UN says Israel shelled Gaza house killing 30

[Stalin]

This is the sort of behaviour carried out by Hutu militia and the Nazis.

"...JERUSALEM, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Friday that 30 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip earlier this week when the Israeli army sheltered dozens of civilians in a house which was later hit by shells.

A report by the U.N.'s Office for the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that on Jan. 4 Israeli soldiers evacuated 110 Palestinians to a house in the Zeitoun neighbourhood in central Gaza, warning them to remain indoors.

Citing witnesses, the report said the house was later hit by Israeli shells, killing some 30 people.

The Israeli army said it was investigating the incident.

Palestinian medical workers had said on Jan. 5 that they recovered 12 bodies from one family at a house hit by Israeli shells. The total number of dead later rose to 30 as more bodies were pulled from the rubble at the same location, they said.

They identified the dead as mostly members of the Samouni family.

OCHA said the fatalities included three children who were wounded in the incident and later succumbed to their injuries. (Writing by Joseph Nasr, Editing by Dominic Evans)

Source: Reuters North American News Service

[BigRob]

This is the sort of behaviour carried out by Hutu militia and the Nazis.

"...JERUSALEM, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Friday that 30 Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip earlier this week when the Israeli army sheltered dozens of civilians in a house which was later hit by shells.

A report by the U.N.'s Office for the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that on Jan. 4 Israeli soldiers evacuated 110 Palestinians to a house in the Zeitoun neighbourhood in central Gaza, warning them to remain indoors.

Citing witnesses, the report said the house was later hit by Israeli shells, killing some 30 people.

The Israeli army said it was investigating the incident.

Palestinian medical workers had said on Jan. 5 that they recovered 12 bodies from one family at a house hit by Israeli shells. The total number of dead later rose to 30 as more bodies were pulled from the rubble at the same location, they said.

They identified the dead as mostly members of the Samouni family.

OCHA said the fatalities included three children who were wounded in the incident and later succumbed to their injuries. (Writing by Joseph Nasr, Editing by Dominic Evans)

Source: Reuters North American News Service

Why was no one upset when Israeli civilians were dying in rocket attacks? You reap what you sow is all I have to say.

[Stalin]

This was the same logic used by the SS to kill civilians after they were attacked by partisans.

Comrade Kaganovich, standing in for Comrade Secretary

[BigRob]

This was the same logic used by the SS to kill civilians after they were attacked by partisans.

Comrade Kaganovich, standing in for Comrade Secretary

Except Israel does not openly target civilians and does about everything they can to minimize their deaths. Hamas on the other hand, openly targets civilians and does whatever they can to ensure they have human shields around them when operating.

Of course there will be some anyway, but welcome to a war.

[pocketfullofshells]

Why was no one upset when Israeli civilians were dying in rocket attacks? You reap what you sow is all I have to say.

becuse we know Israel never took any action before that caused the rocket attacks....they where just minding there own buisness .....

Sad how Israel always protects itself by killing 15 times the amount of Palestinians.. because we all know killing them will solve the issue ...that or feed more rockets as is more likely.

[Stalin]

Except Israel does not openly target civilians and does about everything they can to minimize their deaths.

Ah yes,,,the myth of the Noble Israeli beating back the wily scheming oriental hordes...

the facts are a little different. Feel free to debate these figures...any time

"Monday, September 27, 2004 -- Dr Mustafa Barghouthi began today's press conference with a summary of recent trends and statistics.

....In the four years since Sharon's famous visit to the Haram Al-Sharif we have seen 4,342 Palestinians and Israelis killed. Of those 1,008 were Israeli and 3,334 Palestinian. 82% of Palestinians killed were civilians.

2-3 Palestinians are killed by Israeli soldiers, police or settlers per day. While this number may appear to be low, if this death rate were to be applied to the UK it would be equivalent to 35 being killed per day, and in the US this would be 157 per day.

Since the start of the Intifada on the 28th of September 2000, 621 Palestinian children below the age of 17 have been killed by the Israeli occupation forces. Of this figure 411 were shot with live ammunition and 200 were shot in the head, face or neck. 331 were from the Gaza Strip. 10,000 Palestinian children have been injured.

Dr Barghouthi insisted that there is absolutely no excuse to justify the killing of such a huge number of children. What is equally disturbing is the telling figures of injuries received to the head - Israeli forces were obviously shooting to kill. In fact the majority of Palestinians killed have suffered injuries to the head and upper body.

424 Palestinians have died in extrajudicial executions (assassinations). 186 of those were bystanders or "unintended" victims, killed as they were near the victim. 39 bystanders were children and 26 were women. With regards to extrajudicial assassinations, in Gaza while 72 Palestinians died in targeted killings, a shocking 118 bystanders were additionally killed in these attacks.

..

During this last year of the Intifada, there has been a serious rise in mass popular support for nonviolent resistance. This is why suicide attacks against Israel have significantly depleted, not because of the Wall. However, this has certainly not encouraged Israeli forces to stop attacking Palestinians.

Between March 15 and August 31, 2004, the international media talked of a period of "relative calm" purely because there were no suicide attacks against Israel. However, the following days of March saw 45 Palestinians dead with no Israeli casualties; April saw 56 Palestinians dead compared with 3 Israelis; and May saw 116 Palestinians dead (the majority during Israel's "Operation Rainbow" in Rafah) compared with 19 Israelis.

It must be noted that of the total Israelis killed, 18 were soldiers, 10 were illegal settlers, and only 3 were civilians. This means that during a period of practical ceasefire on the part of the Palestinians, Israel continued to kill civilians at a rate of 12:1. If Sharon was at all serious about wanting a peaceful solution, genuine advantage could have been taken during this period of quiet, instead he proceeded to kill more Palestinians than at any other time since the beginning of the Intifada, other than the March/April 2002 invasions ("Operation Defensive Sheild").

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3131.shtml

[Stalin]

Hamas on the other hand, openly targets civilians and does whatever they can to ensure they have human shields around them when operating.



Are you sure you have the right body using human shields as a weapon ??

"...20 July 2006: Israeli Soldiers use civilians as Human Shields in Beit Hanun

B'Tselem's initial investigation indicates that, during an incursion by Israeli forces into Beit Hanun, in the northern Gaza Strip, on 17 July 2006, soldiers seized control of two buildings in the town and used residents as human shield.

After seizing control of the buildings, the soldiers held six residents, two of them minors, on the staircases of the two buildings, at the entrance to rooms in which the soldiers positioned themselves, for some twelve hours. During this time, there were intense exchanges of gunfire between the soldiers and armed Palestinians. The soldiers also demanded that one of the occupants walk in front of them during a search of all the apartments in one of the buildings, after which they released her.

International humanitarian law forbids using civilians as human shields by placing them next to soldiers or next to military facilities, with the intention of gaining immunity from attack, or by forcing the civilians to carry out dangerous military assignments.

B'Tselem has demanded that the Judge Advocate General immediately order a Military Police investigation into the matter and prosecute the soldiers responsible for the action.

http://www.btselem.org/english/Human_Shields/20060720_Human_Shields_in_Beit_Hanun.asp

[zakiyeh]

Why was no one upset when Israeli civilians were dying in rocket attacks? You reap what you sow is all I have to say.

The rockets hamas fired can hardly make a hole wider or deeper than 1 meter. Do you have any statistics how many israelli civillians died by those rockets? Besides most of those rockets were shooted where there were new house complexes for jews built in where was originally the palestinian territories, and besides that, gazza had been surrendered days before the cease-fire ended and there was shortage of food, water and all that. Israel had disobeyed his agreement through the period of cease-fire many times and had killed more than 2 hundred by that. (this is what the UN office in gazza had claimed) So these rockets where an answer to all these. If hamas had agreed to continue the cease-fire it would be agreement to live in surrender without the basic needs of a living...

[Hobo1]

From what I have heard from representatives or the Middle Eastern countries (except Syria, Iran and Palestine), is virtually unanimous agreement that a two state solution is the only answer to solve this 50 year problem. With virtually all nations in the world agreeing to this solution, I would think Hamas and Hezbollah would feel sufficiently comfortable sitting down at a negotiating table and feel reasonably assured that they will come away with a reasonable deal.

The world is not in love with Israel and no one is going to allow Israel to keep all of Jerusalem and all of its occupied territories. In fact, right now, I would guess the international community is so tired of the eternal fighting between Israel and Palestine that a great deal of pressure would be put on Israel to "make a peace deal". If ever their was a time for Hamas to negotiate it would be NOW.

Instead, Hamas continues to fire the rockets that look like they were made by a couple of kids into Israel. That's like dangling meat in the face of an angry dog ... chances are real good you are going to get bitten. What can possibly be the logic?

The Gaza strip is a 4 miles wide and 20 miles long with a pitifully poor population that has been ravaged by years of war. It is already a prison - none of its people can come or go. Hamas has two alternatives: 1) It can negotiate in good faith now while the world is somewhat sympathetic, or 2) It can wait until Israel government has finally gets so frustrated with Hamas for not negotiating that it engages in a massive military bombardment that leaves Gaza like Chechnya - an wasteland.

[pocketfullofshells]

From what I have heard from representatives or the Middle Eastern countries (except Syria, Iran and Palestine), is virtually unanimous agreement that a two state solution is the only answer to solve this 50 year problem. With virtually all nations in the world agreeing to this solution, I would think Hamas and Hezbollah would feel sufficiently comfortable sitting down at a negotiating table and feel reasonably assured that they will come away with a reasonable deal.

The world is not in love with Israel and no one is going to allow Israel to keep all of Jerusalem and all of its occupied territories. In fact, right now, I would guess the international community is so tired of the eternal fighting between Israel and Palestine that a great deal of pressure would be put on Israel to "make a peace deal". If ever their was a time for Hamas to negotiate it would be NOW.

Instead, Hamas continues to fire the rockets that look like they were made by a couple of kids into Israel. That's like dangling meat in the face of an angry dog ... chances are real good you are going to get bitten. What can possibly be the logic?

The Gaza strip is a 4 miles wide and 20 miles long with a pitifully poor population that has been ravaged by years of war. It is already a prison - none of its people can come or go. Hamas has two alternatives: 1) It can negotiate in good faith now while the world is somewhat sympathetic, or 2) It can wait until Israel government has finally gets so frustrated with Hamas for not negotiating that it engages in a massive military bombardment that leaves Gaza like Chechnya - an wasteland.

Hamas and Hezbollah have 1 goal, Israel gone, Palestine in its place. There are many who want the 2 state ,and peace, they are not ones who want that though. And Israel claims to want peace, but will never do any actions , like fall back to its orig borders, destroy illegal settlements or anything to make that happen.

[BigRob]

The rockets hamas fired can hardly make a hole wider or deeper than 1 meter. Do you have any statistics how many israelli civillians died by those rockets? Besides most of those rockets were shooted where there were new house complexes for jews built in where was originally the palestinian territories, and besides that, gazza had been surrendered days before the cease-fire ended and there was shortage of food, water and all that. Israel had disobeyed his agreement through the period of cease-fire many times and had killed more than 2 hundred by that. (this is what the UN office in gazza had claimed) So these rockets where an answer to all these. If hamas had agreed to continue the cease-fire it would be agreement to live in surrender without the basic needs of a living...

You do not have to kill large numbers of people to terrorize an entire population.

Israel left Gaza in 2005. There is no reason for Israel to invade except for the rockets. Stop the rocket attacks, or get attacked.

[Hobo1]

You do not have to kill large numbers of people to terrorize an entire population.

Israel left Gaza in 2005. There is no reason for Israel to invade except for the rockets. Stop the rocket attacks, or get attacked.

This is not 100% true. Israel's soldiers may have left the region in 2005, but Israel still held a stranglehold on the life of the Palestinian people. They strictly controlled the border and limited the flow of goods flowing into Gaza. The movement between Gaza and the West Bank was strictly limited and many stories filtered out of Palestinian people being arrested and held without due process.

Palestine was certainly under the strong grip of Israel and the freedoms of its people limited. I say this only to clarify that both sides share equally in the distrust and lack of willingness to actively seek peace between each other. In the final analysis, their is no "good guys and bad guys" in this feud - both share the burden of blame.

[Bunz]

This is not 100% true. Israel's soldiers may have left the region in 2005, but Israel still held a stranglehold on the life of the Palestinian people. They strictly controlled the border and limited the flow of goods flowing into Gaza. The movement between Gaza and the West Bank was strictly limited and many stories filtered out of Palestinian people being arrested and held without due process.

Palestine was certainly under the strong grip of Israel and the freedoms of its people limited. I say this only to clarify that both sides share equally in the distrust and lack of willingness to actively seek peace between each other. In the final analysis, their is no "good guys and bad guys" in this feud - both share the burden of blame.

This does still not justify firing rockets towards civilian centers in Israel IMHO.
There are ways to go about dealing with the problems in Palestine, and that is not one of them.

[Hobo1]

This does still not justify firing rockets towards civilian centers in Israel IMHO.
There are ways to go about dealing with the problems in Palestine, and that is not one of them.

I agree, they are both equally stubborn about solving the problem. Just think we recognize that both sides are to blame - I don't know who is worse. Plenty of blame to go around for everybody in this never ending crazy conflict.

[Bunz]

I agree, they are both equally stubborn about solving the problem. Just think we recognize that both sides are to blame - I don't know who is worse. Plenty of blame to go around for everybody in this never ending crazy conflict.

Hobo, I dont disagree, I have long said that niether side is innocent and both have been quite guilty at various times. But in the latest flap, I put blame squarely on Hamas. Israel not only has the right to defend itself, it has a duty to protect its citizens.

[Hobo1]

Hobo, I dont disagree, I have long said that niether side is innocent and both have been quite guilty at various times. But in the latest flap, I put blame squarely on Hamas. Israel not only has the right to defend itself, it has a duty to protect its citizens.

Well, Palestine has been under an tight economic embargo from many countries, most importantly the US and Israel. The borders are strictly controlled by Israel and the border guards have dictatorial control over what and who passes in and out of Gaza. You may recall the US stopped all financial aid when Hamas was elected (:rolleyes:more than a little hypocritical for a nation encouraging democracy, ya?)

So what can Palestine do to express its anger and frustration? When you are trapped in a virtual jail, the only thing you can do is throw a heavy object at the guard in the hopes that somebody will recognize the bigger problem. After all, the Palestinians are victims of events over which they had no control. The wisdom of creating an "independent Jewish homeland" smack in the middle of a bunch of Islamic nations seems incredibly naive/ stupid. And on top of that, the UN didn't make any provisions for the indigenous population that lived in the area they so generously gave to the Jews.

Getting back to your original point, the real question is: When is someone going to say, "Hey, building settlements on occupied territory, building walls to keep Palestinians apart from one another, and failing to give an inch in negotiations, is not humane either"? All of these actions don't kill many people so the injustices made by the Israelis seems to go unnoticed.

But shooting toy rockets into Israel justifies massive retaliation? I think a lot more productive response would be for the whole world to tell Israel to negotiate in good faith or loose the $3 billion the US sends to Israel each year to buy military supplies.

I really have lost patients with both sides in this conflict - both sides are to blame 100% of the time.

[Pandora]

Come on. Hamas blew up the house to gain sympathy from the rest of the world. Who were the witnesses?

www.trulotics.com

Pro Israel :)

That is exactly what we need in a President :)

[bododie]

"...20 July 2006: Israeli Soldiers use civilians as Human Shields in Beit Hanun Frankly, I couldn't care less about either side, but in all fairness, you should also acknowledge that many of the Palestinian civilian deaths might have been avoided if only the Palestinian militants didn't house their operations in schools, civilian neighborhoods, and mosques. It just doesn't fly to complain about the deaths of those whom were purposely put in harms way. Oh yeah, that wasn't in 2006, it's NOW.