Israel and Palestinians Agree to Gaza Cease-Fire. Will It Last?

Jan 18, 2009 - By Tim McGirk, The Israeli cabinet decided on Saturday night to unilaterally end its 21-day war against Islamic militants in Gaza as of 2 a.m. Sunday, bringing an end to a conflict that has left more than 1,200 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead. On Sunday, just hours after the Israeli statement, Hamas announced that it too was declaring a weeklong cease-fire, while also demanding that Israeli troops withdraw from Gaza within the week. - 0 Comments

A protest against Israeli operations in Gaza was called off because not enough Palestinians showed up

Jan 16, 2009 - A CERTAIN LACK OF SOLIDARITY A protest against Israeli operations in Gaza was called off because not enough Palestinians showed up. RAMALLAH - It's quiet in Ramallah. At the northern entrance to the city, not far from the mall, a new fountain spouts water. - 3 Comments

Israeli war against Hamas scars Gaza's children

Jan 25, 2009 - By KARIN LAUB, Associated Press Writer JEBALIYA, Gaza Strip – Surrounded by mountains of rubble that were once their homes, two dozen children sat on a rainbow-colored blanket and drew with crayons. They quickly filled the pages passed around by trauma counselors with pictures of Israeli tanks, dead bodies and Palestinians firing assault rifles — scenes they saw when Israel's war on Hamas came into their neighborhood. "We felt we will die soon," 11-year-old Sharif Abed Rabbo told the group, describing his family's escape. - 3 Comments

GAZA IN RUINS -- 'Who Has Won Here?'

Jan 24, 2009 - A different kind point of view on the situation in Gaza, from Der Speigel. GAZA IN RUINS 'Who Has Won Here?' By Ulrike Putz in Beit Lahia, Gaza In the Gaza Strip people are returning home -- or to the rubble that was once their home. - 11 Comments

Israel's Dirty Secrets in Gaza: It Was Pure Murder

Mar 21, 2009 - By Donald Macintyre, The Independent Posted on March 21, 2009, Printed on March 21, 2009 http://www.alternet.org/story/132738/ Israel onfronted a major challenge on Thursday night over the conduct of its 22-day military offensive in Gaza after testimonies by its own soldiers revealed that troops were allowed and, in some cases, even ordered to shoot unarmed Palestinian civilians. The testimonies – the first of their kind to emerge from inside the military – are at marked variance with official claims that the military made strenuous efforts to avoid civilian casualties and tend to corroborate Palestinian accusations that troops used indiscriminate and disproportionate firepower in civilian areas during the operation. In one of the testimonies shedding harsh new light on what the soldiers say were the permissive rules of engagement for Operation Cast Lead, one soldier describes how an officer ordered the shooting of an elderly woman 100 metres from a house commandeered by troops. - 0 Comments

Gaza campers stage 'Schalit abduction'

Jul 27, 2009 - Children in Hamas summer camps reenacted the abduction of IDF soldier Gilad Schalit in the presence of top Hamas officials, according to pictures obtained by The Jerusalem Post. Palestinian children, dressed as IDF soldiers and holding toy guns, reenact the abduction of Gilad Schalit. According to Israeli defense officials, more than 120,000 Palestinian children are spending the summer in Hamas-run camps. - 3 Comments

Israel kills daughters of ‘friend’ doctor in Gaza

Jan 19, 2009 - (the Israeli government says it's 'investigating' this 'incident' and might apologize...) Israel shells house of 55-year-old Palestinian gynecologist known by Israeli TV viewers. Kansas City Star GAZA CITY – The Palestinian doctor provided Israeli TV viewers with regular updates on Gaza fighting's human toll. But Friday's report was different — with sobs he told how his three daughters and a niece were killed by an Israeli shell. - 3 Comments

Palestinians in Kite Record Bid

Jul 30, 2009 - Palestinian children turned out in big numbers on a beach in the northern Gaza Strip in an attempt to break the world record for kite flying. More than 6,000 children gathered to fly more than 3,000 kites, according to the United Nations, which organised it. The previous record was set in Germany last year - when the Guinness Book of World Records says 967 kites took to the sky simultaneously. - 4 Comments

Gazans dig bodies from rubble as cease-fire begins

Jan 18, 2009 - Credit the AP JEBALIYA REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza Strip – For Palestinians searching the rubble of this devastated refugee camp, the mounds of concrete and metal hid all they desperately wanted and needed: the bodies of dead relatives, belongings and — bitterly — scraps of bombs now valuable enough to sell as recycled aluminum. Destruction was everywhere on Sunday, in churned up farmland, dangling electricity poles, charred bodies of cars abandoned on pulverized roads, and broken pipes overflowing with sewage. The stench of rotting corpses, both human and animal, hung in the air. - 0 Comments

Killing Children is Never Legitimate

Jan 07, 2009 - Published on Wednesday, January 7, 2009 by CommonDreams.org by John Friedrich After spending time with our 2-year old daughter Rosie this morning, I turned on my computer and learned that scores of children in Gaza had been killed by an Israeli airstrike near a U.N. school. An AP photographer described the scene at a nearby hospital: “I saw women and men – parents – slapping their faces in grief, screaming, some of them collapsed to the floor. - 5 Comments