Hoda, age 12, with her brothers and sisters, running happily, giggling, racing to reach the beach, her dad and mum busy carrying the picnic basket. It is Friday and Hoda’s family, like other Palestinians, were trying to enjoy a little fun. Suddenly, the moment shattered. An Israeli gunship suddenly fired at random against the beach, while army tanks fired artillery shells and Apache helicopters crossed the sky. 40 civilians were injured, 10 killed. I watched Hoda on the local TV, shocked, yelling, shouting, crying, “ya baba ya baba!” (“Dad, Dad!”). Read more about Gaza: On the beach
The tears have not yet left the innocent face of one astonished girl, Huda Ghalia, 12, who lost 7 members of her family yesterday, while they enjoyed their weekend at the shore in the town of Beit Lahia, north of Gaza. Huda and her sisters and brothers were happily enjoying their first weekend together without thinking of homework, as they recently completed their school exams. The Ghalia family went to a less populated area at the northern part of the beach, where white sand dunes and little wild plants were scattered. Read more about Black Weekend, Bloody Mud, and White Sand
Over the past 24 hours, the Gaza Strip was the target of a deadly escalation in Israeli attacks. Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) committed a number of war crimes in the Gaza Strip, which resulted in the killing of fourteen Palestinians and the injury of thirty-six others, including thirteen children. The most severe and inhumane of these crimes was the killing of seven members of the same family (father, mother and five children), who had been enjoying a day on the beach to the west of the town of Beit Lahya. Read more about 14 killed in Gaza in 24 hours
5 June 2006 marks the 39th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. It ends another year of suffering, human rights violations, and the denial of self-determination to the Palestinian people. Israel’s occupation has continued to create “facts on the ground” through settlement expansion, the construction of the Annexation Wall, and increasingly severe movement restrictions. Combined with the refusal by Israel to transfer Palestinian revenues, and the withdrawal of support by major international donors, these measures have crippled the Palestinian economy. Read more about 39 Years of Occupation
Yesterday Physicians for Human Rights-Israel sent an urgent shipment, worth some NIS 70,000 of medicines to Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip. Representatives of the organization entered the Gaza Strip and met with the Palestinian Minister of Health, who expressed his appreciation of the organization�s activities during the current crisis and in general. On 6 June 2006 Physicians for Human Rights-Israel sent an urgent shipment of medicines to Shifa Hospital, the main hospital in the Gaza Strip. Read more about Urgent Mission to Gaza and Call to Israel to Assume Responsibility
On Wednesday, 7 June 2006, three people were killed and seven others were injured, including a child, in armed clashes between clans in Gaza, Khan Yunis and Rafah. PCHR’s preliminary investigation indicates that at approximately 22:15 on Wednesday, Majdi El-Bahri Dughmosh, a 32-year-old resident of the El-Sabra area of Gaza City, was killed by a bullet to the head. He was killed during an armed clash between the El-Kafarna and Dughmosh clans in the El-Tuffah area of Gaza City. Read more about Three People Killed and Seven Injured in Clan Disputes in the Gaza Strip
At approximately 14:30 this afternoon, 24 May 2006, an elite Israeli unit entered a commercial building in central Ramallah to arrest an Islamic Jihad leader. A crowd gathered outside the building and began to throw stones, while the vehicle transporting the elite unit was taken from the scene and burnt. Although precise details of the incident are currently difficult to obtain, it appears that around ten minutes later a number of Israeli military jeeps arrived and immediately opened indiscriminate fire towards the stone throwing Palestinians. Read more about Indiscriminate and Excessive Use of Force: Four Palestinians Killed During Arrest Raid
Lost in the discussion of peace processes, military raids, Qassam rocket fire and unilateralism carried out by the Israeli government for ‘security purposes,’ is the climate of fear that is the defining feature of Israeli and Palestinian life. It does more damage than anything else. The threat of coercion, of bureaucratic reprimand, the hold up of paperwork, the threat of home demolitions and a myriad of other policies force normal people in to silence even when their rights are violated. Read more about The Right to Live Without Fear
Today over 30 Arab and Jewish organizations called on all Knesset members to impose a fair budget for Arab Citizens in Israel. The demands included requisitions of 3.5 billion NIS for the Arab Community to be included in 2006 budget. The Mossawa Center for the Rights of Arab Citizens prepared the stipulations of this request, which were also included in a report presented to the Knesset describing the social, financial, and economic realities of the Arab community. Read more about Arab and Jewish Organizations Call on Knesset to Impose Fair Budget
Over the past 24 hours, nine people were injured, including three members of the Preventive Security Apparatus and six civilians, in two separate armed attacks in Khan Yunis and Gaza. At approximately 12:00 on Tuesday, 6 June 2006, unknown assailants fired three rockets at the headquarters of the Preventive Security in the Tal El-Hawa area of Gaza City. Six members of the Preventive Security were injured and were taken to Shifa Hospital for treatment. Information released by the Preventive Security about the incident stated that a number of gunmen fired three 60 millimeter mortars at the headquarters from the east, injuring two Preventive Security personnel and four maintenance workers in the compound. Read more about Nine Injured in Attacks Targeting the Preventive Security Compound and Preventive Security Personnel in the Gaza Strip
