Claims have been received by the BBC and an Israeli human rights group that Israeli troops have fired on Gaza residents trying to escape the conflict area. Israel has strongly denied the allegations.
BBC journalists in Gaza and Israel have compiled detailed accounts of the claims.
Some Palestinian civilians in Gaza say Israeli forces shot at them as they tried to leave their homes - in some cases bearing white flags.
One testimony heard by the BBC and human rights group B'tselem describes Israeli forces shooting a woman in the head after she stepped out of her house carrying a piece of white cloth, in response to an Israeli loudhailer announcement.
The Israeli military has dismissed the report as "without foundation".
The BBC has spoken to members of another family who say they are trapped in their home by fighting and have been shot at when they tried to leave to replenish dwindling water and food supplies, even during the three-hour humanitarian lull.
Israel is denying access to Gaza for international journalists and human rights monitors, so it is not possible to verify the accounts.
B'tselem said it had been unable to corroborate the testimony it had received, but felt it should be made public.
'Home destroyed'
Munir Shafik al-Najar, of Khouza village in the south-east of the Gaza Strip, told B'tselem and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) of a series of events on Monday which he said left four members of his extended family dead.
He told the BBC that some 75 members of his extended family had ended up huddled in a house, surrounded by Israeli forces, after troops shelled the area and destroyed his brother's home on Sunday night.
On Monday morning, he said the family heard an announcement over a loudspeaker.
"The Israeli army was saying: 'This is the Israeli Defence Forces, we are asking all the people to leave their homes and go to the school. Ladies first, then men.'
"We decided to send the women first, two by two," he said.
First to step outside was the wife of his cousin, Rawhiya al-Najar, 48.
"The army was about 15 metres (50 feet) away from the house or less. They shot her in the head," he said.
The woman's daughter was shot in the thigh but crawled back inside the house, he said.
When we were walking, with the women first, they saw soldiers and they started to shout to them, to tell them 'we have children'. They started to shoot us. My aunt was killed.
Riad Zaki al-Najar
For several hours, the family telephoned the Red Crescent, human rights organisations and Palestinian Authority officials in Ramallah in the hope of co-ordinating safe passage to evacuate people injured in the earlier shelling, Mr Najar said.
Several hours later, no help had arrived.
"We decided that's it, we're going to die, we are [going] to run and all die at once," he said.
"When we did that they started shooting with heavy ammunition from a machine gun on top of a tank," he said.
All the adults carried white flags, he said, adding that he was still grasping a piece of white cloth as he spoke over the telephone a day later.
Three of his relatives, Muhammad Salman al-Najar, 54, Ahmad Jum'a al-Najar, 27, and Khalil Hamdan al-Najar, 80, were killed, he said.
The troops "knew this man was an old man," he said, because they were so close.
B'tselem says it is working to corroborate the account.
Similar account
A second family member, Riad Zaki al-Najar, gave the BBC a similar account by telephone.
"They told us you all have to go to the centre of the town, where the school is.
"We put the women first, and we put our children on our shoulders, with white bandanas on their heads.
"When we were walking, with the women first, they saw soldiers and they started to shout to them, to tell them 'we have children, we have children'. They started to shoot us. My aunt was killed with a bullet in her head."
Israel says it tries to protect civilians and blames Hamas for endangering them
The BBC also spoke to Marwan Abu Rida, a paramedic with the Palestinian Red Crescent, who says he was called to the site at 0810 local time (0610 GMT).
But he says he came under fire as he tried to reach it, and was trapped in a house nearby until 2000 (1800 GMT) because of Israeli shooting.
He said that when he reached the location he found the dead woman, Rawhiya, who appeared to have been shot in the head, as well as the younger woman who was injured.
In a written response to the incident, the Israeli military said: "An initial inquiry into the allegation raised by B'tselem has concluded that the claims are without foundation.
"The IDF goes to great lengths to avoid harming Palestinians uninvolved in combat and reiterates that it is Hamas that chooses to launch its attacks against Israeli towns from within civilian areas."
'Fired upon'
The account bears similarities to another received by B'tselem, from Yusef Abu Hajaj, a resident of Juhar al-Dik, south of Gaza City.
He told B'tselem his mother and sister were shot as they tried to flee their home bearing a white banner, in a group of people including small children.
He said an Israeli tank had fired at their house, and they had heard the Israeli military was urging civilians to leave their homes, so had tried to flee.
The ICRC has repeatedly stressed that it is having difficulty reaching families stranded by the fighting, often including injured people and dead bodies.
Its Gaza spokesman, Iyad Nasser, said ambulance crews were struggling to respond to "tens" of calls from areas they still had not gained sufficient access to.
The head of one such family, Daoud Shtewi, told the BBC by telephone that he and 35 members of his family had been trapped in their home, surrounded by Israeli forces, in Zeitoun, a south-eastern suburb of Gaza City, for 10 days.
If you look from the soldiers' perspective it's exceptionally difficult - you don't know who's behind that door
IDF spokesman Jacob Dallal
"We can't even look through the windows because we get fired on," Mr Shtewi said.
"We tried to get water from the neighbours because our tanks are running dry. We are also running out of food and have been without electricity for more than 12 days.
"My mother and father need medicines for high blood pressure and diabetes. We have run out."
The area, known to house Palestinian militants, has been the scene of some of the heaviest clashes during Israel's operation in Gaza.
It is one of several that Palestinian Red Crescent convoys have been struggling to reach.
Three-hour ceasefire
It was also the place where the ICRC said it found four small children who had waited with their dead mothers, apparently with no food or water, for four days last week.
Mr Shtewi said 17 children - aged between six weeks and 15 years, and six women, were in the house in the west of the neighbourhood.
"We have tried to leave the house during the three-hour humanitarian ceasefire, but we got shot at," he said.
He said the family had repeatedly tried to contact the PRC.
Aid agencies say the Gaza Strip is facing a humanitarian crisis
An ambulance driver with the PRC told the BBC he had received details of a family of 35 people in the location concerned.
But he said it was a closed military zone, that the ambulance workers had not been able to secure co-ordination with the Israeli military to reach it, and were planning to go there as soon as they could secure safe passage with the military.
Israeli military spokesman Jacob Dallal said Hamas was launching rockets from the area in question, and was using civilians' houses - "exactly these types of homes" - to fire rockets from.
"Especially people who try to move out, those could well be - as they have repeatedly been - Hamas people trying to sneak up and fire on the soldiers. If you look from the soldiers' perspective it's exceptionally difficult - you don't know who's behind that door."
He said that Hamas "specifically uses the lull as a time to fire", and Israeli forces fire back if they are fired upon during that period.
And he added that the military was working with international agencies to try to facilitate safe passage for ambulances and the transport of aid amid the fighting.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Isreal announces Gaza ceasefire After over 400 kids have been killed
Ehud Olmert, Israel's prime minister, has announced a unilateral truce in the Gaza Strip.
Israel will halt its offensive in Gaza at 0000 GMT on Sunday but troops will remain in the enclave for the time being and will respond to Hamas fire, Olmert said on Saturday.
The announcement came after a meeting of Israel's security council on Saturday evening and halts the 22-day offensive which has left more than 1200 Palestinians dead, more than 400 of them children.
"We have reached all the goals of the war, and beyond," Olmert said.
"If our enemies decide to strike and want to carry on then the Israeli army will regard itself as free to respond with force," he added.
Alan Fisher, Al Jazeera's correspondent on the Gaza-Israel border, said: "What the Israelis are doing by this unilateral declaration is taking all the power into their own hands and they will almost dictate now what happens, and when.
"Ehud Barak [the defence minister] has been quoted ... as saying that Israel has achieved almost all its goals.
"So it would seem that Israel is happy now to call it quits to this operation, believing that it has done all it set out to do," he said.
Hamas defiant
Hamas said it would continue fighting in Gaza as long as Israeli troops remained in the Hamas-ruled Strip.
"If the Israeli military continues its existence in the Gaza Strip, that is a wide door for the resistance against the occupation forces," Osama Hamdan, a Hamas official in Lebanon told Al Jazeera.
Fawzi Barhum, a Hamas spokesman, said: "The Zionist enemy must stop all its aggression, completely withdraw from the Gaza Strip, lift the blockade, and open the crossings. We will not accept the presence of a single soldier in Gaza."
"The enemy's declaration of a unilateral ceasefire confirms that this is a unilateral war launched in one direction, from the enemy upon our people," Barhum, who is in Gaza, said in a statement.
Speaking at a forum in Beirut, Hamdan called on Arab leaders to stand by the Palestinian "resistance" and urged European nations to cut ties with Israel for its "crimes" in Gaza.
Reduce rocket fire
About 1,230 Gazans have been killed in Gaza since the offensive began, according to UN and Palestinian medical sources.
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At least 13 Israelis have died, three of them civilians.
Israel decided on a unilateral ceasefire in preference to entering into an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, analysts said.
The unilateral truce allows Israel to avoid agreeing concessions with the Palestinian group, such as easing the 18-month-old blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has prevented medical aid and basic supplies from reaching the Palestinians.
Egypt has been pushing Israel and the rival Palestinian factions to reach an agreement. A Hamas delegation had returned to Cairo on Friday for a second round of talks.
Fisher said: "Israel could almost go it alone now because of the role Egypt is playing in talking to Hamas and this deal, as Israel sees it, isn't with Hamas - it is something they are doing on their own.
"The Israelis can dictate when they pull their troops back - they don't need Egypt saying: 'This is the table you signed up to'."
Hamas officials said earlier on Saturday they would ignore any Israeli cessation of the conflict and continue fighting.
"Clearly, we have nothing new to propose ... either we hear what we have proposed [is accepted] or we will go back to the battlefield," Osama Hamdan, Hamas's representative in Lebanon, said.
"The [large] number of our martyrs will not push us to surrender, but to insist on resistance."
Israel's stated aim of the war, which it dubbed Operation Cast Lead, has been to reduce Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel.
On the first day of the offensive up to 100 rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel. In the past few days up to 20 have hit Israel on a daily basis.
Israel will halt its offensive in Gaza at 0000 GMT on Sunday but troops will remain in the enclave for the time being and will respond to Hamas fire, Olmert said on Saturday.
The announcement came after a meeting of Israel's security council on Saturday evening and halts the 22-day offensive which has left more than 1200 Palestinians dead, more than 400 of them children.
"We have reached all the goals of the war, and beyond," Olmert said.
"If our enemies decide to strike and want to carry on then the Israeli army will regard itself as free to respond with force," he added.
Alan Fisher, Al Jazeera's correspondent on the Gaza-Israel border, said: "What the Israelis are doing by this unilateral declaration is taking all the power into their own hands and they will almost dictate now what happens, and when.
"Ehud Barak [the defence minister] has been quoted ... as saying that Israel has achieved almost all its goals.
"So it would seem that Israel is happy now to call it quits to this operation, believing that it has done all it set out to do," he said.
Hamas defiant
Hamas said it would continue fighting in Gaza as long as Israeli troops remained in the Hamas-ruled Strip.
"If the Israeli military continues its existence in the Gaza Strip, that is a wide door for the resistance against the occupation forces," Osama Hamdan, a Hamas official in Lebanon told Al Jazeera.
Fawzi Barhum, a Hamas spokesman, said: "The Zionist enemy must stop all its aggression, completely withdraw from the Gaza Strip, lift the blockade, and open the crossings. We will not accept the presence of a single soldier in Gaza."
"The enemy's declaration of a unilateral ceasefire confirms that this is a unilateral war launched in one direction, from the enemy upon our people," Barhum, who is in Gaza, said in a statement.
Speaking at a forum in Beirut, Hamdan called on Arab leaders to stand by the Palestinian "resistance" and urged European nations to cut ties with Israel for its "crimes" in Gaza.
Reduce rocket fire
About 1,230 Gazans have been killed in Gaza since the offensive began, according to UN and Palestinian medical sources.
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At least 13 Israelis have died, three of them civilians.
Israel decided on a unilateral ceasefire in preference to entering into an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, analysts said.
The unilateral truce allows Israel to avoid agreeing concessions with the Palestinian group, such as easing the 18-month-old blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has prevented medical aid and basic supplies from reaching the Palestinians.
Egypt has been pushing Israel and the rival Palestinian factions to reach an agreement. A Hamas delegation had returned to Cairo on Friday for a second round of talks.
Fisher said: "Israel could almost go it alone now because of the role Egypt is playing in talking to Hamas and this deal, as Israel sees it, isn't with Hamas - it is something they are doing on their own.
"The Israelis can dictate when they pull their troops back - they don't need Egypt saying: 'This is the table you signed up to'."
Hamas officials said earlier on Saturday they would ignore any Israeli cessation of the conflict and continue fighting.
"Clearly, we have nothing new to propose ... either we hear what we have proposed [is accepted] or we will go back to the battlefield," Osama Hamdan, Hamas's representative in Lebanon, said.
"The [large] number of our martyrs will not push us to surrender, but to insist on resistance."
Israel's stated aim of the war, which it dubbed Operation Cast Lead, has been to reduce Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel.
On the first day of the offensive up to 100 rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel. In the past few days up to 20 have hit Israel on a daily basis.
Friday, January 16, 2009
This is not just a Palestinians problem.
Helping the Kids get to school.
Helping Women across the street.
Providing childcare.
Allowing them a place to rest (permanently)
Construction projects (demolition)
Respecting American and British pacifist resisters (such as American Rachel Corrie)
And if you are not satisfied, now, with the truth the following pictures are war crimes as defined by the UN, The Hague and the Geneva Convention.
Using images of your enemy dead or alive (violation)
Human shields (violation)
Live Burial Torture (violation)
And as a last resort, Execution (violation)
These IDF soldiers have faces... I can clearly see them...Cant you? Why are they not being prosecuted? Because it is systematic process that is driven by the government designed to force the people of Palestine into exile so Israel can claim all the land and resources.
This where my American tax dollars are going, do you know where your tax dollars are at? TAKE THE TIME TO FIND THE TRUTH. So many lives depend on it. I, like so many Americans, am Caucasian, non-Arab, and religious. I can no longer sit back with good conscience and do nothing while my government is supporting the types of terrorist actions that we have condemned Muslim Fundamentalist for. Call your Congressman and Senator, send an email to the White House and demand that our government negotiate FAIRLY with both sides and bring a fair and just solution to Palestine and Israel .
Helping Women across the street.
Providing childcare.
Allowing them a place to rest (permanently)
Construction projects (demolition)
Respecting American and British pacifist resisters (such as American Rachel Corrie)
And if you are not satisfied, now, with the truth the following pictures are war crimes as defined by the UN, The Hague and the Geneva Convention.
Using images of your enemy dead or alive (violation)
Human shields (violation)
Live Burial Torture (violation)
And as a last resort, Execution (violation)
These IDF soldiers have faces... I can clearly see them...Cant you? Why are they not being prosecuted? Because it is systematic process that is driven by the government designed to force the people of Palestine into exile so Israel can claim all the land and resources.
This where my American tax dollars are going, do you know where your tax dollars are at? TAKE THE TIME TO FIND THE TRUTH. So many lives depend on it. I, like so many Americans, am Caucasian, non-Arab, and religious. I can no longer sit back with good conscience and do nothing while my government is supporting the types of terrorist actions that we have condemned Muslim Fundamentalist for. Call your Congressman and Senator, send an email to the White House and demand that our government negotiate FAIRLY with both sides and bring a fair and just solution to Palestine and Israel .
Isreali soliders are bombing Hospitals
Three hospitals and a UN compound have been bombed by Israel as troops continue to advance into the densely-populated Gaza City.
Around 500 people were sheltering in the Al-Quds hospital in the city's southwestern Tal Al-Hawa district when it was bombed by Israeli jets and set ablaze on Thursday morning.
Hospital officials said the fire was sparked by a "phosphorus shell".
"We have been able to control the fire in the hospital but not in the administrative building," one hospital official said.
"We hope that the flames don't spread again to the wings of the hospital."
Two hospitals east of Gaza City were also hit by Israeli shells as Gazans fled tanks advancing into the city.
It was not immediately clear if any casualties following the raids.
UN fire 'still raging'
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The Israelis also bombed a UN compound in Gaza City, setting fire to warehouses of badly-needed food and medical aid and prompting international outrage.
Around 700 Palestinians were sheltering in the UN complex at the time of the strikes which left two civilians and three staff members injured.
Adnan Abu Hasna, a spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa), said fires were still raging hours after the attack and "tens of millions of dollars worth of aid" had been destroyed.
John Ging, the director of Unrwa operations in the Strip, also accused the Israelis of using phosphorus shells.
"They are phosphorus fires so they are extremely difficult to put out because, if you put water on, it will just generate toxic fumes and do nothing to stop the burning," he said.
Israel insists all weapons used in the conflict comply with international law.
The attacks came as the number of Palestinians killed in Israel's offensive reached 1,095 with more than 5,100 wounded.
More than 330 children are among the dead and nearly half are civilians.
Thirteen Israelis have died, three of them civilians.
Two buildings housing international journalists in Gaza have also been bombed by Israeli forces.
'Investigation needed'
Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, justified shelling the UN headquarters claiming armed Palestinians within it had fired at Israeli troops first.
"It is absolutely true that we were attacked from that place … but the consequences were very sad and I apologise for it," he said.
"There were no militants in our compound and... [the Israelis] are changing their story saying militants were 'in the vicinity'"
Christopher Gunness, Unrwa spokesman
However, Christopher Gunness, a spokesman for Unrwa, robustly denied that Palestinian fighters were among refugees sheltering there.
"At no stage during the fighting today did any Israeli official pick up the phone and tell us there were militants in our compound.
"We always take action against militants ... there were no militants in our compound and now they [the Israelis] are changing their story, saying militants were 'in the vicinity'," he said.
Gunness called for a "proper investigation" into the incident.
Louis Michel, the European Aid Commissioner, also condemned the bombing of the UN complex, branding it "unacceptable".
"I am deeply shocked and dismayed to learn of this incident ... I have made it very clear that all sides must respect international humanitarian law.
"It is unacceptable that the UN headquarters in Gaza has been struck by Israeli artillery fire," he said.
Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, strongly condemned the incident and demanded a full explanation from Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister, during talks held on Thursday in Tel Aviv.
Ban said Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, had apologised for the attack describing it as a "grave mistake".
A Red Crescent office near Gaza City and the main mosque in the southern city of Rafah were also shelled as the Israelis pushed deeper into the Strip.
Children paying the price
Children are bearing the brunt of Israel's war on the Gaza Strip, the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) has said.
More than 300 children have been killed and hundreds more wounded in Israel's aerial and ground assault, Ann Veneman, Unicef's executive director, said in a statement released on Wedneday.
She said: "Each day more children are being hurt, their small bodies wounded, their young lives shattered. This is tragic. This is unacceptable.
"They are bearing the brunt of a conflict which is not theirs.
"As fighting reaches the heart of heavily populated urban areas, the impact of lethal weapons will carry an even heavier toll on children."
Lost childhood
Veneman said the war and bloodshed in Gaza would cause long-term psychological damage to children.
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"The crisis in Gaza is singular in that children and their families have nowhere to escape, no refuge. The very thought of being trapped in a closed area is disturbing for adults in peace times," she said.
"What then goes through the mind of a child who is trapped in such relentless violence?"
Israel has said that it is trying to minimise civilian casualties as it targets Hamas fighters and their infrastructure, but Palestinian children are being subjected to harrowing experiences.
"I saw the soldier standing next to the shop. I looked for my mum and then he shot me. One bullet him my hand and the other went through my back and out through my stomach," Samar, a young girl, told Al Jazeera while recovering from her wounds at a Gaza hospital.
Amal, another young girl, wailed: "We have nothing to do with this, we don't fire rockets, we don't know what this war is about."
More than 40,000 pregnant women and their unborn children were also believed to be at risk because Gaza's overwhelmed hospitals were unable to take them in.
Traumatised
Dr Walid Sarhan, a Jordanian psychiatrist, said that if nothing is done to help traumatised children Gaza would begin to see advanced cases of psychiatric problems.
Gaza's child victims
Video: Children suffer
Video: Born into war
Naming the deceased
"The main one would be post-traumatic stress disorder, which is expected to rise 60 or 70 per cent among children," he said.
"Also they will have behavioural and emotional problems. They will have difficulties returning to school, going on to achieve in school, and this will not be in small numbers."
Mark Regev, an Israeli government spokesman, said that thousands of children in southern Israel were also suffering because of Palestinian rocket fire.
"Two weeks before this crisis started I went down south with my prime minister, Mr Olmert ... and he was given letters from fourth graders I believe, children who are nine and 10-years-old, who their entire lives have been on the incoming end of these Hamas rockets," he told Al Jazeera.
"You have a whole generation of Israeli children who unfortunately suffering similar trauma."
DEATH TOLL PASSES 11OO PALESTIANS,346 OUR CHILDREN OVER 100 OUR WOMEN
Gazans have woken to a relatively quiet day as the Israeli assault on the territory entered its 21st day.
Explosions were still heard, with Israeli officials saying they had struck 40 "targets" before dawn on Friday.
Since Israel started its bombardment of Gaza, 1,133 Palestinians have been killed and more than 5,200 wounded, according to Gaza medics.
At least 346 children are among the dead.
Israel says 10 Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed in the same period, and an Israeli government spokesman indicated that the end of the three-week-old offensive may be close.
The news agency AFP reported that at least 23 bodies were pulled from the rubble in Gaza City and its environs on Friday morning.
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Al Jazeera's correspondent in the Gaza Strip, Ayman Mohyeldin, reported that there could be further Israeli deployments to the former settlement of Netzarim on Friday and that the military had pulled back from Tal al-Hawa.
Despite the relative lull, shelling continued and residents said they are still living in fear, uncertain where Israel would strike next.
Hatem Shurrab, a Gaza resident living near Tar al-Hawa in Gaza City, which has experienced some of the heaviest fighting, told Al Jazeera on Friday morning:
"I have my sister's family who came to our home to shelter. It's very difficult to describe how we feel. It's very scary. The next target is not known. Who will be killed next, we don't know.
"I can hear explosions going around and a couple of hundreds of metres away a home was burnt close to the explosions.
"What is really painful for me is that I see every day people who are being displaced. Mass internal displacement. Women running in the street trying to find a place."
Meanwhile, clashes erupted between Palestinian fighters and Israeli troops in the southeastern Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City.
Renewed diplomacy
Diplomatic efforts appeared to intensify on Friday, a day after some of the heaviest fighting so far.
Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister, is to meet Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, in Washington to discuss an American-Israeli agreement to prevent weapons smuggling.
Palestinians carry the body of Said Siam during the funeral on Friday [Reuters]
An Israeli envoy was also sent to Cairo, the Egyptian capital, to discuss ceasefire terms offered by Hamas.
Israel's bombardment of three hospitals and a UN compound on Thursday prompted international outrage as urgently needed food and medical supplies were destroyed. The damage renewed calls for a ceasefire to be adhered to immediately.
Adnan Abu Hasna, a spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa), said "tens of millions of dollars worth of aid" had been destroyed in the UN complex.
Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, justified the shelling by saying armed Palestinians within the compound had fired at Israeli troops. The Unrwa denied the claim.
On Friday, the UN said it planned to resume operations in whatever capacity it could following the attack.
Economic costs
A funeral is being held for Said Siam, the interior minister in Hamas's government assassinated on Thursday along with one of his sons and a brother in an air raid in Jabaliya refugee camp.
Mohyeldin said the killing highlighted Israel's intelligence capacity as well as its military might.
"Hamas's leadership, aware that this type of attack was going to take place, points to other leaders - much more high profile and much more influential - such as Sheikh Ahmed Yasin and Abdul Aziz al-Rantissi, both killed by Israel in 2005," he said.
"That only gave the movement momentum and gave it a grassroots flourishment. Some have already speculated that Hamas will only be strengthened by this."
Aside from the human cost, the Palestinian Statistics Bureau also reported on Friday that the war has cost the Palestinian economy at least $1.4bn.
The bureau said 26,000 Gazans were unable to live in their homes and were being housed in temporary shelter.
Much of Gaza's infrastructure lies in ruins. The statistics show that 20,000 residential buildings are damaged and 4,000 more destroyed.
Mohyeldin added: "The other question will be: How does the government try to maintain any type of law and order with its entire security infrastructure decimated? There are no police stations, no more civil defence or basic security services in Gaza, so it is something of a lawless state."
Palestinian factions within Gaza claim they are still able to fire rockets, despite Israel's stated aim that the Gaza assault would disarm them.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Gaza death tolls passes 1,000
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel's 19-day war in Gaza, Palestinian medical officials have said, as clashes continue throughout the Strip.
Civilians make up about 40 per cent of casualities with children accounting for a third of the dead, aid agencies and Palestinian medics said.
At least 4,630 people have been injured, Hasanein Myawaya, the head of Palestinian emergency services, said.
Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Gaza, said while fewer Palestinians had been killed on Wednesday than during previous days, the situation for Gazans remained one of "complete fear and terror".
"For those who venture out [for food]... they know that anytime they leave their house it could be the last time.
"More than 80,000 Palestinians have now fled their homes because of the fighting around them ... there is a sense of overcrowding ... UN schools have taken in 35,000 refugees.
'Desperation and fear'
"There is real desperation and fear among the people," he said.
Mohyeldin also said that the so-called "humanitarian corridor" - the Israeli three-hour daily lull in fighting to allow food and medical supplies into Gaza - is "simply not producing a cessation of hostilities".
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Shelling could still be heard in parts of Gaza City during the three-hour armistice, he reported.
Mads Gilbert, a surgeon with the Norwegian Aid Committee, told Al Jazeera: "This is a man-made situation that affects mainly the civilian population of Gaza who are without protection."
Thirteen Israelis have been killed in the conflict, including three civilians and 10 soldiers.
Alan Fisher, reporting for Al Jazeera from Israel close to the Gaza border, said around 15 rockets had been fired from the Strip into Israeli territory.
As the death toll continued to rise, diplomatic efforts to bring about a ceasefire appeared to make little progress.
Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, arrived in Cairo earlier on Wednesday in a bid to kick-start ceasefire negotiations between Hamas - the Palestinian faction that controls the Gaza Strip - and Israel.
Ban met Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, on arrival and is expected to hold talks with the leaders of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Turkey.
The UN chief has not said whether he will have direct contact with Hamas leaders.
Ban has repeatedly called for both sides to immediately end hostilities, so far to no avail.
Diplomacy doomed?
Robert Fisk, a journalist and Middle East expert, said neither the current Gaza war nor the broader 60-year regional conflict would end without resolving the Palestinian issue.
"Unless we deal with... [Palestinian refugees], there will not be an end to this war"
Robert Fisk, journalist and Middle East expert
"Why are they [Palestinians] dispossessed? Why are settlements - colonies for Jews and Jews only - being built on Arab land illegally? And still it continues," he told Al Jazeera.
"Unless we deal with this [Palestinian refugees], there will not be an end to this war. There might be a ceasefire in Gaza, a ceasefire in the West Bank, but there will not be an end to the war. That is the problem."
Earlier this week, the United Nations Security Council agreed a binding resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Strip.
However, both Israel and Hamas have ignored it and continued fighting.
Fisk said that Israel will be able to flout the UN ceasefire demand as long as the US - the only country to abstain from the 15-member security council vote on the resolution - continues to back Israel.
"It's quite clear from Hillary Clinton [incoming US secretary of state] most recent comments that it [the US backing of Israel] will continue under Barack Obama.
"I see no change, I see no hope at all in the future," Fisk said.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
The Swiss Red Cross has criticised the Israelis for
'targeting Palestinian ambulance crews'
Israeli troops have made their deepest push yet into Gaza since the beginning of the 18-day-old conflict, as Palestinians prepare for another night of heavy shelling.
The Israeli military said on Tuesday its air force had hit what it described as 60 Hamas targets overnight, while 19 rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel in the same period.
Israeli jets have continued to pound the city of Rafah in southern Gaza near the border with Egypt.
Israel is using "bunker-busting" bombs in an attempt to destroy underground tunnels it says have been used to smuggle weapons and goods into the blockaded Gaza Strip.
Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Gaza, said tens of thousands of Palestinians had fled their homes after the Israeli military dropped leaflets warning them of intensive air strikes.
"A large part of Rafah has been completely reduced to rubble... it has been described as hell on earth"
Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Gaza
"A large part of Rafah has been completely reduced to rubble... it has been described as hell on earth by some of the witnesses we have met," he said.
Moyheldin said Israeli troops were also closing in on Gaza City, which is now surrounded by both tanks and navy vessels along the coast.
He said the Israelis appeared to be intensifying their assault on Gaza City after dark.
"The pattern [that is emerging is] the Israeli military engaging overnight in fierce fighting and then by early morning the military returns to its position.
"As the sun sets around us that's what many Palestinians are bracing themselves for - another night of deadly and intense firing," Mohyeldin said.
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Israelis 'softening up' targets
Mohyeldin said there was speculation that Israeli soldiers were limiting their operation during the day because of stiff resistance from Palestinian fighters on the ground during daylight hours.
Many also suggest that the Israelis might also be looking to "soften up" what they believe to be Hamas targets - such as booby-trapped homes and weapons stores.
Al Jazeera - the only international broadcaster with journalists based both inside Gaza and Israel - reported on Tuesday that the heaviest fighting between Israeli and Palestinian fighters was in Tal al-Hawa, in the south of Gaza City.
Serious clashes were also reported in Beit Lahiya, to the north of the city, and east of Khan Younis.
The AFP news agency reported Israeli tanks, supported by warplanes, had moved into several southern neighbourhoods of Gaza City and that Palestinian fighters were responding with mortar fire.
A spokesman for the Palestinian health ministry said dozens of calls for ambulances had been received, but none could be dispatched because of the fighting.
Combat continued despite another day of pleas from both the United Nations and the European Union to stop the violence, which has so far killed around 970 Palestinians and wounded 4,300 others.
Civilians make up about 40 per cent of casualties, with the majority of those being women and children.
Diplomatic frustration
Expressing frustration at the failure of both sides to adhere to a legally binding UN resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, said he planned to visit the region in a bid to help end Israel's air and ground offensive in Gaza, as well as Hamas rocket fire into southern Israel.
The Swiss Red Cross has criticised the Israelis for 'targeting Palestinian ambulance crews'
"To both sides, I say: just stop, now," the UN chief told a news conference on Monday. "Too many people have died. There has been too much civilian suffering. Too many people, Israelis and Palestinians, live in daily fear of their lives."
But Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, said the offensive which includes the latest deployment of reservists into Palestinian neighbourhoods, must continue until Hamas is completely disarmed.
He said the military operation would end once Hamas's military wing halted its rocket attacks.
"We want to end the operation when the two conditions we have demanded are met: ending the rocket fire and stopping Hamas's rearmament. If these two conditions are met, we will end our operation in Gaza," he said in the southern Israeli town of Ashkelon.
The Israeli military said air raids were carried out on at least 25 targets across the Gaza Strip and Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, said on Monday that the army had "achieved in 16 days what no other country in the world fighting terror has done in 16 years".
Ismail Haniya, the Hamas leader and ousted Palestinian prime minister, said that Israel would not emerge victorious from Gaza City.
"This holy blood that has been spilt will never be in vain, it will make the victory. The children's and women's blood and bodies will be a curse which will haunt this occupation," he said.
Meanwhile, Christer Zettergren, the secretary-general of the Swedish Red Cross, said seven ambulances operated by the Red Crescent were damaged last week in Gaza.
Zettergren on Tuesday accused Israeli soldiers of firing at emergency crews and described the shootings as "very deliberate".
He is due to travel to the region on Wednesday to donate 10 ambulances to the Red Crescent.
Also on Tuesday, the AFP news agency reported that the US military had been forced to cancel a shipment of munitions from a Greek port to a US warehouse in Israel because of objections from Athens.
Death Toll Day 19
930 Palestinians are SLAUGHTERED!
More than 300 Children!
More than 150 Women!
More than 4280 injured!
More than 300 Children!
More than 150 Women!
More than 4280 injured!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
DEATH TOLL exceeds 850
The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 854 and more than 3,650 injured as the Israeli offensive entered its third week.
The air and ground attacks continued on Sunday with Israeli aircraft bombarding different targets in the strip and ground forces advancing further into the outskirts of Gaza City.
Medics in the embattled Strip said three Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded by heavy Israeli tank fire and air strikes early on Sunday, some allegedly by banned white phosphorus shells that Israel denied using.
Earlier, eight members of one family were among the fatalities, killed by an Israeli tank shell in Jabaliya.
"We were at home when the bombing started," Umm Mohammed, one of the survivors of the attack, said. "We fled towards another house and the tanks started firing. Several of us were hit."
Warning leaflets
Israel dropped leaflets on Gaza City warning residents that the military was about to "escalate" the offensive and to begin a "new phase in the war on terror".
Al Jazeera's Zeina Awad reporting from southern Israel said: "The leaflets are telling people not to associate themselves with Hamas. They're not an order to evacuate like previous ones. An Israeli army spokesperson told Al Jazeera that they were meant to tell Palestinians in Gaza that the offensive will intensify.
"When Israel says they will intensify their operations, they usually do and from the Israeli point of view, we can expect a radical move from the Israeli army, which would mean urban warfare and a higher casualty rate for both sides.
"Putting aside the large number of demonstrations that were held throughout Israel today, the majority of the Israeli public are very much behind their government's decision to intensify their offensive within the Gaza Strip."
Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Gaza City, said there had been intense fighting during the day on Saturday.
"The most significant development was the advance of the Israeli military," he said.
"We understand now they are on the outskirts of Gaza City, still trying to avoid going in through major population centres, but navigating their way around those urban areas on the periphery."
Gazans 'locked in'
Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian doctor working at Shifa hospital in Gaza City, told Al Jazeera: "We have been to many war zones, but the special thing is that the 1.5 Gaza population are completely locked in.
"The civilian population has no way to hide. The population density is so high you can not do attacks like this without knowing that you are attacking the civilians.
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"Also, the injuries must come from extremely explosive devices. We suspect that Israel is using a new type of high explosive called Dime [dense inert metal explosive].
"We urge the world, stop the bombing of Gaza. Please stop it."
Since Israel launched its offensive 15 days ago, 13 Israelis have died, including three civilians.
Palestinian fighters fired at least 10 rockets into Israel on Saturday, slightly wounding two people.
Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher, reporting from the Gaza-Israel border, said that the number was down significantly over the past two days, from about 30-40 daily since Israel's assault began.
"It may well be that's because the Israeli army is taking over more of the land where these rockets are fired from," he said. "But it also may be that Hamas is running out of rockets to fire into Israel."
"From that point of view, I'm sure the Israeli public believe that this has been a successful operation because it is reducing the capacity of Hamas to fire rockets into southern Israel."
The Israeli military also said on Saturday that it had killed a senior Hamas fighter, who it claimed had supervised rocket launchings.
Amir Mansi was the "leading Hamas authority with regard to the long-range Grad missile launching programme" and commanded a cell in Gaza City that had fired dozens of rockets on southern Israel, the military said in a statement.
A Hamas spokesman confirmed that Mansi was a member of the movement's armed wing but refused to give his rank. He is the son of Yusef Mansi, the minister of telecommunications in Gaza's Hamas-run government.
Diplomatic efforts
A senior Hamas delegation was in the Egyptian capital to make their remarks on the Egyptian plan aimed at ending the fighting.
A binding resolution passed by the UN security council late on Thursday failed to bring peace to the Gaza Strip, with Israel arguing that it has the right to self-defence.
Egypt's plan includes an immediate cessation of hostilities for a specified period, the opening of Gaza's crossings, curtailment of arms smuggling into the Strip and attempts at reconciliation talks between the Palestinian factions.
Gaza's humanitarian situation has only gotten worse as the war continues [GALLO/GETTY]
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, also in Cairo, said the Egyptian plan would facilitate progress on a ceasefire.
The UN, meanwhile, has said that it will resume its work in the Gaza Strip after receiving safety assurances from Israeli authorities.
A UN statement said that Israel had given "credible assurances that the security of UN personnel installations and humanitarian operations would be fully respected".
The UN stopped aid shipments after one of its lorries was shot at by Israeli forces, killing the driver, two days ago.
The majority of the 1.5 million people living in the Gaza Strip depend on foreign aid for survival and the humanitarian situation has worsened as the offensive has continued.
"We are receiving reports that some people are starting to burn their furniture to bake bread and to cook," Christopher Gunness, UN relief and works agency spokesman, said on Saturday
Israel advances on Gaza City
Israeli ground forces are advancing on Gaza City and facing strong resistance from Palestinian fighters on the 16th day of the assault on the besieged territory.
Medical sources said that 24 Palestinian fighters have been killed in clashes in on Sunday, taking the total number of Palestinian deaths to 879.
Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Gaza City, reported that there had been intense fighting and Israeli advances.
Israeli tanks remained positioned on the edge of the city to the north and east, while a column of tanks to the south advanced only to later pull back.
Air raids took place in southern and south eastern areas of the Gaza Strip, as well in the northern Beit Lahia and northwestern Jabalya.
Mohyeldin said that Sunday's maneuverings have raised speculation that they are a dry run for a full attack in the coming days.
Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, said that his country was nearing its objective in the offensive but that it must fight on to achieve its goals of halting Palestinian rocket fire into Israel.
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The Israeli security council is thought to be discussing whether phase three of the Gaza offensive should be implemented - a phase which will put ground troops further into the Gaza Strip.
James Bays, Al Jazeera's correspondent on the Gaza-Israel border, said: "Israel's leaders did not want to get to phase three.
"They were hoping to meet their military aims after phase one and two, achieving the mechanism they want in Gaza and stopping weapons smuggling from Egypt.
"But they feel their objectives have not been met yet. Phase three could be very dangerous for the Israeli soldiers. Hamas knows the territories very well and are preparing for the urban battle.
"Political leaders in Israel are under pressure. However, there is a strong public support for the war.
"The meeting today will look at phase three and at the end game of this operation."
Escalation warnings
The attempted advance comes after Israel dropped leaflets warning Gaza residents of a "widening offensive".
Attacks had continued during the night with Israeli tanks and infantry units moving into southwest Gaza City and exchanges of fire occurring with Palestinian fighters.
Israel claimed it shelled about 60 targets throughout the Gaza Strip overnight, hitting weapons depots, tunnels and a mosque.
At least four Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded, Palestinian medics said.
Three Palestinian rockets were fired into Israel, two hitting the southern city of Beer'sheva, without causing injuries.
About 3,700 Palestinians have been wounded since the beginning of the offensive. Thirteen Israelis have been killed during the same period, including three civilians hit by rockets fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel.
Fleeing citizens
Palestinian citizens have fled areas under continued Israeli shelling and regions which have received warnings of attacks.
Three rockets were fired from the Gaza
Strip into Israel on Sunday [AFP]
Many Gazans left their homes in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood in southwest Gaza City shortly after dawn, witnesses said.
Fares Akram, a human rights worker in Gaza City, told Al Jazeera: "Yesterday they dropped fliers into a new area ... warning residents that the Israeli army will be escalating and intensifying its operations against what it calls terrorist elements.
"They were warning the residents to keep themselves away from any store containing weapons and away from the tunnels used to smuggle and away from the terrorist cells.
"But the residents here don't know where to go. The Gaza Strip is very small and the missiles and bombs have been landing almost everywhere. And the recent flier they try to terrify the people even more.
"The day before yesterday the tanks in northern Gaza advanced even more, forcing more people to flee their houses, including [us], because we hear so much about Israeli atrocities in the north and the south east of Gaza.
"So when we get to the new area ... fliers were dropped there ... trying to warn the people who had just evacuated their houses that the Israeli forces were continuing their campaign behind them."
Diplomacy ignored
Both Israel and Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, have ignored international calls for a cessation to fighting and Egyptian attempts to negotiate a ceasefire.
More than 870 Palestinians and 13 Israelis have died since the offensive began [AFP]
Khaled Meshaal, Gaza's political leader in exile in Damascus, the Syrian capital, said: "The enemy has succeeded in creating a holocaust on the soil of Gaza.
"Therefore, I address the Israelis and say to them 'what have you achieved through this war you have supported?' And you supported your leaders to conduct it.
"You have achieved nothing but killing innocent children and leaving Gaza in a sea of blood."
Meshaal also said that Hamas would not accept any truce initiative while "we are still under attack."
Talks are continuing between a delegation of Hamas leaders in Cairo with Omar Suleiman, the Egyptian intelligence chief, over a possible ceasefire agreement. Egypt is expected to call for a 48-hour truce during which negotiations can take place.
An humanitarian corridor into the Gaza Strip was opened by Israel between 0900GMT and 1200GMT, but reports of strikes in Jabalya and other areas continued during this period.
Calls have mounted for Israel to allow aid into the Gaza Strip, which has remained short of essential food and medical supplies due to a blockade of the territory by Israel for the past 18 months.
However, there remain barriers to distribution of such aid once inside the Strip, with agencies' security being poorly assured. Last week a UN employee was shot and killed by an Israeli soldier, forcing the organisation to temporarily suspend work in the region.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Gaza under fire despite truce call
Israel is pushing ahead with its offensive in the Gaza Strip after branding a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire "unworkable".
Dozens of Palestinians were killed on Friday as Israeli warplanes pounded areas across the Gaza Strip and tanks shelled Jabaliya and Beit Lahiya, medical sources said.
Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, rejected the truce call following a security cabinet meeting.
Referring to continued rocket fire from Gaza into Israel, he said: "The firing of rockets this morning only goes to show that the UN decision is unworkable and will not be adhered to by the murderous Palestinian organisations."
The Israeli army said that 30 rockets were fired into southern Israel on Friday morning, injuring one person. Four rockets hit Beersheba, a town about 40km from the Israeli-Gaza border.
Fierce fighting
More than 50 air raids were reported to have hit across the Gaza Strip on Friday as the death passed 800 Palestinians over the 14 days of the Israeli assault.
More than 250 Palestinian children and nearly 60 women are among the dead, according to the UN.
Among the buildings hit was an eight-storey building in Gaza City housing the offices of a number of news outlets.
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Tanks also shelled targets in Jabaliya and Beit Lahiya in the north and in the Zeitun neighbourhood of Gaza City, witnesses said.
"In the outskirts of the eastern Jabaliya area there have been Israeli ground forces operating and they have been clashing quite intensely with Palestinian fighters," Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from Gaza City, said.
"Those calls for a ceasefire from the United Nations are obviously not manifesting themselves on the ground here."
Raafat Morra, a Hamas official in Beirut, said the Palestinian group also rejected the UN resolution, as "it is not in the best interest of the Palestinian people".
A senior delegation from Hamas was travelling to Cairo on Friday for talks on an alternative ceasefire plan that calls for an immediate halt to violence and subsequent talks on securing Gaza's border and reopening the border crossings.
The UN resolution, which was backed by 14 nations on the 15-member body, with only the US abstaining, called for an "immediate, durable and fully respected" ceasefire.
It also said border crossings into Gaza should be re-opened and measures put in place to prevent the smuggling of weapons into the Gaza Strip.
The resolution underlined there should be "unimpeded provision" and distribution of aid into the territory, where Gazans have been starved of fuel, food and medical supplies for months following Israel’s crippling blockade.
Mark Regev, an Israeli government spokesman, told Al Jazeera the military operation would continue to target "the Hamas military apparatus".
"We want Hamas leaders to understand that when they shoot rockets into Israel trying to kill our civilians that is counterproductive to their most basic interests," he said.
Regev said that Israel had not rejected the UN resolution and wanted to see "a sustained, durable ceasefire in the south".
"Does anyone really expect that when Hamas says 'this does not concern us' and continues to shoot at Israel we will just hold our hands behind our backs and say 'yes, please, target our citizens and try to kill our people, we'll do nothing," he said.
Aid to resume
Meanwhile, UN aid workers were set to resume humanitarian activities, suspended after a UN convoy came under fire from Israeli forces.
"The UN received credible assurances [from Israel] that the security of UN personnel, installations and humanitarian operations would be fully respected," Michele Montas, a UN spokeswoman, said.
On Thursday, a contract worker was killed when a Unwra aid convoy came under Israeli fire during a three-hour armistice agreed by the Israelis in order to deliver essential supplies to Gaza residents.
"The need on the ground is dire," Nancy Ronan, a spokeswoman for the UN's World Food Programme, told the AFP news agency at Egypt's Rafah border crossing earlier.
"We got food into Gaza, but we now have a problem distributing it because of the security situation."
The UN also said on Friday that 30 Palestinians were killed in Gaza on January 4 after the Israeli army moved dozens of civilians to a building which troops later shelled.
A special report by the UN's Office for the Co-ordinator of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 110 Gazans were transferred to the house and that the Israeli army were investigating the incident.
Death Toll
765 Palestinians murdered by Israel in Gaza (more than 230 children & 100 women) & 3100 injured.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Venezuela expels Israeli ambassador
Venezuela has expelled the Israeli ambassador to protest against the country's assault on Gaza, after the Venezuelan president described it as a "holocaust".
The move on Tuesday came hours after 40 Palestinians were killed at a UN school where civilians had taken shelter amid the offensive.
"The Holocaust, that is what is happening right now in Gaza," Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, said in televised comments.
"The president of Israel at this moment should be taken to the International Criminal Court together with the president of the United States."
At least 660 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its offensive on December 27, in what it says is an attempt to halt Palestinian rocketfire from Gaza.
'State terrorism'
Venezuela's foreign ministry said in a statement that Israel's campaign constituted "flagrant violations of international law" and the use of "state terrorism".
"For the reasons mentioned above, the government of Venezuela has decided to expel the ambassador of Israel and part of the personnel of the embassy of Israel," the statement said.
On Monday, Chavez, a strong critic of Israel and the US, had accused Washington of poisoning Yasser Arafat, the late former Palestinian president, to destabilise the Middle East and justify US-backed Israeli incursions.
The United States, which Chavez describes as a decadent empire, firmly backs Israel, its principal ally in the region.
On Tuesday, the White House said it would support an "immediate" ceasefire in Gaza but only if it was likely to be "durable".
The move on Tuesday came hours after 40 Palestinians were killed at a UN school where civilians had taken shelter amid the offensive.
"The Holocaust, that is what is happening right now in Gaza," Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, said in televised comments.
"The president of Israel at this moment should be taken to the International Criminal Court together with the president of the United States."
At least 660 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its offensive on December 27, in what it says is an attempt to halt Palestinian rocketfire from Gaza.
'State terrorism'
Venezuela's foreign ministry said in a statement that Israel's campaign constituted "flagrant violations of international law" and the use of "state terrorism".
"For the reasons mentioned above, the government of Venezuela has decided to expel the ambassador of Israel and part of the personnel of the embassy of Israel," the statement said.
On Monday, Chavez, a strong critic of Israel and the US, had accused Washington of poisoning Yasser Arafat, the late former Palestinian president, to destabilise the Middle East and justify US-backed Israeli incursions.
The United States, which Chavez describes as a decadent empire, firmly backs Israel, its principal ally in the region.
On Tuesday, the White House said it would support an "immediate" ceasefire in Gaza but only if it was likely to be "durable".
Israel kills dozens at Gaza school (I guess they needed to hurt more kids)
An Israeli attack has killed at least 43 people taking refuge inside a UN school in the Gaza Strip, medics say.
About 100 people were also wounded in Tuesday's strike on the school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa) in the northern town of Jabaliya - the third school to come under fire in 24 hours.
Doctors said all the dead were either people sheltering in the school or residents of Jabalya refugee camp, in the north of the Gaza Strip.
John Ging, director of operations in Gaza for Unrwa, said three artillery shells landed near the school where 350 people were taking shelter from the Israeli offensive now entering its 12th day.
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Ging said Unrwa regularly provided the Israeli army with exact geographical co-ordinates of its facilities and the school was in a built-up area.
"Of course it was entirely inevitable if artillery shells landed in that area there would be a high number of casualties," he said.
Mark Regev, a spokesman for the Israeli prime minister, said initial findings were "that there was hostile fire at one of our units from the UN facility".
"Our unit responded. Then there were explosions out of proportion to the ordnance we used," he said.
Avital Liebovich, an Israeli military spokesperson, told Al Jazeera that Hamas had "booby-trapped" installations in Gaza and Israel had no choice but to retaliate.
Earlier in the day, two people were killed when an artillery shell hit a school in the southern town of Khan Younis and three people were killed in an air strike on a school in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, medics said.
At least 660 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and nearly 3,000 wounded in the offensive that began on December 27.
Four Israeli soldiers were killed and 24 wounded in battles around Gaza City on Monday night, the Israeli military said early on Tuesday, bringing the Israeli toll to eight.
Expanding assault
The Israeli military also appeared to be broadening its assault on the Gaza Strip as heavy artillery fire was reported from Khan Younis.
At least 660 Palestinians and eight Israelis have been killed in the conflict [AFP]
Palestinian witnesses said Israeli tanks had moved into Khan Younis, the second biggest urban area in the strip after Gaza City, in what appeared to be an attempt to isolate it from the border town of Rafah.
Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Gaza, said Khan Younis was strategically significant partly because Palestinian fighters could fire missiles into Israeli territory from there.
He stressed that news teams could not confirm the reports as they were unable to reach the south from Gaza City in the north because the strip had been dissected by Israeli forces.
Despite its apparent broadening of its offensive, Israel has not been able to achieve its declared goal of stopping Palestinian rocket fire, with about 30 rockets launched across the border into Israeli town Sderot and surrounding areas on Tuesday.
Worsening humanitarian crisis
Fierce clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters were also reported in Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip and two black plumes of smoke could be seen rising over the area.
Fares Akram, a Gaza city resident, told Al Jazeera there was "no safe place in Gaza" as "the Israeli war planes don't stop dropping bombs and firing missiles into Gaza".
In addition, the humanitarian situation in Gaza – already bad following the 18-month Israeli blockade of the strip that left the territory desperately short of fuel, food and medical supplies – is worsening.
Unrwa's Ging said he was "shocked" by "the brutality of the injuries" he had seen during a visit to the Shifa hospital in Gaza.
Smoke rises after an Israel air strike near the border between Egypt and Gaza [AFP]
"There are very real shortages of medicine. This hospital has not had electricity for four days. If the generators go down, those in intensive care will die. This is a horrific tragedy here, and it is getting worse by the moment," he said.
Ging described the situation as "the consequences of political failure and complete absence of accountability for this military action" and appealed for political leaders in the region and around the world to "take on the responsibility".
A French-Egypt ceasefire proposal appeared to be gaining some traction early on Wednesday, with the US giving qualified backing and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, supporting the deal.
Israel has said it was taking the proposal "very seriously" but was still considering its response.
Pressure mounted at the United Nations late on Tuesday for Israel to stop its offensive, with Abbas calling for "urgent intervention by the security council to ... deter the aggressor".
But Gabriela Shalev, Israel's ambassador to the UN, said that the Gaza offensive was a "pre-requisite" for, not an obstacle to, peace.
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