25 truths about Israel’s attack on Gaza

Salim Lamrani

Contrary to statements made by Israeli authorities, the current bombing of Gaza has as its objective an end to unity between Al Fatah and Hamas, and preventing the re-opening of peace talks.

Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s "Protective Edge" operation is intended to destroy the unity of Hamas and Fatah, who established a national unity government June 2. Photo: AFP /Jack Guez.

1. In 2005, Israel formally announced its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and dismantling of settlement colonies, but in reality maintains total control of the enclave’s aerial and maritime space. It occupies a cushion area in the interior of Gaza; the only external commercial zone in Palestinian territory; the pedestrian crossing in Erez which links Gaza and the West Bank with Israel; and maintains the territory’s civil register.

2. Since 2007, Gaza has been subjected to a blockade by Israel and Egypt. According to the Israeli non-governmental organization Gisha, inhabitants are denied many basic products (marmalade, vinegar, chocolate, canned fruit, grain, nuts, crackers, sweets, fried potatoes, gas for soft drinks, dried fruit, fresh meat, plaster, asphalt, constriction lumber, cement, iron, glucose, industrial salt, plastic/glass/metal containers, industrial margarine, cloth, fishing poles and nets, hoses, replacement parts for tractors, musical instruments, paper, writing instruments, notebooks, newspapers, toys, razor blades, sewing machines, horses, mules, goats, cattle and chicks, etc.)

3. With a surface area of 360 square kilometers and a population of 1.7 million inhabitants, Gaza is one of the most densely populated locations in the world, with more than 4,700 persons per square kilometer. Living in a state of siege, with a 40% unemployment rate (60% among youth 15 to 29 years of age), 53% of the population under 18, Gaza’s residents suffer material deprivation and regular black-outs, surviving in practical indigence. More than 70% depend on humanitarian aid.

Israel’s bombs have left thousands dead and tens of thousands injured in Gaza, the majority civilians, in a veritable genocide.

4. The kidnapping and murder of three Israeli adolescents in June served as a pretext for Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netayahu to unleash another deadly attack on the civilian population of Gaza.

5. To date, there is not the slightest evidence that Hamas was involved in the crime. On the contrary, leaders of the Palestinian armed organization deny all responsibility for the act. On July 25, 2014, BBC correspondent Jon Donnison reported that Mickey Rosenfeld, Israeli police spokesperson, acknowledged that Hamas was not implicated in the murders, probably committed by an "isolated group," he said.

6. During the days which followed the kidnapping, the Israeli army launched a broad military operation and proceeded to arrest some 350 Palestinians, among them most Hamas leaders in the West Bank - including deputies and Aziz Dweik, president of Palestine’s Parliament - and assassinated five persons. A Palestinian youth was burned alive by Israeli extremists.

Israel is openly attacking the civilian population in Gaza.

7. In response to this military offensive, Hamas fired rockets on several Israeli cities, and demanded the lifting of the blockade, as established in the ceasefire agreements of 2008 and 2012, as well as the release of Palestinian political prisoners.

8. On July 8, 2014, Israel launched the operation dubbed "Protective Edge" and bombed the civilian population in Gaza, causing thousands of deaths and more than 10,000 injuries. The officially stated objective was to destroy tunnels which allowed incursions into Israeli territory by Hamas combatants.

9. As of August 3, Israel’s incessant bombing has left at least 1,439 Palestinians dead, 90% civilians and at least 250 children, according to the United Nations humanitarian aid coordinating office.

10. Jon Snow, British television Channel 4 journalist, traveled to Gaza and offered his testimony, recalling that the average age of Gaza inhabitants is 17, with some 250,000 children under 10 years of age. Given the population density, he commented, Israel surely knows their bombs are inevitably killing children.

11. On the Israeli side, according to official figures, 63 soldiers and three civilians have lost their lives as a result of attacks by Hamas and other armed Palestinian factions.

12. On July 22, 2014, Majed Bamya, Palestinian diplomatic spokesperson, denounced the hypocrisy of the West during an interview on French television, "Let me understand. Hamas, which during this Israeli aggression, this war, has caused the deaths of 27 persons, among them 25 members of the military occupation, would be a criminal terrorist organization, while those who caused the deaths of 530 persons, 90% civilian and more than 100 children, would be

the civilized country in this conflict?... A slave rebellion does not make slavery acceptable."

13. July 14, 2014, Hamas rejected an Egyptian ceasefire proposal, describing it as a "surrender," since no provisions to end the blockade or free political prisoners were included. The proposal was accepted by Israel.

14. On July 18, the Israeli army launched a ground invasion of Gaza, deploying 70,000 soldiers.

15. On July 19, Hamas presented a seven-point ceasefire proposal. On July 24, Israel rejected the ceasefire proposal made by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

16. July 28, in front of international television cameras, an Israeli missile killed four children playing on a beach near the Al-Shati refugee camp, causing a global outcry.

17. Since the beginning of the bombing, Israeli bombs have destroyed three United Nations schools, causing the deaths of dozens of persons, among them many children. July 23, a missile hit the UN school in Beit Anún. July 29, the Jabaliya UN school was bombed by the Israeli army killing 16 persons, including at least six children. UN General Secretary Ban Ki Moon denounced the crime saying, "The exact location of this primary school was communicated to Israeli authorities 17 times, specifically last night, only a few hours before this attack." August 3, the Israeli army bombed a third UN school in Rafah. According to the UN, "There are many dead and injured."

18. According to UNICEF, since the beginning of the bombing, at least 10 children a day have lost their lives. Pernille Ironside, UNICEF official in Gaza, denounced the massacre and said, "Children are being killed, injured, mutilated, and burned, in addition to being absolutely terrified."

19. According to the World Health Organization, some 250,000 persons have been forced to flee the combat zone and are currently homeless.

20. Navy Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights accused Israel of committing war crimes by bombing UN schools and hospitals.

21. July 31, Netanyahu mobilized another 16,000 soldiers, increasing the number deployed to 86,000.

22. The UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution introduced by Palestine, with a majority of 29 votes (17 abstentions, and one against), condemning the widespread, systematic and flagrant violations of human rights and fundamental liberties being committed by Israel in Gaza. The resolution demands that the Palestinian population be immediately placed under "international protection."

23. Over the last 10 years, Israel has illegally constructed more than 100,000 new settlements in occupied territory, in violation of international law, and is currently holding more than 6,000 Palestinian political prisoners.

24. Despite calls for a ceasefire, the United States and Europe continue to economically and militarily support Israel, regardless of its repeated violations of international law and war crimes in Gaza. On the contrary, Latin America has adopted a different position, calling for an end to hostilities, the lifting of the blockade and reopening of talks between the two parties. In a common communiqué, the Presidents of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Venezuela "energetically condemned the disproportionate use of force on the part of the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, which is principally impacting civilians, including children and women." Brazil, Ecuador, Chile and Peru withdrew their ambassadors in Israel, while Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia have broken diplomatic relations.