Israel drops leaflets on Khan Younis bearing photos of captives
Israeli planes have dropped leaflets on the southern city of Khan Younis with photos and the names of 69 Israelis taken captive.
The leaflets contain a message and number, telling the Palestinians that if they want to return to their homes, they should inform the Israeli army if they recognise any of the captives. Israel estimates there are about 136 captives currently held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas.
Israeli army has dropped leaflets that state they have conditioned the forced displacement of Palestinian citizens (war crime) on the return of the hostages. So, although their abduction had nothing to do with them Palestinian citizens are being collectively punished (war crime). https://t.co/PC9eqWToFV
— Naks Bilal (@NaksBilal) January 20, 2024
UK conducts 50 spy missions over Gaza in support of Israel
The UK military has flown 50 spy missions over Gaza since the start of December in support of Israel, an investigation has revealed. Investigative journalism and media organisation Declassified UK said the intelligence gathering flights are conducted using Shadow R1 surveillance aircraft taking off from Britain’s controversial Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus.
It said the government refused to confirm the number of spy flights or what kind of information was passed to the Israeli army when asked. The UK military had claimed in early December, when it confirmed the flights, that it would only attempt to gather information on captives held in Gaza. “But the extraordinary number of flights, and the fact that they started nearly two months after the hostages were taken, raises suspicions that the UK is not collecting intelligence solely for this purpose,” Declassified UK said.
AIPAC donated $95,000 to US speaker who pushed through Israel aid package: Report
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in November donated $95,000 to Mike Johnson, the speaker of the US House of Representatives, after he pushed through a $14bn aid package for Israel, the Intercept reports.
The news organisation’s analysis of the Federal Election Commission records also shows that AIPAC, the largest pro-Israel lobby group in the US, was Johnson’s top donor in 2023, with a total of $104,000. The majority of the payments came after Israel’s war on Gaza began and Johnson was elected House speaker in October.
