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

SvennoJ on 14 August 2024

Gaza needs a ceasefire now: UNRWA

The United Nations agency providing relief to Palestinians has said that despite many hurdles, it continues to offer support to people in Gaza.

“With the help of partners, our colleagues distributed food & supplies to families sheltering in a school that was recently hit,” said a post on X from the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

“Schools, shelters and people living in them face immense danger daily. Gaza needs a ceasefire now.”


Netanyahu will lose more than Sinwar if there is a Gaza ceasefire: Professor

Menachem Klein, professor of political science at Bar-Ilan University, says the Israeli army is trying to solve the “problem” of having a high number of wounded soldiers by drafting the ultra-Orthodox.

“Not only the military soldiers fighting in Gaza face a problem, but the whole society is exhausted and suffers from post-trauma,” he told Al Jazeera from West Jerusalem. “This explains much of the Israeli public disregard about the heavy casualties the Israeli military inflicted and the war crimes it implemented in the Gaza Strip.”

Klein said the Gaza ceasefire talks not only represent an issue of negotiations between Israel, Hamas and mediators, but a power struggle within Israel.

“My reading is that at this point, the person that faces more losses than Sinwar by agreeing to ceasefire is Netanyahu,” he said about the Hamas and Israeli leaders.

“If Netanyahu makes a deal, he will be domestically seen as surrendering to pressure from Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and the General Staff of the army. I’m afraid he’s ready to take a gamble and face the risk of Hezbollah and Iran’s retaliation.”

 
Netanyahu approves departure of delegation to Doha

Israel’s prime minister has approved the departure of the Israeli delegation to Doha “as well as the mandate for conducting the negotiations”, his office says.

Ceasefire talks are set to take place in Qatar’s capital on Thursday involving delegations from Israel, Qatar, the US and Egypt, an official briefed on the talks told Reuters.



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SvennoJ on 14 August 2024

Ahead of ceasefire talks, Hamas says needs guarantees

Netanyahu apparently discussed the mandate with the Israeli negotiating team as to what it is going to present to mediators in Doha on Thursday. Talks are expected to last two days.

Hamas has said it needs guarantees that they are going to be offered the same proposal that they responded to on July 2, which was based on the framework that US President Joe Biden outlined at the end of May.

They say that until they have those guarantees, they’re not willing to sit at the table directly so to speak with Israel while they “navigate the maze of negotiations”. Israel, they say, will add more conditions on the ceasefire deal at hand.

But we have to remember there are incredibly tough sticking points here: Hamas wanting to see a complete end to the war, and Netanyahu saying that even if there is a pause in the fighting, Israel will need a guarantee that the war will continue afterwards.


Hamas willing to meet mediators after Thursday’s talks

As we’ve reported, the next round of ceasefire talks is set to take place in Qatar tomorrow.

Hamas has told mediators it has made significant compromises but has yet to receive a serious response from the Israelis to its latest proposal from July 2, a source with knowledge of the talks told Al Jazeera.

Hamas has informed the mediators that it wants them to come back to the group with a serious response from Israel.

The group also said that it compromised and responded positively to the mediators’ certain requests but the Israelis have re-introduced conditions and killed Ismail Haniyeh, which indicates that they are not serious about reaching a deal.

Hamas has told the mediators that it is willing to meet with them after the Thursday meeting if there are developments or a serious response from Israel.


Ceasefire in Gaza not main focus of latest diplomatic efforts

As US Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads for the Middle East this week, analyst Daniel Levy believes the recent momentum towards diplomacy has more to do with preventing a “regional escalation” than achieving a ceasefire in Gaza.

Global concerns that Israel’s war will escalate into an all-out regional conflict multiplied after the assassinations last month of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Fuad Shukr, a top commander from the Lebanese group Hezbollah, in Beirut.

“The message being conveyed by allied governments of the US … to Hezbollah is don’t undermine the talks,” Levy, president of the US/Middle East Project, told Al Jazeera. “What may come out of those is maybe offering those players a certain ladder, an ability to hold their fire for a period of time.”


Start point for ceasefire talks still not known

The US State Department had no specifics at all about tomorrow’s Doha talks.

Its spokesperson kept referring to the Qatari partner or the Israeli partner. The State Department itself is not coming out with any specific ideas about what the next 24 hours are going to bring.

We know that Blinken will not be traveling. He has been on the phone throughout the course of the morning, speaking to various parties. We do know that the CIA director will be there. But the specifics of what will be talked about – apart from a broad generic ceasefire – we simply do not know.



SvennoJ on 14 August 2024

Israeli forces continue bombardment across Gaza

The security and humanitarian conditions are getting worse, … including the aerial and land bombardment of the already battered refugee camps, which the Israeli military has warned as being active warzones.

The Israeli army is now operating in another part of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, where they earlier hit different residential homes, wiping out entire families. We continue to hear explosions in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, especially in Khan Younis.

The Israeli army is not only continuing its attacks in the south but also the central part, where more than 700,000 Palestinians are seeking refuge.


Israeli raid kills three Palestinians in northern Gaza

At least three people have been killed and many wounded after an Israeli attack on a home in the southeast part of Gaza City, Wafa news agency is reporting, citing the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).

According to the PRCS, the bodies of those killed and injured were transported to the al-Ahli Arab Hospital nearby.

More than 50 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since yesterday.


Dozens killed in Gaza

Israeli raids across the coastal enclave have killed at least 40 people, medical sources told Al Jazeera.

“Forty martyrs arrived at hospitals as a result of the continued Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip since Wednesday morning, 30 of whom arrived at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis,” the sources said.

Meanwhile, our reporters on the ground say an Israeli air raid has hit a residential tower in Hamad City, northwest of Khan Younis.


Israeli warplanes bombard Hamad City, northwest of Khan Younis

As we reported earlier, an Israeli attack has targeted Hamad City in southern Gaza. Video footage shared online, and verified by Al Jazeera, show Israeli aircraft carrying out raids inside Hamad City, northwest of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.

Footage showed the sounds of successive explosions in the area and smoke rising from the vicinity of the city’s residential towers. Israeli forces intensified their shelling of several targets, including the homes of citizens in Khan Younis, causing dozens of deaths and injuries.


It's tragic this even needs a declaration, and even more tragic more states don't endorse it. Most tragic the UNSC won't enforce it.

Norway urges states to endorse declaration on student, school protection in war

At a UN Security Council discussion yesterday, Norway noted that in 2021, the council unanimously adopted Resolution 2601, which condemned attacks and threats of attack against schools, educational facilities and civilians connected with schools.

“The Safe School Declaration is endorsed by 120 states,” Norway said, urging all states to endorse it.

The declaration is an intergovernmental political commitment that allows states to support protecting students, teachers, schools, and universities from attack during times of armed conflict.



SvennoJ on 14 August 2024

New settlement on UNESCO site shows Israel’s low regard for international law

Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is flexing his muscles, telling the world that he cares very, very little about international law.

On the ground, what Smotrich is doing is taking over Palestinian land and this latest announcement basically devours what’s left of the land in the Bethlehem area, which has shrunk to nearly 10 percent of its original size. This is because of the expanding illegal settlements and the wall which basically surrounds Bethlehem from all areas.

This latest announcement is situated not just in any UNESCO World Heritage Site, but also in a place where its the only place left for agriculture, for picnics, planning and building. That is the only place left in the Bethlehem area, and now it’s all under attack.


This is from 2020, hence the reference to Trump

‘I want Battir to go to hell’: Settlers move in on Palestinian World Heritage site

https://www.972mag.com/settlers-battir-illegal-outpost/



Khaled Muammar explains that the area is strategically important for the settlement enterprise in the West Bank. “They want to take over this area for three reasons: first of all, because of its elevation; it overlooks the region. Secondly, it separates [Battir from] al-Walajeh; settling there creates a wedge between two Palestinian villages. And thirdly, because it creates geographical continuity between [the Israeli settlement] Har Homa and Jerusalem.”

Dror Etkes, one of Israel’s foremost experts on the settlements and the head of Kerem Navot, an organization that monitors and researches Israeli land policy in the West Bank, believes the settlers’ arrival in Battir at the end of June is not a coincidence. “Why? Because of the Trump plan,” he explains. “This area, according to the plan, is supposed to be Palestinian territory. They want to take over the area now, before the government signals that it is going to accept the plan. To create facts on the ground.”

Israeli attack wounds several Palestinians in occupied West Bank

Several people have been wounded in an Israeli raid in the town of Khader south of Bethlehem, the Wafa news agency is reporting, citing the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).

According to PRCS, one person was shot in the back, while another was hit by a tear gas canister. One girl had her hand injured after a sound bomb went off. Earlier, we reported that at least five people were killed by Israeli forces in an attack in the Tubas governorate this morning.

At least four wounded in Israeli raid near Bethlehem

According to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), several people were injured or treated for tear gas inhalation when Israeli soldiers raided the town of al-Khader, south of Bethlehem.

The PRCS said that Israeli forces used rubber-coated steel bullets, stun grenades and tear gas. A young man was physically assaulted by Israeli soldiers and was taken to hospital.

Israeli forces also detained a 57-year-old man after raiding his house and assaulting his wife and two children, the Wafa news agency reported.



SvennoJ on 14 August 2024

Turkey will continue to increase pressure on Israel, Erdogan tells Abbas

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that Ankara will continue to support the Palestinian cause and push the international community to increase pressure on Israel.

The two leaders discussed recent developments and the steps to be taken for a lasting ceasefire and peace in Gaza, Erdogan’s office said in a post on X. Erdogan condemned Israel’s war in Gaza, accusing some Western countries of remaining silent and continuing to support Israel.

Abbas is set to address an extraordinary session of Turkey’s parliament tomorrow.

More proof the ceasefire talks are just to hold off Iran's counter attack

Blinken, Qatar PM warn all sides not to ‘undermine’ Gaza talks

Following a phone call, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Qatar’s PM Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said, “No party in the region should take actions that would undermine efforts to reach a deal.”

Sharing details of the conversation, the US State Department said the two discussed “efforts to calm tensions in the region and the importance of finalising a ceasefire in Gaza”.

The talks are scheduled to start in Qatar on Thursday.

The chance of Netanyahu accepting a deal are virtually zero with the US only sending more weapons and military to protect Israel.

Palestinian officials say Israel intensifying espionage efforts

An official with the Palestinian Interior Ministry in Gaza has spoken to Al Jazeera about the espionage efforts by Israeli forces in the coastal enclave.

Here is a translated summary of what he said:

  • Israel has intensified attempts to bring down citizens in the espionage process in order to gather information about the resistance.
  • The security services arrested a number of people involved in cooperation with Israel and are under investigation.
  • Israeli officials impersonate relief organisations to collect information and blackmail citizens in light of the famine.
  • A number of those who were contacted were threatened with the bombing of their homes and the killing of their families.
  • The security services confront Israeli intelligence and its methods of trapping citizens into collaboration.
  • We call on citizens in the various areas of the Gaza Strip to beware of Israel’s methods and deception.


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SvennoJ on 14 August 2024

Two Palestinians killed in Israeli drone attack on Balata refugee camp

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that Israeli forces have bombed the Balata refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, killing at least two people.

Earlier, the Wafa news agency, citing the Palestinian Red Crescent, reported that one man was killed and three others wounded in the Israeli attack on Balata, which local media said was carried out by a military drone.

The killings came as Israeli forces also stormed the nearby city of Nablus as well as the governorate of Hebron.

Clashes, arrests as Israeli forces raid Nablus, Hebron

More on Israel’s ongoing raids in the occupied West Bank:

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting clashes and casualties in the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank after Israeli forces raided the area to escort Jewish visitors to the flashpoint shrine of Joseph’s Tomb.

The Wafa news agency said at least three young Palestinians were wounded. Citing medics, the agency said one of the victims was hit by shrapnel and another was run over by an Israeli military jeep.

Al Jazeera’s reporters also said Israeli forces are raiding the city of Hebron in the southern West Bank and carrying out a “large-scale campaign of arrests” there.


Shock in Marjayoun after Israeli drone attack

The centre of Marjayoun in southern Lebanon has been hit by an apparent Israeli drone strike. We believe a car was targeted. There was blood on the ground. Authorities here were looking through the debris, and we saw the car that was hit being taken away.

Now, this is a first for Marjayoun. Areas surrounding the town have been hit in the past, but the town itself, the centre, has never been hit, and this comes as a shock to many people here.

Many of the shops here in the centre of the town have remained open throughout this 10-month-long conflict. But now, the centre, the heart of this community, has been hit. There’s damage to the windows of the shops around the square. We could see debris going back up along the street.




SvennoJ on 14 August 2024

Netanyahu holds call with Trump overs Gaza ceasefire talks: Report

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and discussed the Gaza ceasefire deal, the Axios news site has reported, citing two US sources “briefed on the call”.

“One source said Trump’s call was intended to encourage Netanyahu to take the deal, but stressed he didn’t know if this is indeed what the former president told Netanyahu,” the news site reports.

Netanyahu’s office did not deny the call took place, and the Trump campaign declined to comment to Axios and has yet to respond to other media requests to corroborate the report.

The reported call comes as a new round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations is scheduled to start later today in Qatar.


Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and his wife Sara, right, with Donald Trump at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, on July 26

It's clear who Israel is backing for the upcoming US elections. Not that it matters much. Other than words there won't be any difference with Harris :/

Reporters shred US administration’s neutrality facade on Gaza conflict

US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel found the going tough when reporters exposed just how biased the US government has been in favour of Israel in the ongoing Gaza conflict.

Media's VILE Coverage Of Twin Babies Butchered By Israel



SvennoJ on 15 August 2024

Video shows Palestinian fighters firing rockets on Israeli forces in Rafah

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic have obtained and verified a video showing Hamas fighters in southern Gaza targeting Israeli forces said to be based inside a hospital building in Rafah’s Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood.

The video shows Israeli troops inside the upper floors of a building and using holes smashed in the wall as observation points.

Hamas fighters target the Israeli forces with rocket-propelled grenades launched from a nearby building.

Translation: With an anti-fortification “TBG” shell and another antipersonnel … The Qassam [Brigades] targets an Israeli force that has fortified itself inside the “Indonesian” hospital in the Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood, west of Rafah city, south of the Gaza Strip.

IDF using hospitals as military bases...


Three killed in Gaza City attack

An Israeli attack on a house in the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City has killed three people and left an unknown number wounded, Al Jazeera Arabic’s correspondent on the ground reports.


Israeli forces launch attacks on Khan Younis, Gaza City

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that Israeli forces have launched artillery attacks on the Sabra neighbourhood of northern Gaza City and a home in the Maen area in the southern city of Khan Younis.

As we have reported, three people were killed and several wounded in strike on a house in Sabra earlier.



SvennoJ on 15 August 2024

Two Hezbollah fighters killed in southern Lebanon

The Lebanese armed group announced the deaths of Hussein Yassin Shaito and Mohamed Ali Jihad Badr al-Din on its Telegram channel. It said the two fighters were killed in southern Lebanon but did not specify the exact location.

The announcements followed an Israeli drone attack on the centre of the town of Marjayoun that killed at least two people and wounded four, according to Lebanese officials.

The Israeli military confirmed the attack on Marjayoun and said two Hezbollah fighters were killed. It added that its fighter jets bombed a Hezbollah “military structure” in the village of Aita al-Shaab and launched artillery attacks on the town of Rmeish in southern Lebanon.


Hezbollah fires volley of rockets at Israel’s Beit Hillel

The Lebanese armed group said it fired a “volley of Katyusha rockets” at an Israeli military barracks in Beit Hillel in northern Israel. The attack, it said, was in retaliation for an Israeli attack on the Lebanese town of Blida earlier on Wednesday that killed at least one person.

Israel’s Ynet News meanwhile reported air raid sirens sounding in Beit Hillel and the nearby town of Kiryat Shmona in the early hours of the morning and said about 10 rockets crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory. The projectiles exploded in open areas and did not cause any injuries or damage, it added.


Child, woman among injured after deadly drone attack on West Bank refugee camp

The Wafa news agency reports that a child and a woman were among four injured in the Israeli drone attack that killed two young Palestinian men early this morning in the Balata refugee camp.

Four others were shot and injured during the Israeli military raid on the camp, located east of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, Wafa reports. The two men killed in the drone attack were named Ahmed al-Sheikh Khalil and Wael Mish. Both were residents of the refugee camp.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society told the news agency that Israeli forces detained its ambulance crew as they transported the wounded from Balata to a hospital for medical care.

Translation: Watch… Part of the occupation forces storming Balata camp in Nablus.


Surge in Israeli forces killing, injuring Palestinian children in occupied West Bank: UN

The Israeli military’s killing and wounding of Palestinian children with live ammunition has surged in the occupied West Bank since October 7 compared to the previous 10 months, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Since October 7 and the Hamas attack on southern Israel and Israel’s war on Gaza, 115 Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli gunfire. In the previous 10 months up to October, the number of Palestinian children slain by Israeli live fire stood at 39.

The number of Palestinian children wounded by Israeli ammunition in the occupied territory has also doubled during the same period, with 1,411 children injured by bullets since October 7 compared to 615 over the previous 10 months.

The UN has also recorded 1,250 attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians since October, including some 120 settler attacks that led to the death and injury of Palestinians.

In one attack on August 12, Israeli settlers with knives abducted two 15-year-old shepherds, and forced them into an illegal settler outpost where they “assaulted the boys, broke their legs, and urinated on them”, the UN reports. “Afterwards, the settlers handcuffed the boys, put them in a vehicle and threw them in an open area” where they were later found, the UN said.


Israeli special forces abduct 2 Palestinians from Tulkarem: Report

The Wafa news agency is reporting that Israeli special forces kidnapped two young Palestinian men from the city of Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank at dawn.

The agency, citing local sources, identified the two men as Abdul Badir and Nadim Abu al-Rab. It said the Israeli special forces infiltrated Tulkarem in vehicles bearing Palestinian licence plates and were disguised in civilian clothes.


Israel confirms 2 killed in air strike in occupied West Bank

Israel’s military said its air forces “attacked and eliminated” two Palestinian fighters during an operation in the Nablus area. The killings took place while Israeli soldiers and “special forces” escorted and “secured the entrance of worshippers to Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus tonight”.

We reported earlier that two Palestinian men were killed in an Israeli drone strike in the Balata refugee camp – located adjacent to Balata village on the outskirts of Nablus – which also wounded four other people, including a woman and a child.

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic reported clashes and casualties in Nablus city as Israeli forces raided the area while escorting Jewish visitors to the flashpoint shrine of Joseph’s Tomb, which is located in Balata village.



SvennoJ on 15 August 2024

Group of US rabbis urge Netanyahu to sign ceasefire deal

The 99 rabbis and cantors “urgently” called on the Israeli prime minister and all relevant parties to “finalise the deal on the table – outlined by President Biden and endorsed by Qatar, Egypt and the UN Security Council – and to bring much-needed relief to those suffering”, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

The rabbis said Jewish people in Israel and the global diaspora cannot start healing until the 115 captives held by Hamas in Gaza are returned home.

“Time is running out, and we must seize this opportunity to restore hope to the region,” the group said in a statement.

“Every day that the hostages are held in Gaza is a day that hope is diminished. It’s time to restore that hope to its full glory, reunite the hostages with their families and the entire Jewish people by sealing this deal,” they added.

Israeli politicians still not prepared to accept a negotiated truce in Gaza

Francis J Ricciardone, a former US ambassador to Egypt and Turkey, said the success of the upcoming Gaza ceasefire talks depends on whether Israeli politicians can agree on one path forward.

“It seems to me the core issue remains whether the Israeli government can unite behind a negotiated ceasefire,” Ricciardone told Al Jazeera from Washington, DC.

“We’ve seen again, recently, parts of the cabinet saying they will quit, and they will leave the government and the government will fall if Netanyahu accepts a negotiated ceasefire agreement before achieving all announced war aims,” he said.

These aims go beyond the control of the Philadelphi Corridor – the buffer zone between Egypt and Gaza, Ricciardone noted.

“They include the destruction of Hamas,” he said. “So it seems that we’re still very much stuck on whether the Israelis are prepared at this time, whether the Israeli government of Netanyahu is prepared this time to accept a negotiated ceasefire leading to an end of the war.”

And at the moment, it does not seem that way, he added.

Israel’s ultimate goal is sovereignty over all Palestinian land

Muhannad Ayyash, a policy analyst with the Palestinian think tank, Al Shabaka, criticised Israel’s approval of a new illegal settlement in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.

Ayyash said the plan – approved by Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich – aims to break up Palestinian communities and prevent the creation of a Palestinian state.

“This is a part of the Israeli state’s strategy to fragment Palestinian communities from one another. So in effect, this is part of a larger strategy to isolate Bethlehem from the rest of the Palestinian territories and in fact, also further isolate East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank,” he said from Halifax in Canada.

“So, the strategic utility for Israel is always the same, whether it is in this site or another site. It’s always fragment the Palestinian population and critically, create what it calls facts on the ground […] in order to stop the creation of the Palestinian state,” he said.

Israel’s “ultimate goal”, he said was to “expand Israeli Jewish sovereignty over the entirety of the land, from the river to the sea”.