Fighter jets target Hamas base over ‘bombs’ at border
▶ We cannot let attacks on Gaza protesters be overshadowed by Israel’s lies and propaganda
Israeli fighter jets hit a Hamas “military target” in northern Gaza yesterday, claiming it was in response to Palestinians infiltrating the border and planting bombs the day before.
Palestinian security sources in Gaza said the Israeli strikes hit a base in Jabalia belonging to Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, and farmland near Beit Lahia, causing damage but no injuries.
The military claims that on Sunday, Palestinians crossed the northern Gaza border fence and left “explosive devices” that were found by the army.
The border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel has become the scene of mass demonstrations, during which Israeli soldiers have shot dead scores of protesters and wounded hundreds.
Israel has faced mounting questions over its use of live ammunition after 10 days of protests along the Gaza Strip border.
Yesterday, the Gaza Health Ministry said Marwan Qudeih, 45, who was wounded by Israeli fire east of Khan Younis on March 30, had died.
His death brings the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since then to 31. Of those, 26 were killed during the protests at the Gaza Israel border
Israel says it only fires when necessary to stop damage to the border fence, infiltrations and attempted attacks.
It claims Hamas, the movement that runs the Gaza Strip, is seeking to use the protests as a cover for carrying out violence.
Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008.
Human rights groups criticised Israeli soldiers’ actions, and Palestinians said protesters were being shot while posing no threat to troops.
On Sunday, International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said she would determine whether there was enough evidence to launch an investigation into any crimes committed by Israel.
Thousands of Palestinians have protested along the Gaza-Israel border as part of a series of demonstrations called by Hamas to last until May 15.
That is the day after the anniversary of the official establishment of Israel and 70 years since the Nakba – or catastrophe – during which 700,000 Palestinians were displaced from land claimed by Israel.
You can tell a great deal about the character of Israel from the fact that its defence minister is Avigdor Lieberman, the man who followed his soldiers’ mass murder spree in Gaza with shameless insults targeted at Palestinians. A former nightclub bouncer in his youth in Moldova, Mr Lieberman has always worn his anti-Arab bigotry proudly on his sleeve. In 2014, he called for the expulsion of Arab politicians from Israel (the grotesque irony of an emigré from the former Soviet Union demanding the eradication of the children of that soil was, needless to say, lost on him and his acolytes). A year later, he declared that those he perceives to be Israel’s enemies “deserve to have their heads chopped off with an axe”. The fact that his house is on an illegal Israeli settlement makes him perhaps the only defence minister in the world who doesn’t live within his nation’s legitimate borders.
This thuggish extremist is not an outlier. When it comes to Palestinians and Arabs, he is the face and voice of Israel. Over the past two weeks, thousands of Gazans have been struck by Israeli sniper fire and at least 31 young men – including Yasser Murtaja, a 30-year-old photojournalist wearing a vest clearly identifying him as a member of the press – have been assassinated. Against this unfolding human tragedy, so gratuitously inflicted by Israel, Mr Lieberman’s claim that “there are no innocent people in the Gaza strip” is breathtaking, even by his standards. There is evidently no depth to which Israel will not sink. Gaza, the most densely populated strip of land on the planet, is effectively an open air prison. Yet Israel would have us believe that Gaza’s defenceless inhabitants, who are blockaded by land, sea and air and have never experienced a continuous 24 hours of electricity, constitute some sort of existential threat to one of the most heavily armed militaries on earth.
Israel has always justified its brutality by painting the Palestinians as inherently sinister. But its propaganda and lies are coming unstuck in the age of social media. Mr Lieberman’s claim that Murtaja, the journalist shot dead by Israeli forces, was operating a drone was exposed as a lie, thanks to hundreds of photos and videos posted online by activists. His comments, combined with the bombing of a Hamas “military target” by Israeli jets, are meant to divert attention away from the atrocities being committed against peaceful protesters on the Gaza border. We must recognise the appalling nature of these words and actions for what they are: a smokescreen. The world’s focus and solidarity must be directed at the courageous men, women and children who are demonstrating for their rights and dignity against an unconscionable and unrelenting aggressor with blood on its hands.