These members of the European Parliament are calling on the European Union to break diplomatic ties with Israel and implement sanctions against the country because of the war crimes it has committed against the people of Palestine.
The delegation of 13 MEPs has just returned to Brussels from the Middle East and played a video to journalists showing a Palestinian child dying in the back of an ambulance. The delegation describes what Israel has done to the people of Gaza as genocide. The 50-day Israeli war on Gaza left thousands dead and tens of thousands wounded. The delegation of MEPs is accusing the West of turning its back on the Palestinian people by not taking action against Israel. The politicians accuse Tel Aviv of continuing to break international laws by engaging in land grabs to build settlements in Palestine. The United Nations aid organisation, UNRWA, estimates that it will cost 800 million euro to reconstruct the buildings and infrastructure in Palestine that were recently destroyed by Israel during its 50-day bombardment of Gaza. In the meantime hundreds of thousands of people will effectively remain homeless. The agency says 90% of the water in Gaza is now undrinkable, disease is spreading and it predicts that the area will be uninhabitable by the year 2020 unless the international community gets behind the citizens of Palestine.
Geneva - Between 8 July and 26 August, 2014, Israeli forces conducted an estimated 60,664 raids (launched from land, air and sea) into the Gaza Strip. This report documents that in many cases, these attacks were indiscriminate. Not only did Israeli forces fail to take sufficient measures to protect noncombatants, including children and the disabled, but in a number of instances they deliberately targeted locations with concentrations of civilians. Reports from physicians on the ground strongly suggest that Israel deployed “unconventional weapons” (nail bombs and DIME munitions), which are designed to cause maximum damage and thus are not considered permissible in densely populated areas -- either legally or morally.
According to international law, attacks are considered indiscriminate when they are not directed at specific military targets, measures are not taken to limit the effects and no attempt is made to differentiate between combatants and civilians. Under this definition, the Euro-Mid investigation documented here demonstrates that Israel committed numerous indiscriminate attacks in Gaza during the July and August aggression.
Likewise, this investigation shows that the so-called “warnings” issued by the government of Israel, typically in the form of telephone calls or “roof knocks,” were insufficient to offer protection. The actual strikes typically occurred less than two minutes after the warnings and in a few cases, less than one minute. There was no time to flee – particularly for those with disabilities – even if there was somewhere safe for them to turn. At the same time, Israeli armed forces obstructed emergency responders from reaching the wounded for long periods of time.
Based on these testimonies, Euro-Mid concludes that Israeli armed forces deliberately and knowingly targeted massive numbers of noncombatants, even though they already knew (or should have known) that their actions would result in a large number of civilian casualties.
Therefore, our recommendations include a thorough investigation by the United Nations, with backing from the Security Council – or, if vetoed due to a longstanding practice of protecting the Israeli government from censure, the General Assembly. Likewise, we call on all state parties to the Geneva Convention to insist on conformance with its provisions in their respective national courts.
The reconstruction of Gaza is needed for Palestinians to be able to live. However, without accountability for crimes and protection of human rights, it will be a life without dignity or hope. The Euro-Mid Observer for Human Rights is a nonprofit, nongovernmental human rights organization dedicated to exposing human rights violations and defending human rights. The Euro-Mid Observer for Human Rights headquarter is based in Geneva, Switzerland, with regional offices in the Middle-East.
6th November 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
On October 30th, a 14-year-old boy was violently arrested by Israeli forces in al-Khalil (Hebron).
Due to a teachers strike in solidarity with underpaid public workers, school in Hebron finished at 10:00 in the morning. Several young boys threw stones towards the military, armed at Salaymeh checkpoint, and the soldiers then fired three canisters of tear gas.
The children threw more stones, and the soldiers fired approximately ten more tear gas grenades in several rounds. This continued until 11:00 when an army vehicle drove up from a side street at a high speed. Three soldiers jumped outside one of the school buildings, before running into a school yard and arrested the 14-year-old boy.
A Palestinian citizen carries the hoarse voice of the
people of Gaza to let the world hear it.
Dear Sir,
Thank you for letting me take just ten minutes from your
precious time. Thank you for allowing me to have the rights to write this
letter for you, your Excellency.
Dear Sir, I don`t know where to begin and even how to
begin writing you this piece of words. I don`t really have enough power to let
my pen write the suitable words for you, your Excellency. Dear sir, I`m a
simple citizen from Gaza, Palestine like anyone lives in this stricken city, if
it`s a city. We have the same pain and the same suffering. We have the same
status and we all are one belongs to our widow mother Palestine.
Dear Sir, I know and everyone knows that we have the
rights to speak up and to seek our stolen freedom. We have the rights to live
like anyone in this world and to find our imprisoned joy. We also have the
rights to breathe clear oxygen and to eat the least food. We have also the
rights to travel and to study like any simple citizen. And those rights, of
course, are called human rights and everyone must have them. So where are those
rights? Sorry sir if I made you angry at me, but that`s because I`m forced to
say that. Forgive me please.
Dear Sir, what shall we do to get our rights? What shall
we do to live like others? Why are we prevented from life? Are we from another
planet called a planet of strangers? Are we slaves? Why is it inevitable to
live under control? All Gazans and I have many whys to ask, but my pen would be
exhausted from mentioning them.
Dear Sir, I used to live, like all the families in Gaza,
with my family in safe and sound under a simple home. Everything was alright
and we were happy enough. But from the beginning of the current brutality on
Gaza, I would never call it a war, I left my home. I left my books and my pens.
I left everything that I used to live with. I left what made me happy . Why
does that happen? Are we terrorists? Are we murderers? I don`t think. Dear sir,
I`m sorry if my words annoyed you, your Excellency, but please let me tell you
what happened with me as a Gazan like what happened with most of the families
here.
Dear Sir, before leaving my home, I have seen what no one
would see or even dream of. I have seen what made me sick for more than a
week. Shall I tell you what I have seen and witnessed? Sorry if you don`t
want to hear, but my pen forces me to mention it.
Dear Sir, I was sleeping in my bed dreaming of my
prospective future, like anyone in Gaza, that I would build. I was dreaming of
getting the master from any great country like USA, UK, Turkey or Malaysia. I
was dreaming of how I will feed my family when I get a suitable job outside
Gaza after lacking the jobs here. That beautiful dream was interrupted by my
mother when she cried out a warning at me in a morning during this aggression”
Wake up dear son and hurry up”. I woke up directly without a though and rushed
towards my window. I slapped my forehead when I saw the massacres in front of
my eyes in our street. The skies were as dark as the moonless night in spite of
it was a day. The atmosphere was full of gunpowder, so that forced me to close
my nose. The black burnt bodies of women and children were spread everywhere in
that desolate street. Women where running without their babies not knowing
whether they would die or live. Elders were creeping like children not finding
anyone to help them. The men with their black faces were looking for their lost
children under rubble. The homes all round my home were destroyed. My attention
got rapt after what I have seen. Suddenly, my dad came quickly and picked me up
and then we rushed towards the stream of the refugees. We began our tiring
journey as others to an unknown safe shelter to stay in.
Sorry dear sir for making you sad, but I just want to
know why that happens to us. Are we animals? If we are animals, I think there
must be institutions for the animals` rights. If we are not animals, so who we
are? Why does that happen? Sometimes I think of making suicide or hurting
myself. I feel that I`m hopeless in this life here in Gaza. I feel that I have
no goals from living this life. Shall I live or die? What shall I do, your
Excellency? Shall I make a suicide or shall I wait? If I want to choose the
second choice, until when shall I wait? What can I do? Please I need your
advice, your Excellency. It`s not just me saying that, but all the families in
Gaza are in the same position of suffering and even more than I suffer.
Dear Sir, I want to know when the innocent Gazans and
will achieve our dreams. Will I get the master in one of the big countries?
will I get a good job? Please advise me and let me know what to do.
Dear Sir, sorry if I stayed too long writing my words.
Sorry for annoying you again, your Excellency. But please let me ask you the
last question that all Gazans wish to hear its answer from you, your
Excellency. Dear Sir, until when will we stay under aggression? When will we
get our least rights? When will we get our human rights? When will we get our
stolen freedom? When will our children get their imprisoned childhood? When
will they smile and live like others?
Finally, I would appreciate you, your Excellency, for
paying your precious attention to my simple letter.
Thank you very much
A bunch of greets from Gaza, Palestine and its people.
"Al-Aqsa is the king of every Palestinian man...
We will protect and defend the al-Aqsa as we will protect and defend our cross and the Resurrection of Christian faith in all our churches and mosques and holy places...
and we will protect and defend Jerusalem, and every inch of the land of Palestine ...
One people... One future of all of us... we are all al-Aqsa... We are all Palestine...."
A Palestinian child sits above the ruins of his ruined home, and looks at thousands of homes destroyed because of the war on Gaza.
5 November 2014
Israeli forces have killed scores of Palestinian civilians in attacks targeting houses full of families which in some cases have amounted to war crimes, Amnesty International has disclosed in a new report on the latest Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip.
Families under the Rubble: Israeli attacks on inhabited homesdetails eight cases where residential family homes in Gaza were attacked by Israeli forces without warning during Operation Protective Edge in July and August 2014, causing the deaths of at least 104 civilians including 62 children. The report reveals a pattern of frequent Israeli attacks using large aerial bombs to level civilian homes, sometimes killing entire families.
“Israeli forces have brazenly flouted the laws of war by carrying out a series of attacks on civilian homes, displaying callous indifference to the carnage caused,” said Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International.
“The report exposes a pattern of attacks on civilian homes by Israeli forces which have shown a shocking disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians, who were given no warning and had no chance to flee.”
The report contains numerous accounts from survivors who describe the horror of frantically digging through the rubble and dust of their destroyed homes in search of the bodies of children and loved ones.
In several of the cases documented in the report, possible military targets were identified by Amnesty International. However the devastation to civilian lives and property caused in all cases was clearly disproportionate to the military advantages gained by launching the attacks.
“Even if a fighter had been present in one of these residential homes, it would not absolve Israel of its obligation to take every feasible precaution to protect the lives of civilians caught up in the fighting. The repeated, disproportionate attacks on homes indicate that Israel’s current military tactics are deeply flawed and fundamentally at odds with the principles of international humanitarian law,” said Philip Luther.
In the single deadliest attack documented in the report, 36 members of four families including 18 children were killed when the three-storey al-Dali building, was struck. Israel has not announced why the building was targeted, but Amnesty International has identified possible military targets within the building.
The second deadliest attack appears to have targeted a member of the al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, who was outside the Abu Jame’ family home. The house was completely levelled killing 25 civilians including 19 children. Regardless of the intended targets, both of these attacks constitute grossly disproportionate attacks and under international law, they should have been cancelled or postponed as soon as it was evident that so many civilians were present in the house.
Israeli officials have failed to give any justification for carrying out these attacks. In some of the cases in this report Amnesty International has not been able to identify any possible military target. In those cases it appears that the attacks directly and deliberately targeted civilians or civilian objects, which would constitute war crimes.
In all of the cases researched by Amnesty International no prior warning was given to residents of the homes which were attacked. If it had been given, excessive loss of civilian lives could clearly have been avoided.
“It is tragic to think that these civilian deaths could have been prevented. The onus is on Israeli officials to explain why they chose to deliberately flatten entire homes full of civilians, when they had a clear legal obligation to minimize harm to civilians and the means of doing so,” said Philip Luther.
The report highlights the catastrophic consequences of Israel’s attacks on homes, which have shattered the lives of entire families. Some of the homes attacked were overflowing with relatives who had fled other areas of Gaza in search of safety.
Survivors of an attack on the al-Hallaq family home described horrifying scenes of strewn body parts amid the dust and chaos after three missiles struck the house.
Khalil Abed Hassan Ammar, a doctor with the Palestinian Medical Council and a resident in the building said: “It was terrifying we couldn’t save anyone…. All of the kids were burnt, I couldn’t tell which were mine and which were the neighbours’…We carried whoever we were able to the ambulance… I only recognized Ibrahim my eldest child, when I saw the shoes he was wearing…I had bought them for him two days before.”
Ayman Haniyeh, one of the neighbours, described the trauma of trying to search for survivors:
“All I can remember are the bits and pieces I saw of bodies, teeth, head, arms, insides, everything scattered and spread,” he said. One survivor of the same attack described hugging a bag full of the “shreds” of her son’s body.
Israel has so far failed to even acknowledge any of the attacks detailed in the report and has not responded to Amnesty International’s requests for explanations of why each of these attacks took place.
At least 18,000 homes were destroyed or rendered uninhabitable during the conflict. More than 1,500 Palestinian civilians including 519 children were killed in Israeli attacks carried out during the latest Gaza conflict. Palestinian armed groups also committed war crimes, firing thousands of indiscriminate rockets into Israel killing six civilians including one child.
“What is crucial now is that there is accountability for any violations of international humanitarian law that have been committed. The Israeli authorities must provide answers. The international community must take urgent steps to end the perpetual cycle of serious violations and complete impunity,” said Philip Luther.
Given the failure of Israeli and Palestinian authorities to independently and impartially investigate allegations of war crimes, it is imperative that the international community support the involvement of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Amnesty International is renewing its calls on Israel and the Palestinian authorities to accede to the Rome Statute and grant the ICC the authority to investigate crimes committed in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). The organization is also calling for the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Israel and the OPT to the ICC so that the prosecutor can investigate allegations of crimes under international law by all parties.
Israel has continued to deny access to Gaza for international human rights organizations including Amnesty International and the organization has been forced to conduct its research for this report remotely, supported by two fieldworkers based in Gaza. Israel has also announced that it will not co-operate with the Commission of Inquiry established by the UN Human Rights Council.
“Failing to allow independent human rights monitors into Gaza smacks of a deliberately orchestrated attempt to cover up violations or hide from international scrutiny. Israel must cooperate fully with the UN Commission of Inquiry and grant international human rights organizations such as Amnesty International immediate access to Gaza to prove its commitment to human rights,” said Philip Luther.
