14 nov 2019 page 1
Israeli soldiers invaded, late on Wednesday evening, Shu’fat refugee camp, north of occupied East Jerusalem, and attacked many protesters with live fire and gas bombs.
Fateh Movement spokesperson in Jerusalem, Tha’er Fasfous, said the fired a barrage of gas bombs, causing dozens of Palestinians to suffer the effects of teargas inhalation.
The army also fired live rounds and gas bombs at Palestinians who launched firecrackers at soldiers stationed at the permanent military roadblock near the entrance of the refugee camp.
Fateh Movement spokesperson in Jerusalem, Tha’er Fasfous, said the fired a barrage of gas bombs, causing dozens of Palestinians to suffer the effects of teargas inhalation.
The army also fired live rounds and gas bombs at Palestinians who launched firecrackers at soldiers stationed at the permanent military roadblock near the entrance of the refugee camp.
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The Palestinian Health Ministry has reported that Israeli missiles struck, on Thursday at dawn, a Palestinian home in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, killing six members of the same family, and wounding thirteen others.
The Health Ministry stated that Israeli F16 war jets fired missiles into a home in Deir al-Balah, killing six family members, and wounding at least thirteen others, most of them are women and children. The remains of two more children were found under the rubble, amidst ongoing search. They names will be pubished. video Dr. Ashraf al-Qedra, the spokesperson of the Health Ministry in Gaza has reported that the slain Sawarka (Abu Malhous) family has been officially identified as: |
Rasmi Salem Odah Sawarka, 45.
Mariam Salem Nasser Sawarka, 45.
Mohannad Rasmi Salem Sawarka, 12.
Moath Mohmmad Salem Sawarka, 7.
Waseem Mohammad Salem Sawarka, 13.
Yosra Mohammad Awwad Sawarka, 39.
Only one toddler survived the Israeli attack and was found shielded by her slain brother.
The slain and injured Palestinians were moved to the al-Aqsa hospital, while medics and rescue teams started a search campaign, looking for more Palestinians who might be buried under the rubble.
Updated On Nov 14, 2018: Their death brings the number of slain Palestinians, who were killed by Israeli missiles, since Monday at dawn, to 32, while more than 100 others have been injured. Among the wounded are at least 30 children and 13 women.
In related news, a six-month pregnant woman, identified as Iman Abu Tayyim, suffered a miscarriage in a severe anxiety attack after the soldiers fired missiles near her home, east of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. video
The escalation on the Gaza Strip started when Israel assassinated a senior leader of the Islamic Jihad, identified as Baha’ Abu al-‘Ata, when the soldiers dropped a missile on his home, killing him along with his wife, Asma’, also wounding many members of their family, in addition to a female neighbor, in the Sheja’eyya area, east of Gaza city.
Israeli missiles and shells have caused a power blackout after striking main powerlines and transformers, especially in Gaza city and the northern parts of the coastal region, including Jabalia and Beit Lahia.
Mariam Salem Nasser Sawarka, 45.
Mohannad Rasmi Salem Sawarka, 12.
Moath Mohmmad Salem Sawarka, 7.
Waseem Mohammad Salem Sawarka, 13.
Yosra Mohammad Awwad Sawarka, 39.
Only one toddler survived the Israeli attack and was found shielded by her slain brother.
The slain and injured Palestinians were moved to the al-Aqsa hospital, while medics and rescue teams started a search campaign, looking for more Palestinians who might be buried under the rubble.
Updated On Nov 14, 2018: Their death brings the number of slain Palestinians, who were killed by Israeli missiles, since Monday at dawn, to 32, while more than 100 others have been injured. Among the wounded are at least 30 children and 13 women.
In related news, a six-month pregnant woman, identified as Iman Abu Tayyim, suffered a miscarriage in a severe anxiety attack after the soldiers fired missiles near her home, east of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. video
The escalation on the Gaza Strip started when Israel assassinated a senior leader of the Islamic Jihad, identified as Baha’ Abu al-‘Ata, when the soldiers dropped a missile on his home, killing him along with his wife, Asma’, also wounding many members of their family, in addition to a female neighbor, in the Sheja’eyya area, east of Gaza city.
Israeli missiles and shells have caused a power blackout after striking main powerlines and transformers, especially in Gaza city and the northern parts of the coastal region, including Jabalia and Beit Lahia.
Israeli soldiers invaded, on Wednesday evening, the al-Arroub refugee camp, north of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, and shot a young man with a live round in his knee, leading to a serious injury after a severe blood loss, and caused a fire in one home after firing concussion grenades into it.
Medical sources in Hebron said the soldiers attacked many Palestinians, who protested the invasion into their refugee camp, and fired live rounds, gas bombs, concussion grenades and rubber-coated steel bullet at them.
They added that a young Palestinian man was shot with a live round in the knee, causing severe bleeding, before he was rushed to a local hospital, where his wounds were described as serious.
The soldiers also fired concussion grenades into a home in the refugee camp, causing a fire to the property, before Palestinian firefighters rushed to extinguish it.
The invasion into the refugee camp was carried out by the soldiers during a procession in condemnation of the killing of Omar al-Badawi, 20, who was shot by Israeli army fire, Monday, although he posed no threat to the soldiers and wasn’t even taking part in any protest.
Medical sources in Hebron said the soldiers attacked many Palestinians, who protested the invasion into their refugee camp, and fired live rounds, gas bombs, concussion grenades and rubber-coated steel bullet at them.
They added that a young Palestinian man was shot with a live round in the knee, causing severe bleeding, before he was rushed to a local hospital, where his wounds were described as serious.
The soldiers also fired concussion grenades into a home in the refugee camp, causing a fire to the property, before Palestinian firefighters rushed to extinguish it.
The invasion into the refugee camp was carried out by the soldiers during a procession in condemnation of the killing of Omar al-Badawi, 20, who was shot by Israeli army fire, Monday, although he posed no threat to the soldiers and wasn’t even taking part in any protest.
13 nov 2019
Relatives of Abdel Selam Ahmed and Abdullah Ellibesi, who were killed in Israeli airstrike, mourn during their funeral ceremony in Beit Hanoun, Gaza City, Gaza on 13 November 2019
The extrajudicial killing of Bahaa Abu Al-Ata of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, the second largest faction in the Gaza Strip, has triggered a predictable spike in “conflict related incidents”. As always, it is the Palestinian civilian population residing in the much maligned Gaza Strip who are affected disproportionately.
On Wednesday morning, Israel’s supposedly “left wing” newspaper Haaretz reported that 18 Israeli civilians had been taken overnight to Ashkelon Hospital to be treated for “anxiety” following a spate of rocket fire emanating from Gaza.
At the same time, a spokesperson for Gaza’s Health Ministry, Ashraf Al-Qudra, reported that the remains of 22 Palestinians were being transferred to the mortuary. A stark reminder, if ever one was needed, of the gross asymmetry of the “conflict” in Palestine/Israel.
For some, the “legitimacy” of Abu Al-Ata’s killing is a point of contention under international law. There is the usual binary rhetoric of “execution” [pdf] versus “legitimate act of war” considered alongside debate over the appropriate designation of “combatant/non-combatant” status and the supposed protections therein.
Regardless, and often set aside when debating the extrajudicial killing of “enemy (non)combatants”, it is worth remembering that Abu Al-Ata and his wife were killed in their bed in an Israeli rocket attack that destroyed his house in the Gaza City neighbourhood of Shuja’iyah, leaving his two children orphaned and undergoing emergency treatment at the local Al Shifa Hospital.
Similarly, there will be polarising views on the (il)legitimacy of the simultaneous attack on an Islamic Jihad political bureau member in Damascus, Akram Al-Ajouri, which resulted in the death of his son and a neighbour, and which also involved a flagrant breach of Syrian territorial sovereignty. Thus, what has been clear for some time, when it comes to the rules governing armed conflict and the application of principles of international law, it appears that “might is right” when Israel is involved.
Those with a strong commitment to realising the goals of a fair and, more importantly, a just resolution to the enduring conflict in Palestine/Israel will hardly be surprised by the bias and hypocrisy of Western politicians and the media taking to the airwaves to absolve Israel of any blame. Take, for example, the response of the spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Maja Kocijančič, who tweeted in the aftermath of Abu Al-Ata’s killing that, “The firing of rockets on civilian populations is totally unacceptable and must immediately stop.”
Or Joe Biden, in the running to be the next President of the United States, who tweeted, “It is intolerable that Israeli civilians live their lives under the constant fear of rocket attacks.” Not enough twitter characters, it seems, for either to make mention of the fact that it was the Israelis who kicked off this latest round of violence.
Arguably the greatest example of linguistic gymnastics is reserved for the headline writer in the Times of Israel, who led with, “Israel kills powerful Islamic Jihad commander”. Quite a stretch considering the modest arsenal at the disposal of Palestinian factions compared to a nuclear armed Middle East superpower with friends in high places.
As leading Palestinian writer and activist Mariam Barghouti has noted, Palestinians, “aren’t leading a war. They have no official army, no official borders; they have no control over their resources and lands; and even their politicians are sometimes assassinated or incarcerated.”
The much-maligned Gaza Strip, considered to be unliveable by 2020 according to a UN report, continues to be the front line of resistance when it comes to Israel’s ongoing colonisation of Palestine.
Weekly protests that call for an end to the illegal Israeli (and Egyptian) blockade imposed on the civilian population are often subject to extreme levels of Israeli violence, tantamount to “alleged war crimes” according to the UN and leading regional human rights organisations. Approximately 200 Palestinian civilians, including some 50 children, have been killed since the beginning of the protests in 2018, with many thousands left with life-changing injuries.
Yet despite the tough talk from the UN Human Rights Council, when it comes to breaches of international law in Palestine, accountability and justice remain elusive.
It is hard to avoid the sense of déjà vu that surrounds this latest incident. As has been noted in other media outlets, the killing of Abu Al-Ata comes almost 7 years to the day that Israel assassinated Hamas leader Ahmed Jabari, the pretext to the 2012 ground invasion and eventual deadly military offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza.
Back then, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was struggling to hold together his hotchpotch coalition government. In 2019, having gone through two General Election cycles this year without a clear winner, and with pressure mounting on political rivals to form a coalition, Israeli politics is in a similar state of flux.
There is nothing better, apparently, than to carry out a choreographed, high profile assassination of a Palestinian to galvanise the nation.
With former Chief of Staff Benny Gantz — chief architect of Israel’s 2014 destruction of Gaza — waiting in the wings, the prospect of an Israeli coalition government comprising Netanyahu, Gantz and Israeli hawk Naftali Bennett as “Defence” Minister seems more likely than ever. It remains to be seen how the latest, cyclical round of violence will evolve, but no amount of false equivalency can mask the fact that this is a dangerously one-sided affair centred on Israeli political posturing.
The extrajudicial killing of Bahaa Abu Al-Ata of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, the second largest faction in the Gaza Strip, has triggered a predictable spike in “conflict related incidents”. As always, it is the Palestinian civilian population residing in the much maligned Gaza Strip who are affected disproportionately.
On Wednesday morning, Israel’s supposedly “left wing” newspaper Haaretz reported that 18 Israeli civilians had been taken overnight to Ashkelon Hospital to be treated for “anxiety” following a spate of rocket fire emanating from Gaza.
At the same time, a spokesperson for Gaza’s Health Ministry, Ashraf Al-Qudra, reported that the remains of 22 Palestinians were being transferred to the mortuary. A stark reminder, if ever one was needed, of the gross asymmetry of the “conflict” in Palestine/Israel.
For some, the “legitimacy” of Abu Al-Ata’s killing is a point of contention under international law. There is the usual binary rhetoric of “execution” [pdf] versus “legitimate act of war” considered alongside debate over the appropriate designation of “combatant/non-combatant” status and the supposed protections therein.
Regardless, and often set aside when debating the extrajudicial killing of “enemy (non)combatants”, it is worth remembering that Abu Al-Ata and his wife were killed in their bed in an Israeli rocket attack that destroyed his house in the Gaza City neighbourhood of Shuja’iyah, leaving his two children orphaned and undergoing emergency treatment at the local Al Shifa Hospital.
Similarly, there will be polarising views on the (il)legitimacy of the simultaneous attack on an Islamic Jihad political bureau member in Damascus, Akram Al-Ajouri, which resulted in the death of his son and a neighbour, and which also involved a flagrant breach of Syrian territorial sovereignty. Thus, what has been clear for some time, when it comes to the rules governing armed conflict and the application of principles of international law, it appears that “might is right” when Israel is involved.
Those with a strong commitment to realising the goals of a fair and, more importantly, a just resolution to the enduring conflict in Palestine/Israel will hardly be surprised by the bias and hypocrisy of Western politicians and the media taking to the airwaves to absolve Israel of any blame. Take, for example, the response of the spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Maja Kocijančič, who tweeted in the aftermath of Abu Al-Ata’s killing that, “The firing of rockets on civilian populations is totally unacceptable and must immediately stop.”
Or Joe Biden, in the running to be the next President of the United States, who tweeted, “It is intolerable that Israeli civilians live their lives under the constant fear of rocket attacks.” Not enough twitter characters, it seems, for either to make mention of the fact that it was the Israelis who kicked off this latest round of violence.
Arguably the greatest example of linguistic gymnastics is reserved for the headline writer in the Times of Israel, who led with, “Israel kills powerful Islamic Jihad commander”. Quite a stretch considering the modest arsenal at the disposal of Palestinian factions compared to a nuclear armed Middle East superpower with friends in high places.
As leading Palestinian writer and activist Mariam Barghouti has noted, Palestinians, “aren’t leading a war. They have no official army, no official borders; they have no control over their resources and lands; and even their politicians are sometimes assassinated or incarcerated.”
The much-maligned Gaza Strip, considered to be unliveable by 2020 according to a UN report, continues to be the front line of resistance when it comes to Israel’s ongoing colonisation of Palestine.
Weekly protests that call for an end to the illegal Israeli (and Egyptian) blockade imposed on the civilian population are often subject to extreme levels of Israeli violence, tantamount to “alleged war crimes” according to the UN and leading regional human rights organisations. Approximately 200 Palestinian civilians, including some 50 children, have been killed since the beginning of the protests in 2018, with many thousands left with life-changing injuries.
Yet despite the tough talk from the UN Human Rights Council, when it comes to breaches of international law in Palestine, accountability and justice remain elusive.
It is hard to avoid the sense of déjà vu that surrounds this latest incident. As has been noted in other media outlets, the killing of Abu Al-Ata comes almost 7 years to the day that Israel assassinated Hamas leader Ahmed Jabari, the pretext to the 2012 ground invasion and eventual deadly military offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza.
Back then, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was struggling to hold together his hotchpotch coalition government. In 2019, having gone through two General Election cycles this year without a clear winner, and with pressure mounting on political rivals to form a coalition, Israeli politics is in a similar state of flux.
There is nothing better, apparently, than to carry out a choreographed, high profile assassination of a Palestinian to galvanise the nation.
With former Chief of Staff Benny Gantz — chief architect of Israel’s 2014 destruction of Gaza — waiting in the wings, the prospect of an Israeli coalition government comprising Netanyahu, Gantz and Israeli hawk Naftali Bennett as “Defence” Minister seems more likely than ever. It remains to be seen how the latest, cyclical round of violence will evolve, but no amount of false equivalency can mask the fact that this is a dangerously one-sided affair centred on Israeli political posturing.
Palestinian women sit on debris after Israeli airstrikes hit their homes in Khan Yunis, Gaza as tension rises between Israel and Gaza after commander in the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Gaza-based resistance faction Islamic Jihad, Bahaa Abu Al-Atta was killed by Israeli airstrike, on 13 November 2019
The seriously misnamed Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and its supporters get very upset when members of the fifth largest army in the world are accused of targeting innocent women and children.
They issue vehement denials to the world even though that is exactly what happens as a direct consequence of firing high explosives into densely populated civilian areas.
Even as the bombs are falling, Israeli propaganda goes into top gear. An IDF tweet yesterday announced dramatically: “BREAKING: We just targeted Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza, Baha Abu Al Ata.
Al Ata was directly responsible for hundreds of terror attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers. His next attack was imminent.” This was followed quickly up by another post which claimed that the deadly attack was a “precision strike”.
That claim is debateable. What the IDF hasbara team failed to mention was that while targeting Abu Al-Ata the occupation army also killed his wife, and seriously injured four of their children and a neighbour. There was nothing “precision” or “surgical” about this strike; it was arguably a war crime.
When you lob Hellfire missiles — “used in a number of targeted killings of high-profile individuals,” explains Wikipedia — and other so-called smart bombs into a civilian area you will kill civilians. Non-combatant civilians were not protected in such a way during World War Two, which is why Article 33 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions was drawn up.
It states that no one should be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited.
Now we have to sit back and witness the twin obscenities not only of Israel ignoring the Geneva Conventions and killing civilians, but also of pro-Israel lobbyists defending such action.
Among the many tweets posted in support of the military strike, one which caught my eye came from the public relations director of a German NGO; Josias Terschüren challenged me when I had the temerity to point out that there was no such thing as a “surgical strike” in civilian areas.
“Apparently nobody but the targeted terrorist and his wife died in the surgical strike and two of his children were severely wounded,” tweeted Terschüren. “This can happen and has happened to other terrorist family members. No civilians were hurt.”
In this man’s eyes, therefore, neither Abu Al-Ata’s wife nor his children can be regarded as innocent civilians; they are members of a “terrorist family”.
When I challenged him on this, the public relations director of the Berlin-based Holocaust charity “Initiative 27. Januar” responded: “I was referring to your critique of Israeli strikes in densely populated areas. All I wanted to express was, that apart from his family members no other civilians were hit. While unfortunate and sad, this is not uncommon in cases of terrorists‘ family members.”
I’m not sure if Terschüren, who describes himself as “Conservative” and “Christian”, deliberately pushes out this vile propaganda or is a victim of Israeli propaganda himself, because that is a weapon which the IDF uses and abuses with great skill.
Consider this, for example: “This morning we killed an Islamic Jihad commander in #Gaza,” tweeted the IDF yesterday. “This is why you should care.” The accompanying video included news clips about terror attacks including 9/11, Mumbai, Manchester, Paris, Sweden, Indonesia and Nigeria, none of which had anything to do with the Palestinians.
Trying to link Palestinian resistance groups to transnational terrorist attacks elsewhere is simply dishonest. They are not branches of Al-Qaeda or Daesh, no matter how many times the IDF and Israel’s lackeys try to convince us otherwise. It simply isn’t true.
That, though, is what we have come to expect from a country which cannot justify its state terrorism in any other way. “Lies, damn lies and Israeli propaganda,” as Mark Twain might have said. Sadly, such propaganda seems to work, judging by social media; those who are anti-Palestinian fall for it hook, line and sinker, probably because it fuels their own inherent racism and hatred.
The IDF has been busy with more “surgical strikes” since the murder of Abu Al-Ata and his wife. The death toll as I write is 23 Palestinians, of which pro-Israel lobbyists claim just 12 were “confirmed to be members of terror groups”. The strikes were not so surgical after all.
Perhaps the 18 innocents caught up in all of this were the wives and children of the “terrorists”. So that’s all right then, according to Israel’s deluded and blinkered war crime apologists. Their sophistry to justify the murder of innocent men, women and children is sickening.
The seriously misnamed Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and its supporters get very upset when members of the fifth largest army in the world are accused of targeting innocent women and children.
They issue vehement denials to the world even though that is exactly what happens as a direct consequence of firing high explosives into densely populated civilian areas.
Even as the bombs are falling, Israeli propaganda goes into top gear. An IDF tweet yesterday announced dramatically: “BREAKING: We just targeted Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza, Baha Abu Al Ata.
Al Ata was directly responsible for hundreds of terror attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers. His next attack was imminent.” This was followed quickly up by another post which claimed that the deadly attack was a “precision strike”.
That claim is debateable. What the IDF hasbara team failed to mention was that while targeting Abu Al-Ata the occupation army also killed his wife, and seriously injured four of their children and a neighbour. There was nothing “precision” or “surgical” about this strike; it was arguably a war crime.
When you lob Hellfire missiles — “used in a number of targeted killings of high-profile individuals,” explains Wikipedia — and other so-called smart bombs into a civilian area you will kill civilians. Non-combatant civilians were not protected in such a way during World War Two, which is why Article 33 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions was drawn up.
It states that no one should be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited.
Now we have to sit back and witness the twin obscenities not only of Israel ignoring the Geneva Conventions and killing civilians, but also of pro-Israel lobbyists defending such action.
Among the many tweets posted in support of the military strike, one which caught my eye came from the public relations director of a German NGO; Josias Terschüren challenged me when I had the temerity to point out that there was no such thing as a “surgical strike” in civilian areas.
“Apparently nobody but the targeted terrorist and his wife died in the surgical strike and two of his children were severely wounded,” tweeted Terschüren. “This can happen and has happened to other terrorist family members. No civilians were hurt.”
In this man’s eyes, therefore, neither Abu Al-Ata’s wife nor his children can be regarded as innocent civilians; they are members of a “terrorist family”.
When I challenged him on this, the public relations director of the Berlin-based Holocaust charity “Initiative 27. Januar” responded: “I was referring to your critique of Israeli strikes in densely populated areas. All I wanted to express was, that apart from his family members no other civilians were hit. While unfortunate and sad, this is not uncommon in cases of terrorists‘ family members.”
I’m not sure if Terschüren, who describes himself as “Conservative” and “Christian”, deliberately pushes out this vile propaganda or is a victim of Israeli propaganda himself, because that is a weapon which the IDF uses and abuses with great skill.
Consider this, for example: “This morning we killed an Islamic Jihad commander in #Gaza,” tweeted the IDF yesterday. “This is why you should care.” The accompanying video included news clips about terror attacks including 9/11, Mumbai, Manchester, Paris, Sweden, Indonesia and Nigeria, none of which had anything to do with the Palestinians.
Trying to link Palestinian resistance groups to transnational terrorist attacks elsewhere is simply dishonest. They are not branches of Al-Qaeda or Daesh, no matter how many times the IDF and Israel’s lackeys try to convince us otherwise. It simply isn’t true.
That, though, is what we have come to expect from a country which cannot justify its state terrorism in any other way. “Lies, damn lies and Israeli propaganda,” as Mark Twain might have said. Sadly, such propaganda seems to work, judging by social media; those who are anti-Palestinian fall for it hook, line and sinker, probably because it fuels their own inherent racism and hatred.
The IDF has been busy with more “surgical strikes” since the murder of Abu Al-Ata and his wife. The death toll as I write is 23 Palestinians, of which pro-Israel lobbyists claim just 12 were “confirmed to be members of terror groups”. The strikes were not so surgical after all.
Perhaps the 18 innocents caught up in all of this were the wives and children of the “terrorists”. So that’s all right then, according to Israel’s deluded and blinkered war crime apologists. Their sophistry to justify the murder of innocent men, women and children is sickening.
A foreign activist and dozens of Palestinian citizens were injured on Wednesday after they were attacked with tear gas bombs and stun grenades by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) in Bethlehem City.
Head of the emergency department at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Bethlehem, Abdulhalim Ja'afra, said that medical crews attended to dozens of Palestinians and an Italian activist who choked on tear gas fired by the IOF.
A spokesman for the Civil Defense said that 30 Palestinian citizens were evacuated from a four-floor building after the IOF heavily showered it with tear gas bombs.
Violent clashes broke out at the northern entrance to Bethlehem City as Palestinian university students marched in a demonstration condemning the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.
Head of the emergency department at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Bethlehem, Abdulhalim Ja'afra, said that medical crews attended to dozens of Palestinians and an Italian activist who choked on tear gas fired by the IOF.
A spokesman for the Civil Defense said that 30 Palestinian citizens were evacuated from a four-floor building after the IOF heavily showered it with tear gas bombs.
Violent clashes broke out at the northern entrance to Bethlehem City as Palestinian university students marched in a demonstration condemning the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.
Confrontations erupted in Arroub refugee camp in al-Khalil on Wednesday morning between local demonstrators and Israeli occupation forces (IOF).
Eyewitnesses said that the confrontations flared up after IOF soldiers fired live and rubber bullets along with sound bombs at the demonstrators, who were protesting the occupation’s practices.
They said that the demonstration was also in solidarity with family of Omar al-Badawi, who was killed by IOF two days ago, and added that the march started inside the camp passed by the martyr’s family home then reached the camp’s main entrance that was closed by the IOF to block the marchers' advance into the main road.
Eyewitnesses said that the confrontations flared up after IOF soldiers fired live and rubber bullets along with sound bombs at the demonstrators, who were protesting the occupation’s practices.
They said that the demonstration was also in solidarity with family of Omar al-Badawi, who was killed by IOF two days ago, and added that the march started inside the camp passed by the martyr’s family home then reached the camp’s main entrance that was closed by the IOF to block the marchers' advance into the main road.
Israeli warplanes destroyed a Palestinian house in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday morning as part of its ongoing raids on the besieged enclave.
Local sources said that the warplanes targeted a home for Hadayed family in Nasr village in Rafah district before targeting it anew in a missile attack and reducing it to rubble.
They said that no casualties were suffered, adding that the raids also targeted agricultural land in western Gaza City and central areas of the Strip.
More than 20 Palestinians were killed and more than 50 others were injured in the ongoing Israeli aerial attacks on the beleaguered Strip since Monday.
Local sources said that the warplanes targeted a home for Hadayed family in Nasr village in Rafah district before targeting it anew in a missile attack and reducing it to rubble.
They said that no casualties were suffered, adding that the raids also targeted agricultural land in western Gaza City and central areas of the Strip.
More than 20 Palestinians were killed and more than 50 others were injured in the ongoing Israeli aerial attacks on the beleaguered Strip since Monday.
Israeli soldiers abducted, Wednesday, a Palestinian university student from Tarqoumia town, west of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, and illegally confiscated cash and a computer.
Media sources in Hebron said the soldiers stormed and ransacked the home of Mohammad Sa’adi Abu Dabbous, the coordinator of the Fateh Movement at Palestine Polytechnic University in Hebron.
They added that the soldiers searched the property, before abducting him, and invaded his father’s Currency Exchange shop, before ransacking it and confiscating cash and a computer.
In Bethlehem, south of occupied Jerusalem, the soldiers attacked many Palestinians, nonviolently marching in solidarity with the Gaza Strip amidst the ongoing Israeli military escalation, and fired a barrage of gas bombs and concussion grenades at them.
Media sources in Hebron said the soldiers stormed and ransacked the home of Mohammad Sa’adi Abu Dabbous, the coordinator of the Fateh Movement at Palestine Polytechnic University in Hebron.
They added that the soldiers searched the property, before abducting him, and invaded his father’s Currency Exchange shop, before ransacking it and confiscating cash and a computer.
In Bethlehem, south of occupied Jerusalem, the soldiers attacked many Palestinians, nonviolently marching in solidarity with the Gaza Strip amidst the ongoing Israeli military escalation, and fired a barrage of gas bombs and concussion grenades at them.
Israel resumed its extrajudicial execution policy against Palestinians, as Israeli warplanes carried out a targeted attacks, one against a senior leader of a Palestinian resistance group at dawn, Tuesday.
As a result, the targeted Palestinian was killed along with his wife, while 7 others sustained injuries including 4 of the victims’ children in the attack on their house in al-Shuja’ya neighborhood in Eastern Gaza.
This attack reflects a decision by the highest Israeli military and political offices, PCHR reported.
According to PCHR investigation, at approximately 04:00 on Tuesday, IOF warplanes fired a missile at Bahaa’ Salim Hassan Abulatta’s house.
Abulatta, 42, member of the al-Quds Brigades’ military bureau, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, in charge of its northern Gaza Strip activity.
Abulatta and his wife, Asmaa’ Mohammed Hassan Abulatta, 38, were killed in their apartment, on the second floor of a residential building.
Furthermore, 7 others sustained shrapnel wounds in the airstrike, including 4 of the victims’ children: Salim, 19; Mohammed, 18; Fatima al-Zahra’, 13; Layan, 11; two women from the neighborhood: Hanan Shehda Mohyaldeen Helles, 26; Shereen Fouad Khalil Helles, 21; and Mahmoud Fouad Abdulrahman Abulatta’s bodyguard.
The injuries were reported to be minor and moderate.
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) and the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) announced in a press statement by military spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, that the targeted attack against prominent Islamic Jihad Leader in Gaza was a joint operation between the Israeli military and the intelligence services.
He also reiterated that Israeli Prime Minister and Defence Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, authorized the attack, which is the first extrajudicial execution carried out by Israeli airstrikes since the 2014 Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip.
The Gaza attack was simultaneous with another targeted airstrike by Israeli warplanes against Islamic Jihad Political Bureau member, Akram al- ‘Ajoury, in the Syrian capital, Damascus. According to Islamic Jihad press release and Syrian media, al- ‘Ajoury’s son was killed in the attack.
Today’s attacks are worrying signs of a larger escalation against the Gaza Strip, as precedented in similar Israeli attacks that Palestinian armed groups responded to with a rain of retaliatory rocket fire at Israeli settlements and cities, as is the scenario today.
IOF warplanes carried out multiple airstrikes on various targets in the Gaza Strip, some located within densely populated areas, causing great damage and destruction. PCHR teams and fieldworkers are working around the clock to document and investigate each incident.
An Israeli missile targeted and destroyed a residential apartment on the third floor of Khayal Building, on al-Rasheed Street; no injuries were reported.
Another missile hit the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) office in Harara Building in Gaza City center, causing grave damage.
The missile hit the 5th floor of the Gaza office, destroying it. The floor was empty as all staff were in a meeting on the sixth floor, which sustained partial damage on the eastern side. Bahjat Ibrahim al-Helou, Head of ICHR Training and Awareness Unit, sustained wounds due to shattering glass.
PCHR team will continue to document, investigate and report on all airstrikes and attacks.
PCHR reminds and stresses that it is always Palestinian civilians who pay the price for the Israeli attacks and military escalations and warns that this policy retains 2 million Palestinian hostages to aggression, fear, anxiety and direct targeting.
Palestinian Government Press announced the activation of the emergency state in all government office, and suspension of education until further notice.
Additionally, in another act under the Israeli policy of collective punishment against Palestinians, IOF closed Kerm Shalom Commercial Crossing, east Rafah, which is Gaza’s only crossing for goods; and Beit Hanoun “Erez” Crossing, in northern Gaza, dedicated for movement of individuals.
IOF also announced reducing the fishing area to 6 nautical miles until further notice, according to Major General Kamil Abu Rokon, Coordinator of the Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), justified by the security situation in Gaza.
PCHR strongly condemns the Israeli extrajudicial execution policy against Palestinian activists and expresses its concern for a dramatic deterioration of the security situation, warning that the situation is susceptible to a deterioration on all aspects.
As such, PCHR:
Reminds all parties of the need to protect protected civilians under the international humanitarian law (IHL), especially that Gaza Strip civilians and their property have been subjected to direct targeting by IOF in grave violations of the 4th Geneva Convention of 1949, that amount to war crimes.
Calls upon the international community to move immediately and urgently to pressure Israel to cease its attacks against Palestinians and to remind it of its obligations under international law, especially the 4th Geneva Convention of 1949.
As a result, the targeted Palestinian was killed along with his wife, while 7 others sustained injuries including 4 of the victims’ children in the attack on their house in al-Shuja’ya neighborhood in Eastern Gaza.
This attack reflects a decision by the highest Israeli military and political offices, PCHR reported.
According to PCHR investigation, at approximately 04:00 on Tuesday, IOF warplanes fired a missile at Bahaa’ Salim Hassan Abulatta’s house.
Abulatta, 42, member of the al-Quds Brigades’ military bureau, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, in charge of its northern Gaza Strip activity.
Abulatta and his wife, Asmaa’ Mohammed Hassan Abulatta, 38, were killed in their apartment, on the second floor of a residential building.
Furthermore, 7 others sustained shrapnel wounds in the airstrike, including 4 of the victims’ children: Salim, 19; Mohammed, 18; Fatima al-Zahra’, 13; Layan, 11; two women from the neighborhood: Hanan Shehda Mohyaldeen Helles, 26; Shereen Fouad Khalil Helles, 21; and Mahmoud Fouad Abdulrahman Abulatta’s bodyguard.
The injuries were reported to be minor and moderate.
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) and the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) announced in a press statement by military spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, that the targeted attack against prominent Islamic Jihad Leader in Gaza was a joint operation between the Israeli military and the intelligence services.
He also reiterated that Israeli Prime Minister and Defence Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, authorized the attack, which is the first extrajudicial execution carried out by Israeli airstrikes since the 2014 Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip.
The Gaza attack was simultaneous with another targeted airstrike by Israeli warplanes against Islamic Jihad Political Bureau member, Akram al- ‘Ajoury, in the Syrian capital, Damascus. According to Islamic Jihad press release and Syrian media, al- ‘Ajoury’s son was killed in the attack.
Today’s attacks are worrying signs of a larger escalation against the Gaza Strip, as precedented in similar Israeli attacks that Palestinian armed groups responded to with a rain of retaliatory rocket fire at Israeli settlements and cities, as is the scenario today.
IOF warplanes carried out multiple airstrikes on various targets in the Gaza Strip, some located within densely populated areas, causing great damage and destruction. PCHR teams and fieldworkers are working around the clock to document and investigate each incident.
An Israeli missile targeted and destroyed a residential apartment on the third floor of Khayal Building, on al-Rasheed Street; no injuries were reported.
Another missile hit the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) office in Harara Building in Gaza City center, causing grave damage.
The missile hit the 5th floor of the Gaza office, destroying it. The floor was empty as all staff were in a meeting on the sixth floor, which sustained partial damage on the eastern side. Bahjat Ibrahim al-Helou, Head of ICHR Training and Awareness Unit, sustained wounds due to shattering glass.
PCHR team will continue to document, investigate and report on all airstrikes and attacks.
PCHR reminds and stresses that it is always Palestinian civilians who pay the price for the Israeli attacks and military escalations and warns that this policy retains 2 million Palestinian hostages to aggression, fear, anxiety and direct targeting.
Palestinian Government Press announced the activation of the emergency state in all government office, and suspension of education until further notice.
Additionally, in another act under the Israeli policy of collective punishment against Palestinians, IOF closed Kerm Shalom Commercial Crossing, east Rafah, which is Gaza’s only crossing for goods; and Beit Hanoun “Erez” Crossing, in northern Gaza, dedicated for movement of individuals.
IOF also announced reducing the fishing area to 6 nautical miles until further notice, according to Major General Kamil Abu Rokon, Coordinator of the Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), justified by the security situation in Gaza.
PCHR strongly condemns the Israeli extrajudicial execution policy against Palestinian activists and expresses its concern for a dramatic deterioration of the security situation, warning that the situation is susceptible to a deterioration on all aspects.
As such, PCHR:
Reminds all parties of the need to protect protected civilians under the international humanitarian law (IHL), especially that Gaza Strip civilians and their property have been subjected to direct targeting by IOF in grave violations of the 4th Geneva Convention of 1949, that amount to war crimes.
Calls upon the international community to move immediately and urgently to pressure Israel to cease its attacks against Palestinians and to remind it of its obligations under international law, especially the 4th Geneva Convention of 1949.
The Arab League condemned the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, Tuesday, in which 10 Palestinians were killed and 45 wounded.
In a statement, the Arab League declared that “this aggression comes in continuation of a series of crimes committed by the Israeli occupation,” the Palestinian News and Info Agency (WAFA) reported.
The League held the Israeli government responsible for this aggression with all its consequences, stressing that the Israeli army committed horrific crimes on Tuesday.
“This comes in the context of exposed Israeli attempts to let the Palestinian people pay the price of the predicaments and agendas of Israeli parties,” the statement said.
It continued, saying that “Israel wants to push the situation in the besieged Gaza Strip to further deterioration and to drag the region into violence and turmoil that will exceed the region, to threaten international peace and security.”
The Arab League called for international intervention to provide the Palestinian people with international protection, and stop any further Israeli crimes.
Earlier in the day, Israeli airstrikes killed a senior Islamic Jihad commander and his wife while they slept in their home in Gaza city.
In a statement, the Arab League declared that “this aggression comes in continuation of a series of crimes committed by the Israeli occupation,” the Palestinian News and Info Agency (WAFA) reported.
The League held the Israeli government responsible for this aggression with all its consequences, stressing that the Israeli army committed horrific crimes on Tuesday.
“This comes in the context of exposed Israeli attempts to let the Palestinian people pay the price of the predicaments and agendas of Israeli parties,” the statement said.
It continued, saying that “Israel wants to push the situation in the besieged Gaza Strip to further deterioration and to drag the region into violence and turmoil that will exceed the region, to threaten international peace and security.”
The Arab League called for international intervention to provide the Palestinian people with international protection, and stop any further Israeli crimes.
Earlier in the day, Israeli airstrikes killed a senior Islamic Jihad commander and his wife while they slept in their home in Gaza city.
