Most of the victims of the massive Israeli onslaught of the occupied Gaza Strip have yet to be identified today as more than 100 air strikes killed and dismembered more than 225 Palestinians in Gaza.
Ongoing coverage
The more than 225 dead are thought to include police officers who were attending a graduation ceremony, school children heading home after a day of study, and other Gazans killed without warning as they were conducting their normal business. The death toll will most likely rise as corpses are recovered from the rubble of destroyed buildings and the critically injured die of their wounds. Many will likely die because Gaza's hospitals -- already chronically short of medicines and supplies due to the Israeli siege -- are unable to cope with the scale of the catastrophe.In Israel, where the fate of the Gaza Strip has become part of politicking as the country gears up for an election, leaders blamed Hamas for the carnage and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert cynically appealed, "to the people of Gaza, you are not our enemy." While the other three members of the so-called International Quartet for Middle East Peace criticized what they called Israel's "excessive" use of force, the US refrained from doing so. White House spokesperson Gordon Johndroe stated from Texas, where President George W. Bush was presently vacationing: "Hamas' continued rocket attacks into Israel must cease if the violence is to stop."
The day's rising death toll was the highest in the territory since it was occupied by Israel during the 1967 War. Although Israel unilaterally withdrew its illegal settler population from the Gaza Strip in 2005, it remained the occupying power as it controlled the borders, sea and airspace, as well as the population registry, and regularly carried out sonic booms over the area, terrorizing the population. Israeli forces have also frequently carried out extrajudicial executions of Palestinian activists in Gaza, killing scores of bystanders as well.
Gaza hospitals were unable to cope with the situation as Israel's closure of the Gaza Strip for a year and a half has prevented the importing of medical supplies and equipment. As the morgues filled to capacity, corpses lined the hallways of Gaza hospitals. Hospitals were forced to turn away many of the injured due to the lack of space and supplies.
The massive air strikes came after a food crisis broke out in Gaza, as Israel's banning of imports into the Strip have depleted stocks of flour and cooking gas, causing some bakeries -- the few still in operation -- to resort to baking bread made out of animal feed. On 18 December, the United Nations agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) was forced to stop its food aid delivery to 750,000 refugees in the Gaza Strip.
These measures of collective punishment are resulting in "the breakdown of an entire society," according to economist Sara Roy, who asks in a commentary published recently by The London Review of Books, "How can keeping food and medicine from the people of Gaza protect the people of Israel?"
The devastating attack on Gaza was described as "willful killing" by leading Palestinian human rights and civil society organizations, and therefore constitute "a war crime." The organizations stated: "Both the time and location of these attacks also indicate a malicious intent to inflict as many casualties as possible with many of the police stations located in civilian population centers and the time of the attacks coinciding with the end of the school day resulting in the deaths of numerous children."
The assault was met with loud calls for a boycott of Israel, including a boycott appeal from by the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee, which stated on the day of the massacres: "Israel seems intent to mark the end of its 60th year of existence the same way it has established itself -- perpetrating massacres against the Palestinian people. In 1948, the majority of the indigenous Palestinian people were ethnically cleansed from their homes and land, partly through massacres like Deir Yassin; today, the Palestinians in Gaza, most of whom are refugees, do not even have the choice to seek refuge elsewhere. Incarcerated behind ghetto walls and brought to the brink of starvation by the siege, they are easy targets for Israel's indiscriminate bombing."
![]() |
| Palestinian firemen try to extinguish a fire following an Israeli strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, 27 December 2008. (Hatem Omar/MaanImages) |
Opinion and analysis
- Gaza massacres must spur us to action, Ali Abunimah (27 December 2008)
Gaza voices
- "Shabbat Shalom" in Gaza, Rami Almeghari (27 December 2008)
- "The amount of death and destruction is inconceivable", Safa Joudeh (27 December 2008)
- The rains of death in Gaza, Laila El-Haddad (27 December 2008)
Action and advocacy
- Rights orgs: Israel's willful killings a war crime, Various undersigned (27 December 2008)
- Boycott committee: "Stop the massacre in Gaza - boycott Israel now!", Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (27 December 2008)
Related Links
- BY TOPIC: Israel declares Gaza "enemy entity" (19 September 2007)
- BY TOPIC: Israel closes Rafah crossing (9 June 2007 - )
- BY TOPIC: Israel attacks Gaza (16 May 2007)
- BY TOPIC: Massacre in Beit Hanoun (8 November 2006)
- BY TOPIC: Israel attacks Gaza: "Operation Autumn Clouds" (1 November 2006)
- BY TOPIC: Israel invades Gaza: "Operation Summer Rain" (27 June 2006)
- BY TOPIC: Massacres in Gaza (June 2006)
- BY TOPIC: Post-"disengagement" sonic booms over Gaza (24 September 2005)
- BY TOPIC: Israeli raid on northern Gaza (28 September-15 October 2004)
- BY TOPIC: Israel's "Operation Rainbow" in Rafah, Gaza (13 May 2004)



















Lora. No por nada la Casa de la Cultura de Santa Cruz, actual oficina central de la Dirección de Cultura del Gobierno Municipal, fue bautizada con su nombre. Su producción intelectual literaria está marcada por el amor a su tierra natal, también escribió a la naturaleza y sobre la guerra, ante su dolorosa vivencia de la Guerra del Chaco.






Gazan women mourn the death of loved ones
The humanitarian crisis in Palestine Gaza Strip shows no sign of relenting and is at crisis point after weeks of continuous violent conflict. Over a hundred Palestinians have been killed, including large numbers of civilians, many of whom were women and children; the youngest just six-months-old.
Hundreds have been injured and many left homeless.
Gaza was already at breaking point after prolonged border closures left its citizens without access to the most basic of human necessities.
Access to food, water, fuel, electricity and medical equipment is severely limited. Hospitals are dependent on generators, meaning that only life and death cases can be seen, and even those awaiting urgent operations are not allowed to leave.
Problems with sewage equipment have led to raw sewage being dumped into the sea and to rubbish lined streets, and the lack of adequate sanitation is causing a massive health risk.
Hunger, fear and lengthy power-cuts have become a daily occurrence for the people of Gaza and relief agencies are finding it increasingly difficult to reach those in need.
Recent events have seen this desperate situation worsen.
Islamic Relief Emergency Response
On January 16 2008 Islamic Relief (IR) Palestine began to respond to the situation and started to provide Palestinian families with hygiene kits, kitchen sets, blankets, emergency gas lights, food parcels and water.
IR needs £5 million in order to continue to provide food and nutrition and health and shelter facilities in the areas most affected by the crisis. Urgent drugs and other medical items are being supplied to hospitals and primary health care clinics in coordination with the World Health Organisation (WHO)
www.islamic-relief.comYour donation can help the people of Gaza survive this escalating humanitarian crisis