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[Very shortly after Hamas issued a statement floating the idea that they
might be willing to call a cease-fire with Israel in exchange for IDF
withdrawal, Israel launched an attack on an apartment building in Gaza City
where the top military Hamas official lived. He was killed along with 14
civilians, nine of whom were children, including one two-month old infant.
Below are two articles on the attack, one from Ha'aretz and one from the
Palestinian Center for Human Rights, which includes the names and ages of
the dead.
The IDF issued a statement "regretting" the civilian deaths, but also blamed
the Hamas official, Salah Shaheda, for using human shields. This,
apparently, is what it means to have an apartment, as this structure that
was attacked was simply the apartment building in which Shaheda lived. Such
an action is not only criminal, but blatantly murderous. The Sharon
government took this action in response to a cease-fire feeler from Hamas,
and carried it out with the knowledge that civilians and children would be
killed. Yet the response of George Bush is to call this attack
"heavy-handed" and to reiterate his support for Israel despite White House
spokesman Ari Fleischer acknowledging that Israel did this knowing civilians
would be killed. Ariel Sharon termed the operation a "success".
By what moral reckoning is such an act anything less than a crime against
humanity? When one fires a missile at an apartment complex, how can one
possibly claim that it intended no harm to civilians and children? That
result is inevitable and exposes the disingenuity of the IDF statement. This
action is as great a crime as any that has been committed in the century of
conflict over Palestine/Israel. - MP]
100,000 attend funerals of 15 fatalies of Gaza missile strike
By Amos Harel, Ha'aretz Correspondent and Agencies
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=189886&contrassID
=1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0
An estimated 100,000 Palestinians marched in the funeral procession Tuesday
afternoon of 15 Palestinians killed in an Israeli missile strike on a Gaza
City building.
They carried the bodies of the victims wrapped in Palestinian flags on
stretchers, including that of Salah Shaheda, the top Hamas militant targeted
by Israel.
Nine children aged between two months and 13 years were among the 13
bystanders killed in the strike, which took place shortly after midnight.
"The blood of the martyrs will not be lost, " chanted the crowd and, "the
Palestinian people will revenge these crimes."
Hundreds of masked men, firing their guns into the air, took part in the
procession, which was attended by all main Palestinian factions including
Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine,
the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and President Yassir
Arafat's ruling Fatah party.
The IDF Spokesman's Office released a statement Tuesday saying it grieved
over the "killing of civilians in the assassination of Salah Shehada," the
military chief of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Shehada was killed shortly after midnight Monday when an Israeli warplane
blew up his house in Gaza, in what military sources called one of the most
significant strikes against the Palestinian terror infrastructure since the
start of the intifada 20 months ago.
"The IDF is sorry for any harm that befalls innocent people. Regretfully,
this is what can happen when a terrorist uses civilians as a human shield
and their homes for places of refuge," the statement said.
The statement added that Tuesday's operation was aimed only at Shehada, who
"has been involved in terror for many years," and that there was no
intention to hurt his family.
Shehada was the No. 1 man on the Israel Defense Force's wanted list in the
last two years.
According to Shifa Hospital reports, at least 15 Palestinians were killed in
the strike, including Shehada's wife and three children, and his bodyguard
Zaher Nasser. Doctors said more than 100 people were wounded.
The hospital list of the dead included two babies, ages 18 and 2 months,
five children aged 3-5, an 11-year-old and three adults. Palestinians said a
ninth child and two more adults were among the dead.
Eye-witnesses said an F-16 warplane fired a missile that levelled five
houses in a Gaza City neighborhood.
Israeli sources confirmed the airstrike in Gaza and the fact that Shehada
had been killed. An early Hamas statement said that Sheheda was alive, but
later the group confirmed the death of its military wing commander.
Sharon, Ben-Eliezer approved air strike on Monday
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer on
Monday approved the air strike in which Shehada was killed.
A security source told Ha'aretz that cabinet members were familiar with
Shehada's name and the media had publicized the fact that he was one of the
individuals at the top of the IDF's wanted list. According to the source,
the timing of the attack was determined by operational and intelligence
constraints, and that attempts to hit Shehada had been put off several
times, including in recent days, for fear of harming civilians.
Ben-Eliezer was in England Monday night when the possibility of targeting
Shehada in an air strike was raised. Prior to his departure for Israel, his
military secretary, Brigadier General Mike Herzog, informed him of the
prospects of hitting Shehada, and noted that the chances of civilian
casualties were slim. Ben-Eliezer approved the plan, and his agreement was
passed on to Sharon. Sharon received a more detailed report from the IDF on
the planned operation, and approved its implementation. The approval
procedure was quick, so as to take advantage of the "operational
opportunity."
Hamas vows to avenege Shehada's death
Hamas spokesman Ismail Haniyeh vowed Tuesday that the movement would "take
revenge for the martyrs. All the Palestinian people will unify to take
revenge for the blood of the martyrs," he told reporters at Shifa hospital.
"Anyone who dreams of so-called peace is mistaken. There is nothing called
'peace with Israel,'" the statement said.
A statement from the Palestinian Authority denounced the Israeli strike and
called for international intervention to "stop these massacres." The
statement charged that the aim was to "sabotage the international efforts to
pressure the Israeli government to withdraw troops ... and to get back to
negotiations."
Foreign ministry official Gideon Meir said the attack was a "strike against
a known terrorist who is responsible for hundreds of attacks on Israeli
civilians in recent years." He expressed regret for the loss of life. "To
our great sorrow, in these operations, sometimes, and in military
operations, civilians are also killed," he said.
Possible heir to Sheikh Ahmed Yassin
Shehada, 40, was the commander of Izz a-Din el-Kassam, the military wing of
Hamas, and served as a close personal aide to the movement's spiritual
leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. In addition to his extensive involvement in
terror activity, he had gradually developed his reputation as a leader with
religious authority and was seen as a possible future heir to Yassin.
Shehada's involvement in Hamas stretched back to the beginning of the first
intifada, which erupted at the end of 1987, and he spent time in Israeli
jails.
Shin Bet officials say he orchestrated the attack on a pre-army training
course in the settlement of Atzmona in which five students were killed, and
the infiltration into the "Africa" outpost near Kibbutz Kerem-Shalom in
which four IDF soldiers were killed. He was also involved in the production
of the "Kassam" rockets which have been fired at Gaza settlements and into
Israel.
Shehada cooperated closely with two other men high on Israel's wanted list
in the Strip - Mohammed Deif and Adnan el Roul. In recent months the
security establishment received information that Shehada was making contact
with Hamas members in the West Bank, despite the physical separation between
the two areas, and that movement members in Nablus were receiving orders
from him.
According to Shin Bet officials, Shehada was one of the movement's most
extreme members and rejected any talk of limiting suicide attacks. He was in
contact with Hamas officials abroad. According to military sources, he
challenged Yassin's leadership on several occasions, and was considered more
radical than the movement's spiritual leader.
Israel tried to kill Shehada on several occasions but he always managed to
escape. Aware that the IDF was hunting him, Shehada spent long periods
underground.
When the IDF was considering a major operation in Gaza in May earlier this
year, Shehada's capture or elimination was considered a major objective.
Israeli military sources estimated Tuesday that Hamas would make "every
effort" to hit back as quickly and as hard as possible in an attempt to
exact revenge for Shehada's assassination.
=============================================================
Statement from Palestinian Center for Human Rights (www.pchrgaza.org)
Israel practices state terror and Sharon expresses his pride of committing
war crimes against Palestinian civilians
Ref: 99/2002
Date: 23 July 2002
Israeli belligerent occupying forces have committed another war
crime against Palestinian civilians late yesterday night, when an
Israeli F-16 fighter jet attacked an apartment building in a highly
populated area in Gaza City, killing 15 Palestinian civilians,
including 9 children. Most of the more than 70 wounded were women
and children. According to information obtained by PCHR, among
those killed were two women and their five children, a father and
his child, and Sheikh Salah Shehada, his wife, daughter and
bodyguard. Statements made by the Israeli occupying forces,
asserted that the purpose of the attack was the assassination of
Hamas leader, Sheikh Salah Mustafa Shehada, 49, from Beit Hanoun.
At approximately 23:55 on Monday, 22 July 2002, an Israeli F-16
fighter jet launched a missile at a 150-square-meter, two-story
apartment building located in the densely populated al-Daraj
neighborhood in Gaza city. Sheikh Salah Shehada, who is wanted by
the Israeli occupying forces, and his family were living on the
upper floor of the building. The missile directly hit the apartment
building, totally destroying it and one other house. Four other
homes sustained serious damage. Fifteen Palestinian civilians,
including 9 children, the youngest of whom was only 2-months-old,
were killed. Two of the wounded are in a critical condition.
Those killed were:
1. Iman Hassan Matar, 27, killed together with her 3 children:
2. Ra^?d Matar, 1 1/2 ;
3. Mohammed Ra'd Matar, 4;
4. Diana Ra'd Matar, 5;
5. Muna Fahmi al-Hweiti, 30, killed together with her 2 children:
6. Subhi Mahmoud al-Hweiti, 4 1/2 ;
7. Mohammed Mahmoud al-Hweiti, 6;
8. Diana Rami Matar, 2 months;
9. Alaa' Mohammed Matar, 11;
10. Mohammed Mahmoud al-Shawa, 40, killed together with his child:
11. Ahmed Mohammed al-Shawa, 4; and
12. Sheikh Salah Mustafa Shehada, 49;
13. Leila Safira, 45, his wife;
14. Iman Salah Shehada, 15, his daughter; and
15. Zaher Nassar, 37, his bodyguard.
This was the second time in one week that the Israeli occupying
forces have used F-16 fighter jets to attack homes in highly
populated areas in the Gaza Strip, in a bid to assassinate
individual Palestinian activists. The Israeli forces have stepped
up the excessive and disproportionate use of force once again.
These latest attacks have set a grave precedent. On 14 July 2002,
an Israeli F-16 fighter jet attacked a 3-story house in Khan Yunis,
in an attempt to assassinate one of its residents wanted by the
Israeli occupying forces. He survived the assassination attempt but
the house was destroyed.
PCHR once again expresses its grave concern about Israel's ongoing
and escalating violations of international human rights and
humanitarian law against Palestinian civilians, including war
crimes. PCHR considers that the failure of the High Contracting
Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to take concrete steps to
stop these crimes serves only to encourage Israel and its occupying
forces to commit more war crimes and other violations against
Palestinian civilians and their property. The cover provided for
Israel by the USA, the US deliberate obstruction of the enforcement
of the international humanitarian law, the conspiracy of silence by
European countries towards war crimes committed against Palestinian
civilians, have all effectively put Israel above international law,
allowing it to act with total impunity. PCHR reminds the High
Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention of:
1. Their obligation under Article 1 of the Convention to ensure
respect for the convention in all circumstances; and
2. Their obligation under Article 146 of the Convention to search
for and to prosecute those responsible for grave breaches, namely
war crimes, of the Convention.
____________________________________________________________________
Jewish Peace News (JPN) is a service provided by A Jewish Voice for Peace. JPN's
editors are Adam Gutride, Amichai Kronfeld, Sarah Anne Minkin, Judith Norman, Mitchell
Plitnick, Lincoln Shlensky, and Alistair Welchman. The opinions expressed by the
editors and presented in the articles sent to this list are solely those of their
authors, and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of A Jewish Voice for Peace.
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