Currently Online 
Israel has gone into full denial over the church attack as well as about the accusations of using hunger as a weapon of war
Human Rights Watch accuses Israel of using starvation as a "weapon of war" in Gaza. Israel calls it a lie
Human Rights Watch’s Israel and Palestine director, Omar Shakir, told CNN that Israeli authorities "have for months been deliberately depriving Gaza’s population of food and water, willfully impeding humanitarian assistance, intentionally destroying objects indispensable to survival, including bakeries, grain mills and water and sanitation facilities, and apparently razing agricultural areas."
The report is based on interviews with 11 displaced Palestinians in Gaza, public statements by members of the Israeli government and statements by organizations including the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, World Food Programme, Oxfam and the Norwegian Refugee Council.
"Statements from high-level Israeli officials show that this is a deliberate policy to starve civilians as a weapon of war," Shakir said.
The Human Rights Watch report notes that "high-ranking Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, and Energy Minister Israel Katz have made public statements expressing their aim to deprive civilians in Gaza of food, water and fuel" and that this "policy" is "being carried out by Israeli forces."
Other Israeli officials have publicly stated that humanitarian aid to Gaza "would be conditioned either on the release of hostages unlawfully held by Hamas or Hamas’ destruction," Human Rights Watch added.
"That is an abhorrent war crime, compounding its collective punishment of Palestinian civilians and blocking of humanitarian aid, which are also war crimes," Shakir told CNN. "World leaders should speak out and take urgent action to prevent further atrocities—the lives of hundreds of thousands hang in the balance.”
Israel calls it straight up lies
Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy forcefully dismissed the watchdog's claims on Monday, saying Hamas was to blame for any shortages in Gaza.
"This is a lie,” he said in response to a social media post from Shakir on X. “Israel has excess capacity to inspect more than twice as many aid trucks as are entering Gaza. We’re still pumping water into Gaza through two pipelines and have placed no restrictions on entry of food and water," Levy said. "Direct your anger to Hamas, which hijacks aid.”
More lies. You know when Israel's government is lying when they use the English language...
Gaza water system ‘completely collapsed’
The lack of water or sanitation could soon become equally “dangerous” as the ongoing Israeli bombardment of Gaza, according to a member of Doctors without Borders, known by its French initials MSF.
“The water system isn’t working anymore – it has completely collapsed,” Ricardo Martinez, who spent four weeks in Gaza during the war, said in an interview posted on the aid group’s website.
“People are being pushed to the limit, having to fight for their survival. At most, people have one litre of water per day – that’s for drinking, washing and cooking,” added Martinez, a logistics coordinator for MSF.
EU parliamentarian slams Israeli delays at Rafah border crossing
A member of the European Parliament says he has “no doubt” that Israel is deliberately frustrating international humanitarian efforts to get aid into Gaza. Speaking after a parliamentary visit to the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, Barry Andrews, the MEP for Dublin, said there were hundreds of trucks parked outside the crossing “as far as the eye can see”.
However, the vehicles were all being held up because anything going inside Gaza must be approved by Israel, which has listed thousands of items as being banned for “dual use”, meaning they can be used for both civilian and military purposes. “Humanitarian access is a basic requirement for any conflict,” Andrews posted on X. “There would be more truck movements at a busy supermarket in Ireland and yet, behind the gates at Rafah, 2.3 million people are suffering for want of food, water, medicine & fuel.”
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin "drilling down" in Israel
In his meeting with Israeli officials, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he discussed pathways “toward a future for Gaza after Hamas,” the protection of civilians in Gaza and the need “to take urgent action to stabilize the West Bank.”
“Attacks by extremist settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank must stop,” Austin said at a joint news conference with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. “And those committing the violence must be held accountable.”
“It would compound this tragedy if all that was waiting for the Israeli people and your Palestinian neighbors at the end of this awful war was more insecurity, fury, and despair,” he added. “As I have said, Israelis and Palestinians have both paid too bitter a price to just go back to October 6.”
Again not addressing the elephant in the room, the current situation, playing into Israel's distraction tactics
Aljahzeera's take:
‘Nothing new’ from Austin or Gallant
Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara says that the press conference from the US and Israeli defence chiefs was “more than half an hour of propaganda”. Bishara says he can distil the content of the conference down into “four Ds” – demonisation, dehumanisation, double standard and debacle.
“There’s a continuous demonisation of Hamas. They don’t even stop and think about why Hamas was able to withstand the incredible bombing, how they were able to resist the Israeli troops … Only that Hamas is there to kill Jews and destroy the Jewish state,” he said.
Moving on, Bishara addressed the dehumanisation of the Palestinians by the US and Israel. “Why is the secretary of defence of the United States incapable of expressing anything about what happened to the Palestinians?” he asked, leading him to discuss the “double standard” applied to by the US.
“When Secretary Austin talks about Ukraine, he talks non-stop about why collective punishment is a war crime, why the destruction of residential buildings in Kharkiv is a war crime. “But the destruction of residential buildings in Gaza? Nothing.”
Finally, Bishara discussed what he describes as the “debacle” of Israel’s military operations in Gaza. “There is no articulation that Israel could not achieve its objective despite the incredible suffering, that it still has months to go.”
Hamas' take (hosted their own press conference)
Hamas: ‘What American war experience are you sharing with Israel?’
Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official, is holding a news conference shortly after one given by the Israeli and American defence chiefs.
He played a video showing Hamas fighters targeting Israeli troops behind a tank with a rocket-propelled grenade. It also showed disabled Israeli military bulldozers being towed away through Gaza. “These are the invaders the sands of Gaza will swallow,” Hamdan told reporters in Beirut.
“We are asking what experience the American secretary of defence is sharing with Israel. Are we talking about the victories in Vietnam? Or their victory in Afghanistan after 20 years? The only experience to be shared is killing women and children, and destroying hospitals, houses and schools.”
This war isn't going anywhere
More distraction from Israel
Israel will gradually transition to the next phase of the war and expects displaced Palestinians from northern Gaza to return to their homes before those from the south, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Monday.
“Soon we will be able to distinguish between different areas in Gaza. … In every area where we achieve our mission, we will be able to transition gradually to the next phase and start working on bringing back the local population. This can be achieved maybe sooner in the north rather than in the south,” the minister said.
His comments come as the United States continues to put pressure on Israel to transition to a more targeted campaign in Gaza to reduce civilian casualties.
Return to what homes??? There's hardly anything left standing in Northern Gaza
Kirby's take on the hostage killings
“The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) admitted that they made a mistake very, very soon after. They made a mistake and I have no doubt that they will do the forensics on this to learn what happened and how to avoid it happening again,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said, calling it a “traumatic event.”
The IDF, he said broadly, will need to assess how the situation was handled and whether it will require adjustments to rules of engagement.
“Sometimes an event like this, a tactical event, does require you to take a look at your rules of engagement and maybe make adjustments, sometimes not. Sometimes the issue isn't the rules of engagement, sometimes it's just the way they're enforced or the interpretation by a unit on the ground or by an individual soldier,” Kirby said.
Forensics on this specific incident will determine whether this is the result of a systemic issue, an individual issue or a “misunderstanding, miscalculation, fog of war," he said.
He cautioned the United States should “be careful at this early stage … to point the fingers at the exact rules of engagement.”
Well at least he finds something traumatic, but lets put the blame on the individual soldiers that actively chased and executed the 3rd shirtless fleeing hostage waving a white flag after already killing the first two. As response Israel put up a Sesame Street level video to explain to its soldiers it's not OK to shoot unarmed surrendering civilians.
That could easily be a sketch on SNL.
The rules of engagement have already been exposed months ago, ok to sacrifice up to 100 civilians for one suspected Hamas member presence. Hannibal directive and from countless evidence: shoot anything that moves.
Gaza grandfather describes Israeli soldiers killing his family
When Israeli soldiers entered a Gaza school where Yousef Khalil was sleeping near his family, they began shooting indiscriminately, killing nine people, including children, he says, pointing to bullet-pocked, bloodstained walls.
His account to the Reuters news agency, which Israel’s military said it is looking into, comes after the killing of three Israeli captives in Gaza raised new questions about Israel’s rules of engagement.
Khalil says he sheltered with his family in early December in the Shadia Abu Ghazala school in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. “They are my children and grandchildren. Why did they shoot them in front of my eyes?”
Reporter who told story on dead babies shot by suspected Israeli sniper
A journalist who reported on decomposing bodies of babies abandoned in a Gaza hospital says he believes he was shot by an Israeli sniper.
Mohammed Balousha – who was wearing a helmet and press badge – told the Washington Post he was filming near his home in Jabalia, in northern Gaza, when he was shot in the leg. Israeli’s military didn’t respond to the Post’s request for comment.
Working for the UAE-owned Al Mashhad channel, Balousha reported last month on the decomposed bodies of four babies left behind at the Nasser Hospital after Israeli troops forced medical staff to evacuate.
Some more pressure back in the US
On Twitter
Joined NatSec Dems expressing deep concern to @POTUS for PM Netanyahu’s military strategy in Gaza.
“The mounting civilian death toll and humanitarian crisis are unacceptable and not in line with American interests; nor do they advance the cause of security for our ally Israel.” pic.twitter.com/RzLjUeFFdz
— Rep. Jason Crow (@RepJasonCrow) December 18, 2023
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/democrats-served-military-cia-biden-israel-tactics-gaza-help-hamas-rcna130265
US legislators to Biden: Israel must 'shift tactics'
A number of Democratic lawmakers who served in the military and in the CIA say Israel’s tactics in the Gaza Strip are endangering efforts to defeat Hamas militants and called on President Joe Biden to use “all our leverage” to secure an immediate shift in Israel’s approach.
In a letter sent Monday to Biden, the House lawmakers said they were “deeply concerned” by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s current military strategy in Gaza.
“The mounting civilian death toll and humanitarian crisis are unacceptable and not in line with American interests; nor do they advance the cause of security for our ally, Israel,” the group wrote. “We also believe it jeopardizes efforts to destroy the terrorist organization Hamas and secure the release of all hostages,” the letter said.
As the death toll keeps mounting and will soon surpass 20,000 (minus the 8,000 missing, likely trapped under ruble)
At least 19,453 people, including 7,729 children, have been killed in Israeli attacks since the start of the war, according to new figures from the Health Ministry in Gaza. The number of people wounded also rose to 52,286, including 8,663 children, the ministry added.
UN Security Council draft resolution stuck on phrase ‘cessation of hostilities’
Some of the Security Council members – behind the scenes – are doing closed-door negotiations at this very hour to try to come up with a different draft or wording that would be acceptable to the United States.
The key sticking point, we believe, is this ‘cessation of hostilities’ [phrase]. The United States and Israel say that any resolution that has those words in it is akin to a ceasefire. And they say that would only benefit Hamas, and so the US would reserve its veto power as it has done in the past.
That is what we really think are the sticking points.
It should also be noted, though, that … this resolution calls for the UN to monitor all of the aid distribution in Gaza, as well. That’s something that’s new.
‘Greater risk of escalation’ with US-led coalition deployed to Red Sea
Marco Forgione, from the Institute of Export and International Trade, says major shipping companies – in at least the medium term – are looking for other routes through the Red Sea after the spate of Houthi attacks from Yemen, a serious threat to the global economy.
He also questioned the US-led initiative to establish a multi-national military operation to safeguard commerce. “The reality is I have great concerns that if you militarize in this environment, there is an even greater risk of escalation. What we need to do is try and reach a situation of calm discussion that allows for a peaceful resolution to what’s happening here,” he told Al Jazeera. “I think we need to understand the role China can play here. They have a large naval base in Djibouti on one side of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and they are reliant to a great degree on oil transiting through those straits on the way to China. So there are other actors that need to be involved.”
Lebanon-Israel border in ‘dangerous’ situation: UN
Lebanon’s border with Israel is “dangerous” with ongoing exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel, the head of the UN peacekeeping force there warns. “The situation now, as everybody knows – it is tense. It is difficult, it is dangerous,” said Aroldo Lazaro, the head of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon. “We are trying to continue with our liaison and coordination role … in order to avoid miscalculations, misinterpretations that could be another trigger for escalation,” Lazaro told journalists.
More than 130 people have been killed in hostilities on the Lebanese side. On the Israeli side, four civilians and seven soldiers have been killed.
(Formatting isn't working properly on this site, very different view in edit and on page while trying to clean it up, sorry for the mess...)
