Sheera Frenkel & Michael Evans; 6/1/09; (4 Items)
Israel is believed to have used controversial white phosphorus shells to screen its assault on the heavily populated Gaza Strip yesterday. The weapon, used by British and US forces in Iraq, can cause horrific burns but is not illegal if used as a smokescreen. As the Israeli army stormed to the edges of Gaza City and the Palestinian death toll topped 500, the telltale shells could be seen spreading tentacles of thick white smoke to cover the troops’ advance. “These explosions are fantastic looking, and produce a great deal of smoke that blinds the enemy so that our forces can move in,” said one Israeli security expert.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24876404-15084,00.html
Israel, Hamas battle rages in Gaza
6/1/09
Israeli tanks, planes and ground forces pounded Gaza overnight and the defence minister said the offensive against Hamas militants in the Palestinian enclave would go on until Israel was safe. International efforts to secure a ceasefire moved ahead with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Middle East special envoy Tony Blair visiting the region, but they seemed able to offer little beyond words. The death toll in besieged Gaza rose to at least 541 people over the 10-day offensive. Among today’s victims were 13 members of a Palestinian family in an Israeli strike on their home in a Gaza refugee camp, Palestinian medical officials said.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24878390-12335,00.html
Gaza City partially surrounded – Barak
5/1/09
January 05, 2009
Israeli troops have partially surrounded Gaza City and Hamas has been hit hard, Defence Minister Ehud Barak said today as the Jewish state pressed on with a ground offensive in the Palestinian enclave. “Gaza City is partially surrounded,” Mr Barak told parliament’s foreign affairs and defence committee. “We have hit Hamas hard, but we have not yet reached all the goals that we have set for ourselves and the operation continues,” he said. “We are doing everything that a state must do to protect its citizens,” he said. “We want that the attacks against our citizens and our soldiers stop.”
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24876784-26103,00.html
Palestinians reduced to Third World living standards
6/1/09
Israel is a wealthy Western country and, for years, the largest recipient of overseas aid in the world. Under international law, the Israelis are responsible for the welfare of all people they forcibly occupy. They have occupied the West Bank since 1967 and controlled Gaza for 38 years until their withdrawal in 2005. During their custodianship they have reduced the living standards of the people in these areas to third world conditions. Through sanctions, curfews, wholesale land confiscation, repeated bombing of infrastructure, arbitrary detention, an elaborate system of checkpoints and embargoes that totally control the movement of goods, labour, relief supplies and medical treatment, as well as the supply of power, Israel has strangled the economy of the Palestinians making them highly dependent on UN relief. Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas in the world but, despite this, over the past five years Israel has bulldozed whole suburbs, pushing the already crowded population into more intolerable living conditions…
See: http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/letters/index.php/ theaustralian/comments/palestinians_reduced_to_third_world_living_standards
Tags: Human Rights, Israel, Terrorism, USA