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

SvennoJ on 14 May 2024

Sri Lankan MP urges government to cut ties with Israel

Sri Lanka’s opposition MP Rauff Hakeem has urged the government to cut off diplomatic ties with Israel if it continues with its military operations in Gaza.

“Threaten Israel and inform it that Sri Lanka will withdraw diplomatic ties if the offensive is not stopped in Gaza. Do this as a last resort,” Hakeem said in Parliament.

State Minister of Foreign Affairs Tharaka Balasuriya responded that Sri Lanka’s policy is to “maintain ties with all countries”, but that “does not mean we have abandoned Palestine”.

 

‘The police supported them’: Israeli rights activist on aid convoy looting

Sapir Sluzker Amran, an Israeli human rights lawyer who went to the Tarqumiyah crossing in Hebron to document the looting of a Gaza-bound aid convoy yesterday, has described the scenes to Al Jazeera.

For hours, a group of far-right Israeli activists tore food parcels out of aid trucks and destroyed them, including boxes of rice and noodles headed to desperately hungry people in Gaza.

Police at the scene protected the activists, giving them “full permission to do whatever they wanted”, said Sluzker Amran.

“I didn’t see anyone being arrested. The only one who was asked to leave was me,” she added, noting that the activists also threatened and physically attack her for trying to document the incident.

She said she believes police or security forces fed the activists information on when and where the aid trucks would arrive, with the information being shared openly on social media platforms.

‘This is not our Judaism’

Sapir Sluzker Amran, the rights activist who documented the aid convoy looting near Hebron in the occupied West Bank, says Israelis have a “moral duty” to oppose fellow citizens who are committing abuses towards Palestinians.

“I say this with tears because of what happened yesterday [the destruction of aid]. It doesn’t represent many Israelis and many Jews,” Sluzker Amran told Al Jazeera.

“My family is Iraqi. I see grandmothers and grandfathers in Gaza begging for food. We condemn it and we hope to stop it. This is a moral obligation to fight our own people in order to tell them what they are doing is wrong,” she said.

“I will keep organising more people to fight and to say: This is not our Judaism, this is not the society we want to live in,” she added.

“We have to stop this war. We cannot let this bloodshed continue.”

Biden repeats US commitment to Israel’s security is ‘ironclad’

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that “on the occasion of Israel’s 76th Independence Day”, US President Joe Biden has reiterated in a message to his Israeli counterpart, Isaac Herzog, that the “US’s commitment to Israel’s security is ironclad”.

In the message, Biden described himself as a lifelong supporter of Israel and stated that he was the “only American president to visit Israel in wartime”.

“The United States is proud of its enduring relationship with Israel,” Biden was quoted as saying.


CNN gave up? "Your search for gaza hamas war did not match any results." Not showing anything today.



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LurkerJ on 14 May 2024

I think we are definitely dealing with "human animals" here, but they are not the people of Gaza, that's very clear.



SvennoJ on 14 May 2024

UK’s Cameron slams Israeli settler attack on Gaza-bound aid

Britain’s foreign secretary calls Monday’s attack on an aid convoy and its looting near Hebron in the occupied West Bank “appalling”.

In a post on X, David Cameron described the Israeli settlers who looted the trucks and destroyed the food supplies the vehicles were carrying before setting them on fire as “extremists”.

“Israel must hold attacks to account and do more to allow aid in,” his post read. “I will be raising my concerns with the Israeli government.”


UN says it informed Israel of vehicle that was fatally hit in Gaza

The UN says that it had informed Israeli authorities of the movements of a vehicle carrying UN staff, which was hit in southern Gaza, killing an Indian national.

UN spokesperson Rolando Gomez told a media briefing that a second UN staff member in the vehicle was wounded in the attack, adding that the two had been travelling to the European Hospital in Rafah when their vehicle was hit.

“The UN informs Israeli authorities of the movement of all of our convoys. That has been the case in any theatre of operation. This is a standard operating procedure,” Gomez said, adding it was a “clearly marked UN vehicle”.

Of course the UN did, and the IDF was supposed to improve their coordination internally after the WCK murders. But blame the victim anyway.

 

Israel is attacking known aid worker locations in Gaza, says HRW

Israel’s military has carried out at least eight attacks on aid workers’ convoys and premises in Gaza since October last year, even though the aid groups had provided their coordinates to Israeli authorities, according to a prominent rights group.

Human Rights Watch, in a new report, said Israeli authorities did not issue advance warnings to any of the aid organisations before the attacks, which have killed or wounded at least 31 humanitarian workers and those with them.

It said aid groups allege that a bomb used in one Israeli attack in January was US-made and was delivered by an F-16 aircraft that reportedly uses British-made components.

“Israel’s allies need to recognize that these attacks that have killed aid workers have happened over and over again, and they need to stop,” said Belkis Wille, associate director at HRW.



SvennoJ on 14 May 2024

MSF ceases services at Rafah hospital amid Israeli attacks

Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, says in a statement that it has been “forced to stop providing healthcare at Rafah Indonesian Field Hospital” as of Sunday.

“MSF has seen a pattern of systematic attacks against medical facilities and civilian infrastructure since the beginning of the war. In light of this, as well as the advancing offensive, we have made the decision to leave Rafah Indonesian Field hospital,” the statement continued.

It said the 22 patients who remained at the hospital have been referred to other facilities and MSF can “no longer guarantee their safety”.

In a separate X post, the organisation said that since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza on October 7, its personnel have been forced to leave 12 “health structures” and have endured 26 “violent attacks”.

In the morning, Israeli forces pushed deeper into eastern Rafah as it expanded its military operation in the southern Gaza city, a move that nearly all of its closest allies, including the US, do not support.

There are more than 1 million Palestinians, many of whom were displaced from other parts of the Strip, sheltering in Rafah.


Displaced Palestinians walking kilometres for water

As Israel’s military pushes deeper into Rafah, more displaced Palestinians are being forced into areas of Gaza that are already devastated by the war, including the battered southern city of Khan Younis.

One man said he had returned to Khan Younis, where much of the infrastructure is decimated due to Israeli attacks, after previously fleeing to Rafah.

“There are no water, electricity nor sewage services” in Khan Younis, the displaced man was quoted as saying by UNRWA. “We walk 2 to 3km [1.2 to 1.9 miles] to fill two jerrycans [of water], and those two jerrycans are not enough to meet the needs of the family.”

‘We are paying the price for a war that we have nothing to do with’

British charity Save the Children has issued a statement with the account of a staff member in Gaza describing the dire conditions faced by its forcibly displaced population:

“This is the fifth time we have been forced to move, following the new relocation orders. We were first displaced from Gaza to Khan Younis, then to different areas in Rafah, and now to Deir el-Balah. This is destroying us mentally. I have a son with me, and my mother who is 70 years old. Every time we start to get used to a place, we are forced to move again.

“My mother has diabetes and high blood pressure. She’s lacking the medication she needs but we can’t find it anywhere. It feels like we are being killed slowly. Our children are missing out on their life, education, they are experiencing lack of stability, forced displacement, fear. I can’t explain what it feels like living through this for the fifth time. We are paying the price for a war that we have nothing to do with.”



SvennoJ on 14 May 2024

Pro-Palestine protesters rally in Athens


People call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during a pro-Palestinian protest in Athens, Greece, on May 11


Riot police clash with pro-Palestinian protesters outside the Egyptian embassy in Athens on May 7


Students participate in a night-long pro-Palestinian sit-in and rally in front of the University of Athens on May 13


Pro-Palestinian student protesters are put in a police bus during a police operation to clear the Law School of the University of Athens on May 14

‘Your voices are heard’: Birzeit University says it appreciates worldwide support

The West Bank’s most prestigious academic institution says the solidarity shown by universities, student bodies and academic unions around the world for the Palestinian people are much needed and appreciated as the Israeli war on Gaza has raged for more than seventh months.

In a statement, the university, located near Ramallah, said these institutions are demanding “the boycott and divestment from all that is Israeli and are a live example of the importance of academic liberty and justice”.

“Your voices are heard and appreciated from Birzeit University, and we stand together in this struggle for freedom,” it said.



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SvennoJ on 14 May 2024

Al Jazeera journalist questions US official on Gaza ‘genocide’

Here is the moment Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett challenged US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on why he does not believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza:



He refuses to answer. And the US 'defense' for Israel on genocide at the ICJ was about whether the ICJ should have jurisdiction, that South Africa misunderstood the intent part of Israel uttered by the right wing government, that the IDF is doing everything they can to limit civilian casualties and that Hamas started it on Oct 7, Israel has the right to self-defense.

It's all on record:

https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20240112-ora-01-00-bi.pdf

Look for "Mr Shaw:" Page 22, aged like sour milk.

Ben-Gvir: Israel must return to the Gaza Strip

Israel’s far-right national security minister’s comments came during a speech at a rally for the resettlement of the Gaza Strip in Sderot, Israel.

“So that the problem [of Gaza] does not return, two things must be done: return to the Gaza Strip and encourage the voluntary departure of the residents of Gaza. This is moral, rational and humanitarian,” he said.

Ben-Gvir then took aim at the allowance of aid into the Strip, which Israel’s closest allies have demanded Israel expand.

“I am ashamed that I am the only one in the cabinet who voted against the transfer of shipments to Gaza through Kerem Shalom (Karen Abu Salem aid crossing). Do you want humanitarianism? Return the abductees.”

Qatari PM warns of regional radicalisation with no post-war plan

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has warned that even should the continuing war in Gaza stop, with no clear rescue plan for the besieged coastal enclave there is a risk of growing radicalisation in the medium term.

“We are very much worried after all these images to see another wave of radicalisation. So security is the key for us in the region. We need to preserve it as much as possible,” he said at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha.



SvennoJ on 14 May 2024
LurkerJ said:

I think we are definitely dealing with "human animals" here, but they are not the people of Gaza, that's very clear.

This is what propaganda and indoctrination leads to. Settler kids get indoctrinated from birth. They take their kids with them to these protests, both where they were trying to set up shacks in Gaza and during these blockades.

Ben-Gvir (The Settler minister in the war cabinet) encourages them by claiming Hamas takes all the aid that enters Gaza and has convinced them that aid agencies are supplying and feeding Hamas. The IDF denies there is famine, that the Palestinians are 'crying wolf' like they have been telling the Israeli public for many decades. The belief in 'the most moral army on Earth' is solid.

This is what happens when you define yourself by victim hood, believing the whole world is against you. UNWRA is Hamas, the UN is aiding Hamas, even Biden is aiding Hamas by not allowing Israel to finish the job.

Hence the only way out is by dismantling the indoctrination, exactly that which Netanyahu accuses UNWRA of doing in schools has been happening in Israel for decades. UNWRA doesn't need to be taken under the loop for its education system, Israel needs to be.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-jerusalem/how-the-religious-right-transformed-israeli-education

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2020-01-26/ty-article/.premium/in-israel-indoctrination-starts-in-kindergarten/0000017f-e0d2-df7c-a5ff-e2fa3c6b0000

Militarized Education in Israel after 1948
https://cpsa-acsp.ca/documents/conference/2017/Gold.pdf




Israel has been taken over by ultra religious fanatics long ago. The government never had the courage to stand up to the idealistic Settler movement from the get go. Then as settlements grew any resistance further eroded and the Settler movement gradually took political control to where we are now.

This documentary shows how the Settler movement managed to corrupt Zionism and the Balfour declaration. (The often overlooked second part which states "nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine.”)



The international community is to blame for letting this build up for 75 years. Now we're dealing with an entire indoctrinated population, young and old, every generation currently alive in Israel. There are counter voices and many still believe in a 2 state solution, yet atm, even the more moderate National Unity party (which might win in re-elections) is not against the 'war'.

National Unity

In 2022 Defense Minister Benny Gantz teamed up with Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s like-minded New Hope party and another former Israeli army chief of staff, Gadi Eizenkot, to form the National Unity party. It’s a new party but it’s deeply rooted in Zionism and liberalism. It has vowed to protect Israel’s Jewish identity and has an ambiguous position on a two-state solution. The National Unity party also aims to focus on government corruption and impose term limits. It aims to shift the economy to focus on macroeconomics and is pushing to invest in education. The party hopes to attract votes from the center-right who will not vote for Netanyahu or Lapid.

Sa'ar split from National Unity again already.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/saar-splits-from-gantzs-national-unity-party-demands-seat-in-war-cabinet/

Without Biden putting his foot down or at least stop politically protecting Israel at all cost, I'm afraid not much will change. 'Evil' has rooted itself too deeply inside Israeli society.

Gantz seems to just want to go back to how it was before Oct 7 while I guess turning Gaza into another West Bank mess.

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-697070

Palestinians will have 'an entity,' not a state, says Gantz

Defense Minister Benny Gantz described a future where Palestinian sovereignty, and Israeli security, are mutually respected.

At least Gantz wants to actually include the Palestinians in their future: "Gantz, however, strongly advocates negotiation with Palestinians." One thing the US never actually mentions when discussing the future.

 



SvennoJ on 14 May 2024

Palestinian truckers fear for safety after Israelis attack Gaza aid convoys

Palestinian hauliers have said they feared for the security of aid convoys to Gaza, a day after Israeli settlers wrecked trucks carrying humanitarian supplies bound for the besieged enclave, which is on the cusp of famine.

Footage circulated on social media showed at least one burning truck while other images showed trucks wrecked and stripped of their loads, which lay strewn over the road near Tarqumiyah Israeli military checkpoint outside Hebron in the occupied West Bank.

“Yesterday there was coordination for 70 trucks of aid to go the Gaza Strip,” Waseem al-Jabari, head of the Hebron Food Trade Association, told Reuters. “While the trucks were uploaded with products at the crossing settlers attacked the trucks and they destroyed the products and set fire in trucks,” he said, saying Israeli soldiers had stood by as the attack took place.

Palestinians and human rights groups have long accused the Israeli military and police of deliberately failing to intervene when settlers attack Palestinians in the West Bank. Adel Amer, a member of the West Bank-based hauliers’ union, said around 15 trucks had been damaged by Israeli protestors who beat some drivers and caused about two million dollars worth of damage.

“The drivers are now refusing to take goods to Gaza because they’re afraid,” he said. “It’s a disaster here because of the settlers.” Even when the military was present, the convoys were still at risk, he said. “The army says we cannot do anything to the settlers.”

Aid trucks headed to Gaza from occupied West Bank set ablaze

Aid trucks carrying humanitarian aid supplies for Gaza have been destroyed by fire in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Video obtained by the Reuters news agency shows trucks beside the separation wall in Beit Awwa, west of Hebron, fully engulfed in flames. Firefighters work to extinguish the fire but the vehicles and contents appear destroyed.

On Monday, Israelis blocked aid trucks in the latest incident in a series of attacks on humanitarian relief headed for the war-battered coastal enclave.

Four protesters, including a minor, were arrested at the protest at the Tarqumiyah military checkpoint, west of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to a statement from lawyers representing them.


A convoy of aid trucks destroyed by Israeli settlers at checkpoint near Hebron



SvennoJ on 14 May 2024

Israel blames Egypt for continued closure of Rafah crossing

Israel’s foreign minister says that Egypt must be “persuaded” to reopen the Rafah border crossing with Gaza to “allow the continued delivery of international humanitarian aid”.

Israel Katz said in a statement that “the key to preventing a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip is now in the hands of our Egyptian friends”, adding foreign critics blaming Israel for the humanitarian situation in the strip are misguided.

He added that Israel will not allow Hamas to control the Rafah crossing. “This is a security necessity on which we will not compromise”, he said.

Israeli forces seized and closed the crossing, the main entry point for aid to the besieged Strip since the beginning of the war in October, one week ago as it began its offensive on the southern city of Rafah.

Oh blame Egypt again, that will go over well. You closed the crossing, as well as Kerem Shalom. What's the excuse there?

Egypt fires back at Israeli claims it is responsible for Rafah border closure

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has denounced what he called Israel’s attempt to blame Egypt for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Shoukry added in a statement that Israel’s seizure of the Rafah border crossing from Gaza into Egypt, as well as its military operations in the area were the main reasons for aid being unable to enter Gaza.

 

Continuing closure of crossings halting entry of aid into Gaza: Red Crescent

The Palestine Red Crescent Society has warned of the “deterioration of humanitarian conditions” in the coastal enclave, amid the closure of border crossings.

“The ongoing closure of crossings by the Israeli occupation forces, especially the vital Rafah crossing, which is the main artery supplied to the entire Gaza Strip, prevents the entry of humanitarian aid, including food medicine, as well as fuel and poses an imminent humanitarian and health disaster,” the group said in a post on X.

“This means that famine is imminent with the depletion of food stocks, especially the continued seven-month-long aggression and displacement of more than 85 percent of the population. Citizens are suffering from severe levels of food insecurity amid severe humanitarian aid shortages, in clear violation by the occupation forces of international humanitarian law.”

The group urged the international community to “urgently intervene” and pressure the Israeli government to open the crossings, and to allow “unimpeded, sustainable, and unconditional flow of humanitarian aid”.





SvennoJ on 14 May 2024

Qassam Brigades claims series of attacks on Israeli forces

Hamas’s armed wing says on its Telegram channel its fighters:

  • destroyed an Israeli troop carrier with a Yassin-105 rocket in Rafah’s eastern al-Salam neighbourhood, killing some crew members and injuring others
  • blew up an Israeli military bulldozer east of Rafah
  • shelled a group of Israeli soldiers and military vehicles east of Jabalia, in northern Gaza
  • targeted a Merkava tank with a Yassin-105 rocket northeast of Jabalia
  • shot and wounded an Israeli soldier with sniper fire east of Jabalia


Fighting after Israeli forces raid occupied East Jerusalem

Israeli forces raided the Shu’fat camp, the Wafa news agency reports.

According to sources who spoke to Wafa, Israeli forces fired gas and sound bombs.

Violence has surged in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since Hamas’s October 7 attack triggered the war in Gaza. Nearly 500 Palestinians have been killed there, mostly during confrontations with Israeli forces and settlers.


Israeli forces raid occupied West Bank town

Footage shared online shows Israeli forces storming Sinjil, located north of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank. The videos, verified by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking unit Sanad, shows military vehicles entering the town.

Israeli incursions in the occupied West Bank have intensified since the war on Gaza started on October 7. More than 8,700 Palestinians have been arrested over the past seven months.


Israeli strike kills Hezbollah commander: Reports

A Hezbollah field commander was among the dead in the strike on a vehicle in southern Lebanon’s Tyre area, news reports said.

More than 400 people have been killed in Lebanon in seven months of cross-border violence. Israel says 14 soldiers and 10 civilians have been killed on its side of the border. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced on both sides.