From Occupied Palestine

Palestinian doctors despair at rising toll of children shot dead by army snipers
CHRIS McGREAL
Guardian, 20 May 2004

As the carnage in Rafah escalates, bullet wounds belie the official Israeli line on killings of young teenagers

Rafah -- The tiny hole buried under Asma Mughayar's thick black hair, just above her right ear, is an illusion, according to the Israeli army. So is her family's insistance that Asma, 16, and her younger brother Ahmed, were both shot through the head by an Israeli soldier as they fed their pigeons and collected the laundry from the roof of their home in Rafah refugee camp.

Israeli forces kill at least 10 in Gaza
KHALIL HAMRA
The Associated Press, 19 May 2004

[watch video of attack: click here]

Rafah, Gaza Strip -- Israeli forces fired a missile and a barrage of tank shells to hold back a crowd of Palestinians protesting military operations in Gaza on Wednesday, killing at least 10, including children and teens. Overwhelmed doctors treated some of the dozens of wounded on blood-drenched hospital floors.

Two magic phrases
AMIRA HASS
Ha'aretz, 19 May 2004

Rafah -- There are two magic phrases that the government uses to enlist soldiers, pilots and their families for the assault on Rafah: "armed men" and "smuggling tunnels." The sound of those two threatening phrases overcomes the sounds of gunfire by the air force and armored corps, the humming of the unmanned aircraft overhead, the whistle of the missiles, the long bursts of machine gun fire, the bombs and the shelling. And then the sirens of the ambulances.

The high and the mighty
VERED LEVY-BARZILAI
Ha'aretz Magazine, 21 August 2002

When the media furor was at its peak - a few days after the liquidation of Hamas activist Saleh Shehadeh in the Gaza Strip on July 22, by means of a one-ton bomb that killed 15 civilians - Israel Air Force Commander Major General Dan Halutz met with the pilot who dropped the bomb and with the other pilots and air force personnel involved in the operation. "It's important for me that you know I stand behind you and in front of you 100 percent," Halutz told the men. "The criticism that is being voiced here and abroad has nothing to do with you. All the critics, all the bleeding hearts - let them criticize me: You have no problem."

Unclassified: Released in full
Telecon
Ambassador Dinitz/Secretary Kissinger
28 November, 1975
Time: 2:07pm

Ed: A transcript of a telephone conversation between Israeli ambassador to the US, Simcha Dinitz, and US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger regarding the US veto of a resolution in the United Nations Security Council in order, to preclude debate on the "Palestine question" (Dinitz), and also to ensure that a timetable for negotiations is not included in the resolutions. Dinitz: "If there is a debate, they will invite the PLO. Then we will face that problem. If we could cut it off at the beginning, it would be better."