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‘An Act of Terror’: Israel Behind Pager Explosions That Killed 11, Wounded Thousands

“Each explosion constitutes an indiscriminate attack,” argued Heidi Matthews, an associate professor at the Osgoode Hall Law School of York University.

Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, 17 Sept 24

Sep 18, 2024

Several news outlets confirmed late Tuesday what was widely suspected: Israel’s military and intelligence services were behind the explosions of pagers recently purchased by the Lebanese political party and militant group Hezbollah.

The explosions, reportedly set off earlier Tuesday by a message that appeared as if it was from Hezbollah’s leadership, killed at least 11 people—including an 8-year-old girl—and wounded thousands more.

Citing both an unnamed former Israeli official with knowledge of the operation and an anonymous U.S. official, Axiosreported that “Israeli intelligence services planned to use the booby-trapped pagers it managed to ‘plant’ in Hezbollah’s ranks as a surprise opening blow in an all-out war to try to cripple Hezbollah.”

“But in recent days, Israeli leaders became concerned that Hezbollah might discover the pagers,” the outlet continued. “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his top ministers, and the heads of the Israel Defense Forces and the intelligence agencies decided to use the system now rather than take the risk of it being detected by Hezbollah, a U.S. official said.”

A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department publicly denied that the Biden administration was involved in the attack or aware of the operation in advance.

Heidi Matthews, an associate professor at the Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, wrote Tuesday that “each explosion constitutes an indiscriminate attack,” pointing to video footage of a pager detonating in a crowded market.

“Under these circumstances,” Matthews added, “this is an act of terror.”

The New York Timesreported Tuesday that Hezbollah ordered thousands of pagers from the Taiwanese manufacturer Gold Apollo, but the company denied making the devices. According to the Times, which cited unnamed officials, Israeli operatives “tampered with” the devices “before they reached Lebanon,” planting in them “as little as one to two ounces” of explosive material and a switch “that could be triggered remotely to detonate the explosives.”………………………………………………………….  https://www.commondreams.org/news/hezbollah-pager-explosions

September 20, 2024 Posted by | Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Israel Admits It Probably Killed Israeli Hostages in Gaza Airstrike in November

The Israeli military told the captives’ families at the time that they were killed by Hamas forces.

By Sharon Zhang , Truthout, September 17, 2024, https://truthout.org/articles/israel-admits-it-probably-killed-israeli-hostages-in-gaza-airstrike-in-november/

he Israeli military has admitted that one of its own airstrikes is likely responsible for killing three Israeli captives whose bodies were recovered from Gaza last year, confirming what Hamas officials had said about the hostages’ deaths at the time.

In a release on Sunday, the Israeli military said that an investigation into the deaths of the three captives found there was a “high probability” that they were killed by an Israeli strike carried out on November 10. This finding is based on the location of their bodies in relation to that of the strike and analysis of the strike itself. The military claims the strike targeted and killed a Hamas commander.

Two of the captives were soldiers, Corporal Nick Beiser and Sergeant Ron Sherman. The military also recovered the body of Eliya Toledano. They were all captured amid the October 7 attack, and their bodies were recovered in December.

At the time, Israeli forces told the captives’ families that they were killed by Hamas. But the results of the investigation confirms Hamas’s assertion that they were killed by the Israeli military.

Israeli forces have killed numerous hostages amid their genocide in Gaza, and released hostages have said that their top fear while in captivity was that they would be killed by Israeli strikes.

In December, Israeli forces shot and killed three Israeli captives who were traveling together in northern Gaza. Though the captives were shirtless and waving a white flag, Israeli soldiers opened fire on them. The military later claimed that the soldiers acted correctly to the best of their understanding, as they interpreted the captives’ cries for help as a ruse.

These captives could have been alive today if Israel had agreed to ceasefire agreements early on. Just days after Israel’s genocidal assault of Gaza commenced, Hamas had offered to release all of the captives if the Israeli military didn’t enter Gaza, former political adviser and leader of an advocacy organization for the captives’ families Haim Rubinstein told Times of Israel earlier this year.

Since then, Israel has rejected ceasefire deal after ceasefire deal, with Israeli leaders openly expressing their contempt for the very idea of stopping their genocide in Gaza at any point. There is widespread unrest among Israelis for the government’s failure to secure a hostage release, but Israeli leaders’ actions in the ceasefire negotiations have made it clear that a hostage release is not a top priority for them.

Just earlier this month, Israeli media reported that three captives whose bodies were recently recovered from Gaza were actually slated for release in a ceasefire deal discussed in July. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu effectively single handedly killed that deal, introducing a number of last-minute demands that he knew Hamas and other countries’ negotiators would reject — like a permanent Israeli occupation of Gaza’s border with Egypt.

Additionally, Israeli media have reported this week that Netanyahu is reportedly considering dismissing his defense minister Yoav Gallant and replacing him with a political leader whose party has helped cement Netanyahu’s power amid the genocide. Gallant has been a critic of Netanyahu, and recently called for a ceasefire after being in favor of the genocidal invasion last year.

Netanyahu’s insistence that Israel continue its genocide, even at the expense of the lives of Israeli captives, has led many in Israeli society to conclude that Netanyahu doesn’t care about the captives; rather, he relishes in their deaths as new opportunities to demonize Hamas and justify his genocide of Palestinians, as some commentators have noted.

It is clear, then, that Israel’s main goal in Gaza is death and occupation. UN Special Rapporteur for Palestine Francesca Albanese has warned that Israel is on track to wipe out the entire population of Gaza if it continues along this path, and that the true death toll of Palestinians could be estimated at 335,500 as of this month — with no end to Israel’s invasion in sight.

September 20, 2024 Posted by | Gaza, Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Opening Pandora’s Electronic Box

Assassination without Representation

Dennis Kucinich, Sep 18, 2024,  https://denniskucinich.substack.com/p/opening-pandoras-electronic-box?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1441588&post_id=149073793&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=puo10&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

With assassination by pagers and electronic devices occurring in Lebanon, the weaponization of things electronic, the world has entered into a sphere of activity where there is no refuge, no safety, no security, and no privacy.   

This weaponization, the booby trapping of, the hacking of all things electronic can make phones, laptops, computers, television and radios vulnerable to being blown up. 

It affects all modes of communication, transportation, utilities, all local and state law enforcement, all national defense installations, including nuclear sites, the entire infrastructure of modern life. Nothing is protected and nothing is safe.  Everything electronic is a weapon.

We have journeyed from the Internet of Things to the destruction of all things and all people connected to the internet. Turning electronics into personal bombing devices will have major economic and social consequences. It is both discriminate and indiscriminate, personal and impersonal, mass murder and mass injuries, calculated to induce fear, to break communication between people, to bring about a system of control by government(s) and to ultimately undermine our freedoms. We have just witnessed the opening of Pandora’s Electronic Box.

Who developed this technology?  Where was it tested?  How was it implemented?  Why?  Where will it be used next?  That such murderous technology was employed, and detonated remotely, against the people of Lebanon, in the name of attacking Hezbollah echoes the genocidal fury against the people of Gaza in the name of wiping out Hamas.  It is a mission which will only embolden the enemies of Israel and will erode its support in the civilized world.

This is appropriately a matter for the world community.  But as an American and as a potential Member of the next United States Congress, I want it made known that if the United States is involved in either the development of, or the sharing of this technology, or in the attacks in Lebanon using devices booby trapped through an illicit incursion into a supply chain, I will seek the indictment for war crimes of every individual involved, no matter their rank or station.  The  world and everyone in it is at risk from a new type of terrorism. 

September 19, 2024 Posted by | MIDDLE EAST, weapons and war | Leave a comment

2nd Wave of Explosions Hits Communications Devices Across Lebanon

By Owen Evans and Ryan Morgan, 9/18/2024

 https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/second-wave-of-explosions-hits-communications-devices-across-lebanon-5726302?utm_source=Aobreakingnoe&utm_medium=Aoemail&utm_campaign=Aobreaking-2024-09-19&utm_content=NL_Ao&src_src=Aobreakingnoe&src_cmp=Aobreaking-2024-09-19&cta_utm_source=Aobreakingnoecta&est=RXDiEFDBhMEf5gFzsv9c%2FSlaQC4c%2B0La81s9q7LL7RA1jcWfvsrrdukD70ef%2FNl3zmJ4SkdTeAlQ

A Hezbollah official says walkie-talkies used by the group exploded across Beirut, a day after pagers blew up.

Electronic devices detonated across southern Lebanon and in Beirut’s southern suburbs for the second day in a row on Sept. 18, according to Lebanese officials and witnesses who spoke with Reuters.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry says at least 14 people were killed and more than 450 were injured in the second wave of explosions.

Several of the Wednesday blasts were reported at funerals organized for those killed in a wave of exploding handheld electronic pagers the day prior. The Wednesday funerals processions were being held for slain members of Hezbollah; an Iranian-aligned Shia Islamist Lebanese faction designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel. The funeral processions were also reportedly being held on behalf of a young girl and a young boy who were caught up in the wave of pager blasts.

Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV reported explosions in multiple areas of Lebanon, which it said were caused by detonating walkie-talkies.

Local reports indicated at least one car and a mobile phone shop were also damaged after devices exploded inside of them on Wednesday. A woman was also reportedly hurt when a home solar energy system blew up in southern Lebanon.

The Epoch Times has not been able to independently corroborate these claims.

September 19, 2024 Posted by | MIDDLE EAST, weapons and war | Leave a comment

22,500 Palestinians Now Have Life-Changing Injuries Due to Israel’s Genocide

At least 3,000 Palestinians have had their limbs amputated as a result of Israeli attacks, WHO estimates.

By Sharon Zhang , Truthout, September 12, 2024, https://truthout.org/articles/22500-palestinians-now-have-life-changing-injuries-due-to-israels-genocide/

srael’s genocide has inflicted permanent, life-changing injuries to about a quarter of the nearly 100,000 Palestinians reported injured by Israeli attacks in the last 11 months, according to an analysis by the World Health Organization (WHO).

According to a report using data up until July, roughly 22,500 Palestinians who have been wounded in Israeli attacks have sustained life-changing injuries that will require medical care for years into the future, WHO has estimated.

The majority of these are severe limb injuries, which are affecting roughly between 13,500 and 17,500. Of these, between 3,100 and 4,000 are limb amputations, the report says, though it notes that “anecdotal reports indicate this number may be higher.” It also notes that there will need to be an increase in prosthetic services in the region as a result.

The report also finds that there are likely about 2,000 spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries and at least 2,000 burn injuries, all of which require long-term and specialized care that is largely unavailable in Gaza, due to Israel’s systematic dismantling of Gaza’s health system.

The WHO made the estimates based on medical data reported from Gaza, and the types of injuries identified from those reports.

WHO says that the analysis is a show of the dire need for health care services in Gaza.

“The huge surge in rehabilitation needs occurs in parallel with the ongoing decimation of the health system,” said Richard Peeperkorn, a WHO representative for Palestine. “Patients can’t get the care they need. Acute rehabilitation services are severely disrupted and specialized care for complex injuries is not available, placing patients’ lives at risk.”

The report is a show of the severe impact of Israel’s genocide beyond just the death toll, and one of the myriad ways Israel’s campaign has permanently scarred the Palestinian population.

Because Israel is injuring more people every day in its relentless bombardments and attacks on Palestinians, it is likely that the number of severe injuries is higher now. And, because the report relies on data from emergency sources, there is likely much more life-changing physical harm from things like Israel’s starvation or disease campaigns that are not included in the count.

According to counts by the Gaza Ministry of Health, at least 95,000 people have been injured amid Israel’s genocide, while over 41,000 have been killed. The true death toll, as many experts have noted, is likely far higher; UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese has warned that Israel is on track to exterminate the entire population of Gaza if international powers do not intervene to stop their genocide.

The report does not specify how many children have suffered severe injuries. But children make up nearly half of the population of Gaza, and Save the Children has previously noted that, in the first three months of the genocide, Israel caused over 10 children a day to lose one or both legs.

September 18, 2024 Posted by | Atrocities, Gaza, Israel | Leave a comment

Opposed to Netanyahu, two-thirds of Israelis want to negotiate with Hamas

Voltairenet.org, by Thierry Meyssan 13 Sept 24

The recent general strike in Israel is not just a demonstration against the rhetoric that we shouldn’t negotiate with terrorists and that the IDF will release the hostages held in Gaza. It marks the beginning of a realization that Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu is not defending Jews. While Jewish Israelis are not yet aware of the ethnic cleansing in Gaza, they are becoming aware of the anti-Arab pogroms in the West Bank. Gradually, they are beginning to admit that their enemies are not their neighbours, but are among them. These are the revisionist Zionists.

Voltaire Network | Paris (France) | 12 September 2024

Israeli public opinion is changing. After having turned away from Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, ineffective during the October 7 attack, some Israelis rallied behind him again after the Iranian retaliation on April 11. About a third of them now support him. They are both settlers, illegally implanted in the West Bank, and citizens who perceive Arabs, Turks and Persians as enemies.

The remaining two-thirds are slowly opening their eyes. The execution of six hostages by Hamas on August 31, just as the “Defense Forces” (IDF) were about to free them, showed them that, far from allowing their release, the presence of soldiers in Gaza condemns them to death. They now see the Prime Minister’s obstinacy in invading not only Gaza, but also the West Bank, to the detriment of the hostages’ lives, as proof that he serves the interests of the settlers alone, and not those of all Israeli Jews. Yet they fail to see the suffering of Israeli Arabs, the pogroms in the West Bank and the ethnic cleansing in Gaza.

It was against this backdrop that Israel’s historic trade union, the Histadrut, which was the main Yichuv organization between the wars, called a general strike. ……………………………………………………the strike was well attended. It inscribed in the minds of Israelis that Benyamin Netanyahu did not defend Jews, that he had never defended them.

At the same time, one of the government’s 32 members, Defense Minister General Yoav Gallant, declared in cabinet that the Prime Minister’s new objective of occupying the Philadelphia Corridor (i.e., the small Egyptian-Gazawi border strip) violates the Camp David Accords without bringing the slightest strategic advantage. When the cabinet discussion turned to invective, General Gallant took the matter public……………………………………………………………………………..

At the time, no one understood the connection between the unionists and the general. However, we later learned that he had been dismissed for having exploded in the Council of Ministers and demanded an explanation for the Prime Minister’s lack of reaction to reports from the Shin Bet (counter-intelligence) and the IDF. Four months before the October 7 attack, all Israeli intelligence services were drafting report after report announcing the “Perfect Storm” (code name for the October 7 “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation) that the Palestinian Resistance was preparing. The Prime Minister refused to listen. He remained deaf to General Gallant’s outburst. He did not defend his country during the October 7 attack, but used it to ethnically cleanse Gaza and allowed anti-Arab pogroms to multiply in the West Bank.

As a result, the question we’ve been asking since mid-November [1] is also starting to resonate with Israelis: what if Benyamin Netanyahu wasn’t incompetent, but an accomplice in the attack?

This question is on the minds of many Israelis, who have called for a state commission of inquiry into all aspects of the October 7 attack, its preparation and response. Israel’s Attorney General, Gali Baharav Miara, who considers the issue relevant, has also called for this. However, Benjamin Netanyahu and his accomplices opposed it.

This question has been on everyone’s lips ever since the Israeli press revealed that the counter-espionage Shin Bet/Shabak had warned the Prime Minister of the imminent attack 10 weeks earlier [2]. This time, we’re no longer talking about foreign sources, but about one of Israel’s security agencies.

Gradually, the story of the current coalition government resurfaces. Jewish supremacists (the Kahanists) are not just another Jewish sect. Certainly, they militate for the destruction of the Al-Aqsa mosque and the rebuilding in its place of Solomon’s temple, whereas the Haredi rabbis, both Ashkenazi and Sephardic, in addition to the leading Israeli rabbis, consider such acts impure and forbid all Jews to enter the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa mosque. They thus seem to distinguish themselves from the revisionist Zionists of Volodymyr Jabotinski and Benzion Netanhayou, who campaigned for a Jewish state from the Nile to the Euphrates. In reality, Rabbi Meïr Kahane was an agent of Yitzhak Shamir (Jabotinky’s successor) in the United States, who financed him through Mossad, of which he was then one of the leaders. In fact, during his first term as Prime Minister, in 1996, Benjamin Netanyahu had a tunnel dug under the Al-Aqsa mosque.

No one in Israel would fail to recall that Volodymyr Jabotinsky and Benzion Netanhayou (the Prime Minister’s father) were allies of Benito Mussolini, who hosted their militia, the Betar, in Rome [3]. A fortiori, no Israeli dares question the links between these historic fascists and Nazism. It’s true that Jabotinsky died at the start of the war, on August 4, 1940, in New York, without having to comment on the latter’s racial ideology. But during the inter-war period, as a director of the (World) Zionist Organization, he had allied himself with the Ukrainian integral nationalists of Symon Petlioura and Dmytro Dontsov against the Soviets. Their men massacred Jews without eliciting the slightest reaction from him. When the Zionist Organization demanded an explanation, he resigned without reply.

David Ben Gurion, Israel’s first Allied Prime Minister, said that Jabotinsky was surely a fascist and possibly a Nazi, which is why he opposed the transfer of his ashes to Jerusalem.

The question arises for two reasons: firstly, revisionist Zionists conducted negotiations with the Nazis throughout the Second World War against the Allies. It was the Germans who refused to go any further in their collaboration, whereas the Jewish followers of Jabotinsky were for continuing……………………. more https://www.voltairenet.org/article221242.html

September 16, 2024 Posted by | history, Israel, public opinion | Leave a comment

How Corporate News Has Tried To Numb Americans To The Horrors In Gaza

“a consistent bias against Palestinians.” Those highly influential news outlets “disproportionately emphasized Israeli deaths in the conflict” and “used emotive language to describe the killings of Israelis, but not Palestinians.”

eurasia review    By Norman Solomon

As the Gaza war enters its 12th month with no end in sight, the ongoing horrors continue to be normalized in U.S. media and politics. The process has become so routine that we might not recognize how omission and distortion have constantly shaped views of events since the war began in October.

During the first five months of the war, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post applied the word “brutal” or its variants far more often to actions by Palestinians (77 percent) than to Israelis (23 percent). The findings, in a study by Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR), pointed to an imbalance that occurred “even though Israeli violence was responsible for more than 20 times as much loss of life.” News articles and opinion pieces were remarkably in the same groove; “the lopsided rate at which ‘brutal’ was used in op-eds to characterize Palestinians over Israelis was exactly the same as the supposedly straight news stories.”

Despite exceptional coverage at times, what was most profoundly important about the war in Gaza—what it was like to be terrorized, massacred, maimed, and traumatized—remained almost entirely out of view. Gradually, surface accounts reaching the American public came to seem repetitious and normal. As death numbers kept rising and months went by, the Gaza war diminished as a news topic, while most interview shows seldom discussed it.

Gaps widened between the standard reporting in media terms and the situation worsening in human terms. “Gazans now make up 80 percent of all people facing famine or catastrophic hunger worldwide, marking an unparalleled humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip amid Israel’s continued bombardment and siege,” the United Nations reported in mid-January 2024. The UN statement quoted experts who said: “Currently every single person in Gaza is hungry, a quarter of the population are starving and struggling to find food and drinkable water, and famine is imminent.”

President Biden dramatized the disconnect between the Gaza war zone and the U.S. political zone in late February when he spoke to reporters about prospects for a “ceasefire” (which did not take place) while holding a vanilla ice-cream cone in his right hand. “My national security adviser tells me that we’re close, we’re close, we’re not done yet,”……………………………………………………… more https://www.eurasiareview.com/10092024-how-corporate-news-has-tried-to-numb-americans-to-the-horrors-in-gaza-oped/

The Gaza war received a vast amount of U.S. media attention, but how much the media actually communicated about the human realities was a whole other matter. Easy assumptions held that the news enabled media consumers to see what was really going on. But the words and images reaching listeners, readers, and viewers were a far cry from experiences of being in the war zone. The belief or unconscious notion that news media were conveying of the war’s realities ended up obscuring those realities all the more. And journalism’s inherent limitations were compounded by media biases.

In-depth content analysis by the Intercept found that coverage of the war’s first six weeks by the New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times “showed a consistent bias against Palestinians.” Those highly influential news outlets “disproportionately emphasized Israeli deaths in the conflict” and “used emotive language to describe the killings of Israelis, but not Palestinians.” For example: “The term ‘slaughter’ was used by editors and reporters to describe the killing of Israelis versus Palestinians 60 to 1, and ‘massacre’ was used to describe the killing of Israelis versus Palestinians 125 to 2. ‘Horrific’ was used to describe the killing of Israelis versus Palestinians 36 to 4.”

September 16, 2024 Posted by | Gaza, media, USA | Leave a comment

Richard Silverstein: Israel, ‘The Far Right Extremist State That I Can No Longer Identify With’

 SCHEERPOST, September 13, 2024

Israel and its lobby today try to conflate the state with Jews around the world, that it speaks for Jews and encompasses the entire diaspora. Richard Silverstein, author and journalist of the Tikun Olam blog, says that this couldn’t be further from the truth. As the genocide in Gaza rages on, along with the killing of Israeli citizens and the mass torture of Palestinians, the support for Israel among Jews, particularly the younger generation, will continue to falter as the state itself plunges deeper into despair.

Silverstein speaks to host Robert Scheer on this episode of the Scheer Intelligence podcast to detail his relationship with Israel and Zionism and how his views have evolved over time, ultimately leading to a complete disconnection from the state, especially in light of the ongoing genocide, and now calling himself an anti-Zionist.

Being raised Jewish and earning degrees from Jewish Theological Seminary and Columbia University, as well as studying Hebrew literature at the Hebrew University in Israel, Silverstein makes clear: “[F]or you and for me and for most American Jews, Judaism is not genocide in Gaza, is not $20 billion or $80 billion in arms being sent by the US to Israel to kill Palestinians. That’s not the kind of Judaism that I represent.”

Not only is the genocide a driving force behind the alienation of the Israel state but also the way it treats its own citizens, looking at them as expendable in its objective to kill Hamas operators. Silverstein refers to the Hannibal Directive, a procedure used by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to prevent the capture of soldiers by killing them and their captors. “[Y]ou now have a code that is expanded to also killing your own civilians. And that’s, I think, what is even more profoundly upsetting, disturbing about the way in which Hannibal is being used right now,” Silverstein tells Scheer.

orture and rape of Palestinian prisoners is also something that has emerged from Israel’s onslaught on Gaza and the West Bank, according to Silverstein. “We have Palestinians in Gaza who were swept up in detention raids and brought to concentration camps, really, in Israel, and there they’re tortured,” he states.

Silverstein insists that what is happening in Gaza does not represent Judaism worldwide like Israel claims, and that “American Judaism needs to stand on its own.” American Jews, Silverstein says, “really have to separate [themselves] from the hostility, the anger, the violence that Israel represents.”……………………………………………………………………………………………………. more https://scheerpost.com/2024/09/13/richard-silverstein-israel-the-far-right-extremist-state-that-i-can-no-longer-identify-with/

September 15, 2024 Posted by | Israel, Religion and ethics | Leave a comment

United Nations relief agency Says 6 Workers Among at Least 18 Killed in Israeli Strikes on Gaza School

“This school has been hit five times since the war began. It is home to around 12,000 displaced people, mainly women and children. No one is safe in Gaza. No one is spared.”

Brett Wilkins, Sep 11, 2024,  https://www.commondreams.org/news/unrwa-school-bombed-again

The United Nations relief agency for Palestine said Wednesday that six of its workers are among the at least 18 people killed in a pair of Israeli airstrikes targeting a U.N. school in the Gaza Strip where thousands of forcibly displaced Palestinians were sheltering.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said the Israeli strikes on one of its schools, located in Nuseirat in central Gaza, resulted in “the highest death toll among our staff in a single incident” since Israeli forces began bombarding the strip following last October’s Hamas-led attack on Israel.

“Among those killed was the manager of the UNRWA shelter and other team members providing assistance to displaced people,” the agency said. “Sincere condolences to their families and loved ones. This school has been hit five times since the war began. It is home to around 12,000 displaced people, mainly women and children.”

Victims of the strikes included women and children.

Earlier on Wednesday the United Nations said the school had been “previously deconflicted with the Israeli forces.”

“No one is safe in Gaza. No one is spared,” UNRWA stressed. “Schools and other civilian infrastructure must be protected at all times, they are not a target.”

Responding to the attacks, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said on social media that “these dramatic violations of international humanitarian law need to stop now.”

Israel is currently on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice, a U.N. body. International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan is also seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders—at least one of whom, Ismail Haniyeh, has been assassinated.

Over the past 341 days, Israel’s assault on Gaza has left more than 145,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing, according to Palestinian and international officials. Nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been forcibly displaced, while Israel’s “complete siege” of Gaza has starved and sickened millions of Palestinians, dozens of whom have died of malnutrition, dehydration, and lack of medical care.

UNRWA says around 200 of its staff members have been killed in more than 450 Israeli attacks on agency facilities since October. More than 500 Palestinians have been killed while seeking shelter under the U.N. flag.

Responding to Israeli claims—reportedly extracted from Palestinian prisoners in an interrogation regime rife with torture and abuse—that a dozen of the more than 13,000 UNRWA workers in Gaza were involved in the October 7 attack, numerous nations including the United States cut off funding to the agency. Almost all of them have restored funding as Israeli lies have been debunked.

Bucking this trend, U.S. President Joe Biden in March signed a bill prohibiting American funding for UNRWA.

September 14, 2024 Posted by | Atrocities, Gaza | Leave a comment

Israel kills 40 in Gaza “humanitarian zone”

Electronic Intafada Maureen Clare Murphy, 10 September 2024

Israel massacred at least 40 Palestinians by bombing tents housing people displaced from other areas of Gaza in al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis, early Tuesday, according to the government media office in the territory.

The health ministry in Gaza recorded the deaths of 19 individuals whose bodies were brought to hospitals. The media office explained that its higher fatality count includes 21 people whose bodies were not recovered because they were totally obliterated by the heavy weapons dropped on them.

Crews were still searching for missing persons, the government media office added. Video of the aftermath of the strike in al-Mawasi shows a 30-foot-deep crater in the sand where tents once stood:

Israel claimed without proof that it targeted a command center belonging to Hamas, which denied that any of its fighters were present.

This is a clear lie that aims to justify these ugly crimes,” Hamas stated. The resistance has denied several times that any of its members exist within civilian gatherings or use these places for military purposes.”

UN “deplores” attack

The UN human rights office stated that it “deplores” the attack on al-Mawasi, which Israel had unilaterally designated as a “humanitarian zone.”

Instead of ensuring the safety of displaced Palestinians, the Israeli military “continues to choose to use weapons with wide area effects in these increasingly densely populated areas … suggesting a complete disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians.”

The vast majority of Gaza’s population, which stood at 2.3 million before the genocide, has been displaced from their homes. Many people have been displaced multiple times, with no safe place to go.

Even if Israel’s claims that Hamas fighters had embedded themselves in the camp were true, the UN office said, this would not relieve its military of its obligation “to comply with the fundamental international humanitarian law principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions in attack.”

Israel has instructed civilians to move to al-Mawasi, an open coastal area lacking infrastructure to meet the needs of displaced people, when issuing evacuation orders in other areas of Gaza. Israel most recently ordered Palestinians to evacuate to al-Mawasi on 24 August, the UN human rights office said.

In July, Israeli warplanes dropped bombs on al-Mawasi, killing dozens of Palestinians. Israel claimed that it had targeted Muhammad Deif, the head of the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, and the commander of Qassam’s Khan Younis Brigade.

Hamas has not confirmed whether Deif, who survived several previous attempts on his life, was killed.

American officials may have been involved in the July massacre in al-Mawasi. The New York Times reported last month that the US has been involved with intercepting the communications of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and has also “provided ground-penetrating radar to Israel to help in the hunt for him and other Hamas commanders.”

Attacks on shelters in north

Israel has repeatedly struck facilities being used as shelters for displaced people in Gaza, often claiming without evidence that they were being used as command centers by Hamas and other resistance groups, despite the vast tunnel networks used by Palestinian fighters.

On 7 September, the Israeli military attacked the Halima al-Sadia school sheltering hundreds of displaced Palestinians in Jabaliya al-Nazla, northern Gaza. The attack, which occurred without warning, killed four people and injured several others, according to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor.

That same day, four Palestinians, including a child, were killed when Israeli warplanes bombed the Amr Ibn al-Aas school north of Gaza City, which was also being used as a shelter.

“Since the beginning of August, the Israeli occupation army has bombed 16 schools being used as shelters in the Gaza Strip,” Euro-Med Monitor stated. All but one of the targeted schools are in the northern half of Gaza.

More than 215 Palestinians were killed in those attacks and hundreds more were injured, the rights group added, noting that Israel has escalated its targeting of civilians in Gaza City and the northern governorates of the territory.

The deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza’s north, including facilities serving as shelters, is part of Israel’s strategy to create a coercive environment in order to forcibly transfer the population to central and southern Gaza, according to Euro-Med Monitor.

Israeli plan to depopulate northern Gaza

The rights group pointed to reports in Israeli media about a plan drafted by Israeli reservist commanders and soldiers to depopulate northern Gaza.

The scheme, reportedly presented to Israel’s cabinet and other senior officials, was spearheaded by Giora Eiland, the retired major general and close advisor to Israel’s defense minister who called for creating conditions for the spread of epidemics in Gaza as a form of biological warfare.

It calls for an estimated 300,000 civilians to evacuate northern Gaza in a one-week period, after which the area would be besieged and Hamas fighters would be made to surrender or be killed.

According to Aluf Benn, chief editor of the Tel Aviv daily Haaretz, Israel has entered the second phase of its war, during which it “will strive to complete its takeover of the northern Gaza Strip.”

Benn added that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government will subject Palestinians in northern Gaza to “the fate of the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh: They were expelled from the region a year ago, overnight, in a rapid move by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Israel’s close ally.”

According to Benn, steps taken toward this new phase include Israel’s recent tapping of a colonel to head the Gaza equivalent of the Civil Administration in the West Bank and Netanyahu’s instruction for the military to prepare to distribute aid in lieu of humanitarian organizations.

“The motive is obvious: whoever distributes the food and medicine has their hand on the power switch,” Benn said.

He added that Netanyahu’s “relinquishment of the return of the Israeli hostages” is intended to deprive Sinwar of leverage in negotiations. Meanwhile, their continued captivity in Gaza will provide “Israel’s justification for continued warfare, siege and occupation.”

The ongoing warfare and siege in turn will compel Palestinians to leave Gaza for good, Benn projects…………………………….

At least 41,020 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since 7 October 2023, and some 94,925 have been injured, according to the health ministry in the territory.

Thousands more are missing and an unknown number of people have died as a result of Israel’s blockade and systematic attacks on Gaza’s hospitals and sanitation and water infrastructure.  https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israel-kills-40-gaza-humanitarian-zone

September 13, 2024 Posted by | Atrocities, Gaza, Israel | Leave a comment

Israel’s Plan for Gaza Comes Into View

The Unz Review Mike Whitney • August 28, 2024

Unit 601 of the IDF’s Combat Engineering Corps is clearing a vast swath of land across central Gaza splitting the 25-mile-long territory into two parts. The so-called Netzarim corridor (Highway 749)—which crosses Gaza from east to west—will provide faster transport for IDF troops operating in the area and will also function as vital part of Israel’s security cordon separating the north from the south. There is no doubt that military outposts will be established along the corridor as well as in locations along the western coast. The aim of these actions is to protect the development of new settlements that will be built north of the corridor. In short, the Israeli government is using its war on Hamas to divert attention from its real objective which is the expansion of the Jewish state on Palestinian land.

Not surprisingly, Israel’s activities in the north have resulted in mass evacuations that have intensified the suffering of the traumatized population. According to the Palestinian Chronicle:

The United Nations announced on Tuesday that Israel issued three fresh evacuation orders for over 19 neighborhoods in the north of Gaza and Deir Al-Balah, bringing the number of massive evacuation orders to 16 in August alone, which leaves only 11 percent of the Gaza Strip untouched by the evacuation orders.

Only 11% of Gaza Spared – 16 Israeli Evacuation Orders in August Alone, Palestinian Chronicle

As we noted earlier, the Palestinians are being driven from the north to make room for new settlements that will be built sometime in the near future. The Netzarim corridor serves as a critical buffer zone separating these new colonies from potential attack by Palestinian militants. Israel intends to maintain control over Gaza by putting restrictions on movement and by designating areas where Palestinians can gather. In other words, Palestinians will be refugees in their own country. This is an excerpt from an article at the World Socialist Web Site:

Gaza’s population, which stood at over 2 million before the start of the genocide, is now crammed into an area that is just 41 square kilometers, or 11 percent of Gaza’s total area, with the remaining 89 percent being placed on evacuation orders by the Israeli Defense Forces.

The United Nations warned, “The area is lacking critical infrastructure and basic services, while aid provision is limited due to access and security issues. The severe overcrowding, with a density of 30,000 to 34,000 individuals per square kilometer has exacerbated the dire shortage of essential resources such as water, sanitation and hygiene supplies, health services, protection and shelter.” UN forced to suspend food distribution as Israel places 89 percent of Gaza under evacuation orders, World Socialist Web Site

This is Netanyahu’s plan in a nutshell:

  1. Shrink the Gaza concentration camp to a mere 11 percent of its original size.
  2. Transfer the population to the designated location.
  3. Partition the territory to allow for settlement activity and the expropriation of gas reserves off the coast.
  4. Neutralize any opposition to Israeli expansion

Surprisingly, an article posted Wednesday at CNN confirms our analysis and admits that Israel’s postwar plans involve “cutting the strip in two” and maintaining a permanent “operational foothold in the area”. And while the author does not verify our theory on settlement development, readers can draw their own conclusions. Israel would never put so much money and effort into an operation that didn’t extend the borders of the Israeli state. Here’s CNN:…………………………………………………………………

Keep in mind, that these developments are taking place while Israeli diplomats are currently conducting ceasefire negotiations in Cairo. Why would Hamas agree to a deal with Israel when Israel is in the process of seizing more Palestinian land and tightening the occupation?

They won’t, which means the bloodbath will continue for the foreseeable future. Hamas has no other choice. Here’s an excerpt from a post by author Anthony Lowenstein:

…. Israel’s goal in Gaza is long-term occupation and the building of small settlements, slowly building into something far more substantial. The editor of @haaretzcom outlines the grim state of play:

“The public discourse in Israel is focused on the hostages and their fate, but Netanyahu considers them to be a media nuisance, a battering ram by his political opponents, and a distraction from the goal: A prolonged occupation of the Gaza Strip, or – as he has repeatedly declared since the outbreak of the war – “Israeli security control. “Control of the Philadephi route and the “security corridor” along the border allows Israel to surround Gaza’s land borders and isolate it from Egypt. Control of the Netzarim road route in practice divides northern Gaza, where few Palestinian remain with destroyed homes and infrastructures, from the southern part of the coastal enclave, overflowing with refugees from the entire Strip.

“In practice, a long-term arrangement for “the day after” is being drawn up. Israel will control the northern Gaza Strip and drive out the 300,000 Palestinian still there. Maj.-Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland, the war’s ideologue, proposes starving them to death, or exiling them, as a lever with which to defeat Hamas. The Israeli right envisions a Jewish settlement of the area, with vast real estate potential of convenient topography, a sea view, and proximity to central Israel.

“The 57-year experience of the occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem indicates that this is a long process that requires a lot of patience and diplomatic maneuvering capability. No large Jewish city will be built in Gaza tomorrow, but progress will be made acre by acre, mobile home by mobile home, outpost by outpost – just like in Hebron, Elon Moreh, and Gilad Farm. “The southern Gaza Strip will be left for Hamas, which will have to care for the destitute residents under Israeli siege, even after the international community loses interest in the story and moves on to other crises. Netanyahu believes with certainty that, after the U.S. elections, the influence of pro-Palestinian demonstrators on American politics will wane, even if Vice President Kamala Harris wins.” Haaretz

………………………………….. So, maybe, Netanyahu scrapped his original ethnic cleansing plan in order to avoid a full-blown conflagration with Egypt? We don’t know for sure. But what we do know is that Israel’s endgame for Gaza is now in full view. The area north of the corridor will be occupied by Israeli settlers committed to the Zionist ideal while the native population will be left to languish in grinding poverty in makeshift tent cities cut off from the outside world.  https://www.unz.com/mwhitney/israels-plan-for-gaza-comes-into-view/

September 8, 2024 Posted by | Gaza, Israel, politics | Leave a comment

Netanyahu to Biden…’We can’t complete the genocidal ethnic cleaning of Gaza without you’

Walt Zlotow, West Suburban Peace Coalition, Glen Ellyn IL 6 Sept 24

President Biden, with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in total agreement, proclaims US support of Israeli defense is “ironclad.” What is truly ironclad is US enabling Israel’s genocidal ethnic cleansing that would collapse if Biden simply stopped the weapons gravy train.

That gravy train has sent Israel over 50,000 tons of weapons since the October 7th Hamas attack provoked Israel’s all out genocidal ethnic cleansing of Gaza. Biden recently signed a $17 billion gift of genocide weapons on top of the $3.8 billion Israel receives every year under a 10 year giveaway President Obama authorized 8 years ago this month.

An Israeli Air Force official just admitted Israel cannot keep up their genocidal offensive for more than a couple of months without US weapons. This is especially critical to Israel’s Air Force which gets all its planes and much of its bombs, missiles and intelligence equipment from Uncle Sam.

Based on that, Biden could have ended the genocide by last January if he’d only cut off all weapons once it was clear Netanyahu was using the October 7 Hamas attack to remove all Palestinians from Gaza. Such action by Biden might have returned over 100 Israeli hostages to their loved ones by early January, if not in time for a New Year’s Eve celebration.

Biden and Harris might as well campaign as the Genocide Twins instead of their disgusting posturing that they’re working for a ceasefire. They know Netanyahu must keep the genocide going to remain in office instead of prison, and complete the removal of 2,300,000 Palestinians from Gaza. Releasing Israeli hostages on only third on his to-do list.

Kamala is cursed by siding with her boss’s pact with the Genocide Devil in Gaza. Her feet are set in cement from 11 months of refusing to break with Biden on genocide support. Foreign policy will never pass her lips unless pressed by an increasingly dubious press. All she can mutter is ‘Our defense of Israel is ironclad and we will not change course.’

Kamala Harris would rather be president than end the worst genocide in this century. Nothing but her moral cowardice is preventing her from breaking with Biden and demanding an immediate halt to every US weapon racing to engulf Gaza in endless death and destruction. If she ever has trouble sleeping, she should count dead Palestinian moms and kids instead of sheep. She will never run out.

September 8, 2024 Posted by | Israel, politics international, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Israeli Official: Without US Aid, Israel Couldn’t Sustain Gaza Operations for More Than a Few Months

The US has sent over 50,000 tons of weapons to Israel since the genocidal war began and increased shipments over the past month

by Dave DeCamp September 3, 2024 ,  https://news.antiwar.com/2024/09/03/israeli-official-without-us-aid-israel-couldnt-sustain-gaza-operations-for-more-than-a-few-months/

A senior Israeli Air Force official has told Haaretz that without US military aid, Israel would not have been able to sustain military operations in Gaza for more than a few months, demonstrating how crucial US support is for the genocidal slaughter of Palestinians.

The support is especially crucial for the Israeli Air Force. The report said the US provides the IAF with “all of its fighter planes and some of its bombs, missiles and intelligence equipment.” The US also helps Israel develop “joint weapons systems for all three layers of air defense.”

Since October 7, the US has shipped Israel over 50,000 tons of weapons and other military equipment. Weapons shipments have increased over the past month, with flight tracking data showing that August was the busiest month for US deliveries since October 2023.

President Biden also signed a bill into law that included $17 billion in additional military aid for Israel on top of the $3.8 billion it receives in annual military assistance. The administration recently approved $20 billion in new arms deals for Israel, which includes a new fleet of F-15 fighter jets.

The official speaking to Haaretz said the IAF is crafting a recommendation to increase the domestic production of bombs, missiles, and other ammunition to reduce reliance on the US. But any changes would take years to implement, meaning Israel will continue to be almost entirely reliant on US support.

Israel’s reliance on the US gives the Biden administration enormous leverage over the Israeli government. The administration has refused to use that power to force a ceasefire despite claims that US officials are working for one.

September 6, 2024 Posted by | Gaza, Israel, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Iran desperately needs a nuclear deal to save its battered economy

The Islamic Republic has few good options – a nuclear accord 2.0 may be its best hope

By Michael Day, iNews 4th Sept 2024

Iran appears increasingly willing to scale back its nuclear weapons programme in return for sanctions relief to rescue its stricken economy. This might explain Tehran’s reluctance to retaliate hard against Israel’s alleged assassination of a senior Hamas figure.

The delay in Iran’s threatened retribution for the provocative killing of Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on 31 July has been explained in part by Tehran’s willingness to allow negotiators to pursue peace talks between Hamas and Israel.

America’s increased naval presence in the region with aircraft carriers and a guided missile-capable submarine might also have made the regime in Tehran think long and hard about how it should respond to Haniyeh’s killing……………………

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, allowed the election of a moderate president, Masoud Pezeshkian, in July, after deciding that a degree of rapprochement and thereby sanctions relief with the West was badly needed to tackled Iran’s dire economic situation and the social unrest that it – along with the regime’s brutality – has created.

………………………now Azizi thinks: “Iran is seriously interested in pursuing agreements with the West that could help it lift sanctions and this is indeed a priority for it. The return of the JCPOA [2015 nuclear deal] triumvirate (Iran’s nuclear negotiators Mohammad Javad Zarif, Abbas Araghchi, Majid Takht-Ravanchi) indeed speaks to that”.

The nuclear deal was concluded with world powers in 2015 under Iran’s former president Hassan Rouhani – an accord ripped up by the Trump administration in 2018.

Underlining the regime’s desire to use a freeze in its nuclear programme as a bargaining chip, Pezeshkian is, according to reports in state media, about to appoint the nuclear negotiations specialist Takht-Ravanchi to a senior role in the foreign affairs department.

The news comes a week after Iran’s supreme leader suggested that his country might resume nuclear negotiations with the US.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….there is of course the seismic matter of the US election result, which is likely to have a huge bearing on America’s willingness to deal with Tehran. Nothing concrete will be agreed on before then. https://inews.co.uk/news/world/iran-nuclear-deal-sanctions-relief-economy-3258961

September 5, 2024 Posted by | Iran, politics international | Leave a comment

Netanyahu ‘torpedoed’ Palestinian peace talks – CNN

 https://www.rt.com/news/603450-netanyahu-derails-gaza-peace-talks/ 3 Sept 24

The Israeli prime minister has insisted on keeping troops in southern Gaza, along the Egyptian border.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence on maintaining an Israeli military presence in Gaza could undermine ongoing peace talks and jeopardize the release of hostages, CNN reported on Monday.

Officials from the administration of US President Joe Biden have reportedly been discussing ways of pushing the ceasefire and hostage deal forward, the outlet wrote. Peace efforts intensified following the discovery of six bodies, including that of an American-Israeli citizen, in an underground tunnel in the enclave over the weekend.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Biden said his administration was “very close” to proposing a “final” hostage deal to both sides.

In a press conference in Jerusalem on the same day, however, Netanyahu vowed that Israel would not relinquish control over a strategic 14km strip of land along the Gaza-Egyptian border known as the Philadelphi corridor. An Israeli military presence there is vital to ensure victory over Hamas, he claimed.

In reaction to the statement, a source familiar with the discussions in Washington told CNN that “this guy [Netanyahu] torpedoed everything in one speech.”

The Israeli prime minister’s stance on the Philadelphi corridor has emerged as a key obstacle to a ceasefire deal. According to CNN sources familiar with the negotiations, Netanyahu’s insistence on maintaining troops in Gaza represents a change in position.

The Israeli proposal for a hostage release and ceasefire deal with Hamas, which was submitted in May and negotiated with the help of Qatar, Egypt and the US, contains no mention of Philadelphi. Israel added its continued presence in the corridor as a “non-negotiable” condition in July.

Hamas has accused the Jewish state of prolonging negotiations by issuing new demands. Lead Hamas negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya told Al Jazeera on Sunday that there would be no deal without the Israeli military withdrawing from the Philadelphi corridor.

Netanyahu’s latest comments also drew ire from the Israeli opposition and the families of the hostages who remain trapped in Gaza.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid dismissed the Israeli leader’s statements as “unfounded political spin,” arguing that Netanyahu’s new condition “has no relation to reality.”

The Hostages Families Forum said the prime minister’s remarks showed “that he does not intend to return the hostages.”

Hostilities between Israel and Hamas flared up when the Palestinian militant group attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing around 1,100 people and taking more than 200 others hostage. Some were later released through prisoner swaps or were rescued by the Israeli army. According to Israel, Hamas is still holding 103 people captive in Gaza.

The massive military retaliation by Israel has claimed nearly 41,000 lives, mostly women and children in the enclave, according to Palestinian health officials.

September 5, 2024 Posted by | Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

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