Respect for International Humanitarian Law

" On 29 January the Security Council will hold a private meeting on Maintenance of International Peace and Security: Respect for International Humanitarian Law. The meeting will focus on possible measures the Council can consider to more effectively prevent and stop violations of international humanitarian law. The ICRC, OCHA, the UN Office of Legal Affairs, OHCHR and UNHCR have been invited to brief the Council. France has prepared a concept paper for the meeting and has also proposed that the Council might adopt a presidential statement."

Let's see what comes out of the meeting. Even if the meeting is general in nature, it is still interesting in view of the violence in Gaza.

Casualities as of 19 January 2009

" Gaza: Yesterday 95 bodies were dug up from the ruins. As of today, at least 1,300 killed, of them at least 410 children and 104 women. Over 5,320 injured, of them over 350 severely injured (Palestinian Ministry of Health figures).
Israel: 3 civilians and 10 soldiers killed. Over 84 civilians injured, of them 4 severely injured, not including those treated for shock, and 113 soldiers injured, of them one in critical condition and 20 Moderately or severely injured. "

Casualities on 18 January 2009

"Gaza: at least 1,205 killed, of them at least 410 children and 98 women. More than half those killed since the ground incursion began (580) are women and children. Over 3,520 injured, of them over 350 severely (Palestinian Ministry of Health figures).
Israel: 13 killed, of them 1 woman and 10 soldiers. Over 82 civilians injured, of them 4 severely injured, not including those treated for shock , and 113 soldiers injured, of them one in critical condition and 20 suffer moderate or severe injuries."


... from Betselem website. The site explains that all throughout the fighting, Israeli human rights groups worked together to inform the Israeli public of the impact on civilians....while many others were trying to make us believe that Israel was making every possible effort to avoid civilian casualties. on this, i strongly recommend Robert Fisk’s article for the Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-why-do-they-hate-the-west-so-much-we-will-ask-1230046.html

Gaza under the rain

by Mazen Kerbaj

Gaza in figures

on Jan, 9th, Gaza death toll is at 771, including 189 children and 58 women.

Some essential points about Gaza

We've heard so many things about Gaza in the news that we sometimes forget the basics. Rashid Khalidi for the New York Times recalls some essential facts without which it is not possible to have a serious discussion/reflection on the current events in Gaza:

What You Don’t Know About Gaza

By RASHID KHALIDI

" NEARLY everything you’ve been led to believe about Gaza is wrong. Below are a few essential points that seem to be missing from the conversation, much of which has taken place in the press, about Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip.

THE GAZANS Most of the people living in Gaza are not there by choice. The majority of the 1.5 million people crammed into the roughly 140 square miles of the Gaza Strip belong to families that came from towns and villages outside Gaza like Ashkelon and Beersheba. They were driven to Gaza by the Israeli Army in 1948.

THE OCCUPATION The Gazans have lived under Israeli occupation since the Six-Day War in 1967. Israel is still widely considered to be an occupying power, even though it removed its troops and settlers from the strip in 2005. Israel still controls access to the area, imports and exports, and the movement of people in and out. Israel has control over Gaza’s air space and sea coast, and its forces enter the area at will. As the occupying power, Israel has the responsibility under the Fourth Geneva Convention to see to the welfare of the civilian population of the Gaza Strip.

THE BLOCKADE Israel’s blockade of the strip, with the support of the United States and the European Union, has grown increasingly stringent since Hamas won the Palestinian Legislative Council elections in January 2006. Fuel, electricity, imports, exports and the movement of people in and out of the Strip have been slowly choked off, leading to life-threatening problems of sanitation, health, water supply and transportation.

The blockade has subjected many to unemployment, penury and malnutrition. This amounts to the collective punishment — with the tacit support of the United States — of a civilian population for exercising its democratic rights.

THE CEASE-FIRE Lifting the blockade, along with a cessation of rocket fire, was one of the key terms of the June cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. This accord led to a reduction in rockets fired from Gaza from hundreds in May and June to a total of less than 20 in the subsequent four months (according to Israeli government figures). The cease-fire broke down when Israeli forces launched major air and ground attacks in early November; six Hamas operatives were reported killed.

WAR CRIMES The targeting of civilians, whether by Hamas or by Israel, is potentially a war crime. Every human life is precious. But the numbers speak for themselves: Nearly 700 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed since the conflict broke out at the end of last year. In contrast, there have been around a dozen Israelis killed, many of them soldiers. Negotiation is a much more effective way to deal with rockets and other forms of violence. This might have been able to happen had Israel fulfilled the terms of the June cease-fire and lifted its blockade of the Gaza Strip.

This war on the people of Gaza isn’t really about rockets. Nor is it about “restoring Israel’s deterrence,” as the Israeli press might have you believe. Far more revealing are the words of Moshe Yaalon, then the Israeli Defense Forces chief of staff, in 2002: “The Palestinians must be made to understand in the deepest recesses of their consciousness that they are a defeated people.”

Rashid Khalidi, a professor of Arab studies at Columbia, is the author of the forthcoming “Sowing Crisis: The Cold War and American Dominance in the Middle East."

Day 12 of Israeli War On Gaza

Free Gaza website gives regular updates on the war.

Blogs

The Israeli government does not allow journalists inside the Strip of Gaza. What is there to hide? Below some blogs written from Gaza:

http://a-mother-from-gaza.blogspot.com/
http://gaza08.blogspot.com/
http://gaza-sderot.blogspot.com/
http://fromgaza.blogspot.com/

Thanks to Natalie Abou Shakra

I find this image very powerful