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Babies, children and pregnant women among 25 killed and 140 Palestinians wounded in 2nd day of Israel's attack on Gaza

Mondoweiss
Sun, 05 May 2019 12:00 UTC

© Omar El-Qattaa/APA ImagesPalestinians inspect the remains of a building following an Israeli airstrike, in Gaza city on May 5, 2019. Israeli warplanes hit the building on Saturday where Anadolu Agencys office is located.

Comment: Update (May 6): A ceasefire has been agreed upon by Israel and Hamas, so the fighting will temporarily be stopped. Trump is fully capitulating to the Israeli side, warning the people of Gaza that "these terrorist acts against Israel will bring you nothing but more misery". At the moment the idea of an extended ceasefire seems unlikely. Between Trump and Netanyahu, there is nothing stopping the Israelis from firing more missiles into the already war-torn Gaza. It's hard to imagine what Trump could do to make the life of Palestinians more miserable.

Grey smoke and fire plumes erupted for the second day in Gaza and nearby Israeli communities after a cross-fire of deadly rocket strikes launched by both Israeli military and Gaza militants.

Gaza's Health Ministry reported that the death toll in Gaza from Israeli airstrikes was 25. That number includes a Saturday night toll of four when three residential buildings were destroyed in the east of Gaza: two men, a pregnant mother, Falastin Abu Arar, and her 14-month-old infant Seba Abu Arar were killed. The Ministry of Health said a second infant was killed Sunday.

The Israeli assaults were met by Palestinian resistance factions launching more than 500 rockets towards Israeli settlements, killing four people, according to Israeli media outlets.

One of the buildings destroyed in Gaza was also home to the headquarters of Turkey's Anadolu Agency and the Prisoners' Information Office.

About 70 Palestinians were wounded in the attacks, according to the health ministry. Since Saturday, Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have targeted 200 civilian sites including seven residential buildings.

Mohammed Abu Marasa, 27, a hairdresser in a beauty salon, was inspecting the damage of a six-story building destroyed in the al-Khuzundar commercial and residential complex Saturday evening in Gaza City.

"Everything was upset, when we heard the small warning explosions prior to the largest one," Abu Marasa told Mondoweiss. Three or four ladies with their children ran screaming from the shop at about 21:30, then the shop was flattened.

Usually, the warning rocket explosions prior to the largest one give enough time to allow people to get out of the area.

"This shop was only equipped with beauty supplies that cost me thousands of dollars. I am totally confused if such lipsticks or contour brushes really threaten the Israelis," Abu Masara said.

Subhi al- Khuzundar, 27, the son of the building owner and a degree-holder in international law, is beginning his married life and was putting the final touches on the couple's apartment. "Thanks, Israel! I must clap for turning my bride's and my dreams into dust," Subhi said hysterically, while clapping his hands.

"Without reading the Torah, I know that it criminalizes attacks that turn simple innocents' lives into wrecks," the newlywed told Mondoweiss. "Thanks to these Israeli dreams killers, because tomorrow they will allow some food truck to enter via Gaza crossing to cover their crimes and show their nice humanitarianism to a blinded world."

Meanwhile, Israel closed its crossings with Gaza for people and goods, as well the fishing zone off the enclave's shore, until further notice.

The UN envoy for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Nickolay Mladenov, called on "all parties to immediately de-escalate and return to the understandings of the past few months."

The last war of 2014 severely damaged Gaza's already-weakened infrastructure, prompting the UN to warn that the strip would be "uninhabitable" by 2020.

Fighting came after a month-long lull in violence around the blockaded enclave and came while leaders of Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, were in Egypt for talks aimed at restoring the faltering ceasefire deal.

The spark of fighting began on Friday when two Palestinians were killed by Israeli snipers during the weekly protest at the Israel-Gaza border. Palestinian militants also shot and wounded two Israeli soldiers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered "massive strikes" on the Gaza Strip.

Armed factions in Gaza, otherwise known as the Joint Operations Room, which include the military wing of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, vowed on Saturday to "extend its response" if the Israeli army continued to target the strip.

"Our response will be broader and more painful in the event [Israel] extends in aggression, and we will remain the protective shield of our people and our land," the Joint Operations Room said in a statement.

Egypt's mediation team, credited with brokering ceasefires in the latest rounds of fighting, were working to prevent any further degradation. "Egypt has stepped up its efforts with Hamas, the Islamic jihad and Israel but there is no conclusion yet," a Palestinian official familiar with Cairo's mediation efforts told Reuters.

Ahmad Kabariti is a freelance journalist based in Gaza.

Comment: Mondoweiss provides further detail on the situation:

One of the worst flare ups in violence across the Israeli-Gaza borders continued to escalate on Sunday, as Israeli air forces pounded more than 300 sites in the Gaza Strip, while Hamas forces in Gaza fired hundreds of rockets into Israeli territory.

As of Sunday afternoon, reports from the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza indicated that 25 Palestinians, including a four-month and 14-month-old girl, two pregnant women, and a 12-year-old boy were killed in the strikes.

The ministry added that over 150 Palestinians, including several children, were injured during the Israeli airstrikes.

At least four Israelis have been killed by rocket fire from Gaza.
© Omar El-Qattaa/APA ImagesPalestinians inspect the remains of a building following an Israeli airstrike, in Gaza city on May 5, 2019. Israeli warplanes hit the building on Saturday where Anadolu Agencys office is located.
Palestinians in Gaza have been claiming that Israeli forces have overwhelmingly targeted civilian buildings, leading to fears that the situation could spiral farther out of control than any other flare up in recent months.

Despite several of the dead being identified as civilians, and videos circulating on social media showing residential buildings being bombed, Israeli forces and officials have maintained that they are striking "terror targets."

The Israeli army has published a series of infographics and statements on Twitter over the weekend, claiming to have hit over 320 "terror sites," including tunnels, rocket launch sites, and weapon storage facilities.

They highlighted the targeted killing of an alleged Hamas operative responsible for transferring Iranian money into Gaza that was used to help "fund their rocket fire at Israelis."

Palestinian media reported that the killing of the man, identified as Ahmed al-Khodary, was Israel's first targeted assassination of a high profile official in Gaza since 2014.

In regards to the killing of 37-year-old pregnant woman Falastine Abu Arar and her 14-month old niece Saba, the Israeli army denied its role in their death, instead blaming a misfiring of a Palestinian rocket.

One of the buildings destroyed by Israel was home to the Gaza bureau of the Turkish state-run Anadolu news agency.

"We call on the international community to act swiftly in order to ease tensions that have increased due to Israel's disproportionate actions in the region," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

© Mahmoud Khattab/APA ImagesRelatives mourn during the funeral of Palestinian Fawzi Bawadi, 23, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike, in al-Buriej refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on May 5, 2019.
Netanyahu promises 'massive strikes'

As the death toll continued to climb on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the continuation of "massive" airstrikes on Gaza following a meeting with his security cabinet.

Netanyahu also ordered reinforcements of ground troops, including "tanks, artillery and infantry forces" along the Israeli land borders with Gaza, stoking fears of a possible ground invasion.

"Hamas is responsible not only for its attacks against Israel, but also for the Islamic Jihad's attacks, and it is paying a very heavy price for it," Netanyahu said.

Meanwhile, officials of the different armed factions in Gaza vowed to "extend" their response, should the Israeli airstrikes continue.

© Bashar Taleb/APA ImagesA ball of fire and smoke is seen following an Israeli airstrike that hit al-Yarmouk football stadium in Gaza city on May 5, 2019.
Shaky ceasefire talks

At around 11:30 pm local time on Sunday, Haaretz, citing diplomatic sources, reported that the UN along with Egypt and Qatar had presented a cease fire proposal to the Israelis.

Several media outlets reported that ceasefire negotiations were being held with Palestinian officials in Egypt.

"A Hamas source says great efforts have been made in recent hours to achieve calm. The decision is in Israel's hands, the source was cited as saying by the Al-Miyadin television channel," Haaretz reported before midnight

By midnight local time, the Times of Israel reported that Hamas leadership had approved the cease fire proposal, set to go into effect at midnight.

Israeli officials have yet to confirm if they have accepted the cease fire.

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov called for calm in a statement, saying "continuing down the current path of escalation will quickly undo what has been achieved and destroy the chances for long-term solutions to the crisis."

"This endless cycle of violence must end, and efforts must accelerate to realise a political solution to the crisis in Gaza," he said.

The Guardian quoted Jeremy Stoner, the Middle East regional director for Save the Children as saying "we may have entered the most serious stage in this crisis since the 2014 Gaza war."

"We echo the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process call on all parties to immediately de-escalate the situation," Stoner said.

How it began

The latest tensions come amid an already volatile situation in Gaza, following the year-long Great March of Return protests on the border and several similar flare-ups over the past few months.

Amid fears of violent anniversary Great March of Return protests at the end of March, Israeli and Hamas officials struck a deal: Hamas would control protests and stop rocket fire in exchange for an easing of the siege, expanding the fishing zone off Gaza's coast, and allowing Qatari aid money into the territory.

But just days after expanding the fishing zone to 15 nautical miles, Israel scaled it back down on April 30th, citing alleged rocket fire.

Days later, on Friday, Israeli forces killed four Palestinians in a single day: two during Great March of Return protests on the borders, and two in an airstrike targeting a Hamas military post.

Al Jazeera reported that prior to the the barrage of rocket fire coming out of Gaza, Israeli forces conducted a drone attack that left three Palestinians injured.

Israeli forces maintain their strikes have been "retaliatory" in nature.
Yumna Patel is a multimedia journalist based in Bethlehem, Palestine. Follow her on Twitter at @yumna_patel

Reader Comments

Capt-Dax · 2019-05-06T13:24:34Z

"It's way past Time to Exterminate Islamic Jihad"

Gene · 2019-05-06T18:56:47Z

Capt-Dax I would say: Hitler should have Exterminate the dirty Jews, once for all. It was Hitler's biggest mistake. Look waht we have. Extremist and dirty Jews killing innocent women and children.

Brakar ·

remove this GARBAGE???

· 2019-05-06T23:22:50Z

black,kristi · 2019-05-06T13:33:02Z

What evil and vile Whores 4 War R US are these so called brutal Authoritarians! And what a sick and sadistic world that they have created for ALL us Human Livestock! That any money from the US supports this fully Fascist Apartheid 'State' makes my blood boil and my head hang in shame and disgust! Americans need to Look Up and Wake TFU!!!! OUR military is doing NOTHING for humanitarian reasons. But EVERYTHING to support Global Corporate interests of a 90% Human Depopulation Agenda while they literally rob us blind and bleed us dry here, there and everywhere!!!!! No wonder why so many military men kill themselves once they realize that they have willingly served Satan instead of actually helping those that needed and deserved their protection the most.

lydia · 2019-05-06T13:54:18Z

How many more will die in these attacks that are so psychopathic. There is no limit with the cruelty of Israel against Palestinians. the genocide of Palestina continues.... in a vertiginous silence.

Joan · 2019-05-06T22:48:36Z

With a state that only came into being a little more than half a century-ago, that lives under the cloak of US benevolence, but in reality is funded by the US state and it's donors.

And it's goal to maintain it's so called statehood, is to destroy the original inhabitants of the land called Palestine, which is an anomaly, long before there was any mention of Israel, even in ancient maps of the world, Palestine is recognizes as a t country and a state, there is no mention of a state called Israel.

I guess the momentum is to eradicate any mention of Palestine, before the end of the next decade, and claim it's resources out in the Gaza strip is a priority it would give Israel some degree of energy independence, a land locked country with few natural resources

Israel’s exploitation of Palestinian resources is human rights violation, says UN expert

[Link]
GENEVA (18 March 2019) – Israel’s exploitation of natural resources in the Occupied Palestinian Territory for its own use is in direct violation of its legal responsibilities as an occupying power, says UN Special Rapporteur Michael Lynk.

“For nearly five million Palestinians living under occupation, the degradation of their water supply, the exploitation of their natural resources and the defacing of their environment, are symptomatic of the lack of any meaningful control they have over their daily lives,”

Lynk said presenting a report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva. “Israel’s policy of usurping Palestinian natural resources and disregarding the environment has robbed the Palestinians of vital assets, and means they simply cannot enjoy their right to development. “Its approach to the natural resources of the Occupied Palestinian Territory has been to use them as a sovereign country would use its own assets, with vastly discriminatory consequences.”

So history books can be rewritten, to hide the humanitarian travesties of the past decades, by Israel and a whole new history will be written into existence.

Brakar · 2019-05-06T23:07:10Z

hmm, i was down there as a un peace-keeper some 35 years ago. it appears not much have changed since then. us/israel is still murdering

"It would be the greatest danger for Ukrainians for many years or up to a hundred years if cluster bombs are used in Russian-occupied areas in the...

Psstoffgoy

They may have dodged the draft... but can they dodge a wrench!

3.1415926535

"Doesn't sound like Ukrainians are all that eager to die for Zelensky, the oligarchs, NATO or Joe Bribem." Not much different than Vietnam.

VonCraq

When this genocide is over I wonder if the public will even remember the Holocaust?

JohnDukes

However, lawyer Brian Knowles stressed the tragic timing of these deaths was not cause for suspicion. Not surprised after all he did pass the...

Psstoffgoy

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Babies, children and pregnant women among 25 killed and 140 Palestinians wounded in 2nd day of Israel's attack on Gaza

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