Gaza
witness: Israel disproportionate, Palestinians fear re-occupation
RT
Israel's
intensifying its barrage of Gaza on the fourth day of hostilities,
and stepping up preparations for a ground invasion. Militants are
firing back with unguided rockets that mostly fall off target, while
Israeli precision strikes are leading to a rising number of civilian
deaths. Film-maker and activist Harry Fear has been in Gaza since the
first bombs fell. He says Israel has the capability to avoid
collateral damage - but has instead chosen to attack
indiscriminately.
RT
is doing much more of the reportage that al-Jazeera did in 2008-9.
Now, I don't even bother to check al-Jazeera. What is different is
there are many more witnesses to this – western media does have
people in Gaza; last time they watched the show from the sidelines,
safe in Israel.
Heavy
shelling along Gaza border as Israel prepares for ground operation
The
Israeli Defense Force is preparing for a ground operation in Gaza, as
Operation Pillar of Defense continues for a fourth day. Some 75,000
army reservists have been called up to prepare the offensive.
“The
Israeli Defense Forces have sealed off roads around Gaza, declaring
the area a closed military zone. This is just another suggestion that
a ground offensive may be imminent,”
RT correspondent Paula Slier, who is in Tel Aviv, told RT.
Israel bombed 85 sites
in Gaza overnight, including Hamas’ headquarters. Witnesses at the
scene reported massive damage from the strikes. There were two series
of strikes overnight: one at around 3am local time (01:00 GMT), and
another at 5am (03:00 GMT). Activists reported
that bodies were under the rubble of a house hit by the strike in
Jabalia, situated in Gaza’s north. During the second
string of strikes the Hamas leadership’s buildings were hit, but
they are said to have been empty. The violence is
showing no signs of ending anytime soon. “There continues
to be heavy shelling from tanks along the border into Gaza,”
Slier said. At least 39
Palestinians have already been killed in the assault
that has been going on for four days, Ma'an news agency reported.
Seven of the casualties were children. Three Israeli citizens also
died in the violence.
A
Palestinian Hamas security member inspects the destroyed office
building of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya in Gaza City on
November 17, 2012 (AFP Photo / Mahmud Hams)
Israeli Foreign
Ministry spokesperson Alex Selsky said the government
“will do everything needed to target terrorists – only terrorists
– to stop the firing of rockets on Israeli cities, schools, and
children.” But as airstrikes
continue in densely-populated Gaza, many say targeted attacks are
simply not possible. “If you talk to
people on ground, everyone points to fact that this can’t be a
completely targeted operation. Most of those who have died are
civilians,”
Slier said. The international
community is pushing up efforts to deal with the situation. The Tunisian foreign
minister is currently in Gaza to show his support for Hamas, and the
Arab League will gather for a meeting later on Saturday. Meanwhile, anti-Israel
protests
have taken place across the world, with demonstrators gathering to
support Gaza in Egypt, Iran, and the West Bank..
A
Palestinian man looks for injured people in the rubble following an
Israeli air raid on a house in Beit Lahia, the northern Gaza Strip on
November 17, 2012 (AFP Photo / Mohammed Abed)
A
Palestinian looks from his damaged house at the destroyed office
building of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh after Israeli air
strikes in Gaza City November 17, 2012 (Reuters / Suhaib Salem)
An
injured Palestinian child lies on a hospital bed following an Israeli
air raid in Beit Lahia, the northern Gaza Strip on November 17, 2012
(AFP Photo / Mohammed Abed)
Palestinian
paramedics assist an injured woman following an Israeli air raid on a
house in Beit Lahia, the northern Gaza Strip on November 17, 2012
(AFP Photo / Mohammed Abed)
Palestinian
firefighters and rescue personnel work at a blast site following an
Israeli air raid in Gaza City on November 17, 2012 (AFP Photo / Marco
Longari)
Palestinians
inspect the destroyed office building of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail
Haniya in Gaza City on November 17, 2012 (AFP Photo / Mahmud Hams)
A
wounded Palestinian girl lies on a hospital bed after an Israeli air
strike in the northern Gaza Strip November 17, 2012 (Reuters / Ali
Hassan)
A
Palestinian Hamas policeman looks at an Israeli rocket in the street
in Gaza City on November 17, 2012 (AFP Photo / Mahmud Hams)
A
wounded Hamas policeman guards the destroyed office building of Hamas
Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh after Israeli air strikes in Gaza City
November 17, 2012 (Reuters / Suhaib Salem)
This
has answered the question I had about the position of Hezbollah
regarding the present onslaught against Gaza
Lebanon
unlikely to be dragged into Gaza fighting
BEIRUT:
Lebanon is unlikely to be dragged into Israel’s ongoing military
blitz against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip even if a radical
Palestinian group fired rockets into northern Israel, political
analysts said Friday.
Also,
Lebanon’s possible involvement in the Gaza fighting has been ruled
out for now after Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah did not
signal the party’s readiness to reignite the southern front against
Israel should the conflict drag on.
Meanwhile,
the Lebanese Army and the U.N. peacekeeping force UNIFIL have been
patrolling the areas near the border with Israel to maintain security
and prevent any group from exploiting the Gaza fighting to fire
rockets from the south into northern Israel as had happened in the
past, triggering Israeli retaliation.
“It
is most unlikely that Lebanon will be dragged into the Gaza conflict.
It does not benefit any Lebanese group, including and especially
Hezbollah,” Hilal Khashan, professor of political sciences at the
American University of Beirut, told The Daily Star.
“The
Iranians have not prepared Hezbollah to launch missiles to defend
Gaza. However, Iran is preparing Hezbollah to strike Israel if it
attacks Iran’s nuclear facilities.
“The
security situation in southern Lebanon is under tight control. If a
so-called radical Palestinian group fires rockets from southern
Lebanon into northern Israel, it would have to be authorized by
Hezbollah, which I doubt,” Khashan added.
Lebanese
and UNIFIL officials said measures were being taken as usual to keep
the calm in south Lebanon.
“The
Lebanese Army has always taken measures to maintain security in the
south in cooperation with the U.N. peacekeeping forces,” a senior
military official told The Daily Star.
A
government source said there has been no change in the Army’s
security measures in south Lebanon.
“The
Army is taking the measures it deems fit in cooperation with UNIFIL
to maintain security in the south,” the source told The Daily Star.
Asked
whether the government was taking special measures to prevent rockets
from being fired from south Lebanon into Israel, the source said:
“When things happen, the government will act accordingly.”
Palestinian
armed groups fired rockets at both occupied Jerusalem and Tel Aviv
Friday aiming for the Jewish state’s political and commercial
hearts, prompting Israel to call up thousands more reservists in
readiness for a potential ground war.
Maj.
Gen. Munir Makdah, a senior official of the Fatah group in the
Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh near the southern city of
Sidon, called in a TV interview for opening all the Arab fronts,
including the Lebanese front, against Israel to ease the pressure on
the Palestinians in Gaza.
Despite
the presence of the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL troops in the south,
rockets have been fired from the area into northern Israel in the
past, causing damage but no casualties. Radical Palestinian groups
were blamed for the rocket attacks which triggered Israeli
retaliatory shelling of the south.
“If
a radical Palestinian group manages to launch a rocket into northern
Israel without Hezbollah’s knowledge, the Israelis will not
retaliate as had happened in the past,” Khashan said. “As long as
Hezbollah is not involved in firing rockets from south Lebanon,
Israel will not retaliate. Israel cannot and will not fight on two
fronts simultaneously,” he added.
Khashan
said that even if the Gaza fighting drags on, Hezbollah would not
reignite the southern front to ease on Hamas in Gaza.
“Nasrallah’s
speech last night was a perfunctory statement. It was a correct
statement for him and his constituency,” he said. “Even if the
Gaza conflict dragged on, Hezbollah will not get involved in it.”
In
a televised speech Thursday on the occasion of Ashura, Nasrallah
urged Arab states to pressure America and Western states to put an
end to what he described as Israel’s “brutal” assault on Gaza
and expressed confidence in the Palestinian resistance’s ability to
defeat the Israeli assault.
“From
the start to the end, our wager ... is on the will of the people in
Gaza and resistance, its steadfastness and solidarity ... and what
gives us optimism is that we all know that in Gaza there is a
resistance that has wisdom, courage and developed human and material
resources that enable it to take part in a decisive and dangerous
confrontation of this caliber,” Nasrallah said.
Sheikh
Hasan Ezzeddine, a senior Hezbollah official in charge of the party’s
Arab relations, said the Palestinians’ harsh response to the
Israeli blitz reflected “deterrence that surprised the Zionist
entity.”
Asked
whether Hezbollah would join the fighting in Gaza, Ezzeddine told The
Daily Star: “This is a premature matter. The Palestinian people
have so far displayed their ability to confront the Israeli
aggression.”
Khashan
said the conflict in Gaza will not last long. “But in the unlikely
event if the conflict goes on, again Hezbollah will not participate
in it,” he said. “Hezbollah is now lying low and is preoccupied
with developments in Syria. Hezbollah does not need a new source of
headache.”
A
similar view was echoed by Talal Atrissi, an expert on Iran and
Middle East affairs, who ruled out the possibility of Hezbollah
reigniting the southern front against Israel to ease pressure on
Hamas in Gaza.
“I
don’t see the possibility of Lebanon being dragged into the Gaza
war. I don’t see Hezbollah opening the southern front to help Hamas
in Gaza for internal and Arab reasons,” Atrissi told The Daily
Star. “The internal situation in Lebanon does not allow the opening
of the southern front unless there is a united Arab position calling
for confronting Israel.”
Atrissi
said Israel did not want to start a war with Lebanon in response to a
rocket attack from the south. “Israel is facing a difficult
situation in Gaza. Thousands of settlers were forced to go to
shelters as a result of the rockets fired from Gaza,” he said.
Meanwhile,
a UNIFIL spokesperson said the U.N. force was cooperating with the
Lebanese Army to maintain the calm in the south.
“Nothing
has changed in UNIFIL’s operations and activities. We are
continuing our activities as before. The situation in the south is
quiet and UNIFIL is continuing regular activities as usual in close
cooperation with the Lebanese Army,” Andrea Tenenti told The Daily
Star. “The parties, Israel and Lebanon, are still committed to the
full implementation of U.N. Resolution 1701.”
Asked
whether UNIFIL was taking any special measures to deal with the
possibility of a rocket attack from the south into Israel in
retaliation for its war on Gaza, he said: “Among our operations is
to patrol our area of operations in coordination with the Lebanese
Army. We are continuing these patrols. And of course, we have no
presence in Palestinian camps.
“We
are patrolling our area of operations to make sure that there is no
resumption of hostilities, to make sure that there is no entry of
weapons in our area of operations,” he said. “The situation at
the moment is quiet.”
From Harry Fear - Reports are that Hamas will accept a ceasefire on two conditions:
Israel stops its policy of targeted killings
It lifts the siege of Gaza
He is reporting that the White House has told Israel NOT to launch a ground invasion - MORE TO COME Reports are coming through that the Israelis are asking some residents of Tel Aviv to be evacuated. In addition a major football event has been cancelled. Latest statistics:
41 Palestinians have been killed since onset, including 11 children
400 have been injured, including 225 women and children
80% of casualites have been non-combatants
An Israeli armed forces spokeman has been quote on Israeli TV that a ground invasion of Gaza is "unlikely to be successful"
RT - Nov.
18, 01:25 GMT:
At least six journalists have been injured after an Israeli airstrike
hit a complex of media offices in Gaza City. The Al-Shawa complex
houses a number of foreign and Palestinian media organizations,
according to the Maan news agency which has its Gaza headquarters
there. Meanwhile the IDF has reported the Israeli Navy targeted
“several Hamas terror sites” in the Gaza Strip.
Al-Jazeera
Breaking
news: Second Israeli strike on building in Al Saraya, housing
international media in Gaza, including Reuters news agency, according
to journalist Mohammed Omer, speaking to Al Jazeera from Rafah.
The
building also houses al-Arabiya and Abu Dhabi TV and al-Aqsa, the
official Hamas-run channel.
Omer
said that journalists are protesting that it's not safe for them to
stay in the hospitals.
Nadim Baba, reporting from Gaza City, says there is a feeling among journalists that any media organisation reporting on Hamas is under threat, following Israel's morning raids on buildings that house local and international media.
He also said some civilians who live near the northern and eastern borders with Israel have been leaving their homes to seek shelter with relatives elsewhere.
In Gaza City, he said people were going out to by essential food items but otherwise tried to limit their movements.
"People are staying in their homes, limiting their movements. They are not sure whether there will be an Israeli ground operation ... Many shops have remained closed."
The
photo shows a rocket being launched from the Gaza strip into Israel
on November 15, 2012.
Israel
has been targeted by 774 Palestinian rockets and missiles since the
latest round of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip started on November
14, Israel’s Channel 10 says.
The
Israeli channel reported that 507 of the missiles and rockets have
landed in the occupied territories and the remaining 267 have been
intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome system.
Palestinian
resistance fighters in Gaza continue to fire rockets and missiles
into Israel in retaliation for the ongoing attacks that have killed
nearly 50 Palestinians since Wednesday.
Israel’s
Channel 2 also reported that a building was hit by a rocket in the
city of Ashkelon on Sunday and one person was injured.
The
Israeli regime confirmed the death of a resident in Be’er Sheva,
the largest city in the Negev desert. Sirens were also heard in
Zikim, Beit Mordechai, Sha’ar HaNegev, Ashkelon and Eshkol.
On
Saturday, Israel deployed the fifth battery of the Iron Dome in the
Tel Aviv Metropolitan area -- two months ahead of schedule -- to
counter the volleys of rockets fired from Gaza. The system has
failed to intercept about two-thirds of the retaliatory
rockets.
The Tel Aviv regime hopes the new battery,
supposed to have higher interception abilities than the previous
four systems already in use, will make a change.
Reports
say Israeli Minister for Military Affairs Ehud Barak may ask the
regime to approve a fund of about $190 million for expanding the
Iron Dome program.
Israeli has authorized the
mobilization of up to 75,000 reservists, preparing for a possible
ground invasion of Gaza
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