Latest revision as of 05:34, 4 February 2011

This article has been edited by Anarchopedians, and to that extent represents Anarchopedia's philosophy. While it may at first seem less than subtle, what is printed elsewhere is the extreme You are welcomed to adjust your perception of Normality

AP ED

See

• Wikipedia:List of rocket, mortar, bombing and infantry attacks by Israel in 2009
• Wikipedia:List of rocket and mortar attacks in Israel in 2009
• Wikipedia:Articles for Deletion/List of rocket and mortar attacks in Israel in 2009

Note the abuse of the deletion process and the redirect process, to nominate for deletion an almost
completely unrelated article (attacks in Israel rather than attacks by Israel, to say nothing of the
bombing and infantry differences) and then basically lock the page behind a password-activated door
(only the exact wording of the very long article title would show it in a search). On the bright side, the
Wikipedia:Incidents in the Gaza War and Wikipedia:Timeline of the Gaza War articles, although doomed to relative obscurity by with few links
and much larger articles in line before it, has covered much of the material here

Israeli munitions, white flames, and smoke that human rights group say indicate the use of white phosphorus on the Gaza Strip in January of 2009. See Wikipedia article White phosphorus (weapon) section: Gaza War (2008-2009)

The Israeli assault on Gaza began on December 27, 2008. Details of the Chemical warfare (WP), Cluster bombs, rocket attacks, mortar attacks, aerial warfare, offshore bombardment, armored assault, and infantry attacks by Israel, which occurred in 2009, are found below.

The Gaza War was marked by a low in government reportage, with Israeli government sources not merely denying but whitewashing interviews about the use of banned White Phosphorus and cluster bombs, attacks on civilian targets, and fantastical stories in the Israeli press of terrorists riding motorcycles out of heavily militarized tunnels to kill and abduct Israeli soldiers, and equally fantastical exploits of daring and military superiority by the Israeli army.^[1]

Every report of a Palestinian death was preceded by the ad nauseum justification-as-reporting that 'terrorists' used civilian targets as "human shields". Where such tactics lie in the ethical balance relative to war itself was never discussed. Less ambiguously, where lies, in the moral balance, going ahead and shooting when one knows one is going to hit a human shield if one does so, was never discussed.

2008[edit]

Palestine agreed to a ceasefire in the latter part of 2008. It was unable to abide completely by the terms of the agreement, as splinter factions continued to assault Israel with rockets. However, the number of rockets fired during the ceasefire was less than 10% of any time before or after the ceasefire. Israel used the pretext of continued attacks to launch an assault on tunnels they deemed to be used for rearming terrorists.

December 27, 2008

December 28, 2008

December 29, 2008

December 30, 2008

December 31, 2008

2009[edit]

January[edit]

January 1, 2009

Israeli aircraft hit a mosque in Jabaliyah; the IDF released video from drone aircraft said to show secondary explosions which they say indicates that armaments were stored in the building.^[2] The Israeli air force bombed two buildings; it claimed they were each homes of top members of Hamas' military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, and that one of them, Nizar Rayan, had been killed.^[3] The Gaza City home of Nabil Amrin, who the IDF claim is a senior Hamas military operative, was hit by an airstrike; secondary explosions were reported. The Palestinian parliament building in Gaza City was described as "gutted" by attacks by Israel. The ministries of justice, education, and civil defense were bombed. The IDF said it carried out over 50 airstrikes on Gaza in all.^[2]

January 2, 2009

The Israeli military said that among the targets bombed Friday were homes where munitions and weapons were stored. Hamas security sources said the Nusseirat home of Imad Akel, who Israel said is a leading figure in developing rockets, was struck. Nusseirat is located about 7 kilometers (4 miles) southwest of Gaza City. According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the Israeli air force bombed the home of Hamas member Mohammed Madhoun on Friday night.^[3]

January 3, 2009

The Israeli ground war began January 3rd, 2009.

Ibrahim al-Maqadna Mosque attack Wikipedia:2009 Ibrahim al-Maqadna Mosque strike

"Since the beginning of Israel's ground offensive in Gaza on January 3, 2009, there have been numerous media reports about the possible use of white phosphorus-(WP) by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)" -CNN, 12 Jan.^[4]
"Israeli air strikes dwindled to 30 sorties a day from more than one hundred earlier in the week"^[5]
Blasts of heavy machine-gun fire and explosions from airstrikes filled the air in Gaza early Sunday morning, hours after Israel rolled thousands of troops into the Palestinian territory. [...] An Israeli airstrike hit a mosque in the northern Gaza village of Beit Lahiya on Saturday evening, killing 13 people and wounding 60, according to Palestinian medical sources. An Israeli attack earlier Saturday killed Azkariah al-Jamal, commander of Gaza City's rocket-launching squads, Palestinian and Israel Defense Forces sources said. Another airstrike killed two Hamas militants in Khan Yunis, in southern Gaza, Palestinian officials said. Israeli missiles hit 25 Hamas "outposts, training camps and rocket launching sites" Saturday morning, an IDF statement said. The houses of two alleged Hamas terrorist operatives were also hit, the IDF said. One was the home of Azadin Hadad, described as the head of the Hamas military group in eastern Gaza City. The other, in Beit Lahiya, was used to store rocket-launching equipment and was the home of Ismail Renam, who "has a central role in the launching of Grad-type rockets against Israel," the IDF said.^[6]

January 4, 2009

On January 4, CNN reported: "Thousands of Israeli troops pushed into Gaza, essentially splitting north from south by Sunday, the second day of the ground incursion...Housam Hamdan and Mohammed Hilou -- both senior members of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades -- were killed in an airstrike in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, Hamas sources said...Hamas sources said Israeli forces in Jabalya killed Mohammed Shalpokh, a member of Hamas commando forces which Israel blames for launching rockets from northern Gaza...The Israeli military said on Sunday Israeli missiles targeted 45 Hamas locations overnight, including the Hamas intelligence headquarters. During the day, the Israeli Air Force attacked over 15 targets, including the three senior Hamas members, as well as rocket-launching sites and squads, armed gunmen, and a smuggling tunnel, the military said."^[7]

January 5, 2009

Zeitoun bombing (Wikipedia:Zeitoun Incident): Israeli troops rounded up Palestinians, detaining men and ordering the remainder, about 110 mostly women and children, into a building without running water or food, only to shell the building 24 hours later. The United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Navanethem Pillay, along with other international aid officials advocated an investigation in Zeitoun for possible war crimes.^[8] No investigations have ever been discussed since.

On January 5, CNN reported: "Israeli security sources said they surrounded the city of about 400,000 in their operation against Hamas...Earlier in the day, Israeli forces took "tens of Hamas militants" into custody, the military said...Thousands of Israeli troops, backed by tanks, artillery and helicopters, have pushed deep into Gaza, essentially splitting it into south and north sectors."^[9]

On Monday night, at 11:30 pm,^[10] an Israeli airstrike hit the U.N.'s Asma Elementary school in Gaza City, killing three Palestinian men, all members of the same family, the UNRWA said.^[11] The UN had given the Israeli Defense Forces GPS coordinates of the school to prevent accidental attacks.^[10][12]

January 6, 2009

UNRWA school attack (Wikipedia:UNRWA school attack):

In the early hours of the 6th, a UN owned school in the town of Jabaliya was attacked by the Israeli Defense Forces.^{[10] [12] [13]} UN schools in Gaza had welcomed refugees; Jabalya residents, as elsewhere in Gaza, had been given leaflets warning them to leave their homes.^[12] 1,300 people had taken refuge in al-Fakhora (al-Fakhura) School, which is run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).^[10] Forty people were killed. Time magazine reported "Israeli military officials insist that the mortars were fired from within the crowded schoolyard and that Hamas is using civilians as human shields. The IDF gave the names of two Hamas combatants it says were killed inside the school — Imad and Hassan Abu Askar — who allegedly fired the mortars. But the IDF did not explain how it was able to identify them among the many casualties. Troops did not visit the school after the attack, nor did the IDF have access to a casualty list from Gaza's hospitals." John Ging, director of the UNRWA, said three artillery shells struck near the perimeter of the school, that all U.N. buildings in Gaza are "clearly marked" with U.N. flags, and that the UNRWA had given to Israeli authorities the GPS coordinates of all UNRWA schools.^[11][12] Refugees said that they saw a small group of militants firing mortars near the school and running away.^[14] After questioning refugees that survived the attack and UNRWA staff at the school, the UN reported it believed that no militants were in the school during the attack.^[13] Tuesday's incidents came as Israeli ground forces surrounded densely populated Gaza City after at least 50 airstrikes pounded the region overnight.^[11]
Six more critically injured in the Jabalya blast died, bringing the death toll to 46, with 55 wounded, as of January 8.^[15] Israel has admitted that no militants attacked from the UN school, and has begun an investigation into the Jabaliya attack; Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports the IDF troops missed their target, outside the school, by thirty-three yards.^[16]

January 7, 2009

See also White phosphorus

Abd Rabbo family shootings (Wikipedia:Abd Rabbo family incident)

On January 7, an IDF spokesman told CNN, “I can tell you with certainty that white phosphorus is absolutely not being used.”^[17][4][18]

January 8, 2009

The driver of a UN truck driving towards an Israeli border crossing to pick up humanitarian aid was killed by Israeli tank fire, and Israeli forces fired on three UN vehicles en route to collect the body of a colleague killed earlier in the week;^[19] a day later the UN withdrew its forces in protest. ^{[19] [20]} The UN stated that it had given coordinates of the trucks to Israel.^[19]
UNRWA spokesperson Chris Gunness said, "I’ve been authorized to say that the Israeli army, in private briefings with diplomats, is admitting that the firing that came out of Jabalya yesterday, the militant fire, was not from within the UNRWA school compound, it was from outside the UNRWA school compound."^[21] Gunness made his report on Democracy Now, which also reported a UN call for an independent investigation into the school bombing as a possible war crime.^[21]

[On the 9th the IDF states:] Following claims made yesterday [for the 8th] of an IDF force shooting at a UN truck, an IDF investigation of the incident determined that the IDF did not shoot at the truck. On the contrary, the IDF would like to point out that the wounded from the incident were evacuated by the Red Cross, and later taken for medical treatment in Israel.^[22]

January 9, 2009

"On January 9, Human Rights Watch researchers on a ridge overlooking Gaza from the northwest observed multiple air-bursts of artillery-fired WP" (white phosphorus) "that appeared to be over the Gaza City/Jabaliya area."^[18][23]

Shells fired just after midnight Sunday exposed people in nearby Khoza to toxic white smoke. Director of the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Yousef abu Rish, said 55 people were treated for burns, respiratory disfunction, irritation of the throat and eyes.^[24]

The IDF said aircraft attacked more than 70 targets in Gaza identified as terrorist sites as Israel's offensive against Hamas stretched into its 14th day. The IDF said its ground forces found a "rigged house containing a number of land mines" and struck "terror operatives who fired anti-tank rockets at them." "In addition, the house used by terrorists that shot and killed Sgt. Amit Robinson yesterday was shot at by IDF forces today," the military said. The 70 targets included 20 "terror operatives," rocket launching areas, three houses of Hamas operatives that had been used to store weapons, two weapons smuggling tunnels and "a vehicle with armed terror operatives." Israel said that its naval forces hit "at least ten armed terror operatives" Thursday night and "they continued assisting the ground forces throughout the night." One location hit by Israeli missiles was a house in northern Gaza where six people were killed early Friday, the Ramattan News Agency in Gaza City reported. In another attack, Israeli helicopters obliterated the house of a Hamas military commander in northern Gaza City on Friday, sources in the Hamas movement said. Aqsa TV identified the man as Abu Farouk Dababesh. The Hamas sources said Dababesh's house was among 15 houses targeted by Israel on Friday. [...] The IDF said its missiles hit five Gaza sites where Hamas was launching rockets into Israel Friday morning, including one that was adjacent to a mosque.^[25]

January 10, 2009

Israel attacked more than 40 targets, killing a family of 8 people including children. Gaza's ambulances are now unable to cope. The Israeli air force dropped thousands of leaflets urging Palestinians to leave areas of Gaza City or face further attacks from Israel. There were also sea attacks. Attacks continued even during the agreed daily 30hour lull. The UN reported that 750,000 people are without electricity and/or water. "All of this is horrific. Ordinary people are now being told they must prepare for worse. People have congregated into Gaza City fleeing from the Israeli military. Do we have to wait for the Israeli forces to show restraint? Now they are being told they must leave Gaza City (which) is surrounded so there is no way out. This is what is terrorising the people." (UN spokesman). The Israelis claim that their aiming cannot be made any more precise. Hamas claimed that their rockets are aimed at buildings with Israeli soldiers inside. The Israelis want Mahmoud Abbas back in power. (BBC News, 6.30pm)

White Phosphorus use: Human Rights Watch believes the IDF is using WP in Gaza...Human Rights Watch has analyzed photographs taken by the media on the Israel-Gaza border showing Israeli artillery units handling fused WP artillery shells, as well as video of air bursts over Gaza followed by tendrils of smoke and flame that are highly indicative of WP use.

Israel appears to be using WP as an “obscurant” (a chemical used to hide military operations), a permissible use in principle under international humanitarian law (the laws of war). However, WP also has a significant, incidental, incendiary effect that can severely burn people and set structures, fields, and other civilian objects in the vicinity on fire. The potential for harm to civilians is magnified by Gaza’s high population density, among the highest in the world.

Human Rights Watch believes that the use of WP in densely populated areas of Gaza violates the requirement under international humanitarian law to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian injury and loss of life. This concern is amplified given the technique evidenced in media photographs and viewed by Human Rights Watch researchers on January 9 of air-bursting WP projectiles, which spreads the burning wafers over a wider area, thereby increasing the likelihood of civilian casualties and damage to civilian objects. - Global Security, reporting an earlier version of the Human Rights Watch Report of the 10th of January that includes details such as the fused artillery shells.^[18][23] See also Smoke screen#Phosphorus

The LA Times reported that the same type of air-bursts seen by HRW on the 9th were seen from the same ridge on the 10th also.^[24]

January 11, 2009

On January 11, CNN reported: "Israeli soldiers on Sunday closed in on Gaza City from the north and the south. Residents reported heavy shelling and large plumes of black smoke emanated from the city. Also, there was heavy gunfire in northeast Gaza from a location where two rockets were launched toward Israel on Sunday...CNN's Karl Penhaul reported from just inside the Egyptian border that he witnessed an Israeli F-16 drop a bomb on unoccupied land between the border fences of Gaza and Egypt...Israeli paratroopers on Sunday uncovered booby-trapped schools, tunnels and weapon caches in Gaza, the Israeli military said...Israeli troops also targeted more than 40 armed gunmen, according to the IDF, though it did not say whether the gunmen were killed...Israeli aircraft attacked at least 60 targets in Gaza overnight, including a mosque in southern Gaza allegedly used to store Hamas weapons and train militants, the IDF said Sunday...Other targets early Sunday included 10 weapons storage sites, including some houses of Hamas members, the IDF said...The home of Ahmed Jabri, the chief of Hamas' military wing, was also struck by Israeli missiles, the IDF said.^[26]

The IDF made a second statement regarding allegations that it has used white phosphorus in Gaza. "Any munitions that Israel is using are in accordance with international law. Israel does not specify the types of munitions or the types of operations it is conducting."^[4]

January 12, 2009

The Israeli air force flew 60 airstrike missions on the night of the 12th and 13th.^[27]

January 13, 2009

The Israeli military advanced further towards the Gaza city center; Palestinian doctors reported 16 casualties, although "the Israeli army suggested the number could be much higher".^[27]

The IAF attacked over 100 targets since the early morning hours, including:

-55 weapons smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip

-20 rocket launching sites

-22 cells of armed gunmen, some of which were targeted in coordination with ground forces

Troops operating in the northern Gaza Strip encountered several gunmen armed with anti-tank missiles and light weapons. The troops directed the Air Force in targeting the gunmen, which successfully hit the gunmen. During today's operations, an IDF force uncovered a tunnel leading into Israeli territory near the Nahal Oz terminal, intended to enable terrorists to enter Israel and [...]. The entrance to the tunnel was in a house located 300 meters from the fence. IDF troops carried out a controlled detonation of a tunnel. IDF troops also uncovered an anti-aircraft gun and heavy weapons cache in a mosque in the Zeitun neighborhood of Gaza.^[28]

Overnight [...]. Two rigged tunnels located near the security fence were uncovered by forces in the northern Gaza Strip. The forces fired at three terror operatives and uncovered many weapons in the area. In addition, forces uncovered a number of additional tunnels used by Hamas in the area. Ground forces were involved in a number of incidents in which several armed gunmen were hit. Throughout the night, approximately 30 terror operatives were hit. Fire was opened at IDF forces from the yard of a mosque, the forces returned fire. Forces also spotted a number of terror operatives placing explosive devices in the outskirts of Gaza City and directed aerial forces that attacked them. Different weapons were uncovered in a number of incidents including four mortar launchers, an explosive device, an explosives vest and a camera. IAF aircraft attacked over 60 targets throughout the Gaza Strip, including the following:

-A hotel in which terror operatives were gathering in order to fire at IDF forces

-A number of Hamas terror operatives who were rigging a house

-A number of terror operatives located in the yard of a mosque

-15 tunnels on the Rafah border area

-Over 10 launching sites

-10 Hamas outposts

-Approximately 14 squads of armed gunmen

-7 weapons storage facilities

-A weapons manufacturing facility located in the house of a Hamas terror operative

-A launching squad

-Dozens of additional targets attacked as assistance to ground forces

Israeli Navy boats assisted in enforcing the marine closure on the Gaza Strip in preventing the entering of boats that might arrive in the area.^[29]

January 14, 2009

The IAF attacked over 50 targets since the early morning hours, including:

-Two company commanders in the Hamas terror organization, in the area of Zaytun. Walid Za'abud and Muhamad Dash, were both involved in launching rockets at Israel and attacks against IDF forces.

-The armed cell responsible for launching an anti tank missile at an IDF force, causing the injury of seven soldiers.

-15 smuggling tunnels used to transfer Grad and Kassam rockets.

-10 cells of armed gunmen, including a terrorist identified placing an explosive device aimed at IDF forces. Some of these targets were identified in coordination with ground forces.

-10 rocket launchers, including a launcher located next to a cemetery and an armed Grad launcher ready for use.

-A weapon storage facility.

-Underground launching sites, some armed and ready for use.

Troops operating west of Gaza city uncovered weaponry, including explosive devices, hand grenades, vests and communication equipment, in a mosque west of Gaza city. A reserve force identified a mortar shell launcher aimed at Israel and fired at the terrorist responsible and identified hitting him.^[30]

The IAF attacked approximately 60 targets in Gaza overnight, including:

-Hamas police headquarters in Gaza City

-An area rigged with explosive devices intended for detonation against IDF forces

-Five rocket launching sites, including a squad of gunmen who fired mortar shells into Israel. Three gunmen were identified to have been hit.

-Eight cells of gunmen, some in coordination with ground forces

-Nine weapons production and weapons storage facilities, including one in the home of a Hamas operative in Gaza City

-Approximately 35 weapons smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip

The Navy continued to support ground forces operating in Gaza, striking Hamas targets. The IDF continues to enforce the naval blockade in the area.^[31]

January 15, 2009

UN secretary Ban-Ki Moon condemned the morning IDF attack on the UNRWA central depot, which destroyed aid supplies and wounded three relief workers, calling it "an outrage".^[32] Press agency buildings in central Gaza, including Reuters, were attacked, injuring two Abu Dhabi reporters.^[33]

In separate statements, both Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev called Israeli fire on the UN depot a "mistake"; Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert later stated that militants had fired from the UN compound.^[32] Sami Mshasha, spokesman for UNRWA, recalled the claim of militant fire from the al-Fakhora UN school, and subsequent retraction, and categorized the Israeli statements as "flip-flopping" and "preposterous", in a video interview with Fox News.^[34]

January 16, 2009

Thirty were killed by the IDF in Gaza. In southern Khan Younis, one of the dead is alleged to have been an Islamic Jihad commander.^[35] http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFLS69391620090117

IDF forces [...] uncovered a house rigged with explosives. The building was detonated in a controlled manner [...]. A Paratroopers force identified a squad of gunmen armed with anti-tank weapons and guided the Air Force in striking it. [...] ground forces fired at a cell armed with mortar shells. IDF ground forces operating in the Gaza strip reported hitting at least 20 armed gunmen throughout the day. [...] a joint combat engineering and tank force uncovered a tunnel containing weaponry and explosive devices. The tunnel was detonated in a controlled manner. A second reported incident included an infantry force from the Golani Brigade identifying a number of armed gunmen planting an explosive device. The force fired at the gunmen. In a third incident, a reserve infantry force identified a squad of gunmen approaching and fired at them.

Since the afternoon the IAF targeted over 25 Hamas targets in Gaza, including:

-Two launchers used to fire rockets at Ashdod and Qiryat Gat

-Three bunkers containing weapons and rockets

-Seven groups of gunmen

-A tent with Hamas operatives and weapons inside

-Additional strikes assisting ground forces

Earlier in the day the IAF attacked approx. 25 Hamas terrorist sites, including:

-Two smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip used for smuggling weaponry

-13 rocket launching sites

-Six squads of armed gunmen

-Five targets directed by ground forces

-A building with Hamas terror operatives inside

The IAF attacked approximately 40 targets in Gaza overnight, including:

-A mosque used as a weapons storage facility that housed a tunnel

-A house of a Hamas terror operative

-Six squads of armed gunmen

-Four tunnels

-Eight launching sites, including one in which an armed launcher was destroyed

-Three weapons storage facilities, including a structure in a Hamas training camp

-A number of explosive devices

-Two Hamas outposts

-Additional targets as assistance to ground forces

The Israeli Navy continued to support ground forces operating in Gaza, striking Hamas targets while it continues to enforce the naval blockade in the area.^[36]

January 17, 2009

Multiple news agencies reported that Israel is planning a troop withdrawal. A meeting of Israel's Security Cabinet is expected to approve a cease fire for ten days;^[35][37][38] the plan was proposed earlier by Egyptian negotiators. Palestinians rejected earlier Egyptian ceasefire proposals; the Gaza government's leaders have declared that fighting will continue as long as the blockade continues. The blockade prevented the passage of residents and supplies; it was considered by Hamas to be in breach of the terms of the 2008 agreement that led to a hamadiyah, or lull in rocket attacks to 2% of their previous levels. Palestinians dug supply tunnels; Israel says the tunnels were dug to kidnap IDF soldiers or transport military supplies.^[39] However, Palestinian diplomats in Cairo are seeking negotiations there.^[38] No IDF soldiers have been reported kidnapped during 2009.

January 18, 2009

Israel's Security Cabinet approved a cease fire. Time had reported that Hamas was in negotiations in Cairo on a truce, despite initial defiance; Hamas declared a week long cease fire.^[40]

I wrote the original article on Wikipedia almost single-handedly. See the article edit history. I have never signed anything in mainspace on Wikipedia, and I would not normally here, except that the edit history here does not tell the whole story

See also[edit]

• Gaza War: Blockade running attempts (Wikipedia:Incidents in the Gaza War#International civilian efforts to break the blockade on Gaza)
• Wikipedia:Gaza War
• Wikipedia:Incidents in the Gaza War
• Wikipedia:List of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, 2009
• Wikipedia:Timeline of the Gaza War
• Wikipedia:List of Israeli attacks on Gaza, 2009
• Wikipedia:United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
• Wikipedia:Israeli-Palestinian conflict

• Wikipedia:List of rocket and mortar attacks in Israel in 2008
• Wikipedia:List of rocket and mortar attacks in Israel in 2009

References[edit]

Template:2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict Template:Israeli-Palestinian Conflict