[News] Gruesome Gaza scene sets off two days of violence

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/gruesome-gaza-scene-sets-two-days-violence 



  Gruesome Gaza scene sets off two days of violence

Maureen Clare Murphy 
<https://electronicintifada.net/people/maureen-clare-murphy> - 
<https://electronicintifada.net/blog/rights-and-accountability> 24 
February 2020

------------------------------------------------------------------------

An Islamic Jihad fighter guards the site of an Israeli airstrike in Khan 
Younis, southern Gaza, on 24 February.

APA images

Uncertainty reigns amid unconfirmed reports of a unilateral ceasefire 
declared by Palestinian fighters after two days of intense fire across 
the Gaza-Israel boundary, and Israeli strikes on Damascus.

Israel, due to hold elections next week, claimed 
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/rocket-attack-targets-israeli-south-despite-reported-ceasefire/> 
that more than 90 rockets were launched from Gaza on Sunday and Monday. 
Schools in the south of the country were ordered closed on Tuesday for 
the second consecutive day.

The Israeli military targeted what it described as multiple Islamic 
Jihad sites across Gaza. Israel also closed Gaza’s fishing zone and its 
checkpoints along the boundary, halting the movement of people and goods 
in and out of the territory.

The latest episode of armed confrontation began early Sunday 
<http://mezan.org/post/30018> after Israeli forces fired artillery 
shells 
<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/23/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-bulldozer-body-palestinian.html> 
at two men near Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

Israel claimed 
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-fires-on-gazans-it-says-were-planting-a-bomb-along-border-2-reported-killed/> 
the men planted a bomb along the boundary and released surveillance 
footage showing two figures placing an object near the fence, as well as 
a photo purporting to show the explosive device.


    Horrific incident

Soon after the Israeli fire, medical crews and locals arrived at the 
scene. Soldiers shot toward them as they attempted to evacuate the two 
people injured during the shelling.

Nearly two hours after the initial shelling, Palestinians managed to 
evacuate one of the wounded men, who was taken to hospital and reported 
to be in critical condition. Israeli soldiers shot one of the rescuers 
in the leg with live fire, according to Al Mezan, a human rights group 
in Gaza.

Meanwhile, an Israeli military bulldozer and a tank reached the other 
man injured during the shelling “amid heavy gunfire that caused the 
injury of another citizen,” Al Mezan added.

The rights group said that soldiers operating the bulldozer ran over the 
body of the man injured by the shelling hours earlier, and dropped him 
to the ground to “confirm the kill.”

Witnesses recorded video 
<https://twitter.com/ShehabAgency/status/1231473597664940032> of the 
horrific incident:

    #شاهد
    <https://twitter.com/hashtag/%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%87%D8%AF?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
    قوات الاحتلال تنكل بجثمان شهيد وتنقله بواسطة جرافة عسكرية بطريقة
    بشعة وتصيب أحد الشبان الذين حاولوا انتشاله شرقي بلدة عبسان الجديدة
    شرقي خانيونس جنوبي قطاع غزة pic.twitter.com/3oHmKLjVXE
    <https://t.co/3oHmKLjVXE>

    — وكالة شهاب (@ShehabAgency) February 23, 2020
    <https://twitter.com/ShehabAgency/status/1231473597664940032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

The first of three clips in the video shows the mouth of the bulldozer 
crushing and flipping the injured man’s body multiple times.

The second clip shows the man’s body dangling from the mouth of the 
bulldozer. The third shows the bulldozer and tank moving towards the 
boundary fence while carrying the man’s body.

It is not clear how much time passed between the various clips in the 
video, which went viral after it was published on Twitter by Shehab News 
Agency.

/The New York Times/ reported that an Israeli military spokesperson 
falsely claimed that al-Naem and the other man wounded in the shelling 
were in Israeli territory.

Following the wide circulation of the video, Israel’s propaganda 
apparatus kicked into gear to justify its army’s actions:

    A horrifying recent video showed an Israeli bulldozer dragging the
    dead body of a Palestinian in Gaza.

    Israel’s app has 4 “missions” dedicated to justifying this
    disgusting incident. pic.twitter.com/NqMOUezGN3
    <https://t.co/NqMOUezGN3>

    — Behind Israel's Troll Army (@AntiBDSApp) February 24, 2020
    <https://twitter.com/AntiBDSApp/status/1232055828582035461?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>


    “Blatant violations”

Adalah, a human rights group in Israel, stated 
<https://www.adalah.org/en/content/view/9909> that the video of the 
incident shows Israeli forces committing “war crimes and blatant 
violations” of international law, and demanded a criminal investigation.

Al Mezan likened the abuse of al-Naem’s body to the 2003 killing of 
American solidarity activist Rachel Corrie 
<https://electronicintifada.net/tags/rachel-corrie>, who was crushed by 
an Israeli soldier operating a bulldozer in Gaza.

The rights group added that the impunity enjoyed by Israel encourages 
such crimes by its occupation forces, and called on third states to 
support investigations of alleged Israeli war crimes by the 
International Criminal Court.

Last September, Israel’s high court approved 
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israeli-court-approves-use-palestinian-bodies-bargaining-chips> 
withholding the remains of Palestinians slain by occupation forces to 
use them as bargaining chips in future negotiations.

Naftali Bennett, Israel’s defense minister, stated 
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-fights-with-gazans-over-bodies-of-suspected-bomb-planters/> 
last week that “We are hoarding the corpses of terrorists in order to 
put pressure on the other side.”

Islamic Jihad stated that the slain man, Muhammad Ali Hasan al-Naem, 27, 
was one of its fighters.

Islamic Jihad retaliated by firing rockets toward Israel from Gaza later 
in the day on Sunday. The rockets were answered with airstrikes 
targeting what Israel claimed were Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza and Syria.

Ziyad Ahmad Mansour, 23, and Salim Ahmad Salim, 24, both Palestinian 
refugees <http://www.actionpal.org.uk/ar/post/13047> from Yarmouk 
refugee camp who belonged to Islamic Jihad, were among the six people 
reported killed in Israeli strikes on Damascus.

Israel also targeted Islamic Jihad figures 
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/ten-killed-gaza-israel-instigates-new-war> 
in Damascus during the last episode of direct hostilities in November 
last year. It hit the home of Akram al-Ajouri, the head of the 
resistance group’s military wing, in an airstrike, reportedly killing 
one of his sons.

During those two days of fighting, Israel killed more than 35 
Palestinians 
<https://electronicintifada.net/content/palestine-pictures-november-2019/29046> 
in Gaza, around half of them civilians.


-- 
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