8 Members of US Congress Visit Gaza Strip, No Criticism of the Brutal Israeli Siege, No Attempt to End it

ccun.org, July 28, 2009

News Commentary By Hassan El-Najjar:


Palestinian tunnels underground of the Egyptian-Palestinian border line city of Rafah for smuggling supplies badly needed by 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip who have been living under Israeli siege since 2006.

The Palestinian territory of Gaza Strip is still under Israeli brutal siege from land, air, and sea. US members of Congress enter Gaza in unannounced visits. They tour destroyed buildings but never visit Palestinians who are still living in tents as a result of the Israeli brutal destruction of their homes.

They never denounce Israeli brutality.

They never mention the siege or call for an end of this sadistic Zionist-Israeli behavior.

When they return to the United States, they never do anything to put an end to the Israeli siege, terrorist actions, and crimes against humanity, as represented by putting 1.5 million Palestinian civilians in a de facto prison.

We know for sure that these few members who dare to care about such a visit are the most courageous ones in the Zionist-AIPAC-controlled US Congress.

If there is going to be any credibility for any claimed CHANGE that Democrats have championed, there have to be measures of change on the ground. Shy visits to the largest open prison in the world, called Gaza Strip, are not enough.

The brutal Israeli siege of Gaza must end immediately. Otherwise, the claimed CHANGE in US foreign policy is nothing more than a claim!

Or more bluntly, the US Congress itself is still in denial that it is under Zionist-Israeli siege!

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Eight US Congress members enter Gaza Strip

Published yesterday (updated) 28/07/2009 09:45

Gaza – Ma’an –

A delegation of eight US members of Congress entered the Gaza Strip on Monday morning through the Erez crossing point between Israel and the northern Gaza Strip.

The head of the de facto governmental committee for hosting delegations, Hamdi Sha’ath, confirmed that the delegation had entered.

Sha’ath asserted that the delegation would visit destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip and meet the director of UN operations in Gaza, John Ging, before they leave.

U.S. Congress Delegation visit Gaza, the military uproot trees and bulldoze three homes

Monday July 27, 2009 17:21 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News & Agencies

A U.S. Congressional delegation visited the Gaza Strip through the Erez crossing connecting northern Gaza with Israel, on Monday .

The delegation visited areas in the Gaza Strip that was attacked by Israeli occupation terrorist forces during the 22 day long Cast Lead offensive earlier this year. The delegation then met with the he director of UN operations in Gaza, John Ging, before leaving.

Meanwhile the Israeli occupation forces invaded the border areas in central Gaza Strip. Local sources said that five tanks and two bulldozers invaded the Al-Buraij refugee camp and opened fire at residents' homes.

The bulldozers leveled three homes that were already damaged during the Cast Lead operation before leaving. No injuries were reported.

Ex-prisoner dies in tunnel collapse

[ 28/07/2009 - 10:23 AM ]

RAFAH, (PIC)--

Medical and civil defense rescue teams on Tuesday retrieved the body of a Palestinian man who died in the collapse of a tunnel on the Egyptian-Palestinian borders in Rafah.

Muawiya Hassanain, the director of ambulance services and emergency in the health ministry, identified the 32-year-old man as Ayman Abu Samak a liberated prisoner who was deported by the Israeli occupation government (IOG) after his release from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip five years ago.

The paramedics managed to rescue another man who was moderately injured in the same tunnel while defense squad teams were trying to dig out five citizens who are still trapped in the collapsed tunnel.

Paramedics on Monday dug out the bodies of seven citizens who were digging a tunnel after they were trapped in it when a big fire broke out.

The number of tunnel victims is accelerating due to the IOG and Egyptian authorities growing efforts to track and close them down.

Palestinian citizens are forced to use those tunnels to bring into the Gaza Strip their needs, which are blocked by Egyptian and IOG closure of all Gaza crossings for three years now with the exception of partial opening every now and then.

Six Palestinians killed in tunnel fire

Monday July 27, 2009 18:09 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported on Monday afternoon that six Palestinians were killed when a tunnel collapsed on them after it caught fire due to fuel leakage.

The leaking fuel, apparently being smuggled into Gaza, caught fire when some of it accidentally leaked causing an electric circuit after running over electric wires used to light the tunnels.

The accident took place on Saturday; the body of Sami Qishta, 31, was found and five other Palestinians were moved to local hospital after suffocating due to smoke and gas inhalation.

Earlier on Sunday, the bodies of Yousuf Moammar, 20, Tareq Samir Qishta, 23, and Muhammed Al-Meghari, 36, were found under the rubble.

On Sunday evening, rescue workers located the bodies of Issa Mohammad Al-Qaisi, 24, and Tamer Sayyid Faraj, 21.

Medics stated that two young Palestinians men are still under the rubble while rescue teams and fire fighters continue the search but the blazing fire in the tunnel is limiting their progress.

Dr. Mu'awiya Hassanain, head of the Emergency Unit at the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, stated that the bodies of the six residents were severely burnt.

It is worth mentioning that 107 Palestinians were killed in tunnel accidents since the beginning of this year. Some of them were killed in tunnel collapse accidents, others due to electric shocks in the tunnels, or due to inhaling leaked gas.

Israeli occupation forces invade east of Buraij camp, bulldoze citizens’ lands

[ 27/07/2009 - 08:20 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) carried out Monday morning a small-scale incursion into the eastern area of Bureij refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, and embarked on bulldozing agricultural lands in the area.

Palestinian eyewitnesses reported that four Israeli armored bulldozers escorted by four Israeli tanks advanced into an area of 200 meters and started to raze and sabotage agricultural lands owned by citizens in the area.

Israeli tanks and artillery units stationed in the vicinity of Nahal Oz military post shelled on Sunday evening Palestinian homes and agricultural lands located northeast of Al-Shujaiya neighborhood which caused material damage to citizens’ property without any reported injuries.

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