Middle East News
Conflicts killed 108 Palestinians, three Israelis, UN says
Jan 30, 2008, 16:35 GMT
New York - The military conflict between Israel and the Hamas-led Gaza Strip has killed 108 Palestinians and three Israelis in the past month, the United Nations said Wednesday in summing up the explosive situation that has exacerbated a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The UN said the Palestinians continued to endure power and water cuts by Israel, but failed to protest an Israeli Supreme Court decision Wednesday that said the reductions of fuel and electricity supply to Gaza declared by the government in September were legal.
B Lynn Pascoe, UN undersecretary general for political affairs, said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had 'noted with concern' the Israeli decision to impose the sanctions on the 1.4 million Palestinians in Gaza who 'should not be punished for the unacceptable actions of the militants and extremists.'
Pascoe briefed the UN Security Council on developments in the Middle East in the past month, saying the military activities on both sides also injured 229 Palestinians and 24 Israelis.
Pascoe said the levels of violence had abated significantly in the last week, despite Palestinian militants firing 77 rockets and mortars into southern Israel and the Israeli Defence Forces launching four incursions and airstrikes into Gaza.
The 15-nation council on Tuesday shelved a proposed statement that would have condemned the violence because of deep disagreement among its members.
Arab diplomats blamed the United States for the council's failure to take a stand on Gaza, while the US was opposed to any declaration by the council that it considered unbalanced.
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Older Talkback
page: 1
L'Chaim Charles. Your mates made it quite good this time compare to what they managed during the 33 days war in Lebanon.
Iranian,
I can't figure out if you relish the civilian suffering, or if you want peace. Which is it?
You'd think by now that Israelis would be ready to take the great 'risk' of peace.
If they didn't like it they could always revert to war at any time.
hey - give peace a chance!
@Arthur
That's cute but kind of obtuse.
Are you denying that Israel pulled out of Gaza a couple of years ago? That was a risk. By pulling out they left all of Gaza open to inflitration by extremists who could then launch attacks into Israel from highly populated areas. They decided to take the chance and hope the Gazans would have others things to do in addition to waging war. There is more to life than war.
Unfortunately, rather than rebuild Gaza, they elected Hamas to parliament, who then went on to stage a violent coup against their own government, and then attack Israel.
Just imagine if the ME countries who cry such deep pools of crocodile tears for the Palestinians took a teeny weeny fraction of wealth they get for free by letting companies pump oil from underneath their territory, and invested that money into Gaza!!! Just imagine! Why Gaza would be a boom town. It would be the Singapore of the Middle East and a beacon of hope.
This whole 'shoot at Israeli civilians then whine when they shoot back' is getting old. It obviously still works as a propaganda tool with some elements of population, but not nearly as many as they think.
Charles the Maccabis, a zealots, and downright Likudniks. Tell us the truth,
which one is more fun for you; the celebrating Hannuka and the exploits of the Maccabis or Fourth of July?
I'm more of a christmas/4th of july type.
Nice try though. I'm impressed.
Well over 150 Palestinians have been murdered by the IDF since the beginning of January. 3 Israelis have died. Do the math, Charles.
I have to admit to being amazed that there are still those, like you, totally convinced by the delusions and myths manufactured, distributed and promoted by people who do not have your best interests at heart.
In an earlier post somewhere else, I described the dilemma faced by those who post like you do...'Poor, credulous, neo conned fools still licking the hand that slaps them.'
Arthur - I'm going to call you on this nonsense.
Please provide some proof that the IDF 'murdered' these people. This is a perfect example and reveals your lack of judgement and objectivity that leads you to draw fallacious - or deliberately malicious, conclusions.
The vast majority of all the reported deaths are disclosed as 'militants'. It could well be that some percentage of those killed were civilians. That is tragic. But it cannot be concluded that they were murdered. No one has even suggested that. If anything, the cynical militants who use civilian areas as launch pads for attacks are to blame. They know exactly what they are doing. They know well in advance that the IDF will try to promptly retaliate to neutralize the threat. They want and expect civilian casualties and then try to use the casualties as propaganda points. This has been documented many times - even on video. There is no doubt.
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CharlesJan 30th, 2008 - 18:12:16
You'd think by now that arabs would be ready to take the great 'risk' of peace.
If they didn't like it they could always revert to war at any time.
hey - give peace a chance!
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