Palestinian Schoolgirl Killed in Gaza Refugee Camp

[Stockholm]

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - A 10-year-old Palestinian girl was shot and killed Monday inside a United Nations school in a southern Gaza Strip refugee camp, Palestinian and U.N. officials.

The Palestinian officials said the girl was hit in the head by Israeli tank fire as she was walking inside the school, and that a second girl was wounded in the incident. But U.N. officials said the source of the gunfire was unclear. The Israeli army was investigating the report.

snip

Paul McCann, a spokesman for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, which administers the school, confirmed Monday's shooting, but said it was not immediately clear who fired into the building.

"This is the fifth occasion in which children in our schools have been hurt," he said. Two girls were killed by Israeli gunfire in separate shootings last fall as they sat inside their classrooms. McCann also said a student has been blinded and another wounded in the throat in recent shootings.

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBNMYJNM4E.html

[Stockholm]

1. AFP paints different picture

According to them the girl was hit as the schoolchildren stood in line in the yard outside.

Makes no real difference though ...

[gottaB]

2. Conflicting reports

Her name has been rendered as Nourhan Eid, Nuran Diab, Nuran Dib or Nuran Did. I think maybe Nuran Dib.

Most reports indicate that it was gunfire that killed her.

[Englander]

4. From the UN News Centre;

"Palestinian girl shot dead in UN-run school in Gaza Strip

31 January 2005 – A 10-year-old Palestinian girl was shot and killed today while lining up for afternoon assembly in the yard of a United Nations-run school in the occupied Gaza Strip at a time when firing was heard from the direction of the Israeli-controlled border area, the fifth such fatal incident in the territory in the past two years.

“Despite the hopeful signs of improvement in the situation we have again been reminded of the continuing danger to which innocent children are exposed by the realities of the occupation and the irresponsible use of arms,” said Peter Hansen, Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which runs the school.

UNRWA has repeatedly protested against the Israeli military’s indiscriminate firing into civilian areas in the occupied Palestinian territory. Rafah Elementary Co-Ed “B” School, which is 800 metres from the border, has been hit on numerous occasions since the start of the conflict but this is the first time shots have had tragic consequences.

Noran Iyad Deeb was killed and a second girl, Aysha Isam El-Khatib, was injured in the hand by a second bullet. The school’s teaching staff was attempting to clear the children from the school yard when a bullet hit Noran in the face."

So,what are the chances of a thorough investigation &/or prosecution......

[gottaB]

5. What are the chances that the killing will stop?

What can be done to increase the odds? I'm sickened. Angry. Disgusted. I don't know what's appropriate to feel. Can I find a moment to note the passing of Nuran Deeb? The sheer repetitiveness of it is dehumanizing.

[Englander]

12. Prosecuting those soldiers who...

have no regard for the live of a Palestinian child would help,I think. Or those who kil a disabled guy,or a 60/65 year old man,or a three-year old or the dozens of other cases.

Weekly report on human rights violations
Report, PCHR, 28 January 2005

Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have launched more attacks against Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), in disregard for the feeling of Moslems during Eid al-Adha. During the period covered by this report, 20 Palestinians, 14 of whom were civilians, including 5 children and one woman, were killed by IOF. Two of the children were killed on the first day of the Eid. Human rights violations perpetrated by IOF included incursions into Palestinian areas, willful and extra-judicial killing, indiscriminate shelling, land leveling and total closure imposed on Palestinian communities. IOF have also continued to construct the annexation wall inside the West Bank.

In the Gaza Strip, 16 Palestinians, 11 of whom were civilians, including a woman and her son and 4 children, were killed by IOF. On 13 January 2005, IOF killed a child and a member of the Palestinian resistance during an incursion into al-Boreij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. They also shot dead a Palestinian civilian in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahia when he was trying to evacuate a woman in labor to the hospital. On 14 January 2005, IOF killed a Palestinian civilian in Khan Yunis, and another civilian from Beit Lahia died from a previous injury. On 15 January 2005, IOF killed 5 Palestinians during an incursion into al-Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City. They also killed 2 Palestinian civilians, including a child, in Rafah. On 16 January 2005, IOF killed a woman and her son in Khan Yunis. On 20 January 2005, the first day of the Eid, IOF killed a child in Rafah when he was visiting his uncle. On 26 January 2005, IOF killed a 3-year-old child in Deir al-Balah when they shelled her family home.

IOF conducted 9 incursions into Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip, the largest of which was into al-Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City on 15 January 2005, during which IOF razed large areas of agricultural land and killed 5 Palestinians. In the other incursions, IOF razed 41 donums of agricultural land in al-Boreij refugee camp, destroyed 3 houses in Khan Yunis, and raided and searched a number of houses and used 2 Palestinian civilians as human shields in Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun. On 14 and 16 January 2005, the Israeli air force destroyed 2 civilian facilities in Deir al-Balah and Beit Lahia. IOF also continued to shell Palestinian residential areas.

In the West Bank, IOF killed 3 Palestinians, including a child, and one Palestinian civilian died from a previous injury. On 20 January 2005, IOF killed a child in Tubas village near Jenin. On 22 January 2005, IOF killed a Palestinian civilian near the annexation wall near Qalqilya. On 24 January 2005, a Palestinian civilian from Hebron died at an Israeli hospital from a previous injury. On 26 January 2005, IOF extra-judicially killed one Palestinians and injured and arrested two others in Qalqilya. IOF also moved into various areas throughout the West Bank, injured a number of Palestinian civilians and arrested dozens of others. They also destroyed a house and an apartment building in the context of retaliatory measures against Palestinian civilians.

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3582.shtml

[gottaB]

13. ok, I don't disagree with prosecuting criminals in the IDF

They've had a problem with thuggery in their ranks for many years. It's only getting worse.

I think there should also be a political response or acknowledgement. I can't fathom Israeli politics (or Palestinian politics for that matter). Why are there so many people dead set against making peace?

[pelsar]

21. Englander....your right..

where is that investigation..we want it publicized dont we....those soldiers er palestenians

"have no regard for the live of a Palestinian child"

I assume that your anger for the dead child goes to the palestenian who shot her...right? and you do want an investigation right?....and your really really really angry...right?

[Englander]

25. "still undetermined circumstances,"

The details are "disputed". "Reports differ". The "details of the incident are unclear".

Who ever killed "the dead child",who has a name,
(take your pick on how it's spelled),Nouran Deeb,should be prosecuted.

And I find a wee bit unsettling that you think it is appropriate
to make a petty point about "one-up-manship",& "point-scoring" about this incident.


Edited.

[drdon326]

26. "Prosecuting those soldiers who...

have no regard for the live of a Palestinian child would help,I think"

PA arrests suspect in girl's murder
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1107228084937

D'oh!!


seems the PA disagrees with YOUR in depth NON-BIASED investigation.

[Englander]

27. So,

did you miss this?

"Whoever killed ..Nouran Deeb should be prosecuted."

Again,it's revealing that you think the murder
of a schoolgirl is a suitable case that can be used
to make a petty point,to "prove" that I'm prejudiced.

[pelsar]

28. englander...

i was being petty..i admit....just an emotional response.....a reaction from the hip.....and i apolgise for it, (the girl doesnt deserve it)

[Scurrilous]

3. Hamas Shells Gaza Settlement After Girl Killed

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=721&e=1&u=/nm/20050131/wl_nm/mideast_shelling_dc

<snip>

"The Islamic militant group Hamas said it launched five mortar bombs at a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip Monday, after Israeli army gunfire killed a Palestinian girl.

Witnesses said the shelling damaged a home in Neve Dekalim settlement. At least one ambulance was summoned to the scene but there was no immediate word of casualties.

The violence strained a de facto cease-fire brokered by new Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a bid to prevent a chaotic power vacuum in Gaza when Israel quits the occupied territory this year.

Earlier Monday, Israeli troops shot dead a 10-year-old girl in a schoolyard in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, witnesses said. The army said it was not aware of its soldiers having been involved in any shooting and was investigating."

[newyorican]

6. I saw this earlier in the day...

and wondered how long before some true believer claimed it was not IDF gunfire that killed the girl.

Not very long, I see.

[QueerJustice]

7. Well if it does happen to be true and not a claim....

What then?


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=124x86153



/spelling

[newyorican]

8. If wishes were fishes...

It's not like the IDF has ever lied through their teeth about killing someone...is it?

[newyorican]

9. BTW

A rather schizo thread you linked to. Someone having a conversation with themselves. Likely due to the mind-numbing level of cognitive dissonance required to join in.

[QueerJustice]

10. huh? n/t

[gottaB]

11. It's not very credible at this point

The IDF has killed too many children at that school. In US law we would be talking about a documented pattern of abuse.

[centristo]

14. was there any follow up with this?

So what exactly happened? I've read this report but seen no follow up report to the original account.

Are we to assume that the IDF just sniped some schoolgirl for no reason whatosever?

[Scurrilous]

15. PA says it arrests Palestinian man who opened fire

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/534451.html

<snip>

"The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday told Israel it had arrested a Palestinian man who opened fire in the Gaza Strip's Rafah refugee camp the day before at the same time a Palestinian schoolgirl was fatally wounded by gunfire.

PA security forces confiscated the man's weapon but they did not, however, specify whether the arrested man was suspected of having shot 10-year-old Nuran Dib.

Dib was killed under still undetermined circumstances, and Hamas, on the assumption that the girl was killed by Israel Defense Forces gunfire, retaliated with a barrage of mortar shells into Gush Katif."

[gottaB]

16. No, we shouldn't assume, even if we see an obvious pattern

It was wrong of me to jump to conclusions.

[drdon326]

18. <<thud>>

.

[gottaB]

19. huh? Please clarify.

[centristo]

20. the facts and the assumptions

It'd be nice if some of you read the original articles regarding this tragedy before commenting. Read this for the facts and the evidence gathered so far. You can be critical about the IDF's PR people and still accept the facts as they are presented.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/534451.html

"The IDF said the girl was likely shot by Palestinian pilgrims' shooting into the air upon returning from the Hajj. Immediately after the Monday incident, PA forces evaded an Israeli offer to conduct a joint inquiry.

The 4 P.M. Rafah shooting killed Dib, who was struck in the head by a bullet. A second child, a 7-year-old girl, was hit in the shoulder. Both girls were at the UNRWA school, located about 500 meters from the IDF's Termit outpost on the Philadelphi corridor.

But an IDF inquiry found that no Israeli troops in the area had fired their weapons and suspicions fell on Palestinians who were firing guns in celebration of heir successful pilgrimage to Mecca, as stray bullets fired in the air could have landed on the Rafah schoolyard where the girls were playing. "


It appears unclear at best as to who did this. It was most likely an accident either way and seems very possible that a Palestinian man unknowingly killed her. But I won't be holding my breath for Hamas or some of the posters on this thread to apologize if that turns out to be the case.

[gottaB]

22. It was wrong of me to jump to conclusions

eom

[wellst0nev0ter]

17. So Much For Israelis Keeping Their Word On The Ceasefire

it just goes ON . . .

[Zebulon]

23. Did you read

#15?

[newyorican]

24. Holy Guacamole...

This forum is like playing Hasbara whack-a-mole...