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

SvennoJ on 24 March 2024

Palestine Red Crescent says volunteer killed at Al-Amal Hospital

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has said one of its emergency operations volunteers has been killed by Israeli army gunfire at the Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis. The volunteer Ameer Sobhi Abu Aysha was working at the hospital when he was killed, the PRCS added in a post on social media.

PRCS officials say Israeli troops have surrounded the facility and workers are in severe danger.

Six killed in Rafah as ‘violent’ explosions rock Khan Younis

The Wafa news agency is reporting that medics in the southern city have recovered six bodies from the rubble of the house destroyed in the Israeli attack.

A residential home was targeted overnight, killing at least six people, including three children, from the same family. The remaining family members are critically injured and all were rushed to al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah. People are still being removed from under the rubble.

The attack not only caused destruction of this residential home, but it damaged its vicinity, forcing more people into internal displacement.



The agency also reported “violent air and ground bombardment” in the nearby city of Khan Younis, with Israeli forces firing from helicopters and carrying out a ground incursion near the Nasser medical complex. Separately, Wafa said the death toll from the earlier attack on Deir el-Balah has risen to eight.

Israeli soldier killed in northern Gaza Strip

A 21-year-old Israeli soldier has been killed in a battle in the northern Gaza Strip, the Israeli army said in a statement. Earlier, we reported that the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said it had hit three tanks near the al-Shifa Hospital Complex in Gaza City, “killing and wounding a number of occupation soldiers”.

Israel forces raped, killed women during raid on al-Shifa, witness says

A Palestinian woman who was trapped in a building near al-Shifa Hospital has told Al Jazeera that Israeli forces raped, kidnapped and killed women during their ongoing raid on Gaza’s largest hospital.

Jamila al-Hissi, who spent six days inside the besieged building before being forced out by Israeli forces, told Al Jazeera Arabic that al-Shifa was a “war zone”.

“They raped women, kidnapped women, executed women, and pulled dead bodies from under the rubble to unleash their dogs on them,” she said. “Is there anything worse than this? Is there anything more horrifying than hearing women call for help, and when we try to reach them to provide assistance, they shoot at us?”

Israeli forces moving towards Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis

The Israeli military pushed deeper into the vicinity of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis overnight under heavy coverage of fighter jets, military choppers and attack drones, adds our correspondent Hani Mahmoud from Gaza. Israeli forces completely destroyed or severely damaged the remaining residential buildings in the area on the way.

They are currently stationed about half a kilometre from the hospital’s main gates. “We can literally hear from Rafah the shelling of the vicinity of the medical complex. The Israeli army has not stated the purpose of this operation around the Nasser Hospital yet,” said Mahmoud.

He added that there have been more air strikes and artillery shelling in northern Gaza and the vicinity of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. The Israeli army continues to operate in and around al-Shifa Hospital on the seventh day in a row.

Israeli forces target al-Amal Hospital with smoke bombs, bulldozers: PRCS

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has said the medical complex in the city of Khan Younis is under heavy Israeli attack.

One of the displaced people sheltering in the hospital has been injured in the head, a post on X by the PRCS said, adding that smoke bombs were fired at the hospital to force the staff, wounded and displaced people out of the building.

PRCS added that Israeli troops closed the gates of the hospital with barriers and that everyone in the hospital was told to leave naked.




Gaza death toll increases

The number of people killed in Israel’s war on Gaza has increased to 32,226, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. At least 74,518 people have been wounded by Israeli attacks in Gaza since October 7. The latest figures include 84 people who died and 106 who were wounded over the past 24 hours.



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SvennoJ on 24 March 2024

Another round of protests

Pro-Palestinian protesters rally in cities across Europe


Demonstrators carry a banner saying ‘Shut down Rafael Israeli arms factory in our toon’ in Newcastle upon Tyne, England on Saturday



Romanians protested outside government buildings in Bucharest, Romania, on Saturday calling for a free Palestine


A protest sign shows German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pulling a tank in Berlin, Germany on Saturday


People carry a banner saying ‘Freedom and Justice for Palestine’ in Dublin, Ireland on Saturday

Israeli antigovernment protesters say they will continue to block roads

Demonstrators in Tel Aviv say that Israeli PM Netanyahu must resign and an election should be held immediately.

Additionally, they are calling for a deal to bring back the remaining captives who are still being held in Gaza. The protesters say as the war enters its sixth month, the government simply has not done enough to secure their release.

Now the pressure has been mounting on Netanyahu from all directions – both internationally and domestically. But he is seemingly unfazed by all of these protests that are still going on.

Protesters say they will continue to block roads every Saturday until their demands are met.


Demonstrators attend a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and call for the release of captives from Gaza, in Tel Aviv, Saturday

What is happening with the ceasefire talks?

The Qatar-hosted, indirect talks between Israel and Hamas seem to be at a difficult stage amid significant differences over certain issues.

Here’s what you need to know:

  • Hamas is proposing the release of some 100 Israeli captives in phases in exchange for a permanent end to the war, total withdrawal of Israeli troops and the return of displaced people to their homes.
  • Al Jazeera’s sources say Israel rejected the demand to end the war and withdraw troops from Gaza.
  • Sources add that Israeli negotiators said they would allow only 2,000 Palestinians to return to their homes each day, meaning it would take more than two years for all displaced Palestinians to leave Rafah.
  • Israel wants all Israeli captives released immediately. Hamas has indicated it will only release women and children in the first phase.
  • Basem Naim, a Hamas official, told Al Jazeera that Israeli negotiators want the captives released without a commitment to ending the war on Gaza.
  • He said Hamas told mediators that the group is “not ready to discuss any further proposals”.

 

Does Israel need to be forced by the US to end the war in Gaza?

All of Israel’s modern wars have ended with US intervention, but the current war in Gaza has gone on for half a year because “Biden is a slow learner”, argues University of Pennsylvania political scientist Ian Lustick.

Israel needs an outside power to blame when it cannot achieve its aims.

“That’s because the war aims are fundamentally political, and the military cannot achieve them,” says Lustick.

Lustick and Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti talk to host Steve Clemons about the current situation on the ground and the debate within the Democratic Party in the US.





SvennoJ on 24 March 2024

US Democratic senators urge Biden to reject Israeli assurances over Gaza

A group of 17 US Democratic senators have urged the Biden administration to reject Israel’s claims that it is complying with international human rights law in Gaza, according to The Washington Post.

The senators, who include Chris Van Hollen, Dick Durbin and Elizabeth Warren, urged the State Department to reject any assurances from Israel given its “excessively burdensome restrictions… on the flow of aid from land crossings into Gaza and within Gaza”, the Post reported.

The move comes as the State Department gauges whether Israel’s actions in Gaza follow the laws of war – an assessment required under a new presidential directive that conditions US military aid on compliance with international human rights law.

Israel submitted written assurances to the State Department last week saying it is complying with international laws in Gaza.

They lie on video, might as well lie on paper. Written down, it's still a lie.


US should support ‘straightforward’ Security Council resolution: Palestinian politician

Hanan Ashrawi, a former member of the Palestine Legislative Council, has told Al Jazeera’s Inside Story that the United States should support a “straightforward” resolution in the UN Security Council instead of using “using evasive tactics”.

UN Security Council members are expected to vote on a new resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire on Monday. “This latest resolution to be presented is very clear and very succinct and precise,” said Ashrawi.

By comparison, Ashrawi said a US resolution, which failed to pass on Friday, used passive language “in order to exonerate Israel”.

“Israel holds all of Gaza hostage, all the Palestinian people, even the West Bank,” she said.

 

Israel blocks access to Jerusalem for West Bank Christians on Palm Sunday: Report

Israel has prevented thousands of Christians from the occupied West Bank from accessing Jerusalem to participate in the celebration of Palm Sunday, according to the WAFA news agency.

At the same time, Israeli forces imposed strict military measures at checkpoints surrounding the city of Jerusalem and in the vicinity of the Old City.

Israeli authorities require Palestinians, both Muslims and Christians, to obtain special permits to cross their military checkpoints surrounding the holy city and to access places of worship.



Israel arrested more than 7,350 Palestinians in West Bank during Gaza war

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/3/22/israel-arrested-over-7350-west-bank-palestinians-since-war-on-gaza-began


Protesters wearing shrouds hold placards during a protest in solidarity with Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, in Hebron, the Israeli-occupied West Bank on November 14, 2023

In early November, the Israeli authorities summoned Hashim Matar* to the police station in occupied East Jerusalem. For 10 days, he was interrogated about whether he supported Hamas and was a member of the Palestinian group.

Between questioning, Matar was locked in a small room with other detainees, where they were punched, kicked and beaten with batons.

“Lots of people had their [sternums] or heads broken, often gushing with blood,” Matar, a 54-year-old man with a short grey beard and laugh lines around his eyes, told Al Jazeera three months after he was released from detention. “We weren’t even treated like animals. At least animals are treated with some sort of dignity.”

...

While some Palestinians have been released, 9,100 remain captive. That’s a sharp uptick from the 5,200 that were in Israeli prisons before October 7. These figures do not include the thousands of adults and children the Israeli army has reportedly detained, tortured and interrogated in makeshift prisons across Gaza, outside any legal or civilian oversight.

Since October 7, Israeli authorities have become more violent during arrests, according to a staff member of Addameer who spoke on condition of anonymity.





SvennoJ on 24 March 2024

Four wounded in Israeli strikes on east Lebanon’s Baalbek

Four people were wounded by Israeli air strikes near Lebanon’s eastern city of Baalbek overnight, the AFP news agency is reporting. In a statement, the Israeli military said its fighter jets “struck a Hezbollah manufacturing site containing weapons in the area of Baalbek”.

AFP reported that the strikes targeted a Hezbollah centre that had been deserted for some time, wounding four residents in nearby buildings. The Israeli military also said “approximately 50 launches were identified from Lebanon toward northern Israel, a number of launches were intercepted while the rest fell in open areas”.

Hezbollah said it fired “more than 60 Katyusha-type rockets” at two Israeli military positions in the occupied Golan Heights in response to the Israeli strikes.


A young girl checks the damage in a building hit by an overnight Israeli air strike near the city of Baalbeck in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa valley on Sunday

One injured in drone strike on vehicle in east Lebanon

Lebanese media is reporting that a drone struck a vehicle in the village of Souairi in Lebanon’s east, injuring a Syrian citizen. The village is located in Western Bekaa region, near Lebanon’s border with Syria, where the attack took place.

The wounded person is a worker in the construction sector, according to the official National News Agency, which said that he was transported to a hospital in the area.



SvennoJ on 24 March 2024

CNN mentioning the imminent famine in Gaza, never mentions Israel.



Britain ADMITS Israel Deliberately Starving Gaza




Mustafa Barghouti reacts to ‘pure racist’ media he has faced and its broader impact | UNAPOLOGETIC




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SvennoJ on 24 March 2024

Israel's war of starvation ramps up further

Israel says no more UNRWA food convoys to north Gaza: Lazzarini

The head of the UN’s Palestine refugee agency says Israel informed the UN that it will no longer approve any aid convoys run by UNRWA.

“This is outrageous [and] makes it intentional to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man made famine. These restrictions must be lifted”, Philippe Lazzarini wrote in an X post.

He warned that the move will speed up the coming of famine in the north of the Strip, and said that “many more will die of hunger, dehydration”. Famine is likely to occur by May in northern Gaza and could spread across the enclave by July, the world’s hunger watchdog, known as the Integrated Food-Security Phase Classification (IPC), said last week.

The IPC said 70 percent of people in parts of northern Gaza were suffering the most severe level of food shortage, more than triple the 20 percent threshold to be considered famine. In all, 1.1 million Palestinians in Gaza, about half the population, were experiencing “catastrophic” shortages of food.


And the ICJ remains silent, nothing since March 15th, no response to Israel's duties to inform on what measures they're taking.
https://www.icj-cij.org/case/192
https://www.icj-cij.org/case/193




UNRWA says US funding cut will ‘compromise access to food’ in Gaza

The US’s decision to cut hundreds of millions of dollars worth of funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) will have serious implications for Palestinians in Gaza and the region.

“In Gaza, the humanitarian community is racing against the clock to avert famine. As the backbone of the humanitarian response, any gap in funding to UNRWA will compromise access to food, shelter, primary health care & education at a time of deep trauma,” the organisation’s chief, Philippe Lazzarini, wrote on X.

“Palestine Refugees are counting on the international community to step up support to meet their basic needs.”

Washington, the UN agency’s largest donor, cut its funding until March 2025 after an Israeli claim that about a dozen of UNRWA’s thousands of staff participated in the October 7 attacks.



Don't worry, the US will airdrop avg 60,000 meals every other day....
Any country brave enough to file charges against the USA at the ICJ?


Oh, I overestimated, 13,000 meal equivalents

US military announces new aid airdrop with Jordan over northern Gaza

As Israel blocks the UN from sending aid to northern Gaza via crucial land crossings, the US is announcing a new airdrop over the area in cooperation with the Jordanian air force.

The US army’s Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on X that it used a C-130 military cargo plane to drop 13,080 meal equivalents, including rice, flour, milk, pasta and canned foods.

The US military also said the airdrops, which the UN and aid organisations have said are not nearly enough to alleviate the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, will continue.

13,000 meals for 700 thousand people...

 



SvennoJ on 24 March 2024

Again....

Casualties in Israeli attack on Kuwaiti roundabout in Gaza City

Israel has again attacked the roundabout in the south of Gaza City, a major distribution point for the little humanitarian aid that reaches the starving Palestinians there, our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting.

Our correspondents say that the attack was on members of a tribal committee that organises aid distribution at the roundabout. Earlier this month, Israel carried out an attack on the same committee, killing at least 20.

Video verified by Al Jazeera from a Palestinian journalist shows the casualties caused by this attack, the exact number of which is unclear at this time.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C451_jKNBhQ/

What is happening at al-Amal Hospital under Israeli siege?

The Israeli military is carrying on with an intense operation against al-Amal Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis in Gaza. These are the latest updates from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS). The video below shows how the aid organisation’s teams receive direct updates from the besieged hospital.

  • All displaced Palestinians and patients who could move independently were evacuated towards the al-Mawasi area west of Khan Younis after the Israeli military directly hit the hospital and issued an evacuation order.
  • Hospital staff remain, along with nine patients and their 10 companions, and a displaced family with children who have disabilities. All need to be evacuated safely.
  • PRCS staff member Amir Abu Aisha and a wounded individual who was being treated at the hospital after being shot in the head by the Israeli military were both killed, and their bodies need to be removed.
  • Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles have completely surrounded all entrances to the hospital, and control any movement in and out.

PRCS says communication with al-Amal hospital cut off

The Palestine Red Crescent says on X that due to a service interruption to VHF radio, it is unable to contact its staff at the hospital in Khan Younis, currently under Israeli army siege.


Widespread destruction in Khan Younis after Israeli military operation


Buildings destroyed in Israeli air strikes and a military operation are seen in Khan Younis


The Israeli military confirmed a new operation in Khan Younis, where it reportedly hit dozens of targets and engaged in ground clashes



SvennoJ on 24 March 2024

Aftermath of Israeli drone strike on vehicle in central Lebanon


Lebanese soldiers cordon off the site of an Israeli drone attack targeting a vehicle in the town of Souairi

Hezbollah claims attack on Israeli forces in al-Marj

Lebanon’s Hezbollah armed group says there are “dead and wounded” after its attack on an Israeli force inside the al-Marj site near the Lebanese-Israeli border. It said on Telegram that the attack was carried out at 4pm local time (14:00 GMT) “with appropriate weapons.”

Israeli military claims attacks on Hezbollah outposts

The Israeli military has released aerial footage of what it says are the latest attacks by its air force on Hezbollah outposts in southern Lebanon. The army said it attacked a “military structure” in the Aita al-Shaab area, and another structure in the Odaisseh area, after its combat intelligence unit spotted operatives.

It also said it identified and shelled the source of missile and rocket fire against areas in northern Israel, and targeted areas in southern Lebanon to “remove threats”.



Clashes during Israeli raid on Azzun

Al Jazeera’s team in the occupied West Bank reports that Israeli forces began a raid on the village during iftar, when Muslims observing the holy month of Ramadan break their daily fast, around 6pm local time (1600GMT).

Our correspondents report that Palestinians targeted Israeli soldiers with locally made explosives, as confrontations broke out.

Azzun is near the city of Qalqilya in the West Bank.



SvennoJ on 24 March 2024

Finally some direct language on CNN

Ocasio-Cortez defends accusing Israel of genocide in floor speech

https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/24/politics/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-aoc-israel-gaza-genocide-cnntv/index.html

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Sunday defended accusing Israel of genocide against the Palestinian people and advocating for cuts to US military aid until humanitarian relief flows freely in Gaza. Her decision to use the term genocide, as she did during a floor speech on Friday in the House chamber, was “taken with extraordinary gravity,” she said.

While she has openly condemned the violence in Gaza amid Israel’s war against Hamas, Ocasio-Cortez has typically been cautious about labeling Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians as genocide — a distinction in line with her tendency to use more conciliatory rhetoric on Israel than some of her ideological allies. But the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza has “crossed the threshold of intent,” Ocasio-Cortez told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”

“As we speak, in this moment, 1.1 million innocents in Gaza are at famine’s door,” Ocasio-Cortez said in her speech Friday. “A famine that is being intentionally precipitated through the blocking of food and global humanitarian assistance by leaders in the Israeli government.”

“If you want to know what an unfolding genocide looks like,” the New York Democrat added, “open your eyes.”

More than 32,000 people in the coastal enclave have been killed since the Israel-Hamas war began, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.

All 2.2 million people in Gaza do not have enough food to eat, with half of the population on the brink of starvation and famine projected to arrive in the north “anytime between mid-March and May 2024,” according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.

“What we are seeing here, I think, with a forced famine is beyond our ability to deny or explain away,” Ocasio-Cortez told Tapper. “There is no targeting of Hamas in precipitating a mass famine of a million people, half of whom are children.”

.....

Ocasio-Cortez told Tapper on Sunday that she disagrees with the Israeli government restricting the flow of food and aid until Hamas frees the hostages and lays down arms.

“We are talking about famine,” she said. “The actions of Hamas should not be tied to whether a 3-year-old can eat. The actions of Hamas do not justify forcing thousands, hundreds of thousands of people to eat grass as their bodies consume themselves. We and the Israeli government have the right to go after Hamas. But we are talking about population of millions of innocent Palestinians. We’re talking about collective punishment, which is in unjustifiable,” she said.

 



SvennoJ on 24 March 2024

EU ‘will not recognise changes to 1967 borders’ after Israeli confiscation of land

The European Union is “urging” Israel to reverse its illegal confiscation of more than 800 hectares (1,976 acres) of Palestinian land and declaring it Israeli state land.

“In line with its longstanding common position and UN Security Council Resolutions, the EU will not recognise changes to the 1967 borders unless agreed by the parties,” it said in a statement.

“This position goes hand in hand with the EU’s commitment to Israel’s security and to ensuring that the horrific attacks against Israeli civilians on 7 October will never be repeated. The EU is determined to fight such terrorism in word and deed, by continuously condemning Hamas in the strongest possible terms and through sanctions and other measures.”

“Settlement expansion runs counter to this objective. It fuels tensions and undermines prospects for a two-state solution, which remains the only sustainable guarantee for the long-term security of both Israelis and Palestinians,” the EU says as Israel continues to reject a two-state solution.





Western double standards

UN special rapporteurs decry underreporting of sexual violence against Palestinians

As accounts of sexual violence against Palestinian women in Gaza are coming out, two women special rapporteurs of the UN say the issue is underreported and undervalued.

Reem Alsalem, the UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, said in a post on X that it is “abhorrent” that reports of rape by Israeli forces keep coming out without any consequences.

“Rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity or a constitutive act with respect to genocide! It must stop!”

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, said, “I lost count of how many renowned journalists interviewed me on the alleged mistreatment of/sexual abuse against Palestinian women by Israeli forces, and never published any article on this”.




US official accuses Israel of ‘systematic’ sexual abuse of Palestinians: report

A senior US Department of State official has accused Israel of “systematic” sexual abuse of Palestinian women, an Israeli army general has said in an interview.

Brigadier General Amir Avivi said he was shocked when the person in charge of the Israel-Palestine file at the US State Department made this accusation during a meeting, reports the Jerusalem Post, citing a 103FM interview.

Avivi was quoted as saying, “This is absolutely disconnected from reality. But without hesitation, she said, ‘The UN presented evidence to the Israeli government. I told her, ‘Does it make sense that this phenomenon would exist and the media would never have reported on it?’ I wanted there to be greater awareness… about what is really happening in the US State Department.”

“When we meet with a State Department official holding the Israeli-Palestinian portfolio, every word she utters, as far as I’m concerned, is an official US position. Ultimately, she is a government official,” Avivi continued.

As we reported earlier, Al Jazeera has spoken with a woman living near the besieged al-Shifa Hospital who said Israeli soldiers are raping and killing Palestinian women in the area.

Suppress the media reporting on it makes it not true, that's Israel's reasoning. Yes it makes a lot of sense seeing how Western media has been reporting the genocide in Gaza.




Some stories are too much to imagine, this hits hard

Palestinian boy describes executions inside al-Shifa Hospital

Teenage Palestinian boy Farouk Mohammed Hamd tells Al Jazeera he witnessed Israeli soldiers executing a group of eight people, including his father and brother, inside al-Shifa Hospital.

He said he and the others were stripped of their clothing and moved several times inside the al-Shifa Hospital building in central Gaza over the course of hours before being taken to the top floor of the facility.

“They left us for about three hours, then they said, ‘You are safe. You can go south’,” he said. “We stood up, but then they opened fire. We all laid down on the floor again. Then, the snipers entertained themselves by shooting us one after the other.”

He said his father told him before being killed to run away if he could, and he managed to run, but not before seeing the unresponsive bodies of the executed group.



Guterres asks for staff access, safety amid record UN death toll

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has met with humanitarian staff working in dangerous conditions in the Gaza Strip. “Some of them, with decades of experience, said they have never encountered a situation as difficult as this,” he wrote in a post on X.

“Aid workers need resources, access and safety – now.”

A record number of at least 168 members of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) have been killed by the Israeli military since the start of its war on Gaza.

Israeli forces storm Al-Aqsa Mosque

A video posted on X by Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent Suheib Alassa shows the incursion of Israeli soldiers into the al-Qibli prayer hall inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque. According to Alassa, the soldiers assaulted and expelled worshippers inside who were engaged in the practice of Itikaf, which entails spending nights inside a mosque with the aim of devoting oneself to worship.

Israel has again placed restrictions on entry to the Islamic holy site during the holy month of Ramadan, drawing the criticism of Muslim leaders worldwide.