From news at freedomarchives.org  Mon Jul  1 13:14:30 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Mon, 1 Jul 2024 10:14:30 -0700
Subject: [News] Manchester company forced to close as Palestine Action
 overwhelm its offices
Message-ID: <mailman.68.1719854135.2333931.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

thecanary.co
<https://www.thecanary.co/trending/2024/07/01/palestine-action-manchester-cdw/>
Manchester company forced to close as Palestine Action overwhelm its offices
The Canary
July 1, 2024
------------------------------

Palestine <https://www.thecanary.co/topics/palestine/> Action targeted
another link in Britain?s chain of complicity with Israel?s
<https://www.thecanary.co/topics/israel/> genocide in Gaza, as the
Manchester offices of ?CDW UK? were forced to close by an activist blockade.
Palestine Action: CDW shut down

Elbit Systems, Israel?s largest weapons company, are facilitated in their
British presence by support from CDW?s software and technology services.

So, as part of a nationwide campaign against complicity in Israeli
atrocities, on Monday 1 July Palestine Action
<https://www.palestineaction.org/> activists used a vehicle and lock-on
device to blockade the back entrance:

Another one occupied the ledge at the building?s entry:

<https://www.thecanary.co/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/signal-2024-07-01-082255_002-scaled.jpeg>

The Manchester building was also sprayed with blood-red paint ? to serve as
a reminder to CDW of the Palestinian bloodshed from which their firm
profits:

CDW provide supply chain management, IT solutions, cyber security and
eProcurement services to the British operations of the Elbit brand, part of
the global Israeli arms firm.

CDW are contracted for IT services for ?Elbit Systems UK Ltd?,
headquartered in Bristol, from which Elbit oversees drone and arms
production nation-wide. This is not the first time the company has been
targeted, with activists spraying a site in Peterborough with red paint and
shattering their windows.

This action in Manchester follows on the heels of others taken to target
Elbit?s partners & suppliers.
Stopping Israel?s supply chain

As the *Canary* previously reported, last week Palestine Action activists
occupied the GRiD Defence Systems
<https://www.thecanary.co/trending/2024/06/27/palestine-action-high-wycombe/>
site in High Wycombe, barricading themselves inside and proceeding to
destroy hardware and unfurled banners.

This came after activists destroyed dozens of boxes of GRiD processors
found inside Elbit?s Kent factory during an action, the total damage-caused
estimated by police to be worth over ?1m.

GRiD manufactures a range of military computers, processors, and similar
electronic equipment, either for direct battlefield use or to be integrated
into other systems.

Since 7 October, Israel has killed over 38,000 Palestinians, injured more
than 86,000, and displaced the majority of people in Gaza. Elbit Systems
supply the majority of Israel?s military drone fleet, land based equipment,
bullets, munitions and missiles.

Their weaponry is often marketed as ?battle-tested?, after deployment
against the people of Gaza. The genocide of Gaza would not be possible
without Elbit?s weaponry ? and those firms, including CDW and GRiD, are
made complicit by their facilitation of Elbit?s deadly business.

CDW is not the first to be targeted. After similar actions, five other
companies have ended their association with Elbit?s deadly trade in the
past two months. These include Elbit?s weapons transporters Kuehne+Nagel,
recruiters iO associates, property managers Fisher German, website
designers Naked Creativity, and legal firm MLL Legal.

Palestine Action says it will continue to target all those who allow Elbit
to continue their business of genocide, until they declare they?ve cut all
ties.

*Featured image and additional images via Palestine Action*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Mon Jul  1 20:15:47 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Mon, 1 Jul 2024 17:15:47 -0700
Subject: [News] Yemeni forces' USV strikes another Israeli-affiliated vessel
Message-ID: <mailman.70.1719879815.2333931.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/yemeni-forces--usv-strikes-another-israeli-affiliated-vessel>
Yemeni forces' USV strikes another Israeli-affiliated vessel
Al Mayadeen English
July 1, 2024
------------------------------

The Yemeni Armed Forces conduct a joint operation with the Iraqi Resistance
targeting Haifa and strike yet another Israeli-affiliated ship.
[image: 434cbf79-0850-4733-adb3-3926fb06650d.png]

   - A screengrab shows the moment a second Yemeni Toophan-1 surface
   vehicle exploded into the hull of the MV Tutor on June 12, 2024. (Yemeni
   Armed Forces/Military Media)

The Yemeni Armed Forces struck an Israeli-affiliated merchant ship in the
Red Sea using a flurry of unmanned aerial and surface vehicles, as well as
anti-ship missiles, the spokesperson for the YAF, Brigadier General Yahya
Saree, announced on Thursday evening.

Saree said that the YAF conducted two operations, the first of which was a
joint operation with the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, in which several
cruise missiles were launched toward a vital Israeli site in occupied
Haifa.

The second attack was conducted by the YAF's Unammaned Air Force, Rocket
Force, and Navy. The operation targeted the SEAJOY bulk carrier in the Red
Sea, via several suicide drones, anti-ship missiles, and an unmanned
surface vehicle (USV).

SEAJOY was attacked by the YAF as part of the Yemeni force's implementation
of its embargo on the Israeli occupation and Israeli-affiliated entities.

The company that owns SEAJOY had breached the embargo imposed by the YAF,
an action that deemed it among blacklisted vessels, a process that the
spokesperson had publicly outlined on several occasions.

Shipping companies that have breached the embargo have also been reportedly
warned against sailing in Yemeni waters in communications.

*Read more: Red Sea rising: Exposing the West's diminishing naval power
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/red-sea-rising--exposing-the-west-s-diminishing-naval-power>*
UKMTO confirms USV impact into unnamed vessel

Earlier on Thursday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO)
had reported on an incident on an attack on an unnamed vessel that had
taken place 83 nautical miles southwest of al-Hodeidah Yemen.

According to the report a waterborne USV had detonated into the vessel. The
report cites a third party, which claims that the vessel is still
operational and is proceeding to its next port call.

On the other hand, Saree stressed that YAF will continue to conduct joint
operations with the Iraqi Resistance, reaffirming what he had set out in
previous statements regarding the operations of Israeli-affiliated vessels
and other vessels in the Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and Indian Ocean.

This is the second time that a Yemeni USV strikes a vessel off the
country's coast this month. The first operation saw two Toophan-1
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/yemeni-forces-showcase-toophan-usv-that-sunk-israeli-affilia#:~:text=Specifications%20of%20Yemen%27s%20Toophan%2D1>
USVs burst a total of 300 kg explosive payloads into the MV Tutor on June
12, which sunk at a later time.

The YAF conducted these operations as a show of proactive support to the
besieged Palestinian people and their Resistance, which has come under an
unprecedented war launched by the Israeli occupation, since October last
year.

*Read more: Yemeni forces showcase Toophan USV that sunk Israeli-affiliated
ship
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/yemeni-forces-showcase-toophan-usv-that-sunk-israeli-affilia>*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Jul  2 10:59:26 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 2 Jul 2024 07:59:26 -0700
Subject: [News] =?utf-8?b?4oCYRm9yIHRoZSByZXNpc3RhbmNl4oCZOiBUdWxrYXJl?=
	=?utf-8?q?m_residents_face_Israeli_airstrikes_and_assassinations?=
Message-ID: <mailman.79.1719932469.2333931.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

mondoweiss.net
<https://mondoweiss.net/2024/07/for-the-resistance-tulkarem-residents-face-israeli-airstrikes-and-assassinations/?ml_recipient=125746977408288674&ml_link=125746959007876930&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2024-07-02&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines+RSS+Automation>
?For the resistance?: Tulkarem residents face Israeli airstrikes and
assassinations By Shatha Hanaysha
<https://mondoweiss.net/author/shatha-hanaysha/> July 1, 2024
<https://mondoweiss.net/2024/07/for-the-resistance-tulkarem-residents-face-israeli-airstrikes-and-assassinations/>
------------------------------
[image: IMG_8011-770x515.jpg]

On Monday, July 1, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced the killing
of a child and a woman and the injury of 4 Palestinians by the bullets of
Israeli forces during a raid on Nur Shams refugee camp and Tulkarem refugee
camp in the northern West Bank.

During the raid, which started on Sunday, June 30, Israeli aircraft bombed
a house in Nur Shams, assassinating Saeed Ezzat Jaber, 24, one of the
leaders of the Nur Shams Brigade.

The Nur Shams Brigade is an armed resistance group affiliated with the
al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

?They cannot overpower us on the ground, so they resort to bombing and
missiles with warplanes,? a member of the Nur Shams Brigade told
*Mondoweiss*. ?My message to the occupiers is that if they fight us from
the sky, we will come out to them from below the earth.?

On Sunday afternoon, the Israeli aircraft bombed a house in the
Al-Manshiyya neighborhood in Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem, resulting
in the killing of a young man and the injury of five others, two of whom
are in critical condition.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army radio reported that a drone bombed an apartment
it had been monitoring for some time, believing that members of the Nur
Shams Brigade had been present. Local sources, however, said that the
bombing was carried out by a missile from an Israeli warplane and that it
targeted a three-story house.

Photos captured by *Mondoweiss* during the funeral of the martyred Jaber
showed injuries to members of the Nur Shams Brigade who were present inside
the house that was bombed and survived the assassination attempt.
[image: Injured resistance fighters from the Nur Shams Brigade, Tulkarem.
(Photo: Shatha Hanaysha/Mondoweiss)]Injured resistance fighters from the
Nur Shams Brigade, Tulkarem. (Photo: Shatha Hanaysha/Mondoweiss)

One member of the Nur Shams Brigade told *Mondoweiss* that the airstrike
was a cowardly assassination operation.

?After assassinating commander Saeed Ezzat, the occupation announced that
its operation had failed because it did not succeed in killing the
Brigade?s leader, Abu Shuja,? he said. ?The occupation thinks that by
killing us, it defeats us. But this is a victory for us. The occupation
cannot overpower us on the ground, so it resorts to bombing and killing
from the air.?

The Israeli army released a video of the moment the house was bombed in the
al-Manshiyya neighborhood, one of the most densely packed neighborhoods in
Nur Shams. The bombing caused damage to over 10 houses surrounding the
targeted house.

While touring the neighborhood, *Mondoweiss* observed that dozens of homes
were damaged. Some of the houses had their contents completely destroyed,
and windows were shattered over residents? heads.

Ali Abbas, who lives in al-Manshiyya, said that he woke up at exactly 2
p.m. to the sound of the bombing.

?We couldn?t comprehend what had happened,? he told *Mondoweiss*. ?Dust
filled the place, and the windows shattered over our heads. It was a
powerful strike. We didn?t understand what had happened in the
neighborhood. When we went out into the street, we found a three-story
building completely bombed.?

Taghreed Amarne, another resident, told *Mondoweiss* that her house was
only one meter away from the house targeted by the army, stating that she
had been sleeping and woke up to find the rubble of her home and its
furniture over her head, causing her to panic.

?There is no safety. I was in the bedroom, and my husband ? he?s a man in
his seventies. I started running like crazy looking for him over the
glass,? Amarna said. ?I give my home as a sacrifice to the resistance. What
matters is that the fighters are safe. Money and houses can be replaced. I
am not sad about my home. We are saddened by the loss of our young men. I
don?t care about the house. We will remain steadfast in our homes, and we
will not leave them until liberation.?

?We are like a miniature Gaza,? she adds. ?Just as the Israelis bombed
houses on them, today they bombed ours. They bombed us while feeling safe
in their homes?but this will not make us retreat or leave our homes. On the
contrary, what happened today made me hold onto my home even more because I
know I am in the right.?
*Resistance strikes back*

Early on Monday, Israeli forces also stormed the city of Tulkarem,
besieging the entrances to the Nur Shams refugee camp and deploying snipers
on residential buildings. Palestinian resistance engaged in armed clashes
with the invading forces.

Israeli military vehicles headed towards Nur Shams, imposing a siege on the
camp. Meanwhile, Israeli bulldozers destroyed infrastructure within the
camp and along the adjacent street. They also began to sabotage and
excavate main roads in Tulkarem.

Israeli soldiers raided several homes and high-rise buildings surrounding
the camp, deploying snipers on rooftops. Confrontations erupted at the
entrance of Tulkarem refugee camp as military vehicles passed nearby,
accompanied by the sound of explosions in the area.

Journalists? cameras captured the towing of an Israeli military armored
vehicle, a  Panther-model troop, which had been hit by a homemade explosive
device in Nur Shams.

The same model of military vehicle was destroyed in Jenin last week when
the Jenin Brigade conducted a ?double ambush?
<https://mondoweiss.net/2024/06/israeli-officer-killed-16-others-injured-in-jenin-refugee-camp-during-army-invasion/>
that killed an Israeli officer and injured 16 other soldiers.

The al-Quds Brigades in the West Bank announced through its Telegram
channel that its fighters in the Tulkarem Brigade
<https://mondoweiss.net/2024/01/the-tulkarem-brigades-men-in-the-sun-resist-in-search-of-freedom/>
continued to confront the Israeli forces that stormed the Nur Shams camp
from the early hours of the morning.

In its statement, the Brigade announced that its fighters had damaged
Israeli military vehicles during the raid, stating, ?The world saw today on
its screens how we turned their military pride and armored carriers into a
laughing stock, dragged away in defeat.?
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Jul  3 12:15:28 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 3 Jul 2024 09:15:28 -0700
Subject: [News] Gaza hospital director's release exposes Israeli torture
Message-ID: <mailman.93.1720024836.2333931.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

electronicintifada.net
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/gaza-hospital-directors-release-exposes-israeli-torture>
Gaza hospital director's release exposes Israeli torture

Maureen Clare Murphy
<https://electronicintifada.net/people/maureen-clare-murphy> Rights and
Accountability
<https://electronicintifada.net/blog/rights-and-accountability> 3 July 2024
------------------------------

Palestinians flee eastern Khan Younis on 2 July.
APA images

Israel released Muhammad Abu Salmiya
<https://electronicintifada.net/tags/muhammad-abu-salmiya>, the director of
Gaza City?s al-Shifa hospital, on Monday along with dozens of other former
detainees from Gaza, prompting a backlash in Israel and fears for the
doctor?s life.

Meanwhile, international media reports
<https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/02/world/middleeast/israel-military-gaza-cease-fire.html>
and statements
<https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/netanyahu-says-intense-fighting-against-hamas-is-ending-war-go-2024-06-23/#:~:text=JERUSALEM%2C%20June%2023%20(Reuters),longer%20controls%20the%20Palestinian%20enclave.>
made by Israeli officials suggested that Israel may soon scale back its
military operations in Gaza.

But for Palestinians who have endured nearly nine months of genocide, there
has been no respite from the Israeli violence that has claimed nearly
38,000 lives, with thousands more missing and feared dead.

Amid intense bombardment throughout Gaza, Israel this week ordered the
forcible transfer of Palestinians from eastern Khan Younis and Rafah in
southern Gaza, encompassing around a third of the coastal enclave?s
territory and affecting <https://x.com/UNRWA/status/1808053707243663831> a
quarter of a million people.
The UN said that it was the largest such order since Israel demanded the
evacuation of Palestinians from northern Gaza in October. The majority of
Gaza?s population have been displaced from their homes, many times
repeatedly, since then.

The European Gaza Hospital, the largest medical facility in southern Gaza,
is in the area that Israel ordered evacuated, forcing health workers to
transfer patients and displaced families out of the hospital campus. Israel
later denied <https://x.com/cogatonline/status/1808024656978247711> that it
ordered the evacuation of patients and staff from the hospital.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said
<https://x.com/ICRC_ilot/status/1808142119854276759> on Tuesday that the
hospital is no longer functional ?because so many staff members have
evacuated? and stressed the need for safe transport of the disabled,
elderly and sick.

?Not all people may be in a position to depart, and any civilian who stays
behind remains protected by international humanitarian law,? the Red Cross
added. ?The reality is that there is no safe place in Gaza.?
Some 84,000 Palestinians fled eastern Gaza City
<https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/tens-thousands-displaced-new-gaza-city-escalation>
in recent days after intense attacks by the Israeli military, with tanks
nearing the Salah al-Din road that serves as the main north-south axis in
the coastal enclave.

UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, has been cut off from
accessing a key aid distribution center in Gaza City?s al-Tuffah
neighborhood amid the fierce fighting.
Hospital director released

Muhammad Abu Salmiya, the director of al-Shifa hospital, was released by
Israel on Monday after being arrested in November while attempting to
evacuate to southern Gaza and held without charge ever since.

Back in Gaza, Abu Salmiya said
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-07-01/ty-article/.premium/israel-releases-gazas-al-shifa-hospital-director-ministers-slam-defense-shin-bet-chiefs/00000190-6d20-d499-a5bf-edbe84ad0000>
that he was brought before a judge several times ?and even there they
presented no evidence.?

He said that ?Israel arrested me as if they had caught a big fish; now it
turns out that everything was a lie and an illusion, and they inflated the
whole affair.?
The hospital director said that ?prisoners face physical abuse and mental
abuse daily? and that some detainees died during interrogation.

Muhammad Abu Salmiya, wearing dark blue scrubs, in front of Nasser Medical
Complex in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, following his release from Israeli
detention on 1 July.
Moaz Taha APA images

Abu Salmiya added that prison authorities acted vindictively against
prisoners, ?including medical staff, some of whom paid with their lives,
like Dr. Iyad al-Rantisi and Dr. Adnan al-Bursh.?

Iyad al-Rantisi, the head of obstetrics and gynecology at the Kamal Adwan
Hospital in northern Gaza, was detained by Israeli troops on 11 November.
It was revealed
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-06-18/ty-article/.premium/israel-arrested-a-senior-doctor-in-gaza-six-days-later-he-died-in-a-shin-bet-facility/00000190-27eb-d14b-a999-27eb9aea0000>
last month, following the expiration of an Israeli gag order, that he died
while being interrogated six days after his arrest.

Adnan al-Bursh, the head of orthopedics at al-Shifa hospital, was detained
by Israeli forces at Al-Awda Hospital in Jabaliya, northern Gaza, in
mid-December and died at Ofer prison
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/renowned-gaza-surgeon-killed-israeli-detention>
in the West Bank on 19 April.

His death was first reported around two weeks later when a released
detainee said that al-Bursh had been tortured and killed. The Israel Prison
Service later confirmed the date of his death.

In December, following the Israeli military?s invasion and capture of
al-Shifa hospital, independent UN human rights experts accused
<https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/12/gaza-un-expert-condemns-unrelenting-war-health-system-amid-airstrikes>
Israel of waging an ?unrelenting war? on Gaza?s health system. Israeli
forces withdrew from al-Shifa hospital in April, leaving it in ruins.

In advance of its attack, Israel had claimed there was a vast underground
complex run by Palestinian fighters under al-Shifa hospital. It even
produced an elaborate animation of the supposed multilevel command center
it claimed was the ?main headquarters for Hamas? terrorist activity.?
After the siege on al-Shifa went unchallenged by its powerful allies,
Israel didn?t bother with such labored pretexts to justify its subsequent
attacks on most of Gaza?s remaining hospitals, perpetrating them in the
open.

Gaza?s medical facilities have been repeatedly targeted and health workers,
patients and their companions have been killed, injured, arrested and
disappeared.

Ghassan Abu Sitta, a British-Palestinian surgeon who worked in Gaza in the
first weeks of the ongoing offensive, has said
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/tamara-nassar/ghassan-abu-sitta-why-israel-attacks-gaza-hospitals>
that the health sector is a primary target in Israel?s genocide in order to
expedite the ethnic cleansing of the coastal enclave.

More than 50 ?highly qualified specialists? are among the some 500 heath
workers killed since early October, according to Reuters
<https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/israel-palestinians-gaza-health/>,
costing Gaza ?a network of knowledge that will take years to rebuild.? At
least seven of those specialists were killed in hospitals.
Israel has failed to provide compelling evidence to support its allegations
that Hamas uses medical facilities as human shields, which Hamas and health
workers deny.

After his release to Gaza, Abu Salmiya vowed to return to work and rebuild
al-Shifa hospital ?as it was before and even better.?

?This hospital will be a beacon of healthcare for all our community in
Palestine and the Gaza Strip,? he said.
?Baseless and fabricated?

The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said
<https://x.com/EuroMedHR/status/1807718271090569506> that the release of
Abu Salmiya without charge ?proves beyond [a] reasonable doubt that the
[Israeli military?s] pretext for raiding and destroying al-Shifa hospital
was entirely baseless and fabricated.?

Israel alleged at the time of Abu Salmiya?s arrest that he had allowed
Hamas to exploit the hospital for armed resistance purposes.

Physicians for Human Rights Israel said
<https://x.com/PHRIsrael/status/1808084528730181637> on Tuesday that Israel
arbitrarily detained Palestinians in Gaza, ?including medical personnel,
who are protected under international law.?

Detained medical personnel ?were presented as supposed evidence that
al-Shifa hospital?s medical personnel were involved in military activities,
thereby forfeiting the hospital?s right to special protection.?

The group said that Abu Salmiya?s release and his testimony of Israel?s
widespread use of torture and humiliation, sometimes resulting in death,
?highlights the urgent need to free all detained healthcare workers and
others who were unjustly arrested and incarcerated.?

The Euro-Med Monitor compared Abu Salmiya?s experience to that of Mohammed
El Halabi <https://electronicintifada.net/tags/mohammed-el-halabi>, the
Gaza-based program director for the international charity World Vision, who
was convicted in 2022
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israel-sentences-gaza-aid-worker-12-years-after-sham-trial>
after a sham trial lasting six years over trumped up charges of funneling
resources to Hamas. Failing to secure a plea deal, Israel resorted to
convicting El Halabi on the basis of secret evidence.

Israel has attempted to manufacture cases against other senior medical
officials in Gaza.

In December, Israel released an alleged videotaped confession
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israel-forces-closure-gaza-hospitals-kills-dozens-al-shifa>
made by Ahmed al-Kahlout, the director of Kamal Adwan hospital who was
arrested at the facility days earlier.

Israel claimed that al-Kahlout admitted to being a senior figure in the
armed wing of Hamas and that the medical facility was used by the group as
a command hub.

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said at the time
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/gaza-starves-death-toll-climbs-past-20000>
that the allegedly coerced statement was ?a desperate and ridiculous
attempt? by Israel to justify its crimes, especially those against Gaza?s
health sector, including its fabricated
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/did-israel-build-bunker-under-al-shifa-hospital>
allegations
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israel-fails-show-evidence-hamas-command-center-al-shifa-hospital>
concerning al-Shifa hospital and its staff.

The release of the director of al-Shifa indicates that one of the central
propaganda claims of Israel?s military campaign in Gaza has fallen apart.

?The release of Dr. Abu Salmiya shows they have absolutely nothing against
him and al-Shifa,? Euro-Med Monitor stated.

Given the backlash in Israel following his release, Euro-Med Monitor warned
that ?the life of the al-Shifa hospital director is in critical danger? if
the Israeli military rearrests or extrajudicially kills Abu Salmiya.
Abu Salmiya?s release set off a furor in Israel, with opposition leaders
saying the government had failed and ministers and senior security
officials trading blame, according to
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/ministers-trade-blows-with-shin-bet-after-release-of-shifa-hospital-director-to-gaza/>
*The
Times of Israel*.

Israel?s domestic intelligence apparatus, the Shin Bet, said
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-07-01/ty-article/.premium/israel-releases-gazas-al-shifa-hospital-director-ministers-slam-defense-shin-bet-chiefs/00000190-6d20-d499-a5bf-edbe84ad0000>
that Abu Salmiya met ?all criteria regarding the perceived level of danger
compared to other prisoners? but said that his release ?will undergo
investigation.?

The release of such a high-profile individual would likely not have
occurred without the approval of the Shin Bet, an indication that it had
found no pretext to continue detaining him.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel?s prime minister, appeared to blame Abu
Salmiya?s release in part on a high court ruling
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israels-desert-torture-camp-faces-legal-challenge>
ordering the transfer detainees from Sde Teiman, a desert prison camp where
thousands of Palestinians have been disappeared and subjected to
ill-treatment and torture since 7 October.

The Israel Prison Service denied
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/pm-says-severe-mistake-to-free-gaza-hospital-head-panel-to-oversee-future-releases/>
that Abu Salmiya was released due to overcrowding in detention centers and
published footage of the cell in which the hospital director was held at
Nafha prison. The agency added that it does not determine which prisoners
are released.

Abu Salmiya said that he had been held in multiple facilities during his
seven months of detention.
Ben-Gvir?s mission

On Tuesday, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel?s national security minister and a
kingmaker in Netanyahu?s far-right coalition, stated
<https://x.com/itamarbengvir/status/1808031178277925263> that one of his
top goals since assuming that role was to worsen conditions for Palestinian
prisoners and accused the Shin Bet of undermining his agenda by warning
that this would lead to an explosion with regional implications.

Ben-Gvir added that after 7 October, he was able to ?finally carry out? his
mission through a number of measures including reducing prisoners? access
to showers and food. He said that his proposal to carry out the death
penalty against ?terrorists? would resolve the issue of overcrowding in
detention centers.

Palestinians who have been detained in recent months have described the
systematic use of torture including rape in Israeli detention.
Khaled Mahajneh, a Palestinian lawyer who visited the Sde Teiman prison
camp where Israel is holding people arrested in Gaza, said that the desert
facility is ?more horrific than Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo,? the notorious
prisons where American personnel tortured and humiliated detainees.

Mahajneh spoke with Muhammad Arab, a journalist detained at Sde Teiman who
was ?nearly unrecognizable after 100 days? in the facility and was ?covered
with dirt and pigeon droppings,? according to
<https://www.972mag.com/sde-teiman-prisoners-lawyer-mahajneh/> *+972
Magazine.*

The journalist testified that ?detainees are continually blindfolded and
tied up with their hands behind their backs, forced to sleep hunched over
on the floor without any bedding.?

Prisoners are in poor health due to a lack of food and access to hygiene
facilities. Arab told Mahajneh that he witnessed Israeli guards sexually
assault ?six prisoners with a stick in front of the other detainees after
they had violated prison orders.?

*The New York Times* and the UN have reported
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israels-desert-torture-camp-faces-legal-challenge>
instances of rape and other severe abuses at Sde Teiman.

Israel is currently holding
<https://www.ochaopt.org/content/humanitarian-situation-update-185-gaza-strip>
nearly 10,000 Palestinians, including around 3,400 held without charge or
trial under administrative detention orders and 1,400 held as ?unlawful
combatants.?

?These figures do not include Palestinians from Gaza who have been detained
by the Israeli military since 7 October 2023 and their number remains
unknown,? according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs.

Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet, reportedly said
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/pm-says-severe-mistake-to-free-gaza-hospital-head-panel-to-oversee-future-releases/>
in a recent letter to Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials that
detention centers meant to hold 14,000 prisoners were currently holding
21,000 people.

The contents of Bar?s letter was reported by Israel?s Channel 12 news. He
reportedly warned that the situation in the prisons ?is a danger for the
future of the country?s security,? as it would pose a liability for Israel
in international courts.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Jul  3 13:32:20 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 3 Jul 2024 10:32:20 -0700
Subject: [News] 'Israel' approved largest West Bank land seizure in over 30
 years
Message-ID: <mailman.101.1720028005.2333931.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-israel--approved-largest-west-bank-land-seizure-in-over-30>
'Israel' approved largest West Bank land seizure in over 30 years
Al Mayadeen English
July 3, 2024
------------------------------

The usurped pieces of land are located northeast of Ramallah, occupied West
Bank.
[image: e0fbe742-3fef-48ec-808f-99cfe2ca7c48.jpg]

   - New housing units seen in an occupied West Bank Israeli settlement, on
   June 18, 2023 (*AP*)

The largest seizure of land in the occupied West Bank in more than three
decades has been just approved by "Israel", according to anti-settlement
watchdog Peace Now, which could further exacerbate tensions already on the
rise since the Israeli genocide on Gaza started on October 7.

The approved seizure involves 12.7 square kilometers (nearly 5 square
miles) of land in the Jordan Valley. This, according to the group's
research, constitutes the largest single seizure approved since the 1993
Oslo Accords

Following the seizure of 8 square kilometers (about 3 square miles) of land
in the occupied West Bank in March and 2.6 square kilometers (1 square
mile) in February, today's land seizure was approved late last month but
was only made public on Wednesday.

The contiguous settlements are situated northeast of Ramallah, and the
occupation has classified them as "state lands", meaning that Palestinians
cannot own them and they can only be leased to Israelis.

*Read next: Police, settlers clash over settlement outposts amid int'l
scrutiny
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/police--settlers-clash-over-settlement-outposts-amid-int-l-s>*
Police, settlers clash over settlement outposts amid int'l scrutiny

Israeli police repeatedly clashed with settlers in the occupied West Bank
while dismantling an unauthorized settler outpost early on Wednesday,
according to video footage reviewed by *Reuters*.

The video showed police using excavators to demolish makeshift structures
at the outpost. Settlers attempted to block police access by sitting across
a road, but officers removed them forcibly, as depicted in the video.

This is happening as "Israel" faces international pressure to restrict
settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. The outpost, located in a
rural region, violates both Israeli and international laws.
Occupation and pettiness

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich revealed late Thursday that the
Security Cabinet has approved the authorization of five West Bank
settlement outposts
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-israel--greenlights-west-bank-settlement-outposts--sanction>
and the imposition of additional sanctions on the Palestinian Authority.

Smotrich mentioned that the five outposts are Evyatar, Givat Assaf, Sde
Efraim, Heletz, and Adorayim.

The announcement followed a break in the security cabinet's meeting during
which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu consulted with advisors due to
concerns that the approvals might escalate tensions with the United States.

"The Security Cabinet authorized one outpost for every country that
unilaterally recognized Palestine as a state in the last month," Smotrich
pointed out.

It is worth noting that the occupied West Bank
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-settlements-in-west-bank-hinder-palestinian-statehoo>
was divided into three administrative sections under the 1993 Oslo Accords,
with Area A managed by the Palestinian Authority, Area B under alleged
shared sovereignty, and Area C ? the largest area, accounting for around
60% of the occupied Palestinian territories ? under full Israeli
administrative and security control.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Thu Jul  4 12:28:05 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Thu, 4 Jul 2024 09:28:05 -0700
Subject: [News] Pali-Rican Solidarities: The Dizzying Parallels of Colonial
 Occupation
Message-ID: <mailman.1.1720110684.3500626.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

counterpunch.org
<https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/07/04/pali-rican-solidarities-the-dizzying-parallels-of-colonial-occupation/>
Pali-Rican Solidarities: The Dizzying Parallels of Colonial Occupation
Melinda Gonz?lez
July 4, 2024
------------------------------

Image by Vin Jack.

Whoever among you sees evil,
let him change it with his hand.If he cannot do so, then with his tongue.
If he cannot do so, then with his heart [?].

-Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)

As I sit to write this piece, bombs rain down in Rafah and all of Gaza.
Settler encroachments into the occupied West Bank intensify. Nina* sends me
a message on Instagram, a picture of Palestinian journalist, Bisan Owda and
a group of men, holding up a Puerto Rican flag. Nina is in tears. I, too,
feel them welling up in my throat. Two hundred sixty eight days. Nine
months. Seven and a half decades. One hundred twenty six years. My people
have been fighting colonial occupation. Nina* and I, who many nights stayed
up talking about the parallels between the Puerto Rican struggle and the
Native American struggle, discuss once again the parallels between
Palestine and Puerto Rico.

The parallels between Puerto Ricans and Palestinians are many ? both
occupied territories, both subject to experimentation with bombs and
medicine, both experiencing disaster capitalism, both experiencing forced
displacement, both dying ? one slowly through austerity measures and the
other rapidly through the onslaught of bombs by occupation forces. After
Hurricane Mar?a ravaged our homeland, my Puerto Rican research participants
each declared resoundingly ? ?*El desastre real es el colonialismo*.? So,
too, for Palestinians ? the real disaster is colonialism.

Since the onslaught of escalated violence against Palestinians by the
Israeli occupation in October 2023, officials one after the other, have
declared that ?there are no innocent civilians? in Gaza and all of occupied
Palestine. The characterization of Palestinian youth by occupation Prime
Minister Netanyahu as ?children of darkness? highlights a widespread
misrepresentation of all Palestinians as terrorists and ignores the ongoing
history of the occupation of Palestine and the legacy of the Nakba in 1948
and numerous instances of occupied forces? aggression against the
Palestinian people. The characterization of Palestinians as terrorists is
corroborated by the U.S. government, the occupation?s greatest ally in the
ongoing colonization, displacement, and genocide of Palestinians. As early
as October 8, 1997, the U.S. Secretary of State designated multiple groups
advocating for Palestinian liberation as Foreign Terrorist Organizations
<https://www.state.gov/foreign-terrorist-organizations/>(FTOs), including
the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF), Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and HAMAS.

Palestinians are not the first people seeking liberation from military
occupation that have been labeled by the U.S. government as terrorists ? a
label intended to dehumanize and justify genocide. Since at least the
1950s, through the covert FBI program COINTELPRO, the U.S. government has
undermined the Puerto Rican liberation
<https://vault.fbi.gov/cointel-pro/puerto-rican-groups/cointel-pro-puerto-rican-groups-part-1-of-11/view>
movement by classifying its activists and advocates as terrorists, thereby
criminalizing their struggle and justifying continued state repression. As
early as October 24, 1935, the U.S. backed police force opened fire on a
group of students at the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras, resulting
in the deaths of four young Puerto Rican nationalists. In the infamous 1937
Ponce Massacre, the U.S. government killed 19 Puerto Ricans and injured
more than 200. In 1948, the same year as the Nakba, students protesting the
Ley de la Mordaza (Gag Law), which suppressed Puerto Rican independence
movements, faced violent crackdowns by police, resulting in numerous
injuries and arrests. In the 1960s and 1970s, Puerto Ricans along with
other students across the world protested against the Vietnam War and were
met with military and police repression and violence. From the 1990s and
into the present, students protesting austerity measures, tuition hikes,
and university closures have been met with violent confrontations with
police, who have used tear gas and batons to disperse students, arresting
numerous student activists.

Repression of Puerto Ricans does not only occur on the archipelago, but
extends to the diaspora. For example, in the 1990s, a teacher at a Puerto
Rican alternative high school in Chicago, IL was revealed to be an FBI
infiltrator who later testified against nationalist activists, labeling
them as terrorists (Ramos-Zayas 2004: 31, quoting Oclander 1995). Taken
together, all these repressive tactics are part of a broader historical
process where Puerto Ricans have been racialized and constructed as
?enemies of the State,? as ?anti-American,? and, most dangerously, as
?terrorists? (Ramos-Zayas 2004: 35). Media representations play a powerful
role in this, categorizing some Puerto Ricans as ?deserving? American
citizens, those proving their worth through upward mobility, and others as
?undeserving? ones, deemed criminals (Ramos-Zayas 2004: 35, citing herself
1997; 2003). Similarly, the everyday programs of Puerto Rican nationalist
activists within the diaspora are branded as un-American terrorist
activities, legitimizing their criminalization and producing unequal
citizen-subjects (Ramos-Zayas 2004: 40-41). The possibility of a free and
independent Puerto Rican nation continues to be undermined through FBI and
CIA programs (Bosque-Perez 2006; Caban 2005), which use violence and
surveillance to undermine local organizations on the archipelago that are
aimed at self-determination, including the bombing of multiple independence
party headquarters (Caban 2005), the murdering of independence leaders and
their children, including the assassination of Filiberto Ojeda-Rios on
September 23, 2005 (a date which honors Puerto Rico?s independence struggle
against the Spanish Crown), and the incarceration of Puerto Rican
independence leaders and activists well into the present
<https://theintercept.com/2018/05/31/university-of-puerto-rico-protests/>
(Bosque-Perez 2006; Caban 2005; Lopez-River and Headley 1989).

Educational facilities have been a primary site of attack by both the U.S.
government in Puerto Rico and by occupation forces in Palestine.
Palestinian schools and universities often face accusations of fostering
terrorism, and students and teachers are subject to surveillance and
arrests under the pretext of security concerns. For example, Israeli
occupation forces have bombed numerous UN schools throughout Gaza claiming
that HAMAS is hiding in the schools, killing dozens
<https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/dozens-killed-in-israeli-strike-on-un-school-building-in-gaza>
of teachers, students, and families sheltering there. These actions serve
to delegitimize Palestinian resistance and to portray the struggle for
self-determination as inherently violent and terroristic. As with Puerto
Rico, this labeling extends beyond the educational sphere, permeating media
representations and public discourse, and thus justifying ongoing military
occupation and repression.

>From the viewpoint of the present moment, then, we can see a prevailing
blueprint for the dehumanization of occupied peoples by their occupiers,
one that serves to justify their ongoing disenfranchisement, displacement,
and death. Taking stock historically, it is striking how rooted, enduring,
and analogous the parallels are: occupied by the U.S. and Israel,
respectively, Puerto Rico and Palestine have been subject to
settler-colonial rule for 126 and 76 years. Both occupations have been
marked by political and economic control with military presence and mass
displacement of indigenous populations. Both occupied territories have
limited self-governance and lack full sovereignty. While organizations like
the PLO and Hamas have come into power through elections in Palestine,
neither organization has had the ability to decide Palestine?s political
future without Israeli intervention. Similarly, while Puerto Rico has
limited self-governance and elections, the local government is often
beholden to the whims of whatever the U.S. Congress decides, and the
archipelago is subject to U.S. federal law without full representation,
meaning that while Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, they do not have the
right to vote for the U.S. president if they are residing in Puerto Rico.
Like Puerto Ricans living in the U.S., Palestinians residing within the
borders of Israel qualify for citizenship but have limited civil and
political representation in government, right down to something as concrete
as infrastructure, for example, unequal access to Israeli roads, while
those living in Occupied Palestine are subject to mass policing and
detention. Furthermore, Israeli control of the Palestinian economy through
restrictions on trade, movement, and access to resources has resulted in
economic dependence on international aid. Similarly, the Puerto Rican
economy has been shaped and hampered by U.S. interests, leading to mass
austerity measures, economic dependence intended to stifle the attainment
of political sovereignty, and mass debt due to incentivized programs for
non-Puerto Rican investors. Symbolically, the Palestinian and Puerto Rican
flags were both outlawed in their respective territories and flying them
has become a symbol of resistance. Both Palestine and Puerto Rico, then,
have had ongoing movements for independence, which were and continue to be
met with violent resistance from their occupiers.

*The license to take license: occupation and experimentation*

The histories of U.S. military testing on Puerto Ricans and Israeli
military testing on Palestinians reveal further parallels, in this case the
disturbing use of colonized and occupied populations for experimental
purposes. In Puerto Rico, the U.S. military used the island of Vieques
extensively for naval training exercises, including the detonation of bombs
and the release of toxic substances, leading to severe environmental
contamination and significant health problems among the local population.
This testing, which spanned several decades, resulted in high rates of
cancer and other serious illnesses among Vieques residents, highlighting
the exploitation of a marginalized population that lacked political power
to challenge such actions effectively. The legacy of these actions
underscores both the basic underlying attitudes of colonialism and the many
ethical violations inherent in using a territory and its people as a
testing ground for military purposes (Zavestoski and Ag?ero 2004).

Similarly, allegations have emerged regarding the use of Palestinians as
subjects for military and medical testing by Israeli forces. Reports
suggest that during periods of heightened conflict, such as the Intifadas
and various military operations in Gaza, new military technologies and
crowd control methods have been tested on Palestinian civilians, including
advanced surveillance technologies and crowd control weapons. Additionally,
there have been accusations of Israeli pharmaceutical companies conducting
drug trials on Palestinian patients without proper informed consent. These
actions are facilitated by the ongoing occupation, which has left
Palestinians with limited sovereignty and political power, making them
particularly vulnerable to exploitation. The same could be said for Puerto
Rico: in addition to knowing, but indirect biological harm, with slow
consequences, the U.S. government carried out knowing, direct, permanent
biological harm, in the form of sterilizing one-third of Puerto Rican
women, from 1930 to 1970, without their informed consent. Both cases
exemplify the ethical and human rights concerns associated with using
occupied and colonized populations for experimental purposes, reflecting
broader patterns of military and political dominance over marginalized
groups (Amnesty International 2020; Physicians for Human Rights-Israel
2015). And both cases point to genocidal effort: either through
circumventing biological reproduction from the start or through all-out
war. Both are bent on the control and, when expedient, the extermination of
dehumanized civilians.

*Catastrophes exploited and exploited yet again: disaster capitalism,
displacement, and beyond*

The violations attendant on colonialism and active occupations do not stop
at social and biological labeling and control. They extend to encompass?to
harm?the health of the economies of the occupied lands in question, as
well. For instance, both Puerto Rico and Palestine have experienced a
crushing form of disaster capitalism, or the exploitation of crises for
economic gain, leading to significant displacement and disenfranchisement
of local populations. In Puerto Rico, the aftermath of Hurricane Maria and
the financial oversight imposed by policies like the Puerto Rico Oversight,
Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA), have facilitated both
privatization and austerity measures, a double-sided baton that brutally
exacerbates inequality and help drives out-migration. Acts 20 and 22
incentivized and attracted external investors, further displacing local
communities. In Palestine, the ongoing blockade of Gaza, violent repression
of protests like the overwhelmingly peaceful 2018 Great March of Return,
and settlement expansion have similarly led to economic deprivation and
forced displacement. Both regions experience international interventions
prioritizing profit over local needs, yet the contexts differ: Puerto Rico
faces economic policies under U.S. colonial rule, while Palestine contends
with illegal military occupation and systematic violence by Israeli
occupation forces. Despite these differences, both cases illustrate how
external actors exploit crises to impose neoliberal reforms, deepening
existing inequalities, doubling down on existing displacements, as in the
Great March, and catalyzing new displacements with free market abandon, all
the while undermining local resources, life force, biological integrity,
and collective resilience.

In Puerto Rico, PROMESA in combination with the influx of wealthy
non-residents buying property after Hurricane Maria have led to significant
displacement, including via traditional gentrification but by no means
being limited to that. Since 2016, for instance, over 500,000 Puerto Ricans
have left the archipelago due to economic hardship, the closure of over 300
schools, austerity measures that have raised tuition and the local cost of
living, and a lack of medical infrastructure to deal with health crises
(Census Bureau 2020; Rosario-Ramos et al. 2020). Puerto Rican youth
struggle to find employment, obtain affordable and timely education, and
are faced with an uncertain future in their homeland, many feeling forced
to leave as a means of survival.

Since 2016, over 11,000 Palestinians have been displaced in the most blunt
object of ways, due to settlers demolishing Palestinian homes and
appropriating their lands. And since October 2023, the genocidal actions by
the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) against Palestinians in Gaza have
resulted in roughly 1.7 million Palestinians being displaced across Gaza
(UNRWA; Human Rights Watch; OCHA; Al Jazeera). Every university in
Palestine has been destroyed by the Israeli occupation since late 2023 and
Palestinian youth lack access to education, healthcare, housing, and food,
while having bombs rain down on them on a daily basis.

The systematic targeting of youth as a form of dispossession and control
are the law of occupation and an apparent tool of genocide and forced
displacement. In Puerto Rico, historical actions, such as the U.S.
government?s placement of Puerto Rican youth in Indian boarding schools,
aimed to suppress cultural identity and impose Americanization ? another
form of stifling not just self-determination efforts but the space to
imagine such efforts in the first place. Today, ongoing austerity measures
regularly threaten university education, forcing students into extended
academic paths due to class shortages and financial constraints. Further,
the closure of hundreds of schools threaten their futures and the futures
of motivated students to come.

In Palestine, the situation is even more dire. Schools are routinely
targeted and destroyed by Israeli forces under the pretext of security
concerns, severely limiting educational opportunities for Palestinian
children. It is well reported that the Israeli occupation forces
specifically target Palestinian youth ? Netanyahu?s ?children of darkness??
shooting them, maiming their limbs, and detaining them in prisons. Annually
about 500-700 Palestinian youth are detained
<https://www.dci-palestine.org/children_in_israeli_detention> by the
Israeli occupation, freedom out of sight. The deliberate targeting of
Palestinian youth
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/02/gaza-palestinian-children-killed-idf-israel-war>
underscores a systematic effort to undermine the future generations?
ability to resist occupation and assert their national identity.

In 2023, we were still uncovering the bones of massacred Native American
youth in the U.S. For how many more centuries, will we be uncovering the
mass graves of Palestinian youth?

In examining the shared experiences of Puerto Rico and Palestine under
colonial occupation, we see clear and unnerving parallels in their
struggles against dehumanization, displacement, and exploitation. From
historical mislabeling as terrorists to ongoing military occupations
enabling experimentation and disaster capitalism, Puerto Ricans and
Palestinians face extensive injustices by colonial design. Whether in
Palestine, Puerto Rico, Congo, Sudan, Hawai?i, Haiti or elsewhere, colonial
extractivism and violence persist effectively unchecked. The labeling of
indigenous peoples as once savages and now terrorists while their lands are
seized and their lives are taken captures, in a single stroke, the
brutality of colonial occupation. As Palestinians raise the Puerto Rican
flag in Gaza, and Puerto Ricans march on the archipelago
<https://www.npr.org/2024/01/19/1225722287/why-puerto-rico-has-such-deep-support-for-the-palestinian-cause>and
across the diaspora adorned in keffiyehs and Palestinian flags, they
communicate to the world that the true disaster is colonial occupation. In
alignment with the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)?s words, they see
evil and don?t look away. Parallel histories of injustice are matched with
parallel shows of mutual support born of knowledge sharing and shared
experiences. Here, I can both point to the empirical record and speak from
personal experience when I say that the Pali-Rican solidarity is strong and
ongoing. It and interrelated abolitionist struggles around the planet are
being expressed through pen, tongue, and heart. If the Prophet (PBUH)
suggests an obligation to change evil, then heeding parallel histories of
colonial outrage is one important starting point.

*Dr. Melinda Gonz?lez*
<https://gufaculty360.georgetown.edu/s/contact/003Hp00002j1NruIAE/melinda-gonz%C3%A1lez?asPublic=true>
is a Puerto Rican scholar and poet, who was born and raised in Newark, New
Jersey, with ancestral home in the lush mountains of Moca, Puerto Rico. She
is a socio-cultural anthropologist who focuses on environmental
anthropology/disaster studies. She is currently an Assistant Professor at
the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Thu Jul  4 12:39:03 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Thu, 4 Jul 2024 09:39:03 -0700
Subject: [News] 200+ rockets,
 swarm of drones: Hezbollah avenges cmdr. assassination
Message-ID: <mailman.5.1720111948.3500626.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/200--rockets--swarm-of-drones--hezbollah-avenges-cmdr--assas>
200+ rockets, swarm of drones: Hezbollah avenges cmdr. assassination
Al Mayadeen English
July 4, 2024
------------------------------

Israeli media say Hezbollah's extensive strikes led to the closure of
several roads, the outbreak of fires in open areas, and power outages in
the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.
[image: bef9a6d1-349e-49c0-ac73-5c513c3f080e.jpg]

   - Smoke billows after rockets fired from Lebanon hit the Upper al-Jalil
   region in occupied Palestine on July 4, 2024. (*AFP*)

The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon - Hezbollah confirmed Thursday that its
fighters targeted several Israeli military sites with over 200 rockets and
a swarm of drones.

Hezbollah announced a series of operations that its Resistance fighters
carried out in support of Gaza and the Israeli attacks on Lebanese towns
and villages.

It is noteworthy that the Islamic Resistance's operations today targeted
new Israeli military sites in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, Upper
al-Jalil area, deep inside al-Jalil, Safad, and Nahariya.

The Lebanese group said its fighters bombarded a newly established Israeli
position in the settlement of Kfar Blum with Katyusha rockets in response
to the Israeli aggression on the town of Shebaa, which resulted in the
injury of a civilian woman.

Later, Hezbollah confirmed that it bombarded, with over 200 rockets of
various types, the newly-established headquarters of the 91st Division in
the Ayelet Barracks, as well as each of the headquarters of the 7th Armored
Brigade in Katsavia Barracks, the Armored Battalion of the 7th Brigade in
the Gamla Barracks, the 210th Division (Golan Division) in Nafah Base, and
the Artillery Regiment of Yarden Barracks' 210th Division.

The Resistance pointed out that this operation comes as part of the
response to the attack and assassination carried out by the Israeli
occupation force in the al-Haouch area, southwest of the Lebanese city of
Tyre.

Hezbollah mourned Wednesday one of its leaders, martyr Mohammad Nehme Nasser
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/hezbollah-leader-mourns-a-commander-following-israeli-strike>,
"Hajj Abu Nehme", on the path to al-Quds. Nasser was killed alongside his
assistant in an Israeli airstrike that targeted al-Haouch.

Also in response to Hajj Abu Nehme's assassination, Hezbollah announced on
Thursday that its fighters launched an aerial attack with a swarm of
one-way drones on the newly-established headquarters of the 91st Division
in the Ayelet Barracks, as well as each of the headquarters of the 7th
Armored Brigade in Katsavia Barracks, the Northern Area Command in Dadu
base, the 810th Hermon Brigade in Maale Golani Barracks, and the Golani
Brigade and the Egoz Unit in the Shraga Barracks.

Additionally, the aerial attack targeted the Northern Area Mishar
intelligence base and the permanent main base of the 146th Ilania Division.

Hezbollah's fighters already launched Wednesday four operations against
Israeli military sites and soldiers along the border with occupied
Palestine in response to the assassination of Hajj Abu Nehme
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/mohammad-nasser--a-leader-who-battled-injuries-to-command-re>
.

In the same context, the Lebanese Resistance group said its fighters
bombarded the Roueissat al-Alam site in the occupied Lebanese Kfar Chouba
Hills with a heavy Burkan rocket, which hit the Israeli site directly and
caused fires, confirming the destruction of parts of the site and
inflicting confirmed casualties.

The Resistance fighters of Hezbollah also bombarded the Israeli al-Marj and
al-Baghdadi sites with heavy Burkan rockets, hitting them directly?.

The Israeli Bayyad Blida site was also targeted with a Burkan rocket.
'We have lost the North': Israeli media

Israeli media reported Thursday a difficult incident in the occupied Syrian
Golan Heights, where an Israeli soldier was killed and several others were
injured in a wide-ranging double attack by Hezbollah targeting the Golan
and al-Jalil, commenting, "We have lost the North."

The media mentioned that the Israeli occupation military evacuated several
wounded soldiers from the Golan to Rambam Hospital in Haifa and Ziv Medical
Center in Safad via military helicopters.

Israeli media cited a security source as saying that Hezbollah carried out
extensive attacks with more than 100 rockets and launched at least 10
drones from Lebanon toward "Israel", causing the sirens to sound
continuously for an entire hour.
Fires and power outages in Golan Heights

The source mentioned that Hezbollah's extensive strikes led to the closure
of several roads, the outbreak of fires in open areas, and power outages in
the Golan Heights.

*Yedioth Ahronoth* said that 25 firefighting teams are struggling to
extinguish 10 fires that broke out in the Golan Heights and Upper al-Jalil
following Hezbollah's attacks.

According to Israeli media, sirens also sounded in several settlements in
northern occupied Palestine, such as Kiryat Shmona, Tel Hai, Beit Hillel,
and Sde Nehemia fearing drone infiltration from Lebanon, prompting tens of
thousands of settlers to rush into shelters and fortified places.

In addition, train services from Haifa to Nahariya have been suspended due
to the situation.

Meanwhile, Israeli Army radio announced direct hits on two buildings north
of Akka. Israeli media also reported that one person was seriously injured
due to a rocket hitting a shopping complex in Akka.

The media reported that Hezbollah has widened its range of fire, causing
sirens to sound not only in settlements in northern occupied Palestine but
also in the Amakim area near the city of al-Nasirah in the al-Jalil region.

*Read more: 'Israel' assassinates Hezbollah leaders to conceal strategic
failure
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-israel--assassinates-hezbollah-leaders-to-conceal-strategic>*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Thu Jul  4 13:03:24 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Thu, 4 Jul 2024 10:03:24 -0700
Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?Through_the_eyes_of_the_blindfolded=3A_A_look_a?=
	=?utf-8?q?t_Israel=E2=80=99s_violation_of_Palestinian_human_rights?=
Message-ID: <mailman.9.1720112684.3500626.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

 Through the eyes of the blindfolded: A look at Israel?s violation of
Palestinian human rights
By Samah Jabr <https://english.palinfo.com/?p=250625>

Thursday 4-July-2024 -
https://english.palinfo.com/opinion_articles/through-the-eyes-of-the-blindfolded-a-look-at-israels-violation-of-palestinian-human-rights/

Many disturbing videos of the abuse of blindfolded Palestinians have
recently surfaced on social media. One of these shows Israeli soldiers in
the occupied West Bank forcing blindfolded Palestinians in detention to
listen to a children?s song, ?Meni Meni Meni Mamtera,? continuously for
eight hours. This video has gone viral, sparking a TikTok trend in which
Israelis mock detained Palestinians by reenacting the scene. Even Yinon
Magal, a former member of the Knesset and a television show host, has
participated in this activity with his own children.

Having worked with Palestinian victims of torture for almost two decades, I
have witnessed firsthand the severe consequences of such practices.
Blindfolding and hooding are common tactics used by the Israeli army,
police, and interrogators during detention and interrogation. Often
conducted in conjunction with torture, these practices make it nearly
impossible for victims to identify their torturers, thus hindering
prosecution efforts. These actions have become increasingly brazen,
frequently occurring in front of cameras during the genocidal acts
currently taking place in Gaza. Many detainees report being cut off from
their surroundings for the majority, if not the entirety, of their
detention. This reprehensible practice raises significant legal, ethical
and psychological concerns.

Blindfolding, as a method of sensory deprivation, is particularly
pernicious. It has profound psychological and physiological consequences ?
both short-term and long-term ? including damage to the eye, injuries,
anxiety, panic attacks, disorientation, cognitive problems and
hallucinations. Sensory deprivation exacerbates the power imbalance between
the blindfolded victim and the interrogator, amplifying the victim?s
feelings of vulnerability, fear and powerlessness. By blocking the capacity
to see, the victim becomes more reliant on other senses, which intensifies
physical pain and the impact of the interrogation.

Blindfolding creates a psychological environment of private darkness and
isolation. The inability to see one?s surroundings fosters a sense of
disconnection from reality, making victims more susceptible to manipulation.

This isolation can lead to heightened stress and despair, increasing the
likelihood of the individual providing information or complying with the
interrogator?s demands. These findings are consistent with our clinical
understanding that sensory deprivation can lead to significant mental
health issues and traumatic consequences.

This tactic also serves to dehumanize the victim. Interrogators block the
victims? visual connection with their surroundings and with the
interrogators themselves, diminishing the victims? sense of personal
identity, subjectivity, and agency; making it easier for their
interrogators to exert control. The method increases the victim?s sense of
disorientation, objectification and suggestibility. Such deliberate sensory
deprivation aims to create an environment where the victim is more likely
to succumb to pressure during interrogation.

Several of the victims of torture I examined who had experienced weeks of
sensory deprivation during detention, including blindfolding, have
described dissociative symptoms. Victims may experience out-of-body
experiences, a sense of unreality, and profound detachment from their
surroundings; these symptoms can persist even when the visual deprivation
ends and can have a profound impact on their mental health. Others became
afraid of darkness and are unable to sleep spontaneously.

While Israelis may argue that blindfolding has practical security
applications, we know that extreme psychological tactics often result in
unreliable information. Under duress, individuals are more likely to
provide false or exaggerated statements.

I believe, indeed, that blindfolding serves to shield Israeli soldiers from
the Palestinian gaze and from any potential for eye contact with the
individuals they are interrogating. This separation from the human aspect
of the Israeli?s actions is a psychological defense mechanism, allowing
soldiers to distance themselves emotionally from the impact of their
behavior. This emotional detachment can contribute to a broader process of
dehumanization through which soldiers become desensitized to the human cost
of their actions. Studies on military psychology indicate that such
detachment can lead to increased aggression and a greater likelihood of
committing human rights abuses.

It is crucial to recognize that the use of blindfolding and torture is
widely defined as a violation of human rights. But we cannot unsee what we
have seen, even when Israel is trying to blindfold the world to its
genocidal acts and to handcuff the international public from condemning
these acts. Palestinians call upon the global community to fix its gaze at
Israel and hold accountable those who perpetuate such practices. Only
through addressing these violations can we protect our insight into human
rights and maintain a vision for a better world.

*-Samah Jabr MD is a psychiatrist and psychotherapist; the Head of the
Mental Health Unit, Palestine Ministry of Health; and Assistant Clinical
Professor, George Washington University, Washington DC, USA. She is also
the author of Derri?re les fronts (Behind the Frontlines). Her article
appeared in MEMO.*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Thu Jul  4 15:31:00 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Thu, 4 Jul 2024 12:31:00 -0700
Subject: [News] US presidential candidates competing to appease 'Israel':
 Al-Houthi
Message-ID: <mailman.11.1720121537.3500626.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/us-presidential-candidates-competing-to-appease--israel---al>
US presidential candidates competing to appease 'Israel': Al-Houthi
Al Mayadeen English
July 4, 2024
------------------------------

Yemeni leader Sayyed Abdul-Malik Badreddine al-Houthi underlines that the
US presidential candidates are competing for who supports the Israeli
occupation more.
[image: 4dfe4b0c-6b8f-4241-a2f1-e0a1ca632dff.jpg]

   - Yemeni leader Sayyed Abdul-Malik Badreddine al-Houthi during a
   televised public address on July 4, 2024, in Sanaa, Yemen (Al Mayadeen
   Screengrab)

The United States faced immense difficulty in its efforts to halt Yemeni
military operations
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/yaf-iraqi-joint-operation-hits-vital-israeli-target-in-haifa>
at sea, and facing the operations was not an easy task, the leader of the
Yemeni Ansar Allah movement, Sayyed Abdul Malik Badreddine al-Houthi, said
on Thursday

Sayyed al-Houthi revealed during his weekly address that this week's
support operations for the Yemeni front included 12 operations as part of
the fourth escalation phase. He noted that last week's operations involved
the use of 20 ballistic and cruise missiles, a drone, and a boat across the
maritime theater of operations.

Discussing the targets, al-Houthi mentioned that six ships were targeted,
bringing the total number of ships attacked since the beginning of the
support operations to 162. "The Americans recognize the strength of our
strikes and have acknowledged that we have forced their entire naval fleet
to retreat, a valuable lesson for them," al-Houthi asserted.

He further explained, "The Americans are re-evaluating their capabilities,
tactics, and methods of combating and confronting this level of threat and
danger."

Al-Houthi also highlighted the ongoing challenges faced by US naval
warships in the Red Sea, stating, "American warships in the Red Sea are
being chased by missiles and drones, and they are fleeing at the highest
speed they can muster."

He concluded by affirming the resilience and advancement of Yemeni forces,
"Our army and people remain steadfast, and the development of our
capabilities continues to surpass and counter enemy technologies. The
enemies have acknowledged the advancement of our missiles, drones, and
naval boats due to the intensity and precision of recent strikes."
Silence serving Israelis

The lack of engagement and concern regarding serious events within Arab and
Islamic countries is a crisis afflicting both communities, al-Houthi said.

"One of the most dangerous points of weakness that the enemies count in
their favor in the reality of Arabs and Muslims is the weakness of
interaction and interest in serious events," al-Houthi stressed.

Al-Houthi expressed concern over the diminishing attention to the prolonged
aggression on Gaza, noting that many people lose interest in following
events and reacting to them over time. In that light, he emphasized, "What
is happening in Palestine is not ordinary news that one can get used to
hearing and remain indifferent to. It is a crime of genocide against an
oppressed and Muslim people, a horrific and criminal bloodbath
unparalleled."

Recalling the atrocities committed by the Israeli occupation forces,
Al-Houthi cited a particularly heinous act where Israeli soldiers killed an
elderly woman by running her over with tanks in front of her relatives in
the al-Shujaiya neighborhood. "The Israeli enemy boasts about its horrific
crimes, and it is unfortunate that they are completely ignored by Arab
regimes," he said.
Arab regimes cater to the occupation

Sayyed Al-Houthi also criticized Arab governments for their stance toward
Resistance movements in Palestine, Lebanon, and Yemen, labeling the
resistance as terrorists while ignoring the criminal acts of the Israeli
occupation.

"The Arab regimes still classify the fighters in Palestine, Lebanon, and
Yemen as terrorists, while the criminal terrorism of the enemy in Palestine
does not fall under the classifications or positions of the Arab regimes,"
he stated.

He mentioned that the Arab League recently reaffirmed its classification of
Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. "It was expected that the official
Arab regimes would revoke the offensive classifications against the
fighters in Palestine, at the very least," he remarked.

Al-Houthi condemned the way Arab media described the Israeli occupation,
stating, "The Arab regimes in their media respect the enemy entity in their
descriptions and carefully choose expressions so as not to offend the
Zionist enemies."
The Situation in Gaza

Discussing the dire situation in Gaza, al-Houthi highlighted the severe
measures of starvation imposed by the occupation. "It is one of the most
severe types of injustice and the greatest violations of human rights," he
said.

He explained that since the enemy occupied the Rafah border crossing, even
the minimal entry of aid has ceased. "The tragedy is immense concerning
starvation, and the enemy threatens the lives of 300,000 children and
nearly 700,000 Palestinians who are in great suffering," al-Houthi
elaborated.

On the situation in the West Bank, Al-Houthi accused the occupation of
trying to impose a new reality by tightening restrictions on Palestinians
and disregarding previous agreements. "The occupation's approval of five
new settlements in the West Bank is an attempt to impose a new reality and
a disregard for previous agreements," he pointed out.
Condemnation of US support for 'Israel'

Al-Houthi went on to strongly criticize the continued support and
cooperation of the United States with the Israeli occupation. "The
Americans continue to support and cooperate with the enemy entity,"
al-Houthi stressed.

"Presidential candidates in America compete in their election campaigns
over who is more loyal to Zionism and more supportive of the enemy," he
went on to say.

Further emphasizing the U.S. role in the conflict, Al-Houthi pointed out,
"The American is a primary partner and contributor to the enemy's
criminality, occupation, and aggression, as shown by Biden's statement."

He referred to a statement by President Biden, asserting, "Biden's claim
that they saved 'Israel' shows the impact and extent of Operation al-Aqsa
Flood that shook the enemy."

Moreover, al-Houthi discussed the significant repercussions of Operation
al-Aqsa Flood, noting the chaos and widespread fear it caused among
Israelis. "As a result of the comprehensive Zionist confusion and panic
following the Al-Aqsa Flood operation, the Americans took the lead and
appeared to be fully managing the battle," he remarked.
Resistance operations impactful

Highlighting the resilience of Palestinian fighters, al-Houthi stated, "The
Resistance fighters in Gaza continue with full effectiveness, impact, and
steadfastness in confronting the enemy forces on all battlefronts."

He also noted a significant development this week, where the Resistance
broadcasted a video showing the continuation of military manufacturing in
light of the unfolding war. "The continuation of manufacturing is an
additional important proof of the resistance's ability to endure and adapt
to the conditions of the battle," al-Houthi added.

Praising the diversity and creativity of the resistance's tactics, he
concluded, "The variety of resistance methods and their ingenuity in
inflicting damage on the enemy soldiers demonstrate their effectiveness,
cohesion, and steadfastness."
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Thu Jul  4 20:36:33 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Thu, 4 Jul 2024 17:36:33 -0700
Subject: [News] Euro-Med: Israel uses water as a weapon of its genocide crime
Message-ID: <mailman.17.1720139881.3500626.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

 Euro-Med: Israel uses water as a weapon of its genocide crime

Thursday 4-July-2024 - https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/07/04/321556/
<https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/07/04/321556/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/07/04/321556/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/07/04/321556/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/07/04/321556/#>
+ -

GENEVA, (PIC)

Israel is using water as another weapon against Palestinian civilians by
deliberately reducing the amount of water available to them, especially
potable water sources, imposing famine, and purposefully causing the death
of over 2.3 million people as part of its genocide war, the Euro-Med Human
Rights Monitor revealed in a new press release issued on Thursday.

The Euro-Med field team observed significant damage to a desalination plant
in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, south of Gaza City, as a result of direct
Israeli targeting. This also resulted in the killing of a young man who was
filling a gallon with water and the wounding of other individuals.

The station, which provided services to at least 50,000 people in several
nearby residential neighborhoods, sustained significant damage after being
bombed by the Israeli army with a GBU missile that broke through multiple
stories and detonated on the first floor.

As summer temperatures rise, the people of the Gaza Strip are facing
significant challenges in getting access to water, the statement reads.

Estimates show that since October of last year, the per capita share of
water in the Gaza Strip has decreased by 97% due to the extensive
destruction of water infrastructure. As a result of the war, the per capita
share of water in the Strip has decreased to between 3 and 15 liters per
day, while in 2022 it was approximately 84.6 liters per day.

Continued destruction and devastation by the Israeli army renders the Gaza
Strip unlivable, particularly after destroying nine out of ten water tanks
and half of the water networks, or 350 km out of 700 km.

According to UN estimates, about 96 percent of the population in the Gaza
Strip (2.15M people) face high levels of acute food insecurity. While the
whole territory is classified in Emergency (IPC Phase 4), over 495,000
people (22 percent of the population) are still facing catastrophic levels
of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 5). In this phase, households
experience an extreme lack of food, starvation, and exhaustion of coping
capacities.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Fri Jul  5 12:02:57 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Fri, 5 Jul 2024 09:02:57 -0700
Subject: [News] The Unbelievable Stories About the Children of Gaza
Message-ID: <mailman.19.1720196116.3500626.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

counterpunch.org
<https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/07/05/the-unbelievable-stories-about-the-children-of-gaza/>
The Unbelievable Stories About the Children of Gaza
Vijay Prashad
July 5, 2024
------------------------------

Image by Mohammed Ibrahim.

The story should not be real. It was the morning of January 29, 2004. The
Israeli military had already bombed substantial parts of the affluent Tel
al-Hawa neighborhood in Gaza City, including?in October 2023?the totality
of the Gaza City campus of the Islamic University of Gaza. Following a
warning from the Israeli military, seven members of a family got into a Kia
Picanto to flee southward. But the Israeli bombing had leveled a nearby
high-rise, so the car had to go north before it could go south.

Not far down the road, the car came under fire from Israeli military
vehicles, including Merkava tanks. According to a remarkable investigation
<https://forensic-architecture.org/investigation/the-killing-of-hind-rajab> by
UK-based research agency Forensic Architecture, 355 bullets were fired into
the car.

One of those in the car, a six-year-old child named Hind Rajab, called
emergency workers. ?They are dead,? she says
<https://x.com/PalestineRCS/status/1759285054369304869> of her family
members. ?The tank is next to me. It?s almost night. I am scared. Come get
me, please.? The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) sent an ambulance to
rescue her.

Two weeks later, on February 10, Hind Rajab?s dead body was found near the
bodies of her family, along with those of the paramedics (Ahmed al-Madhoun
and Yusuf al-Zeino) sent to save her. ?The tank is next to me,? says the
young girl on a tape saved by the PRCS, but both the U.S. State Department
and the Israeli military say
<https://www.state.gov/?post_type=state_briefing&%3Bp=92333> that no tanks
operated in the area at that time. It is the word of a murdered child
against the world?s most dangerous and disingenuous governments.

The murder of Hind Rajab and her family shocked the world (Hind Rajab?s
father was killed <https://x.com/jeremyscahill/status/1807868423092789298> in
a separate attack in late June). When the students at Columbia University
occupied their administration building, they named it Hind Rajab Hall; the
singer Macklemore released a song
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgDQyFeBBIo&rco=1> in May called ?Hind?s
Hall.?

*Everyday Violence*

June 14: One child was killed <https://english.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/145043> by
Israeli airstrikes in Zeitoun (Gaza City).

June 22: Two children were killed
<https://english.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/145200> by Israeli airstrikes in
Shujaiya (Gaza City).

June 25: Two children were killed
<https://english.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/145278> by Israeli fire on al-Wahda
Street, near Al-Shifa Hospital (Gaza City).

June 25: Three children were killed
<https://english.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/145271> by Israeli airstrikes in the
Maghazi refugee camp.

Each of these stories is about precious children, most of whom have not
even reached the age of 10. Some of these children lived through the
barbarous Israeli bombardment of 2014 when over 3,000 children had been
killed. Sitting in the homes of families in Gaza City and Khan Younis in
the aftermath of that war, I heard story after story about children killed
and children maimed (Maha, paralyzed; Ahmed, blinded?my notebook a mess of
loss and sorrow). As the bombs continued to fall in 2014, Pernille
Ironside, then-chief of the Gaza office of the UN Children?s Fund (UNICEF)
said <https://news.un.org/en/story/2014/08/475622>that 373,000 children
needed ?immediate psycho-social first aid.? There were simply not enough
counselors to help the children, most of whom are now hardened because of
the ugliness of occupation and war.

The violence that they experience has become a daily affair. But this kind
of violence can never be mundane. ?I am scared,? said Hind Rajab. I
remember meeting a little boy who was playing with a football on the
streets of al-Mughraqa. His father, who was showing me around, told me that
the boy was not able to sleep, but would stay awake at night and cry. That
was in 2014. That boy must now be in his early twenties. He might not be
alive.

*One or Two Legs*

An Al Jazeera interactive website
<https://interactive.aljazeera.com/aje/2024/israel-war-on-gaza-10000-children-killed/>
has
the names of the children killed since October 2023, one killed every
fifteen minutes; as I scrolled down the names, I felt ill, and then found
this at the very end: ?These are the names of only half of the children
killed.? In early May, UNICEF director Catherine Russell said
<https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/statement-unicef-executive-director-catherine-russell-military-operations-and-border>,
?Nearly all of Gaza?s children have been exposed to the traumatic
experiences of war, the consequences of which will last a lifetime.? In her
statement, where she reported that 14,000 children have been killed, she
said that ?an estimated 17,000 children are unaccompanied or separated.?
These numbers are estimates and are likely to be undercounts.

A new report <https://www.savethechildren.net/gaza-missing-children> from
Save the Children suggests that over 20,000 children are missing in Gaza.
They are either under the rubble, detained by the Israeli military, or
buried in mass graves. During a detailed briefing on June 25, the
Commissioner-General of the UN Palestine Agency (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini
said
<https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/press-briefing-commissioner-general-philippe-lazzarini-during-meeting>
something
staggering: ?And you take into consideration that basically, we have every
10 days children losing one leg or two legs on average. This gives you an
idea of the scope of the type of childhood a child can have in Gaza.?

The story should not be real. It was the morning of December 19, 2023.
Israeli tanks rumbled through the neighborhood of Rimal in Gaza City.
Seventeen-year-old Ahed Bseiso was on the top floor of a six-floor building
trying to call her father in Belgium to tell him that she was still alive.
She heard a loud noise, fell, and called out for her sister Mona and her
mother. Her family rushed up, carried her down, and laid her on the kitchen
table where her mother had been making bread. Ahed?s uncle Hani Bseiso, an
orthopedic doctor, looked at her leg and realized that he would have to
either amputate it or she would die. He grabbed whatever supplies he could
find and conducted the amputation without anesthesia. Ahed recited verses
from the Quran to calm herself. Hani wept as he did the operation, which
the family filmed and later posed on YouTube, which was reposted
<https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6CqGKalLduI> in many places.

These are the stories of Gaza.

*This article was produced by Globetrotter <https://globetrotter.media/>. *

*Vijay Prashad?s most recent book (with Noam Chomsky) is The Withdrawal:
Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and the Fragility of US Power (New Press, August
2022).*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Fri Jul  5 13:32:47 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Fri, 5 Jul 2024 10:32:47 -0700
Subject: [News] Haiti Protest: Tuesday,
 July 9th at 5pm SF Federal Bldg. Protest new invasion of Haiti by
 US-backed Kenyan Police!
In-Reply-To: <CAEf=NwRiVbrb2OhTMPES6egJxV_MQi07GVz2QEBsMqjT0j3wFA@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CAEf=NwRiVbrb2OhTMPES6egJxV_MQi07GVz2QEBsMqjT0j3wFA@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <mailman.21.1720200781.3500626.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

Haiti Action Committee Alert:


Protest New Invasion of Haiti by US-backed Kenyan Police

Protest Murderous Repression in Kenya by the Same Police


Tuesday, July 9th at 5 PM

SF Federal Building (90-7th St, San Francisco)


Haiti Action Committee condemns the arrival of 400 Kenyan police 
officers in Haiti on Tuesday, June 25th, as the advance force for the 
US-funded invasion to prop up and ?stabilize? the repressive 
US-installed PHTK (Haitian Party of Tet Kale) regime. Even though PHTK 
leader Ariel Henry was forced out of power this past spring, the PHTK 
remains in control, dominating a newly-installed ?transitional 
presidential council?? For this new invasion, the Biden Administration 
is providing $300 million, including weapons and equipment 
<https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/04/us-military-assistance-haiti-violence-00156150>in 
the form of 80 humvees, sniper rifles, riot control gear and more.


Haiti Action Committee likewise stands in full solidarity with the 
people of Kenya and their courageous protests against the International 
Monetary Fund (IMF)-backed austerity measures that the corrupt regime of 
President William Ruto has attempted to impose.?We condemn the brutal 
police repression against these protests, resulting in the injuries of 
hundreds and the killings of demonstrators on June 25th. These police, 
trained by both the US and Israel, are now set to do the same thing in 
Haiti.


Although the US claims that the invasion is necessary to quell ?gang 
violence? in Haiti, the ?gangs,? more accurately understood as 
paramilitary death squads, have flourished under PHTK rule as part of 
the regime?s war 
<https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/12/02/us-tax-dollars-at-work-neocolonial-dictatorship-paramilitary-and-police-terror-in-haiti-today/>on 
the popular movement. It was the US-backed coup against President 
Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004 and the subsequent US/ UN occupation of 
Haiti that created the conditions for this paramilitary violence to 
ravage Haiti. Calling for yet another US-backed invasion and occupation 
of Haiti is akin to asking arsonists to put out their own fire.


Join us to denounce this new invasion of Haiti.? Join us to stand with 
the people of Kenya against the Ruto regime.


For more information, contact action.haiti at gmail.com 
<mailto:action.haiti at gmail.com>

-- 
Haiti Action Committee
PO Box 2040
Berkeley,CA 94702
Website <https://haitisolidarity.net>
YouTube <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjujXAgb681TkRNdEo1hh5Q>
Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/HaitiActionCommittee>
Twitter <https://twitter.com/HaitiAction1>

Haiti Action Committee: 33 years of solidarity with the anti-colonial 
grassroots struggle for dignity, democracy and self-determination of the 
Haitian people!

Please donate to the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund 
<https://haitiemergencyrelief.org/> - all donations are tax-deductible 
and go to support Haiti's grassroots struggle for democracy and sovereignty

<https://haitisolidarity.net/donate/>


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From news at freedomarchives.org  Fri Jul  5 13:34:33 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Fri, 5 Jul 2024 10:34:33 -0700
Subject: [News] 'Political Developments' - Hezbollah,
 Hamas Leaders Discuss Gaza Ceasefire, Affirm Unity
Message-ID: <mailman.24.1720201016.3500626.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

palestinechronicle.com
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/political-developments-hezbollah-hamas-leaders-discuss-gaza-ceasefire-affirm-unity/>
'Political Developments' - Hezbollah, Hamas Leaders Discuss Gaza Ceasefire,
Affirm UnityJuly 5, 2024
------------------------------
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary-General of Hezbollah, received a
leadership delegation from Hamas headed by Brother Dr. Khalil Al-Hayya.
(Photo: via Hezbollah military media)

*By Palestine Chronicle Staff
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/palestine-chronicle-staff>*

Hezbollah confirmed that Nasrallah hosted a Hamas delegation led by
Al-Hayya, during which they reviewed the latest security and political
developments in Gaza.

The Lebanese group Hezbollah announced on Friday that its Secretary-General
Hassan Nasrallah discussed recent developments in the Gaza Strip and
ceasefire negotiations with Khalil al-Hayya, the deputy head of the
Palestinian Movement Hamas.

In a statement, Hezbollah confirmed that Nasrallah hosted a Hamas
delegation led by Al-Hayya, during which they reviewed the latest security
and political developments in Palestine, particularly Gaza.

?The meeting reviewed the latest security and political developments in
Palestine in general and Gaza in particular, as well as the conditions of
the support fronts in Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq,? the statement read.

The statement further mentioned that Nasrallah and the Hamas delegation
discussed ?the latest developments in the ongoing negotiations and their
atmosphere, along with the proposals aimed at reaching a halt to the
treacherous aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip?.

?Both parties affirmed the continuation of field and political coordination
on all fronts to achieve the desired goals,? the statement concluded.
*Possible Agreement*

On Wednesday, the Palestinian movement Hamas announced that it had headed a
response to the ceasefire proposal. Israeli officials reportedly indicated
that the response has given mediators hope, though many issues still need
resolution. The specifics of these issues were not disclosed.

On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved sending the
negotiating team to Doha after Israel received a response from Hamas
regarding a proposed prisoner exchange agreement.

Neither Israel, Hamas, nor the mediators have released details of the
response provided by Hamas on Wednesday.

Reuters news agency reported on Friday that an American delegation would
also participate in the Doha meetings.

An American official stated that Hamas had made a significant amendment to
its position, potentially advancing the negotiation process and laying the
groundwork for a detainee agreement and a ceasefire in Gaza.

However, the official noted that the agreement is unlikely to be finalized
within a few days, with outstanding issues revolving around the
implementation of the agreement.

An Israeli official also expressed optimism about reaching an agreement
following Hamas?s latest response, acknowledging the difficulty of the
terms but emphasizing they should not obstruct the deal.

Another official indicated that the success of the agreement depends on
Netanyahu?s decision.
*Northern Front*

A major escalation was witnessed
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/israeli-soldiers-killed-wounded-hezbollah-launches-hundreds-of-missiles/>
on the Lebanese front on Thursday as Hezbollah responded to the
assassination of one of its leaders and continued its bombing operations in
support of the Palestinian Resistance in Gaza.

Hundreds of missiles and drones were launched from Lebanon, targeting over
100 sites in the Upper, Lower, and Western Galilee, the Golan Heights, and
the coastal areas of Nahariya and Acre, according to Al-Jazeera.

Consequently, dozens of fires reportedly broke out in various locations in
the Galilee and the Golan Heights.

An Israeli soldier was reportedly killed and others were wounded as a
result of a missile attack from Lebanon that targeted their vehicle.

Additionally, sirens were heard again in all the towns of the Hula Valley
and the settlements of the occupied Golan Heights following the shelling
from Lebanon, the report added.
*Heightened Tensions*

Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, on October 7, the Lebanese
movement Hezbollah has engaged
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/hezbollah-retaliates-resistance-roundup-day-272/>
directly, but relatively in a limited way in the war against the Israeli
occupation.

According to Hezbollah sources, the movement has carried out 1,194 military
operations in the first 250 days of war, killing and wounding over 2,000
Israeli soldiers.

Israel has occupied parts of Lebanon for decades and has only left the
country in 2000, following stiff Lebanese resistance under Hezbollah?s
leadership.

It attempted to re-occupy Lebanon in 2006 but failed in what Lebanon
considers a major victory against Israel.

Israel, however, continues to occupy parts of Lebanon, namely the Sheeba
Farms region.

Hezbollah has vowed to recover every inch of Lebanon that has been occupied
by Israel contrary to international law.

(The Palestine Chronicle)
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Sat Jul  6 11:55:04 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Sat, 6 Jul 2024 08:55:04 -0700
Subject: [News] Bloody Toll on Gaza Journalists Continues - 158 Killed since
 October 7
Message-ID: <mailman.26.1720281382.3500626.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

palestinechronicle.com
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/bloody-toll-on-gaza-journalists-continues-158-killed-since-october-7/>
Bloody Toll on Gaza Journalists Continues - 158 Killed since October 7July
6, 2024
------------------------------
Palestinian journalist Saadi Madoukh was killed in an Israeli airstrike in
Al-Daraj. (Photo: via social media)

*By Palestine Chronicle Staff
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/palestine-chronicle-staff>*

Israeli forces killed four journalists in Gaza in the last 48 hours,
raising the total number of media professionals killed since October 7 to
158.

Palestinian journalist Amjad Jahjouh was killed on Saturday morning along
with his wife, journalist Wafaa Abu Dabaan, and their child in the Nuseirat
refugee camp, in central Gaza.

On Friday evening, Palestinian journalists Saadi Madoukh and Ahmed Sakr
were killed by an Israeli airstrike that targeted the Madoukh family?s home
in the Al-Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City.

Palestinian sources reported that the bodies of five martyrs were recovered
from the rubble of the targeted house.

Palestinian activists shared a video showing the destruction of the Madoukh
family home and the rescue of martyrs and wounded individuals.

Images of the late journalist Saadi Madoukh, holding a camera on a street
in Gaza, were also circulated on Palestinian websites and social media
platforms.

With the deaths of the four reporters, the number of Palestinian
journalists killed since the start of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip on
October 7 has reached 158.

The Palestinian Center for the Protection of Journalists condemned the
killing of the two journalists in the Al-Daraj neighborhood, noting that
their killings occurred just one day after Al-Quds TV journalist Mohammed
Al-Sakani was killed in a similar bombing of his family?s home in the
Al-Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City.

In a statement, the center asserted that these ongoing attacks on
Palestinian journalists result from decisions made by Israeli authorities,
aimed at concealing facts and preventing the exposure of the massacres
being committed against civilians in the Gaza Strip.

The statement described the targeting of Palestinian journalists in Gaza as
the bloodiest in modern history and called for an independent and
comprehensive international investigation into Israeli crimes against
journalists.
*Ongoing Genocide*

Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide
against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza
since October 7.

According to Gaza?s Ministry of Health, 38,098 Palestinians have been
killed, and 87,705 wounded in Israel?s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on
October 7.

Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under
the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.

Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the
Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports
suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ?friendly fire?.

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those
killed and wounded are women and children.

The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza,
resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.

The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of
nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast
majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of
Rafah near the border with Egypt ? in what has become Palestine?s largest
mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from
the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.

*(PC, AJA)*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Sun Jul  7 11:17:24 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Sun, 7 Jul 2024 08:17:24 -0700
Subject: [News] Israel refuses Hamas demand for written ceasefire assurances
Message-ID: <mailman.33.1720365918.3500626.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

 Israel refuses Hamas demand for written ceasefire assurances

Tel Aviv remains insistent on the option to resume the war if things do not
go its way in the ceasefire talks

News Desk <https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9>

JUL 7, 2024 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/israel-refuses-hamas-demand-for-written-ceasefire-assurances
(Photo credit: AP)

Israel will not accept Hamas? request
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/axios---israel--will-not-hamas-request-for-written-commitmen>
for written assurances regarding negotiations in the second phase of a
proposed deal for a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in Gaza.

The Palestinian resistance group is demanding that a cessation of
hostilities outlined in the first phase of the proposal be ongoing
throughout negotiations in the second phase. However, Israel is insistent
on the option to resume the war if negotiations falter.

During David Barnea?s visit to the Qatari capital, Doha, last week, the
Mossad chief conveyed the message to mediators that Israel ?does not accept
Hamas' demand for a written commitment regarding negotiations for the
second phase of the agreement,? Axios reported on 6 July, citing Israeli
officials.

The main issues revolve around Articles 8 and 14 of the proposal. Article 8
of the proposal refers to talks between Israel and Hamas that would be held
during phase one and would last for six weeks of the agreement, while
Article 14 refers to the transition between phase one and phase two.

The proposal was reportedly updated recently with ?new language? by CIA
chief William Burns and other officials, Lebanese media reported on 4 July.
Hamas presented
<https://thecradle.co/articles/israel-examines-positive-hamas-response-for-potential-ceasefire>
its proposed amendments to the plan on 3 July.

The proposal calls to ?make every effort? to ensure the negotiations end in
agreement. Hamas? response called for the phrase ?make every effort? to be
replaced with the word ?ensure.?

?In effect, Hamas wants to ensure that it does not turn over many of the
hostages only for Israel to restart the war,? an informed official
told the *New
York Times*
<https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/06/world/middleeast/israel-hamas-cease-fire-proposal.html>
(NYT) on 6 July.

Another official confirms to NYT that Israel has rejected Hamas? request.
?Israel wants the option to resume fighting if it deems it necessary.
Without such leverage, Hamas might drag its feet, effectively obtaining an
undeclared permanent cease-fire.?

There are other outstanding issues besides Articles 8 and 14 of the
proposal.

In its response, Hamas refused Israel?s veto over releasing Palestinians
with life sentences as part of an exchange, a source told *Al-Mayadeen*
<https://english.almayadeen.net/latestnews/2024/7/4/source-to-al-mayadeen--hamas-insists-on-the-necessity-of-wit>
on 4 July. The source
<https://www.almayadeen.net/news/politics/%D9%85%D8%B5%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%B5-%D9%84%D9%84%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%86--%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B3-%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%AF%D9%85-%D8%AA%D8%B9%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%A7-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%82%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AD%D8%AA%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%86>
also said Hamas is insisting on an Israeli withdrawal from the Rafah border
crossing and the Philadelphi Corridor.

Israel seized the Rafah crossing on 7 May and began pushing into the
southernmost city in defiance of months of international warnings,
displacing around one million Palestinians. The Philadelphi corridor, the
vital strip bordering Egypt that serves as a lifeline to both the
resistance and the people of Gaza, was then seized
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/25174> by Israeli forces later that
month.

In mid-June, the Israeli army set fire to and destroye
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/25515>d the Rafah crossing. According to
reports at the time, this was part of a US?Israeli plan to transfer the
Rafah land crossing to the Kerem Shalom area ? where another border
crossing that leads from the strip to Israel lies ? to tighten supervision
and obstruct Hamas members from entering and leaving the enclave.

Tel Aviv has long been calling to establish a permanent presence along the
southern Gaza border. Hamas has stuck to its terms in the talks for a
complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Speaking to *Al-Arabi*, the head of Hamas? national relations office,
Hussam Badran, said on 6 July: ?There is a positive outlook from the
mediators regarding the movement's recent stance on the exchange deal. The
only obstacle to reaching an agreement is Netanyahu.?
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Sun Jul  7 11:26:59 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Sun, 7 Jul 2024 08:26:59 -0700
Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?Israeli_army_=E2=80=98widely_employed=E2=80=99_?=
	=?utf-8?q?Hannibal_Directive_on_7_October?=
Message-ID: <mailman.35.1720448981.3500626.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

middleeasteye.net
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-army-widely-employed-hannibal-directive-target-its-citizens-7-october>
Israeli army ?widely employed? Hannibal Directive on 7 October
By MEE staff
July 7, 2024
------------------------------

The Israeli <https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel> military
widely employed a directive allowing forces to kill their own citizens
during the Hamas-led attack on October 7, Haaretz reported on Sunday.

The Israeli Air Force bombed at least three military bases and
outposts during the attack.

Additionally, the military heavily fired at the fenced area separating Gaza
and Israel as Palestinian fighters returned to the strip with captured
Israelis.

The area was intended to become a ?killing zone?, a source in the Israeli
army's Southern Command told Haaretz.

An order was also issued hours after the Hamas attack stating that ?not a
single vehicle can return to Gaza?, which was understood as potentially
causing the death of kidnapped Israeli civilians or soldiers.

These orders, part of what is known in the Israeli military as the
??Hannibal Directive?, were ?widespread? on the day, according to Haaretz.

The directive, when active, mandates that the Israeli army use any means
necessary to prevent the capture of Israeli soldiers, even if it involves
killing them.

Haaretz based its report on documents and testimonies from soldiers and
mid-level and senior army officers.

The Israeli newspaper noted that it was unclear whether or how many
Israelis were targeted in these attacks.

However, cumulative data indicates many kidnapped people were exposed to
Israeli gunfire and were at risk, it added.

UN finds at least 14 Israelis likely intentionally killed by own army on 7
October

At least one publicly known case involved Israeli fire killing 13 citizens,
which received widespread coverage
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-un-killed-own-soldiers-army-7-october>
.

The Israeli military is conducting investigations into other events on 7
October and the immediate aftermath, with findings set to be released soon.

More than 1,150 Israelis and foreigners were killed in the Hamas-led attack
on southern Israel on 7 October, including around 30 children and 300
women.

Palestinians <https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine> also took
250 people captive, including Israeli civilians and soldiers. Around 120
remain in Gaza, many of whom are believed to have been killed in Israeli
air strikes.

Israel killed more than 38,000 Palestinians in the subsequent war on Gaza
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/israel-war-gaza>, including at least
17,000 children and over 10,000 women.

Invading Israeli forces have also abducted between 4,000 to 5,000
Palestinians from Gaza. Nearly 3,000 are estimated to remain in Israeli
custody, including dozens who have died under torture.
?Crazy hysteria?

According to the Haaretz report, Israeli commanders made decisions in the
early chaotic hours of 7 October without verified information.

?There was crazy hysteria,? one source said. ?No one had a clue about the
number of people kidnapped or where army forces were.?

One of the early uses of the Hannibal Directive came at 7.18am when a drone
strike was ordered on the Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing after a report of a
kidnapping.

The Beit Hanoun crossing and the adjacent military base were repeatedly hit
with similar attacks throughout the day.

Other locations targeted by Israeli fire included the Reim base, where the
divisional headquarters is located, and the Nahal Oz military outpost.

"Anyone making such a decision knew that our combatants in the area could
be hit as well,? an Israeli military source told Haaretz.

<https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/gaza-war-hamas-lured-israel-lethal-trap-how>

War on Gaza: How Hamas lured Israel into a lethal trap


Another order, attributed to Brigadier-General Avi Rosenfeld, the commander
of the Israeli army's Gaza Division, instructed all forces to fire mortars
towards the Gaza Strip.

The order was given despite the military having limited information on the
whereabouts of forces and civilians. Many people hiding in bushes and open
areas at the time may have been within firing range.

The order was expanded hours later to prevent any vehicle from reaching
Gaza.

"Everyone knew by then that such vehicles could be carrying kidnapped
civilians or soldiers," a source in the Southern Command told Haaretz.

"There was no case in which a vehicle carrying kidnapped people was
knowingly attacked, but you couldn't really know if there were any such
people in a vehicle. I can't say there was a clear instruction, but
everyone knew what it meant to not let any vehicles return to Gaza."

At least one Israeli civilian was killed in the area due to army attacks.

Many Palestinians, including journalists and civilians near the fence, were
also killed in the attacks, with some still missing.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Jul  9 10:56:40 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2024 07:56:40 -0700
Subject: [News] Internal memo reveals Anti-Defamation League surveillance of
 leftwing activist
Message-ID: <mailman.44.1720537102.3500626.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

theguardian.com
<https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/08/anti-defamation-league-surveillance?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other>
Internal memo reveals Anti-Defamation League surveillance of leftwing
activist
Tom Perkins
July 8, 2024
------------------------------

The Anti-Defamation League has surveilled leftwing activists and ?regularly
tracks, profiles and sends threat assessments of individuals? it perceives
as a problem, according to an internal email obtained by the Guardian.

The May 2020 email was sent from ADL?s head of security to chief executive
Jonathan Greenblatt and unspecified employees of the Jewish group, which
labels itself the ?leading anti-hate organization in the world?. A
self-styled civil rights organization, it plays an outsize role in shaping
public sentiment and national policy around antisemitism, but it has
been plagued
by controversy
<https://www.theguardian.com/news/2024/jan/05/adl-pro-israel-advocacy-zionism-antisemitism>
in recent years over its attacks on Israel critics and social justice
groups.

The memo shows the ADL collected information on a Black Indianapolis
activist, Tatjana Rebelle, who worked on Deadly Exchange
<https://deadlyexchange.org/frequently-asked-questions-deadly-exchange/>, a
national campaign against an ADL-backed
<https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/mar/17/adl-police-delegations-israel>
program to send US police officials for training with the Israeli military.

Rebelle, however, said the local campaign on which they worked did not
target the ADL, and they had never directly engaged with the group.

In the email, which included a picture and personal information about
Rebelle, ADL head of security Chris Delia concluded Rebelle was ?a radical
with antisemitic and hateful views? but was ?not a threat? to the
organization. Still, he recommended the file be referred to the
organization?s Center on Extremism, which tracks, in its words, ?extremist
trends, ideologies and groups across the ideological spectrum?.

Rebelle, who left the Deadly Exchange program in mid-2018 to work with a
youth climate nonprofit, said they were ?terrified? for themself and their
family after learning about the 2020 assessment.

?It scared the shit out of me,? Rebelle said, adding that it has had a
chilling effect on their activism and what they say publicly. ?It stopped
me from moving forward because I don?t want to put people in my life at
risk ? I work with youth, so it stopped me in my tracks.?

The ADL did not respond to specific questions from the Guardian, but sent a
statement that said: ?The memorandum was inappropriate and withdrawn at the
time. ADL does not discuss personnel matters.?

The ADL has come under fire in recent years as it has leveled charges
<https://www.thedailybeast.com/anti-defamation-league-list-tars-human-rights-groups>
of antisemitism against leftwing Jewish groups, Black Lives Matter,
Palestinian rights groups and other organizations critical of Israel. It
has increasingly lobbied
<https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/15/adl-lobby-antisemitism-definition>
for federal legislation on antisemitism, some of which critics say is
intended to target leftwing Jewish and Palestinian rights groups.

It has become more aggressive since the Gaza war?s outset, but its
credibility has also suffered ? most recently, Wikipedia?s editors found
<https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/wikipedia-adl-report-jewish-israel-palestine-b2565058.html>
the ADL could not be trusted to give reliable information on the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The memo is the latest evidence that the ADL has spied on, surveilled or
tracked its opponents on the left and right. In 1993, the ADL faced multiple
lawsuits
<https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/24/us/anti-defamation-league-accused-of-spying.html>
and an FBI investigation over a nationwide intelligence network it developed
<https://www.israellobby.org/ADL-CA/> over the span of several decades with
an investigator on its payroll, Roy Bullock.

Bullock was alleged
<https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-04-13-mn-22383-story.html> to
have infiltrated or kept files on the United Auto Workers union,
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, neo-Nazi groups, Mother Jones magazine, the
American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP and many more. He also allegedly
sold personal information on US politicians and others to the apartheid
South African government at the ADL?s behest. The ADL initially backed the
apartheid regime, labeling
<https://foreignpolicy.com/2010/05/24/israels-most-illicit-affair/> Nelson
Mandela?s party ?totalitarian, anti-humane, anti-democratic, anti-Israel,
and anti-American?.

In the wake of the far-right?s deadly 2017 Charlottesville rally
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/12/charlottesville-far-right-crowd-with-torches-encircles-counter-protest-group>,
the ADL, which also tracks white supremacy, claimed
<https://apnews.com/article/633f390842d948449524a5e37667ec5a> it did not
?directly? track leftwing groups. However, it put up a post on its website
around that time encouraging police
<https://forward.com/news/381488/adl-tells-police-to-infiltrate-and-film-antifa-protests/>
to surveil and infiltrate anti-fascist groups.

An anonymous ADL employee who shared Delia?s memo wrote in an email that
?threat assessments? Delia developed on Rebelle are conducted regularly.
The staffer also noted that ?many ADL staff rebelled in horror? and
apologized to Rebelle.

Rebelle worked through 2018 for the American Friends Service Committee,
which partnered with Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) on the Deadly Exchange
initiative. Rebelle says they helped train local activists on how to
address police abuses, worked on immigration issues and raised awareness of
the problems with exchange programs between US police and the Israeli
military.

Delia states in the 2020 memo that he was asked to assess the activist
during a recent ?JVP meeting?, referencing the leftwing US Jewish group, a
regular ADL target
<https://theintercept.com/2023/11/11/palestine-israel-protests-ceasefire-antisemitic/>
.

In a statement, JVP executive director Stefanie Fox said: ?It?s appalling,
though not surprising, that the ADL is spending enormous time and resources
attacking one of the largest progressive Jewish organizations in the
country and surveilling African American organizers.?

Delia characterizes Rebelle as a ?very angry person, looking for a group to
belong to?, who complains about ?the Black dad she never knew, and white
mom and family she didn?t feel she belonged to?. Rebelle also complains
about being judged for being bisexual and binational, Delia wrote. He
alleges Rebelle ?does not like white women, especially suburban white
women?.

Delia included a quote from Rebelle?s social media, in which they express
they are ?no longer in the business of helping white folks cope with their
privilege, nor speaking out against the terrorism of white supremacy or
state sanctioned murder of Black and brown folks by the police?.

?As always, remember Black Lives Matter, Free Palestine, gender and
sexuality is a spectrum, Indigenous rights matter, climate change is real,
defund the police, and there is no change without discomfort. Peace upon
you all.?

Rebelle said they had been previously targeted by local white nationalists
and pro-Israel groups that tried to get them fired from jobs or removed
from speaking engagements, but the ADL memo came as a surprise because the
group was not involved with her work in Indianapolis
<https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/indianapolis>.

Rebelle said the ADL was ?targeting black queer folks?, and is evidence of
a larger problem with the organization.

?It?s the personal way that they described me ? [it] is the same way we
would describe a white nationalist or a lone shooter profile,? Rebelle
said. ?I really was trying to build community and liberation, and we never
harm anyone.?

Fox said the surveilling shows the ADL ?is simply not credible as a civil
rights organization?.

?They are willing to trample on civil rights, smear racial justice
activists, and harm progressive movements in order to advance their primary
work: ensuring Israeli occupation, apartheid, and genocide go unchecked and
unchallenged,? she said.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Jul  9 11:17:28 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2024 08:17:28 -0700
Subject: [News] On the Record with Hamas
Message-ID: <mailman.46.1720538270.3500626.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

dropsitenews.com 
<https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/on-the-record-with-hamas?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2510348&post_id=146407346&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=17wjtn&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email> 



  On the Record with Hamas

Jeremy Scahill
July 9, 2024
------------------------------------------------------------------------
<https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb2073209-2878-4e8e-aa6d-08e5a1c4b656_4000x2653.jpeg>Members 
of the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. Photo: Mahmud 
Hams/AFP via Getty

The past nine months of Israel?s genocidal war in Gaza have spurred an 
unprecedented global awakening to the plight of the Palestinian people. 
At no point in the 76 years since the formation of the state of Israel 
and the unleashing of the Nakba has there been such sustained and open 
anger at Israel and such widespread solidarity with the Palestinians. 
The massive demonstrations in cities across the globe, the severing of 
diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv, the recalling of ambassadors, 
rulings from world courts against Israel, and mounting demands for the 
establishment of an independent Palestinian state?none of this would 
have taken place without the impetus of Hamas?s armed insurrection on 
October 7 and Israel?s subsequent war of annihilation in Gaza.

This reality poses uncomfortable but ineluctable questions. From Hamas?s 
perspective, was Operation Al Aqsa Flood a successful operation? Hamas 
undoubtedly knew that Israeli retaliation would include the killing of 
many Palestinian civilians, even if the horrific scale of Israel?s 
assault was unforeseen. Was October 7, then, a collective martyrdom 
operation launched without the consent of 2.3 million Palestinians? And, 
for the many people who proclaim their support for the Palestinian cause 
but reflexively condemn the violence of the October 7 attacks, how can 
they realistically separate the two?

Drop Site conducted a series of interviews with senior Hamas officials 
alongside a comprehensive review of its statements and those of its 
leaders. I interviewed a variety of Hamas sources on background for this 
story and two?Basem Naim and Ghazi Hamad?agreed to speak on the record. 
I also spoke to a range of knowledgeable Palestinians, Israelis, and 
international sources in an effort to understand the tactical and 
political aims of the October 7 attacks. Some people will inevitably 
criticize the choice to interview and publish Hamas officials? answers 
to these questions as propaganda. I believe it is essential that the 
public understand the perspectives of the individuals and groups who 
initiated the attack that spurred Israel?s genocidal war?an argument 
that is seldom permitted outside of simple soundbytes.

Hamas leaders cast their operations on October 7 as a righteous 
rebellion against an occupation force that has waged a military, 
political, and economic war of collective punishment against the people 
of Gaza.**?They have left us no choice other than to take the decision 
in our hands and to fight back,? said Dr. Basem Naim, a senior member of 
Hamas?s political bureau and a former government minister in Gaza. 
?October 7, for me, is an act of defense, maybe the last chance for 
Palestinians to defend themselves.?

Naim, a medical doctor, is a member of the inner circle surrounding 
former Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, the chief political leader of 
Hamas, who is based in Doha, Qatar. In the aftermath of October 7, Naim 
has served as one of the few Hamas officials authorized to speak 
publicly on behalf of the movement. In an interview, Naim offered an 
unapologetic defense of the October 7 attacks against Israel and said 
that Hamas was acting out of existential necessity in the face of 
sustained diplomatic and military assaults not only on Palestinians in 
Gaza, but also the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.

?The people in Gaza, they had one of two choices: Either to die because 
of siege and malnutrition and hunger and lacking of medicine and lacking 
of treatment abroad, or to die by a rocket. We have no other choice,? he 
said. ?If we have to choose, why choose to be the good victims, the 
peaceful victims? If we have to die, we have to die in dignity. 
Standing, fighting, fighting back, and standing as dignified martyrs.?

Polls suggest that Palestinian support for Hamas remains strong. Prior 
to the October 7 attacks,opinion polling 
<https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2023/12/palestinians-views-oct-7>in 
Gaza and the West Bank indicated that support for Hamas was on the 
decline, with one poll finding that just 23 percent of respondents 
expressed significant support for Hamas and more than half registering 
negative views. ?The October 7 war reversed that trend leading to a 
great rise in Hamas?s popularity,? Arab Barometerreported 
<https://www.arabbarometer.org/wp-content/uploads/Arab-Barometer-PSR-Palestine-Report-Part-I-EN-.pdf>.

?If we have to choose, why choose to be the good victims, the peaceful 
victims? If we have to die, we have to die in dignity.?

A morerecent poll 
<https://www.pcpsr.org/sites/default/files/Poll%2092%20English%20press%20release%2012%20June2024%20%28003%29.pdf>conducted 
by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, whose findings 
were released in mid-June, found that two-thirds of the Gaza population 
continued to express support for the October 7 attack on Israel, with 
more than 80 percent asserting that it put Palestine at the center of 
global attention. More than half of Gaza residents polled indicated that 
they hoped Hamas would return to power after the war. ?They lost 
confidence in peace with Israel. People believe that the only way is now 
to fight against Israel, to struggle against Israel,? said Ghazi Hamad, 
the former Hamas deputy foreign minister and a longstanding member of 
its political bureau, in an interview. ?We put the Palestinian cause on 
the table. I think that we have a new page of history.?

?Israel has now spent nine months [fighting in Gaza]?nine months. This 
is [a] small area. No mountains, no valleys. It is a very small, 
besieged area?against Hamas?s 20,000 [fighters],? Hamad continued. ?They 
bring all the military power, supported by the United States. But I 
think now they failed. They failed.?

Dr. Yara Hawari, the co-director of Al-Shabaka, an independent 
Palestinian think tank, said that assessing the role Hamas?s October 7 
attacks played in the growing global movement to support Palestinians 
raises complex moral questions. ?If the Israeli regime hadn't embarked 
on a genocide in Gaza, would we be facing this kind of level of 
solidarity? I think it's a difficult thing to answer. It's also an 
uncomfortable one because I don't think Palestinians anywhere should pay 
in blood for the solidarity of people around the world and certainly not 
in over 40,000 people killed,? she told me.

?We have surpassed the numbers of the Nakba by at least three times in 
terms of those killed. And an entire place has been destroyed. Gaza 
doesn't exist anymore. It's been destroyed completely. So I think that 
it's certainly been a very revealing moment,? said Hawari, who is based 
in Ramallah. ?Had October 7 not happened, would that have been revealed 
to people around the world or not? It?s an uncomfortable thing to think 
about for sure.?

Hamas has emphasized that its aim on October 7 was to shatter the status 
quo and compel the U.S. and other nations to address the plight of the 
Palestinians. On this front, informed analysts say, they succeeded. ?On 
October 6, Palestine had disappeared from the regional agenda, from the 
international agenda. Israel was dealing unilaterally with the 
Palestinians without generating any attention or any criticism,? said 
Mouin Rabbani, a former UN official who worked as a special advisor on 
Israel-Palestine for the International Crisis Group. ?The attacks of 
Hamas on October 7 and their aftermath played a crucial role, but I 
think just as much credit, if you will, goes to Israel, if not more so,? 
he added. ?If Israel had responded in the way that it did in [previous 
assaults on Gaza] in 2008, 2014, 2021, it would have been a story for a 
number of weeks, there would have been a lot of hand wringing, and that 
would have been the end of it.?

?It's not only the actions of the colonized, but also the reaction of 
the colonizer that has created the current political reality, the 
current political moment,? Rabbani said.

U.S. and Israeli officials often respond to questions about the 
staggering death toll in Gaza or the mass killing of women and children 
over the past 9 months by casting blame solely on Hamas. They have 
treated the events of October 7 as if they granted Israel an open-ended 
license to kill on an industrial scale. ?None of the suffering would 
have happened if Hamas hadn?t done what it did on October 7,? is a 
sentiment Secretary of State Antony Blinken is fond of repeating.

That is clearly untrue. But does multi-decade brutality of the Israeli 
occupation absolve Hamas of all responsibility for the consequences of 
its actions on October 7?

?It's kind of like telling the folks in the Warsaw uprising that you 
should have known that the German military was going to respond the way 
they did and you are going to be responsible for the deaths of other 
residents in the Warsaw ghetto.?

?These deaths should be on the conscience of the Israeli leaders who 
decided to kill all these people,? said Rashid Khalidi, author of T/he 
Hundred Years? War on Palestine/and widely viewed as the leading U.S. 
historian of Palestine. ?But they also to some extent should be on the 
consciences of the people who organized [the October 7] operation. They 
should have known, and had to have known that Israel would inflict 
devastating revenge not just on them but mainly on the civilian 
population. Do you credit them for this?? Khalidi added. ?The end result 
may be the permanent occupation, immiseration, and perhaps even 
expulsion of the population of Gaza, in which case I don't think anybody 
would want to credit whoever organized this operation.?

The Palestinian-American novelist and author Susan Abulhawa has twice 
traveled to Gaza since the siege began last fall and has been 
unapologetic in her defense of Palestinian armed resistance. She rejects 
the notion that Hamas is responsible for Israel?s mass killing of 
civilians in Gaza since October 7. ?It's kind of like telling the folks 
in the Warsaw uprising that you should have known that the German 
military was going to respond the way they did and you are going to be 
responsible for the deaths of other residents in the Warsaw ghetto,? 
Abulhawa said. ?Maybe that's true, but is it really a moral point to 
make? I don't think there has ever been so much scrutiny on an 
indigenous people, on how they're resisting their colonizers.?

Abulhawa, whose novels include /Against the Loveless World/and /Mornings 
in Jenin/, told me, ?As a Palestinian, I'm grateful for it. I think what 
they have done is something that no amount of negotiation was ever able 
to achieve. Nothing else we did was able to achieve what they did on 
October 7. And I should say, actually, it's not so much what they did, 
but it was Israel's reaction that led to a shift in the narrative 
because they're finally naked before the world.?

The past 76 years of Palestinian history have been a nonstop succession 
of Israeli atrocities and war crimes. Why did Hamas launch such a 
monumental action at this specific moment?

The people who can best answer the question of what Hamas was thinking 
on October 7 are the men in the tunnels being hunted by Israeli forces 
in Gaza. Yahya Sinwar, Hamas?s leader on the ground, and Mohammed Deif, 
commander of the Al-Qassam Brigades, are widely understood to have 
decided how and when the course of history would be altered.

In both Israeli and U.S. media, Sinwar is generally portrayed as a 
cartoonish villain hiding in his tunnel lair, dreaming up ways to murder 
and terrorize innocent Israelis as part of a warped, ISIS-style 
interpretation of Islam. He has been a U.S. State Department-designated 
terrorist since 2015. ?The United States has to have a bogeyman, a 
Saddam Hussein figure, a Hitler figure,? said Khalidi. ?I think Sinwar 
has been chosen.?

Despite the sinister portrayals, Sinwar?s writings and media interviews 
indicate he is a complex thinker with clearly defined political 
objectives who believes in armed struggle as a means to an end. He gives 
the impression of a well-educated political militant, not a cult leader 
on a mass suicide crusade. ?It's not this black image of Sinwar as a man 
with two horns living in the tunnels,? said Hamad, the Hamas official 
who worked directly with Sinwar for three years. ?But in the time of 
war, he's very strong. This man is very strong. If he wants to fight, he 
fights seriously.?

In 1988, just months after Hamas was founded, Sinwar was arrested by 
Israeli forces and sentenced to four life sentences on charges he had 
personally murdered alleged Palestinian collaborators. During his 22 
years in an Israeli prison, he became fluent in Hebrew and studied the 
history of the Israeli state, its political culture, and its 
intelligence and military apparatus. He translated by hand the memoirs 
of several former heads of the Israeli intelligence agency Shin Bet. 
?When I entered [prison], it was 1988, the Cold War was still going on. 
And here [in Palestine], the Intifada. To spread the latest news, we 
printed fliers. I came out, and I found the internet,? Sinwartold 
<https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5364286,00.html>an Italian 
journalist in 2018. ?But to be honest, I never came out?I have only 
changed prisons. And despite it all, the old one was much better than 
this one. I had water, electricity. I had so many books. Gaza is much 
tougher.?

<https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F78581d5a-24d0-47e7-a0c9-38b29b0105fe_3072x1556.jpeg>Yahya 
Sinwar, the Gaza leader of Hamas, interviewed by Vice News in June 2021

In his past media interviews, Sinwar has spoken of Hamas as a social 
movement with a military wing and framed its political goals as part of 
the historic struggle to reestablish a unified state of Palestine. ?I am 
the Gaza leader of Hamas, of something much more complex than a 
militia?a national liberation movement. And my main duty is to act in 
the interest of my people: to defend it and its right to freedom and 
independence,? he said. ?All of those who still view us as an armed 
group, and nothing more, you don't have any idea of what Hamas really 
looks like.... You focus on resistance, on the means rather than the 
goal?which is a state based on democracy, pluralism, cooperation. A 
state that protects rights and freedom, where differences are faced 
through words, not through guns. Hamas is much more than its military 
operations.?

Sinwar, unlike leaders of Al Qaeda or ISIS, has regularly invoked 
international law and UN resolutions, exhibiting a nuanced understanding 
of the history of negotiations with Israel mediated by the U.S. and 
other nations. ?Let's be clear: having an armed resistance is our right, 
under international law. But we don't only have rockets. We have been 
using a variety of means of resistance,? he said in the 2018 interview. 
?We make the headlines only with blood. And not only here. No blood, no 
news. But the problem is not our resistance, it is their occupation. 
With no occupation, we wouldn't have rockets. We wouldn't have stones, 
Molotov cocktails, nothing. We would all have a normal life."

?All of those who still view us as an armed group, and nothing more, you 
don't have any idea of what Hamas really looks like.?

Throughout 2018 and 2019, Sinwar endorsed the large-scale nonviolent 
protests along the walls and fences of Gaza known as the Great March of 
Return. ?We believe that if we have a way to potentially resolve the 
conflict without destruction, we?re O.K. with that,? Sinwar said at a 
rarenews conference 
<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/10/world/middleeast/gaza-protests-yehya-sinwar.html>in 
2018. ?We would prefer to earn our rights by soft and peaceful means. 
But we understand that if we are not given those rights, we are entitled 
to earn them by resistance.?

Israel responded to the protests with the regular use of lethal force, 
killing 223 people and wounding more than 8,000 others. Israeli snipers 
laterboasted 
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2020-03-06/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/42-knees-in-one-day-israeli-snipers-open-up-about-shooting-gaza-protesters/0000017f-f2da-d497-a1ff-f2dab2520000>about 
shooting dozens of protesters in the knee during the weekly Friday 
demonstrations. For many Palestinians these events reinforced the view 
that Israel?s policies cannot be changed by words.

In May 2021, following a series of Israeli attacks on Palestinian 
worshippers at Al Aqsa mosque?as well as threats of forced evictions of 
Palestinians from Sheikh Jarrah in occupied East Jerusalem?Hamas and 
Palestinian Islamic Jihad launched a barrage of rockets at Israeli 
cities, killing 12 civilians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 
with U.S. support, ordered heavy attacks against Gaza. More than 250 
Palestinians were killed and thousands injured.

After the end of Israel?s 11-day bombing campaign against Gaza, Sinwar 
spoke toVICE News <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12khZa6d_0I>and 
sought to frame the Palestinian struggle in a U.S. context, using recent 
cases of lethal police violence against African Americans. ?The same 
type of racism that killed George Floyd is being used by [Israel] 
against the Palestinians in Jerusalem, the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, 
and in the West Bank. And by the burning of our children. And against 
the Gaza Strip through siege, murder, and starvation.?

The Israeli attacks ended when President Joe Biden intervened and told 
Netanyahu to wrap it up. ?Hey, man, we are out of runway here,? Biden 
told Netanyahu on a May 19 phone call. ?It?s over.? Two days later, 
Israel agreed to a ceasefire.

?The battle between us and the occupation who desecrated our land, 
displaced our people and are still murdering and displacing 
Palestinians?confiscating lands and attacking sacred places?is an open 
ended battle,? Sinwar said. When asked about the killing of Israeli 
civilians by Hamas rockets, Sinwar became animated. ?You can?t compare 
that to those who resist and defend themselves with weapons that look 
primitive in comparison. If we had the capabilities to launch precision 
missiles that targeted military targets, we wouldn?t have used the 
rockets that we did,? he shot back. ?Does the world expect us to be 
well-behaved victims while we?re getting killed? For us to be 
slaughtered without making a noise? That?s impossible.?

Two and a half years later, Sinwar authorized the start of Operation Al 
Aqsa Flood, the single deadliest attack inside Israel in history.

Hamas officials told me that for strategic reasons they timed the 
attacks to coincide with Shemini Atzeret, the final day of the Sukkot 
thanksgiving holiday, but more broadly to exploit mounting divisions 
within Israeli society and the deepening unpopularity of Netanyahu 
within Israel. On a tactical level, they engaged in extensive monitoring 
of the Israeli military facilities along what is referred to as the 
?Gaza envelope? and identified vulnerabilities in surveillance systems 
and perimeter defenses.

Throughout the two years leading up to the October 7 attacks, Hamas 
officials told me, they sent Israel repeated warnings to halt the 
activity of illegal settlements and annexations in the West Bank and 
East Jerusalem. Hamas also protested Israel?s mounting attacks and 
provocations on the grounds of Al Aqsa mosque, the holiest Islamic site 
in Palestine, and demanded that the U.S. and other nations restrain 
Israel. ?We talked to the mediators, especially the United Nations and 
the Egyptians and the Qataris: ?Tell Israel to stop this. We will not be 
able to tolerate more and more,?? said Hamad, a Hebrew speaker with a 
long history of negotiating with Israeli officials. ?They did not listen 
to us. They thought that Hamas is weak, Hamas is now just looking for 
some humanitarian aid, some facilities in the Gaza Strip. But at the 
same time, we were preparing.?

?We talked to the mediators, especially the United Nations and the 
Egyptians and the Qataris: ?Tell Israel to stop this. We will not be 
able to tolerate more and more.??

?We were preparing because we are under occupation,? said Hamad. ?We 
think that the West Bank and Gaza is one unit. This is our people under 
oppression, under killing and massacres. We have to save them. And 
Israel feels that they are above the law. They can do anything. No one 
can stop them.?

?We have said it before October 7 that the earthquake is coming. And the 
repercussions of this earthquake will be beyond the borders of 
Palestine,? Naim said.

As Hamas delivered messages through international mediators, it 
simultaneously held regular secret meetings in Gaza where its leaders 
brainstormed potential ways to confront Israel. ?We had meetings in the 
political bureau of Hamas in Gaza, and we discussed the situation all 
the time. What was put on the table was an evaluation of Israel in the 
West Bank and Al Aqsa mosque,? said Hamad. ?Hamas decided to do 
something in order to make a kind of deterrence to Israel.? They also 
wanted to send a message to the Palestinian masses: ?We are not weak 
[like] the Palestinian Authority.?

Hamad said the discussions focused on actions that would force the world 
to pay attention to the plight of Palestinians, but also to send a 
message to Israel. ?We are going to show them that we can do something 
in order to harm you and to hurt you,? he said. ?What is the other 
alternative? Either we, as Palestinians, are waiting and waiting and 
waiting and waiting for many years for some countries, the international 
community, to do something in order to save the Palestinians, or we can 
go in the violent way to make a kind of shock, in order to get the 
attention of the world.?

Naim said Hamas had concluded that Israeli policy could only be altered 
through violent resistance. ?I have to say we are also reading history 
very well. We [learned] from the history in Vietnam, in Somalia, in 
South Africa, in Algiers,? he said. ?At the end, they are not peaceful 
NGOs who will come and say, ?Sorry we have bothered you for some years 
and now we are leaving and please forgive us.? They are so brutal and 
bloody that they will not leave except with the same tools they are using.?

Hamad and other Hamas political officials said that while they 
participated in the strategy meetings in Gaza leading up to the attacks, 
most of them were not privy to the operational details or timing of the 
operations. ?There is a special group headed by Sinwar, who took the 
decision for October 7. A very narrow circle,? he said. ?We did not know 
anything about this. We were surprised with October 7.?

<https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd264765b-929c-44fd-95fe-4b2e576d7e73_7105x4737.jpeg>Gaza 
City during an Israeli airstrike on October 9, 2023. Photo: Mahmud 
Hams/AFP via Getty

Before October 7, the prospects for a Palestinian state were becoming 
slimmer and slimmer. The conditions in Gaza were dire and there were no 
signs of improvement because of the intense Israeli blockade and lack of 
interest from the world. Residents of the Strip, according to polls, 
were increasingly apportioning blame for their misery on Hamas?one of 
the central aims of Israel?s collective punishment strategy. The U.S. 
was spearheading a series of diplomatic initiatives to normalize 
relations between Israel and Arab states. The Abraham Accords, launched 
under President Donald Trump, effectively excised the issue of 
Palestinian self-determination as a condition for normalization, a major 
victory for Israel. Israeli provocations and attacks against worshippers 
at Al Aqsa were becoming a regular occurrence. Israel was aggressively 
moving forward with its annexation of Palestinian land and armed 
settlers were conducting deadly paramilitary actions, often with the 
support or facilitation of the government, against Palestinian farms and 
homes in the occupied territories.

The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank was widely despised for its 
corruption and collaboration with Israel, including through the brutal 
actions of its U.S.-backed security forces. The PA, often referred to as 
a subcontractor of the Israeli occupation, routinely arrests dissidents, 
union organizers, and journalists, in addition to people Israel has 
identified as security risks.

Hamas wanted to shatter the status quo on Gaza, position itself as the 
defender of the Palestinian people, and open possibilities for a new 
alignment of political power to replace what they saw as PA leader 
Mahmoud Abbas?s Vichy rule. At its highest level, Operation Al Aqsa 
Flood was to be the opening salvo in what Hamas hoped would be a 
decisive and historic moment in the war for the liberation of Palestine.

On a tactical level, the October 7 operations exceeded Hamas?s 
projections. ?It was very surprising for us how speedy one of the 
strongest brigades in the Israel Army?the Gaza brigade is one of the 
strongest, most sophisticated groups of their army?to collapse within 
hours without any serious resistance, and that even the state as a 
whole, for hours and maybe days, continued to be paralyzed, were not 
able to respond in the proper professional way,? said Naim, the Hamas 
political bureau member.

?They were able to create this image of undefeated, undefeatable army, 
undefeatable soldiers, the long hand of Israel, which can hit everywhere 
or strike everywhere and come back, relax, to drink at some cafe in Tel 
Aviv, like what they have done in Iraq, in Syria, Lebanon, everywhere. I 
think it has shown that [Israel?s self-promoted reputation] was not 
reflecting the reality.? The attacks, he said, showed Palestinians and 
their allies that ?Israel is defeatable and liberation of Palestine is a 
good possibility.?

?There was absolutely no control of the battle space. There was no 
control of this area.?

Nine months after the attacks, Israel remains in a state of shock and 
disbelief over the total failure of its vaunted military and 
intelligence agencies to protect the most vulnerable areas of Israel.

?Hamas won the war on October 7. The fact that they were able to conquer 
parts of Israel and kill so many Israelis,? said Gershon Baskin, an 
experienced Israeli negotiator in regular touch with elements of Hamas. 
?They took out Israel's electronic surveillance system with drones that 
you can buy on Amazon and hand grenades. They took down Israel's 
internal communication systems in the kibbutzim all around the Gaza 
Strip. They were so much more sophisticated than Israel.?

Hamas ?never imagined that there would be no Israeli army when they 
crossed the border into Israel,? said Baskin. ?One of the Hamas leaders 
told me, ?If we knew there was going to be no army there, we would have 
sent 10,000 people and conquered Tel Aviv.? And they're not mistaken. 
They had no army there, and when they encountered the [Nova] music 
festival that they didn't know about, they went on a killing spree.?

Khalidi also believes that Hamas was not prepared for its own 
operational success on October 7. ?I don't think they expected the Gaza 
division to fall apart. I don't think they expected to overrun a dozen 
or more border settlements. I don't think they expected thousands and 
thousands of Gazans to come out of this prison that Israel has created 
and kidnap individual Israelis. I don't think they expected the kind of 
killing that took place in these border settlements. I don't think all 
of this was planned, frankly,? he told me. ?There was absolutely no 
control of the battle space. There was no control of this area. The 
Israeli army took four days to reoccupy every single military position, 
every single border village. So there were two days, three days, in some 
cases more, during which there was complete chaos. I'm sure horrific 
things happened.?

Hamas has consistently denied allegations that its fighters 
intentionally killed civilians on October 7. In a manifesto published on 
January 21, titled ?Our Narrative,? Hamas sought to explain Operation Al 
Aqsa Flood, though the document consisted mostly of general grievances. 
Among the tangible aims of the attacks in Israel, Hamas said, its 
fighters had ?targeted the Israeli military sites, and sought to arrest 
the enemy?s soldiers to [put] pressure on the Israeli authorities to 
release the thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli jails through a 
prisoners exchange deal.?

?Maybe some faults happened during Operation Al Aqsa Flood?s 
implementation due to the rapid collapse of the Israeli security and 
military system, and the chaos caused along the border areas with Gaza,? 
it continued. Sinwarreportedly acknowledged 
<https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/gaza-chiefs-brutal-calculation-civilian-bloodshed-will-help-hamas-626720e7?mod=hp_lead_pos7>to 
his comrades after October 7 that ?things went out of control? and 
?People got caught up in this, and that should not have happened.?

Rabbani said that it is undeniable that Hamas killed civilians during 
the October 7 attacks and expressed serious doubts about the group?s 
official position that Al Aqsa Flood was focused solely on targeting the 
Israeli military. ?Hamas has a history of this?its suicide bombings 
against civilian buses and restaurants and so on during the Second 
Intifada,? he said. Rabbani recalls reading accounts of the October 7 
attacks and watching videos from that day of Israeli civilians being 
killed or captured. ?My initial view was that these were probably people 
who had been suffering in Gaza their whole lives, didn't expect to go 
back alive, and wanted to go out with a bang. I'm sure that's the 
explanation for some of these cases,? he said.

?But I also wonder to what extent it was premeditated. I'd be very 
interested to learn to what extent Hamas intended to inflict a terribly 
traumatic blow on Israeli society, and not only the Israeli military,? 
he added. ?There is evidence to support it. There is also evidence to 
contradict it. But I think it's a question worth examining in more detail.?

The discourse surrounding the killing of Israeli civilians on October 7 
has been a central element in shaping public opinion on the war. ?So 
much of the rage in Israel is a function of this very high toll of 
civilian death,? said Khalidi. ?War leads to civilian deaths, but this 
was far beyond what could or should have been acceptable under any 
circumstances, and that is also on the planners of this operation. I 
think that's a hard thing to say, but I think it's something that should 
be said.?

?My initial view was that these were probably people who had been 
suffering in Gaza their whole lives, didn't expect to go back alive, and 
wanted to go out with a bang,? said Rabbani. ?But I also wonder to what 
extent it was premeditated.?

Israel?s social security agency has determined the official death toll 
from October 7 to be 1,139 people. Among those killed, 695 were 
categorized as Israeli civilians, along with 71 foreign civilians and 
373 members of Israeli security forces. As horrifying as the civilian 
death toll was on October 7, the message was and remains firm from U.S. 
and Israeli officials: Israeli lives are worth exponentially more than 
those of Palestinians.

Hamas has said that its forces targeted military bases and illegal 
settlements, characterizing the killing of civilians in the kibbutzim as 
collateral damage in battles against armed settlers ?registered as 
civilians while the fact is they were armed men fighting alongside the 
Israeli army.? Hamas officials suggested that many of the confirmed dead 
Israeli civilians were killed in crossfire, ?friendly fire? incidents, 
or intentionally killed by the Israeli Army to prevent them from being 
taken alive back to Gaza. ?If there was any case of targeting 
civilians," Hamas alleged in its manifesto, "it happened accidentally 
and in the course of the confrontation with the occupation forces.?

Abulhawa charged that the Israeli and U.S. governments launched a 
coordinated propaganda campaign in the immediate aftermath of October 7 
aimed at dehumanizing Palestinians and successfully crafted a false 
narrative of Hamas fighters as bestial monsters who killed for the sake 
of killing. She cited the volume of horror stories of sadistic crimes 
allegedly committed by Hamas fighters, including the beheading of 
babies, that have been promoted by Israeli and US officials, including 
Biden, only to later be disproven under scrutiny from journalists and 
independent researchers. ?They said that they beheaded babies, that they 
eviscerated a pregnant woman, that they burned a baby in an oven, like 
really horrific violence that seemed just evil and gratuitous to kill 
Jews. That was the narrative,? she said. ?It had not even a seed of truth.?

Hamas?s Naim credited the October 7 attacks and the nine months of armed 
insurgency against the invading Israeli forces for elevating the plight 
of Palestinian liberation to the center of global attention. ?This 
popular support everywhere, especially in America and Europe, do you 
believe this would happen by a workshop in Washington, D.C., discussing 
between Palestinians and Americans how to run Rafah crossings?? he 
asked. ?Unfortunately, this is the way. There is no other way.?

Hamad told me that no one involved with the planning of the October 7 
attacks that he spoke with predicted the full scope of Israel?s response 
and that many Hamas leaders expected a more intense and prolonged 
version of previous Israeli attacks on Gaza. ?This is a point that is 
very sensitive,? he said. ?No one expected this reaction from the Israel 
side, because what happened now in Gaza, it is a full destruction of 
Gaza, killing about 40,000 people, destroying all the institutions, 
hospitals and everything. I know the situation is horrible in Gaza. It's 
very, very hard. And we need at least ten years to reconstruct Gaza.?

?This war is totally different,? Hamad said. ?Totally different.?

International mediators have restarted negotiations between Hamas and 
Israel and there are indications that some type of incremental agreement 
may be on the horizon, though the permanent ceasefire that Hamas has 
demanded seems unlikely. ?The main issue is Hamas won't do a deal 
without the end of the war and Israel won't do a deal that ends the 
war,? Baskin told me.

Israel has insisted that Hamas disarm and that the group be barred from 
participating in the post-war governance of Gaza. Hamas has maintained 
it will remain a political force with the right to armed defense against 
Israeli occupation. ?America should understand, and this is very 
important, Hamas will be part of the Palestinian scene,? said Hamad. 
?Hamas will not be expelled. Hamas created October 7 and created this 
history.?

According to a member of Hamas?s negotiating team, the Palestinian 
representatives have observed U.S. mediators growing increasingly 
frustrated with the Israeli side. ?Everything that [Israel] needs, they 
call the babysitter. The United States is fed up now from the Israeli 
behavior,? said the Hamas official, who asked to remain anonymous. ?They 
are scared that this war will be wider in different regions, so they 
want to control Netanyahu and his madness. They are trying to [put] more 
pressure on Israel to accept this ceasefire. They are trying, but I 
think until now they did not use all the cards in order to push Israel. 
I think it's like their spoiled boy.? The Hamas negotiator told me he 
has the impression that ?the United States is trying to deal gently and 
softly with Israel, trying to apply pressure, but not squeeze them in 
the corner. Because of this, now there is a big conflict and dispute 
between Israel and the United States.?

Of all the objectives of the October 7 attacks, the one that Hamas was 
most confident would yield concrete results was freeing Palestinians 
from Israeli jails. According to Israeli figures, more than 240 people, 
including Israeli soldiers and civilians as well as foreigners, were 
taken back to Gaza during the Hamas-led attacks.

?[Hamas] made a quick deal with the Israelis,? said Baskin. ?It was 
three prisoners for every hostage. I think that was an amazingly low price.?

Sinwar has consistently prioritized the liberation of Palestinian 
prisoners. It was how he gained his own freedom in 2011, in an exchange 
that saw Sinwar and more than 1,000 other Palestinians freed from 
Israeli jails in return for a single Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit. ?It 
isn't a political issue, for me it is a moral issue,? he said in 2018. 
?I will try more than my best to free those who are still inside.?

Naim said Israel has historically shown a willingness to pay a high 
price for the return of its soldiers, including freeing Palestinians it 
characterizes as terrorists. ?Some of them are now [in prison] for more 
than 45, 44 years,? he said. ?They have also exercised a lot of pressure 
on the leadership to do something.?

But, three weeks into the war, when Sinwar officially proposed a 
sweeping deal to release ?all Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails 
in exchange for all prisoners held by the Palestinian resistance,? 
Israel rejected it.

Baskin has served as a shadow peace negotiator with a variety of 
Palestinian factions. He played a central role in negotiating the Shalit 
deal and has continued to work behind the scenes on hostage issues since 
October 7. Hamas, he said, knew the only chance to free the 
?impossibles??high-value Palestinian prisoners including those who had 
been convicted of killing Israelis?would be to take large numbers of 
military personnel hostage. ?For the soldiers, they wanted to free all 
the Palestinian prisoners in Israel, those serving life sentences,? 
Baskin said. ?At that time, there were 559 Palestinians serving life 
sentences. That was their main target, getting all of them.?

Eventually, under both domestic and international pressure, Netanyahu 
agreed to a limited exchange deal. During a brief truce last November, 
Hamas released 105 civilian hostages to Israel in return for 240 
Palestinians?mostly women and children?held captive by Israel. ?[Hamas] 
made a quick deal with the Israelis,? said Baskin. ?It was three 
prisoners for every hostage. I think that was an amazingly low price.?

Ghazi Hamad, the Hamas official who worked with Sinwar, was emphatic 
that Hamas did not intend to take Israeli civilians hostage. ?What we 
planned was just for military purposes, just to destroy this part of the 
Israeli army who controls the situation in Gaza and to take some 
hostages from the military?soldiers?in order to make a kind of 
exchange,? he said. ?I don't deny that there were some mistakes done by 
some people, but I am talking about the decision of Hamas, the policy of 
Hamas.?

Baskin told me it was immediately clear that Hamas did not prepare for 
holding so many civilians and was caught off guard when other 
Palestinian groups and individuals who flooded into Israel that day took 
large numbers of hostages, including senior citizens and children. ?They 
ended up simply taking people back into Gaza without thinking about the 
logistics, about what price they wanted for them,? Baskin said. ?From 
day four of the war, I was talking to Hamas already about a deal for the 
women, the children, the elderly, and the wounded, which I thought was 
the low hanging fruit, because Hamas would not have been set up to deal 
with them. They wanted to get rid of them.?

Israel has used the civilian hostages as the primary justification for 
their continued siege. Hamad confirmed that negotiations began almost 
immediately after the October 7 attacks. He told me that ?from the first 
week, we talked to some people, some mediators, that we want to return 
the civilians, but Israel refused.?

Hamad added that Hamas informed international mediators last November 
that it was working to track down more civilian hostages taken by other 
groups or individuals so it could return them to Israel. ?We asked them, 
?Please give us time now to look for people,?? Hamad said. ?But Israel 
did not listen to us and they continued to kill people.?

A major point of contention in the current negotiations, Hamas 
negotiators told me, is**Israel?s continued refusal to free Palestinians 
it characterizes as terrorists with ?Jewish blood on their hands.? Hamas 
has insisted that if Israel wants its soldiers returned, it must free 
Palestinian resistance fighters, including those convicted of murdering 
Israelis. In the negotiations, Israel has insisted it maintain veto 
power over Hamas?s list of Palestinian prisoners it wants freed in any 
deal.

Hamas negotiators told me that the fact that their forces have managed 
to sustain a nine-month armed insurgency against Israel in Gaza despite 
being outgunned and subjected to large-scale attacks with powerful 
weapons provided by the U.S. has sent a message to the negotiators that 
Hamas has its own red lines. ?Nine months have passed and our resistance 
has not been exhausted, nor has it relented, nor has it subsided,? said 
the spokesperson for the Qassam Brigades, known by his nom de guerre Abu 
Obeida, in a July 7 audio message. ?We are still fighting in Gaza 
without support or external supply of weapons and equipment, and our 
people are still persevering without food, water, or medicine, and under 
a criminal, unjust genocide war.?

Last weekend, Netanyahu released a list of what he called 
?non-negotiables? in any agreement with Hamas. Among these was 
preventing the smuggling of weapons from Egypt, the return of a maximum 
number of living Israeli captives held in Gaza, and barring Hamas 
fighters from returning to northern Gaza. The most contentious aspect of 
Netanyahu?s list is his insistence that Israel reserve the right to 
resume its full-scale war in Gaza, a notion that Hamas has consistently 
rejected.

Hamad believes the mediators, including those from the U.S., are aware 
that Netanyahu views the continuation of the war as linked to his own 
political survival. While a preliminary agreement may be reached for 
another exchange of captives, Netanyahu has reiterated his vow to 
destroy Hamas militarily.

?He wants to prove that he is [continuing the war] in order to achieve 
his big goals or what's called the ?total victory? in Gaza. But I think 
he could not convince even the Israeli community, the Israeli parties 
and his partners in the coalition,? Hamad said. ?Every day that he is 
losing soldiers and tanks, what?s the big achievement of Netanyahu? To 
kill civilians. So I think that the negotiation is stuck on this point, 
that there is no seriousness, strong will from the Israeli side to have 
an agreement with Hamas.?

?If you look to the text on both sides, it is easy to bridge the gaps,? 
Hamad added. ?Israel is working very hard in order not to achieve an 
agreement, because I think that this agreement will dismantle the 
coalition in Israel. I think this will be the end of the political 
career for Netanyahu.?

<https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9f960789-4031-46c1-aaaa-95749f35b08b_5472x3648.jpeg>A 
tuktuk driver rushes to transport casualties after Israeli bombardment 
at al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on July 8, 2024. 
Photo: Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty.

The October 7 attacks are often portrayed by U.S. leaders as having 
occurred in a historical vacuum?an alternative reality where Hamas, 
unprovoked, obliterated the peace. But for the people of Gaza, there has 
been no true peace. For 76 years, only a morsel of freedom has ever 
existed and for most of the past two decades it was restricted to the 
imaginations of a people confined to an open air prison surrounded by 
the occupation?s military bases and dotted by gated communities housing 
Israelis enjoying life in a bucolic setting.

In the years preceding the October 7 attacks, under presidents Trump and 
Biden, Hamas watched as Israel became more emboldened as prospects for 
Palestinian liberation receded to the footnotes of Washington-led 
initiatives aimed at normalizing relations between Israel and Arab 
nations like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. 
Netanyahu?s position was: ?We must not give the Palestinians a veto over 
new peace treaties with Arab states.?

Just two weeks before the October 7 attacks, the Israeli leader 
delivered a speech at the UN general assembly in New York, brandishing a 
map of what he promised could be the ?New Middle East.? It depicted a 
state of Israel that stretched continuously from the Jordan River to the 
Mediterranean Sea. Gaza and the West Bank, as Palestinian lands, were 
erased.

During that speech, Netanyahu portrayed the full normalization of 
relations with Saudi Arabia as the linchpin of his vision for this ?new? 
reality, one which would open the door to a ?visionary corridor that 
will stretch across the Arabian Peninsula and Israel. It will connect 
India to Europe with maritime links, rail links, energy pipelines, 
fiber-optic cables.?

?When Palestinians look at the region, they feel genuinely abandoned by 
their own leaders.?

Hamas monitored these developments carefully and saw the U.S. moves 
toward circumventing a Palestinian resolution in its normalization 
campaign as an existential threat. ?If Saudi Arabia signed, it means the 
whole region, when it comes to the Palestinian question, will collapse. 
It is not a plan. It is not a peace process. It is an integration of 
Israel in the newly created Middle East. They have started to talk about 
Middle East NATO,? Naim said. ?It is a coup against the heritage, the 
history, the values of this region and against the future, all this 
together.?

According to Abulhawa, ?The status quo was unsustainable and untenable, 
especially when Arab leaders began normalizing and the writing was on 
the wall for our total disappearance and total destruction.?

While Netanyahu?s vision for a new silk road through a Middle East 
without Palestine was certainly a concern, Rabbani doubts that Hamas 
believed it could derail the Abraham Accords. The desired impact, he 
said, was likely to send a message to the Arab public about the 
complicity of their rulers in crushing Palestinian aspirations as they 
carved out agreements with Israel. ?If you look at the history of 
Arab-Israeli normalization agreements, Palestinian blood has never 
undermined them,? Rabbani said. ?When Palestinians look at the region, 
they feel genuinely abandoned by their own leaders, by those who they 
consider to be their natural allies and natural champions, by the 
international community as a whole.?

Arab nations have ?to play this sort of balancing act between not 
upsetting their domestic population and being just the right amount of 
critical of the Israeli regime,? said Hawari, the political analyst at 
Al-Shabaka, adding that she has ?no expectations from these despotic 
regimes? to defend Palestinians. ?I think the Saudis will push for 
certain conditions not because they particularly believe very strongly 
in Palestinian sovereignty, but because also they know that, 
domestically, Palestine is still a popular cause in Saudi Arabia.?

Abulhawa said that while she understands the value of the quest to fully 
understand the specific motivations and objectives of Hamas?s operations 
on October 7, it is essential to view it as a logical consequence of 
history. ?Palestinians have, for decades, tried every possible avenue to 
shake off this oppression, this unrelenting, violent colonizer. So this 
was going to happen sooner or later. It was inevitable that something 
was going to come to a head, particularly in Gaza,? she said.

?If you go back to the 1940s after the Nakba, there was a decade or so 
when Palestinians were just pleading with international bodies, going 
from one place to another, trying to negotiate for justice, trying to go 
home, trying to figure out a way. And there was no movement. We were 
completely irrelevant. Nobody even acknowledged us,? Abulhawa added. ?It 
was only until Palestinians resorted to armed resistance that the world 
finally admitted that, ?Oh wait, this is an indigenous population that 
does exist.? It was only after we started hijacking planes and resorting 
to guerrilla warfare in the spirit of leftist guerrilla movements of 
that era that there was any movement towards liberation.?

It was that armed resistance that created the space for the peace 
negotiations between the Palestine Liberation Organization?s Yasser 
Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin that many Western 
leaders hailed as a breakthrough. The 1993 and 1995 signings of the Oslo 
accords, brokered by the Clinton administration, were opposed not only 
by Hamas and Islamic Jihad and other armed resistance factions, but also 
by prominent intellectuals. ?Let us call the agreement by its real name: 
an instrument of Palestinian surrender, a Palestinian Versailles,?wrote 
<https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v15/n20/edward-said/the-morning-after>Edward 
Said in a prescient 1993 essay 
<https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v15/n20/edward-said/the-morning-after>for 
the London Review of Books. "It would therefore seem that the PLO has 
ended the intifada, which embodied not terrorism or violence but the 
Palestinian right to resist, even though Israel remains in occupation of 
the West Bank and Gaza.?

Those agreements led to the creation of the Palestinian Authority and 
the concept of limited Palestinian self-governance embedded within the 
fabric of Israel?s apartheid regime that enforced the pre-October 7 
status quo.

In the aftermath of Oslo, both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad 
engaged in periodic campaigns of armed struggle against Israel, 
including through suicide bombings and attacks on civilians. This 
culminated in the launch of the Second Intifada in September 2000 that 
lasted more than four years. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a network of 
paramilitary forces aligned with Arafat?s ruling Fatah movement, joined 
the armed uprising. In the two decades following the intifada, much of 
the armed resistance has consisted of intermittent rocket attacks 
launched by Hamas and Islamic Jihad from Gaza and occasional, 
small-scale attacks against Israelis.

The post-intifada era of largely symbolic armed confrontation of Israel 
has unfolded in the midst of a political wasteland where the PA, Israel, 
and the broader international community led by the U.S. have presided 
over the decay of the dream of Palestinian self-determination. ?After 
Oslo, we are talking about a disastrous political track,? said Naim. 
?After 30 years, the West Bank is annexed. Jerusalem is mostly Judaized. 
Al Aqsa is nearly totally controlled. Gaza is totally separated, 
isolated and besieged for 17 years, a suffocating siege.?

Israel has mastered the exploitation of the specter of armed Palestinian 
resistance to justify its own wars of conquest and annihilation. And it 
has done so with the backing of the U.S. and a refusal by successive 
administrations to apply international law to Israel or to respect UN 
resolutions.

?The problem that the West has with Palestinian resistance is not 
terrorism. It's not the targeting of civilians. It's not armed 
resistance. It's resistance full stop,? Rabbani said. ?Whether it's 
massacring civilians or successfully hitting military targets or popular 
mobilization or boycott campaigns, there is not a single form of 
Palestinian resistance that the West is prepared to accept.?

The October 7 attacks and the subsequent guerrilla war in Gaza against 
the Israeli military has undoubtedly raised Hamas?s political standing 
among many Palestinians. This support, though, may not necessarily 
translate into political and electoral victory down the line. ?Whereas 
they clearly are in a stronger position politically than the PA, which 
is seen as a subcontractor for the occupation and as clapped out, 
exhausted, corrupt and so on by most Palestinians, that doesn't mean 
that there are not criticisms which many people are not willing to voice 
right now because they are standing up to the Israelis,? Khalidi said. 
?Their resistance, the fact that they're still fighting the Israelis on 
the one hand makes a lot of Palestinians, especially the ones farther 
away from Gaza, heartened. On the other hand, what has happened to the 
people of Gaza leaves a lot of Palestinians, especially the ones in 
Gaza, not so happy.?

Rabbani agreed that how people in Gaza will ultimately judge Hamas?s 
responsibility for the apocalyptic devastation they?ve endured remains 
unpredictable. ?I think there will also be many Palestinians who will 
look and say, ?Okay, the Gaza Strip has been reduced to rubble. You've 
left the people of the Gaza Strip defenseless and subject to genocide. 
And yes, Israel did it. Israel is responsible. But that's on you as 
well.?? At the same time, Rabbani says the attacks of October 7 
represent a historic chapter in the cause of Palestinian liberation and 
compared it to other pivotal moments in anti-colonial struggles in South 
Africa and Vietnam that came with significant death tolls among 
civilians. ?There's no denying the catastrophic consequences,? he said. 
?But my sense is that the changes in the longer term?of course without 
in any way trying to minimize the enormously unbearable damage that has 
been inflicted on an entire people?will, in the end, be seen as a 
critical turning point akin to Sharpeville, Soweto, Dien Bien Phu.?

Abulhawa said that during her trips to Gaza she talked with people about 
how they viewed Hamas and encountered what she described as complex, 
nuanced, and sometimes contradictory perspectives. ?The trauma is 
profound. And they'll tell you two conflicting ideas in the same breath. 
On the one hand, they're angry. And sometimes some people will blame 
Hamas, but everybody knows who's bombing them. Everybody.?
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Jul  9 17:07:09 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2024 14:07:09 -0700
Subject: [News] Hoopoe - Part 2: Hezbollah over 'the eyes of Israel' in
 occupied Golan
Message-ID: <mailman.49.1720559303.3500626.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/hoopoe---part-2--hezbollah-over--the-eyes-of-israel--in-occu>
Hoopoe - Part 2: Hezbollah over 'the eyes of Israel' in occupied Golan
Al Mayadeen English
July 9, 2024
------------------------------

The 10-minute video showcased footage of six Israeli strategic electronic
reconnaissance sites in the occupied Syrian Golan.

   - [image: Hoopoe - Part 2: Hezbollah over 'the eyes of Israel']
   <https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2024/7/9/b1276c91-4a1f-4ef5-acd8-6ed890437dc4.png?width=1000>
   A screengrab from a video published by the Military Media of the Islamic
   Resistance in Lebanon shows a Hezbollah drone

The Military Media of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon - Hezbollah on
Tuesday broadcast the second episode of the Hoopoe series, featuring
high-resolution aerial reconnaissance footage of intelligence bases,
command centers, and camps belonging to the Israeli occupation forces in
the occupied Syrian Golan.

The 10-minute video showcased footage of six strategic electronic
reconnaissance sites in the occupied Syrian Golan; the western and eastern
Shlagim sites, the Astra site, the Yisraeli site, the Avital site, and the
Tel Fares site.

According to the information provided in the video, these Israeli sites are
tasked with espionage, guidance, long-range monitoring, and electronic
attacks involving jamming and deception.

Moreover, the sites contain key nodes for communications and data exchange
and house forces from the 8200 and 9900 units, as well as the electronic
warfare unit.

Additionally, the six Israeli sites include forces responsible for securing
the bases, their equipment, and the border area.

It is noteworthy that the intelligence and early warning bases filmed by
Hezbollah's Hoopoe are referred to as "the eyes of the state of Israel,"
and the footage released included multiple scans of these sites.

Additionally, the footage revealed command centers and camps belonging to
the Israeli occupation military:

   - Habushit and Ma'aleh Golan barracks, along with newly established
   points during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood
   - Yoav barracks, which includes an artillery and missile battalion
   operating on the al-Jalil and Golan fronts
   - Southern Revaya barracks, which includes the 71st Armored Battalion
   headquarters in the 188th Brigade
   - Northern Revaya barracks, which includes the 74th Armored Battalion
   headquarters in the 188th Brigade
   - Alika barracks, which includes the main headquarters of the 188th
   Armored Brigade
   - Kirin barracks, which includes a camp for ground units training in the
   Golan fields
   - Southern Gamla barracks, which includes a training and readiness camp
   for ground forces the size of a battalion and a base for the 77th Armored
   Battalion
   - Keila camp, which includes a primary training base for regional
   command and a key facility for troops training in the Golan training camp
   - Zaura artillery position, which includes a permanent artillery battery
   site belonging to the 769th Brigade
   - Odem artillery position, which includes another permanent artillery
   battery site belonging to the 810th Brigade
   - Odem border site, which includes a Raz artillery radar and a
   three-dimensional air radar for aerial management
   - Sha'al headquarters, the alternative command post for the 210th
   Regional Division
   - Nafah base, which serves as the headquarters for the 210th Regional
   Division and its 366th Communications Battalion
   - Southern Keila barracks
   - Yarden barracks
   - Nafah base
   - Tsnobar base
   - Katsavya barracks
   - Ofek airport
   - Ofek camp

The video also showcased new points and roads for Israeli forces outside
the aforementioned sites, established during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, along
with fortified shelters for soldiers.

Experts have previously explained to *Al Mayadeen* that the missile
illustrated next to the target card has guiding fins at its front,
symbolizing a precise missile, which is a message Hezbollah intended to
convey in the video.

   - [image: Hoopoe - Part 2: Hezbollah over 'the eyes of Israel']
   <https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2024/7/9/56961c5d-8214-4acf-9151-abd95ab72abb.png?width=1000>
   A screengrab from a video published by the Military Media of the Islamic
   Resistance in Lebanon shows the identification card of the six strategic
   electronic reconnaissance sites in the occupied Syrian Golan

Hezbollah's video concluded with the word "to be continued," followed by
additional aerial reconnaissance footage from Safed and Tabarayya, to be
featured in the next episode of the series.

This episode of the Hoopoe follows the first nine-minute-and-a-half
episode, titled "This is what the Hoopoe came back with,"
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/undetected--hezbollah-hoopoe-mission-exposes-sensitive-israe>
in which the Military Media of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon released
footage showing its reconnaissance drones flying over swathes of occupied
Palestinian land, including Kiryat Shmona, Nahariya, Safad, Karmiel, Afula,
all the way to Haifa and its port.

The published footage included intelligence about Israeli sites
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/experts-decode-messages-in-hezbollah-s-hoopoe-mission-video>
inside occupied Palestine and clearly showed that the drone arrived at the
port of Haifa intact. Hezbollah's drones brought back footage and
information about sensitive sites they captured over Haifa starting with
the port itself to oil refineries and military factories, not to mention
the locations of military battleships and important economic hubs in the
port.

Five days later, Hezbollah released a video showing vital Israeli targets
only known to the occupation's security apparatus, suggesting that these
sites would be targeted in case of a war
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/hezbollah-shows-vital-israeli-targets--including-ben-gurion>
against Lebanon.

The video included snippets
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/al-mayadeen-dissects-hezbollah-s-video-of-coordinates--vital>
of Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's speech, in which
he warned the Israeli occupation that the Resistance would fight with no
restraints or limits if war were imposed on Lebanon.

"Israel" will regret waging war on Lebanon, he said.

The HaKirya complex, which includes the headquarters of the Ministry of
Security, the general staff, and many of the senior military staff leaders,
was also shown.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Jul  9 19:50:34 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2024 16:50:34 -0700
Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?=27It=E2=80=99s_permissible_to_shoot_everyone?=
	=?utf-8?q?=27_in_Gaza=3A_Six_IOF_soldiers_testify?=
Message-ID: <mailman.53.1720569908.3500626.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-it-s-permissible-to-shoot-everyone--in-gaza--6-iof-soldiers>
'It?s permissible to shoot everyone' in Gaza: Six IOF soldiers testify
Al Mayadeen English
July 9, 2024
------------------------------

Six Israeli soldiers present harrowing testimonies as they recount how
their fellow soldiers routinely executed Palestinian civilians to release
pent-up frustration or alleviate boredom.
[image: bfa774bc-2925-4921-8b7b-b98d02b3e5ca.jpg]

   - A doctor stands near bodies lined up for identification after they
   were unearthed from a mass grave found in the Nasser Medical Complex,
   southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, April 25, 2024. (*AFP*)

Six Israeli soldiers, speaking to *+972 Magazine *and *Local Call* after
being discharged from active duty in Gaza in recent months, reported instances
of executions
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/torture--executions--and-live-burials--un-experts-on-gaza-ma>
that lacked any clear "security justification".

Corroborating the accounts of Palestinian eyewitnesses and doctors during
the ongoing Israeli genocide, the Israeli soldiers described being
authorized to shoot Palestinians indiscriminately.

Of the six sources interviewed by *+972 Magazine *and* Local Call*, all but
one spoke anonymously. They recounted how Israeli soldiers routinely
executed Palestinian civilians for entering areas designated as "no-go
zones" by the military.

The testimonies depict a grim scene of civilian bodies scattered across the
landscape, often left to decay or be scavenged by animals.

The army reportedly only removes these bodies by a bulldozer
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-israel-s--civilian-executions--bulldozer-burials--shocking>
before the arrival of international aid convoys to prevent images of
advanced decomposition from spreading. Additionally, two soldiers described
a systematic policy of setting Palestinian homes on fire before leaving
them after their occupation.
?I?m bored, so I shoot'

Several sources told* +972 Magazine *and *Local Call* how the unrestricted
ability to shoot allowed soldiers to release pent-up frustration or
alleviate boredom.

"People want to fully engage in the event," recalled S., a reservist who
served in northern Gaza. "I personally fired a few bullets aimlessly, into
the sea or at the sidewalk or an abandoned building. They classify it as
'routine fire,' which is code for 'I'm bored, so I shoot.'"

Since the 1980s, the Israeli military has refused to disclose its rules of
engagement for open fire, despite numerous petitions to the High Court of
Justice. According to political sociologist Yagil Levy, since the Second
Intifada, "the army has not provided soldiers with written rules of
engagement," leaving much open to interpretation by soldiers in the field
and their commanders. Sources also testified that these loose directives
contributed to the killing of over 38,000 Palestinians
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/day-276-of-israeli-aggression-on-gaza--38-193-killed--87-903>
and a significant number of soldiers killed by friendly fire
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/iof-says-one-soldier-was-killed-with-apache--friendly-fire>
in recent months.
'It?s permissible to shoot everyone, a young girl, an old woman'

?There was total freedom of action,? B., a soldier who served in the
regular forces in Gaza for several months, including at his battalion's
command center told *+972 Magazine* and *Local Call*.

?If there is [even] a feeling of threat, there is no need to explain ? you
just shoot,? he stressed.

When soldiers spot someone approaching, ?it is permissible to shoot at
their center of mass [their body], not into the air,? B. said. ?It?s
permissible to shoot everyone, a young girl, an old woman.?

B. then recounted an incident from November when soldiers fatally shot
several civilians during the evacuation of a school near Gaza City's
al-Zaytoun neighborhood, which had been used as a shelter for forcibly
displaced Palestinians.

?A battle started inside; people ran away. Some fled left toward the sea,
[but] some ran to the right, including children. Everyone who went to the
right was killed ? 15 to 20 people. There was a pile of bodies,? B.
detailed.
'Every man between the ages of 16 and 50 is suspected of being a terrorist'

B. told *+972 Magazine* and *Local Call* that  ?every man between the ages
of 16 and 50 is suspected of being a terrorist.?

?It is forbidden to walk around, and everyone who is outside is
suspicious,? B. stressed. ?If we see someone in a window looking at us, he
is a suspect. You shoot. The [army?s] perception is that any contact [with
the population] endangers the forces, and a situation must be created in
which it is forbidden to approach [the soldiers] under any circumstances.
[The Palestinians] learned that when we enter, they run away.?

S. witnessed that his fellow soldiers would ?shoot a lot, even for no
reason ? anyone who wants to shoot, no matter what the reason, shoots.?
'The shooting is very unrestricted, like crazy'

M., another reservist who served in the Gaza Strip, clarified that such
directives would be issued directly by field commanders of the company or
battalion.

 ?When there are no [other] IDF forces [in the area] ? the shooting is very
unrestricted, like crazy. And not just small arms: machine guns, tanks, and
mortars,? M. testified.

Even without explicit orders from higher-ups, M. witnessed that soldiers in
the field often act independently, taking matters into their own hands.

?Regular soldiers, junior officers, battalion commanders ? the junior ranks
who want to shoot, they get permission,? M. added.
IOF killing a family of four

S. recalled hearing over the radio about a soldier stationed in a
protective compound who fired at a Palestinian family walking nearby.

S. gushed, ?At first, they say ?four people.? It turns into two children
plus two adults, and by the end it?s a man, a woman, and two children. You
can assemble the picture yourself.?

Only one of the soldiers interviewed for this investigation agreed to be
identified by name: Yuval Green, a 26-year-old reservist who served in the
55th Paratroopers Brigade in November and December of last year.

Green, who recently signed a letter with 41 other reservists declaring
their refusal to continue serving in Gaza following the army's invasion of
Rafah, told *+972* and *Local Call*, ?There were no restrictions on
ammunition; people were shooting just to relieve the boredom.?

Green recounted an incident during a Jewish holiday in December when ?the
whole battalion opened fire together like fireworks, including tracer
ammunition [which generates a bright light]. It made a crazy color,
illuminating the sky, and because [Hannukah] is the ?festival of lights,?
it became symbolic.?
Friendly fire is the 'main issue' threatening IOF

In the same context, C. testified that ?people shot as they pleased, with
all their might,? noting that the lack of restrictions on shooting meant
that soldiers were frequently exposed to significant risks of friendly fire
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/friendly-fire-and-incidents-claim-lives-of-29-israeli-soldie>
.

In Green?s testimony, friendly fire has been the ?main issue? threatening
soldiers? lives. ?There was quite a bit [of friendly fire]; it drove me
crazy,? he stressed.
'The war harms the hostages'

For Green, the rules of engagement also showed a profound disregard for the
well-being of Israeli captives.

?They told me about a practice of blowing up tunnels, and I thought to
myself that if there were hostages [in them], it would kill them,? Green
testified.

Green recalled an incident during which three Israeli captives were killed
in Gaza by the IOF holding up a white flag.

On this issue, Green told *+972 Magazine* and *Local Call, *?I?ve heard
statements [from other soldiers] that the hostages are dead, they don?t
stand a chance, they have to be abandoned."

?[This] bothered me the most ? that they kept saying, ?We?re here for the
hostages,? but it is clear that the war harms the hostages. That was my
thought then; today it turned out to be true.?
'A building comes down, and the feeling is, 'Wow, what fun''

A., an officer who served in the army's Operations Directorate, testified
that his brigade's operations room, responsible for coordinating combat
activities from outside Gaza, did not receive clear instructions on
open-fire orders to relay to soldiers in the field.

?From the moment you enter, at no point is there a briefing,? he said. ?We
didn?t receive instructions from higher up to pass on to the soldiers and
battalion commanders.?

?You fill in the blanks, in the absence of any other directive. This is the
approach: ?If it is forbidden there, then it is permitted here,'" he added.
'Shoot first, ask questions later?

A. detailed that shooting at "hospitals, clinics, schools, religious
institutions, [and] buildings of international organizations" required
higher authorization. However, in practice, "I can count on one hand the
cases where we were told not to shoot. Even with sensitive things like
schools, [approval] feels like only a formality," he stressed.

A. added, ?The spirit in the operations room was ?Shoot first, ask
questions later.? That was the consensus ? No one will shed a tear if we
flatten a house when there was no need, or if we shoot someone who we
didn?t have to.?

A. reported being aware of instances where Israeli soldiers fired at
Palestinian civilians who entered "their operational area," corroborating
findings from a *Haaretz *investigation into "kill zones" in Gaza areas under
army control
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-plans-to-make-gaza--buffer-zone--war-crime--un>
.

?This is the default. No civilians are supposed to be in the area, that?s
the perspective. We spotted someone in a window, so they fired and killed
him,? A. stressed.
Doubt cast on military reports of Hamas casualties

A. added that it was often unclear from the reports whether soldiers had
targeted militants or unarmed civilians?and ?many times, it sounded like
someone was caught up in a situation, and we opened fire.?

However, due to this uncertainty regarding the identity of the victims, A.
did not trust military reports concerning the number of Hamas fighters
killed.

?The feeling in the war room, and this is a softened version, was that
every person we killed, we counted him as a terrorist,? he testified.

?The aim was to count how many [terrorists] we killed today,? A. stressed.
?Every [soldier] wants to show that he?s the big guy. The perception was
that all the men were terrorists. Sometimes a commander would suddenly ask
for numbers, and then the officer of the division would run from brigade to
brigade going through the list in the military?s computer system and count.?
'Today?s child [is] tomorrow?s terrorist'

A. observed the irony that some Israelis justified calls for revenge by
alleging that Palestinians in Gaza celebrated the death and destruction on
October 7, as the Israeli soldiers justified their killing by using phrases
such as: "They handed out sweets," "They danced after October 7," or "They
elected Hamas."

"Not everyone, but also quite a few, thought that today?s child [is]
tomorrow?s terrorist."

This belief was used to justify disregarding the distinction between
civilians and combatants.

It is worth noting that Israeli newspaper *Haaretz *reported, on Sunday,
that during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, Israeli occupation forces
(IOF) routinely used a command that allowed soldiers to murder their own
soldiers, namely the infamous Hannibal Directive
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israelis-widely-used-hannibal-directive-on-oct-7--israeli-re#:~:text=Israeli%20newspaper%20Haaretz%20has%20reported,namely%20the%20infamous%20Hannibal%20Directive.>
.

The Israeli Air Force targeted at least three military facilities and
outposts during the operation, and the IOF opened fire on the separation
barrier dividing Gaza and the occupied territories when Israelis were being
taken captive. According to a source in the Israeli Southern Command, the
region was designed to become a "killing zone", while another commanded
that "not a single vehicle can return to Gaza." These instructions are
known as the "Hannibal Directive", requiring the IOF to take all measures
to avoid the capture of Israeli soldiers, including murdering them.

?I, too, a rather left-wing soldier, forget very quickly that these are
real homes [in Gaza],? A. said.

?It felt like a computer game. Only after two weeks did I realize that
these are [actual] buildings that are falling: if there are inhabitants
[inside], then [the buildings are collapsing] on their heads, and even if
not, then with everything inside them,? he added.
'So, you occasionally see dogs walking around with rotting body parts'

Multiple soldiers testified that the lenient shooting policy has allowed
Israeli units to kill Palestinian civilians, even when their civilian
status is known beforehand.

D., a reservist, mentioned that his brigade was positioned near two
designated "humanitarian" travel corridors in Gaza: one for aid
organizations and another for civilians moving from North to South within
the Strip.

Within its operational area, the brigade implemented a policy known as "red
line, green line," marking zones where civilians were prohibited from
entering.

 "Anyone who crossed into the green area would become a potential target,?
D. said.

?If they [civilians] cross the red line, you report it on the radio and you
don?t need to wait for permission, you can shoot,? he stressed.

In Gaza, soldiers recounted incidents where civilians, often desperate
refugees scavenging for food from aid convoys, risked being shot if they
approached. Despite acknowledging their desperation and lack of resources,
soldiers cited frequent incidents where individuals, whether innocent
civilians
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-israel--killing-clan-members-distributing-aid-in-gaza--stat>
or suspected scouts for Hamas, were shot by their battalion. The aftermath
left numerous Palestinian civilian bodies strewn across roads and open
areas throughout Gaza.

?The whole area was full of bodies,? said S., a reservist. ?There are also
dogs, cows, and horses that survived the bombings and have nowhere to go.
We can?t feed them, and we don?t want them to get too close either. So, you
occasionally see dogs walking around with rotting body parts. There is a
horrific smell of death.?
'A D-9 [Caterpillar bulldozer] clears the area of corpses'

S. pointed out that before humanitarian convoys arrived, the bodies were
cleared or removed from the area by bulldozers.

 ?A D-9 [Caterpillar bulldozer] goes down, with a tank, and clears the area
of corpses, buries them under the rubble, and flips [them] aside so that
the convoys don?t see it ? [so that] images of people in advanced stages of
decay don?t come out,? he testified.

?I saw a lot of [Palestinian] civilians ? families, women, children,? S.
continued. ?There are more fatalities than are reported. We were in a small
area. Every day, at least one or two [civilians] are killed [because] they
walked in a no-go area. I don?t know who is a terrorist and who is not, but
most of them did not carry weapons.?

?We saw some indistinct mass outside a house. We realized it was a body
<https://english.almayadeen.net/videos/horrific-scenes-from-jabalia-refugee-camp-in-gaza-after-isra>;
we saw a leg. At night, cats ate it. Then someone came and moved it,? he
detailed.
?Before you leave, you burn down the house?

Two soldiers testified that burning Palestinian homes has become routine
among Israeli troops, a practice extensively detailed by *Haaretz *earlier
this year.

Green personally witnessed two incidents: one initiated independently by a
soldier and another carried out under commanders' instructions.

"If you move, you have to burn down the house,? he tersely stated.

?I asked the company commander, who said that no military equipment [could
be] left behind, and that we did not want the enemy to see our fighting
methods,? Green added. ?I said I would do a search [to make sure] there was
no [evidence of] combat methods left behind. [The company commander] gave
me explanations from the world of revenge. He said they were burning them
because there were no D-9s or IEDs from an engineering corp [that could
destroy the house by other means]. He received an order and it didn?t
bother him.?

?Before you leave, you burn down the house ? every house,? B. reaffirmed.
?This is backed up at the battalion commander level.?

Green went on to say, ?You draw on the walls, rude things. Playing with
clothes, finding passport photos they left, hanging a picture of someone
because it?s funny. We used everything we found: mattresses, food, one
found a NIS 100 bill [around $27] and took it.?

?We destroyed everything we wanted to,? Green testified. ?This is not out
of a desire to destroy, but out of total indifference to everything that
belongs to [Palestinians]. Every day, a D-9 demolishes houses. I haven?t
taken before-and-after photos, but I?ll never forget how a neighborhood
that was really beautiful ? is reduced to sand.?

It's a familiar story: Israeli soldiers are confessing to shooting to kill
and reducing everything to rubble. This time, amid ongoing genocide?the
gravest of crimes?the atrocities are unfolding live and unabated.

This extreme cruelty
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/rescue-teams-discover-third-mass-grave-in-al-shifa-hospital>
precisely meets the definition of genocide with intent, illustrating why
ignoring it is not just impractical but absurd. It highlights the profound
challenge of genocide denialism that persists globally. This impunity
allows the killing of Palestinians to continue, as evidenced by Israeli
soldiers boasting about it and documenting their actions on social
media?insolently motivated by boredom.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Jul 10 11:45:51 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2024 08:45:51 -0700
Subject: [News] Cuba Neutralizes New Terrorist Plan from the U.S.
Message-ID: <mailman.57.1720626568.3500626.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

resumen-english.org
<https://resumen-english.org/2024/07/cuba-neutralizes-new-terrorist-plan-from-the-u-s/>
Cuba Neutralizes New Terrorist Plan from the U.S.
------------------------------

By Alejandra Garcia, on July 9, 2024 in Havana

<https://i0.wp.com/resumen-english.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Hackwell_017.jpg?ssl=1>

Cuban Ministry of the Interior (MININT) photo: Bill Hackwell

This week it was reported that Cuba thwarted the attempts of a network of
Cubans living in the United States who were trying to enter the island
illegally with weapons, and with the purpose of starting a social outbreak.
The Ministry of the Interior (Minint) disclosed details of a recruitment
plan, neutralized in December 2023, directed, from U.S. territory, to
promote and organize terrorist actions in Cuba.

In late November 2023, a Cuban citizen illegally entered Cuba by sea with
firearms and ammunition. The individual, identified as Ardenys Garc?a
?lvarez, entered the island through the Manuel Canal area, in the province
of Matanzas, with a Jet Ski type nautical motorcycle, registered in the
U.S. state of Florida.

Bullets and other arsenals were found during the seizure of the vehicle.
Later, the authorities found that Garcia entered with five pistols of
various origins and characteristics, cartridges including an American
Tactical pistol and two different models of Smith & Wesson, manufactured in
the United States, along with a Steyr, from Austria, and a Taurus, created
in Brazil, along with rounds of ammunition.

Garcia was already known to Cuban law enforcement. Before immigrating to
the United States in 2014, he was already wanted for crimes of robbery with
force. A new legal process against him began immediately after he was
caught red-handed on December 9.

During his imprisonment, he confessed to having had contact with Willy
Gonz?lez, a representative of the anti-Cuban group calling itself La Nueva
Naci?n Cubana en Armas (The New Cuban Nation in Arms).

In Garcia?s statements to the justice system between the time of his
capture and May 2024, during his arrest awaiting charges, he confessed that
the name of his recruiter was Dayan Qui?ones, with whom he had exchanged
messages via the social network Telegram. Subsequently, he had participated
with the terrorist group in two military trainings.

During the training, the terrorist mentioned a document that gave a reason
for this paraphernalia. In this document of undefined authorship, those
involved state their ?determination to employ armed struggle, putting at
risk the lives of a group of determined men, in order to save the lives of
many others.? It was a manifesto of their plans against Cuba.

Other real objectives behind this declaration of intentions were exposed in
Willy Gonzalez?s multiple calls for the ?awakening of the people,? through
violence against offices, sugar cane fields, and the tobacco factories of
Pinar del Rio?. ?We are reaching the level when their will be physical
harm,? he assured.

The story is even more sordid and involves many other terrorists who roam
the streets of Florida with the full complicity of U.S. authorities,
despite Cuba?s denunciations. Another member of the New Cuban Nation in
Arms, alluded to by the accused under the nickname of ?El Lobo?, is Jorge
Luis Fernandez Figueras, promoter and financier of aggressive actions
directed against children?s circles, schools, polyclinics and the
warehouses of the Basic Electric Organization, especially in the
municipality of San Miguel del Padron, in the province of Havana.

The criminal incursion occurred in November, but it is not by chance that
the news is only fully coming to light now; a few days before Cuba
remembers with pain and shame the violent events of July 11, 2021. The
Cuban authorities took time now to remove the mask of the material authors
of this act of provocation, which is not the first and will not be the
last, as long as the White House turns a deaf ear to Cuba?s condemnations.


Yes, the fact that the results of the ongoing investigation were released
shortly before July 11 is calculated but there is another message. Cuba is
at peace, but the intelligence forces are alert and active and on the move.
Mercenaries that come here from the US to disrupt and try to undermine
Socialist Cuba will be caught and face the fullest extent of our laws and
they will not be going back to their lairs in Miami anytime soon. Nothing
will disturb the tranquility of the people. Cuba is protected.

Source: Resumen Latinoamericano ? English
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Jul 10 19:27:17 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2024 16:27:17 -0700
Subject: [News] 'Targeted starvation campaign' by Israel has led to famine
 across Gaza
Message-ID: <mailman.61.1720654120.3500626.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

middleeasteye.net
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/targeted-starvation-campaign-israel-has-led-famine-across-gaza-un>
'Targeted starvation campaign' by Israel has led to famine across Gaza: UN
experts
------------------------------

Israel is engaged in a 'form of genocidal violence' as it starves
Palestinians in Gaza, say 10 rights experts

Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity after an Israeli
assault on Rafah, 8 May 2024 (Reuters)

Published date: 9 July 2024

After nine months of Israel's
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel> near-total blockade on
humanitarian aid, ten top United Nations experts on Tuesday said they had
seen enough, declaring that Israel is engaged in a "targeted starvation
campaign" in Gaza <https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/gaza-under-attack>.

"We declare that Israel's intentional and targeted starvation campaign
against the Palestinian <https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine>
people is a form of genocidal violence and has resulted in famine across
all of Gaza," said
<https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/07/un-experts-declare-famine-has-spread-throughout-gaza-strip>
the experts.

"We call upon the international community to prioritise the delivery of
humanitarian aid by land by any means necessary, end Israel?s siege and
establish a ceasefire,? they added.

Michael Fakhri, the special rapporteur on the right to food, along with
other experts such as Francesca Albanese, the special rapporteur on the
situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, and Paula Gaviria
Betancur, the special rapporteur on the human rights of internally
displaced persons, issued the statement.
Stay informed with MEE's newsletters Sign up to get the latest alerts,
insights and analysis, starting with Turkey Unpacked

At least 33 children, mostly in northern Gaza,  have died of malnutrition
since the war began in October, according to the Palestinian health
ministry.

The group of ten rights experts cited the deaths of three children aged
thirteen, nine and six months, from malnutrition in Khan Younis and Deir
al-Balah since the end of May, leading them to assert that a famine is now
underway.

"With the death of these children from starvation despite medical treatment
in central Gaza, there is no doubt that famine has spread from northern
Gaza into central and southern Gaza," the experts said.

Israel's diplomatic mission in Geneva said the statement was
"misinformation".

"Israel has continuously scaled up its coordination and assistance in the
delivery of humanitarian aid across the Gaza Strip, recently connecting its
power line to the Gaza water desalination plant," the mission said.
Famine for months

In June a report issued by an independent group of experts known as the
Famine Early Warning Systems Network, or Fews Net, warned that famine in
Gaza may have been taking place since April, and is likely to continue
through July ?if there is not a fundamental change in how food assistance
is distributed and accessed? after it enters the Strip.

Meanwhile, Israel <https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel> continues
to block the Rafah crossing with Egypt
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/egypt>, and restrict aid entry via
the Karem Shalom crossing with southern Gaza.

?The population?s access to and utilization of available food assistance
has been insufficient to meet the level of need to date, and much more must
be done immediately to ensure humanitarian food assistance is distributed
effectively once it enters Gaza,? the report reads.

The US-based Fews Net conducted its analysis on famine in Gaza based on
three conditions that have to be met - namely food consumption, acute
malnutrition, and mortality.

It concluded that the spike in death rates in the besieged enclave is
directly linked to the ?near? famine levels, and that ?extremely high?
rates of malnutrition among children will lead to severe physiological
impacts.

Famine thresholds had, however, been reached in northern Gaza in April, it
said.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Thu Jul 11 12:57:27 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2024 09:57:27 -0700
Subject: [News] Ineffectiveness, asymmetry,
 and partiality of international law in Gaza genocide
Message-ID: <mailman.3.1720717126.2989123.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/articles/features/ineffectiveness--asymmetry--and-partiality-of-international>
Ineffectiveness, asymmetry, and partiality of international law in Gaza
genocide
Pasquale Liguori
July 11, 2024
------------------------------

"Settler colonialism warrants decolonisation, not the limited protection
and pseudo-justice of international law."
[image: a5761312-099b-4568-af9d-d53d040edfdf.jpg]

   - For Palestinians under the rubble, the reputation of international law
   is shattered. If International law cannot stop genocide, what good is it?
   (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab El-Hajj)

In these nine months of genocidal war in Gaza, it has become clear that the
application of international law is irrelevant. "Israel" has repeatedly
snubbed calls for a permanent ceasefire, despite insisting appeals of a
seemingly peremptory nature or even moral persuasion. Yet the Zionist army
and leaders pursue bloodthirsty and destructive goals of colonial
aggression.

The international courts and the United Nations have intervened only to
prove themselves totally inadequate to stop the extermination of
Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories.

It is clear that these institutions, which are supposed to regulate and
establish the boundaries of political and geopolitical action in the world,
are in reality a kind of ? la carte menu of a series of options available
only to powerful Western states.

Despite its weak normative function, the consensus of public opinion that
the discourse on international law's positive role generates appears
substantial and robust. Many of its advocates glorify its implementation
when in fact the results of the law's decisions have been arguably less
than nothing.

In short, this structure is not the product of the enlightened culture and
fairness it claims to be. It only seems to function when it acts in line
with imperialist and unipolar interests: its role appears to be to protect
the interests of advantaged states at the expense of disadvantaged ones.

Palestine and Gaza are the most obvious examples, over decades, of the
failure of this pachydermic and ineffective international legal system, to
the point of suffering severe and irreparable consequences. Much of the
evils of genocide feed on the ineptitude and partiality of an asymmetrical
and obsolete system that should guarantee justice and not its exact
opposite.

We spoke about this with Bana Abu Zuluf, a Palestinian PhD candidate in
International Law at the University of Maynooth, Ireland, and a member of
the Good Shepherd Collective:

*Dr. Bana Abu Zuluf, first of all, could you explain to us what rights are
protected for a resistance force in a situation of occupation? Can the
attack of October 7th, which is surgically extracted in the mainstream
narrative as an event unrelated to a century of oppression, be considered
as an act of resistance under international law?*

The right to resist, the right to self-determination, and the entitlement
to prisoner of war status: none of these are protected in the context of
Palestine. All armed groups in Palestine are defined as terrorist and
unlawful, and memberships to these groups are condemned. UN General
Assembly Resolution 37/43 established the right of resistance and
self-determination for Palestinians "by all means necessary." The problem
is that "all means necessary" in international law still implies that the
principles of proportionality, imminence, and necessity must be observed.
These are vague concepts open to interpretation. In the case of Palestine,
it is easy to see that colonisation or 'occupation', as defined by
international law, provides grounds for fulfilling the three principles
above.

*In other words, if I understand correctly, are you arguing that coloniser
and colonised are subject to the same criteria for international law?*

This is where international law is reactionary. What is there to protect in
the settler colony? The settlers who violently replace the natives? The
liberal Zionists who hold on to their delusions of reformed Zionism? The
militarised society that rejoices in Palestinian deaths? We cannot talk
about October 7th in isolation from the 76 years of ethnic cleansing and
forced displacement of Palestinians. But we also cannot look at the
narratives of October 7th without highlighting the refusal to hear the
strategy, intention, and calculation of the Resistance forces for the
operation. They explicitly mentioned this in their public statement.

This is, of course, crucial because it helps to demystify the operation and
ground it in a vision of liberation. The dispute is in the context of
alleged ?indiscriminate targeting of civilians?, considered a war crime
under international law: where has this been confirmed, apart from the
testimony of settlers themselves?

Many reports, including those in *Haaretz*, show that the Hannibal Doctrine
was applied, whereby Israeli civilians were killed by Israeli forces to
prevent the taking of hostages. Therefore, unverifiable allegations cannot
be exported as factual findings by international institutions. How do
international law practitioners feel about this testimonial injustice for
Palestinians? Should an oppressed people living under brutal genocidal
settler colonisation for 76 years regulate their resistance to adhere to
absurd limits of respect for international law that denies their testimony?

If international law cannot be emancipatory for Palestinians, and
Palestinians desire emancipation, then international law cannot be the lens
through which they frame their decolonisation. Do Palestinians emerging
from the rubble owe the world anything at all? For Palestinians, none of
this matters. Our moral compass is guided by the idea of a free, liberated
Palestine, the dismantling of Zionism and its structures, and the right of
return to our land.

These were the guiding principles of the October 7th resistance. The
spreading of disinformation about October 7th, even when debunked, has
helped to reinforce Islamophobic and racist rhetoric against Palestinians
as inherently violent. As the chant rightly says: Resistance is an
obligation in the face of occupation. Put simply, decolonisation for
Palestinians means not only the territorial and metaphorical
re-organisation of Palestine, but also the re-organisation of the world,
including international law.

*For parallel reasons, could the Israeli response to Al-Aqsa flood - which
did not respect the principles of proportionality and distinction - be
defined as an act of self-defence under international law? Indeed, all the
Western powers immediately described the Israeli action as legitimate. Was
this not already a context of blatant illegality?*

"Israel" does not have the right to self-defence as an occupying power
under international law, if we must look through that lens. On the
contrary, it has a duty to protect. Committing genocide is certainly not
self-defence. Western powers use and refer to international law when they
talk about self-defence, not to argue a right for the Zionist entity, but
to sanction and justify war crimes and genocide. The legality or illegality
of an act committed does not matter. Impunity for international law is
characteristic of the Zionist entity. For the Western powers, it is simple:
violations of international humanitarian law are rewarded with impunity
when committed by friends and punished with sanctions when committed - or
allegedly committed - by the enemy. It is not a double standard; it is a
colonialist/imperialist standard.

*Perhaps never before have institutions, organs and procedures of
international law been subjected to such continuous global exposure, with a
series of official acts that turned out to be largely disregarded. How much
of this is due to constitutive flaws, internal to the genesis of the
institutions and laws, and how much to the once again confirmed
ineffectiveness of the instruments of a universal order?*

We can list countless shortcomings within international law and its
institutions. Procedurally, there are serious problems (ex post facto,
length of time to process cases, high costs), effectiveness and deterrence
are questionable, and enforceability is fictional. For Palestinians, it is
more about its inherent flaws, rooted in its history as a tool for powerful
states and empires to use and abuse as they see fit for their hegemonic
interests.

There are many critiques of international law, some drawn from the
traditions of the Global South, others more reformist. A lot of work has
been done on these shortcomings, so we won't go into detail here. What
interests me is how we reconcile the knowledge of these inherent flaws with
our fierce defence of the language of international law. Ever since I
started studying international law, I have had a question to which I have
been unable to find an answer: if international law is unenforceable, how
does it work? Was it even created to work? Another question that comes to
mind is the political nature of international law.

Seeing the US vote to sanction the International Criminal Court for doing
its job (albeit a very bad job) is the least shocking thing the US has done
as an empire. Western powers have always considered themselves above the
law. Thanks to Palestine, it is clear that respect for international law is
only a requirement of the enemies of the US and NATO. This, I believe, is
the real dilemma. The weaker states with little political influence must
respect international law because they are the target of the instruments of
international law used by more powerful states. The verticality of
international law is the weakness. In this sense, the Palestinian
Resistance will always be prosecuted by international law.

*Let us review some recent events. For example, UN Secretary-General
Guterres' seemingly disruptive words on accusations of genocide turned out
to be colourless in their practical effects. What idea did you get from
those statements?*

The Zionists would cry foul if their hegemonic narrative is not delivered
verbatim. They want total impunity. Even if the declaration does not
threaten their impunity, their demand is zero scrutiny. We Palestinians, on
the other hand, rejoice in the smallest declarations of our humanity. It's
a pity. We must demand more. He said nothing worthy of such applause. To
say that October 7th did not happen in a vacuum is not a heroic act. The UN
is complicit in the history of oppression that Guterres admits is not a
vacuum. Ardi Imseis, a scholar and practitioner of public international
law, has written a lot about the history of UN complicity. Only when the UN
recognises that the partition plan was a mistake, that "Israel" was built
on settler colonialism and the genocide in the Nakba, and that the
Palestinians are a colonised indigenous people with the right to
self-determination and return within that framework, should we think about
engaging with the institution in good faith. If we are naive enough, we
will hope that this will be achieved. But as long as there are veto-holding
permanent members of the Security Council, none of this hope matters. It is
indeed colourless.

*The vote in the General Assembly on the ceasefire or the recognition of a
Palestinian state seemed to be practically irrelevant, since everything is
in the hands of the Security Council, where the US veto weapon has given
the green light to Israel's heinous actions and policies. What do you think
of this pathology inherent in the UN?*

Again, as long as there is veto power in the Security Council, none of the
votes in the General Assembly matter in any material sense. The more
accurate formulation is that as long as the US empire functions, the UN
remains useless. It is right to call this a pathology. There are some
delusions about the power of the UN and its authority. The first thing we
learn in international relations is that states have a monopoly on
violence. The UN is made up of member states, and member states have their
own interests. That is why peacekeeping is out of the equation: states are
not interested in peacekeeping; they are interested in maintaining the
status quo. Sometimes, however, peace can maintain the status quo, and only
then are states interested in peacekeeping at the UN. That is why I see the
peace process as coercive. It is a process designed to undermine
self-determination. The two-state solution undermines Palestinian
self-determination. By endorsing and imposing this solution, the UN has
continued what it began with the partition plan. The recognition of
Palestinian statehood can also be seen in this light.

*Why has UNRWA been retaliated against by the Western governments that
finance it by deciding to stop funding it?*

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) was established on 8
December 1949 to provide relief to displaced Palestinian refugees.  At the
time, however, refugee protection was not the primary mandate of UNRWA, but
that of the UNHCR, which is responsible for providing humanitarian
assistance and protection to refugees, stateless persons and internally
displaced persons. UNRWA was intended to be temporary: neighbouring host
countries were expected to take responsibility for assisting refugees. As
this has not been the case in most countries, Palestinian refugees continue
to receive humanitarian assistance from UNRWA in the form of education,
food, and shelter.

However, this type of assistance distracts the world's attention from the
main issue, which is the return of refugees to their homes from which they
were displaced. Many of them are Palestinian. Since Palestinians are denied
their right of return by many Israeli laws and regulations, particularly
the Absentee Law and the Administrative Law, UNRWA appears to be
(inadvertently) facilitating and paying for the consequences of this
displacement.

The retaliation against UNRWA is based on the pretext of unsubstantiated
allegations that its workers are part of resistance forces designated as
terrorist organisations by Western governments (surprise!). But the real
reason is that UNRWA exists to legitimise the rightful aspirations of
Palestinians to return by documenting the refugee status of displaced
Palestinians. Another terrible reason is that the Zionist entity's tactic
of starving and suffocating Palestinians as part of its Dahiya doctrine
cannot be achieved with the presence of functioning UNRWA services.

*Is it not the very existence and operation of UNRWA that legitimised
"Israel's" colonial persistence in Palestine?*

It is a Band-Aid. That is very clear to the Palestinians. But it is the
only source of hope for millions of refugees. Neither I, nor anyone
critical of 'humanitarian' institutions, can deny that there is no
alternative source of protection for refugees and displaced Palestinians.
The only alternative is the dismantling of Zionist settler colonialism.
This is the limit of criticism. We can criticise until the end of time, but
if we do not imagine or begin to create the world we deserve, our criticism
is useless. The Zionists want to dismantle UNRWA because they want to
dismantle the Palestinians and the right of return, but the Palestinians
want to see the dismantlement of UNRWA because they want to be free from
Zionist settler colonialism and return home.

*What do you think of the activities carried out by the Special Rapporteur
on Occupied Territories? There is a feeling that the work of this profile
is as useful and interesting as it is disregarded and ultimately
irrelevant. What do you think?*

It is important to note that Special Rapporteurs have a limited capacity to
influence change. Nevertheless, they offer a powerful space to engage the
formal institution of the UN in a serious discourse about what is happening
in the OPT. It is important to note that the language of settler
colonialism was never used before the current Special Rapporteur. It is
important to mention this because this framing is important for
Palestinians. The denial of the lived experience of colonialism is a legacy
of international institutions. It is refreshing to see this analysis in a
formal report. However, one disagreement with the analysis of the current
Special Rapporteur, Francesca Albanese, is that for Palestinians, settler
colonialism cannot be defeated by law, but through a process of
de-colonisation by all means necessary to dismantle Zionism, land back and
return.

*The case brought to the International Court of Justice by South Africa, a
country of the so-called Global South, was of great historical importance
but of little practical effect. For what reasons? Why did the Court only
issue precautionary measures, which were, moreover, confirmed by two other
rulings, which were completely snubbed by "Israel", which responded with
even worse crimes?*

The South African legal team presented a very strong case. Anyone who
followed the hearing can say with pride that important legal work has been
done. But this is the way the International Court of Justice works; the
first step is an evaluation, which leads to provisional measures. But these
are rather useless. To find that a state has complied with the law simply
because there are 'plausible' grounds for believing that it has not is
ridiculous when it comes to genocide. Surely procedures and timelines are
no more important than 40,000 lives. It may be absurd to someone who does
not understand these procedures, but it is even more absurd when you see
the procedure while you are a live witness to an ongoing genocide.

The provisional measures simply meant that the International Court of
Justice asked "Israel" to ensure respect for international law. While the
process is still ongoing, the genocide has reached its 9th month. The
International Court of Justice has no teeth.

*We also witnessed a significant disregard for the highest organs of the
United Nations when Iran, in accordance with the procedures of
international law, formally informed the competent authorities of its
imminent action in self-defence following the Israeli attack on its
consular headquarters in Damascus. No one took any action, and then quite a
few (including international jurists) commented on Iran's gesture as
retaliation rather than self-defence. Compared to what "Israel" did, there
seems to be a double standard here too. Isn't there?*

It is about hegemonic narratives, racism, imperialism, and, quite frankly,
the norm. Since when have Global South states had the right to self-defence
or their actions been framed as such in the mainstream media? It is taken
as normative that Global South states or those described as enemies of the
West simply have no rights. They're outlaws because they're enemies of the
West. They have no territorial sovereignty, no security interests, and no
rights to their natural resources. This is a basic fact of today's world
order. Again, this is the imperialist standard.

*The action of the International Criminal Court, with the arrest warrants
issued by Prosecutor Karim Khan, has been given a media hype of authority
and fairness, even in pro-Palestinian circles, when in fact it contains
obvious elements of asymmetry and lack of clarity. Some have spoken of
"bothsidesism". First of all, it must be remembered that this is a request
for arrest warrants that came after a long delay and that was subject to
strong (American and Israeli) pressure before it was issued. And then, once
it was issued, it contained an indictment against both two Israeli and
three Hamas leaders. The former are not openly accused of genocide. The
latter are also accused of committing rape. Some of your colleagues have
welcomed these warrants: are there any concrete reasons for them to do so? *

International criminal law upholds individual responsibility and sees
genocide, for example, as an act of persons/individuals rather than the
state. This fundamentally contradicts the understanding of settler
colonialism, which is a process of forcibly removing the indigenous people
from the land and replacing them with the settlers. This process is not
carried out by individuals but by the settler state, in this case "Israel".

It is rather simple: for that settler state to expand and swallow more
land, it has to get rid of the natives. For Palestine, this process began
with the genocide of 1948, or what we call the Nakba. Genocide is a process
of state-building for the coloniser. How can we limit this to the
prosecution of individuals for crimes committed after 2002? The
International Criminal Court certainly has a blind spot for colonialism.
Accepting this premise in the International Criminal Court means that
Palestinians must capitulate to 76 years of colonisation, displacement and
genocide.

Karim Khan claims to know exactly what happened on October 7th. But what
happened on October 7th? Can anyone say with certainty that they know
exactly what happened? Certainly, the only narrative in the mainstream
media that seems to imply full knowledge of what happened is the Zionist
one. Except that most, if not all, of their claims have been debunked. So,
what exactly had happened?

The investigation began by presenting October 7th as the first act and the
attack on Gaza as a response. This is simply an ahistorical framing. The
denial of past war crimes committed in Gaza over the years, despite various
submissions to the International Criminal Court by the Palestinian Human
Rights Organisation and international legal groups, is a political
statement. Dozens of International lawyers working on the situation in Gaza
since 2014 will surely tell you that there is something fundamentally wrong
with ignoring all their submissions and calls for investigations and
focusing only on October 7th and the aftermath of October 7th.

Khan's ambivalence is intentional. While International law equates the
violence of the occupier with that of the occupied, Khan's decision to
issue arrest warrants for Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Deif,
while only issuing two arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, is
appalling. He reiterated that "Israel" has the right to defend itself.
Surely this is a denial of "Israel's" position as an occupier. While he
made extensive use of adjectives such as 'unconscionable' and 'devastating'
when referring to 'alleged' crimes committed by Hamas leaders, he
reiterated "Israel's" right to self-defence.

The International Criminal Court prosecutor did not enter Gaza or engage
directly with Palestinian victims, in contrast to his approach of visiting
Israeli 'victims' and taking their testimony. His approach shows
indifference to Palestinian suffering and demonstrates the entrenched
nature of anti-Palestinian racism in the International Criminal Court.

What Khan fails to understand (or chooses to ignore and misrepresent) is
that "Israel" has historically shown no respect for international law and
has repeatedly attacked the International Criminal Court, challenging its
jurisdiction, while Hamas has welcomed investigations as long as they are
'impartial'.

Khan heeded the call of a non-member of the International Criminal Court
and refused to visit Gaza, even though Palestine is a signatory to the Rome
Statute. Not to mention the statement that Hamas was guilty of rape and
torture, despite the UN investigation denying these claims. We need not
point out that, on the contrary, it was Palestinians who were
systematically subjected to these crimes long before the genocide began.
Ultimately, the credibility of Palestinian testimony is disregarded because
Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism are the status quo.

I am reminded of Gramsci's theory of hegemony and how hegemony is exercised
through coercion and consent. The Zionist hegemonic narrative about October
7th was exercised in the International Criminal Court arrest warrant by
rooting it as the objective outcome of an open investigation and by the
consent of those who rejoiced at the arrest warrant for Netanyahu and
Gallant.

While many Palestinians are happy to finally see a glimpse of action from
the institutions of the ICC after more than 76 years of colonialism, we
recognise that the International Criminal Court falls short of
understanding our demands for emancipation.

The joy, on the other hand, can be understood through two lenses: The
pessimism about overcoming the US imperialist world order and the injustice
inflicted on the Palestinians, and the post-Oslo human rights NGOs that
have mastered the language of international law as a tool of justice.

The Palestinian NGOs and International lawyers who rejoiced at the sight of
the International Court of Justice case and the International Criminal
Court arrest warrant may simply be experiencing one or both symptoms. It is
pragmatism. It is simply nihilism. To refuse to imagine a free, decolonised
Palestine from the river to the sea, or to frame justice for Palestinians
through the lens of decolonisation, is nihilism.

They see international law as credible and respectable. It may be flawed in
their eyes, but it is the lens through which they define their humanity. It
is dehumanising to believe that the very tool that refuses to defend your
right to resist effectively is useful. Respectable politics in this sense
is nihilism. To believe in the rule of law under the unipolar imperialist
order is nihilism. It seems contradictory to call belief in international
law and its institutions nihilism, but it is the denial of every rightful
urge to change this unjust and cruel world, to fight imperialism and to
join forces that actively do so, that is the edge of nihilism. It is the
abandonment of one's own integrity. What is left after that? For
Palestinians, our integrity is above the world order.

*The International Criminal Court, chaired by Khan, is a body that has not
even been ratified by the US and "Israel". So, let's be honest: what kind
of real power can it have? Incidentally, when the warrants were issued for
Putin's arrest, the US cheered his action, while condemning the warrant for
Netanyahu and threatening sanctions and retaliation. This sounds like a
classic arrogant display of double standards. How can international law
survive in this framework and become something different and better?*

There are no double standards. There is only one standard, which
distinguishes between the friends of the US and the enemies of the US. We
may not want to fall into these totalitarian Schmidtian terms, but it is
undeniable that once that is clear, everything falls into place.

Was International law a controversial instrument when the warrants for
Putin's arrest were issued? It is clear that international law suddenly
became a powerful tool and the US and the West applauded it. Not only that,
but it was linked to sanctions and boycotts. Suddenly, all the institutions
were no longer neutral.

However, the mechanisms of international law in the service of the
oppressed sound terrible to the West and justify sanctions against the
International Criminal Court. It is a mere theatricality, because the US
does not see the arrest warrant against Netanyahu and Gallant as an issue
in itself. On the contrary, this is their way of saving the Zionist entity
since Netanyahu is no longer a useful tool for the empire and its
interests. The International Criminal Court arrest warrant is working as it
should: to reduce justice to the prosecution of individuals. If we were to
enter the debate on individual responsibility, we could cite various
problems with deterrence, obscure criteria for identifying individuals, and
many more. It is not the first time that International Criminal Court
prosecutor Karim Khan has acted as an agent of the US. So, this time is no
different.

*Dr. Abu Zuluf, one gets the impression that the institutions of law have a
functional role to play in maintaining a unipolar, imperialist world order.
What do you think about this?*

That would be my understanding as a Palestinian. Again, the institutions of
international law have no teeth. States must take it into their own hands
to enforce international humanitarian law. The US enforces international
humanitarian law as it pleases. Ultimately, International law is a tool if
you're powerful. If you are weak (and relatively speaking all states are
weaker than the US empire in their ability to create and enforce norms with
complete impunity), international law is interpreted without your input and
enforced on you when it is strategically necessary by the empire and its
allies.

Even if we were to be cynical, the International Criminal Court warrant
would never have been issued if the US did not want to get rid of Netanyahu
and Gallant. They see Netanyahu as unpopular and reckless. Blaming
Netanyahu is the way to save the Zionist entity and US interests at a time
when millions are marching in the streets demanding a free Palestine from
the river to the sea.

*Is there a debate, a plan, within the international bodies that preside
over the law, for their in-depth reform and re-organisation?*

Outside international bodies, we see the emergence of various groups
critical of international law. There are the Third World Approaches to
International law (TWAIL) and various other strands. Some are more critical
than others. Some see international law as valuable despite its flaws,
others see it as intricately woven into the imperialist capitalist world
order and useless for indigenous decolonial struggles.

Now the reform of international law is contentious and there are various
proposals for making international law more useful. Some are doctrinal,
some procedural, and others strengthen the rule of international law.
Dozens of institutions have as a goal the reform of the law. Some simply
touch on a specific area of International law, such as international
investment law, etc.

The Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) has a promising potential
to suggest that international law can be based on solidarity. It suggests
that we can move away from Eurocentric International law towards
emancipatory international law.

In this sense, we can imagine international law differently once we remove
the false premises of "neutrality, fairness, and universality" (Al Attar
and Miller, 2010). We can replace them with autonomy, solidarity, and
equity. The key word is replacement. It suggests a rebirth. Something
initiated by the Bolivarian revolution. This sounds promising in a
post-colonial world where decolonisation is complementary and not rooted in
an existential struggle on land against uninterrupted settler colonialism.

For Palestine, we do not need international law to grease the wheels of
decolonisation or justify the need to liberate our land from Zionism from
the river to the sea. The sanctity of anti-imperialism, anti-capitalism,
and anti-racism is veneered by indigenous resistance and the re-imagining
of a free Palestine and a free Global South, not by theoretical notions of
alternative governance.

Mohsen al Attar, an anti-colonial legal scholar, has also written about how
W.E.B. Du Bois's "double consciousness" can be seen in those who are
viciously critical of international law and at the same time reluctant
defenders of it. The same is true of Palestinian International law
practitioners who see the horizontality of international law despite ample
evidence of its verticality. One of these is the dichotomy between the
coloniser and the colonised or, in the strict terms of international law,
the "occupier" and the "occupied".

For Palestinians under the rubble, the reputation of international law is
shattered. If International law cannot stop genocide, what good is it? Must
we fight to create better ways to 'regulate' the world when they have
regulated a stratified system that decides whose humanity is worth
protecting and who is disposable? Is there anything more urgent than doing
all you can to stop a genocide? Surely the International Court of Justice
does not feel the urgency as it tiptoes around an obviously irrefutable
genocide. Can we reform international law's inherent anti-Palestinian
racism? The demonisation of resistance? The Islamophobia? The task is
complicated when it should be simple. Settler colonialism warrants
decolonisation, not the limited protection and pseudo-justice of
international law.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Thu Jul 11 13:10:17 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2024 10:10:17 -0700
Subject: [News] We Are Not Leaving: Gaza residents unite against forced
 displacement
Message-ID: <mailman.7.1720720687.2989123.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

 We Are Not Leaving: Gaza residents unite against forced displacement

Thursday 11-July-2024 -
https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2024/07/11/321882/
<https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2024/07/11/321882/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2024/07/11/321882/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2024/07/11/321882/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2024/07/11/321882/#>
+ -

GAZA, (PIC)

?We are not leaving.? With these simple words, Gaza residents summarize
their stance as the Israeli occupation army renewed attempts to forcibly
displace them from their city following thousands of massacres and horrific
crimes over the past nine months.

On Wednesday, Israeli aircraft dropped leaflets outlining routes they claim
are safe corridors, directing Gaza City residents to evacuate to Deir
al-Balah and al-Zawaida in central Gaza.

Despite the fear and hunger touching every corner of steadfast Gaza,
residents cling to their city, expressing their willingness to die rather
than leave.


*We are not leaving*Journalist Mohammed Abu Qamar affirms that the
occupation is exhausting all options, putting pressure on 700,000 residents
of Gaza and the northern governorates to force them to move south. He
asserts that those who have endured for ten months can remain steadfast,
knowing that killing and targeting will continue whether they are in the
north or south of Gaza.

?We are in the final stage before relief, Allah willing, and Allah will not
abandon us,? he says.


*We will not be uprooted by winds of displacement*A journalist from Al
Jazeera writes, ?After a brutal campaign of starvation, destruction, and
killing, the Israeli army is trying to force the residents of Gaza City and
the north to move south, claiming to provide ?safe corridors? without
inspection. We, the people of Gaza and the north, are as rooted in our land
as olive trees. The winds of displacement and destruction will not uproot
us. We will stay here, steadfast and immovable. We are not leaving.?

Activist Ibrahim expresses his refusal to flee, saying, ?We?ve been here
for nine months, enduring hunger, thirst, pollution, fear, death, and
displacement more than ten times. We survived all the hardships and didn?t
leave. Now you want us to leave our country and our homes? No, we are not
leaving. We will stay here and die in our homes and our land, proudly
steadfast to the last breath, Allah willing.?

Writer Yousri Al-Ghoul warns against complying with the occupation?s plans,
saying, ?Do not fall for their evacuation scheme. We are staying in Gaza.
We are not leaving.?

Despite the harsh conditions, Al-Ghoul?s faith in imminent liberation
remains unshaken, reminding people of the steadfastness of Muslims during
the Battle of the Trench.


*Final cards*Community leaders and intellectuals have issued warnings to
citizens not to comply with the occupation army?s orders, pointing out that
the goal is to frighten the residents.

Researcher Mohammed Al-Rantisi notes that the Zionist enemy is using its
final cards by pressuring the steadfast people in Gaza City and the north
to move south, allegedly providing safe corridors without inspection. ?Our
response is clear: #WeAreNotMoving.?

Five days after the occupation army began its genocidal war on Gaza, it
issued orders for the displacement of Gaza and northern Gaza residents,
demanding they evacuate. Hundreds of thousands were forcibly moved to
southern Wadi Gaza, while about 700,000 chose to stay.

Those who remained in Gaza and the north faced bombing, aggression, and
starvation. Those who moved south encountered the same bloody Israeli
policy, as invasions and airstrikes continued unabated from the north to
the south of the Strip.

In this context, the director of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights
Monitor Dr. Ramy Abdu emphasizes that Israel?s intimidation campaign
against Gaza City and northern residents is reaching its peak with repeated
evacuation orders.

He stressed that Israel?s failure to break the residents? resilience leads
it to alternate between intimidation and enticement. What happens in the
central and southern Gaza Strip in terms of killing and displacement is no
less severe than what happens in the north.

Activists warned against complying with the occupation?s evacuation orders,
recalling their harsh experiences. Others affirmed that if they could go
back, they would not have fled to the south.

Bloggers from Gaza and the north continuously express their refusal to be
displaced, no matter the cost. The phrase ?We are not leaving? has become a
symbol of steadfastness and a declaration of defiance against the
occupation?s plans.

Media professional Ayman Al-Omari photographed a boy selling plant
seedlings for planting, symbolizing resilience even as the occupier calls
for the displacement of the landowners and farmers.

The resilience of Gaza and northern residents over the past months and
their refusal to comply with repeated displacement orders is seen as a key
factor in thwarting the occupation army?s plan to displace Gaza Strip
residents, as revealed by Israeli occupation officials in the early days of
the war.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Fri Jul 12 12:15:47 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2024 09:15:47 -0700
Subject: [News] Hamas: We've shown flexibility in talks,
 Netanyahu obstructing deal
Message-ID: <mailman.0.1720801792.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/hamas--we-ve-shown-flexibility-in-talks--netanyahu-obstructi>
Hamas: We've shown flexibility in talks, Netanyahu obstructing deal
Al Mayadeen English
July 12, 2024
------------------------------

Hamas says Netanyahu's attempts to add new demands, which were not included
in any of the previous proposals, confirm he is looking for ways to
obstruct the agreement.
[image: 69da0853-6dfb-4bb0-806c-4810adcee12b.jpg]

   - People walk on rubble as they inspect the damage at the UN Relief and
   Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) building complex in western
   Gaza City's Al-Sinaa neighborhood on July 12, 2024. *(AFP)*

Hamas is suggesting during ceasefire negotiations that an independent
government of non-partisan figures run post-war Gaza and the
Israeli-occupied West Bank, said Hossam Badran, a member of the movement's
political bureau, on Friday.

"We proposed that a non-partisan national competency government manage Gaza
and the West Bank after the war," Badran said in a statement about the
ongoing negotiations for a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange deal between
the Israeli occupation and Hamas, mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the United
States.

The Hamas official stressed that "the administration of Gaza after the war
is a Palestinian internal matter without any external interference, and we
will not discuss the day after the war in Gaza with any external parties."

Another Hamas official told *AFP* that the proposal for a non-partisan
government was made "with the mediators."

The official explained that the government will "manage the affairs of the
Gaza Strip and the West Bank in the initial phase after the war, paving the
way for general elections."

Badran also called on the international community to put pressure on the
side obstructing the negotiations and force it to stop the aggression
against Gaza, emphasizing that the steadfastness and resilience of the
Palestinian people and the heroic performance of the Resistance "are what
compel the occupation government to comply with our people's conditions and
rights."

This comes after Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
insisted that "Israel" maintain control of the Philadelphi corridor and the
Rafah crossing, key Gaza territories along the border with Egypt, which
conflicts with Hamas' position that the occupation forces must withdraw
from all of the Gaza Strip after a ceasefire.

Netanyahu claimed on Thursday that control of the Philadelphi corridor is
part of efforts to prevent "weapons to be smuggled to Hamas from Egypt."

Izzat al-Rishq, a member of the political bureau of Hamas, said that
Netanyahu's frantic attempts to add new demands, which were not included in
any of the previous proposals discussed with the mediators, confirm that he
is still stalling, procrastinating, and looking for ways to obstruct the
agreement.

*Read more: 'Israel' not giving clear answers regarding Hamas demands:
Exclusive
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-israel--not-giving-clear-answers-regarding-hamas-demands--e>*
Israeli-Palestinian mediated talks led to no results: PIJ Deputy-Chief

On Thursday, Mohammad al-Hindi, the deputy secretary general of the
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), told *Al Mayadeen* that the latest round
of mediated negotiations between the Palestinian Resistance and the Israeli
occupation did not lead to any results
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-palestinian-mediated-talks-led-to-no-results--pij-de>
.

Al-Hindi explained that Netanyahu and his government's priority is
unrelated to retrieving Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip, but instead, it
is to carry on the war on the besieged territory.

He said that the Palestinian Resistance demanded guarantees from mediators
that the temporary ceasefire for completing the prisoner exchange process
would lead to a permanent ceasefire.

The PIJ official said that Netanyahu is taking advantage of the current
turbulent political scene in the United States, underscoring that the
closer the US presidential election gets, the less pressure his government
could be put under to finalize a deal with the Palestinian Resistance.

As for Washington's role in negotiations, al-Hindi said the US has shown
that it "does not want to hold Netanyahu responsible" for the failed talks.

In his interview for *Al Mayadeen*, the Palestinian official reiterated the
Resistance's negotiating team's positive and flexible performance during
the talks.

*Read more: Netanyahu wants 'war of everyone against everyone': Former
Israeli PM
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/netanyahu-wants--war-of-everyone-against-everyone---former-i>*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Fri Jul 12 12:30:50 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2024 09:30:50 -0700
Subject: [News] Rekindling the Old Love Affair: Can Trump Save Netanyahu?
Message-ID: <mailman.4.1720801983.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

counterpunch.org
<https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/07/12/rekindling-the-old-love-affair-can-trump-save-netanyahu/>
Rekindling the Old Love Affair: Can Trump Save Netanyahu?
Ramzy Baroud
6?7 minutesJuly 12, 2024
------------------------------

Image by Getty Images and Unsplash+.

Many political analysts believe that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu is buying time in Gaza and Lebanon with the hope
<https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rks7yypct> that Donald Trump returns to
the White House, following the next November elections.

Whether this is the case or not, Trump, this time around, is unlikely to
influence the outcomes of the war, or to alter Israel?s fate.

US foreign policy seems to be ruled by two different outlooks, one
dedicated to the whole world and another only to Israel. The first is
driven by the famous, and oft-repeated quote
<https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/thought-for-the-day/america-has-no-permanent-friends-or-enemies-only-interests-%E2%80%94-henry-kissinger-292097>
by former US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, that ?America has no
permanent friends or enemies, only interests.?

Israel, however, remains the exception, and the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza
has, once more, demonstrated the truth of such a claim.

Though Washington fully shares Israel?s war objectives, it fundamentally
disagrees with the concepts of the long war, and ?total victory?, as
championed
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-vows-total-victory-against-hamas-says-pa-rejects-israel-cant-rule-gaza/>
by Netanyahu.

Two protracted US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq taught the Americans that
neither the longevity of wars nor the lofty, unrealistic expectations alter
inevitable outcomes.

In fact, many US officials, military generals and mainstream analysts have
tried to warn Netanyahu, to no avail.

Destabilizing the Middle East at this specific historical juncture is
simply bad for the US. It comes at a time when Ukraine is suffering serious
weapons shortage, thus territorial losses, and at a time that the
US-European allies are struggling under the weight of economic and
political crises.

Since US-Israeli relations are governed according to a unique foreign
policy paradigm, the Biden Administration continues to support Israel in
every possible way so that it may carry on with a losing war.

The war is, of course, happening at the expense of over 125 thousand
Palestinians, who, thus far, have been killed
<https://wenewsenglish.pk/israel-negotiating-ceasefire-deal-with-hamas-as-gaza-death-toll-surpasses-38011/>
and wounded due to Israeli strikes, shelling and mass executions. Those
dying from famine or disease are a different number, yet to be fully
accounted for.

Washington is not perturbed by the Gaza genocide itself but by the outcome
of the war on US plans in the Middle East, and the future of its forces,
namely in Iraq and Syria. It is also concerned about its geostrategic sway
in the region due to the unprecedented instability of the Red Sea.

Yet, Joe Biden continues to arm Israel and to provide a safety net to its
dwindling economy. On April 20, the House passed a bill to provide
<https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/04/20/congress/israel-aid-passes-wrapping-foreign-aid-bill-00153494>
$26.3 billion in assistance to Israel. Moreover, massive shipments of
weapons continue to flow to Israel unhindered.

These explosives are not only destroying the whole of Gaza, but any chances
that the US could ever regain any degree of credibility in the Middle East.
Worse, US blind support for Israel has also shaken Washington?s position
internationally.

So, what could Trump do that Biden did not?

Trump?s politics is abashedly Machiavellian. During his only term
<https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/people/donald-j-trump/> in office
between 2017 and 2021, he served the role of the American genie, granting
Israel?s every wish, though all such demands were flagrant violations of
international law.

Trump?s pro-Israel policies included the recognition
<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/06/world/middleeast/trump-jerusalem-israel-capital.html>
of all of Jerusalem as Israel?s capital, the annexation
<https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-47697717> of the Golan Heights
and the recognition
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/full-text-of-pompeos-statement-on-settlements/>
of all illegal Israeli Jewish settlements in the West Bank, among others.

But Netanyahu is also Machiavellian, a fact that irked Trump following his
humiliating exit from the White House.

?I haven?t spoken to him since,? Trump said
<https://www.axios.com/2021/12/10/trump-netanyahu-disloyalty-fuck-him> in
an interview with Axios? Barak Ravid in December 2021, in reference to the
Israeli leader. ?F**k him,? he said.

But now, both sides are trying to rekindle the old love affair. The
Republican presidential candidate must be pleased with Netanyahu?s public
criticism of the Biden Administration. In return, Trump is ready to ?finish
the job?, as he stated in the first presidential debate on June 27.

However, Trump?s return will do nothing to change Israel?s misfortunes
since October 7, because Israel?s problems do not originate in Washington.

Israel?s crisis is multifaceted. It is unable to win the war in Gaza,
despite the mass tragedy and destruction it has created there. It is also
failing to change the rules of engagements in Lebanon due to the strength
of its enemies, and the fact that its military is unable to fight and win
on multiple fronts ? let alone one.

Another dimension of the Israeli crisis is also internal: deep divisions in
Israeli society, security apparatus and politicians. Not even Trump could
possibly bridge the gap or end the polarization, which is likely to deepen
in the future.

Even on the international front, Trump is likely to prove equally
ineffective, again, simply because the Biden Administration has defied
international consensus on Israel since the start of the war. The current
US House of Representatives went
<https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm5512l7yero> as far as passing
legislation to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) after its
Prosecutor applied for arrest warrants against Israeli officials.

If Netanyahu thinks that Trump would offer him a better deal than that of
Biden, he is mistaken. Biden has proved to be the greatest American enabler
to Israel in its 76-year history.

Ironically, the US? unquestioned support of Israel could be a contributing
factor to its downfall.

?To be an enemy of America can be dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal,?
Kissinger also said. He is not wrong.

*Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He
is the author of five books. His latest is ?**These Chains Will Be Broken*
<https://www.amazon.com/These-Chains-Will-Broken-Palestinian/dp/1949762092>*:
Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons? (Clarity
Press, Atlanta). Dr. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the
Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA), Istanbul Zaim University (IZU).
His website is **www.ramzybaroud.net* <http://www.ramzybaroud.net/>
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Fri Jul 12 12:45:33 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2024 09:45:33 -0700
Subject: [News] UNRWA: Gaza is on the verge of losing an entire generation
 of children because of the war
Message-ID: <mailman.6.1720802810.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

 UNRWA: Gaza is on the verge of losing an entire generation of children
because of the war

Friday 12-July-2024 - https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/07/12/321936/
<https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/07/12/321936/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/07/12/321936/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/07/12/321936/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/07/12/321936/#>
+ -

GAZA, (PIC)

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA)
said that the Gaza Strip is on the verge of losing an entire generation of
children due to the devastating Israeli war which has entered its tenth
month.

The Director of Media and Communications at UNRWA, Juliette Touma,
revealed, in a post on X on Friday, that 600,000 children in Gaza have not
been able to go to school since the start of the Israeli aggression,
referring to the closure of schools in the Strip, and the transformation of
UNRWA schools into shelters for the displaced people.

If the war continues, it will lead to the risk of losing an entire
generation of children, she said, stressing that it would be so difficult
to compensate for their educational losses, calling for an immediate
ceasefire for the sake of Gaza children.

The spokesman for the United Nations Children?s Fund (UNICEF), James Elder,
had previously stated that children are the most affected social group by
the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, describing what is happening in the
Strip as a ?war on children?.

Elder told the Anadolu Agency that Gaza was no longer a suitable place for
children because of the war and its psychological impact on them.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Fri Jul 12 20:43:13 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2024 17:43:13 -0700
Subject: [News] Israeli forces commit series of gruesome massacres across
 Gaza Strip
Message-ID: <mailman.8.1720831828.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-forces-commit-series-of-gruesome-massacres-across-ga>
Israeli forces commit series of gruesome massacres across Gaza Strip
Al Mayadeen English
July 12, 2024
------------------------------

Dozens of bodies were found across Gaza City on Friday, while three
children were killed in am Israeli strike on Khan Younis.
[image: 796e62a8-1254-4091-aa29-e22cfde1b846.jpg]

   - People evacuate bodies of martyrs left behind by Israeli occupation
   forces under rubble or on the street in western Gaza City, the Gaza Strip,
   Palestine, on July 12, 2024. (AFP)

Israeli occupation forces committed several gruesome massacres across
several towns and neighborhoods in the Gaza Strip which were discovered on
Friday, with the reported toll reaching 140 killed in Gaza City.

Occupation forces' withdrawal from al-Shujaiya neighborhood, in eastern
Gaza City, has also unraveled the scene of horrifying war crimes. As
emergency workers arrived in the neighborhood, following 2 weeks of an
Israeli onslaught, more than 60 bodies of Palestinian martyrs were
recovered on Friday. The Palestinian Civil Defense in the Gaza Strip
explained that dozens of others' bodies are yet to be recovered as they
remain stuck under the rubble caused by Israeli strikes and shelling and
many residents' whereabouts are yet to be determined.

Authorities said that multiple Israeli quadcopter drones, equipped with
rifles, are still swarming the city, arbitrarily hunting down Palestinians.

In southwestern Gaza City, in Tal al-Hawa, occupation forces have launched
another incursion into the neighborhood that has lasted for a couple of
weeks. On Friday, occupation forces made it seem as though they had
retreated from certain areas, luring citizens who had been displaced back
to their homes,

As soon as Palestinian civilians arrived in the area, they were targeted
and multiple Palestinians were killed.

The spokesperson for the Civil Defense, Mahmoud Bassal, said that
occupation forces are still positioned in western Tal al-Hawa, across
Street 8.

Bassal urged civilians not to head toward the areas until Israeli
occupation forces completely withdraw from the neighborhood.
Palestinian commission documents Israeli war crimes in Gaza City

The International Commission to Support Palestinian People?s Rights (ICSPR)
said that following the withdrawals in al-Shujaiya and areas in Tal
al-Hawa, emergency workers recovered 60 martyrs in Tal al-Hawa, and 80
martyrs in al-Shujaiya. The bodies were found in residential blocs and
streets in the two neighborhoods. Most of the martyrs found in the areas
were children and women and some of the bodies had decomposed.

In the case of decomposed bodies, white flags were found next to the
bodies, indicating that those killed had been unarmed.

The families of Palestinian victims in al-Shujaiya, al-Tuffah, al-Daraj,
and other neighborhoods told ICSPR that their relatives were subject to
cases of summary execution by Israeli occupation forces.

The victims of summary executions are of various families, including
Zaydiyah, Sursour, al-Badri, and al-Ghalayini. Investigators also confirmed
the reports of the Civil Defense, regarding the dozens of bodies stuck
under the rubble caused by Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
3 children killed in Central Gaza Strip

Moving southwards, Israeli occupation forces committed multiple massacres
in the central Gaza Strip, striking a home in Deir al-Balah, where four
people were martyred, including three children aged less than 10 years, *Al
Mayadeen*'s correspondent reported.

In al-Nuseirat refugee camp, several strikes impacted the home of the Akel
family. Seven people were wounded, suffering severe injuries.

Israeli warplanes also struck a home in Bani Suheila, a town in eastern
Khan Younis in southern Gaza Strip.
PFLP points to humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza

Commenting on the recently discovered massacres in Gaza City and the
intense Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip on Friday, the Popular Front
for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) pointed to the occupation committed
fully-fledged war crimes in Rafah, Khan Younis, Tal al-Hawa, and Shujaiya.

The front stressed the horrific scenes discovered by paramedics in
neighborhoods that occupation forces had invaded and withdrew from.

It emphasized that "children were not spared from these horrific massacres,
as seen in the targeting of a children's gathering, reflecting the
magnitude of the humanitarian catastrophe suffered by the Palestinian
people in the Gaza Strip."
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Sat Jul 13 03:29:46 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Sat, 13 Jul 2024 00:29:46 -0700
Subject: [News] Al-Qassam destroy Merkava tanks,
 share footage of complex Gaza ambush
Message-ID: <mailman.12.1720855864.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/al-qassam-destroy-merkava-tanks--share-footage-of-complex-ga>
Al-Qassam destroy Merkava tanks, share footage of complex Gaza ambush
Al Mayadeen English
4?5 minutesJuly 13, 2024
------------------------------

Palestinian Resistance fighters shelled occupation forces around and in the
Gaza Strip and released footage of a top-tier operation in Tell al-Hawa.

   - [image: Al-Qassam destroy Merkava tanks, share footage of complex Gaza
   ambush]
   <https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2024/7/13/a301fa32-c9dc-4fe4-b793-1d5c81e6a6f0.png?v=4&width=1000>
   The moment a claymore placed on the outside of a building detonates into
   Israeli infantry forces on the street, in Tell al-Hawa, the Gaza Strip,
   Palestine. (al-Qassam Brigades/Military Media)

Palestinian Resistance fighters destroyed a number of Israeli military
vehicles, including a Merkava 4 tank, as the occupation's war on Gaza goes
into its 280th day.

Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades reported on several operations conducted on
Friday, including the destruction of two armored vehicles in a complex
operation that involved an unexploded F-16 launched bomb.
Al-Qassam fighters returning from the frontlines report on top-tier
operations

The brigades said that its fighters, who returned from the frontlines, had
set up an explosively formed penetrator (EFP), of the Shawaz-type, and an
unexploded Israeli F-16 launched bomb in Tell al-Hawa, in southwestern Gaza
City. Al-Qassam fighters utilized the explosives to destroy two Israeli
Merkava 4 tanks that arrived at the point of the ambush.

Two Israeli military light-armored vehicles were destroyed by al-Qassam
fighters, who had planted an improvised explosive device (IED) on a road in
Tell al-Hawa. One of the vehicles was destroyed after the IED was detonated
and the other was destroyed after an al-Qassam fighter fired an al-Yassin
tandem rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) at it.

Moreover, fighters that had returned from the frontlines on Friday, after
several days of confrontations in Tell al-Hawa, said that they engaged an
Israeli infantry force in close-quarters battle, while also detonating an
anti-personnel IED into Israeli reinforcements that arrived in the
neighborhood.

Al-Mujahideen Brigades fighters, in coordination with al-Aqsa Martyrs
Brigades, sniped an Israeli soldier in Tell al-Hawa.

Israeli forces repositioned themselves westwards in Tell al-Hawa, on Street
8, after launching a dual incursion into al-Shujaiya and Tell al-Hawa. The
incursion into al-Shujaiya was put off and Israeli forces withdrew from the
neighborhood after suffering heavy losses.
Palestinian Resistance fighters shell Israeli sites, positions

Palestinian Resistance fighters also shelled Israeli occupation forces'
positions, utilizing a variety of mortar shells and short-range rocket
artillery weapons.
Intense shelling of strategic Netzarim Axis

Al-Qassam fighters renewed their shelling of the Netzarim Axis, which
splits the northern Gaza Strip from the rest of the besieged territory. The
axis has been a strategic logistics point for the Israeli military, which
has utilized it to launch incursions into Gaza City and the central Gaza
Strip. It also hosts several field command and control points.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad's (PIJ) al-Quds Brigades also heavily shelled
occupation forces across the axis on Friday. Moreover, al-Nasser Salah
al-Din Brigades fighters fired two 107mm rockets at Israeli forces in
Netzarim.

The PIJ's armed wing also launched several 107mm rockets and barrages of
mortar shells at the Karem Abu Salem military site, located to the east of
Rafah.

In the southernmost city of Rafah, the brigades' mortar units shelled
occupation forces at occupying the Rafah border crossing.

Further north, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine's
(DFLP) National Resistance Brigades conducted a joint rocket attack with
al-Mujahideen Brigades, targeting the Nahal Oz military site, located to
the east of al-Shujaiya.

In Rafah's George Street, al-Qassam fighters fired two al-Yassin shells at
an Israeli Merkava tank and armored personnel carrier (APC).
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Sat Jul 13 13:57:35 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Sat, 13 Jul 2024 10:57:35 -0700
Subject: [News] Hamas rejects Israeli media claims about airstrike aimed at
 Al-Qassam Brigade commander
Message-ID: <mailman.21.1720894489.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

middleeastmonitor.com
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240713-hamas-rejects-israeli-media-claims-about-airstrike-aimed-at-al-qassam-brigade-commander/>
Hamas rejects Israeli media claims about airstrike aimed at Al-Qassam
Brigade commander
Middle East Monitor
July 13, 2024
------------------------------

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Saturday rejected Israeli media
claims that the Al-Qassam Brigade commander was the target of an Israeli
airstrike on displaced Palestinians? tents in the southern Gaza Strip,
which killed over 70 people and injured nearly 300 others, *Anadolu Agency
reports.*

Hamas said in a statement that Israeli media claims it targeted Mohammed
Deif, the commander-in-chief of the Al-Qassam Brigades, and a top
Palestinian commander in its attack on the Al-Mawasi area west of Khan
Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, are ?unfounded.?

It added that the Israeli media?s allegations ?come to cover up the scale
of the horrific massacre the (Israeli) occupation has committed.?

The attack on Saturday morning killed more than 71 Palestinians and injured
289 others, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Following the attack, the daily Israel Hayom claimed, without providing any
evidence, that the main goal of the airstrike was to eliminate Mohammed
Deif.

*READ: UN Refugee Agency reports mistreatment, torture of staff detained by
Israeli army
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240713-un-refugee-agency-reports-mistreatment-torture-of-staff-detained-by-israeli-army/>*

?It is estimated that there is a high likelihood that Deif was injured in
the attack, but military officials are awaiting the outcome,? it added.

Meanwhile, Israeli Army Radio also claimed that the attack targeted an
?important figure? in Hamas, but the outcome is still unknown.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate
cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal
offensive on Gaza since an October 7 attack by Hamas.

More than 38,400 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and
children, and nearly 88,500 injured, according to local health authorities.

Over nine months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins
amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose
latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the
southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought
refuge from the war before it was invaded on 6 May.

*READ: Over 70 killed, nearly 300 injured in Israeli attack on displaced
Palestinians? tents in southern Gaza
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240713-over-70-killed-nearly-300-injured-in-israeli-attack-on-displaced-palestinians-tents-in-southern-gaza/>*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Sat Jul 13 14:14:39 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Sat, 13 Jul 2024 11:14:39 -0700
Subject: [News] US war games in Pacific seek global participation in
 imperialist maneuvers
Message-ID: <mailman.25.1720894585.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

peoplesdispatch.org
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/07/13/us-war-games-in-pacific-seek-global-participation-in-imperialist-maneuvers/>
US war games in Pacific seek global participation in imperialist maneuvers
Kawena?ulaokal? Kapahua, Joy Lehuanani Enomoto
July 13, 2024
------------------------------
[image: Hawaii-rimpac-2-2048x1152.jpg]

USS Carl Vinson in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Photo: US Navy

Every two years, the Indo-Pacific Command Center of the United States
convenes the largest maritime war exercises on the planet. With over 35,000
troops participating, 29 nations, 46 naval surface ships, 4 nuclear
submarines, and a multitude of air and ground forces, the Rim of the
Pacific military exercises, or RIMPAC, is one of the most destructive
training events globally.

Through these exercises, the US consolidates its control of the Pacific.
RIMPAC began as an annual training exercise in 1971 and became bi-annual in
1974. Since it began, some of the historically worst human rights abusers
like the US, Australia, Canada, and Israel have participated in the
exercise. The US has a long history of using the Hawaiian islands for
target practice. In 1965, the US Navy detonated a bomb on the Kaho?olawe
<https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001. >
the equivalent of 500 tons of dynamite, breaking the island?s water table
and carpeting the island with unexploded ordinances.

Hawai?i was illegally seized by American sugar planters in 1893 who were
supported by the US military and sought the Hawaiian harbor of Pu?uloa
(Pearl Harbor) for a coaling station. In 1898, the US Congress, which had
actually lost the treaty of annexation, illegally took Hawai?i by joint
resolution. Hawai?i has remained under illegal occupation by the US and its
military since then.
*US militarism destroys our land through RIMPAC*

RIMPAC as a symptom of the US empire has immense environmental and cultural
ramifications. Geopolitically, the exercises are used to control trade
routes, train genocidal regimes, and posture against China. Since Obama?s
?Pivot to Asia? strategy, the US has shifted from cold war tactics of
diplomacy and arms procurement to hot war tactics of aggressive invasion
and unchecked military build-up. RIMPAC is used to test weapons and
military technology for weapons manufacturers.

Between San Diego to Hawai?i, havoc is wrought upon both our land and sea
through the US military and their war games. They sink ships, carry out
mock marine invasions of urban and jungle warfare, and engage in live fire
training in conservation zones that cause fires across thousands of acres
and threaten endangered species. All of these ?routine? exercises take
place in areas that are cultural and ancestral sites of deep value.

The US military?s largest base in our islands is P?hakuloa, a sacred region
of Hawai?i Island, thousands of acres utilized as a firing range to train
militaries in the tactics of warfare, suppression, and invasion. M?kua
Valley was a former civilian town turned into a firing range between World
War II and 2004, which filled the valley with unexploded ordinances, white
phosphorus, and other forever chemicals
<https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001. >.
The US Marine base at M?kapu is built upon one of the most ancient villages
in Hawai?i where residents were expelled to make room for the base. In
addition to the massive pollution and raw sewage spills the base puts out
into the surrounding ocean, it is also a sacred burial site where many iwi
k?puna (ancestral bones) are buried near the coast.

RIMPAC also threatens vulnerable and delicate ecosystems and our vast
oceanic nature reserves which are restricted conservation zones except for
the military. The US Navy has faced multiple lawsuits for the death of
whales from mass beachings to escape naval sonar
<https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001. >,
multiple helicopters and planes have crashed onto our beaches and ocean
<https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001. >,
and sea turtles lose access to their traditional nesting grounds
<https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001. >
due to the practice of amphibious assaults on our beaches. The US military
is the largest driver of the climate crisis and RIMPAC?s environmental
impact only adds to this catastrophe by risking the livelihood of ocean
nations through repeated missiles, explosions, and heavy metal waste being
driven into the Pacific as a result of these exercises. Therefore, RIMPAC
is in direct violation of its own Marine Species Awareness Training (MSAT)
and its own Protective Measures and Assessment Protocols (PMAP) which
require that the Navy be in compliance with the Marine Mammal Protection
Act and the Endangered Species and ensure mitigation to prevent any injury,
behavioral change, or death. Each year RIMPAC is planned, the US Navy
Indo-Pacific Command requests exemption to these laws from NOAA and the
Department of Defense, with extraordinary requests to allow incidental
?takes? (deaths) of marine mammals in the millions. There is also no limit
to the number of marine birds it can take during the exercises. RIMPAC
threatens no less than 12 endangered species.
*RIMPAC: Exporting violence*

Besides its obscene show of environmental destruction, RIMPAC supports the
repression of Indigenous cultures throughout the world by actively training
regimes that are currently inflicting genocide or other human rights
violations on its Indigenous peoples. RIMPAC plays out various ?future
scenarios of potential terrorists.? In 2022, RIMPAC enacted a pretend
invasion of North Korea
<https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001. >,
going house to house executing a regime change operation with houses
decorated with pictures of Kim Jong Un. Prior to that, in 2016, RIMPAC used
the Hawaiian Islands to play out a scenario of imaginary so-called ?enemy
states? seeking to expand power
<https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001. >
that played counter to Western influences. And of course, there is the
constant saber-rattling and escalation against China which is used as a
scapegoat by the new US Cold War.

RIMPAC also brings with it a significant increase in gender-based violence.
Studies have shown a significant leap in human trafficking and sexual
exploitation
<https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001. >,
especially of young Native Hawaiian girls every year. In 2022, a former US
Naval petty officer was sentenced to 20 years in prison
<https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001. >
for the sex trafficking of Native Hawaiian girls
<https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001. >.
The influx of more than 25,000 international military personnel into
Hawai?i ensures a constant market for the exploitation of women and gender
non-conforming people.
*RIMPAC exposes enduring US military dominance*

This year?s exercises are notable given the current geopolitical context.
RIMPAC is taking place amid the ninth month of Israel?s genocidal war in
Gaza. This war has isolated the US and its junior partner Israel and united
much of the world in the demand for a ceasefire and in opposition to the
West?s murderous violence against Palestinians and oppressed people across
the world.

However, some of the voices that have been strongest on the world stage in
condemning Israel and the US today have sent their Armed Forces to
participate alongside the US and Israel in RIMPAC. Countries such as
Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, and Indonesia, are participating,
and have either closed their Israeli embassies or publicly renounced Israel
for its ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people. While the mood in the
Global South is one of challenging Western dominance and hypocrisy,
challenging US military supremacy as its bloc leads spending at 74.3 percent
<https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001. >,
proves to be harder.

Yet, these war games are not mere pastimes and excursions, they are a
declaration of national values and a statement of political intention. The
strategies and tactics, weapons and technologies practiced and mastered at
RIMPAC are utilized by participant nations for weaponization at home. Be it
for the worst form of atrocities such as genocide or repression of any form
of resistance to the state, or to control ?free trade? routes to ensure
capital continues to move for the benefit of the international capitalist
elite. In other words, RIMPAC trains governments that have a long history
of developing repressive techniques to control their colonies and are now
deploying those same techniques on its citizens. As with all imperialist
activities, it is up to the social and people?s movements of the respective
impacted nations to take a stand and reject this continuous arming and
military expansion of our collective oppressors.

The Hawaiian people stand arm in arm with the peoples of the world to
demand an end to these war games and to sharpen our fight against US
imperialism and colonialism, which today is the biggest threat to the
survival of our planet?especially those of us from island nations in the
?strategic? Pacific. It is people?s movements who will mobilize to remind
the governments of those participating nations that they must withdraw from
this exercise, end their collaboration with the Israeli Occupation Forces,
and stand firm upon their declarations at the United Nations and other
various forums. Together we can build a better world.

*Kawena?ulaokal? Kapahua is a community organizer with Hui Aloha ??ina,
Honolulu branch, a leading Hawaiian independence organization. He is based
out of Honolulu, Hawai?i, is a PhD student of Political Science at the
University of Hawai?i and is also a labor organizer.*

*Joy Lehuanani Enomoto is a community organizer, Pacific Islands Studies
scholar, and artist who lives in Honolulu, HI. She is currently the
Executive Director of the demilitarization organization, Hawai?i Peace &
Justice, and the vice president of the Hawaiian sovereignty organization,
Hui Aloha ??ina o Honolulu.*

*This article was produced by Globetrotter
<https://u36605228.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001. >.*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Sun Jul 14 11:35:23 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Sun, 14 Jul 2024 08:35:23 -0700
Subject: [News] What does it mean to live in a tent in Gaza?
Message-ID: <mailman.29.1720971530.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

 What does it mean to live in a tent in Gaza?

Friday 12-July-2024 - https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2024/07/12/321930/
<https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2024/07/12/321930/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2024/07/12/321930/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2024/07/12/321930/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2024/07/12/321930/#>
+ -

GAZA, (PIC)

Across vast agricultural lands and along the coast in central and southern
Gaza, tens of thousands of tents have become shelters for hundreds of
thousands of Palestinians displaced by the ongoing, bloody Israeli war for
the tenth consecutive month.

Once a symbol of the Nakba (catastrophe) and displacement for more than
seven decades, the tent has now become a dream for thousands of displaced
families in Gaza, despite the harsh living conditions it imposes.

What is it like to live in a tent? This question might seem devoid of
emotions and disconnected from the harsh realities of life in Gaza amid the
Israeli genocide, which has taken many Palestinian lives but has failed to
break their will and determination to cling to their land. However, this
question is crucial to understanding the extent of the Palestinian tragedy
and resilience.

The Palestinian Information Center (PIC) interviewed several displaced
individuals living in tents to narrate part of the story of a people
subjected to ethnic cleansing, where even their children raise victory
signs amid the rubble.


*The quest for a tent*All citizens interviewed by the (PIC) agreed on the
difficulty of living in a tent, whether in summer or winter. However, a
tent remains a dream for many families since it is easily pitched and
relocated due to repeated displacements enforced by the occupation army.

Mohammed Said mentioned that he had to buy a tent for 1,200 shekels ($330)
after enduring long periods living in a ?khas,? a makeshift shelter made of
wooden sticks covered with nylon or any available material.

Said explained to the PIC that a khas does not provide proper shelter and
is impossible to move when forced to relocate. Therefore, he left it behind
and sought a tent, having to relocate at least twice.

Various organizations provide tents to the displaced, but some are sold,
forcing people to buy them due to the lack of alternatives. The tents vary
in shape and size, resulting in different prices.


*Finding a place to set up the tent*After obtaining a tent, the second
challenge is finding a place to set it up, currently limited to areas in
Khan Yunis and Deir al-Balah.

Khaled Al-Masri stated that he had to move his tent several times to be
close to water sources or aid.

Al-Masri added, ?Today, there are camps consisting of a group of tents
overseen by associations or initiatives that strive to provide some aid,
ensure water access, and establish shared bathrooms. Other tents are set up
randomly on agricultural land and near destroyed homes.?


*Life in the tents*Living in tents involves tales of pain and suffering,
varying according to the family?s resources, number of members, tent
location, and the supervising entity.

A small family with a tent in an area receiving aid can adapt better and
suffer less compared to an extended family with a small tent in an area
lacking services.

With the scorching summer heat, living in a tent among hundreds of others
in Gaza feels like living in hell, described Amani Hamdan, highlighting her
suffering.

Hamdan told the PIC that she was forced to live in a tent set up on a
friend?s land, with her four children, mother-in-law, and disabled
sister-in-law.

She added with bitterness, ?We had to relocate at least seven times from
Khan Yunis since our house was bombed. Initially, we had no tent and
suffered until we got one, and its only advantage is its relative ease of
relocation amid repeated displacement.?

She continued, ?Living in a tent is harsh and difficult, taking us back to
primitive life. No walls, no privacy, our voices reach the neighboring
tents and theirs reach us.?


*Suffering of displaced people in tents*?We barely distribute ourselves
inside the tent, part on mattresses and part without, part of the tent
holds food supplies. The temperature is scorching, forcing us out of the
tent. In winter, we were drenched by rain; now, the heat is unbearable, but
thank God for everything,? she added.

?We cook on fire outside the tent, bake bread in a shared oven, have a
shared bathroom, and bathe infrequently, needing prior coordination among
tent partners. The children start their morning searching for wood, while
my husband travels long distances for water, sometimes brought by
volunteers. Life has reverted to primitiveness with no kitchen, bathroom,
or water faucets.?


*What is a tent?*After enduring harsh tent life for months, engineer
Mohammed Munir wrote about its meaning, ?To burn while sitting inside, to
suffocate with no air or cooling means. It?s like a greenhouse during the
day.?

He wrote on Facebook, ?A tent means living on the ground, separated only by
fabric, coexisting with all earth?s insects as you are now their guest.?

Traditional activities become complicated, like taking a nap or a bath,
walking comfortably, sitting peacefully, feeling safe, or sleeping without
back pain from the hard ground, all dreams now out of reach.

?A tent means no privacy, speaking in whispers inside your tent while your
neighbor hears you. With tents set up on sand and agricultural land, it
means living with all types of insects, with nearly no hygiene standards.?


*The meaning of a tent*Sama Hassan wrote, ?A tent means having no wall to
lean on, no private life.? She added, ?Displacement means not living in
safety or stability. As a woman and mother, I experienced displacement from
Gaza to its north for false safety until missiles hit the area. We fled to
southern Gaza during the first Friday of the war and stayed in Khan Yunis
for two months, then moved to Rafah when Khan Yunis was invaded in early
December 2023.?

Hassan continued, ?With each relocation, I lost a thread of my privacy,
becoming more displaced and homeless like thousands in Gaza. A tent is
harsher than a shared room in a stranger?s house as the bathroom is either
within the tent, set up primitively, or a shared one half a kilometer away,
established by a charity. If a woman needs to use it at night, she must
wake a man to escort her.?

Life in a tent is hard for women, who must fully dress as they usually do
in Gaza despite the heat, lacking freedom of movement. In the tent, they
light fires, cook, wash dishes, and store large water containers.

Bathing in a tent involves women surrounding the one bathing with thick
blankets, forming a small tent within the main tent, with the woman
hurrying before the others tire of holding the blankets.

If living in a tent is already suffering and tragedy, doing so amid the
ongoing Israeli genocide and bombings targeting even the worn tents, as
happened in Rafah and Khan Yunis, is beyond words.

In recent months, Israeli bombings burned tents and killed dozens, leaving
survivors searching for their loved ones? remains before finding a new
place to set up another tent if available, continuing their resilience.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Sun Jul 14 11:42:11 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Sun, 14 Jul 2024 08:42:11 -0700
Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?Israel_kills_at_least_90_Palestinians_in_Gaza_?=
	=?utf-8?b?InNhZmUgem9uZeKAnQ==?=
Message-ID: <mailman.31.1720971881.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

electronicintifada.net
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israel-kills-least-90-palestinians-gaza-safe-zone>
Israel kills at least 90 Palestinians in Gaza "safe zone?

Maureen Clare Murphy
<https://electronicintifada.net/people/maureen-clare-murphy> Rights and
Accountability
<https://electronicintifada.net/blog/rights-and-accountability> 14 July 2024
------------------------------

Bodies of Palestinians who were killed in Israel?s attack on al-Mawasi are
brought to a hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, 13 July.
APA images

Israel massacred dozens of Palestinians in airstrikes in al-Mawasi, the
supposed ?safe zone? along the coast in southern Gaza, and in Beach refugee
camp near Gaza City on Saturday.

At least 90 Palestinians were killed and 300 injured in the attack on
al-Mawasi, according to the health ministry in Gaza, and at least 20
Palestinians were killed <https://aje.io/cc08zy?update=3044445> after
Israel bombed worshippers gathered for noon prayers
<https://aje.io/cc08zy?update=3044238> outside the ruins of a mosque in
Beach refugee camp.
On Friday, the Israeli military killed four workers at an aid warehouse in
Gaza, claiming <https://x.com/IDF/status/1811873230967165078> that it had
targeted Husam Mansour. Israel alleged that Mansour was a militant who
worked at an aid organization to raise money for Hamas ? an unsubstantiated
claim similar to those made by Israel against other humanitarians in Gaza
working for international charities who were killed
<https://www.msf.org/msf-response-israeli-allegations-linked-staff-killing>
and jailed
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israel-sentences-gaza-aid-worker-12-years-after-sham-trial>
with impunity.

The Al-Khair Foundation, a UK-based charity, stated
<https://alkhair.org/announcement-in-memoriam-husam-mansour/> that Mansour
was a ?cornerstone? of its team in Gaza and that his death ?is not just a
loss to our organization but a devastating blow to the humanitarian efforts
in the region.?

The deaths of the aid workers came one day after Samantha Power, the head
of the State Department agency USAID, said that Israel promised to improve
safety for humanitarian workers in Gaza, where famine has taken hold as a
result of Israel?s blockade.
At least 38,345 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since 7 October,
though the actual tally is likely substantially higher. Thousands remain
missing in the rubble or their deaths as a result of secondary mortality
such as hunger, thirst and disease resulting from Israel?s military
campaign are not reflected in the fatality count.

Saturday?s deadly attacks came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
appeared to be sabotaging what may be a final push to reach a deal with
Hamas that would see an exchange of captives and lead the way for a
permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

Hamas condemned the ?horrific massacre? in densely populated al-Mawasi, the
open area where Israel ordered Palestinians to move after declaring
one-third of Gaza a combat zone
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/gaza-hospital-directors-release-exposes-israeli-torture>
last week.

Israel reportedly dropped five 2,000-pound bombs
<https://www.axios.com/2024/07/13/israel-airstike-mohammed-deif-khan-younis>
in al-Mawasi, resulting in one of the deadliest attacks ? if not the
deadliest ? since nearly 300 people were killed in a raid
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/palestinians-massacred-rescue-operation-lauded-us>
in Nuseirat refugee camp
<https://electronicintifada.net/tags/nuseirat-refugee-camp> on 8 June.

Four Israeli captives were freed by the military in the Nuseirat raid,
during which Israeli forces posed as civilians and gunned down Palestinians
in the camp?s crowded market and streets. The office of the UN human rights
chief said
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/us-blames-hamas-while-israel-prolongs-gaza-war>
it was ?profoundly shocked? by that operation in which the basic principles
of the laws of war were blatantly disregarded.
?False victory?

Israel attempted to justify the massacre in al-Mawasi on Saturday by
claiming
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-strike-targets-hamas-military-chief-muhammad-deif-hamas-claims-at-least-70-killed/>
that it targeted Muhammad Deif, the elusive head of the Qassam Brigades,
the armed wing of Hamas, and the commander of Qassam?s Khan Younis Brigade.

One of Israel?s most wanted figures, Deif survived several previous
attempts on his life, including a 2014 attack that killed the military
leader?s wife and their two young children.
Netanyahu acknowledged
<https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/israeli-pm-netanyahu-says-not-certain-that-hamas-leader-killed-strike-2024-07-13/>
during a press conference on Saturday evening that it was unclear whether
Deif and the Qassam Brigades commander were killed, which Hamas denied.

Khalil al-Hayya, deputy chair of Hamas, said in response that Netanyahu had
hoped to ?announce a false victory? and said that the blood of Deif is no
more precious than that of the youngest Palestinian child.
Al-Hayya suggested that Israel was killing more people in Gaza to undermine
negotiations with Hamas and that Netanyahu was grasping for an illusion of
victory before his address to US Congress later this month.

Earlier in the day, following the al-Mawasi attack, Hamas said that this
was ?not the first time the occupation has claimed to target Palestinian
leaders, and later it is proven to be a lie.?

?These false claims are merely a cover-up for the scale of the horrific
massacre,? the resistance group added in a statement published on Telegram.
?Justification always the same?

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza
Strip, observed <https://x.com/FranceskAlbs/status/1812159253865545927>
that ?the justification is always the same: ?targeting Palestinian
militants.??

Hamdah Salhut, an Al Jazeera correspondent, said
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/13/at-least-50-killed-in-israeli-strike-on-al-mawasi-safe-zone-in-south-gaza>
that the Israeli military repeatedly employs such claims, ?saying civilians
are being used as ?human shields? for Hamas figures, using that as
justification for killing dozens of civilians.?

Assal Rad, an academic who closely observes the Western media?s framing of
the genocide in Gaza, said that the Israeli justification is used by media
outlets to treat the massacre of civilians in a ?safe zone? as ?an
afterthought in their headlines,? if they are even mentioned at all:
Amjad al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGOs Network, told Al Jazeera
<https://aje.io/cc08zy?update=3044193> that the al-Mawasi massacre was ?the
message from Israel to the world that again and again and again they are
targeting Palestinian civilians wherever they are.? ?Massive attack on the
north?

Following the massacre in al-Mawasi, the UN human rights office condemned
<https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/un-human-rights-office-opt-ramallah-13-july-2024-un-human-rights-office-condemns-idfs-strikes-gaza-humanitarian-zones>
Israel?s continued use of ?weapons with area effects in populated areas of
Gaza.?

A statement from the office noted that the deadly strikes on Saturday came
?right after another massive attack on the north, which lasted for a week,
resulting in further destruction and casualties.?

Israel laid waste to Shujaiya, on the eastern outskirts of Gaza City, in a
two-week raid during which it claimed
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-says-it-killed-shejaiya-battalion-deputy-chief-found-hamas-command-room-at-unrwa-site/>
to have killed a Hamas battalion deputy chief and commander in the area and
uncovered a command center in a facility belonging to UNRWA, the UN agency
for Palestine refugees.

Following the military?s withdrawal, residents returned to find that troops
had destroyed the majority of buildings in the area, including residences,
schools and medical clinics.
A spokesperson for the civil defense in Gaza said
<https://aje.io/dv2b8f?update=3040920> that the bodies of more than 60
people had been recovered in Shujaiya, and that many more were missing
under the rubble of destroyed homes.

Dozens of people were also killed in Tal al-Hawa in southern Gaza City, the
civil defense spokesperson said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Israel once again ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate.
Many Palestinians vowed to stay in Gaza City, no matter the cost.
Itay Epshtain, an international law expert, said
<https://x.com/EpshtainItay/status/1810968126537789823> that ?this is not a
permissible evacuation but an act of forcible transfer? that ?shows the
open-ended nature of hostilities in Gaza.? Epshtain noted that ?Israel
appears interested as ever in a protracted conflict.?

The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said
<https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6407/> that its field workers ?are
investigating reports that the Israeli army forces committed extrajudicial
killings and unlawful executions of numerous residents, the majority of
whom were women? during its incursion into areas of western Gaza City
between Monday and Friday.
Quadcopters fired on rescue workers

The UN office said
<https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/un-human-rights-office-opt-ramallah-13-july-2024-un-human-rights-office-condemns-idfs-strikes-gaza-humanitarian-zones>
that the strikes on al-Mawasi on Saturday allegedly hit tents housing
displaced people, a food kitchen and a desalination plant where people had
gathered to collect water, ?leading to tens of fatalities.?

Israeli military ?quadcopters reportedly targeted emergency rescue workers,
killing at least one civil defense worker and injuring several others,? the
human rights office added.

The UN office once again pointed to ?a pattern of willful violation of the
disregard of [international humanitarian law] principles of distinction,
proportionality and precaution? and ?a rampant disregard for the safety of
civilians.?

Even if Palestinians belonging to armed groups were present among
civilians, ?this would not remove [the Israeli military?s] obligations? to
comply with the fundamental principles of the laws of war, the UN office
said.

Video of the immediate aftermath of the Israeli attack in al-Mawasi shows
injured and dead people who appear to be civilians, including someone
wearing a civil defense vest, lying in the streets as a black plume of
smoke rises from an area adjacent to a tent encampment:
Another video shows people attempting to dig victims out of a massive
crater with their bare hands. A man?s left arm and shoulder is seen
protruding from the sandy soil as a child says, ?that?s my father, has he
been martyred?? A witness says in the same video that ?all of Gaza is
wanted? by the occupation.

The man adds that there was a fire belt ? a series of heavy bombs dropped
in the same place ? without warning on the tent encampment. When rescuers
arrived, F-16 jets ?bombed the paramedics and civil defense team,? he says.
The head of the World Health Organization said
<https://x.com/DrTedros/status/1812171427656712564> that Nasser Medical
Complex in Khan Younis, which received 134 people severely injured in the
al-Mawasi attack, ?is extremely overwhelmed by the influx of
patients.? Netanyahu
stalls negotiations

After the deadly attack in al-Mawasi, Ghassan Abu Sitta, a British
Palestinian surgeon who was working in Gaza during the first weeks of the
genocide, said <https://x.com/GhassanAbuSitt1/status/1812072873139335583>
that ?Israel committed this massacre to foil the ceasefire negotiations.?
Egypt officials told Reuters
<https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/gaza-talks-halted-until-israel-shows-its-serious-about-negotiations-say-egyptian-2024-07-13/>
on Saturday that the indirect talks between Hamas and Israel ?have been
halted after three days of intense negotiations failed to produce a viable
outcome ? blaming Israel for lacking a genuine intent to reach an
agreement.?

Earlier in the week, an unnamed ?former senior Egyptian official with
knowledge of the negotiations? told *The Washington Post*
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/07/12/gaza-cease-fire-israel-hamas/>
that ?Netanyahu does not want peace. That is all.?

The official added that Netanyahu ?will find excuses ? to prolong this war?
until the US elections, in which Republican candidate and former president
Donald Trump, who was lightly injured
<https://apnews.com/live/election-biden-trump-campaign-updates-07-13-2024>
after gunshots rang out during a campaign event on Saturday, may be voted
into a second term.

Whatever Netanyahu?s motivation, Israeli defense officials have told the
*Haaretz* newspaper
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-07-10/ty-article-timeline/.premium/how-netanyahu-has-systematically-foiled-talks-to-release-hostages-from-hamas-captivity/00000190-9b91-d591-a7ff-fff341120000?lts=1720739621868>
that the prime minister has ?repeatedly torpedoed? progress towards a deal
with Hamas to free the remaining captives held in Gaza since 7 October.

The officials said that ?in his attempt to derail negotiations, Netanyahu
relied on classified intelligence and manipulated the sensitive
information.?

In recent days, an unnamed senior official told Hebrew-language media
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/senior-official-says-netanyahu-holding-up-hostage-truce-deal-with-new-demands/>
that Netanyahu?s new demand to build ?a mechanism to prevent the movement
of armed operatives? within Gaza threatened to derail a deal.

?This is the moment of truth for the hostages,? the official told Channel
12 news. ?We can reach an agreement within two weeks and bring the hostages
home.?

But Netanyahu?s new demand ?will stall the talks for weeks and then there
may not be anyone to bring home,? the official said.
US resumes weapons shipments

While US President Joe Biden said
<https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/biden-says-israel-gaza-war-should-end-now-2024-07-11/>
on Thursday that he was ?determined to get this deal done and bring an end
to this war, which should end now,? his national security adviser Jake
Sullivan told reporters
<https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2024/07/11/on-the-record-press-gaggle-by-apnsa-jake-sullivan/>
that ?there?s still miles to go before we close, if we are able to close?
on an agreement.

With the US putting no real pressure on Israel, and continuing to supply
weapons, more massacres of Palestinians in Gaza are all but guaranteed.

The US said in recent days that it will resume the shipments
<https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckkg6x62z6wo> of 500-pound bombs to
Israel after pausing a transfer of those weapons and 2,000-pound munitions
in May to deter a major Israeli offensive in Rafah, southern Gaza, which
went ahead anyway.
The Washington-based human rights watchdog DAWN said
<https://dawnmena.org/biden-administration-dont-reverse-suspension-on-500-pound-bombs-to-israel/>
that the ?partial lifting of the one solitary pause on munitions to the
[Israeli military] in the face of overwhelming evidence of war crimes is a
criminal offense under international law.?

The group?s advocacy director called on the International Criminal Court to
investigate US officials for their complicity in ?genocidal atrocities in
Gaza.?

Karim Khan, International Criminal Court?s chief prosecutor, announced in
May
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/icc-warrants-both-historic-and-cynical>
that he was pursuing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Israeli defense
minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas leaders Muhammad Deif, Yahya Sinwar
and Ismail Haniyeh.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Sun Jul 14 21:06:49 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Sun, 14 Jul 2024 18:06:49 -0700
Subject: [News] Yemen unveils confessions,
 projects of Israeli-US espionage network
Message-ID: <mailman.35.1721005822.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/yemen-unveils-confessions--projects-of-israeli-us-espionage>
Yemen unveils confessions, projects of Israeli-US espionage network
Al Mayadeen English
July 14, 2024
------------------------------

Yemeni security forces uncover the Israeli-US plots to interfere in and
destabilize the country's social structure.
[image: 1fb76ca4-39f7-4b8a-85e1-3afcb9449692.png]

   - The Israeli-US espionage network operating in Yemen (Al Mayadeen)

Yemeni Security Forces uncovered on Sunday extensive revelations regarding
the Israeli-American espionage network
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/yemen-uncovers-large-israeli-us-spy-network>
operating to corrupt the social sector in Yemen.

According to the confessions, the espionage network, led by the United
States, aimed to corrupt Yemen's youth through programs such as Mercy
Corps, AMIDEAST, and Building Youth Capacities in Conflict Resolution,
implemented by a joint ground network.

Another project, Leaders Network for Development, is implemented by the
Yemeni ?Renin? Organization, as well as other hidden projects to attract
young leaders, are implemented by the US Agency for Development.

All of the programs aim at recruiting Yemen's youth to provide information
for the CIA.

One of the spies stated that "the most important thing that the Americans
were secretly gaining from this project was the polarization and
recruitment of young men and women, the dissemination of Western ideas and
values, and ensuring the influence of social figures and determining them
at the level of the directorates."

Reportedly, this is done by implementing a common ground organization for
the benefit of the US Agency for Development in areas controlled by the
aggression in both the south of the country and Taiz.

The espionage network
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/yemen-uncovers-large-israeli-us-spy-network>
also aimed at promoting programs to establish "equality between women and
men" that claimed to empower women in the country, but ultimately aimed at
recruiting Yemen's women to gather intel for the US to be used to corrupt
the societal and familial structure.

Tribes were also targeted, with several programs established to gather
information about their structure, as well as recruit and polarize
religious men and clerics.

The network, moreover, targeted civil society establishments communities,
and local councils, as well as minorities and marginalized groups such as
the Bohra and Makarim claiming to ?defend and support their rights,? to
interfere in Yemen?s internal affairs and disrupt societal stability, while
also carrying out a global communities project to ?attracting social
figures to create influence for American intelligence.?
Yemen foils hostile espionage efforts

This comes after *Al Mayadeen*'s correspondent confirmed that Yemeni
security services in Sanaa will broadcast confessions of members from an
American-Israeli espionage cell that targeted the cultural aspect of Yemen.

On June 10, the Yemeni Security Forces uncovered a large espionage network
operated by American and Israeli intelligence agencies. Officials revealed
that the network had been active within various institutions in Yemen since
2015.

A security source told *Al Mayadeen* that the Cultural Attach? at the US
embassy in Yemen targeted all segments of Yemeni society, through which
cells were lured and recruited to collect information.

The source pointed out that the spy network's confessions would reveal that
the US embassy was nothing more than a den of espionage and a tool for
sabotage and that the Cultural Attach? at the US embassy in Yemen was
linked to the US intelligence agency, the CIA.

Additionally, the source highlighted that Yemen has, in past phases, become
a hub for destructive projects
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/yemen-foils-us-israeli-espionage-plots>,
with the previous regime contributing to this.

According to the source, the confessions will reveal the US efforts to
execute hostile projects against Yemen by gathering detailed information
and comprehensive surveys, which the US embassy heavily focused on.

Elsewhere, the source told* Al Mayadeen* that the information the security
services will reveal from the confessions of the spy network is only a
small part of the American effort to target the cultural aspect in Yemen.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Jul 16 13:23:49 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2024 10:23:49 -0700
Subject: [News] Palestine Action shut down Elbit for TWO DAYS and break into
 another arms manufacturer's factory
Message-ID: <mailman.62.1721150753.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

thecanary.co
<https://www.thecanary.co/trending/2024/07/16/palestine-action-elbit-bristol-israel/>
Palestine Action shut down Elbit for TWO DAYS and break into another arms
manufacturer's factory
The Canary
July 16, 2024
------------------------------

Palestine <https://www.thecanary.co/topics/palestine/> Action have shut
down arms manufacturer Elbit System?s Bristol HQ for two days running ?
along with damaging the factory of one of its suppliers in the process.
Once again, the group has shown direct action can actually make an impact;
here, disrupting the supply of arms to Israel
<https://www.thecanary.co/topics/israel/> amid its ongoing genocide in Gaza.

>From 6.30am on Tuesday 16 July, three activists from Palestine Action
<https://www.palestineaction.org/> locked themselves to a vehicle blocking
the only access point to the UK headquarters of Israel?s biggest weapons
producer, Elbit Systems. Police have arrived at the scene and cordoned off
the area:

As of 12pm on 16 July, the cops were still scrabbling around trying to stop
Palestine Action:

Yesterday, another three activists similarly blocked the entrance, forcing
the site to close:

<https://www.thecanary.co/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/image08-5-scaled.jpg>

So, for the second day in a row, Palestine Action have shut down Elbit?s
Bristol HQ at Aztec West 600, Bristol:

<https://www.thecanary.co/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/image04-5-scaled.jpg>

They also broke inside Hydrafeed?s central premises in Milton Keynes,
damaging the company who provide machinery for Elbit?s Instro Precision
factory in Sandwich, Kent:
Supplying Israel?s war machine

Hydrafeed?s machinery is used to produce arms by Elbit?s Instro Precision
factory which have had over 80 separate licenses to export weapons to
Israel since 2016.

Hydrafeed?s involvement in the production of Israeli arms was confirmed
during a break in of the Instro factory by Palestine Action last month. By
dismantling the inside of the machinery maker?s central premises, activists
have prevented the company?s ability to provide Elbit Systems with ?a rapid
response for breakdowns, repairs, spares and replacement parts?.

They have also disrupt the supply of machines to be used for arming the
Gaza genocide.

Meanwhile, according to Elbit?s CEO Bezhalel Machlis, Elbit Systems
weaponry is ?currently being used extensively by the Israeli military?. The
Israeli weapons maker produces 85% of Israel?s military drone fleet and
land-based equipment, ammunition, missiles, digital warfare and training
simulators.

During the onslaught of Gaza which the ICJ has ruled is a plausible
genocide, Elbit have ?ramped up production? to meet the increased demand of
the Israeli military for munitions.

Elbit Systems are the majority provider of Israel?s military drone fleet
and land-based equipment, as well as bullets, bombs, missiles and digital
warfare.
Palestine Action ?will not stop?

Over the weekend more than a hundred Palestinians were massacred by the
Israeli military. On Saturday, Al-Mawasi refugee camp which was an Israeli
designated safe zone was targeted by Israeli air strikes killing over 90
Palestinians. The next day Israeli missiles struck a UN school sheltering
hundreds of displaced Palestinians, killing 16 of them and injuring many
more.

The Bristol HQ which activists have once again shut down is owned by
Somerset Council.

In April 2024, a motion was passed by councillors calling for Somerset
Council to explore all legal routes to evict Elbit before disposing of the
Bristol premises. The council also received legal advice from Palestine
Action?s lawyers, Public Interest Law Centre, setting out a clear route to
remove Elbit as a tenant[6]. Despite this, the council continue to fail
their legal and moral obligations to evict Elbit.

A Palestine Action spokesperson said:

Under Article 1 of the Genocide Convention, parties are obliged to prevent
the commission of genocide and punish those responsible. When our
government remains complicit in genocide and allows Israel?s Elbit Systems
to operate in this country, it?s the responsibility of ordinary people to
take direct action.

Anyone who remains a partner of the Israeli weapons maker has done a
serious moral and financial miscalculation as Palestine Action will break
every link of Elbit?s supply chain, which involves targeting Elbit?s
suppliers and of course, shutting Elbit down. We will not allow any
institution to continue facilitating the bloody massacres of the
Palestinian people.

We will not stop until Elbit is shut down.

*Featured image and additional images and video via Martin Pope Photography*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Jul 16 19:44:35 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2024 16:44:35 -0700
Subject: [News] Palestinian Islamic Jihad discusses October 7,
 the war against Israel,
 and whether Trump or Biden would be better for Palestine
In-Reply-To: <20240716135644.3.2d3e89a2e9a8d18f@mg-d0.substack.com>
References: <20240716135644.3.2d3e89a2e9a8d18f@mg-d0.substack.com>
Message-ID: <mailman.64.1721173491.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

Dr. Mohammed Al-Hindi, a top leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, 
discusses October 7, the war against Israel, and whether Trump or Biden 
would be better for Palestine
? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? 
 ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? 
? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? 
?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? 
 ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? 
? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? 
?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? 
 ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? 
? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? 
?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? 
 ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? 
? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? 
?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? 
 ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? 
? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? 
?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? 
 ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? 
? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? 
?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? 
 ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?

	
	

	
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Al-Hindi in 2005. Photo: Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty.

Before Hamas, there was Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The resistance 
movement, founded in 1981, organized itself around the principle that 
defeat of Israeli occupation and subjugation could only be achieved 
through armed struggle, and it sought to merge the secular and Islamist 
strands of the Palestinian political landscape. For 30 years, PIJ has 
engaged in a campaign of paramilitary warfare against Israel and has 
controlled the second largest armed Palestinian resistance faction. 
While Hamas has governed the Gaza Strip since 2006, PIJ has often set 
the tone for increased militancy toward Israel and has proven its 
willingness to engage in battles on its own.

Though PIJ says it did not know about the October 7 attacks ahead of 
time, its armed wing joined the Hamas-led operation that morning, took 
hostages of its own, and?together with Hamas?s Al-Qassam Brigades?has 
waged a nine-month guerrilla war in Gaza against Israeli occupation forces.

This is part 3 in my series covering armed Palestinian groups? 
perspectives on the war on Gaza. Subscribe to get the rest.

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Senior leaders of PIJ rarely grant interviews to Western journalists, 
but Dr. Mohammed Al-Hindi, the group?s second highest-ranking official, 
agreed to sit down for a wide-ranging, in-person interview with Drop 
Site News. Al-Hindi discussed PIJ?s role in the October 7 attacks, what 
he sees as the political aims of the operations, his perspective on 
President Joe Biden?s push to revive a ?two-state? solution, Donald 
Trump and the U.S. elections, the Abraham Accords, and the future of 
Palestinian liberation and politics. He also discusses PIJ?s ties to 
Iran and explains why he believes Israel would face a catastrophe in 
Lebanon if it decided to go to war against Hezbollah.

Since the early 1980s, Al-Hindi has been a central figure in Palestinian 
Islamic Jihad and currently serves as its deputy secretary general and 
chief political negotiator. He is a pediatrician by training and early 
in his career worked at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza. Al-Hindi was jailed 
for a year during the First Intifada and has been imprisoned several 
times by both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority. In 
2004, Israeli helicopters fired several missiles at Al-Hindi?s office in 
Gaza in what was widely believed to be an assassination attempt. 
Al-Hindi is the chief of PIJ?s political department and the top deputy 
to its secretary general, Ziyad Al-Nakhalah. He led PIJ?s negotiations 
with Israel that achieved a ceasefire in May 2023 and continues to 
advise Hamas negotiators in the current war. In 2019, Al-Hindi was named 
a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the U.S. State Department.

Drop Site News has decided to publish the interview with Al-Hindi in 
full because we believe it is in the public interest to examine the 
perspectives of a top figure in the current Palestinian armed resistance 
and the second in command of an organization at the center of Israel?s 
genocidal war against the Palestinians of Gaza.

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    Palestinian Islamic Jihad: The Backstory

Palestinian Islamic Jihad began to carry out armed attacks against 
Israel in 1984, three years prior to the founding of Hamas. More than a 
decade before the first Oslo Accord was signed in 1993, PIJ?s founders 
took the position that the Palestine Liberation Organization of Yasser 
Arafat had started the Palestinians on a course to disaster by opening 
the door to conceding substantial land to Israel in a two-state 
settlement. The founders were also inspired by the 1979 Islamic 
Revolution in Iran and saw the overthrow of the U.S.-backed shah as 
evidence that they could topple their oppressors.

?In the 1980s, when a young guard of Palestinian students wanted the 
Muslim Brotherhood to engage in armed violence or in armed struggle 
against Israeli occupation, they were dissatisfied with the Muslim 
Brotherhood?s lack of interest in armed struggle,? said Erik Skare, a 
postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oslo who is widely viewed 
as one of the leading English-language scholars on PIJ. ?If you were a 
Palestinian in the 1980s in the Gaza Strip who wanted to participate in 
the armed struggle, there was no feasible vehicle to do so. On the one 
hand, you had the Islamist movement that did not partake in the military 
armed struggle. And on the other hand, you had the secular nationalists 
who were either in jail, [or] who were incapacitated.? PIJ filled this void.

Skare has written two books on the group, including /A History of 
Palestinian Islamic Jihad: Faith, Revolution and Awareness in the Middle 
East/. He said PIJ?s founders rejected what they saw as the dogmatism of 
the Muslim Brotherhood, from which Hamas rose. ?They did not just read 
Ibn Taymiyya. They didn't just read Sayyid Qutb. They didn't just read 
Hassan al-Banna. They read Lenin, they read Jean-Paul Sartre, they read 
Fyodor Dostoevsky. They read everything that they could come across as 
they tried to figure out the future and the way forward and out of that 
Palestinian impasse,? Skare told me. ?They wanted to be true to their 
religion and go to the cinema. They wanted to read, study Islamist 
orthodoxy, while being open to new ideas.?

In August 1987, members of PIJ ambushed and killed an Israeli army 
officer in the Gaza Strip, in what would become a precursor to a broader 
Palestinian revolt. During the First Intifada, which began in December, 
the PIJ expanded its armed operations in Gaza and the West Bank, 
initially utilizing stones, knives, and small arms. By the end of the 
decade, the group?s senior leadership was exiled and many of its members 
jailed. In 1992, Israel deported hundreds of PIJ and Hamas members, 
including influential leaders of both movements, to Lebanon. In exile, 
the two groups forged closer ties and discussed coordinating actions 
against Israel. PIJ also deepened its relationship with Hezbollah, the 
Islamic Republic of Iran, and the Syrian government. Its members 
received military training and support from all three.

PIJ rose to international recognition and infamy in the 1990s as both it 
and Hamas began to conduct suicide bombings against Israeli civilians 
and military targets. PIJ also began to formally organize its 
paramilitary wing, Saraya Al-Quds, the Jerusalem Brigades. On January 
22, 1995, a PIJ operative disguised as an Israeli soldier approached a 
crowded bus stop in the central Israeli town of Beit Lid where Israeli 
soldiers were awaiting transport back to their bases. The operative 
detonated an explosive belt in the middle of the crowd. A few minutes 
later, a second suicide bomber attacked. In all, 21 Israeli soldiers and 
one civilian were killed. ?We confirm our ability to penetrate all the 
enemy?s false security lines and reach the heart of the enemy,? a top 
PIJ leader said in claiming responsibility for the attack. President 
Bill Clinton responded the next day by issuing an executive order 
criminalizing any financial support for PIJ.

In 1997, both PIJ and Hamas were officially designated as terrorist 
organizations by the U.S. State Department. During the Second Intifada, 
which began in September 2002 and lasted for nearly five years, both 
organizations engaged in military battles against Israeli forces and 
conducted extensive suicide bombings inside Israel.

"The logic is pretty much the same as the PLO in the 1960s and 
1970s?that what has been taken with force has to be regained by force."

In the years since the last intifada, PIJ has cultivated its presence in 
both the West Bank and Gaza, from which it has regularly engaged in 
rocket attacks against Israeli military targets and cities. Unlike 
Hamas, PIJ is not a political party that fields candidates for elections 
run by the Palestinian Authority, as it rejects the entire framework of 
the Oslo Accords that gave rise to the PA. Instead, PIJ has prioritized 
confronting Israeli settler colonialism and occupation through direct 
military action. ?They fight for the entirety of historical Palestine 
from the river to the sea,? said Skare. ?The logic is pretty much the 
same as the PLO in the 1960s and 1970s?that what has been taken with 
force has to be regained by force.?

While PIJ is often narrowly portrayed as a violent Islamic terror 
organization, it views itself both as an armed vanguard advocating a 
unified liberation movement and a political and social movement rooted 
in Islamist and Palestinian history and culture. ?We saw two categories 
of Palestinian: the nationalists, who talked about liberating Palestine 
but who forgot about Islam, and the traditionalists, who talked about 
Islam and an Islamic state but who forgot about Palestine,? observed 
PIJ's founder Dr. Fathi Shaqaqi in an interview 
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1995, nine months before he was assassinated by the Mossad in front of a 
Malta hotel. ?We had to solve this problematic issue, to make the 
crossing-point between nationalist and Islamist.?

Many of PIJ?s earliest recruits were drawn from the ranks of the secular 
PLO, and PIJ?s leaders forged a path to uniting that secular 
revolutionary spirit with Islamist ideas. Its central objective was to 
reclaim all territory seized during the creation of the state of Israel 
in 1948 and to avenge the violent displacement and killing of 
Palestinians during the Nakba. ?Islamic Jihad turned the logic of the 
Muslim Brotherhood upside down,? said Skare. ?The Muslim Brotherhood 
focused on Islamization for liberation. That is, you had to Islamize 
Palestinian society first and prepare the Palestinian masses by 
spreading Islamic values so could you prepare them for the armed 
struggle to liberate Palestine. But Islamic Jihad, on the other hand, 
they said first we have to liberate the Occupied Palestinian 
Territories, and only then can we focus on Islamization.?

Skare said that despite its designation by the U.S. and other Western 
nations as a terrorist organization, PIJ does not conduct attacks 
outside of historic Palestine. ?It also distances itself from attacks 
against the West and also against Israelis outside of Israeli or 
Palestinian territory because it would weaken the Palestinian struggle 
and the legitimacy of the Palestinian struggle,? Skare said. ?They make 
it quite clear that their struggle is not against Israelis because of 
their Jewish faith, but because of the occupation.?

Since Hamas?s founding in 1987, its relations with PIJ have seen periods 
of tight coordination as well as conflict, strategic disagreement, and 
turf wars. After Hamas won the democratic elections in the Occupied 
Palestinian Territories in 2006 and consolidated its control of the Gaza 
Strip, the two groups often synchronized their operations against 
Israel. The year it took power in Gaza, Hamas announced an end to the 
use of suicide bombings against Israel, causing the number of such 
attacks to plummet. Hamas said the tactic had only been deployed during 
an ?exceptional period.?

While Hamas became a governing authority, responsible for the basic 
administration of civil life on the Gaza Strip, PIJ eluded these 
functions and squarely focused on armed resistance. PIJ opened its doors 
to Palestinians who prioritized armed action against Israel, including 
those ?that were dissatisfied with the governance project of Hamas,? 
said Skare, who has interviewed senior PIJ figures. ?It says something 
about the way [PIJ] can push other armed movements.?

PIJ and Hamas formed a united front in a series of shorter duration wars 
in the years following Hamas?s election, including in 2009, 2012, and 
2014. In 2018, the two groups revived a joint operations center with 
other smaller armed factions in Gaza. In May 2021, PIJ and Hamas 
launched a barrage of rockets at Israel in response to Israeli attacks 
on Palestinian worshippers at Al-Aqsa mosque and threats of evictions in 
East Jerusalem, killing 12 Israeli civilians. Israel launched an intense 
11-day bombing campaign against Gaza, during which more than 250 
Palestinians were killed and some 1,900 injured. The war ended when 
President Joe Biden called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and 
told him the runway was finished. Both Hamas and PIJ leaders made clear 
that while a truce was reached, the broader war would endure. ?We will 
come to you, God willing, in a roaring flood,? Hamas?s Gaza leader Yahya 
Sinwar declared in a speech in December 2022. ?We will come to you with 
endless rockets, we will come to you in a limitless flood of soldiers, 
we will come to you with millions of our people, like the repeating tide.?

While Hamas generally respected the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with 
Israel, PIJ and Israel continued to fight. In August 2022, Israel began 
a campaign of targeted assassinations against senior PIJ leaders in 
Gaza, killing important commanders. Israel said the attacks were 
?preemptive? strikes. Two of the Israeli airstrikes killed dozens of 
Palestinians, including children. In retaliation, PIJ launched more than 
1,000 rockets into Israeli territory as Israel pummeled Gaza with 
further air raids. Israel also swept PIJ strongholds in the West Bank, 
arresting PIJ operatives.

The intermittent battles between Israel and PIJ lasted until May 13, 
2023, when an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire was declared. While Hamas was 
not a party to the fighting, it praised PIJ for ?defending the 
Palestinian people against the most recent Israeli aggression against 
the Gaza Strip.?

Prior to October 7, Palestinian Islamic Jihad?s Al-Quds force was 
estimated, in Western government and media sources, to have between one 
and eight thousand fighters in Gaza. Sources within PIJ, however, say 
the number of fighters and logistical support personnel exceeded 10,000 
(reliable, verifiable statistics do not exist). While it is a smaller 
force than Hamas?s Qassam Brigades, which prior to October 7 was 
estimated in the range of 20,000?30,000 soldiers, PIJ also enjoys a 
stronger paramilitary presence in the West Bank, particularly in Nablus, 
Tulkarm, and Jenin. PIJ recently said that it has continued to enlist 
new recruits to fight Israel in both Gaza and the West Bank.

In reporting on the October 7 attacks against Israel, PIJ is often 
unmentioned or described in passing as another militant group that 
participated in Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. By the group?s own account, it 
was not involved with the planning of the October 7 attacks but joined 
in immediately that morning when the operations began. Skare said that 
while PIJ may not have organized the attacks, its militant posture of 
armed struggle as the only solution against Israel may have played a 
role in Hamas's decision to contemplate the large-scale, decisive 
action. ?Hamas had to balance on a knife?s edge between being a provider 
of services, a provider of governance in the Gaza Strip, and maintaining 
its [role] as a resistance movement. Islamic Jihad could continue 
stressing the need for armed resistance, continue stressing the need for 
a complete liberation without being encumbered by the inconvenient 
responsibilities of governance. And that always was troublesome for 
Hamas,? he said. ?I think the fact that Hamas carried out October 7 was 
partly caused by the fact that Hamas found itself in an impossible 
situation.?

Along with Hamas, PIJ?s standing among Palestinians in the occupied 
territories has risen significantly since October. Its members have 
fought alongside Qassam forces in the guerrilla war against Israel?s 
occupation forces in Gaza, and it regularly posts videos of its forces 
ambushing Israeli tanks and soldiers.

PIJ continues to hold an unknown number of Israelis taken on October 
7?PIJ initially said it had 30 captives?and participated in the 
exchanges last November during which 105 Israelis were freed in exchange 
for hundreds of Palestinians held by Israel. Along with Hamas, 
Palestinian Islamic Jihad is a member of the Axis of Resistance, a 
coalition that includes Iran, Syria, Ansar Allah in Yemen, and several 
regional militant groups that coordinate strategy in confronting Israel.

*Below is a full transcript of our in-depth interview.*


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Mohammed Al-Hindi speaks with Jeremy Scahill. Photo: Jeremy Scahill.


      My Interview With Mohammed Al-Hindi

*Jeremy Scahill:*Dr. Mohammed Al-Hindi, thank you for agreeing to do 
this interview. It?s unusual for a Western reporter to be able to 
interview one of the leaders of Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Explain the 
political ideology and objectives of the organization.

*Mohammed Al-Hindi:*In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate. 
First of all, Islamic Jihad is generally perceived as a fighting group. 
That impression, however, is not accurate. In the early stages of its 
establishment, our movement tried to develop its own vision and 
understanding before engaging in active fighting against Israel. A 
vision of the political reality, understanding the Islamic world, and 
the region?s history. So, it started as an intellectual discussion 
before it took up arms. Ultimately, however, its analysis was that the 
project of establishing Israel was a Western one. The West had its 
issues with the Jews. In short, it could be said that antisemitism is a 
European problem that did not exist in the East. It was solved, however, 
at the expense of the Palestinian people and the region. The Zionist 
project is not about the Jews in the first place. Rather, it is a 
Western colonization project that aims to control the region and 
preclude its independence and development.

This is the Zionist project at heart. We do not have any problem with 
the Jews per se. Rather, our problem is with Zionism as a racist 
movement which was based on usurping our resources and homeland and 
displacing us in 1948. This was the founding political vision upon which 
Islamic Jihad movement was established. Our vision relied on Islam which 
constitutes the culture, history and faith of the Palestinian people.

Based on that vision and that understanding of the political reality and 
Islamic history, the movement was established. This debate started at an 
early stage when we were students in Egyptian universities in the 
mid-1970s. This vision was translated, though, when we returned to the 
Gaza Strip under the occupation. Since there was occupation, it was 
imperative to have resistance. So, the Islamic Jihad started to engage 
in resistance in the early 1980s after we returned from Egyptian 
universities.

?The Zionist project is not about the Jews in the first place. Rather, 
it is a Western colonization project that aims to control the region and 
preclude its independence and development.?

So, the resistance emerged based on the presence of the occupation. As a 
religious, Muslim people, we base our resistance on our understanding, 
history and faith. That?s why some identified Islamic Jihad as standing 
somewhat in the middle between Islamic extremism and the national 
movement, which was based at the time on Fatah and the Palestinian left. 
In brief, we are a national Palestinian resistance movement which is 
rooted in our people?s faith, culture and belief, namely Islam.

*Jeremy Scahill:*When you say that Palestinian Islamic Jihad is a 
national resistance movement you're talking about armed struggle.

*Mohammed Al-Hindi:*No, I?m talking about the idea of Islamic Jihad.

*Jeremy Scahill:*How do you define then what a resistance group is in 
the context of what you?ve said?

*Mohammed Al-Hindi:*As long as there is occupation, there must be 
resistance. We started our resistance in the presence of occupation 
through the Nakba in 1948 and then in 1967 with the occupation of the 
West Bank and Gaza Strip. We were conceived in the Gaza Strip and the 
movement then expanded to the West Bank under the occupation. The 
occupation was engaging in practices which all the world could see. But 
they were silent, unfortunately, because ultimately the Zionist project 
is a Western one. That?s why in 1987, in the First Intifada, under 
then-Israeli Prime Minister Rabin, they used an extremely oppressive 
policy which was the ?bone breaking? policy against children involved in 
the uprising. Quite literally, a soldier would hold a child?s hand 
against a rock and then break it with another rock. It was implemented 
literally. So this violence used by Israel under which we grew up, made 
it necessary to resist.

*Jeremy Scahill:*But Palestinian Islamic Jihad, for instance, does not 
run for elections.

*Mohammed Al-Hindi: *That?s not true. We do take part in student 
elections in Palestinian Universities. We take part in elections of 
syndicates, all Palestinian syndicates: doctors, teachers, lawyers, 
engineers. All syndicates. Around 13 syndicates. And we have taken the 
initiative in forming some other syndicates too. This impression or 
perception, though, was because we did not take part in the 2006 
Palestinian legislative council elections. Refraining from participation 
constitutes a form of participation itself, a form of political 
position. We have taken a position towards the Oslo Accord, which at the 
national level has conceded some basic principles in addition to its 
being undemocratic as the Palestinian people have not been consulted, 
nor were other members of the PLO and its factions. This agreement was 
reached behind the back of the Palestinian people. So the position of 
the Islamic Jihad was to boycott any arrangements or elections of an 
authority emanating from this agreement. This is a political position of 
its own right. We take part in all other elections.

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*Jeremy Scahill:*What is the relationship between Palestinian Islamic 
Jihad and Hamas?

*Mohammed Al-Hindi:*First, in terms of the founding principles, Islam 
constitutes the faith, culture and history of our Palestinian people. It 
is a faith for Muslims and a culture for Christians. Both Hamas and 
Islamic Jihad use the faith of our people and their culture in the case 
of Christians as a point of departure. We further agree with Hamas on 
some aspects of our political vision in terms of the position vis-?-vis 
the Oslo Accord and rejecting it and in relation to the resistance 
imperative and maintenance of Palestinian basic principles. On the other 
hand, there are disagreements in relation to our vision or some 
political issues such as elections. We had a position, Hamas had a 
different position, and so on. So in some political issues, Islamic 
Jihad holds a different position from Hamas. Our differences were more 
pronounced in the past. With time, however, the scope of disagreement 
between the two movements started to diminish.

*Jeremy Scahill:*I want to ask you about the two-year period leading up 
to Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. You had the 2021 Israeli bombing campaign 
against Gaza. And then over the course of the two years that followed, 
the Israelis continued to target and assassinate leaders of Palestinian 
Islamic Jihad. Maybe we could begin by describing this period and how 
your movement experienced Israel?s attacks from the end of 2021?s 
intense war until October 7, 2023. Also, Palestinian Islamic Jihad was 
launching rocket attacks against Israel and Hamas was largely staying 
out of it or at least saying that they were not directly participating. 
They were not condemning Palestinian Islamic Jihad, but they were saying 
that they weren?t participating in it.

*Mohammed Al-Hindi:*First of all, Israel is under the illusion that 
eliminating military or political leaders of Palestinian resistance 
movements would affect these movements. In the two years you pointed 
out, Islamic Jihad was exposed to a wave of assassinations, actually 
three waves. So Islamic Jihad engaged in defending the Palestinian 
people and responding to those crimes committed against leaders in the 
military structure Al-Quds Brigades. Hamas, during those three 
confrontations, did not intervene. But as you said it did not condemn 
the Palestinian resistance and launching rockets. As a matter of fact, 
it stood by the Islamic Jihad in its political position stating this was 
a normal response to the Zionist crimes. Some, especially in Israel and 
some regional media outlets tried to disgrace Hamas for having abandoned 
the Islamic Jihad, saying it could have helped fend off the Zionist 
aggression on Gaza since it was in charge of its administration. But let 
me clarify that Islamic Jihad was capable of responding and persisting 
in confronting Israel for a long time without intervention. If it were 
not capable, we might have blamed Hamas for not taking part, but Islamic 
Jihad proved to be capable and Israel was forced to engage in 
negotiations with the Islamic Jihad movement in Cairo. I was leading 
these negotiations with the Egyptians. We reached an agreement. Those 
observing may not use this episode to drive a wedge between Hamas and 
Islamic Jihad. On the contrary, Islamic Jihad understood Hamas?s 
position and decided we can manage this battle on our own in the three 
confrontations and we managed quite well.


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Mohammed al-Hindi (right) with Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed 
Yassin (center) and Hamas?s Ismail Haniyeh (left) at a memorial in 2003 
for assassinated Hamas leader Ismail Abu Shanab. Photo: Mahmud Hams/AFP 
via Getty.


      The October 7 Attacks

*Jeremy Scahill:*How did Operation Al-Aqsa Flood come into being? Who 
initiated the idea for it? Did it come from Palestinian Islamic Jihad or 
Hamas or was there a joint committee that was assessing potential 
responses to Israel or potential positives and negatives of launching 
some sort of attack? I?m trying to understand how this was organized.

*Mohammed Al-Hindi:*Hamas, or more accurately, Al-Qassam, were getting 
prepared for Al-Aqsa Flood and no one knew about it. A day earlier, on 
October 6, we in Islamic Jihad had a celebration of the anniversary of 
the Islamic Jihad movement. Thousands took part in the celebration and 
we were taken by surprise like everybody else. However, very shortly 
after learning about the Flood, we engaged in this battle. It was our 
duty as a resistance movement to confront the aggression immediately.

*Jeremy Scahill:*Just to clarify: You?re saying that Palestinian Islamic 
Jihad, even its special forces, were not at all involved with the 
planning of it until the morning of the knocking down of the fences, the 
walls?

*Mohammed Al-Hindi: *Right.

*Jeremy Scahill:*So once your forces started entering the battle space, 
were you surprised at how deep into Israeli areas of control they were 
able to get, particularly on the military bases?

*Mohammed Al-Hindi: *The whole world was surprised! The Israeli military 
units just evaporated.

*Jeremy Scahill:*Once the operations were under way, were the military 
commanders of Palestinian Islamic Jihad able to give orders to their men 
in the field? Given that they didn?t participate in the planning, once 
your soldiers were in battle did Islamic Jihad issue guidelines for them 
or objectives? How were the orders given then to the PIJ forces that 
participated?

*Mohammed Al-Hindi:*At the beginning, the [Al-Quds] military commanders 
of our movement started to give orders to engage. So after a short 
while, the Islamic Jihad?s Quds Brigades took part in the battle and the 
confrontations started. As a resistance movement, our duty was to fight 
against occupation and against this aggression. Whenever a battle 
erupts, Al-Quds Brigades take up their role and engage.

*Jeremy Scahill:*When you started watching the initial media 
reports?some of the first reports said two thousand people, mostly 
civilians, were killed, though those numbers were later reduced and it 
became clear a large number of Israeli soldiers were also killed along 
with civilians?what sort of response did you expect from the Israeli 
state to these operations?

*Mohammed Al-Hindi:*We know Israel was built on lying and this was one 
more lie. We recognized from the beginning that there was a great deal 
of misleading information addressed to the West. We expected, of course, 
that there would be a strong response. However, over time, these lies 
started to be exposed. The Israeli response to October 7 was not 
governed by any sort of laws. Neither military laws nor laws of 
occupation nor any sort of laws. I believe with time, more crimes that 
no one knows about until now will be exposed. Especially in relation to 
detainees who were arrested just outside Gaza and many of whom were 
executed in the field.

*Jeremy Scahill: *What do you understand as the direct objectives of the 
October 7 operations?

*Mohammed Al-Hindi: *First, this is another episode of this conflict. It 
has erupted like that, but it is another episode of a long, bitter, and 
bloody conflict since 1948. By 1948, we refer to the Nakba where 
enormous crimes were committed. Around 500 Palestinian villages were 
destroyed. The Palestinian people have been fighting since 1948. You 
might know, or not, that there is no Palestinian family that does not 
have at least one martyr. All the fake news that Israel fabricates to 
mislead the Western world is obvious, but the West accepts and wants it 
because they want to keep Israel as a control and hegemony project in 
the region. What happened on October 7 was an extension of those crimes. 
It is also proof that the Palestinian people cannot be destroyed. In 
short, Israel and the United States wanted to completely end the 
Palestinian cause, not only in Gaza but everywhere.

Things started to become clearer after the Abraham Accords, which 
overlooked the rights of the Palestinian people and aimed to arrange the 
region along security terms by building security and economic alliances 
in the region away from the rights of the Palestinian people. Obviously, 
the Palestinian people are not dead and it was expected they would 
defend themselves and their rights. Unless they receive their rights in 
full, there would be nothing but more blood in the region. It is against 
that context that we understand Al-Aqsa Flood: not in the context of 
October 7, rather in the context of 1948.

*Jeremy Scahill: *Do you have a sense as to why this specific day was 
chosen for those operations?

*Mohammed Al-Hindi: *This is an issue that was at the discretion of 
Al-Qassam. But I could say that Gaza has been under blockade for 17 
years. There are crimes being committed in the West Bank and Gaza. There 
is a regional political setting in which a new enemy is being invented 
for the region away from the Zionist enemy. This is the context in which 
we understand this. So a fighting group makes its arrangements and takes 
its decision and makes the judgment on the appropriate conditions. 
Undoubtedly, the conditions were indeed appropriate.

*Jeremy Scahill: *I want to ask you about the taking of civilian 
captives on October 7. Hamas officials have told me that their forces 
did not have any orders to take women who were not soldiers or children 
back to Gaza as captives. Hamas has told me that essentially when the 
fence and the wall encircling Gaza was broken down and the second and 
third wave of people came in?this included ordinary people or people 
that were not officially involved in the operation?that they started 
taking Israeli civilians back to Gaza and then Hamas had to essentially 
find these people and offered to return them to Israel. What is your 
understanding of the civilians taken to Gaza?

*Mohammed Al-Hindi:*Hamas already declared that. In Islamic Jihad, we 
had a boy and an elderly lady. We issued a statement at an early stage 
saying we wanted to release them both, without anything in exchange, 
should the security conditions be available. This was publicly stated 
and filmed at the time. So, yes, this issue was there, especially that 
children, women, and elderly people were taken in by mistake. We 
declared our position, and you may go back to the records. We said we 
have these people in our custody, and they appeared in a video, the 
young boy and elderly lady, and we were ready to let them go just like 
that should the security conditions allow for it. They were then 
released within the first deal.

*Jeremy Scahill: *How do you think history is going to see the events of 
October 7 and the months that have unfolded since?

*Mohammed Al-Hindi: *A huge strategic failure for Israel on October 7 at 
all levels: the political, military, and intelligence. It was also a 
failure for the protectors of Israel. The nine months that followed were 
just more failure because they committed crimes against civilians, 
destroyed Gaza, employed the starvation policy. All those add to the 
military and moral failure. Israel?s image has been damaged. The image 
of victimization which it sold to the world for years is over. It has 
become a wanted criminal. So, Israel has lost at the level of its image 
and narrative and at the moral level. Further, the army has not achieved 
any of its objectives and has been exhausted. So those successive months 
have only been more failure at all levels: military, political, moral, 
and in terms of Israel?s image.

*Jeremy Scahill:*You?re the chief political negotiator for Palestinian 
Islamic Jihad. Are you directly participating in the negotiations over a 
ceasefire or ending the siege on Gaza?

*Mohammed Al-Hindi:*I would like to make one thing clear. In these 
negotiations, we as resistance factions have mandated Hamas to lead the 
negotiations. We agreed that Hamas would manage the negotiations for 
various reasons. We are reassured that Hamas will not yield in these 
negotiations because it is more in the crosshairs than Islamic Jihad.

So, papers are put forward in those negotiations, be it from Israel, the 
U.S., or others. Hamas presents those papers to us, and we discuss them 
and offer feedback. Based on this, Hamas responds. So, the response is 
not that of Hamas but of the resistance and its factions.

?We realized that Netanyahu was trying to create a fracture between 
Hamas and Islamic Jihad and we did not give him that chance.?

Hamas is the chief negotiator mandated by the resistance factions. It 
discusses the proposals made with the resistance factions and provides a 
response that is a reflection of the resistance factions? view. Hamas is 
mandated and authorized to negotiate on behalf of the factions.

The other point is that Israel has tried to drive a wedge among 
resistance factions in terms of the negotiations. Netanyahu has 
personally asked the UN representative to meet him in Jerusalem around 
four months ago. Netanyahu and his negotiations team asked him to go to 
Lebanon and meet the Islamic Jihad to convey a message saying that 
Netanyahu was ready to engage in direct negotiations with Islamic Jihad 
and that he would be lenient in reaching an agreement with them on 
prisoners exchange.

It was around three months ago, the UN representative came to meet one 
of our brothers in Lebanon, an Islamic Jihad official, and he delivered 
Netanyahu?s message. We realized that Netanyahu was trying to create a 
fracture between Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and we did not give him that 
chance. We announced this at the time, but we did not try to make a big 
fuss about it. We talked about it in a Lebanese newspaper, Al-Akhbar. 
Some Israeli papers talked about this issue the day after. Some regional 
powers also tried to invite Islamic Jihad to meetings and discussions, 
but we kept that door shut, too. I mean to have a delegation and make 
visits, but we realized that they were trying to initiate individual 
negotiations, so we just turned these proposals down.


	<https://substack.com/redirect/75c35872-0ccd-4494-92dd-775bcc9048de?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM> 	

Screenshot from an Al Quds video of a parade in Gaza City marking the 
36th anniversary of the founding of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, October 
4, 2023.


      One State, Two States, or Perpetual State of War?

*Jeremy Scahill: *You also have forces in other areas of Palestine, in 
the occupied West Bank and elsewhere, and I?m wondering why there 
weren?t then coordinated uprisings in other areas beyond Gaza in the 
immediate aftermath of October 7. I?m wondering if that was a strategic 
decision or if the leadership of Islamic Jihad held their forces back. 
I?m trying to understand why this operation did not spread to other 
areas of Palestine.

*Mohammed Al-Hindi: *In the West Bank, the resistance is present and 
escalating and the Islamic Jihad takes part in it or even takes the lead 
in it. There are arrests in the West Bank on a daily basis. Not a day 
passes by without arrests and other crimes being committed. There have 
been more than 500 martyrs in the West Bank since October 7 and around 
10,000 detainees in addition to thousands of wounded people. So the West 
Bank is indeed taking part. However, due to the magnitude of crimes 
committed in Gaza, this does not feature much on the media.

Internationally, there are also other open fronts in Lebanon and in the 
Red Sea in Yemen. Their fronts are backing the Gaza front. They have 
decided that the battle on those fronts will not end until the 
aggression on the Gaza Strip stops. The Islamic Jihad is present in 
Lebanon, given there are refugee camps in Lebanon and it is part of this 
confrontation in Lebanon. However, it is Hezbollah that constitutes the 
main part of this front.

*Jeremy Scahill:*Do you think the conditions are present for a full 
intifada at this point?

*Mohammed Al-Hindi: *I believe the political horizon in the West Bank is 
blocked. We have an extremist government in Israel which does not 
believe?the program of the members or components of the government is 
publicly known. When [Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich talks 
about the options for Palestinians being either to completely surrender 
and work as wageworkers for Israel, to be displaced, or to be killed. 
This is what they call the resolve program. It is a declared program. 
And he is a fundamental part of this Zionist government. [Israeli 
National Security Minister Itamar] Ben-Gvir also has a similar program. 
So the political horizon for a Palestinian state is blocked and the 
Palestinian people know it. On the other hand, the magnitude of crimes 
Israel is committing in the Gaza Strip have shown they could not come 
from a state which claims to be the oasis of democracy in the region nor 
an army governed by laws and rules. Rather, it is a gang of murderers 
and criminals killing civilians, women, and children, whose leaders are 
being prosecuted in international courts for war crimes. So, the blocked 
horizon and the magnitude of these crimes leads precisely to an intifada.

The form the intifada is currently taking in the West Bank involves 
little popular participation due to the huge security crackdown by 
Israel. As I mentioned, there are more than 10,000 detainees in the 
enemy?s prisons. Also, the operations have not ceased. These people are 
not without families, supporters, organizations; the same goes for 
detainees. This magnitude paves the way for a big popular uprising in 
the near future hopefully.

I would like to add that there is no Hamas in the West Bank nor is there 
an October 7. What is there in the West Bank is Oslo. Nonetheless, 
assaults by settlers in the West Bank are commonplace. Thousands of 
settlers are being armed away from any formal structures even the 
Zionist army and police. These are Ben-Gvir?s militias. The crimes being 
perpetrated in the West Bank are unprecedented. The settlements that are 
being built today and recognized are arbitrary settler clusters which 
even radical Israeli governments had refused to recognize. Nonetheless, 
they are being legalized now.

Palestinians in Gaza are killed. In the West Bank, however, they lose 
their lands which are turned into settlements and lose their 
livelihoods. That?s why the situation in the West Bank will explode, and 
I believe it is going to be a big bloody conflict. The West is now 
turning a blind eye and talking about Gaza and the administration of 
Gaza, but Israel and Netanyahu refuse even the presence of the 
Palestinian Authority in Gaza. He is trying to come up with alternatives 
away from the Palestinian Authority, which is working in the West Bank 
in accordance with the Oslo Accord, restricting itself by the so-called 
?security coordination.? Hence, the horizon is completely blocked. The 
conflict in the West Bank is going to be bloody. Then the West would 
turn and say, ?two-state solution.? But that?s nonsense because what we 
see on the ground is more relevant than the statements we hear and which 
have no value.

?The situation in the West Bank will explode, and I believe it is going 
to be a big bloody conflict.?

*Jeremy Scahill:*The most clich? question any reporter asks any 
Palestinian is, ?What do you think about the two-state solution?? But 
that is what is being pushed by the Biden administration. When I?ve 
interviewed officials from Hamas, they say that if the democratic will 
of the Palestinian people was to establish a state along the 1967 
borders, Hamas would not stand in the way of this. What is the position 
of Palestinian Islamic Jihad on this?

*Mohammed Al-Hindi:*This is not a realistic question. It is not as 
though anything depends on this question. Yasser Arafat signed the Oslo 
Accords and accepted the two-state solution and he was the head of the 
PLO; he signed on its behalf. Thirty-one years later, the lands on which 
the Palestinian state was supposed to be established have become the 
second Israel. They have become a state for settlers. It seems that a 
two-state solution was about the first state of Israel of 1948 and the 
second Israel in 1967.

Even Gaza has been under a suffocating blockade for 17 years because no 
one wants Gaza, this narrow strip of land on which 2.5 million 
Palestinians live. So with the question of the two-state solution, the 
West asks, ?What is Hamas?s position on the two-state solution?? But 
Yasser Arafat had already signed off on the two-state solution 31 years 
ago, and it was for nothing. Some journalists ask about the position of 
Islamic Jihad of a two-state solution, but no one asks the Israeli 
parties who constitute the government and are members in the Knesset and 
who are calling for eliminating the Palestinian cause and displacing the 
Palestinian people in whole, calling for a transfer while being in the 
Zionist decision-making position. So, we object to putting the 
Palestinian people to a test by asking, ?What is the position of the 
factions on the two-state solution?? This is not logical.

On the other hand, Hamas is sometimes forced to answer this question 
because it is administering the Gaza Strip and everybody wants to ask 
Hamas, ?What if it were the wish of the Palestinian people?? But Israel 
refuses that solution, objects to it and resists it. It is building a 
state on the lands that were supposed to become the lands of the 
Palestinian state. Now some propose a one-state solution. If they are 
really keen on democracy, there is a Palestinian population in the 
occupied lands across historic Palestine. What about state governance? 
Why doesn?t anyone ask about one state where all citizens enjoy the same 
rights?

So as a matter of principle, I believe we are in a national liberation 
stage which requires resistance. When there is a partner willing to 
solve the Palestinian issue, whether in Israel or the West, especially 
the United States, only then they can talk. Now, however, talking of a 
two-state solution offers the Palestinian people mere illusions as 
though the U.S. administration and the West are keen on the two-state 
solution. The American wizard has just pulled this out from their pocket 
to throw it against Al-Aqsa Flood. That?s all! They are even talking 
about a renewed authority, not even about the Palestinian Authority 
which is the partner in the two-state solution. They are talking about a 
new authority and no one even knows what that is. Nonetheless, Israel 
refuses that proposal. It says the Israeli army will re-occupy the Gaza 
Strip, but because of the security concerns and the heavy cost of such 
return, Israel wants to find some sort of agents in the administration 
of Gaza and when they fail, then [Secretary of State Antony] Blinken for 
example would make a statement saying we don?t accept occupation, we 
don?t accept that Hamas manages Gaza, we don?t accept chaos. Tell us 
please, what is the alternative? Make a proposal. So the problem is not 
with the Palestinian people nor with Palestinian factions to answer this 
question. The problem is basically that Israel does not want to give us 
any of our rights and the American administration sponsors this Israeli 
position and does not dare, for many reasons, to face this blocked horizon.

?Blinken for example would make a statement saying we don?t accept 
occupation, we don?t accept that Hamas manages Gaza, we don?t accept 
chaos. Tell us please, what is the alternative? Make a proposal.?

Our problem lies in the injustice inflicted upon us, the aggression 
against us. Our problem is not with the Jews, not with the Americans. It 
is injustice. So, if Netanyahu stood on the highest minaret in 
Palestine, or the minaret of Al-Aqsa Mosque and embraced Islam, the 
problem would not be over. Our problem with Netanyahu and Israel is 
because they occupied our land, killed our people, and they are engaging 
in aggression against us. Even if he embraced Islam, the problem would 
still be there. The Americans must understand this.

*Jeremy Scahill:*What would an acceptable resolution look like from your 
perspective?

*Mohammed Al-Hindi:*Look, let?s agree on some basic rules. After 76 
years, the Palestinian people have not given in, and they started 
Al-Aqsa Flood. Israel is governed by an unprecedented radical government 
that believes only in ending the conflict with a resolve that is full of 
racism and grudge. This puts things at an unreconcilable position.

For us as Palestinians, and I?m not talking about a resistance group, 
Islamic Jihad or Hamas, unless we achieve our rights, there will be no 
stability in the region. The whole world is shifting. There are ongoing 
international conflicts which affect the Palestinian issue and are 
affected by it. The region is also changing. The region today is not 
what it was ten years ago when it seemed the Arabs had turned their 
backs on the Palestinian people and the whole thing was over. It is 
clear now that there are back up fronts supporting the Palestinian 
cause. The internal Palestinian setting is also shifting.

After more than 30 years, Oslo is over. The Palestinian Authority is now 
being used as a security tool. It is clear that the constituency of 
Fatah is also engaging in the confrontation against Israel and is not 
content with the position of the [Palestinian] Authority. The 
Palestinian resistance in Gaza has persevered in Gaza for nine months 
and is still in good shape and ready to persist in a way no one could 
expect. All those changes must be taken into account when talking about 
the Palestinian cause. The rights of the Palestinian people at the bare 
minimum which was agreed upon involved a state in the West Bank and Gaza 
Strip. This is the minimum which the Palestinian people could accept as 
a first stage. We are not against Jews living amongst us in the region, 
but they can?t dominate, take control, and lead the region and arrange 
it on security terms in accordance with their interests and those of 
their allies. This region has its people who have rights which they will 
not give up.

Time is in favor of the Palestinian people, despite all the pain we 
experience. All those illusions in the minds of Israeli leaders are 
shattering before the new reality in the region and the world.

*Jeremy Scahill:*Do you believe that Jews who emigrated from Europe or 
the United States or Australia or South Africa have a right to live in 
that state?

*Mohammed Al-Hindi: *We don?t have a problem with them if they were not 
conspiring, engaging in aggression, inflicting injustice, controlling 
the region. We don?t have a problem otherwise.

*Jeremy Scahill:*What purpose do Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian 
Authority serve right now?

*Mohammed Al-Hindi:*Mahmoud Abbas has a vision and a project which were 
translated into the Oslo Accord. Now, 31 years on, the vision of Mahmoud 
Abbas and the Palestinian Authority is evaporating. They?ve become 
completely irrelevant whether for political partnership with Israel or 
for the resistance. So this whole project is coming to its long-expected 
end. I believe the PA?s project is disintegrating over time.

First, it has not yielded the bare minimum expectations it was built 
upon. Second, Israel is only dealing with it temporarily to manage the 
situation in the West Bank while it has no true sovereignty whatsoever, 
even in Area B. In Area A, too, there is no real sovereignty whatsoever. 
Israel enters those areas whenever it wants, arrests whoever it wants in 
Area A. So with time, I believe any opinion poll in the West Bank will 
find that most Palestinian people are with the resistance, not with the 
PA. So the Oslo project was basically what Yasser Arafat and then 
Mahmoud Abbas hoped would evolve into a state in the West Bank and Gaza 
Strip. Israel, however, wanted it to be a tool to manage the Palestinian 
people so it would be an easy, uncostly occupation. The balance of power 
helped Israel achieve that goal, achieve its vision of this agreement. 
On the ground, it stripped the PA of any sovereignty and rendered it 
into a tool to manage Palestinian communities. Then it built that 
separation wall which devoured large swathes of the West Bank, built 
these settlements, Judaized Jerusalem. Thus, the PA project is almost over.

*Jeremy Scahill:*Would it be better for the Palestinian people if there 
was no PA? What would replace it?

*Mohammed Al-Hindi: *The alternative would be an internal Palestinian 
agreement. There are fundamental Palestinian powers which did not exist 
when the PLO was built. Hamas and Islamic Jihad are not in the PLO 
despite being primary active powers on the ground. The PLO comprises 
factions. Fatah, as a faction, is present and has its impact and 
constituency. But most other factions are marginal factions with no 
significant presence. Internal Palestinian arrangements must now be 
built on the realities and the actors on the ground rather than on the 
situation back in the 1960s and 1970s. Therefore, rebuilding the PLO is, 
in my opinion, the best way to approach rearranging the internal 
Palestinian structure.

This is part 3 in my series covering armed Palestinian groups? 
perspectives on the war on Gaza. Subscribe to get the rest.

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*Jeremy Scahill:*If the negotiations between Hamas and Palestinian 
Islamic Jihad and the Israelis result in the freeing of Marwan 
Barghouti, would you support his candidacy to become president of an 
independent internationally recognized Palestine? /[Note: Barghouti is a 
Palestinian resistance leader imprisoned by Israel since 2002. While he 
is a member of the ruling Fatah party, he was a vocal critic of the Oslo 
agreement, and Hamas and PIJ have consistently demanded his freedom. 
Sometimes referred to as the Palestinian Nelson Mandela, he is widely 
viewed as the most popular choice among Palestinians to be a future 
president of an independent state.]/

*Mohammed Al-Hindi: *It is premature to say. First, there is the issue 
of releasing Marwan Barghouti. Of course, we demand releasing all 
Palestinian prisoners including leaders of the Palestinian resistance, 
Marwan Barghouti, all of them. The question of running for president 
later is something for Fatah to decide. Barghouti is a leader of Fatah 
and if they nominate him, then this can be discussed. So Islamic Jihad 
or Hamas, just for being the reason for his release will not support or 
otherwise oppose him. It is for Fatah to nominate him, and then we look 
into all the candidates and we reach certain agreements. So this is 
quite premature. But I can say that in Islamic Jihad, we are keen on 
having a solid, strong, and cohesive Fatah that is internally unified.


  The Axis of Resistance

*Jeremy Scahill: *In the broader news media there is a lot of reporting 
that asserts that Palestinian Islamic Jihad is supported quite 
significantly by Iran, and I wanted to ask you about the relationship 
with Iran and if these reports are true that there is military and 
financial support being given by Tehran to Palestinian Islamic Jihad?

*Mohammed Al-Hindi: *We are a Palestinian resistance movement. Our 
struggle started before the Iranian Revolution. The struggle of the 
Palestinian people has been ongoing for 76 years. We are grateful and 
appreciate all those who stand by our side. Now, Iran stands by the 
Palestinian people and the Palestinian resistance. It supports the 
Palestinian people and resistance with all that the Palestinian people 
may need. This is declared and obvious for everyone. It is no secret. 
The Islamic Jihad movement started in terms of discussion and internal 
dialogue before the 1979 revolution. We started in the mid-1970s. We 
started resistance in the early 1980s before having any relations with 
the Islamic Republic. We were in occupation prisons in the Gaza Strip 
and we did not know anyone from Iran. We started because we had our 
vision and understanding of history and politics in the region. So we 
fulfilled our duty. Now, Iran comes and supports us. We appreciate this 
support. Especially at a time when the Arabs abandon us, go to Israel 
and reach agreements with it.

When it comes to Iran, the big fuss in the Western media and even in the 
region was caused by Israel who is trying to say, in the context of 
normalization with the Arabs, that there is a new enemy for the Arabs in 
the region while Israel is becoming an ally rather than an enemy. This 
is the context within which the Iranian role is discussed and the 
Iranian support for the resistance which Israel and part of the West 
designate as terrorist. Therefore, it invented that enemy suggesting 
that the region has Israel, who is an ally to Sunni states in the 
region, and there are agreements and peace deals being reached while 
there is an enemy that constitutes a threat to everyone, both the Sunni 
states and Israel. This enemy is Iran which is supporting ?terrorist 
movements? in the region, namely the Palestinian resistance. Israel is 
thus trying to invade the whole region as such. However, Iran is not a 
transient state.

If we look at the populations inhabiting this region for thousands of 
years, we see Arabs, Persians, and Turks. Iran is nothing new. It is a 
recognized state in the region and has its interests. Arabs and 
non-Arabs recognize these interests. It is a state that cannot be 
overlooked in the region. Israel is the transient state. That?s why it 
is trying to change the equation. These accusations are leveled at the 
Islamic Jihad or Hamas or the Palestinian resistance suggesting they 
follow Iranian commands or as though they are part of this alliance 
deemed as ?devilish? against Western and world interests.

*Jeremy Scahill: *Is it true that there is a command center of sorts 
where the factions?whether it?s Iran or the Islamic resistance in Iraq 
or the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad?is 
there an official agreement on coordination in resistance?

*Mohammed Al-Hindi:*Whether there is or there is not is not a matter of 
media discussion. There is resistance engaged in a battle right now, a 
confrontation. There are back up fronts. That?s all that can be said on 
this matter. This is what is publicly known and declared. I have nothing 
to say.

*Jeremy Scahill: *What?s your current political analysis of what might 
happen in Lebanon? It seems as though the Israelis want at least to 
engage in some form of more intense warfare against Lebanon, against 
Hezbollah. The Biden administration has indicated it would support 
Israel in such a war.

*Mohammed Al-Hindi:*Hezbollah declared they opened a backup front since 
October 8 and that confrontations on this front will not stop unless the 
aggression on Gaza stops. Now, Israel is threatening to expand the war 
and some hardline voices in the Israeli government are calling for a 
full-fledged war in south Lebanon. But I believe it is unlikely. First 
of all, Israel is exhausted; its army is exhausted in the Gaza Strip. 
For nine months so far, they have not been able to resolve anything or 
achieve any of its declared goals. It is sinking in the Gaza quicksand. 
Despite all the violence and massacres, Israel?s options in Gaza now are 
hard. Be it staying in Gaza, or having a partial withdrawal and 
redeployment and maintaining the Philadelphi Corridor or Netzarim 
Corridor, or complete withdrawal. Israel is unable to resolve any of its 
problems in Gaza. So, how can it take an exhausted army to a war in 
south Lebanon? They know Hezbollah has multiple times the capabilities 
of the resistance in Gaza.

It also knows that Hezbollah territory is not like Gaza, i.e., open like 
a football field. The topography is quite different. The front in 
Lebanon, also, is not closed like Gaza but could be said to extend from 
the Mediterranean to the Caspian Sea.

On the other hand, what targets does Israel have in Lebanon? Are there 
military targets or economic facilities of Hezbollah for Israel to 
target? Israel might destroy the southern suburb of Beirut in terms of 
buildings. But what targets are there in Lebanon? None. In Israel, there 
are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of military and economic targets for 
Hezbollah. They have published some such targets around two weeks ago. 
The targets were filmed and published.

Further, is the decision to wage a war on Lebanon a purely Israeli 
decision? Or does it need an American approval or greenlight in a 
decision which could drag the region into a regional war which may be 
hard to contain? The Americans are not in a position now to allow for a 
war that may expand into a regional war at such critical times with the 
upcoming elections, the war in Ukraine, and other issues. That?s why I 
believe all Israeli threats, particularly by Netanyahu and his minister 
Gallant, are just empty words.

*Jeremy Scahill:*Do you feel betrayed by the Arab nations in general in 
this situation post-October 7? Do you think the approach to the Abraham 
Accords and the other negotiations that the U.S. is engaged in to try to 
normalize relations between Israel and Arab nation states represents a 
betrayal of the Palestinian cause?

*Mohammed Al-Hindi:*Since the beginning of the normalization agreements, 
the Abraham Accords, it was clear that the Arabs have abandoned their 
previously held position adopted in the Arab Summit in Beirut in 2002, 
which talks about willingness to normalize relations with Israel only 
when the Palestinian issue is addressed through the two-state solution. 
Then they made this leap in the Abraham Accords, namely normalization; 
they had made up their minds. However, now we have October 7. What was 
before October 7 is different from what comes after, including for the 
regimes which have normalized relations with Israel.

The vision of these regimes depends on the outcome of this war. So, 
everybody is waiting to see what this confrontation in Gaza will bring. 
It is clear that Israel has not achieved any of its goals so far and 
will emerge in a different light, not the light in which it was seen 
when it signed the Abraham Accords. In the Abraham Accords, it was 
regarded as a strong state that can replace the U.S. when it gradually 
withdraws from the region to southeast Asia for its confrontations with 
China and the Russians. Israel would take the lead in the region. This 
perception has now changed. And based on the outcome of the battle in 
Gaza, it is clear things will continue to be different from before.

Of course, we will not see quick and clear results at the beginning, but 
these are states who have interests. I expect these states would, in the 
medium term or sooner, start to act based on the rules upon which the 
region would be built after October 7.


  How Does the Palestinian Resistance View Biden vs. Trump?

*Jeremy Scahill: *I?ve reviewed your history going back to the 1980s, 
and you?ve been been in this struggle through many U.S. administrations. 
What is Joe Biden?s place in history?

*Mohammed Al-Hindi: *We kind of miss Trump now, his debates and 
statements. President Biden is not to be seen as one person, but he 
represents the Democratic Party which has a clear policy. He is an 
expert. President Biden is not a newcomer to politics. He is an expert 
with extensive experience. He spent a lifetime working in politics as a 
senator, vice-president, etc. He is a veteran [politician]. He 
represents the Democratic Party quite well. He has a grasp of balances 
in the international arena. He made a mistake, probably, when he led the 
battle by coming to Israel and attending the first cabinet of war.

I believe his calculations failed him in this regard. Netanyahu, who has 
a long experience in dealing with the various administrations, 
especially during elections, was the winner in this case with Biden?s 
blunt involvement in the war. Netanyahu went to the Congress during the 
Obama administration. He has prior experience. He is going to go there 
now, too. It is clear he will try to linger in Gaza until the U.S. 
elections, in one way or another, in the hope things will be resolved if 
Trump wins the elections.

The U.S. administration is restricted, be it Democrats or Republicans. 
They are bound by internal affairs, lobbies, capitalists, 
businesspeople. U.S. elections are affected by all those factors. Quite 
frankly, we don?t count much on the outcome of those elections.

At the grassroots level in the American society, at the level of the 
youth, there are genuine shifts and many free and humane voices that are 
spreading in universities. Even the American officer who torched 
himself?we would build a monument for him not just in Gaza but in our 
hearts. These are quite strong manifestations. However, these free and 
humane moves would not translate?and we do not expect them to 
translate?into policies which would govern the U.S. administration.

*Jeremy Scahill: *I?m wondering if you think the situation for 
Palestinians would be better if Trump won instead of Biden?

*Mohammed Al-Hindi: *I believe this depends on how things evolve on 
certain issues. Trump, at the end of the day, just like Biden, would be 
looking after American interests. So, developments in the region, 
developments in the world, the war in Ukraine, tensions with China, all 
those are factors that influence any American president, Democrat or 
Republican. I believe the world is shifting, the region is changing, the 
Palestinian people are moving, the Palestinian resistance has proven 
that it is not a player that can be overlooked. There are existing 
regional powers that support the Palestinian people. All of this must be 
taken into account. The ongoing war in Ukraine, its outcomes and trends, 
the rules it instills, the conflict with China, all these issues will 
affect the approach adopted by Trump or any Democrat president, be it 
Biden, if he continues as a candidate, or any other Democrat candidate. 
We prefer to have a candidate other than Biden, though.

Israel?s strategic weight in the region has undoubtedly been affected. 
How would regional states, allies of the U.S., look at Israel now after 
this failure on October 7 and for over nine months? This is important. 
How would the world regard Israel as well? In the eyes of the world and 
the region, would Israel, who have failed so miserably before Gaza, be a 
reliable ally to be trusted with protecting the region and securing its 
security and political and economic future? So, any future president 
will find those changes on the table and they cannot be disregarded. 
Especially if he is a businessman like Trump.

?Trump, at the end of the day, just like Biden, would be looking after 
American interests. ? We prefer to have a candidate other than Biden, 
though.?

The UN Secretary General spoke in honest, human and strong terms and 
exposed Israel. The ICJ and ICC are rightly prosecuting Israel. Yet we 
are concerned that all the resonance of these crimes would fade away and 
cool down with time. That is why it is very important for us that the 
U.S., especially the new generation, would maintain this relationship, 
which is not about Palestine alone. Rather, Palestine has become a 
symbol of resisting injustice, imperialism, and encroachment on humanity 
at large. These are crimes unprecedented in human history being 
broadcast for the first time on air around the clock.

I would like to stress one more time, there are some Jewish voices, 
especially in the United States, who are better than some Arabs and 
Muslims. Zionism is an idea and a policy. One might find Arabs or 
Muslims who are Zionist, too. Just like there are Christian and Jewish 
Zionists, there are Muslim Zionists. So, I reiterate again that we 
respect all those voices, those free voices who want humanity to prevail 
at the end of this battle, and we believe our battle in Palestine is the 
battle of all against injustice, encroachment, grudge, racism: a battle 
against all those evils which the American people oppose.

All the more so because this conflict will not be over with the end of 
this war. It is an open conflict. So, while we understand these voices 
will not be translated into policies overnight, since this is an open 
conflict, these voices will have a significant impact in the future. 
There have been some important American examples such as Rachel Corrie 
who stood before the bulldozer in the past in Rafah. /[Note: Corrie was 
an American activist who was killed in Rafah, Gaza, in 2003 as she tried 
to prevent Israeli forces from demolishing Palestinian homes.]/

*Jeremy Scahill: *I read the U.S. State Department designation of you as 
a specially designated terrorist and I?d like to hear your comment on 
that designation.

*Mohammed Al-Hindi: *I believe the Americans do not know Mohammed 
Al-Hindi. It is the Israelis who introduced me to them, so this 
designation is ultimately Israeli. They said, ?These are terrorists.? At 
the time, when they designated me years ago, they said as deputy 
secretary general of Islamic Jihad, he holds responsibility for the 
movement?s acts of resistance. So, the Americans took decisions that had 
no value whatsoever like freezing assets. I have never been to the U.S., 
nor do I have a dime in American banks or other banks. So, these 
decisions are just without any value and have no bearing on the ground. 
I believe these are Israeli decisions par excellence.

There is a sheikh associated with the founding of the Islamic Jihad 
movement. His name was Abd Al Aziz Awda. He returned to Gaza after the 
Oslo Accord. An American newspaper wrote about him at the time saying he 
was a founding member of the Islamic Jihad and mentioned his name among 
four names which the paper said were dangerous and wanted. He was told 
the Americans are saying so-and-so about you. He said that is not 
important. What is important is that Israel knows the truth.

The Americans see the region with only one lens, which is Israel?s, 
because it is their project. So, all those decisions have no bearing and 
no value for the resistance but only make us more determined.

*Jeremy Scahill*: Is there**any message that you would want to send to 
the American people or the U.S. government?

*Mohammed Al-Hindi: *The American people are free people. The movements 
we see in American universities and the voices of important American 
figures give us hope. We appreciate all this, and we believe that 
humanity will prevail, hopefully soon.**For us, in Palestine, it is our 
duty to fight the Zionist project as a threat not just to the 
Palestinians but to the whole region. In short, there can be no security 
or stability in the region unless the Palestinian people access their 
minimum rights. Now Al-Aqsa Flood has brought the conflict back to 
square one in a way no one could foresee. This is not the message of 
Hamas alone. This is the message of the Palestinian people as a whole.

Thank you for reading Drop Site News. This post is public so feel free 
to share it.

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From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Jul 17 15:06:36 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 17 Jul 2024 12:06:36 -0700
Subject: [News] Israel massacres civilians to maximize pressure on Hamas
Message-ID: <mailman.67.1721243305.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

electronicintifada.net
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israel-massacres-civilians-maximize-pressure-hamas>
Israel massacres civilians to maximize pressure on Hamas

Maureen Clare Murphy
<https://electronicintifada.net/people/maureen-clare-murphy> Rights and
Accountability
<https://electronicintifada.net/blog/rights-and-accountability> 17 July 2024
------------------------------

The bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli attack on a house belonging
to the al-Rai family are brought to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir
al-Balah, central Gaza, on 13 July.
APA images

Israel has escalated its attacks on United Nations facilities and other
sites being used as emergency shelters for Palestinians displaced within
Gaza in an apparent pressure tactic against Hamas and as part of a
decades-long policy of massacring civilians to try to compel a surrender.

?The last week has been one of the deadliest weeks in Gaza since the war
started,? Tamara Alrifai, a spokesperson for UNRWA, the UN agency for
Palestine refugees, said <https://x.com/UNRWA/status/1812882185973825759>
on Monday.

Israel attacked five schools in Gaza in eight days
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/15/israel-strikes-five-schools-in-week-of>,
massacring dozens of Palestinians.

On Saturday, in one of the deadliest single attacks of the genocide, now in
its tenth month, Israel killed at least 90 Palestinians
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israel-kills-least-90-palestinians-gaza-safe-zone>
in al-Mawasi.

Israel had unilaterally declared al-Mawasi a ?humanitarian zone? despite a
lack of infrastructure to support people it ordered to evacuate from other
areas of Gaza.

Israel claimed to have targeted Muhammad Deif, the military chief of Hamas,
and the resistance group?s battalion commander in the strikes on al-Mawasi.

Around half of those killed in the al-Mawasi attack were women and
children, according to <https://t.me/MOHMediaGaza/5615> the Palestinian
health ministry in Gaza, indicating that most of the fatalities were
civilians. At least 300 others were injured, ?many of them women and
children who lost limbs and/or were paralyzed in the attack,? according to
<https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6409/Gaza:-Security-Council,-General-Assembly-must-immediately-compel-Israel-to-cease-its-widespread-military-assaults-on-shelter-centres>
the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor.

On Sunday, 17 people were killed and dozens more injured in an attack on a
UN school being used as a shelter in Nuseirat refugee camp.

At least 539 people sheltering in UNRWA facilities have been killed since
October, the UN agency said on Tuesday.
At least 141 Palestinians had been killed in Gaza during the past 24 hours,
the Palestinian health ministry reported <https://t.me/MOHMediaGaza/5617>
on Sunday, and another 80 people were reported
<https://t.me/MOHMediaGaza/5617> killed on Monday.

Israel continued to shed Palestinian blood like water on Tuesday
<https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-strikes-across-gaza-kill-least-13-people-palestinian-health-officials-2024-07-16/>,
killing at least 57 people.

Among them were 17 people killed in an area housing displaced Palestinians
al-Mawasi, with Israel claiming that it targeted a senior Islamic Jihad
fighter.

At least 23 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a UN school being
used as a shelter in Nuseirat refugee camp. Journalist Muhammad Mishmish
was among those killed, bringing to 160 the number of journalists killed in
Gaza since October, the government media office in the territory said.
In that case too Israel claimed that it attacked ?terrorists? it said were
operating in the school. ?Pattern of conduct?

Following Saturday?s massacre in al-Mawasi, three prominent human rights
organizations ? Al Mezan, Al-Haq and the Palestinian Center for Human
Rights ? said <https://mezan.org/en/post/46483> that the attack is ?part of
a pattern of conduct in which Israel is destroying Palestinian life in
Gaza.?

The attacks on the shelters housing displaced people are characteristic of
the maximum pressure being exerted on civilians in Gaza as a key tactic of
Israel?s military offensive since 7 October.
The vast majority of Gaza?s population of 2.3 million have been displaced
from their homes, in many cases repeatedly, undermining any sense of
security and the ability of aid organizations to meet people?s needs in a
sustained manner.

A near total siege on Gaza and the destruction of its food production
capacity has caused the spread of famine and thirst. The bombing of health
and sanitation facilities has promoted the proliferation of preventable
disease while the systematic targeting of Gaza?s health facilities means
that treatment is scarcely available.
Israel has attempted to justify its attacks on facilities sheltering
displaced people without warning by claiming that members of Palestinian
resistance groups were present ? in total disregard for distinction
<https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-ihl/v1/rule7>, proportionality
<https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-ihl/v1/rule14> and precaution
<https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/customary-ihl/v1/rule22>, the
fundamental principles of the laws of war ? and has repeatedly accused
Hamas and other resistance groups of embedding among civilians, thereby
using them as human shields.

The three Palestinian rights groups said that ?Israel?s commission of such
crimes under the pretext of targeting [Hamas] military leaders is nothing
but an attempt to justify the mass killing of Palestinians, which has been
a recurring pattern over the last 10 months.?

The use of weapons ?with enormous destructive power in such a densely
populated and active area, indicates Israel?s clear intention to cause the
maximum damage to Palestinians,? the rights groups added.

The Euro-Med Human Rights monitor echoed the office of the UN human rights
chief by stating that regardless of the adherence of one party to a
conflict, such as Hamas, to international humanitarian law, ?the other
party is still legally required to abide by and honor the provisions of the
law.?
The Geneva-based group added that the use of American-sourced weapons in
Israel?s attacks that violate the laws of war ?makes the US ? and any other
country that supplies Israel with weapons ? partners in the killing, which
is occurring at a rate never before seen in the history of modern
warfare.? Impunity
prolongs genocide

Human rights groups in Palestine and beyond, as well as independent UN
human rights experts
<https://www.un.org/unispal/document/arms-transfers-un-experts-20jun24/#:~:text=The%20transfer%20of%20weapons%20and,demand%20to%20stop%20transfers%20immediately.>
have called for a halt on weapons transfers to Israel and other forms of
sanctions, as well as criminal trials in international courts
<https://www.un.org/unispal/document/anatomy-of-a-genocide-report-of-the-special-rapporteur-on-the-situation-of-human-rights-in-the-palestinian-territory-occupied-since-1967-to-human-rights-council-advance-unedited-version-a-hrc-55/>
.

Instead, Israel?s powerful friends are keeping the arms flowing and working
to undermine the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court?s
application for arrest warrants against top Israeli officials, thereby
prolonging the genocide in Gaza.

*Middle East Eye* reported
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-considers-fresh-legal-bid-question-icc-jurisdiction-over-israel>
last week that the US, which is not a state party to the court?s founding
treaty but has supported its investigations of Russian leaders accused of
war crimes in Ukraine, is ?considering a legal bid? to challenge the ICC?s
authority to issue arrest warrants against Israeli leaders.

The publication added that the deliberations in Washington ?come amid a
lobbying campaign at the highest levels of the Biden administration to
prevent the UK from dropping its legal appeal against the ICC.?

The situation of international impunity preserved principally by the US has
allowed Israel to attack Palestinian civilians as a negotiation tactic in
its indirect talks with Hamas. On Tuesday, following another day of
massacres, Hamas blamed
<https://x.com/AJA_Palestine/status/1813221091986579907> the Biden
administration for ?the systematic killing of our people.?
Pressure

The prevailing analysis in Israel is that the assassinations of Hamas
leaders like Muhammad Deif ? though the resistance group denies he was
killed on Saturday and Israel is unable to confirm his status ? ?will
influence Hamas? behavior in the negotiations over a hostage deal,? according
to
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-07-15/ty-article/.premium/did-israels-assassination-attempt-kill-the-hostage-deal-the-answer-is-in-qatar/00000190-b2e1-d9c3-ad99-bfe351500000>
Amos Harel, a columnist with the Israeli daily *Haaretz.*

?The most widely held view in Israel is that targeted killings, together
with the Rafah offensive and raids elsewhere in Gaza, have added a degree
of military pressure on Hamas and may cause Yahya Sinwar, the
organization?s leader in Gaza, to become somewhat more flexible,? Harel
added.

That view was reflected by an unnamed Israeli government source who told
*Haaretz*
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-07-15/ty-article/.premium/attempt-to-kill-deif-hurt-cease-fire-negotiations-with-hamas-israeli-sources-say/00000190-b792-db47-abb0-bff3bcd40000>
that Hamas? ?non-response? following Saturday?s attack in al-Mawasi
?strengthens our view that our military action ? is having an impact.
Increasing the military pressure now will enable us to bring more hostages
back alive.?

The CIA has reportedly made a similar assessment, according to comments
made by director Bill Burns, the Biden administration?s point person in the
indirect talks between Hamas and Israel, during a closed-door meeting
as reported
on by CNN
<https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/16/politics/cia-director-hamas-gaza-war/index.html>
.

But that perspective was challenged by Yossi Melman, another *Haaretz*
analyst, who wrote
<https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2024-07-16/ty-article-opinion/.premium/israels-policy-of-assassination-for-its-own-sake-achieves-nothing-but-death/00000190-bac3-d3a7-a79e-fad3d8030000#>
that the Israeli military?s ?operations in Lebanon and Gaza seem to show
that the assassinations themselves have become an end in themselves.?

Politicians, military brass, the media class and public alike ?hold that
targeted killings will solve Israel?s war problems,? according to Melman,
who warns that ?people deceive themselves when they place hope in such
tactics.?

Without agreement to end the war, ?there will be no hostage deal,? Melman
said.

The interminable war in Gaza, he added, proves that Israel, led by a prime
minister who is solely motivated by his political survival, ?has become
indifferent to human life. Also for the lives of its own citizens,
including the hostages.?
Failed strategy

History shows that the tactic of assassinating leaders and murdering
civilians to be utterly futile, or even counterproductive from Israel?s
perspective.

In 1997, Israel?s Mossad spy agency carried out a botched assassination
attempt on Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal
<https://electronicintifada.net/tags/khaled-meshaal> in Amman, leading to a
short-lived diplomatic crisis with Jordan.

Tel Aviv has succeeded in assassinating countless senior and lower level
Hamas leaders over the decades, including in 2004 its founder Sheikh Ahmed
Yassin and its Gaza leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi. Jamila al-Shanti ?
founder of Hamas? women?s organization, a former lawmaker in the
Palestinian Legislative Council and al-Rantisi?s widow ? became the first
member of the faction?s politburo to be killed by Israel when she died in
an airstrike in October 2023.

Despite these murders, the group has only gone from strength to strength,
developing ever more sophisticated military capacities that Israel has for
nearly 10 months failed to seriously dent, despite the unprecedented levels
of death and destruction in Gaza.

The same is true in Lebanon.

In 1992, Israel assassinated Sheikh Abbas al-Musawi, the secretary-general
of Hizballah. He was succeeded by its current leader Hasan Nasrallah, who
has built the organization into such a formidable military force that
it is capable
of deterring Israel
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/day-278-roundtable-resisting-zionist-genocide>
from mounting a full-scale attack on Lebanon.

Indeed, it is Israel that appears to have suffered the most militarily.
This week its army admitted a severe shortage of tanks and ammunition
<https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hyrynafdc> due to the war in Gaza. And
facing a shortage of soldiers, it is moving to extend
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/facing-manpower-shortage-government-raises-mandatory-idf-service-to-3-years/>
mandatory service for reservists.
Desire to break resistance fuels genocide

It is likely frustration over its military failure against the Palestinian
resistance that is driving Israel to escalate its massacres of civilians in
the hope that it can achieve through genocide what it has failed to achieve
on the battlefield: a Palestinian surrender.

Israel has since its violent founding
<https://english.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/126449> used massacres of
civilians, including
(if not especially) in Gaza
<https://electronicintifada.net/content/book-review-joe-sacco-draws-life-historys-footnotes/3572>,
as its major strategy against those who resist it. This was codified into
the so-called Dahiya doctrine
<https://electronicintifada.net/tags/dahiya-doctrine>, named for Beirut?s
southern suburb where Israel systematically targeted civilian
infrastructure during its 2006 war on Lebanon.

That did not save Israel from defeat in that war, and it only increased
Hizballah?s resolve to further improve its ability to counter Israel
militarily.

In the context of Gaza, this strategy is informally dubbed ?mowing the grass
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/05/14/israel-gaza-history/>? by
Israeli leaders ? the horrifying idea that periodic massacres will buy
Israel a period of calm until the next massacre
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/gaza-pays-price-jewish-state-palestine>
becomes necessary to maintain a Jewish state in Palestine
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/gaza-massacre-price-jewish-state>
.

With each episode, Israel has increased the number of people it is willing
to kill, to the point that it is now committing genocide and there appears
to be no limit to how far it is willing to go.
Hamas? position, Netanyahu?s obstruction

For their part, Palestinians understand that without guarantees of a
permanent end to the genocidal war and an end to their subjugation by
Israel, any ceasefire will only be a prelude to the next massacre. That is
why Hamas negotiators, while keen to end the bloodshed in Gaza, are holding
firm to their fundamental demands.

An unnamed Palestinian official described as close to the negotiations told
Reuters
<https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-strikes-across-gaza-kill-least-13-people-palestinian-health-officials-2024-07-16/>
that ?Hamas wants the war to end, not at any price. It says it has shown
the flexibility needed and is pushing the mediators to get Israel to
reciprocate.?

The Palestinian official said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu is preventing an agreement from being reached by ?adding more
conditions that restrict the return of displaced people to northern Gaza,
and to keep control over the Rafah border crossing with Egypt,? Reuters
reported on Tuesday.

Netanyahu?s stalling tactics are seemingly buoyed as international
attention has turned away
<https://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/2024-07-16/ty-article/.premium/for-a-moment-gazans-had-hope-the-war-would-end-now-they-feel-theyve-been-abandoned/00000190-bab2-d211-a5da-fffb31440000>
from the plight of civilians in Gaza and as protest by outraged publics has
failed to end their governments? support for Israel?s extermination of the
Palestinian people.

With the US and UK committed to regime change in Gaza
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/us-blames-hamas-while-israel-prolongs-gaza-war>,
Israel?s genocidal campaign will continue to destroy all aspects of life in
the territory. And each day that goes by without an end to the war
increases the likelihood that it will bleed out into the wider region.
In a speech last week, Hizballah leader Hasan Nasrallah reiterated that the
Lebanese resistance group would only stop firing toward Israel if an
agreement is reached to end the war in Gaza, implicitly rejecting ?the
diplomatic off-ramp proposed by the US,? according to
<https://x.com/amalsaad_lb/status/1811058508445467050> analyst Amal Saad.

Emphasizing that Hizballah is following Hamas? lead, Nasrallah said
<https://x.com/upholdreality/status/1811582786014171253> that ?we are with
you until the very end.?

*Ali Abunimah contributed background information and analysis regarding
Israel?s assassination policy.*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Thu Jul 18 11:33:49 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 2024 08:33:49 -0700
Subject: [News] The Pacific Lands and Seas Are Neither Forbidden nor
 Forgotten
In-Reply-To: <6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6.d206d0a40d.20240718150203.1d28cd0294.e0350182@mail128.atl121.mcsv.net>
References: <6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6.d206d0a40d.20240718150203.1d28cd0294.e0350182@mail128.atl121.mcsv.net>
Message-ID: <mailman.75.1721316848.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

View this email in your browser 
<https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=78890717a4&e=d206d0a40d> 


*The Pacific Lands and Seas Are Neither Forbidden nor Forgotten: The 
Twenty-Ninth Newsletter (2024)*


Mahiriki Tangaroa (Ku?ki ?Airani), /Blessed Again by the Gods (Spring)/, 
2015.

Dear friends,

Greetings from the desk of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research 
<https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=dea31baa51&e=d206d0a40d>.

Since May, a powerful struggle has rocked Kanaky (New Caledonia), an 
archipelago located in the Pacific, roughly 1,500 kilometres east of 
Australia. The island, one of five overseas territories in the 
Asia-Pacific ruled by France, has been under French colonial rule since 
1853. The indigenous Kanak people initiated this cycle of protests after 
the French government of Emmanuel Macron extended voting rights in 
provincial elections to thousands of French settlers in the islands. The 
unrest led Macron to suspend the new rules while subjecting islanders to 
severe repression. In recent months, the French government has imposed a 
state of emergency and curfew on the islands and deployed thousands of 
French troops, which Macron says 
<https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=7e2ea0773c&e=d206d0a40d> 
will remain in New Caledonia for ?as long as necessary?. Over a thousand 
protesters have been arrested by French authorities, including Kanak 
independence activists such as Christian Tein, the leader of the 
Coordination Cell for Field Actions (/Cellule de coordination des 
actions de terrain/, or CCAT), some of them sent 
<https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=e7f3f3cb62&e=d206d0a40d> 
to France to face trial. The charges 
<https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=675a6fd9b0&e=d206d0a40d> 
against Tein and others, such as for organised crime, would be laughable 
if the consequences were not so serious.

The reason France has cracked down so severely on the protests in New 
Caledonia is that the old imperial country uses its colonies not only to 
exploit its resources (New Caledonia holds the world?s fifth largest 
nickel reserves), but also to extend its political reach across the 
world ? in this case, to have a military footprint in China?s vicinity. 
This story is far from new: between 1966 and 1996, for instance, France 
used islands in the southern Pacific for nuclear tests. One of these 
tests, Operation Centaure (July 1974), impacted 
<https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=7be329ddc4&e=d206d0a40d> 
all 110,000 residents on the Mururoa atoll of French Polynesia. The 
struggle of the indigenous Kanak peoples of New Caledonia is not only 
about freedom from colonialism, but also about the terrible military 
violence inflicted upon these lands and waters by the Global North. The 
violence that ran from 1966 to 1996 mirrors the disregard that the 
French still feel for the islanders, treating them as nothing more than 
detritus, as if they had been shipwrecked on these lands.

In the backdrop of the current unrest in New Caledonia is the Global 
North?s growing militarisation 
<https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=85d516ea6e&e=d206d0a40d> 
of the Pacific, led by the United States. Currently, 25,000 military 
personnel from 29 countries are conducting Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC), 
a military exercise that runs from Hawai?i to the edge of the Asian 
mainland. Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research worked with an 
array of organisations ? a number of them from the Pacific and Indian 
Oceans ? to draft red alert no. 18 
<https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=f2b40b7742&e=d206d0a40d> 
on this dangerous development. Their names are listed below.


    They Are Making the Waters of the Pacific Dangerous


      What is RIMPAC?

The US and its allies have held Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC 
<https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=beb42b2d42&e=d206d0a40d>) 
exercises since 1971. The initial partners of this military project were 
Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United 
States, which are also the original members of the Five Eyes (now 
Fourteen Eyes 
<https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=1746a95419&e=d206d0a40d>) 
intelligence network built to share information and conduct joint 
surveillance exercises. They are also the major Anglophone countries of 
the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO, set up in 1949) and are 
the members of the Australia-New Zealand-US strategy treaty ANZUS, 
signed in 1951. RIMPAC has grown to be a major biennial military 
exercise that has drawn in a number of countries with various forms of 
allegiance to the Global North (Belgium, Brazil, Brunei, Chile, 
Colombia, Ecuador, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, 
Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, the Philippines, 
Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Tonga).

RIMPAC 2024 began 
<https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=f9c2cdef6e&e=d206d0a40d> 
on 28 June and runs through 2 August. It is being held in Hawai?i, which 
is an illegally occupied territory of the United States. The Hawai?ian 
independence movement has a history of resisting RIMPAC, which is 
understood to be part of the US occupation of sovereign Hawai?ian land. 
The exercise includes over 150 aircraft, 40 surface ships, three 
submarines, 14 national land forces, and other military equipment from 
29 countries, though the bulk of the fleet is from the United States. 
The goal of the exercise is ?interoperability?, which effectively means 
integrating the military (largely naval) forces of other countries with 
that of the United States. The main command and control for the exercise 
is managed by the US, which is the heart and soul of RIMPAC.

Fatu Feu?u (Samoa), /Mata Sogia/, 2009.


      Why is RIMPAC so dangerous?

RIMPAC-related documents and official statements indicate that the 
exercises allow these navies to train 
<https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=6e1cdf0d01&e=d206d0a40d> 
?for a wide range of potential operations across the globe?. However, it 
is clear from both US strategic documents and the behaviour of the US 
officials who run RIMPAC that the centre of focus is China. Strategic 
documents also make it clear that the US sees China as a major threat, 
even as the main threat, to US domination and believes that it must be 
contained.

This containment has come through the trade war against China, but more 
pointedly through a web of military manoeuvres by the United States. 
This includes establishing more US military bases in territories and 
countries surrounding China; using US and allied military vessels to 
provoke China through freedom of navigation exercises; threatening to 
position US short-range nuclear missiles in countries and territories 
allied with the US, including Taiwan; extending the airfield in Darwin, 
Australia, to position US aircraft with nuclear missiles; enhancing 
military cooperation with US allies in East Asia with language that 
shows precisely that the target is to intimidate China; and holding 
RIMPAC exercises, particularly over the past few years. Though China was 
invited to participate in RIMPAC 2014 and RIMPAC 2016, when the tension 
levels were not so high, it has been disinvited since RIMPAC 2018.

Though RIMPAC documents suggest that the military exercise is being 
conducted for humanitarian purposes, this is a Trojan Horse. This was 
exemplified, for instance, at RIMPAC 2000, when the militaries conducted 
the Strong Angel international humanitarian response training exercise 
<https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=6bfa80a66b&e=d206d0a40d>. 
In 2013, the United States and the Philippines cooperated in providing 
humanitarian assistance after the devastating Typhoon Haiyan 
<https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=80d8ff15ad&e=d206d0a40d>. 
Shortly after that cooperation, the US and the Philippines signed 
<https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=19a948da02&e=d206d0a40d> 
the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (2014), which allows the US 
to access bases of the Philippine military to maintain its weapons 
depots and troops. In other words, the humanitarian operations opened 
the door to deeper military cooperation.

RIMPAC is a live-fire military exercise. The most spectacular part of 
the exercise is called Sinking Exercise (SINKEX), a drill that sinks 
decommissioned warships off the coast of Hawai?i. RIMPAC 2024?s target 
ship will be the decommissioned /USS Tarawa/ 
<https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=ca7400d6ff&e=d206d0a40d>, 
a 40,000-tonne amphibious assault vessel that was one of the largest 
during its service period. There is no environmental impact survey of 
the regular sinking of these ships into waters close to island nations, 
nor is there any understanding of the environmental impact of hosting 
these vast military exercises not only in the Pacific but elsewhere in 
the world.

RIMPAC is part of the New Cold War against China that the US imposes on 
the region. It is designed to provoke conflict. This makes RIMPAC a very 
dangerous exercise.

Kelcy Taratoa (Aotearoa), /Episode 0010 /from the series Who Am I? 
Episodes, 2004.


      What is Israel?s role in RIMPAC?

Israel, which is not a country with a shoreline on the Pacific Ocean, 
first participated in RIMPAC 2018, and then again in RIMPAC 2022 and 
RIMPAC 2024. Although Israel does not have aircraft or ships in the 
military exercise, it is nonetheless participating in its 
?interoperability? component, which includes establishing integrated 
command and control as well as collaborating in the intelligence and 
logistical part of the exercise. Israel is participating in RIMPAC 2024 
at the same time that it is waging a genocide against Palestinians in 
Gaza. Though several of the observer states in RIMPAC 2024 (such as 
Chile and Colombia) have been forthright in their condemnation of the 
genocide, they continue to participate /alongside Israel?s military/ in 
RIMPAC 2024. There has been no public indication of their hesitation 
about Israel?s involvement in these dangerous joint military exercises.

Israel is a settler-colonial country that continues its murderous 
apartheid and genocide against the Palestinian people. Across the 
Pacific, indigenous communities from Aotearoa (New Zealand) to Hawai?i 
have led the protests against RIMPAC over the course of the past 50 
years, saying that these exercises are held on stolen ground and waters, 
that they disregard the negative impact on native communities upon whose 
land and waters live-fire exercises are held (including areas where 
atmospheric nuclear testing was previously conducted), and that they 
contribute to the climate disaster that lifts the waters and threatens 
the existence of the island communities. Though Israel?s participation 
is unsurprising, the problem is not merely its involvement in RIMPAC, 
but the existence of RIMPAC itself. Israel is an apartheid state that is 
conducting a genocide, and RIMPAC is a colonial project that threatens 
an annihilationist war against the peoples of the Pacific and China.

Ralph Ako (Solomon Islands), /Toto Isu/, 2015.

    Te Kuaka (Aotearoa)
    Red Ant (Australia)
    Workers Party of Bangladesh (Bangladesh)
    Coordinadora por Palestina (Chile)
    Jud?xs Antisionistas contra la Ocupaci?n y el Apartheid (Chile)
    Partido Comunes (Colombia)
    Congreso de los Pueblos (Colombia)
    Coordinaci?n Pol?tica y Social, Marcha Patri?tica (Colombia)
    Partido Socialista de Timor (Timor Leste)
    Hui Aloha ??ina (Hawai?i)
    Communist Party of India (Marxist?Leninist) Liberation (India)
    Federasi Serikat Buruh Demokratik Kerakyatan (Indonesia)
    Federasi Serikat Buruh Militan (Indonesia)
    Federasi Serikat Buruh Perkebunan Patriotik (Indonesia)
    Pusat Perjuangan Mahasiswa untuk Pembebasan Nasional (Indonesia)
    Solidaritas.net (Indonesia)
    Gegar Amerika (Malaysia)
    Parti Sosialis Malaysia (Malaysia)
    No Cold War
    Awami Workers Party (Pakistan)
    Haqooq-e-Khalq Party (Pakistan)
    Mazdoor Kissan Party (Pakistan)
    Partido Manggagawa (Philippines)
    Partido Sosyalista ng Pilipinas (Philippines)
    The International Strategy Center (Republic of Korea)
    Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (Sri Lanka)
    Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
    Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Socialist)
    CODEPINK: Women for Peace (United States)
    Nodutdol (United States)
    Party for Socialism and Liberation (United States)

When the political protests began in New Caledonia in May, I hastened to 
find a book of poems by Kanak independence leader D?w? Gorod? 
(1949?2022) called /Under the Ashes of the Conch Shells /(/Sous les 
cendres des conques/, 1974). In this book, written the same year that 
Gorod? joined the Marxist political group Red Scarves (/Foulards 
rouges/), she wrote the poem ?Forbidden Zone? (/Zone interdite/), which 
concludes:

    Reao Vahitahi Nukutavake
    Pinaki Tematangi Vanavana
    Tureia Maria Marutea
    Mangareva MORUROA FANGATAUFA
    Forbidden zone
    somewhere in
    so-called ?French? Polynesia.

These are the names of islands that had already been impacted by the 
French nuclear bomb tests. There are no punctuation marks between the 
names, which indicates two things: first, that the end of an island or a 
country does not mark the end of nuclear contamination, and second, that 
the waters that lap against the islands do not divide the people who 
live across vast stretches of ocean, but unite them against imperialism. 
This impulse drove Gorod? to found Group 1878 (named for the Kanak 
rebellion of that year) and then the Kanak Liberation Party (/Parti de 
lib?ration kanak/, or PALIKA) in 1976, which evolved out of Group 1878. 
The authorities imprisoned Gorod? repeatedly from 1974 to 1977 for her 
leadership in PALIKA?s struggle for independence from France.

During her time in prison, Gorod? built the Group of Exploited Kanak 
Women in Struggle (/Groupe de femmes Kanak exploit?es en lutte/) with 
Susanna Ounei. When these two women left prison, they helped found the 
Kanak National Liberation and Socialist Front (/Front de Lib?ration 
Nationale Kanak et Socialiste/) in 1984. Through concerted struggle, 
Gorod? was elected the vice president of New Caledonia in 2001.

Ste?phane Foucaud (New Caledonia), /MAOW!/ (2023).

In 1985, thirteen countries of the south Pacific signed the Treaty of 
Rarotonga 
<https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=63343a1619&e=d206d0a40d>, 
which established a nuclear-free zone from the east coast of Australia 
to the west coast of South America. As French colonies, neither New 
Caledonia nor French Polynesia signed it, but others did, including the 
Solomon Islands and K?ki ?Airani (Cook Islands). Gorod? is now dead, and 
US nuclear weapons are poised 
<https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=2e64d489af&e=d206d0a40d> 
to enter northern Australia in violation of the treaty. But the struggle 
does not die away.

Roads are still blocked. Hearts are still opened.

Warmly,

Vijay

Website <www.eltricontinental.org>

Facebook 
<https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=65727c8884&e=d206d0a40d> 


Twitter 
<https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=2894a0412a&e=d206d0a40d> 


Instagram 
<https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=7489fc58a8&e=d206d0a40d> 








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From news at freedomarchives.org  Thu Jul 18 12:14:13 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 2024 09:14:13 -0700
Subject: [News] What does the Israeli ban on cleaning supplies mean for Gaza?
Message-ID: <mailman.78.1721319379.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

 What does the Israeli ban on cleaning supplies mean for Gaza?

Thursday 18-July-2024 -
https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2024/07/18/322228/
<https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2024/07/18/322228/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2024/07/18/322228/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2024/07/18/322228/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2024/07/18/322228/#>
+ -

GAZA, (PIC)

After more than nine months of the Israeli genocidal war, Palestinians in
Gaza face numerous forms of suffering that extend beyond killing,
displacement, and starvation.

In their daily lives, which have been turned upside down, challenges and
problems accumulate, making it increasingly difficult to live in the tents
of displacement that have become the hallmark of the current Palestinian
catastrophe.

Since the start of the genocide war in Gaza 286 days ago, the Israeli
occupation forces have deprived Gaza residents of many basic necessities,
food, and various essential items for their daily lives.


*Ban on cleaning supplies*The crisis of unavailable cleaning supplies is
one of many problems troubling Palestinians, who are accustomed to high
levels of personal and household cleanliness. This crisis has opened the
door to serious health repercussions.

For weeks, the Israeli occupation forces have prevented the entry of all
types of cleaning materials into Gaza, aiming to spread diseases among the
population who are already suffering from numerous epidemics and diseases
due to repeated displacement, overcrowding, and water shortages.

After hours of wandering through Deir al-Balah market, the largest market
in Gaza currently, as the city has become a refuge for hundreds of
thousands of residents and displaced people, citizen Suad Abu Atiyeh?s
attempts to find soap or shampoo were unsuccessful.

Abu Atiyeh told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) correspondent that
she has been searching for days for shampoo or even soap for washing, but
to no avail. Nearly everything in the market has run out, worsening the
overall cleanliness situation, which has already deteriorated due to water
shortages and the accumulation of waste while living in tents.

She pointed out that the water shortage makes the need for cleaning
supplies even greater, especially given the necessity of communal living in
tents, shelters, and shared bathrooms.

She confirms that the lack of cleaning supplies and water has led to the
spread of many diseases and epidemics.

As a result of the occupation?s bombing of tens of thousands of homes,
coupled with Israeli displacement orders, hundreds of thousands of
Palestinians live in tattered tents set up in empty spaces in Deir al-Balah
and Mawasi Khan Yunis, in UNRWA schools, and in universities that have been
turned into shelters, with each classroom now housing several families.

Hundreds of displaced people are forced to use shared bathrooms amid a
near-total lack of cleanliness and health standards.

The PIC correspondent observed that the Deir al-Balah market is completely
devoid of all types of cleaning supplies.

According to traders, the occupation army has been preventing the entry of
cleaning supplies into Gaza for a long time, leading to their depletion
from the markets.


*Alternatives*Citizen Muath al-Halabi from Khan Yunis, who lives in a tent,
told the PIC correspondent that he has resorted to using alternatives, such
as washing cooking utensils with sand.

He added that he and his children bathe infrequently using only water,
without any shampoo or soap.

He wonders about the reasons, but there are no answers other than the
Israeli determination to exterminate Palestinians on all fronts.


*Diseases and risks*Citizen Maryam Sharab explained that the lack of
cleaning supplies is a real problem because they live in an unclean
environment. The tents are set up on sand, the temperature inside the tents
is high, causing sweating, and the surroundings are unclean due to the
inability to remove waste, coupled with water shortages.

Sharab told the PIC that this situation has led to the reappearance of
diseases that had been eradicated, pointing to the spread of scabies and
head lice, which, if previously present in some children, are now
widespread among everyone.

According to the Government Media Office, more than 1.7 million displaced
people in Gaza have suffered from infectious diseases due to displacement.

UN and health reports in Gaza confirm that hundreds of thousands of
Palestinians suffer from various skin diseases due to the lack of personal
hygiene, water shortages, and the absence of cleaning supplies.

UNRWA noted in a post on X that waste is accumulating across Gaza, with
mosquitoes, flies, and rats spreading diseases and epidemics. The lack of
proper sanitation worsens the situation.

Dermatology and cosmetic consultant Nazir Abu Rahma confirms that the
shortage of cleaning supplies has caused a major crisis, particularly
affecting women, with the spread of eczema and hand allergies due to the
unsafe use of locally manufactured cleaning agents with unknown
compositions.

Abu Rahma stated in press remarks that lice and nits have noticeably spread
recently due to water shortages and the difficulty of bathing in shelters,
as well as the spread of fungi due to intense heat and high humidity inside
the tents.

The ban on the entry of cleaning supplies to Gaza has also impacted the
already exhausted and destroyed health sector. Our correspondent observed
firsthand at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and other hospitals that there are no
cleaning agents or disinfectants in the various wards, affecting the spread
of infections and diseases.


*Rationing usage*Many citizens have resorted to rationing the use of the
cleaning supplies they have to extend their duration, while others have
shredded soap bars and mixed them with water to create a liquid for use as
shampoo and cleaning fluid.

Local workers in the cleaning supplies industry point out that the lack of
raw materials prevents local manufacturing in sufficient quantities.

Gaza residents continue to search for cleaning alternatives, using sand,
leaves, and lemon if available, to face the difficult challenges they are
enduring.

Legal experts emphasize that Israel?s periodic ban on the entry of cleaning
supplies, like many other goods, has no justification and is part of the
crime of genocide, aimed at destroying all aspects of Palestinian life and
depriving them of the necessary essentials for a dignified life.

<https://english.palinfo.com/tag/Israeli-aggression/>
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Thu Jul 18 12:25:08 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 2024 09:25:08 -0700
Subject: [News] Israel keeps bombing Gaza schools. Why do people still
 shelter there?
Message-ID: <mailman.80.1721319995.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

 Israel keeps bombing Gaza schools. Why do people still shelter there?

*Displaced Palestinians hope for protection and access to limited supplies
in UN-run schools, but trauma is mounting.*
Zeyna El Karnawi cries in shock after an Israeli attack hit the UN-run
school in Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza on July 14, 2024 [Salama Nabeel
Eaid Younes/Anadolu Agency]
By Simon Speakman Cordall
<https://www.aljazeera.com/author/simon-speakman-cordall>
Published On 18 Jul 2024 -
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/7/18/israel-keep-bombing-gaza-schools-why-do-people-still-shelter-there
<https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Faje.io%2Fjdvtmc>
<https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Israel%20keeps%20bombing%20Gaza%20schools.%20Why%20do%20people%20still%20shelter%20there%3F&source=sharethiscom&related=sharethis&via=AJEnglish&url=https%3A%2F%2Faje.io%2Fjdvtmc>
<https://aje.io/jdvtmc>

At least eight United Nations-run schools serving as shelters to displaced
Palestinians have been hit by Israeli attacks in the last 10 days
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/7/17/israels-war-on-gaza-live-48-killed-in-3-air-strikes-in-one-hour-in-gaza>
.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) say 120 of their
educational institutions have been hit since Israel began its war on Gaza
on October 7.

Families living in disused classrooms face fatigue, trauma and the
overcrowded and unsanitary conditions of shelters stretched far beyond
capacity.

Despite the difficult conditions and the risk of bombardment, many seek out
the relative safety of UN schools, some guided by the memory of past wars
where these spaces provided a refuge, and since at least 2017
<https://www.unicef.org/sop/stories/gaza-schools-equipped-shelters-preparation-future-emergencies>,
a couple were designed to double up as emergency shelters with additional
power, sanitation and generator facilities.
[image: Palestinians stand on a balcony as others gather at the site of an
Israeli air strike on a UN school sheltering displaced people]Palestinians
stand on a balcony as others gather at the site of an Israeli air attack on
a UN-run school in Nuseirat in central Gaza Strip [Ramadan Abed/Reuters]
Protection

?You hope that the UN affiliation might protect you,? said journalist
Mohammed Mhawish, 25, who sheltered in a UN-run school in Gaza City with
his wife, two-year-old child and his parents after an Israeli attack destroyed
their home in December
<https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/1/5/hes-breathing-my-two-hours-under-gazas-rubble-after-an-israeli-strike>,
trapping them under rubble for two hours until neighbours dug them free.

?You need to remember, there are few residential compounds, or anywhere
else in Gaza where you can shelter,? he said, recalling how his neighbours
had taken the injured family in after rescuing them.

It soon became clear the apartment was overcrowded. However, it was the
further Israeli bombardment and land assault on their neighbourhood that
forced his family to walk the one and a half hours to the nearest UN-run
school, a 15-minute journey by car.

?It?s a central point. There?s nowhere else where you can access aid or
medicine,? he said, speaking from Cairo where his family now lives. ?To be
clear, there isn?t a lot. Everything is in short supply. You seem to spend
all your time standing in line for less and less, but it?s something.?

Mohammed added, that, ?from a practical perspective, you can?t share what
you don?t have. The more people in the school can also mean less food,
water and medicine.?

In winter, blankets and mattresses were in short supply and they were
forced to drink from a contaminated water source, increasing the risk of
getting sick. And there was always the threat of bombardment.

?It was always there,? Mohammed recalled, ?Nowhere was safe. People would
simply sit and wait for it.?

Still, for some, there was a sense of support. ?For some people, it?s good
to be around other people who?ve been through the same kind of trauma,? he
said. ?People share their experiences with each other and that can help.?

But for Mohammad, it was unbearable to see how his son Rafik had been
traumatised after the bombing they survived. ?He stopped communicating. He
wouldn?t cry. He wouldn?t show any emotion, there was nothing,? Mohammed
recalled. ?He stopped remembering how to be a kid.?

Then an Israeli evacuation order in January
<https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/2/5/we-are-being-starved-dispatch-from-gaza-city-as-israeli-assault-continues>
forced them to leave the school to find refuge in the garage of a destroyed
apartment building.

[image: Interactive_Eightschools_Gaza_attacked]
Nine in every 10 people displaced

?People choose these schools because they believe sheltering under the UN
flag, as international law states, should provide safety,? UNRWA?s senior
communications officer Louise Wateridge told Al Jazeera from Gaza. ?For
civilians, the schools provide safety in times of war. Under the UN flag,
these schools should be protected.?

However, the agency faces several challenges in getting supplies to people,
even as they shelter in schools.

?Several factors continue to stand in our way to bring in humanitarian
supplies into Gaza,? she said. ?They include the siege, restrictions on
movements and safety of humanitarian aid workers,? she explained, going on
to stress the limited aid and equipment, much of it medical, allowed into
Gaza by the Israeli military, as well as the unpredictability of life in a
conflict zone where the schools? occupants are regularly ordered to
evacuate by the Israeli army and make their way to another area it
designates a ?safe zone?.

?People continue to be forcibly displaced,? Wateridge continued. ?It?s
estimated that nine in every 10 people in Gaza are displaced. Many of them
have been displaced up to 10 times since the war started. Protracted forced
displacement makes it very difficult for us to verify data and figures.?

In addition, Wateridge said, was ?the breakdown of law and order as a
result of nine months of horrific living conditions, war, hunger, siege and
chaos,? she said. Humanitarian workers also report increasing instances of
violence and gender-based violence within schools.

?Concerns are growing about the risk of cholera spreading, further
deteriorating inhumane living conditions,? Wateridge added. ?WHO [The World
Health Organization] has registered a growing number of adults and children
suffering from waterborne diseases, such as hepatitis A, diarrheal
illnesses, skin conditions, and others.?
Psychological support

Ahmad Swais, a psychologist with international medical charity Doctors
Without Borders, known by its French initials, MSF, has witnessed how
gatherings of large numbers of people carry ?a lot of suffering and
different experiences.?

?This increases the negative psychological and social impact on the
individuals,? he said speaking from Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza. ?It
increases the severity of psychological symptoms for the individual and for
the families who are gathering in one place whether in schools or other
shelters.?

The schools offer little respite or space for those who arrive traumatised
or seriously injured from the fighting, Swais said. Many feel a sense of
dehumanisation in the difficult conditions.

Children are the worst affected psychologically by the repeated
displacements and the war. ?There [are a] large number of children in
urgent need of a psychological support programme. It is crucial to create a
suitable environment for the children and a safer place to live and to
preserve their dignity and basic humanity,? he said.

Still, despite the hardships, ?These people living in shelters like UNRWA
schools feel they are luckier than those living in plastic tents and
sleeping on the sand.?
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Fri Jul 19 13:35:05 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Fri, 19 Jul 2024 10:35:05 -0700
Subject: [News] Israeli occupation soldiers deliberately desecrate mosques,
 copies of Quran and Islamic holy sites
Message-ID: <mailman.85.1721410765.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

 Israeli occupation soldiers deliberately desecrate mosques, copies of
Quran and Islamic holy sites

Friday 19-July-2024 - https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2024/07/19/322325/
<https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2024/07/19/322325/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2024/07/19/322325/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2024/07/19/322325/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2024/07/19/322325/#>
+ -

GAZA, (PIC)

Since the outbreak of the genocidal war waged by the Israeli occupation
army on Gaza, its soldiers circulated video clips documenting and boasting
their burning of copies of the holy Quran and desecration of mosques, and
writing racist slogans on their walls in blatant contempt for the feelings
of Muslims and the sanctity of their religious symbols.

In the latest scenes of the desecration of mosques in Gaza, activists on
social media circulated a photo posted by an Israeli soldier showing him
and his comrade standing on the pulpit of one of the mosques.

The soldiers in the photo are shown in their military uniforms, holding
their weapons in a display pose, while one of them is mockingly holding a
copy of the Holy Quran.

These incidents do not seem detached from the unprecedented reality
experienced by the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied city of Jerusalem since
its occupation in 1967, where the Mosque is witnessing an increase in the
number of incursions by the Temple groups that are racing against time to
demolish it and build the alleged Third Temple.

This was expressed by the Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar
Ben-Gvir, in the recent Flag March, when he said, ?Jerusalem is ours, the
Damascus Gate is ours, and the Temple Mount (Al-Aqsa Mosque) is ours.?

The recorded video clips have been repeatedly published, whether officially
by the Israeli occupation army or by its soldiers who participate in the
bombing operations.

On November 16, 2023, a video clip circulated on social media showed a
number of Israeli occupation soldiers desecrating a mosque in the city of
Beit Hanoun, north of the Gaza Strip, after its occupation, and converting
it into a Jewish synagogue where they recite Talmudic rituals calling for
killing and extermination.

The video shows occupation soldiers inside the mosque, armed with their
weapons, gathered around a person who appeared to be a Jewish rabbi, who in
turn placed a weapon on his shoulder and then began to carry a model of the
Torah scrolls high.

As the other soldiers are heard chanting some of his inciting statements
about killing, the Israeli flag is seen hanging on one of the walls of the
mosque, which is believed to be the main mosque in the city.

On December 14, 2023, a video was circulated on social media platforms
showing occupation soldiers performing a Talmudic prayer on the occasion of
what they call the Hanukkah holiday through loudspeakers in one of the
mosques in Jenin in the West Bank.

A few days later, a video clip was circulated on Israeli websites showing
the desecration of one of the destroyed mosques in the Gaza Strip by a
number of Israeli occupation soldiers.

The circulating video shows an Israeli soldier delivering a religious
lesson from the Torah inside the mosque, while the rest of the soldiers are
spreading out on the sides of the mosque, whose walls and facilities were
severely damaged as a result of the Israeli bombardment.

On May 15, 2024, the Israeli occupation army published a video documenting
the detonation and destruction of a mosque in the Gaza Strip, without
mentioning any details about its name, location or the time of its
explosion.

On May 23, 2024, an Israeli soldier boasted of burning a copy of the Holy
Quran, and the Israeli army?s radio station on the ?X? platform published a
3-second video clip, without specifying the location or date of the
incident. The clip shows a soldier holding his weapon in his left hand and
holding an open copy of the Holy Quran in the other, then throwing it into
a burning fire.

On June 13, 2024, a video clip spread on social media platforms showed
Israeli soldiers holding a barbecue party inside the Rafah Crossing Mosque,
located in the southern Gaza Strip near the Egyptian border.

The vandalism in the mosque and tampering with its contents, as well as the
writing of offensive phrases on its walls against Islam and the Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him), were visible.

*What are you going to do?*

With the recurrence of such scenes, the activist on the X platform, Khaled
Safi, wrote, ?The desecration of mosques and these vile actions carried out
by the occupation soldiers in Gaza are not directed at us alone, but at all
Muslims around the world.?

Safi accompanied the post with a set of photos documenting the occupation
soldiers? disdain for the Islamic nation, saying, ?They mock our Islam, our
mosques, and everything sacred in our religion, so what are you going to
do??

Since the start of the war, the occupation army has completely destroyed
604 mosques in the Gaza Strip, including the historical Al-Omari Mosque,
and partially destroyed 200 mosques and 3 churches, according to data
released by the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs on May 18. In
addition, 60 cemeteries were destroyed and more than 1,000 bodies of the
dead Palestinians were stolen.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Fri Jul 19 13:52:13 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Fri, 19 Jul 2024 10:52:13 -0700
Subject: [News] Jewish settlers, paving the way for West Bank annexation
Message-ID: <mailman.87.1721411598.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

 Jewish settlers, paving the way for West Bank annexation

Israeli settlers are escalating state-sanctioned violence and annexation
ambitions in the occupied West Bank, exploiting the world?s distraction
with the war on Gaza to legalize outposts, land-grab, and advance ethnic
cleansing against Palestinians.

Robert Inlakesh <https://thecradle.co/authors/robert-inlakesh>

JUL 19, 2024 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/jewish-settlers-paving-the-way-for-west-bank-annexation
(Photo Credit: The Cradle)

While the world?s attention has been diverted to Tel Aviv?s relentless
military offensive in Gaza, the Israeli settler movement has escalated its
state-sanctioned violence in the occupied West Bank.

Capitalizing <https://thecradle.co/articles-id/23974> on the distraction,
Jewish settlers have intensified their attacks, culminating in the recent ?
legalization
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240628-israel-approves-plan-to-legalise-west-bank-settlement-outposts-sanction-palestinian-authority/>?
of five outposts by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
This move is part of a calculated strategy of settlement expansion and
ethnic cleansing, paving the way for eventual formal annexation.

The occupation government has approved measures proposed by far-right
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to legalize the settler outposts,
initiate tenders for thousands more illegal settler units, and impose
sanctions on the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank.

Smotrich, himself an illegal West Bank settler
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/6384>, has vowed that these measures will
pave the way for the introduction
<https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2024/6/28/israels-smotrich-promises-a-million-new-settlers-under-expansion-plan>
of a million new settlers.

*Record settler violence and ethnic cleansing*

Decrying the expansion
<https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/reports/ahrc5572-israeli-settlements-occupied-palestinian-territory-including-east>
of settlements at record rates, UN Human Rights Chief Volker T?rk condemned
Israel?s decision in March to construct an additional 3,476 settler homes
in the West Bank. In this post-Al-Aqsa Flood reality, assaults on the
homes, businesses, and Palestinian populations by rampaging settlers have
surged to unprecedented levels.

In an April report
<https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/04/17/west-bank-israel-responsible-rising-settler-violence>,
Human Rights Watch (HRW) documented the extreme violence:

Israeli settlers have assaulted, tortured, and committed sexual violence
against Palestinians, stolen their belongings and livestock, threatened to
kill them if they did not leave permanently, and destroyed their homes and
schools under the cover of the ongoing hostilities in Gaza.

Since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip, over 540 Palestinians
have been murdered
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/canada-sanctions-israeli-extremists-settler-groups-over-violence-against-palestinians/#:~:text=Since%20October%207%2C%20troops%20have,been%20killed%20in%20that%20time.>
in the West Bank, dozens of them by Israeli settlers assaulting defenseless
villages under the protection of the occupation army.

In addition, state-backed settler ?Defense Squad
<https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/opinions/2024/2/26/settler-violence-israels-ethnic-cleansing-plan-for-the-west-bank>?
militias that were supplied
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-01-17/ty-article-magazine/.premium/israels-army-drafted-thousands-of-settlers-accounts-of-their-violence-are-piling-up/0000018d-12e7-d260-aded-b7efddbe0000>
with some 7,000 rifles after 7 October immediately took to ethnically
cleansing thousands of Palestinians from some 16 farming communities
located in Al-Khalil (Hebron), in addition to four other communities near
Ramallah.

As Ubai al-Aboudi, Director of the Bisan Center for Research and
Development, tells *The Cradle*:

What has happened since October 7 is that the Israeli army?s general order
has collapsed, so any action by any soldier is not only permitted but is
also allowed against Palestinians. So, if you look at this from a
historical perspective, it is a continuation and intensification; they see
that the world is busy with what is happening in Gaza, so they are
implementing their plans to push people out of their lands and replace them
with Jewish settlers.

*Strategic annexation plans*

One investigative report published in the Hebrew media indicated that since
the Hamas-led resistance operation began, Israel?s Security Minister Itamar
Ben Gvir <https://thecradle.co/articles-id/2193> had ordered
<https://www.mako.co.il/tv-ilana_dayan/2023/Article-fcb9b89df8dfb81026.htm?sCh=3d385dd2dd5d4110&pId=1434139730>
the police to stop enforcing the law against his fellow West Bank settlers.
This spike in settlement expansion, lawlessness, and illegal settler
violence also fits into what appears to be an accelerated effort to annex
large swathes of the West Bank entirely.

Back in February, a document presented by Netanyahu to his war cabinet,
entitled ?The Day After Hamas Principles
<https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/02/24/ycfh-f24.html>,? set out to
assert complete Israeli sovereignty over everything west of the Jordan
River.

Although the occupation state has failed abysmally to defeat the
Palestinian resistance in Gaza, and the prospect of annexing the besieged
coastal territory ? with any international buy-in ? appears slim, the
Zionist settler movement, which currently dominates Netanyahu?s ruling
coalition is seizing an opportunity to achieve many of their desired goals
in the area they see as ?Israel?s biblical heartland.?

Israel recently implemented a decision, first announced by the military on
29 May, to transfer
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/20/idf-transfers-powers-in-occupied-west-bank-to-pro-settler-civil-servants>
the responsibility for dozens of Civil Administration bylaws from the army
to ?civil servants? who work as officials at the Israeli defense ministry
under Smotrich.

This followed Tel Aviv?s decision to begin changing the official governing
structure of the West Bank by transferring
<https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/06/08/israel-palestine-west-bank-annexation-netanyahu-smotrich-far-right/>
administrative powers from military to civilian control ? in essence, a
step toward declaring the de jure annexation of the West Bank.

*State-backed settler expansion*

Currently, there are around 146 Israeli settlements
<https://peacenow.org.il/en/settlements-watch/settlements-data/population>
and roughly 191 settler outposts in the occupied West Bank, which controls
<https://interactive.aljazeera.com/aje/2017/50-years-illegal-settlements/index.html>
around 46 percent of the territory. Almost all of these Jewish settlements
are situated in what is known as Area C, which accounts for roughly 61
percent of the territory and is under full Israeli security and
administrative control as per the 1995 Oslo Agreement signed with the
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

The recent measures in the West Bank are part of a 2017 settler movement
proposal titled ?Decisive Plan
<https://www.972mag.com/settlements-roads-infrastructure-smotrich/>,?
aiming to double the Jewish presence in the territory. Although the plan
was not enacted at the time, the war in Gaza provided opportunistic
conditions for its implementation and means to facilitate the annexation of
the West Bank.

In August of last year, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who
himself resides in the illegal settlement of Kedumim, announced his
intention to allocate
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/smotrich-said-aiming-to-allocate-180m-to-settlements-including-illegal-outposts/>
$120 million to settlement and settler outpost construction. It was also
revealed in 2023 that the Israeli military had set up what it calls the ?Desert
Frontier <https://www.972mag.com/desert-frontier-idf-hilltop-youth/>? unit,
which integrated extremist settlers from the ?Hilltop Youth? settler groups.

These radicals drew such concern that Israeli intelligence launched an
operation to infiltrate their ranks. Known for turning their weapons on
both army soldiers and Palestinian civilians, these Jewish extremists were
once considered terrorists even by Israeli standards.

*Political empowerment*

While Israeli settler attacks on Palestinian civilians in the West Bank had
already risen to record highs
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/3/israeli-settler-attacks-against-palestinians-by-the-numbers>
between 2021 and 2023, UN data indicates that settler violence doubled
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/22/israel-settlers-violence-against-palestine-west-bank>
in
October 2023 and has only continued to surge.

This spike coincides with increased influence
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/smotrich-primed-for-authority-over-key-west-bank-appointments-in-deal-with-likud/>
granted by Netanyahu to far-right politicians such as Ben Gvir and Smotrich
? and emboldened others like the Israeli military?s Chief of Staff Herzi
Halevi
<https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2023/11/07/who-is-herzi-halevi-the-chief-of-staff-of-the-israel-defence-forces>,
yet another illegal West Bank settler.

To compound matters, Israeli settler militias that launch violent,
unprovoked assaults on Palestinian villages have been discovered using
army-issued assault rifles
<https://twitter.com/PeaceNowIL/status/1672655841449631745> in their
rampages. Settler organizations, including legal outfits that launch
appeals in Israeli courts to bulldoze Palestinian homes, also receive
financing from the government. All of this demonstrates the
interconnectivity between the occupation state and the most radical
elements of the settler movement.

To smooth that pathway, Israel?s wealthiest billionaire, Miriam Adelson,
recently donated $100 million
<https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2024-06-03/ty-article/.premium/trump-is-desperate-for-cash-but-donors-have-conditions/0000018f-df3a-db29-a3ef-ff3a27530000>
to Donald Trump?s 2024 Presidential bid, anticipating that he would
recognize the Israeli annexation of the West Bank once re-elected.

Should the Israeli government pursue official annexation, it is expected to
target Area C of the West Bank, an area rich in water and agricultural
lands that accounts for about 61 percent of the territory.

*Legalizing land theft*

On 18 July, the Israeli Knesset passed a bill rejecting Palestinian
Statehood <https://thecradle.co/articles-id/25987>, reinforcing a
long-standing government agenda. Since 2017, public proposals to annex
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/likud-top-body-votes-to-annex-parts-of-the-west-bank/>
parts of the West Bank have been promoted by the ruling Likud Party.

Speaking to *The Cradle*, Khaled Barakat, a leader of the Palestinian
Alternative Revolutionary Path (PARP) movement, says:

To explain this new wave of Israeli settlements, we have to go back to
2005, 2006, to the time when Ariel Sharon was the Prime Minister and when
all the Israeli troops withdrew from Gaza due to the resistance; he found
himself in a situation where he had suffered a defeat and so adopted the
strategy of occupying all the hills of the West Bank.

Barakat adds:

They then established new armed settler organizations, which is why there
are now 12 of them; they are armed, they are militias, and they cooperate
directly with the Israeli army. The major danger behind these settler
militias in the West Bank is that they are non-State actors, so when they
attack Palestinians daily, Israel says well, we have nothing to do with
that; they are just residents of the West Bank. They are, of course, not
residents; they are armed colonialist settlers that remind Palestinians of
the same gangs that existed in Palestine in the 1930s and the ones that
actually founded the Zionist regime.

 In 2019, Netanyahu proposed
<https://www.vox.com/world/2019/9/10/20859101/israel-netanyahu-jordan-valley-annex-election-september>
annexing
the Jordan Valley, sparing only a small pocket under PA control
<https://twitter.com/RaphaelAhren/status/1171447732902301697?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1171447732902301697%7Ctwgr%5E1a1ec9424fe872c1d2f6365d6411ce4d78982c2d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Fworld%2F2019%2F9%2F10%2F20859101%2Fisrael-netanyahu-jordan-valley-annex-election-september>.
This strategy involves maintaining the PA?s power in Areas A and B, home to
over 3.2 million Palestinians, to avoid the logistical and financial burden
of direct rule. Netanyahu?s policy aims to ensure the PA?s survival
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-said-to-tell-knesset-panel-that-israel-needs-the-palestinian-authority/>
for security collaboration while simultaneously undermining Palestinian
Statehood and annexing West Bank territory.

As Israel struggles to secure military victories over Hamas in Gaza and
Hezbollah in Lebanon, Netanyahu may pivot to annexation efforts in the West
Bank. This could involve a military campaign similar to the 2002 Operation
Defensive Shield
<https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/operation-defensive-shield-lessons-and-aftermath>,
aimed at dismantling resistance groups and projecting an image of victory
to maintain support from far-right settler allies.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Fri Jul 19 20:27:38 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Fri, 19 Jul 2024 17:27:38 -0700
Subject: [News] ICJ rules Israeli occupation of Palestinian land illegal,
 orders evacuation of settlements
Message-ID: <mailman.91.1721435495.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

 ICJ rules Israeli occupation of Palestinian land illegal, orders
evacuation of settlements

The landmark case at the World Court requires Israel to cease all new
settlement activities and evacuate all Jewish settlers from the occupied
Palestinian territories

News Desk <https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9>

JUL 19, 2024 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/icj-rules-israeli-occupation-of-palestinian-land-illegal-orders-evacuation-of-settlements
Two demonstrators wave the Palestinian flag outside the Peace Palace, rear,
housing the International Court of Justice, or World Court, in The Hague.
(Photo credit: AP/Peter Dejong)

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued
<https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/186/186-20240719-pre-01-00-en.pdf>
its advisory opinion on 19 July ruling that Israel?s occupation and
policies in the occupied Palestinian territories, namely the West Bank,
East Jerusalem, and Gaza, are illegal under interntional law.

ICJ President Nawaf Salam stated
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/icj-opinion-israels-occupation-upends-order-oppresses-palestinians>:
?The sustained abuse of Israel of its position as an occupying power
through annexation and an assertion of permanent control over the occupied
Palestinian territory and continued frustration of the right of the
Palestinian people to self-determination violates fundamental principles of
international law and renders Israel?s presence in the occupied Palestinian
territory unlawful.?

In addition to ruling that Israel?s continued presence in the occupied
territories is unlawful, the court stated that Israel is under an
obligation to bring its presence there to an end as soon as possible.

The ruling added that Israel must immediately cease all new settlement
activities and evacuate all settlers from the occupied Palestinian
territories.

Further, the State of Israel must make reparation for the damage caused to
Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The court ruled as well that the UN and its member states have an
obligation not to recognize Israel?s occupation as legal and must not
provide Israel assistance in maintaining the occupation.

Finally, the court ruled that the UN, including the General Assembly and
the Security Council, should consider steps to bring Israel?s illegal
occupation of Palestinian territory to an end as soon as possible.

In its ruling, the court affirmed previous UN resolutions stating that it
is illegal under international law to acquire territory by force and change
conquered territory by transferring a foreign population within its borders
for settlement.

The Israeli army conquered and occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and
Gaza in 1967. Since that time, Israel has continued its military rule over
Palestinians while confiscating occupied Palestinian land to build
settlements for Israeli Jews.

Israel argued that its occupation of Palestinian territory was legal
because it was temporary and would be resolved through future negotiations
with the Palestinians while ensuring such negotiations were never completed.

At the same time, Israel has successfully settled over 700,000 Israeli Jews
in the occupied Palestinian territories over the past six decades. Israel
hoped that the presence of such large numbers of settlers would make it
practically impossible to return the stolen territory to Palestinians,
regardless of international law, and instead allow it to be annexed to
Israel in the future.

After the military wing of Hamas, the Qassam Brigades, launched Operation
Al-Aqsa Flood to attack Israeli army bases and settlements surrounding Gaza
in October, the Palestinian issue has again become a priority of the
international community.

In December, South Africa brought a separate case against Israel at the
ICJ. The case accuses Israel of breaching the genocide convention through
its attack on Gaza, which has now killed at least 38,000 Palestinians,
displaced some 90 percent of its 2.3 million inhabitants, and destroyed
large swathes of the besieged enclave.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Sat Jul 20 11:39:42 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Sat, 20 Jul 2024 08:39:42 -0700
Subject: [News] Israeli media: Yemen's strike is 'October 7 of Israel's Air
 Defenses'
Message-ID: <mailman.93.1721493403.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-media--yemen-s-strike-is--october-7-of-israel-s-air>
Israeli media: Yemen's strike is 'October 7 of Israel's Air Defenses'
Al Mayadeen English
July 20, 2024
------------------------------

An Israeli military official details the problems the anti-air systems
could have faced amid the failure to detect Yemen's drone, which struck Tel
Aviv on Thursday.
[image: 7d077229-7813-4756-b37f-8607a2b3822d.jpg]

   - People gather at the scene of Yemen's drone strike in Tel Aviv,
   occupied Palestine, early Friday, July 19, 2024. (*AP*)

Yemen's military operation
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/yemen-drone-strikes-tel-aviv--yaf-declares-it-hit-zone>
that infiltrated Tel Aviv on Friday was coined an "October 7 of the Israeli
Air Defenses," the *Calcalist* business and economics newspaper reported,
citing a senior Israeli military official.

The Yemeni Armed Forces announced Friday a successful drone strike
targeting a significant site in Tel Aviv, occupied Palestine, in
continuation of their operations in support of Gaza.

The operation in question was conducted by the newly developed Yafa drone,
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/extensive-damages-in-tel-aviv-following-drone-hitting-buildi>
Yemeni
Armed Forces spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree declared early
Friday. The drone is named after the Palestinian city occupied by "Israel"
as part of greater Tel Aviv.

The UAV is designed with the specific aim of evading enemy radar and
interception systems, Saree said. The drone reached its target and achieved
its operational objectives.

According to the official, Yemen's success in launching an attack drone
deep into Tel Aviv was a "resounding failure" of the Israeli air defenses,
representing "the end of the era of clean skies" that "Israel" took pride
in for years.

He offered a blend of potential conditions and blows that could explain how
the drone was able to penetrate occupied Palestine's airspace without any
attempt at intercepting it, the primary theory being "a critical gap in
tangible intelligence regarding the likes of the drone, which allowed it to
travel at least 2,000 kilometers without being intercepted."
The problem with 'Israel's' air defense systems

The air defense system
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-military--government-losing-most-public-trust--surve>,
according to the official, should have been equipped with an early trigger
that would enable the deployment of ground and air defense systems to
detect and identify the target, and then destroy it using defensive
missiles, helicopters, or military aircraft.

In addition to the lack of such concrete information, ?the Air Force?s
defense system had other means that were supposed to help it detect the
approaching threat, such as satellite detection, visual detection, and
radars,? he added, which represents another failure.

He further clarified that the occupation's anti-air systems possess various
visual equipment, many of which remain secret, but were supposed to aid the
interception process when radars fail to detect the threat.

Moreover, the difficulty encountered when trying to obtain an authentic
image of the sky by optical means during the operation could be related to
the fact that the operation was carried out at night, which poses a
challenge to those systems.

The drone's trip was also very lengthy and lasted several hours, which
"misled Israeli systems, following changes in its altitude and route, until
it finally arrived at Tel Aviv from the direction of the sea," the official
noted.

"Israeli aerial superiority is no longer absolute in the absence of
guaranteed protection of Israel's airspace," he said, adding that anyone
who says otherwise is "lost and misled."
The threat on the northern front

*Calcalist* quoted the Israeli official as saying that last night's
operation reshuffled the cards in a way that could indicate the beginning
of an age during which settlers, anywhere they may be, could be exposed to
dangers and at risk of a surprise air attack that cannot be pre-deterred.

In the same context, he said that the Air Force should determine whether
the US forces, located in the Red Sea and the Gulf, detected any suspicious
movements in the region, their nature, and what they had done about them,
and if there were any gaps in coordination to be addressed, following an
investigation into the failure.

Aside from the Yemeni drones
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/yaf-has-vast-supply-of-uav-used-in-tel-aviv--source-to-al-ma>,
there are also complications in detection on the northern front amid the
entry of more advanced drones into battle, which operate on quieter
electric motors, according to the newspaper.

The possible scenarios adopted by the Israeli occupation army and the
security establishment could also indicate that drone strikes on Gush Dan
cities and important strategic installations in "Israel", such as the
electricity infrastructure, ?will become an integral part of the battle if
the confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah enters the stage of a
comprehensive war
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/hezbollah-drones-pound-israeli-91st-division-command-hqs-in>,?
in addition to daily barrages of thousands of rockets and precision
missiles with much greater destructive capabilities.

*Read more: Hezbollah strikes Israeli bases, introduces new IRAM
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/hezbollah-strikes-israeli-bases--introduces-new-iram>*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Sat Jul 20 12:46:22 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Sat, 20 Jul 2024 09:46:22 -0700
Subject: [News] Israeli jets bomb Yemen's Hodeidah in response to Tel Aviv
 drone strike
Message-ID: <mailman.97.1721494069.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

 Israeli jets bomb Yemen's Hodeidah in response to Tel Aviv drone strike

Sanaa has pledged an 'inevitable' response to the Israeli escalation and
confirmed the Yemeni people's 'steadfastness' in supporting Gaza

News Desk <https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9>

JUL 20, 2024 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/israeli-jets-bomb-yemens-hodeidah-in-response-to-tel-aviv-drone-strike
(Photo Credit: X)

Israeli warplanes launched heavy raids on Yemen's western port city of
Hodeidah on 20 July, targeting fuel depots and oil refineries as well as
the province's power station, according to reports in Saudi media
<https://aawsat.com/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A/5042049-%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%BA%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%AA%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%AF%D9%81-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D9%88%D8%AB%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%86-%D9%8A%D8%AA%D9%87%D9%85%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A5%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%8A%D9%84>
and Yemen's Al-Masirah TV.

Local reports say the air raids left several dead and wounded. Videos
shared on social media show massive fires blazing at the Port of Hodeidah.

Saudi Arabia's *Al Arabiya* news outlet claims 12 Israeli warplanes,
including F-35 fighter jets, took part in the attack. Although earlier
reports said the US and UK took part in Saturday's raids, a senior Israeli
official told Hebrew daily *Walla* that "Israeli fighter jets alone
conducted strikes on the Houthi-controlled port city.

Nasr El-Din Amer, Vice President of the Ansarallah Media Authority,
stressed on Saturday evening that the Israeli raids ?will not change?
Yemen's steadfast support for the Palestinian resistance in Gaza.

?The response to this aggression is inevitable, and the Yemeni people are
stronger than all forces of evil. We are a people who prefer martyrdom and
sacrifice over witnessing Gaza being slaughtered without taking action,?
the Yemeni official added.

?We are also a people who, when targeted, do not retreat but instead
increase in determination and conviction in the necessity of confrontation
and response. We are Yemen, the land of faith, wisdom, jihad, and
steadfastness.?

Ansarallah spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam issued a similar statement,
saying that by targeting civilian facilities, Israel ?aims to double the
suffering of the people and pressure Yemen to stop supporting Gaza. This is
a dream that, Allah willing, will never come true.?

Israel's first-ever direct attack on Yemen comes one day after Sanaa
launched an unprecedented
<https://thecradle.co/articles/deterrence-has-collapsed-israeli-media-laments-mega-failure-after-yemeni-strike>
drone strike on the city of Tel Aviv, bypassing all air defense systems
before hitting a building near the US consulate.

A preliminary investigation
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-said-to-have-tracked-drone-that-hit-tel-aviv-for-6-minutes-but-thought-it-harmless/>
by the Israeli air force determined that the drone was tracked for at least
six minutes before it reached its target, claiming that a ?human error? led
to it not being engaged by air defenses.

The report also says the drone, codenamed ?Yafa,? had flown for more than
10 hours, traversing Egypt before coming into Tel Aviv from the direction
of the Mediterranean Sea at a low altitude, making a trip of over 2,000
kilometers.

Earlier this week, the commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), General
Michael Erik Kurilla, urged
<https://thecradle.co/articles/centcom-chief-urges-broad-expansion-of-illegal-war-against-yemen-report>
authorities in Washington to take a more forceful approach
<https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/u-s-launches-effort-to-stop-russia-from-arming-houthis-with-antiship-missiles-98131a8a>
against Yemen, saying current efforts to deter the nation?s pro-Palestine
operations are ?failing
<https://thecradle.co/articles/yemen-declares-tel-aviv-unsafe-zone-after-successful-drone-attack>
.?

Since January, Washington and London have been leading an illegal war
<https://thecradle.co/articles/white-house-scrambles-for-legal-loopholes-in-yemen-war>
against Yemen in a failed attempt to stop the operations in support of
Gaza. Despite heavily bombing
<https://thecradle.co/articles/dozens-of-casualties-in-yemen-following-intense-us-uk-air-raids>
the country dozens of times, Sanaa has continued to launch attacks on
Israeli-linked ships and ports.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Mon Jul 22 12:24:49 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2024 09:24:49 -0700
Subject: [News] Palestinian Christians challenge the World Council of
 Churches on Gaza
Message-ID: <mailman.101.1721665674.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

mondoweiss.net
<https://mondoweiss.net/2024/07/palestinian-christians-challenge-the-world-council-of-churches-on-gaza/?ml_recipient=127559030141879728&ml_link=127558987458544902&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2024-07-22&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines+RSS+Automation>
Palestinian Christians challenge the World Council of Churches on Gaza
Mark Braverman
July 21, 2024
------------------------------

The Palestinian Christians are losing patience. In June, the Executive
Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) meeting in Bogota,
Colombia published a ?Statement on the Escalating Crisis in Gaza.?
<https://www.oikoumene.org/resources/documents/statement-on-the-escalating-crisis-in-gaza#:~:text=The%20executive%20committee%20of%20the,of%20them%20children%20and%20women%2C>In
response, the Board of Kairos Palestine <https://www.kairospalestine.ps/>,
a Christian Palestinian movement, released an ?Open Letter to the World
Council of Church?s Executive Committee.?
<https://files.constantcontact.com/9a33c36c001/de86e908-d645-4cf4-a4b5-c23751e46ca5.pdf>
It begins respectfully: ?We trust that the statement was issued with great
concern and with the urgent need to terminate the atrocious crimes in
Gaza.? And on the surface, the WCC statement appears to take full account
of the horrific suffering of Gaza and Israel?s responsibility for its
egregiously disproportionate response to the October 7 attack. It appeals
to international law and stresses the urgency to put an end to the carnage.

But the Palestinians see what is missing. *They feel what is missing. *?As
Palestinians, as Christians and as your partners,? the Open Letter
continues, ?we would like to bring to your attention the following points.?
They do not mince words, getting to the heart of the matter in their first
point:

We believe that the title ?Escalating Crisis in Gaza? is neither accurate,
nor adequate. The protracted ?crisis? is a result of 8 months of Israel?s
incessant large-scale military aggression which amounts to acts of
genocide, prior to which Gaza has been strangled by a 17-year blockade that
forced 2.3 million people to become aid-dependent and extremely vulnerable
to famine and starvation?Not only is the term genocide absent from the
title, it is marginalized in the body of the statement instead of being the
essence of what the statement is condemning. It cannot be acceptable that
crimes of such scale, committed deliberately over 8 months, be narrowed
down to a ?crisis.?

The Palestinians then proceed directly to place the October 7 Hamas attack
in context, shifting the framework from ?humanitarian crisis? and ?human
rights? to Israel?s longstanding, systemic denial of Palestinian peoplehood.

We deplore that the Statement fails to mention Israel?s 7-decades settler
colonial regime, apartheid and prolonged occupation with total impunity as
the root cause and the context that laid the grounds for the events of 7
October and the ensuing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza and the
grave escalation of Israel?s atrocities in the West Bank, including East
Jerusalem.

It is shocking that it was necessary to call the WCC to account for this
failure. The world church body has decades of direct involvement with
Palestine to its credit, with missions and programs on the ground
addressing the consequences of Israel?s ongoing project of dispossession
and ethnic cleansing. Is it possible that the members of the WCC Executive
Committee do not see the root cause of Palestinian resistance, especially
in the case of the almost two-decades-long siege of Gaza? It is equally
hard to comprehend why it should be necessary for the Palestinians to point
out that ?the Statement seems to reserve the use of strong, direct language
to acts committed by Hamas, describing them as ?the most extreme and
inhumane forms of killing, torture and other horrors, including sexual
violence.? No such language is used to describe Israel?s atrocious acts in
Gaza.? Indeed, the letter continues, ?[t]he statement continued to
both-side the ?violence? and the call for accountability, despite the stark
differences in power dynamics.?

?Both-siding? indeed. Even the *New York Times *and *Washington Post *have
all but abandoned the longstanding practice of ?balanced? reporting,
impossible even for the mainstream press to maintain in the face of the
news coming out of Gaza. And yet the letter goes on to call out the WCC for
having ?put on equal footing the 37,000 Palestinians killed during Israel?s
genocide in Gaza, and the 1200 Israelis killed on October 7th. .? It is
stunning that, even today, they have had to patiently explain how ?the
statement reflexively obscures the massive asymmetry of powers at play on
the one hand, and the 7 decades long colonization of the Palestinian land
and oppression of its people.?
*The church challenged*

What is going on? In recent history world church world bodies have shown
capable of prophetic action when the times required. Where is the WCC that
in response to James Baldwin?s challenge to the World Council?s Fourth
Assembly in Uppsala, Sweden in June 1968 established the Programme to
Combat Racism (PCR)?  Baldwin?s words to the Assembly speak as loudly as
they did almost 60 years ago:  ?Christianity still has the power to move
the world if it will. It still has the power to change the structure of
South Africa, to prevent the assassination of another Martin Luther King,
to force my country to stop dropping bombs on southeast Asia.? Launched in
1969, the PCR played a highly visible role in opposing white minority rule
in Southern Africa, supporting resistance among churches there and
providing direct financial support to armed national liberation movements
throughout the African continent. Through the PCR, the WCC was a proponent
of the international campaigns of economic sanctions that ultimately
brought down the apartheid regime. These actions left the WCC open to
accusations by member churches of supporting ?terrorism? and violence. But
it did not flinch. Contrast this with the WCC that in its 2022 General
Assembly in Karlsruhe Germany stated in its declaration on ?Seeking Justice
and Peace for All in the Middle East? that on the question of Israel as an
apartheid regime, ?We are not of one mind on the matter.?
<https://conta.cc/3BorVkO>

Where today is the World Communion of Reformed Churches, the body that in
1982 (then World Alliance of Reformed Churches) meeting in Ottawa Canada
named apartheid a heresy and declared itself in *status confessionis,
*suspending
the membership of the white Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa? These
actions were responsible for bringing world churches into the struggle,
overcoming the resistance of Western governments to the sanctions, and
setting into motion the global actions that within a decade would bring the
apartheid government to the negotiating table. This is the same World
Communion of Reformed Churches that in 2017 passed a resolution in its
General Assembly in Leipzig Germany determining that, in the matter of
Palestine ?the integrity of Christian faith and praxis is at stake? and
resolving to bring awareness of the Palestinian liberation struggle to its
230 member denominations in 108 countries. Seven years later, it has yet to
act on this commitment.

It is time for the churches of the world ? in every region, denomination
and nation and from every pulpit ? *to be of one mind on this* *matter *and
to hold their leaders and their institutions to account. It is time for the
churches to move from words to action. The Open Letter from Kairos
Palestine puts the challenge to the church unambiguously:

We believe that the Christian community of believers has a special
contribution to make. The call for an immediate ceasefire must be merely a
first step to end this harrowing genocide, but not the ultimate
objective?ending the decades-long colonization of the Palestinian lands and
the oppression against the Palestinian people.

*The ultimate objective. *Christianity originated as a grassroots movement
of resistance to Empire. It betrayed that legacy in the church?s overt
complicity with Empire and for furnishing the theological justification for
colonialism throughout history. Today the church is called to speak loudly
and without reservation in condemnation of Israel?s settler colonial
project and, by extension, all ideologies of domination. As argued
convincingly in the Palestinian letter, it must move the discourse on
Palestine from humanitarian assistance and defense of human rights to a
confrontation with the structure of racialized dominance that is the cause
of Palestinian suffering and of Israel?s descent into fascism and
barbarism.

?*The church should not wait for the international community to officially
describe and condemn Israel?s apartheid? *reads the Open Letter*. ?No, a
prophetic church should shape and lead the international community.? *(emphasis
in original) This is the church?s special contribution of which the
Palestinians speak. It is its mandate, its proper role. ?There was a time
when the church was very powerful? wrote Martin Luther King Jr. in *Letter
from Birmingham Jail. *?It was not merely a thermometer that recorded the
ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was the thermostat that
transformed the mores of society.?

The Palestinian letter closes with these words from the 2009 Kairos
Palestine document, reminding the church to be faithful to its mission. In
so doing, as they have done repeatedly over the decades, the Palestinians
call once again not only to the churches, but to the conscience of the
world.

*?The mission of the Church is prophetic, to speak the Word of God
courageously, honestly and lovingly in the local context and in the midst
of daily events. If she does take sides, it is with the oppressed, to stand
alongside them, just as Christ our Lord stood by the side of each poor
person and each sinner, calling them to repentance, life, and the
restoration of the dignity bestowed on them by God and that no one has the
right to strip away.?*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Mon Jul 22 13:18:24 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2024 10:18:24 -0700
Subject: [News] Palestine Action just hit two Israel weapons suppliers
 before the sun came up
Message-ID: <mailman.103.1721668811.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

thecanary.co
<https://www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2024/07/22/palestine-action-manchester-sunbury-israel/>
Palestine Action just hit TWO Israel weapons suppliers before the sun came
up
Steve Topple
July 22, 2024
------------------------------

Palestine Action <https://x.com/Pal_action> has just targeted two weapons
manufacturers which supply Israel <https://www.thecanary.co/topics/israel/>
arms firm Elbit Systems ? one in Manchester, and another in Sunbury.
Palestine Action: conducting its own early morning raids

Just before 5am on Monday 22 July, one group of Palestine Action
<https://www.palestineaction.org/> activists broke inside Manchester-based
arms components manufacturer Dean Group International and dismantled
machinery and equipment:

Police have cordoned off the premises and remain at the scene as activists
continue to occupy Dean Group International, Brinell Dr, Irlam, Manchester
M44 5BL.

Then, in Sunbury-on-Thames another group jumped security fences, shattered
windows and hardware belonging to an arms supplier, Ametek Airtechnology:

Both companies supply parts to Israel?s largest weapons firm, Elbit Systems.

Dean Group International uses a specialised technique called ?investment
casting? to manufacture components for arms companies, including Elbit?s
Kent-based subsidiary, Instro Precision. According to the manufacturer, ?so
much from a military standpoint requires investment casting, including
weapons, missiles, radar, and communications equipment?. The supply of
components to Instro Precision, who?ve held over 80 licenses to export arms
to Israel since 2016, was verified when other activists broke inside the
Elbit arms factory during an action last month.

Ametek Airtechnology specialises in designing, developing and manufacturing
custom-made thermal and motion control solutions for weapons including
missiles, military vehicles and fighter jets. Amongst weapons their
products are used for is Israel?s F-35 fighter jets, which are frequently
used during Israel?s ongoing Gaza genocide. Ametek?s subsidiary United
Electronic Industries lists Elbit Systems as a ?valued customer? ? a
connection which was also confirmed through sightings of deliveries to
Elbit?s Shenstone-based subsidiary, UAV Engines Ltd.

The Israeli military has killed over 38,295 Palestinians since 7 October,
most of whom are women and children. Schools, hospitals, refugee camps,
residential buildings and general infrastructure is frequently bombed
during the ongoing Gaza genocide. In response to the growing demand for
munitions by the Israeli military for such attacks on Gaza, Elbit has
?ramped up production? of its weaponry
<https://elbitsystems.com/media/Elbit-Systems-Q3-23-Conference-Call-Edited-Transcript.pdf>
.

Elbit Systems manufactures 85% of Israel?s military drone fleet and
land-based equipment, as well as missiles, ammunition and digital warfare.
The Israeli arms company uses Gaza, which was recently confirmed by the
International Court of Justice to be illegally occupied territory, as a
laboratory to develop their ?battle-tested? weapons.
Shut it down

A Palestine Action spokesperson said:

Without suppliers such as Dean Group International and Ametek, Elbit
couldn?t make weaponry which is used to commit genocide. Whilst our
government continues to facilitate Elbit?s crimes, Palestine Action will
continue to use direct action to end the complicity and shut Elbit down.
Every link in Israel?s military supply chain will be uncovered and
dismantled.

*Featured image and videos via Palestine Action*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Mon Jul 22 13:26:38 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2024 10:26:38 -0700
Subject: [News] 250% Increase in Children Killed in West Bank Since October 7
Message-ID: <mailman.107.1721669264.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

palestinechronicle.com
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/250-increase-in-children-killed-in-west-bank-since-october-7-unicef/>
?250% Increase in Children Killed in West Bank Since October 7? - UNICEFJuly
22, 2024
------------------------------
Palestinian children arrested by Israeli occupation soldiers in the West
Bank. (Photo: WAFA, file)

*By Palestine Chronicle Staff
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/palestine-chronicle-staff>*

The United Nations Children?s Fund (UNICEF) has recorded a 250% increase in
the number of Palestinian children killed in the occupied West Bank since
October last year.

?A total of 143 Palestinian children have been killed in the West Bank,
including East Jerusalem, since October last year, a spike of nearly 250
per cent compared to the preceding nine months, during which 41 Palestinian
children were killed,? UNICEF said in a statement on Monday. Two Israeli
children were killed during the same period.

Additionally, more than 440 Palestinian children have been injured with
live ammunition, the organization said, adding that the figures raise
serious alarm around unnecessary and excessive use of force
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/west-bank-violence-illegal-armed-settlers-attack-palestinian-towns/>
against the most vulnerable.

?For years now, children living in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,
have been exposed to horrific violence,? said UNICEF Executive Director
Catherine Russell, adding that the situation ?has deteriorated
significantly, coinciding with the escalation of hostilities inside Gaza.?

She emphasized: ?We are seeing frequent allegations of Palestinian children
being detained on their way home from school, or shot while walking on the
streets. The violence needs to stop now.?
Increased Military Operations

The casualties have been reported in 10 out of 11 governorates in the West
Bank, with more than half of the killings taking place in Jenin, Tulkarm,
and Nablus.

These areas ?have seen an increase in large and militarized law enforcement
operations
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/israels-continued-occupation-of-palestinian-territory-unlawful-icj/>
over the past two years, indicating a shift in intensity and scope,?
according to UNICEF.

The organization noted that the increasing tensions in the West Bank,
including East Jerusalem, were also impacting ?the physical and mental
well-being? of thousands of children and families, ?who are now living in
daily fear for their lives.?

Children report being scared to walk around their neighbourhoods or to
travel to school.

?The true cost
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/the-opposite-of-hope-unicef-spokesman-says-war-in-gaza-is-a-war-on-children/>
of the violence in the State of Palestine and Israel will be measured in
children?s lives?those lost and those forever changed by it,? said Russell.
?What the children desperately need is an end to violence and a lasting
political solution to the crisis, so that they can reach their fullest
potential in peace and safety.?

Before October 7, children in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,
?were already exposed to the highest levels of violence
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/west-bank-violence-white-house-considers-sanctions-on-israeli-ministers/>
in 20 years, with 41 Palestinian children and 6 Israeli children killed in
the first 9 months of last year.?

UNICEF said they have also been heavily affected by movement and access
restrictions that disrupted their daily lives.

*(The Palestine Chronicle)*


(The Palestine Chronicle is a registered
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/about/> 501(c)3 organization, thus, all
donations are tax deductible.)
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Mon Jul 22 14:40:00 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2024 11:40:00 -0700
Subject: [News] Israeli army shields itself from polio virus as disease runs
 rampant in Gaza
Message-ID: <mailman.109.1721673684.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

 Israeli army shields itself from poliovirus as disease runs rampant in Gaza

Dangerous illnesses have been spreading across the strip due to Israel's
decimation of infrastructure, including sewage lines

News Desk <https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9>

JUL 22, 2024 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/israeli-army-shields-itself-from-poliovirus-as-disease-runs-rampant-in-gaza
(Photo credit: Fadi Shana/Reuters)

The Israeli army launched a campaign on 21 July to provide its troops with
polio vaccines, as Palestinians are left unprotected against the virus that
has spread across the strip due to Israel?s genocidal war.

?The IDF carried out sampling tests in various areas where the remains of
the polio virus, which is contagious by drinking or coming into contact
with the mouth with contaminated water, were discovered,? the Israeli army
said in a press statement <https://www.idf.il/217723>.

?Following the findings, the IDF decided, in coordination with the Ministry
of Health, to vaccinate the maneuvering forces against the virus in order
to maintain the health of IDF soldiers and Israeli citizens,? the statement
added.

The campaign was launched by the army?s Technology and Logistics Division,
according to the statement, which said the vaccinations would be carried
out gradually.

It comes days after the Palestinian Health Ministry released a statement
warning
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/new-health-crisis-poliovirus-detected-in-gaza-sewage/>
of the presence of poliovirus in Gaza, which was found in sewage sampling
tests undertaken in coordination with UNICEF.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said on 18 July in a statement that the
presence and spread of poliovirus is caused by the overcrowding of
displaced persons, the destruction of health and sanitation infrastructure,
and the shortages of medical and cleaning supplies.

It warned that this poses a threat to thousands of Gazans and called for an
immediate end to the war, the provision of safe water, and the repair of
sewage lines that were destroyed by Israeli forces.

Palestinian medical sources told *The New Arab*
<https://www.newarab.com/news/israel-launches-polio-vaccine-campaign-soldiers-gaza>
on Sunday that Israeli attacks on Gaza have destroyed more than 60 percent
of infrastructure, including desalination plants, which are out of service
due to the war.

The sources highlighted that the ravaged health sector in the strip suffers
from severe shortages of medicines and vaccines.

Responding to Israeli claims that hundreds of thousands of polio vaccines
have been allowed into the strip, Ismail Thawabta, director of the
Government Media Office in Gaza, told *The New Arab*, ?All the Israeli
claims are not true ? it seems that the Israeli authorities decided to kill
all the Palestinians in Gaza, either through the strikes or diseases and
starvation.?

?The virus in sewage portends a real health disaster and exposes thousands
of residents to the risk of contracting polio,? he went on to say.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and others have been warning about the
spread
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/10/how-bad-is-gazas-disease-outbreak-amid-the-israel-war>
of harmful bacteria and serious illnesses
<https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/gaza-faces-perfect-storm-deadly-diseases-2023-12-14/>
across the besieged enclave since the start of Israel?s war.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Jul 23 11:07:50 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2024 08:07:50 -0700
Subject: [News] Our Life Project Against Their Death Project
Message-ID: <mailman.117.1721750134.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

counterpunch.org
<https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/07/23/our-life-project-against-their-death-project/>
Our Life Project Against Their Death Project
Letter of Indigenous Peoples, Peasants, Traditional Communities and
Afro-Descendants In Latin America
July 23, 2024
------------------------------

*Alto Turia?u, July 2024*

In the Indigenous territory of Alto Turia?u, in the Aldeia Ararorenda of
the Ka?apor people, in the state of Maranh?o, Brazil, from the 9th to the
11th of July, we held our first meeting as indigenous peoples, peasants,
traditional communities, quilombolas (descendants of escaped slaves),
organizations defending Indigenous rights from different countries in the
Pan-Amazon region and Central American territories, where projects known as
REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) have
arrived. To make it easier, when we refer to REDD below, we are also
including other names created using the same logic as REDD (for example,
when talking about forest carbon projects, nature-based solutions, or
jurisdictional REDD programs implemented by state or provincial governments
and national governments, among others).

After three days of sharing experiences and analyzing what REDD+ really
means for our peoples and territories, we concluded that we are facing two
projects: one is the death project that oil, mining, hydroelectric and
large infrastructure companies, agribusiness, and now compensation projects
such as REDD, together with nation-states, promote, and second, a life
project that is carried forward by our peoples and communities through
respect and care for our territories.

In view of this, we issue the following statement, so that our brothers and
sisters from different peoples and communities do not fall into this trap:

*REDD?S DEATH PROJECT*

1. Breaks the unity and harmony of our people and generates conflicts,
including within our own families.

2. Threatens the lives of women, children, and the elderly, by depriving us
of the subsistence we have in our forests for food and access to water.

3. Criminalizes the livelihoods of our people and communities.

4. Manipulates our leaders into signing contracts without the consent of
our people.

5. Seeks greater economic benefits for its businesses and encourages
deforestation, because the more deforestation there is, the more business
for companies that sell carbon credits.

6. Take control of our territories and take away our autonomy.

7. Like other false solutions to the climate catastrophe, called
?unconventional oil exploration?, ?biofuels,? ?responsible mining,? or
?green gold,? ?energy transition,? it is greenwashing that allows companies
to continue their business and polluting.

Furthermore:

8. Compensation mechanisms, such as REDD, allow companies to continue
polluting and do not reduce emissions.

9. REDD promotes the creation of protected areas, depriving us of
livelihoods and banning us from our territories.

10. We reject the 30?30 goals that seek to achieve conservation affecting
our territories while protecting the interests of large companies.

11. Governments violate Constitutions and change laws that protect our
territories to facilitate and favor extractive companies and REDD-type
projects.

REDD projects are projects of death, because instead of protecting, they
are destroying nature and our people.

IN OUR LIFE PROJECT

1. We defend our territories, our rivers, forests, sacred sites, spirits
with whom we interact so that they can live and so that we can live, our
ancestral knowledge and culture, our medicinal plants, materials for our
homes, for crafts that we use for our subsistence, our food.

2. We demand and fight for the titling and demarcation of territories.

3. We recognize and respect the rights of nature in harmony with people.

4. We defend self-government, self-determination and autonomy of peoples.

5. We defend and respect our ways of life, which are those that guarantee
the defense and care of our territories.

6. We demand the implementation of the fundamental right to consultation
and free, prior and informed consent, respecting the right of veto,
considering ILO Convention 169 and the various agreements and declarations
of international law.

7. We recognize and respect traditional knowledge as a fundamental
condition of life.

8. We respect and fight for health and education in our languages and
cultures.

9. We fight for territories of peace, free from companies and government
policies that pollute and destroy.

10. We advocate and work to create opportunities for our young people based
on our knowledge and wisdom.

11. Our territories have no economic value. They are financially invaluable.

12. We emphasize the central role of women in defending our territories.

13. We urge human rights organizations to speak out and defend respect for
the territorial rights of our peoples.

They have been killing us since colonization began more than five centuries
ago. Currently, oil, mining, agribusiness, hydroelectric and other
infrastructure projects and carbon offset projects, such as REDD, together
with State policies, continue the ethnocide of our people, killing our
cultures, languages, identities , knowledge, and wisdom.

ENOUGH! NO to REDD!

*Translation by Forrest Hylton.*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Jul 23 11:55:20 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2024 08:55:20 -0700
Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?=E2=80=98Never_Seen_Anything_like_This=E2=80=99?=
	=?utf-8?q?_-_American_Doctor_Details_Gaza_Horrors?=
Message-ID: <mailman.121.1721750287.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

palestinechronicle.com
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/never-seen-anything-like-this-american-doctor-details-gaza-horrors/>
?Never Seen Anything like This? - American Doctor Details Gaza HorrorsJuly
23, 2024
------------------------------
Dr. Mark Perlmutter described the horrors of the war on Gaza in an
interview with CBS. (Photo. Video grab, via CBS)

*By Palestine Chronicle Staff
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/palestine-chronicle-staff>*

An American doctor, who volunteered at a hospital in Gaza, said upon his
return that what he saw in the war-torn Strip was ?unspeakable? and that
the Israeli army deliberately killed children with sniper fire.

In an interview <https://www.cbsnews.com/news/children-of-gaza/> with CBS,
orthopedic and hand surgeon Mark Perlmutter said that he had never seen
children mutilated and injured in his life as he had seen in the Strip.

?All of the disasters I?ve seen, combined ? 40 mission trips, 30 years,
Ground Zero, earthquakes, all of that combined ? doesn?t equal the level of
carnage that I saw against civilians in just my first week in Gaza,? the
doctor explained.

He added that the Israeli army deliberately sniped children, saying that
they have evidence of the systematic targeting of children and the war
crimes committed against them.

The American doctor added that he saw children who had been deliberately
killed by snipers.

?I have two children that I have photographs of that were shot so perfectly
in the chest, I couldn?t put my stethoscope over their heart more
accurately, and directly on the side of the head, in the same child,? Dr.
Perlmutter said, adding that ?no toddler gets shot twice by mistake by the
?world?s best sniper.? And they?re dead-center shots.?

In late March, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said it
documented the Israeli army?s execution of 13 children by direct fire at
Palestinian children in and around Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza. The
rights group described these executions as a flagrant violation of the
rules of international law, including international humanitarian law.

CBS said that the Israeli military declined their request for an interview
but that a spokesperson claimed in an email that ?the IDF has never, and
will never, deliberately target children? but that ?remaining in an active
combat zone has inherent risks.?

Dr. Perlmutter also spoke about the ?emotional wounds? these children have
to endure.

?How can you measure that? I can?t measure my own,? the doctor told CBS.
?How do you be an orphan, watching your family, you know, melted in front
of you and shredded in front of you ? how do you fix that, ever fix that??

The report noted that ?so many Palestinian children have had family members
killed that doctors created a shorthand term: WCNSF (Wounded Child No
Surviving Family).?

*Ongoing Genocide*

Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide
against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza
since October 7.

According to Gaza?s Ministry of Health, 39,090 Palestinians have been
killed, and 90,147 wounded in Israel?s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on
October 7.

Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under
the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.

Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the
Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports
suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ?friendly fire?.

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those
killed and wounded are women and children.

The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza,
resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.

The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of
nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast
majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of
Rafah near the border with Egypt ? in what has become Palestine?s largest
mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from
the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.

*(The Palestine Chronicle)*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Jul 23 11:59:34 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2024 08:59:34 -0700
Subject: [News] Tulkarm Camp Attack - Israeli Drone Strikes Kills Resistance
 Leaders, Civilians
Message-ID: <mailman.123.1721752125.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

palestinechronicle.com
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/tulkarm-camp-attack-israeli-drone-strikes-kills-resistance-leaders-civilians/>
Tulkarm Camp Attack - Israeli Drone Strikes Kills Resistance Leaders,
CiviliansJuly 23, 2024
------------------------------
Three Resistance leaders were killed in Tulkarm. (Photo: Palestine
Chronicle, via social media)

*By Palestine Chronicle Staff
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/palestine-chronicle-staff>*

An Israeli drone targeted a location in Tulkarm camp, resulting in the
killing of key leaders from the Al-Qassam Brigades and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs
Brigades.

Three Palestinian Resistance leaders, along with a mother and her daughter,
were killed in an Israeli drone strike on Tulkarm camp in the occupied West
Bank on Tuesday morning, Al-Jazeera reported.

Additionally, two young men were killed in the town of Sa?ir in Hebron
(Al-Khalil).

An Israeli drone targeted a location in Tulkarm camp, resulting in the
killing of key leaders from the Al-Qassam Brigades and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs
Brigades, the military wings of the Hamas and Fatah movements respectively.

According to the Resistance News Network, the leaders were identified as he
Commander of the Al-Qassam Brigades in Tulkarem Camp, Ashraf Nafi?
?Izkihim?; the Commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs? Brigades in Tulkarem?
Mohammed Owad ?Abu Abdo, and the resistance fighter Mohammed Badie.

Videos shared by activists on social media depicted the Israeli army
handling the bodies of the deceased with a bulldozer.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society confirmed that three Palestinian women
were also injured by Israeli gunfire in the camp.

They also reported that the Israeli forces were obstructing their movement
within Tulkarm camp and targeting them directly. The PRCS reportedly
received numerous distress calls from within the camp but was unable to
reach all the injured.

Since 10 pm on Monday, the Israeli army has been conducting a military
operation in the city of Tulkarm and its camp, deploying around 25 military
vehicles, including heavy bulldozers, amidst intensive drone activity.

The army?s bulldozing operations within the neighborhoods of Tulkarm camp
have caused power and water outages in several areas and significant
disruptions to internet networks, according to the official Palestinian
news agency WAFA.

The Tulkarm Battalion ? Saraya Al-Quds stated that it is engaged in direct
clashes with Israeli forces in Tulkarm camp and has achieved ?direct hits?.

On Tuesday morning, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that a
young man was killed by Israeli forces in the town of Sa?ir, northeast of
Hebron in the West Bank. Another young man was also reported killed during
clashes where Israeli soldiers opened fire.

Israeli forces stormed the town of Sa?ir at dawn, conducting extensive
raids and searches of several homes, which included detentions,
interrogations, and assaults, leading to clashes in the town.

The number of fatalities in the West Bank has risen to approximately 584
since October 7, with over 5,400 wounded.

*(PC, AJA)*


(The Palestine Chronicle is a registered
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/about/> 501(c)3 organization, thus, all
donations are tax deductible.)
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Jul 23 12:31:08 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2024 09:31:08 -0700
Subject: [News] Khan Yunis is witnessing one of the bloodiest days as the
 crime of genocide continues
Message-ID: <mailman.125.1721752484.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

 Euro-Med: Khan Yunis is witnessing one of the bloodiest days as the crime
of genocide continues

Monday 22-July-2024 - https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/07/22/322510/
<https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/07/22/322510/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/07/22/322510/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/07/22/322510/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/07/22/322510/#>
+ -

GAZA, (PIC)

The Israeli army killed 70 Palestinians and wounded 200 others, mostly
children and women, in less than 12 hours in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza
Strip, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said in a statement issued on
Monday.

The report pointed out that hundreds of thousands of civilians have
received new evacuation orders in the area.

The crimes committed by the Israeli army against civilians are
well-established and consistent. These crimes include killing, mass murder,
starvation, denial of humanitarian aid entry, forced evacuation,
destruction of civilian objects, and denial of any kind of stability, as
has been the case in Khan Yunis since Monday morning. Such actions suggest
that the occupation is essentially destroying the Palestinian people in the
Gaza Strip in every way that it can, the report indicated.

The Euro-Med pointed out that every time there is talk of going back to the
negotiating table to reach a truce and an exchange agreement, the Israeli
army purposefully increases the number of massacres and mass killings
against Palestinian civilians. This raises concerns that Israel is engaging
in political blackmail and pressure by using the killing and displacement
of civilians as a tool, as it has done repeatedly in recent weeks.

After carrying out a premeditated mass murder this morning, Monday, 22 July
2024, the Israeli army launched dozens of raids, fire belts, and artillery
shelling on homes, streets, and gatherings of displaced people. Thousands
of these people fled into the streets in panic, looking for a safe place
that did not exist.

These towns were among those covered by the Israeli evacuation orders: Bani
Suhaila and its surroundings; Abasan al-Kabira and al-Jadidah and its
surroundings; al-Qarara and its surroundings; al-Fukhari and its
surroundings; Khuza?a and its surroundings; al-Qurain, al-Manara, al-Salam,
Jurat al-Lot, Qizan al-Najjar, Sheikh Nasser, al-Mahatta, al-Satar, and
al-Katiba. This coincided with the Israeli army?s declaration that the
so-called humanitarian zone in Al-Mawasi would be reduced. This was all
part of Israel?s media disinformation campaign and psychological warfare
tactics, since military assaults on the tents and forced displacement of
people have continued in this area for several weeks, resulting in hundreds
of deaths and injuries.

The Euro-Med field team recorded the Israeli army bombing six homes on the
heads of their occupants, out of the ten residences for which preliminary
information was available since the start of the Israeli military operation
on Khan Yunis at 7:30 a.m.

70 citizens were killed and over 200 others were injured as a result of the
Israeli bombing, many of whom were women and children. Two of the deceased
children were infants, while several families had been taken off the civil
registry, including the Jabour and Harb families.

Given these facts, the Euro-Med called on all nations to fulfil their
international obligations by enacting strong sanctions against Israel and
severing all political, financial, and military support and cooperation.

Additionally, it called on the International Criminal Court to investigate
any and all crimes committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip; broaden its
investigation into the criminal responsibility of all parties, including
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant,
in order to hold all perpetrators accountable; issue arrest warrants for
those responsible; and acknowledge and address Israel?s crimes in the Strip
as international crimes that fall under the purview of the International
Criminal Court and are clearly crimes of genocide.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Jul 23 12:54:25 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2024 09:54:25 -0700
Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?Palestinian_factions_agree_to_=E2=80=98national?=
	=?utf-8?q?_unity=E2=80=99_govt_following_China_talks?=
Message-ID: <mailman.127.1721827969.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

 Palestinian factions agree to ?national unity? govt following China talks

The agreement follows a Knesset decision totally rejecting Palestinian
statehood, and comes as ceasefire efforts remain stalled due to Israel?s
position on continuing the war

News Desk <https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9>

JUL 23, 2024 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/palestinian-factions-agree-to-national-unity-govt-following-china-talks
(Photo credit: Pedro Pardo/AFP/Getty Images)

Hamas, the Palestinian Authority?s (PA) Fatah party, and twelve other
Palestinian factions have signed a Chinese-brokered reconciliation
agreement during meetings in Beijing, which began on 21 July and ended on
23 July.

The 14 factions agreed on ?ending division and strengthening Palestinian
unity,? Chinese broadcaster CCTV reported
<https://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/23/china/hamas-fatah-palestinian-factions-beijing-intl-hnk/index.html>
on 23 July.

The agreement was ?dedicated to the great reconciliation and unity of all
14 factions,? Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday.

?The core outcome is that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is
the sole legitimate representative of all Palestinian people. An agreement
has been reached on post Gaza war governance and the establishment of a
provisional national reconciliation government,? he added.

Hussam Badran, head of Hamas? National Relations Office, said in a press
statement that the agreement was a positive step on the right path and
thanked China for its mediation efforts and support.

?The Beijing Declaration is an additional positive step on the path to
achieving Palestinian national unity,? he said, expressing his ?high
appreciation for the great efforts made by China to reach this
declaration.?

?The official statement signed by the factions is clear in its contents,
and is not what has been published and circulated since yesterday,? Badran
added. ?There was agreement on the Palestinian demands related to ending
the war and barbaric aggression, which are: a ceasefire, complete
withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, relief, and reconstruction.?

He went on to say that the most important point of the agreement was the
idea of establishing a national consensus government ?that would manage the
affairs of our people in Gaza and the West Bank, supervise reconstruction,
and prepare the conditions for elections,? adding that this was Hamas?
position since the start of the war.

According to a copy of the declaration obtained by *Al Mayadeen*
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/al-mayadeen-obtains-palestinian-faction-s-crucial-beijing-de>
on Monday, the factions vowed to ?end the Palestinian national division?
and ?unify national efforts to confront the [Israeli] aggression and stop
the genocide.?

According to the document, the Palestinian factions will implement the
agreement with support from Egypt, Algeria, China, and Russia.

It emphasizes the ?commitment to the establishment of an independent
Palestinian state with Al-Quds (Jerusalem) as its capital,? to be
implemented through UN Resolution 181 (1947 resolution on partition) and UN
Resolution 2334 (which labels Israeli settlements illegal under
international law).

The declaration also highlighted the Palestinian people?s right to
resistance, right to end the occupation, and right to self-determination,
according to *Al Mayadeen*.

A final and official statement on the Beijing meeting has yet to be
released.

Last week, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement called in
a statement for the PLO to drop its recognition
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/26016>of Israel, coming as a response to
the recent Knesset vote completely rejecting the establishment of
Palestinian statehood.

The Beijing talks come as the US and Israel have been floating ideas
on a post-war
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/25997>international mission involving
Arab states that would administer Gaza once the fighting comes to an end.
The initiatives exclude Hamas and involve a ?reformation? of the PA.

Several resistance factions, including Hamas and the PIJ, have rejected
these initiatives and repeatedly stressed that the Palestinian people will
be the ones to decide the future of the strip and its governance.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Jul 24 12:04:47 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2024 09:04:47 -0700
Subject: [News] How the Palestinian Authority abets Israel's colonial project
Message-ID: <mailman.131.1721837934.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

electronicintifada.net
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/tamara-nassar/how-palestinian-authority-abets-israels-colonial-project>
How the Palestinian Authority abets Israel's colonial project

Tamara Nassar <https://electronicintifada.net/people/tamara-nassar> Rights
and Accountability
<https://electronicintifada.net/blog/rights-and-accountability> 24 July 2024
------------------------------

Palestinians inspect the damage following a raid by Israeli forces in the
Tulkarm refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank on 23 July.
APA images

The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority held a secret meeting with
American and Israeli officials in Tel Aviv earlier this month to conspire
on ?day after? plans in Gaza that would involve the collaborative body in
reopening the Rafah crossing with Egypt.

?Egypt wants personnel from the Palestinian Authority to operate the
crossing,? *Axios* reported
<https://www.axios.com/2024/07/17/israel-gaza-egypt-rafah-crossing-ceasefire-hostages>.
The crossing, when open, is typically operated by Hamas personnel from
Gaza?s side, as the political and armed organization governs the interior
of the Strip.

?Israel wants people who aren?t affiliated with Hamas to do it, but objects
to any official involvement of the Palestinian Authority ? mostly for
domestic political reasons,? *Axios* added.

The Palestinian Authority rejected a proposal that would involve it in
reopening the crossing in any unofficial capacity, the publication said.

The meeting reportedly included White House official Brett McGurk, the head
of Israel?s domestic spying agency Ronen Bar, secretary-general of the
Palestine Liberation Organization?s executive committee Hussein al-Sheikh
and head of the PA?s military intelligence Majed Faraj.

This was the first time that Palestinian officials have met with US and
Israeli counterparts ?to discuss the day after the war ends in Gaza,?
reported
<https://www.axios.com/2024/07/17/israel-gaza-egypt-rafah-crossing-ceasefire-hostages>
Barak Ravid, the *Axios* writer who is frequently fed information by
Israel?s military and intelligence apparatus.

The United Arab Emirates also appears eager to conspire for a day-after
plan in Gaza.

The Gulf state, which formalized relations with Israel in 2020, is looking
?to deploy a temporary international mission? in Gaza that would establish
?law and order,? the UAE ambassador at the United Nations, Lana Zaki
Nusseibeh, wrote
<https://www.ft.com/content/cfef2157-a476-4350-a287-190b25e45159> in
the *Financial
Times* last week.

?A temporary international presence in Gaza can only result from a formal
invitation from the Palestinian Authority,? the ambassador wrote.

The Palestinian Authority was created in the early 1990s following the Oslo
accords to act as native auxiliary on behalf of the Israeli occupation. It
has performed that role ? one that PA leader Mahmoud Abbas calls
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/mahmoud-abbas-collaboration-israeli-army-secret-police-sacred>
?sacred? ? without interruption
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/why-are-us-and-israel-sending-more-guns-holocaust-denier-abbas>
since day one.

It wouldn?t be surpring if Israel and its Arab allies sought to copy this
model in a post-genocide Gaza Strip.

But in order for Israel to execute its vision in the wrecked coastal
enclave, the Israeli military would have to achieve its stated goal of
eliminating Hamas as a governing and military presence in Gaza.

This doesn?t appear close to happening.

Meanwhile, Fatah and Hamas agreed to ?end the Palestinian national
division? after the rival factions held negotiations in China this month
alongside other Palestinian political parties.

Notably, the factions ?underlined the Palestinian people?s right to resist
occupation and to end it in accordance with international law,? according
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/al-mayadeen-obtains-palestinian-faction-s-crucial-beijing-de>
to Lebanese broadcaster Al Mayadeen, which obtained a copy of the
declaration.

This is not the first time that the parties have made these declarations,
and there is no indication that this one will be different.

A Palestinian Authority official said
<https://www.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/99791> over the weekend that the
Palestine Liberation Organization is the sole legitimate representative of
Palestinians.

?Leaked news indicating that Washington is discussing plans on the future
of the Gaza Strip with some parties will not have any legitimacy and will
not be accepted by the Palestinian people,? Nabil Abu Rudeineh is
paraphrased to have said, according to *Wafa News Agency*.
Echoing Israeli propaganda

Following an Israeli massacre in al-Mawasi earlier this month that killed
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israel-kills-least-90-palestinians-gaza-safe-zone>
at least 90 Palestinians and injured hundreds of others, the Palestinian
Authority issued a statement effectively blaming Hamas for Israel?s
slaughter.

?The presidency sees that by escaping national unity, and providing free
pretexts to the occupation state, the Hamas movement is a partner in
bearing legal, moral and political responsibility for the continuation of
the Israeli war of genocide,? PA leader Mahmoud Abbas wrote
<https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2024/07/15/fatah-hamas-unity-talks-scheduled-in-china-as-both-factions-condemn-each-other/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20presidency%20sees%20that%20by,he%20said%20in%20a%20statement.>
in a statement.

Another PA official actually used an Israeli propaganda talking point
against Hamas.

?Hamas is actually hiding between the residents to protect and save
itself,? PA official Munir al-Jaghoub reportedly
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/abbas-blames-hamas-for-gaza-war-terror-group-says-pa-siding-with-israel/%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B>
said.

?If Hamas wanted to fight face-to-face with Israel, it would?ve done so in
areas where the army is located, and not in places where there are people.?

We were joined
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/tamara-nassar/day-285-roundtable-resistance-across-palestine>
by writer and Birzeit University lecturer Abdaljawad Omar
<https://electronicintifada.net/tags/abdaljawad-omar-hamayel> on 17 July on
The Electronic Intifada livestream to talk about the situation in the West
Bank.

Omar said that the Palestinian Authority ?is trying to echo Israeli
psychological warfare.?

It is doing so ?by attempting to kind of de-link the Palestinian society
overall from its resistance, and serving through this severance, serving
Israeli war aims, which is to defeat the resistance and render Gaza
unlivable.?
?We have this model in the West Bank: that?s what is in the fantasy of
every military and political leader in Israel, to replicate some sort of
system, a political system, a native authority that serves it, that
cooperates with it and collaborates with it and makes the occupation
inexpensive,? Omar said.

?Not an authority or a governance structure like the one that Gaza had at
least before 7 October,? Omar added, which binded armed resistance with the
party governing the interior affairs of the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Authority is ?most responsible for the continuation of war,
for empowering Israel to think that it can defeat the Palestinian people,?
Omar added, by producing ?this docile, ineffective, corrupt leadership that
is running now the West Bank.?

The successes of multiple factions of Palestinian resistance forces on the
ground in Gaza are agitating the collaborationist body in Ramallah, Omar
suggested, pointing to how the Palestinian Authority did not rise to the
occasion following the Hamas operation of 7 October.

?The national challenge that has been opened on 7 October,? is for the
Palestinian Authority ?to actually participate and attempt, at least, to
the best of its capacity to not allow Gaza to go through this war alone,?
Omar said.

Not only did the Palestinian Authority abandon Gaza, he added, but it must
be blamed ?for even the continuation of the war.?

The elite of the collaborationist PA and the comprador class in Ramallah
?is betraying the nation in the name of the nation,? Omar said.

?This elite has extreme anxiety over Hamas and Islamic Jihad and all the
recent resistance groups in Gaza, coming out with significant strategic
results from this war.?
Meanwhile, the resistance in the occupied West Bank has been developing and
refining its tactics
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/tamara-nassar/israel-targets-palestinians-land-and-air-west-bank>,
but this uprising is not happening in all corners of the West Bank.

Omar said he would confine the description of a ?third intifada? to
specific areas.

?I would confine it geographically to the north of the West Bank. So the
areas that surround or go from the Jordan Valley upwards to Tubas,
Tulkarem, Nablus, Jenin,? Omar said.

?These are the areas that have active militant formations that are engaging
in the buildup of [improvised explosive devices], the capacity to resist,
and refining tactics,? Omar said, making ?it hard for the Israelis to enter
freely into these areas.?

Israel responded with devastating revenge on entire communities where
resistance emerges from, wreaking widespread devastation, severely damaging
electricity networks, water and sewage infrastructure, uprooting roads and
destroying homes.

More than 550 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank since
7 October, including at least 539 by Israeli forces, according
<https://www.ochaopt.org/content/humanitarian-situation-update-192-west-bank>
to UN monitoring group OCHA.

Israeli settlers have killed at least 10 Palestinians, and another seven
were killed by either Israeli army or settler fire.

Of those killed in the occupied West Bank since 7 October, 138 were
children.

But the ?Israelis have not been able to really shock that resistance into a
place where it?s defeated or raises the white flag,? Omar said.

On the contrary, ?the resistance has been able to actually develop, evolve
and and ensure that its defensive posture, or offensive posture has become
more deadly for the Israeli forces entering the area.?

Watch the full interview with Abdaljawad Omar on The Electronic Intifada?s
YouTube channel, or by clicking on the videos above.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Jul 24 13:26:09 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2024 10:26:09 -0700
Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?The_stunning_audacity_of_Yemen=E2=80=99s_drone_?=
	=?utf-8?q?strike_on_Tel_Aviv?=
Message-ID: <mailman.133.1721842133.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

 The stunning audacity of Yemen?s drone strike on Tel Aviv

Yemen?s unprecedented drone strike on Israel?s economic powerhouse has
further shattered the occupation state?s perceived invulnerability.
Moreover, it announced the launch of Ansarallah?s fifth phase of war:
?Target Tel Aviv.?

The Cradle's Military Correspondent
<https://thecradle.co/authors/the-cradles-military-correspondent>

JUL 24, 2024 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/the-stunning-audacity-of-yemens-drone-strike-on-tel-aviv
(Photo Credit: The Cradle)

On 19 July <https://x.com/TheCradleMedia/status/1814100464717230162>, a
low-altitude drone breached Tel Aviv?s airspace from the sea and detonated,
causing one fatality and injuring ten others.

The incident sent shockwaves through the occupation state, with a panicked
populace and bewildered policymakers grappling with the Israeli army?s ?
mega-failure <https://thecradle.co/articles-id/26017>? to intercept a
single drone amid prolonged aggression against Gaza and the mounting
tensions with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The attack?s impact was magnified by its direct hit on Tel Aviv, the heart
of Israel?s governmental and economic power, starkly exposing inadequacies
in its defense strategies and further alarming a population that has for
months been questioning the effectiveness of its military preparedness.

It wasn?t long before the de facto Yemeni authorities in Sanaa claimed
responsibility <https://thecradle.co/articles-id/26013> for the attack,
calling the strike a retaliation for Israeli massacres and threatening more
to come.

But how did a Yemeni drone reach the heart of Israel?s most fortified
region and strike a blow to Israeli military pride?

*Tactical evolution of suicide drones*

Suicide drones, as they are known, are a relatively modern weapon, posing
significant challenges even for technologically advanced states like the US
and Israel. These drones vary in range, warhead size, speed, and guidance
methods.

Analysis of the wreckage revealed that the ?Yaffa
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/yaf-release-footage--specifications-of-yafa-drone-that-hit-t>?
drone, an enhanced version of Yemen?s Sammad drones, was employed in the
operation. The name is deeply symbolic as it references the ancient port
city of Jaffa
<https://remix.aljazeera.com/aje/PalestineRemix/lost-cities-of-palestine.html#/10>,
also known as *Yaffa* in Arabic, which now forms part of modern-day Tel
Aviv.
Yaffa Drone

Its rectangular wing shape and V-shaped tail distinguish it, but it is
notably the more powerful 275 cc (16 kW) engine that sets it apart. This
engine enables the drone to cover distances exceeding 2000 kilometers ?
sufficient to reach Tel Aviv from Yemen.

Unlike with ballistic missiles, the difficulty in tracking drones lies in
their ability to take unconventional paths, maneuver through winding
routes, and hide behind terrain features, making them hard to detect by
radar systems.

This detection challenge is a daily issue in northern occupied Palestine,
where drones operated by Lebanese resistance groups often go unseen
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/20442> by the increasingly blinded
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/25351> occupation army.

Moreover, drones are typically constructed from lightweight materials such
as fiberglass, carbon fiber, or various reinforced plastics that do not
reflect radar waves effectively, which is crucial for detection and
tracking.

Their low speeds reduce the need for the metallic compositions necessary in
constructing conventional military hardware like missiles and fighter jets.
Consequently, drones can be mistaken for birds
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/24583> by radar systems. This confusion
has occurred regularly in northern occupied Palestine since the war?s
onset, with Israel?s Iron Dome defense system spotted expending its limited
supply of $50,000 projectiles shooting at birds during this conflict.

*Yaffa?s route to Tel Aviv*

The suicide drone likely took an unconventional path to evade detection.
Previous Yemeni attempts have been intercepted in Egyptian Sinai airspace,
with Israeli-allied Arab states such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240415-jordans-treachery-in-support-of-israel-is-nothing-new/>,
and Egypt contributing to these detection and interception efforts.

On the night of the attack, however, no US aircraft carrier groups were in
the Red Sea, and the nearest carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, was
positioned in the Indian Ocean. Israel?s air force has suggested that the
drone may have taken a non-traditional route via Eritrea, Sudan, and Egypt,
crossing near the Suez Canal before entering the Mediterranean and turning
east toward Tel Aviv.

Possible path of Yaffa drone that targeted a building in Tel Aviv

Some aspects of that route seem unlikely: the Suez Canal area is heavily
patrolled by Egyptian air defense, with its 8th Brigade stationed there, so
the Israeli announcement may have been an attempt to pressure Egypt.

*Israel?s response: Bombing Hodeidah*

On 20 July, Israeli aircraft launched punishing airstrikes on the besieged
Yemeni port of Hodeidah
<https://www.instagram.com/thecradlemedia/p/C9ru0gnt69H/>, specifically
targeting areas designated for fuel and oil storage, as well as destroying
port cranes used for loading and unloading cargo and a power station.

But these were civilian targets in a country already suffering from the
effects of the Saudi-led coalition blockade, which has caused severe
shortages of fuel and essential resources needed for power generation and
transportation.

The strike at these particular target banks, which killed at least six and
wounded dozens of others, appears to be primarily aimed at creating
significant explosions and large fires to help Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu score points at home.

But the Israeli response against civilian targets also reveals that Tel
Aviv suffers from a dearth of intelligence on potential Yemeni military
targets. It was also evident that the selected targets were ones that Saudi
Arabia and the US have refrained from striking due to fears of Yemeni
retaliation, which could strike Saudi commercial ports or oil exports in
one of the world?s most vital energy passages.

Indeed, Riyadh was quick to deny
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/saudi-arabia-denies-involvement-in-the-israeli-attack-on-hod>
any
involvement in the assault, fearing reprisals from Sanaa, although reports
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240722-reports-israel-used-saudi-airspace-for-yemen-strike/>
that
Israeli jets used Saudi airspace for this attack suggest otherwise.

Video footage shows that Israel used F-35 and F-15 fighter jets, as well as
Boeing 707 tanker aircraft, due to the distance involved ? a range
exceeding 4,000 kilometers round trip. Israeli-released footage suggests
that the strikes were carried out using Spice guided missiles launched from
outside the Yemeni air defense range.

Some of these missiles are equipped with boosters that extend their range
up to 150 kilometers, which only showcased Israeli operational limitations
against Yemen in a broader conflict, in which Sanaa?s air defenses will be
surely activated against enemy aircraft, drones, and projectiles.

*Yemen?s retaliation*

Yemeni officials, led by Ansarallah leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi and Yemeni
Armed Forces Spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree, quickly announced a
decision to launch retaliatory strikes
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240220-yemen-houthis-say-they-targeted-israeli-and-us-ships-in-red-sea-region/>
against Israel, in which they declared
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/saree-to--israel---yemen-is-with-gaza-no-matter-the-cost--wa>
Tel
Aviv to be an ?unsafe zone? and warned of Yemen?s readiness for a ?long
war? against the occupation state.

Given the targeting of vital civilian infrastructure, this places several
Israeli targets on the list of potential Yemeni target banks. These include
fuel tanks in Haifa, clearly shown in video footage taken by a Hezbollah
drone weeks ago, as well as fuel tanks in Ashkelon and the power stations
adjacent to these tanks.

What concerns Israelis the most, however, is Yemen?s potential targeting of
vital gas platforms in the Mediterranean Sea, stationary targets highly
susceptible to significant ignition and explosion. While there are
currently only three active Israeli gas fields ? Karish
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/2774>, Tamar, and Leviathan ? in
operation, these fields have become essential to Israel?s energy
independence.

*Underestimating Sanaa?s resolve*

The damaging Israeli strike on Hodeidah Port was based on an assumption by
Tel Aviv that it would deter a Yemeni counterstrike. But Yemen?s Ansarallah
Movement, which has endured years of punishing Saudi, Emirati ? and now US
and UK ? military attacks, has shown no inclination whatsoever to halt its
operations in support of Gaza.

While the Israelis may have felt an obligation for a quick military fix by
striking Hodeidah ? the port, incidentally, has already reopened
<https://thecradle.co/articles/yemens-hodeidah-port-receives-first-shipments-since-israeli-attack>
for business ? it comes at the expense of any logical assessments of losses
and gains. Already facing strategic defeat in Gaza and unable to follow
through with its threats against Lebanon, Tel Aviv has cracked open a new
front with Yemen, the most fearless component of West Asia?s Axis of
Resistance.

The Israelis are between a rock and a hard place, desperately trying to
cleave to old narratives of regional military superiority to keep domestic
faith in the Zionist project, yet unable to score victories anywhere.

Based on Yemen?s oft-declared resolve not to retreat from any escalation,
it is expected that the outcome of the Hodeidah strike will lead to a
compounded retaliatory operation against the occupation state. Israel,
however, has limited operational freedom due to issues related to
geographic distance ? such as the airspace and uninterrupted refueling
access required ? which makes waging war against Yemen a nonstarter.

Harsher strikes on critical Israeli centers are likely to drive Israel into
greater missteps and strategic errors, especially at a time when escalation
and the further weakening of its deterrence are counterproductive to its
interests.

By targeting the Yemenis directly, Israel has underestimated the resolve
and capabilities of a formidable adversary
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/25859>, potentially choosing the worst
possible opponents in this round of conflict.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Jul 24 13:28:42 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2024 10:28:42 -0700
Subject: [News] Eighty-three percent of Gaza under forced evacuation as
 massacres unfold in Khan Yunis
Message-ID: <mailman.137.1721842227.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

 Eighty-three percent of Gaza under forced evacuation as massacres unfold
in Khan Yunis

No shelter remains for millions of Palestinians in Gaza as the Israeli army
continues to wreak havoc across the strip

News Desk <https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9>

JUL 24, 2024 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/eighty-three-percent-of-gaza-under-forced-evacuation-as-massacres-unfold-in-khan-yunis
(Photo credit: X)

The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/7/24/israel-war-on-gaza-live-israeli-tanks-force-palestinians-into-crowded-camp>
on 24 July that the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza?s southern city of Khan
Yunis is one of the ?bloodiest? attacks yet.

According to the monitor and to authorities in the strip, the ongoing attack
on Khan Yunis
<https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/at-least-89-gazans-killed-in-israeli-attack-in-khan-younis-authorities-say/3283553>
has killed at least 89 people and has injured over 263 others. The death
toll is expected to continue rising.

?The Israeli forces threw leaflets in eastern parts of Khan Younis and then
started shelling in a very crazy way all parts of the city,? an *Al Jazeera*
correspondent in central Gaza reported on Wednesday, adding that paramedics
have been unable to reach certain areas to treat the wounded.

The correspondent said people in Khan Yunis are moving from place to place
with nowhere to go, looking for shelter as Israeli attacks on crowded
streets continue.

The last hospital in the city, the Nasser Medical Complex, is facing a mass
influx of casualties and is urgently calling for blood units to treat
wounded people arriving at the facility every minute.

Israeli troops reentered the southern city on 22 July after issuing
evacuation orders to residents, less than two weeks after forcibly
displacing tens of thousands of Palestinians from Gaza City
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/25868> in the northern strip. According
to *Al-Jazeera*, around 150,000 Palestinians in Khan Yunis are now on the
run.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned
<https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/humanitarian-situation-update-194-gaza-strip-enarhe>in
a situation report on Monday that ?as of 22 July, nearly 83 per cent of the
Gaza Strip has been placed under evacuation orders or designated as ?no-go
zones? by the Israeli military.?

?Frequent evacuation orders and relentless hostilities continue to further
devastate Gaza?s health system and make it increasingly difficult for
repeatedly displaced populations to access essential services, particularly
people suffering from chronic diseases,? the report added, coincided with
the outbreak
<https://thecradle.co/articles/israeli-army-shields-itself-from-poliovirus-as-disease-runs-rampant-in-gaza>
of the poliovirus across the devastated enclave.

As Israel relentlessly targets the strip?s civilian population, the Israeli
army continues to face fierce resistance from the fighters of Hamas? Qassam
Brigades and other resistance factions, both in Khan Yunis and in the
southernmost city of Rafah.

The Qassam Brigades announced several operations targeting Israeli tanks
and bulldozers east of Khan Yunis over the past two days.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Jul 24 13:32:07 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2024 10:32:07 -0700
Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?Yemen=E2=80=99s_Hodeidah_port_receives_first_sh?=
	=?utf-8?q?ipments_since_Israeli_attack?=
Message-ID: <mailman.139.1721842408.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

 Yemen?s Hodeidah port receives first shipments since Israeli attack

The western Yemeni port was operational 24 hours after the Israeli strikes,
according to the governor of Hodeidah province

News Desk <https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9>

JUL 24, 2024 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/yemens-hodeidah-port-receives-first-shipments-since-israeli-attack
(Photo credit: X)

The western Yemeni port of Hodeidah has received
<https://www.saba.ye/en/news3352164.htm> its first shipments since being
targeted in a brutal Israeli attack over the weekend.

On the evening of 23 July, a ship carrying 514 containers of goods and
another holding about 20,000 tons of iron arrived at the port.

?The container ship Marsa Zenith carries 514 containers of various goods,
and docked at the quay of Container Terminal No. 6. ? the ship BROTHER 1,
carrying 22,803 tons of iron, docked on cargo berths No. 2-3,? the director
of maritime operations at the port, Captain Mohammad al-Sais, was quoted as
saying by SABA news agency.

?The Red Sea Ports Corporation is working with all its crews and cadres to
continue the operational process of the port of Hodeidah, and to overcome
the entry of ships loaded with goods and goods to provide the needs of the
Yemeni people,? he added.

The Deputy Director of the port?s Container Terminal, Dr Ahmad al-Murtada,
was quoted by the local news outlet as saying that ?the port of Hodeidah is
working normally around the clock in receiving all ships and enhancing work
and coordination on keeping pace with all commercial supply chain.?

The governor of Hodeidah province had said on 22 July that the port?s work
resumed 24 hours after the attack.

The comments of the port officials came on the same day as the announcement
of a new agreement between Yemen?s Sanaa government and the Saudi-led
coalition in Yemen.

The UN Special Envoy to Yemen, Muhammad Abdul Salam, announced that Saudi
Arabia has agreed
<https://english.almasirah.net.ye/post/41382/Saudi-Arabia-Reverses-Decisions-Strangling-Yemenis-New-Victory-for-Sana-a>
to lift certain harsh restrictions targeting Yemeni commercial banks and
ease the blockade on Sanaa International Airport.

The clauses of the agreement include ?the cancellation of recent decisions
and measures against banks from both sides and the cessation of any similar
future decisions or measures? and ?the resumption of Yemen Airways flights
between Sanaa and Jordan and increasing the number of its flights to three
daily, with flights to Cairo and India daily or as needed,? Abdul Salam
said.

The deal also calls for ?meetings to address the administrative, technical,
and financial challenges facing Yemen Airways? and ?meetings to discuss all
economic and humanitarian issues based on a roadmap.?

Sanaa International Airport and Hodeidah Port have been under a Saudi-led
blockade since 2015 when a coalition of Arab states headed by Riyadh
launched a war against Yemen?s Ansarallah resistance movement.

Talks between the Saudi-led coalition and the Sanaa government affiliated
with Ansarallah made significant progress last year but have stalled since
the start of the war in Gaza and the Yemeni army?s pro-Palestine
operations.

The shipments arriving at Hodeidah port came days after a brutal Israeli
attack on the facility on Saturday, which killed six and wounded at least
87, most of who suffered severe burns as a result of Israel?s targeting of
oil infrastructure.

The Israeli attack was a response to the Yemeni army?s drone strike on Tel
Aviv
<https://thecradle.co/articles/yemen-declares-tel-aviv-unsafe-zone-after-successful-drone-attack>
on 19 July, which killed one Israeli and injured several others. The
unprecedented attack was labeled as a ?mega-failure? of the Israeli defense
establishment by Hebrew media.

Fires raged <https://thecradle.co/articles-id/26055> at Hodeidah port days
after the Israeli strike. An oil storage tank at the facility exploded on
Tuesday night as a result, raising fears that flames could spread to other
oil tanks.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Jul 24 13:50:25 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2024 10:50:25 -0700
Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?Hamas_has_detailed_dossiers_on_thousands_of_Isr?=
	=?utf-8?q?aeli_soldiers_as_=E2=80=9Crevenge_for_children_killers?=
	=?utf-8?b?4oCd?=
Message-ID: <mailman.141.1721843594.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

 Hamas has detailed dossiers on thousands of Israeli soldiers as ?revenge
for children killers,? report claims

July 24, 2024 - https://qudsnen.co/?p=45656
[image: C077C1E0-FC1A-41F3-841C-E418557C12BA.jpeg]

Occupied Palestine (Quds News Network)- More than 2,000 Israel Air Force
personnel were the subject of detailed dossiers created by Hamas as part of
intelligence-gathering operations, according to a new report published on
Monday by Israeli newspaper Haaretz
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/security-aviation/2024-07-22/ty-article/.premium/hamas-produced-detailed-dossiers-on-over-2-000-israeli-air-force-soldiers-families/00000190-d737-d548-a3ba-ffff22810000>
.

The dossiers were leaked online this week, and with them the details of the
soldiers? past and present.

Haaretz said the purpose of the reports appears clearly on their cover
page: ?As revenge for the killers of [the] children of Gaza.?
?As revenge for the killers of [the] children of Gaza.? Hamas? intelligence
dossiers, with logos of Israeli Air Force units. (Haaretz)

Each report includes the soldier?s full name, their base or unit, I.D.
number, mobile phone number, email address, social media accounts, names of
family members, and in some cases passwords, license plates, credit card
numbers and bank account information.

The dossiers on the different soldiers, ranging in length from a few to
over 200 pages long, have been circulating online for a number of months
now.

Their existence was publicized again recently and they were shared with a
group of international investigative reporters, led by Paper Trail Media in
partnership with Germany?s Die Zeit and ZDF, Austria?s Der Standard and
Haaretz.

The reports were composed of a combination of information that was leaked
or taken from a hack, likely into the servers of a non-IDF website, with
information also being scraped from social networks, public databases and
from previous leaks.

They were produced using an automatic tool known as a profiler, which makes
it possible to collect, cross-reference and fuse together intelligence from
open sources (OSINT) to create a detailed ?profile? on intelligence
targets. In this way, sensitive personal information was collated on
thousands of people who serve or served at various IAF bases.

The reports help underscore how such leaks, usually treated as a privacy
issue, can quickly morph into a national security threat for Israel.

It also shows how lack of enforcement of cyber-security standards on
different bodies in Israel has helped Hamas gain information which can
expose thousands of Israelis to a number of different threats ? from
revenge, to persecution and doxxing, to being targets of advanced
intelligence surveillance, to exposure to legal threats abroad ? according
to a number of experts who spoke with the group of investigative
journalists.

An Israeli security source confirmed the reports were made by Hamas.
According to Aymenn Al-Tamimi, a leading expert on jihadist literature and
documents who assessed the dossiers for German-speaking media, the
documents look authentic and are generally in keeping with other Hamas
material and language.

A number of sources who spoke to Haaretz said the data ? which also
includes information on soldiers and acquaintances and relatives ? can
easily be used to target them or gain more intelligence and access to
secrets.

According to Haaretz, the detailed reports were made after Israel?s
genocide war on Gaza began October 7, but the raw information with which
they were compiled is older, adding it is not clear who leaked the reports
online, but they have been available on hacker platforms since at least
December.

It seems that some of the information was taken from Atid College, which
was the victim of an Iranian hack last May. At the time, this was one of
many hacks on a non-sensitive civilian target, and the hackers even tried
to sell the data online. Since then, there have been dozens of similar
cases, Haaretz said.

The reports also contain data taken from other sources, for example details
on vehicles, which may have been taken from the hacking of the Shirbit
insurance company in 2020.

It is also possible that information from the Israeli voter registry, which
was leaked online as part of the Elector app leaks, also served as a data
source for the reports.

The reports were first leaked or published as an online repository in
December 2023, close to the date they were created. They were then
distributed online on different platforms and websites by three different
hacker groups. Later, a purported Indonesian hacker group identifying as
GenoSec also distributed the files, which eventually were also shared with
reporters after being indexed and archived.

The data was also shared by a known hacking group called Hunt3rKill3rs,
which claim to be a Russian hacking group but are suspected of actually
being Iranian due to their language and focus on Israel.

Haaretz and the partners contacted several dozen soldiers whose details
appeared in the reports. It seems that some of them had already been warned
by some security source about the reports. Others were surprised.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Jul 24 13:54:52 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2024 10:54:52 -0700
Subject: [News] Israeli jailer killed in retaliation for torture against
 detainees
Message-ID: <mailman.145.1721843755.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

 Israeli jailer killed in retaliation for torture against detainees
July 22, 2024 - https://qudsnen.co/?p=45532
[image: MixCollage-22-Jul-2024-04-39-PM-6465-2048x1024.jpg]
<https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fqudsnen.co%2F%3Fp%3D45532>
<https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Israeli+jailer+killed+in+retaliation+for+torture+against+detainees&url=https%3A%2F%2Fqudsnen.co%2F%3Fp%3D45532&via=Quds+News+Network>
<https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://qudsnen.co/?p=45532&media=https://qudsnen.co/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/MixCollage-22-Jul-2024-04-39-PM-6465-scaled.jpg&description=The
Israeli army detained Ebrahim Mansour, a former detainee belonging to Hamas
movement, from the village of Bidu in occupied Jerusalem for killing an
Israeli jailer, who repeatedly practiced torture against Palestinian
detainees.>
<https://api.whatsapp.com/send?text=Israeli+jailer+killed+in+retaliation+for+torture+against+detainees
%0A%0A https://qudsnen.co/?p=45532>
[image: Ibrahim Mansor (left) carried out a retaliation attack against the
jailer Yohay Avni (right), who used to torture detainees in Israel's Ofer
jail.] Ibrahim Mansor (left) carried out a retaliation attack against the
jailer Yohay Avni (right), who used to torture detainees in Israel's Ofer
jail.

Occupied Palestine (Quds News Network)- The Israeli army detained Ibrahim
Mansour, a former detainee, from the village of Bidu in occupied Jerusalem
for killing an Israeli jailer, who repeatedly practised torture against
Palestinian detainees.

The Israeli jail officer, Yohay Avni, was reportedly killed inside his
house in an illegal settlement in occupied Jerusalem. The house was set on
fire after killing Avni.

The incident took place nearly two weeks ago, but Israeli authorities only
today allowed Israeli media to publish about it.

This operation marks the first of its kind due to its nature as an
assassination and the targeting of a prison officer killed at his home. It
coincides with reports of threats against the director of Negev Prison and
other IPS officers, following their repeated torture practices on
Palestinian prisoners.

This comes amidst the horrific crimes committed by the IPS against
Palestinian prisoners, which has escalated to unprecedented levels since
October 7, particularly targeting detainees from Gaza.

Systematic torture has led to the deaths of several prisoners in Israeli
jails. The recent months have seen the highest number of fatalities within
the prisoner community.

The Israeli occupation authorities enforce a starvation policy, depriving
prisoners of adequate and healthy meals, instead providing them with
spoiled and poor-quality food. Physical and psychological torture is
systematically applied from the moment of arrest and during interrogation,
including beatings, insults, and humiliating strip searches.

Cells are overcrowded, with 12-16 detainees crammed into spaces designed
for six. Prisoners are denied basic water and hygiene, leading to
contagious and painful skin diseases, while being deprived of their right
to medical treatment.

Earlier, the Palestinian Prisoners? Club urged the United Nations to
conduct an impartial international investigation into the ongoing crimes
against detainees and prisoners, as well as field executions. They called
on the international human rights system to fulfill its responsibilities in
the face of these rampant crimes.

The Club condemned the field execution by Israeli forces of four Gaza
prisoners, which constitutes a new war crime. The four victims were aid
workers in Gaza, targeted at the Kerem Shalom crossing.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Jul 24 22:52:16 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2024 19:52:16 -0700
Subject: [News] Maggots,
 crickets released at Watergate Hotel in protest of Netanyahu visit
Message-ID: <mailman.149.1721876401.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

washingtonpost.com
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/07/24/watergate-hotel-protest-maggots-netanyahu-visit/>
Maggots, crickets released at Watergate Hotel in protest of Netanyahu visit
Emma Uber, Emily Davies, Ellie Silverman
July 24, 2024
------------------------------

An Instagram video posted Wednesday
<https://www.instagram.com/reel/C9zjGQ7xS64/?igsh=aWY3NzgxMXJteGg5> shows
hundreds of mealworms, maggots and crickets crawling around the Watergate
Hotel where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/24/netanyahu-speech-congress-live-updates?itid=lk_inline_manual_2>
is staying during his visit to D.C., raising questions about how protesters
who claimed to unleash the vermin were able to get onto the property as the
area has been under tight security.

The video, posted jointly to Instagram by the Palestinian Youth Movement
and its DMV chapter, depicts swarms of crickets on the hotel?s floor and
claims protesters triggered the hotel?s fire alarm ?to ensure that there
will be no rest before Netanyahu and Congress disgraces themselves in front
of the world? when the Israeli leader addressed Congress in a joint meeting
Wednesday. The video also shows maggots and mealworms crawling across a
table set with drinking glasses as Israeli and American flags stand side by
side in the background.

An official familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of
anonymity to discuss security matters said the video appeared to be
authentic.

Residents of the Watergate complex said U.S. Secret Service and D.C. police
set up checkpoints over the weekend to vet anyone entering the property.

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/07/24/benjamin-netanyahu-speech-congress-israel-gaza/?itid=mc_magnet-netanyahu-dc_inline_collection_1>

[image: Maggots, crickets released at Watergate Hotel in protest of
Netanyahu visit]
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/07/24/watergate-hotel-protest-maggots-netanyahu-visit/?itid=mc_magnet-netanyahu-dc_inline_collection_2>

?The Watergate facility has an expansive footprint and remains open for
businesses, residences and guests,? said Abel Trevino, a spokesperson for a
public safety team made up of local and federal agencies staffing
Netanyahu?s visit to the District. ?At no time was there any threat to our
protectees.?

The hotel, whose answering machine ironically greets callers with ?There?s
no need to break in? as a nod to its storied history, said in a statement
it was aware of the video and ?the unfortunate incident that occurred at
the property yesterday.?

?Our top priority is the safety and well-being of our guests and staff,?
the statement from a hotel spokesperson said. ?We took the necessary steps
to ensure the property has been sanitized and is now operating as normal.
We are cooperating fully with authorities, who are handling the situation.
As this is an open case, we are unable to provide any further details at
this time.?

A D.C. Fire and EMS spokesperson said in a statement that the agency had
fire inspectors stationed at Netanyahu?s hotel ?at the request of the
United States Secret Service,? and that after the alarm sounded, fire
officials ?determined there was no fire emergency and any fire department
response was cancelled.?

Netanyahu?s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Zaid Khatib, 27, an organizer with the DMV chapter of the Palestinian Youth
Movement said an anonymous tipster sent the video to his group, which in
turn posted it Wednesday morning.

Khatib said he was not involved in this protest and did not know who was
responsible, but he said protesters have also held noise demonstrations
outside the hotel every morning and night to make sure Netanyahu ?will
enjoy no rest while he is here.?

The releasing of maggots, he said, reflects ?the fact that all of D.C. from
organizations to individuals reject the stay of a war criminal in our city.?

Khatib said he does not know if there are more protests planned for inside
the Watergate Hotel.

?It reflects a tremendous security failure on their part,? he said,
referring to law enforcement. ?The city of D.C. and the United States
government has stolen tens of millions of dollars to roll out the red
carpet for a war criminal and even then, they can?t stop something as
simple as maggots being dropped ? at the Watergate Hotel.?
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Jul 24 22:59:51 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2024 19:59:51 -0700
Subject: [News] Palestinian factions blast Netanyahu,
 US for deceptive Congress speech
Message-ID: <mailman.151.1721876455.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/palestinian-factions-blast-netanyahu--us-for-deceptive-congr>
Palestinian factions blast Netanyahu, US for deceptive Congress speech
Al Mayadeen English
July 24, 2024
------------------------------

Multiple Palestinian factions have released statements criticizing the US
for hosting Netanyahu in the Congress on Wednesday.

   - [image: Palestinian factions blast Netanyahu, US for deceptive
   Congress speech]
   <https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2024/7/25/c7c7eedd-8e39-42ae-874a-218efab68778.jpg?width=1000>
   Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to a joint meeting of
   Congress at the Capitol in Washington, the United States, July 24, 2024.
   (AP)

Izzat Al-Risheq, a member of the political bureau of Hamas, blasted
Netanyahu's speech before the United States Congress, describing it as "a
criminal's speech filled with lies and a mockery of the [peoples']
intelligence."

Another senior Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, said that Netanyahu's speech
addressing the US Congress is evidence that he does not want to conclude a
ceasefire deal.

"Netanyahu's speech was full of lies and it will not succeed in covering up
for the failure and defeat in the face of the resistance to cover up for
the crimes of the war of genocide his army is committing against the people
of Gaza," Abu Zuhri said in an interview.

On his part, a spokesman for the President of the Palestinian Authority
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/mere-inter-palestinian-talks-constitute-loss-for--israel---i>,
Mahmoud Abbas, responded to Netanyahu by saying that the Palestine
Liberation Organization (PLO) "is the sole representative of the
Palestinian people and it decides who governs them."

The remarks come as a direct response to a section in Netanyahu's speech
which he dedicated to outlining his vision for governance
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/netanyahu-begs-us-to-fast-track-military-aid-to-expedite-gaz>
in the Gaza Strip.

Ali Abu Shahin, a member of the political bureau of the Palestinian Islamic
Jihad (PIJ), stated in a statement posted by the movement on Telegram that
Netanyahu's speech aimed to garner sympathy from Washington after losing
international support.

Abu Shahin confirmed that "it is clear that Netanyahu does not want to stop
the genocidal war against our people in the Gaza Strip," and that "the day
after the war in Gaza is a Palestinian matter and Netanyahu's plans will
fail" in the face of the steadfastness of the Palestinian people and their
Resistance.

The Palestinian al-Mujahideen Movement also released a statement, strongly
condemning Netanyahu's reception in the US Congress, stressing that
"hosting the war criminal Netanyahu in Congress confirms the involvement
and deep entanglement of the American administration in the genocidal war
[on Gaza]."

Meanwhile, the movement praised the stances of those who opposed
Netanyahu's visit and protested the speech, stating that "the American
administration insists on continuing to violate international laws and
encourages genocidal criminals by hosting the Nazi killer Netanyahu to
deliver a speech full of lies and slanders and continues to supply the
entity with weapons and provide it with international [political] cover."

*Read more: Israeli media holds Netanyahu responsible for fate of captives
in Gaza
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-media-holds-netanyahu-responsible-for-fate-of-captiv>*
Netanyahu's speech marks US as key sponsor of Israeli war crimes

The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) said that
Netanyahu's fabrications and lies constitute a blatant condemnation of all
American claims of upholding democracy and human rights, and "the false
American peace project dubbed the two-state solution."

The front called on the political leadership of the PA and Arab states
normalizing relations with "Israel" to draw lessons from the Netanayhu's
address to Congress, which it saw as "reflecting the stark truths about the
nature of the Israeli fascist project."

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) also lambasted the
US Congress and Netanyahu's speech, however, commended US lawmakers
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/democrats-to-netanyahu---liar-with-promotion-campaign----war>
who boycotted the address.

"The reception of the war criminal Netanyahu by the US Congress, who is
primarily responsible for the Zionist genocide in Gaza, confirms that
America is the main sponsor of terrorism and the Zionist genocide in Gaza
and that it is directly involved in unprecedented crimes against the
Palestinian people," the statement read.

The front also pointed to Netanayhu's attempts to invoke the Holocaust as
justification for the Israeli war crimes in Gaza, saying that it was an
"attempt to portray a victim narrative and justify the war crimes committed
by the Zionist genocide regime against the Palestinian people."

*Read more: Israeli officials slam Netanyahu's Congress speech as
'disgraceful'
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-officials-slam-netanyahu-s-congress-speech-as--disgr>*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Thu Jul 25 22:54:57 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Thu, 25 Jul 2024 19:54:57 -0700
Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?10=25_of_the_Gaza_Strip=E2=80=99s_population_ki?=
	=?utf-8?q?lled=2C_injured=2C_or_went_missing?=
Message-ID: <mailman.158.1722001667.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

 Euro-Med: 10% of the Gaza Strip?s population killed, injured, or went
missing

Thursday 25-July-2024 - https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/07/25/322668/
<https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/07/25/322668/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/07/25/322668/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/07/25/322668/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/07/25/322668/#>
+ -

GAZA, (PIC)

About 10% of the population of the Gaza Strip was killed, injured, or went
missing during the 293-day genocide carried out by Israel in the Gaza Strip
since October 7, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor revealed in a statement
issued on Thursday.

The Euro-Med preliminary statistics indicate that about 50,000 Palestinians
were killed, or reported missing under the rubble of the destroyed
buildings, or their bodies are still on the roads or in border areas or
completely destroyed and cannot be recovered, while more than about 100,000
others were injured. The majority of these civilian victims are children
and women, while about 3,000 Palestinians disappeared after they were
arrested from the Gaza Strip, and their fate remains unknown.

The estimates provided by Euro-Med are based on data and statistics
gathered by its field teams from Gaza?s neighborhoods and camps, as well as
information received from relevant authorities and institutions, including
several hospitals and medical teams.

These indicate that at least 51,000 people have died as a result of the
Israeli blockade of the entire Gaza Strip, denial of medical care, collapse
of the health sector due to targeting and blockade, severe weakness in
ambulance services, severe shortage of basic medicines, particularly for
patients with chronic illnesses and cancer, prevention of travel abroad for
treatment, and the spread of infectious diseases and epidemics.

Accordingly, the natural death rate increased from an estimated 3.5 per
1,000 people prior to the start of the genocide campaign to 22 per 1,000
people during the genocide campaign.

The number of beds available in operating hospitals and field hospitals
across the Gaza Strip is currently less than 1,500, which is insufficient
to accommodate the needs of over two million people. This is in contrast to
the 3,500 beds that were available prior to October 7.

The scarcity of medical supplies and equipment is making the bed shortage
worse, as is the Israeli army?s ongoing, systematic, and widespread
destruction of hospitals and health facilities. Additionally, there has
been a notable rise in the number of wounded and sick, which has resulted
in a weak medical response and serious health complications for the wounded
and sick, as well as avoidable deaths among the elderly.

The Euro-Med called for putting pressure on Israel to reopen the main water
pipelines that enter the Gaza Strip, particularly those that enter from the
north of the Strip, as well as to guarantee the safety of technicians and
give them the chance to repair and restore the water lines and their
various sources while also keeping up sanitation facilities and services.

Pressure should also be applied to Israel to ensure that enough fuel is
imported to run the water and sanitation infrastructure, which includes
stations, water desalination plants, water wells, and mobile water cycles,
and to enter the necessary supplies for repair and rehabilitation work on
civilian infrastructure, it added.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Fri Jul 26 12:36:48 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 2024 09:36:48 -0700
Subject: [News] Open Letter From US Physicians And Nurses After Visit To Gaza
Message-ID: <mailman.160.1722011968.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

popularresistance.org
<https://popularresistance.org/open-letter-from-us-physicians-and-nurses-after-visit-to-gaza/>
Open Letter From US Physicians And Nurses After Visit To Gaza
July 25, 2024
------------------------------
[image: download.jpg]

Above photo: The team of healthcare workers, including Feroze (left) and
Perlmutter (second from left), that volunteered to work with the World
Health Organization through the Palestinian American Medical Association. |
Courtesy of Feroze Sidhwa/

July 25, 2024
Re: American physicians? and nurses? observations from the Gaza Strip since
October 7, 2023

I?ve never seen such horrific injuries, on such a massive scale, with so
few resources. Our bombs are cutting down women and children by the
thousands. Their mutilated bodies are a monument to cruelty. ? Dr. Feroze
Sidhwa, trauma and critical care surgeon

I saw so many stillbirths and maternal deaths that could have been easily
prevented if the hospitals had been functioning normally.  ? Dr. Thalia
Pachiyannakis, obstetrician and gynecologist

Every day I saw babies die. They had been born healthy. Their mothers were
so malnourished that they could not breastfeed, and we lacked formula or
clean water to feed them, so they starved.  ? Asma Taha, pediatric nurse
practitioner

Gaza was the first time I held a baby?s brains in my hand. The first of
many.  ? Dr. Mark Perlmutter, orthopedic and hand surgeon

Dear President Joseph R. Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Dr. Jill
Biden,

We are forty-five American physicians, surgeons, and nurses who have
volunteered in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023. We worked with various
nongovernmental organizations and the World Health Organization in
hospitals throughout the Strip. In addition to our medical and surgical
expertise, many of us have a public health background, as well as
experience working in humanitarian and conflict zones, including Ukraine
during the brutal Russian invasion. Some of us are veterans of the United
States Armed Forces. We are a multifaith and multiethnic group. None of us
support the horrors committed on October 7 by Palestinian armed groups and
individuals in Israel.

The Constitution of the World Health Organization states: ?The health of
all peoples is fundamental to the attainment of peace and security and is
dependent on the fullest cooperation of individuals and States.? It is in
this spirit that we write to you.

We are among the only neutral observers who have been permitted to enter
the Gaza Strip since October 7. Given our broad expertise and direct
experience of working throughout Gaza we are uniquely positioned to comment
on several matters of importance to our government as it decides whether to
continue supporting Israel?s attack on, and siege of, the Gaza Strip.
Specifically, we believe we are well positioned to comment on the massive
human toll from Israel?s attack on Gaza, especially the toll it has taken
on women and children.

This letter collects and summarizes our own experiences and direct
observations in Gaza. We have also provided links to a much longer and
heavily cited appendix summarizing the publicly available information from
media, humanitarian, and academic sources on key aspects of Israel?s
invasion of Gaza. The appendix is available as a PDF file at
https://tinyurl.com/gazadoctorsletterappendix. This letter can be accessed
electronically as a PDF file at https://tinyurl.com/gazadoctorsletter.

This letter and the appendix show probative evidence that the human toll in
Gaza is far higher than is understood in the United States. It is likely
that the death toll from this conflict is already greater than 92,000, an
astonishing 4.2% of Gaza?s population. Our government must act immediately
to prevent an even worse catastrophe than what has already befallen the
people of Gaza and Israel. A ceasefire must be imposed on both Israel and
Palestinian armed groups by withholding military support for Israel and
supporting an international arms embargo on both Israel and all Palestinian
armed groups. We believe our government is obligated to do this, both under
American law and International Humanitarian Law, and that it is the right
thing to do.

With only marginal exceptions, everyone in Gaza is sick, injured, or both.
This includes every national aid worker, every international volunteer, and
probably every Israeli hostage: every man, woman, and child. While working
in Gaza we saw widespread malnutrition in our patients and our Palestinian
healthcare colleagues. Every one of us lost weight rapidly in Gaza despite
having privileged access to food and having taken our own supplementary
nutrient dense food with us. We have photographic evidence of
life-threatening malnutrition in our patients, especially children, that we
are eager to share with you.

Virtually every child under the age of five whom we encountered, both
inside and outside of the hospital, had both a cough and watery diarrhea.
We found cases of jaundice (indicating hepatitis A infection under such
conditions) in virtually every room of the hospitals in which we served,
and in many of our healthcare colleagues in Gaza. An astonishingly high
percentage of our surgical incisions became infected from the combination
of malnutrition, impossible operating conditions, and lack of supplies and
medications, including antibiotics. The pregnant women we treated often
gave birth to underweight infants, and they were unable to breastfeed due
to malnutrition. This left their newborns at high risk of death given the
lack of access to potable water anywhere in Gaza. Many of those infants
died. In Gaza we watched malnourished new mothers feed their underweight
newborns infant formula made with poisonous water. We can never forget that
the world abandoned these innocent women and babies.

We urge you to realize that epidemics are raging in Gaza. Israel?s
continued, repeated displacement of the malnourished and sick population of
Gaza, half of whom are children, to areas with no running water or even
toilets available is absolutely shocking. It is virtually guaranteed to
result in widespread death from viral and bacterial diarrheal diseases and
pneumonias, particularly in children under the age of five. We worry that
unknown thousands have already died from the lethal combination of
malnutrition and disease, and that tens of thousands more will die in the
coming months. Most of them will be young children.

Children are universally considered innocents in armed conflict. However,
every single signatory to this letter treated children in Gaza who suffered
violence that must have been deliberately directed at them. Specifically,
every one of us on a daily basis treated pre-teen children who were shot in
the head and chest.

President and Dr. Biden, we wish you could see the nightmares that plague
so many of us since we have returned: dreams of children maimed and
mutilated by our weapons, and their inconsolable mothers begging us to save
them. We wish you could hear the cries and screams our consciences will not
let us forget. We cannot believe that anyone would continue arming the
country that is deliberately killing these children after seeing what we
have seen.

The pregnant women we treated were particularly malnourished. Those of us
who worked with pregnant women regularly saw stillbirths and maternal
deaths that were easily preventable in any third-world healthcare system.
The rate of infection in C-section incisions was astonishing. Women
underwent C-sections without anesthesia, and were given nothing but Tylenol
afterwards because no other pain medications were available.

All of us observed emergency departments overwhelmed by patients seeking
treatment for chronic medical conditions such as renal failure,
hypertension, and diabetes. Aside from trauma patients, most ICU beds were
taken up by type 1 diabetics who no longer had access to injected insulin,
due to the lack of medication and the widespread loss of electricity and
refrigeration. Israel has destroyed more than half of Gaza?s healthcare
resources and has killed one out of every 40 healthcare workers in Gaza. At
the same time healthcare needs have increased massively from the lethal
combination of military violence, malnutrition, and disease.

The hospitals where we worked were starved of basic supplies from, surgical
material to soap. They were regularly cut off from electricity and Internet
access, denied clean water, and operated at four to seven times their bed
capacity. Every hospital was overwhelmed beyond the breaking point by
displaced persons seeking safety, by the constant stream of patients whose
treatment of chronic conditions had been interrupted by the war, by the
huge influx of seriously wounded patients who typically arrived in mass
casualty events, and by the sick and malnourished seeking medical care.

These observations and the publicly available material detailed in the
appendix lead us to believe that the death toll from this conflict is many
times higher than what is reported by the Gaza Ministry of Health. We also
believe this is probative evidence of widespread violations of American
laws governing the use of American weapons abroad, and of International
Humanitarian Law. We cannot forget the scenes of unbearable cruelty
directed at women and children that we witnessed ourselves.

As we met our healthcare colleagues in Gaza it was clear that they were
malnourished, and both physically and mentally devastated. We quickly
learned that our Palestinian healthcare colleagues were among the most
traumatized people in Gaza, and perhaps in the entire world. Like virtually
all people in Gaza they had lost family members and their homes. Most lived
in and around their hospitals with their surviving families in unimaginable
conditions. Although they continued working a grueling schedule, they had
not been paid since October 7. All were acutely aware that their work as
healthcare providers had marked them as targets for Israel. This makes a
mockery of the protected status hospitals and healthcare providers are
granted under the oldest and most widely accepted
provisions of International Humanitarian Law.

We met healthcare personnel in Gaza who worked at hospitals that had been
raided and destroyed by Israel. Many of these colleagues of ours were taken
by Israel during the attacks. They all told us a slightly different version
of the same story: in captivity they were barely fed, continuously
physically and psychologically abused, and finally dumped naked on the side
of a road. Many told us they were subjected to mock executions and other
forms of mistreatment and torture. Far too many of our healthcare
colleagues told us they were simply waiting to die.

We urge you to see that Israel has directly targeted and deliberately
devastated Gaza?s entire healthcare system, and that Israel has targeted
our colleagues in Gaza for death, disappearance, and torture. These
unconscionable acts are entirely at odds with American law, American
values, and International Humanitarian Law.

Dr. Biden, you worked with young people throughout your life. We hope and
pray that you will not look away from the unspeakable horrors the youth of
Gaza face today, horrors only we as Americans can end. We sincerely hope
you will do everything in your power to stop what is being done to them.

President Biden and Vice President Harris, any solution to this problem
must begin with an immediate and permanent ceasefire. We urge you to
withhold military, economic, and diplomatic support from the State of
Israel and to participate in an international arms embargo of both Israel
and all Palestinian armed groups until a permanent ceasefire is
established, and until good faith negotiations between Israel and the
Palestinians lead to a permanent resolution of the conflict.

In the meantime:
1. All land crossings between Gaza and Israel as well as the Rafah Crossing
must be opened to unfettered aid delivery by recognized international
humanitarian organizations. Security screening of aid deliveries must be
conducted by an independent international inspection regime instead of
Israeli forces. These screenings must be based on a clear, unambiguous, and
published list of forbidden items, and with a clear independent
international mechanism for challenging forbidden items, as verified by the
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied
Palestinian territory.
2. A bare minimum water allocation of 20L of potable water per person per
day must be allocated to the population of Gaza, as verified by UN Water.
3. Full and unrestricted access of medical and surgical professionals and
medical and surgical equipment to the Gaza Strip must be allowed. This must
include items taken in healthcare professionals? personal luggage to
safeguard their proper storage, sterility, and timely delivery, as verified
by the World Health Organization. Incredibly, Israel is currently blocking
any physician of Palestinian descent from working in Gaza, even American
citizens. This makes a mockery of the American ideal that ?all men are
created equal? and degrades our nation and our profession. Our work is
lifesaving. Our Palestinian healthcare colleagues in Gaza are desperate for
relief and protection, and they deserve both.

We are not politicians. We do not claim to have all the answers. We are
simply physicians and nurses who cannot remain silent about what we saw in
Gaza. Every day that we continue supplying weapons and munitions to Israel
is another day that women are shredded by our bombs and children are
murdered with our bullets.

President Biden and Vice President Harris, we urge you: end this madness
now!

Sincerely and urgently,
Feroze Sidhwa, MD, MPH, FACS, FICS
Trauma, acute care, critical care, and general surgeon Northern California
Veterans Affairs general surgeon Served at European Hospital, Khan Younis,
March 25-April 8 Secretary/Treasurer, Chest Wall Injury Society Associate
Professor of Surgery, California Northstate University College of Medicine
Prior humanitarian work in Haiti, West Bank, Ukraine (3 deployments since
2023), and Zimbabwe Treated victims of the Boston Marathon Bombing French
Camp, CA

Mark Perlmutter, MD, FAAOS, FICS
Orthopedic and hand surgery Served at European Hospital, Khan Younis, March
25-April 8 President, World Surgical Foundation Global Vice President,
International College of Surgeons Prior humanitarian work in 30 countries
Treated victims of 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina Rocky Mount, NC

Thalia Pachiyannakis, MD, FACOG
Obstetrician and gynecologist
Served at Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis, June 20-July 11 South Bend,
IN

Adam Hamawy, MD
Plastic and reconstructive surgeon
Served at European Hospital, Khan Younis, May 1-21 Lt. Colonel, U.S. Army
(Ret.) Princeton, NJ

Bing Li, MD
Emergency medicine
Served at European Hospital, Khan Younis, June 6-13 Served at Nasser
Medical Complex, Khan Younis, June 14-20 Served at Indonesian Hospital,
Beit Lahia, June 21-July 3 U.S. Army Veteran Peridot, AZ

Thaer Ahmad, MD
Emergency medicine
Served at Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis & al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital,
Deir el-Balah, January 8-24 Director of Global Health, Advocate Christ
Medical Center Assistant Clinical Professor, University of Illinois Chicago
College of Medicine Chicago, IL

Tanya Haj-Hassan, BM BCh, MSc
Pediatric intensivist
Served at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, March 11-25 Prior humanitarian work in
the West Bank with Doctors Without Borders Rhodes Scholar Philadelphia, PA

Mohammad Subeh, MD, MS
Emergency medicine and ultrasound
Served at the International Medical Corps Rafah Field Hospital, February
14-March 13 Served at the International Medical Corps Deir el-Balah Field
Hospital, June 25-July 18 Mountain View, CA

Nahreen Ahmed, MD, MPH
Pulmonary and critical care intensivist
Served at Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis, January 8-21 Served at the
MedGlobal/WHO Nutrition Center, Rafah,; al-Awda Hospital, Gaza City & Kamal
Adwan Hospital, Beit Lahia March 4-18 Former medial director, MedGlobal
Previous humanitarian work in Yemen, Syria, Ukraine, and Sudan
Philadelphia, PA

Ahmed Hassabelnaby, DO
Emergency medicine
Served at European Hospital, Khan Younis, March 18-April 1 Served at
Indonesian Hospital, Beit Lahia, June 20-July 3 Orlando, FL

Talal Khan, MD, FACP, FASN, FRCP
Nephrologist
Served at Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis, July 16-August 13 Clinical
Associate Professor, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine Currently
serving in Gaza Oklahoma City, OK

Mahmoud G. Sabha, MD
Family medicine
Served at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, Deir el-Balah, March 25-April 3 Served
at European Hospital, Khan Younis, May 1-17 Dallas, TX

Asma A. Taha, PhD, RN, CPNP-PC/AC, FAAN
Pediatric nurse practitioner
Served at Emirati Hospital for Women and Children, Rafah, February 15-March
1 President, Association of Faculties of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
Professor of Nursing, Oregon Health & Science University School of Nursing
Portland, OR

Imad Tamimi, DMD
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon
Served at European Hospital, Khan Younis, February 8-20 Clinical Associate
Professor, Rutgers New Jersey School of Dental Medicine President,
Palestine Children?s Relief Fund Medical Advisory Board Clifton, NJ

Chandra Hassan, MD, FACS, FRCS
General, bariatric, minimally invasive, and robotic surgeon
Served at Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis & al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital,
Deir el-Balah, January 9-23 Board Member, MedGlobal Prior humanitarian work
in Ukraine and Syria Associate Professor of Surgery, University of Illinois
College of Medicine Chicago, IL

Hani El-Omrani, MD
Obstetric and regional anesthesiologist
Served at European Hospital, Khan Younis, March 4-18 Assistant Professor of
Anesthesiology, University of Washington School of Medicine Seattle, WA

Zaher Sahloul, MD, FCCP
Pulmonary and critical care intensivist
Served at Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis, January 9-25 President,
MedGlobal Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of Chicago
Pritzker School of Medicine 2020 Gandhi Peace Award recipient Chicago, IL

Mike M. Mallah, MD
Trauma, acute care, critical care, and general surgeon
Served at European Hospital, March 4-18 Assistant Professor of Surgery
Director of Global Surgery Program Charleston, SC

Mohamed Elfar, MD, MSc, FACS, FCCM
Plastic and reconstructive surgeon
Served at European Hospital, Khan Younis, February 8-20 Assistant Professor
of Surgery, SUNY Upstate Medical University Adjunct Professor of Surgery,
Touro University New York College of Osteopathic Medicine New York City, NY

Hisham Qandeel, MD
Cardiac and thoracic surgeon
Served at European Hospital, Khan Younis, March 18-April 1 Clinical
Assistant Professor, Michigan State University Medical Schools Lansing, MI

Mohammed J. al-Jaghbeer, MD, FCCP
Pulmonary and critical care intensivist
Served at European Hospital, Khan Younis, March 25-April 8 Cleveland, OH

Waleed Sayedahmad, MD, PhD
Anesthesiologist
Served at European Hospital, Khan Younis, March 25-April 8 Parkland, FL
Amer Afaneh, MD, FACS Trauma, acute care, critical care, and general
surgeon Served at European Hospital, Khan Younis, March 25-April 8 Toledo,
OH

Omer Ismail, MD, FACS
Trauma, acute care, critical care, and general surgeon Served at European
Hospital, Khan Younis, May 1-21 Des Moines, IA

Ammar Ghanem, MD, FCCP
Pulmonary and critical care intensivist
Served at European Hospital, Khan Younis, May 1-17 Clinical Assistant
Professor, Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine
Lansing, MI

Abeerah Muhammad, MSN, RN, CEN
Emergency and critical care nurse
Served at European Hospital, Khan Younis, May 1-17 Dallas, TX Abdalrahman
Algendy, MD
Anesthesiologist Served at European Hospital, Khan Younis, February
19-March 5 Toledo, OH

Ayman Abdul-Ghani, MD, FACS, FRCS
Cardiac and thoracic surgeon
Served at European Hospital, Khan Younis, March 25-April 8 Honolulu, HI
Mohamad Abdelfattah, MD Pulmonary and critical care intensivist Served at
European Hospital, Khan Younis, May 1-17 Los Angeles, CA

Irfan Galaria, MD, MBA
Plastic and reconstructive surgeon
Served at European Hospital, Khan Younis, January 29-February 7 Chantilly,
VA

Mohammed Khaleel, MD, MS
Orthopedic and spine surgeon
Served at European Hospital, Khan Younis, April 3-10 Fort Worth, TX

Salman Dasti, MD
Anesthesiologist and interventional pain specialist San Francisco, CA
Served at European Hospital and Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis, June
20-July 4

Bashar Alzghoul, MD, FCCP
Pulmonary and critical care intensivist
Served at European Hospital, Khan Younis, March 25-April 8 Gainesville, FL

Lana Abugharbieh, BSN, RN, CEN
Trauma, operating room, and emergency nurse
Served at European Hospital, Khan Younis & Primary Care Clinics, Rafah,
January 24-February 7 Ashburn, VA

Rana Mahmoud, RN, BSN
Emergency and critical care nurse
Served at European Hospital, Khan Younis, January 22-February 6 & March
25-April 8 Wesley Chapel, FL

Tarek Gouda, RN, AACN
Critical care nurse
Served at European Hospital, Khan Younis, March 5-13 San Diego, CA

Ndal Farah, MD
Anesthesiologist
Served at European Hospital, Khan Younis, February 8-20 Toledo, OH

Hina Syed, MD
Internal medicine and geriatric medicine
Served at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, Deir el-Balah, April 1-10 College Park,
MD

John Kahler, MD, FAAP
Pediatrician
Co-founder, MedGlobal Served at Primary Care Clinics, Rafah, January 8-24
Served at Kamal Adwan Hospital and Nutrition Center, Beit Lahia, March 4-25
Chicago, IL

Aman Odeh, MBBS, FAAP
Pediatrician
Served at Emirati Hospital for Women and Children, Rafah, March 20 to April
1 Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Dell Medical School Austin, TX

Tamer Hassen, BSN
Trauma and emergency nurse
Served at European Hospital, Khan Younis, April 29-May 22 Bedford, MA

Gamal Marey, MD, FACS, FACC
General, cardiac, and thoracic surgeon
Served at European Hospital, Khan Younis, March 25-April 8 Lt. Colonel,
U.S. Army Reserve Stockton, CA

Ahmad Yousaf, MD, MBA
Internal medicine physician and pediatrician
Served at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, June 24-July 16 Little Rock, AK

Ahmed Ebeid, MD
Anesthesiology and pain specialist
Served at Kamal Adwan Hospital, Beit Lahia, March 25-April 13 Portland, OR

Nadia Yousef, MD
Nephrologist
Served at Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis, June 18-July 3 Modesto, CA

CC: Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor
Anthony Blinken, Secretary of State
Samantha Power, Administrator, USAID
Senator Benjamin Cardin, Chair, Senate
Foreign Relations Committee
Senator Jim Risch, Ranking Member, Senate
Foreign Relations Committee
Congressman Michael McCaul, Chair,
House Foreign Affairs Committee
Congressman Gregory Meeks, Ranking
Member, House Foreign Affairs Committee
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Fri Jul 26 12:51:16 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 2024 09:51:16 -0700
Subject: [News] Thousands Stand Up to Netanyahu and the War Makers in
 Washington
Message-ID: <mailman.164.1722012775.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

resumen-english.org
<https://resumen-english.org/2024/07/thousands-stand-up-to-netanayu-and-the-war-makers-in-washington/>
Thousands Stand Up to Netanyahu and the War Makers in Washington
By Bill Hackwell on July 24, 2024 from Washington, DC

<https://i0.wp.com/resumen-english.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/p_7656-scaled.jpg?ssl=1>

photos: Bill Hackwell

Despite facing multiple police agencies, who came from as far away as New
York, and a Capitol encased in heavy metal fences to protect a war
criminal, tens of thousands of determined supporters of the Palestinian
people, from around the US, came to say no to the visit of the genocidal
Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu, who was being welcomed with open arms
by the war profiteers and the great majority of Democrat and Republican
representatives in Congress.

<https://i0.wp.com/resumen-english.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/p_7681-scaled.jpg?ssl=1>

Police from different agencies try to disrupt the march with an unprovoked
pepper spray attack.

In a major speech of nearly an hour to both houses of the US Congress,
Netanyahu harangued and admonished the representatives to ?send us the
tools so we can finish the job?. His reference, of course, is for even more
weapons of mass destruction to continue the genocide of Palestinian people
that has killed nearly 40,000, mostly women and children, with US made
weapons.  There was no mention of any movement towards a cease fire from
Netanyahu, who has been included in an application of arrest for his
criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the
International Criminal Court (ICC). Today, Netanyahu was lauded by Congress
for the fourth time for faithfully maintaining an armed garrison state that
protects and expands US imperial interests in the Middle East.

<https://i0.wp.com/resumen-english.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/p_2985.jpg?ssl=1>

But what the Zionist leader saved most of his anger for was the growing
solidarity movement standing with the heroic people of Palestine that was
ignited on the campuses of the colleges and universities across the US by a
new generation that is not going away.  ?Those outside in the street are
useful idiots of Iran and other enemies! ? he yelled. It may be hard for
some to imagine how a president of a foreign nation can come here to
condemn and degrade anti war activists opposing genocide in the US Capitol
in front of the assembled elected officials of the country who not only
allowed it but gave him multiple standing ovations as well, even though
ending the war in Palestine is the majority opinion of their
constituencies. It is obvious Netanyahu would not of even wasted his breath
if this broad movement wasn?t having a world wide impact.

<https://i0.wp.com/resumen-english.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/p_7652-scaled.jpg?ssl=1>

Washington DC had tried to eliminate free speech during Netanyahu?s visit
by not issuing march permits, but that did not deter the thousands who
flooded the streets and followed Netanyahu where ever he was, including the
Watergate Hotel where he was staying. Many of the major intersections of
the city were taken over and held today by protestors, bringing traffic and
business as usual to a stop.

The breadth of the organizations at the main gathering on the street
leading to the capitol was evident in the speakers. Political groups,
student organizations, and religious organizations, including active Jewish
groups who are playing a big role in exposing the dangerous myth that to
oppose Israel equates to antisemitism.

<https://i0.wp.com/resumen-english.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/p_7622-scaled.jpg?ssl=1>

Labor contingent

Especially noteworthy is the addition of six national labor unions, with a
combined membership comprising nearly half of all union members in the US,
have made public a letter sent to President Biden calling for an embargo on
delivery of all military aid to Israel. The letter was cosigned by the
American Postal Workers Union (APWU), Association of Flight Attendants
(AFA), International Union of Painters (IUPAT), National Education
Association (NEA), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), United
Auto Workers (UAW) and United Electrical Workers (UE); many of whom were in
the streets of Washington today.

As difficult as the police agencies made it, including an unprovoked tear
gassing the front of the protest, the determination and spirit of the
people prevailed in the streets marching for hours.

<https://i0.wp.com/resumen-english.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/p_7654-scaled.jpg?ssl=1>

The national demonstration was organized by a broad coalition including the
Palestinian Youth Movement, ANSWER Coalition, U.S. Palestinian Community
Network, American Muslims for Palestine, The People?s Forum, Palestinian
Feminist Collective, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, Al-Awda: The
Palestine Right to Return Coalition, U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights,
International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Palestinian American
Organizations Network, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee,
Palestinian American Women?s Association, CodePink, Jewish Voice for Peace,
Palestinian Assembly for Liberation, and Writers Against the War on Gaza.

Source: Resumen Latinoamericano ? English
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Fri Jul 26 13:08:13 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 2024 10:08:13 -0700
Subject: [News] Venezuela Faces a Test This Sunday
Message-ID: <mailman.166.1722013765.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

counterpunch.org
<https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/07/26/venezuela-faces-a-test-this-sunday/>
Venezuela Faces a Test This Sunday
Vijay Prashad
July 26, 2024
------------------------------

Photograph Source: Eneas De Troya ? CC BY 2.0
<https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/>

*Caracas*.

On 28 July, the people of Venezeula will go to the polls to conduct the
sixth presidential election since the 1999 Bolivarian Constitution. The two
previous elections (2013 and 2018) were won by Nicol?s Maduro Moros, the
incumbent president. Maduro is running for a third term that will begin in
2025 and run for six years. He is leading a vast alliance of left and
democratic parties that have united to defend the Bolivarian revolution,
which has been ongoing for almost twenty-five years. Maduro has had to lead
both Venezuela and the Bolivarian revolutionary process since the death of
Hugo Ch?vez, the legendary figure who broke the oligarchy?s stranglehold on
Venezuela?s politics, and since the collapse of oil prices in 2015 as well
as the increased suffocation by the United States to destroy the Bolivarian
agenda. No doubt, Maduro has one of the toughtest jobs on the planet,
having to succeed the charismatic Ch?vez and to steer the ship in the
turbulent waters created by the United States. By all accounts, Maduro will
prevail on Sunday, largely because of the abominable character of the
opposition.

*The Far-Right?s Terrible Candidate*

Maduro faces Edmundo Gonz?lez Urrutia, the candidate of the far-right.
Gonz?lez is being portrayed as a grandfatherly figure, although he is only
thirteen years older than Maduro (born in 1962, while Gonz?lez was born in
1949). This image of Gonz?lez as an *abuela* (grandfather) masks his more
ferocious political project and his background. Gonz?lez leads the Unity
Platform, which had been created in 2021 by Juan Guaid?; it is worth
recalling that Guaid? was the politician plucked from obscurity by the
United States to become a pretender president in 2019 (following a
blueprint that had succeeded for the United States in Ukraine when the
United States government places Arseniy Petrovych Yatsenyuk into the prime
minister?s office in Ukraine). The Unity Platform, or PU in its Spanish
acronym, brings together the politicians of the far-right of a special kind
that had been funded and trained by the United States (such as Mar?a Corina
Machado and Leopoldo L?pez). Privately, members of the PU say that they
cannot win an election in Venezuela; despite the privations caused by the
US-imposed sanctions, the grip of Chavismo on the masses is indelible. That
is why people like Corina Machado and L?pez lean on the United States to
bring its arsenal to bear against Venezuela, a treasonous position that has
them barred from the electoral process.

That is why PU has selected Gonz?lez to be its candidate, but during the
campaign there has been no real alternative project to Chavismo put forward
by Gonz?lez or by his surrogates. Indeed, their only claim is that they are
not Maduro and that they would be able to improve the economy by
surrendering to the US demands. Gonz?lez has largely obscured his own past,
which has been buried behind claims that he was merely a diplomat. Those
who remember his tenure as an embassy official in El Salvador have
different things to say about this grandfatherly figure. In July 1981,
Gonz?lez was dispatched to the Venezuelan embassy in El Salvador, where he
worked directly under Ambassador Leopoldo Castillo. During his time, there
? Colombian diplomat Mar?a Catalina Restrepo Pinz?n Londo?o reports ? he
worked with the death squads against the Sandinista guerrillas (FSLN). One
of these guerrilla leaders, Nadia D?az, recalls in her autobiography (*Nunca
estuve sola*, 1988) that when she was in prison there were Venezuelan men
amongst her torturers. D?az does not say that Gonz?lez directly tortured
her, but certainly he was amongst those who participated in the campaign
against the FSLN. Such is the character of the ?grandfatherly? figure who
is the candidate of the far-right against Maduro.

*The Weight of the Sanctions*

A study
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2024/us-sanction-countries-work/>
in the *Washington Post* finds that the United States government is
currently enforcing illegal, unilateral sanctions against a third of the
countries in the world, with 60% of the poorer nations under sanction.
These US sanctions, first applied in 2005 to overthrow the government of
Hugo Ch?vez, define the Venezuelan economy. At one time, the Venezuelan
state relied upon the oil revenues for 90% of its own finances. In
mid-2014, the oil boom ended with the collapse of oil prices, which was
amplified by the increased US sanctions and threats of armed attack against
Venezuela. The impact of secondary sanctions against financial institutions
and shipping companies dried up Venezuela?s revenues and pushed the state
to emergency measures in order to maintain the basic requirements of the
Bolivarian project.

During several visits between 2014 and 2024, I have been struck both by the
vicious impact of the sanctions and by the political mobilisation of the
Maduro government to explain the situation to the people. The privations
caused enormous distress, which led to decreased nutritional intake and to
mass migration. I was in Caracas in February 2021 when UN Special
Rapporteur Alena Douhan gave a press conference on the impact of the
sanctions. Her findings in a press conference were plainly stated: ?Lack of
necessary machinery, spare parts, electricity, water, fuel, gas, food and
medicine, growing insufficiency of qualified workers many of whom have left
the country for better economic opportunities, in particular medical
personnel, engineers, teachers, professors, judges and policemen, has
enormous impact over all categories of human rights, including the rights
to life, to food, to health and to development?. The situation since 2021
has improved, largely due to the October 2023 Barbados Agreement signed
between the Venezuelan government and the opposition, and by the entry of
other countries (such as China, Iran, Russia, and Turkey) to trade with
Venezuela. But the road ahead is difficult and long.

The sanctions define this election. If they are seen as fair, then the
Barbados Agreement might lead to the loosening of the sanctions by the US.
The United States would like more Venezuelan oil to get into the market not
to help the Venezuelan people, but to provide energy to Europe given the
sanctions on Russia. There are far too many contradictions in play here.
The US will certainly deny the legitimacy of the elections if Maduro wins,
and allow the sanctions to prevent Venezuelan oil to provide relief to the
Europeans. During the 2020 presidential elections, sanctions played the
leading role. They continue to be the main issue on the ballot.

Maduro?s campaign rallies have been effusive. The Chavistas cheer him,
their red shirts sparkling with sweat under the warm Venezuelan skies. We
will prevail, says the former bus driver, whose humourous speeches are
defiant. There is no evasion here. Maduro is clear: Venezuela is being put
to the test. Will the Venezuelan people continue the Bolivarian process or
will they u-turn to the terrible past of the oligarchy?

*Vijay Prashad?s most recent book (with Noam Chomsky) is The Withdrawal:
Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and the Fragility of US Power (New Press, August
2022).*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Fri Jul 26 23:58:38 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 2024 20:58:38 -0700
Subject: [News] China throws clout behind Palestine
Message-ID: <mailman.170.1722052860.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

 China throws clout behind Palestine

The Beijing Declaration cements the idea that global conflict resolution is
now Made in China. But it also throws a wrench in US?Israeli efforts to
manufacture a collaborator Palestinian government after the war in Gaza.

Pepe Escobar <https://thecradle.co/authors/pepe-escobar>

JUL 26, 2024 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/china-throws-clout-behind-palestine
(Photo Credit: The Cradle)

HONG KONG ? The Beijing Declaration
<https://www.mfa.gov.cn/eng/zxxx_662805/202407/t20240723_11458788.html>,
signed earlier this week, constitutes yet another stunning Chinese
diplomatic coup, but the document goes far beyond affirming China?s pull.

The gathering <https://thecradle.co/articles-id/26068> of representatives
of 14 Palestinian factions to commit to full reconciliation showed the
entire world that the road to solving intractable geopolitical problems is
no longer unilateral: it is multipolar, *multi-nodal*, and features
BRICS/Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member China as an
inescapable leader.

The concept of China as a peacemaking superpower is now so established that
after the Iran?Saudi Arabia rapprochement and the signing of the Beijing
Declaration, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba chose to tell his
Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing that Kiev is now finally ready to
negotiate the end of the NATO?Russia proxy war in Ukraine.

Palestinians who came to Beijing were beaming. For Fatah Vice Chairman
Mahmoud al-Aloul, ?China is a light. China?s efforts are rare on the
international stage.?

Hamas spokesman Hussam Badran said the Palestinian resistance movement
accepted the Chinese invitation ?with a positive spirit and patriotic
responsibility.? All Palestinian factions have reached a consensus on
?Palestinian demands to end the war,? adding that the ?most important? part
of the declaration is to form a government that builds Palestinian national
consensus to ?manage the affairs of the people of Gaza and the West Bank,
oversee reconstruction, and create conditions for elections.?

*The ?three-step? Chinese proposal *

Wang Yi cut to the chase: the Palestinian issue, says the Chinese foreign
minister, is at the core of everything in West Asia. He emphasized that
Beijing

? has never had any selfish interests in the Palestinian issue. China is
one of the first countries to recognize the PLO [Palestine Liberation
Organization] and the State of Palestine and has always firmly supported
the Palestinian people in restoring their legitimate national rights. What
we value is morality and what we advocate is justice.

What Wang did not say ? and didn?t need to ? is that this position is the
overwhelming BRICS+ position, shared by the Global Majority, including,
crucially, all Muslim countries.

It?s all in a name ? everyone in the foreseeable future will note this is
the ?Beijing? declaration unequivocally supporting One Palestine.

No wonder all political factions had to rise to the occasion, committing to
support an independent Palestinian government with executive powers over
Gaza and the occupied West Bank. But there?s a catch: this will take place
immediately after the war, which the regime in Tel Aviv wants to prolong
indefinitely.

What Wang Yi left somewhat implicit is that China?s consistent historical
position supporting Palestine may be a decisive factor in helping future
Palestinian governance institutions. Beijing is proposing three steps to
get there:

First, a ?comprehensive, lasting and sustainable? ceasefire in Gaza as soon
as possible, and ?access to humanitarian aid and rescue on the ground.?

Second, ?joint efforts? ? assuming western involvement ? toward
?post-conflict governance of Gaza under the principle of ?Palestinians
governing Palestine.?? An urgent priority is restarting reconstruction ?as
soon as possible.? Beijing stresses that ?the international community needs
to support Palestinian factions in establishing an interim national
consensus government and realize effective management of Gaza and the West
Bank.?

Third, help Palestine ?to become a full member state of the UN? and
implement the two-state solution. Beijing maintains that ?it is important
to support the convening of a broad-based, more authoritative, and more
effective international peace conference to work out a timetable and road
map for the two-state solution.?

For all the lofty aims, especially when it is patently clear that Israel
has de facto buried the two-state solution ? as witnessed in the Knesset?s
recent vote
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/25987#:~:text=The%20resolution%20was%20passed%20with,Palestinian%20state%20west%20of%20Jordan.>
to
reject any Palestinian state ? at least China is directly proposing what
the Global Majority unanimously considers as a fair outcome.

Also important to note is the presence of diplomats from China?s fellow
BRICS members Russia, South Africa, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, alongside
diplomats from Algeria, Qatar, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Turkiye at the
signing of the declaration.

*Genocide as a wellness treatment*

Now compare China?s diplomatic coup with the US Congress giving 58 standing
ovations to Israel?s psychopath-in-chief peddling the notion of genocide as
a wellness treatment.

Bibi Netanyahu?s hero?s welcome in Washington takes the notion of
collective psychopathology to new heights. And yet complicity in the Gaza
genocide is not exactly an exception to the rule when it comes to American
political leadership.

The Hegemon?s political ?elites? ? with Franco-British help ? have also
been active collaborators and weaponizers of the oppressive Saudi and
Emirati bombing and blockade of Yemen, which, over nine years, collectively
caused even more civilian deaths than in Gaza. Famine in Yemen is far from
over, yet this has been a completely invisible war to the collective west.


At least karma ended up intervening. China promoted the rapprochement
between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and Riyadh has become a BRICS+ member and
deeply engaged in the de-dollarization drive, in which the petroyuan is
emerging.

Moreover, the Yemeni resistance movement Ansarallah managed to
single-handedly humiliate the US Navy. The US?UK ?revenge? was to open
another war front, bombing Yemeni installations to protect Israeli shipping
in the Red Sea and waterways beyond.

As much as Yemen remains at war on two fronts ? against the Hegemon and
Israel while keeping an eye on potential Saudi shenanigans ? Palestine
continues to be decimated by a fully US-backed Israel. The Beijing
Declaration will not mean anything if not implemented. But how?

Assuming a partial success, the declaration may be able to put a spanner in
the works of the absolute impunity of the Tel Aviv?Washington agenda
because after the Beijing deal, finding a collaborator Palestine government
to perpetuate the occupation could be much more difficult.

All Palestinian factions now owe China a serious debt; internal squabbling
will have to cease. Otherwise, it would amount to a serious loss of face
for Beijing.

At the same time, the Chinese leadership seems very much aware that this
bet is a Global South bet ? laying bare the Hegemon?s hypocrisy for the
whole world to see. Much like the Saudi?Iran deal clinched in Beijing, the
optics could not be more auspicious, especially when compared to the
Israeli?American refusal of a meaningful ceasefire.

Real Palestine unity will also give extra bite to each and every global
initiative at the UN, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and other
global forums.

All of the above, though, pales in comparison to the dire facts on the
ground. The ideologically genocidal Israelis ? fully supported by US
political ?leadership? ? continue to get away with what they really want:
the outright mass murder-cum-ethnic cleansing of millions of Palestinians,
something that, in theory, should lead to an absolute demographic
majority for Israel?s expansion into all Palestinian lands.

This tragedy will not stop anytime soon. The Beijing Declaration won?t make
it stop. Only the Hegemon severing its weapons funnel to Tel Aviv can force
it to stop. Yet today, what we?re instead seeing from Washington is 58
standing ovations for genocide.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Sat Jul 27 00:43:28 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 2024 21:43:28 -0700
Subject: [News] PA lays siege to West Bank hospital in failed arrest attempt
 of resistance commander
Message-ID: <mailman.172.1722055651.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

 PA lays siege to West Bank hospital in failed arrest attempt of resistance
commander

The popular commander of the Quds Brigades? Tulkarem Brigade, Abu Shujaa,
has been targeted in two previous assassination attempts

News Desk <https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9>

JUL 26, 2024 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/pa-lays-siege-to-west-bank-hospital-in-failed-arrest-attempt-of-resistance-commander
(Photo credit: X)

The popular resistance commander in the Tulkarem Brigade of the Palestinian
Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement?s Quds Brigades, Abu Shujaa, escaped capture
on 26 July after being besieged by Palestinian Authority (PA) forces in the
city?s Thabet Thabet hospital.

Video footage shows Abu Shujaa being escorted out of the hospital by
Palestinian residents in Tulkarem, who prevented PA forces who had stormed
the medical facility in his pursuit from arresting him.

Residents of Tulkarem were filmed carrying the young commander on their
shoulders, chanting <https://t.me/thecradlemedia/18196?single>: ?With our
souls, with our blood, we are at your service, Abu Shujaa.?

Upon storming the hospital, PA forces attacked women and other civilians
with tear gas, according to recorded audio testimonies circulating
Telegram.

Abu Shujaa was being treated in Thabet Thabet Hospital for an injury when
the PA besieged the building and stormed the facility.

The residents of Tulkarem mobilized in and around the hospital in huge
numbers to prevent him from being detained by the PA.

?If the [Palestinian] Authority's forces do not withdraw from the city of
Tulkarem, the response will be harsh and explicit. If Commander Abu Shujaa
is arrested, all the Authority's headquarters will be burned. Consider this
a warning,? the Izkihim Nafe? group in the Tulkarem branch of Hamas? Qassam
Brigades said in a statement.

?We are fighting against two occupations: the Palestinian Authority and the
occupation forces,? the statement added.

?Any attempt to capture our fighters by the [Palestinian] Authority forces
from Tulkarem to Jenin will be met with a severe response. Any attempt to
defuse a planted explosive for the occupation forces will be met with a
response. This means you are collaborating with the occupation,? it said in
a statement later that afternoon.

Abu Shujaa, born Mohammad Jabir, was previously targeted in an
assassination attempt when PA forces opened fire at a group of wanted
resistance fighters in late March. Weeks later, in April, the Israeli army
attempted to target him in a drone strike.

Hebrew media reports at the time claimed that Abu Shujaa had been killed in
the strike.

Friday?s siege on Thabet Thabet Hospital comes during an all-time high of
PA suppression of the West Bank resistance in coordination with Israel. Tel
Aviv and Ramallah have had deep security coordination for decades.

Israeli forces have also stepped up their violent raids across the occupied
territory, particularly in Tulkarem <https://thecradle.co/articles-id/26075>,
as the resistance in the West Bank continues to grow.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Sat Jul 27 22:54:32 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Sat, 27 Jul 2024 19:54:32 -0700
Subject: [News] Hezbollah told UN 'Israel' was behind Golan strike as US
 warmongers
Message-ID: <mailman.175.1722135390.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/hezbollah-told-un--israel--was-behind-golan-strike-as-us-war>
Hezbollah told UN 'Israel' was behind Golan strike as US warmongers
Al Mayadeen English
July 27, 2024
------------------------------

Hezbollah denied to the United Nations that it was behind the strike on the
occupied Golan Heights, which killed nearly a dozen people, saying it was
the result of an Israeli error.
[image: fbb47698-0257-412c-8c92-6e11bdcd18ca.jpg]

   - 'Israel's' Iron Dome anti-missile system stand in place in 'Sderot',
   Palestine, Wednesday, April 17, 2024 (AP)

The Biden administration has expressed significant concern that the recent
attack on the occupied Golan Heights, which the US alleges was "from
Lebanon", could escalate into a full-scale war between the Israeli
occupation and Hezbollah, according to a report by *Axios*.

The US allegations come despite the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon denying
to the United Nations that it was involved in the attack, with *Axios *citing
a US official as saying Hezbollah officials told the UN that the Golan
Heights incident was the result of an Israeli interceptor missile hitting
the football field.

A US official, speaking to *Axios*, indicated that this incident might be
the catalyst the administration has feared and tried to avoid for the past
ten months.

*BBC *correspondent Nafiseh Kohnavard highlighted in a post on X (formerly
Twitter) that many questions surround the events in Majdal Shams. While
Hezbollah denies responsibility for the incident, the Israeli military
maintains its accusations against the Resistance movement.

Kohnavard further noted that Hezbollah's attack pattern over the past ten
months has primarily targeted military objectives. Even after attacks on
the properties of settlers on the Israeli side, Hezbollah justified its
actions by underlining that the targeted locations were used by Israeli
soldiers, she said.

The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon - Hezbollah fully denied any involvement
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/hezbollah-denies-responsibility-for-majdal-shams-strike>
and responsibility for a deadly strike on the village of Majdal Shams in
the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, contrary to Israeli claims about the
matter.

Hezbollah stressed that it had nothing to do with the incident, completely
denying all the "false claims" in that regard.

This comes after a missile of unknown origin struck a playground in the
occupied Syrian village of Majdal Shams, which is made up entirely of Druze
Syrians. The strike killed at least 10 civilians, including children, and
wounded at least a dozen others.

Reports indicate that the explosion may have been caused by an Iron Dome
anti-air missile that deviated off its course and struck the area, as per
Israeli media.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Sat Jul 27 23:15:24 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Sat, 27 Jul 2024 20:15:24 -0700
Subject: [News] Hezbollah and the escalation ladder
Message-ID: <mailman.179.1722137354.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/articles/analysis/hezbollah-and-the-escalation-ladder>
Hezbollah and the escalation ladder
David Miller
July 27, 2024
------------------------------

It is clear that the period since October 7 has molded the Axis of
Resistance into a functioning regional military entity.
[image: c944859e-9836-47c7-887c-603ab6d73187.jpg]

   - With Hezbollah on the border, there is a clear concern for the future
   of the entity (Illustrated by Batoul Chamas; Al Mayadeen English)

What is the risk to the Zionist entity in the event of attacking Hezbollah
and invading Lebanon?

According to a Zionist think tank, the Institute for "National Security
Studies", with close links to the security establishment, the risk is very
significant.

A report from the think tank
<https://www.inss.org.il/publication/homefront-north/> issued on 7 July
this year was titled "How Would a Full-Scale War with Hezbollah Affect the
Resilience of Israel?s Civilian Front?"

It turns out to be very depressing for supporters of Zionism. In summary, it
anticipates <https://www.inss.org.il/publication/homefront-north/> ?severe
damages expected in such a war to Israel?s civilian home front and its
functional continuity, and consequently to the resilience of Israeli
society and its ability to recover from the war.? It doesn?t quite envisage
the collapse and end of the Zionist regime, but there is a clear concern
for the future of the entity.

Let?s look at the main points of the report.

?     It admits that more than 60,000 settlers have been forced to evacuate
28 separate settler colonies and the settlement of Kiryat Shmona, near the
Lebanese border. The settlers are being accommodated at government expense
elsewhere.

?  It states that ?so far, Hezbollah has launched more than 5,000
high-trajectory and direct-fire projectiles toward civilian and military
targets in Israel," and ?above all?, it says ?there is a growing sense of
futility regarding the future of the northern border."

?     It says the 5,000 missiles fired so far are only just over 3% of
Hezbollah?s estimated armory, and some estimates put their stock of
missiles and drones much higher.

It goes on to state that Hezbollah?s arsenal consists of ?at least 150,000
missiles, rockets, and other lethal weapons, including hundreds of
precision-guided medium- and long-range missiles, covering Israel?s entire
populated areas. These include cruise missiles, ballistic missiles,
advanced coastal anti-ship missiles, thousands of UAVs and other drones,
and precise short-range anti-tank missiles."
[image: 09b74b49-3f0e-4d2b-ac13-7eec9ac57f29.jpg]

   - Israel Occupation Forces graphic from 2016 showing that Hezbollah
   missiles can reach way beyond the territory of occupied Palestine. Source
   <https://free.messianicbible.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Hezbollah-map-en-2-21-1024x1024.jpg>

This arsenal, they write ?can cause massive fatalities and critical
national infrastructure destruction to civilian and military targets in
Israel.?

In a full-scale war with Hezbollah, they say that ?not all ? can be
intercepted,? and they ?could overwhelm? air defenses. This ?represents a
military and civilian threat that Israel has never experienced.?

Laughably, however, the report claims that there have been only 29 civilian
and military fatalities as a result of this. Hezbollah claims more than
2,000 military operatives have been eliminated.
[image: a167e2d1-8057-4002-9f1b-7866f0e00ae2.jpg]

While the onslaught in Gaza continues,s the INSS say that "Israel" should
not attack Lebanon. Whatever happens, they say, ?There should be
significant coordination of expectations with the public.? So far, they
conclude ?no steps have been taken to prepare the public for this severe
scenario."

The military establishment in the settler colony is scared of being
defeated by Hezbollah.

   - [image: The CSIS, a Washington DC base think tank historically very
   close to the CIA gives its assessment. Source]
   <https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2024/7/27/7e47d21c-6824-4853-b600-6b22181db763.png?width=1000>
   The CSIS, a Washington DC base think tank historically very close to the
   CIA gives its assessment. Source
   <https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/180705_Williams_HezbollahMissiles_v3.pdf>[image:
   7e47d21c-6824-4853-b600-6b22181db763.jpg]

Hezbollah and the Axis of Resistance

>From the outside, it seems incomprehensible to many why Hezbollah and the
other elements of the Axis of Resistance don?t just actively target and
collapse the whole Zionist entity. Even Zionist think tanks appear to
suggest that Hezbollah alone may be capable of such a feat.

The answer is the escalation ladder.

While it is plain that the various elements of the Axis of Resistance are
not proxies of the Islamic Republic of Iran, it is also clear that the
period since October 7 has molded the Axis of Resistance
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/14/irans-axis-of-resistance-is-a-potent-coalition-but-a-risky-strategy>
into a functioning regional military entity. The fact that all of these
many groupings work together is increasingly recognized internationally.

It was claimed in 2021 <https://english.almanar.com.lb/1352914> that
officers from Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps coordinated
the military confrontation in Gaza in that year. The center certainly
involves Hamas, and we can assume that Saleh al-Arouri, the recently
murdered Hamas leader in Beirut, participated. It is also reported that as
many as 12 Palestinian factions also participated.

Additionally, it seems likely that there is information and intelligence
sharing with the government of Syria, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, and
of course the Yemeni Armed Forces under Ansar Allah. Recent reports
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/25901> indicate that ?the Armed Forces of
Yemen? have established a communication and coordination office in Iraq?s
capital, Baghdad.? Sanaa?s forces ?announced their first joint operation
with the IRI on 6 June. The operation
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/25316> targeted weapons shipments in the
port of Haifa. The second operation <https://thecradle.co/articles-id/25577>,
announced later that month, also targeted vessels in the port of Haifa, as
well as in the Mediterranean Sea.?

The creation of a formidable and quite new regional army has been a
remarkable achievement of the Zionist genocidal strategy in Gaza.

Since October 7, the so-called escalation ladder has involved very
significant restraint from Hezbollah. All of the data on the military
struggle show first that the Zionists have expended much greater firepower
and confined themselves to a far wider geographical area, not to mention
extensively targeting civilians. Hezbollah has by contrast focused almost
exclusively on military targets and within a 5km distance of the border.
[image: c735ad33-3d03-4b02-ac27-6e344cc96bfe.jpg]

The strategy of Hezbollah has been to systematically destroy the Zionists'
<https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2024/05/17/hezbollah-blinds-israeli-defences-with-drone-strike-on-sky-dew-airship/>
vast array of espionage equipment rendering the occupation forces blind
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/25351> and making it much easier for
Hezbollah (or others) to target the north and other areas of the interior
of the occupied lands
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-officials--jaws-drop-over-hezbollah-s-complex-operat>
.

Escalations from Hezbollah
<https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/gaza-hezbollah-israel-war-ghaziyeh-escalation/>
have only occurred when Zionist provocations called for increased
deterrence.

Two examples are when Hezbollah deliberately responded to take out Iron
Dome batteries
<https://www.newarab.com/news/hezbollah-footage-shows-successful-hit-israels-iron-dome>,
following a Zionist escalation, in order to show that they could do it at
will.

A second response
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mAq9-7NlV4&ab_channel=TRTWorld> was the
fire bombings that set large areas of the northern occupied lands ablaze.

Psychological warfare tactics have included circulating three long clips of
footage
<https://en.mehrnews.com/news/216664/VIDEO-Hezbollah-s-drone-footage-over-occupied-lands>
filmed by Hezbollah drones at close range over scores of Zionist military
installations and bases. The drones have been dubbed the HudHud.

The more recent responses to Zionist escalations hold out the prospect of
further significant escalatory exchanges, which will seriously challenge
the stability of the Zionist entity.
[image: 09b74b49-3f0e-4d2b-ac13-7eec9ac57f29.jpg]
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Sat Jul 27 23:33:00 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Sat, 27 Jul 2024 20:33:00 -0700
Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?=E2=80=98They_Bought_Me_Pizza=E2=80=99_-_Freed_?=
	=?utf-8?q?Israeli_Captive_Contradicts_Official_Account_on_Gaza?=
Message-ID: <mailman.183.1722137674.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

palestinechronicle.com
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/they-bought-me-pizza-freed-israeli-captive-contradicts-official-account-on-gaza/>
?They Bought Me Pizza? - Freed Israeli Captive Contradicts Official Account
on GazaJuly 27, 2024
------------------------------
Former Israeli captive in Gaza Liat Atzili spoke with the Israeli newspaper
Haaretz. (Photo: screen grab)

*By Palestine Chronicle Staff
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/palestine-chronicle-staff>*

*Former Israeli captive in Gaza Liat Atzili spoke with the Israeli
newspaper Haaretz. In her extraordinary account of what had taken place,
Atzili said that the civilian home in which she was held had neither
control over their captivity nor release.*

An Israeli-American formerly held captive by the Palestinian Resistance
Movement Hamas told
<https://archive.is/20240727144318/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-07-27/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/she-spent-weeks-conversing-with-her-hamas-captors-heres-what-they-talked-about/00000190-f0b0-dda7-a9f7-f3b7161b0000#selection-1623.0-1623.116>
the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that she was treated humanely ? which is in
sharp contrast to how Palestinian prisoners are treated by Israeli
authorities.

Liat Atzili was released on November 29, during the one-week ceasefire
between Hamas and the Israeli government.

She spent a total of 54 days in Gaza where she was reportedly held in an
apartment in the city of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip.
*Moment of Capture*

According to Haaretz, Atzili was taken at about 11 am on October 7, when
?two armed men in uniform burst into the unlocked room? where she was
staying. When the journalist asked her if the captors were ?scary?, she
said: ?Not particularly.?

?They had weapons but they didn?t threaten me. They told me, ?You don?t
have to be afraid, we won?t hurt you, come with us.? They gave me time to
get dressed and organized, but I wasn?t capable of doing that because I was
in shock,? she continued, according to Haaretz.

Atzili said that the men did not touch her and spoke to her in English,
saying ?all the time? not to worry.

?They seemed really worried about me and wanted me to eat and drink. They
said, ?We will protect you, you?re safe here, nothing will happen to you.?
They let me shower, change clothes. They washed my clothes,? Atzili
reportedly said.
*Crispy Pizza*

Although Israel imposed a full blockade on Gaza starting on October 9,
which led to a widespread famine across the Palestinian population in the
Strip, Israeli captives were not left starving.

To the contrary, Atzili, who is a vegetarian, was granted special treatment.

?They were shocked that I?m a vegetarian. ?So, what do you eat?? they
asked. I told them I really like pizza. So one of them got on his bicycle
and brought a pizza from Crispy Pizza in Khan Yunis,? she said.

According to the former Israeli captives, they got fruit and vegetables
when they asked them. ?We didn?t suffer from hunger. They tried to see to
it that we had enough food,? she said.
*?God Bless You?*

Atzili was reportedly moved to an apartment where she stayed along with
another captive, 30-year-old Ilana Gritzewsky, who was also released on
November 30, as part of the prisoner exchange deal.

?Ilana and I remained with them for the whole period. They were about 30
years old. They weren?t armed or in uniform. We stayed in that apartment
for about 10 days and were then moved to another one. And that was it,?
Atzili said.

According to the woman, the guards were a teacher and a lawyer. ?Both are
married and each has a child. The wife of one of them came to the apartment
one day with their newborn,? she said.

When asked if they were affiliated with Hamas, she said: ?I was able to
understand a little about the place Hamas has in their lives. They talked a
lot about the poverty in the Strip, about how hard it is to leave it.?

Atzili said that they had long conversations with their guards. ?They
wanted us to see them as people, and we wanted them to see us as people. So
very quickly conversations started about family, about our lives, and it
worked,? she explained.

The woman also said that the initial fear that they may be sexually
assaulted quickly disappeared.

?At first we were very apprehensive that something would happen, that we
would be sexually assaulted. But afterward we understood that it was okay,
that they were staying within the limits,? she said.

When asked about the moment they were released, she said: ?Before he (the
guard ? PC) left us, he said, ?Good luck, may God bless you.? We thanked
him. There were mutual pats on the shoulder.?

*(The Palestine Chronicle)*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Sun Jul 28 13:00:26 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Sun, 28 Jul 2024 10:00:26 -0700
Subject: [News] War on Gaza: How Israel is stripping Palestinian women of
 their dignity
Message-ID: <mailman.191.1722186116.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

middleeasteye.net
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/gaza-war-israel-stripping-palestinian-women-dignity-how>
War on Gaza: How Israel is stripping Palestinian women of their dignity
Djaouida Siaci
July 28, 2024
------------------------------

Nine months into the massive atrocities being committed by Israel in Gaza
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/israel-war-gaza>, the human toll in
the besieged enclave is devastating.

Women and children have borne the brunt of this genocidal war. The
statistics are both staggering and tragic: Over 38,000 Palestinians have
been killed, 17,000 of whom were children. At least 20,000 children
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/war-gaza-over-20000-left-missing-due-israeli-assault>
are missing, either lost, disappeared, detained or buried under
rubble. Thousands of mothers have been killed, leaving an estimated 19,000
children
<https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/press-release/2024/04/six-months-into-the-war-on-gaza-over-10000-women-have-been-killed>
orphaned.

Those who have survived Israel
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel>?s genocidal campaign have
been displaced, widowed and left to grapple with a deadly combination of
man-made starvation
<https://mecouncil.org/blog_posts/genocidal-starvation-in-gaza-and-the-responsibility-of-third-party-states/>,
chronic dehydration
<https://www.msn.com/en-in/video/news/women-in-gaza-struggle-without-food-and-water/vi-AA1kk2RA>,
and infectious disease
<https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949916X24000203>.

Amid relentless bombings and a humanitarian crisis of biblical proportions
in Gaza, the impact of the war on reproductive rights will last for future
generations
<https://www.csis.org/analysis/gaza-impacts-famine-will-last-generations>.
Any attempt to seek accountability for Israel's atrocities should be based
on a women's rights approach and grounded on a gendered perspective.

Women and girls generally suffer disproportionately in situations of
conflict
<https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/forgotten-women-and-girls-gaza-sexual-and-reproductive-health-catastrophe>,
as women?s bodies have long been part of the terrain of war. In Gaza, the
unspeakable suffering and devastating impacts are being watched by the
world in real time.

Since 7 October, the assault on Palestinian women?s rights and dignity has
taken on new and terrifying dimensions as thousands have become victims of
war crimes, crimes against humanity and an unfolding genocide.

The crime of genocide has a gender perspective.  Men and boys are killed,
while women and girls are subjected to a wider range of violations over a
longer period. While the atrocities in Gaza affect both men and women,
their impact is gendered and disproportionately affects women.

As they attempt to come to terms with their grief and injuries - with the
loss of their children, husbands, parents, relatives, homes, and
livelihoods ? Palestinian women and girls have been living in an utter and
deep horror.
Systematic oppression

In the case brought by South Africa against Israel before the International
Court of Justice <https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/israel-icj-case>
(ICJ), alleging violations of the Convention on the Prevention and the
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
<https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-prevention-and-punishment-crime-genocide>
(Genocide Convention), South Africa highlighted
<https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20231228-app-01-00-en.pdf>
a
critical but often overlooked element of the offenses committed by
Israel: acts of reproductive violence.

South Africa alleged that Israel?s conduct may amount ? amongst other
provisions of the Genocide Convention ? to a violation of Article 2(d),
which prohibits "imposing measures intended to prevent births within the
group? with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national,
ethnical, racial, or religious group."

In the order for provisional measures
<https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20240126-pre-01-00-en.pdf>
issued by the ICJ on 26 January, the ICJ ordered
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/war-gaza-icj-genocide-ruling-game-changer-could>
Israel to take all measures within its power to cease-and-desist all acts
of genocide, to prevent the commission of such acts, and to preserve
evidence o?f the same.

The ICJ case highlights the egregious, multifaceted and systematic
oppression to which Palestinian women are being subjected.

Israel?s military assault on reproductive rights is a central component of
how the war on Gaza has disproportionately affected Palestinian women.

More than one million women and girls in Gaza are facing catastrophic
hunger, with almost no access to food, drinking water, functioning toilets
and running water, according
<https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/press-release/2024/04/six-months-into-the-war-on-gaza-over-10000-women-have-been-killed>
to UN Women. Access to clean water is crucial for pregnant and
breastfeeding women, who have higher daily water and calorie requirements.
Without water, Oxfam notes
<https://www.oxfam.ca/story/the-devastating-brunt-of-conflict-on-gaza-women-and-girls>,
it is ?almost impossible? for these women and girls to manage their
menstrual hygiene safely and with dignity. They face extreme challenges
amid Israeli colonial policy and siege warfare, lacking not only access to
safe delivery services and out-of-stock life-saving supplies, but also,
like all civilians in Gaza, protection from bombardment and deadly
airstrikes.

Israel?s siege has also limited access to important medications and hygiene
products.

Pregnant women are among the most vulnerable. With no safe place left in
Gaza, they face life-threatening challenges to accessing care, putting
their health and the health of their babies at significant risk.

For women in Gaza today, giving birth is an extremely traumatic experience.
Healthcare facilities have been repeatedly targeted
<https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/02/09/israel-gaza-health-care-hospitals-genocide-icj/>,
resulting in the near-collapse of the entire system. Ongoing bombardments,
mass displacement, and shortages of water, medicine and fuel supplies have
wreaked havoc on maternal health services.

The gendered impacts of this war must be addressed through a full
investigation of Israel's atrocities, and the perpetrators must be held
accountable

Around 50,000 women
<https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/05/onslaught-violence-against-women-and-children-gaza-unacceptable-un-experts>
in Gaza are pregnant, with around 180 giving birth each day. ?The dreadful
conditions have resulted in increases in miscarriages by up to 300
percent,? a group of UN experts said in a recent report
<https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/05/onslaught-violence-against-women-and-children-gaza-unacceptable-un-experts>,
adding that 95 percent of pregnant and breastfeeding women ?face severe
food poverty?.

Reem Alsalem, the UN?s special rapporteur on violence against women and
girls, notes that
<https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/11/women-bearing-brunt-israel-gaza-conflict-un-expert>
?the reproductive violence inflicted by Israel on Palestinian women,
newborn babies, infants, and children could be qualified as violations of
the human right to life under Article 6 of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights?, and as acts of genocide under Article 2 of the
Convention on the Prevention of Genocide, several articles of the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
and Article 6 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,
including ?imposing measures intended to prevent births within a group."

Israel?s human rights violations pre-date 7 October, through its
longstanding policies of siege and apartheid. A lethal combination of
institutionalised domination and deprivation of basic human rights that has
characterised the decades-long Israeli regime of apartheid and entrenched
military occupation of Palestinian territory has been particularly
devastating for women.

There is mounting and convincing evidence that Israel?s tactics constitute
a policy, planned, coordinated, and implemented at the highest echelon of
the Israeli government and its military establishment. Such policy has in
fact resulted, and continue to do so, in the prevention of births amongst
Palestinian women in Gaza.

While South Africa?s submissions offer an important first step towards the
pursuit of justice for reproductive violence perpetrated as an act of
genocide, violations of Palestinian women?s rights warrant immediate - and
now overdue - action.

Adjudication of the state-sponsored violence committed against the women of
Gaza, as genocide, will make clear this prohibition in contemporary
international relations and law.  To address the gendered impact of this
war, the atrocities committed by Israel in Gaza which fits squarely within
the requirements of Lemkinian genocide, must be investigated, charged, and
prosecuted from a dynamic, gendered perspective.

This will draw attention to the vicious nature of these crimes and provide
symbolic vindication and material reparations for Palestinian women. It
will also be a welcome affirmation of the international rule of law in a
period when it is badly needed.

Additionally, states with women's rights foreign policy agendas have a
particular role in protecting the rights of Palestinian women.

A women?s rights approach to foreign policy should prioritise protecting
sexual and reproductive health and rights. These countries can use their
leverages in the global community to advocate for responsibility and
effective measures to afford the long-suffering women and girls of Gaza-
and all of Palestine, indeed - the special protection to which they are
entitled in accordance with applicable international law and basic norms of
human dignity.

*The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not
necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Mon Jul 29 10:58:08 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2024 07:58:08 -0700
Subject: [News] =?utf-8?q?Nicol=C3=A1s_Maduro_Wins_in_Venezuelan_Presiden?=
	=?utf-8?q?tial_Elections_with_51=2C20=25_of_the_Votes?=
Message-ID: <mailman.195.1722265175.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

telesurenglish.net
<https://www.telesurenglish.net/nicolas-maduro-wins-in-venezuelan-presidential-elections-with-5120-votes/>
Nicol?s Maduro Wins in Venezuelan Presidential Elections with 51,20% of the
Votes - teleSUR EnglishJuly 29, 2024
------------------------------

*Nicol?s Maduro is the legitimate continuator of Ch?vez?s legacy and
defender of Venezuelan sovereignty against imperialist conspiracies.*

With more than 51% of the votes, the candidate of the Great Patriotic Pole
Simon Bolivar, Nicol?s Maduro, is re-elected after elections that took
place in a peaceful atmosphere, The National Electoral Council (CNE)
reported.


*RELATED:The Venezuelan People Celebrate in Miraflores, Waiting for the
Election Result
<https://www.telesurenglish.net/the-venezuelan-people-celebrate-in-miraflores-waiting-for-the-election-result/>*

The president of the electoral authority, Elvis Amoroso, details that more
than 11 million votes were valid during the election day.

The candidate Nicol?s Maduro was re-elected with 5,150,000 votes (51.2%) in
a vote that went without incident and with an electoral turnout of 59%.

The second most voted candidate was Edmundo Gonz?lez with 4 million 445
thousand 978 votes, 44.2 percent of the votes.

A total of 21,620,705 Venezuelan voters in the country and 228,000 voters
residing abroad were entitled to exercise their right to vote, in the more
than 15,000 polling stations spread across the country.

The election day began at 06:00 local time (10:00 GMT) and ended at 18:00
(22:00 GMT). The elections were accompanied by a wide international
audience, with participants from all over the world, including foreign
observers from the US Carter Center, the Council of Electoral Experts of
Latin America, the UN Panel of Experts and others.

Among the thousands of companions are politicians, academics,
parliamentarians, intellectuals, journalists and personalities from Latin
America, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, North America and Asia.

*Nicol?s Maduro, President for the Period 2024-2030*

Nicol?s Maduro was born on November 23, 1962 in Caracas and has gone
through a political path that took him from his humble beginnings in the
parish of El Valle to the presidency of Venezuela. His career reflects a
constant dedication to the social and labor causes that have defined his
career.

Maduro started his political activism in the 80s with the Socialist League,
but it was his job as conductor of the Caracas Metro (1991-1998) which
marked the beginning of their struggle for labor rights. During this
period, he founded the Caracas Metro Union (SITRAMECA), demonstrating his
leadership and organizational skills.

The meeting with Commander Hugo Ch?vez in 1993 was a turning point in his
career. Maduro became an ardent supporter of Ch?vez, joining the Bolivarian
Revolutionary Movement 200 (MBR-200) and later the Fifth Republic Movement
(MVR). His rise in Venezuelan politics was rapid: In 1999 he was elected as
a deputy and participated in the National Constituent Assembly that drafted
the new Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, approved by
popular will.

Between 2000 and 2006, Nicol?s Maduro held various roles in the National
Assembly, including the presidency of the parliament. His legislative
experience covered key commissions such as Integral Social Development and
Finance, preparing him for larger roles in government.

Ch?vez recognized the potential of Maduro, appointing him Minister of
Foreign Affairs in 2006, where he was a central player in the bet to build
a multipolar world, To promote Latin American integration and build peace.
He then took up the position of Vice President in 2012. Ch?vez?s confidence
in Maduro became evident when he appointed him as his successor before his
last surgery.

After the death of Commander Hugo Chavez in 2013, Nicol?s Maduro won the
presidential election by a narrow margin. Your presidency has been marked
by significant challenges, including the imposition of sanctions by the US
government and the European Union, This has triggered an unprecedented
economic crisis and multiple international pressures. However, he has
maintained the support of a loyal base, implementing programs such as the
?Government of the Streets? to keep in touch with his followers.

President Nicol?s Maduro has been re-elected in 2018 and 2024, and is the
legitimate continuator of Ch?vez?s legacy and defender of Venezuelan
sovereignty against imperialist conspiracies.

The president?s career, from his beginnings as a trade unionist to his
current position as president re-elected, illustrates a political career
marked by determination, coherence and resistance, reflecting the deep
Bolivarian and anti-imperialist convictions of the majority Venezuelan
people.
*Program of Government of Nicol?s Maduro: The Seven Transformations Towards
2030*

On January 15, in his annual message to the nation, President Nicol?s
Maduro urged Venezuelans to deepen, discuss and plan the collective
elaboration of the Seven Transformations (7T), aimed at preserving peace
and building a new economic and productive model that guarantees social
welfare.

Precisely, its government program is based on the 7T, which is also based
on the Homeland Plan and, as explained by the president, it has been
conceived and written by the people.

According to the head of state, the Venezuelan people have been consulted
for the implementation of the 7T, in order to consolidate the changes with
their contributions.

The first point of the 7T is economy and the development of a new
production model to deal with inflation; science, technology, education and
culture are placed in second place, thus recovering all the Venezuelan
infrastructure that has been damaged by sanctions and coercive and
unilateral measures; The third aspect is national security and defence,
which ranges from the consolidation of social peace to the recovery of the
territory of Guayana Esequiba.

The consolidation of the public character of social rights and the
improvement of government management to assist Venezuelans in their needs
are the fourth and fifth elements of the 7T, to finance social projects
that contribute to the quality of life of the people.

The sixth point of the 7T is aimed at combating climate change, based on a
culture of caring for nature, The promotion of alternative energy sources
and the establishment of a food production scheme.

While the last element of the government plan emphasizes the strengthening
of international relations, which aims to add Venezuela to the BRICS group,
To consolidate the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)
and expand the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People?s
Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP).

Autor: CC

Fuente: teleSURtv
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Mon Jul 29 11:33:48 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2024 08:33:48 -0700
Subject: [News] Golan Heights attack: The claims and counterclaims on Majdal
 Shams strike
Message-ID: <mailman.199.1722267352.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

middleeasteye.net
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/majdal-shams-claims-and-counterclaims-deadly-attack>
Golan Heights attack: The claims and counterclaims on Majdal Shams strike
By MEE staff
July 29, 2024
------------------------------

On Saturday, an explosive slammed into a football pitch in the Golan
Heights' Majdal Shams, killing 12 children.

The apparent attack ratcheted up tensions between Israel
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel>, which occupies the Golan,
and Lebanon's <https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/lebanon> Hezbollah,
which began clashing with the Israeli military along the Lebanese border in
October in solidarity with Hamas and the Palestinians
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine> under attack in Gaza
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/israel-war-gaza>.

Though the slain children were not Israeli citizens - Druze that live in
the occupied Syrian territory tend not to take Israeli citizenship - Israel
has blamed Hezbollah and insisted that it will retaliate in Lebanon.

Hezbollah denies it was responsible, saying the children were killed
instead by a misfired Israeli Iron Dome air-defence missile.

Middle East Eye breaks down the claims and counter-claims on the incident
in Majdal Shams.
Israel's claims

Israel has brought forward what it says is evidence
<https://x.com/IDF/status/1817610808844816517>to prove that an Iranian-made
rocket struck the children. Iran is a key backer of Hezbollah, which is the
most powerful non-state military power in the world.

On Sunday, the Israeli army posted pictures
<https://x.com/manniefabian/status/1817605374310072385?s=46&t=ELaDRa2feSkdnjH2Asc8Yg>that
show shrapnel, which it said were found at the scene of the attack and
matched an Iranian-made Falaq-1 rocket.

<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-druze-fighting-gaza-horrifies-lebanon>

Sight of Israeli Druze fighting in Gaza horrifies Lebanon's community

However, none of the images appear to have been taken of the alleged rocket
shrapnel in situ at the blast site.

The Israeli army also published
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-airs-images-it-says-prove-hezbollah-fired-deadly-rocket-that-hit-majdal-shams/>a
map showing what it said was path of the rocket, claiming it was launched
from southeast Lebanon's Shebaa Farms area.

Yet, these claims were refuted by an anonymous Israeli paramedic, who told
al-Araby <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUQy6epd1_Q> TV that witnesses
told him the shrapnel belonged to an Israeli Iron Dome missile.

The paramedic, who was reportedly wearing a Star of David shirt, said he
would be ?imprisoned? if he documented his testimony on air. Middle East
Eye was not able to independently verify the claims.

Other witnesses who spoke to al-Araby on condition of anonymity said they
saw the rocket flying from Mount Hermon on the Lebanon-Syrian border
falling towards the football field.

Al-Mayadeen
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/did-an-israeli-iron-dome-missile-cause-the-majdal-shams-mass>,
a Lebanese media outlet with close ties to Hezbollah, published an article
saying the blast site in Majdal Shams was not consistent with the kind
expected after the impact of a Falaq-1 rocket, which it said would have
made a larger crater.

Hezbollah had earlier on Saturday claimed responsibility for four other
attacks before Majdal Shams was struck.
'Could be a mistake'

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bouhabib was quoted as telling the BBC
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w172zcx1rq7rnwx>that he doesn?t think
Hezbollah carried out the attack.

?I don?t think Hezbollah would do it? it could be a mistake by the Israelis
or by Hezbollah - I don?t know,? he said.

War on Gaza: Majority in UK, Italy and Spain back ICC warrant against
Israel's Netanyahu

Bouhabib noted that that the movement usually targets military positions,
not civilians.

"We are talking with Hezbollah because the victims are Druze and the Druze
community here [in Lebanon] cares about them a lot. We are asking Hezbollah
not to retaliate at this present time,? Bouhabib told the BBC.

In the aftermath of the Majdal Shams strike, Israeli army spokesperson
Daniel Hagari incorrectly identified
<https://x.com/MiddleEastEye/status/1817577569408971013>the victims as
Israeli citizens, and was heard being corrected by a journalist present at
the briefing.

Majdal Shams is a village located the southern Golan, where about 25,000
Arabic-speaking Druze live. The majority are Syrian members of the Druze
community.

The town has been under Israeli occupation since 1967.
Netanyahu met with protest

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to arrange a meeting for
him with the victims' families, who refused, Haaretz
<https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-07-28/ty-article-live/u-s-condemns-horrific-attack-reportedly-highly-concerned-over-all-out-war/00000190-f724-d469-a39d-f7b7cff70000?liveBlogItemId=1155256767#1155256767>
reported.

As Netanyahu visited the site on Monday, a protest
<https://x.com/OrenZiv_/status/1817867362009600183> was organised where
demonstrators were seen carrying signs that read: ?Down to the killers of
the children? a war criminal?, in reference to the war on Gaza.

A video <https://x.com/MiddleEastEye/status/1817607448967995835>on Sunday
showed Syrian Druze from Majdal Shams preventing Israeli ministers from
attending the funeral of the children who were killed in the attack. One
person shouted: ?Get out of here, you criminal, we don?t want you in the
Golan.?

Netanyahu has pledged a response to the attack and said the Hezbollah will
"pay a heavy price".
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Mon Jul 29 11:42:40 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2024 08:42:40 -0700
Subject: [News] Syrian Druze confront 'war criminal' Netanyahu's visit to
 Majdal Shams
Message-ID: <mailman.203.1722267885.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/syrian-druze-confront--war-criminal--netanyahu-s-visit-to-ma>
Syrian Druze confront 'war criminal' Netanyahu's visit to Majdal Shams
Al Mayadeen English
July 29, 2024
------------------------------

Residents of the occupied Syrian Majdal Shams village demonstrated against
Netanyahu on Monday and blasted him as a "war criminal" and "child killer".
[image: cfb556f9-cb40-414e-87b0-ee64f40479d8.jpg]

   - A local woman holds a poster as she and hundreds of others demonstrate
   against the Israeli Prime Minister during his visit to the occupied village
   of Majdal Shams in the Israel-occupied Syrian Golan Heights on July 29,
   2024. (*AFP*)

Syrian residents of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan
attempted to kick out Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from the
village, calling him a "fascist" and a "criminal", the *Syrian Arab News
Agency* (SANA) reported.

Netanyahu had arrived in Majdal Shams, where a vicious strike killed 12
children on the town's football field, alongside a convoy of high-ranking
security officials.

Yesterday, his Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich was confronted by the
town's residents who accused the far-right official of making use of their
children's blood.

Netanyahu, Israeli officials, and politicians are accusing the Islamic
Resistance in Lebanon of firing a rocket at the town, a claim that
Hezbollah categorically rejects.

The Israeli Prime Minister spoke from the football field on Monday,
pledging a "harsh response".

Netanyahu and other officials have seized the opportunity, provided by the
atrocious massacre, weaponizing it in order to justify a presumably intense
aggression on Lebanon.

"Hezbollah, with Iranian backing, launched an Iranian rocket here, which
took the lives of 12 pure souls," Netanyahu said as he built up a
justification for a controversial attack on Lebanon.

Netanyahu also said that his "heart is torn apart by the severe tragedy,"
failing to realize his responsibility for the blood of at least 16,000
Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip.

*Read more: Did an Israeli Iron Dome missile cause the Majdal Shams
massacre?
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/did-an-israeli-iron-dome-missile-cause-the-majdal-shams-mass>*
How did the residents of Majdal Shams confront Netanyahu?

*Al Mayadeen*'s correspondent in the occupied territories reported that
Netanyahu arrived in Majdal Shams at around 2:00 pm (local time) and was
received by the town's council chief in a local administrative building.
Netanyahu entered through the back door of the building to avoid being
seen.

It is worth noting that the chief is appointed by the Israeli occupation's
government.

After news had gotten around to the town's residents, hundreds gathered
outside the said building, protesting Netanyahu's visit to the occupied
Syrian town.

The demonstrators berated the Israeli Prime Minister, denouncing him as a
"child killer" and a "criminal".
[image: 375de642-ab4f-4ac3-b999-3bdd9bd05710.jpg]

   - Local Syrian Druze protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
   who arrived in the occupied village of Majdal Shams, in the
   Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan, on July 29, 2024. (*AP*)

Netanyuahu's visit to the town did not last for more than 15 minutes,
locals told *Al Mayadeen*, after the incident had enraged residents who
refused to receive the Israeli Prime Minister.

*Al Mayadeen* also found that several locals refused to allow Israeli
occupation forces to use their homes and rooftops as guarding points on
Monday morning, ahead of Netanyahu's arrival.

The residents were told that an official would visit the town, however, the
official's identity was not revealed to locals until it was reported in
Israeli media outlets.

The Israeli newspaper *Haaretz *said the representatives of some of the
families that fell victim to the attack on Majdal Shams refused to meet
with Netanyahu.

Authorities attempted to arrange a meeting between the Prime Minister and
the victims' families, but it failed due to the families' refusal.

*Read more: Hezbollah told UN 'Israel' was behind Golan strike as US
warmongers
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/hezbollah-told-un--israel--was-behind-golan-strike-as-us-war>*
Syrian government denounces Israeli-committed crime in Majdal Shams

On its part, the internationally recognized sovereign over the Golan
Heights, the Syrian government
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/syria-condemns-israeli-aggression-on-majdal-shams>,
condemned the "heinous crime committed by the Israeli occupation," which it
pointed out usurps territories and the rights of peoples.

"It is an attempt to fabricate lies and excuses to expand the circle of
aggression against the peoples of the region and to escape the predicament
caused by the resistance faced by this occupation in the Gaza Strip," the
Syrian government added.

"We are confident that the crimes of the occupation will not undermine the
determination of our steadfast and resistant people in the occupied Syrian
Golan, nor will they weaken their national will and adherence to their
Syrian Arab identity and their resistance to the occupation.?

Syria, through its government, offered its heartfelt condolences to the
people of Majdal Shams for the "martyrs who watered the soil of the dear
homeland with their pure blood."

*Read more: Lebanon's Jumblatt urges unity as 'Israel' tries to sow discord
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/lebanon-s-jumblatt-urges-unity-as--israel--tries-to-sow-disc>*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Jul 30 11:13:48 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2024 08:13:48 -0700
Subject: [News] =?utf-8?b?4oCYV2F0ZXJpbmcgRG93buKAmSBHZW5vY2lkZTogTm8g?=
	=?utf-8?q?More_Moral_Compromises_on_Palestine=2C_Please?=
Message-ID: <mailman.216.1722352701.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

counterpunch.org
<https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/07/30/watering-down-genocide-no-more-moral-compromises-on-palestine-please/>
?Watering Down? Genocide: No More Moral Compromises on Palestine, Please
Ramzy Baroud
July 30, 2024
------------------------------

Image by Resource Database.

Why are many amongst us still tiptoeing around language when it comes to
the horrific Israeli genocide in Gaza?

Layers of censorship
<https://www.hrw.org/report/2023/12/21/metas-broken-promises/systemic-censorship-palestine-content-instagram-and>
imposed on Palestinian and pro-Palestinian voices in corporate and social
media seem to have blurred the judgment of some. They continue to speak of
a ?conflict?, calling on ?both sides? to use ?restraint? and, partly,
blaming the Palestinian Resistance for the ongoing Israeli massacres.

Though such language is expected from the ?sensible? few of mainstream
media, there are those who are counted as ?pro-Palestine? intellectuals,
journalists and activists who often use similar language.

Throughout the years, the common wisdom is that, for a pro-Palestine voice
to be published in mainstream US-western newspapers, he or she would have
to adhere to a certain set of rules and avoid certain adjectives to
describe Israel ? even if such vocabulary is consistent with good sense,
international law or the judgment of leading human rights organizations.

By ?watering down the language?, one supposedly gains greater credibility,
thus space to be heard or published.

Equally true, it is also practically forbidden to defend the Palestinian
people?s internationally recognized rights
<https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/use-of-armed-force-in-occupied-territory/armed-resistance-against-the-occupying-power-in-international-law/930AF96A0A005123DA94E1B1EB8D7947>
to use all forms of resistance, or to support their democratic choices,
because the outcomes of which are, maybe, not consistent with mainstream
western thinking.

Some are even afraid to use the term ?resistance? altogether. But if
Palestinians are denied their most basic right to resist, they become
deprived of any human agency, let alone relevance as political actors. The
notion would then suggest that Palestinians can only serve the role of
victims, and nothing else. Not only is this untrue, and condescending, it
is outright bigoted, as well.

All this tiptoeing around what should have been a clear language on
Palestine, comes at a price. When the truth is masked or hidden, the space
becomes open for lies, deceptions and quasi-truths.

In this alternative space, Israel is, at best, equally culpable for the
?war? in Palestine as the Palestinians themselves; and, at worst, the
Israeli army is merely engaging in a state of self-defense.

Additionally, by tightly controlling the discourse on Palestine, the West
has harmed its own interests. Indeed, by marginalizing authentic
Palestinian voices, the West has lost its ability to understand the context
behind the current Israeli war on Gaza, to accept or navigate its share of
responsibility in the genocide and to play any meaningful role in bringing
the atrocities to an end.

The outcome is an unavoidable cognitive dissonance ? where western
governments are violating the very rules they had created, opposing the
laws they enshrined and investing in an Israeli genocide in Gaza, while
criticizing
<https://www.voanews.com/a/at-g20-meeting-western-ministers-criticize-russia-over-ukraine-/7497844.html>
war elsewhere.

I doubt that the West will ever succeed in claiming any moral authority,
retrieve its lost credibility or build lasting trust with Palestinians,
Arabs, Muslims or the Global South. The extermination of one?s people
entitles a person to some degree of cynicism.

To further expose western duplicity in Gaza, however, we must learn to
speak with no reservations, no matter the restrictions on the pro-Palestine
voice or the censorship on social media.

Naturally, not all Palestinians and pro-Palestinian voices agree on
everything. There are those willing to risk everything, and those who want
to tell some kind of truth without risking the loss of their privileges,
careers or standing in society.

It is those in the former group who deserve platforms and must be
celebrated for their courage.

One of the most inspiring examples are young students in US and western
universities who have risked their own futures ? as in being expelled from
universities or denied their degrees ? for raising
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/4/we-wont-stop-how-columbias-students-etched-a-new-gaza-protest-legacy>
awareness about the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Those students are the true leaders of justice-based solidarity movements,
now and in the future.

They have understood that, due to the unprecedented censorship of authentic
Palestinian voices in all media platforms, their actions on campuses, in
the streets and every available venue are critical.

The risks they have taken by speaking out for Gaza?s genocide victims will
serve as a new threshold of courage that will inspire the youth of this and
future generations.

Equally important is that these students have refused to compromise on
their language, their demands and their priorities to simply fit in, to get
published or use a genocide as an opportunity to build careers.

As for those who exploited the Palestinian suffering for their own benefit,
neither history nor the rest of us will forgive their opportunism and
intellectual timidity.

Those who are well-intentioned, but ?water down? their language to
circumvent censorship, ultimately make little difference, because there are
certain truths that cannot be softened or diluted.

Indeed, there is no other honest way of phrasing what is taking place in
Gaza but as a genocide <https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68667556>,
one for which only Israel ? a military occupier and apartheid state ? can
be blamed.

The only Palestinians who deserve blame or condemnation are those who are
collaborating with Israel to ensure the outcome of the war remains
consistent with their interests, financial status and false titles. No
amount of money or prestige will ever redeem the credibility or honor of
such people.

?In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act,? said George
Orwell. Sadly, we live in these times. It is equally true that, in a time
of genocide, not telling the truth is the most contemptible of all acts.

Please continue to speak out; be radical; be revolutionary and never equate
between those carrying out the genocide.

*Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He
is the author of five books. His latest is ?**These Chains Will Be Broken*
<https://www.amazon.com/These-Chains-Will-Broken-Palestinian/dp/1949762092>*:
Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons? (Clarity
Press, Atlanta). Dr. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the
Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA), Istanbul Zaim University (IZU).
His website is **www.ramzybaroud.net* <http://www.ramzybaroud.net/>
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Jul 30 11:18:06 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2024 08:18:06 -0700
Subject: [News] Venezuelan Opposition Cries Fraud;
 People Reelect President Maduro
Message-ID: <mailman.218.1722352761.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

counterpunch.org
<https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/07/30/venezuelan-opposition-cries-fraud-people-reelect-president-maduro/>
Venezuelan Opposition Cries Fraud; People Reelect President Maduro
Roger Harris
------------------------------

Photo: Roger Harris.

*July 29, 2024, Caracas, Venezuela.*

Shortly before midnight, the president of the National Electoral Council
(CNE), Elvis Amoroso, announced the re-election of Venezuela?s President
Nicolas Maduro. Like the proverbial boy who cried wolf, the US-backed and
funded far-right opposition cried fraud.

Maduro won with 51.2% of the vote. His nearest rival, the far-right
US-backed candidate Edmundo Gonzalez trailed by 7 percentage points.

While the US corporate press refers to the ?opposition? as if it were a
unified bloc, eight other names appeared on the ballot. Unlike the US,
where most of the electorate is polarized around two major parties, the
fractious opposition in Venezuela is split into many mutually hostile camps
whose dislike of the ruling Socialist Party is matched by their loathing
for each other. And this is despite millions of US tax-payer dollars used
to try to unify a cabal that would carry Washington?s water.

*Sore losers*

In the quarter century since Hugo Chavez initiated the Bolivarian
Revolution when he was elected president in 1998, the Chavistas have won
all but two of over thirty national contests. The far-right opposition
celebrated when they won a national referendum along with the 2015 National
Assembly contest. But every other time, the sore losers cried fraud.

Yet every one of these contests employed the same electoral system of
multiple public audits, transparent counting, and an electronic vote backed
with paper ballots. The system is incontrovertibly fraud-proof. Former US
President Jimmy Carter, whose electoral monitoring organization had
observed over ninety elections ? including Venezuela?s ? had declared the
South American country?s system the best in the world.

Beyond the accusations, concrete proof of fraud had not been forthcoming in
the past even though the data were publicly available.

I was one of 910 internationals representing over one hundred countries who
had been invited to Venezuela to accompany this election. Yesterday, I
visited polling stations in the state of Miranda.

I observed long but orderly lines of people going to the polls. At each one
of the individual *mesas *(rooms at a polling station), representatives of
political parties sat to monitor the process. I spoke to representatives of
Maduro?s Socialist Party (PSUV) as well as other parties. All expressed
confidence in the fraud-proof nature of their electoral system. In fact,
they are very proud of their system regardless of political affiliation.

According to news reports, there were cyberattacks on the electoral system.
At some polling stations, far-right opposition elements reportedly attacked
electoral workers in attempts to disrupt the process.

But my experience visiting the polls could only be described as festive.
Seeing our international invitee credentials, which we wore on lanyards
around our necks, we were universally greeted with shouts of
*bienvenida *(welcome),
V-signs, and applause. These were clearly a people with great civic pride.

This reception was the same in ?popular? Chavista neighborhoods as well as
wealthier ones. Some hoped for ?change? and others for continuing the
Bolivarian Revolution. But all freely and enthusiastically participated in
the electoral process.

The perennial accusations of fraud, trotted out every time the far-right
gets rebuked by the voting public, were not reflected by the actions of the
people on the ground as evidenced by their wholehearted participation.

July 25, the last day of official campaigning, was marked by the final
political rallies. The far-right drew an estimated 100,000. I attended the
Maduro rally of some one million. As far as I could see, people had jammed
the main boulevards of Caracas. Clearly the Chavistas have a vast and
dedicated base.

And they are wildly supportive of their current president Nicolas Maduro,
who is seen as carrying on the legacy of the deceased founder of the
Bolivarian project, Hugo Chavez, whose birthday is the same as this
election day.

But it goes deeper than that. As the slogan *yo soy Chavez* (I am Chavez)
indicates, the base sees the Bolivarian project not simply as one of their
political leadership but more so as a collective endeavor.

*The real electoral interference*

Far greater than any accusation of fraud manufactured by the far-right
opposition is the much more significant interference in the electoral
process by Washington.

The vote for continuing the Bolivarian Revolution represents a mandate for
national sovereignty. Venezuelans went to the polls knowing that a vote for
the incumbent meant no relief from US unilateral coercive measures. These
so-called ?sanctions? have been part of Washington?s failed regime-change
campaign explicitly designed to asphyxiate the Venezuelan economy and turn
the people against their government.

This shout-out of, in Maduro?s words, ?we are not anyone?s colony? was
indeed heard around the world.

*Roger D. Harris **is with the US Peace Council and the 39-year-old human
rights organization Task Force on the Americas.*

*Roger Harris **is on the board of the Task Force on the Americas
<http://taskforceamericas.org/>, a 32-year-old anti-imperialist human
rights organization.*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Jul 30 11:22:29 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2024 08:22:29 -0700
Subject: [News] 'Israel' aims to sow discord: Leader of Druze community in
 Syria
Message-ID: <mailman.222.1722353037.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-israel--aims-to-sow-discord--leader-of-druze-community-in-s>
'Israel' aims to sow discord: Leader of Druze community in Syria
Abdullah Debian
July 30, 2024
------------------------------

Sheikh Yusuf Jarbou, the leader of the Druze community in Syria, spoke with
Al Mayadeen Net and strongly condemned "Israel?s" efforts to destabilize
the region and create division.
[image: be79e7d4-d146-48af-ad36-ddffbf2a0869.jpeg]

   - Sheikh Yusuf Jarbou, the Sheikh of the Druze community in Syria (Al
   Mayadeen Net/ illustrated by Batoul Zbib)

In the aftermath of an Israeli Iron Dome interceptor missile
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/hezbollah-told-un--israel--was-behind-golan-strike-as-us-war>
striking a playground in Majdal Shams ?a Druze-majority town in Syria?
resulting in the killing of at least 12 civilians, *Al Mayadeen Net*
interviewed Sheikh Yusuf Jarbou, the Sheikh of the Druze community in Syria.

Jarbou delivered a strong condemnation of ongoing Israeli efforts to sow
division and instability in the region.

He expressed unwavering confidence in the resilience and resolve of the Druze
community in Majdal Shams
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/majdal-shams-residents-mourn-martyrs--reject-any-israeli-pre>,
emphasizing their commitment to maintaining their values and principles.

Despite the challenging circumstances, Jarbou affirmed that the Druze
community remains a vital pillar of Arab identity and Resistance, standing
firm against attempts to create discord and implement divisive agendas.

In his interview for *Al Mayadeen Net*, he called on his community to
exercise extreme caution regarding the threats posed by what he described
as the enemy's plots. He emphasized the importance of vigilance in the face
of these challenges.
Sheikh Jarbou denounces Netanyahu as a criminal

Sheikh Yusuf Jarbou further expressed that it is no surprise for the
residents of Majdal Shams to label Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu as a criminal.

The prominent figure praised the resilience of the residents in the
occupied Golan Heights and Majdal Shams, commending their determined
Resistance against what he described as terrorist groups that are backed by
the Israeli occupation. He emphasized the community?s steadfast commitment
to confronting these threats and defending their territory.

It is worth noting that People in the occupied Syrian Golan prevented, on
Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from entering Majdal
Shams, calling him a fascist and criminal. In a similar incident, the
residents kicked out Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Minister of
Economy Nir Barakat, Environment Minister Idit Silman, and Energy Minister
Eli Cohen from the martyrs' funeral.
What happened in Majdal Shams

An Israeli Iron Dome interceptor missile struck a playground in the town,
which is made up entirely of Druze Syrians, killing at least 12 civilians,
including children, and wounding at least a dozen others on Friday.

"Israel" was quick to pin the blame on Hezbollah and claimed that the
Lebanese group targeted the town with an "Iranian rocket".

However, the people of the occupied Syrian Golan have always been aware of
Tel Aviv's long-term plot for the 'Israelization' of their community
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/occupied-syrian-golan-residents-reject-israelization-of-comm>
.

Following the Golan incident, Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu vowed that "Israel will not let this murderous attack go
unanswered and Hezbollah will pay a heavy price for it, a price it has not
paid before," according to a statement from his office.

Hezbollah denied
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/hezbollah-denies-responsibility-for-majdal-shams-strike>
Saturday that it targeted Majdal Shams. In a statement, the Lebanese
Resistance group said it "categorically denies the allegations reported by
certain enemy media and various media platforms concerning the targeting of
Majdal Shams."

"The Islamic Resistance has no connection to this incident," it affirmed.

*Read next: Prominent Druze leader warns of Israeli 'vile' plot in Majdal
Shams
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/prominent-druze-leader-warns-of-israeli--vile--plot-in-majda>*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Jul 30 11:31:30 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2024 08:31:30 -0700
Subject: [News] Exit poll used by Venezuela opposition sourced from US
 gov-linked firm
Message-ID: <mailman.230.1722353650.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/exit-poll-used-by-venezuela-opposition-sourced-from-us-gov-l>
Exit poll used by Venezuela opposition sourced from US gov-linked firm
Al Mayadeen English
July 30, 2024
------------------------------

A US government-funded company was the one that published the exit poll of
Venezuela's elections indicating the victory of the opposition, indicating
foul play in the works to destabilize Caracas.
[image: 279fc508-08de-4b82-a6db-2aaa875d221e.jpg]

   - Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado talks to the media,
   with opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, following
   the election results in Caracas on July 29, 2024. (*AFP*)

The Venezuelan presidential elections
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/venezuela-s-maduro-says-coup-d-%C3%A9tat-attempted-after-his-re-e>
took place this week with Nicolas Maduro
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/venezuela-s-president-nicolas-maduro-wins-third-term>
emerging victorious with 51% of the votes, securing a third term in office.

However, the United States
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/us-prepared-to-work-with-venezuelan-election-winner--if-tran>
and the Venezuelan opposition
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/opposition-unable-to-create-political-crisis-in-venezuela--m>
accused the president of electoral "fraud" following the release of an exit
poll conducted by Edison Research
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/over-58-000-in-michigan-vote--uncommitted--in-primaries-agai>,
a US-linked company that essentially caters to the reinforcement of the
American agenda and US propaganda outlets founded by the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA)
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/the-cia--a-covert-army-of-mayhem-across-the-world>,
according to a *Geopolitical Economy *piece written by Ben Norton*.*

The Edison Research poll was conducted on the day of the elections,
indicating that right-wing candidate Edmundo Gonz?lez Urrutia
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/venezuelan-opposition-declares-maduro-s-rival-gonzalez-presi>
would win the elections with 65% of the votes, defeating Maduro's
anticipated 31% of the votes. According to Norton, several polling
companies in the Latin American country are run by opposition figures and
littered with political biases. Following the election results on Monday,
the Edison Research poll has evidently proven to be false.

Despite the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE) reporting Maduro
won 51.2% of the votes, followed by Gonz?lez securing 44.2% and the
remaining 4.6% received by a combination of eight other opposition
candidates, as well as the US National Lawyers Guild describing that their
delegation in Venezuela "observed a transparent, fair voting process with
scrupulous attention to legitimacy, access to the polls, and pluralism," US
media outlets and the Venezuelan far-right opposition utilized the Edison
Research poll to justify their accusations of a rigged election.

The poll was cited by Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo L?pez, a
US-backed, far-right politician, and US media outlets such as *The
Washington Post*, *The Wall Street Journal*, and *Reuters*. In addition,
the US State Department, which played a key role in backing numerous coup
attempts in Venezuela, rejected Maduro's victory while Secretary of
State Antony
Blinken
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/as-us-warmongers--it-claims-does-not-want-escalation-on-leba>
questioned the election results.

The National Lawyers Guild criticized the opposition's "attacks on the
electoral system as well as the role of the US in undermining the
democratic process."
Edison Research

Understanding the political economy of a company provides a clear
perspective of its political views, agendas, and ideologies that are shaped
by its funding and ownership. Essentially, the Edison Research firm's top
clientele consists of CIA-affiliated US media outlets infamous for their
spread of propaganda, and mis- and disinformation against the country's
adversaries.

Edison Research is renowned for its international research, conducting
polls in countries such as Ukraine, Iraq, and Georgia. However, the firm's
research is managed by its Executive Vice President Rob Farbman "with a
specialization in the Middle East and Africa for clients including *BBC*,
the* Voice of America*, the *Middle East Broadcasting Networks*, and *Radio
Free Europe/Radio Liberty*," according to its website.

These state media outlets play a pivotal role in what *The New York
Times *described
back in 1977 as a "Worldwide Propaganda Network Built by the CIA" due to
their spread of disinformation and propaganda against China during the Cold
War period. In the modern era, these media outlets continue to manufacture
propaganda against people, countries, organizations, or governments that
oppose their beliefs, especially Russia
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/russia-may-end-moratorium-on-intermediate-range-nuclear-forc>,
China, Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela.

*Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) *were also identified by
the *Times
*as "CIA broadcasting ventures." *RFE/RL *describes itself as "funded
principally by the US Congress through the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA)," according to its website.
US government's support for Venezuelan opposition and coup d'etat

The United States has a history of attempting coups in Venezuela, such as
in 2002 when the Venezuelan military was backed by US forces to briefly
overthrow President Hugo Chavez
<https://english.almayadeen.net/articles/features/venezuela-elections--without-ch%C3%A1vez--but-with-the-threat-of>
before he re-assumed office after large protests. In the same way, the
Trump Administration referred to Juan Guaid?, a right-wing politician, as
the country's "interim president" even though he never participated in a
presidential election.

Washington and the Venezuelan opposition have a sort of alliance, with the
United States investing millions of dollars through the National Endowment
for Democracy (NED) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID)
to provide the opposition group's political parties, media outlets, and
supposed NGOs with financial aid and training.

In contrast, the United States has also seized Venezuela's foreign assets
and imposed sanctions, resulting in the government?s revenue reportedly
shrinking "by 99% with the country currently living on 1% of its
pre-sanctions income," top UN expert on sanctions, Special Rapporteur Alena
Douhan said. Additionally, the economic deterioration of Venezuela caused
by US sanctions resulted in the deaths of 40,000 people from 2017 to 2018,
according to a research paper published by economists Mark Weisbrot and
Jeffrey Sachs.
'Long-range interests of the United States'

The US news outlets are ultimately influential tools that hold significant
hegemonic power, "reaching 420 million people weekly in 63 languages and
over 100 countries," according to the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM),
the company that oversees the media outlets' operations.

USAGM is owned by the United States Information Agency (USIA) and funded by
Congress, where Joe Biden recently requested a $950 million budget for the
2025 fiscal year. USAGM essentially serves the "long-range interests of the
United States," a notion maintained by Congress following its
implementation of the Internationa Broadcasting Act in 1994, highlighting
US media outlets must "be consistent with the broad foreign policy
objectives of the United States?, and note they are "advancing the goals of
United States foreign policy."
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Jul 30 11:42:53 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2024 08:42:53 -0700
Subject: [News] Why the US cannot say no to Netanyahu
Message-ID: <mailman.234.1722354245.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/articles/opinion/why-the-us-cannot-say-no-to-netanyahu>
Why the US cannot say no to Netanyahu
Robert Inlakesh
July 30, 2024
------------------------------

We are coming to the end of a narcissistic empire?s lifespan. One that was
built on notions of racial, class-based, and cultural supremacy, all of
which are being revealed for what they are, as the masks slide off one by
one.
[image: 4b19ea91-1cce-4f03-9755-76fa6451f8e0.jpg]

   - A key takeaway from the speech, which was missed by almost every
   analyst, was when Netanyahu said he "chooses his words carefully." (Al
   Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu?s visit to the United States has
proven to be a major embarrassment for the American government and
political system. However, the reasons behind the reception granted to the
Israeli leader, who awaits an arrest warrant for war crimes, are
multifaceted and expose more than simply the Zionist Lobby.

Netanyahu?s address to Congress appeared as if he was a cult leader
speaking to his worshippers, with the obvious exception of Democratic
lawmaker Rashida Tlaib who chose to stage a quiet protest. The Israeli
Prime Minister received more rounds of applause than any foreign leader
addressing the Congress, and beat UK former Premier Winston Churchill for
delivering the most speeches there, all while attacking American protesters
for using their First Amendment rights.

The Israeli PM then went on to meet privately with both Kamala Harris and
Donald Trump, in addition to US President Joe Biden. His message was clear,
he sought US support for a temporary internal occupation of Gaza, to
continue the war indefinitely and have Washington back an expansion of the
conflict to directly combat the Islamic Republic of Iran.

A key takeaway from the speech, which was missed by almost every analyst,
was when Netanyahu said he "chooses his words carefully" before talking
about how the US and "Israel" have worked together to develop some of the
most advanced weapons on the planet; this was a reference to nuclear
weapons.

Filled with ridiculous lies, distortions, and twisted half-truths, the
Israeli leader received praise and support, with the only objections coming
to his lack of determination to reach a prisoner exchange deal with the
Palestinian Resistance. Also, nearly half of the Democratic Party's
congress-members didn?t show up for his speech, this was in no way
displaying their opposition to the Zionist Entity, but had more to do with
the Democratic Party?s relationship with Netanyahu; with the obvious
exception of a handful of Democratic lawmakers who separately expressed
their distaste for Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
Why is nobody able to say no to Netanyahu?

This question has to be answered on a number of levels, beginning with the
most obvious. When we see members of the U.S. Congress and Senators acting
in a manner of relative worship before the Israeli Prime Minister, the most
clear cut reason for this is the Zionist Lobby in the United States.

Hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions, of dollars evidently buy
standing ovations from elected officials. AIPAC, which used to work in the
shadows, is now openly bragging about its ability to buy elected officials,
bragging a 100% success rate with every candidate they back. So for a
moderately intelligent career politician, the answer is simple: take your
check, sign off on pro-Israeli legislation, and clap your hands when
addressed by an Israeli leader. This part is obvious and the lack of
opposition to the pro-Israeli Lobby is born out of fear that if you don?t
take their money, your competitor will be provided more funding to beat
you, or worse, if you speak out against the Israeli regime, you will be
branded an anti-Semite.

This aspect of the Zionist Lobby?s tremendous sway in Washington also goes
for Presidential election campaigns. We see this now in the case of the
campaign race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, which also exposes
the psychotic nature of the Lobby and major Zionist donors, in that they
cannot even tolerate any descent from a complete worship of the Zionist
Entity.

In the case of the Republican Party, it makes sense for Donald Trump to
publicly display his Zionism, because he has tens of millions of Christian
Zionists who are backing him and forming a kind of cult around him. These
Christian Americans are deliberately misled about Bible teachings by
Christians United For "Israel" (CUFI) and others, being sold on the idea
that they should never even criticize the Israelis, and that the Jews must
move to Palestine in order to bring about the day of judgment.

The Democratic Party's candidate, Kamala Harris, on the other hand, is not
put at an advantage by openly proclaiming her Zionism, but is being forced
to do so, despite the fact that it greatly undermines her chances with her
key voter demographics. According to all the recent polling data,
Democratic Party voters are more favorable towards the plight of the
Palestinians than they are the Israelis, this is especially the case for
most minority communities and amongst younger people; which are the key
groups that Harris must win over in order to claim victory.

Putting aside the fact that Kamala Harris has spoken about her lifelong
commitment to Zionism, the fact that her husband is a Zionist Jewish man,
and that she has taken considerable funds from pro-Israeli Lobby groups,
the best thing she could have done last week was to challenge Benjamin
Netanyahu over his war crimes. She could have even taken the perspective of
the Israeli opposition and that may have even gone down better with her
supporters, but no, her Zionist donors couldn?t even allow that to happen
in a coordinated fashion. This is, by the way, a sign of severe weakness on
the part of the Lobby.

Then we have the more complex issues at hand, like American foreign policy
goals. Despite the political theater, the US government?s foreign policy
strategy in West Asia does not change fundamentally between Democratic or
Republican Presidents. While George W. Bush Jr. started the "War on Terror"
and overthrew the Taliban and Saddam Hussein, there?s a reason why Barack
Obama followed in his footsteps by going on to take out Libya?s Muammar
Gadaffi.

The only issue for the United States government was the ineffectiveness of
their regime change operations at fundamentally reshaping West Asia. While
Obama attempted to weaponise the revolutionary fervor that spread as the
result of the Arab Spring, launching a NATO invasion of Libya, he also lost
control of the situation greatly. While he would eventually end up with a
favorable military regime in Egypt, working alongside Arab regimes in the
Gulf to back the rise of General Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi in 2013, and then
using the rise of Daesh to justify continued American military presence in
Iraq and later Syria, he ended up failing to back the overthrow of
President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

This happened as Ansar Allah in Yemen had taken power and overthrown the
regime of Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi following the Yemeni revolution, to which
the Obama administration responded to by pushing Saudi Arabia to lead a
multinational coalition in order to reinstate deposed President Hadi. The
US plot in Yemen would also fail.

While Obama would sign the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, he would never fully
commit to it and instead continued hanging onto the idea that through
military force, the United States could get its way in the region. All
along, the US government had planned to eventually crush Iran, but was at a
point where it was not plausible to launch such a direct war, and it was
badly wounded by a range of smaller victories against it.

Then we had the Trump administration, which decided that Obama?s 2015
nuclear deal was not worth maintaining and that it was better to pursue a
straightforward strategy of confronting Iran in a more direct way. Trump,
whose top donor was the Zionist billionaire Sheldon Adelson, was encouraged
to completely toss away the idea of compromise and brazenly display the US
government's intentions in the region. He decided to toss away the old idea
of a so-called "Two-State solution" in Palestine and instead believed he
could push the Palestinian people to one side, to begin opening up ties
between the Zionist entity and a range of Arab States, including the UAE,
Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan and the main prize would have been Saudi Arabia.

When the Biden administration took power, it preached about reviving the
2015 nuclear deal but never actually took the negotiations far enough to
get a deal, instead maintaining Donald Trump?s "maximum sanctions" policy.
As Afghanistan seemed to be a relatively useless cause at this point and
due to the fact that Trump had already set in motion the withdrawal of
American forces, he followed through and departed fully.

Then, placing Saudi-Israeli normalization at the center of its regional
political ambitions, the Biden administration also continued to dismiss the
Palestinians. In order to try and keep Iran from responding forcefully to
Saudi-Israeli normalization, the Biden administration reached private
agreements with Tehran to release frozen assets belonging to the Islamic
Republic and eased up on some of the sanctions. In that same year, the
Biden administration was dealt a blow, when the Chinese government mediated
Saudi-Iranian rapprochement. With tunnel visions however, Washington began
planning out a new trade route that would be made possible with
Israeli-Saudi normalization, which Joe Biden called "a big deal" in
September of 2023. The "big deal" was that the new economic corridor
planned to travel through Saudi Arabia and up through occupied Palestine,
was going to act as a counterbalance to new Chinese trade routes under
their Belt and Road initiative.

Biden?s government believed that they were going to successfully execute
the long transition from the War on Terror era, by forming an "Arab NATO"
which would be spearheaded by the Israelis, and that this could be their
answer to the growing power of Tehran. And then, October 7, 2023, came. As
if it fell from the sky, the Hamas-led Operation al-Aqsa Flood destroyed
the American plot to reassert their dominance over West Asia. The whole
world was shocked by the successful military raid and the Israelis were
left without belief. The whole US project in West Asia appeared to be
crumbling and the American response was not to sit down and reflect, it
chose to revert to its "War on Terror" mindset that it was just ridding
itself of.

The Palestinian cause rose from the ashes; the people who were left without
any means had managed to pull off a military defeat on their enemy, the
likes of which had never happened in the history of the conflict. The US
and the Zionist Project were furious, teaming up to put an end to the
resilient Palestinians once and for all. They decided that there would no
longer be any rules, no UN charter or international law, the colonizer
mindset reverted to its "kill the savages" mindset and they rained hell on
the people of Gaza.

Hanging onto the belief that their unhinged assault on Gaza, a genocide,
would once and for all finish the Palestinian Resistance and crush the will
of an already tormented people, they are now coming upon 10 months of
defeat after defeat. The Palestinian Resistance continues, its allies
strengthen their resolve and launch even more daring attacks from the other
fronts of pressure, while the Zionist Entity suffers wounds from which it
will never fully recover.

The truth is, the Zionists in the United States and inside the Entity
itself, see no viable way forward other than continuous war, and so they
throw all their funds into politicians that will bow to their demands,
while Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will not end the war due
to it spelling the potential end of his reign in power. This, as the United
States government bears the entire weight of the Zionist Lobby like never
before and faces a situation in which they have no other options to assert
their dominance over West Asia anymore.

The US has no strategy, it cannot offer peace or economic prosperity, and
even if it was to self-reflect, adopting a more China-esk approach to its
foreign policy in West Asia, it has destroyed the region so horribly that
undoing the damage would prove an enormous task in of itself. So, the US
has two options on the table:

1) Kill, divide, destroy, and back the Israelis in any escalation they
seek. Do this as the Zionist Lobby continues writing cheques as an
incentive on the side.

2) Leave the region alone militarily, force the Israelis to conclude a deal
with the Palestinians, and exert influence through investment, diplomatic
maneuvering, and repair ties with Iran.

Unfortunately, the United States government refuses to acknowledge the
reality that it is no longer the power that it once was at the end of the
Cold War. We are now living in a multi-polar world, in which the Islamic
Republic of Iran is a real power in West Asia. The regional resistance
groups that formed to combat US imperialism and Israeli settler colonialism
are stronger now than ever before, this has grown to the point where an
all-out war between the Zionist Entity and Lebanon would crush the Israeli
regime. Yet, the narcissism of the West?s self-appointed "leader of the
free world", the United States, will not allow for it to be anything less
than exceptional, despite the fact that it no longer is what it says it is.
In reality, the US was for a brief period one of the most powerful regimes
in world history, but the length of its empire?s rule is but only a speck
in the historical timeline.

We are coming to the end of a narcissistic empire?s lifespan. One that was
built on notions of racial, class-based, and cultural supremacy, all of
which are being revealed for what they are, as the masks slide off one by
one. At this point, saying no to Benjamin Netanyahu would be saying no to
themselves, because he embodies the ideals on which US Imperialism lives.
The only way that change will come, is the fundamental altering of the
American political system.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Jul 30 14:16:41 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2024 11:16:41 -0700
Subject: [News] Does Israel Really Believe It Can Win a War Against
 Hezbollah?
In-Reply-To: <20240730001409.3.887ebb6c3dce7e82@mg-d0.substack.com>
References: <20240730001409.3.887ebb6c3dce7e82@mg-d0.substack.com>
Message-ID: <mailman.238.1722363415.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

Amal Saad, a leading expert on the Lebanese resistance movement, says 
all-out war could lead to Israel?s downfall
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?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? 
 ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?? ? ? ?

	
	

	
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for more


  Does Israel Really Believe It Can Win a War Against Hezbollah?
  <https://substack.com/app-link/post?publication_id=2510348&post_id=147145026&utm_source=post-email-title&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=lvppb&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjozNjc1MTU4MywicG9zdF9pZCI6MTQ3MTQ1MDI2LCJpYXQiOjE3MjIyOTg1MjMsImV4cCI6MTcyNDg5MDUyMywiaXNzIjoicHViLTI1MTAzNDgiLCJzdWIiOiJwb3N0LXJlYWN0aW9uIn0.hfg5RC83BMEf_y_oxj18EDAIzfb1xCD1JZlvYBQaPko>


      Amal Saad, a leading expert on the Lebanese resistance movement,
      says all-out war could lead to Israel?s downfall

Jeremy Scahill <https://substack.com/@jeremyscahill>

Jul 30

	
<https://substack.com/@jeremyscahill>

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On Monday, flights at Beirut?s airport were canceled as Israeli Prime 
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to carry out a ?harsh? military 
attack on Lebanon, following Saturday?s deadly strike on a Syrian Druze 
community in the Israeli-occupied Golan town of Majdal Shams. The 
horrifying incident killed 12 children on a soccer field.

Israel and the U.S. immediately accused Hezbollah of hitting the town 
with a Falaq-1 rocket launched from southern Lebanon. Hezbollah has 
denied it was behind the attack and both it and the Lebanese government 
have called on the United Nations to undertake an independent 
investigation.

The way that blame for this incident unfolded publicly lends itself to 
competing theories of responsibility. Earlier Saturday, Hezbollah had 
announced it had launched a series of attacks on nearby Israeli military 
installations in retaliation for the killing of four Hezbollah fighters 
in an Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon. When news of the deaths at 
the soccer field began to emerge, Hezbollah swiftly issued a statement 
saying that it had ?no connection to the [Majdal Shams] incident at all, 
and categorically denies all false allegations.? Hezbollah charged that 
an Israeli Iron Dome interceptor missile had missed its target and hit 
the town. Israel has claimed it identified the Hezbollah commander of 
the strike.

?Despite [Hezbollah?s] denials, it's their rocket, it was launched from 
an area that they control,? said White House national security 
spokesperson John Kirby on Monday.

Since Saturday, Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials have 
weaponized the deaths in the Golan Heights to preemptively justify a 
larger scale attack on Lebanon. ?We are all Druze,? proclaimed a post 
<https://substack.com/redirect/039da440-7556-4c57-968c-87f46ef093be?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>on 
the state of Israel?s official Twitter/X account on Saturday. ?These 
children are our children,? Netanyahu said when he visited Majdal Shams 
on Monday ? though the vast majority of the estimated 20-25,000 Druze 
residents of occupied Golan Heights have rejected Israeli citizenship 
and have regularly protested Israel?s wars and policies. None of the 12 
victims held Israeli citizenship 
<https://substack.com/redirect/8db28742-aaec-43f3-9759-a7e7507ca0fb?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>. 
?Israel will not and cannot let this simply pass on by,? Netanyahu 
declared. ?Our response will come, and it will be harsh.?

A crowd of residents gathered to confront Netanyahu, chanting 
<https://substack.com/redirect/b3c1be4c-04a8-4f1f-bde4-af2cc1ba6f05?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>at 
times in Hebrew for him to go away. Others chanted 
<https://substack.com/redirect/46b2d25f-f1ce-4929-b5cb-bc9abf471f14?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>?Killer! 
Killer!? and accused Netanyahu of coming to ?dance on our children?s 
blood.? Some locals told journalists 
<https://substack.com/redirect/ab717df8-94ed-4ffa-8f22-7a5b26e5c293?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>they 
did not want to be used by any side as fuel for a war between Israel and 
Hezbollah and questioned why either would attack their town.

Families of the Majdal Shams victims refused to meet Netanyahu, 
according to Ha?aretz 
<https://substack.com/redirect/8a22ea11-e010-48d1-9c4d-d02fac8aabe1?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>. 
The visit was under a media censorship restriction until Netanyahu 
departed the town. Ronen Bar, the director of the Shin Bet intelligence 
agency, accompanied Netanyahu on the trip and Defense Minister Yoav 
Gallant visited the site a day earlier.

Israel first occupied large swaths of the Golan region in southwestern 
Syria in 1967 and formally annexed the Golan Heights in 1981. Under 
international law it remains Syrian territory. In 2019, President Donald 
Trump reversed decades of U.S. policy and officially recognized the 
Golan Heights as Israeli territory. No other nations have followed suit.

Despite written requests from community leaders in Majdal Shams that no 
Israeli officials attend the funerals, far-right finance minister 
Bezalel Smotrich and a handful of other Israeli officials showed up at a 
funeral Sunday for 10 of the victims. Mourners shouted them down and 
demanded they leave. Some denounced Smotrich as a ?murderer.?

The rise of the Axis of Resistance introduces an array of other forces 
that could join Hezbollah?s side in a war with Israel.

The Biden-Harris administration, while publicly affirming that Israel 
would be justified in attacking Lebanon in response to the Majdal Shams 
incident, has claimed it does not want a wider regional conflict or a 
full-scale war between Israel and Lebanon. In a call with reporters, 
Kirby said talk of a broader war was ?exaggerated,? adding, ?I'm 
confident that we'll be able to avoid such an outcome.? Hezbollah and 
Israel have both conducted military strikes on each other since the 
October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks, but to date there has been no 
escalation that has sparked the type of ground and air battles that 
ensued in 2006 when Israel and Hezbollah fought a 34-day war.

Since Saturday, Israel has launched a series of attacks in southern 
Lebanon, though they have been similar in scope to its previous strikes 
over the past ten months. On Sunday, Gallant said, ?Hezbollah will pay a 
heavy price for this.?

While the Netanyahu regime has consistently threatened war against 
Lebanon over the past 10 months and specifically against Hezbollah, many 
leading regional analysts believe such action would result in 
catastrophe for Israel, militarily and politically. Hamas and 
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, far less sophisticated and armed groups, have 
managed to wage a nearly 10-month insurgency against Israeli ground 
forces in Gaza while enduring sustained bombardment from U.S.-provided 
weapons.

Iran has also shown a willingness to attack Israel. The rise of the Axis 
of Resistance, which, in addition to Iran, includes Ansar Allah (the 
Houthis) in Yemen, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, as well as the 
Syrian government and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, introduces an 
array of other forces that could join Hezbollah?s side in a war with Israel.

I discussed all this today with Amal Saad, one of the leading experts on 
Hezbollah and the Axis of Resistance. Saad is a lecturer on 
international relations and politics at Cardiff University in the UK and 
author of /Hizbu?llah: Politics and Religion/and /The Iran Connection: 
Understanding the Alliance with Syria, Hizbu?llah and Hamas./She is 
currently in Lebanon.


      My Interview with Amal Saad

*Jeremy Scahill: *You've suggested that you do not believe that 
Hezbollah was behind this attack in the occupied Syrian Golan.

*Amal Saad: *Yes. So I said that Hezbollah, it's very unlikely that they 
are behind it, not just because they issued the statement. Yes, it was 
uncharacteristic, and it was the first time they've issued such a 
statement?I don't know about ever?but they have not issued such a 
statement once since October 8 [when Hezbollah announced it would engage 
in ?solidarity? strikes against Israel in support of the Hamas-led 
October 7 attacks]. So that indicated, obviously, the seriousness of the 
situation and that they were indeed denying responsibility for the attack.

But also beyond that, just on the basis of logic and precedent and so 
on. First of all, this town, Majdal Shams, it's not Israeli territory. 
It's occupied Syrian territory and its inhabitants are Syrian Druze. The 
majority of them have refused to take Israeli citizenship and to serve 
in the army. And they are staunch supporters of the resistance axis. 
They've supported Bashar al Assad's government in Syria. They've 
supported Hezbollah and Hamas. And so it would be extremely absurd for 
Hezbollah to attack its own allies.

Now, beyond that as well, I would say, I don't think Hezbollah would 
attack Israeli civilians either in terms of a deliberate target. They 
would not attack them because that would lead to all-out war. That's 
very, very provocative. And I know that [Hezbollah General Secretary 
Hassan] Nasrallah has quite recently actually threatened Israel with 
such retaliation, saying if you keep targeting our civilians, we're 
going to have to do the same sort of thing. But even then, I don't think 
Hezbollah would seek out civilians and massacre them like that. They 
would probably target civilian objects, which is very different from 
targeting civilians, and we still haven't seen that to be fair. We 
haven't seen any real civilian casualties in Israel [from Hezbollah 
attacks]?there have been quite few. So based on these factors, I think 
it's very unlikely that it would be a deliberate strike at least.

*Jeremy Scahill: *It seems that the dominant theories are: either it was 
a misfire or a mistake on Hezbollah's part or it was an Israeli failure 
of its Iron Dome system and one of Israel?s munitions hit the soccer 
field. I've also seen people suggest that it's a false flag, that Israel 
intentionally hit the town and they wanted to blame it on Hezbollah.

*Amal Saad: *There are several theories, but I think the one that is 
less of a theory and more empirically backed is that it was an Israeli 
interceptor missile that misfired, was trying to intercept an incoming 
rocket. And I say it has some empirical evidence for this because on 
Arab TV, and obviously, we didn't see this in Western media, but we saw 
several reports talking to eyewitnesses who said they actually saw that 
interceptor missile from the Iron Dome strike the target. And one 
correspondent said that an Israeli paramedic told her that, but he said 
he couldn't say it on air because he would be arrested. So there have 
been several such reports, and it does seem like the most likely 
explanation.

But there is also the possibility that other [anti-Israel resistance] 
groups were responsible for this. And Hezbollah is not alone in fighting 
Israel. Ever since they established this so-called solidarity front, 
there have been several other groups, in fact, some secular, some 
Islamist. One of them is, for example, Jamaa Al-Islamiya, the [Lebanese 
Sunni] Islamic group, which has been involved quite a bit recently in 
these cross border strikes. And their members have been targeted by 
Israel quite often. So they may have potentially mistakenly hit that 
target. If it was another group, it was obviously a mistake. That was 
not going to be a deliberate target for anyone.

*Jeremy Scahill: *If it was, though, a Hezbollah misfire, is there a 
precedent for Hezbollah taking responsibility if they inadvertently kill 
civilians?

*Amal Saad: *Yes, that's a good question because in 2006, there was such 
an incident during the July war when Hezbollah, one of its rockets, 
mistakenly landed in a Palestinian town. And not only did Hezbollah 
issue a statement taking responsibility and apologizing, but Nasrallah 
himself personally apologized on TV and paid condolences to the victim's 
family. [In that incident, Hezbollah rockets killed two Arab children in 
Nazareth. ?In my name and on behalf of my brothers, I apologize to this 
family,? Nasrallah said 
<https://substack.com/redirect/8173efc1-61b4-4270-bd52-5b0e707912bf?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>in 
an interview broadcast on Al Jazeera. ?Of course, the word apology is 
not sufficient. I bear full responsibility. That was not intended at 
all.?] So Hezbollah has a history of claiming responsibility, of 
admitting to such errors. And I think that also lends more credence to 
its argument, or rather its assertion, that it was not behind this.

I think another point also that we need to look at is sort of the timing 
of this as well. Last week, Hezbollah issued the third in a series of 
drone footage videos 
<https://substack.com/redirect/2163ac80-04df-4332-979c-c3698fbf2a31?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>. 
It was surveilling a specific military base over Israel and it was 
threatening Israel that we will target this military base. In previous 
such videos, they threatened others, not just military, but also 
civilian targets. Why would Hezbollah do all that to deter Israel from 
striking it, if it was just going to provoke Israel a couple of days 
later with this? It makes absolutely no sense, as Hezbollah knows that 
Israel, if it has decided to launch an all-out war, if that decision has 
been taken, and we're all assuming it's not a likely scenario, but there 
is always a possibility that such a decision has been taken. If it has, 
then why would Hezbollah want to give Israel ammunition to escalate 
further? Even if it's not to launch an all-out war, but to escalate 
further against itself, that makes absolutely no sense. And the purpose 
of that video was to deter such a strike. So it makes no sense that it 
would be deliberately targeted.

Why would Hezbollah do all that to deter Israel from striking it, if it 
was just going to provoke Israel a couple of days later with this?

Now, again, going back to was it an error? You know, some people said 
that Hezbollah, just like seconds earlier, had issued a statement 
declaring responsibility for striking something in the Golan which was 3 
km away from Majdal Shams. I tried to sort of get to the bottom of this. 
It's very hard to tell, but it's not very likely that they would miss by 
that far. I spoke to military experts who?and I think this is much more 
convincing?who said that if it was the Falaq-1 [missile], because 
Hezbollah used the Falaq-1 to strike that target that they announced in 
the statement, an Israeli brigade. And if they had used the Falaq-1, we 
would have seen a much larger crater, and the crater was much smaller 
than would be expected from such a heavy warhead, which is 53 kilos. It 
would be much, much bigger and there would be much more destruction.

*Jeremy Scahill: *Why then is Israel so quick to seize on this and to 
blame Hezbollah? Do you really believe that Israel wants a full war with 
Hezbollah?

*Amal Saad: *There are two reasons it could be doing this. I think the 
more likely one isn't that it wants a full war. First of all, it wants 
to deflect attention away from its own genocidal crimes and killing of 
children on a daily basis. Now, just one or two days earlier, it had 
struck a children's school and scores of children were massacred. So 
this is very convenient for Israel, and this has [allowed Israel] to 
say, ?Look, Hezbollah is a child killer.? So it definitely serves a 
propaganda purpose. There is definitely that element. In terms of what 
kind of military or strategic value can it derive from this, I think it 
can use this to pressure Hezbollah through its allies, Western mediators 
and so on. And they have been doing this. They have been now pressuring 
Hezbollah not only to not respond to Israel, to absorb an Israeli 
strike, but also to stop all the clashes across the border. So it's used 
to apply this sort of pressure on [Hezbollah] because it assumes that 
there will be a lot of internal as well, pressure domestically, from the 
state, from the population. And, in terms of the state, I wouldn't say 
that's been forthcoming. So there is that element of pressure, of 
propaganda value.

And third, it would allow Israel then?there could be this bank of 
targets it has, military targets which it hasn't dared to strike before 
because it's a bit risky, perhaps, because there would be quite 
significant strikes in areas outside of the usual sort of zone of 
operations. It might be outside of that and they may now think they can 
get away with it, with striking those targets, if it looks like it's 
engaged in a counter strike, because this is the first time that we see 
that happen in this conflict so far, that Hezbollah has denied 
responsibility and Israel is saying, nonetheless, we have the right to 
counter strike. So I do think they're trying to milk this as much as 
they can.

Now, there's always the possibility with Israel, because we're not 
dealing here with a rational actor necessarily, we can't take for 
granted Israel's rationality, I think, and there is always the 
possibility that an irrational decision will be made and one that tries 
to drag the U.S. into a wider war because it would have to do that if it 
wants to strike Hezbollah and risk all out war, it would need U.S. 
military support, in fact. So there could always be that possibility.

*Jeremy Scahill: *When you say that there are targets that Israel might 
want to strike that are outside of the normal zone of their military 
attacks on Hezbollah, what types of targets are you referring to?

*Amal Saad: *Well, I mean, I personally don't know, but they could be, 
not in terms of just strategic value, it could be their location. So, 
for example, the Bekaa is kind of more off limits than these border 
areas in the south. So they might strike the Bekaa, for instance. They 
have done such strikes, but not anywhere near as many as in the south. 
So the Bekaa is more off limits. And Hezbollah has adopted a new 
equation. Whenever Israel strikes the Bekaa, [Hezbollah] strikes the 
Golan in response. So they might, there might be certain parts of the 
Bekaa it hasn't struck. It might be another area altogether. I don't 
really know. But I don't think Beirut would be?if we assume [Israel] 
doesn't want to risk a war, I don't think they would come near Beirut. 
But again, here it's very difficult to foresee the extent to which 
Israel is being rational here because it might actually also not just be 
not rational, it might also be extremely foolish and think that if it 
does strike Beirut, Hezbollah would kind of absorb it if it's a military 
target. We don't know. I doubt that. I doubt that. And I know the U.S., 
according to various reports, has warned Israel not to strike Beirut or 
heavily populated areas. So that they will most likely, I think, 
subscribe to those kind of limits.

*Jeremy Scahill: *There were even some rumors that Israel was 
contemplating bombing Beirut airport.

*Amal Saad: *I saw that. I don't really?I think that Israelis make a lot 
of noise and there's a lot of accounts on Twitter which spread so much 
disinformation and they?re people who are not?sometimes journalists, 
sometimes activists or whatever, and even Israeli officials. I mean, 
they spread so much misinformation and rumors, and even Western 
governments. For example, what they've been doing recently is alerting 
their citizens and urging them to leave Lebanon. It's not a new trend. 
It's been going on since the start of the war, but these past two days 
have been crazy. They've started sending texts to American citizens, 
France has joined the fray, Germany, many other countries, all Western, 
urging them to leave in a way that they haven't before. And this is part 
and parcel of the intimidation campaign. It's to put pressure on the 
Lebanese, which in turn puts pressure on Hezbollah and sort of threatens 
them with a huge response on Israel's part. So, there is that at work as 
well.

*Jeremy Scahill: *How does Hezbollah view this kind of insane moment in 
the context of American politics where you have Joe Biden, who's been a 
lifelong dedicated promoter of Israel, a self-described Zionist, he's 
now stepping down from seeking another term. You likely now have Kamala 
Harris versus Donald Trump. You have Netanyahu clearly playing his own 
game in part based on American politics. What's your best sense of how 
the Hezbollah movement sees the US role in this, given the political 
uncertainty of the next few months in the United States?

*Amal Saad: *I think Hezbollah, especially Nasrallah, has on several 
occasions declared that the U.S. is ultimately responsible for all of 
this. And Hezbollah sees Israel as a proxy of the U.S. Now, yes, 
[Israel] does have some sort of room for maneuver. As a proxy, it?s not 
entirely beholden. I don't think [Hezbollah leaders] view it that way. 
And they do see Netanyahu as having his own kind of personal agenda and 
reasons for not always abiding by the wishes of the U.S. But at the same 
time, they don't believe the U.S. is serious enough about preventing an 
escalation. I think they do tend to believe that it's not in the U.S.?s 
interests. And they have said as much. This is not my own analysis. This 
is what they've said publicly, that the U.S. doesn't want an all-out 
war. However, they also don't think it's doing enough to prevent one. 
And that's sort of the contradiction here.

In terms of candidates, I think it's quite difficult. There is, and if 
you speak to people here?it's not just Hezbollah?people are generally 
unsure about who would be the worst candidate because in one sense, how 
much more Zionist can you get than Biden? So in terms of Trump?we've 
seen Trump make a lot of contradictory messages. There have been 
instances where he hasn't been as conciliatory towards Israel as in 
other cases, so it's a bit confusing. However, he is also the same 
president who assassinated [Iranian General] Qassem Soleimani and [Iraqi 
resistance commander] Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis [in a drone strike in 
Baghdad on January 3, 2020]. So he is not risk averse. He's even 
irrational, some would say. And I think that's very true. And so the 
idea of: would Kamala be better than both Biden and Trump? I think there 
is a general sense?I?m not talking about Hezbollah here, but generally 
in Lebanon?that she might be the lesser evil based on some of her 
statements so far and some reports. But I don't think Hezbollah is 
banking on any specific candidate in the same way that Israel is banking 
on Trump winning.

*Jeremy Scahill: *If Israel does commit and they do want war with 
Hezbollah, what does that look like from the Lebanese side, based on the 
history of these conflicts and wars and Hezbollah's response to Israel? 
If Israel does send in ground forces or engages in a very heavy, wider 
bombing campaign, what could we expect Hezbollah's response to look like?

>From all the information I've been gathering, it would actually lead to 
the unraveling of the Israeli state.

*Amal Saad: *Well, I think the Israeli intelligence is quite aware 
because I've read a lot of these analyses in Israeli and U.S. 
intelligence reports and others, which is that Hezbollah?first of all, I 
don't think we would see what we saw in 2006. I don't think Israel would 
even get to invade Lebanon in the same way. I don't think it would be 
able to stage a ground incursion, definitely not of that magnitude. And 
Israel would not be in a purely offensive position. Israel would be also 
in a defensive position because Hezbollah would also infiltrate and make 
incursions into Israel proper. So, it's going to look very different, 
just in terms of the overall strategy of the war, that it will be an 
offensive defense on Hezbollah's part. It won't just be defense.

Secondly, the fact that Hezbollah has now fully conventionalized, it's 
no longer even a hybrid force. I've spoken to military experts here, and 
I've been curious myself to see what they think. Where is [Hezbollah] on 
the spectrum of guerrilla to conventional army? Is it sort of in the 
middle, like in 2006? They've said, ?No, it's actually a fully fledged 
conventional force now. But obviously it has these sort of capabilities 
of an irregular armed force. It still retains them and has that 
experience.? So we're talking here about a much more sophisticated 
military organization with well over 100,000 fighters, well over that 
number, over 150,000 missiles and rockets. You know, back in 2006, 
Hezbollah had just a few thousand fighters, far fewer rockets, much less 
sophisticated missiles and rockets. Basically everything that Iran has, 
all the weapons Iran has, you can be certain Hezbollah has them, too. 
That's what we know. And that's aside from the things that Hezbollah is 
manufacturing domestically, like it's drone technology?it's 
manufacturing its own drones now. So, we're talking here about a vastly 
different military creature than 2006.

And, again, the tactics will not just be purely defensive. They will be 
offensive. And that's not even factoring in other actors in the 
resistance axis who are itching to join the fight and have declared 
their intent to send hundreds of thousands of fighters, such as the 
Houthis [from Yemen], to Lebanon.

>From all the information I've been gathering, it would actually lead to 
the unraveling of the Israeli state. We're not talking here about just a 
defeat for Israel like in 2006. It would be the sort of defeat that 
would actually lead to its demise. This is why, when we talk about ?the 
great war,? which is not a matter of if, it's when, when that war 
happens, which is an inevitability, [Hezbollah] have always said that 
that is going to be the war that will change the face of the region. So, 
we are talking here about a scenario which would definitely lead to the 
destruction of a lot of Lebanon ? no one is discounting that or 
belittling that. But at the same time, it would lead to the destruction 
of Israel and while it would lead to the destruction of Lebanon in 
material terms, that destruction would not lead to the unraveling of the 
Lebanese state in the same way that it would lead to the unraveling of 
the Israeli or Zionist regime. I think that's one way of looking at it.

*Jeremy Scahill: *Short of an all-out war between Israel and Lebanon, 
what does the future of the resistance axis or the axis of resistance 
look like? This has been an unprecedented moment. You don't have Arab 
nation states stepping in to say, ?We?re going to defend the 
Palestinians of Gaza and the West Bank and Jerusalem militarily,? but 
you do have a multifaceted response that is also multinational and 
involves both state and non-state actors. What does the future look like 
for this resistance axis?

*Amal Saad: *Well, this is the consolidation phase of the resistance 
axis. It first emerged in Syria, I would say, like in 2014 
especially?that was sort of its peak, 2015, but it wasn't as large as it 
is today. It didn't include Hamas, obviously, and it didn't include the 
Houthis. Today it's a much larger axis in terms of state and non-state?I 
don't even know if we should call them non-state. They're quasi-states 
and sometimes, you know, virtual states like the Houthis are now Yemen. 
I think it's a misnomer to call it a non-state actor. This is the 
consolidation phase. This war has been actually sort of a testing 
grounds for how tightly knit this alliance is, weapons and training, 
transfer of weapons, military knowledge, weapons manufacturing, you name 
it. Coordination, both tactical and strategic. It's taken root here. So 
we can only assume that level of coordination and cooperation and 
consolidation among its ranks will only grow stronger, not only, by the 
way, on the level of political elites or the different militaries of 
these organizations, but we're talking about the popular level as well, 
that the massive constituencies that each of these actors has is almost 
fully behind this alliance.

So I think we're in for a further deepening of this alliance, and we're 
going to start seeing how it sort of significantly departs from any 
Western alliances or any alliances we've known so far. It's going to 
need its own model, its own theoretical model, to study it and to 
understand it. It's a new paradigm, really.

? 2024 Drop Site News, Inc.
Drop Site News Inc., 4315 50th St. NW
Ste 100 Unit #2560, Washington, DC 20016
<https://substack. .Az7dU2Y74bdAioRT7nA_8MWqJRIjlYFoPUWenIeqoa8?>

	
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Jul 30 17:39:29 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2024 14:39:29 -0700
Subject: [News] Israeli aggression targets residential bldg in Beirut
 Southern Suburb
Message-ID: <mailman.241.1722375637.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-aggression-targets-residential-bldg--in-beirut-south>
Israeli aggression targets residential bldg in Beirut Southern Suburb
Al Mayadeen English
July 30, 2024
------------------------------

Israeli occupation forces struck a residential building in the Southern
Suburb of Beirut, partially destroying it, in a rare strike.
[image: ef04c75d-cff8-4501-9919-08d018174f51.jpg]

   - The scene of an Israeli strike on a residential building in the
   Southern Suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on July 30, 2024 (Social media)

At least one civilian, a woman, was killed and sixty-eight others were
wounded in an Israeli aggression on Haret Hreik, in the Southern Suburb of
Beirut, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported.

Among the injured, five are in critical condition, while the rest of the
injuries range between moderate and minor, the Ministry added.

An Israeli strike targeted a residential building in the Southern Suburb of
Beirut on Tuesday evening, destroying a substantial section of the
structure.

The strike comes after continuous threats by Israeli occupation officials
of a substantial aggression on Lebanon, since Saturday.

*Al Mayadeen*'s correspondent reported that the strike targeted the
Southern Suburb of Beirut, where at least one explosion was heard.

In detail, our correspondent said that the strike targeted a residential
building in Haret Hreik, resulting in the collapse of a substantial section
of the structure.

"Israel" has been threatening a strike against Lebanon after falsely
accusing the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon - Hezbollah of launching an
attack on the Israeli-occupied Syrian town of Majdal Shams
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/did-an-israeli-iron-dome-missile-cause-the-majdal-shams-mass>
.

Following the strike, the United Nations said the United Nations Interim
Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) leadership and the UN coordinator are conducting
talks to prevent a war between Hezbollah and "Israel".

*Read more: 'Israel' will come to end if it wages war on Lebanon: Hezbollah
MP
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-israel--will-come-to-end-if-it-wages-war-on-lebanon--hezbol>*
IOF say they targeted a Hezbollah commander, fears of retaliation rise

The Israeli occupation forces spokesperson said the military targeted a
commander responsible for the alleged Majdal Shams strike. He added that
there is "no change in the directives of the Home Front Command," which are
a set of directives issued to settlers in times of war.

Israeli media outlets also said that the military's command declared a
state of alert, instructing settlers in settlements near the
Lebanese-Palestinian border to remain in shelters.

Furthermore, ongoing preparation and a heightened state of alert in the
Israeli anti-air systems were recorded, amid the possibility of a response
from Hezbollah, Israeli media outlets reported.
Rare strike on Southern Suburb of Beirut to be met with harsh response

Strikes on the Southern Suburb of Beirut have been largely avoided by
Israeli authorities, due to the deterrence equation imposed by the
Resistance and its repeated warnings and threats against such an
escalation.

The last time an Israeli strike targeted the Suburb was on January 2, 2024,
which killed the top Hamas official in Lebanon, martyr Saleh al-Arouri, and
others.

Hezbollah responded to the aggression with wide-ranging strikes on Israeli
military targets, attacking the Meron Air Traffic Control Base for the
first time.

*Read more: The Lebanese have Hezbollah's back despite Israeli all-out war
threat
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/the-lebanese-have-hezbollah-s-back-despite-israeli-all-out-w>*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Jul 30 21:25:54 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2024 18:25:54 -0700
Subject: [News] Hezbollah responds to attacks, showers IOF sites with rockets,
 drones
Message-ID: <mailman.245.1722389225.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/hezbollah-responds-to-attacks--showers-iof-sites-with-rocket>
Hezbollah responds to attacks, showers IOF sites with rockets, drones
Al Mayadeen English
July 31, 2024
------------------------------

Hezbollah says its Resistance fighters carried out 11 operations against
Israeli military sites and troops.
[image: 313b7180-75de-4a0d-9bdc-3876657acd53.jpg]

   - A screen grab from a video showing the moment Hezbollah fighters
   targeted a building occupied by Israeli soldiers in the Shtula settlement
   near the southern Lebanese border (Military Media of the Islamic Resistance
   in Lebanon)

The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon - Hezbollah announced Tuesday a new
series of operations against Israeli military sites and troops along the
border with occupied Palestine.

Hezbollah said its operations were in support of the steadfast Palestinian
people in the Gaza Strip and their brave and honorable Resistance and in
response to the Israeli attacks on southern Lebanese towns and civilian
homes.

*The operations came as follows: *

1- Hezbollah said that its Air Defense Unit countered Israeli fighter jets
violating Lebanon's airspace and flying at supersonic speeds, halting their
violations and forcing them to withdraw behind the Palestinian-Lebanese
border.

2- The Resistance responded to an Israeli strike on Jibchit, attacking the
al-Sahel Battalion headquarters in the Israeli Beit Hillel barracks with a
barrage of Grad-type rockets.

3- Hezbollah fighters also responded to an Israeli strike on Beit Lif,
attacking the Jal al-Aalam military site with artillery shells.

4- Another response to the Beit Lif assassination saw Hezbollah's Unmanned
Air Force launch a swarm of suicide drones at the al-Sahel Battalion
headquarters in Beit Hillel, where drones impacted the positions of Israeli
occupation officers and soldiers, killing and injuring several.

5- The Unmanned Air Force also launched yet another swarm of drones at
recently set-up positions of Israeli occupation soldiers in Yuval, dealing
casualties among them. The attack came in response to an Israeli strike on
Kfar Roummane.

6- The Islamic Resistance bombarded the command headquarters of the
al-Sahel Battalion in the Beit Hillel barracks with a barrage of Grad-type
rockets for the third time. It said the operation was in response to the
Israeli attack on the town of Jibchit, which resulted in civilian
casualties.

7- At 5:30 pm, Hezbollah fighters targeted a positioning of soldiers in the
vicinity of the Avivim barracks with appropriate weapons.

8- At 6:20 pm, the Islamic Resistance targeted the al-Ramtha site in the
occupied Lebanese Kfar Chouba Hills with rocket artillery, hitting it
directly.

9- At 6:20 pm, Hezbollah targeted the Israeli Zebdine site in the occupied
Lebanese Shebaa Farms with rocket artillery, hitting it directly.

10- At 6:35 pm, the Resistance targeted the Bayad Blida site with
appropriate weapons as part of its response to the Israeli attack and
assassination in Beit Lif.

11- Hezbollah fighters bombarded the air and missile defense headquarters
in the Israeli Kela base with dozens of Grad-type rockets in response to
the Israeli attack on Jibchit.

The Military Media of the Islamic Resistance also published scenes of its
operation against a building occupied by Israeli soldiers in the Shtula
settlement near the southern Lebanese border.

In a related context, the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon mourned its fighter
Hassan Hussein Malak "Badr", from the southern Lebanese town of Beit Lif,
on the path toward [liberating] occupied al-Quds.


*Read more: Lebanese officials rally behind Hezbollah after Israeli
aggression
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/lebanese-officials-rally-behind-hezbollah-after-israeli-aggr>*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Jul 30 23:28:07 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2024 20:28:07 -0700
Subject: [News] Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the movement,
 who passed as a result of a treacherous zionist raid on his
 residence in Tehran
Message-ID: <mailman.253.1722396505.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

?? Hamas:
?
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

"Do not consider those who have been killed in the way of Allah as dead; 
rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision."

The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas mourns to the sons of our great 
Palestinian people, the Arab and Islamic nation, and all the free people 
of the world:

Brother leader, martyr, fighter Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the 
movement, who passed as a result of a treacherous zionist raid on his 
residence in Tehran, after participating in the inauguration ceremony of 
the new Iranian president.

We belong to Allah and to Him we shall return.

It is a jihad of victory or martyrdom.

Islamic Resistance Movement - Hamas
Wednesday: 25 Muharram 1446 AH
Corresponding to: July 31, 2024 AD

https://t.me/PalestineResist/50844



From news at freedomarchives.org  Tue Jul 30 23:49:53 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2024 20:49:53 -0700
Subject: [News] Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in airstrike on Tehran residence
Message-ID: <mailman.254.1722397860.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

english.almayadeen.net
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/ismail-haniyeh-assassinated-in-airstrike-on-tehran-residence>
Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in airstrike on Tehran residence
Al Mayadeen English
July 31, 2024
------------------------------

The Islamic Revolution Guard Corps in Iran and Hamas announce the martyrdom
of Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh in an airstrike on his
residence in Tehran.
[image: b5f567ad-a42b-485e-ac24-46251aff1ca3.jpg]

   - Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the Palestinian Resistance movement, Hamas,
   in Beirut, Lebanon, June 28, 2021. (AP)

The Islamic Revolution Guard Corps in Iran announces the martyrdom of
Ismail Haniyeh, the Head of the Political Bureau of Hamas, alongside one of
his guards in Tehran.

Hamas confirmed the martyrdom of the Hamas leader noting that the head of
the political bureau was killed in a "treacherous Zionist airstrike on his
residence in Tehran".

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps of Iran later underscored "We are
studying the dimensions of the martyrdom of Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas'
political bureau, and will announce the results of the investigation later."
Israeli aggression targets residential bldg in Beirut Southern Suburb

At least one civilian, a woman, was killed and sixty-eight others were
wounded in an Israeli aggression on Haret Hreik, in the Southern Suburb of
Beirut
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-aggression-targets-residential-bldg--in-beirut-south>,
the Lebanese Health Ministry reported.

Among the injured, five are in critical condition, while the rest of the
injuries range between moderate and minor, the Ministry added.

An Israeli strike targeted a residential building in the Southern Suburb of
Beirut on Tuesday evening, destroying a substantial section of the
structure.

The strike comes after continuous threats by Israeli occupation officials
of a substantial aggression on Lebanon, since Saturday.

Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported that the strike targeted the Southern
Suburb of Beirut, where at least one explosion was heard.

In detail, our correspondent said that the strike targeted a residential
building in Haret Hreik, resulting in the collapse of a substantial section
of the structure.

"Israel" has been threatening a strike against Lebanon after falsely
accusing the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon - Hezbollah of launching an
attack on the Israeli-occupied Syrian town of Majdal Shams.

Following the strike, the United Nations said the United Nations Interim
Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) leadership and the UN coordinator are conducting
talks to prevent a war between Hezbollah and "Israel".

*Read more: Strike against Iraqi PMF kills at least 3, US claims
responsibility
<https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/strike-against-iraqi-pmf-kills-at-least-three--us-claim-resp>*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Jul 31 00:04:55 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2024 21:04:55 -0700
Subject: [News] PFLP on Haniyeh's assassination
Message-ID: <mailman.258.1722398705.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

https://t.me/PalestineResist/50848

? International Relations Officer of the Popular Front for the 
Liberation of Palestine, Maher Al-Taher:
?
The martyr Ismail Haniyeh gave his most precious thing for the cause of 
Palestine.

The Palestinian people are fully prepared to offer what is dear and 
precious for their cause, whatever the sacrifices.

The "israeli" enemy crosses all red lines and is pushing things towards 
a comprehensive war with the entire Resistance Axis.

The Axis of Resistance is fully prepared for confrontation, and I see 
that things are developing in the direction of escalating the 
confrontation to its maximum extent.

The enemy government will regret the sin it committed by assassinating 
Ismail Haniyeh and attacking Iranian sovereignty.

The assassination of the martyr Ismail Haniyeh could not have been 
carried out without American cover.

We say to the martyr, Commander Ismail Haniyeh, sleep well and do not 
worry, and we promise you that we will continue the struggle and resistance.



From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Jul 31 06:59:43 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2024 03:59:43 -0700
Subject: [News] For These Reasons,
 Israel Assassinated Hamas' Political Leader, Ismail Haniyeh
Message-ID: <mailman.259.1722423645.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

palestinechronicle.com
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/for-these-reasons-israel-assassinated-hamas-political-leader-ismail-haniyeh-analysis/>
For These Reasons, Israel Assassinated Hamas' Political Leader, Ismail
Haniyeh
July 31, 2024
------------------------------
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and Hamas leader Ismail
Haniyeh. (Design: Palestine Chronicle)

*By Ramzy Baroud <https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/ramzy-baroud>*


Considering the criminal extent to which Israel is willing to go, such
desperation could eventually lead to the regional war that Israel has been
trying to instigate, even before the Gaza war.

Israel?s assassination of the head of Hamas? political bureau, Ismail
Haniyeh, in Tehran, on July 31 is part of Tel Aviv?s overall desperate
search for a wider conflict. It is a criminal act that reeks of
desperation.

Almost immediately after the start of the Gaza war on October 7, Israel
hoped to use the genocide in the Strip as an opportunity to achieve its
long-term goal of a regional war ? one that would rope in Washington as
well as Iran and other Middle Eastern countries.

Despite unconditional support for its genocide in Gaza, and various
conflicts throughout the region, the United States refrained from entering
a direct war against Iran and others. Though defeating Iran is an American
strategic objective, the US lacks the will and tools to pursue it now.

After ten months of a failed war on Gaza and a military stalemate against
Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israel is, once more, accelerating its push for a
wider conflict. This time around, however, Israel is engaging in a
high-stakes game, the most dangerous of its previous gambles.

The current gamble involved the targeting of a top Hezbollah leader by
bombing a residential building in Beirut on Tuesday, ? and, of course, the
assassination of Palestine?s most visible, let alone popular political
leader. Haniyeh has succeeded in forging and strengthening ties with
Russia, China, and other countries beyond the US-western political domain.

Israel chose the place and timing of killing Haniyeh carefully. The
Palestinian leader was killed in the Iranian capital, shortly after he
attended the inauguration of Iran?s new president Masoud Pezeshkian.

The Israeli message was a compound one, to Iran?s new administration ? that
of Israel?s readiness to escalate further ? and to Hamas, that Israel has
no intentions to end the war or to reach a negotiated ceasefire.

The latter point is perhaps the most urgent. For months, Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has done everything in his power to impede all
diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the war. By killing the top Palestinian
negotiator, Israel delivered a final and decisive message that Israel
remains invested in violence, and in nothing else.

The scale of the Israeli provocations, however, poses a great challenge to
the pro-Palestinian camp in the Middle East, namely, how to respond with
equally strong messages without granting Israel its wish of embroiling the
whole region in a destructive war.

Considering the military capabilities of what is known as the ?Axis of
Resistance?, Iran, Hezbollah and others are certainly capable of managing
this challenge despite the risk factors involved.

Equally important regarding timing: the Israeli dramatic escalation in the
region, followed a visit by Netanyahu to Washington, which, aside from many
standing ovations at the US Congress, didn?t fundamentally alter the US
position, predicated on the unconditional support for Israel without direct
US involvement in a regional war.

Additionally, Israel?s recent clashes involving the army, military police,
and the supporters of the far right suggest that an actual coup in Israel
might be a real possibility. In the words of Israel?s opposition leader
Yair Lapid: Israel is not nearing the abyss, Israel is already in the
abyss.

It is, therefore, clear to Netanyahu and his far-right circle that they are
operating within an increasingly limited time and margins.

By killing Haniyeh, a political leader who has essentially served the role
of a diplomat, Israel demonstrated the extent of its desperation and the
limits of its military failure.

Considering the criminal extent to which Israel is willing to go, such
desperation could eventually lead to the regional war that Israel has been
trying to instigate, even before the Gaza war.

Keeping in mind Washington?s weakness and indecision in the face of
Israel?s intransigence, Tel Aviv might achieve its wish of a regional war
after all.


*? Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle.
He is the author of six books. His latest book, co-edited with Ilan Papp?,
is ?Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and
Intellectuals Speak out?. Dr. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research
Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA). His website is*
*www.ramzybaroud.net* <http://www.ramzybaroud.net/>
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Jul 31 07:29:18 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2024 04:29:18 -0700
Subject: [News] The Venezuelan people stay with the Bolivarian Revolution
Message-ID: <mailman.267.1722425450.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

peoplesdispatch.org
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/07/30/the-venezuelan-people-stay-with-the-bolivarian-revolution/>
The Venezuelan people stay with the Bolivarian Revolution
Vijay Prashad
July 30, 2024
------------------------------

People in Caracas, Venezuela cheer on Nicol?s Maduro's speech on victory
night outside Miraflores palace. (Photo: Zoe Alexandra)

On July 28, the 70th birthday of Hugo Ch?vez (1954-2013), Nicol?s Maduro
Moros won the Venezuelan presidential election, the fifth since the
Bolivarian Constitution was ratified in 1999. In January 2025, Maduro will
start his third six-year term as president. He took over the reins of the
Bolivarian Revolution after the death of Ch?vez from pelvic cancer in 2013.
Since the death of Ch?vez, Maduro has faced several challenges: to build
his own legitimacy as president in the place of a charismatic man who came
to define the Bolivarian Revolution; to tackle the collapse of oil prices
in mid-2014, which negatively impacted Venezuela?s state revenues (over 90%
of which was from oil exports); and to manage a response to the unilateral,
illegal sanctions deepened on Venezuela by the United States as oil prices
declined. These negative factors weighed heavily on the Maduro government,
which has now been in office for a decade after being re-elected through
the ballot box in 2018 and now in 2024.

>From Maduro?s first election victory in 2013, the increasingly far-right
opposition began to reject the electoral process and complain about
irregularities in the system. Interviews I have held over the past decade
with conservative politicians have made it clear that they recognize both
the ideological grip of *Chavismo* over the working class of Venezuela and
the organizational power not only of Maduro?s United Socialist Party of
Venezuela but of the networks of *Chavismo* that run from the communes (1.4
million strong) to youth organizations. About half of Venezuela?s voting
population is reliably wedded to the Bolivarian project, and no other
political project in Venezuela has the kind of election machine built by
the forces of the Bolivarian revolution. That makes winning an election for
the anti-Ch?vez forces impossible. To that end, their only path is to
malign Maduro?s government as corrupt and to complain that the elections
are not fair. After Maduro?s victory?by a margin of 51.2% to 44.2%?this is
precisely what the far-right opposition has been trying to do, egged on by
the United States and a network of far-right and pro-US governments in
South America.
*Europe needs Venezuelan oil*

The United States has been trying to find a solution to a problem of its
own making. Having placed severe sanctions against both Iran and Russia,
the United States now cannot easily find a source of energy for its
European partners. Liquified natural gas from the United States is
expensive and not sufficient. What the US would like is to have a reliable
source of oil that is easy to process and in sufficient quantities.
Venezuelan oil fits the requirements, but given the US sanctions on
Venezuela, this oil cannot be found in the European market. The United
States has created a trap from which it finds few solutions.

In June 2022, the US government allowed
<https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/exclusive-us-let-eni-repsol-ship-venezuela-oil-europe-debt-sources-2022-06-05/>
Eni SpA (Italy) and Repsol SA (Spain) to transport Venezuelan oil to the
European market to compensate for the loss of Russian oil deliveries. This
allowance revealed Washington?s shift in strategy regarding Venezuela. No
longer was it going to be possible to suffocate Venezuela by preventing
exports of oil, since this oil was needed as a result of US sanctions on
Russia. Since June 2022, the United States has been trying to calibrate its
need for this oil, its antipathy to the Bolivarian Revolution, and its
relations with the far-right opposition in Venezuela.
*The US and the Venezuelan far-right*

The emergence of *Chavismo*?the politics of mass action to build socialism
in Venezuela?transformed the political scenario in the country. The old
parties of the right (Acci?n Democr?tica and COPEI) collapsed after 40
years of alternating power. In the 2000 and 2006 elections, the opposition
to Ch?vez was provided not by the right, but by dissenting center-left
forces (La Causa R and Un Nuevo Tiempo). The Old Right faced a challenge
from the New Right, which was decidedly pro-capitalist, anti-Chavista, and
pro-US; this group formed a political platform called La Salida or The
Exit, which referred to their desired exit from the Bolivarian Revolution.
The key figures here were Leopoldo L?pez, Antonio Ledezma, and Mar?a Corina
Machado, who led violent protests against the government in 2014 (L?pez was
arrested for incitement to violence and now lives in Spain; a US government
official in 2009 said he is ?often described
<https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/09CARACAS1408_a.html> as arrogant,
vindictive, and power-hungry?). Ledezma moved to Spain in 2017 and was?with
Corina Machado?a signatory of the far-right Madrid Charter
<https://foromadrid.org/>, an anti-communist manifesto organized by the
Spanish far-right party, Vox. Corina Machado?s political project is
underpinned by the proposal to privatize Venezuela?s oil company.

Since the death of Ch?vez, Venezuela?s right wing has struggled with the
absence of a unified program and with a mess of egotistical leaders. It
fell to the United States to try and shape the opposition into a political
project. The most comical attempt was the elevation in January 2019 of an
obscure politician named Juan Guaid? to be the president. That maneuver
failed and in December 2022, the far-right opposition removed
<https://www.wsj.com/articles/venezuelas-u-s-backed-opposition-removes-juan-guaido-as-its-leader-11672441327>
Guaid? as its leader. The removal of Guaid? allowed for direct negotiations
between the Venezuelan government and the far-right opposition, which had
since 2019 hoped for US military intervention to secure them in power in
Caracas.

The US pressured the increasingly intransigent far-right to hold talks with
the Venezuelan government in order to allow the US to reduce sanctions and
let Venezuelan oil go into European markets. This pressure resulted
<https://www.crisisgroup.org/es/latin-america-caribbean/andes/venezuela/barbados-deal-sets-venezuela-rocky-path-competitive-polls>
in the Barbados Agreement of October 2023, in which the two sides agreed to
a fair election in 2024 as the basis for the slow withdrawal of the
sanctions. The elections of July 28 are the outcome of the Barbados
process. Even though Mar?a Corina Machado was barred from running, she
effectively ran against Maduro through her proxy candidate Edmundo Gonz?lez
and lost in a hard-fought election.

Twenty-three minutes after the polls closed, US Vice President Kamala
Harris?and now a presidential candidate in the November elections in the
United States?put out a tweet <https://x.com/VP/status/1817687288056303648>
conceding that the far-right had lost. It was an early sign that the United
States?despite making noises about election fraud?wanted to move past their
allies in the far-right, find a way to normalize relations with the
Venezuelan government and allow the oil to flow to Europe. This tendency of
the US government has frustrated the far-right, which turned
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/07/28/latin-american-right-unites-against-the-bolivarian-revolution/>
to other far-right forces across Latin America for support, and which knows
that its remaining political argument is about election fraud. If the US
government wants to get Venezuelan oil to Europe it will need to abandon
the far-right and accommodate the Maduro government. Meanwhile, the
far-right has taken to the streets through armed gangs who want to repeat
the *guarimba* (barricade) disruptions of 2017.

*Vijay Prashad is an Indian historian, editor, and journalist. He is a
writing fellow and chief correspondent at Globetrotter. He is an editor of
LeftWord Books <https://mayday.leftword.com/> and the director of
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
<https://thetricontinental.org/>. He has written more than 20 books,
including The Darker Nations
<https://smile.amazon.com/Darker-Nations-Peoples-History-Third/dp/1595583424/?tag=alternorg08-20>
and The Poorer Nations
<https://smile.amazon.com/Poorer-Nations-Possible-History-Global/dp/1781681589/?tag=alternorg08-20>.
His latest books are Struggle Makes Us Human: Learning from Movements for
Socialism
<https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1869-struggle-makes-us-human> and
(with Noam Chomsky) The Withdrawal: Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the
Fragility of U.S. Power <https://thenewpress.com/books/withdrawal>.*

*This article was produced by Globetrotter <https://globetrotter.media/>.*
[image: venezuela-maduro-elections-caracas.jpg]
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Jul 31 13:20:53 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2024 10:20:53 -0700
Subject: [News] Massive marches in the West Bank,
 denouncing the assassination of Ismail Haneyya
Message-ID: <mailman.271.1722446707.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

 Massive marches in the West Bank, denouncing the assassination of Ismail
Haneyya

Wednesday 31-July-2024 - https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/07/31/322987/
<https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/07/31/322987/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/07/31/322987/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/07/31/322987/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/news/2024/07/31/322987/#>
+ -

WEST BANK, (PIC)

Massive crowds participated in marches in several cities and towns in the
West Bank on Wednesday afternoon denouncing the Israeli assassination of
Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haneyya.

Massive marches were held after noon prayers in Ramallah, Al-Khalil,
Nablus, Tulkarem and Tubas. Participants chanted slogans mourning the
martyr Ismail Haneyya and hailing the resistance, and demanding a strong
response to the assassination crime.

In Nablus, a massive march was organized by the Hamas Movement in the
governorate. It kicked off after the noon prayer from Al-Shuhada
Roundabout, in condemnation of Haneyya?s assassination.

During the march, the Hamas senior official in Nablus, Sheikh Maher
Al-Kharaz, mourned the martyr leader Ismail Haneyya and said, ?Martyrdom is
the most beautiful end of life. Hamas presents its leaders as martyrs
before the soldiers,? stressing that ?Haneyya?s blood is like the blood of
our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. Most of his family members were
martyred in Gaza like so many families in in the Strip.?

In Ramallah, participants in the massive march that set off in the city
center chanted angry slogans, denouncing the Israeli crime of assassinating
Haneyya, in addition to slogans calling for a massive uprising against the
Israeli occupation.

Other mass marches were launched in Tubas and Tulkarem this afternoon.
Participants in the two marches denounced the assassination crime, called
for supporting the resistance and pledged to continue along the path of
resistance.

In al-Khalil, a massive march set off from Al-Hussein Mosque towards the
Bab Al-Zawiya area in the city center, denouncing the assassination of
Haneyya amid chants calling on the resistance in the West Bank to take
action and respond to the crime.

Meanwhile, fierce clashes erupted with the Israeli occupation army after
the marchers arrived at Bab al-Zawiya area, where the Israeli occupation
army fired gas and stun grenades at the Palestinians, when the clashes
extended to several areas of the city.

A general strike prevailed today across the West bank in mourning and
condemnation of the assassination of the Hamas chief Haneyya, after calls
from Hamas and other Palestinian forces and factions, and the announcement
of the day as a day of mourning by the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
and lowering flags.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Jul 31 13:24:55 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2024 10:24:55 -0700
Subject: [News] War on Journalists - Ismail al-Ghoul,
 Rami al-Rifi Killed by Israeli Bombing in Gaza
Message-ID: <mailman.273.1722446859.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

palestinechronicle.com
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/war-on-journalists-ismail-al-ghoul-rami-al-rifi-killed-by-israeli-bombing-in-gaza/>
War on Journalists - Ismail al-Ghoul, Rami al-Rifi Killed by Israeli
Bombing in GazaJuly 31, 2024
------------------------------
Ismail al-Ghoul and Rami al-Rifi were killed in an Israeli bombing in Gaza.
(Photo: via social media)

*By Palestine Chronicle Staff
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/palestine-chronicle-staff>*

Ismail al-Ghoul was killed after he and his team had responded to a request
to evacuate the site. As they were leaving, their car was bombed by Israeli
forces.

Palestinian journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and his cameraman Rami al-Rifi were
killed on Wednesday in an Israeli bombing that targeted them while they
were in their car.

The bombing occurred near the destroyed home of the late Ismail Haniyeh,
the head of Hamas? political bureau, in the Shati refugee camp.

According to Al-Jazeera, an Israeli drone directly targeted the group of
journalists gathered outside Haniyeh?s destroyed house, killing several.

Ismail al-Ghoul was killed after he and his team had responded to a request
to evacuate the site. As they were leaving, their car was bombed by Israeli
forces.

According to Al-Jazeera, al-Ghoul?s wife and only daughter, who were
forcefully displaced to central Gaza, had not seen him for nearly eight
months.

The Government Media Office in Gaza said in a statement that the killings
of Ismail al-Ghoul and Rami al-Rifi bring the total number of journalists
killed since October 7 to 165.

The International Federation of Journalists condemned the targeting of
Ismail the two journalists, calling for an immediate end to violence
against media professionals in Gaza.

The Federation also urged the International Criminal Court(ICC) to start
its investigation as soon as possible.

Last March, Israeli forces detained al-Ghoul at Al-Shifa Hospital after
they stormed the largest medical complex in the Strip.

Throughout the Israeli war on Gaza,al-Ghoul has provided continuous
coverage of major events and atrocities in the Strip.
*Ongoing Genocide*

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire,
Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal
offensive on Gaza.

Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide
against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza
since October 7.

According to Gaza?s Ministry of Health, 39,400 Palestinians have been
killed, and 90,996 wounded in Israel?s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on
October 7.

Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under
the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.

Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the
Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports
suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ?friendly fire?.

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those
killed and wounded are women and children.

The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza,
resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.

 The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of
nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast
majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of
Rafah near the border with Egypt ? in what has become Palestine?s largest
mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from
the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.

*(PC, AJA)*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Jul 31 13:27:28 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2024 10:27:28 -0700
Subject: [News] Decades of Targeted Assassinations - A Timeline of Hamas
 Leaders Killed
Message-ID: <mailman.275.1722447081.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

palestinechronicle.com
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/decades-of-targeted-assassinations-a-timeline-of-hamas-leaders-killed-by-israel/>
Decades of Targeted Assassinations - A Timeline of Hamas Leaders Killed
July 31, 2024
------------------------------
Since the establishment of the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas in
December 1987, Israeli forces have systematically targeted its leaders.
(Design: Palestine Chronicle)

*By Palestine Chronicle Staff
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/palestine-chronicle-staff>*

This list highlights the long history of targeted assassinations of Hamas
leaders by Israeli forces, spanning from the early 1990s to the present day.

Since the establishment of the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas in
December 1987, Israeli forces have systematically targeted its leaders,
both politically and militarily, in assassination operations both within
and outside Palestine.

Below is a chronological overview of the key Hamas figures who have been
assassinated or targeted by Israel.

This list highlights the long history of targeted assassinations of Hamas
leaders by Israeli forces, spanning from the early 1990s to the present day.

On November 24, 1993, Emad Aql, at the age of 22, was surrounded by Israeli
forces with 60 armored vehicles in the Shejaiyya neighborhood, east of Gaza
City. He and his comrades engaged in a firefight before he was killed by an
anti-tank shell.

On January 5, 1996, Yahya Ayyash, a leader of the Al-Qassam Brigades, was
assassinated by an explosive device hidden in a mobile phone, detonated
remotely by Israeli forces during a call with his father.

On July 31, 2001, Jamal Salim and Jamal Mansour were killed by a missile
strike from an Israeli Apache helicopter targeting their office in Nablus,
in the occupied West Bank.

On July 23, 2002, Salah Shehadeh, founder and first commander of Hamas?
military wing, was killed in an airstrike by an F-16 jet that destroyed an
entire residential block, killing 13 people, including his wife and
daughter.

On March 8, 2003, Ibrahim al-Maqadmeh, a Hamas political bureau member and
military leader, was killed when an Israeli Apache helicopter fired five
missiles at his car, killing him and three of his companions, in Gaza City.

On August 21, 2003, Ismail Abu Shanab, a prominent Hamas leader, was
assassinated by Israeli forces when Apache helicopters fired missiles at
his car, also killing his two assistants, in Gaza City.

On March 22, 2004, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder of Hamas, was
assassinated by an Israeli Apache helicopter that fired missiles at him
while he was returning from dawn prayers, in Gaza City. He was 68 years old.

On April 17, 2004, Abdul Aziz al-Rantisi, a senior Hamas leader, was killed
in an Israeli airstrike on his car in Gaza City, two weeks after taking
over as leader of Hamas following Yassin?s assassination.

On September 26, 2004, Ezz El-Din Sheikh Khalil was killed in Damascus by a
car bomb planted by Mossad agents, who had infiltrated Syria through Iraq.

On October 21, 2004, Adnan al-Ghoul an explosives expert, was killed in an
airstrike on his car in Gaza, after surviving multiple previous
assassination attempts.

On January 1, 2009, Nizar Rayyan was killed along with 15 members of his
family, including his wives and children, when an Israeli airstrike
destroyed his home during Operation Cast Lead, in Jabaliya, in northern
Gaza.

On January 15, 2009, Saeed Siam, Hamas? interior minister, was killed in an
airstrike on his brother?s house during the final days of Operation Cast
Lead.

On January 19, 2010, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior Hamas military commander,
was assassinated in a Dubai hotel, reportedly by Mossad agents.

On November 14, 2012, Ahmed al-Jaabari, a senior Hamas military leader, was
killed in an Israeli airstrike on his car, marking the start of Operation
Pillar of Defense.

On April 21, 2018, Fadi al-Batsh, an electrical engineer and drone expert
for Hamas, was assassinated by gunmen in Malaysia, believed to be Mossad
operatives.

On November 21, 2023, Khalil Kharaz, deputy commander of Hamas? military
wing in Lebanon, was killed by an Israeli drone strike along with three
companions in Tyre, Lebanon.

On October 18, 2023, Jamila al-Shanti, a member of Hamas? political bureau,
was killed in an airstrike on her home, becoming the third member of the
political bureau to be killed since the start of Al-Aqsa Flood Operation.

On October 17, 2023, Ayman Nofal Ayman Nofal, a senior Hamas commander, was
killed in an airstrike during the Battle of Tufan Al-Aqsa. He was involved
in the 2006 capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

On January 2, 2024, Saleh al-Arouri deputy head of Hamas? political bureau,
was killed in an Israeli drone attack on a Hamas office in Beirut.

On July 31, 2024, Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas? political bureau, was
assassinated in an Israeli raid on his residence in Tehran, where he was
attending the inauguration ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

*(PC, AJA)*
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Jul 31 13:38:07 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2024 10:38:07 -0700
Subject: [News] =?utf-8?b?SXNyYWVsIGlzbuKAmXQgY3JhenksIGl04oCZcyBqdXN0?=
 =?utf-8?q?_MAD?=
Message-ID: <mailman.279.1722447562.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

 Israel isn?t crazy, it?s just MAD

Since before its inception, Israel has very deliberately, very rationally
pursued a ?MAD strategy? toward its foes and allies alike, training them to
accept Tel Aviv?s bad behavior at all times.

Daniel Nammour <https://thecradle.co/authors/daniel-nammour> & Sharmine
Narwani <https://thecradle.co/authors/sharmine-narwani>

JUL 31, 2024 - https://thecradle.co/articles/israel-isnt-crazy-its-just-mad
(Photo Credit: The Cradle)

During the night hours between 30 and 31 July, Israel targeted two top
Resistance Axis officials for assassination, both unprecedented in
seniority during this round of conflict.

First, top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr was killed
<https://thecradle.co/articles/israel-bombs-residential-building-south-of-beirut-leaving-dozens-of-casualties>
in an Israeli air attack on his residential building in the densely
populated Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, leaving several civilians dead and over
70 injured.

The second target
<https://thecradle.co/articles/iran-pledges-response-to-cowardly-assassination-of-hamas-leader-in-tehran>,
at 2 am on 31 July, was Hamas political bureau leader Ismail Haniyeh ? a
central figure in ceasefire negotiations ? who was in Tehran to attend the
inauguration ceremony of Iran?s incoming President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Within the course of a few hours, Israel managed to strike at three
Resistance Axis members: Lebanon, Palestine, and Iran. In doing so, Tel
Aviv violated a whole slew of international laws, diplomatic conventions,
and customary practices that prohibit political assassinations while
glaringly violating the territorial integrity of two UN member states.

Since its war on Gaza, Israel has rapidly gained global pariah status, not
just because of its live-streamed genocide that has killed at least 40,000
Palestinian civilians ? 15,000 of them children ? but also because of the
unprecedented rulings and deliberations still underway at the International
Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over
Israel?s war crimes.

Thus, Tel Aviv?s incendiary actions last night beg the question, is Israel
just crazy? Does it not see the global censure brewing, the boycotts
expanding, its alliances dwindling, the social media rage, and its growing
and glaring isolation?

*Israel is all about the MAD*

The simple answer is no. Successive Israeli governments have been entirely
rational, depending on a single overriding strategy from which the state
has not veered.

Recognizing its geographic, population, political, and economic
shortcomings from the get-go, the Zionist project ? very calculatingly ?
implemented something we can call the ?MAD strategy? to attain its
objectives and then punch well above its geopolitical weight class.

A weird but effective strategy, MAD actually derives from textbook
deterrence theory
<https://www.grahammann.net/book-notes/the-33-strategies-of-war-robert-greene>
:

Creating a *threatening presence *by having an aggressive reputation *with
the touch of madness* will prevent your enemies from attacking you. They
would not attack a person who takes his enemy with him if he falls.

This is the essence of Israel?s strategy with friends and foes alike, and
once understood, it is hard to unsee these tactics in all the state?s
dealings.

After the Palestinian resistance?s 7 October military operation last year ?
and just as US President Joe Biden was en route to Tel Aviv to lend his
support to Israel ? the occupation army struck Gaza?s Al-Shifa Hospital,
killing hundreds of civilians seeking shelter and medical attention. The
hit was by no accident. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
deliberately sought those optics. He wanted to corner the US president into
displaying support for his policies, no matter how awful the atrocity.

This is a long-practiced Zionist tactic to *tame and groom* targets to *accept
and expect* Israeli bad behavior.

Netanyahu also played this dangerous game with Russian President Vladimir
Putin during the Syrian war. After every meeting with the powerful Russian
head of state, the Israeli premier would launch hard strikes against Syria
? again, to *tame and groom* the Russians to *accept and expect* Israeli
bad behavior.

Today, Israel employs the full spectrum of its MAD strategy in its attacks
on Palestinians in Gaza and across the West Bank ? rape, murder,
amputations, beheadings, torture ? with impunity. Allies, foes, and global
populations are expected to accept the images and data and be ready for
even worse scenarios.

It is untrue that Tel Aviv acts irrationally. Implementing the MAD strategy
is a rational decision for a small entity that needs to impose its
oversized will on not only its neighbors but on global powers and
international institutions, too.

*MAD, before 1948*

MAD is not a new Israeli strategy; its beginnings lie in the years
preceding the state?s establishment when Zionist militias bombed and killed
the very British forces that had enabled Jewish immigration to Palestine
and launched military operations to ethnically cleanse the country?s
indigenous population.

Israel instituted an offensive ?threatening presence? right from its
inception: terrorist acts by Jewish militias such as the Stern Gang and
Irgun assassinating British Diplomats in Cairo in 1944; blowing up the King
David Hotel in 1946; conducting the Deir Yassin massacre in 1947; followed
by the Palestinian Nakba in 1948.

But instead of receiving punishment for their crimes, Zionists were
rewarded with a UN vote that formalized the state of Israel in 1947. The
bad behavior had reaped extraordinary rewards, so why quit the strategy?

The bulk of the early Zionist terror militias later formed the Israeli
army. The politician who ordered the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians was
named the ?father of Israel? and became the country?s first prime minister.
Other militia leaders rose to that rank in quick succession ? Menachem
Begin, Yitzhak Rabin, Yitzhak Shamir ? some of them winning Nobel peace
prizes. Again, bad behavior paid off.

After Israel?s creation, a series of wars with Arab neighbors in 1956,
1967, 1973, and 1982 rewarded Israel with further territorial gains, more
settlements, and a bigger seat at the international table. A steady stream
of Israeli military and intelligence aggressions was launched on a region
that spanned an area 250 times Israel?s size, covering Lebanon, Syria,
Iraq, Iran, Jordan, the UAE, Tunisia, Egypt, and Uganda.

All this was only possible through full spectrum western diplomatic,
economic, military, and media support, which went to great pains to cover
Israel?s audacious, illegal provocations, instead redirecting the narrative
to Israeli peace process efforts, its ?democracy,? its ?disciplined &
advanced,? and invincible ?moral? army protecting the ?Jewish promised
land.? In short, by helping Tel Aviv ?groom and tame? global opinion,
Israel?s western allies set the stage for the international community
to *accept
and expect* Israeli bad behavior as an essential western ?outpost of
civilization.?

*Taking off the MAD gloves*

Then came the Palestinian resistance operation on 7 October, during which
Israel witnessed the entire collapse of its deterrence status within hours.

To stem the hemorrhaging, Israel needed to escalate from active *threatening
presence* to *touch of madness*.

That meant no more red lines and no more masks. The unhinged,
Talmud-inspired, religious-extremist, genocidal diatribes spilling onto TV
screens from a broad range of Israeli officials and influencers can only be
seen as deliberate. The occupation state has a tight censorship grip on
military details. But it saw no cause to stem the flow of incriminating,
racist rants from its own officials.

For the layman or the average western news consumer, this ?new? Israeli
behavior is surprising and erratic, and suggests Israelis are somehow being
irrational. For strategic thinkers, this was just another escalation in
Israel?s time-worn MAD strategy, intended to groom populations into
tolerating ever-worsening behaviors and shocking them into inaction.
Israel's actions in MAD terms

Netanyahu and Co are not mad men; all their cruel MAD moves are
well-studied and coldly premeditated. Their main aim is to reach a state,
genially summarized by strategy master Sun-Tzu in the 4th century BC:

When opponents are unwilling to fight with you, it is because they think it
is contrary to their interests or because you have misled them into
thinking so.

*Counter MAD: the Resistance treatment*

Since 1948, few have genuinely stepped up to counter Israel?s MAD strategy.
In MAD terms, the textbook definition of a counter would be: ?standing up
to the madman and denying him victory.? But Israel?s much stronger allies
have, to date, been unprepared to risk the relationship and its perceived
benefits, while Israel?s regional foes lost their wars or were unable to
impose solutions.

But the status quo shifted with the inception of West Asia?s Axis of
Resistance, an alliance of state and non-state actors that include Iran,
Syria, Lebanon?s Hezbollah, Palestine?s Hamas, Yemen?s Ansarallah, Iraq?s
Hashd al-Shabi, and others.

Over decades, this axis has carefully decimated the *threatening* power
projection of Israel and, importantly, has implemented the practice of
retaliating in kind, when possible. Some notable milestones:

*Operation Accountability:* As Israel was striking civilian villages in
Lebanon in 1993, Hezbollah retaliated with new missiles against Israeli
civilian targets. This counter forced Israel to accept a first-of-its-kind
informal agreement to minimize civilian targeting.

*Operation Grapes of Wrath: *On a grander scale than the 1993 clashes, a
formal agreement was struck in 1996, clearly stating that targeting
civilians is a red line in conflict.

*2000 withdrawal from Lebanon: *After 18 years of attrition warfare in
Lebanon, Israel was forced to withdraw from Arab land without any
conditions. On the momentous occasion, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan
Nasrallah delivered his famous, fiery speech declaring Israel ?weaker than
a spider?s web,? basically challenging all the foundational premises of
Israel and its military power projection from atop Lebanon?s border with
the occupation state.

*The 2006 War: *Following a border incident, Israel retries its luck by
initiating a large-scale war on Lebanon but fails to achieve its targets.
This time, the 33-day war was terminated by a UN security resolution that
stated that neither civilian nor military attacks were permitted.

*Operation Al-Aqsa Flood:* On 7 October 2023, Hamas breached the most
sophisticated wall that Israel ever built to control its Gaza border. This
time, power projection, even inside Israel, was shattered, forcing Tel Aviv
into declaring an unwinnable war, weakening internal security, draining its
military assets, and destroying its economy. Israel was forced to go over
and beyond its MAD strategy and has become an international pariah.

*Operation True Promise: *For the first time ever*,* Iran launches multiple
drone and ballistic missile strikes on Israel in direct retaliation for Tel
Aviv?s strikes against the Iranian consulate in Damascus. During the 13?14
April 2024 retaliatory strikes, Iran faced the air defense of Israel, the
US, UK, and France but managed to penetrate and hit its three intended
targets.

*Yemen?s naval blockade:* In response to Israel?s brutal military assault
on Gaza, Yemen?s armed forces launched a sustained campaign to halt the
transit of all Israel-bound and -linked shipping in Asian waterways. Given
that Israel obtains over 80 percent of its imports via sea, the Yemeni
operations have delivered a gut blow to Israel?s economy, disabled its
vital Eilat Port entirely, and driven up insurance costs for Israel.

In short, Israel?s MAD strategy can be defeated by friends or foes alike.
One has to stare MAD in the face, hunker down, and fight back. The more
Israel is countered, the more crazy it looks.
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From news at freedomarchives.org  Wed Jul 31 18:34:43 2024
From: news at freedomarchives.org (Anti-Imperialist News)
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2024 15:34:43 -0700
Subject: [News] Hezbollah says top commander Fuad Shukr killed in Israeli
 strike on Beirut
Message-ID: <mailman.281.1722465440.4190420.news_freedomarchives.org@freedomarchives.org>

 Hezbollah says top commander Fuad Shukr killed in Israeli strike on Beirut

*Lebanon?s Health Ministry said three people, including two children, were
killed and 74 also wounded in the attack.*
[image: People gather where an Israeli air strike targeted the southern
parts of Beirut.]
Civil defence members and local residents gather near a site hit by an
Israeli strike in Beirut, Lebanon on Tuesday, July 30, 2024 [Mohamed
Azakir/Reuters]
Published On 31 Jul 2024 -
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/31/hezbollahsays-top-commander-fuad-shukr-killed-in-israel-strike-on-beirut
<https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Faje.io%2Fxdvbbj>
<https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Hezbollah%20confirms%20top%20commander%20killed%20in%20Israeli%20strike%20on%20Beirut&source=sharethiscom&related=sharethis&via=AJEnglish&url=https%3A%2F%2Faje.io%2Fxdvbbj>
<https://aje.io/xdvbbj>

Lebanese group Hezbollah has confirmed that its senior commander Fuad Shukr
was killed in an Israeli attack in southern Beirut
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/30/explosion-in-beirut-suburb-as-israel-says-it-targeted-hezbollah-commander>
.

The Israeli military said it carried out a ?precision strike? in Beirut on
Tuesday that killed Shukr, adding that he had been responsible for the
missile strike that killed 12 children playing football in Majdal Shams
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/27/israel-says-10-killed-in-rocket-attack-on-occupied-golan-heights>
in the occupied Golan Heights on Saturday.

Hezbollah, who previously said Shukr had survived the attack, said in a
statement on Wednesday that ?the great jihadist commander brother Fuad
Shukr (Hajj Mohsen) was present? in the building targeted by ?the Zionist
enemy?.

Announcing his death, the group added that Shukr?s presence was ?a
distinctive force for resistance? and said their leader, Hassan Nasrallah,
would make an address on the occasion of Shukr?s funeral on Thursday.
Who was Shukr?

Shukr <https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/31/who-isfuad-shukr>, also
known as al-Hajj Mohsen, was born in Nabatieh in Baalbek in eastern
Lebanon. He was among Hezbollah?s founders after Israel?s invasion of
Lebanon in 1982.

According to the Israeli military, Shukr oversaw numerous attacks against
the Israeli military and its former ally, the South Lebanon Army (SLA), in
the following decade.

In addition to being sought by Israel, Shukr was also wanted by the US.

A posting on the US government?s Rewards for Justice website offers payment
of up to $5m for information on Shukr after naming him a ?Specially
Designated Global Terrorist? in 2019.

On Tuesday, the attack on a densely populated area in Beirut?s suburbs hit
the Haret Hreik neighbourhood near Hezbollah?s Shura Council, its central
decision-making authority.

Lebanon?s Ministry of Health said three people, including two children,
were killed and 74 wounded in the attack that the Israeli military
described as a ?targeted assassination operation? against Shukr.

Al Jazeera?s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut, said
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/30/israel-strikes-beirut-what-we-know-so-far>
the Israeli messaging is that this was their promised response to the
Majdal Shams attack and that they are not interested in more armed
confrontation with Hezbollah beyond this.

Hezbollah has promised to respond to any kind of attack from Israel, but
Khodr said that a coordinated response from Iran and its regional allies
following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/7/31/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israel-hits-beirut-in-assassination-operation>
this morning in Tehran, could take place.

In a televised statement on Wednesday, Israel?s Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu said that Israel faces ?challenging times ahead? but that it is
?prepared for all scenarios?.

Earlier, Ori Goldberg, a political commentator in Tel Aviv, told Al Jazeera
that ?a war with Lebanon could perhaps rally Israelis around the flag but
its effects would be almost immediately disastrous?.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has denounced strikes on Beirut and
Tehran as a ?dangerous escalation?.

?The Secretary-General believes that the attacks we have seen in South
Beirut and Tehran represent a dangerous escalation at a moment in which all
efforts should instead be leading to a ceasefire in Gaza,? Guterres?s
spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement on Wednesday.
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