The US appeases Sharon, the rest of the world looks on, and even more Palestinian civilians are murdered. Khaled Amayreh reports from Gaza As Palestinians were reeling from the 18-day Israeli rampage in northern Gaza which saw over 100 people killed, mostly innocent civilians, Israeli tanks stormed Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The invading forces attacked on the two defenceless refugee camps. Once again, the vast bulk of the dead and the injured were innocent civilians, including an eight-year-old boy, gunned down by an Israeli army sniper as he stood on the rooftop of his home. There were also two policemen among the victims who were reportedly taking their Ramadan fast-breaking meal when shot. In total, 17 Palestinians were killed and nearly 80 others were wounded including a dozen who lost limbs as a result of being hit by missiles fired from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). In addition to the wanton killing and maiming, the 30-hour foray witnessed the brutal destruction of many homes and a mosque. Huge swathes of farms and citrus groves were also decimated, a characteristic Israeli trademark aimed at tormenting Palestinians and destroying their livelihood. Adding insult to injury, two Israeli army bulldozers even unearthed several graves at Khan Younis' Shuhadaa Cemetery, a symbolic act of savagery and callousness. Khan Younis governor, Husni Zurub, described the latest Israeli campaign as "characteristic of Israeli criminality against our people. Real armies attack armies, but in our case, the mighty Israeli army is ganging up on refugee camps and murdering women and children... It is not a heroic act to use state-of- the-art machines of death against impoverished civilians who even have a hard time securing food for their kids." Zurub attributed the increasingly excessive Israeli killing of Palestinians in the Gaza strip to the "stunning absence" of world reactions. "The world is silent while Sharon is slaughtering our children. Sharon interprets this disgraceful silence as a green light to keep up the killing... This is what he is doing... Tomorrow or after tomorrow, his criminal army will carry out another carnage. Zurub's indignation was echoed by Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei who accused the world community of "virtual complicity in these hideous daily atrocities against our civilians." "They [Israel] are destroying Gaza before leaving it ... The entire world should realise that its denunciations have become futile ... If Israel is a state above the law, the world should spell this out. If not, it should deter Israel and stop it from carrying out further massacres." The stepped-up killings in Gaza are being viewed here as a gimmick used by the Sharon- Mofaz government to placate extreme right- wing opponents of the disengagement plan which is sharply polarising the Israeli society as never before. Some rabbis have called Sharon a Nazi collaborator while others have tacitly called for assassinating him. Another significant reason for the near daily atrocities is to "dry out" any feeling of joy among Palestinians over the planned Israeli withdrawal. By drenching Gaza in blood Palestinians would spend months if not years in mourning rather than celebrating. This also explains recently revealed plans by the Israeli government to destroy all the homes and infrastructure in the Gaza settlements in order to make sure that the Palestinians do not benefit from the 1,500 red-tiled flats where an estimated 6,000 Jewish settlers are currently living. Some international bodies had hoped that the vacated homes would be used to house at least some of the thousands of Palestinian families whose homes have been destroyed by the Israeli occupation army. Since the beginning of October 2004 as many as 800 Palestinians in Gaza have been made homeless. According to a report published this week by the United Nations Relief and Work Agency, the Israeli army flattened or partially destroyed 192 homes during their recent onslaught in northern Gaza. The report highlighted that "Demolition rates have reached alarming levels in 2004," adding that as many as 1,360 Palestinians per month, or 45 persons each day, have been made homeless as a result of the Israeli army demolition operations. Indeed, while operation "Days of Repentance" was taking place in northern Gaza, 482 people were made homeless in Rafah as the Israeli occupation army continued to hack away at Palestinian neighbourhoods along the Egyptian border. Meanwhile, the Israeli army has reportedly begun targeting the families and children of suspected Palestinian resistance fighters. In recent weeks Israeli Apache helicopter gunships and UAVs fired missiles into the family homes of two resistance activists, killing and maiming a number of innocent civilians. In one incident the brother of an Islamic Jihad activist was killed when their family home was attacked with hellfire missiles. Nine other family members, including six women and children, were badly injured in the attack. According to Gaza journalist Salih Naami, who writes for the London-based pan-Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, the Israeli army is increasingly adopting the "Russian style" in its war on virtually defenceless Palestinians -- a reference to the scorched earth tactics reportedly used by Russian forces in Chechnya. "I think Sharon feels he has obtained a green light from the United States administration to murder Palestinian civilians in a more brazen and less subtle manner," Naami told Al-Ahram Weekly. "With the Arab world in a state of complete paralysis, the US in the fray of a contentious election where Bush and Kerry are vying to appease Israel, and with the EU content with issuing polite calls for restraint, Sharon feels he is above the world and above international law and that he can do anything he wants with the Palestinians."
