The Israeli Occupation Force withdrew itself and 8000 colonists last September from the 30% of the Strip they occupied. But the occupation went on. Tight control of the border crossing points has continued, including the one with Egypt - Rafah. Overflights by 'drones', Apache helicopter gunships and F16s persist. The latter were used to cause sonic booms at low levels last autumn. The mental injury to adult and child triggered a petition to the Israeli Supreme Court. (3) The distance from shore within which Palestinians are allowed to fish is set by the occupier, and sometimes banned completely. Thus an important source of high quality protein is limited. A commercial port was being built, but that was bombed along with the airport.

Then in January this year, Hamas received 43% of the votes in scrupulously held elections.(4) Out of this they gained 74 of the 132 seats in the legislature. Hamas, which first came to life in 1987, has been proscribed as a 'terrorist' structure because of its charter and because of its use of suicide bombing from 1993. However, it has maintained a hudna - a truce, with the occupier for 18 months. It has energetically led social, educational projects etc and in Gaza especially. It has widespread support within the populace which wishes to be sumud - steadfast. Ground has been lost in reality and metaphorically; 'not one grain of sand more!'

An already dire state of affairs, was quickly exacerbated. Taxes amounting to $50 million per month that are due to the Palestinian government have been withheld by the State of Israel and financial support by the EU ceased. The latter amounted to 0.5 billion euros in direct and indirect aid per year.

The US has driven this policy of isolation with the clear intention of destabilising the elected government so that it is overturned. There is no money to pay the 150,000 public servants within the 'West Bank' and Gaza strip. This includes doctors, nurses and other health workers. Most have not been paid for two months. There is very little money in circulation. High quality fruit that has been grown for export through Israel has been allowed in only small amounts through Karnai, the commercial checkpoint. No other exports are passing through, and little is coming in. That includes drugs, spare parts for dialysis machines etc. There are no drugs and anaesthetic agents left in the hospitals. Shafa hospital, the main public hospital, was threatened with closure last week. What was to be done for the case of peritonitis? Dr. Moawiya Hassanein at the Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 7-05-06 that Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) prevented 274 patients last month from passing through the Erez checkpoint to receive vital medical treatment in the hospitals of the West Bank and Israel. He added that they suffer from critical diseases such as cancer, leukemia, cardiac diseases etc. They are in need of urgent and advanced medical treatment as well as surgical operations.


To this economic siege has been added the firing of tens of thousands of shells (5) into 'open ground' for over two months by artillery, tanks and ships. These fall into one of the most densely populated areas in the world. The ostensible purpose is to quell the firing of the primitive and unguided Qassam rockets, which have killed thirteen Israeli subjects in the last two years according to B'tselem ( 6). This Israel based organisation states the indiscriminate nature of these weapons makes their firing a war crime, especially when it is close to Palestinian residential areas. It points out the shelling is a disproportionate response and an inappropriate one, given that these rockets are fired from varying positions. There has been considerable loss of life and limb. In the first fortnight of April, 16 were killed. On 16 April 2006, B'Tselem, along with other Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations, petitioned the High Court of Justice to cancel the IDF order reducing the safety zone for shells fired into the Gaza Strip to only 100 meters from civilian objects. The petitioners argued that the weaponry is not precise and reduction of the safety zone endangers civilian lives. On 10 April, after the range had been reduced, seven-year-old Hadil Ghiban was killed by a shell that struck her house. The blast also injured twelve members of her family. Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP) has documented mental injury to children caused by the noise and shock of shell explosions. In addition to these war crimes, extra-judicial assassination of Palestinian resistance leaders occurs without abatement. Often bystanders are involved. This is usually done by rocket from Apache helicopters or unmanned aircraft.

It is unconscionable and unprecedented that nations who are signatories to the Fourth Geneva Convention and of the UN Charter should be instruments in a siege which is causing suffering and loss now, and which will lead to a humanitarian disaster, probably epidemic disease.

Under international humanitarian law, Israel as occupier, must protect the wounded, sick, children, and pregnant women, enable the free passage of medicines and essential foodstuffs, enable medical teams to provide assistance, and not impose collective punishment. Under international human rights law, Israel must respect the right of every person to freedom of movement, to work, to an adequate standard of living, to education, to adequate health care, and to family life. (6)

The Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in the Time of War, states in its first article - "The High Contracting Parties undertake to respect and to ensure respect for the present Convention in all circumstances." In addition, Article 146 of the convention outlines specific obligations of contracting parties, including undertaking legislative procedures, to pursue those suspected of committing serious violations, and to bring them to trial or hand them to a third party interested in bringing them to trial. (7)

The 25 countries of the EU have an additional obligation in that the second article of the EU-Israel Association Agreement states " Relations between the Parties, as well as all the provisions of the Agreement itself, shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles, which guides their internal and international policy and constitutes an essential element of this Agreement. (7)

The EU Commissioner, Ms Ferrero-Waldner, is currently negotiating ways to get money into the hospitals and schools without it 'touching' the Hamas dominated Palestinian Authority. AIDA and other NGO groups have spoken strongly against this as being inefficient and destabilising. There are large amounts of money from Arab nations and individuals which are sitting in Cairo and elsewhere because Arab banks fear draconian sanctions by the US if they break the siege.

Comment.

These words from the total of one hundred and twenty-six in the Balfour Declaration on the 2nd of November 1917 would seem to have been hollow:-

'...it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine,..'

International law is clear as to the state obtaining in Gaza today. There is no requirement to negotiate 'solutions', but for these unlawful actions to cease forthwith.

David Halpin FRCS Orthopaedic and trauma surgeon.

Notes

Jan Coffey - Save the Children UK Programme Manager at press conference with 31 other international aid agencies meeting (AIDA) in Jerusalem on 4-05-06.

John Hopkins and Al-Quds Universities for Care International.

Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP) and Physicians for Human Rights -Israel (PHR): Joint Press Release 14-11-05

Jimmy Carter: 'Punishing the innocent is a crime' 05/07/06 International Herald Tribune

Conal Urquhart:Observer 7-05-06

B'tselem: http://www.btselem.org/english/Special/20060426_Gaza_Status.asp

Palestinian Committee for Human Rights: http://www.pchrgaza.org/Interventions/poss_april_06.htm

Despite is financial straits, Hamas has stubbornly rejected international demands that it recognize Israel, accept past Israeli-Palestinian peace agreements and renounce violence.

The United States and the European Union, which list Hamas as a terrorist organization, are looking for ways to circumvent the Islamic group and get humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians.

Olmert said that any medicines purchased by Israel would be given directly to hospitals, bypassing Hamas, which is sworn to Israel's destruction.

"We will pay, if necessary, out of our own pockets,'' Olmert said.

Olmert's comments came days before he heads to Washington for his first meeting as prime minister with President Bush.

At the White House meeting on May 23, Olmert is expected to present his plan to withdraw from most of the West Bank and draw Israel's final borders, unilaterally if necessary.

But in the newspaper interview, Olmert remained vague about the details of the plan, which would annex the three largest West Bank settlement blocs for Israel.

"What I can talk about at this point is the basic desire to set borders for Israel, to separate from the Palestinians and to create a contiguous territory that will allow the Palestinians to fulfill their national dreams and establish their own independent state alongside the state of Israel,'' Olmert said.

"We have to set borders and to define strict lines of what is right and what is wrong. It's not just a political issue, it's a social issue, it's a cultural issue,'' he said.

The plan, Olmert said, would be closely coordinated with the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia - the four members of the so-called Quartet of Mideast mediators.

In the interview, Olmert appeared to leave the door open for possible talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the Fatah Party that Hamas ousted in January parliamentary elections.

Olmert has said he will not hold peace talks with Abbas while Hamas remains in power, saying the Palestinian leader does not have the ability to implement any agreements.

Abbas, however, still wields significant authority despite his party's election loss, and the United States remains in favor of Israel holding peace talks with the president.

Olmert said Abbas must disarm Hamas and other "terrorist organizations,'' saying such a scenario would not necessarily lead to civil war.

Since Hamas' election victory, Fatah and Hamas have come increasingly close to a civil confrontation. They each sent their armed forces to Gaza streets in recent days, finally leading to a gunfight overnight Friday.

"I have to say, how can any political entity tolerate the existence of many armed groups fighting against each other in the streets?'' Olmert said.

Abbas "has to force Hamas to change, has to impose on Hamas the acceptance of Israel and the recognition of all agreements signed with Israel and the disarming of its militant groups, because if not, then the damage threatening the Palestinian Authority is devastating,'' he said.

The Brotherhood had said police detained more than 500 of its members. Those not referred to the prosecutor had been released, Habib said.

The activists were trying to protest in solidarity with two judges who were facing a disciplinary panel for their criticism of abuses in elections last year.

Thousands of riot police deployed in central Cairo on Thursday to block any protests and plainclothes security men beat activists.

The panel on Thursday cleared one of the judges but disciplined the second by withholding his next promotion.

But what on earth was President Bush doing, passing on "his best regards" to the Egyptian pharaoh just 24 hours after riot police and government thugs had been beating up demonstrators and journalists in Cairo? That's hardly in line with Mr Bush's "forward strategy of freedom in the Middle East", is it?

The protests in Cairo were sparked by government attempts to remove two judges who dared to speak out against the widespread fraud in last year's parliamentary elections. The judges, Mahmud Mekki and Hisham Bastawisi, wrote an article about it for Comment Is Free earlier this month.

The sad news today is that Judge Bastawisi suffered a heart attack this morning - quite possibly brought on by the strain of events - and is now in hospital. His exact medical condition is unclear.

The email informing me of Judge Bastawisi's illness also included a document circulated by "an anonymous group of Egyptians who seek to raise awareness over the judges crisis". It's long, but I think it's worth quoting in full:

Judges Crisis Background

Current events in Egypt represent an escalation in the conflict between a government intent on domesticating the judiciary, in order to expand the executive's dominance in political life, and the judiciary's attempts to ensure their independence and ability to act as a check on executive power.

In recent years, the judiciary has become an important actor in efforts to maintain the separation between government branches. In June 2000, Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court passed a landmark ruling that all elections must be supervised by judges. Then, in 2003, a decision by the Court of Cassation (the Highest Appeals court) null-and-voided parliamentary electoral results for a high-ranking executive official. In response, the government has pursued a number of strategies to isolate and intimidate proponents of judicial independence.

The Court of Cassation's president, who simultaneously represents the executive as the head of the presidential-appointed Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), has sent threatening letters to outspoken judges. The presidency is also implicated through appointments of known pro-executive judges to high positions throughout Egypt's court system as well as a presidential decree that increased the retirement age of bench judges from 66 to 68 (against the will of the Egyptian Judges Club). More recently, the executive drafted a new judiciary law that is scheduled to be passed by parliament before the current session ends in June. The bill, which was not subject to any consultations with judges, is rumored to ignore the demands of the Egyptian Judges Club for greater independence and to further accelerate the process of the executive's appropriation of the judiciary. The source of the current protests is the attempt to dismiss two judges (Hisham al-Bastawisi and Mahmoud Mekky) who have publicly argued for the autonomy of the judiciary from the executive branch.

The SJC has begun "competency" investigations into the two individuals on charges that they reported cases of election rigging in the country's three most recent elections last year, spoke to the media about political affairs, and 'disparaged' the executive-affiliated SJC. Such investigations are unprecedented in Egyptian history. At least five more judges have been formally named and could be investigated in future cases. The response of Egyptian society and the international community is crucial in determining the fate of Egypt's independent judges.

The executive has feigned all responsibility and refused to interfere in this matter by declaring that it is solely an internal judicial matter. This could not be further from the truth. Rather, these measures represent a culmination of the executive's recent attempts to control the judiciary. What is at stake is the future autonomy of an already embattled judiciary to assert itself as a check to executive power and will. At the core of this struggle is the state's attempt to nationalize the judiciary as its central legitimacy tool.

The Egyptian Judges Club has sought negotiation and compromise measures, which have all been rebuffed by the executive and led to an unavoidable showdown for control, power, and the future. The regime is determined, at seemingly any cost, to eliminate the independent judges from state ranks so that future governance - and an impending transition of presidential power - is unobstructed and declared legitimate by the judicial branch. This, in effect, has turned the situation into a zero-sum game in which the regime must increase the use of its repressive apparatus through detention and beatings of peaceful demonstrators, who are standing in solidarity with the judge's demand for autonomy.

The two judges currently under investigation are scheduled to appear in front of the SJC-appointed disciplinary board in Cairo on Thursday 18th of May. The judges say they will appear before no such body until the security forces are removed from the streets and nearly 400 activists - from all political trends - that have been detained since 24 April - are released.

Demonstrations, which have previously been met by severe repression and violence by the security services, are scheduled across the country. Yesterday, the Interior Ministry issued a statement banning "unlawful" protests, which is being understood as a threat of further escalation against demonstrators.

The interest of ordinary citizens in the judges is at unprecedented levels as the executive pursues its unprecedented measures against them. The judges - particularly those under investigation - have been catapulted into legendary hero status. The current events in Egypt are no mere crackdown on political parties, extra-parliamentary protest movements, or Islamist-leaning organizations - it is about the very nature of future governance.

A general protest, led by the judges, is scheduled for the 25th of May to mark the ongoing struggle between the executive and judiciary as well as to remember the one-year anniversary of the flawed referendum that amended the Egyptian constitution. These are occasions for those that care about the future of Egypt and the democratic rights of all to get involved.

In recent months, concerns have been raised about Russia's moves to shut down non-governmental organisations, its curbing of the media and its imprisonment of Russia's richest man just when he was becoming a political rival of Mr Putin. The President has, meanwhile, developed strong links with the hardline authoritarian leaders of Belarus and Uzbekistan.

In Chechnya, according to Human Rights Watch researcher Anna Neistat who visited the restive Russian republic three weeks ago, the pro-Moscow leader Ramzan Kadyrov has taken torture to a new level as he seeks to crush resistance.

But the West's dependency on Russian energy has radically changed the balance of power, leaving European governments with less political leverage at a time when Russia has already used its gas-powered influence over the West-leaning former Soviet states of Ukraine and Georgia.

Asked yesterday how Russia would respond to Western concerns about the level of its commitment to democracy and human rights as Council of Europe chairman, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said: "I believe our common commitment to democracy will certainly be reconfirmed during the six months of the Russian chairmanship." But he made it clear that, for Russia, the West does not have the monopoly on democratic values.

"I do not believe the West would be interested in seeing the Council of Europe become a place where just one out of many models of democracy would be made a criteria to judge each and every other state," he said. "The world is much more complicated. It's not black and white and attempts to approach the whole problems in black and white manner has been made in the past few years. And they're not working."

His comments come after President Putin issued a muscular rebuttal of criticism from the US Vice-President Dick Cheney who - while in Lithuania - accused Russia of bullying its neighbours, reversing the democratic gains of the past decade and trampling on Russians' rights.

The secretary general of the Council of Europe, Terry Davis, acknowledged that sometimes, "people in the West see the Council of Europe as a lecture room to give lectures to the people of eastern Europe, and naturally that is resented".

Even so, Russia's first chairmanship, which has come about through alphabetical order, has raised eyebrows in Strasbourg, where the council's largest member stands accused of having failed to implement key demands, including judicial reforms and ending the culture of impunity for security forces in Chechnya.

Russia, which joined the Council of Europe 10 years ago, remains the only one of 46 member states not to have abolished the death penalty completely, even though a moratorium was put in place in 1998.

But diplomats see the next six months as an opportunity and a challenge for the Kremlin. "I think it's an opportunity for them to show they adhere to the core values," said the Polish ambassador to the Council of Europe, Piotr Switalski. "Particularly now there are so many critical voices and doubting governments, to show they are on the right course."

Russia's first initiatives will be announced today. They will include a sports conference in Moscow in November, and an inter-faith conference in Niznhy Novgorod in September to which Orthodox Christians, Catholics and Buddhists will be invited.

Strong-arm methods

Chechnya

"Torture is simply rampant," according to Human Rights Watch researcher Anna Neistat, who spent two weeks in Chechnya where she interviewed more than 70 victims and relatives. "They all say it's worse than a war." Hostage-takings of the relatives of Chechen fighters are common in an attempt to obtain a surrender. It is not known how many civilians have "disappeared".

Democracy

Media and opposition parties are muzzled. Many non-governmental organisations have been shut down. This week, the lower house gave preliminary approval to a bill that would strip MPs of their seats if they change parties. Critics say it marked a final step to create a "rubber-stamp" parliament.

Economic bullying

Russia cut off gas to Ukraine last winter and has started a trade war with Georgia by banning imports of wine and mineral water. Both republics are attempting to loosen their ties to Moscow.

They denied the hostages water, and many resorted to drinking urine to try to slake their thirst.

Most victims died on the third day in a hail of gunfire and explosions that erupted after one of the bombs the attackers rigged at the school went off, and security forces rushed to free hostages.

"I still have not learned the truth from the trial. I wanted to know who caused the first explosions and why my husband was killed. There is no such information and I think the authorities are purposely covering it up," said Olga Kravchenko, 74, whose husband had worked as a janitor at the school.

"This is a virtual show and it is obvious that the authorities are trying to cover things up in the Kulayev trial," said Emma Betrozova, 43, who lost her husband and two sons in the siege.

Aguzarov read a statement to prosecutors from a former hostage he identified only by her last name, Atayeva, who said that Kulayev had beaten her with the butt of an automatic rifle and had refused to allow her son to drink, the only testimony so far of Kulayev's direct role in abusing the hostages.

"There is no doubt of Kulayev's guilt, because he was among the rebels, but there is no witness testimony that he shot anyone," said Murat Kaboyev, member of a public commission established to investigate the tragedy.

"But of course Kulayev is guilty," Kaboyev said, adding that the defendant had been seen among the attackers in a room where about 20 men were shot dead early in the crisis.

Prosecutors have called for the death penalty for Kulayev, who has admitted to participating in the September 2004 attack along with some 30 other heavily-armed militants but denied killing anybody.

It was unclear, however, whether Kulayev could be executed, since Russia imposed a moratorium on the death penalty when it joined the Council of Europe eight years ago. Kaboyev said the court would need a stronger case against Kulayev to sentence him to death.

Ella Kesayeva, the leader of the Voice of Beslan activist group, said she was worried that once Kulayev's trial was over, authorities would drag out a broader probe supposed to establish all the circumstances surrounding the tragedy, not just Kulayev's role.

That investigation has been extended until July 1.

"There was premeditated murder of people by the Russian special services in Beslan," she alleged. "This is not (just) negligence.

"When people ran to the cafeteria after the initial explosions, militants put them in the windows as shields and Russian troops killed them. But nothing has been said about this in the trial," Kesayeva said.

She also said that her group had asked prosecutors to provide a photograph of a militant who was alleged to have helped carry out the car bombing that killed a senior police official and six other people in the neighbouring region of Ingushetia.

Ingush police spokesman Nadir Yevloyev said investigators suspected a militant named Ali Taziyev was one of two attackers involved in Wednesday's attack.

He refused to confirm or deny allegations that Taziyev, reportedly a former Ingush policeman turned rebel, had been among the Beslan attackers.

The conflicting reports on Taziyev underlined lingering suspicions that some of the Beslan attackers may have escaped police cordons in spite of the authorities' declaration that all except for Kulayev were killed.

Kaboyev said many different numbers of hostage-takers had come up in witness testimony during the trial.

"To this day we do not know," he said.