‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 51: Israel fires at Palestinians attempting to return to northern Gaza amid shaky truce Israeli forces killed a Palestinian in Al-Maghazi refugee camp and shot at people attempting to inspect their homes amid the shaky temporary truce. Israel also killed five Palestinians during a 14-hour raid in the West Bank city of Jenin. Mustafa Abu SneinehNovember 26, 2023 Palestinians amid the complete destruction from Israeli attacks in Nusairat during the 4-day truce in Gaza, November 25, 2023. (Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images) Palestinians amid the complete destruction from Israeli attacks in Nusairat during the 4-day truce in Gaza, November 25, 2023. (Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images) Casualties 15,000 killed*, including 6,150 children, and 33,000 wounded in Gaza Strip. 235 Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem Israel revises its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,200 *This figure is based on an estimate as reported by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa on October 26. Due to breakdowns in communication networks within the Gaza Strip (particularly in northern Gaza), the Gaza Ministry of Health has not been able to regularly update its tolls. Key Developments The prisoners and captives exchange on Saturday was delayed several hours due to a dispute over aid trucks not reaching the northern Gaza Strip and the release of two Israeli captives, who could not be located. 39 Palestinians were released from Israeli prisons, 33 are or were children at the time of their arrest. Hamas released 13 Israelis and four Thai citizens. Hamas offered to release two women instead of the captives’ relatives, who could not be tracked, but Israeli officials did not approve it, and 13 captives instead of 15 were released, Kan News reported. Four of the Thai citizens were foreign workers in the agricultural farms, and they were not a core part of the exchange deal. Prior to the prisoners’ release, four Palestinians were injured with live bullets near Ofer prison in a confrontation with Israeli forces, who also shot tear gas at journalists covering the story. Israeli forces warned Palestinians against returning to the north of the Gaza Strip and to remain 1 kilometer away from the checkpoint on Salah El-Deen Street; those who attempted to return to Gaza City were shot at, according to Al-Jazeera. The Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia which was under siege by Israeli tanks for the past week, was emptied on Sunday from its remaining patients and medical staff. Five Palestinians were killed in Jenin refugee camp, and Israel launched ten drone strikes in the city during a 14-hour raid operation. Palestinian prisoners and Israeli captives exchanged at the eleventh hour as truce appeared in danger The temporary truce in the Gaza Strip appeared in danger on Saturday evening as the release of captives and prisoners kept being delayed till the eleventh hour. Eventually, Hamas released 13 Israelis and four Thai citizens less than an hour before midnight, and later, Israel freed 39 Palestinian women and children from prisons. Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson told CNN on Saturday afternoon that they were working to overcome the obstacles through mediation. The dispute involved aid trucks not reaching the northern Gaza Strip and the release of two Israeli captives. Hamas said in a statement that it was delaying the release of captives until Israel allowed aid convoys to enter Gaza City and its environs, which were carpet-bombed for 49 days, flattening entire neighborhoods and killing thousands of people. The resistance group also said that the short pause of fighting would be in danger if Israel did not adhere to the agreement of freeing Palestinian prisoners, starting with those who were detained for the longest number of years. On Sunday morning, Kan News reported that Hamas’s inability to locate two Israeli captives was another cause of the delay. As part of the truce deal, Hamas agreed to release entire Israeli families who had been taken captive together rather than separating family members. However, Kan reported that Hamas could not locate the mother and brother of two of the captives who were released on Saturday night. Israeli officials insisted that those captives’ relatives be found, adding hours of waiting. Hamas said early in October that due to the indiscriminate Israeli bombardments of Gaza Strip, the group could not locate all the captives, and that at least 50 of them died, and some are under the rubble. Kan reported that Hamas offered to release two women instead of the relatives, who could not be tracked, but Israeli officials did not approve it, and 13 captives instead of 15 were released. Four of the Thai citizens were foreign workers in the agricultural farms, and they were not a core part of the exchange deal. Among the released captives on Saturday was a nine-year-old Irish-Israeli girl, whose father told the CNN in early November that he received the news that she was “killed by Hamas.” On Sunday, she was the subject of a diplomatic row between Israel and Ireland, the only EU country whose politicians are outspokenly supportive of Palestinians. Ireland’s Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar, tweeted: “This is a day of enormous joy and relief for Emily Hand and her family. An innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned, and we breathe a massive sigh of relief. Our prayers have been answered.” Varadkar’s tweet prompted a response from Eli Cohen, Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, who said “Mr. Prime Minister, It seems you have lost your moral compass and need a reality check! Emily Hand was not ‘lost’, she was kidnapped by a terror organization… shame on you!”. The captives and prisoners exchange has not toned down Israeli officials rhetoric, who continue to threaten war on the Gaza Strip. According to Kan News, Israel’s army chief of staff, Herzi Halevi wrote to soldiers that upon the end of the temporary truce on Monday, “we will return to fight with full determination, for the continued release of the abductees until the dissolution of Hamas.” The third day of the truce is expected to see immense efforts from Qatar and Egypt mediators to ensure its success. Palestinians traveling south from the Zeitoun district on the southern outskirts of Gaza City on November 26, 2023, on the third day of a truce between Israel and Hamas. (Photo: Ahmed Ibrahim / APA Images) Palestinians traveling south from the Zeitoun district on the southern outskirts of Gaza City on November 26, 2023, on the third day of a truce between Israel and Hamas. (Photo: Ahmed Ibrahim / APA Images) Israeli forces shoot at Palestinians returning to inspect houses in northern Gaza Strip Despite the temporary truce, a Palestinian was killed and another injured on Sunday, east of Al-Maghazi refugee camp, according to Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS). Israeli forces warned Palestinians against returning to the northern Gaza Strip and to remain 1 kilometer away from the checkpoint on Salah El-Deen Street. Those who aimed to cross the checkpoint to Gaza City were shot at, according to Al-Jazeera. Several Palestinians were injured by Israeli bullets, three of them near the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia. For the past week, the hospital was under siege from Israeli tanks, and on Sunday it was emptied of the remaining patients and medical staff, Ashar Al-Qidra, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, told Al-Jazeera. Four other Palestinians were injured near Al-Quds Hosptial, Wafa reported. They were also checking their houses in Tel Al-Hawa. Israeli bombardments of the Gaza Strip displaced almost 1.7 million Palestinians. Some have attempted to return to inspect what happened to their neighborhoods and properties during the temporary truce and record the devastation with phone cameras to share with their families. The figure of those killed in Gaza Strip since October 7 was not updated on Sunday, but Wafa reports estimated that it reached 15,000 people, 6,150 children, and more than 4,000 women. At least 36,000 have been wounded. Released Palestinian prisoners are seen on a bus in the town of Beitunia close to the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Nov. 24, 2023. (Photo: © Ayman Nobani/Xinhua via ZUMA Press APAimages) Released Palestinian prisoners are seen on a bus in the town of Beitunia close to the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Nov. 24, 2023. (Photo: © Ayman Nobani/Xinhua via ZUMA Press APAimages) Israeli forces prevent any scenes of celebration of the released prisoners in Jerusalem Palestinian prisoners’ families waited till the early hours of Sunday in occupied Jerusalem and the towns of Al-Bireh and Beitunia in the occupied West Bank, to meet their freed relatives. Among them were 33 are or were children at the time of their arrest. Wafa news agency published a list of their names and imprisonment sentences. Wafa reported that five women and one child from Jerusalem were handed to their families at Al-Moskobiya detention and interrogation center. The rest were taken from Ofer military prison, near the City of Ramallah, to Al-Bireh and Al-Beitunia towns, where hundreds of Palestinians met them with joy, celebration, and calls for the resistance movements in Gaza to release all Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli jails, where at least 7,000 people are currently detained. However, prior to the prisoners’ release, four Palestinians were injured with live bullets near Ofer prison in a confrontation with Israeli forces, who also shot tear gas at journalists covering the story. In occupied Jerusalem, Israeli forces blocked relatives and well-wishers of freed prisoners from gathering at their houses and warned them of any scenes of joy. Al-Jazeera Arabic reported that on Thursday, Israeli forces confiscated candies and sweets from Palestinian prisoners’ houses to prevent celebration. Israa Al-Jaabis, who was detained since 2015 and suffers from severe burns to her hands and face, was one of the Jerusalemite prisoners whose family could not hang any decorations to welcome her. She told Al-Jazeera Arabic that her release was delayed for several hours and spoke of the horrible conditions and treatment the female prisoners were subjected to in Israeli jails. Shorouk Dwayyat from Jerusalem, who served nine years of a 16-year sentence before being released in the exchange, told Al-Jazeera that in the past several weeks, they saw an escalation of “repression, starvation, thirst, and the imposition of great overcrowding” by Israeli jailers. She added that she fears for the well-being of those female prisoners left behind, some of them under the age of 18, and the youngest was 12 years old. Omar Shweiki, who was 15 years old when he was arrested in November 2021 by Israeli forces, said that for the past 50 days, Israeli jailers prevented prisoners from exercising and that there are 13 and 15-year-old children currently detained. Since October 7, the Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs Commission warned that the Israel Prison Service is imposing punitive measures against Palestinian prisoners, including insufficient and low-quality food, denial of access to the exercise yard, daily power cuts, medical neglect, and restrictions on family visitation. Last week, Al-Jazeera reported that Israel is subjecting Palestinian prisoners and detainees to “psychological torture,” and forcing them to to kiss the Israeli flag, listen to the Israeli national anthem, and say “the State of Israel is Strong” during their detention. Israeli jailers will beat those who refuse to obey their orders. Six Palestinians have died inside Israeli jails since October 7. A view of damaged buildings and streets following an attack by Israeli forces using airstrikes with armed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on Jenin refugee camp in Jenin, West Bank on November 26, 2023. (Photo: Mohammed Nasser/APA Images) A view of damaged buildings and streets following an attack by Israeli forces using airstrikes with armed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on Jenin refugee camp in Jenin, West Bank on November 26, 2023. (Photo: Mohammed Nasser/APA Images) Five Palestinians killed in Jenin, and Israeli forces arrested dozens in the West Bank Nine of the Palestinian prisoners released late on Saturday were from the town of Jenin, in the northern West Bank, which witnessed a violent Israeli raid that killed five and injured 14 people. Wafa reported that Israeli forces also arrested 11 others, among them two of the wounded, during a 14-hour raid operation on Jenin refugee camp that ended in the early hours of Sunday. Asaad Ali Al-Damj, 33, was killed by an Israeli drone attack on a house in the Al-Damj neighborhood in the Jenin camp. Ammar Muhammad Abu Al-Wafa, 21, Ahmed Abu Al-Haija, 20, Muhammad Mahmoud Freihat, 27, and Mahmoud Khaled Abu Al-Haija, 17, were killed in different locations in Jenin during the confrontation with Israeli forces. Wafa said that 10 Israeli drone attacks were launched on Palestinian homes and a charity in Jenin camp. The city announced a strike on Sunday to mourn its martyrs. In Nablus, Oday Misbah Snobar, 30, was killed during an Israeli raid of Yatma village. The Palestine Red Crescent said that Snobar was shot with a live bullet in the face was taken to the hospital, and later died. Since October 7, Israeli forces and settlers have killed 235 Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem, injured almost 3,000, and arrested 3,160 people. Before you go – we need your support At Mondoweiss, we understand the power of telling Palestinian stories. For 17 years, we have pushed back when the mainstream media published lies or echoed politicians’ hateful rhetoric. Now, Palestinian voices are more important than ever. Our traffic has increased ten times since October 7, and we need your help to cover our increased expenses. Support our journalists with a donation today. https://mondoweiss.net/2023/11/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-51-israel-fires-at-palestinians-attempting-to-return-to-northern-gaza-amid-shaky-truce/

Will Russia-China Strategic Patience Extinguish the Fire in West Asia?, by Pepe Escobar - The Unz Review Once upon a time, by the Don river, in the southern steppes of what today is still known as “Ukraine”, the Great King of Persia, the mighty Darius, leading the most powerful army ever assembled on earth, received a puzzling message from a foe he was pursuing: the nomad ruler Idanthyrsus, King of the Scythians. A Scythian envoy arrived at the Persian camp carrying a bird; a mouse; a frog; and five arrows. And then he left, in a rush. Wily Darius interpreted the message as the Scythians ready to submit to the Persians. Not so fast. It was up to Darius’s senior foreign policy advisor, Gobryas, who also happened to be his brother-in-law, to break the code: “Unless you Persians turn into birds and fly up in the air or into mice and burrow in the ground or into frogs and leap into lakes, you will never get home again but stay here in this country, only to be shot by Scythian arrows.” Well, apparently this tale from the depths of the pre-Silk Roads proves the strategic nightmare of waging war against elusive nomadic horse archers on the Eurasian steppes. But that could also be a tale about waging war against invisible urban guerrillas in sandals and RPGs hidden in the rubble in Gaza; flash mini-squads emerging from tunnels to hit and burn Merkava tanks before disappearing underground. History also tells us that Darius failed to bring the Scythian nomads to a head-to-head battle. So, in the autumn of 512 B.C., he pulled a pre-American gambit in Afghanistan 2,500 years before the fact: he declared victory and left. That Landed Aircraft Carrier Everyone familiar with West Asia – from US generals to grocers in the Arab Street – knows that Israel is a landed aircraft carrier whose mission is to keep West Asia in check on behalf of the Hegemon. Of course in a dog eats dog geopolitical environment it’s easy to misunderstand all wag the dog shenanigans. What’s certain is that for hegemonic circles of the US Deep State, and certainly for the White House and the Pentagon, what matters in the current incandescent juncture is the uber-extreme/genocidal Likud-led Netanyahu government in Israel, not “Israel” per se. That projects Netanyahu as the exact mirror image of the beleaguered sweaty sweatshirt actor in Kiev. Quite the geopolitical gift – in terms of deflecting blame away from the Hegemon for a genocide deployed live on every smartphone on the planet. And all that conducted under a veneer of legality – as in the White House and the State Department “advising” Tel Aviv to act with moderation; yes, you can bomb hospitals, schools, medical workers, journalists, thousands of women, thousands of children, but please be gentle. Meanwhile, the Hegemon has deployed an Armada to the Eastern Mediterranean, complete with two very expensive iron bathtubs, sorry aircraft carrier groups plus a nuclear submarine close to the Persian Gulf. That’s not exactly to survey guerrillas in underground tunnels and to “protect” Israel. The ultimate – neocon and Zio-con – targets are of course Hezbollah, Syria, Hashd al-Shaabi in Iraq and Iran: the whole Axis of Resistance. Iran-Russia-China, the new neocon-defined “axis of evil”, which happen to be the Top Three Actors of Eurasia integration, for all practical purposes have interpreted the genocide in Gaza as an Israeli-American operation. And they have clearly identified the key vector: energy. The inestimable Michael Hudson has noted how “we’re really seeing something very much like the Crusades here. It’s a real fight for who is going to control energy, because, again, the key, if you can control the world’s flow of energy, you can do to the whole world what the United States did to Germany last year by blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines.” BRICS 10 on the Move And that brings us to the fascinating case of the OIC/Arab World delegation of Foreign Ministers now on tour of selected capitals promoting their plan for a complete ceasefire in Gaza plus negotiations for an independent Palestinian state. The delegation, called the Gaza Contact Group, includes Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia, Nigeria and Palestine. Their first stop was Beijing, meeting Wang Yi, and the second stop Moscow, meeting Sergei Lavrov. That tells us all we need to know about BRICS 11 in action – even before the fact. Well, that’s actually BRICS 10, because after the election of pro-Hegemon Zionist Javier “Chainsaw Massacre” Milei for President, Argentina is now out of the picture, and possibly discarded by January 1st, 2024, when BRICS previously 11 starts under the Russian presidency. The OIC/Arab League special conference on Palestine in Saudi Arabia had yielded a meek final declaration that disappointed virtually the whole Global South/Global Majority. But then something started to move. Foreign Ministers started to coordinate closely. At first Egypt with China, after previous coordination with Iran and Turkey. That may sound counter-intuitive – but it’s all due to the gravity of the situation. That explains why the Iranian Foreign Minister is not part of the current traveling delegation – which is led, in practice, by Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The meeting with Lavrov coincided with an extraordinary online BRICS meeting on Palestine, called by the current South African presidency. Crucial point: the flags of new members Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia could be identified behind the speakers. Iran’s President Raisi went no holds barred, calling for BRICS member states to use every political and economic tool available to pressure Israel. Xi Jinping called once again for a two-state solution and positioned China as the mediator of choice. For the first time Xi in his own words laid it all out: “There can be no security in the Middle East without a just solution to the question of Palestine. I have emphasized on many occasions that the only viable way to break the cycle of Palestinian-Israeli conflict lies in a two-state solution, in the restoration of the legitimate national rights of Palestine, and in the establishment of an independent state of Palestine.” And it should all start via an international conference. All of the above implies a concerted BRICS 10 unified position, in the next few days, applying maximum pressure on Tel Aviv/Washington for a ceasefire, fully supported by virtually the whole Global Majority. Of course there are no guarantees the Hegemon will allow it to succeed. Secret negotiations involving Turkey, for instance, have floundered. The idea was to have Ankara cutting off the supply of oil to Israel coming from the BTC pipeline from Baku to Ceyhan: the oil is then loaded on tankers to Ashkelon in Israel. That’s at least 40% of the oil fueling Israel’s military machine. Ankara, still a NATO member, balked – spooked by the inevitably hardcore American response. Riyadh, in the long run, could be even more daring: no more oil exports until there’s a definitive solution to Palestine according to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative. Yet MbS won’t do it – because Saudi wealth is all invested in New York and London. It’s still a long, winding, bumpy road to the petroyuan. Meanwhile, realpolitik practitioners such as John Mearsheimer correctly point out that a negotiated solution for Israel-Palestine is impossible. A quick glance at the current map shows how the two-state solution – advocated by everyone from China and Russia to the Arab world – is dead; a Palestinian state, as Mearsheimer noted, “is going to be like an Indian reservation” in the US, “cut apart and isolated, not really a state.” No Hedging When it Comes to Genocide So what is Russia to do? Here is a very good informed hint. “Putin in the Labyrinth” means Moscow actively involved, in a BRICS 10 manner, to bring about a peaceful West Asia while maintaining internal stability in Russia under the ever-evolving Hegemon Hybrid War: it’s all interconnected. The Russia-China strategic partnership’s approach to West Asia set on fire by the usual suspects is all about strategic timing and patience – which the Kremlin and the Zhongnanhai exhibit in droves. No one really knows what goes on in the background – the deep shadow play behind the fog of intertwined wars. Especially when it comes to West Asia, always enveloped in serial mirages arising from the desert sands. At least we may try to discern mirages around the Persian Gulf monarchies, the GCC – and especially what MbS and his mentor MbZ are really playing at. This is the absolutely crucial fact: both the Arab League and the OIC are controlled by the GCC. And yet, as both Riyadh and Abu Dhabi become members of BRICS 10, they certainly see that the Hegemon’s new gambit is to set back the advances of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in West Asia by setting the region on fire. Yes, this is the War against China morphing from Hybrid to Hot, side by side with the Final Solution for the “Palestinian problem”. And as a bonus, from the Hegemon’s perspective, that should bring this bunch of desert bedouins firmly on board the new D.O.A. gambit, the IMEC (India-Middle East Corridor), which is in fact the Europe-Israel-Emirates-Saudi Arabia-India trade corridor, in theory a competitor to BRI. A major running theme across all nooks and crannies of the Arab street is how killing off the Palestinian resistance is an even more passionate issue for the sold out GCC elites than confronting Zionism. That explains, at least in part, the non-reaction reaction of the GCC to the ongoing genocide (they are now trying to make amends). And that is parallel to their non-reaction reaction to the Hegemon’s methodical, slow motion genocide, rape and pillaging over time of Iraqis, Syrians, Afghans, Libyans, Yemenis, Sudanese and Somalis. It’s absolutely impossible – and inhuman – to hedge when it comes to genocide. The verdict is still pending on whether the GCC has chosen a side, thus turning completely apart, spiritually and geopolitically, from the wider Arab street. This genocide may be the defining moment of the young 21st century – realigning the entire Global South/Global Majority and clarifying who’s on the right side of History. Whatever it does next, the Hegemon seems destined to totally lose the entire West Asia, the Heartland, wider Eurasia and the Global South/Global Majority. Blowback works in mysterious ways: as the “aircraft carrier” in West Asia went utterly insane, it only turbo-charged the Russia-China strategic partnership to mold History further on down the road to the Eurasia Century. https://www.unz.com/pescobar/will-russia-china-strategic-patience-extinguish-the-fire-in-west-asia/

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

Time for sanctions on Israel – Belgian deputy PM Time for sanctions on Israel – Belgian deputy PM Israel should face repercussions for the massive civilian death toll from its anti-Hamas operation in Gaza, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Petra De Sutter has said. “We cannot look away while children are killed every day in Gaza,” the politician told the Nieuwsblad newspaper on Wednesday. “It is time for sanctions against Israel. The rain of bombs is inhumane. It is clear that Israel does not care about the international demands for a ceasefire.” She proposed suspending Belgium’s association agreement with Israel and banning the import of products from the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. Officials and military personnel found guilty of war crimes, as well as violent radical Jewish settlers, should be banned from traveling to the EU, she added. Israel launched its bombardment of Gaza last month in retaliation for a deadly incursion by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose fighters killed some 1,400 people and captured scores of hostages during an October 7 raid. In the month since then, over 10,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to a tally by local officials. “There must be an investigation into the bombings of hospitals and refugee camps. This is war violence that is never acceptable,” De Sutter said, suggesting additional funding for The Hague-based International Criminal Court, whose jurisdiction Israel does not recognize. READ MORE: ‘Weeks’ left to destroy Hamas – former Israeli PM Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo blasted Israel’s military tactics at a gathering of diplomats in Brussels on Monday. “If one bombs an entire refugee camp with the intention of eliminating one terrorist, I don’t think this is proportionate anymore. Something like that is a bridge too far,” he said. Our country is not taking sides. What we do choose is an end to violence and thousands of civilian casualties. Both Belgian politicians condemned the brutality by Hamas. The deputy prime minister suggested that efforts to stifle funding of the organization need to be ramped up. READ MORE: US launches new ‘self-defense’ strike in Syria – Pentagon Israeli officials claim that the country’s military is acting in accordance with international law and deny that the civilian casualties are disproportionate. Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has claimed Hamas is killing Palestinians by placing its military assets among them. “If you place rockets in schools, in homes, and you use human shields, you are effectively killing your people. It’s not only genocide against Israelis, it’s self-genocide,” he told MSNBC last Sunday. You can share this story on social media: https://www.rt.com/news/586892-belgium-sanctions-israel-gaza/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

U.S. Weapons Transfers to Israel Shrouded in Secrecy — but Not Ukraine Ken KlippensteinNovember 7 2023, 4:22 p.m. One month since Hamas’s surprise attack, little is known about the weapons the U.S. has provided to Israel. Whereas the Biden administration released a three-page itemized list of weapons provided to Ukraine, down to the exact number of rounds, the information released about weapons sent to Israel could fit in a single sentence. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby acknowledged the secrecy in an October 23 press briefing, saying that while U.S. security assistance “on a near-daily basis,” he continued, “We’re being careful not to quantify or get into too much detail about what they’re getting — for their own operational security purposes, of course.” “The notion that it would in any way harm the Israeli military’s operational security to provide more information is a cover story.” The argument that transparency would imperil Israel’s operational security — somehow not a concern with Ukraine — is misleading, experts told The Intercept. “The notion that it would in any way harm the Israeli military’s operational security to provide more information is a cover story for efforts to reduce information on the types of weapons being supplied to Israel and how they are being used,” William Hartung, a fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and expert on weapons sales, told The Intercept. “I think the purposeful lack of transparency over what weapons the U.S. is supplying to Israel ‘on a daily basis’ is tied to the larger administration policy of downplaying the extent to which Israel will use those weapons to commit war crimes and kill civilians in Gaza.” Most Read  A retired Marine general who worked in the region, who asked for anonymity because he was not authorized by his former employer to speak publicly, attributed the secrecy to the political sensitivity of the conflict. In particular, the retired officer said, weapons used in door-to-door urban warfare, which are likely to result in civilian casualties, are not going to be something the administration wants to publicize. (The National Security Council did not respond to a request for comment.) In recent years, flare-ups of violence between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip have often entailed Israeli air wars with limited numbers of Israeli troops entering the besieged costal enclave. The last time there was a large-scale ground incursion by the Israel Defense Forces into Gaza was during the Israelis’ 2014 Operation Protective Edge. While the 2014 invasion saw Israeli troops in Gaza for less than a month, Israel’s defense minister recently told reporters the war would take at least several months. The goal of removing Hamas completely from power is widely expected to take a significant commitment to a long-term ground presence and heavy urban fighting. According to the New Yorker, Israeli officials told their American counterparts that the war could last 10 years. The Biden administration is reportedly worried that Israel’s military objectives are not achievable. On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ABC News, “Israel will, for an indefinite period, will have the overall security responsibility because we’ve seen what happens when we don’t have it.” “Delicate Matter Politically” Hamas’s attack on Israel, which took place on October 7, resulted in a cascade of arms assistance from the U.S. Though the Biden administration at first declined to identify any specific weapons systems, as details trickled out in the press, it has gradually acknowledged some. These include “precision guided munitions, small diameter bombs, artillery, ammunition, Iron Dome interceptors and other critical equipment,” as Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder has said. Related  Rep. Mike Johnson’s Largest Donor Was AIPAC. He’s Trying to Cut Free Tax Filing to Send Weapons to Israel. What “other critical equipment” entails remains a mystery, as do specifics about the quantity of arms being supplied, which the administration has refused to disclose. When a reporter asked for a “ballpark” figure for the security assistance during a background press briefing on October 12, the Pentagon demurred. “I’m not going to do that today and would defer you to the government of Israel,” a senior defense official told the reporter. “To date, U.S. government reporting on arms transfers to Israel has been sporadic and without any meaningful detail,” Stimson Center research analyst Elias Yousif recently concluded. “Updates should be compiled on a single factsheet page, as is the case for Ukraine, and include details on the authorities invoked for the provision of assistance as well as the type and quantity of arms provided with enough specificity to enable public research and assessments.” Hartung, the Quincy fellow, noted the contrast with the administration’s openness on military aid to Ukraine. “Transparency on arms transfers to Ukraine came in large part due to the administration’s feeling that they were engaged in a noble venture,” Hartung said. “Although Israel certainly has the right to defend itself against the kind of horrific attack carried out by Hamas, its response — bombing and blockading a whole territory of 2 million people, killing thousands of innocent people in the process — has been described by independent experts as committing war crimes.” “Transparency on arms transfers to Ukraine came in large part due to the administration’s feeling that they were engaged in a noble venture.” “So even as the Biden administration backs Israel with weapons and rhetoric,” Hartung said, “it is a delicate matter politically to give all the details on U.S. weapons supplied to the Israeli military, some of which will certainly be used in illegal attacks on civilians if the war continues to grind on.” Beyond just the quantities, there are specific weapons the Pentagon is providing Israel which have not been publicly disclosed, the Marine general told The Intercept. As the arms continue to flow, dozens of C-17 military transport planes likely carrying munitions have criss-crossed the Atlantic traveling between the United States and Israel, open-source flight tracking data show, with most landing at Nevatim Air Base, an IDF base in Israel’s southern Negev desert. President Joe Biden has requested $14.3 billion in aid for Israel in addition to the over $3 billion in military assistance it already provides. Most recently, the Biden administration is planning to send $320 million in precision Spice bombs to Israel, as multiple outlets informed by Congress reported on Monday.

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Despite looking out of this world, it was a very real aircraft. Lockheed D-21 – A UFO Spotter’s Dream! While traveling, it had a cruise speed of 3.2 Mach, a cruise altitude of between 65,000 to 90,000 feet, and a maximum range of 3,000 miles. https://planehistoria.com/cold-war/d-21/

6 out of 9 of our Sri Lanka Freediving group (the others arrive tomorrow). Fun first day traveling up to Ella in the mountains and visiting a tea plantation to see how the pick and process the world famous Ceylon teas. Then a nice dinner and walk around town before an early night, as we have some early morning adventurers to do tomorrow! Check my stories for what we’ve been up to today. ????: @germainemarieph @sebgilbert @fireatwille @seagypo @martinzapanta #srilanka #ella #tea #teaplantation #roadtrip #travelingmarc