Archbishop of Canterbury calls for supporting Palestinian Christian family in West Bank

This is an urgent and important intervention by my fellow bishops and I support them in it.

The oppression, violence and discrimination against Palestinians in the West Bank, including Christians, must cease. The Israeli government is not above the law and must stop acting… https://t.co/XebvCF7vXt

— Archbishop of Canterbury (@JustinWelby) September 22, 2024

Israeli forces raid Balata refugee camp in occupied West Bank: Report

Israeli forces have raided Balata refugee camp east of Nablus, Wafa news agency is reporting. The soldiers entered the camp using gunfire and sound bombs, Wafa added.

‘Israel does not want world to see’

^{Al Jazeera is reporting from Amman because it has been banned by Israel.}
Israel’s communications minister, Shlomo Karhi, released a post on X saying that as promised and after much pressure, the Israeli government and the military alike closed the Al Jazeera office, saying that they were mouthpieces for both Hamas and Hezbollah.

The claims that the Israeli government has brought against Al Jazeera, of course, are all false with no basis or backing to them whatsoever. The Israeli military, when releasing a statement, said that the office was used to incite and support “terror”.

I mean, imagine that is coming from the Israeli military, who conducted this raid with guns drawn, weapons and assault rifles into our office in Ramallah, saying that the network was supporting armed groups and fighters, which, of course, is false.

Israel has made it difficult for Al Jazeera to report as a whole across the entirety of Israel and the occupied territories. There are checkpoints all across the occupied West Bank. There is no freedom of movement, so it’s incredibly difficult to try and get the story out there.

But when the teams are on the ground, they do an incredible job of showing the viewer the picture. And Israel, of course, does not want the world to see the crimes that are being committed against the Palestinian people.


US media watchdog calls on Israel to ‘stop harassing’ Al Jazeera

The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on Israeli authorities to stop harassing and obstructing Al Jazeera after armed Israeli forces raided the Qatari broadcaster’s office in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.

“CPJ is deeply alarmed by Israel’s closure of Al Jazeera’s office in the occupied West Bank, just months after it shuttered Al Jazeera’s operations in Israel after deeming it a threat to national security,” said CPJ’s program director, Carlos Martínez de la Serna, in New York.

“Israel’s efforts to censor Al Jazeera severely undermine the public’s right to information on a war that has upended so many lives in the region. Al Jazeera’s journalists must be allowed to report at this critical time, and always.”

 
Al Jazeera office closure part of Israeli ‘policy to try and stop free reporting’: International Federation of Journalists

Tim Dawson, deputy general secretary of the International Federation of Journalists, has said that the Israeli military closure of Al Jazeera’s bureau in Ramallah in the West Bank is “utterly shocking and “comes as part of a long drawn-out policy to try and stop free reporting”.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from London, Dawson said: “There have been journalists who have been locked out of the Gaza Strip. There’s been the targeting of journalists in Gaza. There’s been suppression of critical media within Israel, and the attempt to stop Al Jazeera from reporting is atrocious on so many levels.”

“It’s atrocious that they sent combat troops to deal with journalists who had nothing but microphones and notebooks. That’s clearly designed to terrify people. Why it was done at three in the morning, I suspect because they thought it would terrify people even more,” he said.

“This is the worst possible behaviour from a country that claims to be a defender of free speech. It’s clear evidence of a determined policy to quell any kind of criticism.”

Israel’s ‘most moral army’ claim now an international punchline

In response to a question about whether Israel’s actions at Al Jazeera’s office in Ramallah are counterproductive, journalist Ryan Grim says Israel does not have much “credibility on the international stage left to lose”.

“Going into their calculations, they are already saying we have lost this mantle of the ‘most moral army’ and ‘the only democracy in the Middle East’. Those have become punchlines internationally, rather than talking points anyone takes seriously,” Grim, co-founder of the news outlet Drop Site, told Al Jazeera.

Grim described the raid in Ramallah as a “gloves off” situation.

“Sending in armed troops to drag journalists out of their headquarters creates the kind of images that would make any country calling itself a democracy ashamed. “The fact that not only were they willing to do this, but it appears did so partly for the production of those images, suggests they are beyond the realm of worrying about the PR of how it looks,” he said.

Lebanon orders school closures in conflict areas: State media

The media office of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education of Lebanon has announced that all educational institution directors in areas affected by fighting which is preventing safe attendance must shut down their schools, the National News Agency (NNA) is reporting.

They are also directed to inform students and relevant educational districts of the closures, the NNA added.

Earlier, the Lebanese University announced the closure of its branches in the southern cities of Sidon, Nabatieh, and Tyre tomorrow.

These disruptions to Lebanon’s education system came after Isreal launched massive strikes against the south last night, targeting 400 sites by its own account.

Army chief vows to ‘hit anyone’ who threatens Israelis

Israel’s army chief says the military’s attacks on the Lebanon-based Hezbollah group were a “message” to the country’s foes in the region and beyond.

“This operation against Hezbollah’s chain of command is a clear message to Hezbollah, but it is also a message to the Middle East and beyond: We will hit anyone who threatens the citizens of the state of Israel,” Herzi Halevi said in a video statement.

Air raid sirens sound in occupied Golan Heights

The Israeli army says that the country’s warning system was activated “in the Beit Shan valley and in the south of the Golan”, and that this incident is under investigation.

Meanwhile, reports from Iraqi media say that a drone attack was launched from the country towards the area of the occupied Golan Heights.

In the early hours of this morning, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq said in a statement that it hit a “vital target” in “using drones”. It is unclear if the group is responsible for this reported drone attack.

Hezbollah claims more attacks on Israeli positions

The Lebanese armed group said it carried out three assaults on Israeli positions late on Sunday.

These are:

_{Emergency personnel work at a site of houses damaged following a rocket attack from Lebanon in Kiryat Bialik, Israel, September 22}

Israeli minister shares plan to ‘remove population’ from southern Lebanon

Amichai Chikli, the Israeli Minister for Diaspora Affairs, has shared a plan to create a “buffer zone, free of enemy population” in southern Lebanon, including a map showing several southern Lebanese towns.

Chikli outlined his plan in a lengthy post on his personal account on X, describing it as the “most just thing to do” including from a “moral point of view”.

Chikli, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, also claimed Israel would be justified in “taking over” the areas because Lebanon had “failed to exercise its sovereignty” in southern Lebanon.

The southern Lebanese towns and villages that appeared to be included within the area outlined by Chikli on the map included: Kfarchouba, Khiam, Marjayoun, Taybeh and Wazzani.

Last week, the Israeli military claimed that leaflets dropped on Wazzani urging residents to leave were unsanctioned.

Israeli forces raid towns and villages across occupied West Bank

The Wafa news agency is reporting Israeli raids in the following locations:

Israeli forces detain dozens in raid on West Bank village

Israeli forces have detained dozens of Palestinians, including children, during a raid on the village of Haris, near Salfit, in the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency reports.

According to the latest figures from the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society, 9,900 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank are currently being held in Israeli prisons, including 3,323 held in administrative detention.

_{Palestinians raise their hands as they walk past Israeli forces during an Israeli raid in Qabatiya near Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Thursday}

Three killed in Israel’s latest attack on school-turned-shelter in Gaza

We’ve been covering an Israeli attack on the Khaled bin al-Walid school in the Nuseirat refugee camp where displaced Palestinians are sheltering. Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are now reporting that three people were killed in the attack and several others wounded.

The bombing comes less than 24 hours after at least seven Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack on the Kafr Qasim School in the Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City.


_{Palestinians carry a lifeless body after the Israeli army’s attack on the Kafr Qasim School in the Shati refugee camp on Sunday}

Israel claims Nuseirat school was a Hamas command centre

The Israeli military claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on the Khalid bin al-Walid school in Nuseirat, saying it had struck a Hamas control and command centre. It did not provide any evidence for the claim.

As we’ve been reporting, at least three Palestinians were killed in the attack.

Israel regularly attacks schools-turned-shelters in Gaza claiming they are Hamas command and control centres. In the month of August alone, Israel attacked at least 16 schools, killing dozens of displaced Palestinians, in assaults the UN human rights office said could amount to war crimes because of the disproportionate nature of the bombings as well as the high civilian death toll.

Israeli attack kills five in Deir el-Balah

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that five Palestinians, including four children, have been killed in an Israeli bombing of a house near the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip.

Several people were also wounded in the attack.

Mother, four children killed in Israeli attack on central Gaza

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that an Israeli attack on a house near Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza has killed a mother and four of her children, aged between four and eight years old.

The mother was identified as 29-year-old Israa Abu Samak. The slain children were Abdullah Mohammed Abu Samak, aged eight; Ahmed, aged seven; Zeina, aged five; and Mazen, aged four.

The Wafa news agency is reporting that several others were also wounded in the attack.

Al Jazeera obtains video of Israeli drone killing in Gaza

The footage shows an Israeli military drone killing a wounded and immobile Palestinian man in Gaza by dropping an explosive on him.

WHITEWASHING GENOCIDE: How Western Media Shapes How You Think About Israel & Gaza (Dr. Assal Rad)

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Historian of the Middle East Dr. Assal Rad. She discusses how Western media has consistently whitewashed Israel’s crimes for years against Palestinians, the shaping of media narratives and the use of language to change perceptions of Israel’s occupation of Palestine, how institutional dehumanisation and demonisation of Palestinians in the US, UK and EU is necessary to justify the magnitude of Israel’s crimes, the media’s broad refusal to challenge the narratives of the US State Department and Israel, the role of corporations in corrupting the media and political landscape in the US to ensure their narratives of choice prevail, the double standards of Western governments and media when it comes to talking about Saudi-Iran & Saudi-Syria normalisation agreements in the Middle East as well as Iran’s alliances in the region, AIPACs vice grip on US politics and covert Israeli influence campaigns to influence US elections, the ideologies of US officials which lead them to whitewash and enable Israel’s crimes, and much more.

Dr. Assad gives good information. And I did miss this
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/9/17/headlines/man_sets_himself_on_fire_near_bostons_israeli_consulate_to_protest_gaza_genocide
Indeed suppressed in Western media, but appeared in the Times of Israel
https://www.timesofisrael.com/boston-man-suffering-from-severe-burns-after-self-immolating-outside-israeli-consulate/

TRT World Exclusive: Holy Redemption: Stealing Palestinian Land



TRT World’s investigative documentary, Holy Redemption, unveils violent fanaticism of armed illegal Jewish settlers who aim to uproot Palestinians from the occupied West Bank. The documentary was made as our team infiltrated “Israel’s Daesh” who are “ready for the big slaughter” of Palestinians.

Palestinians flee Israeli attacks on Jabalia refugee camp

Palestinians flee after an Israeli attack on a house near the school where they were sheltering, in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza on Sunday. Residents of northern Gaza have suffered heavy Israeli bombardment and forcible displacement orders.


_{Families were seen helping their elderly relatives and young children as they left the area}

Palestinians in Gaza struggle to cope as heavy rains flood makeshift shelters

As we’ve been reporting, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has sounded the alarm as autumn arrives in Gaza, saying the plastic and fabric tents that displaced Palestinians are sheltering in are not enough to protect them against the rain and cold.

In Deir el-Balah, the first heavy rain of the season has flooded a tent camp, adding to the plight of hundreds of thousands of people sheltering there.

‘This is genocidal targeting’, say survivors of Israeli school attack

We’ve been covering a deadly Israeli attack on the Kafr Qasim School in the Shati refugee camp housing hundreds of displaced people in northern Gaza. Survivors of the attack, which killed at least seven people, said they did not know where to seek refuge.

“We got displaced and came to this school. I left from my house after it was targeted and my husband and my two children were killed. We came here thinking it was safe but then then they target us,” said Umm Mahmoud, a displaced Palestinian woman.

“Where are we supposed to go if at a school we are not safe? We got displaced seven or eight times, and I’m all alone with my two remaining children.”

Abu Mohammed Mahmoud said the Israelis were deliberately targeting Palestinian civilians. “These places are supposed to be classified safe by the Israelis, and safe places for people to stay in, but then suddenly, while we’re sitting, we found the whole school being destroyed from around us and the classes we are staying in are collapsing over our heads,” he said.

“As you can see, these classes got destroyed and it’s not like it was by mistake, no, this is genocidal targeting, aimed to destroy the people of Gaza,” he said, pointing to blown-out walls and ceilings at the school-turned-shelter.

_{Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people at the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, September 22}

Most victims of Saturday’s school attack were women and children: Rights group

The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said the overwhelming majority of the Palestinians who were killed in Israel’s attack on the Zeitoun school in Gaza City on Saturday were women and children.

It said 13 children and six women were among the 21 Palestinians killed in the assault. Health officials said earlier that 22 people had been killed.

Euro-Med, which sent a field and legal team to the site of the attack, said the victims included a woman who was three months pregnant. At least 30 others were wounded, including nine children who had to have their legs amputated.

As we’ve been reporting, Israel has struck two more schools-turned-shelters in Gaza since Saturday’s attack, killing at least 10 more Palestinians.

The names of the victims, mainly women and children, from the massacre perpetrated by the Israeli army at Al-Zeitoun School (C) in Gaza City on Saturday, September 21, 2024, which resulted in the deaths of 21 Palestinians. pic.twitter.com/Nk0oV6W1TQ

— Euro-Med Monitor (@EuroMedHR) September 21, 2024

No sign of fighters, weapons at Gaza City school: Rights group

More from the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor:

The group, which sent a field team to the Zeitoun school that Israeli forces bombed on Saturday, said its staff “did not witness any sign of armed personnel or equipment there”.

It added: “A review of the victims’ names revealed that they were all civilians, and were mostly women and children, which refutes the Israeli army’s claim that it had targeted a school being used as a military command and control centre by armed groups.”

At least 21 Palestinians were killed in the attack, including 13 children and six women, according to Euro-Med.

The group said Israel has bombed 21 schools-turned-shelters since August, killing at least 267 Palestinians and wounding hundreds more.

“The Israeli army is deliberately destroying the remaining shelter centres in the Gaza Strip, including schools and public facilities, with the aim of creating a coercive environment that forces civilians to evacuate their areas of residence towards the central and southern sections of the Strip,” it said.

_{Palestinians inspect a school, which was sheltering displaced people, after it was hit in an Israeli attack in Gaza City, September 21}

Family of 3 killed in Israel’s attack on Nuseirat school

We have more on the Israeli attack on Khalid bin al-Walid school in the Nuseirat refugee camp. Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that the three Palestinians killed in the attack were a man, his wife and their child.

Israel’s army claimed the target of its attack was a Hamas command and control centre, but did not provide any proof. As we’ve been reporting, the attack was the third deadly bombing of a school-turned-shelter in two days.

Israeli drone attack wounds Palestinians in Khan Younis

Our colleagues on the ground are reporting that many Palestinians, including children, were wounded in an Israeli drone attack on the town of Khuza’a, east of Khan Younis.

Disturbing scenes at the morgue after Deir el-Balah attack

Gaza is still very much an active warzone. The entire Strip has been under relentless Israeli attacks since dawn. We went to the scene of one of the attacks this morning, a house that was attacked in Deir el-Balah where at least five people – a woman and four of her children – were killed.

The neighbours confirmed the house did not receive any warning. People have fled the area, fearing it could be targeted again. The scenes at the morgue are very disturbing. The bodies have been lined up on the ground.

Qassam Brigades claims it ambushed convoy of Israeli vehicles

The armed wing of Hamas says it carried out an ambush to disrupt the supply line of Israeli forces advancing east of Rafah City. “We targeted three military bulldozers and two Merkava tanks as they passed through the eastern George junction,” the group said.