At
approximately 8:30 pm on Sunday 29 January 2012, the Israeli Occupation
Forces (IOF) arrested two young Palestinian men while they were east of
Gaza International Airport, east of Rafah, and took them to unknown
location. Al Mezan has identified the two arrested men as:
·Hajjaj Yousif As-Swofi, 21; and
·Ahmed Hussein Abu ‘Azra, 20.
Both
are from Ash-Shoka village, east of Rafah. Relatives of As-Swofi
informed Al Mezan that at approximately 8:00 am on Monday 30 January
2012, Ahmed As-Swofi, Hajjaj’s cousin, received a call on his cell phone
informing him that Hajaj and Ahmed were being held by Israeli
intelligence at Ashkelon prison.
At approximately 9:00 pm on Friday 27 January 2012, Israeli Occupation
Forces (IOF) fired an artillery shell at the house of Abdel Ra’ouf Hamed
Hajaj, 37, which is located in the Ash-Shawa family orchard east of
Ash-Sheja’iya neighborhood in eastern Gaza City. The shell left a hole
in the roof of the house, a two-story building with an area of 180
square meters.
At approximately 9:20 am on Thursday 26 January 2012, Israeli Occupation
Forces (IOF) opened heavy fire at Palestinian farmers in the Al
Faraheen and As-Senati areas east of Khan Younis. No casualties or
injuries were reported, but the residents were terrified and abandoned
their farming activities.
Israeli
warplanes fired 9 missiles at a Palestinian resistance group and civilian
targets, but no injuries were reported.
Two
camels died and a greenhouse was destroyed
Saturday, 21 January 2012 Also at approximately 07:10, the Israeli warplanes fired two missiles
at a Palestinian resistance group. The missiles
landed in a farm hired and planted by Khairi 'Atwa al-Dbari, which is located
near al-Shouka UNRWA school in al-Shouka village, east of Rafah in the southern
Gaza Strip. The group survived, but two
camels died in the said farm.
Monday, 23 January 2012
At approximately 08:30, IOF positioned at watchtowers to the west
of Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing in the northwest of Beit Hanoun, north of the
Gaza Strip, heavily fired at open areas in the industrial zone, ex-settlement
of "Nissanit". They also launched
an artillery shell at the same area, but no injuries were reported.
At approximately 12:05, on the same day, IOF launched 4 artillery
shells at Abu Samra farmland in the north of Hamdoush area, north of Beit
Lahia. The last one was launched at
approximately 12:30 on the same day, but no injuries were reported.
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
At approximately 00:40, the Israeli warplanes fired 3 missiles at a
greenhouse inside a land belonging to Mohammed Shehda Hamdouna, 45. The land, whose area is 2,000 square meters,
is located to the northeast of Beit Lahia
in the northern Gaza Strip. The attack
resulted in completely destroying the greenhouse and a 3-meter hole. However, no injuries were reported.
At approximately 00:45, Israeli warplanes fired a missile at an
empty land belonging to Sa'eed Mohammed Salem al-Da'our, 55. The land whose area is 70 dunums[1]
is located in al-Sayafa area, northwest of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza
Strip. No injuries were reported.
The attack resulted in heavy explosions that rocked the northern
area, due to which, women and children were terrorized.
At approximately 01:10, Israeli warplanes fired two missiles at
greenhouses in ex-settlements, northwest of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza
Strip. As a result, damage was caused to
the place, but no injuries were reported.
It should be noted that the same area had been bombarded several times.
At approximately 01:26, Israeli warplanes fired a missile at the
farmland in al-Zanna area, east of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. No injuries were reported.
At approximately 11:30 on Tuesday, 24 January 2012, IOF positioned
along the border fence in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip opened fire
and tear gas canisters at a group of Palestinian and international
demonstrators, who were walking along the border area from Beit Hanoun (Erez)
crossing to the landfill. They protested
the imposition of the buffer zone along the borders. There were approximately 60 demonstrators,
including 5 international activists and 10 journalists. After they were approximately 200 meters far
from the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, they suffered from gas
inhalation.
In
his testimony, the Beit Hanoun Local Initiative coordinator, Saber al-Za'aneen,
said that at approximately 10:30 on that day, demonstrators gathered in front
of the Agriculture School of al-Azhar University, north of the Beit Hanoun and
headed to the border area. When they
were approximately 200 meters to the southeast of Beit Hanoun crossing, they
started walking along the border fence until they reached the landfill, north
of Beit Hanoun. IOF fired tear gas
canisters at the demonstrators, but they kept walking. IOF then heavily fired at the
demonstrators. As a result, a number of
demonstrators suffered from tear gas inhalation. However, they kept moving until they reached
the memorial area, southeast of Beit Hanoun.
IOF fireed at them, as a result, they were obliged to get out of there.
It
should be noted that the demonstration started at approximately 11:30 and
finished at approximately 13:40 on the same day.
Gaza was treated to a strange new sight
today, not really new, but something that has not been seen in Gaza in a
long time: tear gas. In Gaza protests are not smashed with tear gas
and clubs like in the West Bank, they are met with live ammunition. In a
continuation of Israel’s policy to separate the West Bank from Gaza,
nothing is overlooked. The sub-human status they wish to cement in the
world’s mind when it comes to the people of Gaza is adhered to
brutally. On May 15th 2011, when over a hundred
demonstrators were shot near Erez, only one canister of tear gas was
fired. Before that the protesters faced live ammunition and tank fire.
In the three years that regular demonstrations have been carried out
near Erez by the Beit Hanoun Local Initiative, regulars tell me that
this was the first time they had seen tear gas.
The
demonstration started like all the others. We gathered near the half
destroyed Beit Hanoun Agricultural College and marched towards the no go
zone. There were about forty of us, men and women together. As
always, the demonstrators were armed only with a megaphone and our
voices. Today, we planned to hike from Erez to the east of Beit Hanoun,
near the site where two young men were murdered last week while
catching birds and collecting rubble near the no go zone. The no go
zone, which used to be an area of flourishing orchards has been reduced
to yielding rubble to recycle into concrete.
Israel bans the import of concrete into
Gaza. Only humans would need concrete to rebuild the thousands of
houses Israel destroyed in the 2008-2009 massacres they carried out in
Gaza. In Israeli eyes, Gazans aren’t really full people; they are half
people to be murdered at will for even thinking of coming close to the
no go zone.
This is why we march, we deny the no go
zone, and we deny the occupation. The refugees of Gaza, thrown from
their homes during the Nakba, want to return to their homes.
We walked down the muddy road that leads
to the no go zone. As we got close to the no go zone, the shooting
began. Shooting is not unexpected; bullets are the language of the
occupation, at least the language that you hear. Ethnic cleansing,
oppression, and torture are also languages the occupation speaks, but
the loudest voices of the occupation are the bullets and the bombs. The
bullets passed over our heads; they slammed into the dirt in front of
us. Then, the unexpected happened; the tear gas began to fall. The
clouds of tear gas were smaller than I remember from protests in the
West Bank. Perhaps the shells are old, they are used so seldom in Gaza
that maybe the inventory is old.
This isn’t an issue in the West Bank,
there the protests are coated in tear gas, men are killed or severely
injured by tear gas canisters shot at them like Mustafa Tamimi and Bassem Abu Rahma who both passed away, or Tristan Anderson, who survived. Women are suffocated by it, woman like Jawaher Abu Rahma.
It is fired into houses, schools, fields, villages; tear gas is
omnipresent. In Gaza, tear gas is a blast from the past, here the
occupation has discarded that language, in Gaza, it only speaks with
bullets and bombs.
At first it wasn’t clear if the protest
would continue. People were shocked by the use of the new weapon.
Quickly though, a decision was reached: We would continue. We walked
east along the edge of the buffer zone. Soldiers in concrete towers
hundreds of meters away fired live ammunition at unarmed protesters
walking on their own land–soldiers in concrete towers built on the land
these protesters were ethnically cleansed from.
The black flag that flies over the
occupation did not come down after the massacre of Kfar Kassem, it is
still there, it is just that it has been flying for so long that no one
remembers anything else. the black flag is like the sun, people do not
remember a day before it was in the sky.
Walking in the no go zone isn’t easy.
The ground is uneven from the constant destruction of the bulldozers
which Israel uses to make sure that nothing takes root there. The
ground is littered with the past: irrigation pipes, metal rods and
concrete rubble from the destroyed houses. Slowly all of this is ground
up under the blades of bulldozers and treads of tanks. We walked east,
the shooting stopped for a bit. Two soldiers appeared on a hill to the
north, they raised their guns. They lost sight of us behind a hill.
We emerged from behind a hill: we saw a tank on another hill. Jeeps
sped along the border. The shooting began again. Bullets flew over our
heads.
Beit Hanoun demonstration under fire - Click here for more images
We reached the eastern edge of our prison
and turned south. Soldiers appeared again on a new hill. Shooting
resumed, tear gas canisters from 500 meters arced over our heads. We
stopped and reminded the soldiers that this was a nonviolent
demonstration by people on their land.
They continued to shoot, then the
soldiers on the hill began to yell at us with a megaphone, “Gazans are
donkeys.” Gazans are not donkeys, they are people, but perhaps if you
repeat a lie often enough, people will start to believe, people like
these soldiers. We passed the carcass of a horse, rotting. A donkey
grazed to the east of the dead horse. At least the donkey was still
alive.
The soldiers continued to shoot at us,
bullets and tear gas. Just as Gaza did not kneel after the 23 day
massacre three years ago, we will not be stopped by bullets and tear
gas. We will continue to protest until the occupation disappears. We
will continue to protest until we achieve justice. Without the end of
the occupation and true justice, peace is impossible. We will not
accept the peace of silent oppression. We will never accept the
occupation. Gaza will not kneel.
Nathan Stuckey is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement.
24 January 2012 | International Solidarity Movement
Image from Poica.org - Click here for more information
In a peaceful demonstration into the Gaza no go zone that
began around 10:30am today, January 24 2012, demonstrators report that
at least 50 rounds of live ammunition were fired directly at Palestinian
and international solidarity activists.
Contact:
Nathan Stuckey, International Solidarity Movement activist
Phone Number: 00970597650864
Email: GazaISM@gmail.com
At least two Israeli soldiers have been visible on the ground, while a
large military tank also took position approximately 15 minutes
following the initial shooting of live ammunition. With a momentary
pause in gunfire that lasted for approximately 15 minutes, shooting of
live ammunition has resumed in Gaza’s No Go Zone. At least 50 bullets
have been shot thus far.
Every Tuesday Palestinians and
supporters march from Beit Hanoun into the buffer zone , where the
fertile land has been made inaccessible to Palestinians due to
the imminent danger of violence by the guarding Israeli military, who
also bulldoze land that has been an agricultural resource for many
locals in the northern Gaza Strip.
At approximately 2:25 am on Tuesday 24 January 2012, Israeli aircraft
attacked an agricultural field in the Az-Zanna area in eastern Khan
Younis district. No casualties or injuries were reported.
At approximately 8:30 am on Monday 23 January 2012, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) opened heave fire on the Elei Sinai
evacuated settlement area west of Erez crossing. The IOF also fired an
artillery shell at the same area. No casualties or injuries were
reported, but people were terrified, particularly women and children.
At approximately 12:05 pm on Monday 23 January 2012, Israeli Occupation
Forces (IOF) fired four artillery shells at the Burat Abu Samra area
north of Beit Lahiya in North Gaza district. No casualties were
reported, but people in the area were terrified and panicked.
Every Tuesday we gather next to the half destroyed Beit Hanoun
Agricultural College. At eleven o’clock, we set out into the no go
zone. This week there were about thirty of us, members of the Beit
Hanoun Local Initiative, the International Solidarity Movement, and
other activists from Gaza. At eleven o’clock the megaphone starts to
play Bella Ciao and the flags are hoisted in the air, soon we start to
march down the road into the no go zone. Today feels strange, something
is different, there is only one body in the sky, the Israeli blimp that
constantly hangs over Beit Hanoun watching our every move is missing,
today only the sun is over us in the sky, the sun and some Israeli
F16’s.
Entering the no go zone is always a strange experience. First, you
always remember the danger, Israel claims the right to shoot anyone who
enters the no go zone, every week, someone is shot for doing what we are
doing. They are shot for going to their land, sometimes to gather
cement to rebuild the houses shattered during the massacre the Israeli’s
call Cast Lead, sometimes searching for metal to recycle and sell for a
few shekels, sometimes shepherds with their sheep. The no go zone is
like a dystopian future, the people who used to live there have all been
expelled, they live as internal refugees in the prison that is Gaza.
When you walk in the no go zone you are sometimes reminded that people
used to live here, you find shredded irrigation pipes, wells, the
foundations of houses, and today, for the first time, I saw an old
quarry that used to provide rocks for building. The orchards and fields
that used to cover the no go zone have been thoroughly erased, there is
no more evidence that they even existed. In 1948 the Zionists plant
forests to hide the ethnically cleansed Palestine villages, in Gaza,
they do not bother, they just grind the evidence up under the treads of
bulldozers. The orchards have already disappeared, there is no trace of
them, most of the houses have disappeared, with time even the wells and
the remaining foundations will slowly be ground to nothing. Only the
quarry will remain. The land here is not like the rest of Gaza, walking
is difficult, the bulldozers have left it completely scarred, jagged
mini hills and ridges are everywhere.
Today, we walk deep into the no go zone. Deeper than we have ever
gone before, to land no Palestinian has been on since 2000. Sometimes
it feels like a nature walk, instead of watching out for tigers or lions
we watch out for jeeps or tanks. We finally reach the barbed wire that
lays about 20 meters in front of the wall, there is no way through it.
A smaller balloon than the usual one begins to rise over the wall.
Sabur Zaaneen from the Beit Hanoun Local Initiative speaks, “We would
like to welcome all of the activists who have to come to Gaza with the
Miles of Smiles Convoy, I hope that many more activists come to
Palestine to work in the towns and refugee camps of Palestine where they
can confront the state terrorism of Israel directly.” We climb a
nearby hill and plant a flag. We spot a jeep; it drives up to the
concrete tower embedded in the wall. The soldiers climb the stairs and
begin to shoot at us. We begin to walk back to Beit Hanoun. The
soldiers climb down from the tower, get in their jeep and drive to
higher hill overlooking the no go zone. They get out, and aim their
guns at us again. It does not matter that they are under no threat,
that we are a completely nonviolent demonstration of civilians on their
own land. In Gaza, the occupation is reduced to its most basic, the
tracks of bulldozers and the crack of rifles. The bulldozers erase all
evidence that anybody ever lived there, the rifles erase the people that
live here. We will not be erased. The olive trees that we plant in
the no go zone will feed the children of Gaza. The martyrs will live on
in our hearts. The popular resistance will outlast the occupation.
In
the Gaza Strip, IOF conducted 3 limited incursions on 18 January 2008. The first incursion was conducted at around
02:00 into al-Shoka village, in the southeast of Rafah, in the south of the
Gaza Strip, and arrested two Palestinians.
The
second incursion took place at around 11:55 after IOF killed two Palestinian
resistance activists in the southeast of Beit Hanoun in the north of the Gaza
Strip. IOF conducted scanning works and
then withdrew over the border.
IOF
conducted the third incursion at around 12:30; they moved around 400 meters
into the north of Beit Lahia, in the north of the Gaza Strip, while conducting
intensive shooting at Palestinian farms located around 700 meters form the
borders, following which they conducted scanning works. At around 14:00, IOF drove to the east along
the border and positioned themselves at the Bedouin Village. They continued firing and conducting scanning
works. Later, they drove to the site of
the ex-settlement of Nisanit, northwest of Beit Hanoun. IOF withdrew at around 16:00 and neither
casualties nor damages to civilian property were reported.
Wednesday, 18 January 2012 at approximately 02:00, IOF moved dozens of meters in al-Shoka
village, southeast of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. Before withdrawing, they arrested Akram
Hussein Mohammed al-Sufi, 24, from the Bedouin village, in the north of the
Gaza Strip. The father of Akram al-Sufi stated that Akram is a member of the
al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad, and that he may be
arrested while on mission.
At approximately 11:05, IOF positioned at the border in the
southeast of Beit Hanoun, in the north of the Gaza Strip, fired 8 consecutive
artillery shells at two Palestinian resistance activists while on mission near
the border area. Israeli aircrafts also flew in the sky and opened heavy fire
at the two activists. One of them, Mohammed Shaker Ahmed Abu Oda, 22, from Beit
Hanoun, was killed immediately as he sustained shrapnel wounds in the lower
part of his body and in the abdomen and the chest. The other activist, Ahmed Khaled Mohammed
al-Zaanin, 18, from Beit Hanoun, sustained wounds in the head and shrapnel
wounds throughout the body. The firing
continued for around 45 minutes. At around 11:55, IOF moved into the targeted
area and conducting scanning works till 12:20.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported that at
approximately 11:20, two PRCS ambulances drove to the targeted area. The
ambulances arrived at the targeted area at around 11:40 and stopped around 150
meters far from the borders. They two
resistance activists were only 50 meters from the two ambulances and one of the
ambulances tried to drive towards them but IOF fired two artillery shells at
the proximity of the ambulances. At around 12:25, PRCS managed to evacuate the
body of Abu Oda and al-Zaanin who was still alive and transferred them to Beit
Hanoun Public Hospital. Al-Zaanin was referred to al-Shifa Hospital at around
13:15 for treatment but he was pronounced dead at around 14:15.
None of the Palestinian resistance groups has announced its
responsibility for sending the two resistance activists.
IOF declared that they targeted a group of Palestinians who were
trying to plant explosive near the border.
At approximately 12:30, IOF moved around 400 meters into the north
of Beit Lahia, in the north of the Gaza Stripamid intensive firing at
Palestinian farms located around 700 meters form the border, IOF conducted scanning
works. Palestinian farmers were forced to flee the area in fear for sake of
their safety. At around 14:00, IOF drove
to the east along the border and they stationed off the Bedouin Village. They continued firing and their scanning
works. Later, they drove to the site of
the ex-settlement Nisanit, northwest of
Beit Hanoun. IOF withdrew at around
16:00 and neither casualties nor damages to civilian property were reported.
At approximately 10:00 pm on Tuesday 17 January 2012, Israeli Special Forces arrested two young men, identified by Al Mezan as:
·Akram Hussein As-Soufi, 24, from Ash-Shawka village; and
·Isma’il Mahmoud As-Soufi, 22, from the Bedouin village in the north of the Gaza Strip.
They
were arrested in the area east of the non-operational Gaza
International Airport, east of Rafah. The Israeli Occupation Forces
(IOF) took them to an unknown location.
Every Tuesday we gather in front of the
Beit Hanoun Agricultural College, members of the Beit Hanoun Local
Initiative, the International Solidarity Movement and other activists
from all over Gaza. We gather, and we march into the no go zone.
Sometimes we are shot at, sometimes there is no response. We accept
both of these. We cannot control when the Israeli’s will shoot at us,
at unarmed civilian demonstrators on their own land. We are not
discouraged by the appearance that nothing changes, you never know when
change will happen, but you can be sure that if you do nothing, nothing
will change. So every Tuesday, we march into the no go zone, the rest
of the week, everyone struggles against the occupation in their own
way. Teachers teach, farmers farm, fisherman fish, but under occupation
all of these things can become revolutionary things, life itself can
become a revolutionary act.
The megaphone announces the start of the
demonstration; Bella Ciao is our marching song. We set off down the
road into the no go zone. There about thirty of us, men, women and
children, somehow, it feels like more this week. We do not take the
usual path into the no go zone, once inside the no zone we turn to the
left. We walk toward the road that leads to Erez, one of the few gates
into and out of the prison that is Gaza, few Gazans are permitted to use
it, it is mostly for NGO workers. We stop about twenty meters from it;
we plant a flag in the ground. This flag joins the others we have
planted in the no go zone, unlike wheat which requires months to go grow
and is inevitably destroyed by the periodic assaults of Israeli
bulldozers in the no go zone flags can be planted fully grown.
Eventually Israeli bulldozers will come and grind them beneath their
wheels and we will have to plant new flags to replace them, but until
then you can see our flags wave over the no zone. The wall that
surrounds Gaza is studded with Israeli flags, in case anyone should
forget who it is that imprisons Gaza.
We planted our flag, then, Sabur Zaaneen
from the Local Initiative spoke, he denounced “encounters with the
leaders of the occupation and negotiations with the occupation, instead
we must work toward the prosecution of the leaders of the occupation in
international forums.” He also said that “resistance to the occupation
must continue, it will continue until the end of the occupation, the
resistance must unite to confront the occupation.” As we walked back to
Beit Hanoun it was impossible not to admire our flags floating in the
wind, three of them lining the no go zone, and the wheat that we had
planted last month, growing. Israel can destroy, but things will always
grow again. Oppression inevitably breeds resistance, a resistance that
will continue to grow until the oppression is removed.
Friday,
06 January 2012 At approximately 08:30, Israeli soldiers positioned the border
between the Gaza Strip and Israel to the east of al-Boreij refugee camp in the
central Gaza Strip fired at Hiba Mousa Abu Sa’id, 19, while she was grazing
animals. She was wounded by a bullet to
the right foot.
At approximately 19:15, the Israeli artillery stationed at the
border between the Gaza Strip and Israel fired two shells at Palestinian
agricultural areas in the east of the northern Gaza Strip town of Jabalya. Palestinian civilians, especially women and
children, were extremely terrified.
‘Aaisha Isma’il Abu Hmaidan, 47, was shocked. She was evacuated to the hospital.
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
At approximately 08:00, IOF moved nearly 300 meters into the east
of the northern Gaza Strip town of Jabalya.
They leveled areas of Palestinian land which they had already
razed. At approximately 10:00, IOF moved
northwards. At approximately 16:30, IOF
moved back to the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel.
At approximately 12:40 am on Tuesday 10 January 2012, three Israeli
tanks moved about 300 meters into the east part of Ash-Shoka village on
the outskirts of Rafah. At approximately 2:30 am on the same day, the
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) withdrew from the area. No casualties
or injuries were reported.
Israeli tanks patrol the border of northern Gaza. (MaanImages/Moti Milrod, File)
GAZA CITY
(Ma'an) -- Israeli military vehicles entered the northern Gaza Strip on
Tuesday morning, with witnesses reporting heavy gunfire in the area.
Forces
accompanied bulldozers around 300 meters inside the border near Jabalia
to raze lands in the area, witnesses told Ma'an. No casualties were
reported.
An Israeli army spokesman said the incident was "routine activity."
Gunfire
was also heard in the southern Gaza Strip early Tuesday, with locals
saying Palestinian militants exchanged fire with an Israeli military
post near the Kerem Shalom crossing.
The military spokesman said he was not familiar with the incident.
At
approximately 8:05 am on Tuesday 10 January 2012, three Israeli tanks
and three armored bulldozers moved about 300 meters into the eastern
parts of Ash-Shuhadaa Islamic Cemetery east of Jabaliya, in North Gaza
district. Bulldozers leveled lands that had been razed before. The
Israeli tanks then moved to the north and opened heavy fire on the
area. Farmers were terrified and fled without completing their work.
The Israeli occupation forces were still in the area as this news was
being published at 1:12 pm on 10 January 2012.
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- A teenage girl was injured Friday when an ordnance
left by the Israeli army exploded east of al-Bureij refugee camp in the
central Gaza Strip, medics said.
Medical officials told Ma'an the 19-year-old was taken to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and treated for moderate injuries.
Palestinian Injured East of Al Bureij Refugee Camp
At
approximately 9:00 am on Friday 6 January 2012, Heba Musa Abu Sa’eed,
19, sustained a bullet wound in her right leg. She was admitted to Al
Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah for treatment.
In
an affidavit to Al Mezan, Heba’s brother Adel Musa Abu Sa’eed, 30,
stated that his sister was injured while grazing sheep east of her
house, which is located east of the Maqboula area, southeast of Al
Bureij refugee camp. Heba was about 70 meters away from the separation
fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel when she was injured. She
reports that the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) regularly positioned at
the separation fence opened fire on her.
At
approximately 7:15 pm on Friday 6 January 2012, Israeli Occupation
Forces (IOF) fired two artillery shells, one of which fell in Abu Safiya
and the other in the vicinity of Jabal Al Kashef, both agricultural
areas east of Jabaliya in North Gaza district. As a result, ‘Aisha
Ismail Abu Hmedan, 47, suffered psychological shock. Women and children
in the area were also terrified. No casualties or injuries were
reported.
On 29 December 2012, Israeli warplanes bombarded a plot in the
northern Gaza Strip, but no casualties were reported.
Thursday, 29 December 2011 At approximately 03:00, Israeli
warplanes fired 3 missiles at a plot belonging to Sa’id Mohammed al-Da’our,
55. No casualties were reported.
Saturday, 31 December 2011 At approximately 18:30, Isma’il Mohammed Abu Doun, 33, from Tal
al-Hawa neighborhood in Gaza City, was admitted into Kamal ‘Edwan Hospital in
Beit Lahia, as he was wounded by a bullet to the left thigh. According to investigations conducted by
PCHR, Abu Doun left his house on a motorcycle, and at approximately 16:30, he
arrived at the north of the Bedouin Village in the northern Gaza Strip. He stepped down and walked up to 100 meters
from the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel. Immediately, Israeli soldiers fired at him
and he was wounded. Soon after, IOF
moved into the area and arrested him. At
approximately 18:00, IOF handed Abu Doun to the Palestinian side. According to local sources, Abu Doun suffers
from a psychological disorder.
Tuesday, 03 January 2012
At approximately 11:30, Israeli soldiers stationed on observation
towers near Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing in the northern Gaza Strip opened fire
at a number of Palestinian workers who were collecting scraps of construction
materials from the industrial zone to the southwest of the crossing. The workers were forced to flee and no
casualties were reported.
Wednesday, 04 January 2012 At approximately 02:30, IOF moved nearly 300 meters into
al-Farrahin area in ‘Abassan village, east of the southern Gaza Strip town of
Khan Yunis. They leveled areas of
Palestinian land. They then moved
southward to Khuza’a village and leveled areas of land amidst indiscriminate
shooting. IOF moved back to the border
between the Gaza Strip and Israel and no casualties were reported.
At
approximately 11:30 am on Tuesday 24 January 2012, Israeli Occupation
Forces (IOF) opened heavy fire with live ammunition and launched tens of
tear gas canisters at a peaceful demonstration organized by the Local
Initiative in Beit Hanoun. The demonstrations are organized weekly to
protest the imposition of the so-called “security buffer zone.”
Demonstrators were between 100 to 300 meters from the separation fence
when the IOF opened fire on them. No casualties or injuries were
reported, but the demonstrators were choked by the tear gas. This is
not the first time that the IOF has attacked the peaceful weekly
demonstration.
In
his affidavit to Al Mezan, Saber Az-Zaneen, 33, one of the
demonstration’s organizers, stated: “At around 10:30 am on Tuesday, 60
Palestinians, five international solidarity activists, 10 journalists,
and members of the Local Initiative walked in a march from the
Agricultural Secondary School to a point near the border about 100
meters away from the separation fence. Israeli snipers who were in
concrete watchtowers fired tear gas canisters at the protestors,
so they headed to the south. The situation was chaotic. Demonstrators
started to carry away others who were choking from inhaling tear gas.
“The
protestors moved alongside the separation fence about 150 meters to the
east, to a spot near the old solid waste dump. They stopped there and
chanted against the security buffer zone, waving Palestinian and
international flags. Meanwhile, several Israeli soldiers descended from
the watchtowers and opened fire directly at the demonstrators. I could
see bullets hitting the sand. The demonstrators moved back.
“The
demonstrators continued to walk east, towards the Israeli military
transmission tower, and stopped again at a point about 200 meters away
from the separation fence. I saw several military jeeps stop and a
number of IOF soldiers got out and again opened fire directly at the
demonstrators. All of us left the area and then moved to the
southeast. We stopped at the Ash-Sha’fa area, about 250 meters away
from the eastern separation fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel.
The demonstrators continued to chant against the buffer zone.
A
number of Israeli military jeeps stopped before us. Some soldiers got
out of the jeeps and opened heavy fire with bullets and tear gas
canisters directly at the demonstrators. Many of the protesters were
choking on the gas, so then we headed in groups to the south.
We
approached the monument located southeast of Beit Hanoun. The IOF, who
we could see with our naked eyes, opened fire towards us again. We
went to the south and reached a point about 200 meters away from the
eastern separation fence. We had reached the outskirts of the Abu
Safiya area, east of Jabaliya and southeast of Beit Hanoun. The IOF
continued its firing at us. We had moved about 8,000 meters along the
length of the separation fence. We decided to leave the area at around
1:40 pm on the same day.”
This
is the first time that the IOF has fired tear gas canisters at this
demonstration, and the second time that the demonstrators have been
forced to walk this great a distance retreating from IOF fire
At approximately 2:30 am on Wednesday 4 January 2011, Israeli tanks
accompanied by armored bulldozers moved under sporadic fire about 300
meters into the Al Faraheen neighborhood in eastern ‘Abasan, east of
Khan Younis. Bulldozers leveled lands that have frequently been razed
before. The Israeli tanks then moved south towards Khuza’a village. At
approximately 10:00 am on the same day, the Israeli occupation forces
(IOF) withdrew from the area. No casualties or injuries were reported.
Meanwhile, Israeli tanks entered the Gaza Strip through the Kisufim gate
near Khan Younis and opened fire as bulldozers razed farmland in the
area, onlookers told Ma'an.
An military spokeswoman said soldiers
identified an explosive device near the border fence and safely
detonated it. She said soldiers fired tank shells during the procedure
as a "method of deterrence."
The Israeli army holds Hamas fully responsible for maintaining calm in the coastal enclave, she added.
GAZA, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces
(IOF) shot at and wounded a Palestinian man in northern Gaza Strip on
Saturday night in the dying hours of 2011, local sources said. They said that IOF troops stationed north
of Beit Hanun town opened fire at its residents wounding the 33-year-old
man, who was carried to hospital in moderate condition.
Palestinian Injured By Army Fire In Northern Gaza
Sunday January 01, 2012 01:54 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies
Palestinian medical sources reported
Saturday that a Palestinian man was shot and wounded by Israeli military
fire, north of Beit Hanoun, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, the
Arabs48 news website reported.
Image By Arabs48
The sources stated that medics transferred the wounded 32-year-old man to Kamal Odwan Hospital after he was shot in the leg.
Israel imposes an illegal buffer-zone along the border, preventing the
Palestinians from entering their own lands that are close to the border
fence. Dozens of casualties, including several fatalities were reported
in similar attacks.
Despite the fact that when Israel declared this “buffer zone” it stated
that it extends to 300 meters along the border with northern Gaza, on
the ground, the zone extends to more than 1 kilometer, preventing the
residents from planting their own lands, or even entering them.
This is a blog about Gaza farmers, workers and all the civilian population living in Gaza Strip rural communities along the Green Line, suffering from daily Israeli attacks and resisting the implementation of a so called "buffer zone" by the Israeli Occupation Forces.
Note: this blog is focusing on Israeli attacks on civilians inside or around the so called "buffer zone". Attacks on resistance fighters, or attacks, usually airstrikes on civilians further inside the Gaza Strip, or along the Egypt border (apart from the eastern areas such as Al Shoka or the airport area) are usually not mentioned. For the attacks of the Israeli Navy see http://fishingunderfire.blogspot.com/
Cases of children shot whilst collecting building material or working near the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel
OCHA: BETWEEN THE FENCE AND A HARD PLACE - SPECIAL FOCUS, August 2010
THE HUMANITARIAN IMPACT OF ISRAELI-IMPOSED RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS TO LAND AND SEA IN THE GAZA STRIP (click on image for the full report in PFD)
Al Haq: Shifting Paradigms - Israel’s Enforcement of the Buffer Zone in the Gaza Strip
List of Palestinian farmers & other civilians shot in Gaza Strip’s rural communities
List of Palestinian farmers & other civilians shot in Gaza Strip’s rural communities since the declaration of the ceasefire on the 18th of January 2009 - till September 2009 (click the image)
