GAZACITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - A pillow, a belt, a child’s school bag and pages of a torn copy of the Quran lie in the wreckage of the al-Daa family home in al-Zeitoun, a neighborhood of Gaza City. Twenty-four members of the family were killed when an F-16 fighter jet dropped a bomb on their house. Nine bodies still lie under what is now just a massive pancake of concrete, metal wires and death. Read more about Up to 200 still missing under Gaza's rubble
In the last days before Israel imposed a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza to avoid embarrassing the incoming Obama administration, it upped its assault, driving troops deeper into Gaza City, intensifying its artillery bombardment and creating thousands more displaced people. Israel’s military strategy in Gaza, even in what its officials were calling the “final act,” followed a blueprint laid down during the Lebanon war more than two years ago. Jonathan Cook analyzes. Read more about Israel's "Dahiya Doctrine" comes to Gaza
So many crimes have already been documented by Amnesty International and other human rights institutions. Many more are still untold stories. I can tell one story with my own words and my own camera — that of eight-year-old Louay Sobeh. Little Louay could not know what this war had in store for him or his family. Sameh A. Habeeb writes from the occupied Gaza Strip. Read more about A child full of light will never see again
JERUSALEM (IPS) - The Israeli government is stepping up efforts to suppress dissent and crush resistance in the streets. Police have been videotaping the demonstrations and subsequently arresting protesters in large numbers. According to Israeli police reports, at least 763 Israeli citizens, the majority of them Palestinian and 244 under 18 years old, have been arrested, imprisoned or detained for participating in such demonstrations. Read more about A police state celebrates
RAMALLAH (IPS) - Humanitarian aid is being rushed into Gaza as Israel and Egypt open their borders temporarily to allow convoys of aid to pass through. While Israeli drones circle the skies above, Hamas security men are back on the streets attempting to restore some semblance of law and order. Policemen are directing traffic. Several looters have been arrested. Gazans who survived the battering inflicted by Israel’s 22-day military campaign, codenamed Operation Cast Lead, are venturing out and trying to pick up the pieces of their lives. Read more about Gazans do not blame Hamas
Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani19 January 2009
CAIRO (IPS) - Street protests against Israel’s assault on Gaza continue to be held almost daily. The anger has not ended with the ceasefire called. In Cairo, and in many Arab capitals, much of the anger is directed at the Egyptian regime, seen by critics as complicit in the Israeli campaign. After three weeks of punishing assaults from air, land and sea, the Palestinian death toll has soared past 1,200, most of them civilians. Read more about Gaza war divides Arab governments from people
Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani19 January 2009
CAIRO (IPS) - Since the outset of Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, calls have been renewed for an “international force” to protect the civilian population. But Palestinian resistance factions, chief among them Hamas, reject the idea outright. “The resistance will not accept international forces [in the Gaza Strip],” Khaled Meshaal, head of Hamas’s Damascus-based political bureau said recently on Syrian state television. “We know that such forces would only serve Israel and its occupation.” Read more about Resistance rejects international Gaza force
“I could not leave my house, it’s too priceless to me — it’s home! Although I could hear the missiles hitting the house next door, kids in the family were frightened and wouldn’t stop crying. Still we managed to hold on until they destroyed our cousin Sadlah Matar Abu Halemeh’s causing the death of his nine-member family. All were killed and no one survived — then we decided to leave!” Eman Mohamed writes from the occupied Gaza Strip. Read more about Families flee to school refuges
Even before Israel’s most recent devastating invasion, the combination of 41 years of Israeli occupation, frequent military incursions and attacks, infighting among Palestinian factions, and a dwindling economy created a difficult, if not impossible, environment to sustain an art scene. Yet, writes The Electronic Intifada contributor Maymanah Farhat, artists in Gaza have continued to create and organize. Read more about Gaza's artists under fire
It’s hard to believe it can get worse, but daily it does. Last week, I saw the white phosphorus clouds doctors have written about and condemned. From a tall Gaza City building, the panoramic view showed a spreading stream of poison, on eastern Gaza. The chemical burns deeply, to the bone, experts say. It is considered illegal warfare, not to be used in civilian areas. Eva Bartlett writes from the Gaza Strip. Read more about White phosphorus: "The patient came back smoking"
