‘Genocide is only possible because of impunity’

Riyad Mansour, Palestine’s envoy to the UN, has demanded the Security Council act to protect civilians enduring more than a year of Israel’s attacks.

“Israel has crossed every red line, broken every rule, defied every prohibition. When is enough really enough? When are you going to act? You are the Security Council. You have to reach every single one who is in pain among the Palestinians. That is your duty,” the envoy said at a council meeting.

Besides the 43,000 people killed in Gaza, he noted 100,000 Palestinian have been maimed in Israeli strikes, many with amputations and other permanent disabilities. Two million Palestinians are displaced with “people enduring unspeakable pain”, Mansour said.

“By ending impunity and ensuring accountability, by finally bringing to an end this terrible injustice, let your actions match your words. Stop this genocide or forever remain silent.”

At UN Security Council, Algeria says post-WWII system is ‘crumbling’

Algeria’s ambassador to the UN, Amar Bendjama, says the international framework built after World War II is crumbling, “unable to stand against an Israeli power shielded from accountability and enjoying total impunity”.

Speaking to the UN Security Council, Bendjama also said:

Israel’s UN envoy says UNRWA ‘beyond saving’

Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, told the UN Security Council that UNRWA is “a terrorist front camouflaged as a humanitarian agency”, accusing staff members of killing and kidnapping Israeli citizens on October 7, 2023 – without providing any evidence.

“These are not aid workers, these are savages who have seized UNRWA Gaza and transformed it into a Hamas chapter. The entire UN must accept the reality that UNRWA Gaza is beyond redemption, beyond saving, beyond reform. We must turn a new page now,” said Danon.

Israel has been “hard at work delivering humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza” for weeks, he said, accusing Hamas of holding up deliveries. As for captives still held in Gaza, he said: “To any hostage who might hear me, we will never forget you, never abandon you, and never stop until you are all safely home.”


_{Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon}

Why is there no arrest warrant yet for this despicable human being. I thought hate speech is against the law, at least it is in civilized nations.

Section 319(1): Publicly inciting hatred—makes it an offence to communicate statements in a public place which incite hatred against an identifiable group, where it is likely to lead to a breach of the peace. The Crown prosecutor can proceed either by indictment or by summary process.

How can these people just sit there and not throw him out of the room.


UN agencies describe UNRWA’s work as indispensable

The WHO has said that about a third of healthcare workers helping with the ongoing polio vaccination campaign in Gaza work with UNRWA, which has about 1,000 health workers in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Stephane Dujarric, the UN chief’s spokesperson, said that “UNWRA is the principal means by which essential assistance is supplied to Palestine refugees in the occupied Palestinian territory and there is no alternative to UNWRA”.

“And as the Secretary-General has said before, UNWRA is indispensable,” Dujarric added.

US rejects ‘Israeli efforts to starve Palestinians’: UN envoy

The US opposes Israeli efforts to starve Palestinian civilians and Israel must address the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, the American ambassador to the UN says.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield urged a change to the Israeli policy of punishing the Palestinian people as she spoke during a session on the Middle East of the Security Council.

“The United States rejects any Israeli efforts to starve Palestinians in Jabalia, or anywhere else, and Israel’s words must be matched by action on the ground. Right now, that is not happening. This must change immediately,” Thomas-Greenfield said.

The US stated clearly that Israel must allow food, medicine and other supplies into all of Gaza, especially the north, and protect UN workers distributing the aid, Thomas-Greenfield said.

Says the snake that vetoes any resolution that could help end the genocide.

US concerned by ‘horrifying’ Israeli strike in northern Gaza

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says that US officials have reached out to Israel to explain what happened in Beit Lahiya, where an Israel strike has killed at least 109 Palestinians.

He told reporters that he could not speak to the total death toll but was aware of reports that many of the dead were children. He also said there could be consequences under US law and policy after Israel banned UNRWA.

So concerned they'll send some more bombs.



Norway asks ICJ to clarify Israel’s aid obligations to Palestinians

Norway has asked the ICJ to clarify Israel’s aid obligations to Palestinians, a day after Israel banned the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

Since Israel’s war on Gaza began, Norway has been one of the more vocal European countries in supporting Palestinian rights.

In May, it formally recognised Palestinian statehood based on the pre-1967 borders. It is now “requesting that the ICJ pronounces on Israel’s obligations to facilitate humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian population, delivered by international organisations, including the UN, and states”, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said in a statement.

In May, judges at the ICJ ordered Israel to halt its offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah and withdraw from the enclave in a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide, citing “immense risk” to the Palestinian population.

Israel has continued its attacks on Gaza, including Rafah, in defiance of the UN court.

Hamas official says group open to discussing ceasefire deal

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said that the group was open to discussing a deal that secures an end to the war in Gaza and a complete Israeli army pull-out, adding that “we responded to the mediators’ request to discuss new proposals for a ceasefire agreement”.

• The group is open to any proposals that would end the aggression on the Gaza Strip.
• The group is also open to any agreement that would end the suffering of Palestinian people and leads to a permanent ceasefire.
• Israeli forces deliberately destroyed the medical infrastructure and Palestinian Civil Defence resources in Gaza.
• Statements of condemnation and denunciation from the leaders and various parties of the Palestinian nation are no longer acceptable.
• Hamas called on the countries that have normalised relations with [Israel] to immediately sever their bilateral relations.

Five killed in Israeli air raid on building in Lebanon’s Sidon

According to Al Jadeed TV, the attack targeted a building located in Haret Saida, southeast of Sidon. At least four others were injured and transported to Hammoud Hospital University Medical Center, the National News Agency said.

Five killed, 33 wounded in Israeli attack on southern Lebanon

Lebanon’s Health Ministry is saying that in addition to the five people killed in an Israeli air strike on Haret Sidon neighbourhood in the southern part of the country, 33 people have also been wounded.

Hezbollah announces rocket attack against Israeli troops

The Lebanese group says it launched a volley of rockets at a gathering of Israeli soldiers on the edges of the southern Lebanese town of Khiam. The attack was the 30th military operation claimed by Hezbollah today.

Earlier, Hezbollah released a cryptic image of a crumbling wall with an Israeli flag with the caption: “It won’t be long.”

Hungry Palestinians queue for bread in Khan Younis


_{Constraints on aid flows into Gaza include Israeli approval of trucks and drivers and delays at checkpoints, says the UN}

Israeli bombardment of Gaza City kills 6 Palestinians

Our colleagues on the ground are reporting that at least six Palestinians have been killed and many wounded by an Israeli bombardment near al-Khalidi Mosque in northwestern Gaza City.

No Civil Defence to rescue people in latest Israeli attack on Beit Lahiya


_{A Palestinian man remove a bodys from the rubble of a building hit by an Israeli strike}

According to our colleagues on the ground, 10 people have been killed in an Israeli air raid on a residential area in Beit Lahiya, north of the Gaza Strip.

This comes after an earlier Israeli air strike destroyed a five-storey residential building sheltering displaced families in Beit Lahiya, killing at least 109 Palestinians, including children, and wounding dozens.

“There are appeals and stress calls for Civil Defence teams to save the wounded,” he said. But the Civil Defence’s teams, he said, have been “forcibly displaced due to the Israeli aggression in North Gaza”, with several of its staff detained as well. There are no rescue or ambulance teams to help those who have been wounded.

Lebanon reports highest daily death toll in almost a month


_{Civil defence rescuers search for survivors at the site of an Israeli air strike on the village of Haret Saida, near Lebanon’s southern city of Sidon}

Israeli attacks in Lebanon killed 82 people and injured 180 on Monday, the Lebanese health ministry said.

Monday’s figure is the highest reported number of fatalities in a single day since September 30, according to a CNN tally of daily statements from the ministry.

Monday night saw successive Israeli strikes on eastern Lebanon, during which multiple cities and towns in the Baalbek-Hermel and Beqaa governorates were targeted, the ministry said.

More than 2,100 people have been killed and more than 10,500 injured in Lebanon since mid-September when Israel stepped up its campaign against Hezbollah, according to CNN’s tally.

At least 33 Israeli soldiers killed in southern Lebanon this month

As we’ve reported, at least one Israeli soldier has been killed in southern Lebanon today, according to the Israeli army.

Israeli media is now reporting that at least 33 soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon since the start of the month when Israel launched its ground operation.

More than 600 Israeli soldiers have died in Gaza

We know that these four Israeli soldiers died in an IED [improvised explosive device] explosion that had been set as booby traps in a building they entered in Jabalia. This is not the first casualty that the Israeli army reports from fighting in Jabalia, which it has encircled and laid siege to for more than 23 days.

The number of Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza has surpassed 600. It comes at the time when the Israeli army also announced the death of an Israeli soldier from his wounds in Lebanon.

About 12,000 Israeli soldiers have been injured in the past year on those different fronts that Israel has opened. And 900 in total have been injured since the beginning of the assault on Lebanon.

We have seen over the past few days, successive statements by the Israeli army announcing the death of one, two, sometimes four or five soldiers each day.

IDF playing dumb.

Israeli military “trying to understand” why so many were in Beit Lahiya during deadly strike

_{People search through the rubble of a building after an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia, Gaza on October 29}

The Israeli military says it is “trying to understand” why so many people were in Beit Lahiya at the time of its strike that, according to Palestinian authorities, killed more than 90 people.

At least 93 people, including 25 children, were killed in the strike on a multi-story building on Tuesday, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. It is thought to be one of the deadliest strikes of Israel’s recent bombing campaign on northern Gaza and has been condemned by human rights groups and NGOs.

But David Avraham, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), told CNN the military was still “trying to understand” why so many people were in the area at the time of the strike, saying that civilians had been ordered to evacuate “several weeks ago.”

Israeli forces were attacking a “suspected terrorist” they had spotted in the area and did not intend to “collapse the building,” Avraham said, before adding that the military is investigating what happened.

During a briefing last week, Brig. Gen. Elad Goren, head of the IDF’s civil-humanitarian efforts in Gaza, said that “as we understand, there is no population” in Beit Lahiya.

UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence said the UN was “appalled” by the strike, which he called “one of the deadliest single attacks in Gaza in nearly three months.” Noting Israel’s commitment to investigating the strike, the UN stressed the need for “a prompt, transparent and detailed investigation into the circumstances of this strike and responsibilities for it.”

There are still about 100,000 people trapped in the North. The IDF knows this full well as they're going door to door to throw people on the street who then get chased and shot at by quadcopters. People are afraid to leave, they have nowhere to go.

Israeli soldiers forced Palestinian men to strip down as they evacuated war-torn Jabalya

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/29/middleeast/gaza-jabalya-palestinians-strip-photo-intl/index.html


_{Jabalia detainees. CNN has added blur to this photo to protect identities.}

The photo shows a large crowd of more than 200 people, crouching low amid the rubble of Jabalya in northern Gaza. Mostly men, many are almost naked, some are elderly, some visibly wounded. There’s at least one child among them.

They were detained and most ordered to strip by the Israeli military as they tried to flee their homes in Jabalya refugee camp, then held for hours outdoors in the cold, witnesses told CNN.

Their tired faces give a glimpse into their misery. The men at the front are anxiously staring straight ahead, while those toward the back stretch their necks to see what is going on.

The photo, taken in Jabalya on Friday, shows residents of the refugee camp who tried to leave the area after being forced by the Israeli military to evacuate amid its ongoing ground operation there.

The photo was first shared on an Israeli Telegram channel; while it is unclear who took it, several of the men in the picture told CNN Israeli soldiers were photographing them as they were being detained.

CNN has identified and spoken to five individuals seen in the photograph. One of them, Muhannad Khalaf, said he, his wife and their infant son were trying to escape the camp using a designated safe corridor when the Israeli military stopped them.

“These people were looking for something to eat.” Israeli strike kills 5 at Gaza market

Video obtained by CNN shows the chaotic aftermath of Israeli airstrikes that killed at least five people at Gaza City’s most popular food market on Tuesday.

The footage shows large crowds of civilians running through the Al-Sahaba Market in the densely populated Al-Daraj neighborhood after two strikes hit a shop and several stalls around 3:30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. ET).

Large piles of debris and rubble on blood-spattered streets can be seen as vendors scramble to retrieve goods from their stalls and shoppers flee.

“All of sudden, we realized missiles were falling on top of people. People were in the market; it was a packed market,” a male bystander says in the footage. “These people are innocent civilians, they are not Hamas.”

At least five people were killed by the strikes, according to medical staff at the Al Ahli Baptist Hospital, where the injured are being treated.

“These people were looking for something to eat and [to] live, and they were killed and injured,” another male bystander says in the footage. CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment.

Main points on October 29th

Deadly strike in Gaza and anger over UN agency ban. What to know from the Middle East today

An Israeli airstrike on a multi-story building in northern Gaza has killed more than 90 people, with 25 children among the dead, according to Palestinian authorities.

The incident took place in Beit Lahiya early on Tuesday morning. The Israeli military has said it was targeting a “suspected terrorist” seen in the area and is investigating the circumstances of the strike.

It came a day after Israel’s parliament voted on bills banning UNRWA from operating in the country.

What America did is SHOCKING & no one’s allowed to talk about it

About US empire.

The continuous air bridge of US arms to Israel

Max Blumenthal and Aaron Mate take a look at the aerial bridge maintained the Biden-Harris administration has maintained to Israeli military bases for over a year of continuous siege, slaughter and deprivation in Gaza and beyond.

"Save Us From Ourselves": 3,000+ Israelis Call For Int'l Help to Pressure Israel to Back Ceasefire

More than 3,000 Israelis have signed an open letter urging "global pressure on Israel to force an immediate ceasefire." The signatories say they are motivated by patriotic duty to stop the country's war crimes in Gaza and beyond, but say the lack of sanctions from other countries has allowed Israel to continue to pursue war, abandon the hostages still held in Gaza, ignore domestic opposition and persecute Palestinian citizens of Israel without real cost.

"Unfortunately, the majority of Israelis support the continuation of the war and massacres, and a change from within is not currently feasible. The state of Israel is on a suicidal path and sows destruction and devastation that increase day by day," reads the letter.

For more, we speak with Neve Gordon, professor of international law and human rights at Queen Mary University of London, one of the signatories of the open letter, who says international powers including allies like the United States need to "put their leg down and say enough is enough." We also speak with him about Israel's well-documented history of using Palestinians as human shields, including in its current war on Gaza.

CNN BOMBSHELL Exposes Israel For Using Human Shields

Hezbollah reports three rocket attacks overnight

Two barrages of rockets were fired at the Israeli settlements of Kafr Yufal and Moian Baruch in northern Israel at about 8:40pm (18:40 GMT) and 10:00pm (20:00 GMT) local time, Hezbollah said on social media.

A third barrage of rockets targeted a “gathering of Israeli enemy soldiers” in the Wadi al-Khiam area of southern Lebanon at about 10:15pm (20:15 GMT), the group said.

Lebanese media reported earlier on Tuesday that Israeli tanks were in the region of southern Lebanon’s town of Khiam and a strike had hit a civilian home in the Wadi al-Khiam area where two families were present.

Contact was lost with the 17 people, including women and children, in the house that was targeted, Lebanon’s NNA news agency reported.

Austria’s FM in call with Lebanese counterpart after attack on Austrian UN peacekeepers

Austria’s Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg has spoken to his Lebanese counterpart following the wounding of eight Austrian peacekeepers in a rocket strike on their UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) base near Israel’s northern border.

While Israel’s military has been responsible for several attacks on UNIFIL bases and peacekeepers over recent weeks, it was unclear who was behind the strike that lightly wounded the Austrians on Tuesday.

Schallenberg called for the “security of all blue helmets” in Lebanon after speaking with Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Bou Habib, noting in a post on social media that the protection of UN peacekeepers is an “obligation” under international law.

The Austrian minister also called on Hezbollah to “immediately cease its attacks on Israel” and abide by UN Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah and requires the redeployment of all armed groups away from the southern border with Israel, except for the Lebanese army.

Sirens sound in dozens of Israeli towns following rocket attack

Israel’s Army Radio has said that a salvo of rockets has been launched from Lebanon, causing air raid sirens to be activated in several areas of northern Israel.

Israel’s Home Front Command reports that sirens are sounding in dozens of towns in the Sharon region, the Upper Galilee and the northern occupied Golan Heights.

The Israeli military has said that at least some of the alerts were caused by a surface-to-surface ballistic missile fired from Lebanon which exploded. No casualties or damage has been reported.

At least two children killed in Lebanon every day, rights group says

Save the Children said Israel’s attacks have killed more than 100 children in Lebanon since hostilities with Hezbollah escalated on September 23. That amounts to an average of two children a day, it said.

“We’re plunging into a humanitarian crisis that is, first and foremost, a children’s crisis. We’re starting to see the same pattern we’ve witnessed in over a year of war in Gaza: mass casualty events with civilians, including children; health workers killed while on duty; more than 50 attacks on healthcare facilities; UN installations attacked, and journalists targeted,” said Jennifer Moorehead, the NGO’s country director for Lebanon.

“The longer the conflict lasts, the more challenging it will be for children to regain a sense of normalcy. Six out of 10 public schools have been repurposed as shelters for the displaced, with the beginning of the school year now postponed to November 4, and possibly longer,” she said.

“Every day away from the classroom is a growing threat to children’s long-term physical and mental wellbeing. By law, children must be off-limits in war and must be protected. There is no time to waste. We urgently need a ceasefire, now.”

_{A woman walks with children while crossing from Lebanon into Syria on foot at the Masnaa border crossing, after an Israeli strike, in Al Masnaa, Lebanon on October 27}

Israel says more than 100 targets attacked across Lebanon, no mention of civilian casualties

Israel’s military said its jet fighters hit more than 100 targets throughout Lebanon on Tuesday, claiming that dozens of “terrorists” were eliminated.

Hezbollah rocket launch sites were among the targets hit, the Israeli military said in a post on social media that did not mention civilian casualties resulting from its widespread bombing of civilian areas in Lebanon.

In Gaza, Israel’s military said its forces continue to operate in the Jabalia refugee camp, which has been under military siege for more than three weeks. Tens of thousands of Palestinians are believed to be trapped there under heavy bombardment and without access to food, water, or medicine.

Death toll from Israel’s attack on Lebanon’s Haret Saida rises to 10

As the Israeli military expands and intensifies its bombardment, civilian casualties are mounting. There were two strikes in the Sidon area. We are at one of those locations, in Haret Saida, where a residential building was destroyed.

So far, nine bodies have been pulled from the rubble. An 18-year-old survived and is now in hospital. She was pulled out alive, but what people here are telling us is that a girl who they believe to be 17 is still stuck underneath the rubble and believed to be dead. So in this strike alone, 10 killed. This is a densely populated area. These are residential buildings.

People who were here were displaced from southern Lebanon. They came to this area in search of safety.

Drone explosion hits factory in Israel’s Nahariya: Report

A drone that exploded in Israel’s northern industrial area of Nahariya hit a factory producing aircraft components, a report from the Israeli Army Radio has said.

In a separate statement, the Israeli military said it shot down three unmanned aircraft in the country’s north that crossed from Lebanon. Firefighters were working to put out a fire that broke out in the Ziv Bridge area.

Earlier today, the Israeli army said it detected a surface-to-surface missile launched from Lebanon which broke up in the air. A drone was also intercepted, it said.

Israeli attacks on medics in Lebanon ‘apparent war crimes’: HRW

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says it has documented three attacks involving “apparent war crimes” in which the Israeli army “unlawfully” struck medical workers and healthcare facilities in Lebanon.

These included attacks on paramedics at a civil defence centre in central Beirut on October 3, and an ambulance and a hospital in southern Lebanon on October 4, killing 14 paramedics, the group said.

Since cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah started in October last year, Israeli air strikes have killed at least 163 health and rescue workers across Lebanon. They also damaged 158 ambulances and 55 hospitals, the report said citing figures from the Health Ministry.

“The Israeli military’s unlawful attacks on medical workers and hospitals are devastating Lebanon’s already frail healthcare system and putting medical workers at grave risk,” said Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at HRW.

“Strikes on medical workers and healthcare facilities also compound risks to injured civilians, severely hindering their ability to receive urgently needed medical attention,” he added.

HRW urged Israel’s allies to suspend the transfer of arms to Israel “given the real risk that they will be used to commit grave abuses”.