In a population that treasures education, no school for Gaza’s children – Day 337
[email protected] September 9, 2024 Bezalel Smotrich, education in gaza, Hebron, illegal settlement, international court of justice, international law, itamar ben gvir, jordanian gunman, polio vaccine, starvation in gaza
On the occasion of the International Day for the Protection of Education from Attack, observed on 9 September each year, several Palestinian associations and institutions issued a position statement calling upon the international community and the Member States of the United Nations to take immediate action to protect Palestinian education from Israeli military attacks.

The position statement called for an immediate ceasefire and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, educational infrastructure, and called to hold Israel accountable for its crimes against education and children.

They emphasized the need for immediate UN assistance to protect schools, continue the educational process, fund programs to compensate for the education lost, to help provide artificial limbs, polio vaccines, and the opening of border crossings for the treatment of Gaza children in hospitals abroad.

According to the UN, 80% of Gaza’s schools have been destroyed or damaged, preventing some 620,000 students from completing their education.

At least 10,000 students have been killed in Israel’s ongoing aggression on Gaza, and 13,444 others have been wounded; 397 teachers have also been killed.

The interim report issued in March 2024 by the World Bank, UNRWA, and the European Union estimated the cost of damages to the education sector at $341 million.

Particularly but not exclusively in the Middle East, Palestinians have long had a reputation as high-performing graduates, often proficient in at least two languages, and frequently going on to pursue successful careers in engineering, business, or medicine.

At the same time, the Palestinians are the world’s largest refugee population, with the longest-running case of protracted displacement.

Culturally, education has remained a top priority. More than 95% of children aged 6-12 in Gaza attended school before the war, and most graduate from high school. Additionally, 57% of students at the Islamic University of Gaza were female.

NOTE: Since the war began on Oct. 7, schools have been bombed or turned into shelters for displaced people, leaving Gaza’s estimated 625,000 school-aged children unable to attend classes.

All 12 of Gaza’s higher education institutions have been destroyed or damaged, leaving nearly 90,000 students stranded, and more than 350 teachers and academics have been killed, according to Palestinian official data.

Palestinians inspect the area after an Israeli attack hit the az-Zahra school in the east of Gaza City on August 8 [Anadolu Agency/Dawoud Abo Alkas]
Palestinians inspect the area after an Israeli attack hit the az-Zahra school in the east of Gaza City on August 8 [Anadolu Agency/Dawoud Abo Alkas] (photo)
Israel attacks 16 schools-turned-shelter centers in Gaza in a single month

Euro Med Monitor reports:

Since the beginning of August, the Israeli occupation army has bombed 16 schools being used as shelters in the Gaza Strip, 15 of them located north of Gaza Valley. Two hundred and seventeen Palestinians have been killed in the reported attacks, while hundreds more have been injured, a large number of casualties being women and children.

In the past week, the Israeli army has increased its targeting of civilians in the Gaza City and North Gaza governorates by bombing residential buildings, civilian gatherings, and commercial stalls there, in addition to shelter centers and their surrounding areas.

There is no legitimate reason to target schools above the heads of displaced individuals, and this act is a blatant violation of the principles of distinction, military necessity, proportionality, and the obligation to exercise appropriate caution.

Every time it launches an attack, the Israeli army attempts to justify its actions by claiming that it is attacking military targets, but it never offers any proof to support these assertions.

By killing and forcibly displacing as many Palestinians as possible from their land, these attacks are a part of the genocide being carried out by Israel in the Gaza Strip.

According to preliminary investigations conducted by the Euro-Med Monitor field team, the Israeli army has deliberately destroyed all of the remaining shelters in the north of the Gaza Strip, including schools and public facilities.

This destruction has been committed with the goal of establishing a coercive environment, in order to compel the civilian population to leave their neighborhoods and evacuate to the central and southern sections of the Strip.

Palestinians inspect the destroyed building after an Israeli attack at the Et-Tabiin school where displaced people took shelter in the Ed-Deraj neighborhood in Gaza City, Gaza on August 10, 2024. [Mahmoud İssa – Anadolu Agency]
Palestinians inspect the destroyed building after an Israeli attack at the Et-Tabiin school where displaced people took shelter in the Ed-Deraj neighborhood in Gaza City, Gaza on August 10, 2024. [Mahmoud İssa – Anadolu Agency] (photo)
Health Ministry reports 69% of children in Gaza vaccinated against polio

WAFA reports:

The Ministry of Health announced today that 69% of children in Gaza, aged from birth to 10 years, have received the first dose of the polio vaccine – an achievement reached within seven days of launching the campaign.

As of Saturday evening, 441,647 children have received the vaccination. The campaign is ongoing in several areas.

Health teams from the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with UNRWA, the World Health Organization (WHO), and UNICEF, are persevering with the vaccination efforts despite the ongoing Israeli aggression and the significant challenges posed by the current security situation affecting the movement between vaccination centers.

A baby receives a polio vaccine in Gaza
A baby receives a polio vaccine in Gaza (photo)
How did Israel starve 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza so quickly?

Michael Fakhri, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, reports (excerpts):

Certain actions inherently increase the risk of starvation and indicate intent to starve a population.

The most well-recognized starvation act is the weaponizing of humanitarian aid.

This can be the restriction and blocking of humanitarian aid, or it can be using humanitarian aid as leverage for political negotiations or means to control local populations.

Prior to 7 October 2023, approximately half of the people in Gaza were food insecure and more than 80 per cent relied on humanitarian aid; the total siege [of October 9] was an immediate catalyst for starvation.

Israel made its intentions to starve everyone in Gaza explicit [on October 9, when it announced a “total siege”], implemented its plans, and predictably created a famine throughout Gaza.

By destroying and poisoning agricultural land, decimating ports and fishing vessels, Israel has destroyed approximately 93 per cent of the economy of the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector.

Israel has not only denied and restricted the delivery of humanitarian aid and violated its obligations to ensure that the aid that is let through reaches the population, it has also created a climate of horror by targeting humanitarian workers and civilians seeking humanitarian aid.

The total siege that began on 9 October 2023 was a continuation of Israel’s 24-year blockade, and 75-year attack against Gaza’s food system.

(Read the full report here.)

Displaced Palestinian children wait at a food distribution point in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Thursday.Eyad Baba / AFP - Getty Images
Displaced Palestinian children wait at a food distribution point in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Thursday.Eyad Baba / AFP – Getty Images (photo)
In major Israeli security breach, Jordanian gunman kills three guards at West Bank crossing

Andalou Agency reports:

Three Israelis were killed in a shooting attack at the border with Jordan on Sunday, according to Israeli media.

Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said a truck driver opened fire at King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge crossing between Jordan and the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli Magen David Adom emergency service said three men were critically injured in the attack before they were pronounced dead.

The alleged attacker was shot dead, Haaretz newspaper said.

The Israeli army said the attacker arrived from Jordan, disembarked, and opened fire on guards at the crossing.

Israel Hayom adds:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that “we will stand together. We will wield the sword of David together and with G-d’s help, we will win,” referring not only to the attack but also to the ongoing war against Gaza.”There are those who ask – ‘Shall the sword devour forever?’ [II Samuel 2:26]. In the Middle East, without the sword, there is no ‘forever’.”



“Generals’ Plan” floated to take over northern Gaza seems to ignore one important point

Israel National News reports:

The ‘Commanders and Reserve Soldiers’ Forum presented to the public the “Generals’ Plan” to defeat Hamas, which was written at the initiative of several generals and other senior officers, since the current strategy is not effective enough to overwhelm Hamas and get the hostages back.

According to the plan, the entire area north of the Netzarim. Corridor, i.e. Gaza City with all its neighborhoods, would become a closed military area in which the entire population, estimated by the army to be approximately 250,000 people, would be required to leave within a week.

“We mark two fairly safe exit corridors that will be secured by IDF forces,” according to the plan.” Those who leave will receive food and water. But in a week the entire territory of the northern Gaza Strip will become a military zone, and as far as we’re concerned, no supply will enter this military zone.”

One of the generals stated that “therefore 5,000 terrorists who are in this area would in this situation either surrender or starve to death.”

The forum stated that the outline complies with the rules of international law because it allows the population to evacuate from the combat zone before the siege is imposed.

NOTE: This plan completely overlooks the fact that Hamas has tunnels all over Gaza, and would be able to get not only food, but also weapons. The hostages may also be kept in northern Gaza.

Palestinians examine the destruction left behind after the Israeli army’s withdrawal in Tal al-Hawa, Gaza City [File: Mahmoud İssa/Anadolu Images]
Palestinians examine the destruction left behind after the Israeli army’s withdrawal in Tal al-Hawa, Gaza City [File: Mahmoud İssa/Anadolu Images] (photo)
Israel knows ‘nothing’ about tunnels in Gaza, says released captive

The Cradle reports:

Adina Moshe, an Israeli woman formerly held captive by Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza, stated that the Israeli military knows nothing about Hamas’ underground tunnel network, Channel 12 reported on 8 September.

Moshe was taken captive by Hamas on 7 October and released on 24 November as part of a temporary ceasefire deal brokered by Qatar and the US between Hamas and Israel.

Moshe said that after her release, she was debriefed by the Shin Bet (‘Shabak’), Israel’s internal security service.

“The internal security service asked me to draw a map of the tunnels in Gaza because they know nothing about them,” Israel’s Channel 12 quoted her as saying.

During a speech she gave during the protests in Israel, Moshe indicated that the Shin Bet had sent her an engineer on its behalf who asked her to explain what Hamas’ tunnels, telephones, and wires looked like, what their branches were and where they were located.

She told the engineer that “the tunnels in the Gaza Strip are a huge, huge maze that extends underground throughout the Strip, and military pressure will not help bring back the prisoners.”

Adina Moshe, an Israeli woman formerly held captive in Gaza, said, "The [Israeli] internal security service asked me to draw a map of the tunnels in Gaza because they know nothing about them."
Adina Moshe, an Israeli woman formerly held captive in Gaza, said, “The [Israeli] internal security service asked me to draw a map of the tunnels in Gaza because they know nothing about them.” (photo)
West Bank resistance: attempted car ramming south of Hebron

Al Jazeera reports:

There was a suspected attempt to run over Israeli soldiers at the Negohot settlement south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, according to Israeli public broadcaster Kan.

Israeli forces fired at the vehicle, with one Palestinian killed and another wounded, the broadcaster reported.

There were no casualties among the soldiers, it added.

The Israeli military has effectively transformed the city of Hebron and nearby towns in the southern West Bank into what resembles a “large prison” by severing access with military checkpoints and iron gates, Palestinians told Anadolu.
The Israeli military has effectively transformed the city of Hebron and nearby towns in the southern West Bank into what resembles a “large prison” by severing access with military checkpoints and iron gates, Palestinians told Anadolu. (photo)
Senior Israeli officers accuse government of encouraging escalation in West Bank

Andalou Agency reports:

Senior Israeli military officers have accused the country’s political leadership of inciting escalation in the occupied West Bank.

The officers said far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich are “directly responsible” for the rise in violence in the occupied territory, warning that the situation could spiral into a full-blown uprising, with many young Palestinians already facing unemployment and lack of opportunities.

“We are trying to prevent the population from fully joining the violence,” a military officer told Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, adding that the ongoing Israeli restrictions have exacerbated tensions in the area.

Attacks on Palestinians by illegal Israeli settlers also push young Palestinians to join armed groups in the West Bank, the daily warned.

“This situation can’t continue. We are on the verge of a major explosion in Judea and Samaria (West Bank),” another senior military officer said.

The Israeli officers warned that provocations by government officials as Ben-Gvir’s intrusions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque and his attempts to allow Jewish prayers at the flashpoint site risk inflaming tensions in the West Bank and the whole Arab world.

Last week, the Israeli army launched its largest military operation in the northern West Bank in two decades, killing at least 40 people and causing massive destruction in the area.

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on February 22, 2024 [Saeed Qaq/Anadolu via Getty Images]
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on February 22, 2024 [Saeed Qaq/Anadolu via Getty Images] (photo)
“My life’s mission is to thwart the Palestinian state,” says extremist Israeli minister

WAFA reports:

The far-right Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich reiterated his inciting statements against the Palestinian people, emphasizing on moving forward with implementing plans to control the West Bank and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The extremist Israeli minister said in a post on X that “The mission of my life is to build the land of Israel and thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state. That is why I have taken upon myself, in addition to the position of Minister of Finance, responsibility for civil issues in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank).”

“I will continue to work with all my might so that the half a million settlers who are on the front line and under fire enjoy the rights of every citizen in Israel and establish the facts on the ground,” he added.

Bezalel Smotrich, Israeli far-right lawmaker and leader of the Religious Zionism party, speaks during a rally with supporters, Sderot, Israel, Oct. 26, 2022
Bezalel Smotrich, Israeli far-right lawmaker and leader of the Religious Zionism party, speaks during a rally with supporters, Sderot, Israel, Oct. 26, 2022 (photo)
Palestinian Authority calls on UN to enact Int’l Court of Justice ruling, removing 500,000 Jews living illegally in the West Bank

Jewish News Syndicate reports:

The Palestinian Authority is circulating a draft resolution asking the United Nations General Assembly to urge Israel to withdraw from Judea and Samaria [Israel’s name for the occupied Palestinian West Bank] and remove some 500,000 Israeli citizens living in the territory within six months.

NOTE: Israeli settlements and settlers on Palestinian land are a violation of international law.

According to a report by Israel’s Channel 12 on Sunday, the resolution, which cites a July 19 advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, is expected to be brought to a vote next week.

The ruling declared that “Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the regime associated with them, have been established and are being maintained in violation of international law.”

The draft text also urges U.N. member states to impose sanctions on officials in Jerusalem, ban trade with Jewish businesses in Judea and Samaria, and block weapons sales to Israel if they might be used in the area.

Israel’s Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon, attacked the P.A.’s move and called on the 193 members of the General Assembly to “outright reject this shameful resolution and instead adopt a resolution condemning Hamas, calling on it to release all the hostages immediately.

In related news, Reuters reports:

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, said in a speech at the start of the five-week U.N. Human Rights Council session in Geneva, “States must not – cannot – accept blatant disregard for international law, including binding decisions of the [UN] Security Council and orders of the International Court of Justice, neither in this nor any other situation.”

He cited the opinion released by the UN top court in July that called Israel’s occupation illegal and said this situation must be “comprehensively addressed.” Israel has rejected the opinion.

A group of Jewish settlers under the protection of Israeli soldiers raids the Old City area of Hebron, West Bank on August 17, 2024. [Wisam Hashlamoun – Anadolu Agency]
A group of Jewish settlers under the protection of Israeli soldiers raids the Old City area of Hebron, West Bank on August 17, 2024. [Wisam Hashlamoun – Anadolu Agency] (photo)




MORE NEWS:

IMEMC Daily Reports.

Common Dreams: From Gaza to the Occupied West Bank, Israel’s Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians Is Underway

Palestine Chronicle: Momentum grows to stop Canada’s tax breaks for genocide

Andalou Agency: ‘Such a brave soul’: Friend remembers Turkish American rights activist killed by Israeli forces




STATISTICS OCTOBER 7 – SEPTEMBER 8:

Palestinian death toll from October 7, 2023 – September 8, 2024: at least 41,662* (40,972 in Gaza* – 11,308 women (30%), 16,715 children as of September 5. [The Ministry’s figures have been contested by the Israeli authorities, although they have been accepted as accurate by Israeli intelligence services, the UN, and WHO. These data are supported by independent analyses, comparing changes in the number of deaths of UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff with those reported by the Ministry, which found claims of data fabrication implausible.]

This is expected to be a significant undercount since thousands of those killed have yet to be identified – and at least 691 in the West Bank (~148 children). This does not include an estimated 10,000 more still buried under rubble (4,900 women and children). Euro-Med Monitor reports 49,032 Palestinian deaths.

Lancet: “Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death9 to the 37,396 deaths reported, it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186 000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza.

Ralph Nader earlier estimated 200,000 Palestinians may have been killed in Gaza.

At least 45 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons (27 from Gaza, 23 from West Bank).
At least 41 Palestinians have died due to malnutrition (at least 37 of them children)**.
About 1.9 million of Gaza’s 2.3 million population are currently displaced.
Almost 500,000 Gazans are currently experiencing catastrophic levels of food insecurity.
Palestinian injuries from October 7 – September 8: at least 100,461 (including at least 94,761 in Gaza and 5,700 in the West Bank, including 830 children). [It remains unknown how man Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.]

Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – September 8, 2024: ~1,452 (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 288*** military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza; 25 military and civilians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel) and~10,000 injured.

NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries of Israelis on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.

*Previously, IAK did not include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile was being disputed. However, given that much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, Israel had previously bombed the hospital and has attacked many others, Israel is prohibiting outside experts from investigating the scene, and since the UN and other agencies are including the deaths from the attack in their cumulative totals, if Americans knew is now also doing so.

**Euro-Med Monitor reports that Gaza’s elderly are dying at an alarmingly high rate. The majority die at home and are buried either close to their residences or in makeshift graves dispersed across the Strip. There are currently more than 140 such cemeteries. Additionally, according to Euromed, thousands have died from starvation, malnourishment, and inadequate medical care; these are considered indirect victims as they were not registered in hospitals.

***Approximately ten of the deaths listed above were Israeli soldiers killed by Hezbollah in fighting at the Israel-Lebanon border. The figure does not include the reportedly 53 Israeli soldiers – nearly 16% of the total Israeli military deaths – killed due to friendly fire in Gaza and other military-related accidents.

† For most of the conflict, women and children accounted for about 70% of deaths in Gaza, with children making up a little over 40% of those killed, according to official statistics.

Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here.

Hover over each bar for exact numbers.
Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org

Human rights reports on Israel-Palestine (regularly updated)
Alison Weir trending on social media – what the buzz is about
Israeli media’s coverage of the rape of Palestinian detainees shows support for sexual violence in service of genocide
Inside Israel’s torture, rape, and dehumanization centers
I’m a pediatrician. The scars I saw on Gaza’s children will take generations to heal.
What Harris’s Jewish outreach director said at a private DNC afterparty
‘Strong record of supporting the U.S.-Israel relationship’: a look at Tim Walz’s votes on Palestine as a member of Congress
Nearly Two-Thirds of All Campaign Funds for Cori Bush Challenger Came From AIPAC
Israeli army probe covered up “friendly fire” killings on October 7
Are US officials’ investments of public funds in Israeli bonds ethical? How much is too much?
Honoring the memory of a Gazan Olympic hero: Majed Abu Maraheel
An American was just shot in the West Bank. The American press can’t be bothered.
Understanding what motivates ultra-orthodox Jewish attacks on West Bank Palestinians
Palestinians’ harrowing stories of rape by Israeli soldiers (including female soldiers)
A Palestinian journalist visited Ismail Haniyeh’s home in Gaza to report on his death. Israel assassinated him too.
I reported a piece for the New York Times on antisemitism. I found a major error, but the Times didn’t care.
How Israel plans to whitewash its war crimes in Gaza
Why the West Bank is on the verge of economic collapse
Netanyahu’s plan to involve US in regional war on its behalf
Western media continue to withhold the truth about Israel and Gaza – 4 stories
“Well What SHOULD Israel Have Done After October 7?”
Welcome to Hell
More dead children. More BBC ‘news’ channelling Israeli propaganda as its own
U.S. media downplays and ignores ICJ ruling declaring Israeli occupation illegal
Israeli soldiers tell story of savage cruelty in Gaza – one given blessing by the West
Searching for Gaza’s missing children


https://israelpalestinenews.org/in-a-population-that-treasures-education-no-school-for-gazas-children-day-337/

ICC taunted with ‘atomic bomb’ analogy over Netanyahu arrest warrant
Friday, 06 September 2024 9:40 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 06 September 2024 10:18 AM ]

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has defended his move to issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials over their war crimes in Gaza, saying that he had been "cautioned" by several leaders about the decision.

Karim Khan said he had received warnings from several countries and authorities that arrest warrants for Israeli officials would be an “atomic bomb,” according to his interview with BBC, which was released on its website on Thursday and is also set to be broadcast on Saturday.

He said that some world leaders had pressured him not to issue warrants to arrest Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

“Several leaders and others told me and advised me and cautioned me,” he said in the interview which will be broadcast on Saturday.

Back in May, Khan issued the warrants, saying there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Gallant bear criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

The pair, he added, were suspected of crimes including starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, murder, intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population, and extermination.

However, the request for the warrants must yet be approved by ICC judges.

US, UK, Germany striving to block ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu, says report
US, UK, Germany striving to block ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu, says report
The US, the UK, Germany, and dozens of organizations and countries are trying to block an ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu, a report says.
Also in his interview, the ICC chief prosecutor stressed that it was necessary to show that all sides will be held to the same standard in relation to war crimes.

“You can't have one approach for countries where there's support, whether it's NATO support, European support [and] powerful countries behind you, and a different approach where you have clear jurisdiction," he expounded.

“We need to apply the law in a way that is equal, because if we don’t, and importantly if we’re not seen to, we’re going to lose all the architecture, not just the ICC, that has been built on human suffering since Nuremberg,” added Khan.

Asked whether his move to issue arrest warrants for the Israeli officials was a political decision rather than a legal one, Khan responded, “What we’re doing is the antithesis of politics, it’s about the equal application of the law irrespective of whether one receives a round of applause from some quarters or a deafening din of condemnation from the other.”

He further rejected the accusations of anti-Semitism leveled at him by Netanyahu, saying that “there’s not an ounce, not a jot, not a scintilla of truth in the charge.”

“Our job is to apply the law and not to be dissuaded by these cheap shots or criticisms that manifestly are false,” he asserted.

Israel launched its brutal Gaza onslaught on October 7, 2023, after the Hamas resistance group carried out a surprise operation against the usurping entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

So far, the occupying regime has killed at least 40,878 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 94,454 others.

https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/09/06/732768/ICC-Israel-Netanyahu-arrest-warrant-atomic-bomb

Biden Says Israel’s Netanyahu Is Not ‘Doing Enough’ to Secure Deal with Hamas Terrorists
Frank BergmanSeptember 2, 2024 - 4:24 pm

President Joe Biden has told reporters that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not “doing enough” to negotiate a deal with the Hamas terrorists who control Gaza.

Biden made the remarks to reporters before heading into the White House Situation Room.

He is convening with Vice President Kamala Harris and a hostage deal negotiating team.

The meetings follow the murder of 23-year-old Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin and five other hostages by Hamas on Saturday.

Biden was asked about the situation on the South Lawn of the White House as he disembarked from Marine One upon returning from his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

One reporter asked, “Mr. President, do you think it’s time for Prime Minister Netanyahu to do more on this issue?

“Do you think he is doing enough?

“No,” Biden responded flatly.

Another reporter asked the president if he had a message for the hostages’ families.

“Yes. I have spoken to the American hostage,” Biden said.

“I spoke to his mom and dad, and we are not giving up.

“We are going to continue to push as hard as we can. Thank you.”

WATCH:

Earlier Monday, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, the father of an Israeli-American hostage still being held by Hamas, pleaded for the U.S. and Israel to broker a deal “with Satan.”

Appearing on Fox & Friends, Dekel-Chen acknowledged that the United States, together with Qatar and Egypt, is trying to broker an agreement between Israel and “a savage terrorist organization.”

However, he insisted that Israeli intelligence shows Hamas’s forces are depleted at this stage.

He said Netanyahu cannot offer “an excuse anymore to not complete this deal” to bring home the remaining 101 hostages, including seven Americans, taken into Gaza on October 7, 2023

Israel saw a massive strike on Monday after demonstrators took to the streets in droves Sunday.

They were protesting Israel’s leadership’s failure to reach an agreement to release the hostages 11 months into the war.

READ MORE – Federal Judge Blocks Biden’;s Amnesty Plan as He Vows to ‘Fight’ for Illegal Aliens

https://slaynews.com/news/biden-says-israel-netanyahu-not-doing-enough-secure-deal-hamas-terrorists/

MPox Americana - WHO Declares Global Emergency Right Before Another Plandemic Treaty Meeting
Scott Creighton
by Scott Creighton

The latest public version (PDF) of the negotiating text was published on 22 April 2024.

The first thing they will tell you about the World Health Organizations' (WHO) Pandemic Treaty is that is is definitely NOT a power-grab by the WHO designed to dictate to the various nations of the world what they do to protect their own people.

But then again little quips like this are published... recently.

"With this agreement, we take steps to hold countries accountable and strengthen measures to stop outbreaks before they threaten Americans and our security,” said U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra on Saturday.' Reuters June 2024

So it seems at least as recently as a couple months ago even our own public health authorities were tacitly admitting there is a PUNITIVE aspect to this agreement that will FORCE countries to do what they are told. That's what 'hold countries accountable' means.

But hold countries accountable for what?

"The historic decisions taken today demonstrate a common desire by member states to protect their own people, and the world's, from the shared risk of public health emergencies and future pandemics," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.' Reuters June 2024

Ah yes, of course, the old shared risk doctrine. You remember that, don't you? It went something like this:

if one person isn't vaccinated with the experimental mRNA jabs, then NO ONE is

a PANDEMIC OF THE UNVACCINATED

it's SELFISH to do your own research and make up your mind

You remember those right? Turns out it was propaganda designed to shame individuals, shame and harass individuals into doing something that was clearly not in their best interest.

This is based on the 'common good' principle. Yes, they eventually admitted, the side effects of the experimental mRNA 'vaccines' are potentially life altering while the effectiveness of the vaccine itself is minimal at best (as you can catch, carry, transfer, get sick and die from the virus AFTER taking the 'vaccine') but it is for the 'Common Good' that you take the vaccine anyway and suffer the risks and side effects anyway, no matter what your personal decision might be.

This is the logic of the 'Common Good' principle. Take one for the team. On an individual, person by person scale.

The WHO Pandemic Treaty expands that flawed (and unconstitutional) concept to a global scale, imploring nation states to view themselves and the whole of their populations to literally 'take one for the team' on the basis of 'shared risk' in the future were someone to 'declare a pandemic'

And of course, there are measures by which they will 'hold countries accountable' who don't bow to the demands of the 'Common Good'

'The main goal of this treaty would be to foster an all of government and all of society approach, strengthening national, regional and global capacities and resilience to future pandemics...

Currently, the parties are negotiating on issues such as:

The definition, means, and procedure for declaring a pandemic, and what this actually means in practice for states.

How states and the WHO should be coordinating and cooperating in pandemic preparedness and response

Setting up a new Governing Body for the treaty – a COP or Conference of the Parties.

Other general legal issues relating to the treaty, such as amendments, withdrawal, and dispute settlement. UK Parliament House of Commons May 2024

Years ago the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) was a contentious issue going into the 2016 (S)election especially for the so-called 'Left' in this country.

“It is ironic in a way that the government thinks it’s alright to have a record of every single call that an American makes, but not alright for an American citizen to know what sovereign powers the government is negotiating away.” Congressman Alan Grayson

Barack Obama wanted to hand Big Business one more huge WIN and he was pushing hard to pass a ratification for the trade agreement while Hillary Clinton said, at one point before backing off, it was the 'Gold Standard' of trade deals.

The problem was... it handed over the sovereignty of all nations who were party to it. And how did it do that? It created an international, supranational body which would oversee all disputes, something similar to the COP, and they would hand out punishment, 'hold countries accountable', for not living up to the mandates set by the TPP. These rules, by the punishments they would impose, superseded all laws and protections in place in various partner nations and would in fact seriously impact their economic and social structures.

That's why the TPP failed and even Killary Clinton, leading up to the 2016 election, had to do an about face on her support for the Gold Standard of trade deals.

And here we are today. The WHO Pandemic Treaty is just another attempt at taking supranational control over nation states and the people who call them home by unelected and unaccountable bodies of corporate heads who answer only to their share-holders.

Government of, by and for Big Business.

Today the head of the WHO, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (Dr. Tedros), has declared a 'global health emergency over the recent Mpox (Monkeypox) outbreak in Africa. The deadline, self-imposed, to formerly conclude and ratify the Pandemic Treaty across the globe is by the end of the year. What a coincidence.

'The declaration comes after Africa recorded more than 15,000 suspected and confirmed cases and 537 deaths this year, exceeding the toll in all of 2023. Infections reached record highs in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the virus has been endemic for decades and where the vast majority of African cases are concentrated.' Washington Post Aug 14 2024

We are told this is a new version, or 'clade', of Monkeypox, not merely a new, let us say less offensive, name which is more dangerous than say the version that popped up out of nowhere back in 2021.

'A new form of the virus, known as clade 1b, has spilled into eastern parts of the central African nation and has been reported in other countries for the first time, including Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. Viruses from the clade 1 classes tend to result in more deaths than another form that spread globally in 2022 and 2023.' Washington Post Aug 14 2024

Mpox is a zoonotic virus. That is an important clarification.

'Mpox is a zoonotic virus that causes flu-like symptoms and a rash with painful lesions. It was formerly known as monkeypox, but officials changed the name because it is inaccurate (scientists now believe the virus originates in rodents) and stigmatizing by associating a disease disproportionately affecting Black people with a slur used against them.

The WHO previously declared mpox an international health emergency in 2022 amid an outbreak that affected mostly gay and bisexual men across the globe, with nearly 100,000 cases and 208 deaths across 116 countries...' Washington Post Aug 14 2024

So. Dr. Tedros, who is still pushing for the acceptance of the WHO Pandemic Treaty by the end of this year, has decided to declare a global health emergency after 15,000 'suspected' cases worldwide. Didn't do that in 2022, just two years ago, until the numbers hit 22k but considering the new 'clade' of Mpox is seemingly more deadly (are all fatalities associated with CONFIRMED cases or SUSPECTED cases?) perhaps that might be justified, convenient timing aside.

'Dr. Tedros justified this decision at a press conference on Wednesday evening by citing "the detection and rapid spread of a new clade [a viral strain] in eastern DRC [Democratic Republic of the Congo], its detection in neighboring countries that had not previously reported mpox and the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond." Le Monde Aug 15 2024

But then that brings us to the question of origin. Just how did Mpox suddenly, at this crucial time mind you, suddenly become so much more lethal? Could there be anything that we should look at in terms of causality? Might this end up being another lab 'leak' case?

Well...

' The Mpox outbreak began in May 2022, when confirmed cases were reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 12 Mpox non-endemic countries from the Global North.2 The growing number of cases therefore, led the WHO to declare the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on 23 July 2022.' NIH

In May of 2022 the Mpox outbreak kicked off in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and it took quite sometime for the world to send 50k vaccines to help them combat it.

Was anything else happening in and around in the lead-up to the outbreak?

Well...

DEEP VZN is a USAID project that replaced the Predict Project in Oct. of 2021. It's purpose was to study and perform gain of function research on ... zoonotic viruses... across the globe.

'USAID launched the program, known as the Discovery & Exploration of Emerging Pathogens – Viral Zoonoses (DEEP VZN), in October 2021. It tapped the Paul G. Allen School for Global Health at Washington State University (WSU) to lead a consortium that planned to work in up to 12 foreign countries over 5 years. Goals included training people in those countries to safely collect and characterize viruses found in animals, and to identify and develop strategies to thwart pathogens that might gain the capacity to jump to humans and spark a global pandemic.' Science Sept 2023

What? You say it wasn't gain of function research?

' There’s a lot of concern about lab leaks and creating a human-animal interface that wouldn’t naturally exist,”

'Critics feared DEEP VZN research projects could help viruses jump from animals to humans' Science Sept 2023

Yes indeed, DEEP VZN was a mass GAIN of FUNCTION project that was designed to posit the possibilities of deadly viruses making leaps to humans in an effort, supposedly, to better prepare for the potential outbreaks. They claim it had nothing to do with weaponizing zoonotic diseases.

That's what they claimed anyway.

Washington State University (WSU) where DEEP VZN was based, has a website which is still up detailing all the various governmental projects they participated in, including DEEP VZN.

Would you like to know something interesting? In 2021, Oct of 2021, they took their killer virus making show down to Africa of all places, studying flu-like zoonotic diseases... like Mpox. A few months later, a dangerous outbreak of Mpox hits Africa.


The current outbreak of Mpox, this recent clade, started around Jan. of 2023.

'The current outbreak, Congo's worst ever, has seen 27,000 cases and more than 1,100 deaths since January 2023, largely among children.' Reuters Aug 16 2024

In late July of 2023 USAID informed WSU they had cancelled DEEP VZN.

'In late July, however, USAID officials notified WSU investigators that they had canceled DEEP VZN (pronounced “deep vision”), as first reported yesterday by The BMJ.' Science Sept 2023

DEEP VZN was in operation, doing gain of function research, in neighboring African nations the whole time this Mpox outbreak, clade 1 and 2, seemingly came out of nowhere.

And most recently just in time to help promote the need for the WHO's Pandemic Treaty.

I quit believing in coincidences a long time ago. For good reason.

The more dangerous nature of this round of Mpox also leads one to wonder about it's genesis as most often a new variation of an organic virus living in an area tends to be less lethal than those that came before them, not more. This fact is evidence by all the recent Covid-19 variations we have seen over the years.

But suddenly, a couple months before the Dec. deadline, we get a much much more dangerous variation of Mpox? Near where DEEP VZN gain of function research was taking place?

Perhaps we should start looking for furin cleavage site mods on the Mpox viruses. Or something to that effect. Of course, by time someone finds anything that might indicate this new Mpox strain or clade was 'modified' we will already be knee deep in WHO lockdowns for the Common Good.

Not definitive by certain interesting enough to warrant further investigation, if you ask me.

https://meryl.substack.com/cp/147787840

US approves “historic” $20B arms sale to Israel, as Gazans die – Day 311
[email protected] August 14, 2024 ben gvir, Bezalel Smotrich, ceasefire, free speech on campus, Iran, israeli gang rape, Josep Borrell, palestine olympics head, twins in gaza, weapons to israel
Destroyed buildings last month in Beit Lahia, one of the northernmost cities in the Gaza Strip.Credit...Omar Al-Qattaa/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images (photo)
More weapons for Israel; newborn twins killed in Gaza; Israel shoots American activist; two Palestinians killed in West Bank; Israel detains Palestine Olympic head; California mulls anti-free speech on campus bill; Ben Gvir leads provocative march on Temple Mount; EU leader calls for sanctions against Israeli Smotrich for calls to starve Gazans; house arrest for gang-rape suspects; yes, Netanyahu has been messing with ceasefire details;

Iran says Europe’s silence on “inhumane crimes” in Gaza encouraged Israel to continue atrocities while threatening global peace; more.

By IAK staff, from reports.

US State Department Approves Over $20 Billion Arms Package for Israel

AntiWar reports: On Tuesday, the State Department approved a series of potential weapons sales to Israel worth over $20 billion that includes F-15 fighter jets and tank munitions. The approval comes as Israeli airstrikes continue to slaughter civilians in Gaza, including newborn twins who were killed hours before the State Department announced the new support for Israel.

Ha’aretz reports the transaction as “among the most significant arms sales to Israel in American history.”

In total, the US announced five new arms deals for Israel. The biggest is for 50 F-15 fighter jets and related equipment, worth $18.8 billion. Israel will also receive $102.5 million in advanced air-to-air missiles, about 33,000 120mm tank cartridges worth $774 million, 50,000 high-explosive 120mm mortar rounds worth $61.1 million, and $583.1 million worth of medium tactical vehicles.

It’s unclear how much of the massive weapons sale will be funded by US military aid. The announcement came a few days after the State Department said it was releasing $3.5 billion in military assistance for Israel in the form of Foreign Military Financing, a program that gives foreign governments money to buy US weapons.

It will take years before the F-15s and other weapons will be delivered to Israel, although, according to Reuters, the tank rounds would be almost immediately available for delivery. The notification begins a period where Congress could potentially block the sales, but it’s expected to breeze through since only a few dozen progressive Democrats are opposed to arming Israel.

The U.S. has sent Israel more than 10,000 highly destructive 2,000-pound bombs and thousands of Hellfire missiles since the start of the Gaza war in October, U.S. officials told Reuters in June.

RECOMMENDED READING: Rafah attack: Netanyahu’s lies expose the truth about Israel

An Israeli soldier carries a 155mm artillery shell near a self-propelled howitzer deployed at a position near the border with Lebanon in the upper Galilee region of northern Israel on October 18, 2023. (Photo: Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images)
An Israeli soldier carries a 155mm artillery shell near a self-propelled howitzer deployed at a position near the border with Lebanon in the upper Galilee region of northern Israel on October 18, 2023. (Photo: Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images) (photo)
Newborn twins killed in Israeli strike in Gaza as father collects their birth certificates

Andalou Agency reports: Newborn twins were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the central Gaza Strip on Tuesday as their father went to collect their birth certificates.

The two babies were born on Saturday in the city of Deir al-Balah, but an Israeli strike on their apartment shattered the family’s joy of their newborns.

“I have just obtained the birth certificates for my newborn babies Aysel and Asser,” their father Mohammad Abu al-Qumsan told Anadolu as tears rolled down his cheeks.

“They were born on August 10. I was outside the house, finalizing the paperwork, and then I got the call… I didn’t expect to find them all gone.”



Israeli hardliner Ben-Gvir “put lives at risk” with Jerusalem prayer call

Reuters reports: Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Tuesday visited the Al-Aqsa mosque compound known to Jews as Temple Mount, and said Jews should be allowed to pray there, freshly challenging rules covering one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly denied there would be any change to rules prohibiting Jews from praying at the site, which is holy to Muslims as well.

The Al-Aqsa compound, revered by Jews as a vestige of their two ancient temples, is administered by a Jordanian religious foundation and under rules dating back decades, Jews are allowed to visit, but may not pray there.

“Our policy is to allow prayer,” Ben-Gvir said as he passed a line of Jewish visitors who prostrated themselves on the ground, while others sang and clapped their hands in celebration. The Waqf, the foundation that administers the site, said around 2,250 Jews entered the site on Tuesday.

The spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denounced Ben-Gvir’s visit as a “provocation” and called on the U.S. to intervene “if it wants to prevent the region from exploding in an uncontrollable manner”.

HA’ARETZ ADDS: What happened on the Temple Mount Tuesday categorically puts lives at risk, and is further evidence of the chaos being caused by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and his irresponsible leadership.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and another minister ascended the Temple Mount (known as Al-Aqsa to Muslims), and dozens of Jewish visitors prayed on the compound in violation of the status quo. All this happened in front of the police who were stationed there, but they refrained from enforcing the ban on Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount.

The fact that Ben-Gvir oversees the police doubles the threat he poses, because the police exist in part to deal with criminals like him. But when the criminal is the very minister in charge of the police, who can you turn to? When the person endangering national security is the minister in charge of preserving it, what do you do?

And the helplessness becomes absolute when you realize the prime minister can’t be relied upon in this situation, since Netanyahu is the one who appointed Ben-Gvir despite very well knowing that he is dangerous.


An American was just shot in the West Bank. The American press can’t be bothered.

DropSite News reports: Last Friday, Amado Sison, an activist from New Jersey with the solidarity group Faz3a, joined fellow demonstrators near the West Bank village of Beita. In an interview with Drop Site after being discharged from the hospital, Sison said he was taking part in a “protective presence” exercise aimed at defending Palestinian citizens living in the West Bank from settler and military violence.

“The Palestinians were holding a rally and doing chants, when Israeli soldiers at a nearby outpost started shooting tear gas and aiming weapons at us,” said Sison. “

This was only my second demonstration, but some of the more experienced demonstrators shouted that live rounds were being fired and everyone began to run.”

Sison and others ran from the gunfire into a nearby olive grove. It was then that he felt a “blunt impact” in the back of his leg. He initially thought he had been hit by a tear gas canister.

It turned out to have been a live bullet, which entered his thigh and exited from the front of his leg.

In video of the incident taken by Anthony C., an activist with Faz3a, and provided to Drop Site, a group of protesters and local Palestinians can be seen screaming as they attempt to carry a wounded Sison to safety after the shooting.

(Read the full article here.)

West Bank: Two Palestinian young men killed by Israeli forces

WAFA reports: A Palestinian teenager succumbed to serious wounds he sustained earlier Tuesday after being shot by Israeli occupation forces in the town of Anata, east of occupied Jerusalem.

The Jerusalem Governorate Media Department said in a statement that Shadi Wisam Shehada, 17, was shot by the Israeli occupation in the town of Anata while he was working at his privately-owned car wash shop in the area, for allegedly throwing stones at the occupation soldiers.

Another Palestinian young man, Moataz Sarsour, was shot and killed by Israeli occupation forces during a raid on the cities of Ramallah and Al-Bireh at Tuesday dawn.

Shadi Wisam Shehada and Moataz Sarsour, killed by Israeli forces
Shadi Wisam Shehada and Moataz Sarsour, killed by Israeli forces (photo)
Israeli authorities detain head of the Palestine Olympic Committee

Middle East Eye reports: Jibril Rajoub, who is also a member of Fatah’s Central Committee, was reportedly detained by Israeli authorities upon his return from the Paris Olympics while en route to the occupied West Bank.

The 71-year-old was searched, had his passport confiscated, and was summoned for questioning at the Ofer military compound near Ramallah on Tuesday.

Rajoub has previously faced threats of imprisonment from some members of the Israeli government due to his efforts to have Israel barred from the Olympics and the football World Cup, citing violations of the Olympic Charter and FIFA regulations against apartheid in sports.

In May, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz threatened to revoke Rajoub’s travel pass.

“We will work to thwart his plans, and if he doesn’t stop, we will imprison him in the Muqataa [presidential compound in Ramallah], where he will be left to play stanga by himself between the walls,” Katz said, referring to a popular Israeli street game involving a football.

Anti-free speech California bill inspired by opposition to pro-Palestine campus protest

The Intercept reports: A bill making its way through the California legislature would stifle free speech on public university and college campuses, specifically around protests against Israel’s war in Gaza and its occupation of Palestine, according to civil rights advocates.

The American Civil Liberties Union in California is ringing the alarm bell on Senate Bill 1287, saying that it will “set a dangerous precedent of chilling speech on campuses across the state.”

The bill, introduced in February by Democratic state Sen. Steve Glazer, would require schools to adopt and enforce rules against harassment, discrimination, or any behavior that “creates a hostile environment on campus.”

The bill’s supporters include a host of pro-Israel advocacy groups. [Glazer has made many trips to Israel and lived in Israel for six months working on a kibbutz.]

Among the bill’s most vocal detractors has been ACLU California Action, which said in a letter sent last week to Glazer’s office that the bill would suppress free speech. In the letter, obtained by The Intercept, the ACLU highlighted areas of the bill that are “overly broad” and vague, such as leaving terms like “harassment,” “discrimination,” and “hostile environment” with no clear definitions that may allow institutions to apply them in ways that prohibit students’ free speech.

Across the U.S., lawmakers on the state and federal level have introduced bills cracking down on campus protests. In Congress, Republican lawmakers proposed a slate of bills, including measures that would revoke visas and deport any international student convicted of a crime related to protests on campus; bar students convicted of a protest-related crime from receiving financial aid; make federal accreditation and funding for schools contingent on their policies toward protests; barring a student of faculty member from student loan forgiveness if they are expelled or fired due to protests; and withholding federal funds from schools that don’t clear encampments.

Rep. Andy Ogles, a Republican from Tennessee who is behind several of the bills, also introduced one that would require a student convicted of a protest-related offense to do community service in Gaza for six months.

(Read the full article here.)

RECOMMENDED READING: Unmasking counterprotesters who attacked UCLA’s pro-Palestine encampment

In early May, police arrested around 200 protesters from the anti-war encampment at UCLA, with the campus police restricting access to the area, and police helicopters hovering overhead.
In early May, police arrested around 200 protesters from the anti-war encampment at UCLA, with the campus police restricting access to the area, and police helicopters hovering overhead. (photo)
Iran says silence of UK, France, Germany on “inhumane crimes” in Gaza encouraged Israel to continue atrocities while threatening global peace

The Cradle reports: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in a phone call that the silence of the international community in the face of Israel’s “unprecedented and inhumane crimes” in Gaza encouraged it to continue committing atrocities while threatening regional and global peace and security, IRNA reported on 13 August.

Pezeshkian added that war in any part of the world is not in the interest of any country while emphasizing that a “punitive response to an aggressor is a legal right of states and a way to stop crime and aggression.”

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani issued a similar message Tuesday, saying the Islamic Republic will defend its national security and sovereignty and does not ask for permission to exercise its rights.

Kanaani made the statement in response to a letter published by the UK, France, and Germany, urging Iran not to retaliate for the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on 1 August.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman added that the three European countries have been indifferent to Israel’s continued “genocidal acts and war crimes against defenseless Palestinians.”

He stated that the European nations’ request that Iran not respond to the Hamas leader’s assassination would “encourage the criminals to continue massacre, genocide, and crime against humanity.”

The spokesman said if those mentioned countries were really after peace and stability in the region, they should stand against Israel and seek to end the war on Gaza and the killing of children and women.

Israeli troops accused of gang raping Palestinian detainee released on house arrest

The Cradle reports: The Israeli military attorney’s office and defense lawyers agreed on the release to house arrest of the five soldiers accused of raping a Palestinian man in the notorious Sde Teiman detention camp, Haaretz reported in Hebrew on 13 August.

The Israeli army spokesman said the five soldiers will be released to house arrest for 10 days during the investigation.

On 8 August, a leaked surveillance video from Sde Teiman was broadcast on Israeli news network Channel 12, showing the Israeli soldiers gang-raping the Palestinian man.

Members of the Knesset and Hebrew media have strongly criticized the military for detaining the soldiers, arguing that it is morally acceptable to do anything to Hamas fighters, including rape.

Military police officers who arrested the soldiers have faced death threats.

Israel’s military advocate general, Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi responded to criticism over the arrests by saying they were crucial for shielding Israel from war crimes charges in international courts and ensuring continued weapons deliveries from the US and European nations.

RECOMMENDED READING: Hostages of Israeli revenge in the Gaza Strip: Testimonies of 100 released Palestinian detainees reveal crimes of torture, cruel treatment.



Documents confirm Netanyahu responsible for obstructing Gaza ceasefire

New York Times reports: For weeks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has denied that he is trying to block a cease-fire deal in Gaza by hardening Israel’s negotiating position.

Mr. Netanyahu has consistently placed all blame for the deadlocked negotiations on Hamas, even as senior members of the Israeli security establishment accused him of slowing the process himself.

But in private, Mr. Netanyahu has, in fact, added new conditions to Israel’s demands, additions that his own negotiators fear have created extra obstacles to a deal.

According to unpublished documents reviewed by The New York Times that detail Israel’s negotiating positions, Israel relayed a list of new stipulations in late July to American, Egyptian and Qatari mediators that added less flexible conditions to a set of principles it had made in late May.

The documents reviewed by The Times make clear that the behind-the-scenes maneuvering by the Netanyahu government has been extensive — and suggest that agreement may be elusive at the talks set to begin this week.

(Read more here.)

Israel defense ministry expects 100,000 disabled veterans by 2030, half to be related to mental health

Ha’aretz reports: A recent forecast by the rehabilitation division of Israel’s Defense Ministry expects there to be 100,000 disabled IDF veterans by the year 2030, with half being related to mental health.

According to the data, since October 7 the rehabilitation division has seen 10,056 wounded individuals. The Defense Ministry is now discussing a strategy to absorb and treat those wounded in the war, on top of approximately 62,000 disabled IDF veterans already being treated by the division before the war.

NOTE: Over 92,000 Gazans have been injured in just ten months – at least 3,000 children have had a limb amputated. Mental health issues are widespread, including nearly every child in Gaza.

Josep Borrell calls for sanctions against Israeli ministers for ‘incitement to war crimes’

The Cradle reports: EU Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell [from Spain] said on 11 August that the bloc must consider imposing sanctions against Israeli far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich for “incitement to war crimes.”

Borrell urged the Israeli government to clearly dissociate itself from individuals who incite war crimes and to work seriously towards a ceasefire deal.

The high-ranking EU official also denounced Ben Gvir for urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt all humanitarian aid and fuel to the Gaza Strip amidst the ongoing genocide.

Finance Minister Smotrich’s comments about starving two million Gazans by withholding aid in exchange for Israeli captives as “sinister,” in stark contrast to the Israeli minister’s assertion that the approach is “justified and moral.”

MORE NEWS:

IMEMC Daily Reports.

The Guardian: Why should US troops pay the price for Biden’s failure to rein in Netanyahu?

Mondoweiss: The ICJ finds that BDS is not merely a right, but an obligation

+972 Magazine: In Jenin and Tulkarem, Israel’s war on Palestinian armed resistance is failing

CNN: Rep. Ilhan Omar will win primary in Minnesota, CNN projects, breaking ‘squad’ losing streak

STATISTICS OCTOBER 7 – AUGUST 13:

Palestinian death toll from October 7 – August 13: at least 40,590* (39,965 in Gaza* – 11,445 women (30%), 16,251 children as of July 22. [The Ministry’s figures have been contested by the Israeli authorities, although they have been accepted as accurate by Israeli intelligence services, the UN, and WHO. These data are supported by independent analyses, comparing changes in the number of deaths of UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff with those reported by the Ministry, which found claims of data fabrication implausible.]

This is expected to be a significant undercount since thousands of those killed have yet to be identified – and at least 625 in the West Bank (~145 children). This does not include an estimated 10,000 more still buried under rubble (4,900 women and children). Euro-Med Monitor reports 46,848 Palestinian deaths.

Lancet: “Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death9 to the 37,396 deaths reported, it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186 000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza.

Ralph Nader earlier estimated 200,000 Palestinians may have been killed in Gaza.

At least 45 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons (27 from Gaza, 18 from West Bank).
At least 41 Palestinians have died due to malnutrition**.
About 1.7 million, or 75% of Gaza’s population are currently displaced.
2.15 million (out of total population of 2.3 million) are projected to face Crisis or worse levels of food insecurity.
Palestinian injuries from October 7 – August 13: at least 97,714 (including at least 92,294 in Gaza and 5,420 in the West Bank, including 830 children). [It remains unknown how man Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.]

Reported Israeli death toll from October 7 – August 13: ~1,486 (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 331 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza; 16 in the West Bank) and~8,730 injured.

Times of Israel reports: The IDF listed 41 soldiers killed due to friendly fire in Gaza and other military-related accidents – nearly 16%.

NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries in Israel on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.

*Previously, IAK did not include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile was being disputed. However, given that much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, Israel had previously bombed the hospital and has attacked many others, Israel is prohibiting outside experts from investigating the scene, and since the UN and other agencies are including the deaths from the attack in their cumulative totals, if Americans knew is now also doing so.**

Euro-Med Monitor reports that Gaza’s elderly are dying at an alarmingly high rate. The majority die at home and are buried either close to their residences or in makeshift graves dispersed across the Strip. There are currently more than 140 such cemeteries. Additionally, according to Euromed, thousands have died from starvation, malnourishment, and inadequate medical care; these are considered indirect victims as they were not registered in hospitals.

† For most of the conflict, women and children accounted for about 70% of deaths in Gaza, with children making up a little over 40% of those killed, according to official statistics.

Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here.

Hover over each bar for exact numbers.
Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org
Human rights reports on Israel-Palestine (regularly updated)
Palestinians’ harrowing stories of rape by Israeli soldiers (including female soldiers)
A Palestinian journalist visited Ismail Haniyeh’s home in Gaza to report on his death. Israel assassinated him too.
I reported a piece for the New York Times on antisemitism. I found a major error, but the Times didn’t care.
How Israel plans to whitewash its war crimes in Gaza
Why the West Bank is on the verge of economic collapse
Netanyahu’s plan to involve US in regional war on its behalf
Western media continue to withhold the truth about Israel and Gaza – 4 stories
“Well What SHOULD Israel Have Done After October 7?”
Welcome to Hell
More dead children. More BBC ‘news’ channelling Israeli propaganda as its own
U.S. media downplays and ignores ICJ ruling declaring Israeli occupation illegal
Israeli soldiers tell story of savage cruelty in Gaza – one given blessing by the West
Searching for Gaza’s missing children
What Would You Do With An Extra $320 Million?
Assassination of Haniyeh an intentional, dangerous escalation – Parsi, Macgregor
When Israel Burned Refugees Alive, Establishment Media Called It a ‘Tragic Accident’
Israel has turbocharged West Bank housing demolitions under the cover of war
Western media ignores Israeli confirmation of Hannibal Directive on 7 Oct
US Should Arrest Benjamin Netanyahu When He’s in Washington
Airwars investigation: Israeli airstrikes uniquely lethal (video)
Hesen Jabr paid the price of conscience
Gaza genocide denial
Why the news media’s job is to groom us
‘Disappeared, buried, detained’: The horrors of Gaza’s missing children

https://israelpalestinenews.org/us-approves-historic-20b-arms-sale-to-israel-as-gazans-die-day-311/

The fallout from Haniyeh assassination
Saturday, 03 August 2024 6:04 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 03 August 2024 6:04 PM ]
The fallout from the assassination of Hamas's Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital Tehran continues with Israeli fingerprints all over it.

His killing came a day after Israel murdered a commander of the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut.

Both Iran and Hezbollah have promised a harsh response.

Tehran has also said the US bears responsibility for supporting Israel.

The Americans say a broader war in the Middle East is not inevitable but reaffirmed US support for the Israeli regime.

To many, the recent killings raise the specter of an all-out war in the Middle East. But how will Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas respond? And what does all that mean for the ongoing US-Israeli genocidal war on Gaza?

And, UK foreign secretary David Lammy is on a surprise visit to Lebanon purportedly aiming to de-escalate the growing regional tensions.

https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/08/03/730628/The-fallout-post-Haniyeh

The False Flag Trump Shooting
Kevin Barrett, Senior EditorJuly 21, 2024

VT Condemns the ETHNIC CLEANSING OF PALESTINIANS by USA/Israel

$ 280 BILLION US TAXPAYER DOLLARS INVESTED since 1948 in US/Israeli Ethnic Cleansing and Occupation Operation; $ 150B direct "aid" and $ 130B in "Offense" contracts
Source: Embassy of Israel, Washington, D.C. and US Department of State.

by VT Editor Kevin Barrett via Substack

When a violent, shocking, spectacular American-history-turning event occurs—examples include the sinking of the USS Maine and Lusitania, the attacks on US ships at Pearl Harbor or the Gulf of Tonkin, the Kennedy assassinations, and 9/11—history teaches us that things are seldom what they seem. All of those incidents, and more, were deceptions orchestrated by forces that stood to benefit. The schoolbook narratives of all of these events, and many more, are lies.

The key that unlocks the truth is the Latin phrase cui bono: who benefits? In all of the above cases, a powerful faction that wanted war—call it the war party—orchestrated deceptions that enabled the wars they wanted.

Does the alleged shooting of Donald Trump last Saturday fit that pattern? Like the others, it was a spectacular act of violence that, in retrospect, is likely be seen as history-changing:

“The election is likely to be a landslide. This probably reduces uncertainty,” said Nick Ferres, chief investment officer at Vantage Point Asset Management, citing polls that showed a surge in support for Reagan after the attempt on his life.

The weak counter-argument admits that the shooting significantly improved Trump’s odds, but those odds are not 100% since “nothing is set in stone.”

The long and short of it is that those who want a second Trump presidency were the obvious beneficiaries of an apparently random event that, were it a PR stunt, would have been worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the Trump campaign. The iconic photo of Trump fending off the Secret Service agents tasked with whisking him away ASAP and shaking his fist defiantly as he yells “fight! fight! fight!” could not have been more perfectly scripted. Reality TV actor Trump has never been more in his element.



Nor could the shooting have been more perfectly timed. It occurred at the ideal moment to interrupt the news cycle that was about to force Biden to step down in favor of a stronger Democratic candidate. And it happened in the best possible time-frame for energizing the Republican base—and taking the wind out of the anti-Trump media’s sails—just ahead of the Republican convention, which became a spectacularly unanimous coronation-by-acclamation.

The “shot that winged Trump’s ear” was even luckier for Trump than for the world’s-worst-marksman who allegedly took it. Most obviously, it gave Trump some blood for the photo op. It also gave him the opportunity to put on an ear bandage that served as a sort of purple heart, or rather a white badge of courage, at the convention. If billion-to-one odds had not been defied, and the world’s-worst-marksman had just plain missed—or, vastly more likely, never been allowed to get off a shot—the whole thing would have fizzled and been forgotten, like the failed attempt against RFK Jr. last September. Indeed, of all human beings throughout all of recorded history, Trump may have been “the luckiest to have gotten shot.” Had he “turned his head at the wrong moment such that the bullet completely missed” he would face much better odds of spending the rest of his life in the big house rather than the White House…or of being actually assassinated, presumably by efficient and deniable means.

Indeed, the “shot in the ear” was like another kind of shot we have been hearing a lot about—an inoculation shot. It inoculated Trump against further assassination attempts, including the professional kind that rarely miss. Prior to his miraculously lucky ear shot, Trump was vulnerable to being taken out by any of a long list of deniable methods available to his deep state enemies. They could have laced one of his diet cokes with an untraceable heart attack agent, poisoned his toothbrush as happened to J. Edgar Hoover, or had him shot in such a way as to keep him out of the White House rather than to put him in it. But in the wake of the “lucky ear shot” and apparent Secret Service breakdown that enabled it, if anything happens to Trump, his base will burn down the country. That ear shot quite likely saved Trump’s life, not to mention his political career.

That the first serious amateur attempt on Trump’s life actually got off shots, and—mirabile dictu—winged his ear, providing hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars worth of PR for the Trump campaign, proves that Yahweh, or his agents, must have had a hand in it. On the assumption that Yahweh delegated the job to his agents, rather than just rolling up his sleeves and doing it himself, the question arises: “How did Yahweh’s agents manage to pull it off?”

Some of my excitable friends will no doubt exclaim: “It was all done with crisis actors! Nobody really got hurt or killed!” They will troll the web for photographs that faintly resemble the gunman and his victim, point out that they are still alive, and claim they have proved that the whole thing was a hoax. Alternately, they will dig into birth, death, and social security records, as well as social and mainstream media, and claim that whatever they find isn’t enough to support the presumption that Thomas Matthew Crooks, Corey Comperatore (who died from a gunshot at the rally) and “a 57-year-old New Kensington, Pennsylvania, resident and a 74-year-old resident of Moon Township” ever existed.

These are the people who insist that no planes hit the World Trade Center and that most or all of the 9/11 victims never existed. They think nobody really got hurt at the Boston bombing or the Las Vegas shooting or Sandy Hook. It’s all crisis actors, they say. False flaggers who stage violent events actually hate real violence, so they fake as much of it as possible…sometimes all of it.

I am, to say the least, not convinced by those arguments. My study of spectacular, spectacularly deceptive deep state events suggests that the perpetrators generally manipulate perceptions of actual violent events, rather than simply staging fake ones. (The violent events, of course, are generally orchestrated or steered by the perpetrators.)

If I were one of Yahweh’s agents…

If I were a high-ranking member of the deep state who wanted a second Trump term, here’s how I would have done it.

Get the necessary personnel on board. After looking at the extensive files on all relevant personnel, from Trump himself to Secret Service people to potential patsies, I would know who to approach and how to approach them. Here’s how I might approach Trump: “Don, the deep state faction that despises you currently has about an 80% chance of success, defined as keeping you out of the White House by either killing or disabling you or winning/rigging the election. The odds that you end up dead or in prison by the end of 2024 are over 60%. We need to significantly move the dial on those odds. There’s only one way to do it: You need to be ‘wounded’ in an assassination attempt that generates a spectacular, iconic photo, and riles up your base to the point that the Never Trumpers avoid taking you out for real.” “Gosh, Kevin…didn’t Nixon once say ‘that would be wrong’”? “Don, your enemies are absolutely ruthless. We have to be ruthless too. So here’s the deal: A lone nut who couldn’t hit the side of a barn is going to fire a few shots at a Trump rally, and one of them is going to supposedly ‘clip your ear.’ You’re going to flinch at the first shot, reach for your ear, hit the deck, and let one of our guys mess with that ear so that when you stand up, there’s blood. You’re going to take command as they try to drag you off, shake your fist, and say ‘fight fight fight.’ Can you remember those lines?” “Roger.” “And don’t worry about how you’re going to look when the first shot rings out, because you’ll know real bullets are flying so you won’t have to do much method acting.” (Then the same basic approach is used on anyone else who needs-to-know. Obviously, only people whose files reveal them to be strongly pro-Trump and ethically flexible are approached. If Trump, based on his files, is not ethically flexible enough to go along with a shooting that will likely hurt or kill one or two of his supporters, he’s told nobody will get hurt…and if and when he learns otherwise after the event, it will be too late. And if Trump is so ethically inflexible that he won’t do a fake shooting at all, which seems ridiculously unlikely, we’ll keep him out of the loop and find a way to shoot his ear with a BB or something from close range at the moment the first shot rings out.)
Recruit a shooter who is a poor marksman from the MK-Ultra contingent. For extra insurance, give him a rifle with a bad sight. Stage a “Secret Service screw-up” to get him on roof and give him time to squeeze off several fruitless shots. (The odds that one of those random shots would actually kill or disable Trump are very low—vastly lower than the 60% odds Trump ends up dead or in prison by the end of the year if he doesn’t take the risk.)
Look for places to hold Trump rallies with suitable buildings nearby.Set up contingency plans for three or four possible locations, like JFK’s killers did by having plans in place for Miami (canceled), Dallas (successful), and Chicago (unnecessary), according to James Douglass.
Count on mainstream media’s distaste for “conspiracy theories”—and be ready to enforce it. Normally a plan like this would seem risky or impossible, because much of the media hates Trump and would love to destroy him by exposing his or his supporters’ crimes. But there are crimes, and there are crimes. Two-bit crimes like 30-year-old he-said-she-said alleged sexual assaults, paperwork screw-ups, and so on are fair game for media and prosecutors. But massive, horrifying political crimes are routinely covered up by media due to the taboo against “conspiracy theories.” So the odds that significant, influential mainstream media will expose the false flag are very low, and can be made lower by scouring the personnel files of all relevant figures in advance and being prepared to stop them if necessary, as was done to Paul Wellstone and Hunter Thompson after 9/11, and many dozens of JFK witnesses and journalists in the wake of the 1963 coup.
But would the deep state even want a second Trump presidency?

In the past, it has always been the war party that orchestrates this kind of deception. The Maine greased the skids for the Spanish-American war. The Lusitania greased the skids for US entry into World War I. Pearl Harbor singlehandedly enabled US entry into World War II, by flipping the massive anti-war majority into an equally massive pro-war one. The Gulf of Tonkin incident hugely escalated US involvement in Vietnam. 9/11 unleashed a series of wars for Israel that cost $7 trillion and killed millions of people.

Interestingly, the JFK assassination, which led to both escalation in Vietnam and (more importantly) US support for Israel’s 1967 war of aggression, was not the only time that a US president has been inserted, by murderous deception, to enable war. The 1940 Republican convention was rigged, after the murder of the convention manager, to ensure that pro-war unknown Wendell Wilkie, rather than any of the other more plausible candidates (who were all antiwar) emerged as the candidate. Since any antiwar Republican would have easily beaten Roosevelt, the murderous insertion of Wilkie was a necessary step towards US involvement in World War II. (The story is entertainingly recounted in Gore Vidal’s The Golden Age.)

But Trump?! He and his vice presidential candidate, J.D. Vance, are skeptical about Biden’s war on Ukraine. Isn’t Trump the peace candidate?

In a word, no. Trump’s first term was a war presidency, even more than Obama’s. The Trump team: *Armed Ukraine to the teeth and flooded it with NATO advisors, setting the stage for the current war. *Assassinated Iran’s General Soleimani, a shoo-in to win that nation’s presidency, thereby almost setting off World War III. *Ratcheted up the covert US war on China, in part by attacking China with the COVID-19 anti-economy bioweapon. *Refused to withdraw from Afghanistan. *Refused to withdraw from Iraq and Syria despite demands from both governments. *Massively increased military spending. *Declared World War III against the world’s nearly two billion Muslims by approving Israel’s theft of territory, moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, and generally obeying Netanyahu’s every order, setting the stage for the current genocidal war.

If the deep state wants to cut its losses and shift the war front from Russia to China and/or Iran, Trump is the man to do it. Trump is surrounded by fanatics who, like the soon-to-be-pardoned Steve Bannon, believe it is the US’s destiny to defeat China in a hot war. And he is even more surrounded by even crazier fanatics who want to blow up the world in general, and Iran and its allies in particular, on behalf of the looniest wing of the Zionist genocide project.

With a Democrat in the White House, Netanyahu has no hope of “finishing the job” of the genocide of Palestine. The massacre of a few million Palestinians, and expulsion of millions more, could only happen under the “fog of war” of an all-out US-and-Israel vs. Axis of Resistance confrontation. And that’s what Netanyahu has devoted his entire political career to engineering. He won’t get it without another Trump presidency.

Regardless of the details, whether it involves turning Taiwan into China’s Ukraine, or joining Israel’s campaign against West Asia, America can’t mobilize for all-out war with a Democrat in the White House. Only a chest-thumping macho leader like Trump can infuse America’s fighting men (not women, sorry) with the necessary testosterone-fueled enthusiasm. Nobody with fighting spirit is going to sign up for Biden’s rainbow-flag-waving bisexual army. But Trump’s base will flock like lemmings to fight and die for the Orangeman waving the red-white-and-blue. So if you want war, big-time, you need Trump in the White House. End of story.

Please convince me I’m wrong!

I wish I were wrong about all of this. I wish Mike King, whose view of Trump almost rivals Q Anon’s, were right. I wish Trump were a real America First candidate, rather than an actor who plays one on reality TV. I wish he were the savior America needs, rather than a false messiah. I wish the “magic ear shot” were a real miracle from the universal God (as opposed to the bloodthirsty tribal idol Yahweh) whose purpose was to put a peace candidate in the White House.

So go ahead, try to convince me. I want to believe you. Explain to me, in detail, why logic and evidence proves that the “magic ear shot” could not possibly have been orchestrated in the way I am suggesting, or another roughly similar way.

I want to believe you. But the onus—the burden of proof—is on you. Given the historical context, we must assume that the “magic ear shot” event was an orchestrated deception, like its historical precedents, unless there is slam-dunk proof to the contrary. So please, drop that slam-dunk proof in the comments section! If you convince me, it will really cheer me up ; – )



Dr. Kevin Barrett, a Ph.D. Arabist-Islamologist is one of America’s best-known critics of the War on Terror.

He is the host of TRUTH JIHAD RADIO; a hard-driving weekly radio show funded by listener subscriptions at Substack and the weekly news roundup FALSE FLAG WEEKLY NEWS (FFWN).

He also has appeared many times on Fox, CNN, PBS, and other broadcast outlets, and has inspired feature stories and op-eds in the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, the Chicago Tribune, and other leading publications.

Dr. Barrett has taught at colleges and universities in San Francisco, Paris, and Wisconsin; where he ran for Congress in 2008. He currently works as a nonprofit organizer, author, and talk radio host.

Archived Articles (2004-2016)

www.truthjihad.com

ATTENTION READERS

We See The World From All Sides and Want YOU To Be Fully Informed
In fact, intentional disinformation is a disgraceful scourge in media today. So to assuage any possible errant incorrect information posted herein, we strongly encourage you to seek corroboration from other non-VT sources before forming an educated opinion.

About VT - Policies & Disclosures - Comment Policy
Due to the nature of uncensored content posted by VT's fully independent international writers, VT cannot guarantee absolute validity. All content is owned by the author exclusively. Expressed opinions are NOT necessarily the views of VT, other authors, affiliates, advertisers, sponsors, partners, or technicians. Some content may be satirical in nature. All images are the full responsibility of the article author and NOT VT.

https://www.vtforeignpolicy.com/2024/07/the-false-flag-trump-shooting/

The fallout from Haniyeh assassination
Saturday, 03 August 2024 6:04 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 03 August 2024 6:04 PM ]
The fallout from the assassination of Hamas's Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital Tehran continues with Israeli fingerprints all over it.

His killing came a day after Israel murdered a commander of the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut.

Both Iran and Hezbollah have promised a harsh response.

Tehran has also said the US bears responsibility for supporting Israel.

The Americans say a broader war in the Middle East is not inevitable but reaffirmed US support for the Israeli regime.

To many, the recent killings raise the specter of an all-out war in the Middle East. But how will Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas respond? And what does all that mean for the ongoing US-Israeli genocidal war on Gaza?

And, UK foreign secretary David Lammy is on a surprise visit to Lebanon purportedly aiming to de-escalate the growing regional tensions.

https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/08/03/730628/The-fallout-post-Haniyeh

The rise of Yahya Sinwar
Saturday, 10 August 2024 4:51 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 10 August 2024 4:51 PM ]
A message of defiance: the appointment by Hamas of Yahya Sinwar, the man widely believed to have masterminded Operation Al-Aqsa Storm on October 7, as its political leader.

Keeping up the pressure: continued Hezbollah retaliatory operations on the northern side of the Israeli-occupied territories over the genocide in Gaza.

Also, a new push for a ceasefire: a joint statement by Qatar, the US and Egypt calling for a renewed commitment to ceasefire negotiations.

Should we hold our breath?

Martyrs of journalism: a silent protest at a train station in Oslo Norway for journalists killed by Israel in Gaza.

Elsewhere, Turkey says it's joining South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

The UK government continues to insist on the importance of de-escalation as the world awaits a retaliatory attack by the Islamic Republic of Iran on Israel.

Also in Europe: all words and no action: EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrel calls the deliberate starvation of civilians a war crime.

https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/08/10/731104/The-rise-of-Yahya-Sinwar

Israel commits a horrendous massacre during the early hours of Saturday at the Al-Tabieen school in Gaza City, killing over 150 Palestinians and wounding dozens others
#Gaza #TabeenSchool #Israel

Why Did Washington Memory-hole Gaza?
Suddenly a White House “priority”—getting aid to starving civilians—has vanished from the news cycle.

Foreign Affairs

US Military Constructs Temporary Pier To Deliver Humanitarian Aid To Gaza
Some are calling it Kamala Harris’s “Sister Souljah moment,” referring to when, in June 1992, then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton publicly rebuked racist comments made by a popular female hip-hop artist as a way of distancing himself from extreme elements of the Democratic base.

For her part, Harris appeared to be drawing her own line Wednesday, shutting down chants from pro-Palestinian protesters at a Detroit rally on Wednesday, with a firm, “I’m speaking now.” The chants— “Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide, we won’t vote for genocide”—received this stern rebuke from the vice president: “You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking.”

Advertisement
Harris’s team said the Democratic nominee for president had already met with the protesters earlier so any suggestion she was ignoring this important segment of her constituency was wrong. Her defenders on social media applauded her willingness to call out disruptive tactics that feed into the notion that the party is divided. “At a moment when former President Donald J. Trump is attacking her as ‘radical’ her confrontation with protesters on the left offered a visual rebuttal,” wrote the New York Times’s Rebecca Davis O’Brien.

Heckling protesters and Sista Souljah moments aside, the incident raises another question, just as important—is Kamala hiding from the Israel–Gaza issue? And are the mainstream media and the Biden administration helping her do it?

Consider that just four months ago, her boss had stood up at the State of the Union and pledged a military “surge” of humanitarian aid into Gaza to save starving Palestinians on the ground. “To the leadership of Israel I say this: Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip,” Biden said. “Protecting and saving innocent lives has to be a priority.”

By July—just four months later—the humanitarian pier project was built and then dismantled amid stunning failure. A major reason: The Israelis never provided safe passage for the aid delivery. The entire spectacle has been memory-holed. But the population in Gaza is getting less aid than it was in March, and is now at risk of suffering from diseases not seen since the 1950s—like polio—and somehow the “priority” has just vanished as a topic at White House and State Department briefings.

Calls for Israel to allow more trucks into Gaza? Silence. Questions about what aid organizations are equipped to deliver global donations waiting at the border? Crickets. Updates on the maritime corridor which in May was hailed as a “multinational and combined effort” between the U.S., Cyprus, Israel, the UN, and international donors, including the UAE, the United Kingdom, and the European Union? None.

Advertisement
“For the White House, no news on Gaza is good news, for food aid or otherwise,” charged Steve Semler, journalist and co-founder of the Security Policy Reform Institute (SPRI). He diligently tracked the rise and fall of the military “pier” that was supposed to bring salvation to the 2 million population, but ended up floating away with millions of U.S. tax dollars instead.

“The Biden-Harris administration realizes its Israel policy is a massive political liability, but refuses to compromise with its base on that policy. Instead, the administration tries all sorts of things to make the issue go away,” he told TAC. “It stops talking about food aid in press conferences, it omits details about taxpayer-funded military aid to Israel, it pretends Biden has no leverage over Israel to open humanitarian corridors despite those billions in military aid.”

The focus instead is on the looming conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and the potential for the U.S. to get dragged into the fight, which could include a direct confrontation with Iran. The U.S. is moving more military assets into the region, including giving F-22 Raptors to Israel. CENTCOM chief Michael ‘Erik’ Kurilla, has met twice with Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) leaders in the last week.

Appearing only to buy time for Israel to continue laying waste to Gaza, Secretary of State Antony Blinken shuttles back and forth to say the same things over and over about urging Israel and Hamas to sign a ceasefire agreement. After Israel’s assassination of Hamas’s chief negotiator, Ismail Haniyeh, the prospects for a deal have dimmed significantly. The administration puts no obvious pressure on the Israeli government to stop the ongoing bombing of civilian structures, including schools used as shelters (more than 100 were killed in such an attack Saturday), tent cities, water facilities, and private homes, not to mention its complete refusal to ensure aid to the starving and diseased population inside.

According to a Reuters report a month ago, humanitarian aid is barely getting into northern Gaza. While some commercial food supplies are making it into the southern crossings, deliveries are erratic—trucks have to be manned by armed guards paid for by the companies and that means prices, when they actually get to market, are far too high for regular Palestinians to afford. There are now fewer than 80 trucks of any stripe getting into Gaza a day, far below the 600 trucks needed to feed the population.

“Food aid is getting in as a trickle, just a trickle, a few dozen trucks a day,” Chris Gunness, Director of the Myanmar Accountability Project, and former spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), told TAC. “That is why people are literally starving to death.”

Trucks coming from Israel and the West Bank have been attacked by Israeli settlers. If they do make it to the crossings, food piles up and rots while waiting for delivery. Even when trucks make it through the laborious Israeli inspection process, they run into a buzzsaw of security issues inside: Israeli military attacks, armed gangs. Some 70 percent of humanitarian aid trucks, which typically do not have guards (too expensive) are looted. There are few or no police on the streets anymore, the Israeli military have killed or sent them all fleeing, according to this Wall Street Journal report.

Interestingly, USAID Director Samantha Power, probably the administration’s most prominent humanitarian, plays only a bit part these days. The last time she spoke candidly out about Gaza was to say that Israel was the chief impediment to food deliveries. That was back in May. She has since announced $100 million in U.S. aid, but we know it is not going anywhere. The administration apparently won’t talk about it openly, just to reporters on background.

And yet the administration is actively continuing to fuel the Israeli military with weapons used in Gaza to make the situation worse, releasing a fresh $3.5 billion tranche on Friday and deciding not to withhold aid from an IDF unit accused of human rights abuses in the West Bank. It turns a blind eye to comments made by Likud party members and ministers who have defended the use of rape against Palestinian prisoners and the starving of the entire population as “morally justified.”

Speaking on the Judge Andrew Napolitano podcast this week, Ret. Col. Doug Macgregor, a TAC contributing editor, pointed out how high-level Israelis have talked about how “they're dealing with the Amalek—animals—that deserve the worst, and that anything you do to the animals that are In front of you is justified, so the notion of any sort of moral restraint is completely absent.”

“The only way to deal with that is to confront it directly but we're not going to do that. Our government will not confront it. They may say something in private, but from the standpoint of the current leadership in Israel, they know they exert infinitely more influence and control over the Senate and the House in the United States than President Biden, or, for that matter, President Harris, does,” he added.

Harris did raise hopes when she said the following after her visit last month with Benjamin Netanyahu: “The images of dead children and desperate hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time. We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering and I will not be silent.”

But is this more rhetoric than substance? Her office’s response to the heckling protester story Wednesday smacked of trying to have it both ways, the default administration tone. It came in a X post by her top advisor, Phil Gordon:

.@VP has been clear: she will always ensure Israel is able to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups. She does not support an arms embargo on Israel. She will continue to work to protect civilians in Gaza and to uphold international humanitarian law.

Harris is obviously engaged in a delicate dance. Her progressive base is in no mood for triangulation on this issue, yet she is running a national campaign in which many Democratic top donors are especially pro-Israel, as is the leadership and party establishment.

Semler sees a glass half full and doesn’t think, given the political dynamics, the Harris team can ignore the issue for much longer: “In Minnesota, for example, one in five Democrats voted ‘uncommitted’ in the presidential primary. Current Minnesota Governor and [vice-presidential nominee] Tim Walz has no choice but to talk about Gaza, and so the media has no choice but to cover it. So while the food aid issue is for the time being in retreat, I think the broader Gaza issue is here to stay.”

Perhaps especially if a candidate only gets only one “Sista Souljah moment” per campaign.

Advertisement

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/why-did-washington-memory-hole-gaza/

Gazans are “running from death to death” – Day 309
[email protected] August 12, 2024 al-aqsa mosque, evacuation, fajr massacre, fake terrorist list, truce talks, US warships
Gazans are “running from death to death” – Day 309
Palestinians inspect the destruction following the Israeli attack on the Al-Taba’een school, where displaced people took shelter, in al-Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City, Gaza on August 10, 2024. [Mahmoud İssa – Anadolu Agency] (photo)
Evacuation orders keep exhausted Palestinians on the move; the “Fajr massacre” left no intact bodies behind; Israeli “terrorist” hit list is fake; dwindling numbers of aid trucks means famine; US warships assembling in Middle East; Hamas calls for enforcing Biden’s truce instead of more talks; Israeli settlers storm Al Aqsa mosque under heavy police protection; Hamas claims responsibility for shooting Israeli in the Jordan Valley; Israel poised to ban another media company

By IAK staff, from reports.

‘We’re running from death to death’: Palestinian in Khan Younis

Al Jazeera reports: Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been forced to leave their homes and shelters in the middle of the night in Khan Younis, heading west towards al-Mawasi and north towards Deir el-Balah, already overcrowded with hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

“We’re exhausted. This is the 10th time I and my family have had to leave our shelter,” said Zaki Mohammad, 28, who lives in the Hamad housing project in western Khan Younis, where the occupants of two multistorey buildings were ordered to leave.

“People are carrying their belongings, their children, their hopes and their fears and running towards the unknown, because there is no safe place,” he said. “We are running from death to death.”



The Fajr massacre: Every 70 kg bag of human remains is considered a martyr

Mondoweiss: At dawn on Saturday, August 10, the Israeli army bombed a mosque while dozens of displaced people were praying the Fajr prayer, the daily Islamic prayer offered in the early morning. The bombing killed more than a hundred people, most of whom were dismembered or destroyed beyond recognition. For this reason the identification of the bodies has so far been incomplete.

The majority of the martyrs in this latest massacre are first- or second-degree relatives because the prayer hall that the Israeli army bombed belongs to a school housing displaced families from Gaza City. The decimated prayer hall belongs to the Tabi’in School, and is only used by the displaced people sheltering in the school.

At the time of the bombing the prayer hall was filled with men. Now, many women who may have become widows and many children who may have become orphans, are sitting in front of the classrooms that were not reached by the bombing waiting to be told the fate of their families.

The Israeli army said that it bombed the prayer hall because there were armed elements from the Islamic Jihad movement and Hamas there, but the displaced people in the school confirmed that there were no armed men among them. Hamas also denied the Israeli allegations and issued a statement saying that there were no armed men in the school.

(Read the full article here.)

RECOMMENDED READING: US weapon used in Gaza City school massacre that killed 100




Israeli military “terrorist” hit list is a fake

Al Jazeera reports: The Israeli military claimed that it killed 19 members of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in its attack on the school in Gaza City, but more accounts are coming out that are challenging that narrative.

Ramy Abdul, a Palestinian national and chairman of the Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, wrote after investigating sources on the ground that of the 19 people identified by the Israeli military, at least three were killed in prior incidents and nine were civilians, including university and municipality officials.

Ahmed Ihab Baker al-Jaabari, who was claimed to be a PIJ operative, was a civilian killed in December, according to the rights group.



More identified civilians here.

Gaza confronting Israeli-created Famine as Kerem Shalom Food Aid Trucks drop 80% to 24 Trucks a Day

Juan Cole reports: Although the United Nations has not officially declared a famine in Gaza, people living there are in no doubt about it.

The New Humanitarian quotes Diana Harrara, a 33-year-old mother of three in Gaza: “No word better describes what we’re experiencing than ‘famine.’ Firstly, we have nothing to eat but flour and canned food which we can only obtain as aid. This aid is inconsistent – either small in quantity or infrequent. And even when we do get it, we end up leaving the food behind when rushing from one shelter to the next.”

The severe food shortages in Gaza is caused by Israeli bombing of farms and gardens and its restrictions on the number of aid trucks permitted in, as well as the chaos and destruction wrought on the networks of food delivery activists.

Last week Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich ignited a firestorm when he maintained that it would be morally and legally justified to starve all 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza to death.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported this week that since early May, the quantity of aid shipments that entered Gaza through the Kerem Shalom Crossing and were collected by relief organizations plummeted by more than 80%, declining

from an average of 127 trucks per day in April
to approximately 23 trucks per day in July.
(Read more here.)

Palestinians in Jabalia Refugee Camp wait in line to receive food distributed by charitable organizations in Jabalia, Gaza on August 1, 2024. [Mahmoud İssa – Anadolu Agency]
Palestinians in Jabalia Refugee Camp wait in line to receive food distributed by charitable organizations in Jabalia, Gaza on August 1, 2024. [Mahmoud İssa – Anadolu Agency] (photo)
US deploys guided missile submarine to Middle East

Reuters reports: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered the deployment of a guided missile submarine to the Middle East, the Pentagon said.

While the USS Georgia, a nuclear-powered submarine, was already in the Mediterranean Sea in July, according to a US military post on social media, it was a rare move to publicly announce the deployment of a submarine.

In a statement after Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart, the Pentagon said Austin had ordered the Abraham Lincoln strike group to accelerate its deployment to the region.

“Secretary Austin reiterated the United States’ commitment to take every possible step to defend Israel and noted the strengthening of US military force posture and capabilities throughout the Middle East in light of escalating regional tensions,” the statement added.

The US military had already said it will deploy additional fighter jets and Navy warships to the Middle East as Washington seeks to bolster Israeli defenses.

Israel drops leaflets with cigarettes in Gaza as reward for information

Al Jazeera reports: An Israeli quadcopter has dropped leaflets over the tents of displaced people in al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis, footage shared on social media shows.

The leaflets, which had single cigarettes attached, said people who call a number with information about fighters in Gaza would receive more tobacco.

The leaflets read: “Hamas is burning Gaza” and “Smoking is dangerous, but Hamas is even more so. Want more? Give us a call.”


Hamas calls for enforcing Biden truce outline instead of more talks


Middle East Eye reports: Hamas has urged mediators to focus on implementing the ceasefire deal currently on the table rather than initiating new talks, which it says aims to provide Israel with “cover” to continue its war on Gaza.

The call, made on Sunday, comes days after US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators invited Israel and Hamas to attend a summit on 15 August to finalise an agreement.

While Hamas did not confirm whether it would participate or boycott the meeting, the Palestinian movement appeared to doubt participating.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been accused of blocking a ceasefire and perpetuating the war, said he would send a negotiations team to the summit.

In its statement, Hamas said that it had previously accepted a ceasefire proposal from mediators in May, welcomed US President Joe Biden’s outline later the same month and showed further flexibility towards new Israel demands.

Israeli colonists break into Al-Aqsa Mosque under heavy Israeli police protection

WAFA reports: Sunday morning, scores of Israeli colonists forcefully entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied Jerusalem, under the protection of Israeli police forces. According to eyewitnesses, the colonists broke into the mosque in groups, performing Talmudic rituals within its courtyards.

Coinciding with the incursion, Israeli police transformed the Old City of Jerusalem into a heavily fortified military zone. Hundreds of officers were deployed in close proximity around the mosque’s gates and throughout the Old City. The heightened security measures included strict controls on access for worshippers.

Preparations are underway by groups affiliated with the so-called Temple Mount movement to commemorate what they refer to as the “Destruction of the Temple.” Their plans include a human chain around the walls of the Old City scheduled for Monday evening, with the event starting from the Buraq Wall and extending towards the Old City. This will be followed by a flag-waving march.

Additionally, these groups are calling for a large-scale incursion into the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Tuesday to mark the same event.

Israeli forces take safety measures as fanatic Jewish settlers organize a provocative march in the Old City under the protection of Israeli forces on July 27, 2024 in Hebron, West Bank. [Amer Shallodi – Anadolu Agency]
Israeli forces take safety measures as fanatic Jewish settlers organize a provocative march in the Old City under the protection of Israeli forces on July 27, 2024 in Hebron, West Bank. [Amer Shallodi – Anadolu Agency] (photo)
Hamas claims responsibility for Jordan Valley attack

Middle East Eye reports: Hamas has taken responsibility for a shooting attack in Jordan Valley, which killed an Israeli and injured another.

In a statement, the military wing of Hamas, Qassam Brigades, identified the man as 23-year-old Yonatan Deutsch, who was killed in the attack near an illegal Israeli settlement, and said he was a “Zionist soldier”.

It said the attack on the Israeli soldier comes as a response to the killing of more than a 100 people in Tabin school in Gaza on Saturday, stating that Hamas fighters in the occupied West Bank have “renewed their allgiance” to the new Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

Israel approves proposal to ban another media company

The Cradle reports: Israel approved on Sunday a proposal by Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi to ban the Al Mayadeen media network from working inside of Israel for a second time. The decision includes the confiscation of its equipment and the blocking of its websites.

The Israeli government issued a previous order to block the Lebanese-based network from working in Israel in November 2023, claiming harm to Israel’s national security. The order expired in January, and Al Mayadeen resumed its work.

The decision to again block the network, viewed as sympathetic to the Lebanese resistance movement, Hezbollah, came after “the reappearance of terrorist representatives posing as journalists about two weeks ago,” a spokesman for Karhi said in a statement.

Al Mayadeen’s Hanaa Mahameed reported from Majdal Shams, a Druze town in the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights, one day after a rocket killed 12 children on a soccer field there.

Mahameed reported that the rocket was fired by Israel, while Israel claimed it was fired by Hezbollah and that the children were Israeli rather than Syrians under Israeli occupation.

Days later, Israel used the killing of the 12 children as a pretext to launch an airstrike to assassinate top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr. Israel assassinated Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh one day after killing Shukr.

Al Jazeera has also been banned from reporting in Israel.


MORE NEWS:

IMEMC Daily Reports.

STATISTICS OCTOBER 7 – AUGUST 11:

Palestinian death toll from October 7 – August 11: at least 40,519* (39,897 in Gaza* – 11,445 women (30%), 16,251 children as of July 22. [The Ministry’s figures have been contested by the Israeli authorities, although they have been accepted as accurate by Israeli intelligence services, the UN, and WHO. These data are supported by independent analyses, comparing changes in the number of deaths of UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff with those reported by the Ministry, which found claims of data fabrication implausible.]

This is expected to be a significant undercount since thousands of those killed have yet to be identified – and at least 622 in the West Bank (~145 children). This does not include an estimated 10,000 more still buried under rubble (4,900 women and children). Euro-Med Monitor reports 46,848 Palestinian deaths.

Lancet: “Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death9 to the 37,396 deaths reported, it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186 000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza.

Ralph Nader earlier estimated 200,000 Palestinians may have been killed in Gaza.

At least 45 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons (27 from Gaza, 18 from West Bank).
At least 41 Palestinians have died due to malnutrition**.
About 1.7 million, or 75% of Gaza’s population are currently displaced.
2.15 million (out of total population of 2.3 million) are projected to face Crisis or worse levels of food insecurity.
Palestinian injuries from October 7 – August 11: at least 97,572 (including at least 92,152 in Gaza and 5,420 in the West Bank, including 830 children). [It remains unknown how man Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.]

Reported Israeli death toll from October 7 – August 11: ~1,486 (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 331 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza; 16 in the West Bank) and~8,730 injured.

Times of Israel reports: The IDF listed 41 soldiers killed due to friendly fire in Gaza and other military-related accidents – nearly 16%.

NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries in Israel on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.

*Previously, IAK did not include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile was being disputed. However, given that much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, Israel had previously bombed the hospital and has attacked many others, Israel is prohibiting outside experts from investigating the scene, and since the UN and other agencies are including the deaths from the attack in their cumulative totals, if Americans knew is now also doing so.**

Euro-Med Monitor reports that Gaza’s elderly are dying at an alarmingly high rate. The majority die at home and are buried either close to their residences or in makeshift graves dispersed across the Strip. There are currently more than 140 such cemeteries. Additionally, according to Euromed, thousands have died from starvation, malnourishment, and inadequate medical care; these are considered indirect victims as they were not registered in hospitals.

† For most of the conflict, women and children accounted for about 70% of deaths in Gaza, with children making up a little over 40% of those killed, according to official statistics.

Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here.

Hover over each bar for exact numbers.
Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org

Human rights reports on Israel-Palestine (regularly updated)
Palestinians’ harrowing stories of rape by Israeli soldiers (including female soldiers)
A Palestinian journalist visited Ismail Haniyeh’s home in Gaza to report on his death. Israel assassinated him too.
I reported a piece for the New York Times on antisemitism. I found a major error, but the Times didn’t care.
How Israel plans to whitewash its war crimes in Gaza
Why the West Bank is on the verge of economic collapse
Netanyahu’s plan to involve US in regional war on its behalf
Western media continue to withhold the truth about Israel and Gaza – 4 stories
“Well What SHOULD Israel Have Done After October 7?”
Welcome to Hell
More dead children. More BBC ‘news’ channelling Israeli propaganda as its own
U.S. media downplays and ignores ICJ ruling declaring Israeli occupation illegal
Israeli soldiers tell story of savage cruelty in Gaza – one given blessing by the West
Searching for Gaza’s missing children
What Would You Do With An Extra $320 Million?
Assassination of Haniyeh an intentional, dangerous escalation – Parsi, Macgregor
When Israel Burned Refugees Alive, Establishment Media Called It a ‘Tragic Accident’
Israel has turbocharged West Bank housing demolitions under the cover of war
Western media ignores Israeli confirmation of Hannibal Directive on 7 Oct
US Should Arrest Benjamin Netanyahu When He’s in Washington
Airwars investigation: Israeli airstrikes uniquely lethal (video)
Hesen Jabr paid the price of conscience
Gaza genocide denial
Why the news media’s job is to groom us
‘Disappeared, buried, detained’: The horrors of Gaza’s missing children
Enter your email address below to receive our latest articles right in your inbox.

https://israelpalestinenews.org/gazans-running-from-death-day-309/

Israel has killed 1.8% of Gaza’s population – using American weapons – Day 308
[email protected] August 11, 2024 american weapons in gaza, gaza school bombing, genocide, occupation, uncommitted movement
Relatives of Palestinian children, who lost their lives following the Israeli attack on Nuseirat refugee camp, mourn as the bodies are brought to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on August 10, 2024. [Ashraf Amra – Anadolu Agency] (photo)
The staggering death toll Israel has imposed on Gaza; update on horrific school bombing that killed 100: American-made weapon, Israel issues fake “terrorist” list, accuses Hamas of inflating fatality numbers; Israeli leaders speak openly about permanent occupation of Palestinian territories, tell US to mind its own business, support rapists over law; Uncommitted Movement says “arms embargo now”; more.

By IAK staff, from reports.

Israel has killed 1.8% of Gaza’s population, official figures show

Andalou Agency reports: Israel has killed around 1.8% of Gaza’s population since 7 October amid a devastating war on the enclave, according to figures released by the Palestinian Center Bureau of Statistics.

In a statement, the center said more than 39,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023.

“This constitutes around 1.8% of the total population in the territory,” it added.

According to the center, around 24% of the Palestinian victims in Gaza were young people.

These figures do not include the approximately 10,000 buried under rubble and presumed dead.

Relatives of Palestinians killed by the Israeli attack on Nuseirat refugee camp mourn as the bodies are brought to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on August 10, 2024. (Photo by Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Relatives of Palestinians killed by the Israeli attack on Nuseirat refugee camp mourn as the bodies are brought to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on August 10, 2024. (Photo by Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images) (photo)
US weapon used in Gaza City school massacre that killed 100

Electronic Intifada reports: Israel killed at least 100 Palestinians at a school being used as a shelter for displaced people in central Gaza City on Saturday, according to Gaza officials.

Many of those killed were shredded or burned beyond recognition, as documented in horrific video and photos of the carnage. Others who were present at the school remained unaccounted for after the massacre.

Video broadcast by Al Jazeera showed what the broadcaster’s correspondent Anas al-Sharif said was an “indescribable” scene as a camera panned across a room containing countless bodies in pieces:


Ramy Abdu, director of the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, said that some of the supposed Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives that Israel claimed to have targeted at Tabaeen school on Saturday were known to be uninvolved civilians; some had in fact been killed in other locations in previous days:



The deadly attack destroying the bodies of dozens of Palestinians also came one day after the US State Department announced that Washington would provide Israel $3.5 billion for additional US weapons and military equipment.

Israel’s chief military spokesperson claimed without evidence that the number of fatalities given by Palestinian officials was inflated.

“This was verified by intelligence, and the strike was carried out using three small, precise munitions which cannot cause the scale of damage that the Palestinians are reporting,” the spokesperson said.

According to Al Jazeera, the spokesperson also claimed that “no women and children were present” in the area that was targeted by three bombs.

Israeli officials have told their American counterparts they used small munitions – as opposed to larger bombs – during the airstrike in Gaza specifically to mitigate civilian harm, a US official familiar with the matter said.

When asked about the strike, an Israeli military official earlier told CNN the Israel Defense Forces had used “three small and precise munitions that cannot cause the damage the Palestinians claim they have caused.”

CNN also reported earlier that Israel used at least one US-manufactured precision-guided bomb during the strike, according to weapons experts.


Footage of the aftermath filmed by CNN showed parts of an explosive device that Trevor Ball, a former US Army explosive ordnance disposal technician, confirmed were from a GBU-39 small diameter bomb.

[NOTE: This “small diameter bomb” is housed in a 250-pound casing that is 6 feet long, with a 7.5-inch diameter. Its wingspan, when the wings are extended, is over 5 feet.

This is the same type of bomb that Israel used in its May attack on Rafah, which killed 45 mostly women and children in a location Israel had deemed safe. Again, the IDF spokesman claimed that care was taken to protect civilians, and precision bombs had been used. He added, “Our munition alone could not have ignited a fire of this size,” implying that Palestinians themselves were responsible for the death toll.]

Here is what it looks like when this type of bomb explodes:



Netanyahu insists occupied West Bank is ‘part of our homeland’, saying Israel will not give it up


Middle East Monitor reports: Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated that the occupation will not relinquish control of the West Bank to the Palestinians, putting the opportunity for a two-state solution further out of reach.

In an interview with TIME Magazine which was published this week, Netanyahu stated that the occupied Palestinian territories of East Jerusalem and the West Bank are “part of our homeland. We intend to stay there”.

The Israeli premier reiterated his opposition to the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state, saying he would only allow limited self-rule for the Palestinians in the occupied territories while Israel maintains security control, as is currently the case as the Palestinian Authority (PA) is limited to administrative duties and partial internal security.

Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation controls the territories’ security, airspace, ports of entry, planning policy, and partly its economy and tax collection, giving Tel Aviv overwhelming advantages and leverage in the dynamic.

“We don’t rule their land. We don’t run Ramallah. We don’t run Jenin”, Netanyahu claimed. “But we go in and take action when we have to prevent terrorism”, referring to the Palestinian resistance fighters and factions that inhabit the West Bank towns and cities.

NOTE: The use of the word “terrorist” for a group that resists occupation and oppression is a political, not fact-based choice. In reality, international law supports the efforts of resistance groups against an occupying power, the UN extending that right to the point of armed resistance. Hamas has clearly and openly stated that its enemy is not the Jewish people, but the racist ideology of Zionism – the ideology under which Israel dispossessed 750,000 Palestinian people and exiled them to Gaza and other locations.

Ben Gvir calls for Gaza Strip to be under Israeli control ‘permanently’

Middle East Eye reports: Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, posted a message on X, calling for Israel to occupy the Gaza Strip permanently.

Ben Gvir voiced his opposition to US-backed ceasefire efforts, saying that Hamas must be “crushed” until it “completely surrenders”.

He proposed halting all humanitarian aid and fuel shipments into Gaza until all Israeli captives held by Hamas were released.

Ben Gvir also urged Israeli authorities to “encourage emigration” and advocated for permanent Israeli control over the Gaza Strip.

“Encourage emigration and occupy the territories of the Gaza Strip in order to keep them in our hands permanently. It’s in our hands,” he wrote.

Smotrich tells US to ‘respect Israeli democracy’

Middle East Eye reports: Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the US needs to “respect Israeli democracy” when it comes to matters of Israel’s security.

Smotrich’s comments were in response to White House national security spokesperson John Kirby, who said the US would not allow “extremists” to push Gaza ceasefire negotiations off course.

“I respect the US’ position and thank it for its support for Israel in the face of regional threats, but I expect it to respect Israeli democracy and the position of Israel’s citizens and elected officials in relation to decisions that will affect the country’s security,” Smotrich said.

Israeli lawmaker calls for top Israeli military lawyer to stand trial, because she betrayed Israeli soldiers in rape case

Ha’aretz reports: Likud lawmaker Tali Gottlieb criticized the IDF’s Military Advocate General, Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, during a discussion in the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, and called for her to be put on trial.

Gottlieb accused Tomer-Yerushalmi of betraying Israel’s soldiers, referring to the case involving the abuse of a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman facility.

Another lawmaker also criticized the Military Advocate General, accusing her of “obsessive persecution of our soldiers,” adding “Everyone should ask themselves whether they stand with our soldiers or with an obsessive Military Advocate General and an obsessive Attorney General … History will judge them.”

A new investigation from Israeli human rights organization reports that Israel is carrying on a "systematic, institutional policy focused on the continual abuse and torture of all Palestinian prisoners held by Israel."
A new investigation from Israeli human rights organization reports that Israel is carrying on a “systematic, institutional policy focused on the continual abuse and torture of all Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.” (screengrab)
Israeli army ‘still far from victory’ in Gaza: Army officers

Middle East Monitor reports: The Israeli army is “still far from victory” in the Gaza Strip as Tel Aviv continued its deadly offensive on the Palestinian enclave since 7 October, dozens of Israeli reserve officers said in a letter on Sunday, Anadolu reports.

“In the past few days, we have been astonished by repeated statements from senior army officials that victory is within reach and it is possible to move to the stage of pinpoint raids,” reads the letter signed by around 100 officers to Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi.

“We, who came from the field, know very well that the situation is still far from victory.”

The army officers said that Palestinian resistance factions still have cross-border capabilities such as UAVs, explosive drones and mortars.

“This is not what victory looks like!”

In February, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ABC News that “victory is within reach.”

Aftermath of an Israeli bombing of a tent near the al-Mazra’a School, east of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, August 9.
Aftermath of an Israeli bombing of a tent near the al-Mazra’a School, east of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, August 9. (screengrab)
UNICEF faces challenges getting ‘simple materials’ into the Gaza Strip

Al Jazeera reports: UNICEF spokesperson Tess Ingram tells Al Jazeera the agency continues to face challenges in transporting materials into the Palestinian enclave and her colleagues have reported the UN children’s agency is still unable to provide recreational and stationary kits to children so they can resume learning after 10 months of no school.

She said UNICEF is trying to get in vaccinations to fight against polio after the virus was detected in sewage. It is also trying to bring in supplies like medicines, hygiene kits and construction equipment to help rebuild toilets.

Ingram explained that UNICEF had been able to access the central and northern Gaza Strip recently and the teams there had reported “increasing outbreaks” of various diseases, including scabies.

“Parents are trying to do whatever they can to treat rashes by boiling water with lemon and putting that on their children in the absence of having the proper medicine from health care centers,” she said.

A Palestinian girl clings to her mother in Gaza City, June 2 [Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu]
A Palestinian girl clings to her mother in Gaza City, June 2 [Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu] (photo)
‘Arms embargo now’, says Uncommitted Movement after Harris speech

The Uncommitted Movement in the US that has been refusing to vote to show displeasure with Washington’s handling of the war on Gaza believes an arms embargo is the only way to show support for Palestinian civilians.

“Being pro-ceasefire must mean committing to not send another bomb dropped on Palestinians in Gaza,” the movement said in a post on X.

This comes after Kamala Harris told pro-Palestinian demonstrators in a rally speech that “now is the time” to achieve a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement amid the latest US push, as the administration prepares to send more funds to Israel to purchase weapons.


MORE NEWS:

IMEMC Daily Reports.

Mondoweiss: Toronto ‘charity’ trains students to join the Israeli military

STATISTICS OCTOBER 7 – AUGUST 10:

Palestinian death toll from October 7 – August 10: at least 40,406* (39,790 in Gaza* – 11,445 women (30%), 16,251 children as of July 22. [The Ministry’s figures have been contested by the Israeli authorities, although they have been accepted as accurate by Israeli intelligence services, the UN, and WHO. These data are supported by independent analyses, comparing changes in the number of deaths of UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff with those reported by the Ministry, which found claims of data fabrication implausible.]

This is expected to be a significant undercount since thousands of those killed have yet to be identified – and at least 616 in the West Bank (~140 children). This does not include an estimated 10,000 more still buried under rubble (4,900 women and children). Euro-Med Monitor reports 46,848 Palestinian deaths.

Lancet: “Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death9 to the 37,396 deaths reported, it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186 000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza.

Ralph Nader earlier estimated 200,000 Palestinians may have been killed in Gaza.

At least 45 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons (27 from Gaza, 18 from West Bank).
At least 41 Palestinians have died due to malnutrition**.
About 1.7 million, or 75% of Gaza’s population are currently displaced.
2.15 million (out of total population of 2.3 million) are projected to face Crisis or worse levels of food insecurity.
Palestinian injuries from October 7 – August 10: at least 97,422 (including at least 92,002 in Gaza and 5,420 in the West Bank, including 830 children). [It remains unknown how man Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.]

Reported Israeli death toll from October 7 – August 10: ~1,486 (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 331 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza; 16 in the West Bank) and~8,730 injured.

Times of Israel reports: The IDF listed 41 soldiers killed due to friendly fire in Gaza and other military-related accidents – nearly 16%.

NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries in Israel on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.

*Previously, IAK did not include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile was being disputed. However, given that much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, Israel had previously bombed the hospital and has attacked many others, Israel is prohibiting outside experts from investigating the scene, and since the UN and other agencies are including the deaths from the attack in their cumulative totals, if Americans knew is now also doing so.**

Euro-Med Monitor reports that Gaza’s elderly are dying at an alarmingly high rate. The majority die at home and are buried either close to their residences or in makeshift graves dispersed across the Strip. There are currently more than 140 such cemeteries. Additionally, according to Euromed, thousands have died from starvation, malnourishment, and inadequate medical care; these are considered indirect victims as they were not registered in hospitals.

† For most of the conflict, women and children accounted for about 70% of deaths in Gaza, with children making up a little over 40% of those killed, according to official statistics.

Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here.

Hover over each bar for exact numbers.
Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org
Human rights reports on Israel-Palestine (regularly updated)
Why the West Bank is on the verge of economic collapse
Netanyahu’s plan to involve US in regional war on its behalf
Western media continue to withhold the truth about Israel and Gaza – 4 stories
“Well What SHOULD Israel Have Done After October 7?”
Welcome to Hell
More dead children. More BBC ‘news’ channelling Israeli propaganda as its own
U.S. media downplays and ignores ICJ ruling declaring Israeli occupation illegal
Israeli soldiers tell story of savage cruelty in Gaza – one given blessing by the West
Searching for Gaza’s missing children
What Would You Do With An Extra $320 Million?
Assassination of Haniyeh an intentional, dangerous escalation – Parsi, Macgregor
When Israel Burned Refugees Alive, Establishment Media Called It a ‘Tragic Accident’
Israel has turbocharged West Bank housing demolitions under the cover of war
Western media ignores Israeli confirmation of Hannibal Directive on 7 Oct
US Should Arrest Benjamin Netanyahu When He’s in Washington
Airwars investigation: Israeli airstrikes uniquely lethal (video)
Hesen Jabr paid the price of conscience
Gaza genocide denial
Why the news media’s job is to groom us
‘Disappeared, buried, detained’: The horrors of Gaza’s missing children
Hundreds of social media influencers attend Israel strategy summit in NYC
Supporting Israel Is Big Business in the U.S. for Israel partisans
Toys, spices, sewing machines: the items Israel banned from entering Gaza
Synopsis of ICJ’s decision on Israeli occupation, reactions, and take-aways

https://israelpalestinenews.org/israel-has-killed-1-8-of-gazas-population-using-american-weapons-day-308/

Israeli strike on Gaza school kills more than 100 people as they pray – Day 307
[email protected] August 10, 2024 anti-boycott legislation, ben gvir, gaza school bombing, military aid to israel, netzah yehuda, palestinian journalists killed, polio, sexual violence, torture, war crime
Palestinians inspect the destroyed building after an Israeli attack at the Et-Tabiin school where displaced people took shelter in the Ed-Deraj neighborhood in Gaza City, Gaza on August 10, 2024. [Mahmoud İssa – Anadolu Agency] (photo)
Israel drops 6,000 pounds of bombs on Gaza school; US poised to send Israel $3.5 billion, including to extremist battalion; two more journalists killed; waiting for “inevitable” polio outbreak as Israel blocks vaccines; new possible war crime revealed; more displacement; water and sanitation systems in shambles; more on Israeli torture of Palestinian prisoners – as Biden admin shrugs; Israeli alleged rapist calls for support;

yet another anti-boycott bill introduced in Senate;

more.

By IAK staff, from reports.

Israeli strike on Gaza school kills more than 100 people

Al Jazeera reports: More than 100 Palestinians have been killed and dozens wounded in an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City, according to officials in the enclave.

Three Israeli bombs hit al-Tabin school, located in the Daraj district, Gaza’s civil defense agency said of the attack on Saturday, which it described as a “horrific massacre”.

Women, children and the elderly are reported to be among the dead and the toll was expected to rise. The attack took place while people were performing morning prayers and triggered a fire that ripped through the building.

Ismail al-Thawabta, the head of Gaza’s Government Media Office, told Al Jazeera that the Israeli army used three bombs weighing 2,000 pounds (907kg) each in its attack.

Without providing evidence, the Israeli military said that it had intelligence indicating there were 20 Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters, including senior commanders, operating from the school.

Israeli forces have repeatedly attacked schools used as shelters in Gaza, claiming they are command centers for Hamas, the Palestinian group that governs the territory, to hide fighters and manufacture weapons.

Mahmoud Basal, a spokesman for the civil defense agency, said: “The school area is strewn with dead bodies and body parts. It is very difficult for paramedics to identify a whole dead body. There’s an arm here, a leg there. Bodies are ripped to pieces.”

Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud said among those killed were survivors of attacks in different evacuation centers over the last 10 days.

MIDDLE EAST EYE ADDS: The civil defense said the strikes targeted two floors of the school, with the first striking an area inhabited by displaced women, and the second hitting the ground floor area which was used as a prayer hall.

As rape charges multiply, US to release $3.5 billion in military assistance for Israel

AntiWar reports: The State Department is set to release $3.5 billion in Foreign Military Financing to Israel. The massive transfer of funds comes as the White House is asking Israel to investigate claims of rape in its detention centers for Palestinians.

CNN reported speaking with multiple officials who confirmed the funds will be released. The money was allocated by Congress in the $95 billion foreign military aid bill that included $61 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel.

Foreign Military Financing (FMF) is a State Department program that gives US taxpayer dollars to foreign governments to purchase weapons from American arms dealers. However, Tel Aviv is allowed to use some of the FMF funds on Israeli-made weapons.

As the funds are used to contract with arms deals, the weapons are typically not delivered immediately.

Israel is heavily dependent on the US to arm its military, giving Washington significant leverage over Tel Aviv. Over the ten-month Israeli onslaught in Gaza, the White House has resisted domestic pressure to condition arm sales to Israel.

The release of funds will likely be viewed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a green light for Israel to continue its brutal treatment of the Palestinians.

AL JAZEERA ADDS: The new funds for Israel to spend on US weapons and military supplies come from a supplemental funding bill of $14.5bn that was passed by Congress in April and has been announced as criticism of Israel grows over the killings of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

Part of the new military aid will also go to an Israeli army unit, which has been accused of carrying out serious human rights violations against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and which had faced sanctions amid an investigation by US authorities into its abuses.

RECOMMENDED READING: To continue the Gaza genocide, Israel and the US must destroy the laws of war.

A Palestinian woman, Miada Abu Anza takes shelter with her five children in a UN school in Khan Younis on August 6, 2024 [Doaa Albaz/Anadolu]
A Palestinian woman, Miada Abu Anza takes shelter with her five children in a UN school in Khan Younis on August 6, 2024 [Doaa Albaz/Anadolu] (photo)
US declares controversial Israeli battalion eligible for assistance

Al Jazeera reports: The United States has announced that Netzah Yehuda, a controversial Israeli battalion notorious among Palestinians for repressive activities in the occupied West Bank, is eligible for US military assistance.

The administration of President Joe Biden had considered blocking the battalion from receiving US assistance amid reports of involvement in human rights violations, but Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Friday that such abuses had been “effectively remediated”.

Under federal regulations known as the Leahy Law, the US is required to cut off assistance to military units involved in gross violations of human rights, but critics say that the US has long failed to apply the rule to Israel.

In a column for the legal forum Just Security, Charles Blaha, who directed the office of the State Department tasked with enforcing the Leahy Law from 2016 to 2023, said, “The decision [to fund Netzah Yehuda] strongly suggests that the US position is likely a result, in significant part, of pressure by Prime Minister Netanyahu.

“Months ago, when news broke that the State Department was considering Netzah Yehuda for ineligibility, Netanyahu expressed outrage and vowed to oppose application of the law,” the column reads.

“Against that backdrop, the Secretary’s decision sends a terrible message to Israel and others: that pressure on US officials works, and that Israel is essentially de facto exempt from US law.”

ELSEWHERE: The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) says the US secretary of state has “knowingly violated US law by backtracking” on plans to sanction the Netzah Yehuda battalion over rights abuse allegations.

The Israeli military unit “has clearly committed gross human rights violations using US weapons”, CAIR Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said in a statement.

“Secretary Blinken’s cowardly, morally reprehensible and blatantly illegal decision confirms what numerous State Department whistleblowers have said: he is disregarding the conclusions of career diplomats, as well as experts on federal and international law,” Mitchell said.

RECOMMENDED READING: Inside Netzah Yehuda Battalion, Israel’s army unit bracing for US sanctions

Israeli soldiers of the Netzah Yehuda Battalion hold morning prayers as they take part in their annual unit training in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, near the Syrian border, May 19, 2014. — MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images
Israeli soldiers of the Netzah Yehuda Battalion hold morning prayers as they take part in their annual unit training in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, near the Syrian border, May 19, 2014. — MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images (photo)
Two more journalists killed in Gaza

Al Jazeera reports: Gaza’s government media office has identified the latest journalist fatalities as:

Tamim Abu Muammar, who worked for Palestine TV.
Abdullah Maher al-Suwaisi, who worked for al-Aqsa news channel.
This brings the total number of journalists killed in Gaza since the start of Israel’s assault on the besieged enclave to 168, the office said.

“The media office strongly condemns the targeting and killing of Palestinian journalists by the Israeli occupation,” it said in a statement. The number of journalists killed since October 7th is now 168.

Polio outbreak in Gaza ‘inevitable’ and a matter of ‘days or weeks’: Experts

Andalou Agency reports: Warnings of an imminent polio outbreak in Gaza are growing as Israel shows no signs of either ending its deadly assault on the devastated Palestinian enclave or lifting a crippling blockade on essential supplies.

Gaza’s Health Ministry declared the Palestinian territory a “polio epidemic zone” on July 30 after samples of the virus were detected in wastewater, triggering fears of a resurgence of a disease eradicated from the region over 25 years ago.

With millions of displaced Palestinians living in appalling conditions with no healthcare facilities or even basic medical supplies, experts see an outbreak of the viral disease as “inevitable.”

“We’re expecting a polio outbreak in the next number of days or weeks,” Francis Hughes, Gaza Response Director for global humanitarian agency CARE International, told Anadolu.

Polio is a particular threat to children under age 5 and especially infants less than 2 years old. The virus attacks the nervous system, leading to spinal and respiratory paralysis, and can prove fatal.

ELSEWHERE: The Palestinian Health Ministry accused Israel on 7 August of preventing the entry of over a million desperately needed polio vaccines into the Gaza Strip.

“The Gaza Strip needs 1.3 million doses of polio vaccine … Israel is still refusing to allow vaccines into the Strip,” said Musa Abed, Director of Health Care at the ministry.




HRW: Pregnant woman among seven killed in possible Israeli ‘war crime’


Human Rights Watch reports: In its latest report, Human Rights Watch documented an incident on 21 December in which Israeli forces stormed a home in Gaza City, “throwing grenades inside and opening fire on a room where a civilian family was sheltering”.

The organization said the attack killed seven people, including a pregnant woman, and severely injured two, including a five-year-old.

“Witnesses also allege that Israeli forces shot a blind 73-year-old man after securing the building and forcing all other family members out,” the report read.

“The incident should be investigated as a possible war crime, and forces involved should be held accountable.”

Belkis Wille, the associate crisis, conflict and arms director at Human Rights Watch, said: “There is no excuse for soldiers storming into a home full of civilians and firing without precaution. They decimated a Palestinian family and orphaned a small child who may never be able to walk again.”

Wille added that “this incident highlights the deadly cost of Israeli forces’ failure to safeguard, and in some cases to apparently target civilian lives in Gaza, including children”.

Israel targets shelter schools in systematic forced evacuation of the displaced people of Gaza

Euro-Med Monitor reports: The Israeli army is increasingly targeting schools that provide shelter for the displaced population in Gaza City, killing and wounding hundreds of them in the process. It has also issued orders for the illegal forced evacuation of Gaza from the north to the south, in a systematic effort fueled by revenge to drive residents from their homes and places of displacement and rob them of any stability.

In just eight days, Israeli aircraft attacked nine schools in Gaza City that served as shelters for thousands of displaced people. They destroyed the schools above the heads of the occupants, killing 79 Palestinians and injuring 143 more—mostly women and children—in addition to several other victims who were buried beneath the rubble and could not be retrieved due to the lack of the necessary tools.

(Read the full article here.)

Palestinians mourn after an Israeli attack at the Et-Tabiin school where displaced people took shelter in the Ed-Deraj neighborhood in Gaza City, Gaza on August 10, 2024. [Dawoud Abo Alkas – Anadolu Agency]
Palestinians mourn after an Israeli attack at the Et-Tabiin school where displaced people took shelter in the Ed-Deraj neighborhood in Gaza City, Gaza on August 10, 2024. [Dawoud Abo Alkas – Anadolu Agency] (photo)
As many as 70,000 Palestinians displaced from Khan Younis

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) says an estimated 60,000 to 70,000 people have been forced to flee the southern Gaza city towards al-Mawasi since Thursday.

“Displacement continues for thousands of families across Gaza,” UNRWA said.

“People in Gaza are exhausted, and they have nowhere to go.”

Aftermath of an Israeli bombing of a tent near the al-Mazra’a School, east of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, August 9.
Aftermath of an Israeli bombing of a tent near the al-Mazra’a School, east of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, August 9. (screengrab)
Gaza’s water, sanitation, and hygiene systems in shambles, at high risk of flooding

OCHA reports: Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) Cluster partners are ramping up preparedness actions for the winter season, with a particular focus on flood risks, amid severe shortages of essential WASH supplies and widespread damage to WASH infrastructure, including the stormwater drainage system.

Already before the war, approximately 180 locations across Gaza were identified as being at high-risk of flooding and the stormwater drainage network was deemed inadequate.

The situation is estimated to have significantly deteriorated due to extensive damage to wastewater networks, storm drainage and canals, combined with blockages caused by debris and rubbish.

In heavily affected areas such as Khan Younis, where over 80 per cent of infrastructure has been assessed as compromised, there is already significant clogging and flooding, and raw sewage is accumulating in streets and at IDP sites, particularly in areas where there is a high concentration of people such as Al Mawasi.

During the rainy season, this deterioration poses a dual threat of increased flooding and water source contamination, which could lead to serious public health risks, the WASH Cluster warned.

Water in Jabaliya is hard to come by and mixed with sewage. Here, people wait for hours and receive just one gallon of contaminated water.
Water in Jabaliya is hard to come by and mixed with sewage. Here, people wait for hours and receive just one gallon of contaminated water. (screenshot)
Israeli minister Ben-Gvir extends visitor ban for Palestinian prisoners

Al Jazeera reports: National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has signed an order banning all visits to Palestinian prisoners for another month, extending a ban that has been in place since Israel launched its war on Gaza.

In a post on social media, Ben-Gvir said: “The damned terrorists deserve the minimum provided by law”.

“This is how I act and this is how I will continue to act,” he wrote.

Palestinian prisoners, thousands of whom are held without charge or trial, have not received visits since October 2023, according to reports, as Ben-Gvir has extended his ban on visits for 10 consecutive months.

Itamar Ben-Gvir was among the demonstrators at Sde Teiman protesting the detention of soldiers for allegedly raping a Palestinian prisoner. He called them the “best heroes” and described their arrests as “shameful”.

NOTE: Israel is currently holding nearly 10,000 Palestinian prisoners in inhumane conditions where many are systematically tortured – 250 of them are children, 86 are women, and over 3,400 are administrative detainees – being held without charge or trial. Administrative detention is intended to be used only in “exceptional” circumstances, but Israel uses it widely. Read more here.

Video of sexual abuse at Israeli prison is just latest evidence that Sde Teiman is a torture site

The Intercept reports: As early as the first month of Israel’s war on Gaza, Sde Teiman, a secretive Israeli military prison in the Negev desert, had been raising alarm bells for Israeli human rights attorney Roni Pelli and other rights advocates.

Pelli and her colleagues started to hear reports from whistleblowers about poor conditions for Palestinians imprisoned inside Sde Teiman. They heard of instances of violence committed by soldiers against detained Palestinians, and, in one case, a Palestinian who died there.

Since then, media reports about the prison have mounted. A CNN investigation in May revealed that Palestinian detainees were restrained, beaten, and blindfolded; wounded Palestinians were strapped down onto beds, forced to wear diapers, and fed through straws; and prisoners’ limbs were amputated due to untreated wounds from restraints, and such operations took place without anesthesia.

Later in May, an Intercept investigation found that hundreds of Palestinian doctors have disappeared into Israeli detention. A month later, a separate report from Haaretz revealed the Israel Defense Forces were investigating 48 deaths of Palestinians from Gaza who were in Israeli custody, among them 36 who were detained at Sde Teiman. Israeli media began to refer to the prison as “Israel’s Guantánamo Bay.”

The U.S. State Department only commented on Sde Teiman when pressed by reporters after the release of the CNN report. In May, Vedant Patel, deputy spokesperson for the department, said “we’re looking into these and other allegations of abuse against Palestinians in detention.” He added that the U.S. had been “clear and consistent with any country, including Israel, that it must treat all detainees humanely, with dignity, in accordance with international law, and it must respect detainees’ human rights.”

He then claimed the U.S. had asked the Israeli government to investigate the claims itself.

(Read the full article here.)

NOTE: This US State Dept response is typical after allegations are made against Israel: framing the issue as a hypothetical while refusing to acknowledge the facts as presented by multiple human rights organizations – and ignoring the fact that Israel is incapable of investigating its own crimes.

Israel’s self-investigations consistently whitewash its crimes and fail to appropriately punish the perpetrators. Israeli sources, including the government itself, have a long track record of lying (for example, this and this and this.)

A leaked video showing Israeli soldiers sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee from Gaza has emerged. (Photo: video grab)
A leaked video showing Israeli soldiers sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee from Gaza has emerged. (Photo: video grab) (photo)
Israeli soldier, accused of raping a Palestinian prisoner, reveals his identity

A masked Israeli soldier, accused of participating in the rape of a Palestinian prisoner, revealed his identity in a video, appealing for support from the Israeli public.

Republican senators introduce bill banning boycotts of Israel

Middle East Eye reports: Twelve Republican US senators have introduced the Countering Hate Against Israel by Federal Contractors (Chai) Act, which would prohibit federal contracts with entities that boycott Israel.

The lead sponsor, Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, said in a press release that “businesses who boycott Israel only seek to normalise antisemitism”.

His move follows the same bill’s introduction in the House of Representatives in July of last year, sponsored by Republican Representative Claudia Tenney. The Chai bill remains in the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, pending a vote.

Risch previously wrote an opinion article in The Washington Times arguing that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (Unrwa) should be disbanded.

In February this year, the House also passed the IGO Anti-Boycott Act, which prohibits US citizens from participating in boycotts organised by any “international governmental organisation” against US allies.

MORE NEWS:

IMEMC Daily Reports.

Mondoweiss: End Israel’s system of economic apartheid in Palestine

STATISTICS OCTOBER 7 – AUGUST 9:

Palestinian death toll from October 7 – August 9: at least 40,406* (39,790 in Gaza* – 11,445 women (30%), 16,251 children as of July 22. [The Ministry’s figures have been contested by the Israeli authorities, although they have been accepted as accurate by Israeli intelligence services, the UN, and WHO. These data are supported by independent analyses, comparing changes in the number of deaths of UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff with those reported by the Ministry, which found claims of data fabrication implausible.]

This is expected to be a significant undercount since thousands of those killed have yet to be identified – and at least 616 in the West Bank (~140 children). This does not include an estimated 10,000 more still buried under rubble (4,900 women and children). Euro-Med Monitor reports 46,848 Palestinian deaths.

Lancet: “Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death9 to the 37,396 deaths reported, it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186 000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza.

Ralph Nader earlier estimated 200,000 Palestinians may have been killed in Gaza.

At least 45 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons (27 from Gaza, 18 from West Bank).
At least 41 Palestinians have died due to malnutrition**.
About 1.7 million, or 75% of Gaza’s population are currently displaced.
2.15 million (out of total population of 2.3 million) are projected to face Crisis or worse levels of food insecurity.
Palestinian injuries from October 7 – August 9: at least 97,422 (including at least 92,002 in Gaza and 5,420 in the West Bank, including 830 children). [It remains unknown how man Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.]

Reported Israeli death toll from October 7 – August 9: ~1,486 (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 331 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza; 16 in the West Bank) and~8,730 injured.

Times of Israel reports: The IDF listed 41 soldiers killed due to friendly fire in Gaza and other military-related accidents – nearly 16%.

NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries in Israel on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.

*Previously, IAK did not include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile was being disputed. However, given that much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, Israel had previously bombed the hospital and has attacked many others, Israel is prohibiting outside experts from investigating the scene, and since the UN and other agencies are including the deaths from the attack in their cumulative totals, if Americans knew is now also doing so.**

Euro-Med Monitor reports that Gaza’s elderly are dying at an alarmingly high rate. The majority die at home and are buried either close to their residences or in makeshift graves dispersed across the Strip. There are currently more than 140 such cemeteries. Additionally, according to Euromed, thousands have died from starvation, malnourishment, and inadequate medical care; these are considered indirect victims as they were not registered in hospitals.

† For most of the conflict, women and children accounted for about 70% of deaths in Gaza, with children making up a little over 40% of those killed, according to official statistics.

Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here.

Hover over each bar for exact numbers.
Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org

Human rights reports on Israel-Palestine (regularly updated)
Why the West Bank is on the verge of economic collapse
Netanyahu’s plan to involve US in regional war on its behalf
Western media continue to withhold the truth about Israel and Gaza – 4 stories
“Well What SHOULD Israel Have Done After October 7?”
Welcome to Hell
More dead children. More BBC ‘news’ channelling Israeli propaganda as its own
U.S. media downplays and ignores ICJ ruling declaring Israeli occupation illegal
Israeli soldiers tell story of savage cruelty in Gaza – one given blessing by the West
Searching for Gaza’s missing children
What Would You Do With An Extra $320 Million?
Assassination of Haniyeh an intentional, dangerous escalation – Parsi, Macgregor
When Israel Burned Refugees Alive, Establishment Media Called It a ‘Tragic Accident’
Israel has turbocharged West Bank housing demolitions under the cover of war
Western media ignores Israeli confirmation of Hannibal Directive on 7 Oct
US Should Arrest Benjamin Netanyahu When He’s in Washington
Airwars investigation: Israeli airstrikes uniquely lethal (video)
Hesen Jabr paid the price of conscience
Gaza genocide denial
Why the news media’s job is to groom us
‘Disappeared, buried, detained’: The horrors of Gaza’s missing children
Hundreds of social media influencers attend Israel strategy summit in NYC
Supporting Israel Is Big Business in the U.S. for Israel partisans
Toys, spices, sewing machines: the items Israel banned from entering Gaza
Synopsis of ICJ’s decision on Israeli occupation, reactions, and take-aways


https://israelpalestinenews.org/israeli-strike-on-gaza-school-kills-more-than-100-people-as-they-pray-day-307/

Israel commits a horrendous massacre during the early hours of Saturday at the Al-Tabieen school in Gaza City, killing over 150 Palestinians and wounding dozens others
#Gaza #TabeenSchool #Israel