- 28 dec 2009
ISRAEL: No civilian casualties in Gaza!
(2:01) ISRAEL: No civilian casualties in Gaza! 1 x viewed (5:01) Israeli lies revealed by Tzipi Livni 3 x viewed
Israel confirms Hamas fired NO rockets
(1:25) Israel Confirms Hamas Fired NO Rockets! Must See! 12 x viewed
Israel confirms Hamas fired NO rockets
(3:36) CNN: Israel Broke Gaza Cease-Fire 3 x viewed (2:53) Israeli Army Had 'Fun' Destroying Gaza (CNN) (6:18) IDF Soldiers Claim to Have Killed Civilians During Gaza Offensive
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Maria Bombing of pharmacy in Rafah, Gaza Strip - 28th December 2008
(3:49) Bombing of pharmacy in Rafah, Gaza Strip - 28th December 2008 1 x viewed
Shortly before 7:00am local time, yet another Israeli missile strike hit the residential neighbourhood of Hi Alijnina in the southern Gaza town of Rafah. This time a pharmacy was targeted, totally destroying the building and causing severe damage to surrounding homes. Electricity lines were torn down during the blast and the street was littered with medicines.
This footage was filmed within minutes of the attack as fire fighters battled to control the blaze. Shocked residents poured into the streets, some still wearing pyjamas. Some of them are interviewed in this film.
28 apr 2012, 14:09 , Respect -
Maria 28 dec 2008
Ebtihal Abdallah Keshko, 7Maysa Munir Yahya Keshko 22
Name of Victim: Ebtihal Abdallah Keshko
Age: 7 years old
Date of Death: Sunday, December 28, 2008
Place of Death: Inside her home, al-Zaitun, central Gaza.
Weapon Type: Air-to-ground missile
Cause of Death: Killed in her home by rubble falling through the roof
Details of the Last Hours:
During the course of the evening, Abdallah, the father, asked his daughter, Ebtihal, to get some tea from the kitchen. He also asked Maysa (22), her sister–in–law, to come out of the house and join the rest of the family outside. Almost as soon as Ebtihal entered the house it was hit by a missile and was reduced to rubble. All the family members who remained outside sustained shrapnel wounds.
By 6:30 am the following morning, rescue workers had cleared all the rubble except that in the kitchen. The family started clearing the kitchen and it was Abdallah who found a clump of hair covered in dust. He began to dig frantically until he uncovered the body of his daughter, Ebtihal. At this point, he was no longer able to continue and sat down amongst the rubble of his home and wept.
http://fwd4.me/0j6f
Ibtihal Abdullah Tawfik Kishku, 8,
of Gaza City, Gaza, killed, with her older sister-in-law, by an IDF missile while in her home.
...Read more 28 apr 2012, 14:09 , Respect -
Maria 28 dec 2008
Muhammad Akram Ibrahim abu-Daqqa, 14
Ibrahim Akram Ibrahim abu-Daqqa, 15
Daqqa brother and sister of Abasan al-Kabira, near Khan Younis, Gaza, killed by the IDF in Abasan al-Kabira.
28 apr 2012, 14:09 , Respect -
Maria 28 Dec 2008
Diaa' A-Din 'Aref Farhud Abu Khabezah, 14
Muhammad 'Ali Salem Abu Khabezah, 19
Yunes Jamil Farhud Abu Khabizeh, 19
28 apr 2012, 14:09 , Respect -
Maria 28 dec 2008
Operation "Cast Lead": Israeli Air Force strike followed months of planning
While the Western media remains silent and complicit, the Israeli Press (Haaretz) reveals the unspoken truth: the careful planning of a military operation entitled "Cast Lead" coupled with a media disinformation and diplomatic campaign. What we are witnessing is genocide. Let us be under no illusiions, this operation was implemented with the knowledge and approval of Israeli's allies.
Long-term planning, meticulous intelligence-gathering, secret discussions, visual deception tactics and disinformation preceded operation "Cast Lead" which the Israel Air Force launched yesterday in Gaza to take out Hamas targets in the Strip.
The disinformation effort, according to defense officials, took Hamas by surprise and served to significantly increase the number of its casualties in the strike.
Sources in the defense establishment said Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for the operation over six months ago, even as Israel was beginning to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. According to the sources, Barak maintained that although the lull would allow Hamas to prepare for a showdown with Israel, the Israeli army needed time to prepare, as well. Advertisement
Barak gave orders to carry out a comprehensive intelligence-gathering drive which sought to map out Hamas' security infrastructure, along with that of other militant organizations operating in the Strip.
This intelligence-gathering effort brought back information about permanent bases, weapon silos, training camps, the homes of senior officials and coordinates for other facilities.
The plan of action that was implemented in Operation Cast Lead remained only a blueprint until a month ago, when tensions soared after the IDF carried out an incursion into Gaza during the ceasefire to take out a tunnel which the army said was intended to facilitate an attack by Palestinian militants on IDF troops.
On November 19, following dozens of Qassam rockets and mortar rounds which exploded on Israeli soil, the plan was brought for Barak's final approval. Last Thursday, on December 18, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak met at IDF Kiryat headquarters in central Tel Aviv to approve the operation.
However, they decided to put the mission on hold to see whether Hamas would hold its fire after the expiration of the ceasefire. They therefore put off bringing the plan for the cabinet's approval, but they did inform Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of the developments.
That night, in speaking to the media, sources in the Prime Minister's Bureau said that "if the shooting from Gaza continues, the showdown with Hamas would be inevitable." On the weekend, several ministers in Olmert's cabinet inveighed against him and against Barak for not retaliating for Hamas' Qassam launches.
"This chatter would have made Entebe or the Six Day War impossible," Barak said in responding to the accusations. The cabinet was eventually convened on Wednesday, but the Prime Minister's Bureau misinformed the media in stating the discussion would revolve around global jihad. The ministers learned only that morning that the discussion would actually pertain to the operation in Gaza.
In its summary announcement for the discussion, the Prime Minister's Bureau devoted one line to the situation in Gaza, compared to one whole page that concerned the outlawing of 35 Islamic organizations.
What actually went on at the cabinet meeting was a five-hour discussion about the operation in which ministers were briefed about the various blueprints and plans of action. "It was a very detailed review," one minister said.
The minister added: "Everyone fully understood what sort of period we were heading into and what sort of scenarios this could lead to. No one could say that he or she did not know what they were voting on." The minister also said that the discussion showed that the lessons of the Winograd Committee about the performance of decision-makers during the 2006 Second Lebanon War were "fully internalized."
At the end of the discussion, the ministers unanimously voted in favor of the strike, leaving it for the prime minister, the defense minister and the foreign minister to work out the exact time.
While Barak was working out the final details with the officers responsible for the operation, Livni went to Cairo to inform Egypt's president, Hosni Mubarak, that Israel had decided to strike at Hamas.
In parallel, Israel continued to send out disinformation in announcing it would open the crossings to the Gaza Strip and that Olmert would decide whether to launch the strike following three more deliberations on Sunday - one day after the actual order to launch the operation was issued.
"Hamas evacuated all its headquarter personnel after the cabinet meeting on Wednesday," one defense official said, "but the organization sent its people back in when they heard that everything was put on hold until Sunday."
The final decision was made on Friday morning, when Barak met with Chief of Staff General Gabi Ashkenazi, the head of the Shin Bet Security Service Yuval Diskin and the head of the Military Intelligence Directorate, Amos Yadlin. Barak sat down with Olmert and Livni several hours later for a final meeting, in which the trio gave the air force its orders.
On Friday night and on Saturday morning, opposition leaders and prominent political figures were informed about the impending strike, including Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu, Yisrael Beuiteinu's Avigdor Liebermen, Haim Oron from Meretz and President Shimon Peres, along with Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=11521 28 apr 2012, 14:09 , Respect -
Maria 28 dec 2008
Nabil Abu Taima 16
Muhammad Husain Hamed, 17
The Abu Taima Family
Nabil (16) was killed and Khalil was critically injured.
In the early morning of 28 December 2008 Mahmoud Abu Taima, his wife Manal, and their two oldest sons, Khalil and Nabil were collecting zucchini from their lands in Khuza’a village, east of Khan Younis. After a few hours the two brothers went to their uncle’s farmland a few hundred meters further west. At around 8:30 the Israeli army fired a shell from the border fence which landed between the two boys. Nabil (16) was killed and Khalil was critically injured.
“You must understand, the area was very calm. Many farmers were working on their lands. It is an open area. I saw a projectile coming from the border fence towards the farm lands. Then I heard the explosion. I immediately ran towards the place of impact because I knew my sons were in that area. By the time that I arrived, people had already put the boys on a donkey cart to bring them to the hospital,” recalls Mahmoud Abu Taima (40). Khalil was critically injured by shrapnel in the chest and limbs and underwent a life saving surgery immediately after arriving in the hospital. “While we buried Nabil we were expecting that they would bring Khalil’s body from the hospital too,” says the boys’ mother Manal (37).
The Abu Taima family, who have their home in Abasan village, east of Khan Yunis, has been traumatized by the death of their son and brother Nabil. His parents, and 6 eldest siblings Khalil (20), Naima (18), Isra’ (15), Mohammed (14), Abdel Rahman (9), and Ibrahim (6 ) all have dear memories of him. “Nabil was a part of us and he had a big place in my heart. I remember him in every moment and I feel that he is present with us. Like now, when I drink tea, I remember him and feel that he is present. When I eat my meals I feel as if he is still here with us. I can never forget him,” says his father Mahmoud.
“Nabil’s mind was older than his age,” says Manal, “he was very clever at school and all of his teachers and the students liked him a lot. On the anniversary date of his death, his teachers and friends come to visit us. Besides going to school, Nabil liked to breed rabbits. Until his death we had about 50 rabbits. Since his death they died and we stopped getting new ones. We don’t feel like it anymore, now that he is not here.” Ibrahim (6 ) and Abdel Rahman(9) had a very close relationship with Nabil. Manal says: “They were badly affected by his death. They wanted to take the shovel and open his grave so they could take him from his grave and bring him to a doctor for treatment. Ibrahim was upset and stressed for a long time so I took him to a psychologist. When I told the children that a human rights organization was coming to talk to us Ibrahim asked me if they would bring Nabil.”
Khalil has spent the past years trying to recover from his physical injuries. “After 3 days I was transferred to Egypt for additional surgery. In the months after that I went to Médicines sans Frontières after finishing school and had 3 hour sessions of physiotherapy. I had very long days. Despite everything, there is still shrapnel inside my legs, chest and arms which cannot be removed. There are places in my left leg in which I can’t feel anything. My ankles always hurt and I can’t move the way I did before. My mobility, including my walking, has been affected. I can’t do everything that I want. For example, nowadays I play football alone because I am too afraid someone will hit my leg and I will be in agony.”
Besides his physical injuries, Khalil is trying to deal with the loss of his brother and the trauma of the incident. “We would always go to school and other places together. I feel as if I lost a part of my body. It is difficult to continue my life without this part. During the war it was my ‘tawjihi’[final high school] year and I had to go to school. I was traumatized after the incident. When I was sleeping I could hear the sound of a missile coming towards me. Somehow, I passed the tawjihithat year and am in university now.” Manal adds that Khalil used to have panic attacks after the incident, “even the sound of birds could make him have a panic attack.”
A few days after the attack, Israeli bulldozers destroyed the farmland belonging to the Abu Taima family, approximately 700 meters away from the fence. “We had zucchini crops, and a small storage room for fertilizers and equipment. We also had a water pump and water irrigation network. It is all destroyed now. We were unable to go to our farm for 2 years as it was too dangerous. Now we go again, despite the Israeli army shooting towards us. It is difficult. Since the death of my son I lost my motivation to work in the land,” says Mahmoud.
Mahmoud does not dare to have hopes or expectations for the future anymore: “living under occupation means that whatever hopes we have, it will fall apart one day. For example, you bring up your child and put all of your hopes in him or her, but then they come and kill your child and all your hopes are destroyed. We try to think about the future and have long-term hopes but it’s not possible for us.”
The family is not optimistic of the chances that they will see a court case against those responsible for their son’s death. “Nabil was not the first and last one who was killed by the army. Many boys like him were killed. Even if they [Israel] can capture the soldier who fired the shell, they will say he is insane,” says Mahmoud.
PCHR submitted a criminal complaint to the Israeli authoritiess on behalf of the Abu Taima family on 2 July 2009. To-date, no response has been received.
http://fwd4.me/0jxO
Nabil Mahmoud Muhammad abu-Tayema, 16,
of Khan Younis, Gaza, killed by the IDF east of Khuza, near Khan Younis.
Muhammad of Silwad, near Ramallah, killed by IDF gunfire to his abdomen during a demonstration against Israel's offensive in Gaza.
28 apr 2012, 14:09 , Respect -
Maria 28 dec 2008
Khaled Ahmad Khaled al-Hawari, 18
Ahmad Yusef Ibrahim Khelleh, 18
28 apr 2012, 14:09 , Respect -
Maria 28 dec 2008
Mohammed Ali Abu Salem, 18Mustafa Kamal Ibrahim Al Hattab 19
- 28 dec 2008
Mohammad Khawaja, age 20
Israeli forces shot 20 year old Mohammed Khawaje in the forehead with live ammunition as he was demonstrating in the village of Ni’lin against the Israeli massacres in Gaza. He was pronounced brain-dead on the evening of the 31st December. .
At 10:30, his body was taken from the hospital in Ramallah in a funeral procession to Ni’lin attended by around 2,500 people. During this time, soldiers were shooting tear-gas in the town to welcome the procession.
There were around 50 soldiers and border police waiting for the procession on hills around the checkpoint, and also occupying the roof of a family’s home.
The army fired many teargas cannisters at the peaceful demonstrators, setting fire to a family’s home destroying the interior of the living room. They also shot tear gas hitting a man and breaking his leg
(3:20) Israeli army attack funeral of Mohammed Khawaje, the second martyr from Nilin in four days 3 x viewed
Today the Israeli army used a new type of tear-gas cannister which contains tear gas and also incendiary material. Although it is about 5 times as heavy as the regular cannister, it has a range of 400m which is around 4 times further than the previous ones. They are rubber coated in order to bounce more. When they are fired there is very little sound and as they only release gas upon impact, they are very difficult to follow..
30 dec 2011
Ni’lin honors its heroes and urges military to “Stay Human”
by Barbara and James
Volleys of tear gas, rubber coated steel bullets and live ammunition is how the Israeli Army met a small demonstration in remembrance of 2 martyrs, in Ni’lin today.
Starting after Friday prayers approximately 25 Palestinians and 6 internationals made their way from the village through olive groves to the Apartheid Wall to commemorate the murder of Mohammed and Arafat Khawaje on the 28th December 2008.
Mohammed Khawaje
Mohammed was shot in the forehead with live ammunition and Arafat was fatally shot in the back when attempting to rescue another villager who had been shot by an Israeli sniper.
Today the protest was immediately greeted with the full arsenal of the weapons available to the Israeli military. There was nearly as many heavily armed soldiers as demonstrators. A Palestinian demonstrator pleaded through a megaphone in a fog of tear gas for the soldiers to “Stay Human.”
Arafat Khawaje
The reply was a callous round of live ammunition fired at the demonstration. As the demo drew to a close, an armoured American-made Humvee packed with soldiers taunted the protest before a final set of shots were fired.
Ni’lin has been holding these weekly demonstrations since the Aparthied Wall was first planned. The Wall has annexed over 30% of the land of Ni’lin and has cost the lives of 5 martrys.
The protest continues weekly.
Barbara and James are volunteers with International Solidarity Movement (names have been changed).
http://fwd4.me/0jOP 28 apr 2012, 14:11 , Respect -
Maria 28 dec 2008
Rif'at Salim 'Ashur Sa'ada, 21Majdi Nader Jum'a Jaber, 21Ahmad Ass'ad 'Abd al-Karim Fiad, 22
28 apr 2012, 14:11 , Respect -
Maria 28 dec 2008
Arafat Khawaja, age 22
Sara Weinberg, a resident of Chicago, said, “The internationals that live in the village went out in solidarity with Ni’lin residents to demonstrate against the massacre on Gaza. I was standing about 15 meters from the boys, when we heard the sound of live ammunition.
I heard screams and saw that 3 had been shot. One man was shot in the leg, another in the head right above the eyebrow and a third was shot in the back. Men carried all three, the one shot in the head was bleeding profusely. The one that was shot in the back was unconscious.
We ran down to the street from the olive fields and the soldiers would not stop shooting tear gas at us. It took the soldiers at least 5 minutes to let the ambulance through the checkpoint at the entrance to the village.”
(2:24) Israeli army kill Arafat Khawaje (22) as Ni'lin demonstrate in solidarity with Gaza 1 x viewed
Shot in the back with live ammunition in Ni'lin during a demonstration against Israel's assault on Gaza.
Ibrahim Amira, member of the Popular Committee in Ni’lin said:
“The Occupation is going to turn Ni’lin into a ghetto as it has turned Gaza into a ghetto. And the same way that a massacre is taking place in Gaza against those resisting the siege, a massacre is now taking place in Ni’lin against those resisting the Aparthied Wall”
Two other young men are currently in critical conditions after having been shot in the head by Israeli forces while demonstrating in solidarity with Gaza.
18 year old Hammam Al-Ashari, from Abu Dis, was shot three times in the head with rubber-coated steel bullets on the 29th December. He is now in critical condition in Muqassad Hospital, Jerusalem.
Muhammad Jaber, 17 years old, was shot in the head near the Ibrahim Mosque on the 28th December, Hebron, with live ammunition. His condition is also classified as critical.
(1:48) Nilin holds funeral for Arafat al Khawaja 1 x viewed
30 dec 2011
Ni’lin honors its heroes and urges military to “Stay Human”
by Barbara and James
Volleys of tear gas, rubber coated steel bullets and live ammunition is how the Israeli Army met a small demonstration in remembrance of 2 martyrs, in Ni’lin today.
Starting after Friday prayers approximately 25 Palestinians and 6 internationals made their way from the village through olive groves to the Apartheid Wall to commemorate the murder of Mohammed and Arafat Khawaje on the 28th December 2008.
Mohammed Khawaje
Mohammed was shot in the forehead with live ammunition and Arafat was fatally shot in the back when attempting to rescue another villager who had been shot by an Israeli sniper.
Today the protest was immediately greeted with the full arsenal of the weapons available to the Israeli military. There was nearly as many heavily armed soldiers as demonstrators. A Palestinian demonstrator pleaded through a megaphone in a fog of tear gas for the soldiers to “Stay Human.”
Arafat Khawaje
The reply was a callous round of live ammunition fired at the demonstration. As the demo drew to a close, an armoured American-made Humvee packed with soldiers taunted the protest before a final set of shots were fired.
Ni’lin has been holding these weekly demonstrations since the Aparthied Wall was first planned. The Wall has annexed over 30% of the land of Ni’lin and has cost the lives of 5 martrys.
The protest continues weekly.
Barbara and James are volunteers with International Solidarity Movement (names have been changed).
http://fwd4.me/0jOP 28 apr 2012, 14:12 , Respect -
Maria 28 dec 2008
Rawyah Rajab Ahmad 'Awad, 33Khalil Aweidah 33Basil Jihad Dababish 34
28 apr 2012, 14:12 , Respect -
Maria 28 dec 2008
Mohammed Khamis Al-Kilani 47
Faiz Husseini 'Ata Ja'rur, Mahmoud Ahmad Hamtu a-Najar, 49
28 apr 2012, 14:12 , Respect -
Maria 28 dec 2008
Israel plays for high stakes in Gaza attack
Less than 28 months after the end of Israel’s botched war in Lebanon, the country has launched another massive assault against a militant Islamist group in the region. This time, the enemy is Hamas not Hizbollah. And this time, Israelis are hoping fervently that their political and military leaders know what they are doing.
The government and army are at pains to stress that the lessons from the failed conflict in Lebanon have been learnt. Indeed, few question the military expertise of the defence minister, Ehud Barak, a former prime minister and Israel’s most decorated soldier, and the army chief-of-staff, Gabi Ashkenazi.
Israeli defence analysts have heaped praise on the military planners, describing the bombardment of targets across the Gaza Strip as an Israeli version of the “shock and awe” tactic that led to the swift US defeat of the Iraqi military in 2003.
Yet – in an uncomfortable echo of the two most recent wars in the Middle East – the weekend assault also raises a troubling question: will the use of overwhelming firepower bring Israel any closer to achieving its military and political objectives? Or will it merely strengthen support for Hamas and other militant groups, while adding to the instability of the volatile region as images of scores of dead and wounded Palestinians are beamed across the Arab world?
Israeli leaders have made clear the main aim of the assault is to stop Gaza-based militants from firing rockets and mortars on nearby Israeli towns. Removing Hamas from power in the Gaza Strip may be the ultimate desire but is not at this stage a military objective.
According to analysts, this marks a crucial difference from the botched 2006 war in Lebanon, when the government sought nothing less than the ousting of Hizbollah, the Shia group, from southern Lebanon. It was a goal Israel’s armed forces failed to achieve, dealing a severe blow to the country’s power of deterrence and throwing the government of Ehud Olmert into a crisis from which it never truly emerged.
“The aim of the operation is to force Hamas to come back to some form of ceasefire – but under different circumstances from the one agreed in June. That means a complete end to rocket fire and an end to smuggling of weapons,” said Ephraim Kam, deputy director of Israel’s Institute for National Strategic Studies.
But there are still nagging doubts over whether Israel can achieve even the more limited war goals it has set itself. The big uncertainty, according to Yossi Alpher, a former adviser to Mr Barak, is whether Israel is able and willing to do enough to bend Hamas’s will. “There is obviously no guarantee that Hamas will feel battered enough to sue for a ceasefire,” he said.
Judging by the group’s response to the current as well to earlier Israeli attacks, Hamas will not be in a rush to follow the Israeli playbook. All through the weekend, Hamas kept up a barrage of rocket attacks on Israel. Like other militant Islamist groups, Hamas celebrates martyrdom and has proved itself able to absorb a large number of casualties without losing the will to fight. It is, moreover, safely entrenched in its Gaza stronghold, and its small, flexible rocket units do not require complex military infrastructure to keep up the fire on Israel.
Many analysts believe air strikes alone will not be sufficient to stop the rocket fire, arguing that only a full-scale invasion of the strip can achieve this. Yet few believe Israel has the stomach for the bloody urban warfare that would accompany such a ground offensive, which would almost certainly lead to high Israeli casualties and expose the government to international condemnation.
But if Israel ends the campaign without fully achieving its goals, that will almost certainly enhance Hamas’s prestige among Palestinians, at the expense of the Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas, whose conciliatory line towards Israel returns to haunt him every time Israel strikes at Gaza.
Arab diplomats and analysts were yesterday also voicing concern that Israel’s actions would further strengthen extremist forces. Mustafa Alani, analyst at the Dubai-based Gulf Research Centre, said: “What are we going to see? More recruitment of fighters for Hamas, for Hizbollah, for al-Qaeda – you name it.”
Hesham Youssef, a senior official at the Arab League, added: “We should not allow the situation to deteriorate to give further ammunition to the hardliners and those who would benefit from an unstable situation in the region.”
http://fwd4.me/0uwN
28 apr 2012, 14:12 , Respect -
Maria 29 dec 2008
Jawahir Ba'losha, 4
Place of Death: Inside her home, Jabaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza. Weapon Type: Air-to-ground missile. Cause of Death: Killed in her home, as well as her other young 4 sisters, by rubble falling through the roof[/b]
Details of the last hours:
Dena (8) was inside her house with her other 4 young sisters: 4-year Jawaher, 13-year Samer, 15-year Ekram, and 18-year Tahreer Anwar Ba'losha, when their house was hit by an air strike in Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza, while three other young children were killed when a bomb struck their house in Rafah.
http://fwd4.me/0j1V
GAZA, (PIC)-- The Israeli massacre of five Palestinian girls of the Balousha family in 2008 was remembered by their parents who said that they are still seeking justice to punish the killers of their beloved daughters.
On December, 29, 2008, the second day of the vicious Israeli war on Gaza, an Israeli F-16 war plane dropped a heavy bomb on a local mosque in Jabalya district, north of the Gaza Strip, leveling it to the ground and destroying home of the Balousha family that was located three meters away from the mosque killing five of his daughters under the rubbles.
Jawahir Balousha
Pictures of the five daughters, Tahrir, 18, Ekram, 15, Samar, 13, Dina, 8, and Jawahir, 4, were hanged on the walls of the main room of the house that the family had rebuilt again with the feeling of sorrow and grief still engulfing the family every time they recall what had happened.
"I feel that the house still empty, my five beloved daughters indeed left a big gap in our life, and although I like to always feel that they are present with us, but the fact would remain there and we feel that we lack something precious in our life," the bereaved father, Anwar Balousha, said.
Although equanimity of Anwar and the expressions of his face try to hide the suffering that his family had passed through as a result of the massacre, yet, his words clearly tell of the deep scar the loss of his five daughters had left on him and on his family.
"My wife was deeply affected by the calamity. Indeed she cried too much as she recalled the war when she saw a team of UNRWA workers yesterday removing the rubbles of one of the destroyed homes beside us," Balousha pointed out.
He said that he is spending a lot of his time standing before the graves of his daughters telling them details of his daily life. "I miss them too much, and this makes me return back to the house and search for them, even for a moment, before I realize that they are dead," he added.
Furthermore, Balousha asserted that the massacre of his daughters has affected his eldest daughter and his only son, saying, "My eldest daughter Iman, 20, was brilliant at school before the incident, but now she is always absent minded and her performance at school deteriorated because her sister Dina died between her two arms, and my son Mohammed always searches for new friends to play with ".
Balousha filed a case against the Israeli occupation forces in Israeli courts since the incident without any result so far. He said:" If they (Israelis) give me all the money of this world they will never pay for my daughters. I don’t need the money; I need my five daughters back".
The incident made Balousha and his wife live in fear over the future of their remaining children every time the Israelis carryout a raid on Gaza Strip.
http://fwd4.me/0jOD
29 dec 2011
Israeli massacre of five Palestinian girls in Gaza remembered by family
“I miss them all the time; sometimes I even go to look for one of them in the house in the split second before I remember they were killed.”
At around midnight on 29 December 2008 an Israeli aircraft attacked the Imad Akel Mosque, situated in Jabaliya refugee camp. The attack destroyed the home of Anwar and Samira Balousha, which was situated just three meters from the mosque. Five of the family’s eight daughters were killed as a result of the bombing, which caused the family home to collapse on top of them as they slept. Five others were injured in the incident and other homes in close proximity to the mosque were completely destroyed.
In the main room of the reconstructed Balousha family household stands a portrait of the family’s five deceased daughters, Tahreer, Ikram, Samar, Dina, and Jawaher, who were eighteen, fifteen, thirteen, eight, and four respectively at the time an Israeli F-16 dropped a bomb on the Imad Akel Mosque, three meters from the family home. The family have since had one newcomer to the home, Tahrir (named after her deceased sister); but for father Anwar, “the home still feels empty; it is like there is gaping hole where my daughters once were, and despite feeling their presence with us all the time there is a huge sense there is something missing.”
While his face and composure give little away in terms of the suffering his family has gone through, Anwar’s words are clear regarding the effect the incident had on himself and his family. “My wife has been badly affected; just yesterday there was an UNRWA crew demolishing the wreckage of one the neighbors’ homes destroyed in the war to make room for its reconstruction. It reminded Samira of the war and she started to cry.” Anwar himself says he spends a lot of time at the daughters’ graves talking to them about daily life’s small comings and goings. “I miss them all the time; sometimes I even go to look for one of them in the house in the split second before I remember they were killed.”
The family's remaining children have been traumatized. Anwar describes how Iman, twenty, who had a very close relationship with her older sister, Tahrir, and who watched her sister Dina die in her arms following the attack, seems often to be lost in her own thoughts: “sometimes I call her but she cannot even hear me,” says Anwar. Despite being very intelligent, Iman’s grades have suffered as a result. He also fears that his son, Muhammad, who was recently treated for a shrapnel wound in his foot, suffered during the attack, will grow up wracked by feelings of revenge for the death of his sisters. “He speaks of them constantly,” says Anwar, “he will not forget.” When asked by his father about his sisters, Muhammad says that “my sisters were murdered by the Israelis; they are in Paradise.”
The three years since the attack have been a period of constant flux and displacement for the family. They have had to move home seven times in the past three years, each time creating a greater sense of instability for the family’s remaining children. “The children find themselves friendless each time they move,” says Anwar. “My son Muhammad wanders off back to the neighbourhood of his old homes or to the local UNRWA school in search of friends; we can’t find him for hours and when he eventually comes home he says he went to find friends to play with.” They have only recently returned to their rebuilt home that was destroyed during the attack.
Regarding hopes and fears for the future, Anwar has mixed feelings. He is hopeful for the family’s legal case in Israel but he says, “if they bring me all the money in the world they could not compensate me. I want my daughters, not money.” He is ravaged by fear for his children every time there is bombing and fears that he will lose them in the future. “Though this is my home, I am seeking a future outside Gaza; right now I want to leave to make a new life for me and my family.”
PCHR submitted a criminal complaint on behalf of the Balousha Family on 2 August 2009. To date, no response has been received.
http://fwd4.me/0jxR 28 apr 2012, 14:12 , Respect -
Maria 29 dec 2008
Samar Anwar Khalil Balousha, 6
Dina Anwar Khalil Balousha, 7
28 apr 2012, 14:12 , Respect -
Maria 29 dec 2008
Jawaher Anwar Khalil Balousha, 8Ikram Anwar Khalil Balousha, 14
28 apr 2012, 14:12 , Respect -
Maria 29 dec 2008
Tahrir Anwar Khalil Balousha, 17
28 apr 2012, 14:12 , Respect -
Maria 29 dec 2008
Name: Sodqi, Ahmed & Mohamed al-Absi
Age: 5, 14, 12 respectively
Date of Death: Mon., 29/12/2008
Place of Death: Inside their house, Rafah.
Weapon Type: Air-to-ground missile.
Details of the last hours:
The three children were inside their family house in Rafah when an Israeli bomb struck the house.
http://fwd4.me/0j2p
...Read more 28 apr 2012, 14:12 , Respect -
Maria 29 dec 2008
Sidqi Ziad Mahmoud al-Absi, 4Ahmad Ziad Mahmoud al-Absi, 12
28 apr 2012, 14:12 , Respect -
Maria 29 dec 2008
Muhammad Ziad Mahmoud al-Absi, 14of Rafah refugee camp, Gaza, killed, with two brothers, by an IDF missile while in his home.
28 apr 2012, 14:12 , Respect -
Maria 29 dec 2009
Muath Yasir al-Abed abu-Tir, 6
Yasser al-'Abed Ahmad Abu Tir, 31
Ziad al-'Abed Ahmad Abu Tir, 31
of Abasan al-Kabira, near Khan Younis, Gaza, killed by the IDF in Abasan al-Kabira.
28 apr 2012, 14:13 , Respect -
Maria 29 dec 2008
Yasser Abu Maaz
29 dec 2008
Days and Nights of Israeli Horror in Gaza
Trauma spreads across the children of Gaza due to the increased number of funerals in the streets, and the loud noise of the Israeli F16s flying over their heads, bombing everything around them.
Horror, fear, hysteria, weeping , involuntary urinating, fever and trauma affect the children of Gaza due to the death of their friends, parents, relatives and seeing the blood covering the streets and the ruins of the destroyed houses.
Trauma spreads across the children of Gaza due to the increased number of funerals in the streets, and the loud noise of the Israeli F16s flying over their heads, bombing everything around them.
It’s very difficult to hear the children talking about death, funerals, and searching a piece of the bread in the middle of the huge destruction around them. It is very difficult to hear the children talking about war, F16s, politics, and describing the death of father, mother or parents!
Yesterday, seven children were killed overnight in Gaza, after the Israeli air forces dropped a GBU-39, a new bunker-buster bomb at a mosque in the central residential district of Jabalia refugee camp in the northern part of Gaza Strip.
Among the dead children were five young sisters aged between one and 12 years from the Ba’losha family.
Three young boys from Al Absi family from Rafah Refugee Camp were also killed by the same GBU-39 bomb. The Israeli State of occupation bought from the US 1000 of the GBU-39 bunker-buster bomb which the air force recently use in their strikes against the population of Gaza Strip .
Israel won congressional approval for the purchase of the missile in September 1000 (September) 2008, and officials said Israeli Defense Ministry and the first shipment arrived earlier this month and used it successfully to penetrate underground launchers for the missiles “Qassam” in the Gaza Strip during air strikes Intensive infrastructure “Hamas” movement on Saturday. And also used yesterday (Sunday) in the bombing of tunnels in Rafah.
During the day, the children watch and see the scenes of horror. The parents try to calm their children, but their fear is bigger than their capacity to calm them.
During the day the parents try to put children in bed to sleep, but the loud noises of the bombs of F16s, destroy both the parents and the children. In Gaza, children are murdered while sleeping in bed, so the Gaza people say. The children are too scared to sleep, they all remember how their friends were murdered in their beds.
In Gaza, the terror is the same during day and night. The Israeli terror does not differentiate between day and night. The people live the tragedy of death each moment. Nobody is safe in Gaza.
At night, the children urinate and tremble in their beds.
The UNRWA relief and works agency in Gaza requested today, Monday, an international investigation of murder of the students and children while getting out from the UN vocational training Institute in the Gaza Strip.
The UN spokesman, Sami Mishasha, said that at least 51 Palestinian civilians, including women and children, were confirmed to be among those killed in the Gaza Strip.
After the funeral of the eight students who were killed during air strikes on Gaza, Sami Mishasha said that the figure, which was based on visits to hospitals and medical centers in Gaza, was “conservative” and “certainly rising”.
The UN calls upon the international community to protect the civilian population from the Israeli aggression.
Mishasha explained that the policy of closure of border crossings leading to Gaza made it impossible to carry out humanitarian tasks entrusted to UNRWA.
He pointed out that more than 750 thousand people in Gaza are dependent on UNRWA food aid alone, and that there are hundreds of thousands more who rely on other medical and relief aid to survive.
More than 200 thousand of the population are dependent on food aid of the worldwide organization. He added that it has become impossible to do massive humanitarian under the policy of “drip”, where Israel allows only a few trucks to enter the sector.
The High Commissioner-General of the UNRWA, Karen Abu Zeid, expressed her fear of the destruction of Gaza and the large number of casualties. She demanded that the Israeli authorities end the Israeli Air Force bombing, and reminding Israel that it had signed international conventions that protect civilians.
The Palestinian medical sources from Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza stated that during the three consecutive days of Israeli bombardment in the heavily-populated territory, over 345 Gazans have been killed and over 1500 wounded, among them hundreds who are in critical conditions.
There were also growing fears that a ground offensive was being planned after Israel declared a “closed military zone” around the Gaza Strip, said Dr. Muawia, the director of Al-Shifa hospital.
As of my last information, Gaza has been declared a “military zone”, what normally means that the IDF will have free hand to murder anybody and commit whatever atrocities they want.
Journalists are now effectively isolated, and anybody conveying information is at risk of death.
Mr. Sameh Habeeb sent me some new information from Gaza. He wrote that Israeli army moves from targeting governmental offices into civic ones. It has targeted some of Hamas leaders’ houses. Israeli navy bombed the Gaza seaport, destroyed many fishing boats.
Palestinian civilians in Gaza received more threats by phones, specifically to Khan Younis. The Israeli air force bombed Al Sideeq Mosque in Jabalia Camp. The Israeli Chief of Intelligence Yuval Diskin, stated that “the worse in Gaza is coming”.
There are severe shortages in medical supplies in Gaza hospitals. Burn and birth units were transformed into emergency surgery units. The Al-Shifa hospital has also announced its inability to receive more cases.
Days and Nights of Israeli Horror in Gaza
Trauma spreads across the children of Gaza due to the increased number of funerals in the streets, and the loud noise of the Israeli F16s flying over their heads, bombing everything around them.
Horror, fear, hysteria, weeping , involuntary urinating, fever and trauma affect the children of Gaza due to the death of their friends, parents, relatives and seeing the blood covering the streets and the ruins of the destroyed houses.
Trauma spreads across the children of Gaza due to the increased number of funerals in the streets, and the loud noise of the Israeli F16s flying over their heads, bombing everything around them.
It’s very difficult to hear the children talking about death, funerals, and searching a piece of the bread in the middle of the huge destruction around them. It is very difficult to hear the children talking about war, F16s, politics, and describing the death of father, mother or parents!
Yesterday, seven children were killed overnight in Gaza, after the Israeli air forces dropped a GBU-39, a new bunker-buster bomb at a mosque in the central residential district of Jabalia refugee camp in the northern part of Gaza Strip.
Among the dead children were five young sisters aged between one and 12 years from the Ba’losha family.
Three young boys from Al Absi family from Rafah Refugee Camp were also killed by the same GBU-39 bomb. The Israeli State of occupation bought from the US 1000 of the GBU-39 bunker-buster bomb which the air force recently use in their strikes against the population of Gaza Strip .
Israel won congressional approval for the purchase of the missile in September 1000 (September) 2008, and officials said Israeli Defense Ministry and the first shipment arrived earlier this month and used it successfully to penetrate underground launchers for the missiles “Qassam” in the Gaza Strip during air strikes Intensive infrastructure “Hamas” movement on Saturday. And also used yesterday (Sunday) in the bombing of tunnels in Rafah.
During the day, the children watch and see the scenes of horror. The parents try to calm their children, but their fear is bigger than their capacity to calm them.
During the day the parents try to put children in bed to sleep, but the loud noises of the bombs of F16s, destroy both the parents and the children. In Gaza, children are murdered while sleeping in bed, so the Gaza people say. The children are too scared to sleep, they all remember how their friends were murdered in their beds.
In Gaza, the terror is the same during day and night. The Israeli terror does not differentiate between day and night. The people live the tragedy of death each moment. Nobody is safe in Gaza.
At night, the children urinate and tremble in their beds.
The UNRWA relief and works agency in Gaza requested today, Monday, an international investigation of murder of the students and children while getting out from the UN vocational training Institute in the Gaza Strip.
The UN spokesman, Sami Mishasha, said that at least 51 Palestinian civilians, including women and children, were confirmed to be among those killed in the Gaza Strip.
After the funeral of the eight students who were killed during air strikes on Gaza, Sami Mishasha said that the figure, which was based on visits to hospitals and medical centers in Gaza, was “conservative” and “certainly rising”.
The UN calls upon the international community to protect the civilian population from the Israeli aggression.
Mishasha explained that the policy of closure of border crossings leading to Gaza made it impossible to carry out humanitarian tasks entrusted to UNRWA.
He pointed out that more than 750 thousand people in Gaza are dependent on UNRWA food aid alone, and that there are hundreds of thousands more who rely on other medical and relief aid to survive.
More than 200 thousand of the population are dependent on food aid of the worldwide organization. He added that it has become impossible to do massive humanitarian under the policy of “drip”, where Israel allows only a few trucks to enter the sector.
The High Commissioner-General of the UNRWA, Karen Abu Zeid, expressed her fear of the destruction of Gaza and the large number of casualties. She demanded that the Israeli authorities end the Israeli Air Force bombing, and reminding Israel that it had signed international conventions that protect civilians.
The Palestinian medical sources from Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza stated that during the three consecutive days of Israeli bombardment in the heavily-populated territory, over 345 Gazans have been killed and over 1500 wounded, among them hundreds who are in critical conditions.
There were also growing fears that a ground offensive was being planned after Israel declared a “closed military zone” around the Gaza Strip, said Dr. Muawia, the director of Al-Shifa hospital.
As of my last information, Gaza has been declared a “military zone”, what normally means that the IDF will have free hand to murder anybody and commit whatever atrocities they want.
Journalists are now effectively isolated, and anybody conveying information is at risk of death.
Mr. Sameh Habeeb sent me some new information from Gaza. He wrote that Israeli army moves from targeting governmental offices into civic ones. It has targeted some of Hamas leaders’ houses. Israeli navy bombed the Gaza seaport, destroyed many fishing boats.
Palestinian civilians in Gaza received more threats by phones, specifically to Khan Younis. The Israeli air force bombed Al Sideeq Mosque in Jabalia Camp. The Israeli Chief of Intelligence Yuval Diskin, stated that “the worse in Gaza is coming”.
There are severe shortages in medical supplies in Gaza hospitals. Burn and birth units were transformed into emergency surgery units. The Al-Shifa hospital has also announced its inability to receive more cases.
- 29 dec 2008
Wisam Akram Rabi Eid, 12Mahmoud Nabil Deeb Ghabayen, 13
Wisam of Beit Hanoun, Gaza, killed by the IDF near the Zemu roundabout in the northern Gaza Strip.
Mahmoudof Jabalya refugee camp, killed by the IDF near the Zemu roundabout in the northern Gaza Strip.
28 apr 2012, 14:13 , Respect -
Maria 29 dec 2008
Shadi Yusef Ramadan Ghaben, 14Imad Jamal Shehada abu-Khater, 15
Shadiof Beit Lahya, Gaza, killed by an IDF bomb in the al-Ghoboun farmland near Beit Lahya.
Imad of Jabalya, Gaza, killed by the IDF near the Zemu roundabout in the northern Gaza Strip.
28 apr 2012, 14:13 , Respect -
Maria 29 dec 2008
Diya Aref Farhood abu-Khubeiza, 15
Tareq Yasser Muhammad 'Afaneh, 16
Diya of Nuseirat refugee camp, Gaza, killed by the IDF in Nuseirat refugee camp.
28 apr 2012, 14:13 , Respect -
Maria 29 dec 2008
Muhammad Rajab 'Abdu al-'Awadi, 16
Muhammad Basil Mahmoud Madi, 17
Muhammad Rajab of Jabalya refugee camp, killed by the IDF near the Zemu roundabout in the northern Gaza Strip.
28 apr 2012, 14:13 , Respect -
Maria 29 dec 2008
Muhammad Majed Ibrahim Ka'bar, 17
Muhammad 'Abd al-'Aziz Khalil al-Qara, 23
28 apr 2012, 14:13 , Respect -
Maria 29 dec 2008
Rami Sa'di Dib Ghabayen, 23Amin Salem Darwish al-'Adini, 23
Ashraf Sayyed Khamis a-Dabagh, 28
28 apr 2012, 14:13 , Respect -
Maria 29 dec 2008
Faten Abdel Aziz Zneid 30Imad Ahmed Abdullah Samur 34
28 apr 2012, 14:13 , Respect -
Maria 29 dec 2008
Yahya Mohammed Suleiman Abu Nimr 45Mohammed Mohiuddin Madhoun 48Khalil Ibrahim Abu Nadi 70
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Maria 29 dec 2008
Israel pounds Gaza for a third consecutive day - 29 Dec 08
(2:30) Israel pounds Gaza for a third consecutive day - 29 Dec 08 3 x viewed
28 apr 2012, 14:14 , Respect -
Maria Israeli media PR
(7:44) Operation "Cast Lead": Benjamin Netanyahu (former prime minister of Israel) interview 1 x viewed
28 apr 2012, 14:14 , Respect -
Maria 30 dec 2008
Lama Talal Shehada Hamdan, 4Ismail Talal Shehada Hamdan, 10
28 apr 2012, 14:14 , Respect -
Maria 30 dec 2008
Haya Talal Shehada Hamdan, 12
Name: Lama and Haya Talal Hamdan
Age: 5, 10 and 12 years old
Date of Death: Tue, 30/12/2008
Place of Death: Biet Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip
Weapon Type: Air-to-ground missile
Details of the last hours:
an Israeli drone plane fired a missile at a donkey cart the girls were riding in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya, killing them immediately.
http://fwd4.me/0j1T
30 dec 2008
The Hamdan Family
“When I wake in the morning the first thing I do is remember my children. I come and sit outside and picture them where they used to play. I don’t want to go out and interact with other people anymore. I largely stay inside the home.”
Talal Hamdan and Iman Hamdan are quietly contemplative about life since the loss of their three children Haya, Lama, and Ismail. The children were ages twelve, ten, and five. On the morning of 30 December 2008, an Israeli F-16 dropped a bomb in the area they were walking in Beit Hanoun, killing all three. The children were walking with their father to a nearby rubbish site to drop off household waste when Israeli forces targeted the area. The children were the youngest of the couple’s children; they have not had other children since the attack.
Though none of the previous three years have been easy on the couple, for Iman, the hardest period was directly after the attack, when she found herself in deep shock. “After the death of my children I could not cry; I did not have the space to properly mourn them,” says Iman, “but when I finally became alone, I couldn’t stop my tears.” Iman believes the shock of the incident has greatly increased her physical health problems, which include severe back and leg pain. “I barely sleep at night, maybe two hours during the day." Her grief is compounded by the experience of losing her father, brother, and two cousins all on the same day during the first intifada.
Talal’s life has also been completely changed since the death of his children. “When I wake in the morning the first thing I do is remember my children. I come and sit outside and picture them where they used to play,” says Talal. “I don’t want to go out and interact with other people anymore. I largely stay inside the home.” Talal had a very close relationship with Ismail: “he would beg me to take him everywhere with me and so I would take him; we were always together.”
Relating to the painful memory of his children, Talal was once sick and needed to go to the hospital. “This particular hospital was the one my children were transferred to before they died. When I walked in, the memory of my three children lying dead next to each other came back to me, and I started to cry. The doctors first thought I was afraid of injections; my family had to explain to them what had taken place, and why I was so upset. In the end I couldn’t stay in the hospital for the treatment.”
Contemplating the approach of the upcoming anniversary, the couple speaks of how they will face it. “On the day of the anniversary I will try to keep myself busy to avoid thinking about it too much,” says Iman, “I don’t visit the graves, I can’t bear it.” The couple now has young grandchildren living with them, one of whom is named Ismail, after their killed son. “We try our best to make up for our loss with Ismail; we go up and see him and spend time with him every morning,” says Talal.
Ismail
Before the attack Talal had worked in construction. He tried to return to work after the attack, but nerve damage in his legs and arms, as a result of the attack, have left him unable to continue working. The family now survives on UN food aid, and help from their other two sons.
Regarding the future, the family has hopes and apprehensions. “We are always afraid that an attack will take place again resulting in more deaths in the family. I am always calling my daughters to tell them to take care of themselves and the children,” says Talal. “I hope that peace will prevail and that we will return to calm eventually. Most of all, I hope that other children are not killed in similar incidents. I can understand when adults are killed during war but I cannot understand when children are killed.” Regarding the family’s legal complaint following the death of their children, Talal is positive. “I expect it to be successful; my children were not militant and there were no military targets in the proximity.”
PCHR submitted a criminal complaint to the Israeli authorities on behalf of the Hamdan Family on 21 July 2009. To date, no response has been received.
http://fwd4.me/0jxT 28 apr 2012, 14:14 , Respect -
Maria 30 dec 2008
Mahmoud Majed Mahmoud Abu Nahleh, 16
Muhammad Majed Ibrahim Kabar, 17
28 apr 2012, 14:14 , Respect -
Maria 30 dec 2008
'Amran 'Abd al-Ghani Gheith Abu Hamdiyeh, 17
Walid Muhammad Suliman Jaber, 19Tawfiq Riad Gannan