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SvennoJ on 08 August 2024

UN expert rebukes Germany’s staunch support of Israel amid ICC war crimes probe

The UN’s special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory has called out Germany’s staunch defence of Israel amid its war on Gaza, saying “it’s time to wake up to reality”.

In a post on social media related to Germany’s submission to the International Criminal Court (ICC) challenging a request for warrants seeking the arrest of Israeli leaders over alleged war crimes in Gaza, Francesca Albanese asked: “How can this be forgiven?”

While Germany could stay “silent in the corner of history, you are doing all you can to make it wrong, once again,” the UN rapporteur said.

“I understand. The pressure you have been under. The Holocaust that the Third Reich committed and most ordinary Germans let happen (other Europeans also watched idle or supported it). The sense of guilt. Its collective dimension,” Albanese wrote.

Germany, she added, was torn between supporting the primacy of international laws and “the security of Israel (or its apartheid?)”.

Israeli protesters disrupt court hearing into abuse at Sde Teiman prison

Protesters shouting “shame” and “we are the sovereign” forced the Israeli Supreme Court to briefly suspend a hearing into a petition to close down the Sde Teiman prison, where Palestinian prisoners and Israeli doctors have accused Israeli soldiers of carrying out severe torture, including sexual abuse.

The protesters began disrupting the proceedings on Wednesday when a lawyer for the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) argued that Sde Teiman should be closed permanently over repeated allegations of detainee abuse, the Times of Israel and the Associated Press news agency reports.

The protesters were removed from the court and after the hearing resumed the judges asked the state’s lawyer for greater clarity on the conditions in which Palestinians prisoners are being held.

State lawyer Aner Helman said there are currently about 30 Palestinians at Sde Teiman and that “core principles” of Israeli laws on detaining combatants were being upheld. He said that an upgraded facility will be opened at the site on September 5.

The ACRI’s lawyer, however, rejected the claims, saying: “We’re not talking about a new facility, it’s the same place, in which [the same] things have been happening since October."



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SvennoJ on 08 August 2024

Pro-Palestine protesters heckle Kamala Harris at Detroit rally



The Democratic presidential nominee was speaking in Detroit, Michigan, on Wednesday evening when half a dozen protesters began chanting, “Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide. We won’t vote for genocide,” according to US media.

The interruptions were the first Harris has encountered at a rally since she replaced US President Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket, NBC News reported.

Harris responded to the protesters by saying, “I’m here because we believe in democracy. Everyone’s voice matters, but I am speaking now. I am speaking now.”

As the protest continued, Harris’s tone became more forceful.

“You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking,” she said.

Hmm that doesn't bode well. I doubt much will change with Harris, already using the excuse Trump is worse.

‘Uncommitted’ campaign wants Harris to clarify stance on Gaza war

Leaders of the “Uncommitted” protest-vote movement in Michigan have said they will not endorse Harris – who replaced Biden atop the Democratic presidential ticket – until she clarifies her stance on a ceasefire in Gaza as well as weapons transfers to Israel.

The campaign – which gained national attention by urging voters to cast “Uncommitted” ballots in a message to Biden during the Democratic Party’s primaries earlier this year – is particularly influential in the battleground state of Michigan.

More than 700,000 Americans, including 100,000 in Michigan, heeded the campaign’s call, and it is set to send 30 delegates to the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Abbas Alawieh, a co-founder of the movement, told reporters in Dearborn that the campaign wants to know how Harris’s policy “is outwardly different from the disastrous policy that we’ve seen unfold over the last nine months”.

He added that the uncommitted movement would not endorse Harris for president unless she “[tells] us where she stands on Gaza and on the issue of weapons transfers specifically, so that we know what message we can take back to the voters that we mobilise here in Michigan”.



SvennoJ on 08 August 2024

‘Children have a right to be protected from violence’: UNICEF

The UN’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has urged for “immediate de-escalation” in the Middle East for the sake of the region’s children.

In a statement, the agency said every attack during the Gaza war has brought “news of children among those killed”. “In less than a year, thousands of children have been killed across the State of Palestine, Israel, Lebanon and the occupied Golan Heights,” it said.

“Beyond those tragic deaths, there are many more boys and girls suffering from injuries that have forever marked their bodies and caused immeasurable damage to their mental health.”

UNICEF warned that if violence escalates further, “the situation for children threatens to get far, far worse”.

“Immediate de-escalation is essential to safeguard the lives and well-being of children, as the alternative is unconscionable,” it said. “Children have a right to be protected from violence and this should always be upheld.”


Without ceasefire for vaccines, polio could spread throughout region: WHO specialist

As we’ve reported, the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) has called for a ceasefire in Gaza to administer a mass polio vaccination campaign, including to 600,000 children under the age of eight, after samples of the disease were detected in the enclave’s wastewater.

Hamid Jafari, a polio specialist with the WHO, says that if such a ceasefire is not implemented and if healthcare workers are not granted enough freedom of movement to distribute all the vaccines, the risk of a polio outbreak both within Gaza and regionally is “very high”.

“This can spread very fast internationally and most importantly, it is a direct threat to the children of Gaza,” Jafari told Al Jazeera. “This can start paralysing children very very rapidly.”

He added: “If it [polio] spreads into Israel or the West Bank, it becomes a public health emergency there. Lebanon is at risk. Egypt is at risk. Jordan is at risk.  And other countries of the region are at risk.

Japan mayor says exclusion of Israel from A-bomb commemoration not political

The mayor of Nagasaki city in Japan has reiterated that his decision to leave Israel off an invitation list of attendees at an annual ceremony to mark the US dropping of an atomic bomb on the city was not politically motivated and he will not reverse his decision.

Mayor Shiro Suzuki said an invitation was not extended to Israel’s ambassador to Japan, Gilad Cohen, because of fears it could prompt protests against Israel’s war on Gaza.

Japan’s Kyodo news agency said on Thursday that Suzuki cited security reasons for his decision, “including potential demonstrations against Israel’s attendance” at the ceremony to mark the 79th anniversary of the August 9, 1945 bombing of the city.

The decision has caused controversy with ambassadors from the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Australia and Canada saying they will not attend the memorial service because Israel is not invited, AFP reports.

The mayor told reporters that he hoped the ceremony would be “conducted smoothly under a solemn atmosphere”, Kyodo reports.

The decision of the Western axis of evil not to attend the memorial service definitely is political.

Israeli army responds to announcement of WCK staff killing in Gaza

We reported earlier that the US-based World Central Kitchen aid group had announced the killing of a Palestinian staff member, Nadi Sallout, near Gaza’s Deir el-Balah.

The Times of Israel newspaper reports that the Israeli military said it conducted a preliminary examination and held a conversation with the WCK about the reported killing. It claimed that “there is no known incident of harm to an employee of the organization while working in the last few days”.

“The [army] examines each unusual incident individually,” the military added in response to a query, according to the newspaper.

In early April, Israel killed seven people working with the United States-based NGO in an attack on the Gaza Strip.

WCK already stated he was off duty at the time. Is that now an excuse?



SvennoJ on 08 August 2024

Most ultra-Orthodox Israelis support ditching Netanyahu’s coalition if yeshiva students drafted: Poll

Sixty-five percent of ultra-Orthodox Jewish Israelis believe their political parties should leave Prime Minister Netanyahu’s coalition if the government passes legislation forcing yeshiva students to join the military, according to an Israeli pollster cited by the Israel Haayom newspaper.

The poll, carried out by an institute headed by Israeli pollster Mano Geva, also suggests that 86 percent of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jews believe Netanyahu would “severely damage” his relationship with their community if he supports yeshiva students’ recruitment.

Backlash in Israel towards de facto military exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jews, who often dedicate themselves to Torah studies, has precipitated a political crisis for Netanyahu, whose shaky coalition benefits from support from ultra-Orthodox parties.

In late June, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the military must begin drafting ultra-Orthodox Jewish men for military service, threatening a longstanding practice under which Jewish seminary students were exempt.



Netanyahu willing to sacrifice captives: Israel’s former military chief

Moshe Ya’alon, the former chief of staff of the Israeli military, has issued a stinging rebuke of Netanyahu, saying he is ready to “sacrifice” the Israeli captives to appease far-right members of his cabinet who oppose a ceasefire.

Ya’alon singled out Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in his comments carried by Israeli Army Radio, accusing them of pushing to displace Palestinians during the war.

Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, who recently said it might be “justified” to starve Gaza’s entire population to free Israel’s captives, are both crucial members of Netanyahu’s coalition government and have previously threatened to abandon him if he makes concessions to end the war.



Israel revokes accreditation for Norwegian diplomats

Israel’s Foreign Ministry has revoked the diplomatic accreditation of eight Norwegian diplomats based in Tel Aviv who dealt with the Palestinian Authority.

A Foreign Ministry statement said the move was in response to “a flurry of recent anti-Israel and unilateral steps taken by the government of Norway”, including recognising a Palestinian state and recent “severe comments by senior Norwegian officials”.

The Norwegian ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem and informed that the diplomats would have their accreditation revoked in seven days and their visas in three months.

Norway reacts to Israel revoking accreditation of its diplomats

Norway’s Foreign Ministry confirms Israel has given notice it will no longer accredit Norwegian diplomats serving the occupied Palestinian territory and calls it “an extreme act” by the Israeli government.

Norway is now considering its response to the situation, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide said in a statement.

“This is an extreme act that primarily affects our ability to help the Palestinian population. … Today’s decision will have consequences for our relationship with the Netanyahu government,” he said.

Israel’s budget deficit climbs

Israel’s budget deficit was 8.1 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) in the 12 months until the end of July, equivalent to $2.2bn, according to preliminary figures from the Finance Ministry cited by The Times of Israel.

This is close to double the deficit it posted at the end of 2023, which was equivalent to 4.2 percent of its GDP and over Israel’s target deficit of 6.6 percent for 2024.

Israel has spent tens of billions on the war in Gaza since October, widening the deficit. From 2023 to 2025, the total military and civilian costs of the war to Israel is projected to be 253 billion shekels ($67bn), Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron warned at the end of May.

US taxpayers will fill the gap...



SvennoJ on 08 August 2024

Hezbollah claims its drone attacked Israeli soldiers in al-Marj

The Lebanese group says its drone has attacked Israeli soldiers in a military position in al-Marj near the Lebanon-Israel border. The assault carried out at 1:20pm (10:20 GMT) injured an unidentified number of troops, the group’s statement said on Telegram.


Israel and Lebanon exchange attacks

Israeli Army Radio reports that 15 rockets fired from southern Lebanon have hit the areas of Shlomi and al-Kabri in the western Galilee. Meanwhile, Lebanese media reported that Israeli warplanes have launched raids on the towns of Rashaf, Hadada, and at-Tiri in southern Lebanon.

The report said Israeli artillery also targeted the outskirts of the town of Aita al-Shaab in southern Lebanon.


Hezbollah confirms fighter killed, launches more attacks on Israel

The armed Lebanese group says in a statement that one of its fighters, Atef al-Sayed from Aitaroun in southern Lebanon, has been killed after suffering wounds earlier.

Hezbollah has also announced its eighth attack of the day so far on Israeli positions, saying it hit the Ramim barracks with rockets and achieved a direct hit.

The group also released two videos that showed attacks launched in the past few weeks. One displayed a guided missile hitting an RPS-42 tactical air surveillance radar, with the other showing a missile making impact inside an Israeli outpost along the border.


Rockets fired from Lebanon says Israeli military

The Israeli military confirms that it has detected at least 25 rocket launches into northern Israel from Lebanese territory.

It reports that air raid sirens were activated in the western Galilee and some rockets were able to penetreate the Israeli defences, but inflicted no casualties. In response, it said it hit the source of the rocket fire with artillery shells and carried out another artillery attack to hit a village in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli military also released aerial footage of another round of air raids across areas in southern Lebanon, including Kfar Kila, Yarin and Hula.


Gallant says Lebanon war will be ‘severe’, points finger at Hezbollah

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant claims in an Arabic post published on his X account that Hezbollah is responsible for the current escalation in conflicts that has put the entire region on the brink of all-out war.

“The State of Israel aims for peace, prosperity and stability on the northern border on both sides,” said Gallant, just as Israeli fighter jets bomb areas across southern Lebanon.

“If Hezbollah continues its aggression, Israel will fight it in a very severe war,” he wrote. “Consider not embarking on any adventure.”


Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has doubled down on Israel’s readiness for war with Hezbollah in Lebanon as their border fighting continues



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SvennoJ on 08 August 2024

Houthis to work with ‘Axis of Resistance’ members

Yemen’s Houthis will coordinate with other members of the “Axis of Resistance” in any joint operation, the group’s leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi says, using the name that Iran and its regional allies use for groups aligned with Tehran.

He said any decision to respond to Israeli attacks would be made by the axis as a whole.


New security incident off the coast of Yemen

The British agency United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) is reporting a new security incident some 45 nautical miles (83km) south of Mukha (Mocha) in Yemen.

The Houthis in Yemen claimed a separate attack on Wednesday, when the Iran-allied group said it targeted a commercial ship and two US warships.

The US and the UK are conducting an air strike campaign against the Houthis in response to their attacks on shipping lanes surrounding Yemen, which the Houthis say is in support of Palestinians in Gaza.


Ship targeted with RPG by men on fast boats: UKMTO

The British maritime security agency reports that the ship that was targeted off the coast of Yemen was attacked by eight people aboard two small boats, who fired an RPG, leading to an explosion near the vessel.

“The vessel and crew are safe,” according to UKMTO, citing the master of the unnamed ship.



SvennoJ on 08 August 2024

‘Israeli air strikes’ hit near airport in Syria

Local media reports from Syria indicate that explosions heard near the Shayrat Airbase in Homs were caused by Israeli air raids. The Israeli military has not commented on the news, which has also been cited by Iranian state media.


Four injured in Israeli attack on Syria: Syrian state media

Syrian state media has now reported on the air raid blamed on Israel we mentioned earlier, saying that four military personnel had been injured. The state media report said that an Israeli air raid had targeted Syria’s central region.

According to local media reports, the Israeli air strikes targeted an ammunition depot southeast of Homs, in the vicinity of al-Shayrat Airport.

Loud noises continued following the strikes as a result of the continued explosion of the ammunition.

A number of civilian casualties have also been reported in a village near the airport, due to material being launched from the ammunition depot as a result of the explosions.

The airport has been used by the Russian air force since late 2015.



SvennoJ on 08 August 2024

Israel bombs two schools, kills 12 Palestinians

Gaza’s Civil Defence reports that an Israeli bombing has hit the al-Zahraa School and the Abdel Fattah Hamoud School, both in the eastern area of Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip.

The rescue organisation says that seven people were killed in the al-Zahraa School and five in the Hamoud School, bringing the death toll across both of these attacks to 12.


Isn't it time for a new excuse...

Israel says it struck Hamas command centres embedded in Gaza schools

The Israeli military says it struck Hamas command centres embedded in the areas of two schools in the Gaza Strip, which were used to carry out attacks against Israeli troops.

“Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, surveillance, and additional intelligence,” the military said.

“The school compounds were used by Hamas terrorists and commanders as command-and-control centres, from which they planned and carried out attacks against [Israeli] troops and the state of Israel,” it said.

As we reported earlier, Gaza’s civil defence reports that Israeli bombings hit the al-Zahraa School and the Abdel Fattah Hamoud School, both in the eastern area of Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip, killing 12 Palestinians.


Death toll rises to 15 in Israeli attack on schools

Here are the latest updates from Gaza:

  • The death toll in an Israeli bombing that targeted two schools housing displaced people in eastern Gaza City has risen to 15, according to Gaza’s civil defence. At least 30 people were injured, and a number of people are missing.
  • Medical sources confirmed to Al Jazeera that 56 people have been killed and dozens injured in Israeli bombing in Gaza since dawn.
  • Israeli bombing in the vicinity of the power plant north of the Nuseirat refugee camp has killed three people and injured a number of others, the correspondent added.
  • Gaza’s civil defence said it had recovered three bodies following the Israeli bombing of the Zeitoun neighbourhood in southeastern Gaza City.
  • Israeli bombing targeted a house of the Abu Zaid family in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, killing eight people and injuring a number of others including serious cases, Gaza’s civil defence added.


Israeli army’s message is that there is no safe place in Gaza: Civil Defense

We’ve been reporting on the Israeli bombing of two schools in eastern Gaza City that has killed at least 15 people and left another 30 injured.

Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for Gaza’s civil defence, has told Al Jazeera that by targeting schools housing displaced people, Israeli forces want to deliver the message that there is no safe place in Gaza.

He said that all those killed in these schools were children and women, and there were no armed men or fighters, as the Israeli army claims.



SvennoJ on 08 August 2024

‘State of panic’ among Palestinians in eastern parts of Khan Younis

There’s a state of panic among Palestinians, especially those in the eastern parts of Khan Younis and those who have received the leaflets and the warnings by the Israeli forces to evacuate to the western parts of Khan Younis in al-Mawasi.

These people went back to their houses a couple of days ago when there was another warning for them to evacuate during the past couple of weeks. The same exact area is being called for evacuation.

Those same exact families – children, parents with all their belongings – were scattered on the streets for weeks because they did not have any place to evacuate to when the Israeli forces warned them.

Palestinians do not have any place to go to, everywhere is packed. One million displaced Palestinians are squeezed in Deir el-Balah. And here in al-Mawasi, Khan Younis, we are seeing people’s movements, looking for a place to set up their tents.

But people want a place where there’s access to water, where there’s no garbage. Here, where we are, there’s a huge pile of garbage, just beside us and that’s why not a lot of people are setting up their tents over here.


Paramedics still carrying out rescue efforts after latest Gaza City attacks

Two schools were targeted – Abdel Fattah Hamoud and al-Zahraa. Both of those schools are in the Tuffah district in Gaza City.

At least 15 Palestinians were killed. Thirty were injured. And according to Civil Defence teams and paramedics, there are a lot of Palestinians still missing and trapped under the rubble. They’re still trying to rescue [people] and pull out as many bodies as possible.

In the past two weeks across the Gaza Strip, … Israeli forces targeted at least eight schools.

Palestinians were sheltering in there and were seeking refuge. … They [Israeli forces] have been targeting those schools without any prior notice, without any warning, and that’s why dozens of Palestinians were killed in those air strikes.


Israeli forces hit Gaza City school for a second time, civil defence says

Israeli forces have struck the Abdel Fattah Hamoud School in Gaza City for a second time today, Gaza’s civil defence says, but no injuries were reported from the second attack. It said its teams were carrying out inspections in the area.

Earlier, the Israeli military attacked the school, along with the nearby al-Zahraa School, where displaced Palestinian families had been sheltering. At least 15 people were killed, and dozens more were wounded.


Israeli military continues to operate along the Philadelphi Corridor

The Israeli military has released images and footage to show that it continues to operate at the Egypt-Gaza border.

It claims that troops in a combat engineering battalion demolished Palestinian rocket launch sites near Gaza’s largest fuel depot. “Any damage to the facility could endanger the lives of tens of thousands of Gazan citizens who are in the area of ​​the depot,” said the Israeli military, which significantly hampers supplies of fuel and other humanitarian assistance to the besieged enclave.

Israeli Prime Minsiter Benjamin Netanyahu promised last week that the military will continue to operate along the Philadelphi Corridor as it expands its ground invasion of Gaza, even as Egypt has expressed its opposition to any Israeli presence in the sensitive area.


WFP forced to reduce rations in Gaza because of fighting, damaged roads

That’s according to the deputy spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, Farhan Haq. Haq explained that the World Food Programme have been forced to reduce rations for Palestinians in Gaza because of the continuing war on the enclave.

“WFP urgently needs fuel deliveries, increased flow of blood supplies and greater capacity to deliver hot meals, particularly in Gaza City and north Gaza,” Haq said. “WFP warns that it will be unable to bring in the quantity of food required this month unless more border crossing points into Gaza open and aid workers are able to bring in half the quantity of food needed in July and in the West Bank.”



SvennoJ on 08 August 2024

Israel’s move against Norway mission ‘carries dangerous dimensions’: PLO

We reported earlier that Israel’s Foreign Ministry had revoked the diplomatic accreditation of eight Norwegian diplomats based in Tel Aviv who dealt with the Palestinian Authority.

Hussein al-Sheikh, the secretary general of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said the move “carries dangerous dimensions and has major repercussions”.

“The countries of the world, especially the European countries, must respond to this measure in kind, as it constitutes a violation and breach of international norms and laws,” he said in a statement on X.


Norway singled out by Israel for its positions

Commenting on Israel’s revocation of the accreditation of eight Norwegian diplomats, Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh says that the Scandinavian country has adopted positions fiercely opposed by Israel.

“Not only did it recognise Palestine, but it also endorsed the International Court of Justice advisory ruling that said that the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories is illegal,” said Odeh, reporting from Ramallah. “And it went to the International Criminal Court and lobbied it to reject arguments that it doesn’t have jurisdiction – that it shouldn’t issue warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant.”

Reacting to the Israeli decision, Norway’s foreign minister earlier made clear that his country would not change its positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Norway is and always will be a friend of Israel and the Israeli people. At the same time, Norway has been clear in its criticism of the occupation, the way in which the war in Gaza has been conducted and the suffering this has caused the Palestinian people,” said Espen Barth Eide.


US says Israel revoking Norwegian diplomats’ status not ‘helpful’

The United States criticised Israel for revoking the diplomatic status of eight Norwegian diplomats to the Palestinian Authority, saying Oslo has played an important role in the Middle East.

“Norway has a long history of playing a productive role when it comes to engaging with the government of Israel engaging with the Palestinian Authority,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters.

“We don’t think steps to prevent them from playing that role are particularly helpful,” he said.

Miller pointed to Norway’s secret diplomacy in brokering the landmark 1993 Oslo Accords, signed on the White House lawn, and more recently in collecting tax revenue intended for the Palestinian Authority.


EU condemns Israeli ban against Norwegian diplomats

The European Union’s foreign policy chief has strongly condemned the Israeli government decision to revoke the diplomatic status of Norwegian diplomats dealing with the Palestinian Authority.

Josep Borrell writes in a statement that the move “contradicts the spirit of Oslo Accords and disproportionately disrupts the normal relations and cooperation with the Palestinian Authority”.

“Upon my instructions, the Head of the EU Delegation in Tel Aviv has conveyed our position to the Israeli Government. This is not a bilateral question between Israel and Norway, but one of interest for all those working for peace and stability in the Middle East.”