Beit Hanoun, the testimony of a young Palestinian: "They shoot at anything that moves"

"Bein Hanoun, with 30,000 inhabitants, has been the target of daily aggressions and air strikes since June 25. It is now besieged by Israeli troops. We have seen the tanks advance and take up their positions. We are now encircled by about 70 tanks and at least 450 soldiers who announce that the city is a "closed military zone". That means that no one can leave. No one can flee. It is an offensive based on those carried out in the West Bank in 2002.

Read more: Beit Hanoun, the testimony of a young Palestinian: "They shoot at anything that moves"

IOF Confiscate 6 Million Shekels in Raids on One Bank and 11 Money Exchanges in the West Bank

PCHR strongly condemns IOF piracy against financial institutions in the West Bank , and stresses that this raid is a form of collective punishment and economic sanctions imposed by IOF against Palestinians. The Centre points to the fact that Israel imposes restrictions and supervision on all financial transactions from abroad, refuting the claim made regarding the latest raid.

Read more: IOF Confiscate 6 Million Shekels in Raids on One Bank and 11 Money Exchanges in the West Bank

Urgent Call from Palestinian NGOs Network (PNGO)

The Palestinian NGOs Network (PNGO) calls on the United Nations and the International Community to immediately intervene to stop the war crimes committed by the Israeli occupational forces (IOF) on Palestinian civilians and their properties in the Gaza Strip, mainly in the northern town of Beit Hanoun, which for the fourth day is under Israeli siege and attacks from tanks and air strikes. As of last Wednesday morning at least 42 people have been killed and another 175 injured, most of these were children, women, journalists and medical aid workers. Israeli occupational forces have destroyed many houses and bulldozed a wide track of cultivated land.

Tens of thousands of people living in Beit Hanoun town suffering from lack food and medical services due to the siege and curfew imposed by the IOF on the town. In addition, the IOF are denying the sick and injured access to medical treatment.

Read more: Urgent Call from Palestinian NGOs Network (PNGO)

Listen to Maj. Gen. Stern

A bloodbath is taking place in Beit Hanun, the Israel Defense Forces runs rampant and kills at least 37 people in four days - and Israeli public opinion yawns with indifference. A brigade commander tells his soldiers, who killed 12 people in one day: "You've won 12:0," and the soldiers grin broadly. This is the moral nadir we have reached, following a long slide down a slippery slope: Human life has become cheap.

Read more: Listen to Maj. Gen. Stern

U.N.: 100,000 Iraq Refugees Flee Monthly

GENEVA (AP) - Nearly 100,000 Iraqis are fleeing each month to Syria and Jordan, forcing the United Nations to set aside its goal of helping refugees return home after the U.S.-led invasion, officials said Friday.

Instead, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has drawn up plans to deal with the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who are desperate to escape the violence, chief spokesman Ron Redmond said.

``Much of our work in the three years since the fall of the previous regime was based on the assumption that the domestic situation would stabilize and hundreds of thousands of previously displaced Iraqis would be able to go home,'' Redmond said. ``Now, however, we're seeing more and more displacement linked to the continuing violence.''

It has been impossible to obtain accurate totals on the numbers of refugees because few Iraqis are registering with UNHCR, and most are being cared for by host families or charitable organizations, he said.

Read more: U.N.: 100,000 Iraq Refugees Flee Monthly

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