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

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

DarthMetalliCube on 04 May 2024
Jaicee said:
DarthMetalliCube said:

Inter-dasting. Yeah, it's a tricky situation. Like, that initial Oct 7th attack was obviously horrible, but now it seems like Israel has gone overboard in their response and are massively losing the optics war currently, especially to the younger voters who HUGELY favor Palestine. I feel for the Palestinian people who have had their lands decimated at this point, though - it probably doesn't need to be said - very much NOT pro-Hamas. And that includes protestors that side with Hamas.

I give a bit more leniency to Israel in a sense too, being essentially the only Jewish state (and a small one) in a sea of larger nations surrounding them, some of them hostile to them. And I also certainly don't think that means they should be hauling off and basically occupying what remains of Gaza, and bombing 10s of thousands of innocents just because they're in the wrong country, for sure. 

I'm typically more knowledgable and passionate about the culture side of things vs straight-up politics, but this issue is starting to capture my interest somewhat, as it seems to be ballooning. Interesting that it's also causing a schism in both the left (Neolibs/older Dems who are more pro Israel vs far left who are mostly pro Palestine) and the right (MAGA/Populists who are mostly neutral/non-interventionist and Neocons who are almost all pro Israel)

Yeah that bill is super ambiguous and anti 1A, so very little chance it survives thankfully. 

I hear you. The whole situation disgusts me. It's time for this to end. It's time for everyone to get more reasonable and work out a diplomatic solution because there isn't another one. Realistically though, I think the region is headed straight for another years-long cycle of violence. Ugh.

On the protests, it looks like I'm more sympathetic and nuanced toward the pro-Palestinian protesters than most of the public. Did you see that recent Morning Consult poll on the subject? Apparently 76% of Americans (including 75% of Democrats) support the decision of many colleges and universities to the cops in and nearly half think participants should be banned from campus entirely (compared to less than one-third who feel otherwise) and 41% also feel that pro-Israeli demonstrators should also be banned from campus. I get the sense from these numbers that the public is no mood to recreate '68 (or respect people's freedom of speech). I guess part of me can relate to the sense of exhaustion that's likely behind that sentiment, honestly. I can't disagree with the sentiment that basic human decency does not prevail on either side. I am tired of reading stories like this. I'm tired of hearing demands that university presidents resign over student protests. And I am tired of hearing stories of protesters demanding to know whether passers-by speak Hebrew and holding signs with crossed-out stars of David, stuff like this. I guess that's not surprising considering that it is a war that's being fought over (so to speak). It is disappointing though.

I'm definitely down with these protests as long as they're not Hamas sympathizers or antagonizing Jewish people (both scenarios aren't common but I have heard them happening on more than a few occasions). I find the tent/occupation thing a bit silly and pointless but ultimately it's their campus (assuming they go to the school). It's essentially their residence and they paid to be there - so as long as they aren't impeding people from going to class or causing a major disruption all day, it's well within their right to have that encampment. Counter protestors are also fine, though that brings the potential for skirmishes like recently at UCLA so again it's tricky. Just gotta have campus security and law enforcement there actually watching over things and doing their jobs I suppose.



 

"We hold these truths to be self-evident - all men and women created by the, go-you know.. you know the thing!" - Joe Biden

Around the Network
Ryuu96 on 04 May 2024

Netanyahu needs the war to remain in power, likewise with Ismail, I despise Netanyahu and have since before October but Hamas is equally a terrorist organisation and neither of them care about how many innocent people have to die for their war, Netanyahu won't stop until every last Palestinian is dead and Ismail/Hamas won't stop until every last Jew is dead.

I don't see a way out of this honestly and it's depressing so I've largely avoided this thread, I'm already very busy on Ukraine's topic as well and watching Ukrainians being slaughtered, I don't really want to witness it with Palestinians too but I know it's going on. Imo all offensive aid to Israel should be stopped but I'm fine with defensive aid because Israel is surrounded by terrorists who want to see it destroyed (Hezbollah, Houthis, might as well add on Iran as a terrorist country, Iranian people are great, the government massively sucks though) but Israel sure loves escalating things too, like when they bombed Iran's embassy in Syria...I'm all in favour of "fuck Iran's government" but bombing an embassy is a bit much.

But I don't even think stopping offensive aid will stop Israel, only wash our hands of any blame, it ain't like Israel is a weak country who can't make their own weapons and also it ain't like stopping offensive aid will stop Hamas from attacking Israel, if anything it will encourage them further so I don't have a fucking clue what should be done. Two people who want to see the other exterminated and both sides massively suck.

I will say as well there is a massive hypocrisy in how Israel is being defended by the West vs Ukraine, Israel gets fight jet support from UK, America, France...No restrictions or rules on how they use their weapons, whatever damn weapon they want to buy or use, feels like Israel bombing the foreign aid workers just got swept under the rug too.

Anyway, with the amount of effort the OP puts into updating the thread and watching a terrible situation unfold, I'm glad to see there is more activity in this thread from other users, this will likely only be one of few comments I make in here but I do briefly skim the thread from time to time so I want the OP to know his efforts are appreciated.

Last edited by Ryuu96 - on 04 May 2024

Cobretti2 on 04 May 2024
Ryuu96 said:

Netanyahu needs the war to remain in power, likewise with Ismail, I despise Netanyahu and have since before October but Hamas is equally a terrorist organisation and neither of them care about how many innocent people have to die for their war, Netanyahu won't stop until every last Palestinian is dead and Ismail/Hamas won't stop until every last Jew is dead.

I don't see a way out of this honestly and it's depressing so I've largely avoided this thread, I'm already very busy on Ukraine's topic as well and watching Ukrainians being slaughtered, I don't really want to witness it with Palestinians too but I know it's going on. Imo all offensive aid to Israel should be stopped but I'm fine with defensive aid because Israel is surrounded by terrorists who want to see it destroyed (Hezbollah, Houthis, might as well add on Iran as a terrorist country, Iranian people are great, the government massively sucks though) but Israel sure loves escalating things too, like when they bombed Iran's embassy in Syria...I'm all in favour of "fuck Iran's government" but bombing an embassy is a bit much.

But I don't even think stopping offensive aid will stop Israel, only wash our hands of any blame, it ain't like Israel is a weak country who can't make their own weapons and also it ain't like stopping offensive aid will stop Hamas from attacking Israel, if anything it will encourage them further so I don't have a fucking clue what should be done. Two people who want to see the other exterminated and both sides massively suck.

I will say as well there is a massive hypocrisy in how Israel is being defended by the West vs Ukraine, Israel gets fight jet support from UK, America, France...No restrictions or rules on how they use their weapons, whatever damn weapon they want to buy or use, feels like Israel bombing the foreign aid workers just got swept under the rug too.

Anyway, with the amount of effort the OP puts into updating the thread and watching a terrible situation unfold, I'm glad to see there is more activity in this thread from other users, this will likely only be one of few comments I make in here but I do briefly skim the thread from time to time so I want the OP to know his efforts are appreciated.

Hypocrisy and I will throw in self greed I think are humanities greatest weaknesses. Whether it is wars, genocide, protests, LBGQT marriages, other movements over the years. Most people seem to care only when it suits their agenda or personal gain.

I am sure I have said it in the Ukraine thread and maybe even in the swapping characters in movies/shows/documentaries etc, we are one bloody race, the human race, the whole world needs to unite in how we treat others. If it's morally wrong in 80% part of the world, we as the human race should care about it being morally wrong in 100% of the world.

We are such a smart race, we could basically evolve to a point no one needs to work long hours, or have money and have everything they need to survive without stress, yet we chose to forgo basic common sense when it comes o the survival of our species.



 

 

Jaicee on 04 May 2024
Ryuu96 said:

I don't see a way out of this honestly and it's depressing so I've largely avoided this thread, I'm already very busy on Ukraine's topic as well and watching Ukrainians being slaughtered, I don't really want to witness it with Palestinians too but I know it's going on. Imo all offensive aid to Israel should be stopped but I'm fine with defensive aid because Israel is surrounded by terrorists who want to see it destroyed (Hezbollah, Houthis, might as well add on Iran as a terrorist country...

...

I will say as well there is a massive hypocrisy in how Israel is being defended by the West vs Ukraine, Israel gets fight jet support from UK, America, France...No restrictions or rules on how they use their weapons, whatever damn weapon they want to buy or use, feels like Israel bombing the foreign aid workers just got swept under the rug too.

This I can basically agree with. The double-standard Westerners (not just our leaders either) often apply to the situation in Gaza probably exists because, between the two sides, Israel is the (relative) democracy and Hamas is the gay-killing, woman-enslaving, Holocaust-denying religious fundamentalist cult and also started this particular war in the first place, in contrast to the Russia-Ukraine War wherein the  more liberal democracy is the one fighting for survival against a relatively arbitrary invasion. I don't think that discrepancy matters right now to the civilian population of Gaza who compose most of the dead, displaced, and malnourished. Survival is what matters right now.

We should definitely cut Israel off from offensive weaponry. I'm not in favor of broader sanctions against the Israeli public, but I think if you cut off the flow of offensive armaments, even someone like Netanyahu will respond to that, much as he appears to have responded to Biden's implied threat to cut them off last month by pulling a division out of Khan Younis. (Make no mistake, the withdrawal was pretty much for sure the end result of Biden's phone call with Netanyahu over the slain aid workers.) This is the leverage we have as Israel's main and most important diplomatic ally and it should be exercised.



SvennoJ on 04 May 2024
Jaicee said:
Ryuu96 said:

I don't see a way out of this honestly and it's depressing so I've largely avoided this thread, I'm already very busy on Ukraine's topic as well and watching Ukrainians being slaughtered, I don't really want to witness it with Palestinians too but I know it's going on. Imo all offensive aid to Israel should be stopped but I'm fine with defensive aid because Israel is surrounded by terrorists who want to see it destroyed (Hezbollah, Houthis, might as well add on Iran as a terrorist country...

...

I will say as well there is a massive hypocrisy in how Israel is being defended by the West vs Ukraine, Israel gets fight jet support from UK, America, France...No restrictions or rules on how they use their weapons, whatever damn weapon they want to buy or use, feels like Israel bombing the foreign aid workers just got swept under the rug too.

This I can basically agree with. The double-standard Westerners (not just our leaders either) often apply to the situation in Gaza probably exists because, between the two sides, Israel is the (relative) democracy and Hamas is the gay-killing, woman-enslaving, Holocaust-denying religious fundamentalist cult and also started this particular war in the first place, in contrast to the Russia-Ukraine War wherein the  more liberal democracy is the one fighting for survival against a relatively arbitrary invasion. I don't think that discrepancy matters right now to the civilian population of Gaza who compose most of the dead, displaced, and malnourished. Survival is what matters right now.

We should definitely cut Israel off from offensive weaponry. I'm not in favor of broader sanctions against the Israeli public, but I think if you cut off the flow of offensive armaments, even someone like Netanyahu will respond to that, much as he appears to have responded to Biden's implied threat to cut them off last month by pulling a division out of Khan Younis. (Make no mistake, the withdrawal was pretty much for sure the end result of Biden's phone call with Netanyahu over the slain aid workers.) This is the leverage we have as Israel's main and most important diplomatic ally and it should be exercised.

While it is definitely an issue, it's also very much used as propaganda, overblown by Israel

LGBTQ life in Gaza is arduous and dangerous. I would know: I grew up there. But only blaming Palestine's conservatism and Hamas, whitewashing Israel's siege and military assaults, is dishonest and exploitative.

https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/232088

And not so long ago the situation was the same in the USA. It takes freedom and protests to get opinion to change. Blaming a culture under siege for not advancing in their social values is not fair.

Same for women's rights, not chance to advance under the current climate.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/middle-east/palestine-state-of/report-palestine-state-of/

Consensual same-sex sexual conduct continued to be banned in Gaza on the basis of a 1936 British Mandate ordinance.

In September, after the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) published guidance to staff regarding treating all genders and LGBTI people equally, the Hamas authorities condemned the guidance for promoting “deviance and moral decay”.

Women still did not have equal rights to men in personal status law, which continued to be subject to religious law. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 59% of married women and girls experienced violence at the hands of their partner, and the Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling expected the numbers for 2023 to rise due to conflict and deprivation. Less than 2% of survivors complained to the police, and of those cases, 40% were investigated, according to the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy.

On 25 September, Palestinian police together with UN agencies opened an office for investigating and prosecuting domestic violence in Hebron, after a similar office opened in Nablus.


Both are still big issues in the USA as well, 25% of women experience severe intimate partner physical violence, 20% experience rape during their life.
https://ncadv.org/STATISTICS


It's also still an issue in Israel and no doubt happens in Ukraine as well. It's a world wide problem which gets worse in war time.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/domestic-violence-exacerbated-by-wartime-raising-concerns-over-looser-gun-policies/


It's a theme, the more oppression in general, the more people pass it on. Those who get abused early in life have a bigger chance of becoming abusers themselves later in life. Same as the survivors on the Holocaust have now turned into the oppressors.

Peace is needed to advance a society.



And I do think sanctions will work. Israel's economy is already under stress. By all means keep the Iron Dome well stocked and be ready to help defend Israel, but stop the monetary and offensive military aid. More sanctions on Settler activity, crack down on promoting the sale of homes in illegal settlements done in USA and Canada. (and likely other places as well).

And indeed, the US does have influence over Israel. Blinken shows up and aid increases. The willingness to 'finish the job' just doesn't seem to be there on the US side.






Around the Network
SvennoJ on 04 May 2024
Ryuu96 said:

Netanyahu needs the war to remain in power, likewise with Ismail, I despise Netanyahu and have since before October but Hamas is equally a terrorist organisation and neither of them care about how many innocent people have to die for their war, Netanyahu won't stop until every last Palestinian is dead and Ismail/Hamas won't stop until every last Jew is dead.

I don't see a way out of this honestly and it's depressing so I've largely avoided this thread, I'm already very busy on Ukraine's topic as well and watching Ukrainians being slaughtered, I don't really want to witness it with Palestinians too but I know it's going on. Imo all offensive aid to Israel should be stopped but I'm fine with defensive aid because Israel is surrounded by terrorists who want to see it destroyed (Hezbollah, Houthis, might as well add on Iran as a terrorist country, Iranian people are great, the government massively sucks though) but Israel sure loves escalating things too, like when they bombed Iran's embassy in Syria...I'm all in favour of "fuck Iran's government" but bombing an embassy is a bit much.

But I don't even think stopping offensive aid will stop Israel, only wash our hands of any blame, it ain't like Israel is a weak country who can't make their own weapons and also it ain't like stopping offensive aid will stop Hamas from attacking Israel, if anything it will encourage them further so I don't have a fucking clue what should be done. Two people who want to see the other exterminated and both sides massively suck.

I will say as well there is a massive hypocrisy in how Israel is being defended by the West vs Ukraine, Israel gets fight jet support from UK, America, France...No restrictions or rules on how they use their weapons, whatever damn weapon they want to buy or use, feels like Israel bombing the foreign aid workers just got swept under the rug too.

Anyway, with the amount of effort the OP puts into updating the thread and watching a terrible situation unfold, I'm glad to see there is more activity in this thread from other users, this will likely only be one of few comments I make in here but I do briefly skim the thread from time to time so I want the OP to know his efforts are appreciated.

Hamas has some good elements as well, but unfortunately there are still much worse groups active as well. Like PIJ (Palestinian Islamic Jihad: Sunni Islamist militant group seeking to establish an Islamist Palestinian state that is committed to the destruction of Israel.)

Hamas has become more pro peace over the years, unrecognized by the West but the leaders have realized that peace is the way out. However unlike the leaders spending time in other countries, gaining perspective, Al-Quds brigade is like the IDF, total hatred for the other side.

Oct 7 plans had been around for well over a year, there must have been elements on the inside not willing to go with the plan.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-obtained-ignored-hamas-document-laying-out-oct-7-attack-plan-report-alleges/
They knew full well what the reaction would be (maybe not as extreme as it turned out) but eventually went ahead with it. It's like performing suicide in a desperate call for help. And it would have been a complete suicide mission had the IDF not been so incompetent on the day it happened.


I wonder if Netanyahu not coming to power again would have prevented Oct 7
https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/2023/11/24/countdown-to-genocide/
He has been the accelerator in his previous reign, and what happened prior to Oct 7 likely eroded any opposition to the Oct 7 invasion plan.


None of this excuses the horrors of Oct 7 of course. Yet understanding how it happened, why it happened, is the way to prevent it from happening again. Locking Gaza further up, splitting it in two with the Netzarim corridor to keep military control and the blockade going, is only going to radicalize more people.

You defeat terror on a political level, not on the ground.



Short term eradicating Hamas is not making things better. The more practical leadership isn't much in control anymore of their fighters. They don't even know how many hostages are still alive. It's all different pockets of fighters currently in Gaza, still able to pull of attacks and firing rockets, yet there is no coherency anymore. The IDF can keep trying to chase these cells yet at what cost. 

Ceasefire, getting hold of the fighters, de-escalate, disarm is the way out.


I do think sanctions will work like I replied to @Jaicee. Israel is not like Russia. Israel is much more dependent on trade and has far fewer people to send into the meat grinder. There is currently a fight going on internally over the military draft to include the Ultra-Orthodox. Israel needs more troops. Cutting off offensive weapons and not sharing surveillance will make it a lot harder for the IDF to maintain momentum with higher risks to their soldiers. Israel is hiding the true figures of wounded soldiers, but over 600 have died already since Oct 7. Official wounded count stands at 3,300 yet the Jerusalem post already reports over 5,500 with estimates of another 20,000 by the end of 2024.

https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-786904 (Februari 14th 2024)

That's a big burden on the health system.

The government is already under internal pressure, sanctions, cutting off aid and offensive weapons will accelerate the call for re-elections.

But do keep supplying and improving the Iron Dome. Israel has dropped over 75,000 tons of explosives on Gaza. On average 10% doesn't detonate and Hamas fighters have shown the ability to turn unexploded ordnance into rockets and IEDs. 7,500 tons worth of unexploded ordnance to work with...


The problem will never end as long as the occupation and apartheid system don't end. For that Israel needs a much more moderate government that gets serious about the harassment and dehumanization of Palestinians, recognizes their human rights, ends the system of mass imprisonment, administrative detention, military courts, abuse in prisons, collective punishment, forced displacement, regular destruction of homes and infrastructure in raids and continued stealing of Palestinian land.




SvennoJ on 04 May 2024

Video footage captures moment of Israeli missile attack on civilian tents in Rafah

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic have obtained and verified video footage that captures the moment of an Israeli missile strike on tents in which displaced Palestinians were sheltering in southern Gaza’s Rafah.

The number of causalities from the attack was not known.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Friday that at least 26 people were killed and 51 wounded in the past 24 hours in the Palestinian territory.


Unknown number of people killed as Israeli military bombs several locations in Gaza

The Israeli military has already carried out several deadly air attacks in Gaza in the early hours of this morning, the Wafa news agency reports.

An Israeli bomb struck a house in the as-Saftawi neighbourhood in the north of Gaza City, killing an unconfirmed number of Palestinians, with more missing under the rubble.

An Israeli bomb has also struck a house in the Janina neighbourhood, east of Rafah, killing an unconfirmed number of people, with children among the dead.

Two people have also been killed after an Israeli bomb struck a house in the east of the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza.

Israeli attacks kill 54 as military continues to block aid to war-torn territory

A further 54 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces between Wednesday and Friday afternoon in the Gaza Strip and more than 100 were injured, according to the latest UN flash assessment, which reports aid officials warning of catastrophe should Israel invade Rafah.

The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also reports that Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, is facing continued restrictions from Israel on bringing much-needed medical equipment into Gaza.

“From ultrasound scanners to external defibrillators, generators, and intravenous sodium chloride solutions that are essential for rehydrating patients and diluting drugs. According to MSF, such requests have been repeatedly rejected by Israeli authorities,” OCHA reports.

Between April 27 and Thursday, just eight out of 23 humanitarian aid missions to northern Gaza were facilitated by Israeli authorities, 12 (52 percent) were impeded, two missions were denied, and one mission was cancelled, according to the UN.



Palestinian armed groups hit Israeli forces with mortars, rocket fire

Israeli forces in northern Gaza come under Palestinian mortar and rocket fire at least four times over a monitoring period between Thursday and Friday, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP) report.

The Netzarim Corridor – a military highway built by the Israelis to dissect the Gaza Strip north from south – was again the scene of Palestinian attacks with Hamas fighters deploying the “Rajum” multi-rocket launcher platform against Israeli forces deployed on the military route.

Hamas fighters also launched a rocket towards Israel on Thursday that targeted the Nirim area, located around 7km (just over 4 miles) east of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip, the ISW and CTP report states.



SvennoJ on 04 May 2024

Gunfire, explosions as Israelis besiege house in West Bank’s Deir al-Ghusun

Israeli forces have surrounded a house in the occupied West Bank town of Deir al-Ghusun, located north of Tulkarem city, and have attacked the residence with antitank rocket propelled grenades, according to reports.

The Palestinian state news agency, Wafa, reports that a large force of Israelis have raided the town and used loudspeakers to order those inside the house to surrender.

Videos posted on social media of the Israeli military operation in Deir al-Ghusun capture the sounds of explosions and gunfire, as well as Israeli bulldozers destroying roads and other structures around the besieged house in the Palestinian town.

Translation: Scenes documenting the moment the Israeli occupation bombed a house in the town of Deir al-Ghusun, north of Tulkarem in the West Bank.

Translation: Israeli military reinforcements storm the town of Deir al-Ghusun, north of Tulkarem in the West Bank.

Israeli forces use bulldozer, excavator to destroy besieged house in Deir al-Ghusun

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that Israeli forces laying siege to a house in the Palestinian town of Deir al-Ghusun have begun to flatten the building using heavy mechanical equipment.

Video footage from the siege shows a military bulldozer and an excavator destroying different sections of the house, which was earlier reported to have been hit by Israeli antitank rocket-propelled grenades.

Sources in the town said the Israelis had used a loudspeaker ordering those inside the house to surrender.



Search for bodies after Israeli forces demolish besieged house near Tulkarem

The Israeli military has demolished a house being held under siege in the town of Deir al-Ghusun, north of Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank, and has begun searching for bodies under the rubble.

Earlier we reported that Israeli forces had surrounded the building and ordered its occupants, who they accuse of carrying out a shooting attack in November in the village of Beit Lid, to come out.

Israeli forces struck the house with bullets and antitank rocket-propelled grenades, before destroying it using a military bulldozer and an excavator with the occupants still inside.

Translation: Israeli occupation bulldozers begin demolishing the besieged house in Deir al-Ghusun in Tulkarem in the West Bank


Body recovered from house demolished by Israeli forces in Deir al-Ghusun

The Israeli military has found a body under the rubble of a house it demolished in the town of Deir al-Ghusun, north of Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency reports.

Israeli forces prevented an ambulance from reaching the man, Wafa reports. They initially surrounded the building eight hours ago, ordering its occupants – who they accuse of carrying out a shooting attack in November in the village of Beit Lid – to come out.

When the men barricaded themselves inside, Israeli forces fired antitank rocket-propelled grenades at the house, before destroying the building using a military bulldozer and an excavator with the occupants still inside.



Translation: Shooting occurred while the occupation forces were searching the surroundings of the besieged house in Tulkarem.



Journalists targeted in war – Somayya Jawabreh under house arrest

Journalists from the occupied West Bank say Israeli forces are trying to silence Palestinian voices online and on the ground.

Reporters have been detained, intimidated and in many cases banned from doing their job. One journalist, Somayya Jawabreh, has been placed under house arrest and prevented from using her phone or the internet.





SvennoJ on 04 May 2024

Democratic lawmakers warn Biden that Israel violating US law by restricting aid to Gaza

Dozens of Democratic lawmakers in the US have written a letter to President Joe Biden saying that ongoing Israeli restrictions on humanitarian aid entering Gaza “call into question” their compliance with US law.

The 86 members of the House of Representatives said they believe there is sufficient evidence that Israel is failing to comply with a US Foreign Assistance Act provision, which requires recipients of US-funded arms to uphold international humanitarian law, as well as allow the free flow of US assistance.

“We expect the administration to ensure [Israel’s] compliance with existing law and to take all conceivable steps to prevent further humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza,” the letter said.

In February, Biden issued a national security memorandum mandating assurances from recipients of US military assistance that stipulations on humanitarian law and aid are being adhered to.

At least four State Department bureaus advised US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last month that Israel’s claims that it is adhering to international humanitarian law in Gaza are “neither credible nor reliable”.

 

‘Full-blown famine’ now in northern Gaza, UN’s food agency chief warns

Northern Gaza is now in the grip of a “full-blown famine”, the World Food Programme’s (WFP) executive director Cindy McCain has said.

“It’s horror,” McCain told the US television network NBC’s Meet the Press in an interview, which will be broadcast on Sunday. “There is famine – full-blown famine – in the north, and it’s moving its way south,” McCain said in the interview, according to The Associated Press news agency.

McCain also said that a ceasefire and a greatly increased flow of aid through land and sea routes was essential to stave off a growing humanitarian catastrophe for Gaza’s 2.3 million people after months of Israeli air, land and sea attacks that have killed at least 34,622 Palestinians and wounded more than 77,867.




Belgium condemns ‘threats’ and ‘intimidation’ against ICC

Belgium’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said it “condemns any threats and acts of intimidation” against the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Posting on X, it said the ICC “must be able to act and carry out its functions independently, without interference”.

Belgium’s Foreign Ministry was responding to a statement issued by the prosecutor’s office at the ICC saying that threats made against the court undermine its “independence and impartiality”.

The prosecutor’s statement did not mention Israel, but it was issued after Israeli and US officials warned of consequences against the ICC if it issues arrest warrants against Israeli officials over their war on Gaza.



SvennoJ on 04 May 2024

UCLA protester, a Jewish-American, promises to continue protest

Ryan, a student at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and pro-Palestine protester, told how police had – unprovoked – hit him with their batons as they cleared a peaceful Gaza solidarity encampment on the university’s campus.

“The school [would] rather physically intimidate their students … than even consider divestment, and that is what’s so frustrating. We didn’t do anything wrong,” Ryan told Al Jazeera.

“I received a [police] citation for unlawful assembly, and I’m proud of that,” he added.



Senator Sanders tells protesters to ‘stay peaceful and focused’

US Senator Bernie Sanders has told members of the student-led, pro-Palestine movement protesting at US college campuses that they are “on the right side of history”. “In 1962, we organized sit-ins to end racist policies at the University of Chicago. In ’63, I was arrested protesting segregated schools,” he wrote in a post on X.

“But we were right. I’m proud to see students protesting the war in Gaza. Stay peaceful and focused,” he added.




Trinity College students set up Gaza solidarity encampment, demand divestment

Students at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) have established a Gaza solidarity encampment on their campus to demand the iconic Irish university cut ties with Israel.

“Trinity College Dublin tonight, after students set up an encampment for Palestine, demanding that their university cut ties with Israel as per BDS principles supported by the vast majority of students and staff,” the college’s student union president Laszlo Molnarfi said in a post on social media.

Video footage of the encampment shows tents pitched on a grass lawn near a library where the Book of Kells – a 9th-century manuscript and one of the country’s most visited tourist attractions – is housed. The protesters also placed wooden benches in the doorway entrance of the library, saying the location was “now closed indefinitely”.

“No business as usual during a genocide,” Molnarfi wrote on social media, and called on the university’s administration to “cut ties with the genocidal state of Israel”.

Cuban students hold pro-Palestine rally in Havana


Hundreds of university students held a pro-Palestine rally in the Cuban capital Havana on Friday. The demonstrators also criticised police repression against students and professors at universities in the US.

During the rally, which was held at the University of Havana, the students called for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza.

“We consider it inexcusable to wake up one more day knowing about the genocide that is taking place today in Gaza, knowing that children, young people, the elderly are continuing to die,” said Jose Alberto Almeida, president of the University Student Federation at Havana University.


Journalism student Valeria Nunes takes part in a rally in support of the Palestinian people and American students, in Havana, Cuba, on May 3


Student protesters at Goldsmiths win concessions, name room after Shireen Abu Akleh

Samira Ali, a student protest organiser at Goldsmiths, University of London, said their Gaza solidarity activism has been ongoing for six months and has won important concessions from the university’s management.

“It’s involved protests and walkouts, actions which have included occupations,” Ali told Al Jazeera. “We are currently in an occupation of the library.

“One of the most seminal things we’ve won is the Palestinian scholarships. Now, this university will provide two extra Palestinian scholarships and one of them will include an undergraduate scholarship. “We think this is really important considering the total destruction of educational infrastructure in Gaza.

“One of the lecture theatres that we were occupying, we have won that it is going to be renamed after Shireen Abu Akleh [the Al Jazeera journalist killed in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces]. “To have that recognition of a Palestinian journalist that was murdered by the [Israeli military] and have that memorialised at this university will be amazing and something we are really proud of.”


A mural depicting Al Jazeera’s slain Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh adorns a part of Israel’s controversial separation barrier, in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem in July 2022. The mural was painted by Palestinian artist Taqi Spateen [Mahmoud Illean]