wife were killed: Mohammed Mubarak Salah, 60; and Halima Saleh, 60. One of their sons was also wounded.

· At approximately 13:00 on Friday, IOF warplanes bombarded a 3-storey house belonging to Mohammed 'Abdul Karim Hamas in Beit Hanoun town. The house was destroyed and one of Hamad's sons was wounded.

· At approximately 14:00 on Friday, IOF fired artillery shells at al-Hawouz area in the east of Beit Lahia town. As a result, Ahmed Ibraim Abu Qulaiq, 18, from the Bedouin village, was killed as he was passing in the area.

· At approximately 16:30 on Friday, IOF warplanes opened fire at al-Shuhada Square, west of Jabalya refugee camp. Tamer Jamal Mahmoud Abu Hulayel, 35, was killed by a gunshot to the chest.

· On Friday evening, medical sources declared that Baraa' Eyad Shalha, 6, and Ussama al-'Abed Bader, 20, both from Beit Lahia, died of previous wounds they had sustained when an IOF warplanes attacked a crows of Palestinian civilians on 8 January 2009. Additionally, Ahmed Jaber Abu 'Atiya, 25, from Jabalya refugee camp, succumbed to wounds he had sustained when an IOF warplane bombarded Martyr Ibrahim al-Maqadma Mosque last week. Thus, the number of Palestinians killed in the attack on the mosque has mounted to 16.

· At approximately 19:25 on Friday, IOF warplanes bombarded with incinerating bombs residential areas in 'Abed Rabbu Street in the east of Jablya. Fire broke out in 4 houses. When civil defense and medical crews started to extinguish fire and rescue civilians, IOF troops position on rooftops in 'Izbat 'Abed Rabbu area fired at them.

· At approximately 20:00 on Friday, IOF warplanes attacked a number of Palestinian civilians near al-Falah Mosque in Jabalya town. One civilian was wounded.

· At approximately 21:00, IOF warplanes bombarded a 3-storey house belonging to Mohammed Rayan in Tal al-Za'tar area in the east of Jabalya. The house was destroyed.

· At approximately 23:00 on Friday, the body of Ussama Mohammed Ahmed Jom'a, 30, a resistance activist from Jabalya, was brought to Kamal 'Edwan Hospital in Beit Lahia. Jom'a was killed in armed clashes with IOF in al-Salatin area, west of Beit Lahia.

· Also at approximately 23:00 on Friday, IOF warplanes fired missiles at a number of Palestinian civilians near al-Khulafaa' Mosque in Jabalya refugee camp. One of the missiles hit a house belonging to 'Abdul Karim Abu Matar damaging it.

· At approximately 09:00 on Saturday, 10 January 2009, IOF artillery shelled al-Sikka Street to the east of Jabalya refugee camp. Thee Palestinian civilians were killed:

1. Daoud Ghanem Farah 'Assaliya, 37;

2. Ibrahim Ghanem Farah 'Assalia, 40; and

3. Ibrahim Mohammed Abu Humaidan, 60.

· At approximately 02:00 on Saturday, 10 January 2009, IOF warplanes bombarded an under-construction house near Abu al-Khair Mosque in Jabalya town. The house was partially destroyed.

· At approximately 02:10 on Saturday, IOF warplanes bombarded a house belonging to Hassan al-Kurdi in Block 2 in the southeast of Jabalya refugee camp. The house ws destroyed and a number of neighboring houses were damaged.

· Also at approximately 02:10 on Saturday, IOF warplanes bombarded a 3-storey house belonging to Zuhdi Khamis Abu 'Amsha in Gaza Street in the center of Beit Hanoun. As a result, 18 Palestinian civilians livening in neighboring houses were wounded.

· At approximately 03:30, IOF warplanes bombarded a market in Beit Lahia. A number of shops were destroyed and a number of houses were heavily damaged.

· At approximately 07:30, IOF warplane bombarded a 6-storey house belonging to Khaled Mohammed Hammas in Beit Lahia. The house and a neighboring one belonging to Fadel Hassan Safi were destroyed.

· Also at approximately 09:00 on Saturday, civil defense crews were able to extract the body of 16-year-ol Mohammed Jaber Mohammed 'Olayan from the debris of his house that was bombarded by IOF on Friday morning.

· At approximately 11:00 on Saturday, IOF tanks shelled the vicinity of al-Qerem Square in the southeast of Jabalya. As a result, Ahmed Mohammed ;Ouda al-Kurd, 30, was killed.

· At approximately 11:30 on Saturday, IOF troops positioned in 'Abed Rabbu Street in the east of Jabalya shot dead Mohammed Mustafa Hussein 'Eid, 19, with several gunshots to the head and the chest.

· At approximately 11:45 on Saturday, IOF tanks shells houses opposite to Jabalya Court. A shell hit a house belonging to Jouda 'Abed Rabu. As a result, 6 members of the 'Abed Rabbu family, including 2 children and a woman, and a member of the Hussein family were killed:

1. Hamed Mafouz 'Abed Rabbu, 17;

2. Yusri Mahmoud 'Abed Rabbu, 16;

3. Ramez Jamal 'Abed Rabbu, 38;

4. Mustafa Rebhi Hussein, 18;

5. Sami Mohammed Saleh 'Abed Rabbu, 25;

6. Randa Jamal 'Abed Rabbu, 45; and

7. Sufian 'Abdul Hai 'Abed Rabbu, 47.

· At approximately 12:00, IOF fired an artillery shell at the house of 'Emad Baba near Sa'ad al-Ansari Mosque in Beit Lahia town. As a result, An'am 'Abed Baba, 30, was killed and another 3 civilians were wounded.



Gaza City

· At approximately 13:0 on Friday, 9 January 2009, Sa'id Suleiman Sa'id al-Rawdi, 53, was killed when IOF fired an artillery shells at the vicinity of al-Ribat Mosque in the east of al-Zaytoun neighborhood.

· At approximately 16:30, IOF warplanes bombarded a 4-storey house belonging to Mohammed Yousef Dababesh, in which 30 people live, in Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in the north of Gaza City. The house was destroyed.

· At approximately 17:00, IOF warplanes bombarded Arafat police compound (al-Jawazat). As a result, Sha'ban Mohammed Sha'ban Mushataha, 22, a policeman, was killed. The compound had been repeatedly shelled during the ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip.

· At approximately 19:00 on Friday, an IOF warplane bombarded the roof of al-Jawhara building in al-Jalaa; Street. A number of journalists of Media Group Company were on the roof. Manar Shulail Shalloula, 25, a producer of the Saudi News Channel, was lightly wounded by shrapnel to the head.

· At approximately 19:30 on Friday, an IOF warplane bombarded an uninhabited 2-storey house belonging to the Nassar familu in al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City.

· At approximately 20:20 on Friday, 'Ammar Saleem al-Kayal, 35, was killed, when IOF shelled a house belonging to the 'Abdul 'Aal family in al-Tuffah neighborhood.

· At approximately 20:30 on Friday, an IOF warplane bombarded a flat belonging to Mohammed Abu al-So'ud, 30, on the 11th floor in al-Soussi apartment building in the center of Gaza City. Abu al-So'ud was moderately wounded.

· At approximately 22:00 on Friday, Ramez Mohammed Abu al-Khair, 29, was killed near his house in al-Mentar Street in al-Shoja'eya neighborhood when IOF shelled the area.

· Also at approximately 22:00 on Friday, 'Alaa' Hammad Murtaja, 26, a correspondent of the local al-Buraq Radio, was killed when IOF shelled his house in the east of al-Zaytoun neighborhood.

· At approximately 23:00 on Friday, Rasheed Mohammed Duhair, 22, died of wounded he had sustained on 8 January 2009 when IOF shelled his house in al-Shoja'eya neighborhood in the east of Gaza City. Two of Duhair's brothers were also killed in the attack.

· At approximately 00:30 on Saturday, 10 January 2009, Ayman Jameel Mohammed Yassin, 18, died of wounds he had sustained on 8 January 2009 when IOF shelled houses near Abu Bakr Mosque in al-Zaytoun neighborhood in the east of Gaza City.

· At approximately 01:00 on Saturday, 10 January 2009, IOF warplanes bombarded a store of iron and construction raw materials belonging to 'Abdul Basset 'Abdul Fattah 'Abdul 'Aal, 40, in al-Nasser neighborhood in the north of Gaza City.

· At approximately 06:00 on Saturday, IOF fired an artillery shell at a 4-storey house belonging to Sameer Sa'ad Khalida, 39, in which 5 families counting 40 people live. No casualties were reported.

· At approximately 07:00 on Saturday, IOF warplanes bombarded a 2-storey house belonging to Sa'id Mohammed Abu Matar, 51, in Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in the north of Gaza City. As a result, Mar and his on, 26-year-old Mazen, were killed, and another two members of the family, including a child, were wounded.

· At the same time, the bodies of Shams 'Omar 'Omar, 22, from al-Shati refugee camp, and Jawad Mahmoud al-Hessi, 35, were brought to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. The two were killed when IOF shelled al-Sudaniya area, northwest of Gaza City.



Central Gaza Strip

· At approximately 11:40 on Friday, 9 January 2009, an IOF drone fired a missile at al-Furqan Mosque in al-Heker area in Deir al-Balah. The mosque was damaged.

· At approximately 18:30 on Friday, an IOF warplane bombarded a 4-storey house belonging to Ramdan Salama al-Balbissi, 47, in which 5 families counting 30 people live, in al-Nussairat refugee camp. As a result, 23 Palestinian civilians, including 6 children and 4 women, were wounded and the houses was destroyed. Additionally, a number of neighboring houses and al-Furqan Mosque were damaged.

· At approximately 20:30 on Friday, an IOF warplane fired a missile at a number of resistance activists in Abu Marahil Street in al-Nussairat refugee camp. As a result, Ibrahim Mahmoud Wishah, 32, a resistance activist, was killed and 2 others were wounded. Soon after, an IOF warplane bombarded a space land belonging to the Abu Fayadh family in the area. No casualties were reported.

· On Friday evening, 8 Palestinian civilians, including 4 children an a woman, were admitted into al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, as they were wounded by IOF tanks that had moved into al-Mughraqa village and Juhor al-Dik area.

· Over night and this morning, IOF warplanes bombarded open areas in the central Gaza Strip.



Khan Yunis:

· At approximately 12:30 on Friday, 9 January 2009, IOF warplanes bombarded the vicinity of Khuza'a Martyrs School. As a result, 2 passing women were lightly wounded

· Also at approximately 12:30 on Friday, IOF warplanes bombarded an open area in 'Abassan village. Two Palestinian civilians were wounded.

· At approximately 18:00, IOF warplanes bombarded greenhouses near Khuza'a Martyrs School. No casualties were reported.

· At approximately 22:15, IOF warplanes targeted a number of resistance activists in al-Qarara village. Jihad Hussein al-Sumairi, 24, was killed and 3 others were wounded.

· At approximately 22:40, IOF warplanes bombarded a building that used to serve as a sewing workshop to the north of the security compound in Khan Yunis for the second time in 24 hours. The building was extensively destroyed, but no casualties were reported.

· At approximately 08:30 on Saturday, 10 January 2009, IOF warplanes bombarded the northern fence of Gaza European Hospital. Parts of the fence and, water supplies, the electricity network, an electricity generator and fuel tanks were destroyed. A staff member of the hospital was shocked and patients were extremely terrified.



Rafah

· At approximately 11:15 on Friday, 9 January 2009, IOF heavy military vehicles moved hundreds of meters into al-Shouka village, east of Rafah. They demolished 13 houses belonging to the Mo'ammar and Abu Sunaima families. They withdrew from the area at approximately 16:30.

· Also at approximately 11:15, IOF warplanes bombarded agricultural areas in Taha Hussein Street in the northwest of Rafah. They bombarded these areas again and again at 18:05, 18:40 and 19:30.

· At approximately 16:40, an IOF drone bombarded a 5-storey apartment building belonging to Sa'ad al-Sha'er, in which 8 families counting 25 people live, in al-Brazil neighborhood in the south of Rafah.

· At approximately 17:00, IOF warplanes bombarded tunnels along the Egyptian border, south of Rafah.

· At approximately 18:30, IOF warplanes bombarded a store of feeds belonging to 'Aatef Timraz in al-salam neighborhood in the south of Rafah.

· At approximately 19:50, IOF warplanes bombarded agricultural areas in al-Junaina neighborhood in the northeast of Rafah.

· At approximately 00:10 on Saturday, 10 January 2009, IOF warplanes bombarded a house belonging to the Abu Julaidan family in al-Salam neighborhood in the south of Rafah. The house was destroyed.

· At approximately 08:15, an IOF drone bombarded a 4-storey house belonging to Adham 'Abdul Rahim Farawana, a member of the 'Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas, in which 4 families counting 27 people live, in al-Salam neighborhood in the south of Rafah. Ten minutes later, an IOF warplane bombarded and destroyed the house.

In light of the crimes committed by IOF against the Palestinian civilian population and civilian objects in the Gaza Strip, PCHR:

Condemns these crimes, which are part of a series of continuous crimes committed by IOF in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) with total disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians, considering them a form of collective punishment against the Palestinian civilian population in violation of article 33 of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.
Holds Israel responsible for the lives of Palestinian civilians in all circumstances. Under the international law, the existence of armed resistance does not in any case justify the use of such excessive force disproportionately and indiscriminately.
Warns that the lives of Palestinian civilians are endangered in light of threats vowed by Israeli political and military officials to expand military operations against the population of the Gaza Strip.
Calls upon the international community to immediately intervene to stop such crimes, and calls upon the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Convention, Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, to fulfill their obligation under article 1 of the Convention to ensure respect for the Convention in all circumstances, as well as their obligation under article 146 to search for and prosecute those who are responsible for perpetrating grave breaches of the Convention, as such breaches constitute war crimes according to article 147 of the Convention and the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I).


http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/PressR/English/2008/09-2009.html

Despite Call for Ceasefire Israel Prepares to Escalate the offensive on Gaza

Despite Call for Ceasefire Israel Prepares to Escalate the offensive on Gaza



Defying the United Nations Security Council’s resolution calling for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, Israel has threatened to launch a new phase in its two-week-old offensive, which has already killed more than 800 Palestinians.

In a communiqué published on Friday the Israeli government stated it would not accept the January 8th UN Security Council call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli government states that the Israeli Army “will continue to act in order to attain the objectives of the operation in accordance with the plans that have been approved upon embarking on the operation."



Earlier Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected the UN resolution. In Israel's first official response to the resolution, Olmert's office said Israel "has never agreed to let an external body decide its right to protect the security of its citizens."



On Saturday Israeli planes dropped leaflets over Gaza - warning of an escalation in attacks.



The leaflets, printed in Arabic, said that Israeli forces “will escalate the operation in the Gaza Strip" claiming Israel “is not working against the people of Gaza but against Hamas and the terrorists only.” The leaflets called on Gaza’s population to stay safe by following Israel’s army orders.



Medical officials in the Gaza Strip said the Palestinian death toll had risen to at least 786. More than a third of the victims are children.



The dropping of leaflets appears to be part of psychological warfare tactic.



The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has criticized the practices of dropping leaflets, broadcasting messages over local television and radio, and phoning people ordering them to evacuate their homes.



According to OCHA such practices create panic among the civil population and cause people to flee amidst gunfire and shelling. The UN Agency also claims that there is no safe space in the Gaza Strip making this one of the rare conflicts from which civilians cannot flee.



According to the Associated Press, Israeli officials say they are prepared for a third stage of the offensive, in which ground troops would push much further into Gaza, but are still waiting for approval from the government.



The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the army also has a fourth stage planned that calls for a full reoccupation of Gaza and toppling of Hamas.


http://www.alternativenews.org/content/view/1522/381/

Death toll in Gaza exceeds 800

Death toll in Gaza exceeds 800




The Palestinian death toll has risen to 815 people and more than 3,300 injured since Israel began its offensive in the Gaza Strip two weeks ago.

Attacks continued on Saturday morning with aerial bombardments and Israeli forces advancing further into the outskirts of Gaza City.

Eight members of one family were among the latest fatalities, killed by an Israeli tank shell in Jabaliya.

Israeli aircraft bombed tunnels used to smuggle goods from Egypt into the besieged strip, weapons-manufacturing sites and depots, an army spokesman said.

Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Gaza City, said: "There was a lot of intense fighting overnight.

"The most significant development was the advance of the Israeli military.

"We understand now they are on the outskirts of Gaza City, still trying to avoid going in through major population centres, but navigating their way around those urban areas on the periphery."

Cairo meetings

Hamas sent a senior delegation to the Egyptian capital on Saturday to make their remarks on the Egyptian plan to end the fighting.

A binding resolution passed by the UN security council late on Thursday failed to bring peace to the Gaza Strip, with Israel arguing that it has the right to self-defence.

Hamas said it was not consulted and that the call for an immediate cessation did not recognise the Palestinians' right to resist occupation.

Egypt's plan includes an immediate cessation of hostilities for a specified period, the opening of Gaza's crossings, curtailment of arms smuggling into the Strip and attempts at reconciliation talks between the Palestinian factions.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, also in Cairo, said the Egyptian plan would facilitate progress on a ceasefire.

After his meeting with Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, Abbas said: "We think that the Egyptian initiative is the mechanism that will put into implementation the UN Security Council resolution.

"It will elaborate plans on the ground in order to stop the Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people.

"The Egyptian proposal is the only mechanism. It is very clear-cut and once it is accepted, the aggression should end. However, if any of the two parties reject the initiative, they will have to assume the responsibility of continuing the bloodshed.

"Egyptians are continuing their contacts with the relevant stakeholders. A delegation from Hamas has already been in Egypt and we hope they will reach an agreement without any reluctance."

UN aid resumes

The UN Security Council resolution, which was backed by 14 nations on the 15-member body, with only the US abstaining, called for an "immediate, durable and fully respected" ceasefire.



However, both Hamas and Israel rejected the truce. Scores of rockets have been fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip since the start of the offensive.

Since Israel launched its offensive, 13 Israelis have died, including three civilians.

The UN also said on Saturday that it would resume its work in the Gaza Strip after receiving assurances of staff safety.

A UN statement said that Israel had given "credible assurances that the security of UN personnel installations and humanitarian operations would be fully respected".

The UN stopped aid shipments after one of its lorries was shot at by Israeli forces, killing the driver, two days ago.

The majority of the 1.5 million people living in the Gaza Strip depend on foreign aid for survival.

Mads Gilbert, a doctor working at Shifa hospital in Gaza City, told Al Jazeera: "We have been to many war zones, but the special thing is that the 1.5 Gaza population are completely locked in.

"The civilian population has no way to hide. The population density is so high you can not do attacks like this without knowing that you are attacking the civilians.

"Also, the injuries must come from extremely explosive devices. We suspect that Israel is using a new type of high explosive called Dime [dense inert metal explosive].

"We urge the world, stop the bombing of Gaza. Please stop it."

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies



http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/200911084430400848.html

UN passes Gaza ceasefire resolution

UN passes Gaza ceasefire resolution


Aljazeera, 9 January 2009


Arab delegates pushed for the vote to be held quickly, objecting to a further 24-hour delay [AFP]

The UN Security Council has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza that Arab nations hope will put an end to Israel's 14-day assault on the territory.

The resolution, passed on Thursday with 14 votes in favour and only the US abstaining, "stresses the urgency of and calls for an immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza".

The resolution also called for arrangements in Gaza to prevent arms smuggling to Palestinian fighters and reopen border crossings.

It said there should be "unimpeded provision" and distribution of aid to the territory, where more than 763 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its offensive.

Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, said he was "heartened and relieved" by the passing of the resolution.

US abstention

The UN chief, who will visit the Middle East next week for talks on the crisis, said the UN "stands ready" and that a ceasefire would be a "first step", but that "a political way forward is required to deliver long-term security and peace".

The text was the product of days of tortuous negotiations between top diplomats from the United States, Britain and France and Arab states.

Arab countries, many facing strong anti-Israeli sentiment at home, insisted the Security Council must issue a binding resolution that would force Israel to end its military campaign in the Gaza Strip immediately.

Israel had opposed the idea of a binding UN resolution.

The United States had backed its ally Israel but diplomats said it dropped its objections and agreed to go along with a cautiously worded text.

Despite the abstention, Rice said the United States supported the contents of the resolution.

"The United States thought it important to see the outcomes of the Egyptian mediation efforts in order to see what this resolution might have been supporting," she said.

But Riad al-Maliki, the Palestinian foreign minister, seemed less than convinced that the UN resolution would bring about an immediate end to violence in Gaza.

He said he feared that the Israelis would expand their Gaza offensive in the next few days, to hit more targets before any truce comes into effect.

'Partial victory'

Al Jazeera's Ghida Fakhry, reporting from the UN, said the resolution was only a partial victory for Arab leaders, who succeeded in pushing through a resolution when the US and other nations were keener on issuing a non-binding "presidential statement".

But they were also frustrated that an earlier Libya proposal was abandoned in favour for the US, UK and France resolution, our correspondent added.

Fakhry said it was "difficult to see how this [the resolution] is going to be enforced given the fact that the United States has decided to abstain thereby sending a clear signal that it will not do anything whatsoever to pressure its closest ally [Israel]".

Though the UN resolution is legally binding, it does not have any enforcement mechanism, and Israel has ignored dozens of UN resolutions over the years, our correspondent said.

It was also unclear whether Hamas would accept a text which does not mention the lifting of Israel's 18-month blockade on Gaza, which it has demanded, she added.

"Israel as a member state of the United Nations they have to really adhere to the resolution and the moment that they do so I believe Hamas will do the same," al-Maliki said.

Delay rejected

Al Jazeera understands that the French delegation had asked for another 24 hours to work out the draft resolution, drawing a furious response from the Saudi delegation, who said that they would not wait any longer as civilians were dying by the minute.

An agreement was finally reached after Arab foreign ministers made some amendments to the draft sponsored by the US, UK and France, allowing them to get on board with the draft and drop their bid to support another draft resolution sponsored by Libya.

Libya, currently the only Arab nation serving as a non-permanent member of the security council, had been urging council members to back its own version of a resolution, although the US had blocked an earlier Libyan draft that Washington and its allies saw as being anti-Israeli.

More than 763 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 200 children, since the Israeli offensive began on December 27. More than 3,121 people have also been wounded.

Eight Israeli soldiers and three civilians have died in the same period.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Original link :

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/01/2009191340884788.html



Link to this page :

http://www.holylandfree.org/UN-GazaCeasefire9gen2009.htm

Global protests condemn Gaza war

Global protests condemn Gaza war


Police blocked protesters in Nairobi from reaching the Israeli embassy [Reuters]


More than 50,000 Egyptian have protested in the city of Alexandria against Israel's assault on Gaza, one of many held across the world as the conflict enters its 14th consecutive day.

Demonstrators in Egypt, led by parliamentarians allied to the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, chanted slogans condemning the war and the failure of Arab nations to tackle the crisis.

"Down with Israel, and with it every collaborator," protesters chanted after Friday prayers.

Others shouted: "Gaza excuse us: opening Rafah is not in our hands," referring to the border crossing between the strip and Egypt which Cairo has refused to open despite the deaths of more than 780 Palestinians.

An AFP news agency reporter said riot police had tried to prevent the protest going ahead but gave up because of the number of demonstrators.

In the Jordanian capital Amman, security forces stopped protesters carrying Palestinian and Jordanian flags from marching to the Israeli embassy.

The protesters chanted "no Israel embassy on Arab territory" and "Arab rulers are cowards".

No clashes were reported although objects were thrown at riot police.

Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab nations with diplomatic relations with Israel.

Both Sunni and Shia Muslim worshippers in Baghdad staged rallies condemning the offensive following Friday prayer services.

West bank clashes

Angry Palestinian protesters have also clashed with Israeli police in the occupied West Bank.

Israel had placed the West Bank on a 48-hour lockdown, prohibiting movement into and out of the Palestinian territory until Saturday except in emergency cases.

In Kenya, police used water cannons and tear gas in an attempt to disperse hundreds of people who had gathered outside Nairobi's Jamea mosque to express their soldarity with the Palestinians of Gaza.

"No to shedding innocent blood," "End the massacre in Gaza," and "Israel, stop killing innocent people," read some of the placards.

The protestors tried to march towards the Israeli embassy in the centre of the Kenyan capital, but were stopped by a heavy security deployment.

Six people were injured and 31 were arrested when 1,000 pro-Palestinian protesters attacked a pro-Israeli demonstration in Oslo, police said on Friday.

During the clashes, considered to be the worst in more than two decades in the Norwegian capital, anti-Israel protesters threw Molotov cocktails, rocks and eggs and burned Israeli flags, Johan Fredriksen of the Oslo police said.

Police were also on high alert in Greece, where protests against the Israeli offensive have been planned.

Boycott call

In Malaysia and Italy, critics of Israel's Gaza assault have called for a boycott of Israeli and US goods.

"We cannot remain silent about what is happening in Gaza. We had thought of drawing up a list of businessmen who have links with Tel Aviv because people do not know who they are," Giancarlo Desiderati, a member of a small group of Italian traders who called for the boycott on its website, said.

At least 5,000 people protested outside the US embassy in Malaysia on Friday, and around 300 held a noisy protest outside the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur to urge Arab countries to cut off oil supplies to the US and boycott goods from Coca-Cola, Colgate and Starbucks.

Addressing the crowd, Mahathir Mohamed, a former prime minister, told Malaysians that they "will not die if they do not use the US goods" and urged those working for US companies such as fast-food giant McDonalds to quit their jobs.

"I hope Starbucks and McDonald's employees will stop working there," he said.

Coca-Cola officials said any boycott would only hurt the local economy and its citizens.

Source: Agencies
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/200919123947912684.html

Twenty children killed in Gaza fighting: official

Twenty children killed in Gaza fighting: official

January 6, 2009

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Salah Samouni banged his head in grief against a wall inside the hospital morgue where the bodies of his three little nephews lay on the floor.

His relatives screamed at exhausted doctors, begging them to find people still buried under rubble.

After 10 days of a relentless Israeli assault, Shifa Hospital, Gaza's largest, is overwhelmed. Bodies are now crowded two to a morgue drawer, and some - like those of the Samouni children - are on the floor.

Many of the wounded are treated in hallways because rooms are full. Harried doctors and nurses run on little sleep, and the hospital is powered by emergency generators after shelling damaged power cables.

"Who ever comes with a head, we check his pulse. If there's no pulse, he's straight to the morgue. If there's no head, well, goodbye," said hospital official Raid Arini on Monday.

The hospital scenes have only worsened since Israel began a ground offensive on Saturday.

Most of the dead and wounded now arriving at Shifa are civilians, as Israel's offensive shifts from airstrikes to artillery shelling and ground fighting close to densely populated areas.

Israel says it is targeting only the Hamas militants, who control Gaza, in an attempt to halt seven years of rocket fire at Israeli communities.

But the 555 Palestinians who have been killed include about 200 civilians, said Dr Moaiya Hassanein of the Gaza Health Ministry.

On Monday, 20 children between the age of two and 15 were killed, he said.

Since the military offensive began on December 27, three Israeli civilians and two soldiers have been killed.

Many casualties come through the shabby halls of Shifa, which echo with the sound of people screaming and the wail of ambulance sirens.

Red-eyed nurse Ahmad Abdul Salam, 34, smelled of sweat and his clothes were stained with blood. He said he couldn't sleep.

"When my shift ends, I help my colleagues. These are our brothers and friends who are being harmed," he said.

The hospital's most gruesome scene is in its morgue, where blood pooled on the floor and refrigerators meant to hold 35 bodies crammed in 70 by laying them side-by-side in drawers.

The three Samouni boys, Issa, 3, Mohammed, 4, and Ahmad, 5, lay on the floor on a grey mat. They appeared baby-faced and asleep, save for a large bandage wrapped around Issa's head.

The children's father was also killed in what relatives said was an Israeli strike on a house in eastern Gaza City where the family had fled to escape fighting nearby.

Relatives wept nearby, and one man screamed at a doctor to save other family members he said were still under the rubble of the house.

"For God's sake, rescue them!" he pleaded.

No militants were seen at Shifa. There has been heavy fighting and Israel has said its forces have killed dozens of Palestinian gunmen, but Hamas has not listed its casualties and it is unclear where militants are being treated or where their bodies are stored.

Shifa has been powered by generators since power completely cut out in Gaza City three days ago.

Israel has not replenished Gaza's power station with industrial fuel since fighting began, and air strikes have badly damaged power lines.

UN health official Mahmoud Daher said the generators were meant as an emergency back-up but were now used all the time. He said he feared they would break down, which could be fatal to about 70 people hooked up to lifesaving devices.

Medics appeared exhausted and defiant.

Mohammed Salman, 26, a volunteer medic who was washing blood from the inside of an ambulance in the hospital garden, said he had treated people with horrific injuries, including headless children and a woman whose stomach had been torn open. The woman screamed, "Leave me and save my children," he said, and burst into tears.

Israeli aircraft have hit three ambulances in Gaza since the campaign began, killing seven medics, Gaza health officials say.

A medical building owned by a relief organisation not connected to Hamas was also bombed, said Daher. The building was destroyed, along with an ambulance, three mobile clinics and donated medicines, he said.

Israeli army spokespeople say they have no records of any of those strikes.

Health official Raed Arini said he has stopped filling out the space on death certificates left for "reason for death".

"The reason for death is the Israeli army," Arini said, as medics rushed in with more wounded people.

AP


This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/01/06/1231003983982.html

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/twenty-children-killed-in-gaza-fighting-official/2009/01/06/1231003983982.html

Gaza children traumatised as Israeli bombs rain down

Gaza children traumatised as Israeli bombs rain down
by Adel ZaanounPublished: December 30, 2008


GAZA CITY (AFP) "We are scared... that we can die at any moment," said 11-year-old Mohammed Ayyad, still terrified hours after a massive Israeli bombardment of Hamas government buildings next to his house in Gaza.
Like the rest of Gaza's children, he has been traumatised by the four-day assault on Islamist Hamas targets which has transformed many areas of the overcrowded territory into piles of rubble and shattered glass.

"As they were hitting the centre (of Gaza City), we heard an enormous explosion and our house was filled with dust," he said. "We immediately ran towards the ground floor."

His six-year-old brother Ahmad "peed his pants. We were all scared because the planes are in the sky all the time and we could die at any moment."

Schools in Gaza have been closed since the Israeli strikes began on Saturday and children have passed the time examining the damage caused by the raids.

Near Ayyad's home, a group of children milled around rubble that used to be Hamas government buildings. One shrugged off the danger of being outside as the Israeli warplanes continued their sorties overhead.

"I run the same risk if I am at home or in the street," he said.

Another boy, Mohammed Bassal, said he and his brothers were shaken awake by explosions in the night.

"Debris from the broken windows fell on our heads, the electricity was cut off and we started screaming," he said. "My mother came and hugged us."

His 12-year-old brother Nidal added: "We're still scared. The Jews are crazy and they don't spare anyone, even children."

Iyad al-Sayagh, a mother who lives in the area, called the bombardment "a night of horror, the way the earth shook."

After the strikes began "I immediately got my kids down to my father's, who lives on the ground floor," she said. "With each missile the little ones became hysterical."

A neighbour, Abdel Jalil al-Khatib, covering the shattered windows of his apartment with nylon said: "We haven't slept for three days, but yesterday was particularly terrifying."

The overnight raids "turned the night in Gaza into hell," said Sarah Radi, a 29-year-old teacher.

"They say that they want to destroy Hamas, but it's not true. They want to annihilate the Palestinian people. What did the women and children do that they destroy their houses?"

According to Gaza medics, at least 39 children under 16 years old have died as a result of the Israeli strikes that have killed at least 367 Palestinians in Gaza since Saturday.

Among the latest victims were two sisters aged four and 11. They were killed when a missile struck their donkey cart in the north of the Gaza Strip.

On Sunday night, five sisters died when masonry from a mosque hit by an Israeli strike crushed their house.

"What's happening is a massacre that Gazans will remember for always," warned Samir Zaqut, a psychologist with the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP).

"When 360 people die under the bombs and the missiles, this causes post-traumatic stress amid children and adults, like depression, insomnia and schizophrenia," he added.

The UN children's agency UNICEF has said it is "deeply concerned about the impact of the current violence in Gaza on children."

It urged "all parties to the conflict to abide by their international legal obligation to ensure that children are protected and that they receive essential humanitarian supplies and support."

© 2008 Agence France-Presse



http://www.metimes.com/Politics/2008/12/30/gaza_children_traumatised_as_israeli_bombs_rain_down/afp/