NAHARIYA, Israel – Around 7am on January 8, rockets fired from southern Lebanon landed in Nahariya in northern Israel.  One landed on the roof of the kitchen in a nursing home, lightly injuring one.  In total three Katyusha rockets were fired and two people were injured.

Israel responded by firing five artillery shells into Lebanon, calling it a “pinpoint response at the source of fire.”  Israeli officials suggested that the rocket strike was an isolated incident and that it would not lead to escalation. “We look at it as a local event, something that was predictable,” Cabinet Minister Isaac Herzog said.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora condemned the attack and called for the army and the UN to investigate.  A government official said, “Lebanon denounces and condemns the firing of rockets and the retaliatory action and believes that such action is in violation of UN Security Council resolution 1701… We have asked the competent authorities to investigate.”  UN Security Council resolution 1701 outlined the truce ending the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hezbollah denied any involvement in the attack and Lebanese Information Minister Tarek Mitri told the AFP news agency he was “assured” by the militant group Hezbollah they were not involved in the rocket attacks.  Rather, it is believed that Palestinians living in Lebanon launched the attack.

Israeli military officials also stated that they believe that Palestinians, not Hezbollah, launched the attack.  However, a statement from Israeli Defense Force’s Northern Command said that Israel “holds the government of Lebanon and the Lebanese armed forces responsible for preventing rocket fire into Israel.”

For more information, please see:

Africasia – Lebanese Government Calls for Probe into Rocket Fire – 8 January 2009

Al Bawaba – Lebanon PM Condemns Rocket Attack on Israel – 8 January 2009

BBC – Rockets Hit Israel from Lebanon – 8 January 2009

International Herald Tribune – 2nd Front? Rockets Land in Israel’s North – 8 January 2009

Jerusalem Post – IDF: Israel Holds Lebanese Gov’t  and Armed Forces Responsible for Rockets – 8 January 2009

New York Times – Rockets Fired from Lebanon into Israel – 8 January 2009

The Telegraph – Israel Hits Back After Lebanese Strike Raises Tension – 8 January 2009

Yedioth – IDF Shells Rocket Launching Sites in Lebanon – 8 January 2009

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

GAZA CITY, Gaza – On January 7, after four days of seeking Israeli guarantees of safe passage, a rescue team from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) entered Gaza City.  The rescue team searched several homes in a row of ruined houses in Zaytun, the most shelled neighborhood in Gaza City.  In one home, the ICRC found four emaciated children, too weak to stand, next to the corpses of their mothers.  In the home, another survivor was found; he was also too weak to stand. 

Muhammad Shaheen, a volunteer with the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), said the team found a scene of devastation. They discovered another 10 corpses inside the house and “dozens” more dead lying in the rubble in the area around.

The ICRC statement added that a search of another home revealed 15 other survivors, including several wounded.  A search of a third home found three more dead.  The Zaytun neighborhood was the scene of an Israeli attack on a house on Monday that was known to have killed nine members of the Samouni family. It was the first time medics had been able to reach the scene.

ICRC believes “that in this instance the Israeli military failed to meet its obligation under international humanitarian law to care for and evacuate the wounded.”  Their statement called the delay in allowing rescue services access unacceptable. 

Pierre Wettach, the ICRC’s head of delegation for Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, said: “The Israeli military must have been aware of the situation but did not assist the wounded. Neither did they make it possible for us or the Palestine Red Crescent to assist the wounded.”

In an ICRC news release, the organization stated that “Large earth walls erected by the Israeli army had made it impossible to bring ambulances into the neighborhood. Therefore, the children and the wounded had to be taken to the ambulances on a donkey cart.”  In total, the ICRC/PRCS rescue team evacuated 18 wounded and 12 others who were extremely exhausted.

The statement said the group was told more wounded people were in the neighborhood, and demanded that Israel grant it and the Red Crescent immediate access and safe passage to search for them.  However, the ICRC has still not received confirmation from the Israeli authorities that this will be allowed.

In response to the ICRC’s statement, a spokesman for Israel’s military said that the Red Cross’s news release was the first he had heard of the alleged incident.  The spokesman told CNN that “We do make every effort and our soldiers do put themselves at risk” to help wounded civilians.

On January 6, the ICRC held a press briefing, during which ICRC’s Director of Operations, Pierre Krähenbühl, described the situation of civilians in Gaza as “intolerable.”  He expressed the ICRC’s grave concern over the growing number of civilian deaths and injuries and the increasing amount of civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, that have been effected by the Israeli military operations.  Krähenbühl added that direct attacks against civilians are prohibited, as are indiscriminate attacks. Furthermore, military objectives must not be located in or near densely populated areas. 

“The only people that can legitimately be attacked are those who participate directly in the hostilities. Everyone else must be spared. Likewise, essential civilian infrastructure such as hospitals, the water supply and sewage networks must not be directly attacked. Respect for the rules of IHL – respect of civilians, distinction between civilians and combatants, measures of precaution – are of the utmost importance, all the more so when one considers that Gaza is one of the world’s most densely populated areas. As the conflict intensifies, it is becoming ever more dangerous for civilians.”

For more information, please see:

BBC – Israel Accused Over Gaza Wounded – 8 January 2009

Guardian – Medical Teams Find ‘Unbelievable’ Horror Amid Rubble – 8 January 2009 

ICRC – Gaza: ICRC Demands Urgent Access to Wounded as Israeli Army Fails to Assist Wounded Palestinians – 8 January 2008

New York Times – Gaza Children Found With Mothers’ Corpses – 8 January 2009

Press Association – Infants ‘Left With Mothers’ Bodies’ – 8 January 2009

Times – Red Cross Finds Starving Children With 12 Corpses in Gaza – 8 January 2009

CNN – Red Cross Demands Gaza Access, Cites ‘Shocking’ Discoveries – 7 January 2009

ICRC – Gaza: Plight of Civilians Traumatic in ‘Full-Blown Humanitarian Crises’ – 6 January 2009

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

JABALIYA, Gaza – On January 6, the UN reported that several Israeli artillery shells landed outside a UN school in the Jabaliya refugee camp.  John Ging, the Director of Operations in Gaza for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said the death toll was 30, including several children, with another 55 people injured.  Medical officials at the scene of the incident report that over 40 were killed.

In a statement, an Israeli military spokesperson said that two of the dead were well known Hamas gunmen, Imad and Hassan Abu Askar.  The Israeli military said that, according to initial checks, its soldiers had come under mortar fire from militants inside the al-Fakhura school.

“The force responded with mortars at the source of fire,” the Israeli military said in its statement. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev accused Hamas as using civilians as human shields and added that Hamas was in violation of international humanitarian law.

“Unfortunately tonight’s incident is just another example of how Hamas operates,” said Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev. “This is not the first time they have exploited a UN facility. This is not the first time that they have deliberately used innocent civilians as human shields.”  Israeli media also reports that the limited cabinet is considering whether to file a complaint with the United Nations over the use of UNWRA schools made by Hamas.

Fauzi Barhoun, a Hamas spokesman called the allegations that fighters had used the school to attack Israeli forces “baseless.”  He added, “There was no fire of any kind from the school.” 

Ging told reporters that the school had been sheltering 350 refugees.  When Ging was asked whether Hamas militants were in the area of the school at the time of the strike, he said that there were some clashes in the area, so there was “intense military and militant activity.”  Ging added that the UN staff vetted Palestinians seeking shelter at their facilities to make sure militants were not taking advantage of them and so far there have not been any “violations by militants of our facilities.”

The incident at the al-Fakhura school is among the several bombardments of UN buildings since the ground operations began.  The first incident was an airstrike on the Asma Elementary School in Gaza City and killed three men who were among more than 400 people taking refuge in the building.  Another artillery shell landed inside an empty boys school in Jabaliya.

In addition, ten people were also injured at a UN health center in the Bureij refugee camp; seven were staff and three were patients. Ging called for an independent investigation into this and the other incidents. 

According to the UN, nearly 15,000 refugees are being sheltered in 23 UN operated schools in Gaza.

For more information, please see:

Associated Press – Israel Shells Near UN School, Killing At Least 30 – 6 January 2009

BBC – Strike at Gaza School “Kills 30” – 6 January 2009

Belfast Telegraph – Fury as Israeli School Attack Kills More Than 30 – 6 January 2009

International Herald Tribune – Israeli Mortars Kill 40 Palestinian Refugees – 6 January 2009

International Herald Tribune – UN Chief Deplores Gaza Shelling Near UN Facilities – 6 January 2009

New York Times – Israeli Shells Kill 40 at Gaza UN School – 6 January 2009

Reuters – UN Official Says Gaza School was Clearly Marked – 6 January 2009

SwissInfo – Israeli Shells Kill 42 at UN School – 6 January 2009

Times – Gaza School Strike Forces Barack Obama to Break His Silence – 6 January 2009

Yedioth – Israel May File Complaint over Hamas’ Use of Schools – 6 January 2009

By Lauren Mellinger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SANA’A, Yemen– The Jewish community of Amran Province is facing renewed threats of violence from their Muslim neighbors since the renewal of hostilities between Israel and Gaza began on December 27, 2008.  Yemen currently has a small Jewish community, comprising approximately 400 people.

Tensions between the Jewish and Muslim communities in Yemen initially increased in December 2008, following the murder of Jewish citizen Masha Al-Nahari.  At the trial of the accused murderer, Abdul Aziz Al-Abdi, journalists and attorneys present in the courtroom described the proceedings as, “full of chaos and quarrels.”  According to witnesses, one Yemeni soldier was attacked by a family member of the accused, while Al-Nahari’s family has received death threats.  The violence and threats follows after the government agreed to transfer the trial to the capitol due to a lack of security at the court in Amran, where the Al-Nahari family resides.

Currently, Yemeni Jews in Amran are living in a state of fear, after receiving numerous threats from the relatives of Al-Abdi and his supporters.  Hostility towards the Jewish community in Yemen, which began in the aftermath of Al-Nahari’s murder is increasing throughout the country in response to the ongoing situation in Gaza.  According to Hayeem Yaish, a Jewish activist in Yemen, harassment against Jews has rapidly increased since the start of the crisis in Gaza.  According to Yaish, “protesters told us the state [Yemen] won’t protect us and that they would attack us secretly if not openly.  We are intimidated every day and out pain grows constantly.  We even receive threats on our mobile phones.”

As the Al-Nahari trial continues and the violence in Gaza escalates, the Jewish community in Yemen has grown increasingly concerned with their safety, as they continue to face threats and intimidation in their neighborhoods.  According to the Jewish community, conservative Muslims are entering synagogues and Jewish community centers attempting to provoke a response from the Jews.  Jewish women are threatened with forced conversion in the streets, and anonymous groups have stoned Jewish homes and threatened to kill them.  Many Jews are now afraid to leave their homes.

On January 3, Jewish children in Raidi were attacked with stones by Muslim students who were protesting Israeli actions in Gaza.  One individual, Zaher Salem, was seriously injured after being hit in the head by a stone.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has promised to provide a piece of land and compensation to every family of the Jewish community, relocating them to larger cities.  The government has increased its efforts to protect the Jewish community, announcing a new plan to relocate the Jewish community of the Raida district of Amran province to Sana’a in light of the recent surge of violence and threats of violence against Jews.  However, the relocation, initially scheduled to occur on January 4 has not yet been implemented.  Yaish maintains that the longer the Jewish community remains in the Raida district, “the more the threats against us.  We really fear for our lives and the lives of our children.”  The Jewish community claims that the government has not taken adequate measures to protect them.  They maintain that while other citizens carry guns or knives in order to protect themselves, the members of the Jewish community do not, and therefore they are dependent on the state for protection.  While the government has delayed the relocation, no one in the Jewish community has been told when the transfer will in fact occur. 

For more information, please see:

IRIN –Yemen: Jews in North Increasingly Being Harassed – 5 January 2009

Yemen News Agency – Children Attack Yemeni Jew in Amran Governorate – 5 January 2009

Yemen Times –While Gaza Crisis Cause More Hostility Against Yemeni Jews, Murdered Jew Family Demands Transferring Trail to Sana’a – 4 January 2008

News Yemen – Yemeni Jews Abused Over Israeli Offensive in Gaza – 4 January 2009

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

GAZA CITY, Gaza – On January 3, Israel ground troops began an offensive into Gaza.  The Israeli army said the assault is intended to take control of territory from where Hamas fires its rockets. 

Major Avital Leibovitch, a military spokeswoman, said, “The objective of this stage is to destroy the terrorist infrastructure of the Hamas in the area of operation, while taking control of some of rocket launching area used by the Hamas, in order to greatly reduce the quantity of rockets fired at Israel and Israeli civilians.”

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the ground campaign against Hamas “will not be easy or short, but we are determined”. He added, “Our aim is to force Hamas to stop its hostile activities against Israel and Israelis from Gaza, and to bring about a significant change in the situation in the southern part of Israel.”

The incursion followed a day of artillery barrages aimed at clearing the way for the 10,000 Israeli troops who had massed on the border.  Apparently, the artillery shells were intended to detonate Hamas explosive devices and mines planted along the border area and reduce the risk to IDF ground troops.

Following the incursion, Hamas remained defiant. Hamas spokesman, Ismail Radwan, said, “Your incursion into Gaza will not be a walk in the park and Gaza will become your cemetery God willing.”  Additionally, Hamas said it broadcasted a Hebrew message on Israeli military radio frequencies: “Be prepared for a unique surprise, you will be either killed or kidnapped and will suffer mental illness from the horrors we will show you.”

As the ground offensive began, the air strikes continued.  Palestinian health officials report that 13 Palestinians were killed during a raid on a mosque in Beit Lahiya.  According to the Associated Press, it is not immediately clear why the mosque was hit.  However, when explaining earlier raids on mosques, Israel stated that the mosques were being used as weapons caches.

In addition to continued Israeli air strikes, rocket fire from Gaza was also unabated.  On January 3, at least 29 rockets were fired into Israel; damaging four houses and “slightly injuring” three people.  One rocket hit on a house in the southern city of Ashkelon, causing nearby houses to catch on fire.

As Israel began its ground incursion, Human Rights Watch (HRW) expressed concerns regarding the heightened need to protect civilian life because of likely combat in densely populated urban areas.  HRW called on both sides to strictly abide by the laws of war, specifically the taking of all feasible measures to avoid civilian causalities.

There are reports that Israel made at least two attempts to limit civilian causalities during the ground offensive.  First, the IDF dropped leaflets over Gaza City and the border areas, which urged Palestinians to flee their homes. The warning stated, “For your own safety, you are required to leave the area immediately.”

Also, prior to firing artillery shells in Beit Lahiya, a resident reported that Israeli army called and told them to leave the house within 15 minutes.  Despite the warning, two residents were killed and five were wounded when an artillery shell hit their home.

Not only did HRW call for increased precaution but only called for increased accountability for past violations of the laws of war.  According to HRW, the IDF reported that there have been no investigations into unlawful deaths from the March 2008 Gaza operations, called Operation Warm Winter.  Also, Hamas has done nothing to hold those firing rockets into civilian areas accountable.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Israel Begins Gaza Ground Offensive – 4 January 2009

BBC – Israeli Troops Enter Gaza Strip – 4 January 2009

Ha’aretz – Barak: Gaza Invasion Won’t Be Short, and Won’t Be Easy – 4 January 2009

AFP – Israeli Army Takes War Against Hamas into Gaza – 3 January 2009

Associate Press – Israeli Ground Forces Enter Gaza in Escalation – 3 January 2009

Guardian – Israeli Ground Forces Cross Border into Gaza – 3 January 2009

Human Rights Watch – Israel: Gaza Ground Offensive Raises Laws of War Concerns – 3 January 2009

Jerusalem Post – “Gaza Will Become Graveyard for Troops” – 3 January 2009

New York Times – Israel Troops Launch Attack on Gaza – 3 January 2009

The Telegraph – Israeli Tanks Roll into Gaza to Halt Hamas Rocket Attacks – 3 January 2009 ml

The Times – Israeli Tanks Roll into Gaza to Crush Hamas – 3 January 2009