Three weeks of fighting leave Gaza in devastation

February 10, 2009 • Weston Koyama  
Filed under News

Images of dead and dying children trapped on the narrow twenty-five mile long sliver of land known as the Gaza Strip located west of Israel stirs powerful emotions on both sides of the recent conflict in the Middle East.  

Both the State of Israel and the ruling party Hamas in Gaza blame each other for the breakdown of the six-month truce brokered by Egypt last year.  

On December 27, 2008 tensions between Hamas and Israel reached a boiling point as the Israel Defense Forces launched an aerial assault on the Gaza Strip claiming 225 lives that day, in response to increased rocket attacks into Southern Israel.  

When the fighting finally stopped on January 18, 2009 over 1,300 Palestinians lay dead.  At least 900 of the slain victims were civilians while only two members of Hamas leadership were killed.  

On the Israeli side nine soldiers were killed as a result of combat fighting and four civilians were killed from rocket attacks launched by Hamas.

Under swift criticism from Arab news agencies Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak defended Israel’s military actions publicly on several Western media outlets, including CNN.  

“We [Israel] have to experience shelling and rocket attacks on innocent civilians, that’s something we will not accept,” said Barak in front of CNN cameras on December 28.  

“I am confident that the American government would not have waited one day before they would have responded if San Diego would have been bombed or shelled or rocketed from Tijuana,” said Barak.

“Obviously the United States is very concerned about the situation,” said U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a press conference on January 2.  “But Hamas has used Gaza as a ‘launching pad’ for rockets against Israeli cities and has contributed deeply to a very bad daily life for the Palestinian people in Gaza.”

Although Rice insists that Hamas is to blame for the start of hostilities she also admits the humanitarian needs of the impoverished people of Gaza as reason for ceasefire.

Israel’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Tzipi Livni expressed strong disagreement over any suggestion that there might be a humanitarian crisis on January 1.  “There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” said Livni bluntly to Arab reporters.  Her comments garnered criticism as the Palestinian death toll by January 1 rose to 400; of these 25% were children according to the BBC.

The suffering of innocent civilians is the lynchpin for criticism against Israel’s military operations.

On January 5 two days after Israel launched the ground invasion of Gaza, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) ambassador Queen Rania of Jordan spoke passionately before a group of journalists on behalf of Palestinian victims.  “What does the world tell to their mothers?  To the Palestinian mother who lost five daughters in one day? …That they are collateral damage?  That their lives don’t matter?  That their deaths don’t count?”  The queen’s remarks continue to be published on UNICEF podcasts around the world and on news networks throughout the Middle East.

“We don’t want to see any civilian casualties, full stop,” said Spokesperson for the Prime Minister of Israel, Mark Regev on CNN in defense of the ground invasion.  “The people of Gaza are not our enemy.  We will do everything we can to prevent a humanitarian crisis.”

Regev’s words were repudiated by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which found starving children trapped in their homes on January 8, clinging to the corpses of their mothers.  Israeli soldiers were guarding the homes and had knowingly blocked humanitarian access to the area according to the International Herald Tribune.

“In this instance the Israeli military failed to meet its obligation under international humanitarian law to care for and evacuate the wounded. It considers the delay in allowing rescue services access unacceptable,” said a statement released by the Red Cross.

Hamas-produced video clips of bleeding children screaming on hospital stretchers heightened international outrage against Israel.  Despite this Israel blocked international reporter access into Gaza throughout the duration of the conflict.

Danny Seaman, a spokesperson from the Israeli Government Press Office defended the limited access as essential to helping preserve popular support citing the failure of the 2006 war with Lebanon.  “There was too much exposure,” Seaman said.  “It had an affect on our ability to achieve strategic goals and that’s one of the lessons we learned from the war in Lebanon.”

This limited access only increased the uncertainty of certain details during the conflict.  On January 6 for example the Israeli Army attacked a United Nations (U.N.) school killing forty refugees.  Though the representatives for the Israeli Army initially claimed rocket fire by Hamas came from the school subsequent investigations proved that in fact rockets were fired outside the school compound.  

The U.N. school attacked on January 6 was one of 53 U.N. buildings destroyed or damaged as a result of the fighting on both sides, greatly weakening humanitarian response. 

Anti-Israeli sentiment was intensified on January 15 when the U.N. Headquarters in Gaza City was shelled by the chemical weapon white phosphorous destroying hundreds of tons of food and fuel.

Despite international condemnation Israel continued its use of the controversial weapon.

In an interview with the International Herald Tribune mother Abu Halima described Israel’s white phosphorous attack on her home in graphic terms.  “Fire came from the body of my husband and children.  The children were screaming, ‘fire, fire’ and there was smoke everywhere…” The use of white phosphorous in an offensive manner may be considered a violation of international laws against chemical weapons.

According to a statement released by human rights’ organization Amnesty International there existed “indisputable evidence of widespread use of white phosphorus in densely populated residential areas in Gaza City and in the north.”

After over three weeks of killing and fighting, Israel declared a ceasefire on January 17 followed hours later by Hamas on January 18.  The Israeli Defense Force claims to have completed its objective of reducing Hamas’ ability to fire rockets into Israel.  Many Israelis however dispute this claim.

“I do not feel any victory,” said Israeli potato farmer Elad Katzir to The New York Times.  “I still do not feel safe.”

In the wake of Israel’s refusal to lift the blockade on Gaza the smuggling of essential medical supplies and food along with more rockets and munitions through tunnels out of Egypt continued shortly after the fighting stopped on January 18.

Over Israel’s Army Radio, Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Hanegbi threatened swift retaliation for future rocket attacks by Hamas.  “If the [rocket] fire resumes, we will respond with force so strong and overpowering, they will miss the day the Israel Air Force’s offensive began.” 

For students at Summit High School the clash in the Middle East stirs a need to express deeply held convictions regarding the status of Israel and Palestine.

“These civilian deaths just prove that Hamas is using civilians as ‘human shields,’” said Jewish student A.J. Markow.  “Hamas has a history of attacking innocent Israelis; there needs to be a definite end to their reign in Gaza.”

“I have Jewish friends that downplay the repercussions of Israel’s military actions,” said senior student Shannon McGuire.  “Israel needs to consider the human cost of what they are inflicting on innocent Palestinians.  At the end of the day hundreds of people are killed but the ideology of hatred that perpetuates the Hamases and the Hezbollahs can never be destroyed by violence.  It can only be intensified.  Palestinian children are taught to hate when Israel attacks them.”

Elise Priscilla Burri concurs.  “In a sense Israel is trying to defend itself,” Burri said.  “Their motives may be right to them, but their going about it in the wrong way.”

“You can’t solely blame one side or the other,” said senior student Jared Steele.  “Pointing fingers doesn’t help any one.  Pointing fingers can only increase these divisions.  We must all share the blame for human suffering.”

With over 1,300 people dead and thousands wounded this suffering carries a burden for all informed citizens of the free world.

Although Rice insists that Hamas is to blame for the start of hostilities she also admits the humanitarian needs of the impoverished people of Gaza as reason for ceasefire.

Israel’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Tzipi Livni expressed strong disagreement over any suggestion that there might be a humanitarian crisis on January 1.  “There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” said Livni bluntly to Arab reporters.  Her comments garnered criticism as the Palestinian death toll by January 1 rose to 400; of these 25% were children according to the BBC.

The suffering of innocent civilians is the lynchpin for criticism against Israel’s military operations.

On January 5 two days after Israel launched the ground invasion of Gaza, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) ambassador Queen Rania of Jordan spoke passionately before a group of journalists on behalf of Palestinian victims.  “What does the world tell to their mothers?  To the Palestinian mother who lost five daughters in one day? …That they are collateral damage?  That their lives don’t matter?  That their deaths don’t count?”  The queen’s remarks continue to be published on UNICEF podcasts around the world and on news networks throughout the Middle East.

“We don’t want to see any civilian casualties, full stop,” said Spokesperson for the Prime Minister of Israel, Mark Regev on CNN in defense of the ground invasion.  “The people of Gaza are not our enemy.  We will do everything we can to prevent a humanitarian crisis.”

Regev’s words were repudiated by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which found starving children trapped in their homes on January 8, clinging to the corpses of their mothers.  Israeli soldiers were guarding the homes and had knowingly blocked humanitarian access to the area according to the International Herald Tribune.

“In this instance the Israeli military failed to meet its obligation under international humanitarian law to care for and evacuate the wounded. It considers the delay in allowing rescue services access unacceptable,” said a statement released by the Red Cross.

Criticism of Israel only intensified after the United Nations formally announced on January 8 that it was suspending aid operations after Israeli gunmen fired on vehicles that were clearly marked, “UN.”  The shootings killed one driver and wounded two other people according to several news agencies.

This announcement comes on the heels of the U.N. Security Counsel’s resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire between Hamas and Israel.

So far only journalists already in Gaza have been able to report on this conflict.  Since the start of hostilities Israel has barred all journalists’ access into Gaza fueling the uncertainty of details.  On January 6 for example, Israel attacked a U.N. school that the Israeli Army alleges was used to launch rockets.  This claim conflicts with eyewitness testimony reported on by the New York Times that although rockets were fired near the school, there were no rockets being fired within the school’s boundaries.  Regardless, 40 refugees seeking shelter in the school were killed.

For students at Summit High School the conflict in the Middle East stirs a need to express deeply held convictions regarding the status of Israel and Palestine.

“These civilian deaths just prove that Hamas is using civilians as ‘human shields,’” said Jewish student A.J. Markow.  “Hamas has a history of attacking innocent Israelis; there needs to be a definite end to their reign in Gaza.”

“I have Jewish friends that downplay the repercussions of Israel’s military actions,” said senior student Shannon McGuire.  “Israel needs to consider the human cost of what they are inflicting on innocent Palestinians.  At the end of the day hundreds of people are killed but the ideology of hatred that perpetuates the Hamases and the Hezbollahs can never be destroyed by violence.  It can only be intensified.  Palestinian children are taught to hate when Israel attacks them.”

Elise Priscilla Burri concurs.  “In a sense Israel is trying to defend itself,” Burri said.  “Their motives may be right to them, but their going about it in the wrong way.”

“You can’t solely blame one side or the other,” said senior student Jared Steele.  “Pointing fingers doesn’t help any one.  Pointing fingers can only increase these divisions.  We must all share the blame for human suffering.”

With over 770 people dead and thousands wounded this suffering carries a burden for all informed citizens of the free world.