UN slams Israel for abusing Palestinians’ human rights

The UN Human Rights Committee has slammed Israel for violating the rights of Palestinians and the maltreatment of Palestinian prisoners.

The committee published conclusions on Thursday from its review earlier this month of the Israeli regime’s human rights record.

The report expressed grief over Israel’s continued destruction of Palestinian houses in the occupied West Bank, censuring the ongoing “confiscation and expropriation of Palestinian land and restrictions on access of Palestinians” in the occupied territories including East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

The committee also condemned reports on the use of torture by Israeli prison authorities and maltreatment of Palestinians, including children, in Israeli detention facilities.

Elsewhere it expressed concern over human rights abuses committed during three Israeli wars on the besieged Gaza Strip since late 2008, including the latest military aggression of summer 2014 that left nearly 2,200 Palestinians dead.

The Geneva-based committee emphasized in its conclusions that Israel should make sure that all human rights violations carried out during “its military operations in the Gaza Strip in 2008-2009, 2012 and 2014 are thoroughly, effectively, independently and impartially investigated.”

The perpetrators must be prosecuted and the victims and their families must receive effective remedies, the report stated.

The UN committee slammed Israel’s ongoing blockade of Gaza, saying the siege continues to “negatively impact Palestinians’ access to all basic and life-saving services such as food, health, electricity, water and sanitation.”

The Gaza Strip has been under the Israeli blockade since June 2007, a situation that has caused a decline in the standards of living and poverty in the Palestinian territory.

MR/HSN/SS

Source : Press TV

Palestinian Children in the Israeli Military Detention System

Palestinian children testify about cruel treatment by Israeli soldiers

Submitted by Adri Nieuwhof 2012 .

Newly released today, Defence for Children International-Palestine Section (DCI) has produced this short film about Israel’s ill-treatment of Palestinian children during their arrest, transfer and detention. 

Alone: Palestinian Children in the Israeli Military Detention System contains images of children who found the courage to talk about the appalling treatment.

Since 2000, around 7,500 Palestinian children from the occupied Palestinian territories have been detained, interrogated and imprisoned within the Israeli military law system. The film also presents basic information and the impact of their arrest and detention on families.

In 75 procent of the cases documented by DCI, child detainees suffered some form of physical violence during arrest, transfer and interrogation.

The suffering starts the moment a child is arrested and continues throughout interrogation and court sessions, explains DCI lawyer Iyad Misk. Children are often physically, verbally abused, insulted by soldiers during transport in the jeep. The abuse continues during the interrogation.

Children are also often enticed with offers of immediate release in exchange for confessions. However, what normally happens is just the opposite. Once a child confesses, he is sent to prison and his file is sent to the court. Interrogations are set up to terrorize, says Misk.

Nader Abu Amsha of the East Jerusalem YMCA Rehabilitation Programme says that the purpose of the raids, arrests and interrogations is more than getting information. It is to break the will and spirit of a generation. The purpose is to break the children and make them live in fear and confusion so they become an inactive, unproductive generation.

Israeli Soldiers Arrest a Mother in Front of Her Children

A mother been abused and arrested by a group of IsraHelli soldiers in front of her children (02.11.2012). This happens everyday......

Palestinian girl chasing after the occupation soldiers who arrested her mother and baby brother, Tamimi. They are the sons as Tamimi and prisoner freed prisoner. Nariman Tamimi today is in the village of Nabi Saleh.

PA Rejects Kerry's Proposal to Delay Palestinian State Resolution Bid

PNN/ Bethlehem

 Published on Monday, 22 December 2014

Palestine foreign minister, Dr. Riad Malki, said that the Palestinian leadership rejected US State of Secretary, John Kerry's proposal of pushing the Palestinian Statehood resolution bid until after the Israeli elections in March.

Malki said that Kerry tried to convince Palestinian leaders during talks last week, to delay presenting state resolution proposal before the International security council, saying that it would harm the Israeli elections.

Senior PA officials over the weekend said that they were under heavy pressure not to request a vote on the Palestinian resolution presented last week to the United Nations Security Council.

On the other hand, previous Justice minister and Israeli chief negotiator, Tzipi Livni asked Kerry, to delay the Palestinian UN bid for statehood, as it supports the right.

Occupation foreign policy reported that Livni had made the recommendation along with former president Shimon Peres, AFP says.

However, Right-wing politicians, Netanyahu and Bennett on Saturday fiercely blasted Livni for asking Kerry to delay the Palestinian UN bid for statehood.

PM Benjamin's Netanyahu's office accused Livni, and Hertzong of being two-faced and cared for their own interest. 

On the other hand, Palestinian leadership on Monday announced making changes to the Palestinian statehood bid, including East Jerusalem being its fundamental capital, and setting state on the 1967 occupied borders. 

Changes included halting any Israeli provocative actions including successive attacks on AlAqsa mosque compund and descerating Christian and Muslim holy sanctities.

Adjusments also included lands under threaten of Israeli occupation seizure or attacks. 

Source : http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/politics/8859-pa-rejects-kerrys-proposal-to-delay-palestinian-state-resolution-bid

Japan Provides Emergency Funding for Rubble Removal in Gaza Through UNDP

PNN/ Jerusalem

UNDP's Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People (PAPP) has been entrusted with a USD500,000 contribution from The Government of Japan to remove rubble and debris in the Gaza Strip.

With the Government of Japan's contribution, around 30,000 tonnes of rubble will be removed over the period of 10 months, generating approximately 5,400 workdays.

UNDP will move rapidly in clearing the rubble in order to provide more than 187,000 people residing in the Middle Area of the Gaza Strip with access to basic services, reduce the risk of collapsing buildings and the threat of UXOs and other remnants of war. The rubble, once crushed, will be recycled and used for road rehabilitation.

UNDP estimates that around two million tonnes of rubble have been generated during the 51 day Israeli military operation on Gaza, which is three times more than the amount of rubble generated during 2008-09 Gaza conflict.

It is worth noting that the Government of Japan's contribution will bring the total amount of funding for UNDP's Emergency Rubble Removal Programme to USD 13.7 million out of approximately USD 20 million.

UNDP's Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People is responding to the Gaza crisis by enhancing livelihoods through emergency employment, rubble removal, repairing essential infrastructure, restoring solid waste services and providing institutional support towards a unified civil service and institutional harmonization.

Source : http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/international/8822-japan-provides-emergency-funding-for-rubble-removal-in-gaza-through-undp

UN Votes for Palestinian Permanent Sovereignty Over National Resources

PNN/New York

Published on Saturday, 20 December 2014 

The UN General Assembly on Friday adopted a resolution that provide permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian territories as well as the sovereignty of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources.

The resolution was adopted by voting 165 states in favor, 6 states against (Israel, US, Canada, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau), while 9 states abstained.

The resolution asserted the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and the people of of the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources, including land, water and energy resources, and demanded that 'Israel' cease the exploitation, damage, cause of loss or depletion and endangerment of the natural resources in the occupied Palestinian territory.

It also called upon Israel, the occupying Power, to bring a halt to all actions, including those perpetrated by Israeli settlers, harming the environment, including the dumping of all kinds of waste materials, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, which gravely threaten their natural resources, namely water and land resources, and which pose an environmental, sanitation and health threat to the civilian populations.

Also, the General Assembly nearly approved a resolution urging Israel to pay Lebanon compensation to cover the clean-up cost of an oil spill caused in 2006 by the Israeli air attacks on oil storage tanks during the war with Hezbollah.

Source : http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/international/8840-un-votes-for-palestinian-permanent-sovereignty-over-national-resources

Palestinian academics, advocates targeted for imprisonment without charge or trial

The Israeli Supreme Court rejected a petition by Palestinian political detainee Dr. Ghassan Thuqan, 57, an academic lecturer in the Faculty of Education at An-Najah University, on Tuesday, 16 December.

Thuqan was arrested on 9 July as part of a wave of mass arrests by Israeli ocupation forces throughout the West Bank; he is held in administrative detention, imprisoned without charge or trial. His administrative detention term will expire on 9 January, but his lawyer informed his family that he expects the term to be renewed, particularly following this court decision. The petition was rejected on the basis of a “secret file” on his case; he has already had his three-month administrative detention order renewed twice. Thuqan, held in the Negev desert prison, suffers from asthma, dental pains and arthritis, and is not receiving appropriate treatment from the prison medical clinics.

Dr. Imad Barghouthi, a Palestinian astrophysicist and professor at Al-Quds University who formerly worked at NASA in the United States, is now being held in three months administrative detention (imprisonment without charge or trial.)

Barghouthi, 52, from Beit Rima, has been ordered held without charge or trial from 9 December until 5 March 2015 under a three-month, indefinitely renewable, military court order.

He was arrested on 6 December as he attempted to cross to Jordan at the Karama border crossing in order to attend a scientific conference in the United Arab Emirates. Barghouthi’s scientific work is widely published internationally in academic journals. This is the first time he was arrested by Israeli occupation forces. It was reported that he was investigated for participating in a mass march against the assault on Gaza over the summer.

Also held in administrative detention without charge or trial is Osama Hussein Shaheen, 32, the director of the Prisoners of Palestine Studies Center in al-Khalil. He was arrested on 11 December as he traveled through the Container checkpoint and was taken to Ofer military prison. Shaheen, a prominent activist on prisoners’ issues, was released only 3 months ago from administrative detention without charge or trial. He has spent 7 years total inside Israeli prisons and suffers from several health problems. The Center denounced the arrest of Shaheen, saying that “this action aims to obstruct the center’s work exposing occupation crimes against prisoners of war and documenting them on a daily basis.”

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society reported that 54 administrative detention orders for imprisonment without charge or trial have been issued by Israeli military courts against Palestinians since the beginning of December 2014.

Source: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network

Gerald Kaufman MP "You cannot appeal to the Israelis’ better nature, bec...

Australian film on Israel's torturing of Palestinian children sparks controversy

Published on Dec 15, 2014

A controversial film which has been produced by a group of Australian journalists has sparked an international outcry against Israel after it explicitly deta.

Israelis torturing non-Jewish children documentary film full length. Viewer discretion. The still picture shows Palestinian girl Nesreen Hash'hash after bein.

Israelis torturing non-Jewish children documentary film full length. Viewer discretion. The still picture shows Palestinian girl Nesreen Hash'hash after bein. Israelis torturing non-Jewish.

Palestinian shot dead by Israeli troops

Today 16/12/2014: Mahmoud Adwan,21 year old was shot dead during a clash early this morning,at Qalandia checkpoint, between Jerusalem and Ramallah.
Another brutal murder.
With complete impunity.
Another martyr whose only crime was to be PALESTINIAN in OCCUPIED PALESTINE.
Haitham Al Khatib

Source : http://gulfnews.com/news/region/palestine/palestinian-shot-dead-by-israeli-troops-1.1427524

Running In The Rubble Of Gaza

Palestinian Olympic runner Nader Al-Masri isn't letting the destruction left by the Israeli attacks on Gaza keep him from training and running for Palestine.

Rauf Snoubar, 14, shot in head with live bullet in Jalazon

Rauf Snoubar, 14, shot in head with live bullet in Jalazon refugee camp 10 Dec by #Israel's occupation forces. Tweeted by @rk70534

Israel to receive 50 American jets free of cost

On December 5, 2014, the Jewish Daily Forwardreported that during a business meeting between Israeli defense minister Moshe Ya’alon and his American counter-part Chuck Hagel at the Pentagon in October 2014, US defense department agreed to sell additional 14-F35As to Israel for $2 billion.

Hagel at the Pentagon in October 2014, US defense department agreed to sell additional 14-F35As to Israel for $2 billion.

“It’s just part of a long term deal that includes a 2010 purchase of 19 warplanes (which won’t arrive until 2016) for $2.75 billion and maintains option of purchasing 17 more in the future,” said Yael Even Ro.

What the cunning Zionist Jew writer ignored to mention that the Zionist regime is paying $4.75 billion for the purchase of 50 America’s most advanced jets, comes from US-taxpayers pockets. The US provides $3 billion + annual military aid to Israel on the condition that 75% of it would be used to buy American military hardware.

As that was not a joke enough. Yael also reported that in return for this new deal, America’s top arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin has agreed to buy $6 billion worth of security equipment from Israel. I’m sure some readers must have heard the idiom: Have Your Cake, and Eat it Too!

On August 8, 2014, Professor Marjorie Cohn (Thomas Jefferson School of Law) in an article said: “By sending vast amounts of military aid to Israel, members of the Congress, President George W. Bush, President Barack Obama, and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel have aided and abetted the commission of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity by Israeli officials and commanders in Gaza. An individual can be convicted of a war crime, genocide or crime against humanity in the International Criminal Court (ICC) if he or she “aids, abets or otherwise assists” in the commission or attempted commission of the crime “including providing the means for its commission.”

According to the Congressional Research Service, in 2007, the Bush Administration agreed to provide Israel with $30 billion in military assistance from 2009 to 2018, provided in annual increments of $3.1 billion. During his March 2013 visit to Israel, Obama pledged that the US would continue to provide Israel with multi-year commitments of military aid subject to the approval of Congress.

Since 2012, the US has donated $276 million worth of weapons and munitions to Israel, not including exports of military transport equipment and high technologies. From January to May 2014, the US transferred to Israel almost $27 million for rocket launchers, $9.3 million worth of parts of guided missiles and nearly $762,000 for bombs, grenades and munitions of war.

On July 20, 2014, Israel requested additional ammunition, including 140mm tank rounds and 40mm illumination grenades, and the Defense Department approved the sale three days later. It came from a $1 billion stockpile of ammunition the US military stores in Israel for that country’s use; it is called War Reserve Stockpile Ammunition-Israel. In early August 2014, both houses of Congress overwhelmingly passed, and Obama signed, an appropriation of $225 million for Israel’s Iron Dome aka Dumb Dome missile defense system, which has also been used in Gaza. The Senate vote was unanimous. With no debate, the House of Representatives voted 395 to 8 to approve the deal.

James M. Wall, journalist and editor of the Christian Century magazine has more on this story here.

Geneva Convention summit on Palestine to go ahead despite US, Israeli pressure

Although Israel is a signatory to the convention, which makes settlements on occupied land illegal, the Israeli government denies its applicability to the West Bank and East Jerusalem

The contracting parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention will hold a special meeting on the situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip later this month, despite pressure by the US and Israel.

The Swiss government will convene the relevant state parties on 17 December, for an ambassadorial-level conference which Israel is expected to boycott. The US, Canada and Australia may also stay away.

Last month it was reported that Israel and the US were trying to dissuade the nearly 200 states that are party to the Fourth Geneva Convention from convening for the summit. Israeli officials even travelled several times to Bern and Geneva, but their efforts have proved unsuccessful.

According to Haaretz, Israel is still hoping to "lobby EU states to get as many as possible to boycott the conference." The gathering is likely to "intensify international criticism of Israeli policy in the territories, particularly with regard to the settlements."

The meeting takes place following President Abbas' decision in April to sign, on behalf of Palestine, the Fourth Geneva Convention. Shortly after, an official request was made to urgently convene the convention signatories to discuss Israel's occupation.

In 2001, the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention met in Geneva and condemned Israel's "indiscriminate or disproportionate use of force and due to lack of respect for international humanitarian law."

Israel is also a signatory to the convention, but, contrary to the overwhelming international legal consensus, denies its applicability to the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Source: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/europe/15762-geneva-convention-summit-on-palestine-to-go-ahead-despite-us-israeli-pressure

Autopsy reveals Palestinian minister was murdered

Image of activists helping the collapsed minister

The death Palestinian Minister Ziad Abu Ein was the result of beating, teargas-induced asphyxiation and obstruction by the Israeli army to transfer him to a hospital on time, a Palestinian official said, citing official forensic results.

Palestinian Civil Affairs Minister Hassan Al-Sheikh, detailing the forensic results to the official Palestinian radio station today, asserted that the findings show that Abu Ein, who was fatally injured yesterday during an Israeli clampdown on a Palestinian protest against settlements and the Separation Wall near Ramallah, had been "murdered".

"The forensic report is an essential piece of evidence of Israel's responsibility [for Abu Ein's death]," Al-Sheikh said following yesterday evening's autopsy.

He added that the Palestinian authorities carried out the autopsy in an East Jerusalem university hospital after refusing to allow an Israeli medical centre to handle the procedure.

However, an Israeli doctor was present during the autopsy and he confirmed that the process was carried out "professionally", Al-Sheikh explained.

Abu Ein, who was in charge of the Israeli settlements file at the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), died yesterday after Israeli troops dispersed an anti-occupation demonstration in the northern West Bank town of Turmusiya.

A military funeral will be held for him this afternoon.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has described the Israeli attack on Abu Ein as "barbaric" and declared a three-day mourning period.

The Israeli army said it is reviewing the circumstances of Abu Ein's participation in the protest and his subsequent death.

Source : https://middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/15760-autopsy-reveals-palestinian-minister-was-murdered

Hague-based ICC accepts Palestine's status

Decision clears way for the International Criminal Court to investigate war crimes in the occupied territories.

The International Criminal Court has accepted the status of Palestine, clearing the way for war crimes in the occupied territories to be investigated, Al Jazeera has learned.

Monday's decision amounts to a symbolic victory for the Palestinians who will get a seat at the ICC: In theory, it is now legally possible for war crimes to be investigated in the occupied territories if requested.

The ICC, which is governed by the Rome Statute, is the first permanent, treaty-based, international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community.

The court, whose headquarters is at The Hague in the Netherlands, is an independent international organisation and is not part of the UN system. While its expenses are funded primarily by "states parties", the ICC also receives voluntary contributions from governments, international organisations, individuals, corporations and other entities. Al Jazeera's Diplomatic Editor James Bays, reporting from the UN headquarters in New York, said the acceptance happened at an open meeting on Monday of the assembly of states parties of the ICC. "What this means is that Palestine is now listed as a 'non-state party observer' - exactly the same status as the US or Russia or every other country that is not a signatory of the Rome Statute," he said. "In other words, all the ICC signatories now consider Palestine to be a state. The acceptance is symbolic but adds to the international momentum for Palestinian statehood and has legal repercussions. "If Palestine now applies to join the Rome Statute, it will be much harder to reject them. The acceptance clearly brings war-crimes trials against Israelis one step closer."

Source: Al Jazeera

Q&A: 'I saw beheaded children in Gaza'

"As a doctor, I say don’t send more bandages, don’t send more drugs, and don’t send equipment. Stop the bombing, lift the siege, treat the Palestinians as humans, include them in the human family, protect them by international law and find a peaceful political solution to the occupation of Palestine. That’s the preventative medicine of this mayhem that is going on." - Dr. Mads GIlbert

Source : http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/12/qa-i-saw-beheaded-children-gaza-201412710710149667.html#.VIR8yRsmwVY.facebook

UN Report: Israel in Regular Contact with Syrian Rebels including ISIS

A report submitted to the United Nations Security Council by UN observers in the Golan Heights over the past 18 months shows that Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have been in regular contact with Syrian rebels, including Islamic State (ISIS) militants.

Israeli soldiers stand near the border with Syria in the occupied Golan Heights as they prepare to evacuate a wounded Syrian Reuters

Citing the UN report, Haaretz noted that there have been several instances detailed in the report that shows close ties between Syrian armed rebels and Israeli army. 

According to the UN report, a person wounded on 15 September "was taken by armed members of the opposition across the ceasefire line, where he was transferred to a civilian ambulance escorted by an IDF vehicle."

Moreover, from 9-19 November, the "UNDOF observed at least 10 wounded persons being transferred by armed members of the opposition from the Bravo side across the ceasefire line to IDF."

As per the details released by the Israel's health ministry, so far some 1,000 Syrians have been treated in four Israeli hospitals. Besides the civilians, some are members of the secular Free Syrian Army rebel group. 

Israel initially had maintained that it was treating only civilians. However, reports claimed that earlier last month members of Israel's Druze minority protested the hospitalisation of wounded Syrian fighters from the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front in Israel.

A statement issued by a group of Druze activists accused the Israeli government of supporting radical Sunni factions such as the Islamic State (ISIS).

Replying to a question by i24News on whether Israel has given medical assistance to members of al-Nusra and Daesh (the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State (ISIS), a Israeli military spokesman's office said: "In the past two years the Israel Defence Forces have been engaged in humanitarian, life-saving aid to wounded Syrians, irrespective of their identity."

The UN report also laid out instances where in Israeli army was seen interacting with armed rebels. In one incident, the report claimed that the IDF gave some boxes to the Syrian armed rebels.
By Johnlee Varghese December 7, 2014 17:06 IST

Source : http://www.ibtimes.co.in/un-report-israel-regular-contact-syrian-rebels-including-isis-616404

Iron Dome Fake - A Massive Hoax - Missiles Blowing Up in the Air

10,000 Palestinian Children 'Tortured' by Israeli Forces over Years, Says PLO

Israel has detained about 10,000 Palestinian children since 2000 and they were subjected to humiliation, torture and solitary confinement, according to Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO).

About 10,000 Palestinian children have reportedly been detained and subjected to torture by the Israeli army.Reuters File

A senior PLO official responsible for securing the release of children and other detained youths told Press TV that some 10,000 children from the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem) have been detained by Israeli armed forces over the years.

Issa Qaraqe, head of the PLO's committee on detainees, was speaking on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the UN General Assembly.

He stated that the children's rights are violated "regularly," and they are often subjected to humiliation and torture by the Israeli army.

"Israel does not provide any immunity for children and regularly violates international agreements on children's rights by humiliating and torturing them and denying them fair trials," he said.

Qaraqe noted that 95% of children, many of them as young as seven or eight, have been subjected to torture. Currently, some 300 children are said to languish at detention camps in Israel.

Earlier in May, a report released by an international non-governmental organisation, Defense for Children International - Palestine (DCI-P), had found that most children detained by Israeli forces were taken in for stone throwing, a charge that can lead to a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

The monitoring agency that focuses on the treatment of children in the areas of conflict, found that every year about 500 to 700 minors are taken prisoners by Israel.

It also reported that the Israeli military has used solitary confinement as a form of interrogation and intimidation in nearly 22% of recorded cases. The children put in solitary confinement have been kept locked in for 10 days on an average, with the longest period being 29 days, the report stated.

By Johnlee Varghese November 25, 2014 12:59 IST

Source : http://www.ibtimes.co.in/10000-palestinian-children-tortured-by-israeli-forces-over-years-says-plo-614606

US Stands Alone in Vote Against UN Inquiry Into Gaza Assault

Resolution passes, despite US opposition, as body approves official inquiry into "all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law"

by Sarah Lazare, staff writer

The United States was the only country in the world that voted Wednesday against the United Nations investigating human rights violations in Gaza unleashed by Israel's military assault.

Of the 47 members of the UN Human Rights Council, 29 nations voted to set up a commission to launch an international, independent inquiry, effectively passing the resolution. Seventeen countries abstained, including Germany, France, and the United Kingdom.

The inquiry will look at "all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Gaza Strip in the context of military operations conducted since mid June," according to a statement from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The council criticized Israeli military operations for perpetuating “widespread, systematic and gross violations of international human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

U.S. ambassador to the Council, Keith Harper, said he issued the "no" vote because the resolution is a "biased and political instrument" that "will not help" the "cessation of hostilities."

But Josh Ruebner, policy director for the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, toldCommon Dreams that the U.S. vote simply "shows the great extent to which the U.S. goes to protect Israel in international forums from any accountability for its actions, no matter how egregious." Ruebner added that U.S. claims of imbalance are illegitimate, as the inquiry will investigate human rights violations perpetrated by Hamas as well as Israel.

Phyllis Bennis, senior fellow at Institute for Policy Studies, told Common Dreams that the U.S. "no" vote is part of a larger pattern. "The U.S. is the reason why the United Nations is not able to play the role its charter requires, which is to stop the scourge of war," said Bennis. "The U.S. vetoes and threatens to veto in the Security Council, and in arenas like the General Assembly or Human Rights Council where there is no veto, they threaten other countries."

The UN resolution comes amid an ever-rising Palestinian death toll, with Gaza Health Ministry official Ashraf al-Qudra reporting Thursday that so far 784 Palestinians have been killed and over 5,000 wounded in Israel's "Protective Edge" operation. Kyung-Wha Kang, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, estimates that 74 percent of the Palestinians killed are civilians and one-third are children. "One child has been killed each hour in Gaza over the past two days,” Kang said on Wednesday, according to the UN.

Israel launched air strikes on Palestinians seeking shelter in a UN school in Beit Hanoun in Gaza on Thursday, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens. The attack marked at least the fourth time a UN facility in Gaza has been hit since July 8, according to theGuardian. Chris Gunness, spokesperson for the UN Relief and Works Agency, said on Twitter that "Precise co-ordinates of the UNRWA shelter in Beit Hanoun had been formally given to the Israeli army."

Thirty-two Israeli soldiers, two Israeli civilians, and a Thai worker in Israel have died.

Ruebner expressed concern that the U.S. is likely to obstruct any attempt on the part of the Council to hold Israel accountable for war crimes: "What's likely to happen is same thing with the Goldstone Report and the Human Rights Council inquiry into the attack on the aid flotilla: reports will document the fact that Israel has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, and the U.S. will use its veto power or threat thereof to prevent the international community from acting on recommendations for accountability."

Source : http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/07/24/us-stands-alone-vote-against-un-inquiry-gaza-assault

Israel killed 9 Palestinians, arrested 650 in November: report

Palestinian mourners cry at Gaza City's al-Shifa hospital after an Israeli strike killed at least seven children in a public playground in the beachfront Shati refugee camp on July 28, 2014. AFP / Mahmoud Hams

Published Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Israeli Occupation Forces killed nine Palestinians and arrested 650 others in November, Ahrar Center for Detainees' Studies and Human Rights, a Palestinian rights organization said in a report on Monday.

A child, Mohammed Amin al-Syam, who died in Turkey after sustaining severe wounds in the latest Gaza war, is among the nine Palestinian victims. Eleven of Syam’s family members were killed in the summer war.

For 51 days this summer, Israel pounded the Gaza Strip by air, land and sea. More than 2,160 Gazans, mostly civilians, were killed and 11,000 injured during seven weeks of unrelenting Israeli attacks in July and August.

Moreover, Israeli forces detained 650 Palestinians in annexed East Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank, and Occupied Palestine in November. According to the report, the highest number of arrests documented were in East Jerusalem and Hebron.

The detainees included 17 women and 42 minors, 30 of which were arrested in annexed East Jerusalem.

According to a 2013 report by the UN's Children's Fund, Israel is the only country in the world where children are systematically tried in military courts and subjected to "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment."

Over the past decade, Israeli forces have arrested, interrogated, and prosecuted around 7,000 children between 12 and 17, some as young as nine, at a rate of "an average of two children each day," UNICEF said.

A report by Defense for Children International (DCI) published in May 2014 said Israel jails 20 percent of Palestinian children it detains in solitary confinement.

DCI said that minors held in solitary confinement spent an average of 10 days in isolation. The longest period of confinement documented in a single case was 29 days in 2012, and 28 days in 2013.

Israeli forces routinely conduct detention campaigns against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on claims that they are "wanted" by Israeli authorities.

According to Fouad Khafsh, director of Ahrar, Israeli forces storm West Bank cities “every night to arrest innocent Palestinians.”

He added that the numbers reported are cases of Israeli human rights violations that the center was able to verify and document, but there are many more cases that remain unreported.

Over 7,000 Palestinians are currently languishing in 17 Israeli prisons and detention camps, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Prisoners' Affairs.

Among Palestinian prisoners behind Israeli bars, there are 18 women, 250 children, 1,500 sick detainees, who are mostly in a critical condition, and 540 Palestinians held under administrative detention without any trial.

(Al-Akhbar)