MARIÂNGELA BERQUÓ enfoca a Geopolítica: Rogue IDF: O. Protective Edge

Norman Finkelstein's essays for Palestine at Byline:
Has Amnesty International lost its way? (Part II)
OMINOUS ARSENAL

Segunda-feira, dia 14 de julho de 2014

As day seven came to an end, news broke that a ceasefire negotiated by Egypt was close to being announced, effective on Tuesday 9:00am, and would be followed by negotiations in Cairo. Hamas confirmed the ongoing negotiations, but said that no agreement had been made.

Remembering the dead during Israeli offensive on Monday, July 14. Below, only Palestinian identified victims.

Nome dos mortos palestinos no dia 14 de julho.

Source/Fonte: IMEMC-International Midlle East Media Center. 2015.

Adham Abdul-Fattah Abdul-Aal, 27
Hamid Suleiman Abu al-Araj, 60, Deir al-Balah
Abdullah Mahmoud Baraka, 24, Khan Younis
Tamer Salem Qdeih, 37, Khan Younis
Ziad Maher an-Najjar, 17, Khan Younis
Ziad Salem ash-Shawy, 25, Rafah
Mohammad Yasser Hamdan, 24, Gaza
Mohammad Shakib al-Agha, 22, Khan Younis
Ahmed Younis Abu Yousef, 22, Khan Younis
Sara Omar Sheikh al-Eid, 4, Rafah
Omar Ahmad Sheikh al-Eid, 24,
Jihad Ahmad Sheikh al-Eid, 48.
Kamal Atef Yousef Abu Taha, 16, Khan Younis
Ismael Nabil Ahmad Abu Hatab, 21, Khan Younis
Boshra Khalil Zorob, 53, Rafah
Atwa Amira al-Amour, 63, Khan Younis

Vice News reports from the West Bank

Reservistas da IDF, forças israelenses de ocupação,

Shovrim Shtika - Breaking the Silence

10. “Rules of engagement were, in effect, to shoot to kill upon any identification”
Rank: Staff Sergeant. Unit: Engineering Corps. Area: Northern Gaza strip:
The briefing on rules of engagement was [to open fire at], “Anything you think you should [open fire at]...Anyone you spot that you can be positive is not the IDF.” The only emphasis regarding rules of engagement was to make sure you weren’t firing at IDF forces, but other than that, “Any person you see.” From the very start they told us, “Shoot to kill.” As far as the IDF was concerned, there wasn’t supposed to be any civilian population there. And we really didn’t ever run into the civilian population.
You were told this before entering [the Gaza Strip]?
That’s what we were told, not in those words. They gave us all kinds of briefings, warned us about the threat of explosive devices and about terrorists disguised as civilians. So we know this exists and that there’s no reason to let a civilian get up close to you. When going out into the field, the rules of engagement were, in effect, to shoot to kill upon any identification [of a person].
11. "The safety regulations are just there for the out-of-touch guys in the headquarters that don’t really have a clue"
Rank: Lieutenant. Area: Northern Gaza strip:
Each corps has its own tricks that reflect the gray areas, for how far things can be pushed. During a debriefing with the officers we discussed the protocol orders, the general plan, when you do this, when do you do that. Safety ranges were always a topic of discussion. How do you assist soldiers in the field when you need to maintain safety ranges everywhere? What happens is, you are left with very little space at which you can fire, because you need to allow for a safe range away from civilians and a safe zone from soldiers and a safe range from UNRWA buildings (UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians in the Near East), and so on. So during the informal part of the conversation, one of the senior officers was this reservist and he says to us, “There’s a well-known trick, which we used [during the war] in Lebanon, too. Say you’re instructed to maintain a [safe range] away from civilians, but the target is too close to them. What you do is, on the map you mark a target that will get cleared through the higher channels – you mark a target that’s far enough [from the civilians] in the computers, so that it shows up that way. And then on the two-way you tell the [artillery] battery, “Fire on [coordinate] no. 2, and adjust by 200meters.” It’s within your authority to decide and to discuss where to mark a target and where not to. If you know that place needs to be bombed, then you will get the target authorized by the supervising ranks – they will grant authorization, because that’s what they do – because you listed it on the map – and then it’s, “OK, the battalion granted him authorization for that.” And then in real time you’ll tell [the battery] to adjust 200 meters to the right. “Recalibrate by 200 meters.” See, that doesn’t mean much to the [supervising officers]. To them it’s “[The artillery brigade] adjusted 200 meters, they’re just recalibrating.” Those guys don’t really understand. [The soldiers in the battery will say] “We were given faulty coordinates,” or “The wind got in the way.” Standard range recalibration. You are a good war agent when you know how to strike where it’s truly needed. The safety regulations are just there for the out-of-touch guys in the headquarters that don’t really have a clue. [The reservist] told that to a bunch of guys as a sort of lesson from someone experienced, from someone who knows how things actually go down in reality, as someone who had come to explain the professional secrets.

Gaza hoje - today (praying outside the still destroyed mosque)