Amnesty report ‘critically important’ for Gaza

The report by Amnesty International, accusing Israel of waging genocide in Gaza, carries “important weight” and puts pressure on international institutions to intervene, says Tamer Qarmout, an associate professor in public policy at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.

As one of the most prominent civil society groups that stays outside the fray of politics, Amnesty’s voice could play an “important role in bringing justice”, he told Al Jazeera.

While reports such as Amnesty’s have yet to stop the war in Gaza, “it’s important not to lose hope”, Qarmout added.

Civil society should “keep putting pressure on [international systems], especially the United Nations, exposing the hypocrisy and the complicity of the countries that have been enabling this genocide to continue”, he said.

Israel dismisses Amnesty International report alleging genocide as ‘entirely false’

Israel’s Foreign Ministry has issued a statement calling the rights group a “deplorable and fanatical organisation” that has “once again produced a fabricated report”.

Amnesty’s report, as we’ve noted, accuses Israel’s military of carrying out at least three of the five acts banned by the 1948 Genocide Convention. It says Israel is treating Palestinians as subhuman as it blocks their aid supplies and carries out arbitrary detentions.

Amnesty International’s Israel branch also pushed back on the report, saying its findings are “predetermined”.

In a statement carried by The Times of Israel newspaper, Amnesty Israel acknowledged “the scale of the killing and destruction carried out by Israel in Gaza has reached horrific proportions” but questioned the report’s “operative findings”.

It said it does not believe Israel’s actions “meet the definition of genocide as strictly laid out in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”.

More on Trump envoy’s ceasefire push

The Reuters news agency reported earlier that Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, was in Qatar and Israel in late November to kickstart the president-elect’s effort to reach a ceasefire deal for Gaza.

It quoted a US official as saying that Biden’s aides have been aware of Witkoff’s contacts with Israeli, Qatari and other Middle East officials and understand that Trump’s envoy supports a Gaza deal along the lines the administration has been pursuing.

The unnamed official told Reuters that US President Joe Biden’s team has kept the Trump camp updated, but the two sides have not worked together directly. The Biden administration does not see a need to coordinate with Witkoff because it regards his discussions with regional players as largely an effort to learn the issues rather than negotiations, the official said.

Meanwhile, Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, who met Witkoff, told the UK’s Sky News that Trump wants a deal before he takes power. Sheikh Mohammed said a deal was “90 percent there” and expressed cautious optimism that it could be pushed over the finishing line with “maximum pressure” on all parties.

What kind of deal though, temporary 'ceasefire' for hostage exchange or an actual end to the war. If it's the first I doubt Israel will cooperate letting more aid in, let alone let people return to the North and other areas.

Israel’s Ben-Gvir hopes to do ‘big things’ in Gaza with Trump’s support: Report

After US President-elect Donald Trump enters the White House next month, Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wants to present him with “a programme to encourage migration [of Palestinians from] and settlements [of Israelis] in Gaza”.

In an interview with a podcast of the Maariv newspaper, Ben-Gvir said it would be the “moral” and “logical” choice for Trump to join “this endeavour”. “It will also be good for the residents of Gaza who emigrate, voluntarily of course,” he claimed. “I think it will also do us good.”

“When have we defeated our enemies? It’s always been when we’ve taken territory from them. When we liberated – they call it ‘occupied’ I say we liberated – the territory, that’s always been the thing that punishes them most,” he said.

‘I am the only person who was saved’: Survivor recounts Israel’s attack on al-Mawasi

An elderly Palestinian man whose entire family was wounded in the Israeli attack told Al Jazeera what he saw.

“After the sunset prayer, an explosion took place. It was followed by a fire. The whole camp was destroyed,” he said in a video testimony.

“I ran to search for my sons, my wife and my daughters. All of them were taken to hospital. I am the only person who was saved. The rest are at the hospital. I am still in shock. I don’t know what is happening.”


_{Rescuers sift through charred debris in al-Mawasi}

Al Jazeera’s Rami Abu Teemah, reporting from the site of the attack, said the targeted area was full of shelters housing displaced Palestinians. “More than 14 Palestinian families were taking shelter here. The place was targeted with at least two missiles, causing a fire,” he said.

Several of the shelters were put together from tin sheets, tarpaulin and plastic poles.Footage from the scene showed damaged sheets, charred debris and smouldering flames, hours after the attack.

Abu Teemah said the victims of the attack have been taken to the Nasser Hospital. “Whole families were hit, including women and children. Al-Mawasi continues to be attacked by Israeli strikes that destroy the tents with people inside them, leaving many dead or injured,” he said.

Nasser Hospital director confirms 21 killed in Gaza’s al-Mawasi ‘safe zone’

Israel’s attack on a tent camp in the al-Mawasi area in southern Gaza yesterday is now confirmed to have killed 21 people and injured another 28, according to Atif Al-Hout, the director of Nasser Hospital in nearby Khan Younis.

As we’ve been reporting, the attack hit tents where displaced families were sheltering, causing fires to break out and incinerating some of the victims, who include women and children.

An Associated Press news agency journalist visiting Nasser Hospital, where the victims were taken, said accounting for the casualties was difficult because many were dismembered or severely burned.


_{Smoke rises during an Israeli strike near a camp for displaced Palestinians in al-Mawasi, Gaza, on December 4}

At least 3 Palestinians killed in central Gaza’s Nuseirat: Report

Israeli forces have attacked a family home in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing at least three people and injuring others, according to a civil defence source quoted by the Palestinian Information Center.

The attack follows Israeli bombardment of an aid distribution point in the camp yesterday, which killed at least four children.


_{A man sifts through the rubble as others stand at the scene after an Israeli attack on Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on December 5}

MSF condemns Israeli raid on West Bank hospital

We’ve been covering an Israeli raid on the Specialized Arab Hospital in Nablus on Wednesday, during which special forces arrested a Palestinian man who was wounded in an attack on the village of Aqqaba. The raid came after Israeli forces also stormed the Turkish Government Hospital in the city of Tubas on Tuesday. That was where casualties from the attack on Aqqaba were initially taken.

Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, recounted what happened in Tubas on Tuesday. The group said Israeli forces stormed the hospital and detained staff, intimidated patients and caused damage to the emergency room.

“During this hour-long raid, five medical staff were detained and one person was wounded. Medical staff on site were threatened at gunpoint and subjected to aggressive questioning. Patients were told to stay still or they would be shot and killed,” MSF said in a post on X.

The group’s deputy head of mission for Palestine, Karine Robert, said the “violent incursion” was “unacceptable and shocking”.

Seven arrested during Israeli raids across Nablus

The Israeli military has carried out raids across Nablus governorate in the occupied West Bank, arresting seven people, the Wafa news agency reports.

Countless attacks on Kamal Adwan Hospital

We can’t keep up with the number of attacks on Kamal Adwan Hospital and its vicinity as the past hours have been quite violent and bloody. These attacks are not accidental. They’re deliberate and directed at hospital facilities, its medical staff and the patients inside.

We’ve seen some of the footage at the hospital of people soaked in blood. In one case that we looked at, a heartbreaking one, of a person in a wheelchair who was just discharged from the hospital and right at the entrance when a quadcopter dropped a grenade that exploded and [shrapnel] flew at high speed, piercing through his body and killing him.

Many of the wounded ones were at the entrance of the hospital, including medical staff.

In the past hour, another attack on the entrance of the hospital was recorded with 12 people with various injuries.

About 18,000 Palestinians forced to evacuate from Beit Lahiya

According to Israeli Army Radio, at least 18,000 Palestinians were forced to evacuate from Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, The Times of Israel reports. The report said Israeli forces detained about 100 people for questioning.

The Israeli army has issued several forced displacement orders across the enclave. In the past day, Army Radio reported that combat in Beit Lahiya has become less intense.

At least 31 Israeli soldiers have been killed so far in the operation in northern Gaza.

US must not ‘remain complicit’ in Gaza atrocities: Advocacy group

The US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR) says Amnesty International’s report concluding that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza should prompt a policy shift in the US.

“This damning report from Amnesty International thoroughly documents and confirms what we’ve long known: Israel is committing genocide, and the US government must immediately stop arming it,” USCPR executive director Ahmad Abuznaid said in a statement.

“The evidence is undeniable. There’s absolutely no excuse for any institution within the US – any city, county, state, university, or governmental body – to remain complicit in the brutal mass killings of Palestinian families.”

US rejects Amnesty’s conclusion that Israel is committing genocide

The US dismissed Amnesty International’s extensive report on Israel’s intent to destroy the Palestinian people as an “opinion”. “We have said previously and continue to find that the allegations of genocide are unfounded,” State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters.

“But there continues to be a vital role that civil society organisations like Amnesty International and human rights groups and NGOs play in providing information and analysis as it relates to Gaza.”

Hezbollah leader pledges Syria support amid ‘dangerous’ Israeli policy

The Hezbollah leader promised to stand beside Syria amid what he described as attacks by “terrorist groups” and went on to say that he and Hezbollah will be alongside Syria in “thwarting the goals of aggression to the best of our ability … we are facing a very dangerous Israeli Middle Eastern project.”

You will hear that this is a coordinated effort to weaken longstanding nodes of power, Hezbollah being one of them, Syria’s President al-Assad being another, and Iran being one more.

To that effect, how can Hezbollah continue to support al-Assad in their weakened state? They’re very much licking their wounds since the ceasefire and turned their attention to rebuilding, reconstruction and getting people home from the front lines and civilians that have been displaced.

How they’ve supported al-Assad in the past has been with manpower: through sending troops, sending people into Syria. Can they do that now?

The sooner al-Assad is gone the better. And Hezbollah got plenty criticism (from their own Lebanese supporters) for helping Assad in the past. Hezbollah needs to make up their minds, build a legitimate future in Lebanon or stay Iran's lap dog. Lay down the arms, focus on rebuilding Lebanon. Syria has had enough outside interference.

Low-flying Israeli drones reported over Beirut

Lebanon’s National News Agency is reporting that the drones are flying “at a very low altitude” over the capital and its suburbs.

Residents across Lebanon have reported hearing the buzzing of drones over the past week despite the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect on November 27.

US lawmakers ‘can no longer deny that this is genocide’: Rashida Tlaib

The US congresswoman cites Amnesty International’s conclusion to renew calls for ending the transfer of weapons to Israel.

“My colleagues can no longer deny that this is genocide,” Tlaib wrote on X. “We must follow our own US laws. We need an Arms Embargo now.”

My colleagues can no longer deny that this is genocide. We must follow our own U.S. laws. We need an Arms Embargo now. https://t.co/V66f9czppH

— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) December 5, 2024

Footage shows families displaced to Gaza City without tent or food

Footage shared by our colleague Hossam Shabat shows the plight of families displaced from the besieged town of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza.

They were sitting on the ground next to a huge pile of rubble without tents or food in the darkness of the cold night in Gaza City.

One of the women said: “For God’s sake, have mercy on us and our children. We don’t know where to go from the cold, and I have a heart condition, I can’t speak. For God’s sake, bring us a tent.”

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDMB3PpoX-r

Far-right Israeli minister says there’s a ‘great opportunity’ to annex West Bank

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told workers at the Civil Administration in charge of Israeli and Palestinian affairs in the occupied West Bank that he hopes to close the department as Israel was annexing the territory, Israeli media is reporting.

“I hope we’ll have a great opportunity with the new US administration to create full normalisation [of Israeli rule] and bring government ministries in here,” Smotrich was quoted as saying.

The minister added that he had spoken to Netanyahu and the ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, about the matter.

Gunfight erupts in Jenin between PA officers and armed groups

In Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, gunfights erupted between Palestinian security forces and armed groups over the theft of vehicles belonging to the Palestinian Authority (PA), AFP news agency reported.

Intense exchanges of fire began around 9:30pm (19:30 GMT), which was followed by the deployment of members of the security forces around the Jenin refugee camp.

General Anwar Rajab, the security forces’ spokesman, said in a statement that the forces would “recover the vehicles and hold accountable anyone who committed this act”.

But the Jenin battalion of the al-Quds Brigades said that PA officers had arrested one of its members and confiscated money that was for the family of a killed Palestinian fighter.

“In the face of this absurd aggression, we decided to return our right by force, so they and their masters know that the Jenin Battalion has men who will not let go of their rights or accept insults and dishonour,” the group said.

The battalion also condemned the PA’s security coordination with Israel, calling it a “poisoned dagger in the side of the Palestinian people”.

Israeli forces shoot teenager during West Bank raid

The 16-year-old was wounded after Israel forces stormed the Jalazone refugee camp, north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, and fired live ammunition, the Wafa news agency reports.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the teenager was shot in the thigh and has been transferred to hospital. They did not state the severity of his condition.

Israeli forces have also stormed the following locations over recent hours:

Main points on December 5th

• Israel’s assault on Gaza continues, including an attack on a residential building in Beit Lahiya in the north, which has killed at least 15 Palestinians.
• Amnesty International has accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in its war on Gaza, in new findings based on witness statements, footage analysis, and statements by Israeli officials.
• Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has said Israel may have “an opportunity now” to secure a deal to free captives held in Gaza, as Hamas negotiators are reportedly set to return to Doha to facilitate a new round of talks.
• Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said he believes Israel has a “great opportunity” to formally annex the occupied West Bank under the new Trump administration.
• Israel’s repeated violations of a fragile US-brokered ceasefire in Lebanon continue, including a strike on the village of Aitaroun in the south, which wounded five people.
• Hezbollah has pledged its support to the Syrian government, as it labelled a blistering armed opposition offensive in Syria an aggression “sponsored by America and Israel”.

Israel's Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza Revealed Through Evidence and Analysis

Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza strip. Watch this video to understand how Amnesty International arrived at this conclusion.  

For the genocide to end—governments must come together and take resolute action.  They must use every legal avenue to bring perpetrators to justice, stop arms transfers and urgently work to dismantle Israel’s unlawful occupation and apartheid regime.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/petition/end-israels-genocide-against-palestinians-in-gaza/

Keir Starmer keeps arming Israel - here's how

Over 500 shipments of F-35 parts sent from British airbase to the US, where they can be exported to Israel amid Gaza genocide.

• Britain’s Ministry of Defence confirms that the global pool of F-35 spares is owned by the Pentagon.

• Campaign group says it raises “serious questions about how much sovereignty over export controls the UK and other F-35 partner nations have surrendered”.

• So can Keir Starmer control these weapon sales?

https://www.declassifieduk.org/revealed-hundreds-of-f-35-components-sent-from-britain-to-u-s/