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

SvennoJ on 11 July 2024

Erdogan: Turkey will not support continued NATO cooperation with Israel

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said his country won’t support NATO’s continued partnership with the Israeli government.

“Until comprehensive, sustainable peace is established in Palestine, attempts at cooperation with Israel within NATO will not be approved by Turkey,” Erdogan told a news conference at the NATO 75th anniversary summit in Washington, DC.

Israel, which was designated a major non-NATO ally by the US in 1987, cooperates with the organisation in areas including technology and counterterrorism.

Turkey has been a member of NATO since 1952.


Turkish President Erdogan at NATO’s 75th anniversary summit in Washington, DC, on July 11



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SvennoJ on 11 July 2024

Israeli Defence Minister asks to be investigated for October 7 security failures

Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari speaking on Thursday highlighted the first and only probe that has been conducted into Israel’s failures on October 7.

He said that in total 101 people were killed in Kibbutz Be’eri, this is a town that fall along the Gaza border that was attacked on October 7. He said there was a series of logistical failures including in the lead up to the attacks and even the days beforehand.

This comes as Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has called for a state commission enquiry and a full investigation into what happened on October 7.

This investigation wouldn’t just be for the army. It would be for Israeli politicians and Gallant highlighted that he himself should be investigated along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who was sitting right alongside him.

Looks like he's trying to undermine Netanyahu, knowing an Israeli investigation won't lead to anything anyway...




CNN is already helping with the white wash

https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/11/middleeast/israeli-military-inquiry-kibbutz-beeri-intl-latam/index.html

There had been speculation that the hostages had been killed by tank fire from the Israeli military as it tried to force entry to the house, but the inquiry found that Hamas operatives at the house probably killed the hostages.

“After gunfire was heard from within the house and the terrorists communicated their intent to commit suicide and kill the hostages, the security forces decided to breach the house to attempt to save the hostages, and conducted combat operations under difficult conditions,” the inquiry concluded.

It said that “commanders and forces made professional and responsible decisions, and fully exhausted negotiation efforts. The tank fire towards the area near the house was carried out professionally, with a joint decision made by commanders from all the security organizations after careful consideration… with the intent to apply pressure to the terrorists and save the civilians held hostage inside.”


versus Times of Israel report in December 2023

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-officer-recounts-ordering-tank-fire-on-beeri-home-during-hostage-standoff-on-oct-7/

Hiram says that around 4 p.m., after a gunman surrendered, a SWAT commander argued that more might follow suit, while he, Hiram, said the hostage situation must be resolved by nightfall.

Shortly thereafter, when the terrorists launched an RPG from the house, Hiram recounts telling the tank commander: “The negotiations are over. Break in, even at the cost of civilian casualties.”

Two light shells — designed to cause reduced damage and casualties — were then fired by the tank. Footage from a police chopper aired on Monday by Channel 12 news showed the tank fire.

Shrapnel from the second shell accidentally killed Adi Dagan, 68, and injured his wife, Hadas Dagan, 70.

During the entire hostage situation, which included intense fighting between the Hamas gunmen and IDF forces, all the terrorists were killed, along with 12 of the 14 Israeli hostages.

Yeah a tank didn't kill the hostages...


The air footage in the link is not very clear, but you can see a huge cloud of smoke erupting from the house directly after the tank fires, looks like the house gets blown up.

Rewriting history in action:

CNN: “The team determined that, based on the information reviewed and to the best of their understanding, no civilians inside the building were harmed by tank shell fire, except for an isolated incident outside the building where two civilians were injured by shrapnel,” it continued.

...

“The decision to carry out a rescue attempt under fire was made after all attempts to hold negotiations to rescue the hostages were exhausted, and after a long burst of gunfire was heard from inside the house, which raised the suspicion that the hostages were being murdered,” he said.


In a hostage situation, killing all your hostages is the dumbest move you can make. It doesn't make sense at all. Just more Hasbara.



SvennoJ on 12 July 2024

Conservative? Try fascist, totalitarian, repressive.

Biden calls Israeli war cabinet one of the ‘most conservative’ in country’s history

Earlier, we reported that Joe Biden described Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government as “less than cooperative” in terms of allowing aid into Gaza, adding that Israel’s war on the Palestinian territory “should end now”.

Here are more comments made by the US president during a news conference at the NATO 75th anniversary summit in Washington:
  • “I know Israel well and I support Israel. But this war cabinet is one of the most conservative war cabinets in the history of Israel. And there’s no one answer on the two-state solution here.”
  • “What’s the day after in Gaza? The day after in Gaza has to be the end. The end of the day after has to be no occupation by Israel in the Gaza Strip, as well as the ability for us to access, get in and out, as rapidly as you can.”
  • “There’s a lot of things in retrospect I wish I had been able to convince the Israelis to do. But the bottom line is, we have a chance now. It’s time to end this war. It doesn’t mean walk away from going after [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar and Hamas.”
  • “There is a growing dissatisfaction in the West Bank from the Palestinians about Hamas. Hamas is not popular now.”

His last remark is incorrect. Hamas still gets 34% of the vote in the West Bank, much more than Fatah (the PA)

https://www.pcpsr.org/sites/default/files/Poll%2091%20English%20press%20release%2020%20March%202024.pdf


US-built aid pier scrapped as parts of Gaza starve

“Throughout the conception, construction and brief operation” of the floating pier off the Gaza coast, land routes into the Palestinian territory that could have supplied Gaza’s starving population with much-needed humanitarian aid were available, Al Jazeera’s Shihab Rattansi reports.

“But the US didn’t use its leverage to force Israel to open them for the safe delivery of aid,” Rattansi said.

COGAT claims 300 trucks carrying aid allowed to enter Gaza on Thursday

The Israeli Defence Ministry agency that oversees the occupied Palestinian territory has claimed that 300 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered Gaza on Thursday.

The Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said that 249 trucks went through the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing, while 51 passed through the Beit Hanoon (Erez) crossing in the north of Gaza.

The UN and other international organisations continue to report Israeli restrictions on aid delivery to Gaza, while independent UN experts say famine has spread throughout the besieged enclave after more than nine months of war.

On Thursday, World Health Organization chief Tedros Ghebreyesus said that only five of the UN agency’s trucks carrying medical supplies have been allowed into Gaza in the last week.

UNWRA's tracking site is a few days behind, yet Cogat claimed 248 trucks via the Kerem Shalom Crossing and 13 trucks via the Erez Crossing for July 10.
https://govextra.gov.il/cogat/humanitarian-efforts/home/

UNWRA received 30 trucks on July 10 through Kerem Shalom
https://data.humdata.org/dataset/state-of-palestine-gaza-aid-truck-data?

What happened to the other 218 trucks...



SvennoJ on 12 July 2024

Gaza on verge of losing ‘whole generation’ of children: UN

Juliette Touma, director of communications at the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), said an entire generation of Palestinian children is threatened if the war on Gaza continues.

Touma said at least 600,000 children in Gaza have been deprived of education since war was declared on the Palestinian territory in October, and they could “fall prey” to exploitation.

“We are on the verge of losing a whole generation of children,” Touma said, explaining that the longer children stay out of school the harder it is for them to return, which leaves them vulnerable to “child labour, child marriage. But also recruitment into armed groups and recruitment into the fighting”.


Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital struggles with shortages, damage and patient influx

The Indonesian Hospital in the city of Beit Lahiya is the only functioning hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip. But staff there say they are struggling with the continuing fuel and medical aid shortages, damage from repeated Israeli bombardment, and an overwhelming number of patients.



SvennoJ on 12 July 2024

UNWRA can count on ‘EU’s unwavering support’: Borrell

“UNRWA is a lifeline for 5.9m Palestinian refugees & a cornerstone of regional stability,” said Josep Borrell, EU’s foreign policy chief, in a post on X. “Increasing funding is more crucial than [ever], to maintain vital services. As the top donor w/ €500m annually, count on the EU’s unwavering support,” he added.

Right now, a pledge conference, meant to raise funds and encourage donors, for the UN Relief Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) is taking place at UN headquarters in New York City in the US.


UNWRA staff living a ‘nightmare’, yet ‘still deliver for Palestinians’: Guterres

Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, spoke at the UNWRA pledging conference at the UN headquarters in New York. Here are the main points he made:

  • Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse in Gaza, somehow, appallingly, Palestinian civilians are being pushed into ever deeper circles of hell.
  • Palestinians in Gaza keep being forced to move like human pinballs. Nowhere is safe. Everywhere is a potential killing zone.
  • It is time for the parties to show the political courage and political will to finally reach a ceasefire deal. Nothing justifies the horrific attacks by Hamas on October 7. And nothing justifies the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.
  • Palestinians are enduring the deadliest period since UNWRA’s creation.
  • And we are all painfully aware UNWRA colleagues have not been spared, where 195 staff members have been killed, the highest staff death toll in UN history. Staff have also been subjected to increasingly violent protests and disinformation campaigns.
  • Yet despite these and other obstacles, in impossible conditions, and in the middle of their own grief, the women and men of UNWRA have bravely continued their work in whatever way they can.
  • And can you imagine what it must be like to be in this situation? Can you imagine our colleagues wake up day after day in a living nightmare and still deliver for Palestinians in desperate need?
  • To those of you who have already pledged support, I thank you. And my appeal to everyone is this: protect UNWRA, protect UNWRA staff, and protect UNWRA’s mandates, including through funding.


UNRWA going above and beyond to operate transparently, former ethics chief says

Lex Takkenberg, former chief of UNRWA’s ethics office, tells Al Jazeera that the UN agency for Palestinian refugees is the only international body with an elaborate neutrality framework that incudes staff training, financial checks and inspections of its installations.

“It can never be ruled out that there are abuses, as in any other organisation, but it is doing an amazing job in providing support to Palestinians in the direst circumstances,” he said, adding that the agency was going above and beyond to operate according to humanitarian principles.

Takkenberg said Israel did not present credible evidence to support its claims that UNRWA staff took part in the October 7 attacks. These claims instead served to normalise raids against UNRWA and its facilities, which have become “an integral part of the onslaught in Gaza”, he said.


Lazzarini thanks 118 countries for statement of shared commitment to UNRWA

UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini has thanked 118 countries that signed on to a shared commitment to support and bolster financial and political support for the UN Palestinian refugee agency. The UN’s headquarters in New York held a pledge conference today to secure support for the agency.

“An impressive show of solidarity and support,” Lazzarini said, that comes at “a critical time as UNRWA undergoes unprecedented attacks and systematic attempts to dismantle it.”

The initiative was spearheaded by Slovenia, Jordan and Kuwait and signed by all 15 members of UN Security Council.



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SvennoJ on 12 July 2024

‘Tragic scenes’ after Israel withdraws from Gaza City’s industrial area: Civil defence

Gaza’s civil defence has said that dozens of bodies are scattered in alleys and inside destroyed houses in the industrial area of Gaza City.

“The scene now in the industrial area is very difficult and tragic after the occupation army withdrew from it,” the statement on Telegram said, adding that the forces set many houses on fire before the pull-back.

The civil defence also said that its crews were working to recover the bodies. Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza’s Deir el-Balah, said the troop withdrawal was believed to be “a tactical withdrawal and redeployment of the military”.


Footage shows destruction in western Gaza City

Video published by the Palestinian Information Center has documented the widespread destruction left behind by Israeli troops in the western neighbourhoods of Gaza City, in the northern Strip.

The video comes after the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area, which our correspondent says is believed to be a tactical move before redeployment. Entire blocks appeared to be levelled, while other buildings were partially destroyed, and streets are piled high with rubble on both sides.


‘Many bodies still in the streets or trapped inside’ homes

Israel’s brutal incursion of western Gaza for the past few days keeps unfolding with civil defence crews and paramedics working hard to get to areas that have been heavily bombed by the Israeli military within the past 48 hours, during nighttime, when people were still inside these residential buildings. Many of these bodies are still in the streets or trapped inside.

They bombed many homes in the western part of Gaza, leaving behind trails of devastation and destruction. The Israeli military was also operating aggressively in the western part in the early hours of this morning. It pulled out partially and repositioned itself in what seems to be a redeployment … in the centre part of Gaza City.

All of this happened while at the same time, the air force carried out relentless attacks in Nuseirat in the central part of the Gaza Strip, as well as the eastern part of Khan Younis.

The heavy artillery can be heard clearly from where we are reporting. This has not only caused further civilian casualties, but has put more pressure on health facilities, and at the same time, caused further destruction.


Gaza City’s Tal al-Hawa area teeming with decomposing bodies after Israeli forces retreat

Bodies can be seen decomposing on the streets of Tal al-Hawa in Gaza City after Israeli forces retreated from the area, according to social media footage verified by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency, Sanad.

Most of the people killed were women and children, according to local Palestinian sources.


60 bodies have now been found in Tal al-Hawa: Gaza’s civil defence

Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for Gaza’s civil defence, has told Al Jazeera that at least 60 bodies have now been found in Gaza City’s Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood.

“The Gaza civil defence teams moved in to rescue survivors. They found dozens killed. Most of those killed are families, women, and children. Some bodies were eaten by dogs,” Basal told us.

“At least 60 bodies were counted. Some bodies were buried on the spot. Others were taken to nearby hospitals. Many bodies are still under the rubble. The Israeli forces are stationed nearby and the rescue efforts are interrupted regularly,” he added.


Hamas urges international accountability for killings in Gaza City

The Palestinian group has accused Israel of committing “heinous abuses” in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood of Gaza City. Israeli forces withdrew from the area this morning, and Gaza’s Civil Defence reports the discovery of at least 60 bodies in the aftermath.

“The atrocities revealed after the terrorist occupation army’s withdrawal from Tal al-Hawa in southwest Gaza City, after days of incursion and intense bombing that targeted all aspects of life, are war crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing,” Hamas said in a statement.

Hamas called on the UN and international community, including the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, to take immediate steps to end a “war of extermination” that Israel is waging against Palestinians.



SvennoJ on 12 July 2024

Staff of foreign aid organisation killed in Israeli bombing of Gaza

Al Jazeera’s correspondents in the Gaza Strip, citing medical sources, report that four staffers of a UK relief organisation, named Al-Khair, were killed when the Israeli army bombed a warehouse in al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis in the south.

Aid workers from Al-Khair Foundation were targeted in a distribution point where they were preparing to distribute aid in Khan Younis.

Al-Khair Foundation has been working in the Gaza Strip since day one trying to provide people with food assistance, and with a lot of other commodities, and we lost another four aid workers today.

Al-Khair Foundation is a British foundation and it’s operating from Istanbul, and they have a lot of aid workers here in Gaza.

This is not the first time that Israeli forces have targeted aid workers, they already targeted the World Central Kitchen in April. Aid workers, journalists, paramedics civil defence teams, everyone is a target in Gaza.


Is the BBC just going to ignore this?

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/latest-israeli-soldier-killed-cross-border-fire-hezbollah-111874116

abcnews can't get their link named right either... It does link to

The Latest | Israeli strike kills 4 aid workers in Gaza 'safe zone,' UK-based group says

A U.K.-based aid group said one of its senior employees in Gaza was killed Friday in an Israeli strike that hit its warehouse located in an Israeli-declared humanitarian safe zone. The strike also killed three staffers from other aid groups using the warehouse, the Al-Khair Foundation said in a statement.

CBC reported it https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.6446754

BBC must be sleeping.




Israeli drones firing at Palestinians throughout Gaza City: Civil defence

Gaza’s civil defence says quadcopter Israeli drones are targeting Palestinians with live ammunition in Gaza City in the north of the territory.

It also stressed that Israeli forces have not fully withdrawn from Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood of the city, saying that a number of people were killed by Israeli fire in the area.


UN spokesperson decries killings in Gaza City

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric has told Al Jazeera that reports of dozens of bodies being retrieved from Gaza City were “yet another tragic example of the toll on civilians” that the conflict in Gaza is having.

“While this conflict is going on, it is not only impossible to give people the medical support they need, the food they need, the shelter they need, but also the dignified burial that they need,” Dujarric said.

The spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres added that there will be “a need for accountability” when the conflict in Gaza ends. “But right now, people are hungry. People need water. People need medical help. And that’s what we’re trying to do in the middle of a combat zone,” he said.


Israeli army killed dozens in Gaza City in ‘planned massacre’: Official


Director-General of the Government Media Office Ismail al-Thawabta has accused Israeli authorities of carrying out a “planned massacre” that killed dozens in Gaza City.

Al-Thawabta told Al Jazeera Arabic that the Israeli army directed thousands of Palestinians in eastern Gaza City to move to neighbourhoods in the west and south of the city, then opened fire at them once they got there. He said 70 bodies have been retrieved by rescue crews in the area of Tal al-Hawa, and at least 50 people remain missing.

“Some displaced people were pointing to the Israeli army, carrying white flags and saying, ‘We are not fighters; we are displaced.’ But the Israeli occupation army executed these displaced people with cold blood,” al-Thawabta said.

“The Israeli army was planning to carry out that massacre in Tal al-Hawa.” He renewed calls for the international community to pressure Israel to end its “war of extermination” against Palestinians.


16,054 children killed since beginning of war: Gaza authorities

The figure has been released as part of the Gaza Government Media Office’s latest data on the war. Of the children killed, 34 died from hunger, the office said.

At least 10,700 women are among the 38,345 Palestinians killed in Gaza since the war began, and about 10,000 Palestinians remain missing, according to the office.

Last edited by SvennoJ - on 12 July 2024

SvennoJ on 12 July 2024

14-year-old killed as Israeli forces open fire on children in occupied West Bank: Rights group

“Without a second thought”, Israeli forces shot dead 14-year-old Ali Hasan Ali Rabaya and wounded at least five other Palestinian children, including a 13-year-old who is in serious condition after being hit in the chest and legs, a child rights group said.

Defense for Children International said Ali was shot on Thursday by Israeli soldiers who opened fire from inside an armoured vehicle at a distance of between 20 and 40 metres (65 to 130 feet) in the village of Maithaloun, south of Jenin, in the occupied West Bank.

“Decades of systemic impunity have emboldened Israeli forces to shoot to kill without consequence, demonstrating contempt for Palestinian children’s lives,” the group said.

Israeli forces carry out raids, arrests across the occupied West Bank

The Israeli military has arrested two men from the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem, the Wafa news agency reports.

Israeli forces have also detained a Palestinian lawyer after storming the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, while a “number of young men” were detained in the village of Marda, north of Salfit, according to Wafa.

Israeli raids have also been reported in the village of al-Lubban Asharqiya, south of Nablus, and the village of Burqa, north of Nablus.


Israel is forcing more Palestinians to tear down their own homes

The number of Palestinians who are bulldozing their own homes has doubled amid a surge in Israeli-ordered demolitions on occupied Palestinian territory.

Homeowners said Israeli authorities are using the focus on Gaza to escalate the occupation.



SvennoJ on 12 July 2024

Israeli soldier killed in Hezbollah drone attack

The Israeli military has announced that a reservist has been killed following a drone attack near the northern Israeli community of Kibbutz Kabri.

The 33-year-old, a member of the 228th Brigade, was injured when explosive-laden Hezbollah drones flew over from southern Lebanon and attacked Israeli military positions in the Western Galilee on Thursday.

The soldier was taken to hospital in critical condition and succumbed to his wounds shortly after.


Smoke billows after rockets fired from southern Lebanon hit the Upper Galilee region in northern Israel on July 4


Israeli army claims attack on southern Syria

The Israeli army says it has carried out an air strike on a military position in southern Syria. The hit came in response to an attack on Thursday night directed towards Israeli positions in the occupied Golan Heights, it said. There were no casualties, the military added.


Israeli army says it intercepted rocket from Lebanon

The Israeli army says it intercepted a rocket launched from Lebanon which fell in an open area near the northern community of Adamit. No casualties were reported.


Hezbollah claims missile attack on Israeli soldiers near Hanita military site

The armed Lebanese group has claims to have attacked a group of Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of a military site in northern Israel’s Hanita settlement. The attack was carried out at 9:50am (06:50 GMT) while the soldiers were carrying out fortification and demolition work, the group said in a statement on Telegram. It did not elaborate on the results of the attack.


Israeli army carries out attacks on Lebanon

Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Lebanon reports that warplanes have bombed the towns of Tyre Harfa and Kfar Kila in southern Lebanon. They also reported that an Israeli drone targeted a motorcycle near the village if Mari.


Hezbollah, Israel claim more cross border attacks

Hezbollah says it has targeted an Israeli military site in the Shebaa Farms, a portion of Lebanese territory occupied by Israel, as well as a military barracks near Margaliot in northern Israel.

Israel’s military said its fighter jets had struck five sites in southern Lebanon, including those located in the villages of Ramyah, Tayr Harfa and Kfar Kila.

It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties in the attacks, which came a day after Hezbollah drone launches killed an Israeli soldier in northern Israel.


Smoke rises after Israeli shelling of Rashaya al-Fakhar, in southern Lebanon

Smoke could be seen in the vicinity of the town of Rashaya al-Fakhar, in southern Lebanon, following Israeli artillery shelling, according to local media. Fire broke out in the area after Israeli forces targeted the area, local sources said.


Hezbollah fighter killed in south Lebanon, group says

The Lebanese group has identified the slain fighter as Ali Nahleh, born in 1998.

Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in near-daily clashes since the outbreak of the war in Gaza. Hezbollah eulogises fighters killed in the war as having been “martyred on the road to Jerusalem” in a nod of support to Palestinians.


Israel announces more attacks in Lebanon

The Israeli military says it struck Hezbollah positions and infrastructure in several villages in southern Lebanon.



SvennoJ on 12 July 2024

US-UK targets Yemen’s Hodeidah airport with three air strikes: Houthi media

Yemen’s Houthi-controlled Hodeidah International Airport has been struck three times today by US and British aircraft.

That’s according the Al Masirah television channel that is controlled by the Iran-aligned armed group. The rebels control much of Yemen after nearly a decade of war against a Western-backed and Saudi-led coalition.


US forces destroy three Houthi drones: CENTCOM

US Central Command has said the drones were destroyed in a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen over the past 24 hours. It added that the drones presented an “imminent threat to US, coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region”, without providing further details.

The announcement came as the Houthis said they targeted a commercial vessel twice – in both the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait – with a number of ballistic and naval missiles and drones.