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

SvennoJ on 22 September 2024

Israeli forces weld shut the doors to Al Jazeera’s bureau

Israeli forces have welded shut the doors to Al Jazeera’s office in Ramallah after an hours-long raid, preventing the network’s employees from entering the premises, according to staff on the ground.

Footage posted by Palestinian media later showed Israeli vehicles withdrawing from Ramallah after the raid.


Israel has no legal right to close Al Jazeera offices in Ramallah

The closure of Al Jazeera’s office shows that Israel wants to suppress any voice that tries to bring the truth about what’s happening in Palestinian territory to the world, according to Mostafa Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative.

Israel has prevented foreign journalists from entering Gaza and has killed about 170 journalists, including those working with Al Jazeera, while imprisoning and torturing others, he added.

“The Israeli army has closed other networks before. This is the real face of Israel, a country that claims to be a democracy and claims to be supporting freedom of press,” Barghouti said, adding that the Al Jazeera office in Ramallah falls in Area A under the security and civil administration of the Palestinian Authority.

“Israel has no right, legally speaking, to close any office in Area A or B,” Barghouti said, noting that Israel has now effectively fully reoccupied the West Bank militarily.

Israel army claims Al Jazeera office in West Bank ‘used to incite terror’

The Israeli military has said it closed Al Jazeera’s office in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, because it incited “terror”.

The closure order was signed after a legal opinion and intelligence assessment “determined that the offices were being used to incite terror, to support terrorist activities and that the channel’s broadcasts endanger the security and public order in both the area and the State of Israel as a whole,” a military statement said.


‘No witnesses allowed’

Kenneth Roth, the former Human Rights Watch executive director, says Israel closed Al Jazeera’s Ramallah office because of its “important” coverage of the war on Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

“Al Jazeera has been one of the most important sources of information on Israeli bombing and starving Palestinian civilians in Gaza and repression in the West Bank, so Israel shuts down its Ramallah bureau after already have shut its East Jerusalem bureau,” he said on X.

Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territory, reposted Roth’s message, saying: “No witnesses allowed.”



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SvennoJ on 22 September 2024

Two minors wounded as Israeli forces storm Nablus

Three Palestinians, including two teens, have been wounded by bullets after Israeli soldiers stormed the Old City of Nablus in the occupied West Bank with armoured vehicles.

The raid targeted the Muslim neighbourhood of the Old City, with Israeli forces firing smoke and sound bombs as well, according to Wafa news agency. The 17-year-old and 15-year-old were reportedly shot in the leg, while a 27-year-old man was wounded in the back.


Child among 10 Palestinians arrested in occupied West Bank

Israeli forces have arrested at least 10 Palestinians, including a child and former prisoners, during military raids across the occupied West Bank overnight and this morning.

The arrests took place in Qalqilya, Bethlehem, Tulkarem, Ramallah, Hebron and Tubas, according to a statement from the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society and the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs cited by Wafa news agency.

The organisations added that Israeli forces continue with their violent raids, during which Palestinians are severely beaten and their families are threatened. The latest incidents bring the number of Palestinians arrested in the occupied areas, including Jerusalem, to at least 10,800.


Israeli forces use tear gas near schools: Report

Dozens of students from UNRWA schools in the Jalazon refugee camp, north of Ramallah, have suffered from smoke inhalation after Israeli soldiers fired tear gas canisters in the vicinity of the schools, Wafa news agency reported.

Israeli forces fired tear gas canisters and stun bombs towards the schools located at the entrance of the camp in the occupied West Bank, Wafa said, citing local security sources.


Israeli forces launch raid on Tubas

Israeli forces have conducted a raid in the city of Tubas in the occupied West Bank, arresting Palestinians. Al Jazeera’s correspondent confirmed that Israeli forces sent reinforcements to the city after special units infiltrated the area.



SvennoJ on 22 September 2024

Israeli attack on Deir el-Balah kills, wounds several Palestinians

The Wafa news agency is reporting that several Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack on the central Gaza city. Gaza’s Civil Defence said the attack targeted the Dawas family home in the Al-Hakr area of the city.

Four killed in Israeli attack on Deir el-Balah

Our colleagues on the ground are now confirming that at least four people were killed and many wounded in the attack on the house belonging to the Dawas family in the city’s al-Hakir area.

The house that was targeted did not receive any prior warning. At least four people were killed. Ambulances were seen going in and out of the site as casualties were brought to Al-Aqsa Hospital.

Wounded children are being treated on the floor and the scenes are very disturbing. The area that was targeted was heavily affected, not just that one but also the neighbouring houses.


Seven Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks in central, southern Gaza

Seven more Palestinians have been killed in Gaza from Israeli attacks this morning. The Palestine Red Crescent Society recovered the bodies of four victims from al-Attatirah east of Rafah in southern Gaza following Israeli bombardment, according to Wafa news agency.

Two more people were killed in Khuza’a east of Khan Younis after being targeted with artillery shells. Another Palestinian was killed when an Israeli quadcopter opened fire on civilians west of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.


Seven killed in Israeli bombing of school in Gaza City

The Palestinian Civil Defence is reporting that seven people have been killed and many wounded as a result of the Israeli bombing of the Kafr Qasim School in the Shati refugee camp in western Gaza City.

The school has been housing hundreds of displaced people, with the area suffering extensive damage.


‘Urgent appeal’ to help northern Gaza civilians as cold weather approaches

A group formed under Gaza’s Ministry of Social Development to protect children and women in northern Gaza has released an urgent appeal for aid from international stakeholders as forcibly displaced Palestinians will soon be exposed to colder temperatures.

“The lack of fuel, food and medications threatens thousands of children, elderly people and patients, particularly in the northern areas, with increased risk from the cold due to the lack of heating equipment and essential survival tools,” the group said in a statement by the Government Media Office in the enclave.

“The situation has escalated due to widespread displacement of families, with many living in tents and shelters, while others are homeless with no shelter at all.”

The group added that many families have already resorted to burning wood from destroyed furniture and plastic objects to survive the cold inside their makeshift tents and shelters.


A Palestinian works to collect alternative fuel produced by burning plastic waste amid Israeli-imposed scarcity in northern Gaza Strip, September 5

Tents flooded by rainwater in Gaza

Footage and images from the Gaza Strip show that rainfall is presenting a challenge to forcibly displaced Palestinians again as the war approaches the end of its first year.

Many of the dilapidated tents and makeshift shelters used by Palestinians have been flooded by rainwater.



Translation: Rain falls on the tents of the displaced in the displacement camps in the southern Gaza Strip.


Gaza’s death toll rises

At least 41,431 people have been killed and 95,818 wounded in Israeli military attacks on Gaza since October 7, the enclave’s Health Ministry says. Of those, 40 Palestinians were killed and 58 wounded in the latest 24-hour reporting period, the ministry added.


Massive explosion in Deir el-Balah kills 2 people

It’s the second time an evacuation centre has been hit. This time on the western side of Gaza City, in the Shati refugee camp where Palestinians have been taking shelter from Israeli bombardment.

It happened less than an hour ago. Two Palestinians were killed in the massive explosion and a number of wounded were taken to Al-Aqsa Hospital.

People went through a difficult night because of the rain. I saw rainwater-flooded flimsy tents, which were already torn in places due to strong winds.

‘Heart-breaking’ scenes at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital

In the past couple of hours, an attack took place in the southern-eastern part of the Central Area of Deir el-Balah City where a group of people were targeted by a missile fired from a drone.

The scenes here at the hospital when the injuries were arriving were arriving are heartbreaking when you look at people arriving in pieces and shattered bones and fractured skulls from the shrapnel.

In a separate attack, a school in western Gaza City in al-Shati refugee camp was targeted. At least six people were reported killed inside in the evacuation centre which happened to be yet another school.

In Jabalia refugee camp, where the Israeli military issued an evacuation order for a house that is next to the school. The problem with this is there is no safe space in the vicinity and people have no place to go so it’s cynical to say that this is a safety precaution.

Last edited by SvennoJ - on 22 September 2024

SvennoJ on 22 September 2024

Schools to close in northern Israel

Schools in the Israeli towns of Acre, Nahariyya, Tiberias and Safed will be closed after Hezbollah’s attacks on northern Israel, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation has said.

The Times of Israel added that schools in Haifa would be closed as well. This comes after Hezbollah reportedly sent three batches of projectiles towards the Galilee and east of Haifa.

As we reported earlier, Hezbollah said it fired dozens of missiles at the Ramat David Airbase in northern Israel.


Hezbollah claims second missile attack on Israeli airbase

The Lebanese armed group said it fired dozens of Fadi 1 and Fadi 2 missiles for a second time on Israel’s Ramat David Airbase. The attacks were in response to “repeated Israeli attacks that targeted various Lebanese regions and led to the fall of many civilian martyrs”, it added.

Earlier in the night, Israel’s military said it detected 10 launches from Lebanon and intercepted most of them. Israeli media reports said one man was slightly wounded in the missile attack.

As we’ve been reporting, Hezbollah’s attacks came after Israel claimed attacks on 400 sites belonging to the group in southern Lebanon. The exchange of fire is the largest since the war on Gaza began.


Smoke and flames rise in southern Lebanon following Israeli attacks, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as pictured from Marjayoun, near the border with Israel, September 21


Three people hurt in Hezbollah rocket attacks in Israel: Report

The Times of Israel is reporting that medics have treated three people who were “lightly wounded as a result of rocket impacts in the Krayot and Lower Galilee” regions.

Videos on social media, posted by correspondents for The Times of Israel, showed a fire inside one building as well as a big cloud of black smoke billowing over another area.

The report came as fresh air raid sirens blared around the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel.


Fires break out near Haifa after Hezbollah launches barrage of rockets

The Israeli military says firefighters are working to put out several fires near the city of Haifa after some of the 85 rockets that Hezbollah deployed made an impact.

The rockets hit Kiryat Bialik, near Haifa, wounding three people and causing damage, according to The Times of Israel.

As we reported earlier, Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets targeting Israel’s Ramat David Airbase as well as the premises of the Rafael defence firm, near the city of Haifa, in response to a series of Israeli attacks that killed civilians in Lebanon last week.



SvennoJ on 22 September 2024

Hezbollah claims attack on Israeli tech company

The Lebanese armed group says it bombed the complex of the Rafael Company, which specialises in electronic equipment, in response to the pager and walkie-talkie attacks in Lebanon last week.

Hezbollah said it fired dozens of Fadi 1 and Fadi 2 missiles as well as Katyusha rockets at the complex, located north of Haifa in Israel.

It described the attack as “an initial response to the brutal massacre committed by the Israeli enemy in various Lebanese regions on Tuesday and Wednesday”.


Hezbollah attacks damage homes in Israel’s Kiryat Bialik


Emergency personnel put out a fire at houses damaged following a rocket attack from Lebanon in Kiryat Bialik, September 22


At least three people were wounded by shrapnel, according to Israeli media reports


Hezbollah claimed three attacks on sites in and near the city of Haifa on Sunday morning, including the Ramat David Airbase as well as the premises of the Rafael defence firm


Hezbollah trying to show it is still capable of launching attacks

There has been a significant escalation between Hezbollah and Israel in the past few hours, with intense exchange of fire.

Hezbollah’s message is that despite the blows that they have received in the past few days, whether it’s the explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies or the strike on Friday that targeted the leadership, it’s still able to fight and launch rockets and missiles across the border.

Hezbollah has carried out a sustained, hours-long assault, not just firing Katyusha rockets that we have gotten used to, but medium-range missiles Fadi 1 and Fadi 2. They have struck deep inside Israel, some 50km south of the border.

We understand from sources that there has been a wave of Israeli attacks on Hezbollah infrastructure along the border, but these missiles are in underground facilities which have not been hit yet. So, Hezbollah is saying that it has not been defeated and does not intend to surrender, but the Israeli army is accusing Hezbollah of hitting civilian areas.


Israel says it will step up attacks on Hezbollah

The Israeli military says it is carrying out attacks on Hezbollah “targets” in Lebanon in response to attacks by the Lebanese armed group. It said its attacks “will continue and increase” against Hezbollah.

As we’ve been reporting, the cross-border fire is the largest exchange between the Israeli military and Hezbollah since the war on Gaza began.



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SvennoJ on 22 September 2024

Beirut attack death toll rises

Lebanon’s Health Ministry has just published a statement saying the death toll from Friday’s Israeli attack on southern Beirut has risen to 45. The strike, which wrecked two buildings in the Lebanese capital’s Dahiya district during rush hour had wounded more than 60 people.

The statement added that “work continues to remove the rubble for the third day in a row” and that DNA sampling would be used to determine the identities of some of the bodies.

Israel’s military said it carried out the strike against senior members of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force.


Rescuers sift through the rubble at the scene of an Israeli strike that targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs a day earlier as search and rescue operations continue on September 21


Lebanon-Israel border fire at all-time high as casualties mount

The border towns in southern Lebanon have come under constant fire by Israel since yesterday. The attacks continue today. According to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, the latest strike on the border village of Aitaroun killed one person and wounded another.

Hezbollah has in turn been hitting back, launching at least 115 rockets towards Israel, many of which have hit deep inside Israel, with some hitting 50km inside Israeli borders near Haifa.

The border fire is at its all-time high in terms of numbers and the severity of the destruction that continues this morning.


UN coordinator warns, ‘no military solution’ to the region’s conflict

The UN’s special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis, has warned that the region is on the brink of a war that will spell “imminent catastrophe”. There is “no military solution that will make either side safe”, she said in a short statement published by the UN.




Hospitals in northern Israel instructed to shift to war footing

Hospitals in northern Israel have been advised to operate facilities with extra protection from rocket and missile fire, the Health Ministry said. Rambam hospital in Haifa will transfer patients to its underground facility, the ministry added.

The Hezbollah-Israel cross-border firing is currently at an all-time high as casualties mount and as that front of war continues to escalate.


Lebanon’s Health Ministry says 3 killed in Israeli attacks

It says three people were killed in Israeli strikes in the southern part of the country.

Hezbollah has confirmed two of its fighters were killed today.


More people leaving southern Lebanon as conflict with Israel intensifies

A lot of people have already left the southern Lebanon areas near the border, but there is a marked difference between when I was last here in February and now.

About 30 percent of the town of Marjayoun is still here, with all others having left. Shops are all boarded up, restaurants are mostly shut, and only a few places are open by the few people who have chosen to stay behind.

A lot of people who used to live here are now displaced across Lebanon, living in repurposed schools. So, there’s a lot of fear, there’s a lot of concern with the intensification of these strikes between Israel and Hezbollah.

You are going to see more people leaving in larger numbers all over southern Lebanon.



SvennoJ on 22 September 2024

Israel intercepts drones from Iraq and ‘the east’

The Israeli military said it intercepted a “suspicious aerial target” that came from the east, without specifying the country of origin. The report came after air raid sirens blared in the southeastern Arava region.

Earlier in the morning, the Israeli military also said it intercepted “several suspicious aerial targets” that came from the direction of Iraq. The attack prompted sirens in northern Israel.

The military said there were no casualties from either incident.


Iraqi armed group claims drone attack on Israel

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq said in a statement that it hit a “vital target” in Israel this morning “using drones”.

The group, which is comprised of Iran-backed militias, has carried out dozens of rocket and drone attacks on targets in Israel as well as US forces in Iraq and Syria, in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

The claim of a drone attack came as the Israeli military announced that it intercepted “several suspicious aerial targets” that came from the direction of Iraq. The military said there were no casualties.

It also reported intercepting another “suspicious aerial target” that came from the east.



SvennoJ on 22 September 2024

Former Mossad chief says Netanyahu chooses ‘revenge’ over captives: Report

A former head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service has accused Netanyahu’s government of prioritizing revenge over the lives of Israeli captives still held in Gaza, according to a report.

Tamir Pardo, a director of Mossad between 2011 and 2016, said the government should have accepted Hamas’s offer for a prisoner swap on October 8, 2023.

“Israel, however, chose revenge. It knew that the captives could not all be freed through a military offensive,” Pardo said in an interview with Israeli news outlet Srugim, adding that Israel was aware that captives would be killed in ongoing attacks on Gaza.

“However, the government was not bothered … Instead of pursuing revenge, the government should have reached a deal to secure the captives’ release first and then pursued military objectives,” the former chief told the outlet.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Vienna call for Gaza ceasefire

Dozens of Austrian and Arab pro-Palestinian demonstrators organised a rally in the Austrian capital of Vienna to demand an end to the “genocidal war” being perpetrated by Israel in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.

The video below, verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency, shows protesters holding up banners and chanting slogans for peace on Saturday.


UK foreign minister says more sanctions possible over Israeli settler violence

Britain will keep under review possible new sanctions against Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank and will act if it has to, foreign minister David Lammy has said.

Britain announced sanctions against Israeli settlers in February and May this year over extremist groups perpetrating settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Lammy, who became foreign minister in July after a Labour election victory, indicated the new government would take a similar approach and said that further sanctions were possible.

He added: “We are very worried about escalatory behaviour, very worried about inflamed tensions.” “I’m absolutely clear: if we have to act, we will act, and I’m in discussions with G7 partners particularly and European partners on that,” Lammy said.

“I’m not announcing further sanctions today, but that is kept under close review, and as you would expect, I am deeply, deeply concerned.”

You had to act many years ago, what are you still waiting for.



SvennoJ on 22 September 2024

Hezbollah deputy leader: Confrontation now ‘open-ended battle of reckoning’

Hezbollah deputy secretary-general Naim Qassem has made a rare appearance during a funeral for a top commander killed in an Israeli air raid on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Friday.

During the funeral, he said that Hezbollah had entered a new phase of its battle with Israel which he described as an “open-ended battle of reckoning.”


Israeli forces deployed in north, Golan Heights

Israeli forces are on patrol in the north of the country and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights as cross-border exchanges of fire with Lebanon-based Hezbollah continue.

Rocket interceptions were visible in the city of Maalot, while military vehicles, including tanks, were in position in the Golan Heights.

Israel closed schools, restricted gatherings in the north and ordered hospitals there to move patients and staff to protected areas – many have secured or underground facilities designed to withstand rocket fire.

Israeli warplanes carried out the most intense bombardment in almost a year of conflict across Lebanon’s south following deadly attacks on Beirut’s Dahieh suburb.

About 150 rockets, cruise missiles and drones were fired at Israel overnight and into Sunday, most of which were intercepted by air defences, including an “aerial target” that came from the east, the military said.



UK calls for ‘immediate ceasefire’ between Israel, Hezbollah

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy has called for an “immediate ceasefire” after a “worrying escalation” between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, as heightening cross-border tensions led to fears of an all-out war.

“Our message to all parties is clear: We need an immediate ceasefire from both sides so that we can get to a political settlement, so that Israelis and Lebanese civilians can return to their homes and live in peace and security,” Lammy said in a speech at the Labour party’s annual conference.



SvennoJ on 22 September 2024

‘Clear’ that neither side of Gaza war interested in ceasefire: UN chief’s report

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says that neither side of Israel’s war on Gaza was interested in a halt to fighting.

“It is for me clear that both sides are not interested in a ceasefire. And that is a tragedy, because this is a war that must stop,” Guterres told US broadcaster CNN, adding that “neither the goverment of Israel nor the Hamas really want the ceasefire”.

Hamas wants a permanent ceasefire, not a temporary one. Netanyahu wants the right to continue fighting after prisoner exchange. How do you jump to the conclusion that neither side is interested in a ceasefire.


Internet shuttered in Khan Younis, Deir el-Balah: Paltel

Internet services have been suspended in Khan Younis and Deir el-Balah due to ongoing Israeli bombing in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian telecommunications company Paltel said in a post on Facebook.

“We are working hard to restore services as soon as possible,” Paltel said.


Netanyahu considering plan to force all Palestinian civilians out of northern Gaza to besiege Hamas

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/22/middleeast/netanyahu-gaza-hamas-expulsions-plan-intl/index.html

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering a plan to force all Palestinian civilians out of northern Gaza, including Gaza City, in order to lay siege to Hamas and force the release of hostages.

It is unclear how many Palestinians remain north of the so-called Netzarim Corridor, which splits Gaza in two, but estimates run into the hundreds of thousands. The plan does not mention whether, when, or how civilians would be allowed to return to northern Gaza. After nearly a year of war, with no part of Gaza immune from Israeli airstrikes, Palestinians have been increasingly unwilling to heed Israeli demands to relocate.

The idea comes from a group of retired Israeli military generals, who have formally presented it to the Israeli cabinet and a powerful parliamentary committee. The goal, they say, is to use siege tactics to starve Hamas fighters and force them to release 101 hostages still held in the territory.

“Those who leave will receive food and water,” Giora Eiland, a retired Israeli military general who is spearheading the proposal, says in a slickly produced video posted online earlier this month. “But in a week the entire territory of the northern Gaza Strip will become military territory, and this military territory as far as we are concerned, no supplies will enter it.”

Israeli national broadcaster Kan, a CNN affiliate, reported on Sunday that Netanyahu, in a closed-door meeting with the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said that the plan “makes a lot of sense.”

CNN of course fails to mention this is completely against international and humanitarian law.

In the letter addressed to Netanyahu and his fellow ministers, 27 of the 120 members of Knesset lament that “we have not yet reached the finish line in any of the goals defined by the War Cabinet.”

They call on the government to implement Eiland’s plan in northern Gaza. “After carrying out the program in this area, it is possible to carry it out in other parts of the strip,” they say.

Great plan, starve the hostages to death along with their jailors. At least it's a minority for this plan.

Israel has not stopped pounding Gaza today

The Israeli military continues to strike across the Gaza Strip. The attacks have left many families in pain due to the loss of loved ones and relatives.

Earlier during the day, it was very crowded here as survivors came to say farewell to family members who were killed. Just in Deir el-Balah city, we’re looking at eight people killed in two separate attacks.

In northern Gaza, the Israeli military continues to hit Jabalia, including the western part of the city where a school was targeted. Two schools have now been targeted by the Israeli army in the past 24 hours.

These schools have become the only place for displaced families to find shelter over the past 11 months. There aren’t many places left for these families to stay.


In Gaza, ‘waste is everywhere’: UNRWA

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has said that trash in Gaza keeps piling up as hundreds of thousands of people take shelter in an increasingly small portion of land in the besieged coastal enclave.

“This is a landfill site in Khan Younis,” said the UN agency, which provides relief to Palestinians, showing pictures of piles of trash. “Waste is everywhere. UNRWA and partners work to dispose of it, but the war and access restrictions pose severe challenges.”



Last edited by SvennoJ - on 22 September 2024