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Annan laments ongoing violence in Gaza as another girl is hit by Israeli gunfire

12 October 2004


In a statement issued by his spokesman, Mr. Annan said he deplored the “high toll of death and injuries among the civilian population” and grieved “for the many children who have been killed or wounded” during the Israeli military operations in the north of the Gaza Strip. The Secretary-General said he was disturbed by the destruction of civilian property, infrastructure and agricultural land during the operations and called on the Israeli Government to do its utmost to avoid harming Palestinian civilians. Reminding both sides of their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians, he urged them to cease all forms of violence and search for a peaceful settlement. 

Experts urge Arab-international partnership to help Palestinians

10 October 2004


With Palestinians’ living conditions deteriorating drastically, hundreds of experts gathered at the United Nations headquarters in Beirut today to kick off a four-day meeting aimed at generating long-term solutions to their plight. Officially called “The Arab International Forum on Rehabilitation and Development in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: Towards an Independent State,” the unprecedented event aimed at helping to build a secure, sustainable and sovereign Palestine. Organized by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the Arab League and the PA, the meeting drew more than 700 participants, including senior officials from across the region. 

Israeli gunfire hits 11-year old girl sitting at her desk in an UNRWA school

12 October 2004


A child sitting in the classroom of an UN-flagged school has been struck in the stomach by gunfire from an Israeli position in the Gaza Strip. This is the fourth such incident in under two years, last month an 11-year old girl died after being hit at her desk in Khan Younis. At 10:45hrs this morning, two shots were heard from the direction of an Israeli army position on the border of the Gush Katif settlement block and overlooking Khan Younis refugee camp. One of the shots hit Ghadeer Jaber Mokheimer, a grade five pupil at UNRWA’s Co-Ed Elementary D School. Ghadeer was immediately taken to hospital and into emergency surgery. Her condition is currently reported as stable. 

Amin Salem 1969 - 2004: UHWC staff member killed during Israeli operation

Mona El-Farra Gaza Strip 12 October 2004


Yesterday I arrived at work to the most shocking news. A colleague of mine, Amin Salem from the human resources department, was killed when an Israeli army tank shelled his home in Beit Lahia. Amin’s uncle also died in the shelling and three family members were seriously injured. Everyone at the office is in a state of disbelief. I still cannot come to terms with our loss. Only a few hours before he was killed, Amin walked into my office with some paper work, smiling as usual despite the unbearable situation caused by the occupation army. 

Gaza families live in the shadow of death

Laila El-Haddad Gaza 11 October 2004


The last thing that young Suha Ayub Ibayd remembers before a barrage of tank fire ripped through her home is huddling together with her parents and eight brothers and sisters. They had taken cover in the middle of their living-room floor hoping to find shelter from the mass of military machines that had rumbled into their neighbourhood minutes earlier on October 6. Now she lies listlessly in her hospital bed, trying to absorb as well as any nine-year-old could the events of that morning. She survived with relatively light wounds. The same cannot be said, however, about her younger sister, fighting for her life in the hospital’s intensive care unit, or about many of her neighbours. 

Israeli assault on Gaza leaves scores dead and many homeless

6 October 2004


The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip has drastically deteriorated in the past few days during one of the biggest Israeli assaults on the Occupied Palestinian Territories for years. Israeli troops mounted Operation Days of Penitence on 1 October, three days after two Israeli children were killed in the Israeli settlement town of Sderot from a rocket fired from the Palestinian Jabalya refugee camp in Gaza. About 2,000 Israeli troops, with 200 tanks and armoured vehicles, have been deployed in the area. Hundreds of Palestinian homes have been demolished and acres of agricultural land destroyed, according to British media reports. 

Gaza Daily Update, 7.00 PM

10 October 2004


Since the wide-scale Israeli military assault on the northern part of the Gaza Strip, 111 Palestinians have been killed, including 29 children and 16 Palestinians in other parts of Gaza. At least 360 Palestinians, including 124 children were injured. Numerous homes and private property have also been destroyed as IOF utilize air force and heavy tanks in this military operation. In addition, as the incursion continues, the civilian population of the area suffer shortage in food and water supply. In the areas which IOF occupy civilians lack the most basic needs. Al Mezan is still receiving plights from people who have been in urgent need for medicine and water. 

Journey for Justice diaries: Bethlehem and Anata

Nathan Wright Bethlehem 14 October 2004


Four days ago, it was one month since I arrived in Palestine and it will be one year in total when it comes time to leave. Inshallah means, roughly, “God Willing.” Always I say inshallah when I say one year. Inshallah because one year is a long time. Inshallah because the longest visa I can get is three months. Inshallah because you never know in this land. I’m an international, an American, and I arrived one month and four days ago. That was one month and four days, though, and that’s not what this is about. Journey for Justice started yesterday, and it’s going to go for eight days. 

Killing in Jabaliya, "As Usual"

Sami Abu Salem Jabaliya refugee camp 10 October 2004


This morning I was at the kitchen making breakfast for my mother and myself at my apartment near al-Kholafa’ Mosque in Jabaliya Refugee Camp (population 106,000), north of Gaza. The provocative buzz of Israeli drones have not ceased since more than ten days hovering over the camp. I was carrying the teapot when an unprecedented explosion shook our quarter. The glass of the windows smashed, my mum shouted at me but I did not reply as I was frozen and carefully listening to the cries of the neighborhood children. 

NGOs urge governments, UN to tackle lack of protection for Palestinian refugees

8 October 2004


Governments usually guarantee protection for their citizens: basic human rights and physical security but Palestinians have no state or international body to provide for their protection. A group of non-governmental organizations, in a statement to the UNHCR Executive Committee meeting in Geneva 4-8 October, drew attention to the “continuing plight of millions of forcibly displaced Palestinians. Their situation is unique amongst forcibly displaced persons, as millions of them fall into a protection gap.”