BRIEF: Odinga Demands Kibaki’s Resignation

CHEPKIOYO, Kenya – Yesterday Kofi Annan spoke of progress and hopes of a deal by next week, however opposition leader Raila Odinga has returned to his original sentiment. During the funeral of legislator David Kimutai Too today, Odinga returned to the theme that rallied supporters earlier: “You cannot steal my cow, and I catch you red-handed, and then expect me to share the milk because the cow is mine.”

Annan and western diplomats were hopeful both sides would agree to a power-sharing government. Negotiators reported, yesterday, that Odinga’s mediators had agreed to recognize Mwai Kibaki as the duly elected president but his speech at the funeral indicates an end to the reconciliation period. Odinga is once again demanding Kibaki’s resignation and a re-election.

The funeral was the first mass gathering since the government lifted the ban of rallies after the election. Nearly 5,000 people fled the western town of Kericho, fearing that violence would erupt at the funeral. Fortunately, the thousands of mourners that gathered to bury Too remained peaceful.

Too was shot dead on January 21st by an officer. The police claim the killing was triggered by a love quarrel and have labeled the murder a “crime of passion.” However, Odinga and the ODM party claim the killing was an assassination. 

Another ODM legislator, Melitus Were, was killed the same week as Too’s murder and nearly 1,000 have died during the post- election crisis. Odinga’s sentiment is an unfortunate set-back to what appeared to be significant mediating progress.

For more information please see:

Reuters: Africa – Thousands Mourn Slain Kenya Opposition MP – 9 February 2008

Yahoo News – Kenya Opposition Drops Conciliatory Tone – 9 February 2008

Rocket Death Results in IDF Strikes in Gaza

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle EastGAZA CITY, Gaza – On February 27, violence between militants in Gaza and Israel escalated.  Early in the day, an Israeli air strike killed five militants from the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.  According to witnesses, two missiles, fired by the IAF, struck the militants’ vehicle near Khan Younis.  Dr Moaiya Hassanain, a Gaza health ministry official, stated that four other people were wounded in the attack.

 

Militants fired rockets into southern Israel in retaliation to what Hamas called “the Zionist massacre committed this morning in Khan Younis.”  Over 40 rockets were fired into Israel; one landed on an Israeli college campus in Sderot, killing a 47-year-old Israeli. It was the first fatal rocket attack since May 2007.

The Israeli military responded by carrying out air strikes later that day and continued into the next day.  The operations resulted in at least 27 Palestinian deaths in two days.  Of the 27 deaths, at least seven were civilian children.

Two children, aged 10 and 11 were killed in an air strike on February 27.  Another, a six-month old boy, was killed later that evening, when Ministry of Interior office was targeted in a missile attack.  While the office was empty, it is located in a highly residential area.  Dozens of other Palestinians were injured during the strike.  The strike against the Ministry of Interior also caused extensive damage to the nearby offices of Oxfam-funded Palestinian Medical Relief Society.

On February 28, four boys, between the ages of 10 to 15 years, were killed while playing football near the Jabalya refugee camp.  According to Ahmed Dardouna, a family member, the boys were all related; two were brothers and the others were their cousins.  Also, hospital officials said that another child, a 12-year-old neighbor, died later, as a result of injuries sustained during the strike.  Yedioth News reports that the boys were not playing football, rather they were 16 to 17 year olds engaging in militant activity.  Also, the Israeli army said that they were targeting a rocket-launching cell.

Another strike was conducted against a police roadblock in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, about 150 yards from the home of Haniyeh, Hamas’ prime minister.  It is thought that the strike was a message to Haniyeh since the area is not usually used to launch rockets.  Earlier that day, Haniyeh said that Israel’s ongoing operations would “not weaken the steadfastness and the determination of the Palestinian people.”

In another strike, the son of Hamas lawmaker Khalil al-Haya, Hamza al-Haya, was killed.  Hamas said Hamza al-Haya had commanded a rocket-launching squad in northern Gaza.  When identifying his son in the morgue, Khalil al-Haya stated that he was proud that his son had lost his life for the Hamas cause and that he was “the 10th member of my family to receive the honor of martyrdom.

Despite, and in response to, Israel’s operations, militants fired at least 10 rockets into Israel on February 28.  Israeli officials state that at least five foreign made Katyusha rockets reached Ashkelon, a city of 120,000, nearly 20km north of Gaza.

For more information, please see:

The Guardian – Intensified Israeli Attacks on Gaza Kill Child Footballers – 29 February 2008

The Independent – Killed While They Played Football, the Child Victims of Israel’s Revenge on Gaza – 29 February 2008

AFP – Israel Pounds Gaza Militants after Rocket Death – 28 February 2008

Al Jazeera – Children Killed in New Israeli Raid – 28 February 2008

Associated Press – Israel Kills 18 Palestinians in Gaza – 28 February 2008

BBC – Four Children Die in Gaza Strike – 28 February 2008

Financial Times – Mideast Fear as Rocket Kills Israeli – 28 February 2008

Ha’aretz – IDF Kills 20 Palestinians in Gaza, W. Bank, Including 5 Children – 28 February 2008

Yedioth News – Report: 4 Teens Killed in IDF Strike – 28 February 2008

Al Jazeera – Israel Bombs Gaza Interior Ministry – 27 February 2008

Rocket Death Results in IDF Strikes in Gaza

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

GAZA CITY, Gaza – On February 27, violence between militants in Gaza and Israel escalated.  Early in the day, an Israeli air strike killed five militants from the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.  According to witnesses, two missiles, fired by the IAF, struck the militants’ vehicle near Khan Younis.  Dr Moaiya Hassanain, a Gaza health ministry official, stated that four other people were wounded in the attack.

Militants fired rockets into southern Israel in retaliation to what Hamas called “the Zionist massacre committed this morning in Khan Younis.”  Over 40 rockets were fired into Israel; one landed on an Israeli college campus in Sderot, killing a 47-year-old Israeli. It was the first fatal rocket attack since May 2007.

The Israeli military responded by carrying out air strikes later that day and continued into the next day.  The operations resulted in at least 27 Palestinian deaths in two days.  Of the 27 deaths, at least seven were civilian children.

Two children, aged 10 and 11 were killed in an air strike on February 27.  Another, a six-month old boy, was killed later that evening, when Ministry of Interior office was targeted in a missile attack.  While the office was empty, it is located in a highly residential area.  Dozens of other Palestinians were injured during the strike.  The strike against the Ministry of Interior also caused extensive damage to the nearby offices of Oxfam-funded Palestinian Medical Relief Society.

On February 28, four boys, between the ages of 10 to 15 years, were killed while playing football near the Jabalya refugee camp.  According to Ahmed Dardouna, a family member, the boys were all related; two were brothers and the others were their cousins.  Also, hospital officials said that another child, a 12-year-old neighbor, died later, as a result of injuries sustained during the strike.  Yedioth News reports that the boys were not playing football, rather they were 16 to 17 year olds engaging in militant activity.  Also, the Israeli army said that they were targeting a rocket-launching cell.

Another strike was conducted against a police roadblock in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, about 150 yards from the home of Haniyeh, Hamas’ prime minister.  It is thought that the strike was a message to Haniyeh since the area is not usually used to launch rockets.  Earlier that day, Haniyeh said that Israel’s ongoing operations would “not weaken the steadfastness and the determination of the Palestinian people.”

In another strike, the son of Hamas lawmaker Khalil al-Haya, Hamza al-Haya, was killed.  Hamas said Hamza al-Haya had commanded a rocket-launching squad in northern Gaza.  When identifying his son in the morgue, Khalil al-Haya stated that he was proud that his son had lost his life for the Hamas cause and that he was “the 10th member of my family to receive the honor of martyrdom.

Despite, and in response to, Israel’s operations, militants fired at least 10 rockets into Israel on February 28.  Israeli officials state that at least five foreign made Katyusha rockets reached Ashkelon, a city of 120,000, nearly 20km north of Gaza.

For more information, please see:
The Guardian – Intensified Israeli Attacks on Gaza Kill Child Footballers – 29 February 2008

The Independent – Killed While They Played Football, the Child Victims of Israel’s Revenge on Gaza – 29 February 2008

AFP – Israel Pounds Gaza Militants after Rocket Death – 28 February 2008

Al Jazeera – Children Killed in New Israeli Raid – 28 February 2008

Associated Press – Israel Kills 18 Palestinians in Gaza – 28 February 2008

BBC – Four Children Die in Gaza Strike – 28 February 2008

Financial Times – Mideast Fear as Rocket Kills Israeli – 28 February 2008

Ha’aretz – IDF Kills 20 Palestinians in Gaza, W. Bank, Including 5 Children – 28 February 2008

Yedioth News – Report: 4 Teens Killed in IDF Strike – 28 February 2008

Al Jazeera – Israel Bombs Gaza Interior Ministry – 27 February 2008

Progress but No Deal

By Myriam Clerge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Eastern and Southern Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya – Today, the Kenyan people huddled near radios and television sets to catch reports of national unity. For several days there have been speculations of a power sharing agreement between President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga. Today the Associated Press quoted ODM negotiator William Ruto, confirming the rumors. The power-sharing resolution has been in and out of negotiations since the talks began.

However, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan claims the news of such an agreement is premature. In fact no deal has been made but a resolution is in progress. After meeting with President Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga, Annan announced that a resolution to end Kenya’s post election crisis may develop within a few days and as early as next week.

Earlier in the negotiation process, Odinga refused to recognize Kibaki as the duly elected president and rejected all offers of a power-sharing government. However, a source close to the negotiation proceedings claimed that the ODM opposition agreed to recognize Kibaki as the re-elected president of Kenya and presidential negotiators have reciprocated by discussing a “broad-based government.”

The political crisis is easing and the mood is shifting throughout Kenya but returning the country to its pre-election state might be the hardest task.

The election controversy triggered an ethnic battle between Odinga’s Luos tribe and Kibaki’s tribe, the Kiyuyu and groups supporting the government. UN reports estimate that nearly 350,000 Kenyans have been displaced and more than 1,000 people have died since the disputed December 27 re-election of Kibaki. There has also been massive destruction of property.

Once the most stable and progressed country in South Africa, Kenya’s reputation and economy has taken a beating. The American Embassy in Kenya recently sent letters to Kenyan officials and businessmen on both sides, warning them that they would be barred from entering the United States if they took part or instigated the violence.

For more information please see:

International Herald Tribune – Kofi Annan Sees Progress in Kenya Talks – 8 February 2008

AllAfrica.com – Annan – “We’ve Reached Far on Political Issues” – 8 February 2008

BBC- Progress at Kenya’s Peace Talk – 8 February 2008

Violence Increases in Gaza After Suicide Attack

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BEIT HANOUN, Gaza – Israel intensified it raids against Hamas after the organization confirmed that it was responsible for the suicide attack in Dimona on February 4.  At first there was confusion over which group carried out the attack; initially the the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine groups claimed responsibility.  However, Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, released a video of the two suicide bombers, Mohammed al-Hibrawi and Shadee Z’Ghayer, preparing for the attack.  Both men were from the West Bank city of Hebron.  However, there are reports that al-Hibrawi and Z’Ghayer do not fit the description of the men killed in Dimona.

This is the first suicide attack that Hamas has carried out since it abandoned the practice in 2004.  This marks a possibly deadly change in its policy towards Israel.  In the video of the bombers, they stated that the realities in Gaza pushed them to carry out the attack.

Following the attack in Israel on February 4, Israel has carried out several military operations in Gaza, killing at least eight Palestinians on February 5 and at least six on February 6.  On February 5, two Israeli Defense Force (IDF) operations were conducted.  One operation left two members of Hamas dead near the border.  A second operation killed six members of Hamas in police station in Khan Yunis.

On February 6, at least four members of Hamas and a member of the Islamic Jihad were killed in an operation in Beit Hanoun; three were killed by missiles and the others were killed in an exchange of gunfire with Israeli ground forces.  In the strike on February 6, a school teacher was killed as a school was hit.  Three teenaged students were also injured.  Israeli army states that the missile was aimed at a rocket-firing crew nearby.  Israel said that there will be an investigation into the teacher’s death.

As IDF operations increased, there has been an increase in the number of missiles being launched from Gaza into Israel. On February 5, Hamas fired several rockets into the town of Sderot.  One Qassam rocket struck a house causing extensive damage.  A second rocket struck a factory warehouse.  On February 6, a rocket landed in Kibbutz Beeri, a village located about four miles from the border, and injured two sisters, aged 12 and 2, who were playing outside.  IDF operations in Gaza discovered several underground caches of rockets.

In addition to increasing military operations, Israel also began to cut the power it supplies to Gaza.  Shlomo Dror, a spokesperson for Ehud Barak, stated the reduction will be less than 1% of the 124 megawatts of power Israel supplies Gaza.  Matan Vilnai, Israel’s deputy defense minister, stated that Israel is “trying to reduce the Gaza Strip’s dependence on Israel in many fields.”

Also, there has been discussion of alternative or additional methods that Israel could employ to stop the barrage of rockets from Gaza.  One suggestion is a military operation to re-occupy Gaza.  A second suggestion is targeting top political leaders of Hamas.  This was done in 2004 by Ariel Sharon, when Israel assassinated Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin and its top Gaza politician, Abdel Aziz Rantissi.  Since then, Israel has limited its strikes to target armed militants.

This policy is supported by Tzahi Hanegbi, a senior member of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s Kadima party and the chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.  Hanegbi argues since the field commanders and militants carrying out the attacks are acting on the political leaders’ orders that the political leaders of Hamas are legal military targets.  He told Israeli Radio that “there’s no difference between those who wear a suicide suit and a diplomat’s suit.”

For more information, please see:
Al Jazeera – Israel Reduces Gaza Power Supply – 8 February 2008

International Herald Tribune – Rockets Hit Israel After Power Cut – 8 February 2008

Jerusalem Post – Israel May Target Hamas Heads – 8 February 2008

Al Jazeera – Gaza Teach Killed in Israel Raid – 7 February 2008

Associated Press – Gaza Rocket Wounds 2 Israeli Girls – 7 February 2008

BBC – Israel Launches Deadly Gaza Raids – 7 February 2008

Jerusalem Post – Barak: IDF Ops to Grow Even Stronger – 7 February 2008

Washington Post – Israel to Intensify Strikes if Rocket Fire Continues – 7 February 2008

Al Jazeera – Hamas Claims Dimona Raid – 6 February 2008

The Daily Star – Hamas Vows Retaliation After Israeli Attack Kill Nine in Gaza – 6 February 2008

Independent – Hamas Admits Suicide Attacks as Israel Retaliates – 6 February 2008

YouTube – Dimona Bombers’ Families Speak to Al Jazeera – 6 February 2008

Jewish Telegraphic Agency – Hanegbi Wants Hamas Politicos Hit – 5 February 2008