West Bank Occupation Continues: The Israeli army kills a Palestinian boy In Hebron

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Written by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News & Agencies Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News & Agencies

Published: 19 January 2009 19 January 2009

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Palestinian medical sources reported that a Palestinian boy was shot and killed by Israeli military fire in the southern West Bank city of Hebron midday Friday. 

The boy, Mos'ab Da'nah Mos'ab Da'nna, aged 15 years old, sustained multiple wounds in the chest after being shot by live rounds, doctors said, adding that another 15 local youth had been injured.

Witnesses reported that Israeli soldiers in the old city of Hebron provoked clashes with the local youth, and then opened fire at them killing the boy.  

The witnesses added that soldiers fired tear gas and sound grenades at the youthand other residents of Hebron before the ensuing clashes.

Shocked and Grieving Gazans Find Bodies Under the Rubble of Homes

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Written by SABRINA TAVERNISE and TAGHREED EL-KHODARY SABRINA TAVERNISE and TAGHREED EL-KHODARY

Published: 19 January 2009 19 January 2009

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GAZA — It was a day of digging and bitter discovery. Houses had lost walls, and the dead, after three weeks of war, had lost their faces. Families identified them by their clothes.

As the people of Gaza emerged from hiding on Sunday, they confronted, for the first time, the full, sometimes breathtaking extent of the destruction around them wrought by the Israeli military. Bombs had pulverized the Parliament and cabinet buildings, the Ministry of Justice, the main university and the police station, paralyzing Gaza’s central nervous system and leaving residents in a state of shock.

Some places in Gaza City were bustling and matter-of-fact. Work crews in bright orange vests repaired power and water lines. Shops reopened. People lined up at bank machines.

But other areas ached with loss. In Twam to the north, thousands dragged belongings away from ruined houses; they were dazed refugees in their own city. In Zeitoun, families clawed at rubble and concrete, trying to dislodge the bodies of relatives who had died weeks before. The death toll kept climbing: 95 bodies were taken from the rubble.

More than 20 of them were from the Samouni family, whose younger members were digging with shovels and hands for relatives stuck in rooms inside. Faris Samouni, 59, sat alone, watching them. He had lost his wife, daughter-in-law, grandson and nephew, and he was heartbroken.

“Twenty-one are down there,” he said, starting to cry. “One is my wife. Her name is Rizka.”

The dead were badly decomposed, and families searched for familiar personal details that would identify them. One woman’s corpse was identified by her gold bracelets. Another by her earrings. And a third by the nightgown she wore. The smell of rotting flesh was suffocating, and as they got closer, the diggers donned masks.

At 10:55 a.m., the body of Rizka Samouni emerged as an Israeli fighter jet roared in the sky. Other corpses followed. Houda, 18. Faris, 14. Hamdi, 21. The smallest corpse that emerged, from a different family, was that of a 4-year-old.

“They killed the elders, the children, the women, the animals, the chickens,” said Subhi, 55, Rizka’s brother. “It’s a nightmare. I never thought I would lose all of them.”

Read more: Shocked and Grieving Gazans Find Bodies Under the Rubble of Homes

Killed 1206 Palestinians, including 415 children, 110 women and 115 elderly, 5320 wounded

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Written by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Published: 18 January 2009 18 January 2009

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Palestinian killed in the first day of unilateral cease-fire, medics locate bodies of 35 residents

Palestinian medical sources in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, reported on Sunday morning that Israeli soldiers killed one resident in Khuza'a town, east of Khan Younis. The sources added that rescue teams and medics located the bodies of 35 residents after the army withdrew from areas in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

The slain man is the first to be killed after Israel declared its unilateral ceasefire which came in effect at 02:00 on Sunday at dawn.

The Israeli army claimed that the slain man was in an area used by Palestinian fighters who fired homemade shells into adjacent Israeli areas.

The slain man was a civilian, medics reported. Several other residents were wounded.

The army also said that soldiers were returning fire at Palestinian gunmen when the man was killed, Israeli online daily, Haaretz, reported.

Haaretz added that the a spokesperson of the army said that “soldiers acted according to the rules of engagement”, and vowed that the army would retaliate harshly to any attack against the soldiers in Gaza.

Meanwhile, resistance factions in Gaza said that they fired at least five homemade shells at the Israeli Negev town of Sderot in retaliation to the Israeli attack.

On Sunday morning, medics and rescue teams located the bodies of 35 residents in different parts of the Gaza Strip.

Most of the bodies were buried under the rubble of shelled civilian facilities and homes.

Medical sources in Gaza reported that in 22 days of Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip, Israeli soldiers killed 1206 Palestinians, including 415 children, 110 women and 115 elderly. Five women baring international citizenships were also killed in the offensive.

The number of Palestinians wounded in the offensive arrived to 5320; half of them were children and women, and 450 are in serious conditions.

Besides civilian homes, the shelling also targeted schools, mosques, UNRWA facilities, hospitals, and several other civilian facilities.

On Saturday morning, the army shelled an UNRWA school in Beit Lahia, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. At least 1800 displaced civilians were taking shelter in the school. Israeli soldiers shelled 67 schools, including 36 UNRWA schools, during the offensive.

 

SENATOR MERKLEY STATEMENT ON CONFLICT IN GAZA

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Written by Julie Edwards, Office of Senator Jeff Merkley Julie Edwards, Office of Senator Jeff Merkley

Published: 18 January 2009 18 January 2009

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                            Contact:  Julie Edwards
January 16, 2009                                                                                                                 202-225-8841
 
MERKLEY STATEMENT ON CONFLICT IN GAZA
 
Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley issued the following statement on the on-going conflict in Gaza:
 
“As a stalwart advocate for Israel’s security, I understand Israel's need to defend itself from terrorism.  No country in the world would tolerate attacks across its border, on its civilians, without responding.
 
“At the same time, I am deeply concerned about the current conflict, particularly the civilian deaths and casualties and lack of adequate humanitarian aid.  I urge both Palestinian and Israeli leaders to do as much as they possibly can to address the humanitarian challenges.
 
“I urge both sides to pursue an immediate and durable ceasefire.  This pattern of explosive violence interspersed with lulls in fighting is ultimately a dead end.  The United States has a vital national interest in peace and stability in the region, and I'm hopeful that a new U.S. Administration can help Israel and the Palestinians find a way forward that gives both people the opportunity to live peacefully and freely.”
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Julie Edwards
Communications Director
Office of Senator Jeff Merkley
202-224-8841 (office), 202-380-6986 (cell)