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UN officials voice 'shock and dismay' at deadly Israeli shelling of Gaza civilians

8 November 2006


United Nations officials voiced shock and dismay at Israel’s shelling of a residential area in the occupied Gaza Strip in which 18 Palestinian civilians were killed, including eight children and seven women, with Secretary-General Kofi Annan calling on the Israeli Government to cease its military operations there forthwith. In a statement issued by his spokesman, Mr. Annan took note of the reported announcement by Israel of a full investigation and said he looked forward to its early results. He also called on the Palestinians to halt attacks against Israeli targets. The Security Council President for November, Ambassador Jorge Voto-Bernales of Peru, summoned the 15-member body for urgent consultations on the situation, including today’s shelling of the residential area in Beit Hanoun. 

Secretary-General calls on Israeli government to cease its military operations in Gaza

8 November 2006


The Secretary-General was shocked to learn about the Israeli military operation carried out early today in a residential area in Beit Hanoun, which has resulted in the deaths of at least 18 Palestinians, including eight children and seven women. He extends his condolences to the bereaved families of the victims. Only last Friday, the Secretary-General expressed his deep concern about the rising death toll caused by the Israeli military operation in northern Gaza, given that such operations inevitably cause civilian casualties. The Secretary-General reminds both sides of their obligations under international humanitarian law regarding the protection of civilians in armed conflict. 

Academic Boycott: "We do not want to continue business as usual"

Birgit Althaler 8 November 2006


“We are willing to talk to any Israeli academic at any time about the boycott and the Israeli policies that have generated it. What we are not willing to do is to continue with ‘business as usual’. They need to see that not only complicity but also silence have their consequences.” Jonathan Rosenhead has been a member of the British Committee for Universities of Palestine for the past two years. He has been a member of staff at the London School of Economics since 1967 and Professor of Operational Research from 1987. Birgit Althaler speaks with him about recent developments in the academic boycott. 

No evidence of radioactive residue in Lebanon: post-conflict assessment

7 November 2006


The fieldwork of the post conflict environmental assessment of Lebanon has been completed by a team from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which carried out its work in Lebanon from 30 September to 21 October 2006. The experts covered the following disciplines; Asbestos; Contaminated land; Coastal and marine issues; Solid and hazardous waste management; Surface and ground water; Weapons and munitions. From these respective disciplines a wide range of samples were transported to three independent and recognized laboratories in Europe for tests. 

Massacre in Beit Hanoun

Yousef Alhelou Beit Hanoun, Gaza Strip 8 November 2006


One day after the Israel army declared that it had pulled out and completed Operation Autumn Clouds in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun, 24 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and the West Bank, 19 people were killed and at least 45 were injured as a large number of shells were fired at the town. Another five Palestinians were killed in Jenin, northern West Bank by Israeli army fire. The series of incidents began at 6 a.m., when eyewitness said that dozens of tank shells and missiles landed simultaneously in a small and limited area in Beit Hanoun. Ambulances found it difficult to evacuate the wounded. 

UNRWA strongly condemns Israeli military operations in Beit Hanoun

8 November 2006


UNRWA’s Commissioner-General Karen AbuZayd expressed shock and dismay at the killing of yet more Palestine refugees, many of them women and children, in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun this morning. A barrage of tank shells hit civilian homes in Beit Hanoun early Wednesday morning, causing 19 fatalities and leaving more than 60 people injured. The Al-Athamneh family lost 17 members including four women, five children and two infants, one of them two years old, the other 9 months old. The Al-Athamneh family are Palestine refugees under UNRWA’s mandate. “This morning’s tragedy is yet more evidence, if any were needed, that this futile cycle of inhuman violence must end,” Karen AbuZayd said. 

UN human rights expert calls for urgent action on Gaza

8 November 2006


On 25 June 2006 Israel embarked on a military operation in Gaza that has resulted in over 300 deaths, including many civilians; over a thousand injuries; large-scale devastation of public facilities and private homes; the destruction of agricultural lands; the disruption of hospitals, clinics and schools; the denial of access to adequate electricity, water and food; and the occupation and imprisonment of the people of Gaza. This brutal collective punishment of a people, not a government, has passed largely unnoticed by the international community. The Quartet, comprising the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and the Russian Federation, has done little to halt Israel’s attacks. 

Palestinian human rights groups denounce Beit Hanoun massacre

8 November 2006


The Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) have committed an appalling act of mass murder in the town of Beit Hanoun today, one day after they redeployed around it. At dawn, the IOF fired eleven artillery shells on six homes in the town killing 18 civilians; seven of whom are children and six of whom are women. 53 others were wounded; of whom 25 are children and 12 are women. With this, the number of Palestinians who have been killed since the commencement of the IOF operation in Beit hanoun on 1 November 2006 has reached 77. Palestinian human rights organizations strongly condemn this outrageous crime and stress that it is but another example of the continued excessive use of force and the targeting of civilians and civilian objects that is carried out by IOF. 

"We just need to live" say Beit Hanoun residents

8 November 2006


Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun have described finding bodies dismembered by what they said was Israeli artillery fire early this morning, and added that many residents were fleeing the town for fear of further violence. They told how they have been left without water - and in many cases homes - after the Israeli military occupied the town of 50,000 inhabitants for a week before bombarding it less than 24 hours after withdrawing. “Right now, the only thing the people of Beit Hanoun need is to live,” said Yamen Zaqqout, a 28-year-old computer programmer. 

B'Tselem: The Killing of Civilians in Beit Hanun is a War Crime

8 November 2006


Israeli artillery shells struck a residential neighborhood in Beit Hanun, Gaza Strip, early Wednesday morning, killing 18 civilians, including 7 minors, and wounding some 40 others. The Israeli military contended that the artillery fire was aimed at the place from which Qassam rockets were fired at Ashkelon yesterday, an area about half a kilometer from where the shells actually landed. The IDF said that human or technical error caused the shells to strike the houses. The Minister of Defense has ordered an investigation into the incident.