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

SvennoJ on 05 February 2024

Israel continues its lethal open-fire policy in the West Bank: B’Tselem

The Israeli rights group has released its findings for November 2023, which showed that Israel’s lethal open-fire policy in the West Bank led to the killing of 116 Palestinians, 25 of them under the age of 18.

Of the November casualties, 43 were killed when they threw stones, set off firecrackers or burned tyres, the group found. However, more than half of them – 23 – were not taking part in any clashes themselves, but only watching or passing by. “One Palestinian was killed while harvesting olives, and a Palestinian minor was killed after throwing an empty bottle at a settlement gate,” the group said. Another 51 November casualties were killed in exchanges of fire or immediately after, 31 of them in air raids – including three minors, one 12 and two 14 years old, and 28 armed operatives, B’Tselem said.



‘Shocking spike’ in unlawful lethal force by Israeli forces against Palestinians

Amnesty International has released a statement in which it describes “a brutal wave of violence” against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces since October 7. It states that Israeli forces have carried out unlawful killings, including by using lethal force and without necessity or disproportionately during protests and arrest raids.

“These unlawful killings are in blatant violation of international human rights law and are committed with impunity in the context of maintaining Israel’s institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination over Palestinians,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International’s director of global research, advocacy and policy.

The NGO’s research also found that Israeli forces blocked medical assistance to people with life-threatening injuries and attacked paramedics among others who attempted to help the injured Palestinians.

At least 507 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank in 2023, including at least 81 children, making it the deadliest year for Palestinians since the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) began recording casualties in 2005. Between 7 October and 31 December 2023, 299 Palestinians were killed, marking a 50% increase compared to the first nine months of the year. At least 61 further Palestinians, including 13 children, have been killed so far in 2024 as of 29 January, according to OCHA.

Palestinian teen killed by Israeli forces in occupied West Bank identified

The Palestinian teenager killed by Israeli troops while allegedly trying to carry out a stabbing attack near the occupied West Bank settlement of Maale Adumim has been identified as Wadee’ Shadi Owaisat. The 14-year-old was from the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Jabal Mukaber.

Israeli forces prevented ambulance crews from reaching Owaisat after shooting him, and he bled to death. His death brings the total number of Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank this year to 63.

Last edited by SvennoJ - on 05 February 2024

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SvennoJ on 05 February 2024

More than 12,100 children killed in Gaza: Rights group

According to Defense for Children International – Palestine, this number is likely to rise given there are more than 8,000 people still missing under the rubble.

“Since October 7, an average of 250 children are killed every day as a result of the continuous bombardment by the Israeli army. This is unprecedented – it has not occurred in any place in the world subject to war,” General Director Khaled Quzmar told Al Jazeera.

Israeli group condemns announcement of settlement expansion near Bethlehem

The Israeli anti-occupation group Peace Now has issued a statement condemning an announcement from the Israeli Ministry of Housing over the weekend about a tender for the construction of 62 additional housing units in the settlement of Efrat, south of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.

All Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegal under international law.

“Advancing construction deep in Palestinian territory, adjacent to Palestinian population, undermines the chances for the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside the state of Israel and deepens the conflict,” the group said in a statement. “The current tender is a clear statement by the Israeli government that settlement construction continues unabated, and any political resolution is far from the goals of this government.”

US says it will divert UNRWA funds to ‘other partners’

The US Department of State has suggested that Washington, UNRWA’s largest donor, could cut off the agency. A White House-backed Senate bill released on Sunday would bar US aid to UNRWA. Asked whether the Biden administration is committed to funding UNRWA, US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said: “Obviously, there is text in this pending legislation that would preclude us from doing so.”

The bill, which includes more than $14bn in assistance to Israel, has bipartisan support, but it is not clear when it would be put forward for a vote. Patel said the US will divert aid for Palestinian civilians to “other partners” and bypass UNRWA even as UN officials emphasise that the agency plays an indispensable role in humanitarian work in Gaza and across the region.

The US has already suspended funding for UNRWA after allegations by Israel that a handful of agency employees took part in the October 7 Hamas attacks, claims that Israel has yet to substantiate. Those allegations are under investigation by the UN, which immediately terminated nine of the accused employees.

Israel’s defence minister predicts ‘months of fighting in northern Gaza’

Yoav Gallant says that Israel’s military plans to press ahead with its offensive in the south until it takes “full reign” of the entire Gaza Strip. During a news conference, he said the army in the north has “free rein for ground operations and they will continue in the coming months as well”.

Israel said weeks ago that it dismantled Hamas’s “military framework” in northern Gaza. Gallant claimed that Israel has dismantled three-quarters of Hamas’s forces, and that half of the group’s fighters have either been killed or wounded. He said Israel is focusing on the southern city of Khan Younis, where it has been locked in heavy fighting for weeks, and then will continue on to the town of Rafah, on the Egyptian border, where some 1.5 million displaced Palestinians have sought refuge.

Gallant described Rafah as “the last stronghold of Hamas”.

Netanyahu says "war must not end" before Israel kills Hamas leadership 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that the "war must not end" before Israel kills Hamas leadership. "Our goal is an absolute victory over Hamas. We will kill the Hamas leadership, therefore we must continue to act in all areas of the Gaza Strip. The war must not end before that. It will take time — months not years," he said at at a faction meeting of his party, Likud.

In the past, Israel has made no secret of its intention to continue hunting Hamas leaders long after the war is over. Netanyahu has also previously said that the war against Hamas "will be a long fight."

US and coalition forces in Syria attacked 3 more times since Friday airstrikes, official says

The United States and coalition forces have come under attack three more times in Syria since the US launched airstrikes against Iranian-backed militias over the weekend, a US official said. US President Joe Biden said “yes” on Sunday when asked whether the strikes were working to deter Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups — but several attacks were carried out in the region in the last few days.

  • On Saturday, multiple rockets were launched against US forces at Mission Support Site Euphrates, Syria. No casualties or infrastructure damage were reported.
  • On Sunday evening a one-way drone attack against US, coalition and Syrian Democratic Forces at Omar Oil Field near Mission Support Site Green Village, Syria, resulted in multiple SDF casualties and “significant damage to infrastructure,” the official said. 
  • On Monday morning, a single rocket was launched at Mission Support Site Euphrates. There were no casualties or infrastructure damage reported.

You don't de-escalate by escalating, the proof is right there in the 75 year old conflict.



SvennoJ on 06 February 2024

And this is where the IDF wants to go next...

Tent city holding more than 1 million Palestinians is rapidly expanding, satellite images show

A makeshift tent city estimated to hold more than 1 million displaced Palestinian civilians is rapidly expanding in Rafah, southern Gaza, according to new satellite images from Maxar Technologies. The images show much of the previously open area in Rafah has been filled with tents, largely between December 10 and February 3, as internally displaced Palestinians seek shelter from the war. 

Aid workers have raised concerns over any expanded Israeli military operation in Rafah as forces push south in their war with Hamas. More than half of the estimated 2.2 million people in Gaza are seeking refugee in the Rafah area, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). OCHA said Monday that refugees facing acute shortage of food, water, shelter and medicine are still pouring into Rafah as fighting worsens nearby.

Hamas leader "on the run" as Israeli troops advance on Rafah, defense minister claims

Hamas' leadership, including its top official in Gaza, is "on the run" as Israel's military pushes further south in the Palestinian enclave, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant claimed on Monday. The Israeli military operation in the southern city of Khan Younis will "soon achieve its goals" as troops advance southward on Rafah — Hamas' last remaining stronghold, Gallant said in a televised briefing. "Our forces operate on the ground in most of the territory of the Gaza Strip," he said.

Israel has publicly accused Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar of being the “mastermind” behind the group's October 7 attack — though experts say he is likely one of several — making him one of the key targets of its war in Gaza. Gallant claimed Monday that Sinwar had no contact with his fighters and was forced to flee from one hideout to another with the Israeli military in close pursuit. "He is not leading the forces; he is busy with his own personal survival. He became, instead of the head of Hamas, a fugitive terrorist," Gallant said. Gallant also claimed that Israeli forces had killed or seriously wounded about half of Hamas' fighters in Gaza.

Hamas denial: Husam Badran, a Qatar-based spokesperson for Hamas, denied Gallant's claims, saying they were an attempt to raise Israeli morale. Hamas fighters were "still operating in all areas" of Gaza, according to a statement from Badran published by Hamas media outlet Al Aqsa late Monday.

Israeli leaders reviewing planned attack on Rafah: Report

Israeli authorities are reviewing military plans for an attack on southern Rafah, a city once called a “safe zone” where Palestinians were ordered to move to. “Residents of the Gaza Strip will be evacuated from Rafah before initiating military operations there,” Israeli public broadcaster KAN quoted “political sources” as saying.

On Monday, Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant reiterated the military’s “next target” in Gaza will be Rafah, claiming it’s the last remaining Hamas stronghold. Rights groups have warned against any Israeli offensive in Rafah, which could result in a huge loss of lives with an estimated 1.4 million people sheltering there.



SvennoJ on 06 February 2024

Israeli forces continue to besiege Khan Younis hospital, doctor says

Dr Nahed Abu Taima, the director of the surgical division at the Nasser Medical Complex, tells Al Jazeera the Israeli army is continuing to besiege the hospital while also targeting areas nearby. “Since the siege, we have received 630 wounded patients, most of them seriously injured,” he said.

“We face major and serious challenges, including severe shortages of fuel and medical supplies. We also have a huge shortage of medical personnel.” Abu Taima added that the accumulation of waste in and around the hospital poses a serious health threat.

Over 100 aid trucks ‘blocked’ from entering Gaza by protesters

Israel’s Channel 12 is reporting that 132 aid trucks are stuck at the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing and cannot enter the Gaza Strip due to the demonstration. The media outlet also reported that 70 trucks had managed to enter the Gaza Strip before the blockade by the protesters began. Israelis demanding that the release of captives come before any more humanitarian aid can cross into Gaza have staged several similar protests in recent weeks.


Families of captives and supporters protest against the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza at the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing, Israel, January 28, 2024

Israel approves millions of dollars for ‘rural’ settlements in West Bank

Israeli rights group Peace Now says authorities approved the money for what they’re calling “farm outposts”. “Although pressure is mounting on Israel to prevent violence by settlers, and there is a risk of the evolvement of a third front in the West Bank, the government sees fit to persist in supporting farms, from which many of the violent attacks of settlers against Palestinians are coming,” Peace Now said.

On November 19, 2021, the previous Benjamin Netanyahu government allocated 20 million shekels ($5.5m) annually for 2022, 2023 and 2024 to support “volunteer groups operating in rural settlements engaging in significant agricultural activity in areas of national priority”.



SvennoJ on 06 February 2024

Calls for answers more than a week after rescuers went missing trying to save trapped 6-year-old girl

Demands for answers are mounting over the fate of a 6-year-old Palestinian girl, Hind Rajab, who was trapped in a car with her dead relatives after it came under Israeli fire in Gaza more than a week ago. Mystery also surrounds the whereabouts of two ambulance staff from the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), who were dispatched to find her on January 29.

“We need to know what has happened to Hind and the PRCS ambulance team,” the society said in their latest statement on X early Tuesday. “So many wonderful things can happen in a week, but for those waiting for news or for information a week is anguish. Each moment is marked by worry and sadness.”

CNN gave the Israeli military details about the incident last Friday, including coordinates provided by the PRCS. In response, the Israel Defense Forces said it was “unfamiliar with the incident described.”

Hind was traveling in a car with her uncle, his wife and their four children, fleeing fighting in northern Gaza, when they came under Israeli fire, according to the PRCS. Hind’s cousin, 15-year-old Layan Hamadeh, made a harrowing call for help to emergency services that was recorded by the PRCS and shared on social media. In the clip, the teenager can be heard speaking to a paramedic, crying for help and describing a tank close by.

“They are shooting at us. The tank is right next to me. We’re in the car, the tank is right next to us,” Layan screams, as intense gunfire is heard in the background. Layan then goes quiet, and the rounds of fire stop. The paramedic on the phone tries to speak to her, repeatedly saying, “Hello? Hello?” but there is no response. The PRCS believe that the six other people in the car with Hind, including Layan, were killed when the car was shot at.

Finally a boycott

Japanese trading giant Itochu to cut ties with Israeli defense firm over Gaza war

One of Japan’s biggest trading firms, Itochu, has decided to end its partnership with a major Israeli defense company due to the war in Gaza. The sprawling conglomerate, best known outside Japan for its Family Mart chain of convenience stores, said its aviation unit will cut ties with Elbit Systems, which bills itself as Israel’s largest defense contractor, by the end of February.

The decision was made following a January ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) — the top court of the United Nations — and guidance given by Japan’s Foreign Ministry to observe the court’s findings in “good faith,” a spokesperson for Itochu told CNN on Tuesday. Last month, the ICJ ordered Israel to prevent genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, but stopped short of calling for Israel to suspend its military campaign in the war-torn enclave, as South Africa, which had filed the case to the court, had requested.

Coalition of Palestinian militant groups says senior commander killed in Israeli airstrike

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades has announced that a senior commander was killed, along with 13 of his family members, in an Israeli airstrike on a property in Deir al-Balah over the weekend. Issam Khattab “Abu Mazen” was killed at his family's home, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a coalition of Palestinian militant groups. It described him as “one of the most prominent leaders of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.”

On Sunday, CNN reported that at least 14 Palestinians were killed, including two children and four women, and many others injured due to airstrikes in Deir al-Balah, citing a doctor at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. 

Houthis say they will increase attacks on US and UK ships in the Red Sea if the war in Gaza does not stop

Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen have vowed to increase their attacks on US and UK ships in the Red Sea if the war in Gaza does not stop.

The Houthis started targeting ships in the Red Sea in November 2023, and have warned they "will carry out more military operations against all hostile American-British targets," in the Red Sea "within the right to respond to the aggression, and the right to defend our beloved Yemen and its people," Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Sare'e said in a statement on Tuesday.

He said Houthi forces "emphasize the continuation of their military operations" in the Red Sea "against Israeli shipping or those heading to the ports of occupied Palestine until the siege is lifted and the aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is stopped."



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SvennoJ on 06 February 2024

Israeli shelling causes multi-day fire in Khan Younis residential building

Palestinian journalist Hassan Islah has shared video on his Instagram account showing a residential building in the city’s Al-Amal neighbourhood, still full of people, on fire. Islah said Israeli forces targeted the building – where the families of two of his journalist colleagues live – with several artillery shells yesterday, causing a section to catch on fire. It continues to burn.

PRCS says two medical volunteers arrested by Israeli forces

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has said that Israeli forces arrested two volunteers with the group on Monday as they were passing through a humanitarian corridor at al-Amal Hospital yesterday.

More than 8,000 people were evacuated from the hospital on Monday after what PRCS described as a two-week siege, during which Israeli forces fired on the facility and killed several people. “The occupation forces arrested PRCS volunteers Tamer Mohammed Hussein Shahin and Hamdan Samer Abu Khattar yesterday while they were passing through the humanitarian corridor for displaced persons at Al-Amal Hospital,” the group said in a social media post.

‘Situation in shelters is unliveable’: UNRWA

“People in Gaza have no safety, no options. Nowhere else to go,” the UN agency for Palestinian refugees says. In an UNRWA video documenting life in shelters, a Palestinian man forced to leave northern Gaza says his children are suffering and sick because of the cold and the rain. “Our situation is difficult and tragic,” he says.

UNRWA’s Lebanon chief: Services will end unless aid resumes

Dorothee Klaus says the agency has the ability to provide services to Palestinians in Lebanon until the end of March after the suspension of aid by 19 donors. Klaus warned that failure to resume funding will affect Palestinians in all 12 refugee camps in Lebanon. According to UNRWA, the total number of registered Palestinian refugees in Lebanon is 489,292.



SvennoJ on 06 February 2024

Blinken in Qatar to hear Hamas response on proposed ceasefire

[US Secretary of State] Antony Blinken is most likely looking forward to hearing what Hamas will say about the last offer that was presented to them about 10 days ago, particularly after the Qataris, Egyptians, the CIA and Mossad chiefs met in Paris.

[The offer] is based on the idea of a phased deal, starting with a pause [in fighting] of about four weeks in exchange for the release of Israeli captives – particularly the women and elderly – which is going to be followed by another phase.

The problem in the past was basically Hamas saying ‘No, we want a ceasefire outright and then we will talk about the other details of the agreement particularly when it comes to exchanging the captives for a number of Palestinians detained by Israel’. They believe they have now managed to narrow the differences between the Israelis, and this is why we are looking forward to seeing what Hamas will say, whether it will give the go-ahead for this agreement.

Last time Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani was in the US, he said the feeling in this particular moment was that they were in a very comfortable position to bring the Israelis and Hamas to agree on a deal, and that he was confident this time they’re not going to be talking about a truce like what happened in November but about a ceasefire. But still, we are going to wait to see what Hamas is going to say.



Censorship war ongoing as well

Herzog meets with TikTok officials as Israel accuses platform of pro-Palestine stance

A readout from the Israeli president’s office says that Herzog met with senior officials from Chinese-owned social media giant TikTok in Jerusalem to discuss “the increase of cases of antisemitism” and “anti-Israel hatred”. The meeting comes after months of accusations by both Israel and US lawmakers that TikTok is allowing pro-Palestine and anti-Semitic videos, rallying young people against Israel and Jewish people.

In December 2023, social media giant Meta was found to have systematically censored pro-Palestine voices during the Gaza war, according to a report by Human Rights Watch. The report says that Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, has pulled down or suppressed hundreds of pro-Palestine posts due to flawed content moderation policies, poor implementation, and “undue government influence”.

Milei says he plans to move Argentina’s embassy to Jerusalem

Argentina’s newly elected President Javier Milei has controversially declared he planned to relocate his country’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, as he arrived for a visit in Israel. “My plan is to move the embassy to West Jerusalem,” he told Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on the tarmac of the airport near Tel Aviv.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with Palestinian leaders insisting that East Jerusalem – illegally occupied by Israel since 1967 – should serve as the capital of a Palestinian state. Most countries have their diplomatic posts in Tel Aviv, but the United States in 2018 controversially relocated its embassy to Jerusalem under former President Donald Trump, breaking with decades of US policy by recognising it as Israel’s capital.

Hamas hits out at Argentina’s decision to move embassy to Jerusalem

The Palestinian group said that the move constituted “an infringement of the rights of our Palestinian people to their land, and a violation of the rules of international law, considering Jerusalem as occupied Palestinian land”.



SvennoJ on 06 February 2024

Hamas gives "positive" response to framework agreement on hostage deal but offers few details

Hamas’ long-awaited counteroffer to a hostage and truce framework is “responsible,” a source familiar with the discussions told CNN. It does not include two of its most prominent and public demands: that Israeli soldiers leave Gaza or for a deal to end the war. 

Qatar's prime minister also confirmed that Hamas had responded. “The reply includes some comments, but in general it is positive. However, given the sensitivity of the circumstances, we will not tackle details,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said at a news conference alongside US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Doha on Tuesday. The Qatari prime minister said they have given the response to Israel and added, "we are optimistic."

Top US diplomat Antony Blinken, who is in the Middle East to meet with leaders of multiple nations, responded positively after hearing Hamas' proposal, the source said, which Blinken later echoed in a press conference.

In a statement last week, senior Hamas leader Ismael Hanniyeh said that "the review of the new proposal for a ceasefire is based on the basis that any negotiations lead to a complete end to the aggression.”

The next hurdle, as Blinken indicated in his comments to reporters, will be presenting the Hamas counteroffer to the Israeli government. Prime Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed repeatedly that Israel's war will not end until there is "complete victory" over Hamas, which includes killing Hamas leadership and "will take time — months not years." Blinken heads to Israel later today.

Blinken says US is reviewing the response from Hamas on hostage proposal

The United States is reviewing the response from Hamas “now,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday. “I’ll be discussing with the government of Israel tomorrow,” Blinken said. The top US diplomat reiterated that the proposal that was presented to Hamas was a “serious” one “that was aimed at not simply repeating the previous agreement, but expanding it.”

“There's still a lot of work to be done, but we continue to believe that an agreement is possible, and indeed essential. And we will continue to work relentlessly to achieve it,” he said at a press conference in Doha.


If there was ever any doubt US is not in this war...

Anyway hopefully Hamas accepts to at least start a pause. The longer the pause, the harder it will be to go back to full scale war for Israel. And hopefully Israel accepts to start a pause as well.



SvennoJ on 06 February 2024

Israel says it is studying Hamas response to possible deal

The Israeli government has issued its first official remarks on Hamas’s response to a possible truce deal, stating that the group’s comments are being studied by all parties involved in the mediation process, but offering few details.

“Hamas’s reply has been conveyed by the Qatari mediator to the Mossad. Its details are being thoroughly evaluated by the officials involved in the negotiations,” a statement from Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, the Mossad, said on Tuesday, per the office of the prime minister.

Israeli military says 31 additional captives in Gaza have been pronounced dead

“We have informed 31 families that their captured loved ones are no longer among the living and that we have pronounced them dead,” Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters. In recent months, the Netanyahu government has faced criticism from Israeli demonstrators, and family members of those held captive, that he has not prioritised the safe return of the captives taken by armed Palestinian groups on October 7.

The well-being of the captives has become a focus for many in Israeli society, who have pleaded for their release so that they may be reunited with their families.


That they are admitting that now is a good sign the IDF is ready for a pause / change as well. Obviously the hostages are not getting back out alive by continuing the current 'strategy'.



SvennoJ on 06 February 2024



A photo of an Israeli soldier standing over a stripped, injured and detained Palestinian man that went viral has been brought to the attention of the US State Department. Washington has repeatedly denied that it has seen evidence of Israel committing war crimes or violating international law as it carries out its war on Gaza.