Israel adds one more act of civilian bloodshed to its record

Early Monday morning, as it had threatened to do several times since the aid flotilla set sail for Gaza, Israel intercepted the convoy of vessels carrying hundreds of activists from around the world and some 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid. Reports said at least 16 activists were killed and no less than 30 were injured in the operation, which took place in international waters off the Gaza coast.

With the latest bloody attack, Israel, which many have accused of implementing state-sponsored terrorism, added one more black mark to its record, which consists of a number of mass killings of civilians.

One of Israel's bloodiest attacks was during the 1982 assault on southern Lebanon, which was marked by the Sabra and Shatila massacres. On Sept. 16, 1982, under the watchful eye of their Israeli allies who had encircled the area, Lebanese Christian militiamen entered Beirut's Sabra and Shatila refugee camps bent on revenge for the assassination of their leader, Bashir Gemayel. There followed a three-day orgy of rape and slaughter. For days, the Israeli-allied militiamen raped, injured and killed a large number of unarmed civilians, mostly children, women and the elderly, inside the enclosed and sealed refugee camps. The estimated number of victims varies from 700, the official Israeli figure, to 3,500.

The Qana massacre, also occasionally referred to as the shelling of Qana, was another bloody Israeli act. The massacre took place on April 18, 1996, in Qana, a village in southern Lebanon, when Israeli artillery bombed a UN compound near Qana. Of the 800 Lebanese civilians who had taken refuge in the compound to escape the fighting, 106 were killed and around 116 injured. Four soldiers from the Fijian United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were also seriously injured.

The incident took place amid heavy fighting between the Israeli Defense Forces and Hezbullah during Operation Grapes of Wrath. A United Nations military investigation later determined it was unlikely that the Israeli shelling of the UN compound was the result of technical or procedural errors.

In 2006 Israel attacked the village of Qana for the second time. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) attacked a three-story building in the small community of al-Khuraybah near Qana on July 30, killing 64 civilians, including 37 children.

In March 2002, the Israeli army launched its biggest offensive since the 1982 Lebanon war as tanks and troops invaded Ramallah, the commercial hub of the West Bank, and other towns and cities in raids that left more than 400 Palestinians dead and many more injured. Ramallah was occupied by Israel in an operation codenamed Operation Defensive Shield, which resulted in curfews, electricity cuts, school closures and disruptions to commercial life. Many Ramallah institutions, including government ministries, were vandalized and equipment was destroyed or stolen. Israeli forces took over local Ramallah television stations and social and economic conditions deteriorated. Many expatriates left, as did many other Palestinians, who complained that living conditions had become intolerable. The Israeli West Bank barrier has furthered Ramallah's isolation.

Gaza assault marked by civilian killings, cluster bombs, phosphorus shells

The aid convoy which was stormed by Israeli commandoes was carrying hundreds of civilian activists on an aid mission to the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Israel launched a punishing three-week campaign of air strikes and ground incursions on Dec. 27, 2008, saying the operation was meant to stop years of rocket attacks from Gaza. The offensive eventually left about 1,400 Palestinians dead, including many civilians, and brought heavy international criticism upon Israel, including accusations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in a United Nations investigation.

It emerged that Israel used cluster bombs and other controversial weapons, including phosphorus shells, in its assault on the region. Military analysts examining the video footage from the region confirmed the use of cluster bombs by Israeli forces. Cluster bombs scatter hundreds of smaller individual submunitions or “bomblets” that often remain undetonated after impact. Phosphorus bombs are extremely deadly weapons which cause fires on the ground and serious burns to the skin and to the lungs when inhaled. They can also cause severe heart, liver and kidney damage.

In January 2009, more than 40 Palestinians were killed after missiles exploded outside a UN school where hundreds of people were sheltering from the Israeli offensive. Two Israeli tank shells struck the school in the Jabaliya refugee camp, showering the people inside and outside the building with shrapnel. In addition to the dead, several dozen people were wounded, UN officials said. The bloody assault took place despite the school being clearly marked with a UN flag, the officials said, and its location had been reported to Israeli authorities.

Not long after the school attack, Israeli forces attacked the al-Dorra children's hospital in Gaza, injuring three children, after the UN Security Council call for ceasefire.

Since the beginning of its military campaign in the Gaza Strip, Israel has targeted several registered medical facilities, which were given assurances that they would not come under attack.

Israeli agents were allegedly involved in an assassination in Dubai earlier this year. Top Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was killed in January in his hotel room in what Dubai police said was almost certainly a hit by Israel's Mossad spy agency. The hit squad suspected of killing Mabhouh allegedly used forged passports from several European countries and Australia.