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By Dr. Ramzy Baroud

Many political analysts believe that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is buying time in Gaza and Lebanon with the hope that Donald Trump returns to the White House, following the next November elections.

Whether this is the case or not, Trump, this time around, is unlikely to influence the outcomes of the war, or to alter Israel’s fate.

US foreign policy seems to be ruled by two different outlooks, one dedicated to the whole world and another only to Israel. The first is driven by the famous, and oft-repeated quote by former US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, that “America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests.”

Israel, however, remains the exception, and the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza has, once more, demonstrated the truth of such a claim.

Though Washington fully shares Israel’s war objectives, it fundamentally disagrees with the concepts of the long war, and ‘total victory’, as championed by Netanyahu.

Two protracted US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq taught the Americans that neither the longevity of wars nor the lofty, unrealistic expectations alter inevitable outcomes.

In fact, many US officials, military generals and mainstream analysts have tried to warn Netanyahu, to no avail.

Destabilizing the Middle East at this specific historical juncture is simply bad for the US. It comes at a time when Ukraine is suffering serious weapons shortage, thus territorial losses, and at a time that the US-European allies are struggling under the weight of economic and political crises.

Since US-Israeli relations are governed according to a unique foreign policy paradigm, the Biden Administration continues to support Israel in every possible way so that it may carry on with a losing war.

The war is, of course, happening at the expense of over 125 thousand Palestinians, who, thus far, have been killed and wounded due to Israeli strikes, shelling and mass executions. Those dying from famine or disease are a different number, yet to be fully accounted for.

Washington is not perturbed by the Gaza genocide itself but by the outcome of the war on US plans in the Middle East, and the future of its forces, namely in Iraq and Syria. It is also concerned about its geostrategic sway in the region due to the unprecedented instability of the Red Sea.

Yet, Joe Biden continues to arm Israel and to provide a safety net to its dwindling economy. On April 20, the House passed a bill to provide $26.3 billion in assistance to Israel. Moreover, massive shipments of weapons continue to flow to Israel unhindered.

These explosives are not only destroying the whole of Gaza, but any chances that the US could ever regain any degree of credibility in the Middle East. Worse, US blind support for Israel has also shaken Washington’s position internationally.

So, what could Trump do that Biden did not?

Trump’s politics is abashedly Machiavellian. During his only term in office between 2017 and 2021, he served the role of the American genie, granting Israel’s every wish, though all such demands were flagrant violations of international law.

Trump’s pro-Israel policies included the recognition of all of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the annexation of the Golan Heights and the recognition of all illegal Israeli Jewish settlements in the West Bank, among others.

But Netanyahu is also Machiavellian, a fact that irked Trump following his humiliating exit from the White House.

“I haven’t spoken to him since,” Trump said in an interview with Axios’ Barak Ravid in December 2021, in reference to the Israeli leader. “F**k him,” he said.

But now, both sides are trying to rekindle the old love affair. The Republican presidential candidate must be pleased with Netanyahu’s public criticism of the Biden Administration. In return, Trump is ready to “finish the job”, as he stated in the first presidential debate on June 27.

However, Trump’s return will do nothing to change Israel’s misfortunes since October 7, because Israel’s problems do not originate in Washington.

Israel’s crisis is multifaceted. It is unable to win the war in Gaza, despite the mass tragedy and destruction it has created there. It is also failing to change the rules of engagements in Lebanon due to the strength of its enemies, and the fact that its military is unable to fight and win on multiple fronts – let alone one.

Another dimension of the Israeli crisis is also internal: deep divisions in Israeli society, security apparatus and politicians. Not even Trump could possibly bridge the gap or end the polarization, which is likely to deepen in the future.

Even on the international front, Trump is likely to prove equally ineffective, again, simply because the Biden Administration has defied international consensus on Israel since the start of the war. The current US House of Representatives went as far as passing legislation to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) after its Prosecutor applied for arrest warrants against Israeli officials.

If Netanyahu thinks that Trump would offer him a better deal than that of Biden, he is mistaken. Biden has proved to be the greatest American enabler to Israel in its 76-year history.

Ironically, the US’ unquestioned support of Israel could be a contributing factor to its downfall.

“To be an enemy of America can be dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal,” Kissinger also said. He is not wrong.

Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle.

11 July 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Dr Marwan Asmar

Attacks on Palestinian journalists have always been widespread. The Israeli authorities frequently charge Palestinian media workers with “incitement” and imprison them as “administrative detainees” based on claimed “secret evidence”.

Both of these charges are bogus and are aimed to prevent the journalists from exposing the Israeli crimes.

Like other detainees journalists held in Israeli prisons suffer from torture, beatings, humiliation and torture. As well, they are deprived from any form of communication with the outside world.

There are currently six Palestinian female journalists held in Israeli prisons and are not due to be released ant time soon while enduring the violence of the Israeli guards.

[https://twitter.com/CFWIJ/status/1767519696411062731]

They are Bushra Al Taweel from Ramallah. This is her 5^th arrest in three years and today she is held in administrative detention for six months under the instruction of the Israeli Shin Bet.

Then follows Ikhlas Saleh Sawalha. She was arrested at a military checkpoint in Dier Sharaf. Her arrest is due to the fact that her husband, journalist Ibrahim Abu Safiya has been in Ofer prison since 2022.

[https://twitter.com/Palestinecapti1/status/1734741643881038090]

Ikhlas has been arbitrarily detained since December, 2023 with under an administrative detention that is renewed almost automatically.

Then comes journalist Rula Hassanein from Ramallah. She is also under administrative detention that is being routinely renewed.

[https://twitter.com/QudsNen/status/1773064249201336821]

Rula has a baby which has refused her food and milk without her mother leading to her dehydration. Therefore, doctors had to intervene and administer intravenous injections.

Then there is journalist Asmaa Harish. Israeli soldiers stormed her home in Beitunia, west of Ramallah, last April and took her away. She is presently in prison under administrative detention.

[https://twitter.com/ChrisHu34451470/status/1775415842118996333]

Her case is related to the fact she is the daughter of Noah Harish and her brother Ahmad who are in an Israeli jail.

Then there is 39-year-old Rasha Herzallah. She is being detained for what the Israeli authorities claim incitement on social media platforms.

[https://twitter.com/emangaza48/status/1800360277604532527]

She is the sister of Mohammad Herzallah, a journalist at the Wafa news agency. He was shot by Israeli soldiers in Nablus in 2022 and four months later he succumbed to his wounds and died.

Finally, student Amal Al Shujaiya was taken from her home in Dier Jarir, east Ramallah, late at night by Israel soldiers. She is being detained awaiting a military court hearing. Amal is a journalism student at Birzeit University in Ramallah.

[https://twitter.com/fairouz_salameh/status/1807545470333395163]

“She is leaving a big space of emptiness in our house,” her mother said.

Dr Marwan Asmar is an Amman-based journalist covering Middle East affairs.

11 July 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Brett Wilkins

The Biden administration has ended a two-month pause on the shipment of 500-pound bombs to Israel despite the frequent use of U.S.-supplied weapons by Israeli forces to commit alleged war crimes and genocide in Gaza.

Citing an unnamed Biden administration official, The Wall Street Journalreported Wednesday that the bombs “are in the process of being shipped” to Israel and should arrive in the coming weeks.

In May, the Biden administration suspended transfers of 500- and 2,000-pound bombs manufactured by aerospace giant Boeing over fears the devastating munitions would be used in airstrikes on Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than a million Palestinians had sought refuge.

By that time, Israel had already dropped hundreds of 2,000-pound bombs—which the U.S. military avoids using in civilian areas because they can destroy entire city blocks—on Gaza, including in an October 31 attack on the densely populated Jabalia refugee camp that killed more than 120 civilians.

Last month, the United Nations Human Rights Office said Israel’s use of 2,000-pound bombs and other U.S.-supplied weapons likely violated international law by deliberately targeting civilians in disproportionate attacks. Israeli military commanders have also been criticized for using artificial intelligence-based target selection to approve bombings they know will cause high civilian casualties.

The Biden official told the Journal that the pause on 2,000-pound bomb shipments will remain in effect.

“Our main concern had been and remains the potential use of 2,000-pound bombs in Rafah and elsewhere in Gaza,” they said. “Because our concern was not about the 500-pound bombs, those are moving forward as part of the usual process.”

But Israeli forces have killed many civilians with smaller bombs too. The New York Timesreported Wednesday that multiple weapons experts including a a former U.S. Army explosive ordnance disposal technician identified a fragment from a Boeing-made GBU-39 250-pound bomb used in Tuesday’s attack on a refugee tent encampment outside the al-Awda school in southern Gaza that killed and wounded scores of civilians, including many women and children.

Palestinian and international agencies say Israel’s 278-day Gaza assault and siege have left at least 137,500 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing. Israel’s conduct in the war is the subject of an International Court of Justice genocide case. International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan is also seeking to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders for crimes including extermination.

Despite overwhelming evidence of Israeli war crimes, the Biden administration remains Israel’s most steadfast supporter, providing billions of dollars in military aid, approving more than 100 arms shipments, and offering diplomatic cover in the form of United Nations Security Council vetoes and what critics call genocide denial.

Reutersreported last month that since October the U.S. has sent Israel 14,000 2,000-pound bombs, 6,500 500-pound bombs, 3,000 Hellfire missiles, 1,000 bunker-buster bombs, 2,600 air-dropped small-diameter bombs, and other munitions.

Citing the al-Awda massacre, Jewish Voice for Peace Action said Wednesday that “this is what U.S. funding and weapons do.”

“Arms embargo NOW,” the group added.

Brett Wilkins is a staff writer for Common Dreams.

11 July 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Euro-Med Human Rights

Palestinian Territory – The Israeli army began waging a new war of terror early this morning, forcibly displacing the people living in Gaza City and North Gaza and causing another massive wave of internal displacement. This is part of Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, ongoing since 7 October 2023.

Tens of thousands of Gazans were displaced from multiple areas of Gaza City, and now have nowhere left to go, amid conflicting displacement orders issued by the Israeli army and no safe passages. This comes along with the Israeli military’s systematic and widespread genocidal war of starvation and deliberate, indiscriminate killing of Palestinian civilians in the Strip.

Just a few hours after ordering residents of the Gaza City’s Al-Tuffah, Al-Daraj, and Al-Shuja’iya neighbourhoods to head to the city’s southwest, the Israeli occupation army launched a new ground incursion in this precise area, which housed 10s of thousands of displaced people.

The Israeli army launched a ground incursion in the area of Al-Sinaa, putting the neighbourhood under heavy rocket and shell fire. Israel directly targeted the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) headquarters, plus the main buildings of several already destroyed universities in the west of Gaza City—in total contradiction to the displacement orders given to 10s of thousands of residents.

The Israeli occupation army later ordered the residents of large areas in Gaza City to evacuate to Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, including the Ahli Baptist Hospital medical staff, thereby forcing the hospital out of service. For months, the Ahli Baptist Hospital had been the main hospital operating in Gaza City.

Many reports have surfaced of dozens of deaths and injuries caused by the Israeli army’s abrupt incursion into Gaza City’s eastern and then southwestern neighbourhoods, which put the areas under heavy fire. This action was taken without prior warning and in defiance of conflicting evacuation orders.

Coinciding with the ongoing ground incursion into large areas of Gaza City, the Euro-Med Monitor field team documented a series of Israeli raids with dozens of gun belts and the firing of artillery shells. The ground incursion included searches, raids, and arbitrary arrests of civilians, as well as intentional killings around the clock.

Concerns about the Israeli army’s intentions to expand its ground operations and escalate its war of forced displacement, pushing the population in the north into the central and southern areas of the Gaza Strip—which are already crowded with more than 1.5 million people, suffering from various catastrophic humanitarian conditions—have increased. Residents of Gaza City’s Al-Shuja’iya and Al-Darajneighbourhoods received phone calls and threats from the Israeli army last night, first asking them to head to the areas southwest of Gaza City before eventually asking them to go to the “humanitarian shelters” in the city of Deir Al-Balah this morning.

The Israeli occupation army released a statement at approximately 9 a.m. regarding the start of its 99th Division’s military operation in Gaza City’s industrial area, which includes the UNRWA headquarters. The statement highlighted that “with the beginning of the operation, the army has called and warned civilians via loudspeakers about the operation at the headquarters,and will open a corridor for the exit of uninvolved civilians from the area”.

Israel has pursued and continues to pursue a systematic policy of targeting civilians in the Gaza Strip who are protected by international humanitarian law. This includes intensifying the bombing of shelter centres over the heads of displaced people, purposefully forcing them to repeatedly evacuate from one area to another, and targeting areas designated as humanitarian zones.

Israel is deliberately killing, starving, and imposing forced displacement on the residents of the Gaza Strip. It is also destroying all aspects of life there, including targeting UN headquarters and shelter centres, and committing mass murder crimes, each of which constitutes a fully-fledged war crime.

By targeting UNRWA schools functioning as shelter centres, Israeli bombing tactics demonstrate a deliberate policy intended to prevent security across the entire Gaza Strip and deny displaced Palestinians stability or shelter, even if that shelter is only temporary.

According to UNRWA, Israel has bombed 190—more than half—of the agency’s facilities in the Gaza Strip, some of them more than once since the genocide began.  As a result, thousands of Palestinian civilians have been killed and injured while seeking refuge.

According to UN estimates, 1.9 million people in the war-ravaged enclave are internally displaced, including some individuals who have now been displaced up to nine or 10 times. Israel’s evacuation orders, its widespread damage to both public and private infrastructure, restrictions on access to essential services, and the ongoing Israeli violence constitute the main causes of the mass displacement waves.

Based on the aforementioned, all nations are required to fulfil their international obligations by enacting strong sanctions against Israel and severing all other types of political, financial, and military support and cooperation. This includes immediately halting arms transfers to Israel, including export permits and military aid; otherwise, these nations will be held accountable for the crimes that have been committed in the Gaza Strip, including genocide.

Additionally, the International Criminal Court ought to keep looking into any and all crimes committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip; broaden its investigation into criminal responsibility, in order to hold all perpetrators accountable; issue arrest warrants for those responsible; and acknowledge and address Israel’s crimes in the Strip, as they are international crimes that fall under the purview of the International Criminal Court and are clearly crimes of genocide.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor is a Geneva-based independent organization with regional offices across the MENA region and Europe

10 July 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Dr Marwan Asmar

The battle is raging in Tal Al-Hawa, southwest of Gaza City, and the fighting there is no less fierce than what is happening in the east of the city, referring to the Shujaiya neighborhood, said military and strategic expert Major-General Fayez Al-Duwairi.

https://www.assawsana.com/article/635430

In his military analysis, Al-Duwairi doubted what the Israeli media was saying  about the transfer of three soldiers wounded in the Gaza battles. He said the Israeli army admitted it was subjected to four difficult security incidents  in Tal al-Hawa.

The expert who is a military analyst on Al Jazeera believes these difficult events resulted in the killing of more Israeli soldiers, basing his view also on the Information provided by  Al-Qassam Brigades and Saraya Al-Quds, the military wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

[https://twitter.com/bany_hasan/status/1810609605937930413]

He pointed out their statements are backed by videos confirming the credibility of the resistance, pointing out Israel is forced to announce its human losses when there are successful ambushes or effective combat operations, as it anticipates the Qassam videos of deaths and injuries of their soldiers.

Based on this, Al-Duwairi predicted the Israeli casualties ranged from 6 to 8 on average, some serious, in addition to deaths because of the hard nature of the incidents while ruling out the total of only three casualties, as claimed by the Israeli media.

He said he does not take the Israeli announcements seriously, recalling the statements they repeatedly made claiming the dismantling of the Al-Qassam Brigades in northern Gaza, and confirming that he evaluates the resistance on field performance.

[https://twitter.com/AJA_Palestine/status/1810532833733271813]

Al-Duwairi also cited the last statements of spokesman Abu Ubaida in which he said the Al-Qassam Brigades restored its 24 brigades in the whole areas of the Gaza Strip, and also strengthened their defensive capabilities, stressing the brigades’ human capabilities are in top shape.

Thus, Al-Qassam rehabilitated its 24 brigades both materially and in human resources with combat efficiency at 80% of its situation before 7 October, the military expert maintained.

[https://twitter.com/AI_1947/status/1810722308656345585]

He warned Tel al-Hawa was subject to many incursions because it was on the edge of the northern Netzarim axis, but added the commander of its battalion has good  information about the Israeli occupation army, providing a forward-looking reading of their third phase of the war.

He concluded the resistance led by Al-Qassam, are able to discern the intentions of the Israelis army and their goals by monitoring its communications, ground movements, and the intensity of its bombing whilst determining the direction of future Israeli actions and preparing for it before they begin.

Al-Duwairi also pointed out the third phase of the Israeli war on Gaza is related to the occupation noticing several elements, such as the emergence of resistance leaders, administrative arrangements, or information about tunnels or detained prisoners.

On Monday evening, the Israeli media reported the occurance of four difficult security incidents against the Israeli army in Tel al-Hawa, with news of military helicopters landing for short periods on the Netzarim axis, to evacuate the Israeli wounded.

[https://twitter.com/ronimmi/status/1810709191948120378]

In turn, Al-Qassam Brigades reported they detonated an anti-personnel device against a force of 6 Israeli soldiers in Tal al-Hawa, leaving them dead and wounded. It also announced the targeting of an Israeli foot force in the chalet area, west of Tal al-Hawa, leaving its members dead and wounded.

In the same area, Al-Qassam destroyed a military jeep with a “Al-Yassin 105” shell on Al-Sinaa Street, while also targeting an Israeli troop carrier with a “Shawaz 3” device on Roundabout 17 in the same neighborhood, and a “D9” bulldozer with a “Shawaz 3” device on Al-Rashid Street.

Dr Marwan Asmar is an Amman-based writer covering Middle East affairs and can be found at https://crossfirearabia.com/

10 July 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Julia Conley

While the United Nations still has not formally declared a famine in Gaza after nine months of Israel’s near-total blockade on humanitarian aid, 10 top U.N. experts on Tuesday said they have seen enough.

“We declare that Israel’s intentional and targeted starvation campaign against the Palestinian people is a form of genocidal violence and has resulted in famine across all of Gaza,” said the experts.

Michael Fakhri, special rapporteur on the right to food, was joined in the statement by other experts including Francesca Albanese, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, and Paula Gaviria Betancur, special rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons.

They said the recent deaths of three children in various parts of the enclave led the experts, who do not speak on behalf of the United Nations as a whole, to declare a famine has taken hold.

“Fayez Ataya, who was barely six months old, died on May 30, 2024 and 13-year-old Abdulqader Al-Serhi died on June 1, 2024 at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah,” said the experts. “Nine-year-old Ahmad Abu Reida died on June 3, 2024 in the tent sheltering his displaced family in Al-Mawasi, Khan Younis. All three children died from malnutrition and lack of access to adequate healthcare.”

“With the death of these children from starvation despite medical treatment in central Gaza, there is no doubt that famine has spread from northern Gaza into central and southern Gaza,” they continued.

[https://twitter.com/adequatehousing/status/1810685366858400092]

At least 34 Palestinians in Gaza—the majority being children—have now died from malnutrition since October, when Israel began its bombardment of the enclave in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced there would “be no electricity, no food, no fuel” allowed in to Gaza.

Israeli officials said in response to Tuesday’s statement that it has increased the aid allowed into Gaza recently, but hundreds of delivery trucks remain stranded in Egypt and a floating pier built by the U.S. has not significantly improved the humanitarian crisis.

The U.N. experts said that with the first death of a child from malnutrition and dehydration, it should have been considered “irrefutable that famine has taken hold.”

“When a two-month-old baby and 10-year-old Yazan Al Kafarneh died of hunger on February 24 and March 4, respectively, this confirmed that famine had struck northern Gaza,” they said. “The whole world should have intervened earlier to stop Israel’s genocidal starvation campaign and prevented these deaths… Inaction is complicity.”

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, which is backed by the U.N., said last month that Gaza is at high risk for famine and that nearly half a million people were facing “catastrophic” food insecurity, with an extreme lack of food.

In May, Human Rights Watch co-founder Aryeh Neier, who had previously hesitated to say Israel was committing genocide in Gaza, said Israel’s “sustained policy of obstructing the movement of humanitarian assistance into the territory” ultimately convinced him that Israeli officials are “engaged in genocide.”

In March, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to ensure its military refrain from violating the Genocide Convention by preventing humanitarian aid from reaching people in Gaza, saying that “the catastrophic living conditions of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have deteriorated further” and that “famine is setting in.”

A woman named Ghaneyma Joma told Reuters on Monday at a hospital in Khan Younis that she feared her son would soon die of starvation.

“It’s distressing to see my child… lying there dying from malnutrition because I cannot provide him with anything due to the war, the closing of crossings, and the contaminated water,” she told the outlet.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations called on the U.S. government, the biggest international funder of Israel’s military and a persistent defender of its actions in Gaza, to ensure that a cease-fire agreement is reached and that Palestinians receive necessary humanitarian aid.

“The intentional starvation of the Palestinian people in Gaza can only occur with the active complicity of the Biden administration in Israel’s campaign of genocide,” said Ibrahim Hooper, national communications director for the group. “This complicity must end, and the Palestinian people must be offered a future in which they are free of occupation and can live in dignity.”

Julia Conley is a staff writer for Common Dreams.

10 July 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor

Palestinian Territory – The international community must effectively pressure Israel to open the border crossings and allow sick and injured people to leave the Gaza Strip for treatment. Thousands of sick and injured people face certain death as they are unable to receive treatment in the Strip amid the destruction or travel elsewhere, due to Israel’s systematic targeting of the region’s health sector—which has rendered most of its components inoperable—and the strict Israeli siege.

Nine months into its genocidal war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Israel still besieges the sick and injured, preventing them from leaving the Strip to receive medical treatment, despite having destroyed or rendered most of the region’s hospitals inoperable. As a result, more than 26,000 sick and injured individuals who require immediate external referrals for life-saving care will die, and thousands more will have to wait to travel to finish their treatment or obtain critical medical and rehabilitation services that are unavailable in the Strip.

Travel by Palestinians, including sick and injured individuals seeking medical treatment abroad, has all but ceased since the Israeli army closed the Rafah border crossing on 7 May. A limited number of these individuals had previously been permitted to travel outside of the Strip after submitting their names to the Israeli army, which would then perform arbitrary security checks.

In cooperation with the World Health Organisation, Israel permitted 21 patients and several family members to pass through the Kerem Shalom crossing on 27 June, but over 12,000 wounded people trapped in the Gaza Strip still require urgent medical attention to survive. In addition, 14,000 patients, of whom 10,000 suffer from cancer or other serious diseases, are threatened with imminent death if they do not travel for treatment.

Other than the 21 aforementioned individuals, no injured or ill person has been permitted to leave the Gaza Strip since 7 May, even with the collapse of health system and the closure of 34 out 36 hospitals due to the systematic Israeli attacks. The two hospitals that are currently open are only partially operational,and are without access to medical supplies or medications; medical teams there are suffering from extreme fatigue after working nonstop for nine months.

The Euro-Med Monitor team has received complaints from a large number of ill and injured people pleading to be allowed to travel in order to save their lives.

Israa Jihad al-Jundi, 32, of Shujaiya, east of Gaza City, told the Euro-Med Monitor team: “On 3 July, an Israeli bombing targeted my house, resulting in the deaths of three of my children. As for me, all I saw was a mass of blackness and fire, and I no longer heard anything. I realised that I had been hit by a missile. I ended up in a neighbour’s house, my legs covered in concrete. I was taken out by my neighbours and brought to Baptist Hospital. My right leg was implanted with platinum. I sustained multiple fractures to my pelvis, chest, and limbs. I can’t move, my pelvis is not stabilised, I die every day. My only demand is to be treated abroad.”

Northern Gaza resident Bilal Munir Abu Sultan stated: “I have been a cancer patient since last April; the disease has advanced to a significant degree around my neck. I need to travel for treatment to save my life. I have to leave right away before the cancer takes over my entire body. There is no health care available here.”

Abdul Rahman Muhammad, 17, stated: “On 23 October 2023, Israeli planes bombed my family’s home, killing my mother, father, and four of my siblings, including three children. I was seriously injured as a result. I survived the attack but I suffered from burns and fractures. Although my burns have healed, I am still unable to walk. After they had fitted me with an external platinum insert, they took it off. I had surgery, but it did not work out. Because of the devastation to hospitals and the lack of treatment, […] there is also no chance to treat me here. I appeal to everyone to facilitate my travel for treatment.”

By tightening the ongoing siege, closing the GazaStrip’s crossings, and destroying hospitals and health facilities across the entire Strip, Israel has apparently decided to carry out a mass execution against the sick and injured people in the enclave.

As part of Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people in the Strip, ongoing since 7 October 2023, hospitals, medical facilities, and means of transportation have been destroyed, and medical personnel have been arrested or killed. As a result, those who were not killed directly will perish from a lack of access to necessary medical care. This is all part of Israel’s systematic, organised, and wide-ranging plan to destroy the lives of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and turn it into an uninhabitable place that lacks basic services and the most fundamental components of life. One of the most criminal parts of the genocideis the systematic and widespread targeting of the health sector: forcing it out of service through destruction and siege, bringing it to the point of no return, and ultimately depriving the Palestinians of opportunities for survival, life, recovery, and even shelter.

Israel’s actions against hospitals and legally protected individuals in the Gaza Strip are not only crimes against humanity, but also complete war crimes,because they are part of a larger, systematic Israeli military campaign against the civilian population in the Strip.

In addition to flagrantly violating the principles of distinction, proportionality, military necessity, i.e. in its refusal to take necessary precautions to protect sick and injured individuals, the Israeli army is carrying out its crimes against hospitals in the Gaza Strip with the utmost disregard for international law, particularly international humanitarian law. This is a grave violation of the special protection afforded to civilians, civilian hospitals, and medical teams, whether due totheir capacity or because they are not directly participating in hostilities, along with the protection enjoyed by the wounded and sick, even if they are military personnel.

To ensure the safety of medical personnel and sick or injured patients, plus displaced individuals shelteringwithin hospitals, as well as to enable those who need it to receive life-saving treatment, an immediate international intervention is required to establish field hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip and exert pressure on Israel to cease its repeated attacks on hospitals. Thousands of emergency cases must also be referred for treatment abroad.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor is a youth-led independent, nonprofit organization that advocates for the human rights of all persons across Europe and the MENA region, particularly those who live under occupation, in the throes of war or political unrest and/ or have been displaced due to persecution or armed conflict.

8 July 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Dr Asmar

A new Palestinian exodus is being forced but to where? Nobody knows! Palestinians in different neighbourhoods of Gaza City are picking up what little is left of their belongings and are on the move again.

Thousands of Palestinian families are fleeing their homes in Gaza City amid relentless Israeli occupation bombardment and the threat of imminent invasion.

[https://twitter.com/Qxj9EpiXyt9sd0O/status/1810204980046901750]

The Israeli army threatened thousands of displaced Palestinians in Tuffah and Daraj neighborhoods to immediately evacuate and flee at the end of Israeli missiles and bombardment of already ruined homes that are in complete wreckage.

[https://twitter.com/UNRWA/status/1810233791945768981]

To make sure thousands started moving an Israeli occupation warcraft targeted the home of the Hallou family in the Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City. The home was previously targeted but no matter.

[https://twitter.com/WAFANewsEnglish/status/1810240989983879504]

This time the bodies of more family members did not make it. They join other members of the family who are under the rubble.

This is part of the intense attack the city is being subjected to with firebombings in the Tafah, Sabra and Al Daraj neighbourhoods, east of Gaza to force hundreds of families once more to move out of their homes.

Israeli shelling has also targeted the vicinity of the Bank of Palestine in Gaza City.

[https://twitter.com/QudsNen/status/1810242879521955891]

This is regarded as the biggest onslaught with Israeli warplanes launching massive airstrikes on the once-plush neighbourhood al-Remal in the city.

The Israeli military crackdown on civilians begun in the early hours of Monday morning. “Our forces are now operating in Gaza City, including at the UNRWA headquarters, after intelligence information” an Israeli army announced.

The announcement created panic. In addition to the fact that many people started moving, patients in their hospital beds were hurriedly being wheeled out for miles to find another hospital.

[https://twitter.com/trtworld/status/1810205464572903509]

[https://twitter.com/trtworld/status/1810242171464732867]

In addition to the heavy Israeli shelling, tens of martyrs and wounded have been trapped under the rubble of their homes in Al Daraj and Al Tufah.

Dr Asmar is an Amman-based writer and covers Middle East affairs.

8 July 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Latheef Farook

The day after Palestinian freedom fighters, Hamas, attacked occupied Southern Israel on 7 October 2023, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu  declared war on Gaza vowing to wipeout Hamas without a trace saying “No talks with Hamas”.

However from the very beginning many fair minded Jews, including journalist   Gideon Levy and Ilan Pappe , Professor of History at the University of Exeter,

Israeli historian and political scientist, warned that Hamas cannot be defeated.

However wisdom dawned on Netanyahu, ten months later today, when he  agreed to negotiate with Hamas after killing around 40,000   Palestinian civilians  -more than half of them children- injuring around 90,000 while 10,000 missing. Those who were buried alive in the rubble of destroyed buildings are yet to be known.  At least 370,000 housing units in Gaza have been damaged, including 79,000 destroyed completely.

Netanyahu agreed to talks with Hamas because Israel is collapsing.  According  to Times of Israel already more than half a million Israelis left occupied Palestine since October  7.    Highlighting the seriousness of the situation former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett urged Israeli citizens not to leave the country  as Israel is going through the most difficult period since its creation in 1948.

The head of the Israel Defence Forces said the army is facing troop shortages amid rising casualties in the war against Hamas in Gaza. Yet enlisting more troops is difficult due to rising public opposition to the war and an open conflict between Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his defence minister.

In a related development, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that dozens of reserve soldiers announced that they would not return to military service in Gaza, even if they were to be punished. Hundreds of reserve soldiers in the Israeli army have travelled abroad without informing their commanders due to the ongoing war on Gaza, where the occupation forces have suffered heavy losses over the past months.

One columnist pointed out that with military significantly weakened  Israel is struggling to survive. Oppressive Arab dictators who handed over the task of keeping the region stable  under Israel’s effective control, feel threatened.

In the economic front  predictions are that Israel may never recover from its post-October 7 economic collapse. The Palestinian resistance managed not only to destroy Israel’s internal security perception, but also to erect significant risk barriers for foreign investors. 

The economic toll of the war may cost Israel an estimated $400 billion in lost economic activity over the next decade – threatens Israel’s economic future. For Israel, 90% of the economic shock will come from indirect effects: reduced investment, slowing productivity growth and labor market disruption.

Since October, Israel’s government has subsidised the salaries of reportedly 360,000 mobilised reservists deployed to Gaza – many of whom are high-tech industry workers in finance, artificial intelligence, pharmaceuticals and agriculture. Israeli officials face the challenge of needing to restore confidence and a sense of security – which will not prove easy – to boost investments.

“Beyond a clear military and political outcome both in the Gaza Strip and along the Lebanese border, and a repatriation of the hostages, this requires a clear and goal-oriented economic policy. It is not yet clear how this will eventually be addressed,”

Tourism suffered the most .   Across Israel, restaurants and stores remain empty.  A long list of airlines cancelled or suspended the majority of their flights to Tel Aviv, and many tourists cancelled their plans to visit Israel.  Prior  to October 7  visitors to Israel numbered above 300,000 each month. In November, that figure reportedly sank to 39,000.  And  now it may be almost nil.

Construction, accounting for 14 percent of Israel’s GDP, has taken a huge hit  .  The Israel Builders Association said that Israel’s construction industry was operating at roughly 15 percent of its pre-October 7 capacity

The Gaza war’s ripple effects throughout the greater Middle East are also negatively impacting Israel’s economy.

Israel imports diamonds, cars, petroleum, and broadcasting equipment, among other things, goods that come via the Red Sea. The recent Houthi missile and drone attacks in this body of water in retaliation for Israel’s attack on Gaza have not only disrupted global trade but also impacted Israel’s imports. Many of Israel’s imports from Asia are now being rerouted around Africa, bumping up costs.

In a recent survey, aid organisation “Latet”   found that more than 45 percent of the public fear that economic hardship awaits them either later on in this war or after the war finishes. What is clear is that those Israeli families who were already living in poverty or who qualified as food insecure prior to October 7 will suffer the most from the economic problems stemming from this war.

Worldwide television footages of Israel’s   barbarity on Palestinians who were deprived of water, food, medicine  and electricity  and destruction unleashed  exposed its   savage nature. Today Israel and its blind supporter US remain the two most hated   countries in the world.

It was this situation which ,perhaps, forced Netanyahu to agree to peace talks.

The so called  peace talks are unlikely to succeed as US and Israel together with their Arab stooges wanted a corrupt and sellout Palestine Authority type authority to manage Gaza while Hamas , learnt from past experience, wants nothing but a self government run by Palestinians in Gaza.

The ultimate target of US-Europe and Israel is to create Greater Israel which include Gaza, West Bank, part of Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia . In fact US Secretary of State  Anthony Blinken who is more a messenger boy of Israel  than a secretary of state  of the   most  powerful country in the world-  are unlikely to agree to a Palestinian rule in Gaza .

As pointed by columnist As`ad AbuKhalil Israel’s military performance has not been impressive at all. Its forces have committed massacres and crimes of genocide but there are no military victories to speak of and no dismantling of Hamas’ structure.

According to Israeli journalist and author Gideon Levy, “Israel would be delighted to cleanse Gaza of the Palestinian people. The problem is that it is not ethical, not legal, and not practical at the same time.”

Latheef Farook, Senior journalist, is based in Colombo. Sri Lanka

8 July 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Andre Damon

The Lancet, the prestigious peer-reviewed British medical journal, has warned that the true death toll in the Gaza genocide could be 186,000 or more.

This staggering figure amounts to 8 percent of the population of Gaza. A similar percentage of the US population would be 26 million people.

It stands as an indictment of the United States and its imperialist allies, who have funded, armed and politically defended Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

The massive death toll has been made possible by the 14,000 2,000-pound bombs provided by the US to Israel, which it has used not only to massacre tens of thousands but also to destroy all aspects of civilization in Gaza, contributing to the deaths of tens of thousands through malnutrition, communicable diseases and lack of healthcare.

The official death toll since the onset of the Israeli attack, according to Gazan government sources, is 37,396. But The Lancet noted that this figure reflects neither the thousands of people buried under the rubble nor the countless deaths caused by the deliberate destruction of Gaza’s food distribution, healthcare and sanitation systems.

In its report published Friday, titled “Counting the Dead in Gaza: Difficult but Essential,” The Lancet noted:

The number of reported deaths is likely an underestimate. The non-governmental organization Airwars undertakes detailed assessments of incidents in the Gaza Strip and often finds that not all names of identifiable victims are included in the Ministry’s list. Furthermore, the UN estimates that, by Feb. 29, 2024, 35% of buildings in the Gaza Strip had been destroyed, so the number of bodies still buried in the rubble is likely substantial, with estimates of more than 10,000.

The publication further pointed out that “Collecting data is becoming increasingly difficult for the Gaza Health Ministry due to the destruction of much of the infrastructure.”

The report warned:

The total death toll is expected to be large given the intensity of this conflict; destroyed health-care infrastructure; severe shortages of food, water, and shelter; the population’s inability to flee to safe places; and the loss of funding to UNRWA, one of the very few humanitarian organizations still active in the Gaza Strip.

The Lancet noted:

In recent conflicts, such indirect deaths range from three to 15 times the number of direct deaths. Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death 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. Using the 2022 Gaza Strip population estimate of 2,375,259, this would translate to 7.9% of the total population in the Gaza Strip.

The Lancet estimate of a death toll of 186,000 is thus based on two assumptions that would tend to lower the estimated death toll. First, it starts with the government’s reported death toll of 37,396, which does not include those buried under the rubble. Then, it uses a multiple of four to estimate the “indirect” deaths caused by the war, as opposed to the multiple of 15 times the number of “direct deaths” observed in other conflicts.

There are reasons to question the validity of these low assumptions, including the fact that Israeli officials have explicitly stated a goal of killing Palestinian civilians through starvation and disease.

In November, Giora Eiland, the former head of the Israeli National Security Council, published an article in which he urged the Israeli military to create medical conditions that would cause the deaths of as many Gazan civilians as possible from preventable disease.

He wrote:

Who are the “poor” women of Gaza? They are all the mothers, sisters, or wives of Hamas murderers. … The international community warns us of a humanitarian disaster in Gaza and of severe epidemics. We must not shy away from this, as difficult as that may be. After all, severe epidemics in the south of the Gaza Strip will bring victory closer and reduce casualties among IDF soldiers.

This genocidal rhetoric is consistent with the declaration by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant of “a complete siege … no electricity, no water, no food, no fuel. We are fighting human animals, and we act accordingly.”

In a report published last month, the United Nations commission investigating the Gaza genocide declared:

Israel has used starvation as a method of war, affecting the entire population of the Gaza Strip for decades to come, with particularly negative consequences for children.

The UN committee concluded:

At the time of writing this report, children have already died due to acute malnutrition and dehydration. Through the siege it imposed, Israel has weaponized the withholding of life-sustaining necessities, cutting off supplies of water, food, electricity, fuel, and other essential supplies, including humanitarian assistance. This constitutes collective punishment and reprisal against the civilian population, both of which are clear violations of [international humanitarian law].

The Biden administration, in covering up and defending the Gaza genocide, has claimed that the deaths of civilians are an unintended consequence of Israel’s “war against Hamas.” But these claims are belied by the statements of Israeli officials, who have made it clear that they are waging a war of extermination against the civilian population.

In October, Israeli President Isaac Herzog declared:

It’s an entire nation out there that is responsible. It’s not true this rhetoric about civilians not aware, not involved … we will fight until we break their backbone.

That same month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated: “You must remember what Amalek has done to you,” referring to a biblical passage that states, “Go, attack Amalek. … Spare no one, but kill alike men and women, infants, and sucklings.”

The report by The Lancet makes it clear that the Gaza genocide is among the greatest acts of imperialist barbarism in modern history. In under one year, the United States and other imperialist powers have worked with Israel to wipe out close to a tenth of the population of one of the most densely populated urban areas in the world.

This crime is part of a global eruption of imperialist violence, aiming to subjugate the whole world under neo-colonial domination, targeting centrally Russia and China. The massive death toll in Gaza is a warning: Imperialism is prepared to carry out any crime in pursuit of its predatory interests.

The Gaza genocide must be stopped! On July 24, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Washington D.C. to give a progress report to his imperialist paymasters. We call on workers and young people to join the demonstration and meeting in Washington called for that day by the Socialist Equality Party as a critical step in building a mass anti-war movement based on the working class.

8 July 2024

Source: countercurrents.org