Palestine News Update: School Hit Piles Pressure on Israel; Hezbollah Ready to Fight

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Wednesday, January 07, 2009
15:47 Mecca time, 12:47 GMT

School hit piles pressure on Israel

The UN says it regularly sends the Israeli army exact geographical
coordinates of its facilities

Israel is facing mounting pressure to agree a ceasefire, as fighting
continues in the wake of an attack on a UN school in Gaza.

On Wednesday, 11 Palestinians were killed by air strikes and shelling in
Gaza City and in the north of the Strip.

Explosions were also reported in Jabaliya and Beit Lahia, north of Gaza,
as around eight rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel.

No Israeli injuries have been reported following the rocket attacks.

On Tuesday, the Israelis launched an attack on a school run by the
United Nations Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa) in the northern town of
Jabaliya.

The attack left 43 Palestinians dead and around 100 wounded.

Doctors said all the dead were either people sheltering in the school or
residents of the nearby Jabaliya refugee camp.

'No safe havens'

Around 15,000 Palestinians have had to flee the fighting amid concern
there are no safe havens in Gaza.

Israel says missiles were fired from the UN building and that their
troops were simply returning fire on Palestinian fighters using the
school as cover.

However, Michel Abdel Massih QC, a London-based international human
rights lawyer, called for an independent investigation.

"If [Israeli] claims are to be tested properly we need an independent
tribunal. The International Criminal Court was set up to deal with these
issues, so there is a mechanism for the UN security council to refer the
case for investigation," he told Al Jazeera.

Massih compared the 680 Palestinian casualties to 10 Israeli deaths and
underlined that proportionality of use of force is central to
international law.

"From an international law point of view, there is at very least a case
to answer against the planners and those who executed those orders," he
said.

John Ging, director of operations in Gaza for Unrwa, said they regularly
provide the Israeli army with exact geographical co-ordinates of its
facilities.

He also called for the Israelis to allow an international investigation
into the incident.

'War crime' allegation

When asked if Tel Aviv would allow such an investigation, Mark Regev,
spokesman for the Israeli prime minister, said Israel had already held
an "initial investigation" which found that troops had returned fire
from the UN building.

Regev accused Hamas, the Palestinian faction that controls the Gaza
Strip, of committing a "war crime" by using those sheltering in the UN
school as "a human shield".

War crimes: Key facts

The International Criminal Court says war crimes are defined as the
violation of the laws and customs of war.

These include:

The murder, ill-treatment or deportation of civilian residents of an
occupied territory.

The extensive destruction of cities, towns and villages, and any
devastation not justified by military necessity.

The incident has provoked strong international condemnation with
Ban-Ki-moon, secretary-general of the United Nations, branding both the
incident and Hamas rocket attacks "unacceptable".

At least 683 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and nearly 3,085
wounded since the war began on December 27. Seven Israeli soldiers and
three civilians have died in the same period.

Following increasing pressure to agree a ceasefire as the humanitarian
situation in Gaza deteriorates further, Israel announced on Wednesday it
would set up "humanitarian corridor" to ship vital supplies to the
Strip.

From Wednesday, Israel says it will halt military operations near Gaza
City for three hours daily to let aid through.

Heba, a Gaza resident and mother of two, told Al Jazeera there was no
place left in Gaza that can be considered safe.

"What happened in the school was a hugely offensive and inhumane thing.
We never expected that people who sought refuge in a UN building would
be attacked and killed," she said.

Self-defence claim

Randa Seniora, from the Independent Commission on Human Rights, told Al
Jazeera: "What is happening in Gaza are crimes against humanity.

"Israel cannot claim, as an occupying authority, that it is acting in
self defence because simply it is considered a war crime to create harm
and damage among civilian populations."

While earlier attempts to agree a ceasefire resolution at the UN have so
far floundered, a French-Egypt proposal appeared to be gaining some
support early on Wednesday.

The deal, which could include stationing international monitors at the
Egyptian-Gaza border, has received qualified backing from the US and
support from Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president and leader of
Hamas-rival Fatah.

Despite this, Jacky Rowland, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in southern
Israel, said the Israelis are thought to be considering stepping up
their assault.

The Israeli security cabinet is due to meet later on Wednesday to debate
whether troops should storm Gaza's urban centres, our correspondent
reported.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies


Wednesday, January 07, 2009
16:15 Mecca time, 13:15 GMT

Hezbollah 'ready to fight Israel'

Nasrallah commended Hugo Chavez for expelling Israel's ambassador to
Caracas

Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, has warned that "all
possibilities" are open against Israel as he gave a fiery speech in
which he blasted Israel's offensive in Gaza and voiced support for
Hamas.

Addressing tens of thousands of supporters via video link at his
stronghold in Beirut's suburbs, Nasrallah said: "I say to [Ehud] Olmert
[Israel's prime minister], the loser, the vanquished in Lebanon that
'you cannot overcome Hamas or Hezbollah'."

The comments by Nasrallah, whose Shia movement fought a devastating war
with Israel in Lebanon in 2006, marked the first time he has spoken so
openly on the possibility of a renewed conflict with Israel since the
war in Gaza began on December 27.

Nasrallah warned that the 2006 conflict, in which about 1,200 mostly
Lebanese civilians were killed, would be "but a walk in the park"
compared to what awaits Israel if it launches a new offensive on
Lebanon.

In his speech, which marked Muslim holy day of Ashura, Nasrallah said:
"Your 2006 war will be but a walk in the park compared to what we have
prepared for you in the event of a new offensive.

"We have to act as though all possibilities are real and open (against
Israel) and we must always be ready for any eventuality."

"We are ready to sacrifice our souls, our brothers and sisters, our
children, our loved ones for what we believe in."

Egypt attacked

The Hezbollah leader also reiterated past criticism of Egypt for failing
to open its border with Gaza and blasted the United Nation Security
Council for not acting to denounce the Israeli offensive that has left
nearly 700 Palestinians dead.

"Does the government in Egypt need more than 650 victims and 2,500
wounded to open the Rafah crossing once and for all to help the people
of Gaza toward victory?" Nasrallah said.

"I am simply asking for the opening of a crossing and not another
front."

He also commended Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's president, for expelling
Israel's ambassador to Caracas on Tuesday saying that all countries,
including Arab states, must follow his example.

"Arab governments must learn from this great Latin American leader to
show their solidarity with the Palestinian people and must cut relations
with Israel," Nasrallah said.

Jordan, Egypt and Mauritania are the only Arab countries to have
diplomatic relations with Israel.

Source: Agencies


Wednesday, January 07, 2009
05:38 Mecca time, 02:38 GMT

Obama 'deeply concerned' over Gaza

Obama has repeatedly said that, until he is sworn in, only Bush can
speak on US foreign policy

Barack Obama, the US president-elect, has expressed "deep concern" over
the number of civilian casualties in Gaza and Israel during the conflict
there.

Speaking after 40 Palestinians were killed at a UN school where
civilians had sheltered, Obama said "the loss of civilian life in Gaza
and Israel is a source of deep concern for me".

Obama repeated his view that he did not want to speak fully in the issue
until he became president on January 20 and that only George Bush could
speak on US foreign policy until then.

"After January 20 I'm going to have plenty to say about the issue, and I
am not backing away at all from what I said during the campaign, that
starting at the beginning of our administration, we are going to be
engaged effectively and consistently in trying to resolve the conflict
in the Middle East," he said.

Al Jazeera's Washington correspondent Rob Reynolds said it seemed Obama
felt the most politically advantageous thing was to say as little as
possible.

"He has mentioned he would have 'plenty to say' once sworn in, but there
could be many more civilian casualties in Gaza by then."

'Durable' ceasefire

With diplomatic efforts intensifying to bring an end to the crisis,
Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, told a meeting of the UN
Security Council in New York that the US understood the urgency of
ending the Gaza conflict and was "working around the clock" to find a
solution.

"Our goal must be the stabilisation and normalisation of life in Gaza,"
Rice said.

But she added that any ceasefire plan "has to be a solution that does
not allow the rearmament of Hamas."

Earlier the Bush administration had called for an immediate ceasefire in
Gaza, but again insisted that it be "durable".

Dana Perino, a White House spokeswoman, said the US backed Israel's Gaza
offensive, but urged it to be "very cautious when it comes to civilian
casualties".

"We want it to be kept to a minimum," she said.

When asked how quickly the US wants to see a ceasefire in place, she
said: "We would like it as soon as possible but it has to be something
that is durable."

Perino denied that the call for an immediate ceasefire was a shift in
the US position, which has backed Israel's decision to attack Gaza in
what it says is a move to stop rocketfire by Palestinian fighters
targeting southern Israel.

On Monday UN sources said a proposed new resolution to be put before the
Security Council would have three main points: A demand for an immediate
ceasefire, the formation of some sort of "humanitarian corridor" for
much-needed aid and a form of "monitoring mechanism" for the ceasefire.

On Monday, Palestinian, Egyptian and other ministers met Ban Ki-moon,
the UN secretary-general in attempt to secure UN backing for a ceasefire
in Gaza.

Last week, the US blocked a Libyan-backed proposal for the UN to call
for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza last weekend.

Source: Agencies


Wednesday, January 07, 2009
00:37 Mecca time, 21:37 GMT

Israel's 'colonial tactics' decried

A majority of Gazans are refugees whose ancestors used to live in what
is today Israel

Azmi Bishara, an Arab-Israeli analyst and former member of the Israeli
parliament, has lashed out at the Israeli media campaign being run
alongside its war on Gaza that criminalises the victims and victimises
the coloniser.

Speaking to Al Jazeera on Tuesday, Bishara said Israel's war on Gaza was
disproportionate and punishes the Palestinian people for refusing to
bow to Israel's fait-accompli in the strip.

"Usually people are pushed to collective punishment because they want to
punish resistance movements or national liberation movements.

"That's usually what colonial powers did, and that's what Israel is
doing.

Bishara said the majority of Gazans are refugees, whose ancestors used
to live in what is now Israel.

"Everybody knows that 75 per cent of the people of Gaza are refugees.
Everybody knows that Israel disengaged from Gaza militarily, but
occupies it economically and politically and also it besieges Gaza
militarily.

"Israel would say, "what would any normal country do if they were
threatened by rocket fire? They would act".

"But Israel is not a normal country, it is an occupying country, a
colonial country and the people of Gaza are under siege."

‘Punishing democracy’

Bishara said that Palestinians are being punished for choosing Hamas in
the January 2006 democratic elections and accused Israeli officials for
dramatising their lies.

"Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, should be asked, "What would you
do if your house is besieged and you can't feed your child, can't go to
school, and can't take them to the doctors and physicians when they are
ill.

"I consider Hamas rockets a protest shout, they haven't hurt many, only
the few. They are weapons of the poor, used to express their will.

"What brought the war was the siege. When colonial powers have
historically gone to occupy countries, siege has always been a weapon.
Siege is a military action at the beginning of war.

"When it did not work to break the will of the Palestinian people...
Israel realised that the rockets were a response to the siege, and they
went to the next phase which was direct military aggression, which is
actually now directed against civilians to punish them for their
democratic choice.

"What I think will happen is a ceasefire that will mean an end to the
siege if the rockets stop. It will happen after the deaths of so many
people."

Source: Al Jazeera