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| The Israeli Poison Gas Attacks | ||||||||
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Timeline
of the Poison Gas Attacks
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| February 12, 2001 | ||||||||
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"..more than 40 Palestinian civilians suffered from fainting and spasms due to tear gas inhalation. According to medical sources at Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis, 16 victims were transferred to the intensive care unit due to the seriousness of their condition. The sources asserted that the unique symptoms raised suspicions that the Israeli occupation forces were using new and virulent gas. The hospital lacked the technical means to identify the gas used. PCHR will refer to international experts on this subject." (1) "On the morning of February 12, Israel shot and killed two Palestinian men - one taxi driver passing a checkpoint just north of Ramallah and another sitting on a bus on his way to work. Neither was involved in clashes. That night fierce fighting broke out in Khan Younis in Gaza, in which 95 Palestinians were injured. Doctors reported the Israeli use of gas that appeared to cause convulsions." (2) "Meanwhile, Israeli occupation forces continued heavy machinegun shelling of refugee camp Khan-Younis untill late hours of last night. 115 were injured and more than 20 houses were inflicted with severe damages, resulting in approximately 300 homeless citizens. In the bombardment, Israeli occupation forces used toxic gas against civilians, inflicting about 40 Palestinians with an odd state of hysteria and nervous breakdown as a result of inhaling this gas. Specialist physicians believe this gas to be the internationally banned nerves [sic] gas." (3) "On February 12, Israeli tanks and helicopters fired gas bombs at houses in the Gharbi Refugee Camp, adjacent to the Tuffah crossing in the Gaza Strip. According to hospital sources, 32 people who were exposed to the gas were treated for serious injuries. Although to date, no evidence supports the possibility that the gas fired was any different that tear gas normally used by the Israeli army. Nevertheless, the patients' symptoms, how the gas was fired and the way it was fired, indicates that it was used in highly concentrated quantities and in an enclosed space." "On February 14, the Palestine Monitor visited the Al-Nasser hospital in Khan Younis where the 32 cases were admitted following the gas attack. Numerous of these patients were experiencing convulsions and violent seizures. Other patients were unconscious, and others were experiencing severe breathing difficulties. The doctors responsible for the ward explained that they had not been able to determine the nature of the gas inhaled by the patients and therefore had not found a satisfactory treatment for the symptoms of these particular patients. For now, doctors are administering strong sedative and anti-inflammatory drugs and some patients are on oxygen." "At least another dozen women and children have been admitted to clinics in Khan Younis and are reported to experience the same symptoms." "...One woman described the February 12 gas attack. Shells hit the houses, which shortly after filled with a thick dark smoke that later left a black deposit on her body and everything inside the house. The smoke turned orange (a description confirmed by testimonies at the Al-Nasser hospital) and her livestock immediately died. More men than women were injured in this gas attack on the camp because many women and children had already been sent to safer places due to the constant Israeli military attacks on this area." "The Palestinian Ministry of Health has collected samples of the empty gas shells and is currently investigating this attack." (4) "The Amal Hospital received about 130 patients suffering from gas inhalation from Feb. 12, 2001." "On the evening of the 12th, within the space of an hour, about 50 gas inhalation cases arrived at Nasser Hospital. Their symptoms were as follows: Severe excretions of fluids, extreme difficulty in breathing, recurrent convulsions. The patients didn't respond to treatments which were used in the past with teargas." "We still have 10 cases who we would like to send abroad for treatment." [statement by Dr. Yasser Sheikh Ali six weeks later, 3/24/01] "Even now we still have patients suffering from recurrences of their original symptoms: headaches, chest pains, aches in the knees, fatigue, blotches on the skin that had not been their before. They vary in age from 60 to 15 years old." (5) "In Gaza, the latest, most ferocious onslaught came on 12 February, when the Israeli army used tanks and heavy machine guns to bombard Khan Younis refugee camp, leaving 30 homes ablaze, 77 Palestinians wounded and 10 more incapacitated through inhaling a "new" form of toxic gas. The army said the shelling was in reprisal for an armed attack on one of their military bases." (6) AFX
European Focus, February 13, 2001 Tuesday BBC
Monitoring Middle East - Political, February 13, 2001, Tuesday "Medical sources at Nasir Hospital in Khan Yunis have announced that more than 40 Palestinians suffered a strange case of hysteria and nervous breakdown because they inhaled a toxic gas fired for the first time by the occupation army during the bombing of Palestinian areas. "Specialists believe that this is an internationally banned nerve gas. Dr Muhammad Abdallah Abd-al-Mun'im, official in charge of medical teams who treated the injured, said that the gas bombs fired last night on the western camp of Khan Yunis gave off heavy yellowish and highly-concentrated smoke. Those who inhaled it, he said, suffered a nervous breakdown and vomited blood. "Abd-al-Mun'im said this gas is not the same kind that was fired by the occupation forces previously and that it is the first time that the doctors have seen this." (8)
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| February 13, 2001 | ||||||||
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"..for the second consecutive day, the Israeli occupation forces used a tear gas that caused spasms, breathing difficulty, and pains in the abdomen. Approximately 42 Palestinian civilians, including a number of children whose ages ranged from 1 to 5-years-old, were transferred to Nasser hospital and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society hospital for treatment for tear gas inhalation." (9) "The number of injured in Khan Younis has increased to 80 during the Israeli attacks against the unarmed Palestinian civilian. The Israeli soldiers and tanks used 500 and 800 mm ammunition in addition to poisonous gas in their offensive attack." (10) According to a report from the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, on 2/13/01 the Palestine Arabic language newspaper Al-Ayyam reported, "Medical sources reported yesterday evening that more than 40 residents were injured in a strange occurrence of hysteria andnervous collapse as a result of their inhaling poison gas, fired for the first time by the Israeli occupation forces on defenceless residents. Medical specialists are of the opinion that it is nerve gas, prohibited by international law.” PHRMG also noted that "similar report appeared in Al-Quds newspaper," another Arabic daily based in Palestine. According to PHRMG, a "'medical specialist' referred to in the article was a doctor in the hospital in Khan Younis, with no experience in treating patients suffering from the affects of poison gas. No international experts were consulted."(11)
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| February 14, 2001 | ||||||||
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"...Yasser Sheikh Ali, a Palestinian doctor working at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, said that over the past several days, Israel has been using a powerful type of tear gas against the Palestinians that causes convulsions and spasms." "Sheikh Ali
said at a news conference Tuesday that it affects the nerves and respiratory
system, making breathing difficult."
"More than 80 Palestinians arriving at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis reported that Israeli soldiers had used the white smoky gas, but Israel denied doing so..." (12) Weekly
Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian
Territories February 15 - 21, 2001, The Palestinian Centre for Human
Rights (PCHR): "In Khan Yunis, the Israeli occupation forces used a new and more virulent gas against Palestinian civilians. From its first use on February 12, 2001 until February 20, 2001, 238 Palestinian civilians, including women and children, have been affected by the gas. Of these, 27 are still receiving medical care at the Palestine Red Crescent Society hospital and Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis." (13) "...symptoms included convulsions throughout the body, difficulties in breathing and pains in the abdomen. Dozens of Palestinian civilians remain in hospitals in Khan Yunis because Palestinian physicians are not able to determine the proper course treatment in these cases. The Palestinian community lacks the technical means to identify it. PCHR expresses its profound concern regarding the use of this gas." (14) An ambulance driver at Al-Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis recalled the mid-February gas attacks in the Tufa neighborhood of Khan Younis: "..I was dealing with the gas patients for 3 days. I worked for 3 consecutive days with our ambulances and with the Red Crescent ambulances - most of the casualties were gas patients, and live ammunition." (15)
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| February 15, 2001 | ||||||||
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"At approximately 20:00 local time, Israeli occupation forces positioned at Al-Tuffah roadblock, in the west of Khan Yunis, fired heavy and medium caliber bullets at Palestinian houses in Khan Yunis refugee camp. PCHR's field officer in Khan Yunis reported that fired three canisters of a highly effective gas at Palestinian houses. [sic] He added that Wardan Hassan El-Jed, 20 years old, was wounded with shrapnel in the left foot, and another 11 Palestinian civilians, mostly children, suffered from suffocation and spasms due to gas inhalation, which the Israeli occupation forces used first on February 12, 2001 (for more details about such gas and its unfamiliar impacts, see the previous Weekly Report by PCHR.).." (16) CNN
Asia: In a statement on its Web site, the Israel Defense Forces called the accusation "despicable lies." "The IDF has not and does not use gas during the fighting," the army said. Israeli officials firmly denied that the army was using poison gas, as they had denied the use of depleted uranium (DU) ammunition when Arafat made the accusation last month shortly after international investigators warned of a possible link between DU use and cancer.. ..Arafat's latest accusation stemmed from reports on Tuesday and Wednesday that about 80 Palestinians had been admitted to a Gaza hospital suffering from the effects of poison gas. The Palestinians said that Israeli soldiers had used the gas against them during a demonstration near the Khan Younis refugee camp. Israeli Communications Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said on Israeli TV that the reports were "incorrect and false." But Palestinian Cabinet minister Nabil Shaath said that the Palestinians planned to send a sample of the gas to an international center for analysis. He did not elaborate. (17) British journalist Graham Usher, writing in the respected Egyptian weekly Al-Ahram, reports a "ferocious onslaught" by the Israeli army in Khan Younis on February 12, and mentions civilians "incapcitated" by "a 'new' form of toxic gas." (18)
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| February 18, 2001 | ||||||||
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"At approximately 10:00 local time, Israeli occupation forces positioned at Al-Tuffah roadblock and in the vicinity of Neve Dekalim settlement, to the west of Khan Yunis refugee camp, fired artillery shells and heavy and medium caliber bullets at Palestinian houses. Such action lasted up to 13:00 local time, during which the Israeli occupation forces fired four highly effective gas canisters, used first on February 12, 2001... "At approximately 16:20 local time, the Israeli occupation forces fired artillery shells and heavy and medium caliber bullets at Khan Yunis refugee camp. PCHR's field officer in Khan Yunis reported that these forces also fired highly effective gas at Palestinian houses. Most Palestinian civilians were forced to leave their houses. "PCHR's field officer in Khan Yunis reported that 41 Palestinian civilians, mostly children and women, suffered from suffocation and spasms due to inhaling the highly effective gas. He added that 238 Palestinian civilians suffered from such symptoms as a result of gas inhalation during the period of February 12-20, 2001, 27 of them were still receiving medical care at the hospital of Palestine Red Crescent Society and Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis. (19) 19 Feb 01: [US military report] IRAQ (Extreme Risk) Protests of U.S. and U.K. Air Strikes: On February 18, some 1,000 Palestinians denounced the February 15 air strikes against Iraq in a protest rally outside Gaza City, chanting for Saddam Hussein to launch missile strikes against Israel proper. The rallies were held against the backdrop of continuing violence in the both the West Bank and Gaza Strip, that left 10 Palestinians wounded, mostly in exchanges of gunfire near the Rafah crossing in to Israel proper and the Khan Younis refugee camp, which the Palestinians charged was hit by Israeli artillery and "toxic gas." (20)
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| February, 2001 - Children Exposed to Toxic Gas | ||||||||
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State of Palestine Ministry of Health report mentions "980 children suffer from disabilities, 55 children were exposed to toxic gas thrown by the Israeli forces at citizens in khan Younis in February 2001.." (21)
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| March 2, 2001 | ||||||||
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"After the Friday prayer, clashes erupted between Palestinian civilians and Israeli forces at the northern entrance of Al-Bireh. Israeli forces fired live and rubber-coated metal bullets at Palestinian civilians, wounding a number of them. They also fired canisters of a highly effective black gas similar to the one used in Khan Yunis three weeks ago. Among the wounded were four medical personnel of the Palestinian Medical Relief Committees." (22)
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| March 26, 2001 | ||||||||
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"Monday, March 26, 2001: "In the afternoon, Israeli occupation forces, positioned near Al-Mentar (Karni) Outlet, to the east of Gaza City, fired live and rubber-coated metal bullets at a number of Palestinian civilians, who were demonstrating approximately 100m away. The Israeli forces again resorted to the use of a new highly effective gas that left symptoms different from those of the highly effective gas used first against Palestinian civilians in Khan Yunis, starting from February 12, 2001....three Palestinian civilians were evacuated to Shifa' hospital in Gaza City, after having inhaled a highly effective gas.They were:
1) Eyad Fahim Zaqout, 23, from Al-Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza
City;
2) Ra'ed Suleiman Hassan, 30, from Al-Boreij refugee camp; and
3) Ra'fat 'Abed El-Masri, 26, from Al-Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City. "According to one of them, the new gas is orange-colored and has a nice-smell and delicious taste upon inhalation. Then, the inhaler feels tired throughout the body, their muscles loosen, and they suffer from breathing difficulties. The gas also leaves red signs on the skin, causing agitation. Some hours later, the inhaler suffers severe abdominal pains." (23)
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| March 30, 2001 | ||||||||
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"..medical sources [in Nablus] asserted that the Israeli occupation forces also used a highly effective gas with unfamiliar symptoms, similar to that used first in Khan Yunis on February 12, 2001 (for more details about the symptoms, see PCHR's Weekly Report on February 15, 2001.)" (24)
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| March, 2001 | ||||||||
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In the April 5 - 11, 2001 issue of Al-Ahram Weekly, Jonathan Cook, a Middle East correspondent for The Independent, reports a poison gas attack by Israeli forces in the schoolyard of Al-Khader village near Bethlehem (Original Article). Sliman Salah, a thirteen year-old gas victim, required large doses of anti-convulsants to control his seizures and regain consciousness. Transferred to a second hospital to be treated by a neurologist, Sliman was later released, only to be readmitted the following day with the same symptoms, which "were finally brought under control five days after his exposure to the gas. But Salah's father says the boy is still suffering from stomach pains, vomiting, dizziness and breathing problems." "Salah is just one of a spate of such cases in the Bethlehem area in the past month. Another tear gas victim recently arrived unconscious at the Yamamah having convulsive fits and Hussein Hospital has reported a rapid increase in untreatable patients since the first such case was admitted in late February. "Peter Qumri, the hospital's director, said: "Until a few weeks ago it was simple to help tear gas victims. We gave them oxygen for 10 minutes and then discharged them. Now they arrive having fits, dizzy, sometimes unconscious, having severe problems breathing. Something has definitely changed." "The new cases in Bethlehem follow a pattern first seen in the Gaza Strip in mid-February, when a large crowd was tear-gassed near Khan Younis refugee camp. Ten men were admitted to Nasser Hospital suffering from seizures that doctors could not treat. Many other patients vomited for days afterwards." (25)
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| References | ||||||||
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(1) Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, February 8 - 14, 2001, http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/W_report/English/15-02-2001.htm - Return to text (2) Temperature rises with death toll, by Charmaine Seitz Jerusalem Media and Communication Center, February 14, 2001, VOL 7, NO 34 http://www.jmcc.org/media/report/01/Feb/3.htm - Return to text (3) Israelis Kill 14-year-old, Assassinate Arafat Bodyguard February 13, 2001 Palestine, IANA Radionet, Islamic Assembly of North America http://www.ianaradionet.com/E_newstext/2001/Feb/2-13ME.htm - Return to text (4) Gaza Archives: Feature Israeli Army Fires Highly Toxic Quantities of Tear Gas at Civilians in Khan Yunis, Gaza Palestine Monitor, February 15, 2001 http://www.palestinemonitor.org/eyewitness/Gaza/Israeli_army_fires_tear.htm - Return to text (5) Selected Interviews recorded for the documentary film Gaza Strip by James Longley, transcripts: Regarding the use of an unidentified gas by the Israeli Defense Forces During the week of February 12, 2001, In the Khan Younis Refugee Camp http://www.littleredbutton.com/gas_interviews/interviews.pdf - Return to text (6) Unprepared for the worst, by Graham Usher, Al-Ahram Weekly Online, Feb. 15 - 21, 2001, Issue No. 521 http://www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/2001/521/re1.htm - Return to text (7) Selected Interviews, Gaza Strip by James Longley http://www.littleredbutton.com/gas_interviews/interviews.pdf - Return to text (8) Selected Interviews Gaza Strip by James Longley http://www.littleredbutton.com/gas_interviews/interviews.pdf - Return to text (9) PCHR Weekly Report, Feb. 8 - 14, 2001, http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/W_report/English/15-02-2001.htm - Return to text (10) Palestine National Information Center Alquds Intefada UPDATE February 13, 2001 http://www.pnic.gov.ps/arabic/quds/quds_eng_update137.html - Return to text (11) A War of Words: The Israeli and Palestinian Media Coverage of the al-Aqsa Intifada, Chapter 3: PALESTINIAN MEDIA http://www.phrmg.org/monitor2001/nov2001-3.htm - Return to text (12) Selected Interviews Gaza Strip by James Longley http://www.littleredbutton.com/gas_interviews/interviews.pdf - Return to text (13) Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, February 15 - 21, 2001, http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/W_report/English/22-02-2001.htm - Return to text (14) PCHR Weekly Report, Feb. 8 - 14, 2001, http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/W_report/English/15-02-2001.htm - Return to text (15) Selected Interviews Gaza Strip by James Longley http://www.littleredbutton.com/gas_interviews/interviews.pdf - Return to text (16) PCHR Weekly Report, Feb. 15 - 21, 2001, http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/W_report/English/22-02-2001.htm - Return to text (17) CNN Asia: Arafat accuses Israel of using poison gas, February 16, 2001 http://asia.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/meast/02/15/arafat.gas - Return to text (18) Unprepared for the worst, by Graham Usher, Al-Ahram Weekly Online, Feb. 15 - 21, 2001, Issue No. 521 http://www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/2001/521/re1.htm - Return to text (19) PCHR Weekly Report, Feb. 15 - 21, 2001, http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/W_report/English/22-02-2001.htm - Return to text (20) Fort Bragg Web site, April 25, 2000 Protests of U.S. and U.K. Air Strikes, Feb. 19, 2001 (from Pinkerton Global Intelligence Service) http://www.bragg.army.mil/sid/wwwthreat/CountriesGHI/iraq.htm - Return to text (21)
State of Palestine,
Ministry of Health, Health Information Center, June 23, 2001:
Ministry Of Health Calls Upon The International Community To Save
International Protection For The Palestinian People http://www.moh3.com/update%5Cjune2002%5Cfile023.html
- Return
to text
(22) Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, March 1 - 7, 2001 (report contains typographical error incorrectly listing incident as occurring "Friday, February 22") http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/W_report/English/07-03-2001.htm - Return to text (23) Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, March 22 - 29, 2001, http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/W_report/English/29-03-2001.htm - Return to text (24) Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, March 29 - April 4, 2001, http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/W_report/English/05-04-2001.htm - Return to text (25) Vale of tears: Tear or poison gas? By Jonathan Cook, in the West Bank, investigates evidence of a new war crime Al-Ahram Weekly On-line, 5 - 11 April 2001, Issue No.528 http://www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/2001/528/re3.htm - Return to text |
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James
Brooks - jamiedb@attglobal.net
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