Israel Strikes UN HQ in Gaza

Earlier this week, we had this travesty

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) denied Monday a report that an errant mortar shell fired by its troops caused the casualties at a UN school in Gaza Strip.

Forty-six people were killed and some 150 injured last Tuesday when the school, run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency(UNRWA) in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, was stricken by Israeli fire.

But the IDF does not shy away from increasing their level of terror. Now by attacking the UN Gaza Headquarters itself.

See video in link above.

The Unrwa compound in Gaza City on fire

Israeli tanks have pushed deep into Gaza City, prompting fierce exchanges of gunfire with fighters of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The UN’s relief agency, Unrwa, says part of its HQ in Gaza caught fire after being hit by Israeli shells.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon expressed outrage. Israeli PM Ehud Olmert said troops returned fire after coming under attack from the UN’s compound.

Israel apologises to UN after ‘phosphorous’ strike on its headquarters in Gaza where 700 Palestinians were sheltering.

Gordon Brown has condemned an Israeli attack on UN relief headquarters in Gaza today as ‘indefensible’.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency headquarters in the Gaza Strip was ablaze after Israel dropped what reports claimed were three phosphorous bombs on the site.
Up to 700 Palestinians were believed to have been in the building, which was being used as a shelter
[…]
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak also issued an apology to the UN for the ‘grave mistake’ – but Foreign Office Minister Lord Malloch-Brown ‘utterly condemned’ Israel’s actions.
And Mr Brown, speaking on his return from Berlin and Paris, where he had discussed the crisis, said: ‘Today’s attack on the UN headquarters in Gaza is indefensible.
‘The UN’s mission in Gaza is purely humanitarian, bringing relief to civilians suffering in appalling conditions as a result of the ongoing military action and restrictions on food and medical supplies entering Gaza.
‘UN staff are working on behalf of the international community – any attack on them is unacceptable, as Israel has acknowledged.’
Israel unleashed its heaviest shelling of Gaza’s crowded neighbourhoods on today
in what might be a final push against Hamas before a ceasefire deal.
A doctor was quoted as saying that a hospital was hit by Israeli fire. Abu Dhabi TV said an Israeli aircraft shot a missile at the Reuters offices in Gaza City.

It is not only the US administration that warrants a trip to the International Criminal Court

The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt)[1] was established in 2002 as a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression, although it cannot currently exercise jurisdiction over the crime of aggression.[2][3] The Court came into being on 1 July 2002 — the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, entered into force[4] — and it can only prosecute crimes committed on or after that date.[5]

As of November 2008, 108 states are members of the Court;[6][7][8] A further 40 countries have signed but not ratified the Rome Statute.[6] However, a number of states, including China, Russia, India and the United States, are critical of the Court and have not joined.

The Israeli administration is creating hatred for Israel for many years to come. The world is watching and with the exception of the US the condemnation of Israel is global.
The sentiments of this respected politician are shared worldwide.

6 Comments

Steven D on January 15, 2009 at 12:22 pm

Well white phosphorus isn’t really a weapon. Don’t you remember all the apologists who claimed its use in Fallujah was merely for illumination purposes? That is, until the US Army essentially admitted in the article in one of its own journals that it had been used as a weapon.

ask on January 15, 2009 at 12:29 pm

Unfortunately, Steven, I recall all to well those days in 2004.
- Steven D on January 15, 2009 at 12:31 pm
  
  Ditto. People who want to see violence employed against others will make any excuse for those who carry out their wishes.

Oui on January 15, 2009 at 3:09 pm

UN official John Ging: “Looks, smells and burns like phosphorous.”

(Deutsche Welle) – UN official John Ging, who was in the compound at the time, called the Israeli account “nonsense.”

At least two key medical facilities and two press buildings were also hit in separate incidents.

“It looks like phosphorus, it smells like phosphorus and it burns like phosphorus,” said Chris Gunness, a spokesman for UNRWA, the aid agency for Palestinian refugees, about the situation at the compound.

…
The shelling set fire to the central warehouse in the UN compound, containing food and medicine, and fuel supplies were not safe from the fire, officials said. The compound houses large fuel reserves to allow humanitarian agencies to carry out their work.

"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."

ask on January 15, 2009 at 3:18 pm

FIELD UPDATE ON GAZA FROM THE HUMANITARIAN COORDINATOR
15 January 2009, 1900 hours

“The Red Cross is not managing to coordinate evacuation of wounded people. There are people right next to the Red Crescent hospital bleeding to death. We cannot get to them as the Israelis shoot at us.” (Palestinian medic)
[…]
Following a year and a half of blockade and almost three weeks of intense bombardment by land, sea and air, the Gaza Strip is witnessing a devastating humanitarian crisis. The casualty rate is rapidly rising; extensive damage has been incurred to public infrastructure and homes; and water, sanitation and electricity services are barely functioning. Supplies of essential commodities such as food, cooking gas, water and fuel are diminishing and increasingly hard to obtain. Children, who make up 56 percent of the Gaza population, continue to bear the brunt of the violence and account for a significant proportion of the dead and severely maimed.
[…]
The Al Wafa Hospital east of Gaza City (the only rehabilitation hospital in the Gaza Strip), Al Fata Hospital west of Gaza City, and Al Quds Hospital were directly hit by the Israeli army. One Al Fata Hospital ambulance and two Al Quds Hospital ambulances were hit.
Around 0530 hours, at least 500 people living in Tel el Hawa sought refuge at the Al Quds Palestinian Red Crescent Society Hospital. From 1030 hours, shelling struck the administrative building and damaged the second floor of the hospital. A fire broke out, putting at risk the patients, staff and displaced persons in the hospital. The fire was eventually extinguished at around 1400 hours. As people were leaving the hospital, one fatality and four injuries were reported due to fighting in the area. At about 1800 hours, the 500 displaced people were evacuated to an UNRWA emergency shelter.
- Oui on January 15, 2009 at 4:58 pm
  
  .
  from Fallujah – originally codenamed “Thanksgiving Massacre”.
  
  "But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."

Steven D on January 15, 2009 at 12:22 pm

Well white phosphorus isn’t really a weapon. Don’t you remember all the apologists who claimed its use in Fallujah was merely for illumination purposes? That is, until the US Army essentially admitted in the article in one of its own journals that it had been used as a weapon.
- ask on January 15, 2009 at 12:29 pm
  
  Unfortunately, Steven, I recall all to well those days in 2004.
  - Steven D on January 15, 2009 at 12:31 pm
    
    Ditto. People who want to see violence employed against others will make any excuse for those who carry out their wishes.
Oui on January 15, 2009 at 3:09 pm

.

UN official John Ging: “Looks, smells and burns like phosphorous.”

(Deutsche Welle) – UN official John Ging, who was in the compound at the time, called the Israeli account “nonsense.”

At least two key medical facilities and two press buildings were also hit in separate incidents.

“It looks like phosphorus, it smells like phosphorus and it burns like phosphorus,” said Chris Gunness, a spokesman for UNRWA, the aid agency for Palestinian refugees, about the situation at the compound.

…
The shelling set fire to the central warehouse in the UN compound, containing food and medicine, and fuel supplies were not safe from the fire, officials said. The compound houses large fuel reserves to allow humanitarian agencies to carry out their work.

"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
- ask on January 15, 2009 at 3:18 pm
  
  FIELD UPDATE ON GAZA FROM THE HUMANITARIAN COORDINATOR
  15 January 2009, 1900 hours
  
  “The Red Cross is not managing to coordinate evacuation of wounded people. There are people right next to the Red Crescent hospital bleeding to death. We cannot get to them as the Israelis shoot at us.” (Palestinian medic)
  […]
  Following a year and a half of blockade and almost three weeks of intense bombardment by land, sea and air, the Gaza Strip is witnessing a devastating humanitarian crisis. The casualty rate is rapidly rising; extensive damage has been incurred to public infrastructure and homes; and water, sanitation and electricity services are barely functioning. Supplies of essential commodities such as food, cooking gas, water and fuel are diminishing and increasingly hard to obtain. Children, who make up 56 percent of the Gaza population, continue to bear the brunt of the violence and account for a significant proportion of the dead and severely maimed.
  […]
  The Al Wafa Hospital east of Gaza City (the only rehabilitation hospital in the Gaza Strip), Al Fata Hospital west of Gaza City, and Al Quds Hospital were directly hit by the Israeli army. One Al Fata Hospital ambulance and two Al Quds Hospital ambulances were hit.
  Around 0530 hours, at least 500 people living in Tel el Hawa sought refuge at the Al Quds Palestinian Red Crescent Society Hospital. From 1030 hours, shelling struck the administrative building and damaged the second floor of the hospital. A fire broke out, putting at risk the patients, staff and displaced persons in the hospital. The fire was eventually extinguished at around 1400 hours. As people were leaving the hospital, one fatality and four injuries were reported due to fighting in the area. At about 1800 hours, the 500 displaced people were evacuated to an UNRWA emergency shelter.
  - Oui on January 15, 2009 at 4:58 pm
    
    .
    from Fallujah – originally codenamed “Thanksgiving Massacre”.
    
    "But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."

Israel Strikes UN HQ in Gaza

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