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The AIC Unreservedly Denounces Israeli Mass Killings of Palestinians in Gaza, and Calls on the International Community to Intervene and Force Israel to Halt its Actions and Abide by International Law

Destruction during Israel's recent attacks in the Gaza Strip.

The Alternative Information Center (AIC) unreservedly denounces Israel’s killing of over 140 Palestinians in Gaza since last Wednesday and calls on the international community to intervene immediately to halt what Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai has dubbed a ‘holocaust’ that Israel will unleash on Gaza residents.

Over the past weeks, Israel has rebuffed at least two offers of a cease-fire by the Hamas leadership in Gaza, proving that the goal of Israel is not actually to halt the Qassam rocket attacks on Sderot. Israeli Minister of Defense, Ehud Barak, openly stated today that a primary goal of these murderous attacks on the Gaza Strip is to “weaken the Hamas rule, in the right circumstances even bring it down,” not mentioning that Hamas is the democratically elected government of the Palestinian people.

However, Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip are not occurring in isolation, but in fact are part of a wider circle of American-led violence in the entire Middle East region, violence intended to secure US political and economic domination in the region. Additionally, these Israeli aggressions are being cynically used by the unpopular Olmert-led government as a panacea to forestall a collapse of the ruling coalition, specifically, the threats of the Shas political party to quit the coalition.

Moreover, it must be recalled that killings, arrests, land confiscations and the construction of Israeli settlements also continue unabated in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The failure of the Annapolis political process is now evident for all to see. The Israeli Minister of Defense does not dismiss the possibility of Israeli troops “reoccupying” the Gaza Strip while Prime Minister Olmert says that “no one has the right to preach to us over our actions.”

The AIC calls on the international community to meet its internationally recognized legal obligations concerning the Gaza Strip, and in particular to ensure and enforce Israeli obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention. Both the European Union and the United Nations Secretary General have announced that Israel is employing “disproportionate force” in the Gaza Strip, and the AIC calls on them and others to follow through and prevent the mass Palestinian casualties that Israel is promising.