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

SvennoJ 7 hours ago

Israel attacks UN guesthouse in Deir el-Balah, injures aid workers

The Israeli attacks are continuing. Just right now here in Deir el-Balah, Israeli forces targeted one of the UN guesthouses where international humanitarian workers reside.

Four of the injured workers were brought to Al-Aqsa Hospital in an ambulance. Another was brought in an armoured UN vehicle. We still do not have details on what happened or how, but we saw these international workers covered with blood.

Doctors at Al-Aqsa Hospital took them into the emergency department and tried to give them medication. But we know that hospitals across the Gaza Strip are running short on supplies.

This is not the only attack that took place in the past hour. Israeli forces also targeted a house in Nuseirat. The situation is escalating. We hear continuous explosions and ambulance sirens.


A foreign worker, who was wounded in an Israeli air strike on a UN site, is brought into Al-Aqsa Hospital, in Deir el-Balah, Gaza, on March 19


At least 1 foreign UN staff killed, 5 injured in Deir el-Balah attack: Ministry

At least one foreign staff member of the UN has been killed and five others seriously injured in an Israeli attack on the UN headquarters in central Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The statement published on Telegram said the casualties arrived at Deir el-Balah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where one of the victims succumbed to their injuries.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHYG8SONqaS


Israeli military denies striking UN site in Gaza’s Deir el-Balah

In a statement, the Israeli military has dismissed reports that it carried out an attack on a UN site in Deir el-Balah.

“The military calls on media outlets to act with action regarding unverified reports,” it said.

Photographs, as well as footage viewed by Al Jazeera, show injured foreigners arriving at Deir el-Balah’s Al-Aqsa Hospital after the reported attack.


A third injured foreign worker is taken to Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah, Gaza, on March 19


Gaza’s Media Office condemns Israeli ‘targeting’ of UN site, calls for international probe

Gaza’s Government Media Office has issued a statement denouncing Israel for the reported attack on a UN site in Deir el-Balah, which it says has killed one foreign worker and seriously injured five others.

“This crime,” it said, “[is] part of a deliberate policy targeting UN and humanitarian institutions to prevent them from fulfilling their duty to assist the Palestinian people.”

“We call on the United Nations to take a clear and strong stance regarding this crime, and to act immediately” to hold Israel accountable, the office added, while calling for an “urgent international investigation”.


Israel’s targeting of Gaza relief workers ‘systematic’: Hamas

Hamas has issued a new statement about what it said was the Israeli targeting of a headquarters used by foreign workers at UN institutions that resulted in the death of an employee and the wounding of five others.

“This crime not only constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, but also comes in the context of the occupation’s systematic policy of targeting civilians and humanitarian and relief workers, with the aim of terrorising them and discouraging them from performing their humanitarian duty towards our people, and deepening the humanitarian catastrophe that the Gaza Strip is experiencing,” the group said in a statement.

It added that since the start of the war, Israel has killed “hundreds of UNRWA staff and workers in international humanitarian and relief institutions, as part of its criminal war, through which it seeks to tighten the blockade and strangle the Gaza Strip and deprive our people of the most basic necessities of life, in blatant defiance of international laws and norms”.


UN says international staffer killed in Gaza explosion

The UN has now confirmed that one international employee has been killed and five others have been wounded in an explosion in Gaza.

Jorge Moreira da Silva, head of the UN Office for Project Services, said the cause of the blast remains unclear but that an explosive ordnance was “dropped or fired”.


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SvennoJ 7 hours ago

Israel’s far-right Ben-Gvir reappointed as national security minister

Israeli ultranationalist Itamar Ben-Gvir has been reappointed to the post of minister of national security, according to the prime minister’s office.

Leader of the far-right party Otzma Yehudit or Jewish Power since 2019, Ben-Gvir resigned in January in protest at the ceasefire deal reached to end fighting in Gaza.

His return to cabinet comes a day after Israel launched a wave of surprise air strikes on Gaza that killed more than 400 Palestinians, and as Prime Minister Netanyahu promised unrelenting military attacks until Hamas releases captives.

“The government unanimously approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal to reappoint MK Itamar Ben-Gvir to the position of Minister of National Security,” the PM’s office said in a statement.


Israeli opposition leader urges mass protests against Netanyahu’s government

Yair Lapid, Israel’s opposition leader and former prime minister, has called on the public to rally against the government of PM Netanyahu, accusing it of having “no red lines” after resuming war in Gaza.

The entire nation must “come together and say: ‘Enough!'”, wrote Lapid in a post on X.

“I’m calling on all of you – this is our moment, this is our future, this is our country. Take to the streets!” he added.

Yesterday, Lapid pressed for Netanyahu’s resignation, saying Israel had “lost confidence in him”.


Retired Israeli air force general detained during protest

Israeli police have detained retired Israeli Air Force Brigadier General Amir Haskel, a prominent anti-government activist, as he was staging a protest at Netanyahu’s private residence in Jerusalem, according to local media.

Haskel was using a megaphone to accuse the prime minister of “murdering the ceasefire and chance to save the hostages” when he was arrested and taken to the Moriah police station, ahead of demonstrations this afternoon.


‘End this madness’: Thousands protest in Israel against resumption of war

Several thousand people are taking part in an antigovernment protest, blocking the main entrance of Jerusalem as they march towards Netanyahu’s residence, according to The Times of Israel.

The protesters object to the resumption of attacks on Gaza and the government’s efforts to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, the newspaper reported.

“It’s time to end this madness before we don’t have anyone to save, before we don’t have a country left,” protest leader Shikma Bressler told the crowd, as per the daily.

Tensions between Netanyahu and the Shin Bet have escalated following the agency’s internal investigation into the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Palestinian fighters. Netanyahu dismissed the report, saying it failed to answer key questions.


People march during a rally against the Israeli government, demanding the release of all captives from Gaza, in Jerusalem, March 19



SvennoJ 7 hours ago

Israeli forces carry out raids, Israeli settlers vandalise crops in occupied West Bank

The Palestinian Wafa news agency and other local media have reported on several incidents involving the Israeli military and settlers in the occupied West Bank overnight and this morning, including:

  • Three Palestinian were injured – two suffering bullet wounds and a third beaten up – when Israeli forces stormed Dura town, south of Hebron.
  • Troops set fire to several Palestinian homes in the Jenin refugee camp, an attack which Wafa said was carried out on the 57th day of Israel’s incursion into the camp, and where at least 34 people have been killed, dozens injured and civilian infrastructure and homes destroyed.
  • Israeli forces carried out a raid in the vicinity of the Askar refugee camp, east of Nablus.
  • Tear gas and sound bombs were used against worshippers in the village of Jouret al-Sham’a, south of Bethlehem, after they finished evening and Ramadan prayers.
  • Israeli troops stormed the town of Sebastia, northwest of Nablus city, where they searched a commercial premises.
  • Israeli settlers raided the Palestinian Khallet al-Nahla area, south of Bethlehem.
  • Israeli forces destroyed residential and agricultural structures in the Bedouin community in Arab al-Melahat village, northwest of Jericho.
  • Israeli settlers vandalised agricultural crops and released livestock in a village in the Masafer Yatta area, south of Hebron.


At least one Palestinian killed in Israeli raid near West Bank’s Nablus: Report

Israeli special forces have carried out a deadly undercover raid in Nablus’s al-Ein refugee camp, according to the Wafa news agency.

The Israeli forces killed one Palestinian man in the camp when they fired at a vehicle this morning, according to security sources quoted by the agency. Three other Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli forces, it noted.

During their raid, Israeli forces also stormed into several homes and apprehended several people, the agency added.



SvennoJ 2 hours ago

France’s Macron slams Israel’s Gaza attacks as ‘dramatic step backwards’

French President Emmanuel Macron has addressed the renewed Israeli attacks on Gaza during a joint news conference with Jordan’s King Abdullah in Paris.

“The resumption of Israeli air strikes is a dramatic step backwards, plunging the people of Gaza once again into the terror of bombings,” he said, stressing the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire.

“It is essential that all parties return to the negotiating table under international leadership, notably, the United States,” Macron said.

The president also said a political solution is the only viable path forward for Gaza and the wider region, expressing support for an Arab-led initiative to reconstruct Gaza and create a new governance structure.


France’s President Emmanuel Macron, left, welcomes Jordan’s King Abdullah at the Elysee Palace in Paris


Jordan’s king urges international push for restoring Gaza ceasefire

We also have some comments from Jordan’s King Abdullah II from the presser with Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

The king called the Israeli attacks and total blockade “extreme measures” that seriously endangered the lives of vulnerable civilians.

“The international community must act immediately and collectively push for restoring the ceasefire and the implementation of its phases,” he said.

Abdullah also warned against escalating violence in the occupied West Bank, where more than 40,000 Palestinians have been displaced this year.

“If the attacks on Palestinian people and property and violations of international law are allowed to continue, they will undermine the peace progress,” the king said. “A political solution that leads to peace on the basis of a two-state solution is the only way to guarantee security for Palestinians Israelis in the region,” he added.



SvennoJ 2 hours ago

‘A lot of anger’ as anti-government protests continue in Israel


Protesters clash with police officers, during a rally against the Israeli government and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, demanding the release of all captives from Gaza, near Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem

Hundreds of Israeli demonstrators have taken to the streets of West Jerusalem to protest against the dismissal of the chief of the Shin Bet internal security agency, Ronen Bar.

Demonstrators gathered on roads and outside Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Israeli political scientist Ori Goldberg said “emotions are very heated”. “There’s a lot of anger. There are very few Israeli flags this time round, unlike the protests over the judicial changes,” he said, referring to weekly protests against proposed judicial changes in 2023.

“This is different. It’s not about nationalism, as in people fighting for their country, but against the government and what it’s saying. People don’t believe it anymore.”


Demonstrators occupy a road in West Jerusalem


Police arrest, violently disperse Israeli protesters


Israelis are demonstrating against the dismissal of the head of the Shin Bet in Jerusalem. They are also demanding Israel assure the return of the captives held in Gaza, according to local sources.

Police arrested four people, including a young man who was holding an assault weapon and spoke out against the protesters.

Israeli police began to forcibly remove protesters, blocking an area called Paris Square to open King George Street to traffic after it was blocked for the past few hours, Israeli broadcaster Kan reported.

The square is near the official residence of the prime minister of Israel and became a major protest site during the 2020-2021 protests against Netanyahu.



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SvennoJ 2 hours ago

Israel retaking control of Netzarim Corridor, expanding ‘buffer’ in Gaza: Military

The Israeli military says its ongoing escalation in Gaza, which has already killed at least 436 people, is intended to create a “partial buffer” in the territory.

In a post on X, the military wrote that over the past 24 hours, its forces “have begun a focused ground operation in the center of the Gaza Strip and in the south with the aim of expanding the security area and creating a partial buffer between the north and south of the Strip”.

It added that as part of the operation, Israeli forces retook control of the Netzarim Corridor, from which they had withdrawn in February under phase one of the ceasefire. The Israeli-established corridor separates northern Gaza from the south.

Israel’s retaking of Netzarim Corridor clear violation, will spur more displacement

Not only is this a clear violation of the terms of the ceasefire by the Israeli military, but now it’s cutting the Gaza Strip into two parts. …

Those who just made their trip this morning to see remaining family members in the northern part of the Strip are going to be stuck there. And those who are in the central area and were hoping to get back to their homes at some point in the northern part of the Strip are not going to be able to do this.

The Israeli military presence in the area is equivalent to a ground invasion. That’s made clear by the statement. It’s going to be a part of a starting point, or a launching point, for the occupying forces to implement military operations in the area.

What we’re seeing here is an actual reoccupying of the Palestinian territories.

After almost 16 months of forced displacement, it’s going to cause further displacement and isolation between the two parts of the Strip.

Israel’s Katz threatens displacement in Gaza, stepped-up offensive

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz says evacuation of Palestinians from Gaza “combat zones” will start again soon.

In a statement, the minister warned that Israel is stepping up its new offensive. Katz said that if the captives held by Hamas in Gaza are not freed, “Israel will act with an intensity that you have not seen.”

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had returned to what remained of their homes and Israeli forces had pulled back to a buffer zone along the border during the ceasefire in Gaza, which began in late January.

Palestinians in Gaza flee their homes amid renewed Israeli escalation

Palestinians are fleeing their homes once again in north Gaza, after the Israeli army issued evacuation orders for several areas following heavy airstrikes that killed hundreds of people.



‘No forethought’ to Israel’s escalation in Gaza

Israel’s renewed escalation in Gaza has been driven by domestic political considerations but lacks a long-term strategy, Ori Goldberg, an Israeli political analyst, tells Al Jazeera.

“I don’t think Netanyahu is calculating, I think Netanyahu committed to a course of action that spoke of constant escalation, and I think this is the next step,” Goldberg said.

“This isn’t different from anything Israel has already done, and there’s no virtue or forethought in this move except making the move itself. Israel needs to be perceived as active. I think that’s what’s topmost on the prime minister’s mind.”

Goldberg added that any Israeli talk of beating Hamas is “delusional”.

“There is no real chance of beating of Hamas. This is a game of chicken basically, and both sides are waiting for external intervention to stop them from heading down this path, which is obviously unproductive for both,” he said.

“As far as Israel is concerned, this was a claim staked based on nothing but rhetoric and domestic political considerations. … This is about turning the clock back and pretending the last month and a half has not actually taken place.”



SvennoJ 2 hours ago

UN chief ‘deeply saddened, shocked’ by killing of staff members in Gaza

In a statement issued by his deputy spokesman, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says he “strongly condemns all attacks on UN personnel and calls for a full investigation”.

As we reported earlier, an explosion targeted a building housing UN personnel, killing one Bulgarian staff member and wounding five others.

“The locations of all UN premises are known to the parties to the conflict, who are bound by international law to protect them and maintain their absolute inviolability,” the secretary-general’s statement continued, adding that today’s deadly strikes bring the number of UN personnel killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023, to 280.

Bulgarian UN worker killed in Gaza: Foreign Ministry

A Bulgarian citizen working for the UN has been killed during Israel’s latest attack on Gaza, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry has confirmed.

“According to preliminary information received by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a Bulgarian citizen working in the UN system died in Gaza today,” the ministry wrote in a statement.

“Additional information will be available at a later stage, after the Bulgarian side is informed of the results of the investigation of the circumstances surrounding the incident by the competent authorities.”

Five people were wounded in the attack.

As we reported earlier, Jorge Moreira da Silva, head of the UN Office for Project Services, said the cause of the blast remains unclear but an explosive ordnance was “dropped or fired”.


‘Another black day for the UN’ in Gaza: UNRWA chief

The head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has called today “another black day” for the UN in Gaza.

In a post on X, the commissioner of the agency, Philippe Lazzarini, expressed condolences for the UN workers killed during Israel’s latest escalation.

“The UN including UNRWA continue to pay a heavy price while undertaking humanitarian duties,” he wrote. “Humanitarian workers must be protected at all times.”




SvennoJ 2 hours ago

ICRC: Hospitals in Gaza struggling to cope with casualties

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warns that medics are struggling to manage a sharp increase in casualties over the past 36 hours due to the resumption of attacks by Israel in the Gaza Strip.

“Due to the recent suspension of humanitarian aid into Gaza, stocks of medical supplies have dropped significantly and on top of this, hospital staff are struggling to manage the sharp increase of casualties,” the ICRC said in a statement.

Israel has blockaded Gaza for the two weeks leading up to the resumption of its assault, leaving Palestinians with few supplies that they’ll need to endure.

Al-Quds Field Hospital near Gaza City reopens amid renewed war

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has resumed operations at its al-Quds Field Hospital in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood west of Gaza City, Wafa reports. It had been damaged by Israeli attacks in November 2023.

The hospital announced that it will receive wounded, injured, sick, and visitors starting next Friday, despite the damage it sustained, Wafa reported. Medical and administrative teams have been working over the past weeks to rehabilitate the hospital, despite a severe shortage of medical equipment and supplies.

Two operating rooms, an emergency department, a reception area, and outpatient clinics have been re-equipped, alongside the intensive care unit and diagnostic departments, such as radiology and the laboratory.

Israeli forces besieged al-Quds Hospital for weeks in 2023, preventing medical staff and supplies from entering, bringing its operations to a complete standstill. The hospital’s surroundings also witnessed heavy shelling.

Paramedic in Gaza ‘horrified’ at scenes of renewed war

The medic recounted to Al Jazeera seeing the dismembered bodies of people inside a vehicle in Rafah after it was hit by Israeli strikes.

“We received a call about a bombing in the area of Dowar Khebat Al-Adas, in front of Al-Yasmeen Mall,” Sofian Ahmed, working as part of a civil defense team, told Al Jazeera.

“When we arrived at the scene, we were shocked to find that the target was a car or a public vehicle transporting civilians from one place to another.”

He added: “We were horrified to see that there were five martyrs inside the vehicle, burned and dismembered.

“This is what Rafah is experiencing around the clock. Rafah remains a dangerous place where bombings occur daily in border areas. Additionally, targeting and gunfire continue nonstop.”



SvennoJ 2 hours ago

Strikes hit Yemen’s capital, residents say

Strikes have hit a Houthi stronghold in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, three residents told the Reuters news agency.

The attacks hit a neighbourhood close to the capital’s airport, the residents said.

The strikes are the latest in this round of US-launched attacks on areas of Yemen controlled by the Houthis, who said last week that they were resuming strikes on Red Sea shipping to support Palestinians in Gaza. The Houthis have also targeted the US military in the Red Sea.

The US attacks on Yemen have mainly killed civilians.


Houthi media confirms strikes on capital

Al Masirah, a TV channel affiliated with Yemen’s Houthi rebels, has confirmed what we reported moments ago, attributing the strikes on Sanaa to the US.


Iran must ‘immediately’ stop sending supplies to Houthis: Trump

Iran must “immediately” stop sending military supplies to the Houthis, Donald Trump has said.

In a post on his Truth Social media platform, Trump added that US strikes on the Houthis “will get progressively worse” and that “they will be completely annihilated”.

“Iran must stop the sending of these Supplies IMMEDIATELY,” Trump wrote. “Let the Houthis fight it out themselves. Either way they lose, but this way they lose quickly.”

Trump had previously threatened to hold Iran responsible for attacks carried out by the Houthis in Yemen, while he also escalated US attacks on them.



SvennoJ 2 hours ago

‘Possibility of a more powerful front’ in West Bank: Netanyahu

The Israeli PM has stated the possibility of more intense military operations erupting in the occupied West Bank even as Israel resumes its war in Gaza.

“While we are waging a fierce war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, we are aware of the possibility of a larger and stronger front emerging here in [the occupied West Bank],” Netanyahu said while touring the Israeli border police’s undercover unit in the occupied territory.

Netanyahu added that the work of the border police, the rest of Israel’s police, and the military “is yielding many results for the security of Israel’s citizens”.

The army also announced its decision to demolish a number of homes in Jenin camp, claiming they were for “military purposes”, as its military operation there continues.

This is the largest demolition order since the current assault began, local sources stated.

Israel ‘will continue to operate’ in Gaza: Military

The Israeli military says that its forces and Israel’s internal security service will continue to operate in Gaza “in order to remove any threat to the citizens of the State of Israel”.

In a statement on X, the Israeli military wrote that the military and the Shin Bet have continued “their intense waves of attacks throughout the Gaza Strip throughout the day”.

In recent hours, the statement added, fighter jets and aircraft attacked a vehicle the military said was carrying two fighters, in addition to infrastructure and an observation post.

A medic in Gaza told Al Jazeera that the Israeli army struck a vehicle in Rafah that was transporting civilians, killing at least five of them. It is unclear if this is the same vehicle the Israeli army is referring to, but we’ll have more for you on that attack shortly.