Gaza Today: "The Root Cause of Extremism and Battlefields of Tomorrow."

The lull is over for today. Another one is slated for the day after tomorrow. What would you spend your three hours doing? Searching for food and benzene? Burying a loved one? Or helping the kids get a few hours sleep? Maybe there will be a cease-fire soon. But then again, what would it really look like? Al Jazeera talks to two analysts whose points raise serious questions about prospects for true peace.

Death in Jebaliya: Israel Flouts International Law

It is wrong to use human beings as shields: immoral, unethical, hateful. But it happens, and has happened for years. And because so many bad things happen in war, nearly 200 countries have ratified the Geneva Conventions, among them Israel. So whenever an Israeli spokesperson justifies bombing civilians by blaming those who fight among them, they are ignoring this: Protocol 1, Art. 51 of the Fourth Geneva Convention:

4. Indiscriminate attacks are prohibited. Indiscriminate attacks are: (a) those which are not directed at a specific military objective; (b) those which employ a method or means of combat which cannot be directed at a specific military objective; or (c) those which employ a method or means of combat the effects of which cannot be limited as required by this Protocol;
and consequently, in each such case, are of a nature to strike military objectives and civilians or civilian objects without distinction.
5. Among others, the following types of attacks are to be considered as indiscriminate: (a) an attack by bombardment by any methods or means which treats as a single military objective a number of clearly separated and distinct military objectives located in a city, town, village or other area containing a similar concentration of civilians or civilian objects; and (b) an attack which may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated (my bold).

My dream list of Hague guests is growing by the day.

"They are bombing one and a half million people in a cage."

Please write your representatives, your newspapers, your friends.

"Aren't We All the Same, the Children of God?"

Al Jazeera reports on this, Day 10.

The Reality of Israel's War on Gaza: "Hospitals at Breaking Point, Families Devastated, People Forced from Their Homes With Nowhere to Go"

Reuter's Alertnet reports today that an paramedic working for an Oxfam-supported Palestinian health company was killed Sunday and his colleague badly injured when their ambulance was destroyed by an Israeli shell. Oxfam
GB Country Director John Prideaux-Brune, in Jerusalem observed:

Hospitals in Gaza are overflowing with dead and wounded while facing severe shortages of essential medical supplies and spare parts. Oxfam and local partners have had to suspend all our work, apart from emergency medical aid. Many of our colleagues in Gaza are trapped in their homes, and in fear of their and their families' lives. Others, such as the paramedic Arafa, have lost their lives trying to save others.

He noted that 80% of Gazans rely on humanitarian aid and that the "trickle" that has been allowed in through the single available crossing is inadequate. Reuters adds:

Oxfam is calling for a binding UN Security Council resolution to demand: an immediate halt to violence in Gaza and Israel by all parties, all parties to commit to an immediate, comprehensive and permanent truce, Israel, Hamas and other parties to permit immediate and unhindered access
to and from Gaza for humanitarian and commercial goods, and for people, thereby ending the blockade.
Oxfam is

Our Kin In Gaza are Suffering

While the United Nations and other aid organizations say otherwise, an Israeli Defense Dept Spokesperson claimed today that Gaza is not experiencing a humanitarian crisis and has everything it needs. From Reuters:



Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross reports that its four-person medical team, including a surgeon with experience with war wounds has been denied access to Gaza for the second straight day. And ICRC in Gaza say they're fielding calls from Gazans who received leaflets from the IDF telling them to leave their homes:

"This is creating anxiety and confusion," said Antoine Grand, head of the ICRC office in Gaza. “People are asking where they are supposed to go – and for how long. They call the ICRC for advice, but we have no answers."

GorillasGuides has posted the following video of the carnage after a market is bombed in Gaza. WARNING: contains graphic images of dead, dying and injured civilians, including children. I'd call this a humanitarian crisis.
UPDATE: apparently the GorillasGuides video I linked to in the body of this post is doctored, and is not a chronicle of current events in Gaza. I believe what value that can be derived from its viewing is best stated by Siun–it still gives us a picture of human suffering, and enlarges (I hope) our empathy for those caught in war.
UPDATE: Reuters is reporting that the US has blocked a demand for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, in tonight's emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council. Libya--the only Arab member of the UNSC--had proposed the ceasefire, but the US "insists that any statement or resolution state that the Palestinian militant group Hamas is a terrorist organization that seized power in Gaza from the legitimate Palestinian Authority." Council statements must pass unanimously; the US demand leaves the council in a deadlock. Diplomats now say an "informal statement" that summarizes what has been agreed upon is likely, but won't include a call for a ceasefire or troop withdrawal.

Are Cluster Bombs Falling on Gaza?

Today's post by Sameh Habeeb includes the following:

Eyewitnesses reported that new shells explode before landing on the targets making more small bombs. The shells are expected to be cluster bombs. More Israeli new weapons are used today. Palestinians in Khan Yonis massively called the radio stations and health centers to report on a bad smell goes out from the rockets in Khan Yonis City. People are afraid this kind of weapon is shells enriched with Uranium and nuclear elements....Thousands of Gaza population hurried into the local markets in search of life basics but in vain. No more fuel, benzene, gasoline, flour, wheat, sugar, rice, bread, candlelight and thousands of commodities are not available in Gaza. Add to that, continued power cuts up to 20 hours during the cold weather of winter.

Al Jazeera is reporting that a column of tanks has been seen entering Gaza. Over 450 people are dead now, and over 2800 people wounded. Fliers warning Gazans to leave their homes have been dropped over Gaza. Where exactly are these people to go?