- 3 jan 2005
Muhammad Yusef Muhammad al-Ghandur 23
resident of Jabalya R.C., North Gaza district, killed next to Beit Hanun, North Gaza district, by a shell fired from a tank. Killed during a clash between armed Palestinians and IDF forces guarding an armored vehicle that had broken down.
12 apr 2012, 16:14 , Respect -
Maria 4 jan 2005
Seven Palestinian Children Killed by a tank shell fired by Israeli Occupation Forces in Beit Lahia
IDF kills seven in north Gaza
Mohammed Kaseeh carries the body of his brother killed in clashes with Israeli troops yesterday
Seven Palestinians were killed yesterday, including six members of the same family, when an Israel Defense Forces tank shell hit an agricultural area in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahia.
Eight others were reportedly wounded in the incident, two of them seriously.
Meanwhile, the IDF declared an alert last night following unconfirmed reports that a terror organization had abducted an IDF officer and soldier. An anonymous telephone call to the Voice of Palestine said the kidnappers were going to send photographs of the abducted men but none arrived.
Palestinian journalists said the two were reportedly abducted close to Ma'aleh Adumim and were probably taken to Ramallah. Despite the IDF's failure to substantiate the reports, it imposed a closure on Ramallah and combed the area and city.
The Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip apparently came in response to Palestinian mortar attacks on the Erez industrial zone between Israel and Gaza. Two Israeli civilians were lightly wounded.
The six members of the Raban family killed in the incident included three brothers -
Hanni,
Mahmoud, and
Bisaam.
Also killed were three of their cousins -
Mohammed,
Jabir, and
Rajikh - as well as their neighbor,
Jabril al-Casiah.
The IDF confirmed that troops fired a tank shell at the Palestinians, saying the target was a rocket-launching terror cell that had been seen near Nissanit. An initial investigation indicated that most of the Palestinians killed were members of the military wing of Hamas, the army said.
The Palestinians said all of those killed were farmers working in their greenhouses and that the members of the rocket-launching cell had escaped uninjured.
A Palestinian farmer who gave only his first name, Suleiman, said militants had been firing mortar shells from among strawberry patches and potato fields when IDF troops returned fire.
Senior military sources said the identification of those killed as young Hamas activists was backed up by information from Palestinian security sources. However, the Palestinians did not make the information public.
Palestinians fired four mortar shells at the settlement of Nissanit from Beit Lahia, one of which landed near a school bus. Two passengers were lightly injured and a number of children were treated for shock.
Meanwhile, two powerful explosions went off near Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' motorcade, while he was en route to visit the survivors of the tank fire. He was unharmed but called off his hospital visit.
Palestinian security officials said Palestinian militants had fired two homemade rockets from near the hospital toward Israeli targets. Israel Radio said Abbas' bodyguards called off the visit, fearing an Israeli reprisal.
In another incident in the northern Gaza Strip yesterday, two Palestinians were killed in a failed attempt to fire a Qassam rocket from Beit Lahia. Later, two more Palestinians were killed in another failed rocket launch.
Soldiers and the Shin Bet security service yesterday arrested a Jihad operative on the wanted list. Bilal Yassin, who had escaped two years ago from military prison near Ramallah, was arrested hiding in a false side of a bed in his home in the village of Anin, near Jenin.
Soldiers operating in Nablus yesterday discovered a 15-kilogram explosive charge.
http://fwd4.me/0y2W
Seven killed in Beit Lahia, all under the age of 17
Tuesday morning, a Palestinian medical source in the Gaza Strip reported that Israeli soldiers killed seven children in Beit Lahia, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip after firing a tank shell at them, dozens of residents were injured.
The source reported that a tank stationed at a military camp near the city fired tanks shells and rounds of heavy ammunition while military helicopters and surveillance planes flew over the area.
The Israeli army claimed that it fired the shells at a Palestinian resistance group after firing homemade shells at a school bus in a settlement in the northern Gaza Strip; two students were wounded according to the army.
A Palestinian security source confirmed that all of the killed residents were unarmed civilians; at least seven residents were wounded, three critically.
The number of causalities is more likely to increase since many residents sustained critical injuries after losing body parts or sustaining injuries to the head, chest and back.
A medical source at Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia said that only six bodies were identified while the rest of the bodies were severely mutilated.
The residents were identified as
Hani Kamel Ghabin, 17,
Mohammad Hussein Ghabin, 13,
Rajeh Ghassan Ghabin, 16,
Jaber Abdullah Ghabin, 17,
Rajeh Abdul-Fattah Kaseeh, 16,
Bassam Kamel Ghabin, 16 year old.
A local source in Beit Lahia said that one of the tank shells exploded at a field among a group of farmers and children at family farmlands in Beit Hanoun.
Dozens of parents rushed to the hospital and medical centers since the shelling was carried out while school children were heading to school to conduct their final exams.
Eight killed in Beit Lahia
09:53
Tuesday morning, eight residents, including children, were killed by tank shells and heavy ammunition fired by Israeli soldiers in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army claimed that it fired a shell at members of the resistance in the city after they fired homemade shells at Israeli settlements, wounding two children.
The Israeli army fired at dozens of farmers working in their fields after firing shells killing the eight residents.
At least seven residents were critically wounded; including four described by a medical source as clinically dead.
Most of the victims are youth aged 15-30.
http://www.imemc.org/article/8626
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Escalate Attacks in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
The Seven Palestinian Children Killed by a tank shell fired by Israeli Occupation Forces in Beit Lahia on, 04 -01 2005.
20 Palestinians, 12 of whom were civilians, including 10 children one of whom was disabled, were killed by IOF.
7 of the children, including 2 brothers, were killed by a tank shell fired by IOF in Beit Lahia.
IOF conducted a series of incursions into Palestinian areas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip
IOF moved into Khan Yunis and destroyed 35 houses.
51 donums of agricultural land were razed in Deir al-Balah.
Houses were raided and dozens of Palestinian civilians were arrested.
Continued shelling of residential areas and civilian facilities, and a number of Palestinian civilians were injured in the Gaza Strip.
Construction of the “annexation wall” in the West Bank has continued, and IOF plan to annex 4 villages in Bethlehem district to Israel.
IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT; Rafah International Crossing Point on the Egyptian border has been closed for the 4th consecutive week, IOF prevented dozens of pilgrims from traveling to Saudi Arabia to attend the Hajj, and IOF positioned at checkpoints arrested a number of Palestinian civilians.
Introduction
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have launched more attacks against Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), especially in the Gaza Strip.
This week, 20 Palestinians, 12 of whom were civilians, including 10 children, were killed and at least 20 others were injured by IOF.
One of the children was mentally disabled. Human rights violations perpetrated by IOF included incursions into Palestinian areas, willful killing, indiscriminate shelling, land leveling and total closure imposed on Palestinian communities.
These attacks came while Palestinians were preparing for the Palestinian presidential election that will be held on 9 January 2005.
In the Gaza Strip, 20 Palestinians, 12 of whom were civilians, including 10 children, were killed by IOF.
Seven children were killed in Beit Lahia on 4 January 2005, when IOF fired a tank shell at them.
Ten Palestinians, including 2 children, one of whom was mentally disabled, were killed by IOF that launched a wide scale offensive on Khan Yunis on 30 and 31 December 2004.
A child was killed in Rafah on 30 December 2004 when IOF fired at him when he was hunting birds.
On 31 December 2005, IOF killed a Palestinian civilian in Rafah.
On 4 January 2005, IOF killed a Palestinian civilian in Gaza City.
This week, IOF conducted 6 incursions into Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip. The widest of these incursions was into Khan Yunis on 30 and 31 December 2004, when IOF totally destroyed 14 houses, rendering 187 people (25 families) homeless.
They also partially destroyed 33 other houses. The other incursions targeted Palestinian areas in Deir al-Balah, Rafah, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia.
During these incursions, IOF razed 51 donums of agricultural land in Deir al-Balah, arrested 3 Palestinian civilians in Rafah, and wounded a journalist in Beit Hanoun.
In the West Bank, IOF moved into various areas throughout the West Bank, injured a number of Palestinian civilians and arrested dozens of others. They also raided a medical center of Palestine Red Crescent Society and a hospital in Tulkarm.
These attacks impacted on the election campaigns of candidates for the Palestinian presidential election, which will be held on 9 January 2005, as IOF confiscated campaigning materials in some cases.
IOF have continued to construct the annexation wall inside the West Bank territory. Israeli sources unveiled new plans made by the Israeli government regarding the route of the wall in Bethlehem and Hebron districts in the southern West Bank.
According to these plans, IOF would annex 4 villages in Bethlehem district to Israeli territory: Housan; Batteer; Wadi Foukin; and Nahalin. Nearly 18,000 Palestinians live in these villages.
According to the plans, IOF would create an Israeli island between Hebron and Bethlehem, which includes 10 Israeli settlements, where nearly 50,000 settlers live.
IOF have continued to impose a tightened siege on the OPT and have imposed severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Jerusalem.
In the Gaza Strip, IOF have continued to close all border crossings of the Gaza Strip either partially or completely. They have closed Rafah Terminal on the Egyptian border for the 4th consecutive week, creating a serious humanitarian crisis and depriving Palestinians of their health, educational, religious and political rights.
They have also continued to impose severe restriction on internal movement. In the latest example of the policy of collective punishment on the Palestinian civilian population, Israeli authorities have prevented at least 170 pilgrims from the Gaza Strip from traveling to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj, in violation of their right to freely practice their religion.
Israeli authorities claimed that this decision was taken for security reasons.
They have also prevented dozens of pilgrims from traveling because of what Israeli authorities claim is a lack of necessary security coordination, despite the fact that the names of these pilgrims were included in the lists of those who are allowed to travel, delivered to the Palestinian Ministry of Religious Endowments.
Israeli authorities have imposed severe restrictions on those who are allowed to travel through Erez Crossing.
On 5 January 2005, IOF closed Erez crossing and prevented the third group of pilgrims from traveling.
In the West Bank, IOF imposed more restrictions on the movement of a number of candidates for the Palestinian residential election in their campaigns for the elections. This week, IOF erected more military checkpoints, especially in Nablus district, and imposed severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians.
Shelling of, and Encroachment into Palestinian Areas and Attacks on Palestinian Civilians and Property
Thursday, 30 December 2004
Israeli Offensive on Khan Yunis 30 December – 2 January
In the early morning, IOF initiated a wide scale incursion into Khan Yunis refugee camp and al-Amal neighborhood in Khan Yunis, which continued for more than 100 hours.
During this incursion, IOF killed 10 Palestinians, including 2 children and a disabled young man, and injured 30 others, including 7 children.
IOF also destroyed 14 houses, rendering 187 individuals (25 families) homeless. Furthermore, they severely damaged 21 houses. They also destroyed a market and a park in al-Amal neighborhood.
Palestinian medical crews faced extreme difficulties in reaching the affected areas due to the indiscriminate shelling by Israeli troops.
According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 00:00, IOF, reinforced by heavy military vehicles and supported by drones, moved into Khan Yunis refugee camp and al-Amal neighborhood in the west of Khan Yunis.
Under the cover of indiscriminate shelling, IOF ordered Palestinian civilians to vacate their houses and they did.
IOF raided a number of houses in al-Amal neighborhood and transformed their roofs into military sites. Soon, a number of members of the Palestinian resistance clashed with IOF in Khan Yunis refugee camp. One members of the resistance,
Yahia Joma'a Abu Bakra, 32,
was killed by a live bullet in the chest during these clashes. Nearly half an hour later, the Israeli air force fired a missile at a number of members of the Palestinian resistance who were near Haroun al-Rashid School in al-Amal neighborhood. One member of the resistance,
Sami Mohammed Khudair, 20,
was killed by shrapnel throughout the body, and 2 civilians, including a child, were injured. At approximately 01:30,
'Ammar Salem 'Arar, 21,
was killed when the Israeli air force fired a missile at him when he attempted to cross a street in Khan Yunis refugee camp. The victim was a member of the Palestinian resistance, but was not in a combating position when he was killed. At approximately 07:30, IOF shelled Palestinian houses in al-Amal neighborhood. A Palestinian child,
14-year-old Mohammed Yahia Abu al-Sa'id,
was killed by shrapnel throughout the body when he was near his house. At approximately 10:30, IOF shelled the same area again. A mentally disabled Palestinian civilian,
Ahmed Mohammed Touman, 20,
was killed by 4 live bullets in the neck and the chest.
At approximately 20:45, the Israeli air force fired a missile at a number of members of the Palestinian resistance who were near a brick factory in the west of al-Amal neighborhood.
Three members of the resistance were instantly killed by shrapnel:
1. 'Arafat Khalil al-Bardawil, 23;
2. Ussama Mohammed Abu Mousa, 22; and
3. Amjad Subhi 'Arram, 22.
1) A fourth member of the resistance was seriously injured.
As a result of the indiscriminate shelling by IOF, 13 Palestinians, including 3 children and 2 women, were injured.
At approximately 05:30 on Friday, 31 December 2004, the Israeli air force fired a missile at a number of members of the Palestinian resistance in al-Amal neighborhood. Two members of the resistance were instantly killed by shrapnel:
1. Khaled Khamis Abu 'Ouda, 40; and
2. Mohammed Mahmoud Abu Khurais, 25.
As a result of the indiscriminate shelling by IOF on Friday, 7 Palestinians, including 3 children, were injured.
At approximately 20:30 on Saturday, 1 January 2005, the Israeli air force fired a missile at a number of members of the Palestinian resistance in al-Amal neighborhood. Two members of the resistance were lightly injured.
As a result of the indiscriminate shelling by IOF, 2 Palestinian civilians, including a child, were injured.
At approximately 01:00 on Sunday, 2 January 2005, a Palestinian civilian was injured. Thus, the number of Palestinians injured since the beginning of this incursion had increased to 30, including 7 children and 2 women.
1) At least 5 of the injured were in a serious condition.
During this incursion, IOF destroyed 14 houses, rendering 187 individuals (25 families). They also damaged 21 other houses. In addition, IOF destroyed a market and a park in al-Amal neighborhood and severely damaged the infrastructure of the two areas.
(Thursday, 30 December Continued)
At approximately 01:00, an infantry unit of IOF moved from "Dogit" settlement, north of Beit Lahia, moved into al-'Atatra area to the south. The unit raided 2 houses belonging to the families of Hassouna and Abu Jahal.
IOF held the residents inside and transformed the two houses into military sites. At approximately 13:00, more units of IOF, reinforced by heavy military vehicles, arrived at the area.
They took position to the north of the American school, nearly 800 meters to the south of the aforementioned settlement. IOF withdrew from the area at approximately 18:00, leaving some damage to agricultural areas.
At approximately 14:00, IOF positioned at the Egyptian border, south of Rafah, opened fire at Palestinian houses in al-Salam neighborhood. A Palestinian civilian,
1) Mahmoud Salman al-'Arja, 21, was seriously wounded by a live bullet in the abdomen.
At approximately 14:15, IOF positioned in military posts at the entrance to al-Mawasi area, west of Rafah, opened fire at 2 Palestinian children who were hunting birds near the housing project of Tal al-Sultan neighborhood. One of the children,
16-year-old Rezeq Ziad Musleh,
was seriously wounded by a live bullet in the abdomen. He was evacuated to the hospital, but medical efforts to save his life failed and he was pronounced dead at approximately 06:00 on the following day.
During the day, IOF moved into Beit Ummar village, north of Hebron; and the villages of Deir Ghassana, Qarawat Bani Zaid and Kufor 'Ein, northwest of Rammlah. They raided and searched a number of houses and arrested 14 Palestinians.
Friday, 31 December 2004
At approximately 02:00, 6 Israeli military jeeps moved into the neighborhood of Hebron University. IOF raided Riad 'Omarn al-Qawasmi's house. They held the six residents of the house in one room. Then, they searched the house and arrested the owner's son, 20-year-old Fahad.
At approximately 03:00, IOF, reinforced by heavy military vehicles moved nearly 400 meters into Boba' area to the west of "Kfar Darom" settlement, southeast of Deir al-Balah. They raided 'Omar 'Ouda al-Louh's house and held its seven residents in one room.
Then, they searched the house and transformed it into a military site. IOF opened fire from the house at the neighboring area. As a result, a Palestinian civilian,
1) 26-year-old Hassan Suleiman Asfar, was wounded by a live bullet in the right hand.
2) Two members of the Palestinian resistance who clashed with IOF were also wounded and one of them was in a serious condition.
Then, IOF started to raze areas of Palestinian agricultural land.
By 18:30, IOF had razed 36 donums of agricultural land planted with palms, olives and vegetables belonging to the families of Baraka, Abu Salim, Khattab, Bashir, al-Louh, al-Masri and Abu 'Amra.
They also destroyed the fence of a house and 12 beehives and killed 5 sheep.
At approximately 09:40, IOF positioned in military posts in the vicinity of "Gush Qatif" settlement bloc, west and north of Rafah, opened fire at Palestinian house in Tal al-Sultan neighborhood in the west of the town. A Palestinian civilian,
1) 40-year-old Samir Hassan al-Ostath,
was wounded by a live bullet in the buttocks.
At approximately 17:00, IOF positioned at the Egyptian border, south of Rafah, opened fire at Palestinian houses in al-Junaina neighborhood to the north. A Palestinian child,
1) 10-year-old Yasmine Sami al-Mallahi,
was seriously wounded by a live bullet in the right forearm and the abdomen.
At approximately 21:30, IOF positioned at the Egyptian border, south of Rafah, opened fire at a Palestinian who attempted to infiltrate through the border in al-Shouka neighborhood in the southeast of Rafah.
Following coordination between IOF and the Palestinian liaison, a Palestinian ambulance moved to the area and evacuated the victim's body to the hospital at 22:30. The victim was identified as
19-year-old 'Awad Khamis 'Ataya.
He was hit by several live bullets to the head and the limbs. According to investigations conducted by PCHR, the victim attempted to infiltrate through the Egyptian border and then to Israel to search for a job. He was not armed.
Saturday, 1 January 2005
At approximately 02:00, IOF moved into Tulkarm town and refugee camp. They raided and searched a number of houses and arrested 4 Palestinians.
At approximately 17:00, IOF moved into Tulkarm refugee camp. They took position near the social club in the center of the camp. A number of Israeli soldiers mounted the roofs of a number of houses and opened fire at a number of members of the Palestinian resistance who were nearly 250 meters away.
1) One member of the resistance was wounded and his colleagues were able to evacuate him from the area.
Then, IOF raided the medical center of Palestine Red Crescent Society and Dr. Thabet Thabet Hospital searching for the wounded member of the resistance, but they did not find him.
Sunday, 2 January 2005
At approximately 01:00, IOF, reinforced by heavy military vehicles, moved from the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel nearly 2 kilometers into the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun.
At approximately 08:30, more Israeli heavy military vehicles moved from Erez crossing into the town. They seized control over Salah al-Din Street.
At approximately 10:30, Israeli heavy military vehicles moved forward and reached Qulaibu Hill in Beit Lahia. IOF surrounded a number of houses and forced 28 residents of two houses to vacate them. They transformed the two houses into military sites.
At approximately 15:30, IOF opened fire at a number of journalists who were clearly marked press suits and holding their cameras, nearly 800 meters away. These journalists were covering this Israeli incursion into the town. One of the journalists,
1) Majdi Jamil al-'Arabeed, 34,
from Gaza City, a cameraman of the Israeli Channel 10 and director of the local al-Horriya radio, was seriously wounded by a live bullet in the side and the pelvis.
He was first evacuated to a local hospital where he underwent and surgery, but as he remained in a serious condition, he was transferred to an Israeli hospital.
At approximately 10:45, IOF, reinforced by heavy military vehicles, moved nearly 100 meters into Palestinian areas to the northwest of "Kfar Darom" settlement, southeast of Deir al-Balah. They started to raze areas of Palestinian agricultural land.
By 15:30, they had razed 15 donums of agricultural land planted with palms, olives and vegetables belonging to the families of Abu 'Oraif, Abu Salim and Shahin and destroyed a fence of a house.
At approximately 20:20, IOF positioned in military posts at the Egyptian border, south of Rafah, opened fire at residential areas in the town. A Palestinian civilian,
1) 32-year-old 'Ali Rasmi Hussein,
was wounded by a live bullet in the right leg, when he was in al-Shaboura refugee camp, nearly 1200 meters away from the border.
During the day, IOF moved into the villages of
Bani Na'im and Dura near Hebron;
Nablus and the neighboring Burqa village;
Qalqilya;
Tulkram refugee camp;
Toura al-Gharbiya village near Jenin.
They raided and searched a number of houses and arrested 25 Palestinians, including 2 children.
Monday, 3 January 2005
At approximately 09:15, IOF positioned in military posts at the Egyptian border, south of Rafah, opened fire at residential areas in the town. A Palestinian schoolchild,
1) 17-year-old Iman Mahmoud Saidam,
was seriously wounded by a live bullet in the abdomen, when she was going back home from her school, nearly 1000 meters away from the border.
At approximately 11:00, IOF positioned in military posts at the Egyptian border, south of Rafah, opened fire at residential areas in the town. A Palestinian schoolchild,
1) 13-year-old Mohammed Ya'qoub al-Satari,
was wounded by a live bullet in the right shoulder when he was at a school in al-Shaboura refugee camp.
At approximately 16:20, IOF positioned in military posts at the Egyptian border, south of Rafah, opened fire at Yebna refugee camp. A Palestinian civilian,
1) 20-year-old Farid 'Adnan Abu 'Armana, was wounded by a live bullet in the right foot.
At approximately 18:00, 3 Israeli military jeeps moved into Nablus. IOF opened fire at houses. A Palestinian woman,
1) 35-year-old Wafaa' Saber 'Aqqouba, was wounded by a live bullet in the right leg.
At approximately 22:30, IOF moved into Bitounia town, southwest of Ramallah. They surrounded a shop at the entrance of the town and opened fire at it without any warning. A number of members of the Palestinian resistance, who were inside the shop, returned fire. The exchange of fire continued for nearly an hour, during which
1) Na'im Mohammed Isma'il, 27, was injured.
IOF arrested him and his two brothers: 'Ali, 30; and Isma'il, 25. The three are residents of Bettin village, east of Ramallah.
During the day, IOF moved into the villages of Dura and al-Majd near Hebron, and Beeta village near Nablus. They raided and searched a number of houses and arrested 8 Palestinians.
Tuesday, 4 January 2005
In the morning, IOF killed 7 Palestinian children, including 2 brothers, by a tank shell in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahia on Tuesday morning, 4 January 2005. Six of the children are from the Ghaben family.
In addition, 7 civilians, including 5 children, were seriously injured. This attack is further evidence of the disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians and the excessive and indiscriminate use of force by IOF.
Following the attack, IOF claimed that they targeted a number of members of the Palestinian resistance, but preliminary investigations conducted by PCHR refute this claim as all victims of the attack were children working on their agricultural land.
According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 07:45, IOF positioned in military posts between "Elli Sinai" and "Nissanit" settlements to the north of Beit Lahia fired a tank shell at Palestinian agricultural areas located to the south of the fence separating the two settlements and Beit Lahia.
The shell directly hit a number of Palestinian children who were farming their land. Seven children, including 2 brothers, were killed:
1. Hani Mohammed Kamel Ghaben, 17;
2. Mohammed Hassan Mousa Ghaben, 17;
3. Rajeh Ghassan Kamel Ghaben, 10;
4. Jaber 'Abdullah Ghaben, 16;
5. Bassam Kamel Mohammed Ghaben, 17;
6. Mahmoud Kamel Mohammed Ghaben, 12; and
7. Jibril 'Abdul Fattah al-Kaseeh, 16.
In addition, 7 civilians, including 5 children, were injured:
1. Islam Ahmed al-'Eila, 17, injured by shrapnel throughout the body;
2. Tha'er 'Ali Abu Banat, 15; injured by shrapnel throughout the body;
3. Hussein Abu Banat, 41, injured by shrapnel throughout the body;
4. Ibrahim 'Abdul Fattah al-Kaseeh, 13, his legs were cut;
5. 'Emad Yousef al-Kaseeh, 16, his legs were cut;
6. 'Eissa Ramdan Ghalia, 11, his legs were cut; and
7. Mohammed Kamel Mohammed Ghaben, 19, his right leg was cut.
An infantry unit of IOF positioned near a factory of concrete near an Israeli military post known as "Malaka", southeast of Gaza City, opened fire at a number of Palestinian civilians who were on their agricultural land adjacent to the factory. Six civilians were wounded. One of the wounded,
Mohammed Nader Hani Khalifa, 24,
from al-Zaytoun neighborhood, from al-Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City, was seriously wounded by a live bullet in the abdomen, and he died later. The victim was near his house when he was hit by a live bullet. The others who were wounded were:
1. Ahmed Khamis 'Ouda, 20, from al-Zaytoun neighborhood, wounded by a live bullet in the left hand;
2. Sharif Rafiq 'Ayad, 21, from al-Shojaeya neighborhood, wounded by a live bullet in the shoulder;
3. Mahmoud Subhi Kuhail, 24, from al-Zaytoun neighborhood, wounded by a live bullet in the right foot;
4. Ahmed Mohammed 'Azzam, 18, from al-Zaytoun neighborhood, wounded by a live bullet in the left hand; and
5. Rani Khamis Abu al-Qumboz, 19, from al-Shojaeya neighborhood, wounded by a live bullet in the left thigh.
At approximately 22:15, IOF positioned in military posts at the Egyptian border, south of Rafah, opened fire at Palestinian houses in al-Brazil neighborhood to the south. A Palestinian child,
1- 17-year-old Hassan 'Aadel al-Akhras, was injured by shrapnel in the right eye.
During the day, IOF moved into Hebron and the neighboring villages of Yatta, Sourif, Beit Oula, Beit Ummar, Deir Samet and Halhoul and al-Fawar refugee camp; Silwad village bear Ramallah; 'Aanin village near Jenin; and Qalqilya. They raided and searched a number of houses and arrested 24 Palestinians.
Wednesday, 5 January 2005
At approximately 03:30, IOF supported by a helicopter moved into al-Shouka neighborhood in the southeast of Rafah. They surrounded Salem Joma'a al-Debari's house. They threw sound bombs near the house and ordered its male residents to get out. Then, they raided and searched the house. At approximately 04:30, IOF withdrew from the area after having arrested 3 of the owner's sons:
Sami, 31;
Mazen, 23; and
Joma'a, 19.
At approximately 11:00, IOF positioned in military posts at the Egyptian border, south of Rafah, opened fire at residential areas and educational institutions in the town. Three Palestinian civilians, including a teacher and a girl, were wounded:
1. Mohammed Mahmoud Abu Habib, 39, wounded by shrapnel in the right thigh when he was at an elementary school in al-Brazil neighborhood;
2. 'Abdul Hamid Mansour al-Nahhal, 22, wounded by a live bullet in the buttocks when he was in al-Junaina neighborhood; and
3. Fulla 'Ali 'Aashour, 22, wounded by a live bullet in the right forearm, when she was inside her house.
http://fwd4.me/0yeN
12 apr 2012, 16:14 , Respect -
Maria 4 jan 2005
Rajeh Ghassan Kamal Ghaben 9Mahmoud Kamel Muhammad Ghaben 12
12 apr 2012, 16:14 , Respect -
Maria 4 jan 2005
Bassam Kamal Muhammad Ghaben 14Jaber Abdallah Muhammad Ghaben 14Hani Kamal Muhammad Ghaben 15
12 apr 2012, 16:17 , Respect -
Maria 4 jan 2005
Jibril Abdul-Fattah Ibrahim al-Kaseeh 16Muhammad Hasan Musa Ghaben 16
Muhammad Nader Hani Khalifa 25
12 apr 2012, 16:17 , Respect -
Maria 5 jan 2005
Amjad Khaled Al-Najjar 18
Fadi Za'al Abu Qamar 21
At least two resistance fighters killed in the Gaza Strip
Apparently, a third resident was killed in the area, others wounded, while Palestinian medical sources were not able to confirm the death after the army barred the ambulances from reaching the crossing area.
12 apr 2012, 16:17 , Respect -
Maria 6 Jan 2005
Hamzah Abdul-Minem Jaber 9
Mohannad Mahmoud Al-Lahham 17
Hamzah of Hebron, killed by an IDF jeep on the highway near his home.
Resistance fighter killed in the Gaza Strip
12 apr 2012, 16:17 , Respect -
Maria 7 jan 2005
Muhammad Bashir Rabah 'Ayad 19
Muhammad Sami Muhammad abu Sel 21
Worse Than War Crimes
It looks as if the shine is beginning to wear off Mahmoud Abbas' run for the PA Presidency, among Americans and Israelis who were previously touting him as the "pragmatic" PLO leader, i.e. the one who will sign off on an imposed one-and-a-half-state solution and declare that an end to the conflict. Suddenly the "grandfatherly" Abbas has thrown a spanner in the works:
instead of running as the candidate who is acceptable to Israel and the U.S., he has gone off-script and is inexplicably running as a candidate who is acceptable to his own electorate.
The issue that seems to have set off alarm bells is Abbas' widely-reported reference to Israel as "the Zionist enemy" in a campaign speech at Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip on 4 January 2005.
This is language uncomfortably reminiscent of the "Zionist entity" rhetoric that regimes hostile to the very existence of the Jewish state use as an alternative to uttering the name "Israel", and reflects a level of anger and hostility toward the Israelis that is uncharacteristic of Mahmoud Abbas.
Apparently, the context in which Abbas uttered those words didn't merit the same banner headlines as the words themselves.
Despite what the headlines in the U.S. media suggest, Abu Mazen didn't just pluck some isolated reference to "the Zionist enemy" out of the air in order to annoy the Israelis. This is what he actually said to the crowds in Khan Younis:
"We came to you today, while we are praying for the souls of the martyrs who were killed today by the shells of the Zionist enemy in Beit Lahiya..." (from the same CBS report previously linked)
Mohammed Kaseeh carries the body of his brother
So his words were actually an angry reaction to the fact that the IDF had just killed seven Palestinians in nearby Beit Lahia by firing two tank shells into the field where they were working, in an apparent response to an earlier attack from the same area by Hamas militants who fired four mortars at the Jewish settlement of Nissanit.
As Ali Abunimah noted, National Public Radio managed to report Abbas' reference to "the Zionist enemy" without any reference whatsoever to that fact that he was responding to these killings.
While Abbas' words were extreme and troubling to NPR, the deaths that provoked them were utterly ignorable. It is as if al-Qaeda were to blow up seven American children, prompting an angry vow from President Bush to hunt down the bastards that did it, and the U.S. news media responds by ignoring the dead children altogether while clucking and swooning over the Presidential use of the word "bastards".
CBS at least referred to the fact that the killings had taken place but, in the usual "he-said-she-said" regurgitation of competing claims that passes for U.S. news reporting, managed to insinuate that the victims probably deserved it anyway, by disseminating the IDF's palpably false claim that
"at least four of the dead were members of Hamas and it is not the first time the militants have used children as shields".
(A claim that CBS could have debunked by simply checking with journalists on the scene as the clearly civilian fatalities - overwhelmingly children - were brought into Kamal Edwan Hospital in Beit Lahia).
Mahmoud Abbas of course doesn't get his news courtesy of CBS. So when he made his angry reference to the "Zionist enemy", he knew the sad truth that the dead "members of Hamas" were actually a family of farm labourers at work in their own fields:
12-year-old Mahmoud Ghaben; his
13-year-old brother, Bassam Ghaben; his
16-year-old brother, Hani Ghaben; his
10-year-old cousin, Rajeh Ghaben; his
12-year-old cousin, Jaber Ghaben; his
22-year-old cousin, Mohammed Ghaben; and a family friend,
20 year-old Jibril al-Kaseeh.
Eleven other labourers harvesting potatoes and strawberries on the Ghabens' farmland were wounded, four of them critically.
Two of the critically wounded suffered double leg amputations, and one a single amputation.
Neither CBS, NPR, nor any other U.S. news source that I am aware of mentioned what really should have been the most newsworthy aspect of the Ghaben family killings, which is that they were killed by the illegal use of two Flechette tank shells, making their deaths a grave breach of international humanitarian law.
Apparently, it was more important for U.S. news to swoon over the fact that Abu Mazen used the words "Zionist enemy" than it was to report that the killings he was reacting to were, technically, a War Crime.
You have to go foreign reporting, specifically to the British Guardian newspaper, to find even a passing reference to the munitions used in the Beit Lahia killings:
Mahmoud Abbas, who is expected to win Sunday's election for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority, condemned "the Zionist enemy" yesterday after seven children on their way to pick strawberries were mistaken for Palestinian militants and killed by Israeli tank shells.
The tanks used anti-personnel shells, which throw out thousands of metal darts in a deadly cloud. Children aged 10, 12, 13 and 14 and three 17-year-olds were killed. A further 11 people were injured, four critically.
The dart-releasing anti-personnel shells that the IDF uses in the Gaza Strip are U.S.-made M494 105mm APERS-T rounds that rupture upon impact releasing approximately 5,000 small darts ("flechettes", pictured), that scythe indiscriminately through anything in their path for a distance of up to 300 metres from the point of impact (further if the shell is detonated mid-air).
Flechettes are not automatically illegal: they have a legitimate use as an anti-personnel weapon against massed ranks of enemy soldiers. A weapon that wipes out indiscriminately members of a crowd of enemy combatants might be unpleasant, but isn't illegal.
If that same weapon is used in a crowd control or internal security situation however, its use becomes, as Jane's Defence Weekly delicately puts it, "problematic". Yet this is exactly how it is used in the Gaza Strip:
Who would have believed that the Israel Defense Forces would fire flechette shells at a soccer field where children were playing, wounding nine people, including two children, without anyone protesting? In fact, the story was barely reported.
Only those who saw the hundreds of small black metal spurs scattered over a wide area from the shell - as was the case in an incident half-a-year ago in which four members of the Abu al-Hajin family were killed in the Gaza Strip - or saw the results of the post mortem of three Palestinian youths whose bodies were split apart by such shells a few months ago, can understand what a truly horrific weapon this is.
The use of the type of weapons to which the flechette belongs has been banned by international law. In Israel, this weapon, which is no different from the appalling devices used by terrorists who pack nails into their explosives, is legal.
-- The IDF's 'Permissiveness' In The Territories, Ha'aretz, 9 Feb 2003
In the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Israel is bound by international law to make every effort to distinguish between those Palestinians who are combatants and those who are not involved in hostilities:
the use of an indiscriminate, 'kill-'em-all-let-God-decide' weapon like the Flechette does not meet that criterion.
In the Gaza Strip in particular, where militants and non-combatants are not only indistinguishable but also packed together in the most crowded piece of real estate on the face of the earth, the use of flechette shells passes from the "problematic" to the illegal.
Although it does not discuss it publicly, the IDF has nevertheless certainly used Flechettes on several occasions during the current intifada, in situations where the deaths of large numbers of innocent civilians were not only foreseeable, but absolutely inevitable.
For example, on 20 October 2003, an Israeli assassination squad killed Hamas activists Khalid al-Masri and Iyad al-Hilo as they drove through the Nusseirat refugee camp near Gaza City. They were killed by a missile that struck their car, and dozens of bystanders were horrifically wounded - at least 10 of them fatally - by a second missile that struck while EMS personnel were treating the victims of the first.
IDF spokesmen denied that the appalling civilian casualties were anything to do with their operation.
They insisted they had used Hellfire missiles in the attack, which would have been lethal only to those in the immediate vicinity of the car, and made available to international journalists a video of the killing showing that no bystanders were in the immediate vicinity at the time (ergo it could not have been the Israeli missiles that killed the bystanders).
Fortunately, one Israeli Knesset Member, Yossi Sarid, who knew from a classified security briefing that the IDF was lying about the munitions it had used at Nusseirat, forced it to come clean by threatening to go public with his information:
The Israeli military has admitted that it lied about a rocket attack on a Gaza refugee camp, which according to the army led to no casualties, but which the Palestinians have claimed killed 14 civilians.... [T]he army now admits that it lied in briefings to the Israeli and foreign press, because the second rocket was not a Hellfire missile.
The military refuses to identify the weapon used, on the grounds of "operational security". But the speculation is that it was an American-made Flechette, which is illegal under international law because it fires thousands of tiny darts over hundreds of meters, causing horrific injuries. Israel has used similar weapons in Gaza in the past...
Evidence from the attack scene indicated that the second missile exploded in the air, not on impact, suggesting an intention to cause casualties in a wide area instead of just destroying the vehicle.
-- Israel Admits It Lied Over Missile Raid on Camp; The Guardian, 21 Nov 2003.
And on 6 March 2003, an Israeli tank fired a Flechette shell into a crowd of Palestinians watching firefighters at work on a blazing furniture store, following an IDF incursion into Jabaliya Refugee Camp in the northern Gaza Strip.
Nine civilians were killed in the attack, including five schoolchildren (four of whom were decapitated). Describing the incident for the U.K. Independent newspaper:
... [m]ost witnesses told the same story: that the first burst of shrapnel that cut down the fireman, Mr Abu Jalili, came from an Israeli tank. They said it fired a shell packed with flechettes, arrow-shaped pieces of metal designed to inflict mass casualties, straight at the fireman, and that the flechettes and shrapnel ripped through a crowd watching from an alley opposite.
The IDF denied that it had fired into the crowd, and suggested that Palestinian casualties were caused instead by a booby trap bomb they had themselves set in the furniture store.
Unfortunately for the IDF, the explosion was captured on TV news footage:
[F]rom the television footage it was clear that the shrapnel which killed the fireman did not come from the furniture store, but from an entirely different direction. Nor was there evidence of a large blast at the furniture store: the large iron doors were still intact and hanging from the hinges.
What the television footage appeared to show was that the tank had fired in the direction of the fireman and the civilians near him. Slowed down, you could see how the shrapnel flew in one direction, over, around, through the fireman, bursting as it hit the road.
Then the machine-gun fire began. All the fire came from the same end of the street as the first burst of shrapnel, and Palestinians fled from it – which meant it was almost certainly Israeli fire.
Additionally, the Israeli civil rights group B'Tselem knows of at least nine, and possibly as many as fifteen, other Palestinians killed by Flechettes since September 2000; and we can now add to that total the seven killed two days ago in Beit Lahia.
The interesting thing about these incidents involving Flechette shells is that they have all occurred in the Gaza Strip.
This is because the IDF's Central Command has forbidden the use of Flechettes in the West Bank, precisely because of the the danger they pose to innocent civilians not involved in hostilities.
IDF Southern Command (which has responsibility for Gaza), however, continues to use them and, as Gideon Levy reported, the rationale behind permitting in Gaza what is forbidden in the West Bank is amazing:
Israel says it uses the flechette only in the Gaza Strip, explaining... that in Gaza, there is a clear division between Jewish settlements and Palestinian locales.
So, Israel knows that by using Flechettes it will indiscriminately kill innocent civilians, and refrains from using them in the West Bank, where Jewish settlers live in proximity to Palestinian civilians and might be among the innocent civilians killed or wounded.
It continues to use them in the Gaza Strip however, because in Gaza there is a separation between Palestinians and settlers, so the innocent civilians killed will only be Palestinian (and can presumably be explained away with a deceitful "it is not the first time the militants have used children as shields").
Isn't that unbelievably callous? And just a little bit newsworthy?
Apparently not. Five dead Palestinian children isn't news for NPR.
Five dead Palestinian children killed by illegal weapons isn't news for NPR, CBS or anyone else.
All that matters is that Abu Mazen said "Zionist enemy".
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