As reactions varied to the speech of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, four patients died in Gaza due to the continued siege. Near Ramallah Israeli soldiers attacked Palestinian and international peace activists during the weekly non-violent protest against the Wall in Ni’lin village. Midnight Saturday, Israeli airforce launched a number of air-to-surface missiles near the Gaza-Egypt border in Palestinian neighborhoods. Local residents reported that four Palestinians were wounded in the attack. Also, this week the Israeli Jerusalem municipality handed out yet more demolition orders to Palestinian families in Al Bustan, an East Jerusalem neighborhood. These stories and more in this week’s update.
This program was produced by the International Middle East Media Center for June 19, 2009.
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The Guardian’s Middle East Editor Ian Black discusses the geopolitical ramifications of the ongoing crisis.
This program was produced by The Guardian.
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Sharon Lock discusses the ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza.
This program was produced by the BBC.
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Ten days of aerial bombing on Gaza has caused extensive devastation throughout the territory and is threatening the health and welfare of many children. Most of Gaza is without electricity, and the situation is turning into a massive humanitarian crisis.
UNICEF is calling for a permanent and sustainable humanitarian space in Gaza that includes access for supplies and staff, and the ability to distribute aid and make assessments.
The hospitals in Gaza are overwhelmed by casualties and are running low on medicines. More than half the population of Gaza is made up of children.
One boy’s story
Sixteen-year-old Baha has lived with 16 other members of his family in the basement of his Gaza City home since the bombing began.
“I’m trying to stay alive,” he said in a telephone interview with UNICEF Radio. “There’s no electricity, and as a result of that there is no healthy water to drink.”
“Everybody feels scared,” Baha said, as the sound of bombs and rockets echoed in the background. “Everyone is moving from his house because he’s afraid that his house will be hit from the air or from the land or from the sea.”
Schools closed
The military offensive began in the middle of exam period for students in the region, and schools have been closed ever since. Baha was in the middle of an Arabic exam when the Israeli campaign began.
“We won’t have school for at least two weeks,” he said.
Some Gazans are using schools as shelter. Many homes have been destroyed. Except for some health and food distribution centres, UN offices are closed in Gaza because of security concerns.
This program was produced by UNICEF.
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One of the key parts of Israel’s well-planned media narrative in Gaza is that they are carefully targeting attacks and that there is no humanitarian crisis there which isn’t attributable to the mis-management of the elected Hamas government. President Shimon Peres repeated the claim this Sunday on ABC News “This Week with George Stephanopoulos”.
John Ging, the head of the UN relief agency in Gaza, described the situation there as “inhuman”.
We have a catastrophe unfolding in Gaza for the civilian population,” he said. “The people of Gaza City and the north now have no water. That comes on top of having no electricity. They’re trapped, they’re traumatised, they’re terrorised by this situation.
They’re in their homes. They’re not safe. They’re being killed and injured in large numbers, and they have no end in sight. The inhumanity of this situation, the lack of action to bring this to an end, is bewildering to them.
The whole infrastructure of the future state of Palestine is being destroyed. Blowing up the parliament building. That’s the parliament of Palestine. That’s not a Hamas building. The president’s compound is for the president of Palestine. Schools, mosques.
This program was produced by Crooks & Liars for January 4, 2009.
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The Israeli military offensive entered its 10th day in Gaza, with the death toll reaching 534 by Monday.
This program was produced by the International Middle East Media Center.
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http://www.un.org/unrwa/
IMEMC’s correspondent in Gaza updates us on the situation in Gaza.
This program was produced by the International Middle East Media Center.
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As the fifth day of Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip begins, Rafah and Gaza City, the two main targets, have witnessed hundreds of deaths. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas blames Hamas, the ruling party in Gaza, for inciting Israel’s attack. Hamas, vows to keep shelling Southern Israel with rockets fired from the Gaza Strip. Lia Tarachansky spoke to Fida Qishta in Rafah, located in Southern Gaza. Qishta reports one of the first targets of the Israeli bombardment were the tunnels dug by Palestinians under the wall, which separates Rafah in two, half in Palestine and half in Egypt. These tunnels, says Qishta, have been used since the beginning of the siege to smuggle food, and according to Israel, weapons. Qishta also reports of the wall being breached by Palestinians desperate to escape to Egypt. Though unsuccessful, this is the fifth attempt since the beginning of the second Intifadah to breach it.
This program was produced by The Real News for January 1, 2009.
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http://palsolidarity.org
Eyewitness reports from Gaza by Palestinians and international human rights workers. Ali Abunimeh joins Nora Barrows-Friedman and Dennis Bernstein.
This program was produced by Flashpoints Radio on Monday, December 29.
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http://electronicintifada.net
Israel’s deadly airstrikes on Hamas compounds in the Gaza Strip are drawing sharp reactions in the Arab world, and a variety of responses elsewhere. Voice of America’s Kent Klein reports on international reactions.
This program was produced by Voice of America News for December 27, 2008.
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