Media hype and military blunders: The British role in Gaza

JUN 18, 2024

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The botched mission to release Israeli prisoners of war in Gaza has exposed British and American military involvement, broadening Israel’s war on Gaza into an international conflict, much like the US and UK have done with Ukraine.

(Photo Credit: The Cradle)

Kit Klarenberg

On 8 June, Israeli forces staged a blood-spattered “rescue” operation in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nuseirat. The brutal, blunt force swoop freed four prisoners, killed three others – including a US citizen – and left 274 Palestinians dead, with many more injured. The Israeli military also suffered casualties, including the death of a senior commander.

Despite Hamas offering since 8 October to release prisoners held in Gaza unharmed in exchange for a ceasefire and total withdrawal of occupation forces, this operation can only be seen as a costly failure for Israel as part of a broader strategic blunder. 

Its military has failed to achieve any of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stated war aims in eight months of conflict, and Tel Aviv’s growing international isolation necessitated a dramatic PR spectacle.

Spilling the beans 

Western media has eagerly taken the bait, cheering the “heroic” effort widely. One outlet dubbed the fiasco a “miraculous triumph.” Another celebrated the “daring” retrieval of “heavily guarded” hostages. 

Photos and biographies of the four freed individuals have been prominently disseminated. Mawkish human interest stories abound. Out of this nauseating deluge, however, the New York Times quietly issued a bombshell disclosure. British and American intelligence officials and “hostage recovery” specialists played a central role in the “rescue” operation.

According to the report, these UK and US operatives have been stationed in the occupation state throughout the war, “providing intelligence and other logistical support” and “collecting and analyzing information” in service of releasing Israeli captives and locating Hamas higher-ups. 

London and Washington have, purportedly, “been able to provide intelligence from the air and cyberspace that Israel cannot collect on its own.” Meanwhile, “the Pentagon and the CIA have been providing information collected from drone flights over Gaza, communications intercepts and other sources.”

‘Counter-Terrorist Operations’

That this account is a misleading cover story should be self-evident. If British and US intelligence has truly, since 7 October, been working from Tel Aviv to track down Hamas leaders and release prisoners, their efforts have been as ineffective as the “rescue” operation itself. 

Mainstream sources acknowledge that Hamas remains largely unscathed, and IOF spokespeople claim 120 prisoners are still in Gaza. This suggests a different rationale for the covert British presence within Israel.

A D-notice from Britain’s Ministry of Defence on 28 October 2023 instructed domestic news outlets not to mention that the elite Special Air Service (SAS) was “deployed to sensitive areas” of West Asia, conducting “hostage rescue/evacuation operations.” 

[The Ministry of Defence] aims to prevent inadvertent disclosure of classified information about Special Forces and other units engaged in security, intelligence and counter-terrorist operations [in Gaza], including their methods, techniques and activities.

Western forces’ on standby’

This censorship was likely prompted by British tabloids revealing that the SAS was “on standby” at bases in Cyprus “to rescue hostages held captive in Gaza.” An SAS veteran described such an effort as almost inevitably suicidal:

This situation in Gaza is unique, in terms of trying to locate the hostages and find safe passage out. There’s a lot of confusion with what’s going on over there right now. Finding the right stronghold where hostages are being held will be tough – then you have to safely move to that location, find the hostages, then leave. From a planning perspective, it will be a complete and utter nightmare. It could end in disaster.

Despite the risks, the Israeli “rescue” operation proceeded, aiming to secure a propaganda win for Tel Aviv and legitimize the involvement of British and US forces in Gaza. The New York Times investigation subtly hinted at a publicly expanded role for Britain and the US in the assault on Gaza while confirming their resolve to support Israel’s actions. 

In justifying Washington’s involvement, the outlet claimed this support was provided “in large measure … because American officials believe the best way to persuade Israel to end the war is to get back its hostages and capture or kill top Hamas leaders.”

An editorial in the Daily Telegraph echoed this sentiment in an un-bylines editorial entitled “We must back Israel’s efforts to rescue hostages,” declaring, “[the] successful rescue operation is a timely reminder of what Israel is fighting for, and the fundamental justice of its cause,” while complaining that Tel Aviv’s “military operations have been subjected to a level of scrutiny that is all but impossible to satisfy”:

Israel’s dogged commitment to rescuing the hostages and destroying Hamas stand in marked contrast to the weakness of the West in supporting its efforts.

It appears that, similar to how western powers have systematically breached Russia’s red lines, their direct participation in Gaza is intended to be gradually normalized.

Open French threats in March to deploy troops to Odessa were knocked back by Russian officials. Ever since, a stream of public statements and media reporting has indicated that those soldiers willnonetheless arrive in the form of “advisers” and trainers.

Lebanon’s strategic significance 

The once-feared Israeli military behemoth has been consistently humiliated in direct combat with the Palestinian resistance in Gaza and its exchange of heavy fire with the Lebanese resistance movement, Hezbollah. As The Cradle has reported, the occupation state is concealing heavy losses on every front it is engaged in. 

Despite this, Tel Aviv is openly gearing up for an all-out war with Lebanon. The Cradle has also revealed British efforts to gain unfettered access to Lebanon’s territories – ground, air, and sea territory – for its soldiers, bypassing the need for “prior diplomatic authorization” for its “emergency missions.”

In the reported agreement between London and Beirut – abandoned after the proposal was leaked to the Lebanese media – British soldiers would have been permitted to travel in uniform with their weapons visible anywhere in Lebanon while enjoying immunity from arrest or prosecution for committing any crime.

It can be speculated that London anticipated the Gaza conflict expanding into a wider regional war and sought to cement its presence in the Levant in advance, potentially to ensure that outcome. Israel’s defeat by Hezbollah in 2006, along with its current military woes, underlines that Tel Aviv would be incapable of defeating the Lebanese resistance without extensive foreign support. 

The strategic positioning of British and US forces exposes their barefaced commitment to backing Israel despite the significant risks of political blowback and the potential for further regional destabilization.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of The Cradle.

TOP US LAW SCHOOLS PRESENT UNDENIABLE EVIDENCE OF ISRAEL’S GAZA GENOCIDE

JUNE 20TH, 2024

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Kit Klarenberg

On May 15, the University Network for Human Rights (UNHR), a U.S.-based advocacy group training undergraduates in human rights law at colleges and universities worldwide to counter abusive state, corporate, or private conduct, published a 105-page analysis of international law and its application to Israel’s military actions since October 7, 2023. Drawing on extensive evidence and historical legal precedents, the findings leave no doubt that Israel has committed horrific breaches of the 1948 Genocide Convention in Gaza.

A collaborative effort by some of the West’s most prestigious law schools, the report has now been submitted to the United Nations. The institution has yet to comment on the UNHR investigation’s irrefutable, bombshell contents. The mainstream media has also remained silent. Given the complicity of Western journalists in whitewashing and justifying unconscionable crimes in Gaza, this is not surprising. However, the silence has been so pervasive that the report may have even gone unnoticed by committed Palestine solidarity activists.

This silence is itself an injustice, as the UNHR has produced a singular, indispensable resource for factually, legally, and morally refuting the arguments and assertions of Zionists and their allies, old and new. The report details, in devastating forensic detail, the variety of deplorable, murderous ways in which the Israeli state and its operatives at every level are culpable for committing genocide in Gaza, from public expressions of “blatant and unequivocal dehumanization and cruelty” to military actions explicitly designed to maximize Palestinian slaughter.

As defined in the Genocide Convention of 1948 and interpreted by international courts and tribunals, the crime of genocide requires that a perpetrator kill, seriously harm, or inflict conditions of life calculated to destroy a group, in whole or in part, with the intent to destroy that group. Thomas Becker, UNHR’s legal director, tells MintPress News: “What’s happening now is both unprecedented and, in many ways, a textbook case of genocide.”

Five days after the publication of the UNHR’s landmark investigation, International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan announced his intent to indict Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for numerous crimes against humanity and atrocities committed since October 7, 2023. While it remains uncertain whether they will ever face justice, the Network’s report should inspire governments and citizens worldwide to work relentlessly towards achieving that righteous goal.

‘DESTROY AND EXTERMINATE’

In 1925, German writer and satirist Kurt Tucholsky reportedly remarked, “The death of one man is a catastrophe; a hundred thousand deaths is a statistic.” This quote has since become entrenched in Western political consciousness and is often attributed to various figures, most prominently Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. However, the casualty and death figures emerging from Gaza, especially when accompanied by gruesome photographic and video evidence of Tel Aviv’s numerous crimes, are far from mere statistics.

“Israel’s attack on Palestinians in Gaza has been one of superlatives,” Becker told MintPress News. “More children have died in four months in Gaza than in four years of the world’s conflicts combined. The starvation rate in Gaza is the fastest the world has seen, and this is the deadliest conflict ever recorded for journalists and aid workers,” he continued.

“In just half a year, Israel has killed two percent of Gaza’s children and either killed or injured five percent of its total population. It has displaced 75 percent of the population, destroying 70 percent of Gaza’s homes. Additionally, it has destroyed every university and 80 percent of Gaza’s schools.“

The bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli bombings of Gaza are covered on the main road in Gaza City, Jan. 2, 2024. Mohammed Hajjar | AP

Simultaneously, the assault on Gaza has become the deadliest conflict for journalists ever recorded. The number of UN personnel killed has reached levels “never seen in history.” A staggering 1.7 million civilians, over 75 percent of Gaza’s population, have been forcibly displaced as a result of the offensive. Throughout, they have endured catastrophic levels of hunger and deprivation due to deliberate restrictions on access to essential resources, including food, water, medicine, and fuel.

The UNHR extensively documents and persuasively argues how the actions and “patterns of conduct” of the Israeli Occupation Forces “explicitly reflect intentions to destroy and exterminate Palestinians.” This reinforces the Network’s finding of Israel’s genocidal intent in Gaza and asserts that these violations “amount to grave breaches of peremptory norms of international law that must cease immediately.” These violations also give rise to obligations by all other states.

“To refrain from recognizing Israel’s breaches as legal or taking any actions that may constitute complicity in these breaches; and to take positive steps to suppress, prevent, and punish the commission by Israel of further genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza.”

“It is crucial to underline that the myriad facts collated by the UNHR were only current as of May 1. Even before the work was finalized and published, “reports emerged of additional, egregious abuses by Israel against Palestinians in the southern city of Rafah and elsewhere, where more than a million Palestinians are seeking refuge.” While these developments are not reflected in the report, they “further demonstrate Israel’s ongoing genocidal conduct and intent and underscore the urgency with which the international community must act.”

‘ELIMINATE EVERYTHING’

One of the most compelling sections of the UNHR report discusses how the statements of Israeli officials about Gaza “amount to genocide.” Neither the International Court of Justice nor the International Law Commission has provided clear guidance on whether “calling for the killing or destruction of individuals or a group can constitute evidence of [genocidal] intent.” However, prior international criminal tribunals have repeatedly found that genocidal intent can be inferred from “certain rhetoric,” especially when considered alongside related and concurrent military action.

For example, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, in prosecuting regional mayor Joseph Kanyabashi, found that his public pronouncements on the capture and murder of Tutsis—which included encouraging the Hutu population to “clear bushes” and hunt down “the enemy”—were proof that he had “the requisite intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Tutsi ethnic group.” Shocking and self-incriminating, such declarations pale in comparison to the statements made by prominent Israeli officials since the Gaza genocide began.

Individuals at the state’s highest levels, “including the heads of State, government, and military, as well as lower-level government and military officials,” have “publicly and repeatedly expressed intentions to destroy Palestinians and Palestinian society in Gaza; collectively punish Palestinians and cause them to suffer militarily and through the blockading of basic necessities; and push the Palestinian population out of Gaza,” according to the UNHR.

“In doing so, they have intentionally blurred the lines between civilians and combatants, while encouraging the Israeli military to cause massive death and destruction. The government’s highest official, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has explicitly evoked Biblical commandments to wipe out an entire nation, including men, women, and children. Other officials have expressed pleasure and pride at the devastation in Gaza and the hope of enacting another Nakba, the violent dispossession of 800,000 Palestinians from their homes between 1947 and 1949.“

The report contains a “non-exhaustive sampling of these statements,” which is lengthy and critical. For example, on the evening of October 7, 2023, the day Hamas’ Operation Al-Aqsa Flood was launched, Netanyahu ordered Gaza’s 2.2 million Palestinian population to “get out now. We will be everywhere and with all our might.” In a public address three weeks later, posted on the Israeli government’s official YouTube account, he stated:

“You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible. And we do remember.”

Palestinians attend a mass funeral of victims of Israeli violence in Rafah, Gaza Strip, March 7, 2024. Hatem Ali | AP

The Prime Minister’s Office again cited this Biblical passage on November 3: “Now go, attack Amalek, and proscribe all that belongs to him. Spare no one, but kill alike men and women, infants and sucklings, oxen and sheep, camels and asses.” Meanwhile, on October 9, when Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a total blockade on Gaza, he declared:

“There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed… we are fighting human animals, and we are acting accordingly… Gaza won’t return to what it was before. We will eliminate everything.”

Furthermore, Israeli President Isaac Herzog has repeatedly emphasized Tel Aviv’s intent to target all Palestinians in Gaza without distinguishing between militants and civilians. For instance, he stated, “It’s an entire nation out there that is responsible. It’s not true this rhetoric about civilians not being aware, not involved. It’s absolutely not true.” The UNHR argues that Israel’s intent to destroy all Palestinians in Gaza “can be inferred from the totality of the circumstances.”

As Becker tells MintPress News, Israeli political and military leaders’ rhetoric is a central component of those circumstances and complementary to the physical actions taken. “Officials at all levels of the government have openly called for the destruction of a specific group of people, followed by an unprecedented military campaign that has decimated that group,” he says. These statements amount to clear threats to completely flatten Gaza and eradicate its daily life and culture. The UNHR report explains:

“Taken together, [these comments] indicate the knowledge and intention of causing widespread death and suffering to Palestinians in Gaza [and] attest to Israel’s discriminatory intent towards Palestinians… Expressions by Israeli officials establish that the assault on Gaza is not simply a military operation targeting combatants, but an operation intended to destroy the population… The State of Israel… has committed the act of direct and public incitement to genocide, in violation of Article III(c) of the Genocide Convention.”

‘TAKE MEASURES’

Multiple legal findings and precedents state that countries party to the Genocide Convention have a duty to prevent genocide if they can “contribute to restraining in any degree the commission of genocide.” Additionally, signatory states must “employ all means reasonably available” to prevent genocide. This duty “varies greatly from one state to another” and depends on a state’s “capacity to influence effectively the action of persons likely to commit, or already committing genocide.”

Several factors determine a state’s capacity “to exert influence” over the commission of genocide, including “the geographical distance of the state concerned from the scene of the events” and “the strength of the political links, as well as links of all other kinds, between the authorities of the state and the main actors in the events.” The UNHR notes that countries providing “military support” to a perpetrator “have a higher duty to prevent genocide from occurring.”

“The duty to prevent genocide in Gaza encompasses a range of measures. First, it is imperative that states exercise all means of political and diplomatic pressure towards the cessation of Israeli military operations in Gaza. States exporting arms or military equipment to Israel, or providing other forms of military aid or logistical assistance that contribute to or enable Israel’s military operations against Palestinians in Gaza, have an obligation to immediately terminate all forms of aid and assistance.”

The UNHR states that failing to stop providing aid or assistance could violate a state’s obligation under Article I of the Genocide Convention. Countries that have signed the Genocide Convention must also punish those responsible for genocide, which includes helping to hold individuals accountable. They must work together to investigate, prosecute, or extradite suspects. Additionally, countries that are part of the Rome Statute must assist in prosecuting suspects through the International Criminal Court (ICC).

A press helmet is placed over the grave of Hamza Dahdouh, a journalist killed in an Israeli air strike on Rafah. Mohammed Talatene | AP

The duty to prevent genocide starts as soon as a state learns, or should have learned, about a serious risk of genocide. The ICC highlighted this serious risk of genocide in Gaza in a preliminary finding in January in a case brought against Israel by South Africa.

As such, all of Israel’s Western allies, who are signatories of the Genocide Convention and provide military and political support to Tel Aviv, are obligated to help stop the violence in Gaza. While there has been little action on this since January, public support from Western leaders—except for U.S. officials—has been notably quiet. They are likely aware that they could face prosecution by the ICC alongside Netanyahu and Gallant.

There is hope that this international diplomatic isolation is accompanied by behind-the-scenes pressure on Israeli leaders to stop the violence. Besides legal challenges, Israeli officials also face strong opposition from Palestinian solidarity activists. These activists have been so effective that influential figures within the U.S. national security community are concerned about the potential backlash disrupting Western strategies. These activists will continue their efforts as long as the violence in Gaza persists. As Becker concludes:

“The unprecedented level of destruction in such a short amount of time in Gaza underscores the genocidal nature of Israel’s actions. It is becoming too difficult for the world to look away from mass graves, decimated hospitals, children under rubble, and filmed summary executions. This is not war. This is genocide.”

Israeli army probe finds multiple cases of friendly fire on October 7

JUNE 21, 2024

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ANTIWAR DOT COM

The army probe identified numerous examples of Israeli forces targeting Israeli civilians, as well as overreacting or failing to act on October 7. Mainstream media has smeared The Grayzone for exposing Israel’s “Hannibal Directive” scandal months ago.

Editor’s note: The Washington Post and Israel’s Haaretz have published numerous scurrilous and error-filled attacks on The Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal and other colleagues for helping expose the Israeli military’s deliberate killing of Israeli civilians while held captive by Palestinian militants on October 7. The Israeli army investigation and a June 12, 2024 United Nations report are the latest official investigations which corroborate our factual reporting.

The following article was originally published by Antiwar.com. 

A review by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) set to be released this summer will conclude that Israeli soldiers killed many of their own people on October 7, Israeli media reported. The inquiry is expected to identify multiple failures of the IDF during the Hamas rampage in southern Israel.

According to Israel’s Channel 12 News, the IDF report due to be released in mid-July found “many casualties due to our forces firing on our forces.” Tel Aviv has been accused of ordering its soldiers to kill hostages rather than allow Hamas to use them in negotiations, a policy long known as the ‘Hannibal Directive.’

The IDF’s October 7 review appears to point to incompetence rather than the intentional killing of its own civilians. However, Israeli outlet Ynet’s investigation of the IDF’s conduct found Tel Aviv had ordered troops to follow the Hannibal policy.

Still, the conclusions from the forthcoming report will amount to an official admission that scores, if not more, of Israelis were killed by IDF soldiers, not Hamas.

On October 7, Hamas launched a large-scale assault on southern Israel that left hundreds of attackers, 767 Israeli civilians, and 376 members of the Israeli security forces dead. The Jerusalem Post recently reported that many of the Israeli deaths were caused by IDF overreaction or inaction.

“According to the report, the probe will find numerous cases of friendly fire errors leading to tragic deaths, groups of IDF soldiers who were too hesitant to confront Hamas invaders (as still others rushed to fight without being formally summoned),” the outlet noted, adding that “higher-up commanders ordering some groups of soldiers to remain in a reserve second-line capacity – when they should have headed into the front, and not knowing how to handle complex battlefield questions involving a hostage.”

While Tel Aviv has denied that the Hannibal Directive was put into effect and insists it is no longer used, evidence has emerged of Israeli forces firing on homes knowing civilians were inside. One incident in Kibbutz Be’eri left 12 Israeli civilians dead.

There are multiple probes investigating the IDF’s actions on October 7, though one Israeli government-led inquiry was shut down by the country’s top court this week amid objections from the IDF and a number of senior officials.

Biden Is In Full Denial As He Escalates His Wars

JUNE 22, 2024

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Philip M. Giraldi, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a 501(c)3 tax deductible educational foundation (Federal ID Number #52-1739023) that seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Website is councilforthenationalinterest.org, address is P.O. Box 2157, Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is inform@cnionline.org .

PHILIP GIRALDI 

When are American soldiers not really engaged in combat?

Over the past week it was revealed that Congress is considering legislation that will strengthen current conscription registration requirements and could even include women. It seems that the US armed services can no longer obtain enough volunteers to meet their needs and are getting desperate given the wars both ongoing and planned by the National Security State. The Pentagon planners note how the wars in Gaza and Ukraine are also escalating alarmingly and China and Russia are being targeted over the horizon. But when Joe Biden is able to compose himself enough to express something that he considers to be an elemental truth he generally limits himself to a few words that he has memorized. One of my favorites is the empty of meaning expression “No boots on the ground,” meaning that the United States will not rush willy nilly into any of the wars it has started recently by engaging actual American armed forces in hand-to-hand combat. Of course, the narrative would work better if Old Joe were not lying about what he has been up to secretly in both Israel-Gaza and Ukraine. One recalls that Joe made a morale boosting trip to support Israel back in October 2023 where he was photographed together with a number of US Delta Force special ops soldiers in full combat gear. The White House actually posted the picture on its website before deleting it together with a description of the photo reading “In Israel, President Biden met with first responders to thank them for their bravery and the work they’re doing in response to the Hamas terrorist attacks.” It was explained to the media at the time that the men were there to provide assistance to Israel in its “defending itself” against Hamas but they were apparently first responders, whatever that was supposed to mean, not combat soldiers.

A problem quickly developed when it was also observed by some military veterans that the photos were of such a quality as to enable the identification of the soldiers, a definite no-no for a covert unit involved in sensitive under-cover operations. Fox News contributor Sara Carter questioned “Is the White House really this stupid or are they just trying to get people targeted? This is totally unacceptable… These operators are required to maintain a level of discretion that this administration has completely disregarded. I would know, my husband is a retired operator. They are elite trained fighters and something as simple as facial ID recognition is putting them in direct threat by adversaries. How did this happen White House?” The photo faux pas also demonstrated that Biden was a liar when he denied having made the risky decision to put “boots on the ground.”

Beyond that blunder, it has already been observed by numerous sources that the White House has been secretly sending weapons and money to both Israel and Ukraine and it is also generally known that the equipment is frequently accompanied by soldiers and civilian contractors who are along for the ride to set the stuff up and provide minimal training in its use. That is referred to in military slang as SOP or “standard operating procedure” and it is to be assumed that the personnel are wearing their “boots” or whatever attire they choose to put on their feet.

And then there is the now infamous pontoon pier constructed at great cost of $320 million by the US military which broke after brief use and may have been used to insert Israeli commandos that slaughtered 274 Palestinians in the controversial June 8^th hostage rescue at Nuseirat refugee camp. Claims that Israel used the US pontoon pier are supported by a photo that shows an Israeli helicopter landing near the structure, but the evidence has been disputed by Washington, which claims that the pier is only used for humanitarian relief. That, of course, is debatable and Prime Minister Netanyahu has suggested that it could also be used to deport Palestinians. Craig Mokhiber, an American former United Nations human rights official and a specialist in international human rights law, has asked the critical question on X: “Was the US ‘humanitarian’ pier used as a launching point for the Al-Nuseirat massacre (which could not happen without US collaboration)? And what role did US forces play on the ground (besides arming and providing diplomatic cover for the IOF)?” Adding to the confusion, is an interview in which the perpetually dim Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin seemed confused over whether the soldiers building the structure would be authorized to shoot back if came under fire when at work or while running the completed operation. Would they constitute “Boots on the Ground?”

In addition to that, the United States has sizable and active embassies in both countries that currently include enlarged Defense Attache Offices, which incorporate both military personnel and civilians. And don’t be fooled by the civilians as many of them are special ops or intelligence types under cover as State Department staff. In both places, the DATT personnel are actively engaged in the wars being fought by Volodymyr Zelensky from Kiev and Benjamin Netanyahu from Jerusalem by providing intelligence and targeting information as well as in advising their Ukrainian counterparts. In both cases the US has given its “allies” a carte blanche approval to use whatever weapons they have in their arsenals to directly target their opponents in such a fashion as to guarantee an escalation of the conflicts. In other words, in spite of the White House denial that the US is actually engaged as combatants in two wars that were unnecessary in the first place, the evidence is in place suggesting that the United States is fully involved as a belligerent, a fact that is well known both to the Russians, who have commented on the threat from NATO and have warned of their own possibly nuclear response, as well as to the Palestinians and Hamas.

Indeed, in a break with the general silence on covert operations, it is now being reported that the United States provided considerable intelligence on the hostages before Israel’s rescue operation at Nuseirat camp. A team of American hostage recovery specialists were stationed in Israel to aid the Israeli military’s effort to rescue the four captives by providing signals intelligence and other logistical support. The Pentagon and the CIA have been providing information collected from drone flights over Gaza, communications intercepts and other sources about the potential location of hostages including intelligence from the air and cyberspace that Israel apparently cannot collect on its own. The reporting also has revealed that intelligence collection and analysis teams from both the United States and Britain have been in Israel since the start of the war, assisting Israeli intelligence in collecting and analyzing information related to the hostages, some of them dual national Israeli citizens from both the UK and US.

Moving on to Central Europe and given the persistent warnings coming from Moscow over US and NATO’s direct role in the Ukraine war, Washington is currently in a mild panic over the Russian decision to send one of its naval frigates and a nuclear powered missile armed submarine as well as two support vessels on a visit to Cuba to show the flag, as it were, 90 miles from the continental US. One recalls that when Russia moved its forces into Cuba over sixty years ago it resulted in the Cuban Missile Crisis which could have turned into a nuclear war were it not for some common sense coupled to adroit diplomacy by President John F. Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khrushchev. Common sense, unfortunately, is currently lacking in the White House so it is quite possible that something completely nutty will result from the impasse which is further complicated by the 10 year Bilateral Security Agreement that Joe Biden signed with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky at the G7 meeting in Italy last week. What it commits Washington to do is by no means clear.

Like it or not, the United States is directly involved in two wars that it could have avoided and the Biden Administration is deeply in denial over what is taking place. Once upon a time the level of US engagement would have guaranteed a counter-attack from the opponent, but given the availability of nuclear weapons in the hands of many of the players there is appropriately a certain reluctance to engage in open and sustained warfare in the old-fashioned way. That is to the good. One can only hope that all parties involved will get tired of the game before too long and will resort to another old-time value, namely diplomacy to bring about a ceasefire and peace settlements.

Israeli war criminals: can the ICC lock them up?

JUN 21, 2024

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The ICC’s bold pursuit of arrest warrants for western-allied Israeli leaders could redefine international justice. Even if Netanyahu and Co aren’t tossed behind bars, ‘their world will suddenly become a lot smaller.’

(Photo Credit: The Cradle)

Stasa SalacanninI

The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor’s announcement on 20 May of arrest warrants for five Israeli and Hamas leaders immediately triggered a torrent of comments and opinions worldwide. 

The legal initiative represents an unprecedented milestone in international relations, marking the first time leaders of a western-allied state have been accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

According to ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan, there are reasonable arguments that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are criminally responsible for starvation, murder, intentional attacks against civilians, extermination, and persecution, among other crimes. As Khan explained it: 

[These crimes] were committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the Palestinian civilian population pursuant to state policy. These crimes, in our assessment, continue to this day.

Khan has also requested arrest warrants for Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ leader in Gaza, Mohammed Deif, leader of Hamas’ military wing, and Ismail Haniyeh, the group’s political leader.

Main effects of ICC sanctions

The ICC, established in 2002 as the permanent court of last resort to prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and the crime of aggression, comprises 124 state parties. However, the court relies on its member states’ cooperation for enforcement, a collaboration not forthcoming from influential states such as the US, Russia, China, and Israel that do not recognize the court’s jurisdiction.

Issuing arrest warrants for top Israeli leaders is, therefore, likely to involve an unprecedented degree of political and logistical complexity – with many obstacles erected by Tel Aviv’s western allies. 

Speaking to The Cradle, Boston University School of Law’s International Human Rights Clinic Director Susan Akram points out that the ICC prosecutor must first address numerous legal questions to provide supporting evidence to the pre-trial judges. The timeline for their deliberations and decisions on the warrant requests remain uncertain.

Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch and visiting professor at Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs, highlights the main effect of the ICC arrest warrants, should they be issued as requested. Netanyahu and Gallant would be unable to travel to any of the 124 ICC member states, as they risk arrest and surrender to The Hague for trial. 

“Their world will suddenly become a lot smaller,” he tells The Cradle, adding that he hopes “governments think twice about sending them more arms, given that they will have been formally accused of using them to commit war crimes and will presumably try to avoid answering these charges in court.” 

Gentian Zyberi, professor of international law and human rights at the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of Oslo, notes that the ICC could impose other sanctions, such as seizing funds and property abroad to use as reparations to victims. 

“The most important political consequence would be to their legitimacy as political leaders once the ICC confirms the charges,” he warns.

Realistically, though, some states may refuse to surrender Netanyahu, citing his status as head of government and thus immunity while in their territory, argues Professor John Quigley from Ohio State University. Though the ICC does not honor this immunity itself, international law has not conclusively resolved the matter. He adds:

As for a penalty, there would be no question of any penalty before a conviction. The typical penalty is imprisonment. A fine can also be imposed. If the person had assets in a state party to the Rome Statute, it could be asked by the ICC to seize them.

ICC under threat from the US and Israel

The potential issuance of these warrants has prompted mixed reactions globally. While several EU states, including France, Belgium, Slovenia, Ireland, and Spain, have responded positively, the US and Israel have predictably responded furiously.

US President Joe Biden, for example, expressed outrage over the court jointly seeking warrants for both Israel and Hamas leaders that accuse them of similar crimes: “Whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas.” Biden also denied outright the existence of a genocide in Gaza: “What’s happening is not genocide. We reject that,” he said during a speech at the White House. 

In turn, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the court has no jurisdiction over Israel’s action into question the “legitimacy and credibility of this investigation.” But the ICC pre-trial chamber has already rejected that argument, based on the UN General Assembly’s overwhelming vote granting Palestine the status of a “non-member observer state.  

Washington further claims that the ICC prosecutor should have deferred to Israeli self-investigations under what is known as the principle of complementarity. But Roth fully debunks the notion that Israel is capable of investigating itself objectively over war crimes: “Israel has announced 70 investigations but none into the starvation strategy that is at the heart of the ICC’s current case.” 

Moreover, Roth points out that “Israel has no history of prosecuting senior officials for war crimes” and is unlikely to do so anytime soon, based on Netanyahu’s contemptuous response to the ICC request in which he labeled Khan an “antisemite.”

Sanctioning justice 

In the meantime, the US House of Representatives passed legislation to sanction the court for seeking arrest warrants for senior Israeli leaders, which now awaits its approval in the US Senate. The legislation seeks to sanction individuals who have “directly engaged in or otherwise aided” the ICC in prosecuting Americans or citizens of US allies that do not recognize the ICC, including Israel. 

Washington’s primary interest in restricting the ICC’s reach is concern that the court might turn its attention and legal clout toward American troops and officials engaged in unlawful military aggressions and operations across the globe. 

This is not the first time Washington and Tel Aviv have threatened the ICC and the Special Prosecutor’s Office. Professor Akram recalls that former President Donald Trump issued an executive order freezing the US accounts of former special prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and her staff members and denying them visas to enter the US to report to United Nations HQ in New York. 

A recent investigative report in the Guardian has revealed that Israel ran a campaign of harassment and threats against Bensouda and her family for 10 years, in which its intelligence agencies were deployed “to surveil, hack, pressure, smear and allegedly threaten senior ICC staff in an effort to derail the court’s inquiries.”

But, as Zyberi argues, sanctioning the ICC or its staff for investigating the Palestine situation violates the ICC Statute, interfering with justice administration, and thus – itself – warrants sanctions under Article 70. 

Quigley contends that Washington’s reaction signals a disregard for the rule of law: it supports the ICC against adversaries but denounces it when allies are targeted. This duality was underscored by Prosecutor Khan in an interview with CNNwhen he revealed an astonishing admission by a senior leader: “This court [the ICC] is built for Africa and for thugs like Putin.”

For Akram, the ICC’s past focus on African and Balkan perpetrators effectively ignores the crimes of western powers, for example, by the US and the UK in Iraq and Afghanistan. The case against Netanyahu and Gallant, she believes, tests the court’s credibility today – while Roth sees the potential warrants as proof that even powerful leaders can be held accountable under the law. 

If the process Khan initiated is seen through to fruition, the ICC will be uniquely positioned to reshape the boundaries of international justice and hold war criminals – irrespective of nationality, race, or religion – accountable. That moves us one step closer to international law and another step away from the western-led era of impunity.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of The Cradle.

‘Israel’ again massacres Palestinian civilians in Gaza, Threat of Famine

June 22, 2024

Relatives of the Palestinian martyrs mourn their beloved ones at the morgue of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah (photo by Anadolu / May 22, 2024).

Live News – Middle East – News – Palestine – Story of the day – Top

Gaza Strip experienced a harrowing 24 hours as the Ministry of Health in Gaza confirmed that the Israeli occupation perpetrated three massacres, resulting in the loss of approximately 100 lives and leaving 169 individuals wounded.

The Israeli starvation war kills a Palestinian child in Kamal Adwan Hospitals, north of Gaza. 💔 pic.twitter.com/pw6xpe5mzq

— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) June 22, 2024

Amidst the devastation, reports indicate that numerous victims remain trapped under debris and on impassable roads, with rescue teams unable to access the affected areas.

BREAKING: The Israeli occupation army perpetrates a massacre against innocent civilians, including children, in the Al Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. pic.twitter.com/qO0DnB5URf

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) June 22, 2024

The occupation forces intensified their relentless assault on the western regions of Rafah, unleashing a barrage of bombings that has sent shockwaves throughout the besieged city in southern Gaza. Furthermore, the town of Abasan Al-Kabira, east of Khan Yunis, bore the brunt of an onslaught involving artillery shelling and tank fire from Israeli occupation forces.

'I want my beloved dad’…

The Israeli occupation deprives two young girls of their father in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/Axxpwd2kw2

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) June 22, 2024

The coastal enclave also faced aggression from Israeli gunboats, which deliberately targeted fishermen off the Gaza City coast, resulting in the injury of two individuals near the port.

The moment Israeli occupation warplanes targeted a residential block in the Beach Refugee Camp. pic.twitter.com/IMogY4XjZe

— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) June 22, 2024

In the face of this dire situation, the Gaza Media Office sounded the alarm on the looming threat of famine in the Gaza and North governorates, painting a grim reality that is rapidly approaching as a result of the occupation’s actions.

A child in northern Gaza is suffering from malnutrition due to the ongoing Israeli blockade and continuous war on the region. pic.twitter.com/YDlVF9t0tX

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) June 22, 2024

Notably, the Israeli occupation’s obstruction of food aid entry into the northern Gaza Strip has exacerbated the severity of the situation, making famine an inevitability, particularly in the northern regions.

A father cries over his little daughter who is suffering from dehydration and malnutrition in the north of Gaza. pic.twitter.com/hl0vJS0CrL

— Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) June 21, 2024

As the death toll from the ongoing Israeli aggression surged to 37,551 martyrs and the wounded count reached 85,911, the Gaza Strip continues to grapple with the aftermath of the devastating assaults, further fueling the humanitarian crisis in the region.

Source: Al-Manar English Website and Palestinian media

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Armenia officially recognizes state of Palestine

June 21, 2024

Source: Armenian state media

Workers prepare art for an exhibition called, “From all the rivers to all the seas. Images in solidarity with Palestine” at the National Archives in Santiago, Chile, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (AP)

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By Al Mayadeen English

In a surprise announcement, the Republic of Armenia declares joining the UNGA’s resolution in calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and recognizing the state of Palestine.

Armenia announced recognizing the state of Palestine, as confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said, “The catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza and the ongoing military conflict is one of the primary issues on the international political agenda that requires resolution. The Republic of Armenia categorically rejects the targeting of civilian infrastructures, violence against the civilian population and the hostage-taking and capture of civilians during the armed conflict and joins the demands of the international community for their release without preconditions”.

It further declared joining the resolutions of the UN General Assembly for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. 

“Moreover, the Republic of Armenia is sincerely interested in the establishment of peace and stability in the Middle East, the establishment of lasting reconciliation between the Jewish and Palestinian peoples.” 

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It stressed advocating “for a peaceful and comprehensive settlement of the Palestinian issue and support the “two-state” principle of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict solution. We are convinced that this is the only way to ensure that Palestinians and Israelis can realize their legitimate aspirations.”

It concluded by saying that “based on the above and reaffirming its commitment to international law and the principles of equality, sovereignty and peaceful coexistence of peoples, the Republic of Armenia recognizes the State of Palestine.”

This comes a month after Spain, Ireland, and Norway officially recognized Palestine, a move that sparked anger from “Israel”, which is increasingly isolated due to its ongoing genocide in Gaza.

These three European governments stated that their recognition was aimed at supporting a “two-state solution” and promoting peace in the Middle East. They expressed hope that their decision would encourage other EU states to follow their lead.

Following in their footsteps, Slovenia’s government, led by Prime Minister Robert Golob, announced on May 30 its decision to recognize the sovereignty of an independent Palestinian state.

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War on Gaza

Despite Cyprus President Denial, Small Island Certainly Involved in Israeli Plots against Lebanon (Video)

 June 20, 2024

Europe – Featured – Live News – News – Top – World

Mohammad Salami

As the threat made by Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah to the Cypriot government on Wednesday has been influencing the political circles, media outlets, and social websites, several questions must be raised and discussed in this regard.

Since the start of the ongoing Zionist war on Gaza and the flare up of the supportive fronts in South Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen, Hezbollah concentrated its political and military efforts against the Israeli enemy.

Hezbollah even ignored all the local criticism made by certain parties which have never backed the Resistance against the occupation, avoiding responding to all the anti-resistance stances.

In any armed conflict, all sides study the battlefield and all the factors which influence it positively and negatively.

Hezbollah has engaged since October 8, 2023, in a border battle against the Israeli enemy in support of Gaza. Since, this battle may escalate into an all-out war, the Resistance group finds it necessary to determine all the aspects of the field in order to achieve better outcomes.

The Resistance Leader warned the Cypriot government against involvement in any Israeli war on Lebanon, affirming that Cyprus has been hosting Zionist military drills which simulate such hostile schemes.

“Opening Cypriot airports and bases to the Israeli enemy to target Lebanon would mean that the Cypriot government is part of the war, and the resistance will deal with it as part of the war,” the Hezbollah chief said.

Nikos Christodoulides, the island’s president, responded on Wednesday evening: “Cyprus remains uninvolved in any military conflicts and positions itself as part of the solution rather the problem.”

Despite this denial, facts prove that the small island hosted Israeli military drills which simulate a war on Lebanon. Among numerous proofs, what follows is a clear Zionist source which highlight the issue.

On June 2, 2022, The Times of Israel posted an article titled, “In Cyprus, IDF runs drills for potential war with Hezbollah, Lebanon ground assault”.

“The Mediterranean island was chosen both for its Lebanon-like terrain — mountainous along a coastal plain — and its proximity to Israel,” the report mentioned.

The following video was posted by the Israeli website i24News on Youtube shows drills with the title, “Israel Defense Forces carries out drills on Cyprus simulating war on Lebanon,”

The denial of the Cypriot president may be diplomatically necessary; however, it cannot refute the veracity of Hezbollah Secretary General’s remarks. Thus, Cyprus is invited to reflect this denial in a real dissociation from any Zionist war on Lebanon.

Source: Al-Manar English Website

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GAZA LIVE BLOG: US to Remove Restrictions on Large Bombs to Israel | Hezbollah Reveals Strategic Footage in Israel | Hamas ‘Retains’ Two Battalions – Day 256

June 18, 2024

Israel continues to carry out massacres against Palestinian civilians in Gaza.(Photo: Mahmoud Ajjour, Palestine Chronicle)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

17 people were killed and dozens injured in the central Gaza Strip, after residential homes were bombed at dawn on Tuesday in the Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps.

The Gaza government media office announced that the Strip is rapidly heading toward famine, accusing Israel and the Biden administration of preventing aid.

Benny Gantz called on Netanyahu to remove the Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, Nissim Vaturi, after the latter said Israeli demonstrators are a branch of Hamas. 

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 37,372 Palestinians have been killed, and 85,452 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.

Click here for the previous blogs.

LATEST UPDATES

Tuesday, June 18, 11:30 pm (GMT +2)

USAID: The humanitarian situation in Gaza is very difficult

YEDIOTH AHRONOTH: Former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon told Netanyahu during a protest: You are the main responsible for the most dangerous security failure in the history of Israel.”

WASHINGTON POST (citing Israeli military official): The fighting against Hamas in Rafah is more intense than other areas.

HEZBOLLAH: We bombed the Balasan factory for Israeli military industries in the Sa`sa settlement with Falaq missiles.

Prominent Palestinian Doctor, Iyad Rantisi, Dies during Interrogation in Israel

By Palestine Chronicle Staff   Israel has been repeatedly accused of “systematic torture” against Palestinian prisoners detained from Gaza during the ongoing genocidal war. A senior doctor from Gaza died last November under interrogation by … Continue readingProminent Palestinian Doctor, Iyad Rantisi, Dies during Interrogation in Israel Palestine Chronicle

KAN: Netanyahu clearly chose to open another front of confrontation with the Biden administration. Fears in Israel that Washington may restrict additional arms shipments to prevent any Israeli attack in Lebanon.

AL-JAZEERA: Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, met today with senior Hamas officials in Doha.

Tuesday, June 18, 9:30 pm (GMT +2)

KAN: Mutual accusations between Israeli intelligence and the Gaza Division regarding the October 7 document.

YEDIOTH AHRONOTH: Ten missiles were monitored from Lebanon towards Kiryat Shmona and its environs in the Galilee Finger.

Conflicting Report on Weapon Shipment to Israel – What We Know So Far

By Palestine Chronicle Staff   Responding to Netanyahu’s comments, Blinken told reporters that the hold on the 2,000-pound bombs remains in place, rejecting Netanyahu’s claim. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video in … Continue readingConflicting Report on Weapon Shipment to Israel – What We Know So Far Palestine Chronicle

GALLANT: The difficult war we are waging came suddenly and we paid a heavy price.

KAN: US President Joe Biden’s envoy to Lebanon returned to Israel after his talks in Beirut, and will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

ISRAELI ARMY: The Israeli army says it carried out a series of precise strikes targeting a group belonging to Hezbollah’s air unit.

‘Four Generations from Same Bloodline’ – Israel Wiping Out Entire Gaza Families – Report 

By Palestine Chronicle Staff   “We can hardly keep up with the total death toll. It is like a whole village or hamlet has been wiped out.” Israel is killing entire Palestinian families, across generations, … Continue reading‘Four Generations from Same Bloodline’ – Israel Wiping Out Entire Gaza Families – Report 

Palestine Chronicle

AXIOS: Restrictions on shipments of two thousand-pound bombs to Israel will be lifted after the end of the Rafah operation

LAPID: There are no limits to Netanyahu’s corruption and negligence, and he must get out of our lives.

Tuesday, June 18, 7:30 pm (GMT +2)

ISRAELI FM: In an all-out war, Hezbollah will be destroyed and Lebanon will be subjected to a devastating blow.

LEBANESE SOURCE (to Al-Jazeera): The American envoy confirmed that his country is working to avoid the opportunity for a comprehensive war to break out.

AL-JAZEERA: Blinken once again holds Hamas responsible for not reaching an agreement on Gaza.

Tuesday, June 18, 6:00 pm (GMT +2)

AL-JAZEERA: The Lebanese group Hezbollah has shared a video through its Telegram channel showing one of its reconnaissance drones flying over northern Israel, including the Haifa port.

FRANCE: The Paris Commercial Court ordered the organizer of the Eurosatory exhibition for arms companies to “suspend” the ban on the participation of Israeli companies in it.

AL-JAZEERA: An Israeli drone targeted a car in the vicinity of the town of Barghaliya, south of Lebanon.

AL-JAZEERA: The Lebanese group Hezbollah has shared a video through its Telegram channel showing one of its reconnaissance drones flying over northern Israel, including the Haifa port.

FOLLOW OUR LIVE BLOG https://t.co/PipxRlDKGg pic.twitter.com/wtpdS8wrdp

— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) June 18, 2024

YEDIOTH AHRONOTH: Missiles landed in Shlomi in Western Galilee.

Tuesday, June 18, 4:00 pm (GMT +2)

KAN: Hamas maintains two battalions in its military wing for the day after the war, and does not involve them in the ongoing fighting.

AL-JAZEERA: Israel is launching artillery shelling around the town of Shebaa in southern Lebanon.

Tuesday, June 18, 3:00 pm (GMT +2)

AL-JAZEERA: Israel is launching artillery shelling around the town of Shebaa in southern Lebanon.

GAZA CIVIL DEFENSE: We were unable to recover the bodies of martyrs in the Saudi neighborhood in Rafah due to the Israeli bombing.

HEZBOLLAH: We targeted, with an assault drone, a Merkava tank inside the Hadab Yarin site, and we achieved a direct hit.

Tuesday, June 18, 2:00 pm (GMT +2)

LEBANESE PM: We are not seeking escalation. What is required is to stop the aggression.

GAZA HEALTH MINISTRY: 37,372 Palestinians have been killed, and 85,452 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.

37,372 Palestinians have been killed, and 85,452 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.

FOLLOW OUR LIVE BLOG https://t.co/PipxRlDKGg pic.twitter.com/aUGKNQ446F

— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) June 18, 2024

ISRAELI MEDIA: A fire broke out in an agricultural area south of Metulla in the Upper Galilee after a rocket fell from Lebanon.

GIDEON SA’AR: Netanyahu’s government is unable to achieve the goals of the war.

ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTRY: The number of disabled IDF soldiers treated at the Ministry of Defense’s Rehabilitation Division has surpassed 70,000 for the first time. The increase came after the addition of 8,663 wounded men and women since October 7.

Tuesday, June 18, 1:00 pm (GMT +2)

PALESTINIAN MEDIA: Two people were injured as a result of shelling from an Israeli march in the Al-Sabra neighborhood, south of Gaza City.

PALESTINIAN MEDIA: Two people were injured as a result of shelling from an Israeli march in the Al-Sabra neighborhood, south of Gaza City.

FOLLOW OUR LIVE BLOG https://t.co/PipxRlDKGg pic.twitter.com/NS0gpaFENI

— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) June 18, 2024

AL-JAZEERA: Sirens sounded in areas in the Upper Galilee after a suspected infiltration from Lebanon.

PALESTINIAN MEDIA: There were casualties as a result of an Israeli bombing that targeted the town of Abasan, east of the city of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip.

Tuesday, June 18, 12:00 pm (GMT +2)

AMOS HOCHSTEIN: Stopping the war in Gaza may end the escalation between Lebanon and Israel.

GAZA GOVERNMENT MEDIA OFFICE: The Strip is rapidly heading toward famine, and the occupation and the American administration are preventing aid.

Tuesday, June 18, 11:00 am (GMT +2)

AVIGDOR LIEBERMAN: Netanyahu’s government is neither right-wing nor left-wing, but rather a disastrous government and we need an alternative.

AL-JAZEERA: One person was killed and one injured in a bombing by an Israeli march on Al-Sahaba Street in Gaza City.

ISRAELI MEDIA: Benny Gantz called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to remove Nissim Vaturi, Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, from his position and condemn his statements. Vaturi said that Hamas has two branches, the murderous terrorists and the Israeli demonstrators.

ISRAELI MEDIA: Benny Gantz called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to remove Nissim Vaturi, Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, from his position and condemn his statements.

Vaturi said that Hamas has two branches, the murderous terrorists and the Israeli demonstrators.

FOLLOW… pic.twitter.com/0KQmTKsOd7

— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) June 18, 2024

Tuesday, June 18, 10:00 am (GMT +2)

CHANNEL 12: Israel informed US envoy Amos Hockstein that operations in Rafah were nearing completion.

ISRAELI HOME FRONT: Sirens sounded in Kerem Shalom in the southern Gaza Strip.

YEDIOTH AHRONOTH: Security estimates that a technological solution to intercept Hezbollah drones will be reached within 3 months.

YEDIOTH AHRONOTH: Security estimates that a technological solution to intercept Hezbollah drones will be reached within 3 months.

FOLLOW OUR LIVE BLOG https://t.co/PipxRlDKGg pic.twitter.com/dejEpbrN35

— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) June 18, 2024

AL-JAZEERA: Two people were martyred in an Israeli bombing that targeted the town of Al-Qarara, east of Khan Yunis.

Tuesday, June 18, 09:00 am (GMT +2)

GANTZ: We are committed to eliminating the Hezbollah threat.

LAPID: The government of Benjamin Netanyahu must be overthrown, and I believe it is possible to do so.

Tuesday, June 18, 07:00 am (GMT +2)

PALESTINIAN MEDIA: 17 people were killed and dozens injured in the central Gaza Strip, after two homes belonging to the Al-Rai and Al-Madhoun families in the Nuseirat Camp, and a house belonging to the Harb family in the Bureij Camp were bombed at dawn on Tuesday.

PALESTINIAN MEDIA: 17 people were killed and dozens injured in the central Gaza Strip, after two homes belonging to the Al-Rai and Al-Madhoun families in the Nuseirat Camp, and a house belonging to the Harb family in the Bureij Camp were bombed at dawn on Tuesday.

FOLLOW OUR… pic.twitter.com/VcComI4vEc

— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) June 18, 2024

Tuesday, June 18, 06:00 am (GMT +2)

IZZAT AL-RISHQ (Member of Hamas’ political bureau): The Palestinian resistance, led by the al-Qassam Brigades, dismantled the Israeli War Council, which was formed eight months ago to dismantle the resistance.

(The Palestine Chronicle)

AP investigation concludes ‘entire families decimated’ in Gaza

17 Jun 2024 

Source: Agencies

A bulldozer unloads the bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes during a mass funeral in Rafah on December 26, 2023. (AP)

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By Al Mayadeen English

Between October 7 and December 24, AP geolocated and evaluated ten Israeli attacks, including some of the bloodiest, resulting in the death of almost 500 Palestinians. 

The Israeli war on Gaza is murdering entire Palestinian families in unprecedented numbers.

Entire lineages, often four generations of the same family, have been killed in single or many attacks on members of the same family who were sheltering from the bombs.

An Associated Press investigation identified at least 60 Palestinian households in which 25 or more individuals were murdered in bombings between October and December in what was called the bloodiest and most damaging chapter of the war,  which is currently in its ninth month.

Key findings from the analysis indicate that several families have nearly no one left to register the toll, and thousands are unable to account for all of their relatives due to the huge numbers still under the debris.

The AP‘s probe included records published by Gaza’s Health Ministry until March, online death notices, family and neighborhood social media sites and spreadsheets, witness and survivor narratives, and statistics from Airwars, a London-based conflict monitor. 

Between October 7 and December 24, AP geolocated and analyzed ten Israeli attacks, among the bloodiest in the ongoing genocide, resulting in the death of almost 500 Palestinians. 

The Mughrabi family was among the families mostly affected, with around 70 people slain in a single Israeli airstrike in December. Meanwhile, more than 50 of the Abu Najas family were murdered in attacks in October, including at least 2 pregnant mothers.

The vast Doghmush tribe lost at least 44 members in a mosque attack, and the figure increased to over 100 weeks later; by spring, more than 80 members of the Abu al-Qumssan family had been slain.

The ten strikes investigated by AP mainly hit residential buildings, homes, and shelters where parents, children, and grandparents sought refuge and safety. There was no evident military target or a clear warning to the people inside. The Salem family lost at least 270 members in all.

At one point, they flew a white flag above their building, refusing to evacuate since no place was safe. 

More than 170 family members were slain in two explosions eight days apart. Three attacks over four weeks killed 30 al-Agha members, while a series of strikes in a refugee camp in December killed 106 individuals from at least four families.

In one raid on the crowded Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, Israeli bombs destroyed an entire block of structures, killing almost 40 members of the Abu al-Qumssan family. 

The murdering of families spanning generations is a crucial aspect of the argument for the International Court of Justice’s case against “Israel”.

Related News

• Gaza population facing severe hunger, famine-like conditions: WHO
• AP report debunking rape claims a new slap in occupation’s face: Hamas

Craig Jones, a Newcastle University lecturer who researched the function of “Israel’s” military attorneys, stated that the occupation has reduced its standards for civilian casualties, fuelled by fury.

The law of war permits a “sort of rushed form of warfare” with increased civilian losses in which a force must respond rapidly and under changing conditions, yet “Israel is just so clearly violating the law because it’s pushing the rules so far,” he stated.

Everyone in my family was either killed or injured: Nuseirat massacre

The shock and grief have suffocated the streets of the Nuseirat refugee camp after 274 Palestinians of all ages, yet mainly children, were massacred in cold blood last week, as per Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The harrowing images emerging from the recent massacre have reverberated across the globe, igniting a wave of widespread protests and demonstrations. From bustling city streets in Chicago to remote villages in Pakistan, people everywhere are united in their condemnation of the Israeli atrocities witnessed in Gaza.

Two eyewitnesses, Asia al-Nemer, searching for a pharmacy with remaining stock of her sister’s medication, and Ansam Haroun, aiming to purchase new clothes for her daughters to lift their spirits ahead of the Eid al-Adha holiday, recounted the horrors of the Israeli massacre, The Guardian reported.

Earlier in the year, this area of central Gaza had become deserted when Israeli troops passed through, demolishing Haroun’s home in an airstrike. However, the area experienced since May a surge in population as over a million people were forcibly displaced northward to escape another Israeli aggression on the Nuseirat refugee camp.

“The Nuseirat market is always crowded, but now more than usual because of the many displaced people,” said Haroun, 29, who is currently residing with an uncle.

She recounted, as cited by The Guardian, that she was browsing outfits for her daughters when the initial Israeli airstrikes commenced. Almost instinctively, she dashed out of the door to reach them.

Outside, she encountered a scene reminiscent of “the horrors of judgment day” with panicked crowds attempting to flee the impending onslaught. Soon, helicopters and quadcopter drones would join the assault, resulting in hundreds of casualties and bodies strewn across the streets, as depicted in images from the area.

“Everyone was screaming, terrified,” she said, as quoted by The Guardian.

“The street I was on was only 50 meters long, but it was packed with hundreds of people, all running. A woman next to me fainted from terror, and I saw vendors abandoning their goods on the roadside to flee,” she stressed.

El-Nemer, a 37-year-old software engineer originally from the northern part of Gaza, was also among the crowd of people witnessing the Israeli carnage.

“I was jogging along the street with other women. We were terrified,” she said.

They hurried past health clinics and schools, places where they might have sought refuge in the past but now avoided due to deliberate Israeli attacks on such facilities.

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War on Gaza

Ahead of Hochstein Visit, Hezbollah Maintains De-escalation Requires U.S. to Press for Israeli Halt of War on Gaza

June 17, 2024

Lebanon – Live News – News – Top

Member of “Loyalty to Resistance” parliamentary bloc, Sayyed Hasan Fadlallah, maintained on Saturday that the US administration has to press ‘Israel’ to stop its war on Gaza.

After performing Eid Al-Adha prayers in Bint Jbeil town, South Lebanon, MP Fadlallah stressed that all frontlines will stop fire when the Zionist war on Gaza stops.

The US presidential envoy Amos Hochstein met on Monday with the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv in the context of an alleged US endeavor to restore calm on the northern borders of occupied Palestine.

Hochstein is expected to visit Beirut on Tuesday to meet Lebanon’s senior officials, including House Speaker Nabih Berri, the caretaker PM Najib Mikati and the caretaker foreign minister Abdullah Abou Habib.

Hezbollah lawmaker maintained that the Israeli enemy will not given through politics what it has lost in the battlefield, underscoring that establishing a buffer zone on the Lebanese side of the borders is completely rejected.

MP Fadlallah affirmed that the Zionist enemy is suffering major losses in the battlefield and unable to impose its terms on the resistance groups.

He emphasized that the Resistance may never surrender to any pressures and will continue its border battle against the Israeli enemy in support of Gaza.

MP Fadlallah indicated that the southerners are now honorably supporting Gaza as they have been always ready to make sacrifices in order to protect their land and dignity.

In a major blow to the Zionist scheme of pushing the residents away from the Lebanese border towns, a large number of those steadfast locals performed Eid Al-Adha prayers at the mosques of their villages.

Source: Al-Manar English Website

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Israeli war cabinet ‘dissolved’, Netanyahu tells ministers

June 16, 2024

Source: Israeli media

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference at the Sheba Tel HaShomer Hospital in Ramat Gan, occupied Palestine on June 8, 2024. (AP)

By Al Mayadeen English

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dissolves the six-member war cabinet, Israeli media reported on Monday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the disbanding of the war cabinet on Sunday, according to reports released on Monday, in a move widely anticipated following the departure of Benny Gantz from the government.

“The cabinet was in the coalition agreement with [National Unity MK Benny] Gantz at his request. As soon as Gantz left – there is no need for a cabinet anymore,” Netanyahu was reported to have said during the Sunday war cabinet meeting.

According to Netanyahu, there will not be a new cabinet formed consisting of the coalition party members, as previously suggested by far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir.

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Netanyahu said on Sunday that “to reach the goal of eliminating the capabilities of Hamas, [he] made decisions that were not always acceptable to the military echelon” during the weekly cabinet meeting. “We have a country with an army and not an army with a country.”

Israeli War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz announced on June 9 in a televised address his resignation from the Israeli war cabinet, calling it a painful decision.

“Leaving the government is a complex and painful decision,” he said. He underlined that the Israeli regime was dealing hesitantly with existential issues based on the political interests of a few.

Gantz also acknowledged the failure to secure the release of Israeli captives from Gaza, emphasizing that “true victory prioritizes the return of hostages over political considerations.”

Highlighting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s role in obstructing a genuine victory, Gantz admitted that “there will be no quick and easy victory,” and warned that “the war will continue for years.”

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War on Gaza

Haniyeh Calls for Comprehensive Agreement to End Gaza War

June 16, 2024

Middle East – News – Palestine – Top

Haniyeh: Hezbollah forced hundreds of thousands of settlers to flee, and the Houthis made the Red Sea forbidden to occupation.

In his Eid al-Adha speech, Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh underscored the necessity of negotiations for a comprehensive agreement to end the Israeli assault on Gaza and secure the release of prisoners, saluting all regional comrades in Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq for their efforts in resisting the occupation and aiding the people of Gaza in their war.

Despite Israeli evasion and obstruction, Haniyeh emphasized the steadfast commitment of Hamas and resistance factions to achieving a permanent ceasefire, comprehensive withdrawal from Gaza, reconstruction efforts, and a prisoner exchange deal.

“The solution to the Israeli war of annihilation on the Gaza Strip and the release of prisoners will be achieved through negotiations leading to a comprehensive agreement, no matter how much the enemy evades or obstructs the process,” Haniyeh affirmed.

Haniyeh emphasized the continuation of efforts on all fronts to end the war of genocide against the Palestinian people. He stated that Hamas and the resistance factions are committed to achieving an agreement that includes four main items: a permanent ceasefire, a comprehensive withdrawal from Gaza, reconstruction, and a prisoner exchange deal.

He noted that Hamas and the resistance factions have shown significant seriousness and flexibility to reach an agreement that would prevent further bloodshed and halt the aggression. Haniyeh highlighted that the response to the ceasefire proposal aligns with the principles outlined in President Biden’s speech and the Security Council resolution.

“The occupation and its allies did not respond to Hamas’s flexibility and continued their maneuvers and attempts to circumvent and deceive through proposals and ideas aimed at obtaining prisoners and resuming the war of extermination,” Haniyeh stressed.

He emphasized the need for “the entire agreement to be clear and unambiguous, not subject to interpretations, postponement, bargaining, or maneuvering.”

Haniyeh expressed his commitment to the role of mediators, recognizing the importance of their efforts, and his willingness to give them sufficient time and space to accomplish their mission.

Amid media and incitement campaigns pressuring Hamas and the resistance factions to agree to the plans of the occupation and its supporters, Haniyeh said, “We remain steadfast in our positions that prioritize the interests, security, and protection of our people above all else.”

Haniyeh emphasized that the Palestinian people, who revolted on October 7 against oppression, will not retreat until they achieve their goal of freedom, independence, and return, which he described as the gateway to security and stability in the region.

“The cover provided by some countries for the occupation, especially the American administration, has been exposed politically, legally, and humanitarianly.” He added, “These forces must realize that not only did the military war against our people fail, but also the political and media war failed, underscoring the legendary steadfastness of our people in Gaza.”

The leader of Hamas conveyed several messages, with the first directed to the people of Gaza, praising their resilience and sacrifices in the face of aggression.

“The criminal enemy that committed and continues to commit genocide and brutality has failed to achieve any of its declared goals,” Haniyeh said.

He pointed out the signs of disintegration within the Israeli government, indicating its defeat and collapse.

Haniyeh’s second message was to the Al-Qassam Brigades and all resistance factions inside and outside Palestine. He saluted the Mujahideen for their heroism and steadfastness in confronting the enemy, despite the ferocity of the battle.

He highlighted the ongoing heroic operations by the resistance, even in areas destroyed by the occupation, with the latest examples occurring in Rafah, Gaza, and the northern Gaza Strip.

“We assure our Mujahideen brigades that God will not waste your efforts and victory will be achieved soon,” Haniyeh continued.

Haniyeh also saluted the support fronts, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Ansarullah in Yemen, and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, for their roles in targeting the Zionist entity and supporting Gaza.

“Greetings to our brothers in Hezbollah in Lebanon, who stood with Gaza from the outset and expanded their strikes in support of our resistance, forcing hundreds of thousands of settlers to flee from our occupied northern regions,” he said.

He stressed that the sacrifices on the support fronts confirm the unity of the enemy and the nation, highlighting the importance of resistance and jihad for the sake of God.

In his message to the Arab and Islamic nations, Haniyeh called for increased support and confrontation with the Zionist entity to support Gaza and Jerusalem.

In a final message to the international community, Haniyeh emphasized the need to end the injustice faced by the Palestinian people for over a century and called for the fulfillment of their inherent and legitimate rights.

He stressed that the horrific images of famine striking the Gaza Strip and claiming innocent lives are the responsibility of the international community, particularly the countries supporting the occupation.

Haniyeh called for action to force the enemy to open all crossings.

Source: Al-Manar English Website

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Israeli forces admit 11 soldiers killed in Gaza

June 16, 2024

Source: Agencies

Illustrative photo of an Israeli tank getting hit with an Al-Qassam Brigades anti-tank round somewhere in Gaza (Military Media)

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By Al Mayadeen English

The Israeli occupation forces admit that 11 soldiers were killed in Gaza and Rafah in a “catastrophic” day for the invading forces.

The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) announced today that 11 soldiers from the 601st Engineering Brigade and the 179th Brigade were killed, with two others wounded during confrontations with the Palestinian Resistance in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli media reported a severe incident in central Gaza, where the IOF acknowledged the deaths of two additional soldiers from the 179th Brigade due to an improvised explosive device (IED), which also injured two more soldiers.

The IOF also confirmed the death of a soldier from the Givati Brigade. He succumbed to critical injuries sustained during fights in Rafah a few days prior.

Earlier, the IOF had reported the deaths of eight soldiers and officers caused by an explosive device that hit a Namer armored personnel carrier in the Tel Sultan refugee camp in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. Among the dead was the deputy commander of a company in the 601st Engineering Brigade.

Additionally, a company commander with the rank of major, along with three other soldiers, was killed in southern Gaza a few days ago.

With these latest casualties, the death toll of Israeli soldiers since the start of the war on Gaza on October 7 has risen to 661. This includes 311 soldiers killed since the beginning of the ground offensive in Gaza. Furthermore, 3,617 soldiers have been wounded, according to the army’s published figures.

Israeli media described Saturday’s incident at 5 am in Rafah as a “disaster,” noting that an armored vehicle in the Tel Sultan neighborhood was engaged while on the move. 

It took the military two hours to reach the vehicle, which was then towed to a secure location. Drones were deployed to locate the resistance fighters in the area, but these efforts were unsuccessful.

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The media highlighted that Saturday’s incident in Rafah was the most severe since the Khan Yunis incident on January 23, which resulted in the deaths of 21 soldiers.

Namer up in flames

The Palestinian Resistance killed eight Israeli occupation soldiers who were reportedly asleep in an Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) in the southern Gaza Strip, Israeli media outlets reported on Saturday. 

The news has emerged as Israeli occupation forces are launching an invasion into the western neighborhood of al-Sultan in Rafah.

Relating a slightly different course of events but with the same end result, the al-Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement in which it announced that on the morning of the day of Arafat Day, its freedom fighters carried out a complex ambush against Israeli vehicles penetrating the area of ​​the Saudi neighborhood in Tal al-Sultan, west of the city of Rafah.

The cab of a D9 military bulldozer, according to the Resistance group, was targeted by an al-Yassin 105 shell, causing it to catch fire and resulting in casualties among its crew.

Immediately upon the arrival of the rescue force, a Namer APC was targeted with an al-Yassin 105 shell, which led to its destruction and the killing of all its crew members.

However, according to Israeli media reports, the eight Israeli troops were burnt to death in the attack, which targeted a Namer-type APC in Rafah. Prior to al-Qassam’s statement, it was reported that an unspecified anti-tank shell was fired at the APC, which led to an explosion and a fire in the vehicle, killing eight soldiers sleeping inside it. 

The corpses of the soldiers were completely burnt, and the APC was destroyed, it was claimed. Among those killed was a combat officer in the Israeli occupation forces, Israeli media outlets reported later on Saturday.

It is worth noting that the Namer APC is one of the most advanced and heavily armored vehicles when compared to same-class vehicles internationally. 

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War on Gaza

GAZA HORROR: UN FINDS ISRAELI FORCES GUILTY OF SEXUAL ABUSE AND TORTURE

JUNE 13TH, 2024

Source

Robert Inlakesh is a political analyst, journalist and documentary filmmaker currently based in London, UK. He has reported from and lived in the occupied Palestinian territories and hosts the show ‘Palestine Files’. Director of ‘Steal of the Century: Trump’s Palestine-Israel Catastrophe’. Follow him on Twitter @falasteen47

Robert Inlakesh

UN-mandated Independent International Commission of Inquiry has uncovered evidence of egregious sexual violence committed against Palestinian men and women in the Gaza Strip. This adds to a mounting series of reports indicating the issue is widespread and systematic.

The United Nations report, released on June 12 under a Human Rights Council resolution, revealed that Israeli forces “systematically targeted and subjected Palestinians to SGBV [Sexual and Gender-Based Violence] online and in person since October 7, including through forced public nudity, forced public stripping, sexualized torture and abuse, and sexual humiliation and harassment.”

The report noted specific types of sexual violence perpetrated by Israeli soldiers targeting men and boys during ground operations and arrests. Soldiers took videos and photos of Palestinians after stripping them partially or fully naked. The captives were also “coerced to do physical movements while naked.”

Families of men and boys taken captive were made to watch as they were paraded in the street, either fully naked or in their underwear while being subjected to sexual harassment.

The commission concluded that the gender-based violence “directed at Palestinian women was intended to humiliate and degrade the Palestinian population as a whole.” The report asserted that “forced public stripping and nudity and other types of abuse by Israeli military personnel were either ordered or condoned.”

“Sexual violence has been perpetrated throughout the OPT [Occupied Palestinian Territories] during evacuation processes, before or during arrest, at civilian homes and at a shelter for women and girls,” the report stated.

From Humiliation to Rape: The Untold Story of Israel’s Abuse of Palestinian Women

“Sexual acts were carried out by force, including under threats, intimidation and other forms of duress, in inherently coercive circumstances due to the armed conflict and the presence of armed Israeli soldiers.”

In February, a UN panel of experts stated there was “credible evidence” of sexual violence against Palestinian women in both Gaza and the West Bank. This followed a UN report noting two cases of rape and various other cases of sexual abuse against Palestinian women.

“We might not know for a long time what the actual number of victims are,” said Reem Alsalem, the UN’s special rapporteur on violence against women and girls.

A recently released UNRWA report included testimony from a 34-year-old Palestinian woman detained in the Sde Teiman detention center, a makeshift interrogation facility for detainees seized from Gaza:

“They asked the soldiers to spit on me, saying ‘she is a b****, she is from Gaza.’ They were beating us as we moved and saying they would put pepper on our sensitive parts [genitals]. They pulled us, beat us, they took us in the bus to the Damon prison after five days. A male soldier took off our hijabs and they pinched us and touched our bodies, including our breasts. We were blindfolded and we were feeling them touching us, pushing our heads to the bus. We started to squeeze together to try to protect ourselves from the touching. They said ‘b****, b****.’ They told the soldiers to take off their shoes and slap our faces with them.”

The testimonies in the UNRWA report correlate with those collected by The New York Times in their recent expose on the Sde Teiman facility, which included allegations of rape, including with metal rods, and one male detainee dying after experiencing anal rape as a form of sexual torture.

Various other accusations of rape have been recorded, including those from Canadian physicians working in Gaza, with one claiming a woman was “raped for two days until she lost her ability to speak.” There has been no extensive investigation into the mountains of evidence and allegations of rape of Palestinians. In contrast, unsubstantiated Israeli government claims of a mass rape campaign on October 7 have received significant international attention.

The newly issued UN report allocated roughly 3,400 words to its section on the singular day of October 7 and approximately the same amount to its segment on crimes committed by Israeli Security Forces until December 31, 2023, in their Advanced Unedited version of the report. The section on crimes committed since October 7 is roughly the same in length but contains 65 footnotes, while the section on crimes committed on October 7 has only 24. The report drew strong conclusions about both Hamas and Israel.

The BRICS weigh in on Palestine

JUN 15, 2024

Source

The gravity around the newly-enlarged BRICS constellation is drawing in Arab, Muslim, and Global South adherents to the influential group’s message on international law, Palestine, and halting forever wars.

Photo Credit: The Cradle

Pepe Escobar

MOSCOW – Something of extraordinary magnitude happened in Moscow on 23 May. Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa personally asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to help organize a peace conference on Palestine, at which Russia would be the first non-Arab nation invited.

Al-Khalifa and Putin had two rounds of discussions – one of them closed – during which the main focus was always Palestine. The Bahraini monarch noted that in a rare show of unity, the Arab world had finally come together in agreement to end the war in Gaza. It was implied that Russia was subsequently chosen as the most reliable mediator to end the brutal conflict. 

Bahrain – and the Arab League – recognize that the Russian position centers around what Putin had previously defined as the “UN formula”: an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem. 

That happens to be the position of the BRICS-10 nations and virtually the whole Global Majority. Crucially, it is also the common position of China and the Arab world, reaffirmed in Beijing only one week after the Russia-Bahrain meeting. 

The problem is how to implement the “formula” when the US hegemon, Israel’s unconditional ally, has a virtual stranglehold on the United Nations. 

By 2020, as Tel Aviv was openly announcing the inevitable annexation of the West Bank, the Abraham Accords were smashing a major Arab taboo on openly supporting Israel, via the normalization agreements signed in Washington DC by Bahrain, the UAE, Morocco, and Sudan. 

Nine months ago, Palestine was virtually isolated, and destined to extinction via quiet Israeli policies to incrementally force expulsion. But never underestimate the power of a genocide committed in broad daylight, on video. Today, the Russia-China strategic partnership, BRICS, and the Global Majority have been mobilized to enshrine Palestine as a sovereign state – faithful to the recent super-majority UN General Assembly vote to accept Palestine as a UN member. 

It will be a long, winding, and thorny road that has the potential to split the world in two.

Lavrov lays it all out 

The St. Petersburg forum last week offered three crucial messages to the Global Majority, focused around BRICS. The crux of the sessions may have been geoeconomics, but a now-unavoidable message of support to Palestine crept into the sidelines. 

After a panel ostensibly debating the supply and demand of oil and gas, and which touched upon the principled role of Yemen in the Red Sea directed against the Gaza genocide, support for Palestine, amidst friendly smiles (but off the record), was emphatic from everyone – from OPEC secretary-general Haitham al-Ghais to the UAE’s Minister of Energy Suhail Mohamed al-Mazrouei. 

Same on a Russia-Oman  panel, coming from Minister of Commerce Qais bin Mohammed bin Moosa al-Yousef. 

Earlier this week, the Palestine tragedy was addressed in detail – on points 34 and 35 – in the joint statement of the BRICS 10 Ministers of Foreign Affairs, who sat at the same table for the first time in Nizhny Novgorod, preparing for the extremely important annual BRICS summit next October in Kazan, under the Russian presidency. Three very important points were made there: 

First, the Ministers “reaffirmed their rejection of any attempt aiming at forcefully displacing, expelling or transferring the Palestinian people from their land.” Second, they collectively “expressed serious concern at Israel’s continued blatant disregard of international law, the UN Charter, UN resolutions and Court orders.” And third, the ten foreign ministers: 

“Reaffirmed their support for Palestine’s full membership in the United Nations and reiterated their unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-state solution based on international law including relevant UNSC and UNGA resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative that includes the establishment of a sovereign, independent and viable State of Palestine in line with internationally recognized borders of June 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital living side by side in peace and security with Israel.”

This is BRICS speaking with one voice – including, crucially, representatives of major Muslim-majority states: Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE. and Egypt.   

Then Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, at an expanded BRICS session defined as BRICS+/BRICS Outreach, offered extra, important, context.

“We held an intra-Palestinian meeting in Moscow. We did this repeatedly. The last time it was held in late February and early March of this year, all Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Fatah, were present. For the first time, an event of this kind ended with the adoption of a joint statement in which everyone, including Hamas, expressed their readiness to unite the Palestinian ranks on the basis of the platform of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Previously, it was not possible to achieve this.”

Lavrov explained why, for Russia, it is essential to restore Palestinian unity: 

“Only a united Palestine can be a partner in negotiations aimed at achieving the maximum desired outcome. As long as the Palestinians are divided, this is unlikely to work. Now, without any Palestinians, they are beginning to think about what to do with the Gaza Strip next: either to establish some kind of protectorate of Arab countries, or to introduce some kind of peacekeeping force, or to artificially declare that these will be territories governed by the Palestinian National Authority. These are all initiatives that are imposed by external players.”

And that brings us to the kernel of the Russian position: “The most important component of our long-term policy in this area will be to support the movement for the creation of a Palestinian state in full compliance with UN resolutions.”

How to respond “symmetrically”

All of the above sums up the carefully calibrated, official Russian position. Moscow abhors Israel’s non-stop, irrational escalation while ceasefire proposals are on hand galore. At the same time, it won’t take sides – either with Hamas or with Yemen’s Ansarallah. It is a consensus diplomats and Russia analysts routinely express: Russia will not get into a war thousands of kilometers away when it is fighting a US/NATO existential threat right at its western border. 

After Putin’s answers in the Q&A following his address to the plenary session in St. Petersburg, debate raged on what sort of “symmetrical” responses Russia’s ministry of defense would come up with to counterpunch NATO’s green light for strikes with long-range missiles inside the Russian Federation.   

West Asia, predictably, features in the favorite scenario: advanced strike weapons deployed in Syria, described as “Syrian weapons” to mirror the west’s “Ukrainian weapons” subterfuge. These would supplement arms already deployed at Russia’s Khmeimim and Tartus bases – covering the Eastern Mediterranean, Lebanon, Israel, and US bases in Jordan, occupied Syria and occupied Iraq – and would be operated by Russian personnel, much as US/NATO personnel operate “Ukrainian” weapons.

A BRICS thorn 

Now we come to the thorn in the BRICS flower arrangement – Saudi Arabia.

A discombobulated White House and US Deep State seem to have found a formula to wean Riyadh away from its new role as strong BRICS player: a landmark defense treaty, dubbed the Strategic Alliance Agreement, in the wings awaiting Riyadh’s formalization of relations with Tel Aviv. 

The Strategic Alliance Agreement would need to get a two-thirds majority vote in the US Senate. Yet insistence on “normalization with Israel” may well kill the deal, as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MbS) now has options to carefully consider, not only regarding the Gaza tragedy, but over his new BRICS alliances. 

Riyadh’s official position on Palestine is tied up with BRICS; end of the war/genocide in Gaza, and the establishment of a Palestinian state. And every grain of sand in the lands of Islam is fully aware that a Tel Aviv ruled by an ethnocentric mob of extremists won’t accept a two-state solution. 

Moreover, a Saudi-US military alliance is totally incompatible with Riyadh becoming an influential member of BRICS. Chessboard moves are instead pointing to sooner or later a possible Global Majority military alliance to counterpunch the escalating US/NATO war –  Hybrid and otherwise – against the dawning of a multinodal, polycentric, and in Putin’s terminology in St. Peterburg, “harmonic” multipolar world.   

Add to it the expiration earlier this week of the US-Saudi agreement signed 50 years ago to establish the petrodollar, essentially in exchange for US military protection. 

Already last year Riyadh made it clear the agreement would not be renewed when it clinched a deal with China based on energy trade using the petroyuan. 

So in theory we are advancing further on down the road towards the demise of the petrodollar, coupled with the expansion of the digital yuan. The Central Bank of Saudi Arabia is now a “full participant” of Project mBridge, which unites the BIS Innovation Hub, the Central Bank of Thailand, the Central Bank of the UAE, the People’s Bank of China, and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

Essentially, mBridge is a multi-Central Bank digital currency (CBDC) platform shared among Central Banks and commercial banks, and enabling instant cross-border payments and settlement. Thailand, for instance, is buying oil from the UAE using mBridge.

There are no less than 26 mBridge observers – quite a mixed bag, including the China-led Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the European Central Bank, the IMF, and the World Bank. 

As Saudi Arabia joins mBridge, Saudi Aramco – after opening itself to foreign investors with a huge IPO – has just ceded an extra 0.64 percent of its capital, with 60 percent of the buyers American. Aramco is a humongous fountain of dividends for shareholders: this year, that will amount to a whopping $141 billion. 

Guess who are the top new investors? The Big Three – Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street – now all wallowing in Saudi oil. 

Arabs, CENTCOM, and Israel: in bed together? 

And now for the ultimate complicating factor. 

On Monday, military officers from Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Jordan – which includes three BRICS members and Russia-friendly Bahrain – met with Herzi Halevi, the IDF’s Chief of General Staff to discuss…defense cooperation.

The meeting was facilitated by none other than the US CENTCOM. Although as low-profile as it gets, the meeting still leaked, given the juxtaposition of the Gaza genocide alongside a meeting of top Arab leaders sitting with the Arab world’s worst enemies.

A post-modern epigone of the cynics dwelling in the Agora in Ancient Greece would remark that with CENTCOM Arab “friends” like these – three of them BRICS members – Palestine does not need enemies.

Meanwhile, the tragedy persists on so many levels. As Chinese high school students all across the civilization-state show their support for Palestine after taking their university entrance exams, the US-Israel axis homogenizes terrorism, linked to the debacle of Project Ukraine, coupled with the non-stop killing of Palestinians.

Everything is being sucked into the black hole of terrorism – complete with NATO now openly re-arming the neonazi Azov Battalion, and Kiev targeting civilians in Belgorod with drones and scattering mines in parks where kids play.

All the components of the Hegemon-fed Terror Foreign Legion are coming together, in lockstep with Israel, which is essentially ISIS with nuclear weapons. But for all their lofty ideals and sacred belief in the UN, the BRICS still have not come up with a solid, practical strategy to fight the horror.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of The Cradle.

Yemen heats naval front as Gaza genocide continues, strikes 3 ships

June 14, 2024

Source: Al Mayadeen

A Yemeni drone being launched by the Armed Forces toward the Israeli occupation entity from an undisclosed location in Yemen with Palestinian and Yemeni flags on site in October 2023 (Yemeni military media)

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By Al Mayadeen English

The spokesperson of the YAF says that the Verbena vessel in the Arabian Sea was targeted and hit leading to a fire erupting onboard.

The Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) targeted three ships in the Red and Arabian Seas as part of the operations in support of Gaza and retaliation to the US-UK aggression on Yemen, spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree stated on Thursday as the ongoing Israeli genocide in the Strip now surpassed 250 consecutive days.

The first operation was carried out by the missile forces against the Verbena vessel in the Arabian Sea, Saree said, confirming that it was hit, leading to a fire erupting on board.

Read more: Our forces will attack USS Eisenhower at any chance: Sayyed al-Houthi

US Central Command CENTCOM released a statement saying that Verbena was struck by two missiles, which caused a fire on the ship.

In the second and third operations, SeaGuardian and Athina came under attack in the Red Sea by Yemeni ballistic missiles and drones, and were directly hit, the spokesperson added.

Saree emphasized that the operations came after the ships’ owning companies violated the YAF’s ban on entry into the ports of occupied Palestine.

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• Yemen launches attacks on US ships, Israeli sites in support of Gaza

Read more: Sayyed al-Houthi: US failed in facing Yemen at sea, escalation ongoing

This comes just one day after the Yemeni armed forces announced their first successful strike on a vessel using sea drones.

In a statement, Saree said that the YAF targeted the TUTOR vessel in the Red Sea using several ballistic missiles, in addition to sea and air drones, leading to severe damage to the ship, putting it at risk of sinking.

Shortly before the announcement, maritime security firms and shipping sources said that a Greek-owned cargo ship was struck by a small craft off Yemen’s Red Sea port of Hodeidah and was not under the command of the crew after sustaining damage in its engine room.

On Wednesday, the United States and British launched a joint aggression on Yemen, targeting a governmental facility in the al-Gabin district and a Radio Station in the Ramyah governorate. 

It resulted in the injury of five civilians, including one who was critically injured, Al Mayadeen correspondent in Sanaa reported. 

Heavy material damages were also recorded in the targeted buildings. 

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War on Gaza

The Day the West Defined ‘Success’ as a Massacre of 270 Palestinians

JUNE 12, 2024

Source

JONATHAN COOK 

Israelis dance in the streets, the White House hails a ‘daring’ operation, Rishi Sunak expresses relief. How carnage in Gaza has become the new normal

Israel hasn’t just crossed the Biden administration’s pretend “red lines” in Gaza. With its massacre at Nuseirat refugee camp at the weekend, Israel drove a bulldozer through them.

On Saturday, an Israeli military operation to free four Israelis held captive by Hamas since its 7 October attack on Israel resulted in the killing of more than 270 Palestinians, many of them women and children.

The true death toll may never be known. Untold numbers of men, women and children are still under rubble from the bombardment, crushed to death, or trapped and suffocating, or expiring slowly from dehydration if they cannot be dug out in time.

Many hundreds more are suffering agonising injuries – should their wounds not kill them – in a situation where there are almost no medical facilities left after Israel’s destruction of hospitals and its mass kidnap of Palestinian medical personnel. Further, there are no drugs to treat the victims, given Israel’s months-long imposition of an aid blockade.

Israelis and American Jewish organisations – so ready to judge Palestinians for cheering attacks on Israel – celebrated the carnage caused in freeing the Israeli captives, who could have returned home months ago had Israel been ready to agree on a ceasefire.

Videos even show Israelis dancing in the street.

According to reports, the bloody Israeli operation in central Gaza may have killed three other captives, one of them possibly an American citizen.

In comments to the Haaretz newspaper published on Sunday, Louis Har, a hostage freed back in February, observed of his own captivity: “Our greatest fear was the IDF’s planes and the concern that they would bomb the building we were in.”

He added: “We weren’t worried that they’d [referring to Hamas] do something to us all of a sudden. We didn’t object to anything. So I wasn’t afraid they’d kill me.”

The Israeli media reported Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant describing Saturday’s operation as “one of the most heroic and extraordinary operations I have witnessed over the course of 47 years serving in Israel’s defence establishment”.

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is currently seeking an arrest warrant for Gallant, as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The charges include efforts to exterminate the people of Gaza through planned starvation.

State terrorism

Israel has been wrecking the established laws of war with abandon for more than eight months.

At least 37,000 Palestinians are known to have been killed so far in Gaza, though Palestinian officials lost the ability to properly count the dead many weeks ago following Israel’s relentless destruction of the enclave’s institutions and infrastructure.

Israel has additionally engineered a famine that, mostly out of view, is gradually starving Gaza’s population to death.

The International Court of Justice put Israel on trial for genocide back in January. Last month, it ordered an immediate halt to Israel’s attack on Gaza’s southern city of Rafah. Israel has responded to both judgments by intensifying its killing spree.

In a further indication of Israel’s sense of impunity, the rescue operation on Saturday involved yet another flagrant war crime.

Israel used a humanitarian aid truck – supposedly bringing relief to Gaza’s desperate population – as cover for its military operation. In international law, that is known as the crime of perfidy.

For months, Israel has been blocking aid to Gaza – part of its efforts to starve the population. It has also targeted aid workers, killing more than 250 of them since October.

But more specifically, Israel is waging a war on Unrwa, claiming without evidence that the UN’s main aid agency in Gaza is implicated in Hamas “terror” operations. It wants the UN, the international community’s last lifeline in Gaza against Israel’s wanton savagery, permanently gone.

By hiding its own soldiers in an aid truck, Israel made a mockery of its supposed “terrorism concerns” by doing exactly what it accuses Hamas of.

But Israel’s military action also dragged the aid effort – the only way to end Gaza’s famine – into the centre of the battlefield. Now Hamas has every reason to fear that aid workers are not what they seem; that they are really instruments of Israeli state terrorism.

Nefarious motive

In the circumstances, one might have assumed the Biden administration would be quick to condemn Israel’s actions and distance itself from the massacre.

Instead, Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, was keen to take credit for the mass carnage – or what he termed a “daring operation”.

He admitted in an interview on Sunday that the US had offered assistance in the rescue operation, though he refused to clarify how. Other reports noted a supporting British role, too.

“The United States has been providing support to Israel for several months in its efforts to help identify the locations of hostages in Gaza and to support efforts to try to secure their rescue or recovery,” Sullivan told CNN.

Sullivan’s comments fuelled existing suspicions that such assistance extends far beyond providing intelligence and a steady supply of the bombs Israel has dropped on the tiny Gaza enclave over the past few months – more than the total that hit London, Dresden and Hamburg combined during the Second World War.

A Biden official disclosed to the Axios website that US soldiers belonging to a so-called American hostages unit had participated in the rescue operation that massacred Palestinian civilians.

Additionally, footage shows Washington’s floating pier as the backdrop for helicopters involved in the attack.

According to Axios, citing a U.S. administration official, the American hostages unit in Israel assisted in the release of the four Israeli captives in Gaza.

Footage published by an Israeli occupation soldier confirms Israel’s use of the American temporary pier in central Gaza… pic.twitter.com/GJJp1ZSA7T

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) June 8, 2024

The pier was ostensibly built off Gaza’s coast at huge cost – some $320m – and over two months to bypass Israel’s blocking of aid by land.

Observers argued at the time that it was not only an extraordinarily impractical and inefficient way to deliver aid but that there were likely to be hidden, nefarious motives behind its construction.

Its location, at the midpoint of Gaza’s coast, has bolstered Israel’s severing of the enclave into two, creating a land corridor that has effectively become a new border and from which Israel can launch raids into central Gaza like Saturday’s.

Those critics appear to have been proven right. The pier has barely functioned as an aid route since the first deliveries arrived in mid-May.

The pier soon broke apart, and its repair and return to operation was only announced on Friday.

Now the fact that it appears to have been pressed into immediate use as a beachhead for an operation that killed at least 270 Palestinians drags Washington even deeper into complicity with what the World Court has called a “plausible genocide”.

But like the use of the aid truck, it also means the Biden administration is joining Israel once again – after pulling its funding to Unrwa – in directly discrediting the aid operation in Gaza when it is needed most urgently.

That was the context for understanding the World Food Programme’s announcement on Sunday that it was halting the use of the pier for aid deliveries, citing “safety” concerns.

‘Successful’ massacre

As ever, for western media and politicians – who have stood firmly against a ceasefire that could have brought the suffering of the Israeli captives and their families to an end months ago – Palestinian lives are quite literally worthless.

The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz thought it appropriate to describe the killing of 270-plus Palestinians in the freeing of the four Israelis as an “important sign of hope”, while the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak expressed his “huge relief”. The appalling death toll went unmentioned.

Imagine describing in similarly positive terms an operation by Hamas that killed 270 Israelis to liberate a handful of the many hundreds of medical personnel kidnapped from Gaza by Israel in recent months and known to be held in a torture facility.

The London Times, meanwhile, breezily erased Saturday’s massacre of Palestinians by characterising the operation as a “surgical strike”.

Media outlets uniformly hailed the operation as a “success” and “daring”, as though the killing and maiming of around 1,000 Palestinians – and the serial war crimes Israel committed in the process – need not be factored in.

BBC News’ main report on Saturday night breathlessly focused on the celebrations of the families of the freed captives, treating the massacre of Palestinians as an afterthought. The programme stressed that the death toll was “disputed” – though not mentioning that, as ever, it was Israel doing the disputing.

The reality is that the savage “rescue” operation would have been entirely unnecessary had Netanyahu not been so determined to drag his feet on negotiating the captives’ release, and thereby avoid jail on corruption charges, and the US so fully indulgent of his procrastination.

It will also be very difficult to repeat such an operation, as Haaretz’s military correspondent Amos Harel noted at the weekend. Hamas will learn lessons, guarding the remaining captives even more closely, most likely underground in its tunnels.

The remaining captives’ return will “probably occur only as part of a deal that will require significant concessions”, he concluded.

Leveraging murder

Benny Gantz, the politician-general who helped oversee Israel’s eight-month slaughter in Gaza inside Netanyahu’s war cabinet and is widely described as a “moderate” in the West, resigned from the government on Sunday.

Although ostensibly the dispute is over how Israel will extricate itself from Gaza over the coming months, the more likely explanation is that Gantz wishes both to distance himself from Netanyahu as the Israeli prime minister faces possible arrest for crimes against humanity and to prepare for elections to take his place.

The Pentagon and the Biden administration see Gantz as their man. Having him out of the government may give them additional leverage over Netanyahu in the run-up to a US presidential election in November in which Donald Trump will be actively trying to cosy up to the Israeli prime minister.

The focus on Israeli politicking – rather than US complicity in the Nuseirat massacre – will doubtless provide a welcome distraction, too, as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken tours the region. He will once again wish to be seen rallying support for a ceasefire plan that is supposed to see the Israeli captives released – a plan Netanyahu will be determined, once again, to stymie.

Blinken’s efforts are likely to be even more hopeless in the immediate wake of the Biden administration’s all-too-visible involvement in the killing of hundreds of Palestinians.

Washington’s claim to be an “honest broker” looks to everyone – apart from the reliably obedient western political and media class – as even more derisory than usual.

The real question is whether Blinken’s serial diplomatic failures in ending the slaughter in Gaza are a bug or a feature.

The stark contradiction in Washington’s position towards Gaza was exposed last week during a press conference with State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.

He suggested that the aim of Israel and the US was to persuade Hamas to dissolve itself – presumably by some form of surrender – in return for a ceasefire. The group had an incentive to do so, said Miller, “because they don’t want to see continued conflict, continued Palestinian people dying. They don’t want to see war in Gaza.”

Even the usually compliant western press corps were taken aback by Miller’s implication that a crime against humanity – the mass killing of Palestinians, such as took place at Nuseirat camp on Saturday – was viewed in Washington as leverage to be exercised over Hamas.

But more likely, the seeming contradiction was simply symptomatic of the logical entanglements resulting from Washington’s efforts to deflect from the real goal: buying Israel more time to do what it is so well advanced doing already.

Israel needs to finish pulverising Gaza, making it permanently uninhabitable, so that the population will be faced with a stark dilemma: remain and die, or leave by any means possible.

The same US “humanitarian pier” that was pressed into service for Saturday’s massacre may soon be the “humanitarian pier” that serves as the exit through which Gaza’s Palestinians are ethnically cleansed, shipped out of a death zone engineered by Israel.

What does the US ceasefire proposal backed by the UNSC entail?

June 11, 2024

Source: Agencies

Palestinians mourn over the bodies of relatives killed in an Israeli airstrike, outside the morgue in Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah, the Gaza Strip, occupied Palestine, June 10, 2024. (AP)

The UNSC adopted a US-drafted ceasefire proposal for Gaza, but what does the proposal include, exactly?

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By Al Mayadeen English

The United Nations Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution backing the US-drafted Gaza ceasefire proposal put forth by US President Joe Biden, with 14 members voting in favor and Russia abstaining.

The ceasefire proposal, announced by Biden on May 31, outlines a new three-phase plan aimed at achieving “a lasting cessation of hostilities” in the Gaza Strip and the release of all captives held by Hamas.

But what exactly does the resolution entail?

Phase one

The initial phase calls for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire, the release of captives including women, the elderly, and the wounded, the return of the remains of some deceased hostages, the exchange of Palestinian prisoners, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas in Gaza.

This phase also includes the safe and efficient distribution of humanitarian aid across Gaza, ensuring that all Palestinian civilians in need receive assistance, including housing units provided by the international community.

Phase two

The second phase stipulates a permanent cessation of hostilities, conditional upon the mutual agreement of the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian Resistance. It includes the release of all remaining captives in Gaza and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the blockaded strip.

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• UNSC adopts resolution regarding Gaza ceasefire, Hamas welcomes it
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Phase three

The final phase focuses on initiating a major multi-year reconstruction plan for Gaza and returning the remains of any deceased captives still in Gaza to their families.

Continued negotiations

The UNSC resolution emphasizes that if negotiations for the first phase exceed six weeks, the ceasefire will remain in effect as long as talks continue. The United States, Egypt, and Qatar have expressed their readiness to ensure that negotiations persist until all agreements are reached and the second phase commences.

The resolution called on all UN member states to support the implementation of the ceasefire proposal once agreed upon. It underscores the importance of adhering to the proposal’s conditions and rejects any attempts to alter Gaza’s demographic or geographic status, including actions that might reduce its territory.

The US-drafted resolution stressed the need for peaceful coexistence between the Israeli occupation and occupied Palestine within secure and recognized borders.

This vision aligns with international law and relevant UN resolutions. The proposal also stresses the importance of unifying Gaza and the West Bank under Palestinian Authority governance.

Hamas welcomes proposal

The Resistance group emphasized its firm stance against any demographic changes or reduction in the area of the Gaza Strip and highlighted the need for essential aid to support the people in the territory.

The United States called on the United Nations Security Council last Monday to adopt a resolution supporting the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal between “Israel” and the Palestinian Resistance laid out by President Joe Biden, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

The US circulated a one-page draft text to the 15-member council. For the resolution to pass, it requires at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes from the US, France, Britain, China, or Russia.

Failing to call on the Israeli occupation forces to end its war machine, the draft urges Hamas to accept the deal and “fully and implement its terms without delay and without condition.”

The White House had earlier said Biden told the emir of mediator Qatar that he saw Hamas as “the only obstacle to a complete ceasefire” in Gaza and urged him to press the Palestinian Resistance group to accept it.

Biden claimed that this is the most effective step toward de-escalating the ongoing war, adding, “With a ceasefire, that aid could be safely and effectively distributed to all who need it.”

“As someone who’s had a lifelong commitment to Israel, as the only American president who has ever gone to Israel at a time of war, as someone who just sent the US forces to directly defend Israel when it was attacked by Iran, I ask you to take a step back, think what will happen if this moment is lost,” he stressed. “We can’t lose this moment.”

“It’s time for this war to end and for the day after to begin,” emphasized Biden, who is under the pressure of an election year and amid the ongoing Israeli aggression, which has persisted for eight months. 

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Between a Security Council resolution and a senior leader in the resistance – Today’s Panorama

The effective forum that attracts the war of attrition…but before the demise of the entity: a major war or a Palestinian state?

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War on Gaza

From North to South, ‘Israel’ isolated, cornered, and dealt blows

June 10, 2024

Source: Al Mayadeen English

By Ahmad Karakira

“Israel’s” actions and numerous violations since October 7 have dealt the occupation entity mighty blows, one of which is that the world, including its allies, can no longer tolerate its crimes, at least nominally.

“Israel” is losing the battle of public opinion as its ongoing atrocities against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are being exposed daily, reflected in a plummeting approval rate of its actions by citizens of its biggest ally, the United States.

A March survey conducted by Gallup found that the majority of people in the US (55%) now disapprove of “Israel’s” actions in Gaza, compared with 45% in November 2023, while the approval percentage has significantly dropped from 50% to 36%.

This comes as the Israeli occupation forces have so far killed almost 39,000 people since the start of the genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023.

But the results of the aforementioned survey are not just figures posted online. In fact, they can be attributed to “Israel’s” diplomatic, legal, and military failure in the now-eight-months war.

“Israel’s” actions and numerous violations since October 7, including targeting civilians, schools, hospitals, and aid workers and preventing the flow of aid into Gaza, have backfired and dealt heavy blows to the occupation entity, one of which is that the world, including its allies, can no longer tolerate these crimes, at least nominally.

And despite Meta’s repeated attempts to censor pro-Palestine content on Facebook and Instagram that exposes the massacres committed by the Israeli occupation forces, footage documenting “Israel’s” crimes and the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza has taken over the social media platforms.

Scenes coming out of Gaza contributed to spreading awareness among a wide segment of the West, especially the youth. This awareness culminated in the eruption of a massive worldwide wave of pro-Palestine student protests and encampments that took US and European universities by surprise, calling for an end to the ongoing genocide and Western military, diplomatic, and financial support for “Israel”.

The scope of violence that prevailed alongside this war also prompted Norway, Ireland, and Spain to officially recognize a Palestinian state, Turkey to cut all trade with “Israel”, and Colombia to cut diplomatic ties with the Israeli occupation entity. Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer even called in March for “Israel” to hold new elections in a rare example of harsh criticism from a senior US official of the Israeli leadership’s handling of the war on Gaza.

In the narrative battle, the Western media machine hasn’t succeeded in turning the events in favor of “Israel” either. Unverified media reports published by The New York Times in an attempt to demonize the Palestinian Resistance by alleging that its fighters raped Israeli women and killed and beheaded babies during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7 have been debunked by Israeli media themselves, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres most recently placing the Israeli occupation’s military on a global list of offenders who have committed abuses against children.

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In addition, much-needed funds by donors to the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) have been partially restored after “Israel” failed to provide evidence of the agency’s staff members’s involvement with Hamas.

Internationally, “Israel” has ignored a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and defied an order by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to halt military attacks on the southern city of Rafah and do everything it could to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza, showing its true colors as an occupation entity that gives no regard to international and humanitarian law.

In the wake of the continuation of the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza, a dozen countries have so far joined the case filed by South Africa before the ICJ against “Israel”.

The International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor even applied for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Security Minister Yoav Gallant over war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Israeli occupation forces in Gaza, including willful killing, starvation, and inhumane acts.

Militarily, “Israel’s” failure to achieve its declared goals of the war, including retrieving captives held by the Resistance in Gaza and the reality-divorced goal of eliminating the Hamas movement, has taken a huge toll on the Israeli internal front, with the families of the captives running out of patience and calling for the resignation of Netanyahu’s government over its continuing flops. The Resistance factions have published footage of their fighters carrying out operations against military targets and launching rockets toward Israeli settlements from the exact same places that the Israeli occupation military had claimed to have annihilated the Resistance.

On the northern front of occupied Palestine, intensified top-tier attacks launched by the Lebanese Resistance group Hezbollah against Israeli military targets and settlements have only added insult to injury, and in many cases, have been considered its own war front.

Since Hezbollah started its operations on October 8, 2023, in support of Gaza, more than 60,000 Israelis have been evacuated from their settlements in the North under the fire of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, with a recent survey conducted by Tel Hai Academic College showing that 40% of these settlers are contemplating not returning even after the war ends.

Hezbollah’s heavy rocket and drone attacks have pushed some within the Israeli occupation government and military to advocate for a stretch in the confrontation and a war on Lebanon. But Israeli experts have cautioned that “Israel” lacks the capability to defeat Hezbollah and destroy its hundreds of thousands of missiles and drones, warning that the occupation entity would lose the war with Hezbollah from the very first day, amid the Israeli Air Force’s failure to detect and intercept the Lebanese group’s drones and rockets.

Now, “Israel” has become isolated and cornered, its allegations have been debunked, and it does not have an exit strategy except for ending the genocidal war it waged on Gaza, withdraw its occupation forces from the Strip, and sit down for talks on a prisoner exchange deal with the Palestinian Resistance.

Read more: ‘Israel cannot win against Hezbollah or Hamas’: Israeli general

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War on Gaza