WASHINGTON, Dec 24 (APP): Israel\u2019s aggression of the besieged Gaza Strip \u201chas been unlike any other in the 21st century\u201d, with its occupation military forces dropping some of the largest bombs to decimate the Palestinian enclave, The Washington Post reported Sunday. The Post, in its report, \u201cused data from the UN Satellite Center, or UNOSAT, which analyzes satellite imagery from conflict zones,\u201d to assess the massive devastation in Gaza.<\/p>\n
Moreover, the report is based on interviews with more than \u201c20 aid workers, health-care providers, and experts in munitions and aerial warfare\u201d. \u201cThe most ferocious attacks have come from the air, flattening entire city blocks and cratering the landscape,\u201d the report said. The Israeli invasion has caused the deaths of more than 20,000 people, most of them women and children; displaced over 1.2 million; and destroyed or damaged about half the buildings in the territory. \u201cThe Israelis have also pulverized something else: Gaza City\u2019s cultural riches and municipal institutions,\u201d lamented the Mayor of Gaza, Yahya R. Sarraj, who painted a vivid picture of the ravaged city in an op-ed published in The New York Times Sunday. Mayor Sarraj wrote, \u201cThe unrelenting destruction of Gaza \u2014 its iconic symbols, its beautiful seafront, its libraries and archives and whatever economic prosperity it had \u2014 has broken my heart. \u201cThe Gaza Zoo has been destroyed, with many of its animals killed or starved to death, including wolves, hyenas, birds and rare foxes. Other casualties include the city\u2019s main public library, the Children\u2019s Happiness Center, the municipal building and its archive, and the seventh-century Great Omari Mosque.<\/p>\n
Israeli forces have also damaged or destroyed streets, squares, mosques, churches and parks.\u201d Concluding with an motional appeal, Mayor Sarraj called on the world\u2019s municipalities \u2014 everyone \u2014 to pressure world leaders to stop this mindless destruction. \u201cWhy can\u2019t Palestinians be treated equally, like Israelis and all other peoples in the world? Why can\u2019t we live in peace and have open borders and free trade?\u201d, he asked. \u201cPalestinians deserve to be free and have self-determination. Gaza\u2019s emblem is the phoenix, which rises from the ashes. It insists on life.\u201d Meanwhile, The Washington Post investigation found that the Israeli army has conducted \u201crepeated and widespread airstrikes\u201d in the vicinity of hospitals and healthcare facilities, which \u201care supposed to receive special protection under the laws of war.\u201d \u201cSatellite imagery reviewed by Post reporters revealed dozens of apparent craters near 17 of the 28 hospitals in northern Gaza,\u201d the report stated, adding that ten craters \u201csuggested the use of bombs weighing 2,000 pounds, the largest in regular use.\u201d The Post quoted former UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine, Michael Lynk, as saying that \u201cthe scale of Palestinian civilian deaths in such a short period of time appears to be the highest such civilian casualty rate in the 21st century.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON, Dec 24 (APP): Israel\u2019s aggression of the besieged Gaza Strip \u201chas been unlike any other in the 21st century\u201d, with its occupation military forces dropping some of the largest bombs to decimate the Palestinian enclave, The Washington Post reported Sunday. The Post, in its […]<\/p>\n
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