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Rafah
Offensive Killed 62, Displaced Some 2,000
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A
Palestinian woman sit on the rubble of her home
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By
Adel Zaarab, IOL Correspondent
RAFAH,
May 26 (IslamOnline.net) – The Israeli military offensive on the
southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah and its refugee camp has claimed the
lives of up to 62 Palestinians, flattened 155 homes and drove some
2000 residents homeless, according to Palestinian medics and the U.N.
Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA).
The
director of Rafah’s Abu Youssef Al-Najar, Dr. Ali Moussa, said the
week-long Israeli operation killed 62 Palestinians, including
children, and injured some 270 others.
The
UNRWA said in a report release Tuesday, May 25, that from 18 May
through 24 "a total of 167 buildings in the Tel Sultan, Brazil
and Salam quarters of Rafah were destroyed or rendered uninhabitable.
These buildings housed 379 families or 2,066 individuals.
"In
total, from 1 May until 24 May, 277 buildings, housing 641 families,
or 3,451 individuals have been demolished in Rafah."
The
relief agency has opened two shelters in two schools to house
displaced Palestinians.
The
Palestinian Red Crescent also set up an emergency unit at Al-Salam
playing field, which houses some homeless families.
Since
the start of the Intifada in September 2001, 1,476 buildings have been
demolished in Rafah, affecting 14,666 people, said the UNRWA report.
Israeli
Justice Minister Tommy Lapid condemned the Rafah offensive as "not
humane", making Israel "looks like monsters to the rest
of the world".
"I
was in the United States last week, and I noticed that we look like
monsters to the rest of the world," said Lapid.
Deliberate
Damage
Resident
Isa Zaarab told IslamOnline.net that Israeli troops had deliberately
damaged most of the city’s greenhouses.
"They
scooped up our lands and ransacked our properties according to
prearranged schemes, which blatantly violate human rights," said
Zaarab whose 50-donum farm had been razed in the Israeli raid.
"They
damaged everything and cut off the livelihoods of hundreds of
families. Now we fear that Israel will annex our lands to expand the
nearby Etsamona settlement," he added.
Um
Khaled, a housewife, said Israeli troops had intentionally bombed the
front doors of many homes to the horror of their occupiers.
Cold-Blood
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Palestinians
pay last respect to Rafah victims
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The
brother of Ramzi Al-Maghari was killed by Israeli soldiers in cold
blood.
"My
brother raised a white flag in order not to be harmed, but the
occupation troops shot him dead directly," Maghari told IOL.
"They
killed him though they ordered us to leave our homes to avoid
shootings," he added.
Nafez
Al-Amousi said the residents were deeply concerned about the children
as the occupation troops were targeting everyone.
"Every
Palestinian is targeted whether children, the elderly and even the
patients. Many of the residents were driven out of their homes
handcuffed to Israeli jails," Amousi said.
The
children of Um Mohammad were woken up by the kicks of Israeli
soldiers.
"The
kicked and beat them with rifle buts and their tears fell on deaf
ears," she lamented.
"Death
was there, dancing crazily around me and my family. Bullets
and tank shells were deafening, along with the non-stop screams of my
wife and children. I thought that would be it," Ziyad Hassan
recalled a very close call during Israel's onslaught on Rafah.
The
U.N. Security Council passed
a resolution on Wednesday, May 19, with a rare U.S. abstention,
condemning Israel for its practices in Rafah.
Israeli
forces killed on Saturday, May 22, a four-year-old Palestinian girl in
Rafah amid "very
moving" scenes of human losses and destruction.
Amnesty
described the Rafah offensive as a part of a "war
crimes", while French daily Le Monde called it a "dirty
war" launched by occupation forces against the
Palestinians.
A
French poll showed Tuesday, May 25, that almost half
of the French people saw Israel in a bad light due to its
repressive policies in the occupied Palestinian territories.
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