First paragraph (Teaser):

 
In spite of widespread international condemnation, Israel's armed forces continue their violent incursion into Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.

About 1200 Palestinians have been made homeless since the weekend; over 50 -- mostly civilians -- have been murdered, despite the near-lack of armed resistance in the area.

Rest of the text:

 
In spite of widespread international condemnation, Israel's armed forces continue their violent incursion into Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.

Purportedly aimed at stopping the flow of weapons from Egypt, the huge operation seems to have no real strategic value given that Israeli prime minister Ariel "Man of Peace" Sharon has publicly announced his intention to withdraw Israeli forces and settlements from the entire Gaza Strip. Indeed, many have suggested that the entire operation is a form of collective punishment for a recent successful attack on the occupation forces in the area, which took the lives of 6 Israeli soldiers.

About 1200 Palestinians have been made homeless since the weekend; over 50 -- mostly civilians -- have been murdered, despite the near-lack of armed resistance in the area.

Below is an ISM (International Solidarity Movement) alert on the latest events:

PLEASE DON'T STAY SILENT!!

Israel continues its military operations against the people of Rafah, demolishing homes at an unprecedented rate, burying some civilians underneath rubble, injuring and killing others.

Yesterday an estimated 3000 Palestinian civilians took to the streets to protest Israel's military aggression against the people of the Tel al Sultan neighborhood of Rafah, peacefully walking towards Tel al Sultan, they were fired upon by the Israeli military, first from an Apache helicopter, then from a tank which fired 3 missiles, then machine-gun fire at the demonstrators. TV cameras captured horrifying images of people running in all directions, carrying bloodied children. Over a dozen Palestinians were killed in this atrocious, inhumane act and dozens more were injured.

We need you to raise your voice against these war crimes and force the international community to take action!

Please organize or join a demonstration/vigil in your area, contact your local media, contact your congressional representatives. Help us educate the world about what's happening in Rafah and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

SINCE SATURDAY IN RAFAH:

• at least 54 Palestinians killed, including women and children -- more each day
• 116 homes destroyed
• 1,160 people made homeless

"Altogether since the beginning of 2004, the IDF has demolished 284 homes in
Rafah, leaving 2,185 Palestinians homeless. Over the past three and a half
years, the IDF as demolished some 1,800 homes in the Rafah Refugee Camp. Such
massive destructions of civilian property are illegal under international
humanitarian law. The death of IDF soldiers cannot justify the severe harm to
civilians, who were not involved in the hostilities. "
-- Israeli human rights group Bt'Selem

"At least 15 Palestinians, many of them said to be school students, were
killed and dozens were wounded Wednesday afternoon when Israel Defense Forces
helicopter gunships and tanks fired missiles and shells into a crowd of protestors
in Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip. "
-- Israeli journalist Amira Hass

[...]

Breaking News from Palestine (websites)

- Palestine News Network
http://www.palestinenet.org/english/

- Rafah Today
http://rafahtoday.org/index.htm

- Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza
http://www.pchrgaza.org/

- Electronic Intifada
http://electronicintifada.net/new.shtml

- Gaza Blog
http://gaza.blogspot.com/

Report: Amnesty International:
- Israel and the Occupied Territories: Under the rubble: House demolition and destruction of land and property
http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engmde150332004

[...]

ALERT by Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations "PNGO"

The city of Rafah and Rafah's refugee camp in the Gaza Strip are being ravaged by Israeli occupation forces, creating a massive catastrophe in this already devastated Palestinian refugee camp. We cannot contain our shock and anger at the impotence of the international community in curbing Israeli war crimes perpetrated against the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).

According to human rights organizations, within less than two weeks, since May 1, Israeli Occupation forces have destroyed hundreds of homes in Rafah's refugee camp, leaving thousands of Palestinians homeless. This wave of inhumane destruction continues with acts no less criminal in nature than those committed by Milosevic in Kosovo.

Since Monday May, 10 2004, at least 60 Palestinians have been killed during Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip and more than 300 Palestinian civilians injured. It is indeed extremely dismaying that at a time when people around the world are expressing their desire for peace and their condemnation of military aggression and oppression, Israel continues to pave the way to the future with machines of war, consolidating injustice and domination of a whole nation, and crushing their legitimate rights.

PNGO calls upon the United Nations and the international community as a whole to bear their responsibility and confront the aggression Israel has been perpetrating with impunity for the last half a century, and which is continuing with Israel's construction of the Apartheid Wall and settlements, further dispossessing the Palestinian people of their lands, water resources and threatening their very livelihood.

We call upon the international community, particularly signatories of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and the High Contracting Parties to ensure an immediate halt to these escalating violations of the Convention which are being perpetrated by the Israeli occupying forces in the OPTs. Specifically, we call for the immediate dispatch of international protection for the Palestinian civilian population.

"With these disproportionate military operations, Israel is in grave breach of international humanitarian law. This collective punishment can do nothing to calm the situation in Gaza or enhance Israel's own security".

(Statement made by the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Peter Hansen: Press Release No. HQ/G/11/2004 16 May, 2004)

- The Palestinian NGO Network