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SvennoJ on 26 July 2024

Former Israeli military intelligence officer: Israel is a long way from defeating Hamas

Michael Milshtein, a former Israeli military intelligence officer who leads Palestinian studies at Tel Aviv-based Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, told the Reuters news agency that Israel would need more boots on the ground across more areas of Gaza to achieve its aim of eliminating Hamas.

“We are very far from the goal of destroying Hamas’s government and military capacities. We are really not close to that,” Milshtein said.

He noted, however, that a purely military victory would in any case ignore the group’s social, political and economic influence. “We’re continuing to treat an enemy who is multi-dimensional in its behaviour as a military threat only.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has set the destruction of Hamas as the chief aim of Israel’s war on Gaza and has said that he will not agree to any ceasefire or captive exchange deal that does not allow Israel to pursue this goal.

Biden, Netanyahu meet families of American captives held in Gaza

Following a meeting behind closed doors, Biden and Netanyahu have met the families of American captives in Gaza.

The Israeli prime minister has been under pressure to achieve a deal with Hamas that includes the release of all captives held in the besieged Strip.

Among those attending the meeting was the family of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose video released by Hamas ignited new protests against the Israeli government in April.


Captives’ families after Biden-Netanyahu meeting: ‘Return abductees, end suffering in Gaza’

The families have released a statement after their meeting, saying that they “made it clear to the two leaders that a deal should be made to return all the abductees and end the suffering of the residents of Gaza”.

“When the abductees return the killing will stop.”

The statement adds that at the close of the meeting, the group of families felt “more optimistic than we have at any point since the previous hostage release agreement in November”.



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SvennoJ on 26 July 2024

Investigation finds Israel trying to shield company behind Pegasus spyware from accountability

An investigation led by a consortium of journalists and supported by Amnesty International’s Security Lab has found documents that show Israel actively trying to shield the NSO Group, the private Israeli company behind the Pegasus spyware, from accountability.

“Israel has a duty to ensure Israeli companies do not cause or contribute to human rights violations anywhere in the world,” Amnesty’s Donncha Ó Cearbhaill, head of the Security Lab, said in a statement.

“These documents suggest that not only are they failing to do this but are actively trying to shield NSO Group from accountability for its role in severe human rights violations.”

The hacking tool Pegasus has been used by governments around the world to spy on dissidents, journalists, lawyers and activists via their mobile phones.

Treasury Secretary Yellen urges Israel to extend cooperation with Palestinian banks

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said that Israel must continue to collaborate with Palestinian banks amid threats from far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to cut off access to essential financial services in the occupied West Bank.

“I am glad that Israel has allowed its banks to continue cooperating with Palestinian banks, but I remain convinced that a one-year extension of the waiver to facilitate this cooperation is needed,” US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said during a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Rio de Janeiro.

Smotrich first threatened to block key transactions in the occupied West Bank in May, after several European countries said they would recognise Palestinian statehood.



SvennoJ on 26 July 2024

Harris: We cannot look away from ‘dire’ suffering in Gaza

Vice President Kamala Harris has spoken after her meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

She spoke frequently about the suffering in Gaza and told those in the US calling for a ceasefire “I see you, I hear you”, while also reiterating her support for Israel’s right to defend itself.

Harris also said she had a “frank and constructive meeting” with Netanyahu and reiterated her “unwavering commitment” to the US ally’s security.



Harris: Israel’s war on Gaza ‘is not a binary issue’

Here are more comments from Vice President Kamala Harris after her meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Thursday:

“What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating. The images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time. We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering, and I will not be silent,” Harris said.

“However, too often, the conversation [about Israel’s war on Gaza] is binary when the reality is anything but. So I asked my fellow Americans to help encourage efforts to acknowledge the complexity, the nuance, and the history of the region,” Harris said.

US vice president addresses ‘absolute horror’ of life in Gaza for Palestinians

What we heard from Vice President Kamala Harris … were very different comments from other Biden administration officials.

Of course, there was the usual ironclad support for Israel. But then, more than we have heard from pretty much any US politician at this level, there was a lot of discussion about the absolute horror that the people in Gaza are living through and dying.

She talked about the number of starvations. The number of people who are food insecure. The number of people who have had to move several times.

She talked about seeing pictures of dead children. You don’t see that in the US media. You don’t see it on the front pages of newspapers. Almost hardly at all. There is very little discussion about the plight of the people in Gaza.

So she did spend quite a bit of time talking about that.

But, I think the line that really summed up what her meeting was – what the message was for the Israeli prime minister – she said, talking about a ceasefire: It’s time to get this done.

 

Harris – We can’t look away from Palestinian suffering

US Vice President Kamala Harris has called for an urgent Gaza ceasefire after her meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on Thursday. She also pledged to secure the release of captives and improve conditions for Palestinians, describing her talks with Netanyahu as “frank and constructive”.

Rami Khouri, a public policy fellow at the American University of Beirut, joins Al Jazeera to discuss Harris’s comments:



SvennoJ on 26 July 2024

Dozens killed in series of Israeli attacks in southern Gaza

The Israeli military has carried out a series of attacks in and around the cities of Khan Younis and Rafah in southern Gaza in recent hours, the Wafa news agency reports. In total, medical sources have said that the bodies of 32 people have arrived at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis since Thursday morning, Wafa reports.

The attacks include:

  • One woman was killed and others were injured by Israeli air strikes in Khan Younis
  • One person was killed and others were injured by Israeli shelling targeting the town of Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis
  • Rescue crews retrieved the lifeless bodies of an unspecified number of people from under the rubble of houses bombed by the Israeli military in Bani Suheila
  • An Israeli drone bombed the Sheikh Nasser neighbourhood of Khan Younis, killing two people and injuring a third
  • The Israeli military has shot and killed two men in the east of Khan Younis
  • Israeli forces shot and killed one person in the al-Shakoush area, northwest of Rafah


Israeli military bombs home in Gaza City, killing 3

The Israeli military has bombed a home in Gaza City, killing at least three people, the Wafa news agency reports. More people were injured in the attack, which targeted the al-Banna family home on al-Sahaba Street in the east of Gaza City, according to Wafa.

Israeli fighter jets have also bombed a residential apartment in the Daraj neighbourhood in Gaza City, injuring a number of people, including children and women, with no casualties currently reported.


Video shows Palestinian fighters target Israeli tanks in southern Gaza

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic have obtained and verified footage that is said to show Hamas fighters using rocket-propelled grenades and powerful explosive devices against Israeli tanks in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis.

In one clip, a fighter calmly approaches a stationary Israeli tank and fires a rocket from just metres away, scoring a direct hit.

In another clip, fighters can be seen laying explosive devices to ambush an Israeli tank and a large plume of smoke, which appears to indicate the tank caught fire as a result of the attack.

Translation: The Qassam fighters confront occupation vehicles penetrating the advance axis in the city of Khan Younis.


United Nations chief says Israeli military fired on three UN convoys in 3 days in Gaza

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Israeli forces were responsible for firing on three of the UN’s aid convoys over three days in the Gaza Strip.

The attacks took place between Sunday and Tuesday, and bullets pierced UN vehicles on two occasions, Guterres said at a news conference at the UN headquarters in New York on Thursday.

“They were shot by the Israeli military,” the UN chief said.

The UN said earlier this week that one attack was on a UN convoy carrying humanitarian workers and children near the Wadi Gaza checkpoint.


Israeli military says another soldier killed in southern Gaza

The 37-year-old corporal with Israel’s Givati Brigade was killed fighting in the south of the Gaza Strip, the military said in a brief post on social media.

Hours earlier, the Israeli military also reported that a 19-year-old sergeant in the 9th Armoured Battalion was also killed on Thursday in the south of the Gaza Strip.


Al-Quds Brigades claims attack on Israeli troops in central Gaza

The armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad says its fighters have attacked soldiers along the supply line of the so-called Netzarim Corridor with mortar shells.

Al-Quds Brigades claims attack on Israeli forces around Rafah crossing

The armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad says its fighters bombarded Israeli soldiers and vehicles stationed around the Rafah border crossing in southern Gaza with mortar shells.

The group also said it engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli forces since last night in the east of Khan Younis, using machineguns and antitank shells.


New Israeli attack on residential tower in Nuseirat kills at least 1

The Israeli army is stepping up its attacks across the Gaza Strip. In the past hour, there were new air strikes on the northern part of the Nuseirat refugee camp, in central Gaza.

One Palestinian has been killed so far in an attack on a residential flat. The attack has really caused a great deal of destruction in the residential tower that was targeted. They are now bombing the eastern areas of the Bureij refugee camp, also in the centre of Gaza.

Civil defence crews say they are not able to access the area due to the presence of Israeli ground forces there.


Qassam Brigades claims hitting Israeli tanks, troops in Gaza City

The armed wing of Hamas says its fighters have struck two Merkava 4 tanks surrounded by Israeli soldiers in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood of Gaza City. The group said in a Telegram post that Shawath explosive devices were used in the attack.


At least 21 people killed in new Israeli attacks across Gaza

At least 18 bodies have arrived in Nasser Medical Complex this morning in Khan Younis.

One person was killed in an attack on a residential building in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp. At least two people were killed in an Israeli raid on a residence on the al-Sahaba Street in central Gaza City.

This is according to our team on the ground in Deir el-Balah, as well as our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.


Intense ground battle erupt in Gaza City’s Tal al-Hawa area

Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Gaza is reporting that violent clashes have erupted in the area between Palestinian fighters and Israel’s ground forces.



SvennoJ on 26 July 2024

Israeli military arrests 10, including women and children, in West Bank raids

The Israeli military has stormed the occupied West Bank city of Qalqilya and the town of Azzun, east of the city, and arrested at least 10 people, the Wafa news agency reports. Women and children are among those detained, most of whom are the relatives of people wanted by Israeli forces, according to Wafa.

Israeli soldiers stormed the city of Qalqilya and carried out raids in many neighbourhoods, searched homes and assaulted residents, before arresting five people.

Israeli forces also arrested at least five people in the town of Azzun, including the young brother and sister of a wanted man, Muawiya Riyashi, to pressure him to turn himself in, Wafa reports.


Hamas leader in West Bank dies in Israeli custody amid reports of torture

Mustafa Muhammad Abu Ara, a Hamas leader in the occupied West Bank, has died in Israeli detention, the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs has said in a statement.

The 63-year-old, who died after being transferred to a hospital from the Ramon jail in southern Israel, was arrested in October and had been subjected to torture and deprived of medical treatment, according to the Palestinian body.

“Before his arrest, he was suffering from serious health problems and needed intensive medical follow-up. However, from the moment of his arrest, Sheikh Abu Ara, like all prisoners, has faced unprecedented crimes,” the statement reads.

Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have marked his death with marches and protests. There has been no immediate comment from Israel.


Israeli military storms West Bank town, prepares deceased man’s home for demolition

The Israeli military has stormed the town of ar-Ram, north of occupied East Jerusalem, and raided the house of a deceased man to take its measurements in preparation for its demolition. Israeli soldiers shot and killed Mohammad Shihab on July 14 after he allegedly attempted to run over four soldiers in his car in an attack in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli forces have also shot two men during the storming of the city of Qalqilya. Both men have been transferred to hospital, one in serious condition and the other only slightly injured.

The Israeli military has also carried out raids in other locations, including:

  • The Shu’fat  camp, north of occupied Jerusalem
  • The towns of Qaffin, Attil, Deir al-Ghusun, al-Jarushiya, and the Shuwaika suburb, north of Tulkarem
  • Israeli forces have clashed with Palestinian fighters during the storming of the Askar camp in Nablus
  • Israeli forces have arrested a man from the town of Silat ad-Dhahr, south of Jenin


Two Palestinian youths injured in Israeli raid on Qalqiliya

An Israeli military raid last night on the city of Qalqiliya in the occupied West Bank left two Palestinian youths wounded by Israeli gunfire, the Wafa news agency reports. Local sources told Wafa that Israeli soldiers stormed the city through its eastern entrance and pursued a vehicle, opening fire at it and injuring two occupants.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed that the two injured individuals, one with severe wounds and the other with minor injuries, were admitted to Darwish Nazzal Governmental Hospital.

Israeli forces also closed the city’s main eastern entrance with a metal gate, obstructing the movement of residents during the raid.


Seven Palestinians detained in Israeli raid on Nablus: Report

Israeli forces detained seven Palestinians during a raid in the eastern area of Nablus, north of the occupied West Bank, according to the Wafa news agency.

Palestinian security and local sources told Wafa that several Israeli military vehicles stormed the area with tear gas and stun grenades near the Askar refugee camp.

At least seven people were detained during the raid, including six from the Hebron family, and were taken to an unknown destination.


Clashes erupt in West Bank’s Tulkarem over arrest attempt

Clashes have taken place in occupied West Bank’s Tulkarem, between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestinian fighters of the Tulkarem Brigade, amid an attempt to arrest Mohammed Jaber, who is also wanted by the Israeli military.

Al Jazeera Arabic reported that several people intervened to prevent the arrest of the man, also known as Abu Shuja’, as PA security surrounded the Thabet Thabet Governmental Hospital.

Jaber returned to the Nur Shams refugee camp and was greeted with a festive reception, our colleagues reported.

Hamas issued a statement condemning the PA’s attempted arrest, saying it should seek to strengthen the Palestinian resistance in light of ongoing settler attacks in the West Bank rather than weaken it.



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SvennoJ on 26 July 2024

Hezbollah says ‘guided missile’ destroyed Israeli army equipment

The armed group says it used a guided missile to target a “technical system” at an Israeli army site near to the southern Lebanese village of Ramyah. In a statement on Telegram, the group claimed the missile hit the Israeli military equipment directly and destroyed it.


Israel claims to have struck Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon


The Israeli military has claimed its air strikes in southern Lebanon’s Markaba village targeted a Hezbollah military structure. It said on X that the army targeted another military structure belonging to the Lebanese group in the southern village of Aita al-Shaab.


Hezbollah claims attacks on Israeli positions in Kfarchouba Hills, Shebaa Farms

The Lebanese group says it has hit Israeli military positions in the occupied Lebanese territories with rockets.

The group said on Telegram that the attack on Kfarchouba Hills was carried out at 12:45pm (09:45 GMT) and the strike on the occupied Shebaa Farms took place at 1pm (10:00 GMT). It did not elaborate on the results of the attacks.

 

Israel says it killed 500 people in Lebanon in past nine months

Major General Ori Gordin, the chief of Israel’s Northern Command, has told the Golani Brigade in northern Israel that most of the “500 terrorists” killed in Lebanon in the past nine months were from Hezbollah.

“Our backs are the residents, our backs are the citizens and our faces and our barrels are aimed at the enemy. When the moment comes and we launch an attack, it will be a decisive attack,” he added.

The cross-border attacks between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah armed group have become a daily occurrence since Israel’s war on Gaza started on October 7.

Hezbollah has said it will continue attacks on northern Israel until there is a ceasefire in Gaza.

Last edited by SvennoJ - on 26 July 2024

SvennoJ on 26 July 2024

Gaza children ‘deliberately’ shot, say US medical workers in letter to Biden, Harris

A group of 45 American doctors and nurses who have experience working in Gaza since October have written a letter to US President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris recounting “the massive human toll from Israel’s attack” on the territory.

The multi-faith, multiethnic group said their experience in the warzone made them “uniquely positioned” to comment as the US considered its continued support for Israel’s war on Gaza.

“It is likely that the death toll from this conflict is already greater than 92,000, an astonishing 4.2% of Gaza’s population,” they write, adding that every signatory to the joint letter had treated Palestinian children who “must have been deliberately” targeted for attack.

“Every one of us on a daily basis treated pre-teen children who were shot in the head and chest,” they wrote.

With a few exceptions, “everyone in Gaza is sick, injured, or both”, they added.

Israeli official says Harris’s comments harmful to Gaza negotiations: Report

An Israeli official has claimed that comments by US Vice President Kamala Harris calling for an end to the war and highlighting the “dire humanitarian crisis” for Palestinians will embolden Hamas and harm ceasefire negotiations, The Times of Israel reports.

“What is Hamas supposed to think when it hears this?” the anonymous official told the newspaper, suggesting her comments could lead the Palestinian group to toughen its demands. “I hope it won’t lead to regression in the talks because we’ve made a lot of progress.”

“We are on a path of cooperation and closing gaps,” the Israeli official added. “But that is why Harris’s press conference was so problematic.”

Earlier, we reported that the likely Democratic presidential nominee said she “will not be silent” about the “suffering” in Gaza, following her meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, DC on Thursday.

 

Harris expressed ‘concern’ over Israeli settler violence in Netanyahu meeting

US Vice President Kamala Harris has raised the issue of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank during discussions with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, according to a readout of the meeting.

“The Vice President also expressed her concern about actions that undermine stability and security in the West Bank, such as extremist settler violence and settlement expansion,” the White House said.

Harris condemned “pro-Hamas graffiti and rhetoric” following protests in Washington to mark Netanyahu’s address to Congress, and she reiterated her “longstanding and unwavering commitment to the security of the State of Israel”.

The likely Democratic presidential nominee also raised the need to “reach a durable end to the war in Gaza” and the “need to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza”.

 

Israel’s Smotrich takes aim at Harris over Gaza ceasefire call

Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has accused US Vice President Kamala Harris of being in favour of a Gaza ceasefire deal that would see Israel “surrendering” to Hamas.

In a post on social media, Smotrich said Harris had “revealed” what was really behind a deal currently being negotiated to bring an end to the war in Gaza and the return of Israeli captives.

The far-right minister appeared to be referring to comments by Harris following a meeting with the Israeli prime minister in Washington, DC on Thursday night, where she spoke about the suffering of people in Gaza and the need for a ceasefire.

“It is time for this war to end,” Harris said in a televised statement after she held face-to-face talks with Netanyahu.

According to Smotrich, Harris’s comments revealed “to the whole world” that the deal involved “surrendering” to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and “ending the war in a way that would allow Hamas to rehabilitate”.

“Do not fall into this trap!” he said.

Israel’s Ben-Gvir dismisses Harris’s remarks on ‘suffering’ in Gaza

“There will be no truce, Madam Candidate,” Israel’s Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir writes on X.

He was responding to US Vice President and presidential hopeful Kamala Harris, who said after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that she would “not be silent” about the “suffering” in Gaza.

Ben-Gvir’s message came after far-right Economy Minister Bezalel Smotrich said this morning that Harris’s push for a ceasefire proves that the deal is about “surrendering to [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar”.



SvennoJ on 26 July 2024

Australia, Canada, New Zealand urge Israel to protect civilians in Gaza

The three governments have issued a statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, saying “the situation in Gaza is catastrophic”.

“The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue,” it said.

The statement condemned the October 7 attack on Israel led by Hamas, urging the group to lay down its arms and release all Israeli captives, but urged Israel to “listen to the concerns of the international community”.

“The protection of civilians is paramount and a requirement under international humanitarian law. Palestinian civilians cannot be made to pay the price of defeating Hamas. It must end,” the three governments said.

“An immediate ceasefire is needed desperately. Civilians must be protected, and a sustained increase in the flow of assistance throughout Gaza is needed to address the humanitarian situation,” they added.


Israel sets up 25 illegal outposts in West Bank since October 7: Report

Peace Now Israel, a group pushing for a two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, says since the war on Gaza began, Israel has established at least “25 outposts, most of them agricultural outposts”, in the occupied West Bank.

“The cabinet approved the establishment of five new settlements: Evyatar, Givat Assaf, Sde Ephraim, Adorayim, and Nachal Haletz, all illegal outposts intended to become official settlements,” the report said.

It found that far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich instructed ministries and authorities to begin funding “70 illegal outposts, establish public buildings, and connect them to water, electricity, and other infrastructure”.

It added that 1,205 Palestinian structures have been “demolished by Israel”, leading to more than 2,500 Palestinians losing their homes. The majority of the structures, 1,027, were demolished in the West Bank and 178 were in East Jerusalem.



UN puts 4th century Gaza monastery on endangered site list

The St Hilarion complex, one of the oldest monasteries in the Middle East, has been put on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in danger due to the war in Gaza, the agency says.

UNESCO cited the “imminent threats” it faces and stressed that the site, which dates back to the fourth century, has been placed on the endangered list at the request of Palestinian authorities. It is located near Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

“It’s the only recourse to protect the site from destruction in the current context,”  Lazare Eloundou Assomo, director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, told the AFP news agency.

In December, the UNESCO Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict decided to grant “provisional enhanced protection” – the highest level established by the 1954 Hague Convention – to the site.



SvennoJ on 26 July 2024

Israel extends ban on Al Jazeera

The District Court of Tel Aviv has extended Israel’s ban on Al Jazeera Media Network for another 45 days, according to our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.

The ban initially came in early May when Israel’s cabinet unanimously voted to shut down Al Jazeera in the country, immediately ordering the closure of its offices and a ban on the company’s broadcasts.

WFP forced to reduce food rations in Gaza

The World Food Programme says it has been forced to reduce food rations in Gaza “to ensure broader coverage for newly displaced people”.

In a post on X, it added that supplies are scarce in central and southern Gaza as barely any commercial provisions are going in.

A group of UN experts have blamed Israel for the onset of famine in Gaza, accusing it of carrying out a “targeted starvation campaign”, largely by preventing the delivery of aid, as well as through its relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

WHO sends more than 1 million polio vaccines to Gaza

The World Health Organization chief says vaccines will be administered over the coming weeks to prevent children being infected after the virus was detected in sewage samples.

“While no cases of polio have been recorded yet, without immediate action, it is just a matter of time before it reaches the thousands of children who have been left unprotected,” Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in an opinion piece for the UK’s The Guardian newspaper.

He wrote that children under five were most at risk from the viral disease, and especially infants under two since normal vaccination campaigns have been disrupted by more than nine months of conflict.

Poliomyelitis, which is spread mainly through the fecal-oral route, is a highly infectious virus that can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis.

Cases of polio have declined by 99 percent worldwide since 1988 thanks to mass vaccination campaigns and efforts continue to eradicate it completely.

France welcomes Israeli president despite criticism as Olympics kick off

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has thanked French President Emmanuel Macron for a “warm welcome” to Paris as the Olympic Games kick off with the opening ceremony later today, amid enhanced security measures for Israeli officials and athletes.

The country’s participation in the games amid its brutal war on Gaza has provoked criticism of Olympics organisers, who have a long history of banning nations deemed to have committed acts that contravene the spirit of the games.

Russia and Belarus will be absent from the competition as a result of the continuing war in Ukraine.

“The State of Israel is proud to participate in the Olympics and to raise its flag on this important world stage,” Herzog said on X, thanking France for helping ensure Israel’s participation.



SvennoJ on 26 July 2024

Olympics perfect platform to tell world of Palestine’s suffering: Committee chief

Palestine Olympic Committee President Jibril Rajoub has made the remark in an interview with the Reuters news agency.

He said hundreds of athletes have been killed, injured, are missing or have been arrested across Palestine and sports facilities destroyed.

“We could not bring out any one of the athletes from Gaza. Inside the West Bank, the movement is not easy, but in spite of that, we could find a small team who were qualified or with a wildcard,” Rajoub added.

He also said it would be up to individual athletes if they want to face Israelis in the Paris Olympic Games, adding that his organisation faces rebuilding after the competition.

The Palestinian team for the games consists of six athletes competing in boxing, judo, taekwondo, shooting and swimming. They have slim hopes of a medal.

Palestinian sports officials have said that since the start of the war in Gaza in October, more than 300 athletes, referees and sports officials have been killed and all sports facilities in Gaza demolished.



Empty words if you don't back it up with anything, it's been 9 months now.

Macron demands ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Gaza

French President Emmanuel Macron has demanded an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza, according to a press release from Elysee Palace.

It was released as Macron hosted Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the palace, just a few hours before the start of the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony.

Macron spoke with his Israeli counterpart as part of talks on the sidelines of the Olympics and was expected to reiterate his commitment to “ensuring the safety of Israeli athletes”.

With the Israeli war on Gaza continuing to escalate, the Israeli team’s participation has been a subject of controversy within the pro-Palestinian community.

“Faced with the unbearable human toll among the civilian population of Gaza and the unsustainable humanitarian situation, the president will call for the conclusion without further delay of an immediate and lasting ceasefire to allow the release of all the ‘hostages’ of Hamas, including that of our two compatriots, as well as the huge delivery of medical and humanitarian aid,” the press release read.

Silence the guns for Olympic Games: UN’s Guterres

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged countries around the world to stop armed conflict as part of “the Olympic truce”, saying during a meeting with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach that the event was a chance for peace.

“I want to express the total support of the United Nations to the IOC,” Guterres said. “We live in a divided world where conflicts are proliferating in a dramatic way – the horrendous suffering in Gaza, the seemingly endless war in Ukraine, terrible suffering from Sudan to the DRC [Democratic Republic of the Congo], from the Sahel to Myanmar.

“In a moment like this, it is important to say that the first recorded in history, real peace initiative was the Olympic truce.”

The games kick off later today and end on August 11 with the participation of more than 10,500 athletes representing 206 nations and territories, including a Palestinian team. While not a full member of the United Nations, Palestine has an official national Olympic committee.