Israeli Drone War Crimes in Gaza Exposed

Everyday people living the best they can, suffer death and destruction under the guise of "rightful" retaliation.

Families suffer horribly in Gaza. Photos/Video by Ken O'Keefe

(GAZA CITY / SALEM) - Israeli air strikes and artillery fire hit Gaza nine times in one of the bloodiest sprees since "Cast Lead", leaving eighteen dead.

"Just another Israeli war crime in Gaza. A mother and her four daughters preparing for the daughters wedding in a couple of weeks... and then a Israeli rocket explodes between them as they sit in their yard," said Ken O'Keefe. "A family is destroyed. This is Israel."

It began with air strikes on April 7, when five Palestinians were killed in raids hitting targets that the Israeli military described as 'positions where projectiles had been fired from'.

Two women and an elderly man were killed in separate strikes near Khan Younis, and two unidentified men were killed near Gaza City.

The two women were a mother and daughter, who were sitting in their back yard, planning details of the girl's upcoming wedding. Three younger sisters were there also, and they had all spent the day baking bread and preparing for the big event.

The men of the family were away, attending Friday prayers.

Suddenly, and without warning, an Israeli rocket exploded between the women, killing them both. One sister was seriously injured and remains hospitalized, in a coma.

The youngest daughter, five years old, was far enough from the blast to remain uninjured, but unfortunately she was first on scene. First to see her dead family members. She and her older sister, and all of the remaining family are suffering from PTSD.

Ken O'Keefe visited the Qudeih family and spoke to them about this unnecessary tragedy, and gave them the opportunity to share their grief, and want for justice- and peace.

WATCH THE VIDEO REPORT PRODUCED BY KEN O'KEEFE:

ILLEGAL CHEMICAL WARFARE- AGAINST CIVILIANS

The IOF troops fired three white phosphorous bombs at Juhr al-Deek neighbourhood to the east of the central Gaza Strip district at 6:50 p.m. on April 8th, according to a statement by the Interior Ministry in Gaza.

A statement from Israel's military did not deny civilian casualties, instead saying the military "regrets that the Hamas terrorist organization chooses to operate from within its civilian population, using it as a 'human shield'." They supplied no verification of a charge.

When Hamas officials in Gaza accused Israel of launching the white phosphorus missiles toward civilians, an Israeli military spokesman promptly denied it.

The Israeli's reported "heavy rocket and mortar fire," coming from Gaza Friday afternoon but later changed their jargon to a total of five mortars and eight projectiles fired.

The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) fighters' claimed to have fired two projectiles at targets from the northern Gaza Strip. A statement from them said the fire was a "response to Israel’s lack of commitment to the truce [and its] continuing of shelling of our unarmed people."

Early Friday evening, Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades said fighters launched six projectiles and three mortars on an Israeli military post east of Rafah.

No Israeli deaths have been reported.

FRIDAY, APRIL 8 2011, ISRAELI ATTACKS ON GAZA:

7:00 a.m. Israeli shelling on Rafah airport in southern Gaza injured three, witnesses reported.

8:00 a.m. An Israeli strike hit in an open area east of Rafah, no injuries were reported.

The Kudeih family, before 8 April.

9:45 a.m. An airstrike combined with artillery hit the town of Khuza'a, east of Khan Younis, killing two.

Israel's military said in a statement that "forces identified two terrorist squads from the Hamas terrorist organization," adding that air and artillery fire were used and the military "identified hits."

Hamas' military wing, the Izz Ad-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, named those killed as Abdallah Al-Qarra and Muataz Abu Jamea.

1:30 p.m. A 55-year-old man was killed by an Israeli air strike which hit in the Qarara area east of the city. Medics identified the man as Talal Abu Taha, 55.

2:00 p.m. Israeli artillery fire hits the Al-Farahin area east of Khan Younis. A mother and child were killed and another of her children injured.

Israeli media reported shortly before the strike that five projectiles launched from Gaza landed near Ashkelon, with no injuries.

Medics later confirmed that 45-year old Najah Kudeih and her 21-year old daughter Nidal, were killed, and another second daughter, 18-year old Nida, was seriously injured. Three others were wounded.

3:00 p.m. Air strikes hit a smuggling tunnel between Egypt and Gaza. No injuries were reported, but witnesses said a large fire broke out in the area following the blast.

According to Ma'an News, witnesses said the tunnel had been used to smuggle fuel into Gaza. Gaza's power plant stopped using industrial fuel from Israel in January, and has only been able to rely on fuel imported from Egypt via the tunnels.

A clear strategy to keep Gaza in the dark, the engineer responsible for developing the purifying mechanism for the fuel was abducted by Israeli intelligence officers while on vacation in the Ukraine. He is currently in prison on charges of "assisting the resistance" in Gaza.

A mother & daughter were killed here.

4:30 p.m. An Apache helicopter fired one missile on residents of Beit Lahiya, killing two Al-Qassam members, identified as 27-year old Raed Shehada, and Ahmad Abu Ghurab. The second died in hospital of injuries he sustained during the shelling.

In the Az-Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza City a resistance fighter was said to have "escaped death," a statement from resistance groups said. The strike was aimed at a metal workshop, which was damaged.

Medics confirmed that there were no injuries reported from the area.

5:30 p.m. Israeli warships fire on shoreline near Rafah, no injuries.

6:30 p.m. Shell lands on home east of Gaza City, two civilians killed, medics said, and ten others injured.

Witnesses said three shells landed on homes in the Ash-Shuja'iyeh neighborhood. Medics said all were transferred to the Ash-Shifa Hospital.

6:50 p.m. The IOF troops fired three white phosphorous bombs to the east of the central Gaza Strip district.

In total, more than 40 people were wounded across the Gaza Strip overnight.

On Saturday, April 9th, the DFLP claimed responsibility for launching a homemade projectile at the Israeli kibbutz Nir'am, near the Gaza Strip, in response to the aggression toward the Palestine people- an act of resistance against ongoing occupation

The jewelry of the bride-to-be.

18 Palestinians Martyred on April 8, 2011:

• Mahmoud al-Manasra, 50 years old
• Musab al-Sufi, 18 years old
• Mohammed Al-Mahmon, 22 years old
• Saleh Tarabin, 38 years old
• Khaled Albari, 23 years old
• Salah Abu Taha , 55 years old
• Najah Qudeih, 45 years old
• Nedal Qudeih, 21 years old
• Abdullah Mahmoud Qarra, 20 years old
• Moataz Abi Jamea, 23 years old
• Raed Shehadeh, 27 years old
• Ahmed Ghrab
• Mahmoud Wael Al Jaru, 10 years old
• Bilal Al Arair
• Mohammad Abu Armaneh
• Tayser Abu Sneema
• Shadi AlZatma
• Mohammad Awaja

This report used information from Ma'an News, and OccupiedPalestine.wordpress

Ken O'Keefe is a former U.S. Marine who served in the 1991 Gulf War and subsequently spoke out about the use of depleted uranium as a "crime against humanity" and the US military using soldiers as "human guinea pigs" with experimental drugs that were directly linked to Gulf War syndrome. He is also a social entrepreneur utilizing direct action marine conservation, he is more widely known for leading the human shield action to Iraq and as a survivor of the Israeli attack on the MV Mavi Marmara in which he participated in "defending the ship" and "disarming two Israeli Commandos". On January 7, 2004, O'Keefe burned his US passport in protest of "American Imperialism" and called for US troops to immediately withdrawal from Iraq. He replaced his US passport with a "World Passport", subsequently proclaiming himself a "Citizen of the World" with “ultimate allegiance to my entire human family and to planet Earth." Ken is also legal citizen of Ireland and Palestine citizenship. Read Ken O'Keefe's Biography, you can also visit Ken's Ken's Website alohapalestine.com