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Diary of Beit Hanoun under siege

Mona El-Farra Gaza Strip 3 November 2006


Khalil Hamad died waiting for a permit to go to the hospital! Israeli occupying forces launched a massive attack against northern Gaza, focused on Beit Hanoun village. At the start of this assault, the village was placed under strict siege. Nobody was allowed in or out of Beit Hanoun. At Al-Awda hospital where 45 injured were admitted for treatment, and 3 dead bodies received, I was told by our Emergency Room staff that one of these dead could have been saved easily. While bleeding and suffering from multiple injuries, Mr. Khalil Hamad had to wait for special arrangements and an army permit to transfer him via the Red Cross from outside the village to the nearest hospital (Al-Awda) 5 minutes away from the scene. 

European Parliament delegation witnesses destruction in Gaza

31 October 2006


Speaking from Gaza on the second last day of a European Parliament fact finding mission to Israel and Palestine, Italian parliamentarian Luisa Morgantini reiterated the delegation’s call for an end to the occupation, and end to the siege of Gaza and for Palestinian unity and independence. “The future of Palestine is at stake, we are calling on Palestinian political forces to work together and we share the position that the occupation must finish. We are aware of the siege, the related destruction and the devastation of Palestinian life caused by this occupation”. 

Beit Hanoun under Siege: Palestine Refugees Severely Affected

3 November 2006


The latest Israeli military siege on the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun began on 1 November, greatly disrupting the lives of residents, the overwhelming majority of whom are Palestine refugees. UNRWA operations in the area have been severely hampered. Three UNRWA humanitarian convoys entered Beit Hanoun on Friday afternoon, and delivered food, water, milk, blankets and mattresses. UNRWA also sent a medical team to the Beit Hanoun health clinic to provide much-needed health services to the population there. UNRWA staff delivering humanitarian supplies noted significant damage to roads and houses as well as the presence of several Israeli military bulldozers and five tanks, close to Beit Hanoun hospital. 

Dark clouds over Beit Hanoun

Yousef Alhelou Beit Hanoun, Gaza Strip 5 November 2006


While I was driving to Kamal Udwan hospital in Beit Lahiya and listening to a local radio station to get the news update, suddenly the Israeli army succeeded in occupying the airwaves for a few minutes. They played a recorded message warning the residents in the north to stay inside their houses and to keep away from militants and not offer them any assistance or protection. Zeyad Abdul Dayem, an ambulance driver, said, “We had to wait today for 15 hours until the Israeli army allowed us to evacuate the body of a dead man who was killed by Israeli snipers who were positioned on the rooftops of high buildings belonging to Palestinian residents of Beit Hanoun”. 

Red Cross deplores the deaths of two paramedics in Gaza

6 November 2006


The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) deplores the death on 3 November of two Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) paramedics in the Gaza Strip and is deeply shocked and saddened by this event. The two died from injuries received while performing their life-saving humanitarian work during a military operation of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The ICRC is appalled by this failure to protect personnel engaged in emergency medical duties. The individuals concerned and their means of transport were clearly marked with a distinctive emblem conferring the protection of the Geneva Conventions. 

50 dead in ongoing operation; missile hits schoolchildren

6 November 2006


IOF’s continued offensive on north Gaza has left 45 Palestinians killed in (50 in the entire Gaza Strip) in its sixth day. Of the killed, nine are children, two are women and one is elderly. Some 190 have also been injured, including 46 children and 45 women. An IOF air strike hit near a school and a nursery bus children. In addition, IOF have destroyed 64 homes, 11 of which completely, seized 34 others, and demolished five public institutions, two stores and five vehicles. The humanitarian situation in Beit Hanoun has further deteriorated owing to the shortage of foodstuffs, electricity, water and medicine, as well as increasing damage to the town’s infrastructure. 

When Rain Becomes the Nightmare: National Day Against Cluster Bombs!

Imad Martada Lebanon 6 November 2006


When it comes to cluster bombs, rain was again an issue; a big tent was put up in Martyr s square in downtown Beirut to host the event to avoid the pouring sky. Many NGOs, local and international, gathered to raise awareness about this indiscriminate weapon and to voice a demand for a ban on its manufacturing, distribution and usage. School children and adults toured the multiple sections of the event, an extensive photo exhibit revealing the perilous impact of these weapons in Southern Lebanon; a booth and area where specialists illustrated the stages in constructing prosthetics and artificial limbs, and where the public could also try them along with wheel chairs; and a puppet show for children raising awareness amongst the children. 

Letter: European inaction and complicity as Gaza burns

Ali Abunimah 6 November 2006


EI Co-founder Ali Abunimah responds to a statement issued by Finland, in its capacity as EU President, about the mounting atrocities in Gaza. “I wholeheartedly agree with that part of your statement which says, ‘Violence will only aggravate an already grave situation in the region,’” Abunimah writes, “But violence will not be ended by empty condemnation of the victims and craven appeasement of the occupier. It will end when governments like yours take action to make Israel, as the occupying colonial power, accountable.” Abunimah points to six steps the EU could take if it was really interested in ending violence and bringing about peace. 

Israeli forces kill medical volunteers and block access to hospitals in Gaza

5 November 2006


The Israeli occupying forces have deliberately attacked and targeted unarmed civilians as well as PRCS ambulances and medical teams. On November 3, 2006, Israeli forces targeted and killed two members of PRCS medical teams, while they were attempting to evacuate a victim killed by Israeli fire in Beit Lahia area. At the same time, Beit Hanoun Hospital is continued to be under siege by Israeli tanks and armored vehicles, which prevent medical teams and victims from reaching the hospital. 

Weekly Report of Human Rights Violations

2 November 2006


IOF have escalated attacks on Palestinian civilians and their property in the OPT. Israeli political and military officials have threatened to launch a wide scale military campaign on the Gaza Strip, unconcerned about the lives and property of Palestinian civilians. During the reported period, IOF killed 27 Palestinians, 11 of whom are civilians including two children and a woman, are civilians. Twenty three of the victims were killed by IOF in the Gaza Strip. In addition, 104 Palestinians, including 29 children and 4 women, were wounded. This increase in the number of casualties in the Gaza Strip has followed orders by the Israeli Defense Minister Amir Perets to his army to expand military operations in the Gaza Strip allegedly to stop the armament of Palestinian organizations.