‘Why I’m protesting my Israeli government’

Gil Dickmann’s aunt was killed on October 7. His cousin is a captive. He’s leading the charge against Israel’s war on Gaza.

Night after night, Dickmann takes to a stage in Tel Aviv to rally his fellow Israelis in demanding their government change its approach to the war. The 31-year-old says a deal with Hamas is the only way to end the killing and bring Israeli captives home.

Dickmann reveals how the war has changed him. “I don’t know any people from Gaza. Maybe that’s the wake-up call. We thought we could live if we shelter ourselves and go to safe rooms and build the Iron Dome… and we don’t have to find a solution for this.”

US officials in ‘next steps’ discussion to see Gaza ceasefire deal reached

After several hours of meeting with high-level negotiating officials… US President Joe Biden – as well as Vice President Kamal Harris, the secretary of state, the national security adviser, the CIA director and the Middle East tsar Brett McGurk – emerged from the Situation Room.

According to the readout, US President Joe Biden expressed concern about the devastation [in Gaza] as well as outrage over the murders of the captives that were killed over the weekend.

But also, the president and the vice president are getting updates from the US negotiating team on the status of the proposal that has been worked out by the US, Qatar and Egypt.

We know that there was a discussion about next steps to secure the release of the remaining captives. This includes, we understand, constant coordination and consultation between co-mediators Qatar and Egypt.

Chance of Gaza ceasefire deal ‘almost non-existent’: Analyst

Professor of Israel studies and political science at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Dov Waxman said Netanyahu’s plea to the public for forgiveness after the bodies of six Israeli captives were discovered in Gaza over the weekend will not “make any difference”.

“I don’t think that is going to make any difference to the Israelis who are demanding a deal and particularly the families of the hostages who have really been at the forefront of making these demands” for a ceasefire, Waxman told Al Jazeera.

“I think Netanyahu’s press conference is only going to make them [the protesters] even more determined to apply more pressure on the prime minister to make a deal. But, as it seems, by this press conference, Prime Minister Netanyahu is not willing to make a deal – at least not on the terms that we know of,” he said.

Waxman said the chances of a ceasefire deal appear to be “almost non-existent”.

“It really depend upon three men. President Biden, of course. But first and foremost Netanyahu and [Hamas leader] Yahya Sinwar. I don’t think Sinwar or Netanyahu really feel under a great amount of pressure to reach an agreement despite the demands of their own domestic publics. And I don’t think there is, unfortunately, any agreement that can be put forward that is likely to be satisfactory to both men,” he said.

“I think there is really very, very slim prospects of an agreement”.

Casualties after Israeli forces bomb Khan Younis shelters

The Wafa news agency is reporting that several Palestinians were wounded in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza after Israeli forces bombed a cluster of tents sheltering displaced people.

The agency cited medical sources as saying that several people were also missing following the attack.

Death toll from Israeli attack on Jabalia rises

The Wafa news agency is reporting that the number of people killed in Israel’s attack on a bread queue in northern Jabalia has risen to eight. A number of people who were wounded in the strike in front al-Fakhoura school have been taken to the Kamal Adwan Hospital, it added.

Other deadly Israeli attacks in Gaza on Monday evening included a bombing in southern al-Mawasi that killed two children and another raid on al-Karama area in northern Gaza City that killed at least four people. The target of the attack was Al Amsi family home and a water well, Wafa reported.

Polio and Israel’s attrition genocide in Gaza

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/9/2/polio-and-israels-attrition-genocide-in

Confirmation by the Palestinian Health Ministry in August that a 10-month-old baby in Deir el-Balah had been infected with polio, leaving him paralysed, was the first proven case of the disease in the territory for 25 years.

Polio is not the only health emergency Palestinians in Gaza are facing. Hepatitis and meningitis are also spreading across the Strip and more than 995,000 cases of acute respiratory infections as well as 577,000 cases of acute watery diarrhoea have been registered in Gaza since October.

All of this is a reflection of Israel’s attrition genocide: that is, the destruction of the conditions of survival of Palestinians as a group.

_{A displaced Palestinian mother, Wafaa Abdelhadi, walks past the rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli attack as she returns to her shelter with her daughters Lynn and Roueida, after they got vaccinated against polio, in Deir el-Balah, Gaza, on Sunday}

Jordan’s king slams Israel’s attacks on West Bank

King Abdulla II spoke to Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and warned of the repercussions that Israel’s continued military operations in the occupied West Bank could have on stability and security in the Middle East, according to a statement.

The king also reiterated the need to step up efforts to reach an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza and increase aid to the Strip, the statement by the Royal Hashemite Court said.

The king “also stressed Jordan’s rejection of the displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza”, it added.

Seizing the West Bank: Extremist settlers in power - BBC World Service Documentaries

Since Hamas militants killed around 1,200 people in Israel on 7 October 2023, extremist Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank are increasingly using violence to seize land and property which is forcing many Palestinians from their homes.

“Settlements Above the Law” a new film from the #BBCEye Investigations team, reveals how these settlers are establishing a new type of illegal settlement known as a “herding outpost”, giving them access to huge areas of land. These and other outposts don't have government approval and are illegal under Israeli law.

We have independently verified the location of 196 outposts established in the occupied West Bank, almost half of them built in the past five years alone.

For over six months, the BBC team have been following extremist settlers who have set up herding outposts. Some have been sanctioned by the UK and US governments for forcing Palestinians from their homes as part of a “campaign of violence and intimidation”. We show the human impact of their actions on the Palestinian communities living on the frontline of their outposts.

Dozens of Israelis arrested at protests for a truce deal

Police in Israel have arrested dozens of people in Tel Aviv and West Jerusalem after clashing with protesters calling for a deal to secure the release of the remaining captives held in Gaza, according to Israeli media.

The clashes took place after protesters blocked roads and lit fires outside the headquarters of Netanyahu’s Likud party in Tel Aviv, Ynet News reported.

Protesters in Jerusalem, meanwhile, breached barriers near Netanyahu’s residence and lit a bonfire on the street, the Channel 12 broadcaster reported. Police responded by meting out “considerable violence”, The Times of Israel reported, saying the officers “threw people to the ground, seemingly at random” and dragged them away forcibly.

_{Police members detain a person during a demonstration calling for the immediate return of captives held in Gaza near Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem, September 2}

US sending ‘mixed messages’ on blame for failure to reach ceasefire deal: Analyst

More from the professor of Israel studies and political science at UCLA, Dov Waxman, who spoke to Al Jazeera earlier about the possibility of Netanyahu agreeing to a deal for a ceasefire and return of the captives from Gaza.

Waxman said Biden’s most recent comment critical of Netanyahu for not agreeing to a ceasefire with Hamas showed there were “mixed messages” coming out of the White House on the reasons a deal had not been reached.

“President Biden’s comment is somewhat contradicted by his own Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who in a recent visit publicly said that Netanyahu had accepted the deal and that all the onus was on Hamas,” Waxman said.

“So I think there is some mixed messages coming out of the Biden administration. I think the president does want to clearly increase the pressure on Prime Minister Netanyahu to accept a deal but that kind of statement is unlikely to work to really convince Netanyahu to change his position,” Waxman said.

“So much hinged on reaching this ceasefire-hostage deal, not only for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip but also for the wider region because, of course, it’s not just a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that a hostage deal would bring about. But also a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah,” he said.

“There is the real potential for that already volatile situation to escalate into a wider war. So much depends on the ability to reach this agreement but I think it is very unlikely,” he added.

Thousands of Israelis protest to demand truce deal

Thousands of people took to the streets of cities in Israel calling for the immediate return of captives held in Gaza. The protesters in West Jerusalem gathered near Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence with coffins.

Demonstrators in Tel Aviv blocked streets and lit bonfires

Dozens of people were arrested as police clashed with protesters near Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem and near his Likud party headquarters in Tel Aviv.

UK’s partial suspension of weapons to Israel ‘symbolically significant’: Analyst

HA Hellyer, a senior associate fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, spoke to Al Jazeera earlier about the UK’s partial suspension of weapons exports to Israel:

“I think this is quite a symbolic move particularly considering the stance of the previous British government under the Conservatives. I think it follows a number of other moves that this new Labour government has taken over recent months,” Hellyer told Al Jazeera.

“It pulled back on the [UK’s] objections to the ICC [International Criminal Court] arrest warrants. It restored funding to UNRWA. And now you’ve seen this partial suspension of arms licences,” Hellyer said.

“I do say it is a partial suspension. It’s focused firstly on Gaza and also exempts parts that are meant for the F-35. The explanation from the British government being that this would interrupt the entire logistics chain for the F-35. So it is not complete by any means and it is not an arms embargo. It’s a suspension of certain licences,” he said.

“But I do think it is symbolically significant”.

‘Very comfortable with support we give to Israel,’ says British foreign secretary

David Lammy said he was comfortable with Britain’s military support for Israel following news that the UK will suspend 30 out of 350 arms export licences to Israel. Lammy was questioned in parliament by former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn on what role Britain played in flying surveillance aircraft over Gaza and if the British army base in Cyprus was being used as a staging point for flights to Israel.

Corbyn posted the interaction on X in which he also asked the FM what effect the suspension of some arms contracts with Israel will have on its ability to “continue the bombardment of Gaza”.

Lammy responded by saying that British arms exports amount to about 1 percent and that the US, Germany and others are more “engaged” in sending arms to Israel. Lammy added that he would not comment on “operational issues”.

Charity says UK’s move on Israel arms sales ‘doesn’t go far enough’

Action for Humanity welcomed the UK’s decision to suspend some arms sales to Israel, but said the government needs to take further measures to end the war on Gaza.

“We are not celebrating this decision, because it is not a win, it is the bare minimum,” said Othman Moqbel, chief executive officer for the group.

“By suspending some arms sales and unfreezing funding to UNRWA, these are steps in the right direction, but they cannot distract from what is needed – an immediate and permanent end to the war,” he said.

“In addition, it is important this government takes international leadership on preventing further mass loss of life and make public statements indicating a policy shift – pressure the Israeli government to lift siege and blockade of Gaza and allocate more funding for humanitarian response caused by the attack on Gaza and denounce the de facto annexation of the vast swathes of the West Bank.”

Netanyahu’s office says UK arms suspension will ‘only embolden Hamas’

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office has posted a thread on X slamming the UK government’s decision to suspend some arms sales to Israel.

“Instead of standing with Israel, a fellow democracy defending itself against barbarism, Britain’s misguided decision will only embolden Hamas,” it said.

“Israel is pursuing a just war with just means. Just as Britain’s heroic stand against the Nazis is seen today as having been vital in defending our common civilization, so too will history judge Israel’s stand against Hamas and Iran’s axis of terror.”

UN official criticised for not naming Israel in a statement after Gaza trip

Tor Wennesland, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, posted the statement on X in which he condemned the “horrifying civilian death toll” and the “tragic killing of six hostages” but did not name Israel as the perpetrator.

“Really, Tor? Almost a year in, and you still speak of ‘conflict’, with not a whisper about Israel’s genocide in Palestine? You condemn the ‘death toll’ in Gaza but don’t utter the name of the victims (say it, Tor, ‘Palestinians’), or the name of the killers (say it, Tor, ‘Israel’),” said Craig Mokhiber, a former top UN official.

Mouin Rabbani, a co-editor of Jadaliyya and non-resident fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies posted a response on X in which he said: “What’s the point of retaining a UN diplomat on the payroll who, visiting Gaza for the first time in months, cannot muster the courage to even mention Israel by name.”

What’s the point of retaining a UN diplomat on the payroll who, visiting Gaza for the first time in months, cannot muster the courage to even mention Israel by name and amidst more than 40,000 killings condemns only the killings of six Israelis. This goes beyond moral and… https://t.co/0RntvjVhPl

— Mouin Rabbani (@MouinRabbani) September 2, 2024

UNSC set to discuss plight of Israeli captives

Danny Danon, Israel’s envoy to the UN, said the Security Council will convene a meeting on Wednesday to hold an official discussion on Israeli captives for the first time.

“It is a disgrace that it has taken the Council 11 months and the brutal execution of six hostages by Hamas terrorists to finally convene this discussion,” he wrote in a post on X.

Danon said the UNSC should unequivocally condemn Hamas’s actions and “demand the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages”.

Scabies spreading in Israeli prisons, say Palestinian prisoner organisations

The Israeli Prison Service (IPS) in the Ramon and Nafha prisons told lawyers that scheduled visits were cancelled for quarantine reasons due to the spread of scabies among the prisoners on a large scale, the Palestinian Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) said.

The two organisations explained that scabies had spread widely among the detainees in several prisons, specifically in Naqab, Megiddo, Nafha and Rimon, due to harsh measures imposed by the IPS on the prisoners after October 7.

The organisations added that according to testimonies from detainees inside the prisons, conveyed to their lawyers, the IPS had turned scabies into a tool of “torture and abuse” by deliberately committing medical crimes against them, depriving them of treatment, and not taking any of the necessary measures to prevent the spread of the disease.

IPS measures imposed on prisoners, including the lack of necessary quantities of shower materials, a lack of ventilation and the isolation of prisoners in cells that lack sunlight, have contributed significantly to the spread of diseases, the organisations said.

It is wild that Netanyahu openly uses a map that erases the whole West Bank with little to no coverage or pushback from the West.

The erasure of the West Bank is part of the same genocidal campaign as Gaza, a total assault on Palestinian existence made possible with US support. pic.twitter.com/LcdTvN9Nvm

— Assal Rad (@AssalRad) September 2, 2024