28. Attacks on Clinics and Hospitals
• Clinic in al-Meghazi area, ‘completely destroyed’, 9/1/09, 20
nearby houses damaged.
• Clinic by Christian Aid, demolished in air strike; 10/01/10-
warned 15 minutes before
• Al-Aqsa hospital, Gaza City, Tel al Huwa neighbourhood Hit by
shells four times according to international volunteers.
• Ash-Shifa Hospital, largest in the Gaza Strip, Israeli warplanes
bombed the offices of the Health Committees, about 400
meters from the hospital.
• Al-Awda hospital, Jabaliya, northern Gaza, parking lot shelled
by Israeli Forces
http://bodyontheline.wordpress.com/2009/01/15/on-getting-away-with-murder/,
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/gaza-clinicshttp://bodyontheline.wordpress.com/2009/01/05/nowh
29. Alberto Arce Hospital
• Spanish human rights worker at the hospital (…):
“Two consecutive shells just landed in the busy
car park 15 meters from the entrance to the
emergency room of the Al Awda hospital. The
entrance of the emergency room was damaged.
At the time of the shelling Ambulances were
bringing in the wounded that keep pouring in.
Medical teams and facilities are being targeted.
Nowhere is safe.”
30. Sharon Locke, Australian volunteer,
Al-Quds Hospital
• When one family approached the hospital, Israeli
snipers started firing at the family:
‘“They shot a young girl in the face and abdomen.
She is now being operated on. The father of the
family was shot in the leg and fell to the ground,”
“The mother was screaming that one of her
daughters was still outside, behind a bush, too
scared to move. Mohammed, a medic I have
been working with, ran outside and carried her to
the hospital,”
http://bodyontheline.wordpress.com/2009/01/16/gazas-genocide-israels-suicide/
31.
32. Attacks on Schools and Universities
• 28/12/08: Islamic University in Gaza bombed
• 3 UNRWA schools attacked, Jabalia and Rafah, after
IDF was informed of presence of civilians
• Al-Fakhora school, Jabalia, 45 civilians killed, 100
injured. Israeli rockets exploded inside and outside
the school. IDF claims response to mortar attacks.
UN denies fighters were in the school
• 35 public schools bombed, 24 completely destroyed.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=35243
33.
34. Massacres
• Palestinian family, father, mother and their five
children, killed by shells fired from Israeli Navy ships in
the Al-Shati refugee camp.
• 22 Palestinians from Shamalkh and Samouni families,
killed under the rubble of their house, 35 were injured
after bombing of mosque in the area.
• All members of Al-Daya family were killed. The victims:
the father, the mother, their children Fayez, the
daughter in law Rawan, Muhammad, aged 6 months,
Sharaf Al-Din, aged of 5 years, Ala, aged 8 years, Rania,
aged 12 and Doha, aged 3 years.
35. Zeitoun Massacre
• Zinad Samouni:
"We had been in our houses for days worried about the
airstrikes when the soldiers came early on the morning of
Sunday 4th January,'‘
"There was shooting outside and we were all afraid so we all
hid in this one room.''
"We were terrified as shells hit the roof in other parts of the
house but we thought we were lucky because they did not
hit our room.’’
"Eventually we heard soldiers coming in and banging on the
door at around 6.30am.’’
"Atiyeh went to the door with his hands raised holding his ID
but they shot him in the doorway and he fell forward.''
36. Zeitoun Massacre
"I shouted 'children, children' in Hebrew but
they started shooting,'‘
"Ahmed was hit two times. His sister Amal was
hit in the head and she is still in hospital.''
"I carried him in my arms still bleeding and we
had to step over the body of his father,''
"We had to leave Atiyeh but I hoped to save
Ahmed.’’
"He died as I carried him.''
37. Zeitoun Massacre
Israeli soldiers occupied a four-storey house next door,
leaving a collection of racist graffiti.
Most was written in Hebrew but Israeli soldiers had also
marked the walls in English, with messages such as:
"ARabs need 2 die'‘
"Arabs are pieces of shit''
"1 is DOWN 999,999 TO GO''.
The house was the only large property allowed to stand All
the other buildings in Zeitoun were flattened including
homes, the mosque and a chicken farm.
• House was used as an observation post. Dead in ruins left
to rot.
38.
39.
40. Zeitoun Massacre
• Next door was house of Wael Samouni:
Survivors claim Israeli forces collected about 110 members of
the Samouni family inside and they then shelled it. At least
30 bodies were recovered.
• House was flattened by the Israeli armed forces.
• The International Committee of the Red Cross (…) found
children in Zeitoun clinging to the corpses of their mothers.
The children had been out in the open for two days and
nights but Israeli forces, less than 100 yards away, did
nothing.
• …similar accounts of watching loved ones dying of their
wounds and coming under fire after emerging from their
homes carrying white flags.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5601177.ece
41. Anonymous Israeli soldier:
(were ordered to) “Fire on anything that moves
in Zeitoun”
‘’We were to shoot first and ask questions later’’
“We pounded Zeitoun into the ground,”
The Israeli army has denied acting improperly in
Zeitoun.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5601177.ece
43. White phosphorus
• Use first initially reported in January the 5th
• Denied by Israeli sources
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5575070.ece
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50. 3 hour ‘cease fire’
• Implemented bi-daily
• ICRC: ‘The creation of humanitarian corridors will in no way
alter the fact that civilians living outside them must also have
access to humanitarian aid and medical care at all times’
• UN OCHA: ‘Any mechanism that facilitates the distribution of
assistance is welcomed. However, the needs of the
population are so great at this time, that humanitarian
assistance programs need to operate round the clock’
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/87061
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10270.shtml
51. Criminal Negligence
IDF military plannings:
- Did not include a field hospital
- There are no medical teams on standby
- International teams have not been allowed in. No tents
have been brought(for people who lived for years in tents)
- nor blankets
- nor portable toilets
- nor clean water containers
- nor field kitchens-
- nor any basic subsistence necessities for the civilian
population.
- Emergency clinic opened at Erez crossing only after the end
of the conflict. Seen by foreign press as publicity stunt, was
closed after treating 5 patients
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/87061
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10260.shtml
52. Prisoner Abuse
• Many detainees -- minors as well as adults -- were held for many hours –
sometimes for days -- in pits dug in the ground:
• exposed to bitter cold and harsh weather
• Handcuffed
• Blindfolded
• Pits lacked basic sanitary facilities
• food and shelter, when provided, were limited, and the detainees went
hungry.
• some of the detainees were held near tanks and in combat areas, in gross
violation of international humanitarian law which prohibits holding
prisoners and captives in areas exposed to danger.
53. Prisoner Abuse
• Inappropriate treatment of the detainees continued after they were
removed from the pits
• some were held overnight in a truck, handcuffed, with one blanket for
every two people
• some were held for a long time in the rain
• a lack of blankets, food and water
• incidents involving extreme violence and humiliation by soldiers and
interrogators
• Detainees continued to be held in humiliating conditions even after being
transferred to an [Israeli army] prison facility …where, for example, they
were not provided with toilets or showers.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10253.shtml
58. International Crimes
• 30th
December, Israeli gunboats attack a boat carrying aid
and supplies in international water.
• Boat was carrying the flag of Gibraltar.
• Israel claims, boat failed to respond, initially thought to be
a terrorist boat, crushed on its own on the gunboats.
Even though:
-contents and crew of the ship were made known to Israel in
advace
-Israel knew enough to know where it sailed from
-boat was in contact with Israeli navy
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/86364
59. History repeating itself
2006: Invasion of Gaza after hostilities renew,
after Israel violates the 2005 cease fire.
2004: Massive Israeli offensives before the
withdrawal to shape the post-withdrawal
Gaza
2003: Demolitions in Rafah (13000 homeless)
60.
61. Withdrawal?
• Israel controlled:
- the air and sea space
- movement to and from Gaza
- the population registry
- use of sea resources
- family unification
- the crossing of goods and humanitarian aid
- fuel, electricity, and gas supplies
- Crossings for workers
- Israel is still an occupying power under international law
62. • Dov Weissgias: ‘Arik [Sharon] doesn’t see Gaza today
as an area of national interest. He does see Judea
and Samaria as an area of national interest… The
significance of the disengagement plan is the
freezing of the peace process. And when you freeze
that process, you prevent the establishment of a
Palestinian state, and you prevent a discussion on
the refugees, the borders and Jerusalem.’
64. Constant Violence
• Sonic Booms
Meg Audette, World Vision Jerusalem's Design: ‘’ I was outdoors in a nice outdoor
restaurant in Gaza City. Children were playing, parents were watching over them
and things seemed normal when suddenly, out of nowhere there was a deafening
noise. Suddenly, the children were screaming and every part of me was clenched
into tightened nerves. Logically I knew it was the sonic boom, but I couldn't control
the effects it had on my body ‘’
• Gideon Levy, Israeli Journalist: ‘’Parents in Gaza speak about the fears their
children have suffered in recent weeks, the nightmares and bed-wetting.
Husbands tell about pregnant women who have experienced panic attacks. The
windowpanes in homes shatter one after another… The fact that the air force is
employing this weapon mainly late at night, or early in the morning, when masses
of pupils are making their way to school, only makes its wickedness more
conspicuous.’’
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that, "thousands of residents in southern Israel live
in fear and discomfort, so I gave instructions that nobody will sleep at night in the
meantime in Gaza ."
http://www.btselem.org/English/Gaza_Strip/Supersonic_booms.asp ,
http://oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk/publications/briefing_papers/pdf/gaza.pdf, http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/16105.htm
65. Targeted killings
• A more ‘humane’ form of agression by the
IDF.
• Almost half the dead are not the intended
target.
• Illegal under international law.
http://oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk/publications/briefing
68. Siege and cease fire?
During the siege and ‘cease fire’
• All gazans completely imprisoned
• Massive unemployment
• Limited fuel
• Limited electricity
• Very limited supplies
• Limited medicine
• Thousands of children suffering from stunted growth due
to malnutrition.
• Death due to starvation and easily curable decease
• No sewage treatment
• No garbage services
70. Psychological Impact
Palestine Trauma Centre For Victims Welfare (PTC):
• 99% had suffered humiliation (to themselves or family
member)
• 97% exposed to the sound of explosions/bombs
• 85% had witnessed a funeral
• 84% had witnessed shelling by tanks
• 41% suffered from PTSD
53.3% of Gaza population are non-adults
305 195 in urgent need of psychological, social and medical
serves
71.
72. Hatem Shurrab – writing for the Lancet:
‘At the school I met 11-year-old Yasmin. As I was talking
to her she hit another child and started a fight with a
boy the same age as she was. I was shocked and
saddened to see such young children behaving like
this. When I spoke to her father he explained that
three weeks ago she was calm and innocent, but is
now aggressive and angry.’
‘Momen, the three-year-old son of one of my colleagues
has also started to act in violent ways. For three weeks
the family would hear explosions day and night and
now Momen’s personality has completely changed. He
has destroyed his toys, constantly shouts and screams,
and refuses to leave his mother’s side’
74. A decades long humiliation
- By 2005:
- 8000 Jewish settlers/1.4 million Palestinians
- Land controlled by settler: 25%
- Arable land by settlers: 40%
- Water allocation per person: <settlers
- Deliberate de-development
- Gaza workers as a majority forced to work in Israel
- Active Impediment of local economic development
- Gaza reduced to a pool of cheap labour for Israel, and captive
market for its goods.
75. • 1/3 of the world refugees (7000000)
• Hundreds of Strategically placed Jewish only
settlements and Jewish only Roads
• Most fertile land has been annexed or is being
annexed
• Illegal prisoners. 650 000 since 1967, 10 000
as we speak. Children treated identically to
adults.
76. • Destroyed economy by deliberate policies
(Average Income in West Bank: $750, Gaza:
$550, Israel: $20500. Negative Growth rate in
Palestinian territories)
• Water: majority originates from Palestinian
territories. 90% given to Israel 10% to
Palestinians. WHO recommended liters per
capita per day: 150. Average Palestinian: 100.
Average Israeli: 353.
Hundreds of Palestinian wells have been
destroyed, and only 13 have been allowed to
be drilled from 1967 to 2000.
88. The Cease Fire Now
Israel has declared a unilateral cease fire in the
Gaza strip:
-10 hours later a farmer, 24-year-old Abd As-
Samad Abu Rejlieh, was shot, went to inspect
damage to his lands
-Mother and daughter injured in their bouse,
Beit Hanoun, by Israeli fire.
89. Since the recent cease fire
*Israeli forces killed a Palestinian farmer in Khuza'a east of
Khan Yunis on Jan 18
* Israeli forces killed a Palestinian farmer east of Jabalia on
Jan 19
* Israeli naval gunboats shelled the Gaza coast line, causing
damage to civilian structures on Jan 21
* Israeli troops shot and injured a child east of Gaza City on
Jan 22
* Israeli gunboat fire injured 4-7 Palestinian fishermen on Jan
22
* Israeli shelling set a Palestinian house on fire on Jan 22
* Israeli tanks fired on the border town of Al Faraheen,
causing damage to homes and farms on Jan 24
http://palestinethinktank.com/2009/01/28/israel-violated-cease-fire-7-times-no-media-reports/
90. Recent breaking of the 6 month
cease fire
‘’Hamas was careful to maintain the ceasefire’’
‘’Limited attacks carried out in defiance of
Hamas by Fatah and Al-Qaeda related groups’’
‘’erosion of the lull arrangement,(from)
November 4 to the time of this writing,
December 17’’
‘’ most of the (attacks) during the month and a
half after November 4.’’
91. Was the cease fire ever upheld by
Israel?
‘’The cessation of the fighting was supposed to
lead to the opening of the crossings between
the Gaza Strip and Israel
discussions about the opening of the Rafah
crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt .’’
None of this happened while the people of Gaza
remained starving and dying.
http://www.rightsidenews.com/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=3157
92. Who breaks the ‘‘cease fires’’?
Joint Tel Aviv University-European University
study, Israeli violence responsible for ending
79 per cent of all lulls in violence since the
second intifada, compared with only 8 per
cent for Hamas.
http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/war_on_gaza/2009/01/2009110112723260741.html
93. Israeli propaganda
No reporter can work unless getting an Israeli
permit, gives personal information so that he
can be contacted at any time.
Hundreds of media representatives available at
all times.
No access to Gaza at all.
No access to Hamas spokesmen, while exposed
to constant Israeli ‘media reports’.
Propaganda website for internal usage.