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[VIDEOS/PICTURES] Bloodshed in the land of Palestine - 2023 Edition

Top UN court orders Israel to allow food and medical aid into Gaza

The UN's top court has ordered Israel to enable the unhindered flow of aid into Gaza in order to avert a famine.

In a unanimous decision, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said Israel must act "without delay" to allow the "provision... of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance".

This follows warnings that famine could hit Gaza within weeks.

Israel has called allegations it is blocking aid "wholly unfounded".

Giving its response to the court order, the Israeli foreign ministry said it was continuing "to promote new initiatives, and to expand existing ones" to allow a continuous flow of aid into Gaza "by land, air and sea", working with the UN and others.

It said that Hamas was to blame for the situation in Gaza and for starting the war.

The latest ruling by the court in The Hague comes after South Africa asked it to bolster an order issued to Israel in January to take all measures to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza.

Although orders issued by the ICJ are legally binding, the court lacks the power to enforce them.

Last week, a report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Global Initiative, which is run by the World Food Programme and others, warned that a "catastrophic" situation was developing.

It said that all of the 2.2 million people in Gaza were "facing high levels of acute food insecurity" and that famine was projected to hit the north of the territory before the end of May.

In its ruling, the ICJ said Gaza was "no longer facing only a risk of famine" but "famine is setting in" and that, according to UN observers, 31 people, including 27 children, had already died of malnutrition and dehydration.

It also noted comments by Volker Türk, the UN's high commissioner for human rights, who said last week that the "situation of hunger, starvation and famine" was "a result of Israel's extensive restrictions on the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid and commercial goods, displacement of most of the population, as well as the destruction of crucial civilian infrastructure".

The court said Israel must "take all necessary and effective measures to ensure, without delay, in full co-operation with the United Nations, the unhindered provision at scale... of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance".

The aid most needed included food, water, electricity, fuel, shelter, and clothing as well as hygiene products and medical supplies, it said.

The ruling also said Israel must ensure "its military does not commit acts which constitute a violation of any of the rights of the Palestinians in Gaza" under the Genocide Convention.

Recent months have seen long queues of aid trucks repeatedly forming as they wait to enter Gaza from Egypt, and accusations levelled at Israel that it is subjecting the deliveries to complex and arbitrary checks.

In a filing last week, Israel asked the ICJ not to issue the latest order, saying South Africa's allegations were "wholly unfounded in fact and law" and "morally repugnant".

It has also dismissed the broader case being brought against it under the Genocide Convention as "baseless".

Israel has further said that Hamas takes much of the aid that enters Gaza and accused the UN of failing to distribute what is left to the civilian population.

The current conflict began after the 7 October attack, which saw Hamas-led gunmen storm across the border into Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 others hostage.

Of those taken, about 130 remain unaccounted for, at least 34 of whom are presumed dead.

Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 32,552 people. Earlier this month, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that, of those killed, more than 25,000 were women and children.

BBC
 

Israel’s Netanyahu approves new Gaza ceasefire talks​


Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved a new round of Gaza ceasefire talks to take place in Doha and Cairo, his office said Friday, days after the negotiations appeared stalled.

Since the UN Security Council adopted a resolution on Monday demanding an “immediate ceasefire,” Hamas and Israel have traded blame for their failure to agree a deal.

Mediator Qatar said Tuesday that talks between Hamas and Israel on a Gaza truce and hostage release were continuing, but the warring sides and mediators have offered little information since.

Netanyahu’s office said the premier spoke to Mossad chief David Barnea about the talks, but declined elaborate on whether Barnea would be traveling to Doha or Cairo for the negotiations.

The war began when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel that resulted in about 1,160 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s military has waged a retaliatory offensive against Hamas that has killed 32,623 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry in the Strip.

Palestinian militants seized about 250 Israeli and foreign hostages during the October 7 attack on Israel, but dozens were released during a week-long truce in November.

Israel believes about 130 remain in Gaza, including 33 who are presumed dead - eight soldiers and 25 civilians.

 

Israel crisis deepens over ultra-Orthodox draft​


Israel's High Court has issued an order in the long-running dispute over ultra-Orthodox military exemptions, deepening a crisis in the government.

It instructed a funding freeze for ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, educational institutions whose students are eligible for conscription.

Haredi parties in the government have reacted angrily, while a secular party has threatened to quit over the issue.

Ultra-Orthodox exemptions are opposed by a majority of Israelis.

The Haredi community comprises about 12% of the population but those in full-time Torah study are exempt from mandatory military service.

Conscription applies to almost all other Israelis, apart from Israeli Arabs, from the age of 18 for both men and women.

The government is debating a bill which reportedly seeks to strike a compromise by allowing exemptions with limitations.

But the draft plan is fiercely opposed by Haredi parties. Two of those parties - Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ) - hold 18 seats in the 72-seat emergency government.

On the other hand, the secular, centrist National Union party, which holds eight seats, is insisting exemptions are scrapped altogether.

The party's leader, Benny Gantz, a former army chief of staff, has threatened to pull out of the government over the current plan.

"The people will not tolerate it, the Knesset will not be able to vote in favour of it, and my associates and I cannot be part of this emergency government if this law passes," he said on Monday.

While some ultra-Orthodox Jews of army service age serve in the IDF, the vast majority do not, devoting their lives to Torah study in the religious institutions, or yeshivot.

The High Court ruled that funds to yeshivot whose students qualify for conscription since 1 July 2023 when a previous law on deferrals expired but who have not yet enlisted, will be frozen. It is reported to affect about 50,000 yeshiva students.

The ruling is due to come into effect on 1 April, a day after a deadline for the government to draft a new law expires.

The head of UTJ, Yitzhak Goldknopf, called the ruling "a stain and a disgrace".

Critics object to the exemption, arguing that all Jewish Israelis should serve without exception. The issue has intensified since the start of the war in Gaza on 7 October, in which 254 soldiers have been killed.

A former adviser to Shas leader Ariyeh Deri, Barak Seri, told Israel public radio that "from the moment that the court ruled, the Haredi parties have been in utter shock".

"They were stunned by the ruling that funding will stop this Monday. The accusations are flying in all directions, at the Likud [party which leads the government], at [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, at the fully right-wing government, at their representatives... This is the worst situation the Haredim have ever been in."

www.bbc.com

Israel crisis deepens over ultra-Orthodox draft

Ultra-Orthodox in the government react furiously over a High Court order on military service.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
 

Instead of calling them out why not sanction them? Can only anti US countries be sanctioned?​

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UN expert calls for efforts to stop 'genocide' in Palestine​

The UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestine Territories Francesca Albanese has said efforts should be made to stop the "ongoing genocide" in Palestine.

Thanking those who stood up against pro-Israeli figures and institutions, she said on X: “Let's stay focused on Palestine, the Palestinians, and let's make sure we stop the ongoing genocide.”

Since the Israeli attacks on Gaza started on October 7, 2023, Albanese called for an immediate ceasefire and warned that Palestinians in Gaza were at risk of "mass ethnic cleansing."

Source: TRT World
 
Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will return to the negotiating table for a new round of ceasefire talks with Hamas.

Several sets of negotiations have so far failed to find a deal that would see Israel pause its military offensive in return for the release of the remaining hostages taken by the Iranian-backed militant group in its strike on 7 October, which triggered the war.

The Israeli prime minister said on Friday he has told the country's lead negotiators to join talks in Qatar and Egypt over the coming days.


SKY News
 

Second shipment with more than 300 tons of food for Gaza leaves Cyprus port​

LARNACA, Cyprus, March 30 (Reuters) - Ships carrying 332 tons of food for Gaza left Cyprus's Larnaca port on Saturday in a convoy which will reach the besieged enclave early next week, authorities said.

It is the second shipment this month after Israel eased a 17-year naval blockade on the Gaza Strip to allow aid in from Cyprus, sourced by U.S. charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) for starving Palestinians.

The aid will be taken to Gaza on a cargo ship and a barge towed by a salvage vessel, along with a tugboat carrying a support team in a journey which will take about 60 hours, a Cypriot official told Reuters.

Cypriot authorities have established, in cooperation with Israel, a maritime corridor to facilitate pre-screened cargoes arriving directly in Gaza.

WCK, which has been active in Gaza for months, arranged the mission with Spain's Open Arms charity, with financing mainly from the UAE and support from Cypriot authorities.

On its first mission earlier in March, it built a makeshift jetty from rubble to offload almost 200 tons of food in the enclave, which does not have any port facilities. Saturday's convoy includes two forklifts and a crane to assist with future marine deliveries, as well as a team to operate the crane.

Separately, the United States plans to construct a floating pier off Gaza to receive aid. The target for completion is May 1, but it could be ready by around April 15, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said late on Friday, citing briefings with U.S. officials earlier in the week.

The United Nations has warned that famine is imminent in the northern Gaza Strip, where 300,000 people are trapped by fighting. More than half of Gaza's population of 2.3 million could face famine by July.

 
WHO says 9,000 patients need emergency evacuation from Gaza

The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said some 9,000 patients in the Gaza Strip require evacuation for emergency care, with the Palestinian territory down to just 10 barely functioning hospitals, AFP reports

“With only 10 hospitals minimally functional across the whole of Gaza, thousands of patients continue to be deprived of health care,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X.

“Around 9,000 patients urgently need to be evacuated abroad for lifesaving health services, including treatment for cancer, injuries from bombardments, kidney dialysis and other chronic conditions.”

Tedros said that “so far, over 3,400 patients have been referred abroad through Rafah, including 2,198 wounded and 1,215 ill. But many more need to be evacuated.

“We urge Israel to speed up approvals for evacuations, so that critical patients can be treated. Every moment matters.”
 

Isolated abroad, torn apart at home, Israel must face the future it dreads: a Palestinian state​

The catastrophic collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore was shocking. Local people expressed dismay at the sudden disintegration of a familiar landmark they had known all their lives. The post-1945 international order is a bit like that bridge. It was always there. Its authority, rules and resilience were taken for granted. Now, alarmingly, the entire global edifice is in freefall as the usual supports are kicked away.

The sense of things breaking apart is profound – and the negative ramifications are everywhere. The UN charter, bedrock of international law, is routinely flouted. The UN security council finally agreed an “immediate” Gaza ceasefire last week, only to see it contemptuously ignored.

In Ukraine, Myanmar and Sudan, war crimes and alleged genocide go unpunished and unchecked. Russia, Iran and India, among others, send assassins overseas to eliminate political opponents. Undeclared cyberwarfare knows no bounds.

The scale of the atrocities is alarming. So, too, is the impunity with which they have been met
Perceptions of permanent, lawless rupture are especially strong in the Middle East following the 7 October attacks and the Israel-Hamas war. The scale of the atrocities is alarming. So, too, is the impunity with which they have been met. UN court of justice orders to prevent famine receive mere lip service.

The relationship between the US and Israel, a regional keystone, is at breaking point. President Joe Biden and Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, barely speak. Biden demands more aid deliveries, a stop to threats of assault on Rafah, where 1.4 million Palestinians cower in fear and hunger, and postwar talks on a two-state solution. Netanyahu, dubbed Israel’s self-harming “agent of destruction”, blocks him at every turn.

Israel’s internal crisis waxes existential as Netanyahu, his anti-democratic extremist allies and far-right settler groups turn insurrectionary. If critics are right, and Netanyahu is prolonging the war to stay in power, it follows he may escalate in the West Bank and Lebanon. This is already happening, judging by last week’s Israeli attacks.

The US volte-face at the UN, when it finally allowed a Gaza ceasefire resolution to pass, was encouraging, up to a point. Yet neither the US nor the UK has taken steps to enforce it. Permanent security council members Russia and China prefer grandstanding to pursuing peace and justice. The Arab states are a study in impotence.

The US belatedly shifted ground not because it suddenly noticed that more than 32,000 people, including thousands of children, have been killed in Gaza or that food is being used as a weapon. State department lawyers are in denial about that. US pressure is growing because Biden is haemorrhaging support in an election year and feels humiliated by Netanyahu. Israeli commentators suggest the rift may prove irreparable.

“Senior US officials complain they don’t understand what Netanyahu wants. But [it] is quite clear. Political survival is his top priority. And if continuing the war, even amid growing claims that Israel is violating the laws of war, is what will keep him in office, he’s completely prepared to do so. All means are kosher, apparently, including further delay in finalising a hostage deal,” wrote Amos Harel in Haaretz.

Biden’s Middle East policy – whether the issue is Iran’s nuclear programme, Chinese influence-peddling, reviving Islamic State terrorism, a grand bargain with Saudi Arabia or the future of Palestine – is in tatters. The same might be said of Britain, another staunch ally of Israel which, in these meagre post-Brexit days, follows Washington’s lead on almost everything.

David Cameron, the UK foreign secretary and former prime minister, has taken a tougher line as the Gaza war drags on. He has confronted Netanyahu over aid and floated recognition of a Palestinian state in a future peace process. Britain went further than the US by backing last week’s UN ceasefire.

All this provides a welcome contrast to Cameron’s lazy, incompetent Foreign Office predecessors, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Dominic Raab. Yet Britain is still supplying arms to Israel; has penalised the UN aid agency in Gaza, Unrwa, on spurious grounds; and, incredibly, will still not officially declare that Israel’s actions breach humanitarian law. Cameron is an improvement but hardly a radical.


Source: The Guardian
 
France, Jordan, Egypt FMs Call For 'Permanent' Gaza Ceasefire

The French, Egyptian and Jordanian foreign ministers called Saturday for an "immediate and permanent ceasefire" in Gaza and the release of all hostages held by Palestinian militants.

Speaking at a joint press conference in Cairo, France's top diplomat Stephane Sejourne said his government would put forward a draft resolution at the UN Security Council setting out a "political" settlement of the war.

He said the text would include "all the criteria for a two-state solution" of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the peace blueprint long championed by the international community but opposed by the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On Monday, the Security Council adopted a resolution demanding an "immediate ceasefire" in Hamas-run Gaza, where the health ministry says the death toll has reached 32,705, most of them women and children.

The war started when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, which resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

The International Court of Justice ordered Israel on Thursday to "ensure urgent humanitarian assistance" reaches civilians in Gaza, saying "famine has set in" after more than five months of fighting.

But "international law no longer has any impact on the ground when it comes to Israel," Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told the Cairo news conference.

"The real disaster is the international community's inability to prevent" the humanitarian catastrophe, Safadi said.

Alluding to the presence of far-right ministers in the Israeli government, he said the failure to provide sufficient aid was a "political decision by an extremist government which has decided to use starvation as a weapon."

The three ministers renewed their governments' support for the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, which has faced a funding crisis since Israel alleged that a dozen of its 13,000 Gaza staff were implicated in the October 7 attack.

"Israel is not only starving Palestinians, but wants to kill the only entity capable of standing in the way of a famine," Safadi said.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Gaza "can endure no more destruction and humanitarian suffering", and called on Israel to open its land crossings with the Gaza Strip to humanitarian aid.

Nearly all aid into the territory has trickled through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, where world leaders and the United Nations have accused Israel of impeding deliveries.

AFP
 

Israel Gaza: Journalists injured in al-Aqsa hospital air strike​


Seven journalists have been injured in an Israeli air strike in the courtyard of a hospital in central Gaza.

Four members of the Islamic Jihad (IJ) militant group were killed in the attack in the grounds of the al-Aqsa Hospital, the BBC understands.

The Israeli military said it struck an IJ command centre in the hospital courtyard in Deir al-Balah.

Hamas and medical staff deny Israeli accusations that militants use hospitals as bases.

Islamic Jihad, an ally of Hamas, has not commented.

The journalists were among hundreds who are sheltering in makeshift tents in the grounds of the hospital.

One of those injured was a freelancer working for the BBC.

"They hit the tent without any warning, we were staying in the tent as a group of journalists peacefully with no terrorists among us," Ali Hamad, a photographer, told Reuters news agency.

"We were preparing our cameras and all of a sudden the tent was hit, everything went dark with debris and rocks flying above our heads and there were flames."

The Israeli military said "the command centre and terrorists were struck precisely, intended on minimising harm to uninvolved civilians in the area of the hospital".

Israeli strikes killed 77 people in Gaza in the past 24 hours, the Hamas-run health ministry said on Sunday.

It reported that nine more people died in an Israeli strike in Bani Suhaila near the city of Khan Younis.

The war in Gaza began after Hamas's unprecedented attack in southern Israel during which about 1,200 people were killed and some 253 taken hostage. Of those taken, about 130 remain unaccounted for, at least 34 of whom are presumed dead.

Israel launched its retaliatory operation, saying it was aimed at destroying Hamas. Since then, 32,782 Palestinians have been killed and 75,298 injured, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Earlier this month, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said that, of those killed, more than 25,000 were women and children.

www.bbc.com

Israel Gaza: Journalists injured in al-Aqsa hospital air strike

Four members of the Islamic Jihad militant group were killed in the air strike, the BBC understands.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
 
Israel has unleashed because the world is not ready to see what they are doing. Even now, journalists are injured, but the world is sleeping
 
Occupiers never persist for ever, Just look at the fate of Soviets and USA in vietnam. Israel will soon meet the same fate and would perish from the face of the earth.
 

Al Jazeera targeted by Israel once again​


There have been earlier threats to use emergency regulations to clamp down on Al Jazeera’s offices in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

In mid-October, Israel’s government passed wartime regulations allowing it to provisionally close foreign media it deemed a threat to its national interests.

Israel’s Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi at the time said he hoped the measures would be used against Al Jazeera, which is one of the few international media channels to broadcast live from Gaza during the ongoing Israeli war. The minister accused Al Jazeera of pro-Hamas bias and incitement against Israel.

Press freedom organisations denounced the calls to shutter Al Jazeera and other media.

Israel has often lashed out at Al Jazeera, which has offices in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. In 2017, Israel pledging to ban Al Jazeera’s journalists, shutter its offices and block it from the airwaves. Israel’s communications minister at the time, Ayoob Kara, accused the channel of inciting violence, particularly surrounding the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

In 2022, Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli forces while she was reporting in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank.

Al Jazeera
 
So that the world can't see the horrible genocide Israel is committing there.
 
@mominsaigol

You couldn't be more wrong when you said that Australia has always Supported the Palestinian cause. This couldn't be further from the truth.

Australia was one of the first countries to recognize Israel in 1949.

Please read the following and educate yourself:

"Australia approved 322 defence exports to Israel in six years as Greens fear equipment used in Gaza assault"

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...as-greens-fear-equipment-used-in-gaza-assault​


"Australian industry’s dirty secret: it is helping Israel commit atrocities in Gaza"

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240307-australian-industrys-dirty-secret-it-is-helping-israel-commit-atrocities-in-gaza/​


Australia challenged on ‘moral failure’ of weapons trade with Israel

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024...on-moral-failure-of-weapons-trade-with-israel​


I can go on and on and on and on. Furthermore, everyone knows the role that Australia played in the WOT as a puppet of the USA government.

Showing solidarity by not eating McDonald's and shedding tears on social media does not change the fact that you are complicit in the atrocities and war crimes against Palestine because your taxes are being used to fund the genocide so please don't give me lectures on morality and conscience. If you care so much about the plight of the Palestinians, please leave Australia and relocate to a country that doesn't provide military aid to Israel.

@Dr_Bassim This discussion surfaced when @IMMY69 accused me of being complicit in corruption because I don't Support PTI. My rebuttal is simple - if that makes me corrupt, then him and others who live in the west are complicit in the genocide against the Palestinians and Muslims in the Middle East because their tax money is being used to fund the genocide. If I can't have a clear conscience because I support corrupt parties then they can't have a clear conscience because they pay taxes to governments that commit war crimes against Muslims.

This is why I will not accept any lectures in morality from these people and if they do, they will be shown the mirror.

@Rana this is for your educational purposes too.
 

In Washington, DC: Celebrating Ramadan, protesting Israel’s siege of Gaza​

Washington, DC – Forty-eight folding chairs, but will it be enough?

“It’s OK, some of us will stand,” said 60-year-old Haitham Arafat, a soft-spoken, bespectacled man in a keffiyeh and a canary yellow shirt.

But soon, more chairs arrived, and were quickly lined up along 40 metres (131 feet) of table that stretched along a street facing the Israeli embassy in the northwest corner of this US capital city. A row of Ramadan lanterns lit the place settings ahead of the iftar meal.

“We break fast here every day,” said Arafat, who has been coming to the embassy for the last 21 days as part of a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week protest. “But today is special.”

The long-haul demonstration began 35 days ago, inspired by a sister demonstration outside the Virginia home of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. That protest – dubbed Kibbutz Blinken – has been going for 68 consecutive days.

But on Sunday, family and friends of protesters were invited to attend an iftar meal at the Israeli embassy. Arafat described it as the latest effort to show the community’s resolve as the killings and deprivation in Gaza continue.

Like many of those gathered, Arafat simply would not entertain the notion that fasting for Ramadan was a burden, noting that he has personally lost about 100 relatives in northern Gaza since October 7.

“With the massacres that are happening in Palestine, the starvation, this is nothing compared to what they are experiencing,” he said, his voice growing sharper as he spoke. “If we can just experience a little bit of their hardship, just to show them that ‘Hey, we think of you every day, we’re doing our best to stop this madness.'”

Soon, Nora Burgan began dispensing hot drinks and cups of tomato and lentil soup to ward off the brisk air of early spring. Salad, dates, kebabs, rice and hummus were spread along the table’s expanse. People took their seats, sitting along one side of the table under a sky that had threatened rain earlier but was now beginning to clear.

“It’s not meant to be a feast,” Burgan told Al Jazeera. “It’s not perfect, but we will share whatever food we have … very simple, humble and accepting of community and this moment.”

“We want to always think about Gaza, a free Gaza and a free Palestine,” she told those who had gathered for iftar.

As of Monday, the official death toll in Gaza had reached 32,845, with humanitarian organisations continuing to warn of impending famine while accusing Israel of blocking the delivery of food, medicine and other supplies to the enclave.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has maintained that Israeli forces will move ahead with an offensive in the southern city of Rafah, where most of Gaza’s displaced have fled.

Meanwhile, warnings from US President Joe Biden’s administration have not yielded any substantive changes on the ground in Gaza. Last week, the Washington Post reported the administration had signed off on yet more weapons transfers to Israel, including one-tonne (2,000-pound) bombs linked to mass casualty events.

www.aljazeera.com

In Washington, DC: Celebrating Ramadan, protesting Israel’s siege of Gaza

US protesters say iftar at long-haul demonstration is a chance to connect, show depths of outrage over Gaza war.
www.aljazeera.com www.aljazeera.com
 
So Israel has admitted it was behind the killings of the international aid workers. Now that the West has made its faux indignations. They will pat Israel on the back and lend support to continue on with its "work".
 

There are not even human but just perverted animals​

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‘Most Unethical Army in the World’ – Palestine Chronicle Assesses the Damage at Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital​

At dawn on Monday, April 1, Israeli occupation forces suddenly withdrew from the Al-Shifa Medical Complex following a two-week siege and constant attacks.

When they learned about the withdrawal, Gaza City residents converged on the area west of Gaza City to survey the damage caused by the Israeli incursion and to assess the conditions of their homes, which they were forced to evacuate.

What they encountered was shocking.

The Palestine Chronicle spoke with three eyewitnesses, including two journalists, who were met with scenes of absolute devastation when they reached the vicinity of the hospital.

Israel has Violated Everything
“Everything in the complex is destroyed. All the buildings of the hospital were bombed and are no longer usable,” Palestinian journalist Badr Abdel Aal told The Palestine Chronicle.

“The Al-Shifa Medical Complex is the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, and it is the lifeline of the health sector in Gaza,” he noted.

“But now, it is destroyed, and the occupation has completely taken it out of service. Israel must be held accountable for the crimes it committed in Al-Shifa,” Abdel All told us.

“All media outlets documented the crimes throughout these months and they are still there. This crime, however, cannot pass without accountability,” he continued.

“The occupation has violated everything in the Gaza Strip, and nobody in the world seems to be determined to stop them. Rather, major global powers are complicit and partners in massacring our Palestinian people.”

‘We Did Not Expect All This Destruction’
Ayman Hattou is another journalist who witnessed the degree of devastation left behind by the Israeli army. He compared today’s obliteration to what he saw last November, when Israeli forces stormed the complex for the first time.

“In November, the destruction was confined to the external areas and only part of the buildings were damaged,” Hattou told us.

“We did not expect all of this. This time, the Israeli army left destruction and devastation in all the buildings of the complex. They were all bombed and burned. There is no usable building or floor,” he added.

“The scene that appeared in front of us this morning was like the destruction caused by the Mongols who invaded Iraq hundreds of years ago,” Hattou noted.

“This time around, however, everything was documented by cameras. It is crystal clear that the Israeli army is the most unethical army in the world, they have no red lines.”

‘Where are My Children?’
Abu Anas al-Shanshiri is a resident of Gaza City. His son Anas and his daughter Aisha were killed nearly three months ago by an Israeli strike and their bodies were buried in the courtyard of Al-Shifa.

“I couldn’t find a place to bury them at that time. We were forced to bury them in the medical complex, and I used to visit their graves regularly,” he told The Palestine Chronicle.

Al-Shansiri hoped that the bodies remained there so that he could bury them in a cemetery after the end of the war.

Source: The Palestine Chronicle
 
Why hasn't our piece of crap Prime Minister summoned the Israeli Ambassador ? Amongst the World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by the Israeli strike, 3 are British citizens.

Sunak should look to previous Conservative PMs. Margaret Thatcher suspended arms exports to Israel after their invasion of Lebanon in 1982. I disagree with her politics, but she had more balls than the incumbent PM.
 
Markhor said:
Why hasn't our piece of crap Prime Minister summoned the Israeli Ambassador ? Amongst the World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by the Israeli strike, 3 are British citizens.

Sunak should look to previous Conservative PMs. Margaret Thatcher suspended arms exports to Israel after their invasion of Lebanon in 1982. I disagree with her politics, but she had more balls than the incumbent PM.
Click to expand...

From the BBC:

‘

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says the deaths of three British aid workers, killed in last night's Israeli air strike in Gaza, are "outrageous and unacceptable".

Starmer calls for international law to be upheld, saying that "we condemn this strike" and there must be "a full investigation and those responsible must be held to account".

"Humanitarian workers put their lives in danger to serve others," he says, and calls for the war to "stop now".

"Far too many innocent people have died in this conflict and more than a million are facing starvation."

Earlier Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was "shocked and saddened" by the incident and that questions needed to be answered. ‘

Cowards, Sunak is shocked and saddened. He has the blood of British Citizens on his hands, and that’s his response, what a spineless scumbag.
 
3 British Aid Workers killed, I am keen to find out their names. I am cringing because I know of someone who arrived there recently to help.

This plays into the IDF’s hands because all the big charities are turning back, the suffering of the Palestinians is bing severely prolonged.
 
shaz619 said:
From the BBC:

‘

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says the deaths of three British aid workers, killed in last night's Israeli air strike in Gaza, are "outrageous and unacceptable".

Starmer calls for international law to be upheld, saying that "we condemn this strike" and there must be "a full investigation and those responsible must be held to account".

"Humanitarian workers put their lives in danger to serve others," he says, and calls for the war to "stop now".

"Far too many innocent people have died in this conflict and more than a million are facing starvation."

Earlier Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was "shocked and saddened" by the incident and that questions needed to be answered. ‘

Cowards, Sunak is shocked and saddened. He has the blood of British Citizens on his hands, and that’s his response, what a spineless scumbag.
Click to expand...

Starmer is worse than Sunak in my book, he's been staunchly pro-Israel all this time, only now when three Brits have been killed has he taken them to task. When they were blitzing thousands of Palestinians he backed the genocide. At least with Sunak you don't really expect anything other than support for Zionist atrocities in the first place. You just have to look at some of the Indian posters here to understand that.
 
shaz619 said:
3 British Aid Workers killed, I am keen to find out their names. I am cringing because I know of someone who arrived there recently to help.

This plays into the IDF’s hands because all the big charities are turning back, the suffering of the Palestinians is bing severely prolonged.
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I'm trying to find out but so far only the names of the Polish, Palestinian and Australian workers have been released.

My bad, just read UK Govt have summoned the Israeli Ambassador. The question now is what consequences will Israel face ? Or do we keep writing a blank check ?

Andrew Mitchell, a Foreign Office minister, summoned the Israeli ambassador over the incident and requested “a quick and transparent investigation, shared with the international community, and full accountability”.
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Cpt. Rishwat said:
Starmer is worse than Sunak in my book, he's been staunchly pro-Israel all this time, only now when three Brits have been killed has he taken them to task. When they were blitzing thousands of Palestinians he backed the genocide. At least with Sunak you don't really expect anything other than support for Zionist atrocities in the first place. You just have to look at some of the Indian posters here to understand that.
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Sunak should be charged with treason in an ideal world, and sent to Rwanda by his own party
 
Markhor said:
I'm trying to find out but so far only the names of the Polish, Palestinian and Australian workers have been released.

My bad, just read UK Govt have summoned the Israeli Ambassador. The question now is what consequences will Israel face ? Or do we keep writing a blank check ?
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Yes no details on the Brits so far, the family’s must be in agony. It’s all just lip service mate, I just saw a comment that if any of us were murdered by Israel the British Government and Media would be defending it, inaction is the closest thing to a defence of their heinous crimes. It’s also interesting that the WCK statement is not being reported in full or how their logo was clearly visible on the vehicle carrying aid workers
 
Markhor said:
Why hasn't our piece of crap Prime Minister summoned the Israeli Ambassador ? Amongst the World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by the Israeli strike, 3 are British citizens.

Sunak should look to previous Conservative PMs. Margaret Thatcher suspended arms exports to Israel after their invasion of Lebanon in 1982. I disagree with her politics, but she had more balls than the incumbent PM.
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UK & western politicians are mere actors , they care not unless their bosses , donors tell them the otherwise.

I think by now we all realise the Zionist entity is more independently powerful than any western nation .

We are are a time when this evil sick satanic entity is showing the world it will do what it wants inc a world war to obtain its religious extremist nutjob goals of Israel taking over the world .
 
KingKhanWC said:
UK & western politicians are mere actors , they care not unless their bosses , donors tell them the otherwise.

I think by now we all realise the Zionist entity is more independently powerful than any western nation .

We are are a time when this evil sick satanic entity is showing the world it will do what it wants inc a world war to obtain its religious extremist nutjob goals of Israel taking over the world .
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Thing is US Presidents have previously used their leverage over Israel.

George Bush Sr refused to back loans to Israel to house Jews coming from the Soviet Union unless they attended the Madrid Peace Conference. Some say one reason behind his defeat at the 1992 Election to Bill Clinton (ardently pro-Israel) was his willingness to confront Israel.

After the Osirak bombing in 1981, Ronald Reagan suspended F16 sales to Israel. The following year told Israel you will not get another F16 until you withdraw from Lebanon. He also allowed 21 UN resolutions condemning Israel to pass.

Eisenhower bluntly told Israel to withdraw from the Sinai in 1956 otherwise he would reassess US assistance.

Obviously we'd prefer them to go further and sanction this savage and cruel entity, but exerting pressure isn't impossible. Unfortunately since Clinton, US Presidents have shown the spine of a jellyfish in the face of the Israeli lobby.
 

Rishi Sunak demands 'transparent investigation' into strike that killed British aid workers in Gaza​

Rishi Sunak has demanded a "thorough and transparent investigation" into an Israeli airstrike that killed three British aid workers in Gaza.

The prime minister spoke to his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday evening and told him he was "appalled" by the deaths of the World Central Kitchen (WCK) workers, Downing Street said.

Nationals from Poland and Australia were also killed, as well as a dual citizen of the US and Canada - and a Palestinian who was driving the car they were all travelling in.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: "The prime minister spoke to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this evening.

"He said he was appalled by the killing of aid workers, including three British nationals, in an airstrike in Gaza yesterday and demanded a thorough and transparent independent investigation into what happened.

"The prime minister said far too many aid workers and ordinary civilians have lost their lives in Gaza and the situation is increasingly intolerable."

The spokesperson said the UK "expects to see immediate action by Israel to end restrictions on humanitarian aid, deconflict with the UN and aid agencies, protect civilians and repair vital infrastructure like hospitals and water networks".

They added: "The prime minister reiterated that Israel's rightful aim of defeating Hamas would not be achieved by allowing a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza."

It is believed the workers were helping to deliver aid that had arrived hours earlier on a ship from Cyprus at the time.

Earlier, Mr Netanyahu acknowledged that Israeli forces were responsible for the airstrike, saying there was a "tragic incident of an unintended strike of our forces on innocent people in the Gaza Strip".

He added: "It happens in war, we check it to the end, we are in contact with the governments, and we will do everything so that this thing does not happen again."

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it would carry out a "thorough review at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident".

Politicians condemned the deaths, with Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron stressing the need for "major changes" to ensure the safety of aid workers and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer calling for international law to be upheld in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Former national security adviser to the UK Lord Ricketts said Britain, and other international allies, should consider suspending arms export licences to Israel.

Speaking on Sky News' Politics Hub, he said: "I think there is enough now that Israel is, to put it diplomatically, not paying attention to its international humanitarian law obligations to protect civilians, to protect humanitarian workers and medical workers.

"And I think each time there is another of these horrors, they must be getting closer to the point where the Americans start putting some restrictions on their arms."

WCK chief executive Erin Gore said the team of volunteers were "travelling in a deconflicted zone in two armoured cars branded with the WCK logo and a soft skin vehicle" when it was hit.

Despite coordinating movements with the IDF the convoy was hit as it was leaving a warehouse in the central Gazan town of Deir al Balah, the charity said.

It added it is pausing its operations immediately in the region.

Ms Gore said: "This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organisations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable."

Source: SKY
 
KingKhanWC said:
UK & western politicians are mere actors , they care not unless their bosses , donors tell them the otherwise.

I think by now we all realise the Zionist entity is more independently powerful than any western nation .

We are are a time when this evil sick satanic entity is showing the world it will do what it wants inc a world war to obtain its religious extremist nutjob goals of Israel taking over the world .
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Their bosses and donors also have them on a leash when you look at all the filth they indulge in, that’s serious dirt. Just look at the stuff with P.Diddy and Epstein etc these sick and depraved individuals don’t care, as long as that moolah keeps coming in and they are allowed to engage in their sick and twisted fantasies I see no change.
 
All this 'condemnation" from the likes of the UK and USA especially is all just empty words with no meaning. The Israelis have been given carte blanche to do whatever they please with impunity.
 
Israel says airstrike unintentionally killed aid workers in Gaza, allies demand explanations

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday Israel mistakenly killed seven people working for the aid charity World Central Kitchen in a Gaza airstrike, and the U.S. and other allies called for explanations amid widespread condemnation.

Israel's military voiced "sincere sorrow" over the incident, which ratcheted up international pressure for steps to ease the disastrous humanitarian situation in Gaza nearly six months into Israel's siege and invasion of the Palestinian enclave.

The strike on the World Central Kitchen convoy killed citizens of Australia, Britain and Poland as well as Palestinians and a dual citizen of the United States and Canada.

WCK, which was founded by celebrity chef Jose Andres, said its staff were traveling in two armored cars emblazoned with the charity's logo and another vehicle.

"Unfortunately in the past day there was a tragic event in which our forces unintentionally harmed non-combatants in the Gaza Strip," Netanyahu said in a video statement.


 
Kroll said:
All this 'condemnation" from the likes of the UK and USA especially is all just empty words with no meaning. The Israelis have been given carte blanche to do whatever they please with impunity.
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And the puzzling question is what hezbollah and Iran and the militias in Iraq and Syria doing about it since hamas is their proxy , they are watching the Palestine people and territory basically being genocided and erased and that they don't realise they are next most likely hezbollah once the Palestinians are out of the way.
I don't know what they are waiting for.
 
mazkhan said:
And the puzzling question is what hezbollah and Iran and the militias in Iraq and Syria doing about it since hamas is their proxy , they are watching the Palestine people and territory basically being genocided and erased and that they don't realise they are next most likely hezbollah once the Palestinians are out of the way.
I don't know what they are waiting for.
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They can't do anything, all parties except Iran are vastly outgunned but even Iran can't compete with Israeli military tech. Hezbollah is just a militia, not a proper army, Syria's and Iraq's armed forces have been decimated by internal strife.

Iran could draw in the US if it launches an all out attack against Israel. They will need to calibrate their next move very carefully. Just as the likes of Hezbollah, Houthis, Shiite militias in Syria and Iraq are Iranian proxies, Israel is effectively a satellite and puppet state of the US in the Middle East.
 
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday his country was outraged by the "completely unacceptable" death of an Australian aid worker in Gaza from an Israeli airstrike, and said Israel had committed to a thorough investigation.

Albanese said he spoke with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and conveyed Australia's anger and concern at the death of Zomi Frankcom.


Reuters
 
Cricket Warrior said:
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday his country was outraged by the "completely unacceptable" death of an Australian aid worker in Gaza from an Israeli airstrike, and said Israel had committed to a thorough investigation.

Albanese said he spoke with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and conveyed Australia's anger and concern at the death of Zomi Frankcom.


Reuters
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Once the formalities of expressing "anger and concern" are over, they'll be arranging a meeting for chai and biscuits. Just more crocodile tears in support for the Israel.
 
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Israel-Hamas war: Three Britons killed in Gaza named, as IDF says 'misidentification' led to deadly airstrike

Three British aid workers killed in Gaza have been named - with Israel admitting the airstrike was a "grave mistake".

John Chapman, James Kirby and James Henderson were among seven volunteers from World Central Kitchen who died after a convoy they were travelling in was hit.

Israel Defence Forces said the strike did not intend to target aid workers, and a thorough investigation into the incident will be completed in the coming days.

"It was a mistake that followed a misidentification - at night, during a war, in very complex conditions. It shouldn't have happened," an official added.

Melbourne-born Lalzawmi 'Zomi' Frankcom also lost her life in the attack - along with Palestinian national Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, Damian Sobol from Poland, and dual US-Canadian citizen Jacob Flickinger.

Documents seen by Sky News suggest Mr Chapman, 57, had been due to leave the Palestinian territory on the day of the fatal airstrike.

All three British nationals were part of World Central Kitchen's security team - and it is believed the volunteers were helping to deliver aid that had arrived hours earlier on a ship from Cyprus.

Nationals from Poland and Australia were also among those killed, as well as a dual citizen of the US and Canada, and a Palestinian who was driving the car they were all travelling in.

Erin Gore, the charity's chief executive, said: "Their smiles, laughter, and voices are forever embedded in our memories. And we have countless memories of them giving their best selves to the world.

"We are reeling from our loss. The world's loss."

US President Joe Biden has said he is "outraged and heartbroken" by their deaths.

"They were providing food to hungry civilians in the middle of a war. They were brave and selfless. Their deaths are a tragedy," he added.

Mr Biden also criticised Israel - and said the country hasn't done enough to protect civilians.

"Even more tragically, this is not a standalone incident," his statement said. "This conflict has been one of the worst in recent memory in terms of how many aid workers have been killed.

"This is a major reason why distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza has been so difficult - because Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians."

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged that Israeli forces were responsible - saying there was a "tragic incident of an unintended strike of our forces on innocent people in the Gaza Strip".

He added: "It happens in war, we check it to the end, we are in contact with the governments, and we will do everything so that this thing does not happen again."

The UK's foreign secretary Lord Cameron said he had spoken to Israel's foreign minister Israel Katz to "underline that the deaths of WCK aid workers in Gaza, including three British nationals, are completely unacceptable".

SOURCE: SKY NEWS
 
Why Biden’s White House iftar unravelled amid Gaza war

The White House has cancelled a Ramadan iftar meal after several Muslim Americans declined the invitation in protest of President Joe Biden’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The sources, who spoke to Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity, said the cancellation on Tuesday came after Muslim community members warned leaders against attending the White House meal.

Edward Ahmed Mitchell, the deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), also said the event was nixed because so many people chose not to attend, including invitees who had initially agreed to go.

“The American Muslim community said very early on that it would be completely unacceptable for us to break bread with the very same White House that is enabling the Israeli government to starve and slaughter the Palestinian people in Gaza,” Mitchell told Al Jazeera.

Both CNN and NPR had reported on Monday that the White House was preparing a small community iftar.

But hours later, on Tuesday, the White House announced instead that it would be hosting a meal for Muslim government staffers only and holding a separate meeting with a few Muslim American community figures.

The cancelled iftar underscores Biden’s struggle to stem growing anger in US Arab and Muslim communities over his unconditional support for Israel.

Critics warn the outrage could translate into peril for Biden at the ballot box during November’s presidential election.

‘We listened,’ White House says

Over the past two decades, US presidents have hosted iftars with dozens of prominent Muslim Americans. Mirroring other religious and cultural events at the White House, Ramadan meals have served as a celebration of the Muslim community and are traditionally open to the press.

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed that Biden and his Vice President Kamala Harris will meet with Muslim “community leaders” on Tuesday.

Asked why the “community leaders” will not attend the iftar, Jean-Pierre said that they requested a meeting instead of a meal.

“They wanted to make sure that there was an opportunity to discuss the issues at hand,” she told reporters.

“They thought it would be important to do that. And so, we listened, we heard, and we adjusted the format to be responsive.”

Several Muslim American activists said the meeting will be another futile “photo-op”, arguing that the Muslim community has made its position known over the past six months.

“No matter how many meetings we have, no matter how many people have gone in, no matter how many conversations are being held, the White House has refused to change,” said Mohamad Habehh, the director of development at American Muslims for Palestine.

Habehh stressed that Biden cannot claim to care for the Muslim American community if he does not end his backing of Israel.

“These photo-ops that they’re doing — these discussions that they’re doing to somehow show they still have the Muslim community’s support — are just pathetic attempts to make themselves look good at a time where their true colours have been seen,” Habehh told Al Jazeera.

The Biden administration has held several off-the-record meetings with some Arabs and Muslims across the country since the start of the war in Gaza.

‘Selected by the White House’

A key issue with such talks, activists say, is that the administration has been handpicking whom to meet with.

A Muslim advocate close to the administration presented a list of credible Palestinian American leaders to invite for a meeting at the White House last year, but the government rejected the suggested individuals, one source told Al Jazeera.

Emgage, a Muslim political advocacy group that endorsed Biden in 2020, said it received an invitation to Tuesday’s meeting but declined to attend, citing the US’s unconditional support for Israel and the mounting death toll in Gaza.

“In this moment of tremendous pain and suffering, we have asked the White House to postpone this gathering and to convene a proper policy meeting with representatives of the community’s choosing, rather than those selected by the White House,” Emgage CEO Wa’el Alzayat said in a statement.

Emgage outlined a list of demands for Biden, including an “immediate and permanent” ceasefire, the resumption of funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and a “legitimate political track” for a Palestinian state.

“Emgage is ready to support efforts that engage in a substantive manner on the above priorities. However, without more Palestinian voices and policy experts in the room, we do not believe today’s meeting will provide for such an opportunity,” Alzayat said.

Hebah Kassem, a Palestinian American political strategist, echoed that concern.

“The administration is strategically selecting who should be at the table, and they’re picking people who likely won’t be critical of their actions and policies,” Kassem told Al Jazeera.

“Why are we allowing them to choose who represents us? These meetings haven’t led to any change. If anything, Biden has doubled down his support for Israel and increased the supply of weapons to Israel.”

US support for Israel

The Biden administration has ruled out conditioning or stopping the flow of weapons to Israel despite mounting Israeli atrocities.

The Israeli offensive has killed close to 33,000 Palestinians, destroyed large parts of Gaza and pushed the territory to the verge of famine.

While the Biden administration has occasionally expressed concern about the actions of the Israeli government, it has regularly asserted its commitment to the alliance with Israel.

On Tuesday, for example, the White House expressed outrage over the Israeli attack that killed seven World Central Kitchen humanitarian workers.

Still, White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that the US will not hold a “sort of condition over their [Israel’s] neck”.

“We’re still going to make sure that they can defend themselves,” he said.

Abed Ayoub, the executive director of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), said Biden’s unwavering support for Israel shows that meetings with administration officials over Gaza have not worked.

“You’ve got to measure the effectiveness of these meetings through results and actions by the administration,” he told Al Jazeera. “The administration knows where we stand; they don’t need to hear it again.”

But Salima Suswell, the leader of the Black Muslim Leadership Council, said it is important for Biden to hear the perspective of Muslim Americans directly. She was attending Tuesday’s meeting at the White House.

“The President needs to understand that Black Muslims and Black Americans are devastated by the ongoing tragedy in Gaza, the loss of so many lives, and the Administration’s support of the onslaught,” Suswell told Al Jazeera in an email before the meeting.

“The President has an election coming up, and Black voters and Muslims will be pivotal. I want to make clear to him what is at stake should he not take action.”

ALJAZEERA
 

US response on Israel’s use of precision weapons after World Central Kitchen attack​


The United States said it is difficult to fight in a densely populated environment after Israel attacked the US-based food charity World Central Kitchen killing seven aid workers, six of whom were foreign nationals.

“Fighting in an urban and condensed environment, its tough. But they [Israel] have taken precise strikes against Hamas in Gaza; they have also taken strikes that have been not precise. It looks very clearly that what happened yesterday was one of those examples,” White House spokesperson, John Kirby told Al Arabiya reporter Nadia Bilbassy.

His comments came in response to Bilbassy’s question on Israel assigning the mass civilian casualties in Gaza on the region’s high population density and military errors, but at the same time carrying out precision strikes against Hamas leaders in other areas such as Beirut, which are also packed with civilians.

Israel described the killing of World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza as “grave mistake,” caused by nighttime “misidentification.”

Kirby said the US expects Israel to investigate the attack and “come clean” about what they have learned.

“They [Israel] will be fully transparent and the people that need to be held accountable will be held accountable.”

The bodies of the six foreign aid workers were expected to be transported out of the war-torn Palestinian territory via Egypt on Wednesday as Israel faced a chorus of outrage over their deaths.

The seven deaths piled more pressure on Israel, whose war since the Hamas attack of October 7 has brought devastation and mass civilian casualties to Gaza, where the UN warns the population of 2.4 million is on the brink of famine.

US President Joe Biden charged that Israel “has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians” and called for a “swift” investigation into what he said was not a “stand-alone incident.”

 

Palestinian Fatah group accuses Iran of trying to spread chaos in West Bank​


The main Palestinian faction in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday accused Iran of trying to spread chaos in its territory and said it would oppose operations from outside that had nothing to do with the Palestinian cause.

Fatah, the movement that controls the Palestinian Authority, said it would not allow “our sacred cause and the blood of our people to be exploited” and said it would act against any interference from outside aimed at harming security forces or national institutions.

Israel has long accused Iran of helping Palestinian armed groups including Hamas, the Gaza-based group which led the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, and which has become more deeply entrenched in the West Bank over recent years.

Last month, the Israeli military said security forces had stopped advanced weapons including anti-tank mines from being smuggled into the West Bank.

In the past, Iran has not denied providing support to the armed groups, saying whatever backing it gives is at the request of the Palestinians.

The statement from Fatah came as the Palestinian Authority has asked the United Nations Security Council to vote this month to make it a full UN member, a move that would add to mounting global pressure for a two state solution with Israel.

Occupied by Israel after the 1967 Middle East war, the West Bank has been at the heart of decades of conflict with the Palestinians, who want the area as the heart of a future independent state that would also include Gaza and have East Jerusalem as its capital.

Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the start of the war in Gaza last October and thousands have been detained, as violence has surged across the area, with more than a dozen Israelis killed in attacks by Palestinians.

 
Celebrity chef Jose Andres told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday that an Israeli attack that killed seven of his food aid workers in Gaza had targeted them "systematically, car by car."

Speaking in a video interview, Andres said the World Central Kitchen (WCK) charity group he founded had clear communication with the Israeli military, which he said knew his aid workers' movements.

"This was not just a bad luck situation where ‘oops’ we dropped the bomb in the wrong place," Andres said. "Even if we were not in coordination with the (Israel Defense Forces), no democratic country and no military can be targeting civilians and humanitarians."

The aid workers were killed when their convoy was hit shortly after they oversaw the unloading of 100 tons of food brought to Gaza by sea. Israel's military expressed "severe sorrow" over the incident and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it unintentional.

Andres said there may have been more than three strikes against the aid convoy. He said he was supposed to be in Gaza with his team but for different reasons "wasn't able to go back again to Gaza."


Reuters
 
  • Qatari PM confirms Gaza truce talks ongoing in Doha, while Hamas’s Haniyeh says Israel continues to “evade, resist” responding to group’s demands.
  • Israel continues to block the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) from bringing food and other aid into northern Gaza, the aid agency said.
Source: Al Jazeera
 
Lies lies and more lies. This SO-called country known as Israel is nothing but a fake one made of a bunch of lies. First, they attacked them, and later on they portray themselves as victims.... Pathetic

-------------------

Israel minister denies Gaza aid convoy air strike was deliberate

An Israeli cabinet minister has denied claims Israeli forces deliberately targeted seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers in Gaza.

WCK founder José Andrés has accused Israel of targeting his workers "systematically, car by car".

Nir Barkat, Israel's minister of economy, told BBC News that Mr Andrés' comments were "nonsense".

Israel says the strikes which killed the workers were a "grave mistake" and has promised an investigation.

Speaking to BBC Chief Presenter Caitríona Perry, Mr Barkat said Israel was "terribly sorry" about killing the seven aid workers, but that "unfortunately, in wars friendly fire happens".

He said the deaths of aid workers and civilians were "part of war".

The killings have drawn widespread international condemnation. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has "demanded a thorough and transparent independent investigation", while US President Joe Biden accused Israel of not doing enough to protect aid workers and civilians.

"The United States has repeatedly urged Israel to deconflict their military operations against Hamas with humanitarian operations, in order to avoid civilian casualties," Mr Biden said.

Asked specifically about Mr Andrés' concerns that his aid workers had tried to call the IDF during the separate strikes, and that they had been deliberately targeted, Mr Barkat said: "That's nonsense, I'm sorry."

"With all due respect there's no way in the world that Israel would target people that come to give people aid," he said.

Hamas, he added, intentionally attacked Israeli villages on 7 October, raping and killing women.

According to WCK, the aid convoy was hit while leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse, "where the team had unloaded more than 100 tonnes of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on the maritime route".

The convoy was made up of three vehicles, including two that were armoured, which clearly displayed the charity's logo.

The vehicles were around 2.5km (1.5 miles) apart and all three were hit during the attack.

Speaking to Reuters news agency on Wednesday, the Spanish-American celebrity chef said this was not a "bad luck situation where, 'oops,' we dropped the bomb in the wrong place".

In a separate interview with Israel's Channel 12 news, Mr Andrés said "it was really a direct attack on clearly marked vehicles whose movements were known by everybody at the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]".

The bodies of six of the foreign WCK workers have been taken to Egypt to be repatriated and their 25-year-old Palestinian colleague was buried in his hometown in Rafah, southern Gaza, on Tuesday.

WCK announced that it had suspended operations on Tuesday, putting humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip in doubt.

According to Cogat, the Israeli defence ministry body in charge of civilian policy in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, WCK is responsible for 60% of the non-governmental aid getting into the territory.

WCK said it had distributed 42 million meals in the Gaza Strip - dispatching more than 1,700 food trucks and also sending close to 435,000 meals by sea.

The UN also announced it was pausing movements at night for at least 48 hours to evaluate the security situation.

And a second charity, the American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera), which was working closely with WCK, told the BBC it has also frozen its operations in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described the strike as unintentional.

"It happens in war, we check it to the end, we are in contact with the governments, and we will do everything so that this thing does not happen again," Mr Netanyahu said on Tuesday.

Three of the killed aid workers were British nationals. A Polish national, an Australian, a Palestinian and a dual US-Canadian citizen were also killed.

More than 196 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since October, according to the US-funded Aid Worker Security Database, which records major incidents of violence against aid personnel. Not all have been killed in the line of duty.

Much of the Gaza Strip has been devastated during the Israeli military operations that began after Hamas-led gunmen attacked southern Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages.

About 130 of the hostages remain in captivity, at least 34 of whom are presumed dead.

More than 32,916 people have been killed in Gaza since then, the Hamas-run health ministry says.

BBC
 
World Central Kitchen calls for third-party probe into Israel strike that killed team

US-based charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) on Thursday demanded an independent investigation into the deaths of seven aid workers earlier this week in an Israeli strike on Gaza.

“An independent investigation is the only way to determine the truth behind what happened, ensure transparency and accountability for those responsible, and prevent future attacks on humanitarian aid workers,” WCK said in a statement.

Six foreign aid workers from Australia, Poland, and the United Kingdom, including a dual citizen of the US and Canada, and one Palestinian national – were killed in the Israeli strike on Monday after they had finished unloading much-needed humanitarian food aid amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

The attack drew condemnation from the respective countries of the victims and from Israel’s ally, the US, who called on Tel Aviv to clarify the circumstances of the incident and to do more to protect civilians and aid workers.

Israel admitted to carrying out the attack, but claimed it was not intentional, with Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi attributing the strike to “misidentification – at night during a war in very complex conditions.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed regret over what he termed as a “tragic event,” but said “this happens in war.”

The Israeli military said an independent, professional expert body will investigate the deaths.

“We have asked the governments of Australia, Canada, the US, Poland, and the UK to join us in demanding an independent, third-party investigation into these attacks, including whether they were carried out intentionally or violated international law,” WCK said in a statement.

The organization said the deaths were a result of “a military attack that involved multiple strikes and targeted three WCK vehicles. All three vehicles were carrying civilians. They were marked as WCK vehicles.”

The WCK convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on the maritime route, WCK said earlier this week after the strike.

On Thursday, WCK reiterated its earlier stance that the team had coordinated with Israel over their whereabouts. “Their movements were in full compliance with Israeli authorities, who were aware of their itinerary, route, and humanitarian mission,” he said.

“Yesterday, to ensure the integrity of the investigation, we asked the Israeli government to immediately preserve all documents, communications, video and/or audio recordings, and any other material potentially relevant to the April 1 strikes,” the WCK statement added.

 
Biden says Israel must prevent civilian harm in Gaza to keep US support

The US has told Israel that its ongoing support on the Gaza war is dependent on "specific, concrete steps" to boost aid and prevent civilian deaths.

President Joe Biden spoke to Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu in the wake of the deaths of seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) staff on Monday.

Israel apologised for a "grave mistake" but WCK founder José Andrés said his workers were systematically targeted.

Mr Biden faces pressure to rein in unconditional military aid for Israel.


www.bbc.com

Biden says Israel must prevent civilian harm in Gaza to keep US support

The US president is facing growing calls to rein in his country's unconditional military support for Israel.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
 

US should condition military aid to Israel, key Biden ally in Senate says​


A senior US lawmaker and a close aid to President Joe Biden said he may vote to condition military aid to Israel if they invade Rafah without any consideration for the Palestinian civilians seeking refuge there.

“I think we’re at that point,” Senator Chris Coons said after being asked when the United States should tell Israel that it must change its military tactics or risk having conditions put on US military aid.

Coons said that he would vote for conditional aid if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were to order the Israeli army into Rafah without taking into account the nearly 1.2 million Palestinian civilians there.

“I would vote to condition aid to Israel. I’ve never said that before. I’ve never been here before. I’ve been a strong supporter of Israel the whole time I’ve served in Congress,” Coons said.

He is the latest US lawmaker to voice frustration with the Israeli military’s tactics since bombarding Gaza and reducing it to rubble in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

Israel has killed over 30,000 Palestinians with no clear evidence of how many of those deaths were Hamas militants or ordinary civilians.

Washington and the Biden administration have been firm in their support for Israel, continuing to supply them with billions of dollars in weapons and protecting them from any condemnation at the UN Security Council.

The Washington Post reported on Thursday that the Biden administration approved thousands of more bombs to Israel on the same day that the Israeli military repeatedly struck a convoy of World Central Kitchen humanitarian aid workers. At least seven of the group’s workers were killed in what Chef Jose Andres said was the deliberate targeting of aid workers.

Biden, the State Department and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin all slammed the Israeli military for the deadly strike.

While Senator Coons said the US would continue to have a strong relationship with Israel, he lamented the tactics which Netanyahu was using to make decisions in Gaza.

“Speaking for myself,” Coons said the US would put conditions on aid “if they continue with large-scale military operations in Rafah without making any provision for civilians.”

He did, however, voice support for Israeli operations against Hamas using targeted raids, small counterterrorism or special forces raids.

 
Washington issues stern warning to Israel of waning US support if no changes are made

US President Joe Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that Washington’s policy on Gaza would be determined by steps Israel takes to protect civilians and aid workers.

Meanwhile, the top US diplomat said the United States would alter its policy on Israel if certain changes were not made. “Right now, there is no higher priority in Gaza than protecting civilians, surging humanitarian assistance, and ensuring the security of those who provide it. Israel must meet this moment,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters at a news conference in Brussels. “If we don’t see the changes that we need to see, there will be changes in our policy,”

Biden’s warning came during a 30-minute phone call between the two, days after the Israel repeatedly struck a convoy of World Central Kitchen humanitarian aid workers. At least seven of the group’s workers were killed in what Chef Jose Andres said was the deliberate targeting of aid workers.

Biden, the State Department and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin all slammed the Israeli military for the deadly strike, which Israel said was a mistake.

According to a readout of Thursday’s call, Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation were unacceptable.

“[Biden] made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers,” the White House said. “He made clear that US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps.”

Biden also said that an immediate ceasefire was essential to stabilizing and improving the humanitarian situation and protecting innocent civilians. The US president encouraged Netanyahu to empower his negotiating team to conclude a deal “without delay” to bring hostages home that have been held by Hamas.

Separately, the White House said the two men discussed public Iranian threats against Israel and the Israeli people, which comes days after Israel bombed an Iranian diplomatic building in Damascus. Several high-ranking IRGC officials were among those reported killed. Iran has vowed to seek revenge. The US and most Western capitals condemned the Israeli attack, which Israel has not yet publicly claimed, because it violated international law.

However, “President Biden made clear that the United States strongly supports Israel in the face of those threats,” the White House said.

english.alarabiya.net

Washington issues stern warning to Israel of waning US support if no changes are made

US President Joe Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that Washington’s policy on Gaza would be determined by steps Israel
english.alarabiya.net english.alarabiya.net
 
When people from Europe die in Gaza, they suddenly remember to give a stern warning to Israel.
 
Israel says it will open new aid routes into Gaza

Israel says it has approved the opening of two humanitarian routes into Gaza, to allow more aid into the territory.

The Erez Gate in northern Gaza will be temporarily re-opened for the first time since the start of the war and Ashdod Port will also be opened for humanitarian deliveries.

More aid from Jordan will be allowed to enter via the Kerem Shalom Crossing.

It comes hours after Joe Biden spoke with Israel's PM for the first time since seven aid workers were killed.

According to a readout of a phone call between the US president and Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr Biden warned that Israel must take steps to prevent civilian harm and humanitarian suffering if it wanted to maintain US support.

It is understood that the re-opening of the corridors was specifically requested by Mr Biden in the phone call.

Mr Biden essentially gave the Israeli government an ultimatum - take concrete steps to prevent civilian harm and ensure safety for aid workers or US policy in respect of Gaza would change.

This was a significant shift in US policy - the first time that Washington has attempted to leverage American aid in order to influence the conduct of the war in Gaza.

Seven people working for the food aid charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza on Monday.

The WCK convoy they were travelling in was hit by an Israeli air strike as it travelled south along the Israeli-designated coastal aid route, just after they had unloaded more than 100 tonnes of food from a barge at a warehouse in Deir al-Balah.

The vehicles were around 2.5km (1.5 miles) apart and all three were hit during the attack.

Israel's military apologised and called the attack a tragic mistake. It has promised a full investigation.

The US National Security Council said it welcomed the steps announced by Israel, which it said "must now be fully and rapidly implemented".

US policy, it added, would be determined by the steps Israel took to protect "innocent civilians and the safety of aid workers".

On Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there would be a change of US policy if it did not see changes from Israel.

The move to open Israel's northern border crossing with Gaza in Erez is particularly significant, after Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen told Israeli media in November that there would be "no more contact between Israel and Gaza".

In another development, former US president Donald Trump said Israel should get its war in Gaza "over with" in order to achieve peace and "stop killing people".

Mr Trump - a staunch ally of Israel - made the comments in a radio interview. He said that Israel was "absolutely losing the PR war" and should stop broadcasting video footage of its air strikes in Gaza. But he added that Israel had to finish what it had started.

Mr Trump, who is expected to be the Republican party's candidate in November's presidential election, has previously criticised Joe Biden for being insufficiently supportive of Israel.

Mr Netanyahu has faced rising international and domestic anger at Israel's conduct in Gaza.

A long line of lorries filled with aid has been backing up on the Egyptian side of the border with Rafah for months as they can only enter Gaza after a complex and bureaucratic series of Israeli checks.

The absence of adequate humanitarian supplies has forced Jordan, the US and UK to drop aid from the air - the least effective way to deliver humanitarian supplies.

Air drops have also proved dangerous - Palestinians have been crushed when parachutes fail and have drowned as they try to swim to pallets that have landed in the sea.

A recent UN-backed report offered evidence that the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza was turning into a man-made famine.

And the UN's most senior human rights official, Volker Türk, recently told the BBC that there was a "plausible" case that Israel was using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza.

Israel denies impeding the entry of aid or its distribution inside Gaza, and blames UN agencies on the ground for failing to get the aid that is allowed in to the people who need it.

More than 196 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since October, according to the US-funded Aid Worker Security Database, which records major incidents of violence against aid personnel. Not all were killed while delivering aid.

On Thursday GPS was blocked across swathes of Israel in order to disrupt missiles and drones, as tensions rose with Iran.

Reservists have been called up to bolster air defence units and the Israel Defense Forces also announced it was halting all leave for soldiers serving with combat units.

Iran has vowed to respond after a strike it believes Israel carried out on its consulate building in Syria on Monday killed 13 people, including a senior general.

Much of the Gaza Strip has been devastated during the Israeli military operations that began after Hamas-led gunmen attacked southern Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages.

More than 33,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then, the territory's Hamas-run health ministry says.

BBC
 

Israel admits ‘grave mistake’ and sacks senior officers after Gaza bombing kills seven aid workers​


Israel has admitted its forces made a “grave mistake” after seven aid workers with World Central Kitchen were killed in an airstrike.

The humanitarian group, which delivers food aid to war and disaster zones, said the seven were returning from coordinating an aid shipment in central Gaza when their three car convoy was struck and they were killed.

www.independent.co.uk

Israel admits ‘grave mistake’ after bombing kills seven aid workers in Gaza

Israel has admitted its forces made a “grave mistake” after seven aid workers with World Central Kitchen were killed in an airstrike.
www.independent.co.uk www.independent.co.uk
 

500 police deployed for protests in London amid tensions over Israel-Gaza war​


More than 500 officers are being deployed in central London to police an annual march in support of Palestine and a pro-Isreal counter protest outside the House of Parliament.

The Metropolitan Police announced details of a major policing operation ahead of the demonstrations on Friday amid tensions over the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The force said it has been in discussion with the organisers of both demonstrations – which are each subject to conditions under the Public Order Act.

The annual Al Quds Day march in support of Palestine organised by the Islamic Human Rights Commission, which takes place on the final Friday of Ramadan, must stick to a pre-agreed route and end at 7pm.

Demonstrators will gather outside the Home Office in Marsham Street from 3pm, before heading into Horseferry Road, along Millbank, past the front of the Houses of Parliament and finishing in Whitehall where speeches will take place.

The second demonstration is a pro-Israel counter protest. This will take the form of a static demonstration in Parliament Square and protestors must stay with a specified zone in Parliament Square, the Met said.

The force said it will be distributing leaflets to protestors clearly setting out what is acceptable within the law after a string of arrests at pro-Palestine marches since the Israel-Gaza conflict broke out last October.

Commander Colin Wingrove, who is leading the policing operation, said: “The conflict between Israel and Hamas continues to have a far reaching impact across communities including here in London.

“We recognise that there will be some who feel this march should not be allowed to take place at all.

“We work to the law. Parliament has determined that there are only very rare and specific circumstances when an application can be made to the Home Secretary for a protest to be banned. It requires a real risk of serious disorder and neither the intelligence picture nor the conversations we have had with organisers give us reason to believe that threshold will be met today.

“The rights of people to express their views through protest must be protected and our officers will ensure they are, but anyone who abuses those rights and uses them as an opportunity to commit offences or to promote hate can expect to face police action.

“We have set out our expectations clearly in discussions with the organisers of both demonstrations. We expect them to manage their events and we expect participants to remain within the law. If they do not, officers will act positively to intervene, to investigate and to deal with allegations.

“There have been a number of instances at protests in recent months where actions have taken place that are distasteful to many, but that don’t cross the line into criminality. Our role is to police without fear or favour right up to the line of the law, but our powers do not extend to policing taste and decency, no matter our view of what is being said.

“Where that line into criminality is crossed, we will step in. Anyone seen to be supporting a proscribed group, using hate speech, trying to directly interfere with the other protest or committing other offences will be dealt with by officers.”

www.independent.co.uk

500 police deployed for protests in London amid tensions over Israel-Gaza war

The Metropolitan Police revealed details of a major policing operation ahead of the demonstrations
www.independent.co.uk www.independent.co.uk
 
FearlessRoar said:

500 police deployed for protests in London amid tensions over Israel-Gaza war​


More than 500 officers are being deployed in central London to police an annual march in support of Palestine and a pro-Isreal counter protest outside the House of Parliament.

The Metropolitan Police announced details of a major policing operation ahead of the demonstrations on Friday amid tensions over the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The force said it has been in discussion with the organisers of both demonstrations – which are each subject to conditions under the Public Order Act.

The annual Al Quds Day march in support of Palestine organised by the Islamic Human Rights Commission, which takes place on the final Friday of Ramadan, must stick to a pre-agreed route and end at 7pm.

Demonstrators will gather outside the Home Office in Marsham Street from 3pm, before heading into Horseferry Road, along Millbank, past the front of the Houses of Parliament and finishing in Whitehall where speeches will take place.

The second demonstration is a pro-Israel counter protest. This will take the form of a static demonstration in Parliament Square and protestors must stay with a specified zone in Parliament Square, the Met said.

The force said it will be distributing leaflets to protestors clearly setting out what is acceptable within the law after a string of arrests at pro-Palestine marches since the Israel-Gaza conflict broke out last October.

Commander Colin Wingrove, who is leading the policing operation, said: “The conflict between Israel and Hamas continues to have a far reaching impact across communities including here in London.

“We recognise that there will be some who feel this march should not be allowed to take place at all.

“We work to the law. Parliament has determined that there are only very rare and specific circumstances when an application can be made to the Home Secretary for a protest to be banned. It requires a real risk of serious disorder and neither the intelligence picture nor the conversations we have had with organisers give us reason to believe that threshold will be met today.

“The rights of people to express their views through protest must be protected and our officers will ensure they are, but anyone who abuses those rights and uses them as an opportunity to commit offences or to promote hate can expect to face police action.

“We have set out our expectations clearly in discussions with the organisers of both demonstrations. We expect them to manage their events and we expect participants to remain within the law. If they do not, officers will act positively to intervene, to investigate and to deal with allegations.

“There have been a number of instances at protests in recent months where actions have taken place that are distasteful to many, but that don’t cross the line into criminality. Our role is to police without fear or favour right up to the line of the law, but our powers do not extend to policing taste and decency, no matter our view of what is being said.

“Where that line into criminality is crossed, we will step in. Anyone seen to be supporting a proscribed group, using hate speech, trying to directly interfere with the other protest or committing other offences will be dealt with by officers.”

www.independent.co.uk

500 police deployed for protests in London amid tensions over Israel-Gaza war

The Metropolitan Police revealed details of a major policing operation ahead of the demonstrations
www.independent.co.uk www.independent.co.uk
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It's surprising. I wasn't expecting such a tsunami of protests in the UK. Happy that people are standing up for the cause of humanity.
 

UAE halts coordination of humanitarian aid with Israel​


The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced a suspension of coordination of humanitarian aid with Israel in the wake of the death of seven World Central Kitchen humanitarian workers in Gaza.

The decision was confirmed by official sources to i24NEWS, marking a crisis between the two countries.

i24NEWS has learned that the Emirati foreign ministry has 'expressed outrage' with the Israeli ambassador Amir Hayek over the incident.

Efforts to address the crisis are underway, with Israel's Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, engaging in a phone call with his Emirati counterpart, Abdullah bin Zayed. Additionally, Director General of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Yaakov Blitshtein, met with Ambassador Mohammed Mahmoud Al-Khaja in an attempt to find a resolution.

Ambassador Al-Khaja described the current state of affairs as "the darkest day in the relations between the countries."

www.i24news.tv

UAE halts diplomatic coordination with Israel - I24NEWS

The Israeli Ambassador to the UAE was for reprimand following the killing of seven humanitarian workers in Gaza - Click on the link for more.
www.i24news.tv www.i24news.tv
 
Israel-Gaza: Inside IDF's detailed briefing on aid convoy attack

Late on Thursday night, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) convened a meeting for a group of international journalists at the defence ministry building in Tel Aviv. The IDF then set out for us the results of their initial inquiry into the killing of seven aid workers in Gaza.

Retired Maj Gen Yoav Har-Even described how the IDF's drone operators mistook an aid worker carrying a bag for a gunman, and then targeted one of the World Central Kitchen vehicles with a missile.

The IDF then described how two people escaped that vehicle and got into a second car, which was hit by another missile from a drone.

The military confirmed that there were survivors from the second explosion, who managed to get into the third vehicle - which was then also hit by a missile.

By the end, all the aid workers were dead.

The IDF's investigation concluded that the army unit involved had believed the vehicles they were tracking from the sky had been taken over by Hamas gunmen, and that they were not aware of the coordination procedures put in place between the military and World Central Kitchen for that evening.

It also said they also did not know the cars belonged to the charity, and the three air strikes were in violation of the army's own procedures.

Three of the charity's cars were struck during the attack
The evidence from the investigation has been passed to the Military Advocate General - the Israeli army's top legal authority - to determine if there has been any criminal conduct.

In addition, the army has sacked the major in charge of fire support. The brigade's chief of staff, a colonel, has also been sacked. Both the divisional commander, brigade commander and the general in charge of the IDF's Southern Command have been formally reprimanded.

Source: BBC
 
Markhor said:
Thing is US Presidents have previously used their leverage over Israel.

George Bush Sr refused to back loans to Israel to house Jews coming from the Soviet Union unless they attended the Madrid Peace Conference. Some say one reason behind his defeat at the 1992 Election to Bill Clinton (ardently pro-Israel) was his willingness to confront Israel.

After the Osirak bombing in 1981, Ronald Reagan suspended F16 sales to Israel. The following year told Israel you will not get another F16 until you withdraw from Lebanon. He also allowed 21 UN resolutions condemning Israel to pass.

Eisenhower bluntly told Israel to withdraw from the Sinai in 1956 otherwise he would reassess US assistance.

Obviously we'd prefer them to go further and sanction this savage and cruel entity, but exerting pressure isn't impossible. Unfortunately since Clinton, US Presidents have shown the spine of a jellyfish in the face of the Israeli lobby.
Click to expand...

Good examples , arms sales to Israel is breaking UK laws but no government leaders will be prosecuted . We are still waiting for those who lied & took UK to an evil war in Iraq .

I think the difference now with today’s Zionist entity is they now feel they are fully complete as a nation & no other nation can apply any type of control over them . Since previous western politicians stopped sales as you mentioned,Zionism has ensured almost all politicians are either bought out or compromised, ie Epstein.

The right wing religious extremist nut jobs also believe the Zionist project is near completion & God will favour them to rule the world .

Iran can wipe israel out of existence but will also see their land destroyed. Everyone knows how evil this entity is. People in the west need to wake up , the war will expand to UK soon enough.
 
This is pathetic. Bag mistaken for a rifle? Seriously?. You liars and murderers.

------------------------------

Israel fires two officers after finding grave errors in strike on aid workers

The Israeli military dismissed two officers and formally reprimanded senior commanders after an inquiry into the killing of seven aid workers in an air strike in Gaza this week found serious errors and breaches of procedure, the military said.

The inquiry found Israeli forces mistakenly believed they were attacking Hamas gunmen when drones hit the three vehicles of the World Central Kitchen aid group late on Monday night, and that standard procedures had not been followed.

"The strike on the aid vehicles is a grave mistake stemming from a serious failure due to a mistaken identification, errors in decision-making, and an attack contrary to the Standard Operating Procedures," the military said in a statement issued on Friday.

The killing of the seven aid workers, who included citizens of Britain, Australia and Poland, a dual U.S.-Canadian national and a Palestinian colleague, stirred global outrage this week.

In a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, U.S. President Joe Biden threatened a shift in U.S. policy towards Israel unless it reduced harm to civilians in Gaza, which had depended on aid even before the war. Hunger has spread since fighting began six months ago.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday Washington was carefully reviewing Israel's inquiry and would look very carefully at what steps Israel was taking.

"It's very important that Israel is taking full responsibility for this incident. It's also important that it appears to be taking steps to hold those responsible accountable. Even more important is that steps are being taken going forward to ensure that something like this can never happen again," Blinken told reporters in Brussels.

After publication of the findings, World Central Kitchen demanded an independent commission to investigate the incident. "Without systemic change, there will be more military failures, more apologies and more grieving families," said a statement published by WCK.

The Israeli army (IDF) had already acknowledged that the seven WCK employees were killed in an air strike but the unusually swift investigation underlined the impact the incident has had on world public opinion.

Jose Andres, the chef who founded World Central Kitchen, said this week the seven workers had been targeted "systematically, car by car" as they scrambled to seek shelter when their vehicles were hit in succession.

The military said it had dismissed a brigade chief of staff with the rank of colonel and a brigade fire support officer with the rank of major, and formally reprimanded senior officers including the general at the head of the Southern Command.

The case was also handed over to the military advocate general to consider a possible criminal investigation, the military said.

BAG MISTAKEN FOR A RIFLE

The convoy hit was the second of four planned missions to deliver some 200 tons of food brought to Gaza by sea last month under WCK management as part of efforts to increase the amount of aid getting into Israeli-besieged Gaza.

The military said that as the aid convoy which the light vehicles were accompanying was travelling down the coastal road in Gaza towards a logistics point late on Monday, armed suspects had climbed onto at least one of the trucks.

The army showed reporters drone footage of a man on top of a lorry firing a rifle, which a spokesperson said had prompted the military to try, unsuccessfully, to contact WCK coordinators.

After the convoy reached a hangar and the trucks were unloaded, the three WCK vehicles left the location and turned south down the coast road shortly after 11 p.m. (2100 GMT). However, Israeli commanders could not see their identifying logos in the dark and did not identify them as belonging to WCK.

Yoav Har-Even, the former major general who led the inquiry, said forces had acted on the mistaken belief that the vehicles had been seized by Hamas fighters.

As the cars departed the hangar, one of the men getting into the vehicles had been carrying a bag which the operators watching drone footage took to be a rifle.

"The state of mind at that time was that the humanitarian mission had ended and that they were tracking Hamas vehicles with one suspected gunman, at least one suspected gunman, that they misidentified to be inside one of the three cars," he told reporters in a briefing.

"They struck that car and then they identified people running out of the car and entering a second car, which is when they decided to strike the second car. Then two people left the second car and entered the third car, which is when they struck the third car."

Those strikes were in breach of IDF standard operating procedures, he said.

The army pledged to address the fact that it had been unable to see the rooftop logos in the dark as part of a wider package of lessons to draw from the disaster.

REUTERS
 

Israel's military says body of hostage recovered in night raid​


Israel's military says it has recovered the body of a man taken hostage and held in Gaza, in an overnight raid on Khan Yunis.

Elad Katzir was taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on 7 October.

His body has been brought back to Israel, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israel Securities Authority (ISA) said.

He was identified by medical officials, and his family has been informed.

The IDF and ISA said in a joint statement: "The body of the abductee Elad Katzir, who according to intelligence was murdered in captivity by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organisation, was rescued overnight from Khan Yunis and returned to Israeli territory."

They said his remains were located using "precise" intelligence.

Mr Katzir, 47, was abducted from Nir Oz with his mother Hanna, 77.

She was released in November along with 104 other hostages during a six-day ceasefire at the end of November.

His father, Avraham, was murdered in the kibbutz, the IDF and ISA said.

In January, Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad published a video purporting to show Mr Katzir speaking from captivity in Gaza.

It was not clear if he had been filmed under duress or was able to speak freely.

In the video, Mr Katzir said he had been close to dying more than once, and called on the Israeli government to stop the war and bring him and other hostages home. He also repeatedly said he loved and missed his family.

"Our mission is to locate and return the abductees home," the IDF and ISA said on Saturday.

They said they are "working in full coordination with the relevant national and security bodies and will continue until the task is complete."

www.bbc.com

Israel's military says body of hostage recovered in night raid

Israel's military says commandos retrieved the man's body from Gaza in an overnight raid on Khan Yunis.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
 
It is devastating that it took six months and the killing of six western aid workers for a tipping point to be reached for Israel to change course over the supply of international humanitarian aid, the chair of the UK foreign affairs committee has said.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Alicia Kearns said the government must suspend arms sales to Israel and claimed ministers were no longer saying that Israel was complying with international humanitarian law, merely that it had the capacity to do so.

“I believe we have no choice but to suspend arms sales and it is important that the public understands this is not a political decision as some people want to present it as,” she said.

“Legal advice is advisory so the government can choose to reject it but UK arms export licences require a recipient to comply with international humanitarian law. That is why emergency handbrakes exist in terms of change of circumstances.”

Kearns said it was frustrating that Joe Biden was only now calling for an immediate ceasefire when only a week ago his aides had said a UN security council resolution calling for a ceasefire was non-binding, reducing its impact.

She rounded on fellow Conservatives who seek to have a monopoly on how to support Israel, saying support for an extremist Likud-led government was not the same as support for Israel. She said the way Israel was prosecuting its right to self-defence was making it and the world less safe.

“So many people have said to me ‘why can’t you force Israel to do this?’. Israel is our ally and we do not control them,” she said. “The phrase we have heard from interlocutor after interlocutor is that Israel is not listening. That does appear to have changed. The priority for now is very much making sure for aid to be getting in and that famine must be stopped.”

Referring to a phone call on Thursday between Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu, Kearns said: “It is frustrating to see Biden now is throwing his weight behind a ceasefire when only a few weeks ago when the UN security council resolution was passed they were suggesting it was non-binding in some way. So actually America has allowed the ceasefire not to be brought in as comprehensively as it should be because they did not throw their weight behind it properly.”

She added: “There is nothing anti-Israeli, much less antisemitic, in taking a tougher line with the Netanyahu government. The reality is that how Israel prosecutes this war, that is the problem we have. We support their right to self-defence but they are making themselves and us less safe in the way they are doing it.”

Referring to the killing of World Central Kitchen workers this week, she said: “The Israeli military chain of command made the decisions that it was acceptable to kill six humanitarian workers and one operative. Humanitarian workers have protected special status under international humanitarian law.”

Rejecting Israeli claims that the killings were a tragic error, she said the cars were clearly demarcated from the skies, the GPS coordinates had been provided and all three cars were struck in sequence.

Kearns said Israeli attacks on humanitarian workers were “happening on a daily basis and we are not seeing this outcry when it is about Palestinian volunteers”.

She also challenged Israel’s decision to bomb the Iranian diplomatic consulate in Damascus. “We need to be very cautious. The moment we or our allies break these rules, it makes all of us vulnerable, it makes our embassies vulnerable.”

Kearns said Israel faced heinous enemies that the west wanted to help it defeat, but “some want to capture and create a monopoly of what it means to be a friend of Israel. There are attempts to stipulate the requirement to an unadulterated commitment to the Netanyahu government is what looks like friendship”.
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Excellent comments from a real iron lady. Alicia Kearns is Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee and has done a great job holding the Govt to account since the start of the Gaza War.

Unfortunately she's not crazy enough for her party's members to become Conservative leader.
 
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A senior Hamas source has told Al Jazeera the group is sending a delegation to Cairo on Sunday for ceasefire talks.

Hamas says its demands include a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza and the return of the displaced people to their homes, among others.

Source: AL JAZEERA
 
Sister of killed hostage says Israeli government has blood on its hands

Israel's military has recovered the body of hostage Elad Katzir from Gaza.

His sister, Carmit Palty Katzir, announced his death in a social media post - and said she blamed the Israeli government for not acting to save him.

"Elad was brought to Israel last night, after being murdered in captivity," she wrote on Facebook.

She said the IDF would announce the "brave rescue operation" but "will not tell you that the prime minister, the cabinet and the IDF have no idea where most of the kidnapped, the alive and murdered are held".

"They won't tell you either that they have no way to protect the kidnapped, even when they know where they are," she added, saying her brother "could have been saved if a deal would have happened on time".

Ms Katzir described the Israeli government as "cowardly" and said her brother had been "abandoned".

"Look at yourselves in the mirror and say if your hands didn't spill that blood. You have 133 more kidnappers to redeem, worlds to save," she said.
 
Hell is destined for the perpetrators of crimes
=====
Latest updates on Gaza War

Israel’s “temporary” aid corridor to north Gaza criticised as inadequate by UN chief Guterres and EU foreign policy chief Borrell.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says it will allow “temporary” aid deliveries via a crossing in the northern Gaza Strip “to ensure the continuation of the fighting and to achieve the goals of the war”.

Israeli military says it dismissed two officers and reprimanded three others for roles in strikes that killed seven aid workers on a food-delivery mission in Gaza.

UN Human Rights Council adopts resolution calling for Israel to be held accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity possibly committed in the Gaza Strip.

At least 33,091 Palestinians have been killed and 75,750 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel from Hamas’s October 7 attack stands at 1,139, with dozens still held captive.

Source: Al Jazeera
 
Hamas says delegation to go to Cairo for Gaza ceasefire talks

A Hamas delegation headed by the group's deputy chief in Gaza, Khalil Al-Hayya, will go to Cairo on April 7 for Gaza ceasefire talks, in response to an invitation extended by Egyptian mediators, the group said in a statement on Saturday.

U.S. CIA Director Bill Burns arrived in Cairo on Saturday evening to attend Sunday's talks, sources at Cairo airport told Reuters. Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and an Israeli delegation were expected to take part in the talks as well, Egypt's Al Qahera news reported on Saturday.

Hamas reiterated its demands issued in a March 14 proposal prior to a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that was passed on March 25.

The demands include a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, a return of the displaced, and a "serious" exchange deal of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages being held in Gaza, the statement said.

SOURCE: REUTERS
 

Significant moment as Israel withdraws troops from southern Gaza - here's what it could mean for war​


The withdrawal of almost all Israeli forces from southern Gaza is a significant moment in this war - but it might be too early to assess how significant.

Officially, it is to give troops time to recuperate after months of heavy fighting, although that doesn't explain why they haven't just been replaced.

Israeli officials are also saying operations in Khan Younis are over and there is nothing left to do.

That's not entirely true, as some rockets were fired out of the city towards Israel hours after the soldiers left.

Although some forces will remain, predominantly patrolling the east-west corridor that divides the strip, withdrawing from Khan Younis concedes ground and surely makes a large-scale land invasion of Rafah unlikely, at least in the short term.

It could be linked to a hostage deal.

Senior level talks are expected to resume in Cairo on Sunday, with Israel's intelligence chief David Barnea present.

Hamas had been demanding a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, something that Israel repeatedly rejected - could this partial withdrawal be a workable compromise?

Militarily, it signifies the shift to a new phase - the third phase in this six-month war. The first phase was the aerial bombardment and the second was the ground invasion.

I would expect to see Israeli forces now operating in a counter-terrorism fashion, launching raids based on specific intelligence, rather than having an all-out continuous presence in much of Gaza.

The withdrawal of forces should create space for more humanitarian aid to move about Gaza - something that is desperately needed.

But without a "day after" plan, it will possibly also create a security vacuum, which, as we've seen in northern Gaza, can lead to the return of Hamas cells.

If this truly is a new significant phase, the withdrawal of forces must be accompanied by meaningful progress in the political process otherwise any military gains Israel has made could be rapidly lost.

news.sky.com

Significant moment as Israel withdraws troops from southern Gaza - here's what it could mean for war

Hamas had been demanding a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, something that Israel repeatedly rejected - could this partial withdrawal be a workable compromise?
news.sky.com news.sky.com
 
Israel withdraws troops from southern Gaza when there is no one left there.
 

World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres questions Israeli probe into deadly strike​


World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres raised questions Sunday over the Israeli probe into a strike that killed seven of his staff in Gaza, and warned that the conflict had become a “war against humanity itself.”

“I want to thank, obviously, the IDF, for doing such a quick investigation,” the head of the US-based charity told ABC’s “This Week.”

“At the same time, I would say with something so complicated, the investigation should be much more deeper,” he added.

“And I would say that the perpetrator cannot be investigating himself.”

The Israeli army has insisted that their killing on Monday of the World Central Kitchen workers in Gaza was a “tragic mistake.”

Three Britons, a US-Canadian dual national, a Pole, an Australian and a Palestinian were killed when their convoy, whose route was cleared with the army, was repeatedly struck.

In its investigation, the Israeli military said an armed man climbed on the roof of one of the trucks and “started firing his weapon,” leading to suspicions that the “convoy had been hijacked by Hamas.”

When asked about the Israeli report, Andres questioned the narrative, adding “this is not anymore about the seven men and women of World Central Kitchen that perished in this unfortunate event.”

He charged that Israel was targeting anything that “seems” to move, and has been doing so “for too long.”

“This doesn’t seem like a war against terror. This doesn’t seem anymore like a war about defending Israel,” he said. “It really, at this point, seems like a war against humanity itself.”

 
Israel's military confirms 'decline in forces' in southern Gaza

Israel's military said on Sunday that it was reducing its numbers of soldiers from southern Gaza, leaving just one brigade in the area.

The military stressed a "significant force" would remain in Gaza.

"This is another stage in the war effort", Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Lt Col Peter Lerner told the BBC.

The pull-out is being interpreted as tactical, rather than a sign the war may be moving closer to its end.

Also on Sunday, Israel and Hamas said they had both sent delegations to Cairo to join fresh ceasefire negotiations.

It is six months to the day since Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on 7 October, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostage.

Israel says that of 130 hostages still in Gaza, at least 34 are dead.

More than 33,000 Gazans have been killed in Israel's offensive in Gaza since then, the Hamas-run health ministry says, the majority of them civilians. Gaza is on the brink of famine, with Oxfam reporting that 300,000 people trapped in the north have lived since January on an average of 245 calories a day.


BBC
 
Iraq to send 10 million litres of fuel to Gaza

Iraq agreed on Sunday to send 10 million litres of fuel to the Gaza Strip in support of the Palestinian people, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said.

Iraq also agreed to receive wounded Palestinians from Gaza and provide them treatment in government and private hospitals, the prime minister added in a statement.

The lack of fuel has crippled hospitals, water systems, bakeries and relief operations in the strip.


Business Recorder
 

Hopefully things get normal for them and Israeli govt bites the dust​

====

Palestinians return to destroyed Khan Younis​

Conflicting reports emerge on Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo with Egyptian media reporting “significant progress”, but Hamas officials saying Israel continues to reject its demands.

Palestinians return to destroyed homes in Khan Younis as most Israeli troops withdraw months after they invaded the city in southern Gaza.

Source: Al Jazeera
 

Hamas says no progress in Gaza truce talks as sides set to meet again​

Israeli and Hamas officials say no significant progress has been made in the latest round of Gaza truce talks in Cairo attended by representatives from mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States.

“There is no change in the position of the occupation and, therefore, there is nothing new in the Cairo talks. … There is no progress yet,” a Hamas official, who asked not to be named, told the Reuters news agency on Monday, shortly after reports quoting Egyptian sources said headway had been made.

Israel’s Ynet news outlet cited an unidentified Israeli official as saying there had been “nothing dramatic” in the talks.

“We still don’t see a deal on the horizon. The distance is still great, and there has been nothing dramatic in the meantime,” the official said.

A separate senior Israeli official was quoted by Ynet as saying: “Patience is needed. There is potential, but we are not there yet.”

Much of the international community has expressed outrage over the Palestinian death toll and humanitarian crisis arising from Israel’s military operation that it says is aimed at destroying Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

More than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7, according to Palestinian officials.

Israel launched its assault on Gaza in response to Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, which killed 1,139 people, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on Israeli statistics.

Hamas seized 253 people at that time and took them back to Gaza. Of those, 133 captives remain, and negotiators have spoken of about 40 going free in the first stage of a prospective deal with Hamas.

Israel’s army says more than 600 of its soldiers have been killed in combat.

www.aljazeera.com

Hamas says no progress in Gaza truce talks as sides set to meet again

No major progress achieved in negotiations in Cairo, Israeli and Hamas officials say.
www.aljazeera.com www.aljazeera.com
 
Hopefully they will come up with a solution soon to end this War.
 
Leaders urge Israel not to target Rafah in southern Gaza

The leaders of Egypt, France and Jordan have warned Israel an offensive against Gaza's southern city of Rafah would have "dangerous consequences".

They jointly said that it would "only bring more death and suffering" and "threaten regional escalation".

The US also said it opposed any assault on Rafah, where more than 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said a date for the offensive had now been set but provided no details.

"Today I received a detailed report on the talks in Cairo, we are constantly working to achieve our goals, first and foremost the release of all our hostages and achieving a complete victory over Hamas," he said on Monday.

"This victory requires entry into Rafah and the elimination of the terrorist battalions there. It will happen - there is a date."

At the same time, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant suggested that now was the right time for a deal over hostages, six months into the war with Hamas.

His comments came as talks on a hostage-prisoner swap and ceasefire continued in Egypt's capital Cairo.

The CIA Director, William Burns, is also attending the discussions. His presence underlines the growing pressure from the US - Israel's main ally - for an agreement.

A senior Hamas official told Reuters news agency Israeli proposals had not met Hamas's demands but the group said they would nevertheless be examined.

"There is no change in the position of the occupation [Israel] and therefore, there is nothing new in the Cairo talks," the Hamas official, who asked not to be identified, said. "There is no progress yet."

In a separate development on Monday, Israel reported a "record-breaking influx of aid trucks into Gaza, totalling 419".

"We warn against the dangerous consequences of an Israeli offensive on Rafah," Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, French President Emmanuel Macron and Jordan's King Abdullah II said in a joint editorial published in several newspapers.

They also said a recent UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and the release of all Hamas-held hostages must be "fully implemented without further delay".

"The war in Gaza and the catastrophic humanitarian suffering it is causing must end now," the three leaders said, urging a "massive increase" in aid for Gaza.

Egypt and Jordan - which both border Israel - are seen as key players in the war-torn Middle East region.

Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on 7 October, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostage.

Israel says that of 130 hostages still in Gaza, at least 34 are dead.

More than 33,000 Gazans, the majority of them civilians, have been killed during Israel's offensive in Gaza since then, the Hamas-run health ministry says.

Gaza is said to be on the brink of famine, with Oxfam reporting that 300,000 people trapped in the north have lived since January on an average of 245 calories a day.

Israel has denied impeding the entry of aid or its distribution inside Gaza, and has accused UN agencies on the ground of failing to get the aid that is allowed in to the people who need it.

BBC
 
This pathetic guy is getting ready for another assault. And how Shamelessly he is announcing it.

----------------

Benjamin Netanyahu says date for offensive in Gaza's Rafah has been set

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel has set a date for its planned offensive in Gaza's city Rafah.

His government has been signalling its intentions to launch a military operation in the southern city, where more than 1.5m Palestinians are sheltering, for several weeks.

Mr Netanyahu said the planned offensive was necessary for "the elimination of terrorist battalions there".

World leaders have urged Israel not to go ahead with the plan for weeks.

In a joint intervention on Tuesday, the leaders of Egypt, France and Jordan warned Israel the offensive would have "dangerous consequences" and "threaten regional escalation".

On Monday, the Israeli leader said a date to begin the Rafah offensive had been agreed internally but provided no further details.

Mr Netanyahu's comments came as talks between Hamas and Israel over a hostage-prisoner swap and ceasefire deal continued in Egypt.

He said: "Today I received a detailed report on the talks in Cairo, we are constantly working to achieve our goals, first and foremost the release of all our hostages and achieving a complete victory over Hamas.

"This victory requires entry into Rafah and the elimination of the terrorist battalions there. It will happen - there is a date."

At the same time, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant suggested that now was the right time for a deal over hostages, six months into the war with Hamas.

A senior Hamas official told the Reuters news agency that Israeli proposals had not met its demands but the group said they would nevertheless be examined.

"There is no change in the position of the occupation [Israel] and therefore, there is nothing new in the Cairo talks," the Hamas official, who asked not to be identified, said. "There is no progress yet."

William Burns, the director of the CIA, is attending the Cairo talks. His presence underlines the growing pressure from the US - Israel's main ally - for an agreement.

The US is opposed to any assault on Rafah, where many Gazans forced to leave their homes in the north have settled.

The Israeli government was put under further pressure to reconsider its plans to send troops into Rafah by a joint statement signed by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, French President Emmanuel Macron and Jordan's King Abdullah II.

"The war in Gaza and the catastrophic humanitarian suffering it is causing must end now," the three leaders wrote a letter to France's Le Monde newspaper, urging a "massive increase" in aid for Gaza.

They also said a recent UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and the release of all Hamas-held hostages must be "fully implemented without further delay".

Egypt and Jordan - which both border Israel - are seen as key players in the war-torn Middle East region.

In a separate development on Monday, Israel reported a "record-breaking influx of aid trucks into Gaza, totalling 419".

Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on 7 October, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostage.

Israel says that of 130 hostages still in Gaza, at least 34 are dead.

More than 33,000 Gazans, the majority of them civilians, have been killed during Israel's offensive in Gaza since then, the Hamas-run health ministry says.

Gaza is said to be on the brink of famine, with Oxfam reporting that 300,000 people trapped in the north have lived since January on an average of 245 calories a day.

Israel has denied impeding the entry of aid or its distribution inside Gaza, and has accused UN agencies on the ground of failing to get the aid that is allowed in to the people who need it.

BBC
 

Hail the people of Paledstine, the guys with heart of gold​

=====

After six months of war, I fear we may lose Palestine completely​

Six months into Israel’s murderous war on Gaza, I spend my days in Ramallah reading the devastating news, feeling helpless and heartbroken. Yet one morning, I turned instead to Lyndsey Stonebridge’s excellent book on Hannah Arendt in which the author observed: “It is when the experience of powerlessness is at its most acute, when history seems at its most bleak, that the determination to think like a human being, creatively, courageously, and complicatedly matters the most.” I wonder whether those in Israel who feel powerless against the majority who want the continuation of the seemingly endless war; or us Palestinians, the victims of the full thrust of Israel’s might and expansionist agenda, are succeeding in doing that. So far, the evidence indicates that we are not.

By now several things have become clear. The first is the re-emergence in Israel of the Jewish ultra right; settlers and Jewish supremacists with their uncompromising expansionist agenda. It was as though this recalcitrant group was waiting for the opportunity to accelerate the pursuit of its colonial objectives. Already, not only is the Gaza Strip transformed but so is the West Bank, fragmented as it is by roadblocks and locked iron gates restricting access to villages, and settlers continuing to expel Palestinians from their land. As for Gaza, plans are already being prepared for settling the north by Israeli Jews.

For 75 years we Palestinians have been demanding Israeli recognition, if not an apology and amends, for the horrors committed against us during the first Nakba of 1948, when more than 700,000 were forced out of their homes in what became Israel. Now the tragedy has been compounded. Which makes me feel that I spent the last 50 years of my life getting used to the loss of the Palestine of my parents; and that I might spend the remaining years of my life trying to get used to the loss of Palestine in its entirety.

This war has exposed the profound weakness of the secular liberals in Israel and their near total rallying behind the supposed might of the Israeli army, while failing to consider the longer-term consequences of their army’s murderous excesses. There is a distressing lack of readiness among the Israeli Jewish population to pursue peace with its neighbours, and an almost unchallenged commitment to the use of force to destroy Palestinians regardless of the human cost. One Israeli friend told me despairingly, “I’m a minority in a minority of a minority.”

Already more than 33,000 people have been killed by the Israeli army in Gaza. There is also an apparent acceptance by a majority of the Israeli people of the government’s political line that Hamas are “human animals”, coupled with a strong belief that by peddling images of the crimes it has committed against Israeli civilians, the world would excuse the destruction of an entire civilian population in Gaza. Such accusations as placing ammunition in hospitals and using civilians as human shields are repeated seemingly with no awareness that, as the Israeli columnist B Michael has pointed out, these same tactics were used by Israel in its war against Britain, and later against the Palestinians, when weapons were hidden in Hadassah hospital and civilian settlements were placed strategically.

The Israeli crimes in Gaza are unprecedented and immeasurably larger than what we’ve experienced at any time in the past. I asked my Israeli friend where were the voices of reason and compassion who took to the streets after the Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon in 1982. His answer was that then Israel was a different country.

An Israeli military bulldozer patrols the Balata refugee camp in the northern West Bank on Monday, following a raid on the camp.

The war has also exposed the failure of Hamas to have anticipated and prepared its civilian population for Israel’s response. The organisation succeeded in carrying out a complicated military operation, indiscriminately killing Israeli civilians in violation of international humanitarian law. It has also subjected its own people to unmitigated vengeful onslaught by its adversary. As the Palestinian population in northern Gaza goes hungry, anger at the organisation may rise.

The iron-clad support of Israel by the US has also been confirmed. Despite what one former senior UN official described as probably the highest kill rate “since the Rwandan genocide of 1994”, the flow of arms to Israel from its ally continues unabated.

The Gaza war will eventually end. I dread to think, when this finally happens, how many more deaths will be added to the tens of thousands that have already happened; just as I dread watching more images of the devastation in Gaza when the Strip is opened up to journalists. Then there is the bitterness that is sure to be felt on the part of the Israeli hostages and their families, whether or not they emerge alive. We will have to reckon with all that. After such horrors, how will we Palestinians and Israelis manage to live together in this sliver of land we both call home?

While the monstrous war rages in Gaza, another sort of war is taking place in the West Bank. After the 57-year-long Israeli occupation of the territory, Palestinian farmers have been mainly deprived of their land and water. There has been a transformation from agriculture to a service economy with strong reliance on employment in Israel. But since the start of the war most Palestinian labourers have been prevented from returning to work there, except for those working in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Many have become impoverished from having no work.

In Ramallah, as in other cities in the West Bank, land prices have rocketed because of the scarcity of land and restrictions on growth due to Israeli discriminatory planning schemes. With the city confined to a small space, every plot has to be used to the maximum. The only option left is to expand vertically. And so I live with the constant sound of digging. Those in Gaza could not compete with Israel’s air power so they had to protect themselves and conduct their fighting from underground tunnels. On most days, dominating the skies overhead are jets on their way to Gaza to carry out more devastating raids on civilians.

Source: The Guardian
 
The Bald Eagle said:

Hail the people of Paledstine, the guys with heart of gold​

=====

After six months of war, I fear we may lose Palestine completely​

Six months into Israel’s murderous war on Gaza, I spend my days in Ramallah reading the devastating news, feeling helpless and heartbroken. Yet one morning, I turned instead to Lyndsey Stonebridge’s excellent book on Hannah Arendt in which the author observed: “It is when the experience of powerlessness is at its most acute, when history seems at its most bleak, that the determination to think like a human being, creatively, courageously, and complicatedly matters the most.” I wonder whether those in Israel who feel powerless against the majority who want the continuation of the seemingly endless war; or us Palestinians, the victims of the full thrust of Israel’s might and expansionist agenda, are succeeding in doing that. So far, the evidence indicates that we are not.

By now several things have become clear. The first is the re-emergence in Israel of the Jewish ultra right; settlers and Jewish supremacists with their uncompromising expansionist agenda. It was as though this recalcitrant group was waiting for the opportunity to accelerate the pursuit of its colonial objectives. Already, not only is the Gaza Strip transformed but so is the West Bank, fragmented as it is by roadblocks and locked iron gates restricting access to villages, and settlers continuing to expel Palestinians from their land. As for Gaza, plans are already being prepared for settling the north by Israeli Jews.

For 75 years we Palestinians have been demanding Israeli recognition, if not an apology and amends, for the horrors committed against us during the first Nakba of 1948, when more than 700,000 were forced out of their homes in what became Israel. Now the tragedy has been compounded. Which makes me feel that I spent the last 50 years of my life getting used to the loss of the Palestine of my parents; and that I might spend the remaining years of my life trying to get used to the loss of Palestine in its entirety.

This war has exposed the profound weakness of the secular liberals in Israel and their near total rallying behind the supposed might of the Israeli army, while failing to consider the longer-term consequences of their army’s murderous excesses. There is a distressing lack of readiness among the Israeli Jewish population to pursue peace with its neighbours, and an almost unchallenged commitment to the use of force to destroy Palestinians regardless of the human cost. One Israeli friend told me despairingly, “I’m a minority in a minority of a minority.”

Already more than 33,000 people have been killed by the Israeli army in Gaza. There is also an apparent acceptance by a majority of the Israeli people of the government’s political line that Hamas are “human animals”, coupled with a strong belief that by peddling images of the crimes it has committed against Israeli civilians, the world would excuse the destruction of an entire civilian population in Gaza. Such accusations as placing ammunition in hospitals and using civilians as human shields are repeated seemingly with no awareness that, as the Israeli columnist B Michael has pointed out, these same tactics were used by Israel in its war against Britain, and later against the Palestinians, when weapons were hidden in Hadassah hospital and civilian settlements were placed strategically.

The Israeli crimes in Gaza are unprecedented and immeasurably larger than what we’ve experienced at any time in the past. I asked my Israeli friend where were the voices of reason and compassion who took to the streets after the Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon in 1982. His answer was that then Israel was a different country.

An Israeli military bulldozer patrols the Balata refugee camp in the northern West Bank on Monday, following a raid on the camp.

The war has also exposed the failure of Hamas to have anticipated and prepared its civilian population for Israel’s response. The organisation succeeded in carrying out a complicated military operation, indiscriminately killing Israeli civilians in violation of international humanitarian law. It has also subjected its own people to unmitigated vengeful onslaught by its adversary. As the Palestinian population in northern Gaza goes hungry, anger at the organisation may rise.

The iron-clad support of Israel by the US has also been confirmed. Despite what one former senior UN official described as probably the highest kill rate “since the Rwandan genocide of 1994”, the flow of arms to Israel from its ally continues unabated.

The Gaza war will eventually end. I dread to think, when this finally happens, how many more deaths will be added to the tens of thousands that have already happened; just as I dread watching more images of the devastation in Gaza when the Strip is opened up to journalists. Then there is the bitterness that is sure to be felt on the part of the Israeli hostages and their families, whether or not they emerge alive. We will have to reckon with all that. After such horrors, how will we Palestinians and Israelis manage to live together in this sliver of land we both call home?

While the monstrous war rages in Gaza, another sort of war is taking place in the West Bank. After the 57-year-long Israeli occupation of the territory, Palestinian farmers have been mainly deprived of their land and water. There has been a transformation from agriculture to a service economy with strong reliance on employment in Israel. But since the start of the war most Palestinian labourers have been prevented from returning to work there, except for those working in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Many have become impoverished from having no work.

In Ramallah, as in other cities in the West Bank, land prices have rocketed because of the scarcity of land and restrictions on growth due to Israeli discriminatory planning schemes. With the city confined to a small space, every plot has to be used to the maximum. The only option left is to expand vertically. And so I live with the constant sound of digging. Those in Gaza could not compete with Israel’s air power so they had to protect themselves and conduct their fighting from underground tunnels. On most days, dominating the skies overhead are jets on their way to Gaza to carry out more devastating raids on civilians.

Source: The Guardian
Click to expand...
In Israel there's no left. The parties are either right or far-right.

The sooner Netanyahu leaves the better but I sense Western liberals, normally reluctant to criticise Israel, are very comfortable scapegoating Netanyahu for Israel's problems.

The occupation and dispossession of Palestinians didn't start with Netanyahu.

Let's not be under any impression that Benny Gantz or whoever else will stop settlements and giftwrap the Palestinians an independent state. Only concerted international pressure and isolation of Israel will achieve that.
 
Markhor said:
In Israel there's no left. The parties are either right or far-right.

The sooner Netanyahu leaves the better but I sense Western liberals, normally reluctant to criticise Israel, are very comfortable scapegoating Netanyahu for Israel's problems.

The occupation and dispossession of Palestinians didn't start with Netanyahu.

Let's not be under any impression that Benny Gantz or whoever else will stop settlements and giftwrap the Palestinians an independent state. Only concerted international pressure and isolation of Israel will achieve that.
Click to expand...
Yep they are unscrupulous people and would be petrified by Muslim forces soon near the end of times.
 

Hamas says Israeli proposal fails to meet demands, but is under review​

CAIRO, April 9 (Reuters) - Hamas said on Tuesday that an Israeli proposal on a ceasefire in their war in Gaza did not meet the demands of Palestinian militant factions, but it would study the offer further and deliver its response to mediators.

The proposal was handed to the Palestinian Islamist movement by Egyptian and Qatari mediators at talks in Cairo that aim to find a way out of the devastating war in the Gaza Strip, now in its seventh month.

Residents said Israeli forces kept up airstrikes on parts of central and southern Gaza on Tuesday, including one on a family house in Al-Nusseirat that killed 14 people, according to Hamas' Al Aqsa television. Other airstrikes were reported in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza and Rafah in the far south.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly flagged plans for a ground assault on Rafah, where more than one million displaced civilians are holed up, despite international pleas for restraint.

The talks in Cairo, also attended by the director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency William Burns, have so far failed to reach a breakthrough towards pausing the war.

"The movement (Hamas) is interested in reaching an agreement that puts an end to the aggression on our people. Despite that, the Israeli position remains intransigent and it didn't meet any of the demands of our people and our resistance," Hamas said in a statement following the latest ceasefire proposal.

It said it would review the proposal further and go back to the mediators with its response.

Hamas wants any agreement to secure an end to the Israeli military offensive, a withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and to allow displaced people to return to their homes across the small, densely populated enclave.

Israel's immediate aim is to secure the release of hostages seized by Hamas in the Oct. 7 cross-border rampage that triggered the conflict. It says it will not end the war until it annihilates Hamas, which has run Gaza since 2007.

The United States is pushing hard for a ceasefire, after telling its ally Israel to do more to protect civilians in Gaza and let in more aid to prevent a famine.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said 400 aid trucks had been cleared to enter Gaza the previous day, describing it as the most since the war started six months ago. He said a good ceasefire offer had been presented to Hamas, which should accept it.

Israel says aid is moving into Gaza more quickly after international pressure to increase access, but the amount is disputed and the United Nations says it is still much less than the bare minimum to meet humanitarian needs.

Source: Reuters
 
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