Palestinians mark first anniversary of Israeli war on Gaza that killed 171 Palestinians

GAZA, (PIC)-- Palestinian people in the Gaza strip on Thursday marked the 1st anniversary of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip that lasted for eight days, during which Palestinian resistance topped by Qassam Brigade achieved a historical victory by shelling "Tel Aviv".

The aggression started with the Israeli assassination of Ahmed Aljaabari, the senior military leader of Qassam brigades, Hamas's military wing.

Israel launched an eight-day attack on the besieged Gaza strip which it codenamed “pillar of defense”, whereas the Qassam brigades called the battle with Israeli forces ''Shale Stones''.

According to the Palestinian Human Rights Center (PHRC), Israeli forces carried out in the period from 14 to 21 November 2012 thousands of airstrikes, attacks by gunboats, and artillery shelling.

Missiles with warheads weighing more than 1,000 kilograms were used in attacks on residential areas, flattening multi-storey homes and killing residents within the buildings. The extensive attacks targeted civilian facilities throughout the Gaza Strip, including civilian governmental institutions located in densely-populated areas. The impact of these attacks on property and victims, especially women and children, increased manifold, due to the targeting of civilian areas.

Hundreds of airstrikes were launched at open spaces in residential areas to terrify civilians. In the last four days of the offensive, a marked increase in attacks on civilian places led to a corresponding increase in the proportion of civilians among the victims.

Throughout the period of the offensive, Palestinian civilians lived under extreme fear and threats to their lives due to direct attacks on civilians and their property throughout the Gaza Strip. There was no safe place and the threat of death was felt by everyone with no exceptions.

The situation became more tragic when Israeli forces dropped leaflets onto Palestinian communities in the northern Gaza Strip and Gaza City ordering civilians to leave their homes. Palestinian civilians were extremely terrified and thousands of them had shelters in UNRWA schools.

During the eight-day offensive, 171 Palestinians were killed. Of the victims, 102 were civilians, comprising 60% of the total number of victims. 35 of the civilian victims, or 34%, were children, while 14 of the civilian victims, or 14%, were women. The total number of people wounded was 648. Of the wounded, 625 were civilians, including 214 children and 93 women. Among the wounded civilians were 16 people with various disabilities. more

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