Life brutal under Gaza missiles

[Violet_Crumble]

With Gaza at an impasse, its 1.2million people have never had it worse, writes Middle East correspondent Martin Chulov

"WE call it the symphony of Gaza," the Islamic Jihad leader said from the back room of a mosque as the concussion wave from a tank shell thundered through the room.


<snip>

It is the F-16 that the Palestinians fear most. As the jets roar overhead, even the militants begin to scurry for cover.

Downtown, in the empty convenience stores of Khan Younis and Gaza city, shopkeepers look nervously to the horizon.

"I want them to stop," said Murtiz Qamith, who for the past month has been giving groceries to customers on a promise, and who has taken no more than $150 in cash. He relies on trade with Israel for the bulk of his income.

"Our situation does not give us hope."

"For us, life and death are the same. People here have not even got money to fight for themselves."

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,18763452-2703,00.html

[Scurrilous]

1. IDF shelling kills 8-year-old girl in her northern Gaza home

<snip>

"An eight-year-old girl was killed Monday by Israel Defense Forces artillery fire that hit her family home in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahia.

The girl was named as Hadil Ghabin. Five other people were wounded in the shelling, including Hadil's pregnant mother, Safia, and her 19-year-old sister.

The wounded were taken to hospital in the town, the mother in serious condition."

<snip>

"Earlier, Palestinian police said that shelling had hit two houses in northern Gaza, lightly wounding two people.

The shells landed in a farming area, the police said, causing light shrapnel damage to the two homes and destroying a greenhouse.

Military sources told Haaretz last week that the IDF has racheted up artillery fire on Gaza in response to the Qassam attacks, and has also greatly reduced the safety zone around Palestinian communities. The IDF conceded this step could result in loss of civilian life, as was the case earlier last week when a Beit Lahia farmer was killed and some of his relatives were injured."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/704146.html

[Englander]

2. 9-year-old killed in IDF shelling

IDF steps up operations against Qassam launchers, civilians pay the price: Gaza sources report 1 child killed, another 12 family members injured after army shell hits Beit Lahiya house in northern Gaza
Ali Waked

Palestinian sources in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya reported that a nine year-old Palestinian girl was killed Monday afternoon and another 12 people, most of them members of the same family, were injured after an IDF shell hit their house.

According to the Palestinians, the girl, Hadil Ghraben, was at home with her brothers and sisters when the shell landed inside the house. The child was killed on the spot and all her siblings and other family members who were there at the time were injured by shrapnel.

The children's mother who was eight-month pregnant was wounded in the head, and physicians said she is in critical condition, but have
yet to establish whether the fetus was in danger too. The rest of the family members sustained moderate wounds. The family's neighbors reported that the house itself was completely destroyed.

According to reports, 10 shells hit the Ghraben family's house. Palestinians said that the IDF continued its artillery attacks and strikes from the sea on targets in the southern and northern Strip Monday.

>snip

The B'Tselem human rights group said that Israel bears the legal responsibility for the girl's death. "The child's killing is the inevitable result of narrowing the safety range of artillery fire from civilians' houses," the group said in a statement.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3238626,00.html

[Englander]

3. B'Tselem;

11 Apr. 2006: Israel bears legal responsibility for the death of a girl in Gaza

Yesterday the Israeli military fired a shell that hit the house of the Ghiben family in the town of Beit Lahya in the northern Gaza Strip. Hadil, a seven-year old girl, was killed, and twelve people were injured, including Hadil's pregnant mother Sfia Ghiben, who was seriously injured.

The shelling occurred as part of Israel's policy during the past few months to shell "launching sites" from which Qassam rockets are fired at Israeli communities. Often these sites are located in residential neighborhoods that are put at risk by Israeli shelling.

According to media reports, the Israeli military has even decided to reduce the "safety zone" that is intended to prevent or limit the danger to residential areas. This zone will reportedly be reduced from 300 to 100 meters. Artillery shells are not accurate weapons, and reducing the safety zone will endanger many more civilians. A senior military officer said of this decision and the killing of Hadil Ghiben, "There is no guarantee that additional civilians will not be hurt in future attacks."

International humanitarian law prohibits attacks from within or near densely populated areas, and prohibits using civilians as "human shields." These prohibitions are intended to prevent harm to civilians as a result of counterattacks. Palestinian organizations that attack Israel from within or near such residential areas are violating these prohibitions and demonstrating indifference to the wellbeing of civilians.

The Palestinian Authority has the obligation to prevent all attacks against Israeli civilian targets, including attacks from within Palestinian residential areas. In failing to take measures against these attacks, the Palestinian Authority is neglecting its responsibility to protect civilians who are not taking part in the conflict.

At the same time, according to international humanitarian law, this violation does not grant permission to the military to treat areas from which shelling originates as a legitimate military target. The Basic Rule of the laws of war obligates parties to a conflict to direct their operations only at military objectives, to take all feasible precautions to avoid harming civilians, and to avoid actions that are likely to cause "incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof" which is "excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated". Therefore, the official response of the military that "responsibility rests first of all with the civilians themselves" is both appalling and without any legal foundation.

The harm to the Ghiben house, the death of Hadil and the injury to the rest of the household are the direct result of the reduction of the "safety zone" and Israel's policy to fire into residential areas. Legal responsibility therefore rests with Israel, whose policies are knowingly endangering civilian lives.

http://www.btselem.org/English/Firearms/20060411_Shell_Kills_Gaza_Girl.asp

[Englander]

4. Guardian;

Gaza families watch in awe and fear as Israelis pour in 300 shells a day

· Minister defends daily barrage bill of £125,000
· Palestinian girl 15th to be killed in Gaza since Friday

Conal Urquhart in Beit Lahiya, Gaza
Wednesday April 12, 2006
The Guardian

The Israeli government said yesterday it would continue its bombardment of northern Gaza with an estimated 300 shells a day despite international criticism over the death of a young girl.

Shaul Mofaz, the defence minister who is touring Israel's borders with Gaza, said: "As long as it's not quiet here (in Israel), it won't be quiet there (in Gaza)."

Israeli forces have been firing shells close to Palestinian communities to stop militants from firing rockets at Israeli communities. The army continued to bombard the outskirts of Beit Lahiya yesterday, but Palestinian militants fired their homemade missiles from different residential areas, which they believe are safe from Israeli reprisals.

>snip

Ghabeen, believed to be aged between four and 12, was the 15th Palestinian to be killed in Gaza since Friday in shell and air attacks. Israel has been firing about 300 shells a day at Gaza at an estimated cost of more than £125,000 a day, according to the Israeli media.

Palestinian militants have fired about 50 missiles at Israel in the past month without causing serious injury.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1752001,00.html