War crimes in Gaza - targeted killings and ethnic cleansing

Evidence of the allegedly deliberate massacre of up to 70 Gazan civillians has echoes of Balkan Serb/Croat/Bosnian tragedy of the '90's and more recently Kosovo, and is likely to be just the tip of the iceberg. In similar conflicts involving large conventional armies fighting unconventional, low-tech guerrilla forces in urban battlefields, more horror stories like this one are likely to follow. It can't simply be put down to battlefield stress. 'Chris Gunness, a spokesman for Gaza's main U.N. aid agency, said "it would have to be known to any military planner as a matter of certainty that such an overwhelming and disproportionate use of force would inevitably lead to civilian casualties." http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gcUECSml8TBNV82UJjUVkYddt2zgD95IAHT00 Make your own mind up about the likely outcome of the unfolding tragedy in Gaza, but moment by moment it is becoming ever more clear that the Israeli intent is to ethniclly cleanse the Gaza Strip of Hamas, the civil and political infrastructure and as many Palestinian civillians as possible, to create a bottle neck on the border with Egypt that will eventually "pop". Yesterday (06/01/09)UNHCR High Commissioner António Guterres called for strict adherence to humanitarian principles in the ongoing conflict in Gaza, including respect for the universal right of those fleeing war to seek safety in other states. So far there has been no large-scale movement out of Gaza because of the Israeli blockade. Mr. Guterres said those who are compelled to flee Gaza should be able to do so and to find safety and security in other countries according to international law, and Noted that right now, this is the only conflict in the world in which people are not even allowed to flee (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/UNHCR/0baffc9bcf1a08c39d6bdfe563997525.htm) State terror is the only way to describe the Israeli action, sanctioned as it is by a quiescent world leadership, particularly in the US. Israel has long had a policy of "targeted killings" (follow this link: ) but never before on the sort of scale that we're witnessing now. Human Rights watch say the same (http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/12/30/israelhamas-civilians-must-not-be-targets)