47 killed on Tuesday. 971 killed and 4418 injured since the offensive started
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- Written by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies
- Published: 13 January 2009 13 January 2009
- Hits: 3366 3366
The Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip is still ongoing and on Tuesday, the eighteenth day of the offensive, the Israeli army killed 47 Palestinians, and wounded dozens of residents in several parts of the Gaza Strip. Medical sources in Gaza reported that the army killed 971 Palestinians, including hundreds of women and children, and wounded at least 4418 in the ongoing offensive.
in the Jabalia
refugee camp on Tuesday evening. At least 40 residents were injured in
these attacks.
In Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, nine Palestinians, including a 75-year old man, were killed when the army shelled a three-story home. Seven members of the family of the slain elderly man were wounded; three of them are children.
The man was identified as Khalid Hamdan Al Najjar, 70, the mother of his grandchildren was also wounded along with with a 45-tear old woman.
In Al Karama and Amer areas in Jablia, Israeli soldiers killed 13 fighters during clashes that took place as the soldiers were advancing into Jabalia.
Also, medics found the body of Moqbil Al Jarabee', 92, who was killed in the northern part of the Gaza Strip on the first day of the offensive. Medics could not reach the area during the extensive Israeli shelling. When the medics located the decomposed body, the found a while flag in his palm.
Also, soldiers fired a missile at Al Sundaiyya area, north of Gaza City, and killed a fighter identified as Hisham Al Saqqa, 21.
Eight Palestinians were killed during clashes with Israeli troops invading Tal Al Hawa area in Gaza. Several residents were injured.
The army also killed Yahia Jamil Ayyad, 30, and Ashraf Hamdi Ayyad, 23, as they were trying to reach their home in Al Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City. Both were civilians and not fighters. Also in Al Zeitoun, the army killed a fighter identified as Mohamamd Harzallah, 23. Harzallah was killed by a missile fired by the Israeli Air Force.
Medical sources in Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza reported that two civilians died of earlier wounds sustained in the ongoing offensive. They was identified as Hasan Eshtewy, 68, who was seriously wounded in Al Zeitoun neighborhood, and Mamdouh Waleed Sh-Heibir, 18.
Furthermore,
an Egyptian hospital declared that resident Naji Ramzi Meet, 21, from
Al Boreij, died of wounds sustained on January 6 when the army shelled
a home in the Al Bo
reij refugee camp.
The number of Palestinians who were killed in the ongoing offensive is now more than 945, 635 of them are civilians, and 165 are policemen who are also classified as civilians.
[Oregon Senator Wyden supports Israel's offensive which is killing so many people so indiscriminately. He says he is "pro-Palestinian".]
Playwrite Tony Kushner: “Catastrophically Misguided and Incomprehensible Policy”
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- Written by Democracy Now! Democracy Now!
- Published: 13 January 2009 13 January 2009
- Hits: 3572 3572
On Monday, a group called Jews Against the Occupation staged a protest against Israel’s invasion of Gaza blocks away outside the Israeli consulate in New York. Among those protesting was renowned playwright and screenwriter Tony Kushner. Kushner won a Pulitzer prize and a Tony Award for his play “Angels in America”, which was later made into an award-winning television mini-series. “The policy, on the part of the Israeli government, of reoccupation of Gaza, seems to me catastrophically misguided,” Kushner says. “I can’t imagine this is not going to continue to be bloody and a violation of human rights.”
On Monday, a group called Jews Against the Occupation hastily organized a response just blocks away outside the Israeli consulate in New York. Hundreds answered the call. Among them, the renowned playwright and screenwriter Tony Kushner. Kushner won a Pulitzer prize and a Tony Award for his play “Angels in America”, which was later made into an award-winning television mini-series. He has authored several other plays, including “A Bright Room Called Day,” “Homebody/Kabul”; and “Caroline or Change.” He is also the co-editor of the book “Wrestling with Zion: Progressive Jewish-American Responses to the Palestinian/Israeli Conflict.” Democracy Now producers Aaron Maté and Hany Massoud caught up with Tony Kushner at Monday’s protest against the Israeli invasion of Gaza outside the Israeli consulate.
Demands grow for Gaza war crimes investigation
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- Written by Chris McGreal in Jerusalem Chris McGreal in Jerusalem
- Published: 13 January 2009 13 January 2009
- Hits: 3382 3382
Israel is facing growing demands from senior UN officials and human rights groups for an international war crimes investigation in Gaza over allegations such as the "reckless and indiscriminate" shelling of residential areas and use of Palestinian families as human shields by soldiers.
With the death toll from the 17-day Israeli assault on Gaza climbing above 900, pressure is increasing for an independent inquiry into specific incidents, such as the shelling of a UN school turned refugee centre where about 40 people died, as well as the question of whether the military tactics used by Israel systematically breached humanitarian law.
The UN's senior human rights body approved a resolution yesterday condemning the Israeli offensive for "massive violations of human rights". A senior UN source said the body's humanitarian agencies were compiling evidence of war crimes and passing it on to the "highest levels" to be used as seen fit.
Some human rights activists allege that the Israeli leadership gave an order to keep military casualties low no matter what cost to civilians. That strategy has directly contributed to one of the bloodiest Israeli assaults on the Palestinian territories, they say.
In Israel: Protest, Solidarity and Aid Convoy for the Residents of Gaza
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- Written by Physicians for Human Rights-Israel Physicians for Human Rights-Israel
- Published: 13 January 2009 13 January 2009
- Hits: 2529 2529
רופאים לזכויות אדם
הזמנה לשיירת מחאה, הזדהות וסיוע לתושבי רצועת עזה
יום שישי 16 בינואר
כאנשי רפואה, האמונים על שלומם ובריאותם של כלל בני האדם, יהודים כערבים, איננו יכולים להחריש אל מול הזוועות המתרחשות לנגד עינינו:
ביום שישי 16 בינואר ניסע יחדיו, חברות וחברי רופאים לזכויות אדם, מתנדביה ותומכיה, על מנת ללוות משלוח של מזון ותרופות לתושבי רצועת עזה.
יחד, ערבים ויהודים, נביע הזדהות עם תושבי עזה והדרום, ונקרא:
· די להרג חפים מפשע
· די לפגיעה בצוותי רפואה
· די למניעת טיפול רפואי מפצועים
· די לירי על שיירות מזון ותרופות
יחד נקרא להפסקת אש מיידית ולפתרון מדיני לסיום הכיבוש.
היציאה תהיה באוטובוסים. בהגיענו לדרום נלווה את משאית הסיוע רגלית עד לנקודה מוסכמת בקרבת רצועת עזה, שם נערוך הפגנה שקטה. לאחר מכן המשאית תמשיך להעברת הסחורה.
מומלץ ללבוש בגדים שחורים. צוותי רפואה יכולים להגיע בחלוקים לבנים. אנא הביאו מים ותעודות מזהות.
הסעה מטייבה תצא ב0900 מתחנת הדלק בכניסה הצפונית לעיר
הסעה מתל אביב תצא מתחנת רכבת ארלוזורוב בשעה 1000
פרטים נוספים על שעה מדויקת והסעות יועברו בהמשך.
רופאים לזכויות אדם
אשת קשר: מירי 0546995199
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel
Protest, Solidarity and Aid Convoy for the Residents of Gaza
Friday, 16th of January
As medical professionals responsible for the health and safety of all people, Jews and Arabs, we cannot remain silent in the face of the horrors occurring before our eyes:
On Friday, 16th of January, we will set out together, members, volunteers and supporters of Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, to accompany a convoy of food and medical supplies for the residents of the Gaza Strip.
Together, Arabs and Jews, we will express solidarity with the residents of Gaza and the south of Israel, and call:
Stop the killing of innocent people
Stop attacking medical teams
Stop preventing medical care from the wounded
Stop shooting at aid convoys
Together we will call for an immediate ceasefire and for a political solution to end the occupation.
Bus transportation will be organized. Upon reaching the south, we will accompany the supplies vehicle on foot up to a pre-arranged point near to the Gaza Strip. There we will hold a quiet rally, after which the supplies vehicle will continue to the Crossing.
Black clothes are recommended. Medical personnel may wear white coats. Please bring water and ID/passports.
A bus will leave Taybeh from the gas station at the northern entrance to the town at 9am
A bus/buses will leave Tel Aviv from Arlozorov train station at 10am
Further details regarding transportation and exact hours will follow shortly.
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel
Contact person: Miri, 0546995199
Offensive continues in Gaza; 917 kill, more than 4260 wounded
- Details
- Written by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies
- Published: 12 January 2009 12 January 2009
- Hits: 3214 3214
The Israeli army continued its offensive against the Gaza Strip for the seventeenth day on Monday, killed twenty-six Palestinians, including 23 civilians, and wounded dozens of residents. At least 917 Palestinians were killed and more than 4260 were injured since the army initiated its attack.
On Monday evening, the Israeli air force shelled several areas in Gaza while the army fired artillery shells. One medic was killed when the army fired a missile at an ambulance rushing to rescue a number of residents who were wounded in Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
The attack came shortly after a previous shelling that targeted a parked vehicle, near Al Khulafa' mosque, in the center of Jabalia refugee camp. One youth was in the vehicle and his body was severely mutilated. A Child was also killed as he was near the shelled vehicle.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), in Gaza, reported that the Israeli attacks on Monday led to the death of 26 Palestinians, including six children and three women.
Twenty-three of the killed residents on Monday were unarmed civilians, the PCHR added.
The PCHR also reported that on Monday approximately at 7 in the evening, the Israeli air tanks shelled a home in Al Shijaeyya neighborhood, east of Gaza City, and killed one resident identified as Wajeeh Moshtaha, 24. And when dozens of residents rushed to the shelled house in an attempt to rescue the survivors, the army fired another shell killing two brothers identified as Mohammad and Monthir Mahmoud Al Jondy, 20 and 30.
Earlier on Monday, a 15-year old girl, identified as Aayat Al Banna, was killed after the army shelled a home near her parents' home in Jabalia.
Two more Palestinians were killed and at least 10 others were injured when the Israeli air force shelled The Palestine Square in the center of Gaza City.
Dr. Moawiya Hasanen, director of the Emergency Unit at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, said that three of the wounded residents suffered serious wounds as they lost parts of their bodies due to the blast.
Medical sources in Jabalia said that two Palestinians, including one child, were also killed in a separate Israeli shelling in Jabalia. Their bodies were moved to Kamal Adwan Hospital.