Anti-Neocons

Israel troops shooting Palestinian paramedics


Residents waving white flags 'shot dead as they flee their homes'
Wednesday, 14 January 2009

Israeli forces said they had pushed deeper into Gaza City amid heavy fighting, with some units within a mile of the densely populated urban centre. Terrified residents were said to be fleeing from many homes which had been set alight.

At least three Palestinians in Gaza were shot dead yesterday after Israeli soldiers fired on a group of residents leaving their homes on orders from the military and waving white flags, according to testimony taken by the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem. The testimony was rejected by the military after what it said was a preliminary investigation.

The thrust by Israeli ground forces into Tel Hawwa was the furthest the Israelis had gone into Gaza City since military operations were launched on 27 December. Meanwhile, Israel's Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, declared that he would press forward with an "iron fist". While his government in Jerusalem is claiming that Hamas's military capabilities have been severely damaged, its senior intelligence sources have revealed that only a "few hundred" of the movement's 20,000 men have been killed, including several of its key leaders. The officials also stated that Hamas still had significant supplies of rockets left in their arsenal despite firing several hundred of them into Israel since military operations began.

However, Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi, the Israeli chief of staff, told Israeli MPs: "We have achieved a lot in hitting Hamas and its infrastructure ... but there is still work ahead." Israeli aircraft carried out 60 raids yesterday.

As Palestinian hospital officials revealed that the death toll has risen to at least 952, half of them women and children, John Ging, the UN Relief and Works Agency's director of operations in Gaza, called on the international community to protect civilians in Gaza; he also wants a full investigation into allegations that Israeli military forces have used illegal weapons.

On the relatively peaceful West Bank, a Palestinian man was killed after he tried to grab a gun from an Israeli soldier in Hebron and a 15-year-old boy was shot near the city of Qalqiliya while throwing stones at a road used by soldiers and settlers. Palestinian officials said a settler had fired the fatal shot.

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, is heading to the region for talks with leaders in Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Syria. He said: "My message is simple: the fighting must stop. To both sides, I say: Just stop now."

In Gaza, Munir Shafik al-Najar told B'Tselem that members of his extended family started trying to leave their homes after the Israeli army began demolishing buildings in the area of Kuza'a, close to the Israeli border with south-eastern Gaza. Mr Najar said the Israeli soldiers were using gunfire to signify that residents should leave, but then started shooting "indiscriminately".

He testified that his relative Rawhiya had stepped out of the family-owned building, one of whose walls had been destroyed by a bulldozer, expecting her family to follow, but she was shot. The military subsequently attacked another group escaping leaving two more of his relatives dead. The military said late last night that it had found the claim to be "without foundation".

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"How many more? How many more dead until your satisfied!" - Capt. John Sheridan

It was the year of fire, the year of destruction, the year we took back what was ours.
It was the year of rebirth, the year of great sadness, the year of pain, and the year of joy.
It was a new age, it was the end of history, it was the year everything changed. - B5 S4 Intro

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"Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of ... [Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness], it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government." –Thomas Jefferson

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"How many more? How many more dead until your satisfied!" - Capt. John Sheridan

It was the year of fire, the year of destruction, the year we took back what was ours.
It was the year of rebirth, the year of great sadness, the year of pain, and the year of joy.
It was a new age, it was the end of history, it was the year everything changed. - B5 S4 Intro

Israeli TV airs Gaza doctor's pleas after children killed

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"How many more? How many more dead until your satisfied!" - Capt. John Sheridan

It was the year of fire, the year of destruction, the year we took back what was ours.
It was the year of rebirth, the year of great sadness, the year of pain, and the year of joy.
It was a new age, it was the end of history, it was the year everything changed. - B5 S4 Intro

Nine year old girl, shot twice by Israeli snipers as her family sought refuge in Al-Quds hospital, has died

Haneen al-Batran, a nine year old girl who was shot in the face and abdomen by Israeli snipers as her family ran to the AL-Quds hospital in Tel al-Hawa, died at 5pm on January 16th.

The shooting of the al Batran family

The Al Batran Family from Tel Al Hawa neighborhood in Gaza City fled terrified from their homes and attempted to take refuge in Al Quds hospital on Between noon And 1:00PM January 15th, 2009. Israeli snipers stationed directly outside the hospital opened fire on the family. Nine year old Haneen Al Batran was shot through the face and in the abdomen. The father, 54 year old Fadel Al Batran, was shot in the thigh and fell to the ground. 12-year-old Jasmeen, can be seen in the videos above frozen in terror, being carried into the hospital by a medic who ran into the line of fire to retrieve her, and being treated by doctors in the hospital afterward.

http://palsolidarity.org/2009/01/4418

how the hell do you put your sights on a nine year old girl and shoot her in the face?! this is how israel defends it self?

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SUFFERING CONTINUES DESPITE THE ‘CEASE-FIRE’
January 21, 2009 at 10:47 am




Eight-year-old Louay Sobeh, blinded by Israeli bombs. (Sameh A. Habeeb)
As a Gazan journalist who is devastated by the holocaust the Israel army is perpetrating against us, I find myself at loss. The list of horrendous crimes committed by the Israeli army against Palestinians is endless and the crimes are countless.

Should I write about the 45 evacuees who were massacred in their refuge at the United Nations-administered al-Fakhoura school? Should I write about the most horrifying crime when Red Cross personnel found four starving children who had spent four days with the dead bodies of their mothers and other relatives in the ruins of a house in the al-Zeitoun neighborhood?

Should I talk about the mass killing of the al-Dayaa family when 15 family members were killed when a “smart” bomb gently hit their five-story building?

What about the sadistic crime when the father of the al-Samuni family was executed before his wife and children? Or the carnage committed against the extended al-Samuni family when 29 members of the clan were concentrated in one house which was bombed and collapsed on top of them, killing them all?

These and so many other crimes have already been documented by Amnesty International and other human rights institutions. Many more are still untold stories. I can tell one story with my own words and my own camera — that of eight-year-old Louay Sobeh. Little Louay could not know what this war had in store for him or his family.

About a week ago Louay and his family fled their house in Beit Lahiya town in northern Gaza. They were under heavy Israeli artillery fire as the Israeli army invaded the area at the outset of Israeli ground military operation. Sorrowfully, Louay started to narrate what he witnessed:

“Israeli shells started to rain down beside my house in northern Gaza. Rockets started to get closer to my house and many people were killed. My house got some shrapnel and part of rockets. Then, my grandmother and my family fled to Jabaliya where we sheltered in one of the [Untied Nations] schools. We stayed for three days where it was very very cold. When we fled our house in the night we didn’t bring any luggage or clothes or food. My father, brother and other family members decided to go back to our house in the north to bring some clothes and food. We went early in the morning by car then all of a sudden people beside our car started to run left and right. I heard explosions and I felt as if I were flying in the sky. And I found myself in the hospital.”

The Israeli bombing of Louay’s father’s car killed one of his brothers and injured others. The shocking fact is that Louay still doesn’t know is that he lost his eyesight completely. He will never be able to see the light again! His grandmother was beside him trying to make him feel better. He still doesn’t know that his brother was killed.

Before I left his room Louay told me, “I hope you visit me again and you will go with me to take footage and photos of the place where the car was hit. I will also make a scene for you about how I flew. But I need you to help me recover quickly so I can go to school again and play with some of my friends. I don’t know if they are alive or not.”

I was shocked by his talent and affected by his words. It’s very brutal when a child like Louay becomes a victim for no reason. There must be a way for Louay and all the children of Palestine to have peace and rest, instead of the fire and hell they have witnessed.

Louay is one of the lucky ones: he is expected to be taken to Saudi Arabia to receive medical treatment sponsored by the Saudi king. For too many children such aid is too late and it still won’t bring the light back to Louay’s eyes.

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"How many more? How many more dead until your satisfied!" - Capt. John Sheridan

It was the year of fire, the year of destruction, the year we took back what was ours.
It was the year of rebirth, the year of great sadness, the year of pain, and the year of joy.
It was a new age, it was the end of history, it was the year everything changed. - B5 S4 Intro

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"Be not defeated by the rain" - Kenji Miyazawa

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear." - Ambrose Redmoon

"Listen to your heart. Because, wherever your heart is, that is where you'll find your treasure." - Paulo Coelho