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

SvennoJ on 09 September 2024

Dozens killed and injured in attack on al-Mawasi

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic and the Wafa news agency are reporting that dozens of people have been killed and injured in an Israeli attack on Palestinians staying in tents in the al-Mawasi area of southern Gaza.

A spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defence that at least 20 tents were hit in the attack, AJA reports.


Death toll rises to 40 in attack on al-Mawasi tents


A destroyed tent in al-Mawasi

We’ve been reporting on an Israeli attack on people sheltering in tents in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip. Palestinian media are now reporting that at least 40 people were killed in the attack, and 60 others injured, according to the Reuters news agency.

As we reported earlier, Gaza’s Civil Defence said at least 20 tents where displaced Palestinians were sleeping were hit in the attack.

The coastal al-Mawasi area has been overcrowded with tents since many Palestinians fled there when the Israeli army designated it as a “safe zone” during its ground invasions of the nearby cities of Rafah and Khan Younis.


Israeli missiles caused 9 metre craters in al-Mawasi tent camp: Report


Teams conduct a search and rescue operation after Israeli air strikes on a site in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis where displaced Palestinians were living in tents

Rescuers searching for survivors in al-Mawasi say Israeli missiles left craters up to 9 metres (30 ft) deep in the tent camp in the southern Gaza Strip, our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting, citing local sources.

Witnesses described chaotic scenes in the area, with fires burning and Israeli reconnaissance planes circle overhead.

The attack took place near a field hospital run by the British charity UK-Med, at the entrance to al-Mawasi.


Many people were buried under the sand after the attack reportedly caused 9-metre-deep craters


Gaza Civil Defence: ‘One of the most heinous massacres in this frenzied war’

A spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defence has been talking about the situation in al-Mawasi.

Here is some of what he said:

  • Initial assessments suggest this is “one of the most heinous massacres in this frenzied war”.
  • Ambulance and Civil Defence teams are facing considerable difficulty retrieving the bodies of people killed in the attack.
  • The attacks involved heavy missiles and left three large craters in an area where people were living in at least 20 tents.
  • People in the surrounding area are in a state of panic because they thought the area was safe after Israel had called it a “humanitarian area”.


Israeli army says it attacked Hamas command ‘disguised’ in ‘humanitarian area’

The Israeli army says its fighter jets were targeting a Hamas southern command centre “disguised in the humanitarian area in Khan Younis”, referring to the attack on al-Mawasi that initial reports from Palestinian media say killed at least 40 people.

In a post on X, the Israeli army, which has been facing scrutiny for alleged violations of international law, said “many steps were taken to reduce the chance of harming civilians, including the use of precision weaponry, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence information.”

 

Many feared dead in Israeli strikes on Gaza humanitarian area

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/09/middleeast/gaza-khan-younis-israel-strike-intl-latam/index.html



.... (CNN first prints all the IDF excuses)

The Israeli military said that it took steps to “mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional means,” but it did not say it warned civilians in the area.

There were more than 200 tents of displaced people at Al-Mawasi area, Bassal said, adding about 20 to 40 tents were destroyed and “entire families have disappeared in the sand.”

Eyewitnesses said that at least five missiles struck the area, according to Gaza Civil Defense. The explosion created three large craters, Bassal said.

“Ambulance and civil defense crews were mobilized to the site, and there is talk of a large number of killed and wounded,” the Gaza Civil Defense said.

Video circulating on social media, and shared by Hamas media outlet Al Aqsa TV, showed Gaza Civil Defense members digging in the sand as they search for missing people. Clothes and shoes can be seen scattered across the area. CNN has been unable to independently verify the footage.

.... (more IDF excuses)



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SvennoJ on 09 September 2024

Hamas calls Israel’s claim it had command centre in humanitarian zone a ‘clear lie’

Hamas has denied the Israeli military’s claim that it was hosting a command centre in a humanitarian zone, following the attack on al-Mawasi.

Earlier, we reported that the Israeli military claimed its fighter jets bombed the tents because it was targeting a Hamas command centre “disguised in the humanitarian area”.

“This is a clear lie that aims to justify these ugly crimes. The resistance has denied several times that any of its members exist within civilian gatherings or using these places for military purposes,” Hamas said in a statement.

At least 40 people were killed and 60 injured.


CAIR condemns ‘Israeli massacre of Palestinians’ in ‘safe area’

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has condemned the “latest Israeli massacre of Palestinians in a so-called ‘safe area’ in Gaza”, referring to the al-Mawasi attack.

CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said Israel’s “far-right genocidal” government was using “one-ton Biden bombs to massacre Palestinians as if they were sheep for the slaughter, not human beings deserving life and freedom.”

Earlier this year, CAIR condemned the US decision to send military aid to Israel that included 2,000-pound (907kg) bombs and aircraft.

UN says staff and vehicles detained by Israel have been released

Philippe Lazzarini, the UNRWA head, says a convoy of United Nations vehicles and staff detained by Israel have been released after more than eight hours.

The Israeli military detained the team in northern Gaza on Monday, claiming it received intelligence there were several “Palestinian suspects” on board.

“The convoy was stopped at gun point just after the Wadi Gaza checkpoint with threats to detain UN staff. Heavy damage was caused by bulldozers to the UN armoured vehicles,” Lazzarini wrote on X. “All staff & convoy are now released & back safely in the UN base.”



SvennoJ on 09 September 2024

American weapons for Israel SECRETLY shipped through UK airspace


Over 50 tonnes of munitions have been flown to Israel over Britain since Gaza bombing began.

Arms for Israel have been quietly shipped through British airspace amid the war in Gaza, Declassified can reveal. Items sent on the Israel-bound planes have included sniper ammunition, explosives for use in military aircraft, and detonators. All of the eight flights identified by Declassified departed from JFK International Airport in New York, entering Britain’s sovereign airspace over Wales and exiting it over Dover. The flights then passed through Liège, Belgium, before reaching their final destination in Tel Aviv. They were all operated by the Challenge Airlines group, which has a base in Israel.

Flights carrying dangerous goods or munitions of war through British airspace typically require special clearance from the Civil Aviation Authority. This indicates that the UK government has greenlit the passage of numerous arms shipments to Israel since the Gaza bombing began. Reacting to our revelation, Sam Perlo-Freeman of Campaign Against Arms Trade commented: “Ministers have made Israel’s war crimes their own by allowing Israel to fly its loads of lethal equipment through UK airspace”.

 

Justice for Ayşenur Eygi: As Israel Kills Another American, Will U.S. Demand Accountability?


A funeral is being held today in the occupied West Bank for Turkish American activist Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, who was shot dead Friday by Israeli forces while taking part in a weekly protest against illegal Israeli settlements in the town of Beita. The 26-year-old recent graduate of the University of Washington was a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement. Witnesses say she was fatally shot in the head by an Israeli sniper after the demonstration had already dispersed. The Turkish government has said it holds Israel responsible for Ayşenur's death, while the U.S. government has offered condolences and called for Israel to investigate the incident. At least 17 Palestinian protesters have been killed in Beita in protests against illegal Israeli settlements since 2020.

Juliette Majid, a friend of Eygi at the University of Washington, remembers the slain activist as being "passionate about justice" and involved in various causes. "She's no longer with us, but her spirit and her love and who she was and who she impacted in our community are still with us every day," says Majid. Filipino American activist Amado Sison, who also volunteered in the occupied West Bank and was himself shot in the leg by Israeli forces on August 9 during a weekly protest in Beita, says the U.S. government must demand an independent investigation and end Israeli impunity. "If they took it seriously that a U.S. citizen was shot a month ago, maybe Ayşenur would be here right now," he says.



SvennoJ on 10 September 2024

US says Houthi military equipment destroyed in strikes on Yemen, Red Sea

The US Army’s Central Command (CENTCOM) has said that in the past 24 hours, its forces “successfully destroyed two Iranian-backed Houthi missile systems and one support vehicle in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen”.

CENTCOM forces also “successfully destroyed one Houthi unmanned aerial vehicle over the Red Sea”, it said in a statement on X.

These actions were taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure, it added.

The Houthis continue to carry out attacks on commercial and military vessels in the waters surrounding Yemen, in what they say are sympathy strikes with Palestinians in Gaza.


Houthis claim they shot down US drone over Yemen

The Yemeni-rebel group has downed a US MQ-9 drone in Saada province, the group’s military spokesperson Yahya Saree has announced days after another military drone was downed over Yemen.

This is one of several drones of this type to be shot down since the start of the war on Gaza, he said. Since last November, the Houthis have been attacking Israel-linked ships in the Red Sea as an act of solidarity with Palestinians being killed in Gaza. The Yemeni group also started attacking ships linked to the US and the UK after they launched a military campaign in January to end the Houthis’ assaults on shipping lanes in the region.


Houthi-linked media claim US-UK air attack killed two in Yemen’s Taiz

At least two people have been killed and five others injured in a UK-US air attack on a school in al-Jund in the southwestern Yemeni city of Taiz, according to the Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV.



SvennoJ on 10 September 2024

Israeli military announces strikes on Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon

The Israeli military has announced that its fighter jets have carried out overnight strikes against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.

It said the “military buildings” were located in the Aita al-Shaab, Khiam and Naqoura areas of southern Lebanon. It also announced it had attacked the Naqoura area with mortar fire.


Two wounded as Israel strikes vehicle in Lebanon’s Western Bekaa district

Two people have been wounded in an Israeli strike targeting a vehicle in Lebanon’s Western Bekaa district, according to local media. Lebanon’s national news agency NNA reported that the aerial raid occurred close to the village of Saghbine.

Israel’s strikes have been largely confined to Lebanon’s southern border territories, but Hezbollah targets deep inside Lebanese territory have also been hit.


Hezbollah member killed in Israeli strike on Lebanon’s Western Bekaa

We reported earlier about an Israeli strike on Lebanon’s Western Bekaa district, some 40 km from Lebanon’s border with Israel.

The Israeli army said the strike killed a member of Hezbollah, Muhammad Qassem al-Shaer, whom it identified as a “terrorist” belonging to one of the group’s special units. Al-Shaer was killed by an Israeli drone that targeted a motorcycle he was travelling on, according to Lebanon’s state-run news agency NNA.

Hezbollah confirmed the killing in a statement, saying it mourned the loss of its member.



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SvennoJ on 10 September 2024

Trucks carrying aid for Gaza line up at Rafah crossing



An Egyptian driver sets up a temporary shelter next to his truck carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says ‘endless queues of trucks with goods [are] trying to enter Gaza’ on a visit to the Egyptian side of Rafah crossing on Monday



Borrell also says volunteers described ‘warehouses full of humanitarian aid blocked by Israeli authorities’



UN says unclear if third phase of polio vaccine campaign to begin as planned

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini says the UN is “not able to confirm whether the polio campaign will begin” in northern Gaza on Tuesday as planned after Israeli forces held a UN convoy at gunpoint on their way to begin the final phase of the rollout.

Teams of health workers have already successfully given at least 441,647 children in the central and southern parts of the Gaza Strip a shot, the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Saturday, as the first two phases went relatively smoothly.

Overall, the UN says it needs to reach about 640,000 children across Gaza to help stop the highly preventable but also highly contagious disease from spreading after the first polio case in 25 years was detected in Gaza in August.


Palestinian medic killed in Israeli detention: Reports

The family of a Palestinian medic allegedly abducted by Israeli forces from Gaza in December confirmed on Monday that he has died in an Israeli detention facility, according to local media reports.

The Quds News Network and the Palestine Information Centre reported that Hamdan Annaba’s family had been given no information about his whereabouts after he was detained, but now believe he was executed the same day he was arrested. They did not provide information about how they knew this.

Israeli forces arrested Annaba on December 2 at the Netzarim checkpoint in Gaza while he was on duty as an ambulance driver for the Ministry of Health. Annaba’s family have alleged that Israeli forces tortured him before killing him, and have called for an investigation into his death.



SvennoJ on 10 September 2024

At least 4 killed following Israeli strike in Gaza City

The Israeli military has killed at least four people after bombing a food stall in the al-Shawa Square area east of Gaza City, northern Gaza, according to local media reports.

An unknown number of people have also been injured in the attack.

Death toll rises following Israeli strike on food stand in Gaza City

A fifth person has been confirmed killed after the Israeli military bombed a food stall in Gaza City, northern Gaza, according to local media.


Several killed in Israeli attack on southern Gaza: Civil defence

Three people have been killed following an Israeli bombing in the al-Mashrou’ area in Rafah city, the Gaza civil defence has said.


Gaza’s death toll rises

At least 41,020 people have been killed and 94,925 wounded in Israeli military attacks on Gaza since October 7, the enclave’s Health Ministry says. Of those, 32 Palestinians were killed and 100 wounded in the latest 24-hour reporting period, the ministry added.

Polio vaccination proceeding slowly in northern Gaza

There haven’t been any confirmed pauses in fighting in the northern part of the Strip.

The campaign started officially today but in a very limited way. It’s not widespread as health organisations like the World Health Organization or UNICEF were hoping.

It started in some areas in Jabalia and densely populated neighbourhoods in the eastern part of Gaza City. But the remaining parts of the north are still without any of the designated points for vaccination.

On top of that, the ongoing obstruction of UN officials and employees – those who are responsible for the campaign to cross the Netzarim Corridor all the way to the northern part of Gaza – is causing many challenges.


Logistical challenges remain amid continuing vaccination drive: Report

Aid groups involved in the polio vaccination exercise in Gaza face myriad problems in the war-torn region, including a lack of fuel.

“The centralisation of services in the south makes it extremely difficult for us to get fuel, to get access to vaccinations, and to all other logistics,” Mahmoud Shalabi of Medical Aid for Palestinians, a UK-based charity, told Reuters news agency.

“There is still no fuel for the movement of vehicles for vaccination teams in the north.”

On Monday, Israel stopped a convoy that included vehicles and fuel for the vaccination campaign as well as a World Health Organization team trying to get to Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital and the mission had to be aborted, the WHO’s Tarik Jasarevic told reporters in a briefing.



SvennoJ on 10 September 2024
People ‘buried in the sand’ following al-Mawasi attack

Witnesses at the Khan Younis area have described chaotic scenes after the Israeli attack killed at least 40 people and wounded many more.

Attaf al-Shaar, who was displaced from the southern city of Rafah and present at the site of the attack, said the strike happened just after midnight and caused a fire. “The people were buried in the sand. They were retrieved as body parts,” she told an Associated Press reporter.

Al-Mawasi has been crowded with Palestinians sleeping in tents since the Israeli army designated the coastal area a “safe zone” during its ground invasions of Khan Younis and nearby Rafah.


Israeli attack on Gaza tent camp leaves vast crater

This vast crater was caused by an Israeli air attack on tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in the al-Mawasi camp, southern Gaza, early this morning.

More than 45 people have been killed in the attack, while at least 60 people have been injured.


After strikes on tented encampments, ‘my heart goes out to those who survived’

Vascular surgeon Bara Zuhaili, who recently returned to the United States from Gaza, has described the effect that attacks such as the one on al-Mawasi have on civilians.

“When I hear of attacks such as this one, my heart goes out to those who survived,” Zuhaili told Al Jazeera.

The surgeon witnessed a similar strike on a tented encampment in Khan Younis which the Israelis claimed had been precise. At Nasser Hospital, he noticed a woman restlessly pacing in the emergency room and discovered she was moving between her six-year old daughter, who was dying of severe shrapnel wounds to her face, and her nine-year-old, who had both legs amputated.

“This young mother was torn both physically and mentally as she said goodbye to her daughter while trying to [be with] the other who was actively bleeding,” the doctor said. “These are the kinds of stories we get in such attacks, while the media focus on the number of dead.”


Israeli army claims al-Mawasi attack targeted head of Hamas’s aerial unit

Israel’s army has said the strike on an encampment in al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis, targeted Samer Ismail Hader Abudaqa, whom it identified as the head of Hamas’s aerial unit. In the statement, the army did not specify whether the alleged Hamas official was killed or injured in the strike.

Hamas has dubbed the Israeli claim as a “clear lie”.


Al-Mawasi attack survivors say safe zone turned into ‘inferno’

Survivors of Israel’s attack on al-Mawasi say their tents were “engulfed in fire” as the Israeli army struck the designated safe zone.

Samah Abu Rahmeh told Al Jazeera there was an explosion “beyond imagination”.  “We woke up to the Israeli warplanes firing missiles at us. The tents were engulfed in flames, like inferno,” she said. “This is claimed to be a safe humanitarian zone, al-Mawasi, Khan Younis. But in reality, these are all lies,” Abu Rahmeh added.

Fayez Hassan recounted the aftermath of the strike. “We rushed to find many dead bodies blown into pieces and others injured,” he said, adding those were “shocking scenes, beyond any words”. “It is part of Israel’s unjustifiable barbaric air strikes,” Hassan said.


Bodies of 19 people recovered after al-Mawasi attack

Gaza’s Health Ministry says the bodies of 19 people were recovered and identified in the aftermath of an Israeli strike on the al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis.

“There are still a number of victims under the rubble, under the sand and on the roads,” the ministry said. “Ambulance and civil defence crews cannot reach them and rescue them, and they have not reached the hospitals yet.”


Palestinian Foreign Ministry says latest ‘massacre’ enabled by international community’s failures

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has slammed the international community for failing to implement international law to halt Israel’s war in Gaza and prevent attacks including that on al-Mawasi.

In a statement, it said this failure enabled Israel to “persist in committing further massacres” in al-Mawasi and other areas of the besieged Strip. “An immediate ceasefire is the only way to protect Palestinian civilians and create a suitable environment for achieving a prisoner exchange deal,” it added.


‘Everything was grey’ recounts al-Mawasi attack survivor

What began as a peaceful night for Tala Herzallah, gazing up at a sky full of stars, quickly transformed into a scene of devastation after an Israeli attack on a tented encampment at al-Mawasi in southern Gaza.

Herzallah, a 22-year-old university student, was sleeping in a tent with her family when the attack occurred in the early hours of Tuesday, describing how, in a matter of seconds, “everything was turned upside down”.

The missiles struck about 200 metres (650 feet) from where she was staying. The serene night sky was replaced by flames, smoke and destruction. “I only saw two colours – red and grey. Screams, crying, and the sound of ambulances were all I could hear,” she recounted. “I felt like I had entered one of my nightmares, but it was real life.”

The scale of the attack was shocking, Herzallah noted, saying that the missiles were intended for much larger targets. “These missiles were meant for the biggest buildings, not for tents made of the weakest materials in the world,” she said.


Israeli air strikes on a tent encampment in al-Mawasi on September 10



SvennoJ on 10 September 2024

HRW condemns Israel’s use of digital tools in Gaza war

Human Rights Watch has condemned the Israeli army’s extensive use of digital tools in its war in Gaza, saying it uses “faulty data and inexact approximations to inform military actions”.

The New York-based watchdog said surveillance technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), and other digital tools help determine who or what to attack in Gaza and when, but rely on data collected through systematic Israeli surveillance of Gaza residents “in a manner that is incompatible with international human rights law”.

“The Israeli military’s use of these tools, instead of helping to provide more accurate targeting and minimise civilian loss of life and property, may be exacerbating the risk to civilians and raises grave ethical, legal, and humanitarian concerns,” it said.


Health system in northern Gaza subjected to ‘systematic’ destruction

Directors of hospitals in northern Gaza have just addressed the media over the healthcare situation in the region.

Here is a summary of what they said:

  • The health system is being subjected to “systematic” and “massive” destruction.
  • The Israeli bombing of northern Gaza has intensified and is directly affecting the health system.
  • The Indonesian Hospital will go out of service within 24 hours if it does not receive much-needed fuel.
  • International organisations must provide medical supplies.


Al-Mawasi attacks show humanitarian zones are in name only: NRC

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has said repeated attacks on densely populated areas of Gaza demonstrate that Israel’s “unlawful relocation directives have failed to protect or offer any guarantees of safety for Palestinians.”

The humanitarian organisation said al-Mawasi has a population density of more than 30,000 people per square kilometre due to Israel’s multiple Israeli evacuation orders.

“For 11 months, Israel has been forcing Palestinians in Gaza to flee from place to place without offering them genuine assurances of safety, proper accommodation or return once hostilities end,” Jan Egeland, secretary-general of NRC, said in a statement.

“Images of metres-deep craters burying dozens of tents where children and their families slept moments earlier are horrifying,” Egeland added. “The events of last night provide further evidence that there is no safe place in Gaza and that only a ceasefire will prevent further loss of life.”



SvennoJ on 10 September 2024

Israeli military surrounds house of freed Palestinian prisoner, calls on him to surrender

The Israeli military has stormed the occupied West Bank village of Deir Abu Mishal, west of Ramallah, and surrounded the house of a freed Palestinian prisoner, the Wafa news agency reports.

Israeli forces have called on the man, who was released three months ago after spending 21 years in Israeli prisons, to surrender himself, warning they will arrest his family members until he does. On Monday, Israeli forces arrested his brother during a raid on the village.

Israeli forces have also stormed the town of Beit Kahil, northwest of Ramallah, and arrested a second former Palestinian detainee who was released two weeks ago.


West Bank-Jordan border crossing reopens to travellers

The border crossing between Jordan and the occupied West Bank – the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge – has reopened to travellers but remains closed to commercial activity, the Israel Airports Authority said.

The closure came after a shooting on Sunday when a Jordanian truck driver killed three Israeli guards at the cargo area of the crossing operated by Israel.

Israeli media said the authority’s move followed orders by security officials.


UK lord resigns as patron of Lawyers for Israel over arms exports

Alex Carlile, a member of the UK’s House of Lords, has resigned as a patron of UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) after the group said it planned to challenge the government’s partial suspension of arms exports to Israel, Middle East Eye reports.

Carlile confirmed his resignation to Middle East Eye after he published an article in the Independent newspaper saying Prime Minister Keir Starmer had shown “courage and conviction” by acting on the “clear legal advice” regarding arms sales to Israel and “deciding that the right thing must be done”.

On the same day his opinion piece was published, UKLFI said it had sent a formal letter to the government “threatening legal action unless it cancels the decision to suspend around 30 licences for the export of arms to Israel”.


Australia backs UK curb on Israel arms sales

Australia has said that it supports a decision by the UK government to suspend some of the country’s weapons sales to Israel over concerns about violations of international law.

“I welcome the decision of my UK counterpart,” Foreign Affairs minister Penny Wong told the Guardian Australia. “It reflects what we have been advocating throughout this conflict. Palestinian civilians cannot be made to pay the price of defeating Hamas.”

Wong added that Australia is “working with partners – including the UK – to put pressure to see a real change in the situation in Gaza”.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on September 2 that the newly-installed Labour government had suspended 30 of 350 arms export licences with Israel due to a risk the equipment could be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza.

With British arms exports amounting to less than 1 percent of the total Israel receives, critics, including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, have labelled the move as just for show.

Just as Australia's 'backing' is just for show.