Duas for Palestine and Gaza in English With Transliteration and Translation
During these times, we should be more spiritually resilient and increase our ibadah, and one of the simplest forms of ibadah is by reciting duas or supplication.

Duas for Palestine and Gaza in English

dua for palestine

It has been 75 years since the Nakba in 1948. Throughout these years, Palestinians have had to bear unimaginable oppression and suffering.

Read: Dangers and Opportunities in the Role of Religion in the Israel-Hamas War

Every time we see news of Palestinians being oppressed, displaced or killed, we can’t help but feel grief, rage, sadness, and helplessness.

Firstly, it is okay to feel these feelings and to allow yourself to process them. It's important to understand these feelings, make sense of them, and acknowledge them.

Read: A Mental Health Guide for Those Grappling With The Crisis in Gaza

Secondly, it is during these times that we should be more spiritually resilient and increase our ibadah, and one of the simplest forms of ibadah is by reciting duas or supplication.

The beauty of making dua is that you can recite it anytime, no matter your condition and situation. Be it if you are feeling sad or happy, there is always time to recite a dua.

Allah s.w.t. mentioned in the Quran:

وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ٱدْعُونِىٓ أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ ۚ

Your Lord has proclaimed, “Call upon Me, I will respond to you.”

(Surah Ghafir, 40:60)

Alhamdulillah, various local organisations and mosques have stepped up in efforts to provide platforms not just for logistical aids only but for spirituality as well. One of which was reciting the Dua Qunut Nazilah, with some mosques still reciting it regularly.

Read: 4 Ways to Respond to the Sufferings Faced by The Palestinian People

1. Dua Qunut Nazilah

qunut nazilah
Dua Qunut Nazilah is a sunnah that is often read in times of calamity or crisis or for seeking Allah’s protection. It also can be read with the intention of assisting others facing adversity, signifying solidarity between the Muslims.

Dua Qunut Nazilah is recited on the last unit of prayer (raka’at), after the i’tidal, while still standing, and before proceeding to the sujud position, and it is also recommended to raise both hands upon reciting the Dua Qunut.

اللهُمَّ اهْدِنَا فِيمَنْ هَدَيْتَ
Allāhummah dinā fīman hadait
وَعَافِنَا فِيمَنْ عَافَيْتَ
Wa ‘āfinā fīman ‘āfait
وَتَوَلَّنَا فِيمَنْ تَوَلَّيْتَ
Wa tawallanā fīman tawallait
وَبَارِكْ لَنَا فِيماَ أَعْطَيْتَ
Wa bārik lānā fīma a’atoit
وَقِنَا شَرَّ مَا قَضَيْتَ
Wa qinā syarra mā qadhait
فَإنَّكَ تَقْضِي وَلاَ يُقْضَى عَلَيْكَ
Fa-innaka taqdhī wa lā yuqdho ‘alaik
وَإِنَّهُ لاَ يَذِلُّ مَنْ وَالَيْتَ
Wa innahu lā yazillu man wālait
وَلاَ يَعِزُّ مَنْ عَادَيْتَ
Wa lā ya’izzu man ‘ādait
تَبَارَكْتَ رَبَّنَا وَتَعَالَيْتَ
Tabārakta Rabbanā wa ta'alait
فَلَكَ الْحَمْدٌ عَلى ما قَضَيتَ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَنَتُوبُ إِلَيْكَ
Falak-al hamdu ‘alā mā qadhait, wa nastaghfiruka wa natūbu ilaik

اَللَهُمَّ إِنَّا نَتَوَجَّهُ إِلَيْكَ، وَنَسْأَلُكَ بِحَقِّ رَحْمَتِكَ وَلُطْفِكَ، أَنْ تَنْظُرَ إِلَيْنَا وَإِلَى خَلْقِكَ أَجْمَعِينَ
Allāhumma innā natawajjahu ilaik, wa nas-aluka bihaqqi rahmatika wa lutfik, an tanzura ilaina wa ilā khalqika ajma’īn

اَللَّهُمَّ قَدْ أُغْلِقَتِ اْلأَبْوَابُ إِلَّا بَابُكَ، وَقَدِ انْقَطَعَتِ اْلأَسْبَابُ إِلَّا إِلَيْكَ، وَلَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِكَ، يَا رَبَّ اْلعَالَمِيْنَ

Allāhumma qad ughliqatil-abwābu illa bābuk, wa qad inqata’al-asbābu illa ilaik, wa lā hawla wa lā quwwata illā bika, yā Rabb-al-’ālamīn

اَللَّهُمَّ إِنَّا نَسْأَلُكَ الأَمْنَ وَالأَمَانَ، وَالسِّلْمَ وَالسَّلاَمَ، فيِ الْعَالَمِ كُلِّهِ وَلِلنَّاسِ أَجْمَعِينَ، وَأَدِمْ عَلَينَا وَعَلَيهِمْ هَذِهِ النِّعَمَ، فِي أَنْفُسِنَا وَأَنْفُسِهِمْ، وَأَبْنَائِنَا وَأَبْنَائِهِمْ، وَدِيَارِنَا وَدِيَارِهِمْ يَا رَبَّ العَالَمِينَ

Allāhumma innā nas-alukal-amna wal-amān, was-silmi was-salām, fil-’alami kullihi wa lin-nās ajma’in, wa adim ‘alainā wa ‘alaihim hazihin-ni’am, fi anfusinā wa anfusihim, wa abnā-ina wa abnā-ihim, wa diyārina wa diyārihim, yā Rabb-al-’ālamīn

اَللَّهُمَّ انْصُرْ إِخْوَانَنَا اْلمُسْتَضْعَفِيْنَ فِي غَزَّةَ وَفِيْ فِلِسْطِيْنَ

Allāhumma-nsur ikhwānanal-mustadh’afīna fī ghazzah (Gaza) wa fī filistīn (Palestine)
x3

وَفِيْ كُلِّ مَكَانٍ، يَا أَرْحَمَ الرّاحِمِيْنَ. اّللَّهُمَّ خُذْ بِأَيْدِيْهِمْ، وَاحْفَظْهُمْ، وَالْطُفْ بِهِمْ، وَكُفَّ أَيْدِيَ اْلمَاكِرِيْنَ بِهِمْ

Wa fī kulli makān, yā Arhamar-Rāhimīn. Allāhumma khuz bi-aydīhim, wah-fazhum, wal-tuf bihim, wa kuffa aydil-mākirīna bihim

اللَّهُمَّ كُنْ عَوْنًا لَهُمْ مِنْ شُرُوْرِ الظَّالِمِيْن، وَارْفَعْ عَنْهُمُ اْلأَذَى وَالظُّلْمَ، وَجَمِيْعَ أَنْوَاعِ اْلفِتَنِ وَاْلمِحَنِ، مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَمَا بَطَنَ، وَاْلطُفْ بِهِمْ فِيْ مَا جَرَتْ بِهِ اْلمَقَادِيْرُ، فِيْ عَافِيَةٍ وَسَلَامَةٍ، بِرَحْمَتِكَ يَا أَرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمِيْنَ

Allāhumma kun ‘aunan lahum min syururiz-zolimīn, war-fa’ ‘anhumul-azā waz-zulm, wa jamī’a anwa’il fitani wal-mihan, mā zohara minhā wa mā baton, waltuf bihim fī mā jarat bihil-maqādīru, fi ‘āfiyatin wa salāmatin, birahmatika yā Arhamar-Rāhimīn

اللَّهُمَّ تَقَبَّلْ شُهَدَاءَهُمْ، وَدَاوِ جَرْحَاهُمْ، وَأَنْزِلِ السَّكِيْنَةَ عَلَى قُلُوْبِهِمْ، وَبَدِّلْ خَوْفَهُمْ أَمْنًا، وَحُزْنَهُمْ فَرَحًا، وَهَمَّهُمْ فَرَجًا، يَا رَبَّ العَالَمِينَ
Allāhumma taqabbal syuhada-ahum, wa dāwi jarhāhum, wa anzilis-sakinata ‘alā qulubihim, wa baddil khaufahum amnā, wa huznahum farhā, wa hammahum farajā, yā Rabb-al-’ālamīn

اللَّهُمَّ حُلَّ بَيْنَهُمْ وَبَيْنَ مَنْ عَادَاهُمْ، اَللَّهُمَّ أَلْهِمْهُمْ رُشْدَهُمْ وَافْتَحْ عَلَيْهِمْ أَبْوَابَ الحِكْمَةِ وَالأَمَانَ، وَاْلعَفْوِ وَاْلغُفْرَانِ

Allāhumma hulla bainahum wa baina man ‘adāhum, Allāhumma alhimhum rusydahum waf-tah ‘alaihim abwabal-hikmati wal-amān, wal-’afwi wal-ghufrān

يَا حَنَّانُ يَا مَنَّانُ يَا بَدِيْعَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَاْلأَكْوَانِ

Ya Hannān, Ya Mannān, Ya Badi’as-samawāti wal-akwān

وَصَلَّى اللهُ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ النَّبِيِّ اْلأُمِّيِّ وَعَلَى آلِهَ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلَّمَ

Wa sallAllāhu ‘alā sayyidinā Muhammadin-nabiyyil-ummi wa ‘alā alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam

Meaning:

O Allah, guide me as You have guided others, grant me well-being as You have granted others, take me into Your care as You have taken others into Your care, and bless me in all that You have given me. Protect me from the evils You have ordained.

Surely, You hold command without being commanded, and those under Your care shall not be humiliated. None whom You have taken as an enemy shall taste glory. You are blessed, Our Lord, and Exalted. All praise is upon You for Your decisions. I seek Your forgiveness, and I repent to You.

O Allah, we turn to You and ask, by Your mercy and gentleness, to look upon us and all Your creations. All doors are closed except Yours, all causes ceased except Yours. There is no might or power except through You, Lord of all the worlds.

O Allah, we ask for safety, security, peace, and tranquility for the entire world and all people. Preserve these blessings upon us, our children, and our homes, Lord of all the worlds.

O Allah, aid our vulnerable brothers and sisters in Gaza and Palestine (repeated three times), and in all places, O Most Merciful of the Merciful. Take them by their hand, protect them, be gentle with them, and suppress deceit. Grant them Your protection against aggressors, remove harm, oppression, and all adversity—both apparent and hidden. Be gentle with them, in safety and well-being, by Your mercy, O Most Merciful.

O Allah, reward the victims, tend to the wounded, instill tranquility in their hearts, allay their fears, turn their sadness to happiness, Lord of all the worlds.

O Allah, intervene between them and their adversaries. Inspire them with Your guidance, open the doors of wisdom, safety, pardon, and forgiveness. O Affectionate, Benefactor, Creator of the heavens and universe.

Read: Step By Step: Dua Qunut Nazilah (IG Infogfx post)

2. Dua for Protection from Trials and Tribulations

In these tumultuous times, Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. has clearly warned us to protect ourselves against afflictions, specifically against Dajjal.

dua for protection from dajjal palestine

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ عَذَابِ الْقَبْرِ, وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ فِتْنَةِ الْمَسِيحِ الدَّجَّالِ, وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ فِتْنَةِ الْمَحْيَا وَالْمَمَاتِ, اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْمَأْثَمِ وَالْمَغْرَمِ

Allahumma inni a’uzubika min ‘azabil-qabr, wa a’uzubika min fitnatil-masihid-dajjal, wa a’uzubika min fitnatil-mahya wal-mamat. Allahumma inni a’uzubika minal-ma’thami wal-maghram.

O Allah! I seek refuge in You from the torment of the grave, and I seek refuge in You from the trials of the Dajjal, and I seek refuge in You from the trials of Life and Death. O Allah! I seek refuge in You from sin and debts.

(Sunan Abi Daud)

The Prophet s.a.w. would sometimes read this supplication after the end of his prayers. This dua is usually read after the tahiyyat akhir, before giving the salam.

Read: Dua For Protection From Trials and Tribulations (IG Infogfx Post)

Also read: Dealing With Claims of Signs of the End of the World in Islam

3. Dua for Total Protection

Another important supplication that can be read in these times is the dua which seeks Allah’s protection and concealment of one's shortcomings.

اللَّهُمَّ اسْتُرْ عَورَاتِي وَآمِنْ رَوعَاتِي، وَاحْفَظْنِي مِن بَينِ يَدَيَّ، وَمِن خَلفِي وَعَن يَمِينِي وَعَن شِمَالِي وَمِن فَوقِي، وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ أَن أُغْتَالَ مِن تَحْتِي

Allahummas-tur ‘aurati wa-amin rau’ati, wah-fazni min baini yadaiya, wa-min khalfi, wa-’an yamini, wa-’an syimali, wa-min fawqi, wa-a’uzu bika an ughtala min tahti

O Allah, conceal my shortcomings, calm my fears, and protect me from before me and behind me, from my right and my left, and from above me, and I seek refuge in You from being taken unaware from beneath.

(Sunan Ibn Majah)

One reason we should read this dua is that whatever shortcomings we had in the past would not hinder our sincere efforts to become a better person, insyaAllah.

Read: Dua for Total Protection (IG Post)

Also read: Dangers and Opportunities in the Role of Religion in the Israel-Hamas War

4. Dua for Sincere Forgiveness

In these trying times, we should increase our efforts in making more dua. Therefore, when praying for our brothers and sisters in Palestine, let us not forget to pray for ourselves as well. Let's seek forgiveness from Allah s.w.t. and make sincere repentance.

Sayyidul Istighfar dua for palestine

اللَّهُمَّ أَنتَ رَبِّي لاَ إِلَهَ أَنتَ خَلَقتَنِي وَأَنَا عَبدُكَ وَأَنَا عَلَى عَهْدِكَ وَوَعْدِكَ مَا اسْتَطَعتُ، أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِن شَرِّ مَا صَنَعْتُ، أَبُوءُ لَكَ بِنِعمَتِكَ عَلَيَّ، وَأَبُوءُ بِذَنبِي، فَاغْفِرْ لِي فَإِنَّهُ لاَ يَغفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلاَّ أَنتَ

Allahumma anta rabbi la ilaha anta khalaqtani, wa ana ‘ala ‘ahdika wa-wa’dika mas-tato’tu. A’uzubika min sharri ma sona’tu, abu-u laka bini’matika ‘alayya, wa abu-u bizanbi, faghfirli fa-innahu la yaghfiruz-zunuba illa anta.

O Allah, You are my Lord. There is no god but You. You created me and I am Your slave, and I remain faithful to Your covenant and Your promise as much as I can. I seek refuge with You from the evil of what I have done. I acknowledge Your favours upon me, and I admit my sins. So forgive me, for indeed none forgives sins except You.

(Sahih Al-Bukhari)

Known as the ‘Sayyidul Istighfar’, the Prophet s.a.w. mentioned that ‘whoever recites during the day with firm faith in it, and dies on the same day before the evening, he will be from the people of Paradise; and if somebody recites at night with firm faith in it, and dies before the morning, he will be from the people of Paradise.’

Read: Sayyidul Istighfar (IG Post)

5. Dua For Reliance on Allah s.w.t.

Lastly, let’s not forget to have faith and put our unwavering trust in the Almighty in His plans.

Dua For Palestine Reliance on Allah

اللَّهُمَّ لَكَ أَسْلَمْتُ، وَبِكَ آمَنْتُ، وَعَلَيْكَ تَوَكَّلْتُ، وَإِلَيْكَ أَنَبْتُ

Allahumma laka aslamtu, wa bika amantu, wa ‘alaika tawakkaltu, wa ilaika anabtu.

Oh Allah! To You I have submitted, and in You do I believe, and in You I put my trust, to You do I turn to.

(Muttafaqun ‘Alayh)

Even when we find ourselves in situations we don't fully comprehend or when things seem to deviate from our plans, it's crucial to acknowledge and trust that whatever is unfolding aligns with His divine will and may ultimately be for our greater good.

Read: Dua for Firm Belief and Reliance on Allah s.w.t. (IG Post)

Also read: Our Response in Crisis will Demonstrate Our Core Values as Muslims

Finally, we should not waver in our ibadah. We should strengthen our connection with Allah s.w.t. for Allah s.w.t. is ever-ready for us to return to Him.

In a hadith qudsi reported by Abu Dharr:

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Allah Almighty says: Whoever comes with a good deed will have the reward of ten like it and even more. Whoever comes with an evil deed will be recompensed for one evil deed like it or he will be forgiven. Whoever draws close to Me by the length of a hand, I will draw close to him by the length of an arm. Whoever draws close to Me by the length of an arm, I will draw close to him by the length of a fathom. Whoever comes to Me walking, I will come to him running. Whoever meets Me with enough sins to fill the earth, not associating any partners with Me, I will meet him with as much forgiveness.”

(Sahih Muslim)

May Allah s.w.t. accept our sincerest efforts and ease the affairs of our brothers and sisters in Palestine, insyaAllah.


https://muslim.sg/articles/duas-for-palestine-and-gaza-in-english-with-transliteration-and-translation

Fauci Tried to Hide U.S. Funding of Bioweapons Research, But China Openly Bragged About ‘New Era of Genetic Weapons’
Dr. Anthony Fauci funneled tens of millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to bioweapons research, including experiments conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Fauci and other U.S. government officials continue to deny such experiments are related to the development of bioweapons, but China openly admits that its scientists are using gain-of-function research to create “genetic weapons.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
anthony fauci gain function covid wuhan feature
Miss a day, miss a lot. Subscribe to The Defender's Top News of the Day. It's free.

Editor’s note: Following is an excerpt from Robert F. Kennedy’s new book, “The Wuhan Cover-Up: And the Terrifying Bioweapons Arms Race.” The book, published Dec. 5, is available from Amazon and other booksellers.

Following Obama’s 2014 moratorium [on gain-of-function research], China’s efforts to co-opt NIH’s [National Institutes of Health] bioweapons research were so successful that some forty-four percent of all the gain-of-function studies that NIH had historically funded occurred at the Wuhan lab.

And as discussed previously, many of those NIH studies occurred under contract provisions that granted China proprietary and exclusive use of the resulting research.

It is an understatement, therefore, to observe that Dr. [Anthony] Fauci was not a good steward of US taxpayer research dollars. Furthermore, tens of millions of US dollars in funding from USAID [U.S. Agency for International Development] and other US government agencies have exacerbated the ferment of bioweapons research in Wuhan.

Since the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) only thinly veils its links to the People’s Liberation Army, both Dr. Fauci and Dr. [Peter] Daszak and the spooks at USAID must have known that the WIV is the centerpiece of China’s biowarfare/biodefense program.

The State Department issued a fact sheet in May 2020 revealing that the Chinese Communist Party has engaged in a national strategy of “military-civil fusion” intended to eliminate barriers between civilian research and the Chinese military “in order to achieve military dominance.”

As Elaine Dewar told Paul Thacker, “Since Xi Jinping became President, he made it clear that the military and the civilian researchers in strategic areas, such as biotechnology, had to work together. There was no distinction between civilian and military research, from that point forward.”

No one can hold high positions or conduct research at the WIV without being closely involved with, and supervised by, the military. Until late 2019, the Wuhan BSL-4 lab’s manager was Dr. Yuan Zhiming, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Committee within the Wuhan Branch.

On January 31, 2020, Pengbai—China’s state-run news outlet—reported that “People’s Liberation Army Maj. Gen. Chen Wei, took over the response to the epidemic,” including “supervision of the WIV.” Dr. Chen is a virologist who “leads the Institute of Bioengineering at the Academy of Military Medical Sciences and [is presumptive] head of biological warfare division.”

As noted earlier, Pengbai described the general as “our nation’s ultimate expert” in biological and chemical weapon defenses, and “a goddess of war.” Her other nickname is the “Wolf Warrior.”

In contrast to Dr. Fauci’s coy reticence, the Chinese are bracingly frank in acknowledging that their gain-of-function dabbling is straight-up weapons development.

In 2015, only two years after Chinese scientists used funding from NIAID and techniques they learned from Ralph Baric to triumphantly facilitate a deadly chimeric bird flu, Chinese military scientists from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and senior Chinese public health officials published a 261-page Chinese-language military manual.

The manual’s publisher is the Chinese Military Medical Science Press—a government-owned publishing house managed by the General Logistics Department of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The book described Chinese success at artificially manipulating animal coronaviruses to infect humans as the herald of a promising “new era of genetic weapons.”

The 2015 book offers alarming insight into how senior scientists at one of the PLA’s most prominent military universities were thinking about the gain-of-function research that Tony Fauci was already financing in their laboratories. Their thoughts align perfectly with the bioweapons ambitions for gain-of-function science that Ralph Baric unveiled in his 2007 paper.

The Chinese authors giddily proclaim their ability to enhance the military effectiveness of their new GOF pathogens using major advances in bioweapon delivery systems—including freeze-drying microorganisms—that make germ bombs easier to store, transport, conceal, and aerosolize.

A section describing strategies for maximizing impacts of biological attacks recommends the deployment of lab-generated pandemic germ bombs during dawn, dusk, night, or cloudy weather to minimize the weakening effects of intense sunlight on the pathogens. Stable wind direction and dry weather—the manual says—are ideal for delivering biobombs, since rain or snow can cause the aerosol particles to precipitate.

The book advises that favorable climate conditions will allow the Chinese military to float the toxins into the target zone. The authors boast that, in addition to psychological terror, widespread morbidity, and mass casualties, large-scale biological weapon attacks can cause many indirect consequences, including the destruction of target economies, sudden surges of patients disrupting hospitals and healthcare systems, and long-term stress leading to increased chronic mental illness—events all too familiar to Americans these days.

The editor-in-chief of this book, Xu Dezhong, is “a retired professor of infectious disease with the Air Force Medical University in Xian.” A military epidemiologist, Dezhong received the gold medal of the Military Academy Education Award, and praise as an outstanding party member. He did postdoctoral study in the US at Peter Hotez’s Baylor College of Medicine and at the CDC.

He led the SARS epidemic analysis expert group under the Chinese Ministry of Health, reporting to the top leadership of the Chinese military commission and the health ministry during the 2003 SARS crisis.

By 2020, Chinese military researchers, after benefitting from years of NIAID- and USAID-funded research, were developing pandemic coronaviruses that could quickly spread across global populations and were not the least bit embarrassed about it. Even with the COVID-19 pandemic in full swing, Chinese scientists were publicly peacocking these expanding capacities.

In April 2020, seven months after COVID-19 began circulating, twenty-three Chinese scientists—eleven of them from the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, the Chinese army’s medical research institute—boasted that they had used gene-editing CRISPR technology to engineer mice with humanized lungs to make it easier to develop coronavirus strains that could infect humans. In June 2021, Vanity Fair reported that United States National Security Council (NSC) investigators determined that “it became clear that the mice had been engineered sometime in the summer of 2019, before the pandemic even started.

The NSC officials were left wondering: Had the Chinese military been running viruses through humanized mouse models, to see which might be infectious to humans?” Those particular US officials had not yet grasped that this was precisely the sort of research that Dr. Fauci—along with his US military and intelligence agency partners—had been conducting and funding for years at the Wuhan lab. US scientists had developed humanized mice in 2002. NIH-funded scientists like Ralph Baric had been using humanized mice to test human infectiousness of their enhanced pathogens for nearly two decades!

The Defender on occasion posts content related to Children’s Health Defense’s nonprofit mission that features Mr. Kennedy’s views on the issues CHD and The Defender regularly cover. In keeping with Federal Election Commission rules, this content does not represent an endorsement of Mr. Kennedy, who is on leave from CHD and is seeking the Independent party nomination for president of the U.S.


https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/anthony-fauci-bioweapons-research-covid-wuhan-cover-up/

Biden became ‘Genocide Joe’ thanks to the Israel lobby
Philip WeissNovember 29, 2023
Netanyahu and Biden meet, July 14, 2022. Photo by Israeli government press office.
Netanyahu and Biden meet, July 14, 2022. Photo by Israeli government press office.
At Thanksgiving, a friend took me aside and said, “How does Israel get away with this? They are wiping these people out, you can see it before your eyes. But people here are losing their jobs if they say anything against it on social media. Health care workers have lost their jobs at hospitals.”

My friend is not alone. The upside of our government’s greenlight to Israel’s unending massacre and destruction in Gaza, with disease and famine looming, is that many are asking the same questions. Why is Joe Biden incapable of doing what any decent person would do, and any leader—of saying, Stop this madness now!

An overwhelming majority of countries in the region and world have condemned the brutal military offensive– what BBC describes as “apocalyptic,” and one high UN official says is “the worst” destruction he’s ever seen. (“They stopped counting the number of women and children killed.. . It’s complete and utter carnage.”)

And the progressive Democratic base is appalled. And there have been resignations at the State Department and at mainstream media. Even as Israelis regularly appear on our broadcasts, thanking Biden for his unwavering support.

The answer to this puzzle is that Biden fears the domestic political cost: the loss of the Israel lobby inside the Democratic Party. Biden fears the disaffection of the Jewish establishment that has for over 50 years dedicated itself to the principle that there must be no daylight between the U.S. and Israeli governments, even as war crimes are blasted over the airwaves.

This dynamic is rarely discussed in our media because it is thought to foster antisemitic theories of Jewish control. Even addressing the Israel lobby is labeled a conspiracy theory with lawless consequences — such as the reported vandalism of the Los Angeles home of the head of the Israel lobby group AIPAC, with red paint flung on his property as protesters shouted, Baby killer.

There is plenty of evidence for the idea that the lobby’s support is what weighs on Biden’s mind.

Jews are an important part of Biden’s Democratic base. 70 percent of Jews say they are Democrats. And the Jewish community appears to be overwhelmingly supportive of Israel, just as it was during other historical crises– with notable and honorable exceptions. We are “working around the clock to bring urgent relief to the people of Israel,” the Jewish Federations announces in its regular ad on WNYC, the NPR station I listen to.

The dissent of liberal Zionists is over – J Street is back with the rightwing pro-Israel groups in backing Israel’s “right to defend itself” and in opposing a ceasefire.

Zionists are flexing their political muscle in plain sight. AIPAC is said to be planning a multi-million-dollar offensive to pick off Squad members in Congress who have been critical of Israel. A progressive senatorial candidate in Michigan has reportedly been offered $20 million in campaign contributions from a former AIPAC donor to drop his bid and take on Rep. Rashida Tlaib instead. Big donors have withdrawn gifts from universities or threatened to do so in anger over anti-Zionist demonstrations and faculty statements. One Forbes headline said a “Jewish billionaire” was pulling his money from Columbia; and craven remarks equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism from Harvard’s president and Columbia’s too appear to be responses to donor pressure. Columbia’s banning of pro-Palestinian groups has the backing of the president and former president and has sent chills through the academic community.

The media are under similar top-down pressure from Israel supporters. “We are horrified and deeply saddened by the brutal attack on Israel,” the chairman of Comcast/MSNBC (who once participated in the Israeli Maccabee games) said last month, even as Israel was already pounding the Gaza Strip.

The CEO of Warner/CNN, David Zaslav, also issued a statement of support for Israel after it experienced “one of the deadliest [days] in Jewish history since the Holocaust.” Later Zaslav was reported to be considering taking part in a $50 million publicity campaign to “define Hamas to the American people as a terrorist organization.”

CNN’s coverage has been distinctly pro-Israel, as has MSNBC’s. While both networks have aired reports that portray the Palestinian nightmare of the last seven weeks, generally the coverage has been from the Israeli point of view, often with a propaganda-like tone. Israeli government spokespeople are frequent guests, and the Zionist ideology is happily ensconced throughout liberal media. Wolf Blitzer once worked for AIPAC; the Atlantic’s editor once was an Israeli prison guard; and Tom Friedman told a Jewish audience in 2021 that “Israel had me at hello,” and “Don’t worry. In times of crisis, I know where I will be. When the Jewish state is under threat.” Joe Scarborough regularly equates anti-Zionism with antisemitism.

Our official political culture is Zionist. Joe Biden calls himself a Zionist. Last summer House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries took 22 first-year Democratic congresspeople on a tour of Israel and stood at Netanyahu’s side, alongside the head of AIPAC (whose house is the target of demonstrations).

Biden and Jeffries are surely concerned about Democratic fundraising. Israel supporters use campaign contributions to make sure that the policy debate in the U.S. “remains extremely narrow,” as Nathan Thrall wrote in the New York Times in 2019.

“Despite pointed critiques of American support for Israel by representatives like Betty McCollum of Minnesota, [Rashida] Tlaib and [Ilhan] Omar, there is little willingness among Democrats to argue publicly for substantially changing longstanding policy toward Israel,” Thrall said. “In part, some Hill staff members and former White House officials say, this is because of the influence of megadonors: Of the dozens of personal checks greater than $500,000 made out to the largest PAC for Democrats in 2018, the Senate Majority PAC, around three-fourths were written by Jewish donors. This provides fodder for anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, and for some, it is the elephant in the room. Though the number of Jewish donors known to prioritize pro-Israel policies above all other issues is small, there are few if any pushing in the opposite direction.”

Yes, it’s about “Jewish donors.” At J Street in 2016 political experts described the “gigantic” and “shocking” magnitude of Jewish donors in Democratic Party campaigns– who are perceived to be pro-Israel. A former finance director for many Democratic congressional campaigns said she had always gone to AIPAC for a position paper on Israel before undertaking to raise money from the Jewish community.

To understand what Joe Biden is thinking, it is worth reviewing presidential history, to remind ourselves how significant the Israel lobby is as a force. A few key moments:

–Truman overrode his own State Department and his own opposition to the idea of a religious state to back Israel’s establishment and then turn a blind eye to its expansions. John Judis wrote in his history, “Genesis,” that Truman did so because he needed $100,000 from political donors Abe Feinberg and Ed Kaufmann – a huge sum in 1948–for a whistlestop campaign trip through the midwest when his campaign was broke and Thomas Dewey was threatening to make him a one-termer.

–Both Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush lost their bids for a second term in the White House, and it is said that both politicians saw the Israel lobby as a factor in those losses.

Carter repeatedly challenged Israel over its settlements and believed that taking on Israel and its American lobby cost him his job. “From the New York primary [in March 1980] onward, I believe Carter was left with the view that New York Jews had not only defeated him in the primary but were also a factor in his loss in November,” Carter aide Stuart Eizenstat writes.

Bush also hammered Israel over settlements, “because I think this is what the American people want,” he said. But Bill Clinton ran to Bush’s right in 1992 with the support of the Israel lobby and defeated him. Tom Friedman summarized the lesson: “President Bush the first stood outside the White House one day and said I’m one lonely man standing up against the Israel lobby. What happened as a result of that… is that Republicans post Bush I, and manifested most in his son Bush 2, took a strategic decision, they will never be out pro-Israel’d again. That they believe cost them electorally a lot.”

–Obama made the same calculation. His need for the endorsement of Haim Saban and other “major Jewish donors” caused him to give in on Israel’s unending landgrabs, Judis writes. And Obama aide Ben Rhodes confirms that view. When Obama and Netanyahu clashed the year before Obama’s reelection campaign, Rhodes had to call “a list of leading Jewish donors . . . to reassure them of Obama’s pro-Israel bona fides.”

Obama waited for his second term to take Israel on over the Iran deal in 2015. In a major speech, he said that Israel was the only country in the world that opposed the deal. And while Benjamin Netanyahu is completely “sincere” in his opposition, Obama said, “As president of the United States, it would be an abrogation of my constitutional duty” to defer to Israel’s wishes on this matter.

–Trump of course abrogated his duty. He did whatever Israel wanted including trashing the Iran deal and moving the embassy and seeking to legalize illegal settlements – all to maintain the support of his largest donor Sheldon Adelson, who gave 100s of millions to Republicans.

This is the history that counts for Joe Biden. He is going to go by the playbook that has evolved over his lifetime — regardless of the growing sympathy for Palestinians in the Democratic base that is evident in poll after poll.

The good thing about today’s crisis is that the lobby’s influence is naked. “Sleepy Joe has a new nickname– Genocide Joe,” cracked another friend at Thanksgiving. It is impossible to imagine Biden ignoring the world’s calls for ceasefire or his own base’s outrage over the images of slaughtered Palestinian families and children – impossible to imagine that without the influence of the organized Jewish community, which patently does not care about these victims, or when it does mention them says that Hamas is to blame.

Another good effect of this crisis is that it has provided a different picture of the Jewish community from blind support for Israel: the vigorous opposition to Israel’s militarism among young and progressive Jews. Witness the incredible cease-fire demonstrations organized by IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace. The growth of anti-Zionism will transform (and redeem) the Jewish community. And be a major factor in transforming U.S. policy, as well.

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/biden-became-genocide-joe-thanks-to-the-israel-lobby/

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 51: Israel fires at Palestinians attempting to return to northern Gaza amid shaky truce
Israeli forces killed a Palestinian in Al-Maghazi refugee camp and shot at people attempting to inspect their homes amid the shaky temporary truce. Israel also killed five Palestinians during a 14-hour raid in the West Bank city of Jenin.

Mustafa Abu SneinehNovember 26, 2023
Palestinians amid the complete destruction from Israeli attacks in Nusairat during the 4-day truce in Gaza, November 25, 2023. (Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images)
Palestinians amid the complete destruction from Israeli attacks in Nusairat during the 4-day truce in Gaza, November 25, 2023. (Photo: Omar Ashtawy/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 26. 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

The prisoners and captives exchange on Saturday was delayed several hours due to a dispute over aid trucks not reaching the northern Gaza Strip and the release of two Israeli captives, who could not be located.
39 Palestinians were released from Israeli prisons, 33 are or were children at the time of their arrest. Hamas released 13 Israelis and four Thai citizens.
Hamas offered to release two women instead of the captives’ relatives, who could not be tracked, but Israeli officials did not approve it, and 13 captives instead of 15 were released, Kan News reported.
Four of the Thai citizens were foreign workers in the agricultural farms, and they were not a core part of the exchange deal.
Prior to the prisoners’ release, four Palestinians were injured with live bullets near Ofer prison in a confrontation with Israeli forces, who also shot tear gas at journalists covering the story.
Israeli forces warned Palestinians against returning to the north of the Gaza Strip and to remain 1 kilometer away from the checkpoint on Salah El-Deen Street; those who attempted to return to Gaza City were shot at, according to Al-Jazeera.
The Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia which was under siege by Israeli tanks for the past week, was emptied on Sunday from its remaining patients and medical staff.
Five Palestinians were killed in Jenin refugee camp, and Israel launched ten drone strikes in the city during a 14-hour raid operation.
Palestinian prisoners and Israeli captives exchanged at the eleventh hour as truce appeared in danger

The temporary truce in the Gaza Strip appeared in danger on Saturday evening as the release of captives and prisoners kept being delayed till the eleventh hour.

Eventually, Hamas released 13 Israelis and four Thai citizens less than an hour before midnight, and later, Israel freed 39 Palestinian women and children from prisons.

Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson told CNN on Saturday afternoon that they were working to overcome the obstacles through mediation.

The dispute involved aid trucks not reaching the northern Gaza Strip and the release of two Israeli captives.

Hamas said in a statement that it was delaying the release of captives until Israel allowed aid convoys to enter Gaza City and its environs, which were carpet-bombed for 49 days, flattening entire neighborhoods and killing thousands of people.

The resistance group also said that the short pause of fighting would be in danger if Israel did not adhere to the agreement of freeing Palestinian prisoners, starting with those who were detained for the longest number of years.

On Sunday morning, Kan News reported that Hamas’s inability to locate two Israeli captives was another cause of the delay.

As part of the truce deal, Hamas agreed to release entire Israeli families who had been taken captive together rather than separating family members. However, Kan reported that Hamas could not locate the mother and brother of two of the captives who were released on Saturday night. Israeli officials insisted that those captives’ relatives be found, adding hours of waiting. Hamas said early in October that due to the indiscriminate Israeli bombardments of Gaza Strip, the group could not locate all the captives, and that at least 50 of them died, and some are under the rubble. Kan reported that Hamas offered to release two women instead of the relatives, who could not be tracked, but Israeli officials did not approve it, and 13 captives instead of 15 were released.

Four of the Thai citizens were foreign workers in the agricultural farms, and they were not a core part of the exchange deal.

Among the released captives on Saturday was a nine-year-old Irish-Israeli girl, whose father told the CNN in early November that he received the news that she was “killed by Hamas.”

On Sunday, she was the subject of a diplomatic row between Israel and Ireland, the only EU country whose politicians are outspokenly supportive of Palestinians.

Ireland’s Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar, tweeted: “This is a day of enormous joy and relief for Emily Hand and her family. An innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned, and we breathe a massive sigh of relief. Our prayers have been answered.”

Varadkar’s tweet prompted a response from Eli Cohen, Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, who said “Mr. Prime Minister, It seems you have lost your moral compass and need a reality check! Emily Hand was not ‘lost’, she was kidnapped by a terror organization… shame on you!”.

The captives and prisoners exchange has not toned down Israeli officials rhetoric, who continue to threaten war on the Gaza Strip.

According to Kan News, Israel’s army chief of staff, Herzi Halevi wrote to soldiers that upon the end of the temporary truce on Monday, “we will return to fight with full determination, for the continued release of the abductees until the dissolution of Hamas.”

The third day of the truce is expected to see immense efforts from Qatar and Egypt mediators to ensure its success.

Palestinians traveling south from the Zeitoun district on the southern outskirts of Gaza City on November 26, 2023, on the third day of a truce between Israel and Hamas. (Photo: Ahmed Ibrahim / APA Images)
Palestinians traveling south from the Zeitoun district on the southern outskirts of Gaza City on November 26, 2023, on the third day of a truce between Israel and Hamas. (Photo: Ahmed Ibrahim / APA Images)
Israeli forces shoot at Palestinians returning to inspect houses in northern Gaza Strip

Despite the temporary truce, a Palestinian was killed and another injured on Sunday, east of Al-Maghazi refugee camp, according to Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).

Israeli forces warned Palestinians against returning to the northern Gaza Strip and to remain 1 kilometer away from the checkpoint on Salah El-Deen Street. Those who aimed to cross the checkpoint to Gaza City were shot at, according to Al-Jazeera.

Several Palestinians were injured by Israeli bullets, three of them near the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia. For the past week, the hospital was under siege from Israeli tanks, and on Sunday it was emptied of the remaining patients and medical staff, Ashar Al-Qidra, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, told Al-Jazeera.

Four other Palestinians were injured near Al-Quds Hosptial, Wafa reported. They were also checking their houses in Tel Al-Hawa.

Israeli bombardments of the Gaza Strip displaced almost 1.7 million Palestinians. Some have attempted to return to inspect what happened to their neighborhoods and properties during the temporary truce and record the devastation with phone cameras to share with their families.

The figure of those killed in Gaza Strip since October 7 was not updated on Sunday, but Wafa reports estimated that it reached 15,000 people, 6,150 children, and more than 4,000 women. At least 36,000 have been wounded.

Released Palestinian prisoners are seen on a bus in the town of Beitunia close to the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Nov. 24, 2023. (Photo: © Ayman Nobani/Xinhua via ZUMA Press APAimages)
Released Palestinian prisoners are seen on a bus in the town of Beitunia close to the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Nov. 24, 2023. (Photo: © Ayman Nobani/Xinhua via ZUMA Press APAimages)
Israeli forces prevent any scenes of celebration of the released prisoners in Jerusalem

Palestinian prisoners’ families waited till the early hours of Sunday in occupied Jerusalem and the towns of Al-Bireh and Beitunia in the occupied West Bank, to meet their freed relatives.

Among them were 33 are or were children at the time of their arrest. Wafa news agency published a list of their names and imprisonment sentences.

Wafa reported that five women and one child from Jerusalem were handed to their families at Al-Moskobiya detention and interrogation center.

The rest were taken from Ofer military prison, near the City of Ramallah, to Al-Bireh and Al-Beitunia towns, where hundreds of Palestinians met them with joy, celebration, and calls for the resistance movements in Gaza to release all Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli jails, where at least 7,000 people are currently detained.

However, prior to the prisoners’ release, four Palestinians were injured with live bullets near Ofer prison in a confrontation with Israeli forces, who also shot tear gas at journalists covering the story.

In occupied Jerusalem, Israeli forces blocked relatives and well-wishers of freed prisoners from gathering at their houses and warned them of any scenes of joy. Al-Jazeera Arabic reported that on Thursday, Israeli forces confiscated candies and sweets from Palestinian prisoners’ houses to prevent celebration.

Israa Al-Jaabis, who was detained since 2015 and suffers from severe burns to her hands and face, was one of the Jerusalemite prisoners whose family could not hang any decorations to welcome her.

She told Al-Jazeera Arabic that her release was delayed for several hours and spoke of the horrible conditions and treatment the female prisoners were subjected to in Israeli jails.

Shorouk Dwayyat from Jerusalem, who served nine years of a 16-year sentence before being released in the exchange, told Al-Jazeera that in the past several weeks, they saw an escalation of “repression, starvation, thirst, and the imposition of great overcrowding” by Israeli jailers.

She added that she fears for the well-being of those female prisoners left behind, some of them under the age of 18, and the youngest was 12 years old.

Omar Shweiki, who was 15 years old when he was arrested in November 2021 by Israeli forces, said that for the past 50 days, Israeli jailers prevented prisoners from exercising and that there are 13 and 15-year-old children currently detained.

Since October 7, the Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs Commission warned that the Israel Prison Service is imposing punitive measures against Palestinian prisoners, including insufficient and low-quality food, denial of access to the exercise yard, daily power cuts, medical neglect, and restrictions on family visitation.

Last week, Al-Jazeera reported that Israel is subjecting Palestinian prisoners and detainees to “psychological torture,” and forcing them to to kiss the Israeli flag, listen to the Israeli national anthem, and say “the State of Israel is Strong” during their detention. Israeli jailers will beat those who refuse to obey their orders.

Six Palestinians have died inside Israeli jails since October 7.

A view of damaged buildings and streets following an attack by Israeli forces using airstrikes with armed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on Jenin refugee camp in Jenin, West Bank on November 26, 2023. (Photo: Mohammed Nasser/APA Images)
A view of damaged buildings and streets following an attack by Israeli forces using airstrikes with armed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on Jenin refugee camp in Jenin, West Bank on November 26, 2023. (Photo: Mohammed Nasser/APA Images)
Five Palestinians killed in Jenin, and Israeli forces arrested dozens in the West Bank

Nine of the Palestinian prisoners released late on Saturday were from the town of Jenin, in the northern West Bank, which witnessed a violent Israeli raid that killed five and injured 14 people.

Wafa reported that Israeli forces also arrested 11 others, among them two of the wounded, during a 14-hour raid operation on Jenin refugee camp that ended in the early hours of Sunday.

Asaad Ali Al-Damj, 33, was killed by an Israeli drone attack on a house in the Al-Damj neighborhood in the Jenin camp. Ammar Muhammad Abu Al-Wafa, 21, Ahmed Abu Al-Haija, 20, Muhammad Mahmoud Freihat, 27, and Mahmoud Khaled Abu Al-Haija, 17, were killed in different locations in Jenin during the confrontation with Israeli forces.

Wafa said that 10 Israeli drone attacks were launched on Palestinian homes and a charity in Jenin camp. The city announced a strike on Sunday to mourn its martyrs.

In Nablus, Oday Misbah Snobar, 30, was killed during an Israeli raid of Yatma village. The Palestine Red Crescent said that Snobar was shot with a live bullet in the face was taken to the hospital, and later died.

Since October 7, Israeli forces and settlers have killed 235 Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem, injured almost 3,000, and arrested 3,160 people.

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-51-israel-fires-at-palestinians-attempting-to-return-to-northern-gaza-amid-shaky-truce/

‘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/

Did Israel build a bunker under al-Shifa hospital?
Ali Abunimah 16 November 2023



Israel’s ongoing assault on al-Shifa hospital – where 7,000 people are currently besieged in desperate conditions – may be part of its attempt to prove its claims that Hamas operates a sophisticated command bunker under the hospital.
That James Bond villain-like lair was depicted in an animation released by the Israeli army last month.

Israel has never offered any evidence for its claims. But as I explain in the video at the top of this article recorded on Wednesday, its assertions go back to at least 2009.



That year, The New York Times reported that “The Israeli intelligence chief, Yuval Diskin, in a report to the Israeli cabinet, said that the Gaza-based leadership of Hamas was in underground housing beneath the No. 2 building of al Shifa hospital, the largest in Gaza. That allegation cannot be confirmed.”
Also in 2009, Haaretz reported that “Senior Hamas officials in Gaza are hiding out in a ‘bunker’ built by Israel, intelligence officials suspect.”

“Many are believed to be in the basements of the al-Shifa hospital complex in Gaza City, which was refurbished during Israel’s occupation of the Gaza Strip,” the Tel Aviv newspaper added.

And in 2014, the pro-Israel publication Tablet asserted that “The Israelis are so sure about the location of the Hamas bunker … not because they are trying to score propaganda points, or because it has been repeatedly mentioned in passing by Western reporters – but because they built it.”

“Back in 1983, when Israel still ruled Gaza, they built a secure underground operating room and tunnel network beneath al-Shifa hospital – which is one among several reasons why Israeli security sources are so sure that there is a main Hamas command bunker in or around the large cement basement beneath the area of Building 2 of the hospital,” Tablet added.

Israel claims it destroyed underground infrastructure in 2021

During its assault on Gaza in May 2021, Israel heavily bombed the area around al-Shifa, perpetrating what came to be known as the al-Wihda Street massacre.

“The air raids turned one of the busiest streets in Gaza, and the main access point to the strip’s chief hospital al-Shifa, into a crater-marked moonscape,” Britain’s The Independent reported at the time.

“In place of apartment blocks are mangled heaps of concrete fringed with curls of iron rebar and scraps of belongings.”

When challenged over the death and devastation its attacks caused to apartment buildings and their civilian residents near al-Shifa, the Israeli military claimed that it was attacking “underground military infrastructure” that was located under the road.

“The underground military facilities collapsed causing the foundations of the civilian houses above them to collapse as well leading to unintended casualties,” the army added.

Israel never presented any evidence to support these claims.

But now, as it besieges and attacks the hospital again, Israel expects the world to believe that Hamas would keep its main command center in exactly the location Israeli and American newspapers have said it is in for years, and which Israel asserted in 2021 had been substantially destroyed.

Still, given Israel’s propensity to lie, it may well “discover” an underground facility which Israel itself built, and try to present it to the world as vindication of its accusations.

Israel releases more videos

On Thursday evening, the Israeli military released a video showing a cache of weapons displayed on the ground in an outdoor area, that it claims was found in al-Shifa hospital.

The military offered no evidence that the weapons – about a half dozen rifles, some magazines, hand grenades and what appears to be a drill – were found inside the hospital.



It also released a video showing what it claims is the entrance to a tunnel near the hospital. The brief video shows a hole in the ground surrounded by overturned earth and rubble, making it difficult to discern what is depicted.
Earlier this month, Israel claimed to have found the entrance to a Hamas tunnel near the Qatari-funded Sheikh Hamad hospital. The opening was in fact a water reservoir for the hospital.





Biden admits “indiscriminate bombing” by Israel

Trapped inside al-Shifa, some 7,000 people face a catastrophic situation and a slow death, without a water supply, food, medicine, medical oxygen, fuel or electricity.

On Thursday, Israel continued to lay siege to al-Shifa as its troops ransacked buildings and bulldozers carried out excavations around the hospital and its grounds, including severing the main water line.

This comes as US President Joe Biden continued to push Israel’s claims that Hamas uses the hospital as a command center.

He also repeated previously debunked atrocity propaganda that Hamas fighters beheaded and burned dozens of Israeli babies on 7 October.

And despite other comments Wednesday evening that show Biden to be out of touch with the realities of the situation, he did inadvertently admit that Israel has been bombing Gaza indiscriminately.

Defending what he claimed was a careful Israeli assault on al-Shifa, the president said “this is a different story than I believe was occurring before, an indiscriminate bombing.”

This admission means there can be no doubt that Biden has been arming Israel while knowing it is indiscriminately killing civilians, including thousands of children – a confession that will be of great interest to those trying to hold him legally accountable for war crimes and stop the slaughter in Gaza.



Patients dying

Speaking with Al Jazeera Arabic on Thursday, al-Shifa hospital’s director Dr. Muhammad Abu Salmiya said that one dialysis patient had died earlier in the day and four others faced imminent death.

In total the hospital is caring for 45 patients who require dialysis – something they can’t receive with no electricity to run the machines.



Two of some 650 injured people had died because staff could not provide effective treatment. Wounds he said are becoming seriously infected, some with maggots.
Of 39 premature babies in the hospital, three had died in recent days, according to Abu Salmiya.

With no electricity or fuel, incubators have stopped functioning. Purified water to make special formula for the babies has run out, so staff are using ordinary water and some of the infants are now sick with diarrhea, infections and fever.



Thousands of displaced people, many of them children, have no food and are suffering from worsening desperation and hunger.
Meanwhile, according to Dr. Abu Salmiya, the hospital compound is besieged from all sides by tanks and bulldozers, but no one can see clearly what they are doing.

He said that anyone who tries to move between hospital buildings is shot at by snipers or drones.

Israelis refuse to speak

According to Dr. Abu Salmiya, hospital administrators tried to send a delegation to speak with the Israeli military and ask for food, water, fuel, medicine and other urgent relief supplies.

On Wednesday, Israel presented a few guns and other equipment it claims to have found in one al-Shifa hospital building.

The so-called evidence did not corroborate Israel’s longstanding claims that Hamas has a sophisticated command bunker under the hospital.

It was met with the same widespread skepticism and derision as the farcical “evidence” of Hamas activity that Israel offered after it raided the Rantisi children’s hospital days earlier.

Over the 48 hours that Israeli forces have occupied parts of the al-Shifa compound, no shots have been fired at them, according to Dr. Abu Salmiya.

Palestinian resistance groups have firmly denied they use hospitals for military activities and have regularly called for impartial international bodies to visit the hospitals and investigate Israel’s claims.

“Israeli soldiers briefly exchanged fire with gunmen outside the hospital before going in, a senior military official said, but more than 12 hours after it began, the operation appeared more like a police raid than a pitched battle,” The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

The newspaper quoted a witness inside the hospital recounting that the Israelis “are digging and excavating and breaking tiles and looking.”

While there is a particular focus on al-Shifa, Israel is also now laying siege to al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City.



Biden repeats Israeli lies

On Wednesday evening, President Joe Biden repeated Israeli assertions that Hamas has a major command center located under al-Shifa hospital.

“Here’s the situation,” Biden told reporters after meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping in San Francisco. “You have a circumstance where the first war crime is being committed by Hamas by having their headquarters, their military hidden under a hospital. And that’s a fact. That’s what’s happened.”

Administration officials have made similar assertions in recent days but have adamantly declined to offer any evidence for them. Nonetheless, they are a green light for Israel’s attack on al-Shifa.

“We’ve discussed the need for them to be incredibly careful,” Biden added. “You have a circumstance where you know there is a fair number of Hamas terrorists. Hamas has already said publicly that they plan on attacking Israel again like they did before, to where they were cutting babies’ heads off to burn – burning women and children alive.”

Last month Biden notoriously stated that he had seen photos corroborating Israeli claims that Palestinian fighters had beheaded dozens of beheaded babies, before the White House had to admit the president had been shown no such photos.

Israel has presented no evidence for that claim and many of its other assertions. Meanwhile there’s a growing body of evidence that Israeli forces killed many of their own civilians on and after 7 October.

Defending Israel’s actions at al-Shifa, Biden asserted, “they’re also bringing in incubators. They’re bringing in other – other means to help the people in the hospital, and they’ve given the doctors and – I’m told – the doctors and nurses and personnel an opportunity to get out of harm’s way.”

Were Biden well-informed, he would know that al-Shifa and other hospitals in Gaza do not lack incubators, but the electricity and fuel to power them.

Notably, al-Shifa director Abu Salmiya told Al Jazeera earlier that the Israelis had delivered no supplies to the hospital – in spite of propaganda by the Israeli army designed to market its attack on the hospital as a “humanitarian” operation.

Abu Salmiya said that despite the dire circumstances, the medical staff would not abandon their patients and would stay there and die with them if it came to that.

Operation Al-Aqsa Flood
al-Shifa Hospital


https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/did-israel-build-bunker-under-al-shifa-hospital

👇https://donshafi911.blogspot.com/2023/11/did-israel-build-bunker-under-al-shifa.html

‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 44: WHO says Israel turned Al-Shifa Hospital into ‘death zone,’ thousands of Palestinians ‘humiliated’ as they flee to southern Gaza
Mustafa Abu SneinehNovember 19, 2023
Palestinians pray during the funeral of their relatives, who were killed after an Israeli airstrike on the city of Deir al-Balah, at Al-Aqsa Hospital, November 19, 2023. (Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images)
Palestinians pray during the funeral of their relatives, who were killed after an Israeli airstrike on the city of Deir al-Balah, at Al-Aqsa Hospital, November 19, 2023. (Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images)
Casualties

12,012 killed*, including 4,900 children, and 32,300 wounded in Gaza
215 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 16. 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

World Health Organization described Al-Shifa Hospital, which was raided by Israeli forces last week and was emptied of nearly all patients, medical staff, and displaced civilians, as a “death zone.”
Doctors Without Borders said a convoy evacuating 137 of its Palestinian staff members and their families was targeted by Israeli forces, killing one relative and injuring another on Saturday.
Palestinians who were injured, elderly, or have kids were forced to get out of vehicles and walk an average of 10 hours for 14 km to Salah Al-Deen Street’s checkpoint.
Horrific stories spread of women harassed, young men stripped naked in front of the crowds, doctors and journalists detained and interrogated, and people sent into a hole dug in the ground at the Salah Al-Deen Street checkpoint.
As of November 11, 807,000 Palestinians remained in the areas of the northern Gaza Strip, after an estimated 400,000 fled south of the Gaza Valley throughout the first month of the war.
Jordan sets up a field hospital in the city of Nablus, which has raised alarm in anticipation of a further deterioration of the situation in the occupied West Bank.
The Israel Prison Service imposes punitive measures against Palestinian prisoners, including poor-quality and insufficient food, denial of access to the exercise yard, daily power cuts, medical neglect and restriction on family visits.
Al-Shifa Hospital turned into “death zone” as almost 400,000 Palestinians flee north of Gaza Strip

The WHO described Al-Shifa Hospital, which was raided by Israeli forces last week and was emptied of nearly all patients, medical staff, and displaced civilians, as a “death zone.”

“Signs of shelling and gunfire were evident. The team saw a mass grave at the entrance of the hospital and was told more than 80 people were buried there,” the WHO team who spent an hour inside Al-Shifa said.

On Sunday, Mohammed Al-Zaqout, the director of the Gaza hospital, told Al-Jazeera Arabic that four premature babies had died in Al-Shifa, which stopped receiving patients and directed them to be treated at the Indonesian Hospital.

Zaqout said that medical staff at Al-Shifa are in talks with the WHO to evacuate the remaining 32 premature babies in the incubators. There are still 25 medical staff and 291 patients inside Al-Shifa as of Sunday morning, two of them in the ICU and 22 in the dialysis department.

“Lack of clean water, fuel, medicines, food and other essential aid over the last 6 weeks have caused Al-Shifa Hospital…to essentially stop functioning as a medical facility,” the WHO said.

“Corridors and the hospital grounds were filled with medical and solid waste, increasing the risk of infection. Patients and health staff with whom they spoke were terrified for their safety and health, and pleaded for evacuation,” the organization added.

Israel claimed that Hamas fighters had a command and control center and web of tunnels under Al-Shifa, while the U.S. said that, based on intelligence sources, the hospital functioned as a node for Hamas’s operations. Hamas and Palestinian resistance factions were adamant in denying these claims and repeatedly called for international investigation teams to inspect the facility.

Almost a week after its brutal siege and raid on Al-Shifa on November 15, Israeli forces have yet to publish evidence of Hamas’ tunnels or weapons cache in Al-Shifa. The occupation forces released a video showing a few rifles, bullet magazines, and bullet-proof vests, claiming it was left behind at Al-Shifa by fighters of Hamas. The video was taken down and then reposted after removing a section in which a laptop was presented as evidence of Hamas’s presence at Al-Shifa.

Al Jazeera political analyst Marwan Bishara commented on the Israeli forces’ video, saying, “I’m baffled as to why Hamas keeps ‘leaving behind’ guns for the Israeli military to ‘find’ as evidence for their presence under hospitals!”

“Oh yea, leave the gun, take the cannolis,” he wrote in X, in a satirical reference to a scene from The Godfather.

Doctors Without Borders convoy targeted

The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced on Saturday evening that 12,012 Palestinians were martyred in the Israeli bombardments and airstrikes since October 7, and around 32,300 were wounded.

Until October 17, there were 3,750 people reportedly missing or under the rubble, 1,750 of them children. Israeli bombardments killed 4,900 children, 3,155 women, and 690 elderly people.

Two-thirds of the hospitals in the Gaza Strip have stopped operating, and medical organizations such as the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) are struggling to respond to calls to evacuate the wounded or rescue the trapped under the rubble.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said a convoy evacuating 137 MSF Palestinian staff members and their families was targeted by Israeli forces, killing one MSF employee’s relative and injuring another on Saturday.

“MSF condemns in the strongest terms this deliberate attack,” the organization said.

MSF informed the Israeli forces of their movement towards the southern Gaza Strip. The convoy was made of five cars, all marked with the MSF emblem on the roof, carrying 137 people, 65 of them children, who were stuck for almost a week in Gaza City.

However, they could not cross the overcrowded Israeli checkpoint at Salah Al-Deen Street and had to drive back 7 km north into Gaza, when they were targeted in Al-Wehda Street.

“MSF calls again to urgently allow the evacuation of our staff, as well as of thousands of other people, trapped by fighting and living in extremely dire conditions in northern Gaza. We are calling for an immediate ceasefire, which is the only way for corridors to be implemented in order to safely evacuate trapped civilians,” it said in a statement.

Salah Al-Deen Street checkpoint: ‘The corridor of death and humiliation’

For the past week, Israeli tanks and forces were stationed on the east and west of Salah Al-Deen Street, which cut the northern Gaza Strip into two halves. Palestinians evacuating areas of intense fighting in Gaza City, Sheikh Ridwan, Beit Lahia, Jabalia, and Beit Hanoun had to pass through an Israeli military checkpoint. Wafa correspondent Aseel Al-Akhras, who left Al-Shifa Hospital over the weekend, was among the thousands of people who took the perilous journey to the south on foot.

She described the “humanitarian route” that Israel designated for civilians to flee south as the “corridor of humiliation and death.” Akhras said that Palestinians who were injured, elderly, or have kids, were forced to get out of vehicles and walk an average of 10 hours the 14km south to Salah Al-Deen Street’s checkpoint, which was surrounded by tanks.”

She said she was detained at the checkpoint for more than an hour and a half.

“The displaced girls and women were harassed, and one of them had her gold stolen. Some of the displaced were forced to completely remove their clothes in the cold, in front of all of us,” she said.

Akhras said that Israeli tanks caused a cloud of soil and dirt to cover people while waiting. They were asked to raise their IDs, while some of them were taken into a hole dug near the checkpoint.

“We were interrogated by the occupation soldiers, and I was separated from my family. Doctors and Red Crescent employees were also interrogated and arrested…we saw them shooting a young man whose fate we do not yet know. They also forced six young men to kneel before the [Israeli] occupation flag at gunpoint,” she said.

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, as of November 11, there were about 807,000 Palestinians living in the areas of the northern Gaza Strip. An estimated 400,000 fled to the south of Gaza Valley to the areas of Khan Yunis, Dier al-Balah, and Rafah.

In the north of Gaza Valley, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said that 183,000 forcibly displaced people are sheltered in 154 UNRWA facilities.

On Sunday morning, Russia announced that it evacuated 550 people with Palestinian and Russian dual citizenship from Gaza, 230 of whom are children.

In the past 24 hours, Israel bombed hospitals, schools, mosques, and family houses in various areas in Gaza. On Sunday, a shell targeted the children’s department at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, Al Jazeera Arabic reported. In Al-Nafaq Street in Gaza, Israeli warplanes launched an airstrike on a house on Saturday evening, while in the central Gaza Strip, at least 31 people were killed in bombardments. In Nuseirat camp and Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip, 15 people were killed on Sunday morning. Al Jazeera Arabic reported that Israeli forces destroyed four mosques in Jabalia refugee camp, bringing the number of completely destroyed mosques to 76 and targeted churches to three.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II called for a ceasefire in Gaza to put an end to the humanitarian crisis created by the “ugly war against civilians” during a meeting with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission.

“Israel’s continuation of its hideous war on Gaza and its illegal violations in the West Bank and Jerusalem will lead to an explosion in the situation in the entire region,” said King Abdullah.

U.S. President Joe Biden stressed in an Op-ed in The Washington Post on Saturday that there will be no ceasefire before Hamas releases the Israeli captives taken on October 7.

“As long as Hamas clings to its ideology of destruction, a ceasefire is not peace,” Biden wrote.

Hakan Fidan, Turkey’s Foreign Minister and former spy chief, warned of the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip, asserting that Israel’s possession of nuclear capabilities could trigger an arms race in the West Asia region.

“The ongoing possession of nuclear weapons by Israel, coupled with the failure to denuclearize the region, will escalate the nuclear arms race, leading to increased nuclearization in the area. This is not a favorable situation for both the region and the world,” Fidan said in an interview with Al Jazeera Arabic.

West Bank: sixth Palestinian prisoner dies in Israeli custody, Israeli forces kill three Palestinians

As tension intensified in the occupied West Bank, Jordan set up a field hospital in the city of Nablus, which alarmed Palestinians anticipating a further deterioration in the situation.

Jordan had set up field hospitals in the West Bank’s cities of Ramallah in 2000 and Jenin in 2001 during the early days of the Second Intifada.

As of Sunday morning, 215 Palestinians have been martyred in the West Bank by Israeli forces and settlers.

In Jenin, Issam Al-Fayed, 46, a person with special needs, was killed on Sunday morning by Israeli fire near the “horse” roundabout at the entrance of Jenin refugee camp. Omar Al-Laham, 20, from Dheisheh refugee camp, was killed when Israeli forces stormed the camp. A third Palestinian was killed in Aida, another refugee camp near Bethlehem in the southern West Bank. On Sunday, Thaer Samih Abu Assab, 38, was the sixth Palestinian prisoner to die in Israeli custody since October 7.

Qaddoura Fares, the head of the Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs Commission, told Wafa that Abu Assab is from the town of Qalqilya and died in the notorious Negev Desert Prison. Abu Assab was arrested in May 2005 and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. The Commission said Abu Assab’s death was a “premeditated assassination operation.”

Last week, Ahmad Muhammad Mari, 33, died inside Megiddo prison. On November 6, Majed Ahmad Zaqoul, 32, from the Gaza Strip, also died in the prison. In October, prisoners Omar Daraghmeh, 58, from Tubas, and Arafat Hamdan, 25, from Ramallah, died in Israeli custody. Another Palestinian prisoner from the Gaza Strip, whose identity is yet to be identified by the Commission, was also announced dead.

The Commission said that the Israel Prison Service has imposed punitive measures against Palestinian prisoners, including insufficient and low-quality food, denial of access to the exercise yard, daily power cuts, medical neglect, and restrictions on family visitation.

There are 7,000 Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli jails as of November 6, according to the Addameer prisoners’ rights group. Almost 2,070 of them are serving administrative detention terms, a policy used by Israel to detain Palestinians without charge or trial indefinitely.

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-44-who-says-israel-turned-al-shifa-hospital-into-death-zone-and-thousands-of-palestinians-humiliated-as-they-flee-to-southern-gaza/

Israel Has Asked Meta And TikTok To Remove 8,000 Posts Related To Hamas War
Israel says its takedown requests to social media companies have increased 10-fold since the start of the war. Ninety-four percent of the content was removed.

Thomas BrewsterNov 14, 2023,
TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Telegram told to take down Hamas posts by Israel
Social media companies are having to deal with a massive influx of takedown requests around the Israel-Hamas war.
getty
Meta and TikTok have received over 8,000 requests from Israel to remove content related to the Hamas conflict that they allege violate the companies’ policies, according to the Israeli state prosecutor’s office. The agency says 94% of the content across major social sites that it flagged has been taken down.

Israel’s prosecutor’s office said it had requested the removal of content that incited violence and terrorism, as well as any promotion of groups widely designated as terrorists, including Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. It also asked that several songs praising Hamas that “served as soundtracks for thousands of videos on TikTok,” be taken down. TikTok, which told Forbes its policy was to remove all pro-Hamas content as soon as it’s identified, removed the videos playing the songs.

Policies for moderating violative content differ across platforms, but Google, TikTok and Facebook all ban material that promotes or is produced by terror groups, including Hamas, which has been designated as such by the U.S. government. Violence or hatred against individuals or groups based on ethnicity, nationality, race or religion are also banned.

“There is a significant challenge with Telegram’s cooperation.”

Hadar Katz, spokesperson for Israel’s state prosecutor’s office
Nearly 60% of 9,500 total content takedown requests from the prosecutor’s office to major social sites were to Facebook and Instagram’s parent company. That was compared to 26% to TikTok, according to data provided by the agency. Ten percent of those requests were directed at X, formerly known as Twitter; requests sent to YouTube and Telegram both fell under 5%. The government agency told Forbes that its takedown requests to all the social media giants has increased by 10-fold since the Hamas attacks.

Israel’s prosecutor’s office told Forbes that Telegram, which was used by Hamas-linked accounts to share gruesome footage from the October 7 attacks and the subsequent war, does not appear to have complied its requests. “There is a significant challenge with their cooperation,” said Hadar Katz, a spokesperson for the office.

Meta, Telegram and Twitter hadn’t responded to requests for comment at the time of publication. But Google’s YouTube said it had seen an influx of violative content on the platform since the war began. “Following the terrorist attacks by Hamas in Israel and the escalated conflict now underway in Israel and Gaza, we have removed tens of thousands of harmful videos and terminated hundreds of channels,” spokesperson Sarah Colvin-Rowley added.

Tech companies regularly receive demands from governments to remove material. In its most recent transparency report, TikTok reported it had received nearly 2,300 requests in the second half of 2022, 82 of which were from Israel, compared to just 11 from the U.S. and 335 from Russia. Google, meanwhile, received 60,000 requests in the first half of 2023, 223 from Israel, 359 from the U.S., and a massive 36,000 from Russia. Meta doesn’t release information on removal requests.

Follow me on Twitter. Check out my website. Send me a secure tip.
I'm a senior writer for Forbes, covering security, surveillance and privacy. I'm also the

...


https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2023/11/13/meta-and-tiktok-told-to-remove-8000-pro-hamas-posts-by-israel/

‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 43: Israeli forces order evacuation of Al-Shifa’ hospital, bomb schools in Gaza
Civilians flee Al-Shifa’ Hospital carrying people in wheelchairs and gurneys as Israeli forces order an immediate evacuation on Saturday morning. Only 120 patients in a critical state reportedly left, with five doctors to care for them.

Mondoweiss Palestine Bureau
November 18, 2023
Israeli forces outside Al-Shifa' hospital (Screenshot: Al Jazeera)
Israeli forces outside Al-Shifa’ hospital, published November 18, 2023 (Screenshot: Al Jazeera)
Casualties

11,470 killed*, including 4,707 children, and more than 29,000 wounded in Gaza
More than 200 Palestinians killed and 2,750 injured 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 16. 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

Israeli forces ordered the immediate evacuation of Al-Shifa’ hospital on Saturday morning — leaving only 120 patients in critical state and five doctors on the premises.
Civilians flee Al-Shifa’ carrying people in wheelchairs and gurneys, amid reports that Israeli forces barred men from entering southern Gaza.
Israeli forces reportedly took the bodies of 18 Palestinians from Al-Shifa’, with no information on their whereabouts.
An Israeli airstrike on al-Fakhura school in Jabalia refugee camp on Saturday has killed at least 50 people.
Scores of deadly Israeli airstrikes pummel Gaza schools, mosques, and homes, killing at least 26 in the southern town of Khan Younis.
Israel decides to allow two trucks’ worth of fuel a day into Gaza — a paltry amount that has nonetheless angered the government’s most extreme members.
Forty-eight Democrats send letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling on the White House to pressure Israel to let more fuel into Gaza.
The WHO says Gaza’s health system is “on its knees”.
Israeli media reports that Israeli army killed Vice President of the Palestinian Legislative Council Ahmed Bahr.
Fighting continues between Palestinian resistance groups and Israeli ground forces in northern Gaza and Gaza City.
In the West Bank, Israeli forces bombed the Fatah party headquarters in Balata refugee camp, killing five.
At least two other Palestinians die in the West Bank after being shot by Israeli forces, while armed confrontations continue in several areas of the occupied territory.
Palestinians raise the alarm about growing Israeli settler threat of takeover of Palestinian homes in the Old City’s Armenian Quarter in occupied East Jerusalem.
Hezbollah and other armed groups in Lebanon continue to trade fire with Israeli forces, as Lebanese media reports several wounded and an aluminum factory hit in southern Lebanon.
The International Criminal Court said on Friday that five countries had sent referrals requesting it investigate whether Israel’s actions in the wake of October 7 constituted crimes.
Israel’s Channel 12 says Hamas fighters who staged Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7 most likely weren’t aware that a music festival was taking place in Reim.
Saturday marks the first anniversary of the adoption of the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences Arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas. U.N.’s Martin Griffiths says “there is no greater reminder of the importance of its universal endorsement and implementation” than the current situation in Palestine.
U.N. Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation calls on Israel to “stop using water as a weapon of war.”
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi tells conference in Bahrain: “Israel says it wants to wipe out Hamas. There’s a lot of military people here, I just don’t understand how this objective can be realised.”
Thousands of Israelis, including opposition leader Yair Lapid, march to prime minister’s office in Jerusalem calling for the return of hostages held by Hamas.
Biden’s Middle East adviser Brett McGurk says humanitarian relief to Gaza hinges on release of Israeli hostages, as Qatari mediators were reportedly negotiating this week for the release of around 50 civilian hostages held by Palestinian resistance groups in exchange for a three-day ceasefire.
Despite numerous reports of Washington applying more pressure onto Israel in private, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel that Tel Aviv doesn’t feel that the U.S. is closing its “window of support”.
Israeli army generals express concern over behavior of a number of soldiers in Gaza, including playing soccer and racing military vehicles.
Al-Shifa’ hospital evacuated, Israeli forces reportedly stop Palestinians from fleeing south

Staff at Gaza City’s Al-Shifa’ hospital said that the Israeli army had called for the medical complex — which has been occupied by Israeli forces since Wednesday after days of siege — to be evacuated “within the hour” on Saturday morning, causing widespread panic among the estimated 7,000 medical staff, patients, and civilians who have taken refuge in the biggest medical complex of the Gaza Strip.

While the Israeli army Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee denied the report, Israeli forces have repeatedly called for Al-Shifa’ to be evacuated in past weeks, amid its unconvincing claims that the hospital sits above a Hamas command center.

“I categorically deny these false allegations [from the Israeli army] … I am telling you we were forced to leave by gunpoint,” Director-General of hospitals in Gaza Mohammed Zaqout told Al Jazeera. An AFP journalist at Al-Shifa’ meanwhile reported that Israeli forces issued the call for evacuation over loudspeaker.

WAFA news agency reported that hundreds of people waving white flags, pushing wounded in wheelchairs and gurneys, left the hospital on foot towards southern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been forced to flee over the past 43 days.

But medical sources on the ground have said it is “impossible” to evacuate everyone from the hospital, and that 120 critically wounded or particularly fragile patients were left in the hospital, along with five doctors.

The hospital had notably been caring for 39 premature babies, whose incubators ran out of power last week. Munir al-Barsh, the general-director of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, said a fourth infant had died Friday, and that five of the remaining 35 babies were severely ill, amid lack of access to electricity, medical supplies, food, and safe drinking water. At least 24 patients at Al-Shifa’ have died in the past 24 hours.

Al-Bursh also accused Israeli forces on Friday of taking the bodies of at least 18 Palestinians — who had been left in the hospital courtyard for days as Israeli snipers prevented people from burying them — and took them to an unknown location

As of midday on Saturday, Al-Shifa’ director Mohammed Abu Salmiya told Al Jazeera that the hospital was almost completely deserted, with Israeli soldiers in “total control” of the medical complex.

Meanwhile, eyewitnesses told Al Jazeera that Israeli forces had set up a checkpoint on Salah el-Din Street, one of the two main roads used by Palestinians fleeing northern Gaza, and detained men, only allowing women and children to head south.

Deadly bombings hit Gaza schools, Israel allows tiny amounts of fuel in

As has been the case for more than 42 days, Israeli airstrikes have continued to pummel the tiny Gaza Strip — both in the north, where Israel has also been carrying out a ground invasion, but also in the south, where Israeli officials have repeatedly called on Palestinian civilians to evacuate for their “safety”.

The director of Al-Wafa hospital and elderly care home, was among those killed in an airstrike in the al-Zahra neighborhood of Gaza City.

In northern and central Gaza, including Gaza City, deadly airstrikes were reported in al-Qasasib, the UNRWA-run al-Fakhura and al-Falah schools, Beit Lahia, Deir al-Balah, Jabalia refugee camp, Nuseirat refugee camp, the Grand Mosque in al-Maghazi refugee camp, and in the vicinity of the Indonesian hospital.

Initial reports by Al Jazeera estimated that 50 people had been killed by the bombing of al-Fakhura school in Jabalia refugee camp. Another strike in Jabalia reportedly killed 32 people.

In southern Gaza, at least 26 people, many of them children, were killed by Israeli airstrikes on residential buildings in Khan Younis. A cultural center was also reported bombed in Rafah.

Due to the breakdown of communication services, particularly in northern Gaza, the Palestinian Ministry of Health says it has been facing “significant difficulties” in updating its data regarding death tolls for the past week. Numbers issued cannot take into account the full scope of devastation, as untold numbers of dead are unable to be retrieved from the rubble, whether due to the presence of Israeli ground forces in northern Gaza, or the lack of fuel and communication services affecting rescue teams’ ability to be on the scene quickly and with all necessary materiel.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces are now dropping their pretense of maintaining a “safe zone” in southern Gaza. “We are determined to keep moving forward. This will happen wherever Hamas is, which includes the southern Gaza Strip,” Army spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Friday. “It will happen at a time, place, and under conditions that are favorable to us.” The Financial Times quoted Israeli army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi on Friday as saying that “as far as we are concerned, more and more regions [will be targeted].”

FT further reported that the Israeli army had dropped thousands of leaflets over some neighborhoods on Khan Younis telling people to evacuate their homes, claiming that it would set up a “safe zone” in a 14-square-kilometer area in southwest Gaza — a unilateral move that has already been rejected by the heads of all major U.N. humanitarian agencies.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said on Friday that “the current Israeli proposal for a so-called ‘safe zone’ is untenable: the zone is neither safe nor feasible for the number of people in need.”

Türk also hinted at the need for an international investigation against Israel, as the International Criminal Court said on Friday that five countries had sent referrals requesting it investigate whether Israel’s actions in the wake of October 7 constituted crimes.

“No-one is above the law. Breaches of international humanitarian law – even war crimes – committed by one party do not, ever, absolve the other from compliance with the principles of the law of war and their human rights obligations,” Türk said. “All serious allegations of multiple and profound breaches of international humanitarian and human rights law – whoever commits them – demand rigorous investigation and full accountability.”

“Where national authorities prove unwilling or unable to carry out such investigations, and where there are contested narratives on particularly significant incidents, international investigation is called for.”

The Gaza Strip was already one of the most densely populated places on earth before the mass displacement of 1.5 million of its 2.3 million inhabitants in the past 43 days. A number of Israeli officials have not hidden their desire to expel Palestinians from parts or all of Gaza altogether. A senior U.N. official told FT that they had warned the United States of “a Nakba 2”, in reference to the 750,000 Palestinians who were forcibly displaced in 1948.

“We do not believe the Israelis will allow those displaced from the north to go back,” the official said.

Telecommunications had partially returned to Gaza on Friday, after a limited amount of fuel was allowed in the Strip, the Palestinian Authority minister of telecommunications and information technology said. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) noted that this was the fourth communications blackout in Gaza since October 7, but the first caused by a lack of fuel.

Israel’s war cabinet decided on Friday to begin allowing two trucks of fuel a day into the besieged Gaza Strip starting on Saturday — only 2 to 4 percent of the amount that entered Gaza daily before the war, The Times of Israel reported.

The cabinet said the move would “enable the minimal maintenance necessary for water, sewer and sanitary systems to prevent pandemics that could spread to the entire area, hurting residents of the Strip as well as our own forces and potentially spreading into Israel as well.”

Mentioning pressure from the U.S. government, the statement added that the limited entry of fuel would also “offer Israel the necessary diplomatic maneuvering room to eliminate Hamas.”

Despite the self-interested reasoning put forward by the war cabinet, which includes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Minister without portfolio Benny Gantz, the decision has sparked outrage from among the most extreme members of Netanyahu’s far-right government.

“So long as our hostages don’t even get a visit from the Red Cross, there is no sense in giving the enemy humanitarian gifts,” the Times of Israel quoted National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir as saying.

These statements come as World Health Organization (WHO) representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Richard Peeperkorn said on Friday that Gaza’s health system was “on its knees” while faced with “endless need”. According to the WHO, 75 percent of hospitals in Gaza were non-functional as of Friday. The remaining 11 hospitals were only “partially operational and admitting patients with extremely limited services”.

Seven Palestinians killed in West Bank, East Jerusalem under threat

While most international attention has been focused on Gaza, violence continued to rage on in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, with Türk saying on Friday that he was “ringing the loudest possible alarm bell about the West Bank.”

An Israeli drone bombed the Fatah party headquarters in Balata refugee camp in the northern West Bank on Friday night, killing five Palestinians, identified at Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades commander Mohammed Zuhd, Mohammed al-Musaimi, Mohammed Hashash, Mohammed Mustafa, and Ali Faraj.

WAFA news agency reported that, following the airstrike, Israeli forces went on to blow up a home and destroy roads with a bulldozer in Balata.

At least one other Palestinian was killed in the occupied West Bank on Saturday morning, identified as Omar Shahrouri during an Israeli army raid in Tubas during which two other Palestinians were wounded.

Meanwhile, 21-year-old Jamal Mahmoud Masharqa from Jenin refugee camp succumbed on Friday to wounds he had sustained during an Israeli raid on November 9.

Confrontations between armed Palestinian resistance groups and Israeli forces were reported overnight in Balata, Tubas, Yabad, and Jericho.

Meanwhile, Palestinians were reported wounded by Israeli forces or Israeli settlers in Kafr Dan, Khirbet Tana, Dhahariya, Masafer Yatta, Burin, and Hebron. At least 38 Palestinians were detained by Israeli forces overnight across the West Bank

Israeli forces reportedly fired tear gas into a school in occupied East Jerusalem’s Issawiya neighborhood on Friday, attacking teachers and students and leaving at least three students with broken bones.

Israeli forces and settlers have meanwhile been escalating threats and violence against Palestinian residents of the Old City’s Armenian Quarter, in what has been described as an “existential threat” following a deal that could reportedly see 25 percent of the quarter sold to settlers, in violation of international law.

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-43-israeli-forces-order-evacuation-of-al-shifa-hospital-bomb-schools-in-gaza/

Sisconline

YOUTUBE CHANNEL INCOME

Learn The Top Secrets Used To Make Millions From Youtube


70% OFF valid until 6th March 2023


Before price $56

Buy now for $16 & Save $40

Resell for $45 - $75




All of our products are 100% Resealable

Earn up to $59 Pure Profit from Reselling this Bundle


https://www.digistore24.com/redir/408365/Abrar769/


Ending Soon


With over a billion unique YouTube visitors per month, YouTube is one of the most visited and largest websites in the world. Also, it's one of the easiest platforms to get a great amount of money for your pocket.

YouTube megastars like Ryan Higa, Ray William Johnson, and Bethany Mota have amassed billions of views simply through vlogging. This has almost certainly raked in seven figures or more in revenue while leading to untold opportunities outside of YouTube.

And then there are the channels that house much more substance while remaining impressively popular. Take Creative Live, the Ask Gary Vee Show, and Big Think.

These channels may all be entirely different, but share the common factor of regularly being watched by huge numbers of people. This is because they’ve stuck to at least some of the key ingredients that you are about to learn from this bundle.


Table of contents

About YouTube

The Technical Guide to setting up a YouTube Channel – Step by Step

Tips on Starting a New and Successful YouTube Channel

How to monetize your YouTube Channel

Tips to Promote Merchandise on Your YouTube Channel

How can Beauty Vloggers grow their YouTube Channel?

Tips to create a Gaming Channel on YouTube

How to Guest Vlog on YouTube and Get More Channel Views

Advanced Tactics for Promoting Your YouTube Channel and Increasing Subscribers

Best Tips on Profitable YouTube Advertising & Promotion

How to drive sales using YouTube Cards?

YouTube SEO Tips

YouTube Analytics

How to make YouTube a part of Successful B2B Marketing Funnel?

Tools and Apps to grow your YouTube Channel

YouTube Marketing Trends

Case studies


The Video should become a critical piece of the marketing puzzle because of how much video content your audience is consuming. But, with many other companies knowing this, it’s becoming harder and harder to stand out amongst your competition. This is why advertising spends does need to be allocated to services like YouTube in order to gain visibility from your target audience. Although similar to paid search spend, the world of YouTube advertising can seem a bit overwhelming and complicated to navigate at first. Below are six tips to help you spend your YouTube ad budget in a smart way to actually gain attention from the people that matter the most, your future customers.
https://www.digistore24.com/redir/408365/Abrar769/

300 hours of YouTube video are uploaded every minute—if you want to get noticed, you have to get serious about promoting your channel. It’s not rocket science, but it’s not going to happen on its own. Let’s take a deeper dive into 9 best practices and how they can help you grow your numbers.


With such a huge number of views everyday YouTube is one site where you would definitely want to run an ad campaign. You have multiple options available when it comes to the kind of advertising campaign you want to run. You can use one of the several marketing programs or you can use the video target tool to place your ads.


Included inside this exceptional bundle :

eBook

Mind Map

Cheat Sheet

Top Resource Report


Learn from a to z about how to make money from your youtube channel.

This is the complete guide about Youtube.




100% RESELLABLE




Click the button below and Invest in this eBook




File Size: 5.8 MB

​

​

Product Terms

​

[YES] Can be sold



[YES] Can be used for personal use



[YES] Can be packaged with other products



[YES] Can be added to paid membership websites



[YES] Can put your name on the sales letter



[YES] Can be offered as a bonus



[YES] Can be used to build a list

​

​

[NO] Can modify/change the sales letter



[NO] Can modify/change the main product



[NO] Can modify/change the graphics and ecover



[NO] Can print/publish offline



[NO] Can be given away for free



[NO] Can be added to free membership websites



[NO] Can convey and sell Personal Use Rights



[NO] Can convey and sell Resale Rights



[NO] Can convey and sell Master Resale Rights



[NO] Can convey and sell Private Label Rights


60 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEED
You can test drive this product for a full 60 days after your purchase to check out this product to see if it is for you.



Read it. Absorb. Apply it to your life. Observe the results.



If for any reason at all, you're not satisfied with this product whatsoever, just send us an email saying the reason why you want the money back, and I'll refund your purchase in 3 to 5 Business days if only you haven't resold the book. You have to delete the copy off your hard drive.


YOU CANNOT LOSE.

https://www.digistore24.com/redir/408365/Abrar769/




©2021 Copyright Runolfsson LLC

​https://www.digistore24.com/redir/408365/Abrar769/

​

Legal notice


Legal & Disclaimers

This site is not a part of the Youtube website. Additionally,

This site is NOT endorsed by Youtube in any way.

​https://www.digistore24.com/redir/408365/Abrar769/

*Earnings and income representations made by Sisconline, and their advertisers/sponsors are aspirational statements only of your earnings potential. These results are not typical and results will vary. The results on this page are OUR results and from years of testing. We can in NO way guarantee you will get similar results. Please understand our results are not typical, I’m not implying you’ll duplicate them (or do anything for that matter). The average person who buys any "how to" information gets little to no results. I’m using these references for example purposes only. Your results will vary and depend on many factors

Sisconline

by

Runolfsson LLC

©2021 CopyrightRunolfsson LLC
https://www.digistore24.com/redir/408365/Abrar769/

Maintaining proper oral hygiene is crucial for overall health and well-being. A healthy mouth not only enhances your smile but also helps prevent various dental and systemic diseases. In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into the importance of oral hygiene, discuss effective oral care practices, explore common oral health issues, and provide tips for maintaining optimal oral health. So let's dive in and discover everything you need to know about oral hygiene.


Table of Contents


Introduction to Oral Hygiene

The Basics of Oral Hygiene

Brushing Techniques and Tips

Choosing the Right Toothbrush and Toothpaste

The Importance of Flossing

Benefits of Mouthwash


Key Components of an Effective Oral Care Routine

Regular Dental Check-ups

Professional Dental Cleaning

Dental Sealants and Fluoride Treatments


Understanding Common Oral Health Issues

Tooth Decay and Cavities

Gum Disease: Causes, Prevention, and Treatment

Bad Breath: Causes and Remedies

Tooth Sensitivity: Causes and Solutions


The Role of Diet in Oral Health

Foods That Promote Healthy Teeth and Gums

Foods to Avoid for Optimal Oral Health


The Link Between Oral Hygiene and Overall Health

Oral Health and Heart Disease

Oral Health and Diabetes

Oral Health and Pregnancy

Oral Health and Respiratory Infections


Oral Hygiene Tips for Different Stages of Life

Oral Care for Children

Oral Care for Teens

Oral Care for Adults

Oral Care for Seniors


Oral Hygiene Products: What to Look For

Choosing the Right Toothbrush

Types of Toothpaste and Their Benefits

Flossing Tools and Techniques

Mouthwash and Its Varieties


Natural Remedies for Oral Health

Oil Pulling

Herbal Mouthwashes

Homemade Toothpaste Recipes


The Importance of Oral Hygiene in Preventive Dentistry



Preventive Treatments and Procedures

Benefits of Preventive Dentistry



Frequently Asked Questions about Oral Hygiene



How Often Should I Brush and Floss?

Are Electric Toothbrushes Better than Manual Ones?

Can Poor Oral Hygiene Cause Bad Breath?

Are Natural Toothpastes Effective?



Conclusion


1. Introduction to Oral Hygiene

Maintaining good oral hygiene is essential for both the health of your teeth and gums and your overall well-being. Oral hygiene encompasses a range of practices that help prevent dental issues such as tooth decay, gum disease, and bad breath. It involves regular brushing, flossing, and rinsing with mouthwash, as well as visiting your dentist for check-ups and cleanings. By adopting proper oral hygiene habits, you can enjoy a healthy smile and reduce the risk of various oral health problems.


2. The Basics of Oral Hygiene

To start your journey towards excellent oral hygiene, it's crucial to understand the basics. Let's explore the key elements of an effective oral care routine.


Brushing Techniques and Tips

Brushing your teeth is the foundation of good oral hygiene. It helps remove plaque, bacteria, and food particles that can lead to tooth decay and gum disease. Here are some essential brushing techniques and tips to keep in mind:



Brush at least twice a day
: Brush your teeth for two minutes, morning and night, using a soft-bristled toothbrush.

Use the proper technique
: Hold your toothbrush at a 45-degree angle to your gums and use gentle, circular motions to clean all tooth surfaces.

Don't forget your tongue
: Gently brush your tongue to remove bacteria and freshen your breath.

Replace your toothbrush regularly
: Replace your toothbrush every three to four months or sooner if the bristles become frayed.

Consider an electric toothbrush
: Electric toothbrushes can be more effective at removing plaque and reducing gum inflammation.


Choosing the Right Toothbrush and Toothpaste

Selecting the right toothbrush and toothpaste is essential for maintaining optimal oral hygiene. Here are some factors to consider when choosing these oral care products:



Toothbrush
: Opt for a toothbrush with soft bristles and a comfortable grip. Consider the size and shape of the brush head to ensure it can reach all areas of your mouth.

Toothpaste
: Look for toothpaste that contains fluoride, as it helps strengthen tooth enamel and prevent cavities. Consider additional features like tartar control or sensitivity relief, depending on your specific needs.


The Importance of Flossing

Brushing alone cannot reach the tight spaces between your teeth, which is why flossing is crucial for comprehensive oral hygiene. Flossing helps remove plaque and food particles from areas that your toothbrush cannot reach. Follow these tips for effective flossing:



Floss daily
: Make it a habit to floss at least once a day, preferably before brushing your teeth.

Use the right technique
: Wind the floss around your fingers and gently insert it between your teeth. Curve the floss into a C shape and slide it up and down against each tooth surface.

Be gentle
: Avoid snapping the floss into your gums, as it can cause irritation and bleeding. Instead, use a gentle back-and-forth motion.


Benefits of Mouthwash

Mouthwash is an excellent addition to your oral care routine as it helps kill bacteria, freshens your breath, and reduces the risk of gum disease. Consider these points when using mouthwash:



Choose the right mouthwash
: Look for a mouthwash that contains fluoride and has antibacterial properties.

Follow the instructions
: Read the label and use the mouthwash as directed. Most mouthwashes recommend swishing for 30 seconds to one minute.

Don't replace brushing and flossing
: While mouthwash is beneficial, it should not replace brushing and flossing. It should be used as an additional step in your oral hygiene routine.


3. Key Components of an Effective Oral Care Routine

In addition to brushing, flossing, and using mouthwash, there are other critical components of an effective oral care routine. Let's explore these key elements.


Regular Dental Check-ups

Regular dental check-ups are essential for maintaining good oral health. During these visits, your dentist will examine your teeth and gums, check for any signs of dental issues, and perform professional cleanings. It is recommended to visit your dentist every six months or as advised by your oral healthcare professional.


Professional Dental Cleaning

Professional dental cleanings, also known as prophylaxis, are crucial for removing plaque and tartar buildup that cannot be eliminated through regular brushing and flossing. During a cleaning, a dental hygienist will use special tools to remove plaque, tartar, and stains from your teeth. This process helps prevent cavities, gum disease, and other oral health issues.


Dental Sealants and Fluoride Treatments

Dental sealants and fluoride treatments are preventive measures that can further protect your teeth from decay. Dental sealants are thin, protective coatings applied to the chewing surfaces of your back teeth to prevent bacteria and food particles from getting trapped in the grooves. Fluoride treatments, on the other hand, involve the application of fluoride to strengthen tooth enamel and make it more resistant to acid attacks.


4. Understanding Common Oral Health Issues

Despite practicing good oral hygiene, you may still encounter certain oral health issues. Understanding these problems can help you prevent, detect, and treat them effectively. Let's explore some common oral health issues.


Tooth Decay and Cavities

Tooth decay, also known as dental caries, is one of the most prevalent oral health issues worldwide. It occurs when bacteria in your mouth convert sugars and carbohydrates into acids that attack the tooth enamel. If left untreated, tooth decay can lead to cavities, toothaches, and even tooth loss. Preventive measures like regular brushing, flossing, and dental check-ups can help prevent tooth decay.


Gum Disease: Causes, Prevention, and Treatment

Gum disease, also called periodontal disease, is an infection of the gums and tissues that support your teeth. It is primarily caused by poor oral hygiene, leading to the buildup of plaque and tartar along the gumline. If left untreated, gum disease can progress from gingivitis (mild inflammation) to periodontitis (severe infection), potentially leading to tooth loss. Preventive measures like proper brushing, flossing, and regular dental cleanings can help prevent gum disease.


Bad Breath: Causes and Remedies

Bad breath, also known as halitosis, can be embarrassing and a sign of underlying oral health issues. Common causes of bad breath include poor oral hygiene, gum disease, dry mouth, certain foods, and underlying medical conditions. To combat bad breath, practice good oral hygiene, drink plenty of water, avoid tobacco and alcohol, and consider using mouthwash or breath fresheners.


Tooth Sensitivity: Causes and Solutions

Tooth sensitivity is characterized by pain or discomfort when consuming hot, cold, sweet, or acidic foods and beverages. It is often caused by exposed tooth roots, worn enamel, gum recession, or tooth decay. To alleviate tooth sensitivity, practice good oral hygiene, use desensitizing toothpaste, avoid acidic foods, and consult your dentist for appropriate treatment options.


5. The Role of Diet in Oral Health

Your diet plays a significant role in maintaining optimal oral health. Certain foods can promote healthy teeth and gums, while others can contribute to dental issues. Let's explore the relationship between diet and oral health.


Foods That Promote Healthy Teeth and Gums

Eating a balanced diet rich in nutrients can promote healthy teeth and gums. Include the following foods in your diet to support optimal oral health:



Calcium-rich foods
: Milk, cheese, yogurt, and leafy green vegetables provide calcium, which helps strengthen tooth enamel.

Crunchy fruits and vegetables
: Apples, carrots, and celery stimulate saliva production and act as natural tooth cleansers.

Lean proteins
: Chicken, fish, and eggs are excellent sources of phosphorus, which helps protect tooth enamel.

Vitamin C-rich foods
: Citrus fruits, strawberries, and bell peppers boost collagen production, which supports healthy gums.


Foods to Avoid for Optimal Oral Health

Certain foods and drinks can contribute to dental issues like tooth decay and gum disease. Limit or avoid the following for optimal oral health:



Sugary and sticky foods
: Candies, sodas, and sugary snacks can feed bacteria in your mouth, leading to tooth decay.

Acidic foods and drinks
: Citrus fruits, tomatoes, and carbonated beverages can erode tooth enamel over time.

Starchy foods
: Chips, crackers, and bread can linger in your mouth and convert to sugars, increasing the risk of tooth decay.


6. The Link Between Oral Hygiene and Overall Health

Maintaining good oral hygiene not only benefits your teeth and gums but also contributes to your overall health. Poor oral health has been linked to various systemic conditions. Let's explore the connection between oral hygiene and overall health.


Oral Health and Heart Disease

Research suggests that there may be a link between poor oral health and heart disease. The bacteria associated with gum disease can enter the bloodstream and contribute to the development of cardiovascular problems. By practicing good oral hygiene, you can potentially reduce the risk of heart disease.


Oral Health and Diabetes

Diabetes and oral health have a bidirectional relationship. Poorly controlled diabetes can increase the risk of gum disease, while periodontal disease can make it more challenging to control blood sugar levels. Managing diabetes and prioritizing oral hygiene can help prevent complications and improve overall health.


Oral Health and Pregnancy

Pregnancy hormones can affect oral health, making pregnant women more susceptible to gum disease and tooth decay. Poor oral health during pregnancy has also been associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. Maintaining good oral hygiene and seeking regular dental care are essential for pregnant women.


Oral Health and Respiratory Infections

Research suggests a connection between poor oral health and respiratory infections, such as pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Oral bacteria can be aspirated into the lungs, leading to respiratory infections. By practicing proper oral hygiene, you can potentially reduce the risk of respiratory infections.


7. Oral Hygiene Tips for Different Stages of Life

Oral hygiene needs evolve throughout different stages of life. Let's explore some oral care tips for each stage:


Oral Care for Children

Teaching children proper oral hygiene habits from an early age sets the foundation for a lifetime of good oral health. Some tips for children's oral care include:



Start early
: Begin cleaning your baby's gums with a soft cloth or infant toothbrush even before the first tooth erupts.

Introduce toothbrushing
: Once the first tooth appears, use a soft-bristled toothbrush and a smear of fluoride toothpaste to clean their teeth.

Supervise brushing
: Children should be supervised while brushing until they have the dexterity to do it effectively on their own.

Encourage healthy snacks
: Limit sugary snacks and drinks, and encourage fruits, vegetables, and dairy products for healthy teeth and gums.


Oral Care for Teens

Teenagers face unique oral health challenges, including orthodontic treatment and an increased risk of cavities. Here are some tips for teens' oral care:



Orthodontic care
: If your teen has braces or other orthodontic appliances, they must maintain proper oral hygiene and follow their orthodontist's instructions.

Avoid tobacco and alcohol
: Educate your teen about the risks of tobacco and alcohol on oral health, including bad breath, stained teeth, and increased gum disease risk.

Mouthguards for sports
: Encourage your teen to wear a mouthguard during sports activities to protect their teeth from injury.

Regular dental check-ups
: Schedule regular dental check-ups for your teen to monitor their oral health and address any concerns.


Oral Care for Adults

Maintaining good oral hygiene habits becomes even more critical in adulthood. Here are some tips for adults' oral care:



Brush and floss daily
: Brush your teeth at least twice a day and floss once a day to remove plaque and prevent dental issues.

Watch for signs of gum disease
: Look out for symptoms like bleeding gums, persistent bad breath, or gum recession, and seek dental care promptly.

Avoid tobacco and limit alcohol
: Tobacco use and excessive alcohol consumption can significantly impact oral health. Quit smoking and limit alcohol intake for a healthier mouth.

Monitor oral changes
: Pay attention to any changes in your mouth, such as sores, lumps, or discoloration, and consult your dentist if you notice anything unusual.


Oral Care for Seniors

As we age, our oral health needs change. Here are some oral care tips for seniors:



Maintain diligent oral hygiene
: Continue to brush and floss regularly and use mouthwash as needed.

Address dry mouth
: Dry mouth is a common issue among seniors and can increase the risk of cavities. Stay hydrated, chew sugar-free gum, and talk to your dentist about potential solutions.

Regular dental check-ups
: Schedule regular dental check-ups to monitor your oral health, especially if you wear dentures or have other dental appliances.

Medication review
: Certain medications can impact oral health. Discuss any changes in your medication with your dentist to mitigate potential side effects.


8. Oral Hygiene Products: What to Look For

Choosing the right oral hygiene products can enhance your oral care routine. Consider the following factors when selecting toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, and mouthwash:


Choosing the Right Toothbrush


Opt for a toothbrush with soft bristles to avoid damaging your tooth enamel and gums.

Consider the size and shape of the brush head to ensure it can reach all areas of your mouth.

Electric toothbrushes can be a good option for those with limited dexterity or specific oral health needs.


Types of Toothpaste and Their Benefits


Look for toothpaste that contains fluoride, as it helps strengthen tooth enamel and prevent cavities.

Consider additional features like tartar control, sensitivity relief, or whitening properties, depending on your specific needs.


Flossing Tools and Techniques


Traditional dental floss is effective for most people. However, if you struggle with traditional flossing, consider alternative options like floss picks or water flossers.

The key is to find a method that allows you to clean between your teeth effectively.


Mouthwash and Its Varieties


Mouthwash can provide additional protection against bacteria, freshen your breath, and promote healthy gums.

Look for mouthwash that contains fluoride and has antibacterial properties for maximum benefits.


9. Natural Remedies for Oral Health

If you prefer natural alternatives, several remedies can complement your oral hygiene routine. Here are a few natural remedies for oral health:


Oil Pulling


Oil pulling involves swishing oil (such as coconut or sesame oil) in your mouth for 10-20 minutes, then spitting it out.

Proponents of oil pulling claim that it helps remove bacteria, reduces plaque, and improves oral health.


Herbal Mouthwashes


Several herbal mouthwashes contain natural ingredients like tea tree oil, eucalyptus oil, or peppermint oil, which can help freshen your breath and reduce bacteria.


Homemade Toothpaste Recipes


If you prefer making your own toothpaste, there are various homemade recipes available that use ingredients like baking soda, coconut oil, and essential oils.


10. The Importance of Oral Hygiene in Preventive Dentistry

Oral hygiene plays a crucial role in preventive dentistry, which focuses on maintaining oral health and preventing dental issues. Let's explore the significance of oral hygiene in preventive dentistry:


Preventive Treatments and Procedures


Regular dental check-ups and cleanings are essential preventive treatments that allow your dentist to detect any oral health issues early on.

Other preventive treatments may include dental sealants, fluoride treatments, and oral cancer screenings.


Benefits of Preventive Dentistry


By practicing good oral hygiene and undergoing preventive treatments, you can reduce the risk of dental problems and potentially avoid costly and invasive dental procedures.

Preventive dentistry promotes long-term oral health, enhances your quality of life, and saves you from the discomfort of dental issues.


11. Frequently Asked Questions about Oral Hygiene

Let's address some common questions related to oral hygiene:


How Often Should I Brush and Floss?

It is recommended to brush your teeth at least twice a day, ideally after meals. Flossing should be done at least once a day, preferably before brushing.


Are Electric Toothbrushes Better than Manual Ones?

Electric toothbrushes can be more effective at removing plaque and reducing gum inflammation. However, proper brushing technique is more important than the type of toothbrush used.


Can Poor Oral Hygiene Cause Bad Breath?

Yes, poor oral hygiene can lead to bad breath. Bacteria in the mouth can produce foul-smelling compounds, resulting in unpleasant breath odor.


Are Natural Toothpastes Effective?

Natural toothpastes can be effective at cleaning teeth and freshening breath. Look for natural toothpaste options that contain fluoride to ensure adequate protection against tooth decay.


12. Conclusion

Maintaining optimal oral hygiene is essential for a healthy smile and overall well-being. By following a comprehensive oral care routine, including regular brushing, flossing, and dental check-ups, you can prevent dental issues and promote a lifetime of good oral health. Remember to choose the right oral hygiene products, watch your diet, and be aware of the connection between oral health and overall health. By prioritizing oral hygiene, you can enjoy a confident smile and a healthier life.


Now that you have a comprehensive understanding of oral hygiene, it's time to put your knowledge into practice. Start implementing these tips and recommendations to achieve optimal oral health for yourself and your loved ones.

To Know more Click Here-- https://sites.google.com/view/newprodentim2023-24/home

What media reports fail to tell you about October 7
Alison Weir November 13, 2023 bbc, Gaza, hamas
What media reports fail to tell you about October 7
BBC's Lucy Williamson is taken by the Israeli military to view kibbutz damage.regurgitating Israeli claims. (photo)
It is journalistic malpractice for the media to still be repeating so credulously the Israeli military’s account of that day, including alleged Hamas atrocities that turned out to be fiction

Media neglected to report much key information, e.g. Israeli military commanders had ordered the shelling of kibbutz houses in order to eliminate the “terrorists along with the hostages”… once Israeli special forces arrived: “They eliminated everyone, including the hostages”

Are the images of charred bodies evidence that Israeli civilians and Hamas fighters burned alongside each other, after they were engulfed in flames caused by Israeli shelling of the houses?

While this article focuses on BBC coverage, it’s analysis applies equally to US media. Some news coverage, in fact, has been considerably worse

By Jonathan Cook, reposted from Jonathan Cook Substack, Nov 2, 2023.

The BBC’s Lucy Williamson was taken once again this week to view the terrible destruction at a kibbutz community just outside Gaza attacked on October 7. As we have been shown so many times before, the Israeli homes were riddled with automatic fire, both inside and out. Sections of concrete wall had holes in them, or had collapsed entirely. And parts of the buildings that were still standing were deeply charred. It looked like a small snapshot of the current horrors in Gaza.

There is a possible reason for those similarities – one that the BBC is studiously failing to report, despite mounting evidence from a variety of sources, including the Israeli media. Instead the BBC is sticking resolutely to a narrative crafted for them, and the rest of the western media, by the Israeli military: that Hamas alone caused all this destruction.

Simply repeating that narrative without any caveats has by now reached the level of journalistic malpractice. And yet that is precisely what the BBC does night after night.

Just a cursory look at the wreckage in the various kibbutz communities that were attacked that day should raise questions in the mind of any good reporter. Were Palestinian militants in a position to actually inflict physical damage to that degree and extent with the kind of light weapons they carried?

And if not, who else was in a position to wreak such havoc other than Israel?

A separate question that good journalists ought to be asking is this: What was the purpose of such damage? What did the Palestinian militants hope to achieve by it?

The implicit answer the media is supplying is also the answer the Israeli military wants western publics to hear: that Hamas engaged in an orgy of gratuitious killing and savagery because … well, let’s say the quiet part out loud: because Palestinians are inherently savage.

With that as the implicit narrative, western politicians have been handed a licence to cheerlead Israel as it murders a Palestinian child in Gaza every few minutes. Savages only understand the language of savagery, after all.

Brutal tango

For this reason alone, any journalist who wishes to avoid colluding in the genocide unfolding in Gaza ought to be increasingly wary of simply repeating the Israeli military’s claims about what happened on October 7. Certainly, they should not credulously regurgitate the latest agitprop from the IDF press office, as the BBC is so evidently doing.

What we know from a growing body of evidence gleaned from the Israeli media and Israeli eyewitnesses – carefully laid out, for example, in this report from Max Blumenthal – is that the Israeli military was completely blindsided by that day’s events. Heavy artillery, including tanks and attack helicopters, was called in to deal with Hamas. That appears to have been a straightforward decision in regard to the military bases Hamas had overrun.

Israel has a long-standing policy of seeking to prevent Israeli soldiers from being taken captive – chiefly, because of the high price Israeli society insists on paying to ensure soldiers are returned. For decades, the military’s so-called “Hannibal procedure” has directed Israeli troops to kill fellow soldiers rather than allow them to be taken captive. For the same reason, Hamas expends a great deal of energy in trying to find innovative ways to seize soldiers.

The two sides are essentially engaged in a brutal tango in which each understands the other’s dance moves.

Given Hamas’ situation, effectively managing the Israeli-controlled concentration camp of Gaza, it has limited resistance strategies available to it. Capturing Israeli soldiers maximises its leverage. They can be traded for the release of many of the thousands of Palestinian political prisoners held in jails inside Israel, in breach of international law. In addition, in the negotiations, Hamas usually hopes to win an easing of Israel’s 16-year siege of Gaza.

To avert this scenario, Israeli commanders reportedly called in the attack helicopters on the military bases overwhelmed by Hamas on October 7. The helicopters appear to have fired indiscriminately, despite the risk posed to the Israeli soldiers in the base who were still alive. Israel’s was a scorched-earth policy to stop Hamas achieving its aims. That may, in part, explain the very large proportion of Israeli soldiers among the 1,300 killed that day.

Charred bodies

But what about the situation in the kibbutz communities? By the time the army arrived and was in position, Hamas was well dug in. It had taken the inhabitants as hostages inside their own homes. Israeli eyewitness testimony and media reports suggest Hamas was almost certainly trying to negotiate safe passage back into Gaza, using the Israeli civilians as human shields. The civilians were the Hamas fighters’ only ticket out, and they could be converted later into bargaining chips for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

[YouTube and others are suppressing the video below – see this]

The evidence – from Israeli media reports and eyewitnesses, as well as a host of visual clues from the crime scene itself – tell a far more complex story than the one presented nightly on the BBC.

Did the Israeli military fire into the Hamas-controlled civilian homes in the same fashion as it had fired into its own military bases, and with the same disregard for the safety of Israelis inside? Was the goal in each case to prevent at all costs Hamas taking hostages whose release would require a very high price from Israel?

Kibbutz Be’eri has been a favoured destination for BBC reporters keen to illustrate Hamas’ barbarity. It is where Lucy Williamson headed again this week. And yet none of her reporting highlighted comments made to the Israeli Haaretz newspaper by Tuval Escapa, the kibbutz’s security coordinator. He said Israeli military commanders had ordered the “shelling [of] houses on their occupants in order to eliminate the terrorists along with the hostages”.

That echoed the testimony of Yasmin Porat, who sought shelter in Be’eri from the nearby Nova music festival. She told Israeli Radio that once Israeli special forces arrived: “They eliminated everyone, including the hostages because there was very, very heavy crossfire.”

Are the images of charred bodies presented by Williamson, accompanied by a warning of their graphic, upsetting nature, incontrovertible proof that Hamas behaved like monsters, bent on the most twisted kind of vengeance? Or might those blackened remains be evidence that Israeli civilians and Hamas fighters burned alongside each other, after they were engulfed in flames caused by Israeli shelling of the houses?

Israel will not agree to an independent investigation so a definitive answer will never be forthcoming. But that does not absolve the media of their professional and moral duty to be cautious.

Consider for a moment the stark contrast in the western media’s treatment of events on October 7 and its treatment of the strike on the car park at Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in northern Gaza on October 17, in which hundreds of Palestinians were reported killed.
In the case of Al-Ahli, the media were only too ready to cast aside all the evidence that the hospital had been hit by an Israeli strike immediately Israel contested the claim. Instead journalists hurriedly amplified Israel’s counter-allegation that a Palestinian rocket had fallen on the hospital. Most of the media moved on after concluding “The truth may never be clear”, or even less credibly, that Palestinian militants were the most likely culprits.

In telling contrast, the western media have not been willing to raise even a single question about what happened on October 7. They have enthusiastically attributed every horror that day to Hamas. They have ignored the reality of utter chaos that reigned for many hours and the potential for poor, desperate and morally dubious decision-making by the Israeli military.

In fact, the media have gone much further. In advancing the narrative of “Hamas as savages”, they have promoted obvious fictions, such as the story that “Hamas beheaded 40 babies”. That piece of fake news was even taken up briefly by US President Joe Biden, before it was quietly walked back by his officials.


Similarly, it is still a popular throwaway line among the western commentariat that “Hamas carried out rapes”, though once again the allegation is evidence-free so far.

We should be clear. If Israel had serious evidence for either of these claims, it would be aggressively promoting it. Instead, it is doing the next best thing: letting innuendo gently sink into the audience’s subconscious, settling there as a prejudice that cannot be interrogated.

Hamas undoubtedly committed war crimes on October 7 – not least, by taking civilians as human shields. But that kind of crime is one we are familiar with, one “ordinary” enough that the Israel military has been regularly documented carrying it out too. The practice of Israeli soldiers taking Palestinians as human shields goes under various names, such as the “neighbour procedure” and the “early warning procedure”.

Worse atrocities may have happened too, especially given the unexpected scale of Hamas’ success in breaking out of Gaza. Large numbers of Palestinians escaped the enclave, some of them doubtless armed civilians with no connection to the operation. In such circumstances, it would be surprising if there were no examples of the headline-grabbing atrocities being committed.

The issue is whether such atrocities were planned and systematic, as Israel claims and the western media repeats, or examples of rogue actions by individuals or groups. If the latter, Israel would be in no position to judge. Israel’s own history is littered with examples of such crimes, including the documented case of an Israeli army unit taking captive a Bedouin girl in 1949 and repeatedly gang-raping her.

Savagery would certainly not be a uniquely Hamas trait. Following the October 7 attack, videos have been emerging of systematic abuses of any Hamas fighters captured, whether alive or dead. Images show them being beaten and tortured in public for the gratification of onlookers, when there is clearly not even the pretence of information gathering. Others show the bodies of Hamas fighters being defiled and mutilated.

No one can claim the moral high ground here.

What the media’s uncritical promotion of Israel’s “Hamas as savages” narrative has achieved is something sinister – and all too familiar from the West’s long colonial history. It has been used to demonise a whole people, presenting them either as barbarians or as the willing protectors and enablers of barbarism.

The “savages” narrative is being weaponised by Israel to justify its mounting campaign of atrocities in Gaza. Which is why it is so important that journalists don’t simply allow themselves to be spoonfed. Far too much is at stake.

Hamas committed war crimes on October 7 on a scale that is unprecedented for any Palestinian group. But there is little more than Israeli narrative spin so far to suggest that there was an unparalleled depravity to Hamas’ actions. Certainly from what we know, it is hard to see that anything Hamas did that day was worse, or more savage, than what Israel has been doing daily in Gaza for weeks.

And Israel’s actions – from bombing Palestinian families to starving them of food and water – has the blessing of every major western politician.

Jonathan Cook is an independent British journalist who has covered the Israel-Palestine beat for 20+ years. He is a winner of the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. He was formerly with the Guardian and Observer newspapers.

RELATED:

More Palestinians killed in past 34 days than in the past 22 years combined
A Synopsis of the Israel/Palestine Conflict
Gaza-Israel: Latest news and statistics (the first 25 days)
It’s not just Gaza – Israel is also killing scores in the West Bank
Israeli communities near Gaza are on stolen land, former owners consigned to the Gaza ghetto
The Israeli strike on Al Ahli Hospital days BEFORE the famous blast
WATCH: What was happening in Gaza BEFORE the Hamas attack that the media didn’t tell you?
Gideon Levy: Israel Can’t Imprison Two Million Gazans Without Paying a Cruel Price
Palestinians inspect damage to their homes caused by Israeli air strikes on October 13, 2023, in Gaza City
Palestinians inspect damage to their homes caused by Israeli air strikes on October 13, 2023, in Gaza City (photo)


https://israelpalestinenews.org/what-media-reports-fail-to-tell-you-about-october-7/

November 12: Today’s news on Palestine & Israel – Day 37
Gaza hospital catastrophe, evacuation update, Israeli hostage update, West Bank news, UN Security Council war of words, and more
[email protected]
November 12, 2023
Palestinians search for casualties as they inspect the site of an Israeli attack on a house in Rafah. (photo)
Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here. For more news, go here and here. Live broadcast news from the region is here.
Some people are led to be skeptical of the Al Jazeera news network. However, the network has won several Emmys, a Peabody and the Overseas Press Association’s Edward R. Murrow award, among many other honors. The New York Times reports that “its reporting hews to international journalistic standards and provides a unique view on events in the Middle East.” it’s important to remember that all news sources may potentially have bias. For example, CNN uses anchors who used to work for the Israel Lobby, who have lifelong attachment to Israel, and who often exhibit pro-Israel spin and omission in their broadcasts. Similarly, Fox News is strongly influenced by Rupert Murdoch, who has a similarly strong attachment to Israel, and who may have fired Tucker Carlson, the network’s most popular host, in part due to the host’s opposition to war and his pattern of failing to exhibit sufficient devotion to Israel).
Latest statistics:
NOTE: the UN reports, The “collapse of services and communications at hospitals in the north of Gaza” is delaying the Ministry of Health in Gaza from updating the latest numbers of people injured and killed. (03:45 GMT) The statistics listed here for Gaza are from November 10th, but will be updated when new numbers become available.
Palestinian death toll: 10,793* (10,607 in Gaza** (including at least 4,506 children and 3,027 women), and at least 186 in the West Bank). *NOTE: The official UN death toll includes 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast. IAK does not yet include those deaths since the source of the projectile is being disputed; although much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, experts are still looking into the incident. Israel is blocking an international investigation.
Palestinian injuries: 30,042** (including at least 27,490 in Gaza** and 2,552 in the West Bank). **NOTE: it is impossible to offer an accurate number of injuries in Gaza due to the ongoing bombardment and communication disruption. The Associated Press has reported ~32,000 in Gaza, while the UN number is somewhat lower. Our total for Gaza and the West Bank is based on the conservative figure.
It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties. About 1.6 million people have been displaced; 2,700 are missing (1,500 children) and presumed to be under rubble.
Israel has now killed more Palestinians in a little over a month than in all the previous 22 years combined.
Reported Israeli death toll has been reduced to ~1,200*** The Israeli spokesman said the original figure of deaths on March 7 was an “initial estimate” and said the numbers could continue “to fluctuate”. (3 recently killed in West Bank & 42 Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza), including 32 Americans, and ~5,400 injured). The names of the 1,162 identified (31 of them children) are here.
***NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries in Israel may have been caused by Israeli soldiers; additionally, since Israel has a policy of universal conscription, it is unknown how many of those attending the outdoor rave a few miles from Gaza on stolen Palestinian land were Israeli soldiers.
Hover over each bar for exact numbers.
Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org
Gaza healthcare news: Israel’s chief military spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, claims the Israeli military would help evacuate babies from Al Shifa Hospital, at the request of the hospital staff. Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra said, “We have not been informed about any mechanism to get the babies out to a safer hospital. So far we are praying for their safety and not to lose more of them.” He said there were 45 babies in total; 2 more have already died. 500 patients remain in the hospital. Most of the staff and displaced persons sheltering there have left.
Palestinian surgeon based in Gaza, Ghassan Abu Sitta says al-Ahli Arab Hospital has run out of blood. “Our wounded are dying after surgery because we can’t transfuse them,” he said on X. (11:10 GMT)
A health official says an Israeli air attack has completely destroyed the two-story cardiac ward of Gaza’s biggest hospital, al-Shifa, as fighting around the facility raged. “The occupier [Israel] completely destroyed the cardiac department of al-Shifa Hospital.” (09:56 GMT)
The Israeli army announced a humanitarian corridor for people to leave Al-Shifa Hospital and reach the main evacuation route to the south. (08:35) One doctor inside the hospital said the Israeli army’s announcement “is one big lie…I saw a family of five in front of my eyes who tried to move from the east yesterday and they were shot. So they came back injured.” (07:55 GMT)
Two doctors were killed and several displaced individuals injured, following an Israeli army bombing in the the vicinity of Mahdi Maternity Hospital in Nasr, western Gaza City. (07:45 GMT)
An official of the Jordanian armed forces says a Royal Air Force plane on Saturday dropped urgent medical aid to the Jordanian field hospital in Gaza for the second time using parachutes, Jordan News Agency has reported. (06:03 GMT)
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has said that “infants at Al-Quds Hospital are facing dehydration due to a shortage of breast milk alternatives.” (02:00 GMT)
RECOMMENDED READING: Israel is bombing hospitals in Gaza with Israeli doctors’ approval
Evacuation news: The Israeli army says civilians will be allowed to flee northern Gaza along the Salah al-Din highway from 9am to 4pm local time. “We call on residents to take advantage of this temporary suspension of fires and move south,” the army said on its Arabic page on X. (08:35 GMT) Many Palestinians are reluctant to follow these orders, knowing they may be attacked as they flee, may not find food, water, and shelter in the south, and/or may never be allowed to return to their homes, in a second ethnic cleansing by Israel.
A Palestinian journalist in Gaza City said the humanitarian pauses announced by the Israeli army are only on the main road going south, not on the streets leading to it, “Within the city, the fighting is ongoing, and all the roads in the city are destroyed,” he said, adding that there’s no way to get to the main road from downtown Gaza City. (06:50 GMT)
The Israeli army is not allowing cars to travel to southern Gaza, the UN reports. Palestinians traveling from the north to southern Gaza are arriving on foot or carts drawn by donkeys. (04:55 GMT)
Israel keeps targeting areas in southern Gaza despite telling civilians to move there. Earlier today, at least 18 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike in the southern city of Khan Younis.
RECOMMENDED READING: Israel-Palestine war: One family’s treacherous journey through Gaza’s ‘safe corridor’
Hostage update: Israel’s three major TV news channels, without quoting named sources, said there was some progress toward a deal to free captives held by Hamas in Gaza. Israeli PM Netanyahu said he would not discuss details of any possible deal, which according to N12 News would involve 50 to 100 women, children and elderly people being released in stages during a three-to-five-day pause in fighting. According to the reports, Israel would release women and minor Palestinian prisoners and consider letting fuel into Gaza, while reserving the right to resume fighting. (09:03 GMT)
The Hamas resistance group is currently holding about 240 prisoners, captured on October 7th for the purpose of a prisoner swap. Israel currently holds 7,000 Palestinians as political prisoners, and has agreed to such a swap in the past.
Lebanon front: Israeli army says that “several” civilians were injured in an antitank missile attack launched from Lebanon. The army said it responded by shooting at the source of the fire. Skirmishes between Israeli forces and Shia group Hezbollah along the Israel-Lebanon border have been ongoing since the start of the war on October 7. While they have remained confined in geography and scope most of the time, they appear to be gradually escalating. (11:25. GMT)
Hezbollah has promised that the front against its enemy will remain “active.” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has warned Hezbollah to not enter the conflict, suggesting that if they did, Beirut could look like Gaza. (08:15 GMT) He said that in Gaza, the Israeli Air Force is actually only using one-tenth of its power, so it has the ability to point the noses of those planes north and strike targets in Lebanon. (00:45 GMT)
Syria also hit: Israeli’s military has announced that its fighter jets carried out strikes against “terror infrastructure” inside Syria. Israeli officials said the strikes were carried out in response to fire directed at the Golan Heights, which borders Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, on Saturday. (02:25 GMT)
West Bank: Israeli forces continue to exponentially intensify their raids in the occupied West Bank. Sources in the Palestinian Authority have told Al Jazeera that the number of raids has increased to about 40 per day in the past week. Throughout 2023, they had become an almost daily occurrence. Even before October 7, 2023 was already the deadliest year on record for Palestinians killed either by the Israeli military or by settlers across the occupied West Bank.
Israeli forces have killed another Palestinian in the West Bank, taking the death toll in the occupied territory since October 7 to 186, the Health Ministry has said. (08:05 GMT)
RECOMMENDED READING: Israel is now using drones regularly in West Bank
UN Security Council: Tense and difficult negotiations over the Israel-Hamas war continue at the United Nations Security Council after weeks of deadlock. Russia and China have vetoed a US resolution calling for a “pause”: most of the members want the word “ceasefire,” but the US will not accept it. (US actions are heavily influenced by the Israel lobby.) The choice of a single word – pause or ceasefire – has meant an impasse in the UN’s top body, empowered with the maintenance of international peace and security.
Even if a resolution is passed, Israel is not likely to abide by it. The next step would be for the Council to agree on a follow-up resolution, which addresses the breach and calls for action.
RECOMMENDED READING: A history of the US blocking UN resolutions against Israel
RECOMMENDED READING: US poised to give Israel $19 billion in aid this year
Re-occupation of Gaza? Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is known for his Jewish supremacist views, says that Gaza should be occupied, according to Israeli media. “What’s needed here is an occupation…When you have presence out on the ground, you have intelligence and control; you’re the landlord,” he said.Israel withdrew illegal settlements from the strip in 2005. (10:05 GMT)
According to Israeli media reports, approximately 25,000 weapons, as well as ammunition and other war materials, were purchased from Israeli arms companies as part of Ben-Gvir’s campaign to arm civilians and settlers in the West Bank.
Profiting from war: Israel’s weapons makers will be displaying their lethal products at a fair in Paris next week. Israeli weapons manufacturer Smartshooter tests out many of its new products on Palestinians. One of them, a remote-controlled “crowd dispersal system,” was tested at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron.
France is one of many EU countries assisting Israel at a time when it is flattening Gaza and ramping up its oppression of Palestinians in the West Bank. As well as buying Israel’s arms, EU governments are authorizing large-scale shipments of weapons and their components to Israel. During the first week of November alone, Germany approved weapon deliveries to Israel worth approximately $324 million. That was almost 10 times the value of all German arms export licenses to Israel during 2022 in its entirety.
RECOMMENDED READING: Israel is selling arms to fellow human rights abusers, including Myanmar
Call for arrest warrant for Netanyahu: In an opinion piece published in South Africa’s Sunday Times, the country’s Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister for “breaches of three of the four crimes under ICC jurisdiction: war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide,” Pandor wrote. (10:30 GMT)
RELATED: Essential facts about the Hamas-Gaza-Israel war
https://israelpalestinenews.org/nov-12-todays-news-israel-palestine-day-37/