Palestine Solidarity Project

On Wednesday afternoon 20 year-old Mohammed Khawaje, who was shot in the head with live ammunition by the Israeli military on December 28 during a demonstration against the assault on Gaza, has died from his wounds. On Sunday the residents of Ni’lin gathered in several groups around the village and threw stones at the Israeli soldiers who had gathered en masse around the village. Though starting by shooting tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets, one group of Israeli soldiers inexplicably switched to using live ammunition, shooting directly at the … Read more

From Al-Jazeera english, for the original article please click here

As the death toll from Israel’s aerial bombardment of the Gaza Strip continues to climb, Al Jazeera asked Gazans to describe the situation where they are and to explain how the offensive is affecting them.

Majed Badra, 23, Gaza City, cartoonist and student at the Islamic University

“Unfortunately the situation is very bad in Gaza city - the Israeli occupation is striking more and more organisations, more houses and the mosque, and my university was hit last night.

They focus on the civilians. It is easy for them.

Nothing is working in Gaza and … Read more

Message from Richard Falk, United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, December 28,2008

The Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip represent s evere and massive violations of international humanitarian law as defined in the Geneva Conventions, both in regard to the obligations of an Occupying Power and in the requirements of the laws of war.

Those violations include:

Collective punishment – the entire 1.5 million people who live in the crowded Gaza Strip are being punished for the actions of a few militants.

Targeting civilians – the airstrikes were aimed at civilian areas in one of the most crowded stretches … Read more

Laila El-Haddad writing from Durham, the United States, Live from Palestine, 30 December 2008
For the original article on Electronic Intifada please click here

“There is a complete blackout in Gaza now. The streets are as still as death.”

I am speaking to my father, Moussa el-Haddad, a retired physician who lives in Gaza City, on Skype, from Durham, North Carolina in the United States, where I have been since mid 2006 — the month Gaza’s borders were hermetically sealed by Israel, and the blockade of the occupied territory further enforced.

He is out on his balcony. It is 2am.

“I can only see … Read more

The Israeli military has continued its onslaught in the Gaza Strip, firing missiles throughout the Strip for the 6th day. Bombings have been focused particularly on the northern cities and refugee camps of Beit Hanoun and Jabaliya, and the southern area of Rafah, along the border with Egypt. The northern assault has led to speculation that a ground invasion, which would come from that direction, is imminent. Meanwhile, children, women, and other civilians have been hardest hit, as entire apartment buildings are flattened by the Israeli bombardment. The port in Gaza City was also fired upon … Read more

From Maan News Agency. For the original article, please click here

Gaza – Ma’an – The most recent victim of Israeli airstrikes was 10-year-old Ismail Hamdan, who succumbed to his injuries after being hit by a missile while running an errand for his mother near their home in Beit Hanoun.

Ismail was with his two sisters when the missile struck, they were both torn to pieces on impact Tuesday afternoon.

The three were pulled out of a rubble pile by a passerby and transported to hospital via donkey-cart. The girls, 5-year-old Lama Hamdan, 12-year-old Haya Hamdan, were declared dead on arrival, … Read more

from Maan News Agency

Israeli troops halted airstrikes for one hour due to bad weather Tuesday afternoon, and resumed shelling and missile strikes as soon as clouds lifted.

The latest targets that came under fire were a lathe workshop belonging to the Ashour family in the Zaitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, and a dairy belonging to the Dalloul family in the Sabra neighborhood, also in Gaza City. The properties were destroyed, but no casualties have been reported.

2:00 Israeli warplanes bombarded Khan Younis in the southern Strip

1:00 Israeli helicopters targeted a site used by Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades in Beit Lahiya and another … Read more

After a day of spontaneous demonstrating against Israeli Occupation Forces, Israeli soldiers surreptitiously entered Beit Ommar at after midnight early Monday morning, invading several houses and arresting two people. The two men, Issa Mohammed Issa Awad, 20, and Yousef Ali Musleh Awad, 21, are university students. They were taken from their beds in a quick invasion which left family members upset and afraid. Their current location is unknown. In a separate incident last night in Beit Ommar, Yousef Nasri Rashid Sabarneh, son of the mayor of Beit Ommar, was accosted by Israeli soldiers at the entrance … Read more

On Saturday, December 27, just hours after missile strikes on the Gaza Strip began, demonstrations broke out throughout Israeli and Palestinian cities and towns. In Hebron, dozens were injured, including 1 international solidarity activist, when Israeli soldiers began firing into the crowds who had gathered near the Ibrahimi Mosque (Abraham’s Tomb) with tear gas canisters and rubber-coated steel bullets. Hundreds of people flooded the streets in Nablus in a spontaneous demonstration where local leaders called for Palestinian unity in the face of the on-going massacre. In Tel … Read more

Beginning two days ago without warning, an unprecedented series of attacks on police stations throughout the entire Gaza strip have left at least 300 dead and more than 1000 wounded, according to emergency health officials. The United Nations has reported that 9 of its employees have been killed, and others are reporting that 5% of those dead are children. Over night on Sunday Israeli missiles hit the largest University in Gaza City.

This attack comes after more than a year of strangulating sanctions on the Strip, which has left hospitals without basic materials or medicines to treat the mass-casualties. … Read more