On November 28, 2019 the Toronto Sun published an article titled “Free speech, but not for Palestine.” The co-authors of the article are Mona Dennaoui, a former exchange student at York University and member of Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA), and Hammam Farah, a York University alumnus and co-founder of SAIA York.
In their joint article Dennaoui and Farah claimed that during the latest round of escalation in the Gaza Strip (November 12-14, 2019) the Israeli army “indiscriminately” killed 34 Palestinians.
Here is an excerpt from the article:
As late as last week, 34 Palestinians, including eight children, were killed by Israel’s indiscriminate bombardment and collective punishment.
The identity of the fatalities
Most of the Palestinian fatalities “were identified as military operatives”
The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center published a report titled “Identity of the Palestinian fatalities in the latest round of escalation in the Gaza Strip (findings of a preliminary examination).
Here are excerpts from the report:
On November 12-14, 2019, a round of escalation took place in the Gaza Strip following the killing of Bahaa Abu al-Atta, a senior commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). In response to his killing, the PIJ fired about 560 rockets to Israeli territory. The IDF attacked terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip, mostly belonging to the PIJ. Among the attacked targets were rocket launching squads before and after a launch; rocket launching sites; weapons depots; a plant for manufacturing long-distance rockets; training compounds; outposts; operations rooms and observation posts, as well as underground facilities of the PIJ.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip reported that 34 Palestinians had been killed in the latest round of escalation (with Bahaa Abu al-Atta and his wife among them). From within the 34 killed Palestinians, at least 18 (about 53%) were identified as military operatives, most of them (13) operatives of the PIJ’s military wing, who were the targets in most of the attacks. In addition, several fatalities were identified as belonging to minor terror networks, most of them operatives of Fatah splinter networks who took part in firing at Israel. Among the fatalities, there was a prominent number of operatives of the rocket launching network, who were killed while attempting to fire at Israel (which is an indication of the efficiency of the Israeli security forces in thwarting the firing attacks). In addition, nine civilians were killed, most of them members of one family in Deir al-Balah, whose home was attacked by the IDF as a result of mistaken identification (the case is under an IDF examination). A Hamas military operative was also killed, and another operative affiliated with Hamas. The large number of PIJ operatives who were killed reflects its central role in the last round of escalation (while Hamas refrained from joining the fighting).
Following are the main findings of a preliminary examination of the identity of the fatalities:
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ): A total of 13 fatalities were identified as PIJ operatives, all of them operatives of the PIJ’s military wing (prominent among
them was the number of operatives killed during attempts to fire rockets at Israel).
Hamas: Two Hamas operatives were identified. One of them was identified as an operative of Hamas’s military wing. Another operative is either affiliated with Hamas or a member of a family affiliated with Hamas (his body was wrapped in the Hamas flag).
Fatah splinter networks: Three fatalities were identified as operatives of the AlAqsa Martyrs’ Brigades / Nidal al-Amoudi Brigade (a Fatah splinter network which apparently actively participated in the fighting).
Fatah: Two fatalities were identified as Fatah members.
Popular Resistance Committees (PRC): Two operatives were identified as PRC operatives who apparently actively participated in the fighting.
Non-identified: Regarding three of the fatalities, so far it was not possible to unequivocally determine whether they were terrorist operatives or civilians.
Civilians: At least nine civilians were killed in the attack. Seven of them were killed in an attack in Deir al-Balah as a result of mistaken identification of the house that was attacked.
