After Hamas won a majority of the seats in Palestinian legislative elections a week ago Wednesday, the Israeli military occupation of Palestine stepped up in intensity, with daily incursions in a number of Palestinian towns and villages.
All but 11 checkpoints in the West Bank were closed, leaving many farmers unable to access their fields and workers unable to get to work. Air strikes in Gaza over the last week and a half have left at least eight dead and dozens injured. The day after the January 25th elections, as the results were becoming clear, a nine year old girl was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers from their watchtowers over Khan Younis refugee camp. Her body was riddled with bullets, and, being shot with numerous rounds, she became the latest victim of a shoot-to-kill policy in southern Gaza which has claimed the lives of hundreds of children and adults.
Hamas has issued no retaliatory strikes against Israel, but have maintained the ceasefire they have held since last February. Although both the Israeli army and the Hamas resistance group agreed to the ceasefire last February, the Israeli military has killed 180 Palestinians since then, according to the Palestinian National Information Center.
