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The stench of death awaits people returning

17 August 2006


Behind a destroyed school, Nabil Chrara sat on a pile of rocks, crying his heart out as he watched a tractor dig up the bodies of four members of his family. “They refused to leave the house,” he said. The village of Bint Jbeil, some 80 km south of Beirut, bore witness to some of the heaviest fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. “They have been dead for 25 days now,” said Nabil Chrara. “My neighbour survived, but not my family.” Behind him, Yusef Abdalla Harb looked across from the tent he has erected over his ruined home to Maroun Al-Ras, a hilltop still occupied by Israeli troops. 

Destruction and defiance as southerners return home

17 August 2006


An endless stream of cars filled with families clogs the dusty tracks of southern Lebanon. After the month-long conflict between Israel and the armed wing of Lebanon’s Hezbollah party, displaced civilians are heading home. Lebanon’s Higher Relief Council says some 200,000 of the one million people it estimates were displaced by the conflict, have hit the road since a United Nations-brokered ceasefire began on Monday. On the journey home, some fly yellow Hezbollah flags from their cars. After driving for 12 hours from Beirut, they reach their villages, or at least what is left of them. 

Weekly Report of Human Rights Violations

17 August 2006


IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT; IOF have imposed a tightened siege on the Gaza Strip and there have been shortages of foodstuffs and fuels; IOF positioned at a various checkpoints in the West Bank arrested 8 Palestinian civilians, including two girls. IOF have continued to construct the Annexation Wall in the West Bank; they razed more areas of agricultural land in Qalqilya and used force to disperse a peaceful demonstration protesting the construction of the Wall in Bal’ein village, west of Ramallah. Israeli settlers have continued attacks against Palestinian civilians and property in the OPT; settlers celebrated a Jewish wedding inside the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron. 

UNRWA Strongly Condemns the Killing of its Staff Member

15 August 2006


At 06:40hrs on August 14, one hour and twenty minutes before the cessation of hostilities in Lebanon, Israeli aircraft targeted a Palestinian faction in the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp in Saida with two missiles. The destructive power of the missiles, fired into a civilian residential area, killed UNRWA staff member Mr. Abdel Saghir. Mr. Saghir, 48, had begun his shift as a sanitation labourer ten minutes earlier. He leaves behind a wife and three children. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) strongly condemns the killing of Mr. Saghir. 

The situation of Palestine refugees in South Lebanon

15 August 2006


The Palestine Refugees in South Lebanon live in the city of Tyre, villages around the city and towards the Israeli border and in three camps: El-Buss (1.5km south-east of the city of Tyre), Burj el-Shemali (3km east of Tyre) and Rashidieh (on the seashore 5km south of Tyre). With the outbreak of the conflict on 12-13 July the Palestine refugee camps saw both inflows and outflows of displaced people. A survey estimated the population of the three camps at 25,363, with 2,920 having left the camps, and 22,443 left behind. While UNRWA has no precise data on the whereabouts of those who left, the community reports that most have gone to friends and family in the Palestinian camps in Saida. 

Toxic air a major health hazard

17 August 2006


Chemicals and dust from the buildings hit during Israeli air strikes on Lebanon have badly polluted the air and land, local nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and government officials have warned. “With all the dust and smoke in the air, it is unbearable walking around the southern suburbs of Beirut,” said Marie Claire Feghali, a journalist with An-Nahar newspaper. “Even while wearing face masks, my colleague and I struggled to breathe. In fact, she has not stopped coughing since our return to the office several hours ago.” The destruction has released large amounts of chemical and dust particles into the atmosphere. 

Palestinians anxiously await return to Lebanon

17 August 2006


On an ordinary August afternoon, the Al-Quds school on the outskirts of Damascus would be empty, its pupils enjoying their summer break. But this year it is playing host to dozens of Palestinian families who fled the conflict in Lebanon. As thousands of Lebanese refugees return home from Syria, the Palestinians here remain cautious. “We will wait a few days to see what the situation is. It’s too early to go back yet,” said Fadi Hussein Khalil. The conflict began on 12 July after the armed wing of the political party Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers, and Israel responded a large-scale offensive and a blockade. 

Public Security Minister Avi Dichter refuses Supreme Court recommendation to cancel promotion of Benzi Sau

17 August 2006


On June 1, The Committee of the Victims’ Families of October 2000 presented an appeal to the Supreme Court against Benzi Sau and Public Security Minster (former head of the Shabak) Avi Dichter. The appeal called to cancel the promotion of Benzi Sau for the post of Head of Operations to the Public Security Minister (considered high-ranking in the Public Security Ministry). Benzi Sau was one of the most prominent high-ranking officers on the scene during protests of the Arab minority in the October 2000 events, and particularly so in Umm el-Fahm. 

Israeli rocket launching bases and army training camps deliberately constructed near Arab towns and villages

17 August 2006

During the War on Lebanon, the Israeli army installed rocket launching bases near Arab towns and villages in the north, in some cases only a few metres away. The Arab towns of Fassuta, Tarsheeha, and ‘Arab al-‘Aramshe were all subject to this deliberate military policy. These rocket launching bases are a serious threat to the residents of nearby towns and villages for a number of reasons. First, launching the rockets and firing is ongoing throughout the day and continues into the night. Second, there exists the possibility of misfiring which puts the lives of residents in danger. 

EI's Nigel Parry on Free Speech Radio News

17 August 2006


“There’s been a war going on for Palestine at some level for the last 100 years and as technology changed from telephone and faxes to email and the Internet, … those have been appropriated into the battle for public opinion. Because in the end, this is not going to be decided by who the superpower is or how many weapons Israel has and the balance of power in the region. It will be decided by public opinion, as was South Africa.” EI co-founder Nigel Parry spoke with Free Speech Radio News on August 15th about how communications technology plays a role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.