(ಠ_ಠ)РаОÑа
2014-07-30 23:50:55 UTC
Let's face it, Canadians . . . we've got a nasty piece of work holding
down the Prime Minister's seat.
___________________________________________________
Reuters and Associated Press - Tuesday, Jul. 29 2014
Harper sticks to hard line on Hamas; U.S. condemns Israel's deadly
shelling of UN school
The United States is condemning Israel’s shelling of a U.N. school in
the Gaza Strip that was sheltering displaced Palestinians.
It’s the sharpest criticism the U.S. has levelled at Israel over the
more than three weeks of fighting between Israel and Hamas militants in
Gaza.
White House spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan says the U.S. is also
“extremely concerned” that thousands of Palestinians aren’t safe in
U.N.-designated shelters in Gaza even though Israel’s military has told
them to evacuate their homes.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper reiterated his government’s hard line on
Hamas Wednesday, saying the organization is solely responsible for the
death and destruction in Gaza following almost a month of fighting
between Israel and Hamas militants.
“Obviously no one likes to see the suffering and loss of life that has
occurred,” Harper told reporters in Air Ronge.
“That said, we hold the terrorist organization Hamas responsible for
this. They have initiated and continue this conflict and continue to
seek the destruction of the state of Israel.”
The school shelling killed at least 15 Palestinians. In a separate
incident, Israeli shelling killed at least 17 people and wounded about
160 others near a fruit and vegetable market in Shejaia, a heavily
bombarded neighbourhood on the eastern outskirts of the city of Gaza,
the Health Ministry said.
Israel had earlier announced a “humanitarian window” in certain parts of
the territory. But it said it would not halt fire in other areas,
including in Shijaiyah, where the strike took place. Hamas dismissed the
cease-fire, and Gaza militants fired 27 rockets at Israel after it began.
Gaza's Health Ministry says more than 1,300 Palestinians, mostly
civilians, have been killed since Israel began its offensive on July 8
with the declared aim of halting cross-border rocket fire.
The IDF said three Israeli soldiers were killed on Wednesday when a
booby-trap bomb exploded in a tunnel shaft they had uncovered in a
residence in the southern Gaza Strip. On the Israeli side, 56 soldiers
and three civilians have been killed.
JABALYA: AT LEAST 15 DEAD
Some 3,300 Palestinians, including many women and children, were taking
refuge in the school building in Jabalya refugee camp when it came under
fire around dawn, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said.
“Our initial assessment is that it was Israeli artillery that hit our
school,” Krahenbuhl said in a statement after representatives of the
agency visited the scene and examined fragments, craters and other damage.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said militants had fired mortar bombs
from the vicinity of the school and troops shot back in response. The
incident was still being reviewed.
Abdel-Karim al-Masamha, 27, said he and his family had come to the
school after fleeing fighting near their home in the northern Gaza
Strip. “We did not find safety here,” he said. “People were martyred
before our eyes. They were dismembered.”
REFUGEES: 'THERE IS NO SAFETY AT ALL'
Jebalya, which has been under Israeli fire for the past 24 hours, is the
largest refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. Its population of 120,000 has
been swollen by Palestinians trying to escape fighting between Israel
and militant groups in the 23-day-old conflict.
“There is no safety at all, no place is safe, neither homes nor
schools,” said Haleema Ghabin, holding her infant son at the school.
“What shall I say to the world? Find us a solution, we are defenseless
civilians and children.”
UNRWA, the main UN relief agency in Gaza, said it was at “breaking
point” with more than 200,000 Palestinians sheltering in its buildings
following calls by Israel for civilians to evacuate whole neighborhoods
before military operations.
SCHOOLS: CIVILIANS AT RISK IN CROWDED FACILITIES
Last Thursday, 15 Palestinians were killed and 200 injured in a strike
on a UN school in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, crowded with
hundreds of displaced civilians.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned that attack and said he was
appalled by the bombardment of a UN-designated shelter. The Israeli
military said militants had fired from the vicinity of the school in
Beit Hanoun and soldiers shot back.
Last week, Ban also expressed alarm at the discovery of rockets at two
UNRWA schools. On Tuesday, rockets were found at a third, and a
spokesman for the agency condemned “the group or groups who endangered
civilians” by placing munitions there.
PEACE PROCESS: UN, U.S. PRESSING FOR CEASEFIRE
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to review progress
with his security cabinet later on Wednesday, and a Palestinian
delegation was expected in Cairo for discussions on an elusive truce.
Both U.S. President Barack Obama and the UN Security Council have called
for an immediate ceasefire to allow relief to reach Gaza’s 1.8 million
Palestinians, followed by negotiations on a more durable end to hostilities.
Efforts led by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry last week failed to
achieve a breakthrough, and the explosion of violence appeared to dash
international hopes of turning a brief lull for the Muslim Eid al-Fitr
festival into a longer-term ceasefire.
In a statement on Wednesday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter
Steinmeier said he was “extremely concerned about the escalating
fighting in and around Gaza” in which civilian infrastructure and UN
facilities have come under fire. “Everything must be done to prevent
civilian victims and to uphold humanitarian law,” he said. “I urge both
sides to agree to an immediate ceasefire and to resume negotiations
about a long-term ceasefire on the basis of the Egyptian suggestions.”
_____________________________________
Aw, shaddup with the 'urging' and the 'planned negotiations' and the
rest of the bullshit rhetoric. Send in UN forces now to physically
stand between Gaza and Israel. And make bloody sure that the Americans
are front and centre.
down the Prime Minister's seat.
___________________________________________________
Reuters and Associated Press - Tuesday, Jul. 29 2014
Harper sticks to hard line on Hamas; U.S. condemns Israel's deadly
shelling of UN school
The United States is condemning Israel’s shelling of a U.N. school in
the Gaza Strip that was sheltering displaced Palestinians.
It’s the sharpest criticism the U.S. has levelled at Israel over the
more than three weeks of fighting between Israel and Hamas militants in
Gaza.
White House spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan says the U.S. is also
“extremely concerned” that thousands of Palestinians aren’t safe in
U.N.-designated shelters in Gaza even though Israel’s military has told
them to evacuate their homes.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper reiterated his government’s hard line on
Hamas Wednesday, saying the organization is solely responsible for the
death and destruction in Gaza following almost a month of fighting
between Israel and Hamas militants.
“Obviously no one likes to see the suffering and loss of life that has
occurred,” Harper told reporters in Air Ronge.
“That said, we hold the terrorist organization Hamas responsible for
this. They have initiated and continue this conflict and continue to
seek the destruction of the state of Israel.”
The school shelling killed at least 15 Palestinians. In a separate
incident, Israeli shelling killed at least 17 people and wounded about
160 others near a fruit and vegetable market in Shejaia, a heavily
bombarded neighbourhood on the eastern outskirts of the city of Gaza,
the Health Ministry said.
Israel had earlier announced a “humanitarian window” in certain parts of
the territory. But it said it would not halt fire in other areas,
including in Shijaiyah, where the strike took place. Hamas dismissed the
cease-fire, and Gaza militants fired 27 rockets at Israel after it began.
Gaza's Health Ministry says more than 1,300 Palestinians, mostly
civilians, have been killed since Israel began its offensive on July 8
with the declared aim of halting cross-border rocket fire.
The IDF said three Israeli soldiers were killed on Wednesday when a
booby-trap bomb exploded in a tunnel shaft they had uncovered in a
residence in the southern Gaza Strip. On the Israeli side, 56 soldiers
and three civilians have been killed.
JABALYA: AT LEAST 15 DEAD
Some 3,300 Palestinians, including many women and children, were taking
refuge in the school building in Jabalya refugee camp when it came under
fire around dawn, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said.
“Our initial assessment is that it was Israeli artillery that hit our
school,” Krahenbuhl said in a statement after representatives of the
agency visited the scene and examined fragments, craters and other damage.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said militants had fired mortar bombs
from the vicinity of the school and troops shot back in response. The
incident was still being reviewed.
Abdel-Karim al-Masamha, 27, said he and his family had come to the
school after fleeing fighting near their home in the northern Gaza
Strip. “We did not find safety here,” he said. “People were martyred
before our eyes. They were dismembered.”
REFUGEES: 'THERE IS NO SAFETY AT ALL'
Jebalya, which has been under Israeli fire for the past 24 hours, is the
largest refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. Its population of 120,000 has
been swollen by Palestinians trying to escape fighting between Israel
and militant groups in the 23-day-old conflict.
“There is no safety at all, no place is safe, neither homes nor
schools,” said Haleema Ghabin, holding her infant son at the school.
“What shall I say to the world? Find us a solution, we are defenseless
civilians and children.”
UNRWA, the main UN relief agency in Gaza, said it was at “breaking
point” with more than 200,000 Palestinians sheltering in its buildings
following calls by Israel for civilians to evacuate whole neighborhoods
before military operations.
SCHOOLS: CIVILIANS AT RISK IN CROWDED FACILITIES
Last Thursday, 15 Palestinians were killed and 200 injured in a strike
on a UN school in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, crowded with
hundreds of displaced civilians.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned that attack and said he was
appalled by the bombardment of a UN-designated shelter. The Israeli
military said militants had fired from the vicinity of the school in
Beit Hanoun and soldiers shot back.
Last week, Ban also expressed alarm at the discovery of rockets at two
UNRWA schools. On Tuesday, rockets were found at a third, and a
spokesman for the agency condemned “the group or groups who endangered
civilians” by placing munitions there.
PEACE PROCESS: UN, U.S. PRESSING FOR CEASEFIRE
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to review progress
with his security cabinet later on Wednesday, and a Palestinian
delegation was expected in Cairo for discussions on an elusive truce.
Both U.S. President Barack Obama and the UN Security Council have called
for an immediate ceasefire to allow relief to reach Gaza’s 1.8 million
Palestinians, followed by negotiations on a more durable end to hostilities.
Efforts led by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry last week failed to
achieve a breakthrough, and the explosion of violence appeared to dash
international hopes of turning a brief lull for the Muslim Eid al-Fitr
festival into a longer-term ceasefire.
In a statement on Wednesday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter
Steinmeier said he was “extremely concerned about the escalating
fighting in and around Gaza” in which civilian infrastructure and UN
facilities have come under fire. “Everything must be done to prevent
civilian victims and to uphold humanitarian law,” he said. “I urge both
sides to agree to an immediate ceasefire and to resume negotiations
about a long-term ceasefire on the basis of the Egyptian suggestions.”
_____________________________________
Aw, shaddup with the 'urging' and the 'planned negotiations' and the
rest of the bullshit rhetoric. Send in UN forces now to physically
stand between Gaza and Israel. And make bloody sure that the Americans
are front and centre.