[Photo by S.L. Kanthan]
The IOF’s criminal rap sheet is thicker than a phonebook.
Al-Khisas Massacre – 1947
Al-Khisas was the target of a Haganah hit-and-run attack in the very first weeks of the war. On 18 December 1947, members of a Haganah strike force raided the village under cover of night, driving through the village, firing their guns, and throwing bombs. Several houses were blown up and about a dozen civilians (including 4 children) were killed, according to figures cited by Israeli historian Benny Morris. A New York Times report put the number of dead at 10, including 5 children, and added that some victims were buried in the wreckage of their houses. (The Haganah initially denied that children were killed, but a spokesman later admitted the fact.) The newspaper story stated that the attack was in revenge for the killing of two men from the Jewish Settlement Police in the Safad area.
https://www.palquest.org/en/place/16830/al-khisas
Balad al-Sheikh Massacre – 1947
On December 31, 1947, the first large attack by the Haganah Zionist militia took place against the village of Balad al-Sheikh, east of the port city of Haifa, in which 60 to 70 Palestinians were killed, according to Walid Khalidi’s book, All That Remains.
The raiding militia’s orders were to kill as many adult males as possible. A force of 170 men from the Palmach (an elite force of the Haganah) fired their weapons and blew up houses, then pulled out adult males and shot them. According to the Haganah General Staff, two women and five children were also killed, with an additional 40 people injured. Several dozen houses were also destroyed during the attack.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/15/the-nakba-five-palestinian-towns-massacred-75-years-ago
The Nakba – 1948
The Nakba (“catastrophe” in Arabic) refers to the violent expulsion of approximately three quarters of all Palestinians from their homes and homeland by Zionist militias and the new Israeli army during the state of Israel’s establishment (1947-49).
The Nakba was a deliberate and systematic act intended to establish a Jewish majority state in Palestine. Amongst themselves, Zionist leaders used the euphemism “transfer” when discussing plans for what today would be called ethnic cleansing.
https://imeu.org/article/quick-facts-the-palestinian-nakba
The Deir Yassin Massacre – 1948
On April 9, 1948, just weeks before the creation of the State of Israel, members of the Irgun and Stern Gang Zionist militias attacked the village of Deir Yassin, killing at least 107 Palestinians.
According to testimonies from the perpetrators and surviving victims, many of the people slaughtered – from those who were tied to trees and burned to death to those lined up against a wall and shot by submachine guns – were women, children and the elderly.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/9/the-deir-yassin-massacre-why-it-still-matters-75-years-later
Tantura Massacre – 1948
On the night of 22-23 May 1948, one week after the establishment of [The Apartheid Regime], the Palestinian fishing village of Tantura was attacked and occupied by the 33rd Battalion of the Alexandroni Brigade, later made part of the [IOF]. Within hours of occupying the village, [IOF terrorists] and intelligence units conducted a systematic massacre of disarmed Palestinian fighters and civilians.
Both the historical record and the testimonies of survivors captured by scholars and filmmakers reference the existence of several mass graves dug in Tantura on the 23rd of May 1948. These graves had been created to hold the bodies of Palestinian civilians and fighters killed during the battle for control of the village, as well as those executed after its occupation.
https://forensic-architecture.org/investigation/executions-and-mass-graves-in-tantura-23-may-1948
Khan Yunis Massacre – 1956
As reported by Al Ghad newspaper, this massacre, carried out in two phases, resulted in the deaths of more than 250 Palestinians. The first massacre took place on November 3, 1956, where over 250 Palestinians lost their lives.
Nine days after the initial massacre, on November 12, 1956, an Israeli unit carried out another brutal massacre in the same camp, claiming the lives of around 275 civilians. Additionally, more than a hundred Palestinians from Rafah refugee camp lost their lives on the same day.
https://www.jordannews.jo/Section-20/Middle-East/Looking-back-at-the-1956-Khan-Yunis-massacre-32270
Bahr al-Baqar Primary School Massacare – 1970
On April 8, 1970, the Israeli Air Forces bombed the Bahr el-Baqar primary school, located in the Egyptian village of Bahr el-Baqar, south of Port Said. This incident resulted in the deaths of 30 children and left more than 36 others wounded. The strike involved five bombs and two air-to-ground missiles, leaving a devastating aftermath.
https://www.el-shai.com/israeli-bombed-bahr-el-baqar-primary-school/
Sabra and Shatila massacre – 1982
From September 16 to 18, 1982, Christian militiamen allied with [the IOF] massacred between 800 and 2,000 Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila camps on Beirut’s outskirts. They also murdered at least 100 Lebanese and some Syrians.
https://archive.ph/vihfN
Al-Aqsa Mosque Massacre – 1990
The Al-Aqsa Massacre, also known as Black Monday, took place in the Al-Aqsa compound in occupied Jerusalem in October 1990, during the third year of the First Intifada. This tragic event was instigated by [The Apartheid Regime]’s decision to lay the cornerstone for the presumed [zionist] Temple, which subsequently led to widespread riots. In the ensuing confrontations, [IOF terrorists] were responsible for the deaths of 17 Palestinians, and more than 150 Palestinians suffered injuries.
https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/510520.aspx
Jenin Refugee Camp Massacre – 2002
In mid-April 2002, the “Israel Defence Forces” (IDF) scrambled to hide one of its biggest war crimes of this century in the occupied West Bank: Israeli soldiers killed at least 52 Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp. Having completed their killing spree between 1 and 11 April at the height of the Second (Al-Aqsa) Intifada, IDF troops would have left but for one thing: how could they cover up the killing of 52 people and hide the evidence of a massacre?
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200414-we-must-never-forget-israels-massacre-in-jenin/
Gaza Genocide – Still Ongoing
In recent conflicts, such indirect deaths range from three to 15 times the number of direct deaths. Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death to the 37 396 deaths reported, it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186 000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza. Using the 2022 Gaza Strip population estimate of 2 375 259, this would translate to 7·9% of the total population in the Gaza Strip. A report from Feb 7, 2024, at the time when the direct death toll was 28 000, estimated that without a ceasefire there would be between 58 260 deaths (without an epidemic or escalation) and 85 750 deaths (if both occurred) by Aug 6, 2024.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01169-3/fulltext
