halva
07-12-2006, 11:25 AM
WHY IS THIS GETTING NO PRESS??
EXCERPT: In Shifa hospital, Dr al-Saqqa said most of the dead bodies taken
to the facility were torn apart and completely burnt. "Even bodies of the
injured have been almost completely burnt. They have been deformed in a very
ugly way that we have never seen before," he told Aljazeera channel.
Al-Saqaa, who heads the hospital's emergency service, said relatives had
been unable to identify the dead victims."When we try to X-ray dead bodies,
we find no trace of the shrapnel that hit the person killed," he said,
adding that the bodies seemed to have been chemically burnt. "We are sure
that Israel is using a new chemical or radioactive weapon in the new
operation. More than 25% of the injured are children, aged unde! r 16." Four
teenagers playing football were among the dead on Monday.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3C80E353-C73D-4DA9-BD36-E008EFD69E2A.
htm
Israel intensifies Gaza action
Tuesday 11 July 2006
Israel has begun fresh air strikes in the Gaza Strip after pledging to
intensify its military offensive on the territory that has killed
51 Palestinians in two weeks.
One Palestinian was killed and four others wounded in a series of Israeli
air strikes in the northern industrial zone of Bait Hanun, medics said on
Tuesday.
The Israeli military confirmed an air raid in the Bait Hanun area of
northern Gaza, the site of two earlier strikes on Tuesday.
The dead man was named Ahmed Shahid, who was struck by a missile fired
towards a car, the sources said.
Israeli aircraft also carried out two overnight air strikes against a bridge
in the northern Gaza Strip and against a "gunman" west of the Karni ! transit
point for goods entering and leaving the Palestinian territ ory, a spokesman
said.
Ground troops are massed on the eastern and northern border of the
impoverished territory - one of the most densely populated areas on earth -
and are also stationed east of Gaza City and in the south near a defunct
airport.
Israel says the massive operation is to secure the release of a captured
soldier on June 25, and halting Palestinian rocket attacks.
Palestinian medics said on Tuesday that patients treated in Shifa hospital
in Gaza and bodies at the mortuary presented unusual burns, raising concerns
that Israel was using chemical weapons.
Meanwhile, Israeli defence sources said the government had given the
military the green light to continue and, if necessary, intensify the
so-called Summer Rain offensive with infantry and armour poised to carry out
"in depth" incursions.
The approval was granted during consultations late on Monday between Ehud
Olmert, the Israeli prime minister,! and the defence minister, Amir Peretz,
who faced their biggest test since the new Israeli government took office on
May 4.
Olmert is due to hold talks with military commanders on Tuesday with a view
to continuing the offensive, the largest operation since Israel pulled out
of the Gaza Strip in September.
Chemical weapons?
In Shifa hospital, Dr al-Saqqa said most of the dead bodies taken to the
facility were torn apart and completely burnt.
"Even bodies of the injured have been almost completely burnt. They have
been deformed in a very ugly way that we have never seen before," he told
Aljazeera channel.
Al-Saqaa, who heads the hospital's emergency service, said relatives had
been unable to identify the dead victims.
"When we try to X-ray dead bodies, we find no trace of the shrapnel that hit
the person killed," he said, adding that the bodies seemed to have been
chemically burnt.
"We are sure t! hat Israel is using a new chemical or radioactive weapon in
the new operation. More than 25% of the injured are children, aged under
16."
Four teenagers playing football were among the dead on Monday.
At least 51 Palestinians have been killed since the operation started two
weeks ago. An Israeli soldier also died as a result of "friendly fire",
according to the Israeli military.
No end in sight
On Monday, Khaled Meshaal, the political leader of Hamas, demanded a
prisoner swap for freeing the captured soldier but Olmert said that would be
a "major mistake".
Hamas's armed wing - along with two other militant groups, the Popular
Resistance Committees and the Army of Islam -claims to be holding the
soldier.
Olmert has rejected international accusations that the response to the
soldier's capture was disproportionate, saying that Israel's pullout from
Gaza after 38 years of occupation has been followed only by continued
violence.
Aid groups have expressed concern abou! t the difficulties of providing
assistance to 1.4 million people living in Gaza after months of financial
difficulties and the suspension of direct Western aid to the Hamas-led
government.
Junichiro Koizumi, the Japanese prime minister, is due to arrive in the
region on Tuesday for separate talks with Olmert and the Mahmoud Abbas, the
Palestinian president, on a trip he hopes will help to calm the situation.
Jennifer Loewenstein
EXCERPT: In Shifa hospital, Dr al-Saqqa said most of the dead bodies taken
to the facility were torn apart and completely burnt. "Even bodies of the
injured have been almost completely burnt. They have been deformed in a very
ugly way that we have never seen before," he told Aljazeera channel.
Al-Saqaa, who heads the hospital's emergency service, said relatives had
been unable to identify the dead victims."When we try to X-ray dead bodies,
we find no trace of the shrapnel that hit the person killed," he said,
adding that the bodies seemed to have been chemically burnt. "We are sure
that Israel is using a new chemical or radioactive weapon in the new
operation. More than 25% of the injured are children, aged unde! r 16." Four
teenagers playing football were among the dead on Monday.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3C80E353-C73D-4DA9-BD36-E008EFD69E2A.
htm
Israel intensifies Gaza action
Tuesday 11 July 2006
Israel has begun fresh air strikes in the Gaza Strip after pledging to
intensify its military offensive on the territory that has killed
51 Palestinians in two weeks.
One Palestinian was killed and four others wounded in a series of Israeli
air strikes in the northern industrial zone of Bait Hanun, medics said on
Tuesday.
The Israeli military confirmed an air raid in the Bait Hanun area of
northern Gaza, the site of two earlier strikes on Tuesday.
The dead man was named Ahmed Shahid, who was struck by a missile fired
towards a car, the sources said.
Israeli aircraft also carried out two overnight air strikes against a bridge
in the northern Gaza Strip and against a "gunman" west of the Karni ! transit
point for goods entering and leaving the Palestinian territ ory, a spokesman
said.
Ground troops are massed on the eastern and northern border of the
impoverished territory - one of the most densely populated areas on earth -
and are also stationed east of Gaza City and in the south near a defunct
airport.
Israel says the massive operation is to secure the release of a captured
soldier on June 25, and halting Palestinian rocket attacks.
Palestinian medics said on Tuesday that patients treated in Shifa hospital
in Gaza and bodies at the mortuary presented unusual burns, raising concerns
that Israel was using chemical weapons.
Meanwhile, Israeli defence sources said the government had given the
military the green light to continue and, if necessary, intensify the
so-called Summer Rain offensive with infantry and armour poised to carry out
"in depth" incursions.
The approval was granted during consultations late on Monday between Ehud
Olmert, the Israeli prime minister,! and the defence minister, Amir Peretz,
who faced their biggest test since the new Israeli government took office on
May 4.
Olmert is due to hold talks with military commanders on Tuesday with a view
to continuing the offensive, the largest operation since Israel pulled out
of the Gaza Strip in September.
Chemical weapons?
In Shifa hospital, Dr al-Saqqa said most of the dead bodies taken to the
facility were torn apart and completely burnt.
"Even bodies of the injured have been almost completely burnt. They have
been deformed in a very ugly way that we have never seen before," he told
Aljazeera channel.
Al-Saqaa, who heads the hospital's emergency service, said relatives had
been unable to identify the dead victims.
"When we try to X-ray dead bodies, we find no trace of the shrapnel that hit
the person killed," he said, adding that the bodies seemed to have been
chemically burnt.
"We are sure t! hat Israel is using a new chemical or radioactive weapon in
the new operation. More than 25% of the injured are children, aged under
16."
Four teenagers playing football were among the dead on Monday.
At least 51 Palestinians have been killed since the operation started two
weeks ago. An Israeli soldier also died as a result of "friendly fire",
according to the Israeli military.
No end in sight
On Monday, Khaled Meshaal, the political leader of Hamas, demanded a
prisoner swap for freeing the captured soldier but Olmert said that would be
a "major mistake".
Hamas's armed wing - along with two other militant groups, the Popular
Resistance Committees and the Army of Islam -claims to be holding the
soldier.
Olmert has rejected international accusations that the response to the
soldier's capture was disproportionate, saying that Israel's pullout from
Gaza after 38 years of occupation has been followed only by continued
violence.
Aid groups have expressed concern abou! t the difficulties of providing
assistance to 1.4 million people living in Gaza after months of financial
difficulties and the suspension of direct Western aid to the Hamas-led
government.
Junichiro Koizumi, the Japanese prime minister, is due to arrive in the
region on Tuesday for separate talks with Olmert and the Mahmoud Abbas, the
Palestinian president, on a trip he hopes will help to calm the situation.
Jennifer Loewenstein