So there was no provocation of the Palestinians? CHILD KILLINGS

Child Killings by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in the Gaza Strip
June 2007 - June 2008
Source....http://www.pchrgaza.org/files


From the beginning of the Second Intifada, in September 2000, until 30 June 2008, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed almost five thousand Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian territory (OPT1. The majority of victims were civilians, and 859 of them were children. Of these  2,051 civilians including 548 children lived in the Gaza Strip.

"Between 30 June 2006 – 30 June 2007, a total of 98 children were killed by IOF in the Gaza Strip. The child death toll dropped in the latter part of 2007; however, it rose dramatically once more during the first six months of 2008, largely as a result of a large-scale IOF military operation across the Gaza Strip at the end of 9 February 2008, as well as IOF killings of children in the border areas of the Central and Eastern Gaza Strip. PCHR notes with grave concern that IOF killed more children in the Gaza Strip during the first four months of 2008 than during the whole of 2007."

"One of the main reasons for the dramatic increase in the number of children killed by IOF during the first six months of 2008 was a large scale IOF military operation in the Gaza Strip, code-named ‘Operation Winter Heat,’ that was launched on 27 February, 2008."

"The circumstances of child deaths during Operation Winter Heat strongly and consistently indicate that children were deliberately targeted throughout the operation. For example, on Thursday 28 February, 2008, at approximately 15:20, IOF fired a missile at a group of Palestinian boys who were playing football in an open area.

"On 1 March, Samah Abu-Saif was preparing food for the family, when twelve year old Safaa went upstairs to the second floor of the house, where her uncle and his family were living. In order to do this, Safaa had to step outside of the living room, and climb an outside staircase that led up to the second floor apartment. Her parents did not know she had left the living room. Five minutes later the extended Abu-Saif family downstairs heard a single shot, followed by screaming. Safaa’s father, Ra’ed Abu-Saif, and his eldest son, Ali, ran upstairs to the second floor using the outside staircase. They found Safaa in a bedroom, with her aunt, Kefiya. Safaa had been shot, and had collapsed on the bedroom floor. ‘There was a hole in her chest’ said Ali Abu-Saif. "The bullet had entered her left side and exited through her back. She was bleeding heavily."'

"The Abu-Saif family believed any men who left their home would be shot dead by the IOF. So Samah Abu-Saif carried her daughter’s body out of the courtyard and into the street, accompanied by her elderly mother, who held up a white scarf. As the two women attempted to walk down the street towards the crossroads, an Israeli tank began shooting in front of them, despite the fact they were carrying a dead child, and holding up a white scarf as instructed. The two women were forced to run back to the house for cover.

"PCHR notes that the IOF deliberately prevented the access of ambulances into the Abed Rabbo district of Jabalia during the invasion, which is a violation of international law"

my comment...

The evidence suggests that some in the Israeli forces believed this is a legitimate way of punishing the Gaza inhabitants for voting for Hamas.

Footnote - for first week of 2009;
441 Palestinians including over 70 children killed by Israel since last Saturday
[ 03/01/2009 - 04:29 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Israel continued for the eighth consecutive day its military attacks against civilian targets throughout the Gaza Strip resulting in the death of 441 Palestinians including more than 70 children.

Dr. Muawiya Hassanein, the director of ambulance and emergency in the health ministry, said that most of the victims were civilians including 36 women and 70 children, pointing out that the beds in Gaza hospitals are full of patients and injuries and can accommodate no more.

For his part, Dr. Bassem Naim, the health minister, warned that the outcome of the ongoing Israeli massacres committed against the Gaza people is apt to increase significantly especially since there are more than 400 seriously-injured citizens.

Dr. Naim noted that there is a severe shortage of medicines and medical equipment used to handle emergency situations, adding that 50 percent of ambulances are out of service due to the lack of spare part as a result of the Israeli siege.\