Avi Shlaim
On Gaza and the Israel-
January 14, 2009
The assault on Gaza is entering its nineteenth day, with no end in sight. Israel
continues its intense bombardment of the territory as Israeli troops edge closer
to the heart of Gaza City. Nearly 1,000 Palestinians have been killed, more than
4,400 injured, many of them women and children. Thirteen Israelis have died over
the same period, ten of them soldiers. We speak with Oxford professor Avi Shlaim.
He served in the Israeli army in the mid-
Israel is coming under increasing criticism for its possible use of banned and experimental munitions. Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of illegally firing white phosphorous, which causes horrific burns if it comes in contact with the skin, over crowded refugee camps in Gaza. Medics and human rights groups are also reporting that they are seeing injuries distinctive of another controversial weapon, Dense Inert Metal Explosive, known as DIME, that was designed by the US Air Force in 2006. Those struck by the weapon who survive suffer severe mutilations and internal injuries. We go to the Gaza border to speak with Marc Garlasco of Human Rights Watch and to Norway to speak with Dr. Mads Gilbert, who just returned from the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. He says Gaza is “truly a scene from Dante’s Inferno.”
Video and text from Democracy Now!.
