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

SvennoJ on 16 June 2024
Israel’s war on Gaza tied to ‘survival’ of Netanyahu government

HA Hellyer, a military analyst and non-resident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank in Washington, DC, says Israel is failing to achieve its goals in Gaza but is continuing with the war for “the survival of the Netanyahu government”.

“The Israelis have put a pretty high bar for what they call victory in Gaza since the beginning of this bombardment of the Strip that began in October, and I don’t think that they are really going to get any closer to victory,” Hellyer told Al Jazeera.

“The way in which they define victory is complete removal of the governance and military capacity of Hamas. And, as we have just seen, the military capacity of Hamas is far from being removed,” Hellyer said.

“It has been degraded significantly, substantially even. But, the idea that you can completely remove that military capacity – while at the same time continuing this sort of bombardment where people are going to be very easily recruited into operations resisting the Israelis – I think is really short-sighted,” he said.

“I think this is a political decision by the Netanyahu government that realises that they really don’t have much of an endgame when it comes to this particular ‘operation’ in Gaza. Except to just keep on going in order to maintain the survival of the Netanyahu government,” he added.


Israel has no ‘exit strategy’ from war

Israel’s recent military losses and refusal to seriously engage in talks show it lacks an “end game” to the war, says Hassan Barari, a professor of international relations at Qatar University.

“They [the Israeli military] occupied half of [Rafah] and the Palestinians are still resisting and killing more and more Israeli soldiers,” Barari told Al Jazeera. “It seems that Israel is bogged down in this war with no exit strategy and people are fed up with that. That’s why thousands of people are taking to the streets calling for not only ending the war but also for Netanyahu to step down,” he said.

How the war plays out in the coming weeks will largely hinge on battlefield developments and how much pressure the US exerts on Israel to negotiate a ceasefire deal with Hamas, said Barari, noting that there are still major gaps between the two sides.


Haniyeh says Hamas’s ceasefire response aligns with deal’s principles

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh says the group’s position is consistent with the foundational principles of the UN-backed ceasefire proposal.

Haniyeh, speaking in a televised address on Eid day, also said Hamas is ready to accept an agreement that guarantees a permanent ceasefire, full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, reconstruction, and an exchange deal.

Palestinians would continue to show resilience, resistance, and commitment to their national struggle, he added in comments after US Secretary of State Blinken criticised Hamas last week for its reply to the ceasefire proposal.

Israel’s government has yet to publicly back the deal, despite US claims that it has accepted it. Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu has continued to insist that the war will not end before Hamas is defeated.



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SvennoJ on 16 June 2024

Palestinians try to hold on to Eid happiness amid devastation in Gaza

Palestinians here in Deir el-Balah are praying in public areas where they are surrounded by destruction and devastation. They came here today to pray and at the same time to congratulate each other for Eid al-Adha and to bring a sense of hope that they are still clinging to their homeland.

Typically, Palestinians celebrate this holiday by meeting their families and sharing large meals. But those meals are no longer affordable, as more than half of Gaza’s population is on the brink of famine.

Palestinians are trying to do their best, despite Israel’s ongoing aggression, to bring happiness to young children, as many of them will wake up today and celebrate Eid without their parents.


Palestinians hold Eid al-Adha prayers by the ruins of the Al-Rahma mosque in Khan Younis on June 16

 

Relentless attacks, hunger grip Gaza on Eid day

The Israeli military has aggressively attacked western areas of Rafah city, including the Saudi neighbourhood and Tal as-Sultan, where hundreds of families are trapped.

The attacks have destroyed many homes and public facilities, pushing people into a state of panic.

In the central area of Gaza, mainly eastern Deir el-Balah City, artillery shelling … targeted areas where the Israeli military claimed Palestinian fighting groups had “used infrastructure”, without providing further information.

Those attacks have pushed people into further internal displacement; in the northern part of the Strip, people are not only struggling to deal with unpredictable falling bombs and attacks on their homes… but also the spread of dehydration and hunger.

This is happening on the first day of Eid, where we’re looking at hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinian families, many of them in mourning.

UNRWA organises Eid festivities for children in Gaza

Despite a shortage of aid supplies, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) is working to hold festive Eid activities for displaced children in al-Mawasi, a designated evacuation zone near Khan Younis.

Most families in Gaza, impoverished and repeatedly displaced by Israel’s eight-month war, are unable to enjoy typical Eid traditions, including sacrificing a livestock animal or purchasing gifts and clothes for children.

Israeli forces assault worshippers near Al-Aqsa Mosque: Report

Israel’s military has imposed tight restrictions on entry to Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, entering its courtyard to carry out security checks and stopping thousands of worshippers from entering, according to the Wafa news agency.

Israeli forces also assaulted some worshippers on their way to the holy site and upon leaving it, said Wafa.

Despite the heavy-handed security, more than 40,000 people have performed Eid prayers at the mosque, according to the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf that oversees the site.


Palestinians pray on the first day of Eid al-Adha on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound


40,000 Muslims mark Eid at Al-Aqsa Mosque, less than half of 2023’s figures

According to the Wafa news agency, Israeli forces assaulted worshippers both on their way to the mosque and as they were leaving, as tensions in the occupied West Bank remain high due to the war on Gaza.

But Sunday’s numbers pale in comparison to 2023’s estimate of 100,000 worshippers who managed to pray despite Israeli security forces’ aggression. Last year, Israeli police stormed the holy compound, forcing people out of the Bab ar-Rahma prayer area and arresting some, according to local sources.



SvennoJ on 16 June 2024

UN officials in Lebanon call for peace on Israel border on Eid al-Adha

Two UN officials based in Lebanon have warned there is a “very real” threat of miscalculation that could lead to a wider war as cross-border fighting between Hezbollah and Israel rages.

“As communities in Lebanon and around the world celebrate Eid Al-Adha, the UN family reiterates its call for all actors along the Blue Line to put down their weapons and commit to a path of peace,” the officials said.

The joint statement on Saturday came from the UN special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, and the head of the UN peacekeeping forces in Lebanon, UNIFIL, Aroldo Lazaro.

https:/twitter.com/UNIFIL_/status/1802041916487577852


Israeli drone targets southern Lebanon’s Yaroun town

Israel has attacked the town of Yaroun in southern Lebanon with a drone, according to witnesses. The photo and footage circulating on social media showed a plume of smoke rising from the top of the hill in the area.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Israel says it intercepted ‘suspicious’ target over southern Lebanon

The Israeli military says it intercepted a “suspicious aerial target over southern Lebanon”. According to its protocol, the Telegram post continued, no sirens were sounded, and there had been no injuries.

The army added that it had hit a “Hezbollah military structure in the area of Yaroun in southern Lebanon” from the air and fired artillery “to remove a threat in the area of Amra”.


Smoke billows from fires ignited by Israeli shelling on the forested areas of the southern Lebanese village of Deir Mimas on Saturday

Anger in Iraq over war on Gaza hits fever pitch

Faced with a population enraged by the ongoing killing in Gaza, the Iraqi government has struggled to stem attacks on US franchise restaurants as individuals and militias attack US interests in the country.

It was finally forced to deploy the elite Counter-Terrorism Service to secure certain locations. This latest mission is a far cry from the service’s original purpose, which was to combat ISIL in Iraq.



SvennoJ on 16 June 2024

UK’s Labour Party loses Muslim election support over stance on Gaza war

While the UK’s Labour is expected to win by a large majority in national elections on July 4, party leader Keir Starmer’s refusal to back an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza has angered the party’s once-loyal Muslim supporters.

About four in five UK Muslims voted Labour in 2019, reinforcing strong bonds between the party and Muslim communities that were forged after the mass migration of workers from Pakistan to Britain in the 1950s and 1960s.

But recent polling suggested about one in five of those voters are set to defect from Labour.

“In some towns across the north of England, the mosques are saying, ‘Don’t vote for either of the main parties’,” Labour candidate John Grogan told the AFP news agency at his office in Keighley town in Yorkshire.

Solicitor Shaid Iqbal, a leading figure in the Keighley’s Muslim community, said people were “very, very angry”.

“They’re angry at both parties. But the fact is, Labour more, because they thought that Labour was a party which would stick up for human rights, speak up against atrocities,” he told AFP.

“They’ve let the public down.”


Manchester police suppress Gaza war protest

British police were filmed violently breaking up a pro-Palestine rally in Manchester yesterday, the latest in a wave of protests in the city during Israel’s war on Gaza.



Antigovernment protesters block major Israeli highways

Groups of Israeli protesters have set bonfires and barricaded major highways and junctions across the country, as anger towards the government boils over its handling of the Gaza war, according to Israeli media.

The protesters, who blocked Route 1 towards Jerusalem and Route 4 near Israel’s central city of Ra’anana, are calling for the government to strike a captive exchange deal and to call new elections, The Times of Israel says.

The demonstrations follow an antigovernment rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday night which police dispersed, resulting in skirmishes, and the arrest of 12 people.


‘Only elections can start healing’: Israeli protest leader

Antigovernment activists in Israel are readying for a week of protests to push the government to step down.

The protests, which started today with demonstrations blocking several major highways, call for elections before the October 7 anniversary, according to Eran Schwartz, head of the Free in our Land protest group.

They will continue with a large gathering in front of Israel’s Knesset tomorrow evening, and then a march to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s residence, reports the Times of Israel.

“Only elections can start the healing process,” said protest leader Moshe Radman in comments carried by The Times of Israel. “Netanyahu, what are you afraid of? Only a dictator is afraid of his people.”


Netanyahu is definitely afraid of the truth

Israel’s High Court issues order to suspend probe into October 7 failures: Report

Israel’s High Court has issued an interim order instructing State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman to suspend his investigation into the failings of the October 7 attack that deal with the country’s army and the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency, according to The Times of Israel newspaper.

The investigation started in December last year.

According to the report, High Court Justice Gila Canfy-Steinitz initially ruled in May that she would not halt the comptroller’s investigation but, having received classified responses from the security agencies, decided today to order Englman to suspend the investigation until a High Court hearing on the issue is held in July.



SvennoJ on 16 June 2024

Israel detains 7-year-old boy near occupied West Bank’s Ramallah

Israeli forces have detained a seven-year-old child in Mughayyer, east of Ramallah, according to his father.

The boy, Bahaa Kazim Haj Mohammed, had been held in an Israeli military jeep for an hour when the father spoke to Al Jazeera’s team on the ground about the ongoing ordeal. Three days ago, the Israeli forces detained the boy’s older brother and ransacked his house.

More than 9,300 Palestinians remain in Israeli prisons: Prisoners’ group

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society says that among the 9,300 people held by Israel are at least 75 women and 250 children. It has stressed that the total number does not include all the people Israel detained in Gaza, estimating that there are thousands.

Israeli prison authorities have announced the detention of 899 Palestinians from the enclave under the classification of an illegal fighter, the group said.



At least 37,337 Palestinians killed in Gaza since October 7: Ministry

At least 37,337 Palestinians have been killed and 85,299 injured during Israel’s war on the enclave since October 7, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

Several Palestinians killed in Israeli attack on central Gaza’s Bureij refugee camp

An Israeli air strike on the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza has killed several people. Among those killed by the attack are Rafeef Alsaidi, 13, and the elderly Abdelshafi Hussein, whose children have been seriously injured.

Those injured have been taken to Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah. As Muslims in Gaza marked Eid al-Adha in Gaza, one man said his daughter was killed while walking in the street on the “Eid of the kids”.

Israeli attacks kill 2 in Rafah, ambulances targeted

Israel has killed two people in Rafah’s Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood and targeted ambulances trying to respond to the casualties, according to our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.

Tal as-Sultan, in western Rafah, still hosts hundreds of Palestinian families displaced by the war, according to Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud. The neighbourhood has been especially hard hit in Israel’s latest wave of strikes, which destroyed many homes and public facilities.



Desperation as displaced people queue for donated food in Khan Younis camp







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SvennoJ on 16 June 2024

‘Recruitment of ultra-Orthodox Jews an urgent need’: Israel military chief

The enlistment of draft-age ultra-Orthodox individuals is “an obvious necessity”, said Israeli military Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, during a tour through the Gaza Strip.

“The recruitment of ultra-Orthodox Jews is an urgent need,” Halevi said in a video posted on X by the Israeli military. “I know this, especially for those who are outside their homes for eight months and performing service in the reserve ranks alongside work and family … This is something that is not implicitly understood … and I want you to know that we are making a great effort to take care of the rights of these people.”

Halevi’s comments come following the Israeli government’s support of a draft bill extending the retirement age for reservists despite backlash from the Israeli public.

War failures heighten pressure for negotiated Gaza settlement

Youcef Bouandel from Qatar University says the disunion within Israel’s war cabinet and wider society is starting to boil over, which “strengthens the hand” of Hamas in ceasefire negotiations.

“Most importantly is the fact that Israel has not been able to defeat Hamas on the ground. There has been so many Palestinian losses, yes, but the Palestinians have been resilient,” he told Al Jazeera. “There are relatively deep divisions in Israel at the moment. There are people who want a complete ceasefire, but if there is one I think that signals the end of Benjamin Netanyahu’s premiership.

There are two sides: the Netanyahu camp that wants to continue the war to achieve its objectives and, most importantly, keep his position,” Bouandel said. “The other side sees after eight months of war Israel has not achieved any of the objectives, and the only way forward is through negotiations.”

‘Unacceptable’: Netanyahu opposes military ‘pauses’ for Gaza aid

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is opposed to plans announced by the military to hold daily tactical pauses in fighting along one of the main roads into the besieged and bombarded Gaza Strip to facilitate aid delivery into the Palestinian enclave.

The military had announced the daily pauses from 05:00 GMT until 16:00 GMT in the area from the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing to the Salah al-Din Road and then northwards.

Netanyahu’s opposition to the tactical pauses underlined political tensions over the issue of aid coming into Gaza, where international organisations have warned of a growing humanitarian crisis and looming famine.



SvennoJ on 16 June 2024

Josep Borrell: Please let us support genocide in peace

Houthis ‘threaten freedom of navigation in the Red Sea’

The EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell warns Houthi militia attacks commercial vessels off Yemen are becoming more serious.

“The Houthis keep threatening freedom of navigation in the #RedSea”, EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a post on X, referring to the Yemeni group’s ongoing attacks on Israel-linked ships in the region.

EUNAVFOR ASPIDES, the EU military operation in the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Gulf, “will keep striving to make international waters safe for all”, he added.

The Houthis say their attacks on ships are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.



Stop fighting symptons (and escalating them), fix the cause.

‘Strange’ quiet in northern Gaza

While attacks continue in southern Gaza, residents in the north say there’s been an unusual day of quiet. “Since this morning, we’ve felt a sudden calm with no gunfire or bombings… It’s strange,” said Haitham al-Ghura, 30, from Gaza City.

AFP news agency correspondents reported there were no reports of strikes or shelling since dawn. The brief respite in fighting allowed worshippers a rare moment of calm on the Eid al-Adha holiday.

The sound of prayers travelled down some of Gaza City’s destroyed and abandoned streets. For many, a halt in fighting can never bring back what has been lost.“We’ve lost many people, there’s a lot of destruction,” said Umm Muhammad al-Katri from Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.


Death toll rises to 9 in Israeli attack on Bureij, including 5 children

Nine Palestinians, including at least five children, were killed in an Israeli strike that targeted a house in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Video footage showed the recovery of the dead and evacuation of the wounded from the debris.


Displaced Palestinians walk past destroyed buildings in Bureij refugee camp


Israeli settlers torch village and attack Palestinian vehicles in the occupied West Bank

Illegal Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian land in the village of Burqa and attacked residents’ vehicles east of the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.

Security sources also said settlers attacked Palestinian automobiles travelling along the bypass road leading to the northern entrance of al-Bireh city and threw stones, the news agency Wafa reported.



SvennoJ on 16 June 2024

The Israel Lobby Is Real. Here’s EXACTLY How It Works | Aaron Bastani meets Ilan Pappé


London Times is first mainstream outlet to debunk Israel's "mass rapes" hoax, with Ali Abunimah




Doesn't stop Harris from perpetuating the mass rapes narrative

Harris to shine light on horrific sexual violence perpetrated during Hamas’ October attack

https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/14/politics/harris-white-house-event/index.html

Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to host a White House event focused in part on the Israel-Hamas war on Monday as part of an effort to highlight conflict-related sexual violence and amid fraught negotiations to reach a ceasefire agreement.

...

Earlier this year, the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel published a report that found Israeli civilians suffered “brutal sexual assaults” that were carried out “systematically and deliberately” during Hamas’ October 7 attacks.

The report, which includes testimonies from eyewitnesses, first responders, forensic experts and news articles, says Hamas militants who entered Israel used extreme acts of sexual violence against their victims and, in most cases, killed them “after or even during the rape.”

According to evidence collected by the ARCCI – an umbrella organization for nine regional Rape Crisis Centers – men, women, and children were all victims of gruesome sexual abuse on October 7. The report outlines witness testimony of the brutality of the sexual crimes, including that of gang rape at the Nova music festival, in the desert of southern Israel.



CNN repeating propaganda. And just as labeling everything as anti-semitism makes it detrimental to fighting actual anti-semitism, perpetuating fake rape stories is even more harmful to people experiencing the real horror. "The boy who cried wolf"



SvennoJ on 16 June 2024

Ex-Knesset member cites Hitler in rant about expelling Palestinians

A far-right former Israeli lawmaker quoted Adolf Hitler as he discussed the military takeover of Gaza and expulsion of Palestinians.

In a video shared on social media, Moshe Feiglin said: “We are not guests in our country. This is our country, all of it. As Hitler said, ‘I cannot live if one Jew is left’. We can’t live here if one ‘Islamo-Nazi’ remains in Gaza.”

He added he wants to “turn Gaza Hebrew”. Feiglin was a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party from 2013-2015 before launching his own far-right Zehut party.

 

Hezbollah ‘bringing us to brink of escalation’: Israel

Raging cross-border fire from Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement into Israel could trigger serious escalation, the Israeli military says.

“Hezbollah’s increasing aggression is bringing us to the brink of what could be a wider escalation, one that could have devastating consequences for Lebanon and the entire region,” Israeli military spokesman Rear-Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a statement.

“Israel will take the necessary measures to protect its civilians – until security along our border with Lebanon is restored.”

 

Israeli war cabinet discusses ‘strengthening’ illegal settlements

Israeli ministers met to discuss “steps to strengthen settlements” in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said in a post on X.

The meeting was partly in response to the growing number of countries recognising a Palestinian state since October 7, and the Palestinian Authority’s “actions against Israel in international bodies”, it said.

The proposed changes will be put to a vote at the next cabinet meeting.

Biden pushes ceasefire deal in Eid al-Adha message

US President Joe Biden used his Eid message to Muslims to push for a US-backed ceasefire deal in Gaza, saying it is the best way to help civilians suffering the “horrors of war between Hamas and Israel”.

“Too many innocent people have been killed, including thousands of children. Families have fled their homes and seen their communities destroyed. Their pain is immense,” Biden said in a statement.

“I strongly believe the three-phase ceasefire proposal Israel has made to Hamas and that the UN Security Council has endorsed is the best way to end the violence in Gaza and ultimately end the war,” he added.


You can push your deception all you want, neither Israel nor Hamas will accept your non committal open ended ceasefire proposal. As long as you can't convince Israel to even think about a sustained ceasefire, Hamas isn't going to accept. Netanyahu isn't going to accept any pressure/guarantees that phase 1 ceasefire will last on until negotiations for phase 2 are complete.

But yes, it would be the best way for you and Netanyahu if Hamas exchanged the hostages so you can continue the Gaza genocide without worrying about killing more hostages. Exactly why Hamas isn't falling for your proposal. I thought Bush and Trump were terrible, Biden fits right in.




This is applicable to the USA as well....

‘Leading them to the abyss’: Israel a growing ‘pariah’ state

Israel’s government is buckling not only from Israeli citizens demonstrating against it, but also from international pressure to end its war on Gaza, according to an analyst.

On the world stage, Israel is increasingly becoming a pariah state while at home there are sustained protests calling for the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to be removed, says political analyst Akiva Eldar.

“I travelled to Amsterdam and for the first time, I don’t feel comfortable to present my Israeli passport,” Eldar told Al Jazeera. “The Israelis are not welcome everywhere.”

In light of this growing tension, Eldar predicts the movement against Netanyahu’s government will come from the grassroots. “Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak called to the Israelis – who believe that this government is leading them to the abyss – to start protests, demonstrations around the Knesset, and he’s calling for 1 million Israelis.”



SvennoJ on 16 June 2024

Another Israeli soldier killed in southern Gaza battles


Pallbearers carry the casket of Israeli Staff Sergeant Stanislav Kostarev

The Israeli army announced the death of another soldier during fighting in the southern Gaza Strip.

The statement comes after eight soldiers were killed in southern Gaza in a Hamas ambush and two others died in the north on Saturday.

According to the army, the number of troops killed since the beginning of the war on October 7 has risen to 662, including 311 in ground battles that started on October 27.

It also says 3,841 soldiers have been wounded including 1,940 in ground combat.


Funerals for the soldiers killed took place a day after an ambush by Hamas fighters


‘What did this girl do to you, Netanyahu?’

The bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israel attack on the Bureij refugee camp – including five children – were brought to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah.

A man wept over a small sheet-wrapped bundle in his arms. Two of the children had been playing in the street when the attack occurred. “What did this girl do to you, Netanyahu? Isn’t this forbidden for you?” a woman cried, holding a dead child.

About 15,000 children have been killed since Israel’s war on Gaza began last October.





When will the madness end.