Israeli missiles hit Gaza media center for 2nd time top militant killed (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Smoke is seen after an after an Israeli air strike, witnessed by a Reuters journalist, out of a floor in a building that also houses media offices in Gaza City November 19, 2012. (Reuters/Ahmed Jadallah)

Source: Russia Today

The Al-Sharouk compound, which houses many media offices in Gaza, has been targeted once again in an Israeli airstrike. Islamic Jihad says one of its top leaders was killed in the attack.

A pillar of smoke was seen billowing from the 10-story building as fire engines and ambulances rushed to the scene. Islamic Jihad says one of its top militant leaders, Ramiz Harb was killed in the strike on Monday. Harb is a leading figure Islamic Jihad's militant wing, the Al Quds Brigades. The IDF described Harb as a chief propagandist for the mlitant group.

The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) confirmed via Twitter that four Islamic Jihad operatives who were hiding in a media building were the intended target of the attack on Monday. Several people are also reported to be wounded.

"The senior PIJ [Palestinian Islamic Jihad] cadre was operating in a media building. They were't [sic] there to be interviewed. They were using reporters as human shields,” the IDF tweeted.

“We targeted only the 2nd floor, which is where the senior terrorists were. The rest of the building was unharmed. Direct hit confirmed,” they continued.

Apart from Harb, Baha Abu al-Ata Tissir, the commander of Islamic Jihad’s Gaza City Brigade, and senior operatives Mahmoud Mahmed Jabari and Halil Batini were believed to be in the building at the time of the attack. It is currently unknown if the other three men died in the attack.

The International Federation of Journalists demanded a full inquiry by the United Nations to investigate “deliberate attacks” by the Israeli military against media buildings in Gaza and to “take action” against the country’s government.

"The international community must respond immediately to this outrage. The rights of journalists in conflict zones have been particularly highlighted by the United Nations and members states cannot stand by when one state acts in a reckless and dangerous manner," the group released in a statement on Monday.

Six journalists were injured following a previous Israeli airstrike on two buildings in the media compound early on Sunday. RT’s office in Gaza was also affected by the attack. RT Arabic correspondent Saed Suerki said the Israeli Air Force (IAF) had intentionally targeted the tower blocks, which have housed foreign and local media offices for over a decade. Suerki said four missiles hit their office building.

Witnesses said the buildings were evacuated after the initial attack, which was followed by at least two more hits. Two buildings were heavily damaged.

Sky News, Italian RAI, German ARD, Kuwait-TV are among the media outlets working out of the compound. The Hamas TV station, Al Aqsa is located on the top floor.Some of those injured on Sunday were employees of the Palestinian Ma’an news agency. A cameraman for the local al-Quds TV had his leg amputated as a result of injuries he received during the strike.

The Middle East Foreign Press Association demanded an explanation as to why the IDF was targeting media buildings, which is a violation of international law, following Sunday's airstrike. Reporters Without Borders also condemned the Israeli missile attacks.

The IDF responded "if Hamas commanders in Gaza are able to communicate, they can attack us. This is the capability that we targeted." The Israeli military said it was aware that foreign journalists were in the buildings, but were not directly targeted in the airstrikes.

Smoke is seen after an Israeli air strike, witnessed by a Reuters journalist, on a floor in a building that also houses media offices in Gaza City November 19, 2012. (Reuters/Ahmed Jadallah)

Palestinian firefighters try to extinguish a fire after an Israeli air strike, witnessed by a Reuters journalist, on a floor in a building that also houses international media offices in Gaza City November 19, 2012. (Reuters/Suhaib Salem)

A member of civil defence inspects the damage after an Israeli air strike, witnessed by a Reuters journalist, on a floor in a building that also houses media offices in Gaza City November 19, 2012. (Reuters/Mohammed Salem)

UN slams Israel over illegal settlements

An illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/160666.html

The United Nations has lashed at Israel for ignoring international calls to stop the expansion of its illegal settlement activities on occupied Palestinian lands.

A UN statement said on Monday that Tel Aviv has ignored the international community's repeated calls for a complete end to illegal settlement activities in the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem) in particular.

The statement also said Israel's recent allocation of half a billion dollars to the expansion of settlements shows that Tel Aviv has no intention of stopping its illegal policies.

Israel has also approved the building of 1,600 settlement units in recent weeks.

The Palestinian Authority walked out of direct peace talks with Israel late last year after Tel Aviv refused to renew a partial freeze on settlement activities in the West Bank.

Israel occupied and annexed East al-Quds in 1967 Six-Day War in a move never recognized by the international community.

According to data from the Palestinian Information Center, Israel has demolished 995 Palestinian homes and displaced 5,783 individuals -- among them 3,109 children -- in the occupied al-Quds since the start of 2000.

This is while Israel proceeds persistently with the construction of settlements on the occupied territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds.

The UN has on various occasions criticized Israel for defying international calls to halt its settlement construction expansions.

UN rights head slams Israeli violations

United Nations High Commissioner for human rights Navi Pillay

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/165013.html

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has denounced Israeli illegal settlements built on occupied Palestinian lands as “clear-cut violations of human rights on a very large scale.”

At the end of a six-day visit to the region, Pillay criticized Israel for ignoring the harm done to Palestinians by its settlement policy and the construction of a vast West Bank barrier.

"I have been struck by the complacency with which the entirely-avoidable predicament of Palestinians affected by the wall and settlements is treated by Israeli authorities with whom I have discussed these issues," she said.

“They tend to be brushed aside as if they are minor matters. They are not. They are clear-cut violations of human rights on a very large scale," she said, describing how she had met a man whose house is entirely surrounded by a Jewish settlement.

Pillay also called for a halt on all settlement-related activities in East al-Quds (Jerusalem), as well as actions to coerce Palestinians to leave the area, including evictions, demolitions, displacements and the cancellation of residency permits on a discriminatory basis.

“East Jerusalem (al-Quds) is being steadily drained of its Palestinian inhabitants, in clear-cut defiance of Security Council resolutions,” she said.

Israel seized East al-Quds along with the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War, and later annexed it in defiance of calls from the international community.

It has, so far, ignored calls by the Palestinians and the United States for a halt to settlement activities in the West Bank and, in particular, al-Quds, which it claims as its "eternal, indivisible" capital.

Israel signals settlements freeze lift

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on July 8, 2010.


Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=134032§ionid=351020202



Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has signaled that he will not extend a 10-month freeze on illegal settlement activities in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli premier, who was addressing the influential US foreign policy think tank, the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Thursday, said that a freeze put in place in August 2009 has so far failed to spur the Palestinian Authority to enter direct peace talks, Reuters reported.

Netanyahu had earlier told a US television network that the future of the illegal settlements would be addressed in the so-called final status talks with the Palestinians.

The Israeli prime minister's remark on the potential resumption of settlement activities came on the final day of a three-day visit to Washington.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) froze direct negotiations in December 2008 when Israel launched a deadly offensive against the Gaza Strip. The PA says Israel must end the occupation of Palestinian territories before any negotiation.

Recently, Tel Aviv revealed plans to build 2700 new settlements in the West Bank immediately after the existing settlement freeze expires on September 27.

This comes despite the latest UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's criticism of Israel, in which he said that Israel has violated international law by expanding its settlements in the occupied Palestinian land, including al-Quds (Jerusalem).