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| Occupied Palestinian Territory: Gaza fuel crisis (OCHA Situation Report)

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Occupied Palestinian Territory: Gaza fuel crisis (OCHA Situation Report) ~ EWASH [Emergency Water Sanitation and Hygiene in the occupied Palestinian territory].

26 November, 2013

Highlights

Gaza is affected by one the most serious energy crises in recent years, with potentially serious humanitarian ramifications.

Since1 November, following the shutdown of the Gaza Power Plant as a result of a lack of fuel, households are experiencing power outages of up to 16 hours per day.

The operation of all 291 water and wastewater facilities has been affected, leading to sewage spills of tens of thousands of cubic meters in various locations, including in a residential area of Gaza City.

Shortages of affordable fuel used to operate backup generators have severely disrupted the normal functioning of critical hospital functions, such as emergency rooms, operating theatres, and neo-natal care.

While immediate mitigating measures are being sought to support the most critical functions, medium and longer-term solutions are urgently needed to avoid even greater humanitarian risks and improve the living conditions of average households.

Situation Overview

Measures adopted by the Egyptian authorities since June 2013 in the context of military operations in the Sinai, have resulted in an almost total halt in the smuggling of goods into Gaza via the illegal tunnels. This has triggered a severe fuel shortage. In recent years, the smuggling tunnels under the border between Gaza and Egypt became the main source for the supply of fuel to the Gaza Strip, due to the lower cost of Egyptian fuel, which is subsidized by the Egyptian government, compared to the Israeli fuel. This has been reinforced by the lack of an agreed mechanism between the Palestinian authorities in Ramallah and Gaza allowing the purchase of fuel from other sources, including Israel. The current fuel crisis has compounded an already fragile humanitarian situation generated by the longstanding Israeli restrictions on the movement of people and goods to, from and within the Gaza Strip, as well as by the recent Egyptian restrictions on the movement of passengers via the Rafah Crossing. It is estimated that in November, less than 20,000 liters of fuel per week entered Gaza via the tunnels, compared to nearly 1 million liters per day until June 2013. The Gaza Power Plant (GPP), which until recently supplied 30 percent of the electricity available in Gaza, has been exclusively dependent on Egyptian diesel smuggled through the tunnels, since early 2011. On 1 November, after depleting its fuel reserves, the GPP was forced to shut down triggering power outages of up to 16 hours per day, up from 8-12 hours prior to that.

Humanitarian needs and response

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

 

Needs

There is an acute shortage of fuel to power standby generators at 291 WASH facilities across Gaza, including water wells, ground tank pumps, booster stations, desalination plants, sewage pump stations and wastewater treatment plants.

This has resulted in reduced water supply to households. Only 15 percent of the population is supplied every day, while 25 percent are supplied once every four days, 40 percent once every three days, and 20 percent every two days; supply cycles last 5-6 hours. Additionally, there has been a 75 percent drop in the volume of water produced by 25 desalination units operated by the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU), which supplies approximately 160,000 people. This has forced the latter to purchase water from unregulated water vendors and distributors, raising concerns over quality of purchased water.

The failure and increasing inability to operate generators have also resulted in flooding from sewage pumping, and the release of 90 million liters of untreated wastewater into the sea every day. In addition to the flood of sewage in Gaza City, there have been at least ten incidents, where sewage pumping stations were unable to pump to their respective treatment plants and were forced to divert sewage to open channels, the sea or storm water lagoons. The increasing dependence on backup generators, due to the longer electricity outages, has augmented the need for their maintenance at all WASH facilities. However, the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) and the municipalities have expressed concern about their ability to meet the growing maintenance needs due the irregular supply of spare parts, as well as the shortage of basic building materials (cement, gravel and steel bars) needed to repair WASH infrastructure. The lack of fuel to run trucks has also disrupted the collection of solid waste from the streets.

The lack of fuel and other essential items comes at a time where the systems in Gaza are already fragile due to years of blockade and closure and there is limited capacity of service providers to be able to respond to the onset of similar shocks.

Response

 

–       The Government of Turkey has pledged funds to purchase 280,000 liters of fuel to run essential WASH facilities for four months (another 240,000 liters were pledged by Turkey to the health and solid waste sectors).

–       The first installment of the Turkish-funded fuel, consisting of 10,000 litres, is being distributed by UNRWA to a number of sewage treatment facilities.

–       The Emergency Relief Fund (ERF) approved a project submitted by UNICEF on behalf of the WASH cluster to fund the purchase of 210,000 liters of fuel to support the operation of the most critical water and sewage facilities during five months.

Gaps

 

–       In the absence of electricity supply from the GPP, Gaza’s WASH facilities require approximately 400,000 liters of fuel per month to run backup generators and maintain a minimum level of operations.

–       Additional funding is urgently required for the purchase of spare parts and engine oil for the maintenance of generators.

–       Additional human resources, as well as fuel to run trucks, are required to clean areas affected by sewage overflow.

–       Construction materials are needed to reinforce the embankments of waste water treatment plants.

–       Public awareness campaigns addressing the health hazards of sewage overflows are also required.

The EWASH Advocacy Task Force is a sub-committee of the Emergency Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Group (EWASH). EWASH members include local and international NGOs and UN Agencies. The EWASH Advocacy Task Force coordinates messaging among EWASH members to raise awareness of the water, sanitation and hygiene situation in the occupied Palestinian territory at local, national and international levels so that tangible improvements to the lives of Palestinians are realised. 

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| #Gaza strip will be uninhabitable by 2020, UN report: http://bit.ly/1aA56EV 

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| Demanding Justice: Grisly Anniversary of Israel’s eight-day assault on Gaza!

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One Year Following the Israeli Offensive on Gaza: Justice for Palestinian Victims Still Denied ~ Palestinian Center for Human Rights [PCHR]

Tomorrow, 14 November 2013, marks the first anniversary of the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, codenamed “Operation Pillar of Defense,” which lasted for 8 days.  This offensive, like the preceding one, was characterized by brutality and the perpetration of systematic serious violations of international humanitarian law and war crimes.  One year following this offensive, Palestinian victims are still denied justice before the Israeli judiciary.

In the period from 14 to 21 November 2012, Israeli forces launched a large-scale offensive on the Gaza Strip.  During the eight-day offensive, Israeli forces carried out thousands of airstrikes, attacks by gunboats, and artillery shelling. Missiles with warheads weighing more than 1,000 kilograms were used in attacks on residential areas, flattening multi-storey homes and killing residents within the buildings. The extensive attacks targeted civilian facilities throughout the Gaza Strip, including civilian governmental institutions located in densely-populated areas. The impact of these attacks on property and victims, especially women and children, increased manifold, due to the targeting of civilian areas. Hundreds of airstrikes were launched at open spaces in residential areas to terrify civilians. In the last four days of the offensive, a marked increase in attacks on civilian places led to a corresponding increase in the proportion of civilians among the victims.

Throughout the period of the offensive, Palestinian civilians lived under extreme fear and threats to their lives due to direct attacks on civilians and their property throughout the Gaza Strip.  There was no safe place and the threat of death was felt by everyone with no exceptions.  The situation became more tragic when Israeli forces dropped leaflets onto Palestinian communities in the northern Gaza Strip and Gaza City ordering civilians to leave their homes.  Palestinian civilians were extremely terrified and thousands of them had shelters in UNRWA schools.

During the eight-day offensive, 171 Palestinians were killed. Of the victims, 102 were civilians, comprising 60% of the total number of victims. 35 of the civilian victims, or 34%, were children, while 14 of the civilian victims, of 14%, were women. The total number of people wounded was 648.  Of the wounded, 625 were civilians, including 214 children and 93 women. Among the wounded civilians were 16 people with various disabilities.

Entire families were wiped out as their houses were directly targeted with missiles with warheads weighing hundreds of kilograms.  The most horrible of these attacks was targeting the al-Dalu family’s house in Gaza City on 18 November.  The four-storey house and a number of neighboring houses were destroyed, and 12 civilians (5 children, 5 women and 2 young men) were killed and 6 others were wounded.  In a similar crime, on 19 November, an Israeli warplane bombarded a house belonging to Fu’ad Khalil Hijazi in Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip.  The house was completely destroyed and Hijazi and 2 of his children were killed. Additionally, 7 members of the family and 13 neighbors were wounded.  In another crime, on 20 November, an Israeli warplane bombarded an apartment belonging to Bassel al-Shawa in al-Shujaiya neighbourhood in Gaza City.  The apartment was completely destroyed and 4 civilians were killed.  Additionally, 6 civilians were wounded in the nearby street.

Israeli forces targeted hundreds of buildings, destroying 126 houses completely. Those 126 buildings contained 191 residential units that housed 1,229 people, including 710 children. 243 more buildings were severely damaged.  Israeli forces also targeted 233 public facilities, including 88 educational establishments; 83 worshiping sites and cemeteries; 19 health facilities; 3 syndicates; 2 sports facilities; 4 media institutions; 41 service facilities; 6 recreational facilities; 4 banks; and 182 industrial, commercial and agricultural facilities.

This anniversary reminds of the scenes of killing, destruction and fear which Palestinian civilians suffered during “Operation Cast Lead” in the period 27 December 2008 – 18 January 2009, in which 1,419 Palestinians, including 1,167 civilians (82%), were killed and more than 5,300 others were wounded.

One year following “Operation Pillar of Defense,” Palestinian civilian victims are still denied justice and remedy.  Israeli authorities have imposed legal, physical and monetary barriers in the face of Palestinian victims to prevent the prosecution of suspected Israeli war criminals and compensation of victims.  Nevertheless, in the context of its continuous efforts to ensure prosecution of suspected Israeli war criminals and remedy for victims, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) established legal files for Palestinian victims of “Operation Pillar of Defense,” to claim their rights at the criminal and civil levels.

PCHR lawyers submitted 246 civil complaints to the Israeli Ministry of Defense (according to the Israeli legal requirements) in order to initiate compensation claims on behalf of Palestinian victims of Israeli violations.  These complaints were related to killing 72 Palestinian civilians and wounding 104 others, and destroying 75 houses during “Operation Pillar of Defense.”  PCHR submitted also 79 complaints to the Israeli Military Advocate General (MAG) demanding opening criminal investigations into these violations and bringing the perpetrators before justice.  In response to the 79 complaints submitted to the MAG, PCHR received 26 replies only, which were all negative.  The latest of these replies were the MAG’s decision to close the case of the Hijazi family, an attack in which 3 civilians were killed and 4 others were wounded and the family’s house was destroyed, and the negative reply in regards to the al-Dalu family case, an attack in which 12 civilians, including 5 children and 5 women, were killed and 6 others were wounded, while the family’s house and a number of neighboring houses were destroyed.  In the latter, the MAG claimed that there was no suspicion of criminal offences.

PCHR stresses that the MAG’s actions are part of a systematic policy to deny Palestinian victims their right to justice to provide a legal cover for Israeli war criminals and shield them from international prosecution.  PCHR points out that it submitted 490 criminal complaints to the MAG following “Operation Cast Lead,” but it received 19 replies related to 23 cases only.  A reply was limited to confirmation of receipt of a compliant and that it would be examined and PCHR would be informed of the results.  Additionally, the MAG has never referred any suspect to justice in spite of various international reports that confirmed the perpetration of war crimes, and even crimes against humanity against Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), especially during “Operation Cast Lead,” the most notable of which was the report of the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Gaza Conflict (Goldstone Report).

Palestinians have continued to be denied the right to justice and compensation through a series of Israeli legal and physical obstacles.  In this context, on 16 July 2012, the Israeli Knesset approved Amendment No. 8 to the Israeli Tort Law (State’s Liability) of 1952, which applies retroactively in regards to the Gaza Strip from 2005 onwards.  This amendment exempts the State of Israel of any liability arising from damages caused to a resident of an enemy territory during a ‘combat action’ or ‘military operation,’ thus exempting Israel of any liability for victims of the Israeli offensive in 2012 (“Operation Pillar of Defense”) and “Operation Cats Lead” in 2008-2009.  Consequently, PCHR has not been able to file any compensation claim on behalf of victims of “Operation Pillar of Defense.”

In addition to the aforementioned amendment, Israeli authorities have worked on imposing monetary, legal and physical obstacles in the last year to close the door completely before the Palestinian victims to get their rights to Justice.  These obstacles include, but not limited to, preventing victims and witnesses from appearing before courts, preventing meetings between victims and their lawyers and imposing unbearable financial court guarantees.  Additionally, the Ministry of Defense has ignored complaints submitted by PCHR to initiate civil claims on behalf of victims.  For instance, in the period 2009-2012, PCHR submitted 1,046 complaints to the Compensation Officer of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, but it received 16 replies in regards to 26 cases only.

PCHR stresses the need to confront these challenges and overcome such obstacles that deny Palestinian victims their right to justice and remedy, and:

1- PCHR calls upon the Palestinian Authority to ensure that Palestine accedes to all international human rights and humanitarian law instruments. PCHR calls for the immediate signing and ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court of 1998 as it is the major guarantee for the prosecution of suspected Israeli war criminals.

2- PCHR calls upon the UN General Assembly to transfer the Goldstone Report to the UN Security Council for referral to the International Criminal Court in accordance with Article 13(b) of the Rome Statute.

3- PCHR calls upon the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions to fulfil their obligation to ensure the application of the Conventions, including extending the scope of their jurisdiction to prosecute suspected war criminals, regardless of the nationality of the perpetrator and the place of crime, and to pave the way for prosecuting suspected Israeli war criminals and end the longstanding impunity they have enjoyed.

4- PCHR calls upon the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions to fulfil their obligation to ensure the application of the Conventions, including extending the scope of their jurisdiction to prosecute suspected war criminals, regardless of the nationality of the perpetrator and the place of crime, and to pave the way for prosecuting suspected Israeli war criminals and end the longstanding impunity they have enjoyed.

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| Palestinian Resistance: The Political, Social and Human Right of Self-​Defense!

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Palestinian Resistance: The Political, Social and Human Right of Self-​Defense ~ , Critical Legal Thinking.

Once again the bombs are fall­ing on the Gaza Strip, a stretch of ter­rit­ory excised from Palestine proper as a res­ult of con­tinu­ing illegal and ille­git­im­ate actions by Israel. In fact, Gaza has become a closed ghetto, first cut off from Palestine in viol­a­tion of the par­ti­tion plans and polit­ical pro­grams and then turned into a sealed ghetto, fol­low­ing the demo­cratic elec­tions which brought the Islamic Res­ist­ance Party ­­— Hamas — into power. Cat­egor­ized as a ter­ror­ist organ­iz­a­tion in the United States, with some of its lead­ing sup­port­ers there imprisoned for over twenty years for send­ing human­it­arian aid to Palestini­ans in Gaza, it can come as no sur­prise that the Israeli and West­ern media accuse Hamas for attack­ing Israel with rock­ets, rather than report­ing that Hamas sent off the rock­ets as a response to an Israeli attack!

This method of report­ing is part of con­tin­ued efforts of de-​legitimization of the Palestinian struggle for free­dom from the yoke of Zion­ist gen­o­cidal oppres­sion and viol­ence. Fur­ther­more, the con­dem­na­tions have not been accom­pan­ied by ref­er­ence to the his­tor­ical record: that the Zion­ist war, both cold and hot, against the Palestini­ans has not stopped for even one day since 1948, and that it went into relent­less high gear since 1967 and con­tin­ues unabated. This con­tinu­ous aggres­sion — admin­is­trat­ive and mil­it­ary — is never brought into the West­ern vis­ion or under­stand­ing, although a quick per­usal of the web­sites of the Palestine Cen­ter for Human Rights loc­ated in Gaza City, Mah­som Watch and Betselem provide chilling and detailed inform­a­tion of this con­tinu­ing quo­tidian warfare.

For any­one who has not suc­cumbed to Zion­ist pro­pa­ganda, it is a known fact that when rock­ets are fired from Gaza it is always in response to an Israeli attack, espe­cially when this attack is a blatant and poin­ted act of viol­ence given high vis­ib­il­ity by the Israelis. Although Israel had begun pound­ing Gaza on 13 Novem­ber 2012, which appar­ently led to a truce agree­ment being for­mu­lated, the assas­sin­a­tion of Ahmed Jabari on 14 Novem­ber 2012, the head of the Palestinian res­ist­ance forces, was executed in order to jus­tify full-​scale Israeli war­fare. High vis­ib­il­ity in this case was the cre­ation of a video of the event uploaded on the web­sites of the Israeli news out­lets so that the view­ers could enjoy a repeat per­form­ance! The reason for this latest attack is given on the Israel Defense Forces [sic] web blog:

On Novem­ber 14, the IDF embarked on Oper­a­tion Pil­lar of Defense[sic], meant to defend Israel’s civil­ians from the incess­ant rocket fire they’ve suffered dur­ing the past 12 years, and cripple the ter­ror organ­iz­a­tions in the Gaza Strip.

Their Eng­lish trans­la­tion of the name of the mil­it­ary oper­a­tion is inac­cur­ate, and I sus­pect that this is delib­er­ate. The name in Hebrew is ‘Amud Ashan — Pil­lar of Smoke — a meta­phor cre­ated to eli­cit delib­er­ate com­par­ison in the Israeli mind with the pil­lar of fire and the pil­lar of clouds from the bib­lical story of the Exodus accord­ing to which God led the Chil­dren of Israel out of their slavery in Egypt on their jour­ney to free­dom in the Prom­ised Land! Of neces­sity, this name and this image brings about an inver­sion of the roles of the Israelis and the Palestini­ans: the Israeli aggressor once again becomes the per­se­cuted vic­tim, as per the Exodus story, while the Palestini­ans, immob­il­ized and strangled in the ghetto-​prison of Gaza, enclosed within elec­tri­fied walls and fences, are trans­mog­ri­fied into the pharaonic ter­ror­ists relent­lessly and heart­lessly per­se­cut­ing the inno­cent Israeli vic­tims. This inver­sion involves more than labels: besides invert­ing the moral order and the facts of real­ity, it serves, once again, to rein­force the image of the Palestinian as enemy, as demon, as sub-​human, an entity not entitled to any respect or con­sid­er­a­tion! It is a tried and tested for­mula for dis­tract­ing atten­tion and blame from the real per­pet­rat­ors of death and destruc­tion on to the vic­tims of those acts of aggressions.

Polit­ical assas­sin­a­tion is the spe­cialty du jour of Israel, a praxis adop­ted whole­heartedly by Pres­id­ent Obama and his own per­sonal drone “kill list”. Using murder to delib­er­ately under­mine the polit­ical ech­elon in the hope of weak­en­ing it with respect to the pos­sib­il­ity of polit­ical recu­per­a­tion after a war is an act which viol­ates the third prin­ciple of legit­im­acy of the laws of war — the prin­ciple of chiv­alry — a prin­ciple recog­niz­ing the human­ity of the enemy. The enemy must be treated with respect in order for nor­mal social life to be com­menced or resumed at the end of hostilities.

Clause­witz’ aph­or­ism — that war is a con­tinu­ation of polit­ics — is not descript­ive but pre­script­ive. Nego­ti­ations lead­ing to peace must be the pur­pose of a legit­im­ate war of defense. It is in this light that one should under­stand the inform­a­tion released by Ger­s­hon Baskin, an Israeli polit­ical act­iv­ist, that the Palestinian lead­er­ship in Gaza, includ­ing Ahmed Jabari, had received a draft for a truce agree­ment just hours before his assas­sin­a­tion. It is there­fore obvi­ous that the assas­sin­a­tion was executed for the spe­cific pur­pose of pre­vent­ing such a truce. What this indic­ates, at the very least, is flag­rant bad faith on the part of the Israelis, but more import­antly, it is another instance of pro­voc­at­ive treach­ery, a sub­ject which deserves a sep­ar­ate ana­lysis.

The right to pro­tect human life is abso­lute, even if the means used are con­di­tioned. There­fore, accord­ing to all human norms, nat­ural law, legal norms and inter­na­tional law and jur­is­pru­dence, the Palestini­ans have a legit­im­ate right of response. It must be remembered how­ever, that the Palestini­ans have been denied a state and an accom­pa­ny­ing army by Israel and the United States. There­fore the response avail­able to the Palestini­ans in Gaza is extremely lim­ited and is con­fined to rock­ets fired into Israel. These rock­ets are prim­it­ive weapons and not extremely accur­ate which is why they have been defined as fire­works. But that is all that the Palestini­ans have for their defense. This response is the only avenue open for a soci­ety under mil­it­ary attack to try and force the ces­sa­tion of such an attack when the aggressor will not nego­ti­ate with you in good faith.

The Israelis are proud of the fact that their army is the fourth largest in the world, and as far as they are con­cerned, also the best, the most effect­ive and the most moral! Because of the expo­nen­tially huge dis­pro­por­tion in power between Israel and the Palestini­ans, the Palestini­ans simply can­not afford to react to each and every attack against them. They have to care­fully and pruden­tially weigh their pos­sib­il­it­ies of response which is the reason why the Israelis never have to cease their relent­less attacks of vary­ing intens­ity. But it is also the dis­pro­por­tion­ate attacks by the Israeli army that viol­ate the prin­ciple of pro­por­tion­al­ity under­ly­ing legit­im­ate warfare.

The Right of Res­ist­ance is the Right of Self-​Defense

It can be argued cogently that since the right to self-​determination was delib­er­ately and expli­citly denied the Palestinian people fol­low­ing the col­lapse of the Otto­man Empire, with no right or jus­ti­fic­a­tion what­so­ever in the cir­cum­stances, the Palestini­ans are still entitled to demand and fight for such rights. (see endnote).

Instead of free­dom, they were faced with a real­ity of the col­on­iz­a­tion of Palestine by for­eign­ers against the wishes of the local pop­u­la­tion, a col­on­iz­a­tion which ulti­mately led to an expul­sion of nearly 90% of the indi­gen­ous Palestinian pop­u­la­tion cre­at­ing a long-​festering and long-​suffering Palestinian refugee prob­lem. A struggle for self-​determination is legit­im­ate in inter­na­tional law, as it expresses a struggle for free­dom, the basic qual­ity of life neces­sary in order for human beings to be able to ful­fill their poten­tial as indi­vidual per­sons and as social beings. Those who deny such self-​determination are guilty of viol­at­ing that same inter­na­tional law. That this denial of such a right is the case with respect to Palestini­ans can be found in sev­eral let­ters of cor­res­pond­ence of Brit­ish min­is­ters. In a let­ter to the Prime Min­is­ter by Lord Arthur Balfour dated 19th Feb­ru­ary [1919 LB] he states:

… The weak point of our pos­i­tion of course is that in the case of Palestine we delib­er­ately and rightly [sic LB] decline to accept the prin­ciple of self-​determination. If the present inhab­it­ants were con­sul­ted they would unques­tion­ably give an anti-​Jewish ver­dict. Our jus­ti­fic­a­tion for our policy is that we regard Palestine as being abso­lutely excep­tional; that we con­sider the ques­tion of the Jews out­side Palestine as one of world import­ance and that we con­ceive the Jews to have an his­toric claim to a home in their ancient land; provided that home can be given them without either dis­pos­sess­ing or oppress­ing the present inhabitants…

In a later memor­andum addressed to Lord Curzon by Lord Balfour on 11 August 1919 a sim­ilar notion is repeated:

… The con­tra­dic­tion between the let­ters of the Cov­en­ant [League of Nations Cov­en­ant LB] and the Policy of the Allies is even more flag­rant in the case of the ‘inde­pend­ent nation’ of Palestine than in that of the ‘inde­pend­ent nation’ of Syria. For in Palestine we do not pro­pose even to go through the form of con­sult­ing the wishes of the present inhab­it­ants of the coun­try, though the Amer­ican Com­mis­sion has been going through the form of ask­ing what they are.

The Four Great Powers are com­mit­ted to Zion­ism. And Zion­ism, be it right or wrong, good or bad, is rooted in age-​long tra­di­tions, in present needs, in future hopes, of far pro­founder import than the desires and pre­ju­dices of the 700,000 Arabs who now inhabit that ancient land.

In my opin­ion that is right. What I have never been able to under­stand is how it can be har­mon­ized with the declar­a­tion [Anglo-​French of Novem­ber 1918], the Cov­en­ant or the instruc­tions to the Com­mis­sion of Enquiry.

I do not think that Zion­ism will hurt the Arabs, but they will never say they want it. Whatever be the future of Palestine it is not now an ‘inde­pend­ent nation,’ nor is it yet on the way to become one. Whatever defer­ence should be paid to the views of those liv­ing there, the Powers in their selec­tion of a man­dat­ory do not pro­pose, as I under­stand the mat­ter, to con­sult them. In short, so far as Palestine is con­cerned, the Powers have made no declar­a­tion of policy which, at least in the let­ter, they have not always inten­ded to violate…

(Doreen Ingrams, Palestine Papers 1917 – 1922 Seeds of Con­flict[Lon­don 1972] pp. 61 and 73).

Des­pite the Great Powers flag­rant denial of Palestinian rights at the time, such denial did not and does not give rise to either their loss or their fall­ing into desu­et­ude. As long as a people wish to real­ize such rights, they have the right to demand their real­iz­a­tion. The Palestini­ans never relin­quished these rights, although they have made innu­mer­able attempts to reach a modus vivendi with the Zion­ist state. Their accom­mod­a­tion has been rejec­ted for the very reason that a com­prom­ise and shared con­domin­ium in Palestine is not part of the Zion­ist pro­gram and never was.

We could there­fore come to the fol­low­ing con­clu­sion at this point. The Palestini­ans have the right to res­ist on sev­eral grounds. Firstly in response to the Israeli pro­voca­tion in the form of the assas­sin­a­tion of Ahmed Jabari . (We can ima­gine an Israeli response to an assas­sin­a­tion of Ehud Barak or any other min­is­ter). Secondly they have the right of res­ist­ance to the actual dec­ades long Israeli gen­o­cidal con­trol over Gaza which is bring­ing about the actual phys­ical demise of the pop­u­la­tion which exhib­its a gen­eral level of ill-​health attrib­ut­able dir­ectly to the Israeli strangle­hold over the ter­rit­ory. Thirdly, they have the right of res­ist­ance against the con­tinu­ing incur­sions, raids, arrests, impris­on­ments, and sup­pres­sion of eco­nomic activ­ity in the West Bank/​East Jer­u­s­alem. And fourthly, the actual fact of their being for­cibly denied their polit­ical rights jus­ti­fies resistance.

So why are the Palestini­ans in gen­eral, and Hamas in par­tic­u­lar, depic­ted as Terrorists?

The term ‘ter­ror­ist’ is not a legal term and has no legal ref­er­ence. It has been man­u­fac­tured in order to bypass the lim­it­a­tions that inter­na­tional law imposes with respect to the man­ner of deal­ing with an adversary. It is used to demon­ize those people who do not agree with the US/​Israel/​European hege­monic demand and rule of the world and it is espe­cially used in order to deny such people the right of res­ist­ance, the right to struggle as free­dom fight­ers. It is this ter­min­o­logy which has cre­ated such con­fu­sion and dis­crep­ancy in the gen­eral public’s under­stand­ing with respect to the real­ity in Palestine and the actual state of affairs that pre­vails there. But we may ask the fur­ther ques­tion as to why Palestini­ans are seen in the West as “ter­ror­ists” and intransigent mur­der­ers, a people who under­stand only viol­ence and not peace.

In order to under­stand this conun­drum, it is neces­sary to under­stand the nature of Amer­ican soci­ety in par­tic­u­lar, and its mech­an­isms of con­trol. The United States is a cap­it­al­ist soci­ety in which power is exer­cised by the financial-​media-​military-​industrial com­plex. A main source of cap­it­al­ist exploit­a­tion is the oil depos­its in the Middle East, its refine­ment and dis­tri­bu­tion to the rest of the world. It is a sine qua non for the con­trolling cap­it­al­ist elite that it con­trols these resources and their dis­pos­i­tion. Such con­trol is not in the interests of the local pop­u­la­tions of the ter­rit­or­ies in which the oil is depos­ited, who are nearly all Muslims.

In order to min­im­ize, if not elim­in­ate, the crit­ics and cri­tiques of cap­it­al­ist exploit­a­tion, the United States uses the media to manip­u­late the minds of its pop­u­la­tion, as Pro­fess­ors Noam Chom­sky and Edward Her­man explained in their book Man­u­fac­tur­ing Con­sent. How­ever, since the second Bush admin­is­tra­tion, the Depart­ment of Home­land Secur­ity (DHS) — a title straight out of George Orwell’s 1984 — was formed to exer­cise fur­ther con­trol over the pop­u­la­tion through the use of poli­cing power. The events of 9/​11 have been exploited expo­nen­tially by both the media and the DHStowards the demon­iz­a­tion of Islam and Muslims, and Palestini­ans auto­mat­ic­ally fall into this cat­egory. All are deemed to be ter­ror­ists or poten­tial ter­ror­ists, and there­fore they are, by defin­i­tion, the enemy. The level of pro­pa­ganda gen­er­ated by the media branch of this com­plex, to which the pop­u­la­tions in the West are sub­ject, in par­tic­u­lar in the United States and Israel, has brain­washed the pop­u­la­tion into an auto­matic neg­at­ive response to all Muslims, Palestini­ans included.

The Muslims as ter­ror­ist, Islam as a reli­gion of viol­ence and hatred, the Jew as eternal vic­tim, the Holo­caust as a unique his­tor­ical event, the unique­ness of which is echoed in the polit­ical mani­festo of ‘mani­fest des­tiny’ and ‘excep­tion­al­ism’ of the United States of Amer­ica, the ‘good guys” of World Wars I and II, con­sti­tutes the cur­rent pro­pa­ganda pas­tiche determ­in­ing the lim­its of polit­ic­ally cor­rect dis­course. Any cri­ti­cism against Israel is auto­mat­ic­ally trans­lated into anti-​Semitism and cri­ti­cism of the United States is unpat­ri­otic or even treason.

The Palestinian polit­ical party of Hamas is on the ter­ror­ist list in the US and sev­eral Muslims have been con­victed and imprisoned for exten­ded peri­ods, in one case for more than twenty years, for the crime of aid­ing and abet­ting ter­ror­ists by send­ing human­it­arian aid to Palestine. Israel has never ceased to refer to Palestini­ans as ter­ror­ists and treats them as such accord­ingly. As men­tioned earlier, it has broken and/​or under­mined all its agree­ments with the Palestini­ans, the most egre­gious viol­a­tion being the con­tinu­ation of the build­ing of Jew­ish set­tle­ments in the West Bank conquered in 1967, becom­ing a col­on­iz­ing power, which is in dir­ect viol­a­tion of inter­na­tional law. In addi­tion, Israel has viol­ated all United Nations Res­ol­u­tions but is pro­tec­ted by the US veto, thus provid­ing it with a long leash to do what it wants in Palestine. The real­ity of Israeli force, the real­ity of its illeg­al­it­ies con­sti­tutes a viol­a­tion of both the moral and the legal order. It is known by both Israel and the US and there­fore there is such vicious con­tinu­ing pro­pa­ganda against Arabs, Muslims and Palestinians.

There can be little doubt that there is no easy solu­tion for the Palestini­ans. Des­pite their rights de iure as well as de facto and their legit­im­ate res­ist­ance and struggle and the use of weapons that do not come up to the min­imum stand­ards of a mod­ern army, it is only the vic­tim­ized people of the world who under­stand their plight together with those com­ing from the West who are termed rad­ic­als. At this junc­ture in his­tory the people have no power, but it behooves us to con­tinue the struggle for free­dom and justice in any way we can, without des­troy­ing the planet, as our friends the cap­it­al­ists are doing. If, how­ever, there is one iron law of life and exist­ence, which must sus­tain our hope and energy, it is that all insti­tu­tions, all powers, ulti­mately col­lapse because everything is chan­ging and tem­por­ary in our con­tin­gent world. Situ­ations can­not help but change. When such a change comes in the dis­tri­bu­tion of power, we should be ready to insti­tute a reign of justice and peace for the well-​being of all of mankind.

End note

The entire enter­prise of a Jew­ish state in Palestine is built upon an express rejec­tion of inter­na­tional law. The only legit­im­ate grounds for polit­ical sov­er­eignty of an indi­gen­ous people are the laws of ius soli or ius san­guine as recog­nized in inter­na­tional law, which trans­lates into a right of sov­er­eignty based upon hab­it­a­tion in a par­tic­u­lar ter­rit­ory or being a des­cend­ent of someone in a par­tic­u­lar ter­rit­ory. The third option grant­ing a right to sov­er­eignty would be the dis­cov­ery of a terra nul­lius that is an unin­hab­ited ter­rit­ory. Palestine was never a terra nul­lius, and its inhab­it­ants were entitled to a sov­er­eign state in Palestine as part of Greater Syria, if they so chose, accord­ing to the ius soli fol­low­ing the demise of the Otto­man Empire at the end of World War I in 1917 and 1918. If their chil­dren were out of the coun­try at the time of its estab­lish­ment at a par­tic­u­lar time, then they would be gran­ted cit­izen­ship on the grounds of the ius san­guine if they had not been born in Palestine or Greater Syria.

European Jewry did not ful­fill either of these qual­i­fic­a­tions in 1917, when the Balfour Declar­a­tion, a doc­u­ment pre­pared by inter­na­tional Jew­ish lead­er­ship, and addressed by Lord Arthur Balfour, the United Kingdom’s For­eign sec­ret­ary at the time, to Lord Wal­ter Roth­schild, a scion of the lead­ing Jew­ish bank­ing fam­ily in the world, res­id­ent in Eng­land, was writ­ten sup­port­ing a Jew­ish home­land [sic] in Palestine.

The carving up of his­tor­ical Palestine to excise the bulk of its ter­rit­ory for an impor­ted unequi­voc­ally for­eign pop­u­la­tion at the expense of the indi­gen­ous soci­ety was recog­nized not to be a polit­ic­ally legit­im­ate action. Its destruct­ive con­sequences should have been obvi­ous a pri­ori, and his­tory has proved such expect­a­tion accur­ate. Such an excision has harmed the indi­gen­ous pop­u­la­tion in every and all aspects of its life: polit­ical, eco­nomic, social, edu­ca­tional, cul­tural, reli­gious, his­tor­ical and geo­graph­ical. The destruc­tion of Palestine, the expul­sion of the over­whelm­ing major­ity of its pop­u­la­tion and the delib­er­ate and con­tinu­ing gen­o­cidal attacks on the remain­ing pop­u­la­tion liv­ing under Jew­ish con­quest, only high­lights the ille­git­im­acy of the Jew­ish pres­ence and its con­tinu­ing aggres­sion against the Palestinians.

Lynda Burstein Brayer, a gradu­ate of the Hebrew Uni­ver­sity of Jer­u­s­alem Fac­ulty of Law, is a rad­ical polit­ical and legal com­ment­ator who prac­ticed human rights law in Palestine/​Israel rep­res­ent­ing Palestini­ans in their struggles against house demoli­tions, land theft, and fam­ily destruc­tion and in their efforts to obtain travel per­mits for health, study and fam­ily reas­ons. She lives in Haifa and can be reached at lyndabrayer@​ymail.​com

Lynda will be pleased to respond to any com­ments and quer­ies via the com­ments sec­tion below.

 

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| Gaza counter-propaganda: Hearts and minds won with tweets!

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Hearts and minds won with tweets ~ Patrick Keddie, Morning Star.

“I am proud to be part of this army of tweeps,” says activist Ola Anan, as she addressed around 80 young Gazans in Shalehat resort, Gaza City. They had gathered to discuss their efforts in the social media war with Israel during Operation Pillar of Cloud – the recent eight-day Israeli offensive on the Palestinian territory.

As Israel pounded the Gaza Strip with F16 missiles, shells and drone strikes, and Palestinian fighters targeted Israeli cities with rockets, a parallel battle of information and narrative was taking place online.

It was fought with a barrage of personal experiences, photographs and links to footage shared across Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and personal blogs.

Maram Humaid, 21, began tweeting in French during the offensive in order to directly convey what was happening in Gaza to the francophone world because few Gazans speak French. She prefers Twitter as a “more effective and open alternative to the mainstream media.” She had around 200 followers before the conflict, now she has over 2,000.

Humaid was forced to stay at home during the war as it was too dangerous to venture out, but she insists that “you can spread reality with a computer and be a journalist from your bedroom.” She had to contend with a daily cut in electricity for eight hours a day during the conflict and her lengthy Twitter silences caused her followers to send concerned messages.

The imbalance of the physical war intruded into the battle on cyberspace when social media activists from Gaza had to overcome problems that their Israeli counterparts did not face.

Some Gazans found ways of getting round the frequent electricity cuts by texting friends or family in the West Bank, who posted tweets on their behalf. Others were helped by their dirty and expensive diesel-fuelled generators that are used when the electricity fails.

Although many activists were trapped in their homes, many continued to work recording the sounds of explosions, smashing glass and sirens in their immediate neighbourhoods and posting them online via audioboo – a program that allows users to share audio files.

Sameeha Elwan, 24, recently returned to Gaza after completing a havemaster’s degree in Durham. She opted to primarily use Facebook during Pillar of Cloud in order to escape the limitations of Twitter’s 140 characters and build a coherent story. “I was trapped in my house,” she tells me, “so I had to write about my family, our fear, our aspirations and the horror of the situation.”

Internet use is very common amongst young people in Gaza and most people at the talk have been active online for a long time.

However, some began tweeting and blogging because of the conflict and others became more politicised. Ahmed Al-Farra switched from tweeting in Arabic about all aspects of his life to tweeting news about the violence in English. His followers rose from 200 to 1,600.

An 2006 report commissioned by BBC governors on the impartiality of BBC coverage of the occupation noted significant shortcomings including the “failure to adequately convey the disparity in the Israeli and Palestinian experience, reflecting the fact that one side is in control and the other lives under occupation.”

Research conducted by the Glasgow University Media Group – outlined by Greg Philo and Mike Berry in More Bad News from Israel – suggests that much of the mainstream media has reproduced sophisticated Israeli public relations information, often without offering an alternative Palestinian perspective.

Much of the motivation driving the social media activists from Gaza is a desire to redress the perceived imbalance in reporting on Gaza. There is widespread anger with the mainstream media among young Gazans who are demanding their right to be heard.

Few Palestinian voices emerged in the mainstream media’s coverage of Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s previous large-scale offensive on the Gaza Strip, which lasted three weeks between late 2008 and early 2009.

In the latest round of violence, the use of social media in Gaza has become more prevalent and sophisticated – allowing Palestinians to project their narrative and experiences in their own words. Those clicking on the Twitter trending hashtags of #Gaza and #GazaUnderAttack could gain an insight into the personal experiences of ordinary people in Gaza under the offensive, in a way that was much more limited in previous conflicts.

Blogger and “tweep” Rana Baker spoke of her struggles with balanced reporting in a conflict that is inherently unequal. After initially being diplomatic and careful, she says that eventually she took the attitude that “OK, yes I support the resistance, and those who don’t like it, go bang your heads on the mountains.”

There was a consensus among the Gazan activists that they had been largely successful in conveying their messages and information during Pillar of Cloud but there were still significant problems.

Some activists were worried about tweets inadvertently helping the Israeli military identify targets. Others were concerned that the limited, fragmentary nature of Twitter was not enough to present a coherent story that goes beyond hard news. Sameeha Olwan urges activists “to write stories now about our personal experiences or it will be forgotten.”

As is often the case, information and speculation on social media provided false information. In some areas, local Palestinian radio reported incorrect information from Twitter – this led them to call for the wrong houses to be evacuated. In some instances photographs from the conflict in Syria were wrongly identified as being from Gaza.

Israel seizes on these mistakes and, as one activist put it, “we have plenty of photos from Palestine. It is stupid to make these mistakes as it allows Israel to debunk our narrative.”

Many of the activists recognised that Israel is more sophisticated in its use of social media and public relations and they need to reach its level. The official Twitter profile of Israeli military – @IDFspokesperson – has over 200,000 followers.

Some activists referred to the Israel Project‘s guide which advises how to effectively practice “hasbara” (explanation) – the Israeli term used when referring to their public diplomacy efforts to disseminate information about Israeli policies.

Palestinian activists are keen to develop their own guide to enhance the effectiveness of their message and attain Israeli levels of sophistication in their communication.

This Gazan “army of tweeps” had gathered in order to compare war notes, spark ideas and become more organised as a movement. As they leave the meeting, the mood was buoyant. “I have been to many of these events and never seen anything like this amount of people,” says activist Yousef Aljamal.

Social media users in Gaza are already preparing for the next war – which most people think is inevitable – in order to organise and fight Israel in an online battle for hearts and minds, truth and reality, and the right to be heard.

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| Levelling Gaza: Israel airstrikes to cost Gaza over $300 million – Report!

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Leveling Gaza: Israel airstrikes to cost Gaza over $300 million – report ~ RT.

Israeli air strikes hit the cabinet headquarters of Gaza's Hamas government. (AFP Photo / Mohammed Abed)

Israeli air strikes hit the cabinet headquarters of Gaza’s Hamas government. (AFP Photo / Mohammed Abed)

The eight-day Israeli assault on Gaza has resulted in $300 million in economic damage, a Palestinian Chamber of Commerce report concludes. The document also calls for the Gaza Strip to be recognized as an economic disaster area.

The report covered damages to the agricultural, health and social sectors. The occupied territory’s agrarian segment suffered $120 million in damage. The eight-day halt to economic activities resulted in $40 million lost. The rest of the sum comes from destroyed buildings and infrastructure that was impaired by Israeli airstrikes, Xinhua reported.

To deal with the disastrous economic consequences of the raid, the report calls for a lift of Israeli restrictions on Gaza in accordance with the truce that ended the operation on Wednesday.

Besides economic damage, the Israeli response to Hamas’ rocket attacks killed 168 Palestinians, most them civilians.

Tel Aviv began striking Gaza last week with a declared goal of stopping rocket attacks on its territory from Hamas, the political party governing Gaza. Hamas’ military had intensified its bombardment of Israeli territory, killing six Israelis, including five civilians, according to official reports.

The Israeli Cabinet authorized a call-up of 75,000 reserve troops as the air assault on Gaza intensified, and amid growing speculation of a ground invasion into the territory.

However, the ground operation was halted after an international diplomatic effort brokered by Egypt, resulting Wednesday in a ceasefire deal.

Among many conditions of the truce, the agreement stipulates that Gaza’s crossings should be opened to facilitate the movement of people and goods, and that residents’ free movements should not be restricted, while “all Palestinian factions shall stop all hostilities from the Gaza Strip against Israel, including rocket attacks and all attacks along the border.”

Palestinian firefighters try to extinguish a fire at the Civilian Affairs branch of the Ministry of Interior following an Israeli air raid in Gaza City. (AFP Photo / Marco Longari)
Palestinian firefighters try to extinguish a fire at the Civilian Affairs branch of the Ministry of Interior following an Israeli air raid in Gaza City. (AFP Photo / Marco Longari)
Smoke billows as debris flies from the explosion at the local Al-Aqsa TV station in Gaza City. (AFP Photo / Marco Longari)
Smoke billows as debris flies from the explosion at the local Al-Aqsa TV station in Gaza City. (AFP Photo / Marco Longari)
A Palestinian man inspects a destroyed branch of the Islamic National Bank following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City. (AFP Photo / Mahmud Hams)
A Palestinian man inspects a destroyed branch of the Islamic National Bank following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City. (AFP Photo / Mahmud Hams)
A Palestinian man pushes his bicycle amidst debris near the destroyed compound of the internal security ministry in Gaza City after it was targeted by an Israeli air strike. (AFP Photo / Mahmud Hams)
A Palestinian man pushes his bicycle amidst debris near the destroyed compound of the internal security ministry in Gaza City after it was targeted by an Israeli air strike. (AFP Photo / Mahmud Hams)
Palestinians school girls climb over the rubble in a classroom, damaged during last week′s Israeli offensive. (AFP Photo / Mohammed Abed)
Palestinians school girls climb over the rubble in a classroom, damaged during last week’s Israeli offensive. (AFP Photo / Mohammed Abed)
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| More blood spilt in Gaza as peace bid gathers pace!

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More blood spilt in Gaza as peace bid gathers pace ~ , The Nation.

GAZA CITY // At least 25 Palestinians were killed by Israeli attacks on Gaza yesterday as global efforts for a truce, led by Egypt, gathered pace.

In the sixth day of bloodshed, an Israeli missile killed a senior Islamic Jihad militant, Ramez Harb, in a strike on a Gaza City tower housing local and international media, the Israeli army and militants said.

Harb was a leader in the group’s military wing, the Al Quds Brigades, the group said. Islamic Jihad works with Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, and said it believed Harb was the target for the strike.

While Israel and Hamas were far apart in demands to end the fighting that has killed more than 100 Palestinians and three Israelis, they said they were open to a diplomatic solution – and ready for escalation if it failed.

In an attack on the global response to the Israeli assault, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, said yesterday: “It is easy to condemn and denounce the assaults that are happening to the Palestinians, however the main problem is the arrogance of the occupation.”

 

Sheikh Abdullah said peace in the Middle East could not be achieved while that arrogance continued.

“The area cannot continue to be viewed with a double standard; one standard for Israel and another for the other countries in the area,” he said.

“What is clear to us is this status quo cannot be something that can be accepted by Arab and Muslim nations.”

Egypt was leading mediations for an end to the fighting in talks in Cairo. “I hope that by the end of the day we will receive a final signal of what can be achieved,” said an Egyptian official.

He said Israel and Hamas were looking for guarantees to ensure a long-term stop to hostilities and that Egypt’s aim was to stop the fighting and “find a direct way to lift the siege of Gaza”.

The leader of Hamas took a tough stance, rejecting Israel’s demands that the militant group stop its rocket fire and insisting that Israel meet Hamas’s demands for a lifting of the blockade of Gaza.

“We don’t accept Israeli conditions because it is the aggressor,” Khaled Mashaal said in Egypt. “We want a ceasefire along with meeting our demands.

“For this issue to be resolved it has to be solved from its roots and the best way is to end the occupation.”

An Israeli official said Israel hoped to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

“We prefer the diplomatic solution if it’s possible. If we see it’s not going to bear fruit we can escalate,” he said.

He said Israel did not want a “quick fix” that would result in renewed fighting months down the road. Instead, Israel wanted “international guarantees” that Hamas would not rearm or use Egypt’s neighbouring Sinai Peninsula for militant activity.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon is to meet Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas as part of the growing push for a Gaza war ceasefire, his spokesman said yesterday.

“The secretary general wishes to add his diplomatic weight to these efforts, which are considerable and extremely important,” the UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said in Cairo, where Mr Ban arrived yesterday. Hamas fighters have fired hundreds of rockets into Israel in the current round of fighting, including at least 75 yesterday, among them one that hit an empty school.

Twenty rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile battery, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. Rockets landed in open areas of Beersheva, Ashdod and Asheklon. Schools in southern Israel have been closed since the start of the offensive on Wednesday.

At an Islamic conference in Istanbul yesterday, Turkey’s prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Israel a terrorist state and said he did not trust the UN because it lacked a Muslim voice. Some delegates at the conference burst into applause when he attacked Israel and accused the UN of bias. Mr Erdogan said also accused the West of ignoring the “sufferings of Muslims in Palestine, Syria and Myanmar because of lack of oil”, and said the UN was merely watching the killings in Syria. Inter-government ties between Turkey and Israel, once close military allies, have been strained since an Israeli raid killed Turks on a Gaza-bound aid ship in 2010.

On November 6, Islamist demonstrators cheered as a Turkish court began the trial of four Israeli officers accused in their absence of ordering the raid.

While Hamas is considered a terrorist group by Israel, the US and the European Union, Mr Erdogan’s government has cultivated diplomatic relations with the group.

Russia on yesterday accused the US of seeking to “filibuster” a UN security council statement on the crisis and said it could propose a full resolution on the conflict.

Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said one country on the 15-nation council indicated “quite transparently that they will not be prepared to go along with any reaction of the security council.”

Mr Churkin did not name the country but diplomats said the US was holding up a statement sought by Arab nations.

In a related development, a senior Lebanese security official said military experts has dismantled two Katyusha rockets aimed at Israel. They were found in south Lebanon.

The official said the rockets found yesterday near the village of Halta were placed about four kilometres away from the Lebanon-Israel border and were equipped with timers.

* With additional reporting by Reuters, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse
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| Israel-Hamas ‘Open War’: LIVE UPDATES!

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Israel-Hamas ‘Open War’: LIVE UPDATES ~ RT.

 

Palestinian civil defence staff carry a survivor on a stretcher after he was pulled out from under the rubble of a destroyed house following an Israeli air strike on Gaza City.(AFP Photo / Mahmud Hams)

Palestinian civil defence staff carry a survivor on a stretcher after he was pulled out from under the rubble of a destroyed house following an Israeli air strike on Gaza City.(AFP Photo / Mahmud Hams)

View more photos from the Israel-Hamas conflict in RT’s gallery.

Nov. 18. 15:16 GMT: The IDF says just 302 of 846 Gaza missiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system, adding that there were also 99 rockets that couldn’t make it out of Gaza’s airspace and went off within its territory.

Nov. 18. 14:57 GMT: ­A three-year-old girl and a five-year-old boy are among ten people killed in a fresh strike on Beit Lahiya. The strike hit a three-story home, which Hamas security officials say is owned by a family that has members involved in militant rocket squads. It is unknown whether militants were in or near the house at the time of the strike.

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IDF Pinpoint Strike on Hamas Operational Communications Infrastructure

Nov. 18. 14:06 GMT: The head of the Hamas rocket program in Gaza has been killed in a precise targeted operation by the IDF.

Nov. 18. 13:50 GMT: Egyptian security officials say a senior Israeli official has arrived in Cairo for talks on reaching a cease-fire to end an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. (AP)

Nov. 18, 13:06 GMT: The recent deaths in the Sheikh Radjwan area of Gaza City bring the death toll to 55.

Nov. 18, 13:05 GMT: Two women are among the three killed in a new strike on the Sheikh Radjwan area of Gaza City. Several have been injured,  Al Arabiya reports.


Nov. 18, 13:00 GMT: President Obama says “We are fully supportive of Israel’s right to defend itself'”, discussing Gaza crisis during his Thailand visit. The US President also says will know in the next 36 to 48 hours whether progress can be made in halting Gaza crisis.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Thailand′s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra participate in a joint news conference at the Government House in Bangkok.(Reuters / Jason Reed)
U.S. President Barack Obama and Thailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra participate in a joint news conference at the Government House in Bangkok.(Reuters / Jason Reed)

Nov. 18, 12:44 GMT: German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle is expected in Israel on Monday to attempt to advance a cease fire, RT Paula Slier reports.

Nov. 18, 12:34 GMT: Palestinian roving ambassador Afif Safieh tells Sky News channel Gaza conflict is about ‘territory not terrorism’; calls Netanyahu a ‘pyromaniac’.

Nov. 18, 12:05 GMT: IDF takes over Hamas radio waves, warns Gaza residents, Israeli media reports.

Nov. 18, 12:04 GMT: A barrage of at least 15 rockets has been fired at Ashdod, Haaretz reports.


Nov. 18, 11:20 GMT: Israeli Culture and Sport Minster Limor Livnat told Ynet that Israel cannot agree to a ceasefire as“only this morning we saw that Grad rockets are still landing on the southern residents.”

Nov. 18, 11:17 GMT: One man was killed, and four wounded in Israeli air strike on a refugee camp in Gaza, Ynet reported, citing sources in Al-Shifa Hospital.


Nov. 18, 10:41 GMT: Hamas PM Ismail Haniyeh has gone into hiding due to concerns that Israel wants to assassinate him, a spokesman for the militant group said according to Ynet news. This comes after the Israeli Air Forces bombed his Gaza headquarters on Saturday.

Nov. 18, ­09:51 GMT: The crew of RT’s Arabic-language sister channel Rusiya Al-Yaum are moving to a new office following an Israeli attack on two media center buildings overnight. Staff members were not at the facility when it was bombed.

 


 

Nov. 18, 09:40 GMT: The IDF targeted the site in Gaza from where the rocket was fired at Tel Aviv.


Nov. 18, 09:30 GMT: The Middle East Foreign Press Association demands explanation from the IDF over why its air force targeted media buildings overnight. It said journalists in areas of conflict are considered civilians and must be respected and protected as such under the international law.

Israeli rescue workers look at the roof of a building damaged by a rocket in the coastal city of Ashkelon.(Reuters / Nir Elias)
Israeli rescue workers look at the roof of a building damaged by a rocket in the coastal city of Ashkelon.(Reuters / Nir Elias)

Nov. 18, 09:09 GMT: A four-storey building in Ashkelon, Israel, was hit by a rocket fired from Gaza. Two people were lightly wounded by shrapnel in the assault. Another rocket landed near a different residential building and damaged parked cars. Two additional missiles that were launched toward the city were intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system.

Nov. 18, 08:47 GMT: The Iron Dome intercepted the rocket fired from Gaza toward Tel Aviv, IDF reported.


Nov. 18, 08:45 GMT: Rocket alerts heard in Tel Aviv, IDF reported.

Nov. 18, 08:44 GMT: Siren is heard in Ashdod and Ashkelon beach, Israel, according to Haaretz.

Nov. 18, 08:22 GMT: Hamas’ Qassam Brigades fired a ‘107 Rocket’ at an Israeli warship, Al Arabiya reported .

A Palestinian man kisses the body of one of his children during their funeral in the northern Gaza Strip.(Reuters / Mohammed Salem)
A Palestinian man kisses the body of one of his children during their funeral in the northern Gaza Strip.(Reuters / Mohammed Salem)

Nov. 18, 08:06 GMT: An 18-month-old Palestinian boy has been killed in new Israeli airstrike on Gaza, AFP quotes Palestinian medics as saying. Earlier, it was reported that a total of three children have been killed since midnight in Gaza by Israeli shelling, according to the Twitter feed of Reuters correspondent Noah Browning in Palestine/Israel.

Palestinians inspect a destroyed house after an Israeli air strike in the northern Gaza Strip.(Reuters / Mohammed Salem)
Palestinians inspect a destroyed house after an Israeli air strike in the northern Gaza Strip.(Reuters / Mohammed Salem)

Nov. 18, 07:03 GMT:An Israeli airstrike on a media compound has injured at least six journalists, Palestinian medical authorities say. Among the outlets damaged are local, Italian, German, Lebanese and Kuwaiti channels. An IDF report of the strike described the target as “a communications antenna used by Hamas to carry out terror activity against the State of Israel.” Israel sees al-Quds TV as a Hamas propaganda branch.


Nov. 18, 06:56 GMT: Israel’s ambassador to the US has reportedly deleted his tweet, saying that the Israeli government wants to sit and talk with Hamas. Ambassador Michael Oren said his tweet was “sent erroneously by a staffer,” Haaretz reports, quoting the website BuzzFeed.com. The post was allegedly written after the ambassador gave an interview to CNN.


Nov. 18, 03:43 GMT: The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations has urged the Security Council to take action on the Gaza bombardment, Maan news agency reports. Riyad Mansour has written letters to UN chief Ban Ki-moon and the presidents of the Security Council and General Assembly, stressing that Israel’s military operation breaches the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Nov. 18, 03:30 GMT: The World Health Organization (WHO) said in statement that it was already worried about a shortfall in medical supplies before the bombardment because of the long standing Israeli siege of the strip. Gazan hospitals now have to deal with the growing number of casualties with a critical shortage of drugs and disposables. WHO has appealed to the international and regional community to provide financial support for essential medicines to treat causalities and the chronically ill.

Palestinian medical workers wheel a wounded baby on a stretcher to Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on November 18, 2012 (AFP Photo / Mahmud Hams)
Palestinian medical workers wheel a wounded baby on a stretcher to Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on November 18, 2012 (AFP Photo / Mahmud Hams)

Nov. 18, 02:40 GMT:The video showing a massive explosion supposedly caused by an Israeli airstrike in the residential al-Zaytoun quarter of Gaza City on Saturday was uploaded by YouTube user Ahmed Erheem.

Nov. 18, 02:00 GMT: British PM David Cameron has urged Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to do “everything possible” to end the crisis in Gaza, the BBC reports. The British leader also expressed sympathy for the “unacceptable rocket attacks” Israel has suffered from militants.

Nov. 18, 01:25 GMT: At least six journalists have been injured after an Israeli airstrike hit a complex of media offices in Gaza City. The Al-Showa and Housari buildings house a number of foreign and Palestinian media organizations, including Palestinian Maan news agency, Germany’s ARD, Kuwait TV and the Italian RAI. Meanwhile the IDF has reported the Israeli Navy targeted “several Hamas terror sites” in the Gaza Strip.

“At least six journalists were wounded, with minor and moderate injuries, when Israeli warplanes hit the al-Quds TV office in the Showa and Housari building in the Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City,” health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said, AFP reports.

Nov. 18, 00:15 GMT: Israeli warplanes have conducted a series of air strikes across the Gaza Strip, causing numerous casualties, the military wing of Hamas reports.  Meanwhile IDF confirms that it has targeted two smuggling tunnels belonging to “terrorist groups” in Gaza.

Nov. 17, 23:30 GMT: Palestinian death toll from Israeli strikes on Gaza rises to 45, according to Maan news agency.

Nov. 17, 22:05 GMT: The Al Qassam Brigade, the military wing of Hamas, has given a press conference claiming more successful attacks against Israel and vowing they “have a lot of surprises.”  “We shot down a warplane over the Gaza sea, which Israel is hiding. We have targeted a sensitive military site in Rishon Lezion near Tel El Rabee city,” the group has claimed.

Nov. 17, 21:50 GMT: Israeli PM Netanyahu tells foreign leaders he would agree to a ceasefire with Hamas if it agrees to halt rocket fire from Gaza.

Nov. 17, 21:21 GMT: Benjamin Netanyahu’s office denies reports an emissary from Israel has been dispatched to Cairo for ceasefire talks. 

Nov. 17, 21:17 GMT: RT’s correspondent in Tel Aviv Paula Slier says some Arab sources report an Israeli emmisary is en route to Cairo to review a draft agreement for a ceasefire that begins tonight.

Nov. 17, 20:59 GMT: Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi told reporters his government was in touch with both Israelis and Palestinians and there were indications they could “soon” reach a truce.

Nov. 17, 20:50 GMT: Israeli police plan to “sweep for Palestinians illegally residing in Israel” on Sunday due to security concerns, Haaretz reports.

Nov. 17, 20:38 GMT: Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai on the operation in Gaza: “The goal of the operation is to send Gaza back to the Middle Ages. Only then will Israel be calm for forty years” – Haaretz

Nov. 17, 19:58 GMT: The IDF has agreed to open the Kerem Shalom Crossing on Sunday to permit deliveries of food and humanitarian supplies to Gaza.


Nov. 17, 19:51 GMT: Hamas’ military wing, the Al Qassam Brigades, have tweeted that they will hold an important press conference concerning the situation in the Gaza Strip. Some are speculating that the press conference may be used to announce the outcome of the talks in Cairo.

Nov. 17, 19:34 GMT: An Israeli strike on southern Gaza kills two more Palestinians, according to locals and emergency services.

Nov. 17, 18:39 GMT: Israeli PM Netanyahu lobbies international community on Gaza operation, informing leaders of Germany, Greece, Italy and the Czech Republic that his country “will not allow a situation where its civilian population is under constant rocket threat.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (AFP Photo / Jack Guez)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (AFP Photo / Jack Guez)

Nov. 17, 18:35 GMT: King of Jordan calls for “urgent humanitarian aid to Gaza.”

Nov. 17, 18:09 GMT: Qatar will give $10 million to Egypt to help treat Palestinians wounded in Israeli strikes, according to state media.

Nov. 17, 17:48 GMT:Head of Iran’s Parliament’s National Security Committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi has denied his counrty supplied Fajr 5 rockets to Hamas.

Nov. 17, 17:21 GMT: Arab League to send delegation to Gaza on Sunday, November 18.

 


Nov. 17, 16:49 GMT: Arab League chief Nabil el-Arabi: Israel is committing war crimes against the Palestinian people; massacres must not go unpunished.

A general view shows the ministerial meeting at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo (AFP Photo / Khaled Desouki)
A general view shows the ministerial meeting at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo (AFP Photo / Khaled Desouki)

Nov. 17, 16: 41 GMT: Mansour says Israelis must be prosecuted in international courts for committing war crimes and the Arab states should freeze their ties with Israel.

Nov. 17, 16:37 GMT: Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour tells Arab League the Palestinian people are demanding the Arabs to courageously stand against the assault.

Nov. 17, 16:35 GMT:Arab League’s Foreign Ministers gather for emergency meeting in Cairo to discuss Israeli strikes on Gaza.


Nov. 17, 15:58 GMT: Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has expressed readiness to visit the Gaza Strip and deliver humanitarian aid, Press TV reports.

Nov. 17, 15:38 GMT: White House reports: US believes Israelis have the right to self defense and to make their own military decisions. President Obama called Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan about bringing an end to violence in Israel.

Pro-palestinian supporters and members of the National Collective for a fair peace between Palestinians and Israeli demonstrate in front of the Opera Garnier on November 17, 2012 in Paris to protest against Israel′s ongoing airstrike over Gaza (AFP Photo / Thomas Coex)
Pro-palestinian supporters and members of the National Collective for a fair peace between Palestinians and Israeli demonstrate in front of the Opera Garnier on November 17, 2012 in Paris to protest against Israel’s ongoing airstrike over Gaza (AFP Photo / Thomas Coex)

Nov. 17, 14:57 GMT: Air raid sirens being heard in Be’er Sheva, Israel.

Nov. 17, 14:51 GMT: Reports of air raid sirens and an explosion in Tel Aviv. The rocket was intercepted by Iron Dome, according to Israeli radio.

Nov. 17, 14:17 GMT: Israeli Minister Avi Dichter says that only a few rockets threaten Tel Aviv, unlike greater danger facing towns in Israel’s south, Haaretz reports.

Nov. 17, 13:45 GMT: A Palestinian man has died of wounds sustained on Saturday in Gaza City. This brings the death toll to 40 people since Wednesday.


Nov. 17, 13:28 GMT:

500 people are marching in a Nazareth parade to protest against the IDF operation in Gaza. The march was organized by Israel’s Hadash party.

A picture shows damages caused by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod on November 17, 2012 (AFP Photo / David Buimovitch)
A picture shows damages caused by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod on November 17, 2012 (AFP Photo / David Buimovitch)

Nov. 17, 12:55 GMT:Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemns Israel’s air strikes on Gaza, a statement from his office says, as Al Jazeera reports.


Nov. 17, 12:53 GMT: Five rockets have fallen in open spaces in the Eshkol Regional Council. No one wounded.

Nov. 17, 12:31 GMT: Meretz party chairwoman Zahava Gal-On has warned of a ground invasion of Gaza, stating that the Israeli government must instead partake in negotiations with Hamas via Egyptian or international mediators. “This is the correct, effective way to guard the citizens of Israel,” she said.

She said the Israeli leadership is “trying to drag us into another war of deception…Experience shows that ground operations are an assurance for a bloody chaos.”

Zahava Gal-On (Reuters / Mohamad Torokman)
Zahava Gal-On (Reuters / Mohamad Torokman)

Nov. 17, 12:30 GMT: Hamas head Khaled Meshla and Islamic Jihad leader Ramdan Shalah are meeting in Cairo with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Qatar’s Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.

Nov. 17, 12:13 GMT: Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is holding a consultation meeting with IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz and army officials in Tel Aviv, Haaretz reports.

Nov. 17, 11:52 GMT: Hamas is preventing foreign nationals – including 22 journalists – from leaving the Gaza Strip, DPA reports.

Nov. 17, 11:41 GMT: Four rockets from Gaza hit Ashdod, Israel; three out of four actually hit targets: a house, car and the third landed near a kindergarten, IDF reported.

Nov 17, 11:03 GMT: Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem during his visit to Gaza tells Israel to halt aggression as it is unacceptable.

Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem (L) meets with senior Palestinian Hamas member Bassem Naim upon arrival in Rafah through the border crossing between Egypt and the southern Gaza Strip on November 17, 2012 (AFP Photo / Said Khatib)
Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem (L) meets with senior Palestinian Hamas member Bassem Naim upon arrival in Rafah through the border crossing between Egypt and the southern Gaza Strip on November 17, 2012 (AFP Photo / Said Khatib)

Nov 17, 10:39 GMT: Chief of Staff Benny Gantz has ordered the IDF to increase the pace of strikes on Gaza, following an assessment meeting in Tel Aviv’s headquarters, YNet reported.

Nov 17, 10:13 GMT: Unconfirmed reports that the IDF has begun artillery strikes on Gaza from tanks positioned on the border.

Israeli soldiers stand atop a tank on the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip on November 17, 2012 (AFP Photo / Jack Guez)
Israeli soldiers stand atop a tank on the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip on November 17, 2012 (AFP Photo / Jack Guez)

Nov 17, 09:54 GMT: The Tunisian Foreign Minister during his visit to Gaza reassured that Tunisia will work together in Arab League, which meets later on Saturday, and UN to stop Israel’s aggression.

Nov. 17, 08:52 GMT: Islamic University in Gaza is targeted by Israeli air attack, Al Arabiya reported.

Nov. 17, 08:05 GMT: One Israeli soldier has been injured after a rocket hit the southern Israeli city of Ashdod, AlJazeera reported.


Nov. 17, 08:03 GMT: Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem has arrived in Gaza along with 10 other ministers.

Nov. 17, 05:01 GMT: An Israeli airstrike has hit Hamas’ cabinet headquarters in Gaza as the Israeli assault enters its fourth day, IDF reported. Reportedly, three Palestinians died in the strike, the HQ was completely destroyed and neighboring houses damaged.


Nov. 17, 05:00 GMT:Overnight Israel’s military targeted 85 more “terror sites in Gaza”, the IDF reported.

Nov. 17, 00:20 GMT: US President Barack Obama has reiterated “US support for Israel’s right to self-defense.” Obama discussed the escalating violence in the Gaza Strip with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday. He also expressed regret over the loss of Israeli and Palestinian civilian lives.

Nov. 16, 23:54 GMT: Senior Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzouk has told Maan news agency that he does not expect a ceasefire soon. “There are many calls for a truce but it will not be soon,” he said.

Mousa Abu Marzouk (Reuters / Khaled Al Hariri)
Mousa Abu Marzouk (Reuters / Khaled Al Hariri)

Nov. 16, 23:40 GMT: The hacktivist group, Anonymous, has claimed it has attacked the website of the Israeli government, http://www.tel-aviv.gov.il. The website was unavailable as of Saturday morning. The group also claimed it deleted a database at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The cyber attacks come as a part of the so called #OpIsrael launched by Anonymous to rally support for the Palestinians.

Nov. 16, 22:35 GMT: Five more Palestinians killed by IDF, bringing the Gaza death toll from Israeli attacks to 29 – Palestinian medical sources.

Nov. 16, 22:30 GMT: The United Nations has voiced concern about the number of child casualties resulting from Israel’s bombing of Gaza. At least 4 Palestinian children have been killed and over 60 injured since Wednesday in Israeli airstrikes according to the UN. The organization also believes that 50 Israeli civilians including children have been injured by Hamas rockets fired into Israel.

Nov. 16, 22:10 GMT: IDF confirms it targeted two senior Hamas operatives: Muhammad Abu-Jalal, Company Commander in central Gaza and Khaled Shah’yer, chief missile operator.


Nov. 16, 21:16 GMT: Israeli Cabinet approves mobilization of 75,000 reserve soldiers as assault on Gaza is intensifying, Haaretz reports.

Nov. 16, 20:48 GMT: Hamas field commander Ahmed Abu Jalal has been killed in an Israeli air strike on Gaza, AFP reports citing security sources.

Nov. 16, 19:34 GMT: Israel’s Channel 10 claims that senior Defense official Amos Gilad is in contact with Egyptian officials in a bid to reach a ceasefire that might be achieved within 24 hours.

Nov. 16, 18:22 GMT: Israeli army announces it’s closing three major roads around the Gaza Strip and declaring them closed military zones.

Nov 16, 18:03 GMT: Hamas health ministry says 3 people have been killed this evening, bringing the total number of casualties in Gaza to since at least 27, including 7 children.

Nov. 16, 17:47 GMT: Israeli Defense Minister approves expansion of draft to more than 75,000 army reservists; request was transferred to the approval of the government, reports Channel 2.

Nov. 16, 17:11 GMT: Palestinian President Abbas says Israeli aggression is aimed at preventing an independent Palestinian state.

Nov. 16, 16:49 GMT: Hospitals in Israel have reportedly been given emergency protocols. All who are not in need of urgent care are being sent home.

Nov. 16, 16:17 GMT: Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has expanded on the call-up of over 30,000 reserve soldiers.

“The defense minister has this evening ordered the mobilization of new reserve forces,” a spokesperson told AFP.

Nov. 16, 14:59 GMT: RT’s Tom Barton says local media reports hearing three rocket explosions over Jerusalem.

Nov. 16, 14:57 GMT: Air raid sirens sound over Jerusalem.


Nov 16., 13:42 GMT: IDF resumes Gaza strikes after halting attacks over Egyptian PM’s visit.

Nov. 16, 12:56 GMT: In a telephone conversation with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he supports Egypt’s efforts aimed at normalizing the situation in the Gaza Strip, the Kremlin press service said. The Russian president called on opposing sides of the conflict to stop the use of force which claims the lives of innocent civilians and show restraint. It was agreed between the presidents that Morsi will visit Russia.

Nov. 16, 12:38 GMT: Al-Qassam Brigades says one Palestinian has been killed, another seriously injured in an Israeli air strike on the Al Zaytoon neighborhood east of Gaza City.

Nov. 16, 12:22 GMT: IDF says 500 targets in Gaza have been attacked since ‘Operation Pillar of Defense’ began.

Nov. 16, 12:17 GMT: British Foreign Secretary William Hague told a BBC radio show, “Israel does have to bear in mind that it is when ground invasions have taken place in previous conflicts that they have lost international support and a great deal of sympathy around the world.”

Earlier, Hague stated that Hamas “bears principal responsibility” for the conflict between Gaza and Israel, and should move to cease attacks on Israeli territory. He appealed to Israel to do its utmost to “avoid the risk of a spiral of violence.”

Nov. 16, 12:13 GMT: Al-Qassam brigades say they are shelling occupied Al Majdal with two Grad missiles.

Nov. 16, 12:10 GMT: Al-Qassam brigades say they are bombing occupied Ashdod with seven Grad missiles.

Nov. 16, 12:06 GMT: An IDF spokesperson says a new rocket has not hit Tel Aviv, but that 340 rockets have hit Israel since ‘Operation Pillar of Defense’ began.

Nov. 16, 12:04 GMT: AFP reports that the power is out in its Gaza office, and that it is running on a backup generator. Employees say they feel the pressure of displaced air pushing through the open windows in the office.

Nov. 16, 11:57 GMT: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will speak on the phone with US President Barak Obama to discuss the ongoing strikes on Gaza by Israel, the Daily Hurriyet reports.

“We stand by our Gazan friends here as the Turkish government,” Erdoğan said. He added that Israel had started striking Gaza and killing innocent people using fictional excuses ahead of elections, as had happened prior to the 2008 election. “I will have a phone conversation with Obama. I will share these thoughts with him,” he said.

Palestinians survey a destroyed house of a Hamas military commander after an Israeli air strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip November 16, 2012 (Reuters / Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)
Palestinians survey a destroyed house of a Hamas military commander after an Israeli air strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip November 16, 2012 (Reuters / Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)

Nov. 16, 11:48 GMT:Egyptian President Muhamed Morsi has denounced Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip as a “blatant aggression against humanity” and said Cairo “would not leave Gaza on its own,” the state news agency MENA reported.
Nov. 16, 11:45 GMT: Two of the six rockets have seemingly been shot down by Iron Dome, @JonDonnison reports.

Nov. 16, 11:43 GMT: A battery of six rockets have reportedly been fired from north of Gaza City towards Israel, according to Twitter user @JonDonnison.

Nov. 16, 11:41 GMT: All public shelters being unlocked in Tel Aviv and being made available, following rocket launches at the city.

Nov. 16, 11:32 GMT: Al-Qassam says it hit a military jeep with an anti-tank guided missile east of al-Bureij.

Nov. 16, 11:29 GMT: Al-Qassam brigades in Gaza say they have fired a long-range missile towards the Israeli parliament. The IDF, however, denies the information.

Nov. 16, 10:28 GMT: Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem is set to visit Gaza on Saturday.

Nov. 16, 10:12 GMT: The Guardian’s journalist Harriet Sherwood tweets that medics at the Gaza City’s Shifa hospital say there are no more ICU beds. They are now trying to evacuate patients to Egypt.

Nov. 16, 09:09 GMT: Egyptian PM Hisham Kandil says, “What I am witnessing in Gaza is a disaster and I can’t keep quiet. The Israeli aggression must stop.”

Nov. 16, 09:04 GMT: Ma’an news agency reports that the bodies of two children, who were killed in the latest Israeli strike, have been brought to the hospital while Egypt’s PM was there.

Nov. 16, 08:41 GMT: The ceasefire, promised during the Egypt’s PM visit, has been broken both by Israel and Gaza, with Tel Aviv bombing the al-Qassam Brigades commander’s house in Gaza. Hamas also says two Gazans have been killed in a strike. It is not yet clear whether those were one or separate incidents.

Smoke rises following an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip November 16, 2012 (Reuters / Ronen Zvulun)
Smoke rises following an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip November 16, 2012 (Reuters / Ronen Zvulun)

Nov. 16, 08:40 GMT: According to the schedule of the Egyptian PM’s visit reported by Ma’an news agency, Hisham Kandil is to meet with Gaza’s PM Ismail Haniyeh and visit Gaza’s main Shifa hospital.

Nov. 16, 08:16 GMT: Israeli officials say Hamas is not respecting the temporary truce agreed during the Egyptian PM’s visit.

Nov. 16, 07:34 GMT: Witnesses report on Twitter that it’s quiet now in Gaza, as the Egyptian PM’s visit starts.

Nov. 16, 07:17 GMT: Egypt’s PM Hisham Kandil has allegedly arrived in Gaza, RT’s Tom Barton tweets.

Nov. 16, 07:14 GMT: The IDF says it is planning to begin recruiting 16,000 reservists as part of the “Pillar of Defense” operation.

Nov. 16, 06:55 GMT: Palestinian authorities say three more people were killed in Israeli strikes, bringing the total death toll to 19 inside Gaza, RT’s Tom Barton reports via Twitter. He adds that over 85 missiles hit Gaza within 45 minutes Friday morning.

Nov. 16, 06:00 GMT: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that all offensives would be halted on Friday, the day of the Egyptian prime minister’s visit to Gaza.

Nov. 16, 05:55 GMT: Israel launched strikes on the Ministry of Interior’s Department of Civil Affairs in Gaza City, with at least 40 bombs hitting overnight, Ma’an news agency reported. The ministry’s officials assured that 90 per cent of citizens’ data is stored electronically, and is safe.

Nov. 16, 03:30 GMT: Australian PM Julia Gillard has joined a number of Western leaders in supporting Israel and condemning Hamas for rocket and mortar attacks on Israel, AAP reports. ”Australia supports Israel’s right to defend itself against these indiscriminate attacks. Such attacks on Israel’s civilian population are utterly unacceptable.”

Nov. 16, 03:05 GMT: IDF claims that more than 420 rockets have been fired from Gaza into southern Israel in the past two days.

Nov. 16, 01:15 GMT: Israeli Defense Force denies Hamas claims that an Israeli drone was downed.

Nov. 16, 00:40 GMT: Death toll from Israeli strikes on Gaza has risen to 19, reportedly six of them are children.

Palestinians survey a destroyed house of a Hamas military commander after an Israeli air strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip November 16, 2012 (Reuters / Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)
Palestinians survey a destroyed house of a Hamas military commander after an Israeli air strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip November 16, 2012 (Reuters / Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)

Nov. 16, 00:10 GMT: Israeli forces are searching homes in the al-Arroub refugee camp in the south of the West Bank, Maan news agency reports citing witnesses. This comes after Palestinians threw a Molotov cocktail at an Israeli settler bus in the area, injuring one passenger.

Nov. 15, 23:00 GMT: IDF claims that since the start of the operation the Israeli Air Force has targeted 300 “terror activity sites” in the Gaza Strip.

Nov. 15, 22:30 GMT: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will visit Jerusalem, Cairo and Ramallah on Tuesday, Haaretz says. The UN chief however is not expected to visit the Gaza Strip.

Nov. 15, 20:40 GMT: An Israeli strike killed a UN school teacher in Gaza. Marwan Abu El Qumsan, an Arabic teacher at a UN school, was killed as his car was hit by a bomb on Thursday, the UN Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, says on its website.

Nov. 15, 20:35 GMT: During the past hour approximately 70 underground medium-range rocket launching sites in Gaza have been targeted by the IDF, the organization reported on Twitter.


Nov. 15, 19:59 GMT: Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah urges US oil embargo over Gaza violence.

Nov. 15, 19:47 GMT: Israeli media reports indicate that an Israeli Navy warship launched a targeted missile strike that hit a Hamas jeep near the home of Hamas Prime Minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh. No casualties have been reported.

Palestinians extinguish a fire after Israeli air strikes targeted an electricity generator that fed the house of Hamas′s Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza City November 15, 2012. (Reuters/Majdi Fathi)
Palestinians extinguish a fire after Israeli air strikes targeted an electricity generator that fed the house of Hamas’s Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza City November 15, 2012. (Reuters/Majdi Fathi)

Nov. 15, 19:46 GMT: Palestinian sources in Gaza have reported at least ten attacks on targets throughout the Gaza Strip. The targets were reportedly different positions and strongholds of Hamas’ security forces, as well as missile launching sites.

Nov. 15, 19:19 GMT: Witnesses on Twitter say a massive Israeli airstrike is underway in north Gaza, with dozens of explosions being heard. One witness says the Gaza sky is “filled with continuous flashes of explosions from F-16’s.”

Nov. 15, 19:10 GMT: Power outages reported in Gaza, particularly Gaza City.

Nov. 15, 18:29 GMT: An IDF spokesperson says 30,000 reserve soldiers could be called to participate in Gaza operation, Haaretz reports.

A 155mm mobile cannon (front) is seen after it was transported to an area just outside the northern Gaza Strip November 15, 2012. (Reutrers/Amir Cohen)
A 155mm mobile cannon (front) is seen after it was transported to an area just outside the northern Gaza Strip November 15, 2012. (Reutrers/Amir Cohen)
Men lower the body of Aaron Smadja, one of the three Israelis killed by a rocket fired from Gaza, during his funeral at a cemetery in the southern city of Kiryat Malachi November 15, 2012. (Reuters/Ronen Zvulun)
Men lower the body of Aaron Smadja, one of the three Israelis killed by a rocket fired from Gaza, during his funeral at a cemetery in the southern city of Kiryat Malachi November 15, 2012. (Reuters/Ronen Zvulun)

Nov. 15, 18:23 GMT: An IDF source says the air assault on Gaza will be renewed over the coming hours, says the IDF has approved plans for the next stage of the operation, Haaretz reports.

Nov. 15, 18:14 GMT: Israel’s defense minister says rocket fire on Tel Aviv is an escalation that will “exact a price.”

Nov. 15, 17:54 GMT: 250 sites have been targeted in Gaza since yesterday and 274 rockets have struck Israel in the past two days, according to an IDF spokesperson. There have also been 105 Iron Dome interceptions.

Nov. 15, 17:53 GMT: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was at the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv at time of rocket attack, went into bomb shelter with staff, Israeli media say.

Nov. 15, 17:21 GMT: Conflicting reports say a rocket has hit near Tel Aviv, landing in the sea off Jaffa Beach. An IDF spokesperson says a rocket “did not strike the area.”

Nov. 15, 16:20 GMT: Twitter reportedly suspended the IDF’s account earlier on Thursday after it posted updates on the Gaza Strip conflict which Twitter deemed to be “direct, specific threats of violence against others.”

Nov. 15, 16:00 GMT: A spokesperson for Hamas says Egypt will send a delegation headed by Prime Minister Hesham Kandil to Gaza on Friday.

Nov. 15, 15:54 GMT: An IDF spokesperson has told RT that journalists have full access to the Erez crossing into Gaza, despite differing claims from reporters earlier on Thursday.

Nov. 15, 15:28 GMT: Russian President Vladimir Putin discusses Gaza conflict with Netanyahu, urges both sides to avoid escalation of violence.

Nov. 15, 15:26 GMT: The Israeli army says a rocket has struck near the southern Tel Aviv suburb of Rishon LeZion. No injuries have been reported.

Nov. 15, 14:03 GMT: Hamas health officials in Gaza say a two-year-old Palestinian child was killed by an Israeli strike on Thursday.

A man carries the body of Palestinian boy Walid al-Abadlah, who according to hospital officials was killed in an Israeli air strike in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip November 15, 2012. (Reuters / Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)
A man carries the body of Palestinian boy Walid al-Abadlah, who according to hospital officials was killed in an Israeli air strike in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip November 15, 2012. (Reuters / Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)

Nov. 15,13:55 GMT:Unconfirmed reports say that electricity has been shut off in Gaza.
Nov. 15, 13:46 GMT: Twenty foreign journalists were reportedly blocked by the Israeli military before reaching the Erez crossing point to enter Gaza.

Nov. 15, 13:44 GMT: British Ambassador to Israel declares UK’s full support for Israel’s defensive actions and its right to self defense.

Nov. 15, 13:43 GMT: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will “continue to take whatever action is necessary to defend our people.”

Nov. 15, 13:00 GMT: Unconfirmed reports from Israeli media say that tanks are moving south towards the Gaza border. Israeli Defense Forces have refused to comment.

Nov. 15, 12:44 GMT: Palestinian President Abbas says Hamas needs to stop its rocket fire on Israel, calls for both sides to end the violence. 

Nov. 15, 12:20 GMT: Sources claim Israel is offering a mutual ceasefire option in Gaza via European mediators.

Nov. 15, 12:11 GMT: Hamas reports two more Palestinians killed in Israeli air strike on Gaza.

Nov. 15, 11:50 GMT: UK Foreign Secretary William Hague stated that Hamas “bears principal responsibility” for the conflict between Gaza and Israel, and should move to cease attacks on Israeli territory. He appealed to Israel to do its utmost to “avoid the risk of a spiral of violence.”

Nov. 15, 11:34 GMT: Gaza prison has been evacuated and prisoners have either been sent home or escorted to other locations, reports RT’s Tom Barton.

Nov. 15, 11:17 GMT: The wreckage of the apartment block in the southern Israeli city of Kiryat Malachi hit by a Hamas rocket. Three people were killed in the explosion because they did not make it to the building’s fortified stairwell. Three children were also injured in the attack.

An Israeli soldier throws a blood-stained table out of a building damaged by a rocket, fired from Gaza, in the southern city of Kiryat Malachi November 15, 2012. (Reuters / Nir Elias)
An Israeli soldier throws a blood-stained table out of a building damaged by a rocket, fired from Gaza, in the southern city of Kiryat Malachi November 15, 2012. (Reuters / Nir Elias)
An injured Israeli baby is held by a security officer inside an ambulance at the scene where a rocket, fired from Gaza, landed in the southern city of Kiryat Malachi November 15, 2012. (Reuters)
An injured Israeli baby is held by a security officer inside an ambulance at the scene where a rocket, fired from Gaza, landed in the southern city of Kiryat Malachi November 15, 2012. (Reuters)

Nov. 15, 11:05 GMT: 4 children among the 13 Palestinians killed in Israeli air strikes on Gaza, reports Hamas Health Ministry.

Nov. 15, 10:54 GMT: Israel’s Foreign Ministry says that 30 per cent of children in the south of Israel suffer from stress disorders in connection with rocket fire from Gaza.

Nov. 15, 10:53 GMT: A Palestinian source says Israel is using drones armed with small missiles to execute their strikes in Gaza, writes RT’s Tom Barton on Twitter.

Nov. 15, 10:15 GMT: The funeral of Hamas Military Chief Ahmed Jabari, killed in an Israeli strike, has begun and is attracting large crowds of angry protesters, tweets RT’s Tom Barton.

Palestinian mourners carry the body of Ahmad Jaabari, head of the military wing of the Hamas movement, the Ezzedin Qassam Brigades, during his funeral in Gaza City, on November 15, 2012. (AFP Photo / Mohammed Abed)
Palestinian mourners carry the body of Ahmad Jaabari, head of the military wing of the Hamas movement, the Ezzedin Qassam Brigades, during his funeral in Gaza City, on November 15, 2012. (AFP Photo / Mohammed Abed)

Nov. 15, 10:08 GMT: An emergency UN Security Council meeting on the crisis in Gaza called by Egypt has begun. It follows a meeting during the night that did not yield any palpable solutions to the conflict.

Nov. 15, 09:57 GMT: Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr has called on the US to “immediately intervene” to curb “Israeli aggression” in Gaza in a telephone conversation with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Nov. 15, 09:49 GMT: President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas has cut short his tour of the EU to deal with the escalating crisis with Israel.

Nov. 15, 09:47 GMT: The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas has announced it is launching“Operation Shale Stones” in response to the Israeli “Pillar of Defense”.

Nov. 15, 09:28 GMT: A crater caused by the impact of Israeli missiles in Gaza city, following a barrage of 60 rockets targeting Palestinian territory.

A general view shows a crater at a spot targeted by an Israeli air strike in Gaza City in the early hours of November 15, 2012. (AFP Photo / Mahmud Hams)
A general view shows a crater at a spot targeted by an Israeli air strike in Gaza City in the early hours of November 15, 2012. (AFP Photo / Mahmud Hams)

Nov. 15, 09:12 GMT: BBC correspondent Jihad Masharawi weeps as he cradles his 11-month-old son in his arms after he was burned alive during an Israeli rocket attack.

(Image from twitter user@WalaaGh)
(Image from twitter user@WalaaGh)

Nov. 15, 08:23 GMT: Egypt has opened the Rafah border crossing in preparation for possible inflow of injured from Gaza. Hospitals and ambulance service are on standby.

Nov. 15, 08:19 GMT: Angry crowds are gathering in Gaza to participate in the funeral of Hamas military leader Ahmed Jabari, killed by an Israeli airstrike.

Nov. 15, 08:11 GMT: Two women and a man were killed in the southern Israeli city of Kiryat Malachi when a rocket hit a building. A one-year old child and another infant were also injured in the strike. Additionally, 10 people suffered panic attacks, according to Israeli publication Ynet.

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07:48 GMT: The Israeli Defense Forces destroy Hamas “infrastructure” in the Gaza city of Khan Yunis.

Nov. 15, 07:32 GMT: Alarm sirens are going off in a number of southern Israeli cities close to the border with Gaza, including Ashdod, Yavne and Kiryat Malakhi, reports RT’s Paula Slier.

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07:29 GMT: Rockets fire from the Gaza strip into southern Israel.

Nov. 15, 07:06 MGT: Rocket strikes on the South of Israel have killed three people, reports Israeli television.

Nov. 15, 07:05 GMT: A baby has been seriously injured by a rocket attack on a house in the South of Israel, tweets RT correspondent Tom Barton.

A picture taken from the southern Israeli town of Sderot shows smoke billowing from a spot targeted by an Israeli air strike inside the Gaza strip on November 15, 2012. (AFP Photo / Jack Guez)
A picture taken from the southern Israeli town of Sderot shows smoke billowing from a spot targeted by an Israeli air strike inside the Gaza strip on November 15, 2012. (AFP Photo / Jack Guez)

Nov. 15,06:34 GMT: Hamas stated that they will avenge the assassination of one of the organization’s leaders, Ahmed al-Jabari, who was killed in the Israeli missile strike, by sending suicide bombers into Israel.

Nov. 15, 06:19 GMT: Israel’s army has allowed journalists to go into Gaza, but police are not letting cars pass in order to get there, according to the BBC’s Middle East Bureau Chief Paul Danahar.

Nov. 15, 06:16 GMT: All schools within a 40km range of Gaza have been closed. People living within a 7km range of the Gaza border are not allowed to leave their homes and gatherings of over 100 people in one place are prohibited, Yeshiva World News reports.

A Palestinian man looks at the damage after Israeli air strikes in Gaza City November 15, 2012. (Reuters / Suhaib Salem)
A Palestinian man looks at the damage after Israeli air strikes in Gaza City November 15, 2012. (Reuters / Suhaib Salem)

Nov. 15, 05:58 GMT: Death toll from Israeli strike on Gaza Strip rises to 13 dead and more than 100 injured, PressTV reports.

Nov. 15, 05:52 GMT: About 100 people protested outside Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s apartment in Tel Aviv Wednesday night following the start of the offensive on Gaza. The activists were shouting “money for welfare, not war.”

(Image from screenshot of youtube video user@SocialTV)
(Image from screenshot of youtube video user@SocialTV)

Nov. 15, 05:41 GMT: IDF disperses leaflets over Gaza Strip, warning residents to stay away from Hamas and terror operatives because that would pose a risk to their safety and stating that Hamas is dragging the region into violence.

A picture taken from the southern Israeli town of Sderot shows warning leaflets falling on the Gaza Strip dropped by Israeli military planes on November 15, 2012. (AFP Photo / Mohammed Abed)
A picture taken from the southern Israeli town of Sderot shows warning leaflets falling on the Gaza Strip dropped by Israeli military planes on November 15, 2012. (AFP Photo / Mohammed Abed)

Nov. 15, 05:24 GMT: Reports of civilian casualties in Israeli airstrikes: BBC Arabic journalist Jihad Masharawi lost his 11 month-old-son, sister-in-law and has a brother wounded in a Gaza strike.

Nov. 15, 05:12 GMT: Israel continued its rocket attacks in Gaza overnight, according to Haaretz.

Nov. 15, 05:09 GMT: Three Palestinian militants killed by Israeli strike in southern Gaza Strip, AFP reports.

Nov. 15, 05:05 GMT: 25 rockets have been fired since midnight from Gaza, Haaretz reports.

Nov. 15, 05:04 GMT: One million citizens in Israel spent the night in bomb shelters, hiding from dozens of rockets flying in from Gaza, according to the IDF.

Israelis prepare to sleep in a bomb shelter in the southern town of Netivot November 14, 2012. (Reuters / Nir Elias)
Israelis prepare to sleep in a bomb shelter in the southern town of Netivot November 14, 2012. (Reuters / Nir Elias)

Nov. 15, 04:40 GMT: Palestine says if Israel does not stop aggression, it will keep returning to UN Security Council seeking a resolution.

Nov. 15, 04:15 GMT: The UN Security Council emergency meeting on Gaza ends with no concrete decision reached.

Nov. 15, 03:55 GMT: Palestine warns UNSC that Israel is mobilizing on the ground as the emergency meeting is happening and that fear and panic engulf Gaza’s population.

Nov. 15, 03:50 GMT: President of the Security Council Hardeep Singh Puri calls for the end of violence in Gaza during UNSC meeting.

Nov. 15, 03:25 GMT: Internet hacktivist collective ‘Anonymous’ claims to have taken down the Israeli Defense Ministry website http://www.idf.il. In a message shared via one of the group’s Twitter accounts, they posted the site address with a popular hashtag used for similar actions, ‘tango down’.

Nov. 15, 03:06 GMT: ­Increasing number of reports claim Israel is planning to shut down internet services in Gaza, citing IDF.

Nov. 15, 02:34 GMT: Russia hopes the UNSC will convince Israel to cease fire, said the country’s permanent representative in the United Nations Vitaly Churkin.

Nov. 15, 01:57 GMT: Worldwide protests are being planned to protest Israeli strikes in Gaza. People in the US, the UK, Israel and many European countries plan to gather to show their concern over escalating violence in the Middle East.


Nov. 15, 01:13 GMT: Diplomats say both the Israeli and Palestinian envoys are to speak at the emergency UNSC meeting.

Nov. 15, 00:51 GMT: The United Nations Security Council has called an emergency meeting to discuss escalating tensions between Israel and the Palestinian territory of Gaza. The meeting is scheduled for 0200 GMT, and will take place behind closed doors.


22:43 GMT: Alarms sound in Be’er Sheva as two Gaza rockets hit city; no casualties reported.

22:26 GMT: Hamas’ armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, claims to be shelling “the occupied city of Tel Aviv”.

21:37 GMT: Israeli National Security Minister Avi Dichter: “We have no intention to end this round of fighting and suffer more hits in the next”

A rocket is launched from Rafah, in the southern Gaza strip towards Israel, on November 14, 2012. (AFP Photo/Said Khatib)
A rocket is launched from Rafah, in the southern Gaza strip towards Israel, on November 14, 2012. (AFP Photo/Said Khatib)

Nov. 14, 21:06 GMT: The Israeli Security Cabinet has given the IDF permission to draft reservists and expand the Gaza operation.

Nov. 14, 20:51 GMT: The Arab League will meet Saturday to discuss the Gaza attack, reports Egypt’s news agency.

Nov. 14, 20:43 GMT: Israel’s ambassador to Egypt has left for Tel Aviv together with a number of the embassy’s employees, claim some media reports. Others insist embassy functioning as usual.

Nov. 14, 19:55 GMT: Israel is reportedly preparing for a ground operation into Gaza.

Nov. 14, 19:48 GMT: According to AlJazeera, the Israeli army has reported a rocket from Gaza hitting a shopping center in a southern Israeli city.

A Palestinian carries a wounded woman into a hospital after Israeli air strikes in Gaza City November 14, 2012. (Reuters/Saleh Salem)
A Palestinian carries a wounded woman into a hospital after Israeli air strikes in Gaza City November 14, 2012. (Reuters/Saleh Salem)

Nov. 14, 19:40 GMT: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov calls for end to violence in Gaza.

Nov. 14, 19:34 GMT: Egypt’s president orders UN representative to call for emergency security council meeting over Israel Gaza strikes, spokesperson says, according to Egyptian state TV.

Nov. 14, 19:27 GMT: Egypt has decided to withdraw its ambassador to Israel.

Nov. 14, 19:22 GMT: Former US President Jimmy Carter was quoted by Israel’s Haaretz daily as saying: “Both sides should cease all hostilities; Israel should end iblockade of Gaza“.

A Palestinian man helps a woman to evacuate following Israeli air strikes in Gaza City November 14, 2012. (Reuters/Ahmed Zakot)
A Palestinian man helps a woman to evacuate following Israeli air strikes in Gaza City November 14, 2012. (Reuters/Ahmed Zakot)
Smoke rises after Israeli air strikes in the northern Gaza Strip November 14, 2012. (Reuters/Darren Whiteside)
Smoke rises after Israeli air strikes in the northern Gaza Strip November 14, 2012. (Reuters/Darren Whiteside)

Nov. 14, 19:20 GMT: People in Gaza describe how ships have been shelling the ground, they can hear bombs dropping, F16s flying above them all day and drones buzzing overhead, according to tweets from inside Gaza.

Nov. 14, 19:15 GMT: Hamas has announced a state of emergency in Gaza, and evacuated all its security buildings, according to bloggers in Gaza.

Nov. 14, 19:10 GMT: Locals inside Gaza take to Twiiter to claim that at least three children have already been killed in the attacks.

Nov. 14, 19:06 GMT: Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired a Grad rocket toward Dimona Wednesday night, Channel 2 reported. No injuries or damage were reported from the attack. It was not immediately clear where the rocket struck, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Nov. 14, 19:00 GMT: Palestinians in Gaza fired two rockets in the Eshkol region of southern Israel Wednesday night. The rockets exploded in open areas and no injuries or damages were reported, according to AP.

Nov. 14, 18:58 GMT: Israeli Defence Minster Ehud Barak says “We are at the start of the action, not the end. But in the long term, this military action will restore calm” according to the Jerusalem Post.

Nov. 14, 18:54 GMT: Israeli prime minister says military is `prepared to expand’ Gaza operation, according to AP.

Palestinian medics carry a wounded baby into the al-shifa hospital in Gaza City following an Israeli air strike on November 14, 2012. (AFP Photo/Mahmud Hams)
Palestinian medics carry a wounded baby into the al-shifa hospital in Gaza City following an Israeli air strike on November 14, 2012. (AFP Photo/Mahmud Hams)

Nov. 14, 18:45 GMT: Palestinian health minister says 10 people killed in 20 airstrikes on Gaza Strip today, including two young children according to AP.

Nov. 14, 18:40 GMT:“Israel’s goal is to achieve a long-term ceasefire with Egyptian mediation. IDF will continue to pound Gaza until such a truce is reached” says Volunteers for Israel, a charity that connects Israel and the USA.

Nov. 14, 18:35 GMT: Israeli Navy has struck terror sites in the Gaza Strip according to an IDF spokesperson.

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| Israel doing what it does best!

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Israel Doing What it Does Best

Yesterday, Mona El Farra wrote from Gaza:

Gaza 11-3-2012 4pm

The Israeli army continues its military attacks against the Gaza Strip. The attacks started Friday, March 10 at 5:30pm. I heard the first terrible explosion as I drove back to Gaza City from Khan Younis. There was a lot of smoke, shattered windows, and a fire in this blue car that was targeted by a missile from an Israeli drone. These offensive acts, though supposedly targeting Palestinian armed resistance men, are illegal according to international law. Every human is entitled a trial.

As usual, the entire civilian population including women and children, pays the highest price and bears the brunt of this terrible situation. Already several children have been killed, one was on his way to school when he was hit by shrapnel.

Our concern is not just the attacks but also the lack of medications and supplies. If Israel continues this operation, the number of causalities will increase. The toll is 16 dead and 30 injured until this minute.

Gaza’s population already lives in a dire humanitarian situation. We are still under Israel’s military occupation and the internal conflict between Palestinian political groups is not solved. But worst of all, the governments of the world are silent and indifferent.

We at the Red Crescent Society of the Gaza Strip and the Middle East Children’s Alliance appeal to the international community, and to our friends and supporters to spread the word about what is happening now in Gaza and pressure your governments to stop these attacks soon.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is on the verge of collapse, the military attacks continue while we lack electricity and our medical facilities and hospitals have little amounts of fuel to operate their backup generators. We have insufficient medications. 186 basic medications are lacking in our pharmacies. Besides the insufficient medical supplies, children in the special neonatal intensive care units as well as renal dialysis patients are in great danger due to the power outage. Our cancer patients are dying unnecessarily, unable to have their treatments. Our diabetic and asthmatic patients, as well as many others with chronic illnesses who need their medications regularly cannot get it.

The list of the victims is too long to mention.

Please act immediately to stop this attack against Gaza population. You have been always great supporters and showed your solidarity, at the most difficult times.

Yours sincerely

Dr. Mona ElFarra

Vice President, Red Crescent Society for the Gaza Strip

As usual, Israel started the assault by assassinating Palestinian militants. I will use the Israeli terminology, as there is nothing wrong with it. The men Israel assassinated in the ongoing counterinsurgency campaign that is euphemistically called the Israel-Palestine conflict were people who, when they are not living with their families, are militantly defending their homeland. There is nothing wrong with that.

The usual rogue’s gallery, ever-eager to aggravate the race war, has weighed in to condemn the retaliatory rocket fire out of Gaza. Their words are worthless when their deeds make that rocket fire almost inevitable. One result of the Egyptian insurrection is that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces now has to make an occasional gesture to popular sentiment to take the boil off the social pressure that is slowly building against its collaborationist policies. Thus Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr said that “Egypt is highly distraught by the Israeli attacks…Egypt is currently exerting efforts and making crucial calls for an immediate end to this Israeli escalation to end bloodshed of our brothers.” Translated into English that means, Israel, when you bomb a territory full of Arabs right next to our own our people notice. The Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi-dominated parliament passed a motion calling for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador to Egypt and the halting of gas exports to Israel.

Neither will happen, as the parliament is powerless. But the pressure is not just building in Cairo but elsewhere: in El Arish solidarity marches took place today and more are planned for later this week. El Arish is a medium sized city an hour from the Egyptian border with Gaza. There, Muslim Brotherhood cadres are also more sympathetic to the Palestinian struggle than they are in places further afield where the impacts of Egyptian policies lack such clear immediacy. The Egyptian leadership, trying to calm the situation, offered Palestinians in Gaza fuel if a “ceasefire” takes hold. The Popular Resistance Committees are rejecting a “ceasefire” until they can extract a promise that Israel will refrain from targeting their militants and leadership. They will never get that promise merely from negotiations. Indeed, Israel insists that it will not stop “preventive targeting” operations: “The Israeli army will continue to attack the terrorists in Gaza with strength and determination,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In other words, Israel will attack at will and reject on principle any ceasefire with the Palestinians in Gaza. Meanwhile the death toll inches upwards: 25 since Friday, with over thrice that injured.

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Israel launches attack on Friday

The Israeli assault began on Friday, when Israeli forces carried out the extrajudicial executions of Zuhair Al-Qaisi and Mahmoud Al-Hannani of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), whom Israel alleged were “masterminds” of an attack near Eilat last year. Except, as Max Blumenthal demonstrated, this is untrue, as even Israel previously acknowledged.