Israel’s heavy-handed response to Hamas rocket attacks is an unfolding horror story, and each day brings fresh news of desperation and despair.
As the death toll climbed towards 800 this week, with thousands injured, relief workers stumbled across four starving children sitting next to their dead mothers and other corpses in a house in a part of Gaza City bombed by Israeli forces.
The International Committee of the Red Cross accused Israel this week of delaying ambulance access to the hit area.
Using unusually strong language, the agency said it believed Israel had breached international humanitarian law in the incident.
The rescue team “found four small children next to their dead mothers in one of the houses”, the neutral agency said.
“They were too weak to stand up on their own. One man was also found alive, too weak to stand up. In all there were at least 12 corpses lying on mattresses,” it said.
In another house, the team found 15 survivors of Israeli shelling, including several wounded, it said. Israeli soldiers posted about 80m away ordered the rescue team to leave the area, which they refused to do, it said.
Our own President, Kgalema Motlanthe, also came out strongly against the attack, calling the offensive “sheer savagery and brutality” that caused a “deep sense of revulsion”.
He said that a peace deal should be based on the acceptance that the Palestinians and the Israeli’s have a right to mutually exist.
“The first step towards peace is an urgent and mutual cessation of hostilities. However, as a country, we will only act through the mandate of the UN Security Council and not on our own,” he said.
Motlanthe said the UN Security Council was partly to blame for the Gaza crisis, saying that “if a country has powerful friends on the Security Council, they can sometimes act with impunity”.
He said the UN, and the UN Security Council in particular, needed “urgent reform” so that it could become more representative of the world’s population.
“If you go back to the original mandate of the United Nations, you will realise that it was meant to give equal treatment and protection to even the smallest and weakest countries.”
He said the dominance of the United States on the council should be dealt with “because the veto powers enjoyed by some on this council in fact also promote selfish and sectional interests, which is contrary to the collective and principled mandate of the UN”.
It also emerged this week that Israel is suspected to be using white phosphorus shells.
Gaza medics have been quoted as saying they have been struggling to treat patients with unusual burns, which they suspected had been caused by white phosphorus.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said this week that Israel should be given guarantees that weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip will halt to persuade it to end its offensive. Hamas must also be persuaded to halt all rocket attacks on Israel. By comparison, these cause little damage and few fatalities, but serve to unnerve the Israeli population.
Financial Times correspondent Gideon Rachman this week related the story of how he had got chatting to a Palestinian man the last time he visited the Gaza Strip.
The man, who had worked in the US, told Rachman he would vote for Hamas.
By way of explanation, he said: “Because every day, the Israeli’s find a different way to say ‘fuck you’.”
“By voting for Hamas, I’m saying ‘fuck you back’.”
| FULL SPEED AHEAD |
NOT SO FAST |
The Proteas
The Proteas are to be congratulated on their outstanding achievements in Australia. The 2-1 Test series win by Graeme Smith and his team against a side considered near-invincible in recent years augurs well for the future of cricket in South Africa. |
 Warring parties
As accusations fly and argument is made as to who holds the moral high ground in the Israel-Gasa conflict, it is the innocent who suffer. As the bombs and bullets rain down, there is often only one loser: the civilian. |
Most-read stories
January 1 to January 7 2009
1. Mugabe takes month-long break to ‘reflect’
Zanu-PF leader Robert Mugabe has taken a month’s leave and is to spend part of it on holiday outside the country, the state-owned Sunday Mail reported.
2. Don’t be fooled by the ‘little’ woman
Whenever “women and children” are killed — the phrase has recurred in last week’s coverage of the Israeli bombardment of Gaza — we’re meant to be especially horrified.
3. Bishop calls on Motlanthe to act against Mugabe
The Anglican bishop of Pretoria — Right Reverend Dr Jo Seoka — on Thursday called upon President Kgalema Motlanthe to act against Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe.
4. Zimbabwe rights activist ‘poisoned’ in custody
Zimbabwean rights campaigner Jestina Mukoko, who is to appear in court on Monday on charges of plotting to overthrow President Robert Mugabe, is being poisoned and tortured in custody, the Sunday Independent reported.
5. Mugabe appoints acting ministers
Zanu-PF leader Robert Mugabe has appointed eight acting ministers days after firing a number of ministers from his party who lost in the March 2008 elections, state media said on Wednesday.
6. Selebi faces the axe
Police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi is on the brink of being axed, the Times newspaper reported on Wednesday.
7. Mugabe prepares new govt despite protests
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe has started preparations to form a government despite opposition objections, firing a dozen ministers from his Zanu-PF party to clear the way for a new Cabinet, state media said on Saturday.
8. Time to re-think war on terror
Americans now realise that aggression fuels extremism. This offers Obama the chance for a new Middle East policy.
9. ‘What happens in war happens’
The road to Fort Ashby, West Virginia, runs through Mineral County, an area of freezing grey farmland and barrack-style bungalows, where the sign outside the bar — “Hunters welcome” — has an unnerving effect on the passing non-hunter.
10. Slimming down in 2009: Laptops, software and upgrades
What does 2009 hold for the world of technology? First: the small print. If you want to know the future, buy a crystal ball.