By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

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

SvennoJ on 01 May 2024

ICC investigation ‘clear and present danger’: Herzog

Israeli President Isaac Herzog told journalists during a press briefing with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Tel Aviv that Israel’s “allies and friends” should reject efforts to “use the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israel”.

Herzog described the ICC’s reported investigation into Israeli leaders as a “clear and present danger to all democracies and to free and peace-loving nations”.

Several senior Israeli officials have expressed concern in recent days that the ICC is investigating the country’s operations in Gaza and the occupied West Bank – amid reports the court could issue warrants for the arrest of Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders.


US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli President Isaac Herzog gave brief remarks to journalists in Tel Aviv, Israel on Wednesday

 

Al-Shifa, Nasser hospital staff questioned by ICC prosecutors

Prosecutors from the International Criminal Court have spoken to staff at the Nasser and al-Shifa hospitals in Gaza, as they investigate whether mass graves found at the medical facilities are evidence of war crimes.

Rescue workers have exhumed more than 400 bodies from the graves so far, saying that some victims may have been buried alive or executed.




Turkey will intervene in ICJ genocide case against Israel: Foreign minister

In a statement cited by Reuters, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan says the country has “decided to get involved in support of South Africa’s appeal against Israel” at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The ICJ, a UN court that rules on disputes between nations, ordered Israel in January to refrain from any acts that could fall under the Genocide Convention, in an interim ruling to a case filed by South Africa.

Despite the ruling, Israel has since continued to kill thousands of Palestinian civilians in daily military assaults on the besieged territory. Since the start of the war, Turkey has been one of Israel’s fiercest critics on the international stage, with its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeatedly calling Israel a “terror state”.


Previously Ireland and Colombia joined South Africa's case against Israel

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/27/gaza-ireland-joins-battle-to-include-the-blocking-of-vital-aid-in-definition-of-genocide
https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/news/colombia-seeks-to-join-gaza-genocide-case-against-israel-at-world-court-100954407



Around the Network
SvennoJ on 01 May 2024

Volunteer medics shocked by unprecedented scale of Gaza injuries

Foreign doctors returning from Gaza describe being left “speechless” by the overwhelming scenes of trauma in the enclave’s hospitals.

Shariq Sayeed, a vascular surgeon from Atlanta, Georgia, says his team treated 40 to 60 patients a day, most of them young people with shrapnel injuries he had never seen before.

“Most were patients 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 years of age,” Sayeed said. “… And unfortunately, there is a very high incidence of infection, … so once you have an amputation that doesn’t heal, you end of getting a higher amputation.”

Ismail Mehr, an anaesthesiologist from New York who led the medical mission, said the foreign doctors were “speechless” when they saw the number of injuries and warned that a looming Rafah offensive would push Gaza’s health sector beyond its capacity.

“I hope and I pray that Rafah is not attacked,” Mehr said. “The health system will not be able to take care of that. It will be a complete catastrophe.”


Gaza’s hospitals ‘lack everything you can think of’

Mosab Nasser, head of the Fajr Scientific foundation medical non-profit that sends doctors to Gaza, says a team of recently arrived surgeons and physicians are working in tough conditions in Khan Younis’s European Gaza Hospital to treat dozens of patients per day.

“We operated before in al-Shifa Hospital, at Nasser Hospital, and at the European Hospital. Unfortunately, al-Shifa and Nasser are almost nonexistent at this point so our focus has been… at the European Hospital,” Nasser told Al Jazeera.

“Based on our experience so far, [the facility] lacks everything you can think of,” he said. “We bring everything we can carry with us to keep the team functional.”

Nasser added that limited operating space was also complicating efforts by different aid groups to provide medical care and that efforts are under way to better coordinate their health response.

“We’re trying to bring the different organisations together to work under … one plan, to be more effective on the ground, especially given the limited resources,” he said.



SvennoJ on 01 May 2024

Far-right Israeli minister slams ‘terrible’ captive deal

Israel’s Minister of Settlements and National Missions Orit Strock has said Netanyahu’s administration “has no right to exist” due to the “terrible” captive deal it is negotiating with Hamas.

“[We have] soldiers who left everything behind and went out to fight for goals that the government defined, and we throw it in the trash to save 22 people or 33 or I don’t know how many,” she told Army Radio.

The terms of the deal have not been made public but Israeli media have reported that Israel is seeking the return of 33 captives in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has also threatened to leave Netanyahu’s coalition government if the deal, which is expected to include a truce, is signed.


Hamas official says still weighing ceasefire offer, dismisses Blinken’s ‘pressure’: Report

Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, has dismissed US Secretary of State Blinken’s assertion that Hamas would be accountable if a ceasefire deal fails, saying it’s a tactic to pressure Hamas while shifting blame away from Israel.

“Blinken’s comments contradict reality. It is not strange for Blinken, who is known as the foreign minister of Israel, not America, to make such a statement,” Abu Zuhri told Reuters.

“Even the Israeli negotiating team admitted Netanyahu was the one who was hindering reaching an agreement,” he added.

Abu Zuhri said that the group was still studying the recent ceasefire offer. Hamas is seeking the release of prisoners, a permanent ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Netanyahu says Israel needs to destroy the remaining Hamas formations in Rafah in southern Gaza for its own security, with or without a deal with Hamas.



Netanyahu tells Blinken he will not accept deal that ends war in Gaza: Report

Israel’s prime minister has told Blinken he will not accept a deal that includes ending the war on Gaza, Israeli media reported.

According to senior American and Israeli officials, Netanyahu said if Hamas insists on ending the war, the deal will not be accepted and Israel will be forced to launch a military offensive in Rafah, Israeli news agency Walla reported.

Blinken met Israeli leaders in his push for a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, saying “the time is now” for an agreement that would free captives and bring a pause in the war.



SvennoJ on 01 May 2024

Israel to announce ‘new safe zone’ for evacuees from Rafah: Army Radio

Israeli Army Radio has reported that the military – in preparation for its ground assault on Rafah – will announce a “new safe zone” in central Gaza.

In a brief post on social media, the army’s GLZ Radio said the zone is “part of preparations for the evacuation of the population from Rafah” and will be located north of Gaza’s central refugee camps.

Israeli attacks on Rafah have intensified in recent weeks and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated that Rafah will be invaded with or without a ceasefire agreement from Hamas.

Residents of Rafah and elsewhere in the Gaza Strip have long said there are no “safe zones” anywhere in the war-torn territory.

Three of the UN’s top leaders separately called on Israeli in the past 24 hours to call off its feared ground attack on Rafah, where approximately 1.4 million Palestinians have fled over past months to avoid Israel’s indiscriminate attacks.

 

A look at Israeli army checkpoints along the ‘Netzarim corridor’





SvennoJ on 01 May 2024

Reports of Israeli settlers blocking humanitarian aid trucks to Gaza

Israeli settlers have been repeatedly blocking the humanitarian aid trucks heading to Gaza after leaving from Ashdod port, 38km (24 miles) north of the Strip.

The settlers are calling on the Israeli government to prevent the flow of aid supplies to the besieged enclave, despite signs of famine across the territory, unless they can restore the Israeli captives from the territory.

The vast majority of humanitarian convoys have been inspected by the Israeli military in order to guarantee that there isn’t any kind of material that can be smuggled in and to make sure that all the aid supplies will be delivered to the people.

People here in Gaza are dehydrated and suffering from malnutrition as well.


Israeli settlers attacked Jordanian aid convoys, dumped supplies: Report

Two Jordanian aid convoys carrying food, flour, and other humanitarian aid were attacked by Israeli settlers this morning on their way into Gaza, reports Jordan’s state-run Petra news agency, citing the Foreign Ministry.

The convoys, one taking the Beit Hanoon crossing and another taking the Karem Abu Salem crossing from Israel into Gaza, were targeted by the settlers who dumped some of their cargo and damaged the trucks, said the ministry, noting that the trucks continued the aid delivery mission.

In a statement carried by Petra, ministry spokesman Sufyan Qudah said, “The extremists’ attack on the two convoys, and the failure of the Israeli authorities to provide protection for them, undermine all the Israeli government’s claims and commitments to allowing aid to enter Gaza.”



Around the Network
SvennoJ on 01 May 2024

Protesters in London demand UK stop sending arms to Israel

Al Jazeera’s Paul Brennan reports that about 600 protesters have gathered outside the building that houses the Department for Business and Trade, which licenses arms exports, including more than $500m of weapons sent to Israel.

“The intention is to mark May 1. They are in solidarity with some of the workers in this building who are concerned that by doing their work they’re effectively contributing to what is going on in occupied Gaza,” he said, adding that the protests have been peaceful.

Dr Jonathon Fluxman of Doctors in Unite told Al Jazeera at the protest that it is “vital” that the UK stops arming Israel.

“They are violating human rights every day … we have to come out to the streets and we have to protest,” he said.

 

Few northern Gaza bakeries reopen as hunger persists

As small supplies of flour trickle into northern Gaza, bakeries shuttered by the war are doing what they can to reopen.

However, many have suffered heavy damage or lost equipment due to Israel’s military campaign, adding to the challenge of providing the food staple to a population that is still on the brink of famine.

Kamel Ajour Bakeries, one of the first large bakery chains to reopen in northern Gaza, was able to salvage machinery from different branches that had been destroyed or damaged by Israeli military attacks.

The bakery, now open 24 hours, seven days a week, makes pitta bread and puffy sandwich loaves at subsidised rates.

“We suffered heavy damage,” said Karam Ajour, a quality control administrator at the bakery. “Thank God we were able to reoperate this place so we can make bread for people again.”


UNRWA’s flour deliveries reach 380,000 families in Gaza

Over the last six months, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees has provided flour to more than 380,000 families in Gaza, a staple that is key to staving off famine.

UNRWA has carried out the aid deliveries despite strict Israeli controls on its movement, particularly to northern Gaza, and a shortfall of funds.

Although more aid has come into Gaza in the last month – about 190 trucks per day from April 1 to 27 – it’s still not nearly enough to end the humanitarian crisis there, according to the UN’s World Food Programme.




SvennoJ on 01 May 2024

Gaza death toll rises

At least 34,568 Palestinians have been killed and 77,765 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7, its Health Ministry says. The ministry added that 33 people were killed and 57 injured in the latest 24-hour reporting period.

One person killed near Wadi Gaza

Israeli forces have opened fire on the coastal al-Rashid Street near the Wadi Gaza checkpoint in central Gaza, killing at least one person, reported our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.

The report comes as Israeli artillery strikes continue to hit the Nuseirat camp, to the south of Wadi Gaza.

Israeli attacks level homes in Gaza City, al-Mughraqa, Rafah

The Israeli military has ramped up air strikes and land bombardment in the vast majority of the Gaza Strip.

In the north of the territory, Israeli fighter jets levelled a residential building in Gaza City to the ground, causing a number of casualties. The injured are receiving treatment right now in Ahli Arab Hospital.

In the middle area, the situation is critically dire. Israeli artillery units have been relentlessly pounding the Nuseirat refugee camp – in the northern part of that densely populated area – where thousands of Palestinians are. They have also been taking a systematic approach to destroying residential buildings in al-Mughraqa.

Here in Rafah in the south, the situation is also dire. A number of houses were attacked, with two Palestinian children killed. The children arrived at the Kuwaiti Hospital alive, but they succumbed to their wounds.

There is also a clear surge in air strikes and artillery bombardment in the eastern part of Rafah district, where a Palestinian woman has also been killed. This area is where – it is expected – the Israeli military might start its incursion.

Palestinians are terrified that the vast majority of Gaza’s population might be subjected to a wide-scale military operation here in Rafah as they have no other place to go.

Death toll from Gaza City attack reaches three

At least three people have been confirmed killed and four wounded from an overnight Israeli air attack on a residential building in central Gaza City’s Jalaa Street, reports the Wafa news agency.

Children are among the victims.

Israeli attacks have also struck other areas of Gaza City, including the Zeitoun, Tal al-Hawa, and Sabra neighbourhoods, according to Wafa.



SvennoJ on 01 May 2024

Total of 8,535 Palestinians arrested in West Bank since October 7

Israeli forces have detained 20 Palestinians, including one minor, throughout the occupied West Bank in the last 24 hours, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society.

This brings the total number of Palestinians arrested in the West Bank since the Gaza war broke out on October 7 to 8,535.

The latest arrests took place in Hebron, Qalqilya, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Tubas, Nablus, Jericho, and Jerusalem governorates, where Israeli forces also harassed, threatened and assaulted detainees and their relatives, the Prisoner’s Society said.


Israeli forces demolish home, water well near Hebron

Israeli forces have raided the small village of Berin, east of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, and demolished a family’s home and water well, reports the Wafa news agency.

The head of the village’s council, Farid Burgan, told Wafa that the demolition and other Israeli military attacks on the village were part of an effort to displace Palestinians there and expand the nearby Israeli settlement of Bani Hefer.

Earlier, we reported that Israeli forces also raided the Fawwar refugee camp, just south of Hebron, and arrested three people, including a man who was freed only days before.


Palestinians face unemployment crisis amid Israeli work permit restrictions

Since the war on Gaza began, Israel has barred most Palestinians in the occupied West Bank who used to cross into Israel for work from doing so, causing an unemployment crisis.

Some youth, driven to support their families, resort to crossing the Israeli separation walls discreetly in search of work opportunities.

“‘If we’re not supposed to work in Israel, what are we supposed to do? Should we resort to theft? If we had any other option, we wouldn’t go to Israel,’ explained Sa’ed Boulad, an unemployed Palestinian who broke his arm after falling from a separation wall he was attempting to scale, in an interview with Al Jazeera

“I was going to work to help my family. Adults can tolerate hunger and anything else. But what about the kids? Who will bring diapers and milk for these children?” said Boulad. “How can they understand that there’s a war and slaughter going on?”




SvennoJ on 01 May 2024

New York police also cleared protest at City College, CUNY

We’ve been reporting on police clearing a Gaza solidarity encampment at Columbia University, but police have also raided the nearby City College campus of the City University of New York (CUNY).

“They are mass arresting CUNY students in the middle of the night, while everyone is transfixed with the horrors at Columbia,” Jeanne Theoharis, a distinguished professor of political science at CUNY, wrote in a post on X.

NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry said police had assisted in “restoring order on campus”.



Clashes break out at UCLA

Violent confrontations have erupted at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian protesters.

The clashes began after pro-Israeli counter-demonstrators, many not affiliated with the school, moved into the campus and began attacking a pro-Palestine encampment set up by students a week ago, according to Al Jazeera’s Rob Reynolds, reporting from Los Angeles.

Video footage shows protesters brawling and others hurling objects at people huddled within the pro-Palestine encampment.

“There seems to be absolutely no police intervention whatsoever,” said Reynolds.


‘Violent, vigilante attack’ on pro-Palestine students at UCLA

This is the largest manifestation of the pro-Zionist, pro-Israel group of counter-protesters, many of whom, in my observation, are from off campus.

They are attacking the pro-Palestine encampment on campus. It’s been maintained by students who are protesting Israel’s war on Gaza and calling for the divestment of the university’s financial ties to Israel.

This is the most violent, vigilante attack against these students that I’ve seen.

There was definitely what you could call hand-to-hand combat between the two groups. There were a lot of objects thrown and chemical irritants used. I see smoke, I see fireworks … people beating on the boards that separate the camp from the rest of the campus. I would be surprised if someone hasn’t been injured in the melee tonight.

The people who are attacking are the counter-demonstrators, who are aligned with pro-Israel, pro-Zionist organisations. They are carrying a yellow flag with a crown on it with a word that means “messiah” in Hebrew.

The important thing to note is that there seems to be absolutely no police intervention whatsoever.




Nah the police only interfere in peaceful demonstrations... It's like the Settlers in the West Bank, police stand by while the extremists attack Palestinians, in this case pro-Palestine students.



SvennoJ on 01 May 2024

USA is so weak, does everything Israel tells them to

Rights group urges blacklisting of Israeli ‘Netzah Yehuda’ battalion

Democracy for the Arab World now (DAWN), a US-based rights group, has said that the State Department should suspend US foreign military assistance to the battalion and investigate all Israeli military units receiving US military funding in light of extensive evidence of widespread and systematic human rights violations.

In a statement, the group accused Secretary of State Antony Blinken of undermining and avoiding enforcement of the Leahy Law to sanction abusive Israeli units “by creating new bureaucratic procedures to allow Israel additional time to remediate abuses, despite failing to do so for at least two years.”

“According to the State Department’s own procedures and the recommendations of its most senior staff, Secretary Blinken should have blacklisted the Netzah Yehuda Battalion at least a year ago,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, DAWN’s executive director.

“Secretary Blinken is undermining the black letter rules of our own laws by inventing new, procedural, delaying tactics to avoid sanctioning even a single Israeli unit.”

US warns ICC against arrest warrants after Israeli threat: Report

After a threat against the Palestinian Authority (PA) by Israel, the US has reportedly told officials with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in private that issuing arrest orders for top Israeli government and military officials would be a mistake.

“We are quietly encouraging the ICC no to do it. It will blow up everything,” US outlet Axios reports, citing unnamed US officials.

It said Israel believes that the PA has been encouraging the ICC, which is based in The Hague in the Netherlands, to issue arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others, and is therefore ready to retaliate.

The retaliation could come in the form of cutting off the transfer of tax revenues that Israel collects for the Palestinian organisation, which could potentially lead to its collapse.


The ICC needs to issue arrest warrants for Biden and Blinken. Follow the money trail.

‘Transfer of aid allows us to continue the war’: Gallant

Israel’s minister of defence has said that allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza is a means to an end: Allowing Israel to forge ahead with its war on the besieged coastal enclave, and to gain the support of the international community, which has been pushing for more relief to Palestinians.

In a post on X, he said that he met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Karem Abu Salem [Kerem Shalom] crossing, where “we watched the inspection procedure for the medical aid and food going to civilians in the Gaza Strip”.

Last edited by SvennoJ - on 01 May 2024