D
Deleted member 7164
Guest
That was very fucked up, I've read about it and seen the guy writing about his experiences first hand.
The Israel-Palestine conflict
- Thread starter ____no5
- Start date
Forostar
Ancient Mariner
Fucking hell. The man who saved the Canadian, was shot in the chest an hour later. And died.
This account is enraging. And I ab-so-lute-ly do not feel burdened to show my disgust over the deeds done by these bastards. Defense my fucking butt. They're sadist murderers without conscience.
"As Palestinians vow to continue protesting against the Israeli occupation of Gaza, we speak to a Canadian doctor who was shot by Israeli forces in both legs Monday while he was helping injured Palestinians. Israeli forces shot dead at least 61 unarmed Palestinian protesters taking part in the Great March of Return Monday, including one doctor. Canada, Britain, Germany, Ireland and Belgium have called for an investigation into the killings. The United Nations Human Rights Council has announced that it will hold a special session Friday to discuss escalating violence in Gaza. We speak with Dr. Tarek Loubani, an emergency room medical doctor, one of 19 medical personnel shot in Gaza on Monday. Loubani is an associate professor at Western University in London, Ontario. He is a Palestinian refugee and a member of the Glia Project creating open-source medical devices for low-resource settings."
This account is enraging. And I ab-so-lute-ly do not feel burdened to show my disgust over the deeds done by these bastards. Defense my fucking butt. They're sadist murderers without conscience.
I do give a shit. And I assume you ąre going to be silent for a while now that you know what really happened.
"As Palestinians vow to continue protesting against the Israeli occupation of Gaza, we speak to a Canadian doctor who was shot by Israeli forces in both legs Monday while he was helping injured Palestinians. Israeli forces shot dead at least 61 unarmed Palestinian protesters taking part in the Great March of Return Monday, including one doctor. Canada, Britain, Germany, Ireland and Belgium have called for an investigation into the killings. The United Nations Human Rights Council has announced that it will hold a special session Friday to discuss escalating violence in Gaza. We speak with Dr. Tarek Loubani, an emergency room medical doctor, one of 19 medical personnel shot in Gaza on Monday. Loubani is an associate professor at Western University in London, Ontario. He is a Palestinian refugee and a member of the Glia Project creating open-source medical devices for low-resource settings."
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____no5
Free Man
Regarding what is happening in Gaza, it looks as if Western leaders have received instructions not to say the word "ceasefire". Humanitarian pause seems to an acceptable term though, which is what Blinken asked from Netanyahu (refused).
Trudeau trying to avoid saying the forbidden word, plus very informative podcast after that.
We are seeing indiscriminate bombing of very dense populated areas including hospitals and campus, thousands of children dead in a few days, Israel cutting water and electricity from an entire population and Europe remains basically silent. Actually worse than that, some countries send navy ships in the area along the two US aircraft carriers to help Israel continue this madness.
After rejecting an amendment proposed by Canada and the United States, the General Assembly, by 120 votes in favour 120, 14 against and 45 abstentions, they adopted a resolution (by Jordan) calling for an "immediate and sustained humanitarian truce".
So some EU countries did have the stomach to vote for the self evident, such as Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, some even voted against, as Austria, Croatia, Czechia & Hungary, while most of them choose abstention.
There are countries however which had the balls for some diplomatic actions:
Bolivia cuts ties, Colombia & Chile recall ambassadors. Turkey recalled ambassador. Jordan refused to receive Biden (unprecedented).
US did an epic mistake to give blanc check to Isreal (or at least giving this impression to world stage), Biden visit to Israel was, imo, too rushed. Now he is trapped between two evils.
Demonstrations all over the world sometimes massive that the media choose to ignore. Even in Israel (see above video, 9;57) Israelis are risking their jobs and careers to demonstrate for ceasefire where most of EU chooses to "abstain" from a resolution for humanitarian truce. We have entered a new low low.
Below a short interview Shir Hever gave to a Greek newspaper last week, source.
Trudeau trying to avoid saying the forbidden word, plus very informative podcast after that.
We are seeing indiscriminate bombing of very dense populated areas including hospitals and campus, thousands of children dead in a few days, Israel cutting water and electricity from an entire population and Europe remains basically silent. Actually worse than that, some countries send navy ships in the area along the two US aircraft carriers to help Israel continue this madness.
After rejecting an amendment proposed by Canada and the United States, the General Assembly, by 120 votes in favour 120, 14 against and 45 abstentions, they adopted a resolution (by Jordan) calling for an "immediate and sustained humanitarian truce".
So some EU countries did have the stomach to vote for the self evident, such as Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, some even voted against, as Austria, Croatia, Czechia & Hungary, while most of them choose abstention.
There are countries however which had the balls for some diplomatic actions:
Bolivia cuts ties, Colombia & Chile recall ambassadors. Turkey recalled ambassador. Jordan refused to receive Biden (unprecedented).
US did an epic mistake to give blanc check to Isreal (or at least giving this impression to world stage), Biden visit to Israel was, imo, too rushed. Now he is trapped between two evils.
Demonstrations all over the world sometimes massive that the media choose to ignore. Even in Israel (see above video, 9;57) Israelis are risking their jobs and careers to demonstrate for ceasefire where most of EU chooses to "abstain" from a resolution for humanitarian truce. We have entered a new low low.
Below a short interview Shir Hever gave to a Greek newspaper last week, source.
Shir Hever was born, "a Jew in Israel" – a country he now he fears to travel to. "There is an environment of terror and silence," he explains. "A journalist who criticizes Israeli policy risks being attacked by an angry mob that can kill him and his family. In other cases, citizens saw police knocking on their doors and arresting them for participating in an anti-war demonstration or for writing a Facebook comment condemning the killing of Palestinian civilians.”
When I asked him about the millions of dollars that Tel Aviv allegedly spends on advertising and propaganda materials to convince the international public of the "need" to bomb Gaza, he explained that these are a drop in the ocean compared to the resources it has; to convince his own public opinion. In the past, says Hever, the Ministry of Strategic Affairs created for this very purpose spent 20% of its budget on Hebrew-language campaigns.
Today this percentage approaches 100%. "Israeli officials, when speaking to international media such as CNN and the BBC, do not even pretend that they are avoiding killing civilians or that they are not carrying out collective punishment of Palestinians with prohibited weapons. They confess their crimes because they are no longer able to converse with the rest of the world." Instead, they are interested in securing the consent of the population to the atrocities they carry out. Without it – that is, if the Israelis start asking questions – the whole edifice will collapse.
These days, Hever prefers to talk only about Israel's "genocidal attack on the Gaza Strip," but his capacity as a defence analyst brings the discussion to the operational side of the October 7 attack by Hamas.
After emphatically pointing out to me that what happened was the result of nearly seven decades of occupation, he notes that Israeli society fell victim to its own colonial, arrogant logic that made it believe it could keep the Palestinians subjugated forever with just technology, intelligence services and the military. "This surprise," he tells me, "brought to the fore all the internal contradictions of Israeli society as well as the weaknesses of the intelligence-gathering apparatus and the armed forces."
Shir Hever does, however, detect in Israel's ongoing incursion into Gaza a qualitative difference that had already begun to emerge since the 2014 attack. In the past, he explains to me, Gaza was an "experimental laboratory" in which Israel tested weapons of his systems against civilians and then touted his successes to buyers of weapons systems.
Several countries, including Greece, fell into this trap and bought equipment without understanding how "a weapon system that is effective in killing civilians will not necessarily work in real war conditions." This is the reason, Hever argues, that Israel refused to sell missiles and drones to Ukraine. If he did, the whole world would realize that these weapons have never been used against a real army.
But equally problematic, according to Shir Hever, is the purchase by third countries of Israeli spying apps, which not only give buyers the ability to track their victims, but also give Israel the ability to track the app's buyers.
“Imagine, as is very likely,” he tells me, “that Mitsotakis (Greek Prime Minister) bought bugging apps to use against his party or journalists. If Israel provided him with this technology, it is very likely that he is also interested in how he uses it and what he finds on the phones he targets."
In other cases, he explains, the installation and operation of the software requires the presence of Israeli technicians who oversee the entire wiretapping process. Getting this information to the Israeli Ministry of Defense (which licenses the apps' exports) is apparently very easy. In this sense, the creation of applications developed by the Israeli military and now promoted through private companies offers not only economic but also diplomatic benefits to Israel.
When I asked him about the millions of dollars that Tel Aviv allegedly spends on advertising and propaganda materials to convince the international public of the "need" to bomb Gaza, he explained that these are a drop in the ocean compared to the resources it has; to convince his own public opinion. In the past, says Hever, the Ministry of Strategic Affairs created for this very purpose spent 20% of its budget on Hebrew-language campaigns.
Today this percentage approaches 100%. "Israeli officials, when speaking to international media such as CNN and the BBC, do not even pretend that they are avoiding killing civilians or that they are not carrying out collective punishment of Palestinians with prohibited weapons. They confess their crimes because they are no longer able to converse with the rest of the world." Instead, they are interested in securing the consent of the population to the atrocities they carry out. Without it – that is, if the Israelis start asking questions – the whole edifice will collapse.
These days, Hever prefers to talk only about Israel's "genocidal attack on the Gaza Strip," but his capacity as a defence analyst brings the discussion to the operational side of the October 7 attack by Hamas.
After emphatically pointing out to me that what happened was the result of nearly seven decades of occupation, he notes that Israeli society fell victim to its own colonial, arrogant logic that made it believe it could keep the Palestinians subjugated forever with just technology, intelligence services and the military. "This surprise," he tells me, "brought to the fore all the internal contradictions of Israeli society as well as the weaknesses of the intelligence-gathering apparatus and the armed forces."
Shir Hever does, however, detect in Israel's ongoing incursion into Gaza a qualitative difference that had already begun to emerge since the 2014 attack. In the past, he explains to me, Gaza was an "experimental laboratory" in which Israel tested weapons of his systems against civilians and then touted his successes to buyers of weapons systems.
Several countries, including Greece, fell into this trap and bought equipment without understanding how "a weapon system that is effective in killing civilians will not necessarily work in real war conditions." This is the reason, Hever argues, that Israel refused to sell missiles and drones to Ukraine. If he did, the whole world would realize that these weapons have never been used against a real army.
But equally problematic, according to Shir Hever, is the purchase by third countries of Israeli spying apps, which not only give buyers the ability to track their victims, but also give Israel the ability to track the app's buyers.
“Imagine, as is very likely,” he tells me, “that Mitsotakis (Greek Prime Minister) bought bugging apps to use against his party or journalists. If Israel provided him with this technology, it is very likely that he is also interested in how he uses it and what he finds on the phones he targets."
In other cases, he explains, the installation and operation of the software requires the presence of Israeli technicians who oversee the entire wiretapping process. Getting this information to the Israeli Ministry of Defense (which licenses the apps' exports) is apparently very easy. In this sense, the creation of applications developed by the Israeli military and now promoted through private companies offers not only economic but also diplomatic benefits to Israel.
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Azas
At the Eternity's End
What Hamas did is Nazism. Hamas uses Palestinians as human shields. Hamas must be destroyed. There's no other way. In long run there may be two state solution.
What is happening in Europe and America is a disgrace and a warning sign for democracies. Radical islamists must be politely deported. There's no other way. Barbarians will remain barbarians.
What is happening in Europe and America is a disgrace and a warning sign for democracies. Radical islamists must be politely deported. There's no other way. Barbarians will remain barbarians.
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Yax
Ancient Mariner
If there ever was a conflict where you so clearly can see the transgressions from both sides, and the generational trauma surrounding and preceeding it, then it would be this case. There is no just cause to be found anywhere here, and whataboutism serves noone and nothing but polarization and chaos. This is mankind at its ugliest and the suffering all around is equally real and equally tragic. The two-state solution is a weak and unrealistic dream that has been squashed times over, but it's the only viable alternative. Rightly condemn Hamas for their monstreous terrorist attack as well as Israely war crimes. They are not mutually exclusive and neither should be used as a rhetorical stick.
____no5
Free Man
Unconditional support to this particular government of Israel was a mistake. European silence is a mistake. I didn't expect better from Hamas or Netanyahu, or even Biden administration; but I am deeply disappointed from how Europe is handling this case.
www.politico.com
Opinion | Israel-Gaza Conflicts End Up the Same. Here’s How This Could Be Different.
Neither side seems prepared to break old habits. But here’s how they could.
www.politico.com
Shmoolikipod
Stranger to the Light
@____no5 I'm not sure what you're saying. Are you in favour of a ceasefire an immediate and sustained humanitarian truce™ or against it? I thought you want to go back to the status quo at first, but then you linked an article that calls for change. And the endgames the author sees are:
1) Destruction of Hamas and occupation of Gaza by Israel (which, I agree, won't stabilize anything. There's no plan).
2) The world, actually coming up with a long-term plan, being arsed to colonize Gaza. Which requires *poofing* Hamas first.
3) Pushing Hamas to near destruction via "a relentless military campaign that targets Hamas in Gaza and a diplomatic initiative to convince the international community to undercut Hamas’ finances and to stop hosting Hamas leaders." And then doing a 180 and showing the Palestinians, still governed by the remnants of Hamas, that we actually care a lot about them and we remove the settlers and the barrier is going down yay peace in the middle east.
The first leads to west bank 2.0 best case scenario, the third is a pipe dream. I'm personally hoping for option number 2. The status quo was okay for me, in my personal life, FYI. If you want it back, Netanyahu is actually the man. But for the Gazans' sake, this can't go on.
The Nazis weren't stopped in time. I don't see how shouting "stop! stop!" after September 1st would have done anything. We paid the price, and then the important thing was to not let this happen again. There are new Nazis now and they're holding 2 million Palestinians hostage. It shouldn't have come to this, but here we are. We've had enough ceasefires to see that they don't fix anything. Gaza remains under the rule of madmen, until the next escalation. Then more bloodshed. It's fucking heartbreaking but the slaughter is a prerequisite to making things right. Hamas is doing everything to show the world the extent of their evil. They don't give a shit about their own people. They use them as human shields and they threaten to repeat 7/10. There can't be peace with this.
A day came where we can change this. Destroy Hamas. The attack began and the price is being paid every day. It's painful. I cry most days thinking about the hostages, the massacred, the Gazans, my friends going into the strip. My family should I go in myself and not return. But for fuck's sake, what we won't pay now, we'll pay later twofold. The world needs to think about the day after NOW and be ready to take control of the situation once Hamas is done and before a new group rises. Point fingers when it's done.
1) Destruction of Hamas and occupation of Gaza by Israel (which, I agree, won't stabilize anything. There's no plan).
2) The world, actually coming up with a long-term plan, being arsed to colonize Gaza. Which requires *poofing* Hamas first.
3) Pushing Hamas to near destruction via "a relentless military campaign that targets Hamas in Gaza and a diplomatic initiative to convince the international community to undercut Hamas’ finances and to stop hosting Hamas leaders." And then doing a 180 and showing the Palestinians, still governed by the remnants of Hamas, that we actually care a lot about them and we remove the settlers and the barrier is going down yay peace in the middle east.
The first leads to west bank 2.0 best case scenario, the third is a pipe dream. I'm personally hoping for option number 2. The status quo was okay for me, in my personal life, FYI. If you want it back, Netanyahu is actually the man. But for the Gazans' sake, this can't go on.
The Nazis weren't stopped in time. I don't see how shouting "stop! stop!" after September 1st would have done anything. We paid the price, and then the important thing was to not let this happen again. There are new Nazis now and they're holding 2 million Palestinians hostage. It shouldn't have come to this, but here we are. We've had enough ceasefires to see that they don't fix anything. Gaza remains under the rule of madmen, until the next escalation. Then more bloodshed. It's fucking heartbreaking but the slaughter is a prerequisite to making things right. Hamas is doing everything to show the world the extent of their evil. They don't give a shit about their own people. They use them as human shields and they threaten to repeat 7/10. There can't be peace with this.
A day came where we can change this. Destroy Hamas. The attack began and the price is being paid every day. It's painful. I cry most days thinking about the hostages, the massacred, the Gazans, my friends going into the strip. My family should I go in myself and not return. But for fuck's sake, what we won't pay now, we'll pay later twofold. The world needs to think about the day after NOW and be ready to take control of the situation once Hamas is done and before a new group rises. Point fingers when it's done.
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____no5
Free Man
Hey man. You are right, I should have clarified. I just put the article there as a different view than mine not to necessarily support my opinion.
My opinion is that we should go for a ceasefire or truce. Not to go back to Status Quo. But to plan better and isolate /eliminate Hamas without this bloodshed of innocent people.
And because Status Quo was wrong. Millions of people living in a prison without future and hope, for decades, displaced from their homes heavily oppressed. Fertile ground for Hamas to happen.
I also believe that US did a horrible mistake giving Netanyahu a blanc check, when Biden visited Isreal. Netanyahu is the wrong man to give him blanc checks. US & EU should make sure that Isreal is restrained in its response, to protect the civilians. They didn't do it. Quite the opposite in fact.
PS: I was thinking about you specifically and other Israeli member how you'd feel. Good to know you are safe and sound.
Even if Hamas is destroyed, a new Hamas will rise if we don't stop the root cause which is the injustice and oppression.
Shmoolikipod
Stranger to the Light
Yes, I hoped that was what you meant. I was going to address this more clearly originally but it takes me long enough to write anyways.
I held your stance for some time, that we should wait and see if there's a better way. There was never a shadow of a doubt that there will be many civilian deaths - that's a given with Hamas's disgusting ways, regardless of where IDF's intentions fall on the purity scale. I thought and thought and found nothing, and I haven't found a person who has the solution either. Call me hasty and pessimistic, but I don't believe the nations will find the way even if you give them time.
Which is why I want Europe to take charge before that happens. It feels wrong to say, but there needs to be colonisation and reeducation by an outside force. We can't open our arms to a people we just bombed. If Gaza will be a state under international power, we could work together with them and slowly build healthier relations. Some decades and compromises from our side down the line, the EU pull out to give them independence and we have a Palestinian state that doesn't want to kill us. Germany took time too, but it was a success if we've ever had one.
Thanks man, this means to me more than you think.
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____no5
Free Man
Actually not bad of an idea. Not colonisation, but some foreign presence would make sure that things are cool both sides and secure resources and infrastructure, such as a port to those people so they don't live completely dependent on foreign aides and at the mercy of Israel. I.e. with their own power grid, water supply, those kind of things.
Of course this to work you should have a two state solution in the horizon, so the two parts of Palestine reunite at some point as one. So the difficult part would then be what happens with the West Bank.
*Unfortunately Europe is spineless right now, but yes I could see this idea work, maybe securing some Arab states in the mix too.
Same here, it is moving to see you in such a balanced state of mind despite the heat you are getting, kudos!
____no5
Free Man
Not bad though I was expecting something more in depth answers as of why British Empire really wanted to establish the state of Israel there or why Arabs didn’t declare the State of Palestine just as Israelis did?
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Onhell
Infinite Dreamer
I agree, I also expected something more in depth, but to be fair it does say "The origins," and I think he does a good job in trying to stay as neutral as possible. When speaking of this conflict when NOT being from the region gets really dicey really quick.
____no5
Free Man
From Politico: Judges at the International Court of Justice stopped short of ordering Israel to suspend its military campaign in Gaza, but they issued a series of provisional measures instructing Israel to prevent the incitement of genocide and to ease the humanitarian plight of Gazans.
International Court of Justice noted that “at least some of the acts and omissions committed by Israel in Gaza appear to be capable of falling within the provisions of the genocide convention.”
www.politico.eu
Provisional measures by the ICJ here:
South African application to ICJ here:
International Court of Justice noted that “at least some of the acts and omissions committed by Israel in Gaza appear to be capable of falling within the provisions of the genocide convention.”
Top court stops short of ordering Israel to suspend Gaza campaign
International Court of Justice tells Israel to prevent genocide and ease the humanitarian plight of Gazans.
www.politico.eu
Provisional measures by the ICJ here:
South African application to ICJ here:
____no5
Free Man
On Friday we had the ICJ ordered Israel to take immediate measure to stop the humanitarian crisis.
On the same day US said they will withdraw their funding to UNRWA, which provided humanitarian aid to Gaza due to Israeli allegations of some of its employees participated on 07 October attacks.
On Saturday UK, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Canada, Netherlands, Australia & Finland followed suite, to stop providing aid to Gaza via UNRWA.
From NYT:
Germany, Britain and at least four other countries said Saturday they were suspending funding for the United Nations agency that provides food, water and essential services for Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, many of whom have been described as being on the brink of starvation after 16 weeks of war between Israel and Hamas.
www.politico.com
On the same day US said they will withdraw their funding to UNRWA, which provided humanitarian aid to Gaza due to Israeli allegations of some of its employees participated on 07 October attacks.
On Saturday UK, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Canada, Netherlands, Australia & Finland followed suite, to stop providing aid to Gaza via UNRWA.
From NYT:
Germany, Britain and at least four other countries said Saturday they were suspending funding for the United Nations agency that provides food, water and essential services for Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, many of whom have been described as being on the brink of starvation after 16 weeks of war between Israel and Hamas.
The countries joined the United States, which said on Friday it would withhold funding for the group, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, after a dozen of its employees were accused by Israel of participating in the Oct. 7 attacks.
The United Nations has not made public the details of the accusations against the UNRWA employees, who have been fired, but a senior U.N. official briefed on the accusations called them “extremely serious and horrific.”
The Israeli military said in a statement Saturday that its intelligence services had compiled a case “incriminating several UNRWA employees for their alleged involvement in the massacre, along with evidence pointing to the use of UNRWA facilities for terrorist purposes.” It did not elaborate on what that involvement entailed.
In announcing the pause in funding, the United States, the agency’s largest donor, said it was reviewing the allegations “and the steps the United Nations is taking to address them.”
The governments of Australia, Canada, Finland and Iceland also said they were suspending funding for the agency.
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, called the suspension “collective punishment” for Gaza and warned that if funding were not restored it would adversely affect its humanitarian assistance program.
“It is shocking to see a suspension of funds to the agency in reaction to allegations against a small group of staff,” he said in a statement, “especially given the immediate action that UNRWA took by terminating their contracts and asking for a transparent independent investigation.”
For months, American intelligence agencies have been aware of vague allegations that some among UNRWA’s 13,000 employees may have been working with Hamas or even potentially involved in the Oct. 7 terror attack. It was only this week, American officials said, that the United Nations and Israel shared detailed, specific intelligence with the State Department and White House, including the names of the individuals who were fired.
American officials said the tough U.S. statement and action to withhold funding from the aid agency was not a result of any formal review of the Israeli intelligence by American spy agencies. Officials said that the U.N. aid agency’s decision to fire the individuals was proof that the information provided by the Israelis was compelling.
Some donor countries, like Ireland and Norway, said the agency’s work was too important to cut off.
Micheál Martin, Ireland’s foreign minister, wrote on social media that UNRWA’s staff members had provided lifesaving assistance “at incredible personal cost.”
Norway said accusations against the staff members, if true, were “completely unacceptable,” but said the agency was the “most important humanitarian organization” in Gaza and, like Ireland, vowed continued support.
“We need to distinguish between what individuals may have done and what UNRWA stands for,” the Norwegian delegation to the Palestinian Authority said on social media.
Israel’s accusations against the 12 U.N. employees are the latest episode of decades-long friction between Israel and UNRWA.
Israelis say that UNRWA’s existence separate from the wider U.N. refugee protection system prevents Palestinian refugees from setting down roots elsewhere in the Middle East. There have also been regular clashes between Israel and UNRWA over what the agency’s schools teach their students, and UNRWA’s relationship with Hamas.
On Saturday, Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, welcomed the decisions by the United States and Canada, and called for UNRWA to stop its work in Gaza after Israel’s military campaign there was over.
Israel aims to ensure that “UNRWA will not be a part of the day after,” Mr. Katz said on social media, referring to the end of the war.
But the suspension of potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in funding could not have come at a worse time for Gazans, who are faced with the continued bombardment by the Israeli military and an ever spiraling humanitarian catastrophe of hunger and disease, made more difficult by wintry conditions.
The agency, one of the largest employers in the enclave, has been a vital lifeline for Palestinians in Gaza for decades. It has played an even more crucial role in providing food, water, aid and services since the war in Gaza began.
Nearly 600,000 Palestinian residents of the territory are facing catastrophic hunger and starvation in Gaza, according to the World Food Program. More than 25,000 people have been killed in the territory since the war began in October according to Gazan health authorities, a toll that does not distinguish between fighters and civilians.
The Israeli military said Saturday that troops were sweeping through Khan Younis, the largest city in southern Gaza and which Israel has called a Hamas stronghold, and that it had killed “numerous terrorists in various encounters.” It came the day after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to ensure more aidand prevent genocide in the enclave but declined to call for an end to its campaign.
The continued fighting and the cold have exacerbated the plight of the hundreds of thousands of Gazans who have been on the move and for whom finding safety has been elusive. Israel has ordered civilians sheltering in several densely packed neighborhoods of Khan Younis to flee, and the fighting has reached the vicinity of at least two hospitals — Nasser Hospital, a major medical complex, and the Al-Amal Hospital, run by the Palestinian Red Crescent.
On Saturday, Israeli troops bombarded the area near Al-Amal for a sixth consecutive day, the Red Crescent said. Some 7,000 displaced Palestinians are sheltering at the hospital, Nebal Farsakh, a spokeswoman for the Red Crescent, said.
The agency, one of the largest employers in the enclave, has been a vital lifeline for Palestinians in Gaza for decades. It has played an even more crucial role in providing food, water, aid and services since the war in Gaza began.
Nearly 600,000 Palestinian residents of the territory are facing catastrophic hunger and starvation in Gaza, according to the World Food Program. More than 25,000 people have been killed in the territory since the war began in October according to Gazan health authorities, a toll that does not distinguish between fighters and civilians.
The Israeli military said Saturday that troops were sweeping through Khan Younis, the largest city in southern Gaza and which Israel has called a Hamas stronghold, and that it had killed “numerous terrorists in various encounters.” It came the day after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to ensure more aidand prevent genocide in the enclave but declined to call for an end to its campaign.
The continued fighting and the cold have exacerbated the plight of the hundreds of thousands of Gazans who have been on the move and for whom finding safety has been elusive. Israel has ordered civilians sheltering in several densely packed neighborhoods of Khan Younis to flee, and the fighting has reached the vicinity of at least two hospitals — Nasser Hospital, a major medical complex, and the Al-Amal Hospital, run by the Palestinian Red Crescent.
On Saturday, Israeli troops bombarded the area near Al-Amal for a sixth consecutive day, the Red Crescent said. Some 7,000 displaced Palestinians are sheltering at the hospital, Nebal Farsakh, a spokeswoman for the Red Crescent, said.
“The view of the Israeli security establishment has long been that UNRWA is ultimately preferable to what they think the alternative might be without it,” said Anne Irfan, the author of a book about UNRWA and Palestinian refugees. “It provides services that otherwise under international law would really come under the remit of the occupying power.
The United Nations has not made public the details of the accusations against the UNRWA employees, who have been fired, but a senior U.N. official briefed on the accusations called them “extremely serious and horrific.”
The Israeli military said in a statement Saturday that its intelligence services had compiled a case “incriminating several UNRWA employees for their alleged involvement in the massacre, along with evidence pointing to the use of UNRWA facilities for terrorist purposes.” It did not elaborate on what that involvement entailed.
In announcing the pause in funding, the United States, the agency’s largest donor, said it was reviewing the allegations “and the steps the United Nations is taking to address them.”
The governments of Australia, Canada, Finland and Iceland also said they were suspending funding for the agency.
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, called the suspension “collective punishment” for Gaza and warned that if funding were not restored it would adversely affect its humanitarian assistance program.
“It is shocking to see a suspension of funds to the agency in reaction to allegations against a small group of staff,” he said in a statement, “especially given the immediate action that UNRWA took by terminating their contracts and asking for a transparent independent investigation.”
For months, American intelligence agencies have been aware of vague allegations that some among UNRWA’s 13,000 employees may have been working with Hamas or even potentially involved in the Oct. 7 terror attack. It was only this week, American officials said, that the United Nations and Israel shared detailed, specific intelligence with the State Department and White House, including the names of the individuals who were fired.
American officials said the tough U.S. statement and action to withhold funding from the aid agency was not a result of any formal review of the Israeli intelligence by American spy agencies. Officials said that the U.N. aid agency’s decision to fire the individuals was proof that the information provided by the Israelis was compelling.
Some donor countries, like Ireland and Norway, said the agency’s work was too important to cut off.
Micheál Martin, Ireland’s foreign minister, wrote on social media that UNRWA’s staff members had provided lifesaving assistance “at incredible personal cost.”
Norway said accusations against the staff members, if true, were “completely unacceptable,” but said the agency was the “most important humanitarian organization” in Gaza and, like Ireland, vowed continued support.
“We need to distinguish between what individuals may have done and what UNRWA stands for,” the Norwegian delegation to the Palestinian Authority said on social media.
Israel’s accusations against the 12 U.N. employees are the latest episode of decades-long friction between Israel and UNRWA.
Israelis say that UNRWA’s existence separate from the wider U.N. refugee protection system prevents Palestinian refugees from setting down roots elsewhere in the Middle East. There have also been regular clashes between Israel and UNRWA over what the agency’s schools teach their students, and UNRWA’s relationship with Hamas.
On Saturday, Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, welcomed the decisions by the United States and Canada, and called for UNRWA to stop its work in Gaza after Israel’s military campaign there was over.
Israel aims to ensure that “UNRWA will not be a part of the day after,” Mr. Katz said on social media, referring to the end of the war.
But the suspension of potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in funding could not have come at a worse time for Gazans, who are faced with the continued bombardment by the Israeli military and an ever spiraling humanitarian catastrophe of hunger and disease, made more difficult by wintry conditions.
The agency, one of the largest employers in the enclave, has been a vital lifeline for Palestinians in Gaza for decades. It has played an even more crucial role in providing food, water, aid and services since the war in Gaza began.
Nearly 600,000 Palestinian residents of the territory are facing catastrophic hunger and starvation in Gaza, according to the World Food Program. More than 25,000 people have been killed in the territory since the war began in October according to Gazan health authorities, a toll that does not distinguish between fighters and civilians.
The Israeli military said Saturday that troops were sweeping through Khan Younis, the largest city in southern Gaza and which Israel has called a Hamas stronghold, and that it had killed “numerous terrorists in various encounters.” It came the day after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to ensure more aidand prevent genocide in the enclave but declined to call for an end to its campaign.
The continued fighting and the cold have exacerbated the plight of the hundreds of thousands of Gazans who have been on the move and for whom finding safety has been elusive. Israel has ordered civilians sheltering in several densely packed neighborhoods of Khan Younis to flee, and the fighting has reached the vicinity of at least two hospitals — Nasser Hospital, a major medical complex, and the Al-Amal Hospital, run by the Palestinian Red Crescent.
On Saturday, Israeli troops bombarded the area near Al-Amal for a sixth consecutive day, the Red Crescent said. Some 7,000 displaced Palestinians are sheltering at the hospital, Nebal Farsakh, a spokeswoman for the Red Crescent, said.
The agency, one of the largest employers in the enclave, has been a vital lifeline for Palestinians in Gaza for decades. It has played an even more crucial role in providing food, water, aid and services since the war in Gaza began.
Nearly 600,000 Palestinian residents of the territory are facing catastrophic hunger and starvation in Gaza, according to the World Food Program. More than 25,000 people have been killed in the territory since the war began in October according to Gazan health authorities, a toll that does not distinguish between fighters and civilians.
The Israeli military said Saturday that troops were sweeping through Khan Younis, the largest city in southern Gaza and which Israel has called a Hamas stronghold, and that it had killed “numerous terrorists in various encounters.” It came the day after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to ensure more aidand prevent genocide in the enclave but declined to call for an end to its campaign.
The continued fighting and the cold have exacerbated the plight of the hundreds of thousands of Gazans who have been on the move and for whom finding safety has been elusive. Israel has ordered civilians sheltering in several densely packed neighborhoods of Khan Younis to flee, and the fighting has reached the vicinity of at least two hospitals — Nasser Hospital, a major medical complex, and the Al-Amal Hospital, run by the Palestinian Red Crescent.
On Saturday, Israeli troops bombarded the area near Al-Amal for a sixth consecutive day, the Red Crescent said. Some 7,000 displaced Palestinians are sheltering at the hospital, Nebal Farsakh, a spokeswoman for the Red Crescent, said.
“The view of the Israeli security establishment has long been that UNRWA is ultimately preferable to what they think the alternative might be without it,” said Anne Irfan, the author of a book about UNRWA and Palestinian refugees. “It provides services that otherwise under international law would really come under the remit of the occupying power.
UN chief calls on countries to resume funding Gaza aid agency after allegations of Hamas ties
The dispute came as negotiators were said to be closing in on a cease-fire agreement.
www.politico.com
____no5
Free Man
"Wrong" is an understatement. This would go directly against ICJ's ruling, except that Israel is not to blame as it's the other countries that punish Palestine now on its behalf.
Worst part is that it's not only US, many other "good" countries went along. UK, Canada & Australia obviously, but also Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Netherlands & Finland.
Speaking of Germany, I've just learnt that they tried to make a case during the last 2 weeks that Israel is not attempting genocide, on the grounds that they know what Genocide is. Felt ugly to me.
www.businessinsider.com
Worst part is that it's not only US, many other "good" countries went along. UK, Canada & Australia obviously, but also Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Netherlands & Finland.
Speaking of Germany, I've just learnt that they tried to make a case during the last 2 weeks that Israel is not attempting genocide, on the grounds that they know what Genocide is. Felt ugly to me.
Germany leaps to the defense of Israel at the International Court of Justice, rejects South Africa's accusation of Gaza genocide
The German government is backing the legitimacy of Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza and is set to intervene at the International Court of Justice.
www.businessinsider.com