Israel’s defence minister says Gaza truce deal a ‘strategic opportunity’

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has backed an agreement to release captives in the first phase of a Gaza truce deal, saying it would give Israel a “strategic opportunity” to address other security challenges.

Bringing the captives home is “the right thing to do,” Gallant told foreign journalists. “Achieving an agreement is also a strategic opportunity that gives us a high chance to change the security situation on all fronts,” he said.

Gallant recently issued harsh criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying his decision to prioritise remaining in the Philadelphi Corridor over striking a deal was coming at the cost of the captives’ lives.

Doesn't sound like Gallant wants an end to the genocide either, just phase 1 of the ceasefire proposal.

Gallant says Hamas as ‘military formation no longer exists’

Here is more from Israel’s defence minister, who has been speaking to foreign journalists. Gallant said Hamas’s military capabilities had been severely damaged after more than 11 months of war and that it no longer existed as a military formation in Gaza.

“Hamas as a military formation no longer exists. Hamas is engaged in guerrilla warfare and we are still fighting Hamas terrorists and pursuing Hamas leadership,” he said.

Israels' FORGED Documents Exposed - The Lies Never End



This underlines why nothing the Israeli authorities claim should be ever trusted.

Blinken launches rare attack on Israel; David Lammy dodges question on Netanyahu



US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday finally adopted a tough stand, or at least he pretended to do so, on Israel on the death of an American national by an Israeli sniper. Meanwhile, Blinken’s British counterpart David Lammy evaded a question of an arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu by the International Criminal Court in days to come.

'Bibi Files': Banned In Israel, Film On Netanyahu's Corruption ‘Scandal’ Premieres In Toronto

The Highly anticipated ‘The Bibi Files’ premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. The unfinished documentary includes never-seen-before footage of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

The footage in the film was captured during police interrogations of Prime Minister Netanyahu, his wife Sarah, son Yair, close friends, confidantes, and former household staff, conducted between 2016 and 2018. According to a recent Variety report, these recordings were leaked to producer Alex Gibney in 2023.

The film shows many instances in which PM answered: ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I don’t remember’. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested a Jerusalem court on September 9 to prevent the release of footage showing him being questioned for an upcoming documentary. However, just a few hours later, a judge denied his petition.

Netanyahu contended that journalist Raviv Drucker, one of the film's producers, planned to release footage from a police interrogation without court authorization, which is a criminal offense in Israel punishable by up to a year in prison.

Probe confirms Israeli military used US-made bombs in al-Mawasi attack

A new investigation by Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency has shown that the Israeli air raid targeting civilians in Gaza’s humanitarian zone was carried out using MK-84 bombs, which weigh 2,000 pounds.

At 12:34am local time (09:34 GMT), several Israeli missiles struck a refugee camp in the al-Mawasi area, located within the humanitarian zone designated by the Israeli army for displaced civilians – west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

The Israeli bombing caused widespread damage to the tents, homes, and facilities in the area. Photos from the bombing site reveal widespread devastation, with craters 10 to 15 metres (33 – 49 feet) deep, burying dozens of tents.

Civil defence teams faced immense challenges retrieving the bodies of the dead and injured, with rescue operations continuing into the next morning.

But Khan Younis has also been under intense attacks in the past couple of hours, where a residential building was completely destroyed, and six Palestinians were confirmed killed in that attack. Here in the central area, the situation is incredibly chaotic, because the army has been targeting the Bureij refugee camp.

The Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said that they managed to militarily defeat Hamas and now there are continuing attacks on very densely populated areas. So the question is, who is Israel attacking?

UN criticises deadly Israeli military attacks on southern Gaza

The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) slammed Israel’s overnight attacks on al-Mawasi – an area it unilaterally designated a humanitarian zone and is filled with tents inhabited by internally displaced people in southern Gaza.

The Israeli military “continues to choose to use weapons with wide area effects in these increasingly densely populated areas despite the overwhelming evidence that these means and methods have led to disproportionate harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure, suggesting a complete disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians”, OHCHR said.

This latest attack occurred in the same part of the alleged “humanitarian” zone, where at least 71 were killed in similar circumstances on July 13. “This is despite the Israeli military continuing to order Palestinian civilians to evacuate there, including most recently on August 24.”

‘Children in Gaza deserve lasting peace, not just polio vaccines’

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, has announced the launch of the polio vaccine campaign in north Gaza, saying it would last until September 12.

“Vaccines, finger markers and cold chain equipment were delivered to the north yesterday. Our team is trying to deliver more fuel to ensure vehicles used by vaccinators to reach the children remain functional, and hospitals can be resupplied to maintain essential services,” he said in a post on X.

He also called for maintaining humanitarian pauses and respecting the safety of health workers.

“The children in Gaza deserve lasting peace, not just polio vaccines,” he said.

Israeli strike on central Gaza kills child

Our colleagues on the ground are reporting that an Israeli bombardment of Bureij refugee camp has killed at least one girl and wounded a number of other people. The wounded are currently arriving at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah.

‘The Israeli army has lost control of its snipers’

Menachem Klein, professor of political science at Bar-Ilan University, says the Israeli government is trying to “manage the crisis of” the killing of US activist Aysenur Eygi better than it did with the murder of Palestinian-American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh – both at the hands of Israeli forces.

“I doubt if this will help Israel vis-a-vis the United States. It seems the Israeli army has lost control of its snipers. The command is very weak,” Klein told Al Jazeera, speaking from West Jerusalem.

Klein said that it is clear that the army is applying the same methods used in Gaza in the West Bank, as well. “Unfortunately, US Secretary of State Blinken did not condemn the Israeli army operations and the methods used in Gaza,” he said.

“The US must impose on Israel changes in the operational mode that the [Israeli army] uses. Without that, Israel will fool the Americans and mislead them. There is in the Israeli army a culture of covering up war crimes in the West Bank and Gaza,” Klein added.

US says closely watching Israel’s ‘criminal’ probe of killing of US activist

The White House says it will be closely watching what it called a “criminal” investigation by Israel into the killing of American-Turkish activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi in the occupied West Bank last week.

Israel’s military said it was highly likely its troops fired the shot that killed the woman at a protest in the West Bank, but said her death was unintentional and expressed deep regret.

As closely as they're watching the criminal probe into Hind Rijab and the WCK killings? ...

State Department not investigating killing of US citizen Aysenur Eygi

US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said yesterday that the department is not conducting its own investigation into the killing of US citizen Aysenur Ezgi Eygi in the occupied West Bank, who was shot and killed last Friday by Israeli forces.

Instead, US officials expect Israel to investigate the matter.

Biden says Israeli killing of US-Turkish activist appears an ‘accident’

President Joe Biden says Israel’s killing of a US-Turkish activist during a protest in the occupied West Bank last week appears to be an accident.

“Apparently, it was an accident – it ricocheted off the ground and she got hit by accident,” Biden told reporters, hours after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the killing of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, was “unprovoked and unjustified”.

Blinken condemned the fatal shooting, saying the US would make clear to its ally that such actions are “not acceptable”.

“No one – no one – should be shot and killed for attending a protest. Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes in the way they operate in the West Bank.”

A sniper accidentally shot her in the head from 200 meters away? The angle of the bullet entry would clarify, yet shooting at a crowd from far away with a sniper rifle, that's no accident. That's not a defense, intentionally targeting a crowd with lethal ammunition.

Fatally shot Turkish-American activist hid her travel from family

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_vDY75IDw_

Without international action, ‘West Bank will become a new Gaza,’: EU’s Borrell

The European Union foreign policy chief has said that a new front was being opened with a clear objective of turning the West Bank into a new Gaza. Addressing the Arab League in Cairo, Joseph Borrell argued “without action of the international community, the West Bank will become a new Gaza.”

He added that Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is working to make it impossible to create a future Palestinian state and that a ceasefire agreement initiated by US President Joe Biden is unlikely to be signed because “those waging the war have no interest in putting an end to it.”

UN Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator to Gaza Sigrid Kaag also addressed the Arab body asserting that an immediate ceasefire must take place for the necessary humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces kill two Palestinians in West Bank’s Tulkarem: Ministry

The Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Health has said that two Palestinians – a man and a woman – were killed in the northern occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem. The ministry said the man was brought to Tulkarem Governmental Hospital and the woman to al-Isra Hospital, both located in the city.

Neither has been identified yet, and the ministry added that eight others were wounded when Israeli forces opened fire as they raided Tulkarem.

UC Berkeley launches rare Palestinian-Arab studies programme amid Gaza war: Report

UC Berkeley will launch a new endowed chair and programme in Palestinian and Arab Studies, as the Israeli war on Gaza has fuelled high demand for learning about the history, culture and politics of the people of the region, the LA Times reports.

Ussama Makdisi, a UC Berkeley history professor and leading scholar of modern Arab history for nearly three decades, was named the inaugural chair.

“He said the program represents a groundbreaking effort to build understanding about the Palestinian people, who are often portrayed through the lens of the conflict with Israel, yet have a long, rich ethical and ecumenical history of their own,” the Times reported.

According to the Times, Makdisi said interest in Palestinian studies is the highest it has ever been since he began teaching it as part of Arab studies 27 years ago. Interest is growing not only about Palestinian history but also literature, poetry, politics, sociology and areas “across the board,” he said.

US court urged to review claim that Biden is enabling Israeli genocide in Gaza

Legal, civil and human rights groups are voicing their support for an effort by Palestinians to secure a court review of their claims that Biden is enabling genocide in Gaza, the Center for Constitutional Rights says.

Last month, a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the decision of a lower court that dismissed the case on jurisdictional grounds even as it said Israel’s assault “plausibly” constituted genocide.

The plaintiffs argue that courts have a constitutional duty to assess the legality of the Biden administration’s actions.

The lawsuit, filed in November, claims Biden, Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin are violating international and federal law for failing to prevent and being complicit in an Israeli genocide. It asks the court to order the administration to stop supporting the assault on Gaza with weapons or other means.

Law scholars said the panel, like the district court, “badly misinterpreted the political question doctrine” by claiming courts cannot review allegations of international law violations where US “foreign policy decisions are strongly implicated”.

Human rights organisations asserted that domestic courts are supposed to be the primary enforcement mechanism of international law and, in the context of the US, are the only meaningful forums.

Israeli defence minister: Close to completing Gaza missions, focus on north

Israeli forces are close to completing their mission in Gaza, and their focus will be turning to the northern border with Lebanon, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant says.

“The centre of gravity is moving northward. We are near to completing our tasks in the south, but our mission here is not yet done,” Gallant told soldiers on Israel’s northern border, according to a video sent by his office.

Israeli officials have upped their threats for full-scale military action against Lebanon and Hezbollah, the armed group that calls the country home.Hezbollah has been waging limited strikes against Israel and its military since the outbreak of the Gaza war nearly a year ago.

Jordan, Turkey discuss efforts to stop Gaza war

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan held talks on the sidelines of the 162nd regular session of the Council of the League of Arab States at the ministerial level in Cairo, a statement by the Jordanian Foreign Ministry has said.

A readout from the ministry said talks focused on the war in Gaza and developments in the occupied West Bank, specifically “efforts aimed at stopping the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, ensuring the protection of civilians, and delivering sufficient and sustainable aid to all parts of the Strip”.

The two ministers, the statement added, stressed the need for a “real political horizon to achieve a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution, and to stop all measures that undermine it”.