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VT Condemns the ETHNIC CLEANSING OF PALESTINIANS by USA\/Israel<\/h4>\n
$ 280 BILLION US TAXPAYER DOLLARS INVESTED since 1948 in US\/Israeli Ethnic Cleansing and Occupation Operation; $ 150B direct “aid” and $ 130B in “Offense” contracts
\nSource: Embassy of Israel, Washington, D.C. and US Department of State.<\/p>\n
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Israel continued to bombard Gaza\u2019s southernmost city of Rafah on 8 May, as over one million Palestinians there face an immediate threat after Israeli forces captured the city\u2019s border crossing with Egypt the previous day.<\/p>\n
\u201cOvernight and into the early hours of the morning, the Israeli military continued to pound parts of eastern Rafah city,\u201d\u00a0Al Jazeera<\/em><\/a>\u00a0reported, adding that health facilities in Rafah are unable to accommodate large numbers of casualties.<\/p>\n Israel also targeted Rafah with white phosphorus munitions, which are illegal to use on civilians and civilian infrastructure and are considered a war crime under international law.<\/p>\n The Israeli army has repeatedly used white phosphorus on civilians in Gaza and Lebanon since the start of the war. Rights groups have called for an urgent investigation after several Palestinian corpses were found vaporized in Gaza, suggesting Israel\u2019s possible use of illegal\u00a0thermobaric weapons<\/a> to target civilians.<\/p>\n The Kerem Shalom border crossing was reopened on Wednesday after being shuttered when four Israeli soldiers were killed in a Qassam Brigades rocket attack on a nearby military site days earlier. The Rafah crossing \u2013 a key lifeline for Palestinians \u2013 remains shut following the army\u2019s seizure of the area.<\/p>\n The UN has warned that Israel\u2019s ongoing operation at the Rafah crossing threatens to seriously hinder humanitarian aid efforts.<\/p>\n Hamas\u2019 military wing, the Qassam Brigades, said on Wednesday that its fighters engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli troops penetrating eastern Rafah.<\/p>\n Several Palestinians were\u00a0killed<\/a>\u00a0and injured, including children, in the heavily intensified Israeli bombardment on Rafah on 7 May. Israel has been bombing the besieged city for weeks.<\/p>\n A four-month-old baby, a six-year-old, and an eight-year-old were killed by an Israeli bombing on the Qishta family home in Rafah on Tuesday afternoon. One man was also killed in an airstrike near the Rafah border crossing.<\/p>\n Israel announced Tuesday morning that it\u00a0seized\u00a0<\/a>Gaza\u2019s side of the Rafah border crossing. Video footage on social media showed Israeli tanks at the Rafah crossing. The army had begun moving towards the crossing on Monday evening.<\/p>\n The launch of the operation at the crossing was accompanied by heavy Israeli bombardment of Rafah.<\/p>\n