GAZA LIVE BLOG: Rafah: 600,000 Children without Shelter | Hamas: Israel Will Leave Gaza | Israel Evacuates Military Site | UNRWA: Open Crossing – Day 215

Posted on May 9, 2024 by uprootedpalestinians

May 8, 2024

Palestinian families are forced to evacuate the eastern and southern areas of Rafah. (Photo: via QNN)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff 

At least 35 Palestinians were killed and 129 wounded as Israeli forces carried out new massacres in the eastern and southern areas of Rafah. 

The United States reportedly suspended sending arms shipments to Israel, due to its failure to address our concerns regarding its plans to invade Rafah.

Al-Qassam Brigades and Al-Quds Brigades announced in a statement that they are engaged in fierce clashes with invading Israeli forces east of Rafah. 

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 34,844 Palestinians have been killed, and 78,404 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.

Click here for the previous blogs.

LATEST UPDATES

Wednesday, May 8, 01:30 am (GMT +2)

Hamas (Izzat al-Rishq, a member of the political bureau of Hamas):

Israel is not serious about reaching an agreement and is using negotiations as a cover to invade Rafah.

Netanyahu is trying to invent pretexts to evade negotiations and blames Hamas and the mediators.

Hamas’s approval of the mediators’ proposal confused Netanyahu and put him in trouble.

Hamas stands by its position regarding the proposal.

BIDEN:

If Israel enters Rafah, I will not provide it with the weapons historically used to deal with this problem.

We will not provide weapons and artillery shells to Israel.

Israel will not get our support if it enters the populated areas of Rafah.

The bombs that America gave to Israel have now been used to kill civilians.

AL-JAZEERA: Heavy Israeli shelling targeted the Al-Sabra neighborhood south of Gaza City.

‘I Held on to My Husband’ – Cancer Patients in Gaza Die from War and Siege

By Abdallah Aljamal – Gaza “I held on to my husband, and told him he was everything for me, that I didn’t want to lose him.” Cancer patients from Gaza, including children, have been systematically … Continue reading‘I Held on to My Husband’ – Cancer Patients in Gaza Die from War and Siege Palestine Chronicle

Wednesday, May 8, 12:50 am (GMT +2)

HAARETZ: Clashes took place between families of captives in Gaza and Israeli police officers at a Tel Aviv demonstration demanding an exchange deal.

UNICEF: 600,000 Palestinian children are seeking shelter in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, some of whom have been displaced several times, exhausted, traumatized, sick and hungry.

With Full Knowledge – Israel Found to Use US Weapons to Kill Health Workers in Lebanon

By Robert Inlakesh On March 27, Israel carried out a missile strike in the Southern Lebanese town of Hebbariyeh, hitting an ambulance center. An analysis of shrapnel from the scene of an Israeli attack that … Continue readingWith Full Knowledge – Israel Found to Use US Weapons to Kill Health Workers in Lebanon Palestine Chronicle

Tuesday, May 7, 11:00 pm (GMT +2)

FORMER ISRAELI CHIEF OF STAFF: Former Israeli Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi said that stopping the war on the Gaza Strip is the only way to return Israeli prisoners held by the Resistance.

ISRAELI ARMY: An Israeli soldier was injured as a result of a shell fired by the resistance in the Kerem Shalom area in the southern Gaza Strip.

FREE UNIVERSITY OF BRUSSELS: The Free University of Brussels decided to stop a technological research project with Israeli partners, and to review all other projects with Israeli participation.

HEZBOLLAH: We targeted “with artillery shells a force of Israeli enemy soldiers in the vicinity of the Ramia site, and we achieved a direct hit.”

Tuesday, May 7, 10:00 pm (GMT +2)

KAN: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office is working on a draft law proposal with the ultra-Orthodox parties, bypassing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Defense Council Minister Benny Gantz.

ISRAELI MEDIA: Netanyahu backed down from showing flexibility in exchange negotiations.

UNRWA: The crossings must be opened, and humanitarian aid must flow.

HAMAS: The probability of the occupation remaining in the Gaza Strip is zero.

CHANNEL 14: Israeli occupation army evacuated a temporary military site on the Gaza envelope, fearing that resistance elements would infiltrate it.

‘Manipulative Trap’ – Smotrich Slams Decision to Send Negotiation Team to Cairo

By Palestine Chronicle Staff   “You must not give in to international pressure and you must not stop until victory and the submission of the enemy,” Smotrich said. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said … Continue reading‘Manipulative Trap’ – Smotrich Slams Decision to Send Negotiation Team to Cairo Palestine Chronicle

Tuesday, May 7, 9:00 pm (GMT +2)

ISRAELI ARMY: Gaza is one of the most difficult battlefields in the world.

CHANNEL 13 (quoting Israeli official): Netanyahu does not enable us to advance negotiations on the swap deal.

BRITISH PM: We will not change our position on arms export licenses to Israel.

‘Sort of a Precaution’ – US Lawmakers Prepare Sanctions against ICC over Israel

By Palestine Chronicle Staff   US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) has confirmed that the bill is being drafted. US House Republicans are developing a bill to impose sanctions on officials from … Continue reading‘Sort of a Precaution’ – US Lawmakers Prepare Sanctions against ICC over Israel Palestine Chronicle

Tuesday, May 7, 8:00 pm (GMT +2)

CNN: Tel Aviv asked Washington to put pressure on Hamas and not on Israel.

HAMAS: We demand that the occupation’s crimes be documented and submitted to the criminal court.

Rafah Under Attack – Scores of Civilians Killed, Resistance Fights Back

By Palestine Chronicle Staff   Scores of Palestinians were killed and others were injured, in the intense Israeli occupation bombardment on various areas of the Gaza Strip. According to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, … Continue readingRafah Under Attack – Scores of Civilians Killed, Resistance Fights Back Palestine Chronicle

Tuesday, May 7, 6:30 pm (GMT +2)

WALLA (quoting Israeli sources): The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hid medical markings on an ambulance that had been accompanying Netanyahu’s convoy since he suffered a heart attack last month, in order to make it look like a regular civilian car.

UNRWA: Protest by Israeli extremists in front of our headquarters in Jerusalem is “intimidation and sabotage”.

NETANYAHU’S SPOKESMAN: The seizure of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing in the southern Gaza Strip by the Israeli army does not violate the peace treaty between Tel Aviv and Cairo.

UNRWA: The agency’s buildings in Gaza were subjected to 368 Israeli attacks.

ISRAELI ARMY RADIO: Iron Dome was unable to intercept rockets launched by the Resistance from Gaza towards Shlomi.

AUSTIN: We are absolutely committed to Israel’s right to defend itself.

FORMER MOSSAD CHIEF: There is no meaning to fighting in Rafah after all these days since the start of the war.

CHANNEL 13: Eight rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip towards Shlomi in the Eshkol Regional Council in the Gaza Strip.

HEZBOLLAH: We carried out an attack with assault marches on the headquarters of the newly created Western Brigade in Ya’ra, and a direct hit was achieved.

RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN: Carrying out an Israeli ground military operation in Rafah destabilizes the entire region. There are no prospects yet for resolving the situation in the Gaza Strip, and the conflict in the region is escalating daily.

‘Sleeping without Fear’ – Gazans React to Hamas’ Acceptance of Ceasefire Proposal

By Abdallah Aljamal – Gaza The Palestine Chronicle spoke with residents of Gaza to know their view about the proposal and Hamas’ decision. The Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas announced on Monday its acceptance of a … Continue reading‘Sleeping without Fear’ – Gazans React to Hamas’ Acceptance of Ceasefire Proposal Palestine Chronicle

Tuesday, May 7, 5:00 pm (GMT +2)

ISRAELI ARMY RADIO: Summer will be hot on the Lebanese border.

WASHINGTON DC POLICE CHIEF: 33 people were arrested during the dispersal of the George Washington group sit-in.

‘Unusual’ – US Postpones Arms Shipment to Israel but Pledges ‘Ironclad Commitment’

By Palestine Chronicle Staff   If intentional, this pause on the JDAMs would mark a significant policy shift since the onset of the current war. The US administration of Joe Biden administration has postponed the … Continue reading‘Unusual’ – US Postpones Arms Shipment to Israel but Pledges ‘Ironclad Commitment’ Palestine Chronicle

US OFFICIAL (to Al-Jazeera): Washington’s position on Rafah has not changed, and a broad operation must not be launched.

UNRWA: We did not receive aid or fuel through the Rafah crossing.

NBC (citing Israeli official). There is deep frustration in the Israeli government with the American decision to halt the arms shipment.

Tuesday, May 7, 4:15 pm (GMT +2)

GAZA STRIP CROSSINGS AUTHORITY: The Gaza Strip Crossings Authority denied Israel’s claims that it had reopened the Kerem Shalom crossing, south of the Strip, for the entry of aid.

AL-JAZEERA: About 200 European Union employees demonstrated in the Belgian capital, Brussels, against the Union’s policies towards the Gaza Strip.

‘A Form of Occupation’ – Palestinian Groups Reject Any Foreign Control of Rafah Crossing

By Palestine Chronicle Staff   Palestinian groups have strongly rejected any foreign party controlling the Rafah border of the Gaza Strip, following reports that an American security company will be in charge of the crossing. … Continue reading‘A Form of Occupation’ – Palestinian Groups Reject Any Foreign Control of Rafah Crossing Palestine Chronicle

AL-QASSAM BRIGADES: The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades announced the bombing of Israeli occupation forces’ concentrations at the “Kerem Shalom Military Site” with a 114 mm short-range “Rajoum” missile system.

Tuesday, May 7, 2:45 pm (GMT +2)

GAZA GOVERNMENT MEDIA OFFICE: A third mass grave was found inside the Shifa Medical Complex and 49 bodies were recovered.

AL-JAZEERA: Six workers were injured by occupation fire at the Kerem Shalom crossing.

AL-QUDS BRIGADES: We bombed with heavy-caliber mortar shells Israeli occupation soldiers and vehicles penetrating the vicinity of the airport, east of the city of Rafah.

ISRAELI ARMY: 3,361 Israeli soldiers have been injured since the start of the war on Gaza.

GAZA HEALTH MINISTRY: 34,844 Palestinians have been killed, and 78,404 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.

US MEDIA: Metropolitan Police began evacuating a pro-Palestinian camp at George Washington University at dawn today.

Tuesday, May 7, 1:30 pm (GMT +2)

AL-JAZEERA: Rockets were launched from southern Lebanon towards the Israeli monk site in the Upper Galilee.

ISRAELI MEDIA: The Israeli army is investigating the downing of its drone in Kfar Saba, between Jaffa and Tulkarm.

HEZBOLLAH: We targeted two buildings used by Israeli army soldiers in the Hanita settlement.

PALESTINIAN MEDIA: The death toll from the Israeli bombing on the Al-Qara family’s home in the Khuza’a area, east of Khan Yunis, has risen to three.

Tuesday, May 7, 12:30 pm (GMT +2)

HEZBOLLAH: We targeted a building used by Israeli soldiers in the Metulla settlement, and two other buildings in the Shlomi settlement in the Upper Galilee.

YEDIOTH AHRONOTH: The Israeli army downplayed the US administration’s suspension of an arms shipment following an Israeli military operation in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip this week, saying that the two allied parties resolve any disputes “behind closed doors.”

Tuesday, May 7, 11:30 am (GMT +2)

PALESTINIAN FACTIONS: We will not accept the imposition of any guardianship over the Rafah crossing or any other party, and we consider this an occupation.

CHANNEL 13: An anti-tank missile hit a house in the town of Metulla.

PALESTINIAN MEDICAL SOURCES: The bodies of 35 Palestinians and 129 wounded arrived at Kuwait Hospital in Rafah within 24 hours.

IRANIAN FM: Conditions are ripe for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

Tuesday, May 7, 10:00 am (GMT +2)

DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: The attack on Rafah will have catastrophic effects on more than a million people.

KEREM SHALOM: Kerem Shalom crossing reopened for the entry of humanitarian aid after it was closed.

QATARI FM: Qatar strongly condemns the bombing of Rafah and calls for preventing its invasion.

AL-QUDS BRIGADES: We are engaged in fierce clashes east of Rafah.

MAARIV: Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich submitted a petition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop delaying legislation on the use of Palestinian Authority funds held by Israel .

ISRAELI MEDIA: Instructions were issued to farmers in the Gaza Strip not to go out to work in the areas adjacent to the border fence.

Tuesday, May 7, 09:00 am (GMT +2)

BEN-GVIR: The demolition of dozens of homes in the Negev is an important step towards restoring governance.

AL-JAZEERA: Occupation forces begin demolishing dozens of Palestinian homes in the Naqab (Negev).

AL-QASSAM BRIGADES: Our fighters are engaged in fierce clashes with the Israeli enemy forces penetrating east of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

UNRWA: UNRWA called for the reopening of Gaza crossings without any delay, noting that vital supplies and fuel are entered through them.

ISRAELI MEDIA: Dozens of prisoners’ families are closing the main Ayalon axis in Tel Aviv, demanding a deal to return their children.

Tuesday, May 7, 08:00 am (GMT +2)

AL-JAZEERA: An Israeli air strike targeted the vicinity of the destroyed Gaza Airport, east of the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.

PALESTINIAN MEDIA: A woman was killed and a number of injured in an Israeli artillery shelling that targeted the town of Khuza’a, east of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip.

AFP (citing US official): We suspended sending an arms shipment to Israel of 1,800 1,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs. Suspending the shipment of weapons to Israel due to its failure to address our concerns regarding its plans to invade Rafah.

Tuesday, May 7, 05:00 am (GMT +2)

NBC (citing US officials): American, Qatari and Egyptian negotiators are trying in Cairo to resolve various disagreements regarding the ceasefire deal.

AXIOS (citing American source): Republican representatives are preparing legislation targeting international criminal officials.

Tuesday, May 7, 03:00 am (GMT +2)

WASHINGTON POST (quoting US official): The move by the administration of US President Joe Biden to postpone two arms shipments to Israel confirms Washington’s fears about the Rafah attack.

PALESTINIAN MEDIA: An Israeli raid and artillery shelling in the center and north of the Gaza Strip.

Tuesday, May 7, 02:00 am (GMT +2)

REUTERS (citing informed source): CIA Director William Burns will travel to Israel on Wednesday to hold talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials.

BRITISH DEPUTY FOREIGN SECRETARY: Israel’s attack on Rafah would violate international law and would not lead to the elimination of Hamas.

Tuesday, May 7, 01:00 am (GMT +2)

MARTIN GRIFFITHS: Martin Griffiths said that Israeli evacuation orders in Rafah and the ground operation will lead to more death and displacement.

REUTERS (quoting informed sources): The administration of US President Joe Biden will not submit its report to Congress on whether Israel is violating international law in Gaza on time.

BLINKEN: Blinken condemns “extremist attacks” on aid heading from Jordan to Gaza.

Tuesday, May 7, 12:00 am (GMT +2)

YEDIOTH AHRONOTH: CIA Director William Burns will arrive in Israel tomorrow, Wednesday, to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mossad Chief David Barnea to discuss a possible deal for a ceasefire in Gaza and the exchange of prisoners.

(The Palestine Chronicle)

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Existential war: Gaza to West Bank & Iran’s retaliation

Posted on April 16, 2024 by martyrashrakat

15 Apr 2024

Source: Al Mayadeen English

At the heart of the Axis of Resistance is the struggle for a free Palestine, and all unfolding events are interconnected to serve that larger goal. (Illustrated by Hady Dbouq for Al Mayadeen English)

By Myriam Charabaty

The escalating confrontations in the West Bank are intricately linked to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the Axis of Resistance’s support for Palestine, and Iran’s retaliatory operation, True Promise.

In recent months, the West Bank has witnessed a disturbing trend: a surge in attacks by settlers targeting Palestinian individuals and villages. While this pattern of aggression is not novel within the context of “Israel’s” policy of ethnic cleansing, its intensified manifestation, often concealed under the pretext of incidents such as the disappearance of a settler near Ramallah, underscores the volatile aftermath of Operation al-Aqsa Flood.

Amidst this backdrop, the launch of Operation al-Aqsa Flood emerges as a watershed moment that reaffirms the cause of Palestine as a central Arab and Islamic one, especially amid the existing critical juncture on the global scale.

Though carried out by the al-Qassam Brigades, this operation is like a sprout from the deep roots of the ongoing battle for Palestine’s freedom, led by what has become known as the Axis of Resistance.

Spanning from the Mashreq to the Maghreb (Orient to the Occident), across the breadth of the Arab and Islamic worlds, the events unfolding in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and throughout occupied Palestine have ignited a widespread response. These developments have set off a chain reaction, leading to escalations not only within the West Bank but also beyond, fueled by “Israel’s” “campaigns between wars.”

This campaign precipitated Iran’s remarkable retaliation following an Israeli assault on its consulate in Damascus. Understanding these unfolding events requires contextualizing them within the broader geopolitical landscape, where regional power dynamics intersect with longstanding conflicts and resistance movements.

Israeli settlers expelled under Resistance fire

Since October 7, the Israeli government has made public the displacement of over 250,000 Israeli settlers from their settlements. These settlements, largely constructed on land ethnically cleansed of its indigenous Palestinian and Arab communities, have become targets of Resistance operations spanning both northern and southern regions of occupied Palestine.

In the south, particularly in the Gaza envelope, where Palestinians besieged in the Gaza Strip once resided, a comprehensive evacuation has taken place after the Palestinian Resistance breached the Israeli separation walls and entered the settlements before showering its vicinity with missiles that have even reached “Tel Aviv” on multiple occasions.

The evacuation has significantly reduced the presence of settlers along the borders of the besieged Strip. Many settlers have relocated to central “Israel”, while others have scattered throughout the occupied territories. Some have chosen to return to their countries of origin, primarily in Europe or the Americas, based on their nationality prior to settling in “Israel”.

In the north, Resistance operations, spearheaded by Hezbollah and other factions, compelled Israeli settlers to evacuate settlements bordering Lebanon by a depth of 5 to 8 kilometers as reportedly revealed by Israeli journalists and Resistance sources.

While unprecedented since the so-called inception of “Israel”, these evacuations were anticipated. Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah previously underscored that in the next war with “Israel”, settlers would be forced to abandon their settlements, and while this is not even a widescale war, his words proved to be true once again. This strategic shift aims to bring the conflict to “Israel” rather than allow “Israel” to instigate hostilities against Lebanon, as it did in 2006 and 2000.

As Israeli deterrence erodes, it becomes increasingly apparent to settlers that they face an irreversible choice: either leave occupied Palestine or occupy another Palestinian home elsewhere in occupied Palestine.

Making up for what was lost on October 7

Israeli settlers faced a new reality following October 7, even vis-a-vis their daily life. Displaced settlers are now facing declining living standards after having initially migrated to “Israel” in pursuit of the material gains they had been promised once they settled in 

Instead, settlers are now struggling, not even to preserve their privileges against indigenous Palestinians, but to merely meet their daily needs as they lose their homes and the rest of the material gains they were promised at a time when the IOF has clearly failed to achieve any of its goals in the Strip or across the Northern Front – another issue which eliminates hope for Israeli settlers that things could get better in the foreseeable future.

Moreover, with the erosion of Israeli deterrence, settlers, once assured of their superiority over other regional powers such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and Iran, to name a few, now seethe with fury at their expulsion from territories they occupied during the 1948 Nakba and the 1967 Six-Day War. This resentment has boiled over, leading to a surge in attacks on Palestinian residents of the West Bank, surpassing previous levels of violence and reoccurring at a more frequent rate.

Simultaneously, Israeli occupation influencers-turned-government officials like Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have spearheaded efforts to arm all settlers, going beyond the usual military program enforced upon Israeli settlers. The arming, which came under the guise of “fighting terrorism”, aims to revive historic terrorist Zionist organizations such as the Haganah, which conducted the initial Nakba in 1948, killing hundreds and thousands of Palestinians on purely racist grounds to occupy their homes and lands.

It’s crucial to recognize that “Israel’s” ethnic cleansing policies, which intensified notably after the events of Seif al-Quds in 2021 and further escalated following October 7, have emboldened settlers to perpetrate the same crimes of genocide as the Israeli occupation Forces are conducting the Gaza Strip [Over 33,000 martyrs] and the same crimes as the Haganah did in 1948.

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Next stop on the path towards liberation: West Bank, East Bank

Looking for alternatives as the Israeli cities become overcrowded and the economy crumbles, settlers go stealing Palestinian homes and ethnically cleansing entire villages to accommodate their needs. This is not new, as we all remember the Israeli proverb put forward by the settler Yacob: “If I don’t steal it, someone else is gonna steal it.”

The killing of Palestinians and the destruction of their homes by settlers, under the protection of Israeli occupation forces, is fueling anger among the Palestinian people. This anger is exacerbated by the Israeli occupation government’s continuous announcement of new land seizures, extending over dozens of dunums in the West Bank, and even in al-Quds’ Sheikh Jarrah.

Coupled with widespread detention campaigns, assassinations, military raids, and other oppressive practices, this situation is pushing people toward embracing armed Resistance as the only means to achieve a free Palestine and live with dignity.

It is also important to note that in the West Bank, the Resistance has already begun establishing liberated zones, particularly across the triangle of hell: Jenin, Nablus, and Tulkarm. However, recent settler attacks have targeted areas in the Ramallah and Nablus governorates, farther from the refugee camps where the Resistance has garnered strong popular support and found a conducive environment to thrive.

This escalation is likely to ignite a widespread intifada across the West Bank, to expand the operation that was launched on October 7, bringing the war to the heart of occupied Palestine. This is especially likely given that the settler attacks are being conducted under the supervision of the IOF who have besieged multiple cities. These aggressions remain ongoing today, four days on, without stopping except when the Iranian missiles shook “Israel”.

The consequences of such an intifada, given its existential nature, may also provoke unrest across the East Bank of the Jordan River, where approximately 80% of the population is Palestinian.

Iran’s retaliation in context

In turn, Iran’s retaliation can be seen in the context of the West Bank and the historic struggle for the liberation of Palestine and the ending of Western hegemony in the region. This retaliation on Israeli-occupied Palestine consolidated the Axis of Resistance as a series of interconnected rings that had both the military capability and the strategic patience to coordinate operations to achieve a unified goal of an Israeli demise and ultimately US containment in the region.

As such, Iran’s successful cornering of the US and “Israel” in a well-calculated, below-threshold, but fully effective response, has underscored a new era in the struggle for the liberation of Palestine.

This meant that much like the Axis of Resistance did not leave the Gaza Strip and its Resistance alone, the West Bank Resistance would also have the support of the Axis.

This new era grants the Palestinian Resistance a larger margin of operation and limits if not ends “Israel’s” renowned “Campaign Between Wars” which was started in 2013 to “address Iran’s growing threat” following the start of the war on Syria. This means that Israeli deterrence has fallen even deeper than it has on October 7 with Hamas and on October 8 with Hezbollah and later in the face of Yemen and others.

To better understand the depth of that, one must look at Iran’s unprecedented retaliation against “Israel” following an attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus. The retaliation, in fact, underscored the strategic maneuvering at play within the Axis of Resistance.

It stressed that beyond its primary objective of Palestinian liberation, this coalition seeks to dismantle the enduring legacies of colonialism and imperialism, epitomized by pivotal agreements like the Balfour Declaration, which allowed for the establishment of the Israeli occupation as a barrier “state” on occupied Palestinian soil with the aim of expansion and the Sykes-Picot Accords which partitioned the region into multi-purpose entities that serve colonialism.

Amidst escalating tensions and deepening geopolitical fault lines, it is impossible to understand unfolding events without delving into the complex and multifaceted dynamics of the existential war taking place at the heart of the Arab world; the war of the unmaking of the Sykes-Picot Accords.

In a more simplified way, one can explain the broader situation by saying that the Axis is determined to give the US and “Israel” a run for their money in the region. The Resistance movements in the region, backed by Iran and Syria, have one big mission: free Palestine and take down those pesky imperialist structures that have been causing trouble in the Arab and Islamic worlds.

Keep the big picture ahead, save your rage for the right time

Despite the ongoing genocide in which “Israel” has been targeting unarmed civilians, the Resistance continues to stand strong. It continues to conduct ambushes unimaginable by the Israeli occupation forces claiming their lives a dozen at a time.

As the leaders of the Palestinian Resistance have reportedly underscored, be it al-Qassam Brigades or al-Quds Brigades or others, Iran and the Axis of Resistance, especially Syria and Hezbollah, have played a key role in strengthening and transferring expertise to the Strip.

Much like in the Strip, the Axis of Resistance has no intention of allowing the West Bank and its Resistance to be wiped out and has a few tricks up its sleeve to turn the table on “Israel” and the West. 

In this context, it must be remembered that the struggle to liberate Palestine extends beyond the entity of Palestine as drawn by the Sykes-Picot Accords but involves the re-emergence of the historic Arab world with Palestine as the compass that has the ability to achieve that through the demise of the barrier “state” otherwise known as “Israel”.

In such situations, events unfold relatively quickly; however, there is no benefit in rushing liberation. Rather it is required to mature slowly in the sense that it becomes inevitable.

Read more: A century of colonialism crushed at the feet of Resistance

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Smotrich Slams Israeli Protests: They Only Harden Yahya Sinwar Position

Posted on April 1, 2024 by fada1

March 31, 2024

Israeli protesters demonstrate in Tel Aviv against occupation governmnet’s handling of war (March 30, 2024).

Focus on Zionists – Live News – Middle East – News – Top – Zionist entity

Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich slammed the growing protests calling for a hostage deal and elections as “irresponsible pressures.”

“The demand for flexible positions on our part in the negotiations — as has been proven over and over again — only makes [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar harden his positions even more, and makes the return of the hostages even more distant,” Smotrich wrote on X.

“I call on the prime minister to stand firm in the face of irresponsible pressures that endanger the State of Israel and harm the goals of the war,” Smotrich said, as quoted by Israeli media.

Bezalel Smotrich, Israeli Finance Minister (photo from archive).

Smotrich’s comments came ahead of four days of action by families of Israelis held captive in Gaza, and anti-government protesters. The initiative was announced yesterday, with the relatives of some of the captives saying that it had become clear that the policy of using military pressure to secure their release was not effective.

Thousands Protest Netanyahu’s Handling of War

On Saturday, anti-government protests sprung up in both Tel Aviv and Al-Quds (Jerusalem), as Israelis feel that PM Benjamin Netanyahu is the main obstacle to signing a deal with Hamas and releasing the captives held in Gaza.

Protesters in Tel Aviv blocked the city’s ring road while demanding early elections as well as calling for the release of Israeli captives.

In Al-Quds, hundreds of protesters picketed Netanyahu’s private residence, blaming his far-right government for failing to secure the release of the around 130 captives believed to still be in Gaza — 33 of whom are presumed dead.

Relatives of some of the hostages were also present at the demonstrations.

Israeli media reported that 16 Israelis were arrested.

Source: Israeli media (edited by Al-Manar English Website)  

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RAFAH’S DIRE PLIGHT: NETANYAHU’S LAST GRASP FOR VICTORY

Posted on March 1, 2024 by Zara Ali

FEBRUARY 29TH, 2024

Source

Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of six books. His latest book, co-edited with Ilan Pappé, is ‘Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals Speak Out.’ His other books include ‘My Father Was a Freedom Fighter’ and ‘The Last Earth.’ Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA). His website is www.ramzybaroud.net

Ramzy Baroud

The Palestinian city of Rafah is not just older than Israel; it is as old as civilization itself.

It has existed for thousands of years. The Canaanites referred to it as Rafia, and Rafia has been almost always there, guarding the southern frontiers of Palestine, ancient and modern.

As the gateway between two continents and two worlds, Rafah has been at the forefront of many wars and foreign invasions, from ancient Egyptians to the Romans to Napoleon and his eventually vanquished army.

Now, it is Benjamin Netanyahu’s turn. The Israeli Prime Minister has made Rafah the jewel of his crown of shame, the battle that would determine the fate of his genocidal war in Gaza – in fact, the very future of his country. “Those who want to prevent us from operating in Rafah are essentially telling us: ‘Lose the war,’” he said at a press conference on February 17.

There are around 1.3 to 1.5 million people in Rafah, an area that, before the war started, had a population of merely 200 thousand people.

Even before the start of this genocidal war, Rafah was still considered crowded. We can only imagine what the situation is right now, where hundreds of thousands of people are scattered in muddy refugee camps, subsisting in makeshift tents that are unable to withstand the elements of a harsh winter.

The Mayor of Rafah says that only 10 percent of the needed food and water is reaching the population in the camps, where the people are suffering from extreme hunger, if not outright starvation.

These families are beyond traumatized as they have lost loved ones and homes and have no access to any medical care. They are trapped between high walls, the sea and a murderous military.

An Israeli invasion of Rafah will not alter the battlefield in favor of the Israeli army, but it will be horrific for the displaced Palestinians. The slaughter will go beyond everything we have seen so far anywhere in Gaza.

Rafah
A child wounded in an Israeli bombing is brought to Al Najjar hospital in Rafah, Feb. 24, 2024. Fatima Shbair | AP

Where will up to 1.5 million people go when the Israeli tanks arrive? The closest so-called safe area is al-Mawasi, which is already overcrowded and too small to begin with. The displaced refugees there are also experiencing starvation due to Israel’s prevention of aid and constant bombing of convoys.

Then, there is northern Gaza, which is mostly in ruins; it has no food to the extent that, in some areas, even animal feed, which humans are now consuming, is no longer accessible.

Suppose the international community does not finally develop the will to stop Israel. In that case, this horrific crime will, by far, prove worse than all the crimes that have already been committed, resulting in the death and wounding of over 100,000 people.

Even with the invasion of Rafah, Israel would achieve no military or strategic victory. Netanyahu wants to satisfy the calls for blood emanating from throughout Israel. After all of this, they are still seeking revenge. “I am personally proud of the ruins of Gaza,” Israel’s Minister of Social Equality, May Golan, said at a Knesset session on February 21.

But, still, there will be no victory in Rafah, either.

At the start of the war, Israel said Hamas was primarily concentrated in the north. The north was duly destroyed, though the Resistance carried on unabated. Then they claimed that the Resistance headquarters was under Shifa Hospital, which was bombed, raided and destroyed. Then they claimed Bureij, Maghazi and central Gaza were the main prize of the war. Then, Khan Younis was declared the ‘capital of Hamas’. And on and on…

Aside from the mass destruction and the killing of hundreds of civilians daily, Israel has won nothing; the Resistance has not been defeated, and the alleged ‘Hamas capital’ has conveniently shifted from one city to another, even from one neighborhood to another.

Now, the same ridiculous claims and unsubstantiated allegations are being made and leveled against Rafah, where most of Gaza’s population ran to, in total despair, to survive the onslaught.

Rafah
Children desperately clamor for food in Rafah, Feb. 23, 2024. Fatima Shbair | AP

Israel had initially hoped that Gazans would rush in their hundreds of thousands to the Sinai Desert. They did not. Then Israeli leaders, like far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, began speaking of “voluntary migration” as the “right humanitarian solution.” Still, the Palestinians stayed. Now, they have all agreed on the invasion of Rafah, a last-ditch effort to orchestrate another Palestinian Nakba.

But another Nakba will not happen. Palestinians will not allow it to happen.

Ultimately, Netanyahu’s and Israel’s political madness must come to an end.

The world cannot persist in this cowardly inaction.

The lives of millions of Palestinians are dependent on our collective push to bring this genocide to an immediate end.

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100 DAYS OF WAR: PALESTINIAN RESISTANCE WILL BE NETANYAHU’S DOWNFALL

Posted on January 19, 2024 by Zara Ali

JANUARY 18TH, 2024

Source

Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of six books. His latest book, co-edited with Ilan Pappé, is ‘Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals Speak Out.’ His other books include ‘My Father was a Freedom Fighter’ and ‘The Last Earth’. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA). His website is www.ramzybaroud.net

Ramzy Baroud

Law number one in the ‘law of holes’ is that “if you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.” Law number two, “If you are not digging, you are still in a hole.”

These adages sum up Israel’s ongoing political, military and strategic crises, 100 days following the start of the war on Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was faced with the unprecedented challenge of having to react to a major attack launched by Palestinian Resistance in southern Israel on October 7.

This single event is already proving to be a game changer in the relationship between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Its impact will be felt for many years, if not generations, to come.

Netanyahu was already in a hole long before the Al-Aqsa Flood operation took place, and he had no one else to blame but himself.

To stay in power and to avoid three major corruption cases and subsequent trials, Netanyahu labored to fortify his position at the helm of Israeli politics with the help of the most extreme government ever assembled in a state whose very existence is an outcome of an extremist ideology.

Even the anti-Netanyahu mass protests throughout Israel, which also took place for months before the war, did not alert the Israeli leader that the hole was getting deeper and that the Palestinians, living under a perpetual military occupation and siege, could find in Israel’s political and military crises an opportunity.

He simply kept on digging.

October 7 should not be perceived as a surprise attack since the entire Gaza Division, the massive Israeli military build-up in the Gaza envelope, exists for the very purpose of ensuring that Gaza’s subjugation and siege were perfected according to state-of-the-art military technology.

According to the Global Firepower 2024 military strength ranking, Israel is number 17 globally, mainly because of its military technology.

This advanced military capability meant that no surprise attacks should have been possible because it is not humans but sophisticated machines that scan, intercept, and report on every perceived suspicious movement. In the Israeli case, the failure was profound and multi-layered.

Subsequently, following October 7, Netanyahu found himself in a much deeper hole. Instead of finding his way out by, for example, taking responsibility, unifying his people, or, God forbid, acknowledging that war is never an answer in the face of a resisting, oppressed population, he kept on digging.

The Israeli leader, flanked by far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich, and Amichai Eliyahu, worsened matters by using the war on Gaza as an opportunity to implement long-dormant plans of ethnically cleansing Palestinians, not only from the Gaza Strip but also the West Bank.

Were it not for the steadfastness of the Palestinian people and strong rejection by Egypt and Jordan, the second Nakba would have been a reality.

All mainstream Israeli politicians, despite their ideological and political differences, unanimously outdid one another in their racist, violent, and even genocidal language. While Defense Minister Yoav Gallant immediately announced that “there will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed” to the Gaza population, Avi Dichter called for “another Nakba.”

Meanwhile, Eliyahu suggested the ‘option’ of “dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza.”

Instead of saving Israel from itself by reminding the Tel Aviv government that the genocidal war on Gaza would also bode poorly for Tel Aviv, the US Biden Administration served the role of cheerleader and outright partner.

Aside from an additional $14 billion of emergency aid package, Washington has reportedly sent, as of December 25, 230 airplanes and 20 ships loaded with armaments and munitions.

According to a New York Times report on January 12, the CIA is also actively involved in collecting information from Gaza and providing that intelligence to Israel.

US support for Israel, in all its forms, has been maintained despite the shocking reports issued by every respected international charity that operates in Palestine and the Middle East.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said that 1.9 million out of Gaza’s entire population of 2.3 million people have been displaced. Israeli rights group B’tselem said that 2.2 million are starving. Save the Children reported that over 100 Palestinian children are killed daily. Gaza’s government media office has said that about 70 percent of the Strip has been destroyed.

Even the Wall Street Journal concluded that the destruction of Gaza was greater than that of Dresden in WWII.

Yet, none of this concerned US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who visited the region five times in less than 100 days with the same message of support for Israel.

What is so astonishing, however, is that Gaza’s threshold of resilience continues to prove unequaled. This is how determined the Palestinians are to achieve their freedom finally.

Indeed, fathers or mothers, in a scene repeated numerous times, would be carrying the bodies of their dead children while howling in pain, yet insisting that they would never leave their homeland.

This dignified pain has moved the world. Even though Washington has ensured no meaningful action will be taken at the UN Security Council, countries like South Africa sought the help of the world’s highest court to demand an immediate end to the war and to recognize Israel’s atrocities as an act of genocide.

South Africa’s efforts at the International Court of Justice soon galvanized other countries, mainly in the Global South.

But Netanyahu kept on digging, unmoved, or possibly unaware that the world around him was finally beginning to truly understand the generational suffering of the Palestinians.

The Israeli leader still speaks of ‘voluntary migration,’ of wanting to manage Gaza and Palestine, and of reshaping the Middle East in ways consistent with his illusions of grandeur and power.

One hundred days of the war on Gaza has taught us that superior firepower no longer influences outcomes when a nation makes the collective decision to resist.

It has also taught us that the US can no longer reorder the Middle East to fit Israeli priorities and that relatively small countries in the Global South when united, can alter the course of history.

Netanyahu may continue digging, but history has already been written: the spirit of the Palestinian people has won over Israel’s death machine.

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HISTORICAL ROOTS: EXPLORING THE LONG-TERM ZIONIST PLAN FOR DEMOGRAPHIC CONTROL

Posted on January 13, 2024 by Zara Ali

JANUARY 12TH, 2024

Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of six books. His latest book, co-edited with Ilan Pappé, is ‘Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals Speak Out.’ His other books include ‘My Father was a Freedom Fighter’ and ‘The Last Earth’. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA). His website is www.ramzybaroud.net

RAMZY BAROUD

Thousands of miles separate Uganda and Congo from the Gaza Strip, but these places are connected to Palestine in ways that traditional geopolitical analyses would fail to explain.

On January 3, it was revealed that the far-right Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu is actively discussing proposals to expel millions of Palestinians to African countries in exchange for a fixed price.

The discussion on expelling millions of Gazans has supposedly entered the mainstream thinking in Israel starting on October 7. However, the fact that this discussion remains active over three months since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza indicates that the Israeli proposals are not an outcome of a specific historical moment, for example, the Al-Aqsa Flood operation.

Even a glance at Israeli historical records points to the fact that the mass expulsion of Palestinians – known in Israel as ‘Transfer’ – was, and remains, a primary Israeli strategy that aims at fixing Israel’s so-called ‘demographic problem.’

Long before fighters from the Al-Qassam Brigades and other Palestinian movements stormed the fence separating besieged Gaza from Israel on October 7, Israeli politicians discussed, in fact, on many occasions, how to reduce the overall Palestinian population to maintain the demographic Jewish majority in historic Palestine.

The idea was not only confined to Israel’s extremists; it was even discussed by the likes of former Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman when he suggested in 2014 a proposal for a ‘population exchange plan.’

Even supposedly liberal intellectuals and historians have supported this idea in principle and practice.

From Libya to Paraguay: Israel’s Longstanding Goal of Expelling Palestinians From Gaza Inches Closer to Reality

A top Israeli historian, Benny Morris, regretted in an interview with the liberal Israeli newspaper Haaretz in January 2004 that Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, failed to expel all Palestinians during the Nakba – the catastrophic event of murder and ethnic cleansing that led to the creation of the state of Israel on top of Palestinian towns and villages.

Another proof that the idea of ‘Transfer’ was not concocted on the spur of the moment is that comprehensive plans were immediately produced after October 7. They include a position paper published by the Israeli think tank the ‘Misgav Institute for National Security & Zionist Strategy’ on October 17 and a report released three days later by the Israeli news outlet Calcalist, which outlined a document proposing the same strategy.

The fact that Egypt, Jordan and other Arab countries openly and immediately declared their total rejection of expelling Palestinians indicates the degree of seriousness of those official Israeli proposals.

“Our problem is (finding) countries that are willing to absorb Gazans, and we are working on it,” Netanyahu said on January 2.

These comments were followed by others, including a statement by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich when he said, “What needs to be done in the Gaza Strip is to encourage emigration.”

It was then that the Israeli official discourse adopted the term ‘voluntary migration.’ But there is nothing voluntary about the starvation of 2.3 million Palestinians, who continue to face an ongoing genocide and are being pushed systematically toward the border region between Gaza and Egypt.

In its legal case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the government of South Africa included the planned ethnic cleansing of Gaza by Tel Aviv as one of the main points listed by Pretoria, accusing Israel of genocide.

Due to the lack of enthusiasm on the part of pro-Israel Western countries, Israeli diplomats are circumnavigating the globe, looking for governments that are willing to accept ethnically cleansed Palestinians.

Imagine if this behavior stemmed from any other country in the world: a country that murders people en masse yet shops around looking for other states to accept the expelled survivors in exchange for cash.

Not only has Israel made a mockery of international law, but they have also set whole new standards of despicable behavior by any state, anywhere in the world, at any time in history, ancient or modern.

And yet, the world continues to watch, support, as in the case of the US, or gently or vehemently protest, but without taking a single meaningful action to stop the bloodbath in Gaza or to block the terrifying scenarios that could indeed follow if the war does not end.

But there is one thing that many people might not know: the Zionist movement, the very ideological institution that established Israel, had attempted to move the world’s Jewry to Africa to select a state before the choice of Palestine as the ‘Jewish homeland.’

This was called the ‘Uganda Scheme’ of 1903. It was raised by Theodor Herzl, the founder of Zionism, at the Sixth Zionist Congress. It was based on a proposal by British Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain.

Declaration of the British Government allocating a “Jewish Territory” in East Africa, August 29, 1903

The Uganda Scheme eventually fell through, but the Zionists continued to shop for some other place, finally, to the misfortune of the Palestinians, settling on Palestine.

Suppose one compares the genocidal language of Israeli leaders of today and studies their racist references to Palestinians. They would find a significant overlap between their collective perception and how Europeans perceived Jewish communities for hundreds of years.

The sudden Zionist interest in Congo as a potential ‘homeland’ for Palestinians further illustrates the point that the Zionist movement continues to live in the shadow of its history, projecting the racism practiced against Jews on Israel’s racism against innocent Palestinians.

On January 5, Israel’s Minister of Heritage Amihai Eliyahu proposed that Israelis “must find ways for Gazans that are more painful than death.” One does not need to struggle to find historical references of similar language used by German Nazis in their depiction of Jews in the early half of the 20th century.

If history does repeat itself, it has an odd and unkind way of doing so.

We have been told that the world has learned from the mass killings of previous wars, including the Holocaust and other WWII atrocities. Yet, it seems that the lessons have largely gone unlearned. Not only is Israel now assuming the role of the mass killer, but the rest of the Western world continues to play the role assigned to them in this historical tragedy. They are either cheering, politely protesting, or doing nothing at all.

Feature photo | Theodor Herzl with a Zionist delegation in Alexandria, Egypt in 1898. Photo | Public Domain

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect MintPress News editorial policy.

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FROM LIBYA TO PARAGUAY: ISRAEL’S LONGSTANDING GOAL OF EXPELLING PALESTINIANS FROM GAZA INCHES CLOSER TO REALITY

Posted on January 11, 2024 by Zara Ali

JANUARY 10TH, 2024

Source

Jessica Buxbaum is a Jerusalem-based journalist for MintPress News covering Palestine, Israel, and Syria. Her work has been featured in Middle East Eye and The New Arab and Gulf News.

Jessica Buxbaum

Once considered a fringe pipe dream, the once taboo idea of Israelis recolonizing portions of Gaza has been reinvigorated after Hamas’ October 7 attack and the subsequent Israeli war on the embattled Palestinian territory, which has killed more than 22,000 Palestinians, internally displaced more than 1.9 million, and reduced the majority of the Strip into rubble.

Just as 2024 began, Israeli politicians renewed calls to recolonize Gaza, and recent remarks from Israeli lawmakers coupled with a new settler-colonist campaign suggest that Israeli annexation of the beleaguered Palestinian territory has been adopted as official government policy.

On January 1, 2024, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir told the press and members of his Jewish Power Party that the war presents an “opportunity to concentrate on encouraging the migration of the residents of Gaza,” proclaiming,

“We cannot withdraw from any territory we are in in the Gaza Strip. Not only do I not rule out Jewish settlement there, I believe it is also an important thing“

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich echoed Ben Gvir’s remarks during his party’s faction meeting, touting,

“[the] correct solution [is]… to encourage the voluntary migration of Gaza’s residents to countries that will agree to take in the refugees“

Talking to members of his Religious Zionism Party, Smotrich predicted that “Israel will permanently control the territory of the Gaza Strip,” as well as reestablish settlements there. A few days before, in an interview with Israel’s Channel 12, Smotrich said,

“We will rule there [Gaza] security-wise, and in order to rule there security-wise for a long time, we will have to be a civilian there“

In a separate incident on Monday, Yisrael Beytenu (“Israel is our home”) party leader Avigdor Liberman advocated for Israel to reoccupy southern Lebanon. Israel occupied part of southern Lebanon from 1982 to 2000.

Liberman maintained that Israel would not annex or build settlements in Lebanon but stressed:

“[e]verything between the Litani [River] and Israel must be under the control of the IDF [Israeli military].”

“If Lebanon won’t pay in territory, we haven’t done anything,” Liberman said.

And just before the new year, on December 27, 2023, Tzivka Foghel, a member of Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power Party, told Israeli Kan radio that Hamas “will pay the price, that we will control the area and bring Jewish settlements.” Foghel clarified he doesn’t just want to re-establish the settlements Israel withdrew from in 2005 but rather take over the entire northern section of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli lawmakers’ inflammatory rhetoric mirrors parts of Israeli society pushing for Israeli settler-colonists to return to the Gaza Strip and even colonize Lebanon. The December 1 issue of Israeli religious youth magazine, “Small World,” outlined five new Israeli settlements south of the Litani River in what would become occupied Lebanon as part of their proposal for the war’s day-after plan.

In line with the politicians’ comments, the Israeli government recently allocated 4.3 million shekels ($1.2 million) in November to “document” Israeli settlements in Gaza, which were withdrawn in 2005. The project is to be handled by Israel’s Minister of Heritage, Amihai Eliyahu, who made headlines in recent months after calling for dropping nuclear bombs on Gaza.

ISRAEL’S CAMPAIGN TO RESETTLE GAZA

During a meeting of hundreds of Israelis in the city of Ashdod in November, Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, the government body overseeing settlements in the Israeli-occupied northern West Bank, encouraged participants to reach out to their government representatives in support of recolonizing Gaza. Dagan told the crowd,

Dagan is currently leading the Returning Home movement, a coalition of 11 organizations made up of thousands seeking to annul the core part of the 2005 Disengagement Law prohibiting an Israeli civilian presence in Gaza. The initiative has already received government support. Israeli parliamentary members from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party submitted a bill to amend the Disengagement Law to grant Israelis freedom of movement in Gaza after the war. Likud members of parliament (or Knesset) Ariel Kellner and Tally Gotliv spoke at the Returning Home inaugural event, along with Jewish Power Party MK Limor Son Har-Melech.

In March 2023, the Israeli parliament annulled part of the law forbidding Israeli settlement in the northern West Bank after Dagan lobbied for the legislative change. Dagan was evacuated from one of the four settlements in the northern West Bank in 2005. He did not respond to MintPress News requests for an interview.

A LONGSTANDING AGENDA

Israel occupied the Gaza Strip in 1967 during the Six-Day War and re-established the first settlement in 1970. In 2005, Israel evacuated around 9,000 Israeli settler-colonists from Gaza. Despite Israel dismantling the bloc of 17 settlements known as Gush Katif, human rights experts say the Gaza Strip remains occupied to this day.

“The test under international law as to whether or not a territory is being occupied and by whom is effective control,” Michael Lynk, who served as the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories from 2016 to 2022, told MintPress News.

“Hamas was ruling Gaza internally, but because Israel had this comprehensive air, sea, and land blockade over Gaza and controlled who and what got into Gaza and who and what left Gaza, it is the occupying power,” Lynk added.

Settler-colonist calls to return to Gaza began as soon as disengagement occurred, with government notions of reestablishing settlements in the Strip quietly materializing behind the scenes.

In 2018, reports revealed the Israeli military was shifting its offensive operations in Gaza from bombardment to carrying out missions that “will enter Gaza and dissect it in two, and even occupy significant parts of it.”

As a reminder, Israel has carried out several schemes throughout the decades to transfer Gaza’s population out of the Strip. Palestinian-Dutch analyst Mouin Rabbani wrote in Mondoweiss how, even before Israel occupied Gaza in 1967, it tried to push Palestinian refugees from Gaza to Libya and Iraq and, after its occupation, began encouraging emigration to the West Bank. In 1969, Israel attempted to send 60,000 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Paraguay with payment and the promise of citizenship. The plan was discontinued after two Palestinian transferees killed an Israeli embassy staff member in Asuncion.

After the Knesset vote last year to annul part of the 2005 Disengagement Law, Israeli lawmakers came out in support of a return to Gaza. MK Son Har-Melech urged Israelis not to fall into complacency.

Gush Katif
Sara Malka of Crown Heights, Brooklyn protests in front of UN headquarters in New York against the removal of illegal Israeli settlers from Gaza in 2005. Mary Altaffer | AP

“We must not rest on our laurels or the euphoria of the moment,” Son Har-Melech said. “We must galvanize… the return home to the region of Gush Katif, which was abandoned [in 2005] in an act of terrible folly and has become a nest of terror.”

In a conversation with Israeli Channel 7, Minister of National Missions Orit Strock of the Religious Zionism party said, “I believe that, at the end of the day, the sin of the disengagement will be reversed.”

In response, the Israeli NGO Peace Now said, “It is clear that in addition to the judicial coup, a messianic revolution is taking place. This government will inevitably destroy our country. They will also deepen the occupation, ignite the region, and reestablish a Jewish supremacist regime from the river to the sea.”

“A HOUSE ON THE BEACH IS NOT A DREAM”

As the trend to recolonize Gaza spreads, Lynk considers the option of resettlement in Gaza — even with the state’s most right-wing government in its history — out of the question, explaining to MintPress News that:

“If the Americans have already said they’re not in favor of resettling Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip into Egypt or elsewhere in the world, you can be sure the Americans, as much as they’ve protected Israel, would be against any idea of reestablishing Israeli settlements in Gaza.”

While Netanyahu appears to have brushed off the notion of Israeli resettlement in Gaza, saying in December that “it’s not a realistic goal,” he has endorsed military control of the Strip. “Gaza will be demilitarized, and there won’t be any military threat threatening Israel from the Strip. For this to happen, control of the area is required,” Netanyahu said.

That idea was reiterated by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant this week when he unveiled his post-war plan for Gaza, which would see Israel keeping security control of the Strip with an Israeli-guided Palestinian body carrying out administrative responsibilities.

Mairav Zonszein, an analyst at the nonprofit the International Crisis Group, doesn’t believe that top Israeli officials making the decisions on Gaza are aiming for resettlement. Still, she also doesn’t rule out the possibility.

“That’s not on their agenda, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t come to a point where that would be part of what we see, just because… it’s becoming more of a war of attrition,” Zonszein told MintPress News, emphasizing that while it might not be Netanyahu’s goal, he also hasn’t condemned politicians advocating for resettlement.

The idea of recolonizing Gaza is also gaining momentum with the Israeli public. Images of Israeli soldiers waving Gush Katif settlement flags in Gaza have circulated online. Israeli singers Hanan Ben Ari and Narkis have sung about returning to the settlements when performing for soldiers.

A Channel 12 poll in November found that 44% of Israelis favor renewing settlement in Gaza. When asked what should happen with Gaza when the war is over, 32% answered, “Israel should remain permanently and renew Jewish settlement.”

Under the banner, “A house on the beach is not a dream!” Harei Zahav, an Israeli real estate firm known for building settlements in the West Bank, advertised building Gaza settlements, writing, “We have begun clearing rubble and fending off squatters.”

Yet since sparking controversy, the company’s CEO, Zeev Epshtein, said it was simply a bad joke.

“It was a sort of satirical idea,” Epshtein told Haaretz. “We’re not building, and we have no intention of building. We want it to happen, but it’s the state’s decision. We have no influence on it.”

Despite claiming it was satire, the social media blunder illustrates how Israelis are responding in this moment.

Harei Zahav (Golden  Mountains), a settlement development enterprise is advertising for #Gaza settlements: “a house on the beach is not a dream! We have begun clearing rubble and fending off squatters.” – Itay Epshtain

“[Harei Zahav] name half a dozen reestablished and new #Israeli settlements, and show their approximate location throughout occupied #Gaza,” Israeli human rights lawyer Itay Epshtain wrote on the social media platform X. “While this is a media stunt, it captures a deep sentiment favoring territorial acquisition and colonization at the expanse [sic] of #Palestinians.”

Other events discussing Gaza resettlement have occurred since Returning Home’s November event. In December, during the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, a coalition of settler-colonist groups held the Practical Preparation for Gaza Settlement Conference in Tel Aviv. At the end of December, another group pushing for resettlement, Going Home – Returning to Gush Katif, also held a discussion featuring leaders of the Nachala settler-colonist movement, Daniella Weiss and Zvi Elimelech Sharbaf.

Going Home – Returning to Gush Katif declined to speak with MintPress News. Nachala is a prominent sponsor of the resettlement campaign, even releasing advertisements after the Tel Aviv conference stating, “Gaza is the Land of Israel! Fight. Liberate. Settle,” along with a hotline to register with the movement.

Nachala will hold a conference on January 28 in Jerusalem, presenting plans — including maps and the various stages — for colonizing Gaza. Nachala didn’t respond to MintPress News’ requests for comment but told Channel 12 that thousands of Israelis have expressed interest in joining the movement.

“The public demand for renewed settlement in the Gaza Strip is increasing. After the terrible massacre on October 7, there was a great call among the public that the victory of the war includes Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip,” Nachala representatives told Channel 12.

Zonszein explained how settlement and safety often go hand-in-hand in the Israeli perspective.

“What Israel is doing in Gaza is very much in line with what it’s always done to occupied Palestinian territory,” Zonszein said. “That you need to put people on the ground — settlers and soldiers — in order to provide security has always been part of the Israeli understanding of how to do things.”

So, as the weeks turn into months and war rages, Israel’s settler-colonist fantasy could very well manifest into reality.

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Biden’s America Surrenders to War Criminal Netanyahu

Posted on December 29, 2023 by Zara Ali

DECEMBER 28, 2023

Source

Vital US interests are sacrificed to avoid offending Israel and its Lobby

Philip Giraldi

I don’t have anyone whom I would consider a friend who supports the genocide being carried out by Israel in Gaza. But my occasional interaction with the psychopaths who infest the US government and media and who are intimately connected by virtue of their political instincts as well as their personal interests in campaign donations and/or elevated salaries derived from Israel and its powerful lobby have plenty of sound bites to throw out to demonstrate their love of the Jewish state in all its manifestations. They mouth the Pelosi-Schumer-Biden assertion that “Israel has a right to defend itself” and that Israel is “America’s closest ally” and “best friend,” all of which can readily be exposed as a series of self-serving lies and deliberate misinterpretations of international law. Beyond that, they inevitably cite their view that critics of Israel are fully responsible for what they choose to refer to as the ultimate evil of “surging anti-semitism.” In so doing they conveniently ignore the obvious fact that anger towards Jews collectively speaking is nearly always derived from the crimes against humanity committed by the Zionist political entity that now legally defines itself as Jewish.

I sometimes ask the friends of Israel what interest the United States has that would warrant our country becoming complicit in committing war crimes that, collectively speaking, amount to precursors for the complete expulsion or killing of millions of Palestinians from what remains of their homes. They try to weasel word their way avoiding the implications of that question by observing that the United States is not directly engaged in the conflict, an evasion that I belittle by pointing out that Washington is providing funding, arming and political cover for the more powerful and lethal party engaged in the conflict while also blocking attempts to bring about a ceasefire to comply with orders from that same party, which sure looks like direct involvement to me. I also point out that Israel is working hard to get the US military engaged against Hezbollah in Lebanon and also against Iran and is likely to be able to maneuver the stoneheads in and around the White House to do its bidding vis-à-vis both objectives.

So the big question has to be “Why does the United States engage in a conflict that inter alia has utterly ruined our country’s reputation worldwide and for which there is no real compelling national interest?” The answer is, of course unpalatable to many, but has to be that the US government is in many respects and vis-à-vis some of its designated national policies completely under the control of Israel and its powerful domestic as well as international lobby. This habitual bowing to force majeure has warped the thinking of the ambitious scallywags who seem to be present wherever one turns in places like Washington. How else does one explain the infamous and quite frankly ridiculous comment delivered at the 2018 Israeli American Council meeting by leading politician Nancy Pelosi, who said that “I have said to people when they ask me if this Capitol crumbled to the ground, the one thing that would remain is our commitment to our aid…and I don’t even call it aid…our cooperation with Israel. That’s fundamental to who we are.”

The delusional Pelosi, who appears to have no “fundamental” attachment to the interests of the American people whom she represents, is unfortunately not unique in the halls of Congress, even less so in the Joe Biden White House, which might be regarded as the illustration of what happens when you appoint Zionists to nearly all key positions running your foreign, economic and national security policies. The degree of direct Zionist/Israeli control over the hapless Biden can best be illustrated by reviewing the course of the recent redrafting of a UN Security Council resolution authored by the United Arab Emirates that sought to bring about a suspension of the fighting and the urgent resumption of humanitarian supplies for Gaza. The US forced the revisions after coordination with Israel to permit the Israelis to continue to attack civilian targets and avoid entering into anything like a ceasefire, changing the word “suspension” in the original draft to the less demanding creation of “conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities.” Language authorizing the lead UN role in monitoring and delivering the assistance to the Gazans was also expunged leaving to belligerent Israel the task of completely controlling the distribution of any supplies allowed entry into the areas inside Gaza, which it is also simultaneously continuing to bomb, thereby slowing the stream of urgently needed supplies to a trickle while also killing hundreds more civilians.

To be sure, it was the United States blindly supporting Israel that rendered what was a promising proposal to put an end to the multiplying civilian deaths toothless. Israel demonstrated just how high it regarded Joe Biden when it contradicted what the president said about the US being able to moderate some Israeli offensive action in Gaza. Netanyahu denied that, saying that he and his war cabinet were continuing to make all relevant decisions based on Israel’s own interests. Israel Defense Force (IDF) Chief of the General Staff General Herzi Halevi followed on with his own assessment that finishing the job in Gaza, i.e. totally destroying Hamas by whatever means it requires, will take “many more months.” The Israeli military has indeed visibly increased its efforts by opening up new “battle zones” inside Gaza, to include directly targeting the crowded and starving refugee camps outside the cities. The civilians are paying the price while a grinning Joe Biden is spending his New Year’s holiday in the American Virgin Islands.

Allowing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a known liar and habitual war criminal to tell the US government what to do is about as low as it gets, Mr. Biden! You should not only be ashamed, but more than that, humiliated, compelled to do ghastly things in support of your own fear of possible Jewish/Israeli reaction if you do not bow down before King Netanyahu. He and the band of inhuman monsters he has assembled in his cabinet have made no secret of their intention to remove the Palestinians from Palestine, either by forced emigration or by killing them if necessary. On Christmas Day, Prime Minister Netanyahu told a meeting of his Likud bloc “that he was still working on the ‘voluntary’ immigration of Gaza’s inhabitants to other countries.” His associates Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have made it clear that the ethnic cleansing process will proceed even if it is not in any way voluntary. As Israel is the occupying power in the former Palestine, what is taking place is, as defined by the Geneva Conventions, the Genocide Convention and the UN Charter, a crime against humanity and the United States is completely complicit in it not to mention actually enabling the slaughter through its supplying of arms and money to the Israelis. It has recently been reported in the Israeli media that the United States has delivered an astonishing “10,000 tons of armaments and military equipment on 244 cargo planes and 20 ships” to sustain the Israeli homicidal assault against the people of Gaza. And to demonstrate its gratitude for the flood of weapons, America’s “best friend” and “closest ally” Israel has nevertheless complained “about a delay in the delivery of munitions.”

The total support of the Israeli genocide of the Palestinians by Washington and the media is not only shameful, it is lacking any context for a crime against humanity that has been going on with US connivance for the past 76 years. Under international law, an occupied people has a right to use force to resist occupation, but even given that, the majority of Israeli deaths on October 7th should probably be attributed to so-called “friendly fire” from the Israeli army not from Hamas. The occupied and woefully abused Palestinians rising-up and seeking both freedom and sovereignty in the land that was once completely theirs is fully justified and should be respected. Israel’s killing women and children through deliberate starvation or even by execution style is indisputably a war crime. Bombing hospitals or leaving newborn incubator babies abandoned to die is a crime against humanity. Arresting innocent Palestinians before parading them naked and even desecrating their dead bodies by harvesting organs that you then sell is unspeakable and almost unimaginable evil as is deliberately targeting and bombing schools and churches where people are trying to find shelter.

The genocide and destruction in Gaza is the worst crime committed in modern history and the man who could have stopped it, Joe Biden, sits on his hands and grins. No one should remain silent when confronted by this horror but the silence and the deliberate distortion of what is taking place is a tribute to Jewish power in America and elsewhere. I am including some recent commentary from the illustrious Australian Journalist Caitlin Johnstone which demonstrates perfectly the hypocrisy and inhumanity of both Biden and the leaders of Britain, France, Canada, and Germany: “Sometimes Israel’s crimes are so horrific that at first you don’t even understand what you’re looking at. You just stare at it trying to make sense of what you’re seeing for a bit, like you would if you suddenly saw a space alien or a leprechaun or something… It’s so incredibly obvious what we’re looking at here. The only thing putting a wobble on people’s perception is the immense amount of propaganda distortion the media is churning out on this issue, plus the fact that the demographics look a bit different from what history has conditioned people to watch out for. If there were two million Jewish people trapped by Christians in a giant concentration camp and placed under total siege, being told that half of them had 24 hours to relocate into the other half or be killed, nobody would have any confusion about what they were witnessing.”

And a leading American journalist Daniel Larison must have the last word of advice from his site on Eunomia: “We are witnessing one of the gravest crimes of our time. Our government is aiding and abetting the perpetrators. It is up to people in this country to make our government cut off all support for this war and to press for an end to the war itself.” Amen, Daniel!

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Rebuilding Gush Katif: The scheme to return Jewish settlers to Gaza

Posted on December 14, 2023 by Zara Ali

DEC 13, 2023

Source

Once viewed as a fringe group, Israel’s messianic settler movement holds the reins of power today. Their plans for the ethnic cleansing and resettlement of Gaza needed only two things: a big war and an extremist government.
Photo Credit: The Cradle

William Van Wagenen

Almost three weeks into Israel’s bloody ground invasion of Gaza, an Israeli soldier filmed a video from inside the bombed and besieged enclave exclaiming, “We will complete the mission we have been assigned. Conquer, expel and settle. You hear that, Bibi?”

Two months into Tel Aviv’s aerial assault of Gaza, its end goals are still unclear. CNNhas revealed that Israel’s “original plan” for the war was to “level Gaza.” And Israeli minister Ron Dermer proposed a plan to “thin out” the Gaza population by forcing civilians to flee to Egypt by land, or to other parts of Africa and Europe by boat, because the “sea is open to them.”

What is certain is that this is like no other Israeli bombing spree on Gaza. In past campaigns, the Israelis sought out international mediators “from the first day” to broker a ceasefire within days or weeks. 

This time, however, the Israelis and their American supporters most decidedly do not want a ceasefire. While their end goals for Gaza have shifted in this conflict, it is equally important to note that Tel Aviv’s plans for that future may be entirely different from Washington’s. Simply, Israel has never had a government as right-wing as the current one cobbled together by its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; a cabinet heaving with religious fundamentalists and messianic fervor.

Plans to ‘reclaim’ Gaza 

The roots of Israel’s current campaign to conquer Gaza and ethnically cleanse its 2.3 million Palestinian inhabitants trace back almost two decades, originating with the evacuation of the Gush Katif settlement bloc in 2005. 

This move, orchestrated by then-prime minister Ariel Sharon, aimed at continued Jewish settlement and military occupation in the occupied West Bank, but was deemed treacherous by Israel’s uber right-wing, religious settler movement.

It was Ariel Sharon, “the father of settlements,” who designed the Gaza disengagement to ensure continued Jewish settlement and military occupation of the West Bank, but the religious settler movement viewed him as a traitor for giving up “Jewish land,” just as they viewed former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin as a traitor for signing the Oslo Accords to eventually establish a Palestinian state.

Rabin was murdered by Jewish extremist Yigal Amir in 1995, in an act publicly encouraged by a young but prominent religious settler activist, Itamar Ben Gvir. 

Another young religious settler, Bezalel Smotrich, was arrested for opposing Sharon’s disengagement policy. To stop Gaza disengagement, Smotrich wanted to blow up cars on the Ayalon highway, at rush hour, using 700 liters of gasoline. 

Both men are today allies and prominent ideologues in Netanyahu’s extremist coalition government. 

Over the next 18 years, the Likud Party and the religious settler movement, led by figures such as Ben Gvir and Smotrich, harbored dreams of reconquering Gaza to reconstruct Gush Katif. This undertaking would entail completing the expulsion initiated by Zionist militias in 1948, as noted by Israeli historian Benny Morris, by forcing Gazans into exile and preventing their return.

In 2010, then Prime Minister Netanyahu and Knesset member (MK) Gila Gamliel, both Likud members, proposed to the late Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak the settlement of Palestinians in the Sinai peninsula as part of a peace deal-related land swap.

After insisting, “I’m not even willing to listen to those kinds of proposals,” Mubarak was toppled in a US-orchestrated color revolution, part of the region-wide ‘Arab Spring,’ as it was known. 

Netanyahu proposed a similar deal to Mubarak’s successor Mohammad Morsi in 2012, and to Morsi’s successor, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi in 2014, but these yielded the same outcomes. 

In 2014, during Israel’s brutal 51-day assault on Gaza, Netanyahu sought US intervention with Sisi to propose settling Palestinians in Sinai, but got nowhere. Over 2,300 civilians were killed in that military operation – yet another of Israel’s “mowing the grass” campaigns to inflict setbacks for the resistance, without making any meaningful gains against Hamas.

The plan takes shape

By June 2018, reports surfaced of a new Israeli army plan to “create a considerable change in the situation if it is required to launch a major campaign in Gaza.” This would involve moving beyond temporary bombardment to offensive missions involving elite units who “will enter Gaza and dissect it in two, and even occupy significant parts of it.”

Meanwhile, in 2019, fundamentalist settlers like Ben Gvir continued to express a fervent desire to level Gaza and return to rebuild Gush Katif.

Ahead of the 2022 Knesset elections, three extreme right-wing political parties united to form the Religious Zionism Coalition. These included the Religious Zionism party, headed by Smotrich, the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, headed by Ben Gvir, and Noam, a small ultra-orthodox party.

In July 2022, Religious Zionist candidate Arnon Segal wrote during his campaign announcement: “It is time to begin to plan a return to Gush Katif.” 

“Yes,” he wrote, “to physically return and rebuild it.”

That September, as the elections drew closer, i24 News, an outlet close to Netanyahu, addressed the issue of Gush Katif, calling it a “lingering wound,” one still open and fresh for Israelis.

“It’s a trauma,” an Israeli named Hillel quoted by i24 News said. “The whole country was hurting.”

The ‘legality’ of the settlers’ return 

The effort to rebuild Gush Katif converged with a significant shift in the situation in Gaza when Netanyahu became prime minister for the sixth time after the December 2022 elections. Following a year out of power, Netanyahu formed a coalition between his Likud party and the Religious Zionism Coalition.

The deal with Netanyahu allowed Ben Gvir to become national security minister, while Smotrich was made both finance minister and a minister in Israel’s Defense Ministry, responsible for civil administration in the occupied West Bank. 

Under their direction, the occupation state quickly stepped-up military raids against Palestinian resistance groups, accelerated Jewish settlement building, and issued calls for annexing the West Bank. 

As violence intensified in March 2023, the Likud-Religious Zionism coalition quietly reversed a crucial aspect of the 2005 Gaza Disengagement. Sharon’s original withdrawal plan involved abandoning four small settlements in the northern West Bank due to security challenges. 

However, the Knesset passed an amendment to the disengagement legislation on 21 March, which enabled Jewish settlers to return to these evacuated settlements and paved the way for their reconstruction.

Following the vote, MK Limor Son Har-Melech of the Jewish Power party stated: “We must not rest on our laurels or the euphoria of the moment.” We must also galvanize to “return home to the region of Gush Katif, which was abandoned [in 2005] in an act of terrible folly.”

Minister of National Missions Orit Strock of the Religious Zionism party made a similar call, telling Israel’s Channel 7: 

“I believe that, at the end of the day, the sin of the disengagement will be reversed.”

She suggested this would require going to war, adding that “Sadly, a return to the Gaza Strip will nvolve many casualties.” In response, the left-wing Peace Now NGO warned that:

“A messianic revolution is taking place. This government will inevitably destroy our country. They will also deepen the occupation, ignite the region, and establish a Jewish supremacist regime from the river to the sea.”

The Gazan Nakba 

In the aftermath of the Palestinian resistance operation of Al-Aqsa Flood on 7 October, a slew of propaganda and fake news created the public outrage needed to justify using overwhelming violence against not only Hamas, but all Gazans, and to implement plans to return to Gush Katif. 

Public calls to commit genocide against Gazans became widespread among Israeli politicians, journalists and celebrities.

Israel seized the opportunity and initiated a massive bombing campaign on Gaza, accompanied by demands that Palestinians evacuate the northern half of the besieged enclave, a region home to 1.1 million people — about half of the territory’s population — within 24 hours.

Ex-Israeli Deputy Foreign minister and senior diplomat Danny Ayalon wrote on social media that Gazans must not only go to southern Gaza, but flee to Egypt:

“We don’t tell Gazans to go to the beaches or drown themselves … No God forbid … Go to the Sinai Desert … the international community will build them cities and give them food … Egypt ought to play ball with it.” 

Israeli demands that Palestinians flee to Egypt were accompanied by the release on 13 October of a report from Israel’s Ministry of Intelligence, led by Likud MK Gamliel.

Clearly prepared before the events of 7 October, the report recommended the occupation of Gaza and total transfer of its 2.3 million inhabitants to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, while insisting they never be allowed to return.

Further, the plan stated the government should launch a public relations campaign directed toward the west that will promote the ethnic cleansing in a way that does not foster international hostility to Israel or damage its already tarnished reputation. 

The mass deportation of the population from Gaza must be presented as a necessary humanitarian measure to receive international support, the report stated. Such a deportation could be justified if it will lead to “fewer casualties among the civilian population compared to the expected number of casualties if they remain.”

Israel’s horrific bombing campaign continued, ensuring that the number of casualties would indeed be massive.

On 27 October, after 7,028 Palestinians – including 2,913 children – had been killed, Israel launched its long-anticipated ground invasion of Gaza.

A week later, the rabbi of an Israeli army unit gave a rousing speech to the troops declaring: 

“This land is ours … the entire land, including Gaza, including Lebanon, including all of the promised land! … Gush Katif is tiny compared to what we will achieve with God’s help!”

As outlined in the 2018 plan by the military leadership, invading Israeli troops quickly cut the Gaza strip in two, while also invading from the north along the coast.

After planting an Israeli flag in the sand on Gaza’s beach, one Israeli commander told his troops: “We returned, we were expelled from here almost 20 years ago … This is our land! And that is the victory, to return to our lands.”

As Israeli soldiers were celebrating in Gaza, MKs from the Likud party submitted a bill on 8 November to again amend the 2005 Disengagement Law – this time to “repeal the law that bars Jews from entering the Gaza Strip.”

Three days later, Danny Danon, Israel’s former ambassador to the UN, and Ram Ben Barak, a former deputy director of the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service, published an article in the Wall Street Journal advocating the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, while feigning humanitarian motivations, as outlined in the ministry of intelligence plan.

Sensing that his dream of ethnically cleansing Gaza and rebuilding Gush Katif on the corpses of dead Palestinian children was about to be realized, Bezalel Smotrich welcomed the proposal, stating that “this is the humanitarian solution.”

Former Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked also welcomed the move, but was less diplomatic, exclaiming on Israeli TV: 

“After we turn Khan Yunis into a soccer field … we need to take advantage of the destruction [to tell] the countries that each of them should take a quota, it can be 20,000 or 50,000 … We need 2 million to leave. That’s the solution for Gaza.”

Faced with the monumental task of resistance against US-backed occupation forces, the onus is on Hamas and the other Palestinian resistance factions to thwart any progress made on Israel’s “messianic revolution” in Gaza. 

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

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Turning Tides: Delving into Details of the Game-Changing Gaza Truce Agreement

Posted on November 24, 2023 by uprootedpalestinians

 November 23, 2023

Source: Al-Manar English Website

Batoul Wehbe

In a noteworthy development concerning the protracted conflict in the Gaza Strip, leaders from key parties involved in negotiations have formally declared the culmination of the truce accord, the detainee exchange, and the facilitation of humanitarian aid into the beleaguered region.

Despite nuanced disparities in the proposed frameworks presented by both Palestinian and Israeli factions, the agreement has come to fruition, marking hallmarks of an initial triumph for the Palestinian resistance.

The Qatari foreign ministry, in a moment just preceding the drafting of this article, has conveyed its intent to imminently announce the schedule for the humanitarian ceasefire scheduled for the following day, Friday.

The ministry has announced the commencement of the truce, starting tomorrow at 7:00 a.m.

The release of 50 resistance-held prisoners, including women and children, will occur in four batches. The initial batch, scheduled for tomorrow at 16:00, will comprise 13 children and women.

The finalization of this accord marks a paradigmatic shift, compelling the Israeli enemy to acquiesce to the stipulations. This compliance is primarily attributed to the Israeli military’s inability to amass any actionable intelligence concerning the detainees throughout the 48-day period of hostilities.

The families of the detainees, driven by the lack of information, intensified pressure on the political leadership to reach an agreement. This marks a notable triumph for the Palestinian resistance, securing the first victory in this complex conflict.

Details of Agreed-upon Terms

According to the Israeli Ynet website, the agreed-upon terms between Hamas and the Zionist entity involve the initial release of 53 prisoners by Hamas, with an additional attempt to release twenty more.

In return, the Israeli occupation has committed to a four-day truce, one day shorter than initially demanded by the movement. The deal includes a provision allowing for a two-day extension of the truce if the resistance releases approximately 20 additional prisoners, with the possibility of further extensions if more prisoners are released.

As part of the agreement, Ynet said, the Israeli entity commits to refraining from aerial activity over the Gaza Strip for six hours each day during the initial cease-fire days, while Hamas attempts to locate the remaining captives, preventing ‘Israel’ from tracking detention sites.

There is an assumption on the Israeli part that among the additional twenty prisoners, there may be mothers and children who were not released initially. Additionally, it is anticipated that the exchange will include the release of elderly female prisoners.

Also, according to information from Ynet, the enemy is expected to release between 140 and 150 Palestinian detainees, including women and children, in exchange for Hamas releasing more prisoners and extending the ceasefire.

The list of the 150 Palestinian women and children hostages who will be released by the Israeli occupation as part of the prisoner exchange has been published. The names include:

Israa Jaabes، Ameena Hasheem, Hanan Bargouthi، Zeena Abdo, Walaa Watanji، Aseel Altisi ->> pic.twitter.com/878ok391u8

— Younis Tirawi | يونس (@ytirawi) November 22, 2023

Fuel will be allowed into the Gaza Strip, and humanitarian aid will be increased. Ynet estimates that if the number of prisoners released by Hamas reaches 100, ‘Israel’ will release 300 Palestinian prisoners, and the ceasefire may be extended for ten days.

As per recent information, there are reportedly 236 Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip, including 40 children and 13 women.

The enemy estimates that Hamas is holding 80 prisoners who meet the criteria of the deal, i.e., children, mothers, and elderly women. If this number is released, ‘Israel’ would release 240 Palestinian prisoners and adhere to an eight-day truce.

On the other hand, Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted sources close to the file, stating that the agreement would involve the release of “50 to 100” Israeli civilian prisoners in exchange for 300 Palestinian women and children detained by ‘Israel’.

The exchange process is expected to occur in stages, with ten Israeli hostages released for every thirty Palestinian prisoners per day.

Hamas Version

It’s worth noting that the details reported by Hamas differ from those published by Ynet.

According to the Hamas version, a five-day truce is proposed, during which around 50 non-military and foreign prisoners would be released.

In return, the Israeli entity would release 300 women and children from its prisons. The cessation of fighting would require a halt to air sorties over Gaza, except for the northern Gaza Strip, where air sorties would be limited to six hours a day during the truce.

Additionally, 300 trucks carrying fuel, food, and medical supplies would be permitted to enter all areas of the Strip, and the release of Israeli prisoners would occur in five batches of ten prisoners each day.

Delving more on the Hamas version, the truce terms encompass the following key points:

  1. A mutual ceasefire, mandating a cessation of all military actions by the occupation army across the entire Gaza Strip for a duration of four days.
  2. The commitment by the occupation forces not to engage in attacks or arrests in any Gaza Strip areas during the truce.
  3. Facilitation of unrestricted movement for individuals from north to south along Salah El-Din Street.
  4. A halt to air traffic in the southern region for the entire truce period and in the northern region for six hours daily.
  5. The exchange of 50 women and children captives for the release of 150 Palestinian women and children currently held in Israeli prisons.
  6. The entry of numerous trucks carrying humanitarian, relief, medical, and fuel aid into all areas of the Gaza Strip.
  7. Prevention of the advancement of Israeli occupation military vehicles into the Gaza Strip.

Hamas concludes its statement by affirming the truce agreement while maintaining vigilance, stating, “we will keep our finger on the trigger, and our brigades will remain on the lookout to defend our people.”

Deal Delayed

The proposed truce and release of prisoners, initially scheduled for Thursday, has been delayed until Friday.

Israeli national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi announced the postponement in a late-night statement on Wednesday, providing no specific reasons for the delay. However, Channel 13 TV reported that some last-minute details are still being worked out.

According to a Palestinian official speaking to AFP, gaps in the delayed agreement between ‘Israel’ and Hamas include unresolved questions regarding the involvement of the Red Cross.

The Palestinian official highlighted that questions have arisen regarding Red Cross access to the hostages before their release into Egypt, as well as concerns about whether the Red Cross will have continued access to those who remain in custody.

Shift in Israeli Stance

In a press conference following a war council meeting and preceding a ‘government meeting’ to deliberate on the deal, yesterday overnight, Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and War cabinet Minister Benny Gantz conveyed a sense of urgency and worked to justify their actions to the public.

Netanyahu acknowledged the challenging decision facing the Israeli government but emphasized its necessity, stating, “the hostages will be released in stages.” He highlighted his efforts to seek intervention from the American president, noting that these endeavours “had resulted in an improved agreement with the inclusion of more hostages.”

Netanyahu asserted that while a ceasefire is imminent for several days, the specifics are yet to be clarified.

The tone of the press conference reflected a collective determination to navigate a complex decision, with the Zionist leaders assuring the public that their actions were grounded in the pursuit of a secure and lasting resolution.

Families of Israeli hostages protesting

Despite initially rejecting the notion of a truce, Netanyahu and his government have faced significant pressure in recent days, particularly from the families of the prisoners.

This mounting pressure comes as a response to the Israeli army’s failure, after 48 days of aggression against Gaza, to secure the release of the prisoners or gather any information about their whereabouts. The public demand for a resolution, particularly from the families directly affected, has influenced the Israeli stance.

It is noteworthy that two extreme right-wing ministers within the Israeli government, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, have maintained their opposition to the proposed deal despite these pressing circumstances.

The differing perspectives within the government underscore the complex considerations and internal debates surrounding the decision-making process regarding the truce and the potential release of prisoners.

This comes as the toll of the Israeli aggression on Gaza has surged to over 14,532, with a staggering number of casualties, including more than 6,000 children and 4,000 women. The distressing statistic reveals that a significant 69% of the martyrs were children and women. The toll of the injured has climbed to 35,000, with more than 75% of them being children and women.

The negotiation of the truce agreement and impending humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip signifies a pivotal moment in the conflict’s trajectory.

As the Qatari foreign ministry readies itself to unveil the timeline for the imminent ceasefire, the perceptible ramifications of this accord come to the fore, proffering a much-needed respite for the affected Gazans. The Israeli enemy’s recognition of the terms, propelled by the exigencies of its military endeavors, signifies a discernible strategic realignment in the pursuit of a durable resolution. In the days to come, the unfolding narrative will unveil the measure to which this truce engenders a conducive atmosphere for protracted negotiations and endeavors to address the acute humanitarian needs that have been a casualty of the prolonged conflict.

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ISRAEL’S PUZZLING TRIO: BEN GVIR, PARDO, AND ABU-MAZEN—AGENTS OR ACCOMPLICES?

Posted on September 15, 2023 by Zara Ali

SEPTEMBER 14TH, 2023

Source

Miko Peled

Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s minister of national security, made headlines worldwide and on every social media platform when he stated in an interview on Israeli television that his rights come before the rights of Palestinians. Tamir Pardo, former head of Israel’s notorious intelligence agency, the Mossad, made the headlines when he said that the situation in the West Bank is tantamount to Apartheid. Both stated the facts. Both have dedicated their lives and fully support this reality.

Between these two statements, Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas, often known colloquially by his nickname, “Abu-Mazen,” was heavily criticized for saying Israel committed “fifty genocides” and for making anti-semitic remarks about why Jewish people were persecuted. Once again, this was headline news posted all over social media. This statement also brought about a reaction from prominent Palestinian figures who thought it necessary to distance themselves from the man and the statement, and they published a letter to that effect.

Something is puzzling about the reactions to the statements made by these people, and there is, without a doubt, a thread that connects them that I hope to make clear. While the motivations for their statements are very different, the backgrounds and positions of these three figures are entirely different. In fact, they could not be more distant from one another; they all work for one common entity, and their statements serve a single entity: Israel.

Tamir Pardo has the background of a typical Israeli security establishment chief. He served in Israel’s murderous special forces as a young man. Then he went off to serve in the Mossad and went up the ranks until he reached the top. What characterizes men like him is arrogance, racism and a love of violence that are camouflaged by what might be called the “professionalism” of a security man. In Israeli society, those who served in the assassin units called “Sayeret,” or reconnaissance units, are like members of a cult who share a secret ritual. They are adored and can do no wrong. Their vile actions are told as tales of heroism.

Itamar Ben-Gvir comes from the settler community, an entirely different world. They are mostly detached from the rest of Israeli society and are obsessed with following what are known to have been the Zealots who fought the Romans. Many within that community do not serve in the military but have their own paramilitary training and military-grade weapons. These are known as the “Kahanist” settlers, named for their “spiritual” leader, the racist Meir Kahana.

A man like Tamir Pardo could hardly imagine that a man like Itamar Ben-Gvir would stand at the head of Israel’s internal security as minister of national security. A man like Pardo is the man for that job, not a punk like Ben-Gvir, and many within the Israeli security apparatus despise Ben-Gvir.

But the Kanaists have been working hard to climb up the ladder of Israeli politics, civil service and even the security apparatus, and now their man is in the seat. As it happens, the other racist punk that has reached great heights is Bezalel Smotrich. He comes from the same background as Ben-Gvir, and he has not only the finance portfolio but is also a special minister within the defense ministry in charge of the Civil Administration, a bureaucracy created to manage Palestinian life within the West Bank.

So, how is Abu Mazen part of this? He is the fool who was placed to help Israel blame the Palestinians for keeping them under the Israeli boot. Here is an example of how Abu-Mazen is useful for Israel and Zionists.

At a recent event in Washington, DC, Representative Stephen Cohen from Tennessee came to speak. It was a small venue with an audience of less than twenty. The Congressman had to sit during the Q&A session because he had polio as a child, so he is quite frail and shakes severely when standing for too long.

In the Q&A session, he was asked why he does not support Betty McCullom’s bill, House Bill 2407, “Promoting Human Rights for Palestinian Children Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act.” He said he didn’t recall if he’d signed on or not, as his name is not on the list of supporters and then went on to talk about how bad Mahmoud Abbas was and how he doesn’t like him. He was then asked why Congress insists on calling Israel a democracy when there is ample evidence – not to mention a report by Amnesty International – that Israel is an apartheid state.

Here, once again, Abu-Mazen came to the rescue. The Congressman went on about how bad he was and stated, “Palestinians never had a George Washington.” Well, there we have it – Palestinians deserve everything they are going through because they do not have a George Washington.

Abbas’ usefulness goes beyond being a punching bag for Zionists. He represents the illusion that there is a Palestinian state with a president. He is not an insignificant hurdle in the Palestinian struggle for freedom. For the sake of this article, he is one more character in a drama that places Palestinians at the bottom of the list of priorities and where Palestinians are blamed for their predicament.

What these three figures have in common is not only that they actively and willfully stand in the way of Palestinian liberation but that people listen when they speak. Over several weeks, all three made statements that made headlines and received endless commentary, and yet nothing they said was significant.

In response to the letter written by Palestinians denouncing Abu-Mazen’s comments, the Director of the “Electronic Intifada,” Ali Abunimah, wrote, “I have expressed my strong objections to an “open letter” signed by a number of Palestinians – many of whom I greatly respect and respectfully disagree with.” In a piece in “Electronic Intifada,” he writes, “Abbas is widely viewed among the Palestinians as the West’s and Israel’s quisling, not the leader of the Palestinians. And as such, Palestinians have absolutely no responsibility for his words or deeds.”

He continued by ridiculing Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who, despite labeling Abu-Mazen a Holocaust denier, approved a shipment of weapons from the United States to Mahmoud Abbas to help the PA leader fight against the Palestinian people’s resistance.”

The moral of this story is twofold. First, there is not a single influential political entity fighting for the liberation of Palestine and the rights of Palestinians, leaving their fate in the hands of war criminals and thieves. Second, the three characters described here received far too many headlines for their words and too few for their crimes.

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Netanyahu Coalition Goes Full Provocation — As the US Escalates in Syria

Posted on September 10, 2023 by uprootedpalestinians

9 Sep 2023

Source: Al Mayadeen English

The Smotrich-Ben-Gvir riposte seems to be working: Already, there is reportedly a rise in support for the Jewish Power party among the IOF’s rank and file, with an estimated 20% of IOF soldiers voting for Ben-Gvir’s party. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Arwa Makki)

Alastair Crooke

The security anxieties amongst “Israel’s” professional military caste are very real. There is tension in the north with Lebanon, rising tensions with the Palestinians, and Syria is edging towards major ruption.

“Israel’s” governing coalition, led by Netanyahu, is moving aggressively to establish political and security structures in the West Bank that will foreclose on the possibility of a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

The strategic goal is to reshape the Israeli state, so as to assert Jewish primacy over all of “Israel” and over the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. This would mean attenuation, or even elimination, of Palestinian civil rights.

Finance Minister Smotrich has taken to referring to the two-state solution as a ‘fantasy’ — one that must be crushed “willingly or by force (i.e. ‘with deeds’: through a massive increase in settlements).” Thus, to “make it clear to all, … [he underlines] the Arab dream of a state in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] – is no longer viable.”

Co-minister Ben-Gvir has amplified, “My right, the right of my wife and my children to move around Judea and Samaria is more important than freedom of movement for the Arabs.”  This is the consolidation of apartheid in occupied Palestine.

To further make his point, Ben-Gvir provocatively invited ministers to oversee the demolition of houses in an impromptu Bedouin village in the Negev: “They should understand that we govern here – and that this country has a landlord.” (There are 100,000 Bedouins in Negev – there, from the days before Turkish or British rule).

Again, to underline the point about ‘who governs,’ Smotrich has moved quickly to urge government agencies to prepare for an additional 500,000 settlers in the West Bank – which would bring the current estimated population of 700,000 settlers up to more than 1 million within the next decade.

Just to be clear, these are not disparate utterances by a couple of ‘hothead’ ministers. The comments reflect a concerted Coalition stance. These utterances clearly are intended to provoke — and not just the Palestinians. They are provocative too towards that liberal Israeli constituency that has been protesting en masse against the Netanyahu government for months.

That it represents a concerted government position is fully evidenced by the Israeli cabinet holding its 21 May 2023 meeting in the tunnel excavated directly under the Al-Aqsa mosque, in an attempt to spotlight “Israel’s” claim to sovereignty over the site on which stands Islam’s Third Holiest Site.

What is going on? Why the gratuitous provocations? One answer is that the more the iconoclastic and radically Zionist the pronouncements, the more the Mizrahi-Settler-National Religious faction’s support grows.

Of course, the other side of the coin is greater fury amongst Israeli secular liberals. But the point is that the Coalition leaders (and the Leftist media concur) that “a military coup is underway in Israel. This is the unvarnished truth”. 

“Israel” has been long-described as an ‘Army with a state’, and although that may be less true today, the mass demonstrations are indeed managed in a distinctly military fashion, and former Ashkenazi generals are prominent amongst its leadership.

But the IOF is much changed. Once, it was ‘run’ by the secular Kibbutzim class, but all that changed two decades and more ago. The Settlers have the field command, and the Mizrahi Israelis now are prominent amongst the ranks.

Simply put, this polarisation (provocation) strategy is also intended to undermine the threat of a military take-over of the State on ‘national security’ grounds. The ‘worry about Israel’s preparedness for war’ is a part of this strategy. The Smotrich–Ben-Gvir riposte, however, seems to be working: Already, there is reportedly a rise in support for the Jewish Power party among the IOF’s rank and file, with an estimated 20% of IOF soldiers voting for Ben-Gvir’s party.

In short, the polarisation is reaching into the IOF, and undercutting the potential for the army to opt to displace the Netanyahu government on some national-security pretext. 

It is true, however, that the turmoil in “Israel” is making its supporters worry that “Israel” today may appear weaker and more vulnerable militarily. The security anxieties amongst some of “Israel’s” professional military caste, nonetheless, are very real. There is tension in the north with Lebanon, with a stand-off with Hezbollah that could ignite quickly into conflict. There are rising tensions with the Palestinians — and Syria is edging towards major ruption.

To be clear, little of this has to do with Israeli weakness — but rather, to American self-perception of its own weakness, as its Ukraine policy implodes. As Ukraine radiates Western failure, it appears that the US is seeking to compensate via Syria, through re-launching an uprising that would see President Assad ousted (the original objective) by a re-kindling of some of America’s former proxy Islamist movements, and by the continued (Israeli) air-force attrition of Iranian personnel and their allies in Syria.

The paradox of this US escalation (enacted in counterpoint to Russia’s successes in Ukraine) is that the US could easily light a fire in Syria that spreads to Lebanon and Iraq. The paradox of such an outcome is that it is precisely this (flames spreading across the region out of Syria) which might place “Israel” at existential risk.

The opinions mentioned in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Al mayadeen, but rather express the opinion of its writer exclusively.

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Israeli media say Al-Arouri interview for Al Mayadeen ‘harsh’

Posted on August 27, 2023 by uprootedpalestinians

Aug 27, 2023

Source: Al Mayadeen

Masked freedom fighter from the Izzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, waves the movement’s green flag in Nusseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, Aug. 18, 2023 (AP)

By Al Mayadeen English

Israeli media says Al Mayadeen’s interview with the Hamas politburo chief in the occupied West Bank underlines harsh prospects for the Israeli occupation.

Israeli media outlets commented Saturday on Hamas deputy politburo chief Saleh Al-Arouri’s interview for Al Mayadeen on Friday.

The Hamas official who holds the strings in the West Bank, Saleh Al-Arouri, threatened that assassinations would lead to a regional war, the Israeli Ynet website reported.

“This harsh statement by Al-Arouri seems to be due to talking about the possibility of his assassination,” Yedioth Ahronoth‘s online portal said.

According to security sources, “Israel has been interested in assassinating him for a while since he has been attempting to lead the uprising in the West Bank.”

“Al-Arouri’s position as one of the agenda-setters in the West Bank has brought him very close to the axis, which sees the West Bank and Al-Quds as central tools in the conflict against Israel,” the outlet added.

Furthermore, it underlined that officials in the Israeli security establishment in the past called for the assassination of Al-Arouri to prevent a scenario of “unity of the battlefields.”

Read more: Hamas official Al-Arouri stresses unity, determination

Retired Eitan Dangot, who was the military secretary for three security ministers, said the deputy Hamas chief was “the most dangerous and important person in Hamas today, he is a lethal man, and his goal is to kill the largest possible number of Israelis.”

Al-Arouri, stated in an exclusive interview with Al Mayadeen on Friday that the occupation has made numerous decisions regarding assassinations, targeting many individuals such as the leader Mohammed Al-Dayf, whom they attempted to assassinate multiple times and ultimately killed his family.

“The Israeli threat against my person does not change my beliefs and stances, nor will it alter my path by so much as an inch,” he said. 

Al-Arouri pointed out that the government of Smotrich and Ben-Gvir aims to displace Palestinians from the West Bank, increase settlements, and gain control over the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

“This extremist government will suffer a resounding defeat, which would lead to their withdrawal from the entire West Bank,” he added. 

Regarding an all-out regional confrontation, Al-Arouri affirmed that “the Resistance alliance is prepared and motivated by reason, will, and common interests to partake in a regional war, and the active parties are ready and prepared for it.”

“If we reach the point of an all-out confrontation, Israel will face an unprecedented defeat in its history, and we are confident of that.”

The battle for liberation in the West Bank is currently on the table, and Palestine has now entered the era of resolving this conflict, as evidenced by the attempts at the Judaization of the West Bank and the deportation of Palestinians, Al-Arouri pointed out. The breakout of an all-out war is inevitable at this point, he continued. 

Al-Arouri also reminded of the commitment expressed by the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, when he said that any attack on the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Al-Quds would be met with regional war, and also recalled Sayyid Nasrallah’s speech on the liberation of Al-Jalil.

In regards to the Resistance operations against settlers, the Hamas official stated that the current Israeli plot is centered around increasing the number of settlers in the West Bank, and to confront this plot, it is necessary to strike at its central subject.

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Israel’s Military-Settler State: There are no Jewish ‘civilians’ in the West Bank

Posted on July 18, 2023 by Zara Ali

JUL 14, 2023

Israeli settler terrorism is a strategy employed by Israel to advance its territorial gains and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

Robert Inlakesh

US President Joe Biden recently called out Benjamin Netanyahu’s government as being the “most extreme” he’s seen, and pointed to members of the Israeli Prime Minister’s coalition as being “part of the problem.”

His comments immediately drew attention to Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, along with Israeli security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, and illegal West Bank settlers in general.

But Israeli settler extremism is not isolated to the West Bank, nor to Israel’s current far-right government’s ministers like Ben Gvir and Smotrich. Israeli settlers occupy the highest positions in the military and government, while extremists are operating special militias inside the Israeli army – with its approval – and additionally receiving funds from US charitable organizations.

Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians have been steadily on the rise over the past years, with an average of three violent incidents occurring per day in 2023, compared to two in 2022 and one in 2021, according to the United Nations.

One of the worst recorded attacks this year came on February 26, when a settler militia force, at least 400 strong, descended upon several villages surrounding the Palestinian city of Nablus, including the town of Huwara. 

The settler attack, even described as a pogrom by top Israeli general Yehuda Fuchs, resulted in the murder of a Palestinian man, in addition to the burning down of at least 30 homes and 100 cars. 

In support of the settler assault, Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich openly proclaimed that he thought “the village of Huwara needs to be wiped out. I think the State of Israel should do it.”

In mid-June, another 400 armed Israeli settlers attacked Turmusaya and surrounding villages, torching 30 homes and around 60 cars, additionally resulting in over 100 injuries and the murder of another Palestinian man; while he was attempting to save children. 

The two most notorious far-right members of Israel’s current coalition government are ministers Smotrich and Ben Gvir, both of whom live in illegal settlements and were longtime activists as part of the settler movement. 

Ben Gvir, who has faced a laundry list of criminal charges ranging from terror group affiliations to incitement of racism, resides in the extremist settlement of al-Khalil (Hebron). Smotrich currently resides in Kedumim, a settlement located just a short drive from Yitzhar – the other infamous settler community. 

Their unified list, running under the name Religious Zionism, secured the third-highest number of votes from the Israeli public and now holds the position of the second-largest party in the current coalition government.

Not ‘a few bad apples’

Dror Sadot, spokesperson for B’Tselem, Israel’s leading human rights organization, emphasizes that we cannot downplay the broader support and backing that enables such actions. She tells The Cradle that: “Even if it wasn’t this current Ben Gvir-Smotrich government, it would still be Apartheid.”

“When the Huwara pogrom happened, we should’ve paid attention to what sort of backup the settlers got from those politicians. What they are saying reveals the truth, it reveals the mechanisms in place that were always there under previous governments.”

Sadot continues: “We shouldn’t talk about settler violence as if it is a few bad apples, or extremists, or anything like this, because, at the end of the day, Israel is backing everything.” 

While attention has been drawn to figures like Ben Gvir and Smotrich, the truth is that radical right-wing settlers occupy significant positions within the Israeli government and military.

The recent decision to launch an invasion of Jenin, for example, was heavily influenced by pressure from settler communities. Yossi Dagan, head of the regional settlement council in the Northern West Bank, played a prominent role in encouraging the violent attack on Jenin, which experts at the UN have labeled a war crime.

Yet, Dagan’s ambitions did not stop there. He called on the government to “order the IDF to immediately launch a larger, broader, more thorough and in-depth operation.”

Radicals in the corridors of power 

Israeli Member of Knesset for the ruling Likud Party, Avichai Boaron, has also made alarming statements. Following the military operation in Jenin, Boaron suggested that “we must expand the military operation to include Nablus and Ramallah as well.”

Notably, Boaron himself is a settler activist who has come under fire for using euphemisms to refer to Palestinians while proposing extermination camps as a solution. 

In 2018, Netanyahu posted on social media to celebrate Avichai Boaron’s success with the Amihai settlement, which was built in 2017 as an alternative to the evacuated settler outpost of Amona – illegally developed on Palestinian land – that had turned into a “crisis” for the Israeli public. 

The Amihai settlement was added to the illegal settlement of Shiloh, accompanied by the settler outposts of Adei Ad, Geulat Zion, and others, which happen to surround Turmusaya, along with other Palestinian villages which have recently been targets of large-scale settler-militia attacks.

Boaron’s recently secured a position in the Likud Party to replace David Amsalem, who Netanyahu promoted to be the Israeli Regional Cooperation Minister. Amsalem is also a West Bank settler, from the illegal colony of Ma’alei Adumim, and is currently in charge of  “advancing partnerships with states in the region (the Mediterranean basin) and the Palestinian Authority.”

Moreover, the leadership of the Israeli military itself is not immune to this influence. Herzi Halevi, the current Chief of Staff, is a resident of the illegal colony of Kfar Ha-Oranim in the West Bank. His appointment to this key role was approved last year under the government of Yair Lapid, with no major objections.

Avi Moaz, the deputy minister and head of the national Jewish identity department in the Prime Minister’s Office, resides in an illegal settlement stronghold located in the Silwan area of occupied East Jerusalem. His position holds significant weight, and he is a leading figure in the Noam Party.

Speaking to The Cradle, the Executive Director of Bisan Center for Research and Development, Ubai al-Aboudi, says that “the settlers are a militia, these are not civilian groups, most of them are ideologues, they see themselves as tasked with replacing Palestinian villagers, their houses, and they call for this openly.”

The two strongholds of the settler terror groups are situated around the Palestinian cities of Al-Khalil and Nablus. Od Yosef Hai Yeshiva, in Yitzhar settlement, is the indoctrination center for many of the most extreme settler terrorists, where they are taught ideas, such as, that Arabs are a “cancer” and that killing non-Jewish babies is permissible. 

The army colludes with settlers

According to the conclusions of a 2022 report published by B’Tselem on settler violence, the attacks “are not perpetrated by “bands of outlaws” or “bad seeds,” nor are they simply “violent outbursts” or “unusual incidents,” but rather they are a “strategy employed by the Israeli apartheid regime.”

A 2021 investigation conducted jointly between The Intercept and Local Call found that at least four of the 11 Palestinians who were killed in the West Bank on 14 May of that year, were due to deliberate joint attacks carried out by Israeli settlers and soldiers. 

In the May 2021 joint settler-soldier attack on Palestinians in the village of Urif, the Israeli military confirmed in a statement that one of the masked settlers caught on film firing at Palestinians, alongside soldiers, was, in fact, from the settlement of Yitzhar and himself an active Israeli soldier. 

Zvi Sukot, who was a spokesperson for the settlement of Yitzhar and part of the ‘Hilltop Youth,’ applauded the Israeli army for the joint attacks on Palestinians at the time. Sukot, who is now a member of the Israeli Knesset as part of the current government, made his name campaigning for the release of a group of settlers who burned a Palestinian baby to death in 2015.

Israeli settlers were caught on a leaked video dancing at a wedding, celebrating the murder of the 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh, and stabbing at pictures of the Palestinian family they had killed alongside him. Present also at the wedding was the legal representative for the terrorist settlers, Itamar Ben Gvir.

As recently as June 24, Israeli settlers were documented to have used Israeli army-issued assault rifles – Colt M4’s manufactured in the US – to shoot at Palestinians in the village of Umm Safa. 

The settler extremists, despite not having known structured armed organizations, were revealed in May to have been integrated into a special Israeli military unit. The extremist settlers belonging to the Hilltop Youth have allegedly been inducted into the newly created ‘Desert Frontier’ army unit, where they represent a majority of the Unit and are carrying out severe abuses across the West Bank. 

B’Tselem spokeswoman, Dror Sadot, says that her organization has “documented hundreds of cases of settler violence, during many of which the soldiers were there, and in the “best cases” you will see they won’t do anything, but in the worst cases they will join the settlers against the Palestinians.”

In a frightening development, Israeli Security Minister Ben Gvir has been granted permission to build Israel’s new “national guard,” which is shaping up to be a publicly funded ultra-nationalist militia force to serve the extremist goals of the Israeli settler movement. One of the Israeli colonel’s that is helping Ben Gvir form the national guard is Efraim Laor, who made the following comment during a lecture in 2019:

“An enemy needs to be killed, you don’t shoot at [terror] cells, you shoot between the eyes – whoever can’t do that, 15 cm lower. Including those who are there and are not attacking. But you see an enemy – you do not find out whether he is involved or not — he’s involved — he needs to be eliminated.”

US charities fueling illegal settlements

The Hilltop Youth settler group, often portrayed as “bands of outlaws,” have direct links to the Israeli government and even charitable donations from the US. In 2008, the Hilltop Youth ushered in a new era of what was called “Price-Tag” violence, where settlers would attack Palestinian civilians, along with their mosques, schools, crops, and homes. 

One such figure within this context is Itay Zar, known as the first Hilltop Youth, who established the settler outpost of Havat Gilad in 2002. It is important to note that settlement outposts, including settler “farms,” are considered illegal under Israeli law.

However, many are eventually recognized by Israeli authorities, as was the case with Havat Gilad in 2018. The proximity of Havat Gilad to the Yitzhar settlement, which houses a notoriously radical Yeshiva (Jewish religious school), illustrates how extremist belief systems are transmitted within these religious educational institutions.

One US-based charity named the Central Fund of Israel (CFI) was found to have funded an extremist Yeshiva, along with the Honenu group that provides legal funds and financial support for settler terrorists. CFI still operates as a charity in the US, despite having funneled tens of millions of dollars to far-right extremist groups in occupied territory.

Worryingly, the settler extremists, despite not having known structured armed organizations, were revealed in May to have been integrated into a special Israeli military unit. The extremist settlers belonging to the Hilltop Youth have allegedly been inducted into the newly created Desert Frontier army unit, where they represent a majority of the unit and are carrying out severe crimes across the West Bank. 

A concerning web of US-based and registered charities exists, providing direct financial support to organizations guiding the settlement movement, according to Ubai al-Aboudi. This ongoing financial backing allows these organizations to receive funds, perpetuating the expansion of Israeli settlements.

The Israel Land Fund (ILF), for instance, supports the acquisition of real estate for Israeli settlers, providing legal assistance for them, and advertises properties in the occupied territories. The ILF’s fiscal sponsor is the aforementioned CFI, which is a registered charity in New York, it is also the fiscal sponsor for Regavim, which works to expand Israeli control over Palestinian land through applying pressure on the relevant Israeli authorities.

The Hebron Fund, directly registered in New York, plays a role in funding the illegal settlement project in al-Khalil (Hebron). The fiscal sponsor for the Ir David Foundation, which utilizes archaeological claims to displace Palestinians from East Jerusalem, is called the Friends of Ir David and is also registered in New York.

Similarly, Ateret Cohanim, working to establish a Jewish demographic majority in occupied East Jerusalem by replacing Palestinian families with Israeli settlers, has its fiscal sponsor named the Friends of Ateret Cohanim, registered in New York as well.

Two sides of the same coin 

Israeli settlers have recently attacked the properties of Palestinians who are US citizens, which according to the US’s stringent property laws, should force them to intervene and protect their own nationals. According to US law, since 1854 it has been seen as an obligation for sitting President’s to intervene in order to protect the lives and properties of citizens threatened by foreign powers.

Even in the cases of murdered US citizens, there is no protection or significant pressure applied on the Israeli government. In the cases of Shireen Abu Akleh, Omar Asad, Ourwa Hamad, and Mahmoud Shalan, all US citizens, no one was charged for their murders by the Israeli authorities. 

The Biden administration’s allowance of such financing, coupled with its failure to safeguard its own citizens, creates a contradiction as it condemns the settlement movement while inadvertently encouraging it. 

Meanwhile, his government continues to allow US dollars to finance Israeli settler extremism, and the settlement movement, does nothing to protect its own citizens from Israeli criminality. 

Never mind the White House’s public criticism of Israeli extremism. In reality, there are few punitive measures Washington is prepared to take against Israel’s ferocious aggressions. This, despite the mounting evidence that there is no separation between the Israeli government and the settler movement today.

Robert Inkalesh

Source

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Israel’s Military-Settler State: There are no Jewish ‘civilians’ in the West Bank

Posted on July 16, 2023 by worldpeacewithjustice

JUL 14, 2023

Israeli settler terrorism is a strategy employed by Israel to advance its territorial gains and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

Robert Inlakesh

US President Joe Biden recently called out Benjamin Netanyahu’s government as being the “most extreme” he’s seen, and pointed to members of the Israeli Prime Minister’s coalition as being “part of the problem.”

His comments immediately drew attention to Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, along with Israeli security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, and illegal West Bank settlers in general.

But Israeli settler extremism is not isolated to the West Bank, nor to Israel’s current far-right government’s ministers like Ben Gvir and Smotrich. Israeli settlers occupy the highest positions in the military and government, while extremists are operating special militias inside the Israeli army – with its approval – and additionally receiving funds from US charitable organizations.

Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians have been steadily on the rise over the past years, with an average of three violent incidents occurring per day in 2023, compared to two in 2022 and one in 2021, according to the United Nations.

One of the worst recorded attacks this year came on February 26, when a settler militia force, at least 400 strong, descended upon several villages surrounding the Palestinian city of Nablus, including the town of Huwara. 

The settler attack, even described as a pogrom by top Israeli general Yehuda Fuchs, resulted in the murder of a Palestinian man, in addition to the burning down of at least 30 homes and 100 cars. 

In support of the settler assault, Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich openly proclaimed that he thought “the village of Huwara needs to be wiped out. I think the State of Israel should do it.”

In mid-June, another 400 armed Israeli settlers attacked Turmusaya and surrounding villages, torching 30 homes and around 60 cars, additionally resulting in over 100 injuries and the murder of another Palestinian man; while he was attempting to save children. 

The two most notorious far-right members of Israel’s current coalition government are ministers Smotrich and Ben Gvir, both of whom live in illegal settlements and were longtime activists as part of the settler movement. 

Ben Gvir, who has faced a laundry list of criminal charges ranging from terror group affiliations to incitement of racism, resides in the extremist settlement of al-Khalil (Hebron). Smotrich currently resides in Kedumim, a settlement located just a short drive from Yitzhar – the other infamous settler community. 

Their unified list, running under the name Religious Zionism, secured the third-highest number of votes from the Israeli public and now holds the position of the second-largest party in the current coalition government.

Not ‘a few bad apples’

Dror Sadot, spokesperson for B’Tselem, Israel’s leading human rights organization, emphasizes that we cannot downplay the broader support and backing that enables such actions. She tells The Cradle that: “Even if it wasn’t this current Ben Gvir-Smotrich government, it would still be Apartheid.”

“When the Huwara pogrom happened, we should’ve paid attention to what sort of backup the settlers got from those politicians. What they are saying reveals the truth, it reveals the mechanisms in place that were always there under previous governments.”

Sadot continues: “We shouldn’t talk about settler violence as if it is a few bad apples, or extremists, or anything like this, because, at the end of the day, Israel is backing everything.” 

While attention has been drawn to figures like Ben Gvir and Smotrich, the truth is that radical right-wing settlers occupy significant positions within the Israeli government and military.

The recent decision to launch an invasion of Jenin, for example, was heavily influenced by pressure from settler communities. Yossi Dagan, head of the regional settlement council in the Northern West Bank, played a prominent role in encouraging the violent attack on Jenin, which experts at the UN have labeled a war crime.

Yet, Dagan’s ambitions did not stop there. He called on the government to “order the IDF to immediately launch a larger, broader, more thorough and in-depth operation.”

Radicals in the corridors of power 

Israeli Member of Knesset for the ruling Likud Party, Avichai Boaron, has also made alarming statements. Following the military operation in Jenin, Boaron suggested that “we must expand the military operation to include Nablus and Ramallah as well.”

Notably, Boaron himself is a settler activist who has come under fire for using euphemisms to refer to Palestinians while proposing extermination camps as a solution. 

In 2018, Netanyahu posted on social media to celebrate Avichai Boaron’s success with the Amihai settlement, which was built in 2017 as an alternative to the evacuated settler outpost of Amona – illegally developed on Palestinian land – that had turned into a “crisis” for the Israeli public. 

The Amihai settlement was added to the illegal settlement of Shiloh, accompanied by the settler outposts of Adei Ad, Geulat Zion, and others, which happen to surround Turmusaya, along with other Palestinian villages which have recently been targets of large-scale settler-militia attacks.

Boaron’s recently secured a position in the Likud Party to replace David Amsalem, who Netanyahu promoted to be the Israeli Regional Cooperation Minister. Amsalem is also a West Bank settler, from the illegal colony of Ma’alei Adumim, and is currently in charge of  “advancing partnerships with states in the region (the Mediterranean basin) and the Palestinian Authority.”

Moreover, the leadership of the Israeli military itself is not immune to this influence. Herzi Halevi, the current Chief of Staff, is a resident of the illegal colony of Kfar Ha-Oranim in the West Bank. His appointment to this key role was approved last year under the government of Yair Lapid, with no major objections.

Avi Moaz, the deputy minister and head of the national Jewish identity department in the Prime Minister’s Office, resides in an illegal settlement stronghold located in the Silwan area of occupied East Jerusalem. His position holds significant weight, and he is a leading figure in the Noam Party.

Speaking to The Cradle, the Executive Director of Bisan Center for Research and Development, Ubai al-Aboudi, says that “the settlers are a militia, these are not civilian groups, most of them are ideologues, they see themselves as tasked with replacing Palestinian villagers, their houses, and they call for this openly.”

The two strongholds of the settler terror groups are situated around the Palestinian cities of Al-Khalil and Nablus. Od Yosef Hai Yeshiva, in Yitzhar settlement, is the indoctrination center for many of the most extreme settler terrorists, where they are taught ideas, such as, that Arabs are a “cancer” and that killing non-Jewish babies is permissible. 

The army colludes with settlers

According to the conclusions of a 2022 report published by B’Tselem on settler violence, the attacks “are not perpetrated by “bands of outlaws” or “bad seeds,” nor are they simply “violent outbursts” or “unusual incidents,” but rather they are a “strategy employed by the Israeli apartheid regime.”

A 2021 investigation conducted jointly between The Intercept and Local Call found that at least four of the 11 Palestinians who were killed in the West Bank on 14 May of that year, were due to deliberate joint attacks carried out by Israeli settlers and soldiers. 

In the May 2021 joint settler-soldier attack on Palestinians in the village of Urif, the Israeli military confirmed in a statement that one of the masked settlers caught on film firing at Palestinians, alongside soldiers, was, in fact, from the settlement of Yitzhar and himself an active Israeli soldier. 

Zvi Sukot, who was a spokesperson for the settlement of Yitzhar and part of the ‘Hilltop Youth,’ applauded the Israeli army for the joint attacks on Palestinians at the time. Sukot, who is now a member of the Israeli Knesset as part of the current government, made his name campaigning for the release of a group of settlers who burned a Palestinian baby to death in 2015.

Israeli settlers were caught on a leaked video dancing at a wedding, celebrating the murder of the 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh, and stabbing at pictures of the Palestinian family they had killed alongside him. Present also at the wedding was the legal representative for the terrorist settlers, Itamar Ben Gvir.

As recently as June 24, Israeli settlers were documented to have used Israeli army-issued assault rifles – Colt M4’s manufactured in the US – to shoot at Palestinians in the village of Umm Safa. 

The settler extremists, despite not having known structured armed organizations, were revealed in May to have been integrated into a special Israeli military unit. The extremist settlers belonging to the Hilltop Youth have allegedly been inducted into the newly created ‘Desert Frontier’ army unit, where they represent a majority of the Unit and are carrying out severe abuses across the West Bank. 

B’Tselem spokeswoman, Dror Sadot, says that her organization has “documented hundreds of cases of settler violence, during many of which the soldiers were there, and in the “best cases” you will see they won’t do anything, but in the worst cases they will join the settlers against the Palestinians.”

In a frightening development, Israeli Security Minister Ben Gvir has been granted permission to build Israel’s new “national guard,” which is shaping up to be a publicly funded ultra-nationalist militia force to serve the extremist goals of the Israeli settler movement. One of the Israeli colonel’s that is helping Ben Gvir form the national guard is Efraim Laor, who made the following comment during a lecture in 2019:

“An enemy needs to be killed, you don’t shoot at [terror] cells, you shoot between the eyes – whoever can’t do that, 15 cm lower. Including those who are there and are not attacking. But you see an enemy – you do not find out whether he is involved or not — he’s involved — he needs to be eliminated.”

US charities fueling illegal settlements

The Hilltop Youth settler group, often portrayed as “bands of outlaws,” have direct links to the Israeli government and even charitable donations from the US. In 2008, the Hilltop Youth ushered in a new era of what was called “Price-Tag” violence, where settlers would attack Palestinian civilians, along with their mosques, schools, crops, and homes. 

One such figure within this context is Itay Zar, known as the first Hilltop Youth, who established the settler outpost of Havat Gilad in 2002. It is important to note that settlement outposts, including settler “farms,” are considered illegal under Israeli law.

However, many are eventually recognized by Israeli authorities, as was the case with Havat Gilad in 2018. The proximity of Havat Gilad to the Yitzhar settlement, which houses a notoriously radical Yeshiva (Jewish religious school), illustrates how extremist belief systems are transmitted within these religious educational institutions.

One US-based charity named the Central Fund of Israel (CFI) was found to have funded an extremist Yeshiva, along with the Honenu group that provides legal funds and financial support for settler terrorists. CFI still operates as a charity in the US, despite having funneled tens of millions of dollars to far-right extremist groups in occupied territory.

Worryingly, the settler extremists, despite not having known structured armed organizations, were revealed in May to have been integrated into a special Israeli military unit. The extremist settlers belonging to the Hilltop Youth have allegedly been inducted into the newly created Desert Frontier army unit, where they represent a majority of the unit and are carrying out severe crimes across the West Bank. 

A concerning web of US-based and registered charities exists, providing direct financial support to organizations guiding the settlement movement, according to Ubai al-Aboudi. This ongoing financial backing allows these organizations to receive funds, perpetuating the expansion of Israeli settlements.

The Israel Land Fund (ILF), for instance, supports the acquisition of real estate for Israeli settlers, providing legal assistance for them, and advertises properties in the occupied territories. The ILF’s fiscal sponsor is the aforementioned CFI, which is a registered charity in New York, it is also the fiscal sponsor for Regavim, which works to expand Israeli control over Palestinian land through applying pressure on the relevant Israeli authorities.

The Hebron Fund, directly registered in New York, plays a role in funding the illegal settlement project in al-Khalil (Hebron). The fiscal sponsor for the Ir David Foundation, which utilizes archaeological claims to displace Palestinians from East Jerusalem, is called the Friends of Ir David and is also registered in New York.

Similarly, Ateret Cohanim, working to establish a Jewish demographic majority in occupied East Jerusalem by replacing Palestinian families with Israeli settlers, has its fiscal sponsor named the Friends of Ateret Cohanim, registered in New York as well.

Two sides of the same coin 

Israeli settlers have recently attacked the properties of Palestinians who are US citizens, which according to the US’s stringent property laws, should force them to intervene and protect their own nationals. According to US law, since 1854 it has been seen as an obligation for sitting President’s to intervene in order to protect the lives and properties of citizens threatened by foreign powers.

Even in the cases of murdered US citizens, there is no protection or significant pressure applied on the Israeli government. In the cases of Shireen Abu Akleh, Omar Asad, Ourwa Hamad, and Mahmoud Shalan, all US citizens, no one was charged for their murders by the Israeli authorities. 

The Biden administration’s allowance of such financing, coupled with its failure to safeguard its own citizens, creates a contradiction as it condemns the settlement movement while inadvertently encouraging it. 

Meanwhile, his government continues to allow US dollars to finance Israeli settler extremism, and the settlement movement, does nothing to protect its own citizens from Israeli criminality. 

Never mind the White House’s public criticism of Israeli extremism. In reality, there are few punitive measures Washington is prepared to take against Israel’s ferocious aggressions. This, despite the mounting evidence that there is no separation between the Israeli government and the settler movement today.

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

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Israeli soldier killed in Hamas shooting operation

Posted on July 7, 2023 by uprootedpalestinians

JUL 06, 2023

Reports indicate that the initial objective of the operation was to assassinate Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich

News Desk

A shooting operation was carried out on 6 July near the Kedumim settlement close to the northern occupied West Bank city of Qalqiliya, resulting in the killing of one Israeli soldier and the injury of at least two others. 

Israel’s Magen David Adom ambulance service initially said that at least one Israeli was seriously wounded, before announcing the death shortly afterwards. 

Palestinian media outlets claimed the shooting resulted in two injuries. 

According to Israeli army radio, the attacker got out of a vehicle and opened fire at two settlers near the Kedumim settlement before fleeing. 

He was found shortly afterwards and shot dead by Israeli troops. Footage on social media allegedly shows the Israeli forces opening fire at the attacker. 

Israeli news outlet Ynet claimed that the shooting took place near “an axis that connects Kedumim to Nablus, an area where there have been many attacks in the past.” 

Hamas’ Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades has claimed responsibility for the operation, and the executor has been identified as  resistance fighter Ahmad Yasin Ghaidhan, from the village of Qibya west of Ramallah. 

According to Israeli media, the soldier killed was serving in the Givati Brigade of the Israeli army.

Reports indicate that the initial objective of the operation was to assassinate Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

The shooting comes one day after the end of Israel’s brutal operation in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, where they were driven out by the resistance after besieging the city and its refugee camp, killing 12, injuring over 100, and displacing thousands. 

One day before the withdrawal from Jenin on 5 July, ten Israelis were wounded in a car-ramming and stabbing attack in Tel Aviv. 

Israel launched the operation in Jenin due to the growing presence of resistance factions there, particularly the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s (PIJ) Jenin Brigade, who led the fight against Israeli troops during the operation. 

Israeli Knesset member, Avichai Boaron, said following the shooting that the Israeli military operation should be expanded to include other areas of the West Bank, particularly Nablus, where the PIJ’s Nablus Brigade and other groups, such as the Lions’ Den, have also gained notoriety. 

Many referred to the Tel Aviv ramming-stabbing operation as a natural response to Israel’s brutal assault on Jenin, including Hamas, as well as well as media personalities such Electronic Intifada’s Ali Abunimah. 

In a statement following the shooting on 6 July, the PIJ praised “the heroic [operation] in the Kedumim settlement, which comes as a response to the occupation’s crimes against our people.” 

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EXPLAINER: On What Happened in Jenin and the Possibility of a Full Israeli Attack on West Bank

Posted on June 21, 2023 by uprootedpalestinians

June 20, 2023

An Israeli armored vehicle is targeted by Palestinian resistance explosive device in Jenin. (Photo: Saraya Al-Quds – Jenin Battalion, Supplied)

The Israeli military has itself admitted to the destruction or damage to seven of its military vehicles, including a large troop carrier known as Panther, and also the destruction of a helicopter. 

On Monday, June 20, Israeli occupation forces invaded parts of the northern Palestinian town of Jenin, and its refugee camp. The invasion, which has been routine in recent months, didn’t go as planned. 

Six Palestinians were killed by the Israeli military, including a child, Ahmed Saqr, and over 91 were reportedly wounded, including a journalist. According to eyewitnesses and a statement by the Palestinian Red Crescent society, the Israeli army intentionally hampered the work of medics that could have saved some of the lost lives. 

Eight Israeli soldiers were injured, some of whom are reportedly in serious condition. The Palestinian Resistance said in a statement, a copy of which was received by the Palestine Chronicle, that the Israeli military is outright lying about its losses, due to fear of political repercussions. 

Is the Israeli Military Hiding the True Number of Its Casualties? 

The Palestinian claim was substantiated by three factors: 

One, is the fact that the Israeli military has itself admitted to the destruction or damage to seven of its military vehicles, including a large troop carrier known as Panther, and also the destruction of a helicopter. 

Two, the fact that it took the Israeli army hours to evacuate its damaged vehicles and its wounded due to the stiff resistance, and the siege imposed on invading Israeli troops in the Jenin neighborhood of Jabriyat. 

Three, the fact that Israel had to resort to the use of its air force for the first time since the Second Palestinian Uprising (Intifada) over 20 years ago. 

Who Were the Palestinians Involved in the Fighting? 

Although fighters from all main Palestinian Resistance groups took part in the Monday battle, two dominant forces were involved: Izz ed-Din Al-Qassam, the military wing of the political movement Hamas, and the Jenin Brigades, a branch of the Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad.

While Al-Qassam fighters have reportedly been the ones that ambushed the Israeli force in the Jenin camp, the Jenin Brigades were the ones that discovered the Israeli force in Jabriyat and engaged with them in a protracted battle. 

The Palestinian Resistance has published many photos and several videos to demonstrate its claims regarding the nature of the fight, the ambush, and the losses suffered by the Israeli military. 

The Islamic Jihad also warned in a statement that if the Israeli military resorts to air bombardment, the “Resistance fighters will use methods (of Resistance) that will surprise (the enemy).” 

What are the Israelis Saying? 

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said that “all options are on the table” as far as launching a major military operation in the West Bank is concerned. He also said that he had instructed the military and all security forces to be prepared for offensive operations anywhere Israel is threatened. 

Galant’s comments followed remarks by Israel’s Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, who said that the time has come for a major military operation in the Occupied Palestinian West Bank that involves air defense and artillery.

Smotrich had called for an emergency meeting involving the security cabinet.

Why Did Israel Kill the Child Ahmed Saqr? 

The circumstances of the killing of 15-year-old boy Ahmed Saqr remain unclear, though killing Palestinian children by Israel is routine in the West Bank. Israel has already killed scores of Palestinian children in the West Bank since the start of the year. 

2023 has the potential of being the deadliest year for Palestinian children in the West Bank since the end of the Second Intifada in 2005. 

This does not include besieged Gaza, which has lost hundreds of its children in various Israeli wars and raids in recent years. The last Israeli war on the Strip on May 9 resulted in the killing of 33 Palestinians, including six children. 

What Should We Expect? 

The Israeli military is worried that a full-armed rebellion or a militarized Intifada could take place in the Occupied West Bank. 

Such an uprising has the potential of changing the current, sustainable status quo in ways that could force Israel to a long fight against the Palestinian Resistance. 

It could also jeopardize the so-called ‘security coordination’ with the Palestinian Authority, which, if Resistance groups take charge of the West Bank, may cease to exist. 

The far-right members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government are urging the prime minister to unleash a major offensive against the West Bank. 

The Israeli military remains hesitant, fearing that such an offensive could turn into a protracted fight, while the country’s internal intelligence, the Shin Bet, is reportedly changing its position in favor of decisive military action. 

Palestinian groups, however, say that they have devised new weapons and a unified resistance strategy that “would surprise” the enemy.  

These claims are verified by Israel itself. 

“The occupation army had admitted from dawn on Monday until the afternoon of the same day that its forces were exposed to a large number of explosive devices and showers of bullets, which led to the injury of a number of its soldiers and the damage of military vehicles that penetrated into Jenin,” Aljazeera Net, citing Israeli sources, reported on the Jenin battle.

(The Palestine Chronicle)

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Strong condemnations of Israeli decision to hasten settlement process

Posted on June 19, 2023 by uprootedpalestinians

18 Jun 2023

Source: Agencies

The illegal Israeli settlement of “Halamish” behind a Palestinian flag in the occupied West Bank (AFP)

By Al Mayadeen English

The Jordanian Foreign Ministry says the illegal settlement expansion and forcible expulsion of Palestinians from their houses is a “flagrant violation” and a “grave breach” of international law.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry considered on Sunday that the Israeli occupation government’s plans to hand Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich the authority to approve new construction of illegal Israeli settlements represent a serious development in the way to complete Israeli occupation of the West Bank.

In a statement, the Ministry warned of the dangers of such a decision, which it described as another step toward applying Israeli occupation law to the West Bank and facilitating the “quiet, noiseless” approval of settlements.

The statement called for “real international and American action” to pressure the occupation government to retract the decision, and to take the necessary practical steps to force the Netanyahu government to end its illegal unilateral violations that undermine the opportunities to achieve a so-called “two-state solution”.

Despite an “Israeli commitment” during the Aqaba meeting between the US, “Israel”, Egypt, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority, to “stop discussing the establishment of any new settlement units for 4 months, and to stop approving any new settlement outposts for a period of 6 months,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously confirmed that “the construction of settlement outposts in the West Bank will continue without any change.”

It is noteworthy that under international law, all Israeli settlements are illegal, and the United Nations Security Council has condemned Israeli settlement activities in the occupied territories in several resolutions.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in late February that Israeli-built settlements are “illegal” and they “must stop”.

Jordan

On its part, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the Israeli occupation government’s plan to expedite the process of approving settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.

The Ministry’s spokesperson, Sinan Majali, underlined in a statement that illegal settlement expansion and forcible displacement of Palestinians from their houses is a “flagrant violation” and a “grave breach” of international law.

Majali referred to Security Council Resolution No. 2334, which calls on the international community to take swift action to stop unilateral Israeli occupation measures.

The Jordanian official rejected and condemned the Israeli occupation’s measures that represent a serious violation of international humanitarian law, and undermine the “foundations of peace” and chances to realize the so-called “two-state solution”.

Hamas

In the same context, Hamas said it “condemns in the strongest possible terms the frenzied campaign launched by the Zionist occupation authorities to Judaise our Palestinian land as settler-colonial projects that will not grant the Israeli occupation legitimacy over our land.”

“Hamas calls on the international community, particularly the United Nations, to take serious, swift action to put an end to these Judaisation projects that will escalate the situation and pose a threat to world peace and security,” the Resistance movement indicated in a statement.

It also called for “criminalizing colonial settlement expansion as it blatantly violates international laws and resolutions.”

Earlier, Hussein Al-Sheikh, the Secretary-General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), announced that the Palestinian Authority decided to boycott the meeting of the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) with the Israeli occupation, which was scheduled to be held on Monday.

It is noteworthy that last week, three Israeli and US officials told Axios that the Israeli occupation government informed President Joe Biden’s administration that it intends to announce in late June the building and planning of thousands of new “housing units” in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Axios cited one source briefed on the matter as saying that the Israeli occupation plans include at least 4,000 “housing units” in several illegal settlements in the West Bank.

An Israeli official told the news website that the so-called “Israeli civil administration planning and zoning committee” will meet in late June to approve the plans.

According to Axios, Israeli and US officials revealed that the US administration is pressuring Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to postpone the announcement or to reduce it as much as possible.

Reacting to the Axios report at a White House briefing, John Kirby, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, claimed that for a long time, the US administration has been voicing its worries to the Israeli government about illegal settlements expansion.

Kirby alleged that Washington does not wish to witness acts that make the so-called “two-state solution” more difficult to accomplish or that raise tensions.

In the same context, a US State Department spokesperson underlined that it is “critical for all parties to uphold the commitments made at regional meetings in Aqaba and Sharm El Sheikh to avoid measures that undermine the prospects for a two-state solution.”

Despite the US publicly criticizing the Israeli occupation’s plans, the Israeli news website Haaretz revealed in 2015 that at least 50 organizations in the United States were involved in fundraising for illegal Israeli settlements.

According to Haaretz, part of the funds also went “toward providing legal aid to Jews accused or convicted of terrorism, and supporting their families” through “Honenu”, a “legal aid society.”

“Among those who benefited from the group’s support in 2013 were the family of Ami Popper, who murdered seven Palestinian laborers in 1990, and members of the Bat Ayin Underground, which attempted to detonate a bomb at a girls’ school in East Jerusalem in 2002,” the Israeli news website highlighted.

Read more: IOF military complicit with settlers to aggravate Huwara attack: CNN

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New Israeli Settlements to Split Jerusalem from Bethlehem

Posted on April 25, 2023 by martyrashrakat

April 20 2023

According to Israeli NGO Ir Amim, the project aims to undermine the prospect of Palestinian statehood

By News Desk

Israel has launched a new plan to expand construction in the Givat Hamatos settlement in occupied east Jerusalem’s Beit Safafa neighborhood, aimed at severing communication between the holy city and the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, Al-Quds newspaper reported on 20 April.

According to the Ir Amim organization – an Israeli NGO which works to make Jerusalem “a more equitable and sustainable city” for both Israelis and Palestinians – Israel seeks to expand building rights to increase the number of housing units in Givat Hamatos.

This will “permanently cut off Palestinian geographical contiguity between East Jerusalem and Bethlehem” and particularly, will “prevent the linking of Beit Safafa to any future Palestinian state,” Ir Amim said, representing Israel’s continuous obstruction of any prospect for a two-state solution.

“The … plan was approved a decade ago, and the settlement contains 2,610 housing units. Tenders for the construction of 1,200 of the aforementioned units were published three years ago, but today, extensive work is underway on the land in order to extend the infrastructure. This is … to prepare the ground for future Jewish construction in the neighborhood,” it added.

Israel has also been working on expanding the Givat Shaked settlement. Just yesterday, 700 new units for Givat Shaked were approved by the Israeli Jerusalem municipality.

The plan is a violation of international regulations regarding the illegal expansion of Israeli settlements and has also been criticized by Israel’s left-wing for “cutting off development options for Arab residents” in Beit Safafa.

“Givat Shaked will be located on the last remaining plot of land on which Beit Safafa could develop, given that the crowded Palestinian neighborhood is hemmed in on almost all sides,” The Times of Israel cited the Peace Now settlement watchdog as saying last year.

The Al-Quds newspaper report comes a day after it was reported that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Transportation Minister Miri Regev plan to allocate billions of shekels (over $1 billion) to settlement expansion in West Bank and Jerusalem.

This comes despite recent pledges made by Israel at a summit in Egypt’s Sharm al-Sheikh, where it vowed to “stop discussion of any new settlement [housing] units for 4 months and to stop authorization of any outposts for 6 months.”

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Israel Still Pursues its Old Policy

Posted on April 4, 2023 by martyrashrakat

INTERNATIONALIST 360° 

Viktor Mikhin

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in his third term, and he has yet to get an invitation to visit Washington. Despite the fact that there are numerous subjects for discussion. Consider, for example, how strongly everyone around the world, including Americans, condemned the far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s call for the Palestinian town of Huwara to be “wiped out.”  Smotrich, the head of Netanyahu’s hardline coalition’s pro-settler party, made harsh public comments amid a succession of deadly punitive operations against Palestinians and Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank. The White House and Joe Biden “got nervous” over other similarly harsh statements made by Israeli ministers in light of the complex situation that is currently playing out not only in Israel but also throughout the Middle East. And not at all in favor of the USA.

According to World Israel News, if Israeli officials had made the same claims in private, Netanyahu would already be meeting with Biden in the Oval Office. But Joe Biden doesn’t want to endanger his campaign for a second term as president as the presidential election draws near. Yet, this year, three to four billion dollars in military aid from American taxpayers will continue to go to Israel. This is the same military aid that Israel uses in its crimes against Palestinians.

While the White House declined to clarify whether Netanyahu would still be invited, a State Department official directed reporters to the Cabinet of Israel for information on the prime minister’s intentions for such a trip. David Makowski of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy believes that “the message the US clearly wants to send is: If you follow unwanted policies, you have no right to sit in the Oval Office.” A senior Israeli official, who wished to remain unnamed, was quoted in US media reports on the matter as stating that the US position was not unexpected given that the two sides had been at odds on a number of topics for decades. Nonetheless, the official stated that “the solid relationship between Israel and the United States has not and will not be damaged as a result of these disputes.”

Two major crises that Israel is currently experiencing are affecting Netanyahu’s cabinet. Since the beginning of the year, protesters have crowded the streets of major cities to voice their opposition to the government’s proposal to curtail the authority of the so-called Supreme Court, which detractors claim will force Israelis to live under a dictatorship. Footage from Tel Aviv, where police actively used tasers and fought with Israeli protesters, was widely circulated.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet warned last month of a “civil war in Israel” and called for talks on Netanyahu’s amendments. “There may be a settlement on judicial amendments,” Bennett said. “There are things that need to be fixed and changed, but we shouldn’t go from one extreme to the other.” At the same time, Bennett added that “the majority wants adjustments, not system changes,” warning against a civil war “over nothing.”

Former Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit believes the current security crisis has only just begun, and he predicts “bloodshed.” According to Israeli media, Mandelblit said, “We are only at the beginning of the conflict. The situation will continue to worsen, and there will be bloodshed inside Israel.”

The Knesset (Israeli parliament) is trying to overthrow the so-called judicial system. On first reading, the law received 63 votes in favor, which is more than the quorum’s required threshold. The goal of the action is to make the Knesset stronger so that Netanyahu’s hardline alliance can maintain its majority and overturn Supreme Court rulings. Members of the Knesset will have more influence in the selection of judges as a result of Netanyahu’s actions.

Netanyahu is allegedly attempting to utilize the reforms to remove a lot of accusations against himself that are related to 2019 according to the protest organizers. Fraud, bribery, and breach of trust are among the charges and scandals. According to Israeli media, hundreds of thousands of settlers protested in Tel Aviv and other settlements in the occupied areas, including Jerusalem, as well as outside President Isaac Herzog’s residence. The president urged Netanyahu’s cabinet to halt reforms and speak with the opposition in order to reach a consensus. Despite not ruling out conversation, the ruling cabinet refused to defer or postpone the reform vote. The president of Israel warned that the situation was going to erupt.

Netanyahu’s political opponents slammed the moves as an attempt to “abolish the courts.” The suggested measures, according to Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid, are an attempt by the prime minister to avert continuous corruption cases. “Just because they have a majority in parliament does not mean… that they can demolish the Supreme Court simply because the prime minister has been indicted,” Lapid stated.

The so-called reforms open the path for additional issues that the regime will be concerned about. Analysts worry that Netanyahu’s policies will have a long-term negative impact on Israel’s economic growth and the living standards of Israeli settlers. Although the judicial reform has not yet taken effect, it has already had an impact on the Israeli shekel. The planned reforms, in the opinion of businesspeople and economists, would jeopardize Israel’s investment interests in the occupied territories. According to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Netanyahu’s obsession with supposed reforms has brought the government to the “depths of a serious crisis,” with the threat of civil war looming.

The Supreme Court justified all crimes and atrocities committed against Palestinians, so this has nothing to do with them. This includes the ongoing expansion of settlements, which are illegal under international law yet are approved by the US.

According to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who also expressed “grave concern” about the proposal, the US supposedly opposes allowing Israel to establish Jewish settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank. This action came less than two weeks after he expressed the opposition of the United States to such measures during his visit to the region. According to the Tehran Times, it is probable that the Secretary of State covertly supported this type of conduct, despite his words of “condemnation” by Washington. As usual, there is a game going on here that is costing the Palestinians dearly.

Simultaneously, the United States continues to utilize its veto power in the UN Security Council to allow illegal Israeli settlements to thrive. Other than public words to calm the international community, Blinken has exhibited no significant resistance to settlement expansion. The hypocrisy of the Secretary of State is astounding: “We strongly oppose such unilateral measures, which exacerbate tensions and undermine the prospects for a negotiated two-state solution.” Ned Price, the spokesman for the US State Department, went even further in his euphemisms, asserting that Blinken had made it clear during his visit to the occupied territories that he opposed the legalization of settlements.

The increase of violence in the occupied West Bank is Israel’s second crisis. Punitive actions have intensified since young Palestinians started using armed resistance earlier this year, including numerous Israeli crimes against humanity.

Speaking before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk condemned the current actions of the Israeli authorities as “an incomprehensible declaration of incitement to violence and hostility.” According to this international organization, at least 65 Palestinian adults and children have been killed by Israeli Security Forces since the beginning of the year. “Settlements in the occupied territories must be stopped soon; the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is tragic. A catastrophe, first and foremost, for the Palestinian people,” both Türk and the entire world agree.

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