Excellent.Paul E Vallely
MG US Army Ret
Chairman Stand Up America
“Celtic Warrior”
Skype: PaulVallely
Press Release
Law Offices of Orly Taitz
Complaint against Khaled Mshaal, leader of Hamas terrorist organization, for Genocide and Crimes against Humanity
submitted to the International Criminal Court
Complaint to ICC Khalid Meshaal 07.29.2014 final
DR. ORLY TAITZ, ESQ
PRESIDENT
DEFEND OUR FREEDOMS FOUNDATION
MEMBER INERNATIONAL CRIMINAL BAR PANEL
29839 SANTA MARGARITA STE 100
RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, CA 92688
PH. 949-683-5411 FAX 949-766-7603
ORLY.TAITZ@HUSHMAIL.COM
ORLYTAITZESQ.COM
YOUR EXCELLENCY, SANG HUYN-SONG
PRESIDENT
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT;
FATOU B. BENSOUDA,
ICC CHIEF PROSECUTOR
MAANWEG 174 2516 AB
THE HAGUE
THE NETHERLANDS;
LAURA VERICAT FIGAROLA
LAURAVERICAT@BPI-ICB.COM
CIMINAL COMPLAINT AGAINST KHALID MESHAAL,
LEADER OF TERRORIST ORGANIZATION HAMAS,
FOR GENOCIDE AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY
JURISDICTION
THE
ICC HAS JURISDICTION OVER GENOCIDE, CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY AND WAR
CRIMES. THE ICC MAY BE ABLE TO PROSECUTE TERRORIST ACTS ONLY IF THEY
FALL WITHIN THESE CATEGORIES.
http://www.icc-cpi.int/en_menus/icc/about%20the%20court/frequently%20asked%20questions/pages/faq.aspx
Admissibility and Jurisdiction under Article 17 of Rome convention
Article 17
Issues of admissibility
1. Having regard to paragraph 10 of the Preamble and article 1, the Court shall determine
that a case is inadmissible where:
(a) The case is being investigated or prosecuted by a State which has jurisdiction
over it, unless the State is unwilling or unable genuinely to carry out the
investigation or prosecution;
(b) The case has been investigated by a State which has jurisdiction over it and
the State has decided not to prosecute the person concerned, unless the
decision resulted from the unwillingness or inability of the State genuinely
to prosecute;
(c) The person concerned has already been tried for conduct which is the subject
of the complaint, and a trial by the Court is not permitted under article 20,
paragraph 3;
(d) The case is not of sufficient gravity to justify further action by the Court.
Defendant,
Khaled Meshaal is currently residing in Qatar and directing his
terrorist activity from Qatar. Qatar is supporting terrorist
organization Hamas, as well as other terrorist groups, and known for
anti-Semitism and anti-Israel stance. The Emirat of Qatar never
prosecuted Meshaal and due to its’ political stance will never prosecute
Meshaal, as such prosecution by the International Criminal Court is
not precluded by the prosecution in the country of residence.
Further,
the case does not fall under Article 17 (D), as this is a case of
sufficient gravity and relates to Genocide and Crimes against Humanity
committed by Meshaal in attacling civilian population of Israel, women
and children with over 2,000 rockets as well as using Palestinian women
and children as shields by stashing rockets and other weapons in
schools, including three UN schools, hospitals, mosques and residential
buildings. This represents gravity within the jurisdiction of the
International Criminal Court.
STANDING UNDER ARTICLE 15
Prosecutor
1. The Prosecutor may initiate investigations
proprio motu on the basis of information on
crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court.
2. The Prosecutor shall analyse the seriousness of the information received. For this
purpose, he or she may seek additional information from States, organs of the United
Nations, intergovernmental or non-governmental organizations, or other reliable
sources that he or she deems appropriate, and may receive written or oral testimony
at the seat of the Court.
3. If the Prosecutor concludes that there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an
investigation, he or she shall submit to the Pre-Trial Chamber a request for
authorization of an investigation, together with any supporting material collected.
Victims may make representations to the Pre-Trial Chamber, in accordance with the
Rules of Procedure and Evidence.
4. If the Pre-Trial Chamber, upon examination of the request and the supporting
material, considers that there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation,
and that the case appears to fall within the jurisdiction of the Court, it shall
authorize the commencement of the investigation, without prejudice to subsequent
determinations by the Court with regard to the jurisdiction and admissibility of a
- 5. The refusal of the Pre-Trial Chamber to authorize the investigation shall not preclude.
For
example, on 26 November 2009, the Prosecution sought authorization to
open an investigation with regard to the post-election violence in
Kenya. Pre-Chamber II granted the Prosecutor’s request on 31 March
2010.In addition, on 3 October 2011, pre-trial chamber iii granted the
prosecutor’s request for authorization to open investigations
proprio motu into the situation in Côte D’Ivoire.
As such plaintiff is submitting complaint at hand directly to the Chief Prosecutor
FATOU B. BENSOUDA to be further investigated and submitted proprio motu to the court.
STATEMENT OF FACTS
Khalid
Meshaal, aka Khalid Mashal, aka Khalid Mash’al, (hereinafter Meshaal),
is the leader of a terrorist organization Hamas. Meshaal is engaged in
crimes against humanity and genocide in Israel and Gaza strip, while
committing those crimes from the safety of Qatar. Meshaal resides in
Doha, Qatar.
Former Emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani and
his son, the new Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Khamid al Thani (ascended to the
throne in 2013) are ruling over the vastly rich emirate and are
positioning themselves as rivals to the traditional super powers of the
Muslim world, such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt. As such, the Al Thani
royal family is supporting the most radical terrorist elements, which
are either outlawed or not welcomed in traditional Muslim superpowers.
In December 2012,
The New York Times accused the Qatari government of funding the
Al-Nusra Front, a U.S. government
designated terrorist organization. (Editorial, Al Qaeda in Syria, 10 December 2012,
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/11/opinion/al-qaeda-in-syria.html) have noted the Emir’s visit to Gaza and meeting with
Hamas, which houses a militant wing,
Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.( 23 October 2012 11:03 pm, Qatar emir in landmark trip to Gaza, By Simeon Kerr in Dubai and Vita Bekker in Jerusalem,
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/0d0bb8de-1cf5-11e2-a17f-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2MxwMs81t). In January 2013, French politicians again accused the Emir’s government of giving material support to
Islamist groups in
Mali (location of current downing of Algerian airlines plane) and the French newspaper
Le Canard enchaîné quoted an unnamed source in French military intelligence saying that “The
MNLA, al Qaeda-linked
Ansar Dineand
MUJAO have all received cash from
Doha”(Is Qatar fuelling the crisis in north Mali? , France 24, Latest update: 23 January 2013 ,
http://www.france24.com/en/20130121-qatar-mali-france-ansar-dine-mnla-al-qaeda-sunni-islam-doha). The Al Thani’s are also currently hosting five top Taliban terrorists released from GITMO by Barack Obama.
Currently
Meshaal, the leader of Hamas, is receiving aid and comfort by the Al
Thani’s. From the safety of Doha, Qatar, Meshaal launched over 2,000
rocket attacks on Israeli civilians: women, children and elderly in the
most populated areas. (Exhibit 6) Repeatedly, the government of Israel
warned Meshaal and Hamas that Israel will not tolerate the attacks, will
not allow its’ population to be terrorized and will engage in the
counter attack. In spite of multiple warnings Meshaal continued crimes
against humanity and continued showering kindergartens, schools and
houses with rockets. Twice, Egypt offered to negotiate a peace
settlement, which was accepted by Israel but rejected by Meshaal. Not
only Meshaal rejected peace proposals and continued shelling Israeli
children with rockets, he called on innocent Palestinian civilians,
including women and children to act as human shields. Repeatedly
Meshaal was caught hiding rockets in UN schools (Exhibit 1-5).
Furthermore, not only Meshaal has endangered civilians, among them
multiple children, by hiding ammunition in schools and hospitals, he
prevented civilians from leaving those buildings, keeping them entrapped
and intentionally increasing the number of killed and wounded
civilians. Additionally, Meshaal has misappropriated funding, allocated
to Gaza by multiple governments and humanitarian organizations and
instead of using the funding to build schools and hospitals, he used it
to build an elaborate network of some 50 tunnels. Some 700 tons of
concrete was used in each tunnel. Each tunnel is full of weapons,
syringes with tranquilizers, handcuffs and duck tape to be used for
kidnapping and murder of innocent Israeli children. Just recently three
Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and murdered.
ARGUMENT
KHALID MESHAAL IS GUILTY OF CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY
1. SENDING 2,000 ROCKETS AT HEAVILY POPULATED AREA REPRESENTS GENOCIDE AND VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 8(2)(E)(I)
The
mandate of the International Criminal Court is to try individuals
rather than States, and to hold such persons accountable for the most
serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole,
namely the crime of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and
the crime of aggression, when the conditions for the exercise of the
Court’s jurisdiction over the latter are fulfilled.
According to
the Rome Statute, “genocide” means any of the following acts committed
with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic,
racial or religious group:
- killing members of the group;
- causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
- deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
- imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
- forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
Hamas
Charter Preamble states: ” Israel will exist and will continue to exist
until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before
it″. The goal of Hamas is the destruction of the whole nation and all of
its’ people: including women, children and elderly. This is a genocide
and a crime against humanity, which is canonized in Hamas charter.
Leader
of Hamas, Khalid Meshaal, is following the genocidal charter of Hamas.
Under his orders, over 2,000 rockets were sent into the densely
populated areas of Israel, aimed to hit schools, kindergartens and
hospitals. One kindergarten was, indeed, hit. Luckily, children were not
there due to summer break. Luckily the damage was minimized by the
success of the Iron Dome system, however rocket attacks continue with a
clear goal of terrorizing, maiming and murdering the civilians. Such
indiscriminate rocket attacks represent genocide and a crime against
humanity.
Further, under the leadership of Meshaal, and with
financial assistance of Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani and his son,
current Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, Hamas spent
millions of dollars in building some 50 underground tunnels. Each of the
aforementioned tunnels is reinforced with some 700 tons of concrete and
equipped with, among others, weapons, tranquilizers, handcuffs, and
duck tape in order to kidnap and murder Israeli civilians: women and
children. This represents an attempted act of mass genocide.
2,000 COUNTS OF VIOLATION OF ARTICLE ARTICLE 8(2)(E)(I)
INTENTIONALLY DIRECTING AN ATTACK AGAINST A CIVILIAN POPULATION – ARTICLE 8(2)(E)(I)
Plaintiff incorporates all prior paragraphs as is fully pled herein.
As
stated above, Meshaal, by and through his terrorist organization Hamas,
sent over 2,000 rockets into densely populated areas of Israel. This
represents 2,000 counts of flagrant violation of Article 8(2(E)(I).
These actions by Meshaal are akin to actions of Joseph Koni which lead
to indictment by ICC for intentionally directing an attack against a
civilian population – article 8(2)(e)(i).
Meshaal should be indicted for violation of article 8(2)(e)(i).
2.
ATTACKING CIVILIAN POPULATION OF ISRAEL WITH 2,000 ROCKETS REPRESENTS
“CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY”, VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 7(A)(A) -MURDER
ICC definition of “Crimes against Humanity” includes:
- persecution against an identifiable group on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious or gender grounds;
- other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering or serious bodily or mental injury.
As
stated above, under the leadership and under orders of Meshaal, Hamas
terrorists shelled civilian population of Israel with 2,000 rockets in
the last few weeks alone. These acts fall under ” persecution against
an identifiable group on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural,
religious or gender grounds”. Meshaal and his accomplices in Hamas are
persecuting the civilian population of Israel based on religious and
ethnic grounds, specifically because they are Jewish.
Further,
shelling civilian population of Israel with 2,000 rockets falls under ”
other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great
suffering or serious bodily or mental injury.”
As such, acts of
shelling Israel with 2,000 rockets falls under the crime of Genocide and
“Crimes against Humanity” under the jurisdiction for prosecution by the
International Criminal Court.
VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 7(1)(A) -MURDER- CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY
Plaintiff incorporates all prior paragraphs as if fully pled herein.
As
previously stated, Meshaal sent over 2,000 rockets into the state of
Israel. He is guilty of murder of civilians in Israel, who died as a
result of rocket attacks.
3. USING SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS, AND MOSQUES FOR STORING ROCKETS AND OTHER WEAPONS REPRESENT CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, GENOCIDE.
Further,
under the leadership of Meshaal, Hamas stockpiled rockets and
ammunition in hospitals and schools. This falls under the definition of
genocide, as:
- causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
- deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
- Meshaal
clearly knew that stockpiling of ammunition in hospitals and schools,
including not one, but two UN schools would endanger Palestinians
children and patients in the hospitals. Further, reports show that Hamas
prevented Palestinians from leaving a number of such facilities and
used them as human shields. Additionally, Hamas prevented Palestinian
wounded from getting medical care at the field hospital set up by the
Israeli government. such use of its own citizens: women, children and
hospital patients as human shields, represents genocide and crime
against humanity, which justifies trial of Khaled Meshaal by the
International Criminal court and punishment consistent with punishment
received by other perpetrators of genocide, namely life in prison and
forfeiture of properties.
According to Rome charter ICC
judges may impose a prison sentence, to which may be added a fine or
forfeiture of the proceeds, property and assets derived directly or
indirectly from the crime committed. The Court cannot impose a death
sentence. The maximum sentence is 30 years. However, in extreme cases,
the Court may impose a term of life imprisonment.
http://www.icc-cpi.int/en_menus/icc/about%20the%20court/frequently%20asked%20questions/pages/faq.aspx.
Meshaal
has amassed personal wealth reported to be between 2-5 billion dollars,
which mainly was gained by diversion of funds designated for
humanitarian purposes. Ruling of this court should reflect retribution
to victims, use of Meshaal’s personal wealth to compensate victims and
humanitarian institutions for damage inflicted on them by Meshaal’s
stockpiling of weapons
in these institutions.
USING OF GAZA SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS AND MOSQUES FOR STOCKPILING WEAPONS REPRESENT VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 8(2)(E)(I)
INTENTIONALLY DIRECTING AN ATTACK AGAINST A CIVILIAN
Plaintiff incorporates all prior paragraphs as if fully pled herein.
Hamas terrorists used hospitals, ambulances, mosques and residential buildings for storage of rockets and other ammunition.
UNRWA reported:
“Today,
in the course of the regular inspection of its premises, UNRWA
discovered rockets hidden in a vacant school in the Gaza Strip. As soon
as the rockets were discovered, UNRWA staff were withdrawn from the
premises, and so we are unable to confirm the precise number of rockets.
The school is situated between two other UNRWA schools that currently
each accommodate 1,500 internally displaced persons.
UNRWA
strongly and unequivocally condemns the group or groups responsible for
this flagrant violation of the inviolability of its premises under
international law.
The Agency immediately informed the
relevant parties and is pursuing all possible measures for the removal
of the objects in order to preserve the safety and security of the
school. UNRWA will launch a comprehensive investigation into the
circumstances surrounding this incident.
UNRWA has
reinforced and continues to implement its robust procedures to maintain
the neutrality of all its premises, including a strict no-weapons policy
and regular inspections of its installations, to ensure they are only
used for humanitarian purpose.”
Khaled Meshaal by
and through his terrorist organization, Hamas, has targeted civilian
population, his own people, by placing weapons in schools, hospitals,
mosques, ambulances and residential buildings in order to make
civilians, women and children, targets of responsive attacks by the
Israeli Defense Forces (hereinafter IDF) and making civilians into human
shields.
Such actions by Meshaal represent flagrant violation of INTENTIONALLY DIRECTING AN ATTACK AGAINST A CIVILIAN POPULATION – ARTICLE 8(2)(E)(I).
Meshaal
intentionally directed responsive attacks towards schools, hospitals
and mosques by stockpiling weapons there. Meshaal’s actions lead to
death of his own people and he should be indicted for violation of
Article 8(2)(E)(I).
the case against Meshaal is akin to precedent of
The Prosecutor v. Joseph Kony, Vincent Otti, Okot Odhiambo and Dominic Ongwen ICC-OTP-20040729-65,
which is currently being heard before Pre-Trial Chamber II. In this
case, five warrants of arrest have been issued against [the] five top
members of the Lords Resistance Army (LRA).
“Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court opens an investigation into Nothern Uganda
ICC-OTP-20040729-65
Situation: Uganda
“The
Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis
Moreno-Ocampo, has determined that there is a reasonable basis to open
an investigation into the situation concerning Northern Uganda,
following the referral of the situation by Uganda in December 2003. The
decision to open an investigation was taken after thorough analysis of
available information in order to ensure that requirements of the Rome
Statute are satisfied.
The Prosecutor has notified the States
Parties to the ICC and other concerned states of his intention to start
an investigation, in accordance with article 18 of the Rome Statute.”
Actions
of Khaled Meshaal and his terrorist group Hamas are akin to actions of
Joseph Koni and his terrorist organization Lords Army. Kony was indicted
by the Chief Prosecutor of the ICC in 2005 and has been evading
capture, Kony has been subject to an
Interpol Red Notice at the request of the ICC since 2006.
Khaled Meshaal is personally guilty under Article 25 of Rome statutes of the International Criminal court
Article 25
Individual criminal responsibility
1. The Court shall have jurisdiction over natural persons pursuant to this Statute.
2. A person who commits a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court shall be
individually responsible and liable for punishment in accordance with this Statute.
3. In accordance with this Statute, a person shall be criminally responsible and liable for
punishment for a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court if that person:
(a) Commits such a crime, whether as an individual, jointly with another or
through another person, regardless of whether that other person is criminally
responsible;
(b) Orders, solicits or induces the commission of such a crime which in fact
occurs or is attempted;
(c) For the purpose of facilitating the commission of such a crime, aids, abets or
otherwise assists in its commission or its attempted commission, including
providing the means for its commission;
(d) In any other way contributes to the commission or attempted commission
of such a crime by a group of persons acting with a common purpose. Such
contribution shall be intentional and shall either:
(i) Be made with the aim of furthering the criminal activity or criminal
purpose of the group, where such activity or purpose involves the
commission of a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court; or
(ii) Be made in the knowledge of the intention of the group to commit the
crime;
(e) In respect of the crime of genocide, directly and publicly incites others to
commit genocide;
(f) Attempts to commit such a crime by taking action that commences its
execution by means of a substantial step, but the crime does not occur
because of circumstances independent of the person’s intentions. However,
a person who abandons the effort to commit the crime or otherwise prevents
the completion of the crime shall not be liable for punishment under this
Statute for the attempt to commit that crime if that person completely and
voluntarily gave up the criminal purpose.
3
bis. In respect of the crime of aggression, the provisions of this article shall apply only to
persons in a position effectively to exercise control over or to direct the political or
military action of a State.
4. No provision in this Statute relating to individual criminal responsibility shall affect
the responsibility of States under international law.\
Meshaal
is guilty under Article 25 1, 2 and 3 as he is the leader of Hamas
terrorist organization and under his leadership, orders, control and
incitement aforementioned crimes of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity
were committed.
This satisfies Article 25 3(a) (a) Commits such a crime, whether as an individual, jointly with another or
through another person, regardless of whether that other person is criminally
This satisfies Article 25 3(b) Orders, solicits or induces the commission of such a crime which in fact
occurs or is attempted;
This satisfies Article 25 3(c) For the purpose of facilitating the commission of such a crime, aids, abets or
otherwise assists in its commission or its attempted commission, including
providing the means for its commission
This satisfies Article 25 3 (d) (d) In any other way contributes to the commission or attempted commission
of such a crime by a group of persons acting with a common purpose. Such
contribution shall be intentional and shall either:
This satisfies Article 25 (e)
(e) In respect of the crime of genocide, directly and publicly incites others to
commit genocide;
Additionally Meshaal is guilty under Article 25 (f). Attempts to commit such a crime by taking action that commences its
execution by means of a substantial step, but the crime does not occur
because of circumstances independent of the person’s intentions.
Meshaal’s
actions of sending over 2,000 rockets into the heavily populated areas
of Israel represent an attempted genocide and attempted murder of
Israeli civilians. Luckily, most rockets were neutralized by the Israeli
anti missile defense system, “Iron Dome”. However, under Article 25 (f)
Meshaal is still liable as he “Attempted to commit such a crime by
taking action that commences its
execution by means of a substantial step, but the crime does not occur
because of circumstances independent of the person’s intentions”.
Meshaal’s
position as a head of the organization or government does not preclude
his prosecution under Article 27 of Rome statute of ICC
Article 27
Irrelevance of official capacity
1. This Statute shall apply equally to all persons without any distinction based on official
capacity. In particular, official capacity as a Head of State or Government, a member
of a Government or parliament, an elected representative or a government official
shall in no case exempt a person from criminal responsibility under this Statute, nor
shall it, in and of itself, constitute a ground for reduction of sentence.
2. Immunities or special procedural rules which may attach to the official capacity of
a person, whether under national or international law, shall not bar the Court from
exercising its jurisdiction over such a person.
As such under article 27 Meshaal can be prosecuted by the ICC even if he claims to be a government official in Gaza territory.
MESHAAL IS LIABLE UNDER ARTICLE 28 OF THE ROME STATUTE OF THE ICC
Article 28
Responsibility of commanders and other superiors
In addition to other grounds of criminal responsibility under this Statute for crimes within the
jurisdiction of the Court:
(a) A military commander or person effectively acting as a military commander
shall be criminally responsible for crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court
committed by forces under his or her effective command and control, or
effective authority and control as the case may be, as a result of his or her
failure to exercise control properly over such forces, where:
(i) That military commander or person either knew or, owing to the
circumstances at the time, should have known that the forces were
committing or about to commit such crimes; and
(ii) That military commander or person failed to take all necessary and
reasonable measures within his or her power to prevent or repress
their commission or to submit the matter to the competent authorities
for investigation and prosecution.
(b) With respect to superior and subordinate relationships not described in
paragraph (a), a superior shall be criminally responsible for crimes within
the jurisdiction of the Court committed by subordinates under his or her
effective authority and control, as a result of his or her failure to exercise
control properly over such subordinates, where:
(i) The superior either knew, or consciously disregarded information
which clearly indicated, that the subordinates were committing or
about to commit such crimes;
(ii) The crimes concerned activities that were within the effective
responsibility and control of the superior; and
(iii) The superior failed to take all necessary and reasonable measures
within his or her power to prevent or repress their commission or to
submit the matter.
Meshaal
is the leader of Hamas terrorist organization. As such he is liable
under Article 28(a) and (b) for the aforementioned crimes of Genocide
and Crimes against Humanity.
CONCLUSION
International
Criminal Court should try Khalid Meshaal for crimes against humanity
and genocide. due to severity of crimes committed by Meshaal, ICC
prosecutors should seek life in prison and forfeiture of all the
properties.
Respectfully,
/s/Dr. Orly Taitz, ESQ
President,
Defend Our Freedoms Foundation
07.30.2014
EXHIBITS
- Hamas: We Will Hand 250,000 Hand Grenades to Our Children
- Hamas hides weapons in a bunker under a hospital.
- Hamas booby –trapped UNRWA clinic
- Hamas used 3 UNRWA for storage of weapons
- Hamas weaponizes women and children
- Hamas sent 2,600 rockets into densely populated areas of Israel
EXHIBIT 1
Hamas: We Will Hand 250,000 Hand Grenades to Our Children (Video)
Posted
by Jim Hoft on Monday, July 21, 2014, 9:09 AMA Hamas spokesman
announced that Hamas had manufactured 250,000 hand grenades.
These would be given to Palestinian youth to use to fight Israel instead of rocks.
“The
military industry of al-Qassam has manufactured a quarter million hand
grenades which will be in the hands of our youth, and with which they
will stone the occupation’s soldiers instead of with rocks.”
EXHIBIT 2
http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/180730/top-secret-hamas-command-bunker-in-gaza-revealed#undefined
The idea that one of Hamas’ main command bunkers is located beneath Shifa Hospital in Gaza City is one of the
worst-kept secrets of
the Gaza war. So why aren’t reporters in Gaza ferreting it out? The
precise location of a large underground bunker equipped with
sophisticated communications equipment and housing some part of the
leadership of a major terrorist organization beneath a major hospital
would seem to qualify as a world-class scoop—the kind that might merit a
Pulitzer, or at least a Polk.
So why isn’t the fact that Hamas
uses Shifa Hospital as a command post making headlines? In part, it’s
because the location is so un-secret that Hamas regularly meets with
reporters there. On July 15, for example, William Booth of the
Washington Post wrote that
the hospital “has become a de facto headquarters for Hamas leaders, who
can be seen in the hallways and offices.” Back in 2006, PBS even aired a
documentary showing how gunmen roam the halls of the hospital,
intimidate the staff, and deny them access to protected locations within
the building—where the camera crew was obviously prohibited from
filming.
Yet the confirmation that Hamas is using Gaza City’s biggest hospital
as its de facto headquarters was made in the last sentence of the eighth
paragraph of Booth’s story—which would appear to be the kind of rookie
mistake that is known in journalistic parlance as “burying the lede.”
But
Booth is no rookie—he’s an experienced foreign reporter, which means
that he buried the lede on purpose. Why? Well, one reason might be that
the “security sources” quoted whenever the location of the Hamas command
bunker is mentioned—which, as evidenced by this 2009
article by the excellent and highly experienced foreign correspondent Steven Erlanger of the
New York Times,
happens every time there’s a war in Gaza—are obviously Israelis, not
members of Hamas. It might be hard to believe the Israelis, the simple
logic might run, since they obviously have an investment in arguing that
Hamas is using hospitals and schools as human shields.
The
Israelis are so sure about the location of the Hamas bunker, however,
not because they are trying to score propaganda points, or because it
has been repeatedly mentioned in passing by Western reporters—but
because they built it. Back in 1983, when Israel still ruled Gaza, they
built a secure underground operating room and tunnel network beneath
Shifa hospital—which is one among several reasons why Israeli security
sources are so
sure that
there is a main Hamas command bunker in or around the large cement
basement beneath the area of Building 2 of the Hospital, which reporters
are obviously prohibited from entering.
Hamas obviously has no
interest in having a photo-layout of one of its command bunkers beneath
Shifa Hospital splashed on the front pages of newspapers. After all,
such pictures would show that the organization uses the sick and wounded
of Gaza as human shields while launching missiles against Israeli
civilians. What Hamas wants is for reporters to use very different
pictures from Shifa—namely, photos of Palestinians killed and wounded by
Israelis, which make Palestinians look like innocent victims of wanton
Israeli brutality.
To that end, the rules of reporting from Shifa
Hospital are easy for any newbie reporter to understand: No pictures of
members of Hamas with their weapons inside the hospital, and don’t go
anywhere near the bunkers, or the operating rooms where members of Hamas
are treated. While reporters can meet with members of Hamas inside the
hospital—because it’s obviously convenient for everyone—they are not
allowed to take pictures. Reporters inside Gaza who are risking their
lives to bring the world whatever news they can should hardly be blamed
for obeying Hamas’ media rules, which the organization has helpfully
written down in case anyone has doubts about what they are permitted to show.
Reporters
who bravely or foolishly violate Hamas’ rules even on their social
media accounts can be seen to repent with such alacrity that it’s not
difficult to imagine how scared and dependent they are. Nick Casey of
the
Wall Street Journal, for example,
tweeted that
“You have to wonder w the shelling how patients at Shifa hospital feel
as Hamas uses it as a safe place to see media.” Casey then quickly
deleted his tweet, which didn’t save him from being put on a
list of
journalists who “lie/fabricate info for Israel” and “must be sued” – a
threat which is surely the least of Casey’s fears. Last week,
French-Palestinian journalist Radjaa Abu Dagg was summoned to Shifa by
Hamas and interrogated. He
wrote about the experience of “attempted intimidation” for
Liberation—and then quickly had the paper
take down the article.
It
can hardly be lost on any sane journalist that tempers in combat zones
can be short, and that Hamas has used the kidnapping of foreign
journalists like
Alan Johnson of the BBC to advance its own agenda. The fact that Hamas has
closed the
border and will not let journalists in or out of Gaza can’t make
journalists who being used as de facto human shields by a terrorist
organization feel any more eager to offend their hosts.
What Hamas
has done, therefore, is to turn Shifa Hospital into a Hollywood
sound-stage filled with real, live war victims who are used to score
propaganda points, while the terrorists inside the hospital itself are
erased from photographs and news accounts through a combination of
pressure and threats, in order to produce the stories that Hamas wants.
So if reporters aren’t entirely to blame for participating in this sick
charade, then who is?
The answer is that reporters write what they
can, and some do their job better than others, and some are braver or
more foolhardy than their peers. But it’s the job of editors, sitting
thousands of miles away, at a very safe remove from the battlefield, to
note that dispatches were produced under pressure, or that key
information was removed by a government—as nearly all mainstream media
outlets do when battlefield dispatches pass through the hands of the IDF
censor. A good editor might attach similar notes to dispatches from
combat zones controlled by terrorist organizations. He or she might also
decide that reporting only the news that Hamas deems fit to print from
Shifa Hospital isn’t actually reporting at all: It’s propaganda.
http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/180730/top-secret-hamas-command-bunker-in-gaza-revealed#undefined
EXHIBIT 3
Posted by Jim Hoft on Wednesday, July 30, 2014, 1:32 PM
Three Israeli soldiers were killed today in a booby-trapped United Nations clinic. The UNRWA clinic housed the opening to the terrorist tunnel.
Hamas hides their weapons in civilian buildings: schools, mosques & hospitals. The Maariv Daily reported (translated):
Two Israeli soldiers were killed today by a divice planted under the UNRWA clinic.
Cleared
for publication: Two out of three of those killed in an incident in
southern Gaza were identified as IDF Sgt. Gottlieb from Rishon Lezion
and Sgt. Omar from Savion. Israel confirmed that they were killed by a
bomb placed in a tunnel built under the United Nations clinic.
The
Times of Israel has more:
Three
IDF soldiers were killed on Wednesday in an explosion at a
booby-trapped UNRWA health clinic that housed the opening of a tunnel
Two of the three were named as Staff Sgt. Matan Gotlib, 21, of Rishon Lezion, and Staff Sgt. Omer Chai, 21, of Savion.
The
three troops, part of an elite tunnel clearing squad, were taking
precautionary measures in efforts to limit damage to the structure
before eliminating the tunnel when the explosives detonated in the small
building.
The troops had sent in sniffing dogs and a
small robot to minimize damage to the structure, located in Khan Yunis,
but explosives rigged to the underground passage detonated, demolishing
the building on top of the soldiers.
IDF soldiers also found a terrorist tunnel whose access shaft was under a Gaza mosque.
MORE>>> Hamas
posted video in celebration after they killed three Israeli soldiers in a tunnel attack this week.
More
here.
http://legalinsurrection.com/2014/07/media-cover-up-of-hamas-crimes-starting-to-unravel/
Posted by
William A. Jacobson Tuesday, July 29, 2014 at 5:31pm
Italian journalist leaves Gaza, tells truth once free from Hamas retaliation
Yesterday
one of the stories thrust into the mainstream media was nearly
simultaneous explosions in a Palestinian neighborhood and at al-Shifa
hospital.
The media immediately took the Hamas line that it was Israeli missiles. Later, the
IDF stated that it had not fired on those locations, and that the explosions were misfired Hamas or Islamic Jihad missiles.
The media played it as
he said, he said.
But
an Italian journalist has just left Gaza and is telling the truth about
what happened now that he needs not fear Hamas retaliation — Israel was
right (h/t
Israelly Cool):
How
many more of the civilian casualties have been cause by Hamas and
Islamic rockets that fell short or misfired? Like Israel says happened
at a U.N. school and shelter.
We likely never will know because Hamas is so fast to cover up the scene and
intimidates reporters:
The
Times of Israel confirmed several incidents in which journalists were
questioned and threatened. These included cases involving photographers
who had taken pictures of Hamas operatives in compromising circumstances
— gunmen preparing to shoot rockets from within civilian structures,
and/or fighting in civilian clothing — and who were then approached by
Hamas men, bullied and had their equipment taken away.
CAMERA discovered a Wall Street Journal reporter coming to the same conclusion as the Italian reporters, but then deleting the tweet:
The reporter later claimed he deleted it because it was speculative.
This
is part of a pattern of western media being intimidated into not
reporting all the civilian deaths cause by Hamas, and how Hamas uses
locations like al-Shifa hospital.
This tweet showing Hamas using al-Shifa hospital for media interviews was deleted by a Wall Street Journal reporter:
Coincidentally after threats were made on Twitter against that reporter and other reporters:
The reporter did not respond to my email seeking an explanation.
The French Liberation newspaper
ran an article by
a French-Palestinian journalist about how he was summoned to al-Shira
Hospital for interrogation by Hamas — just yards from the operating
room:
Here is part of it (Google translation from French):
“ARE YOU A CORRESPONDENT FOR ISRAEL?”
A
few meters from the emergency room where the injured bombing tributary
constantly, it is received in the outpatient department, “a small
section of the hospital used as administration” by a band of young
fighters. “They were all well dressed, is surprised Radjaa. In civilian
with a gun under his shirt and some had walkie talkies ” . He was
ordered to empty his pockets, removing his shoes and his belt then it is
called in a hospital room “which served that day office of command to
three people.”
A man prim begins his interrogation: “Who are you?
How do you call? What are you doing? ” “I was very surprised by the
procedure,” admits Radjaa, who shows him his press card in response.
Questions come. Then asked if he speaks Hebrew, he has relations with
Ramallah. Young Hamas supporters insist the question: “Are you a
correspondent for Israel?” Radjaa repeat that only works for French
media and a chain of Algerian radio.
It was then that the three
men he delivers this message: “This is yours to choose. We are an
executive administration. We will carry the message of Qassams. You have
to stay at home and give your papers. “Stunned to be covered by the
Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, Radjaa tries to
defend himself and especially to understand why such a decision was
taken against him. In vain. “It is impossible to communicate with these
people,” laments the journalist. It is not the first to undergo this
kind of pressure and combatants in front of him did not hide. “They are
enraged against the presidency and accused me of collaborating with
Mahmoud Abbas,” he says. Reporters Without Borders confirms that this is
not an isolated case. The organization has indeed been alerted by the
threats of Hamas against Palestinian and foreign journalists for their
professional activities threats.
Now the article has been taken down at the author’s request.
http://legalinsurrection.com/2014/07/media-cover-up-of-hamas-crimes-starting-to-unravel/
Tablet Magazine has more on the cover up of the use of al-Shifa hospital as a Hamas command center.
Remember
how many photos of Hamas fighters and scoops about Hamas tactics we’ve
seen from reporters, just like we see with regard to the IDF? Neither do
I, it’s as if Hamas doesn’t exist to reporters and all the dead are
civilians:
More to follow.
The threats and deleted tweets and information have been known for days if not weeks:
The sourcing has been abysmal:
[Featured Image Source:
IDF Twitter}
1
EXHIBIT 4
Third rocket cache found at UNRWA school
Dan Williams @DanWilliams
Follow
.
@UNRWA
says rockets found on Tuesday at one of its schools in central Gaza,
adds school was closed for the summer & not used as a shelter.
9:42 AM - 29 Jul 2014
Third rocket cache found at UNRWA school
UNRWA,
the UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees, says it’s found another
rocket arsenal stashed at one of its schools in the central Gaza Strip.
This latest find is the third case of arms discovered at a UN-run school
since the outset of Operation Protective Edge.
The UN agency says the school was closed for the summer and not in use as a shelter.
Read more:
Kerry says Netanyahu called to raise truce idea; rockets shot at Jerusalem hills | The Times of Israelhttp://www.timesofisrael.com/day-22-five-soldiers-killed-four-of-them-in-mortar-attack-idf-bombards-gaza/#ixzz38smUxSgj Follow us:
@timesofisrael on Twitter |
timesofisrael on Facebook
Via the
IDF Desk: 20 missiles found in UN-run school in Gaza
UNRWA
apologizes to Israel, condemns a ‘flagrant violation of the
inviolability of its premises’ and promises investigation; Israel calls
on UN to ‘act strongly’
BY
RAPHAEL AHREN July 17, 2014, 5:05 pm
394
Quick Watch0:54
Smoke
from rockets fired from Gaza City is seen after being launched toward
Israel, on July 15, 2014 ( photo credit: AFP/ Thomas Coex)
WRITERS
Raphael AhrenRaphael Ahren is the diplomatic correspondent at The Times of Israel.
Some
20 rockets were found Wednesday in a school in Gaza operated by the
United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the organization confirmed
Thursday.
The weapons were found in “the course of the regular inspection of its premises,” UNRWA
said in a statement, adding that the school was vacant.
“UNRWA
strongly condemns the group or groups responsible for placing the
weapons in one of its installations. This is a flagrant violation of the
inviolability of its premises under international law,” the statement
read.
The discovery would seem to confirm Israel’s oft-repeated
claim that Hamas and other Gazan terror groups use civilian
infrastructure to hide weapons.
“Yet again, Gaza terrorists abuse
UN facilities to carry out their violent activities. Hamas and other
terror groups are determined to put civilians in harm’s way and will
respect nothing in their violent frenzy,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson
Yigal Palmor told The Times of Israel. “We expect the UN and the
international community to condemn and to act strongly against this
brazen violation of international humanitarian law, which endangers
children and UN humanitarian activities.”
UNRWA logo (photo credit: UN)
This
incident was “the first of its kind in Gaza,” the organization said,
adding that it “endangered civilians including staff and put at risk
UNRWA’s vital mission to assist and protect Palestinian refugees in
Gaza.”
UNRWA informed all officials immediately after discovering
the rockets, and “successfully took all necessary measures for the
removal of the objects in order to preserve the safety and security of
the school.”
Officials from the agency, which has a reputation in
Jerusalem of being exceedingly critical of Israeli policies vis-à-vis
the Palestinians, have been summoned to the Foreign Ministry. They have
apologized to Israel for the incident, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman
said.
UNRWA has launched a “comprehensive investigation” into the incidence, the statement said.
The
agency, charged with taking care of the welfare of Palestinian
refugees, has “strong, established procedures to maintain the neutrality
of all its premises, including a strict no-weapons policy and routine
inspections of its installations, to ensure they are only used for
humanitarian purposes,” its statement read. “UNRWA will uphold and
further reinforce its procedures.”
Read more:
20 missiles found in UN-run school in Gaza | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/20-missiles-found-in-un-run-school-in-gaza/#ixzz384GZ95Fi
EXHIBIT
Hamas Tells Supporters to Describe Terrorists as Innocent Civilians
Posted by Jim Hoft on Sunday, July 20, 2014, 9:07 PM A Hamas rally in Gaza.
Hamas
is telling all supporters and social media users to describe all of the
victims in Gaza as innocent civilians and not terrorists.
IDF Blog reported:
Hamas
is employing a new tactic to conceal its true terrorist nature from the
world. It has begun asking Gaza’s social media users to disseminate
lies throughout the West and the Arab world.
This news will come as no surprise to those familiar with the radical Islamist organization’s usual methods.
However, now mainstream media outlets will have to think twice before
blindly quoting reports from Hamas about what’s really happening in
Gaza.
The Middle East Media Research (MEMRI) published
Thursday a translation of a new Hamas internet campaign to provide
guidelines for Gaza’s social media users. According to MEMRI, the Hamas
Interior Ministry has instructed Gazans to use Facebook and Twitter to
“play their part in strengthening the home front and properly convey
information worldwide.” The guidelines in fact instruct social media
users to mislead the public and propagate disinformation worldwide.
The
interior ministry’s “Be Aware – Social Media Activist Awareness
Campaign” centers around an instructional video and posters published on
the ministry’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Gazans are taught, first and
foremost, to refer to all terrorists as innocent civilians.
“Anyone
killed or martyred is to be called a civilian from Gaza or Palestine,
before we talk about his status in jihad or his military rank,” the guidelines state.“Don’t
forget to always add ‘innocent civilian’ or ‘innocent citizen’ in your
description of those killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza.” Mainstream media outlets would do well to remember this when quoting distorted reports from Gaza of civilian casualties.
Egyptian Media Applauds Netanyahu and Israeli Offensive in Gaza
Posted by Jim Hoft on Sunday, July 20, 2014, 3:34 PM
Thirteen Israeli soldiers were killed today in the Gaza offensive. Several Palestinians were also killed overnight in a Hamas stronghold.
Egyptian media continued to applaud Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza.
France 24 reported:
Since
the beginning of Israel’s offensive in Gaza, much of the Egyptian media
has laid the blame squarely on the Islamist group Hamas, which controls
the tiny Palestinian enclave.
Some journalists have even said that all Palestinians are to blame for their current plight.
Israel’s escalating attack on the Gaza Strip has triggered worldwide debate. Egypt is no exception.
But there is little of the traditional Arab solidarity towards Palestinians to be found in the Egyptian media.
Adel Nehaman, a columnist for the Egyptian daily El-Watan, said bluntly: “Sorry Gazans, I cannot support you until you rid yourselves of Hamas.”
Azza Sami, a writer for government daily Al-Ahram, went so far as to congratulate Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Twitter: “Thank you Netanyahu, and God give us more men like you to destroy Hamas!”
Star presenter of the Al-Faraeen TV
channel, Tawfik Okasha, an ardent supporter of Egypt’s military regime
and known for his firm stance against the ousted Muslim Brotherhood,
attacked the entire Palestinian population live on air.
“Gazans are not men,” he declared. “If they were men they would revolt against Hamas.”
His broadcast was even picked up by Israeli TV to demonstrate Egyptian support for Israel.
Hamas uses hospital facility to fire on IDF, army shoots back
By
YAAKOV LAPPIN
07/23/2014 13:23
inShare1
Select Language▼
Hamas
has used positions in the Al-Wafa hospital in Gaza to fire automatic
weapons and anti-tank missiles on soldiers, and the IDF fired back in
recent minutes, the army said Wednesday.
"The hospital was used
for activating war rooms and command and control centers by Hamas and
Palestinian Islamic Jihad," the army said.
The IDF Coordinator of
Government Activities in the Territories has issued repeated and direct
warnings to the hospital's manager, and to other Palestinians involved
in running the hospital, the army said.
"Firing on our soldiers
has grown in recent hours and endangered forces. As a result, the IDF
has decided to strike terrorists operating in the hospital complex," it
added.
http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Hamas-uses-hospital-facility-to-fire-on-IDF-army-shoots-back-368587
Posted by Jim Hoft on Tuesday, July 22, 2014, 5:46 PM IDF
For the second time in less than one week the United Nations found rockets hidden at one of its Gaza schools.
UNRWA reported:
Today,
in the course of the regular inspection of its premises, UNRWA
discovered rockets hidden in a vacant school in the Gaza Strip. As soon
as the rockets were discovered, UNRWA staff were withdrawn from the
premises, and so we are unable to confirm the precise number of rockets.
The school is situated between two other UNRWA schools that currently
each accommodate 1,500 internally displaced persons.
UNRWA
strongly and unequivocally condemns the group or groups responsible for
this flagrant violation of the inviolability of its premises under
international law.
The Agency immediately informed the
relevant parties and is pursuing all possible measures for the removal
of the objects in order to preserve the safety and security of the
school. UNRWA will launch a comprehensive investigation into the
circumstances surrounding this incident.
UNRWA has
reinforced and continues to implement its robust procedures to maintain
the neutrality of all its premises, including a strict no-weapons policy
and regular inspections of its installations, to ensure they are only
used for humanitarian purpose.
Meanwhile, Gaza terrorists
fled fighting today in an ambulance.
97 49 0 162
16 Comments
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/07/29/THIRD-Rocket-Arsenal-Found-At-UN-School-In-Gaza
Unreal: Third Hamas Rocket Stockpile Found Inside U.N. School In Gaza…
by
Jordan Schachtel 29 Jul 2014,
The United Nations Relief & Works Agency For Palestine Refugees (UNRWA)
announced Tuesday
that another rocket stockpile has been found at one of its schools in
Gaza. This instance marks the third time since the beginning of
Operation Protective Edge that a weapons arsenal has been found at an
UNRWA school in Gaza.
UNRWA has yet to place blame on any
individuals or organizations for placing the weapons stockpile within a
children’s school. The UN body refused to do so on the past two previous
occasions as well.
The UN body, after both previous findings, has handed the rockets it had found back into the possession of "the local police,"
otherwise known as the terrorist group Hamas.
This week, UNRWA supplies and building materials had been
found in Hamas’s tunnel infrastructure, which has been used to smuggle weapons and carry out attacks on the State of Israel.
The UN agency has a
well-documented history
of using their US taxpayer-funded facilities to promote anti-Israel and
anti-Semitic propaganda. It has in the past been accused of aiding and
abetting radical Islamists in Gaza and elsewhere.
UNRWA was
created in 1949 to provide relief and public works programs for
displaced Arab refugees that had formerly inhabited the British mandate
of Palestine. UNRWA is currently the largest agency-subdivision of the
entire UN, employing over 30,000 staff. UNRWA has objectively failed in
its primary goal of finding homes for those it has deemed "refugees".
From 1949 to present day, refugees recognized by UNRWA has grown from
750,000 to 5,000,000 people.
COMMENTS________________________________________GOOD COMMENTS
What difference does it make, the UN will just give it back to Hamas like they have been doing.
Besides
Sillary said that Gaza was small so it's OK to use schools. Of course
nobody challenged her thought process by saying well Iraq and
Afghanistan are not small so how do you justify them doing the same
thing there?
Most likely Hamas was planning on waiting til the
place was filled with mothers, babies, little children and pregnant
women to blow the place up and show how evil the Israelis are.
___________________
Where else would these scumbags store missles? I'd start checking day care centers
_______________
And Obama and Hillary support this!
Save America and vote these sick Democrats out!
"Hamas puts its missiles, its rockets in civilian areas. Part of it is that
Gaza’s pretty small and it’s very densely populated. The put their
command and control of Hamas military leaders in those civilian
areas."-Hillary Clinton
____________
The problem is that
anyone thinks the UN cares about this! There properties being used to
hide rockets and the supplies meant to build schools being used to build
tunnels.....
The UN could care less this is occurring! They will just ask for more money to do it again!
__________________
The
UN is complicit in war crimes because it is putting civilians in harms
way by allowing its schools to be used as storage facilities for arms.
Anybody for taking the UN to the ICC?
_____________
The
obsolete United Nations has failed its charter. WORLD PEACE! This is
what was promised the USA when it first formed 70 years ago. We've given
trillions to this failed group that is now full of thugs and thieves.
It is time to stop our membership. In 70 years not one person in DC or
politics can say they've ever seen an invoice or audit as to how the
millions of annual dues of just the USA are spent. This do nothing group
is only interested in perpetuating themselves for big salaries and fat
pensions at the expense of USA membership. The UN is Unsustainable so
withdraw our membership.
MORE:
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/07/29/THIRD-Rocket-Arsenal-Found-At-UN-School-In-Gaza
Hamas barred evacuation of UNRWA school — IDF
Hamas
prevented civilians from evacuating the UNRWA school-turned-shelter
that was reportedly shelled by an IDF tank earlier today, killed at
least 15 people, according to the IDF Spokesperson.
The IDF tweets
that last night, it told the Red Cross to evacuate civilians from the
Beit Hanoun shelter between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., and both UNRWA and the
Red Cross got the message.
The military says that this morning,
Hamas fired at IDF troops from a populated area near the shelter, and
also prevented the evacuation of civilians from the area.
It adds that earlier today, “several rockets launched from Gaza toward Israel fell short and hit Beit Hanoun.”
The
assessment in the IDF is that “apparently” a mortar shell went off
course and hit the courtyard, says Channel 2′s Roni Daniel. At the same
time, a Hamas rocket may also have hit the courtyard. Hamas was
targeting IDF troops in the area, he adds.
Read more:
15 Palestinians said killed in Gaza school amid 'serious combat' in area | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/day-17-cabinet-mulls-expanded-gaza-op-hamas-again-rules-out-ceasefire-faa-extends-flight-ban/#ixzz38PePEROW Follow us:
@timesofisrael on Twitter |
timesofisrael on Facebook
EXHIBIT
http://grid.pjmedia.com/?cmd=view-show-profile-article&id=1934
Although
in 2005 Israel gave up Gaza to the Palestinians in a naive "land for
peace" unilateral withdrawal, the result was not peace but rather over
10,000 rockets fired from Gaza at Israeli civilian communities. Here we
show how Hamas and other groups weaponize Palestinian civilians and
institutions to attack Israel.
Background:
The Hamas Charter of 1988 - Defines the Hamas Mission Against Israel and Jews
- Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it.
- Our
struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious. It needs all
sincere efforts. It is a step that inevitably should be followed by
other steps. The Movement is but one squadron that should be supported
by more and more squadrons from this vast Arab and Islamic world, until
the enemy is vanquished and Allah's victory is realized.
- The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said:
"The
Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews
(killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The
stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind
me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (evidently a certain kind
of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews."
(related by al-Bukhari and Moslem).
WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES - NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN
NEXT PAGE
1) Weaponize Women as Suicide Bombers and Terrorists
NEXT PAGE
Decapitated head of a female suicide bomber:
[Video] Gleeful, Smiling Female Terrorist Remembers How She Bombed the Sbarro Pizza Restaurant:
On August 9th, 2001, she killed:
- Hemeda 2 years old
- Avraham 4 years old
- Tamara 8 years old
- Yocheved 10 years old
- Raaya 14 years old
- Malki 15 years old
- Michal 16 years old
- and more
NEXT PAGE
2) Weaponize Children: Use Children’s TV to Brainwash Young Palestinians to Commit Atrocities Against Jews
NEXT PAGE
From the Hamas Charter: Focus on youth through education, information and media.
Article
15: “It is necessary that scientists, educators and teachers,
information and media people, as well as the educated masses, especially
the youth and sheikhs of the Islamic movements, should take part in the
operation of awakening (the masses).”
Hamas TV Children’s Show Encourages Killing of Jews – May 8, 2014
Martyrdom Indoctrination on Hamas TV Children’s Show – April 2, 2010?
Young Relatives Wish to Follow in Footsteps of a Female Martyr – April 15, 2013?
3) Weaponize Children: Glorify suicide bombers/martyrdom and terrorism.
?
NEXT PAGE: Weaponize Childrens – Stone Attacks
NEXT PAGE: Weaponize Children – Stone Attacks
Exhibit 6
Rocket Attacks on Israel From Gaza
1.4K
Israel’s
citizens are regularly threatened by rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.
Hamas and other terrorist organizations launch mortars, rockets and
missiles towards Israelis cities. Here is everything you need to know
about the constant threat Hamas poses to Israel’s civilians.
Since
Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005, terrorists have fired more
than 11,000 rockets into Israel. Over 5 million Israelis are currently
living under threat of rocket attacks.
More than half a million
Israelis have less than 60 seconds to find shelter after a rocket is
launched from Gaza into Israel. Most rockets launched from Gaza into
Israel are capable of reaching Israel’s biggest cities, including Tel
Aviv and Jerusalem.
Rocket fire from Gaza is a constant threat
facing Israel’s civilians. In 2011 alone, 630 rockets from Gaza hit
Israeli towns. That’s an even higher number than in 2010, when 231
rockets hit Israel.
Since 2001, more than 15,200 rockets and mortars, an average of over 3 rocket attacks every single day, have targeted Israel.
Hamas,
the ruling entity of the Gaza Strip, is responsible for most of the
rocket fire on Israeli population centers. The organization – which is
recognized by the US, UK, EU and Israel as a terrorist group – has been
increasing the size and capabilities of its rocket arsenal. In addition,
Hamas has turned a blind eye as other terrorist organizations have
launched rocket attacks.
Twice since 2005, the IDF has been forced
to launch major operations in response to heavy rocket fire on Israel’s
civilians. The most recent,
Operation Protective Edge, began after continual and relentless rocket attacks on Israeli cities since the beginning of 2014.
Operation Protective Edge – 2014
On
July 7, 2014, the IDF launched Operation Protective Edge in order to
restore quiet to the region and stop Hamas terrorism. The single goal of
the operation is to stop
Hamas’ incessant rocket attacks against Israel’s civilians.
The
operation is ongoing, and since the start of the operation over 1000
rockets have been launched at Israel. Of those, 754 have hit Israel and
approximately 201 were intercepted by the
Iron Dome Missile defense system.
Hamas
has fired long range rockets at cities across Israel, including Tel
Aviv and Jerusalem. Rockets such as the M-302 – the same missiles
confiscated from the
KLOS-C weapons seizure – have
long range capabilities and endanger the majority if Israel’s
population. Rocket sirens have sounded non-stop across Israel,
sending civilians running for shelter.
In response to these rocket attacks, the IDF has targeted over 1,474 terror targets using
precision attacks to pinpoint terrorists and terror infrastructure while limiting civilian casualties.
Operation Pillar of Defense – 2012
On November 14, 2012, in response to incessant rocket attacks in the Gaza Strip, the IDF launched
Operation Pillar of Defense, a widespread campaign against terror targets in Gaza.
During
the eight days of the operation — and in the weeks leading up to it —
life was unbearable for more than 3.5 million Israelis. From November 14
to November 21, Palestinian terrorist groups fired more than 1,506
rockets at Israel. The majority of those rockets struck Israel, damaging
homes, schools and other civilian areas.
During the operation, Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups fired long-range rockets,
such as the Fajr-5,
toward Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Though the IDF severely damaged the
terrorist organizations’ long-range rocket arsenal, more than 3.5
million Israelis are still under the threat of Hamas’ rocket fire.
Rocket fire from Gaza causes severe damage
Operation Cast Lead – 2008
In December 2008, after
exhausting non-military moves and diplomatic overtures to hinder Hamas’ rocket attacks, Israel launched Operation Cast Lead. The military operation was successful in destroying
Hamas’ rocket launchers and terror infrastructure.
Almost
immediately after the operation, Hamas focused on rearming itself and
increasing its military capabilities. The terroirst organization
extended the range and quality of weapons that threaten Israel’s
civilian population. Thousands of rockets were smuggled into Gaza, and
many of the terror cells which Israel neutralized in 2008 have been
revived.
If you learned something new from reading this, you should probably check out:
List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Palestinian_rocket_attacks_on_Israel
These are
lists of rocket and mortar attacks on Israel by
Palestinian militant groups.
- List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, 2001
- List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, 2002–2006
- List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, 2007
- List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, 2008
- List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, 2009
- List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, 2010
- List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, 2011
- List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, 2012
- List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, 2013
- List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, 2014
Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For information pertaining to the wider conflict, see Arab–Israeli conflict.
Palestinian rocket attacks
on Israel |
A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip
into Israel, December 2008. |
Since 2001,
Palestinian militants have launched thousands of
rocket and
mortar attacks on
Israel from the
Gaza Strip as part of the continuing
Arab–Israeli conflict. As of July 2014 the attacks have killed 28 people,
[1] mostly civilians, and injured thousands, but their main effect is their creation of widespread
psychological trauma and disruption of daily life among the Israeli populace.
[2] Medical studies in
Sderot, the Israeli city closest to the Gaza Strip, have documented a
post-traumatic stress disorder incidence among young children of almost 50%, as well as high rates of
depression and
miscarriage.
[3][4][5] A public opinion poll
conducted in March 2013 found that most Palestinians do not support firing rockets at Israel from the Gaza Strip.
[6] These rocket attacks have caused flight cancellations at
Ben Gurion airport.
[7]
The weapons, often generically referred to as
Qassams,
were initially crude and short-range, mainly affecting Sderot and other
communities bordering the Gaza Strip. However, in 2006 more
sophisticated rockets began to be deployed, reaching the larger coastal
city of
Ashkelon, and by early 2009 major cities
Ashdod and
Beersheba had been hit by
Katyusha,
WS-1B[8] and
Grad rockets.
[9] In 2012,
Jerusalem and Israel’s commercial center
Tel Aviv were targeted with locally made “M-75″ and Iranian
Fajr-5 rockets, respectively,
[10] and in July 2014, the northern city of
Haifa was targeted for the first time.
[11] A few projectiles have contained
white phosphorus.
[12][13][14][15][16][17][18]
Attacks have been carried out by all Palestinian armed groups,
[19] and, prior to the 2008–2009
Gaza War, were consistently supported by most Palestinians,
[20][21][22][23] although the stated goals have been mixed. The attacks, widely condemned for targeting civilians, have been described as
terrorism by
United Nations,
European Union and Israeli officials, and are defined as
war crimes by
human rights groups
Amnesty International and
Human Rights Watch.
Indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian structures that do not
discriminate between civilians and military targets are
illegal under international law.
[24][25]
Israeli
defenses constructed specifically to deal with the weapons include
fortifications for schools and bus stops as well as an alarm system
named
Red Color.
Iron Dome,
a system to intercept short-range rockets, was developed by Israel and
first deployed in the spring of 2011 to protect Beersheba and Ashkelon,
but officials and experts warned that it would not be completely
effective. Shortly thereafter, it intercepted a Palestinian Grad rocket
for the first time.
[26]
Israel has responded to the attacks with several military operations in the Gaza Strip, among them
Operation Rainbow (May 2004),
Operation Days of Penitence (2004), the
2006 Israel-Gaza conflict,
Operation Autumn Clouds (2006),
Operation Hot Winter (2008),
Operation Cast Lead (2009),
Operation Pillar of Defense (2012), and
Operation Protective Edge (2014).
Overview
Attacks began in 2001. Since then, nearly 4,800 rockets have hit southern Israel, just over 4,000 of them since
Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in
August 2005. The range of the rockets has increased over time. The
original Qassam rocket has a range of about 10 km (6.2 mi) but more
advanced rockets, including versions of the old Soviet Grad or Katyusha
have hit Israeli targets 40 km (25 mi) from Gaza.
[27]
Some analysts see the attacks as a shift away from reliance on
suicide bombing,
which was previously Hamas’s main method of attacking Israel, and an
adoption of the rocket tactics used by Lebanese militant group
Hezbollah.
[28]
Participating groups
All the Palestinian armed groups carry out rocket and mortar attacks, with varying frequency.
[19] The main groups are
Hamas,
Islamic Jihad,
[29] the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine,
[30] the
Popular Resistance Committees,
[31] Fatah,
[32] and the
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
[19] Hamas is the de facto governing authority in the Gaza Strip, while Fatah holds the presidency of the
Palestinian National Authority.
Islamic
Jihad has involved other Palestinians in the activities, running summer
camps where children were taught how to hold a Qassam rocket launcher.
[33] One Islamic Jihad rocket maker,
Awad al-Qiq,
was a science teacher and headmaster at a United Nations school.
Christopher Gunness, a UNRWA spokesman, said the UN had “zero-tolerance
policy towards politics and militant activities in our schools”, but
that they “cannot police people’s minds.”
[34]
Palestinian
security forces say that they do little or nothing to prevent rocket
attacks or to hold responsible the militants who launch them, according
to a 2007 report by
Human Rights Watch[35]
The Israeli
Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center estimated that in 2007
[36] the proportions of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip were:
34% –
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (
Al Quds)
22% –
Hamas (
Qassam)
8% –
Fatah (
Kafah)
6% –
Popular Resistance Committees (
al Nasser)
30% – unknown
History
2001–06
Main articles: List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, 2001 and 2002–2006
Rockets were originally fired mainly on
Sderot, an Israeli city on the border of the Gaza Strip.
[37] Sderot’s
population density is slightly greater than that of the Gaza Strip. Due
to this, and despite the imperfect aim of these homemade projectiles,
they have caused deaths and injuries, as well as significant damage to
homes and property, psychological distress and emigration from the city.
Ninety percent of the city’s residents have had a rocket exploding in
their street or an adjacent one.
[27]
On March 28, 2006, while Israelis went to general elections, the first
Katyusha rocket from Gaza was fired at Israel. The rocket fell near the
Itfah kibbutz on the outskirts of Ashkelon and caused no damage or casualties.
Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.
[38][39] Several
months later, On July 5, 2006, a rocket hit the center of Ashkelon for
the first time, striking an empty high school. Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert called the attack, which was claimed by
Hamas, an “escalation of unprecedented gravity”,
[40][41] but the event was quickly overshadowed by the
2006 Lebanon War.
On 25 of May 2006 the
al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades group that published on April 2006 that they had been launching long range missile on Israeli cities,
[42] sent a letter to
Ramattan that they had developed Chemical and biological biological weapons and threaten with Chemical warfare.
[43][44][45][46][47] later that month report of use of chemical weapons by that group had been published in the media.
[48]
2007
Main article: List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, 2007
On January 5, 2007
Palestinian militants fired a Katyusha rocket at Ashkelon. The Katyusha has a range of 18–20 kilometers, and the rocket was fired from the
Al-Atatra region
in the northern Gaza Strip, traveling about 17 kilometers before
reaching its target. No one was hurt in the Katyusha attack.
[49] On October 7, 2007 the
Popular Resistance Committees claimed responsibility for a
Grad-type Katyusha that hit
Netivot. However, during this period Katyusha attacks from Gaza remained rare.
[50]
2008–09
Main articles: List of rocket and mortar attacks in Israel in 2008 and 2009
A
Grad missile hits
Beersheba, 2009.
In
January 2008 the border between Gaza and Egypt was breached by Hamas.
It allowed them to bring in Russian and Iranian made rockets with a
larger range.
In the first half of 2008, the number of attacks
rose sharply, consistently totaling several hundred per month. In
addition, Ashkelon was hit many times during this period by Grad
rockets.
On February 26, 2008 a Grad rocket hit the hospital grounds of the
Barzilai Medical Center, approximately 200 meters away from the
neonatal intensive-care unit.
As it is only 6 miles away from the Gaza border, it is the frequently
the target of rocket attacks, with 140 rockets fired at it over the
course of one weekend.
[51][52][53]
Israeli boy disabled by Palestinian rocket fire.
[54][55]
After reports of shells with white phosphorus
[56] launched
against southern parts of Israel on 14 January 2009, Israeli medical
emergency forces are now taught how to treat white phosphorus victims
and are ordered to have equipment to handle white phosphorus.
[57][58][59][60]
From June 19 to December 19, 2008, an Egyptian-mediated
ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was
in effect. During this time, only several dozen rockets were fired at
Israel, a marked decrease from the pre-ceasefire period. Hamas
imprisoned some of those firing rockets.
[61]
During the
Gaza War, Palestinian militants began to deploy improved
Qassam and
factory-made rockets with a range of 40 kilometers.
[62] Rockets reached major Israeli cities
Ashdod,
[63] Beersheba and
Gedera for the first time, putting one-eighth of Israel’s population in rocket range
[64] and raising concerns about the safety of the
Tel Aviv metropolitan area, Israel’s largest population center,
[65][66] as well as the
Negev Nuclear Research Center.
[67] According to Isaeli authorities, 571 rockets and 205 mortar shells landed in Israel during the 22 days of the conflict.
[19]
On
January 18, 2009, following a unilateral ceasefire declaration by
Israel, Hamas and Islamic Jihad announced that they would cease rocket
attacks for one week.
[68] After that, rockets and mortar attacks continued almost daily through February.
[69][70]
2010
Main article: List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, 2010
According to the
Israel Security Agency‘s
annual report, Palestinians carried out 150 rocket launches and 215
mortar launches at Israel during the year. This represented a decrease
in both types of attacks compared to 2009, in which there were 569
rocket launches and 289 mortar launches.
[71][72]
The report stated that
Iran succeeded in smuggling 1,000 mortar shells and hundreds of short-range rockets into the Gaza Strip over the course of the year.
[71] The security agency also warned that the
Sinai Desert was turning into
Hamas’s “backyard”
for operations and storage of arms. 2010 saw two unique instances of
Hamas firing rockets from the Sinai at the southern Israeli port city
of
Eilat.
[71]
On 18 March,
Thai national Manee Singmueangphon was killed by a Palestinian
Qassam rocket launched at a greenhouse in
Netiv Haasara. Both
Ansar al Sunna, an
Islamist group thought to have links with
al-Qaeda in Iraq, and
al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, the military wing of
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas‘s
Fatah party, claimed responsibility for the attack.
On 30 July, a
Hamas Grad missile hit a residential neighborhood in the heart of the Israeli coastal city of
Ashkelon. No one was physically injured, but eight people suffered from shock and surrounding apartment buildings sustained damage.
On 2 August, Hamas militants in
Egypt fired seven
Iranian-made
Grad missiles at the resort city of
Eilat in the extreme south of Israel. Overshot missiles hit the
Jordanian city of
Aqaba, killing one person and wounding several.
On 20 October, an accidental explosion occurred at a Hamas Qassam rocket training site in the densely crowded
Tel As-Sultan neighborhood of
Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Thirteen people were injured by flying shrapnel, including five children and three women.
[73]
2011
Main article: List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, 2011
Over the course of 2011, 680 rockets, mortars and Grad missiles were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel.
[74] At the very end of 2010,
Palestinian Islamic Jihad stated that it and other Palestinians militant groups in the Gaza Strip would temporarily halt rocket attacks against Israel.
[75] However,
by 7 January, Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for a
mortar attack that injured three agricultural workers,
[76] and
the group was responsible for most of the attacks on Israel in the
first two weeks of the year. On 12 January, the group declared again
that it would cease firing rockets.
[77] Multiple, unclaimed rocket and mortar attacks occurred on 16, 17 and 18 January.
On 2 January, it was revealed that two East
Jerusalem Arabs, employees of the British Consulate General in Jerusalem, were arrested for suspected involvement in an aborted
Hamas plot to fire a missile at
Teddy Stadium during a soccer match. The two were charged the following day with
weapons trafficking.
[78][79]
On 15 March, Israel seized the
Victoria, a ship containing concealed
Iranian missiles destined for the Gaza Strip.
[80]
On 27 March, Israel first deployed the new
Iron Dome missile defense system to protect
Beersheba.
The city, one of Israel’s largest, had recently been targeted again by
Palestinian missiles after being safe since the 2008-2009
Gaza War. A week later, a second battery was deployed to protect
Ashkelon.
[81] On
7 April, the Ashkelon battery successfully intercepted a Palestinian
Grad missile fired at the city, marking the first successful
interception of a short range rocket in history.
[26] On 31 August, Israel deployed a third battery outside
Ashdod before
the new school year. As of that date, Iron Dome had intercepted several
dozen Gazan rockets at an estimated cost of $100,000 per interception,
not including the price of the system itself.
[82]
On 4 April, Israel indicted alleged
Hamas “rocket godfather”
Dirar Abu Sisi in the Beersheba District Court. Abu Sisi had reportedly been captured by Israel in the
Ukraine a month prior. He denied any wrongdoing.
[83]
On 7 April, Hamas militants fired a
Kornet anti-tank missile at an Israel
school bus. The sole passenger on board, 16-year-old boy Daniel Viflic, was killed.
On 18 August, a series of
cross-border attacks were
carried out in southern Israel near the Egyptian border. The initial
attacks sparked several days of clashes between Israel and Palestinian
militant groups that resulted in substantial casualties to both sides.
2012
Main article: List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, 2012
The
Jersalem Post and
Ynet news reported that in January, 2012, two mortars were fired from Gaza into the area governed by the
Eshkol Regional Council which were determined by the
Israeli military to have contained
white phosphorus; the shells were reported to have landed in open fields, causing no injuries or damage.
[84] The newspaper stated that the
Eshkol Regional Councilfiled a formal complaint with the United Nations, noting that the
Geneva Conventions prohibit the use of phosphorus against civilians.
[15][85]
Until April 2012 more than 360 rocket and mortar attacks had been launched (~300 during the
March 2012 Gaza–Israel clashes).
[citation needed]
The
Ynet newsreported that In May 2012 the
Islamic Jihad published video footage of a multi-barrel rocket launcher mounted on vehicle
[86]
On
October 24, 2012, “[m]ore than 65 rockets were fired into southern
Israel from the Gaza Strip.” A woman in Ashkelon, three foreign workers,
and a policeman received injuries. “Several people were treated for
shock,” according to JNS.org.
[87]
2013
Main article: List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, 2013
On March 21, during US President
Barack Obama‘s official visit to Israel, Palestinians in
Beit Hanoun fired four rockets at the Israeli city of
Sderot,
triggering alarms in local communities and forcing residents on their
way to work or school to run to bomb shelters. One rocket hit the
backyard of a home in the city, spraying shrapnel into the walls and
shattering windows. A second projectile landed in an open area within
the surrounding
Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council. The two remaining rockets were believed to have landed within the Gaza Strip.
[88][89][90][91] The
Mujahedeen Shura Council, a Palestinian
Salafi group, claimed responsibility for the attack
[92]
On April 2, Palestinians attempted to fire two
mortar shells into Israel; both landed within the Gaza Strip. Later, in the evening, a third projectile was fired into the
Eshkol Regional Council.
[93]The
Mujahedeen Shura Council claimed responsibility for the attacks.
[94][95][96] Israel responded to the attacks with air strikes on two targets in the Gaza Strip that night, causing no injuries.
[94]This was the first such strike since
Operation Pillar of Defense. Israeli Defense Minister
Moshe Yaalon said:
“[W]e see Hamas as being responsible for everything that is fired from
the Strip at Israel. We won’t allow any routine involving a drizzle of
rockets at our civilians and forces.”
[97]
On April 3, Palestinians from Gaza fired two rockets at the Israeli city of
Sderot.
The rockets struck during the morning as children were arriving to
school, triggering the alert siren and sending families into bomb
shelters for cover.
[97] The United Nations special envoy to the Middle East
Robert Serry condemned the “indiscriminate firing of rockets into civilian areas” and also called on Israel to exercise restraint.
[98] France said it “harshly condemns” the rocket fire on the “civilian population in south Israel”. Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu said: “If the quiet is violated, we will respond strongly”.
[99]
On April 4, Palestinians again fired a rocket and three mortar shells at Israel. A rocket landed in an open area in the
Eshkol Regional Council at around 2 am, triggering alarms in nearby communities, while two of the mortars fell within the Gaza Strip.
[100][101]
On April 29, a rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip which impacted southern Israel, causing no casualties or damage.
[102]
On
June 19, three Grad rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip, hitting the
Israeli town of Ashkelon. The attacks caused no injuries, marking the
first time that rockets had been fired from Gaza since April 29.
[103]
2014
Main article: List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, 2014
On 5 March, the
Israeli Navy intercepted a ship containing dozens of long-range rockets being smuggled from
Iran to the Gaza Strip.
[104]
On 10 March,
Hamas, the Palestinian
Islamist group
that controls the Gaza Strip, unveiled a monument to its rocket attacks
on Israeli cities and towns, a life-sized model of an
M-75 rocket in
Gaza City. The group declared that the attacks “managed to take the battle to the heart of the Zionist entity (Israel)”.
[105]
Tactics
Khaled Jaabari, Gaza commander of the
al-Aqsa Martyr’s Brigades, said that the group uses
Google Earth to determine targets.
[106] Rocket fire occasionally occurs in the early morning when children head to school.
[107][108]
A source close to Hamas described the movement’s tactic of launching projectiles from between homes during the
2008-2009 Israel-Gaza conflict:
“They fired rockets in between the houses and covered the alleys with
sheets so they could set the rockets up in five minutes without the
planes seeing them. The moment they fired, they escaped, and they are
very quick.”
[109] Videos released by Hamas in 2011 show Qassam rockets being fired from residential areas and mosques. According to
Yedioth Aharonoth journalist
Elior Levy, “Gaza terror cells choose to fire from urban areas knowing
that the Israel Defense Forces refrain from intercepting them for fear
of hurting civilians. The killing of civilians in Gaza also serves the
terrorists’ purposes who claim Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza”.
[110]
It has been documented, that Arab terrorist groups and Hamas placed weapons and missile launchers in densely populated areas.
[111] Human
Rights Watch issued a report condemning the firing of Kassam rockets as
“war crimes”, stating “None of these rockets can be reliably aimed…
Such weapons are inherently indiscriminate when directed towards densely
populated areas. The absence of Israeli military forces in the areas
struck by the rockets, as well as statements from the leaders of Hamas
and other armed groups, indicate that many of these attacks are
deliberately intended to strike Israeli civilians and civilian
structures… Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups have frequently
violated the laws of war by firing rockets from within populated areas…”
[24] Indiscriminate
attacks on civilians and civilian structures that do not discriminate
between civilians and military targets are
illegal under international law. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_rocket_attacks_on_Israel
Complaint to ICC Khalid Meshaal 07.29.2014 final
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