Skip to main content

One apology too many

Yesterday Israel's tank shells killed 18 people when it struck a dwelling in Gaza - as reported here in The Independent:

"Israeli tank shells ripped through a residential neighbourhood in the northern Gaza Strip early today, killing at least 18 members of an extended family, including 10 children, as they slept, health officials said."

ABC News has reported this morning that Israel, in the face of condemnation from around the world, has apologised for the attack and will investigate the matter. Yet another investigation! Israel appears to believe it is immune from the carnage it is creating to the people of Gaza and the West Bank and the infrastructure generally. The world cannot allow this situation to continue. It must take action against Israel.

YNet News this morning reports:

"The incident in Beit Hanoun Wednesday morning, in which 18 Palestinians were killed from an IDF shelling drew many reactions, especially from left wing organizations who protested in front of the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv during the afternoon hours.

Peace activist Uri Avneri said during the protest that whoever decided to conduct this strike actually decided to murder whole families. "I don't believe this action is completely accidental," he said. According to him, "the heads of the military are in a constant state of frustration after losing the war in Lebanon and they are bent on venting their anger on someone. This is the reason for today's cruel action in Beit Hanoun."


As is if the above isn't horrific enough, The Independent also reports yesterday:

"Israel fired artillery shells containing white phosphorus in its recent conflict with Hizbollah militants in the Lebanon, according to an official investigation by the United Nations.

White phosphorus is banned under the Geneva Convention when used against civilians or in civilian areas, although Israel insists that the shells were directed against solely military targets."

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Robert Fisk's predictions for the Middle East in 2013

There is no gain-saying that Robert Fisk, fiercely independent and feisty to boot, is the veteran journalist and author covering the Middle East. Who doesn't he know or hasn't he met over the years in reporting from Beirut - where he lives?  In his latest op-ed piece for The Independent he lays out his predictions for the Middle East for 2013. Read the piece in full, here - well worthwhile - but an extract... "Never make predictions in the Middle East. My crystal ball broke long ago. But predicting the region has an honourable pedigree. “An Arab movement, newly-risen, is looming in the distance,” a French traveller to the Gulf and Baghdad wrote in 1883, “and a race hitherto downtrodden will presently claim its due place in the destinies of Islam.” A year earlier, a British diplomat in Jeddah confided that “it is within my knowledge... that the idea of freedom does at present agitate some minds even in Mecca...” So let’s say this for 2013: the “Arab Awakening” (the t...

Palestinian children in irons. UK to investigate

Not for the first time does MPS wonder what sort of country it is when Israel so flagrently allows what can only be described as barbaric and inhuman behaviour to be undertaken by, amongst others, its IDF. No one has seemingly challenged Israel's actions. However, perhaps it's gone a bridge too far - as The Independent reports. The Foreign Office revealed last night that it would be challenging the Israelis over their treatment of Palestinian children after a report by a delegation of senior British lawyers revealed unconscionable practices, such as hooding and the use of leg irons. In the first investigation of its kind, a team of nine senior legal figures examined how Palestinians as young as 12 were treated when arrested. Their shocking report Children in Military Custody details claims that youngsters are dragged from their beds in the middle of the night, have their wrists bound behind their backs, and are blindfolded and made to kneel or lie face down in military vehi...

Wow!.....some "visitor" to Ferryland in Newfoundland