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

SvennoJ on 21 March 2024

US lawmakers move to bar funds for UNRWA

A $1.2 trillion funding package put out by lawmakers says United States government money – either leftover funds from the current year or in the next fiscal one – “may not be used for a contribution, grant or other payment” for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

Legislators released the plan to keep the US government running in advance of a deadline of midnight on Friday, when three-quarters of the government will run out of funds if a deal is not reached.

President Joe Biden’s administration has already suspended funding for UNRWA, despite saying its work in war-ravaged Gaza is invaluable, after Israel alleged several of its employees participated in the October 7 attack.

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini previously dubbed the steps to suspend funding an “additional collective punishment” for Palestinians.

‘Diabolical attempt’: Group denounces UNRWA funding block

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) pressed Congress not to pass a bill that shuts down desperately needed money for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. CAIR said the legislation, if passed, would block funding until March 2025 and contribute to “starvation” in Gaza. The US historically has provided the UN agency with about $350m per year.

“We call on all Americans to urge their member of Congress to reject this diabolical attempt to support the starvation of Palestinians in Gaza banning funding for UNWRA,” said the group’s Robert S McCaw. “Numerous other nations, including Canada, restored funding to UNWRA after it became clear the Israeli government was baselessly trying to rob Palestinians of the relief agency.”

Israel accused several members of UNRWA’s staff of participating in the October 7 attack. The allegations have yet to be proven.





Lemkin Institute: 2023 ‘watershed year in history of genocide’

The US-based Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention says Israel’s war on Gaza contributed to making 2023 a “watershed year in the history of genocide”. It says in its review of the year that “Western powers act in complicity” in the war that has killed about 32,000 Palestinians and injured over 74,000 more, mostly women and children.

“All three major powers in the world, Russia, China, and the United States, were either actively committing or acting in complicity with genocide” in 2023, the institute said.





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SvennoJ on 21 March 2024

Israeli army responsible for deaths of 13 patients at al-Shifa: Gaza media office

The media office in Gaza has given an update on the Israeli siege at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Here is a summary of translated comments:

  • Thirteen patients died at the facility after the Israeli army deprived them of medicine, oxygen, and food.
  • Of the 13, four people on ventilators in intensive care died after Israeli troops cut off the electricity supply at the hospital.
  • In addition to arresting doctors and nurses and removing them, medical staff were forced to take off their clothes and prevented from entering patients’ rooms to try to save them.
  • “We hold the American administration, the international community, and the Israeli occupation fully responsible for these ongoing crimes against the sick, the wounded, medical teams, and our Palestinian people for the sixth month in a row,” a statement said.

Many Palestinians ‘executed extrajudicially’ at al-Shifa Hospital: Rights group

The Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor says what the Israeli military is doing at the al-Shifa Hospital and surrounding areas in Gaza “reflects a pattern of systemic violence”. The group noted that Israeli forces are detaining medical staff, including doctors and nurses, inside the hospital in Gaza City and preventing them from providing lifesaving care.

“Patients are languishing without medical attention,” it said, adding it documented at least three such patient deaths. “The ongoing Israeli atrocities in al-Shifa Medical Complex have resulted in the deaths of over 200 Palestinians, including civilians. Many were deliberately killed or executed extrajudicially after arrest,” the rights organisation alleged.



Al-Shifa Hospital surrounded by Israeli military tanks

The majority of areas in the Gaza Strip have been attacked over the past few hours. There have been more attacks on Rafah, especially on agricultural lands. There is also ongoing bombardment in many parts of Gaza City … where confrontations between Israeli soldiers and Hamas fighters are continuing.

The entire al-Shifa Hospital complex is surrounded by Israeli military tanks, where hundreds of patients and displaced people are still trapped inside. According to Gaza’s government media office, patients have died because of a lack of medical treatment and care.

The Israeli soldiers have blown up an important building inside al-Shifa Hospital, which was used for carrying out specialised surgeries.

WHO loses contact with al-Shifa Hospital staff amid Israeli raid

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says on X that the UN’s World Health Organization and its partners have not been in touch with health personnel at al-Shifa Hospital since the Israeli raid on the facility, now in its fourth day, began.

“We are seeking information on the patients’ condition and if they are receiving needed care,” he said. “Accessing Al-Shifa is now impossible, and there are reports of health workers being arrested and detained.


“We repeat once again: hospitals are not battlegrounds. They must be protected in line with international humanitarian law.”



Hamas disputes Israeli claims on al-Shifa Hospital raid

A Hamas security official, in comments to Al Jazeera, has said that a collection of photos published by the Israeli army that purports to show hundreds of detainees arrested during Israel’s ongoing raid on the Gaza City hospital is inaccurate.

Here is a summary of what the Hamas security official said:

  • The list of photos of detainees at al-Shifa Hospital issued by the occupation army spokesman is inaccurate.
  • A number of the photos on the list belong to people currently outside Gaza and other pictures are of martyrs.
  • Three of the photos in the list belong to doctors previously released by the occupation.
  • There is no truth to what was published by the Israeli media regarding the arrest of dozens of resistance leaders in al-Shifa Hospital.
  • What is published in the Israeli media is inaccurate and falls within the psychological and moral war against the resistance in Gaza.



Translation: Further to the update of the [Israeli army] spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Hagari, a photo of some of the 358 terrorists who were arrested at al-Shifa Hospital by the [Israeli army] and Shin Bet is attached.

Israel’s attacks on Gaza’s healthcare facilities

The Israeli army’s raid on al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City is now in its fourth day. According to the army, the raid has killed more than 140 and led to 600 arrests. But this attack isn’t Israel’s first on a medical centre in the Gaza Strip.

Our team put together this graphic showing the scale of Israel’s assault on the strip’s healthcare sector:





SvennoJ on 21 March 2024

UK’s Cameron says ‘arbitrary denials’ by Israeli government blocking Gaza aid

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron says “arbitrary denials by the government of Israel” in addition to lengthy clearance procedures are “the main blockers” of humanitarian aid going into the Gaza Strip.

“I wish this were the case,” he writes in a letter in response to UK lawmaker Alicia Kearns about Israeli claims that any amount of aid arriving at the borders of the besieged enclave can get in.

“It is of enormous frustration that UK aid for Gaza has been routinely held up waiting for Israeli permissions. For instance, I am aware of some UK-funded aid being stuck at the border for just under three weeks waiting for approval.”

Cameron says that he remains “gravely concerned” about the lingering Israeli blocks, and that he has consistently raised the issue with top Israeli officials with no tangible results.

Israel says UN aid agencies to blame for bottleneck on Gaza aid

The Israeli government is again blaming the UN and its distribution arms for an acute shortage of aid within the Gaza Strip even as it faces international criticism for hampering the delivery of life-saving supplies to Palestinians amid its war.

Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) office claims 208 humanitarian aid trucks were inspected and transferred to the strip today, two-thirds of which carried food, with the rest taking water, medical supplies and shelter equipment.

It claims only 155 trucks were distributed by UN aid agencies within the Gaza Strip.

Data as of March 21st

Israel contradicts UK on shutting Gaza aid over the Sabbath

In a letter to a British lawmaker we reported on earlier, UK Foreign Minister David Cameron discussed why Israel completely shut down the crucial Karem Abu Salem crossing with Gaza – called Kerem Shalom by Israel – on Saturdays. “I can confirm that the UN has not requested that the Kerem Shalom crossing is closed on Saturdays. It is our understanding that Israel closes it due to the Sabbath,” he wrote.

But the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) – the Israeli government organisation tasked with clearing and distributing aid – is undermining the statement by one of its main allies.

It continues to state an “agreement with the UN” allows the closure – even as Palestinians starve – in order to allow the UN to collect aid “accumulated” on borders because of low capacity. “Coordinate more aid to Gaza. We will facilitate,” COGAT says, as international criticism of its restrictions on life-saving aid surges.

Facilitate by firing on the police and local tribes helping to distribute the aid.
Facilitate by shelling aid distribution points.
Facilitate by bombing aid warehouses.
Facilitate by sending trucks back for arbitrary reasons like medical scissors, anesthetics or simply because stuff is packed in wooden crates.





SvennoJ on 21 March 2024

Most Palestinians would remain in Gaza in case of Rafah invasion: Survey

The survey by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) presents interesting findings about perceptions of a potential Israeli ground invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza.

Half of those polled in the occupied West Bank said Palestinians would rush towards the Egyptian border in case of an invasion, with 24 percent of Gazans sharing this belief. Overall, 40 percent said they think they would go to the border.

Sixty-one percent of respondents said they believe the Egyptian army and police would shoot at Palestinians if they see them rushing toward the border en masse, with Gaza residents sharing a stronger opinion on this than their West Bank counterparts – 68 percent compared to 55 percent, respectively.

Almost 70 percent of respondents said they would not leave their homes or shelters if the border barriers between Gaza and Egypt somehow fell.


Displaced Palestinians camp near the border fence between Gaza and Egypt, on February 16, 2024 in Rafah


Rafah Gaza’s ‘last hope’

UNICEF Spokesperson James Elder says the southern Gaza city is home to some of the coastal enclave’s “last remaining hospitals, shelters, markets and water systems”.

“Rafah is Gaza’s last hope,” he said in a post on X.

The comments from Elder come as Israel is preparing for a ground offensive on Rafah, where more than one million displaced Palestinians are sheltering in overcrowded camps.



Translation: “Rafah is home to some of Gaza’s last remaining hospitals, shelters, markets and water systems. Rafah is Gaza’s last hope.” – UNICEF spokesperson James Elder. The world must not remain silent or turn its back. Children need a ceasefire now.



SvennoJ on 21 March 2024

Israel’s top court temporarily pauses decision to deport 20 cancer patients to Gaza

The High Court of Justice in Israel has ordered the government to temporarily halt its plan to send some 20 cancer patients hospitalised in Israel back to the besieged Gaza Strip along with their families.

The Jaffa-based Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) said its appeal to stop the deportation – which will include children battling cancer and recovering from bone marrow transplants – has been granted until its petition against the move can be heard by the court.

“Unless the Israeli public opens its eyes to what is being done in its name and insists on upholding clear boundaries, this moral stain will not fade away,” PHRI Director Guy Shalev told the Israeli news website Ynet.

The move is being considered, and could still go through, as the healthcare system in Gaza has collapsed as a result of non-stop Israeli attacks, and as the patients will have little hope of receiving suitable treatment.





Evidence of war crimes keeps mounting up

Israeli drone targets people in Khan Younis

Al Jazeera has obtained exclusive footage from February, captured by an Israeli drone, showing the unmanned aerial vehicle pursuing four Palestinians in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. The individuals can be seen walking in open ground when the drone launches multiple missiles at them.

The footage was deemed too graphic to include on this live page.

Footage of Israeli drone killing four Palestinians ‘heinous’: Gaza media office

The Gaza media office has commented on the exclusive footage obtained by Al Jazeera, showing an Israeli drone killing Palestinians in Khan Younis. Here are the office’s translated comments:

  • “We express our strong condemnation of this crime … during which the occupation army bombed four young civilians with an aircraft … and turned them into scattered pieces.”
  • “We hold the American administration, the international community, and the Israeli occupation fully responsible for the continuation of these crimes against Palestinian civilians for the sixth month in a row.”
  • “We call on all countries of the world to condemn the crime of genocide committed by the occupation with all brutality and sadism, and its crimes against humanity in violation of international law.”


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SvennoJ on 21 March 2024

Israel strikes Hezbollah positions including with a helicopter attack

The Israeli military says it launched a series of attacks on Hezbollah positions, including a helicopter assault in the area of Tayr Harfa in southern Lebanon. Fighter jets attacked “three terrorist infrastructures” in separate areas, along with military buildings in the areas of Mays al-Jabal and Kfar Kula.

The Israeli army also confirmed several rocket launches aimed at northern Israel were detected from southern Lebanon over the past few hours, the sites of which were later targeted.

Hezbollah claims 9 attacks on Israel today

The armed Lebanese group says in its end-of-day list of operations that it launched nine attacks on Israeli positions today. Multiple attacks claimed by Hezbollah targeted “buildings used by Israeli enemy soldiers” with rockets and other weapons, including an attack on Zarit in northern Israel.

It said one of its attacks targeted Israeli military barracks with artillery shells, with another directly targeting soldiers and inflicting casualties.

The group also released a short video that appeared to show how its forces monitored the movement of Israeli soldiers into a building before firing an antitank-guided missile that struck it. Hezbollah says it is launching most of these attacks in response to Israeli assaults on villages and civilian homes across southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah has warned it’s fully ready to battle Israel after its fighters exchanged cross-border attacks since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October. Hezbollah has at least 60,000 fighters and it increased its stockpile of missiles from 14,000 in 2006 to about 150,000 now.



Houthi leader says 479 missiles and drones launched since October

Houthi leader Abdel-Malik al-Houthi says the Yemeni group has launched 479 missiles and drones since late October in its efforts to support Palestinians and stop Israel’s war on Gaza.

He pointed out during his latest speech that the Israeli port city of Eilat has taken a financial hit from Houthi attacks on vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, and pledged that the group has more “plans” in the works to hurt Israel, without elaborating.

“God willing, we leave room for action first and then for words,” he was quoted as saying by the Houthi-run Al Masirah channel.

Al-Houthi also said the group will continue to resist as US and UK attacks on Yemen are persisting in full force, with 31 air raids and naval bombardments coming on multiple Yemeni governorates this week alone. The two Western powers have launched 407 attacks on Yemen since January, he said.



SvennoJ on 21 March 2024

Blinken trying to play both sides, contradicts himself

Blinken underscores two-state solution with security guarantees for Israel

“We had the opportunity today to discuss post-conflict Gaza and what would be necessary for an enduring peace. That would include a state for Palestinians and security guarantees for Israelis,” said the US secretary of state from Cairo.

“In this moment, given the passions, given the horrific events of October 7, given the suffering of the Palestinians over the past few months – the choice is clear. There is a path forward where Israel is fully integrated into the region and there’s an independent Palestinian state. “That path is both clear and possible. The alternative is a path that leads to endless cycles of violence.”

Antony Blinken also said there is “a better way to deal with the ongoing threat posed by Hamas” than Israel’s plans for a major military operation in Rafah.

He added that “gaps are narrowing” in ongoing ceasefire talks in Qatar, where the head of Israel’s spy agency is due to meet his American and Egyptian counterparts Friday.

How can an independent state be 'fully integrated' by the occupying power. That's a contradiction, or basically a continuation of the West bank 'experiment'. Turning Gaza into another occupied West Bank is Blinken's goal. Israel can start its settlements in Gaza from their newly build highway strip dividing Gaza in two.

Gaps in ceasefire talks have been narrowing for months according to Blinken. All you have to do is stop the arms shipments to pressure Israel in accepting the outstanding proposal for a ceasefire.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/hamas-issues-ceasefire-proposal-mediators-which-includes-exchanging-2024-03-15/



Will Biden finally say no?

Israel’s Gallant heading to Washington with weapons demands: Report

Israeli defence and war cabinet minister, Yoav Gallant, is headed to Washington next week reportedly with a long list of US weapons that Israel wishes to receive for its war on Gaza. Gallant is expected to meet with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and will arrive on Sunday, reports US-based news website Axios.

It cites an unnamed senior Israeli official as saying the requests will not only include short-term arms orders for the war on Gaza but also longer-term deliveries including more fighter jets.

This is happening as the US and other allies’ arms sales to Israel are under increasing international scrutiny as the Israeli military continues to kill Palestinian civilians on a daily basis. The request for more weapons is also coming as Israel pushes for a planned ground invasion of Rafah, and continues to engage in cross-border fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

‘Clear consensus for immediate, sustained ceasefire in Gaza’

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says a ceasefire is the best way to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.



Well all you have to do is say no and stop the arms shipments. If not than it's just empty virtue signalling.


But this is what he does

Blinken told Qatar to threaten Hamas officials with expulsion: Report

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Qatar earlier this month that it must pressure Hamas to reach an agreement with Israel or risk having its senior members kicked out of Doha, according to US news channel CNN.

It cited unnamed US officials as saying this happened on March 5, before Hamas put forth a new proposal which was discussed this week in the Qatari capital.

CNN says Qatar “understood the message and received it without major pushback” and that it remains unclear whether Qatar ended up delivering such an ultimatum to Hamas leaders – who have been living in Doha for years. Qatar has not immediately reacted to the report or publicly commented on its contents.



SvennoJ on 21 March 2024

Shedding light on the creation of Israel, how the British trained the Israeli army from 1930 onwards with 'tactics' it's continuing to use today, what lead up the the 1948 Nakba and US complicity in the 1967 war. Then more on Zionist propaganda since WW2 and the outrageous claim Palestinians asked Hitler to take out the Jews.

https://www.cnn.com/2015/10/21/middleeast/netanyahu-hitler-grand-mufti-holocaust/index.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/10/21/netanyahu-says-palestinian-gave-hitler-idea-for-the-holocaust/
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/benjamin-netanyahu-palestinian-mufti-gave-hitler-idea-exterminate-jews-n448326

Debunking One Of Netanyahu's Grossest Lies







SvennoJ on 21 March 2024

French-Israeli soldier boasts of torturing Palestinian detainee






SvennoJ on 21 March 2024

How Israel tested, packaged & exported its occupation | Antony Loewenstein | The Big Picture S3E2



In this episode of The Big Picture Podcast, we sit down with investigative journalist Antony Loewenstein to talk about how for decades, Israel used its occupation of Palestinians as a testing ground for new weaponry, which it then packages and sells to governments around the world.

In fact, Loewenstein argues that since its inception, Israel built its economy around military and surveillance technology, exporting it to some of the world’s most repressive regimes including Myanmar, Pinochet’s Chile and apartheid South Africa.

As the devastating war in Gaza wages on, Israeli defence contractors have already begun advertising drones, hightech firearms and robot dogs battle-tested in the field and ready to be sent abroad.