The State Department said it had confirmed “individual incidents of gross violations of human rights” against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank before the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October.
VT Condemns the ETHNIC CLEANSING OF PALESTINIANS by USA/Israel
$ 280 BILLION US TAXPAYER DOLLARS INVESTED since 1948 in US/Israeli Ethnic Cleansing and Occupation Operation; $ 150B direct “aid” and $ 130B in “Offense” contracts Source: Embassy of Israel, Washington, D.C. and US Department of State.
The US has found five Israeli units guilty of gross , the State Department said on Monday.
The State Department said it had confirmed “individual incidents of gross violations of human rights” against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank before the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October.
“After a careful process, we found five Israeli units responsible for individual incidents of gross violations of human rights. All of these were incidents much before October 7th and none took place in Gaza,” State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said Monday.
“Four of these units have effectively remediated these violations, which is what we expect partners to do… For a remaining unit, we continue to be in consultations and engagements with the government of Israel.”
Patel said the findings would not impact arms transfers.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken had signalled that a review of Israeli military units was underway.
Blinken said last week the State Department was conducting investigations under the Leahy law, which prohibits sending military aid to foreign security forces that violate human rights, adding : “I think it’s fair to say that you’ll see results very soon. I’ve made determinations. You can expect to see them in the days ahead.”
ABC News reported on Friday that the Biden administration had found at least three military units guilty of human rights violations but decided not to withhold military aid to the units because it believed Israel was addressing the findings.
The US has been investigating Netzah Yehuda, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish military battalion in the Israeli army, over human rights violations in the occupied West Bank.
A US State Department panel recommended months ago that Blinken blacklist a number of Israeli military and police units following a review into rights abuses against Palestinians, according to a report last week in ProPublica.
Not only has Israel failed to defeat Hamas, but it is being dragged into discussions on Palestinian statehood, which its Gaza genocide has put back onto the international agenda.
After seven months of a brutal military assault on Gaza, it is abundantly clear that Israel has not succeeded in eradicating Hamas. Instead of delivering a decisive military victory, the occupation state finds itself being drawn kicking and screaming into negotiations over a two-state solution.
Withstanding the impracticality of establishing a genuinely independent, sovereign Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip, this scenario is becoming increasingly likely despite long-standing opposition from the Israeli government. It is an extraordinary development, particularly as Tel Aviv’s strategy, as articulated by foreign policy advisor Ophir Falk, was mainly to “destroy Hamas” and its military and governance capabilities entirely.
Today, the two-state option is frantically being resuscitated in Washington, of all places, and by stalwart allies of Tel Aviv.
Martin Indyk, a former US ambassador to Israel and staunch supporter of the occupation state, argues in Foreign Affairs magazine that far from being “dead,” the two-state solution now looks to be the only reasonable game in town:
“The reason for this revival is not complicated. There are, after all, only a few possible alternatives to the two-state solution. There is Hamas’ solution, which is the destruction of Israel. There is the Israeli ultra-right’s solution, which is the Israeli annexation of the West Bank, the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority (PA), and the deportation of Palestinians to other countries. There is the ‘conflict management’ approach pursued for the last decade or so by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which aimed to maintain the status quo indefinitely – and the world has seen how that worked out. And there is the idea of a binational state in which Jews would become a minority, thus ending Israel’s status as a Jewish state. None of those alternatives would resolve the conflict – at least not without causing even greater calamities. And so if the conflict is to be resolved peacefully, the two-state solution is the only idea left standing.“
Disarmament for statehood?
In widely publicized comments last week, Khalil al-Hayya, deputy head of Hamas in Gaza, has appeared to endorse the 1967 borders for a future Palestinian state explicitly.
In a recent interview with AP, Hayya spoke of “a fully sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the return of Palestinian Authority (PA) in accordance with the international resolutions” along Israel’s pre-1967 borders.
Most significantly, though, he hinted that the resistance movement’s military wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, could potentially dissolve itself and/or fold its cadres into a Palestinian national army:
“All the experiences of people who fought against occupiers, when they became independent and obtained their rights and their state, what have these forces done? They have turned into political parties and their defending fighting forces have turned into the national army.“
Instead of embracing these possibilities, Falk dismissed Hayya as a “high-ranking terrorist” and sought to redirect the conversation back to intransigent Israeli demands:
“Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government set a mission to destroy Hamas’ military and governing capabilities in Gaza, free the hostages, and ensure that Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel and the rest of the civilized world in the future,” he said, adding, “Those goals will be achieved.”
Diplomacy in Doha and Istanbul
Although Hayya emphasized that his views are aligned with Hamas’ historical positions, as articulated by the resistance movement’s spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, in 1998 and reiterated in its 2017 charter of general principles and policies, his public statements highlight the immense political pressures faced by Hamas, notably from political allies Qatar and Turkiye.
These pressures aim to foster high-level international and regional talks that could potentially end the conflict and establish ‘permanent stability.’ As with any negotiation, there are essential questions to address: Who will have the authority to enforce these terms? What limitations will be imposed? These are critical issues for Palestinians besieged in Gaza and for their broader cause – as well as for Al-Qassam and the entire resistance.
Behind the scenes, both Qatar and Turkiye have been instrumental in shaping Hamas’ new diplomatic approach. The movement’s external leaders, including Khaled Meshal and Ismail Haniyeh, have participated in discussions facilitated by both countries in Doha and Istanbul.
Earlier this month, in a joint press conference with his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was explicitly supportive, also highlighting the west’s positive stance toward intensifying peace efforts based on the two-state solution.
“In our political talks with Hamas for years, they have accepted a Palestinian state to be established within the 1967 borders,” Fidan told reporters.
“They have told me that following the establishment of the Palestinian state, Hamas would no longer need an armed wing and they would continue as a political party,” he added.
The ball is in Israel’s court
Although Israel’s western allies have long sought to exclude Hamas from any and all Palestinian processes, it has become abundantly clear that Gaza’s military leadership, particularly Al-Qassam Brigades, is set to play a crucial role in any negotiation process.
This is an extraordinary victory of sorts for Hamas, which has successfully managed to insert itself into future deliberations, not only on Gaza but Palestine as a whole. The movement’s tactical decision to endorse the 1967 borders not only aims to position Hamas as a credible negotiator but also strategically corners the far-right coalition government of Benjamin Netanyahu.
By signaling willingness to demilitarize in exchange for statehood, Hamas aims to place the onus on Tel Aviv, toying with the inherent vulnerability of its coalition government and potentially precipitating its collapse. This move not only improves Hamas’ leverage in any forthcoming negotiations but, ironically, also aligns with the US interests in seeing regime change in Israel.
It is clear that Hamas has – whether out of conviction, under pressure, or as a wily tactic – become a necessary partner in broader and long-term political negotiations concerning the future of Palestine and the region.
Over the years, the movement has itself been compelled to engage in several rounds of indirect negotiations with Israel, most notably at the end of the first decade of the millennium when Hamas was still based in Damascus. That was part of a larger regional effort spurred by Ankara to rejuvenate the peace process.
Twenty-six years ago, Khaled Meshaal met with former US President Jimmy Carter in Damascus during the latter’s nine-day West Asia tour aimed at breaking the deadlock between Israel and Hamas early in their governance of Gaza.
The Palestinian resistance movement enjoyed considerable leeway for political maneuvering due to the geopolitical climate at the time. Carter reported that Hamas expressed willingness to accept a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders if agreed upon by the Palestinians and acknowledged Israel’s right to exist peacefully as a neighboring state.
Compelling Israel to do Hamas’ will
But today, Hamas’ renewed strength comes from two main factors: the relentless, unified military pushback by the region’s Axis of Resistance in support of their Palestinian allies and unprecedented global condemnation of Israel’s Gaza genocide – both sharply impacting and confounding Tel Aviv’s initial, over-confident war objectives.
Rather than defeating Hamas, Israel now finds itself on the back foot, engaging in negotiations that center around the one outcome it had least expected – that of a two-state solution.
Tel Aviv’s disturbing dilemma also showcases the political acumen of Hamas and the Palestinian resistance, who recognized the utility of hard power in achieving political ends rather than as an end in itself – in sharp contrast to Israel’s approach throughout this conflict.
The fact that, seven months after Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, Hamas retains its array of capabilities signifies not only the abject failure of Israel’s military and political objectives but also an unexpected humbling of Tel Aviv. Israel, today, is being forced into negotiations on Palestinian statehood that it has assiduously avoided for 30 long years.
This shift is undoubtedly energized by the unprecedented US student protest movement and other anti-colonial voices around the world, adding a global dimension to the local struggle. These developments are yet another ace in the hand for Hamas and another nail in the coffin for Israeli leverage.
The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of The Cradle.
Palestinian sources told Al Mayadeen that the meeting between Hamas and Fatah in China included talks about the importance of reaching a unified stance among Palestinian factions regarding the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Palestinian sources revealed to Al Mayadeen Tuesday the outcomes of the meeting held between the two Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, in the Chinese capital Beijing.
The sources confirmed that the two factions agreed on the importance of unifying the Palestinian position regarding the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza, emphasizing the importance of a ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces from the Strip.
In this context, the factions further agreed on “coordinating joint national efforts to deliver urgent aid and relief to the sector and to arrange with the relevant parties in Gaza,” and forming a joint bilateral committee in Cairo for coordination and follow-up.
According to the sources, the meeting emphasized coordinating positions and efforts in the West Bank and al-Quds to confront settler attacks on villages and towns, as well as Israeli occupation assaults on the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The outcomes of the meeting also stressed the priority of the detainees’ issue and the necessity to preserve their rights and support them during this difficult phase, where they are subjected to the worst forms of abuse and harm inside Israeli occupation prisons.
A unified Palestinian front was on the agenda
On another note, the sources reported from the meeting that Hamas and Fatah affirmed the necessity of unity and ending the division, “within the framework of the Palestine Liberation Organization by joining all Palestinian forces and factions within it and its institutions, based on previous agreements in this regard.”
The parties also highlighted the importance of forming a non-factional national unity government during or after the genocidal war, tasked with its technical and administrative duties in relief efforts, alleviating the effects of aggression, and rebuilding Gaza.
This government will also work on unifying Palestinian institutions and preparing for general elections, “to strip Israel and America of the pretext of division.”
The sources confirmed that the meeting included an agreement to strengthen Palestinian unity with the assistance of China, which “will contribute to ending the occupation and establishing the Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and al-Quds according to international resolutions.”
The sources informed Al Mayadeen that the outcomes of the meeting constitute the agenda for the next meeting in Beijing on June 14, 2024.
On their part, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that both sides “expressed political willingness to achieve reconciliation through dialogue,” adding that they reached an agreement on ideas for future dialogue, and “they will continue the dialogue to achieve Palestinian unity as soon as possible.”
The Ministry affirmed that Hamas and Fatah expressed their great appreciation for China’s support for the Palestinian people.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that Beijing hosted talks between Hamas and Fatah at its invitation to conduct “deep and frank dialogue to enhance Palestinian reconciliation.” Furthermore, the Ministry affirmed that Hamas and Fatah expressed deep appreciation for China’s support for the Palestinian people.
It also announced that Beijing hosted talks between Hamas and Fatah at its invitation to conduct a “deep and candid dialogue to enhance Palestinian reconciliation.”
Throughout history, fringe religious Zionist parties have had limited success in achieving the kind of electoral victories that would allow them an actual share in the country’s political decision-making.
The impressive 17 seats won by Israel’s extremist religious party, Shas, in the 1999 elections was a watershed moment in the history of these parties, whose ideological roots go back to Avraham Itzhak Kook and his son Zvi Yehuda Hacohen.
Israeli historian Ilan Pappé referred to the Kooks’ ideological influence as a “fusion of dogmatic messianism and violence.”
Throughout the years, these religious parties struggled on several fronts: their inability to unify their ranks, their failure to appeal to mainstream Israeli society and their inability to strike the balance between their messianic political discourse and the kind of language – not necessarily behavior – that Israel’s western allies expect.
Though much of the financial support and political backing of Israel’s extremists originate in the United States and, to a lesser extent, other European countries, Washington has been clear regarding its public perception of Israel’s religious extremists.
In 2004, the United States banned the Kach party, which could be seen as the modern manifestation of the Kooks and Israel’s early religious Zionist ideologues.
The founder of the group, Meir Kahane, was assassinated in November 1990 while the extremist rabbi – responsible for much violence against innocent Palestinians throughout the years – was giving another hate-filled speech in Manhattan.
Kahane’s death was only the start of much violence meted out by his followers, lead among them an American doctor, Baruch Goldstein, who gunned down on February 25, 1994, dozens of Palestinian Muslim worshippers at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron.
Prayer mats covered in blood in the aftermath of the massacre carried out by Jewish settler Baruch Goldstein, February 25, 1994. Photo Al-Khalil
The number of Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers while protesting the massacre was nearly as many as those killed by Goldstein earlier in the day, a tragic but perfect representation of the relationship between the Israeli state and the violent settlers who operate as part of a larger state agenda.
That massacre was a watershed moment in the history of religious Zionism. Instead of serving as an opportunity to marginalize their growing influence by the supposedly more liberal Zionists, they grew in power and, ultimately, political influence within the Israeli state.
Goldstein himself became a hero, whose grave, in Israel’s most extremist illegal settlement in the West Bank, Kiryat Arba, is now a famous shrine, a place of pilgrimage for thousands of Israelis.
It is particularly telling that Goldstein’s shrine was built opposite Meir Kahane’s Memorial Park, which indicates the clear ideological connections between these individuals, groups, and funders.
In recent years, however, the traditional role played by Israel’s religious Zionists began to shift, leading to the election of Itamar Ben-Gvir to the Israeli Knesset in 2021 and, ultimately, to his role as the country’s National Security Minister in December 2022.
Ben-Gvir is a follower of Kahane. “It seems to me that, ultimately, Rabbi Kahane was about love. Love for Israel without compromise, without any other consideration,” he said in November 2022.
But, unlike Kahane, Ben-Gvir was not satisfied with the role of religious Zionists as cheerleaders for the settlement movement, almost daily raids of Al-Aqsa and the occasional attacks on Palestinians. He wanted to be at the center of Israeli political power.
It is an interesting debate whether Ben-Gvir achieved his status as a direct result of the successful grassroots work of religious Zionism or because the political circumstances of Israel itself have changed in his favor. The truth, however, might be somewhere in the middle. Israel’s historic failure of its so-called political left—namely the Labor Party—has, in recent years, propelled a relatively unfamiliar phenomenon—the political center.
Meanwhile, Israel’s traditional right, the Likud party, grew weaker, partly because it failed to appeal to the growing, more youthful religious Zionism constituency and also because of the series of splits that occurred after Ariel Sharon’s breaking up of the party and the founding of Kadima in 2005 – a party that has been long disbanded.
To survive, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has redefined his party to its most extremist version of all time and, thus, began to attract religious Zionists with the hope of filling the gaps created because of internal infighting within the Likud.
By doing so, Netanyahu has granted religious Zionists the opportunity of a lifetime.
Soon, following the October 7 Al-Aqsa Flood operation, and in the early days of the Israeli genocide in Gaza, Ben-Gvir launched his National Guard, a group which he tried, but failed, to compose before the war.
Thanks to Ben-Gvir, Israel, now, per the words of opposition leader Yair, has become a country with a “private militia.”
By March 19, Ben-Gvir announced that 100,000 gun permits had been handed over to his supporters. It is within this period that the US began imposing ‘sanctions’ on a few individuals affiliated with Israel’s settler extremist movement, a slight slap on the wrist considering the massive damage that has already been done and the tremendous violence that is likely to follow in the coming months and years.
With a portrait of late Rabbi Meir Kahane on the wall, left, a Jewish settler walks inside a building taken from a Palestinian family in Hebron, Nov. 16, 2008. Dan Balilty | AP
Unlike Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir’s thinking is not limited to his desire to reach a specific position within the government. Israel’s religious extremists are seeking a fundamental and irreversible shift in Israeli politics.
The recent push to change the relationship between the judicial and exclusive branches of government was as crucial to those extremists as it was to Netanyahu himself. However, the latter has championed such an initiative to shield himself against legal accountability. Ben-Gvir’s supporters have a different reason in mind: they want to dominate the government and the military with no responsibility or oversight.
Israel’s religious Zionists are playing a long game, which is not linked to a particular election, individual or government coalition. They are redefining the state, along with its ideology. And they are winning.
Ben-Gvir and his threats to topple Netanyahu’s coalition government have been the main driving force behind the genocide in Gaza.
If Meir Kahane were still alive, he would have been proud of his followers. The ideology of the once marginalized and loathed extremist rabbi is now the backbone of Israeli politics.
The Palestinian Resistance factions have issued a powerful statement, declaring their readiness for any potential scenarios in the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip, including a ground invasion of Rafah, the southernmost city in the besieged territory.
In a joint statement released on Wednesday, the factions emphasized their determination to not stand idly by as they warned of the catastrophic and humanitarian consequences of an invasion of Rafah, where more than 1.4 million displaced Palestinians currently reside.
The factions held the US President Joe Biden’s administration and Western governments accountable for any potential Israeli aggression, stating that ongoing Western support to “Israel” despite its violation of international laws and conventions is unacceptable.
His entire family was wiped out in Rafah last night.
Meanwhile, the genocidal Zionist regime was celebrating the $26 billion of aid approved by the US Congress. Now, it can continue the slaughter of Gazan children with greater firepower.#GazaHolocaust#IsraeliNewNazismpic.twitter.com/Rh4ILpt2uY
In a call to action, the factions urged the Palestinian masses in the West Bank to rise up vehemently against the Israeli threats of invading Rafah, urging them to turn the West Bank into a fireball to combat Western and soldiers.
Additionally, the factions warned of a comprehensive escalation that could threaten regional security, especially Egyptian national security, should an invasion of Rafah take place, given its proximity to Egypt.
Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’ Political Bureau, denounced Washington’s deceptive stance and affirmed that the Palestinian people will not surrender if an invasion occurs, stating that the resistance is prepared to defend itself.
Palestinian al-Qassam Brigades spokesperson Abu Obeida hails the steadfastness of the Palestinian Resistance as it faces the Israeli occupation forces for the 200th day.
The Israeli occupation has proven impotent as it proved unsuccessful in making any advances in Gaza 200 days into its ruthless onslaught as it only commits massacres and destroys civilian infrastructure, al-Qassam Brigades spokesperson Abu Obeida said on Tuesday.
Today marks the 200th day of Israeli aggression on Gaza in the wake of Operation al-Aqsa Flood, an aggression that has thus far claimed the lives of more than 34,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands of others. However, no one is touting an Israeli victory, as their declared goal of destroying the Resistance is not only far from being achieved, but also continuously proving to be unattainable.
The spokesperson for Hamas’ armed wing underlined that the Israeli occupation continues to peddle the great lie that is its capacity to destroy all the Palestinian Resistance factions. “200 days later, and the Resistance is still unwavering. It will continue to deal blows to the occupation so long as its aggression continues and so long as it continues to exist on Palestinian land.”
“200 days later, the enemy is still stuck in the sands #Gaza with no goal, no horizon, and no retrieving of its captives,” Military spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Ubaida said in a televised speech.
“One of the lies of the enemy government is its attempt to make the… https://t.co/PPUOjWycgh
The Resistance’s operations, the spokesperson said, “Will take new forms and adapt with new, adequate tactics.”
As the war entered its seventh month, Abu Obeida stressed that the Israeli occupation “is still stuck in the mud in Gaza with no hope on the horizon, and it will reap nothing but shame and defeat.”
The Resistance fighters are expelling and will continue to expel “this enemy despite being covered in ashes, rising from beneath the rubble as the whole world bears witness to the might of the Resistance fighters, not just through action on the battlefield but their withdrawal from various directions.”
The Israeli occupation is still trying to restore its image that was tarnished on October 7, the spokesperson underlined. “They aim to link their victory to invading Rafah, and it tries to sell the lie that it defeated all Resistance factions except for the Rafah Battalion.”
Ron Arad scenario to repeat itself
Commenting on the ongoing negotiations and prisoner swap talks, Abu Obeida said the Israeli occupation was attempting to rid itself of the pledges it made during the talks as it aims to gain more time. However, he added, “The Palestinian Resistance will not surrender the pivotal rights of the Palestinian people, chief among which is the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces, the lifting of the blockade, and the return of the displaced.”
Abu Obeida, addressing Israeli settlers, underlined that the ball was in the court of the Israeli regime, “but the window of time is very narrow, and they have very limited opportunities.”
He recalled the story of Israeli pilot Ron Arad, who disappeared during a mission in the airspace of Lebanon in 1986, with no information being known about him since. “The Israeli captives in Gaza might be fortunate to meet the same fate as Ron Arad,” he said, warning the Israeli occupation against delaying the talks any further.
“The occupation’s policy of exerting military pressure will not push the Resistance but to adhere to its position and safeguard the rights of the people,” he said.
Iranian response set up new rules of engagement
Abu Obeida hailed Iran’s Operation True Promise carried out by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps in Iran in response to the occupation’s aggression against the Iranian consulate in Damascus and emphasized that this response “set new rules of engagement and disarrayed the occupation,” as the regime’s backers scrambled to defend it from thousands of miles away.
The al-Qassam Brigades spokesperson went on to praise every military and popular effort made toward Operation al-Aqsa Flood, especially the fronts of Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq.
Abu Obeida said the leading edge front of the Resistance was the West Bank front. He also hailed the people of Jordan and called on them to escalate and called on the people of the Arab and Islamic Worlds to also escalate in support of the Palestinian people and cause.
“The hysteric reaction to the Resistance’s military actions on the various fronts indicates the importance of the armed struggle in the face of the occupying powers,” he concluded by saying.
200 days of genocide
The Ministry of Health in Gaza confirmed Tuesday that the number of Palestinians killed as a result of the ongoing Israeli aggression since October 7 has risen to 34,183 and those injured to 77,143.
In its daily report, the Ministry said that the Israeli occupation forces have committed three massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, resulting in 32 martyrs and 59 injuries who were transferred to hospitals in the past 24 hours.
On its part, the Government Media Office in Gaza confirmed that the Israeli occupation forces have committed a total of 3,025 massacres against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and dropped 75,000 tonnes of explosives on the enclave.
In an update on the figures resulting from 200 days of “Israel’s” genocidal war on Gaza, the Office emphasized that out of the 34,183 martyrs who reached hospitals, 14,778 are children and 9,752 are women. It added that 30 children lost their lives due to famine, confirming that 72% of the victims of the Israeli war were children and women.
According to the report, the Israeli occupation forces killed 485 medical staff, 67 civil defense crews, and 140 journalists.
It said that 7,000 are still missing and 17,000 children are now orphaned, living without one or both parents.
Multi-front solidarity
The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon – Hezbollah confirmed Tuesday that it engaged the headquarters of two Israeli military units in southern occupied Palestine in response to the assassination of one of its fighters in a southern Lebanese town earlier.
In a statement, Hezbollah said its Resistance fighters launched a combined aerial attack using diversionary and suicide drones and engaged the headquarters of the Golani Brigade and the Egoz Unit 621 at Shraga barracks north of the occupied city of Akka, hitting its targets precisely.
Reuters highlighted that this was Hezbollah’s “deepest attack” into occupied Palestinian territory since the start of the Gaza war on October 7.
Israeli media had earlier reported sirens sounding in the Upper al-Jalil area over a drone infiltration and mentioned that interception missiles were launched toward a suspicious aerial target in the skies of Nahariya.
The media also pointed out that sirens sounded in numerous northern settlements reaching the city of Akka. It was also noted that sirens sounded in Kiryat for the first time since last December.
The Israeli Army Radio confirmed that 200,000 Israelis took shelter in the north after three drones were launched from Lebanon over Nahariya.
The Israeli occupation forces have withdrawn from Nur Shams camp in Tulkarm after committing a massacre against residents, resulting in fourteen martyrs due to Zionist military aggression lasting three days, causing significant infrastructure and property damage.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported the deaths of fourteen Palestinians shortly after the occupation completely withdrew.
The camp endured a severe security siege, with the occupation killing young men in their homes, arresting hundreds, and interrogating and detaining dozens, all while basic services like water, electricity, and communications were interrupted.
Hamas has called for a general strike to mourn the martyrs of Nur Shams camp, condemning the crimes committed by settler militias under the occupation government’s orders.
The resistance movement urged Palestinians in the West Bank to unite, show solidarity with targeted villages, defend them, and continue protecting villages and towns through popular committees.
In Al-Mughayyir, a Zionist settler was injured attempting to remove a booby-trapped Palestinian flag on town land.
This incident is reminiscent of a flag ambush in February 2018 by the Salah al-Din Brigades on the Gaza Strip’s northern border, where a booby-trapped flag led to the death and injury of occupation soldiers.
Several areas in the occupied West Bank experienced shootings and targeting of occupation forces and checkpoints amid ongoing raids and arrests. In Al-Khalil (Hebron), gunfire targeted an occupation army force near Beit Einun, with clashes reported before two Palestinians were martyred, one of whom opened fire at occupation soldiers and the other attempted a stabbing.
In Nablus, resistance fighters fired at the Huwwara checkpoint, while a homemade device targeted an occupation army vehicle in Burqa. Additionally, a settler’s vehicle was targeted near the Yitzhar settlement with a Molotov cocktail.
The Lions’ Den group reported numerous shooting operations in the occupied West Bank. They targeted occupation forces at the Salem and Dotan checkpoints near Jenin, with the Al-Quds Brigades in the Jenin Brigade stating their mujahideen successfully targeted the Al-Jalama checkpoint in response to the Nour Shams Al-Samoud camp’s events.
In Ramallah, settlers’ vehicles were targeted with stones near Azzun and the hotel east of Qalqilya, while gunfire targeted a military vehicle near Beit Sira.
The occupied West Bank also witnessed a large-scale campaign of raids and arrests, with cities like Dura, Beit Ummar, and Umm Lasfa in Hebron; Beit Sira and Kharbatha Bani Harith in Ramallah; Atara in Ramallah’s north; and Al-Irsal neighborhood in Al-Bireh affected.
In Nablus, the town of Duma saw several young men arrested, while a student at An-Najah University, Salah Al-Kharaz, was arrested in Nablus city. The occupation forces also stormed the town of Salem and the Khallet Al-Amoud neighborhood.
In Bethlehem, the freed prisoner Hamza Daoud Asakra was arrested, and Beit Sahour was stormed. Azzun and Al-Ram were also targeted, and all cities in the occupied West Bank are observing a comprehensive strike to mourn Gaza and Nour Shams camp’s martyrs, with calls for marches to contact points across the West Bank.
The Palestinian fighters in the Tulkarm refugee camp confronted Israeli occupation forces during a recent raid. Palestinian media reported that improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were set off by the Resistance fighters in response to the incursion.
Israeli military continues its raid into Nour Shams camp in Tulkarem, causing massive destruction and vandalism. pic.twitter.com/jGUKMLnmAn
The clashes escalated in the Al-Manshiyeh neighborhood of Nur Shams camp, where a powerful explosive device detonated near Israeli occupation military vehicles, resulting in injuries to two soldiers. The raid led to extensive destruction in the camp, with reports of Israeli bulldozers deliberately demolishing shops in the square.
As tensions rose, Israeli occupation forces also conducted arrests in other West Bank areas. Two Palestinian youths, Usaid Taha and Alaa Al-Tamouni, were taken from their homes in the Shweika suburb. In Duma and Al-Mughayyir, additional arrests and field investigations were carried out by the IOF.
Israeli occupation bulldozers are destroying infrastructure in the Nur Shams refugee camp, east of Tulkarem city.
For years, the Israeli occupation has employed collective punishment against Palestinians in the West Bank and other occupied territories, underscoring the apartheid… pic.twitter.com/iZyAbuz1I8
Meanwhile, in al-Khalil, Molotov cocktails and fireworks were used to target an Israeli occupation military tower at the entrance of the Al-Arroub refugee camp. The city of Dura also saw a raid, resulting in the arrest of a young man named Nadi Khalil al-Rajoub.
West Bank | Watch: The IOF brutally unleash a dog on Palestinian youth Osayd Taha as he was sleeping in his home in in Shwaika neighborhood in Tulkarm.
Meanwhile, in al-Khalil, Molotov cocktails and fireworks were used to target an Israeli occupation military tower at the entrance of the Al-Arroub refugee camp. The city of Dura also saw a raid, resulting in the arrest of a young man named Nadi Khalil al-Rajoub.
West Bank | Watch: The IOF brutally unleash a dog on Palestinian youth Osayd Taha as he was sleeping in his home in in Shwaika neighborhood in Tulkarm.
Amidst these events, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Day was observed on April 17th, with the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs releasing a fact sheet detailing the plight of Palestinians in Israeli prisons. Over 8,270 Palestinians, including women, children, and journalists, have been detained since October 7, with reports of torture and abuse emerging from the prisons.
The ongoing detention campaigns have sparked outrage and condemnation from Palestinian activists and human rights organizations, highlighting the need for justice and freedom for all those unjustly imprisoned by Israeli occupation forces.
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)
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.
IOF-backed Israeli settlers attacked several villages and towns in the occupied West Bank on Saturday and opened fire on Palestinians and their properties.
Among the villages targeted by the settlers were Duma, Baytin, Turmusaya, Atara, and Deir Dibwan east of the Ramallah and… pic.twitter.com/s8iawFvFyH
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.
Since Friday evening, Israeli settlers have been storming several towns of the occupied West Bank, vandalizing and setting houses and vehicles on fire and physically assaulting Palestinian civilians. pic.twitter.com/OMFa9ZwP0E
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 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.
The widening schism between Israel’s secular and ultra-Orthodox communities impacts not only the state’s military and economic wellbeing, but poses an existential threat to the stability of the entire Zionist project.
Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, known as the Haredim, is the fastest-growing segment of the country’s population. This demographic shift is occurring amid escalating tensions between secular right-wing and religious-nationalist factions in Israel, raising concerns about the stability of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s extremist coalition – particularly over contentious issues like Haredi military conscription.
Projected to constitute approximately 16 percent of the occupation state’s population by 2030, the Haredim’s burgeoning numbers have triggered a broader societal debate about Israel’s future direction. This includes the challenge of reconciling today’s Jewish ethno-religious identity politics with the original Israeli aspirations for a modern “liberal-democratic” state framework.
In 2018, the Israeli Knesset passed the controversial ’Nation-State’ law, which officially declared that only its Jewish citizens have the right to self-determination. This law was later cited by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International in their reports designating Israel as an apartheid regime.
In order to maintain the idea of a state built on Jewish supremacy, it has to be taken into consideration that Haredi Jews have a birth rate of 6.4, compared to the Jewish Israeli average of 2.5. This makes the ultra-Orthodox community an invaluable asset for Israelis seeking to maintain a demographic balance in which Jewish Israelis remain a clear majority – outside of the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Economic and military challenges
In other respects, however, Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community presents a number of liabilities for the state, including a significant drain on Israeli resources.
For example, the Haredim population growth has created housing crises for their communities. According to research published by Israel’s Kohelet Policy Forum, an unemployed Haredi father receives an average of four times the amount of government subsidies than a non-Haredi father.
The community’s unemployment rate is double the national average, with only 14 percent of Haredi students receiving a high-school certificate, compared to 83 percent in state and state-religious schools.
But today, arguably the most contentious aspect of the relationship between ultra-Orthodox Jews and the Israeli state is the former’s longstanding exemption from mandatory military service.
In the early years of the occupation state’s history, only a few hundred Yeshiva (Jewish religious school) students were granted this exemption.
However, in 1977, Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin extended the exemption to include the entire Haredi community, a move that has persistently divided public opinion, particularly as all other Jewish Israeli citizens are required to serve in the military.
The Haredim’s lack of contribution to the national economy and military, coupled with their extraordinary financial entitlements from the state’s coffers, has made them the “most hated people in Israel.”
Political influence and legal reforms
Despite the public’s animosity, the ultra-Orthodox are extremely important to Israel’s illegal settlement program and now occupy powerful, ‘kingmaker’ positions in both national and local government. According to the Israel Policy Forum, roughly one-third of all West Bank settlers are Haredi, with a similar number distributed throughout occupied east Jerusalem.
The illustrate the growing political clout of this community, the Haredi political faction, Shas, secured 11 seats in Israel’s Knesset in the 2022 national elections, becoming the third largest component of the government’s ruling coalition. Public unease was further exacerbated by the ultra-Orthodox parties’ success in Jerusalem’s City Council elections.
It was no surprise, then, that upon Netanyahu’s election victory, he launched a campaign of controversial legal reforms that critics charged would transform Israel’s secular model of governance into a theocratic one.
The Haredim’s mark on Israeli society can no longer be overlooked. The country’s fastest-growing population is now seeded throughout local and national governments, and thanks to Netanyahu’s uber-fragile coalition structure, it is today able to impact Israel’s every social, political, and military decision.
Conscription or exodus
But these matters are now coming to a head. In late March, the Israeli Supreme Court ordered that ultra-Orthodox Jews be provided government subsidies for religious studies and conscripted into the army.
The ruling came down after Netanyahu delayed a Knesset vote on a bill to renew the extension exempting ultra-Orthodox Jews from military conscription. Earlier, in March, Israel’s Chief Sephardic Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef had threatened that the Haredim would leave Israel altogether if forced into military service.
The Supreme Court order caused an uproar in the community, with Haredi members vowing to disregard the law and will “never serve in the army.”
Israeli military service has long been discouraged within the Haredim, to the point where its members have and can be de facto excommunicated and shunned by even their own families. In fact, Haredi Jews who have decided to break social norms and join the army have a specific combat battalion set up for them in the West Bank called Netzah Yehuda.
The Supreme Court decision, delivered less than 24 hours before the 1 April conscription exemption renewal deadline, effectively ended funding for 50,000 full-time Talmud students, prompting 18 senior Shas Rabbis to sign a letter condemning the move. The letter reads, “We will not be deterred from going to prison,” and claims that forced conscription is a conspiracy to reduce observance of ultra-Orthodox Judaism.
Israel’s massive economic toll from its ongoing war on Gaza, the Yemeni-imposed blockade on all Israel-linked shipping in several key regional waterways, and Lebanese Hezbollah’s daily military operations in the north have significantly strained Tel Aviv’s financial resources. In recent years, the cost of maintaining subsidies to ultra-Orthodox Yeshiva students alone has skyrocketed to 136 million dollars per annum, providing a strong argument for the Israeli opposition to end the funding.
The fate of Netanyahu’s government
The ongoing debate over Haredi conscription has reached a critical stage, posing potential risks to Netanyahu’s leadership and the stability of his rocky coalition. The wartime emergency government set in place since 7 October, includes opposition leaders like Benny Gantz of the National Unity Party, who challenge the prime minister every step of the way.
Gantz has delivered his own ultimatum: to exit the government if exemptions for the Haredim are passed. His threats come on the back of Netanyahu’s vacillating stances on whether he will enact or oppose the exemptions – illustrating just how carefully the prime minister is forced to tread domestic political lines in the midst of a regional war, and exemptions, and just how fragile his unity government remains.
The dilemma is further complicated by the potential implications for Israel’s settlement expansion and demographic strategy, ultimately impacting the survival of the “Jewish state.”
The schism threatening the state
This issue has also spilled into the growing schism between secular and religious Israeli factions. If the Haredim do not join the army – especially critical during wartime when those numbers are needed – it means that at least 40 percent of Israeli passport holders, including both ultra-Orthodox and 1948 Palestinians (who traditionally do not serve in the military), will be exempt from military service.
The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics’ 2021 survey reveals that 45 percent of Israel’s Jewish population identifies as secular or non-religious. This is a country very neatly divided in terms of religious Judaic observance.
This division is further evidenced by the public’s response to Netanyahu’s proposed legal reforms, with opposition fluctuating between 43 and 66 percent throughout 2023, depending on the polling data.
The Haredim’s political ascent today challenges the traditional Zionist vision of a secular Jewish ethno-state by introducing the complexity of accommodating a significant portion of the population that adheres to religious fundamentalism.
The Haredim’s aversion to integration in a modern capitalist economy – and their role within the framework of a state that aspires to be both Jewish and democratic – is profound. This raises essential questions about the practicality of Zionism as it confronts the realities of a diverse and evolving Israeli society.
Moreover, the juxtaposition of an increasingly religious Israeli government – against the backdrop of a population that includes nearly an equal number of Palestinians – highlights the inherent contradictions within the concept of a “Jewish democracy.”
As secular ultra-nationalists begin to challenge the religious right fronted by Netanyahu, this internal conflict will continue to shake Israel’s foundations. While the occupation state staggers under the pressures of a multi-front, regional war, the likes of which it has never encountered in its short history, it is the Haredim issue today that – internally – poses the biggest existential threat to the entirety of the Zionist project.
The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of The Cradle.
Support for the Palestinian cause, at an all-time high globally, is being actively suppressed by Jordanian authorities, under pressure to keep a lid on anti-Israel displays in the kingdom.
For the past fortnight, thousands of Jordanians have taken to the streets of Amman, besieging the Israeli embassy, condemning the Gaza genocide, demanding the Hashemite Kingdom sever all ties with Tel Aviv – and, in particular, tearing up the country’s 1994 peace treaty with Israel.
Jordanian security forces have met these protests with increasing severity, signaling the government’s unease with too much public criticism of Israel. Amidst the turmoil, Saudi Arabia – Jordan’s biggest Arab patron – watches warily, concerned that a surge in Palestinian solidarity might challenge its own regional dominance and sink all prospects of Riyadh’s normalization with Tel Aviv.
Banning ‘Palestine’
This includes banning Palestinian flags, keffiyehs, and banners from protests – a mirror of the restrictions imposed in several pro-US Arab states. Attendees are also subjected to invasive body searches and identification checks, and select individuals are barred from participating.
The crackdowns seem to change by the day – one day, protesters are seen with their keffiyehs, and the next, they are not. The same goes for Palestinian flags. At times, they are visible in the throngs; with the flip of a switch, protesters resort to flashing the flag only on their mobile phones.
The public demonstrations are mainly confined to the heavily barricaded courtyard of Kaluti Mosque, situated near Amman’s evacuated Israeli embassy, and restricted to a duration of only two hours.
During the month of Ramadan, protests commence at 10 PM, following the conclusion of mass Taraweeh prayers. As one protester relates to The Cradle:
Police insist it needs to be over by midnight, then break it off violently or through intimidation if people refuse to leave. Greater restrictions are a huge deterrent to attending, especially having to show your ID – people worry it’ll somehow be used against them later. Due to the barriers, some people often can’t even get in, and those who do can’t move. It’s meant to demoralize us, trapping us in a cage and preventing us from breaking out into the streets.
The banning of Palestine’s flag is an especially sensitive escalation by Jordanian authorities. A small majority of the Jordanian population is Palestinian by birth. They consist of refugees from Palestine and their descendants, as well as residents of the West Bank during the period of Amman’s administration from 1948 to 1967.
As there is no census in the country, the precise figure is unknown. This may be by design, in order to diminish Palestine’s societal and political influence in the British-created Hashemite Kingdom.
A symbolic struggle intensifies
In a hugely symbolic development, violence towards Palestine solidarity protesters in Amman reached its zenith on 30 March, Land Day, which commemorates a fateful date in 1976 when Zionist authorities first began formally confiscating Palestinian territory for settlement.
Six unarmed Palestinians – including three women – were murdered that day by Israeli occupation forces, with hundreds more injured during subsequent clashes. Ever since then, Jordanian officials have attempted to calm the situation and present themselves as committed anti-Zionists.
In their response to the past week of protests, authorities in Amman have tried to strike a quiet balance. Government Communications Minister Muhannad Mubaidin has claimed that condemning Israel is a core national ethos, affirming Amman’s solidarity with Palestine and the citizens’ right to protest despite “violations” committed by a minority of demonstrators.
Yet, as one anonymous Jordanian activist tells The Cradle, “many of us think this is just talk.” After all, many protesters arrested over the past two weeks remain in “administrative detention,” and formal restrictions on the protests have only ratcheted since 30 March.
The X account of the “Jordanian Youth Gathering for the Support of the Resistance” lists the names and photographs of 54 protesters they allege are currently being detained by Jordanian security forces. For supporting Palestine, they remain behind bars during the official Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
Jordan’s Palestinian identity crisis
In September 1970, in response to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) using Jordan as a highly effective staging ground for strikes upon the occupation state, Jordanian forces began attacking cities, including Amman, with a substantial fedayeen presence.
Commonly known as Black September, events that month spiraled into what was effectively a civil war, with Palestinians and Jordanians on both sides of the divide. Several protesters who spoke to The Cradle note the obvious parallels between then and now, with one saying banning symbols of Palestine solidarity “seems insane,” given the historical context of such actions in Amman.
Activists also say that accusations against Palestine solidarity protesters in Jordan of serving “foreign agendas” and being directed by overseas actors have reached unprecedented levels.
Although blaming the ‘Other’ is an age-old tactic of authorities to dispel dissent among populations, several activists tell The Cradle it has reached “shocking” and unprecedented levels this time round. The cast of characters who stand accused include the Muslim Brotherhood, Iran, Hamas, and even the west.
Despite these accusations, the protests have a genuine international component, fostering a spirit of unity among Palestine solidarity activists across West Asia, including Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Oman.
“People in Cairo were chanting against [Jordan’s King] Abdullah II a few days ago, while we chanted against [Egyptian President Abdel Fattah] al-Sisi. We call on each other to rise!” a Jordanian protester proudly tells The Cradle. Such scenes are absolute anathema to various governments within and outside West Asia.
Israel’s counterstrategy
This growing Arab solidarity with Palestine has not gone unnoticed by Israel, which is acutely aware of the horrendous reputational impact its Gaza genocide is having overseas. A leaked US State Department memo has revealed Tel Aviv is recruiting “influencers to help target social media users” in Europe and North America, and “Egypt, Jordan, and Gulf Arab countries” to highlight purported Hamas atrocities.
Accordingly, open-source investigation platform EekadFacts has exposed a number of X accounts, reportedly based in Jordan, posting relentless anti-Hamas messaging.
These cloak-and-dagger activities have done nothing to quell Palestine solidarity in any corner of the world and have thrown pro-US Arab allies, particularly Saudi Arabia, for a loop.
Riyadh’s role
As Lebanese daily Al-Akhbarforcefully noted on 4 April, Riyadh has “launched its press and electronic flies to defend the Hashemite throne” – ironic, given that in 2021, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) attempted to overthrow King Abdullah II and install his brother, Prince Hamzah, as regent. The coup plotters, it should be noted, remain on trial in Amman today.
A largely forgotten component of that failed putsch was Israel’s central involvement. As Al-Akhbar observed, Bin Salman is desperate to crush Palestine solidarity, for such activity interferes with his long-term “ambition to normalize relations with Israel, as a way to obtain American guarantees for the security and safety of the Saudi regime.”
This includes US acquiescence to the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Riyadh and US assistance in establishing nuclear infrastructure that includes a nuclear fuel circuit on Saudi territory – both longtime Saudi demands.
Riyadh and Tel Aviv were on the verge of normalizing relations when Operation Al-Aqsa Flood struck, followed by the brutal assault on Gaza.
Israel’s military blitzkrieg made normalization an untenable proposition. While initially, MbS suggested it was off the table, this was clearly an expedient fudge to uphold his claim that the kingdom “represents the heart of the Muslim world” and “senses the hopes and pains of Muslims everywhere, strives to achieve unity, cooperation and solidarity in our Muslim world.”
By January, he had reversed course, openly and repeatedly expressing “interest” in “recognition” of Tel Aviv – provided Israel agrees to advance the two-state solution and build a “renewed” Palestinian Authority that can, presumably, garner the support of actual Palestinians.
Concurrently, Riyadh has been meeting with representatives of Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, and UAE to hammer out a “joint plan” for Gaza, post-war. It would see the brutal, collaborationist, British-trained Palestinian Authority take over as the territory’s undisputed ruler, with Hamas frozen out of all official offices and agencies.
It is a proposition neither Palestinian freedom fighters nor Palestine solidarity activists the world over are likely to accept.
Early this Friday morning, a Palestinian young man identified as Saed Abu Alawi was shot dead by Israeli occupation forces after they raided the Nour Shams refugee camp, east of Tulkarm city in the occupied West Bank. Several others were detained during the raid.
According to Palestinian medical sources in Tulkarm, 31-year-old Palestinian Sa'id Abu 'Aliwwah was shot twice in the head by Israeli snipers while filming the Israeli raid from his rooftop in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. The raid occurred this morning. pic.twitter.com/CkKFQmbTjS
Reports indicate that Abu Alawi was shot by an Israeli sniper in the chin and neck while on the rooftop of his home, leaving behind a wife and an unborn child.
The raid was reportedly conducted by undercover Israeli occupation police officers in the nearby town of Tulkarm to apprehend three wanted Palestinians. However, the incursion led to intense confrontations with Palestinian resistance fighters, including the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades – Rapid Response Group, who successfully repelled the Israeli occupation forces using live ammunition and explosives.
As the Israeli occupation military faced heavy Resistance fire, they were forced to retreat from the camp. In a simultaneous raid on the Jenin refugee camp, at least two Palestinians were injured, with one in critical condition. The violence sparked confrontations in the town of Kafr Rai, where additional arrests were made.
Israeli occupation forces raid Kafr al-Labad village, east of occupied Tulkarm city. pic.twitter.com/Olhl4j7UBU
Furthermore, Israeli occupation forces assaulted worshippers at the al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied al-Quds, firing tear gas canisters and detaining several individuals.
Israeli occupation forces assault worshipers en route to the Al-Aqsa Mosque for Friday prayers, arresting some of them at the gates in occupied Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/Rmxr7QhSxO
The brutal crackdown on Palestinians continues, with over 457 killed and 8,030 detained since the start of the Gaza genocide.
West Bank | The Israeli occupation forces deployed drones to fire tear gas bombs at worshippers on the grounds of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem pic.twitter.com/K453krz7qN
The genocide in Gaza is the final stage of a process begun by Israel decades ago. Anyone who did not see this coming blinded themselves to the character and ultimate goals of the apartheid state.
There are no surprises in Gaza. Every horrifying act of Israel’s genocide has been telegraphed in advance. It has been for decades. The dispossession of Palestinians of their land is the beating heart of Israel’s settler colonial project. This dispossession has had dramatic historical moments — 1948 and 1967 — when huge parts of historic Palestine were seized and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were ethnically cleansed. Dispossession has also occurred in increments — the slow-motion theft of land and steady ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
The incursion on Oct. 7 into Israel by Hamas and other resistance groups, which left 1,154 Israelis, tourists and migrant workers dead and saw about 240 people taken hostage, gave Israel the pretext for what it has long craved — the total erasure of Palestinians.
Israel has razed 77 percent of healthcare facilities in Gaza, 68 percent of telecommunication infrastructure, nearly all municipal and governmental buildings, commercial, industrial and agricultural centers, almost half of all roads, over 60 percent of Gaza’s 439,000 homes, 68 percent of residential buildings — the bombing of the Al-Taj tower in Gaza City on Oct. 25, killed 101 people, including 44 children and 37 women, and injured hundreds — and obliterated refugee camps. The attack on the Jabalia refugee camp on Oct. 25 killed at least 126 civilians, including 69 children, and injured 280. Israel has damaged or destroyed Gaza’s universities, all of which are now closed, and 60 percent of other educational facilities, including 13 libraries. It has also destroyed at least 195 heritage sites, including 208 mosques, churches, and Gaza’s Central Archives that held 150 years of historical records and documents.
Israel’s warplanes, missiles, drones, tanks, artillery shells and naval guns daily pulverize Gaza — which is only 20 miles long and five miles wide — in a scorched earth campaign unlike anything seen since the war in Vietnam. It has dropped 25,000 tons of explosives — equivalent to two nuclear bombs — on Gaza, many targets selected by Artificial Intelligence. It drops unguided munitions (“dumb bombs”) and 2000-pound “bunker buster” bombs on refugee camps and densely packed urban centers as well as the so-called “safe zones” — 42 percent of Palestinians killed have been in these “safe zones” where they were instructed by Israel to flee. Over 1.7 million Palestinians have been displaced from their homes, forced to find refuge in overcrowded UNRWA shelters, hospital corridors and courtyards, schools, tents or the open air in south Gaza, often living next to fetid pools of raw sewage.
Israel has killed at least 32,705 Palestinians in Gaza, including 13,000 children and 9,000 women. This means Israel is slaughtering as many as 187 people a day including 75 children. It has killed 136 journalists, many, if not most of them deliberately targeted. It has killed 340 doctors, nurses and other health workers — four percent of Gaza’s healthcare personnel. These numbers do not begin to reflect the actual death toll since only those dead registered in morgues and hospitals, most of which no longer function, are counted. The death toll, when those who are missing are counted, is well over 40,000.
Doctors are forced to amputate limbs without anesthetic. Those with severe medical conditions — cancer, diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease — have died from lack of treatment or will die soon. Over a hundred women give birth every day, with little to no medical care. Miscarriages are up by 300 percent. Over 90 percent of the Palestinians in Gaza suffer from severe food insecurity with people eating animal feed and grass. Children are dying of starvation. Palestinian writers, academics, scientists and their family members have been tracked and assassinated. Over 75,000 Palestinians have been wounded, many of whom will be crippled for life.
“Seventy percent of recorded deaths have consistently been women and children,” writes Francesca Albanese, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, in her report issued on March 25. “Israel failed to prove that the remaining 30 percent, i.e. adult males, were active Hamas combatants — a necessary condition for them to be lawfully targeted. By early-December, Israel’s security advisors claimed the killing of ‘7,000 terrorists’ in a stage of the campaign when less than 5,000 adult males in total had been identified among the casualties, thus implying that all adult males killed were ‘terrorists.’”
Israel plays linguistic tricks to deny anyone in Gaza the status of civilians and any building – including mosques, hospitals and schools – protected status. Palestinians are all branded as responsible for the attack on Oct. 7 or written off as human shields for Hamas. All structures are considered legitimate targets by Israel because they are allegedly Hamas command centers or said to harbor Hamas fighters.
These accusations, Albanese writes, are a “pretext” used to justify “the killing of civilians under a cloak of purported legality, whose all-enveloping pervasiveness admits only of genocidal intent.”
In scale we have not seen an assault on the Palestinians of this magnitude, but all these measures – the killing of civlians, dispossession of land, arbitrary detention, torture, disappearances, closures imposed on Palestinians towns and villages, house demolitions, revoking residence permits, deportation, destruction of the infrastructure that maintains civil society, military occupation, dehumanizing language, theft of natural resources, especially aquifers — have long defined Israel’s campaign to eradicate Palestinians.
The occupation and genocide would not be possible without the U.S. which gives Israel $3.8 billion in annual military assistance and is now sending another $2.5 billion in bombs, including 1,800 MK84 2,000-pound bombs, 500 MK82 500-pound bombs and fighter jets to Israel. This, too, is our genocide.
The genocide in Gaza is the culmination of a process. It is not an act. The genocide is the predictable denouement of Israel’s settler colonial project. It is coded within the DNA of the Israeli apartheid state. It is where Israel had to end up.
Zionist leaders are open about their goals.
Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, after Oct. 7, announced that Gaza would receive “no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel.” Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Katz said: “Humanitarian aid to Gaza? No electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened.” Avi Dichter, the Minister of Agriculture, referred to Israel’s military assault as “the Gaza Nakba,” referencing the Nakba, or “catastrophe”, which between 1947 and 1949, drove 750,000 Palestinians from their land and saw thousands massacred by Zionist militias. Likud member of the Israeli Knesset Revital Gottlieb posted on her social media account: “Bring down buildings!! Bomb without distinction!!…Flatten Gaza. Without mercy! This time, there is no room for mercy!” Not to be outdone, Minister of Heritage Amichai Eliyahu supported using nuclear weapons on Gaza as “one of the possibilities.”
The message from the Israeli leadership is unequivocal. Annihilate the Palestinians the same way we annihilated Native Americans, the Australians annihilated the First Nations peoples, the Germans annihilated the Herero in Namibia, the Turks annihilated Armenians and the Nazis annihilated the Jews.
The specifics are different. The process is the same.
We cannot plead ignorance. We know what happened to the Palestinians. We know what is happening to the Palestinians. We know what will happen to the Palestinians.
But it is easier to pretend. Pretend Israel will allow in humanitarian aid. Pretend there will be a ceasefire. Pretend Palestinians will return to their destroyed homes in Gaza. Pretend Gaza will be rebuilt. Pretend the Palestinian Authority will administer Gaza. Pretend there will be a two-state solution. Pretend there is no genocide.
The genocide, which the U.S. is funding and sustaining with weapons shipments, says something not only about Israel, but about us, about Western civilization, about who we are as a people, where we came from and what defines us. It says that all our vaunted morality and respect for human rights is a lie. It says that people of color, especially when they are poor and vulnerable, do not count. It says their hopes, dreams, dignity and aspirations for freedom are worthless. It says we will ensure global domination through racialized violence.
This lie — that Western civilization is predicated on “values” such as respect for human rights and the rule of law — is one the Palestinians, and all those in the Global South, as well as Native Americans and Black and Brown Americans have known for centuries. But, with the Gaza genocide live streamed, this lie is impossible to sustain.
We do not halt Israel’s genocide because we are Israel, infected with white supremacy and intoxicated by our domination of the globe’s wealth and the power to obliterate others with our industrial weapons. Remember The New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman telling Charlie Rose on the eve of the war in Iraq that American soldiers should go house to house from Basra to Baghdad and say to Iraqis “suck on this?” That is the real credo of the U.S. empire.
The world outside of the industrialized fortresses in the Global North is acutely aware that the fate of the Palestinians is their fate. As climate change imperils survival, as resources become scarce, as migration becomes an imperative for millions, as agricultural yields decline, as costal areas are flooded, as droughts and wild fires proliferate, as states fail, as armed resistance movements rise to battle their oppressors along with their proxies, genocide will not be an anomaly. It will be the norm. The earth’s vulnerable and poor, those Frantz Fanon called “the wretched of the earth,” will be the next Palestinians.
(Republished from Scheerpost by permission of author or representative)
Over and above industrial-scale mass murder of individual people—Israel is engaged in the eradication of Gazans as a People~ilana
Inarguably, to condemn Israel’s industrial-scale campaign of slaughter and starvation in Gaza ought to be ethically straightforward. Basic really.
That Israel is committing the “the crime of all crimes” against the Palestinians of Gaza is not within the realm of opinion.
That the Global North is standing stock-still in the face of this meticulously documented holocaust is not in dispute.
That the United States is an active participant in war crimes, funding and arming Israel in contravention of international humanitarian law , a plethora of US laws (having, without attached conditions, delivered more than 100 arms shipments to Israel since October 7), and the natural justice, articulated by Cicero as early as 106-43 B.C: these are all fact.
That America has provided the Jewish State with diplomatic cover—running interference for it, so that it may continue to its evil ends—until recently vetoing three (albeit symbolic) international attempts to stop Israel: this, too, is immutably true.
Right and wrong are universal, not relative. The Sixth Commandment is not opinion, but a species of the inviolable natural law. Neither is it optional. “Thou shalt not murder” is called a commandment for a reason. There are no tribal privilege clauses attached to it. Like gentiles, Jews are enjoined against murder, to say nothing of mass murder.
Yet Israelis now flout the Sixth Commandment with ugly audacity. They appear to believe that their sectarian supremacy transcends the universal moral order to which international law, the natural law and the Decalogue give expression.
With its actions, so “conspicuous and outrageous,” Israel has “knocked the cosmos out of kilter” (a lovely line by novelist Kathryn Harrison). Such is the moral turpitude of the Israel Über Alles crowd—Jewish and gentile, stateside and abroad—that they appear incapable of distinguishing evidence from assertion, and facts from feel-good fiction; they can’t tell right from wrong. By necessity, then, any preface to an essay about Israel’s manifestly intentional annihilation of the Gaza Strip must turn into a primer in ethics.
Clearly, if Israeli society is sick; then so are its cobelligerent backers and boosters.
AMERICA’S CEASEFIRE DECEPTION
America has conditioned the inalienable right to life of Palestinians on the return of Israeli hostages, in effect nullifying that right ~ilana
For throwing-up clouds of obfuscating sepia over its abstention vote on the United Nations Security Council’s ceasefire resolution, March 25, the Biden Administration and its UN representative must be exposed.
“Ceasefire” in previous U.S. drafts amounted to Orwellian News Speak. Having never once called for an immediate, unconditional ceasefire, the U.S. had perfunctorily predicated temporary ceasefireresolutions on the return of Israeli hostages.
Whereas it was obligated morally to compel Israel to forthwith cease and desist its systematic and sustained onslaught on Gaza’s civilians; the US had opted, until March 25, to merely condition the temporary cessation of immoral and illegal mass murder of innocent Palestinians on the release of Israeli hostages, in effect tethering a “ceasefire” to the return of the Israeli hostages.
Against the wishes of citizens of our country and the world, America has deployed its veto power, repeatedly and reliably, in previous United Nations Security Council votes, so as to prevent an immediate, unconditional cease-fire in Gaza.
By so doing, America had conditioned the inalienable right to life of Palestinians on the return of Israeli hostages, in effect nullifying that inalienable right.
Recognizing that the right to life of innocent men, women and children is unconditional; Security Council member states, aside the United States and its protégé Israel, had refused to tether the fate of Gaza to hostage negotiations.
With pellucid logic, Amar Bendjama, Algeria’s ambassador to the U.N and the Arab bloc’s current Security Council member, had stated, February 20, 2024, that, “A vote in favor of [an unconditional ceasefire] is a support to the Palestinians’ right to life.” With its prior veto es and current abstention, the US had nullified Palestinian right to life independent of the rights of Israeli hostages to the same.
You can say that Gaza’s innocent civilians are being held hostage by Israel enablers Blinken, Biden and Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
The general run of people around the world, however, are having none of this. We have been chanting “ceasefire” with catechetical promptness. The West’s “smart” set is belatedly getting the message that their constituents, decent citizens, are revolted by Israel’s acts and are in-revolt against supporting it.
In response, and oh-so cynically, all Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield did on March 25 was to abstain from using American veto power to stop the good guys—China, Russia, Algeria and the rest of the 15-member UN Security Council—from demanding an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza. That’s all.
Expect the Biden Administration and its bi-partisan backers to keep gently cajoling brief lulls—conditional breaks—in the IDF’s bloodletting of a helpless, cornered civilian population.
For moral compass scrambled; it’s hard to beat former ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley. In this protracted foreign-policy mirage, Blinken, Biden, Thomas-Greenfield and their political posse do Nikki Haley, a Republican, proud, for Trump’s appointee to the UN would have done nothing different.
CEASE AND DESIST! WHERE’S THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT?
A violent offender, a serial killer, must be stopped; not cautioned and observed! ~ilana
IDF soldiers vaporize young men picking their way through rubble as though in a video game; they mock their victims, invade their homes; filch from their businesses, and rummage through the piteous intimate effects of people dead and dispossessed ~ilana
In the world of patronage, it doesn’t get much worse. The United States is at Israel’s elbow—it is a cobelligerent: In actively sustaining Israel’s armed forces, and running diplomatic interference for its politicians; America is acting as Israel’s “principal sponsor,” complicit in war crimes, signaling to the Jewish State that it will let it continue to its evil endgame.
As I ventured in January, the issuance of the equivalent of a legal cease-and-desist or a restraining order against a violent offender, Israel, is urgent and long overdue. It’s already too late for Gaza as a habitable landmass.
While progressives lauded the International Court of Justice (ICJ), my perspective about the Court’s indecision, some months back, was dimmer. (Disgust, actually.) Unfocused as I was on legalistic definitions of genocide; it was obvious to me that, what was indubitably mass murder and ethnic cleansing—crimes that are in process and ongoing—had to be stopped right away. A violent offender, a serial killer, must be stopped; not cautioned and observed!
Were the International Court of Justice an effective and just organization it would have issued some sort of binding cease and desist order, some manner of restraining order, if you will, instructing the Israel Defense Forces, the Devil’s emissaries on earth, to stop its depredations.
Another international tribunal, the International Criminal Court (ICC), had “issued, in March of 2023, warrants of arrest, no less “for two individuals in the context of the situation in Ukraine,” one of whom was Mr. Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, president of the Russian Federation, who was being sought for war crimes.
With respect to Israel, the inept International Court of Justice appears compromised.
For in a just society, the moral strictures that apply to the individual must also extend to the collective. Immoral acts that are forbidden severally cannot be sanctioned collectively. If the citizen must not murder; neither should The State, any state.
UN SECURITY COUNCIL CEASEFIRE IS BINDING
A Security Council resolution not defanged by the US could have included a call for diplomatic, military, political, and economic sanctions, the freezing of Israeli assets, the deployment of a protection force, and the establishment of a tribunal for future prosecution ~ilana
In its uncontested superiority, the United States has asserted, moreover, that the UN ceasefire resolution is “non-binding.” “Completely false,” fumes international law expert Graig Mokhiber, in an interview, March 26, with Amy Goodman of “Democracy Now!” And I paraphrase Mr. Mokhiber:
It is black-letter law in the U.N. Charter that all members of the United Nations are bound to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council. The Charter, in Article 25, and in subsequent decisions of the International Court of Justice, has made it indisputable that Security Council resolutions are binding for all member states.
Not only is the last ceasefire resolution binding, but it opens up an opportunity, given that Israel is in breach of it, to table a resolution for enforcement under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, which “empowers the Security Council to orchestrate … collective actions … through a Military Staff Committee.”
A Security Council resolution not defanged by the United States could include a call for corporeal action: diplomatic, military, political, and economic sanctions, the freezing of Israeli assets, the deployment of a protection force, and the establishment of a tribunal for future prosecution.
If left to the rudderless Europeans and Americans—they’ve done not a thing to stop what Ron Unz has termed the first televised mass murder in history—it is for a heavenly tribunal that we will be waiting.
Scars will knit, but the dead don’t rise, and spry young limbs won’t grow back. More than ten children lose their legs daily by the IDF. Spare a thought for the lot of these children hobbled for life, for the US and world leaders have not.
Again, these judicial and political knaves and curs (with apologies to the canine community) could have cut off the supply of munitions to the culprits. (Some have. God bless Canada for placing an embargo on the export of kayaks and maple syrup to Israel.) Without Americans (you and me, the taxpayers); Israel would not last a day in its brave battle against mothers and their babies. We could hobble Israel’s offensive by the imposition of sanctions and boycotts, by freezing Israeli assets worldwide, as was done to Russians. Arrest warrants could have been issued, as the International Criminal Court had for Russians.
In essence, stop murdering and maiming Palestinians, no conditions attached.
ANNIHILATION, NOT WAR
Israel’s war is not a war by any known definition ~ilana
A ceasefire is called upon in war. This is not a war.
Ceasefire is defined as “an agreement, usually between two armies, to stop fighting in order to allow discussions about peace.” Israel’s onslaught on Gaza is not a war by any definition. These are not two armies arrayed one against the other. This is no war between opposing warrior forces. There is no parity here.
If combat veteran Alan Shebaro, U.S. Special Forces, fails to convince you with his experience, I will follow with fact, law and reason. Listen to Shebaro tell it to a Texas City Council in McKinney:
“I know war. What is going on in Palestine right now is not a war. It is the dehumanization, it’s the genocide, it’s the ethnic cleansing of a specific people to take their land. This is wrong … I’ve seen horrible things, but this [Gaza] takes it to an entirely new level.”
Does any military man half-decent swallow the lie that, in its orgiastic annihilation of Gaza, Israel is fighting another army fair and square?!
Also a misnomer is the phrase “military operation.” It mocks out of meaning any linguistic convention that attaches words to the things they signify.
Valor was thus lost, not stolen, when, on October 24, 2023, Colonel Jack Jacobs, a retired US Army veteran—and a man who valiantly spoke up against the invasion of Iraq (ditto)—noodled on about Israel’s “expanding ground operations.” Once a principled voice, Colonel Jacobs lost respectability, right there, for there is no military operation an upstanding military man can get behind in Gaza, where easily 80 percent of the casualties are innocent civilians.
Hip to this last fact is U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. In a quickly retracted statement, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Congress, on February 19, “that more than 25,000 women and children had been killed by Israel in Gaza since October 7.”
The Pentagon later “clarified” that estimate, insisting that, because the figure came from the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, not U.S. intelligence; it was unreliable. During that February congressional hearing, Austin had been asked how many Palestinian women and children had been killed by Israel. “It is over 25,000,” he had reflexively blurted out: This, according to the Pentagon, was but a monetary lapse of reason.
“As they were turning Gaza into Dresden on TV, before our very eyes, Israel’s quicksilver state propagandists were also telling us, their American funders, that ‘this is not happening. …Who are you going to believe? Democratic Israel, or your ‘lying eyes’?’ I believe my ‘lying eyes,’ thank you very much. Those ‘lying eyes’ speak to the scale of Israel’s depredations against Gazans. … [And the numbers of dead, injured and displaced] are deemed ‘broadly reliable,’ by all reputable humanitarian, aid-rendering organizations worldwide, backed as they are by the science of satellite and radar.”
Let us indulge Secretary Austin’s already out-of-date estimate, in order to establish here that Israel’s “operation” is not a military operation behind which any military man worth his salt can stand:
Assume that 25,000 is the number of women and children murdered by Israelis, although it is more, not less, considering that thousands are buried beneath the rubble and more souls are being assassinated as we speak: To wit, in the 24 hours following the Security Councils’ vote, 76 Palestinians were murdered in Gaza.
IF 30,000 is the total—men and women, combatants and civilians—murdered heretofore; then women and childrenmake up 83.3 percent of this total. (25,000/30,000) *100
IF 32,000 is the total number of souls slain to date; then the percentage of women and children is 78.1. (25,000/32,000) *100
IF a total of 33,000 human beings were slaughtered; then the percentage of women and children among them is 75.5. (25,000/33,000) *100
And if the number killed rises to 35,000, as it has, and the number of women and children assassinated is, by some miracle, held constant—their percentage would still constitute (25000/35000) *100= 71.4.
Israel’s war is not a war by any definition.
Unctuous UN ultimatums notwithstanding, as of March 21, Netanyahu had vowed to continue his evil clown’s campaign—so “handsomely equipped to fail” I observed in November—executed by a corrupt, clownishly inept and consistently depraved army.
Why, then, are Israel’s 2023-2024 actions in Gaza genocidal?
WHY GENOCIDE
Four conditions of genocide fulfilled; not one law of war heeded: In the course of its genocidal campaign; Israel has violated every law of war codified in Customary International Humanitarian Law ~ilana
How do you compensate a people whose society you’ve cannibalized? ~ilana
“If you know in advance that your actions will cause the deaths of thousands-upon-thousands of civilians; attached to your criminal actions (actus reus) is a guilty mind (mens rea), which means malice aforethought, also known as intent, in Western jurisprudence and judicial philosophy.”
“The razing and ethnic cleansing of Gaza by Benjmain Netanyahu, abetted by Joe Biden and his Uniparty accomplices, in the course of which tens of thousands civilians are dying: This is murder with malice aforethought, a concept that includes ‘deaths resulting from actions that display a depraved indifference to life.‘ Further depraved indifference to life was Israel’s throttling of supplies of water, food and power to the millions of aid-dependent Gazans, as Israel knew full-well this would imperil civilians indirectly.”
More than industrial-scale mass murder of individual people—Israel is engaged in the eradication of Gazans as a People.
Objectively speaking, what Israel has visited on Gazans and their little enclave is not self-defense; but irreparable, wanton mass murder, a “blitzkrieg, by any other name,” combined with ethnic cleansing, and an orchestrated program of starvation against helpless civilians, who are still being indiscriminately and daily bombed, buried—alive and dead—evicted for life.
So says an international law consortium out of a Middlesex University London. So say countless reputable human rights organizations, who have submitted amicus briefs in American courts to enjoin President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Austin from providing weapons and other forms of support for Israel’s Total War on Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Hoping to skirt jurisdictional limitations, “the U.S.-based Center for Constitutional Rights” has been joined by “an esteemed array of individuals and organizations from around the world, including 139 NGOs.”
Evidence of Israel’s trespass is everywhere.
As I write, raids on the Al Shifa hospital, begun on March 19, continue apace. As of March 22, Israel’sfourth raid on what remains of this hospital was in progress. Over 140 doctors, patients, journalists and other refugees had been summarily executed, reports the indefatigable Amy Goodman of “Democracy Now!” Thousands of refugees crammed into the hospital are currently being turned out, evicted.
All to “thwart terrorism.” Its missionary pursuit of murder in hospitals; Israel blankets with tidy lies.
Israel’s Hamas-made-me-do-it religious doctrine—this concealing of the truth for the faith—insults the intelligence. To listen to the Taqiyyah practiced by these Uncle Sam-sponsored Svengalis; “they are all terrorists.” Or “terrorist accomplices.” “Israel has effectively characterized the whole population in Gaza as human shields or terrorist accomplices as a matter of legal policy,” observed Francesca Albanese, speaking at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, where she presented her report, “Anatomy of a Genocide.” Ms. Albanese is a scholar, and a UN special rapporteur on the human-rights dispensation in the West Bank and Gaza. On March 27, she issued her report which found “reasonable grounds” to conclude that Israel is culpable of genocide in Gaza.
Gamely repeating Israel’s mantras; Matthew Miller, spokesperson for the United States Department of State, labeled and libeled Ms. Albanese as an “antisemite.” Yes, terrorism. Also, antisemitism if you disagree with Israel, or dare to disbelieve a country’s whose coin of the realm has become state terror.
On March 8, International Women’s Day, the United Nations detailed the warp and woof of survival as a woman in Gaza. At that time, 9000 Palestinian women had been slaughtered by the IDF; 63 women were being slain daily by the same force, including 37 mothers, each and every day.
While the women’s guerrilla movement, stateside, is galvanizing to go to the polls to ensure their right to evict fetuses from their wombs; Gaza’s women are fighting to keep their fully formed babies alive, fed, safe from unguided bunker-buster bombs lobbed by Israel, and provided by America.
Again: Around 80 percent of Gazans have been driven from their homes. More than 70 percent of structures in the Gaza Strip were reported demolished or damaged, three months ago by the Wall Street Journal. More current satellite radar is available, courtesy of researchers like Jamon Van Den Hoek. His March 13 mapped destruction via satellite reads thus:
IN North Gaza, 69.7 percent of buildings have been destroyed or damaged.
IN Gaza City, it’s 73.7 percent.
IN Deir El-Balah, it’s 54.1 percent.
IN Rafah, an Israeli “work” in progress, 29.5 percent of buildings have been destroyed or damaged.
Gazans have no residences or industries—no life-sustaining infrastructure—to return to upon the implementation of a permanent ceasefire. Gone are their homes, places of work and worship—businesses, agriculture, fisheries, food-production industries and the arable land attached. Gone are the roads, power plants, sanitation and drainage-works, water wells and wastewater treatment plants conduits of electricity, potable water, shelter and food distribution.
Mosques, churches and schools (primary, secondary, tertiary) have been vaporized. Most hospitals, too. Dr. Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian academic, clinician, and longtime volunteer in the occupied territories, speaks to “never-before-seen viciousness; sadism beyond evil.” Gaza had a network of European-style, teaching hospitals, where evidence-based medicine was practiced. Out of over 30 such hospitals, about four remain in tatters. Hundreds of the Strip’s top healthcare providers, who served heroically until hit, have been murdered, often while ministering to patients. The Palestinians of Gaza are now perishing from sepsis, curable and treatable diseases, starvation and dehydration, overseen by Israel. (According to Gisha, which means access.)
Lost with Gaza’s infrastructure is the very fabric of a society—immeasurable human capital—including indissoluble, extended-family networks, the kind of generational bonds we in the West can only dream of, whittled down and depleted in numbers and in their native energy. A people’s cemeteries and archived history have been decimated, their antiquities and artifacts bulldozed and pillaged; their universities flattened; their artists and intellectuals hunted from house to house and extinguished.
Broken, Tariq Haddad, MD, an American cardiologist, told of 100 members of his extended family eliminated. Images of beautiful people, in the full flowering of their vitality (most were highly educated) flashed across the “Democracy Now!” broadcast’s screen. In February, Dr. Nasser Abu-El-Noor, dean of the Faculty of Nursing at the Islamic University of Gaza, along with seven members of his family, sheltering in their home, were murdered. Dr. Medhat Saidam, a renowned plastic surgeon, is buried beneath a building.
Were the High Court in the Hague ever to do its job and engage forensic electronics to that end—it could easily trace the psychological warfare waged, say, against Dr. Refaat Alareer. He had figured out that, “There’s nowhere safe in Gaza, so he chose to stay in his house.” By guerrilla journalist Max Blumenthal’s telling, Alareer and family were sadistically hounded, telephonically, by IDF officers, as they fled from one abode to the next. The IDF finally assassinated he and six members of his family. Myself, I followed a young journalist , Ayat Al Khaddour, who vlogged heroically from her home in Gaza until she was no more, stopped by an IDF-lobbed “precision” bomb, along with members of her family.
Israel has clearly and systematically eliminated the human capital of Gaza in ways diabolically purposeful, irreparable and unforgivable. The best of Gaza are gone; entire Palestinian family trees truncated forever. Why purposeful? Just as the U.S.-backed Israeli military knows the precise azimuths of their targets, including that of the assassinated Refaat Alareer—in the same vein do Israelis have the GPS coordinates of “major infrastructure projects funded by the U.S. government.” These, reports the Associated Press, have been largely spared.
All this is what Article II of the Genocide Convention means by clause number four: “Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.” (Amnesty International: Genocide: The Legal Basis For Universal Jurisdiction.)
To Israel’s rap sheet add at least three additional genocidal actions stipulated in Article II of the Genocide Convention, perpetrated “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group” (Ibid). These are:
* Killing members of the group.
* Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.
* Direct and public incitement to commit genocide.
As after the Holocaust, responsibility for decent reparations—Israelis to the Palestinians of Gaza—will need to be worked out. But how do you compensate a people whose society you’ve cannibalized?
EVERY LAW OF WAR VIOLATED
Genocide is a process, not an act. It is the destruction of a population from its roots ~Francesca Albanese
Four conditions of genocide fulfilled; not one law of war obeyed. In the course of its genocidal campaign; Israel has violated every law of war, codified in Customary International Humanitarian Law:
‘Launching an attack which may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated, is prohibited.’ (Jean-Marie Henckaerts and Louise Doswald-Beck, Customary International Humanitarian Law, 2012, Cambridge University Press, 2012)
‘The undisputed cornerstone of international humanitarian law (IHL) is the principle of distinction between civilians and combatants, which obliges belligerents to distinguish at all times between persons who may be lawfully attacked, and persons who must be spared and protected from the effects of the hostilities. In order to avoid any ambiguity, these two categories of persons must be mutually exclusive…’ (Ibid)
‘In the conduct of military operations, constant care must be taken to spare the civilian population, civilians and civilian objects. All feasible precautions must be taken to avoid, and in any event to minimize, incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian objects.’ (Jean-Marie Henckaerts and Louise Doswald-Beck, Customary International Humanitarian Law (2012), Cambridge University Press, 2012)
Only neolithic beasts like Jonathan Conricus or IDF mouth Keren Hajioff, former IDF spokesmen for Israel’s war of annihilation in Gaza, would have the gall to praise the care uniformed IDF take with human life. In case you’ve missed these Israeli bulwark bureaucrats, Conricus and Hajioff are now fellows at the American Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, D.C., as a perusal of the FDD member page would indicate. Following stints in which these two mindlessly chorused for and covered up the goings-on in Gaza—the two have migrated to an American “think tank,” likely promoting the interests of entities not the United States, and overriding the balancing forces of regionalism in the Middle East.
Still, nothing excites shame in Israeli leaders. Very many of them, including the prime minister, have called on IDF soldiers to show no mercy. This, International Law forbids. Quaintly put, prohibited are “directions to give no quarter,” as in “threatening an adversary therewith or conducting hostilities on this basis.” Prohibited.
“Genocide is a process, not an act,” explains Francesca Albanese. It is the “destruction of a population from its roots.” Lara Elborno, another articulate human-rights lawyer, has ventured the following clincher, and I paraphrase:
Had Israel not dropped a single bomb on Gaza, but had done no more than cut off food, water and electricity to its 2.3 million residents—these action alone would suffice to constitute genocide under the treaties.
RAFAH
Devil stretches; devil flexes ~Hilary Mantel
In its ravening appetite for destruction, Israeli leadership had explicitly indicated that it would “not relent in [its] assault on the Gaza Strip until they’ve effectively accomplished the destruction of the entire strip. And their attacks now on Rafah, in particular, demonstrate that the last refuge, the last piece of the Gaza Strip that hasn’t been effectively destroyed, is not only in their sights, but already under their bombs.” (Criag Mokhiber, “Democracy Now!,” March 26)
According to Customary International Humanitarian Law, cited so far, “Directing an attack against a zone established to shelter the wounded, the sick and civilians from the effects of hostilities is prohibited.” (Jean-Marie Henckaerts and Louise Doswald-Beck, Customary International Humanitarian Law (2012), Cambridge University Press, 2012, Chapter 11 – Protected Zones)
In truth, it was mid-February when the Israel Defense Forces had commenced its onslaught on 1.5 million Palestinian refugees, who had been corralled from the north to the south, and now huddle helplessly in Raffah.
Israeli leadership, political and other, pollute the ear with an unbroken stream of genocide-justification jargon. The barbaric nature of their discourse complements their army’s actions. “Conspicuous and ostentatious” about their depredations; the uniformed IDF appear proud to revel in terrorizing and murdering Palestinian civilians forsaken. In general, YouTube runs cover for the IDF. Still, there are countless videos of nauseating brutality, in which IDF soldiers vaporize young men picking their way through rubble, as though in a video game; they mock their victims, invade their homes; filch from their businesses, and rummage through the piteous intimate effects of people dead and dispossessed. Other acts of defilement are too lewd to recount. (See BBC News’ “Israeli soldier videos from Gaza could breach international law, experts say.” Or, watch the Glenn Greenwald’s “Shocking IDF Social Media Videos Mock Gazans—Expose New Atrocities.”)
GOOD PEOPLE: GALLOWAY & BUSHNELL
Wars are a rich man’s affair and a poor man’s fight ~ilana
How many generations of young people can you raise on Big Lies—such as that Israel and its sugar daddy are prosecuting a fair, legitimate war, rather than waging Total War against innocent civilians? ~ilana
“Genocide Joe” and the foreign agents knowns as the “American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), whose Israel-First focus makes them a fifth column; Trump with Jared Kushner and his better-half: These are America’s 2024 election options.
The Biden-AIPAC bloc has begun whispering sweet nothings in the ears of Benny Gantz (National Unity Party), ostensible rival of Bibi Netanyahu (Likud). The AIPAC-run Biden bloc would like you to believe that a chasm in “Israel’s wartime leadership” has opened up. Biden’s bedroom talk with Benny is intended to impress upon the two squalid Jewish supremacists the danger of approaching some sort of political precipice. In the end, Netanyahu and Gantz, who both officiate in their country’s War Cabinet, are philosophically one, inseparable, spherical Gluteus Maximus.
Or, “two flapping cheeks of the same ass,” in George Galloway’s delightfully ribald language. Galloway was describing the political amalgam arrayed against truth and justice in the United Kingdom. As I noted in 2005, Galloway is a master flyter: the ancient Scottish form of invective for which a quick mind and a masterful command of the English language are a must.
Galloway’s capacity for extemporaneous verbal swordplay is not the only thing that distinguishes this jousting member of the British parliament. MP Gallaway and his Worker’s Party ran on foreign policy, in Rochdale, UK, and, in particular, he secured “thumping majorities” in a protest vote for Gaza—and against our overlords, stateside and in Israel, whose new norm is to be out-and-proud about genocide.
There will be flyting words aplenty to come.
The normalization of genocide is what US Airman Aaron Bushnell was protesting when he set himself alight, February 28. Airman Aaron Bushnell, of blessed memory, self-immolated to protest that upon which Galloway secured his victory in Rochdale: Israel’s war on Gaza.
Bushnell died horrifically, yet heroically, like a man—calm and rational—as he recited his reason for self-immolation: “I will no longer be complicit in genocide. This is what our ruling class has decided is the new normal.” Airman Bushnell was driven not by mental disease, but by a morally depraved society that supports de facto terrorist state Israel, with American moral imprimatur, its money and materiel.
Wars are a rich man’s affair and a poor man’s fight. American soldiers have always served as collateral damage in the nefarious projects of Uncle Sam and client states. Their causes and concerns, unless jingoistic and Fox-News friendly, seldom rate a mention. But, following Aaron Bushnell’s demise; many members of our military symbolically burned their uniforms in disgust, only to be mocked by Conservative Inc (or ConOink, as I call them). But they are right, and “this is wrong,” inveighed Alan Shebaro. “There’s nothing more American than speaking out against what’s wrong.” Like elite soldier Alan Shebaro, “Bushnell decried U.S. complicity in the Gaza genocide.”
At its core, what Bushnell was protesting is something even-more fundamental. For words are symbols. They are used as agreed-upon conventions to make sense of the world. What happens when these shared linguistic constructs no longer correspond to the things they are supposed to describe? Bushnell, who was in-the-know militarily, must have grown angrier and angrier as the symbols his society deploys clashed with the reality these symbols were supposed to signify. Particularly did he appear susceptible to the schizophrenogenic communications transmitted, on an ongoing basis, by the many Orwellian Ministries of Truth.
For how many generations of young people can you raise on Big Lies—such as that Israel and its sugar daddy are prosecuting a fair, legitimate war, rather than waging Total War against innocent civilians? Total War is a term to describe an all-out war against any and all. “What I saw was not war, but annihilation,” lamented Dr. Ifran Galaria, volunteer in Gaza, to MSNBC’s Joy Reid.
CALIGULA KUSHNER
Jared Kushner, the nepotistic scion of a dodgy New York realtor, and an empty husk of a man, is coveting the waterfront property of a conquered and dying people ~ilana
These days, “bloody Blinken, secretary of genocide”—a moniker given to him by the grand ladies of “Code Pink,” who have camped out at the Blinken mansion—has been coming and going to the Middle East. In dizzy rapture over Israel, Blinken shuttles to-and-fro on missions to smooth over Israel’s assault on Gaza; make it more genteel, more sellable.
Sellable as Jared Kushner assesses “Gaza’s waterfront property” to be.
With the fey charm of a state-cutter—a coroner—preparing to carve a corpse; philosopher-king Kushner shrugged a slender shoulder, as he languidly mused:
‘I’m sitting in Miami Beach right now, and I’m looking at the situation [in Gaza] and I’m thinking: What would I do if I was there? … I would just bulldoze something in the Negev, I would try to move people in there … I think that’s a better option, so you can go in and finish the job. … I do think right now opening up the Negev, creating a secure area there, moving the civilians out, and then going in and finishing the job would be the right move.’
This waterfront property “could be very valuable” Kushner let slip, on February 15, to an audience at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Middle East Initiative.
Crooked Kushner, you recall, had been Trump’s point person on foreign policy, the Middle East and much else. Little Lord Fauntleroy had even been entrusted with “preparing a peace plan for the Middle East.”
That Kushner had been invited to regale an audience at an elite American university is all you need to know about the intellectual and moral tenor of discourse in the USA. In this repulsive vignette, Jared Kushner, the nepotistic scion of a dodgy New York realtor, and an empty husk of a man, is coveting the waterfront property of a conquered and dying people.
For once, America’s Fourth Column (media) was in the peculiar position of covering up and finessing Kushner’s unfiltered remarks. After all, his position is that of the legacy media and their political paymasters.
BILL CLINTON: ‘WHO’S THE F–KING SUPERPOWER HERE?’
Gaza is a desert of the dead and the dying. Let the American Super Power ride to the rescue ~ilana
Israel’s contempt for the United States is complete.
Unsatisfied with his butcher’s bill in Gaza, demiurge Netanyahu had, at first, cancelled Israel’s delegation to Washington, furious that the United States of America failed to veto a UN ceasefire proposal.
“After his first meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in 1996,” recounts Patrick Theros, of “Responsible Statecraft,” “Bill Clinton vented his fury before his staff about his visitor’s apparent presumptions about the balance of power in the bilateral relationship. ‘Who the f–k does he think he is?’ Clinton reportedly bellowed. ‘Who’s the f–king superpower here?’”
Indeed.
Gaza is a desert of the dead and the dying. Israel, however, is miring humanitarian aid in capriciously sadistic paperwork and protocol. An example is their “dual-purpose” doctrine: “Did you know that syringes, desperately stuck in Palestinian veins deflated by dehydration, can be dual-purpose items?” Yeah! Used for terrorism, found in the tunnels, the lot.
If you can believe it, our “allies” the Israelis are hindering the delivery of American aid to Gaza.
Come again?! You heard me. It now transpires that, in thrall to Bibi Netanyahu, the “Super Power” is planning to construct a floating pier—a run-around around the Israelis, who had also, long ago, tampered with Gaza’s little port, situated as it was, once-upon-a-time, “near the Remal district of Gaza City,” of blessed memory.
Commensurate with Israel’s outrageous excesses, and the crazed riffs coming out of Israeli heads; Israel has established itself as a war criminal. By letting the blood of Palestinians for six months, and showing no intention of letting up; Israel has forfeited its right to protest decisive American intervention. Besides, he who pays the piper calls the tune.
Under present conditions, a president who spoke like President Clinton might have made Americans proud. For once, the American Super Power could entertain ordering shabby little Israel, convulsing in paroxysms of evil, to cease and desist.
As easily, and after ordering Israel to stand down; America could… commandeer Israel’s Sde Dov or Ben Gurion Airport. Or, both. This is an emergency.
Fleets of our assorted military and cargo 747 aircraft would land like angels at an Israeli airport adjacent to Gaza.
Into Northern Gaza would rush these life-saving American trailer trucks, carrying supplies and sustenance for the starving.
Down would go Israel’s fences and in would flow non-stop supplies, as though on a loop.
Landing in and delivering life-saving supplies from a well-appointed Israeli facility into northern Gaza, and throughout the Strip: This is the fastest and smartest way to succor a dying people.
Instead, America chooses to fellate Bibi NetanYahoo, his barking mad military and their berserk countrymen, 88 percent of whom “give a positive assessment of the performance of the IDF in Gaza until now. (Tamar Hermann, “War in Gaza Survey 9,” Israel Democracy Institute, January 24, 2024), 58 percent of whom grumble that not enough force has been deployed to date; and 68 percent of whom say “they do not support the transfer of humanitarian aid to Gaza.”
Ilana Mercer has been writing a weekly, paleolibertarian think piece since 1999. Her new book is ‘The Paleolibertarian Guide To Deep Tech, Deep Pharma & The Aberrant Economy’(February, 2024). She’s the author of “Into the Cannibal’s Pot: Lessons for America From Post-Apartheid South Africa” (2011)), and other books. Mercer is described as “a system-builder. Distilled, her modus operandi has been to methodically apply first principles to the day’s events.”
Israel’s plan to expand into an Eretz or “Greater” state incorporating large chunks of its neighbors’ land starts with eliminating the pre-1948 inhabitants of a place once known as Palestine. That nearly all of those who think of themselves as Palestinians must be killed or otherwise removed is perhaps reduced to an aphorism, like “Israel has a right to defend itself,” to absolve the Israeli state and its rampaging army of any guilt in the process. Indeed, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ability to avoid any serious consequences for his behavior is remarkable, and it generates further atrocities that might have been unimaginable when the fighting in Gaza started back in October. Al Jazeerahas reported how Netanyahu is now pushing ahead to formalize what has been referred to as the “colonial project,” whereby “the appropriation of all Palestinian Lands will follow on… the outright exclusion of the Palestinian people from their homeland.” Bibi said in a speech to supporters that “These are the basic lines of the national government headed by me: The Jewish people have an exclusive and unquestionable right to all areas of the Land of Israel. The government will promote and develop settlement in all parts of the Land of Israel — in the Galilee, the Negev, the Golan, Judea and Samaria.”
Journalist Patrick Lawrence, writing at Consortium News, recently described how “Israel’s savagery in its determination to exterminate the Palestinians of Gaza — and we had better brace for what is next on the West Bank of the Jordan — marks a turn for all of humanity. In its descent into depravity the Zionist state drags the West altogether down with it.” Indeed, and the United States of America is the foremost great power to be reduced to the status of a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Jewish state, unable to advance its own interests when confronted by the juggernaut of the so-called Israel Lobby and associated Jewish and Zionist-Christian organizations that have corrupted and controlled American foreign as well as select domestic policies.
Witness what has occurred in the last several weeks when the international community has rallied to end the slaughter and deliberate starvation of largely defenseless Gazan civilians. First came a United Nations Security Council move by the United States, which introduced a resolution calling for, but not demanding, an immediate though possibly temporary cease fire in Gaza. When the resolution came up for a vote it was vetoed by Russia and China. There were several problems with the text as it inevitably sought to give Israel considerable flexibility in managing the situation. It included an admonition that the effort to secure a ceasefire must be “in connection with the release of all remaining hostages,” which is an Israeli demand with the willingness of Israel to participate at all very much dependent on the hostage issue. The resolution allowed the fighting to continue and it put control of the entry and distribution of urgently needed relief supplies under the ”security” management of the Israeli army. Then came a Russian and Chinese resolution, approved by all members of the council but the US which “abstained.” The US immediately declared the resolution to be “non-binding” and while the document was meant to permit a ceasefire through the end of Ramadan, it has yet to be enacted by Israel which continues to block food and medicine relief shipments and has focused its latest attacks on the few remaining hospitals, killing hundreds more Gazans. Even though the resolution demanded action on the ceasefire and access to relief supplies Israel has ignored it and so has Washington. As only the United States can compel Israel to change course the fact that it continues to fund Israel and provide it with secret shipments of planeloads weapons, without which Netanyahu would be unable to continue his war, speaks for itself in terms of who is controlling whom.
And don’t be fooled by President Joe Biden’s alleged pressure on Netanyahu to “protect civilians” even as Bibi draws up plans with his war cabinet to invade Gaza’s southernmost Rafah Region, where 1.5 million Palestinians have sought refuge and are now confronted by imminent death with no way out. Biden is responding to opinion polls in the US that indicate that more than half of Americans are opposed to what Israel is doing in Gaza and the percentage is steadily growing, so he is pretending to have humanitarian impulses and a conscience, neither of which is true, in a cynical effort to support his possible reelection.
To be sure both the White House and Congress, supported by the Jewish dominated media, are totally in Netanyahu’s pocket, something which he has admitted to publicly more than once, saying that the United States is “easily moved” by someone like him. But if one really needed proof positive about who is in charge in the US-Israel relationship, one need only look at the recent omnibus federal government budget bill of $1.2 trillion. Activist Pascal Lottaz has taken the time to go through the complete 1,012 page document detailing where the money goes and discusses his findings in a 9 minute podcast on YouTube. Lottaz has confirmed both the immediate cash payment of $3.8 billion in “tribute money” to Israel plus the already reported blocking of any federal government funding of United Nation Relief and Works Agency for Gaza (UNRWA) for at least a year. As UNRWA is the key humanitarian aid agency, the latter is a prohibition completely inconsistent with Biden’s expressed desire to confront the “surging” humanitarian aid crisis for the Gazans who are facing starvation in the context of an active genocide. The prohibition is in spite of the continuing lack of evidence to substantiate Israel’s claims of “terrorism support” leveled against the UN agency and despite the famine conditions already present in Gaza. In his review of the document, Lottaz has also discovered those and other specific benefits that involve Israel in 10 sections of the bill.
The bill also seeks to protect Israel from accountability under existing or new international law and to limit Palestinian efforts to resist or defend themselves. It requires any organization receiving US funding to show that it is actively taking steps “to combat anti-Israel bias” and it prohibits any funding to support Palestinian statehood unless it is shown that a list of specified conditions are met including satisfactory “cooperation with Israeli security organizations.” It prohibits any funding to the Palestinian Authority if Palestine is granted statehood status by the UN or any UN agency without Israel’s consent. It oddly prohibits any security support to the West Bank or Gaza unless it is shown that satisfactory steps are being taken by the Palestinian Authority to “end torture and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of detainees.” It should be noted that the Palestinians, not Israel, are required to end abuse of detainees even though it is Israel that routinely engages in those practices. The detailed sections of the bill expanding on what is blocked or prohibited are as follows:
The bill forbids any US funding of the UN International Commission of Inquiry investigation into Israel’s unlawful occupation of Palestinian territory: Sec. 7848(C)(2) None of the funds appropriated by this Act may be made available for the United Nations International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
The bill defunds the UN Human Rights Council unless the organization drops all inquiry into human rights violations by Israel: Sec. 7048(b)(2)(c) UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL. (1) None of the funds appropriated by this Act may be made available in support of the United Nations Human Rights Council unless the Secretary of State determines and reports to the appropriate congressional committees that participation in the Council is important to the national interest of the United States and that such Council is taking significant steps to remove Israel as a permanent agenda item and ensure integrity in the election of members to such Council.
The bill requires any international organization, department, or agency receiving US funding to show that it is taking “credible steps to combat anti-Israel bias”: SEC. 7048. (a) TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY. Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall report to the Committees on Appropriations whether each organization, department, or agency receiving a contribution from funds appropriated by this Act under the headings ‘‘Contributions to International Organizations’’ and ‘‘International Organizations and Programs’’:
The bill prohibits funding of any support to Palestinian Statehood except under US State Department confirmation that its government meets specified conditions including that is is “cooperating with appropriate Israeli and other appropriate security organizations.”
The bill prohibits any support to the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation: SEC. 7038. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used to provide equipment, technical support, consulting services, or any other form of assistance to the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation.
The bill prohibits any funding to security assistance to the West Bank or Gaza unless the State Department reports on “the steps being taken by the Palestinian Authority to “end torture and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of detainees”: 7039(C)(2) SECURITY ASSISTANCE AND REPORTING REQUIREMENT. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds made available by this or prior appropriations Acts, including funds made available by transfer, may be made available for obligation for security assistance for the West Bank and Gaza until the Secretary of State reports to the Committees on Appropriations on the steps being taken by the Palestinian Authority to end torture and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of detainees, including by bringing to justice members of Palestinian security forces who commit such crimes.
The bill prohibits any funding of the Palestinian Authority if Palestine achieves recognition of statehood by the UN or any UN agency without Israel’s agreement or if the Palestinians initiate an investigation of Israel in the International Criminal Court: Sec.7401(k)(2)(A)(i) None of the funds appropriated under the heading ‘‘Economic Support Fund’’ in this Act may be made available for assistance for the Palestinian Authority, if after the date of enactment of this Act the Palestinians obtain the same standing as member states or full membership as a state in the United Nations or any specialized agency thereof outside an agreement negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians or the Palestinians initiate an International Criminal Court (ICC) judicially authorized investigation, or actively support such an investigation, that subjects Israeli nationals to an investigation for alleged crimes against Palestinians.
The bill extends existing loan guarantees to Israel under the Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Act through September 30, 2029: SEC. 7034(k)(6).
The bill grants $3.3 billion in “Foreign Military Financing” to Israel, to be disbursed within 30 days: 7401(d) ISRAEL.—Of the funds appropriated by this Act under the heading ‘‘Foreign Military Financing Program’’, not less than $3,300,000,000 shall be available for grants only for Israel which shall be disbursed within 30 days of enactment of this Act: Provided, That to the extent that the Government of Israel requests that funds be used for such purposes, grants made available for Israel under this heading shall, as agreed by the United States and Israel, be available for advanced weapons systems, of which not less than $725,300,000 shall be available for the procurement in Israel of defense articles and defense services, including research and development.
The bill authorizes half a billion dollars in military aid to Israel for “Iron Dome” and other missile defense systems: SEC. 8072. Of the amounts appropriated in this Act under the headings ‘‘Procurement, Defense-Wide’’ and ‘‘Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Defense-Wide, $500,000,000 shall be for the Israeli Cooperative Programs.
The bill has passed through Congress, is written into law, and is on its way for Joe Biden’s signature. In other words, the US is willingly complicit in thousands of deaths already plus the impending deaths of some tens of thousands more innocent people. It is funding Israel’s war of extermination against the Palestinians and is opposed to any attempts by the Palestinians to either defend themselves or their interests as a people. It is shameful and our government is behaving monstrously, controlled by a foreign power that has thoroughly corrupted it. And the rot is spreading throughout our political system to include the death of our own right to freedom of speech. Only last week Governor Greg Abbott of Texas boasted of new legislation to stamp out alleged antisemitism and as criticism of Israel or the behavior of Jews is defined as being antisemitic it is likely that students demonstrating against the Jewish state and in support of Gaza will be expelled from universities and even prosecuted. And it is also reported that the Israel Lobby in the US is busy assembling a war chest of $100 million to fund the removal of politicians and other public figures who are critical of Israel. This is serious stuff that will affect all of us. Time to wake up America!
At least 10 were injured in a shooting operation on a bus in the Jordan Valley area transporting Israeli settlers.
A man passes by a car destroyed by an IOF raid in the occupied West Bank in Jenin refugee camp on Wednesday, March 27, 2024. (AP)
Al Mayadeen‘s correspondent in occupied Palestine reported today that several Israeli settlers were injured, one of them with a serious injury, in a shooting operation in the Jordan Valley area in the occupied West Bank adding that the IOF are pursuing the shooter.
Special coverage | Injuries in a heroic shooting attack targeting a settler bus in the Jordan Valley 03-28-2024
She added that the operation took place on “Street 90” in the Jordan Valley area, as Israeli settler vehicles were targeted.
Israeli media reported that at least 10 were injured in the shooting operation, adding that the IOF are conducting search operations in an attempt to find the executors of the operation.
In an interview with Israeli Channel 12, the head of the International and Middle East Arenas in the Institute for Policy and Strategy (IPS) at the Israeli Reichman University, Shay Har-Zvi, commented on this operation stressing that if “we combine” what happened in the Jordan Valley area today with what has been happening since this morning in the occupied north, it is a clear indication that the situation is “explosive” and that its deterioration is happening rapidly.
IOF kill one in Jenin amid large-scale West Bank confrontations
Palestinian youth Ayman Azouqa was killed early March 27 by Israeli occupation forces’ gunfire during confrontations that erupted in Jenin in the occupied West Bank following an Israeli military incursion into the city overnight on March 26.
According to Palestinian journalist Mohammad Hamdan, before medical crews rushed to the scene, the Israeli occupation forces had prevented anyone from coming close to Azouqa and left him bleeding.
Hamdan told Al Mayadeen that Palestinian Resistance fighters engaged in confrontations with Israeli snipers deployed in a neighborhood overlooking wide areas of Jenin and its camp, adding that Israli occupation forces carried out a widespread raid, during which they employed new tactics.
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I had an interesting discussion last week with a Washington-based political pundit who expressed some what I thought to be eccentric views on possible developments in the presidential campaign over the next six months. He said that that strange little man Jared Kushner is at it again engaged in secret meetings, but this time he is being promoted as a possible Vice-Presidential candidate to run alongside his father-in-law ex-president Donald Trump. Reportedly, he is being pushed by a number of hard right ardently pro-Israel Republican Senators, to include folks like Lindsay Graham and Ted Cruz, who are arguing that it would solve the loyalty issue for his father-in-law, a major concern for Trump given the perceived betrayal by ex-VP Mike Pence. Kushner would also be on the right side of a number of issues that Republican conservatives feel strongly about, most certainly including Israel. And, bear in mind, if a seventy-eight year old Donald Trump were to be re-elected and not finish his full term of office, Kushner would be his successor and the first Jewish president of the United States. You can bet that there are some people out there with long memories and deep pockets who might be longing for just that.
Now, given the fact that Kushner was Trump’s Senior Adviser and the one thing that nearly everyone agrees about the Donald was that his judgement on picking senior staff was flawed – one recalls names like Bolton and Pompeo – and would hardly be a credential for moving onward and upward, but it does nevertheless seem that some might actually be considering the possibility. And it is also true that Kushner brings almost nothing beyond name recognition to the ticket, but that is also the case for a number of other possible candidates for the position. Unlike most identified VP candidates, however, Kushner also would arrive with a considerable quantity of baggage. It is reported that when he was first named by Trump it proved to be difficult for him to get a security clearance, even with the president’s highly aggressive endorsement. This was possibly due to the activities of Jared’s father Charles Kushner who was a felon imprisoned in 2005-7 for business fraud to include illegal political contributions, tax evasion and witness tampering. The prosecuting United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey who handled the case was Chris Christie, later the governor of New Jersey and himself a presidential candidate. The witness tampering charge arose from Kushner’s retaliation against William Schulder, his sister Esther’s husband, who was cooperating with federal investigators against Kushner. Kushner hired a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law, arranged to record a sexual encounter between the two, and had the tape sent to his sister. Donald Trump controversially pardoned Charles after the fact at the end of his term of office in 2020 together with a number of other Jewish businessmen who were on a list compiled by Jared.
Or, alternatively, the bad security review might have related to Jared’s family’s the Kushner Foundation which was funding completely illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine among its other activities. Since 2020, Kushner has also reportedly been heavily involved with Saudi Arabia, which has apparently benefited Kushner’s equity firm business interests to the tune of $2 billion.
Kushner and his wife might well be considered a footnote to history, minor players, but for the possibility that Jared might somehow connive his way into a position with real power if Donald Trump is re-elected, but he is in the news right now for other reasons. People forget that quite a lot of what goes on vis-à-vis Israel is driven by what might be called the “profit motive,” which admittedly might be considered a play on the word “prophet.” It all comes down to how much money will be generated once the Palestinians are kicked out of Gaza and the West Bank, just for starters. Kushner has recently revealed his own vision of successful conclusion of the war for Israel in an interview on February 15thplus additional comments and it goes like this: the Gazans should be removed from their homes and those who are still alive and who have not been repatriated to other countries including Sinai in Egypt, might be allowed to reside in a suitable refugee camp style location in the Negev desert, inside southern Israel. How exactly they will survive in a desert is not clear as Israel has no excess water resources to “make the desert bloom” as the expression goes. As Kushner explains how “… getting civilians out of Rafah and potentially into Egypt, might be possible ‘with the right diplomacy,’” suggesting that he “would just bulldoze something in the Negev, I would try to move people in there,” adding “I know that won’t be the popular thing to do, but I think that’s a better option to do, so you can go in and finish the job.” In his comments Kushner also demonstrated that he is delusional, commenting that “I think Israel’s gone way more out of their way than a lot of other countries would, to try to protect civilians from casualties.” More to the point, one has to suspect that Kushner’s views might well reflect those of Trump, who has called on Israel to “finish it up [in Gaza] and do it quickly.”
Israel meanwhile, one supposes, can get international donors like the US to pay for the cleanup of Gaza and it could be developed to provide luxurious seafront properties for Israeli and international Jewish buyers, which would produce substantial income for the government and also for investors like Kushner. He said that “Gaza’s waterfront property, it could be very valuable, if people would focus on building up livelihoods.. If you think about all the money that’s gone into this tunnel network and into all the munitions, if that would have gone into education or innovation, what could have been done? It’s a little bit of an unfortunate situation there, but I think from Israel’s perspective, I would do my best to move the people out and then clean it up.”
It might seem like a screwy idea but it is certainly not beyond the rapaciousness and cruelty that the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is certainly capable of. And it would be a substantial step towards getting completely rid of the pesky Palestinians. There have been independent reports that real estate dealers in Israel are already framing tentative offers for dividing up the more desirable bits of Gaza land, particularly along the Mediterranean Sea. The sales would be for Jews only since part of the desirability of the ethnic cleansing would be to turn Israel into as close as possible an all-Jewish state, which is favored by most Israelis, including expectation of an influx of presumably wealthy diaspora Jews who opt to make their “Aliyah” in a more substantive way.
It is interesting to note how the thinking of Jared Kushner is possibly in sync with the intentions of many Israelis and foreign Jews, but there is also additional evidence that more stolen Palestinian land and houses will soon be up on the auction block for purchase by Jews only worldwide. In early March there was held a so-called “Israeli Real Estate Event” at synagogues and Jewish community centers in Canada, New York state and New Jersey. Though one event was canceled due to fear of demonstrators, the Israeli brokers were selling houses and building lots in Israel, to include the West Bank, most of which were “acquired” by force or through illegal contrivance from their original Arab owners. The advertising for the sales stated boldly that “In a world where uncertainty looms and antisemitism shows its ugly face more boldly than ever, the decision to invest in a home in Israel is not just wise—it’s exhilarating!” The “Events” took place even though it is illegal in the US and Canada to restrict house or land sales to one particular religion or ethnic group.
Finally, the suggestion that a lot of the thinking about whither Gaza is possibly being driven by money comes from the tale of the Ben Gurion Canal Project and the reports of multi-billion dollar oil and gas reserves offshore of Gaza in the Mediterranean Sea. The Ben Gurion project has long been mooted as a way to create an Israel controlled alternative to the existing Suez Canal. It would be a navigable canal connecting the Mediterranean and Red Sea that would run through Gaza and down Israel, ending at the Gulf of Aqaba near Eilat. The oil and gas reserves have been verified though they have been inaccessible as long as Gaza has been in Palestinian hands even though the Israelis control the waters, regularly shooting Palestinian fisherman who venture too far from shore. Both the energy resources and total control of a ship canal would be enormous economic assets for Israel. Putting all of that together with the Kushner plan and those business ventures by other Israelis one would be remiss if dismissing the possibility that future development in those areas is really all about money.
Israeli media reported that the operation has been ongoing for more than four hours.
The ‘Habarsa’ crossroad near the ‘Dolev’ settlement in West Bank, where the shooting operation was carried out (Social Media)
Israeli media reported the wounding of six Israeli settlers in a Palestinian shooting operation at the ‘Habarsa’ crossroads near the ‘Dolev’ settlement, west of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.
In more detail, the Palestinian who carried out the operation fired at cars on the ‘Habarsa’ crossroads and then retreated. Israeli occupation forces have been chasing him, reporting that he is still actively engaging against them for over four hours.
An Israeli airforce helicopter has also been deployed in the chase and is actively firing at nearby locations.
Regarding the injuries, Israeli forces have faced difficulties in evacuating one of the wounded settlers from the site of the operation. Two of the other injuries appear to be critical.
Israeli media also noted that a call was sent out to Palestinian homes and villages requesting the deletion of all footage related to the operation to protect the Palestinians’ identity.
An investigation indicated that more than one shooter could be involved in the operation.
The operation was described as an “exceptional event” and the shooter as an “expert”, with media reports adding that “It is crazy to think that one individual could extend the operation for over four hours against extensive forces, a drone, and war helicopter, that could not locate him.”
Israeli media declared, “We [‘Israel’] are on the verge of losing control.”
Two Israeli soldiers injured in shooting operation north al-Khalil
Just three days ago, two Israeli occupation soldiers were injured, one in a serious condition, as a result of a shooting operation near the “Gush Etzion” settlement north of al-Khalil, southern occupied West Bank.
In a later statement, the Jenin Brigade of al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, mourned the “Shin Bet Hunter”, Ziyad Farhan Hamran, who carried out the operation.
Further reports have revealed that the operation targeted members of the “Shin Bet”, otherwise known as the “Shabak”, the internal intelligence agency of the Israeli occupation, hence the title attributed to martyr Hamran, the “Shin Bit Hunter.”
Retaliatory operations carried out by Palestinian youths in the West Bank only heightened the anxiety of the occupation authorities, who anticipated an escalation of operations during the month of Ramadan.
An aerial view of the “Eilat-Ashkelon” oil terminal at “Israel’s” southern Red Sea port city of “Eilat’, occupied Umm Rashrash, occupied Palestine, on February 9, 2021. (AFP)
Dimitri Lascaris’ report on the Israeli occupation’s port settlement of “Eilat” reveals the severe impact of the Yemeni Armed Forces’ operations on the Israeli occupation’s economy.
Dimitri Lascaris, a Canadian lawyer and journalist, visited the Israeli occupation’s port settlement of “Eilat” on March 17 through 18 and reported that the Yemeni operations conducted by the Yemeni Armed Forces have indeed left the port settlement devoid of any cargo ships.
“There are no cargo ships here, no tankers [visible],” said Lascaris.
According to Lascaris, “All indications” point to the fact that “the attacks on Red Sea shipping by the Ansar Allah movement continued to have dramatic impacts on this particular port facility.”
The Canadian lawyer further underscored that the settlement is “far away from the major population centers of Israel,” adding that “it’s also not served by rail, at least not yet.”
This means that the Red Sea blockade against the Israeli occupation and in defense of the Gaza Strip has actually choked the settlement, which had no way around due to the lack of rail routes.
Through “Eilat”, “Israel” imports vehicles from Asia and delivers and temporarily stores oil cargo.
“There is almost no one on those beaches,” Lascaris reported, adding that there is “no indication of any tourism here.” Even kiosks and shops appear to be shut down, at this time of year, on a Sunday.
This is especially significant given that “Eilat” has been dubbed by Israeli media as a touristic destination.
“It certainly does seem quiet here.”
My latest:
I just visited Israel’s Red Sea port to see how attacks on commercial shipping by Yemen’s Ansar Allah (supporters of God) had affected maritime traffic to and from Eilat, Israel.
Discussing the topic of the Israeli occupation’s economy, the journalist said that in the first two months of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, the economy has shrunk by 20%, adding that “it may well have shrunk further since then.”
The journalist referred to a statement by the head of the port facility in December 2023, saying, “Maritime traffic in Eilat had plummeted by some 85% due to the attacks.”
Lascaris, who chose to remain in “Eilat” overnight, also reported “no commercial shipping activity whatsoever in Israeli waters or at the Israeli port.”
Concluding his report, Lascaris proclaimed, “If Israel and its backers are seriously interested in bringing an end to the severe damage to the Israeli economy, there’s one simple, straightforward, and morally correct course of action to pursue in that regard, and that is to put a stop to the genocidal assault on Gaza and, frankly, the criminal assaults on the West Bank as well.”
YAF hit US oil tanker, ‘Eilat’
Earlier on Tuesday, the spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF), Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announced that the YAF Navy targeted the American oil tanker MADO in the Red Sea using appropriate naval missiles.
“Our forces fired several winged missiles at Israeli targets in the Umm al-Rashrash region in southern occupied Palestine,” he added.
He stressed that these operations come in support of the Palestinian people, who are still facing Israeli aggression and siege, and in response to the US and British aggression on Yemen.
Al-Houthi: Our ops. hit Indian Ocean, to be expanded to Cape Route
Meanwhile, the leader of the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement, Sayyed Abdul al-Malik al-Houthi, declared on March 14 that the Yemeni Armed Forces are heading toward expanding the scope of their operations conducted against the Israeli occupation forces’ war on the Gaza Strip.
Sayyed al-Houthi’s announcement will reverberate across global politics, as he underlined that the YAF is heading toward launching attacks on vessels in the Indian Ocean that have been redirected toward the Cape of Good Hope Route, following attacks on merchant and military vessels affiliated with the tripartite Alliance of Evil of the United States, the United Kingdom, and “Israel”.
Avoiding missile and drone attacks from the Yemeni Navy in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, ships heading toward Israeli-occupied ports have opted for the longer route of circling the African continent, paralyzing the Israeli-occupied port in Um al-Rashrash or “Eilat”.
“Our Yemeni Armed Forces will carry on the Battle of the Promised Conquest and Holy Jihad in support of the Palestinian people in Gaza,” the leader of the Ansar Allah emphasized on Thursday.
“Operations targeting Israeli-affiliated vessels and ships affiliated with the American and British sides are ongoing with high effectiveness,” he revealed.
Palestinians across the West Bank have escalated their confrontations with the Israeli occupation as the latter continues its genocidal policies in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, killing dozens daily.
Scene from the stabbing operation conducted in Beit Lahm, occupied West Bank, on March 13, 2024. (Social media)
Two Israeli occupation soldiers were injured as a result of a stabbing operation at the Tunnels Checkpoint west of Beit Lahm, leading to the occupied al-Quds.
Reports revealed the martyrdom of the Palestinian who conducted the operation to avenge the dozens of murders committed by the Israeli occupation across the West Bank since October 7.
Following the operation, Israeli occupation police blocked the road at the Tunnels Checkpoint, further restricting the movement of the Palestinian people living under occupation. The Israeli occupation police then mobilized additional forces, deploying their personnel around the checkpoint and on the roads leading to Beit Lahm and occupied al-Quds.
As seen in videos released by people held up at the checkpoint, the Israeli occupation police carried out inspections of vehicles belonging to Palestinian people and verified the identities of travelers.
Three Palestinians martyred by IOF gunfire in al-Quds
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported on Tuesday evening the martyrdom of three Palestinians and the injury of several others by Israeli occupation forces’ gunfire at the checkpoints of al-Jib and Shuafat Camp, northwest of the occupied city of al-Quds.
The Al-Quds governorate’s media confirmed that 12-year-old child Rami Hamdan Halhouli was killed as a result of a shot to the heart at the Shuafat Camp checkpoint.
Local media sources reported a heavy deployment of Israeli occupation forces at the checkpoint following Halhouli’s martyrdom.
In the same context, the Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed the martyrdom of 23-year-old Zaid Khalayfah and 16-year-old Abdullah Assaf, by Israeli occupation forces’ gunfire.
The second martyr of Al-Quds tonight..
⭕ Palestinian young man, Zaid Ward Shukri Khalifa, 23 years old ascended to martyrdom after being shot by Zionist terrorists in the heart near the town of Al-Jib, north of Al-Quds.
— Palestine Captives 𓂆 (@Palestinecapti1) March 12, 2024
The Palestinian Red Crescent also reported injuries by IOF gunfire near the town of Bidu, northwest of occupied al-Quds.
In the vicinity of al-Aqsa Mosque, Israeli occupation forces erected tents near Bab al-Amoud in the occupied city of al-Quds and turned them into military barracks.
The occupation forces also set up iron barriers around Bab al-Asbat to restrict the movement of Palestinian citizens and prevent them from reaching al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Israeli occupation forces were also deployed at the entrances to the Old City and neighborhoods of occupied al-Quds, hindering the arrival of worshippers and preventing hundreds of Palestinian youths from accessing the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
Since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the Israeli occupation forces imposed restrictions for the second consecutive day on the entry of Palestinian youths to al-Aqsa Mosque compound for the Isha and Taraweeh prayers, allowing men only over the age of 40 and women to enter, while obstructing their movement through checkpoints.
However, the Israeli restrictions did not prevent Palestinian worshippers from flocking through Bab al-Amoud to perform the Isha and Taraweeh prayers at al-Aqsa Mosque.
UPROOTED PALESTINIANS: SALAM ALQUDS ALAYKUM 