Accounts of Israeli war crimes in Khuza’a, Gaza pile up

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

http://mondoweiss.net/2014/08/accounts-israeli-khuzaa.html

In recent days, well-documented accounts of war crimes have poured out of the Gaza Strip from journalists and human rights advocates. Some of these stories will likely be followed up on by the United Nations team that has been tasked with investigating war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

Many of these accounts have focused on Khuza’a, a village near Khan Younis that was the site of intensive Israeli bombardment in late July. Khuza’a is near Gaza’s border with Israel, and Israeli forces battled Palestinian fighters there. By many accounts from Palestinians and journalists, the village suffered from indiscriminate shelling and firing, leading to the deaths of many Palestinian civilians. There are also reports that Israeli soldiers shot unarmed civilians at point-blank range. (Mondoweiss printed accounts from Palestinians on the apparent massacre in Khuza’a here, here and here.)
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Ramadan Muhammad Qadeeh said that on July 25th, Israeli soldiers raided his home in the village. They killed his 65-year-old father at point-blank range after he tried to tell the soldiers they were just civilians. Then, Qadeeh said, “they ordered us to take off our clothes and tied our hands up. They took us to one of the rooms and used us as shields, making us stand at the windows as if we were looking outside…I was at one window and three children from my family at another. The soldiers then began firing around us.” There are many detailed accounts of how Israel has used Palestinian civilians as human shields during past military operations in Gaza.

The Palestinian journalist Mohammed Omer also reported on apparent war crimes in Khuza’a for the Middle East Eye. Omer wrote on how the Qudeh family was sheltering in their home on July 25 when an Israeli army-operated bulldozer crashed into the home and then soldiers entered the residence. 64-year-old Mohammed Tawfiq Qudeh went to talk with the soldiers while waving a white flag. But as witnesses told Omer, an Israeli soldier shot and killed him.

[BillZBubb]

1. No doubt there were war crimes, but nothing will happen.

Israel always gets a free pass. The US will see to that.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

2. Yes, it appears that killing 448 children

is a war crime.

There will be those hasnarists that creep out of the sewers of propaganda to create smokescreens to divert attention from these war crimes.

It's much easier to cry about a broken window than to acknowledge that Israel has murdered 448 Palestinian children.