March 2012 – Israel calls a halt to killing. Regrets “collateral damage”

Israel has ended its current round of killing of Palestinians in Gaza, leaving 25 dead and over 80 wounded, some seriously. Three Israeli were injured. It is a symptom of the sense of impunity felt by Israeli officials who organise murders of Palestinians, whether in a Dubai hotel or Gaza, that Israel announced it would “stop assassinations” for the moment. An official said Israel was “sorry” for “collateral damage”.

This confirms the feeling in Gaza that Israeli hi-tech aircraft, some equipped with UK-supplied parts, were targeting the leadership of the political parties in Gaza, together with resistance members, and ex-prisoners that Israel was recently forced to release in a prisoner exchange for a captured Israeli soldier.

Israeli Civil Defence Minister Matan Vilnai said on Israel Radio that " this round is now behind us.” (Vilnai threatened Palestinians with a “Holocaust” immediately before Operation Cast Lead in December 2007.)

• Gaza remains under Israeli-US-EU blockade.
• The Israeli Army fires regularly into Gaza without warning to clear its so-called 'buffer zone'
• Israeli aircraft overfly with high-tech capability that means Israel can kill with impunity.
• Poverty levels continue to rise as part of Israel’s punishment of the civilian population for its wayward voting in democratic elections.
• The refugee families who form most of Gaza’s 1.7 million population are denied their rights under international law to return to the areas from which they were ethnically cleansed.
• Western governments continue to arm and support Israel.

We are unable at this stage to stop Israel’s regular massacres of Palestinians; we need to organise in larger and larger numbers to isolate the rogue state economically. Withdrawing Israel’s lucrative trade arrangements with the EU would help to level the playing field between Israel and the Palestinians they routinely murder.
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