Jóvenes Israelíes desaparecidos desatan reacción de su gobierno: intervención en Gaza

Israel searches for 'kidnapped' students
Massive search under way for three teenagers who disappeared from Kfar Etzion, an illegal West Bank settlement.
Gregg Carlstrom Last updated: 13 Jun 2014 17:31
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Israeli soldiers scour the countryside around the city of Hebron after the youths vanished [Reuters]

The Israeli army is searching for three Jewish teenagers who disappeared while returning home from their religious school in the occupied West Bank, in what the military is calling a suspected kidnapping, officials have said.

The students, aged 16 to 19, disappeared on Thursday night around 10pm local time after leaving Kfar Etzion, an illegal settlement between Jerusalem and Hebron.

Two of them are students at a yeshiva, a Jewish seminary, in the settlement.

An army spokesman said the trio may have tried to hitchhike to their homes to Modi’in, a city in central Israel, before they disappeared.

"We are concentrating a large intelligence effort on trying to locate the missing," said Brigadier General Moti Almoz. Soldiers also found a burned-out car in the area on Friday, but it is unclear whether the two are related.

The army has set up checkpoints and deployed additional troops in the area, and there were reports of raids on Palestinian homes in villages around Hebron.

Stories embargoed

Israeli media were largely barred from covering the story until late Friday afternoon because of a military gag order.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz briefly reported a shootout near Hebron between Israeli soldiers and unknown gunmen, but removed the story later.

Palestinian media, and the Israeli channel i24, also reported an operation to free the students in which five Palestinians were killed.

The army denied those stories, and they too were eventually taken down.

"These rumors have no basis," Almoz said.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that Israel "holds the Palestinian Authority responsible for the safety of the missing [students]."

Major General Adnan al-Damiri, the spokesman for the Palestinian security services, dismissed the statement as a "joke," saying that Israel had not asked the PA for help in the search.

"They were in an area under the occupation's control, according to the Oslo Accords, and not in areas under the control of the Palestinian Authority,” Damiri told the Quds Network, a Palestinian news website.

Almoz said on Friday night that the army was starting to coordinate with the PA security forces.
Source:
Al Jazeera

12-hour truce comes into force in Gaza
Humanitarian pause in fighting begins at 05:00 GMT as diplomatic efforts continue on a longer-lasting ceasefire.
Last updated: 26 Jul 2014 10:18


A 12-hour ceasefire came into force between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip at 8am (05:00 GMT) on Saturday, the 19th day of a conflict that has killed at least 900 people.

Israel and the Palestinian armed group said they would observe the temporary UN-mediated ceasefire, after US Secretary of State John Kerry was unable to reach a lasting truce during talks on Friday in Cairo.

In the occupied West Bank, which had been relatively calm for years, nine Palestinians died on Friday as protests raged for a second day against Israel's Gaza offensive and the rising casualty toll there.

A few minutes into the scheduled start of Saturday's ceasefire, it was still difficult to know if the fighting had stopped in all parts of the Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera's Nicole Johnston reported.

"Sometimes it does continue in pockets for a little while. It may take some time for the ceasefire to completely come into effect," she said.

In the lead-up to the ceasefire, she said the battles were "incredibly heavy" overnight.

"Rockets have been fired from Gaza. I heard constant sounds of shelling from the Israeli navy ships that are positioned just off the coast," she said.

At least 10 houses in Gaza were reportedly struck by Israeli aircraft overnight, she said, including one house in Khan Younis, where at least 20 people, most of them members of the same family, died.

"Ahead of the ceasefire, it was a very difficult night for the people of Gaza," Al Jazeera's Johnston said.

Emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said the bodies of at least 35 Palestinians were recovered from rubble across Gaza during the three first hours of the ceasefire, raising the total death toll to more than 900.

Diplomatic push
The announcement of the truce came just hours after Israel's cabinet rejected the terms of a US-sponsored longer-lasting ceasefire that was meant to end the fighting.
Speaking in Egypt, Kerry confirmed the rejection but said diplomats were still trying to work out a deal.

"We still have terminology and context to work through, but we are confident we have a framework that will work, and we will continue to work for that ... none of us here are stopping."

Kerry met UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Cairo on Friday, and spoke by telephone to his Qatari and Turkish counterparts.

He will fly to Paris on Saturday for another conference on Gaza.

Israel has already indicated it plans to step up its incursion into the Palestinian territory.

Since Israel's assault on Gaza began on July 8, rockets fired from Gaza into Israel have killed two Israeli civilians and a Thai migrant worker. A total of 35 Israeli soldiers have died in Gaza.

The growing casualties in Gaza have caused anger in the West Bank , prompting two days of mass protests in several cities and clashes with Israeli police.

Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab, reporting from the West Bank, said thousands took to the streets in Hebron, Bethlehem, Jenin and other cities on Friday night and into early Saturday. Israeli forces used live rounds and tear gas to disperse protesters.

On Thursday night, 10,000 demonstrators marched in solidarity with Gaza near the Palestinian administrative capital Ramallah - a scale recalling mass revolts of the past.

Protesters surged against an Israeli army checkpoint, throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails, and Palestinian medics said one was shot dead and 200 wounded when troops opened fire.

The Palestine Liberation Organisation called for more demonstrations in the West Bank and said it was at the same time working to secure a ceasefire deal.

Middle East
Bodies recovered from Gaza rubble amid truce
Discovery of more than 70 bodies during "humanitarian pause" takes death toll in Palestinian territory past 900 mark.
Last updated: 26 Jul 2014 10:59
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The bodies of dozens of Palestinians have been recovered from the rubble across the Gaza Strip in the first few hours of a 12-hour humanitarian truce, according to medics.

Ashraf al-Qudra, Palestinian emergency services spokesman, said on Saturday that 76 bodies had been brought to hospitals in north, central and southern Gaza, as well as Gaza City, and that the toll was expected to rise further still.

The bodies were recovered just hours after a fragile "humanitarian pause" came into force between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, against which Israel launched an offensive 18 days ago that has so far killed more than 900 people.

The growing casualties came amid a new high-level diplomatic push after Israel's cabinet on Friday rejected the terms of a US-sponsored longer-lasting ceasefire that was meant to end the fighting.

John Kerry, US secretary of state, was on Saturday in Paris, where a meeting between him, his French counterpart and other diplomats from influential countries, was taking place.

Those present in the meeting on Gaza included top diplomats from Britain, Germany, Italy, Qatar, Turkey and the European Union.

Since Israel's assault on Gaza began on July 8, more than 900 Palestinians, including children, have been killed. More than 5,800 others have been reported injured.

Rockets fired from Gaza into Israel have killed two Israeli civilians and a Thai migrant worker. The fighting also killed 34 Israeli soldiers.

The violence in Gaza has caused anger in the West Bank, prompting two days of mass protests in several cities and clashes with Israeli police, which left at least nine Palestinians dead.

Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab, reporting from the West Bank, said thousands took to the streets in Hebron, Bethlehem, Jenin and other cities on Friday night and into early Saturday. Israeli forces used live rounds and tear gas to disperse protesters.

On Thursday night, 10,000 demonstrators marched in solidarity with Gaza near the Palestinian administrative capital Ramallah - a scale recalling mass revolts of the past.

Protesters surged against an Israeli army checkpoint, throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails, and Palestinian medics said one was shot dead and 200 wounded when troops opened fire.

The Palestine Liberation Organisation called for more demonstrations in the West Bank and said it was at the same time working to secure a ceasefire deal.

Gazans survey devastation as truce broken
Gaza health ministry says death toll from 19 days of Israeli offensive has hit 1,032 as ceasefire broken with mortars.
Fares Akram Last updated: 26 Jul 2014 19:45


Beit Hanoun, Gaza Strip - The bodies of dozens of Palestinians were pulled from the ruins of bombed-out homes in Gaza on Saturday during a brief humanitarian truce that top diplomats meeting in Paris urged Israel and Palestinian faction Hamas to extend.

The death toll from the 19-day Israeli offensive on Gaza reached 1,032 on Saturday, according to the Gaza health ministry, as Israel extended the initial 12-hour ceasefire by four hours - shortly before it was due to end.

But the extended ceasefire, until midnight local time (21:00 GMT), was broken shortly after 8pm (17:00 GMT), with the Israeli military announcing three mortar rounds had been fired from Gaza into southern Israel. There was no damage from the rocket fire, and media reports said the military did not regard the incident as a major violation.

Al Jazeera's Stefanie Dekker, reporting from Gaza, said she had been told there was no agreement among Palestinian factions in Gaza on extending the ceasefire.

"We've had it confirmed that the al-Qassam Brigades (the military wing of Hamas) has fired rockets at Israel. What they're saying is a four-hour ceasefire at night doesn't serve any purpose and the people will agree with them," Dekker said.

More than halfway into the earlier truce, medics said 85 bodies had been retrieved from buildings ground into rubble across the Gaza Strip. Thirty-seven Israeli soldiers have also been killed, along with two Israeli civilians and a Thai foreign worker.

Palestinians ventured onto Gaza's streets after the truce took effect, some eager to check on homes they had fled, others to stock up on food and other items while it was still safe to do so.

In many places they found astonishing devastation: apartment buildings levelled, entire blocks of homes completely wiped out by relentless Israeli bombardment.

For Sareya al-Massri, the truce provided a rare window to return home to collect clothes for her 10 children. "Nothing is left. We lost everything," said al-Massri, wiping away tears with a white tissue as she surveyed what was once her three-storey home in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza.

Al-Massri fled her home last week under intense Israeli shelling. She is now living at Gaza City's Beach refugee camp with her husband, children and grandchildren. The family's house sits in ruins after it was hit by an Israeli F-16 missile. "My husband doesn’t yet know… I don't know how I'm going to tell him," she said.

RELATED: Bodies recovered from Gaza rubble amid truce

Across Beit Hanoun, debris blocked the streets, while piles of rubbish and rotten vegetables spread out over the market square. Two dead horses were lying on the sidewalk.

"My home! My home!" yelled Iftekhar Abu Ouda, 46, as she ran down an alley to inspect her home. She burst into tears after seeing that two Israeli shells had hit the roof and back exterior wall. "I have been working for 23 years and my husband as well to build this home," she said. "This is not a life. What did we do to Israel in order to destroy our home?"

Most of the town's 40,000 residents fled on Wednesday, when Israeli artillery shelling intensified and reached the centre of the city. An Israeli air strike hit a United Nations-run school, killing at least 16 displaced Palestinians and injuring 150 others.

"When we were gathering, a shell landed in the playground… another shell followed. We ran out, but a third shell hit the street as if they want to keep us inside," said Ra'isa Abu Harbeed, 33, who witnessed the bombing.

The home was bombed in the morning before the ceasefire... as if they wanted to cause as much destruction as possible before the ceasefire.

- Ahmed Shabat, Beit Hanoun

Harbeed returned to the school when the temporary ceasefire took effect to collect some of her family's belongings, before returning to another shelter in Jabaliya, a refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. "My husband was injured, my brother-in-law lost his leg… there were many dead and I saw a baby among them," she said, as she collected clothes.

The hallways between classrooms were littered with blood stained mats, food and clothes. Pieces of heavy shrapnel lay outside, while a playground was marked by a black crater, where a shell landed.

At the entrance to the city, civil defence workers were digging through the rubble of a building. The first recovered body - a young man named Tamer Nasser - was found and rushed onto a stretcher to the ambulance. The second body followed a few minutes later.

A resident said these were the sixth and seventh bodies to be recovered from the house since the morning.

"The home was bombed in the morning before the ceasefire," said Ahmed Shabat, a neighbour, as he watched the scene. "Most of the damage here is fresh, as if they wanted to cause as much destruction as possible before the ceasefire."

RELATED: Hamas leader: 'Israelis are playing games'

US Secretary of State John Kerry, meanwhile, met with counterparts from Europe and the Middle East in Paris, who urged that the ceasefire be extended.

"We all call on parties to extend the humanitarian ceasefire," France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters after meeting Kerry and counterparts from Britain, Germany, Italy, Qatar and Turkey, as well as an EU representative.

Hamas and Israel agreed to the "humanitarian window" in the early hours of Saturday morning, after a US proposal for a seven-day truce during which the two sides would negotiate a longer-term deal was rejected by Israel's security cabinet on Friday night.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Hamas leader Osama Hamdan said that any long-term ceasefire "has to result in lifting the siege on Gaza, opening the border crossings, and [for Palestinians in Gaza] to have free access to the world".

Middle East
Nasrallah pledges to support besieged Gazans
Leader of Hezbollah appears in person in Beirut to warn Israel it would be suicidal to continue fighting in Gaza Strip.
Last updated: 26 Jul 2014 02:38


Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, has promised to support the people of Gaza.

On the day dedicated to Jerusalem by Iran's late supreme leader Ayatollah Al Khomeini, Nasrallah warned Israel that it was "suicide" to continue waging war in the Gaza Strip.

Al Jazeera's Rula Amin reports from Beirut.

Gaza: No innocent victims?
A destructive mindset among Israelis justifies violence against Palestinians.
Last updated: 27 Jul 2014 08:59
Alia Brahimi

Alia Brahimi

Dr Alia Brahimi is a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Oxford. She received her doctorate from the University of Oxford in 2007.
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Around 43 percent of Palestinians in Gaza are below the age of 16 [AFP/Getty Images]

In 1894, a young anarchist left a bomb outside the offices of a mining company in Paris. Before he met the guillotine, Emile Henri claimed that his very humanity compelled him to act the way he did, in defence of the starving and exploited men working in the mines. But what about the innocent victims of the bombing? "I soon resolved that question," explained Henri. "The building where the Carmaux Company had its offices was inhabited only by bourgeois; hence there would be no innocent victims."

In justification for the overwhelmingly civilian death toll on 9/11, Osama bin Laden carried forward this type of reasoning. Also claiming to represent the oppressed, bin Laden argued that, "given that the American Congress is a committee that represents the people, the fact that it agrees with the actions of the American government proves that America in its entirety is responsible for the atrocities that it is committing against Muslims". Thus for bin Laden, as for Henri, there were no innocent victims.

In advocating collective punishment, these alarming arguments seized on the essential quality of a whole category of people (being middle class, being an American citizen) to determine their guilt.

During Israeli's Operation Pillar of Defence in Gaza in 2012, Gilad Sharon argued along similar lines. Sharon, the son of Ariel and the "gatekeeper" to his father during his tenure as Israeli Prime Minister, invoked Hiroshima and Nagasaki and urged the IDF to flatten all of Gaza. "The desire to prevent harm to innocent civilians in Gaza", he wrote in the Jerusalem Post, "will ultimately lead to harming the truly innocent: the residents of southern Israel. The residents of Gaza are not innocent. They elected Hamas… they chose this freely and must live with the consequences".

Just like bin Laden, Sharon invoked a process of democracy (elections) to egregiously violate its substance (killing civilians). In weaponising democracy itself, he suggested that these civilians had actually done something (voting) to forfeit their right to life, in a way akin to the combatant picking up a weapon. Again, then, a whole class of people (Gazans) was not innocent.

Sharon's views, controversial as they were at the time, could not be said to be representative. However, the worry is that a series of recent remarks betray the existence of a similar demonising mindset in some Israeli quarters, in which Palestinians can be targeted by virtue of the essential quality of being Palestinian.

The dehumanisation of Palestinians

This mindset has been reflected in the statements of Israeli parliamentarians, one of whom deemed the enemy to be "the Palestinian people". Ayelet Shaked, of the Jewish Home party, also posted to Facebook an article advocating killing the mothers of Palestinian "martyrs", and destroying their homes for having raised "little snakes" in them.

The deputy speaker of the Knesset and a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, Moshe Feiglin, decried the "illogical pity" Israel has for its enemies and argued against warning Gazans of impending bombings, because they were supporters of Hamas.

This mindset, of creeping dehumanisation, was also evident in the scenes of ordinary Israelis gathered on a hilltop, cheering, clapping and eating popcorn during the bombardment of Gaza. It was evident in the remarks of an Israeli scholar of Arabic literature at Bar-Ilan University, who stated that raping the wives and sisters of Palestinian fighters would deter attacks. And it was evident, of course, in that refrain of the mobs - "Mavet La'aravim" ("Death to the Arabs") - in Jaffa, Jerusalem and elsewhere.

The major concern is that this mindset could be currently active within the political leadership, which continues the war despite global outcry over the perceived violation of international humanitarian law; within the military leadership, which has not changed its tactics in full knowledge that 1 in 4 fatalities is not only a civilian, but also a child; and among Israeli soldiers, who appear willing to deliberately kill Palestinian noncombatants, whether children playing football on the beach or a young unarmed man searching the rubble for his cousin.

This mindset is, perhaps, both a cause and an effect of the 47-year old occupation, the longest in modern history, and the ways in which it must be continually sustained: from human rights abuses to daily harassments and humiliations; from the seven-year economic blockade of 1.8 million people to the current deployment of a military superpower against the residential buildings, schools, hospitals, mosques and disabled centres of an impoverished, captive population, 43 percent of whom are under 16.

'A colonial war'

Just as this mindset seems psychologically necessary to uphold the occupation, so it is integral to the paradigm of "colonial war" in which, as Talal Asad described, it is proper that ethnically inferior peoples die in much larger numbers.

This dehumanising mindset jars, violently, with the claim to be civilised, and so moral and linguistic gymnastics ensue, raising as many questions about the civilian death toll as they seek to answer.

We are told the civilian population is warned before Israel launches its attacks. But, under international law, do such warnings really then transform a civilian object into a military one? Anyway, where are Gazans supposed to run?
INTERACTIVE: Gaza Under Attack

We are told Israel doesn't kill Palestinian civilians, instead Hamas uses the population of Gaza as human shields. But, in addition to its military wing, which uses terrorist means, isn't Hamas also a political party active and embedded in civilian life, in one of the most densely populated strips of land on earth? Anyway, haven't we heard the human shields argument before, from the likes of al-Qaeda?

We are told any other democratic country would act in the same way if terrorists targeted its people. But when civilians in the United Kingdom were repeatedly attacked by the IRA, did the British government bombard Catholic areas of Belfast? Anyway, isn't the hallmark of a democratic country its restraint?

We are told Israel has an inviolable right to self-defence. But if Israelis have the right to self-defence, don't the Palestinians also have that right, a fortiriori, given the massive imbalance of power in times of war and the raids, killings and expropriation of land in times of peace? Anyway, is it even meaningful to talk of self-defence against a population you are occupying?

Much more sophisticated questions than these have been asked of Israel's narrative, and it is likely that challenge will continue as long as the occupation thunders on. The danger, as much for Israelis as for the Palestinians, is that, as answers increasingly fail and fall flat, Israel will be forced to resolve the issue in the manner of Emile Henri: There were no innocent victims.

Dr Alia Brahimi is a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Oxford. She received her doctorate from the University of Oxford in 2007.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.
Source:
Al Jazeera
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Hamas calls Israel truce terms 'unacceptable'
Palestinian group says ceasefire should include withdrawal of Israeli troops and deal for residents to return to homes.
Last updated: 27 Jul 2014 06:39
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Hamas has said an Israeli offer to extend a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza is unacceptable because it does not include provision for the withdrawal of Israeli troops and for residents in the enclave to return to their homes.

Israel's security cabinet had earlier approved extending the ceasefire, which begun early on Saturday, until midnight local time (21:00 GMT) on Sunday, but warned it would respond to any fire from Gaza during this period and that it would continue to target tunnels used by Hamas and other groups.

"At the request of the United Nations, the cabinet has approved a humanitarian hiatus until tomorrow [Sunday[ at 24:00. The IDF [Israel Defence Forces] will act against any breach of the ceasefire," an Israeli official said in a statement.

Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, told Al Jazeera: "Any humanitarian ceasefire that doesn't include the complete withdrawal of its positions in the Gaza Strip, doesn’t enable the residents to go back to their homes and doesn’t allow the evacuation of the wounded, is unacceptable."

Rockets fired

At least 20 rockets were fired from Gaza overnight, and air raid sirens sounded throughout southern and central Israel during morning rush hour. At least five rockets landed in Israel and two others were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system, the military said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

An earlier extension of the ceasefire, until midnight local time on Saturday, was broken shortly after 8pm local time, with the Israeli military announcing three mortar rounds had been fired from Gaza into southern Israel.

Al Jazeera's Stefanie Dekker, reporting from Gaza, said she had been told there was no agreement among Palestinian factions in Gaza on extending the ceasefire.

"We've had it confirmed that al-Qassam Brigades [the military wing of Hamas] has fired rockets at Israel," she said.

After the ceasefire began early on Saturday, Gazans took advantage of the lull in fighting to retrieve their dead and stock up on food, flooding into the streets to discover scenes of massive destruction in some areas.

At least 1,049 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed and more than 6,000 injured since Israel launched its offensive on the Mediterranean enclave, home to 1.8 million Palestinians, on July 8.

Israel said five more of its soldiers were killed in pre-truce fighting in Gaza and two others died of their wounds in hospital. Another soldier was killed by shell fire overnight, bringing the army death toll to 43.

Three civilians, including two Israeli citizens and a Thai labourer, have been killed by rockets fired from Gaza.

Israel resumes shelling of Gaza Strip
Decision to restart bombardment comes after Hamas rejects Israeli terms for 24-hour extension of humanitarian ceasefire.
Last updated: 27 Jul 2014 10:11
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Five Palestinians have been killed in shelling after Israel ended a humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, medics said.

In a statement on Sunday the Israeli military attributed its decision to resume aerial, naval and ground activity to "Hamas's incessant rocket fire throughout the humanitarian window, which was agreed upon for the civilian population in Gaza".

Smoke was seen billowing over several locations in Gaza shortly after the Israeli announcement.

The Gaza Ministry of Health said two Palestinians were killed in Nusairat refugee camp in the central area of the Strip and three others in Khan Younis in the south. The death toll now stands at more than 1,000.

Al Jazeera's Nicole Johnston, reporting from Gaza City, said there was tank shelling in the east of the Strip, and naval ships pounded the beaches in the west. There were also several air strikes.

An air strike in central Gaza City hit al-Shoroq building, which houses foreign and local media, including Hamas-affiliated al-Aqsa TV. The media offices were evacuated earlier this week.

Earlier on Sunday, Palestinian fighters resumed rocket attacks into Israel, firing 20 rockets overnight and into the morning. Air-raid sirens sounded throughout southern and central Israel during morning rush hour.

At least five rockets landed in Israel and two others were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system, the Israeli military said.

The UN had asked Palestinian factions in Gaza to accept a 24-hour-long ceasefire extension, following Israel's approval to prolong the humanitarian truce for another day.

Israel said, however, that it would continue to target tunnels used by Hamas and other groups.

Hamas rejected the Israeli offer as unacceptable because it did not include a provision for the withdrawal of Israeli troops and for residents in Gaza to return to their homes.

Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, told Al Jazeera: "Any humanitarian ceasefire that doesn't include the complete withdrawal of its positions in the Gaza Strip, doesn’t enable the residents to go back to their homes and doesn’t allow the evacuation of the wounded, is unacceptable."

Israel's security cabinet had earlier approved extending the ceasefire, which begun early on Saturday, until midnight local time (21:00 GMT) on Sunday.

"At the request of the United Nations, the cabinet has approved a humanitarian hiatus until tomorrow [Sunday] at 24:00. The IDF [Israel Defence Forces] will act against any breach of the ceasefire," an Israeli official said in a statement.

After the ceasefire began early on Saturday, Palestinians in Gaza took advantage of the lull in fighting to retrieve their dead and stock up on food, flooding into the streets to discover scenes of massive destruction in some areas.

At least 1,054 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed and more than 6,000 injured since Israel launched its offensive on the Mediterranean enclave, home to 1.8 million Palestinians, on July 8.

Israel said five more of its soldiers were killed in pre-truce fighting in Gaza and two others died of their wounds in hospital.

Another soldier was killed by shell fire overnight, bringing the army death toll to 43.

Three civilians, including two Israeli citizens and a Thai labourer, have been killed by rockets fired from Gaza.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies

India's 'balancing act' on Gaza crisis
India's policy of equidistance between Israel and Palestine faces criticism amid mounting death toll in Gaza.
Baba Umar Last updated: 27 Jul 2014 14:03
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The death toll in Gaza has topped 1,000 and the majority of those killed are civilians [EPA]

India's opposition parties walked out of the upper house of parliament last week after the government refused to pass a resolution condemning Israel for its invasion of the Gaza Strip.

The government, led by nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), came in for criticism for acting as a "spectator" even as hundreds of Palestinians are being killed in Israeli air, naval, and ground attacks.

But Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said that India's policy on Palestine was a legacy of the past governments.

"There is absolutely no change in India's policy towards Palestine, which is that we fully support the Palestinian cause while maintaining good relations with Israel," the minister said.

My sense is that even if the UPA [the last Congress-led government] had been in power, India would not have hastily 'condemned' Israel.

C Uday Bhaskar, Analyst

The foreign minister has said that India has diplomatic ties with both nations and "any discourteous reference can impact our relations with them". Instead, the government has backed the Egyptian ceasefire offer.

C Uday Bhaskar, a foreign policy expert, said India was "seeking to find a balance between Israel and Palestine" adding that to "condemn would not be the appropriate choice of word".

He said that there was no "major policy shift in not using the word 'condemn'".

"My sense is that even if the UPA [the last Congress-led government] had been in power, India would not have hastily 'condemned' Israel," he told Al Jazeera.

Diluted stand?

But others feel India's stand on Palestine has diluted.

"The current government has diluted its stand on Palestine by maintaining equidistance," said Dr Harsh Dobhal, editor of Combat Law journal.

"The government's policy of maintain equidistance in my opinion is not proper because Israel and Palestine cannot be treated at par. Israel is an occupier and Palestine is occupied."

Unlike other parts of the world, there were no demonstrations in India against the Israeli invasion of Gaza, barring some small protests led by students outside the Israeli embassy in New Delhi.

"We believe that the Israeli occupation of Palestine is completely illegal and its Gaza offensive tantamount to war crimes which needs to be condemned,” Om, a student and one of the New Delhi protest organisers, told Al Jazeera.

"India had always taken up the anti-colonial struggles, if we look back to history, but unfortunately today, India is betraying that history. Our protests outside the Israel embassy were broken by the police.

We had already informed the police, yet we were dragged, beaten up. Even women protesters were not spared."

Ever since India's first official reaction came out, officials from both Palestine and Israel have visited the external affairs ministry in New Delhi.

A few days ago, Israel's new ambassador to India, Daniel Carmon, met officials of India's foreign ministry. This was preceded by the visit of a top Palestinian official, which the consular sources confirm, was meant for lobbying purposes and to seek India's backing on the current crisis.

But what has caused a shift in India's policy from what was once uncompromising support for the Palestinians' cause, to strong ties with Israel?

"BJP wants a closer relationship with Israel. First of all, ideologically they are closer to each other. Secondly on terrorism issues, both countries are learning from each other and Israel has been forthcoming in giving advice to India.

Thirdly, the new government feels the Arabs have not been forthcoming to India’s concern on some major issues,” Professor AK Pasha, an author and expert on Middle East, told Al Jazeera.

But Tarun Vijay, a top BJP leader, said that India was "keeping the spirit of friendship between both Israel and Palestine intact".

"We have raised a voice against any kind of violence and we want both sides to talk to each other," Vijay told Al Jazeera by phone.

He said that "terrorism on the Israeli border and attacks on Palestinians should stop".

RELATED: Shujayea: Massacre at Dawn

The death toll in Gaza has topped 1,000 and the majority of those killed are civilians, including women and children. Another 6,000 have been wounded in the Israeli offensive that began on July 8 after three Israeli teenage settlers were kidnapped and later found dead.

"Are we punishing all the Palestinians for what Hamas, which is being termed a terrorist organisation by Israel and maybe by some other countries? Are we saying that people who voted for Hamas in 2006 are also Hamas members?" asked Dobhal.

On social media, however, India's predicament over which side to support was further enhanced by the trending #IndiaWithIsrael hashtag, used by thousands that voiced their support for Israel.

The government's policy of maintain equidistance in my opinion is not proper because Israel and Palestine cannot be treated at par. Israel is an occupier and Palestine is occupied.

Dr Harsh Dobhal, Editor, Combat Law

Reportedly initiated by the group Hindus United for Israel, it called for Indians not to forget that "it was Israel and not Palestine that stood with us in 1971 and 1999 war against Pakistan".

Indian author Chetan Bhagat created another fury among netizens after his post, "What is happening to Gaza isn't fair but sadly that is the only way sometimes terrorist organisations and their supporters learn to behave (sic)" targeted Hamas.

Others posted a 1981 mail stamp that said "India supports inalienable rights of the Palestinians people," and three decades later New Delhi has become "one of the most pro-Israel nations."

Pro-Palestine to Pro-Israel

India's support to Palestine has a history.

India was one of the first nations to recognise Palestine's cause and it was the first non-Arab state to recognise the Palestinian Liberation Organisation as the sole, legitimate representative of the Palestinian people in 1974.

Mahatma Gandhi, freedom fighter and father of the nation, backed the Palestinians in a piece he wrote in 1938 insisting that "It is wrong and inhuman to impose the Jews on the Arabs". Eleven years later in 1949, India voted against Israel's induction into the United Nations.

After decades of pro-Arab policy, the formal beginning of the diplomatic ties, however, came in 1992, immediately after armed rebellion in disputed Kashmir, backed by Pakistan, picked up pace.

But the war in the mountains of Kargil between Pakistan and India in 1999 was the final period that sowed the seeds of trust between New Delhi and Tel Aviv.

In a 2003 interview to India Abroad, Jason F Isaacson, International Affairs Director of the American Jewish Committee said the "Israeli involvement, the help that Israel was really able to give to India at the time of the Kargil crisis as a friend and ally, had not taken place before."

Tel Aviv had offered unmanned reconnaissance in the battle zone high up in the Kashmir peaks to help India - its undeclared war ally - boost war efforts which a top Indian air force official in 2007 maintained was "one force multiplication Pakistan had not reckoned with".

Military interests

In the last two decades, defence and economic interests has transformed Indo-Israel ties. The bilateral arms trade in the past decade was estimated at $10bn, with India becoming the largest buyer of Israeli defence equipment.

"India has a right to have a position on the Israeli-Palestinian subject, which is not the only one, but just one of the many bilateral subjects between us," Israeli's Indian embassy spokesperson, Ohad Horsandi, told Al Jazeera.

India should have realised that we get the bulk of our energy from the Arab world, millions of Indians work in Middle East and they send billions in remittances. All these things should have been kept in mind.

Professor A K Pasha, Expert on Middle East issues

"India and Israel share a lot of challenges particularly the threat of terror. Both countries are facing threats from organisations like Hamas, ISIS, al-Qaeda, and Lashkar-e-Toiba."

But experts have warned against defining interests in purely military terms.

"India should have realised that we get the bulk of our energy from the Arab world, millions of Indians work in Middle East and they send billions in remittances. All these things should have been kept in mind," said professor A K Pasha, the former chairman and director of the Gulf Studies Programme, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

"The deviation of India's policy is going to have adverse effects both domestically and overseas."

New Delhi has not tried to equate Hamas, the democratically elected Palestinian faction in Gaza, with other rebel groups in the region. In fact, New Delhi has been supportive of the unity government between Hamas and Fatah factions in Palestine.

On Wednesday, India, voted against Israel at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva citing the "steep escalation of violence" in another aspect of its relations with Israel, which Bhaskar believes "has necessitated a nuancing of India's policy towards Palestine."

"And let us not forget that Hamas is seen as an organisation that supports terrorism as a means and that it is committed to the destruction of Israel - let alone not even recognising the Jewish state. So from the Indian perspective, there is no black and white choice."

Saif Khalid contributed to this report.

Follow Baba Umar on Twitter @BabaUmarr
Source:
Al Jazeera

'Only stones remain': Gaza lies in ruins
Palestinians in Gaza have been shocked by the scale of Israeli destruction, as long-term truce efforts continue.
Mohammed Omer Last updated: 27 Jul 2014 11:54
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Beit Hanoun, Gaza Strip - Umm Ahmed Abu Sahwish holds stones in her hands. They are now all that’s left of her demolished home. "My home is gone and only stones remain," the 65-year-old says.

Hundreds of homes here have been destroyed, and unexploded Israeli missiles litter the ground at the entrance to the town, at Gaza’s northern tip near the border with Israel. The local hospital, emergency rescue equipment, and infrastructure have also incurred heavy damage from Israeli shelling.

Another woman, from a family of 20 people, cries as she tries to dig through the rubble of her house. "Lifetimes of personal and household belongings are gone, with one Israeli missile. Where can we go? We have no food, water, bedding or extra clothes," she says.

Driving the length of this tiny stretch of land - 1.8 million Palestinians live on Gaza's 360sq km - scenes of devastation are everywhere. The trip from the north to the south of Gaza was only possible during a 12-hour humanitarian ceasefire, agreed to by Israel and Hamas on July 26.

On Sunday, Israel resumed its military operation in Gaza, as the prime minister's office declared: "If residents are inadvertently hit, it is Hamas which is responsible given that it has - again - violated the humanitarian truce that Israel acceded to."

Hamas and other Palestinian factions reportedly agreed to a 24-hour humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip, starting at 2pm local time on Sunday.

At least 1,052 Palestinians have been killed and more than 6,000 injured since Israel’s military offensive began on July 8. Forty-three Israeli soldiers have also been killed, along with two Israeli civilians and one Thai worker.

RELATED: Rights groups accuse Israel of war crimes

In Gaza City, there is little to salvage from beneath the destruction.

The eastern neighbourhood of Shujayea is a ghost town. Electricity cables are sliced and sticking out of the debris of homes. Cars lay burnt out, and human remains are scattered along the streets; the air is thick with the smell of decay. "I am 45 years old, and I have never seen destruction like this," says a resident, who didn’t give Al Jazeera his name.

At least 120 Palestinians were killed and hundreds more injured when Israel heavily bombarded Shujayea overnight on July 21. The ceasefire provided the first opportunity for families to return to their homes to survey the destruction and salvage their belongings.

Ambulance sirens ring out, announcing the discovery of more dead bodies from beneath the rubble. At least 90 bodies were pulled out from the destruction in Shujayea during the ceasefire on Saturday.

"This is more ominous than Sabra and Shatila," says Umm Hesham, referring to the killing of about 2,000 Palestinian refugees in the Beirut-area refugee camps in 1982, as her son helps her avoid stepping on bodies.

Outside Shujayea, on al-Wehda street, traffic is closed off. Residents busied themselves with trying to get food, water, and medicine during the ceasefire. Abu Haytam, a father of eight, stood at a market looking for pasta and lentils. He said he didn’t know what would happen in the coming days: "With electricity out, we can’t buy meat or chicken, it will rot too quickly in the heat," he said.

Nearby, a man selling vegetables was surrounded by customers, while at least 300 men waited for bread at Tal al-Hawa bakery. Banks were crowded, while money wire centres were overflowing with people clamouring to get cash.

RELATED: 'The smell of death was everywhere'

There are two roads linking north and south Gaza: Saladin Road and Beach Road. Both are damaged; the former from Israeli tank shells and the latter from the Israeli warships lining the coast.

The [Israeli-Egyptian] siege has hit every aspect of life... But Israel sees no humanitarian need [to lift the siege].

- Abuel Bara, Rafah

Along Saladin road, dairies and a local beverage factory are destroyed, while technical teams worked to restore power to electricity and water installations. Al Aqsa hospital in Deir el-Balah is damaged after Israeli strikes hit the operating theatre and the radiology department, killing five people and injuring more than 70 others on July 21.

In Khan Younes, a burnt-out crater leaves a gaping hole on the main road, the aftermath of an Israeli F16 missile strike. The residents of nearby Khuzaa, which was under heavy Israeli bombardment, are sleeping on the streets. Access to water is extremely difficult; a man who generally sells water tanks for 15 NIS ($4) is now asking for 100 NIS ($29).

The road to Rafah, at Gaza’s southernmost end, is equally precarious.

Two days ahead of Eid al-Fitr, the celebration marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, Dahra market in Khan Younes is buzzing with activity, but no one is in the mood to celebrate. Most are only there to stock up on supplies.

But in Rafah, a barbershop is full of young people getting haircuts. Spirits are high, but talk quickly turns to stories of death and destruction. The youth are also criticising neighbouring Egypt for not opening the Rafah border crossing, only a few hundred metres away.

"The [Israeli-Egyptian] siege has hit every aspect of life; spare parts for my shaving machine are unavailable," says 29-year-old barber Abuel Bara. "Before we would buy it from tunnel merchants, but tunnels are now closed."

The machine provides the only income to feed his two daughters, wife, parents and siblings, he says. "But Israel sees no humanitarian need [to lift the siege]."

Follow Mohammed Omer on Twitter: @mogaza

Middle East
Hamas agrees to 24-hour truce in Gaza
Announcement from Palestinian group comes hours after Israel resumes shelling of Gaza, killing at least five people.
Last updated: 27 Jul 2014 14:27
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Hamas and other Palestinian factions have agreed to a 24-hour humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip, starting at 2pm local time (11:00 GMT) despite Israel accusing Hamas of violating an earlier ceasefire.

Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, said on Sunday the group took the decision after studying a UN proposal for a ceasefire and taking into consideration the situation of the people of Gaza and the Muslim Eid al-Fitr celebrations expected to start on Monday.

As 2pm came and went, the sound of heavy Israeli shelling could be heard within Gaza and sirens sounded in Israeli communities near the border area, Reuters news agency reported, suggesting Palestinian fighters had fired missiles at them.

There was no immediate word from Israel, which called off its own 24-hour truce earlier in the day after Hamas fired a volley of rockets into southern and central Israel.

The Israeli military attributed its decision to resume aerial, naval and ground activity to "Hamas's incessant rocket fire throughout the humanitarian window, which was agreed upon for the civilian population in Gaza".

Smoke was seen billowing over several locations in Gaza, which is governed by Hamas, shortly after the Israeli announcement.

The Gaza Health Ministry said two Palestinians were killed at the Nusairat refugee camp in central Gaza and three others in Khan Younis in the south. The death toll now stands at more than 1,000.

Al Jazeera's Nicole Johnston, reporting from Gaza City, said there was tank shelling in the east of territory, and naval ships struck the beaches in the west. There were also several air strikes.
Ammar Hijazi, an official in the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, speaks to Al Jazeera from Ramallah

An air strike in central Gaza City hit al-Shoroq building, which houses foreign and local media, including Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV. The media offices were evacuated earlier this week.

Palestinian fighters said they had fired at least 20 rockets towards Israel overnight and into the morning. Air-raid sirens sounded throughout southern and central Israel during morning rush hour.

Documentary: Shujayea, massacre at dawn

At least five rockets landed in Israel and two others were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system, the Israeli military said.

At least 1,054 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed and more than 6,000 injured since Israel launched its offensive on the Mediterranean enclave, home to 1.8 million Palestinians, on July 8.

Israel said five of its soldiers were killed in pre-truce fighting in Gaza and two others died of their wounds in hospital.

Another soldier was killed by shell fire overnight, bringing the army death toll to 43.

Three civilians, including two Israeli citizens and a Thai labourer, have been killed by rockets fired from Gaza.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
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Gaza bloodshed eases amid ceasefire confusion
Hamas backs 24-hour humanitarian truce but state of ceasefire is unclear with no sign of a permanent deal.
Last updated: 28 Jul 2014 02:55
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Fighting has subsided in Gaza after Hamas said it backed a 24-hour humanitarian truce, but there was no sign of any comprehensive deal to end its conflict with Israel.

Hamas said on Sunday that it had endorsed a call by the United Nations for a pause in the fighting in light of the upcoming Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which will start on Monday.

Some firing of rockets continued after the time that Hamas had announced it would put its guns aside, while Israeli artillery guns also fired barrages into Gaza, Israeli media reported.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, questioned the validity of the truce, adding that Israel would "take whatever action is necessary to protect our people".

Nonetheless, Gaza residents said Israeli shelling and Hamas missile launches had slowly subsided through the afternoon, the Reuters news agency reported, suggesting a de facto truce might be taking shape as international efforts to broker a permanent ceasefire appeared to stall.

Israel and Hamas had agreed to a 12-hour ceasefire on Saturday to allow Palestinians to stock up on supplies and retrieve bodies from under the rubble.

Netanyahu's cabinet voted to extend the truce until midnight on Sunday at the request of the UN, but called it off when Hamas launched rockets into Israel in the morning.

Palestinian medics said at least 10 people had died in the wave of subsequent strikes that swept Gaza, including a Christian woman whose house in Gaza City was struck by an Israeli bomb.

Some 1,031 Palestinians, mainly civilians and including many children, have been killed in the 20-day conflict. A Gaza health ministry official issued revised figures of the dead, saying that 30 fewer people than thought had died in the conflict.

Israel says 43 of its soldiers have died, along with three civilians killed by rocket and mortar fire out of Gaza.

Obama phone call

Meanwhile, Barack Obama, the US president, spoke with Netanyahu on Sunday and stressed the need for an immediate and sustainable ceasefire.

In a statement, the White House said Obama "made clear the strategic imperative of instituting an immediate, unconditional humanitarian ceasefire that ends hostilities now and leads to a permanent cessation of hostilities based on the November 2012 ceasefire agreement".

So far, diplomatic efforts led by John Kerry, the US secretary of state, to end the 20-day conflict have shown little sign of progress. Israel and Hamas have set conditions that appear irreconcilable.

Hamas wants an end to the Israeli-Egyptian economic blockade of Gaza before agreeing to halt hostilities. Israel has signalled it could make concessions towards that end, but only if Hamas is stripped of its weapons.

"Hamas must be permanently stripped of its missiles and tunnels in a supervised manner," Naftali Bennett, a member of the Israeli security cabinet said on Facebook. "In return we will agree to a host of economic alleviations."

Kerry flew back to Washington overnight after spending most of the week in Egypt trying to bridge the divide, putting forward some written proposals to Israel on Friday.

Truce hopes fade as Gaza pummelled again
Violence soars as seven Palestinian children perish in a playground and four Israeli soldiers killed in a mortar attack.
Last updated: 29 Jul 2014 02:53


Bloodshed in and around Gaza has surged, with a strike killing seven Palestinian children and a heavy overnight bombardment from Israel shattering hopes for an end to three weeks of devastating violence.

It was a bloody start to the three-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which began on Monday, with international demands for an end to the fighting falling on increasingly deaf ears.

The pummelling of the tiny Palestinian enclave continued into the early hours of Tuesday, with flares lighting up the night sky and the constant thud and bang of explosions echoing across the strip.

Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab, reporting from Gaza as missiles hit the territory, said that many people there believed the onslaught to be the heaviest since Israel's operaton began three weeks ago.

"One can only imagine what this city will look like when the sun rises," he said.

Tyab said that among the buildings hit in the assault were the home of Hamas leader Ismail Haniya and the headquarters of the Hamas-affiliated Al Aqsa TV station, which is in a building that houses other media organisation.

"In the name of humanity, the violence must stop," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said earlier after holding long talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging him to heed international calls for a ceasefire.

But Netanyahu appeared determined to press the offensive.

"We must be prepared for a lengthy campaign," he said in a live broadcast after four Israeli soldiers were killed in a mortar attack on a Kibbutz in the Eshkol region of southern Israel, near the border with Gaza.

It brings the total number of Israeli soldiers killed to 48.

"We will not end this operation without neutralising the tunnels whose sole purpose is killing our citizens."

As he spoke, the military sent messages to thousands of Palestinians, urging them to flee their homes and seek shelter in central Gaza City as troops prepared to step up their 21-day campaign.

Shortly afterwards, the skies over Gaza lit up as the Israeli army began a wave of air strikes and heavy shelling.

Medics told the AFP news agency that 10 people were killed in the first wave of strikes, among them three children who died with two adults when a shell hit a house in the northern town of Jabaliya.

Some 1,095 Palestinians have been killed and another 6,500 wounded since the Israeli offensive started three weeks ago.

Children 'cut apart'

Monday had started with a deceptive air of calm in and around Gaza following a quiet second night in which both sides appeared to be observing an undeclared ceasefire.

Despite the lull, there was little mood for celebration in Gaza City as the three-day Eid holiday got under way, with families quickly leaving the mosque after prayers to head straight home or to pay their respects to the dead.

But tensions rose sharply after medics said a shell had struck a building inside the Shifa hospital compound in Gaza City, which was quickly followed by reports of a blast hitting a children's playground in a beachside refugee camp, which left 8 dead, seven of them children.

The Israeli army denied it had fired at either the hospital or the camp. Residents in the Shati camp said an F-16 firing several missiles at a motorised rickshaw.

Near the site of the blast, women wailed and men screamed in anguish in scenes of utter confusion and distress.

The children were playing on a swing when the strike hit the park, Ayman Sahabani, the head of the emergency room at Shifa hospital, told reporters.

Munzer al-Derby, 35, who witnessed the strike, told Al Jazeera: "The kids were playing on the wheel... A rocket fell and cut them apart."
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies

Children killed in Gaza playground shelling
Israel denies striking Gaza's main hospital and a playground, where seven children have been killed.
Last updated: 29 Jul 2014 02:44
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Missiles have struck several sites in Gaza, including a park inside a refugee camp and an outpatient building of the strip's largest hospital, disrupting a relative lull at the start of the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday.

Eight people, including seven children, died following missile fire on a park inside the Shati refugee camp on the edge of Gaza City, medics said.

The children were playing on a swing when the strike hit the park, Ayman Sahabani, the head of the emergency room at Shifa hospital, told reporters.

Munzer al-Derby, 35, who witnessed the strike, told Al Jazeera: "The kids were playing on the wheel... A rocket fell and cut them apart."

"I know some of them. They were from Al-Helou family who left their homes in Shujayea (east Gaza city, where massive artillery fire destroyed neighbourhoods). They came here and rented an apartment last week," al-Derby said.

The Israeli army swiftly denied it was behind the strike, tweeting that a misfired rocket from Gaza had hit the playground.

"We had no activity in the area. We know it was launched from within Gaza and landed short," Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, an Israeli army spokesman, said.

However, Hamas denied it had fired any rockets in the area and said it was "categorically an airstrike by Israel". It said it had collected schrapnel from the scene that it could prove was from an Israeli munition.

Medics said that an Israeli missile also hit a building, believed to be an outpatient clinic, close to the main gate of Shifa hospital, the same hospital where the victims of the playground strike were taken.

Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab, reporting from the hospital, said there were chaotic scenes as "a number of small bodies were brought into this hospital".

"It's believed that because it's been relatively calm, many of these children went outside to enjoy themselves on this Eid holiday but tragically they've been killed," Tyab said.

At least another five Palestinians, including three children, were killed in other attacks on Monday. A four-year-old boy died when tank shells hit his family's house in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, Gaza health officials said. Another person was killed by tank shelling in a separate incident, also in Jabalia.

Israelis killed

Monday’s violence followed an almost 12-hour pause in fighting and came as international efforts intensified to end the three-week war between Israel and Hamas.

The United Nations on Monday called for an "immediate" ceasefire in the fighting that has already killed more than 1,040 Palestinians, 43 Israeli soldiers and three civilians on the Israeli side.

But Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, warned Israelis later that evening to "be prepared for a lengthy campaign" after four soldiers were killed in a mortar attack at Eshkol in southern Israel.

"Israeli citizens cannot live with the threat from rockets and from death tunnels - death from above and from below," Netanyahu said in a speech broadcast live, soon after the news of the shelling of the Eshkol region that also reportedly wounded at least 12 people.

The military said at least a dozen rockets had been fired from Gaza at Israel since midnight

Eid of mourning

As Muslims began celebrating Eid al-Fitr, there was fear and mourning on Monday instead of holiday cheer in large parts of Gaza.

Palestinian families huddled inside their homes, fearing more airstrikes, while those who came to a cemetery in Gaza City's Sheik Radwan neighbourhood to pay traditional respects at their ancestors' graves gathered around a large crater from an airstrike a week ago that had broken up several graves.

Amid an eerie calm, the call to Eid prayer echoed in the southern town of Rafah on Monday morning. Dozens of worshippers lined the rows of a severely destroyed mosque, with a collapsed roof and missing walls. Many of the faithful looked sombre during the traditional holiday sermon.

In Gaza City, dozens of men prayed in the courtyard of a UN school surrounded by school desks. Children and women stood on a higher level overlooking the worshippers.

"We are suffering and will suffer but we need our rights, our houses, our lands and our farms to return to us and we will not accept living a miserable life," said Abu Saber Jalees, who fled fighting to seek shelter at the school.

Meanwhile, in New York, an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council called for "an immediate and unconditional humanitarian ceasefire".

And while it was the council's strongest statement yet on the Gaza war, it was not a resolution and therefore not binding.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
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Israel, PA lash out at Kerry over truce bid
US secretary of state's bid to broker a ceasefire was dubbed a "surrender" to Hamas.
Gregg Carlstrom Last updated: 28 Jul 2014 17:56

Public opinion in Israeli is solidly behind the war despite the loss of more than 40 soldiers so far [Reuters]

Tel Aviv, Israel - US Secretary of State John Kerry’s efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza have made him and the White House the subject of blunt criticism within Israel, adding tension to an already strained diplomatic relationship.

Kerry spent much of last week shuttling between Cairo, Tel Aviv and Ramallah trying to end the three-week Israeli offensive, which has killed more than 1,000 Palestinians, many of them civilians.

The shuttle diplomacy marked his first visit to the region since April, when months of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority collapsed over the former’s refusal to honour the final round of a prisoner release.

His meetings ended on Friday night with a draft calling for an immediate ceasefire, with further discussions in Cairo about a permanent truce.

The proposal was not markedly different from an Egyptian initiative, released earlier this month, which the Israeli government accepted.

But with more than 40 Israeli soldiers killed in a ground offensive that began on July 17, and public opinion solidly behind the war, the cabinet rejected Kerry’s proposal hours before he was due to announce it in Cairo - a public humiliation for Israel's closest ally.

Officials described the draft in stark terms, dubbing it a "surrender" to Hamas because it did not explicitly allow Israel to keep ground troops in Gaza to root out tunnels - even though they were willing to accept the same terms in the Egyptian proposal.

Tzipi Livni, the justice minister, told Kerry on Friday that the proposal was "completely unacceptable" and would "strengthen extremists in the region".

The criticism has spread to the media, where a columnist for the liberal newspaper Ha’aretz dubbed Kerry a "nebbish", a Yiddish word for a sad and clueless individual. "This was a betrayal," wrote David Horovitz, the editor of the Times of Israel, on Sunday.

Much of the criticism seems to stem from Kerry’s decision to involve Turkey and Qatar, strong backers of Hamas, and to reduce the role of Egypt, which was central to mediating the past two truces between Israel and Hamas.

But the army-backed government that came to power in Cairo last year has cracked down on Hamas, labeling it a terrorist organisation and destroying most of its smuggling tunnels into Gaza, raising doubts about its ability to play an impartial role.

Officials from Cairo were not invited to a meeting in Paris over the weekend, where Kerry met at length with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and with Qatari officials.

Even the Palestinian Authority - worried that Hamas will emerge strengthened from a ceasefire - attacked Kerry. An unnamed official told the Saudi-owned Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that the proposal would "destroy the Egyptian bid" for a ceasefire.

"He wants to use the war to strengthen the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood," the official said.

The furore underscores a growing convergence of interests between Israel, Egypt and most Gulf countries - with the exception of Qatar - all of which are staunch opponents of Hamas and other Islamist movements.

"It is misguided to shoot arrows at Kerry personally," wrote Amir Tibon, the diplomatic correspondent for Walla!, a popular Israeli news website. "The preference for the Muslim Brotherhood axis, over the moderate axis, is a problem that begins in the White House."

Nace 'bebé milagro' tras morir madre por bombardeo israelí en Gaza
Los doctores realizaron una cesárea de emergencia a una mujer de 23 años que murió en un ataque israelí, la pequeña fue sacada con vida del vientre de la madre
COMPARTIR
28/07/2014 18:14 Redacción / Foto: Reuters
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Nace 'bebé milagro' tras morir madre por bombardeo israelí en Gaza

GAZA, 28 de julio.- Una bebé fue sacado del vientre de su madre, que había fallecido una hora antes en un bombardeo en Gaza, por medio de una cesárea, relata el diario británico The Guardian.

Shayma al-Sheikh Qanan, de 23 años, tenía ocho meses de embarazo cuando un bombardeo israelí afectó su casa en el pueblo de Deir al-Balah, en la Franja de Gaza, reduciéndola a escombros. Ella y su esposo fueron llevados de emergencia a un hospital local con graves heridas.

Su cuerpo fue traído después del ataque realizado por las Fuerzas Armadas de Israel alrededor de las 3:00 hora local del viernes”, dijo el doctor Fadi al-Kharti. “Tratamos de salvarle la vida pero falleció antes de llegar al hospital”.

Los paramédicos tuvieron que sortear una serie de inconvenientes antes de poderla sacar de la zona de desastre, la mujer permaneció entre los escombros por lo menos una hora.

“Nos dimos cuenta que algo se movía en su estómago y estimamos que tenía alrededor de 36 semanas de gestación”, añadió el médico.

Los doctores le hicieron una cesárea de emergencia y lograron salvar al milagroso pequeño, que lleva el nombre de su difunta madre.

La abuela, Mirfat Qanan de 43 años, aseguró más tarde que era una tragedia enorme perder a su hija pero que sentía regocijo de saber que era abuela.

Dios protegió a esta pequeña para mí. Mi hija Shayma está muerta, pero ahora la tengo de nuevo”, añadió. “Ella me llama ‘mummy’ tal como lo hacía mi hija”.

La pequeña se encuentra bajo intenso cuidados en el hospital, en donde quieren asegurar que viva. Ahora tiene cuatro días de nacida y respira a través de una máscara de oxígeno en el área de maternidad.

gak

Atacan la única central eléctrica en Gaza
El ejército israelí lanzó bombardeos que incendiaron la planta que suministra energía a la mayoría de los 1.8 millones de habitantes del enclave palestino
COMPARTIR
30/07/2014 05:16 AP / Fotos: AP y Reuters

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GAZA, 30 de julio.— Los bombardeos del ejército israelí alcanzaron a la única central eléctrica de la Franja de Gaza que quedó fuera de funcionamiento, anunció ayer el director adjunto de la autoridad de Energía del enclave palestino.

“La única central eléctrica de Gaza quedó fuera de funcionamiento tras un bombardeo israelí, que dañó el generador de vapor, antes de alcanzar las reservas de combustible que se incendiaron”, declaró el portavoz Fathi al Sheikh Jalil.

106 palestinos muertos dejaron ayer los ataques israelíes, en la jornada más sangrienta desde que lanzó su ofensiva

El portavoz habló de consecuencias “desastrosas” para la región, en la que gran parte de los 1.8 millones de habitantes dependen del funcionamiento de la planta y pidió ayuda internacional.

Jalil señaló a la agencia Maan que un disparo cayó en un tanque de combustible y que así se inició el incendio. Grandes columnas de humo negro se elevaron sobre las instalaciones mientras se intenta apagar el fuego.

1,200 muertos ha dejado la ofensiva armada en la Franja de Gaza desde su inicio el pasado 8 de julio

Otra granada alcanzó una turbina. Hasta el cierre de esta edición los bomberos no habían logrado apagar el fuego.

La central da electricidad a viviendas, empresas, hospitales y bombas de agua en el enclave, donde los residentes llevan años sufriendo cortes de luz. Desde el inicio de la ofensiva hace tres semanas los apagones se intensificaron.

Ya anteriormente la central tuvo que ser cerrada varias veces por falta de combustible. Desde que Egipto impide el contrabando de combustible desde su territorio, la Franja depende de las caras importaciones desde Israel, que son financiadas por la Autoridad Palestina en Cisjordania.

Intensifica ofensiva

Al menos 106 palestinos murieron ayer después de que Israel intensificó sus bombardeos en la Franja de Gaza y advirtió sobre una campaña militar prolongada en el territorio palestino.

239 niños fallecieron en las tres semanas de enfrentamiento armado entre israelíes y palestinos, según UNICEF

El recrudecimiento de los ataques que se registró la madrugada de ayer llegó después de que el gobierno israelí rechazó un alto al fuego propuesto por Estados Unidos, mientras el Movimiento de Resistencia Islámica (Hamas) desmintió haber aceptado una tregua humanitaria.

Durante la vigésimo segunda jornada de la operación militar Marco Protector de Israel contra el grupo islámico, las fuerzas de seguridad llevaron a cabo más de 60 ataques aéreos sobre sitios asociados a Hamas.

200 mil palestinos en la Franja de Gaza han buscado refugio en 85 instalaciones de las Naciones Unidas



El Ministerio de Salud de la Franja de Gaza informó la tarde de ayer que 106 palestinos perdieron la vida y cientos más sufrieron lesiones en los bombardeos registrados por la mañana, elevando el saldo de víctimas a más de mil 200 muertos y seis mil 700 heridos.

Los bombardeos en Palestina destruyeron por completo cerca de cinco mil casas, mientras que miles más resultaron dañadas de manera parcial, de acuerdo con despachos de la agencia de noticias Maan.

Al menos 239 niños, 157 varones y 82 niñas, de edades comprendidas entre tres meses y 17 años, murieron en las tres semanas de enfrentamiento armado entre israelíes y palestinos de la Franja de Gaza, según informó el Fondo de Naciones Unidas para la Infancia (UNICEF).

Entre las víctimas hay al menos 166 niños de 12 años o menores, apuntó la UNICEF.

La ONU informó también que más de 200 mil palestinos en la Franja de Gaza han buscado refugio en 85 instalaciones de las Naciones Unidas desde el inicio de la ofensiva israelí.



“Tregua, hasta que Israel cese violencia”

El movimiento islamista palestino Hamas rechazará todo cese al fuego mientras continúen los ataques israelíes y no se levante el bloqueo de la Franja de Gaza, advirtió ayer el jefe de su brazo armado.

Hamas no aceptará ningún “alto al fuego sin que cese la agresión y se levante el cerco”, declaró Mohamed Deif, jefe de las Brigadas Ezedin al Qasam, ante la radio y la televisión del movimiento armado.

Esta declaración, que reitera la posición de los dirigentes islamistas desde el comienzo de la ofensiva de Israel el 8 de julio, fue hecha antes de un importante viaje a El Cairo de una delegación de la Organización para la Liberación de la Palestina (OLP), así como de los principales movimientos políticos palestinos, entre ellos Hamas.

Los dirigentes palestinos deben reunirse con responsables egipcios, intermediarios habituales con los israelíes.

Por su parte, el presidente de Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, demandó ante el secretario general de Naciones Unidas, Ban Ki-moon, que Israel suspenda los ataques en la Franja de Gaza y abra negociaciones de paz.

“Nicaragua considera que Israel debe suspender esos ataques, esos bombardeos, y dar paso a negociaciones de paz”, dijo Ortega en su discurso de bienvenida a Ban, de visita en ese país.

Mientras que el gobierno peruano llamó a consulta a su embajador en Israel, en coordinación con otros países de la región, por la gravedad de la situación en esa región, informó la Cancillería de Perú.

“Ante la gravedad de la situación, y en coordinación con gobiernos de otros países de la región, en la fecha Perú ha decidido llamar a consulta a su embajador en Israel”, señaló un comunicado gubernamental.

Denuncian genocidio

El guía supremo iraní, el ayatola Ali Jamenei, acusó a Israel de estar cometiendo un “genocidio” en Gaza y pidió al mundo islámico que arme a los palestinos para luchar contra el “régimen sionista”.

“Un perro rabioso, un lobo salvaje está atacando a personas inocentes, niños que han perdido la vida. Lo que están haciendo los dirigentes del régimen sionista es un genocidio, una catástrofe histórica”, dijo Jamenei en un discurso coincidiendo con el fin del ramadán.

Irán no reconoce la existencia de Israel y apoya a los grupos islamistas palestinos Yihad Islámica y Hamas.

El primer ministro israelí, Benjamin Netanyahu, pidió más ayuda estadunidense para negociar un cese al fuego en Gaza, dijo, por su parte, el jefe de la diplomacia norteamericana, John Kerry.

“Anoche (lunes) conversamos y el primer ministro me habló de una idea y una posibilidad de un cese al fuego. El lo mencionó, como lo ha hecho en forma consistente”, dijo Kerry, agregando que Netanyahu afirmó que apoyará “un cese al fuego que permita a Israel defenderse contra los túneles fronterizos del movimiento Hamas”.

—DPA y Reuters

Israel advierte que conflicto con Gaza no terminará pronto
Benjamin Netanyahu aseguró que la guerra contra Palestina será prolongada, truncando cualquier esperanza de un rápido fin al conflicto
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29/07/2014 05:38 Reuters
Israel advierte que conflicto con Gaza no terminará pronto
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El primer ministro israelí, Benjamin Netanyahu, advirtió de una prolongada guerra en Gaza, truncando cualquier esperanza de un rápido fin al conflicto que ya lleva tres semanas.

Unas 1, 060 personas han muerto en Gaza, en su mayoría civiles

JERUSALÉN, 28 de julio.- El primer ministro israelí, Benjamin Netanyahu, advirtió de una prolongada guerra en Gaza, truncando cualquier esperanza de un rápido fin al conflicto que ya lleva tres semanas, mientras que combatientes palestinos lanzaron una audaz incursión transfronteriza.

El Ejército israelí dijo que cinco soldados murieron en dos incidentes separados, cuatro de ellos en un ataque con fuego de mortero. Medios locales también informaron que se produjeron víctimas en la incursión.

Dentro de Gaza, ocho niños y dos adultos murieron por una explosión en un parque en medio del colapso de una tregua por el festival religioso musulmán de Eid al-Fitr.

Los locales culparon de la explosión a un ataque aéreo israelí, pero el Estado judío dijo que un mal lanzamiento de un cohete de militantes de Hamas causó la matanza.

Ha sido un día difícil, doloroso", dijo Netanyahu en un discurso televisado al país.

"Necesitamos estar preparados para una campaña larga. Vamos a seguir actuando con fuerza y prudencia hasta cumplir con nuestra misión", agregó, y dijo que las tropas israelíes no abandonarán Gaza hasta que hayan destruido la red de túneles de Hamas.

Unas mil 60 personas han muerto en Gaza, en su mayoría civiles. Israel perdió a 48 soldados y tres civiles fallecieron por cohetes lanzados por palestinos.

A medida que caía la noche en Gaza, se escuchaba el sonido de intensos bombardeos. El Ejército advirtió a miles de palestinos que dejen sus hogares en zonas alrededor de la ciudad de Gaza, lo que usualmente es el preludio de importantes ataques.

El estallido de violencia, tras un día de relativa calma, pareció desbaratar las esperanzas de transformar un breve paréntesis en los enfrentamientos en un cese al fuego.

Hamas, el grupo islamista que controla la Franja de Gaza, dijo que había aceptado una tregua pedida por Naciones Unidas que coincidiera con el Eid, que marca el fin del mes del Ramadán.

Israel se resistió inicialmente, abandonando su propia oferta de extender una tregua de 12 horas desde el sábado, porque los cohetes palestinos seguían cayendo. Sin embargo, la calma gradualmente llegó en la noche con el ocasional intercambio de disparos hasta que una serie de explosiones sacudieron Gaza al mediodía.

gak

Israeli fire kills refugees in Gaza UN school
At least 19 die in Jabaliya attack condemned by UN agency as "source of universal shame" that breaks international law.
Last updated: 30 Jul 2014 20:19

Israeli shells have struck a UN school in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 19 people and wounding scores more, after Israeli ground troops made a significant push into the territory.

Wednesday’s shelling of the Jabaliya refugee camp was the second time in a week that a UN school sheltering hundreds of homeless Palestinians had been hit.

Christopher Gunness, the UNRWA's spokesman, said the attack was a "source of universal shame" and blamed Israeli forces.

"We have visited the site and gathered evidence. We have analysed fragments, examined craters and other damage. Our initial assessment is that it was Israeli artillery that hit our school, in which 3,300 people had sought refuge.

"I condemn in the strongest possible terms this serious violation of international law by Israeli forces. I call on the international community to take deliberate international political action to put an immediate end to the continuing carnage."

Gunness said that UN representatives have informed Israeli forces about the exact location of the school 17 times.

Many of those in the school had fled their homes in northern Gaza after Israel dropped leaflets warning them of an "upcoming phase" of action.

The Israeli military said fighters near the UN school had fired mortar bombs and Israeli forces had shot back.

"Earlier this morning, militants fired mortar shells at [Israeli] soldiers from the vicinity of the UNRWA school in Jabaliya. In response, soldiers fired towards the origins of fire, and we're still reviewing the incident," a spokeswoman said.

Israel announced a four-hour "humanitarian window" on Wednesday, starting at midday GMT, but said it did not include areas where its soliders were operating - about half of Gaza.

Hamas said it would not abide by the pause, unless its conditions were met - namely, the end of the blockade of Gaza.

At least 1,363 Palestinians have died in Israel's invasion, according to Gaza health ministry figures.

An official for UNRWA, the UN's Palestinian refugee agency, told the AFP news agency that the shelling hit a bathroom and two classrooms inside the girls' school.

Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab, reporting from Gaza's Kamal Adwan hospital, where many of the injured were brought, put the number of wounded at more than 90.
"It's a barbarity and it needs to end."

"Looking around me I can see some with what appears to be shrapnel wounds and some with far more serious wounds," he said.

He said people there did not know why Israel had hit the shelter, adding that the attack caused panic among people living in different UN-run shelters.

"As we were driving to the hospital, we saw families with many children leaving other UN schools. They feel insecure. There seem to be no safe shelter for them, not even in UN schools," our correspondent said.

At least 180,000 Palestinians have sought shelter in about 80 UNRWA schools, according to the agency.

The Israeli army had begun heavy tank shelling in the area a couple of hours prior to the incident.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies

Mass casualties as Gaza market area bombed
At least 17 killed and 200 injured in Shujayea, an area Israel said was not included in four-hour humanitarian window.
Last updated: 30 Jul 2014 22:49
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At least 17 Palestinians have been killed and 200 wounded in the bombardment of an area of Shujayea during a "humanitarian pause" unilaterally announced by Israel.

The attack came on the outskirts of the Shujayea, between Gaza City and the Israeli border, shortly after the Israeli army said it was observing a limited, four-hour Wednesday ceasefire from midday GMT, or 3pm local time.

Al Jazeera understands that at least three air strikes or artillery rounds hit the area, which is a collection of warehouses, a market, shops and homes. Residents flooded the streets to help those injured in the first explosion, about 100m from the market, exposing them to more shelling.

An Israeli military spokeswoman told Al Jazeera that it was checking the reports but added that Shujayea - which was heavilly bombarded last week killing scores of people - was not in the areas covered by its humanitarian pause.

"The first shell hit, and people immediately started evacuating the wounded," a man called Abu Maysarah told the AFP news agency. "They [the Israelis] saw them evacuating the wounded, and they struck them again."

Another witness, who spoke to Al Jazeera from Shifa hospital, said many at the scene of the attack tried to put out fires that had started.

"The fire hit one of the shops, and started to spread to all the market," he said. "We ran to help fight it ... suddenly the cannon shells started to hit all of us while we were rescuing people."

Hamas condemned the deaths as "another blatant massacre".

"The Israelis are committing deliberate acts of mass murder... the blood of innocent people in Gaza will not be shed in vain and the hand of justice will reach all of those who planned and carried out these massacres."
Paul Hirschson, deputy spokesperson with Israeli ministry of foreign affairs, talks to Al Jazeera on his country's offensive on Gaza

Al Jazeera's Nicole Johnston, reporting from Gaza City, said that the death toll was likely to increase given the numbers injured.

Johnston said there had been no let-up in the attacks during the Israeli pause.

"There has been a lot of death in the last two hours," she said as the pause was coming to a close. "The ceasefire has not been particularly useful. There has been no change - up to 100 people have been killed today alone."

Gaza's Health Ministry said 1,363 Palestinians have been killed and more than 6,780 injured since Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip began on July 8.

Fifty-eight Israelis have been killed, including 56 soldiers and two civilians.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri had earlier dismissed the Israeli pause. He told Reuters: "The ceasefire Israel declared is for the media and has no value because it does not include the areas of conflict on the border."

Mohammed Omer contributed to this report.

A war to market the Iron Dome
Did Israel push for the escalation of the conflict so that it can sell its Iron Dome technology?
Last updated: 29 Jul 2014 14:21
Samer Jaber

Samer Jaber
Follow @https://twitter.com/jerusalem_sbj

Samer Jaber is a political activist and researcher.
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Israel has already secured additional funding for the Iron Dome from the US, writes Jaber [Reuters]

Operation Protective Edge, Israel's name for its latest war on the Gaza Strip, shares many characteristics with its predecessors of 2008 and 2012.

Once again, there is a high casualty rate among Palestinian civilians, especially women and children. Israeli forces are again targeting the family homes of suspected members of armed Palestinian groups as part of the policy of collective punishment used to deter Palestinian resistance.

But this time around, there is something new - the ability of armed Palestinian groups in Gaza to reach towns and cities deep inside Israel with their crude missiles. It is the first time they have reached as far as Haifa and Ben Gurion airport.

Israel's Iron Dome defence system is designed to act as a shield against missiles and artillery shells fired from Gaza - and it has attracted great attention from international media. Major news outlets such as CNN, the BBC, Sky News, The New York Times and The Telegraph, have carried daily news and operational information of the Iron Dome's successes.

The Dome's fame has even reached prominent business outlets such as Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal.

Reporting on the Dome has provided near-real time televised war coverage. The media has repeated statistics demonstrating its success rates - although there appears to have been a reluctance to scrutinise official Israeli figures and an absence of voices from those who might question its effectiveness.

It is understandable that Israeli officials would want to promote the idea of the Dome's success. It gives the Israeli public a sense of safety and security. It demonstrates that the state is fulfilling one of its commitments to its citizens - the duty to protect.

But it is undeniable that this unquestioning tone helps provide a certain marketing message.

The mainstream media narrative is framed to show the conflict as one between the democratic state of Israel and Islamic "terrorist" groups - especially Hamas - with little or no mention of Israel's occupation, or the eight-year siege of the Gaza Strip.

So the message is clear - the Dome is an effective and highly desirable product, made in Israel and employed on the front line against Islamic terror, able to be customised to meet the needs of potential buyers.

The marketing message is designed to link Palestinian groups which resist Israel's siege and occupation with armed groups around the world, subliminally suggesting that Israel is fighting the same threats - unexpected attacks designed to create fear in the public - as many other "civilised" countries.

The Dome is, according to Israel's security industrial complex, an effective and successful high-performance instrument in the fight against both local and international terrorism. It protects not only the general public in their homes but also important soft targets with limited defence systems - civilian airports, government buildings, public spaces, and so on - making missile attacks ineffective.

Israel is also eager to show the Dome as an ongoing development. Shortly after the launch of operation Protective Edge, the Israel Army deployed new Dome units described as advanced and able to meet the diversity of missiles launched from Gaza. The tacit message is that the war on Gaza is an experiment in real life - where people are the mice of this war laboratory, and the results are televised for the world.

Of course, the Israel security establishment censors, as a war measure, what information is made available for public consumption. But it does keep feeding news outlets with new information about the Dome's achievements. At the same time, opinions that question its effectiveness, such as an analysis that recently appeared in the MIT Technology Review, is given little international attention.

The latest round of war on Gaza Strip has neither promoted Israeli objectives nor met the Israeli criteria of war. It is a military operation that was widened as a result of a dispute between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

The war on Gaza might have been launched as a warning to armed Palestinian groups, but Israel's security institutions and associated corporate interests have exploited the situation, constructing an advertisement event for the Iron Dome system from the ravages of war.

Israel, as a colonial state, is run by the security apparatus headed by the army, and private security companies such as RAFAEL.

Following Operation Pillar of Defense, launched against Gaza in November 2012, seven nations, including the United States and South Korea, expressed interest in buying some variant of the Iron Dome system. As the Israeli economy depends on the sale of weapons and other military equipment, this latest round of war on Gaza is another opportunity for Israel's weapon consortium to boost its business around the world.

Israel has already succeeded in securing additional funding from Washington to develop the Dome even further.

Israel's intransigent approach to the political issue of the colonisation of Palestine - whereby it employs security solutions rather than working towards a political settlement - may in some part be explained by the Iron Dome's profitability.

Samer Jaber is a political activist and researcher. He holds a master's degree in Sustainable International Development from Brandeis University, and studied at the Kennedy School at Harvard University and MIT. He served six years' political internment in Israeli jails during the first Palestinian intifada.

Follow him on Twitter: @jerusalem_sbj

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.


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On chutzpah and war
What is Israel's greatest chutzpah?
Last updated: 29 Jul 2014 08:24
Marwan Bishara

Marwan Bishara
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Marwan Bishara is the senior political analyst at Al Jazeera.
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'Rarely is chutzpah more pronounced as when Israel provokes attacks and cries self-defence,' writes Bishara [AFP/Getty Images]

Israel has had a problem since its inception. It's a terribly serious, existential problem; one that existed since its realisation as a European implantation in sea of Arabs, and it continues to haunt it today. Israel is a tiny state built on the ruins of another nation.

What began as a Zionist dream to transform the Jews of Europe into a modern nation soon turned into an Arab and Jewish nightmare upon its collision with reality: The homeland chosen to build their state, Palestine, belonged to its Palestinian inhabitants. But Israel went on to expel or dispossess most Palestinians from their homes and take control of their entire homeland.

To maintain and enforce its gains, Israel had to keep the Palestinians down or out, the Arabs away, and draw the West in. For this, it needed to employ pre-emptive and overwhelming force, while at the same time embrace, even embody victimhood, to elicit western as well as Jewish sympathy and support. After decades even centuries, of being victims of repression, the Jews couldn't afford to have the image of aggressors.

From the 1950s through the last decade, the likes of Ariel Sharon, "the Bulldozer", mastered violence just as the likes of Shimon Peres, the great communicator, mastered the art of public relations.

This was best captured by the Hebrew phrase, yorim ve bochim, literally "shooting and crying".

While it used to be "Labour Zionism" or the Israeli mainstream left that regretted the killing of Palestinians and lamented the death of children, now it's the specialty of the Israeli right to bomb and whine. But if the "left" did it with "eloquent prose, stirring poetry, and award-winning movies", the right does it with cheap cliches and crude lies.

Style and sophistication notwithstanding, both the mainstream Israeli left and the right want to "have their cake and eat it too". That's chutzpah.

Arrogance meets presumption

Chutzpah, pronounced "khoots-pah", is audacity plus deception; it's where arrogance meets presumption. The word itself is derived from old Yiddish - a combination of Russian and German. However, its meaning is best explained in anecdotes. For example, killing one's own parents and then begging the court to have mercy on an orphan! Or, as the Arab proverb goes, "He hit me and cried, went ahead of me and whined."

The street-smartness of chutzpah has popularised the term in recent years as nervy, bold and daring. It encompassed everything from Israel's advanced military to its bigmouth advocates through its leading brewery: "Maccabi beer, an Israeli chutzpah".

The mother of all chutzpahs came from the late Israeli premier Golda Meir about half a century ago: "We can forgive the Arabs for killing our sons , but we can never forgive them for forcing us to kill their children." The new version blames the Palestinians for civilian deaths in Gaza, and praises Israel for sparing lives, even after the Israel offensive kills over a thousand Palestinians.

It's the ultimate chutzpah when Israel government expresses empathy with the ill-fated civilian victims, as it gives the orders to the Israeli military to bomb entire Palestinian communities.

And more of it when Prime Minister Netanyahu makes the unsubstantiated claim that Hamas built tunnels to attack Israeli kindergartens, when in the last few days, Israeli jet fighters killed more than two hundred Palestinian children and hundreds more injured, according to UNICEF.

Perhaps the greatest chutzpah is the term itself, moving from scurrilous origins to something admirable. The popularisation of chutzpah as an accepted term of admiration, used across the West, runs alongside the acceptance and legitimisation of Israel's narrative of victimhood and retaliation.

Provocation or retaliation

Rarely is chutzpah more pronounced as when Israel provokes attacks and cries self-defence. This time around, the situation is precisely the same.

Israel began an aggressive campaign against Hamas first in the West Bank and later in Gaza, even when its leaders suspected that Hamas was not behind the killing of three young Israelis in the occupied territories and that Hamas had no interest in military escalation after it joined the national unity government. In fact, Israeli politicians have now admitted that they know Hamas was not behind the deaths of the three young Israelis and that the kidnappings were the results of lone actors.
INTERACTIVE: Gaza Under Attack

That didn't stop Israeli security forces from deploying to the West Bank and arresting hundreds, including the prisoners released under past prisoner-exchange agreements. And yet, Israel's top leaders did not hesitate to argue that their provocation was in retaliation to Hamas violations.

This contradiction between claims and reality is hardly new. Indeed there's a pattern of Israeli violations meant to provoke Hamas and other Palestinians to react. To paraphrase professor Steve Niva, who documented Israeli provocations: The only thing more threatening for Israeli leaders than Hamas "terrorism" is a Hamas ceasefire. Because when there's ceasefire, Israel must talk peace, which entails giving up land.

Here are a few examples:

Israel's offensive against Gaza in 2006 came after the killing of 85 Palestinians, including many children, in attacks aimed at carrying out illegal extrajudicial assassinations. At the time, the Hamas government maintained a one-sided ceasefire for 15 months, but continued Israeli attacks made Palestinian retaliation only a question of time.

On June 10, 2003, Israel's attempted assassination of the senior Hamas political leader in Gaza, Abdel-Aziz Rantisi, which wounded him and killed four Palestinian civilians, leading to the bus bombing in Jerusalem on June 11 that killed 16 Israelis.

On July 23, 2002, an Israeli air attack on a crowded apartment block in Gaza City killed a senior Hamas leader, Salah Shehada, and 15 civilians, 11 of them children, hours before a widely reported unilateral ceasefire declaration. A suicide bombing followed on August 4, 2002.

On July 31, 2001, Israel's assassination of the two leading Hamas fighters in Nablus ended a nearly two-month Hamas ceasefire, leading to the terrible August 9 Hamas suicide bombing in a Jerusalem pizzeria.

Although Israel's provocations don't justify suicide bombings against Israeli civilians, they demonstrate why the main source of violence lies first and foremost in Israel's pre-emptive strategy.

The same can be traced to the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, the 1956 and 1967 wars, etc. But I shall leave that discussion to a future reflection: "On history and war".

Common sense

One must ask if Israel has a right to retaliate for the capture of one of its soldiers by bombing an entire people and destroying life. Don't the Palestinians also have right to manifold retaliation after the capturing of hundreds of their leaders and holding them indefinitely or without trial? If it was a simple numbers game, the numbers simply don't stack up.

If Israel complains about terrorism but looks at the death of Palestinian civilians, including women and children as "collateral damage", would it be an exaggeration that the Palestinians themselves are victims of state terrorism?

If Israel has a right (without even adhering to the responsibility of proof) to unleash the dogs of war, deploy fighter planes and tanks against Gaza, kill over a thousand Palestinians in response to the killing of three of its citizens, can we say the Palestinians have an equal right to retaliate a thousand times more? In this game, the numbers don't stack up, but the bodies do.

If Israelis have a right to security, independence and freedom, wouldn't you say the Palestinians have the same rights and perhaps more of a right after decades of Israeli terror, military occupation, and dispossession?

So when you hear those responsible for more than 40 years of occupation ranting about the violation of a four-hour ceasefire, think chutzpah.

And when the occupiers continue to whine about security in order to deny the indigenous people of the land the same rights for security and peace in their own land, think chutzpah.

Indeed, it's a double chutzpah to attack those who aren't even doing what's obviously within their right. Call it provocation or whatever you may, but legitimate resistance to military occupation is a right enshrined not only in every law of the land, but also in the law of nature.

Marwan Bishara is the senior political analyst at Al Jazeera.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.

The Gaza Debate: A View Point
By Dr Amarjit Singh
Issue Net Edition | Date : 19 Jul , 2014

The Rajya Sabha had been pressing for a debate on the Gaza action of Israel, and with overwhelming pressure, including by threatening to forestall all other discussions in the Rajya Sabha, they were able to pressure an unwilling government to debate the issue.

…India will now not sacrifice or de-recognize Israel for the sake of vote-bank, and that Israeli-Indian relations are here to stay.

The government did not want a debate for good reasons, pivoted on the security of the nation and India’s consequently changing foreign policy. Not only that, but India’s foreign policy is overdue for a drastic overhaul, given that our erstwhile Arab friends never support India vis-à-vis Pakistan, while Israel comes to our material defense in time of conflict and has become a large arms supplier to poor India.

But, Rajya Sabha members, mostly from opposition ranks, that motivated by vote-bank politics, it is not surprising that they wish to discuss the Gaza issue with an aim at condemning Israeli action there, and embarrassing the incumbent government.

But, the Indian government needn’t feel ashamed of their stance and friendliness for Israel. But, it will come out in the debate that India is now a partly different nation, with revised priorities, that India will now not sacrifice or de-recognize Israel for the sake of vote-bank, and that Israeli-Indian relations are here to stay.

The Israeli History

A brief history of the Israeli case and India’s foreign policy gaffs is necessary. First, Israel never started any war with the Arabs. Even if you trace the entire chain of each and every violent event since 1948, you will discover that Israel never started any conflict, and that every action of Israel was a reaction to the Arab killing of Jews and attacks on Israel.

The present episode started after Palestinians killed three Jewish youths, made their bodies disappear for a few days, and then dumped the bodies in the open some place for Israeli security forces to pick up. This was outright and horrific provocation.

The State of Israel recognized by the United Nation was not a Jewish State: it was a state where Arabs and Jews were to live together, much as all religious groups live together in India and other democratically open countries. But, the Arabs were intolerant, wanted the whole of Palestine to themselves to the exclusion of Jews, and attacked their Jewish neighbors in 1948. That was the simple start, after which the Palestinians never relented, but after which the Jews never looked back.

The Jews, however, allowed Palestinians to stay in Israel. Even today, there are 1.6 million Arabs living in Israel, comprising 20% of Israel’s population[i], earning a good living, and not disloyal to Israel. But, guess how many Jews the Arabs will allow to stay in their countries? That’s right, zero. This first of all shows the Israeli tolerant viewpoint in contrast to that of the Arabs. So, who’s side would India rather be on: a religious sycophant’s or a tolerant group’s?

Attacks on Israel

Again, never once has Israel attacked without provocation – not in the 1948 or 1956 or 1967 or 1973 wars. It invaded Lebanon in 1980 upon increased rocket attacks from there on its territory, while the same reason was valid for 2007. Israel bombed the Iraqi nuclear plant because it was an existentialist threat to them, plain and simple, a morally justified action against a mad dictator[ii]. It has threatened to bomb any Iranian nuclear plant for the same reason. Israel exhibits guts, unlike Indian governments of the past. It is a perfectly logical and rationale reaction to seek survival. So, Israel is not wrong in their reactions by a long shot. What would you expect: Israel to roll over? Sorry, you’ll have to fight for that.

In 1956, Egypt provoked the whole world by closing down the Suez Canal; in 1967, Nasser openly, and without provocation by Israel, mobilized his troops for war with Israel; in 1973, Egypt pushed across the Suez Canal in a surprise move. And after that, the Palestinians have thrown rocks and rockets at the Israelis without let for all these past decades. When Israel was ready to give Palestine 73% of the West Bank in a peaceful settlement in 2000 at Camp David between Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat, in exchange for recognition from Palestine for Israel’s right to exist, Palestine demurred. How can you blame Israel for demanding the right to exist? And, how irrational it is to demand that the Jews be pushed out into the sea. Why can’t Hamas stop its rocket attacks on Israel, instead?

The present episode started after Palestinians killed three Jewish youths, made their bodies disappear for a few days, and then dumped the bodies in the open some place for Israeli security forces to pick up. This was outright and horrific provocation. This is also unlike India’s meek response when bodies of Indian soldiers were returned by Pakistan with the testicles of the soldiers neatly packaged in small packets above their coffins[iii].

Nehru fancied himself as the great leader of the emerging world, which never really came to pass. He saw Israel’s creation as a Western plot…

Israel’s philosophy is simple: “I won’t attack you if you don’t provoke me; but, if you attack, I shall extract an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” This is, again, a very morally justifiable philosophy[iv]. One cannot always leave it to God to extract revenge, and one cannot roll over to let the enemy walk over. Besides, even God works through our own efforts.

India’s Foreign Policy

Our past governments have always leaned towards the Arabs, starting with Jawaharlal Nehru’s ivory cloud philosophy and intellectuality. His reasons for leaning towards the Arabs were first of all retaliation against Western powers for their colonial rule. He fancied himself as the great leader of the emerging world, which never really came to pass. He saw Israel’s creation as a Western plot rather than seeing it as a homecoming for the Jews after 2,000 years in forced exile. Why do we think that the Palestinians are underdogs when the Jews have been underdogs for 2,000 years and still are?

And, inspite of their exile and hardship – being pushed around from country to country — the per capita contribution to Nobel Prize Winners from among Jews is higher than any other religious group. Einstein was a Jew, and so were economists Paul Samuelson and Milton Friedman. Twenty percent of all Nobel Prize winners have been Jews when only 0.2% of the world is Jewish[v]. It behooves India to flock with the good kind, rather than flock with countries who produce terrorists who declare jihad on India.

Nehru’s distorted philosophies – such as in Korea and in shunning Eisenhower’s atoms for peace program — took us further and further away from the West, resulting in India being denied Western technology that was desperately needed in India. The philosophy of shunning the West soon drew us deeper and deeper into Russia’s orbit. First, we were a non-aligned nation “aligned” with the USSR; then we further supported all nations that were supported by the USSR, such as the Arab nations and Palestinians, training pilots such as from Iraq in flying MIGs. The more India supported the USSR and nations allied with them, the more the West shunned India, and the more India fell deeper and deeper into the Soviet hole. When we couldn’t develop our own weapons because we didn’t have the technology because the West had shunned us, we leaned more and more on the Soviet post such that if their support were to fail, India would fall. The Soviets finally had India where they wanted it[vi]. And, India had lost its compass.

Israel is not a terrorist nation, but the Arab nations produce terrorists.

But no amount of support from Russia would ensure the support of the Palestinians or Arabs for India during a war with Pakistan. So, why should India be friends with those who will not be friends with India in time of need? I would rather have a friend who will watch my back (Israel) when the bullets start flying, than have friends (Arabs) who will disappear from the scene. One good friend is better than a hundred hocus-phocus friends. This is a lesson no one should ever forget. When it’s war, you must be in a trench with someone who will fight with you.

We should have seen the light of day when Israel knocked the daylight out of all Arab nations in the 1967 war, but India is slow to wake up. Even now, India should assert itself for its friendship with Israel. If one won’t stand up for one’s beliefs, then no one will stand for yours. Not one Arab nation has ever once come to our moral support, let alone material support during a standoff with Pakistan. Then why do we want to lick the boots of those who will not scratch our back when we scratch theirs? This is not to say that we need to break relations with the Arabs, or stop business with them, but only that we need to set our compass straight.

Israel and India are fighting the same jihadis; Israel and India are subject to the same existentialist threats. India needs true friends, not fair-weather friends.

Petroleum and Business

It is said that we need to support the Arabs because we need to buy petroleum from them. This is ridiculous! Much oil is bought at the spot market. Next, where there is business, there are deals. So, India can make commercial deals without bending over backwards. Not only that, one doesn’t have to be a friend to do commerce: one only has to be a buyer and seller – a merchant. Merchants have only one interest – commerce and trade. In fact, the Arab oil producing nations want to sell India oil as much as India wants to buy oil. Don’t think that the oil will go elsewhere if India does not buy from them. Commerce, buying capacities of nations (including China), and price of minerals doesn’t work that way.

The next fear is the arm-twisting India fears from the more than 20-some Arab bloc in the United Nations. But, that is a misplaced fear, too. For instance, look how well Taiwan is doing economically and militarily, and it isn’t even a member of the United Nations. Thus, India’s priorities must correspond to its security interests. There is no need for India to place its eggs in the wrong basket. Those eggs will break if they are not secured.

Conclusion

Hence, the conclusion is straightforward: Israel and India are fighting the same jihadis; Israel and India are subject to the same existentialist threats. India needs true friends, not fair-weather friends. The Rajya Sabha must be told by the government in the debate that it won’t retract at all in its relationships with Israel, that it won’t condemn Israel for its rocket attacks on Gaza when Israel is not in the wrong. There is no need to feel sorry for the Arabs, because they never feel sorry for India. But, there is reason to sympathize with Israel because Israel sympathizes with India. Finally, Israel is not a terrorist nation, but the Arab nations produce terrorists. Thus, to take a page from morality means taking the high road. And that’s where India needs to be.

Reference:

[i]“Vital Statistics: Latest Population Statistics for Israel,” Jewish Virtual Library, http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/newpop.html, Updated May 2014, accessed July 2014.

[ii] In fact, I am surprised at the number of Indian defense analysts who still defend Saddam Hussein. Perhaps they don’t know of his severe atrocities and torture chambers. The world is glad to be rid of such a ruthless person from the face of the Earth.

[iii] It is correct: India does not have the balls!

[iv] Israel’s philosophy is only one less than a Punjabi saying,” Ik kahenga te dus sonenga,” which means, “you say one wrong thing to me, and I will say ten.”

[v] “List of Jewish Nobel Prize Laureates,” Wikipedia, accessed July 2014.

[vi] And they foisted a daughter-in-law on India who, it is reported, had KGB connections.
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US supplies Israel with bombs amid Gaza blitz
Pentagon says Israel allowed to tap local US arms stockpile in past week to resupply it with grenades and mortar rounds.
Last updated: 31 Jul 2014 00:34


The United States has allowed Israel, waging an offensive in the Gaza Strip, to tap a local US arms stockpile in the past week to resupply it with grenades and mortar rounds, Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon's press secretary, has said.

The munitions were located inside Israel as part of a programme managed by the US military and called War Reserves Stock Allies-Israel (WRSA-I), which stores munitions locally for US use that Israel can also access in emergency situations.

Israel, however, did not cite an emergency when it made its latest request about 10 days ago, a defence official said on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

On Sunday, Barack Obama, the US president, called for an immediate and sustainable ceasefire in Gaza.

Washington allowed Israel to access the strategic stockpile to resupply itself with 40mm grenades and 120mm mortar rounds to deplete older stocks that would eventually need to be refreshed.

In a statement, Kirby said: "Both munitions had been in WRSA-I stock for a few years, well before the current crisis.

"All stocks in WRSA-I, as required by law, are 'in excess to US requirements'.

"Issuing munitions from the WRSA-I stockpile was strictly a sourcing decision and White House approval was not required.

"The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to US national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defence capability.

"This defence sale is consistent with those objectives."

Additional Israeli requests for US-manufactured ammunition were also being processed in the US, the anonymous defence official said.

Israel's embassy in Washington declined comment about the resupply request, including whether it asked for the ammunition because of its operations in Gaza, the Reuters news agency reported.

'Iron Dome' funding

Separately, US politicians were working in Congress to provide millions of dollars in additional funding for Israel's "Iron Dome" missile shield.

The US Senate Appropriations Committee added $225m for Iron Dome to a spending bill intended mainly to provide money to handle an influx of thousands of Central American children across the US-Mexico border.

The Gaza Health Ministry said 1,361 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed since Israel began its offensive on July 8.

On the Israeli side, 56 soldiers and three civilians have been killed.

Israel vows to destroy tunnels before truce
PM says tunnels Palestinian fighters built under Gaza-Israel border must be destroyed regardless of ceasefire efforts.
Last updated: 31 Jul 2014 12:48
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country is determined, regardless of ceasefire efforts, to complete the destruction of tunnels that Palestinian fighters have built under the Gaza-Israel border.

In public remarks at the start of a cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv, he said he would not agree to any proposal that would not enable the army "to complete this important task for the sake of Israel's security".

"Until now, we have destroyed dozens of terror tunnels and we are determined to finish this mission - with or without a ceasefire," Netanyahu said on Thursday.

Major General Sami Turgeman, chief of Israeli forces in Gaza, earlier said troops were "but a few days away from destroying all the attack tunnels".

Netanyahu’s statement undermines ongoing diplomatic efforts to put an end to the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip which has entered its 25th day.

At least 13 people were killed on Thursday in Israeli air strikes on different areas across the coastal enclave, Al Jazeera’s correspondent reported.

The latest deaths bring the death toll of Palestinians killed in the offensive, which began on July 8, to at least 1,371, according to the health ministry in Gaza. More than 7,700 others have been reported injured.

Rockets fired from Gaza into Israel have so far killed two Israeli civilians and one Thai citizen. The fighting has killed 58 Israeli troops.

Israel says it launched its military campaign to stop rocket fire from Gaza towards Israel. Ground troops were sent in on July 17 to destroy what Israel says are sophisticated network of tunnels used by Hamas and affiliated groups.

UN human rights chief Navi Pillay on Thursday slammed Israel's attacks on homes, schools, hospitals and United Nations facilities in Gaza.

She condemned what she said was Israel's "deliberate defiance" of international law during the Gaza conflict.

"There appears to be deliberate defiance of obligations that international law imposes on Israel," Pillay said.

She spoke a day after Israeli shelling on a UN-run school that was sheltering displaced families killed 19 people.
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Al Jazeera and agencies
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Palestinian youths 'executed' in Gaza town
Witnesses tell Al Jazeera six youths were taken to a bathroom in a house in Khuzaa and executed by Israeli forces.
Last updated: 01 Aug 2014 23:00
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Israel and Palestinian groups are blaming each other for violating a 72-hour truce that broke down just hours after coming into effect on Friday.


An Al Jazeera team arrived at Khuzaa in Khan Younis to find people retrieving decomposing bodies from homes.

Witnesses said six youths had been taken to a house and executed by Israeli forces. The bodies were left there for several days.

One man said: "It is a mass execution of six Palestinian youths who were brought to this bathroom. Look at the gunshots on the wall."

Middle East
Gaza hospitals running out of supplies
Israel's bombardment has left hundreds of thousands in strip without power, water or access to basic medical supplies.
Last updated: 01 Aug 2014 03:13

Hamas and Israel have agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire beginning on Friday at 05:00 GMT, but that truce cannot come quickly enough for those coping with the consequences of Israel's bombardment of Gaza.

Hospitals are facing a shortage of medical supplies, while hundreds of thousands of people have been left without power or water.

Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab reports from the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

Gaza through the distorted lens of French media
French media has disproportionately favoured the narrative of the Israeli government in its coverage of Gaza.
Last updated: 01 Aug 2014 12:49
Ali Saad

Ali Saad

Ali Saad is a French sociologist and media critic, focusing on the influence of mass media on society.
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More than 1,300 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive on Gaza [EPA]

"The public's right to access comprehensive, free, independent and pluralistic information must guide the journalist while performing his/her mission. This responsibility vis-a-vis the citizen takes precedence over any other". This ethos, according to the French Journalists Syndicate's Code of Ethics, should act as the guiding principles for French journalists in their endeavour to research, write and comment on current affairs.

Recently, however, French journalists' commitment to this code of ethics has been questioned in light of their coverage of the ongoing Israeli onslaught on the Palestinians in Gaza.

An emphatic characteristic of French mainstream coverage of this episode of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is its persistent attempt to constantly reframe or redefine the very nature of the conflict by creating the perception of balance of power between the Israeli and Palestinian forces, when such does not exist in reality. This persistence results in the production of biased information and reporting which misrepresents the situation.

Since the beginning of the Israeli onslaught, more than 1,400 Palestinian civilians (including over 200 children) have been killed, thousands more wounded and thousands of civilian buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardment. On the Israeli side there have been three civilian deaths and 64 soldiers killed.

Nonetheless, the discourse permeating French media tends to treat both sides of the conflict equally: Israel, which has one of the most powerful armies and one of the strongest economies in the world and which enjoys western backing; and Gaza, which obviously has no army or sustainable economy and has been enduring a severe blockade for over seven years.
Shujayea: Massacre at Dawn

Accordingly, the Israeli military onslaught on Palestinians in Gaza is mostly framed as a war or conflict between Israel and Gaza, or between Israel and Hamas, as reflected in several newspapers' headlines such as Le Monde, Liberation, Le Figaro and Le Point. And at times, this offensive is reduced to a duality between Hamas and the Israeli prime minister, as it was summerised by the Nouvel Observateur magazine, when it posed the question: "How could Hamas get out of this conflict while they are trapped by their obsession to finish off the Israeli prime minister".

There are also constant attempts to sway public opinion in order to place emphasis on the Palestinians' "responsibility" for triggering the Israeli onslaught in the first place, and for causing the Palestinian people's suffering. For example, on the third day of the Israeli offensive, in an interview on France3 channel, Leila Shahid, Ambassador of Palestine to the European Union, was talking about the killing of 80 Palestinian civilians by Israeli bombing, when the host interrupted to say: "Why don't you ask Hamas to stop firing rockets on Israel?" Similarly, the magazine Marianne ran a story with the title: "Where is Hamas taking the Palestinians?"

This superficial assumption resurfaced again when Palestinian resistance factions rejected the inadequate ceasefire proposed by Egypt. French media emphasised the "rejection" and again accused the Palestinian resistance of prolonging the conflict; Israel was framed as an icon of pacifism for accepting and no questions were asked about the nature of the ceasefire, the reason behind Israel's quick acceptance while none of its military objectives had been achieved, and its relationship with the Egyptian regime. Such a superficial approach belies a profound lack of analytical insight and belittles people's intelligence.

Mainstream media has also systematically described Israeli bombing, destructive and deadly as it is, as a "response" to the Palestinian resistance's rockets, thus propelling Israel's self-defence narrative. While Palestinian rockets are counted daily, the number of raids and missiles fired from Israeli planes on the Palestinian population is rarely mentioned.

Most French mainstream media have also used ambiguous language to create a false parity between the devastation and deaths suffered on the Palestinian side and the limited damage inflicted on the Israeli side. Le Journal Du Dimanche, for example, ran a story on the fourth day of the Israeli assault, with a title "Israel-Hamas more than 100 deaths in 4 days”, thus conveniently masking the Palestinian death toll.

France2 TV channel dedicated plenty of airtime to explain in detail the daily life of an Israeli family, showing a father carrying his little girl who was frightened by the noise of a rocket as well as scenes of the damage caused by the rocket. There was no report on what life is like for Palestinians under Israeli bombing.

The following day, that same channel aired similar images of an Israeli woman carrying a baby and describing her fear and anxiety under the daily rocket fire. The same report purported to show the Palestinian side, where instead of documenting the extent of destruction and death, the camera went around a Palestinian house which was still intact, as a Palestinian father described how his family took cover from Israeli bombing!

And when some TV channels happen to show the losses on the Palestinian side, it is always followed by a detailed explanation parroting the Israeli army's justifications that the onslaught only aims to target Hamas' fighters and the tunnels threatening Israel's security. Rarely, however, are there images reflecting the enormity of the Palestinian catastrophe. Thus, when on July 19, a French TV report showed footage from a Gaza hospital where many injured and dead were brought in, it was followed by another one which detailed Israeli army operations, focusing on Palestinian fighters using tunnels to get into Israeli-controlled territory.

Thus while viewers are reminded that Israel has the right to defend itself, there is no mention of Palestinians having that same right, for their fighters are presented as terrorists. The Israeli army's targeting of Palestinian civilians is not questioned and there is no discussion of the motives of the Palestinian Resistance.

This apparent willingness of French mainstream media to omit the real causes of the conflict and to mislead the public about the obvious imbalance of power on the ground amounts to flagrant misinformation, and at times even to fragrant lies. Therefore, the media's purported neutrality in covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict fails to show the reality on the ground: Palestinian suffering caused by Israeli bombardment, blockade, occupation, and apartheid.

Few French journalists are ready to challenge this dominant pro-Israeli (to say the least) narrative and abide by the spirit of the journalistic code of ethics by working to provide objective information and analysis of the situation in Gaza and Palestine as a whole.

Ali Saad is a French sociologist and media critic, focusing on the influence of mass media on society.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.
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Al Jazeera
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UN says illegal Gaza blockade must be lifted
UN officials condemn Israeli attacks and warn of humanitarian crisis amid 440,000 displaced and lack of basic services
Last updated: 01 Aug 2014 05:00
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The UN's top rights and refugee officials have condemned Israel's bombardment of Gaza and warned of a major humanitarian crisis.

Navi Pillay, the UN human rights commissioner, on Thursday said that Israel had attacked homes, schools, hospitals, and UN premises in apparent violation of the Geneva Conventions.

Valerie Amos, the UN's humanitarian aid coordinator meanwhile told a UN Security Council meeting that there were now 440,000 displaced fleeing fighting in Gaza, and that hundreds of thousands more were without basic services, power and food.

And Philippe Krahenbuhl, the top UN refugee official in Gaza, said that the Palestinian territory was "facing a precipice" and said "the illegal blockade of Gaza must be lifted".

The comments came a day after Israeli shells hit a UN-run school which was being used as a shelter by more than 3,300 people. Nineteen people were killed, and many more wounded.

Pillay, who has previously condemned Israeli attacks on Gazan civilians, told a news briefing on Thursday: "The shelling of houses directly means a violation of Israel's obligation to protect the right to housing, right to food, right to clean water of Gazans, even as, under its obligation as an occupying force."

"Therefore I would say that they appear to be defying ... deliberate defiance of obligations that international law imposes on Israel."

She added that the Hamas group had also violated international humanitarian law by firing rockets into Israel.

Her statement was followed by Amos, who told a UN meeting that there was "no safe place in Gaza".

"We have all watched in horror the desperation of children, of civilians, as they have come under attack, with no safe place to go."

US criticised

As of Friday, over 240,000 civilians are hosted in UN schools, while the rest are seeking refuge in hospital grounds, government buildings and homes of their families and friends, she said.

Amos also made an emergency appeal to the international community for more funds to help the displaced.

More than 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have died in the fighting, along with 56 Israelis, most of them soldiers.

Israel continued its bombardment on Thursday, with the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, saying it would not end until the army had achieved its objectives.

Pillay also criticised the US, Israel's main ally, for failing to use its influence to halt the violence.

"They have not only provided the heavy weaponry which is now being used by Israel in Gaza, but they've also provided almost $1bn in providing the Iron Domes to protect Israelis from the rockets attacks," she said.

"No such protection has been provided to Gazans against the shelling."

Hamas and Israel agree 72-hour Gaza ceasefire
UN and US announce two sides agree humanitarian truce to begin on Friday morning and indirect talks to be held in Cairo.
Last updated: 01 Aug 2014 05:02
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The UN and the US have announced that Israel and Hamas have agreed to an unconditional 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire to begin on Friday morning.

In a joint statement, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and United States Secretary of State John Kerry said the two sides would cease fire at 8am local time (05:00 GMT) and talks would be held in Cairo.

A senior US State Department official said the Gaza talks could start as early as Friday, depending on how long it takes the parties to reach Cairo.

The official said representatives from Israel and the US will not sit across the table from Hamas in Cairo.

The joint UN-US statement said: "This ceasefire is critical to giving innocent civilians a much-needed reprieve from violence.

"During this period, civilians in Gaza will receive urgently needed humanitarian relief, and the opportunity to carry out vital functions, including burying the dead, taking care of the injured, and restocking food supplies.

"Overdue repairs on essential water and energy infrastructure could also continue during this period.

"Israeli and Palestinian delegations will immediately be going to Cairo for negotiations with the government of Egypt, at the invitation of Egypt, aimed at reaching a durable ceasefire.

"The parties will be able to raise all issues of concern in these negotiations."

Diplomatic background

Speaking during a visit to New Delhi, the Indian capital, Kerry called the ceasefire "precious time".

"It is a lull of opportunity, a moment for the different factions to be able to come together with the state of Israel in an effort to try to address ways to find a sustainable ceasefire and then obviously, over a longer period of time, address the underlying issues," he told journalists.

Discussing the background to the ceasefire at a briefing in New Delhi, a senior US State Department official said: "We identified early on in this process that getting a ceasefire would require co-ordinating with countries that had relations and influence - relations with and influence over Hamas, and would be able to both convey a message quickly and receive a response in short order.

"And dozens of times over the last week to ten days, we were conveying messages through the Qataris and the Turks, and that proved a very important part of getting this humanitarian ceasefire established."

Speaking to Al Jazeera following the announcement of the ceasefire, Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan said: "It's not our duty to protect Israel or be a guardian of Israel's security.

"But, at this time, all of the Palestinian resistance movements have declared and approved the ceasefire for 72 hours, so I think they respect that and [will] be committed to their declaration."

As of late Thursday, Gaza's ministry of health put the death toll of Palestinians at 1,444, with more than 8,350 wounded.

Sixty-four Israelis, nearly all of them soldiers, have died since Israel launched its offensive against Gaza on July 8.

The Israeli army said five of its soldiers were killed from mortar fire late on Thursday along the border of the besieged Gaza Strip.

Humanitarian crisis

Earlier on Thursday, the US said there was "little doubt" Israeli bombs killed 19 people at a UN shelter in Gaza on Wednesday, in its strongest condemnation yet of Israeli attacks on civilians in the Palestinian enclave.
Gaza residents testify about the effects Israel and Egypt's blockade of their land has had on their lives.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest, said on Thursday that the shelling of the school in Jabaliya was "totally indefensible".

Earlier on Thursday, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, had said his country was determined, regardless of ceasefire efforts, to complete the destruction of tunnels that Palestinian fighters have built under the Gaza-Israel border.

"Until now, we have destroyed dozens of terror tunnels and we are determined to finish this mission - with or without a ceasefire," he said.

The UN's top rights and refugee officials condemned Israel's bombardment of Gaza and warned of a major humanitarian crisis with at least 440,000 people having fled their homes.

Middle East
Israeli military announces end to Gaza truce
Israel and Hamas accuse each other of breaking ceasefire that only lasted for a few hours.
Last updated: 01 Aug 2014 13:57


The Israeli military says a Gaza ceasefire that went into effect earlier on Friday is now over and military operations are in progress on the ground.

Asked during a media conference call if the ceasefire was over, Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner, a military spokesman, said: "Yes. We are continuing our activities on the ground."

His comments came after medics said dozens of Palestinians were killed by tank shelling.

The ceasefire, that had been agreed by Israel and Hamas to last for 72 hours, had started with a brief lull in fighting at 8am local time (05:00 GMT). Less than three hours later, medics reported deaths in the south of the Palestinian territory. They said at least 40 people were killed as Israeli tanks fired shells into eastern Rafah.

Meanwhile, there were also rocket alarms sounding in Israel's Eshkol region, signalling that rockets had been fired from Gaza.

Israel and Hamas accused each other of breaking the ceasefire, which had been announced by the US and the UN.

"It is the occupation which violated the ceasefire. The Palestinian resistance acted based on... the right to self-defence [and] to stop the massacres of our people," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum said in a statement.

The United Nations urged Palestinian parties to reaffirm their commitment to a ceasefire.

UN Special Coordinator Robert Serry said an incident in the Rafah area of the Gaza Strip, in which two Israeli soldiers and a number of Palestinians were reportedly killed, would if corroborated constitute a serious violation of the ceasefire by Gazan armed groups.

Serry "urges the Palestinian parties to last night's understanding to urgently reaffirm their commitment to the humanitarian ceasefire" a statement said.

Soldier missing

Serry's statement came as the Israeli army announced that one of its soldiers was feared to have been abducted in Gaza.

At least 1,464 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed since Israel launched its offensive. More than 60 Israeli soldiers have been killed, in addition to three civilians killed by rockets fired from Gaza.

Related: 'Smell of death thick' in Gaza air

Hopes of an end to the bloodshed had risen early on Friday after US Secretary of State John Kerry announced that Israel and Hamas had agreed to a joint UN-US ceasefire proposal. Both sides swiftly confirmed their commitment to the truce, after 25 days of bloody confrontation.

According to a statement by Kerry and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Israeli and Palestinian delegations were set to travel to Cairo for separate negotiations to reach a more durable ceasefire.

A senior US State Department official said talks could start as early as Friday, depending on how long it takes the parties to reach Cairo.

"Our understanding is that the Israelis will make clear to the UN where their lines are, roughly, and they will continue to do operations to destroy tunnels that pose a threat to Israeli territory that lead from the Gaza Strip into Israel proper as long as those tunnels exist on the Israel side of their lines," the official added.

Hamas has already said it would not accept such a condition.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators heading to Cairo for formal talks will do so at different times: the Palestinians are expected to leave Friday mid-day, and the Israeli side after the Jewish Sabbath, on Saturday evening.

Twelve Palestinians form the delegation heading to the Egyptian capital. Three of them will travel from Gaza, and the rest from the occupied West Bank and elsewhere in the region.

The delegation will include five Hamas members and two representatives of the Palestinian Authority and Fatah.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will not be heading to Cairo, but he was involved in picking the delegation members.

Israel strikes university in Gaza City
Islamic University and one of the city's largest mosques among the latest targets hit by bombardment.
Last updated: 02 Aug 2014 12:02

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Israeli aircraft have struck a major university and other targets in the Gaza Strip as troops continued their military campaign on the Palestinian enclave for a 26th day.

A large part of the Islamic University in Gaza City was damaged by Saturday morning’s air strike.

Glass from broken windows and notebooks belonging to some of the thousands of students who attended the university were scattered around the premises. No casualties were reported in the strike.

"The university is now in complete ruins," Al Jazeera’s Imtiaz Tyab, reporting from the scene just two hours after the bombardment, said.

The Israeli army said it targeted a "weapon development" centre in the university.
A photo of the Islamic University of Gaza taken just a month before the Israeli assault [university website]

In a twitter post, the military said it struck 200 "terror targets" in 24 hours.

One of Gaza City's largest mosques, Shifa mosque, was also badly damaged by an Israeli strike.

"I spoke to the people who were running this mosque. It took them years to raise money to build it, and within seconds it was just reduced to just rubble," our correspondent said.

"Over the past few days we saw that there were no red lines [for Israel]. At least six hospitals have been targeted, UN schools where people were sheltering, have been targeted."

The strikes came as Israel pounded the southern Gaza town of Rafah on Saturday and killed 35 people, according to Palestinian health official Ashraf al-Qudra.

Heavy shelling and fierce battles were also reported along the border areas in Rafah, the site of the purported capture of an Israeli soldier a day earlier.

Israeli forces on Saturday sealed off the eastern Rafah area, and warned that cars on the streets would be considered potential targets, Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford, reporting from southern Gaza, said.

Trading blame

The Israeli army said it believed that Second Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, 23, was captured by Hamas in an ambush about an hour after an internationally brokered ceasefire took effect on Friday morning.

Israel blamed Hamas for shattering the agreed upon 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire.

Hamas, meanwhile, said Israeli troops used the truce deal to storm into Rafah and kill scores of people on Friday.

Its military wing on Saturday denied any knowledge about the fate of the missing soldier.

At least 107 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire collapsed, according to the health ministry in Gaza.

This brings the death toll in Israeli offensive on Gaza, which began on July 8, to at least 1,655 Palestinians, mostly civilians. More than 8,900 others have been reported injured.

On the Israeli side, three civilians have been killed by rockets launched from Gaza and at least 63 troops have died in the fighting.

Despite the failure of several ceasefire attempts, diplomatic efforts were still ongoing to put an end to the bloodshed.

A Palestinian delegation was expected in Cairo on Saturday to discuss the terms of a durable truce. Israel, meanwhile, said it would not be sending envoys as originally planned and accused Hamas of misleading international mediators.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said the truce plan Egypt proposed last month provided a "real chance" to end the Gaza conflict, stressing the need for its speedy implementation.

"Time is decisive, we have to take advantage of it quickly to douse the fire in the [Gaza] Strip... and to stop the bloodshed of Palestinians," he said.

The Cairo-proposed plan was backed by Israel, Arab governments, the US and the UN, but brushed off by Hamas.

The Palestinian group said any peace proposal must include a demand for Israel to end the blockade on Gaza, imposed since eight years.

Gaza strikes rage on as diplomacy falters
Gaza university and major mosque targeted as Israel announces it will not attend truce talks set in Cairo.
Last updated: 02 Aug 2014 18:41

The Israeli military has continued its offensive in Gaza, targeting a major mosque and a university, as diplomatic solution appears more remote after Israel announced that it would not attend the talks set in Cairo.

Bombardments continue across the Palestinian territory including the southern district of Rafah on Saturday afternoon, Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab, reporting from Gaza, said.

There are some signs of Israeli tanks pulling out of some areas and back to the border, with Israeli government indicating that it was close to destroying Hamas cross-border tunnels.

However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking in Tel Aviv on Saturday, vowed that the operation will continue saying, "It does not matter how time we need. We will achieve our goal."
A photo of the Islamic University of Gaza taken just a month before the Israeli assault [university website]

As of late Saturday, Gaza health ministry officials reported that the death toll has now risen 1,677 Palestinians, and our correspondent said that the number could rise further.

"We have seen a lot of fighting there with over 120 people killed in a 24-hour period, and we have on good authority that that number is much higher, but the reason it has not been updated is that nobody could get into Rafah," he said.

Among those who were killed 378 are children, 86 are women and 58 are elderly men. There were also 63 Israeli soldiers killed as well as three civilians in the Israeli side.

As news of mounting Palestinian casualties comes, an Israeli official told the AFP news agency that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not send his representatiatives to the truce negotiations in Egypt.

"Hamas is not interested in an accommodation," the official said, accusing the group of misleading international mediators.

A Palestinian delegation including Hamas officials was due to arrive later on Saturday in Cairo for the talks, although Al Jazeera's Dalia Hatuqa, who is reporting from the West Bank, said that at least three representatives of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad group have been barred from entering Egypt through the Rafah crossing.

'No red lines'

On Saturday, Israeli aircraft struck a large part of the Islamic University in Gaza City and the Imam Shafi mosque, which can accommodate as many as 3,000 people.

At the Islamic University, glass from broken windows and notebooks belonging to some of the thousands of students were scattered around the premises. No casualties were reported in the strike.

"The university is now in complete ruins," Al Jazeera’s Imtiaz Tyab, reporting from the scene just two hours after the bombardment, said.

The Israeli army said it targeted a "weapon development" centre in the university.

In a twitter post, the military said it struck 200 "terror targets" in 24 hours.

One of Gaza City's largest mosques, Shifa mosque, was also badly damaged by an Israeli strike.

"Over the past several days, it's becoming very clear that there are no red lines," he said. "At least six hospitals have been targeted, and we know that UN schools where people were sheltering, have been targeted."

Israeli forces on Saturday sealed off the eastern Rafah area, and warned that cars on the streets would be considered potential targets, Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford, reporting from southern Gaza, said.

Further north, Israeli military said they are winding down operation and told residents of Beit Lahiya that they could now return to their homes.

Al Jazeera's Nicole Johnston reported seeing tanks pulling out, but added that "it is difficult" to determine scale of the withdrawal. But she added that so far many residents have refused to follow the advise out of fear for their lives.

"People are saying to us, at this stage they are not returning home. They don't trust Israel. No one feels safe enough to return home at this stage," she said, adding that shelling can still be heard on late on Saturday.

In Cairo, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said the truce plan Egypt proposed last month provided a "real chance" to end the Gaza conflict, stressing the need for its speedy implementation.

"Time is decisive, we have to take advantage of it quickly to douse the fire in the [Gaza] Strip... and to stop the bloodshed of Palestinians," he said.

Gaza: Neighbourly crimes of complicity
Why Arab regimes have abandoned the Palestinians in Gaza.
Last updated: 02 Aug 2014 15:25
Richard Falk

Richard Falk
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Richard Falk is Albert G Milbank Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University and Research Fellow, Orfalea Center of Global Studies. He is also Former UN Special Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights.
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University of California, Santa Barbara
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The Palestinian people and of the region as a whole depends on finding a just solution of the conflict, writes Falk [Reuters]

Of all the complexities surrounding the reaction of the world to the horrifying spectacle of Israel's severe criminality in Gaza none is more perplexing than the complicity of most governments throughout the Arab world. What makes their political posture particularly bewildering is the degree of ethnic, religious, cultural, and historical commonality that creates such close ties of identity among the peoples of the region.

And no single issue has been as unifying over the decades for these people than their long intensely felt opposition to the injustice, suffering, and exploitation that the Palestinian people have endured for the past century as a result of the encroachments of the Zionist movement on their lands.

It should be recalled that at earlier stages of the Palestinian ordeal, the governments of the neighbouring Arab countries did exhibit strong, if ineffectual, solidarity. They jointly attacked Israel, initially in 1948 to prevent the establishment of Israel, and later in the failed wars of 1967 and 1973 that challenged Israel's existence. But such solidarity at the level of Arab governments is now a distant and ironic memory.

Some official hostility to Israel and sympathy for the Palestinian struggle continues at the rhetorical level, but only there. It is true that many Arab countries to this day refuse entry to anyone with an Israeli stamp in their passport.

Anwar Sadat's assassination in 1981 was widely interpreted as a populist response to his willingness to make peace with Israel without first securing justice for the Palestinians. It was observed by the Western media that few Egyptians bothered to watch Sadat's funeral procession as it passed through the streets of Cairo because the slain leader was so reviled for shamelessly appeasing Egypt's enemy.

Above all, the ongoing struggle for Palestinian self-determination is understood by the peoples of the Middle East, and indeed the world over, as a struggle for the empowerment and liberation of the Palestinian people in the face of severe injustices verging on genocide. Increasingly, and never more than in reaction to this recent Gaza horror show, the Palestinian struggle will have to be waged not only against Israel, and its American and European allies, but also against the Arab collaborationist governments in the region.

It is notable that only Turkey and Qatar have acted responsibly in light of these recent developments. The Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has spoken movingly, without hiding behind the euphemisms of diplomacy, in characterising Israel's behaviour in Gaza as criminal.

Even distant Latin American countries, including Brazil and Chile, have at least shown the depth of their disapproval of Israel's conduct by withdrawing their ambassadors from Israel. This small expression of disapproval is something that not one government in Europe or North America, the self-proclaimed centres of world civilisation, has yet done.

Taken together these considerations make it morally distressing and politically mystifying to observe that almost every Arab government has seemed either to be flashing a green light in Israel's direction or pointedly looking away. Given the criminality of the Israeli attack and the suffering of the Palestinian people, complicity by way of such diplomatic endorsements, or even stony silent acquiescence, is at the very least a breach in Arab and Islamic identity, and worse, seems to be an unimaginable case of aiding and abetting genocidal violence against the Palestinian people.

Israel's persistence in a massacre mode despite the near universal calls for a responsibly negotiated ceasefire was widely attributed to the fact that the Netanyahu government was being encouraged behind the scenes by Egypt and Saudi Arabia "to finish the job", not of the tunnels and rockets, but of Hamas itself as "the head of the snake". To be so inclined despite the frequency and magnitude of Israeli atrocities shocks all but the most numbed of political imaginations.

To be sure, the behaviour of these Arab governments as legally and morally unacceptable, and politically self-destructive deserves condemnation, but it also needs to be understood and explained as clearly as possible.

The enemy of my enemy

The core explanation of Arab complicity has to do with the Arab governments hating and fearing the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), of which Hamas is viewed as a branch, far more than they resent Israel, and its encroachment on their region, and even its appropriation and control of Muslim sacred places in Jerusalem. Such an initial assessment pushes the question one step further but it does not give us any insight into why this should be so.
Shujayea: Massacre at Dawn

The MB is perceived as the essential expression in the Arab world of political Islam that is considered as dangerous to the established order because of its grassroots legitimacy. This reality has made the Arab regimes fearful at least since the explosive implications of the Iranian Revolution that overthrew the Shah's imperial rule in 1979.

This revolutionary process caused high intensity tremors throughout the Arab world, and especially among the monarchies nurturing privileged and unscrupulous elites that have long kept their populations cruelly repressed and in conditions of mass misery. These regimes, generally aligned with the United States, remain obsessed with the maintaining stability, and silencing all voices calling for change.

Hamas in this sense is seen as an acute threat to the kind of future preferred by these Arab governments. First of all, it has historical ties to the Egyptian MB, the parent organisation that has kept the flame of political Islam burning despite enduring harsh suppression for decades.

Secondly, it proved its legitimacy and durability as a voice of the Palestinians living in Gaza by its electoral victory in 2006, and more recently by its resilience and resistance to Israeli tactics of aggression and massacre.

Thirdly, Sunni Hamas crossed sectarian boundaries by having its closest political ties with Shiite Iran and Hezbollah, and the Alewite regime in Syria, and although these relationships have grown weaker in view of recent regional developments, their very existence further alarms the Sunni supremacists in Riyadh.

Egypt's betrayal

Of course, in the foreground is the experience of the Arab anti-authoritarian upheavals in 2011, especially the dislodging of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, followed by expressions of far greater popular electoral support for Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi candidates throughout Egypt.

The Gulf countries made no secret of their disappointment with Washington's refusal to do more to beat back this populist tide that swept over the Mubarak regime, who like the Shah in Iran 30 years earlier, had seemed to offer these leaders the only political gift that they wanted, and needed: stability in relation to their citizenry.

And so two years later in 2013 when the chance came, as it did during the faltering presidential term of Mohamed Morsi, it is no secret that the counterrevolutionary coup led by General Ahmed Fattah el-Sisi was most welcomed by such seemingly opposite political players as Israel and Saudi Arabia.

The Sisi coup won immediate aid in huge quantities from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, hoping that contributing billions of dollars would create a soft economic landing for the new regime. It was hoped that this would reassure the majority of Egyptians that they were experiencing a change for the better even if there was little effort by the new leaders to hide the return to the methods and style of the previously despised Mubarak rule.

What is startling is that these Arab supporters never blinked in the face of the crimes of Sisi's military leadership in Cairo, which featured bloody crackdowns of anti-government demonstrations, including even the killing of many MB members. Sisi proceeded to move against the MB as an organisation, having it defined legally as "a terrorist organisation", encouraging judicial action that included mass death sentences for its members, and generally engaging in state crime on a scale that far exceeded the abuses of the Mubarak period.

Even Washington was embarrassed by these excesses, although it maintained a pragmatic silence that overlooked the tensions between its calls for democracy and its actual strategic dependence on the stability of the pre-Arab Spring status quo.

Iran explodes the myth of regional stability

Until this pattern became evident I didn't appreciate the relevance of some remarks made to me by Ayatollah Khomeini while in Paris just as he was about to return to Iran from exile to lead the new Islamic Republic. This austere religious leader was very clear about rejecting the then prevailing idea that a national revolution was taking place in Iran.

He said again and again during the meeting, "This is an Islamic revolution, not an Iranian revolution." He went on to observe that the dynastic regime in Saudi Arabia was decadent and oriented toward the West. In his view it was as illegitimate a source of governance as was the Shah's regime that had just been overthrown in Iran, and a justifiable target for further political initiatives.
INTERACTIVE: Gaza Under Attack

The revolution in Iran, whether understood as a national or ideological phenomenon, was deeply threatening to political stability of the region. It was a political movement from below that shattered a monarchic power structure in Iran that was viewed in the region and by the West as invulnerable to internal challenge.

In other words, it was not just that the foundations of the status quo gave way in Iran, but that their crumbling was brought about by populist tremors that enjoyed widespread cultural legitimacy. It was this cultural legitimacy that again surfaced in the immediate aftermath of the Arab upheavals in 2011, and sent tremors of fear throughout the region.

The explosive emergence of the Islamic State group (formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) reinforces Ayatollah Khomeini's central message. Its proclamation of a new caliphate is precisely in line with this type of thinking. The whole carving up of the Arab world into a series of sovereign states is seen from these perspectives as an imposition of European civilisation, destroying and destabilising the only true political community, that of the Islamic Umma.

Israel's parallel universe

Israeli strategists over the years have been divided about their regional priorities, but agreed on the general contour of principal goals. Israel's preferred Middle East would consist of governments that were both friendly and stable, which made Iran a favourite until it unexpectedly fell apart in 1978-79.

Next best, were governments that were formally cool, or even hostile, but remained mostly on the sidelines in relation to the conflict with the Palestinians, such as King Hussein's Jordan, Mubarak's Egypt, and the Gulf states, especially Saudi Arabia.

If such stability was not attainable, then strife in a country that was politically hostile was viewed as next best, which is the story of Syria, and to a degree Iraq, in recent years. In other words, Israel could live with regional actors that were rhetorically hostile, as with passport exclusions or UN speeches, but not with states that were politically hostile, and perceived as allies of Palestinian resistance struggle.

In that sense, Israel pushed behind the scenes for the US attack on Iraq after 2001 and has done its best to push Washington into a belligerent encounter with Iran in recent years.

When it comes to Gaza, and Hamas, the convergence of the Israeli approach and the Arab governmental consensus is an invaluable political blessing. It gives Israel unlimited space to push its militarist agenda, however great the carnage and devastation, and even if much the rest of the world may lament the assault upon international law and morality.

Even the United States, and its subaltern UN Secretary General, have felt the pressure to use their influence to establish a ceasefire, although without daring to lift a critical finger in Israel's direction and following an Egyptian-oriented peremptory diplomacy that seems more concerned about PR dimensions than achieving an end to the violence. This critical reflection was exhibited in the earlier ceasefire proposal that was presented to Hamas on a take it or leave it basis that its leaders found out about only through its media publication.

The newer ceasefire approach, based on a collapsed 72-hour truce, follows the same pattern with Israeli and US negotiators refusing to sit at the same table as the representative of Hamas, and yet hoping to produce an agreement.

While Israel talks about rockets and tunnels, its massive military operation is being increasingly interpreted as punitive, and directed not only at Hamas but at Palestinians generally. A second punitive motivation, and more explicitly endorsed, is a punishment directed at Palestinians in general for daring to form a unity government back in early June. Crushing Hamas is seen as a way to make Palestinians submit to the permanence of occupation.

More than anything else, these terrible happenings in Gaza should lead to a realisation that the future of the Palestinian people and of the region as a whole depends on finding a just solution of the conflict.

The abysmal failure of the Kerry-induced talks showed definitively that Israel has lost all interest in a diplomacy that promises the Palestinians a sovereign state at the end of the road. The Knesset made clear its own rejection by choosing an ardent Likud one-stater, Reuven Rivlin, to replace Shimon Peres, as president of Israel.

It is past time for the peoples of the world to wake up to the real nature of the challenge and support a more militant international campaign of solidarity with the Palestinian struggle, and insist on boycott and divestment in all venues, working toward arms embargoes and sanctions on the part of as many governments as possible.

Richard Falk is Albert G Milbank Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University and Research Fellow, Orfalea Center of Global Studies. He is also Former UN Special Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.

Palestinians struggle to 'dig out bodies'
Dozens of dead bodies remain under the rubble in Rafah, as Israel's assault on southern Gaza kills scores of civilians.
Mohammed Omer Last updated: 02 Aug 2014 12:32
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Rafah, Gaza Strip - Under continued Israeli air strikes and artillery fire, Issa Akel has no other choice: The 50-year-old bulldozer driver must stop unearthing the dead bodies buried beneath the rubble in this southern Gaza town and seek safety for himself.

In Hay al-Junina, east of Rafah, Akel went on a mission to rescue the dead, but he soon realised that his life was in danger. On Saturday, the town's roads were littered with dead bodies, left bleeding for hours without any ambulance crew arriving to rescue them.


"We are now unable to dig out bodies of people from under the ground," Subhi Radwan, the mayor of Rafah, told Al Jazeera. He explained that his office receives hundreds of calls for help, but the municipality's trucks can't access most areas.

Local medics said that at least 110 people have been killed in Rafah in the past 24 hours, while hundreds more have been injured. At least 1,680 Palestinians have been killed and 8,500 others hurt in Gaza since Israel's military offensive began on July 8.

On Friday, an Israeli tank shell struck an ambulance in Rafah, killing three medical crew members: Yousef Elshiekh Eid, Yousef Darabeh, and Atef Alzamli. Meanwhile, the city's only hospital, Abu Yousef Al Najjar, has been under constant Israeli artillery shelling, forcing doctors to evacuate their patients and the dead bodies.

The killings in Rafah occurred just two hours after an internationally brokered, 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire between Hamas and Israel came into effect. Israel blamed Hamas for shattering the truce, while the Palestinian group said Israeli troops used the short-lived deal to storm into Rafah and kill residents.

Meanwhile, Ashraf al-Qedra of Gaza's health ministry has appealed to international groups to ensure that ambulances have a secure route to evacuate victims to the nearby town of Khan Younes.

RELATED: Israeli buffer zone tightens Gaza chokehold

With nowhere safe left to take the dead, people in Rafah have begun storing the bodies of their loved-ones in refrigerators usually used to store food items. Al Jazeera saw dozens of bodies stuffed into one such refrigerator.

Nearly half the city was under Israeli bombardment on Saturday, making it difficult to arrange proper burials. "Injured people [are] calling us … but we can't get to them," said a local ambulance driver. "No one is safe, ambulance crew, municipality workers, and civilians in their homes, are hit," Mayor Radwan told Al Jazeera.

We are receiving hundreds of phone calls from people who have no water and they can't move under constant artillery shelling.

- Subhi Radwan, Rafah mayor

The crisis in Rafah has resulted in a lack of electricity, water, and sanitation services. "We are receiving hundreds of phone calls from people who have no water and they can't move under constant artillery shelling," said Radwan, explaining that between 30,000-40,000 people have been left without drinking water in the eastern part of the city.

The violence has also created thousands of new internally displaced persons , according to the United Nations, including many who have sought shelter in overcrowded UN schools. At least 280,000 Palestinians across Gaza have now been displaced.

The UN estimates that 76 families have lost three or more members in the same in incident, totalling over 400 deaths.

Radwan said he had never seen a war like this in his 62 years, more than half of which has been spent working in public services in Rafah. "In the past I have dealt with [the] Egyptian and Israeli military," he said, "but it has never reached [this] level of no consideration for [the] humanitarian crisis".

Follow Mohammed Omer on Twitter: @mogaza

UN voices outrage over Gaza school strike
Israel confirms firing on a target near UNRWA school, which left at least 10 people dead.
Last updated: 03 Aug 2014 18:43

The UN expressed outrage after another deadly Israeli strike on one of its schools in the southern city of Rafah killed at least 10 people, in the third such incident within 10 days.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned Sunday's shelling, calling it "a moral outrage and a criminal act."

"This madness must stop," he said.

Israel's military confirmed it fired on a target near the UN school drawing a chorus of condemnation.

"The IDF (army) targeted three PIJ (Islamic Jihad) terrorists on board a motorcycle in the vicinity of an UNRWA school in Rafah," an army statement said on Sunday, referring to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

"The IDF is reviewing the consequences of this strike" near the school where around 3,000 Palestinians were sheltering, it said.

The strike on the school came as Palestinian factions gathered for truce talks with Egypt in Cairo and world powers voiced increasingly urgent calls for the warring sides to lay down their weapons.

"The bloodshed needs to stop," said a statement signed by the European Union and the European Commission presidents on behalf of the bloc's 28 member states.

"We deplore the terrible loss of lives, including innocent women and children," it said, condemning the "intolerable violence" being suffered by Gaza residents.

Sunday's attacks came despite signals from the Israeli government that it would reassess its operations amid reports of tanks and other vehicles leaving the war-scarred Palestinian territory.

Gaza's Health Ministry officials said nine Palestinians were killed in one of the air raids while another 10 died, witnesses said, in an attack on a UNRWA school in Rafah.

Chris Gunness, the UNRWA spokesman, confirmed that there was a shelling incident in the vicinity of the UNRWA school at about 10.50am local time.

"We can confirm, tragically again, multiple deaths, multiple injuries," he said.

"It's an appallingly unacceptable situation. We are an unarmed organisation."

Gunness said he would not speculate on whether the shelling was from Israel until an investigation was held, adding that Israeli authorities had been supplied with the precise coordinates of the school's location and were aware that it was being used as a shelter.

The previous night, in a televised address Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, suggested Israeli troops would reassess the 27-day operation after completing the demolition of Hamas military tunnels under the border.

But Hamas would pay an "intolerable price" should there be more attacks, he said.

Israeli security officials have said the tunnel-demolition mission is winding down but as of Sunday, Israel was still carrying out air strikes in southern Gaza.

Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab, reporting from Beit Lahiya, said the Israeli ground presence "seems to be easing off to a large degree but what we are seeing a lot of is air strikes".

"I have heard consistent sound of artillery shelling in Beit Lahiya, not far from Gaza City," he said.

"So it would appear that although Israel publicly said it will start scaling back the ground operation, it is clearly continuing.

"There's a lot of devastation in several areas there have been attacks, in Rafah and Jabaliya, but there seems to be some kind of shift in Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip."

Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from West Jerusalem, said it did appear that Israel was "winding up some of its operations and pulling troops out of Gaza".

But he said Israel's stance in ignoring ceasefire negotiations with Ban Ki-moon, UN secretary-general, and John Kerry, the US secretary of state, indicated that it was only willing to proceed "on its own terms" and at "a time of its own choosing".

"They've decided to do it on their own," he said.

"The problem with that is that those that have been mediating on both sides have made it clear they also want to deal with the substantial problems behind this, including [lifting the blockade] on Gaza.

"It's not acceptable that this situation occurs every 18 months or so but it's clear that Israel wants to deal with this on its own terms."

Soldier 'killed'

Earlier on Sunday, the Israeli army said that it had determined that Hadar Goldin, the 23-year-old soldier it said was captured by Hamas on Friday, was killed in action.

The army had previously said that Goldin went missing when its soldiers, two of whom were killed, were attacked while trying to destroy a Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza.

In a statement, the army said Goldin "was killed in battle in the Gaza Strip on Friday".

There were reports that the military had come to the conclusion after examining DNA evidence.

Al Jazeera's Bays said there was "some speculation that he was not killed by Hamas but by Israeli bombardment in that area".

"Some of the Israeli media are reporting he [Goldin} may have died as a result of the Israeli bombardment of Rafah."

Gaza's Health Ministry officials said the death toll since Israel began its offensive against Gaza on July 8 had now risen to 1,766 Palestinians, and another 9,320 people had been injured.

Among those killed were 398 children, 209 women and 74 elderly men. There were also 64 soldiers and three civilians killed on the Israeli side.

More than 255,000 Palestinians have also been displaced in the conflict.

Middle East
Israel says missing soldier killed in action
Israeli army says it has determined that Hadar Goldin, the soldier it had claimed was captured by Hamas, died in battle.
Last updated: 03 Aug 2014 07:15
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The Israeli army said Goldin 'was killed in battle in the Gaza Strip on Friday' [EPA]

The Israeli army has said that it has determined that Hadar Goldin, the 23-year-old soldier it said was captured by Hamas on Friday, was killed in action.

The army had previously said that Goldin went missing when its soldiers, two of whom were killed, were attacked while trying to destroy a Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza.

In a statement, the army said Goldin "was killed in battle in the Gaza Strip on Friday".

An army spokesman refused to confirm or deny that the soldier's remains had been found, the AFP news agency reported.

There were reports that the military had come to the conclusion after examining DNA evidence.

Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from West Jerusalem, said there was "some speculation that he was not killed by Hamas but by Israeli bombardment in that area".

Israeli media had watched as Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon and the army Chief Rabbi Rafi Peretz visited the home of Goldin's parents earlier on Saturday.

Hundreds of people, including the parents of three young Israeli settlers killed in the occupied West Bank in June, also assembled at the Goldin family home in central Kfar Saba.

Earlier on Saturday, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister, pledged to find Goldin, saying "it does not matter how much time" is needed.

"Israel will continue to make every effort to bring its missing sons home," he said in remarks made just after the missing soldier's mother made an appeal demanding there be no troop withdrawal until her son is found.

Netanyahu also said Israel was prepared to continue fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip even after the army completes its primary mission of destroying cross-border tunnels from the Palestinian territory.

He said Hamas will pay an "intolerable price" should there be more attacks.

Izzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas spokesperson, called Netanyahu's speech "a declaration of failure and defeat".

"Netanyahu's speech underlines his frustration and defeat, and the recognition of the failure of this aggression against our people in the Gaza Strip," he said, adding that the speech was a "desperate attempt to raise the collapsed morale of his army".

Qatar emir's statement

A diplomatic solution also appears unlikely to end the crisis as Israel declared earlier on Saturday that it would not attend the talks set in Cairo.

Later in the day, the Office of the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani announced that he had received a phone call from Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, during which he expressed his astonishment regarding the statement issued by Ban on Friday holding Hamas and other factions responsible for the violation of the ceasefire in Gaza.
INTERACTIVE: Gaza Under Attack

Sheikh Tamim said the UN should have verified what exactly had happened before issuing its statement.

He called on the UN secretary-general to take a clear position towards Israeli crimes [committed] against the Palestinian people, the office said.

Sheikh Tamim also urged all parties to open the border crossings in order to allow the humanitarian assistance into Gaza.

Meanwhile, bombardment continued across the Palestinian territory including the southern district of Rafah on Saturday afternoon, Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab, reporting from Gaza, said.

The targets included a major mosque and a university.

Gaza's Health Ministry officials said the death toll since Israel began its offensive against Gaza on July 8 has now risen to 1,734 Palestinians.

Among those killed were 398 children, 209 women and 74 elderly men. There were also 64 soldiers and three civilians killed on the Israeli side.

The 'moderates' on Gaza: Sowing seeds of hate
Arab regimes' alignment with Israel has grown even more blatant during the ongoing offensive on Gaza.
Last updated: 03 Aug 2014 08:39
Andrew Hammond

Andrew Hammond

Andrew Hammond is a Middle East policy fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relations, former Reuters bureau chief in Riyadh and author of The Islamic Utopia: The Illusion of Reform in Saudi Arabia and Popular Culture in the Arab World.
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Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah spoke about Gaza on August 1 [Reuters]

In 2006, Saudi Arabia's leadership broke with convention in Arab politics by publicly blaming a self-proclaimed "resistance" force for provoking Israel to unleash a war. Rather than hold Israel to account for targeting civilians, ground invasion, air and sea blockade, Saudi Arabia took aim at Hezbollah for what it called "irresponsible adventurism" in kidnapping two Israeli soldiers.

This set the tone for a number of Arab governments during a month of war throughout which it became clear they hoped Israel would "finish off" Hezbollah, a nuisance that inflamed popular passions, leading to impossible demands on regimes who relied on western support to survive. Hosni Mubarak couldn't even bring himself to call Hezbollah by its name, referring to it famously during the Lebanon war as "thingy". Add to that, especially for Saudi Arabia, the fact that Hezbollah was an extension of Iranian power.

It was a risky game, however, since the longer the war went on, the more those Arab regimes were exposed as ineffective and collaborationist. A US diplomatic document published by WikiLeaks shows a panicked Saud al-Faisal, the perennial Saudi foreign minister, summoning then US ambassador James Oberwetter midway through the war to demand that Washington order a ceasefire, since the plans to squash resistance had failed and the resisters were becoming regional heroes.

In 2008, the same scenario played out: Egypt and Saudi Arabia blamed Hamas for Israel's month-long assault on Gaza and hoped that Israel would finish Hamas off. Egypt's foreign minister at the time Ahmed Abu al-Gheit even said that Palestinians had no need for armed resistance and weapons - another striking departure in the lexicon of not just Arab politics but post-colonial struggle generally.

Today we are witness to another episode in this new turn. Egypt under coup president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, has kept the Gaza border closed and media have adopted the Israeli line that Hamas is a force of evil. Saudi Arabia, led by a man whose media machine has presented him as an Arab nationalist ("falcon of Arabism") and leader of Islam (champion of wasatiyya, or religious moderation), went silent.
Shujayea: Massacre at Dawn

Last week former intelligence chief Turki al-Faisal was the channel for the first confirmation of the Saudi position in an article in Asharq al-Awsat that attacked Hamas as "arrogant" and conniving with Qatar and Turkey to embarrass Sisi's Egypt by rejecting a ceasefire proposal that would leave the crushing and illegal Israeli-Egyptian siege of Gaza intact.

King Abdullah, whose alleged tears over Palestine were marketed to media during the last Intifida, finally broke his silence on Friday. In an extraordinary speech which began by attacking unnamed "traitor terrorists" who sully the name of Islam, he equated the terrorism of "groups and states" in Gaza, avoiding direct mention of Israel by name while leaving the implication that he viewed Hamas as much of a terrorist group as the Islamic State.

Hamas members were, of course, feted in Riyadh and Jeddah in January 2006 after the group's Palestinian election victory, and the subsequent Saudi position towards the group is directly correlated to that of its US patron. The speech was designed to appease the Arab and Muslim street the king pretends to lead, while not offending Washington or Al Saud's new friend of recent years (at least in public), Israel.

What is interesting about the position of the so-called "Arab moderates" is that they have become even more blatant in their US-Israeli alignment than before, to the extent that their policies during Gaza 2014 are a grotesque caricature of what they were before, particularly in Egypt's case, with the vulgar anti-Palestinianism promoted by the state.

The uprisings of 2011 have clearly not by any means met the hopes of those who engaged in them, to the degree that it has become fashionable to rue the day they started. But it would be wrong to imagine that the political arena has not been fundamentally altered by those momentous events, when ordinary people dared to challenge a regional order that had created what was assumed to be an almost perfect, fool-proof system of security, media and ideological control, with the acquiescence of western powers.

The arrogance of those entrenched regimes in challenging basic tenets of decades of anti-imperial struggle was misplaced: Egypt's dissonant foreign policy was one more factor that played into the resentment that brought people onto the streets in January and February three years ago. Claims that foreign policy and Palestine specifically had nothing to do with the protests - which writers like Thomas Friedman love to bandy around - are absolutely wrong.

The ancien regime struck back ferociously in Egypt, and its policy on Gaza is almost as manically distorted as the revenge brutality of its security forces: there is a link between the two. As for Saudi Arabia, its time has not come: Al Saud have numerous factors in their favour and tools in their box to avoid mass dissent. But if and when that day arrives, foreign policy stances such as these on Gaza will be one of the many elements moving the people to reject and defy.

Andrew Hammond is a Middle East policy fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relations, former Reuters bureau chief in Riyadh and author of The Islamic Utopia: The Illusion of Reform in Saudi Arabia and Popular Culture in the Arab World.
He tweets at @Hammonda1 and blogs at hammonda.net

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.

Middle East
Israeli PM vows to continue Gaza operation
Netanyahu says Israel to keep up Gaza campaign for as long as needed, in speech Hamas calls a "declaration of failure".
Last updated: 03 Aug 2014 04:41
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Israel is prepared to continue fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip after the army completes its primary mission of destroying cross-border tunnels from the Palestinian territory, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said.

In a news conference in Tel Aviv on Saturday, Netanyahu said the Israeli army "will act and continue to act" according to the country's security needs, adding that Hamas will pay an "intolerable price" should there be more attacks.

Netanyahu's latest statement contradicted earlier reports that some of the Israeli military operation will be winding down in the coming days.

Senior Hamas spokesperson Izzat al-Rishq called Netanyahu's speech "a declaration of failure and defeat".

Rishq said: "Netanyahu's speech underlines his frustration and defeat, and the recognition of the failure of this aggression against our people in the Gaza Strip," stressing that the speech was a "desperate attempt to raise the collapsed morale of his army".

He said: "we will hold the criminal Zionist enemy the full responsibility for the consequences of this aggression and the crimes committed against our unarmed civilians".

The Hamas official warned that "the Palestinian resistance will continue to respond to the Zionist aggression" and "we will always defend our people until the enemy stops its aggression, lift the siege and until we have our people's fair rights".

Soldier dead

The Israeli army said on Saturday that it had determined that Hadar Goldin, the 23-year-old soldier it said was captured by Hamas on Friday, was killed in action.

The army had previously said that Goldin went missing when its soldiers, two of whom were killed, were attacked while trying to destroy a Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza.

Earlier on Saturday, the Israeli military told residents of Beit Lahiya that they could now return to their homes.

Al Jazeera's Nicole Johnston also reported seeing tanks pulling out, but added that "it is difficult" to determine the scale of the withdrawal.

She said that so far many residents have refused to follow the advise out of fear for their lives.

"People are saying to us, at this stage they are not returning home. They don't trust Israel. No one feels safe enough to return home at this stage," she said, adding that shelling can still be heard late on Saturday.

Qatar 'astonishment'

A diplomatic solution also appears unlikely to end the crisis as Israel announced earlier on Saturday that it would not attend the talks set in Cairo.

On Saturday, the Office of the Emir of Qatar said Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani had received a phone call from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in which the emir had expressed his astonishment regarding the statement issued by Ban on Friday blaming Hamas and other factions as being responsible for the violation of the ceasefire in Gaza.

The emir said that the UN should have verified what exactly had happened before issuing its statement.

The emir expressed his regret and his astonishment regarding the UN silence over Israel targeting and killing Palestinian civilians and the destruction of their homes.

He called on the UN secretary-general to take a clear position towards Israeli crimes [committed] against the Palestinian people, the office said.

The emir also urged all parties to open the border crossings in order to allow humanitarian assistance into Gaza.

Death toll still rising

Meanwhile, bombardments continued across the Palestinian territory including the southern district of Rafah on Saturday afternoon, Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab, reporting from Gaza, said. The targets included a major mosque and a university.

Gaza health ministry officials say the death toll since Israel began its offensive against Gaza on July 8 has now risen to 1,712 Palestinians.

Among those who were killed 398 were children, 207 women and 74 elderly. There were also 64 soldiers and three civilians killed on the Israeli side.

"We have seen a lot of fighting there with over 120 people killed in a 24-hour period, and we have on good authority that that number is much higher, but the reason it has not been updated is that nobody could get into Rafah," Tyab said.

Aside from the Islamic University, one of Gaza City's largest mosques, Shifa mosque, was also badly damaged by an Israeli strike.

"Over the past several days, it's becoming very clear that there are no red lines," Tyab said.

"At least six hospitals have been targeted, and we know that UN schools where people were sheltering, have been targeted."

Israeli forces on Saturday sealed off the eastern Rafah area, and warned that cars on the streets would be considered potential targets, Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford, reporting from southern Gaza, said.

Egypt and the Palestinians: Friends or foes?
Even as Egypt ships aid to the beleaguered Gaza Strip, some question Cairo's commitment to the Palestinian cause.
Al Jazeera Last updated: 03 Aug 2014 08:43
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As fighting rages in Gaza, dozens of injured residents have crossed the Rafah border into Egypt [AP]

Cairo - When the Egyptian army trucks recently rolled towards the Rafah border, they carried a message on the side: "A gift from the Egyptian people."

Five hundred tonnes of aid were sent to the Gaza Strip on the orders of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, as dozens of Palestinians from Gaza passed in the opposite direction for much-needed medical treatment in Egyptian hospitals.

For some, it looked like a reaffirmation of Egypt's historic pan-Arabist commitment to the Palestinian cause. But amid Israel's current military operation in Gaza, wrangling over a possible ceasefire deal and growing anti-Hamas sentiments back in Egypt, some have doubted that commitment.

IN PICTURES: Destruction and devastation in Gaza
Gaza residents testify about the effects Israel and Egypt's blockade of their land has had on their lives.

Members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad are scheduled to hold indirect talks in Cairo on Sunday to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, mediated by Egyptian and American negotiators. At least three representatives of the Palestinian factions were barred from entering Egypt through Rafah crossing on Saturday, while Israel has reportedly refused to negotiate directly with Hamas at the meetings in Cairo.

Although Egypt noticeably turned against Hamas after the overthrow of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, the strained relationship has simmered for decades, Zack Gold, an adjunct fellow at the American Security Project, told Al Jazeera.

"Beginning in February 2013, the Egyptian government took a hard turn, framing the tunnels between Sinai and Gaza - and by extension Gaza - as a national security threat," Gold explained. "The policy changes and associated military actions happened quite suddenly, but they built on suspicion that the Salafi-jihadi attackers that killed 16 Egyptian soldiers [in Rafah] in August 2012 came from, or were at least aided by operatives in, Gaza."

The alleged connections between Hamas, violence in Sinai and armed groups such as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis have never been verified. Some analysts say Hamas allows Gaza-based Salafist groups to collaborate with Sinai fighters, allegedly giving groups the green-light to train them, subject to conditions such as taking their operations outside Gaza.

Hamas has repeatedly and adamantly denied interfering in Egyptian internal affairs. However, Egyptian security officials maintain Hamas has a more hands-on approach, helping to coordinate attacks on Egyptian soil. A court is currently considering whether Hamas fighters helped Morsi break out of prison during the 2011 revolution.

The view that Hamas, which is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, helped to destabilise Egypt grew after Morsi's ouster - along with incitement against Palestinians.

"The anti-Hamas and anti-Palestinian sentiment certainly further developed after Morsi's ouster, with Hamas being seen as an arm of the Brotherhood and being accused of numerous attacks and plots throughout Egypt," Gold said. "However, it should be remembered that the 'Gaza threatens Egypt' rhetoric began during Morsi's rule, at a time of general xenophobia throughout the country."

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Oroub el-Abed, an academic who wrote the book Unprotected: Palestinians in Egypt Since 1948, says tensions date back to the 1978 assassination of Egyptian Culture Minister Youssef el-Sebai, allegedly by Palestinian extremists.

President Anwar Sadat subsequently passed administrative regulations 47 and 48, determining that regulations treating Palestinians as nationals should be revoked. Palestinians' ability to work or receive an education in Egypt were particularly affected. That same year, the Camp David Accords were signed between Israel and Egypt.

According to the politics run by the state ever since the late 1970s, Palestinians are made to seem either like terrorists or as an unthankful group... The space for sympathy with the Palestinians, particularly for those living in Egypt, has really been toned down since then.

- Oroub el-Abed, academic and author

"According to the politics run by the state ever since the late 1970s, Palestinians are made to seem either like terrorists or as an unthankful group," Abed told Al Jazeera. "The space for sympathy with the Palestinians, particularly for those living in Egypt, has really been toned down since then."

While the Egyptian army facilitated aid transfers across Rafah crossing nearly two weeks ago, activists and politicians from Cairo were organising their own medical aid convoy to Gaza. On July 19, the army blocked their passing at the Balouza checkpoint in North Sinai.

Hany ElFouly, an Egyptian who joined the convoy, recounted fraught negotiations and threats of arrest at the roadside. "They told us to head back … [and] that they had orders not to let either us or the medicine pass."

The army reportedly proposed to store the aid at the health ministry stores in Ismailia, which activists refused. A second attempted aid convoy successfully reached the Gaza Strip on July 19.

ElFouly believes it is up to citizens, not the state, to rally for the Palestinian cause. "The system uses the anti-Brotherhood coverage against the Palestinian case and most people follow blindly," he said.

"As for the media, the hope for us is social media, because nobody else will get the message out about Gaza."

H A Hellyer, a nonresident fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London and the Brookings Institution in Washington, said while the Egyptian population is still generally pro-Palestinian, anti-Muslim-Brotherhood sentiment has complicated the relationship.

"The Palestinian cause is not a subject of dispute among the broad population; Egyptians are generally very pro-Palestinian in that regard, and quite antipathetic to Israel," Hellyer told Al Jazeera. "That cuts across partisan lines - but the fact that Gaza is partially governed by Hamas, a Brotherhood affiliate, has caused at least some portions of the Egyptian intelligentsia to pause."

This has played out in the public and private media, doggedly opposed to the Brotherhood, Hellyer said. "Perhaps for the first time, it's meant that some, albeit isolated, figures in the Egyptian media have focused the criticism more at Hamas than on the Israeli bombardment - but the public mood has also pushed heavily back against them."

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INTERACTIVE: Gaza Under Attack

In his 1997 memoir of exile and return, I Saw Ramallah, Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti described his transformation into one of Palestine's displaced persons. After the Six-Day War broke out in 1967 and Ramallah fell, Barghouti went into forced exile in Cairo, and later Europe, for three decades - effectively becoming a stranger to his homeland.

"The stranger … does not care for the details that concern the people of the country he finds himself in or for their 'domestic' policy. But he is the first to feel its consequences," Barghouti wrote. "He is always afraid when they are afraid. He is always the 'infiltrating element' in demonstrations, even if he never left his house that day."

Some Palestinians in Cairo today feel much the same.

Mahmoud Sameh was born in Egypt, but his mother's side of the family is Palestinian, from Nablus, a large city in the occupied West Bank. He runs the Palestinian Youth Choir in Cairo, which aims to spread awareness of the Palestinian struggle and identity in Egypt. This past May, as the choir sang an old Palestinian song to mark Nakba Day, police showed up outside the building to ensure "we would not enter the streets and raise our voices", he said.

"Under [former President Gamal Abdel] Nasser, a lot of the Palestinians here always focused on going home one day. But after Sadat, things turned against the Palestinians," Mahmoud told Al Jazeera, noting the sense of Palestinian identity and solidarity in Egypt has faded.

"People don't say ... but you can feel it," he said. "The Palestinian view of the struggle, here in Egypt, is loss."

Anti-war Israelis protest over Gaza operation
Dissenting voices say they are routinely ignored by the press and threatened by police for calling for peace.
Last updated: 03 Aug 2014 03:10


Israel has consistently maintained its right to defend itself against attacks, and it is a belief that is widely held in the country.

However, not everyone agrees with the way the government and army are handling the operation in Gaza and there have been anti-war protests in some areas.

Al Jazeera's Kim Vinnell reports from Tel Aviv.

Gaza hospitals unable to cope with casualties
Gaza's hospitals reach breaking point as supplies run out and medical staff come under fire.
Last updated: 03 Aug 2014 19:09

Children and families in Gaza are bearing the brunt of Israel's assault.

Some families have almost been completely wiped out.

Al Jazeera's Charles Stratford reports from Gaza City.

A warning that some viewers may find some of the images disturbing.