The Current Violence in Gaza

A KAIROS Statement

The Israeli withdrawal of settlements from Gaza in August 2005 was seen by many as a positive step in reducing the poverty and violence that have characterized life in Gaza for many years. The withdrawal offered a faint hope to the Palestinians in Gaza that daily life would improve through increased mobility, less armed conflict, and a better standard of living.

That hope has been crushed as Israeli military incursions to the Gaza Strip have intensified in recent months. Since August 2006, 350 Palestinians have died and hundreds more wounded. On November 7, Israeli troops withdrew from the town of Beit Hanoun after a week of siege but the next day fired artillery shells that landed in a crowded neighborhood killing 19 civilians, including at least 6 children. According to media reports, a 12 year old Palestinian girl was also shot in the head by an Israeli sniper and two teenaged volunteers with the Palestinian ambulance service were killed in Beit Lahiya.

The effect of these military attacks on an entire town was captured poignantly in the testimony of a young Palestinian from Beit Hanoun on November 3:

We have no water, no electricity. We hide in the remote corners of our houses. Ambulances are not authorized to enter into this occupied and closed zone. The soldiers have circled the houses they want to invade. They occupied the houses and they shut up the families in one room. Now they are using then as forts. They use explosives to pierce holes in the walls, they blow off doors, and the people are terrified. They shoot anyone that moves.

Yesterday they fired on people that were seeking shelter, who were not armed, who were not in fighting positions. They shot them in the back, and when one was wounded and wanted to flee, they killed him. Those who wanted to collect his body were targets as well. In numerous cases, ambulances couldn't go to the aid of the wounded. Children who slip out from their parent's watch or that look out the windows are killed by Israeli soldiers positioned on the roofs and balconies of the houses they occupy.

The Israeli government stated that the intention of the Gaza invasion was to stop the firing of Qassam rockets launched by Palestinian militants into nearby Israeli towns across the Gaza border. The killing of a woman on November 15 in the Israeli border town of Sderot was the first Qassam casualty since July 2005. The launching of these rockets is a violation international human rights standards and should be stopped. However, the Israeli response is totally disproportionate to the Palestinian rocket attacks. The Israeli human rights organization, B’Tselem called the Israeli shelling of civilian areas a “war crime”, and pointed out that under international humanitarian law, it is forbidden to launch an attack if it is expected to cause injury to civilians that would be excessive in relation to the direct military advantage anticipated from the attack.

The international response from many countries to the events in Gaza over the past several weeks has been highly critical of the Israeli actions. The head of the European Union stated that “the right of all states to defend themselves does not justify disproportionate use of violence or actions which are contrary to international humanitarian law.”

The response from the Canadian government was extremely disappointing. Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay issued a press release on November 8 expressing “concern” and “sympathy” about civilian casualties but offered only the mildest of rebukes to the Israeli government regarding the prevention of civilian casualties. There was no reference to international law or any indication that the Israeli military offensive was disproportionate. Canada also voted against a resolution of the UN Human Rights Council on November 15 that called for international action, including a UN delegation to Gaza, to protect the human rights of Palestinians.

The violence against Palestinians in Gaza is unconscionable and must stop, as must any firing of rockets by Palestinians into Israeli civilian population areas. More urgently, for a lasting and just peace the Occupation of Palestinian Territories must be ended so that a Palestinian state can be created. For decades, the international community has promised to support the Palestinians in creating a safe and secure state. But as time passes, this vision of two states for two peoples seems more remote than ever. We urge the Canadian government and other countries of the UN to exert maximum diplomatic pressure to bring Palestinians and Israelis together for authentic negotiations that would lead to an end to the Israeli Occupation and a just peace for both peoples.

Over the past year, Canada has diminished its peacebuilding role in the Middle East through its uncritical support of Israel without reference to crucial international human rights instruments such as the Fourth Geneva Convention that were put in place to protect civilians in times of war. We call on Canada to play a constructive role in applying the laws of human rights to all parties involved in the conflict. Canada once had significant stature in the Middle East as a country that engendered the respect of all parties. The worsening situation calls for fresh thinking and new approaches.