By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Politics - Israel-Hamas war, Gaza genocide

SvennoJ on 02 June 2025

Israeli government’s goal remains ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Gaza

Political analyst Xavier Abu Eid says the international response to Israel’s war on Gaza has been “horrible” and lacking any concrete action.

“And we should not take things out of context,” Abu Eid told Al Jazeera. “The Israeli government has been very clear with regards to what their plan is about in Gaza. It is about ethnic cleansing.”

He explained that, as the occupying power in Gaza, Israel has a responsibility under international humanitarian law to provide for the needs of the population under its control.

Referring to the limited aid being delivered to Palestinians via the Israeli- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), Abu Eid said it is understandable for Palestinians to be wary of the scheme.

A number of aid seekers have been killed or wounded while attempting to get food from GHF distribution points over the past days.

“Of course people are not going to trust the same two parties who have been largely responsible for this ongoing genocide,” Abu Eid said, referring to Israel and the US.

‘They knew’: Biden administration official admits Israel committing war crimes

Matthew Miller, the US State Department spokesman under former President Joe Biden, has told UK broadcaster Sky News it is “without a doubt true that Israel has committed war crimes” in Gaza.

Miller, who spent more than a year justifying Washington’s unwavering support for Israel despite mounting evidence it was violating international law in Gaza, said it was an “open question” whether the Israeli state “has pursued a policy of deliberately committing war crimes”.

“I think what is … almost certainly not an open question is that there have been individual incidents that have been war crimes, where Israeli soldiers and members of the Israeli military have committed war crimes,” Miller said, adding that Israeli soldiers have not been held accountable.

Responding to the interview, Matt Duss, executive vice president at the Center for International Policy think tank, said the Biden administration deceived the American people.

“They misled the public and the Congress because Biden wanted to keep sending weapons” to Israel, Duss wrote on social media. “I’m glad Miller is speaking up now, even if it’s late. We need to hear from more of his colleagues, because once again: They all knew.”

From the start of the war in October 2023 to when Biden left office on January 20, his administration funnelled billions of dollars in military assistance to Israel despite reports US weapons were being used in deadly attacks on Palestinian civilians.

US laws prohibit arming countries engaged in human rights abuses. But advocates said Biden’s administration skewed the facts and denied well-documented Israeli violations.

You can read more about the Biden administration’s stance in our story from March last year here.




‘Blood on his hands’: Ex-Biden official denounced for ‘war crimes’ admission

Raed Jarrar – advocacy director at DAWN, a Washington-based think-tank and advocacy group – says it’s “outrageous” that former US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller waited until he was out of office to admit Israel committed war crimes in Gaza.

As we reported earlier, Miller said during an interview with Sky News that it is “without a doubt true” that Israeli forces committed war crimes in the Palestinian territory.

“US officials who know atrocities are being committed and continue defending them from behind the podium are not neutral, they are complicit. Miller’s silence while in government helped Israel with its genocide. He has Palestinian blood on his hands,” Jarrar told Al Jazeera in an email.

“Anyone guilty of aiding and abetting genocide should be held accountable by the International Criminal Court or other international mechanisms."



Around the Network
SvennoJ on 02 June 2025

US embassy in Israel accuses media of spreading ‘misinformation’

The US embassy in Israel has issued a statement criticising what it calls “media misinformation” related to Israeli military attacks on Gaza civilians seeking humanitarian relief.

The statement named The New York Times, CNN and The Associated Press, saying their reporting on Palestinians killed at aid distribution points run by the Israel-US-backed GHF was “false”.

“Drone video and first-hand accounts clearly showed that there were no injuries, no fatalities, no shooting, no chaos,” US Ambassador Mike Huckabee said in the statement.

“We are demanding an immediate retraction of the lies and are appealing to all media sources to act with objective professionalism to cover actual events instead of being a partner of terrorism by blindly following Hamas news releases,” it added.

Dozens of aid seekers have been killed or wounded while trying to get food from GHF distribution points over the past week while Israel maintains a crippling blockade on the bombarded enclave, where a famine looms.

Every accusation is an admission when it comes to Israel and now the US as well.


US congresswoman attacks UN chief over call to probe Gaza aid killings

Elise Stefanik, a US congresswoman, has attacked UN chief Antonio Guterres as an “anti-Semite”.

Stefanik – a staunch supporter of Israel – described as “outrageous” Guterres’s call for an independent investigation into the Israeli military’s deadly shootings of Palestinian aid seekers in Gaza over the past several days.

“This is outrageous and the culmination of morally bankrupt leadership as Secretary General of the UN,” she wrote on X.

As we’ve been reporting, the Health Ministry in Gaza says at least 75 Palestinians have been killed since the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began distributing limited food aid in Gaza last week.

Despite Israeli and US denials that Palestinians were shot dead while trying to get food parcels, witnesses have said Israeli soldiers opened fire on the crowds of desperate people.

Stefanik had been tapped by Trump to be the US ambassador to the UN, but her nomination was withdrawn in March to keep her congressional seat in the Republican Party’s hands.



SvennoJ on 02 June 2025

UN says Israel blocked effort to bring clean water to northern Gaza

A spokesperson for United Nations chief Antonio Guterres says Israeli authorities have prevented five United Nations missions from distributing potable water to displacement camps in Jabalia.

Stephane Dujarric told reporters at UN headquarters in New York City that an attempt by the UN to collect humanitarian supplies from the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing into Gaza was also denied today.

“Another [attempt] is still ongoing, awaiting a green light from Israeli authorities, a pause in the bombing along the route, and the allocation of a viable path,” he said.

Dujarric added that even when the crossing is open, “severe restrictions on what we can bring in – both in terms of volume and variety – means it’s still just a trickle of what people actually need”.

MSF slams new US-backed aid mechanism in Gaza

Doctors Without Borders has condemned the killing of dozens of Palestinians near a food distribution site in Rafah, calling it a “massacre”.

The killings are a direct result of a “dehumanising, dangerous and severely ineffective” aid system backed by the US and Israel, said the aid group, which is known by its French acronym MSF.

MSF said its teams at Nasser Hospital received people who sustained serious wounds as a result of Israeli gunfire.

“MSF reinforces that, along with displacement orders and bombing campaigns that kill civilians, weaponising aid in this manner may constitute crimes against humanity.”



SvennoJ on 02 June 2025

Guyana’s UN envoy says action needed to address Gaza aid crisis

Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Guyana’s representative at the United Nations, has been speaking to reporters in New York as she takes up her role as UN Security Council president for the month of June.

Rodrigues-Birkett said the South American country has been “vocal on Palestine” long before it joined the council, driven by a belief “that occupation is wrong, that colonisation is wrong, and that the self-determination of the people of Palestine must be exercised”.

“This is what we brought to the Security Council,” she said, adding Guyana is among several council members that have been “frustrated” by the UN body’s inaction as Israel continues its bombardment of Gaza.

“We will continue to exert our efforts to work towards a solution; in the immediate term, a ceasefire,” Rodrigues-Birkett added.

“We are extremely concerned about the humanitarian situation and the aid blockade in Gaza at this point in time, and we’re hoping that we will have some movement on this at scale in the not-so-distant future. This should have been in place since long before yesterday.”


Satellite analysis shows Israel ‘changed the shape’ of Gaza: Report

About 80 percent of Gaza is now classified as Israeli military-occupied or areas where displacement orders have been issued as the enclave’s 2.3 million people continue to be herded into a tiny area in the south, a new analysis shows.

Israeli officials have been unambiguous in their plan to push the entire Palestinian population into the border region with Egypt as they promote “voluntary migration”.

The United Kingdom’s Financial Times reported that critics of the forced mass displacement said it has been into a “desert wasteland with no running water, electricity or even hospitals” and represents clear-cut “ethnic cleansing”.

“The Financial Times analysed hundreds of these evacuation orders, including about 30 issued since Israel shattered a ceasefire with Hamas in March,” it said. “Taken together they illustrate how Israel –  which has authorised its military to occupy the entire enclave – has changed the shape of Gaza, leaving less and less land for Palestinians.”

Satellite imagery shows Israel’s military clearing areas and setting them up for army outposts, indicating a long-term military occupation of Gaza, the report said.



SvennoJ on 02 June 2025

Palestinians face ‘systematic starvation, militarised aid’: UK charity

The United Kingdom-based charity Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) has slammed the US-and-Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation as “state violence disguised as humanitarianism”.

In a series of posts on X, the group said Gaza’s hospitals “are overwhelmed with blood supplies nearly exhausted, and staff pushed far beyond their limits” as a result of the Israeli blockade.

“MAP’s team at Nasser Hospital reports that the nutrition crisis is now so severe that it is preventing people from safely donating blood – a tragic and avoidable consequence of systematic starvation,” it said.

The organisation also called on the British government to suspend all weapons transfers to Israel as the country has “militarised aid”.

“The UK must help enforce a ceasefire, suspend all arms transfers to Israel, and support genuine accountability for attacks on civilians and the systemic denial of aid,” MAP said.

More survivor accounts of Israeli forces shooting Gaza civilians amid denials

Israel’s military, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), and the US ambassador to Israel have all denied that desperate civilians in Gaza were gunned down while attempting to receive food aid.

One 33-year-old at the scene on Sunday told AFP news agency it was “before sunrise” when gunfire erupted as crowds gathered before heading to the GHF aid distribution site 1 kilometre (0.6 mile) away.

“Of course it was the Israeli army who shot live bullets,” said the witness, who declined to be named for fear of Israeli reprisals.

“Thousands of people were waiting at al-Alam roundabout … but the army fired and everyone ran away. There was fear and chaos. I saw with my own eyes martyrs and wounded in the area.”

Another witness in the crowd, Mohammed Abu Deqqa, 35, said, “At first, we thought they were warning shots. But it didn’t take long before the shooting intensified.

“I began to see people lying on the ground, covered in blood. That was around 5:30am. People started running, but many couldn’t escape. The bullets were chasing people even as they tried to flee.”

Amnesty urges action to stop Israel’s use of starvation as weapon of war

Amnesty International says the recent killings of Palestinians at aid distribution points in Gaza harken back to the so-called “flour massacres” last year, “when desperate individuals seeking food were killed by Israel’s military”.

“Such deadly patterns must not be allowed to continue,” the rights group wrote on social media, calling for an independent probe into this week’s deadly violence.

Amnesty also stressed that humanitarian aid distribution “must be conducted through safe, dignified, and effective means” and “managed by professional humanitarian workers, not security contractors” – as is the case with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

“The international community, notably led by the USA, has permitted this appalling humanitarian catastrophe & genocide to unfold for far too long,” it added. “The use of starvation of civilians as a method of war is a war crime that the global community must urgently put an end to.”



Around the Network
SvennoJ on 02 June 2025

Israeli forces storm Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza

Israeli soldiers have raided the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya after medical staff and dozens of people, including critically ill patients, were forced to flee the facility.

Quoting witnesses, the Palestinian news agency Wafa said about 55 people, including a child in intensive care, were forced to leave the hospital after nearly 10 days without access to food or water.

The forced evacuation was carried out in coordination with international organisations, Wafa said, adding that it occurred during fears of incoming Israeli air strikes.

Witnesses said there are concerns Israeli forces may destroy the hospital, which has been targeted multiple times throughout the war, despite serving as one of the last functioning medical centres in northern Gaza.


Call for UN peacekeepers in Gaza to halt Israel’s starvation policy

UN legal experts have urged the General Assembly to invoke a 1950 UN resolution to deploy a peacekeeping force to Gaza to put an end to Israel’s “starvation and genocide”.

Calling the current situation “the most horrific” phase of the Gaza crisis, the experts urged the UN General Assembly to authorise peacekeepers to accompany humanitarian aid trucks under the “Uniting for Peace” mechanism.

Uniting for Peace – a resolution passed during the Korean War by the UN General Assembly – was designed to circumvent any Soviet veto that would have blocked the Security Council’s efforts to defend South Korea from North Korean aggression.

“Member states have a legal obligation and a moral imperative to stop starvation and genocide in Gaza,” the UN experts said.



SvennoJ on 02 June 2025

Main events on June 2nd

  • Ongoing Israeli bombardment across the Gaza Strip killed at least 45 Palestinians, many in the enclave’s north, as a crippling aid blockade continues and starvation spreads.
  • The Israeli army has ordered Palestinians in several areas of southern Khan Younis to evacuate as troops reportedly converge on Gaza’s second-largest city.
  • In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces shot and killed a 14-year-old boy during a raid near Ramallah, one of several violent incursions there.
  • Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for a ballistic missile attack on Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, which Israel said was intercepted.
  • United Nations chief Antonio Guterres demanded an investigation into the killing of Palestinians seeking food aid at US- and Israel-operated sites.
  • Matthew Miller, a US State Department spokesman under former US President Joe Biden, admitted it is “without a doubt true that Israel has committed war crimes” in Gaza.


‘World is watching’: UN experts demand safe passage for Freedom Flotilla

UN legal experts have called for the protection of a ship operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition as it sails to besieged Gaza carrying food, water and medical supplies.

“Aid is desperately needed for the people of Gaza to forestall annihilation, and this initiative is a symbolic and powerful effort to deliver it,” the UN experts said in a joint statement. “Israel should remember that the world is watching closely and refrain from any act of hostility against the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and its passengers.”

The experts emphasised the legal right of Palestinians to receive aid through their own territorial waters, and of the vessel to navigate freely in international waters. They voiced concern for the safety of those on board, referencing a previous Freedom Flotilla ship reportedly bombed by a drone off Malta’s coast in early May.

Israel has enforced a complete blockade on Gaza for 17 years, intensifying it since March 2, with aid almost entirely cut off.



SvennoJ on 02 June 2025

Huge U-Turn by former State Department spokesman on Gaza; blames Biden, Blinken?

In an extraordinary development, former US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has gone public as he effectively blamed his former bosses, Joe Biden and Antony Blinken, for the ongoing Gaza conflict. In his latest interview to Sky News, Miller said that what Israel was doing in Gaza amounted to war crimes. When asked if he would have said the same from the podium of the State Department, he said that he was only following the policy of the previous administration. He also raised questions on Israel’s claims of being a democracy. Rifat Jawaid explains what this explosive interview means for him and his former bosses.


lSRAEL REJECTS HAMAȘ OFFER TO STEP DOWN & LEAVE GAŻA!




8 Injured in Boulder CO Attack on Israeli Hostage Protesters


Krystal and Emily discuss the Colorado attack on Israeli hostage protesters.



SvennoJ on 03 June 2025

Israel kills dozens on eighth day of violence at aid site in Rafah: Ministry

At least 24 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire as they waited for aid distribution in the al-Alam area of Rafah city, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Many more were injured, with one person in critical condition, the ministry added.

Israeli military admits firing near Gaza aid site

The Israeli military says its troops have fired shots at Palestinians about 500 metres from the aid distribution site of US-backed GHF in Gaza.

In a statement in English on Telegram, the army said, “… troops identified several suspects moving toward them, deviating from the designated access routes. The troops carried out warning fire, and after the suspects failed to retreat, additional shots were directed near a few individual suspects who advanced toward the troops.”

The statement said the army was aware of reports regarding casualties, and the details of the incident were being looked into.

Changing the story now to the familiar "suspects moving towards them" just like with the flour massacre over a year ago.

Witnesses recount deadly shooting at Rafah aid centre

Rania al-Astal, 30, said she had gone to the area with her husband to try to get food. “The shooting began intermittently around 5am [03:00 GMT]. Every time people approached Al-Alam roundabout, they were fired upon,” she told the AFP news agency.

Another witness, Mohammed al-Shaer, said at first, “the Israeli army fired shots into the air, then began shooting directly at the people.”

“A helicopter and quadcopters [drones] started firing at the crowd to prevent them from approaching the tank barrier. There were injuries and deaths,” the 44-year-old told AFP.

“I didn’t reach the centre, and we didn’t get any food.”


US-backed aid distribution system in Gaza ‘inhumane’: Charity chief

Bassam Zaqout, director of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, has described the situation at the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund’s (GHF) aid distribution sites as a “death trap”.

“Honestly, it’s an inhumane act,” he told Al Jazeera from Gaza City. “It’s a war crime … shooting towards civilians directly while they are waiting for aid.”

Zaqout added that there was no clear eligibility criteria as to who should be receiving aid on any particular day.

It's all a scam for pretending to adhere to IHL. However the food aid is inadequate, there's no fair distribution like the UN provides by name, there are only 4 distribution points in heavily militarized zones and only in the South while the UN operated 400. All the while boasting about a few trucks that get in while at least 500-600 daily are needed to get the civilians back from the brink of famine.



SvennoJ on 03 June 2025

Israeli military says 3 soldiers killed in northern Gaza

The soldiers, all in their early 20s, were killed in northern Gaza on Monday evening, the army says, without providing details. It is the deadliest attack on Israeli forces since it broke the nearly two-month-long ceasefire in March.


Four killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza City, Jabalia

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic, citing al-Ahli Arab Hospital, report that two Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli attack on Al-Shaaf Street in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City.

Separately, two people were killed and one injured in an Israeli air raid on al-Nuzha Street in the Jabalia al-Balad area in northern Gaza, according to source at al-Shifa Hospital.


Palestinians conduct search and rescue operations under the debris of a building after an Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip on June 3


Child killed in Israeli attack on central Gaza

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic, quoting al-Awda Hospital, report that a child has been killed in the bombing of a house in Nuseirat refugee camp. An unspecified number of people were also injured, they said.