Israel On Killing Spree In Gaza

[Myra Bronstein]

Sadly no, but the following may be of some use:
http://www.wanttoknow.info/020318chicagotribune ...

Thanks David.

[Peter Lemkin]

...then listen to this report of a man who lost his two brothers - one shot to death doing NOTHING and one who bled to death because the IDF refused to let an ambulance come save his life.........two of more than 1,300 dead and 7,000 wounded.

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/1/21/pa...ad_loses_2

[Magda Hassan]

I really hope that soon there are war crimes trials to account for their (and Hamas) crimes.
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Israel Admits Troops May Have Used White Phosphorus Shells
Posted by Tana Ganeva, AlterNet at 12:48 PM on January 21, 2009.


After weeks of denials, the IDF admits forces may have acted in contravention of international law.



After weeks of denying that they had used white phosphorus in heavily-populated areas of Gaza, the IDF has admitted that Israeli forces may have used the napalm-like chemical in violation of both international law and the Israeli military's own policy. The Guardian reports:

According to senior IDF officers, quoted today in the Ha'aretz newspaper, the Israeli military made use of two different types of phosphorus munitions.

The first, they insisted, was contained in 155mm artillery shells, and contained "almost no phosphorus" except for a trace to ignite the smoke screen.

The second munitions, at the centre of the inquiry by Col Alkalai, are standard phosphorus shells – both 88mm and 120mm – fired from mortars.

About 200 of these shells were fired during Israel's Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, and of these – say the IDF – 180 were fired on Hamas fighters and rocket launch crews in northern Gaza.

Alkalai is investigating the circumstances in which the remaining 20 shells were fired, amid compelling evidence on the ground that phosphorus munitions were involved in the attack on a UN warehouse and a UN school.

...

The use of phosphorus as an incendiary weapon as it now appears to have been used against Hamas fighters – as opposed to a smoke screen – is covered by the Convention of Certain Conventional Weapons to which Israel in not a signatory.

However, Israel also is obliged under the Geneva Conventions and customary international humanitarian law to give due care to protecting the civilian population when deciding on appropriate military targeting and response to hostile fire, particularly in heavily built up areas with a strict prohibition on the use of indiscriminate force.

Amnesty International, which issued a statement yesterday accusing Israel of war crimes, reports on the effects of white phosphorus on the human body:

The team ... visited the Shifa hospital, Gaza's main hospital, where they spoke to medical staff about the challenges of dealing with phosphorus burns and other injuries. The head of the burns unit told the team that at first, they had not known that they were dealing with injuries caused by white phosphorus. He described unusual orange burns which would become deeper with an offensive odour. After several hours smoke would start coming from the wound.
"We had a child of three years with a head injury. After three hours we changed the dressing and saw smoke coming out of the wound. We opened the wound and brought out this wedge. We had not seen it before. Later on, some colleagues, doctors from Egypt and Norway, were able to enter Gaza and told us that this was white phosphorus," said the doctor
"We noticed various things about this: the burn does not heal; the phosphorus may remain inside the body and goes on burning there, and the general condition of the patient deteriorates – normally with 10-15 percent burns you would expect a cure, now many such patients die."
Other strange injuries were caused by unusual weapons (possibly including Deep Inert metal Explosive – DIME weapons) which doctors did not know how to deal with. "We had eight amputations on one day – normally, the patients should all have lived, but they all died. We don't understand it," one doctor told the team.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/121526/

[Peter Lemkin]

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/1/22/pa...llege_grad We return to the heart-wrenching tale of Amer Shurrab, who lost two of his brothers on the same day in an Israeli attack in Gaza. Amer is a Palestinian from Khan Yunis living in the United States. He recently graduated from Middlebury College. On Friday, his father and two brothers were fleeing their village when their vehicle came under Israeli fire. Twenty-eight-year-old Kassab died in a hail of bullets trying to flee the vehicle. Eighteen-year-old Ibrahim survived the initial attack, but Israeli troops refused to allow an ambulance to reach them until twenty hours later.

This is a War Crime - clear and simple...and the entire operation in Gaza over the years is Genocide [as is the Occupation everywhere]. I condemn the Govt and IDF of Israel in the stongest possible terms - this from a Jew [and proud to be!] and the nephew of the the man who coined the word 'Genocide' and wrote the Genocide Convention at the UN! How 'we' ever came to inflict on other innocents what the Nazis, and others, have inflicted upon us shows me that we are not special in any way - but as flawed as any group in humanity [though it saddens me to say!], and hope we find our way back to peace, justice, international law and apologize for our sins, war crimes, and genocide. There is also the Wall, the Occupation, Lebanon, support of South Africa, collaboration with neo-fascist elements in US intelligence and Warrior classes. If any People should know better, it is we. I weep for our crimes. Here are details of 2 out of the recent 1300 dead and 7000 wounded: http://www.democracynow.org/2009/1/22/pa...llege_grad

[David Healy]

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/1/22/pa...llege_grad We return to the heart-wrenching tale of Amer Shurrab, who lost two of his brothers on the same day in an Israeli attack in Gaza. Amer is a Palestinian from Khan Yunis living in the United States. He recently graduated from Middlebury College. On Friday, his father and two brothers were fleeing their village when their vehicle came under Israeli fire. Twenty-eight-year-old Kassab died in a hail of bullets trying to flee the vehicle. Eighteen-year-old Ibrahim survived the initial attack, but Israeli troops refused to allow an ambulance to reach them until twenty hours later.

This is a War Crime - clear and simple...and the entire operation in Gaza over the years is Genocide [as is the Occupation everywhere]. I condemn the Govt and IDF of Israel in the stongest possible terms - this from a Jew [and proud to be!] and the nephew of the the man who coined the word 'Genocide' and wrote the Genocide Convention at the UN! How 'we' ever came to inflict on other innocents what the Nazis, and others, have inflicted upon us shows me that we are not special in any way - but as flawed as any group in humanity [though it saddens me to say!], and hope we find our way back to peace, justice, international law and apologize for our sins, war crimes, and genocide. There is also the Wall, the Occupation, Lebanon, support of South Africa, collaboration with neo-fascist elements in US intelligence and Warrior classes. If any People should know better, it is we. I weep for our crimes. Here are details of 2 out of the recent 1300 dead and 7000 wounded: http://www.democracynow.org/2009/1/22/pa...llege_grad

They'll be NO apologizing nor forgiving those that strap bombs on their young, send them off to Israel to blow-up innocents, that's utter nonsense!

Rumor has it Sen. George Mitchell (D-Me. Ret.) may be the up and coming US Mid-East Envoy, he is after all 1/2 Lebanese. Perhaps he can get Hamas (if there's anything left of them) and their merry band of terrorists to the table....

There's a current position here in the US: screw the UN! Your best bet is to try The Hague. A clear and simple scream to the high heavens "WAR CRIME", isn't going to get traction stateside. The reality is this, we're glad its over there, NOT here!

(p.s. thanks for toning down your post Peter, the original was a bit "iffy" mokin

[Jan Klimkowski]

The UK's Channel 4 News 7pm bulletin tonight broadcast a film containing compelling evidence that Israel used white phosphorus, DIME bombs and flechettes in densely populated civilian areas of Gaza. The piece included a former Pentagon weapons expert, now working with an NGO, examining a blast scene where civilians had been killed. What remained of the blast scene was very unusual.

There were also interviews with victims with very strange shrapnel in their body - seen by X-Ray.

For an introduction to the nature of DIME bombs, and Flechettes, see the wiki entries:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dense_Inert..._Explosive

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flechette

I hope Channel 4's film turns up on the internet later.

After it was broadcast, the anchor (Jon Snow) interviewed Israel's answer to Alastair Campell, Mark Regev. Regev tried to shout Snow down.

But then, the evidence in Channel 4's film brought shame on the state of Israel.

A shame that will not be easily or quickly lost.

[Jan Klimkowski]

Here's the link to the Channel 4 pieces:

http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/po...++/2909012

[Peter Lemkin]

[quote=Jan Klimkowski]The UK's Channel 4 News 7pm bulletin tonight broadcast a film containing compelling evidence that Israel used white phosphorus, DIME bombs and flechettes in densely populated civilian areas of Gaza. The piece included a former Pentagon weapons expert, now working with an NGO, examining a blast scene where civilians had been killed. What remained of the blast scene was very unusual.

While today's democracynow.org didn't go into it in detail [they mentioned it yesterday]; in today's show they repeatedly showed a clear scene of a doctor examining the legs of a man who had holes in his legs down to the bone wherever something had touched them - revolting - if you can stomach watching. Several experts have said that they clearly saw white phosphorous in use and evidence of it having burned persons. Ditto DIME. Those are horrible - but all done from a distance. I find most aggregious the reports of Israeli soldiers close-up killing obvious innocents and denying persons they've just shot medical care to prevent their dying in front of them!!!!! They also targeted food storage areas and 'smart bombed' buildings they told persons to seek shelter in. I'm totally revolted. I think this will come-back to haunt Israel and the callous US Public, if the above response is the way most in the USA see the events.

Adding to the whole offensive 'killing persons in a virtual prison fishbowl' is the report of who did what when with violation of the cease-fire [not the MSM version - nor Israel's nor the USA's] here http://www.democracynow.org/2009/1/22/ex...el_ignored

[David Guyatt]

In a clear David versus Goliath war, I do not apologize for siding with David.

This Biblical story is relevant in the case of the indefensible carnage inflicted by Israel upon innocents in Gaza during their 22 day vengeful massacre.

And it was a massacre - as the figures clearly show:

Palestinian fatalities: 1,200.

Israeli fatalities: 13

It is also evident to me that this carnage was "sanctioned" by George Bush - as a parting shot. After all this is the spoilt brat-cum-president who enjoys gesture politics, as demonstrated by his farewell to G8 heads when he punched the air with a grin and the words: "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter".

[Mark Ludwig]

I'd say this is pretty damning really.

It looks like hell itself is raining down.

Not human to fire this at anyone, let alone civilians.