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

SvennoJ 2 hours ago

Civilians in northern Israel fear increasing rocket attacks

Hezbollah says in a statement that 190 rockets were fired towards targets in northern Israel. It’s causing a lot of concern among Israelis at a time when the country is under heightened alert.

A day ago, five rockets landed in central Haifa – the largest city in the north of the country, a port with 300,000 people. But there are also military bases in Haifa. A lot of people are questioning how this could’ve happened and wondering about the vulnerabilities of the much-vaunted Israeli defence systems.

We’re hearing from the Israelis about more closed-off military zones being created near Israel’s border with Lebanon. That indicates the army really intends to ramp up pressure on Hezbollah and continue to escalate the situation with more Israeli troops in southern Lebanon.


Hezbollah resumes attacks on Israel

The Lebanese group says it carried out a drone attack on a gathering of Israeli soldiers at the “al-Baghdadi” outpost in northern Israel. Hezbollah’s statement says that the drones hit their targets accurately.

This is Hezbollah’s seventh claimed attack on Israel today and comes after a flurry of other attacks in the early hours of this morning.


Israeli army: Details of massive rocket attack on Haifa area ‘under review’

In a statement, the army says that it detected “about 85 launches” of projectiles from Lebanese territory. It said that attempts at interception were made, but that the details of these attempts are under review.

Israeli media is reporting that this attack, which Hezbollah carried out earlier today on the area of Haifa Bay, Israel’s main northern metropolis, was the largest the city had been exposed to since hostilities between the Lebanese group and Israel began.

Israel’s Channel 12 news outlet said at least five rockets fell on the city, and the mayor of Haifa reported that a building in the Haifa Bay area was hit.


Israeli army says more than 100 rockets fired at Haifa

We are receiving updates on the rocket attacks on the city of Haifa in northern Israel. A military statement says an additional 20 rockets were launched from Lebanon at the coastal city following 85 projectiles fired in the first wave.

According to the army, some of the rockets were intercepted by Israel’s air defence systems.

A woman in her 70s was lightly injured by shrapnel and is being treated, Magen David Adom ambulance service said on X. Medical teams continue to search the areas affected by the barrage.


Israeli jets hit Hezbollah launchers used in attack on Haifa: Army

Fighter jets have struck some of the launchers used by Hezbollah to fire dozens of rockets at the city of Haifa, according to a statement by the Israeli military.

Israeli medics said one elderly woman was lightly injured in the attack. Israeli air forces also hit rocket and antitank weapon launchers, and military buildings in the last few hours, the military statement added.

Separately, the army said its jets struck a weapons depot and other buildings of Hezbollah overnight, adding that a school building in Tayr Harfa in southern Lebanon was also destroyed.



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SvennoJ 2 hours ago

Qatari, Lebanese officials meet in Beirut amid Israeli bombing

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s office says in a statement that he received Qatar’s Minister of State for International Cooperation Lolwah bint Rashid Al-Khater at the Grand Serail government palace in Beirut.

Also present at the meeting was Qatar’s ambassador to Lebanon Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and the Lebanese ministers of health and the environment.

“We affirm our firm and steadfast position towards Lebanon, its sovereignty and its right to maintain its security and stability and the security of its citizens as well. We also strongly condemn all attacks against Lebanese civilians”, Qatar’s Al-Khater said after the meeting, according to the statement, reiterating international calls for a ceasefire.

Al-Khater also announced the beginning of an airborne aid campaign from Qatar to Lebanon, as Israel’s relentless attacks continue to hit all areas of the country, including its capital Beirut, and the number of people displaced by those attacks has surpassed one million.

“We expect to send 10 C-17 aircraft loaded with medical supplies, as well as shelter and food supplies, during this month,” she said.


Leaders of US, UK, France and Germany to hold talks on Middle East

The leaders will meet in Berlin on Saturday on the latest developments in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine, according to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesperson.

“The prime minister will travel to a meeting of the Quad in Berlin on Saturday,” the spokesperson told reporters, referring to the “Quad” grouping of Britain, the United States, France and Germany.


UN warns Lebanon could face same ‘spiral of doom’ as Gaza

UN humanitarian officials have called for urgent action to stop the escalating conflict in Lebanon from spiralling into a similar scene of devastation as seen in Gaza.

“We need to do everything we can to stop that from happening,” said Matthew Hollingworth, Lebanon country director for the United Nations’ World Food Programme.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva from Beirut, he said he had spent the first half of the year coordinating WFP’s operations in Gaza before taking the helm of its Lebanon office, and was deeply concerned by the similarities.

“It is in my mind from the time I wake until the time I sleep, that we could go into the same sort of spiral of doom … We shouldn’t allow that to happen,” he said.

Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon has killed more than 1,100 people and displaced upwards of a million in less than two weeks.

James Elder, the spokesperson for the UN children’s agency UNICEF, warned that “the commonalities are unfortunately absolutely there to be seen, whether it is displacement on the ground, impact upon children or language being used … [to] soften the realities on the ground”.

“We are seeing the same patterns that we saw in Gaza,” Jeremy Laurence of the UN rights office added. “The devastation is beyond belief for all people in Lebanon as it is in Gaza. We can’t let this happen again.”


WHO warns of possible disease outbreaks in Lebanon

A World Health Organization official says outbreaks might occur due to crowded conditions in displacement shelters and hospital closures.

“We are facing a situation where there is a much higher risk of disease outbreaks, such as acute watery diarrhoea, hepatitis A, and a number of vaccine-preventable diseases,” WHO’s Ian Clarke, deputy incident manager for Lebanon, told a Geneva news conference by videolink from Beirut.

The UN health agency has already warned that the system is overstretched and so far five hospitals in the country have closed and four are only partly functional, Clarke said.

He added that hospitals had been shut because medics had either fled the fighting or been asked to evacuate by Lebanese authorities.

Israeli forces have begun ground operations in the southwest of Lebanon, escalating a yearlong conflict with the Iran-backed group Hezbollah that has killed more than 1,000 people in the past two weeks and triggered a mass flight.


Images show 40 Israeli military vehicles near UNIFIL headquarters in Lebanon

Satellite photographs show a significant Israeli army presence – including troops and vehicles – near the UN peacekeepers’ base in Maroun al-Ras, southern Lebanon.

Images show 40 military vehicles positioned in earthen fortifications around the UN mission’s headquarters. The area has seen the construction of a road to facilitate movement as well as land being bulldozed near the UN base.

UNIFIL troops raised alarm after the Israeli army deployed near the mission’s post southeast of Maroun al-Ras inside Lebanese territory. Israeli forces stationed themselves behind berms just metres away from the base of Irish peacekeepers.

UNIFIL issued a statement saying it is unacceptable to compromise the safety of UN peacekeepers while they carry out their mandated duties from the UN Security Council.

Using Irish peacekeepers as human shields...



SvennoJ 2 hours ago

Israeli opposition leader pushes for strike on Iran’s energy facilities

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid says broad international support is needed before Israel retaliates against Iran for last week’s missile attack.

In remarks quoted by Israeli public radio, he said the US does not want oil and natural gas prices to rise before the presidential election, so it’s against an attack on Iran’s oil facilities.

“But that doesn’t change the fact that Israel has its own interests and perspectives. Immediate retaliation against Iran’s economic infrastructure is crucial after two separate Iranian attacks,” said Lapid.


Iran to Israel: ‘Do not test our will’

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has warned Israel “not to test” Tehran’s resolve amid reports of possible military strikes in retaliation for the barrage of missiles Iran launched last week.

“Our missiles can reach all their targets. We will respond to any attack on our institutions or infrastructure,” Araghchi said during a conference discussing the impact of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

He said Iran will continue to support the Palestinian cause to establish their own state. Addressing the Israeli strike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Araghchi said the “resistance” to Israel is not based on a person.


Emirates cancels its flights to and from Iran

The Emirates, the UAE’s state-owned airline, says flights to and from Iran are cancelled for the day. The airline said it continues to closely monitor the situation in the region and is in contact with the relevant authorities regarding developments.

Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1 after several assassinations targeting its allies – Hamas and Hezbollah. Israel said it will retaliate and is weighing its targets.



SvennoJ 2 hours ago

Israeli sergeant killed in northern Gaza

The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation said the 20-year-old soldier was killed during battle in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday.

According to the Israeli military, 729 soldiers and 67 police officers have been killed since Hamas’s October 7 attacks.


At least 25 Palestinians, including women and children, killed in Gaza

At least 25 people, including six children and two women, were killed in Israeli strikes on central Gaza overnight.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the bodies were taken, provided an updated toll early on Tuesday as more bodies were recovered from the rubble. Two strikes hit houses in the Bureij refugee camp.

The Palestinian death toll in Israel’s war on Gaza is nearing 42,000 with almost 100,000 people wounded over the past year. The vast majority of the dead are children and women.


‘The army is systematically working to empty northern Gaza’

We have been hearing huge explosions since the early hours in the Bureij refugee camp. At least 25 Palestinians have been confirmed killed.

We were in the morgue at Al-Aqsa Hospital and what we saw was devastating. Bodies were lined up on the ground with family members expressing a great deal of grief and agony.

Palestinians continued to live in the Bureij camp – despite Israel ordering them to flee because it would be an “active military zone” – as they had nowhere else to go. And that’s why the Israeli military targeted them.

Meanwhile, in the north of the Gaza Strip, the situation is getting much worse. The Jabalia refugee camp has been under complete siege by the Israeli army for days now. Troops and equipment are destroying roads and splitting the camps and villages from each other.

Residents are fleeing from one neighbourhood to another to find some sort of safety. The army is systematically working to empty northern Gaza.


Displaced people arrive in Khan Younis after being ordered to evacuate by Israeli forces


Qassam Brigades attacks Israeli forces in northern Gaza

The armed wing of Hamas says it detonated an explosive device near an armoured personnel carrier in the west of the besieged Jabalia refugee camp. It also targeted an Israeli Merkava-4 tank with a Shuwath antitank weapon in the camp, it said on Telegram.

The Israeli army recently started a large-scale operation in northern Gaza. It comes after the military said in January that Hamas had been “dismantled” in the enclave’s north.


Israel’s army says it killed 3 who took part in October 7 attack

A military statement says an air strike on September 30 in Tuffah, in northern Gaza City, killed Muhammad Rafai, who participated in the attacks in Kfar Aza and Nahal Oz in Israel.

Another air attack on October 1, in southern Rafah city, killed two others – Muhammad Zenon and Bassel Ahars – who allegedly participated in the October 7 attack, the army said.

A year ago, Hamas-led fighters stormed into army bases and farming communities, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. They are still holding about 100 captives inside Gaza, one-third of whom are believed to be dead.



SvennoJ 2 hours ago

War in Gaza especially hard on those with special needs: WHO

The World Health Organization says the situation in Gaza makes it impossible for people “to access care or remain safe and healthy”.

The WHO said a lack of food, water, hygiene, safety and medicine has made it hard especially for those with special needs. It added that 24,090 of the wounded in the war on Gaza have life-changing injuries, with 180 women giving birth every day.

According to the statement, even before the current hostilities, there were 650,000 people with hypertension, 1,500 people with kidney disease, 485,000 people with mental health disorders, and 2,000 cancer patients without access to oncology services.


Infrastructure massively destroyed in Gaza after a year of war

One year of war has rendered the Gaza Strip unrecognisable amid relentless Israeli bombardment of the enclave. Israel’s attacks have obliterated the infrastructure needed to provide the basic necessities of life.

Al Jazeera’s Behdad Mahichi takes a look at the trail of destruction the Israeli military has left behind:


Gaza: ‘A stain on the consciousness of humanity’

Chris Gunness, a former spokesman for the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, denounced Israel’s continuing “slaughter” in Gaza, and countries around the world for failing to stop it.

“In the last year, we have seen Gaza transform from the world’s largest open-air prison to the world’s largest concentration camp,” Gunness told Al Jazeera.

“Today, Gaza has been transformed into an industrial-scale slaughterhouse. And I use the word ‘slaughter’ advisedly because frankly animals in most abattoirs around the world are killed more humanely than the women and children of Gaza.

“Shame on the UN Security Council, shame on the Israeli leaders who’ve done this, and shame on all of us because what we’ve seen in the last year is a stain on the conscience of humanity.”


Bodies of Palestinians are brought to al-Awda Hospital after an Israeli attack on northern Gaza City


‘A tragedy that will unfold in the years ahead’

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/8/death-sentence-asbestos-released-by-israels-bombs-will-kill-generations

Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza has unleashed yet another deadly, but silent enemy on the people there – asbestos.

A mineral that poses little risk to humans when undisturbed but that is highly carcinogenic when dispersed and released into the atmosphere, asbestos is present throughout much of Gaza’s structures.

Over the past year, Israel’s bombs have caused vast amounts of it to be broken into tiny, airborne particles, which can potentially cause cancer in those who breathe it in, leading experts to say cases of cancer will likely be reported “for decades” in Gaza.


A wounded Palestinian woman hugs an injured girl at a hospital following the Israeli bombardment of Khan Younis on November 15



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SvennoJ 2 hours ago

Displaced Palestinians in Jabalia targeted by Israeli gunfire

Video obtained by Al Jazeera’s team on the ground in the Gaza Strip shows a group of displaced people in Jabalia, in the north of the territory, coming under heavy gunfire by Israeli soldiers.

The video shows the group, which was in the process of evacuating Jabalia towards the western part of Gaza City, running in terror.

The video also shows many wounded. One man was bleeding from the abdomen as people tried to help him walk. Another, a little girl, is shown bleeding from the neck as she is bandaged in the back of an ambulance.

Earlier, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum reported that the Israeli army is “systematically working to empty northern Gaza”, after placing the Jabalia refugee camp under siege for days.


Medical sources say 43 Palestinians in Gaza killed by Israel today

This includes a rise in the death toll from Israel’s earlier attack on the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Strip, which now stands at seven, medical sources told our team.

The Israeli army has placed Jabalia under siege for the last several days, in tandem with stepping up its attacks on North Gaza to a level not seen in months, according to our team on the ground.


Qassam Brigades claims killing of Israeli troops in northwest Gaza

The armed wing of Hamas has said its fighters killed in close combat a soldier in the Gaza Strip’s at-Twam area. The Israeli forces who came to rescue the soldier were subsequently targeted with an antipersonnel bomb, it said on Telegram.

The group added more soldiers were killed and wounded in the bomb attack, without giving any numbers.

There was no immediate comment by the Israeli army. Israeli forces recently launched a new operation in northern Gaza despite the army’s statement in January that Hamas had been “dismantled” there.

Dozens of bodies on Jabalia’s streets as heavy combat continues

Fierce fighting is taking place in northern Gaza as Palestinian soldiers battle Israeli troops after they launched another deadly ground incursion.

Dozens of bodies reportedly line the narrow allies of the Jabalia refugee camp as medical teams are unable to reach them.

Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, said one Israeli soldier was killed in close-quarter combat “and immediately upon the arrival of the rescue force, its members were targeted with an antipersonnel ‘thunder’ bomb, killing and wounding them” in the at-Twam area, northwest of Gaza City.

The Israeli military said it killed about 20 Palestinian fighters in air strikes and street battles in Jabalia. At least seven civilians, including women and children, were also killed in the besieged camp, sources from the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital said.

“The situation is extremely difficult. The bombing and explosions haven’t stopped,” said Mahmoud Abu Shehatah, a Jabalia resident. “It’s like the first days of the war.”


Teacher continues lessons amid destruction in Khan Younis

Eight-five percent of Gaza’s schools have been damaged or destroyed, and all universities have been demolished.

Israa Abu Mustafa is a Palestinian teacher who has built a classroom in the ruins of her house in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis. The teacher says she wants to help displaced children continue their education, despite the destruction of their schools.



SvennoJ 2 hours ago

Attacks on UNRWA primarily politically motivated: Lazzarini

We have spoken to Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the UNRWA, about the work of the agency for Palestinian refugees. His comments below have been lightly edited for flow and brevity.

Al Jazeera: How would you describe the difference between the UNRWA as it is now and what the agency was like before the war on Gaza began

Philippe Lazzarini: UNRWA before the war was an agency which was investing in the human development of the Palestinian refugees.

UNRWA was a real lifeline of the Palestinian refugees in Gaza. We had about 300,000 girls and boys in our schools, we were providing education at the primary and secondary level, we had vocational training, we were offering job opportunities to a number of Palestinians – basically the agency was a glimpse of hope for the Palestinians.

Today, we are in a lifesaving mode, we are trying to adapt to this catastrophe.

Gaza has been flattened down into a rubble. It has basically been the war of all the extremes, with the number of people who have been killed and injured. It has been a war on children, Gaza has become a graveyard, in fact, for the Palestinians in general.

Today people have nothing else than to struggle daily to stay alive – they struggle against diseases and they struggle to find some food.

Al Jazeera: Israel has made allegations against some UNRWA staff and the agency itself. What kind of impact has that had on the organisation’s worldwide image?

Lazzarini: It has a huge reputational impact but fortunately the agency has taken bold measures from day one. An investigation has taken place and has concluded. We also had a review of all our internal management systems, which concluded that we are more robust than any other agency in the region.

Basically it shows that the agency is capable to deal with neutrality issues; that, in reality, the attacks on the agency are primarily politically motivated.

Al Jazeera: How much of an impact have these allegations had in terms of the money that the UNRWA needs to raise in order to be able to operate? Is there a change in the willingness of countries around the world to supply money?

Lazzarini: There is definitely a change, donors need to be constantly reassured.

I think the seriousness of UNRWA to implement the recommendations of the review by Catherine Colonna, the former minister of foreign affairs of France, has also helped donors to reinforce their confidence in the agency.

Today, there is only one country which has suspended and frozen its contribution to the agency.

Al Jazeera: More than 220 UN aid workers have been killed since the start of the war. UNRWA of course relies heavily on local staff with local knowledge and local sources to be able to operate. How difficult is it, given the circumstances that UNRWA has found itself not just in Gaza, but also in the occupied West Bank and now in Lebanon, to recruit people with that very vital local knowledge?

Lazzarini: Sadly, the number of our staff killed today stands at 226. There is no day without an increase of staff being killed and this is the sad reality.

It is also true that our staff share the same daily life and destiny with the rest of the population.

One of the strengths of the organisation is that our staff come from the community we are assisting and protecting.

This is one of the reasons why, despite the extraordinarily dangerous environment, despite the fact that staff premises and operations have been targeted, we are still able to continue to provide lifesaving assistance to the community.

Al Jazeera: Israel seems determined to either sideline UNRWA or have it shut down altogether. If UNRWA didn’t exist, what effect would that have on the lives of Palestinians not only in Gaza but in other parts of the region as well?

Lazzarini: It would be a total disaster. It would first mean the sacrifice of one million children below the age of 18 in the Gaza Strip, denying them education in the future and this would certainly sow the seeds for more resentment and extremism.

But politically, if Israel got rid of an organisation like ours in this region, that would mean that any other country anywhere else in the world could do the same with a UN agency.

And I believe this would open a Pandora’s box. It’s very dangerous and it would further weaken our common, I would say, multilateral instrument that we inherited after World War II.

‘Very hard not to conclude’ Israel deliberately killing Gaza journalists

At least 175 media workers have been killed in Gaza in the past year – a figure described as an “absolutely shocking level of loss of life” by Tim Dawson of the International Federation of Journalists.

“The toll paid by journalists in Gaza is something the world has no prior experience of. Well over 10 percent of journalists in Gaza have lost their lives since this conflict began,” Dawson told Al Jazeera.

In past conflict zones, the average death rate for infantry soldiers was 5 percent, he noted, adding the figure for US Marines killed in Vietnam was less than 5 percent.

In Israel’s killing of Gaza’s media workers it’s “very hard not to conclude” these were deliberate actions, said Dawson.

“What is most important now is for the International Criminal Court to intensify its investigation … What we need is judicial review of the evidence and a holding to account, where necessary, of those who perpetrated war crimes.”