By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
SvennoJ on 18 April 2024
Edit Thread

Video said to show white phosphorus bombing of southern Lebanon

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic have shared video footage which appears to show a white phosphorus bomb being used in an attack on southern Lebanon.

Israel’s air force said late on Wednesday that its warplanes had hit Hezbollah infrastructure sites north of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon and its forces had also removed “a threat” in the Kawkaba area of southern Lebanon.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Israeli forces in October of using white phosphorus munitions in Lebanon and Gaza. HRW confirmed Israel’s use of white phosphorus munitions at two locations along the Israel-Lebanon border and over the Gaza City port.

White phosphorus is a wax-like, toxic substance that burns at more than 800 degrees Celsius (nearly 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit). It is hot enough to melt metal, burn skin down to the bone, and its chemical ingredients can be absorbed by the body, causing dysfunction in multiple organs, including the liver, kidneys and heart.



Israel says warplanes attacked Lebanon overnight, killed Hezbollah fighters

Israeli fighter jets attacked sites in the area of southern Lebanon’s Khiam town overnight and killed two Hezbollah fighters in the Kfar Kila area, the military said.

Several Hezbollah “infrastructure” sites were attacked near Khiam, including two military buildings, the Israeli military said on social media, alongside grainy footage of nighttime explosions destroying buildings and what appears to be a vehicle.

Late on Wednesday night, Hezbollah said it had targeted Israeli soldiers while they were attempting to evacuate a military vehicle that Hezbollah claimed to hit a day earlier in the Metula area of northern Israel.

Far-right Israeli minister calls for ‘disproportionate’ attack on Iran

Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s hardline finance minister, says retaliation for Iran’s strikes must “rock Tehran so everyone there will realise they shouldn’t mess with us”. The response to Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel last week has to be “fierce, severe and inflict a disproportionate toll”, Smotrich told Israel’s Army Radio (GLZ).

He added the retaliation is necessary to “shape [Israel’s] position in the Middle East”. “This is the language spoken in the Middle East,” Smotrich said in the interview.




Pro-Palestinian protesters at New York’s Columbia University say arrests threatened

Students taking part in a Gaza Solidarity Encampment on the campus of New York’s Columbia University say they have been threatened with arrest.

In a post on social media, the Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine said the New York Police Department has warned the protesting students that they face arrest for participating in the tent encampment on the main lawn of the university’s campus.

According to reports, the hundreds of protesting students have been given a deadline to vacate the solidarity camp by university staff and there is a large police presence that appears ready to intervene.



Arrests reported amid Columbia University ‘Gaza encampment’ standoff

The New York Police Department is reported to have arrested four pro-Palestinian protesters outside Columbia University where people have gathered in solidarity with hundreds of students who are demonstrating inside the university’s campus.

According to a local reporter, one of the four arrested was a minor.

There is a large police presence around Columbia University where people have gathered in support of hundreds of students who have set up a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on the main lawn inside the campus.

University management has given the students a deadline to vacate their protest site, but the Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine group has called for more people to “bring a friend, bring blankets, and snacks” and join their demonstration.







Activist group say 28 Google employees fired after pro-Palestine protest

The activist group No Tech for Apartheid says that 28 Google employees have been fired in what it calls an “indiscriminate act of mass retaliation”.

Google employees yesterday held sit-ins at the tech giant’s New York and Sunnyvale, California, offices to protest against the $1.2bn artificial intelligence and surveillance contract between Israel, Google and Amazon known as Project Nimbus.

A Google spokesperson issued a statement earlier on Wednesday saying an unspecified number of employees were being laid off after “a number of our teams made changes to become more efficient and work better” and “remove layers”.