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

SvennoJ on 08 September 2024

Israeli authorities force Palestinian to demolish own home in East Jerusalem

Israeli authorities have forced a Palestinian resident in Beit Hanina, East Jerusalem, to demolish his own home, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

On Saturday, Raed al-Rajabi was compelled to tear down his residence which housed more than 10 family members and was built in 2014.

Authorities claimed it was built without a permit. The Jerusalem Municipality, controlled by Israeli authorities, regularly denies building permits to Palestinians – effectively forcing them to either demolish their homes themselves or face forced demolitions accompanied by hefty fines.

According to Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, 101 structures were demolished in East Jerusalem between May and July 2024, making 137 Palestinians, including 70 minors, homeless.


Israeli military excavators demolish the house of the Palestinian Abu Zahra family in the Beit Hanina neighbourhood of Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem on February 20


Israeli forces issue notices to stop construction in Rafat: Report

Israeli forces halted the construction of a stadium and houses in the village of Rafat, west of Salfit in the occupied West Bank, Wafa reported.

The head of the Rafat village council, Shafe’ Shehadeh, told Wafa that Israeli forces delivered notices to stop work and construction in the municipal stadium of Rafat. Houses under construction were also halted, some of which are inhabited by residents in the areas of al-Ras and Arara northeast of the village.


Israeli forces arrest 7 Palestinians in occupied West Bank raids

Israeli forces have arrested seven Palestinians while carrying out several areas across the occupied West Bank.

Sources told Al Jazeera that the forces raided the village of Harmala, east of Bethlehem, arresting one Palestinian and summoning three others for questioning.

They also conducted raids in al-Yamoun, Arrabeh and Silat al-Harithiya near Jenin, as well as in Nablus, in Burqa and Silwad east of Ramallah, and in Attil and Zeita near Tulkarem. Three Palestinians were arrested on Sunday from al-Yamoun and Arrabeh in the Jenin governorate, while two others were detained from ash-Shuyukh and Dura, near Hebron.


Palestinians ride a motorcycle on a damaged street following an Israeli military operation in Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, September 6


Families fled ‘without food, water, clothes, money’

Many families were forced from their homes in Jenin during a 10-day Israeli military incursion that ended on Friday, while others remained trapped.

At least 34 Palestinians were killed in the siege by the Israeli army.

“We left, and they didn’t let us take a single thing with us. We had no food, no water, no clothes, no money,” resident Saja Bawaqneh told Al Jazeera.


Palestinians assess damage in the street following an Israeli military operation in Jenin



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SvennoJ on 08 September 2024

Israel says 3 killed in attack near West Bank border with Jordan

The Israeli army says it has received reports of an attack near the Allenby Bridge with Jordan.

According to Israeli medics and media reports, three people have been confirmed killed in the attack near the Allenby Bridge on the border with Jordan. “There are several casualties at the scene, and the shooter has been neutralised,” Israeli police said in a statement.

Israeli army and medical officials are saying that the three people killed in the attack were civilians. “We found three men lying unconscious, with no pulse and not breathing, with gunshot wounds. Together with the Israeli military medical team, we performed resuscitation efforts, but unfortunately, we had to declare their deaths on scene,” the Israeli emergency service Magen David Adom said in a statement.

The Israeli army says the alleged attacker arrived through Jordan in a truck heading towards Allenby Bridge and opened fire at the forces guarding the crossing before being killed by the security forces.

Jordan and Israel have closed the crossing, also known as the King Hussein Bridge, after the attack that killed three Israeli civilians. Nathmi Muhanna, Director General of the Palestinian Border and Crossings Authority, was quoted as saying by the Palestinian Wafa news agency that traffic at the bridge has been completely halted.


The crossing is near Jericho


Attack near Allenby crossing ‘very big security breach’

This is the only crossing for Palestinians to go from the occupied West Bank to Jordan. It’s a place that has really high security. We’re talking about the Israeli army and all other security departments working there to make sure that it’s highly militarised.

Palestinians can get searched and inspected up to five times there.

And the fact that this happened in such an area, where a perpetrator has managed to get a weapon inside and kill three people, is considered a very big security breach.



Israeli forces cordon off Jericho

The Israeli Army Radio is reporting that the military has cordoned off Jericho in the occupied West Bank following the deadly assault at the West Bank-Jordan border crossing.


Israeli army says 3 killed at border crossing were security guards

Three people killed in the shooting at the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge between the occupied West Bank and Jordan were security guards, the Israeli army has clarified.

The military said a truck driver opened fire at the border crossing before being shot dead. It added that the alleged attacker reached the area of the crossing, in the Jordan Valley, in a truck “from Jordan”.

“[The driver] exited the truck and opened fire at Israeli security forces operating at the bridge,” a military statement said.

“Three Israeli civilians were pronounced dead as a result of the attack,” the military said, later clarifying to AFP that they were “working as security guards” and not in the army or police.



SvennoJ on 08 September 2024

Investigations opened over Allenby crossing shooting

The Interior Ministry has opened an investigation to find out exactly what happened.

We also know that the Jordanians have closed their side of the border crossing, the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge and the Israelis have also closed off their side of the border. This is the only entry and exit point for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

We’re looking into the Israeli security failures around this attack. There has been a rise in these types of incidents, not from the Jordanian side, of course, but along the occupied West Bank.

There were several other Israeli security failures throughout the rest of the country, but at this point, the information is quite sparse from the Jordanian side as they begin to conduct their initial probe into the matter.


Netanyahu responds to border attack, calls for unity a day after mass protests

The Israeli prime minister has released a statement following the attack near Jordan’s border with the occupied West Bank that killed three Israeli security guards earlier today.

“The vast majority of Israeli citizens do not fall into Hamas’s trap. They know that we are fully committed to achieving the goals of the war, to eliminating Hamas, to bringing back all our hostages, to ensuring that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel,” Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of today’s cabinet meeting, a day after Israel saw mass antigovernment protests accusing the PM of failing to reach a deal with Hamas to bring back captives from Gaza.


Israel closes all border crossings with Jordan after attack

The Israel Airport Authority has confirmed that all of the country’s crossings with Jordan have now been closed following an earlier attack at the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge between the occupied West Bank and Jordan.

A gunman arriving from Jordan killed three Israeli security guards before he was shot dead. It’s the first attack of its kind along the border with Jordan since the war on Gaza began, ratcheting up tensions across the region.


Crossing with Jordan ‘the only exit for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank’

As far as we know, the perpetrator came from the Jordanian side of the bridge. He was a truck driver, he got out of the truck, opened fire on the people there and killed three Israelis. People going to Jordan were returned and those who going to the occupied West Bank were sent back to Jordan.

Let’s not forget this is the only exit for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank to the outer world. They don’t have an airport of their own, so what they do is fly out from Jordan. But before they do that, they have to cross three points – the Palestinian one, the Israeli one and then the Jordanian one.

We’ve also seen a video showing some Palestinian workers being detained as part of the security arrangements taking place here.


Israeli soldiers at the Allenby crossing between the West Bank and Jordan


Israeli media name 2 of 3 guards killed in Allenby crossing attack

Israeli newspapers Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post have identified two of the three guards of the shooting attack that took place earlier today at the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge on the border between the occupied West Bank and Jordan.

They are Yohanan Shchori, 61, from the illegal West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Efraim, and Yuri Birnbaum, 65, from the settlement of Na’ama. According to earlier reports, they worked as private security guards at the crossing.

The attack occurred at the commercial cargo area of the crossing, the only exit point for Palestinians in the West Bank to travel outside the occupied territory. The attacker reportedly approached from the Jordanian side.



SvennoJ on 08 September 2024

Anger at Israel ‘universal among all Jordanians’

Jordan’s former Foreign Minister Jawad Anani has said the anger Jordanians feel at the Israeli war in Gaza “is not limited to Jordanians of Palestinian origin. It is universal among all Jordanians.”

“They feel that the Israelis have crossed every human border. They have violated every human rights of the Palestinians and now when we focus on a given event, somehow we forget the bigger picture,” he told Al Jazeera from Amman, Jordan.

“The bigger picture is very bleak on the Israeli side and they commit so many violations to the point that most Jordanians, if not all of them, are extremely angry about what’s happened,” he added.


Israel’s attacks on Palestinians ‘bound to breed’ retaliatory attacks

Mohamad Elmasry, a professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, says the attack on the Jordanian border crossing was “unique, and in some ways unprecedented”.

“We’ve seen other attacks. There have been attacks in the West Bank and I think that the lesson here is that the kind of violence that Israel has unleashed on Palestinians, particularly in Gaza but also in the West Bank, is bound to breed these kinds of retaliatory attacks,” Elmasry told Al Jazeera.

He added that Israeli security will be “ratcheted up further” due to the attack.

“In some ways, it’s hard to imagine what else they could do. They basically destroyed significant parts of Jenin, and obviously, Gaza has been almost completely gutted,” Elmasry said.

“But I think Israel’s going to do what it usually does in situations like this and that will probably involve greater intensification of attacks in Gaza and in the West Bank under the pretext of security,” he explained.


King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge shooter identified as Jordanian cargo driver: Jordanian gov’t

Jordan’s Ministry of Interior said that initial investigations into the shooting incident at King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge earlier today confirmed that the shooter was a Jordanian citizen named Maher Diab Hussein Al-Jazi, according to Jordan’s news agency Petra.

Al-Jazi, a resident of the Husseiniya area in Jordan’s Ma’an Governorate, crossed the bridge as a driver of a cargo vehicle carrying commercial goods from Jordan to the West Bank, the agency said.

The ministry confirmed that the initial results of the investigation indicate that the incident, which took place at the border crossing between the occupied West Bank and Jordan, was an individual act.

The ministry said that coordination is under way between the relevant authorities to receive Al-Jazi’s body, which will be buried in Jordan.

Israel has closed all border crossings with Jordan after the shooting resulted in the deaths of three Israeli border guards.

The incident marks the first attack of its kind along the border with Jordan since Israel’s war on Gaza began last October.



SvennoJ on 08 September 2024

Israeli military says it attacked Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon

The Israeli military says its fighter aircraft attacked several buildings used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The attacks targeted sites in Aitaroun, Maroun al-Ras and Yaroun, the military said in a post on X.

It said some fighters were killed, but did not elaborate.

It also posted a black-and-white video of what it said was the bombing.


Hezbollah bombs 2 settlements following Israeli attack in southern Lebanon

The Lebanese group says its forces bombed the settlements of Kiryat Shmona with a volley of rockets. It said it also targeted the Shamir settlement with Katyusha rockets.

Hezbollah said the attacks were in response to the Israeli raid that killed the emergency workers in the Lebanese village of Froun, which we previously reported.


Hezbollah targets another Israeli site

The Lebanese group says its fighters attacked the Ras an-Naqoura site with drones in response to an attack on medical crews in the town of Froun by Israeli forces.


Israel says it intercepted a drone from Lebanon

The Israeli army says it intercepted a drone crossing from Lebanon above the area of Malkia in northern Israel. The army added that no damage or injuries were reported following the interception.

Separately, the army said the air force targeted a Hezbollah “military infrastructure site” in Rihan in southern Lebanon.


Israeli air strikes target Khirbet Selm in southern Lebanon

An Israeli air strike has targeted the Dabsha area in the town of Khirbet Selm in southern Lebanon with three missiles, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA).


Hezbollah targets Iron Dome

The Lebanese group says on its Telegram channel that it launched squadrons of attack drones at the “Al-Zaourah compound” of the Isreali military, targeting its air defence system, known as the Iron Dome.

The drones also targeted the locations and positions of Israeli officers and soldiers, according to Hezbollah, “directly hitting them and killing and wounding them”.

The group said that this attack was in retaliation for Isralei attacks on southern Lebanese villages and towns, specifically mentioning Khirbet Selm, which, as we reported earlier, was hit with three missiles fired by Israeli army warplanes.



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SvennoJ on 08 September 2024

Israeli protests on the rise since October 7

An estimated 750,000 Israelis joined protests across Israel on Saturday night, with organisers saying 500,000 took to the streets in Tel Aviv alone.

Anti government protests have become an almost daily occurrence in Israel, as frustration grows at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s failure to reach a deal to exchange captives with Hamas and end Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.

According to data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), there have been an average of 113 protests across Israel per month since October last year.

Growing number of Israelis want war to end

We reported earlier that some 750,000 Israelis took to the streets to call on Netanyahu’s government to secure the release of the remaining captives held by Hamas in Gaza.

Libby Lenkinski, the vice president for public engagement at the New Israel Fund, says that increasing numbers of Israelis recognise that a lasting ceasefire is the only way that can be achieved.

“There were groups of protesters calling for a ceasefire as early as November and December [last year], and I think that number has been growing in a pretty steady way,” she told Al Jazeera in an interview from New York.

“I think the number has grown pretty dramatically in the past week, while an increasing number of Israelis who are protesting understand that a ceasefire is actually the only way that the hostages will come home. I think that’s now a pretty common understanding among protesters. You do see a rising number of Israelis wanting this to end whether they are in the streets or not.”



Mass protests in Israel unlikely to change Netanyahu’s stance

Commenting on Saturday’s protests in Israel, where an estimated 750,000 Israelis took to the streets to demand the government strike a deal to free remaining captives in Gaza, Libby Lenkiski, vice president of public engagement at the New Israel Fund, says “there isn’t much evidence to suggest these demonstrations will change Netanyahu’s approach”.

“There have been polls this week showing that Netanyahu favourability is down, and that if there were to be an election today, Netanyahu’s Likud would only be at 22 seats. Whereas [former Defence Minister] Benny Gantz’s party would be at 23,” Lenkiski said.

She added that while the protests might have an impact on Israeli society, they may not influence the strategy of the current government.

“The hostage deal does depend on the current leadership and it is hard to imagine them taking their que from these protests,” she said.

Qatar Red Crescent Society announces $4.5m in assistance for Palestinians

The Qatar Red Crescent and the UN agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) have signed an agreement with $4.5 million from a Qatari state development fund to aid more than 4,400 stranded Palestinian workers and patients from Gaza in the West Bank.



SvennoJ on 08 September 2024

US White House sceptical about reaching ceasefire deal any time soon: Report

The White House is reassessing its strategy for achieving a ceasefire deal, according to unnamed United States officials cited by news outlet Axios.

“It’s a rough period. People at the White House are sad, upset and frustrated. We are still working, but we are not about to present anything imminently. We are in a tough spot,” one US official was quoted by Axios as saying.

The unnamed US officials told Axios that US President Joe Biden’s top advisers have become sceptical about reaching a deal any time soon.

The recent killings of six Israeli captives, Hamas’s demand to release 100 more Palestinian prisoners, and Israel’s demand to maintain full Israeli military control along the Philadelphi Corridor are among the tougher positions, the officials said.

The biggest problem is US' unconditional ongoing genocide support.


Israeli defence minister, US CENTCOM chief discuss regional ties: Gallant

Israel’s Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant said he discussed ongoing tensions in the region with the commander of the US Army’s Central Command, General Michael Kurilla.

“Israeli and American troops work closely together to deter common threats posed by Iran and its proxies,” Gallant said in a post on X.

Israel is only working to anger and provoke threats by Iran and its proxies.


Irish protesters say weapons for Israel transiting Ireland

A group of activists has been protesting near an international airport in western Ireland, which they say is being used to transport weapons to Israel. Shannon airport is regularly used by the US Air Force as a stopover for carrying military personnel and equipment across the Atlantic.

The demonstrators say the planes need to be more thoroughly checked for Israel-bound arms.



SvennoJ on 08 September 2024

UN expert urges justice for slain Palestinian journalists

“Targeting journalists is a crime. Arrest warrants are urgently needed,” Francesca Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territory, said in a post on X.

Albanese said that 111 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed in Palestine since October 7 in Israeli attacks.

“The unpunished killing of those journalists, as well as of [Al Jazeera reporter] Shireen Abu Akleh, highlights Israel’s inability or unwillingness to investigate and prosecute these crimes,” she added.



How Israel starved 2.3 million Palestinians, explores new report by UN expert

“How was [Israel] able to starve 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza at unprecedented speed and intensity?” Michael Fakhri, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food asked in a post on X, the premise of a new report he authoured to answer the question.

Israel has been destroying the Palestinian food system for over 70 years by destroying orchards and farms, and by harassing and killing peasants, fishers and shepherds, Fahkri said.

“In Gaza, malnutrition, famine, and disease are killing more people than bombs and bullets. This personal and social trauma is going to be carried by Palestinians for several generations in the future,” he added.

The reason for Israel’s strategy is to acquire more land – and the solution to end it, a ceasefire, the UN expert stated.



SvennoJ on 08 September 2024

Jordan crossing with occupied West Bank to reopen tomorrow

The Palestinian Authority (PA)’s General Director of Borders and Crossings Nazmi Muhanna has said that the King Hussein (Allenby) crossing will reopen tomorrow at 10am local time (7am GMT).

Muhanna told the official news agency Wafa that the crossing will be open for travellers only, and will remain closed to commercial trucks.


Jordanians march in support of Palestinians in Gaza

Jordanians have held a demonstration in the capital Amman in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

Some are also supporting the slain Jordanian who shot and killed three Israeli security personnel at the King Hussein border crossing (also known as Allenby Bridge) earlier today.


Attempted car ramming south of Hebron, in occupied West Bank

There was a suspected attempt to run over Israeli soldiers at the Negohot settlement south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, according to Israeli public broadcaster Kan.

Israeli forces fired at the vehicle, with one Palestinian killed and another wounded, the broadcaster reported.

There were no casualties among the soldiers, it added.


Israeli raids continue in occupied West Bank

The Wafa news agency reports that Israeli forces have stormed Tulkarem and Balata in the West Bank.

In Tulkarem, which recently witnessed an intense 10-day Israeli military operation, one of the largest seen in decades, Israeli soldiers, including two military bulldozers, are stationed around the Al-Alimi Roundabout in the city, Wafa says.

The bulldozers have begun destroying infrastructure in the area, common features of Israeli raids in the West Bank.

Military bulldozers were also deployed in the Israeli raid on Balata, during which, Wafa says, clashes broke out between local Palestinians and Israeli soldiers.



SvennoJ on 08 September 2024

Child killed in Israeli bombing of Gaza City

A correspondent for Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that a child was killed, and several other people wounded, when the Israeli army bombed a house in the Tuffah neighbourhood of eastern Gaza City, in the north of the Gaza Strip.

Those who were wounded in the attack, which was carried out by Israeli army artillery units, were transferred to the Baptist Hospital, according to paramedics cited by Wafa.


Cellular service disruption added to Gaza’s communications issues

Earlier, we reported on a statement from Paltel, Gaza’s communications provider, which said there had been a disruption to home internet services in the central and southern areas of Gaza due to ongoing Israeli attacks.

Now, the Wafa news agency is reporting that mobile services have also been disrupted due to the destruction of transmission towers by the Israeli army.

Wafa also cited sources in the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, which said the organisation is facing difficulty communicating with the emergency operations centre in Gaza due to the damage to the communications networks.

Syrian media says Israeli attack kills three: Report

Syrian state-controlled news agency, the Syrian Arab News Agency, reports that Israeli warplanes targeted several sites belonging to the country’s military. Citing an unnamed military source, the media outlet said the attacks resulted in the killing of three people, the injury of 15 others, and “material losses”.

The attacks hit the rural areas surrounding the city of Hama.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/08/middleeast/israeli-airstrikes-syria-intl-latam/index.html

SANA said there had been several explosions and “air defense engagements” in the central region of Syria, including in the Tartous and Hama governorates, that resulted in multiple civilian casualties.

Asked about the report by CNN, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it did not comment “on reports in the foreign media.”

The Syrian news agency cited a military source as saying “the Israeli enemy launched an air aggression from the direction of northwest Lebanon, targeting a number of military sites in the central region” shortly before 8.30 p.m. local time on Sunday.

The source said Syrian air defenses had intercepted and shot down some of the missiles.

SANA said the strikes had damaged the Wadi al-Uyun highway in Masyaf and caused a blaze that firefighters were working to control.


A photo released by Syrian state news agency SANA on Sunday, September 8, shows the Wadi al-Uyun highway in Masyaf, where a fire reportedly caused by Israeli airstrikes has broken out.

Last edited by SvennoJ - on 08 September 2024