JERUSALEM — An association representing international news organizations is campaigning for an end to an unusual Israeli policy barring foreign reporters from entering Gaza that has lasted for almost two weeks.

The local Foreign Press Association, which represents reporters working for foreign news companies in Israel and the Palestinian territories, asked presidents of major news organizations on Tuesday to sign a letter to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel protesting the policy. The association said it was also enlisting the help of a number of foreign governments and was consulting with lawyers regarding possible legal action.

Israel has almost sealed the crossing points along its border with Gaza since a five-month cease-fire with Hamas, which controls the strip, began to unravel on Nov. 4.

At least 15 Palestinian militants have been killed in clashes with Israeli forces since, and about 140 rockets and mortar shells have been fired from Gaza into southern Israel, the Israeli military said.

Although Israel has often closed border crossings and halted deliveries of goods and fuel to Gaza in response to rocket fire, foreign journalists have usually been allowed to cross to report.

This time, all movement in and out of Gaza is being halted, except for essential humanitarian cases, said Shlomo Dror, a spokesman for the Israeli Defense Ministry.

“The decision is not directed against journalists,” Mr. Dror said. “The situation in Gaza is clear: There is daily firing, we have information about possible attacks on the crossings and we are limiting our activity there as much as possible.”

Mr. Dror added that he was not “shedding tears” over the journalists’ frustration. He said that Israel, in any case, considered much of their previous coverage from Gaza unfair.

Last week, 20 European consuls who were scheduled to meet with business leaders and human rights advocates in Gaza were denied entry, on grounds that their mission was not strictly humanitarian.

On Monday Israel allowed 33 trucks carrying basic food and medical supplies to enter, as international aid organizations warned that the lack of supplies was jeopardizing their operations in Gaza. Israel has also allowed one limited delivery of fuel, and Mr. Dror said that a number of Gazans in need of medical treatment had been allowed to leave.

He denied that there was a food or fuel crisis in Gaza, and said that the crossings would reopen after the Palestinians stopped firing.

The truce broke down after an Israeli force entered Gaza to destroy a tunnel that the military feared Hamas, the Islamic group that took control of Gaza in 2007, might use to abduct soldiers in a cross-border raid.

On Tuesday, Israeli forces conducted what the military called a “routine operation” along the border fence in southern Gaza, searching for explosives, and, the military said, three rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel.

Gaza – Ma’an Report - On 12 September 2005 the Israeli army unilaterally evacuated twenty one settlements. The settlements had been built 38 years before on the most fertile grounds and abundant aquifers in the most beautiful areas along the Gaza Strip. The evicted settlers were moved to cities surrounding the Gaza Strip

These areas have remained “freed,” and but for some areas granted to the universities for expansion, remain just as abandoned as the day they were evacuated three years ago.

In a recent statement Hamas spokesperson Salah Al-Bardaweel blamed this on “the financial corruption that occurred directly after the Israeli withdrawal.” During the confusion, he said, 35 Million US dollars went missing. The money was supposed to be the first installment for rebuilding projects on all the previously confiscated lands.

Once Gaza recovered from the loss, the siege hit the area from all sides and “we have been prevented from enjoying these lands,” but he added that some success has been had in using lands for agricultural products.

On 13 September 2005, the Israeli army unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip. Israeli soldiers were redeployed along the border between Israel and Gaza. They are stationed there in guard towers with patrol roads and heavy artilleries.

Political analysts at the time considered the state of internal stability and security in the Gaza Strip as one of the most important accomplishments of the Israeli withdrawal.

The stability lead the way to Palestinian Legislative elections, which saw the election of Hamas, and an end to international funds. Thus an end to the rebuilding projects stifled by corruption before the elections.

Political analyst Dr Mekheimer Abu Sa’da said recently that other than ending the state of lawlessness that prevailed over the past year, everything in Gaza is bad starting from the internal division to the poverty, unemployment and the deterioration of the economic situation.

Then, during the three years that Israel has been “withdrawn” from the Gaza Strip, they have carried out continued massacres killing hundreds of Palestinians and in some cases whole families.

Israeli artillery troops shelled the children of the A’thamneh families in Biet Hanun (8 February 2006, 11 members of Athamneh family dead, 9 others) and the Ghalia family on the beach of the Gaza Strip who were killed when the Israeli navel boats shelled them while they were on a picnic (9 July 2006, 7 members of Ghalia family dead) . The Israeli troops killed the Rouqah siblings and their friend (20 June 2006, 3 children dead 11 injured), the entire Selmiyah family (12 July 2006, 9 dead, from one family, two brothers survived), the Attalah family in the center of the Gaza city (18 February 2008, five family members killed one injured, 3 neighbors killed 14 injured), and the Fayed’s east of the Buriej refugee camp (15 February 2008, 6 family members dead, 40 others injured).

The forces responsible for these deaths, for countless shellings, raids and destruction have not been able to retrieve the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. The young man was taken by Palestinian resistance fighters seven months after the unilateral withdrawal, and carried over the Kerim Shalom crossing south of the Gaza Strip.

Nobody knows the whereabouts of Shalit, just like Israel, though most don’t own the same high-tech military equipment they do, or have the wide network of collaborators hired for that purpose.

Now, the Israeli army threatens to carry a wide range invasion of the Gaza Strip.

Residents say that a two year siege and countless small invasions render a new invasion pointless; there is nothing that they have that can be taken away anymore.

When the disengagement occurred, Hamas saw the first seeds of national accomplishments, making statements to the effect that the event proved the occupation would not be forever. The Palestinian resistance forced out the occupation from Gaza, people said, and they must continue so it will also leave the West Bank.

The occupation has not, however, left the West Bank, and current Israeli rhetoric has churned up the idea of re-invading Gaza to “stabilize” the situation.

Concerning the Israeli threats of an expanded invasion after three years of “disengagement” with Gaza Strip spokesperson for Hamas Salah Al-Bardaweel commented recently that in fact, the truce reflects Israel’s “need for it.” They will not, he said, “carry out these threats, especially since Israel is carrying out internal elections and needs a state of political and stability.”

Al-Bardaweel denounced the statements of the Israeli Minister of transportation, Shaul Mofaz in which he threatened to return to the assassination policy of killing the Palestinian political leaders, saying he considered them propaganda for elections.

Israel may someday hope to carry out these threats, he said, but added that they would not happen under the current conditions.

On 13 September 2008 then, what is left of Gaza’s hopes for renewal? A place that began as a symbol of an ending occupation and a chance to rebuild has become just the opposite.

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31915

ISRAELI MILITARY GUNBOAT RAMS UNARMED PALESTINIAN FISHING VESSEL

10:57 AM For photos of the damage, see: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29205195@N02/sets/72157607231701711/

(GAZA COASTAL WATERS ) 10th September 2008 – An Israeli military gunboat rammed an unarmed Palestinian fishing vessel today at high speeds. The gunboat smashed through the upper hull of the fishing boat, careened over the top, and landed on the other side. Extensive damage was caused by the impact to the fishing boat. The hull was badly damaged, and virtually the entire deck area, all the equipment on it, and the canopy above the deck were severely damaged.

Unusually, all of the crew happened to be in the cabin or at the fore at the time. Had they been on deck they would have had little chance of survival. Via a megaphone, the Israeli military aboard the gunboat then made the threat that:
"When the internationals leave Gaza, you will all be made to pay."

Human rights observers from the International Solidarity Movement and from the Free Gaza Movement have recently been accompanying Gazan Fishermen during their work. The fishermen are constantly harassed, threatened and attacked by the State of Israel, in flagrant violation of international law and maritime law.

Israel has been attempting to impose an illegal "no-go" area 6 miles off Gaza's coast through employment of lethal force against unarmed fishing boats. However, and this is not unusual, today's attack happened within the so-called "permitted" 6-mile area.

The ISM regards the project of accompanying unarmed Palestinian fishermen as a long term commitment. Some of the human rights observers currently undertaking this work are long-term volunteers who will be in Gaza for the indefinite future. More long-term volunteers are expected to bolster their number within the next few weeks.

Please TAKE ACTION and CALL:

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
tel: +972 2 530 3111 fax: +972 2 530 3367

Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations
tel: +1 212 499 5510 fax: +1 212 499 5515

DEMAND that Israel stop using deadly force to intimidate unarmed Palestinian fishermen operating within Gaza's coastal waters!

GAZA, (PIC)-- A fifth Palestinian child has died in Khan Younis city on Sunday as a result of the politically-motivated doctors' strike in Gaza Strip which was called for by Fatah unions and the Muqata'a authority in Ramallah city, medical sources in the city confirmed.

The sources identified the latest Fatah doctors' victim as Soha Musammah, adding that number of newly born Palestinian children dying due to the unsanctioned strike increased since the start of this month.

Four Palestinian children in the premature-baby unit of the Gaza European hospital in the city had, so far, died ahead of Musammah for the same reason.

The victims were identified as Nadia Abu Saleh, died on the first day of the month, Hadeel Abu Odeh, died on the following day, Afaf Al-Khaldy, died on the third of this month, and Batool Abed, who died on Friday.

The hospital sources also disclosed that number of the Palestinian infants who died in the premature-baby unit over the past week was almost equal to the monthly figure under the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip.

The same hospital sources called on the concerned Palestinian authorities to question the striking doctors and paramedics over the deaths of those babies..

Furthermore, the sources blamed the deliberate absence of nine nurses (out of 12 nurses working at the hospital) for the death of the five children, adding that the nine nurses heeded Fatah's call for strike lest their salaries be cut by the Ramallah authority.

The sources identified the delinquent nurses as Nesreen Ahmad Abu Redwan, Rowaydah Rabba Al-Hamaydeh, Warda Abu Hasheesh, Heyam Abu Seyam, all residents of Rafah city, Faten Mohammed Sheneen, Ola Zaki Abu Odeh, both of Khan Younis city, Reda Mahmoud Darweesh of Al-Maghazi, and Maryam Alloh, of Deir Al-Balah district.

Families of the dead infants held the absent nurses and the Muqata'a authority in Ramallah city directly responsible for the death of their children, urging the Palestinian interior ministry and the Palestinian Judiciary to prosecute them for "deliberate murder".

"What is this strike, for? And why should we pay the price for it; they have murdered my baby, and I want them be punished for that… I will not forgive any doctor or nurse who abandoned his or her duty and caused the death of my child… I won't forgive them till the Day of Judgment ", said mother of one of the dead children.

Palestinians human rights activists, including Basem Bushnaq, the head of the Palestinian bureau for citizen's rights, urged the Palestinian general-prosecutor to take all the legal procedures against the striking doctors and paramedics for violating the Palestinian law.

In an interview with the PIC, Bushnaq explained that the Palestinian basic law was clear in stressing the prosecution of anyone proved exposing the citizens' life to risk.

He added, "Although the law sanctions the right to call for strike; yet, all workers in the health department should take all the necessary steps and precautions to ensure that the safety of Palestinian citizens is not put at risk".

He also agreed with the Palestinian center for human rights in describing the strike as politically-motivated and unprofessional, calling on PA health minister Dr. Basim Na'im to seek the help of the Palestinian Judiciary to compel the striking doctors to return to work.

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GAZA (2 Sept. 2008) - Four foreign nationals from the UK, USA, Ireland and Australia, who helped peacefully challenge the siege of Gaza by traveling through international waters with the Free Gaza Movement, have so far been refused exit to Israel via Erez Crossing, or to Egypt via Rafah Crossing. For over two years Israel has severely restricted access to Gaza, blocking aid shipments and trade. As a consequence, Gaza's economy has collapsed, forcing most industries to close and dramatically increasing malnutrition rates among children. Eighty percent of families in Gaza are now completely dependent on United Nations food aid. Travel outside of Gaza has been likewise blocked by Israel. Over 200 people have died as result of not being able to leave Gaza for medical treatment. Hundreds of Palestinian students, accepted to universities abroad, have also been denied exit visas by Israel. Among the internationals currently stranded in Gaza are Irish activist and former Hawaiian legislator Kenneth O’Keefe, British journalist Lauren Booth, the sister-in-law of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Dr. William Dienst, a family and emergency room physician from the USA. This refusal of entry by Israel and Egypt effectively confines the internationals to the 40 by 10 kilometre enclave of Gaza, along with 1.5 million Palestinians, likewise sealed off from loved ones who live abroad and denied freedom of movement for purposes of education, medical care, leisure, or work. The four internationals attempted to peacefully exit Gaza through Israeli controlled Erez crossing on August 19th; Israel denied the exit, stating that the activists had entered Gaza illegally by sea, even though that voyage had been formally allowed by the Israeli Foreign Ministry and Internal Affairs Ministry, according to newspaper reports. An official statement by Israel’s Defence Ministry (August 25th) declared the Free Gaza Movement did not violate any laws, and that their action posed “no security threat” (Ha’aretz). Diplomatic channels are trying to negotiate the exit of the human rights workers, who wish, like Palestinians, to exercise their human rights under Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state and (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country. ### http://www.FreeGaza.org