JERUSALEM (IPS) - The Israeli army’s Advocate General has summarily closed an internal investigation into allegations stemming from accounts by soldiers of abuses against Palestinian civilians committed during Israel’s recent war on Hamas in Gaza. It took the military investigators just half the duration of the 22-day war in Gaza to bulldoze the accounts and to dismiss completely the serious allegations made by soldiers who had themselves taken part in the fighting. Read more about Israeli military cloaks abuses
Israel’s recent use of white phosphorus bombs in densely populated areas of Gaza violated the rules of war, according to report issued by a leading human rights organization last week. Marian Houk reports for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Report excoriates Israel's use of white phosphorous in Gaza
During the Israeli attack in January, there was a breach in one of the earthen embankment walls of a sewage containment lagoon in Gaza due to some form of Israeli military activity resulting in a large sewage flood. The breach is likely to mean long-term environmental damage, with dangerous consequences for human health. Marian Houk reports for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Israel may have deliberately attacked sewage infrastructure
Nasser al-Amoudi, with his biker’s jacket and sunglasses, embodies the essence of a car enthusiast. For years he has been the proud owner of the only BMW spare parts shop in the Gaza Strip. People would travel from every corner to purchase second hand parts from his shop. Now Nasser’s workshop and garage, which were worth $300,000 before the Israeli army destroyed them during its latest offensive, lie in tatters, and his financial security has gone. Read more about BMW garage among the targets of Israel's attacks
Based on our faith in our national, moral, and legal responsibility and recognizing our duty to work towards building and strengthening the democratic edifice of the prospective Palestinian state, we, the undersigned Palestinian human rights organizations, hereby and articulate our demands of the Palestinian political authorities for measures to be taken in order to overcome the pains and agonies of the crisis generated by internal fragmentation and conflict. Read more about Rights orgs: Infighting jeopardizes our cause and our rights
GAZACITY (IRIN) - Many university students who lost relatives or whose homes were destroyed during the recent 22-day Israeli offensive are finding it difficult to cope, according to university officials and students. Some have been unable to register for the new semester due to lack of funds; others are still traumatized. Read more about Tough times for university students in Gaza
GAZACITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IRIN) - The UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in Gaza, local Palestinian non-governmental organizations and mental health professionals are reporting increased incidents of domestic violence and sexual assault against women in Gaza since the beginning of 2009. Read more about UN tracks rising violence against women in Gaza
A legal battle being waged by Palestinian families to stop the takeover of their neighborhood in East Jerusalem by Jewish settlers has received a major fillip from the recent souring of relations between Israel and Turkey. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Turkey's fallout with Israel deals blow to settlers
Today [24 March 2009], three human rights organizations, The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, The Association for Civil Rights in Israel and Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel withdrew a principle petition that they submitted to the [Israeli] High Court of Justice. This was done in protest of the court’s decision on the constitutionality of a law on secret evidence and heard in the absence of the petitioners. Read more about Rights orgs withdraw petition in protest of Israeli court decision
On the afternoon of 22 March 2009, the Ministry of Health in Gaza took control of the Department of External Medical Treatment. Officials from the Gaza Ministry of Health demanded that the director of the Department relinquish control of all offices in the Gaza Strip. The director, Dr. Bassam al-Badri, had been appointed by the government in Ramallah with the approval of the Gaza government. Read more about Rights org: Medical patients are not political pawns
