'Cold-blooded murder' of Gaza man's daughters - 20 Mar 09

'Cold-blooded murder' of Gaza man's daughters - 20 Mar 09:

"For the families of those killed in Israel's war on Gaza, an investigation into Israeli war crimes may not heal the pain, but it could go some way in the search for justice.

Khaled lost his two daughters in the conflict. They were just two and seven years old.

Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid reports from the north east of the Gaza Strip."



Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog

DN! Doctor Recounts Israeli Attack That Killed Family.

Doctor Recounts Israeli Attack That Killed Family. Democracy Now 3/20/09 1 of 2:

"Palestinian gynecologist and peace advocate Dr. Ezz edin Abu Al Aish speaks to Democracy Now! producer Anjali Kamat and Jacquie Soohen of Big Noise Films in his home in Jabaliya, Gaza, where Israeli shells killed three of his daughters and a niece two months ago. Walking through his daughters room, he points out the remnants from the attack: blood stained walls, books, clothes, and hand-drawn pictures; gaping holes that were once windows; burned out bits of computers; twisted pieces of metal; destroyed cupboards, shattered glass, and shrapnel.
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/3/20..."

Part 1


Part 2


Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog

Gaza family tells of Israeli shooting - 19 Mar 09

Gaza family tells of Israeli shooting - 19 Mar 09:

"A family in Zeitoun in the north of the Gaza Strip have come forward to tell how Israeli snipers shot at them as they were marshalled from a building during the war on Gaza.

Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel-Hamid has their story"



Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog

Israel kills senior Hamas figure in air attack - 01 Jan 09

Israel kills senior Hamas figure in air attack - 01 Jan 09:

"Israel destroys the home of Nizar Rayyan, a senior Hamas figure, killing him and 13 members of his family in the Jabaliya camp in Gaza.

In the most high-level assassination of a Hamas official since Israel's operations began, the direct targeting of Rayyan's house prompts criticism that Israel is violating international law.

Ayman Mohyeldin reports."



Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog

Israel's onslaught on Gaza continues - almost 400 dead

Israel's onslaught on Gaza continues - almost 400 dead:

"Israel's massive bombing campaign of Gaza has continued for a fourth day, and the Israeli government says its attacks so far are just the first in several stages of operations. Israeli troops and tanks have been massing on the border with Gaza, and officials have said the military is ready to continue its assault for several weeks. The death toll in Gaza has now reached over 360, while four Israelis have been killed in revenge rocket attacks."



Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog

latest news update from Gaza - 30 December

YouTube - 30 December, latest news update from Gaza:

"....."



Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog

For the forth day residential areas in Gaza are being bombed

For the forth day residential areas in Gaza are being bombed:

"60 new air strikes on Gaza..."



Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog

More civilian casualties in Gaza amid raids - 30 Dec 08

More civilian casualties in Gaza amid raids - 30 Dec 08:

"Israel's unrelenting assault on Gaza is continuing. Two young sisters were among those killed overnight, as the death toll passed 360.
Palestinian rockets have been raining down on southern Israel. Those attacks have claimed four lives.
Roza Ibragimova has the latest developments."



Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog

Fourth day of Israel's onslaught on Gaza - news report:

Fourth day of Israel's onslaught on Gaza - news report:

"Israel's massive bombing campaign of Gaza has continued for a fourth day, and the Israeli government says its attacks so far are just the first in several stages of operations. Israeli troops and tanks have been massing on the border with Gaza, and officials have said the military is ready to continue its assault for several weeks. The death toll in Gaza has now reached over 360, while four Israelis have been killed in revenge rocket attacks."



Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog

Democracy Now! | Israeli Attacks Kill Over 310 in Gaza in One of Israel's Bloodiest Attacks on Palestinians Since 1948

Democracy Now! | Israeli Attacks Kill Over 310 in Gaza in One of Israel's Bloodiest Attacks on Palestinians Since 1948:

"Amidst worldwide protests, Israel is continuing its bombing campaign against Gaza for the third consecutive day and preparing to launch a possible ground invasion. Following months of a crippling blockade, this has been described as one of Israel’s bloodiest attacks on Palestinians since 1948. Latest reports indicate that 310 people have been killed and 1,400 injured in the aerial strikes across the Gaza Strip since Saturday morning. The latest targets of the air strikes include the Hamas Interior Ministry building and the Islamic University. Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced today that Israel is in an “all-out war with Hamas and its proxies” in Gaza. Fears of a ground invasion are growing after Israel declared a military buffer zone around Gaza, closing off the strip and its 1.5 million residents to journalists and civilians.

We speak to Dr. Moussa El-Haddad and Fida Qishta in Gaza, Dr. Mustafa Barghouti in Ramallah, Gideon Levy in Tel Aviv and Ali Abunimah in the US."

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Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog

Israeli brutality continues for the third consecutive day

Israeli brutality continues for the third consecutive day:

"PressTv Report"



Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog

Israel pounds Gaza for a third consecutive day - 29 Dec 08

Israel pounds Gaza for a third consecutive day - 29 Dec 08:

"Israeli jets are again bombing targets in the Gaza Strip. The air assualt is now into a third day. Warships have also been involved in the attacks, shelling the area around Gaza's port.

The death toll in Gaza has risen to 318. A UN agency says at least 51 of those victims were civilians.

Despite the onslaught, the Palestinian resistance continues. Rockets fired from Gaza have killed one person and injured seven in the city of Ashkelon.

Roza Ibragimova reports."



Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog

Inside story- Israeli violence in Gaza - 28 Dec 08 - (2 Parts)

Inside story- Israeli violence in Gaza - 28 Dec 08 - Part 1:

"Over 280 Gazans have been killed and over 600 wounded in israeli surgical air strikes on Gaza. The number of casualties is keeping increase."

Part 1


Part 2


Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog

Israel Air Strike on Gaza on 28 Dec 2008

Israel Air Strike on Gaza on 28 Dec 2008 Episode 2:

"More than 300 Palestinians have been killed in three consecutive days of aerial bombardment in the heavily-populated territory.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has blamed Hamas!! for triggering Israel's deadly raids on Gaza, by not extending a six-month truce with the Jewish state."



Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog

Israel Murders Mother and her 4 Children

Israel Murders Mother and her 4 Children:

"Israeli attacks lead to death and destruction. Justifications are pointless and useless noise."



Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog

Tension escalates as Israel-Hamas truce draws to an end

Tension escalates as Israel-Hamas truce draws to close:

Report: 49 Palestinians, including 7 children killed during truce

GAZA, (PIC)-- Forty nine Palestinians, including seven children and eight resistance fighters were killed in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip during the six-month Egyptian brokered truce which ended on Friday morning, according to a report by Quds Press.

Palestinian factions agreed to a truce on 19th June this year provided that the Israeli occupation stops its aggression and lifts the siege and that the truce should be extended to include the West Bank.

According the report of Quds Press 22 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip where the truce was active, 22 others were killed in the West Bank and five in occupied Jerusalem. These figures include seven children under the age of 18, and elderly man and an elderly woman.

Amongst the Eight resistance fighters killed during the truce, seven were assassinated in the West Bank by special occupation forces.

In the Gaza Strip, the month of November witnessed the highest number of casualties as 17 Palestinians were killed in Israeli occupation shelling and during incursions.



Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog

Israeli air strike kills 2 teenage Palestinians in Gaza

Israeli air strike kills 2 teenage Palestinians in Gaza:

"PressTv Report"



Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog

PCHR Launches Investigative Report on Child Killings by IOF

PCHR Launches Investigative Report on Child Killings by IOF:
"Al-Jazeera 081022 [LinkTV/Mosaic]"

Related Report:
Source: PCHR

Ref: 42/2008

Date: 21 October 2008

PCHR Launches Investigative Report on Child Killings Perpetrated by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF)

During international armed conflicts, including occupations by military forces, children are afforded protection under International Humanitarian Law. Children are also granted protection under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), as persons who are especially vulnerable during war time. However, the State of Israel has consistently failed in its legal obligation to offer protection towards the children of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Since the beginning of the Second Intifada in September 2000, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have killed more than 860 children in the OPT, the majority of them in the Gaza Strip.

In response to these IOF killings of children, and IOF consistent use of excessive lethal force against Palestinian children, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) is launching ‘Blood on Their Hands’ - a major investigative report on child killings perpetrated by the IOF in the Gaza Strip.

Blood on Their Hands examines IOF killings of children in the Gaza Strip from June 2007-June 2008. During this period, IOF killed sixty eight children in the Gaza Strip.[1] The report provides data, analysis and testimonies on the killings of these children, including detailed testimonies from eye-witnesses and bereaved families, which highlight the horrific nature of these IOF child killings. The report also examines the psychological impact of child deaths on other children in the Gaza Strip, especially those children who have witnessed IOF killings. Although it focuses on the Gaza Strip, the report also refers to child killings by IOF in the West Bank, where twelve children were killed by IOF during the reporting period.

The violent deaths of all these eighty children are the direct result of IOF policy of targeting unarmed civilians in the OPT, and especially the Gaza Strip, as a form of collective punishment against Palestinian civilians. The report investigates the context of child killings in the Gaza Strip, providing detailed investigations into IOF use of disproportionate and excessive lethal force in order to deliberately target children. The report also exposes IOF methods of killing children, and the consistent failure of the State of Israel to investigate IOF killings of Palestinian children in the OPT, or to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Blood on Their Hands exposes the extent of IOF child killings, and makes urgent recommendations for the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) to respect the human rights of all Palestinian children in the OPT, as well as demanding that the international community intervenes immediately and effectively in order to ensure that children’s human rights are respected and upheld.

[1] For the purpose of this reports, PCHR defines a child as a boy or girl under the age of eighteen who is taking no part in hostilities.

One more child born dead at checkpoint as mother denied access to a hospital

arab life vs. jewish life:

On 4 Sept. '08, Naheel Abu Ridah, seven months pregnant, was rushed to hospital in severe pain. When she reached Huwara checkpoint with three relatives, soldiers refused to let them cross by car despite the family's pleas.

Related Report:
Testimony: Soldiers prevent pregnant, bleeding woman from crossing checkpoint and she gives birth to a stillborn baby, September 2008

Source: B'Tselem September 17, 2008

Naheel Abu Rideh, 21

I married Muaiad Abu-Rideh two years ago, and had a baby girl, Shadah, a year ago. She was born in my seventh month of pregnancy but is fine now.

Seven months ago, I became pregnant again. Last Thursday [4 September], I had sharp stomach pains and I started to bleed badly. Around 7:00 P.M. I went to Dr. Fathi ‘Odeh in Jawarish, because our village doesn’t have any specialist physicians. He gave me medication and told me I’d be all right, but I didn't feel any improvement and the pains even got worse.

Around midnight, I couldn’t bear the pain any more. I woke my husband and asked him to take me to the hospital. When he saw how much I was suffering, he called to get his brother ‘Udai, who lives in the center of the village, to drive us in his car. ‘Udai arrived, with my mother-in-law, in a couple of minutes. My husband picked me up and carried me to the car. I was in so much pain, I couldn’t walk.

We started on our way to the hospital in Nablus at about 12:50 A.M. At the Za’tara checkpoint, we told the soldiers I was pregnant and had to get to the hospital, and they let us cross without a problem. When we got to the Huwara checkpoint, the soldiers didn’t let us pass. They said we didn't have a permit to cross by car. We told them my brother has a permit to cross the Ma’ale Efraim checkpoint because he works at settlements in the Jordan Valley, but that didn’t help.

The pain got worse. I felt as if I was going to give birth any moment. Now and then, the soldiers came over to the car and looked at me lying in the back seat. I was really worried about the fetus, and couldn’t stop thinking that I’d have to give birth in the car while the soldiers watched.

I kept screaming and crying and calling for help. I don’t know how much time passed, but suddenly I felt the fetus coming out. I shouted to my mother-in-law and to ‘UdaI, who were outside the car: “I think he’s coming out!” I took off my clothes. I was afraid they’d see me naked and that something would happen to the fetus. My mother-in-law shouted: “Yes, here’s his head, he’s coming out.” I asked her to pull him, and she said, “Breathe! Push!” I felt as the baby move, as if he was calling for help and asking us to help him come out. My mother-in-law covered me with my clothes. I shouted to my husband, ”The baby is out!” He shouted to the soldiers something in Hebrew that I didn't understand.

I don’t remember exactly what happened then, but when the medics arrived, they picked me up with the car seat and put me in the ambulance. I didn’t feel the baby moving any more and realized he was dead. The medics took away the dead baby and took me to the hospital. My husband and mother-in-law came with me in the ambulance. At the hospital, the doctors operated on me to clean my uterus. They discharged me the next day.

It hurts me a lot when I remember how the baby moved inside me and what happened to him. What did he do wrong? I also gave birth to my daughter in my seventh month, and now she is healthy. This poor baby died because there wasn’t anybody to help me deliver him.

Naheel 'Awni 'Abd a-Rahim Abu Rideh, 21, married with one child, is a homemaker and a resident of Qusra in Nablus District. Her testimony was given to Salma a-Deba'i on 8 September 2008 at the witness's home.

Background:

Source: B'Tselem

Infringement of the right to medical treatment in the West Bank

The army's severe restrictions on Palestinian movement in the West Bank gravely affect the ability of Palestinians to obtain proper medical treatment.

The hundreds of physical obstructions and dozens of checkpoints result in very limited access to medical treatment, and sometimes none at all. The problem is especially grave among residents of villages and outlying areas who need to get to hospitals in the large cities. For example, persons living in villages around Jerusalem who need to get to hospitals in East Jerusalem for treatment require a permit to enable them to reach their destination. To obtain a permit, patients have to provide medical documents testifying to their illness, as well as confirmation that they have an appointment at the specific hospital and that it is the only facility where the needed treatment is available.

The need for a permit is especially problematic for pregnant women, who need to get to the hospital in time to give birth. Even though the delivery date is uncertain, the permit given to women about to deliver is valid for only one or two days, as is the case for most sick persons. Therefore, women in their ninth month of pregnancy must go to the DCO every few days to renew the permit. As a result, in some instances, the mother gave birth at the checkpoint after her crossing was delayed because she did not have a valid permit. In 2007, at least five women gave birth at a checkpoint, three of them at a checkpoint at the entrance to Jerusalem.

The hardships entailed in obtaining medical treatment involve more than the bureaucracy of the permit regime. In many cases, the way to the hospital is blocked, so the sick and injured have to travel on long, winding, and worn roads. These alternate roads often lead to a staffed checkpoint, where they are forced to wait and undergo checks. In other cases, access to medical treatment is prevented and ill and wounded persons are unable to receive emergency medical treatment when checkpoints are closed at night, and whole Palestinian communities are blocked from entering or leaving by vehicle, including by ambulance. This situation exists primarily in enclaves in the “seam zone” and in a number of isolated areas, among them Beit Furik and Beit Dajan, in the Nablus area. In 2007, there was an increase in the number of persons needing medical treatment who were delayed at checkpoints, and B'Tselem documented five cases in which ill or wounded persons died after being delayed at a checkpoint.

Following a petition that Physicians for Human Rights filed in 1996, the State Attorney's Office announced two procedures instituted by the army regarding the crossing of checkpoints on grounds of medical need. The two procedures were intended to regulate the crossing of Palestinians in case of medical emergency, when a permit would not be needed, and in non-emergency cases. These procedures were supposed to apply at all the checkpoints in the West Bank, but recent testimonies given to B'Tselem indicate that this is not always the case. Frequently, the soldiers, who have no medical training that would enable them to evaluate the medical condition of the person, err in judgment.

The many restrictions on movement have also impaired the ability of West Bank hospitals to function properly. Indeed, the level of service in these hospitals has suffered greatly because of the absence or delay in arrival of doctors and staff as a result of checkpoint delays. Finally, the restrictions on movement also impair the development and expertise of medical professionals in the Palestinian health system: it is almost impossible for physicians and staff to get to in-service training or students to university, and many students are either unable to complete their studies or receive a lower quality of professional training.

International law grants special protection to the sick, wounded, the infirm, and pregnant women, and states that medical teams and sick and wounded persons must be allowed open passage. The many restrictions on Palestinian movement in the West Bank and the extensive period in which these restrictions have been imposed have resulted in a systematic, protracted breach of the law and in grave harm to the health of West Bank Palestinians and to the Palestinian health system.

Tutu condemns strike on Gaza

Tutu condemns strike on Gaza:
"Archbishop Desmond Tutu has delivered a scathing report to the UN on Israel's shelling of Beit Hanoun in Gaza in 2006."

Related News item:

TuTu: 2006 Israeli Attack on Beit Hanoun Possible War Crime
Thursday, September 18, 2009
Source: IMEMC

The South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu told the United Nations this week that he believes that a 2006 Israeli attack on the southern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun “showed a disproportionate and reckless disregard for Palestinian civilian life”, and could possibly be considered a war crime.

Tutu was part of an investigatory commission created by the United Nations (UN) shortly after the incident to travel to Gaza and conduct an investigation. But Israel refused to issue the renowned Archbishop and anti-apartheid activist a visa, and the investigation was unable to go forward. Tutu finally was allowed to enter Beit Hanoun this May, 18 months after the incident, and did not manage to conduct an investigation.

In the 2006 attacks, 19 Palestinian civilians, including children, were killed in a barrage of Israeli artillery shells. Said Tutu this week, "It is not too late for an independent, impartial and transparent investigation of the shelling to be held”.

Israeli authorities reject the validity of Tutu's statement, with one Israeli official, Aharon Leshno-Yaar, stating, “There is no need for such a mission by the Human Rights Council and by Archbishop Tutu”, adding that the internal investigation carried out by the Israeli military, which ruled that the shelling was an accident, was sufficient.

Nearly 4,000 Palestinians and 900 Israelis have been killed since the current uprising against the Israeli military occupation began in late 2000. Human rights groups estimate that around 80% of those killed, both Israelis and Palestinians, have been civilians.