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By Dr Marwan Asmar

Much of the information coming out of Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City speak of dark times and ill-will for the people there.

Ever since the Israeli army raided the hospital last week reports have suggested of unspeakable atrocities being made to the doctors, nurses, general staff as well as the thousands of displaced people there who took the hospital as their abode because they have nowhere to go.

Eyewitness accounts are horrifying. Jamila Al-Hisi, a woman besieged in the Al-Shifa Medical Complex and managed to finally get out told Al-Jazeera the Israeli occupation soldiers are raping women and killing them.

Palestinian woman says Israeli forces raped and killed women at al-Shifa hospital

On her exit from Shifa Hospital she said women have been subjected to rape, starvation, torture, and extrajudicial execution, and the @ICRC is doing nothing

“We haven’t found food or water for six days and we appeal to the Red Cross to provide water for the children and the sick,” she said, being forced to drinking dirty water and eat rotten food.

“The occupation has forced 65 families to leave the area around the Al Shifa Medical Complex whilst burning and killing entire families,” adding the “occupation forces burned the building we were barricaded in and we don’t even have water to break our fast and we don’t know where to go.”

Palestinians are being forcibly displaced by Israeli occupation forces from the area surrounding al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza,” Al Hisi added.

The Israelis admit to executing 140 people inside Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza, including paramedics, patients and wounded whilst the siege is still ongoing after seven days with mass arrests.

The Israelis are looking for Hamas fighters and videoclips have shown the sound of gunfire in and around the health complex that have been surrounded by the Israeli tanks and snipers ready to shoot anyone who moves.

Footage have shown the residential areas surrounding the complex have been completely destroyed. They were wrecked before through Israeli bombing but this time around, the soldiers have made sure these neighborhoods are flattened.

But nevertheless, reports show fighting is still going on between the Israeli army and Izz Al Din Al Qassam fighters in between these neighborhoods.

This is while Israeli soldiers have been trigger-happy with the doctors inside the hospital. They’ve killed respected Dr Mohammed Zaher al-Nono refused to leave the hospital and insisted on continuing to treat the wounded. He was shot by the Israeli army forces in front of his patients.

This is in addition to other horrifying footage of the Israelis bombing the Al-Helu Hospital, which is also located near the Al Shifa hospital.

After the bombing patients and the injured were seen emerging from the rubble as the rooms collapsed around them.

The Israeli army wants the displaced people inside the Al Shifa Complex, estimated at 7000 or so to leave the hospital and head south but many say they have nowhere to go, they are tired, hungry and have no money. One is making an appeal on the social media, saying “please someone stop this?”

Dr Marwan Asmar is a journalist from Amman, Jordan

24 March 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak

Rabi Mausa, popularly known as Rabi Narayan Jena, who departed on March 17, 2024, at the age of 79, was a truly unique Gandhian figure. Despite the pervasive influence of mass consumerism, he remained steadfast in his commitment to Gandhian principles, both in his personal conduct and his political endeavours. In a world dominated by market-driven culture, societal pressures, and power politics, Rabi Narayan Jena stood apart, embodying the essence of Gandhian philosophy through his actions. Every aspect of his life reflected his dedication to living a meaningful existence grounded in Gandhian values. He shunned the superficiality of contemporary society, rejecting the allure of self-promotion that often characterises social, political, and professional life. Instead, he quietly dedicated himself to serving the people of Odisha, eschewing the spotlight in favour of genuine, impactful engagement with his community.

Rabi Narayan Jena’s life was a testament to the possibility of an alternative lifestyle, one rooted in simplicity, compassion, and a deep sense of social responsibility. His unwavering commitment to Gandhian socialist ideals serves as an inspiration to all who seek to challenge the status quo and strive for a more equitable and compassionate world. In his passing, we not only mourn the loss of a remarkable individual but also celebrate the enduring legacy of his principles and actions.

Rabi Mausa pioneered a path of selfless social service, devoid of any expectations or personal gain. Unlike many contemporary social workers who seek salaries and recognition within non-governmental and civil society organisations, Rabi Mausa stood apart. For him, social service was not a means of self-promotion, but rather an inherent aspect of his daily existence. His commitment to serving others extended far beyond the confines of his own family. Integrity was the cornerstone of his life, a principle he steadfastly upheld even in the most challenging of circumstances. Never did he compromise his values or principles, remaining resolute in his dedication to the welfare of his community.

Rabi Mausa blazed the trail of social service. His approach to social service serves as a beacon of inspiration in a world often characterised by self-interest and opportunism. His unwavering dedication to the well-being of others, coupled with his unyielding integrity, sets a high standard for all who aspire to make a meaningful difference in the lives of those around them. In his legacy, we find not only a model of selfless service but also a reminder of the profound impact one individual can have when guided by principles of compassion and integrity.

In an era where conversations about sustainability and alternative energy sources dominate discussions on survival of life and planet, Rabi Mausa was a visionary ahead of his time. As early as 1994, he recognized the importance of sustainable energy and took concrete steps to address it. In a bold move, he established a biogas plant right in the backyard of his own home—a pioneering effort that embodied his commitment to a cleaner, greener, and more sustainable future. Rabi Mausa’s biogas plant stood as a beacon of innovation in his village, setting a precedent for environmentally conscious energy solutions in his community. It may very well have been the first of its kind not only in his village but also in the entire block and district. By harnessing the power of biogas, he not only provided his household with a reliable and affordable source of energy but also demonstrated a practical alternative to conventional energy sources that often come at great environmental cost. His forward-thinking approach to energy sustainability serves as a testament to his dedication to practical action in pursuit of a better world. Rabi Mausa’s initiative not only addressed immediate energy needs but also paved the way for greater awareness and adoption of cheap renewable energy technologies in his community. In his pioneering efforts, we find inspiration and a powerful example of how individual action can drive positive change on both local and global scales.

Rabi Mausa’s home in the tranquil village of Taras, nestled in the Rajkanika block of Kendrapada district, Odisha, holds a special place in my memories from my college days. It was a sanctuary I often sought refuge in, a haven of simplicity and warmth amidst the bustling chaos of crisis ridden student life. Whenever I visited him, Rabi Mausa graciously welcomed me into his humble abode, offering simple yet delicious meals prepared with love and care. What struck me most about Rabi Mausa was his unwavering kindness and inclusivity. Despite our differing affiliations—I with the SFI and his sons with the ABVP—he never once let these differences cloud our interactions. He treated me with the same warmth and respect that he bestowed upon his own sons, embodying a rare sense of egalitarianism that is increasingly scarce in today’s world. As a true democrat, he did not domesticate his sons with his ideological worldviews, he allowed his sons to flourish and follow their own path in their personal and political life. Over the years, from 1994 to 2013, I had the privilege of meeting Rabi Mausa on several occasions, and each time, his love, affection, and genuine concern for others remained steadfast. His consistent and unwavering display of compassion and empathy left an indelible mark on me, shaping my own egalitarian ideals and worldview.

With his passing, I not only mourn the loss of a well-wisher, but also recognise the void left by the departure of an ideological beacon. Rabi Mausa was more than just a citizen of Odisha; he was a symbol of unwavering idealism and Gandhian values in contemporary times. His legacy will continue to inspire generations to come, serving as a guiding light for those who seek to emulate his compassion, integrity, and unwavering commitment to social justice. In his death, Odisha—and indeed, the world—has lost a true visionary with Gandhian values and champion of humanity.

The life and legacies of Rabi Mausa as a silent Gandhian survives in our memories.

Bhabani Shankar Nayak works as  Professor of Business Management, Guildhall School of Business and Law, London Metropolitan University, UK.

23 March 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Marwan Asmar

‘No stone is unturned’: The Israelis are determined to make the lives of the Palestinians of Gaza into a living hell

When the Israeli army left Hamad City, they totally destroyed it. A plush city, north of Khan Younis and built with hundreds of millions of dollars from Qatar starting 2015, it was raised to the ground.

Through Israeli bombardment its blocks of residential towers, shops, parks and recreational grounds were turned into rubble by vicious missiles.

It was a map of well-thought out and planned Israeli destruction as the videoclips amply demonstrate. The once-smart city was turned into a mass wreckage not fit for anybody.

When citizens came back after the Israeli army pulled out, they were shocked to find there was nothing left of their apartments. They have all been bombed and destroyed.

“Will anybody find me a tent?” one returning resident cried out. In reality, and even if a tent was found, there was no place to hoist it, because of the vast extent of the debris, wreckage and ruin.

According to UNRWA, the amount of concrete pulverized into rubble in Gaza today stands at 23,000 because of the extent of Israel bombing.

A lot of planning went into developing what was to become a smart city and probably the only one of its kind in Gaza.

One wrote: A smart sustainable city is one that uses the technology to transform its core systems and optimize the exploitation of limited resources based on a knowledge-based system that provides real-time insights to stakeholders.

It was built this way because of the challenges facing the cities of the Gaza including factors of population growth, lack of resources and limited space, he added.

💢 Destruction after withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Hamad neighbourhood of Khan Younis city in Gaza Strip pic.twitter.com/euXKz8g3F0

— AboSalem (@emad_salem21) March 14, 2024

Hamad City was developed in phases. Its first phase become operational in 2016 when over 1000 families were housed in a new state-of-the art 3000-apartment complex. These are of course now, destroyed.

The Israeli war machine destroyed these and the 40-plus towers that were subsequently built, proudly called the Hamad towers.

Bissan Oweda, a blogger in Gaza, wrote these were supposed to be the safest in the entirety of the 365-kilometer Strip but no more.

“As we enter Hamad City we find, great, great destruction around us,” said Mohammad Salameh, a blogger. In the videoclip we see people entering the city on foot with total destruction around underpinned by gouged debris.

“The enemy is still on the outskirts of the city, but as we look around us, there is nothing that can be said is inhabitable, its total destruction, we can now see the sound of gunfire in an intense manner suggesting there might still be Israeli bulldozers,” he added.

The mounts of debris, rubble and wreckage of buildings gets not only worse but is also horrific.

In one video an ambulance is shown trying to drive through the roads of the city trying to pick up the martyrs shot by the Israelis, few here, few there. Where do you start and where do you end?

In one case, the Palestinian ambulancemen picked up 15 bodies scattered throughout the city after they were shot by Israeli snipers. They were seen being put in the ambulance to be transported to the Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Dier Al Balah in central Gaza.

This is the second time the city had been targeted. This time, the Israeli army really destroyed everything around.

The first time was in early December 2023 when Israeli planes began to destroy the city and take down its towers one-by-one. “Bombs slammed into the pale apartment blocks one by one, reducing them largely to rubble and sending a huge pall of black smoke into the sky, as people fled and cries of ‘help!’ and ‘ambulance!’ rang out,” AFP reported.

The once beautiful housing project was turned into a bloody nightmare.

Marwan Asmar is a writer based in Amman, focusing on Middle East affairs

23 March 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Andre Damon

On Friday, the United Nations Security Council failed to pass a resolution sponsored by the United States that was absurdly proclaimed by the US media as a “ceasefire” resolution.

In fact, the resolution would have given the UN’s imprimatur to the US-Israeli genocide in Gaza, specifying conditions for “ongoing and future operations” by the Israeli military.

The resolution linked any “ceasefire” with the achievement of Israel’s stated war aims, effectively restating the declaration by US President Joe Biden during the State of the Union address earlier this month that a ceasefire could be achieved by Hamas “laying down arms.”

Indeed, in motivating the resolution, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said its aim was to “put pressure on Hamas,” not Israel.

In explaining Algeria’s vote against the resolution, Amar Bendjama, Algeria’s representative to the UN, said the resolution “implies a license for continuing bloodshed.”

He noted, “The text presented today does not convey a clear message of peace. It tacitly allows for continuing civilian casualties and lacks clear safeguards to prevent further escalation.

“It is a laissez-passer to continuing killing of Palestinian civilians,” Bendjama explained. “The emphasis on measures to reduce civilian harm from ongoing and future operations implies a license for continuing bloodshed.”

Algeria was joined by China and Russia, which both vetoed the resolution.

The Israeli government, which has repeatedly denounced the United Nations for its officials’ criticism of the genocide, fully endorsed the United States’ resolution.

“The American resolution, should it have passed, would have marked a moment of morality for the UN,” Israeli UN envoy Gilad Erdan said, praising the US’s willingness to “condemn the Hamas monsters.”

He added, “Yet sadly, for purely political reasons, this resolution did not pass, and terrorists can continue benefiting from this Council whitewashing their crimes.”

Erdan then launched into a tirade of genocide denial, absurdly proclaiming that universally-recognized statistics about the civilian death toll are made up and that no one is starving in Gaza.

The Israeli delegate condemned the “libelous narrative of famine in Gaza,” proclaiming absurdly, “There is absolutely no limit that Israel places on humanitarian aid entering Gaza.”

He claimed the allegations by the UN of mass deaths in Gaza were a fraud, declaring that “Numbers [of civilian casualties] supplied by the terrorists are thrown around and quoted as if they are [the] Word of God. Yet, in essence, these numbers are merely the lies of Hamas that the UN is so quick to parrot.

“Israel has taken steps that no other military in any other conflict has ever taken, all in order to mitigate civilian casualties,” he said.

He concluded by reiterating Israel’s determination to assault the southern Gazan city of Rafah, where over 1 million Palestinian refugees are sheltering. “The fire will grow again and spread. This is what will happen without an operation in Rafah. Israel sees no alternative. The road to a permanent ceasefire passes through Rafah.”

In response to the veto of its resolution by Russia and China, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield used language essentially identical to that of Israel, claiming that those countries “refuse to condemn Hamas.”

“Russia and China refuse to condemn Hamas, from burning people alive to gunning down innocent civilians at a concert, to raping women and girls, to taking hundreds of people hostage.”

Thomas-Greenfield expressed her determination to veto any call for a genuine ceasefire, declaring, “So if that alternative resolution comes up for a vote and does not support the diplomacy happening on the ground, we may once again find this council deadlocked.”

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Friday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his latest visit to Israel. Following the meeting, Netanyahu doubled down on his declaration that Israel will assault Rafah.

“We have no way to defeat Hamas without going into Rafah and eliminating the rest of the battalions there,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “And I told him that I hope we will do it with the support of the US. But if we must, we will do it alone.”

The discussions on the next stage of the genocide between Netanyahu and Blinken took place amid ongoing famine and mass murder in Gaza. Earlier this week, Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, implied that Israel is deliberately starving the population.

“The extent of Israel’s continued restrictions on the entry of aid into Gaza, together with the manner in which it continues to conduct hostilities, may amount to the use of starvation as a method of war, which is a war crime,” he said.

A separate report published Tuesday by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) partnership, the official global body designating starvation, found that “famine is imminent,” with a “major acceleration of deaths and malnutrition.”

The IPC assessment notes that 1.1 million people are expected to face catastrophic levels of hunger and risk famine in Gaza, the highest number of people in that category ever recorded since the beginning of the current classification system.

Israel’s siege of Al-Shifa Hospital continued for a fifth day, with more than 160 people killed and 600 arrested, including medical staff. Earlier this week, the Euro-Med Monitor human rights organization reported that Israel has been carrying out mass summary executions at the hospital.

On Friday, Gaza’s Health Ministry said the official death toll from the genocide stands at 32,070; once the missing are added to that toll, the number increases to over 40,000.

The same day, Al Jazeera published video footage of one of the daily massacres that occur in Gaza, showing a group of four young unarmed men walking down a road being blown up by a series of drone strikes.

Al Jazeera reported that Israeli drones have been hovering over Rafah non-stop, leading to panic as the 1.2 million refugees crowded into the city expect an imminent attack.

23 March 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Dr Ramzy Baroud

When the foreign policy of a country as large and significant as the United States is governed by a case of cognitive dissonance, terrible things happen.

These terrible things are, in fact, already taking place in the Gaza Strip, where well over 100,000 people have been killed, wounded or are missing, and an outright famine is currently ravaging the displaced population.

From the start of the war on October 7, the US mishandled the situation, although recent reports indicate that Biden, despite his old age, has read the overall meaning of the October 7 events correctly.

According to the Axios news website, Biden had argued in a meeting with special counsel, Robert Hur, on October 8 that the ‘Israel thing’ – Hamas attack and the Israeli war on Gaza – “has changed it all”.

By ‘change it all’, he was referring to the fact that the outcome of these events combined will “determine what the next six, seven decades look like”.

Biden is not wrong. Indeed, everything that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government and war council have done in Gaza point to a similar Israeli reading of the significance of the ‘world-altering’ events.

Netanyahu has proven his willingness to carry out genocide and starve millions of Palestinians because he still feels that the superior firepower of the Israeli army is able to turn back the clock, and restore Israel’s military standing, geopolitical influence and global position.

He is wrong, and over five months of war and senseless killing continue to demonstrate this claim.

But the American political gamble in the Middle East and the global repercussions of Washington’s self-defeating foreign policy makes far less sense.

Considering Washington’s historic support for Israel, the US’ behavior in the early days of the war was hardly a surprise.

The US quickly mobilized behind Netanyahu’s war cabinet, sent aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean, indicating the US is ready for a major regional conflict.

Media reports began speaking of US military involvement, specifically through the Delta Force, although the Pentagon claimed that the 2,000 US soldiers were not deployed to fight in Gaza itself.

If it was not obvious that the US was a direct partner in the war, US mainstream media reports ended any doubt. On March 6, The Washington Post reported that “the United States has quietly approved and delivered more than 100 separate foreign military sales to Israel since the Gaza war began”.

With time, however, US foreign policy regarding Gaza became even more perplexing.

Though in the early weeks of the war-turned-genocide, Biden questioned the death toll estimates produced by the Gaza Ministry of Health, the casualties count was no longer in doubt later on.

Asked on February 29 about the number of women and children killed by Israel during the war, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin answered without hesitation: “It’s over 25,000”.

Yet, the numbers are in constant growth, as well as US shipments of weapons to Israel. “We continue to support Israel with their self-defense needs. That’s not going to change,” John Kirby, US National Security Advisor, told ABC News on March 14.

This particular statement is worth a pause, since it came after many media leaks regarding Biden’s frustration, in fact, outright anger in the way that Netanyahu is handling the war.

ABC News reported early February that Biden has been “venting his frustration” over his administration’s “inability to persuade Israel to change its military tactics in Gaza”. Netanyahu, the outlet quoted Biden as saying, is “giving him hell”.

This is consistent with other recent reports, including one by Politico, claiming that Biden has privately “called the Israeli prime minister a ‘bad f*cking guy’”, also over his Gaza war stance.

Yet, Netanyahu remains emboldened to the extent that he appeared in a Fox News interview on March 11, openly speaking about ‘disagreements’, not only between Biden and Netanyahu’s governments, but between the US President “and the entire Israeli people.”

It is glaringly obvious that, without continued US military and other forms of support, Israel would have not been able to sustain its war on the Palestinians for more than a few weeks, thus sparing the lives of thousands of people.

Moreover, the US has served as Israel’s vanguard against the vast majority of world governments who, daily, demand immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Strip. If it were not for repeated US vetoes at the UN Security Council, a resolution demanding a ceasefire would have been surely passed.

Despite this unconditional support, the US is struggling to stave off a wider regional conflict, which is already threatening its political standing in the Middle East.

Therefore, Biden wants to regain the initiative by renewing discussions – though without commitment to real action – about a two-state solution and the future of Gaza.

Netanyahu is disinterested in these matters since his single greatest political achievement, from the viewpoint of his rightwing constituency, is that he has completely frozen any discussions on a political horizon in Palestine. For Netanyahu, losing the war means the unceremonious return to the old American political framework of the so-called “peace process”.

The embattled Israeli Prime Minister also knows that ending the war would constitute an end to his own government coalition, mostly sustained by far-right extremists like Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. To achieve these self-serving goals, the Israeli leader is willing to sustain a clearly losing war.

Though Biden has completely “lost faith in Netanyahu”, according to the Associated Press, he continues to support Israel without openly questioning the disastrous outcomes of the war, not just on the Palestinian people, but also on the region and the world, including his own country.

Americans, especially those in Biden’s Democratic Party, must continue to increase their pressure on their administration so that it resolves its cognitive dissonance in Palestine. Biden must not be allowed to play this deadly balancing act, privately demanding for the war to stop, while openly funding the Israeli war machine.

Though the majority of Americans already feel that way, Biden and his government are yet to receive the message. How many more Palestinians would have to die for Biden to hear the chants of the people, ‘Ceasefire now’?

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

21 March 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

 

By Dr Marwan Asmar

The world waits in shock and awe as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes good on his promise to enter the beleaguered Rafah. 

With his incessant insistence, he keeps repeating not entering the city means Israel has lost the war in Gaza. But this is gross simplification because Israel has destroyed and wrecked about 80 percent of the Strip, killed under 32,000, injured over 72000 civilians and displaced 1.9 million of its people.

But despite international and White House uproar about that, fearing there would be a civilian bloodbath, Netanyahu is not listening. He says Israel has destroyed three quarters of Hamas and there is still the last quarter in Rafah.

Delusional

Two things stand out here: The man is clearly delusional. According to American intelligence only 35 percent of Hamas infrastructure has been destroyed despite the mass bombing that equal four times the size of the Hiroshima bomb. The other point is that Netanyahu is facing domestic and international pressure.

This is indeed an understatement for US president Joe Biden has tried all things to put the brakes on the Israeli military onslaught termed as genocide and ethnic cleansing under the eyes of the international community. Biden is now increasing the pressure on Netanyahu, mildly threatening him not to send in troops to Rafah because of the 1.4 million civilians already assembled there as ordered by Israeli military firepower from the air.

Dual role

But on the face of it, Netanyahu doesn’t appear to be listening for the White House is stocking up Israel with military procurement and naval shipments and has been doing so for the last six months with hundreds of thousands of tons of military hardware. Biden is seen as a conspirator in this genocide on Gaza. If he really wants to have any teeth he must stop supplying these arms.

But to placate everyone in the international community and just maybe the Arab and Muslim worlds, however, he and his White House officials are seeking of what can be termed a ‘dual role’ that include portraying themselves as peacemakers who want a “genuine” deal on Gaza.

And the heat is still on. The Democrats majority leader Chuck Schumer in the US Senate, has expressed Washington’s annoyance with Netanyahu clearly, effectively saying the Israeli government has outstayed itself and must go.

Domestic pressure 

Netanyahu is also facing two types of domestic pressure from the relatives of the hostages – with 136 remaining – although the number could be dwindling because of the ongoing Israeli bombing of the Palestinian enclave. The relatives say he must reach a deal with Hamas for the release of the hostages but Netanyahu is foot-dragging, speaking of Israeli security as vital with the illusive goal of crushing Hamas.

The relatives feel the current bombing of Gaza, including the expected military onslaught on Rafah will only lead to dangerous escalation and ruin the chances of getting the hostages alive. Hamas has already stated about 70 of the hostages have been killed through deadly Israeli fire.

Domestic pressure is also coming from the military members of the Israeli war cabinet, principally from the chief of staff Herzi Halevi and military-general-turned-politician Gadi Eisenkot. They are not happy with Netanyahu for different reasons. While Eisenkot fears for the hostages Halevi has military reasons.

Army fatigue

He is concerned that the Israeli military needs more time to make a strategic move on Rafah. He fears the army is experiencing fatigue because its soldiers and officers have been fighting Palestinian resistance fighters right across the Gaza Strip. They are being battered by the Palestinian resistance, losing lots of infantry and military hardware including 1000s of troop carriers, tanks and bulldozers at astronomical costs in the billions of dollars.

Off course, the number of troop losses is being played down with Israeli army PR men messaging the figures and drastically reducing the number of deaths and injured in their ranks. But nevertheless, the real losses are far higher according to American military intelligence and echoed willingly in the Israeli media.

Such figures were reiterated recently by Jordanian Major-General Abdullah Shdeifat, an ex-deputy chief of staff. He said the real Israeli army losses stand at 14,500 officers and soldiers killed since 7 October, adding these are based on US intelligence while the number of injured stand at 45600 including 15000 with amputated limbs.

Huge losses

Shdeifat added these figures – in addition to the tens of thousands seeking psychological help in public hospitals – are forcing Netanyahu back to the negotiating table where there is presently an Israeli team in Doha, Qatar trying to reach a deal with Hamas over the hostages.

But such prospects are said to be dim for Hamas want a permanent ceasefire while the Israelis want a temporary arrangement to get their hostages freed. Hamas members are saying a permanent ceasefire or no deal; they won’t be trapped and the Israeli military machine has to stop.

So, all these issues may be forcing Netanyahu’s hand to delay waging a ground troops onslaught on Rafah and/or backing down from the expected invasion altogether. But Netanyahu doesn’t want to lose the extremists Smotrich/Ben Gvir axes lest his government is certain to fall. But at the same time, he is paying lip service to the army generals and the Americans.

After all, the Israeli army is daily striking the neighborhoods of Rafah, different parts of the south as well as different areas of the enclave in the center and the north of Gaza. They are going ahead with their genocide without necessarily having to wage another deadly war on Rafah.

Marwan Asmar is a writer based in Amman covering Middle East affairs.

21 March 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Andre Damon

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) engaged in summary mass executions of civilians during a raid on Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza this week, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said Wednesday.

The raid has killed at least 100 people, “many of whom were victims of extrajudicial executions after their arrest,” the human rights group said. Dozens more were detained, beaten and tortured.

Based on interviews with survivors who were detained and tortured at the hospital, Euro-Med said that Israeli forces had been carrying executions for three days in a row.

One detainee, identified as MK, told Euro-Med, “The soldiers detained me and handcuffed me in the hospital courtyard; I was left undressed for more than nine hours.” He reported that soldiers repeatedly took prisoners into the morgue, then gunshots were heard, and the soldiers returned without the prisoners.

“About four times during that period, I saw soldiers lead groups of detainees—[always] at least three people and [never] more than 10—into the hospital buildings, particularly the morgue building where bodies had previously been kept,” he said. “Gunshots were heard, with the soldiers then leaving the area to bring another group there.”

Another witness, who asked to remain completely anonymous, said, according to Euro-Med, that he “witnessed Israeli forces taking eight or 10 Palestinian civilians at a time towards the morgue area. He then heard heavy gunfire, and the Israeli forces later left without the civilians.”

Commenting on the victim’s account, Euro-Med said, “These civilians were likely subjected to unlawful killings and executions.”

The Israeli military claimed to have “eliminated” 90 “terrorists” during the raid on Al-Shifa Hospital, the Gaza Strip’s largest medical facility. “Over the past day, the troops have eliminated terrorists and located weapons in the hospital area,” the IDF said in a statement.

Among those detained, tortured, and stripped naked were medical personnel at the hospital.

Emergency surgeon Mads Gilbert, who previously worked at Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital, said colleagues described torture by Israeli forces.

“Medical staff have been arrested and left for hours in the cold,” Gilbert said. “Some were forced to leave the hospital and taken to unknown places. Others were displaced to the south half naked.”

He concluded, “One doctor was shot in the chest when he followed the orders to leave the hospital and later went into surgery at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital.” He added that the Israeli military does not differentiate “between fighters and medical staff, patients and refugees.”

As a result of the raid, Al-Shifa Hospital was again taken out of commission, further threatening the lives of the population of northern Gaza, where epidemic disease is running rampant amid the absence of food and drinking water, which is being blocked by Israel.

Journalists were also tortured at the hospital. CNN reported that IDF forces detained, blindfolded and stripped journalists from Al Jazeera and left them in the hospital yard in the cold.

Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul and his team were arrested for 12 hours and “severely beaten” by Israeli forces.

Al Jazeera journalist Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Rafah, said al-Ghoul was “tortured, beaten and detained by the Israeli military along with his crew member on the ground.”

Since October 7, there have been 410 attacks on healthcare facilities in Gaza, according to the World Health Organization. “Attacks have resulted in 685 fatalities, 902 injuries, damage to 99 facilities and affected 104 ambulances,” the WHO said in a statement on Twitter.

Meanwhile, famine continues to spread throughout the Gaza Strip. A report by the World Bank published Wednesday found that 1.1 million people in Gaza are at the highest risk of famine—classified as a “catastrophe”—while another 854,000 are facing an “emergency.”

“The situation in the Gaza Strip has reached catastrophic levels,” according to the World Bank’s report.

None of the population of Gaza falls into the lower two categories of food insecurity.

“Household surveys reveal alarming trends, with virtually all households skipping meals daily and a significant portion of children under two suffering from acute malnutrition,” the report concluded.

In a statement Wednesday, Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees, said, “Siege, hunger & diseases will soon become the main killer in #Gaza.”

Between March 19 and March 20, 104 Palestinians were killed in Gaza, bringing the official death toll to 31,923. Once the missing are added, the effective death toll since October exceeds 40,000.

A critical element of Israel’s deliberate mass starvation of the population of Gaza has been the deliberate targeting of aid workers. Gaza’s government media office said Wednesday that over 100 aid workers had been killed over the past week in eight separate attacks. The aim of these attacks was, according to Gaza’s government media office, to “perpetuate the policy of starvation and deepen famine on a broader scale.”

Meanwhile, the Israeli government continues to openly advocate for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. In a statement to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Israeli parliament, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speculated that the port being constructed by the United States in Gaza, nominally to provide food aid, could be used to deport Palestinians.

“There is no obstacle for the Gazans to leave, maybe even the port they are building could be used for this, but there are no countries in the world that are ready to receive them,” Netanyahu said, according to a report by a journalist for the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation.

Despite verbal criticism of Netanyahu by President Joe Biden, the United States continues to insist that there are “no red lines” for the types of war crimes that Israel is allowed to commit, and continues to provide funding and weapons for the ongoing genocide as part of its broader military offensive throughout the region targeting Iran.

21 March 2024

Source: countercurrents.org

By Michel Chossudovsky

Moscow’s Terror Explosion, Macron’s NATO Troops to Ukraine

Peter Koenig

Automatic gun-shooting by five men in black took place Friday evening 22 March in the Crocus City Concert Hall, attached to a shopping mall, at the outskirts of Moscow. The terror attack preceded a concert. The hall was therefore crowded with people, panicking for leaving it. The assault was followed by a massive explosion.

The official fatality as of 23 March stands at 133. Dozens of people were injured.

The Islamic State (IS) – a CIA creation – claimed credit for the attack.

However, the political end of this attack is more complex.

On March 7, 2024, the US Embassy in Russia warned Moscow that a terror attack may take place in Moscow within the next few weeks. No further details.

Is it one of the now fashionable “predictive planning” stunts?

On the same day, the same US Embassy in Moscow warned US citizens in Moscow not to visit shopping malls. How much did the US know?

Speculations abound. Was this an empty warning to destabilize Russia and Russian elections?

Or was it one more provocation to pull Russia into a larger conflict?

On the day of the attack, John Kirby, spokesman for National Security at the White House said in a Press Conference that there were no indications that Ukraine had anything to do with the attack. In early March Washington just had some indications that a terror assault may hit Moscow.

“Some indications”? Why then the warning on the same 7 March to US citizens in Moscow not to visit any shopping malls?

It could not be more obvious that a hidden agenda is being played by Washington – and, may be added, by NATO and Europe?

Whether the Islamic State (ISIL), Al Qaeda or another CIA / MI6 terror creation – or even Kiev directly — was involved in this mass-killing is irrelevant, because whoever acted, did so on behalf of US / NATO and the West’s “Classe politique”. 

It is no coincidence that French President Macron practically simultaneously sends officially 2,000 French NATO troops to Ukraine. “Officially”, because western / NATO military advisers, trainers and coaches for Kiev’s Nazi-military have been in Kiev for quite a while.

Polish Foreign Minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, has called it an open secret that Western soldiers are in Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said, “there are already some troops from big countries in Ukraine.” See this.

133 dead in Moscow concert attack, 4 arrested

Crossing Russia’s Redline

This is clearly the crossing of President Putin’s Red Line. Mr. Macron knows it, those who mandate the crossing of the Red Line, like the WEF and those dark Deep State Cult forces behind the WEF, know it – and Moscow knows that they know it.

Is it a provocation to pull Moscow into a hot war?

And the Moscow Concert Hall assault being a doubling-up of the Red-Line crossing?

This happening in the Ides of March, and just ten days after the confirmed landslide re-election of President Putin on 17 March 2024.

The Ides of March

Ides of March is the day in the ancient Roman calendar that falls approximately on Mid-March and is associated with misfortune and doom.

The date is also known as the date on which Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC.

Most US wars were initiated in March. Has it become a symbolic cult ritual of the west?

“With the exception of the War on Afghanistan (October 2001) and the 1990-91 Gulf War, all major US-NATO and allied led military operations over a period of more than half a century –since the invasion of Vietnam by US ground forces on March 8, 1965– have been initiated in the month of March.”

(See: The Pentagon’s “Ides of March 2024”: Best Month to Go to War?, by Michel Chossudovsky, March 01, 2024

It would perfectly fit into the Death Cult of the Great Reset (WEF) and the UN Agenda 2030, which are currently plaguing humanity – worldwide.

There are other “non-coincidences”: Yugoslavia

The 24 March 2024 is the 25^th anniversary of the 1999 US-NATO assault on Yugoslavia (Ides of March) – currently being commemorated by a two-day Conference 23-24 March 2024, in Belgrade.

The destruction and dismembering of Yugoslavia were also planned by a long hand.

After Josip Tito’s death in May 1980 (he served in several leadership positions of Yugoslavia from 1943-1980), there were some lesser communist successors, who were vulnerable to western / NATO “pressures”, and let what was a solid Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) deteriorate, western-style.

In 1990 Slobodan Milošević, President of Serbia became de facto President of the SFR Yugoslavia attempting to hold the federation together – which in the ten years after President Tito’s departure was financially destabilized by the west. In the 1990s the SFR Yugoslavia was one of the first “cases” where the World Bank, IMF Washington Consensus was applied full-scale – indebting to destabilize, create internal unrest – and divide.

Mr. Milošević was captured, detained at the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) prison in The Hague. He was poisoned on March 11, 2006 in his prison cell – shortly before his scheduled appearance at the International Criminal Tribunal on Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Once divided with constant civil unrest, there was “justification” for western rescue, i.e., bombing Yugoslavia literally into bits and pieces – leaving what we have today, numerous so-called independent former Yugoslavian Federal States – being economically and with “sanctions” controlled by the west.

Yugoslavia: “Dress Rehearsal”?

Imagine: The world’s biggest riches in the world’s largest country, absorbed or subdued by the (still) wannabe US Empire – and its European vassals.

It looks like the West wants a hot war with Russia, come hell or high water.

Yes, it would be hell for Europe – for the third time in just over 100 years, and three-times for the same purpose – taking control of Russia, WWI, WWII and now WWIII?

A war – possibly nuclear – of which nobody can predict the outcome. As President Putin repeatedly said – there will be no winners, just absolute destruction.

Under no circumstances will Russia allow a take-over by an arrogant, criminal west. With Russian military’s far-superiority over US and NATO forces, this will not happen.

In the current Middle-East scenario, western leaders are supporting and funding the Israeli-Zionists, literally destroying and mass-killing – wiping out – Palestine, depicting an arrogance blinded by the zest for illimited might, possibly driving humanity into a bottomless abyss.

A cleansing of this genocidal western “superiority” may bring birth of a new civilization – an evolution to a more spiritual and less material humanity.

Peter Koenig, March 25, 2024

Peter Koenig is a geopolitical analyst and a former Senior Economist at the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), where he worked for over 30 years around the world. He lectures at universities in the US, Europe and South America. He writes regularly for online journals and is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed; and co-author of Cynthia McKinney’s book “When China Sneezes: From the Coronavirus Lockdown to the Global Politico-Economic Crisis” (Clarity Press – November 1, 2020).

Peter is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). He is also a non-resident Senior Fellow of the Chongyang Institute of Renmin University, Beijing.

What is the Islamic State (ISIL, ISIS-Daesh)? Who is Behind It?

As outlined by Peter Koenig, five Islamic State gunmen (ISIL) waged a brutal terror attack on Moscow’s Crocus City Concert Hall attached to a shopping mall, at the outskirts of Moscow, followed by an explosion.

“The Islamic State (IS) claimed credit for the attack.”

The Islamic State or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) happens to be a creation of the CIA, affiliated to Al Qaeda.

The Islamic State (ISIL) was originally an Al Qaeda affiliated entity created by US intelligence with the support of Britain’s MI6, Israel’s Mossad, Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Saudi Arabia’s General Intelligence Presidency (GIP), Ri’āsat Al-Istikhbārāt Al-’Āmah ( رئاسة الاستخبارات العامة‎). (Michel Chossudovsky)

The US has supported Al Qaeda and its affiliated organizations including ISIL for almost half a century since the heyday of the Soviet Afghan war. 

The ISIL brigades were involved in the US-NATO supported insurgency in Syria directed against the government of  Bashar al Assad.

Obama’s 2014 “War” against ISIL-ISIS-Daesh

The counter-terrorism mandate was FAKE. America is the Number One “State Sponsor of Terrorism”.  

It was an outright act of war in disguise. It consisted  in providing a justification for the extensive bombing of Iraq and Syria, largely targeting residential areas and civilians.

In turn, ISIS-Daesh was covertly supported and funded by the U.S. and its allies including Israel.

Israel was directly involved in President Obama’s “counter-terrorism” bombing raids directed against Syria, while also supporting Al Qaeda and ISIS mercenaries out of the Golan Heights.

Going after ” Islamic terrorists”, carrying out a worldwide pre-emptive war to “Protect the American Homeland” are used to justify a military agenda.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is a creation of US intelligence. Washington’s “Counter-terrorism Agenda” in Iraq and Syria consists in Supporting the Terrorists.

The incursion of the Islamic State (IS) brigades into Iraq starting in June 2014 was part of a carefully planned military-intelligence operation supported covertly by the US, NATO and Israel.

The counter-terrorism mandate is a fiction. America is the Number One “State Sponsor of Terrorism” 

The Islamic State is protected by the US and its allies.

See Video. Michel Chossudovsky at 8’36’’ pertaining to the Toyota ISIL-ISIS-Daesh Convoy

International Conference The “New World Order” – Session 1

If they had wanted to eliminate the Islamic State brigades, they could have “carpet bombed” their convoys of Toyota pickup trucks when they crossed the desert from Syria into Iraq in June 2014

It could not have been undertaken without the unbending support of  the Western media which has upheld Obama’s initiative as a counter-terrorism operation rather than “an act of war” 

Michel Chossudovsky is an award-winning author, Professor of Economics (emeritus) at the University of Ottawa, Founder and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), Montreal, Editor of Global Research.

Source: michelchossudovsky.substack.com

The United States, after vetoing earlier resolutions, abstained.

The resolution passed after the United States abstained from voting. The cease-fire would last for the month of Ramadan. Andrew Kelly/Reuters

The United Nations Security Council on Monday passed a resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, breaking a five-month impasse during which the United States vetoed several calls for ending the war, while the humanitarian toll of Israel’s military offensive climbed higher.

The resolution passed with 14 votes in favor. The United States abstained, allowing the resolution to pass. The chamber broke into applause after the vote.

By YOUSEF ALJAMAL

Ahmad Alhaaj, a 90-year old Palestinian, was displaced from his village of Al-Sawafir Al-Sharqiya at gunpoint by a Zionist militia in 1948. He lived his entire life in a rental house in the hope that he would one day return, but passed away on January 17 in the north of Gaza under Israel’s siege.

Alhaaj was among the 70% of Palestinians, including my family, who remain refugees of the 1947 – 1948 war. The UN created the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in 1949 to support those refugees, after Israel refused to implement UN Resolution 194 mandating Palestinian refugees’ return and it became clear to the world that the their plight would not end soon. Today, 4.7 million refugees like Alhaaj turn to the UNRWA for basic necessities like shelter, food and education. I attended UNRWA schools, and without the free access to schooling and healthcare UNRWA gave me and my family, I would not be holding a PhD today.

The agency is now under a fierce attack by the Israeli government, which aims to dismantle it based on allegations that Israeli intelligence has so far failed to prove.

It is no surprise that the Israeli government launched this latest attack on UNRWA, an agency it has long smeared as an arm of Hamas. It wants to eradicate UNRWA because it sustains millions of refugees who are living on Israel’s doorstep and demanding the right to return — or, in the words of the Israeli foreign minister to the UN, because UNRWA ​“perpetuates the refugee problem.”

The Israeli government claims that a dozen UNRWA employees played a role in Hamas’ October 7 attacks. Once Israel officially announced the accusations on January 26, countries such as the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom rushed to suspend their funds to UNRWA. These countries didn’t stop their arms to Israel, however, when the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled on the same day that Israel is plausibly engaging in genocide in the Gaza Strip.

The way these countries jumped to cut UNRWA aid, even before investigating the Israeli government’s claims, suggest that they did so under Israeli pressure. According to news outlets that obtained copies of an Israeli intelligence dossier shared with donor nations, the dossier contained no evidence, only allegations. UNRWA says some of its employees were forced to confess to taking part in the attacks. A UN investigation has released no findings yet.

YOUSEF ALJAMAL holds a doctorate in Middle Eastern Studies. He is a Palestinian refugee from Gaza and is a senior non-resident scholar at the Hashim Sani Center for Palestine Studies, University of Malaya, Malaysia.

21 March 2024

Source: inthesetimes.com