❶ . UN makes $547 million appeal for humanitarian aid for Palestine
. . . ❶ ― (a) 257 Gaza families receive payments for reconstruction and repair works

• Background: “Operation Cast Lead–Zion Fascism At Its Best.” South Asian Studies

❷ . Gaza electricity company accuses Israel of stalling power line repairs
❸ . The failed mass deportation of 1992
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❶ . UN  MAKES  $547  MILLION  APPEAL  FOR  HUMANITARIAN  AID  FOR  PALESTINE 
Ma’an News Agency    
Dec. 19, 2016 ― The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Palestinian Authority (PA) announced on Monday a coordinated appeal to the international community for $547 million in humanitarian aid for the 2017.
___The more than half-a-billion dollar target sum would go toward the implementation of 243 projects undertaken by 95 organizations, including 47 national and 35 international NGOs, as well as 13 UN agencies, according to a joint press release from UNOCHA and the state of Palestine.
___Almost 70 percent of the $547 million in funds would be directed toward projects in the besieged Gaza Strip, where Palestinians “are facing their tenth year under a blockade that precludes any vestige of ‘normal life,’” UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Aid and Development Activities Robert Piper was quoted in the press release as saying.    More . . .
. . . ❶ ― (A) 257  GAZA  FAMILIES  RECEIVE  PAYMENTS  FOR  RECONSTRUCTION  AND  REPAIR  WORKS  
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA      
Dec. 19, 2016 ― The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has disbursed $1.8 million to 257 refugee families for the reconstruction and repair works activities in the Gaza Strip, an UNRWA press release said on Monday.     ___“Emergency shelter – including support for home repairs, reconstruction and interim shelter solutions – is a top priority for UNRWA,” stressed the release.
[. . . .] Tens of thousands of homes were destroyed or damaged during Israel’s 2014 war on Gaza.       More . . .  

• Javaid, Umbreen, and Maliha Shamim. (University of Punjab, Lahore.) “Operation Cast Lead–Zion Fascism At Its Best.” South Asian Studies (1026-678X) 29.2 (2014): 691-700.  ARTICLE.  (Note: this article concerns the 2010 siege of Gaza, but it is obviously applicable to the 2014 siege as well). 

[. . . .] As religion is a necessary element of Israeli government and administration constituting the Israeli state, democracy is acceptable only as long as it operates within Zionist framework. Israel’s policy has always been to not only occupy Palestinian territories but to populate them with Jews. Many of the occupied territories were home to Jewish populations in the recent past hence populating the West Bank sites is not settlement but a return to their original land.
[. . . .]  Israel claimed the Gaza attacks as its right of self-defense but in fact Israel provided the provocation through her own violation. . .  Pro-Zionist western leaders and powers were united in their unflinching support to Israel. . . .  President Bush in a blatant show of uncritical support said, “Hamas’s continued rocket attacks into Israel must cease if the violence is to stop. Hamas must end its terrorist activities if it wishes to play a role in the future of the Palestinian people.”
[. . . .]  The bombardment on Gaza considered the bloodiest in all Israel’s history moved even Israel’s leading human rights organization B’Tselem which said that the Israel army was intentionally targeting what appeared to be clear civilian objects that are not engrossed in military action against Israel. . . .  Gideon Levy said, “once again Israel’s violent responses, even if there is justification for them, exceed all proportion and cross every red line of humanness, morally, international law and wisdom.”
[. . . .]  . . .  while claiming to act in self-defense Israel used all banned weaponry to incinerate people. “Our policy has been to attack civilians. The Palestinians must be hit and it must be very painful: we must cause them losses, victims, so they feel the heavy price,” said former Israeli Prime Minister and war criminal Ariel Sharon in 2002. The principle of Israeli army is: “if you continue killing Palestinian civilians for long enough, the world will accept it.”
[. . . .] The influence of religion on the political process is increasing day by day in modern Israel. Instead of prohibiting or simply interfering in religiously motivated activities the Israeli government actively supports and encourages them. . . .  Israel and its leaders do not want peace as it is not in their interests. A peaceful solution of Palestine problem would end the problem itself which is not acceptable to Israel. Israeli society today is the most extremist and racist with Israel treading on the path of ethnic cleansing and murder of Palestinians.

❷ . GAZA  ELECTRICITY  COMPANY  ACCUSES  ISRAEL  OF  STALLING  POWER  LINE  REPAIRS       
Ma’an News Agency
Dec. 19, 2016 ― The Gaza Strip’s electricity company accused Israel on Sunday of pushing off repairs on the “Baghdad” power line which has been damaged for four days, worsening the already dire electricity situation in the besieged Palestinian territory.     ___Gaza’s power company called upon the Palestinian Authority to pressure Israel to respond to the Gaza Strip’s electricity needs and repair the damaged line as soon as possible.     ___The company added that the recurrent disrepair of many Israeli electricity lines worsened the power crisis in Gaza and severely impacted the electricity distribution schedule. More . . .

❸ . THE  FAILED  MASS  DEPORTATION  OF  1992         
Gaza.Scoop.ps – Real Time News From Gaza
Dec. 18, 2016 ― On the 17th of December 1992, under the cover of darkness, the Israeli occupation forces raided the houses of hundreds of Palestinian leaders and activists from the occupied West Bank and Gaza. Academics, doctors and social figures were among 415 Palestinians whom the Israelis kidnapped, handcuffed, blindfolded and placed in trucks and buses that headed to a destination unknown to them or their families.
___The raids, which mainly targeted members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, followed failed Israeli attempts to rescue Nissim Toledano, an Israeli Sergeant who was captured earlier by al-Qassam Brigades in a bid to release Hamas leader and founder Shiekh Ahmed Yassin.     ___Contrary to the expectations of the detainees, the 60-hour-long trip did not end up at one of Israel’s notorious prisons. They were instead being exiled to south Lebanon in an unprecedented mass deportation that was executed without a hearing or even prior notification.      More . . .