With the $4.5 billion in pledges made by international donors at the Sharm al-Sheikh conference this month, the humanitarian focus in Gaza will begin to shift, looking forward at clearing rubble and rebuilding anew. But before any reconstruction can start, much emergency relief work still needs to be done and humanitarian workers and medics won’t be the only ones trawling through the rubble. Don Duncan reports. Read more about Gaza rubble is forensic evidence
Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association strongly condemns the arrests of 10 Palestinian political leaders which were carried out by the Israeli Occupying Forces in a West Bank raid in the early hours of Thursday, 19 March 2009. Addameer views these arrests as a form of collective punishment in direct response to the failure of prisoner exchange talks between the Israeli government and Hamas which collapsed in Cairo on 18 March 2009. Read more about Israeli forces arrest West Bank political leaders
As an organization dedicated to the promotion and protection of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Al-Haq condemns the repressive actions taken today [Saturday 21 March 2009] by the Israeli authorities in banning peaceful cultural activities organized as part of the Palestinian Cultural Festival marking the declaration of Jerusalem as the “Capital of Arab Culture 2009.” Read more about Israeli authorities ban Palestinian Cultural Festival
RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - The critical wounding of a US activist has highlighted the excessive use of force by Israeli forces. The activist, Tristan Anderson, 38, was shot in the head by Israeli soldiers during a protest against Israel’s separation barrier in the occupied Palestinian West Bank last week. He remains in intensive care in Tel Hashomer Hospital in Tel Aviv. Read more about Israel using excessive force against protesters
Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler20 March 2009
JERUSALEM (IPS) - Based on testimony from Israeli soldiers who took part in the recent war in Gaza, Israel is being confronted directly with the serious charge that permissive rules of engagement allowed for the killing of Palestinian civilians and widespread destruction of Palestinian property. Read more about Israeli soldiers expose atrocities in Gaza
Seventeen-year-old Maher Mohammed al-Sheikh died in Gaza on Sunday 25 January 2009 waiting for the Israeli government to give him clearance to receive treatment for his leukemia in Israel. On 8 May 2008 Maher was diagnosed with leukemia at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. He was granted a referral to Israel and after waiting for 40 days he was able to travel with his father to Tel Hashomer Hospital outside Tel Aviv on 17 June 2008. Read more about Israeli siege kills another child patient in Gaza
One of the most important factors in recovery from trauma is the ability to find sanctuary in the comfort of one’s home. The right to safety and security. For many people in Gaza, this right has been repeatedly violated, in the form of the destruction of their personal property, often wantonly, by Israeli military forces. Read more about Gaza homes vandalized by occupying forces
Little Ashimah Abu Sbieh’s life hangs by a thread — or more specifically, an electricity cable that runs from a noisy diesel-powered generator in the family’s backyard. Should the generator’s engine fail, she could die within minutes. Ashimah suffers from a rare genetic condition that means her brain fails to tell her lungs to work. Without the assistance of an electric inhalator, she would simply stop breathing. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Bedouin baby's power struggle with Israel
RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - As environmental experts, non-governmental organizations and government officials gather in Istanbul this week to attend the Fifth World Water Forum, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has drawn attention to the critical water situation in Gaza. “ICRC teams are repairing water and sewage systems in Gaza that were badly damaged during the three-week Israeli military operation in January,” the ICRC says in a media release. Read more about Gazans struggle for clean drinking water
