Since June 2002, the Israeli army has destroyed more than 150 houses belonging to Palestinians allegedly involved in attacks, a policy that human rights groups have described as collective punishment, and which the US government has criticized in the past.
This past month, Israel nearly set a new record for killing Palestinians, mostly civilians, in a single month. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Israeli assaults killed 82 Palestinians, of them 50 in the Gaza Strip and 32 in the West Bank, wounding an additional 616 persons.
Israeli soldiers also killed several Palestinian children and three medical staff as they sought to attend to wounded. Now, they have killed an American peace activist.
Why so many civilian casualties?
These killings are the product of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's escalation of Israeli Army assaults on Palestinian population centers following his re-election on January 28, 2003. In the last two months, Israeli forces have largely focused their wrath on Gaza. They have conducted unprecedented armored military operations in Gaza city centers, pursued suspected militants deep into refugee camps and deployed bulldozers to destroy dozens of building and homes. This latter type of operation led to Rachel Corrie's and Nuha Sweidan's deaths.
This past month, Israel nearly set a new record for killing Palestinians, mostly civilians, in a single month. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Israeli assaults killed 82 Palestinians, of them 50 in the Gaza Strip and 32 in the West Bank, wounding an additional 616 persons.
Israeli soldiers also killed several Palestinian children and three medical staff as they sought to attend to wounded. Now, they have killed an American peace activist.
Why so many civilian casualties?
These killings are the product of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's escalation of Israeli Army assaults on Palestinian population centers following his re-election on January 28, 2003. In the last two months, Israeli forces have largely focused their wrath on Gaza. They have conducted unprecedented armored military operations in Gaza city centers, pursued suspected militants deep into refugee camps and deployed bulldozers to destroy dozens of building and homes. This latter type of operation led to Rachel Corrie's and Nuha Sweidan's deaths.