Ecuador will continue supporting Palestine despite U.S. pressure to restore diplomatic relations with Israel.
The successful campaign “Ecuador with Palestine” organized by civil society and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs resulted in 20 tons of medical supplies and other crucial donations that will be delivered to Gaza next week.
The end of the campaign on August 25 coincided with a letter sent by U.S. Senators Marco Rubio, Bob Menendez, Mark Kirk and James Risch, urging the governments of Ecuador, Brazil, El Salvador, Peru and Chile to restore diplomatic relations with Israel.
The letter read, “Your actions send a troubling message to the United States about your government’s commitment to long-lasting peace between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization.”
In early August President Rafael Correa canceled a trip to Israel scheduled for the second half of this year. This decision was made in the midst of the “Operation Protective Edge,” which saw a ceasefire begin Tuesday after leaving more than 2,200 Palestinians dead.
The government of Ecuador recalled its ambassador in Tel Aviv and has opened an embassy in Ramallah.
Reacting to the letter sent by the senators, Foreign Minister Ricard Patiño said, “These men should give advice in their own house, they are not going to give the Ecuadorian government advice, worse is this type of advice of a political nature.”
“We are going to keep developing other agreements to enter in strong bilateral relations,” said Palestinian Ambassador in Ecuador Hani Remawi, “We have a lot to give Ecuador, and Ecuador also has more, much, much more to offer Palestine.” … Full article
Israel has the right to shell Palestinian hospitals and schools out of self defense as long as Hamas stores rocket launchers next to them, US Sen. Elizabeth Warren said during a town hall meeting in Massachusetts this week.
Warren, darling du jour of American liberals, defended her vote to send more defense funding to Israel in the middle of its recent fierce offensive on Gaza, saying she believes civilian casualties are the “last thing Israel wants,” according to the Cape Cod Times.
“But when Hamas puts its rocket launchers next to hospitals, next to schools, they’re using their civilian population to protect their military assets. And I believe Israel has a right, at that point, to defend itself,” she said.
Israel and Palestinian authorities reached a long-term ceasefire agreement this week after Israel started its campaign in Gaza on July 8. The death toll from the Gaza conflict has reached at least 2,120 people, of which 577 are children, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
During the conflict, Israel targeted schools and hospitals in Gaza, claiming that rockets and militant fighters were nearby. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency criticized both Hamas for storing rockets in two schools and Israel for attacks on separate schools.
Attacks on hospitals are prohibited by the Geneva Convention’s Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War “unless they are used to commit, outside their humanitarian duties, acts harmful to the enemy.” Even then, civilian hospitals can only be targeted “after due warning has been given, naming, in all appropriate cases, a reasonable time limit and after such warning has remained unheeded.”
Warren said Hamas has attacked Israel “indiscriminately.” Thanks to Israel’s vaunted Iron Dome defense system, though, those rockets have “not had the terrorist effect Hamas hoped for.”
Warren supported Israel’s military aggression, justifying its use of force based on America’s “very special relationship with Israel.”
“Israel lives in a very dangerous part of the world, and a part of the world where there aren’t many liberal democracies and democracies that are controlled by the rule of law,” she said. “And we very much need an ally in that part of the world.”
Warren also expressed unease with conditioning future US funding for Israel on the cessation of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
“I think there’s a question of whether we should go that far,” Warren said.
Last month, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said Israel may have committed war crimes in Gaza. Navi Pillay said house demolitions and the killing of children raise the “strong possibility” that Israel is violating international law.
More than 17,000 homes in Gaza were destroyed or damaged beyond repair, making around 100,000 Palestinians homeless, since the war began, according to UN estimates.
According to a senior UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) official, 373,000 Palestinian children are in need of “immediate psychosocial first aid” due to the onslaught of Israeli strikes.
“The impact has truly been vast, both at a very physical level, in terms of casualties, injuries, the infrastructure that’s been damaged, but also importantly, emotionally and psychologically in terms of the destabilizing impact that not knowing, not truly feeling like there is anywhere safe place to go in Gaza,” Pernilla Ironside said last week.
UNICEF estimated that at least 219 schools have been damaged by Israeli airstrikes, while 22 were completely destroyed.
To demonstrate the extent of the damage in Gaza, Ironside estimated that it could take up to 18 years to rebuild the 17,000 housing units that were damaged in the conflict and in light of the ongoing blockade of the region limiting the movement of goods and people.
Israel has also barred major human rights organizations from entering Gaza territory.
Meanwhile, back in the United States, US Sen. Bernie Sanders, American liberals’ other favorite among establishment progressive politicians, has also defended US funding and arms for Israel. At a recent tense town hall in his native Vermont, Sanders condemned Israeli targeting of civilians, but then defended Israel “in a situation where Hamas is sending missiles into Israel” sent from “populated areas.”
“This is a very depressing and difficult issue. This has gone on for 60 bloody years,” he said. “If you’re asking me, do I have a magical solution? I don’t. And you know what, I doubt very much that you do.”
Israel on Thursday approved a further stage in plans to build a nine-story Jewish seminary in the heart of a densely-populated Palestinian neighborhood near Jerusalem’s Old City.
According to the Peace Now settlement watchdog, the committee threw out an appeal tabled by a left-wing council member and approved a new stage in plans for a tower block in Sheikh Jarrah in occupied east Jerusalem.
Should the plans be approved by the district planning committee, construction could begin within the coming year, Peace Now’s Hagit Ofran told AFP.
“It might take six months to a year until it gets final approval for them to start building,” she said of the plan which was tabled in February.
The building will be used as a yeshiva, or Jewish seminary, for ultra-Orthodox Jews.
Sheikh Jarrah is a Palestinian residential neighborhood located to the north of the Old City.
Located on the road which links the Old City to Mount Scopus, the area is considered a strategic location and illegal settlement groups have made persistent efforts to take control of its land.
Israel captured east Jerusalem during the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognized by the international community.
It considers all of Jerusalem its “eternal, indivisible” capital and does not see construction in the eastern sector as settlement building.
Both the Palestinians and the international community consider all Israeli construction on land seized in 1967 to be a violation of international law.
This has not stopped Israel from continuing its policy of illegal settlement in east Jerusalem and the West Bank over the years.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki announced on Wednesday that his ministry had sent a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and to the leaders of other countries, requesting them to bear their responsibility for implementing international law regarding foreigners who volunteered in the Israeli army during the latest assault on Gaza.
Citing the Palestinian foreign ministry statement, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed news website reported that in cooperation with human rights organisations, the ministry has found that foreigners volunteered in the Israeli army during the latest aggression and carried out war crimes.
The news website said they took part in the war as part of two programmes called Mahal and Ser-Al. The Palestinian ministry stressed the necessity to prosecute them.
As part of the programmes, Jews and non-Jews who do not hold an Israeli ID can travel to Israel to take part in military service for a year and a half in order to get the ID.
The ministry called for specifying those who volunteered in the Israeli army or helped it, identifying their war crimes and the breaches of international law that they committed through the Israeli army, as well as telling them about the potential criminal responsibility for what they did during the war.
In addition, the ministry called upon those countries where the citizen volunteers are from to prosecute them inside the judicial system of their geographical areas.
Under the framework of international law, “which Israeli cannot evade”, the ministry is also seeking to prosecute everyone who committed war crimes in Gaza, including Israelis.
The ministry called for accelerating the convention of international bodies to require Israel to implement the Fourth Geneva Convention in the occupied Palestinian territories.
“Israel has drawn up plans for a combined air and ground attack on Iranian nuclear installations if diplomacy fails to halt Tehran’s atomic program…” – Toledo Blade, March 14, 2005
After insisting it is “time to cut off every dime of American money going to anyone who has any kind of relationship with Hamas or those killing in the Middle East, and especially in Israel,” Gohmert added, “It is time to bomb Iran’s nuclear capabilities. It is time for the United States, if we are not going to stop Iran’s nukes, then let Israel do it. A friend will not put another friend in this kind of jeopardy.”
Still, the persistent false narrative that military strikes by either the United States or Israel may follow any potential failure to reach a deal continues to be repeated in the press. Of course, the fact that any such attack would be unequivocally illegal under international law is rarely noted in these assessments.
Over twenty years ago, a report in the Independent (UK) published on June 23, 1994 revealed that the Pentagon had inked a deal to provide Israel with advanced F-15I fighter jets, designed to “enable the Israelis to carry out strikes deep into Iraq and Iran without refuelling.”
Three years later, on December 9, 1997, a The Times of London headline screamed, “Israel steps up plans for air attacks on Iran.” The article, written by Christopher Walker, reported on the myriad “options” Israel had in confronting what it deemed “Iran’s Russian-backed missile and nuclear weapon programme.”
Such reports have been published ever since. Of course, neither the United States nor Israel will attack Iran, regardless of the success or failure of negotiations, but such reports (often the result of strategically timed “leaks” by anonymous government officials) serve to not only intentionallytorpedo diplomacy but also mislead the public into believing the absurdly false narrative surrounding the Iranian nuclear program; that is, either Iran must be bombed or it will acquire a nuclear arsenal. This is nonsense.
Below are some of the constant headlines we’ve seen over the past dozen years promoting such propaganda. When will this madness – this pathological obsession with the false necessity of dropping bombs and the righteous inevitability of killing people – stop?
Don Martin ft Immortal Technique (US), Eltipo Este (Cuba), Tumi (South Africa), Tonto Noiza (France). Prod Tommy Tee. Video by Ulfdawg. English translation + free download below.
Immortal Technique:
Bambaataa told us knowledge was the fifth element
Truth behind the lies is what the music represents
So how the fuck you gonna have a peace settlement?
When people want a piece of your land to build settlements
There’s all different kinda terrorism you can perpetrate
Every dead body causes karma to circulate
There’s suicide bombin’ buildings full of civilians
Or cutting off water to cities full of children
You can’t try to justify collective punishment
A country never finds peace with bodies buried under it
I guess some Americans just don’t remember
There’s a slave graveyard under the world trade center
Stop the criticism of Iranian nuclear fission
Until mutual nuclear disarmament’s the mission
This ain’t about religion, Muslim, Jew or Christian
It’s about people making money off of that division
Tumi:
I am recognizing that the voices in my head
Are urging me to be myself and never follow when I’m led
So with that said it’s insurgency as we confirm some things
I am anti Zionist and any form of fundamentalist
The devil’s in the specifics mixing with your favorite dish
You can beef with Israel and not be antisemitic
Don’t buy beef from Israel cause you paying to kill them kids
So if you’re rocking this shit, go ahead do the Gaza strip
My heart race when I hear apartheid from out their lips
We have lived it, missed Olympics, seen ‘free Mandela’ pickets
And his image beamed repeatedly to street favela children
Even freed from prison cause of global criticism
Of this horrible system boycotted by the citizens
Boycott, boycott Israel
Tonto Noiza:
There’s only one step from hypocrisy to diplomacy,
Staying there sitting down in front of the stale situation
It is not the picture I have of human rights
Cause the immunity Israel grants itself shocks me
Look at the poverty of a people
How to relativize
This is the power that must be broken
I´m coming aiming without stigmatizing
I haven´t come to enter pacts like the UN
Nor to stir up hatred
But the inequality that bad faith entails has tenfold my sadness
It is the governing bodies I address, because they attack
For the price of past errors it is a whole people they oppress
For all innocent on all sides dragged into this fight
The bill is saltier then the dead sea. We have to get out of it
Boycott, boycott, boycott
Don Martin:
It´s raining grenades over Gaza´s roofs
hitting hospitals, hitting kindergarten children, hitting dormitories
Off course we are calling it an apartheid state
They´re building a wall between themselves and those who shall not have citizenship
Because if you call something “pro-Palestinian”
then (international) rules do not count anymore. You best believe that
there is a more macabre sound to the word “blood orange”
when it is grown in stolen land and grows from a dead body.
Not in my name, not with my money
It´s not enough to just sit around complaining/crying anymore
We must hit the foundation, show Israel.
Cause they don´t give a shit about resolutions anyway
It´s a small part of a much bigger picture
Like when we boycotted Shell, when I was much younger
The responsibility lies with all of us ,so we want
anyone with a conscience – boycott Israel
In an action that has reverberated around the world and inspired pro-Palestinian activists, five days of pickets by activists prevented a ship from the Israeli shipping company Zim Integrated Shipping Services from unloading almost any of its cargo at the port of Oakland.
The blockade was organised as part of the global boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign targetting Israel called for by dozens of Palestinian civil society groups. It was the longest blockade yet of an Israeli ship anywhere in the world.
Below is the account of a participant in the blockade, Oakland-based activist Peter Turner.
* * *
I am one of the “autonomous activists” referred to in the press releases of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC). I am not affiliated with any of the groups listed as endorsers on the AROC website. I am an experienced waterfront activist who took part in every picket while the Zim Piraeus was in port.
The original call for a blockage of a Zim ship went out from AROC in late July, but that was quickly retracted and the August 16 date was substituted. We then watched the ship on tracking websites and it became clear it was delayed while the protest situation unfolded.
During that time, tactical differences emerged within the movement. AROC changed its call and instead advocated a march to Pier 57, where the ship was due to dock, on August 16 for a protest against the war on Gaza.
The march also raised the situation in Ferguson, Missouri (where there are ongoing protests against the police killing of an unarmed teenager), at least partly because the march was met by a contingent of Oakland police.
The march was energetic but peaceful, but the ship was still at sea. About 2000 people took part.
When the Zim Piraeus finally docked on August 17, it was met by pickets at Pier 57. We ascertained which gates would be used by trucks and longshoremen to enter work and posted pickets there. Our intention was to discourage any cargo operations in order to force the ship to leave port.
Trucks entered the gates, but the longshoremen honoured our pickets. The Oakland Police and Alameda County Sheriff Department created openings at the gates.
The picketers could be generally described as Occupy Oakland activists, mostly young; experienced left militants who abound in the San Francisco Bay Area; and those specifically concerned with the war on Gaza, many of them Palestinians.
Others might describe us differently, but I think this is a good description of most of us. The assumption that it was AROC or any other group that led the picket effort is inaccurate.
For four days, we met at the pier and succeeded. A small number of activists were arrested for civil disobedience, but the situation was peaceful. The longshoremen honoured our pickets and no cargo moved.
The union released statements saying they took no position on the political issues at hand, but felt the police presence created a safety hazard. This is connected to a 2003 anti-war demonstration at the port at which the police attacked peaceful demonstrators and longshoremen reporting to work. Some were shot.
Resentment over that continues. During the picket we were aware that few dispatches from the union hall took place.
Several times small groups of longshoremen approached or assembled nearby. We engaged them in conversation and relations were friendly.
The ranks shared the official union position, but went beyond it to express sympathy for our cause and resentment of the stevedoring companies.
Coincidentally, the union and stevedoring companies are in contentious contract negotiations. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) contract expired July 1, so the longshoremen are working without a contract.
As a result, longshoremen who honoured our pickets lost pay, a fact known by the picketers.
This added to the solidarity created between the picketers and longshoremen, something pre-existing because of the militant history of the ILWU and its tradition of honouring community pickets.
After four days the ship announced its intention to sail. No cargo had been moved, in spite of a public declaration by Israeli sources that it had.
AROC Executive Director Lara Kiswani appeared on the morning of the fourth day to announce a victory, praising the solidarity of the longshoremen.
The ship sailed without unloading its cargo, but then the ship’s pilot pulled a U-turn at the pilot station off the Golden Gate. The ship returned to dock at pier 22-24 and was quickly met by picketers who had monitored its movements.
Since the longshoremen had made it obvious that they would honour our pickets, the ILWU Local 10 Business Agent took longshoremen from other ships and moved them to the Zim Piraeus.
This was a violation of the dispatch rules and the solidarity felt by the ranks, so it was met with a reaction. I would politely call it a “lack of enthusiasm” for the work on the part of the rank and file, but the result was little cargo was offloaded, reportedly some perishables.
On the morning of August 20, the fifth day of the action, at about 6.30am, the ship departed after an hour of picketing.
For some reason the media reported the cargo had been offloaded and the ship departed at 8.45am. That is inaccurate, as I drove home from the picket at pier 22-24 to view the ship from my house as it anchored off Hunter’s Point in San Francisco Bay about 8am. The ship was still fully loaded and had not backloaded any containers.
This entire action revealed several lessons. One is that concerted effort of dedicated militants together with the solidarity of the affected workers can bring serious economic and political pressure to bear.
Reciprocal solidarity will be forthcoming, a strong message to any employer seeking to weaken the ILWU. We all talked about it, with no dissent.
Also, we should never trust the word of the employer or the establishment press. They collude to undermine the majority and deceive the public in the interest of profit.
We also should be wary of the motives of entrenched union bureaucrats, too many of whom have instinctive sympathy with employers and will betray the interests of their members. The strength of the union is its rank and file, and democracy and consciousness are necessary for their interests to be furthered.
There are tactical differences within our movement, and we should tend to defer to the judgment of those who put in the commitment to take part and who make the connection with affected workers. Bureaucracy exists on the left as well as in unions, government, or any other institution.
We should show wisdom in our strategy and tactics, but not retreat in the face of adversity and have the courage to fight and win. Together, we can make a better world.
26 August 2014: Palestinian and Israeli leaders have finally agreed an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire to end the seven-week-old Gaza war.
It is appropriate to recall that Israel’s last military offensive against Gaza in November 2012 also ended with an agreement concerning Gaza brokered by Egypt [1]. Under it, both sides were required to cease hostilities and Israel undertook to take steps towards ending its blockade of Gaza. The agreement seemed to have the backing of the US, since Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stood beside the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Mohamad Amr, when he announced it on 21 November 2012.
What happened to the November 2012 agreement?
So, what happened to this agreement? Basically, Israel failed to fulfill its obligations under it, whereas Hamas fulfilled its obligations to the letter for more than eighteen months – and the international community turned a blind eye to Israel’s failure.
Specifically, in the agreement, Israel promised “to stop all hostilities on the Gaza Strip land, sea and air including incursions and targeting of individuals” and the “opening the crossings and facilitating the movement of people and transfer of goods, and refraining from restricting residents free movement”. Israel didn’t fulfill either of these obligations – it continued to make regular incursions into Gaza (killing 20 Palestinians in Gaza in the following 15 months) and took no steps to lift its economic blockade.
The agreement required Hamas and other Palestinian groups to “stop all hostilities from the Gaza Strip against Israel, including rocket attacks, and attacks along the border”. Hamas did so for more than eighteen months from 21 November 2012. Speaking to a Knesset committee on 30 June 2014, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged this, accusing Hamas “of involvement, for the first time since a Gaza war in 2012, in rocket attacks on Israel”, according to a Reuters report [2].
Other Palestinian groups did fire rockets into Israel, despite being restrained by Hamas. But, according to Nathan Thrall of the International Crisis Group Middle East and North Africa Programme, in an article dated 1 August 2014 in the London Review of Books[3]:
“During the three months that followed the ceasefire [on 21 November 2012], Shin Bet recorded only a single attack: two mortar shells fired from Gaza in December 2012. …
“[Hamas] set up a new police force tasked with arresting Palestinians who tried to launch rockets. In 2013, fewer were fired from Gaza than in any year since 2003, soon after the first primitive projectiles were shot across the border.”
Israel’s response to quiet along the border
How did Israel respond to this comparative quiet along the border? In his London Review of Books article, Nathan Thrall writes:
“In the three months following the ceasefire, its forces made regular incursions into Gaza, strafed Palestinian farmers and those collecting scrap and rubble across the border, and fired at boats, preventing fishermen from accessing the majority of Gaza’s waters.
“The end of the closure never came. Crossings were repeatedly shut. So-called buffer zones – agricultural lands that Gazan farmers couldn’t enter without being fired on – were reinstated. Imports declined, exports were blocked, and fewer Gazans were given exit permits to Israel and the West Bank.
“Israel had committed [in the November 2012 agreement] to holding indirect negotiations with Hamas over the implementation of the ceasefire but repeatedly delayed them. … The talks never took place. The lesson for Hamas was clear. Even if an agreement was brokered by the US and Egypt, Israel could still fail to honour it.”
If Israel had fulfilled its obligations
Had Israel ceased military incursions into Gaza and taken steps to lift its economic blockade, as it was supposed to do under the agreement, it is virtually certain that Hamas would not have resumed rocket fire. Hamas did resume on 7 July 2014, after Israel made an armed incursion into Gaza and killed seven Hamas members. And if progress was being made towards lifting the blockade, Hamas would have been in a much stronger position to stop other Palestinian groups from firing rockets and mortars into Israel.
So, had Israel fulfilled its obligations under the agreement, it is very likely that rocket and mortar firing into Israel could have been halted altogether without Israeli military action against Gaza.
June 2008 agreement
This is not the first time that Israel has failed to fulfill its obligations under an agreement with Hamas. In June 2008, Egypt brokered an agreement which, like the November 2012 agreement, provided for a cessation of hostilities on both sides and steps by Israel towards ending its blockade [4].
Hamas fulfilled its obligations under this agreement to the letter and, as a result, southern Israel was almost entirely free from firing out of Gaza for four and a half months. But Israel did not ease its economic blockade, let alone lift it, and on the evening of 4 November 2008 (when the world was watching the election of Barack Obama) it made a military incursion into Gaza for the first time since the ceasefire began in June and killed seven members of Hamas. That was the end of that agreement.
A few weeks later Israel embarked on its first major offensive against Gaza, Operation Cast Lead, with the declared objective of suppressing rocket and mortar into Israel.
The lesson of history
The lesson from the above is that the international community will have to ensure that Israel fulfills its obligations in any future agreement with Hamas. Come to think of it, does another agreement need to be negotiated? In reality, all that is necessary is that Israel be persuaded to implement the November 2012 agreement.
Interview with Dr. Swee Ang Chai, co-Founder and Patron of British Charity Medical Aid for Palestinians
Why was the Lancet letter which has 24 signatories of doctors and scientists published?
Dr. Swee Ang Chai: All the authors and signatories fear the worse at the beginning of this crisis which erupted in early July based on their previous experience. However the situation has got much worse since the publication of the letter. Gaza has already been declared a disaster area by the UK government. Despite the destruction of infrastructure, doctors and healthcare workers in Gaza continued to work despite severe conditions and their personal circumstances. Their own homes are being destroyed and families killed, and to be landed with more than 12,000 wounded is simply overwhelming for any medical system. That this is why Swee and her surgical colleagues wanted to assist by volunteering to go to Gaza. As of yesterday (22 August 2014) the death toll reached 2083, with 50% women and children. Eighty five families were annihilated, and 12,656 injured. Forty five clinics and fifteen hospital were destroyed (two of the hospitals completely flattened), 8 fire stations, 1 ambulance station. Health institutions should be protected as sanctuaries under international law for the wounded and sick people, but they were targeted.
You and your consultant surgical colleague have just been deported as you entered Israel to get to Gaza… elaborate.
They first gave me a three month Israeli visa of the B2 type when they thought I was a tourist. Then when they realized I was going to Gaza, my colleague and I were taken aside and interrogated in a very humiliating way for three hours, following that we were detained, and deported after around 16-17 hours. But the personal humiliation, detention and deportation is not the worst part. It is the realisation that this is part of the siege imposed on Gaza. The siege does not only apply to medical equipment and supplies for Gaza but also to people who want to get to Gaza to assist. They can stop me from getting to Gaza but they cannot stop me from caring for and supporting the Palestinians, and they cannot stop the world from knowing about what they do to Palestinians. These crimes committed against Palestinians cannot be covered up. I will raise my voice and say what happened in Gaza. Gaza was shelled with tons of ammunition and depleted uranium which not only kill immediately but leave residues which emit radioactive rays causing malformations in utero and miscarriages. And this will continue despite repeated ceasefires. Gazans want to rebuild their broken homes but building materials are blockaded. People have no choice but to rebuild their broken homes with rubble contaminated with radioactive uranium as the siege continues. What do you want them to do? They have no choice but to rebuild their homes over mounds of destruction and ‘nuclear’ waste. Even if the war stops, these rays will have an impact on people’s lives.
Is Britain and the USA complicit in this?
I will not say that all of Britain and the US are complicit. Some in high positions are. But I can tell you that within a week of having published the Lancet letter, we got 20,000 signatures endorsing the letter. But there are others who are protesting against the letter at the same time. And there are people who have been subjected to threats via email saying that if you continue to support Palestinians you will be killed. But we must say what we have to say, this is the truth. This is what is happening, massacres, and if we are silent in the face of massacres we would not be fit to be doctors and scientists. We have to be witnesses. 32 years ago, I was a doctor supporting Israel, and my family and I used to support Israel. But when Israel invaded and occupied Lebanon in 1982, and bombed Lebanon for ten weeks, I could not tolerate it anymore. I decided not to support Israel and volunteered to help the wounded in Lebanon. Later I went to Gaza. My life changed, when I went to Lebanon, I went to Sabra and Shatilla, and I did not find terrorists. I found a people who are patient, gentle and generous and they welcomed me, amidst their enormous suffering. But they were labeled as terrorists. After the evacuation of the PLO, when they were defenceless, they were massacred. I went back after the attack (1982), and I found that some of the patients I treated were killed. I went back to London, and continued with my work and it is impossible to say nothing. For 32 years, I decided not to be silent , and will speak up for Palestinians as a witness to what happened to them. I am also a friend of the Palestinians. So wherever I go I will talk about what happened to Palestinians and the injustice which they have been enduring, and I will do this until I die.
Interviewer: You have written a book: From Beirut to Jerusalem, but since that time, there has been no change for the Palestinians. You were very angry. Let me read a section of the Gaza letter (published by Lancet):
“We register with dismay that only 5% of our Israeli academic colleagues signed an appeal to their government to stop the military operation against Gaza. We are tempted to conclude that with the exception of this 5%, the rest of the Israeli academics are complicit in the massacre and destruction of Gaza. We also see the complicity of our countries in Europe and North America in this massacre and the impotence once again of the international institutions and organisations to stop this massacre” the letter is directed to Who?
Dr. Swee Ang Chai: This paragraph refers to all people who are guilty of knowing that the massacre is going on and yet say nothing. They are complicit in the crime. There are also the people who deliberately cover it up. It is our duty and that of Mayadeen to inform the world of what is happening. But when we speak up, many attacked us because they were complicit in this crime , and tried to cover up what is happening by intimidating and silencing us. For example deporting doctors so that we do not see and witness what is happening. But they forget that the Palestinian doctors are still there, and they can tell the world what is going on because they are there. For the rest of the world, some do not take a stand because of lack of knowledge and it is our role to inform them. Others are worried about speaking up through fear, but we must support them to take a stand.
What do you think of Israel’s attack on people, children etc., why do you think they are killing them?
I am very sad because only 10% of Israel want the massacre to stop and the rest want it to continue. In other words the other 90% of Israelis want Palestinians chucked out or killed, and this is compatible with ethnic cleansing and mass extermination, a strong word, but what is happening in Gaza is an attempted or incremental genocide..
Why do you decide to publish the letter in the Lancet?
As you know this is a strong letter. many editors have difficulty with it. But we know the Lancet is a prestigious journal, and Richard Horton took the risk in publishing this. He knows Palestine well, since several years. His conscience made him publish this letter. He is paying a high price for publishing the letter. There is a nasty campaign to get him fired.
Thank you Dr. Swee Ang Chai, founder of Medical Aid for Palestinians and for your voice as a medical doctor and humanitarian.
by Paola Manduca, Iain Chalmers, Derek Summerfield, Mads Gilbert, Swee Ange, on behalf of 24 signatories
We are doctors and scientists, who spend our lives developing means to care and protect health and lives. We are also informed people; we teach the ethics of our professions, together with the knowledge and practice of it. We all have worked in and known the situation of Gaza for years.
On the basis of our ethics and practice, we are denouncing what we witness in the aggression of Gaza by Israel.
We ask our colleagues, old and young professionals, to denounce this Israeli aggression. We challenge the perversity of a propaganda that justifies the creation of an emergency to masquerade a massacre, a so-called “defensive aggression”. In reality it is a ruthless assault of unlimited duration, extent, and intensity. We wish to report the facts as we see them and their implications on the lives of the people.
We are appalled by the military onslaught on civilians in Gaza under the guise of punishing terrorists. This is the third large scale military assault on Gaza since 2008. Each time the death toll is borne mainly by innocent people in Gaza, especially women and children under the unacceptable pretext of Israel eradicating political parties and resistance to the occupation and siege they impose.
This action also terrifies those who are not directly hit, and wounds the soul, mind, and resilience of the young generation. Our condemnation and disgust are further compounded by the denial and prohibition for Gaza to receive external help and supplies to alleviate the dire circumstances.
The blockade on Gaza has tightened further since last year and this has worsened the toll on Gaza’s population. In Gaza, people suffer from hunger, thirst, pollution, shortage of medicines, electricity, and any means to get an income, not only by being bombed and shelled. Power crisis, gasoline shortage, water and food scarcity, sewage outflow and ever decreasing resources are disasters caused directly and indirectly by the siege.1
People in Gaza are resisting this aggression because they want a better and normal life and, even while crying in sorrow, pain, and terror, they reject a temporary truce that does not provide a real chance for a better future. A voice under the attacks in Gaza is that of Um Al Ramlawi who speaks for all in Gaza: “They are killing us all anyway—either a slow death by the siege, or a fast one by military attacks. We have nothing left to lose—we must fight for our rights, or die trying.”2
Gaza has been blockaded by sea and land since 2006. Any individual of Gaza, including fishermen venturing beyond 3 nautical miles of the coast of Gaza, face being shot by the Israeli Navy. No one from Gaza can leave from the only two checkpoints, Erez or Rafah, without special permission from the Israelis and the Egyptians, which is hard to come by for many, if not impossible. People in Gaza are unable to go abroad to study, work, visit families, or do business. Wounded and sick people cannot leave easily to get specialised treatment outside Gaza. Entries of food and medicines into Gaza have been restricted and many essential items for survival are prohibited.3 Before the present assault, medical stock items in Gaza were already at an all time low because of the blockade.3 They have run out now. Likewise, Gaza is unable to export its produce. Agriculture has been severely impaired by the imposition of a buffer zone, and agricultural products cannot be exported due to the blockade. 80% of Gaza’s population is dependent on food rations from the UN.
Much of Gaza’s buildings and infrastructure had been destroyed during Operation Cast Lead, 2008—09, and building materials have been blockaded so that schools, homes, and institutions cannot be properly rebuilt. Factories destroyed by bombardment have rarely been rebuilt adding unemployment to destitution.
Despite the difficult conditions, the people of Gaza and their political leaders have recently moved to resolve their conflicts “without arms and harm” through the process of reconciliation between factions, their leadership renouncing titles and positions, so that a unity government can be formed abolishing the divisive factional politics operating since 2007. This reconciliation, although accepted by many in the international community, was rejected by Israel. The present Israeli attacks stop this chance of political unity between Gaza and the West Bank and single out a part of the Palestinian society by destroying the lives of people of Gaza. Under the pretext of eliminating terrorism, Israel is trying to destroy the growing Palestinian unity. Among other lies, it is stated that civilians in Gaza are hostages of Hamas whereas the truth is that the Gaza Strip is sealed by the Israelis and Egyptians.
Gaza has been bombed continuously for the past 14 days followed now by invasion on land by tanks and thousands of Israeli troops. More than 60 000 civilians from Northern Gaza were ordered to leave their homes. These internally displaced people have nowhere to go since Central and Southern Gaza are also subjected to heavy artillery bombardment. The whole of Gaza is under attack. The only shelters in Gaza are the schools of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), uncertain shelters already targeted during Cast Lead, killing many.
According to Gaza Ministry of Health and UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA),1 as of July 21, 149 of the 558 killed in Gaza and 1100 of the 3504 wounded are children. Those buried under the rubble are not counted yet. As we write, the BBC reports of the bombing of another hospital, hitting the intensive care unit and operating theatres, with deaths of patients and staff. There are now fears for the main hospital Al Shifa. Moreover, most people are psychologically traumatised in Gaza. Anyone older than 6 years has already lived through their third military assault by Israel.
The massacre in Gaza spares no one, and includes the disabled and sick in hospitals, children playing on the beach or on the roof top, with a large majority of non-combatants. Hospitals, clinics, ambulances, mosques, schools, and press buildings have all been attacked, with thousands of private homes bombed, clearly directing fire to target whole families killing them within their homes, depriving families of their homes by chasing them out a few minutes before destruction. An entire area was destroyed on July 20, leaving thousands of displaced people homeless, beside wounding hundreds and killing at least 70—this is way beyond the purpose of finding tunnels. None of these are military objectives. These attacks aim to terrorise, wound the soul and the body of the people, and make their life impossible in the future, as well as also demolishing their homes and prohibiting the means to rebuild.
Weaponry known to cause long-term damages on health of the whole population are used; particularly non fragmentation weaponry and hard-head bombs.4, 5 We witnessed targeted weaponry used indiscriminately and on children and we constantly see that so-called intelligent weapons fail to be precise, unless they are deliberately used to destroy innocent lives.
We denounce the myth propagated by Israel that the aggression is done caring about saving civilian lives and children’s wellbeing.
Israel’s behaviour has insulted our humanity, intelligence, and dignity as well as our professional ethics and efforts. Even those of us who want to go and help are unable to reach Gaza due to the blockade.
This “defensive aggression” of unlimited duration, extent, and intensity must be stopped.
Additionally, should the use of gas be further confirmed, this is unequivocally a war crime for which, before anything else, high sanctions will have to be taken immediately on Israel with cessation of any trade and collaborative agreements with Europe.
As we write, other massacres and threats to the medical personnel in emergency services and denial of entry for international humanitarian convoys are reported.6 We as scientists and doctors cannot keep silent while this crime against humanity continues. We urge readers not to be silent too. Gaza trapped under siege, is being killed by one of the world’s largest and most sophisticated modern military machines. The land is poisoned by weapon debris, with consequences for future generations. If those of us capable of speaking up fail to do so and take a stand against this war crime, we are also complicit in the destruction of the lives and homes of 1·8 million people in Gaza.
We register with dismay that only 5% of our Israeli academic colleagues signed an appeal to their government to stop the military operation against Gaza. We are tempted to conclude that with the exception of this 5%, the rest of the Israeli academics are complicit in the massacre and destruction of Gaza. We also see the complicity of our countries in Europe and North America in this massacre and the impotence once again of the international institutions and organisations to stop this massacre.
This list is constantly updated due to the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza since July 8th. The following 1596 names have been confirmed – the actual death is at least at 2137.
We realize the number of slain Palestinians is higher than this. The Ministry of Health has stated that a total of 2137, been killed. We are still awaiting confirmation of some names.
The number includes 577 children, 263 women, and 102 elderly, since July 8, while more than 11100, including 3374 children, 2088 women and 410 elderly, have been injured.
This site, ‘Beyond Numbers,’ has pictures of many of these victims.
Killed Tuesday, August 26
Mohammad Mo’in Abu ‘Ajwa, Gaza City.
Hasan Omar as-Awwad, Gaza City.
Shadi ‘Oleiwa, 26, Gaza City.
Salem Mohammaden, 26, Gaza City.
Mohammad Abdul-Rahman Thaher, 49, Gaza City.
Samer Midhat Hamad, 24, Gaza City.
Mohammad Majdi Za’anin, Beit Hanoun.
Yousef Ghannam, Rafah.
Mohammad Saleh ar-Ribaty, 18, Rafah.
Ahmad Kamel Jarboa’, 26, Rafah.
Omar Husam al-Breem (Child, Rafah.
Mohammad Husam al-Breem (Child), Rafah
Killed Monday, August 25
Yassin Ibrahim al-Biltaji, 23, Gaza.
Farhana Ibrahim al-‘Attrar, 48, Beit Lahia.
Osama Mohammad Shbeir, 25, Jabalia.
Hani Mohammad Yassin, 20, Gaza City.
Raddad Ahmad Tanboura, 78, Beit Lahia.
Saad Bassem aj-Jour, 21, east of Gaza City
Abdullah Murtaja, journalist, Sheja’eyya
Bassem Hassan Hijazi, 36, Gaza City
Ahmad Taysir Fahmi al-Daali, 28, Gaza City
Killed Sunday, August 24
Yahia Saber Abu al-‘Omarein, Gaza.
Bader Hashem Abu Mnei’, 18, Gaza.
Mohammad Tal’at al-Ghoul, 30, Gaza City.
Zeinab Bilal Abu Taqiyya, 18 months, Gaza City.
Mohammad Wa’el al-Khodary, 17, Gaza City.
Mohammad Ibrahim al-Louqa, 21, Beit Lahia.
Mo’ayyad al-A’raj, 3, Khan Younis.
Adam Ahmad Khattab, 26, Deir al-Balah.
Mahmoud Ahmad al-‘Attar, 30, Deir Al-Balah.
Tasneem Essam Juda’,Tal al-Zatar.
Rawiya Juda’, son of Tasneem,Tal al-Zatar.
Raghad Juda’, son of Tasneem,Tal al-Zatar.
Osama Juda’, son of Tasneem,Tal al-Zatar.
Mohammad Juda’, son of Tasneem,Tal al-Zatar.
Yahia Abu Daqen, 27, Northern Gaza
Killed Saturday, August 23
Hadi Hayel Abu Dahrouj, 3, Central Gaza.
Abdullah Hayel Abu Dahrouj, 4, Central Gaza.
Hayat Abed-Rabbo Abu Dahrouj, 49, Central Gaza.
Hoda Mohammad Abu Dahrouj, 27, Central Gaza.
Hayel Shihda Abu Dahrouj, 26, Central Gaza.
Abdel-Rahman Hadayed, 25, Khan Younis, died of earlier wounds.
Hussein Khaled Ahmad, 8, Deir al-Balah, Central Gaza
Nisreen Ahmad, Deir al-Balah (Hussein’s mother)
Suheir Abu Mdein, Deir al-Balah (body pulled from rubble)
Salah Isleim, died of earlier wounds.
Mahmoud Osama Mahmoud Abbas Abu al-Omarain, 28, Sheikh Radwan, Gaza City
Mohammad Sabr al-‘Ejla, 64, central Gaza
Killed Friday, August 22
Mahmoud Nasser Qashlan, 24, Nusseirat, Central Gaza.
Yassin Hamed Abu Hamad, 22, Nusseirat, Central Gaza.
Ismael Mosallam Abu Bteihan, 75, Nusseirat – Central Gaza
Ahmad Qassem Al-‘Abadla, 59, Khan Younis
Mousa Ahmad Al-‘Abadla, 23, Khan Younis
Killed Thursday, August 21
Mohammad Abu Shammala, commander of Al-Qassam in southern Gaza region.
Raed al-‘Attar, commander of Al-Qassam in Rafah.
Mohammad Barhoum, a senior leader of al-Qassam.
Hasan Hussein Younis, 75, Rafah.
Amal Ibrahim Younis, (his wife), Rafah.
Saba Rami Younis, 4, Rafah.
Ahmad Nasser Kallab, 17.
Natheera Kallab.
Aisha Atiyya.
Jom’a Matar, 27.
Omar Abu Naddi, 22.
Abdullah Tareq ar-Reefy, (Child) Gaza.
Omar Nasr ar-Reefy, (Child) Gaza.
Mohammad Ziad ar-Reefy, (Child) Gaza.
Nassr Ziad ar-Reefy, 35, Gaza.
Srour Mohammad Tamboura, 36. Beit Lahia.
Hasan Tamboura, 13, Beit Lahia (son of Srour).
Mohammad Talal Abu Nahl, Gaza.
Rami Abu Nahl, Gaza.
Haitham Tafesh, Gaza.
Abed Talal Shiokh, Gaza.
Hamdan Salem Hadayed, 40, Khan Younis.
Mohammad Ahmad Abbas Abu al-Omarain, 45, Gaza City.
Issam Mohammad al-Hosni, 26, Gaza City.
Marwan Mohammad Abu Shallouf, 29, Rafah.
Ibrahim Essam Hammad, 22, Rafah.
Abdul Rahman Saad Abu Shallouf, 31, Rafah.
Mahmoud Talaat Shreiteh, 14, central Gaza.
Bashir Ahmad Shreiteh, 35, central Gaza.
Sarah Mohammad Deif, child, Gaza City (killed on Wednesday in same attack that killed her mother and brother – body found Thursday)
Iman al-Louah, Dir al-Balah (killed Wednesday, body found Wednesday)
Mohammad Ramiz Bakr, 11, Gaza beach.related article
Ismail Mahmoud Bakr, 9, Gaza beach. related article
Mohammad Kamel Abdul-Rahman, 30, Sheikh Ejleen, Gaza City
Husam Shamlakh, 23, Sheikh Ejleen, Gaza City
Usama Mahmoud Al-Astal, 6, Khan Younis (died of wounds sustained earlier in attack on mosque)
Hussein Abdul-Nasser al-Astal, 23, Khan Younis
Kawthar al-Astal, 70, Khan Younis
Yasmin al-Astal, 4, Khan Younis
Kamal Mohammad Abu Amer, 38, Khan Younis
Akram Mohammad Abu Amer, 34, Khan Younis (brother of Kamal, injured in same incident, then later same day died of his injuries)
Hamza Raed Thary, 6, Jabalia (was injured a few days ago in the incident in which many, including children, were killed while playing in the sand at the beach in Jabalia)
Abdul-Rahman Ibrahim Khalil as-Sarhi, 37, Gaza City
Killed Tuesday, July 15
Abdullah Mohammad al-Arjani, 19, Khan Younis
Suleiman Abu Louly, 33, Rafah
Saleh Said Dahleez, 20, Rafah
Yasser Eid al-Mahmoum, 18, Rafah
Ismael Fattouh Ismael, 24, Gaza City
Khalil Sh’aafy, Juhr Ed-Deek – Gaza
Sobhi Abdul-hamid Mousa, 77, Khan Younis
Killed Monday, July 14
Adham Abdul-Fattah Abdul-Aal, 27
Hamid Suleiman Abu al-Araj, 60, Deir al-Balah
Abdullah Mahmoud Baraka, 24, Khan Younis
Tamer Salem Qdeih, 37, Khan Younis
Ziad Maher an-Najjar, 17, Khan Younis
Ziad Salem ash-Shawy, 25, Rafah
Mohammad Yasser Hamdan, 24, Gaza
Mohammad Shakib al-Agha, 22, Khan Younis
Ahmed Younis Abu Yousef, 22, Khan Younis
Sara Omar Sheikh al-Eid, 4, Rafah
Omar Ahmad Sheikh al-Eid, 24, Rafah
Jihad Ahmad Sheikh al-Eid, 48, Rafah
Kamal Atef Yousef Abu Taha, 16, Khan Younis
Ismael Nabil Ahmad Abu Hatab, 21, Khan Younis
Boshra Khalil Zorob, 53, Rafah
Atwa Amira al-Amour, 63, Khan Younis
Killed Sunday, July 13
Ezzeddin Bolbol, 25, Rafah
Rami Abu Shanab, 25, Deir al-Balah
Fawziyya Abdul-al, 73, Gaza City
Moayyad al-Araj, 3, Khan Younis*
Husam Ibrahim Najjar, 14, Jabalia
Hijaziyya Hamed al-Hilo, 80, Gaza City
Ruwaida abu Harb Zawayda, 30, central Gaza
Haitham Ashraf Zorob, 21, Rafah
Laila Hassan al-Odaat, 41, al-Maghazi
Hussein Abdul-Qader Mheisin, 19, Gaza
Qassem Talal Hamdan, 23, Beit Hanoun
Maher Thabet abu Mour, 23, Khan Younis – related article
Mohammad Salem Abu Breis, 65, Deir al-Balah
Moussa Shehda Moammer, 60, Khan Younis
Hanadi Hamdi Moammer, 27, Khan Younis
Saddam Mousa Moammer, 23, Khan Younis
Killed Saturday, July 12
Anas Yousef Qandil, 17, Jabalia
Islam Yousef Mohammad Qandil, 27, Jabalia
Mohammad Edrees Abu Sneina, 20, Jabalia
Abdul-Rahim Saleh al-Khatib, 38, Jabalia
Husam Thieb ar-Razayna, 39, Jabalia
Ibrahim Nabil Hamada, 30, at-Tuffah – Gaza City
Hasan Ahmad Abu Ghush, 24, at-Tuffah – Gaza City
Ahmad Mahmoud al-Bal’awy, 26, at-Tuffah – Gaza City
Ali Nabil Basal, 32, at-Tuffah – Gaza City
Mohammad Bassem al-Halaby, 28, western Gaza City
Mohammad Sweity (Abu Askar), 20, western Gaza City
Khawla al-Hawajri, 25, Nuseirat refugee camp
Ola Wishahi, 31, Mabarra association for the disabled in Jabalia
Suha Abu Saade, 38, Mabarra association for the disabled in Jabalia
Mohammad Edrees Abu Sweilem, 20, Jabalia
Rateb Subhi al-Saifi, 22, Sheikh Radwan – Gaza City
Azmi Mahmoud Obeid, 51, Sheikh Radwan – Gaza City
Nidal Mahmoud Abu al-Malsh, 22, Sheikh Radwan – Gaza City
Suleiman Said Obeid, 56, Sheikh Radwan – Gaza City
Mustafa Muhammad Inaya, 58, Sheikh Radwan – Gaza City
Ghassan Ahmad al-Masri, 25, Sheikh Radwan – Gaza City
Rifat Youssef Amer, 36, al-Saftawi
Rifat Syouti, western Gaza City*
Nahedh Naim al-Batsh, 41, Khan Younis
Baha Majed al-Batsh, 28, Khan Younis
Qusai Issam al-Batsh, 12, Khan Younis
Aziza Yousef al-Batsh, 59, Khan Younis
Ahmad Noman al-Batsh, 27, Khan Younis
Mohammad Issam al-Batsh, 17, Khan Younis
Yahia Ala Al-Batsh, 18, Khan Younis
Jalal Majed al-Batsh, 26, Khan Younis
Mahmoud Majed al-Batsh, 22, Khan Younis
Majed Sobhi al-Batsh, Khan Younis
Marwa Majed al-Batsh, 25, Khan Younis
Khaled Majed al-Batsh, 20, Khan Younis
Ibrahim Majed al-Batsh, 18, Khan Younis
Manar Majed al-Batsh, 13, Khan Younis
Amal Hussein al-Batsh, 49, Khan Younis
Anas Ala al-Batsh, 10, Khan Younis
Qusai Ala al-Batsh, 20, Khan Younis
Mohannad Yousef Dheir, 23, Rafah
Shadi Mohammad Zorob, 21, Rafah
Imad Bassam Zorob, 21, Rafah
Mohannad Yousef Dheir, 23, Rafah
Mohammad Arif, 13, eastern Gaza City
Mohammad Ghazi Arif, 35, eastern Gaza City
Ghazi Mustafa Arif, 62, eastern Gaza City
Ahmad Yousef Dalloul, 47, Gaza
Fadi Ya’coub Sukkar, 25, Gaza
Qassem Jaber Odah, 16, Khan Younis
Mohammad Abdullah Sharatha, 53, Jabalia
Mohammad Ahmed Basal, 19, Gaza City
Killed Friday, July 11
Wisam Abdul-Razeq Hasan Ghannam, 31, Rafah
Mahmoud Abdul-Razeq Hasan Ghannam, 28, Rafah
Kifah Shaker Ghannam, 33, Rafah
Ghalia Thieb Ghannam, 57, Rafah
Mohammad Munir Ashour, 26, Rafah
Nour Marwan an-Ajdi, 10, Rafah
Anas Rezeq abu al-Kas, 33, Gaza City (doctor)
Abdullah Mustafa abu Mahrouq, 22, Deir al-Balah
Mahmoud Waloud, 26, Jabalia
Hazem Ba’lousha, Jabalia
Ala Abdul Nabi, Beit Lahia.*
Ahmed Zaher Hamdan, 24, Beit Hanoun
Mohammad Kamel al-Kahlout, 25, Jabalia
Sami Adnan Shaldan, 25, Gaza City
Salem al-Ashhab, 40, Gaza City
Raed Hani Abu Hani, 31, Rafah
Mohammad Rabea Abu- Hmeedan, 65, Jabalia
Shahrman Ismail Abu al-Kas, 42, Al-Bureij
Mazin Mustafa Aslan, 63, Al Bureij
Mohammad Samiri, 24, Deir al-Balah
Rami Abu Mosaed, 23, Deir al-Balah
Saber Sokkar, 80, Gaza City
Hussein Mohammad al-Mamlouk, 47, Gaza City
Nasser Rabah Mohammad Sammama, 49, Gaza City
Abdul-Halim Abdul-Moty Ashra, 54, Deir al-Balah
Sahar Salman Abu Namous, 3, Beit Hanoun
Odai Rafiq Sultan, 27, Jabalia
Joma Atiyya Shallouf, 25, Rafah
Bassam Abul-Rahman Khattab, 6, Deir al-Balah
Killed Thursday, July 10
Mahmoud Lutfi al-Hajj, 58, Khan Younis (father of six killed)
Bassema Abdul-fatteh Mohammad al-Hajj, 48, Khan Younis (mother of six killed)
Asma Mahmoud al-Hajj, 22, Khan Younis
Fatima Mahmoud al-Hajj, 12, Khan Younis
Saad Mahmoud al-Hajj, 17, Khan Younis
Najla Mahmoud al-Hajj, 29, Khan Younis
Tareq Mahmoud al-Hajj, 18, Khan Younis
Omar Mahmoud al-Hajj, 20, Khan Younis
Ayman Adham Yusef al-Hajj,16, northern Gaza.
Baha Abu al-Leil, 35, Gaza City
Suleiman Saleem Mousa al-Astal, 17, Khan Younis
Ahmed Saleem Mousa al-Astal, 24, Khan Younis (Suleiman’s brother)
Mousa Mohammed Taher al-Astal, 50, Khan Younis
Ibrahim Khalil Qanan, 24, Khan Younis
Mohammad Khalil Qanan, 26, Khan Younis (Ibrahim’s brother)
Ibrahim Sawali, 28, Khan Younis
Hamdi Badea Sawali, 33, Khan Younis
Mohammad al-Aqqad, 24, Khan Younis
Ismael Hassan Abu Jame, 19, Khan Younis
Hussein Odeh Abu Jame, 75, Khan Younis
Abdullah Ramadan Abu Ghazal, 5, Beit Hanoun
Mohammad Ehsan Ferwana, 27, Khan Younis
Salem Qandil, 27, Gaza City
Amer al-Fayyoumi, 30, Gaza City
Raed az-Zourah, 32, Khan Younis
Killed Wednesday, July 9
Hamed Shihab, Journalist – Gaza
Salima al-Arja, 53, Rafah
Miriam Atiya al-Arja, 9, Rafah
Rafiq al-Kafarna, 30
Abdul-Nasser Abu Kweik, 60
Khaled Abu Kweik, 31
Mohammad Mustafa Malika, 18 months
Hana Mohammed Fuad Malaka, 28 (Mohammad’s Mother), 27
Hatem Abu Salem, Gaza City
Mohammad Khaled an-Nimra, 22
Sahar Hamdan (al-Masry), 40, Beit Hanoun
Mohammad Ibrahim al-Masry, 14, Beit Hanoun
Amjad Hamdan, 23, Beit Hanoun
Hani Saleh Hamad, 57, Beit Hanoun
Ibrahim Hani Saleh Hamad, 20, Beit Hanoun
Mohammad Khalaf Nawasra, 4, al-Maghazi
Nidal Khalaf Nawasra, 5, al-Maghazi
Salah Awad Nawasra, 24, al-Maghazi. (father of Mohammad and Nidal)
Aesha Najm al-Nawasra, 23, al-Maghazi (mother of Mohammad and Nidal, pregnant in the fourth month)
Israel has agreed to open Gaza crossings to allow the flow of humanitarian aid and construction material, senior Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzouq said Tuesday.
Speaking to Ma’an, Abu Marzouq added that three more Gaza crossings will be operated in addition the Kerem Shalom and Erez crossings, which are already operating.
Asked about the fishing zone, he said that Gaza fishermen would be allowed to reach as far as 6 nautical miles and the zone would be increased gradually until it is 12 nautical miles by the end of 2014.
Reconstruction of the war-torn Gaza Strip will be discussed during a conference in Egypt next month, added Abu Marzouq. The Palestinian national consensus government will be in charge of implementation.
The Hamas official added that the ceasefire agreement was sponsored and would be monitored by Egypt only.
Another round of negotiations will start a month from now to discuss unresolved issues, Abu Marzouq said.
Furthermore, Israeli, European and American restrictions and opposition to money transfers to Gaza for salaries for employees of the former Hamas-led government in Gaza have been cancelled. The national consensus government is supposedly working on proceedings to arrange payment of salaries.
Abu Marzouq pointed out that Israel agreed to stop targeted assassinations of resistance activists and said that a ceasefire agreement could have been reached earlier if Israel agreed to this demand sooner.
As for the Rafah crossing, Abu Marzouq said Egyptian and Palestinian officials would meet soon to discuss what is needed to open the crossing permanently.
The Gaza buffer zone has also been removed, he added.
Still from the music video for the song, Somos Sur. The song is a collaboration between Chilean MC, Ana Tijoux (pictured in the back), and Palestinian MC, Shadia Mansour (pictured in front of Tijoux). Somos Sur is a powerful track establishing solidarity between Latin America and Palestine for their independence from imperialist and colonizing forces.
Former Irish Prime Minister Charles Haughey was warned by loyalist paramilitaries that they were once tasked with murdering him in an assassination plot purportedly dreamt up by the British secret service.
The sensational disclosure was sent in a letter to the Irish government, newly released under the Public Records Act, which requires documents of historical value to be published by the National Archives within 30 years.
Written on Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) signature paper, the warning claims the terrorist organization was asked by an MI5 operative about the prospect of carrying out an attack on Republic of Ireland leader Haughey in 1985.
At the time, Haughey would have been in opposition as head of political party Fianna Fáil, but details of the solicitation did not become known to Irish authorities until 1987.
“In 1985 we were approached by a M15 officer attached to the Northern Ireland Office and based in Lisburn, Alex Jones was his supposed name,” the letter reads, according to the Irish Times. “He asked us to execute you.”… continue
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