Friday
Jan092009
Gaza: The Mass Killing in Zeitoun
Friday, January 9, 2009 at 10:47
Yesterday we reported the mass killing in Zeitoun, where a house with about 100 members of the al Samouni clan was shelled by Israel. There has been confusion over the initial story, in The Daily Telegraph, of 60 to 70 dead, as medical personnel tried to get back into the area. The Washington Post has an update on the story:
As there are still injured trapped without food or in the rubble of the house, the death toll is likely to rise.
Israeli soldiers had ordered a number of people into the house and told them not to leave as fighting went on in the area. According to one of the survivors, speaking to the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, the house was hit by two explosions, the first as three members of the clan were leaving to find other relatives and bring them back. Those fleeing from the attack went to another house where they found Israeli soldiers guarding 30 Palestinians, "several of whom were blindfolded".
If this wasn't tragic enough, there is a disturbing, hanging, uninvestigated sentence in the Post story:
Who shot them?
Emergency workers said they rescued 100 more trapped survivors Thursday and found between 40 and 50 corpses in a devastated residential block south of Gaza City that the Israeli military had kept off-limits to the International Committee of the Red Cross for four days.
As there are still injured trapped without food or in the rubble of the house, the death toll is likely to rise.
Israeli soldiers had ordered a number of people into the house and told them not to leave as fighting went on in the area. According to one of the survivors, speaking to the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, the house was hit by two explosions, the first as three members of the clan were leaving to find other relatives and bring them back. Those fleeing from the attack went to another house where they found Israeli soldiers guarding 30 Palestinians, "several of whom were blindfolded".
If this wasn't tragic enough, there is a disturbing, hanging, uninvestigated sentence in the Post story:
Most [victims] had sustained trauma injuries from shelling, but many had gunshot wounds as well.
Who shot them?
tagged B'Tselem, Daily Telegraph, Gaza, Israel, Palestine, Washington Post, Zaytun, Zeitoun, al Samouni in Middle East & Iran
B'Tselem, Daily Telegraph, Gaza, Israel, Palestine, Washington Post, Zaytun, Zeitoun, al Samouni in Middle East & Iran
Reader Comments (3)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/Israel 'shelled civilian shelter'
Israel's offensive in Gaza has been under way for nearly two weeks
Israeli forces shelled a house in the Gaza Strip which they had moved around 110 Palestinians into 24 hours earlier, the UN quotes witnesses as saying.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) called it "one of the gravest incidents" since the beginning of the offensive.
The shelling at Zeitoun, a south-east suburb of Gaza City, on 5 January killed some 30 people, the report said.
Israel said the allegations were being investigated.
"According to several testimonies, on 4 January Israeli foot soldiers evacuated approximately 110 Palestinians into a single-residence house in Zeitoun (half of whom were children) warning them to stay indoors," the OCHA report said.
"Twenty-four hours later, Israeli forces shelled the home repeatedly, killing approximately 30."
The UN said those who survived and were able walked 2km to the main north-south road to be transported to hospital in civilian vehicles.
"Three children, the youngest of whom was five months old, died upon arrival at the hospital," the report said.
about 120 palestinians were killed at Deir Yassin in 1948 and that has since become a symbol of Israeli mistreatment and oppression. Even if these people were murdered intentionally, as the gunshot wounds would indicate, this may yet become another Deir Yassin for Palestinians. Even if they were not targetted intentionally the IDF's recklessness knows no bounds!
Why does Hamas place military positions within civilian areas and use its population as human shields, in clear violation of Geneva Convention?