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

SvennoJ on 07 February 2024

Hamas's response to the proposal is what should be done anyway, however I severely doubt Israel will accept it.

Hamas counterproposal on hostage and ceasefire deal calls for phased Israeli pullout from Gaza and plan to end war

https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/07/middleeast/hamas-counterproposal-israel-pullout-ceasefire-hostages-intl

The Palestinian militant group that rules Gaza has proposed a three-phase deal, each lasting 45 days, that would also see the release of hostages held in the enclave in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel – including those serving life sentences – as well as the start of a massive humanitarian and rebuilding effort.

It hasn’t demanded an immediate end to the war. Negotiations for a permanent ceasefire would take place during the truce, it said.

The first phase of the ceasefire would include the release of hostages in Gaza including women and children under 19 years old who aren’t enlisted in the Israeli military, as well as the elderly and the sick, in exchange for all Palestinian female, juvenile, sick and elderly Palestinian prisoners as well as 500 prisoners named by Hamas, including those with life sentences and convictions for serious crimes.

It would also include intensifying humanitarian aid, moving Israeli forces “outside populated areas,” a “temporary cessation” of military operations and aerial reconnaissance, the start of reconstruction work, and allowing the United Nations and its agencies to provide humanitarian services and establish housing camps. It would also see the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes in all areas of the Strip and would ensure freedom of movement without obstruction.

In addition, this first phase would include starting indirect talks on “the requirements necessary for a complete ceasefire” and negotiations on the details for the second and third phases.

The second phase, Hamas has proposed, would see the conclusion of talks on a mutual cessation of hostilities. During the second phase, all male hostages in Gaza (civilians and military personnel) would be released “in exchange for a specified number of Palestinian prisoners” and Israeli forces would have to completely exit the enclave.

Phase three would aim to exchange bodies and remains of those killed on both sides. It also stipulates that all crossings from the Gaza Strip be opened for trade to resume and so people can move without obstacles. Israel would commit to provide Gaza with its electricity and water needs.

Finally, Hamas proposes that the guarantors of the agreement would be Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, Russia and the United Nations. It does not include the US among the guarantors.


At this point I'm already impressed that CNN didn't call it The Hamas terrorist group that rules Gaza. Palestinian militant group, that's a big step for the western media!



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SvennoJ on 07 February 2024

With pressure and criticism mounting at home, perhaps Blinken can get through to Netanyahu to get the pause started

More than 30 elected officials in Michigan pledge protest vote over Biden’s Gaza policy

The officials in the US state have pledged that they will cast an “uncommitted” vote in the upcoming primary election in protest of US President Joe Biden’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza. Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud is among those who have signed the letter stating that the signatories “unequivocally demand that the Biden administration immediately call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza”.

Anger at Biden’s firm support for Israel and perceived lack of empathy for the suffering of Palestinians has erupted among the large Arab and Muslim communities in Michigan, a crucial swing state that could play a role in deciding the outcome of the 2024 US presidential race. “We must hold our president accountable and ensure that we, the American taxpayers, are no longer forced to be accomplices in a genocide that is backed and funded by the United States government,” the letter reads.

US Palestinian Congresswoman unapologetic after calling Netanyahu a ‘genocidal maniac’

US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American representative from the state of Michigan, has doubled down after calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “genocidal maniac” on the floor of Congress in a speech on Tuesday. “I said what I said,” Tlaib said in a social media post on Wednesday.

Tlaib, a member of a handful of progressive lawmakers known as “The Squad”, has reprised her role as one of the legislative body’s strongest defenders of Palestinian rights and firmest critics of Israel during the most recent war in Gaza.

In Gaza, a protracted war that can only end in phases: Analyst

The war in Gaza is expected to be a long conflict that cannot be resolved through an immediate ceasefire or a cessation of fighting, according to Ayman Yousef, professor of conflict resolution and international relations at the Arab American University.

“Rather, the parties will resort to a phased solution by releasing some Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and a ceasefire,” he told Al Jazeera. Yousef said that a Hamas-Israel agreement can be reached “because the situation is intolerable, there are some pressures on Israel, and America knows it could get involved in a confrontation with Iran”.

“Israel has failed to achieve its goals in the Gaza Strip, in addition to having an internal crisis of governance, being subject to international pressures, and having to deal with the ramifications of the International Court of Justice decision,” he added.

UN chief warns Israeli assault on Rafah would have ‘untold’ consequences

Sectretary-General Antonio Guterres says he is “especially alarmed” over reports that Israel is pledging an assault on Rafah, in the far south of the Gaza Strip near its border with Egypt, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians displaced by Israel’s campaign are hemmed in with nowhere to flee.

“Such an action would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare with untold regional consequences,” Guterres told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday. About 1.9 million people are sheltering in Rafah after being ordered there by Israeli forces, which previously described the area as a “safe zone”. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Tuesday that an Israeli assault could lead to “large-scale loss of civilian lives”.


With the ICJ expecting a report from Israel of what they are doing to implement the provisional measures, pushing on into Rafah would be the worst thing they could do. However rational thought is hard to find in the war cabinet :/



Israel official says some Hamas demands are unacceptable: Report

Israel’s Channel 13 cited a senior official as saying some of the demands presented by Hamas are not acceptable. No further details were provided. Israel previously said it will not pull its troops out of Gaza until Hamas is wiped out. The report quoted the unidentified official as saying Israeli authorities would debate whether to reject Hamas’s proposals outright or ask for alternative conditions.

Israeli PM Netanyahu faces ‘dire political reality’

The fact of the matter is Benjamin Netanyahu is under a lot of pressure, not just from the US but also from the political spectrum here in Israel. Far-right ministers in his coalition have openly said on numerous occasions they would walk away and collapse the government if Israel entered into a ceasefire deal with Hamas that they see as disadvantageous. They also don’t want to see Israel withdraw its forces from Gaza.

Netanyahu is also under pressure from the opposition, which is calling on him to resign. Many members of society here don’t trust his leadership anymore, especially relatives of captives still held in Gaza. Some analysts say he’s in a politically untenable situation – that it is a dire political reality for him right now. But it’s one that he’s going to have to navigate at such a critical time.

Netanyahu is done either way, which makes him so dangerous now. No exit strategy, keep the war going to stay in power...


Palestinians ‘desperate for a halt to this madness’

A 14-year-old girl was out in Khan Younis trying to get water when she was shot by a sniper. This is definitely not the first time, and people here are certain it’s not going to be the last. She was left in the street bleeding until she passed away. It is another example of how unsafe the situation is in the southern city. There are Israeli attack drones, intense bombing and snipers on the rooftops.

Hours before this murder, a 40-year-old woman was also shot and killed by a sniper just metres away from the main gate of Nasser Hospital. She was trying to get food and water for her wounded son inside. People here want an immediate end to all acts of war. They’re exhausted and desperate for a halt to this madness that has killed tens of thousands of people.


Israeli snipers have taken up positions in buildings throughout Khan Younis

Disease spreads as conditions deteriorate in Gaza camps

Video taken in Gaza’s displacement camps paints a grim picture of conditions there. Sewage flows between tents, and garbage piles up at a school where thousands of people are now forced live. Majd al-Wahidi, a child displaced from northern Gaza, recently contracted hepatitis. He lives with 40 family members in a cramped space.

“How can I isolate Majd from the 40 relatives who have been displaced with us when shelter space is extremely limited?” his mother, Ruba Abu al-Khair, asked. “I am trying my best to provide sanitation supplies to protect my family, but my options are limited. And the smoke from burning garbage for heating will cause future disease.”

Last edited by SvennoJ - on 07 February 2024

SvennoJ on 07 February 2024

Blinken is useless, time for sanctions

Netanyahu says Hamas’ demands on hostage and ceasefire deal are ‘delusional’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed Hamas’ proposals for a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza, calling them “delusional” in a setback to diplomatic efforts to pause the war.

Netanyahu said during a Wednesday briefing: “We haven’t committed to anything. We haven’t committed to any of the delusional demands of Hamas, the numbers of terrorists with blood on their hands [to release].” “There is not a commitment – there has to be a negotiation, it’s a process, and at the moment, from what I see from Hamas, it’s not happening,” Netanyahu added.

Netanyahu says Hamas in its entirety must be destroyed for Israel to be safe

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Hamas must be destroyed for Israel to be safe. “Continuing pressure, military pressure is a necessary condition. Surrendering to Hamas’ delusional demands will only ask for another disaster for the state of Israel, another massacre,” Netanyahu told Israeli media Wednesday.

Netanyahu said he told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday that it is only after Israel “destroys” Hamas that Gaza will be safe.

“Not part of Hamas, not half of Hamas, the entire [of] Hamas,” Netanyahu said.
“History has proven that only one force can achieve this. Israel, the Israel Defence Forces and our security forces,” he said.
“Israel will be acting in Gaza whenever necessary in order for the terror not to come back.”

Netanyahu says Israel's aim is "complete victory," which will take months

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel's aim is "complete victory" and the country will "not do less than that."

"I told (US Secretary of State) Antony Blinken we are nearly there with complete victory," Netanyahu told journalists in a news conference in Jerusalem. "We are on the way to complete victory. The victory is achievable; it's not a matter of years or decades, it's a matter of months."

Netanyahu is doubling down, delusional genocidal maniac indeed.



Calls for a ceasefire are now also coming from within Israel

Several Israel-based civil society groups and human rights organizations call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza

A statement published jointly by 17 Israeli based groups, including B’Tselem, Combatants for Peace, and Breaking the Silence, calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

"We, the undersigned Israel-based civil society and human rights organizations, call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and demand the immediate release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip. An immediate ceasefire will prevent further loss of civilian lives and facilitate access to vital aid for Gaza to address the unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe there," the statement said.

The organizations said that 120 days of war have caused "unfathomable death and destruction," decimated health care systems, created a lack of food supply and clean drinking water and displaced civilians in Gaza. It called on the involved parties to "reach an immediate ceasefire." Further, it asked Israel to allow unfettered entry and delivery of humanitarian aid and goods in Gaza, and for Hamas to release all hostages held in the enclave. "These steps are vital for ensuring human rights and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike," it concluded.



SvennoJ on 07 February 2024

More double standards

Palestinians accuse UN Office on Genocide Prevention of ignoring Gaza plight

Al-Mezan, a Gaza-based human rights organisation, has noted that four months into Israel’s war in Gaza, “it’s now evident that the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the UN Office on Genocide Prevention (UNOSAPG)  have failed to fulfill their mandates”.

In a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the group said that since October, the UN Office on Genocide Prevention addressed various conflicts.” However, noticeably absent are statements addressing the ongoing atrocities faced by 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, half of whom are children.” The “double standards” in addressing conflicts is evident, Al-Mezan said. On January 26, the International Court of Justice found it plausible Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Twelve days later, there is still no reaction from the UNOSAPG.

“Conversely, in Ukraine v. Russian Federation, UNOSAPG promptly acknowledged ICJ’s order within two days,” it said in the letter.

Silver lining? Ukraine situation is not looking good though :(

US Senate rejects package that includes assistance for Israel, Ukraine

The US Senate has rejected a package that tied additional support for Israel and Ukraine to a harsh crackdown on the US border with Mexico. The $118bn bill was shot down by Senate Republicans, which their colleagues in the House of Representatives have already said would be “dead on arrival”.

Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer has said he will force a second vote on the foreign aid provisions without the border components. The House rejected a Republican standalone bill on $17.6bn for Israel yesterday, which Democrats described as a cynical ploy to separate support from Israel from a larger package.



Norway transfers $26 million to UNRWA: FM

Espen Barth Eide has said that the funds will go to the UN agency’s efforts to provide assistance “to the 5.9 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan”. “UNRWA is the backbone of humanitarian efforts in Gaza. Its services are critical for millions of people in extreme need,” he said in a statement.

“We should not collectively punish millions of people for the alleged wrongdoing of 12 staff members. I urge all donors that have suspended their support to think about the consequences. The situation is dire not only for the population of Gaza, but also for Palestinians throughout the Middle East,” Eide said.

 

Brown University students in US on hunger strike for Palestine

Students at the university in the US state of Rhode Island say their school is complicit in Israel’s war on Gaza. On Friday, they began a hunger strike that they say will continue until Brown divests from companies that “are helping aid the Israeli occupation”, Niyanta Nepal, one of the strikers, told Al Jazeera.





Human Rights Watch calls on Canada to suspend arms sales to Israel

The rights watchdog has called on the Canadian government to suspend arms sales to Israel in order to avoid complicity in potential war crimes. In a letter today, the group said countries that “transfer arms to another country that are likely to be used in the commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide risk being complicit in those crimes”.

The letter also cites a recent International Court of Justice decision – that a case alleging that Israel is committing acts of genocide against the Palestinians is “plausible” – as further reason to halt its arms transfers to Israel.



I've written emails to the government as well and signed several petitions, when will they finally wake up.



Every day a new low

Rights group details Israeli army dog attack on 4-year-old boy

Israeli forces released a military dog into the Hashash family apartment the morning of February 4 after raiding Balata refugee camp, near Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International – Palestine.

The dog ran into the apartment and began attacking four-year-old Ibrahim, tearing off his clothes in the incident and repeatedly biting him on the lower half of his body as he bled profusely, the group said. “The attack continued for about three minutes before Israeli forces entered the apartment and removed the dog from Ibrahim. An ambulance brought Ibrahim to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, where he is being treated for internal and external injuries.”

DCIP documented four cases in 2023 where Palestinian children were attacked by Israeli military  dogs. These cases include a 13-year-old boy in Tulkarem, a 14-year-old girl in Jenin, and two siblings aged eight and 12 in Tubas



SvennoJ on 07 February 2024

"There won’t be any hostages to release" if Israel maintains plan to eliminate Hamas, former hostage says

Former Israeli hostage Adina Moshe on Wednesday criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that "there won’t be any hostages to release" if his government continues its plan to eliminate Hamas.

Moshe, 72, who was kidnapped by Hamas from Kibbutz Nir Oz and held hostage in Gaza for seven weeks, spoke at a news conference for the Hostages and Missing Families Forum — directing her comments specifically to Netanyahu. “Mr. Netanyahu, I’m turning to you. It’s all in your hands. You are the one. You’re the one who can. And I’m really afraid that if you continue the way you do, the destruction of Hamas, there won’t be any hostages to release," Moshe said. 

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters also delivered a message to Netanyahu and the Israeli War Cabinet in a release on Wednesday. "If the hostages are not returned home: the citizens of Israel should know they live in a state that is not committed to their security, that the mutual responsibility in it has died," the families forum said in the release. "They who do not protect their citizens will find that their citizens lose faith in them and their leadership." 

Blinken says he told Israeli leaders that the toll on Palestinian civilians in Gaza "remains too high"

The toll of Israel’s military operations on Palestinian civilians “remains too high,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials on Wednesday. The top US diplomat’s statement that Israel still has not taken adequate action to protect civilians comes after four months of Blinken pressing the Israeli government "on all of (his) previous visits and pretty much every day on concrete ways to strengthen civilian protection, to get more assistance to those who need it."

"Nearly 2 million people have been displaced from their homes. Hundreds of thousands are experiencing acute hunger. Most have lost someone that they love. And day after day, more people are killed," Blinken said at a news conference in Tel Aviv. 

Although Blinken acknowledged that Israel had taken some important actions, he outlined in his meetings Wednesday additional “key steps” that the government must take to mitigate the civilian suffering. Blinken noted that those steps should include opening the Erez crossing "so that assistance can flow to northern Gaza, where, as I said, hundreds of thousands of people are struggling to survive under dire conditions,” he said.

The US secretary of state also urged to "expedite the flow of humanitarian assistance from Jordan. And Israel must ensure that the delivery of life-saving assistance to Gaza is not blocked for any reason, by anyone,” the top US diplomat said, appearing to reference ongoing protests that have blocked the entrance of aid.

Well at least he told them... Doesn't make you any less complicit until you stop arming them and stop providing diplomatic cover.


Hamas counterproposal "creates space for agreement to be reached," Blinken says

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Hamas' counterproposal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal leaves room for a potential agreement. “While there are some clear nonstarters in Hamas’ response, we do think it creates space for agreement to be reached, and we will work at that relentlessly until we get there,” he said at a news conference in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Netanyahu's remarks and calling the proposal delusional is not a non starter?
His visit again sounds a lot like, look over here, while we prepare to storm Rafah. How many times has this 'deal' been close now...

Blinken says Israel must not “lose sight of our common humanity"

Who is he speaking for? His common humanity with Netanyahu?

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel must not “lose sight of our common humanity," as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s war in Gaza will continue. “The overwhelming majority of people in Gaza had nothing to do with the attacks of October 7th,” Blinken said at a news conference in Tel Aviv. “And the families in Gaza whose survival depends on deliveries of aid from Israel are just like our families.”

Blinken said Israelis were “dehumanized in the most horrific way on October 7,” referring to the Hamas assault that left at least 1,200 people dead, and that “the hostages have been dehumanized every day since,” but that “that cannot be a license to dehumanize others.”

His comments come as US President Joe Biden's administration faces backlash and anger at home over its continued support of the offensive — a backlash that threatens to have political consequences for the president.

Wow, calling them 'others' is dehumanizing in itself, nvm you mean cannot be a license to commit genocide, or at least say starve 2.3 million people.

CNN getting a bit more critical putting this under his remarks


In other news, Biden blew up a car

US says its drone killed a Kataib Hezbollah commander in Iraq responsible for attacks on American forces


People inspect a vehicle after what security sources said was a deadly drone strike, in Baghdad, Iraq, on February 7

A US military strike killed a Kataib Hezbollah commander in Iraq on Wednesday night who was responsible for attacks on US forces in the region, according to US Central Command.   The attack was carried out by a drone against a vehicle in Baghdad, according to US and Iraqi officials. There are no indications of collateral damage or civilian casualties, Central Command said in its statement. Iraqi police said there was at least one other person inside the vehicle who has not been identified.

“We will not hesitate to hold responsible all those who threaten our forces’ safety,” Central Command said.

Another euphemism, you mean you will not hesitate to assassinate all those who threaten our (unwelcome) forces.

The identity of the commander has not yet been released. Local police officials in Baghdad said on Wednesday that the strike hit an SUV in the Al-Mashtal, a predominantly Shia neighborhood in eastern Baghdad. The strike came as the US has been planning retaliatory attacks against Iran-backed militants who launched a drone at a US outpost in Jordan last month that killed 3 American soldiers. The US has blamed that attack on an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq.

A CNN team on the ground in Baghdad heard at least two loud explosions in quick succession around 9:30 p.m. local time. The two people who were inside the vehicle have not been identified because the bodies were completely charred from a fire that erupted from the strike, the police said. But a senior local security source and a senior source with the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) told CNN that a senior leader with the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia was killed in the attack.

The US conducted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria last week targeting seven facilities used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and affiliated militias in retaliation for the deadly drone attack in Jordan.

Wednesday's strike in Iraq is not the last of Biden's authorized actions, administration official says

The US military strike that Central Command said killed a Kataib Hezbollah commander in Iraq on Wednesday does not mark the end of a series of retaliatory actions that President Joe Biden authorized early last week.

 



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SvennoJ on 08 February 2024

Nasser Hospital doctor sniped while in operating room

Palestinian journalist Mohammed Akram Al Helo reports that the doctor, Dr. Nusseib, sustained a gunshot wound to his chest and is currently in critical condition.

The shooting, which Al Helo says was a deliberate targeting, occurred while the doctor was at work in the operating room at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. “Even doctors are now the target of the occupation forces while carrying out their responsibilities in operating rooms. How much longer will this silence last?” he wrote.

Nasser Hospital has been under a state of siege for over two weeks. Today we reported accounts of medical staff being pinned down by Israeli sniper fire inside the medical complex, as well as an Israeli drone attack there that killed displaced civilians.

Israeli attacks leave 5 dead inside Gaza medical facilities, reports say

An Israeli airstrike targeting a room in the Al Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City killed five people on Thursday, journalist Khader Zaanoun told CNN, who received his information from health officials in the city.

In Khan Younis, a doctor inside the Nasser Medical Complex, Ahmad Al Moghrabi, posted a video on Instagram showing a bleeding colleague who he said had been shot by a sniper while inside the medical facility. “The sniper shot my nurse friend beside me on his chest at the operative theatre. He is seriously injured,” Moghrabi wrote in the caption.

Ashraf Al-Qudra, spokesperson of the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, said that there are 300 medical staff, 450 injured people and 10,000 displaced people in the Nasser hospital complex. They are exposed to disease and hunger, as well as health hazards due to the accumulation of medical and non-medical waste as Israeli forces are preventing its removal, he added.

At the nearby Al-Amal hospital, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said there was “intense and continuous gunfire” in the vicinity of the facility Thursday. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Thursday it was intensifying fighting in western Khan Younis.

At least 14 killed in Israeli airstrikes in Rafah, eyewitnesses say

At least 14 people were killed, including 5 children, after Israeli airstrikes targeted several residential buildings in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, an eyewitness and local journalist Tareq Al Hilou told CNN. Airstrikes hit the Tal Al-Sultan and Saudi neighborhoods in the western part of Rafah, Al Hilou said, adding that there was heavy bombardment south of city near the border with Egypt. 

In Khan Younis in the south of Gaza, dozens of rockets were launched over residential neighborhoods in the early hours of Thursday, particularly in the eastern part of the city, Al Hilou said. 

In central Gaza, in Deir El-Balah, a journalist working for Palestine TV, Nafez Abdul Jawad, was killed after an Israeli missile struck the house he was staying in, eyewitness and journalist Mohammad Al-Sawalhi, who is in central Gaza, told CNN Thursday.

In Gaza City, north of the strip, eyewitness, and journalist Khader Al Zaanoun told CNN that there were several deaths and injuries after Israeli forces “opened fire on civilians in alleys and streets” in the western part of the city, particularly in in University Square, Al Sina’a , Al Matar Intersection, and Al-Saraya. “Victims are still awaiting medical treatment as ambulances are being prevented from reaching them,” Zaanoun said.

CNN reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment on claims Israeli forces opened fire on civilians in Gaza City, and that residential buildings were targeted across the strip.

2 Americans detained by Israeli forces in Gaza, family member says 

Two American citizens were detained by the Israel Defense Forces during a raid of a home in Gaza early Thursday morning local time, according to a family member in the United States. Hashem Alagha, 20, and Borak Alagha, 18, were among a group of roughly 20 men detained by IDF soldiers during the raid, according to Yasmeen Elagha, who identified herself as their cousin. She said both men are American citizens, born in the suburbs of Chicago.

Elagha told CNN that she spoke over the phone with Hashem’s mother — her aunt — who was present during the raid and claims IDF broke through the door while the group was sleeping, tied up the women and children inside the home, and took the men into custody. They do not know where the men have been taken at this point. Elagha says the home belongs to her uncle and her family has no ties to Hamas.

CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment. The US is aware of reports that the Israeli military has detained two American citizens in Gaza and is "seeking additional information," State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said at a news briefing. Patel did not share further details.

Blinken cancelled Karem Abu Salem crossing visit amid continued aid protests

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz has reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken cancelled a planned visit to Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing with Gaza after Israeli officials told him they could not guarantee that aid convoys would not be disrupted by Israeli protesters who have been trying to block humanitarian aid from entering the beleaguered Strip for more than a week.

The demonstrators have been demanding an end to the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, where health and assistance officials say that Israel’s campaign has created a humanitarian catastrophe and put hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians at risk of starvation.

Palestinian prisoners group announces death of youth held in administrative detention

The Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs Authority and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club have stated that 21-year-old Al-Dhahiriya resident Muhammad Ahmad Ratib al-Sabbar has died in an Israeli prison, where he had been held under administrative detention since May 2022. The groups say that the last order extending his detention was issued in November 2023 for a period of four months. Rights groups have long said that Israel’s detention of Palestinians in the occupied territories is rife with abuses.

“Administrative detention is incarceration without trial or charge, alleging that a person plans to commit a future offense,” according to the Israeli rights group B’tselem. “It has no time limit, and the evidence on which it is based is not disclosed. Israel employs this measure extensively and routinely, and has used it to hold thousands of Palestinians for lengthy periods of time.”

Palestinian culture minister says ‘Gaza is no longer Gaza’: Report

Palestinian Culture Minister Atef Abu Seif has said that Palestinians will need “a new Gaza” as Israel’s assault on the strip — one of the most destructive military campaigns in modern history — has left it nearly unrecognisable. “Gaza is no longer Gaza,” Abu Seif said in an interview with the news outlet AFP.

Abu Seif was trapped in Gaza for 90 days, and says that he witnessed terrible suffering and has lost more than 100 relatives. In the interview, he also recounts helping pull bodies out of the rubble after an Israeli attack on a relative’s home. “We were shocked to find that a body which a friend retrieved belonged to his 16-year-old son,” said Abu Seif. “The war in Gaza is ugly.”



SvennoJ on 08 February 2024

At least 3 dead following Israeli drone strike on car in southern Lebanon, state media reports

An Israeli drone strike on a car in the center of the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh on Thursday killed at least three people, Lebanese state media NNA reported.

NNA did not give the names of those killed in the strike, but the Israel Defense Forces told CNN it had carried out a strike on a "Hezbollah commander who was involved in a number of (rocket) launches towards the areas of Kiryat Shmona and Metula in northern Israel." The IDF said that the strike was "in response to the launch toward Kiryat Shmona this morning."

Hezbollah confirmed that it had fired rockets into several locations in northern Israel on Thursday morning. There were no immediate reports of Israeli casualties following the Hezbollah rocket attacks. Hezbollah has not yet commented on reports that one of its commanders was killed in the Israeli strike, but late Thursday, the militant group announced that it had conducted further rocket launches targeting the Israeli military in Meron airbase in Israel.

Israel Air Force says hundreds of its aircraft are ready to strike Lebanon in case of war

The Israeli Air Force said Thursday that dozens of its aircraft deployed over Lebanon could "turn into hundreds" ready to operate within minutes from launch.

"The dozens of aircraft currently operating in the skies of Lebanon are only part of our capabilities. Once the order is given, my intention is for these dozens to become hundreds of aircraft capable of executing all missions within minutes, from launching operations over the skies of Lebanon," Israeli Air Force Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar said in front of military personnel.

Bar said that in case of a war in Lebanon, "the term 'attack' does not fully capture what will occur." Bar said that massive strikes would target " hundreds of locations simultaneously, including deep within the country." In an earlier statement, the Israel Defense Forces said soldiers who fought in Gaza were now training for combat on the northern front. 

"The 36th Division, the Northern Command's offensive division, has completed an intense combat operation in the Gaza Strip, during which the division's soldiers significantly damaged the capabilities of the Hamas terrorist organization," the IDF said. "Now, the division is increasing its readiness for operational plans against the northern enemy – in defense and offense," it added.

US says it killed or wounded more than 40 militants in strikes on Iran-backed groups last Friday

The US killed or wounded more than 40 militants in its strikes against Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria on February 2, according to the Defense Department. US Central Command is still assessing the results of the strikes, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said at a briefing Thursday. The strikes included more than 85 targets the militant groups have used to attack US forces, he said.

Strikes on Houthi targets: Ryder also provided an update on February 3 strikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, saying those attacks destroyed or damaged 35 Houthi targets at 13 locations. “More broadly, since the first coalition strikes on January 11, we assessed that we've destroyed or degraded more than 100 missiles and launchers, including anti-ship, land attack and surface to air missiles, plus numerous communication capabilities, unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned surface vessels, coastal radars, air surveillance capabilities and weapons storage areas,” Ryder said of the US and UK attacks on Houthi targets over the past several weeks.

Kirby says US actions ‘speak louder than words’

Responding to a question from Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher, Kirby defended the US position on the war on Gaza, although the “actions” he referenced were sanctions imposed on a handful of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.

Kirby did say that “too many have been killed” in Gaza, and added that the US had been working hard to get an extended humanitarian pause agreed upon, “so that the level of violence can come down”.

Sanctions on 4 individual Settlers. You're right Kirby, actions speak louder than words and all your actions show you continue to protect and support the ongoing genocide.



SvennoJ on 08 February 2024

US says it wouldn't support Israeli military operations in Rafah without plan for civilians. Here's the latest

The United States would not support an Israeli military operation in Rafah, the Gaza Strip's most southerly city where more than a million displaced civilians are living, "without serious planning," the US State Department said Thursday. "To conduct such an operation right now with no planning and little thought in an area where there is sheltering of a million people would be a disaster," US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said at a news briefing.  

Patel added that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made this clear to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in meetings in Israel on Wednesday. Netanyahu said the same day that the Israel Defense Forces "is preparing to fight in Rafah."

Does this imply the US was supporting all the other shit the IDF has done so far? Or just more empty words. Probably just preempted covering for the US for when the bloodbath starts.

Civilians in Gaza moved around like chess pieces, says Save the Children country director

Jason Lee, the charity’s country director for the occupied Palestinian territories, told Al Jazeera that the situation in Rafah was extremely difficult for civilians in light of Israel’s continued attacks. “The situation in Rafah continues to deteriorate day after day,” Lee said. “We’re now facing a massive displacement of people – over 1.3 million people are estimated to be in Rafah, where there is no shelter, there is absolutely nowhere for them to live. Civilians are living in tents, in makeshift shelters all along the sides of streets, in car parks, next to mosques, next to schools, next to hospitals, wherever they can find space.”

Lee decried the constant displacement that Palestinians in Gaza have faced as they escape Israeli bombardment. “Where is there left for the population to go? They have been already moved from the north of Gaza, from the central areas of Gaza – moved around like pieces on a chess board to achieve military objectives. There is nowhere left for them to move.”

Lee added that if the military attack on Rafah escalated, civilians would be forced to flee to areas already destroyed by Israel, where significant risks existed, particularly for children, such as the presence of unexploded ordnance.


Some more details about the detained Americans

Two US brothers, Canadian father detained in Israeli raid in Gaza: Report

The Associated Press (AP) reports that Israeli forces detained two American brothers, their Canadian father and other relatives in an overnight raid on their home in Gaza. Borak Alagha, 18, and Hashem Alagha, 20, two brothers born in the Chicago area, were detained when Israeli forces entered the family home in the town of al-Masawi, near Khan Younis, in the early morning on Thursday, their cousin Yasmeen Elagha told the AP.

Israeli soldiers tied up and blindfolded the women and children in the family and placed them outside the home, the cousin said. The two American brothers, their Canadian citizen father, a mentally disabled uncle and two other adult male relatives were taken away by the Israelis, and have not returned, Elagha said.

Other people in neighbouring homes were also taken away by the soldiers. US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Washington will “be talking to our Israeli counterparts” about the reported detentions of US citizens.

Kirby is going to talk, there's the other American-Palestinian in the Westbank as well
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/02/08/israel-arrest-american-west-bank/

Every male 17 years or older is Hamas in Gaza according to Israel.


CAIR calls on Biden administration to secure release of citizens in Gaza detained by Israel

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a US-based civil rights group, has called on the Biden administration to secure the release of US citizens taken from their homes during an overnight raid by Israeli forces in Gaza.

“When the Biden administration provides political and material support for the far-right Israeli government’s indiscriminate campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing, it is endangering the Americans who are trapped or held captive in Gaza, as well as the two US citizens who were just kidnapped by Israeli forces,” director Nihad Awad said in a statement. “We call on our government to protect all endangered American citizens in Gaza by demanding and securing an immediate ceasefire.”




Suspend first, ask questions later

Australia has asked Israel for more evidence on accusations against UN relief agency staff

Australia does not have all the evidence from Israel following its accusations that United Nations staff in Gaza were involved in Hamas' October 7 attack, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Thursday. Wong told public broadcaster the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that she was still asking to be shown all the evidence that Israel had. 

Australia joined nations including France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Germany in pausing financial support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) following Israeli allegations that 12 of UNRWA's 13,000 staff members in Gaza were involved in the Hamas attack. The UN's oversight body is conducting an investigation into the matter. 

Wong said she spoke to UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini on Thursday but did not ask him for the evidence on the Israeli allegations, and instead spoke about how to restore confidence and work through the issues. “But what I would say is the primary concern is making sure that other donors, particularly those who have not provided their next round of operational funding, core funding, that that confidence can be attained before the end of the month,” Wong told the ABC, referring to UNRWA stating it only has enough funding until the end of February.

Don't worry Penny Wong, you were not left out, nobody has 'the evidence'...

UN special rapporteur celebrates Palestinian journalists

UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese has said that she met with Palestinian reporters Wael Dahdouh and Motaz Azaiza in Doha, celebrating the contributions of Palestinian journalists in Gaza. “During my brief time in #Doha I had the privilege to meet @azaizamotaz9 & @WaelDahdouh. May their voices continue to be heard,” Albanese said in a social media post.

“I also visited hospitalised Gaza children -some [without] limbs or [paralysed] due to [Israeli] munitions- the sense of ‘irreparable harm’… is everywhere.”

Still no news

PRCS says 10 days have passed since disappearance of ambulance crew searching for six-year-old girl

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulance crew went missing while searching for a six-year-old girl whose family was killed when Israeli forces opened fire on their car. “It has been 10 days since we have heard anything from our colleagues Youssef Zeino and Ahmed Al-Madhoon, the PRCS ambulance team who went to rescue 6-year-old Hind,” the group said in a social media post today.

“We want answers, we want the truth, we need the painful silence to end. Help us find our team. Help us find Hind and return her to her mother.” Hind desperately called the PRCS from the car asking for help, with her other family members dead in the vehicle with her. She has not been heard from since.

Last edited by SvennoJ - on 08 February 2024

SvennoJ on 08 February 2024

Minneapolis city in US passes Gaza ceasefire resolution, overrides veto by mayor

The Minneapolis City Council overrode a mayoral veto and approved a resolution that calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to US military funding to Israel, the Associated Press news agency reports. AP said the office of city Mayor Jacob Frey, who is Jewish, said he supported a ceasefire in Gaza, but he vetoed a resolution calling for one last week because he was concerned about its language being “one-sided” amid rising anti-Semitism in Minneapolis.

Council President Elliott Payne and Council Vice President Aisha Chughtai said in a joint statement that they are proud of the nine council members who voted on Thursday to override the mayor’s veto. The resolution calls on state and federal authorities to advance a full, immediate and permanent ceasefire; provide urgently needed humanitarian aid; stop US military funding to Israel; release Israeli captives taken by Hamas; and release thousands of Palestinians “held indefinitely without cause and trial in Israeli military prisons”.

Sana Wazwaz, a leader in American Muslims for Palestine’s Minnesota chapter, said the vote signalled a radical shift in what is considered acceptable criticism of Israel.

Protesters in Tel Aviv hang huge banner demanding truce deal

The banner reads “a deal or a death sentence” over the faces of Israeli captives still held in Gaza, sending the message to officials that delays in striking a deal with Hamas to secure their release endanger the captives’ lives. Local sources report that Israeli police deployed tear gas to break up the demonstration.

Yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed an official Hamas response to a proposed deal for a truce that would include the release of captives, along with a pause in fighting and a beginning of an end to the war in Gaza after last week assuring the families of the captives that everything possible was being done to bring their loved ones home.

Nicaragua requests to join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel

The International Court of Justice says it has received a request from Nicaragua to “intervene in the case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip”, filed by South Africa.

Late last year, South Africa petitioned the court to halt what it says is an ongoing genocide committed by Israel as it carries out its war on Gaza. Last month, the court issued a series of provisional measures that require Israel to comply with the 1948 Genocide Convention, allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza and act against those who issue genocidal statements.

According to a release from the ICJ, a state may request to become party to one of its cases whenever “it considers that it has an interest of a legal nature which may be affected by the decision in the case”. For its reasoning, Nicaragua said it “has interests of a legal nature that stem from the rights and obligations imposed by the Genocide Convention,” and wishes to “liberate mankind from such an odious scourge”.



SvennoJ on 09 February 2024

Has Biden finally actually seen what's happening instead of relying on Israel's reports.

Biden says Israel's Gaza response "has been over the top"

US President Joe Biden late Thursday offered one of his sharpest rebukes to date of Israel’s military conduct in Gaza, saying the operation to go after Hamas had been “over the top.”

“I’m of the view that the conduct of the response in Gaza, in the Gaza Strip, has been over the top.

I think that, as you know, initially, the president of Mexico [sic] Sisi [Egypt President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi], did not want to open up the gate to allow humanitarian material to get in. I talked to him. I convinced him to open the gate. I talked to Bibi [Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu] to open the gate on the Israeli side.

I’ve been pushing really hard, really hard, to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza. There are a lot of innocent people who are starving. A lot of innocent people who are in trouble and dying and it’s got to stop – number one.

Number two – I was also in the position that I’m the guy that made the case that we have to do much more to increase the amount of material going in, including fuel, including other items. I’ve been on the phone with the Qataris. I’ve been on the phone with the Egyptians. I’ve been on the phone with the Saudis to get as much aid as we possibly can into Gaza.

There are innocent people, and innocent women and children who are also in badly need of help. And so that’s what we are pushing. And I’m pushing very hard now to deal with this hostage ceasefire.

Because, you know, I’ve been working tirelessly on this deal – how can I say this without revealing – to lead to a sustained pause in the fighting, in the actions taking place in the Gaza Strip. And, because I think if we can get the delay, for that initial delay, I think that we would be able to extend that so that we could increase the prospect that this fighting in Gaza changes.”

Delivered at the very end of a fiery evening news conference, Biden’s remarks offered a new window into his view of the four-month conflict, which has tested American diplomacy and exposed divisions within his Democratic coalition.

His assessment of the Israeli military campaign as excessive marked a new stage in Biden’s public posturing on the war. For much of the months since October 7, Biden has embraced Israel and staunchly defended its right to go after Hamas.

 

Biden: Countries must adhere to international law if receiving US military aid

US President Joe Biden has issued a memorandum laying out the standards that countries receiving US military aid must adhere to. The memorandum does not outline new guidelines but calls for the State Department to receive written assurances from countries that they will abide by current US standards. The move comes amid growing tensions between Washington the Tel Aviv over mounting civilian casualties in Gaza.

The national security memorandum also, for the first time, requires the US government to submit an annual report to Congress on whether countries are meeting those requirements. “The Secretaries of State and Defense are responsible for ensuring that all transfers of defense articles and defense services … are conducted in a manner consistent with all applicable international and domestic law and policy, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law,” a White House press release said in relation to the memorandum.

US Senator says working with White House to ‘hold the Israeli government accountable’

Elizabeth Warren has said that she has been working with the Biden administration to “hold the Israeli government accountable for upholding international law”.

Warren’s comments came in response to the White House announcing that a new memorandum had been issued laying out the standards that countries receiving US military aid must adhere to. The memorandum will also require the State Department to submit an annual report to Congress on whether countries are meeting the requirements. “US military aid cannot be a blank check for Prime Minister Netanyahu and his right-wing government to kill tens of thousands of Palestinians,” Warren wrote on X.

Over the top is quite the understatement.

Israel’s bombing of Gaza homes leaves 12 million tonnes of debris to clear: UN

More than 650,000 people have no homes left to return to in Gaza and many more will be unable to return to their residences due to damage inflicted by Israel’s war on the territory and the risks posed by explosives left over from the fighting.

There is also an estimated 12 million tonnes of debris from Israel’s destruction of residential houses in the Palestinian territory that will take more than four years to clear, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said in its latest situation report.

Civilians continued to be reported killed in large numbers over Wednesday and Thursday, while the risk of famine in Gaza grows by the day, particularly for hundreds of thousands of people in the north of the territory who have been cut off from aid deliveries, UNOCHA said.

  • Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported a further 130 killed and 170 injured in a 24-hour period up to Thursday afternoon.
  • On Wednesday, 13 people were killed while waiting to receive water from a distribution truck that was attacked in an Israeli strike.
  • On the same day, a group of people were attacked with multiple casualties reported while awaiting humanitarian aid trucks in Gaza City.
  • The attack was at least the sixth on people in Gaza City while they waited for the distribution of humanitarian aid.
  • Fourteen people, including five children, were killed on Thursday night when Israel attacked two houses in Rafah.