Well there's still humor now and then, thanks to the US

Oh really?

Report: US does not think Israel’s assault on Lebanon will lead to de-escalation

The Reuters news agency has quoted an unnamed “senior State Department official” who said that the US does not think Israeli escalation to force Hezbollah to reduce tensions will yield the desired outcome of de-escalation, effectively disagreeing with Israel’s strategy.

The conflict is a key focus for US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly this week, where Washington has concrete ideas to prevent a broader war and would seek an “off-ramp” to the tensions, the official told reporters in New York.

So far, the US has publicly stood by its ally Israel, saying that it would defend it from any actors in the region seeking to attack it.

But the US will back Israel anyway.



And empathy, no food to eat, still donating blood.

Palestinians in Gaza donate blood during two-day campaign

The Palestinian Health Ministry says that Palestinians in Gaza’s northern governorates have donated 1,000 units of blood to people in southern parts of the enclave.

The blood donation campaign ran for two days, it said.

Families in Gaza’s north have been facing famine-like conditions for months as Israeli forces continue to seal shut vital border crossings, preventing the entry of humanitarian aid, including food, medicine and much-needed fuel used to power medical facilities.

And as always Europe afraid to call it what it is

Close to full-fledged war in Lebanon, EU foreign policy chief says

Josep Borrell pointed to the increasing number of civilian casualties and the intensity of Israel’s military strikes in Lebanon, saying that “if this is not a war situation, I don’t know what you would call it”.

“This situation is extremely dangerous and worrying. I can say that we are almost in a full-fledged war,” he told reporters in New York, as he called for diplomatic efforts to prevent further escalation.

“Here in New York is the moment to do that. Everybody has to put all their capacity to stop this path to war,” he said.

Almost? The fuck has to happen for you to say it is a full-fledged war, whatever that means.

Oh setting a date for another UNSC meeting that goes nowhere

France calls for emergency UN Security Council meeting on Lebanon

France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told the UN General Assembly on Monday that it has “requested that an emergency meeting of the Security Council be held on Lebanon this week”.

Barrot said he was “thinking of the men and women in uniform in Lebanon and the French contingent there”, following a wave of deadly attacks by Israel that have killed at least 492 people.

“I’m thinking of the Lebanese people as Israeli strikes have just killed hundreds of civilians, including dozens of children. These strikes conducted on both sides of the blue line, and in the region more broadly, must immediately end,” he said, referring to the demarcation line dividing Lebanon from Israel and the occupied Golan Heights.

“France, once again, calls upon the parties and those that support them to deescalate and avoid a regional conflagration that would be devastating for everyone,” he said.

Following the ME mostly makes you very skeptical!

USA keeps gathering information, Europe keeps condemning, Israel sees Hamas command centers in every shelter and home, UN keeps pleading for a ceasefire, nothing changes.


Today's summary

Israeli attacks continue in deadliest day of conflict in Lebanon since civil war

The first wave of Israeli air strikes started in the morning at about 6:30am local time on Monday.

That first wave of incredibly intense bombardment hit across south Lebanon. After that, we had strikes in the Bekaa Valley and in Baalbek and in the north. Following this, there was the strike here in Dahiyeh, the southern suburb of Beirut, which is a densely populated residential area.

The Israeli military said they were targeting senior Hezbollah leader, Ali Karaki. Now, Hezbollah put out a statement saying that, in fact, Ali Karaki was fine and in good health. After this, there was another wave of strikes in the Bekaa and they are still ongoing as I speak now.

Israel said that it has targeted more than 1,600 sites across Lebanon.

At least 492 people have been killed in Israeli attacks today, including 35 children and 58 women, making it the deadliest day in Lebanon’s history since the civil war.

Now, Hezbollah has been responding with rocket attacks. It has carried out more than six operations on military bases in Israel, some reaching close to the port city of Haifa.








Some more 'humor'

UN peacekeepers in Lebanon suspend patrols near Israel border

A spokesman for the UN said peacekeepers in southern Lebanon have stopped their patrols and are staying in their bases “given the volume of exchange of fire”.

Stephane Dujarric told reporters that the level of firing across the UN-drawn Blue Line boundary between Israel and Lebanon “puts them at greater risk”.

“The message to the parties that are firing at each other across the Blue Line, to all the parties involved in this conflict, is, step back from the brink,” he said. “Stop the escalation.”

Earlier, the UN’s Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) expressed “grave concern” for the wellbeing and safety of civilians residing in southern Lebanon and reiterated “its strong call for a diplomatic solution” to the conflict.

What are they even there for? UN is so useless.



And disgrace, CNN publishing Israeli propaganda again, including the title of their live page

Israel strikes Hezbollah targets as conflict intensifies

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-lebanon-hezbollah-09-23-24-intl-hnk/index.html

Some casualties likely caused by secondary explosions, Israeli military says

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-lebanon-hezbollah-09-23-24-intl-hnk/index.html

Some of the casualties following Israel’s strikes in Lebanon Monday were likely caused by secondary explosions, an Israeli military spokesperson said.

At a press briefing on Monday, Daniel Hagari said there had been “many secondary explosions,” which occurred when buildings “containing deadly munitions, rockets and missiles” were struck.

“It is likely that some of the casualties are from these secondary explosions,” he said.

“Let me be clear: Hezbollah is responsible for this situation,” Hagari added.

The spokesperson said Hezbollah was using civilian homes to store its weapons and showed photos that he said showed long-range rockets stored inside a house in Lebanon. CNN cannot verify the authenticity of the photos. 

“Among those killed were a large number of Hezbollah terrorists who were next to the weapons that we targeted, ” Hagari said, adding there had been a “high number of casualties.” 

Some background: Lebanon’s health ministry said at least 356 people have been killed including 24 children and 42 women during Israel’s aerial offensive against Hezbollah on Monday, the deadliest since the 2006 war.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid praised the operation in a post on X, saying, “Eliminations, a thousand targets within one day, hitting strategic assets. That’s how you restore the Israeli deterrence!”


This is where the munitions are at, short memory Israel? CNN falls for it of course.

How Israel Weaponizes Pop Culture

BT's Rania Khalek: Don’t Just Hate the Media, Replace the Media

The genocide in Palestine has exposed corporate media once and for all as stenographers whose job is manufacturing consent for the ruling class. BT's Rania Khalek shares her journey as an independent journalist challenging the mainstream narrative, and why building and supporting independent media is more important than ever.

Israel’s destruction of Gaza cities

Before Israel launched its war on Gaza last October, the enclave’s northern Gaza City was home to some 600,000 people. Almost three-quarters of its buildings have been damaged or destroyed.

In Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city along the border with Egypt, the Israeli army launched a ground offensive in early May.

Although relatively spared compared to Gaza City, gutted facades and buildings stand testament to the scars of war.

Rights group Amnesty International said 90 percent of the buildings along Gaza’s fence with Israel appear to have been “destroyed or severely damaged” between October 2023 and May 2024.

Only 16 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals partially functioning: WHO

Israel has repeatedly attacked hospitals and health workers, crippling most of the enclave’s medical facilties. Israel accused Hamas of using the medical facilities for military purposes, without providing any proof. Hamas denied the allegations.

The territory’s largest hospital, al-Shifa in Gaza City, was targeted in two offensives by the Israeli army, the first in November, the second in March.

The World Health Organization said the second operation reduced the hospital to an “empty shell” strewn with human remains.

By August, only 16 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals, or 44 percent, were partially functioning, according to the WHO.

Data from the UN’s Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) and geographic database OpenStreetMap also indicate that more than 60 percent of Gaza’s mosques have been damaged or destroyed.


_{Palestinians inspect damages at Al-Shifa Hospital after Israeli forces withdrew from the hospital and the area around it following a two-week operation on April 1}

Nearly 90 percent of Gaza’s schools damaged

The territory’s largely UN-run schools, where many civilians have sought refuge from the war, have also not been spared from nonstop Israeli bombardments. As of July 6, UNICEF counted 477 schools damaged, representing nearly 85 percent of its 564 facilities.

Of those, 133 have been badly damaged and another 344 directly hit.

In September, the UN’s global fund for education in emergencies, Education Cannot Wait, said nearly 90 percent of Gaza’s school buildings had been damaged or destroyed.

Up to 625,000 students of Gaza have not been able to pursue their studies. A teacher in Gaza reflects on how the first day of school used to bring excitement to students, parents and teachers. Read here.

UN says 68 percent of Gaza’s farmland damaged by Israeli bombardment

According to UN satellite imagery dating from August 27, 68 percent of Gaza’s farmland has been damaged due to Israel’s war, the equivalent of 102 square kilometres (39 square miles).

The imagery found that 78 percent of the damage is in northern Gaza’s farmland and 57 percent of it is in Rafah, in Gaza’s south.

In addition, 68 percent of Gaza’s road network has been damaged and about 1,190 kilometres (739 miles) of roads have been destroyed, according to a preliminary analysis by the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) which looked at data up to August 18.

“It is unimaginable, the level of suffering in Gaza, the level of deaths and destruction have no parallel in everything I’ve witnessed since [becoming] secretary-general,” UN chief Antonio Guterres said earlier this month.

Israel continuing to block the flow of essential medical aid to Gaza

Al-Aqsa Hospital, alongside the main central hospitals in the southern part of Gaza, is really struggling to provide medical care as Israel continues to block supplies of medical aid.

The hospitals are also struggling to remove medical waste safely.

Meanwhile, field hospitals are not a proper solution for the medical crisis in Gaza. They came as an immediate response to the war.

We have been talking to doctors and they told us that they are struggling. Some medicines have completely run out from the pharmaceutical warehouses of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, as well as other essential supplies because Israel is continuing to block the flow of essential medical aid to Gaza.

Death toll rises in Israel’s attacks on Khan Younis

The Palestinian Civil Defence is saying that at least seven people have been killed in two separate Israeli attacks on Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

The toll from an Israeli air attack on the Harb family home in the Qizan Abu Rashwan area has climbed to five, according to the rescue service, while 10 more have been wounded.

They also said that Israeli fighter jets bombed the Abu Jarbou family home in the Tahlia area of Khan Younis, killing at least two people. Five more were wounded in the attack.

Israeli strikes now targeting residential buildings in Gaza

There has been a very sharp increase in the number of Israeli strikes hitting very densely populated areas in the central and other parts of the Gaza Strip.

Two residential houses were targeted after midnight in the city of Khan Younis, where seven Palestinians have been confirmed killed, according to the latest figures released by Gaza’s Health Ministry, while 15 others were wounded.

Attacks on residential houses are also escalating in the north of the Strip, where there has been a surge of artillery bombardment on residential homes in the border town of Beit Lahiya. Witnesses confirmed that the city has been under relentless attack since the early hours of this morning.

While here, Deir el-Balah has once again been hit in the early hours of this morning, with two Palestinians confirmed killed. Palestinians are concerned about their safety, and hospitals are facing remarkable challenges in dealing with the surging numbers of casualties among civilians, especially among women and children.

Three killed in attack on Gaza’s Bureij refugee camp

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that three Palestinians were killed and several others wounded following the Israeli bombardment of a house in the Bureij refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip.

Violent clashes as Israeli forces raid occupied West Bank

Palestinian media have reported Israeli military raids in several locations across the occupied West Bank in recent hours. They include:

⬅️ شاهد ..اشتباكات عنيفة ومتواصلة مع جيش الاحتلال في بلدة طمون جنوب طوباس شمال الضفة الغربية المحتلة pic.twitter.com/HIs6jYWNyI

— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) September 24, 2024

Israeli military carries out arrests across the West Bank

Israeli forces have carried out raids across the occupied West Bank and arrested several people. Those arrested include:

Israeli forces demolish house in Tura, occupied West Bank

Israeli forces have demolished a house in the village of Tura, west of Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The head of the Tura village council, Tariq Qabha, said Israeli soldiers stormed the village accompanied by three bulldozers, and demolished the house under the pretext that it was built without a licence, the agency reported.

Muhammad Zaid, a resident, said that Israeli forces notified his brother Younis last year of their intention to demolish the house, with the family’s attempts to counter the demolition decision unsuccessful, Wafa said. Zaid told the agency that Younis had lived there with his wife and daughter for about six years.

According to data from the Israeli Wall and Settlement Authority, Israeli forces have demolished nearly 500 homes and facilities in the West Bank since October 7.

Twenty-five Palestinians arrested in the West Bank in the last 24 hours

The Israeli forces have detained at least 25 people in the occupied West Bank during the last 24 hours, taking the total number of arrests since October 7 to 10,800.

The Detainees and Ex-Detainees Commission and the Palestine Prisoner’s Society in a joint statement said the arrests were made from Nablus, Jenin, Ramallah and Hebron.

Israeli settlers attack Palestinian shepherds

Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinian shepherds in the Hamma area in the northern Jordan Valley, Wafa news agency reports. Local sources told Wafa the settlers stormed the area in the early hours of the day and began chasing the shepherds, assaulting resident Kinan Rafeh Fuqaha.

Settler attacks are common in the area, with many occurring under the protection of Israeli soldiers.

Palestinian man injured during Israeli raid in West Bank

A Palestinian man was injured during a raid by Israeli forces in the town of Azzun east of Qalqilya, in the occupied West Bank, according to local Palestinian outlets.

Footage verified by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking unit Sanad documented doctors treating the man, who was struck with live bullets.

Palestinian ministry warns widened war shifts attention away from Gaza

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has warned of Israel’s attempt to widen the conflict to divert attention away from its war on Gaza, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

The ministry cautioned that Israel is attempting to distract from its actions against Palestinians there and reiterated its call for a ceasefire, the agency said.

In a separate statement, the ministry condemned Israel’s attacks on Lebanon.

“The Ministry views these actions as blatant violations of international law and humanitarian principles, as well as an attempt to further escalate war to destabilise the region,” it stated.

UN chief’s spokesman calls for need for more journalists in Gaza

Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the Secretary-General, has backed the need for more journalists in Gaza to report about the ground situation.

“There are not enough journalists in Gaza to get a sense of what is going on on the ground, and it is a shame. The world needs to know and needs to have an objective view of what’s happening in Gaza,” he told Al Jazeera.

Dujarric also expressed his concerns about the closing of Al Jazeera office in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. “We would continue to speak out in defence of press freedom,” Dujarric told Al Jazeera on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly session.

The shutting down of Al Jazeera bureau in Ramallah, Dujarric said, was “a sign of what we see around the world where journalists are kept out of the conflict areas”. “I think when free press is kept out of wars of conflict the world goes blind. We do not know what’s happening and it leads to even more suffering for people.”

Islamic-Christian Commission urges UNGA to boycott Israel

An organisation that works for the safety of holy sites in Jerusalem has urged the UN General Assembly to boycott Israel.

The Islamic-Christian Commission for the Defense of Jerusalem and Holy Sites also asked the global body, which is holding its annual session, to “take effective legal measures to hold Israeli war criminals accountable”.

The commission called for measures to urge the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue warrants against Israeli politicians accused of war crimes.

The ICC prosecutor has requested arrest warrants for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. Warrants have also been sought against two Hamas leaders.

Iraqi armed group claims attack on occupied Golan Heights

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq said it launched a drone attack on a target in the occupied Golan Heights early on Tuesday in support of the Palestinians under Israeli occupation.

The group said it “confirms the continuation of operations to pound the strongholds of the enemy at an escalating pace”.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq is comprised of Iran-backed militias and has carried out dozens of rocket and drone attacks on targets in Israel as well as US forces in Iraq and Syria since Israel’s war on Gaza began.

Hezbollah launches missiles at Israeli airbases in Afula, Haifa

The Lebanese armed group has claimed several missile attacks on Israeli positions in recent hours.

These are:

Iran’s president says Israel is dragging region into ‘irreversible’ war

Masoud Pezeshkian told journalists in New York, where he is attending the UN General Assembly, that Israel is provoking Iran to join the conflict in support of Hezbollah.

When asked whether Iran would come to the Lebanese group’s defence, he said Tehran would “defend any group that is defending its rights and itself”. But he added that Iran wants “to live in peace”.

“We do not wish to be the cause of instability in the Middle East as its consequences would be irreversible,” said Pezeshkian, a more moderate politician who was elected in July on promises of a pragmatic foreign policy.

“We don’t want war… It is Israel that seeks to create this all-out conflict,” he added.

Fears grow of an Israeli ground offensive in Lebanon

Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said that nothing is off the table, that Israel has a wide variety of capabilities and, in fact, the army chief of staff said Hezbollah is only getting a taste of some of those capabilities.

So you have now this looming fear of a ground offensive in Lebanon. The US has said they would not support such a move, but we have heard that before when it came to Gaza.

Israel’s statement that nothing is off the table is incredibly worrisome for people on both sides of that border. But especially in Lebanon now, where Israel has said they are going to continue striking targets, they are going to continue intensifying their attacks and they don’t care how long it takes.

Netanyahu says he’s trying to restore “the balance of power” at the border and that they are not going to stop until those objectives are reached.

What does US mean when it calls for de-escalation?

Said Arikat, an adjunct professor at the American University and a journalist with the Al Quds Daily newspaper, said that there is no contradiction in US policy when officials call for de-escalation while also promising to defend Israel.

“The US position is very clearly on the side of Israel,” Arikat told Al Jazeera from Washington, DC.

“Israel could not have possibly waged such a strike [on Lebanon] without [an] American green light. After all, these are American aeroplanes and American weapons, including the F-35 fighter jets and the Hellfire missiles,” he said.

“We know that the US secretary of defence, Mr Lloyd Austin, has been in contact with his Israeli counterpart almost on [a] daily basis. For the US to say they’re really concerned, of course they are concerned, they don’t want to see this go out of hand. But when they talk about de-escalation, keep in mind this means Israel can strike but the others cannot respond.”

China condemns Israel’s attacks on Lebanon

China’s top diplomat Wang Yi told his Lebanese counterpart, Abdallah Bou Habib, that Beijing strongly supports it in safeguarding its sovereignty and security and strongly condemns Israel’s recent attacks.

“We pay close attention to developments in the region, especially the recent explosion of communications equipment in Lebanon, and firmly oppose indiscriminate attacks against civilians,” China’s Foreign Ministry quoted Wang as saying after the pair met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday.

Wang said China would stand on the “side of justice and on the side of Arab brothers, including Lebanon”, according to the statement.