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<h1 class="article-title">Israel tells thousands of Palestinians:
Leave your homes, or you will be subjected to bombing</h1>
<div class="article-subtitledetails">
<span class="article-details">
<span class="article-detail"><img class="icon"
src="cid:part1.04000304.05090800@freedomarchives.org"
alt="author"> Sunday July 13, 2014 11:08</span><span
class="article-detail"><img class="icon"
src="cid:part2.04050308.02070709@freedomarchives.org"
alt="author"> by IMEMC Staff<br>
</span></span><b><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.imemc.org/article/68454">http://www.imemc.org/article/68454</a></small></small></b></div>
<blockquote class="article-intro">Residents of several towns in the
northern Gaza Strip received airdrops of leaflets on Sunday
morning July 13th, warning them to leave their homes by noon, or
risk being bombed. This is despite the fact that there are no
shelters in Gaza, and all of the borders are sealed.</blockquote>
<p class="photo"> <a name="attachment44472"></a> <a
sl-processed="1"
href="http://www.imemc.org/attachments/jul2014/flier_dropped_in_northern_gaza.jpg"><img
class="summary-image"
src="cid:part4.05050104.08060707@freedomarchives.org"
alt="Image of the leaflet dropped on Palestinian towns in
northern Gaza" title="Click on image to see full-sized
version" height="502" width="460"></a><br>
Image of the leaflet dropped on Palestinian towns in northern Gaza<br>
</p>
The leaflets state, “It is the intention of the Israeli military to
attack from the air terror infrastructure and terrorists in the area
east of Al-Attara. Residents must evacuate their homes by 12 pm,
noon, today heading south towards Jabalia."<br>
<br>
They continue, “The military’s operation will be temporary and
short. Those who do not adhere to these directives will jeopardize
their own lives and the lives of their families. Be careful, stay
safe."<br>
<br>
A spokesperson for the Israeli military said that there will be a
major military operation in northern Gaza on Sunday, and warned that
“This will increase the amount of casualties”. The military has
already dropped over 2,000 tons of bombs on the crowded coastal
Strip over the past five days, killing over 170 Palestinians. No
Israelis have been killed or wounded in this same period.<br>
<br>
The United Nations has estimated that nearly 80% of the victims are
civilians. While Israeli officials claim that it is necessary to
target civilian areas because “Hamas members hid behind civilians”,
the bombings have resulted in very few Hamas members being killed –
and those who have been identified as having a connection with the
political party were not involved in any hostilities at the time
they were targeted for assassination by missile.<br>
<br>
In addition, the claim that Israel has targeted civilian buildings
where Palestinian fighters store weapons has been questioned by
eyewitnesses of these attacks, who say that no ‘secondary
explosions’ have been heard, which would be the case if there were
weapons stored in a building.<br>
<br>
In the case of the town of al-Attara and nearby neighborhoods that
received the warning leaflets Sunday morning, the residents have
received no indication as to where they will be able to go to avoid
bombardment, as IMEMC Gaza correspondent Rami Almeghari has pointed
out, “No part of Gaza is safe at this point. There is no place that
has escaped bombardment.”<br>
<br>
The Israeli military commander said in the statement that they will
be targeting civilian areas in al-Attara because "We have identified
more rocket fire from the northern Strip than other sectors.”<br>
<br>
Several hundred Palestinian homemade shells that have been fired
toward Israel since the Israeli bombardment began on Tuesday. They
have caused no casualties. In contrast, as of Saturday, over 2500
Israeli bombs have been dropped on Gaza. These include 456 naval
rockets, 1604 air raids, and nearly 500 artillery shells.<br>
<br>
In addition to the 174 Palestinians killed, an additional 1089 have
been wounded, including 349 children, 171 women and 576 men. The
Israeli bombs have targeted mosques and schools, destroying 3
mosques completely and 16 partially. 33 schools have been damaged. 6
hospitals have been targeted and partially damaged, including a
center for the disabled where two disabled women were killed and
scores of others were wounded.<br>
<br>
Despite Israeli claims that these sites were ‘hideouts’ for Hamas,
no Hamas fighters were among those killed in these attacks, and no
secondary explosions occurred when the sites were bombed.
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