Posted on 12/07/2002 12:12:44 PM PST by SJackson
Hamas Terrorist with UNWRA "day job" among ten dead in Gaza
[IMRA: The Ha'aretz Hebrew website article: http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=238540&contrassID=1 &subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0
reports that "The Hamas organization announced that Kandil was one of the five Hamas activists killed in the operation."
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UN, EU slam Israel for using excessive force in Gaza raid
The UN workers were identified by UNRWA as Osama Hassan Tahrawi
By Amos Harel and Arnon Regular, Ha'aretz Correspondents, and Agencies 7
December 2002
Israel faced international criticism Saturday for its Friday morning army operation in a crowded refugee camp in the Gaza Strip in which ten Palestinians, including two UN workers, were killed.
The operation took place as Muslims celebrated Eid el-Fitr, the four-day festival that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
The European Union foreign policy chief, Xavier Solana, said an operation in such a densely populated area could "only lead to the loss of innocent lives. "I extend my sincere condolences to the families of the victims, who were celebrating the end of Ramadan and who are now in mourning," he said in a statement released Saturday.
Peter Hansen, the commissioner-general of UNRWA, the UN agency providing aid for Palestinian refugees, slammed the IDF's use of "indiscriminate use of heavy firepower" in an area populated by civilians.
The UN workers were identified by UNRWA as Osama Hassan Tahrawi, a 31-year-old school attendant who was killed along with two of his brothers by a missile, and Ahlam Riziq Kandil, 31, an elementary school teacher who died from shrapnel wounds.
The two, employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, were killed in chaotic gunbattles sparked as IDF troops, backed by tanks and helicopter gunships hunted a fugitive militant in a the crowded Gaza refugee camp of Bureij.
One IDF soldier was lightly wounded in the incursion, the army said.
"This loss of civilian lives, of people working for a humanitarian UN agency, is completely unacceptable," he said from Geneva. "I must condemn what appears to be the indiscriminate use of heavy firepower in a densely populated civilian area."
Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller, representing the European Union, warned Israel that using "excessive might" could backfire.
"It's deeply tragic that completely innocent people again have been killed," Moeller told reporters in Copenhagen. "It creates a new fundament for more terrorism, it creates anger."
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana accused Israel of using "excessive force" in the raid.
Following the raid, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged Israel to show restraint, a spokesman said.
Annan was "gravely concerned" by the raid on the refugee camp, UN chief spokesman Fred Eckhard said, noting the assault fell during Eid al-Fitr, one of Islam's most important holidays.
"The secretary-general deplores the loss of innocent civilian life. He has repeatedly urged Israel to refrain from the excessive and disproportionate use of deadly force in civilian areas," Eckhard said.
"He wishes to remind the government of Israel of its obligations as an occupying power to protect the civilian population, and urges them to ensure that the Israeli Defense Forces behave with greater restraint and discipline and in conformity with international humanitarian law," Eckhard said.
The United States on Friday chided Israel for killing Palestinian civilians and destroying Palestinian homes but said Israel had a right to self-defense.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher declined to comment on the incident but repeated standard U.S. criticism of Israeli conduct in the West Bank and Gaza.
"We've made quite clear ... that the Israelis need to be aware of the consequences of their actions. We have indeed been quite open about our concerns about the Israeli activities, particularly the civilian casualties that have resulted from many of the Israeli actions," he said.
"We've seen a number of people hurt and killed, old people, young people as well. We've made our concerns clear about demolitions of houses, for example."
Palestinians: Civilians killed; IDF: 5 Hamas activists dead It was unclear how many of the dead were fighters. Palestinian sources said there were a number of civilian fatalities. The camp's mayor, Kamal Baghdadi, had originally said a tank shell had hit a building, killing seven people, while the IDF said a helicopter fired a missile into a street, killing five Hamas members.
The army said that the majority of the wounded were armed Palestinians who sustained their injuries during the fighting. The commander of the Givati Brigade, Colonel Eimad Farres, hailed the incursion as successful and indicated that soldiers had only fired at armed Palestinians.
Asked why the troops had launched the raid on a Muslim holiday, IDF spokeswoman Captain Sharon Feingold said: "We go after them [militants] whenever we have intelligence."
"They don't respect our holidays. They attacked on Passover. There were more attacks during Ramadan," she said, referring to a spate of suicide bombings by Palestinian militants during Passover, in which dozens of Israelis were killed and which preceded the IDF's massive Operation Defensive Shield.
She accused Palestinian militants of hiding behind civilians in the camps. "It's a shame because the civilian population who's not involved in terrorism... is the one to pay the price."
Ahmed Rabah, a doctor at the Al-Aqsa hospital in the nearby village of Dir al-Balah, said nine men were killed and 11 were wounded. Rabah did not identify the casualties. An official at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said the tenth person, a woman, died of injuries.
Local resident Hassan Safi, 49, said he was 300 yards (275 meters) away in his home when an explosion rocked the neighborhood. He said he thought the blast came from a tank shell.
"I rushed with my sons to the place, which was all destroyed," Safi said. "I myself took out two people. The helicopter was firing with machine guns at us, making it difficult to move."
Witnesses: IDF troops destroy suicide bomber's home During the incursion, witnesses said troops surrounded the home of Jamal Ismail, a suicide bomber who blew himself up along with another man in an explosive-packed boat off the Gaza coast last month, wounding four Israeli soldiers in a nearby navy patrol.
The IDF called the camp "a base for hardcore terror groups" of the militant Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Popular Resistance Committee.
Brigadier General Yisrael Ziv said the operation targeted Aiman Shasniyeh, a local leader for the Popular Resistance Committee, who the military believes was behind a bomb attack on a heavily armored Merkava-3 tank that killed three IDF soldiers in March.
Troops failed to find Shasniyeh but blew up his house. Soldiers arrested one of his brothers, along with another man wanted by Israel, Ziv said.
He said resistance had been fierce and the army believed it had hit "armed terrorists."
"We fired one shell from a helicopter at four armed men," he said. "We came upon a lot of resistance and the forces fired at armed gunmen. We identified 12-14 at whom we fired. At times the battle was fought at very close range, 10 meters. They used Kalashnikov rifles and grenades and anti-tank shells."
It was Israel's second strike this week in Gaza targeting militants allegedly involved in anti-tank attacks that have killed seven IDF soldiers this year.
I assume this Jacka$$ Solana gave a similar speech when the left-hand a$$wiping Pali's attacked Jews at Passover...right?
NO! These BASTARDS in the EU (really should be spelled P-U) were probably pumping their fists in the air, and joined that ululating fat Pali B!tch rejoicing at the death of the eeeeVil Joooos! As proved by the fact that a Hamas TERRORIST'S day job was with UNRWA!!!
And they have the NERVE to criticize Israel? Seems that Blue Helmeted Loser that died at the hands of the IDF was a proper start...ice ALL those terrorists wherever they hide!
Message the the EU, and the UN in general...DIE! Get in the COFFIN!
Nice of these folk to identify with the "Axi of Evil" crowd...they make nice targets in the future.
Europe can kiss ANY hope of American aid ever again good-bye!
No MORE Foreign Aid outside of our true Allies...it's OUR money! Screw the IMF!
Solana and the PeeEwe crowd would only be pleased if the Israelis laid down defenseless and allowed themselves to be exterminated.
Screw the PeeEwe.
Go IDF, roll hard and kick their asses to Hell.
I can't WAIT till the Islamazis start to attack members of the EU from inside, and pull all the crap they are FAMOUS for.
We should tell them..."We are not in the Nation Rescuing business anymore....do it yourselves."
Where will Babs and Alec Baldwin run to then?
About 15 years after the first intifada began, this advice is GETTING PRETTY DAMN OLD. Politicians continue, day in and day out, to tell Israel the same damn thing, and act like they're giving friendly advice to Israel, instead of threatening it.
I don't believe they are as innocent as they claim. Maybe it is true that the 3 UN workers were all innocent, but in general, the UN is without doubt acting in concert with Israel's enemies. Just because they claim to be "a humanitarian agency" doesn't mean all the people working within it truly are humanitarian.
Witness the UNIFIL cooperation with Hezbullah in the kidnapping of an Israeli near the Lebanon border. UN troops admit that members of their team participated in the kidnapping. The UN also admits that the vehicles used in the kidnapping were found later with UN property such as bombs and munitions inside. And the UN refuses to allow Israel copies of the video evidence of the kidnapping "for fear of reprisal by the terrorists"!!!
Clearly then, if the UN is so afraid of terrorist reprisal, it stands to reason that when faced with any choice at all, they will side with the terrorists against Israel. This means the UN will continuously set Israel up for defeat on every issue she confronts her with.
Members of the US Congress and UN Senate allege that UN buildings are used for storage of terrorists bombs, munititions, and counterfeit cash. Israel accuses the UN of harboring terrorists (as they did with the church of nativity terrorists, for example) and for allowing UN property to be used to launch assaults. I tend to believe Israel on this in general.
It is sad if innocent people were killed. But it is becoming increasingly obvious that the UN is a hostile participant in this conflict. UN members must certainly be aware of what is going on, which makes their duplicity and one-sidedness just as sad as the death of innocent people -- because it will accomplish nothing in the quest for peace.
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