The Palestine Monitor Update

A PNGO Information Clearinghouse

APPEAL: Ongoing Crisis in Gaza Demands World Attention
Israel’s Wanton Attacks Must Stop

October 30, 2005

Since the Israeli settlers withdrew and the army redeployed from the Gaza
Strip, the Strip has been subjected to constant attacks and unbearable
collective punishments imposed by the Israeli army and aimed primarily at
innocent civilians.

The attacks are carried out in three main forms, the first of which is
bombings by F-16 fighter jets, Apache gunship helicopters, and tanks. These
attacks target civilian areas and infrastructure, including a school and a
charitable organization, both of which were destroyed, as well as homes,
businesses, and roads.

Eight people were recently killed by an Israeli bombing in the crowded
Jabaliya Refugee Camp in the northern Gaza Strip. Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi
attended the funeral of the eight victims, including two children and a
50-year-old school principle, all of whom happened to be in the area when
Israel carried out its illegal assassination attack that killed one wanted
man.

Dr. Barghouthi said, “It was unbelievably sad to see the eight bodies laid
out, including the two small ones, at the funeral. These horrible attacks
against innocent people must stop.”

Sonic Boom Attacks

The second form of attack is sonic booms by low-flying jets that break the
sound barrier. This causes unbearably loud noises and effects similar to an
earthquake; broken glasses and dishes, damage to homes such as cracks in
walls and ceilings, broken windows, etc.

Worse, the sounds are indistinguishable from actual bombings, which are also
ongoing. This terrorizes people and can cause permanent psychological
damage, especially in children, who often become hysterical when they hear
the shattering sounds. Immediate health effects include headaches, hearing
loss, dizziness, and nausea. Heart patients are vulnerable, because the
shock of fear causes a sudden spike in adrenaline in their blood, which can
be deadly. The shock can also cause pregnant women to miscarry.

Sonic booms are some of the most violent and terrifying forms of collective
punishment against civilians, and on a recent night, sonic attacks occurred
at 11:00 p.m., midnight, 1:00 a.m., 2:00 a.m., 2:30 a.m., 3:00 a.m., etc,
depriving 1.4 million people of the basic necessity of sleep. The next day
the attacks started again at random hours. The psychological effects of
this terror cannot be overstated.

This is the first time Israel has employed sonic boom attacks against
Palestinians, presumably because now there is no chance that the collective
punishment will affect settlers.

Palestinians have called on the UN and other international organizations to
investigate the extent of these attacks and the damage they cause as well as
to condemn Israel and demand that the illegal attacks stop immediately.

One Giant Prison

The third form of collective punishment is that Gaza has indeed become a
giant prison, with border restrictions much more severe than they were
before the redeployment. Movement is blocked from every direction,
including Rafah (to Egypt) and Erez (to Israel), which have been closed
almost continuously since the redeployment. The situation is so bad that
many have gone on hunger strike at the Rafah border to demand their freedom
of movement and demand an end to the terrible and illegal collective
imprisonment.

Medicins du Monde (MDM) of France reported in a recent press release that
restricted access through Erez and Rafah has denied a large number of
Palestinian patients access to specialized medical care in Israel and Egypt.
Since the redeployment, Rafah has only been randomly opened five times,
while movement through Erez has slowed to a trickle; the terminal is
currently completely closed.

Patients who require heart operations, catheterization, dialysis,
chemotherapy, etc. are particularly affected. This restricted access
deprives the civilian population and hundreds of patients of their basic
right to health, which is protected by international humanitarian law (IHL).
IHL strictly condemns the use of collective punishment against civilian
populations for political reasons.

MDM demands that Israel guarantee access of the Palestinian population to
medical services and to refrain from imposing collective penalties on the
civilian population in clear violation of IHL principals.

The West Bank, too, has been subjected to collective punishments, including
blockages of movement that have dire social, economic, and health
consequences. A massive new Israeli checkpoint is currently being built
south of Nablus, which aims to completely sever the northern West Bank from
the rest of the West Bank, another step in Israel’s ongoing cantonization
and imprisonment of Palestinian territory.

Call for Immediate Action

Unfortunately, the world at large has very little idea of the scope of
Israel’s attacks, and the international community has not reacted in any way
to stem the tide of illegal and indiscriminate attacks against innocent
civilians by the Israeli government.

In accordance with IHL, Israel remains the “occupying power” in Gaza since
it continues to maintain “effective control” over land, air, and sea around
the Gaza Strip. Its occupation of Gaza has not ended, and in many ways has
intensified. The world must understand what is happening to the people of
Gaza and must act quickly.

The modern world cannot justify illegal attacks against civilians that occur
without any violations by innocent civilian residents of the Gaza Strip in
clear violation of international law.

We call on international citizens to place every possible pressure on their
government, and international actors to place every possible pressure on the
Israeli government to put an end to its aggression against civilians in the
Gaza Strip and to refrain from using terrible collective punishments as
instruments of political control.




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