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

SvennoJ on 24 January 2024

Biden calls Gaza protesters Trump-supporting ‘MAGA Republicans’

President Joe Biden felt the wrath of pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

Early into a Virginia state political rally, a man carrying a Palestinian flag shouted out, “Genocide Joe: how many kids have you killed today?” Seconds later another demonstrator yelled, “Israel kills two mothers every hour.” After the initial outburst, Biden said, “They feel deeply.” But the protests over US support for Israel’s bloody war continued. After the sixth time challenged on Gaza, he noted, “This is gonna go on for a while – they’ve got this planned.”

Biden became irritated and accused his seventh heckler of being a “MAGA Republican” – even though ex-President Donald Trump is a staunch supporter of Israel and Netanyahu. MAGA, meaning Make America Great Again, is an American political slogan popularised by Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign.

 

‘Pile on pressure’ on Israel instead of bombing Iraq: Official

A senior Iraqi official says US air raids targeting sites used by Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq “do not help bring calm” and are a “flagrant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty”. “The US side should pile on pressure for a halt to the [Israeli] offensive in Gaza rather than targeting and bombing the bases of an Iraqi national body,” Qasim al-Araji, national security adviser, said in a post on X.

He was referring to the Hashd al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilisation Forces, an alliance of Iran-aligned former paramilitary groups now integrated with Iraq’s armed forces. The US military said it targeted three facilities overnight in Iraq. Multiple ballistic missiles and rockets were launched at a US base in the west of the country on Saturday, slightly wounding troops.


Popular Mobilisation Forces played a key role in defeating ISIL (ISIS) in Iraq

US airstrikes on Iran-backed militias in Iraq kill at least 1

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/23/politics/us-strikes-iran-backed-militia-iraq/index.html

US strikes on Iran-backed militias in Iraq killed at least one person and injured two others, an Iraqi security source told CNN on Tuesday. The strikes targeted three facilities used by Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah and other Tehran-affiliated groups following repeated attacks on US forces, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.

The person killed was a Kataib Hezbollah fighter, according to a post on the group's Telegram channel.

The strikes on Tuesday are the first in Iraq since the beginning of the month, when the US targeted a member of an Iranian proxy group operating in the country who one US official said had “US blood on his hands.” They also come after multiple strikes against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen over the past week and a half, as the US looks to reign in the aggressive actions of Iran-backed groups in the Middle East amid heightened tensions in the region.

US forces in Iraq and Syria have been targeted at least 151 times since attacks began on October 17, according to a US official — 10 days after Hamas attacked Israel.

US strikes Houthi anti-ship missiles, military says

The US military conducted strikes in Yemen against two Houthi anti-ship missiles aimed to launch at the southern Red Sea, US Central Command said Tuesday evening. The Houthi missiles posed an "imminent threat to merchant vessels and the US Navy ships in the region," CENTCOM said.

Israel says ‘there will be no ceasefire’

https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/2786714-israel-rules-out-gaza-ceasefire-amid-talk-of-hostage-deal

An Israeli government spokesperson seems to have pushed back against media reports of a possible new mediated deal with Hamas under which fighting would be halted in exchange for a release of captives held in Gaza.

“Commenting on reported ceasefire agreements, Israel will not give up on the destruction of Hamas, the return of all the hostages, and there will be no security threat from Gaza towards Israel,” the spokesperson, Ilana Stein, said in a briefing.

“There will be no ceasefire. In the past, there were pauses for humanitarian purposes. That agreement was breached by Hamas.”

Each side has blamed the other for the non-renewal of a seven-day truce in November in which Hamas had freed women, children and foreign captives in exchange for daily releases of Palestinians from Israeli prisons.



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Eagle367 on 24 January 2024

What the hell will it take for Biden to stop supporting Israel? Genuinely don't know if there is a line



Just a guy who doesn't want to be bored. Also

SvennoJ on 24 January 2024

ICJ to issue order in South Africa genocide case this week

The International Court of Justice will issue an order on South Africa’s request for provisional measures against Israel this Friday, January 26, the court said in a statement. It’s important to note that this will not be the final ruling on the case, only on the provisional measures requested by South Africa.


Will it change Biden's mind? Of course it could just be another lame order to allow more humanitarian aid, which didn't result in much the previous times it was ordered.



The biggest supporters of Israel are too busy fighting the spill over while shielding Israel

Collective of Western countries call again for an end to Houthi attacks

A group of Western countries has once again called for the end of attacks being carried out by Houthi militants on vessels in the Red Sea. 

The collective — which includes the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia — condemned the attacks in a joint statement issued Wednesday.  "The thirty-plus attacks that the Houthis have launched on commercial and naval vessels since mid-November constitute a threat to all countries that rely on international maritime shipping," according to the statement. "We condemn these attacks, and demand an end to them," the group added. 

In recent weeks, the Houthis have launched near-daily attacks on commercial and merchant vessels in the Red Sea as part of their revenge campaign against Israel's war in Gaza.  

Where the US and Iran have conducted military operations since the start of the Israel-Hamas war

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/24/middleeast/us-iran-middle-east-war-mime-intl/index.html


Sounds like US wants a war with Iran, blaming Iran for everything...



SvennoJ on 24 January 2024

US again says Israel is transitioning to ‘low intensity’ operations in Gaza

At least 210 Palestinians have been killed in the last 24 hours alone as Israel relentlessly pounds Khan Younis, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

But the White House says Israel is moving to a “low intensity” phase of the war. “They are pursuing, on the ground, more targeted operations particularly against the [Hamas] leadership. They are relying less on airstrikes,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.

Kirby declined to comment on the Israeli shelling of a UNRWA facility housing displaced people in Khan Younis, saying that he does not have “any background” on the incident.


Smoke rises following Israeli bombardments in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024


UN agency says there are "mass casualties" after shelter struck amid intense fighting in Khan Younis

A building sheltering thousands of displaced people in southern Gaza was hit Wednesday amid intensified Israeli military attacks on Khan Younis, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Gaza, killing at least nine and injuring 75 others.

“Buildings ablaze and mass casualties. Safe access to and from the center has been denied for two days. People are trapped,” Thomas White, director of affairs for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said Wednesday on X, formerly Twitter.  White also said that a team from his agency and the World Health Organization were trying to reach the site, but that an agreed-upon route with the Israeli military is "blocked with (an) earth bank."

Wajih Ajour, who is sheltering in the UNRWA facility, told CNN he could see tanks near the building. “We are completely surrounded. There are Israeli military tanks just outside the walls of the building. Some people have shrapnel wounds from the fighting in the area, and the building also sustained damage,” Ajour said.

The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday that it continues to operate in Khan Younis, where it is pursuing "military targets, outposts, infrastructure and command and control centers" and said the operation there will continue for "several days." CNN has sought comment from the IDF on the fire at the UNRWA shelter.

Hospitals surrounded: Palestinian health officials and medics have reported Israeli tanks and drones firing at people trying to flee the vicinity of the Al-Amal and Nasser hospitals in Khan Younis. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said Israeli forces are “surrounding” the organization's headquarters and the Al-Amal Hospital, while the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said Israeli forces are also around the Nasser medical complex, cutting off crucial medical, food, and fuel supplies.



SvennoJ on 24 January 2024

US lawmakers ask for assessment of arms transfers to Israel

A handful of Democratic lawmakers in the US House of Representatives have asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a nonpartisan research agency, to conduct a review of whether US arms transfers to Israel are violating US and international law.

In a press release on Wednesday, Palestinian-American Representative Rashida Tlaib said that she had sent a letter to President Biden and the GAO along with four other lawmakers. The statement notes that on January 5, the administration said it had not conducted any formal review of Israel’s compliance with international law during its assault on Gaza.

“We write today regarding your Administration’s ongoing weapons transfers to the Israeli government despite considerable evidence that these transfers are flagrantly violating American and international law and being used in the commission of war crimes,” the letter to Biden reads.

‘Ceasefire now,’ US Congress members say

Several Democratic legislators have renewed their calls for a ceasefire, urging President Biden to push to end Israel’s war on Gaza.

Despite the mass destruction and killing of more than 25,000 Palestinians, the Biden administration has vehemently opposed a ceasefire, arguing that the war must go on until Israel destroys Hamas – a goal that many experts say may not be achievable militarily. Congresswoman Cori Bush, who introduced a ceasefire resolution 100 days ago, said the world cannot wait another 100 days.

Democratic legislator Hank Johnson notes that it has been 100 days since his colleague Cori Bush introduced a resolution calling for ending the war in Gaza. “Our pro-peace, pro-humanity movement is growing stronger every day. [Biden] must heed our calls for #CeasefireNOW [and] facilitate an immediate, lasting ceasefire,” Johnson said on X.







Biden convoy encounters ceasefire protesters – again

As the US president was leaving a political event in Washington, DC, his motorcade passed by small groups of protesters yelling “ceasefire now”, and someone holding a yellow sign with the words “full ceasefire in Gaza now”, a White House pool report said.

Yesterday, more than a dozen demonstrators calling for ending the war in Gaza interrupted Biden as he spoke at a campaign event in the state of Virginia.

Egypt rejects Israel’s request for a call between el-Sisi and Netanyahu

Israeli broadcaster Channel 13, citing two unnamed Israeli officials, reports that the office of Prime Minister Netanyahu attempted to coordinate with an Egyptian security agency to set up a phone call with the Egyptian present, but this attempt was rejected.

The report states that there are “significant disputes” between the governments of Israel and Egypt over the Israeli army’s plans for the “Philadelphia axis”, the strip of land in the southern Gaza Strip bordering Egypt. Late last month, Netanyahu told a news conference that the corridor “must be in our hands” and shut down to ensure the security outcome Tel Aviv desires.

Qatar rebukes Netanyahu’s reported criticism of mediation role

A spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign affairs ministry has issued a statement rebuking alleged comments from Netanyahu, following media reports that the Israeli leader called Qatar’s mediation efforts “problematic”.

“We are appalled by the alleged remarks attributed to the Israeli Prime Minister in various media reports about Qatar’s mediation role. These remarks if validated, are irresponsible and destructive to the efforts to save innocent lives, but are not surprising,” Majed Al Ansari said on X. “If the reported remarks are found to be true, the Israeli PM would only be obstructing and undermining the mediation process, for reasons that appear to serve his political career instead of prioritizing saving innocent lives, including Israeli hostages,” the statement adds.

How long is Biden still going to support this scumbag Netanyahu.



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SvennoJ on 24 January 2024

UN expert suggests Israeli bombing of Khan Younis is ‘punishable’ war crime

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on Palestine, goes beyond the UN relief chief Martin Griffiths, who had described as “callous” bombing people in southern Gaza without giving them enough time to flee.

“Ordering trapped people to evacuate and bombing them before they can even do so is callous, yes, and it is also a serious international crime, punishable under the Rome Statute of the [International Criminal Court],” Albanese wrote in a social media post.

UNRWA facility under Israeli attack in Khan Younis

A vocational training centre belonging to the UN’s relief agency for Palestinian refugees in Khan Younis has been hit by Israeli tank shells, killing at least nine and injuring at least 75. A spokesperson for UNRWA told Al Jazeera that the number of dead will likely climb higher.

Israel's military says it's currently ruled out any role in deadly strikes on UN facility in Khan Younis

From CNN’s Amir Tal and Abel Alvarado

The Israeli military has ruled out that an Israeli aerial or artillery strike hit a UN facility that was housing hundreds of displaced people in Gaza's Khan Younis, according to a statement from the Israel Defense Forces. “After an examination of our operational systems, the IDF has currently ruled out that this incident is a result of an aerial or artillery strike by the IDF,” the statement says.

The IDF said a “thorough review of the operations of the forces in the vicinity is underway,” adding that it is "examining the possibility that the strike was a result of Hamas fire.”

Urgent action is needed to prevent complete medical shutdown in Gaza, International Red Cross says

The International Committee of the Red Cross issued a stark warning Thursday, saying that Gaza faces a complete medical shutdown unless immediate actions are taken to safeguard essential services. ICRC said that the Nasser medical complex and the European Gaza Hospital, both in southern Gaza's Khan Younis, are the only referral hospitals “that provide advanced surgical and medical emergency services with large bed capacities, which is not sufficient for the current wounded and sick across Gaza.”

Over 1.5 million people living in dire conditions in the south of Gaza, according to the ICRC. “Every functioning hospital in the Gaza Strip is over-crowded and short on medical supplies, fuel, food and water. Many are housing thousands of displaced families. And now two more facilities risk being lost due to the fighting,” said William Schomburg, the head of the ICRC’s office in Gaza. “The cumulative impact on the health system is devastating and urgent action must be taken.”

UN relief agency in Gaza says Israeli military operation in Khan Younis will force main hospital to close

The Israeli military operation in Khan Younis will shut down the largest operating hospital in southern Gaza, the director of affairs for the UN's relief agency for the enclave told CNN. Thomas White of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East said the Nasser Hospital is “under threat” because it is located in an area that is being forced to evacuate.

For several days, UNRWA has been trying to get access to western Khan Younis, where the hospital is located, but White said the agency has been denied by the Israeli military because "fighting is too heavy." “The Israeli army intend to undertake a major operation in the west of Khan Younis, despite all of the assurances that we receive that people would be safe there,” White said.

“Now, tens of thousands of people are on the road again, many of them displaced multiple times,” White said, adding that many are making their way to the southern city of Rafah, where “there is no more open ground for people.”  “Nobody imagined the level of death, destruction and displacement that we've seen in the last three months,” White added.

Rights group says 24,000 children in Gaza have lost parents

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed over 25,000 Palestinians since it began on October 7. Almost the same number of children have lost their parents to Israeli attacks.

One orphaned boy, Anas, told Al Jazeera that he is protecting his little brother from the news that their parents had been killed. “I don’t know how to tell him,” Anas said.




Researcher says spread of hunger in Gaza is ‘unprecedented’

Alex De Waal, an expert on humanitarian crises and director of the World Peace Foundation has told Al Jazeera’s Inside Story that the conditions in Gaza have few parallels in modern history.

“I’ve been studying this topic for almost 40 years, and during that 40 years, I have not seen or studied a situation in which a population was reduced with this speed, this rigour, this comprehensiveness, to a state of starvation. It is unprecedented since World War II,” said De Waal.




SvennoJ on 25 January 2024

Over half of Gazans are now crowded in southern Rafah area as sanitary conditions deteriorate, UN says


Palestinian people wait with empty containers as food is distributed by charitable organizations in Rafah, Gaza, on January 25

The Rafah area in southern Gaza now hosts more than 50% of Gaza’s population, and people are facing worsening sanitary conditions and growing hunger, according to the United Nations. Further escalation of hostilities in the Rafah area “could have serious implications for over 1.3 million people who are reportedly sheltering in the governorate," the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in an update.

Hundreds of thousands of displaced people are now in the streets of Rafah, as well as the southern city of Khan Younis, “living in makeshift shelters in miserable conditions, with little or no access to food, water, medicines and appropriate shelter,” OCHA said. A lack of water availability has also aggravated sanitary conditions, with the amalgamation of solid waste worsened by rain.

These are some numbers of the dire situation, as outlined in the OCHA report:

  • 158,000 cases of diarrhea, according to the World Health Organization
  • About 50,000 tons of unmanaged solid waste, as estimated by the Gaza Municipality
  • Over 650,000 people in Gaza with no home to return to, and many more unable to return immediately due to the level of damage
  • 8 million tonnes of debris generated by the destruction of residential housing, which will take more than 3 years to remove
  • Water availability through municipal wells at one-tenth of their production capacity a day prior to October 7, 2023
  • 15 operational bakeries — with none in northern Gaza — compared to 97 before the outbreak of hostilities.

Hundreds of injuries reported among crowd attacked while waiting for aid, Gaza Civil Defense official says

Gaza’s Civil Defense said they have dealt with “unbelievable” injuries after an attack on civilians waiting for aid near Gaza City Thursday.

At least 20 people have been killed and as many as 150 injured — including dozens critically — when an Israeli military strike struck "thousands of people desperate to get humanitarian aid at the Kuwait roundabout in Gaza City," the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said. “There are hundreds of injuries. The types of injuries are unbelievable. Some people have lost their limbs,” spokesperson for the Gaza Civil Defense Mahmoud Basal said from Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, where many of those injured in the attack are being transferred. Basal added that civil defense crews are still trying to reach the injured but are being "blocked" by Israeli forces.

Civilians were “targeted” by Israeli forces at the Kuwaiti roundabout in Gaza City, where they were gathered to pick up bags of flour, Basal added. Mohammed Al-Rifi, who sustained injuries in his arm and leg after the shelling incident by the Kuwaiti roundabout, said he and others there were "shelled four times.” Abu Kareem, who was standing outside Al-Shifa Hospital, said that people went to the Kuwait roundabout to “get what they could, and were met with shelling.” “The Israeli military instructs people to go to these locations designated for aid pickup, and then they target it. We’re never going to find food to eat,” Kareem said. “We are resorting to food one would normally feed livestock,” he said.

CNN asked the IDF earlier Thursday for comment on any military operations in the vicinity of the roundabout.

Red Cross calls for immediate action to ensure lifesaving medical services stay operational in Gaza

"Concrete actions" are required to preserve "life saving" medical services in war-torn Gaza, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warns.

The ICRC says only two referral hospitals are providing advanced medical services in Gaza, in a statement released Wednesday. "For approximately 2 million people, the Nasser Medical Complex and the European Gaza Hospital (EGH) – both located in the south of the Gaza Strip – are the only two referral hospitals that provide advanced surgical and medical emergency services with large bed capacities, which is not sufficient for the current wounded and sick across Gaza," the statement said.

However, the ICRC warned that the future of the Nasser Hospital and a third facility, Al Amal Hospital, operated by the Palestine Red Crescent Society, hang in the balance as fighting continues in their immediate vicinity. The head of the ICRC office in Gaza, William Schomberg said "the cumulative impact on the health system is devastating."

In a statement sent to CNN, Dr. Ashraf Al-Qidra, the spokesperson for the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza described the situation at Nasser Hospital as "extremely catastrophic." "The hospital is operating at 10% of its capacity. Operating rooms have run out of anesthesia and painkillers for patients and the wounded," Al-Qidra added.

Biden needs to tour Gaza as well

UK triples aid to Gaza and calls for increased flow of supplies to the strip

The UK will triple its aid to Gaza and coordinate efforts with Qatar to increase the flow of supplies and equipment to those most in need in the enclave. On Thursday, the UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron will oversee 17 tonnes of family-sized tents being loaded onto a plane to Egypt, according to a UK foreign office statement.

Cameron, who is carrying out a diplomatic tour of the Middle East described the “scale of suffering” in Gaza as “unimaginable.” “More must be done, faster, to help people trapped in this desperate situation. We have trebled our assistance for Gaza, and cooperation with partners like Qatar is helping move life-saving aid and equipment over the border to those living in devastation," Cameron added in the statement.

The foreign minister said he told Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu during a Wednesday meeting that “far more trucks need to be able to enter Gaza and more crossings need to open.”



SvennoJ on 25 January 2024

WHO chief says ceasefire is ‘long overdue’

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has reiterated his call for a ceasefire in Gaza, where Israel’s assault continues to take a heavy toll on Palestinian civilians.

“The ceasefire in Gaza is long overdue. 26,000 people have died – 70 percent women and children. 8,000 missing. 64,000 injured. 1.7 million displaced. Sick not getting services. Outbreaks and hunger spreading. Health system on its knees,” he said in a social media post on Thursday. “The solution exists. It’s only the will that is required. Let’s choose peace.”

Israeli forces racing against time to destroy Khan Younis

The situation in Khan Younis is considered to be completely chaotic there. We’re talking about an extreme, aggravating humanitarian crisis in the city as Israeli forces are stepping up military attacks and destroying complete residential neighbourhoods one after the other. We’ve been seeing Israeli forces encircling Nasser Hospital alongside al-Amal Hospital – the last two remaining hospitals operating in Khan Younis.

That led to terrorising the hundreds of patients and evacuees. Medical workers are trying to keep providing treatment for the injured and pregnant women, who are unable to flee from the hospital due to the intensifying raids of attacks on the city. We’ve heard from medical sources saying they are unable to get out of the hospital, that they are trapped there, they are isolated.

The Israeli forces are racing against time to destroy the city of Khan Younis, and to blow up the majority of residential buildings as they have been stating earlier that they are about to set up a “buffer zone” in Gaza.




Israel’s Gaza landgrab ‘unjustified, by any view, under international law’

A former UN war crimes prosecutor says Israel has no grounds legally to create a “buffer zone” in Gaza by destroying Palestinian homes and confiscating agricultural land. “If you want to a demilitarised zone that you’re going to fill with landmines, why not have it on the Israeli side and stop people crossing it,” Geoffrey Nice told Al Jazeera. “What they’re proposing, effectively and in anyone’s interpretation, is occupation.”

He noted the fertile farmland Israel is eyeing to takeover is “crucial to Gaza’s economy”. “But the process has already started. A large number of buildings have already been flattened. It is unjustified, by any view, under international law,” said Nice, proposing sanctions by powerful nations against Israel to stop the landgrab.

Environment Quality Authority: 66 percent of people in Gaza Strip suffer from water-borne diseases

A Palestinian environmental body says two-thirds of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip suffer from water-borne diseases due to the lack of potable water and the lack of working desalination plants as a result of the war.

In a statement, the Environment Quality Authority said people are at risk from cholera, chronic diarrhoea and intestinal diseases. “The Israeli occupation’s bombing of sewage lines and their flooding had led to a health and environmental catastrophe, especially the Sheikh Radwan pond [in Gaza City], which has reached a critical level due to the accumulation of rainwater and the leakage of wastewater into it,” the authority said.

Know their names: Palestinian children killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza

Since October 7, Israeli attacks have killed at least 10,000 children in the Gaza Strip. Thousands more are missing under the rubble, most of them presumed dead. The grim toll means that one Palestinian child is killed every 15 minutes, or that about one child out of every 100 in Gaza has perished, leading the UN to say that the Gaza Strip is a “graveyard for children“.

https://interactive.aljazeera.com/aje/2024/israel-war-on-gaza-10000-children-killed/

Israeli authorities turn Negev prison ‘into hell’

The Palestinian Commission for Prisoners’ and Ex-Prisonders’ Affairs says Israeli authorities are tightening their grip on detainees in the Negev prison, making their lives an “unbearable hell”. In a statement, the commission said that “the Israeli occupation’s oppressive measures against the prisoners in the Negev Desert Prison make life more miserable, cruel and anxious in light of the strict security measures imposed on the prisoners after October 7”.

It added that the prison administration has “deliberately” cut off electricity and water for varying periods and has also isolated the prisoners from the outside world, removed food supplies and reduced meals, as well as closed a shop for purchasing necessities. “In addition, it has deprived sick detainees of being transferred to clinics or to civilian hospitals. It has also prevented prisoners from going out to the yard and stopped family visits,” the statement said.

More than 6,000 Palestinians, including children and women, have been arrested by Israel since the start of the war, bringing the number of prisoners inside Israeli jails to about 9,000 Palestinians.



Kyuu on 25 January 2024

Amazing work on the thread SvennoJ. Respect.

The dreadful treatment of Palestinians and hypocrisy of the western leaders/mainstream media is deeply depressing. I lost faith in humanity several years ago, but the rising awareness of what's actually going on out there despite the sickening propaganda of the powerful gives me hope.

Last edited by Kyuu - on 25 January 2024

SvennoJ on 25 January 2024

Thanks, I really hope this time there will be a different outcome and we're not back here for another round in 8-10 years.



While the situation keeps on deteriorating further, the US already has started shielding Israel from the potential ICJ ruling

US won’t say if Israel should abide by ICJ ruling

US Department of State spokesperson Vedant Patel was elusive when asked whether Israel should follow the UN court’s verdict on South Africa’s request for provisional measures to stop suspected violations of the genocide convention in Gaza.

While Patel said Israel should abide by international humanitarian law, he declined to commit to accepting the International Court of Justice’s decision tomorrow. The court could order Israel to halt its offensive in Gaza. “This is a legal process, and I’m not gonna hypothesise or speculate on any kind of outcome,” Patel told reporters, reiterating the position of the administration of US President Joe Biden that the genocide allegations against Israel are unfounded.

Pressed by reporters – with one journalist noting that Hamas has said it would honour an ICJ-ordered ceasefire – Patel pivoted to rebuking the Palestinian group. “That suggests you’re waiting to see what the verdict will be, and then you’ll decide whether you agree with the verdict or not,” another reporter said.

Hamas says it will accept ceasefire if ICJ rules in favour

In a statement published via its official Telegram channel, the Palestinian group says that as long as Israel reciprocates, it will abide by any decision issued by the International Court of Justice that calls for a ceasefire in Gaza. The statement also says that Hamas will release all of the captives it holds if Israel releases the Palestinian prisoners currently held by it.

“The Zionist enemy must end its 18-year siege of Gaza and enter all necessary aid for population relief and reconstruction,” the statement concludes, in its third and final demand.

Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq accuses the Biden administration of trying to preempt the UN court’s ruling on South Africa’s petition accusing Israel of violating the Genocide Convention. “The American administration still rejects ending the aggression against Gaza by stopping the UN Security Council from passing a resolution to end the aggression and by continuing to supply the occupation forces with weapons and ammo to bomb women and children,” al-Rishq said in a statement.

“This makes the US a biased side and a partner in the crimes of murder. It does not have a right to talk about values and morals and international laws, which it violates in broad daylight.”

Scale of death and destruction in Gaza ‘horrifying’: US congresswoman

Summer Lee, a progressive Democrat who is gearing up for re-election against an expected onslaught of campaign spending by the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC, has renewed her call for a ceasefire.

“We saw a ceasefire work: aid was trickling in [and] Israeli hostages [and] Palestinians were coming home,” she wrote in a social media post. “100 days in, I’m still standing with a majority of Dem voters, humanitarian orgs, [and] families of hostages for a #CeasefireNOW.”

Obstetrician says pregnant women in Gaza dying from complications in greater numbers

Dr Haya Hijazi, a gynaecologist and obstetrician in Gaza, has spoken to Al Jazeera’s The Stream about the dire situation of pregnant women in the besieged Strip. “The cases that undergo hysterectomy due to postpartum haemorrhages are increasing, because there is no medical aid to treat them and to deal with them,” she said.

“Postpartum depression is also increasing,” she added, noting that in one case a 23-year-old woman was forced to travel to numerous hospitals only to be turned down as the facilities were strained by bombardment. Hijazi said the girl died from sepsis.

Doctors treat wounded Palestinians by flashlight in Khan Younis

A doctor at Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza city has shared video that we verified on his Instagram account showing him intubating an injured patient, working only by the light of mobile phone flashlights. “Today, in the intensive care unit of the emergency department, I was trying to resuscitate this patient without electricity, without tools, and without anesthesia, only flashlights, and God’s grace,” his post reads.

The two main hospitals in Khan Younis, Nasser and al-Amal, have been completely surrounded by Israeli forces and come under repeated attack in recent days, as Israel has concentrated its ground operations on the city.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2h9C5mtWwO/

Israeli army detaining Palestinian men fleeing Khan Younis fighting

The Associated Press has reported that Palestinians are fleeing Khan Younis “by the thousands” as fighting in the area intensifies. Palestinians also told the outlet that Israeli forces told them to evacuate the Faisal school where many were sheltering, and detained many young men with little explanation.

“Suddenly, they [the Israeli military] started calling from the microphones to evacuate the site within half an hour,” Amal, a Palestinian mother who gave birth three days ago and fled the school with her newborn, told AP. “They allowed us to leave, and they made us walk a certain distance, and they took the young men and searched them on the side,” said Israa Khashan, who was also sheltering at the school.

“They took some young men with them and left others, and now we are here, not knowing where to go,” she added.


Palestinians fleeing Khan Younis, due to the Israeli army ground operation, January 25, 2024