French university cuts ties with Israeli institution over Gaza war

A French university has severed ties with an Israeli higher education institution, accusing it of having “warmongering” stances on the Gaza war, French media has reported, sparking criticism from Paris.

The move comes after students at several French universities have, like some of their peers in the United States, protested or held sit-ins demanding a ceasefire in Gaza over the past year.

The Institute of Political Studies [IEP] in France’s eastern city of Strasbourg cut ties with the Reichman University near Tel Aviv in June, local newspaper Dernieres Nouvelles d’Alsace reported on Wednesday.

Students and several teachers had backed the move over what its initiators called the Israeli institution’s “deeply warmongering” stances over the Gaza war, calling them “devoid of any humanist perspective”, it said.

IEP Director Jean-Philippe Heurtin told AFP he had been strongly opposed to severing ties, but members of the university board – which includes students – approved it in a vote.

“The decision is distressing,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told the BFMTV broadcaster on Thursday. “It’s not this university that today is bombing Lebanon or Gaza,” he said.

Turkish aid ship departs for Lebanon with 1,000 tons of supplies

The Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) says a humanitarian aid ship coordinated by nine Turkish NGOs has set sail from Turkey to Beirut.

A statement from Turkish international cooperation agency TIKA said the ship is expected to arrive at Beirut Port at 2:30pm (11:30 GMT) on Friday. The ship is loaded with 125 containers and 683 pallets, totalling about 1,000 tonnes of humanitarian supplies – equivalent to the capacity of 150 trucks.

The shipment carries essential items such as food parcels, canned goods, mattresses, blankets, hygiene products, baby diapers, biscuits, baby food, and clothing. The aid will be distributed to those affected by conflict in coordination with the Lebanese government, NNA said.

Suspicious ship Kathrin spotted unloading cargo in Egypt’s Alexandria

Al Jazeera’s Sanad verification agency has identified the location of the cargo ship MV Kathrin at an Egyptian port through high-resolution satellite images captured on Wednesday.

The images show the ship, accused of transporting arms and explosives to Israel, unloading its cargo at the military dock at Egypt’s Port of Alexandria. Several countries previously banned and refused to receive the ship.

The European Legal Support Center said legal action was filed in Germany on behalf of three Palestinians from Gaza, arguing the shipment of primarily RDX explosives could be used in munitions for Israel’s war on Gaza.

“International humanitarian law prohibits all states from transferring weapons to a party in an armed conflict where there is a clear risk that doing so could contribute to war crimes or other serious violations of international humanitarian law,” said Patrick Wilcken, a researcher on military and security issues at Amnesty International.

He confirmed this obligation also includes goods in transit or arriving at any seaport.

_{The location of the cargo ship MV Kathrin while docked at the Port of Alexandria}

UN report accuses Israel of ‘deliberate war crimes’ against Gaza’s healthcare system

Navi Pillay, a member of the UN Commission of Inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territory, says an independent investigation found Israel is carrying out a “concerted policy” to destroy Gaza’s health system.

“This is just not reporting what we see on social media, but a very carefully fact-checked account of the destruction of hospitals, the deliberate targeting of doctors,” Pillay told Al Jazeera.

“It’s also the first United Nations report that … drew the conclusion there is the deliberate targeting of healthcare workers, the healthcare system in itself – which is a crime, a war crime.”

Israel makes it difficult to probe its deadly attacks by denying entry to independent investigators, Pillay added.

The report, delivered on Wednesday, concluded: “Israel has perpetrated a concerted policy to destroy Gaza’s healthcare system as part of a broader assault on the Strip, committing war crimes and a crime against humanity of extermination with relentless and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and facilities.”


US weaponry to Israel continues despite civilian carnage

In August, the United States approved another $20bn in weapons transfers to Israel despite concerns that Israeli forces are routinely violating international law in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Al Jazeera’s Defence Editor Alex Gatopolous takes a closer look at the arms the US unconditionally provides to Israel.

Bill Clinton criticised for saying Israel ‘forced’ to kill Gaza civilians

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/31/bill-clinton-criticised-for-saying-israel-forced-to-kill-gaza-civilians

Former United States President Bill Clinton is facing backlash from US Muslim and Arab Americans after saying Israel has been “forced” to kill civilians in Gaza and suggesting Israel was in the Holy Land “first” before the Palestinians.

Clinton said he understands people’s concerns about the bloodshed in Gaza, but said Israel has no choice but to inflict large civilian losses, even as it is accused of genocide in the International Court of Justice.

Err, the Natufians were first in the area. Jericho was founded 9,600 BC, Jerusalem 3,000 BC. The Israelites invaded in 1,290 BC, led by Moses across the Red Sea into then called Canaan. The Philistines (Hebrew word for invaders) came from Crete in the 12th century BC, shortly after the Israelites. https://www.npr.org/2019/07/03/738586883/dna-study-reveals-philistines-were-originally-from-europe.

However Palestinians have older, Natufian DNA: More recent studies since 2017^[32][33] have found that Palestinians, and other Levantine people, are primarily descended from ancient Levantines present in what is today Israel and Palestine, dating back at least 3700 years.^[34] According to Marc Heber et al, all modern Levantine Arabs descend from Canaanite-like ancestors, whereas later migrations impact on their population ancestry was slight.^[35]

So no, Palestinians were in the 'holy land' before Israelites.

Not to take away from the outrageous statement Israel is forced to commit genocide....

Iran warns of ‘unimaginable’ response to Israel attack

Iran promised a “harsh and regretful” response to the deadly Israeli attack on Iranian military facilities.

“The recent action of the Zionist regime in attacking parts of our country was a desperate move and the Islamic Republic of Iran will give it a harsh and regretful response,” Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani, a senior aide to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.

He praised Iran’s air defence performance in “preventing the entry of the Zionist regime fighters into the territory” and said damage from the strikes was “minimal”. Also on Thursday, General Hossein Salami, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, warned of an “unimaginable” response to Israel.

“Israel has reached the stage of collapse and these days it acts blindly and without abiding to any rules it commits every crime,” said Salami.

Netanyahu: Israel can strike any location in Iran if necessary

Netanyahu, in a speech to new military officers, says Israel has unprecedented freedom of action after its recent air strikes against Iran.

“Israel today has more freedom of action in Iran than ever. We can reach any place in Iran as necessary,” Netanyahu said. “The supreme goal I gave to the Israeli [military] and the security branches is to prevent Iran from achieving a nuclear weapon.”

Israel’s "supreme objective" is stopping Iran getting nuclear weapons, Netanyahu says

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s “supreme objective” is stopping Iran from getting nuclear weapons, in a speech outlining his strategy as Israel battles Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Addressing Israeli soldiers graduating from a military officer course at a training base in southern Israel, Netanyahu said Iranian capabilities had been diminished following direct strikes and attacks on Iranian proxies.

“The brash words of the leaders of the regime in Iran cannot cover up the fact that Israel has greater freedom of action in Iran today than ever before. We can reach anywhere in Iran as needed,” the prime minister said.

“The supreme objective that I have set for the IDF and the security services is to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons,” he added.

“Halting the nuclear program has been – and remains – our chief concern. I have not removed, we have not removed and we will not remove our eyes from this goal.”

When striking Iran last week, Israel targeted missile manufacturing sites and aerial defense systems rather than nuclear facilities.

Netanyahu also used his speech to sound a note of caution, saying: “great challenges are still ahead of us and I do not underestimate our enemies at all.”


Iran is only recently debating starting up their Nuclear weapons program again because of Israeli aggression.

https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12106

The U.S. government assessed prior to the JCPOA that Iran had not mastered all of the necessary technologies for building a nuclear weapon. However, Tehran may now be conducting work on such technologies.

The 2024 U.S. Intelligence Community Annual Threat Assessment published by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) observes that “Iran is not currently undertaking the key nuclear weapons-development activities necessary to produce a testable nuclear device.” But this phrase is absent from a July 2024 ODNI assessment of Tehran’s nuclear program.

Situation at Kamal Adwan Hospital ‘much worse’

Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of the last remaining hospitals in northern Gaza, has been again targeted by the Israeli military.

As far as we know from medical officials in Kamal Adwan Hospital, a floor containing the remaining medical supplies was targeted by Israeli artillery with no sort of warning. This will hamper the ability of the hospital to operate, even with the very limited medical capacity they had.

We also heard from the director, who said the situation at the hospital is getting much worse, especially in light of the unprecedented Israeli attacks in the vicinity of the hospital itself. Many injured people have been dying on the way to the hospital after being reported injured from Israeli air strikes.

The director emphasised that the attack has injured four people who were inside receiving medical treatment. It also rendered the hospital’s dialysis department out of service, which will have further repercussions on the conditions of the wounded and patients there.

The real question is, why Israel is still banning the flow of medical supplies to that hospital?

Catastrophic conditions at Kamal Adwan Hospital: No doctors, destroyed supplies and critical patients

Eid Sabbah, the director of nursing at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, has described the situation inside the facility as catastrophic.

“The hospital has no medical teams – doctors, surgeons, orthopaedics. More than 33 people between doctors and nurses have also been arrested,” Sabbah told Al Jazeera.

The Israeli army has destroyed oxygen and electricity stations as well as the hospital’s main water pump and ambulances, Sabbah said. “The things that we have are things that can’t keep people alive,” he said.

About 120 wounded patients are still inside, a third of whom need immediate surgery. But there are only three doctors left, including two graduates who are not able to operate, the doctor said.

Five days ago, a delegation from the World Health Organization arrived with a small amount of fuel for the generators to operate and some medical supplies, but “immediately after the delegation left the hospital on the same night, the Israeli army stormed the hospital, destroyed a lot of things inside, destroyed the medical supplies that we had received,” he said.

UN condemns attack on Gaza hospital; vital medical supplies bombed

The third floor of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza has been bombed today, resulting in the loss of crucial medical supplies delivered five days ago, says Stephane Dujarric, the UN secretary-general’s spokesman.

“This and the delivery had been done by the United Nations through a joint mission of the World Health Organization,” Dujarric said.

“Hospitals are under assault and rescue teams are unable to work due to the arrest of personnel and the confiscation of essential equipment, including ambulances and a fire truck. The scale of destruction is overwhelming affecting nearly every area of the Gaza Strip in the north.”

Israeli air force bombs Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp

We are receiving reports of a new Israeli air strike targeting an area north of Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.

Nuseirat has repeatedly been attacked during Israel’s war on Gaza. On June 8, Israeli forces killed more than 270 Palestinians to free four Israeli captives, wounding 500 others.

Seriously, that is NOT what Heber et al describe in their paper. And good grief, absolutely noone in serious archeology believes the Moses and exodus fairytale.

While you are perfectly ok do carpet bomb this thread with Hamas propaganda, you should at least stick to scienetific facts and not engulf in nonsense.

It was already corrected in the election thread as you can see above.

Yeah I guess I fell for Israeli propaganda on that one, or rather Bill Clinton's biblical propaganda. As well as the history channel that went along with it and presented a way for the Red Sea to part. (planting the seed in my mind there might actually have been an exodus) I see they made a whole movie out of it
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/12/08/no-really-there-is-a-scientific-explanation-for-the-parting-of-the-red-sea-in-exodus/

But no other scientific evidence nor theories for wandering the desert.


The whole purpose was to debunk the notion that Israel was there first. That still stands, Natufians, Caananites all predate the biblical stories and there is indeed no evidence of the Exodus. So this whole promised land is based on nothing but fairy tales. Israelites didn't get there 'first', at least not as the promised land stories that the revisionist Zionists base their claim to Greater Israel on.


Fact is, modern Israel is mostly immigrants, while Palestinians are still mostly native to the area.
Israel is a Settler Colonial Apartheid state, now indulging in genocide.


I'm not carpet bombing with Hamas propaganda. Try to open your eyes instead of judging with prejudice. For someone concerned with facts you're closing your eyes to an awful lot of them.