Israel launches deadly Gaza attacks

[Icadon]

10:03 Israel allows 80 trucks carrying humanitarian aid cross into Gaza (Army Radio)

09:42 2 rockets fired from Gaza strike Eshkol region; no casualties reported (Channel 10)

09:16 UN: Palestinian death toll in Gaza rises to 517, a quarter of them civilians (AP)

 

[Icadon]

Do not bite the hand that feeds you.......

Government officials said fuel supply would be renewed via the Nahal Oz depot, after it was closed for the past week due to security concerns. Some 200,000 liters of fuel for Gaza's power station and other needs would be pumped through.

 

[Icadon]

Study: Most Sderot kids exhibit post-traumatic stress symptoms


Between 75 percent and 94 percent of Sderot children aged 4-18 exhibit symptoms of post-traumatic stress, says Natal, the Israel Center for Victims of Terror and War.

Natal's study, set to be released in the coming days, was based on a representative sample. The study found 28 percent of adults and 30 percent of children in Sderot have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study was conducted by Dr. Rony Berger, director of Natal's Community Services Department, and Dr. Marc Gelkopf, with the assistance of pollster Dr. Mina Tzemach.

The town of Sderot and the western Negev as a whole have been subjected to barrages of rockets launched by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip for over seven years.

Berger emphasizes the distinction between post-traumatic stress symptoms, such as problems sleeping and concentrating, and PTSD itself, which can interfere seriously with daily life. Berger says the study found school-age children had severe symptoms of anxiety and pointed to a correlation between parent and child anxiety.

According to Prof. Muli Lahad, the director of the Mashabim Community Stress Prevention Center at Tel Hai Academic College, evacuating children up to ages 11 or 12 without their parents will exacerbate post-traumatic symptoms.

Dalia Yosef, the director of Sderot's Hosen trauma center, says the number of children aged 1-6 identified as suffering from anxiety and in need of long-term treatment is rising. She said that as of last May, of 305 children in this age group who were identified as suffering from anxiety, only 30 percent needed long-term psychological treatment. The remainder received immediate treatment only.

In the last several months, more children have been in need of more extended care in order to prevent the development of PTSD. Since May, an additional 105 children, 70 percent of whom are now in need of extended psychological treatment, have been identified as suffering from trauma.

Yaron Ben Shimol, whose daughter Lior, 5, was injured on Friday when a Qassam rocket hit their neighbors' home while she was playing with their children, said she had been treated by a psychologist for anxiety before the incident. Lior is not alone: 120 children in Sderot are currently in long-term therapy for anxiety.

Yosef notes that some of the anxiety treatment being developed in Sderot and other communities near the border with Gaza focuses on the treatment of constant stresses, with no end in sight.

"It's a serious question - how do you treat and prevent post-traumatic stress when it is not 'post,'" she said. "We take existing models for treating stress and shape them for a situation where the threat does not pass. We work with parents on creating an environment for their child in which they continue to smile, to give love and to play, so that good, safe surroundings are created for everyone," Yosef said.

Yosef said that at Hosen, parents are given various tools to cope with anxiety, including breathing and relaxation techniques. The Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council, meanwhile, has modified the Monopoly board game to allow players to "fire" Qassams, as a way of reducing stress. It is all aimed at dealing with the situation as a long-term, ongoing one.

Expert: Don't take the children alone

According to Prof. Muli Lahad, evacuating children up to age 11 or 12 without their parents will exacerbate post-traumatic symptoms. When children are left alone, far from their communities, they imagine horrible things happening to their families left at home, he explained. The children are left with the feeling, fed by what they hear and see from the media, that everything has been destroyed, said Lahad.

"When the whole family is evacuated, the problems are much smaller, if we are talking about a short-term evacuation for rest and recuperation," he added.

According to research done by the Mashabim center in Upper Galilee communities after the Second Lebanon War, evacuation of an area under bombardment is not the top priority for residents, as is commonly thought. Most of those surveyed viewed preparation of bomb shelters as the responsibility of local authorities they take most seriously. Next in importance, respondents viewed as caring for the elderly and disabled, and then health services.

When asked about remaining in their communities without their children, the vast majority of Galilee residents were opposed.

"People who are not really interested in the effects of the evacuation are working thoughtlessly, and do not understand the price," said Lahad, who as a resident of Kiryat Shmona, lived the question himself.

 

[Icadon]

12:31 Qassam rocket explodes in yard of Sderot home (Haaretz)
12:07 Three rockets strike Sderot, number of people treated for shock (Haaretz)

 

[Modereta]

Quote:





Asante Mkuu, nimeipenda hii. Hapo ndo nimekumbuka ile brotherhood; na ndo maana walioalikwa kuzungumza nao wako kwenye brotherhood. Kwa hiyo si jambo la kushangaza.

Nimeshangazwa sana na upofu wa hao wazungumzaji pamoja na taaluma zao kuu lakini hawajiulizi (kwa sababu ya upofu) na kutaka kujua nani aliyemuanza mwezake kati ya Israel na Hamas na wala hataki kujitaabisha kuhjua kuwa Israel kama taifa lolote lilivyo lina haki ya kujilinda dhidi ya mashambulizi ya adui zake.

Wasemaji hawa wanashangaza kidogo, sijui walipewa nini kuongea katika maandamano hayo. Ili ikuweza kutafuta ufumbuzi ni pale unapokuwa "impartial" sasa wasomi hawa wawili waliengemea upande mmoja. Hawakusaidia chochote kutatua mgogoro ulioanzisha vita hivyo!!!!!!!!!

 

[Mbalamwezi]

Wasemaji hawa wanashangaza kidogo, sijui walipewa nini kuongea katika maandamano hayo. Ili ikuweza kutafuta ufumbuzi ni pale unapokuwa "impartial" sasa wasomi hawa wawili waliengemea upande mmoja. Hawakusaidia chochote kutatua mgogoro ulioanzisha vita hivyo!!!!!!!!!

MKuu, imani ni kitu cha ajabu sana. Saana tu. Imani huweza kushinda hata jambo linaloonekana dhahiri, achilia mbali ukweli kuwa yenyewe ni invisible. Lakini tunapotegemea matatizo yetu ya namna hii yatatuliwe kwa kuchanganya imani, workdone zero. Hawa wamepigana for decades, na haionyeshi kuwa Uislam utakuwa ufumbuzi, sana sana, imeongeza ukubwa wa tatizo.

 

[Mtu wa Kawaida]

Top 5 Lies about Israel's Assault on Gaza

By Jeremy R. Hammond


Lie #1: Israel is only targeting legitimate military sites and is seeking to
protect innocent lives. Israel never targets civilians.

The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated pieces of property in
the world. The presence of militants within a civilian population does not,
under international law, deprive that population of their protected status,
and hence any assault upon that population under the guise of targeting
militants is, in fact, a war crime.

Moreover, the people Israel claims are legitimate targets are members of
Hamas, which Israel says is a terrorist organization. Hamas has been
responsible for firing rockets into Israel. These rockets are extremely
inaccurate and thus, even if Hamas intended to hit military targets within
Israel, are indiscriminate by nature. When rockets from Gaza kill Israeli
civilians, it is a war crime.

Hamas has a military wing. However, it is not entirely a military
organization, but a political one. Members of Hamas are the democratically
elected representatives of the Palestinian people. Dozens of these elected
leaders have been kidnapped and held in Israeli prisons without charge.
Others have been targeted for assassination, such as Nizar Rayan, a top
Hamas official. To kill Rayan, Israel targeted a residential apartment
building. The strike not only killed Rayan but two of his wives and four of
his children, along with six others. There is no justification for such an
attack under international law. This was a war crime.

Other of Israel's bombardment with protected status under international law
have included a mosque, a prison, police stations, and a university, in
addition to residential buildings.

Moreover, Israel has long held Gaza under siege, allowing only the most
minimal amounts of humanitarian supplies to enter. Israel is bombing and
killing Palestinian civilians. Countless more have been wounded, and cannot
receive medical attention. Hospitals running on generators have little or no
fuel. Doctors have no proper equipment or medical supplies to treat the
injured. These people, too, are the victims of Israeli policies targeted not
at Hamas or legitimate military targets, but directly designed to punish the
civilian population.

Lie #2) Hamas violated the cease-fire. The Israeli bombardment is a response
to Palestinian rocket fire and is designed to end such rocket attacks.

Israel never observed the cease-fire to begin with. From the beginning, it
announced a "special security zone" within the Gaza Strip and announced that
Palestinians who enter this zone will be fired upon. In other words, Israel
announced its intention that Israeli soldiers would shoot at farmers and
other individuals attempting to reach their own land in direct violation of
not only the cease-fire but international law.

Despite shooting incidents, including ones resulting in Palestinians getting
injured, Hamas still held to the cease-fire from the time it went into
effect on June 19 until Israel effectively ended the truce on November 4 by
launching an airstrike into Gaza that killed five and injured several
others.

Israel's violation of the cease-fire predictably resulted in retaliation
from militants in Gaza who fired rockets into Israel in response. The
increased barrage of rocket fire at the end of December is being used as
justification for the continued Israeli bombardment, but is a direct
response to the Israeli attacks.

Israel's actions, including its violation of the cease-fire, predictably
resulted in an escalation of rocket attacks against its own population.

Lie #3) Hamas is using human shields, a war crime.

There has been no evidence that Hamas has used human shields. The fact is,
as previously noted, Gaza is a small piece of property that is densely
populated. Israel engages in indiscriminate warfare such as the
assassination of Nizar Rayan, in which members of his family were also
murdered. It is victims like his dead children that Israel defines as "human
shields" in its propaganda. There is no legitimacy for this interpretation
under international law. In circumstances such as these, Hamas is not using
human shields, Israel is committing war crimes in violation of the Geneva
Conventions and other applicable international law.

Lie #4) Arab nations have not condemned Israel's actions because they
understand Israel's justification for its assault.

The populations of those Arab countries are outraged at Israel's actions and
at their own governments for not condemning Israel's assault and acting to
end the violence. Simply stated, the Arab governments do not represent their
respective Arab populations. The populations of the Arab nations have staged
mass protests in opposition to not only Israel's actions but also the
inaction of their own governments and what they view as either complacency
or complicity in Israel's crimes.

Moreover, the refusal of Arab nations to take action to come to the aid of
the Palestinians is not because they agree with Israel's actions, but
because they are submissive to the will of the US , which fully supports
Israel. Egypt, for instance, which refused to open the border to allow
Palestinians wounded in the attacks to get medical treatment in Egyptian
hospitals, is heavily dependent upon US aid, and is being widely criticized
within the population of the Arab countries for what is viewed as an
absolute betrayal of the Gaza Palestinians.

Even Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been regarded as a traitor to
his own people for blaming Hamas for the suffering of the people of Gaza.
Palestinians are also well aware of Abbas' past perceived betrayals in
conniving with Israel and the US to sideline the democratically elected
Hamas government, culminating in a counter-coup by Hamas in which it
expelled Fatah (the military wing of Abbas' Palestine Authority) from the
Gaza Strip. While his apparent goal was to weaken Hamas and strengthen his
own position, the Palestinians and other Arabs in the Middle East are so
outraged at Abbas that it is unlikely he will be able to govern effectively.

Lie #5) Israel is not responsible for civilian deaths because it warned the
Palestinians of Gaza to flee areas that might be targeted.

Israel claims it sent radio and telephone text messages to residents of Gaza
warning them to flee from the coming bombardment. But the people of Gaza
have nowhere to flee to. They are trapped within the Gaza Strip. It is by
Israeli design that they cannot escape across the border. It is by Israeli
design that they have no food, water, or fuel by which to survive. It is by
Israeli design that hospitals in Gaza have no electricity and few medical
supplies with which to treat the injured and save lives. And Israel has
bombed vast areas of Gaza, targeting civilian infrastructure and other sites
with protected status under international law. No place is safe within the
Gaza Strip.

-Jeremy R. Hammond is the editor of Foreign Policy Journal (- U.S. foreign
policy news, analysis, opinion)

Wadau je mnasemaje kuhusu hii maneno?

 

[Mbalamwezi]

Top 5 Lies about Israel's Assault on Gaza

By Jeremy R. Hammond


Lie #1: The presence of militants within a civilian population does not,
under international law, deprive that population of their protected status, and hence any assault upon that population under the guise of targeting militants is, in fact, a war crime.

These rockets are extremely inaccurate and thus, even if Hamas intended to hit military targets within Israel, are indiscriminate by nature. When rockets from Gaza kill Israeli civilians, it is a war crime.

Hamas has a military wing. However, it is not entirely a military
organization, but a political one. Members of Hamas are the democratically elected representatives of the Palestinian people. Dozens of these elected leaders have been kidnapped and held in Israeli prisons without charge.

Others have been targeted for assassination, such as Nizar Rayan, a top Hamas official. To kill Rayan, Israel targeted a residential apartment building. The strike not only killed Rayan but two of his wives and four of his children, along with six others. There is no justification for such an attack under international law. This was a war crime.

Wadau je mnasemaje kuhusu hii maneno?

Hii ni opinion yake, he is free to express himself (pengine ku impress wahisani.)

lakini kwa haraka haraka, Hii sheria ya kimataifa kumbe inaruhusu military installations kwenye civillians areas? Ili wakati wa vita iweje?

Kwa hiyo kama Hamas ni paramilitary organization, na wakishambulia nchi nyingine, wao wanalindwa na sheria wasishambuliwe?

Huyu kiongozi wao aliitisha umma wa Paletine uongeze mashambulio ya kujitoa muhanga dhidi ya waIsrael siku za nyuma. Kabla ya kushambuliwa, nyumba yake walipigiwa simu wakionywa waondoke kabla jengo halijashambuliwa, lakini huyo mzee akawakataza familia yake wasitoke. Next?

Hivi mnikumbushe, Hamas wamepiga any military installation? Kwa hiyo target yao ni civillian?

 

[Mbalamwezi]

Jamani wapi Pundit na GT hapa?

 

[Icadon]

Jamani wapi Pundit na GT hapa?

Mambo ya Holiday yatakuwa(speculating)

Cleared for publication: Three IDF soldiers were killed and 30 others were injured, nine seriously, Monday evening, in a clash between Golani troops and Hamas gunmen in northern Gaza. (Hanan Greenberg)

 

[Icadon]

Thousands Turn Out for Pro-Israel Rallies; More Coming

(IsraelNN.com) In a show of patriotism, identity, solidarity and concern stemming from the raging global jihad, thousands of pro-Israel supporters from all walks of life are participating in vigils and rallies for Israel all over the world as the Jewish State continues its war against Hamas.
Many more rallies will be attended by Israel-supporters throughout the United States and Canada in the coming days, as Israel continues its efforts to weed out the rocket-wielding jihadists who have attacked Israeli civilians in the past several years with thousands of rockets and mortars
Worldwide Rallies Support, Praise Israel's War on Gaza Terrorism - Defense/Middle East - Israel News - Israel National News

 

[Icadon]

Kuna story Hamas wanasema wameua 5 IDF soldiers na kuchukua wengine kadhaa mateka (na hisi ni mambo ya Baghdad Bob) 😀.

IDF wanavusha mateka wao wa Hamas to Israel kwa kibano cha "ki-Guantanamo bay"!! Tunaenda day number ten....so far, nipo disappointed na IDF!

News ni kuwa wamearrest over 100 militants, 3 soldiers wamekufa wanadai kutoka na friendly fire baada ya Merkava kushell jengo walikokuwemo, na wawili waliponea chupu chupu kuwa kidnapped jana. Kuna suiced bomber ameshikwa baada ya bomu lake kushindwa kudetonate kwenye kundi la IDF soldiers.

 

[Icadon]

It's getting real ugly naona sasa RIP innocent civilians.

Casualties have been pouring into over-stretched hospitals in the Gaza Strip as Israel presses on with its offensive against Palestinian militant groups.

Palestinian medical officials say at least 90 people, including many civilians and 26 children, have been killed since the ground assault began.

'Mainly civilians'

There were reports of fierce fighting in northern Gaza as news began to emerge of the scale of the problems facing medical staff.


Norwegian doctor Mads Gilbert, one of two foreign doctors working at Gaza's biggest hospital, al-Shifa, said they had received a "new wave" of very serious injuries on Monday.

"We have many amputations, head injuries, and of course for a hospital in this situation... it's extremely difficult to handle," he told the BBC.

He warned that the hospital would be unable to operate much longer unless it received fresh medical supplies.

"People are dying now because of lack of supplies. We have all operating rooms full. Yesterday we were operating on two patients in one operating room... This is a complete disaster".

But Dr Gilbert said the overwhelming majority of casualties he had treated were civilians.

"Among all the hundreds we have seen so far, we have seen two fighters," he said, adding that women and children alone made up 25% of the death toll, and 45% of the wounded.

Humanitarian crisis

For the people of Gaza, living conditions are deteriorating sharply. Supplies of fuel, food, water, and wheat are said to be running desperately low.



Middle East envoy Tony Blair: 'We want an immediate ceasefire'

A spokesman for Unrwa, the UN aid agency for the Palestinians, said food was urgently needed and people were facing "serious hunger", with supplies for just 48 hours.

"One million people are without electricity. Crucially the hospitals in Gaza are running on emergency generators. This in my book amounts to a humanitarian crisis," Christopher Gunness told the BBC.
BBC NEWS | Middle East | Casualties rise in Gaza offensive

 

[Icadon]

Note: Al-jazeera and Al-Arabiya hawaonyeshi live footage za Gaza. Na hawajaongea na reporters wao walioko ndani na nje ya Gaza.

Mubarak to EU: Hamas must not win fight in Gaza (Haaretz)

 

[Icadon]

Kwa wale mnaoelewa kiyahudi,kiarabu mnaweza kuangalia hizi live stream kwenye mtandao.

Click Here

 

[Icadon]

Hamas opens independent hospital for gunmen

Hamas has set up an independent hospital in the Gaza Strip to treat its operatives wounded in fighting with the IDF - and, according to Israeli estimates, it is pilfering a significant portion of the medicine allowed into the strip, senior defense officials told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.


Despite this estimate, the Defense Ministry said Monday that it would continue facilitating the transfer of food and medical supplies into Gaza. The humanitarian convoys, defense officials said, played a key role in garnering international legitimacy for the IDF's operations in Gaza since it showed the world that Israel distinguished between Hamas terrorists and Palestinian civilians. On Sunday, Military Intelligence chief Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin told the cabinet that Hamas was using mosques, public institutions and private houses as ammunition stores.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satelli...cle/ShowFull

 

[Mbalamwezi]

Icadon,

salama mkuu? hebu fanya assignment ya analysis ya rate ya civillians (Gaza) waliouawa...uki base kwenye total killed people, na targets ziliizokusudiwa inaonekanaje too much, au kawaida au ingeweza kuwa minimized au namna gani?

Analyse pia targets za Hamas---ni kwa civillians au military installations? wamehit civillian targets intentionally mara ngapi? watu wangapi wamedhurika (wajeshi au raia?) na mambo kama hayo. Nisaidie tafadhali.

 

[Icadon]

As the IDF operation in the Gaza Strip entered its 10th day, Hamas has begun sending conflicting messages regarding its intentions.

These contradictory messages, Palestinian political analysts said, reflected the state of confusion in Hamas and raised questions as to who was calling the shots in the Gaza Strip.

While some Hamas leaders have been openly signaling their readiness to accept a new cease-fire, others are still calling for pursuing the fight against Israel "until victory."

What is clear is that Hamas is now desperate for a lull in the fighting. But it is also eager to score some kind of a "military victory" before a cease-fire is reached.

Hamas can't accept a new cease-fire without having proved to the Arab and Muslim masses that it was capable of making Israel pay a heavy price for its military offensive.

Hamas is fighting for its survival and its leaders know that their collapse would constitute a severe blow not only to the movement, but also to its patrons in Teheran and Damascus.

"It's hard to tell who's in charge in the Gaza Strip these days," said a Ramallah-based analyst. "Hamas's political leaders have disappeared after throwing away their mobile phones. No one knows exactly what Hamas wants."
Inaendelea

 

[Icadon]

Icadon,

salama mkuu? hebu fanya assignment ya analysis ya rate ya civillians (Gaza) waliouawa...uki base kwenye total killed people, na targets ziliizokusudiwa inaonekanaje too much, au kawaida au ingeweza kuwa minimized au namna gani?

Analyse pia targets za Hamas---ni kwa civillians au military installations? wamehit civillian targets intentionally mara ngapi? watu wangapi wamedhurika (wajeshi au raia?) na mambo kama hayo. Nisaidie tafadhali.

Haraka haraka,

Death Toll: 560
Wounded: 2650

Majeruhi/walifariki wengi hawawezi kuokolewa kutoka kwenye majengo yaliyolipuliwa kwa sababu mapigano yanaendelea.

 

[Mbalamwezi]

Haraka haraka,

Death Toll: 560
Wounded: 2650

Majeruhi/walifariki wengi hawawezi kuokolewa kutoka kwenye majengo yaliyolipuliwa kwa sababu mapigano yanaendelea.

Thanks. Hii death toll na wounded kuna percent ngapi ya civillians, umecheck? and who establishes who's a civillian? Kwa destruction rate ilivyo, ina correspond na loss of life au vipi?