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

SvennoJ 3 days ago

Israel intentionally depriving civilians in Gaza of access to water: HRW

https://www.hrw.org/report/2024/12/19/extermination-and-acts-genocide/israel-deliberately-depriving-palestinians-gaza

Israel is using water as a tool of extermination and genocide in Gaza, according to a Human Rights Watch report.

  • cut off and later restricted piped water to Gaza;
  • rendered most of Gaza’s water and sanitation infrastructure useless by cutting electricity and restricting fuel;
  • deliberately destroyed and damaged water and sanitation infrastructure and water repair materials; and
  • blocked the entry of critical water supplies.

“Water is essential for human life, yet for over a year the Israeli government has deliberately denied Palestinians in Gaza the bare minimum they need to survive,” said Tirana Hassan, HRW executive director.

“This isn’t just negligence; it is a calculated policy of deprivation that has led to the deaths of thousands from dehydration and disease that is nothing short of the crime against humanity of extermination, and an act of genocide.”


Israel has ‘comprehensive policy’ to deny clean water to Gaza

Bill Van Esveld, the acting Israel and Palestine associate director at Human Rights Watch, told Al Jazeera that HRW’s report accusing Israel of “acts of genocide” by denying clean water to Palestinians in Gaza was “very thorough” and involved speaking to more than 115 people as well as examining data such as satellite images.

He said HRW found “four key things that Israel has deliberately done to block people in Gaza from getting enough water to survive since the start of this conflict”:

  • Israel cut off drinking water; most people in Gaza rely on Israeli water pipelines because the aquifer under Gaza has been so badly contaminated by 17 years of Israeli siege.
  • Israel cut off the electricity and fuel needed to run water facilities inside Gaza, such as desalination and wastewater plants.
  • The Israeli military bulldozed solar panels powering water facilities.
  • Israeli forces attacked and prevented any repairs from happening.

“So this is a comprehensive, watertight policy of preventing people from getting any water,” he said.

“And as a result, for over a year people [in Gaza] have gotten two to nine litres (2.11 to 9.5 quarts) of water per day. The bare minimum for survival is 15 (15.9 quarts).”

He said “acts of genocide” apply not only when conditions that will kill a large number of people are knowingly inflicted, but also when acts are done as state policy.

“This is one of the listed acts of genocide in the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court and the Genocide Convention. So those same acts [that Israel is perpetrating] are genocidal acts,” he said.

“When you do this on purpose for such a long time, what else could you be doing?”


Palestinians wait to collect water in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, following a Human Rights Watch report that says Israel’s deprivation of clean water in Gaza is an ‘act of genocide’



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SvennoJ 3 days ago

Israeli soldiers in Gaza compete to see who can kill the most number of Palestinians: Report

Israeli soldiers who fought in Gaza have told the Haaretz newspaper that the country’s military has designated the Netzarim Corridor, which cuts the Strip in two, as a “kill zone”.

“The forces in the field call it ‘the line of dead bodies’,” a commander from Division 252 told Haaretz.

“After shootings, bodies are not collected, attracting packs of dogs who come to eat them. In Gaza, people know that wherever you see these dogs, that’s where you must not go.”

The unnamed soldiers who spoke to Haaretz said that the orders to kill anyone who enters the area applies to civilians, including children, and that soldiers compete to see who can shoot and kill the most number of Palestinians.

“We’re killing civilians there who are then counted as terrorists,” one recently discharged officer from Division 252 told Haaretz.

“The [Israeli army’s] spokesperson’s announcements about casualty numbers have turned this into a competition between units,” he said. “If Division 99 kills 150 [people], the next unit aims for 200.”

The stretch of land known as the Netzarim Corridor is a six-kilometre-long (four-mile) road just south of Gaza City running east to west from the Israeli border to the Mediterranean Sea.


A satellite image shows the Netzarim Corridor, an area of central Gaza razed by the Israeli military on August 20


Israeli soldier recounts shooting, killing 16-year-old Palestinian boy

More from the Haaretz report on Israeli abuses in the so-called Netzarim Corridor in Gaza.

One veteran soldier from Division 252 who spoke to the Israeli newspaper recalled how troops killed a 16-year-old boy.

“One time, guards spotted someone approaching from the south. We responded as if it was a large militant raid. We took positions and just opened fire. I’m talking about dozens of bullets, maybe more. For about a minute or two, we just kept shooting at the body. People around me were shooting and laughing,” the soldier was quoted as saying.

“We approached the blood-covered body, photographed it, and took the phone. He was just a boy, maybe 16.”

An intelligence officer collected the items, and hours later, the Israeli soldiers learned the boy was not a Hamas operative, but a civilian.

“That evening, our battalion commander congratulated us for killing a terrorist, saying he hoped we’d kill ten more tomorrow,” the soldier added.

Another officer from Division 252 told Haaretz that the vast majority of those killed are, in fact, civilians.

He referred to one incident when the Israeli military announced the killing of more than 200 fighters.

“Standard procedure requires photographing bodies and collecting details when possible, then sending evidence to intelligence to verify militant status or at least confirm they were killed by the [Israeli army],” he said. “Of those 200 casualties, only ten were confirmed as known Hamas operatives. Yet no one questioned the public announcement about killing hundreds of militants.”



SvennoJ 3 days ago

Israel’s attacks on healthcare in Palestine

Insecurity Insight, a Swiss NGO, says it has identified 2,038 incidents of violence against or obstruction of access to healthcare in the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel.

This is in the period between October 7, 2023 and November 25 of this year.

According to the group:

  • There have been 1,567 attacks in the Gaza Strip with health facilities damaged 279 times and 581 medical workers killed. At least 339 healthcare staff were detained.
  • There have been 355 attacks in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, with 11 medical workers killed and 92 others detained.

Rights group slams Israel’s ‘egregious attack on civilians’ at UN-run school

The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which has deployed a team of doctors to the Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, has condemned Israel’s attack on a UN-run school on Sunday that killed 20 people.

The victims included several children, it said, citing testimony from its doctors.

The IRC noted that the Ahmed bin Abdul Azeez school is located within the Israeli-designated “humanitarian zone” in Khan Younis and said doctors have reported having to treat severe injuries – such as shrapnel wounds to the head – without adequate medical supplies.

“This is yet another attack on a shelter housing displaced people, in what has become a familiar pattern over the course of this war,” said Bob Kitchen, the IRC’s vice president.

“The testimonies from the doctors not only paint a picture of an egregious attack on civilians, but also highlight the severe lack of vital medical supplies needed to tend to catastrophic injuries, as a result of Israel’s restrictions on aid. Doctors report a shocking lack of painkillers and the necessary tools to carry out specialised procedures. As a result, people are dying or suffering life-changing injuries which may not have been the case with adequate medical supplies.”


Amnesty demands EU leaders take action against genocide in Gaza

Amnesty International has projected the message “End Gaza genocide” in 24 languages spoken in the European Union onto the European Commission headquarters in Brussels before a meeting of the bloc’s leaders.

In a damning report released earlier this month, Amnesty concluded that Israel’s devastating war on Gaza meets the legal threshold for genocide.

Amnesty has called on EU leaders meeting on Thursday to halt all arms transfers to Israel, ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements, and ensure justice and accountability for Israeli crimes.



SvennoJ 3 days ago

Palestinian doctor killed in Israeli air strike

Abdullah Habib, a doctor at the al-Ahli Arab Hospital in northern Gaza, was killed by an Israeli air strike targeting the Daraj neighbourhood.

Earlier, at least four people were killed by an Israeli raid on a house near the al-Tabin School in the Daraj neighbourhood.



Death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza rises to 45,129

At least 45,129 Palestinians have been killed and 107,338 injured in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, the Gaza Health Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. The updated casualty toll has risen by 32 deaths in 24 hours.

The number of deaths is likely to be far higher as many bodies are believed to remain buried underneath the rubble across the devastated Strip.


At least 10 killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza City shelters: Report

We have some more information about the Israeli air attacks on two shelters housing displaced families in eastern Gaza City. Medics quoted by Reuters said at least 10 Palestinians have been killed and several others wounded.


Aftermath of Israeli attack on Gaza City family home



Euro-Med probe finds no evidence of military targets in Israeli attack on Gaza City mosque

The Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor says it investigated Israel’s attack on a Gaza City mosque on November 16 last year that killed more than 15 Palestinians, including women and children.

It said the probe found no military targets, “such as objects or armed individuals, inside the mosque or in its surrounding area at the time of the attack”.

“According to the investigation’s findings, at approximately 4:45am on Wednesday, 16 November 2023, Israeli aircraft struck Al-Hassan Mosque in the Al-Sanafur area of Al-Tuffah neighbourhood, east of Gaza City, without any prior warning,” the monitor said.

“The attack involved one or two heavy, high-explosive bombs and occurred just as worshippers began their dawn prayers.”


SvennoJ 3 days ago

In Gaza, the suffering of children is ‘just intolerable’

We’ve spoken to Hamish Young, senior emergency coordinator for UNICEF, who is currently in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.

He described the situation for children in the besieged and bombarded territory as “absolutely horrific”, citing the toll of about 15,000 children killed and the higher number of those wounded.

“On top of that, without a doubt, every child in Gaza is suffering enormously from the psychological damage of the war, as well,” Young said.

He noted that it’s “really important” to recognise that “every child in Gaza” has lost a parent, or grandparent or a sibling “because the numbers can become overwhelming”.

“We’ve become numb to these numbers, but these are real small children,” Young said.

“Just last week I was in Gaza City at a hospital with a young boy called Osama, who is 11 years old. He was out playing on the beach with his friends – it’s hard to think of anything more innocent than that – a blast went off, he was hit in the back of the head with shrapnel and now he’s a quadriplegic and on ventilator support,” he added.

“The suffering is just intolerable.”

Palestinian builds below-ground home for his family in Gaza

Tayseer Obaid has been displaced nine times during Israel’s war on Gaza. He’s now made a below-ground home for his family by digging out the soil beneath the tents where they live.



No doubt gonna be accused and bombed for building terror tunnels...


Full UN membership key to regional de-escalation: Palestinian president

Full Palestinian membership at the UN is the key to security and stability in the Middle East, President Mahmoud Abbas said while addressing the D-8 summit in Cairo.

Abbas said the Palestinian people are facing daily Israeli massacres, starvation and attempts to forcibly displace them.

“This requires the immediate implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2735 demanding a ceasefire, the entry of aid, full withdrawal from Gaza and Palestine assuming its responsibilities in the Strip.” he added.

“Achieving security and stability in the region requires Palestine to obtain full membership in the UN and more international recognition” of the Palestinian state, Abbas said.



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SvennoJ 3 days ago

Meet The Palestinian Man Israel Doesn’t Want You To Know Exists


The forgotten suffering of Palestinians in Syria


Amid the horrors of Assad’s government in Syria. Yarmouk Camp, home to over 160,000 Palestinian refugees, became a symbol of unimaginable suffering. Under siege since 2013, families faced famine, disease, and death, with no access to aid. This is their story—a story of survival against all odds.


DISRUPTED: US Army Veteran Calls Out House Committee for Supporting Genocide


A 17-year U.S. veteran, Josephine Guilbeau, disrupted the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, condemning Congress for funding Israel's actions in Gaza while neglecting American veterans. She passionately urged veterans nationwide to protest U.S. policies, highlighting her trauma from witnessing Gaza's humanitarian crisis.



SvennoJ 2 days ago

Israeli settlers, right-wing politicians attend a tour overlooking Gaza

Israeli media outlet The Times of Israel is reporting that politicians and settlers visited a lookout in the city of Sderot that provides views of the northern Gaza Strip to discuss potential locations for future illegal settlements in the enclave.

Haaretz reported that Limor Son Har-Malech of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party and Zvi Sukkot, a member of the Religious Zionist party, led the event called “A tour overlooking Gaza”.

Daniella Weiss, the founder of Nachala, a hardline Israeli settler organisation, is reported to have taken part in the event.

Any Israeli attempt to occupy Gaza would violate international law but some Israeli officials have pushed for building settlements in Gaza since Israel began its war on the enclave in October 2023.

Israeli settlements are Jewish communities illegally built on Palestinian land. Roughly 700,000 Israeli settlers are living in at least 250 illegal settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.




UN to ask ICJ for opinion on Israeli obligation to facilitate aid to Palestinians

The UN General Assembly has voted on asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for an opinion over Israel’s obligation to facilitate aid to Palestinians that is being delivered by aid organisations, the UN and member states.

The Norway-drafted resolution was adopted with 137 votes in favour. Israel, the US and 10 other countries voted “no”, while 22 countries abstained.

In July, the ICJ ruled that Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories was unlawful and should end “as rapidly as possible”.



Spain’s political parties urge PM to sanction Israel

Several political parties in Spain, including coalition partner Sumar and four other parties backing the minority left-wing government, have called on Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to take decisive action against Israel.

The parties – Sumar, Podemos, the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), the Basque EH Bildu and the Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) – made their appeal through a written statement submitted to the Spanish parliament’s records.

The letter demanded the enforcement of “a full military embargo, along with political and economic sanctions” against Israel.

It urged Sanchez to minimise diplomatic relations with Israel and suspend trade agreements until the illegal occupation of Palestine ends.

Additionally, the letter called on Spain’s Teresa Ribera Rodriguez, the European Commission’s vice president and the commissioner for competition, to push for the cancellation of the EU’s agreement with Israel, which currently grants the country preferential trade treatment.



SvennoJ 2 days ago

Death toll rises in Israeli attacks on Gaza shelters

At least 15 Palestinians have been killed and 30 wounded in Israeli air attacks on two schools sheltering displaced people in Gaza City.

Medics in Gaza told Anadolu news agency that most of the victims were women and children in the attack that hit the Dar al-Arqam and Shaaban al-Rayes schools in the Tuffah neighbourhood.

Witnesses added that the Israeli attack caused huge destruction to the schools and nearby residential buildings.


A Palestinian man carries a wounded boy, after an Israeli strike on a school, into the al-Ahli Arab Hospital


Israeli army claims deadly attacks on schools targeted ‘command and control centres’

The Israeli army claims, without providing evidence, that the deadly attacks carried out on the two school shelters were a “precise strike”. In a statement on Telegram, the army said the attack targeted “terrorists who were operating in command and control centres” in the buildings.

The schools, which housed Palestinians who had been displaced due to the war, killed at least 15 and wounded 30.


Not many options for Palestinians fleeing northern Gaza

There are not many options available for Palestinians forced to flee northern Gaza. The options that are available are dangerous.

People end up in tent camps; they end up in many of the severely damaged buildings that are already subjected to many attacks by drones, quadcopters and fighter jets across Gaza City.

Just as we report, more attacks took place in the past couple of hours in al-Tuffah district in eastern Gaza City, where many of the people who were displaced from the northern part of the Gaza Strip had ended up in the residential buildings in that area.

They became the victims of these unpredictable attacks on evacuation centres. Only a few of them made their way to the central area because the Netzarim juncture now serves as a death trap for many people.


Fire brigades try to extinguish the fire that broke out in the building targeted by the Israeli army in Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City, Thursday



SvennoJ 2 days ago

What is happening in the occupied West Bank?

We have been reporting on two separate incidents in the occupied West Bank today. Here is a summary of what we know so far:

  • In Tulkarem, in the north of the occupied West Bank, four Palestinians were killed in an air strike that targeted a vehicle.
  • The Tulkarem Brigade, an umbrella group representing different Palestinian factions, said the four killed were its fighters.
  • The Israeli military confirmed it had carried out a joint operation with the Shin Bet – the internal intelligence service – in Tulkarem but gave no other details.
  • Separately, two Palestinians, including an 80-year-old woman, were killed when they were fired on by Israeli troops carrying out a raid in the Balata refugee camp near Nablus.


The Israeli military supports a stronger PA as Jenin raid continues: Report

The Times of Israel is reporting that the Israeli army is considering strengthening the Palestinian Authority (PA) after its security forces began carrying out operations against Palestinian fighters in the Jenin refugee camp on December 14, following a 10-day siege.

The Israeli media outlet said the army’s efforts to strengthen the PA were “not a rogue move, but a directive from the Israeli government”. The Jenin Brigades, the main target of the PA, has ties to the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), but also has members affiliated with other Palestinian groups.


Palestinian Authority refuses to back down in fight with Jenin fighters

Nahida al-Sabbagh has endured the battles in the Jenin refugee camp, where she lives, since Saturday. The fighting between local Palestinian armed fighters from the Jenin Brigades and security forces continues near her home around the clock.

But it is the identity of the security forces clashing with those fighters that is most shocking to Nahida. They’re not Israeli. They’re Palestinian and represent the Palestinian Authority (PA).

“We never imagined that the security forces would treat the camp like this,” the 52-year-old Palestinian woman said.

The clashes around the al-Sabbagh family’s home in the camp’s al-Mahyoub neighbourhood are the result of an ongoing campaign launched by the PA’s security apparatus under the name “Protecting the Homeland”.



Ryuu96 2 days ago

Lovely to see...Please last.