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Forums - Politics - Israel-Hamas war, Gaza genocide

SvennoJ on 31 October 2024

Main points on October 31st

  • Medical sources have told Al Jazeera Israeli air raids have killed at least 95 people across Gaza over the past 24 hours, including an attack on two houses near the Nuseirat refugee camp that killed 16 Palestinians.
  • Israeli attacks have killed 45 people in Lebanon over the past 24 hours, according to local authorities, including at least six health workers in separate strikes in southern Lebanon.
  • Hezbollah rockets have killed seven people in northern Israel – four foreign workers and three Israelis – marking the deadliest day in months for civilians inside the country.
  • US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said negotiators have made “good progress” towards a deal that would bring a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
  • At least 10 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in air strikes on Syria’s Qusayr region bordering Lebanon, where Israel said it hit a Hezbollah weapons depot.
  • The European Union has condemned Israel’s ban on the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), saying “as long as there is no sustainable solution to the conflict” UNRWA’s mandate “will remain vital”.


Around the Network
SvennoJ on 31 October 2024

"Genocide as Colonial Erasure": U.N. Expert Francesca Albanese on Israel's "Intent to Destroy" Gaza


We are joined by U.N. special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, who says Israel is committing genocide on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Facing accusations of antisemitism from Israeli and U.S. officials, Albanese is in New York to present her report, titled "Genocide as colonial erasure," which finds that Israel's genocide is founded on "ideological hatred" and "dehumanization" and "enabled through the various organs of the state," and recommends that Israel be unseated from the United Nations over its conduct. She argues that Israel's attacks on U.N. employees, including the killings of at least 230 U.N. staff in Gaza, its flagrant violations of U.N. resolutions and international law and the unique status of "the first settler-colonial genocide to be ever litigated before [an international] court" justify this measure. Israel's continued impunity, Albanese warns, "is the nail in the coffin of the U.N. Charter."



SvennoJ on 01 November 2024

Israeli military issues evacuation orders in Beirut neighbourhoods

The Israeli military has ordered “all residents” in two southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut to evacuate.

Posting a map of the Ghobeiry and Haret Hreik neighbourhoods, it highlighted two buildings it said were “Hezbollah facilities and interests, against which the [Israeli military] will operate in the near future”.

“For your safety and the safety of your family members, you must evacuate these buildings and those adjacent to them immediately and stay away from them for a distance of no less than 500 meters,” the warning said.


Israeli air strikes reported in Beirut

Local media has reported air strikes in Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh.


Israeli military issues new orders to flee Beirut neighbourhoods, air strikes reported

Israel’s military has issued two new forced evacuation orders – within minutes of each other – for four neighbourhoods in Beirut’s southern suburb.

The two new orders for residents to flee come less than an hour after two earlier overnight orders were issued to residents in the Haret Hreik, Ghobeiry and Bourj el-Barajneh neighbourhoods of the Dahiyeh suburb, locations that Israel’s military had said would be attacked shortly.


Two reported killed as Israeli air strikes pound Beirut’s southern suburbs

Local media in Lebanon are reporting that two people have been killed and four injured as a result of Israeli strikes on Beirut’s Ain el-Remmaneh neighbourhood, in the city’s southeastern suburbs.

According to reports, an Israeli fighter jet could be heard flying low over the city’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh, an area the Israeli military had warned would be attacked, and some 10 air strikes have been carried out so far.

The overnight attacks are the first by Israel on Beirut in nearly a week.


Flames and smoke rise from Israeli air strikes on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, early Friday morning


At least 10 Israeli strikes hit Beirut overnight

Israeli fighter jets have carried out at least 10 strikes in Beirut overnight, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reports, after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders for several neighbourhoods in the Lebanese capital’s southern suburbs.

The Israeli raids hit Ghobeiry, al-Kafaat, the Sayyed Hadi highway and nearby al-Mujtaba Complex, as well as the old airport road, NNA reported.

“The raids left massive destruction in the targeted areas, as dozens of buildings were levelled to the ground, in addition to the outbreak of fires,” NNA said.

Earlier, we reported the Israeli military issued two evacuation orders in quick succession, ordering residents to flee several neighbourhoods of the Dahiyeh suburb, warning that they would be attacked imminently.


Footage shows extent of destruction in southern district of Beirut

Video clips, which have been verified by Al Jazeera, show the extent of destruction in Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh due to Israeli air strikes earlier this morning. The Israeli raids resulted in damage to several residential buildings.



SvennoJ on 01 November 2024

Heavy Israeli strikes around Lebanon’s port of Tyre, Bekaa Valley

Another day and night of heavy Israeli air strikes, the heaviest of which were around the port city of Tyre in southern Lebanon.

The Israelis put out a warning in eight areas across the governorate of Tyre – forced evacuation warnings – before these strikes took place. Reportedly, at least 10 strikes.

We cannot confirm exactly what Israel was targeting. But during previous strikes in and around that city in recent days, Israel is saying that it has been attacking various types of Hezbollah infrastructure, weaponry, command-and-control centres and fuel depots.

That area, before this crisis started, had a population of about 250,000. It is difficult to say how many people are still there. But it is safe to say that many of those people could already have moved from areas further south, fleeing fighting in that area.

There are also heavy strikes in the Bekaa Valley for a second consecutive day.


Four Thai nationals confirmed killed near Israel-Lebanon border

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/1/thais-killed-near-israel-lebanon-border-israeli-jets-pound-beirut-suburbs

Four Thai nationals were killed and one was injured by Hezbollah’s rocket attacks on northern Israel on Thursday, Thailand’s Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa has confirmed on X.

“I instructed our Embassy in Tel Aviv last night to extend every and all assistance to the injured and families of the deceased, and extend my profound condolences to them for their immense loss,” Maris said.

“Thailand continues to strongly urge all parties to return to the path of peace, in the name of the innocent civilians gravely impacted by this prolonged and deepening conflict,” he said.

The first of Hezbollah’s attacks on Thursday saw rockets strike farmland near the border town of Metula, killing an Israeli farmer and four Thai agricultural workers. A second rocket attack near Kibbutz Afek near the city of Haifa killed two Israeli citizens.


Rockets fired from Lebanon as sirens sound in northern Israel: Reports

Local media in Israel has reported air attack sirens alerting of incoming rockets in the western and upper Galilee areas of northern Israel.

The areas affected include the Israeli communities of Kfar Blum, Amir, Sde Nehemiah, Beit Hillel, Kiryat Shmona, Gosherim, Kfar Yuval, Maayan Baruch, Tel Hai, Kfar Giladi, Menara and Neot Mordechai.

The sound of rocket explosions have also been reported.


Israeli military says it intercepted UAV launched from Syria

The Israeli Air Force has announced that it intercepted an unmanned aerial vehicle “launched from the east in Syria” overnight. It said the UAV was intercepted in Syrian territory before it crossed into Israel.

The Israeli military also announced that sirens were activated at 06:39am local time (04:39am GMT) in the upper Galilee area, with about 10 rockets detected crossing into northern Israel from Lebanon.

Some of the rockets were intercepted, while others dropped into open areas. No casualties, injuries or damage have been reported.


Israeli air raids on various areas in southern Lebanon

According to Lebanon’s National News Agency, Israeli fighter jets hit the house of Jawad Nasrallah in the town of Yahmar al-Shaqif in southern Nabatieh and levelled it to the ground.

Nasrallah is the father of two members of Hezbollah who were killed by Israeli forces, the news agency said.

The attack was accompanied by artillery shelling on the neighbourhoods of al-Sharabik and Ras el-Aarid in the southern port city of Tyre, as well as attacks on al-Nabbou, al-Maasara, al-Tarash, and Shushba, the town of Arnoun and the vicinity of Qalaat al-Shaqif towards al-Khardali.

NNA also reports that four drones were observed flying over Yahmar Arnoun, Kfar Tebnit, Zawtar el-Gharbiyeh, Zawtar el-Charqiyeh, Mazraat al-Hamra, and Qalaat Arnoun – all in southern Lebanon.


Three killed overnight in village south of Lebanon’s Beirut

An Israeli military air raid on the village of Qmatiyeh killed at least three people and injured five others overnight, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.



SvennoJ on 01 November 2024

Displaced Lebanese cope with cold as well as hunger

Thousands of people are flowing into the mountainous Christian town of Deir al-Ahmar in eastern Lebanon as Israel’s bombardment continues. Temperatures are dropping to 6 degrees Celsius (43 degrees Fahrenheit) overnight and supplies in the town are getting tight.

“If we flee the bombing, are we meant to die of cold?” Suzanne Qassem, a mother of two at a displacement centre in the city, whose home in Buday has been destroyed, told the Reuters news agency.

“I’m sick, I’ve been taking medicine for a week and I’m still coughing … If my son gets sick, am I going to be able to get him medicine?”

In one school now serving as a shelter, aid groups that once served two meals have cut breakfast to feed more at lunch.

“At night, we’re shaking. I put my mattress up next to my daughter and tell her to hug me so that we can keep warm. But we’re not keeping warm,” said another displaced woman, Neyfe Mazloum, 69.


Israel carried out 55 attacks on health workers, facilities in Lebanon: WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) is deeply concerned about rising Israeli attacks on healthcare workers and facilities in Lebanon, according to the UN health agency’s Margaret Harris.

Harris said at a UN news conference that while 55 attacks have been verified, the actual number of incidents is likely to be significantly higher.

At least 132 healthcare workers have been killed in Lebanon while on duty, a clear violation of international law, according to Margaret Harris, a spokesperson for the World Health Organization.

“They go to work every day to save lives. They do not go to work to lose their lives, but they have been caught up in a conflict where there seems to be no concern about attacking health facilities,” Harris told Al Jazeera, speaking from Hong Kong. “It’s very clear, under international humanitarian law, healthcare is not a target.”

The Ministry of Public Health in Lebanon is reporting much higher numbers of losses of healthcare workers because many of the health workers have been killed or injured while at home, or going to and from work, she added.

“This was a healthcare system that couldn’t afford to lose one healthcare worker. They didn’t have enough healthcare workers before this conflict began, the economic circumstances meant that they were very much underserved, and it was a healthcare system that was struggling,” the WHO spokesperson said.

“And now they’ve got mass casualties. They’ve got mass needs. There’s overwhelming displacement. There’s increasing risk of outbreaks. We’ve got cholera … the attacks on healthcare are adding to the misery.”


Israeli warplane strikes eastern Lebanon’s Baalbek city

An Israeli air attack targeted the eastern city of Baalbek, following heavy air raids on the area in recent days, according to the official National News Agency (NNA). Israeli “enemy aircraft launched a raid on the Zahraa neighbourhood in the city of Baalbek,” home to ancient Roman ruins designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, NNA said.


Israeli attacks put Lebanon heritage sites ‘in deep peril’: UN envoy

Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the UN’s special coordinator for Lebanon, has said the country’s cultural heritage was being endangered by Israeli strikes on the ancient Lebanese cities of Tyre and Baalbek, home to UNESCO-designated Roman ruins.

“Ancient Phoenician cities steeped in history are in deep peril of being left in ruins,” she said in a social media post, adding that “Lebanon’s cultural heritage must not become yet another casualty in this devastating conflict.”



Around the Network
SvennoJ on 01 November 2024

Two killed in Israeli raid in Lebanon’s Baalbek area

Lebanon’s National News Agency correspondent in Baalbek has reported that civil defence firefighting crews put out the fire in a house that was targeted by an Israeli raid in the town of Tarayya.

Two people, Najla Hamieh and Ziad Hamieh, were killed in the attack and four others were moderately injured, requiring their transfer to Dar Al Amal University Hospital in the city of Douris.

Raids also took place elsewhere in the Baalbek area in the towns of Maqna, Al-Bazaliyah, Qasr Naba the Zahraa neighbourhood in the city of Baalbek, as well as Rasm al-Hadath towards Harbata in the northern Bekaa valley.


Hezbollah claims to have attacked Israeli soldiers near Lebanon’s Khiam

Lebanon’s Hezbollah armed group says its fighters targeted Israeli forces in the al-Maslakh neighbourhood, south of the Lebanese town of Khiam, “with a large missile barrage”.


Casualties in Hezbollah rocket attack in Israel’s Galilee areas: Report

The Israeli military has stated that 30 rockets were fired from Lebanon targeting the Upper Galilee, Western Galilee and Central Galilee areas. Some of the rockets were intercepted, and impacts were also identified, the military said.

Sirens sounded in Sakhnin, Deir al-Asad, Karmiel, Ma’alot-Tarshiha and other nearby towns in the attacks, the Times of Israel reported.

The outlet said medics are responding to initial reports of casualties.


Hezbollah claims to have bombed Israel’s Karmiel, Maalot-Tarshiha cities

The Lebanese armed group says its fighters have bombed Karmiel, a city in northern Israel, “with a salvo of rockets”. It also claimed to have struck the Ma’alot-Tarshiha city, also in the north.


At least 12 killed in Israeli air strike on eastern Lebanon’s Amhaz town

Israel has launched an air strike on a house in the town of Amhaz, north of the Baalbek city in eastern Lebanon, according to the footage verified by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency, Sanad.

The footage showed moments of the arrival of an ambulance at the targeted location in the town amid heavy smoke rising into the sky in the area.

The Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) reported that the Israeli air strike killed at least 12 people.


At least 11 more people killed in eastern Lebanon

Israeli air attack targeted a family home with about 20 people in it in the centre of eastern Lebanon’s Younine town, according to the country’s National News Agency (NNA). Seven bodies have already been recovered, and the process of removing the rubble is still continuing, the report said.

About five kilometres (three miles) away, Israeli warplanes also hit a house in the village of Nahle, killing at least four people.

Iraqi armed group claims drone attacks on ‘vital’ targets in Israel

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose network of pro-Iran armed groups, said it launched four separate drone attacks on vital “targets” in southern Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in the north of the country on Friday morning.

Three drone attacks targeted southern Israel and one targeted a “vital target” in the Golan Heights, the groups said in posts on social media.

Israel’s media said earlier on Friday that fighter jets had intercepted two unmanned aerial vehicles over the Red Sea that had been launched from the east, without identifying what country or group had targeted Israel with the attack.



SvennoJ on 01 November 2024

‘Change of tone’ from Lebanon’s PM Mikati over possibility of ceasefire with Israel

In the attempts to try and forge some ceasefire in Lebanon, there has been very much a change of tone certainly coming from the Lebanese government.

The Lebanese interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati yesterday said that he was cautiously optimistic of some sort of ceasefire agreement or a draft, at least, being discussed, towards some sort of agreement.

Today, his language was very different. He said that Israel’s forced evacuation of towns and cities in Lebanon was tantamount to war crimes. And he said the continuous Israeli threats do not inspire optimism.


Overnight Israeli bombing of Beirut follows ‘failed attempt at diplomacy’

It coincided with a failed diplomatic attempt, if you like. US envoys Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk were in Israel on Thursday where they held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Usually, when they hold talks in Israel, they visit Beirut afterwards. This time they did not, which is really a clear indication that there is no progress or breakthrough. And nobody was expecting a breakthrough because of Israel’s demands.

Netanyahu made it very, very clear yesterday that any deal needs to be enforced for Israel’s security. What Israel wants is to be able to act freely – even after a ceasefire – to target Hezbollah when it sees threats or violations.

That is being interpreted here as a deal of surrender and this is something that Hezbollah is not accepting, neither is the Lebanese state. 


Renewed attacks on Beirut signal Israeli rejection of ceasefire: Mikati

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati has criticised Israel’s “expansion” of its attacks on his country, saying it indicates the Israeli rejection of a ceasefire after more than a month of war.

“[Israel’s] repeated threats to the population to evacuate entire cities and villages, and its renewed targeting of the southern suburbs of Beirut with destructive raids, are all indicators that confirm the Israeli enemy’s rejection of all efforts being made to secure a ceasefire,” Mikati said in a statement.


Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal unlikely before US election: Analyst

There are no signs that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is either ready or willing to reach a ceasefire deal with Lebanon before the US elections, according to analyst Akiva Eldar.

“He is praying and putting his bets on the victory of former President Trump, and he believes that once this happens, he will be able to manipulate the president,” Eldar told Al Jazeera from Tel Aviv.

He was referring to several examples from Trump’s presidency when the Israeli government was able to sway the US government towards policies that favoured it, including ending the Iran nuclear deal and vetoing a resolution that deemed Israeli settlements illegal.

“There is another deadline for Netanyahu, and this is [in] the first week of December when he will have to start testifying in his corruption trial, and he will do anything to avoid it,” Eldar added.

“And the best excuse or pretext that he has … [is that] he is busy with multi-frontier wars and he shouldn’t waste his time in court, because we’re talking about looking at four days a week for at least six weeks that he will have to spend in court.”



SvennoJ on 01 November 2024

US says Israeli waiver for Palestinian banks cooperation was ‘very short term’

The US has said Israel’s decision to sign a waiver to extend cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian banks another month is only for a “very short term duration”, warning there’s “another looming crisis” coming on November 30.

The comments come after Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, under pressure from US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, signed a waiver extending cooperation between the banks for another month after the previous agreement expired on Thursday.

In June, Smotrich extended a four-month waiver allowing cooperation between Israel’s banking system and Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank.

That waiver allowed Israeli banks to process shekel payments for services and salaries tied to the Palestinian Authority. Without the waiver, Palestinian banks are cut off from Israel’s financial system.


Israel’s waiver on cooperation with Palestinian banks, explained

  • The waiver lets Israeli banks process shekel payments for services and salaries tied to the Palestinian Authority.
  • Cooperation from Israeli banks is critical for imports of essential goods into the Palestinian territory and all banking activity.
  • Essentially, the waiver allows financial correspondence between banks in Israel and the occupied West Bank. Without it, the banks in the latter would not be able to function as they are dependent on Israeli banks – their financial window to the rest of the world.
  • Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has threatened to not sign the waiver.
  • The Palestinian economy is dependent on Israel: The Israeli shekel is the Palestinians’ de facto currency, and Israel is by far their largest import and export market.
  • Washington and other Western capitals are worried that an end to banking cooperation would cause an economic collapse in the West Bank that would further destabilise the region.
  • The UN has warned that “unilaterally cutting off Palestinian banks from the global banking system would be a violation of the fundamental principles of international law.”

Lloyd Austin discusses ‘opportunities for regional de-escalation’ with Yoav Gallant

The US secretary of state held a phone call with his Israeli counterpart in which he “reiterated US commitment to a diplomatic arrangement in Lebanon”, that would allow communities on both sides of the border to return home.

Lloyd Austin also reaffirmed to the Israeli defence minister the US’s commitment to defending its troops and Israel against “threats from Iran and Iran-backed proxies”, according to a Pentagon readout of the call.

Austin also reportedly urged Israel to “improve the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza”, after the US warned on October 13 that Israel had 30 days to improve the situation or risk facing military aid restrictions.

Yeah that 'deadline' is up on November 12th, shortly after the elections. (Hence the 30 days to postpone till after the elections). So far no improvement
https://data.humdata.org/dataset/state-of-palestine-gaza-aid-truck-data

After the elections, could Biden actually put some restrictions on military assistance as needed according to US law?

Israeli army to remain in Gaza ‘for many years’: Smotrich

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said that “Gaza must be reoccupied”. “The Israeli army will remain in the Gaza Strip for many years to ensure security,” Smotrich said, in an interview with Israel’s Makor Rishon newspaper.

“The army will maintain operational security control in the long term in Gaza to achieve the objectives of the war and to prevent Hamas from recovering. “In my estimation, a political settlement will be reached by the end of the year,” he added.



SvennoJ on 01 November 2024

Gaza’s polio vaccination campaign to resume on Saturday: Report

Palestinian Health Minister Majid Abu Ramadan has said the second round of polio vaccinations will resume in northern Gaza on Saturday morning, the Wafa news agency reports, without specifying which areas will be targeted.

On Thursday, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, also said it is his “understanding that it may resume over the weekend” when asked about vaccination rollout in northern Gaza.

On October 23, the World Health Organization announced the vaccination campaign for children in northern Gaza was postponed amid Israel’s military siege, bombardment, mass displacement of people, and lack of access to areas.

Gaza’s mass vaccination effort began in September after the first confirmed polio case in the territory in 25 years was detected in August. The campaign aims to fully vaccinate more than 640,000 children in the war-torn territory.

Polio primarily affects children under five and can cause deformities, paralysis and, in some cases, death.


Children in Gaza learn to spot unexploded ordnance as Israeli unexploded bombs pose threat for years

In Gaza, children attend life-saving lessons held by the International Committee of the Red Cross on identifying unexploded ordnance left in their homes, as up to 15 percent of the missiles dropped by Israel remain unexploded, posing long-term risks.

UN investigator Chris Sidoti has highlighted the unprecedented scale of child injuries and fatalities, as children in Gaza face the ongoing threat from explosives in their daily lives.



SvennoJ on 01 November 2024

Israeli military bombs home in Deir el-Balah, killing at least 2

Israeli fighter jets have bombed a house in the al-Hadba neighbourhood in the city of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, killing at least two people and injuring others, the Wafa news agency reports.

At least 95 people have been killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, with around 75 of those killed in northern Gaza, where Israeli forces are carrying out a deadly weeks-long siege.



Israeli naval ships shell Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp

Our colleague at Al Jazeera Arabic reports that Israeli gunboats patrolling off the coast of Gaza have opened fire on the western part of the Nuseirat refugee camp, located in the central area of the Palestinian enclave.


Three bodies recovered following Israeli shelling in Nuseirat

Rescue teams have recovered three bodies following overnight Israeli shelling in the Nuseirat area of central Gaza, our Al Jazeera colleagues report. The bodies were recovered from under the rubble of the Abu Khadra family home.

Earlier, we reported that Israeli gunboats patrolling off the coast of Gaza opened fire on the western part of the Nuseirat refugee camp.


Mostly women, children among 47 killed in overnight attacks on Gaza: Report

The Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israeli shelling of central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah, Nuseirat refugee camp and the az-Zawayda area also left dozens wounded from the Israeli attacks on Thursday night and into Friday morning.

Most of those killed were women and children, Wafa said, as medical sources confirmed that 47 bodies were taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah following the Israeli attacks.

The majority of the victims were killed in the bombing of several houses in the Nuseirat area. The same houses were hit a second time when people rushed to rescue those who survived the first strike, leading to more casualties among the rescuers, Wafa reports.

Search continues for people missing beneath the rubble, the news agency said.


Five-month-old baby among 25 people killed in central Gaza

We keep seeing bodies arriving at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital here in Deir el-Balah from the bomb sites of the three residential homes that were hit overnight. There are 25 bodies in the hospital morgue at the moment.

As we talk to surviving family members, it’s difficult to imagine that the Israeli military has any clear objective other than the mass murder of civilians inside their homes. The latest victims include a five-month-old baby.

The baby was with his grandmother when he was killed. The grandmother survived the attack, along with other family members, including his uncle.

Another entire family – 10 members – was wiped out as they were sheltering inside one of these residential buildings.

More bodies are being recovered. The sheer level of destruction caused by the bombs is shocking.