Violence Continues After Israeli Shelling at Gaza Border – International Middle East Media Center

Thursday January 06, 2011 10:57 by Alessandra Bajec – IMEMC & Agencies

The firing of three mortar shells was reported towards an Israeli military base along the Gaza border, on Thursday morning, a PFLP affilated armed group told Ma’an News. Violence resumed just after Israeli troops fired on a group of Palestinians when they were supposedly trying to cross the Gaza border, on Wednesday evening, AFP reported.

(photo from Press TV)
(photo from Press TV)

The mortars targeted the Kissufim military zone, based in the northeast al-Qararra, near Khan Younis, the Jihad Jibril Brigades claimed.

The brigades released a statement saying that they would carry on their resistance activities against Israeli forces in Gaza.

An Israeli military spokeswoman stated to have reports of a rocket landing around 7:30 a.m. in the Negev area, north of the Gaza Strip, but said she had no awareness of any attacks in the area of Kissufim.

Overnight, Israeli troops opened fire on a group of Palestinians they said were trying to breach the Gaza Strip border, hitting at least one of them, the military said.

The military said in a statement that the shooting came hours after militants fired what were claimed to be two mortar shells into southern Israel without causing any damage or casualties.

By morning, Gaza medical services spokesman confirmed that two were killed in the fire while Israeli forces said at the time that one was killed and a second injured.

According to Hamas sources, the two men were targeted by Israeli army tanks. Israel army claimed that they shot at the Palestinians who were apparently attempting to breach the border late on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Israeli military reported two projectiles were launched from Gaza into the Ashkelon region. No claim militant group claimed responsibility for the action. The projectile launches followed two Israeli airstrikes hitting targets in Gaza overnight, including one smuggling tunnel and a second site in the central Strip.

On Tuesday, Israel’s air force struck two targets in Gaza in retaliation to a rocket attack earlier in the day, which had caused damage to some greenhouses in southern Israel.

In the past months, Gaza militants have fired dozens of rockets and mortar rounds into southern Israel, resulting into damage and minor injuries on many occasions.
Israeli troops routinely respond to such firing with air raids targeting what the army claims are training sites, weapons facilities and smuggling tunnels.

Troops regularly open fire on Gazans entering the unilaterally-declared ‘no-go zone’, a three-hundred-meter wide buffer zone along the fence, where they are allegedly trying to place bombs or infiltrate Israel, the army says. Meanwhile, dozens of civilians, including many youth, have also been fired and killed in the past year while searching for highly prized gravel, used for rebuilding due to the limitations on construction materials entering the strip due the the Israeli siege.

Most Palestinians in the border area of the Gaza Strip are farmers who risk their lives to reach their farms across the no-go zone, and Israeli soldiers frequently open fire accusing them of attempting to approach the “security fence”.

Violence Continues After Israeli Shelling at Gaza Border – International Middle East Media Center.

Violence on Gaza border continues

 

 

Published today (updated) 06/01/2011 10:48
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GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Three mortar shells were said to have been fired toward an Israeli military base along the Gaza border on Thursday morning, an armed group affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said.

The Jihad Jibril Brigades said the mortars targeted the Kissufim military zone northeast Al-Qararra near Khan Younis.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said she had reports of a projectile landing at approximately 7:30 a.m. in the Negev regional council area, north of the Gaza Strip, but said she was not aware of any attacks in the area of Kissufim.

In a statement, the brigades said they would continue to carry out resistance activities against Israeli force occupying Gaza.

Overnight Israeli troops opened fire on a group of Palestinians they said were trying to breach the Gaza Strip border, hitting at least one of them, the military said.

By morning, medics said ambulance crews recovered two bodies killed in the fire, Gaza medical services spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya confirmed.

Israeli forces announced at the time that one was killed and a second injured.

The border shooting came hours after militants fired what were apparently two mortar shells into southern Israel without causing any damage or casualties, the army said.

On Wednesday, Israeli military officials reported two projectile launches from Gaza landing in the Ashkelon region. Neither launch was claimed by a militant group.

The reported projectile launches followed two Israeli airstrikes which hit targets in Gaza overnight, including one smuggling tunnel and a second site in the central Strip.

Israeli military officials said the strikes were in retaliation for earlier projectile launches.

Maan News Agency: Violence on Gaza border continues.

Two Years After Gaza War, Gaza Remains Sealed-Off, Suffering Continues – International Middle East Media Center

Wednesday December 29, 2010 23:09author by The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights – PCHR Report post

Two years after Operation Cast Lead: Gaza Remains Sealed-Off from outside World, Impunity for War Crimes Prevails

Ahmed Zourob receives dialysis treatment at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Because of the siege, his level of treatment is inadequate and he can no longer obtain the medication he needs (PCHR)
Ahmed Zourob receives dialysis treatment at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Because of the siege, his level of treatment is inadequate and he can no longer obtain the medication he needs (PCHR)

PCHR Report on Gaza War, Monday, 27 December 2010 11:30

December 27, 2010, marks the two-year anniversary of the beginning of Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s 23 day offensive on the Gaza Strip. This offensive – the single most brutal event in the history of the occupation – was characterised by systematic violations of international law. Its aftermath has been characterised by pervasive impunity.

In total, 1,419 Palestinians were killed. 83% of the dead – the overwhelming majority – were civilians, the so-called ‘protected persons’ of international humanitarian law. A further 5,300 were injured, and public and private property throughout the Gaza Strip was extensively targeted and destroyed.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) notes that in the two years since the offensive there have been no concrete steps taken towards the fulfilment of victims’ legitimate rights to the equal protection of the law and an effective judicial remedy. Customary international law and the treaty-based obligations which all States have entered into are unequivocal: if a war crime has been committed, those responsible must be investigated and prosecuted in accordance with international standards. They must be held to account.

Numerous reports of international and national human rights organisations – including those of the UN Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict (the ‘Goldstone Report’), the Independent Fact-Finding Mission mandated by the Arab League, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch – concluded that war crimes were committed in the Gaza Strip, and noted that criminal accountability must be the legal consequence.

The Goldstone Report detailed explicit mechanisms to ensure such criminal accountability. As required by customary international law, genuine domestic investigations must be initiated. After six months, if these investigations failed to comply with international standards, the Security Council – acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter – must refer the situation to the International Criminal Court.

It is now two years since the offensive, and no effective domestic investigations or prosecutions have been initiated.

As PCHR has documented, Israel has systematically failed to ensure accountability. In the two years since Operation Cast Lead, the actions of the Israeli authorities have been characterised by a desire to shield those responsible from justice. Only three soldiers have been convicted of committing offensive-related crimes. One soldier was sentenced to seven-months in jail for the theft of a credit card. Two other soldiers were convicted of using a 9 year old boy as a human shield. They were given a 3 month suspended sentence.

This is an insult to victims and to the universal rule of law.

The international community’s response has been silence; through inaction they have implicitly endorsed Israel’s actions during Operation Cast Lead and the impunity that has followed. They have implicitly endorsed the systematic and widespread commission of international crimes.

The rule of law, and victims’ rights, have been sacrificed in the name of politics.

This situation must not be allowed to prevail.

The consequences of impunity are evident in the continuing and escalating violations of international law committed in the occupied Palestinian territory.

The consequences of impunity are evident in the fact that the entire Gaza Strip continues to be subject to an illegal closure. For over 3.5 years, 1.7 million people have been collectively punished and cut off from the outside world. Impunity, and the international community’s failure to prevent this ongoing crime, has resulted in the distinct possibility that the closure will become institutionalised, and effectively endorsed by the United Nations and the international community.

The consequences of impunity are evident in the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank; in the continued construction of the Wall; and in the house demolitions and evictions carried out in occupied East Jerusalem.

Equally, the consequences of sacrificing the rule of international law in the name of ‘political progress’ are evident in the abject failure of the Oslo process.

It is imperative that the international community fulfil its legal obligations, and ensure respect for international law. Those suspected of committing international crimes must be investigated and prosecuted. Israel must be held responsible for its internationally wrongful acts.

Impunity serves only to encourage continued violations of international law. Without accountability, how can the civilians of the Gaza Strip feel safe again?

Two Years After Gaza War, Gaza Remains Sealed-Off, Suffering Continues – International Middle East Media Center.

Israeli war on Gaza continues after second lull

YouTube – Israeli war on Gaza continues after second lull – 08 Jan 09.