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Forums - Politics Discussion - Israel-Hamas war, Gaza genocide

LurkerJ on 11 April 2024

Jon Stewart Interrogates America's Support of Israel & 2024 Solar Eclipse Mania | The Daily Show

Glad to see him taking a less "balanced" position than he did weeks ago, glad to see him covering the land grab in the West Bank that took place few weeks ago, where Hamas has no influence either. 
More on this crazy story here:

Israel reported Friday the seizure of 800 hectares (1,977 acres) of land in the occupied West Bank, which activists called the largest action of its kind in decades. Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced the area in the northern Jordan Valley was declared "state lands" as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel for Gaza truce talks. The timing shows how little some members of the Israeli government are willing to compromise, FRANCE 24's Catherine Norris-Trent said, reporting from Jerusalem.

https://www.france24.com/en/video/20240323-israel-announces-west-bank-land-seizure-as-blinken-arrives-for-gaza-talks

And here: 

Israel’s largest land seizure since Oslo Accords deals fresh blow to Palestinian statehood

The move to declare part of that territory as Israeli state land signals the government's intent to press ahead with settlement construction, despite international condemnation.

“While there are those in Israel and the world who seek to undermine our right over the Judea and Samaria area and the country in general,” Smotrich declared last week, referring to the West Bank region by its biblical name, “we promote settlement through hard work and in a strategic manner all over the country”.

The newly seized area covers 8,000 dunams (800 hectares) between three Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank – Masu’a, Ma'ale Efrayim and Yafit. 

A few weeks earlier, on February 29, Israel appropriated an additional 300 hectares near the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, east of Jerusalem. 

Together, these areas represent the largest zone to be designated Israeli state land since the first Oslo Accords in 1993, according to Peace Now, an Israeli organisation documenting settlement activities.

https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20240326-israel-s-largest-land-seizure-since-oslo-accords-deals-fresh-blow-to-palestinian-statehood

Religion supremacy knows no bounds..



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SvennoJ on 11 April 2024

The US and Israel are gearing up to go to war with Iran...

Blinken stresses US support for Israel against threats by ‘Iran and its proxies’

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has assured Israel of US support “against any threats by Iran and its proxies”. Blinken made the comments during a phone call with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, the State Department said.


Israeli air force conducted joint exercises with Cypriot air force

The Israeli Air Force has conducted joint exercises with the Cypriot air force, according to the Israeli Army Radio station, GLZ. GLZ said the exercises involved practising long-range drills and an attack on a remote target.

“The exercise was designed to simulate an attack in Iran,” reporter Doron Kadosh wrote on X.



US says Iran attack on Israel imminent: Report

US officials believe an attack by Iran or its proxies on Israeli soil against military and government targets is imminent, Bloomberg News reports. Citing unnamed sources with knowledge of US and Israeli intelligence, it said the potential assault “may happen in the coming days”, possibly using high-precision missiles.

Israel has been on high alert since last week when a suspected Israeli air strike hit the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital, Damascus, killing seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two top generals. Tehran has pledged to take revenge for the attack.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a call with Defence Minister Yoav Gallant the US will stand with Israel against any threats by Iran.

Netanyahu: Israel preparing for ‘arenas’ outside Gaza

While continuing the war in Gaza in “full force”, Israel is also readying to engage threats in “other arenas”, says Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.

“We are in challenging times”, Netanyahu said during a visit to Israel’s Tel Nof Airbase. “We are in the midst of the war in Gaza, which continues in full force. At the same time we continue our unrelenting efforts to return our abductees, but we are also preparing for scenarios of challenges from other arenas.”

He added: “We are preparing to meet the security needs of the state of Israel both in defence and attack."

Iran’s UN mission slams Security Council inaction against Israel

Iran’s permanent mission to the UN has criticised the council for failing to condemn Israel’s “reprehensible act of aggression” on Iran’s diplomatic premises in Syria’s Damascus last week.

It said in a statement on X that if the perpetrators had been brought to justice, “the imperative for Iran to punish this rogue regime [Israel] might have been obviated”.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other top officials have promised retaliation for the attack on the consulate building that killed members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two generals.




Ready to invade Lebanon as well

What will the future bring between Hezbollah and Israel?

Beirut, Lebanon – Israel’s decision to withdraw the majority of its troops from Gaza – at least temporarily – has analysts in Lebanon anticipating an intensification of some sort against Hezbollah.

The Israeli army indicated as much in a statement on Sunday when it said it was preparing to transition from defensive to offensive actions against the armed group. “The commanders of the regular and reserve units are prepared to summon and equip all the required soldiers in just a few hours and transport them to the front line for defensive and offensive missions,” the statement said.

As the war in Gaza enters its seventh month, there are fears it is also ready to enter a new phase. But what will that phase entail?

Israeli jets strike Lebanon’s Jabbain, al-Dhahira and Tayr Harfa

Israeli fighter jets have raided the eastern outskirts of the town of Jabbain, according to the local Lebanese media.

Earlier this morning, the Israeli air force also carried out an air raid targeting the town of al-Dhahira, as well as the outskirts of the Tayr Harfa village, said the Bint Jbeil online media outlet.



SvennoJ on 11 April 2024

Gaza genocide continues unabated

Fierce air strikes rain down in central Gaza

The past few hours have been very intense, with more confirmed reports of aerial attacks in the central area, mainly on the Nuseirat refugee camp and Wadi Gaza area. These are the areas people were told to evacuate to during the initial weeks of this war.

Five people have been confirmed killed from Israel’s air raids on Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, according to the Wafa news agency. Numerous people have also been wounded.

Israeli army launches operation into Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp

After a night of air strikes, there’s now a military push on the ground into the northern part of the Nuseirat camp. A news report by a broadcaster associated with the Israeli military says the army is preparing a “limited operation” there.

When the military announced its withdrawal from southern Khan Younis, it kept an entire brigade in the area that separates northern Gaza from the south. Nuseirat is very close to deploy troops to the area.

This operation is coupled with the presence of attack drones flying low in southern Rafah city, which are causing a wave of panic amid the threat of an expansion of military operations here.

Israeli army launches ‘new war’ on central Gaza

Israel’s attack on central Gaza continues following its retreat earlier this week from southern Khan Younis city after announcing a new phase in its military operation.

“It was as if the occupation army is launching a new war,” Raouf Abed, 20, said via a chat app from Deir el-Balah to the south of the Nuseirat refugee camp, which was hit by air and naval strikes overnight, then a ground incursion during the day.

“The explosions were non-stop, the sounds came from different directions,” Abed said. “Every time we hope there will be a ceasefire, Israel escalates the aggression as if they are trying to pressure Hamas by hitting on us, the civilians.”


Panicked residents fleeing Nuseirat camp

The Israeli military is still operating in the northern part of the Nuseirat refugee camp. This is an extension of what the military did overnight when it announced a limited and targeted operation in the camp.

Right now, people find themselves trapped under heavy bombardment. This has caused a great deal of panic and people are starting to move out of Nuseirat camp and other parts of the central area.

Israeli shelling kills civilians near Gaza City: Report

In conjunction with air strikes on Nuseirat camp, Israeli gunboats shelled homes in the Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, killing multiple civilians, according to local sources cited by the Wafa news agency.

Overcrowded refugee camps have been a frequent target of Israeli forces during the war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 34,000 people since October.


At least 6 killed in Israel bombing of Gaza City market

Israeli forces have bombed Gaza City’s Firas market, killing at least six people and wounding others, according witnesses who shared the footage of the aftermath of the attack on Telegram.

The wounded people were taken to Ahli Arab Hospital. One of the videos showed a middle-aged man with an abdominal wound walking into the hospital while leaning on another man.

https://www.instagram.com/mahmoud_maher_zaqout/p/C5n7wK8Mo1V/

Eight killed in Rafah: Report

Israeli strikes killed at least eight people in the southern district of Rafah, the Wafa news agency reports, citing medical sources.

Five of the victims were killed when Israeli warplanes struck a group of people near a cemetery in eastern Rafah, while three were killed by strikes that hit Rafah’s Janina neighbourhood, also to the east, the news report said.

‘We were really lucky’: UNICEF staffer describes being hit by Israeli fire

Tess Ingram, a UNICEF spokesperson, was in a convoy hit by Israeli gunfire as it tried to deliver aid to northern Gaza. She said the vehicles were at a “holding point” – a designated area where cars have to wait until a checkpoint is ready to receive them.

“We were waiting there when gunfire broke out in the vicinity. The gunfire came from the direction of the checkpoint towards civilians who then ran away from the checkpoint and the gunfire hit us,” Ingram told Al Jazeera.

“We were really lucky,” she said, adding three rounds hit the car where she was sitting. The shooting was raised with the relevant authorities, Ingram said, noting it was the most serious incident that UNICEF staff have experienced since the start of the war.

“But it’s not an isolated case – safety is not guaranteed even when we take all of the required steps as we saw with the tragic World Central Kitchen incident. This is just another example.”

The mission had been authorised and the Israeli authorities knew about the convoy, said Ingram. After the shooting, Israeli authorities continued to delay the convoy and it eventually was forced to return to Rafah.

“So those life-saving supplies never made it to the children in northern Gaza,” she said.



SvennoJ on 11 April 2024

‘Imminent risk of famine for most, if not all’, in Gaza: US Gaza humanitarian envoy

David Satterfield, appointed as Gaza humanitarian envoy by the US government, has told a forum organised by the American Jewish Committee that most, “if not all”, of Gaza’s 2.2 million people are facing famine.

“There is an imminent risk of famine for the majority, if not all, the 2.2 million population of Gaza,” Satterfield was quoted as saying by Israeli media, including Haaretz and The Times of Israel.

“This is not a point in debate. It is an established fact, which the United States, its experts, the international community, [and] its experts assess and believe is real.” The US envoy also stressed that since Israel is seen as the effective controlling power in Gaza, the country had an obligation to help the civilians there.

“The horrific dehumanization of Israelis that took place on October 7 and the ongoing dehumanization of the Israeli hostages every day they’re held cannot be matched by the dehumanization of innocent Palestinian civilians,” Satterfield was quoted as saying in the online event.

‘Signs of starvation’ creep into southern Gaza

Despite the increase in the number of aid trucks over the past three days, there hasn’t been much of a significant change on the ground. People are still struggling with famine in northern Gaza where the Israeli military has failed to allow more smooth aid deliveries.

In the southern part of the Strip, there are actually signs of starvation that are starting to be quite visible. Overall, the number of trucks being let in is not enough to respond to the great need people are facing right now.




Famine is already occurring in northern Gaza: US official

Samantha Power, the director of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), says that people in parts of northern Gaza have begun facing famine.

Her comments, made at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Wednesday, mark the first public admission by a US official that famine has started in parts of the Gaza Strip.

“Food has not flowed in sufficient quantities to avoid this imminent famine in the south, and these conditions that are giving rise already to child deaths in the north,” she said during an exchange with Congressman Joaquin Castro.

‘Simply stalling’: Aid agencies say Israel can get much more aid into Gaza

When the Israelis pack a truck, they pack it half full so it makes it easier for them to inspect. That truck then goes across the border where it’s repacked by either the UN or the Egyptians and then it goes into Gaza.

That gives the Israelis a chance to blame the UN, to blame aid agencies for delaying aid.

But we should remember there were about 500 trucks a day going through various crossings before October 7 – that wasn’t aid, it was trade. So there are very well-established routes to get all of this aid into Gaza.

Aid agencies have been clear in saying the operational capability is there. Israel has the ability to get more aid in if it wants. But it’s simply stalling and they blame Israel squarely on that.


Israeli protesters block Gaza aid passage near al-Awja crossing

Dozens of Israeli demonstrators have blocked the road to trucks carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip near al-Awja (Nitzana) border crossing between Israel and Egypt.

The border crossing has been closed for hours. Israel’s border guard forces arrested a number of demonstrators.



Israelis gather in Jerusalem for Demand Victory–Rafah Now rally

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that several hundred people are participating in a right-wing rally in Jerusalem. The media outlet says the event organisers are members of the Tikva Forum of Families of Hostages, Bereaved Families and the If You Will movement.

The protesters are reported to be calling for a ground offensive in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, which they say will result in a “complete victory” and a return of the captives held in the enclave.

Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu said this week that he had set a date for the operation in Gaza’s southernmost city, where nearly 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering, amid conflicting leaks from the Israeli government that no date had actually been set.

US officials said recently that a meeting with Israeli officials on the subject of the Rafah offensive is scheduled for several weeks from now.



SvennoJ on 12 April 2024

UN Security council failed to reach consensus on whether to admit Palestine

The UN Security Council’s committee on the admission of new members has failed to reach a consensus on whether to admit Palestine as a full member of the UN. Two-thirds of the committee were in favour. However, the group could not reach the consensus required to make a recommendation to the General Assembly.


Majority of UN committee in favour of moving towards membership for Palestine: Maltese envoy

Vanessa Frazier, Malta’s Ambassador to the UN, said there was no consensus at the second meeting of the UN committee. However, she said, the majority of members were in favour of moving towards membership for Palestine.

“Many countries outlined the fact that Palestine fulfils all the criteria that are required under the Montevideo convention and also of article four of the charter,” she said. “As the chair of the committee, I have decided that I will be circulating our first draft of a report under the objection procedure, and we will see what happens next” Frazier said.

Malta currently holds the presidency of the UN Security Council.

Vote on UN Palestinian membership still ‘possibility’, but US likely to veto

It appears that once again Palestine’s bid to become a full member of the United Nations has died in the Security Council committee despite having a majority of Security Council members apparently approving the bid.

In 2011, Palestine also applied to be a full UN member, but that also died in committee. At that time, however, the General Assembly was able to elevate Palestine to the status of UN observer. That gives Palestine a lot of rights here at the UN but not, critically, the right to vote in the General Assembly, which is very important. So, Palestine essentially has been disenfranchised from this organisation that it participates in for many, many years now.

The issue could still potentially go to the Security Council in a resolution for a vote. That is still a possibility and that could come as early as next week. But the bottom line is that even if it does go that far, the US is prepared to veto it.

 

Spanish PM says ‘clear signs’ Europe ready to recognise Palestinian state

Pedro Sanchez made the comments after speaking to his Norwegian counterpart, Jonas Gahr Store, in Oslo as part of a diplomatic campaign to garner support for the recognition of Palestinian statehood. The Spanish prime minister is also expected to visit Ireland, Portugal, Slovenia and Belgium during his tour.

“We want to stop the humanitarian disaster in Gaza and help kickstart a political peace process leading to the realisation of the two-state solution as early as possible,” government spokeswoman Pilar Alegria previously said. On Wednesday, Sanchez said the recognition of a Palestinian state is in Europe’s “geopolitical interests”.

“The international community cannot help the Palestinian state if it does not recognise its existence,” he told members of parliament, adding that such a move was “just” and “what’s demanded by the social majority”.





The tide keeps turning, when will actions finally follow

Poll: Majority of Americans believe Israel committing genocide against Palestinians

A new survey conducted by YouGov says that 36 percent of Americans believe that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians, compared with 34 percent who do not and 30 percent who are unsure.

Sixty-three percent of respondents expressed support for reaching a ceasefire, and 58 percent expressed their disapproval of the way Joe Biden is dealing with the war between Israel and Hamas, compared with only 23 percent who approved of it.

Regarding whether the United States should increase or reduce its military aid to Israel, 18 percent said it should be increased, while more than twice as many (37 percent) said it should be reduced.

YouGov says this survey was conducted from April 6-9 and included approximately 1,800 adult American citizens.



Destruction in Khan Younis ‘disproportionate to anything one can imagine’: WHO

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), posted on X that the WHO and partners went to Khan Younis yesterday to assess the health facilities there. He said the team described the destruction as “disproportionate to anything one can imagine”.

He said, “Attacks and hostilities have left Nasser Medical Complex, al-Amal and al-Khair hospitals non-functional. These facilities have no oxygen supply, water, electricity or sewage system”.

“The team saw that the Nasser Medical Complex warehouse – which supplies many hospitals in the south – was burning, and severely damaged. It is estimated that fire has destroyed the majority of supplies, including a substantial amount of essential medicines and medical and trauma supplies provided by WHO and partners” he said.

“The once robust health system in Gaza is broken. WHO and partners stand ready to support reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts, but we need a ceasefire,” he concluded, adding, “Nothing else can bring a lasting and humane outcome”.


 

Last edited by SvennoJ - on 12 April 2024

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SvennoJ on 12 April 2024

Attacks continue

Head of police killed in Israeli attack on Jabalia camp: Health Ministry

Palestinian health officials have said an Israeli air strike killed Rudwan Rudwan, the head of the police force in Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip. Hamas said Rudwan was also in charge of supervising the protection of aid truck convoys in northern Gaza areas.

Israeli attack north of Nuseirat refugee camp hits school: Report

An Israeli attack to the north of the Nuseirat refugee camp has hit a school, according to an Al Jazeera Arabic report, citing Palestinian sources. It said one person was killed and several injured.

More strikes on Nuseirat camp

Israeli military helicopters have dropped bombs on the northern part of Nuseirat camp, report our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic, following our earlier reports of an attack on a school in the area. Nuseirat has repeatedly come under fire in recent days as Israeli forces intensify operations.

We’re getting reports from the northern part of Nuseirat refugee camp of ongoing artillery shelling, air strikes and constant shots from quadcopters. Most people injured in these attacks are being transferred to al-Awda Hospital, a small health facility on the other side of the camp. The reason is that the road that goes to al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah city is quite dangerous, so there is a risk for civil defence crews to drive there.

So far there have been five people killed inside residential homes and evacuation centres in the camp. Also at least 70 people injured in Israeli attacks on Nuseirat camp in central Gaza have been brought to the camp’s al-Awda Hospital since Friday morning, our colleagues on the ground are reporting.

Among those injured in the latest strikes are two journalists, including from the TRT Arabi channel.



TRT journalist loses foot after being wounded in Nuseirat attack

Sami Shehadeh has had his foot amputated after being wounded earlier today in an Israeli attack on Nuseirat camp, according to TRT channel. He was among a group of journalists, including TRT Arabi correspondent Sami Berhum, to be wounded while covering the Israeli attacks on the camp in central Gaza.

TRT’s Director General Zahid Sobaci denounced the attack that wounded the channel’s journalists, saying it had gone beyond all “moral, legal or humanitarian limits”.


More violence, more attacks, more death across Gaza

This is the third day of the Eid holiday – these were supposed to be days of celebrations and festivities across the Gaza Strip but they have largely been shrouded by fear and panic. More violence, more air strikes, more death and destruction across the Strip, particularly in the northern and central parts.

The Israeli military is still operating aggressively in the area of the northern part of Nuseirat refugee camp and also the southern area of Wadi Gaza, an area that had been designated as safe for people to evacuate to in the initial weeks of the war. At least five people have been killed and several injured, including people inside an UNRWA-run school for evacuees.

The fact that there are also attack drones in the area is causing a great deal of panic and concern for a really traumatised population who’s been on the move, trying to flee to and get to safety.

Meanwhile in Gaza City, in the early hours of this morning, a residential home full of people was targeted and destroyed. There are reports that 25 people of the same family have been pronounced dead.

Israeli forces strike Gaza City home, kill 29

At least 29 people have been found killed in the Israeli attack on a home in Gaza City’s Daraj neighbourhood, with dozens more wounded, reports the Wafa news agency. Wafa reported that Israeli aircraft launched raids on a house belonging to the Tabatibi family, in the Sidra area of the Daraj neighbourhood in central Gaza City.

Footage of the aftermath of the attack posted by Al Jazeera Arabic shows rescuers carrying bodies from the rubble of a blown-out building.

Elsewhere in Gaza City, Israeli helicopters carried out strikes on several homes in the Zeitoun, Shujayea and Remal neighbourhoods, wounding many civilians, according to Wafa.


Gaza death toll reaches 33,634

At least 89 more people have been killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll since the war began to at least 33,634, according to the latest figures by the Health Ministry. Meanwhile, 120 others were wounded, with the overall figure of injured people reaching 76,214

“Many people are still trapped under rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” the ministry said.



SvennoJ on 12 April 2024

At least two dead in Israeli raid in occupied West Bank

Two men has been shot dead in an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank. Palestinian medical sources said the incident took place at the Far’a camp in the northern West Bank, as soldiers raided several homes and there were confrontations with several groups of young men.

The first slain man has been identified as Mohammed Essam Shahmawi. He died after being shot in the head by Israeli forces, as confrontations erupted, according to Wafa. During the raid, the Israeli military set up snipers at the entrance of the camp and flew reconnaissance drones over the skies, the Palestinian news agency reported.

After Israeli forces shot dead a man in the city’s Far’a camp earlier this morning, they killed a second man travelling in his car in Tubas, the PRCS said. Israeli fire also wounded at least three others in the city, one severely. A PRCS ambulance, responding to reports of casualties in the camp, was also hit by Israeli fire, while a volunteer paramedic inside the vehicle was beaten and arrested.

Palestinian killed in Tubas is son of Hamas leader who died in Israeli prison

It would be easier to say which areas Israeli forces did not raid overnight throughout the occupied West Bank. The deadly raid took place in Tubas to the north, where Israeli forces killed two Palestinians. One of them was ambushed in his car. He has been identified as Muhammad Rasoul.

Israeli sources say he was not a target of the raid, but shot at Israeli forces raiding the area, leading them to ambush his car.

According to locals, Muhammad Rasoul is known as the leader of the Tubas Battalion, a fighting group of young men that has been militarily confronting Israeli forces. He is also the son of Omar Daraghmeh, a Palestinian who was the first declared dead by the Israeli prison services since the war began. The father was known as a leader of Hamas here in the occupied West Bank.

While the family will lay the son to rest today after his killing, they still do not have the body of the father, whom Israeli forces have not handed over for burial after the declaration of his death six months ago.

Red Crescent medic hospitalised after Israeli assault

Wasim Mohammad Draghma, a volunteer paramedic with the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), has been transported to a hospital after being beaten and temporarily detained by Israeli forces. Draghma was assaulted after the ambulance he was in was attacked by Israeli forces in Far’a camp near Tubas, where it was responding to reports of casualties during an Israeli raid there.

Since the war began, 27 members of the PRCS have been killed, including 17 in the line of duty, according to the group.




Night-time raids take place across West Bank

Israeli forces have carried out another night of raids throughout the occupied West Bank. In addition to storming the Far’a camp near Tubas, as we reported, raids have also taken place in the following areas:

  • Town of Idhna, west of Hebron
  • Tulkarem city
  • Qalqilya city
  • Town of al-Fandaqumiya, south of Jenin
  • Town of Deir Istiya, northwest of Salfit
  • Town of Sebastia, northwest of Nablus

Unrelenting Israeli raids pushing more West Bank youth to arms

Tubas is a quiet area, where Palestinians often work in agriculture. But lately, we’ve seen young men in Tubas, Far’a and surrounding areas unite together and form the fighting battalion of Tubas. It is a very new group compared to others that have been active for years in Jenin, in the Balata refugee camp and other places.

Palestinians will tell you it is the Israeli raids that have led many people to choose arms as the way to confront Israel. The raids, they say, show the control, power and brutality of the Israeli military occupation. It is leading many Palestinians to say that armed resistance is the only way to fight.


Killed, wounded and detained in occupied West Bank

The killing of two people by Israeli forces in Tubas this morning brings the number of Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank since the start of the war to 462. The figure includes 117 children and 14 Palestinian prisoners who died in Israeli custody, with nine of them from the West Bank.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces have injured more than 4,750 Palestinians and detained at least 8,165 in the same period.


Israel seizes record amount of West Bank land in 2024: Report

Israel has declared some 1,000 hectares (2,470 acres) of land in the occupied West Bank as state territory since its war on Gaza began on October 7, with its seizures in 2024 outpacing any year in history, reports Israel’s Haaretz newspaper.

This includes the seizure of an 800-hectare (1,977-acre) zone near the border between the West Bank and Jordan in late March, in what was the single biggest land seizure in Israeli history.


Attacks continue at the Lebanon border as well

Inside a destroyed southern Lebanese town

An Al Jazeera team has made it into Aita al-Shaab, in southern Lebanon, which has been turned into a ghost town after being pounded for months by Israeli air raids, artillery, drones and tank fire.

“There is a tense calm,” said Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem, adding that some residents had seized the opportunity on the occasion of Eid to return to Aita al-Shaab and check the state of their houses.

But the findings were grim. Piles of rubble lay where houses once stood. Shops are wrecked and roads are empty. “Everywhere has been hit,” Hashem said, describing Aita al-Shaab as “one of the most destroyed towns” on the border between Lebanon and Israel.

Aita al-Shaab has witnessed nearly daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah since the start of the war in Gaza. At least 66 civilians have been killed and more than 90,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in southern Lebanon since the start of the conflict, according to UN figures.



SvennoJ on 12 April 2024

USA keeps stalling, downplaying, gaslighting and lying.

White House says Gaza famine ‘imminent’; appears to soften USAID chief’s earlier comments

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has been pressed on the US assessment of famine in Gaza. Earlier, USAID chief Samantha Power said it was “credible” to assess that famine had already begun.

Jean-Pierre did not address Power’s comments directly but said repeatedly that famine conditions in parts of Gaza were “imminent”, seeming to water down Power’s assessment.

“That is why we’re doing everything we can to uptick, obviously, the humanitarian aid” arriving into Gaza, Jean-Pierre said, noting that the number of trucks carrying aid into Gaza has increased dramatically in recent days.

“We know how dire the situation is in Gaza, so we are certainly deeply concerned about these reports,” Jean-Pierre said. “We have been working around the clock, around the clock, to get more of that aid into Gaza.”

She added that the US would “continue to push Israel to increase the flow” of aid into Gaza.

The number of trucks carrying aid into Gaza has not increased at all. Israel has just begun to count half filled trucks for inspection (regulated to only be half full for inspection). After they get reloaded to go into Gaza the numbers don't match up.



Aid entering Gaza just ‘a drop in the ocean’

Despite the Israeli military announcing it would allow 500 trucks of aid into Gaza per day, the amount actually making its way into the enclave “is less than one would imagine”, reports Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud from Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip.

“It is only a drop in the ocean compared to the needs of people”, Mahmoud said of the aid entering Gaza, adding that people’s living conditions were deteriorating both in Rafah, where resources are “depleting”, and in northern Gaza, where the hunger crisis is “raging”.

People are suffering “not only from the ongoing bombing campaign but by the [Israeli military’s] obstruction of aid delivery”, said Mahmoud.

Israeli army says first trucks carrying aid entered Gaza via northern crossing

The Israeli army says the first trucks carrying aid entered from Israel to Gaza on Thursday through a new crossing. Reports earlier this week said the Israeli army was setting up a new crossing as an alternative to the re-opening of the Beit Hanoon (Erez) crossing in order to avoid attempts by Israeli protesters to block aid from entering the Strip.

Pressure on Israel to do more to protect civilians and humanitarian workers has been mounting, especially after the killing of seven members of the relief group World Central Kitchen in an Israeli attack.



SvennoJ on 12 April 2024

US fears most of Hamas’s remaining captives already dead: Report

US intelligence officials fear most of Hamas’s remaining captives in Gaza are already dead, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Hamas kidnapped some 220 people, including foreigners, when it launched its attack on Israel on October 7. After a brief ceasefire that saw some freed in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails, dozens are thought to remain.

Israel estimates about 34 captives have died, but the Journal reported on Thursday that some US officials believe that number should be more than twice as high, which could complicate efforts to reach a new ceasefire deal.

The intelligence sources, who were not identified, said some of the captives died from the injuries they sustained in Hamas’s attack, while others succumbed to illness. Some may also have been killed in Israel’s ongoing assault on the territory, the report said.


War has reached the ‘phase of famine and attrition’

Marc Owen Jones, associate professor of Middle East studies at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, says he does not believe Israel will go into Rafah, despite Netanyahu’s repeated statements that an incursion into the city in southern Gaza is imminent.

“If they do, I think it’ll be a minor incursion. They [Israeli army] pulled troops from Khan Younis on the basis that they said are going to reformulate them, but actually I think that was in response to the World Central Kitchen [workers’] killings,” Owen Jones told Al Jazeera.

“My concern is that the phase that we’re in is this phase of famine and that this is a war of attrition; that Israel is going to continue to use starvation as a weapon against Gazans and see what that will result in,” he added.


‘Atrocious dilemma’ if Palestinians flee to Egypt, UN refugee chief says

The UN refugee chief says “we must fervently do everything” to avoid the prospect of Palestinians fleeing into Egypt from Rafah in southern Gaza because it would make resolving the conflict “impossible”.

“Another refugee crisis from Gaza into Egypt, I can assure you, … would make the resolution of the Palestinian refugee question as a consequence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict impossible,” High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi told the Reuters news agency at his agency’s headquarters in Geneva.

Netanyahu has said repeatedly Israel will conduct a ground offensive into Rafah, and Grandi says any attack on the city, where 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering, may make the movement of Palestinians into Egypt “the only option for safety available”.

“But I repeat, we must not arrive at that atrocious dilemma, which would be really almost the end of the road for what is really important here: ultimate peace.”



SvennoJ on 12 April 2024

Concern Netanyahu is playing up Iranian threat to rally political base

Israeli government officials are talking very publicly about how prepared they are for any attack from Iran on Israeli territory – from the prime minister, to the defence minister, to the military spokesperson. Benjamin Netanyahu, over the last 20 years, has been very vocal on the threat from Iran. It plays well to his base, it allows him to act like a tough guy and it’s very popular with the hard right of his political party.

But this latest round was actually sparked by the Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.

A lot of people wonder how much of this is simply political – to keep the prime minister popular among his base.


Netanyahu political survival ‘contingent on Israel being at war’

As tensions rise amid expectations of Iranian retaliation against Israel following the strike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus, analyst Marc Owen Jones says the only person who would benefit from an escalation in the region is Benjamin Netanyahu.

Why? According to Owen Jones, it’s because the prime minister’s political survival is contingent on Israel being on a war footing.

“One of the strategies of the [Israeli] right has always been to create an existential threat to Israel because that creates among the population a demand for protection,” he told Al Jazeera.

Netanyahu is trying to escalate the rhetoric while also undermining backchannels of communication, the associate professor of Middle East studies at Hamad Bin Khalifa University said, noting that these have been heavily eroded.

The deadly attack on the World Central Kitchen’s aid workers and the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are “signals that diplomatic channels are failing to do what they are supposed to be doing, which is de-escalating tensions”.


USA barking up the wrong tree

A 24-hour diplomatic effort

As Israel braces for a potential Iranian attack following the deadly bombing of the Iranian consulate in Syria, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has engaged in diplomatic activities by calling foreign counterparts to use their leverage on Tehran.

  • These include Turkey’s s Hakan Fidan, China’s Wang Yi and Saudi Arabia’s Faisal bin Farhan, according to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
  • The US has also engaged with European allies and urged them “to send a clear message to Iran that escalation is not in Iran’s interest, it’s not in the region’s interest, and it’s not in the world’s interest”, Miller said.
  • Blinken also called Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, saying Washington would stand by Israel against threats from Iran.

Israel keeps provoking and escalating tensions all around, yet Israel continues to get a pass, bombing everyone around with US military aid, while the US keeps berating everyone else.


Meanwhile more and more countries are advising people to avoid travel over fears of Iran retaliating.

UK advises against travel to Israel over Iran attack fears
India advises against travel to Iran, Israel
France tells citizens not to travel to Iran, Lebanon, Israel, Palestinian territories
US restricts travel for staff in Israel
German airline Lufthansa extends Tehran flight suspension