i don’t manage to update, although a lot has happened.
since yesterday, a ceasefire seems to finally be holding. occupation forces seem to have finally withdrawn from the gaza strip. palestinian factions are in cairo and apparently negotiating. (in this context, read the ceasefire proposal that was supposedly made by the US and rejected by the zionists earlier according to arab21 – reported by mee).as a according to pchr’s report from yesterday at 9am, the number of people murdered in gaza was 1938. 7920 were wounded. (according to the moh last night, the numbers were at 1875 murdered and 9567 injured). numbers will have risen since yesterday morning and will continue to rise as people reach areas of previous fighting and recover bodies. 64 occupation soldiers were killed according to their military sources, in addition to an jewish citizen of 48, a bedouin and a thai worker. just before the ceasefire, a number of attacks were launched that killed more people. among those killed were at least 11 journalists (here 10 are reported) and 21 medical personal, while another 85 medical persons were reportedly injured according to the moh.
according to the unrwa, monday, almost 272,987 people were sheltered in 90 unrwa schools. yesterday morning, unrwa reported the number to have decreased to 267,970 internally displaced people. according to pchr’s report yesterday, at least 520,000 were displaced in total. during cast lead, 51,000 were displaced. see also this article on ei on the dispacement of a fourth of the entire population of the gaza strip. yesterday, un ocha released an urgent appeal asking for 367 $ million to allow them to respond to the immediate needs created by the massive damage of the past few weeks and artificially created humanitarian crisis.
monday, people once again began to return to their former homes. anne also visited the areas of former fighting and the images are terrible.
friday: occupation cried “kidnapping” when a soldier was ceased before the ceasefire, and then massively bombed rafah to kill him
as explained in my post here, friday, although another humanitarian ceasefire was announced, airstrikes and shelling continued massively in gaza and especially in rafah. the first strikes were reported 8 minutes after the ceasefire was supposed to have started. the zionists announced that hamas had captured (they used the word “kidnapped”) a soldier – indicating that they had captured the soldier during the ceasefire and that their massive bombing of rafah was in response. in rafah alone, 70 were said to have been killed friday alone.
basically, soon as a ceasefire was pronounced, occupation forces began an incursion much deeper than previous once and proceeded with military operations. when they were met by hamas militants, the militants engaged in battle, apparently killed several soldiers and captured one (a practise that is not uncommon in acts of war). this is likely to have occured BEFORE the actual ceasefire was supposed to begin.
faced with the prospect of having a soldier in the hands of hamas, the zionists turned the capture into a major immorality of international concern (which elicited widespread condemnations), suggested that hamas had broken the ceasefire (which the zionists themselves never intended to fully honor) and proceeded to massively bomb rafah to make sure that the captured soldiers was killed. more significantly, there are various reports of up to 300 palestinians having been – in their case kidnapped – by invading occupation soldiers from gaza. there are even reports of executions, yet no specific information is available. when a soldier is captured, he becomes a prisoner of war, but the non-combatants (including “fighters” who are not, at that moment, engaging in combat or posing an immediate theat) cannot simply be seized under international law. furthermore, non-combatants in occupied territory are taken prisoner by the occupation forces, they can not be transferred outside the territory except for special circumstances (risk to their safety – not the case in palestine – thanks to lydia de leeuw for clariyfing this point to me).
in total,123 palestinians were murdered in gaza on friday and 250 injured according to pchr (see the detailed report here). in fact, the number of corpses in rafah was so high while the area was largely cut-off that people began storing bodies in freezers. there are very gruesome pictures of children’s bodies in an icecream freezer (i’m posting a less graphic one here).
saturday: 80 palestinians killed and 278 wounded
please read the pchr report for detailed updates on the horrors of saturday. what is significant is that saturday, it was reported that places in khoza’a and had become inhabitable, not only due to the immense destruction that the massacres caused, but also by the smell of rotting corpses.
anne’s pictures from beit lahiya in the north and other places.
sunday: 9 killed when area next to unrwa school shelter was bombed
on sunday, a missile hit right in front of another unrwa school shelter, this time the unrwa boys prep school in rafah, killing nine people and injuring 27. according to unrwa, unrwa schools that currently serve as shelters were bombed/shelled on six other occasions before:
UN school “21 and 22 July 2014: Maghazi Preparatory Girls School A & B, Middle Area. The school, which was finalized in 1980 with international support provided to UNRWA, sheltered approximately 1,000 IDPs prior to the first attack.
23 July 2014: Deir El Balah Preparatory Girls School C. The school was completed in 2013 and is funded by the United States of America. It provided refuge to 1,500 Palestinians at the time it was hit.
24 July 2014: Beit Hanoun Elementary Co-ed School A & D, North Area. The school was completed in 1997 and is funded by the United States of America. It provided shelter to approximately 1,200 IDPs the day it was hit.
29 July 2014: Zaitoun Preparatory Girls School B. The school was completed in 2012 and is also funded by the United States of America. It sheltered almost 2,200 IDPs.
30 July 2014: Jabalia Elementary Girls School A & B. The school was built in 1960 from funding provided by the European Commission and sheltered over 3,200 IDPs.”
“UNRWA estimates that 95 installations have been damaged since 8 July in 135 strikes, including at least 10 direct hits.
according to pchr, between sunday 10am and monday 10 am, 53 palestinians were murdered (see the detailed report here).
monday: another ceasefire broken, at least 50 palestinians killed
on monday, the 72 hour ceasefire that in fact took hold tuesday was supposed to start, but was immediately (reportedly 5 minutes after it was to have started) broken when the occupation bombed a two story house in el shati refugee camp by an f16. the house was completely destroyed and six people killed, according to pchr:
Ibtissam Ibrahim al-Bakri, 31; her children: Aseel, 4; and Mohammed, 4 months; Ramadan Kamal al-Bakri, 36; and Ibrahim Mohammed al-Masharawi, 32. Kamal Ahmed al-Bakri, 4, died of his wound on Tuesday morning. Five neighboring houses were also destroyed.
read the detailed report on monday’s attack by pchr here.
in total, while some news sources report 40 palestinians murdered on monday, pchr that ten palestinians were murdered between monday 10am and tuesday 10am.
nonetheless, people began to return to their former homes on monday. as you is evident in anne’s pictures from various places in gaza, they often only found rubble and utter destruction.
monday/tuesday/wednesday: arrests and harrassment in the west bank and east jerusalem
in the past few days, attacks by both army and soldiers continued in the west bank, east jerusalem (and probably in 48 as well, though i didn’t come across reports). since july 7, 17 palestinians in the west bank were killed so far. monday night, occupation forces invaded aida refugee camp, arrested at least one and injured several in ensuing clashes. i have seen pictures and reports of devestation (and even a report of soldiers having defacated on the roof of a house). i will post them later if i find them. 32 palestinians were reportedly arrested/kidnapped by occupation forces in the west bank and east jerusalem on monday.
on tuesday, following two reported attacks by palestinians during which one jewish resident was killed and a soldier was injured, there was even more repression and deployment in east jerusalem. palestinians who wanted to enter the al aqsa compound (haram al shareef) were attacked, including women. 15 palestinians were injured. in total, 38 palestinians were reportedly “arrested”/kidnapped by occupation army in the west bank and east jerusalem.
today, settler colonists attacked various stores in the old city of hebron. at least nine palestinians were reportedly “arrested”/kidnapped by the occupation army.