Statement on the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip

The military onslaught against 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip must be stopped immediately.

The deaths and injuries of hundreds of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as a result of the Israeli military attacks since 27 December are to be deplored. The grossly disproportionate attacks by the Israeli military on a trapped civilian population are unacceptable by all norms of humanity and international law and should not be tolerated by the international community.

Civilian casualties
The targeting of civilians in all cases - both Israeli and Palestinian - is prohibited under international law.

"The civilian population and individual civilians shall enjoy general protection against dangers arising from military operations...The civilian population as such, as well as individual civilians, shall not be the object of attacks." Protocol 1 Additional to the Geneva Conventions, Article 51.

In one 'Black Saturday', the Israeli military offensive against the Gaza Strip resulted in the highest death toll in a single day in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since 1948, when the State of Israel was created on the land of historic Palestine. In a press release from the Union of Health Work Committees in Gaza, the offensive has been labelled a "massacre". The release reported that over 100 bombs were dropped in two waves of attacks, resulting in over 200 deaths and over 700 people injured. Many more have been killed and injured in recent days.

With medical supplies in Palestinian hospitals seriously depleted due to the Israeli-imposed blockade of the Gaza Strip for the past two years, efforts to treat the wounded are stymied. The humanitarian impact of the intensified and continuing Israeli closure and isolation of the Gaza Strip since June 2007 has brought the local Palestinian economy and community to virtual collapse.

Dependence
In a Palestinian population of 1.5 million in the Gaza Strip, the United Nations reports that almost 80 percent of Palestinian families are almost entirely dependent on food aid or direct assistance and estimates the unemployment rate in the Gaza Strip to exceed 50 percent by mid-2008 (UN OCHA, Dec. 2007). Of the 1.5 million, half are children, and almost a million are registered with the UN as refugees, still excluded from their homes in Israel. Palestinian families are resorting to crisis measures to survive - such as selling off livestock or business and family assets, reducing their healthcare costs by not buying necessary medicines, and removing children from school when fees are unable to be paid. Poverty, unemployment and lack of income or cash flow have consequently forced many Palestinian households into an unwanted dependence on food aid and other direct humanitarian assistance.

The Crisis
A massive military offensive such as this current attack will only escalate the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. The world cannot stand passively by while such disproportionate military force is used against a besieged and starving civilian population.

Action
Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA calls on the government of Israel to immediately cease all military attacks and open the borders for the flow of essentials: water, food, medicine and fuel. Palestinian fighters in Gaza must stop cross border rocket attacks. Israel should release all the political prisoners it holds in gaol including the elected members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, and all parties should resume negotiations.

Our partners in Gaza
For the past two years Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA has been sending funds to the MA'AN Development Center in Gaza for emergency food support for the most vulnerable households. In addition to food parcels, families are given seeds, chickens and rabbits, and supplies so they can produce fresh protein and fresh vegetables at home. Funds have been sent to El Wafa Rehabilitation Hospital in southern Gaza, which has rapidly increasing caseload of people with serious injuries and disabilities. This appeal has been helped by the Palestinian Relief Fund and the Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine in Sydney, and by Brisbane singer Phil Monsour and the Palestinian Solidarity Initiative.

How to Donate

Phone
1800 888 674 (toll free)

Email
office@apheda.org.au

Cheque
Made to Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA and posted to:
Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA, Level 3, 377-383 Sussex Street, Sydney NSW 2000.

Online
Follow the steps below (Visa or Mastercard only).

1. Click here to access the secure online donation form

2. Go to Section C ONE-OFF DONATIONS and select GAZA from the drop-down menu

3. Enter your donation amount in the $ box at right

4. Click Continue

5. Enter your credit card details (Visa and Mastercard only)

6. Enter your contact details and please type "GAZA APPEAL"; after your name in the name field to ensure your donation is directed to our appeal.

7. Click Finalise Order to send your donation

THANK YOU

Click here to view Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA's GAZA APPEAL.

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© Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA 2003.

Last Modified: Sunday, 18-Jan-2009 18:07:41 EST
This page: http://apheda.org.au/news/1230523996_11474.html