Israel-Hamas war, Gaza genocide

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Main events on July 17th

• Israeli attacks across Gaza killed 56 people on Thursday, including dozens of aid seekers, according to health officials.
• In a rare move, Israel issued a statement stating it “deeply regrets” targeting Gaza’s only Catholic Church in an attack that killed three people, after widespread international condemnation.
• UN chief Antonio Guterres’ spokesperson said Israel has refused to renew visas for the heads of at least three UN agencies working on Gaza.
• According to US news outlet Axios, sources close to the ongoing ceasefire negotiations said they believed a ceasefire deal could be reached soon following an updated offer presented to Hamas and Israel by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.
• The foreign ministers of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt and Turkiye called Israel’s attacks on Syria a “flagrant violation of international law”.
• White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said US President Trump continues to support “Syria’s pathway to a peaceful and prosperous country”, and will continue to work on de-escalation as violence there continues.
• According to the Syrian state news agency SANA, Israel carried out an air strike in the vicinity of Syria’s Suwayda. These reports are unconfirmed.
• At least 84 parliamentarians across nine political parties called on the British government to impose widespread sanctions on Israel over its repeated violations of international law.
• Slovenia said it will blacklist far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich as “persona non grata”, accusing them of inciting violence against Palestinians.

MASS Arrests Of Pro-Palestine Protesters In The U.K.!

The UK government has been dramatically cracking down on pro-Palestinian activists, journalists, and protesters under counterterrorism laws, a clear and disturbing erosion of free speech principles.

Guest hosts Russell Dobular and Keaton Weiss of the Due Dissidence show highlight the hypocrisy of politicians like JD Vance, who condemned censorship abroad but ignored the UK’s repression of dissent regarding Israel’s actions in Gaza. The two share footage of peaceful protesters being arrested for holding signs and Palestinian flags, arguing that vague "suspicion" standards are now being used to criminalize political expression.

"I'm a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It": Prof Omer Bartov on the Growing Consensus on Gaza

We speak with leading Israeli American historian Omer Bartov about his latest essay for The New York Times, headlined "I'm a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It." Bartov cites the United Nations definition of "genocide," which includes an intent to destroy a group of people that makes it impossible for the group to reconstitute itself. "This is precisely what Israel is trying to do," he says. "Israel is trying to concentrate the population of Gaza in the southernmost parts of the strip, to enclose them and to enforce, eventually, either that they would just die out there or that they would be removed from the Gaza Strip altogether."