Israel's Brutality
27th December is a deadly day. It is a colourless day, where silence is the scream of innocent Palestinians. At 11:30 am on 27 December 2007, without warning, Israeli forces began a bloody massacre on the Gaza Strip; Operation ‘Cast Lead’. It is stated the aim was to end rocket attacks into Israel by armed groups affiliated with Hamas. So, why were 400 innocent children killed? Why did it need 1’400 Palestinians to be massacred? Why was Gaza razed to the ground, leaving thousands homeless? What happened today was a massacre. It was a deadly, brutal, shameless massacre conducted by Israel.
This ‘Operation’ violated countless numbers of fundamental provisions of international humanitarian laws. Direct attack on civilians and civilian objects? Indiscriminate attacks? Collective punishment? The use of white phosphorus? So why is it that this highly deadly massacre is mostly ignored and never been paid respect to on this day?
There were hundreds of civilians killed in attacks carried out using high-precision weapons – air delivered bombs and missiles, and tank shells. Others, including women and children, were shot at short range when posing no threat to the lives of the Israeli soldiers. Aerial bombardments launched from Israeli F-16 combat aircraft targeted and destroyed civilian homes without warning, killing and injuring scores of their inhabitants, often while they slept. People ask me why I hate the IDF so much, and this is why. They attack and kill innocent people. Children playing on the roofs of their homes or in the street and other civilians going about their daily business, as well as medical staff attending the wounded were killed in broad daylight by Hellfire.
White phosphorus was repeatedly fired indiscriminately over densely populated residential areas, killing and wounding civilians and destroying civilian property. This white phosphorus was rained down over houses and streets, igniting on exposure to oxygen and setting fire to people and property. You can ask any IDF or Israeli and they’ll deny the use of white phosphorus. It’s disgusting to know the IDF used white phosphorus on innocent women and children who suffered agonizing burns, and died.
It’s disgusting and so idiotic when Israeli forces say they were unaware of the presence of civilians in locations which were repeatedly attacked, including with white phosphorus and other imprecise weapons, given that these areas were under close surveillance by Israeli drones. Even though Israeli officials knew from the first days of Operation “Cast Lead” that civilians were killed and wounded in significant numbers, Israeli forces continued to employ the same tactics for the entire duration of the 22-day offensive, resulting in growing numbers of civilian casualties. It is disgusting. It is disgusting to know Palestinians were killed in their own houses and the whole world kept a blind eye. Children were killed in their sleep, and men protecting their families were shot right in front of their families. For a minute, try and imagine your street being occupied by soldiers. Imagine the fear and suffocation every mother would have felt. Imagine that feeling that she could not keep her own children safe. It’s too upsetting to imagine, and it’s even more disturbing to know all of this happened. Innocent people died, and no one said anything.
Thousands of civilian homes, businesses and public buildings were destroyed. In some areas entire neighbourhoods were flattened and livestock killed. Much of the destruction was wanton and deliberate, and was carried out in a manner and circumstances which indicated that it could not be justified on grounds of military necessity. Rather, it was often the result of reckless and indiscriminate attacks, which were seemingly tolerated or even directly sanctioned up the chain of command, and which at times appeared intended to collectively punish local residents for the actions of armed groups.
Throughout Operation “Cast Lead” Israeli forces frequently obstructed access to medical care and humanitarian aid for those wounded and trapped. They prevented ambulances and medical staff from attending to the wounded and transporting them to hospital and in several cases targeted ambulance and rescue crews and others who were trying to evacuate the wounded. As a result people who could have been saved died and others endured needless suffering and a worsening of their injuries. Children, women and elderly people were among those trapped and refused access to medical care and/or passage out of areas which had been taken over by Israeli forces. Medical and humanitarian vehicles and facilities were also destroyed or damaged as a result of both targeted and indiscriminate Israeli attacks.
There were many cases where Israeli soldiers used civilians, including children, as “human shields”, endangering their lives by forcing them to remain in or near houses which they took over and used as military positions. There were many children who were forced to carry out dangerous tasks such as inspecting properties or objects suspected of being booby-trapped. Soldiers also took position and launched attacks from and around inhabited houses, exposing local residents to the danger of attacks or of being caught in the crossfire.
This is why we are fighting. This is why I am full of passion and want change. We cannot afford innocent people getting killed. Some 1,400 Palestinians were killed in attacks by Israeli forces during Operation “Cast Lead” between 27 December 2008 and 18 January 2009. Some 5,000 were injured, many maimed for life. Hundreds of those killed were unarmed civilians, including some 300 children, more than 115 women and some 85 men over the age of 50. According to Palestinian human rights NGOs two thirds of those killed were civilians. Israel have slaughtered innocent Palestinians. They’ve prisoned innocent voices. They’ve stolen children of mothers and have widowed wives.
This is not only a Palestinian issue. It is a humanitarian one. It is about justice, freedom and dignity. It is about returning human rights and fighting for what is right. You don’t need to be fully educated about Palestine to know what is happening, you need to be able to know what is wrong and what is right.
Three-year-old Fawzia Fawaz Salah and her four-year-old brother Ahmad were killed on 17 January 2009 at 2.15pm while they were playing in the family home in Jabalia, in northern Gaza. Their two brothers, Faraj and Mohammed, aged seven and eight respectively, were both injured. The children had been playing in a room on the third floor of the family home when a tank shell smashed through the window and exploded in the room. The boys’ fathers said: “It was the last day of the war, and our home was full of relatives who had come to stay with us because this area was safe; we are right inside Jabalia town, far from the border. Everyone was downstairs, my wife was up here, washing the dishes in the back room and keeping an eye on the children who were playing here. How can anyone fire into civilian homes and kill innocent children like this?”
