- 4 febr 2009
Testimonies of Israeli Crimes in Gaza
Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo
On February 2nd 2009, two surgeons from the UK, Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah and Dr. Swee Ang, who managed to get into Gaza during the Israeli invasion, released a statement describing their experiences, sharing their views, and conclusions that the people of Gaza are extremely vulnerable and defenseless in the event of another attack. Their statement was originally published in the magazine The Lancet Global Health Network.
Under the title “The wounds of Gaza”, the two surgeons described the Israeli genocide and war crimes against the Palestinian civilians in Gaza as they observed it. I received the statement of the surgeons from a reader from the Sabra Shatila Foundation in Lebanon.
I expect that the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, will take in consideration the testimonies of these two surgeons from the UK, and I remind him of the precedent which was set when he signed an arrest warrant against the Sudanese president on 14 July 2008, despite the fact that the ICC does not have territorial jurisdiction in Sudan.
The full Article : The Wounds of Gaza
Two surgeons from the UK, Dr Ghassan Abu Sittah and Dr Swee Ang, managed to get into Gaza during the Israeli invasion. Here they describe their experiences, share their views, and conclude that the people of Gaza are extremely vulnerable and defenseless in the event of another attack.
The wounds of Gaza are deep and multi-layered. Are we talking about the Khan Younis massacre of 5,000 in 1956 or the execution of 35,000 prisoners of war by Israel in 1967? Yet more wounds of the First Intifada, when civil disobedience by an occupied people against the occupiers resulted in massive wounded and hundreds dead? We also cannot discount the 5,420 wounded in southern Gaza alone since 2000.
Hence what we are referring to below are only that of the invasion as of 27 December 2008,Over the period of 27 December 2008 to the ceasefire of 18 Jan 2009, it was estimated that a million and a half tons of explosives were dropped on Gaza Strip.
Gaza is 25 miles by 5 miles and home to 1.5 million people. This makes it the most crowded area in the whole world.
Prior to this Gaza has been completely blockaded and starved for 50 days. In fact since the Palestinian election Gaza has been under total or partial blockade for several years.On the first day of the invasion, 250 persons were killed. Every single police Page 1station in Gaza was bombed killing large numbers of police officers. Having wiped out the police force attention was turned to non government targets.
Gaza was bombed from the air by F16 and Apache helicopters, shelled from the sea by Israeli gunboats and from the land by tank artillery.
Many schools were reduced to rubble, including the American School of Gaza, 40 mosques, hospitals, UN buildings, and of course 21,000 homes, 4,000 of which were demolished completely. It is estimated that 100,000 people are now homeless.
Israeli weapons
The weapons used apart from conventional bombs and high explosives also include unconventional weapons of which at least 4 categories could be identified.
-- Phosphorus Shells and bombs
The bombs dropped were described by eye witnesses as exploding at high altitude scattering a large canopy of phosphorus bomblets which cover a large area.
During the land invasion, eyewitnesses describe the tanks shelling into homes first with a conventional shell. Once the walls are destroyed, a second shell – a phosphorus shell is then shot into the homes.
Used in this manner the phosphorus explodes and burns the families and the homes. Many charred bodies were found among burning phosphorus particles.One area of concern is the phosphorus seems to be in a special stabilizing agent. This results in the phosphorus being more stable and not completely burning out.
Residues still cover the fields, playground and compounds. They ignite when picked up by curious kids, or produce fumes when farmers return to water their fields. One returning farming family on watering their field met with clouds of fumes producing epistaxis.
Thus the phosphorus residues probably treated with a stabilizer also act as anti-personnel weapons against children and make the return to normallife difficult without certain hazards.Surgeons from hospitals are also reporting cases where after primary laparotomy for relatively small wounds with minimal contamination find on second look laparotomy increasing areas of tissue necrosis at about 3 days.
Patients then become gravely ill and by about 10 days those patients needing a third relook encounter massive liver necrosis. This may or may not be accompanied by generalized bleeding, kidney failure and heart failure and death.
Although acidosis, liver necrosis and sudden cardiac arrest due to hypocalcemia are known to be a complication of white phosphorus it is not possible to attribute these complications as being due to phosphorus alone.There is real urgency to analyze and identify the real nature of this modified phosphorus as to its long term effect on the people of Gaza. There is also urgency in collecting and disposing of the phosphorus residues littering the entire Gaza Strip.
As they give off toxic fumes when coming into contact with water, once the rain falls the whole area would be polluted with acid phosphorus fumes. Children should be warned not to handle and play with these phosphorus residues.
-- Heavy Bombs
The use of DIME (dense inert material explosives) were evident, though it is unsure whether depleted uranium were used in the south. In the civilian areas, surviving patients were found to have limbs truncated by DIME, since the stumps apart from being characteristically cut off in guillotine fashion also fail to bleed. Bomb casing and shrapnel are extremely heavy.
-- Fuel Air Explosives
Bunker busters and implosion bombs have been used . There are buildings especially the 8 storey Science and Technology Building of the Islamic University of Gaza which had been reduced to a pile of rubble no higher than 5-6 feet.
-- Silent Bombs
People in Gaza described a silent bomb which is extremely destructive. The bomb arrives as a silent projectile at most with a whistling sound and creates a large area where all objects and living things are vaporized with minimal trace. We are unable to fit this into conventional weapons but the possibility of new particle weapons being tested should be suspected.
-- Executions
Survivors describe Israeli tanks arriving in front of homes asking residents to p03come out. Children, old people and women would come forward and as they were lined up they were just fired on and killed. Families have lost tens of their members through such executions. The deliberate targeting of unarmed children and women is well documented by human right groups in the Gaza Strip over the past month.
-- Targeting of ambulances
Thirteen ambulances had been fired upon killing drivers and first aid personnel in the process of rescue and evacuation of the wounded.
-- Cluster bombs
The first patients wounded by cluster were brought into Abu Yusef Najjar Hospital. Since more than 50% of the tunnels have been destroyed, Gaza has lost part of her lifeline. These tunnels contrary to popular belief are not for weapons, though small light weapons could have been smuggled through them.
However they are the main stay of food and fuel for Gaza. Palestinians are beginning to tunnel again. However it became clear that cluster bombs were dropped on to the Rafah border and the first was accidentally set of by tunneling. Five burns patients were brought in after setting off a booby trap kind of device.
Death toll
As of 25 January 2009, the death toll was estimated at 1,350 with the numbers increasing daily. This is due to the severely wounded continuing to die in hospitals. 60% of those killed were children.
Severe injuries
The severely injured numbered 5,450, with 40% being children. These are mainly large burns and polytrauma patients. Single limb fractures and walking wounded are not included in these figures.
Through our conversations with doctors and nurses the word holocaust and catastrophe were repeatedly used. The medical staff all bear the psychological trauma of the past month living though the situation and dealing with mass casualties which swamped their casualties and operating rooms. Many patients died in the Accident and Emergency Department while awaiting treatment. In a district hospital, the orthopaedic surgeon carried out 13 external fixations in less than a day.
It is estimated that of the severely injured, 1,600 will suffer permanently disabilities. These include amputations, spinal cord injuries, head injuries,large burns with crippling contractures.
Special factors
The death and injury toll is especially high in this recent assault due to several factors:-- No escape: As Gaza is sealed by Israeli troops, no one can escape the bombardment and the land invasion. There is simply no escape. Even within the Gaza Strip itself, movement from north to south is impossible as Israeli tanks had cut the northern half of Gaza from the south.
Compare this with the situation in Lebanon 1982 and 2006, when it was possible for people to escape from an area of heavy bombardment to an area of relative calm – there was no such is option for Gaza.
Gaza is very densely populated. It is eerie to see that the bombs used by Israel have been precision bombs. They have a hundred percent hit rate on buildings which are crowded with people.
Examples are the central market, police stations. Schools, the UN compounds used as a safety shelter from bombardment, mosques (40 of them destroyed), and the homes of families who thought they were safe as there were no combatants in them and high rise flats where a single implosion bomb would destroy multiple families.
This pattern of consistent targeting of civilians makes one suspect that the military targets are but collateral damage, while civilians are the primary targets.
-- The quantity and quality of the ammunition being used as described above.
-- Gaza’s lack of defense against the modern weapons of Israel. She has no tanks, no planes, no anti-aircraft missiles against the invading army. We experienced that first hand in a minor clash of Israeli tank shells versus Palestinian AK47 return fire. The forces were simply unmatched.
-- Absence of well constructed bomb shelters for civilians. Unfortunately these will also be no match for bunker busters possessed by the Israeli Army.
Conclusion
Taking the above points into consideration, the next assault on Gaza would be just as disastrous. The people of Gaza are extremely vulnerable and defenseless in the event of another attack. If the International Community is serious about preventing such a large scale of deaths and injuries in the future, it will have to develop a some sort of defense force for Gaza. Otherwise, many more vulnerable civilans will continue to die.
Dr Ghassan Abu Sittah and Dr Swee Ang
Weekly report Two Palestinians were killed by IOF and two others died of previous injuries sustained in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. One of the victims was extra-judicially executed by IOF.
Fourty four Palestinians, mostly civilians, including 22 children, a pregnant woman, and an international human rights defender, were wounded by IOF gunfire in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
28 apr 2012, 22:29 , Respect -
Maria 5 febr 2009
'Alaa 'Issam Sharif Abu a-Rob, 22
Fuad Riad Faiz Hamdan, 23
Aala killed in Qabatiya, Jenin district. Resistence activist, killed when soldiers, who had come to his house, shot him and later blew up the house.
Fuad resident of Khan Yunis, killed in Khuza'a, Khan Yunis district. Member of the military wing of Islamic Jihad. Killed while trying to place an explosive charge next to the Israeli border.
Report: IOF extra-judicially executed a member of the al-Quds Brigades (the armed wing of Islamic Jihad) in Qabatya village, southeast of Jenin. IOF raided his family's house one month ago and threatened to kill him if he did not surrender to them.
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Survivor Testimony of Israeli Holocaust in Gaza -
Maria 7 febr 2009
Jebril 'Atiyyah Ibrahim Mansur, 18
Died of his wounds
28 apr 2012, 22:29 , Respect -
Maria 8 febr 2009
Khaled Rafiq Diab al-Kafarneh, 21
Hussein Faiz Hussein Shameyah, 25
Kaled resident of Beit Hanun, North Gaza district, killed in Beit Hanun, North Gaza district, by a missile fired from a helicopter. Member of the military wing of Islamic Jihad. Killed during an exchange of gunfire with soldiers near the perimeter fence.
Hussein Died of his wounds from a attack on 27 jan. He was the object of a targeted killing.
28 apr 2012, 22:29 , Respect -
Maria 9 febr 2009
Rawan abu-Tabaq, 5
Hasan abu-Tabaq, 17
Miqbal Yusef Muhammad Abu 'Odeh 22
Tabaq of the northern Gaza Strip, died of a brain fluid infection after Israel denied him permission to leave the Gaza Strip for medical treatment. His sister died the same day.
28 apr 2012, 22:29 , Respect -
Maria 11 febr 2009
Weekly report Four Palestinians were killed by IOF in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. One of the victims was extra-judicially executed by IOF.
Five Palestinians, including one child, were wounded by IOF gunfire in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
28 apr 2012, 22:29 , Respect -
Maria 13 febr 2009
'Iz a-Din Radwan Radwan al-Jamal, 14
Nai Faiz Yusef Hassan 28
'Iz a Din resident of Hebron, killed in Hebron, by 0.22-caliber bullets. Killed while standing on the roof of a house and throwing stones at soldiers at the pharmacy checkpoint
Nai died of his wounds
28 apr 2012, 22:29 , Respect -
Maria 14 febr 2009
Hammad Silmiyah , 13
An Israeli military jeep patrolling the border opened fire on him and his teenage friends. Details of the Last Hours:
"It was Saturday morning and Hammad woke up at six," says Hammad's aunt Jomaia, 40. "He left with his brother and a couple of young friends to graze the animals. At around ten in the morning Hammad was preparing some breakfast in the field like he always did. An Israeli military vehicle fired at them and shot him in the head."
Hammad had left school just a few months ago to work full-time as a shepherd and help his family. "I tried to force him to go back to school but all he cared about was working with the goats and riding his donkey," says Jomaia.
"He was so good with animals. Whenever he came home from school, he'd throw his bag in the house and run to be with the animals. The night before Hammad was killed I dreamt about a wedding ceremony, which in our culture is a bad omen. When they told me Hammad was injured I knew that he had been killed because I had seen him as a bridegroom in my dream."
- Belongings (photos, videos, diaries …): The only remaining photograph of him was taken when he was seven years old. More recent photographs of him were lost in the rubble of his home.
http://fwd4.me/0j6F
Family grieves killing of 13-year-old
On 14 February 2009, almost a month after Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza, 13-year-old Hammad Silmiya was grazing his sheep and goats in northeast Gaza, about 500 meters from the border with Israel. An Israeli military jeep patrolling the border opened fire on him and his teenage friends. Hammad was shot in the head and he died almost instantly.
Hammad’s death barely made the news — just another casualty in the Gaza Strip, where civilian injuries and deaths continue to mount daily. His family had already endured the killing of Hammad’s grandmother, his two cousins, aged four and 18 months, and the destruction of their homes and livestock during Israel’s offensive.
“It was Saturday morning and Hammad woke up at six,” says Hammad’s aunt Jomaia, 40. “He left with his brother and a couple of young friends to graze the animals. At around ten in the morning Hammad was preparing some breakfast in the field like he always did. An Israeli military vehicle fired at them and shot him in the head.”
Jomaia pulls out a plastic bag from the folds of her black shawl and unties the knot. Inside a small envelope is the only remaining photograph they have of Hammad, taken when he was seven years old. More recent photographs of him were lost in the rubble of their home.
“Hammad was like a beloved son to me because I have no children of my own and he always slept beside me,” says Jomaia. “Whenever he needed anything, he would ask me. They used to say Hammad didn’t have just one mother, he had two — his real mother, and I. Hammad owned a part of my heart and it went with him when he died.”
Hammad had left school just a few months ago to work full-time as a shepherd and help his family. “I tried to force him to go back to school but all he cared about was working with the goats and riding his donkey,” says Jomaia. “He was so good with animals. Whenever he came home from school, he’d throw his bag in the house and run to be with the animals. The night before Hammad was killed I dreamt about a wedding ceremony, which in our culture is a bad omen. When they told me Hammad was injured I knew that he had been killed because I had seen him as a bridegroom in my dream.”
Hammad’s aunt Jomaia (left) and mother Salma.
Hammad’s mother Salma sits beside Jomaia in the makeshift shelter the family has set up beside the remains of their homes in Hay al-Salama, northeastern Gaza. All around them are scenes of utter devastation. This Bedouin family came to Gaza as refugees from Beersheva (then called Bir al-Saba) in 1948 and settled in the Hay al-Salama area. Prior to the latest Israeli offensive they had concrete homes and livestock farms beside the buffer zone, which was the first area to be hit during Israel’s ground offensive in January 2009.
“Tanks began firing at the area at two in the morning on the 5 of January,” recalls Jomaia. “The first bomb hit our house and I ran to my mother’s room because she is 80 years old and bedridden. Then a second shell hit the house and we had to run, leaving her behind. We were like scared goats whose stable door had been opened. We fled to Jabaliya and then to Zeitoun where we sheltered in schools. Every day I begged ambulances and medics to help me go and evacuate my mother. I even said I would walk in front of the ambulance, carrying a white flag, but it was too dangerous and they refused.”
When the Silmiya family returned to the area on 18 January, they found their row of houses had been flattened by F-16 air strikes and it took them three days to uncover Hammad’s grandmother from the rubble. Hammad was buried next to his grandmother just a few weeks later.
Due to this area’s proximity to the border, few donors have come to assess the damage or provide assistance. The nearest refugee tent camp is unsuitable for the Silmiyas because they need to be near their animals and Bedouin families prefer to live alone.
“The war is not over,” says Hammad’s mother Salma. “There is no quiet time in Gaza and we often see F-16s in the sky. But Hammad was never afraid. He was strong and full of energy. His younger brother says he wishes the Israelis had killed him instead because everybody loved Hammad. He also refuses to take any food or tea with him now when he goes shepherding because Hammad was making breakfast when they shot him.”
Hammad’s father Barrak Salem Salaam Silmiya, surrounded by the carcasses of his livestock and the remains of his home.
In the days before his death Hammad had been upset about his donkey that was killed during the Israeli ground invasion along with sixty goats and three cows belonging to his father Barrak Salem Salaam Silmiya, whose three surnames are all derivatives of the word “peace” in Arabic. “We want peace, but where is it? Where are human rights in Gaza?” asks 47-year-old Barrak as he shows us the animal remains still floating in the mud around the ruins of his house.
“Hammad was 13 years old. In anyone’s eyes he looked like a child, but they still shot him. He was very bright and he was great with animals. He even used to sell our milk and cheese in the market. What more can I tell the world about my son? How can I speak about him? Big countries can’t even stop Israel so what can I do? I feel like I’m nothing. This area was just houses and a street. Were these goats fighters? There’s nothing left.”
As Barrak turns to walk away Hammad’s mother Salma rises to her feet: “These 15 days since Hammad died have felt like 500. Hammad was dark, and he was beautiful. Food has no taste anymore.”
“Everybody who saw Hammad that morning before he was killed said his face had looked particularly beautiful,” adds his aunt Jomaia. “This is not a war against a strong government or country. Israel kills us like we are animals and dogs and nobody stands with us.”
All images by Sarah Malian/PCHR.
This report is part of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights series “Aftermath” that looks at the aftermath of Israel’s 22-day offensive on the Gaza Strip, and the ongoing impact it is having on the civilian population.
http://fwd4.me/0j6G 28 apr 2012, 22:29 , Respect -
Maria 16 febr 2009
'Ali 'Abd al-Bari Ibrahim al-Qadrah, 28
resident of Khan Yunis, injured on 13.02.2009 in 'Abasan al-Kabira, Khan Yunis district, and died on 16.02.2009. Member of the military wing of Popular Resistance Committee. He was killed while riding on a motor scooter.
28 apr 2012, 22:29 , Respect -
Maria 19 febr 2009
WHAT DOES ISRAEL HIDE FROM THE WORLD??
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28 apr 2012, 22:29 , Respect -
Maria 20 febr 2009
Abdullah Naji Hassanein 9Naji Hassanein 11
Place of martyrdom: in the yard of their house - Shijaia district - east of Gaza
Reason cited: the explosion of a mine left over from the war.
28 apr 2012, 22:30 , Respect -
Maria 22 febr 2009
Shadi Hillis 31
Cancer patient dies bringing number of Gaza siege victims to 287
A Palestinian cancer patient died on Sunday in Gaza after efforts to secure his treatment abroad failed, the PA health ministry in Gaza announced.
A Palestinian cancer patient died on Sunday in Gaza after efforts to secure his treatment abroad failed, the PA health ministry in Gaza announced.
It said that 31-year-old Shadi Hillis had all necessary papers that facilitated his travel abroad but due to the siege he died in Gaza where there is no advanced treatment for cancer patients.
The ministry noted in a statement that the number of victims of the siege thus rose to 287 with 12 of them dying in February so far, warning that the number could increase any time due to the presence of tens of patients in intensive care units waiting for opening of crossings especially the Rafah border terminal with Egypt to enable them travel for treatment abroad.
In a related development, Ihab Al-Ghussein, the PA interior ministry spokesman in Gaza, called on the Ramallah government to provide passports for the Gaza Strip to enable those patients to travel for treatment.
He added in a press release on Sunday that more than 200 patients could not travel for lack of passports, and added that the step would be viewed as a goodwill gesture to prepare the atmosphere for the success of the expected Palestinian national dialog in Cairo.
http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=19383 28 apr 2012, 22:30 , Respect -
Maria 23 febr 2009
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