Ramallah, 27-09-07: The Israeli military killed 11 Palestinians and injured more than 30 in three separate attacks in the Gaza Strip Wednesday evening and Thursday morning. These attacks, an air strike and artillery shelling on Beit Hanoun and another air strike in Gaza city, were conducted just hours after Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak threatened to launch a large scale invasion of the Strip.
Dr Barghouthi, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative, denounced this declaration of war against the Palestinian people, stating that "the Israeli government has used its declaration of Gaza as a ‘hostile entity‘ to continue its complete evasion of all principles of human rights and international law". Dr Barghouthi also urged the international community to pressure Israel to reverse the measures of collective punishment imposed on the inhabitants of Gaza and to lift its siege on the Strip.
He added that through its lack of reaction in the face of blatant Israeli violations of human rights and its passivity towards the Israeli policy of collective punishment, the international community was enabling continued Israeli violence against the Palestinian people and bypassing its responsibility to ensure adherence to the principles of international Humanitarian Law and respect for human rights.
Photo: A Palestinian boy sits on the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli army operation in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007 (AP Photo/Adel Hana).