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Key Events
Israel's "Operation Rainbow" in Rafah, Gaza (13 May 2004-)
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| A Palestinian woman sits amid the rubble of her destroyed home in the Brazil neighborhood of Rafah, Gaza, May 2004. (Johannes Abeling) |
Located in the southern part of the occupied Gaza Strip, on the border with Egypt, Rafah has been frequently the scene of violence and oppression. Rafah refugee camp was established in 1949 to provide shelter to 41,000 refugees. It was the largest and most densely populated refugee camps in the Gaza Strip. The camp is divided into 17 blocks. Over the past three-and-a-half years, Israeli occupying forces demolished some 1,800 homes in the Rafah Refugee Camp. On 13 May 2004, Israeli occupying forces initiated a large offensive on Rafah town and refugee camp, during which they committed a series of serious violations of human rights. By 20 May, 45 Palestinians, 38 of them civilians, including nine children, had been killed, and 134 civilians, including around 50 children, had been injured. Most of the civilian injuries have been described by medical sources as "serious". Israeli troops also destroyed dozens of Palestinian houses, rendering hundreds of Palestinians homeless. They also largely destroyed civilian infrastructure and facilities in the town and refugee camp.
Opinion and Analysis
Israel's "state terrorism" in Gaza, Jeff Halper (14 May 2004)
Key Israeli distortions about "Operation Rainbow" in Rafah, Nigel Parry (19 May 2004)
Genocide By Public Policy, Sam Bahour and Michael Dahan, News from Within (19 May 2004)
Who really smuggled weapons to Rafah?, Arjan El Fassed (20 May 2004)
After Rafah, Europe, Arabs have no excuse for inaction, Ali Abunimah (22 May 2004)
The Crimes of War: Between Al-Zeitoun (Gaza) and Rafah, Tamar Gozansky (26 May 2004)
Time to put the US media on trial for complicity in genocide? Nigel Parry (4 June 2004)
The days before "Operation Rainbow"
1,100 Palestinians made homeless in Gaza in 10 days of destruction UNRWA (10 May 2004)
"OPERATION RAINBOW" - CHRONOLOGY OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
In common with all research based on data collection from a war zone, this list can only represent a partial chronology of incidents and events. Typically, human rights organisations in Palestine highlight key violations such as deaths, injuries and demolitions. Access to the scene of violations during military operations is often difficult, sometime impossible.
During times of crisis, the scale of violations on the ground is hard to communicate. For every person killed, there are tens more injured, many seriously. For every home demolished, every family member has a story. To quote writer George MacDonald, "One story I will try to reproduce. But, alas! it is like trying to reconstruct a forest out of broken branches and withered leaves."
13 May 2004 - Day One
Israeli forces kill 12 Palestinians and wound at least 20 in Rafah (PCHR)
Weekly report on human rights violations (PCHR)
PCHR obtains temporary injunction against demolitions of homes in Rafah (PCHR)
14 May 2004 - Day Two
Annan, UN rights chief voice dismay at latest violence in Gaza, UN News (14 May 2004)
15 May 2004 - Day Three
Israeli helicopters launch attack on Gaza City, PCHR (15 May 2004)
Israeli forces kill 14 Palestinians and destroy 80 homes in Rafah, PCHR (15 May 2004)
Israeli forces kill Palestinian in Rafah and wound 4 others in Aerial attack on Gaza (PCHR)
16 May 2004 - Day Six
UNRWA Alarmed at Demolitions (UNRWA)
The Rule of Law Ends at the Border (B'Tselem)
Israeli High Court approves destruction of Palestinian homes in Rafah (PCHR)
17 May 2004 - Day Five
"These demolitions constitute a war crime" (COHRE)
Israeli helicopters attack civilian targets in Gaza (PCHR)
Annan calls on Israel to halt destruction of Palestinian homes in Gaza (UN News)
Israeli forces kill 4 Palestinians in Rafah, Arjan El Fassed (17 March 2004)
18 May 2004 - Day Six
Today's Events in Rafah (B'Tselem)
Israeli forces kill 12 Palestinians in Rafah as Israeli army starts demolition (PCHR)
A history of destruction (BADIL)
Amnesty: "Evictions and demolitions must stop" (Amnesty International)
Israel obstructs medical aid (PHR)
19 May 2004 - Day Seven
Rafah Daily Update, 3.00PM (Mezan)
Rafah Daily Update, 11.00PM (Mezan)
Today's Events in Rafah (B'Tselem)
Israeli attack on civilians at protest in Rafah (PCHR)
PCRS: Israeli Army attacks peaceful solidarity march in Rafah (Palestine Red Crescent Society)
Security Council calls on Israel to stop demolition of Palestinian homes (UN News)
20 May 2004 - Day Eight
Rafah Daily Update, 3.00PM (Mezan)
Rafah Daily Update, 11.00PM (Mezan)
Rafah: Israeli forces kill 39 Palestinians in four days (PCHR)
Weekly Report on Human Rights Violations (PCHR)
End unlawful use of force against civilians in Gaza (Human Rights Watch)
UN human rights expert voices 'Horror' at Israeli action in Gaza (UN News)
21 May 2004 - Day Nine
Rafah Daily Update, 11.00PM (Mezan)
Amnesty: Call for independent investigation into Rafah killings (Amnesty International)
Under-Secretary-General briefs Security Council on death and destruction in Rafah (UN News)
22 May 2004 - Day Ten
Rafah Daily Update, 3.00PM (Mezan)
Human Rights groups: "No State is Above the Law"
23 May 2004 - Day Eleven
Rafah Daily Update, 3.00PM (Mezan)
24 May 2004 - Day Twelve
Israeli troops fire on funeral as Rafah tries to bury its dead (Palestine Monitor)
UN human rights experts echo concerns about events in Rafah and Gaza Strip (UN News)
"Operation Rainbow" and the Israeli High Court of Justice
PCHR obtains temporary injunction against demolitions of homes in Rafah, PCHR (14 May 2004)
Israeli High Court approves destruction of Palestinian homes in Rafah, PCHR (16 May 2004)
The Rule of Law Ends at the Border, B'Tselem (16 May 2004)
Israeli human rights groups submit humanitarian access demand to Supreme Court, ACRI (20 May 2004)
High Court accepts Israeli army's position, PHR (21 May 2004)
HCJ 4764/04: High Court decision on the events in Rafah (PDF) (31 May 2004)
Attack on unarmed demonstrators, Tel al-Sultan, 19 May 2004
Video of attack aftermath Associated Press (19 May 2004)
Photostory: Israel's Rafah operation and its May 19th attack on a peaceful march, Johannes Abeling (21 May 2004)
UN human rights experts echo concerns about events in Rafa and Gaza Strip, UN News (24 May 2004)
See 19 May 2004 entries in the chronology above
Action & Activism
Speak out now for Rafah, Michael F. Brown (17 May 2004)
Urgent: Protest Israeli "war crimes" against civilians in Rafah; Gaza (18 May 2004)
Black is for mourning, to say "we're not conforming," to war crimes in the Middle East (19 May 2004)
Outrage in Olympia as Sister City is Attacked, candio. (19 May 2004)
Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups urge action (19 May 2004)
A black day: Jerusalem-Rafah-Tel Aviv, Naama Nagar, ICAHD (20 May 2004)
Why I Burned My Israeli Military Papers, Josh Ruebner (24 May 2004)
Key archived features about Rafah
"I was a human shield": An Israeli visits ISM in Rafah, Billie Moskona-Lerman, Live from Palestine, (1 May 2003)
Israel's 'We have the right to kill you' visa for Gaza, Nigel Parry and Ali Abunimah (10 May 2003)
Israeli incursion leaves 1,240 Palestinians homeless, UN agency finds, UNRWA (13 October 2003)
Rafah in 2003, Arjan El Fassed (30 December 2003)
Humanitarian consequences of Israel's military operation in Rafah, OCHA (28 January 2004)
1,100 Palestinians made homeless in Gaza in 10 days of destruction, UNRWA (10 May 2004)
Photostory: Trapped in Someone Else's Dream Asim Rafiqui
Internationals killed in Rafah
Rachel Corrie (USA)
Thomas Hurndall (UK)
James Miller (UK)
Websites
Rafah Today
Rafah Kid Rambles
Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project
Palestinian Center for Human Rights
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights
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