‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 170: Israel assaults al-Shifa, Nasser, and al-Amal hospitals in one day Mustafa Abu SneinehMarch 23, 2024 Injured Palestinians, including children, are brought to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah for treatment following Israeli airstrikes, March 23, 2024. (Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images) Injured Palestinians, including children, are brought to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah for treatment following Israeli airstrikes, March 23, 2024. (Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images) Casualties 32,223 + killed* and at least 74,518 wounded in the Gaza Strip. 435+ Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.** Israel revises its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,147. 594 Israeli soldiers killed since October 7, and at least 3,221 injured.*** *Gaza’s Ministry of Health confirmed this figure on its Telegram channel. Some rights groups estimate the death toll to be much higher when accounting for those presumed dead. ** The death toll in the West Bank and Jerusalem is not updated regularly. According to the PA’s Ministry of Health on March 17, this is the latest figure. *** This figure is released by the Israeli military, showing the soldiers whose names “were allowed to be published.” Key Developments Israeli forces commit eight massacres in Gaza, kill at least 84 people and injure 106. Israeli forces shell and bomb vicinity of al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis, killing one volunteer with PRCS. PRCS says Israeli tanks and forces are “besieging both al-Amal Hospital and al-Naser Hospital amidst very intense shelling and heavy gunfire.” Wafa reports infected wounds of injured Palestinians inside al-Shifa due to lack of essential medical supplies. Al-Jazeera Arabic reports Israeli tanks ran over evacuating people from al-Shifa Hospital, shows blurred footage of Palestinian with marks of tank wheel on lower body. Jamila al-Hissi, survivor of storming of al-Shifa, tells Al-Jazeera Arabic that “Palestinian women have been subjected to rape, torture, and execution by Israeli forces.” UN chief Antonio Guterres says “horror and starvation stalk the people of Gaza” in visit to Rafah crossing. U.S. Secretary of State warns Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Rafah offensive would “further isolate” Israel in the region. Netanyahu hopes to invade Rafah with “the support of the U.S., but if we have to – we will do it alone.” Hamas says 34-year-old Israeli captive died in Gaza as “he did not escape the lack of food and medicine.” Dozens of settlers storm al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem to mark Jewish holiday of Purim. Israeli forces block Palestinian Christians in occupied West Bank from entering Jerusalem to participate in Palm Sunday. Al-Amal Hospital in ‘extreme danger’ as Israel attacks Gaza’s two major hospitals were under attack on Sunday morning as thousands of Palestinians in the coastal enclave have been living under bombardment for the past 170 days. Overnight, Israeli forces committed eight massacres in various areas of the Gaza Strip, according to the Ministry of Health on Telegram, killing at least 84 people and injuring 106. Thousands remain under the rubble of bombed buildings. Israeli forces shelled and bombed the vicinity of al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS). Amir Abu Aisha, a volunteer with the PRCS, was killed by Israeli gunfire inside al-Amal. His last post on Instagram was a video of Israeli airstrikes near al-Amal. PRCS said the medical team inside the facility are “in extreme danger…and are completely immobilized.” “They are unable to bury the body of our colleague Amir Abu Aisha within the hospital’s backyard,” PRCS continued as Israeli forces razed and excavated the area. Since October, Israeli bombardment killed at least 364 medical workers in the Gaza Strip, including doctors, nurses, and paramedics, and damaged dozens of clinics and ambulances. On Sunday morning, PRCS also said that Israeli tanks and forces are “besieging both Al-Amal Hospital and Al-Naser Hospital amidst very intense shelling and heavy gunfire.” PRCS said that one of the displaced Palestinians at al-Amal was “injured in the head,” while Israeli drones are ordering that all people inside the hospital “leave it naked.” “Smoke bombs are being launched at the hospital to force the staff, wounded, and displaced individuals to leave it,” the PRCS wrote on in a post on X. “Israeli vehicles [are] surrounding Al-Amal Hospital and are now bulldozing the area in front and around it and closing the hospital gates with barriers,” the post added. Israeli atrocities in al-Shifa, say eyewitnesses In northern Gaza, al-Shifa Hospital has been under Israeli assault for a week. Israeli forces continued to besiege, shell, and bomb al-Shifa Hospital and its vicinity for the seventh day in a row, saying that Hamas senior leaders had used the facility, a claim which the movement denies. Israeli forces killed Palestinian civilians and officials while storming al-Shifa, including Faiq al-Mabhouh, an officer in the Gaza Police force who was responsible for the successful deliveries of food, rice, and flour to thousands of inhabitants of northern Gaza. Hamas accused Israel of attempting to spread chaos and civilian disorder by killing officials who coordinate with clans, the UN, and international groups to prevent a famine in the north Gaza. On Saturday afternoon, at least five people were killed by Israel and several injured in the al-Shifa medical complex, while Palestinians and medical staff have been living with little food and water. Wafa news agency reported that the wounds of some injured Palestinians inside Al-Shifa got infected and inflamed amid the lack of essential medical supplies. Al-Jazeera Arabic reported that Israeli tanks ran over Palestinians who were ordered to evacuate the hospital. Al-Jazeera released blurred footage of a person’s dead body with marks of a tank wheel on his lower body. Jamila al-Hissi, a Palestinian woman who survived the Israeli storming of al-Shifa, told Al-Jazeera Arabic that “Palestinian women have been subjected to rape, torture, and execution by Israeli forces.” “This is what we witnessed. They raped women. They kidnapped women. they executed women, pulled bodies from under the rubble, and unleashed their dogs to eat them. Is there anything worse?” Al-Hissi told Al-Jazeera in a phone call. She left with her daughter, who was bleeding, and evacuated a building belonging to the UN Development Program (UNDP), which was set on fire by Israeli forces, who also burned and destroyed several buildings surrounding al-Shifa in the past days. It is unclear how many people remain inside al-Shifa, but prior to Israel’s second storming of the hospital since November, there were 7,000 patients and injured people receiving treatment administered by hundreds of medical staff. Al-Shifa is one of Gaza’s oldest medical facilities, built on top of a British barracks in 1946. The complex includes several buildings for surgery, internal disease, obstetrics and gynecology, a nursery for premature babies, an emergency department, intensive care units, a radiology department, and a blood bank. Some of these buildings have been damaged, burned by Israel, or have ceased operating fully due to the lack of fuel to generate electricity. The complex is built on 45,000 square meters of land west of Gaza City. Prior to October of last year, al-Shifa employed 1,500 medical staff, including 500 doctors and 760 nurses. Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary General, said on Sunday that “Horror & starvation stalk the people of Gaza.” “Any further onslaught will make everything worse. Worse for Palestinian civilians, for the hostages, for all people of the region,” he added. Guterres visited Egypt on Saturday to inspect the Rafah land crossing, and al-Arish General Hospital in northern Sinai to check on injured Palestinians receiving treatment. Israeli forces bomb Rafah, Khan Younis, and Deir al-Balah Wafa reported that Israeli forces bombed a house in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip overnight, killing at least eight people in the al-Hakar area. Meanwhile, in Rafah, Palestinian rescue teams recovered the bodies of eight Palestinians under the rubble of a bombed house belonging to the Farwana family in the Jneina neighborhood. In Khan Younis, Israeli forces heavily bombed areas in the southeastern part of the city, besieging the Nasser and al-Amal hospitals. In Rafah, they bombed a house near the Rabaa School, killing at least two people, Wafa reported. The Israeli government has vowed to invade Rafah, where 1.4 million Palestinians are currently displaced and live in shelters. During his visit to Israel on Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken warned that an offensive on Rafah would “further isolate” Israel in the region, according to Reuters. Blinken, who met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said that “a major military ground operation in Rafah is not the way to do it,” although the U.S. shares Israel’s goal to “defeat Hamas.” “It risks further isolating Israel around the world and jeopardizing its long-term security and standing,” Blinken said during a press briefing after the meeting. Netanyahu, however, appeared to be undeterred in invading Rafah, stating in a video statement that he told Blinken, “I hope we will do it with the support of the U.S., but if we have to — we will do it alone.” Meanwhile, fighting is still ongoing between Israeli forces and Palestinian resistance fighters in the Gaza Strip. On Saturday, Hamas said that a 34-year-old Israeli captive died in Gaza. “Although he survived the army’s attack, he did not escape the lack of food and medicine,” the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades wrote in a video message. In another video, Hamas fighters fired al-Yaseen 105mm anti-tank shells on Israeli military vehicles in the vicinity of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza. Israel had been blocking sufficient food and medical supplies from entering Gaza, although some of them were funded or sponsored by ally countries such as the UK. The Foreign Secretary, Lord David Cameron, accused Israel last week of delaying U.K. aid to Gaza, which was stopped at the crossing point for three weeks. Israeli settlers storm al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Pruim Dozens of Israeli settlers stormed the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied Jerusalem on Sunday morning to mark the Jewish holiday of Purim, which ends on Monday. Israeli forces emptied the al-Aqsa compound of Palestinian worshippers on Saturday evening in preparation for the settlers’ tour, Wafa reported. Israeli forces barred Palestinians from staying overnight in al-Aqsa’s al-Qibli mosque after Ramadan’s tarawih prayers ended, which were attended by 45,000 people. During Ramadan, it is worshippers often stay in mosques overnight to pray after tarawih. In 2021, Israeli forces raided the al-Qibli mosque, firing bullets, stun grenades, and tear gas canisters at worshipers who were performing night prayers and reciting the Quran. Israeli settlers’ storming of al-Aqsa further escalated tensions in the city, according to Wafa, as Israeli forces prevented Palestinians from entering the site on Sunday morning. Wafa said that two settlers were dressed up as Jewish temple priests. Settlers have long stated their wish to rebuild the third Jewish temple in the middle of the al-Aqsa compound atop the Dome of the Rock. Meanwhile, Israeli forces blocked Palestinian Christians in the occupied West Bank from entering Jerusalem to take part in the commemoration of Palm Sunday, the anniversary of Jesus’s entry into the city. Those who participated in the ceremony in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher were Palestinians from Jerusalem or from inside Israel. Israeli forces arrested 16 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank overnight, from the towns of Hebron, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Tulkarem, and also Jerusalem. Since October, 7,755 Palestinians have been detained by Israel. This figure, released by the Ministry of Detainees’ and Ex-Destainees’ Affairs, does not include Palestinians who were released later or those arrested from the Gaza Strip. https://mondoweiss.net/2024/03/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-170-israel-assaults-al-shifa-nasser-and-al-amal-hospitals-in-one-day/

‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 166: Israel kills Gaza officials handling food delivery to the north; Canada votes to halt arms sales to Israel Mustafa Abu SneinehMarch 20, 2024 Palestinians embrace in a bombed out building that was attacked by Israeli airstrikes in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing 27 members of the same family (Photo: APA Images) A view from the damaged buildings after Israeli airstrikes on Nuseirat in central Gaza killed 27 members of the same family on March 20, 2024. As a result of the attack, many buildings were destroyed and surrounding buildings were damaged. Palestinians in the area carried out search and rescue operations in the rubble of buildings destroyed in the attack. (Omar Ashtawy/apaimages) Casualties 31,923 + killed* and at least 74,096 wounded in the Gaza Strip. 435+ Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.** Israel revises its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,147. 594 Israeli soldiers killed since October 7, and at least 3,221 injured.*** *Gaza’s Ministry of Health confirmed this figure on Telegram channel. Some rights groups put the death toll number at more than 40,000 when accounting for those presumed dead. ** The death toll in West Bank and Jerusalem is not updated regularly. According to PA’s Ministry of Health on March 17, this is the latest figure. *** This figure is released by the Israeli military, showing the soldiers whose names “were allowed to be published.” Advertisement Follow the Mondoweiss channel on WhatsApp! Key Developments Israel bombs members of Palestinian clans and officers of Gaza’s emergency committee who handled aid supplies and delivery in north Gaza. Among people Israel killed on Tuesday evening is Amjad Hathat, director of Gaza’s emergency committee. On Monday, Israel assassinated Faiq Mabhouh, head of police operations in Gaza, who handled delivery of food in north Gaza. Hamas accuses Israel of spreading chaos in north Gaza in bid to create “administrative vacuum” by targeting members of emergency committee. In north Gaza, every 25 individuals share one kilogram of flour, or 20 loaves of bread, over one or two days. However, thousands of others cannot get a single loaf. Doctor who visited Gaza tells UN that “infections are getting worse and worse,” with whole families suffering from explosive injuries and burns. Israeli airstrikes on houses in Nuseirat refugee camp kill at least 27 Palestinians from the Habbash family. Israel’s Finance Minister says expanding settlements is “holistic Zionist response to [EU] declaration” of planned sanctions on Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Israeli forces and settlers kill two Palestinians in the West Bank in separate incidents. Canada to halt arms sales to Israel after non-binding vote in parliament. Agreement made between White House and U.S. Congress bars U.S. funds to UNRWA until March 2025, according to a Reuters report. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says, “We will reiterate our opposition to military action on the ground by Israel in Rafah that could have even more catastrophic consequences for the civilians crowded in that area.” Israel bombs north Gaza’s Kuwait roundabout, targeting authorities tasked with aid delivery Israeli forces bombed a gathering point of dozens of Palestinians near the Kuwait roundabout in Gaza City, killing at least 23 people and injuring dozens on Tuesday evening. Most of them were members of Palestinian clans and officers of Gaza’s emergency committee who handled aid supplies and deliveries to starving people in north Gaza. Since Saturday, they had successfully ensured the arrival of 35 aid trucks at the Kuwait and Nabulsi roundabouts, unloading the deliveries in shelters and centers of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza’s Al-Tuffah neighborhood and Jabalia refugee camp. Such a mission could not have been successful without Gaza Police directing Palestinians not to gather around aid trucks on Al-Rashid and Sala El-Din streets in north Gaza and allowing the emergency committee to do its job of unloading and distributing food. The missions between local police, the heads of clans in Gaza, and UNRWA were coordinated in an effort to protect civilians in the north after numerous attacks in recent weeks in which Israeli forces shot and killed hundreds of Palestinians as crowds attempted to get food and flour from trucks in Gaza since late February; a number of the dead were also reportedly killed in the crowd crush. In the past few days, Palestinians lined up to get their rations of flour inside the premises of the humanitarian centers in Jabalia and Gaza. Among the people Israel killed on Tuesday evening is Amjad Hathat, the director of Gaza’s emergency committee. Hamas says Israel is ‘spreading chaos’ in north Gaza In response to the targeting of the local officials in north Gaza, Hamas accused Israel of “spreading chaos” in a bid to create an “administrative vacuum” by targeting the emergency committee. Ismail Al-Thawabteh, a media government spokesperson, told Al-Jazeera Arabic that Israel allows aid trucks to enter north Gaza and then bombs people approaching it. On Monday evening, Israel assassinated Faiq Al-Mabhouh, the head of police operations in Gaza, who handled the entry of food trucks and managed to deliver 13 of them to north Gaza. Israel said Mabhouh was “the head of Operations Directorate of the Internal Security Service of Hamas.” Tel Aviv is trying to create an authority in the Gaza Strip in place of Hamas, and it views the successful coordination between local clans, Gaza Police and UN agencies to deliver aid as a sign of Hamas’s ability to administer in Gaza. Israel is still trying to use food and medical deliveries as a tool to strengthen and push some clan leaders to the front seat and put them in charge of handling the aid, coordinating with Israel and the international agencies. However, several Palestinian clans in the Gaza Strip refused to be “an alternative political regime” in the Gaza Strip and coordinate humanitarian missions with Israel. One kilogram of flour for every 25 people Although dozens of aid trucks reached north Gaza in the past days, where thousands of Palestinians are at risk of famine and starvation, the loads remain short to meet people’s needs. Al-Akhbar reported that a flour truck arrived at Abu Bakr al-Razi shelter center in Gaza’s Al-Tuffah neighborhood on Monday, where 8,000 people currently live, and contained 1,000 bags of flour, each weighing 25 kilograms. “We give each family what is sufficient for one or two days only. We have no other choice,” a member of the emergency committee told Al-Akhbar’s correspondent. “Every 25 individuals share one kilogram of flour. Knowing that a kilogram is enough to make 20 loaves, it means that a large number of people… won’t get even a single loaf of bread,” in Gaza, he added. Children in Gaza face grave injuries, malnutrition as hospitals struggle to operate A few trucks were also loaded with medical supplies and delivered to the UNRWA clinic in Jabalia, to Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals in north Gaza, which are depleted and partially operating. Hospitals in the Gaza Strip are still short of fuel, medicine and medical machines, while other hospitals like Al-Shifa in Gaza City have been under Israeli attack since Sunday. The World Health Organization (WHO) has long warned that Israel is generating a famine in north Gaza, and that “over a million people are expected to face catastrophic hunger unless significantly more food is allowed to enter Gaza.” Children have already started dying of malnutrition in Gaza, which has long-term effects, such as “low consumption of nutrient-rich foods, repeated infections, and [the] lack of hygiene and sanitation services slow children’s overall growth,” the WHO added. Israel has killed more than 13,000 children in bombing Gaza since October 7, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Four doctors from France, the U.S. and the U.K., who visited the Gaza Strip, said during a UN event in New York that the healthcare system in the enclave is collapsing and that they treated children severely burned by Israel’s bombs. Nick Maynard, a cancer surgeon with British charity Medical Aid for Palestinians, saw a Palestinian girl so badly burned in an Israeli bombardment that he could see her facial bones. “We knew there was no chance of her surviving that but there was no morphine to give her,” Maynard said. “So not only was she inevitably going to die but she would die in agony.” Maynar said that an Israeli ground invasion of Rafah “will be apocalyptic, the number of deaths we’re going to see.” Amber Alayyan, a pediatrician doctor, said hospitals in Gaza are operating on patients and the injured amid lack of supplies and in dire conditions. “The infections are getting worse and worse,” she said. “We have seen patients who traveled, who were victims of explosive injuries, a family of 11, for example, a whole family that arrived at our hospital in the south from the north,” Alayyan told the UN. “They’ve been moving for three months looking for hospital care. They were victims of explosions. Eleven members of the family were burnt,” she added. Israeli attack on Nuseirat refugee camp kills 27 family members In the past 24 hours, Israeli forces committed 10 massacres in various areas of the Gaza Strip, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health on Telegram, killing at least 104 people and injuring 162. Thousands remain under the rubble of bombed buildings, and nearly 32,000 Palestinians were killed and 74,000 injured. Israeli air strikes on houses in Nuseirat refugee camp, in central Gaza, killed at least 27 Palestinians from the Habbash family and injured dozens, Wafa news agency reported. In north Gaza, Israel bombed Al-Rimal and Al-Daraj neighborhoods. Palestinian rescue team recovered the bodies of 20 people in Gaza City following an Israeli bombardment. In Beit Lahia and Deir Al-Balah, Israeli artillery bombed several areas, while in Bureij refugee camp, six Palestinians were recovered from under the rubble of a bombed house. Italian PM opposes Rafah Invasion, Canada votes to stop arms transfers to Israel The Israeli government has vowed to press on with its planned invasion of the crowded city of Rafah in southern Gaza, despite warnings from international leaders and humanitarian groups. Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has joined the chorus, saying that her country opposes the planned offensive. “We will reiterate our opposition to military action on the ground by Israel in Rafah that could have even more catastrophic consequences for the civilians crowded in that area,” Meloni told lawmakers in the Senate. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said during a meeting with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi this week, that she is “concerned about the risks a full-scale offensive in Rafah would have on the most vulnerable civilian population. This needs to be avoided at all costs.” An Israeli invasion of Rafah, the southernmost town in the Gaza Strip where 1.2 million Palestinians are sheltering, could spike tensions with Egypt which watches the western side of the border. Some Israeli officials and ministers said their wish is to evacuate Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Egypt. However, Egypt is closing its borders firmly, and is not allowing mass flux of Palestinians to its territories. Meanwhile, Canada’s House of Commons voted on Tuesday to halt arms sales to Israel, with Canadian foreign affairs minister, Mélanie Joly, reaffirming the vote, saying her government would halt future arms shipments to Israel, saying “it is a real thing.” Smotrich calls settlements ‘holistic’ response to sanctions Israel’s Finance Minister and far-right settler Bezalel Smotrich, suggested that expanding settlement was the “holistic” response to an agreement by the EU on Monday to sanction Israeli settlers, who assaulted Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. “There is one holistic Zionist response to this [EU] declaration, strengthening and entrenching settlement in all parts of the Land of Israel,” Smotrich said on Tuesday. He claimed that the Israeli justice system could deal with incidents of settlers’ violence on Palestinians. Israeli authorities systematically fail to investigate and prosecute ideological crimes against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, and are often documented joining the settlers in their attacks on Palestinian communities. The far-right minister is a vocal opponent of the establishment of Palestinian state, and is a supporter of annexing the West Bank into Israel. In January, he said Israel should “encourage the migration of Gaza residents as a solution to the humanitarian crisis”. The U.S. has recently sanctioned several Israeli settlers involved in attacks against Palestinians, including two entire outposts for the first time. Israeli forces and settlers kill two Palestinians in West Bank Two Palestinian were killed in separate incidents in the West Bank on Tuesday afternoon. Ziad Farhan Diab Hamran, 31, from the Al-Hashimiyah village in Jenin, was shot by Israeli forces near the entrance of Beit Fajjar village and the settlement of Gush Etzion, near Bethlehem. His body remains in Israel’s custody. Israel said that Hamran shot two intelligence officers from the Shin Bet, who were injured in the attack. Hamran succumbed to his wounds on Tuesday evening. In Nablus, Israeli settlers killed Fakher Bassem Bani Jaber, 43, from Aqraba village, south of Nablus. Wafa reported that Jaber was taken to Rafidiya Hospital where he died. Settlers attacked Khirbet al-Tawil area, near Aqraba village, which prompted Palestinians to defend their lands.In occupied Jerusalem, only 20,000 Palestinians performed Ramadan’s Al-Tarawih prayer on the tenth night as Israeli authorities kept restricting the numbers of Palestinians who could enter Jerusalem from the West Bank. It was also rainy and cold in Jerusalem on Tuesday night, Wafa reported. BEFORE YOU GO – At Mondoweiss, we understand the power of telling Palestinian stories. For 17 years, we have pushed back when the mainstream media published lies or echoed politicians’ hateful rhetoric. Now, Palestinian voices are more important than ever. Our traffic has increased ten times since October 7, and we need your help to cover our increased expenses. Support our journalists with a donation today. https://mondoweiss.net/2024/03/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-166-israel-kills-gaza-officials-handling-food-delivery-to-the-north-canada-votes-to-halt-arms-sales-to-israel/ 👉https://telegra.ph/Operation-Al-Aqsa-Flood-Day-166-Israel-kills-Gaza-officials-handling-food-delivery-to-the-north-Canada-votes-to-halt-arms-sales--03-20

‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 117: Israel besieges Nasser Hospital for tenth consecutive day Mustafa Abu SneinehJanuary 31, 2024 Palestinians wait in line in front of bakeries for hours to buy bread that is available in limited quantities in Deir al-Balah, January 30, 2024. (Photo: Naaman Omar/APA Images) Palestinians wait in line in front of bakeries for hours to buy bread that is available in limited quantities in Deir al-Balah, January 30, 2024. (Photo: Naaman Omar/APA Images) Casualties 26,900+ killed* and at least 65,949 wounded in the Gaza Strip. 387+ Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem Israel revises its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,147. 560 Israeli soldiers killed since October 7, and at least 3,221 injured.** *This figure was confirmed by Gaza’s Ministry of Health on Telegram channel. Some rights groups put the death toll number closer to 32,000 when accounting for those presumed dead. ** This figure is released by the Israeli military. Key Developments Palestinians bury bodies of 100 people in mass grave in Rafah city following weeks of being held in Israel. Wafa reports Palestinian medics found organs missing from martyrs’ bodies, accuse Israeli authorities of stealing them. Al-Amal and Nasser Hospitals under siege by Israeli tanks in Khan Younis for tenth consecutive day. PRCS says Israeli forces kill security employee in Al-Amal Hospital while standing near backdoor. Nasser Hospital warns electrical generators will stop within two days due to fuel shortages, waste accumulates inside facility as Israeli forces refuse to allow it to be transported out. Israeli forces start flooding some tunnels in Gaza by pumping large amounts of sea water. BBC says Israeli bombardment destroyed or damaged more than half of Gaza’s buildings between October 12 last year and January 29. The Washington Post reports U.S. “has not independently verified Israel’s claims” about UNRWA employees’ alleged involvement in October 7 attack. Nine UNRWA employees could return to work if found innocent, were “pre-emptively dismissed” and have “right of recourse,” according to UNRWA spokesperson. Israel’s Netanyahu says truce and exchange deal with Hamas won’t happen on his watch. Israeli authorities in Jerusalem force Palestinian to demolish his own house in Jabal al-Mukabbir. 100 Palestinian bodies buried in a mass grave in Rafah Palestinians buried the bodies of 100 people in a mass grave in Rafah city on Tuesday afternoon, following weeks of being held in Israel. Advertisement Mondoweiss publishes news and analysis about Palestine for people taking action. Donate today. Wafa news agency reported that some of the Palestinian martyrs could not be identified due to decomposition, while medics accused Israeli authorities of stealing organs from some of them. Israeli forces handed the bodies at Kerem Abu Salem crossing, south of the Gaza Strip, and Palestinians laid the bodies in a long grave, wrapped in dark navy sheets, and used a bulldozer to cover them with soil. Wafa reported that it is unclear when and where Israel killed those Palestinians since October. It added that Israeli forces rampaged through Palestinian cemeteries and took several bodies of those buried there. As Israeli forces advanced into Al-Shifa Hospital in November, the army exhumed graves in north Gaza and took 110 bodies to inspect whether any of them were Israeli captives. According to the BCC, Israeli forces have destroyed nearly half a dozen graveyards in the Gaza Strip since October, including the cemeteries of al-Faluga, Beit Lahia, al-Shuja’iyya and Beit Hanoun, among others. Wafa reported that Palestinian medics found missing organs from the martyrs’ bodies and accused Israeli authorities of stealing them. Israeli tanks besiege Al-Amal and Nasser Hospitals in Khan Younis Gaza’s Ministry of Health said on Wednesday that Israeli forces killed 150 Palestinians and injured 313 others in 16 massacres in the past 24 hours. The number of Palestinians killed in the Israeli aggression on Gaza now stands at 26,900 martyrs, and 65,949 were injured since October. For the tenth consecutive day, both the Al-Amal and Nasser Hospitals are under siege by Israeli tanks and forces in Khan Younis, south of Gaza, the second-largest city in the enclave. There are 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip, but only 14 of them are partially operating — nine of them in southern Gaza, including al-Amal and Nasser Hospitals. Gaza’s Ministry of Health spokesperson Dr. Ashraf al-Qidra said yesterday that there were 150 medical staff, 450 injured patients, and 3,000 displaced Palestinians trapped in the Nasser Hospital, and that they are at risk of Israeli fire if they attempt to leave. Wafa reported that Israeli forces also fired bullets at anyone who moved in the vicinity of the al-Amal Hospital, which is run by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS). Israeli forces stormed the al-Amal Hospital courtyard on Tuesday and the PRCS offices. “Israeli tanks are currently stationed in A-Amal hospital front yard, firing live ammunition and smoke grenades at the displaced individuals and PRCS staff,” PRCS wrote on X on Tuesday afternoon. “We deeply worry for the safety of our teams, the wounded, the sick, and thousands of displaced people in the building. Fires have broken out in tents within the confines of the PRCS Headquarters,” it added. PRCS said on Wednesday that Israeli forces shot and killed a security employee in al-Amal as he was standing near a rear door. “Intense and ongoing targeting in the vicinity of Amal Hospital and the launch of smoke grenades,” PRCS wrote on X on Wednesday morning. The Nasser Hospital has warned that electrical generators will stop within two days due to fuel shortages and that waste has accumulated inside the facility as Israeli forces refuse to allow it to be transported out. Israel begins flooding Gaza tunnels Israeli forces announced on Tuesday evening that they started flooding tunnels in Gaza where “suitable,” pumping large amounts of sea water into them. Following a report in December about the Israeli plan to flood Gaza tunnels used by Palestinian resistance fighters, concerns were raised regarding the damage salted seawater could cause to the soil, environment, and fresh water in the Gaza Strip, which would affect the livelihoods of nearly 2.3 million Palestinians. The Guardian reported then that flooding under Gaza would amount to “ruining the basic conditions for life in Gaza” and cause “an ecological catastrophe,” which would constitute one element of the crime of genocide. Israel destroyed half of Gaza’s buildings In the past 24 hours, Israel continued to bombard Gaza from land and air. Wafa reported that at least six Palestinians were killed in Khan Younis by Israeli artillery and airstrikes. Israel also bombed the neighborhoods of al-Daraj, al-Zaytoun, Sina, and al-Rimal, on the outskirts of Gaza City. Palestinian medics and ambulances faced difficulties reaching these areas to retrieve the bodies of Palestinians and rescue the injured. In the Tal al-Zaatar neighborhood in Jabalia, Israel artillery targeted al-Awda Hospital while bombing the vicinity of al-Dawa Mosque, north of Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. In Khan Younis, Israeli forces bombed the al-Namsawi (The Austrian) neighborhood and the city center. Wafa reported that Israeli bulldozers razed and swept parts of Al-Shuhada Street in Gaza City under the protection of tanks and air forces. An Israeli airstrike killed at least 11 Palestinians in Deir al-Balah on Tuesday evening. The BBC released a report saying that more than half of the Gaza Strip buildings were destroyed or damaged in the Israeli bombardment campaign. The report covers the period from October 12 last year till January 29, based on satellite imagery. “Across Gaza, residential areas have been left ruined, previously busy shopping streets reduced to rubble, universities destroyed and farmlands churned up, with tent cities springing up on the southern border to house many thousands of people left homeless,” BBC reported. Since December, Khan Younis saw immense destruction by Israeli forces. BBC analysis revealed that “between 144,000 and 175,000 buildings across the whole Gaza Strip have been damaged or destroyed. That’s between 50% and 61% of Gaza’s buildings.” Nearly two million Palestinians have been internally displaced, the majority having fled from northern and central Gaza to Rafah city, which borders Egypt in the south. Israeli bombardment chased them there, however, and in recent weeks, rain and cold weather has made daily life miserable for thousands of families amid a lack of sufficient food, fresh water, and efficient sources of heating. ‘Withdrawing funds from UNRWA is perilous‘ The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) warned again of the abrupt ending of donations by the U.S. and other states, which would lead to the shutting down of humanitarian operations in the Gaza Strip. Last week, the U.S., the biggest donor to UNRWA, said it was suspending the money it pledged to the UN agency after Israel claimed that 12 UNRWA employees were involved in Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7. UNRWA said that it fired nine of the employees, and a tenth is still being identified, while the remaining two were killed in the October attack. “Withdrawing funds from UNRWA is perilous and would result in the collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza, with far-reaching humanitarian and human rights consequences in the occupied Palestinian territory and across the region,” UNRWA said in a statement on Tuesday. UNRWA employs 30,000 workers, 13,000 of them in the Gaza Strip, and the rest are in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and the West Bank. Israeli politicians have long aimed to weaken and bring UNRWA to an end long before October 7, as the agency highlighted the plight of millions of Palestinian refugees and their right of return to their homes and lands inside modern-day Israel. The Washington Post reported that the U.S. “has not independently verified Israel’s claims [about UNRWA’s employees], which are based on intercepted communications, phone location data, interrogations of Hamas fighters and documents that the Israeli military has recovered in Gaza.” It added that one of the reasons the U.S. rushed to end donations to UNRWA is to compel the agency to conduct a thorough investigation “or risk permanently losing funding from Western governments whose donations are critical to its survival.” However, U.S. officials acknowledge that there is no alternative to UNRWA to supply humanitarian aid in Gaza. The case is not sealed yet, and the nine UNRWA employees could return to work if they are found innocent, as they were “pre-emptively dismissed” and have “the right of recourse,” an UNRWA spokesperson told Al-Jazeera. Israel’s Netanyahu says truce and exchange deal with Hamas won’t happen As details of a potential truce and captive exchange deal leaked to the media, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured Israelis that such a deal will not take place on his watch. According to the potential deal, a 45-day pause of fighting would be announced by Israel and Palestinian resistance movements, during which Hamas will release 35 Israeli captives in return for 4,000 Palestinian prisoners. Netanyahu said on Tuesday evening, “we will not remove the IDF from the Gaza Strip and we will not release thousands of terrorists.” “None of this will happen. What will happen? Absolute victory!” he added during a speech at the Bnei David academy in the illegal settlement of Eli in the occupied West Bank. The deal is yet to be confirmed, and Hamas is studying it before replying through Qatar and Egypt. Yair Lapid, an opposition figure who served for a stint as prime minister, said that there will be “a safety net” in the Knesset for Netanyahu’s government to help advance “any deal that brings the hostages home.” Lapid’s words came after several right-wing ministers threatened to collapse the government if Netanyahu pushed ahead with the deal, which if successful, will be the biggest since 1985. Israeli forces have arrested 1,000 Palestinians from Jenin since October Israeli forces arrested 16 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, including two women, on Wednesday. During the arrest campaign, carried out during the night, military forces raided Azzun, Nablus, Bethlehem, Beit Fajjar, Qalandia refugee camp, Ramallah, and Jaba near Jenin. According to the Prisoner’s Club, Israel arrested 1,000 Palestinians from the Jenin area since October, making up nearly a sixth of the total 6,420 detainees. On Tuesday, Israeli authorities in occupied Jerusalem forced Jamil Sarri to self-demolish his house in the Jabal al-Mukabbir neighborhood, rendering his family homeless. The house of 100 square meters was built without an Israeli permit, and if authorities demolished it, Sarri would have to have paid the costs of the demolition. Israel rejects 98 percent of Palestinian applications for building permits in Jerusalem while continuing to build and plan for the construction of thousands of new settler housing units. BEFORE YOU GO – At Mondoweiss, we understand the power of telling Palestinian stories. For 17 years, we have pushed back when the mainstream media published lies or echoed politicians’ hateful rhetoric. Now, Palestinian voices are more important than ever. Our traffic has increased ten times since October 7, and we need your help to cover our increased expenses. Support our journalists with a donation today. https://mondoweiss.net/2024/01/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-117-israel-besieges-nasser-hospital-for-tenth-consecutive-day/ https://donshafi911.blogspot.com/2024/01/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-117-israel.html

‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 116: Israeli forces carry out assassination raid inside Jenin hospital disguised as doctors Israeli forces continue to besiege Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, and carried out an assassination raid inside a Jenin hospital disguised as doctors and civilians. A truce and captive exchange deal between Israel and Hamas could be confirmed soon. Mustafa Abu SneinehJanuary 30, 2024 Screenshot from CCTV footage of Israeli forces raiding Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin while disguised as doctors and civilians. (Video: Social Media) Screenshot from CCTV footage of Israeli forces raiding Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin while disguised as doctors and civilians. (Video: Social Media) Casualties 26,751+ killed* and at least 65,636 wounded in the Gaza Strip. 387+ Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem Israel revises its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,147. 557 Israeli soldiers killed since October 7, and at least 3,221 injured.** *This figure was confirmed by Gaza’s Ministry of Health. Some rights groups put the death toll number at more than 33,000 when accounting for those presumed dead. ** This figure is released by the Israeli military. Key Developments Israeli force of ten soldiers storm Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin and kill three Palestinians with silenced pistols. Israeli forces siege Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, bar entry and exit to Palestinians. Dr. Asharf al-Qudra says Israeli forces are besieging Nasser Hospital for a second consecutive week, trapping 150 medical staff, 450 injured, and 3,000 displaced Palestinians. The Palestine Red Crescent Society loses communication with team sent to rescue 6-year-old girl in Gaza. Israeli forces push Palestinians sheltering in Al-Shifa’ Hospital to eastern areas as it bombs southern and western Gaza City. Israel bombs house of Madoukh family in the Al-Sabra neighborhood in Gaza City, killing at least 20 people. It also bombs Rafah’s El-Geneina neighborhood, Nuseirat camp, Batn al-Sameen area, and Al-Amal neighborhood in Khan Younis. Israeli protest attempts to block aid trucks entering into Gaza Strip from the Kerem Abu Salem crossing. Israeli “Order 9” movement calls on government to bar entry to humanitarian aid into Gaza as long as Hamas holds Israeli captives. UN warns, “If the funding is not resumed, UNRWA will not be able to continue its services and operations across the region, including in Gaza, beyond the end of February.” According to a potential deal between Israel and Hamas, there will be 45-day pause of fighting, during which Hamas will release 35 Israeli captives in return for 4,000 Palestinian prisoners. Hamas launches barrage of rockets on Tel Aviv on Monday from Khan Younis and published footage of targeting Israeli tanks with 105mm Al-Yaseen anti-tank shells. Israeli forces kill three Palestinians in Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin In the past 24 hours, Israeli forces have targeted hospitals in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, killing and injuring several Palestinians. Advertisement Join the Mondoweiss channel on Telegram! On Tuesday morning, an Israeli force of ten soldiers stormed the Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin town, killing three Palestinians with silenced pistols. The Israeli unit was disguised as doctors, nurses, and civilians. Footage of the moment they stormed Ibn Sina shows shocked medical staff and patients who were threatened at gunpoint. Palestinian resistance fighters clashed with the Israeli forces, which stormed Jenin and its refugee camp overnight. Israel has killed more than 380 Palestinians in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem since October; 62 of them since January. The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) Minister of Health, Dr. Mai al-Kaila, condemned the Israeli attack. “This crime comes after dozens of crimes committed by the [Israeli] occupation forces against health centers and staff… International law provides general and specific protection for civilian sites, including hospitals,” said al-Kaila. The three Palestinians killed in the Ibn Sina Hospital were identified as the brothers Muhammad and Basil Ayman Al-Ghazawi, and Muhammad Walid Jalamna, according to Wafa news agency. Basel has been injured during a previous Israeli raid of Jenin and has been in the Ibn Sina since October 25, Wafa reported. Israel said the Palestinians in the hospital were a “Hamas unit.” In the last 48 hours Israeli forces have killed at least nine Palestinians in the West Bank (more below). Israel puts Nasser Hospital under siege for a second week In the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces has put the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis under a brutal siege, barring entry and exit to the facility, which has forced Palestinian families to bury their relatives in the hospital’s yards. The Nasser Hospital is the biggest and most vital health facility in south Gaza and has the highest number of beds, doctors, and operation rooms. It offers medical services to Palestinians as far as Rafah, the most southern town in Gaza. Gaza’s Ministry of Health spokesperson Dr. Asharf al-Qudra said on Tuesday that Israeli forces are besieging the hospital for the second consecutive week. Currently, there are 150 medical staff, 450 injured patients, and 3,000 displaced Palestinians trapped in the facility, and they are at risk of Israeli fire if they attempt to leave. “Electrical generators at Nasser Medical Complex will stop within two days due to fuel shortages,” Dr. al-Qudra said in a statement on Telegram. “Waste accumulates in the sections and courtyards of the Nasser Medical Complex, and the occupation refuses to allow it to be transported out,” he added. The ministry said that Israeli forces killed 114 Palestinians and injured 249 others in 13 massacres in Gaza in the past 24 hours. “A number of victims are still under rubble and on the roads. The occupation prevents ambulance and civil defense crews from reaching them,” it added. The number of Palestinians killed in the Israeli aggression on Gaza now stands at 26,751 martyrs, and 65,636 were injured since October. Red Crescent loses communication with team rescuing girl in Gaza One of those victims is Hind, a 6-year-old girl, who found herself surrounded by Israeli tanks in Gaza City. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said that it lost communication with a team dispatched to rescue Hind, who was inside a vehicle. “We remain unaware of their fate and whether they succeeded in evacuating her or not,” PRCS said. Israeli forces had targeted Hind’s family, killing her father, mother, and four brothers. The girl was trapped inside a car in a designated military zone in Gaza. Israeli forces placed the Al-Shifa’ Hospital under siege again in north Gaza. Al-Shifa’ dominated the headlines when Israel stormed it in November in search of a purported Hamas command center underneath it, which proved to not exist. On Monday, Israeli forces pushed Palestinians sheltering in the Al-Shifaa to areas east of Gaza City as it bombed southern and western Gaza. A Palestinian woman, who was sheltering in Al-Rimal school near the Al-Shifa, told Al-Jazeera Arabic that Israeli tanks kept approaching until it stopped at the gates of the school. “We fled. We were scared and terrorized. I can’t remember how we escaped. We walked all the way, pushed by fear. My daughter is injured. The tanks were at the school gates for an hour,” she said. “We left while it was dark, tumbling over each other. We walked over the bodies of martyrs in the dark. There were 13 of them,” she said. In Rafah, thousands of Palestinians have been living under heavy rain, lacking drinking water and food. Some could not find a tent, which a used one could cost around $1,000 USD on the open market. The desperate situation pushed some families to rent warehouses, a corridor in residential buildings, or even a barn in Rafah. Al-Akhbar newspaper’s correspondent, Youssef Faris, spoke to a family who rented a barn to shelter from the rain after it lost its home in an Israeli attack. “The owners agreed to rent [the barn] to us for $600 a month. We worked hard for a week to clean it, and now we live in it,” he reported. Israel had turned the Gaza Strip into a hell on earth, with nearly two million Palestinians currently displaced and thousands buried under the rubble. Israel also kept bombing Gaza, killing hundreds of Palestinians each day, despite its announcement early in January that it was moving to a “less intense stage” of military operations. On Monday evening, the Israeli military bombed the house of the Madoukh family in the Al-Sabra neighborhood in Gaza City, killing at least 20 people. It also bombed Rafah’s El-Geneina neighborhood, Nuseirat camp, Batn al-Sameen area, and the Al-Amal neighborhood in Khan Younis. Israeli activists attempt to block aid trucks entering Gaza For the seventh consecutive day, an Israeli protest organized by the Order 9 movement, attempted to block aid trucks entering into the Gaza Strip from the Kerem Abu Salem crossing. The Order 9 movement, whose slogan is “The Victory Depends on You!” in Hebrew, is calling for the Israeli government to bar entry to humanitarian aid into Gaza as long as Israeli captives are held by Hamas. Skirmishes between the activists and Israeli military police took place over the past two days. An Israeli reserve soldier was arrested at the Kerem Abu Salem crossing along with 13 others on Monday. Minister of Defence, Yoav Gallant, was faced with a protest by reserve soldiers who called him to block aid going into Gaza. Gaza is already under a severe shortage of medical, food, water, and fuel supplies. A number of states, including the U.S., had suspended its donations to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) after Israel claimed that 12 UNRWA employees were involved in the Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7. UNRWA said that it sacked nine of the employees, and the tenth is still being identified. The remaining two were killed in the October attack. UNRWA employs 30,000 workers, 13,000 of them are in the Gaza Strip, and the rest are in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and the West Bank. The agency warned that “If the funding is not resumed, UNRWA will not be able to continue its services and operations across the region, including in Gaza, beyond the end of February.” Potential Hamas-Israel deal for 45-day truce and captive exchange On Tuesday, Hamas political chief, Ismail Haniyeh said the movement received a proposal following Paris talks over the weekend, mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the CIA, to reach a truce and captive exchange deal. Haniyeh said that Hamas is studying the proposal, and its priority remains “to stop the brutal aggression against Gaza and the complete withdrawal of the [Israeli] occupation forces from the [Gaza] Strip.” According to the potential deal, a 45-day pause of fighting will be announced by Israel and Palestinian resistance movements, during which Hamas will release 35 Israeli captives in return for 4,000 Palestinian prisoners. If successful, the deal will be the biggest since 1985, when Israel released more than 1,150 Palestinian and some Arab national prisoners in exchange for three Israeli soldiers captured in Lebanon. Hamas launched a barrage of rockets on Tel Aviv on Monday from the area of Khan Younis, where Israeli tanks and forces are launching bombardment and military strikes. Hamas’s armed wing, the Izz El-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, also published footage of its forces targeting Israeli tanks with 105mm Al-Yaseen anti-tank shells. Israeli forces raid West Bank towns and kill nine Palestinians in 48 hours Israeli forces raided more than a dozen Palestinian towns and villages in the occupied West Bank, and killed at least nine people in less than 48 hours. The Palestinian Prisoners Club said Israel arrested 18 Palestinians overnight, bringing the number of arrest cases to 6,390 since last October 7, some of them were later released. Israeli forces killed five Palestinians on Monday. Obaida Hassan Abdel Rahman Hamed, 18, was shot dead in Silwad village, east of Ramallah, during an Israeli raid. In Nablus, an Israeli force shot at a Palestinian vehicle driving on a road between Aqraba and Osrin villages. The two brothers escaped death; however, bullets damaged their car windscreen and body, Wafa reported. Overnight, Israeli forces raided the Palestinian towns of Sinjil, Tulkarm, Noor Shams refugee camp, Nahalin near Bethlehem, Al-Aroub refugee camp, Oum Safa, Jenin, Bani Naim near Hebron, Nablus, Silwan in Jerusalem, Qalandia, Kisan, Qabatia, Al-Samou and Qalqilya. BEFORE YOU GO – At Mondoweiss, we understand the power of telling Palestinian stories. For 17 years, we have pushed back when the mainstream media published lies or echoed politicians’ hateful rhetoric. Now, Palestinian voices are more important than ever. Our traffic has increased ten times since October 7, and we need your help to cover our increased expenses. Support our journalists with a donation today. https://mondoweiss.net/2024/01/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-116-israeli-forces-carry-out-assassination-raid-inside-jenin-hospital-disguised-as-doctors/ https://donshafi911.blogspot.com/2024/01/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-116-israeli.html

‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 115: Israel pushes Gazans further south; U.S threatens further regional violence The U.S. government threatens further regional violence on the heels of drone attack that killed three American troops in Jordan. Human rights groups slam countries for pulling funding for UNRWA as Palestinians in Gaza face famine and starvation. Leila WarahJanuary 29, 2024 Palestinians walk through the rubble of Gaza city, carrying bags of flour delivered on an aid truck Palestinians try to get bags of flour after 10 trucks loaded with flour arrived in Gaza City, Gaza strip, on January 28, 2024. (APA Images) Casualties 26,422+ killed* and at least 65,087 wounded in the Gaza Strip. 387+ Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem Israel revises its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,147. 557 Israeli soldiers killed since October 7, and at least 3,221 injured.** *This figure was confirmed by Gaza’s Ministry of Health. Some rights groups put the death toll number at more than 33,000 when accounting for those presumed dead. ** This figure is released by the Israeli military. Key Developments Occupied West Bank: Israeli forces shoot dead a Palestinian child southeast of Bethlehem and Palestinian man west of Jenin. High-ranking Israeli politicians attend “Return to Gaza Conference” to plan re-settlement. Human Rights Monitor: Israeli forces kill 373 Palestinians, including 345 civilians, 48 hours after ICJ interim ruling. UNICEF: Over 16,000 children at risk of missing routine vaccinations, exposing them to illnesses like measles, pneumonia and polio. PCRS: Israeli shellings and heavy gunfire in the vicinity of besieged Al-Amal Hospital, Khan Younis. CENTCOM: Three US service members killed, 25 injured in drone attack by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq in northeast Jordan. Gaza Health Ministry: 7,000 wounded and sick people need to leave Gaza to access life-saving medical care. Jordan, Turkey, Amnesty International, and WHO call on countries to reinstate funds for UNRWA. UNRWA: Only 4 of 22 health centers in Gaza operational due to bombardment and access restrictions Yemen’s Ansar Allah send message of defiance to Israel and its allies via music video. Japan and Austria join about a dozen countries in suspending funds to UNRWA. Gaza’s Health Ministry: Al Nasser Hospital, Khan Younis medical and non-medical waste is piling up “everywhere” amid military siege. Since ICJ ruling, hundreds have been killed, hospitals under attack In the 48 hours after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) interim ruling on Israel, which placed the state on trial for genocide, the military has continued attacking Gaza with full force. Advertisement Follow the Mondoweiss channel on WhatsApp! Within the last two days, at least 373 Palestinians, including 345 civilians, have been killed and at least 643 wounded, reported Human Rights Monitor (HRM). The entire city of Khan Younis, located in the second-most southern district in the Gaza Strip, is being pounded by Israeli bombardment. The Al Amal Hospital in the city is being subjected to a military siege that has lasted several days, trapping medical staff, patients, and displaced people inside. “Israeli shelling and heavy gunfire continue in the vicinity of PRCS Al-Amal Hospital,” reported the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) on Monday afternoon. PRCS also announced the burial of three people in the courtyard of the al-Amal Hospital due to the “difficulty of transporting them to an official cemetery due to the ongoing blockade imposed on the hospital.” On Sunday, PRCS shared a video from inside the Hospital, documenting two members of the medical charity distracting a child amid the sounds of clashes around them. In the video, the young girl shared with them her dreams of returning to her home and school as she expressed her determination to become a dentist. Meanwhile, Al Nasser Hospital, also located in the city of Khan Younis, is similarly being subjected to a brutal blockade where medical and non-medical waste is piling up “everywhere,” says Gaza’s Health Ministry. The medical waste, which could be toxic, may contribute to the spread of the diseases amid already deteriorating public health conditions in southern Gaza. To make matters worse, bodies are also piling up on hospital grounds due to Israeli military vehicles blocking people in, resulting in the inability of citizens to reach the cemeteries in the city, Al Jazeera reported. Staff and residents of the Hospital are digging a mass grave on hospital grounds to bury the bodies. At least one other mass grave has already been dug on the property. Palestinians pushed farther south in Gaza Growing numbers of Palestinians are being forced to flee their homes and shelters in Khan Younis as the army pushes them further south into Rafah, the last remaining place for Palestinians. “Thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate and are going through security checkpoints with facial recognition technology. Women and children are separated from the men. A large number of people have been detained and dehumanized during the process,” reported Hani Mahoud from Rafah for Al Jazeera. “They are making different groups of people raise their ID cards as they pass through these military checkpoints. In many cases, Palestinian men have been abducted and arrested by the Israeli military, and others have been taken for investigations,” Al Jazeera added. The displaced civilians are fleeing Israeli attacks on Khan Younis only to arrive in the already overcrowded district of Rafah, where people are sleeping on the street and in tent camps flooded with sewage amid the harsh weather conditions. “Scenes of forcibly displaced people are a disgrace to humanity,” the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Over half a million Palestinians in Khan Younis were instructed by the occupying forces to evacuate their homes, including hospitals and health centres, in a cruel expansion and deepening of forced displacement from southern regions,” the ministry continued. “Israel has ramped up its efforts to starve [Palestinians] as well as forcibly displace them from their homes in the Strip,” Human Rights Monitor said. “In defiance of the ruling of the world’s highest court and in violation of its own international obligations, including to international law and principles, Israel persists in committing egregious violations that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, including genocide against the Palestinian people,” the humanitarian group continued. Gazans starve as world powers cut off funding to UNRWA Japan and Austria are the most recent countries to join the approximately dozen others who have announced plans to suspend funding to The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the main agency delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza. The countries are awaiting the outcome of an investigation into allegations that 12 staff members participated in Hamas’s October 7 operation, collectively punishing Gaza’s population in the process. UNRWA, which has provided primary healthcare to Gaza’s nearly two million residents since before October 7, is already collapsing under Israel’s military attacks and struggling to provide social and primary care to the besieged enclave. According to the humanitarian organization, only four out of 22 of its health centers in Gaza are operational due to Israeli bombardment and access restrictions. “UNRWA is the lifeline for over 2 million Palestinians facing starvation in Gaza,” Ayman Safadi, Jordan’s foreign minister and deputy prime minister, said in a post on X, stressing that the potential participation of 12 staff does not justify measures to starve an entire nation. “It shouldn’t be collectively punished upon allegations against 12 persons out of its 13,000 staff. UNRWA acted responsibly and began an investigation. We urge countries that suspended funds to reverse the decision,” Safadi continued. Agnes Callamard, the secretary general of Amnesty International, has called the cuts a “heartless decision” by some of the world’s richest countries “to punish the most vulnerable population on earth because of the alleged crimes of 12 people.” “Right after the ICJ ruling finding risk of genocide. Sickening,” Callamard added. Similarly, the Director General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has said that “cutting off funding” to UNRWA at this “critical moment” will only “hurt the people of Gaza who desperately need support.” “We appeal to donors not to suspend their funding to UNRWA at this critical moment,” Ghebreyesus said. Israeli politicians discuss plans to ‘re-settle’ Gaza As Gaza’s population continues to be systematically wiped out by Israel, high-ranking Israeli cabinet ministers and parliament members are planning for the besieged enclaves’ re-settlement with Jewish Israelis. On Sunday, the politicians attended the “Return to Gaza Conference” in Jerusalem. At the conference, plans were made for the re-establishment of 15 Israeli settlements and the addition of six new ones on top of recently destroyed Palestinian communities. The fact that Israeli officials would “convene a high-level meeting to plan an act of aggression – the acquisition of occupied territory and its colonization – is an early indication of intent to breach the provisional measures order by the ICJ,” says Israeli humanitarian lawyer Itay Epshtain. Hamas has also released a statement saying the conference goes against the interim rulings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the war on Gaza by openly calling for the “voluntary migration” of Palestinians at the conference. “We call on the international community and the UN to take a firm stance … and condemn it clearly as a fascist conference based on the idea of ethnic cleansing,” Hamas said. U.S. threatens to escalate regional violence The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) announced three service members were killed and and 34 were wounded on Sunday during a drone attack on US forces stationed in northeast Jordan near the Syrian border, which is likely to cause further escalation in regional violence. “While we are still gathering the facts of this attack, we know it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq,” President Joe Biden said shortly afterward but did not cite any evidence. Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin says he is “outraged and deeply saddened” by the killing of the three troops. “The president and I will not tolerate attacks on American forces, and we will take all necessary actions to defend the United States, our troops, and our interests,” he said in a statement. Iran later denied their involvement in the fatal drone attack. The country’s Foreign Ministry released a statement saying the “baseless accusations” connecting them to the attack are aimed at fanning the flames of war. “This is a conspiracy by those who see their interests in again dragging the US into a new conflict in the region,” Iranian spokesman Nasser Kanani said, as cited by Al Jazeera. “Resistance groups across the region do not take orders from the Islamic Republic of Iran in their decisions and actions. And even though Iran does not welcome expanding fighting in the region, it also does not interfere in the decisions of resistance groups on how they support the Palestinian nation, or defend themselves and their countries’ peoples against any violations or occupation,” Kanani continued. Later on Monday, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for the drone attack, explaining it was “in response to the massacres of the Zionist entity against our people in Gaza.” Al Jazeera analyst Marwan Bishara says that the US “recognizes” that it is in a sort of “proxy conflict with Iran,” noting that this is the first time American troops have been killed since the war on Gaza started. “This is important because this is another landmark day where we are seeing escalation, a widening of the war. Clearly America is slowly – but surely – getting stuck in the Middle East.” “This is the president who famously said we have to end the “forever wars,” and now he’s making threats about punishing the perpetrators and those who are responsible. America is already involved in a number – I’m not sure if we’ve reached a dozen strikes against Yemen. It has employed its most sophisticated aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean,” Bishara continued. Many right-wing hawkish US politicians have responded to the attacks by calling for military retaliation, including republican Tom Cotton. “The only answer to these attacks must be devastating military retaliation against Iran’s terrorist forces, both in Iran and across the Middle East. Anything less will confirm Joe Biden as a coward unworthy of being commander in chief,” Cotton said in a statement. David Des Roches, former Pentagon director of Arabian peninsula affairs, told Al Jazeera that the US reaction to the drone attack that killed three service members “will be a significant one.” “I don’t think it will be directed solely against proxies; I think there will be something higher up the hierarchy of Iranian interests destroyed,” he said. “It’s a calculus that’s very hard to get right and it’s fraught with danger. The greatest danger is that both sides might create a sort of unwanted momentum towards a confrontation that neither side truly wants,” Roches concluded. However, Trita Parsi, the executive vice president of the Quincy Institute, said it’s likely US interests will continue to be threatened without an end to the war in Gaza. “It’s important to note that there were zero attacks during the six days between November 24-30 when there was a ceasefire in Gaza,” Parsi told Al Jazeera, adding that the Biden administration appears willing to put US service members at risk to allow Israel to push on with the war. “In fact, the carnage in Gaza is increasingly clear now. It is posing a threat to US interests because we’re seeing how it’s threatening the US in the Red Sea,” Parsi said. “We’re seeing the casualties now on the Syrian border. There may be a war between Israel and Lebanon as well and, down the line, a new nuclear crisis with Iran. Biden is not pursuing US interests by allowing this to continue. If he really wants to end it and protect US troops, there needs to be de-escalation and de-escalation begins with a ceasefire in Gaza,” Parsi concluded. Similarly, the US National Iranian American Council (NIAC) says the US and Iran “are now closer to the brink of being pulled into a full-blown regional war by the vortex of violence” unleashed by the conflict in Gaza. “President Biden must show leadership and recognize that there is no military solution to this crisis that has only been expanded and prolonged by military escalation and a dearth of diplomacy,” NIAC concluded on X. BEFORE YOU GO – At Mondoweiss, we understand the power of telling Palestinian stories. For 17 years, we have pushed back when the mainstream media published lies or echoed politicians’ hateful rhetoric. Now, Palestinian voices are more important than ever. Our traffic has increased ten times since October 7, and we need your help to cover our increased expenses. Support our journalists with a donation today. https://mondoweiss.net/2024/01/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-115-israel-pushes-gazans-further-south-u-s-threatens-further-regional-violence/ https://donshafi911.blogspot.com/2024/01/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-115-israel.html

‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 114: UN chief urges Western countries to restore funding to UNRWA Thousands of Israelis protested in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem calling on Netanyahu to resign, while others attempt to block aid trucks from entering Gaza. Meanwhile, the UN sad it has suspended the employees who Israel alleges took part in October 7. Mustafa Abu SneinehJanuary 28, 2024 Displaced Palestinians on the move after the Israeli army ordered Khan Younis camp residents to leave for Rafah near the Egyptian border, south of the Gaza Strip, January 26, 2024. (Photo: © Haitham Imad/EFE via ZUMA Press APA Images) Displaced Palestinians on the move after the Israeli army ordered Khan Younis camp residents to leave for Rafah near the Egyptian border, south of the Gaza Strip, January 26, 2024. (Photo: © Haitham Imad/EFE via ZUMA Press APA Images) Casualties 26,422+ killed* and at least 65,087 wounded in the Gaza Strip. 387+ Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem Israel revises its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,147. 557 Israeli soldiers killed since October 7, and at least 3,221 injured.** *This figure was confirmed by Gaza’s Ministry of Health. Some rights groups put the death toll number closer to 32,000 when accounting for those presumed dead. ** This figure is released by the Israeli military. Key Developments UN chief says nine of 12 UNRWA employees accused by Israel of being involved in October 7 attack were suspended. UN chief appeals to U.S. and “governments that have suspended their contributions to, at least, guarantee the continuity of UNRWA’s operations.” Palestinian who fled to Rafah says, “when I arrived here, I did not find a bite of food or a tent. I slept in the street under the rain…This is the hardest war. I witnessed all wars [in Gaza]. I’m 70 years old, this is the toughest of all.” Palestinians bury 150 martyrs in yard of Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis as Israeli tanks lay siege to compound. Gaza Ministry of Health says 30 bodies remain unidentified in mortuary as anyone who leaves or enters Nasser Hospital is at risk of being shot by Israeli forces. Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis warns it has run out of oxygen due to ongoing siege imposed by Israeli forces for past week. Hundreds of Israeli protestors attempt to block entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza from Karem Abu Salem crossing. Israeli police disperse and arrest protestors in West Jerusalem calling for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign. Israeli forces hand body of Salim Nasser Abu Hajar from Tulkarm, after killing him in mid-December. Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades says it detonated an explosive device in an Israeli infantry force in Qabatiya in northern West Bank. UN chief urges U.S. to restore funding to UNRWA The UN chief, Antonio Guterres, called on the U.S. and its European allies to restore the funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) as millions in the Gaza Strip are in urgent need of humanitarian support. Advertisement Mondoweiss publishes news and analysis about Palestine for people taking action. Donate today. Guterres said that UNRWA would investigate the Israeli claim that 12 UN employees took part in Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7. Guterres added that nine of the 12 employees accused by Israel of being involved in the attack have been suspended. UNRWA employs 30,000 workers, 13,000 in Gaza, and the rest in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and the occupied West Bank. Since December 1949, it has operated schools, health clinics, food banks, and youth centers, among other humanitarian services essential to Palestinian refugees who were forcibly expelled from homes and towns by Zionist militias in 1948. The U.S., Canada, Australia, and other European states are now pausing their funding to UNRWA. “While I understand their concerns, I was myself horrified by these accusations, I strongly appeal to the governments that have suspended their contributions to, at least, guarantee the continuity of UNRWA’s operations,” Guterres said in a statement Saturday evening. For second time since 2018, U.S. halts donations to UNRWA The U.S. is the biggest donor to UNRWA, paying $153 million to the agency in 2023, and $343 million during 2022, according to UNRWA official figures. Guterres said “the tens of thousands of men and women who work for UNRWA, many in some of the most dangerous situations for humanitarian workers, should not be penalized. The dire needs of the desperate populations they serve must be met.” Israeli bombardment killed at least 152 UN workers in the Gaza Strip since October 7. Prior to that, the U.S. has ended funding to UNRWA for almost three years. In 2018, former U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Washington is not going to donate the full sum of money pledged to UNRWA, accusing the agency’s institutions of being “irredeemably flawed.” Trump’s decision was hailed by Israel and fit perfectly with the Likud ruling party’s agenda to end the cause of Palestinian refugees, who number in the millions and are still calling for their right to return to lands and homes occupied by Zionist militias in what became the present-day state of Israel. A Likud lawmaker, Anat Berko, summoned the Israeli position at that time, telling CNN that “an end to UNRWA will bring an end to the ‘refugee forever’ status. We cannot solve any conflict with this definition of refugees. Humanitarian aid — yes. But UNRWA — no.” UNRWA has been a lifeline for tens of thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, who sought shelter from Israeli bombardment in its facilities and schools. UNRWA has also been a reliable and independent source to comprehend the plight of thousands of Palestinians who have endured constant Israeli bombardment, internet and telecommunications blackouts, and forced displacement since October. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), where Israel sat in the dock to face accusations of committing genocide, had cited and quoted UNRWA’s officials and reports during the hearings, and also during its ruling on Friday, which ordered Israel to “prevent genocidal actions” in Gaza. ‘I did not find a bite of food or a tent. I slept under the rain.’ Israel’s bombardment in the Gaza Strip has resulted in the displacement of almost two million Palestinians. Most of them were forced into Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city bordering Egypt’s Sinai. The Palestinian population in Gaza is made up of 80 percent refugees from 1948, and have now been displaced yet again 75 years later, reliving the trauma that their grandparents endured during the Nakba. In Rafah, thousands of Palestinian families spent their Saturday in tents under heavy rains, cooking their meals on stoves, and digging channels to direct the flooded water away from their mattresses. A Palestinian told Al-Jazeera Arabic while on a ladder fixing his tent with heavy-duty nylon tarps that his family had been displaced three times, from Gaza to Al-Nuseirat, to Khan Yunis, and now to Rafah. Not every Palestinian could leave northern Gaza or Khan Younis, and many have now opted to build shelters on top the rubble of their levelled houses, using whatever material they could find amidst the rubble to shields themselves from the elements. Oum Imad, a Palestinian resident of Abbsan town, told Wafa that she walked for three days to arrive in Rafah. “When I arrived here, I did not find a bite of food or a tent. I slept in the street under the rain…I am accompanied by orphaned children, without a mother or father. This is the hardest war. I witnessed all wars [in Gaza]. I’m 70 years old, this is the toughest of all,” she said. Palestinians bury relatives in Nasser Hospital as Israeli forces lay siege to Khan Younis On Saturday evening, Palestinians buried 150 martyrs in the yard of the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, as Israeli tanks laid siege to the facility. Gaza’s Ministry of Health said that 30 bodies remain unidentified in the mortuary as anyone leaving or entering the Nasser Hospital is at risk of being shot by Israeli forces. On Sunday, the ministry said that Israel committed 19 massacres in the Gaza Strip, killing 165 Palestinian martyrs and injuring 290 in the past 24 hours. Israel killed 26,422 Palestinians and 65,087 people in the Gaza Strip since October. “A number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads. The occupation prevents ambulances and civil defense crews from reaching them,” the ministry added on its Telegram channel. The Nasser Hospital, the largest medical facility in southern Gaza, is facing “a severe and dangerous shortage of blood units, and many anesthesia drugs have run out,” the ministry said. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) also warned on Sunday that the Amal Hospital in Khan Younis had run out of oxygen due to the ongoing siege imposed by Israeli forces for the past week. Since Monday, Israeli forces have bombed several areas in the vicinity of the Al-Amal and Nasser Hospitals in Khan Younis. It also stormed the Al-Khair Hospital and arrested a number of medical staff. There are only 14 hospitals partially operating in the Gaza Strip, nine of which are in the south, and the rest are in northern Gaza. Israeli artillery and military planes bombed several areas in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours. In north Gaza’s Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, an Israeli air strike killed eight Palestinians and injured dozens, according to Wafa news agency. Israeli forces also bombed Al-Maghazi refugee camp, Khan Younis’s Batn Al-Sameen, Al-Malalha, and Jourat Al-Aqqad areas. Protests in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem; thousands march in Europe in support of Palestinians On Sunday morning, hundreds of Israeli protestors attempted to block the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip from Karam Abu Salem crossing. The protestors have called for the release of all Israeli captives in Gaza before allowing any aid trucks to enter. The protests are organized by the Order 9 movement, made up of the families of captives, settlers from the occupied West Bank, and Kibbutzniks. Attempts to block aid to Gaza by Order 9 have been growing since last week. On Sunday, Israeli police dispersed and arrested some protestors in West Jerusalem, calling for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign. Tens of thousands of Israelis also protested in Tel Aviv, calling for an election and the release of captives in Gaza. In the wake of South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the ICJ, the mayor of Rishon Lezion, south of Tel Aviv, ordered the removal of the South African flag. Meanwhile, in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, hundreds of thousands of citizens marched on Saturday in demonstrations in several cities and capitals of Europe, including Berlin, Vienna, Denmark’s Odense, and Rotterdam, to name a few. Israeli forces raid towns in West Bank, Palestinians detonate explosive device in Qabatiya In the past 24 hours, Israeli forces arrested 22 Palestinians from the towns of Ramallah, Jenin, Burqin, Bethlehem, and Silwan. Israeli forces handed the body of Salim Nasser Abu Hajar from the Shweika area, north of Tulkarem, after holding him for several weeks. Israeli forces shot Abu Hajar, 25, and arrested his brother near the village of Deir Al-Ghusoun, north of Tulkarem, on December 16, 2023. On Sunday morning, Israeli forces stormed the village of Tayasir, east of Tubas, while on Saturday evening, Israeli forces stormed the villages of Beit Rima and Deir Ghassaneh, northwest of Ramallah, which were resisted by Palestinians. Israeli forces were raiding the house of Othman Al-Assi to arrest his son Nader, who was not at home, and interrogated the family, Wafa reported. Israeli forces also stormed the towns of Jenin and Qabatiya and clashed with Palestinian resistance fighters. In Qabatiya, the Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades said that it detonated an explosive device in an Israeli infantry force in the town. BEFORE YOU GO – At Mondoweiss, we understand the power of telling Palestinian stories. For 17 years, we have pushed back when the mainstream media published lies or echoed politicians’ hateful rhetoric. Now, Palestinian voices are more important than ever. Our traffic has increased ten times since October 7, and we need your help to cover our increased expenses. Support our journalists with a donation today. https://mondoweiss.net/2024/01/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-114-un-chief-urges-western-countries-to-restore-funding-to-unrwa/

‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 107: Israel bombs two more hospitals in Gaza as official death toll crosses 25,000 Gaza’s Heath Ministry announced that Israeli attacks have killed at least 25,105 Palestinians, and injured 62,681, since October 7 as Israeli forces continue to target Al-Amal and Al-Nasser hospitals in the southern Gaza Strip. Mustafa Abu SneinehJanuary 21, 2024 Palestinians bury the bodies of 110 people killed by Israeli attacks in a mass grave in the Khan Younis cemetery, November 22, 2023. (Photo: © Mohammed Talatene/dpa via ZUMA Press APA Images) Palestinians bury the bodies of 110 people killed by Israeli attacks in a mass grave in the Khan Younis cemetery, November 22, 2023. (Photo: © Mohammed Talatene/dpa via ZUMA Press APA Images) Casualties 25,105+ killed* and at least 62,681 wounded in the Gaza Strip. 387+ Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem Israel revises its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,147. 531 Israeli soldiers killed since October 7, and at least 3,221 injured.** *This figure was confirmed by Gaza’s Ministry of Health on January 16. Some rights groups put the death toll number higher than 32,000 when accounting for those presumed dead. ** The Israeli military dropped the number of casualties to 531 soldiers from 547 after January 17. Key Developments Gaza’s health spokesperson says, “medical crews can’t respond to the high number and types of injuries on a daily basis. The piling up of cases and lack of capabilities to treat them in hospitals is causing the loss of lives”. Israeli forces bomb vicinity of Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis with series of air strikes and artillery shelling. Palestine Red Crescent Society says, “humanitarian conditions in the Gaza and northern governorates are tragic… as 800,000 Palestinians there suffer from a great scarcity of basic materials.” Al-Jazeera Arabic reports homes left intact in Gaza are now becoming shelters while Israel keeps targeting Al-Nasser Hospital, which has “the highest number of beds, doctors, operation rooms” in all of Gaza Strip. Israel’s Netanyahu doubles down on refusal for two-state solution, says “I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over the entire area in the west of Jordan.” UK’s Minister of Defence says “Palestinians deserve a sovereign state, Israel deserves to have the full ability to defend itself, its own security.” Mustafa al-Barghouti, head of National Initiative Movement, says Biden’s statement about supporting two-state solution was “nonsense”. Thousands of Israelis demonstrate in Tel Aviv calling for release of Israeli captives held by Hamas, the resignation of Netanyahu, and for an early election. Wall Street Journal reports Hamas fighters remain resilient and have enough ammunition to fight for months. Israel approves the transfer of Palestinian Authority tax revenues through Norway, first time since October. Israeli forces demolish Nasr and Abdul Qadir al-Qawasmi’s apartments in Hebron. Gaza’s Ministry of Health says Israel “intentionally suffocating health institutions” Israel has killed more than 25,000 Palestinian martyrs in the Gaza Strip since October. Advertisement Follow Mondoweiss on WhatsApp on our official channel! Gaza’s Ministry of Health announced on Sunday that 25,105 Palestinians were killed and 62,681 injured in the Israeli aggression. In the past 24 hours, Israel committed 15 massacres in various areas of the Gaza Strip, according to the ministry, killing at least 178 Palestinian martyrs and injuring 293 people. “The Israeli occupation is intentionally suffocating and destroying the health institutions and prolonging its devastation.” Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra, the ministry spokesperson, said on Sunday. “Medical crews can’t respond to the high number and types of injuries on a daily basis. The piling up of cases and lack of capabilities to treat them in hospitals is causing the loss of lives,” he added, drawing a bleak picture of Gaza’s health sector, which has been under systemic Israeli targeting. Since October, Israeli forces have killed 337 Palestinian medical staff and arrested 99 others, bombed 203 medical centers and clinics, destroyed 121 ambulances, and damaged 30 hospitals, forcing them to stop operating completely. Israeli forces target Al-Amal and Al-Nasser hospitals in Khan Younis Wafa news agency reported that an Israeli airstrike on a vehicle killed three Palestinians traveling in the Souq Al-Yarmouk area in Gaza City on Saturday evening. Another Israeli airstrike on a house in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza killed and injured several Palestinians. Israeli attacks and bombardment of north Gaza have been intense, killing and injuring dozens of Palestinians, despite Israel’s claim last week of “scaling back” and ending the “intense stage” in the area. On Saturday afternoon, Israeli attacks on Jabalia refugee camp killed five Palestinians and wounded others when a house was bombed in the Al-Sika area. Israeli attacks killed another five Palestinians in the southern town of Rafah and the central town of Al-Bureij, when four people were killed in an airstrike on a vehicle in Rafah, and the fifth was killed in an attack in the Al-Bureij refugee camp. An Israeli airstrike on an apartment in Al-Nuseirat refugee camp killed at least four Palestinians, while three Palestinians were killed in the Al-Sultan area, west and north of Beit Lahia refugee camp, Wafa reported. For the past several days, Israeli forces have been targeting the Al-Amal and Al-Nasser, two hospitals that are lifelines for thousands of Palestinians, not just to receive treatment but to shelter from the Israeli indiscriminate bombing of Gaza. Overnight, Israeli forces bombed the vicinity of Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis with a series of air strikes and artillery shelling. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), which runs Al-Amal Hospital, said that the “humanitarian conditions in the Gaza and northern governorates are tragic as a result of the continued Israeli blockade that prevents the delivery of aid, as 800,000 Palestinians there suffer from a great scarcity of basic materials.” Wafa reported that medical crews recovered the bodies of three Palestinians from under the rubble in Abasan Al-Kabira village, east of Khan Younis, following an Israeli bombardment. At least 7,000 Palestinians are missing or buried under the rubble in all areas of Gaza. Israeli artillery also shelled for several hours in the vicinity of Al-Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, according to Wafa. Occupation forces bombed Al-Manara neighborhood in Khan Younis, Al-Shati camp, west of Gaza City, and the seaside of Deir al-Balah. Hisham Zaqout, Al-Jazeera Arabic correspondent, said on Sunday morning that Israeli bombardment has not stopped in the Gaza Strip for the past 24 hours. “The only time that Israeli forces did not bomb Gaza was during the [10 days] truce,” Zaqout said. He added that the Israeli bombardment on Gaza since October left few Palestinian houses intact, which now became overcrowded shelters for displaced Palestinians, but remain at risk of being bombed. “Al-Nasser Hospital is the most important hospital in the whole of Gaza Strip, following the destruction and damaging of hospitals in north and central Gaza,” Zaqout said. “Al-Nasser is currently the biggest hospital and has the highest number of beds, doctors, operation rooms… Patients from Rafah, Deir Al-Balah, and refugee camps in central Gaza [rely on Al-Nasser for treatment],” he added. “I do deny a Palestinian state. Always!” Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had doubled down on his refusal for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. His government minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, was even more curt, writing on the X platform: “I do deny a Palestinian state. Always!” Netanyahu wrote on X on Saturday: “I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over the entire area in the west of Jordan – and this is contrary to a Palestinian state.” His comment came following a phone call with U.S. President Joe Biden, the first in nearly a month. Biden confirmed the unwavering U.S. support for Israel, and said that Netanyahu “didn’t say” that he opposed a two-state solution during their phone call. Netanyahu has always been clear about his rejection of the establishment of a Palestinian state, which many Western leaders and officials are now seeing as the only hope to dampen conflicts in the Middle East and West Asia region. The UK Minister of Defence, Grant Shapps, told the BBC on Sunday morning “Unless you pursue a two-state solution, I really don’t see that there is another solution.” Shapps added that Netanyahu’s opposition was “very disappointing.” but “it’s not in some senses a surprise, [Netanyahu] spent his entire political career against a two-state solution.” “Palestinians deserve a sovereign state, Israel deserves to have the full ability to defend itself, its own security,” he added. “The Palestinian state is not just a name without content” The UK, U.S., and EU are still refusing to call for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Some Palestinian officials view such comments about the two-state solution as similar lip service as it has been since 1993 when the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) signed a peace deal with Israel. The Palestinian head of the National Initiative Movement, Mustafa al-Barghouti, said that Biden’s statement about supporting a two-state solution was “nonsense.” “The Palestinian state is not just a name without content, borders, sovereignty, and control over land, water, airspace, and borders,” Barghouti said. “It cannot be achieved without removing the occupation and the settlements and settlers,” he added. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders said that “despite the illegal and inhumane actions of Netanyahu’s government, President Biden has thus far offered unconditional support to Israel. That must change.” France’s Foreign Minister also expressed support for the establishment of a Palestinian state, while the UN chief, Antonio Guterres said that “the right of the Palestinian people to build their own state must be recognised by all. “The refusal to accept the two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians, and the denial of the right to statehood for the Palestinian people, are unacceptable,” Guterres said on Saturday. In the UN General Assembly, there are currently 139 out of the 193 member states recognizing Palestine as an observer member. WSJ reports Hamas fighters are resilient and have ammunition to fight for months Thousands of Israelis demonstrated on Saturday in Tel Aviv calling for the release of Israeli captives held by Hamas in Gaza, the resignation of Netanyahu’s government, and for an early election. Yair Lapid, the opposition leader, said Israel’s priority should be getting the captives back from Gaza, and then eradicating Hamas. “If you want to eradicate Hamas, you must first take out the abductees,” he said. Lapid, who served for a short stint as prime minister in 2022, said there was “full backing for any deal, no matter how painful it may be. And if the price is a cessation of hostilities, let that be the price.” Aside from the sheer destruction and devastation of the Gaza Strip and the killing of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians, Israel has yet to achieve its goals in Gaza. The U.S. intelligence agencies estimated that the goal to destroy Hamas will be hard to achieve, according to The Wall Street Journal report. Israel killed around 20 to 30 percent of Hamas fighters, according to WSJ, however, the resistance movement remains resilient and has enough munitions to fight for months. U.S. military analysts told WSJ that Hamas “fighters have adjusted their tactics, operating in smaller groups and hiding between ambushes on Israeli troops, while individual fighters are likely taking on more tasks to pick up the slack from their dead comrades.” Israeli forces demolish homes of two Palestinians in Hebron Israel approved on Sunday the transfer of Palestinian Authority (PA) tax revenues through Norway, the first such transfer since October. Israel’s Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, had rejected U.S. calls to unfreeze PA funds that are essential for paying public sector salaries and those who work in the security services in the occupied West Bank. According to agreements with the PA, Israel is in charge of collecting taxes on behalf of Ramallah, and it transfers the monthly sum of around $190 million, almost $75 million, which goes to paying salaries and public electricity bills in the Gaza Strip. Israel withheld the PA tax revenue on several occasions, such as when it froze the funds during the Trump administration as a way to pressure the PA to accept the U.S. peace initiative, dubbed the Abraham Accords. Ben-Gvir opposed the tax revenues transfer on Sunday as he argued that there were no assurances that the money deposited in Norway would not be transferred to Gaza. Overnight, Israeli forces arrested dozens of Palestinians from several towns in the West Bank, including Arura, Bethlehem, Shufa’at and Qalandia refugee camps, and Maithalun village south of Jenin. On Sunday morning, Israeli forces demolished the apartments of Nasr and Abdul Qadir al-Qawasmi in Hebron. Wafa reported that Israeli forces stormed ​​Ras al-Jura and Bir al-Mahjar neighborhoods. In November, Nasr, 18, and Abdul Qadir, 26 al-Qawasmi, along with Hassan Mamoun Qafisha, 28, targeted an Israeli military checkpoint south of occupied Jerusalem, killing one soldier and injuring seven others. The three Palestinians were killed in the attack by Israeli forces. BEFORE YOU GO – At Mondoweiss, we understand the power of telling Palestinian stories. For 17 years, we have pushed back when the mainstream media published lies or echoed politicians’ hateful rhetoric. Now, Palestinian voices are more important than ever. Our traffic has increased ten times since October 7, and we need your help to cover our increased expenses. Support our journalists with a donation today. https://mondoweiss.net/2024/01/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-107-israel-bombs-two-more-hospitals-in-gaza-as-official-death-toll-crosses-25000/

🚨UPDATED: Everyone is hungry in Gaza, warn UN humanitarians Palestinian children are rthe sorting to eating chicken and grass at the roadside. UPDATED: Everyone is hungry in Gaza, warn UN humanitarians An eight-year-old child waits her turn to receive food in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. The latest warnings from UN relief agency for Palestinians UNRWA and the UN World Food Programme, WFP, highlighted the threat of starvation and disease in heavily built-up areas, where tens of thousands of people have fled intense bombing campaigns in the enclave’s north and centre. Skipping meals “Everyone in Gaza is hungry! Skipping meals is the norm, and each day is a desperate search for sustenance,” WFP said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday. “People often go the entire day and night without eating. Adults go hungry so children can eat.” Well over a million people are now seeking safety in the already overcrowded southern city of Rafah, according to UNRWA, with hundreds of thousands sleeping in the open with inadequate clothing or materials to keep out the cold. Undernourished children are at particular risk, while “half of Gaza’s population is starving” UN humanitarians have warned, in line with the latest food insecurity assessments. Infections spreading Echoing those concerns, the UN health agency WHO warned of an “imminent risk” of communicable disease outbreaks. Since mid-October, there have been 179,000 cases of acute respiratory infection, 136,400 cases of diarrhoea among under fives, 55,400 cases of scabies and lice and 4,600 cases of jaundice, it reported. UNRWA said in a new update late on Tuesday that at least 315 people have been killed while seeking safety in their shelters since the latest cycle of conflict began, with at least another 1,148 injured. There have also been around 212 incidents, including 60 direct hits, which have impacted agency premises overall. The latest figure for UNRWA staff killed now stands at 142. Since 7 October, up to 1.9 million Gazans - that's 85 per cent of the population - have been displaced, some multiple times. Death toll climbs over 22,000 Since the Hamas-led terror attacks in southern Israel on 7 October that left some 1,200 dead and another 240 taken hostage, clashes in the Gaza Strip and strikes from the air, land, and sea by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have claimed the lives of more than 22,000 people, mainly women and children, according to local health officials. IDF figures from 30 December indicated that 168 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the start of the ground operation in Gaza and 955 injured. Gaza’s health ministry also reportedly stated that more than 200 Palestinians have been killed since Monday alone, with 338 wounded. Displaced Palestinians wait for food at Al-Shaboura camp, in Rafah. © WHO Displaced Palestinians wait for food at Al-Shaboura camp, in Rafah. Thousands more presumed dead An additional 7,000 people have also been reported missing or buried under rubble, the UN health agency WHO said in its latest emergency update. The report also noted that 600 people have been killed in nearly 300 attacks on healthcare since 7 October that have damaged 26 hospitals and 38 ambulances. Of the 1.93 million displaced in Gaza, some 52,000 pregnant women are giving birth to around 180 babies every day, according to the WHO update. It also detailed that 1,100 patients need kidney dialysis, 71,000 have diabetes and 225,000 need treatment for high blood pressure. Health services reviving UN aid coordination agency OCHA also noted that the Gazan health authorities had managed to resume some hospital services in the north of Gaza. Doctors prepare for surgery at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. © UNICEF/Abed Zaqout Doctors prepare for surgery at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. These included Al Ahli Arab Hospital, the Patients Friends charity hospital, Al Helou International hospital, Al Awda hospital and a number of other primary care centres. “This occurred amidst great risks surrounding the movement and work of medical teams due to the continuous bombing of residential neighborhoods and the vicinity of health facilities,” OCHA said. “Furthermore, the Ministry of Health in Gaza, UNRWA and WHO are coordinating on a plan for the reactivation of health centres to meet the needs of displaced people in all places of displacement.” West Bank crisis In a related development, OCHA reported the first case of the demolition of Palestinian property in the West Bank in 2024, in al-Maniya in Bethlehem. Some 300 Palestinians – including 79 children - have been killed across the occupied West Bank since 7 October, amid increasing attacks by Israeli Security Forces and settlers that have been confirmed and condemned by UN human rights chief Volker Türk. Before the Hamas-led 7 October attacks, 200 Palestinians had already been killed in the West Bank last year - the highest number in a 10-month-period since the UN began keeping records in 2005. According to a report by the UN human rights office OHCHR encompassing 7 October to 20 November, the period saw a “sharp increase in airstrikes as well as in incursions by armoured personnel carriers and bulldozers sent to refugee camps and other densely populated areas in the West Bank, resulting in deaths, injuries and extensive damage to civilian objects and infrastructure”. Last year, Israeli authorities oversaw the demolition of 1,119 structures – a record since data collection began in 2009 – uprooting 2,210 people, according to OCHA, in its first update of 2024. “The threat of destruction of homes and sources of livelihood contributes to the generation of a coercive environment pressuring people to leave their areas of residence,” the aid wing said on its website. #GazaGenocide #News https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/01/1145227

‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 84: Gaza at ‘catastrophic threshold’ of famine, West Bank marks ‘deadliest year on record’ for Palestinian children Israel faces growing tensions between the war cabinet and the far-right coalition government as Egypt presents a ceasefire proposal. Meanwhile, Israeli forces kill at least three Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Mondoweiss Palestine BureauDecember 29, 2023 People struggle to recover bodies and survivors from under the rubble of a building hit by an Israeli airstrike on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, December 28, 2023. (Photo: by Bashar Taleb/APA Images) People struggle to recover bodies and survivors from under the rubble of a building hit by an Israeli airstrike on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, December 28, 2023. (Photo: by Bashar Taleb/APA Images) Casualties: 21,507 killed* and at least 55,915 wounded in the Gaza Strip. 316 Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. *This figure is the latest confirmed by Gaza’s Ministry of Health as of December 29. Due to breakdowns in communication networks within the Gaza Strip, the Ministry of Health in Gaza has been unable to regularly and accurately update its tolls since mid-November. Some rights groups put the death toll number closer to 30,000 when accounting for those presumed dead. Key Developments Deadly airstrikes pummel several areas across Gaza, killing 187 people in 24 hours. Fighting continues to rage on between Israeli ground troops and Palestinian armed groups, as Israeli army announces an expansion of operations in Khan Younis. U.N. says hunger in Gaza has passed “catastrophic threshold,” as UNRWA estimates 40 percent of the population is at risk of famine while aid barely trickles in. Health and human rights groups denounce Israel’s continued targeting of Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis and Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia amid systematic attacks on the health care system in Gaza. Palestinians who were detained in northern Gaza report threats, violence, and humiliation at the hands of Israeli forces. Hamas delegation heads to Cairo on Friday to discuss Egyptian proposal for ceasefire, reiterates call for complete cessation of Israeli aggression in Gaza, and for Palestinians to determine the shape of their own political future. Israeli leadership torn between war cabinet and far-right elements of coalition government, who refuse to consider possibility of Palestinian Authority involvement in Gaza. Leaked Israeli High Court draft ruling indicates one of most contested clauses of Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul could be struck down, reigniting internal Israeli disputes. Thousands of demonstrators call for release of hostages in Jerusalem i culmination of five days of protests, Israeli army releases probe into killing of three Israeli hostages by own soldiers. Israel continues to shell southern Lebanon and Syria, armed groups in neighboring countries respond. U.S. forces intercept Yemeni drone and missile in Red Sea. Israeli forces shoot and kill a Palestinian man allegedly responsible for stabbing attack at checkpoint near Jerusalem on Thursday, raids home and detains relatives. Palestinian killed by Israeli forces in southern occupied West Bank on Friday following alleged car-ramming attack. Israeli forces detain more than 15 Palestinians during violent overnight raids, as U.N. raises the alarm about the rising violence in the occupied West Bank. Peace Now warns Israel is expanding illegal settlements in northern and southern West Bank “in the shadow of war.” Hundreds of protesters in Times Square hold mock funeral procession on Thursday to denounce killing of thousands of Palestinian children by Israeli forces in Gaza. Gaza continues to suffer Twelve weeks into the Israeli rampage in the Gaza Strip, airstrikes continue to flatten the small Palestinian territory, killing dozens as fighting rages on between Israeli ground forces and Palestinian resistance fighters. Deadly Israeli airstrikes were reported since Thursday afternoon in Rafah and Khan Younis in southern Gaza, as well as in the Nuseirat, al-Bureij, and al-Maghazi refugee camps in central Gaza, and in Beit Hanoun and the Gaza City neighborhood of Sheikh Radwan in northern Gaza. The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported at midday on Friday that at least 187 people had been killed and 312 wounded in the span of 24 hours, raising the total toll to at least 21,507 killed and at least 55,915 wounded in the Gaza Strip since October 7. Meanwhile, Palestinian groups reported ongoing fighting in the area of Khan Younis, Khuza’a, al-Bureij, Tal al-Zaatar, and various areas in Gaza City – contradicting Israeli claims that the northern Gaza Strip is under full army control. The Israeli army has meanwhile announced its plans to expand its operations in Khan Younis, where tens of thousands of internally displaced civilians have fled since October. More than 1.9 million internally displaced Palestinians in what was already one of the most densely populated areas on earth continue to be squeezed into ever tinier slivers of land, with an estimated 100,000 people fleeing to Rafah in recent days alone. Israel confirmed the death of one Israeli soldier on Thursday, bringing the official toll of the ground invasion in Gaza to 168 soldiers — although a government gag order prevents Israeli media from reporting on the full scope of military casualties. The humanitarian catastrophe Israel has deliberately inflicted on Gaza through its refusal to allow in sufficient aid and its destruction of essential infrastructure has begun to affect its own troops as well. At least one soldier has died as a result of a fungal infection likely due to exposure to sewage leaks, with Israeli media reporting that more soldiers could also suffer from similar infections. The impact on Israeli troops pales in comparison to the devastation wrought on Palestinians, who are starving and suffering from a host of injuries and preventable illnesses amid a complete collapse of the medical system. The Gaza Ministry of Health announced that 20 patients were scheduled to leave Gaza on Friday to receive medical treatment in Egypt, but noted that many more were in dire need of care they were unable to receive in the bombarded enclave. “Our urgent priority is to evacuate for treatment abroad 5,000 wounded with serious and complex cases to save their lives,” Gaza Ministry of Health spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra said. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that only 76 trucks of aid were allowed into the Gaza Strip on Thursday, far below the pre-October 7 average of 500 trucks a day. “You think getting aid into Gaza is easy? Think again,” U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths posted on X on Friday, listing stringent inspections, bombardments, damaged roads, and desperate civilians crammed into smaller and smaller areas as only some of the obstacles making the delivery of these small amounts of food, medicine, and other essential items even more difficult. On Friday morning, an UNRWA official reported that Israeli forces fired at an aid convoy in northern Gaza, even as it was driving on “a route designated by the Israeli army,” damaging one vehicle. According to UNRWA, 40 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants are “at risk of famine.” The U.N. has meanwhile activated a Famine Review Committee for Gaza “due to evidence surpassing the acute food insecurity Phase 5,” described as the “catastrophic threshold.” Israel has meanwhile continued to target Palestinian health facilities and workers, notably the Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis and Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, prompting condemnation from Palestinian human rights organizations. A Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) paramedic who was detained by Israeli forces in Jabalia said soldiers held him and other paramedics for hours with their hands tied behind their backs, and heavily beat them, including on their heads and “sensitive areas,” and that one of his colleagues was repeatedly hit with rocks. He added that Israeli bulldozers ran over ambulances, destroying them completely. PRCS says at least eight of its staff members are still detained by Israeli forces. Al-Qidra said on Thursday that Israel was detaining at least 99 health personnel in “harsh conditions of torture, starvation, and exposure to extreme cold.” The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) meanwhile shared the testimony of one of its researchers, Ayman Lubbad, who was detained by Israeli forces for a week earlier this month. “Men and boys as young as 14 were instructed to strip and kneel in the street […] They inappropriately photographed us while we were half-naked and forced some of us to dance,” Lubbad said. “Upon learning that I work for a human rights organization, the interrogator threateningly said: ‘I will teach you your rights very well in prison.’” Egyptian proposal to be discussed amid internal Israeli turmoil Amid the carnage, Egypt reiterated on Thursday that it was awaiting responses to its framework proposal to obtain a ceasefire in Gaza, a hostage swap agreement, and map out future Palestinian governance after the war. A Hamas delegation was due in Cairo on Friday to discuss the proposal. In a press conference on Thursday, the Palestinian group said it was open “to any ideas or proposals to stop the aggression completely and finally on our people in the Gaza Strip,” but that there would be no deal to release Israeli hostages until Israeli pummeling of Gaza ceased. It nonetheless stressed that “the management of Palestinian affairs is a Palestinian internal decision, and it is the decision of the Palestinian people alone, and our people will not accept a leadership that comes to them on the back of a Zionist or American tank.” “Our people today want a national leadership that carries the project of liberation and commits to resistance in all its forms to achieve national goals,” Hamas added. Meanwhile, Israeli Finance Minister and far-right extremist settler Bezalel Smotrich dug in his heels on Friday following reports that the U.S. was pressuring Tel Aviv to release Palestinian Authority tax revenue it has been withholding since October 7. Because Israel controls all international borders with the occupied Palestinian territories, it collects customs and other forms of revenue on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, the nominal political body operating in the occupied West Bank. However, Israel has repeatedly withheld these taxes over the years as a punitive tactic, regardless of whether the P.A. is involved. “As long as I am Finance Minister, not a single shekel will go to the Nazi terrorists in Gaza,” Smotrich wrote on X. Smotrich is involved in growing tensions within Israeli leadership, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been facing pressure from the war cabinet — which includes himself, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and opposition leader Benny Gantz — and his far-right coalition government. A war cabinet meeting that had been scheduled for Thursday to discuss scenarios for “the day after” the war was postponed after Smotrich opposed its discussion of any future in which the PA might play a role. Netanyahu was facing a slew of corruption charges and internal dissent due to his attempt to hijack the judicial system before the war. The Israeli High Court is reportedly set to strike down a key part of the prime minister’s controversial judicial overhaul, according to a draft ruling leaked on Thursday, bringing back to the fore a national debate that had been effectively silenced since October 7. Netanyahu is now also facing pressure for his handling of the hostage situation. Thousands of protesters rallied in Jerusalem on Thursday night, calling for the release of hostages. An estimated 130 people are still believed to be held by Hamas and other Palestinian groups in Gaza as bargaining chips to obtain the release of thousands of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. While 105 hostages were released during a six-day truce in November, Israel has since failed to release more hostages through combat operations. The Israeli army released on Thursday the results of its internal investigation into the killing of three Israeli hostages by Israeli forces earlier this month while they were waving a white flag. The probe found that soldiers shot at the hostages who were calling for help, despite their commander having ordered them not to shoot. The Times of Israel nevertheless reported that “the soldiers involved in the incident were not expected to be dismissed or to stand trial due to their actions.” ‘Deadliest year on record’ for children in the West Bank At least three Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank since Thursday, as confrontations between Israeli forces and Palestinians were reported in several areas during military raids. A Palestinian man identified as Ahmad Alyan was killed after allegedly carrying out a stabbing attack at the Israeli military checkpoint of Mizmoria between Jerusalem and Bethlehem on Thursday night, reportedly injuring two Israeli police officers. Israeli forces later raided his family’s home in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukaber, detaining his parents and sister. An alleged car-ramming attack took place near the illegal Israeli settlement of Otniel on Friday afternoon, with the driver killed on the spot by Israeli forces. The P.A. Ministry of Health identified the driver as Amr Abdel Fattah Abu Hussein, and said he was killed east of the Palestinian town of Dura. Another Palestinian, identified as 38-year-old Muhammad Sayel Al-Jundi from the town of Yatta, was shot and killed by Israeli forces at a checkpoint between Hebron and Bethlehem on Thursday night. WAFA news agency did not provide more detail on the circumstances surrounding his death. Israeli forces have continued to violently raid Palestinian towns and villages across the West Bank, provoking clashes in al-Faraa refugee camp, Balata refugee camp, Qalqilya, Rafat, Kafr Aqab, and Ain al-Sultan refugee camp. At least three Palestinians were wounded during the Israeli raid in al-Faraa, and another five were detained, in addition to 14 other Palestinians detained overnight across the occupied West Bank. Israeli forces also seized children’s toys in a raid in the southern city of Hebron, WAFA reported. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces once again fired rubber-coated metal bullets, tear gas, and skunk water at worshippers seeking to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday. The spike in violent Israeli repression in the West Bank since October 7 has led the UN to raise the alarm in a report released on Thursday. “The use of military tactics means and weapons in law enforcement contexts, the use of unnecessary or disproportionate force, and the enforcement of broad, arbitrary and discriminatory movement restrictions that affect Palestinians are extremely troubling,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said. “The violations documented in this report repeat the pattern and nature of violations reported in the past in the context of the long-standing Israeli occupation of the West Bank. However, the intensity of the violence and repression is something that has not been seen in years.” UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Adele Khodr meanwhile said on Thursday that 2023 was the “deadliest year on record for children in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,” with 83 children killed since October 7 alone. “Children living in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have been experiencing grinding violence for many years, yet the intensity of that violence has dramatically increased,” Khodr said. “The suffering of children in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, must not fade into the background of the current conflict — it is part of it.” As Israeli state violence rages on, the settler colonial enterprise continues advancing in violation of international law. Israeli settlers expanded a road in the World Heritage site of Battir near Bethlehem on Thursday, seeking to further entrench a settler outpost built in the area in recent years. Peace Now released a new report on Thursday on the expansion of the Battir outpost, as well as the expansion of the Homesh settlement in the northern West Bank “in the shadow of war.” “While Israel is at war, Smotrich and his colleagues are asserting facts on the ground that may open up another front in the West Bank,” Peace Now wrote. “If we don’t stop the dream of settlement in the northern West Bank and in Battir, we will wake up to the nightmare of settlements in the Gaza Strip.” Before you go - We need your help. Mainstream media’s wilful complicity in the genocide of Palestinian people is a reminder of just how vital our work at Mondoweiss is. This article and our extensive coverage since October 7 have been made possible by readers like you who donate to keep our reporting free and independent. With your support, we will continue covering the ongoing events in Gaza and across Palestine, as well as amplifying the Palestine movement worldwide. Together, we will make sure to keep reporting Palestinian stories, even when the rest of the world looks away. Support our critical work with a donation today. https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-84-gaza-at-catastrophic-threshold-of-famine-west-bank-marks-deadliest-year-on-record-for-palestinian-children/

‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 80: Israel kills at least 100 Palestinians in Christmas Eve attacks At least 100 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks on Khan Younis and Al-Maghazi refugee camp, as a new Euro-Med Monitor report documents brutal Israeli crimes against civilians sheltering in Palestinian schools, including executions. Mustafa Abu SneinehDecember 25, 2023 Palestinians attend the funeral held at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital for 70 people killed in Israeli airstrike on the al Maghazi refugee camp in Deir Al Balah, Gaza on December 25, 2023. (Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images) Casualties 20,424+ killed* and at least 54,036 wounded in the Gaza Strip. 303 Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem Israel revises its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,147. 489 Israeli soldiers killed since October 7, and at least 1,952 injured. *This figure was confirmed by Gaza’s Ministry of Health on December 24. Due to breakdowns in communication networks within the Gaza Strip, the Ministry of Health in Gaza has been unable to regularly and accurately update its tolls since mid-November. Some rights groups put the death toll number closer to 28,000 when accounting for those presumed dead. Key Developments UNRWA says 142 employees killed in Israeli bombardment in Gaza Strip since October 7. UNRWA warns it is struggling to provide health care for 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza. WHO chief calls for ceasefire and decries Israel’s destruction of Gaza health system. Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor accuses Israeli forces of turning Palestinian schools in Gaza Strip into “settings for brutal crimes against civilians.” Israeli military says 162 killed in armed battles with Palestinian fighters since late October. Israeli forces recover five bodies of captives in a tunnel in Gaza, and Hamas says it killed 48 Israeli soldiers and destroyed 35 military vehicles since Thursday. Pope Francis says during Christmas Eve mass: “Tonight, our hearts are in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war.” Israeli jailers beat and tortured Nael al-Barghouti, the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner, during his transfer from Ofer Prison in western Ramallah, to Gilboa Prison in northern Israel. Israel bombs homes in Khan Younis and Al-Maghazi, killing 100 Palestinians At least 100 Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes in Khan Younis and Al-Maghazi refugee camp, most of them were family members on Sunday night. Israeli forces bombed two houses in east of Khan Younis, killing 23 people, and injuring dozens on Sunday evening. Warplanes targeted the Saleh family house in the Ma’an area, and several Palestinians remain under the rubble as of Monday morning. In the Al-Amal neighborhood, west of Khan Younis, Israeli forces bombed a house killing Yahya Mahmoud Jawaher and his brother Abdul Rahim on Sunday night, Wafa news reported. In Al-Maghazi, a refugee camp in central Gaza, Israeli airstrikes and artillery shelling killed at least 70 Palestinians when it bombed four houses on Sunday night, most of them women and children. Palestine’s Civil Defence said it recovered the bodies of eight people and 14 injured from under the rubble on Sunday night in the Al-Bureij refugee camp after it was shelled by Israeli artillery. Al-Bureij was severely damaged following Israeli forces detonating numerous buildings in the past weeks. Israel carpet bombed the area surrounding Abu Hilo school in Al-Bureij and fired smoke bombs in the area. On Sunday, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said that at least 20,424 Palestinian martyrs have been killed and 54,036 injured in Israeli bombardment since October 7. An estimated 8,000 Palestinians are reportedly also still missing under the rubble, according to Palestine’s Red Crescent Society. Gaza’s government media office said on Sunday that 103 journalists have been killed in Israeli bombings since October. UNRWA says 142 employees killed as it struggles to provide care for pregnant women On Sunday, the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) announced that 142 employees have been killed in Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip since October 7. “In this somber moment, it’s hard to wish those celebrating ‘Merry Christmas’, with ongoing loss, grief and destruction,” the UN agency said in a statement. “Our teams are doing the impossible to help people in need. We mourn the loss of more UNRWA colleagues killed in Gaza, now 142, the majority with their families,” it added. UNRWA has been calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip to ease the humanitarian crisis and provide aid, water, food, and medicine to hospitals and shelters in the enclave. The UN Security Council resolution last week was welcomed by UNRWA. Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for UNRWA said that “only time will tell what real difference this resolution is going to make, and it needs to increase the humanitarian assistance into Gaza.” “Without a truce, the UN resolution may do little for Gaza,” Touma added. UNRWA warned that it is struggling to provide health care for 50,000 pregnant women in the Gaza Strip. “There are an estimated 50,000 pregnant women in the Gaza Strip, with over 180 giving birth every day,” it said in a statement. “UNRWA doctors and midwives are doing everything possible to provide care for post-natal & high-risk pregnant women at the 7 [out of 22] operational UNRWA health centers,” it added. Last week, nine out of the 36 hospitals and healthcare centers were partially operating in the Gaza Strip. The World Health Organization’s chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called for a ceasefire and condemned the destruction of Gaza’s health system. “The decimation of the Gaza health system is a tragedy,” he wrote on X on Sunday. “In the face of constant insecurity and inflows of wounded patients, we see doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers and more continue striving to save lives,” Tedros said. He confirmed that WHO is adamant in calling for a “ceasefire now.” Euro-Med: Israeli ‘crimes against civilians’ taking place at Gaza schools On Monday, the Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor accused Israeli forces of turning Palestinian schools in the Gaza Strip into “settings for brutal crimes against civilians.” Euro-Med said in a report, “the Israeli occupation continues to violate schools that have been converted into shelters for tens of thousands of displaced people, committing grave violations including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, torture, and intimidation of civilians.” Euro-Med said that Israeli forces stormed Al-Rafi’I school in Jabalia over the weekend, arresting tens of Palestinians and forcing them to strip down to their underwear before taking them to unknown destinations. The group added that Israeli forces bombed Palestinian schools from the air since October, however, in recent weeks it resorted to storming them in various towns, including north of Gaza, Khan Younis, and Al-Bureij. This has been accompanied by destroying the schools’ walls and gates with gunfire and tank shells. “These attacks were unjustified and targeted innocent civilians who had sought refuge in shelter centres after receiving Israeli orders to evacuate their homes and residential areas,” Euro-Med said in a statement. The group collected several testimonies from survivors who were sheltering in the schools when Israeli forces attacked and stormed them. In Shadia Abu Ghazala school in Jabalia, Euro-Med said that Israeli forces carried out field executions, where nine bodies were found following Israeli forces withdrawal from the area on December 13. In Shadia Abu Ghazala school in Jabalia, Euro-Med said that Israeli forces carried out field executions, where nine bodies were found following Israeli forces withdrawal from the area on December 13. Youssef Khalil told Euro-Med that two Israeli soldiers opened fire at his family, killing them in Shadia Abu Ghazala school while they were sheltering in one of the classrooms. Khalil was later arrested along with other Palestinians, subjected to beatings during his detention before being released. He found his family members in a state of decomposition when he returned to the school, alongside other bodies of Palestinians killed in the area. “The ongoing operations of killing, physical elimination, and systematic destruction of buildings and facilities have no explanation or justification other than being part of deliberate acts of revenge,” the Euro-Med stated. “Civilians choosing to remain in evacuation areas do not lose their protection, and it is prohibited to target them under any pretext,” it added. Israeli forces recover five captives’ bodies as Hamas and Islamic Jihad target troops in Gaza On Monday, the Israeli military announced that 162 soldiers have been killed in armed battles with Palestinian fighters since the late October ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. In total, 489 soldiers have been killed since October 7. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday afternoon that “the war is exacting a very heavy price on us; however, we have no choice but to continue to fight.” Thousands of Israelis have been protesting for the past weeks in Tel Aviv, calling on Netanyahu to step down and for a general election in Israel. Netanyahu added that “we are continuing with full force until the end, until victory, until we achieve all of our goals: the destruction of Hamas, the return of our hostages and ensuring that Gaza will never again constitute a threat to the State of Israel.” So far, Israeli forces have failed to rescue or return any of the captives held by Hamas alive to Israel. Last week, Israeli soldiers shot dead three of those captives in Gaza after misidentifying them as Palestinians. On Sunday, the military spokesperson said Israel recovered five bodies of captives from a Hamas tunnel in Gaza. Israel also released video footage of the Palestinian tunnel and said it killed 8,000 Palestinian fighters since October 7, a figure drawn from “accounts of targeted strikes and battlefield tallies as well as the interrogations of captives.” On Saturday, Hamas said that it feared five Israeli hostages were killed in Israeli bombardment of Gaza after it lost contact with the group in charge of them. Hamas’ military spokesperson, Abu Ubaida, said in a message on Sunday that in the past four days, Palestinian fighters have killed 48 Israeli soldiers, injured dozens, and completely or partially destroyed 35 military vehicles across various areas in the Gaza Strip. Hamas also released video footage of targeting Israeli soldiers in north Gaza. In the Tel Al-Zaatar neighborhood, Hamas sniper shot at Israeli soldiers, while in west Beit Lahia, fighters fired a Kornet anti-tank missile at Israeli soldiers barricading inside a building and on another force inside a home in Beit Hanoun. Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades announced that it targeted three Israeli military vehicles with RPG missiles and a planted bomb in the Al-Zaytoun and Al-Shuja’iya neighborhoods in Gaza. Hamas also welcomed the decision to limit Christmas celebrations to prayers and religious rituals in Palestine. “The holidays of our Christian people come this year amid a continuing fascist aggression launched by the occupation [forces] against all components of our Palestinian people targeting all both mosques and churches,” Hamas said in a statement. Instead of a decorated tree in Manger Square opposite the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Tourism organized an artwork piece called “Nativity under the Rubble” to symbolize the agony and destruction in Gaza. On Sunday evening, Pope Francis led a Christmas Eve mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican and said “Tonight, our hearts are in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war.” Longest serving Palestinian prisoner, Nael al-Barghouti, tortured by Israeli jailers Israeli forces raided towns and villages in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem overnight and arrested several Palestinians from Hebron, Qalqilya, Tubas, Jerusalem, Ramallah, Tulkarem, and the Jordan Valley. In a joint statement, the Prisoners’ Affairs Authority and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said that “testimonies from recently released detainees in Gaza revealed gruesome details of torture and abuse by the occupying army upon them, with their bodies bearing signs of abuse.” They added that the “prisoner Nael al-Barghouti, 66, had been tortured during his transfer from Ofer Prison in western Ramallah, to Gilboa Prison in northern Israel.” Barghouti was released from prison in 2011 after spending 34 years. However, in 2014 Israeli forces rearrested him. He has currently spent 44 years in total in Israeli jails. “[He] was brutally beaten with batons and rifles and the assault on him and his fellow prisoners continued for three consecutive hours,” the statement added. The Club said that Israeli forces arrested 4,696 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem since October 7. Before you go - We need your help.Mainstream media’s wilful complicity in the genocide of Palestinian people is a reminder of just how vital our work at Mondoweiss is. This article and our extensive coverage since October 7 have been made possible by readers like you who donate to keep our reporting free and independent.  With your support, we will continue covering the ongoing events in Gaza and across Palestine, as well as amplifying the Palestine movement worldwide. Together, we will make sure to keep reporting Palestinian stories, even when the rest of the world looks away. Support our critical work with a donation today. https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-80-israel-kills-at-least-100-palestinians-in-christmas-eve-attacks/

‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 79: Bethlehem cancels Christmas celebrations as Israel continues to bomb Gaza Mustafa Abu SneinehDecember 24, 2023 Palestinians survey the rubble of destroyed buildings following an Israeli bombardment in Deir El-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on December 24, 2023. (Photo: Naaman Omar/APA Images) Palestinians survey the rubble of destroyed buildings following an Israeli bombardment in Deir El-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on December 24, 2023. (Photo: Naaman Omar/APA Images) Casualties 20,258+ killed* and at least 53,688 wounded in the Gaza Strip. 303 Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem Israel revises its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,147. 485 Israeli soldiers killed since October 7, and at least 1,831 injured. *This figure was confirmed by Gaza’s Ministry of Health on December 23. Due to breakdowns in communication networks within the Gaza Strip, the Ministry of Health in Gaza has been unable to regularly and accurately update its tolls since mid-November. Some rights groups put the death toll number closer to 28,000 when accounting for those presumed dead. Key Developments U.S. President Joe Biden does not ask Israeli government for ceasefire in Gaza Strip in phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israeli forces withdraw from Palestine roundabout in Gaza City after completely flattening and destroying premises surrounding it. Palestinian rescue teams recover bodies of 40 people in central Gaza killed in Israeli bombings on Friday. Israeli military announces 14 soldiers killed in armed battles with Palestinian fighters in Gaza Strip over weekend. An Israeli minister says war will continue in Gaza Strip even if Hamas releases all captives. Israeli forces systemically destroys residential neighborhoods to create buffer zone in north and east of Gaza Strip after Palestinian fighters kill several Israeli soldiers. Israel plans to create buffer zone by occupying 14 km-long border area with Egypt to separate Gaza from Sinai Peninsula, and take direct control of Rafah Crossing. Hamas’ Izz El-Din Al-Qassam Brigades fear five captives were killed in Israeli bombardment after it lost contact with group in charge of them. Israeli miliary announces arrest of 700 Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants in Gaza Strip since late October. Euro-Med says “evidence mounts of widespread violations of mass arrests, forced disappearances, torture, ill-treatment and even killings” of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Joe Biden does not ask Israel for ceasefire in Gaza Strip The U.S. President Joe Biden confirmed that he did not ask the Israeli government for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip in a phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday. “I had a long talk with Netanyahu today [Saturday] and it was a private conversation,” Biden told reporters, answering a question that he “did not ask for a ceasefire”. Biden’s statement follows a vote in the UN Security Council on a resolution calling for allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza but stopped short of pushing a halt to Israel’s hostilities. To avoid a U.S. veto, UNSC members postponed the vote several times to tone down the language. Although the U.S. abstained, the resolution was described as “toothless” and “meaningless” as it allowed Israel’s to continue bombing the Gaza Strip. “The president emphasized the critical need to protect the civilian population including those supporting the humanitarian aid operation, and the importance of allowing civilians to move safely away from areas of ongoing fighting,” a White House statement said on Saturday. Displaced Palestinians are taking shelter in a UNRWA-affiliated Deir al-Balah school after fleeing their homes due to Israeli strikes, on December 23, 2023. (Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images) Displaced Palestinians are taking shelter in a UNRWA-affiliated Deir al-Balah school after fleeing their homes due to Israeli strikes, on December 23, 2023. (Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images) Israel pulls out forces from Gaza leaving immense damage On Sunday morning, Israeli forces stormed Al-Rafi’i school in Jabalia in north Gaza and arrested several people who were sheltering in the building while warplanes bombed the Jabalia refugee camp, Wafa news agency reported. Israeli forces withdrew from some areas in north Gaza on Friday leaving immense damage to roads and buildings. Al-Jazeera reported that Palestine roundabout was completely flattened after Israeli forces bombed and bulldozed the premises surrounding it. The roundabout in the middle of Gaza City was a site where Hamas fighters handed over some Israeli captives as part of the hostage exchange with Israel in November. Palestinian families coming back to visit their houses in the nearby Al-Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City after a month of Israeli control, were horrified by the destruction. Israeli forces also heavily bombed the Al-Jarn area in Jabalia on Saturday, destroying a number of houses and killing dozens of Palestinians while they were asleep in their flats. Wafa reported that ambulances could not reach the injured due to air strikes and debris scattered in the area. As of Saturday evening, dozens of Palestinians remained under the rubble in Jabalia. Israeli forces also withdrew from Tel Al-Zaatar in north Gaza, leaving mayhem and destruction of dozens of buildings in the neighborhood. On Saturday, Palestinian rescue teams recovered the bodies of 40 people in central Gaza who were killed in Israeli bombings on Friday. Israeli air strikes bombed several areas in Deir Al-Balah in the past 24 hours. In Rafah’s Canada refugee camp, Israeli air strikes bombed the home of Abu Al-Awf family. One Palestinian was killed and four injured in an Israeli bombing of the Al-Nabris family house in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said that Amir Rami Odeh, 13, and another Palestinian were killed by an Israeli drone while they were at the Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis. Wafa reported that Israeli warplanes bombed Ma’an area in Khan Younis, killing two people, and targeted several Palestinians near the Abu Hamid roundabout in the center of Khan Younis, killing at least three. On Saturday evening, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said that at least 20,258 martyrs were killed and 53,688 were injured in Israeli bombardment since October 7. Israeli minister vows continue war even if all captives released The Israeli military announced that 14 soldiers were killed in armed battles with Palestinian fighters in the Gaza Strip over the weekend. Avi Dichter, the Israeli Minister of Agriculture, said that Israeli forces should keep bombing Gaza from land, air, and sea as there was no “fair play” in this war. He said that Israel has two main goals: the return of almost 130 hostages in the Gaza Strip and destroying Hamas. However, he added that even in the case of releasing all captives, the Israeli military would continue the war. “The main goal is the return of the abductees, without the return of the abductees this war will not end,” Dichter said in an interview on Channel 14. “But if tomorrow the abductees return, the war will not end till achieving the goals,” he added. Israeli forces have been systemically destroying residential neighborhoods in north Gaza in Al-Shujaiya, Al-Rimal, and Beit Hanoun to create a buffer zone in the north and east of the Gaza Strip after Palestinian fighters killed several Israeli soldiers in urban battles in these areas. On Saturday evening, Israeli forces also attempted to invade the border area between the Gaza Strip and Egypt from Karm Abu Salem Crossing. Israel is planning to create a buffer zone by occupying a 14 km-long stretch, a move which could inflame ties with Egypt, in order to separate Gaza from the Sinai Peninsula and take direct control of the Rafah Crossing. On Saturday, Hamas’ Izz El-Din Al-Qassam Brigades fired rockets on the Israeli town of Ashkelon and said it feared that five Israeli captives were killed in Israeli bombardment after it lost contact with the group in charge of them. Hamas military spokesperson Abu Ubaida said that among them are the three hostages who pleaded last week with the Israeli government to release them and not let them “grow old” in captivity. “You have to release us from here. It does not matter at what cost. We don’t want to be casualties as a direct result of the IDF’s military airstrikes. Release us with no conditions,” one of the captives said in a video message released by Hamas last week. The resistance movement also announced on Saturday that it recycled two Israeli missiles that did not explode and used them to blow up five Israeli tanks in Jabalia, north of Gaza. In 2020, Hamas’ divers retrieved ammunition from the British warship HMS M15, which was sunk in 1917 by Germany near the Gaza coast, in hopes of using its munitions to arm rockets and produce explosives, though reports said the century-old ammunitions were unusable. Hamas also said that it targeted four Israeli jeeps in an ambush in Juhr Al-Diek, east of Gaza City, one of the first areas Israeli forces invaded in late October. The Israeli military announced that it arrested 700 Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants in the Gaza Strip since late October. Yoav Gallant issued a warning to Hamas’ leader, Yahya Al-Sinwar, over the weekend, saying that he could hear Israeli vehicles approaching. “One thing is clear, Yahya Sinwar now hears the IDF tractors above him, the air force bombs and the IDF’s actions. He will soon meet the barrels of our guns,” Gallant said. In total, 485 Israeli soldiers and officers were killed since the October 7 attack launched by Palestinian fighters on settlements and military bases near the Gaza Strip. According to official military figures, 152 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the land invasion began in late October. Palestinians light a candle near a statue showing a figure symbolizing the child Jesus lying amid the rubble in a cave, before Christmas at the Evangelical Lutheran Church, in Bethlehem, on December 08, 2023. (Photo: Mamoun Wazwaz/APA Images) Palestinians light a candle near a statue showing a figure symbolizing the child Jesus lying amid the rubble in a cave, before Christmas at the Evangelical Lutheran Church, in Bethlehem, on December 08, 2023. (Photo: Mamoun Wazwaz/APA Images) “The whole world is celebrating Christmas, but not Bethlehem” Since October 7, Israeli forces arrested 4,695 Palestinians from towns and villages of the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club. The club said that Aziz Dweik, the former Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker, is suffering from severe health conditions in the notorious Negev desert prison. Dweik 75, from occupied Jerusalem, was arrested on October 17. The Club added that Dweik suffers from “anemia and a lack of hemoglobin due to diabetes” and that he previously “underwent two catheterization operations and fragmentation of kidney stones.” His family has not been able to visit him since he was arrested and sentenced to six months of arbitrary administrative detention without charge or trial. On Saturday, the Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor urged UN bodies to immediately form “an international delegation to visit Israeli prisons and detention camps, where more than 8,000 Palestinian detainees are currently held.” Euro-Med added that “evidence mounts of widespread violations of mass arrests, forced disappearances, torture, ill-treatment and even killings” of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jail. It said that it estimates that Israeli authorities are currently detaining 1,200 to 1,400 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. “After their arrest, detainees have been subjected to systematic abuse such as being stripped of their clothes, handcuffed, blindfolded, severely beaten, harassed, sexually assaulted, deprived of sleep food, water, and basic hygiene, and degraded in front of cameras,” it said in a letter. Several horrific videos of hundreds of Palestinian civilians detained in the Gaza Strip have emerged in the past week, most of them filmed by Israeli forces as part of “psychological war” effort. Euro-Med added that “the number of Palestinians detained in administrative detention… has reached an unprecedented level, while the fate and whereabouts of many of them remain unknown.” Meanwhile, Israeli forces stormed several cities in the occupied West Bank, including Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm, as well as the cities of Nablus and Hebron. In the birthplace of Jesus, lights were not lit as celebrations of Christmas were effectively cancelled in Bethlehem in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Instead of a decorated tree in Manger Square opposite the Church of Nativity, the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Tourism organized an artwork piece called “Nativity under the Rubble” to symbolize the agony and destruction in Gaza. “This is a message to the whole world that the whole world is celebrating Christmas, but not Bethlehem. Bethlehem this year is celebrating Christmas in a different way with a message to the whole world that Palestine is suffering,” Rula Maaya, the Palestinian Minister of Tourism, said. Munther Isaac, the pastor of the Lutheran church, said: “This is the reality of Christmas for Palestinian children. If Jesus was born today, he’d be born under the rubble of Gaza.” Before you go - We need your help. Mainstream media’s wilful complicity in the genocide of Palestinian people is a reminder of just how vital our work at Mondoweiss is. This article and our extensive coverage since October 7 have been made possible by readers like you who donate to keep our reporting free and independent. With your support, we will continue covering the ongoing events in Gaza and across Palestine, as well as amplifying the Palestine movement worldwide. Together, we will make sure to keep reporting Palestinian stories, even when the rest of the world looks away. Support our critical work with a donation today. https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-79-bethlehem-cancels-christmas-celebrations-as-israel-continues-to-bomb-gaza/

Israeli officials spell out plans for ethnic cleansing of all Palestinians, as Gaza massacres continue 14 December 2023 Following the United Nations General Assembly vote Tuesday for a ceasefire in Gaza, the Israeli government has not only pledged to continue the war but made clear its plan for an onslaught against the Palestinians across the whole region. Its leaders know they have full license to do so, whatever cynical votes are cast at the UN or statements made to the press by its imperialist backers. On Wednesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen declared, “Israel will continue the war against Hamas, with or without international support.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told military commanders the war would “continue until the end, until the victory, until the elimination of Hamas” and that “nothing will stop us.” Palestinians look for the survivors of an Israeli strike in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, November 14, 2023 Around 18,800 people have already been killed in Gaza—over 300 in the last day—with thousands more still trapped, dead or alive, under rubble. As the World Socialist Web Site explained this week, “When the fascist Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu speaks of ‘Hamas’, he is speaking not of a political organization but of any will to resist on the part of the Palestinian population.” The implications of this objective for Palestinians everywhere were spelled out by Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, who commented Wednesday, “There will be no Palestinian state here. We will never allow another state to be established between Jordan and the [Mediterranean] sea.” This was, he said, “our country; the historical property of our ancestors.” Israel’s ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely reiterated the point in an interview with Sky News Thursday morning. Asked about the prospect of a future Palestinian state she replied, “Absolutely no. Israel knows today, and the world should know now that the Palestinians never wanted to have a state next to Israel.” She added snidely, “They want to have a state from the river to the sea. They are saying it loud and clear.” Hotovely detailed the single Israeli state “from the river to the sea” she and the Zionists want to create in a 2013 essay, “The Five Stage Plan for the Greater Land of Israel”. She argues that discussion of a two-state solution has “obstructed the most basic desire harboured by a majority of Israeli citizens—not to give up territory that was conquered through blood.” Her five steps involve declaring full Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank, adopting as a Basic Law the principle of the State of Israel being a Jewish nation state (achieved in 2018), making full Israeli citizenship conditional on service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and encouraging the migration of a further two million Jews to Israel to ensure a Jewish majority as Palestinian areas are annexed. An appeal from David North: Donate to the WSWS today Watch the video message from WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North. This would necessarily involve an eruption of violence from the IDF and its far-right vigilante allies. It is because the United States knows and supports this strategy that it has delayed the sale of 20,000 assault rifles to Israel—where they are set to be handed out among fascist settler groups—in an attempt to distance the White House from the worst of the crimes it authors. What the Israeli state is preparing is a permanent state of war against the entire Palestinian population of the Occupied Territories and Israel itself in pursuit of their expulsion. On Thursday, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told visiting US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan the war “will require a long period of time—it will last more than several months”. Earlier in the day the Knesset passed a wartime budget adding an additional $7 billion, formally to cover the costs of the Gaza war, though opposition members alleged the funds would be directed to the Settlements and National Projects Ministry. The IDF has already massively stepped up its aggression in the West Bank. An operation has been ongoing in the city of Jenin since Tuesday, with 12 Palestinians, including children, reported killed, 10 wounded and over 500 rounded up, with some needing medical treatment after “questioning”—roughly 100 are still detained. Raids and bulldozers have destroyed people’s homes and vehicles, and many families are now struggling to access food. IDF soldiers have provocatively delivered Jewish prayers from mosque loudspeakers, forcing their suspension from operations for giving the game away. As in Gaza, denying access to healthcare is a clear military objective. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) International announced Wednesday, “Yesterday, a man had to carry his 13-year-old son to Khalil Suleiman hospital because Israeli armoured cars blocked ambulances. The boy died soon after. “Yesterday and today, Israeli forces tear gassed the hospital in response to children throwing stones at armoured cars… “Today, after a patient was discharged from hospital and an ambulance attempted to take her home, the ambulance was fired upon, and the same patient was re-admitted with a gunshot wound.” In another post, the organisation recounted the shooting and killing of an unarmed teenager, Musa Ahmed Musa Khatib, inside the hospital. It described how “Israeli forces stopped ambulances taking discharged patients home outside Khalil Suleiman hospital. Paramedics and ambulance drivers were ordered out of the ambulances, stripped and made to kneel in the street.” The Jenin operation is now being expanded to local villages, while other raids have been carried out in Ramallah, Qalqilya, Nablus, Jericho, Bethlehem and Hebron. More than 280 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since October 7, among them 69 children, and at least 4,400 detained. Attacks in the West Bank replicate the programme being carried out with unrestrained savagery in Gaza, once again under the cover of a telecommunications blackout. The Gaza Health Ministry reported Thursday that IDF forces occupying the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the north of the strip prevented medical staff from providing emergency care, leading to the deaths of two people. Soldiers reportedly stopped medical staff from moving between departments, and cut off food, electricity and water, including to 12 infants in the neonatal department. Staff and patients were later forcibly evacuated to the hospital yard. Across Gaza, just 11 out of 36 hospitals are still functioning at all, according to the World Health Organization, and nine out of 28 primary health clinics. The UN has recorded 364 attacks on healthcare facilities in the Strip since October 7, and 300 health ministry staff killed. The destruction of healthcare infrastructure prepares the way for a catastrophic spread of disease over winter, with flooding that brings with it water borne diseases and hypothermia already a major problem. “The perfect storm for disease has begun,” said UNICEF chief spokesperson James Elder. Viruses and bacteria will spread like wildfire amid the overcrowded, squalid and starved conditions Israel has forced the population of Gaza into. According to the UN, over half of its people are now sheltering in the Rafah governate in the far south, in a tent mega-slum which has now been inundated with floodwater. In the city of Deir al-Balah further north, images show ambulance workers wading up to their waist in water trying to rescue the injured. UN Palestinian refugee chief Philippe Lazzarini described the situation in Rafah: “It lacks infrastructure and all the basics. It is not a place to hold more than one million people. One warehouse is home to 30,000 people. Families live in tiny spaces only separated by blankets and plastic sheeting.” Like the rest of the Strip, Rafah is under regular bombardment, despite the IDF declaring it a safe zone. On Wednesday night, an enormous airstrike obliterated two houses in the city, killing 26 people at a stroke. Referring to the lack of aid entering Gaza and the increasing difficulty in distributing it, Lazzarini said people were “desperate and hungry.” He added, “Gaza is not habitable as a place anymore.” While continuing its genocidal assault, Israel and its allies are mounting provocations against Lebanon, Syria and Iran in the hope of a wider war in which every Palestinian can be treated as an enemy combatant. Iranian Defence Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani warned Thursday of “extraordinary problems” if plans go ahead for a US-led military task force in the Red Sea, on the pretext of Houthi rebel attacks on shipping. NBC reported of the “worries grow[ing]” in Lebanon “that Netanyahu won’t stop with Gaza.” Join the fight for socialism https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/12/14/fzck-d14.html

Casualties Leila WarahNovember 29, 2023 A tearful Palestinian boy hugs his friends and family after being released from Israeli prison in the Israel-Hamas hostage exchange agreement. A Palestinian child prisoner is welcomed by friends and family after being released from an Israeli jail, as part of a hostage swap deal between Hamas and Israel. 150 Palestinians women and children were released as part of the exchange, while 60 Israelis were released from Hamas captivity in Gaza. (APA Images) 15,000+ killed*, including 6,150 children, and 33,000 wounded in the Gaza Strip. 240 Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem Israel revises its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,200 *This figure has been confirmed by the government media office in Gaza. However, due to breakdowns in communication networks within the Gaza Strip (particularly in northern Gaza), the Gaza Ministry of Health has not been able to regularly update its tolls. Some rights groups put the death toll number closer to 20,000. Key developments 8-year-old Adam Samer Al-Ghoul and 15-year-old Basil Suleiman Abu Al-Wafa were shot dead by Israeli forces during a large-scale raid in Jenin, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the West Bank. Israel is looking into another extension on the truce, which was expected to end on Wednesday, reported the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation. A source close to Hamas said the group is willing to extend the truce by an additional four days, reported AFP news agency. OCHA: The amount of aid entering Gaza is still “insufficient to meet the extensive needs.” Israel’s former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak is calling for the removal of Netanyahu, calling him “unfit to lead” as he “can’t manage” the complexity of the current situation in the country, and he “must go before the consequences of his flaws become irreversible.” Israel is still denying Palestinians from returning to their homes in the north of Gaza or from visiting the sea in certain parts of the Strip. Following the release of 12 captives, including 10 Israelis from Gaza, thirty Palestinian prisoners were freed and returned to their homes in occupied East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank on Tuesday as part of the fifth prisoner swap. On Tuesday, the US said they airlifted 54,000 pounds of humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza. Following Elon Musk’s visit to Israel on Monday, Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan invited him to Gaza so he could “see the scale of the massacres.” Every day in Gaza, where 55% of the besieged enclave’s exports are agricultural products, they lose $1.6m in farm production as a result of Israeli bombardment, says the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. Jordan cancels Christmas festivities in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, says the Jordan Council of Church Leaders. The Palestinian city of Bethlehem and the birthplace of Jesus Christ has also announced its plans to cancel Christmas celebrations in the city. Israel mulls over potential extension of truce While many of the people in Gaza are spending Wednesday, the last day of the temporary truce, trying to collect basic necessities like food and cooking oil in preparation for the Israeli bombardment to resume, political leaders are discussing yet another extension. Under the four-day truce deal, which began on Friday and has already been extended by two more days, Hamas has released 60 of about 240 captives from the Gaza Strip, and Israel has released 180 Palestinian political prisoners, all women and children. Another round of hostage exchanges is expected to take place on Wednesday evening. Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, says the group has been working “very hard” with the mediating countries to “reach a compromise” and “extend the ceasefire.” Hamas’s leadership was ready to enter deep negotiations about “a comprehensive deal” that would see the release of all the Palestinian prisoners for all the captives in Gaza, Hamad told Al Jazeera. On Wednesday, US lawmaker Rashida Tlaib similarly called for the release of all Palestinian political prisoners and captives held inside Gaza. “Every innocent civilian should be released and reunited with their family, no matter their faith or ethnicity,” she said, “Failure to do so demonstrates their refusal to view Palestinians as equal human beings who deserve the same rights, freedom and human dignity.” Within Israel, families of Israeli hostages have been for weeks protesting for their government to do more to secure the release of their relatives in Gaza, including a permanent ceasefire and an “all for all exchange”, which would see the release of all Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, who now number over 8,000, in exchange for the release of all Israeli captives, both soldiers and civilians. However, far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow Israeli forces to resume fighting in Gaza to “crush Hamas” in a post on x. ‘Everywhere you look, there is a child in need’ The humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues to worsen as people die from a lack of medical care, risks of infection skyrocket, and nearly 80% of the population has been left homeless. Despite the increase of supplies entering Gaza since the ‘humanitarian pause’ began, the volume of incoming commodities is insufficient to meet the extensive needs, says the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Aid groups are calling for the immediate re-opening of more crossing points, including for the entry of commercial goods. “Everywhere you turn is a child incredibly in need,” UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told Al Jazeera while standing outside the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. “Multiple children with amputations, little boys and little girls who six, seven weeks ago were playing football with their friends.” Elder praised the “incredible, brave, tireless health workers who are working around the clock” to tend “to every child they can.” However, “doctors are having to make decisions they shouldn’t have to make,” he said. “It will only be enough if these nail-biting pauses are extended into a ceasefire, into a lasting peace. We cannot possibly think that the destruction of Gaza and the killing of children is going to create peace in the region. That’s utterly nonsensical,” Elder concluded. In a video shared by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), plastic and reconstructive surgeon Hafez Abukhussa, based in Khan Younis, says he has been working “non-stop” since October 7. “Can you imagine receiving 100 to 200 patients a day, sometimes 500 patients a day?” he asked, adding that most of his patients are women and children. Despite the pressure and shortage of supplies at the hospital in Khan Yunis, Abukhussa said: “We know we are in danger at any time, but we will keep doing the same.” “We are calling for the increase of fuel supplies to the strip,” EU Commissioner Janez Lenarcic told journalists in Brussels. “The humanitarian access should be based on the needs and not on some restrictions.” “The ceasefire must be extended indefinitely,” Lenarcic said. Calls for ceasefire swell In light of the deteriorating circumstances in Gaza and continued disapproval from the American public about the role the US is playing in Israel’s war on Gaza, the US government narrative is ever so slightly shifting. Many social media users speculated that US President Joe Biden had indirectly called for an end to the war in a carefully crafted social media post on X on Wednesday. “Hamas unleashed a terrorist attack because they fear nothing more than Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in peace. To continue down the path of terror, violence, killing, and war is to give Hamas what they seek,” said Biden. “We can’t do that,” continued Biden, who has previously refused to call for a lasting ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. On Tuesday, US Senator Peter Welch was the second senator to call for a ceasefire and an end to the war, adding to the mounting pressure on Biden to call for a permanent ceasefire. “I fully support Israel’s right to pursue those who ordered and carried out the attacks of October 7. But Israel must not do so in a way that leads to massive civilian casualties and the large-scale destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza. This will only incite more enemies against Israel and the US,” Welch said in a statement calling for indefinite ceasefire. Similarly, Sheikha Alya Ahmed Saif Al Thani, the Qatari ambassador said she hopes “that this humanitarian truce will lead to a sustained and durable ceasefire that will put a stop to the war machine and the bloodshed,” while addressing the UN General Assembly. ‘For the Israeli government, the priority is not security’ Political analyst Mohammed Cherkaoui told Al Jazeera the Netanyahu government has not been able to achieve any of its military objectives but is still looking for a “zero-sum victory” against Hamas. “This is the debate in Israel now. After two months, nothing has materialized except massive Palestinian deaths. But there is zero gain in terms of a victory for Israel,” Cherkaoui, a professor of conflict resolution and diplomacy at George Mason University, continued. Similarly, Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan stated that Israel has “failed miserably” both militarily and politically in Gaza and that none of the state’s objectives have been reached, reported Al Jazeera. He also claimed that the number of Israeli soldiers killed and wounded during the ground invasion was higher than the Israeli military claims. When the fighting resumes, “enemy’s losses” will increase in the coming days, warned Hamdan. Addressing the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour called on the UN to reaffirm its “permanent responsibility towards the question of Palestine” and for the end of the “grave and historic injustice [Palestinians] have borne for over 75 years, since the start of the Nakba”. “For the Israeli government, the priority is not security; it is the destruction of the Palestinian nation,” Mansour added. Two children killed in large-scale military raid in Jenin As the temporary truce between Hamas and Israel in Gaza continues, Israeli forces have continued their violent attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Overnight on Tuesday and well into Wednesday, Israeli forces conducted a “massive arrest campaign” on Jenin Refugee camp, forcing citizens in the Damj neighborhood from their homes amid violent confrontations, reported Wafa news agency. So far, at least two children have been killed during the violent military incursion, 8-year-old Adam Samer Al-Ghoul and 15-year-old Basil Suleiman Abu Al-Wafa. CCTV footage released of the moment 8-year-old Adam was killed show the young boy turning and running away along with some other boys, when he is shot down with his back turned, before being dragged out of the street by another boy. Adam was reportedly shot in the head. Israeli forces also prevented an ambulance from evacuating an injured man in Jenin who was shot by Israeli forces for over 40 minutes before arresting him. Christos Christou, the international president of Doctors Without Borders, was at Khalil Suleiman Hospital in Jenin when Israeli forces launched a large-scale raid on the city. “It has already been two-and-a-half hours that we are trapped in our hospital here in Jenin,” Christou said in a video posted on x. “There is no way for any of the injured patients to reach the hospital and there is no way for us to reach these people,” he added that Israeli military vehicles blocked the entrances to the hospital and have prevented ambulances from leaving. “Two Palestinians died of wounds while ambulances could not reach them,” he said; it is unclear if he was referring to the two young boys reported killed by the Ministry of Health. The Palestinian Red Crescent (PRCS) emergency services said that the Israeli army arrested an injured Palestinian from inside a PRCS ambulance at the entrance of Jenin Governmental Hospital. A message from Hisham Awartani Hisham Awartani, one of the three Palestinian university students who were shot and injured in Vermont in an apparent hate crime, released a statement saying that the “hideous crime” did not happen in a vacuum, calling attention to the worsening situation in the West Bank. “I am but one casualty in a much wider conflict,” he said in his statement, which was read at a vigil at Brown University, where he studies. “Had I been shot in the West Bank, where I grew up, the medical services which saved my life here would have likely been withheld by the Israeli army. The soldier who would have shot me would go home and never be convicted,” said Awartani, who is still in hospital, “Any attempt like this is horrific, be it here or in Palestine.” Before you go – we need your support At Mondoweiss, we understand the power of telling Palestinian stories. For 17 years, we have pushed back when the mainstream media published lies or echoed politicians’ hateful rhetoric. Now, Palestinian voices are more important than ever. Our traffic has increased ten times since October 7, and we need your help to cover our increased expenses. Support our journalists with a donation today. https://mondoweiss.net/2023/11/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-54-two-children-killed-by-israeli-forces-in-jenin-amid-discussions-of-truce-extension/

‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 52: Palestinians in Gaza brace for resumption of Israeli attacks as truce reaches final day International leaders call for extending the truce as the fourth and final round of captive exchanges is set to take place. Palestinians in Gaza are still not able to count their dead as the majority of hospitals remain out of service. Mustafa Abu SneinehNovember 27, 2023 Palestinian prisoner Khalil Zama' hugs a relative after being released from an Israeli jail in exchange for Israeli captives released by Hamas from the Gaza Strip, at his home in Halhul village near Hebron in the occupied West Bank on November 27, 2023. (Photo: Mamoun Wazwaz/APA Images) Palestinian prisoner Khalil Zama’ hugs a relative after being released from an Israeli jail in exchange for Israeli captives released by Hamas from the Gaza Strip, at his home in Halhul village near Hebron in the occupied West Bank on November 27, 2023. (Photo: Mamoun Wazwaz/APA Images) Casualties 15,000+ killed*, including 6,150 children, and 33,000 wounded in Gaza Strip. 235 Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem Israel revises its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,200 *This figure is based on an estimate as reported by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa on October 27. Due to breakdowns in communication networks within the Gaza Strip (particularly in northern Gaza), the Gaza Ministry of Health has not been able to regularly update its tolls. Key Developments Between Friday and Sunday evening, 117 Palestinians were released from Israeli jails, all of them women and children. Hamas released 58 captives, 39 Israelis, 17 Thai citizens, an Israeli-Russian, and a Filipino national. Netanyahu said that the truce would be extended a day for every ten additional captives released by Hamas. Qatari Prime Minister said that an extension of the truce would allow Hamas fighters to locate more Israeli captives to be released. Hamas said in a statement that it released Roni Krivo, a Russian-Israeli citizen, in appreciation of Moscow’s support for the Palestinian cause. On Sunday evening, 39 Palestinians were released from Israeli jails, all of them under the age of 18 years old. Mohammed Zaqout, the general manager of hospitals in Gaza, told Al-Jazeera that hospitals in northern Gaza are short of fuel and have not received any during the truce. The Israeli army spokesperson said that 80 out of the 184 remaining captives being held by Hamas have dual citizenship. Palestinians, holding jerry cans, wait in front of a gas station to get gasoline and diesel on the third day of the Gaza truce in Rafah. (Photo: © Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa via ZUMA Press APAimages) Palestinians, holding jerry cans, wait in front of a gas station to get gasoline and diesel on the third day of the Gaza truce in Rafah. (Photo: © Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa via ZUMA Press APAimages) Israeli Prime Minister vows to continue the war on Gaza The temporary truce in the Gaza Strip between Israeli forces and Palestinian resistance fighters is approaching its end on Monday night. Israel is expected to carry on its airstrikes and ground incursion once the truce ends. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday evening to continue the war until achieving the three goals of releasing all captives, destroying Hamas, and ensuring Gaza does not impose a “threat” to Israel. Netanyahu said that the truce would be extended a day for every ten additional captives released by Hamas. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, whose country hosts a Hamas office, told the Financial Times that an extension of the truce would allow Hamas to locate more captives to release. “We don’t yet have any clear information how many they can find because… one of the purposes [of the pause] is they [Hamas] will have time to search for the rest of the missing people,” al-Thani said. Between Friday and Sunday evening, 117 Palestinians were released from Israeli jails, all of them women and children. Hamas released 58 captives, 39 Israelis, 17 Thai citizens, an Israeli-Russian, and a Filipino national. U.S. President Joe Biden said early on that he was “hopeful” the truce would continue. “My expectation and hope is that as we move forward, the rest of the Arab world and the region is also putting pressure on all sides to slow this down, to bring this to an end as quickly as we can,” Biden said on Friday. A four-year-old dual Israeli-American citizen whose father was killed in the October 7 attack is expected to be released in the fourth patch of captives held by Hamas on Monday. 39 Palestinians and 13 Israeli nationals released On Sunday evening, Hamas released the third round of captives, which included 13 Israeli nationals, two Thais, and one Russian-Israeli citizen. The handing over of the captives to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) took place in the center of Gaza City, which saw immense fighting between Israeli forces and resistance fighters. Al-Jazeera reported that Hamas aimed to show its force in front of cameras during the captives’ release in the northern Gaza Strip, an area the Israeli army believed to be controlling vast parts of it. Some of the fighters were mounting the infamous white pickup trucks used during the October 7 surprise attack on settlements and army bases. Hamas said in a statement that it released Roni Krivo, a Russian-Israeli citizen, in appreciation of Moscow’s support for the Palestinian cause. “In response to the efforts of Russian President Vladimir Putin and in appreciation of the Russian position in support of the Palestinian cause, the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, released one of the detainees of the Russian citizenship,” it said in a statement on Sunday. On Sunday evening, 39 Palestinians were released from Israeli jails, all of them under the age of 18 years old. Twenty-one were from occupied Jerusalem, and the rest from Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jericho, Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarm, Qalqilya, and one from Rahah town south of Gaza Strip. Wafa news agency reported that the underage prisoners were transported from Ofer military prisons to the towns of Ramallah and Beitunia, where they were welcomed by thousands of Palestinians. However, prisoners from Jerusalem were handed to one member of their families at Al-Moskobiya detention and interrogation center. Any scenes of celebration were banned and subject to fine and potential arrest. Wadi Hilweh Information Center, which documents Israeli violations in Jerusalem, posted footage of the release of a Palestinian child prisoner transported by an Israeli security team in a civilian vehicle and handed to his father in the middle of the night, ensuring no celebration or gathering took place. Wafa reported that Israeli forces fired tear gas, live and rubber-coated metal bullets at journalists and families who gathered near Ofer to accompany the prisoners’ bus. Several people, including a journalist, were wounded. A full list of the names of prisoners released on Sunday were published by Wafa. According to the temporary truce terms, 33 Palestinian prisoners and 11 Israelis are expected to be released on Monday, bringing the total to 50 Israelis and 150 Palestinians, one captive for every three prisoners. Majority of hospitals in Gaza are out of service as Palestinians struggle to count their dead Health officials in the Gaza Strip warned that hospitals are struggling to cope as Israeli bombardment inflicted severe damages to Al-Shifa’ and the Indonesian hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip. Four days of relative calm were not enough to recover nor to count the killed and injured in the Gaza genocide during which Israel has dropped the equivalent of two nuclear bombs since October 7. On Monday, the death toll in the Gaza Strip was not updated by the Ministry of Health. An estimate published by Wafa said at least 15,000 people were killed and 32,000 wounded. Al-Jazeera reported on Monday morning that piles of bodies have accumulated in Al-Quds and Al-Rantisi hospitals. Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, of whom 1.7 million were internally displaced, are still grasping the sheer destruction caused by the Israeli bombardment of their properties. On Sunday, Israel announced that it has “seized” a total sum of $1.3 million from “Hamas homes” in Gaza and deposited it in the state coffers. Palestinians described the action as theft and shared stories of Israeli soldiers seizing musical instruments and jewelry and showing them off on social media. On Monday, Israeli forces shot at people near Al-Maghazi refugee camp, who went back to inspect their houses. Mohammed Zaqout, the general manager of hospitals in Gaza, told Al-Jazeera that hospitals in northern Gaza are short of fuel and have not received any during the truce. Zaqout said that three hospitals remain working in northern and central Gaza – Ahli Arab Hospital, Kamal Adwan Hospital, and al-Awdah Hospital. He added that “Israel destroyed 21 private and 13 governmental hospitals.” The Israeli army spokesperson said on Monday that 1,200 Israelis have been killed, including 392 soldiers, since October 7, and 9,000 have been injured. He added that 80 out of the 184 remaining captives being held by Hamas have dual citizenship. On Sunday, Hamas announced the names of some of its senior leaders who were killed fighting the Israeli occupation forces in Gaza, including Ahmed al-Ghandour, a member of the Military Council and commander of the Northern Gaza Strip Brigade . Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, called for an extension to the truce which “would allow for much-needed relief to the people of Gaza and the release of more hostages.” Dozens of Palestinians arrested in the West Bank While Israeli jailers were finishing the papers to release 39 Palestinian children on Sunday evening, Israeli forces were at work arresting 60 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Twenty-nine people were arrested in Hebron, and the others were detained from Ramallah, Jenin, Nablus, Bethlehem, and the village of Jaba. The Commission for Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs said that since October 7, Israel has arrested 3,260 Palestinians, most of them sentenced to various lengths of administrative detention, a policy used to indefinitely detain Palestinians without charge or trial. Currently, there are 7,000 Palestinian prisoners, 200 of whom are children. Since October 7, six prisoners have died inside Israeli jails, and 41 journalists remain in detention. Israeli forces and settlers have killed 235 Palestinians during assaults or night raids of towns and villages in the occupied West Bank. In a new report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says more Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by Israeli forces in the last six weeks, since October 7, than in any entire year since 2005. Israeli far-right Finance Minister dedicates millions of dollars to expanding settlements and arming settlers Josep Borrell, the EU’s High Representative for foreign affairs and security policy, lambasted the Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich following his announcement of plans of settlement expansion and arming settlers. “I’m appalled to learn that in the middle of a war, the Israeli [government] is poised to commit new funds to build more illegal settlements. This is not self-defence and will not make Israel safer. The settlements are grave [International Human Law] breach, and they are Israel’s greatest security liability,” Borrell wrote on the X platform. Smotrich presented the 2023 budget this week, in which he dedicated a big chunk of it to the war on Gaza Strip, including $4.5 billion to defense and $3.6 billion to civilian war needs. He also dedicated over $190 million to further the West Bank settlement project, and $530 million to the National Security Ministry, headed by Itamar Ben-Gvir, to arm settlers in the occupied West Bank and set up teams of armed militias and police. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s supplementary budget request to be spent in the final month of 2023. Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that Smotrich’s budget was “a disregard for international and American positions in support of the two-state solution.” “Approving this proposal indicates Israeli persistence in accelerating the pace of the annexation of the occupied West Bank… exploiting the genocidal war against the Gaza Strip to create new facts on the ground in the occupied West Bank,” the ministry said. Borrel wrote in a column in the Financial Times that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should end. “Our political myopia, to think this conflict was manageable by paying lip service to the two-state solution and then leaving it to fester, must end, he wrote. He added that leaving the conflict to simmer without fixing it “may trigger displacement of people, including towards Europe, and exacerbate the risk of terrorism and intercommunity tensions.” He concluded that “Israel’s own security requires the creation of a Palestinian state in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.” Before you go – we need your support At Mondoweiss, we understand the power of telling Palestinian stories. For 17 years, we have pushed back when the mainstream media published lies or echoed politicians’ hateful rhetoric. Now, Palestinian voices are more important than ever. Our traffic has increased ten times since October 7, and we need your help to cover our increased expenses. Support our journalists with a donation today. https://mondoweiss.net/2023/11/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-52-palestinians-in-gaza-brace-for-resumption-of-israeli-attacks-as-truce-reaches-final-day/

‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 46: Israeli tanks besiege Indonesian Hospital as bombardment of Gaza continues Israeli forces besiege Indonesian Hospital in north Gaza. Meanwhile, two Lebanese journalists were killed by Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, and Palestinian prisoners continue to face humiliation, abuse and torture inside Israeli prisons. Mustafa Abu SneinehNovember 21, 2023 A young Palestinian boy holds the shrouded body of a Palestinian infant who was killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. (APA Images) During prayers for the dead outside a hospital in the central Gaza Strip city of Deir al-Balah, a young Palestinian boy holds the shrouded body of an infant killed in an Israeli airstrike. (Photo: APA Images). Casualties 12,700 killed*, including 5,350 children, and 32,850 wounded in Gaza Strip. 216 Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem Israel revises its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,200 *This figure covers the casualties from October 7 to November 20. Due to breakdowns in communication networks within the Gaza Strip (particularly in northern Gaza), the Gaza Ministry of Health has not been able to regularly update its tolls. Key Developments At least 100 wounded and patients were evacuated from the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza City to the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis on Monday evening, in coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). There are at least 700 patients and medical staff are trapped in the Indonesian Hospital, which Israel claims has Hamas tunnels underneath it. The claims mirror previous allegations Israel made about Al-Shifa Hospital that it has yet to provide concrete evidence of. The World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement that it was ‘appalled’ by the Israeli attack on the Indonesian Hospital which killed at least 12 people, and injured tens of others. Two Lebanese journalists, Rabih Maamari and Farah Omar, of Al-Mayadeen television network were killed in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah launched four Burkan short-range ballistic missiles on the Israeli Branit Barracks, which houses the Galilee Division 91, inflicting immense damages. The total number of Israeli soldiers killed in the Gaza Strip has risen to at least 70 since Israel launched the ground incursion on October 28th. However, some reports suggest that the military casualties could be higher. Hamas’ armed wing, Izz El-Din Al-Qassam, launched rockets into Tel Aviv, the largest barrage since October 7, and targeted the Reim military base near the Gaza Strip. Hamas Spokesman Abu Obaida: Hamas fighters have hit 60 Israeli military vehicles, including tanks and 10 armoured personnel carriers since Saturday, November 18th. Abu Obaida: Israel bombed its destroyed military vehicles from the air when it could not withdraw it. Al Jazeera report: Israeli forces abuse, harass Palestinian prisoners and detainees Israel has forced 255 Palestinian shops in the town of Huwwara, near Nablus, to close for the past 46 days. Israeli forces besiege the Indonesian Hospital On the 46th day of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, which has so far killed close to 13,000 Palestinians, nearly half of them children, Israeli forces continued the unabated targeting of hospitals, schools and displaced civilians in Gaza. Following the siege, raid and forced evacuation last week of Al-Shifa Hospital, west of Gaza City, Israeli forces moved to target the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahi in northern Gaza. On Monday evening, at least 12 people were killed when Israeli artillery bombed the second floor of the hospital. There are at least 700 patients and medical staff inside the hospital who are in talks with the ICRC to transfer them to Al-Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, as Israeli tanks surround the facility, and were stationed 200 meters away on Monday evening. “The Indonesian Hospital staff are insisting they will stay to treat the wounded,” Ashraf Al-Qudra, Gaza’s Health Ministry spokesperson told Al-Jazeera. Wafa news agency reported that 100 wounded and sick patients were evacuated from the Indonesian Hospital to Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday evening, in coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Israeli forces are claiming that Hamas has tunnels underneath the Indonesian Hospital, which was opened in 2016 following an $8 million donation from Indonesian citizens and groups such as the Indonesian Red Cross Society. Israel used similar claims to justify the siege, raid and forced evacuation of Palestinians from Al-Shifa Hospital, west of Gaza City, last week. While the Israeli army has released a number of videos purporting to show the tunnels around Al-Shifa, Israel has yet to provide any evidence of the “Hamas command centre” underneath the hospital. The World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement that it was “appalled” by the Israeli attack on the Indonesian Hospital that killed at least 12 people, and injured tens of others. “Health workers and civilians should never have to be exposed to such horror, and especially while inside a hospital,” the WHO said. “No one has been allowed to enter or leave the hospital: there have been reports of shooting towards those attempting to leave but no injuries or fatalities thus far,” it added. The Indonesian Hospital faced power outages due to the lack of fuel to generate electricity, and is facing a shortage of water and medical supplies. “WHO has recorded 335 attacks on health care in the occupied Palestinian territory since 7 October, including 164 attacks in the Gaza Strip and 171 attacks in the West Bank. There were also 33 attacks on health care in Israel during the violent events of October 7,” WHO added. Israeli bombardment continues, targeting refugee camp, schools On Tuesday Israel launched an airstrike on a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, killing at least 20 people. Journalists Alaa Taher Al-Hasanat and Ayat Khadura were killed when their houses were bombed in Gaza City and in Beit Lahia. Wafa said that dozens were killed and injured on Tuesday morning when a school in the Al-Fallujah area and homes in Beit Lahia were targeted. The Hafsa School in the Al-Fallujah, west of Jabalia, was housing displaced Palestinians, several of whom were killed and injured in the strike. At least nine homes were hit in Beit Lahia as well, and Israeli bombing targeted communications towers in Gaza City, disrupting internet and phone services. Kamal Adwan Hospital announced the death of 80 people killed in airstrikes on Tuesday morning in areas north of Gaza City. On Monday evening, Gaza’s Ministry of Health announced that 12,700 Palestinian martyrs were killed, including 5,350 children, 3,250 women, and 695 elderly people, and 32,850 were injured since Israel launched air strikes and bombardment assaults on October 7. However, the death toll is higher as hundreds of Palestinians are reported missing or trapped under the rubble, and could not be rescued by paramedics and civil defence units. Until November 15, there were 4,500 reported missing persons, 3,500 of them children, who are presumed to be trapped or dead under the rubble of residential buildings bombed by Israeli airstrikes. Israeli children sing “annihilate everyone” in Gaza goes viral On Sunday November 19th, a day prior to the UN World Children’s Day , the Hebrew-language public broadcaster in Israel, Kan News, released a song of Israeli children celebrating the “annihilation of everyone” in Gaza Strip. Footage of soldiers and Gaza destruction appeared in the video while children were singing: “In another year there will be nothing there. And we will safely return to our homes.” “Within a year we will annihilate everyone. And then we will return to plow our fields.” The song sparked outrage on social media, as people pointed out the reality that thousands of Gazan children have been killed, injured, and have lost their families and homes over the past six weeks. Kan News later removed the song, dubbed Friendship Song 2023, from its website and platforms. Lebanon: Israel kills two journalists, Hezbollah targets military barracks Three people, two of them Lebanese journalists Rabih Maamari and Farah Omar of Al-Mayadeen television network, were killed in an Israeli strike on southern Lebanon on Tuesday around noon local time. Last week, Israel banned Al-Mayadeen from reporting from 1948 Palestine,the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, charging the broadcaster with “harming the security of the state of Israel and its citizens,” and of being an “abettor of the terrorist organisation Hezbollah.” Maamari and Omar were killed near Tayr Harfa village, almost two kilometres away from north of occupied Palestine. “Al-Mayadeen mourns the loss of its martyrs, correspondent Farah Omar and cameraman Rabih Al-Me’mari, who were targeted by a cowardly Israeli attack in South Lebanon,” the channel said in a statement. An hour later, four Lebanese citizens were also killed in an Israeli bombing on a vehicle in the Shaytiya area. In total, seven people were killed Tuesday afternoon. Last week, Lebanese media crews were targeted with rocket shells near the border town of Yaroun, injuring Al-Jazeera photographer Issam Mawasi. On October 13th, the Lebanese photojournalist Issam Abdullah was killed, and five others were injured after being bombed by Israel near the town of Alma Al-Shaab in southern Lebanon. Israel has deployed 100,000 soldiers north of occupied Palestine along the border with Lebanon. Fire exchanges between the Israeli army and Hezbollah fighters have intensified in the past week. On Monday, Hezbollah launched four Burkan short-range ballistic missiles on the Israeli Branit Barracks, which houses the Galilee Division 91, inflicting damages. Israel fired into several villages in southern Lebanon over the past 24 hours, including Khiam, the outskirts of Alma al-Shaab, Jabal al-Labouneh, Jabal al-Alam, and of Kafr Kila. On Monday, it hit the Church of Saint George in the town of Yaroun, in Bint Jbeil district. Since October 8, Hezbollah has been attacking Israel with missiles, drones, and targeting soldiers along the border. At least a dozen attacks have been recorded daily in the past days, with Hezbollah publishing videos documenting it. Gaza ground invasion: Hamas claims hits to Israeli military, death toll of Israeli soldiers rises On Tuesday, the total number of Israeli soldiers killed in the Gaza Strip rose to 70, since the launch of the ground incursion on October 28th. However, some reports suggest that the military casualties could be higher. Israel’s Ministry of Defense’s directors of military cemeteries in Kiryat Shaul and Mount Herzl told Channel 10 on Sunday that they have buried 50 soldiers in 48 hours, and the load of work to open graves has been “unprecedented”. On Monday, Hamas’ armed wing, Izz El-Din Al-Qassam, launched rockets into Tel Aviv, the largest barrage since October 7th. It also targeted the Reim military base near the Gaza Strip. In an audio statement, Al-Qassam’s spokesperson, Abu Obaida, said that resistance fighters had hit 60 Israeli military vehicles, including tanks and 10 armoured personnel carriers, in the past 72 hours alone. Al-Qassam released a video compilation of fighters launching 105mm Al-Yaseen anti-tank shells from a close range, including a shot of fighters planting an explosive on the body of an Israeli Merkava tank. The video also showed Israeli soldiers’ torn and burned clothes after being targeted by Hamas. Abu Obaida said that fighters ambushed Israeli tanks and forces in several areas in Gaza City. “One of our most prominent operations was an ambush against foot forces southwest of Gaza City last Saturday, where our mujahideen targeted a foot force followed by a Zionist bulldozer with anti-personnel devices, causing certain injuries and hearing the screams of enemy soldiers and their calls for help,” Abu Obaida said. “[We] targeted a Zionist troop carrier with an Al-Yaseen shell, hitting it directly, and three soldiers got out of it. Our mujahideen attacked them with an anti-personnel missile. They killed some of them, then the Qassam force lay in wait in the vicinity of the operation, waiting for the Zionist rescue force, which had already arrived, and our fighters clashed with them face to face, inflicting a large number of no less than seven dead, and our mujahideen returned to their bases safely,” he added. He also said that Israel bombed its destroyed military vehicles from the air when it could not withdraw them from the Strip. Also on Monday, the Yemeni Houthi rebels released footage of their fighters seizing a cargo ship in the southern Red Sea as it sailed from Turkey to India. The Houthis landed with a helicopter on the Galaxy Leader, which is reportedly partially owned by Israeli businessman Rami Ungar. “If the US and Israel stop and cease killing the Palestinians in Gaza and allow in water, medicine and food, then they could talk about the Israeli ship. What the [Yemeni] navy did is consistent with the principle of reciprocity,” said Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of the Supreme Political Council in Yemen. Israeli jailers force Palestinian prisoners to kiss the flag and listen to the national anthem In the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, 216 Palestinians were killed and 2,800 have been injured since October 7th, according to the Ministry of Health. Muhammad Ali Saeed Owais, 25, succumbed to his wounds on Monday evening after he was shot and injured on November 9th during an Israeli raid of the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank. Israeli forces arrested 51 Palestinians from Jenin, Jerusalem, Ramallah, Jericho, Nablus, Bethlehem, and Hebron. Wafa published the list of names of those arrested in the past 24 hours. Israel is subjecting Palestinian prisoners and detainees to a “psychological torture”, according to an Al-Jazeera report. One of the detainees told Al-Jazeera that he was forced to kiss the Israeli flag during his arrest at Megiddo prison. He was forced to listen to the Israeli national anthem, and to say “the State of Israel is Strong”. Israeli jailers will beat those who refuse to obey their orders. Other measures taken was the threat of sexual harassment, stripping the prisoner naked, beating, cutting off the electricity, and providing poor quality meals. Six Palestinians have died inside Israeli jails since October 7. Before you go – we need your support At Mondoweiss, we understand the power of telling Palestinian stories. For 17 years, we have pushed back when the mainstream media published lies or echoed politicians’ hateful rhetoric. Now, Palestinian voices are more important than ever. Our traffic has increased ten times since October 7, and we need your help to cover our increased expenses. Support our journalists with a donation today. https://mondoweiss.net/2023/11/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-46-israeli-tanks-besiege-indonesian-hospital-as-bombardment-of-gaza-continues/