Israeli attacks on Gaza contrary to international law : EU
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 3/5/2008

Israel carried at least eight different air raids on Gaza early on Monday, killing five Palestinians.

The dead are said to be either members of the Hamas government police force or the Popular Resistance Committees group.

Most of the aerial attacks targeted metal workshops across the territory and there are reports that the Israeli navy was involved in the bombardment. More than 25 rockets were fired into southern Israel on Sunday, several reaching Ashkelon, a city of nearly 120,000 people, Tel Aviv radio said.

Gaza streets are the scene to funeral processions. Speakers stacked on minivans blasted out verses from holy Quran as hundreds of mourners trailed behind the vehicles.

One of the recent victims was a six-month-old baby boy killed when a roof collapsed on top of him.

A family relative, Ahmed Borai, 27, said the baby's mother found out her son was dead when she heard it announced on the radio. He said that is acting "hysterically" over the rocket attacks from Gaza and said that its military operation could prove counterproductive.

"They are launching all these attacks that are killing civilians," Borai said. "Personally, I don't agree with Palestinians firing rockets into Israel. But if you push people into the corner they are going to fight back."

For many Gazans, the violence is the latest example of Israeli collective punishment for their support for the Islamic Resistance Movement. Hamas won the parliamentary elections in 2006, after which the Palestinian Authority was subjected to an economic embargo by the international community because of Hamas' refusal to recognize Israel.

More than 100 Palestinians, most of them women and children, were killed over the weekend by the Israeli air force, provoking international outrage and accusations of war crimes.

Israel carried heavy air raids against residential areas in Gaza Strip on Saturday killing at least 60 Palestinians the majority of them civilians.
Israel continued with air raids on Gaza on Sunday killing many more civilians.

In a typical UN Security Council statement regarding this issue, of not making much distinction between the occupier and the occupied, the United Nations Security Council Sunday condemned Israel for escalation of fighting in Gaza urging Israelis and Palestinians "to immediately cease all acts of violence." The statement said that the violence "must not be allowed to deter the political process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority aimed at establishing two states - Israel and Palestine - living side by side in peace and security."

"Members of the Security Council are deeply concerned about the loss of civilian life in southern Israel and Gaza and condemn the escalation of violence that has taken place," the statement said.

The European Union on Sunday condemned Israel for "disproportionate use of force" in Gaza after 60 civilians were killed in the highest single day toll since fighting erupted in 2000.

In a statement, the EU urged Israel to halt activities that endanger civilians saying they were "contrary to international law."

Previous Stories:
  UN's Holmes: Worsening conditions in Gaza, West Bank   (2/19/2008)
  Ban Ki-moon: Permanent political accord only way to end Middle East conflict   (2/19/2008)
  Olmert: Palestinian resistance leaders are target   (2/19/2008)

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