Hezbollah claims to have attacked northern Israel’s Malkia military site

Lebanese group Hezbollah has claimed to have targeted Israel’s military site near the Malkia settlement in the north.

The attack was carried out with a drone that hit one of the Israeli military bunkers, setting it on fire and destroying part of it, the group’s statement said on Telegram.

Alleged assailant killed in stabbing attack in southern Israel: Army

The Israeli army says there has been an alleged stabbing attack in the Netiv HaAsara area in southern Israel.

A statement on X said “the terrorist was neutralised”, without giving any further details.

Citing Israeli authorities, The Times of Israel reported that the English-speaking alleged attacker approached soldiers saying that the Israeli army “is killing civilians in Gaza” and drew a knife, before troops shot him.

‘Last Zionist president’: Israelis weigh withdrawal of Biden from election race

Israelis are scrambling to understand what US Vice President Kamala Harris’s potential replacement of Joe Biden as the Democrat’s presidential candidate means for Israel, the AP news agency reports.

Israel’s Haaretz daily newspaper published a story scrutinising Harris’s record of support for Israel, which has deviated slightly from Biden in going further in criticising Israel for the number of civilian casualties resulting from its war on Gaza, and call for a ceasefire.

Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli consul general in New York, said: “With Biden leaving, Israel has lost perhaps the last Zionist president.”

“A new Democratic candidate will upend the dynamic,” Pinkas said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – who has increasingly butted heads with the US administration over Israel’s war on Gaza – has yet to comment publicly on Biden’s withdrawal.

‘Enabler of genocide’: Biden was not a ‘great’ president, says Cornel West

West, one of the US’s pre-eminent philosophers and justice activists, said Joe Biden was “not a great or excellent president”.

“He was first and foremost an enabler of genocide in Gaza, with over 15,000 Palestinian children murdered,” West wrote on social media.

“The same cold-hearted rich donors” who supported Biden and the “Democratic Party’s militaristic agenda” will now shift their attention to “sister [Kamala] Harris or someone else with the same policies that neglect poor and working people,” he said.

As I predicted last year, brother Biden has had his LBJ moment and he is now out of the race! Despite the lies of his fellow Democrats, he was not a great or excellent president. He was first and foremost an enabler of genocide in Gaza, with over 15,000 Palestinian children… pic.twitter.com/yXY4HEH2Fm

— Cornel West (@CornelWest) July 21, 2024

Israel will be strong US ally regardless who is president: Netanyahu

Israel’s Army Radio reports that Netanyahu met families of the Israeli captives at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport, who will accompany him to Washington, DC.

Speaking to reporters before his departure, he said Israel will be the US’s strongest ally in the Middle East regardless of who is elected president in November.

He added that he will thank Biden for all he has done for Israel and that they will discuss releasing the captives and defeating Hamas in Gaza.

רה"מ נתניהו פוגש את משפחות החטופים שיצטרפו אליו לביקורו בארה"ב@yanircozin pic.twitter.com/21kpd7htMv

— גלצ (@GLZRadio) July 22, 2024

Translation: Prime Minister Netanyahu meets the families of the abductees who will join him on his visit to the US.

Netanyahu is already changing his tune. Israel will now be US's strongest ally again, instead of the other way around.



Netanyahu says US visit comes as Israel fights ‘on seven fronts’

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office has shared some of Netanyahu’s comments on X. Here’s what he has said:

Your wars have definitely impacted Bidens's re-election chances / part of the reason he's dropping out. We'll see how willing Biden still is to do your bidding. Biden has shown his frustration with Netanyahu before.



Antiwar, pro-Palestinian activists to protest Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, DC

Activists opposing Israel’s war on Gaza plan to protest in Washington, DC on Wednesday to coincide with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the US capital, the Reuters news agency reports.

Police expect a “large number of demonstrators” and are taking additional security measures, but said there were no known threats against the Israeli leader’s visit.

Netanyahu is scheduled to address a joint session of the US Congress this week and is expected to meet President Joe Biden.

Reuters said a coalition of groups plan to participate in the protests, among them ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), women-led peace and human rights group CodePink, Palestinian groups such as the Palestinian American Community Center and US Jewish groups, including Jewish Voice for Peace.

_{Pro-Palestinian demonstrators rally near the White House in Washington, DC, on June 8, 2024 to protest against Israel’s actions in Gaza}

Hamas denounces Israeli assault on Khan Younis

The group says the attack, which has killed and wounded dozens of people and displaced many families, will not deter Palestinians from remaining “steadfast in their land”.

“We call upon the international community and the United Nations to urgently intervene to stop the systematic Zionist killing of our people, who are facing a genocide,” Hamas said in a statement on its Telegram channel.

“We affirm that our people will remain steadfast, and the resistance will remain committed to confronting this criminal enemy that seeks to expel our people and obliterate our national cause.

“Gaza will remain unbreakable until the occupation is defeated on the path to freedom, return, and self-determination,” it said.

Qassam, al-Quds brigades claim series of attacks on Israeli military targets

The military wings of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad say their fighters:

Death toll in Khan Younis rises to 57: Government Media Office

The office says Israeli attacks on Khan Younis governorate also injured 172 people within 10 hours.

In a statement, the office said it received more than 1,200 appeals for help from besieged families asking to be rescued.

“This morning, the Israeli occupation army began a new aggression against Khan Younis Governorate committing crimes against humanity through indiscriminate bombing of citizens’ homes and groups of displaced people in the area,” the office said.

Of the 57 people killed, “49 were taken to Nasser Medical Complex, while other martyrs were taken to other hospitals,” it added.

Death toll rises again in new Israeli assault on Khan Younis

The Gaza Health Ministry says at least 70 bodies have arrived at the Nasser Medical Complex since this morning after Israeli forces renewed their attacks on the city in the southern Strip.

The ministry added that more than 200 injured people, including serious cases, have arrived at the medical facility, which is located in Khan Younis.

Palestine Red Crescent shares video of its operations in Khan Younis today

The PRCS has published video on X showing its crews recovering the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on the southern city of Khan Younis today.

In this particular rescue operation, it said, its medics responded to calls about the bombing of a house in Abasan al-Kabira, in the eastern part of Khan Younis.

Earlier, the Israeli army issued new evacuation orders for the city, which affect about 400,000 people, and began a fresh assault.

Health officials in Gaza say that Isralei attacks on Khan Younis have killed at least 70 people and injured 200 since this morning.

🚨Palestine Red Crescent crews recovered several martyrs today from the bombing of a house in Abasan al-Kabira, east of #KhanYunis city, and transported them to Nasser Medical Hospital.
📷 Filmed by volunteer Raed Al-Sharif. pic.twitter.com/BzOJSn3XNk

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) July 22, 2024

Yemeni harbour still ablaze two days after Israeli attack as US says Israel justified

Firefighting teams are struggling to contain a blaze at Yemen’s Hodeidah port, two days after a deadly Israeli strike damaged oil storage facilities and endangered aid ships in the harbour, AFP reports.

Firefighting teams appear to have made little progress. The blaze appears to be expanding in some parts of the port amid fears it could reach food storage facilities.

High-resolution satellite images taken by Maxar Technologies showed flames consuming a heavily damaged fuel storage area at the harbour in Hodeidah, a city on the Red Sea.

An analysis of satellite imagery from Planet by the Dutch peace organisation PAX showed at least 33 destroyed oil storage tankers, said Wim Zwijnenburg, a project leader with the organisation.

“We expect [to find] more damage as not all storage tanks are visible because of heavy smoke” from the fire and burning fuel, Zwijnenburg said.

When asked by reporters about whether an attack on infrastructure will hurt the civilian population more than the Houthi administration, Robert Wood, deputy US ambassador to the UN, said: “Israel has the right to defend itself. And I’m not going to stand up here and question what Israel’s targets were, whether they were appropriate or not in this particular case.”

He continued: “They had a right to respond to that attack on Tel Aviv. And again, the fingerprints on all of this are Iran’s. And so we’re going to continue to call on Iran to end its support for the Houthis and their terrorist activities.”

A drone attack on Tel Aviv on Friday killed one person. The Houthis claimed responsibility for it.

Israeli tech firm ordered to compensate employee fired for calling Israel ‘terrorist state’

Wix Online Platforms has been ordered to pay $38,100 in compensation to an Irish former employee whom it fired after she made her comments about Israel on social media.

According to The Irish Sun newspaper, the multinational company, which has an office in Dublin, accepted that it had unfairly dismissed customer care team lead Courtney Carey on October 23 over online comments she had made about the Israeli war on Gaza.

Carey said she has been effectively blacklisted in the tech sector since the incident.

In posts and comments online, Carey criticised the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza by Israel.

The controversy prompted Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin to weigh in on the issue, saying Carey’s dismissal was “unacceptable” because employees “should be allowed their individual viewpoints”.

UNRWA teams visit destroyed Gaza HQ

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), has shared photos on X that resulted from a visit to the agency’s headquarters in Gaza City, which it announced a week ago had been “flattened and turned into a battlefield”.

The photos show the wreckage of the compound, the outside of which is painted with clearly identifiable UN logos.

“This used to be home to our central offices and one of the largest UN compounds in the region. … This is one of hundreds of UN buildings destroyed in this war”, Lazzarini wrote.

He added that those responsible for the office’s destruction must be identified and brought to justice.

“Whether it’s Palestinian armed groups including Hamas or the Israeli Forces, those responsible must be held accountable for another blatant disregard of international humanitarian law.”

#Gaza
Our @UNRWA teams visited the compound.
This used to be home to our central offices and one of the largest UN compounds in the region. 🇺🇳🇺🇳
Having been there myself many times, it’s extremely hard to recognize.
This is one of hundreds of UN buildings destroyed in this… pic.twitter.com/mvuuHLNoTg

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) July 22, 2024

 
Office of UN chief confirms Israeli attack on UNRWA convoy

Earlier, we reported that Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA, said Israeli forces had shot at a UN convoy heading to Gaza City on Sunday despite the movement being coordinated and approved by Israeli authorities.

Now, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, has confirmed the version of events offered by Lazzarini.

“A convoy from our UNRWA colleagues was shot at by Israeli forces as they were heading north to Gaza City,” Dujarric said, adding that according to Lazzarini, the convoy’s movement had been “coordinated with the Israeli authorities, and those responsible for yesterday’s account must be held to account”.

There were no injuries in the attack, the head of UNRWA said.

Knesset passes bills to close UNRWA, label it ‘terrorist organisation’

Israel’s parliament has passed three bills in their first readings to close the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and designate it a “terrorist organisation”.

The first bill prohibits UNRWA from operating any mission, providing any service or conducting any activity on Israeli territory. It was passed 58-9, The Times of Israel newspaper reported.

The second bill was approved 63-9 and calls for stripping UNRWA personnel of their legal immunities and privileges offered to UN staff in Israel.

The third bill calls for designating the UN agency as a “terrorist organisation” and requires Israel to cut ties with it. It was passed by a 50-10 vote.

The three bills will now go to the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for further deliberation. They will require two more readings to become effective.

Israel has lobbied hard to have UNRWA closed, especially since it began its war on Gaza in October.

Palestinians slam Knesset bill to label UNRWA a ‘terrorist’ group

PLO Secretary-General Hussein al-Sheikh says the bills targeting the UN agency that provides relief to Palestinians shows “Israel’s disregard for the international community and its global agencies”.

Earlier, we reported Israel’s parliament passed three bills in the first reading to close UNRWA and designate it a “terrorist organisation”. The bills have to pass two more readings.

“The Israeli occupation is the ugliest form of terrorism that is exercised against the Palestinian people. And the Knesset’s decision to target an international humanitarian organisation has to be met with a global stand,” al-Sheikh said.

He urged states to support the agency “financially, politically and morally, so it can continue to carry out its humanitarian role towards the people who are victim of Israel’s occupation”.

Biden should press Netanyahu on journalist killings: CPJ and rights groups

Biden should also press the Israeli prime minister on the near-total ban on international media entering the besieged Gaza Strip, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and seven other human rights and news freedom organisations say.

In letters to the White House and US congressional leaders, the groups called on the US to “ensure that Israel ceases the killing of journalists, allows immediate and independent media access to the occupied Gaza Strip, and takes urgent steps to enable the press to report freely throughout Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories”.

Netanyahu is expected to meet with Biden on Tuesday and is scheduled to address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday.

The letters were signed by Amnesty International USA, the Freedom of the Press Foundation, Knight First Amendment Institute, National Press Club, PEN America, Reporters Without Borders and the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy.

Jordan condemns Israel’s advance of laws labeling UNRWA as ‘terrorist’ organisation

We’ve been reporting today on moves by Israel’s parliament to close the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees  (UNRWA) and designate it a “terrorist organisation”. The Knesset, Israel’s name for its parliament, passed three bills in its first readings to this effect today.

Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says in a statement posted to X that the Knesset’s moves are equal to “an attempt to kill the agency, assassinate it politically, and target its symbolism, which affirms the right of Palestinian refugees to return and compensation in accordance with international law”.

The ministry’s spokesman, Sufyan Al-Qudah, added that Israel’s actions against UNRWA, which aim to “kill it and cancel its pivotal and basic role in providing humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people”, are a violation of international law.

UNRWA denounces new Israeli evacuation orders on Khan Younis

The UN’s Palestinian refugee agency says on X that the orders, issued earlier today, “mean more suffering and displacement” for the exhausted population of the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army’s evacuation orders affect about 400,000 people in Khan Younis. The order quickly preceded a huge assault on areas of the city which has left at least 70 people killed since this morning.

The agency shared a video of this latest evacuation of Khan Younis, saying that the people forced to flee have “nowhere safe to go.

New evacuation orders today in Khan Younis mean more suffering and displacement. Families had to pack what is left of their belongings and run, amid bombardment, and with nowhere safe to go.

People in #Gaza are exhausted, living in inhumane conditions, with no safety at all. pic.twitter.com/LSYTEBxMRM

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) July 22, 2024

Two wounded as Hezbollah fires rockets at northern Israel

The Lebanese group says it fired “dozens of Katyusha rockets” at the Israeli town of Tsurial, which it said was being “introduced” to its fire schedule as it was bombed for the first time.

Hezbollah says that this attack is “a response to the Israeli enemy attack that targeted civilians in the town of Hanin and injured a family there”.

Israeli Army Radio reports that two people were injured in Tsurial and video from local sources in Israel shows a building and bus damaged in the attack.

Hezbollah has so far been cautious in its attacks on Israeli territory, largely limiting strikes to Israeli military positions, but attacks on civilian settlements have become more frequent as Israel has escalated its attacks on the group’s military leadership.

Palestinian Olympic Committee calls for Israel to be excluded from games

The Palestinian Olympic Committee has joined calls for Israel to be excluded from the games in an open letter to International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach.

The letter accused Israel of breaching the traditional Olympic truce, which is scheduled to run from July 19 until after the Paralympics in mid-September, with its continued war on Gaza.

It “emphasised that Palestinian athletes, particularly those in Gaza, are denied safe passage and have suffered significantly due to ongoing conflict”.

It also said that “approximately 400 Palestinian athletes have been killed, and the destruction of sports facilities exacerbates the plight of athletes who are already under severe restrictions”.

The committee also referenced the recent opinion by the UN’s top court finding Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal.

France to give 24-hour protection to Israeli Olympics team

Israeli athletes will receive 24-hour protection during the Paris Olympics, France’s interior minister has said.

On Monday, Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said at a meeting with European Union counterparts in Brussels: “I want to say on behalf of France, to the Israeli delegation, we welcome you to France for these Olympic Games.”

He said he would emphasise that point in an imminent phone call with his Israeli counterpart, and also “tell him that we are ensuring the security of the Israeli delegation”.