Gaza’s open wounds
A year since Israel’s crushing offensive on Gaza, Riz looks at the human toll of the war.
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| Palestinian children hold a poster depicting the blood-smeared faces of Israeli leaders [AFP] |
A year has gone by since Israel launched a crushing military offensive against the 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
For 22 days in December 2008 and January 2009, Israel bombed the territory from the air, land and sea, killing 1,400 Palestinians. Thirteen Israelis were killed during the war.
Israeli officials gave many reasons for the war; they said it would put a stop to the Palestinian missile attacks launched from Gaza and that it would end the illicit tunnel trade between Egypt and the Palestinians. At one point, they even claimed it would end Hamas’ control of Gaza.
The United Nations found that both Israel and Hamas had committed war crimes in the course of the fighting.
Israel was accused of deliberately targeting civilians, industrial sites and water installations, and using disproportionate force to destroy civilian property and infrastructure.
Hamas was criticised for using civilians as human shields, and for firing rockets into Israel to spread fear among Israeli civilians.
A year on, Palestinians have largely been unable to rebuild their homes, schools, ministries, water and sanitation networks, roads or hospitals – largely due to the ongoing Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip.
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On Monday, Riz takes a closer look at the human toll of the war. He speaks with Dr. Ezzeldeen Abu al-Aish, a Palestinian gynecologist who practiced medicine in Israel and Gaza, and who was well known to Israelis as a peace activist. He lost three daughters and a niece when the Israeli military bombed his home in Gaza 20 days into the war.
Riz also speaks with Eyad Sarraj, a prominent Palestinian human rights activist from Gaza who also heads the efforts to reconcile the two main Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas.
This episode of the Riz Khan show can be seen live on Monday, December 28, 2009, at 2030GMT with repeats on Tuesday at 0030GMT, 0530GMT and 1130GMT.