Collective Punishment in the Gaza Strip

Israel has responded to two recent suicide bombings in Israel (on July 7 and 13) by unleashing a series of air and ground strikes on Palestinian villages and towns. The two suicide bombings were the first such attacks in five months. The Palestinian Authority has put extensive pressure on Palestinian militant groups to end their campaign of suicide attacks against Israeli civilians. On the Israeli side, the Israeli Defence Forces had halted their policy of targeted assassinations of different Palestinian leaders during the same period, although there were dozens of Palestinians killed by IDF forces for protesting the continued construction of Israel’s apartheid wall during the ceasefire period.

The Israeli policy of collective punishment has led to the death of thousands of Palestinians and the response to the two latest terror attacks is no different. It is worth noting that when British police announced that the men suspected of carrying out the attack in London on July 7 all came from Leeds, there was no suggestion that the British armed forces should respond by targeted bombings in Leeds – the notion is quite preposterous. Yet that has been the Israeli response to the suicide bombings – Israel has launched a series of indiscriminate attacks intended to destroy Palestinian infrastructure and kill civilians in towns the suicide bombers are believed to have lived in.

On July 16, the Israeli Air Force launched a series of missile attacks over Gaza City and the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis, hitting a metal workshop and a garage. Missiles also struck near a United Nations food warehouse next to the Shati refugee camp. Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz has also ordered the IDF to prepare for a large scale ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, and current media reports indicate Gaza is surrounded by IDF armoured vehicles. The IDF have essentially cut the Gaza Strip into three, effectively banning all of the 1.3 million Palestinians who live in Gaza from traveling for work, school or family visits to other areas within the strip.

The IDF also launched a series of raids in West Bank towns this week, killing three Palestinian youth and seizing another 26 Palestinians, suspected militants, who are currently being held without charge.

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